the moat of our native heus are. The Brah¬ 
ma hen, when pure, rarely lays less than 
sixty eggs before wanting to hatch.— e. y. 
would not take it upon ourselves to assert 
that they lay more than any other breed: 
but we quote W. B. Tegetmkier, the cele¬ 
brated English writer on poultry matters, 
who says of them:—“ Their elegance and 
utility are daily increasing the number of 
WQLF TEETH IN HORSES, 
BRAHMA FOWLS 
White Georgian Games.—We give an 
illustration of approved speoimens of this 
I want to say in regard to wolf teeth in 
horses, that 1 kuow they will blind a horse. 
If any one doubt it, let them knock out (or, 
what is better, draw with forceps) the tooth 
ou one side, and leave the other In; give 
both eyes the same treatment, and if the 
eye on the side of the tooth does not go 
blind I'll forfeit twenty-five dollars for a 
failure. When a horse-doctor says they do 
not blind a horse, T advise all to beware of 
him. 
I have never failed of curing, even when 
a horse could see but very little, with the 
following treatment:—Get the tooth out. 
If you have no forceps, get a man to hold 
the horse; take a No. 10 or 20 spike and ham¬ 
mer, place the spike in the horse's mouth, 
run your little finger up to the end of the 
spike, to bo sure you have it square ou the 
right tooth, hit the spike hard with the 
hammer, so as to be sure and fetch it. the 
first time, if possible; then take as much 
fresh-strained honey as you can take up on 
the point of a case-knife, raise the upper 
lid of the eye with one hand, have your as¬ 
sistant wipe the honey on the first finger 
of your other hand, and insert it far up on 
the inside of tho lid; let go. After treating 
both eyes, take about, one tablespoonful of 
fresh butter, and put. In each ear; hold ou 
to the tops of the ears until the butter 
melts and runs into the head; repeat tho 
treatment, if necessary, in two or threo 
days; or, if you have not honey, take the 
white end of henbane, and salt—equal parts 
—and insert it in the eye by blowing it 
through a quill. In each case, get. it under 
the upper lid. Use the butter the same. 
Battle Creek, Mich. o. f. l. 
I regard the Brahma, taking everything 
into consideration, to be the most profita¬ 
ble of any brood. I do not mean to say 
that thoy will sell for the highest fancy pri- 
oes, but that they are the most profitable to 
raise to kill. It is the breed for the farmer. 
They seem hardier, stand our cold winters 
better, aud are the best producers of eggs. 
In regard to their sitting propensities, 
many say that they are hard to cure of this 
desire. To this I will simply say that they 
are not as hard as the Cochins; but I never 
have trouble with them. 1 always let them 
sit. They are the best sitters and mothers, 
excepting Coohins, and will raise a brood of 
Bantam chicks nearly as well as a Bantam 
hen. As is woll known, there arc two vari¬ 
eties of Brahmas—Light aud Dark—and to 
tell which is the best is quite a problem, even 
for ouo who has bred them for years. If I 
could have just .such fowls as I would wish, 
I would take Light Brahmas, as their color 
is so much better: good hens, especially, are 
beautiful; their penciled necks, green tails 
and white bodies, full and plump; legs yel¬ 
low and well feathered. But it is difficult 
to get such Brahmas. 
Of late years breeders have taken it into 
their heads that Brahmas, to be right, 
should have the Cochin shape. This is all 
wrong, and should be discouraged at exhi¬ 
bitions where they compete for premiums. 
Brahmas used to have rather Long legs, com¬ 
pared with Cochins, and looked big. Now 
this is reversed. 1 lately saw a Light Brah¬ 
ma cook which was well marked, but rather 
small as I thought. “ What do yon think 
of him?” asked the gentleman who was 
showing me his fowls. 
“ He is well marked, but too small,” said I. 
“How much do you think he weighs?” 
said he. 
“Eight pounds," I replied. 
“I-Io weighs nearly twelve.” 
Appearances are deceptive, but the true 
shape of the Brahma is large, bulky aud 
grand. Make them stand up; make them, 
look big whether they are or not; for re¬ 
member that appearances are deceptive, 
and I should rather have a fowl look larger 
than it actually is, than smaller. 
Breeder. 
GEORGIAN GAME FOWLS. 
breed of fowls. Those who have bred them, 
claim for them the qualities of good layers, 
sitters, mothers with superior quality of 
flesh. The plumage is clear white, with but 
little yellow tinge on the cocks; legs yellow; 
comb, face, deaf ear, and wattles, very 
bright red. 
POULTRY NOTES AND QUERIES 
NOTES FOR HORSEMEN 
What to do with Fowls that Break 
Eggs Before Laying.—In an experience 
of over twenty-five years with poultry, T 
have never found any remedy for a hen that 
breaks an egg before laying. After losing 
many from that cause L now, us soon as it 
happeus, which I always kuow very soon 
thereafter, as I attend to them in person, I 
have them killed and dressed for the table, 
and find them as good as any other fowl; 
but in the event it has not been discovered 
in time to Rave them by using as above 
mentioned, I convert them into fertilizers 
by putting them in the manure heap, r 
therefore would advise Mr. H. W. Daws to 
adopt the same course; for die they must, 
soouer or later. 1 am no fancier; have none 
to sell; but simply raise them for family 
use, aud when I have any surplus eggs, 1 
dispose of them.—A Constant Reader of 
tue Rural, RichmondVa. 
Qnavter-Oraek. — Having seen in the 
Ritual New-Yorker an article on the 
treatment of quarter-crack, I aui prompt¬ 
ed to send you a mode of treatment, which 
1 have tried successfully, the fissure grow¬ 
ing entirely out in a little over two months, 
although I was compelled to use my horse 
every day. First let the flRsure be cleared 
of all dirt, carefully, and the edges pared so 
that they may bo brought smoothly togeth¬ 
er ; then by means of a small rod of iron, 
drawn out to a slender point and bent lilco 
a shoemaker’s closing awl, and heated, make 
as many holes, about one-half inch apart, as 
To Keep Insects from Birds’ Eyes 
suspend a little bag of sulphur in tho cage. 
This is said to bo healthful for tho birds 
and keeps away the inseots by which thoy 
are liable to be infested.—P. H. S., Ma¬ 
con, Mo. 
KEEPING FOOD BEFORE FOWLS 
KEEPING GRAPES 
lx Rural New-Yorker of March 16th, 
page 181, Geo. K. Hawley says he disagrees 
with Dr. P. in keeping feed eostantly be¬ 
fore poultry. Why he should thus disagree 
with the doctor, having never practiced 
that mode of feeding, and yet confesses that 
the desired result is attained, is to my mind 
not positively satisfactory. My own expe¬ 
rience is, that this past winter I have kept 
feed constantly before my fowls, and ob¬ 
tained more eggs than formerly. By refer¬ 
ring to my list of sales of eggs I find that 
during the month of January there were 
sold 16}* dozens from fourteen hens, or four¬ 
teen eggs to each hen during that month, 
besides a few used in a family of three per¬ 
sons, aud they have continued through to 
the present time at about the same rate. 
Yesterday there was one hen sitting, and 
twelve eggs laid. 
Your correspondent, G. K. H., will ob¬ 
serve that if the above average is carried out 
for each month in the year, he will have 
from fifty to seventy-five more eggs per hen 
than the average of hens will lay. My 
method ro obtain eggs in winter, is, to pro¬ 
cure young hens, supply the requirements 
of nature in their feed, and provide them 
clean, warm quarters. O. P. Reeve. 
Middletown, N. Y. 
We have hitherto given one or two modes 
of keeping grapes by inserting the stems in 
bottles of water. Here is another method 
introduced to the Fruit Committee of the 
Royal Horticultural Society of England, by 
W. Dodds, gardener, who has succeeded 
with it, and its simplicity must columned it 
to our readers. Ho says:—“ My plau was to 
cut the grapes, place them in bott.los aud 
hang them up to tho wires in our late vin¬ 
ery at one end where no plants were kept, 
the other part of the house being full of 
plants. I have had them pei’feot in color, 
excellent in flavor, tho stems quite green, 
and, mauy of the bunches as perfect as 
they were when out from the vine—all this 
for over three months.” He uses the very 
inexpensive and portable device illustrated 
Where Have the Shanghais Gone to ? 
—What has become of the much vaunted 
Shanghai fowls, either White, Red, Butt' or 
Black? i do not see any represented In 
the Asiatic class at the different poultry 
shows nor advertised for sale In any of the 
agricultural papers. What is the reason; 
have they become obsolete, or are they con¬ 
sidered inferior to any of the rest of the 
Asiatic breeds?—A Subscriber. 
Believing in the Darwinian theory of 
Evolution, it may be said that the Shang¬ 
hais have served their time on this subluna¬ 
ry sphere—at least until some enterprising 
Yankee introduces them—under a new 
name. 
it will require sutures for the length of the 
fissure, through its edges from side to side, 
just deep onough to hold firmly; next take 
well annealed iron wire, about No. 10 to 12, 
in short pieces, pass each piece through the 
holes across the fissure and bend the ends 
over so they shall meet, thus closing it 
smoothly and firmly; aud by melting a lit¬ 
tle beeswax, by means of a heated iron, into 
the crack, this part of the work is done. 
Next have a shoe fitted to the foot, closed 
at the heel, and supplied with toe and heel 
calks so that the horse will not slip—such 
as may seem expedient for the season. I 
am confident, if properly done, you will 
have the pleasure of seeing your horse all 
right in a few weeks. 1 will endeavor to 
give you the idea by a rude sketch, of a 
horse’s foot so affected and treated.— Wat. 
B. Carpenter, Leavenworth, Kan. 
Protest Against Deprecating Over- 
Feeding.—I have read muoh in your paper 
about over-feeding fowls—their being too 
fat to lay, etc. I don't believe a word of it. 
I keep from forty to sixty all the time. I 
gave free access to the corn orib and they 
became very fat. They have laid an abund¬ 
ance of eggs, especially since the middle of 
February. When I have been short of grain 
I have been short of eggs. I have the ooui- 
mon barn-yard fowl with a little black Span¬ 
ish blood in them.—P. H. S., Macon , Mo. 
SILVER-SPANGLED HAMBURGS, 
In answer to C. F. Tyler, who desires to 
know what qualities Silver-Spangled Ham- 
burgs have to oommend them except beau¬ 
ty, we would say that our Silver Ham- 
burgs endure confinement remarkably well. 
They never desire to sit, laying instead. 
They lay an egg as large as the Brahma, and 
do not eat one-half as muoh. Their eggs 
are very fertile, every egg, as a general 
thing, producing a chick. The chicks are 
very lively, easy to rear, and quick in feath¬ 
ering ; and were we asked what two breeds 
we would prefer to keep, if we were so situ¬ 
ated as to be unable to keep more, we should 
say, without hesitation, Silver-Spangled 
Hamburg's, to lay all the time, except a 
6hort rest while molting, and Light Brah¬ 
mas to lay during the winter, and sit on the 
Hamburg eggs during tho summer. As we 
do not keep all the breeds of fowls, we 
Fowls Moping.—Can you inform me what 
disease it is that affects poultry when they 
sicken, Bit, and mope about, with dullness 
of eye, and looseness the color of contents 
of a broken egg? They mope aud keep 
loose for two weeks, or more, and finally 
waste away, through feebleness, and die. 
Is this the roup, or not? Please insert this 
for some one to answer.— n. c. 
A Balky Mare’s Imagination.— R. S. 
Houghton writes us he used to start a 
balky mare in this wise:—“ l used to act as 
though I unhitched her, and then take down 
the tie strap to lead her, and she always fol¬ 
lowed me right along without any trouble. 
She was hitohed to a load in a bad place and 
I could not get her to go any other way. 
Have tried it two or three times success¬ 
fully. _ 
To Kill Lice on Horses.—J. B. Lee 
says:—“ Use one ounce of arsenio to a pail 
of soft water. The horse should be washed 
thoroughly in some warm place.” 
herewith, in place of bottles, as shown on 
page 228, Rural April 6. By its use, if one 
wishes to take the grapes into another house 
it is soon done. Mr. Dodos’ experience 
convinces him that dark rooms are not 
proper places to keep grapes for any length 
of time in good appearance and flavor. 
They require plenty of ait'and light. These 
tubes—above illustrated—are not costly. 
Brahmas as Layers. —I think I can 
answer Mr. C. R. R.’s request as regards 
the Brahama hen laying as well in summer 
as the native ones. I can say, from experi¬ 
ence, that the Brahma hen will lay full as 
many eggs, if not more, if well taken care 
of, as any native hen; at the same time 
they are not so much inclined to hatch as 
