. 
AMERICAN AGRICULTURIST. 
1873.] 
Mow to Construct a Cistern.—“ J. B. 
G.” gives the following instructions relative to cisterns : 
A cistern should be dug circular, with bottom lower in 
the center, the sides and bottom pounded solid, the wall 
then built hard up against the sides, and the interior 
cemented all over. Should water come in at the bottom, 
spread dry mixed cement, an inch thick, then pave the 
bottom, and fill the cracks with the dry mixed cement, 
brushing it with a broom, then coat with cement mortar^ 
and the job will be perfect. The water coming in at the 
bottom is absorbed by the dry cement which immediate¬ 
ly sets and forms an impervious coating. 
Perrin Prairie Farmers’ Cliilt.— 
This club, located in Clinton Co., Mo., at its annual meet¬ 
ing January 8th, 1872, elected A. C. Crook President, W. 
Johnston Vice-P., Michael Moorhead Sec. The P. 0. 
address of the Secretary is Plattsburgh, Clinton Co., Mo. 
Pea-Meal.—“ J. M.,” Sanilac, Mich., asks if 
peas and oats ground together are good feed for horses, 
and in what proportion they should be mixed. Also is 
pea-meal as good for cows as corn-meal.—There is no 
more nutritious food for horses than pea and oatmeal. 
Peas contain 22 per cent of flesh-forming substances, oats 
12 per cent, and corn 12 per cent, while peas contain less 
oil than either oats or corn. Peas and oats should be 
mixed in equal quantities. Corn and oats fed to cows 
will produce more cream than will peas. 
Milk; Farming-.—“ C. E. L.” has a farm, 5 
miles from New York, of 30 acres, hired at a rent of $100 
per year, and asks if it would pay to buy 15 cows and sell 
the milk.—Withont experience, no person could feed 
15 cows on 30 acres of land; and altogether milk farm¬ 
ing is one of those special branches of business in 
which failure is certain, unless there is previous knowl¬ 
edge and abundant tact. The profitable disposal of the 
milk, too, is not the easiest part of the business. 
Tlie Mystery of Metropolisville.— 
This story, by Dr. E. Eggleston, which has been so 
popular as a serial in Hearth and Home, is now being 
published in a book form by Orange Judd & Co. 
Price, by mail, $1.50. 
A B>ry Fellar.— J. B. Graham, Lebanon, 
Ohio, thus writes for the benefit of J. S., Warren Co., 
Ohio, who has a wet cellar. He says, dig out the bottom 
of the cellar, commencing at the sides two inches below 
the walls, increasing the depth to the center, so that it 
shall have the form of an inverted arch; then the earlh 
should be pounded firmly and well cemented, allowing 
the cement to go under the walls an inch or so, and up the 
sides for two feet. Then the bottom should be filled up 
level with sand and paved. If this is all properly done, 
the cellar will be rendered dry permanently. 
Utilizing Blood.— “J. E. W.,” Atlanta, 
Ga.- The simplest way to use the blood for garden ma¬ 
nure would be to compost it with earth and harrow it 
into the soil after plowing. 
Feed for Milch-Gows .- 11 It. F. S.,” Ly¬ 
coming Co., Pa., asks, Which is the cheapest feed for 
milk cows—wheat bran, buckwheat bran, corn-meal, or 
oatmeal ?—Buckwheat bran is the dearest at $10 per ton, 
oats ground at 40 cents a bushel is next, wheat bran at 
$20 a ton comes next, and corn-meal at $20 a ton is the 
cheapest; but the best combined food would be wheat 
bran and corn-meal. It must be remembered that in a 
bushel of oats there are 15 pounds of useless or next to 
useless husk. It is better to pay one tenth for grinding 
grain than to feed it whole. 
A Frolilic Bean-Stallf.—“ W. IL B.,” 
Hawkesbury, Canada, writes that in 1869 he gathered two 
stalks of beans, which grew singly in the hills, on which 
there were respectively 170 pods containing 860 beans, and 
145 pods with 705 beans. He therefore fully believes the 
bean story of T. R., of New Castro, Mich., lately given. 
Manuring; Clover.— “E. C.,” Henry Co., 
Iowa.—Plaster is probably the only manure that could 
profitably be applied to a field rented for only one year. 
One bushel per acre might be sown evenly over the field 
as soon as the clover has started into growth. 
S>» Bote Mill Morses?— “W. H. H.,” 
Athens, Tenn., sends us a piece of the stomach of his 
horse, which recently died, and which on being opened 
was found to have the stomach completely filled with 
bots, He says the specimen sent is exactly as cut from 
the stomach with the bots as they were packed in it. 
The worms are an inch thick on the coat of the stomach, 
■which was eaten through so as to allow the bots to pass 
into the abdomen of the horde.'—It Was a bad cade, anlfl 
proves conclusively that the bots were the cause of 
death, producing by their immense numbers fatal inflam¬ 
mation and destruction of the walls of the stomach. But 
unfortunately nothing could have been done to save this 
horse, excepting to have prevented the bots taking pos¬ 
session of the stomach. Any medicine that will cause these 
creatures to loose their hold on the coats of the stomach 
will kill the horse. They are there fulfilling the law 
of their being, it is the place that nature provides for 
them, and any medicine that would kill them would cause 
a fatal inflammation of the horse’s stomach. Prevention is 
the only cure ; and that is, to destroy the eggs before the 
horse licks them off from his legs and takes them into his 
stomach. This may be done by washing them off the 
horse’s coat with warm water, or scraping them off with 
a sharp knife. 
Sap-Spouts. —“ G. T.,” Skaneateles, N. Y., 
asks if there is any successful patent sap-spout.—Yes, one 
made of galvanized iron, made by C. C. Post, on which 
the sap-bucket is lmng, is an excellent one. 
A Sjealcy Cistern.—J. B. Graham, Lebanon, 
Ohio, says there is no help for a leaky cement cistern but 
to tear down the wall and rebuild it. 
Stretckes in glieep. — “ Mrs. W. S.” 
writes that in her experience stretches in sheep have been 
relieved without fail by giving an injection of a pint of 
warm water; and a return is prevented by giving lard, 
molasses, and some sulphur.—Our own experience is that 
sheep which are regularly supplied with salt and sulphur 
are never troubled with stretches, which is simply the 
result of indigestion. 
Flowing- for Wavy Beans.— “ G. C. 
A.,” Bellevue Neb.—It is not necessary to plow a prairie 
soil broken up last summer deep for this crop, but it 
needs a clean soil, which newly broken prairie will 
hardly be. We should prefer to plant them on a corn 
stubble or after potatoes. 
Why «lo the Uambs B>ie ?—“ Mrs. W. 
S.” asks. Why do lambs that seem smart and have plenty 
of milk die the second or third day after they have entered 
this eventful life ’—Never having lost lambs in that way, 
nor having come across such a case, we are at loss to ex¬ 
plain it. Perhaps some of our readers possess a clue, and 
will favor Mrs. S. with their ideas about the matter. 
A Choked Morse. — “L. F. C.,” Long 
Branch, N. J., asks advice in the following difficulty. He 
lias a horse which is all right in every respect, but that 
when he has been driven for half a mile or so, on being 
brought out of the stable in themorning.be becomes 
choked and is short of breath for a few minutes; after 
which the trouble passes away for that day. He cribs a 
little, and as a preventive has a strap drawn tightly around 
his throat.—The strap probably causes the trouble ; the 
pressure on the muscles of the throat may cause a spas¬ 
modic action for some time after the strap is removed. 
It should not be used; it is a barbarous and dangerous 
resource. A better plan' would be to procure a muz¬ 
zle similar to the one figured in the Agriculturist for 
October, 1872. 
Indigestion, —“ W. M. M.” has a horse 
that eats heartily, but is in poor condition and has a 
rough coat, nis breath is very offensive, and he acts 
sometimes as though he were chewing the cud. He asks 
ndvice.—The trouble is probably indigestion. His food 
should be changed. He should have bran-mashes and 
boiled oats with some very good hay, and occasionally a 
handful of linseed. A handful of powdered charcoal 
should be given with each feed fora day or two, along 
with half a table-spoonful of salt. It would boas well 
also to give him each evening for two weeks in his feed 
half an ounce each of powdered gentian and ginger. 
Trouble with Sheep and Lambs, 
—“H. D.,” Madison Co., Iowa, had last year under his 
care 1,000 sheep. In the spring some of the ewes had 
what eeemed to be a red bladder protruding from them. 
After some weeks they died. When weaning the lambs 
they were turned into a cornfield away from the ewes, 
and a number of them were badly scoured and soon died, 
now are these troubles to be prevented this season ?— 
The trouble with the ewes was inversion of the uterus. 
The sheep should have been taken by the hind legs and 
the hinder partclevated, while with the hand well greased 
with pure lard the bag or uterus should be gently and 
carefully returned. Twenty drops of Tincture of Opium 
(Laudanum) in a pint of oatmeal gruel should be given, 
and the ewe kept quiet in a dark stable for a day or 
two. When lambs are weaned they should be watched 
closely, as they arc then subject to acorn's. The following 
127 
may be given to them usefully : Prepared Chalk half an 
ounce, powdered Catechu half an ounce, powdered Gin¬ 
ger quarter of a> ounce, powdered Opium half a dram, 
mixed with half a pint of Peppermint Water; a table¬ 
spoonful should be given twice a day. 
Value of an Essex Fig-.— “G. C. A.,” 
Bellevue, Neb., asks, What is the value of a young full- 
blood Essex boar-pig?—It is impossible to say without 
knowing the pig. One might ask equally well, What iB 
the value of a watch ? Write to those who advertise. 
Hard Times. —A “Subscriber” in Clinton, 
Kansas, writes that times are harder than ever before. 
He is feeding 130 cattle and as many hogs. A car-load 
of hogs was shipped a few weeks ago which did not 
bring what they cost, and two cars of fat cattle barely 
paid cost.—A similar complaint is common everywhere 
amongst farmers. It Is to be expected that they will ex¬ 
perience the same vicissitudes in business that other 
people, as merchants, manufacturers, and ship-owners, 
do. These, however, hang on, worry through, reduce their 
expenses, and conform to circumstances as well as they 
can, until times improve again, as they never fail to do 
when the cause or combination of causes becomes re¬ 
moved. Patience and perseverance are needed in farming 
as well as tact and hard work. 
Mow Muck Butter ?—“F. D. P.,” Nichol¬ 
son, Pa., asks, How much butter should a good cow 
make on hay with four quarts of corn-meal and wheat- 
bran mixed in equal parts per day; and at what age is a 
cow in her prime ?—It would be a good cow that would 
make a pound of butter a day under the above circum¬ 
stances for a length of time. A cow is in her prime from 
six to eight years of age. 
Palpitation of the Heart. —“J. H. 
M.,” Center Co., Pa.—This complaint may not be dis¬ 
ease of the heart, as is supposed, but a general want 
of condition, consequent on her recent sickness. No¬ 
thing can be done but to give rest, with the best food 
and care. Similar cases have occurred, which have been 
followed by swelling of the legs and death. 
Failing- Fowls. — “J. H. Y.,” Delaware. 
Co., Pa., has a quantity of Light Brahma fowls which are 
not doing well. The Light Brahmas with us have been 
as hardy as any race, and more so than many. The trouble 
no doubt is in want of proper care and attention. Fowls 
will not thrive withont the very best care, regular feed, 
and perfect cleanliness and dry quarters. 
To Clean Sleigh-Bells.— “ J. R.” asks 
how to clean sleigh-bells.— A good method of cleansing 
them is to dip them into oil of vitriol and then rinse them 
thoroughly in water. Vinegar will also clean them, but 
more slowly than the oil of vitriol. 
Hrist 'Windmills. —We have had a large 
number of applications for drawings, plans, and specifi¬ 
cations of Windmills for grinding and other heavy work. 
It is impossible for us even to find time to reply to such 
letters, without furnishing plans which in each case would 
employ an active millwright a week to prepare. We feel 
certain that there is a profitable opening in the West for 
a person able to construct these mills, and any millwright 
who will give his attention can readily adapt them to the 
work they are to perform, and will do a service by making 
himself known in the proper manner. 
Trees Girdled by Babbits.— M. O. 
Taylor, of Missouri, writes that some years ago a neigh¬ 
bor of his had forty apple-trees girdled one winter by 
rabbits. The trees were three years from planting. “ Ho 
immediately took narrow boards, four or five inches wide, 
and long enough to go above the reach of the rabbits, 
sharpened one end, and drove them into the ground so as 
to form a square box around the tree. He tied the box 
together with a strong cord and then filled it with fresh 
soil and pressed it in firmly. The next spring the trees 
budded and grew as well as any trees in the orchard, and 
have done well ever since. He took the boxes away the 
second spring and found that a new bark had grown over 
the entire girdled part.’’—.When trees are only partially 
girdled, the plam described is a good one. We have 
known trees to be saved by binding them round with 
cotton cloth and then smearing the cloth with tar, and by 
surrounding with a plaster of cow-dung and loam bound 
on with a cloth. The object is to exclude the air. The 
chances of recovery are increased if the treesare severely 
pruned early in the spring. 
Barn Flan. — “R. S.,” Lander, Pa., asks for 
a plan of a barn for 20 head of cattle and 4 horses.—Just 
such a barn was figured and described in the Agricultur¬ 
ist for December, 1S72, to-whifch R. S. is referred. 
