1892 
THE  RURAL  NEW-YORKER 
427 
roller,  otherwise  not.  We  aim  to  finish  sowing  about 
September  25,  although  it  is  sometimes  earlier  or  later. 
We  place  in  the  drill  such  a  quantity  of  fertilizer  as 
will  take  us  one  round  across  the  field  and  return  ; 
that  quantity  would  depend  upon  the  amount  to  be 
applied  per  acre.  The  amount  is  soon  learned  by  ex¬ 
perience.  We  sometimes  pace  off  the  field  in  one-acre 
plots.” 
“  What  quantity  of  seed  do  you  use  ?” 
“  We  sow  from  to  two  bushels  of  wheat  per  acre; 
we  believe  1%  bushel  to  be  the  best  quantity  for  us  to 
sow.  A  good  many  farmers  in  our  vicinity  sow  the 
Fulcaster  or  Deitz  Longberry.  I  am  now  sowing 
Rochester  Red,  which  has  no  beard,  but  is  a  new 
variety.  I  aim  to  sow  three  quarts  of  Timothy  per 
acre ;  some  farmers  here  use  as  high  as  four  quarts. 
I  believe  by  experience  that  three  quarts  are  enough. 
We  sow  about  four  quarts  of  clover  in  the  spring.  I 
aim  to  sow  as  nearly  as  possible  this  quantity.” 
“  What  kinds  of  fertilizers  do  you  use  and  how  much 
per  acre  for  wheat  ? 
“Where  potatoes  have  been  grown  and  wheat  fol¬ 
lows  this  crop  we  apply  400  pounds  per  acre  of  the 
Complete  Manure  “A”  Brand;  that  is,  if  the  Potato 
Manure  has  been  used  liberally  on  the  potato  crop, 
say,  1,200  pounds  per  acre.  If  not,  then  we  use  the 
Complete  Manure  for  General  Use  in  place  of  the  “A” 
Brand.  To  grow  wheat  after  any  other  crop  that  has 
not  been  liberally  fertilized,  I  should  use  the  Complete 
Manure  for  General  Use,  in  quantity  not  less  than  700 
pounds  per  acre.  I  should  expect  from  this  a  good 
wheat  crop  as  well  as  good  grass  to  follow — to  mow, 
well,  say,  on  my  farm,  two  tons  per  acre  and  upward.” 
“  What  quantity  of  farm  manure  for  wheat  per  acre 
do  you  use,  with 
or  without  fer¬ 
tilizer  ?  ” 
“I  have  not 
grown  wheat 
by  the  applica¬ 
tion  of  farm 
manure  for 
many  years.” 
“  What  have 
been  your 
yields  of  wheat, 
rye  and  grass?” 
“Our  yields 
of  wheat  have 
v  a  r  i  e  d  from 
37%  bushels 
per  acre  down 
to  20  bushels, 
depending  on 
the  season, 
whether  favor¬ 
able  for  the 
wheat  crop  or  not.  Our  hay  crop  has  been,  one  year 
with  another,  from  two  to  three  tons  and  even  3% 
tons  per  acre.” 
“  How  would  you  vary  your  method  for  rye  ?  ” 
“  I  grow  no  rye  and  have  had  no  experience  in  that 
line.  If  I  did,  I  would  not  use  so  large  a  quantity  of 
fertilizer  as  I  use  for  wheat,  rye  being  a  light  feeder.” 
“Do  you  buy  New  York  manure?  If  so,  at  what 
price  ?  ” 
“  I  do  not  buy  any  stable  manure  ;  l  would  not  buy 
it  at  even  $2  per  ton  at  my  station.  I  truly  believe 
that  I  can  accomplish  better  results  with  chemical 
manures  and  at  less  cost  than  with  stable  manure.” 
Fruit  Buds  From  Illinois. 
It  is  likely  that  the  trouble  with  the  blackberries  at 
the  Rural  Grounds  is  due  to  “blight.”  My  Snyders 
had  always  been  healthy  until  the  winter  of  1890  and 
1891,  when  after  a  mild  winter  many  canes  were  found 
dead  in  the  spring.  I  sent  samples  to  Prof.  Burrill  of 
Champaign,  III.,  who  pronounced  it  “blight” — as  I 
recollect,  the  same  as  pear  blight.  I  had  not  noticed 
anything  wrong  with  the  foliage  the  preceding  sum¬ 
mer.  The  disease  has  not  been  serious  this  season. 
Nearly  all  the  cherries  and  three-fourths  of  the 
apples,  peaches,  pears,  plums,  currants  and  goose¬ 
berries  have  fallen  here  in  Sangamon  County,  Ill., 
either  from  the  continued  rains,  or  on  account  of  a 
severe  wind  lasting  about  24  hours  ;  but  the  berry  crop 
is  good  or  promising.  This  is  the  height  of  the  straw¬ 
berry  season,  and  I  expect  to  pick  200  crates  to-day. 
Michel’s  Early  is  worthless  on  my  grounds.  True,  it 
is  a  few  days  earlier  than  the  Crescent,  but  only  two 
pickings  are  of  medium  size,  and  the  yield  is  very 
small.  Haverland,  Bubach,  Crescent  and  Warfield  are 
still  the  popular  kinds  here  for  market.  Curiously 
enough,  this  year  the  Russian  apricots  are  full,  and 
also  the  Japanese  plums. 
I  have  been  spraying  this  year  many  of  my  trees  as 
well  as  grapes,  with  Bordeaux  mixture,  to  which  I 
have  added  the  usual  amount  of  London-purple.  Unex¬ 
pectedly  all  who  held  the  nozzle  found  their  hands 
sore  from  the  action  of  the  mixture  ;  little  holes  being 
often  eaten  through  the  skin,  that  were  difficult  to 
heal.  Lately  I  have  bought  rubber  gloves  or  mittens. 
I  have  never  experienced  or  heard  of  this  difficulty 
before.  benjamin  buckman. 
Scabby  Sheep  Made  Miserable. 
The  poor  thing  shown  at  Figs.  189  and  190  is  about  as 
miserable  as  he  can  be  anyway,  and  it  seems  almost 
wicked  to  add  to  his  trouble  by  picturing  him.  Still, 
some  of  our  readers  have  asked  to  see  a  genuine 
scabby  sheep,  and  here  is  one  as  genuine  as  can  be. 
He  has  the  disease  and  “has  it  bad,”  and  it  is  now 
clear  enough  how  a  scabby  sheep  looks.  This  sheep 
runs  with  a  flock  in  Montana  where  the  photographs 
were  taken.  He  has  had  the  disease  three  months. 
This  “scab”  does  not  trouble  Eastern  sheep  men 
much  except  when  they  buy  Western  ewes  for  raising 
early  lambs  or  wethers  for  fattening.  In  these  cases 
they  sometimes  get  a  few  scabby  sheep  which  must  be 
cured  or  the  trouble  will  spread  all  through  the  flock. 
The  “disease”  is  caused  by  the  work  of  a  minute 
insect  (acarus  scabiei)  which  works  its  way  under  the 
skin  and  causes  intense  irritation  or  itching.  An 
exudation  flows  out  and  dries  upon  the  surface,  form¬ 
ing  a  scab.  If  the  disease  is  neglected  these  scabs  in¬ 
crease  in  size  and  are  kept  raw  and  sore  by  the  sheep 
rubbing  and  biting  itself  until  the  wool  drops  out  and 
the  skin  becomes  raw  and  sore  and  the  sheep  looks 
like  our  poor  iriend  in  the  picture. 
Treatment  consists  in  dipping  the  sheep  in  some 
mixture  that  will  kill  the  insects  and  cure  the  sores. 
Various  preparations  are  sold  all  ready  for  mixing 
with  water.  One  of  the  best  is  Lawford’s,  with  which 
many  of  our  readers  are  familier.  This  dip  is  also 
useful  for  curing  mange  and  other  skin  diseases  in 
dogs  and  other  animals.  To  use  it  a  large  tank  is 
filled  with  dip  properly  mixed  with  water.  The  sheep 
are  driven  up  one  by  one  and  plunged  bodily  into  the 
mixture  and  well  soused  about  in  it.  Then  they  climb 
out  at  the  opposite  side,  where  the  dip  that  clings  to 
their  wool  is  squeezed  out  and  drains  back  to  the 
tank.  Sheep  are  dipped  two  or  three  times  at  inter¬ 
vals  of  a  few  weeks,  to  effect  a  permanent  cure.  Some 
sheep  men  use  a  mixture  of  tobacco  water  and  sulphur 
in  place  of  the  prepared  dips. 
Most  Eastern  farmers  have  not  the  facilities  for  dip¬ 
ping.  Mr.  J.  S.  Woodward  told  us  last  year  how  he 
cures  the  disease.  The  sheep  is  sheared  and  held  up 
while  two  men  with  stiff  brushes  scrub  him  all  over 
with  crude  petroleum,  breaking  the  scabs  and  rubbing 
the  petroleum  well  in.  Mr.  Woodward  says  this  is 
effective  in  every  case. 
How  Death  Comes  to  Chickens. 
SOME  WAYS  IN  WHICH  THEY  ABE  LOST. 
The  poultry  farmer  meets  with  many  drawbacks,  a 
large  proportion  of  which  are  too  often  the  direct  re¬ 
sults  of  his  own  neglect  and  imprudence.  The  writer, 
having  had  some  experience  in  poultry  culture,  and 
doubtless  made  his  own  “  quota  ”  of  blunders  in  his 
time,  would  now  caution  the  readers  of  The  Rural  in 
regard  to  some  of  the  most  common  ways  in  which 
multitudes  of  young  chickens  annually  join  the  silent 
majority. 
The  sitting  hen  needs  watching  at  the  time  of  hatch¬ 
ing.  She  will  perhaps  hatch  out  one-half  or  three- 
fourths  of  the  hatchable  eggs,  and  the  remainder  will 
be  in  various  stages  of  progression,  from  those  in  which 
the  chicks  are  just  pipping  the  shell  to  others  in  which 
they  are  all  but  out.  Now,  just  here  is  where  is  seen 
the  advantage  of  having  two  or  more  hens  “coming 
off  ”  at  the  same  time.  The  chicks  may  be  given  to 
one  of  the  hens  to  take  care  of,  and  the  other  be  left 
on  the  nest  to  complete  the  hatching.  One  must  not 
fail,  however,  to  leave,  say,  one  chicken  in  the  nest 
with  the  hen  which  is  to  continue  sitting,  as  other* 
wise  she  may  very  likely  beeome  discouraged  and  de¬ 
cide  to  drop  the  business.  If,  however,  only  one  hen 
is  hatching,  it  will  pay  to  remove  the  chickens  already 
out  to  a  warm  place  near  the  stove,  and  wrap  them 
cosily  in  flannel.  It  is  very  risky  to  leave  them  in  the 
nest,  as  they  are  very  liable  to  fall  out  and  wander 
away,  while  others  become  chilled  and  die.  If  this 
does  not  occur,  the  hen  often  gets  uneasy,  moves  about, 
steps  upon  and  kills  one  or  more  chicks  in  the  nest,  or 
she  takes  what  chickens  she  has  and  leaves  the  nest 
and  the  eggs  to  take  care  of  themselves.  Hence  the 
advice,  “  watch  the  hen  when  hatching.” 
In  the  next  place,  hens  often  bring  forth  a  brood 
when  no  fitting  place  has  been  prepared  for  them,  and 
they  are  permitted  temporarily  to  live  in  the  barn. 
Especially  is  this  true  with  early  broods.  The  barn 
or  stable  is  warm,  and  the  hen  and  her  chickens  are 
kept  there  for  the  want  of  a  better  place.  But,  alas  ! 
the  horse  or  the  cow  has  a  heavy  foot,  which  is  not 
particular  as  to  where  it  comes  down,  and  in  course  of 
time  more  than  one  chick  is  trampled  to  death.  Hence 
one  should  wait  until  he  has  a  suitable  place  to  rear 
chickens  before  he  commences  to  set  eggs. 
Then  it  is  always  safe  to  reckon  that  chicks  hatched 
under  hens  are  pretty  sure  to  have  lice,  so  it  is  well  to 
doctor  them  at  the  outset.  Use  any  mild  oil,  such  as 
melted  lard,  olive  or  castor  oil,  and  put  only  a  small 
drop  right  on  the  top  of  the  head  of  each  chicken. 
Dust  a  little  tobacco  dust  in  the  feathers  of  the  old 
hen  occasionally,  and  give  her  access  to  a  good  dust 
bath.  These  precautions  will  settle  the  lice  business. 
I  have  never  been  troubled  by  my  own  cats,  although 
five  or  six  are  continually  kept  at  the  yards ;  but  my 
neighbors’  cats  have  in  certain  instances  manifested 
a  decided  liking  for  tender  spring  chickens  In  such 
cases,  moral 
suasion  isn’t  of 
much  use,  and 
it  is  not  safe  to 
rest  before  a 
fresh  mound  of 
earth  marks  the 
spot  of  the  crea¬ 
ture’s  inter- 
As  to 
rats,  if  you  are 
“pestered” 
with  them,  do 
everything  you 
can  think  of 
to  kill  them. 
Shoot  and  poi¬ 
son  ;  fill  their 
holes  with 
glass.  A  trained 
ferret  and  a 
terrier  dog  will 
do  much  in  half 
a  day  in  destroying  them.  They  must  be  exterminated 
at  all  hazards,  as  the  number  of  chicks  one  of  them 
will  destfoy  in  a  single  night  is  astonishing.  Another 
cause  of  loss  arises  from  the  chickens  of  one  hen 
getting  in  with  another  brood.  Perhaps  one  brood 
is  all  white  and  a  black  chicken  gains  admission. 
Before  long  the  little  fellow  is  sure  to  be  killed.  At 
best  he  will  doubtless  be  terribly  injured.  So  be  very 
careful  not  to  allow  broods  which  are  dissimilar  either 
in  age  or  color  to  come  together  as  long  as  the  mother 
hens  are  with  them.  m.  s. 
How  to  Set  the  Flag  Pole. 
“Independence  Day ’’will  soon  be  here,  and  hun¬ 
dreds  of  new  flag-poles  will  be  patriotically 
erected  throughout  the  country  in  this  400th  year 
since  Columbus's  great  discovery.  Our  village  will 
raise  one,  and  already  there  lies  upon  the  green  a 
gigantic  spar  which  will  reach  toward  the  zenith  for 
about  100  feet.  But  how  to  get  up  these  monsters 
without  too  much  risk  and  labor  is  the  question.  The 
plan  pursued  by  the  long-distance  telephone  companies 
is  undoubtedly  the  best.  They  have  adopted  the  larg¬ 
est  kind  of  poles  from  Maine  and  Nova  Scotia,  and  yet 
set  them  easily  and  quickly  with  small  gangs  of  men. 
When  the  hole  is  dug,  six  or  eight  feet  deep,  a  strong 
pole,  a  little  more  than  one-half  the  length  of  the 
large  one  to  be  erected  is  set  very  near  it.  The  big 
pole  is  then  carefully  balanced  across  a  block  to  find 
its  center,  and  a  heavy  rope  is  whipped  around  it  just 
above  this,  and  wetted  to  keep  it  from  slipping.  By 
this  rope  the  pole  is  lifted  bodily.  It  is  drawn  along 
until  this  belt  rope  is  at  the  foot  of  the  post.  Heavy 
rope  and  pulleys  are  then  brought  into  use.  The 
largest  block  is  firmly  attached  to  the  top  of  the  post, 
and  its  mate  is  hooked  in  the  belt  rope  of  the  pole  to 
be  erected,  while  the  strong  line  running  through  both 
works  in  a  third  block  fastened  to  the  post  just  above 
the  earth’s  surface.  I  give  a  rough  sketch  of  the  situ¬ 
ation  just  at  this  time — see  Fig.  191.  Another  repre¬ 
sents  the  critical  moment  when,  suspended  in  mid¬ 
air,  the  great  pole  is  about  to  descend  to  its  proper 
resting  place  in  an  upright  position — see  Fig.  192.  All 
