284 
THE RURAL NEW-YORKER. 
April 22 
neat and clean an appearance as possible. Let it hang 
until thoroughly cool. Replace the skin on the hind 
legs. Cover the exposed flesh with clean white cloth, 
then sew up carefully in burlap or bagging, as shown 
in Fig. 110, and the lamb is ready to ship. Send by 
express always. 
Fig. 108 shows an improperly dressed specimen. 
The drawing doesn’t show all the imperfections, but 
a comparison of it with Fig. 107 will give an idea 
of the difference. It was poorly bled, giving the 
meat a dark, unattractive color. The dressing was 
all slouchily done, the back sets were so short that the 
carcass was rolled too far over, breaking some 
of the ribs, the caul was not evenly and neatly 
spread over the kidneys. The two lambs were of 
about equal quality, but the one wouldn’t sell for 
much more than half as much as the other. It would 
have paid well if many of the lambs which are sent 
to this market had been dressed by a professional, 
even though the latter had to be paid a high price for 
his services. Here is an opening for some one. 
f. h. v. 
[Every query must be accompanied by tbe name and address of the 
writer to Insure attention. Before asking a question please see If It Is 
not answered In our advertising columns. Ask only a few questions 
at one time. Put questions on a separate piece of paper.] 
To Tone np an Exhausted Farm. 
H. H. W., Somerset, N. Y. —I have purchased, near 
the shore of Lake Ontario, a farm exhausted by long 
cropping. I want information on the following points: 
1. For pasture and hay on a moderately poor soil on 
which Red clover often failed, what seeds should be 
sown? 2. What is the comparative value of Red and 
Alsike clovers for upland or lowland for pasture and 
hay? 3. Seeding on wheat this spring, what fertilizer 
can I sow to benefit both grass seed and wheat ? 4. 
Having no yard manure, what else is best for an 18. 
year-old apple orchard on dry, gravelly loam ? How 
about thorough summer-fallowing for the trees? 5. 
Where can I get the New York State analyses of the 
different fertilizers ? I also want the names and ad¬ 
dresses of experiment stations in several States, as I 
wish to get their reports. 
Ans. —1. It is very hard to give an intelligent answer 
to this question without knowing the character of the 
soil as to whether sandy, mucky or clayey. At a ven¬ 
ture, I would try an application of hardwood unleached 
ashes, or, say, 100 or 200 pounds of muriate of potash 
and the same quantity of bone flour both together 
and singly, to different plots. I have but little doubt 
that these will be found to cause the clover to flourish 
again ; and where clover succeeds, nothing is equal to it. 
2. On dry, sandy or gravelly land, there is but little 
use in sowing Alsike; while there is not much use in 
sowing Red clover on very low land, or land very wet, 
Alsike thrives best on heavy clay soil, and, if quite wet 5 
provided it is not long under water, it thrives the best 
of all; on a drained soft-maple or black-ash swamp it 
is perfectly at home. Alsike is not a very persistent 
pasture plant, although it will endure moderate crop¬ 
ping with cattle. It grows best in the fore part of the 
season, and does not grow much in very dry weather. 
For hay, it makes a very good quality, but not a large 
quantity. On ordinary soils, it pays well to add two 
or three pounds of Alsike seed per acre. If there be 
any spots where the Red clover kills out with the wet 
or frost, Alsike will there flourish best. 
3. No fertilizer will so stimulate wheat in the early 
spring as some form of nitrogen. This w T ould be 
equally true of Timothy seeding. On the other hand, 
nothing so much benefits clover as potash, especially 
on light soils. I have seen a simple application of 
wood ashes bring up the seed and produce a crop of 
over two tons of clover hay per acre on places where 
sandy knolls had been scraped off, leaving nothing 
but clean sand. At a venture H. H. W. might try 200 
pounds of some good brands of phosphate. 
4. In case of an apple orchard like this, I would put 
on at least 20 sheep per acre, giving them plenty of 
water and, if necessary, protecting the trees with 
chicken wire up three feet. I would put around in 
the orchard troughs made V-shaped and feed the sheep 
every day enough of a mixture of equal parts, by 
weight, of bran and new-process oil meal to keep them 
thriving. Of course, the troughs should be continu¬ 
ally moved about the orchard so that the sheep should 
be fed as evenly as practicable in each part. Summer 
fallowing would add nothing to the orchard. It would 
only kill the grass and keep down the weeds. This 
would prevent the grass from taking all the moisture 
from the soil to the detriment of the trees, especially 
if the season was dry. By putting on 20 sheep to the 
acre, the grass would be kept eaten down like a road¬ 
side, every weed would be exterminated, and a large 
quantity of the very best manure would be evenly 
scattered over the orchard. The 20 sheep would prob¬ 
ably require about 10 pounds of the mixture per day, 
or 70 pounds per week, which would cost about 60 
cents, or three cents each for the sheep. If they were 
of the right kind, they would gain enough to pay for 
this. Besides, the manure which would result from 
the feeding for 26 weeks—as they should be kept in 
from the first or middle of April until fruit was fit to 
pick—would amount as follows : 810 pounds of linseed 
meal, containing a little over 48 pounds of nitrogen, 
worth .$7 83; 13,8 pounds of potash, worth 8.55; 21 
pounds of phosphoric acid, worth $1.47 ; 810 pounds of 
bran, containing 17 8 pounds of nitrogen, worth $3.02; 12 
pounds of potash, worth $.48 ; 26 pounds of phosphoric 
acid, worth $1.82—making an aggregate manurial 
value of $15.17. Now, if it be admitted that the sheep 
will take 10 per cent of the manurial value from the 
feed—which is not true in the case of full-grown sheep 
—there will still be left $13 66 worth of the very ele¬ 
ments needed by the trees. As the first co?t of the 
feed was only $15.60, either the sheep will have been 
kept 26 weeks for a ridiculously small sum—$1.94—or, 
if their growth pays for the first cost of the feed, the 
manure will have been added for nothing. I have said 
nothing of the advantages of having sheep in an or¬ 
chard as insect destroyers, which would be worth a 
great deal 5. Apply at the experiment station at 
Geneva, N. Y. By all means write for and read and 
study the bulletins from the State Experiment Sta¬ 
tions at Geneva and Cornell University at Ithaca. N. Y., 
and the station at Madison., Wis., as well as the cen¬ 
tral station at Washington, D. C. j. s. woodward. 
Soaking Potato Seed for Scab. 
D. E. 0., East Hampton, N. Y. —1. How long before 
the potatoes are planted should they be soaked in the 
mercuric bichloride solution ? According to the late 
article in The Rubai, they are to be soaked 1% hour ; 
can they be soaked a few days before, or must they be 
soaked the same day they are planted ? 2. Will it be 
necessary to apply the Bordeaux Mixture during their 
growth ? 3. Would it be advisable to dry them with 
plaster after they have been soaked. We usually dry 
them with plaster when we cut them, so they will not 
shrink. 4. I wish to purchase a few cows; will the 
milk of one teat be a fair sample to test from, as the 
owners do not want to milk them, for the calves are 
sucking them, but are willing to let me have the milk 
of one teat to make a test ? 
Ans. —1. Just before planting would probably be 
the best time. The disease is supposed to be of fungoid 
origin and the fungus may by contact easily pass from 
one potato to another. 2. Probably, yes. It would, at 
any rate, be safer to apply the dilute Bordeaux Mix¬ 
ture, since the germs of the disease may be in the soil. 
3. Unless the tubers are to be kept in barrels or heaps 
for several days we see no reason why plaster would 
do any good. 4. Yes, it ought to be a fair sample. 
Turnips for Green Manuring. 
C. F. C., Elgin, Mieh .—I have three acres of sandy 
land covered with big pine stumps, which produced 
last year 11)4 bushels of buckwheat to the acre. I 
intended to sow Medium clover alone this spring, but 
am unable to purchase the seed. I remember reading 
in The Rural a few years ago a statement of the 
amount of nirogen, potash and phosphoric acid con¬ 
tained in a crop of 800 bushels of turnips. I do not 
remember the exact amounts, tut I think it aggre¬ 
gated 480 pounds and the turnip crop was credited with 
three per cent of mineral matter. Now unless I have 
made a mistake three per cent of 48,000 pounds is 
1,440 pounds. In view of these facts I am tempted to 
cultivate the land thoroughly until about July 1, then 
sow to turnips and use these as a fertilizer and sow 
clover a year hence. If the spring is as wet as the 
last, I fear I shall lose considerable of the small stock 
of available fertility before July 1. Would it be better 
to sow oats, cut them for hay or turn them under 
before sowing the turnips ? Two advantages occur to 
my mind in favor of sowing to turnips : 1, The seed 
costs but a trifle, while clover seed is $10 per bushel: 
2, the turnip crop is got in one year, while the clover 
requires two. 
Ans. —Our opinion of turnips as a fertilizer is that 
they form a good source of humus without adding 
much of any actual fertility to the soil. It is a good 
crop for a market gardener who is short of stable 
manure. The turnips grow quickly and give him a 
great bulk of vegetable matter to be plowed under. 
Then by using chemical fertilizers he has a good sub¬ 
stitute for stable manure—including the smell. A ton 
of turnips will contain about the following substances 
as compared with average barnyard manure fairly 
well rotted : 
Turnips. Pounds. Manure. Pounds. 
Water. 1,790 W T ater. 1,500 
Ash. 20 Ash. 116 
Vegetable matter... 190 Vegetable matter... 384 
Total. 2,000 2,000 
By “ash” is meant the part of the turnips that will 
not burn, and by vegetable matter the portion that 
will burn—like straw or stems. The ton of turnips 
contain of fertilizing substances about 3% pounds of 
nitrogen, 7% of potash and two of phosphoric acid 
with a total fertilizing value of 99 cents—rather less 
than half the value of a ton of average stable manure. 
You will see that the crop contains only one per cent 
of mineral matter. In manuring with turnips we 
should consider that the crop added nothing directly 
to the fertility of the soil, but that by adding chem¬ 
icals we could, with the decaying vegetable matter, 
obtain a good substitute for stable manure without 
plowing in a sod. Tbe same result would be obtained 
by turning in sheep to eat the turnips and feeding 
them on grain. In this case, the manure dropped on 
the land, would contain most of the manurial value in 
the grain and turnips. If we were to use turnips as 
a fertilizer for clover, we should use with them a fair¬ 
dressing of wood ashes or a potash salt like kainit or 
muriate. 
Is The Mare Going: Blind? 
C. W., Eugene, Oregon. —My mare has been greatly 
troubled with sore eyes for two or three years. A 
friend told me that her colt-teeth were the cause and 
to have them pulled. I did so, and she improved for 
the time, but the trouble returned. A white film 
spreads over her eye and a watery fluid constantly 
runs out down her face and forms a sticky mass. It 
seems to cause pain as she keeps her eye closed much 
of the time. Her right eye causes the most trouble; 
the left is also afflicted in the same way but not so 
seriously. I wash them with tepid water and Castile 
soap. 
Ans. —If the trouble is periodic, improving after 
each attack only to suffer another attack after a 
regular interval of a month or more, and growing 
worse after each recovery, the mare is suffering from 
periodic or recurring ophthalmia, for which there is no 
satisfactory treatment. But if the condition continues 
without such well marked periods, it is simple ophthal¬ 
mia due to some local irritation, injury and disease, 
and may be benefited by treatment. Her colt or wolf 
teeth had nothing to do with the trouble. That colt 
teeth affect the eyes is an old nonsensical idea of some 
horsemen, which has no foundation beyond the fact 
that young horses sometimes have the eyes affected, 
by sympathy at the time of the eruption of the back 
molars of the upper jaw, which are directly under the 
eyes. When due to this cause the eyes recover as soon 
as the inflammation of the cutting teeth has subsided. 
If possible it would be well to call a competent vet¬ 
erinarian to ascertain the probable cause in this case. 
Do not use soap or other irritants on the eyes without 
the advice of a veterinarian. In the absence of any¬ 
thing better cold water alone would be good and 
much safer. An excellent wash which may be used 
to bathe the inflamed eyes, or preferably, with which 
to wet a cloth which is hung over the eyes, is made by 
dissolving one-half dram o f sulphate of zinc and lead 
acetate with one-fourth dram of morphia in one 
quart of soft water. To remove the white film, a 
weak solution of nitrate of silver, two or three grains 
to an ounce of water, may be used, the eyeball being 
lightly touched once daily with a small camel’s hair 
brush or feather dipped in the solution. f. l. k. 
Tuberculosis In A Heifer. 
S. N. C., Thompson, Pa —What ailed my grade Jer¬ 
sey two-year-old heifer, due to calve about the last of 
December? Her bag was caked quite hard and ran 
along the belly very large, but otherwise she did not 
appear ready to come in. She seemed all right until 
within three days before she died. She chewed her 
cud within two hours of her death. On opening her I 
found something as large as her heart right beside her 
heart, and on her inwards and quarters inside, a good 
many “ junks ” as large as a man’s thumb, like fat. 
She had nothing but hay to eat. 
Ans. —The heifer died of tuberculosis or consump¬ 
tion. The deposits or lumps were tuberculous. There 
was no cure for her. If you have other cows that are 
unthrifty or with a chronic cough, I would advise you 
to have them examined by a competent veterinarian, 
and if found diseased to isolate or destroy them, to 
prevent the infection of your healthy cattle. The dis¬ 
ease is communicable to man in the same fatal form. 
F. L,. K. 
Lumpy Jaw in a Cow. 
A. F. M., Martinsburg, Mo. —A five-year-old cow 
commenced drooling about January 1, and soon after I 
noticed an enlargement under the tongue, between 
the jaw bones, extending nearly the length of the 
jaw, and now it hangs down about three inches below 
the jaw. I cannot see anything wrong in the mouth. 
She chews her cud, but with some difficulty. 
She is losing flesh, but keeps up nearly the usual 
flow of milk. Her feed is mixed Timothy and clover 
hay, corn meal and bran. She does not eat quite 
as much as formerly, and some days she eats but little. 
What is the remedy ? Is it contagious ? Is there 
danger in using the milk ? 
Ans.—T he symptoms rather indicate a case of acti- 
