1893 
525 
THE RURAL NEW-YORKER 
hotter and drier, and woe to the cattle that invade 
their lair. Their natural instinct causes them to 
pounce upon the cattle as their lawful prey. An idea 
of their numbers may be gained by taking a short 
stroll in August clad in white linen pantaloons through 
the woods or fields they infest. Many hundreds will 
be found to have attached themselves in an incredibly 
short time. They are mere specks, and such small 
ones in the bargain that, except for their locomotion, 
they would scarcely be recognized as living beings in 
spite of straining the naked eye to its utmost. Small 
*vhey are, but their bite is terrible, and they all seem 
to bite at once. In biting qualities and persistency in 
doing so, they discount the mosquito considerably. 
How They Bite When They Come. 
The Northern farmer can form an adequate idea of 
how a mosquito bite feels. Now greatly intensify 
this pain, multiply it by several thousands, prolong it 
for days and weeks, and then imagine, if you can, the 
suffering undergone by the cattle to which the ticks 
show a special liking. It is enough to throw man or 
beast into an intense fever, poisoning the blood, dis¬ 
ordering the entire system, and in only too many in¬ 
stances proving fatal. This very spring I was bitten 
by a tick—the species I did not note at the time— 
above the ankle, and on the following day the entire 
limb felt feverish, and walking was painful. It is 
weeks since, but I can still show the mark of the bite, 
as it left a festering sore. My aim is to have my cat¬ 
tle freed night and morning from all ticks, but in 
spite of this, and although spring has just opened, 
they present a considerably blotched appearance, 
with many swellings larger than a bird’s egg. The 
last days of April were hot, and on them the most 
damage was done. I do not know it to be a fact, but 
have every reason to believe that the bite of ticks, 
like that of many other insects, is accompanied by a 
specific poison. The inflammation causes the part to 
become more tender, and this suits their requirements 
exactly. 
The attentive reader will have observed that the 
period of fatal so-called Texas fever coincides with 
the period of special activity among the ticks, and 
that the milder cases occur before their number has 
increased, or after it has diminished in magnitude. 
Furthermore, the temperature is lower, the atmos¬ 
phere more humid, both of which tend to decrease 
their activity, and, later in the season, suspend it en¬ 
tirely. Another fact is not to be overlooked. The 
fatal period coincides with the time when our past¬ 
ures are parched and flies and other insects are 
troublesome, so that on the one hand the cattle are 
kept in a constant fidget and worry, while on the 
other their food is not of the most digestible nature, 
thereby predisposing them to become victims to the 
bite of the ticks and the constant propagation of the 
minute organism that destroys the red blood corpuscles. 
The second brood does not appear until some time 
in the fall; too late to do much serious damage, save 
in exceptional seasons. The fact that healthy cattle 
become inoculated in pastures temporarily occupied 
by other healthy cattle, while, on the other hand, the 
chances are against their being so inoculated by cattle 
which actually suffered from Texas fever and died 
thereof, can easily be accounted for, but, in so 
doing, we still further demonstrate that no disease 
was transferred from the cattle and that the ticks 
alone must be held responsible. 
In the first instance, the cattle were proof against 
the virus of the ticks, dropped some of them, these 
laid their eggs and in due season the young were 
hatched and attacked the healthy cattle subsequently 
occupying the same pasture. In the second instance, 
the sick cattle that died had on their bodies immature 
ticks, if any, and these were destroyed along with the 
carcasses, or, if they escaped, few, if any, got on sub¬ 
sequent cattle, and before they could attain maturity 
and bring forth a brood, the season was so far advanced 
as to render them harmless, at most producing mild 
cases of Texas fever which passed unnoticed, as is 
frequently the case. J. c. senger. 
(To be continued.) 
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CORN CUT BY MACHINERY. 
Within the past few years quite a good many devices 
for cutting corn in the field have been introduced. 
Most of the cheaper tools work on the principle of a 
sled with knives at the side to slice or cut off the corn. 
The knives project at each side of the sled, so that 
when it is drawn alongside the row the knives slice 
off the stalks close to the ground, while a man or two 
men standing on the sled, catch the stalks and pull 
them into bundles as they fall. We sent the follow¬ 
ing questions to parties who have been using the 
“ Scientific ” corn cutter—one of the best of the class : 
1. How does this method of cutting corn compare with the old hand 
method for speed, cost and effectiveness ? 2. How does It work In 
corn that Is blown down V 3. Does It work equally well In drilled or 
hilled corn ? 4. How much can you cut In a day and what force of 
team and men Is needed to run It ? 5. Ever had any accident with it ? 
6 How often do you sharpen the knives? 7. How many rows do you 
cut at once ? 8. In what respects Is It superior or Inferior to the old 
way of cutting? 9. Do you consider your harvester an Indispen¬ 
sable tool on the farm ? 
1. It is far superior and causes a great saving of 
time, money and labor. 2. Very well. 3. Yes. 4. In 
heavy corn, 12 rows to a shock; 140 shocks and up¬ 
wards can be cut by two men and one horse. 5. No. 
6. Not over once in a season, except on account of an 
accident. 7. Two. 8. It is superior in every way as 
stated in the first answer. 9. Yes. Money could not 
buy it if I could not get another. JOHN s. .judson. 
1. It does the work more easily and cheaply. 2. 
It won’t work well in corn that is badly down. 3. It 
does best on drilled corn. 4. From one to two acres 
can be cut by one horse and two men. 5. Yes, one : a 
boy cut his knuckle slightly. G. Once a year. 7. Two. 
8. It does the work more easily and spee lily. 9. Yes, 
if I intended to cut corn with it. asa turner. 
Cook County, Iowa. 
1. One can cut eight acres a day if he has a fast¬ 
walking horse. The cost here would be $1 GO per day 
or about one-fourth that of the old way. 2. If the 
corn is not down too badly it works very well. 3. It 
works just the same on drilled or hilled corn. One 
dees not have to stop so often to put an arm-load 
down. 4. It takes two men to work the cutter and 
one horse and two men will cut eight acres a day. 
5. There have been no accidents, though I have used 
it four years. (5. I have sharpened the knives only 
three times since I got it. 7. We cut two rows at 
once. 8. In the first place, cutting corn in this way 
is much easier than doing so in the old way, and in 
the second, one can do much more in a day. We cut 
16 hills before we stop to put them in a shock ; that 
makes a good arm-load. 9. I consider a corn cutter 
or harvester an indispensable tool on a farm if there 
is much corn to be cut, and would not be without one 
for any money. frank krips. 
Somerset County, Md. 
I have had one season’s experience in the operation 
of a corn harvester, and within that limit make the 
following statement : When operated by two men and 
one horse it can perform the work of four or five men. 
My test was made in corn that was fai- ly erect. It 
would not work so successfully in corn that was blown 
down. 1 should say that it would cut drilled corn 
quite as well as hilled. There have been no accidents 
with it.. It is not necessary to sharpen the knives 
any more frequently than one would sharpen other 
tools. It cuts two rows at one time. Its superiority 
over hand cutting consists in the rapidity with which 
it dispatches the work and the saving involved therein. 
I do not consider it an indispensable tool upon the 
farm, although it is a valuable one. 
Iowa. ’ JAMES G. BERRYHILL. 
The Make and Use of Grape Juice. 
J. K , Ohio. —Mr. Taber, page 464 tells about using 
the “black bottle.” How does he prepare the grape 
juice so it will keep ? 
Ans. —Bottling grape juice is as simple as canning 
fruit. It must be kept in a cool place and used soon 
after opening, the same as canned fruit, for exposure 
to the air will start fermentation. The process is 
simple: Use pure juice from ripe grapes; strain to 
remove any portions of pulp that remain in the juice 
as it comes from the press, heat to nearly the boiling 
point and bottle while hot. Put no sugar or anything 
else in it. Bottle as soon as you can after it has been 
pressed from the grapes so that 1 here can be no chance 
for fermentation, and you have the most healthful and 
invigorating drink that can be found, as it contains 
everything to make pure, healthy blood and nothing 
of a deleterious character which we find in most of 
the prepared drinks, hard and soft, of the present day. 
I hope and believe that the time will come when it 
will be put on the market at such a price that it will 
supplant much, and I would that I could say all of the 
soul-destroying, crime-inciting, vile alcoholic com¬ 
pounds which are consumed in such vast quantities at 
the present time. Walter f. taber. 
Fertilizer for Celery. 
W. C. J ., Toronto .—I have a plot of a quarter of an acre 
of White Plume celery set in double rows five inches 
apart, the plants of one row set in the openings of 
the other, the double rows being 16 inches apart. On 
this plot there was celery last year, planted on sod 
and mulched between the rows with manure. Being 
scarce of the latter, only a light coat was put on this 
year, and a tall growth of weeds was plowed down 
and the celery planted the first two weeks in July. 
Now, 1, what fertilizers will give me the best results? 
2. How much should I apply ? 3. Will it be better to 
apply at first close to the plants and, later, over all ? 
4. Will nitrate of soda alone be sufficient, say in two 
applications, without other fertilizer ? If so, how 
much at each application ? All I care for is to get the 
best results for this crop, without regard to any fu¬ 
ture one. The soil is a sandy loam. Water can be 
used with a hose from a hydrant. 
Ans. —On this area of land we should use two bags 
(400 pounds) of one of the ready mixed celery fertil¬ 
izers, if they can be obtained readily. It is a bother 
to try to mix small lots like this when the ingre¬ 
dients must be bought separately. We do not think 
the nitrate of soda alone will prove enough, still this 
is only a guess. A good celery fertilizer should ana¬ 
lyze about four per cent nitrogen, nine of phosphoric 
acid and six of potash. A mixture of 125 pounds ni¬ 
trate of soda, 50 pounds muriate of potash and 250 
pounds of a good superphosphate will give you the 
equivalent of 400 pounds of fertilizer. 
What Alls the Dewberries ? 
F. 11. F., Plainville, Ohio. —1. What causes my dew¬ 
berry patches to fail to make a crop after the fourth 
year ? Is it because the heavy crops weaken the vines 
until they are an easy prey to the insects, and would 
heavy manuring or fertilizing do any good? A good 
many vines die after the berries get to be of good size 
in my old patch. 2. Is there any remedy for the in¬ 
sect that causes the lumps on the canes ? Are the 
vines hard to get rid of when one wants to remove 
a patch ? 3. How long should a patch last ? 
Ans. —1. We guess that anthracnose has to do with 
the death of the vines. Spraying with the Bordeaux 
Mixture would help. Possibly, however, the soil 
needs food. In that case apply ashes (unleached) and 
raw bone flour. 2. The only remedy is to burn the 
infected caiies. 3. We have blackberries and dew¬ 
berries thriving well in soil where they were planted 
from 5 to 15 years ago. 
Snnff and Soap for Insects. 
F. L. H., San Antonio , Texas. —1. What insecticide 
should I use on cucumber, pumpkin and muskmelon 
vines? The insects are mostly striped beetles. 2. In 
the kerosene emulsion, will no other kind than whale 
oil soap do ? 
Ans. —1. Tobacco snuff is a good general insecticide 
for such purposes; pyrethrum powder or Buhach, if 
blown upon the insects, is also good; so too is hellebore. 
The latter and Buhach may be more economically used 
if stirred in water and forced through a nozzle. 2. 
Any kind will do. Whale-oil soap in itself is an in¬ 
secticide. Many use soft soap. 
What Weakened the Hen Manure ? 
S. K. M., Dwnxhamthorpe, Ont .—I made a mixture for 
turnips composed of hen manure, land plaster, salt, 
ashes, and lime. When I began mixing it, there was 
not the least scent of ammonia, but, before I got 
through, the ammonia was quite strong, and, when I 
took it out of the bag to sow it, the ammonia was so 
strong that I had to hold my head to one side. I 
would like to know what liberated the ammonia, and 
if there is anything that will hold it, or is it best to 
get it into the ground as soon as possible ? 
Ans. —We do not know how much of the ashes you 
used, but both the ashes and the lime would act to set 
free the ammonia. You should use plaster alone and 
apply the ashes by themselves. The best way is to 
scatter plaster under the roosts, say three times a 
week. When you clean out the hen houses, put the 
manure in a dry place by itself, and add more plaster. 
In the spring it will be hard and dry, and can be 
crushed and broken up by a heavy shovel and iron 
rake. We would never add wood ashes to this, but 
apply by themselves. 
When to Pick Plums. 
E. A. '1., Croton, 0 .—How may I know when my 
Lombard plums are just right to pick for a nearby 
market ? Can I gather them all at one picking ? 
Ans. —For a nearby market the Lombard plums will 
be just right to pick as soon as they are full-grown 
and perfectly colored. They should be ripe in your 
locality early in August, and may be left on the tree 
until quite ripe and a little mellow. For distant ship¬ 
ment they should be gathered a little earlier and while 
quite firm. They should be a handsome violet red 
when fully ripe. They could hardly be all gathered 
at one time, unless the crop is very light. The eye 
and taste should be all that is necessary to enable one 
to judge the proper time and method, a. w. Campbell. 
What About This Pear Tree ? 
'1. A R., Address Mislaid .—In my garden I have a 
pear tree—Clapp’s Favorite—growing in cultivated 
ground. It is to all appearances healthy and thrifty, 
having made as much as 12 inches new growth already 
this season. It has blossomed for three years. Within 
a few days after the blossoms fall, the fruit stems also 
decay and drop off, not one being left, and this has 
happened each year of bloom. Can you give me any 
reason for this or suggest any remedy ? I do not care 
to destroy the tree, for it is a really handsome one, 
but would like to see it bear fruit if possible. 
Ans. —We would first convince ourselves that it is 
really Clapp’s Favorite. We have never heard of this 
variety acting as our friend describes. We submit 
the question to our readers. 
