1894 
THE RURAL NEW-YORKER. 
457 
sold her in the summer, and I don’t think there has 
been anything wrong with her since. The next fall, 
I sold the other one that had been but little affected. 
Both of these I sold to one man, and I think they have 
been all right. I bought another common cow, and in 
winter when put in the stable, she got the same trou¬ 
ble while suckling her calf some three weeks old. She 
would grunt, did not want her back touched, would 
not eat much for two weeks, and seemed chilled. I 
sold her with her calf. 
Last December I bought a large, strong cow part 
Jersey and the very picture of health. Last February, 
she went off her feed, was chilly, and grunted, hunched 
up her back and did not want it touched. In about 
three weeks she apparently came back all right and I 
have her yet. I did not put her out on pasture until 
June 20 , I cut grass for her and gave her meal, and 
about two days before I turned her out she went off 
her feed and acted nearly the same way as the others. 
She would not eat or drink for two days and grunts a 
little. She doesn’t seem to have much life, or care to 
move. She is now gradually improving. All these 
cows fell off in their milk while unwell, of course, and 
came back again ; and all of the milk was good except 
the one that had the garget—at least it had the 
appearance of being good. All these cows had good, 
clean feed, corn and oats, and bran at different times 
through the winter, beets, turnips and sweet apples, 
and sometimes mixed feed, never more than six quarts 
of feed at a meal. They had good water every day, 
pumped from a well at our house into a half barrel and 
conveyed from this through a galvanized pipe into 
another half barrel at the barn that sits in the division 
between the two cows. I never kept more than two 
at a time. In summer I staked them out, always on 
good clean ground. What was wrong, the cause and 
how should it be guarded against ? 
The first cow I owned after I moved here more than 
15 years ago, was common stock. I owned her two 
winters and one summer, and sold her in June the 
second summer. Less than two months after I sold 
her she began giving thick milk, her udder got hard 
and her teats and udder broke out in sores. She acted 
very much Jike the Guernsey. 1 think it very strange 
that every cow I have owned for 15 years, or since 
being here (and the only ones I have had in my life) 
should be affected. I have been buying my hay from 
different farmers each year, and sometimes several 
miles apart. It can’t be in the feed or water. 
Ans. —I am of the opinion that the trouble, in the 
main, is in the care and diet of the cows. In two or three 
cases, you give symptoms characteristic of indigestion 
or impaction as from overfeeding on grain. In the first 
case of the Jersey, if she was not very thin in flesh, 
she was probably injured in some way. The Guern¬ 
sey evidently had tuberculosis, so that your cows have 
not all suffered from quite the same trouble. Possibly 
tuberculosis may have been present in some of the 
other cases ; the symptoms given are not sufficiently 
marked to enable me to give a positive diagnosis. By 
way of prevention or treatment, I can only advise ex¬ 
ercising a little more care, if possible, in their manage¬ 
ment. Possibly you feed too much grain. If the trou¬ 
ble occur again, it would be well to consult the best 
veterinarian at hand, or a successful dairyman, so that 
they can personally examine the animals and sur¬ 
roundings, to ascertain wherein lies the trouble. 
F. L. K. 
A Bad Case of G-areret. 
M. T. S. {No Address .)—About a month ago, one- 
quarter of the bag of one of my best cows began to 
swell, and the milk seemed to turn to water. A few 
days after, she gave curdy milk, and did so for about 
two weeks ; then she seemed to get better. Now one 
other quarter, and I am afraid it will be half, is acting 
in a like manner. Can I do something to save these 
parts of the udder ? As she was bred to a Guernsey 
bull (she being about three-fourths Jersey), is it likely 
that she will transmit the weakness to her offspring ? 
Axs.—The inflammation of the udder is due either 
to an injury or to some fault in the care or diet of the 
cow. Frequent bathing with hot water, followed by 
camphorated spirit or belladonna ointment, would re¬ 
lieve the inflammation. If the inflammation is severe 
or persistent, a pound of Epsom salts may be given to 
advantage, to open the bowels ; and 25 to 30 drops of 
tincture of aconite with a tablespoonful of saltpeter, 
given three or four times daily. Feed sparingly on a 
laxative diet until the garget has disappeared. It is 
not likely that she will transmit the tendency to her 
offspring. f. l. k. 
liook at this Mare’s Bridle. 
W. F.f Maryville, Mo .—My driving mare, seven years 
of age, appears all right in every way until put into 
the harness. She then begins to toss and shake her 
head, sometimes almost frantically. Veterinarians 
cannot discover the cause, but think it a brain trouble. 
The mare has no bad habits, is gentle and a fine 
traveler. She had an attack of the mange lately, but 
that has yielded to remedies applied, and she appears 
sound in every way. She has been in pasture, with 
an occasional feed of grain. She is a valuable animal, 
and I do not like to lose the use of her through the 
summer months. 
Ans.— The trouble is apparently due either to an ill- 
fitting or uncomfortable bridle or bit, or to a habit 
acquired from nervousness or the previous use of an 
ill-fitting bridle. Examine the bridle to make sure that 
it is comfortable on the mare’s head. Then try it both 
with and without the bit; or try another style of 
bridle. In this way endeavor to ascertain if any part 
of the harness annoys the mare. If the cause of the 
annoyance can be ascertained, it only remains to 
change or remove the part; otherwise, I can only sug¬ 
gest that you place the mare with a good trainer, for 
the purpose of correcting the habit, if possible. 
F. L. K. 
Insects on Hollyhocks. 
N. A. W., Alpowa, Wash. —I inclose some live in¬ 
sects, large and small, they were found together on a 
hollyhock plant and have nearly destroyed the plants. 
What are they ? 
Ans.— These hollyhock pests belong to two widely 
separated and distinct species of insects; one was a 
Chrysomelid beetle (Chrysomela sigmoides), and the 
other a curious sucking insect belonging to the family 
of Tingids or Lace flies, and christened Corythuca 
fuscigera by the “ bug-hunter.” The beetles are 
about as large and of the same shape as the Colorado 
beetle, but are of a light, greenish yellow color and 
curiously marked with curved black stripes. The 
beetles and their early grub or larval stage feed in a 
manner similar to the Colorado beetle; in fact the 
beetle is closely related to the well-known potato pest. 
Nothing has been recorded of the early stages of this 
hollyhock pest. The correspondent can doubtless 
find the grubs and possibly the eggs on the plants ; 
the grubs will resemble in shape, but probably not in 
color those of the potato beetle; and the eggs are 
doubtless laid in masses on the under side of the leaves. 
Spraying with the arsenites will keep this beetle pest 
in check, but it will have but little if any effect on 
the other pest for the Lace fly is a sucking insect and 
the poisons would be of no avail. The Lace flies are 
small, flat insects, about one-eighth of an inch in 
length. The reticulated and gauze-like structure of 
their wing-covers gives these insects such a character¬ 
istic appearance that they need only to be once seen 
to be recognized in the future. They often occur in 
great numbers on the leaves of trees and shrubs. 
Their eggs are laid in groups on the leaves in the 
spring, by females which have hibernated under 
leaves and other rubbish. The eggs are very minute 
and resemble the frustum of a cone with a porous lid. 
The young insects resemble the adults in shape, but 
often have many spines projecting from the body, so 
that they have been compared to the lobe of a prickly 
cactus. The young shed their skins from time to 
time and these cast-off “ clothes ” stick to the leave 
and so nearly resemble the living insects as often to 
give the plant the appearance of being much more 
seriously infested than it really is. This Lace fly pest 
may be controlled by spraying with kerosene emulsion 
or resin wash. Care should be taken not to use these 
substances too strong, for the hollyhock may be quite 
susceptible to their action. The burning of all leaves 
and rubbish in the fall and spring might prove an 
effective means of destroying the hibernating insects. 
M, V. 8LIN6EBLAND. 
The Use of Kainit in Germany. 
J. H. S., New York. —In accounts of German and 
French farming, I notice that most farmers use kainit 
for their supply of potash, while farmers in this 
country are advised to use muriate. Why is this ? 
Ans.— The reason why kainit is used in Germany in 
preference to concentrated salts, is simply because it 
is cheaper. Potash in the form of kainit is much 
cheaper in Germany than in any other material. Of 
course, the greater distance it has to be shipped, the 
more expensive it becomes, until a point is reached, 
where it ceases to be as cheap a source of potash as 
the muriate. In the United States, muriate of potash 
is the cheapest source of potash in every State except 
two; these are Delaware and New Jersey ; in each of 
these kainit is cheaper than the muriate. In Mary¬ 
land, the pfice of potash in kainit comes very near to 
the price in the form of muriate. The further you go 
from the coast, the more the kainit will cost. In Min¬ 
nesota, for example, a pound of potash in the form of 
kainit will cost 7.52 cents, while in muriate the cost is 
only 5.13 cents per pound, and in sulphate of potash, 
six cents. The reason why such large quantities of 
kainit are used in Germany is because agriculture is 
conducted on a more rational basis. The farmers 
there are receiving much larger returns from the same 
acreage than here, large quantities of fertilizers are 
used, and the cultivation of the soil is also better. The 
consumption of kainit last year in Germany alone was 
420,000 tons. B. van henff. 
Burs in the Peas. 
W. H. O., Cleveland, 0. —I send a few pods of the 
Advance pea. One or more peas in each pod has what 
looks like the prick of a pin, but if the skin be care¬ 
fully turned back, it discloses a cavity with a green 
worm tucked away inside. In some cases, they may 
be seen with the naked eye, but a glass makes them 
look rather unpalatable. I also find that there are 
many little yellow insects on the vines and pods, and 
very often find them with the glass, half under the 
skin, and in several cases I found them inside the pod, 
but somewhat changed in appearance ; so I conclude 
that they are responsible for the worm. I also find 
some of the insects, but not so many, on the American 
Wonder. I have torn up the Advance vines with 
bushels of peas and destroyed them. Is there any 
way of preventing the same trouble with my later 
peas ? Our soil is clay, well underdrained and heavily 
manured, having formerly been a grape vineyard. 
Ans. —We guess this insect is the pea weevil. The 
female deposits its eggs just beneath the skin of the 
pea. The grub eats its way into the young peas, and 
we eat the grubs with the peas. If not eaten, the 
grub changes to the mature weevil so often seen 
creeping out of the seeds (through a small, round hole), 
which, if not destroyed, will be ready again to deposit 
its eggs the next season. Bisulphide of carbon is a 
positive remedy. A small quantity placed on top of 
the seeds, which should be in a tight receptacle will 
kill every one. As its vapor is very inflammable, it is 
a dangerous remedy if used without caution. Its vapor 
is heavier than the air, so that when a piece of cotton 
saturated with the bisulphide is placed in a closed ves¬ 
sel of seed peas, the vapor will penetrate every part 
and destroy the pea weevil. 
“Mussel Mud” as a Fertilizer. 
G. S. P., Winslow, Me. —What is the method of farm¬ 
ing in New Brunswick, based on the application of 
“mussel mud?” An acquaintance has been telling 
me of a large farm on the Bay of Chaleur, on which 
are 100 acres of hops, and which is largely kept up by 
applications of this “mussel mud.” As we have large 
beds of it on our coast, I would like to know how 
rich it is, and whether or not it would pay to trans¬ 
port it far from the shore. This mud is the home of 
the clam, and is black, full of decaying shells and ap¬ 
parently rich enough to grow almost any farm crop. 
Ans. —The following facts are sent by Mr. .T. W. 
Perry, Coles Island. We shall be pleased to learn 
more about this matter ; 
Mussel mud is found in most of the rivers of P. E. 
Island, and has been largely used as a fertilizer. It 
consists of oyster shells and dead animal and vege¬ 
table matter. The shells, when applied to the soil, 
soon moulder away into a lime-like dust, and act as a 
stimulant similar to lime. There are almost inex¬ 
haustible supplies of this mud, which are really dead 
oyster beds of various depths, anywhere from 5 to 20 
feet. Mussel mud is secured in the winter season 
generally, when the ice is good. A hole is cut in the 
ice, of varying dimensions, according to the kind of ma¬ 
chine employed for digging. A fork or shovel, with a 
shaft anywhere from 10 to 30 feet long, is used for 
lifting it. A horse and capstan lift the fork, with a 
man at the shaft managing the loading and tripping. 
It is largely used as a fertilizer on the Island and on 
the north shore of New Brunswick, but not so much 
now as formerly. A mistake has been made in apply¬ 
ing too large a proportion of shell, which is more of 
a stimulant than a fertilizer, and much land has been 
almost destroyed. It is doubtless a mine of wealth to 
the farmer who knows how to use it. 
Crimson Clover for Connecticut. 
O. H. P., Bethel, Conn. —Will it do to sow Crimson 
clover among corn at the last cultivation ? My obj act 
is to get a good growth to plow in late this fall for 
early cabbage next spring. If not, could I let it grow 
until the end of next May and plant late cabbage ? I 
would like to have it take the place of stable manure, 
clover, etc. The land is a good, warm loam. 
Ans. —If the clover will live through the winter, 
and we think it will, this would be an excellent way 
to get the plant food for a cabbage crop. With the 
clover plowed under, and a good dressing of muriate 
and ground bone, you ought to grow a good crop. 
Cheap Potato Food in Arkansas. 
J. M. P., Coming, Ark. —I want to raise a potato 
crop next year. Excessive freight rates would make 
commercial fertilizers too expensive to be profitable. 
I can get barnyard manure for hauling one mile, and 
can get leached soft-wood ashes for $10 per car-load 
one mile from the farm. My soil is sandy and contains 
very little lime. If I plow the stable manure under 
this fall, and use the ashes for a top-dressing after 
planting, will the increased profits justify the expense? 
Ans —Yes, without doubt. The leached ashes will 
supply the needed lime, and the manure will enrich 
the soil. Sooner or later you will need extra potash 
for potatoes in connection with the manure. Can you 
not obtain that in the form of unleached ashes ? In 
case you use the unleached ashes, broadcast them—do 
not put them in the drills with the seed. 
