1873 .] 
AMERICAN AGRICULTURIST 
167 
Feace Wire.—“ \V. A.,” Prince William 
Co.. Va., asks what is the cost and weight of fence wire 
and where it can be procured.—No. 9 wire, the usual size 
for fencing, is worth about 10 to 12 cents a pound, and 
one rod in length weighs one pound. Any agricultural 
implement dealer in New York, Baltimore, or Richmond 
can procure it, or those who advertise in our columns 
might be relied upon to furnish it. 
SSog- Spavisi.—'“ A Subscriber,” Sewickley, 
Pa., has a horse which has a large swelling on the inner 
part ol each hind knee or hock-joint, and small lumps on 
the vein on each side of the hock-joints. He asks, What 
is the matter—is it a spavin, and what shall I do?—It is 
a spavin, known as bog or blood spavin, caused by over¬ 
work or over-driving or a sprain. It consists of an ex¬ 
cessive secretion of the fluid by which the joint is lubri¬ 
cated, and if it will not yield to the application of iodine 
ointment, rubbed on the part morning and night, it should 
be treated by a surgeon. Sometimes the swelling is 
punctured and tightly bandaged, but this is dangerous in 
the hands of any but a surgeon, as if improperly performed 
it might permanently injure the joint. There is no at- i 
tendant lameness, and perseverance with the iodine oint¬ 
ment may possibly bring about a cure. 
Hmlinn Tail.— “J. B. W.,” Licking - (Jo., 
Ohio, asks for the Indian process of tanning buffalo robes. 
This was told in the Agriculturist of September, 1S72, 
which may be had for 15 cents. 
Arithmetical.—“ H. B. G.,” Dayton, Kan¬ 
sas, asks us if the following problem can be solved by al¬ 
ligation alternate, viz.: A man buys 100 head of stock 
for $100; he buys cows at $10, hogs at $3, and sheep at 
50 cents—how many of each kind did he buy ?—It can be 
solved by alligation alternate, by which rule the ratios of 
the quantities required are 1, 1, and 22, but as 100 is not 
divisible by the sum of these numbers without a fraction, 
the result is absurd as regards cattle ; it would be 4*/ 6 
cows, 4V 6 pigs, and 9H/ 6 sheep. If, however, instead 
of 100, 600 is taken, then the answer would be a rational 
one, viz.: 25 cows, 25 hogs, and 550 sheep. 
iiorin g.—“ W. A.” asks which is the simplest 
method of boring or drilling a considerable depth through 
earth or rock. —It is done by steel-pointed drills raised by 
machinery, driven by steam or hand, and permitted to fall 
by their own weight. Experience and skill are required 
in this business, without, which it would be impossible 
to succeed. In the neighborhood of Charleston, W. Va., 
or Burning Springs, Wirt Co., W. Va., it would be easy 
to secure men used to bore salt and oil wells. 
Green. Mannrin:; - . —“ W. A.” asks what 
are the comparative values of peas, buckwheat, and clover 
as crops for plowing under.—The chief advantage of 
buckwheat is its rapid growth, which enables two crops 
to be plowed under in one season. A crop of peas fur¬ 
nishes more nitrogen to the soil than buckwheat, but its 
bulk is not greater. Clover not only furnishes a great 
hulk of leaves and stalks but a large quantity of roots in 
addition, which on decaying leave the soil porous and 
open, and in the best mechanical condition ; besides it 
will yield two crops of fodder or hay, and then aflerwards, 
in the second or third year, furnishes a crop to plow in. On 
the whole, clover is much the best manurial crop. 
Feeding a Yearliatg: Colt.—“ O. II. C.,” 
Saratoga Springs, N. Y., being a novice, is troubled lest 
he is overfeeding a yearling colt, which gets 4 quarts of 
oats and nearly all the hay it will eat. The colt is very 
large and is growing finely.—There is no danger in this 
feed if the colt is allowed plenty of exercise, and is given 
salt regularly and the hay and grain are sound and good. 
There is more harm done by stinting colts in their feed 
than by overfeeding, in most cases. 
Unhealed Wonud. —“ E. A. B.,” New¬ 
ark, N. J., asks how lie should treat a bare horny spot 
on the lower part of a horse’s front leg, caused by a 
bruise last fall, but which does not heal up satisfactorily. 
—There is no doubt something wrong at the bottom of the 
wound, that prevents healing. We would apply warm 
poultices of linseed meal until the old wound was re¬ 
opened and a healthy suppuration established, after which 
the wound should be treated with compound tincture of 
benzoin until properly healed. If the sore becomes in¬ 
dolent, moderate caustics, as powdered blue-stone, would 
be useful, until it presents healthy granulations. 
IPlam for lionise. —“ S. K.F.,” Indianapolis, 
wishes to build a house for a home, to cost $15,000, and 
asks for a good plan.—In spending that amount of money 
it would be a proper and profitable economy to employ a 
good architect to draw the plans and specifications, and 
seethat the building was erected and completed in ac 1 
cordance therewith. A competent architect could easily 
save more than his fee of 5 per cent on the cost, in super¬ 
vising the contracts and the building. 
fi*OHltry —II. E. Lee, Guilford, 
Ct., sends the following account current with 36 Light 
Brahma hens for the year 1872, as follows : 
Dr. To 84 V t bus. com and oats.....$05.00 
40 lbs. butcher’s scrap. 1.20 
14 lb. r d pepper.15 
28 dozen eggs set, @ 27 5 /«c. 7.79 
$74.20 
Cr. By 383 6 /n dozen eggs sold.$100.69 
chickens sold . 29.59 
value of manure. 10.00 
$146.28 
Leaving a profit of $72.08, or two dollars per hen. 
IPernvian Gnaito, — “Ebenezer,” Law¬ 
rence, Mass., purchased last season some Peruvian 
guano, in bags stamped as follows: “Warranted No. 1 
Peruvian Guano ; imported into the United States by 
the Agents for the Consignees of the Peruvian Govern¬ 
ment. Guanape.” lie asks, Is this the best Peruvian 
guano ? He thought it was not. Where can he get the 
pure article ? — Pure Peruvian guano, as we used to 
know it some years ago, is a thing of the past. The 
“Peruvian guano ” from the Guanape Islands is of very 
variable quality, and at the best is deficient in ammonia. 
The warrantee, of course, is no guarantee of quality. 
It is well known and understood that there is no stand¬ 
ard for that any longer, and purchasers are obliged to 
run the risk of getting a good or poor quality. 
ISurean of Statistics—Notice.— The 
Chief of the United States Bureau of Statistics announces 
that the German and French editions of his Report on 
Immigration are now ready, and will be forwarded at an 
early day to Hamburg, Bremen, Antwerp, Havre, and 
Trieste, for distribution in Germany, Austria, France, 
Switzerland, and Belgium. A copy will be sent to any 
address in either of the above countries, on the receipt 
of twelve (12) cents, in postage-stamps, for the German, 
or eighteen (18) cents for the French edition. Address, 
Bureau of Statistics, Washington, D. C. 
IPIaster on Spring - Crops.— “C. W. 
II.,” “ A New Reader,” and others are informed in reply 
to inquiries, that plaster is a valuable application to al¬ 
most all spring crops. Grass, clover, corn, spring wheat, 
and oats are all benefited by it. It is often the cheapest 
fertilizer that can be purchased, as 100 pounds per acre 
at a cost of 50 cents has often doubled the yield of grass 
or clover. It should be spread evenly on the crop, after 
it has started to grow, on a quiet morning before the dew 
has dried off. 
Concrete Walls.—“ Inquirer ” asks if 
concrete made of sand 2 parts, gravel 6 parts, lime 1 part, 
will stand moisture or fire ? Can >t be molded into blocks 
and walls built of these blocks? Is the lime spoken of 
in this relation in Atwood's “ Country Houses ” common 
lime or hydraulic lime ?—Concrete made as above will not 
stand fire; it will do for collar walls and chimneys, but 
not for fire-places. It can not be used to mold blocks; 
that process requires hydraulic cement, which is mnch 
stronger than ordinary lime, and sets more rapidly. At¬ 
wood's formula as above refers to common lime. 
Feed BSoots after Milliimg.— The 
statement often made in these columns that the disagree¬ 
able flavor that comes from feeding turnips and other 
roots to dairy cattle may be avoided by giving such food 
only immediately after milking, receives constant and 
frequent confirmation from our correspondents. In one 
instance, we hear of three pecks of turnips per day being 
fed without the least trace of the flavor remaining in the 
system at milking time, and this not only for a few 
weeks, but at the end of a whole winter’s operations. 
Ktissian Crabs,- “ D. M.” There are 
several Russian or Siberian Crab-apples. 
The Epizootic.— J. T. Lee, Douglas Co., 
! Hil.—Horses or cattle may take this complaint twice 
a year, spring and fall, if exposed to cold or damp. It is 
\ occasioned by certain conditions of the atmosphere and 
; the weather, and if one horse takes it, all are subject to 
I it, and yet some may escape. It is not considered in¬ 
fectious nor contagious. 
A Good Jersey Cow.—At an ag-ricul- 
tural exhibition at Starkville, Miss., Mr. W. B. Mont¬ 
gomery’s cow was brought out for trial as to her milking 
capacity in the presence of the judges and of the public, 
which had expressed itself as very skeptical as to he: 
value. She gave (at her regular interval) over eleven 
quarts of milk of the richest “ Aldernay ” quality. This 
would be very large in our best Jersey herd at the North, 
and is much more surprising in Mississippi, where until 
recently it was supposed that clover and the grasses 
could not be cultivated, and where six quarts a day has 
probably been a large average for what was called a 
good cow. 
Biotas!* as a IVrlilizer.—“ R. II. F.” 
Commercial potash is now quoted in the wholesale market 
at $8.50 per barrel, equal to about $1.70 per 100 pounds. 
It has been used in composts by dissolving it in water 
and scattering the solution over the heap, which is pro¬ 
bably the safest way to use it. 
Powder and Caterpillars.— u JB 1 . J. 
R.” writes that he has seen Tent-Caterpillars suctess- 
fnlly disposed of by shooting into their nests with small 
charges of powder. lie suggests that for tall trees the 
gun might be attached to a pole and the trigger pulled 
by means of a string.—The best way to treat Tent-Cater¬ 
pillars is to nip them in the bud—or egg. 
E'lsico«rat;ing - from Tessas.—“ J. C. 
R.,” Atascosa Co., Texas, writes in a private note to the 
editor: “ Texas is the best country I know for the poor 
workingman. I have now about seventy head of gentle 
hogs, eight horses, a four-horse wagon, two plows, a 
horse-hoc cultivator, a mowing machine. Sixty acres 
under good fence. Will cultivate forty acres this year. 
Two years ago last December I had nothing of the arti¬ 
cles above enumerated, and did not know w here to get a 
cent of cash. I have made all in the last two years. It’s 
true, I have good friends. I intend to plant corn on the 
5th of February ; cotton the 10th of March. The weather 
is pleasant, the thermometer about 70° in the shade.” 
Materials for Mortar.— “S. R. E.,” 
Beaver Co., Pa. The proper proportion for mortar fur 
plastering is one cubic yard or 18 heaped bushels of stone- 
lime, double that quantity of sand, and three bushels of 
hair. This quantity will cover 70 (% inch) yards on lath. 
Mow to Kill Gophers. —“J. H. B.,” 
Woodford Co., Ill., kills gophers by opening a new’run 
and setting a mink-trap therein, covering the hole quite 
closely with a piece of board, and then making an op»n- 
ing two feet from the trap to let ill the light. The gopher 
comes very soon to close the hole, when, if the trap is 
set lightly, he is certain to be caught. After a few have 
been trapped, the rest abandon the location. 
Animal Manure.—“W.VanG.,” Hudson, 
N. Y. Scrap-cake from lard-renderers is a valuable 
manure for the nitrogen it contains. To get the best 
effect, it should he reduced to powder, or made as fine as 
possible, and applied near the seed, so that the young- 
plant shall get an early, vigorous growth.. By compost¬ 
ing with earth it is reduced to a condition of fineness, 
but much of the nitrogen is said to disappear. The best 
plan is therefore to apply it directly. 
Sleud the Advertisements. —There 
are inquiries coming to us daily for information which 
might he found iirthe advertising columns. It ought not 
to be supposed by any means that the contents of those 
columns are of no value to any one of our readers; on 
the contrary, every one who desires to be posted in his 
business should know’ where the articles he requires aro 
to lie procured, and should have this information always 
at hand. This can be done by reading those columns 
in which business people announce what they have 
to dispose of. Before any of our readers take the 
trouble to write us inquiring about any article, they 
should carefully look over the pages of advertisements, 
and in many cases they will discover where and how 
their wants may be supplied. 
Artesian 'Well*. — “ W. Van G.,” N. Y 
There is no certainty of procuring water by an Artesian 
well without an experiment. The fact of a boring being 
made below the level of the bottom of a river or lake is 
no surety that water will be procured, because there 
must be a bed of porous rock or gravel existing through 
which the water percolates; this can only bo ascertained 
by trial or geological knowledge. 
^Vealc Eyes isi a Calf.—“C. B. K., n 
Ludlow, Mass. Animals are often troubled with a watery 
discharge from the eyes, consequent on cold or exposure 
in damp or filthy stables. Very often a little burnt alun, 
blown into the eye through a quill causes a counter-irri. 
tation which relieves the inflammation, or a rag wetted 
with a wcalr .solution of sulphate of zinc hung over the 
eye will relieve it. Keep the calf in the dark. 
