MOOEE’E EUEAL 1FEW-YOBXEB. 
disease is not so Eweopingly destructive now aa it 
was when It first, appeared, but Is yet a grievous 
ill. Tlie scientific nans-c of the bug described 
can probably be given by the Rural. It is not 
impossible, assuming Mr. H’s theory to be cor¬ 
rect, that the virus of the Insect may develop 
more rotten tubers In damp than in dry seasons, 
and more in wet land than in dry. But this ex¬ 
perience of a man of the good sense and cool 
judgment of Mr. H. is worth heeding, and is 
given to others to be tested next season. Ilad 
the writer understood the thing a few weeks 
Boonerhe would have satisfied himself by ac tual 
experiment the present year. 
It may be asked, why, if Mr. H. has been so 
successful, others have not imitated his prac¬ 
tice? And why, if such treatment was really so 
efficacious, he has not “ made more noise about 
it?” To such inquiries St may be remarked 
that Mr. II. says be has many times tried to 
gain the attention of his neighbors, but they 
have not cared to use precautionary measures, 
preferring to “ take their chances,” and hoping 
that‘‘we shouldn’t have the rot this time.” 
Had he been a ready writer, he would long ago 
have called the attention of the Editor of the 
Rural to the subject. w. b. p. 
Prattsburgh, Steuben Co., N. Y., Oct., 1866. 
double rack* to be placed in the area inside of 
the wall racks. Larger Merino, or English ewes, 
require more room in proportion to their size. 
Some of the last would probably require nearly 
twice as ranch room per head. 
A sheep barn should be open on the side least 
exposed to the prevailing winter winds; and Its 
yards should be placed as much as practicable 
under its skelter. Some persons build these 
barns in the form of an L, to break off the winds 
from different quarters; others make a high 
stone wall or board fence a substitute for one of 
the limbs of the L. The yards are inconveni¬ 
ently narrow if restricted to the breadth of the 
inside apartments; and Bbould, therefore, be 
widened according to circumstances. 
The ground plan given is intentionally con¬ 
fined to a mere outline of a very simple and 
compact sheep bam, which is under a single 
roof, has no waste Bpace, and makes the utmost 
use of all its materials. Three different modes 
of watering are presented, either of which is 
sufficient, and the choice between them should 
depend upon circumstances. 
♦ I here nse the word single or wall-rack to signify 
one made to set againet a wall, which can only be 
enten from on one aide —the word double rack, to 
signify one which can be eaten from on both sides, 
to that forty feet of one is equivalent to eighty feet of 
the other. 
shelter of sheep, now receive universal prefer¬ 
ence in the Northern and Eastern 8tatcs. 1 hese 
are generally constructed — and always Bbould 
be — bo that they can be closed as tightly as 
ordinary horse or cow-barns. But they require 
doors sufficient for ventilation and exposure to 
the buu in flue weather, and for the ingress of u 
farm wagon to haul ont manure. And by means 
of movable windows, or slides covering aper¬ 
tures in the walls, they should be capable of 
being thoroughly ventilated at any time, with 
the doors closed. 
When these closed Bbecp barns first came into 
use, each was generally made large enough for 
seventy-live or one hundred sheep; and they 
were scattered about the farm bo as to be con¬ 
tiguous to the meadows from which they were 
to be filled with hay, and so the manure made in 
and about them would only require hauling a 
short distance. There was another argument in 
their favor. If a contagious or Infectious dis¬ 
ease broke out in one of the divisions oi the 
flock, it did not necessarily extend to all; and, 
theoretically speaking at least, the fewer the 
sheep which inhale the same local atmosphere 
the freer from impurities it must remain. 
But serious inconveniences were found to at¬ 
tend this system. It required almost a double 
outlay of materials and expense to build separate 
barns and prepare separate yards, arrangements 
for watering, etc., for each flock. These scattered 
barns required the farmer or his shepherd to 
wade wearily two or three times a day, mounted 
or on foot, for long distances through sheets of 
snow which the winds generally rendered path¬ 
less ; and oftentimes, aud even for days together, 
to do this amidst blihding snow-storms or the 
most terrible extremes of cold. Much shoveling 
was constantly necessary to give the sheep access 
to water, etc. If the supply of hay happened to 
fail at one of these distant barns, it was often 
more trouble to get It there, than It would have 
been to cart all the bay consumed in the barn to 
a central one near the farm-house, and haul all 
the manure rqado from it back. These barns 
were inconvenient at latubing time, because the 
constant attention wich one man could give to 
all the breeding ewes at once, if in the same or 
contiguous buildings, was necessarily divided up 
between the several scattered parcels of them, 
leaving but little time, comparatively, for each. 
And, finally, the farmer was not so apt, under 
ouch circumstances, to see all his sheep daily 
with his own eyes; nor was cither he or bis shep¬ 
herd half so prone to turn out in the night to 
take care of the sheep or the lambs, provided a 
change of weather, the rising of a gale, or any 
other circumstance rendered It expedient. 
It is now usual to construct the sheep, like the 
horseand cow-barns, near the farm-house. When 
the farm flock does not exceed about three hun¬ 
dred, it is often wintered In a single bam which 
has separate apartments, holding from seventy- 
flve to one hundred sheep each; and each apart¬ 
ment lias a separate outside yard. The upper 
Windgalls on Horses, 
Tub N. Y. Observer responds to an Inquiry, 
as to how windgalls on horses may be enred by 
saying;—“There are various ways of treating 
windgalls. Sometimes they arc incurable; and 
the more they are tampered with, the worse it 
is for the animal. In some Instances, the cau¬ 
tery is employed to remove windgalls. Yet no 
one hut a skillful veterinarian of extensive ex¬ 
perience should attempt to apply this remedy. 
The beet and most efficacious remedy that we 
have ever met with, is to procure a quarter of 
a pound of arnica flowers, at the drng store, 
put it in a bottle, and fill the bottle with whis¬ 
key, and cork it tightly. After It has steeped 
about one day, let the windgalls be bathed thor¬ 
oughly with this liquid. Bathe and rub the legs 
and the windgalls well for five minutes with 
water, previous to applying the arnica and whis¬ 
key. If the horse is young, gentle driving aud 
a thorough application of this remedy, will al¬ 
most always effect a cure after a few months. 
Windgalls on the legs of old horses will some¬ 
times yield to the remedy. Yet in many instan¬ 
ces the old horse will need to be rejuvenated 
before his windgalls can be cured.” 
Remedy fob Garget.—(T3. F. S., Bcllvifie, N. Y.) 
If your cow is in pretty high flesh, bleeding, rather 
freely, will probably have a benefleial effect, at least 
It Is recommended by very good authority. If in a 
state of ordinary keep and the affection of the udder 
continues, make an ointment of lard and Iodine— 
about one part of the latter to seven of the former— 
and nab the udder with it morning and evening. By 
following this np a short time the probability is a 
cure will be effected. Bathing the udder wit h melted 
lard, as hot as the cow will bear it, twice a day, some¬ 
times effects a care without any other application. 
Whatever i* applied, by the way of ointment, should 
be preceded by a thorough balhlag with warm water. 
Litchfield Couktt (Conn.) Fair. —At the recent 
Fair In Litchfield County, Conn., there was an un¬ 
commonly fine display of working cattle, mostly 
Devonshire's. They were ranged in line and made 
the circuit of the grounds, the colnmn numbering 
five hundred yoke or pairs. Their price, per yoke, 
ranged from $200 to $500. A few very fine Dnrhams 
mingled in the show. The Floral display was very 
fine, but that of Fruits quite meager. I a Vegetables 
the show was better, one feature of it being worthy 
of special mention. This was 8 Yochahama Squashes, 
raised by L. W. Coe, Esq , of WolcotfTlUe. weighing, 
singly, from 75 to 00 pounds. The aggregoto weight 
of the squashes was 750 lbs. There was one peculi¬ 
arity about this Agricultural Show,- the horse had 
no track In it. 
MARYLAND - EASTEEN SHORE 
Mb, Moors .—Dear Sir: Having Just returned 
from a visit to the eastern Bhore of Maryland, 
where I have purchased a very desirable prop¬ 
erty, I propose to give your readers, through 
the medium of your valuable journal, the result 
of my experience while there. The section 
which I explored is the southern part of Caro¬ 
line county, between the Nantlcoke and Chop- 
tank Rivers, commencing at Federalsburg and 
running a due west conr6C. The Choptank is a 
most nobly grand river, navigable for steamboats 
and all kinds of vessels, for nearly 100 miles 
from the head of navigation to its month at 
Chesapeake Bay. The scenery along this river 
is wild, though picturesque; the river itself, as 
seen for fifteen miles at a stretch, is beautiiul 
when calm, and when disturbed by storm into 
great “seas,” it is truly grand. 
The purchase I made lies Immediately upon 
the bank of this beautiful river, and the view 
from thence is very fine. Baltimore steamboats 
stop there and afford daily communication with 
the metropolis of the Slate. I saw during my 
visit several very beautiful sites upon the banks 
of the Choptank, which arc In the market at 
moderate prices. The shores upon the river dif¬ 
fer in their formations, some being low, sandy 
beaches, and others bluffs, varying in height 
from ten to forty feet, and commanding magnif¬ 
icent, river views. I reached that, county from 
Broad and Fritnu streets Depot in Philadelphia, 
via Del. R, K. to Br'.dgeviHc Station, where I 
left the train and took the stage (which con¬ 
nects daily with the train,) for Eederalsburg, 
Md., where I met Mr. H. P. Chambers, who 
kindly showed me the surrounding country, and 
gave mo much valuauie information. The coun¬ 
try there is elevated, level land, not flat or 
swampy, hut sufficiently undulating for ail pur¬ 
poses of surface drainage. The soil is mostly a 
sandy loam, well adapted to the cultivation of 
fine fruits, but some is clay loam. There are 
plenty of grist and s<i,vv mills, churches, schools, 
stores, and daily mail facilities; but the farming 
interests there have been sadly neglected. The 
country shows the blight cast upon it by sla¬ 
very; yet I saw ffiavy crops of corn, good 
clover, and much’ hqfid seeded to wheat which 
was growing tiuely,—provfcg conclusively that 
Growing Tea in Georgia. 
A whiter in the Southern Cultivator, 
Liberty county, (Ga.,) has been experimenting 
with the China tea plant with flattering results. 
He had fifty plants or shrubs, from six to seven 
feet in height, growing this season, from which 
he gathered six pounds of excellent tea. He is 
of the opinion, based on the experiments made 
by himself, that the tea plant can be successfully 
cultivated in all the States bordering on the At¬ 
lantic and the Gulf as high np as North Carolina 
and as low as Texas. This plant does not re¬ 
quire a strong soil, and can be grown upon that 
unsulted to cotton. The editor of the Cultiva¬ 
tor in a foot note says; “ Qnr correspondent has 
favored us with a sample of the tea prepared by 
him. In appearance, fragrance and flavor, It 
precisely resembles the line article oi Chinese 
Black Tea. If our plantations can produce tea 
as finely flavored as this, with as little trouble as 
Mr. Jones states is required in the process, it 
is the most profitable crop we can grow.” 
Tannjno Woodchuck Skins.— In answer to an in¬ 
quiry In the Rural, of recent date, in reference to 
proper seaaou for killing woodchucks and method of 
tanning their Bkins, A. G. O., Tyre, Seneca G'o., N. Y. 
responds by saying“ From the 25th of September 
to the let of April they arc fit for nse. To prepare 
the skins take for two skins 2 one. of alum, 4 ozs. of 
salt, and dissolve In a quart of warm rain water. 
Put this in a pail or tub aud add rain water enough 
to cover the skins. After soaking the skins and 
scraping all the fat from them with a blunt knife, put 
the skins in the preparation for two week". Then 
take them out and wash and dry them, and when 
nearly dry mb them well two or three times a day. 
When dry put on a little oil aud they will be ready 
for use.” 
PREPARATION OF CORN FOR HOGS, 
There arc various methods pursued by far¬ 
mers in feeding com to their swine in the fat¬ 
tening season. Borne prefer feeding com on the 
cob, some give it out shelled, while others have 
it ground and made Into a kind of mush,— 
cooked in some instances, and in others not. 
The grinding process is objected to on account 
of the trouble and the loss in the shape of toll, 
which, it is 6aid, more than counterbalances the 
saving. On these points opinions differ, but a 
Southern planter proposes a plan which seems 
to combine all the advantages of grinding and 
cooking the food for hogs, without the expense 
incidental to this method. It is as follows: — 
Place near the hog-pen two casks, barrels or 
hogsheads, with one head out; fill np with com 
in the ear and ponr in water; feed out of one 
until it is empty, then fill again and commence 
with the other, and so on — Ihe object being to 
soften the com and sour it a little withal, ren¬ 
dering it more easily digested. There will natu¬ 
rally arise a slight degree of fermentation, but 
this may be expedited by the customary means 
if necessary, but this process must not be carried 
so far as to convert the sugar in the corn into 
alcohol, and ultimately into vinegar. The ad¬ 
vantages claimed for this preparation are; The 
corn Is softened and therefore the more easily 
masticated ; it is soared and hence more, readily 
digested and converted into fat, and finally it 
can be fed on the ground iu the usual way with¬ 
out any waste. 
This plan of softening and fermenting the 
whole ears of corn before feeding, appears ra¬ 
tional, and may be worthy of a trial by those 
engaged iu the business of pork making on the 
old plan of feediug corn iu the ear, without any 
previous preparation. b. 
Corn Crop of Pennsylvania.— The Harrodsburg 
(Pa.) Telegraph estimates the corn crop of that State 
the present year at thirty millions of bushels, and 
that the average yield per acre will be about thirty- 
three bushels, though in some localities the product 
will be fully one hundred bushels per acre. Land 
that will not produce more than thirty-three bushels 
of corn to the acre must be poorly adapted to its 
growth, or the Ullage of the crop mast be very indif¬ 
ferently performed. This amount will probably pay 
on common farming lands, bat it is certainly ranch 
short of what a yield should be with proper prepara¬ 
tion and judicious cultare. 
Deep Plowing. 
F. W. writes the Maine Farmer in favor of 
deep plowing to secure good crops. He adds; 
“ Twelve years ago I sold my little farm, and 
the purchaser falling to pay for it, it came back 
into my hands some live years since. I found 
the buildings in a dilapidated state, the fences 
mostly used np for fuel, the soil much deterio¬ 
rated, and the place entirely overgrown with 
with witch grass. The man that bought it pur¬ 
sued the skimming method of farming, by plow¬ 
ing only five or six inches deep, which rendered 
the soil too shoal to produce any remunerative 
crop without the application of much manure. 
The skimming manner ol' culture had, in fact, 
been in operation so long that the soil was about 
as incapable of producing a crop of any value as 
skimmed milk is of producing good butter or 
rich cheese.” Deep plowing was substituted 
for the “skimming” process and the land is 
now becoming productive again. 
Toads and their Use;*.— The American Institute 
Farmers' Club at a late meeting had sundry matters 
up for discussion. Among other topics submitted 
was a voluminous paper on toads and their utility, by 
Dr. J. V. C. Smith. lie started off with the general 
proposition that there Is to useless link in the chain 
of creation—hence the toad, as one of those links, 
was not to bo regarded as an abortion. One of the 
good points about this “link,” was its aptitude to 
catch flics, which is truthful enough, bnt if the flies 
are good too, why should it be the toad’s business to 
catch and cat them ? 
Wheat in Kansas.— The Emporia News states that 
Mr. Woe km. is of Pike Township, Kansas, recently 
thrashed the wheat harvested from acres which 
yielded an aggregate of 402 bushels, or nearly 86 
bushels per acre. This is said not to be an excep¬ 
tional case for that region, as hundreds of fields were 
equally as good and some better than this one, though 
not yet thrashed. This yield is something like old 
times when good land would yield from thirty to 
thirty-five bushels to the acre, and, with extra prepa¬ 
ration of the soil, a few buehels more than that. 
POTATO ROT — CAUCE AND CURE 
Horse-bathing. 
We read, in Thrall’s Herald of Health,” 
“baths for horses have been so thoroughly 
tested that their use is becoming quite common. 
Tattersall, the greatest horse owner in London, 
who furnishes the best of horses for lords and 
nobles to drive, and who figures largely at the 
Derby races, treats his horses to the Turkish 
bath, and in this way cures them of tBe very lew 
diseases to which, with the Wise hygiene of his 
stables, they are subject. Dfugs find little place 
where such cure is given. We {flightsto have in 
New York and all large cities, tfrgienlc estab¬ 
lishments for treatiug horseflesh? and if the new 
veterinary college will do what it can to favor 
this idea, they shall have our hearty sympathy. 
But If it is only the old story over again of the 
other medical schools—drugging, bleedlDg, dos¬ 
ing, purging, the fewer we have the better.” 
Eds. Rural New-Yorker. —In a late issue 
you say — “ The cause of this (the potato rot,) 
is generally referred to the long predominance 
of wet weather, and justly, too, we think," &c. 
The remark recalls a recent conversation with 
an intelligent neighbor, and an excellent farmer 
of this town—Mr. John Hoes. He claims to 
know the cause aud the cure of the malady. 
Fifteen years of uniform practice, with unvary¬ 
ing results, warrant him in speaking with entire 
confidence. Tim cause of the disease, he says, 
is a certain insect, described by him as ‘ a bug,” 
about three-fourths of an inch in length when 
full-grown, head nearly square, black body, and 
yellow belly and legs, which shuns the light and 
hides in the ground by day, and emerges in the 
night and feeds upon and poisons the top6, which 
is communicated to the tuber, causing decay.” 
When the potato tops in late summer begin to 
show a sickly appearance with blackened leaves, 
evidencing that the rot has begun, one has but 
to examine them In the evening by the light of 
a lamp, to become satisfied of their multitudi¬ 
nous presence and deleterious work. Such ex¬ 
amination will show the most insects where the 
potato tops are the most blackened, and all 
know it is right there that the most rotten tu¬ 
bers will be found at the time of digging. 
Mr. Hoes’ infallible remedy is about one 
busbcl of slaked ljme to the acre, sown broad¬ 
cast when the tops are wet with dew, on the 
very r first appearance of signs of rot, and re¬ 
peated afterwards if the same is washed off by 
drenching rains. This has been his practice for 
the last fifteen years, during all of which period 
he has had scarcely any unsound potatoes, while 
his immediate neighbors have all suffered more 
or less according ns the disease has prevailed in 
different years. “ The bug won’t stand lime at 
all,” he says. In one instance, a sprinkling of 
the same on some potatoes in his garden drove 
them to a luxuriant growth of the common 
marrowfat beans on the opposite side, causing 
the decay of the beans, while the potatoes came 
out sound. Another time the insect took refuge 
in stocks of spring wheat just over the fence in 
an adjoining field, and in such numbers that on 
unloading the same in the barn, “the wagon 
rack was literally covered with them.” They of 
course did not betake themselves to the wheat 
shocks for food, bnt only for shelter, aud to get 
out of reach of the lime, which is a perfect hor¬ 
ror to them. 
The cause and cure of the malady in question 
iB an old, aud perhaps threadbare theme. The 
Bloody Murrain.— The Ohio Farmer stales that 
this disease, which generally prevails iu newly 
cleared lands aud among cattle iu high flesh, may be 
prevented or held iu check by feediug cattle wood 
ashes mixed with a due portion of salt. This mix¬ 
ture should be placed where the cattle can lick it up 
at their leisure. When au animal is attacked it is 
deemed good treatment to give a slop ol meal with a 
tablespoouful or pulverized roll brimstone—repeating 
at intervals of a few hoars. 
A Cattle I’lauue in Kentucky.— According to 
the Loafsvillc (Ky.) Industrial Gazette, a very fatal 
disease has broken out among the cattle in Fayette 
and Scott counties. A number of cattle have died in 
those counties recently, supposed from some kind of 
an infection broaght there by cattle imported from 
Texas. Death ueually occnrs about the third day 
after the animals are attacked. The pecaliar features, 
or characteristics of the disease, are not stated. 
Gas Lime as a Fertilizer. 
An officer belonging to the Edinburg Gas 
Company, writing to the Scottish Farmer con¬ 
cerning gas lime as a fertilizer, says“ I believe 
that waste gas lime is equal in efficiency to fresh 
lime for moat of the purposes aimed at in its 
use in farm lands. I sold all the lime thus pro¬ 
duced at a gas-work in Forfarshire, for sixteen 
years, to several farmers, who uniformly ex¬ 
pressed their satisfaction therewith. One very 
usual application of it was its mixture with the 
large piles of weeds and tangled roots of grass 
cleared off the fields annually. On being com¬ 
posted in this way, the lime gradually killed all 
the vitality of these weeds, and returned them 
to the land in the way of manure. It also served 
the purpose of opening up still' clay soil, being 
first spread over the surface and then plowed 
down.” - _ 
Horse Feeding. 
E. W. Herendeen of Macedon, Wayne 
county, who keeps a number of horses in con¬ 
nection with his nursery business, gives the 
Cultivator and Country Gentleman the course 
he pursues in feeding them. He cute up straw— 
the oat is considered the best — and mLxes with 
it equal parts of corn meal and bran. A work¬ 
ing horse requires about thirteen pouuds of tLis 
mixed feed, exclusive of the straw, per day. Jf 
oats are fed they should be ground as a matter 
of economy iu feed; besides the horses will 
thrive better on the ground than on the whole 
grain. By the use of straw, meal and bran as 
above stated, the necessity of giving hay is ob- 
vfated— the health of the animal is promoted, 
and the cost of keeping much diminished. 
Choice Merino Sheep. — The attention of flock- 
masters la directed to the advertisement of Messrs. 
Baker & Harrigan, who offer for sale superior stock 
rams and breeding ewes from their first-class flock cf 
Merino sheep. Messrs. B. & H. are enterprising and 
reliable breeders, and their flock embraces some of 
the best animals in the country. 
Strinohalt.— The undersigned has in hr? possession 
a most excellent and serviceable carnage horse, which 
of late, in his movements, is accustomed to Hit one 
of his right hind feet somewhat higher than the 
other. It is thought that the animal is affected with 
an aliment commonly called stnnghalt. Ignorant as 
to a remedy for this, the writer asks for inlormation 
necessary to a cure. Will some or your num«Tons 
renders Iriva (lanliohl on the matter in hand ?-A., 
Hedges. — (J. M. K.i usage uraDgc seen win, 
doubtless, be advertised in these columns before the 
season for planting arrives. For general culture 
there is so better plant than this for hedges. It wi 1 
not thrive in wet spots, and is not perfectly hardy at 
the north. The English Hawthorn is said to do well 
in Central New York. 
uenepi, peruaps, just as eatciy, under the same 
roof, unless during the prevalence of infectious 
or epizootic diseases. But who can be certain 
that these will remain absent? On tlie whole, 
such large and close aggregations of sheep arc 
inexpedient. 
T*ie room required for a given number of Me¬ 
rino breeding ewes in a bam Is, for Paulars, 
about ten aud two-thirds square feet of an area 
on the floor each; in other words, an apartment 
twenty by forty feet in the clear will aecommo- 
Tiie Potato Bug not There.— The Maine Farmer 
corrects its siatement that the Western “Ten-striped 
Spearman” beetle had appeared in the potato fields 
of that State. It says that the lame or the3-lined 
leaf beetle was the insect found in that region, and 
not the one mentioned before. 
The Hop Crop. — The hop crop has, on the 
whole, been a good one the present year. Up¬ 
land hops were probably never better. The crop 
was injured badly by the lice when late picked. 
Wo saw one field where the crop was estimated 
at one ton to the acre, which at 50 cents a pound 
would produce the snug sum of $1,000 per acre.— 
Maine Farmer. 
Wisconsin State Fair.— The Fair at Janesville, 
last month, was one of the most successful yet held 
in Wisconsin. The receipts were about $12,0C0-the 
largest ever received on a similar occasion. 
V 
