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EXCELSIOR. 
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>£3.00 FEU YEAR. 
^ ■EitlrlS. f hingle No., Eight Cents. 
VOL. XX. NO. 46. 
. NEW YORK CITY AND ROCHESTER, N, Y. 
FOR THE WEEK ENDING SATURDAY, NOVEMBER 13,1800. 
inrTiTrve j 41 Pnrlt ltow, New York. 
oi * IOEfa. j 82 jimiaj,, gt., Rochester. 
WHOLE NO. 1034. 
[Entered according to Act of Congress, in the year lSfi!), by D. L>. T. Moore, in the Clerk's Office of the District COurt of the United States for the Southern District ot New York.] 
errstmau. 
ITEMS FOR HORSEMEN. 
Grooming Horses. —The American Stock 
Journal says that a man who neglects the 
regular grooming of his horses, is an enemy 
both to the beast and himself—to them, be¬ 
cause he withholds labor which is their due; 
and to himself, because he depreciates the 
value of his own property. The curry-comb 
should be brought Into requisition daily, nor 
should the clipping shears be omitted. 
Cure for Galls, Sores, Scratches , Etc. —A 
Kansas correspondent of the Rural World 
writes :—I will give you an infallible remedy 
for galls and 3ores of all kinds on horses, in¬ 
cluding what is generally called scratches:— 
Two ounces extract of lead, two ounces 
spirits of wine, one ounce sal ammoniac, half 
ounce white vitriol, four ounces soft water; 
mix, dissolve, and wash three or four times 
a day. 
Ilorsc Distemper. —L. L. H., Eaton, N. II., 
has horses troubled in this wise:—A bad 
cough; whitish colored matter runs from the 
nose; glands of the throat, considerably 
swollen ; the cough is rather loose, and they 
often cough a half dozen times successively, 
snort and quick, and breathe with difficulty 
when through coughing. He asks for infor¬ 
mation concerning proper mode of treatment. 
A Coughing Horse. —My horse lias a dry, 
hacking cough pretty much all the while, 
and every few days he is choked up, and 
breathing causes a rattling sound in Ills 
throat. He is worse on a cold, damp day 
than in dry weather. It is not the heaves, 
for when his throat is clear his breathing is 
all right, lie lias a slight discharge at the 
noso. What ails him ? What is a remedy ? 
—John Dewitt. 
-- 
STRANGLES IN HORSES. 
The Canada Farmer thus treats of this 
disease:—The name usually applied to this 
complaint is Distemper, although the term 
Distemper Is applied indiscriminately to many 
other diseases affecting the organs of respi¬ 
ration. Strangles is usually defined as an 
eruptive fever peculiar to the horse, and gen¬ 
erally attacks him when young, say from the 
second to the sixth year. There are excep¬ 
tional cases where it appears in animals ad¬ 
vanced in years, and occasionally it will at¬ 
tack the same animal twice. 
This disease is shown by more or less dis¬ 
order of the respiratory organs, followed by 
the formation of a hard tumor, (which after¬ 
wards suppurates,) in the sub-maxillary space, 
or angle of the jaw. Such is the ordinary 
form of strangles; in some cases, however, it 
takes on an irregular form, and an abscess 
will occur towards the lower part of the 
shoulder or in the groin, and not unfrequent- 
ly in the intestines. 
Strangles may occur during any season of 
the year, but it is generally most prevalent 
during llie spring months, and it appears to 
come on more readily on those horses that 
have been running in open sheds during the 
winter, and then are suddenly placed in a 
warm and perhaps badly ventilated stable. 
These sudden changes of temperature ap¬ 
pear favorable to the development of 
strangles, and more especially a sudden 
transition from cold to heat. The early 
symptoms of strangles are similar to those of 
catarrh or common cold. The horse is dull 
and languid; he sweats easily, and a very 
little work or exercise appears to fatigue 
him; his appetite is impaired, and he has a 
difficulty in swallowing; the throat is sore, 
and he keeps his head in a stiff position; 
gentle pressure on the throat excites a cough, 
which in many instances appears to fatigue 
him very much; his coat is dusty and dry; 
the ears aud legs are usually cold, and the 
true nature of the complaint soon becomes 
visible by the formation of a hard inflamma¬ 
tory swelling in the region of the under jaw; 
the swelling gradually increases, and be¬ 
comes soft, finally pointing and bursting, 
and discharging matter freely. 
Occasionally this swelling will appear 
without the throat being much affected, 
when the horse can masticate his food and 
swallow without any difficulty whatever, 
';mh ilcpartmfnt. 
KANSAS LANDS, ETC. 
The following inquiries addressed to C. 
W. Wai.ker, Kansas, have been forwarded 
to us with Mi'. Wai.kk.k’h replies. Nelson 
Wilson, Ionia Co., Mich,, asks: 
(1.) Can a person got Homestead land with tim- 
chance, as a homesteader , to be near a rail¬ 
road, is to take his claim before the railroad 
is built. This is so, since the railroad com¬ 
panies then own all the lands, not already 
taken, within six to ten miles, more or less, 
of the railroads. 
J. D. Boyd, Grand Rapids, Mich., asks: 
(l.) Can gooff prairie laud, with water and 
some timber, he secured near markets? (3.) 
What is the price per acre? (3.) Could I secure 
omployment there through the winter? (4.) 
What is your nearest railway station ? 
PORTRAIT OF .A. PRIZE MARE, 
Five Years Old., IoJ(' Hands Higli., Owned by Oren. £>. U. Hungerford, Adams, Jeii'ersou County, N. Y. 
and the abscess forms quickly. In some 
cases, there is a great discharge of yellow 
matter from the nostrils, and the breathing 
is labored; and cases do occur where death 
takes place from suffocation produced by the 
abscess. Strangles usually runs its course in 
from eight to twenty days. Iu the treat¬ 
ment of strangles the horse should have plen¬ 
ty of pure air, and also be encouraged to 
take nourishing food; the nostrils should be 
sponged several times a day with tepid water; 
the abscess should be encouraged to. mature 
as quickly as possible, and for this purpose, 
fomentation with hot water, and poultices 
are useful. The body should also be clothed, 
and if the appetite is very much impaired, 
stimulants aud tonics should be freely used, 
When matter can be detected in the abscess, 
it should be allowed free exit; therefore the 
use of the lancet in freely opening the ab¬ 
scesses will often prevent extensive sloughing 
of the surrounding tissues. In extreme 
cases, where death is threatened from the 
presence of the abscesses, &c., the operation 
of tracheotomy, or cutting into the wind¬ 
pipe, may be successfully performed, and be 
the means of saving the animal's life. Severe 
and prolonged cases of strangles frequently 
terminate in a diseased condition of the 
larynx, and produce roaring, or -whistling. 
her and (2) good springs of water on it? (3.) How 
far from good schools are such lands? (4.) How 
fur from a village? (5.) In what part of the State 
is Washington county? (fi.) How near to a coun¬ 
ty seat can a person get a homestead ? (7.) How 
far from a railroad? 
Replies by Mr. Walker. 
(1.) Yes. Hut the time hastens when he 
cannot. The land office at Junction City 
is crowded with applicants for homesteads 
all the time. 
(3.) To find homesteads with timber and 
good springs at the same time is more diffi¬ 
cult; but such may yet be found. 
(8.) Good schools are numerous in this 
State. In proportion to the population, more 
so than in any other State in the Union. 
(4.) Within one, two, three, four, or five 
miles. Near to villages the best homesteads 
are taken. But new villages and centers of 
population are constantly being made. 
(5.) Washington county is in the northern 
middle part of the State, bounded on the 
north by Nebraska. 
(G.) Within three, four, or five miles. 
(7.) Twenty miles from the railroad. But 
two railroads are soon to pass through here, 
the “ Central Branch Union Pacific ” and 
the “ St. Joseph and Hannibal.” One’s only 
Replies by Mr. Walker. 
(1.) To this inquiry I refer you to answers 
one aud two to Nelson Wilson’s letter 
above. 
(3.) The cost of a homestead of one hundred 
and sixty acres to bo secured (after selection) 
by personal presence at the United States 
Land Office at Junction City, is $14.50. 
(3.) The chances to secure employment 
here during the winter are about the same as 
elsewhere. I should prefer to come in the 
spring, take my claim, and go to work on it. 
(4.) Twenty miles. 
-- 
InqiiiricH About Colorado.—Cun you or some of 
your readers Inform me through the Rural 
whether there’s danger to life and property from 
the Indiana In stock raising near Denver City, 
Colorado? Also, if T went thero this winter, 
could 1 find employment with some stock miser 
or farmer by the month at any kind of a satis¬ 
factory price ? I should also like to know the 
distance from Omaha City to Denver, and the 
price of passage on l he ears.—G- M. V an Deviate, 
Montgomery Co., A. F. 
-- 
Tennessee Table-Land*.— D. W. II., Kenton, 0., 
asks what counties emu prise these table-lands, 
nature of the soil, is the land level or broken, to 
what crops is it adapted, health, &e. If our cor¬ 
respondent had read the Sural carefully he 
would have found some of these questions an¬ 
swered in it months ago. 
be Naturalist. 
ABOUT THAT SALAMANDER. 
The writer of an article which appeared 
in a late number of the Rural seems to think 
it “ strange ignorance" that Northern people 
do not know that iu tlu: piney woods, along 
the coast of the Gulf of Mexico, the gopher 
Is called a salamander and the snapping tur 
tie is called a gopher. This strange igno¬ 
rance lie finds in Northern newspapers and 
in Wood’s Natural 1 Us lory. Were he to look 
still further he would also find the authors 
and compilers of gazetteers, cyclopedias and 
dictionaries profoundly ignorant that the 
gopher is a salamander. 
It is strange that the people of that South¬ 
ern district have combined to rob a scaly 
reptile of his good name to bestow it upon a 
fur clad rodent, whose name in turn they 
lake to give to a groveling tortoise. 
The writer’s description of his so-called 
salamander is such as to leave no doubt of 
its identity with the real gopher, though it is 
no more accurately descriptive to call him a 
“ground rat” than to call a mole a ground 
mouse. All these animals belong to the 
general class Rufcitfntjj^ but have ao few 
characteristics in common that their specific 
I names cannot he mudo interchangeable with¬ 
out confusion. Nor is it quite correct to say 
the “ gopher has pockets on his shoulders,” 
since, ihe pockets open in the corners of his 
mouth aud extend down his cheeks and the 
sides of his neck. 11 is coat is thicker, short¬ 
er and finer than that of the rat, his color 
darker, and his size somewhat less. lie lias 
a short, hairless tail, remarkably broad and 
strong incisors, and large, powerful claws, 
with the least possible length of leg inter¬ 
vening between them and the stout body. 
But this indefatigable sapper and miner is 
not quite so innocent of troubling farmers as 
your contributor paints him. I think this 
animal is not found further north than the 
Illinois River on the east side of the Missis¬ 
sippi, but abounds widely west of that river 
and throughout the valley of the Missouri, 
where I have found the farmers quite unani¬ 
mous in denouncing him as the most formid¬ 
able pest they have to encounter. Bounties 
are often paid for his destruction. He is in¬ 
deed a wily and a herculean destroyer. His 
whole life, is spent underground, where he 
plots and executes his vandalism unseen,— 
the very chief among the busy spoilers of the 
farm and garden. 
The billowed and mounded surface oflargo 
tracts of wild prairie, shows that for ages 
before the farmer was here to demur, the 
gopher was busy at his work as he is to-day, 
tunneling his interminable roadways beneath 
the surface and piling the excavated earth in 
i mounds above them, thus admitting a cur¬ 
rent of air to circulate through and dry up 
the soil. 
But even this is not the “ head and front 
of his offending,” Thrifty young trees, 
shrubs and hedges, corn, potatoes and garden 
vegetables are eaten off below the surface of 
the ground by this voracious root digger, nor 
are those products safe from his encroach¬ 
ment when buried for winter preservation, 
unless inclosed within some Impenetrable 
barrier. 
Further east where this character has not 
appeared, the name gopher is often applied 
to the little striped prairie squirrel, and to the 
beautiful prairie marmot, but never here 
where they all abound. J. B. Crosby. 
Bellevue, Neb. 
-- 
Development Theory. — An English 
writer asks, “ Where and when, if man ever 
was an animal, did lie part company with 
his kind? And why is there no trace of any 
other animal who lias made a similar ad¬ 
vance, if not in degree, then m kind ?” 
