1894 
THE RURAL NEW-YORKER. 
5o5 
taneous combustion. Fire cannot take place without 
a supply of oxygen, and all that contained in the hay 
has been consumed in the chemical action that causes 
the hay to heat. Unless air be introduced to the heated 
interior, no fire is possible. I have put in a great deal 
of very green hay ; in fact, green hay makes the best 
feed ; and I have seen the top of the mow wet by steam 
from the heating mass below. I have known only two 
clearly proved cases of “ spontaneous combustion.” 
One a stack of very green hay or grass put up in a 
hurry to finish the haying. The stack heated and con¬ 
tinued to sink for two years, until, by slow combus¬ 
tion, it was converted into a pile of manure. In the 
other case three stacks were steaming hot; a man 
was set to watch them through the night; curiosity 
prompted him to reach into a stack as far as he could 
and draw out a wisp of hay to see what it was like 
—air entered—the fire started at once, and all the 
stacks were consumed. Taking off the top mentioned 
in The Rural, is a parallel case. Air might enter a 
mow by the settling over a beam making a break in 
the hay, or by some such accidental circumstance. 
West Chester, Pa. w. e. e. 
Tile and Pot Irrigation. —lias The R. N.-Y. ever 
tried irrigating trees by means of tiles, or fiower beds 
by means of large flower pots ? If not, it should try 
the scheme once. It’s a grand idea. Set a four-inch 
tile half its length in the ground close by the tree and 
fill it with water two or three times a week. Sink an 
8 or 12-inch flower pot half or two-thirds its length in 
the center of the flower bed, and fill it three or four 
times a week in a dry time. If the flower bed is large, 
put in more pots. I find that a 10-inch pot will irri¬ 
gate about four square feet and make the plants 
fairly smile. When a person attempts to irrigate 
plants or trees by pouring water on the surface, he 
makes a miserable failure of it. If he pours on a 
good stream, most of the water will run off, and 
spreading over a large surface do little or no good. 
If he stands there holding his sprinkler until the soil 
is dampened sufficiently to do any good, he will be 
able to water about 10 plants an hour. With the pots 
and tiles set in the ground he can hustle along with a 
barrel-cart or a couple of buckets and fill each pot or 
tile in a moment’s time, and get the water just where 
it is wanted—at the roots. And there will be no after 
baking of the surface. Set tiles four feet apart along 
a row of strawberries, or celery, and pour in the water 
if a drought comes along at a critical time, and see if 
you don’t pat yourself on the back for being so smart. 
FRED GRUNDY. 
What Say ? 
A Temporary Pump. —Unless our drought comes to 
an end soon, I must sink a well of, say, 8 to 10 feet to 
get water for 40 cows. I would like to raise the water 
by means of a small windmill. Will those who have 
had experience state the kind and size of pump and 
mill to use ? It will be used only in warm weather 
while the cows are at pasture. G. w. h. 
Rochester, Mass. 
Who Pays for What ? —A owns an acre of land; 
B agrees with A to plant it on shares. A furnishes 
the land, and B is to do all the labor. One ton of 
commercial fertilizer is to be used. The produce is to 
be equally divided. 1. Who should furnish the team ? 
2. Who should pay for the fertilizer ? I would like to 
hear from some one who is posted in regard to such 
matters, what the customary division of expense is 
when land is worked on shares in New England. 
Who pays for the seed ? j. e. t. 
Hanover, Mass. 
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WHAT TO DO WITH THE CALF. 
1. A couple of May calves have been kept In the barn so far. Would 
It be better to turn them In an orchard now, the orchard being in 
grass which has been mowed? 2. What would be your treatment of 
a choice calf, so far as keeping It sheltered or letting It out In the sun 
Is concerned? 
Let Them Run in the Lot. 
1. I would prefer to have the calves run in a small 
lot where there is good pasture and spring water, but 
not in an orchard if the trees have fruit on. They 
should also be fed milk or grain twice daily. 2. There 
should be a few trees for shade, and a small shed in 
the lot. E. L. CLARKSON. 
Shelter and Shade for Calves. 
1. That depends on the barn. If one has a nice 
cool barn with good ventilation, and arrangements 
for darkening the barn so that the flies will not 
trouble, and if he keeps the calf pens cleaned and 
free from all foul odors, I would say, keep the calf up. 
If any of these conditions are lacking, and the calf 
can be made more comfortable out in the orchard, 
turn him out. 2. I would keep the calf sheltered. 
Our yards are not yet completed so that we can turn 
out all the young stock at once. Part of the calves 
are turned out during the day and part at night. 
Those kept in during the day are thriving much the 
better. There is good shade in the yards. 
H. M. COTTRELL. 
Give Them a Dark Stable. 
1. I would not turn the calves out to stay among 
the flies. I would keep them in the barn during the 
day, and turn them out in the orchard at night, or 
arrange it so that they could go in a dark stable when 
they wished. 2. I would keep it sheltered. It will 
do better in a good stable with milk, clover hay, and 
bran and oats, ground. It will do twice as well. I 
have 12 at present; they have a clover and Blue-grass 
lot of four acres, a dark stable to run in when they 
wish (and they are in there through the day), a tub of 
water, and milk morning and night, h. j. Gardner. 
Batavia, N. Y. 
Give the Calf Sunlight. 
May calves are old enough to be out of the barn a 
month ago. For cows, a surfeit of apples is danger¬ 
ous. I never knew a calf to be hurt by them. The 
choicer a calf, the surer I would be to give it sun, air 
and natural conditions. Of course some shade in a 
pasture is desirable. A calf too choice for sunlight, 
should be vealed. chas. h. owen. 
Buckland, Conn. 
Don’t Let Them Eat Apples. 
1. We would prefer to turn May calves in the or¬ 
chard, rather than to keep them in the barn, unless 
there are apples on the ground on which they might 
choke; if so, they should be watched closely until 
they get accustomed to eating them. 2. We think 
calves do better for the first few weeks if kept in well 
ventilated, clean, dry stables; but after that they 
should be outdoors each pleasant day for exercise. 
They should, however, have opportunity of getting 
in the shade. smiths & powell co. 
Keep Them in the Barn. 
I have had the best success in keeping May calves in 
the barn through the entire season. I would much 
prefer that they have nice clover hay rather than to 
have them picking the sour grass and small apples 
from under the apple trees in the orchard. By all 
means, give the calf the privilege of the sun or a shel¬ 
ter, and he will decide when it is better to remain in 
the sun and when it is better to go into the shade. 
Rochester, N. Y. p. j. cogswell. 
Buying Chemicals at the West. 
H. A. H., Neoga, 111 .—1 can buy muriate of potash 
(50 per cent actual potash) for 560, delivered, and sul¬ 
phate (55 per cent actual potash) for 565 per ton. 
Will either of these two be my cheapest and best way 
of obtaining potash ? From the same firm I can get 
superphosphate for 524 per ton (but no guarantee), 
fine ground bone 528, coarse raw bone 529, bone meal 
527. 
Ans. —The above analyses show that in buying muri¬ 
ate of potash, you obtain 1,000 pounds of actual potash 
for 560 at a cost of six cents a pound. Of the sulphate, 
1,100 pounds cost you 565, or a trifle less than six cents 
a pound. From this showing, the sulphate is cheaper, 
unless you are mistaken in the figures, which seems 
to us likely in regard to the sulphate. . Do not buy any 
fertilizers without a guarantee. Without knowing 
how the bone analyzes, we cannot advise you. There 
must be considerable difference in the analyses if the 
coarse bone is higher priced than the fine. The work 
of fining bone always adds to its cost. The only way 
we can figure on the cost of bone is to know how much 
nitrogen and phosphoric acid it contains. 
A Orop of Oats and Peas. 
E. S. B., Harwinton, Conn .—I have a piece of ground 
sowed to oats and peas this year ; I wish to use it for 
the same crop next year. What is best to do with it 
after this crop is removed ? 
Ans. —I generally have the oat and pea ground clear 
during the first week in July, and the scene shifters 
have to work lively on it to put in another crop if it 
is one I wish to harvest in the fall. My oat and pea 
ground was cleared July 7 this year, plowed and sowed 
with Hungarian, three pecks per acre, July 14. Bat as 
the ground has been hot enough for a crematory ever 
since, there is no telling when a start will be made. 
The signal service tricked us into sowing another piece 
on July 24, which is in the same condition. We have 
3M acres of this crop waiting for rain. Turnips or 
fodder corn could be sowed on this field of E. S. B. if 
it can be done soon enough. If some other place could 
be found for the oats and peas next year, winter grain 
will come in all right, or if he wishes to experiment, 
he could sow Crimson clover. e. c. b. 
Rural Branching Sorghum for Soiling Purposes. 
O. O. O., Vail, N. J .—I have occasionally read in the 
columns of The R. N.-Y. about Rural Branching doura, 
and the past spring sent to a seed house for a pound 
of seed which I planted carefully in good soil. But not 
one seed out of 50 grew, and I was compelled to plow 
it up and replant with corn—saving a few stalks to 
see what it will look like later. Does the seed usually 
lack vitality ? Has The R. N.-Y. lost faith in the 
durra, or how is it that its opinion now, as expressed 
in a recent Rural, is that “ there is no plant better 
fitted for soiling purposes than Stowell’s Evergreen 
sweet corn ” ? 
Ans. —We do not remember that we ever had any 
trouble as to the ready germination of the Rural 
Branching sorghum—the name under which we intro¬ 
duced it. It is now known as Millo maize and by sev¬ 
eral other names. The advantage is that it is a won¬ 
derful plant to branch. It may be cut back and will 
continue to grow, throwing up more new stalks. It 
does not seed so far north. The seed crop is somewhat 
uncertain even in the South. We would certainly 
prefer Stowell’s to any doura for soiling purposes. 
Best Way to Peed Millet. 
T. 0., Owego, N. Y. —Which is the best way to feed 
millet ? I never have raised any until this year. I 
have a silo and cut my corn for ensilage. Would it 
give better results to cut the millet for ensilage, or 
feed it dry ? Would it do to mix it with the corn in 
the silo ? Would it be best at the top or bottom ? 
Ans —Millet is not a suitable crop to put into the 
silo. The silo is for that class of crops which are very 
juicy, and whose valuable nutritious qualities waste 
in the process of curing enough to keep in a mow, as 
corn, clover or peas. Millet should be handled like 
Timothy. Care must be taken to cut it before the 
seeds form, or it becomes hard and woody. A farmer 
of experience told me the other day that he found it 
needed to cure about a day longer than Timothy. 
When cured, it should be mowed in the barn like 
Timothy, and fed out as any other hay would be fed. 
A butcher who buys hay for his horses said that he 
once bought a load of Hungarian millet hay which he 
found far superior to Timothy, and would buy more, 
but could never find any for sale. The Hungarian 
grass crop draws hard on the land. e. c. b. 
Bloody Milk Prom a Heifer. 
L. W. McE., Wilawana, Pa .—I have a two-year-old 
heifer that had the appearance of making an extra 
cow, but about May 1 she began giving bloody milk 
from one teat. At first we did not notice any blood, 
except in a few of the last streams, which were very 
bloody. It continued to grow worse until nearly all 
that she gave from that teat was quite red. There is 
a small bunch in the teat about three-fourths of an 
inch from the udder. There has never been any 
swelling or hardness in the udder ; she has never 
given any thick milk. About July 1, two of her other 
teats were similarly affected. What would The R. 
N.-Y. advise ? 
Ans. —Bloody milk is usually due to disease or in¬ 
jury of the udder. But it may also be due to an over- 
stimulating diet, certain acrid or irritating plants, or 
to an unfavorable condition of the system. In the 
present case, there being no inflammation or indura¬ 
tion of the udder, the treatment should be general in¬ 
stead of local. Give one pound of Epsom salts to 
open the bowels. Follow with tablespoonful doses 
once daily, of a mixture of equal parts of nitrate and 
chlorate of potash. Change the feed or pasture, if 
possible, at least for a few weeks. If feeding grain, 
reduce the ration to one-fourth or one-half. Bathing 
the udder after each milking with cold water will also 
be beneficial. I would not advise drying her off. The 
trouble will cease as soon as the cause is discovered 
and removed. f. l. k. 
Chronic Cough in a Horse. 
J. A. I., Piney Point, Md. —For about two months, 
two of my horses, three and five years old respect¬ 
ively, have been troubled with a bad cough. They 
are in good condition and eat heartily. They have 
been on good clover all summer, with my other 
horses, get grain once a day and whenever at work. 
What can I do to stop the cough, which, if not dan¬ 
gerous, is disagreeable ? 
Ans. —Rub the whole region of the throat from ear 
to ear, and down the wind-pipe for a distance of six 
or eight inches, once daily with the following lini¬ 
ment, until the skin is quite well blistered. Then 
apply once or twice a week: Strong aqua ammonia, 
one part, sweet oil, two parts; shake well together. 
Steaming the head daily, by feeding a hot bran mash 
or by holding the head over a bucket of boiling water, 
will also prove beneficial. Give two tablespoonfuls 
of the following powders on the feed twice daily: 
Sulphate of iron, one-fourth pound, nitrate of potash, 
one-half pound, powdered gentian, one pound; 
mix. F. L. K. 
