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f»©©R£’S RURAL (NEW-YORKER 
Stitt Iicrd.'iinun. 
POLLED CATTLE. 
Please allow me to make an explanation 
In regard to your artiole in the Rural 
New-Forker, April 20th, on Polled Cat¬ 
tle. as the Improved Polled (Norfolk Ileds 
there are unfortunately mixed up in the de¬ 
scription with the old honied and other 
sorts of that county of last century. I Haw 
some of those Polled cattle on my firBt visit 
to Eugland, in 1841, and found them even 
then of high value. 
Ab now improved, they fatten as kindly, 
and mature about as early, as short horns; 
and those families which are bred for the 
dairy are as Rood milkers as the best Ayr- 
alilrcs. Added to this, they are very hardy, 
and the most docile of all British cattle. 
These are great merits, and it is no wonder 
that they are not only spreading rapidly 
now in Euglaud, but that they are also ex¬ 
porting them in considerable numbers into 
foreign countries. Among all other British 
races which wo have latterly been import¬ 
ing into the United States, it is a matter of 
surprise that our countrymen have entirely 
overlooked the highly meritorious Norfolk 
Polled. But this i3 about to be remedied 
by a company of gentlemen recently formed 
hero for the oxpi'ess purpose of importing 
some of them. 
A cross of the Improved Norfolk bull 
would be the very best possible to make on 
the wild, long-horned, Texas cows. The off¬ 
spring of such a cross would generally couxe 
without horns iu the second generation, 
would fatten much more kindly than the 
pure Texan, would mature at least two 
years earlier, and their beef would be worth 
from 26 to 50 per cent, more per pound in 
the Eastern markets. Then, it would bo so 
much easier to herd and handle these docile 
animals ou the ranch than the wild, semi¬ 
savage cattle of tho great plains; and, in 
the absence of horns, scarce ever an acci¬ 
dent or injury would occur among them; 
and the cost of transportation to market 
would bo considerably lessened. Thus, the 
gain of breeding'Polled over Horned cattle 
would be millions of dollars annually to 
the ranchmen of tho West, If they could be 
Induced generally to adopt them. What is 
the use of horns umoxxg cattle, except to 
gore aud rip each other up, and make 
them dangerous to everything around? 
Since the Introduction of Mr. Fulcher’s 
article in the London Field, with illustra¬ 
tions of Polled Norfolk, copied iuto the 
Rural, page 2j'i’, he has written a friend in 
this country that these porti’aits were taken 
of specimens of the ragged, unimproved old 
breed, and even of these they are carica¬ 
tures iu some respects. Who over saw cut- 
tie with suoh disproportionately large legs, 
and feet which would outmeasure even 
those of an elephant? 
The Improved Norfolk Reds must not be 
confounded with those of a neighboring 
county, usually called Suffolks, as the latter 
are greatly inferior to the former in high 
breeding, aud are also of different color*, 
varying, as in the United States, from a 
dull yellow to a dun, brown, brindle, and 
also a mingling of these colors with more or 
less white. These animals, although scraggy 
in appciu-aucc, are hardy, and the cows 
usually good milkers. Many enterprising 
breeders in Suffolk and other counties bor¬ 
dering on Norfolk, are getting rid of the old 
sort of ragged beasts above, and substit ut¬ 
ing the Improved Reds. 
In addition to the encomiums published in 
the Rural, of the 20th iust., allow rno to add 
those of my brother, the late Mr. Richard 
L. Allen, when traveling in England, in < 
1809. lie was a great admirer of flue ani- < 
mals of nil kinds, and an excellent judge of : 
their merits. In writing home about the 1 
great Show of the Royal Agricultural Soci- j 
ety of that year, he says:—“ I also noticed i 
the Noi’follc Rods. If they had horns, there 1 
would have been nothing to distinguish 1 
them from Devons. I have never seen such 1 
beautiful animals. If I were breeding choice \ 
stock in America, I would build up a herd 1 
of Polled Norfolk at once, if they could be s 
found here in sufficient numbers approxi- t 
mating in merit to those I saw.” a 
To this we will add, that in consequence c 
of the Improved Norfolks so closely re- i 
eembliug the fine, high-bred Devons, they 
are now ofteu called “Polled Devons,” 
Whether they have a stolen ci-oss of this p 
x'ace in them I cannot say. Jt is generally 1 
believod, however, that, they have not, but 
that the great improvement in them of late 
years, comes from a careful selection from ] 
the best of the old native breed. a 
New York, April 22d, 1872. A. B. Allen. 1 
LICE ON CATTLE. 
In the earlier days of my farming I was 
: frequently troubled with lice on my stock, 
and tried most of the remedies recommend¬ 
ed. I found oil (lamp the best) spread over 
, the surface, of a warai day, by carding, 
would destroy them; but this is a tedious 
job in a dairy'. Some farmers expect, as a 
natural consequence, to have lice on their 
stock, especially their calves, they being 
kept in the same close stables. Where this 
Is the ease, calves get infected in the spring, 
soon after being dropped, and tlxe lice are 
there when cold weather approaches, and 
will prosper, unless defeated by the remedy 
given below, which is the most effectual I 
ever found:—I buy sulphur and saltpeter 
by the pound, pulverize the saltpeter in a 
mortar, and during the mild weather in 
winter give to my stock in proportions of 
one tablespoonful of sulphur to one tea¬ 
spoonful of saltpeter, for a full grown ani¬ 
mal ; about tho same for two calves, giveu 
with dry feed or meal. The above giveu to 
calves in summer, will prevent the appear¬ 
ance of lice In winter. I give the above to 
my stock in winter as often as once iu two 
or three weeks, if the weather Is warm, 
with good results. W«. N. Garrott. 
Broome Co., N. Y, 
------ 
ABORTION REMEDY. 
My experience fully accords with “ Farm¬ 
er,” Mystic, Conn. Strains, slips, and 
stocky boots have destroyed many a calf, 
and yet thereto times when there appears 
to be an epidemic among the cows. I re¬ 
member when I was a very little boy, one 
of our neighbors came in and 6aid, speaking 
of another uear neighbor, that several of 
his cows had lost their calves. When ques- , 
tioued as to how he had fared in that par¬ 
ticular, he replied that one of his best heifers 
bad looked as if she was about to do so— 
that, many years before, he had been told 
that if such a case should ever come under 
his observation, he should give the animal a 
herring dipped iu tar. He hud done so, ex¬ 
pecting to have considerable difficulty in 
getting her to take it; but she appeared to 
like it, and took it without any trouble. It 
Is a very simple remedy, if remedy it is, 
and at least possesses the negative advan¬ 
tage of being perfectly harmless, if it can 
do no good. These heiTings were dried 
fish, salted till they seemed to be all salt. 
I presume with salt and tar, the fish might 
possibly be dispensed with.—a. 
-»•»■» 
NOTES FOR HERDSMEN. 
Gad-Fly.—One corx'ospondcnt writes: 
“ Why are young cattle troubled more with 
grubs than old? What is the cause aud 
cure?” Another says:—“Is there any cure 
or preventive for the grub that appears in 
cattle's backs In the spring. What causes 
it?” The cause of this grub is that tho 
species of Gad-Fly known as Dc bovis , at¬ 
tacks and pierces the skin of the animal and 
deposits its egg there, which becomes the 
grub or larva, it is true that young and 
healthy animals seem to be preferred for 
such deposits; aud when the fly makes them 
it almost sets the animal wild. An English 
writer recommends the application of a 
mixture of two ounces of tar and four 
ounces of hog’s lard, melted together and 
applied to tho bitten parts, as an immedi¬ 
ate relief to the animal after it is bitten, i 
One means of preventing the deposit of < 
eggs and the development of the larva is to * 
squeeze these grubs out of the animals this I 
spring, and destroy them—else they will es- 1 
capo themselves and become transformed < 
into flies to again sting your animals. i 
loitsfimait. 
TO CURE A BALKY HORSE. 
My way is to hitch him by the side of a 
gentle horse, then take a stout clothes line 
or head-cord, tie one end to the end of the 
wagon tongue, pass it around under his 
tail, and tie the other end to tho lxame- 
riug on t.he opposite side. When you start 
him, speak some word or sentence that you 
are not in the habit of speaking to your 
horses, so that if he ever balks again, you 
repeat the same word or sentence, and he 
will be reminded of the x'ope pei’suasion 
without its application. —Balky, Bloom- 
ingdale, HI. 
The following mode of curing a balky 
boreo has never been known to fail wherever 
It bus been applied. Procure a finely tem¬ 
pered butcher knife, and bring it to the 
keenest edge; take your ax in your right 
baud and your butcher knife iu your left. 
Now let a competent assistant lead the 
horse to a convenient place. Take your 
position on the near side of the horse on a 
direct line with Ids head and about the 
length of your helve distant. Now spit iu 
the palm of your right hand, aud, seizing 
your ax by the crook of tho helve, deal 
him an unearthly crack right between the 
eyes. If the blow lias been properly de¬ 
livered, he is now in a position and condi¬ 
tion for further operation. Lay aside the 
ax, take your knife, and, while the assistant 
holds up each leg successively, insert the 
point in tho skin uear the fetlock and pass 
it down the inside of each and across the 
body, cutting dear through the skin. In 
the same manner pass the knife along tho 
abdomen and chest and upon the lower Bide 
of the neck to the lip of the lower jaw. If 
you are an expert skinner, a few moments 
will suffice to flay the animal. Now care¬ 
fully roll up the skin und lay it in a safe 
placo. With your ax aud knife divide tho 
carcass Into pieces of convenient size, aud 
bury them iu the middle of your compost 
heap. In the fall draw it out upon your 
meadow, aud you will find it a most excel¬ 
lent top-di'essiug for your land. Tho hide 
should bo sold to your nearest tanner for 
the best price you can get.—G. H., Rome, 
N. Y, 
liable work horse with the above medicine, 
and worked him every day. I could not 
use the common headstall or bridle on him. 
I used the Rockwell bit on him, as that did 
not interfere with his sore head.—W. D. F., 
Hamilton Co., N. Y. 
Cribbing Colt.—“Subscriber,” Freder- 
ickstown, O., asks how to break a colt of 
cribbing. One of our correspondents rec¬ 
ommends nailing a sheepskin, wool side up, 
wherever there is a chanco for the horse to 
bite, as an effectual remedy. 
Bunch on a Mare’s Bag. — “Silex,” 
Birmingham. O., has a mare with a bunch 
growing on her bag. It is as large a9 a 
man's fist and is getting larger, and seems 
to stiffen her. What shall he do? 
Abortive Mares.—Will some one tell me 
tho preventive for abortion in mares? I 
have one in foal, and feel anxious to save 
her colt.—T. M. W., Oneida, N. Y. 
Ulljjienic Information. 
NOTES FOR HORSEMEN. 
To Remove a Callus.—A correspond¬ 
ent asks:—“What will remove a callus of 
long standing from a horse which was 
caused by Interfering?” Wo have just re¬ 
ceived from T. L., Scipioville, N. Y., tho fol¬ 
lowing:—“To remove a lump or callus, 
swelling, etc., apply, a time or two, butter 
of antimony, followed immediately by sul¬ 
phuric aoid, having first greased outside of 
tho bunch to prevent tho application from 
extending the sore it, makes. A neighbor 
told mo of this recipe,—that he had noticed 
in the Rural New-Yorker years ago; and 
lind frequently used it to remove bunches, 
tumors, etc., with entire success. I applied 
it last summer to a lump of a year aud a 
half standing, on a horse’s nose, and it soon 
broke aud passed away." 
How to Pick Out a Yoke of Steer 
Calves. J. R. asks: — “ Will you or some 
of your readers tell me bow to pick out a 
yoke of steer calves, so as to mate them 
well? Wlmt should be their build?” It is 
not easy to select steer calves that will 
prove well matched when grown. We should 
hesitate to attempt it for ourselves. We 
hare had some experience in doiug so, but 
have found that it is not so satisfactory as 
when animals are two or three years old. 
However, if one can get calves of about the 
samo weight, general build, size of bone, 
of similar temperament, and whose parents 
are similar in size and build, better teams 
can be made by early breaking, accustom¬ 
ing them to work together. 
Oil Meal for Mileli Cows.—Will some 
on« who has used it tell me if oil cake is 
good food for milch cows, and how much to 
teed at a time with corn meal?— o. m. h. 
Feeding Calves.—A correspondent asks 
if a calf can have all he can eat while grow¬ 
ing. We reply, no; but be should be liber¬ 
ally fed—not stuffed. The calf should not 
be fattened, but kept growing. 
Lame Moles.—In reply to T. T. Shallow 
me to say that all diseases of the feet affect 
the shoulders. Canker, contraction, foun¬ 
der, gravel, prick from a nail, are affections 
of the feet only. Many say “there Is a 
horse chest-foundered.'’ I will admit that 
the horse perishes iu the chest. This is 
caused by the horse standing with his feet 
stretched forward. For instance, if a man 
were to stand or sit with his arms stretched 
forward, would he not perish or diminish 
in bis chest? Contraction is not so much a 
disease, as tho result of bad management 
on the part of the blacksmith in shoeing, 
etc. It may be said to be an alteration of 
the structure of tho posterior or back part 
of the hoof—a winding in of the heels.— e. a . 
To Cure a Horse of Palling at tlie 
Halter.—A correspondent of the Country 
Gentleman cured a horse of this habit by 
fastening a surcingle around the animal just 
back of the shoulders. To this a rope was 
fastened and passed between the fore legs, 
through the ring of the halter and tied to 
the post. Laying back for the usual puli 
the animal found he was pulling on his own 
body instead of the post, and soon gave up 
the practice entirely. 
Poll Evil.—I send you my cure. As soon 
as your horse’s head is found to be station¬ 
ary, and you are satisfied that the cause is 
poll evil, wash two or three times a day 
with arnica, until relieved. Do not post¬ 
pone until the sore is opened. I cured a val- 
HYGIENIC NOTES AND QUERIES. 
To Cure Ringworms.—Take tho best 
Cuba cigars; smoke one a sufficient length 
of tune to accumulate one-fourth or one- 
half inch of ashes upon the end of the cigar. 
Now wet the whole surface of t he sore with 
the saliva from the mouth; then rub the 
ashes from the end of the cigar thoroughly 
into fttid all over the sore. Do this t hree 
times a day, and inside of a week all will he 
smooth and well.— Frank Kelly. 
Another.— Twenty grains of carbolic acid 
to one ounce of soft water was ordered by 
a physician for my wife; but wo increased 
the acid until we used 50 grains of acid to 
an ounce of water. Tho application is pow¬ 
erful, hut the cure is sure.—A. 8. B., Rus¬ 
sell, Iowa. 
To Remove Warts.—Take good indigo, 
such as is used by the laundress; soak it in 
water; with a knife pare away the surface 
of the warts so as to cause the blood to 
flow. Wipo off tho blood and drop tho in¬ 
digo water upon them. Very large ones 
may require a socond application. Tho in¬ 
digo produces no pain whatever. I have 
used and recommended this cure to many 
persons, and have never known it to fail 
but once. 
Ringworm Remedy.—Let “Old Sub¬ 
scriber" apply to the ringworm the juice of 
the shuck of a black walnut which is nearly 
ripe, four or five times lu half a day. lie 
need not be afraid of the stain; it will go 
away of Itself, as it does from our lingers. 
The bark of the root of the black walnut, 
pounded up, is nearly as good.— Henry 8. 
Ely. 
For Chilblains, apply salt. It is better 
wet, but will effect a cure if put in the sock 
dry and worn for a week. In case of a 
freeze that lias blistered and become a sore, 
apply honey thickened wljlx flour. The 
honey and flour will remove fungus (proud 
flesh) from any sore, and keep it clear from 
it.— G. VV. Tripp. 
To Purify the Blood.—A well known 
physician says that ho considers the follow¬ 
ing proscription for purifying the blood as 
the best be has ever used. One ounce yel¬ 
low dock, one half ounce hoi’seradish, one 
quai't hard cider. Dose, one wine-glass full 
four times a day. 
Excessive Perspiration.—“ An old sub- 
sci’iber” asks if any of our readers “can 
recommend anything to prevent the disa¬ 
greeable odor arising from excessive pei’- 
spiration?” Frequent bathing in tepid 
water is what we should do. 
To Keep the Feet Warm Cold Nights. 
—Take a soft and pliable sheepskin, or a 
piece of a buffalo robe as large; put it an 
top of the lower sheet that covers the feet; 
•pack the rest of tlie sheets or blanket top 
of the skin, and then tell others how to do 
it.— m. R. B. 
Remedy for RlxeumatiSfli.—Tincture 
of gum Guaiocum, ten to fifteen drops, three 
times a day. I have never known it to fail 
making a cure, except in cases of long 
standing, when it will afford gi’eat relief.— 
W. I. Bishop. ’ _ 
Warts on tho Hands. — To remove 
these, I simply apply strong alum water as 
many times per day as I fiud it convenient 
and the warts do not remain long.—H. N. 
W., Coventry ville, N. Y, 
