1893 
349 
THE RURAL NEW-YORKER. 
visible to the naked eye, and their presence indicates 
the character of the tumor. A specific for this abscess 
has been found in the iodide of potassium. For the 
method of treatment and dose, see answer to A. F. M. 
in The Rural of April 22, page 284. I suspect that 
the tumor in this case is due to some other cause and 
would advise trying the application of an active blister 
before resorting to the lumpy-jaw treatment. 2. The 
mare died of anasarca or purpura hmmorrhagica, due 
to debility from some cause. The worms may have 
been an important factor in causing her debility, but 
if so, they were only indirectly the cause of the dea«h 
of the mare. It is safe to say that the worms did not 
eat through her stomach. F. l. kilborne. 
Look at this Cow’s Teeth. 
Subscriber, Hollingsworth, Wash.—My Holstein cow is 
not doing well; the hair comes off in patches and she is 
scabby. She has had good feed and been well housed. 
She calved on February 22, and has about dried up. The 
trouble seems to be in her mouth: when she chews 
her cud she slobbers white foam all over. She is 12 
years old and I want to keep her one more year at 
least. 
Ans. —There appears to be some trouble with the 
teeth. Examine the back teeth to ascertain if any are 
overgrown or decayed. If such are found, they would 
account for her unthrifty condition. Otherwise her 
condition might be due to a variety of causes. Owing 
to her advanced age and the fact that the cow is al¬ 
ready nearly dry, she is probably not worth treating 
with a view to keeping her over. Even if her condi¬ 
tion could be improved, her milk flow under the 
circumstances would be restored only in part, prob¬ 
ably not enough to pay for keeping. F. l. k. 
Running “According To Directions.” 
* J. S. F., PlainHeld, N. J.—l have a Pineland incu¬ 
bator, running in a cellar with a cement floor and 
ceiling. I filled it with 100 eggs, and ran it exactly 
according to the directions given. The first hatch 
produced only seven chickens, the second 20. The 
thermometer registered 103 degrees, or within one 
degree of it, constantly, and, in fact, it seemed to 
work splendidly. My idea is that the cellar must 
have been either too cold or too damp—there is a blue 
mold on bacon hung up in it. The directions told us 
to apply a little moisture about the 10th and fill the 
moisture pans about the 17th day; 85 per cent were 
fertile eggs, yet such poor results The chickens 
seemed unable to break out of the shells. The eggs 
were from White Leghorns, which hatch well under 
hens. The chicks that hatched out were one to two 
days late. I thought that perhaps the thermometers 
were not accurate and sent to the makers for a thor¬ 
oughly good one, but the results were as given above. 
Ans. —There is no doubt that there was too much 
moisture in the incubator. You say you ran it ac¬ 
cording to directions ; these are given for an average 
degree of moisture. Now your place is exceedingly 
wet, while others may be very dry. It is impossible 
for the manufacturers to give explicit directions for 
all localities. You will have to do a little experi¬ 
menting in that direction yourself. When the air 
cell is all filled up with chicken, no room is left for 
the little thing to work, consequently it cannot get 
out. The air cell at the 18th day should cover one- 
fourth of the entire egg. J. h. seeley. 
All About Cement Floors and Walls. 
E. H. O., Blair's Comers, Pa. —How thick should 
sandstone be broken and pounded in for a floor for a 
cow stable and manure shed to make a good, lasting 
job ? How large should a cistern be to hold all the 
liquid from early fall to late spring from the manure 
made by three cows and one* horse ? Should there be 
cut stones laid in cement for the side walls, or should 
they be made of small broken sandstones cemented ? 
Should they be round or square, sloping or straight ? 
How many barrels of Portland cement wiU it take to 
make a good job of the cistern and manure shed floor 
11x15 feet, and the cow stable floor, 10x12 feet, and 
what should be the proportion of the sifted sand to 
the cement, and how long will it take to harden 
enough for use ? 
Ans. —An excellent floor may be made in this way : 
The earth is first properly graded and the stone is 
spread over it. Then with a hammer about eight 
pounds in weight, the stones are broken as they lie on 
the ground, into small pieces on the top ; the blows of 
the hammer cause them to be packed much more sol¬ 
idly than in any other way, while the surface is made 
smooth, and leveled with the finest broken stones. 
Then a thin mortar made of one part of American ce¬ 
ment either Akron, Kingston, Rosendale or Newark, 
(all of which are as good for this purpose as the costly 
imported Portland kind), and three parts of clean, 
sharp sand, is poured and spread over the top of the 
stone and swept in with a corn broom having short, stiff 
straw. The floor is then well rammed with a broad 
rammer, and, as the cement is worked down into the 
stones, more is added. When the whole is worked 
down smoothly, a surface coat is spread an inch thick 
and beaten firmly to make it quite solid. If water 
works to the surface, sand is put on and beaten down 
until it is dry. This makes a tough, durable floor. 
There is no necessity to break the stones any finer than 
will make the surface smooth and hard. The original 
stones should not be in larger pieces than five or six 
inches. A cistern is made by first digging the hole 
half egg-shaped, and laying a broad, flat stone in the 
bottom to stand on ; the wall, made of the same pro¬ 
portions of sand and cement as above mentioned, is 
laid up three inches thick, first laying the bottom and 
then going around the cistern in streaks six or eight 
inches wide, so as to permit the cement of one streak 
to harden before the next is laid on. In this way the 
lining is built up to a shoulder, made near the top, on 
which the beams to hold the cover are laid, and bedded 
in the cement. The plank cover is then laid on them. 
It will be necessary to put a common wooden pump in 
the cistern to remove the liquid. But this is not a de¬ 
sirable way to use this part of the manure, for this 
reason : the liquid contains nearly all the potash and 
nitrogen of the manure, and, if taken from the solid 
part, reduces this in value to a considerable extent and 
makes an unbalanced fertilizer. A better way to 
save the liquid is to make a shallow cemented pit into 
which the liquids may be drained, and throw the solid 
part into it, thus permitting the latter to absorb the 
other. By the addition of a liberal quantity of gypsum, 
(too much of this cannot be used) all odor is kept down, 
and the ammonia formed by the rapid decomposition 
of the urea in the liquid is combined with the gypsum 
and made involatile. If the manure is not able to ab¬ 
sorb all the liquid, any kind of absorbent may be used 
for this purpose. An excellent method is that known 
as Bommer's, which is to lay rails or poles across the 
pit, and pile the manure on these, leaving a space 
under it for the drainage. A pump fixed at one end 
serves to lift any excess of liquid that may gather on 
to the dry manure and keep it moist and prevent ex¬ 
cessive heating. In this way the two parts of the 
manure are kept together and both are improved. If 
liquid manure is ever used alone, it must be consider¬ 
ably diluted with water, or it will burn the plants to 
which it is applied. 
One barrel of cement to three of sand will make 13 
cubic feet of mortar, which will cover 56 feet of floor 
three inches thick. For making concrete with broken 
stones averaging two inches in size, five barrels of the 
stones are mixed with one of cement and three of 
sand, the stones making 20 cubic feet. But as stones 
of this size wiU have 50 per cent of vacant space be¬ 
tween the fragments, this is to be allowed for in esti¬ 
mating the measure of the finished concrete. A con¬ 
crete floor made of broken stones and cement mortar 
will harden sufficiently for use in a week or 10 days. 
The last coat of mortar for the finish is smoothed 
down by means of a piece of plank two feet long by a 
foot wide, and having a long handle placed sloping so 
that it may be conveniently pushed back and forth on 
the fresh cement to make it smooth. Sand is to be 
thrown on the floor to take up any water that may 
work to the surface. H. stewart. 
The Price of Dried Blood. 
O. B., Milan, O.—l. Thinking that the weather would 
continue dry, I sowed 100 pounds of nitrate of soda to 
the acre on oats, sowing both on the same day. There 
have been several quite heavy rains since; is any ni¬ 
trogen left from the soda ? 2. What was dried blood 
worth about two weeks ago? A price list of chemi¬ 
cals sent me by a firm in Baltimore quoted it at $36 
per ton. I ordered some chemicals and blood ; now 
comes the statement: “ We have shipped the fertil¬ 
izing materials ; dried blood has advanced to $50 per 
ton. Now as you will not expect us to sell under the 
market price, we trust this is satisfactory.” 
Ans.— 1. Nitrate of soda is extremely soluble and no 
doubt the heavy and repeated rains washed a good 
part of its nitrogen through the soil. 2. Dried blood 
contains usually about 10 per cent of nitrogen which, 
at 15 cents per pound, would make it worth $30 per 
ton. It also contains about one percent of phosphoric 
acid and less of potash. Generally it is a mixture of 
other animal remains with blood. Nitrogen in this 
form is worth 15 cents, neither more nor less than 
nitrogen in nitrate of soda, and the firm had no right to 
, charge $50 per ton without first notifying you of the 
increase in price, because you can buy nitrogen cheaper 
in nitrate. 
“ Worms ’’ In an Orchard. 
J. D. B., East Carlton, N. Y.—In one of my orchards 
of 400 apple trees, there appeared for the first time 
last year a most destructive army of depredators in 
the shape of worms about three-quarters of an inch 
long, leaving the foliage with a burnt appearance. 
They came the last of May and soon disappeared. We 
went in with a sprayer but too late. A multiplied 
progeny may come again this spring. What prep¬ 
aration shaU I use to get rid of these pests ? At 
what time? Will last year’s visit be likely to in¬ 
jure the crop this year ? These worms on being dis¬ 
turbed would spin down to the ground on their webs. 
What is their name ? How strong a dose of poison 
will do the work effectually without injury to the 
trees ? 
Ans. —From the brief description of the insect and 
its work we are unable to say which one of a half 
dozen species that work in a similar manner may have 
caused the injury. It was undoubtedly the caterpillar 
of some moth, possibly one of the Canker-worms or 
Bud-worms. A timely spraying (probably about May 
15) of the infested trees with Paris-green at the 
rate of one pound to 200 gallons of water would un¬ 
doubtedly have destroyed a majority of them. Last 
year’s depredations, unless very severe, will probably 
not materially lessen the crop this year. The pest 
may or may not appear in increased numbers this year, 
depending upon circumstances little understood. 
Ass’t Ent’ist Cornell Exp. Sta. m. y. slingerland. 
Underdrainage By All Means. 
H. S., Nichols, Conn. —What would be the most 
satisfactory method of draining a meadow sloping 
perceptibly to the north and having a clay subsoil— 
underdrainage or surface drainage by plowing trenches 
two feet deep and 10 feet broad with gentle slopes to 
drive through with machines and teams ? 
Ans. —Surface drainage is always disappointing. It 
is only a half way business. In a few years the hol¬ 
lows become filled and the grass will prevent the pas¬ 
sage of water into them. These too being often soft 
by their wetness are cut up by the "mower and the 
wagons, and the land becomes poached. Thorough 
drainage under ground is the only satisfactory way of 
getting rid of surplus water from the land. It is 
cheapest to do any kind of work in-the best and most 
permanent manner. 
Well Draining of a Swamp. 
J. B. S., Hudson, Mich .—Can a swamp be drained by 
means of a reservoir, and if so, how ? My flat lies 
nearly on a level with the creek; although there is a 
good fall to the latter, it is about a quarter of a mile 
from the swamp. 
Ans. —By a reservoir is probably meant a well dug 
in the swamp to collect the drainage. The effect of 
this depends on the presence of a porous stratum of 
sand or gravel under the swamp. Sometimes a swamp 
is made by a layer of solid hardpan under the surface 
and under this may lie sand or gravel. But in this 
case as the flat is nearly on a level with the stream, 
it is scarcely probable that this mode of drainage will 
apply, unless a pump with a windmill is used to 
take the water from the collecting reservoir. It is a 
case that requires a trial before anything certain can 
be determined. Accurate levels should be made, as in 
many cases the appearance of such ground is decep¬ 
tive, and the fall may be more than is supposed. If a 
swamp is only two feet above the level of any con¬ 
venient outlet it may be drained by open ditches. 
Honey Locust for Posts. 
A. W. B., Brookville, Ind.—ln The Rural, page 285, 
mention is made of Honey Locust—Gleditschia tri- 
acanthos—and we are told “ It will make excellent 
fence posts.” Is that true ? With us it is considered 
worthless for that purpose or any other. The wood 
is said to last but a short time, and, when cut, is 
attacked by insects which soon destroy it. The com¬ 
mon locust, also known as Black Locust, and Yellow 
Locust—Robinia pseudacacia—is a very valuable tree 
for posts, and also for other economical uses. Perhaps 
it is to this that reference is made. 
Ans. —No, we alluded to Gleditschia triacanthos— 
the Honey or Three-thorn locust. This is a very hard 
wood and, as a rule, if we are not mistaken, is valued 
as durable for any purpose. We shall be glad to have 
this opinion discussed. We notice that Dr. Franklin 
B. nough, formerly Chief of the Forestry Division of 
the Department of Agriculture, in his work, Elements 
of Forestry, page 258, is of the same opinion as our¬ 
selves, as he says of the wood of this tree : “ The 
wood is hard, close-grained and suitable for many uses 
in manufacture, and is said to be very durable when 
used as posts.” 
MISCELLANEOUS. 
Subscriber , Delaware, Ohio. —Layers of the old wood 
of Clematis Jackmanni may be made now. Later, 
layers of the new growth may be made, which will 
form roots sooner. The half-ripened wood is the best ( 
for cuttings. 
Frozen Potatoes.— G. K., Zanesville, Ohio.—The Ideal 
potatoes which “were hurried out in a heap about one- 
fifth of which froze, and though the others seemed to 
be good, when cut open they were black in the center 
and only about four bushels sprouted out of 18 bushels 
that seemed to be good,” were probably all injured by 
frost more or less. We do not think that this potato 
is liable to rot at the center. 
