9 
W* - 
7 406 M©QBE’S 
water or where the tide ebbs and flows, be¬ 
ing wet and dry alternately, exposed to the 
weather or in the dry. Yet it may be that 
different soils affect, it differently; but cer¬ 
tainly it is a valuable tree, and its preserva¬ 
tion and cultivation ought to receive more 
general attention. — Isaac Esmay, South 
Bend, Ind. 
The author of the above appears to be 
very anxious to have his opinion of the 
“Larch Problem’’ well known, for ho has 
sent a similar article to several papers; and 
while wo shall ever be ready to aid thoso 
who seek information in regard to the cul¬ 
tivation of the Larch, still we hope to cor¬ 
rect errors such as are found in the above. 
(1) We believe that Prof. Mathews’ ex¬ 
perience was not un isolated instance of the 
rapid decay of yotmg Larch stakes; for 
even our Red Cedar, which iB considered a 
very durable timber, will decay rapidly 
under like circumstances. When they are 
grown in rich soils the wood is of a soft, 
spongy nature, and trees only largo enough 
for garden st akes are no more durable than 
any of our cammon forost timber; but 
upon the rocky or poor sandy soils of the 
east, where it requires t wenty to fifty years 
for a tree to acquire a stem two to four 
inches in diameter, the wood becomes very 
compact and durable. If Prof. Matheavs 
had used the heart wood of large trees the 
results would no doubt have been quite 
different. 
fiber; but its descent to the roots, which is 
through the bark and outer sap-w'ood, is 
cut off by the incision, and thereby the 
roots obtain no supply of the needed nutri¬ 
ment during the entire season, and they 
die in consequence. The following Spring 
they can gather no sustenance from the soil 
to support either stem or branches, and 
these die. Now if you will girdle the tree3 
next Spring, as we have directed, you can 
cut off the tops next Fall without fear of 
being troubled with suckers. Not far from 
where we write we saw this experiment 
tried upon a number of large Ailanthus 
trees with perfect success. We know of at 
least one gardener and writer on vegetable 
physiology who may take exceptions to our 
theory of the- circulation of sap in the 
trees; hut the effects of girdling are as wc 
have stated, nevertheless. 
--- 
Grafting or Budding.—Which method 
of propagating fruit trees is most practiced 
by nurserymen—budding or grafting—and 
which makes the hardiest, longest-lived and 
most productive tree?—L., Milton , Vt. 
There cannot possibly be any difference, 
all theories to the contrary notwithstand¬ 
ing. A bud is only a modified cion inserted 
into a stock in Summer, instead of in Win¬ 
ter or Spring, as in ordinary grafting. The 
mode of grafting cannot have any effect in 
making a tree hardy, tender, long-lived or 
productive. 
(2) Wo are curious to know where Mr. 
Esmay obtains his botanical information iu 
regard to the different species of the Larch. 
It is true that writers in European Maga¬ 
zines sometimes refer to the different vari¬ 
eties as species ; but no one need fear of 
obtaining seeds or seedlings of more than 
one species in ordering either from any 
foreign nursery. The same Is true in re¬ 
gard to our native species, there bedng hut 
one. not several as stated. In the older 
works of our botanists, reference may be 
found to Lnrlx miernca'rpa of La mbert; 
but it was long ago decided to bo onlv a va¬ 
riety of our common L*Aln(tricaiw, and 
all this talk of Mr. Esmay about our sev¬ 
eral species is sheer nonsense which may 
mislead some one into purchasing trees of 
certain parties who may pretend to keep 
the trees for sale. 
(3) Judging from the manner in which 
Mr. E. speaks of the Red and White Larch 
we conclude that he supposes these terms 
refer to the wood of these varieties; but it 
happens to be. the flowers that gives these 
varieties their names. It is certainly true 
that the Red Larch his been for many 
years considered to bo She best for timber; 
still both varieties are raised from seed 
gathered from the *ame tree. That the 
White Larch is only a variety of the Red 
is proved in ever/ European plantation of 
this tree. 
(4) When our learned arboriculturist 
shows to the world that all of the varieties 
of Larch wkich he names as species will 
come true from seed wdthout any greater 
variation/ban can he found in White Oak 
seedlings, then we will be willing to let him 
have a band in correcting the works of our 
great botanists. That our native Larch is 
a good timber tree, no one will deny; but 
experience bas proved over and ever again 
that it is inferior to the European for dry 
upland cultivation. Ours is a native of 
swamps and low grounds, while the Euro¬ 
pean grows naturally on lofty mountains. 
When Mr. E. shows us the numerous spe¬ 
cies and varieties of our native species which 
he Sf) glibly talks about we will test their 
value. 
TO KILL AILANTHUS TREES. 
I have four Ailanthus trees that, are very 
troublesome when they throw off their 
leaves in the Fall. 1 thought 1 would like 
to use their stems as posts upon which to 
train some vines, such as the American 
1 vy, Trumpet vine, etc. 1 shall cut off their 
tops, and will some of your people tell me 
how to preserve the stems and yet take 
away their vitality so that they may not 
sprout or throw off any branches or suckers 
from the bottom or roots? They are six or 
eight inches iu diameter.— Reader. 
To kill Ailanthus or other trees, and at 
the same time to prevent the roots throw¬ 
ing up suckers, it is only necessary to gir¬ 
dle the stems in Spring, allowing the 
branches and entire top to remain intact 
through the Summer. In girdling, cut a 
narrow incision entirely around the stem 
at any desirable spot from the groundup 
to the lowermost branches. The incision 
should he about an inch deep and the same 
in width. The philosophy of the operation 
is simply thisTh sap runs through the 
nner sap wood up to the leaves, where it is 
assimilated preparatory to becoming woody 
THE TEETH OF YOUNG HORSES. 
From what I have learned from the best 
veterinarians iu the United States, and 
from the best authors in this and the old 
country, combined with my own experi¬ 
ence, I am satisfied that the so-called wolf 
teeth in horses are nothing more nor less 
than supernumerary or sucking tusks, and 
appear on the upper jaw, about midway be¬ 
tween the front and back teeth, in the 
mouths of colts between the ages of two and 
four years, and remain until crowded or 
pushed out. by' the permanent tusk; ami as 
a great many horses never have permanent 
tuskB, thoy remain all of the animal’s life. 
Anil they also appeal’ more frequently in 
the mouths of horse than of mare colts. 
Perhaps somo farmer will say, “ I had a 
Colt whose eyes began to discharge a thin, 
whitish fluid, and the eye became swollen 
and somewhat inflamed. I examined his 
mouth, and found that he had wolf teeth; 
1 immediately took my hammer aud punch 
and knocked the teeth out, and the colt 
soon got entirely well. I am satisfied that 
if I had not taken them out he would have 
become blind.” 
Another man may say, “1 had a colt 
whose eyes began to discharge, and I exam¬ 
ined his mouth and found that he had wolf 
teeth, but did not take them out then, and 
in a few weeks my colt became blind in one 
eye; I then extracted the teeth, and the 
other eye got well.” Both of these menmay 
say, j“ 1 know that wolf teeth will make 
horses blind.” 
While 1 respect their opinions, yet 1 say 
it far from proves that, the wolf teeth were 
the cause of the trouble. Every parent 
well knows that when children are. cutting 
teeth the gums are sometimes inflamed and 
very sensitive, and when the child brings 
liis jaws together, or bites anything hard, 
it causes great pain, and starts the tears in 
the eyes. Indeed so painful are the gums 
that the physician has to be called in and 
the gums lanced. Now if the mother did 
not wash the face of the child and cleanse 
the eyelids of the dried tears and dirt, the 
eyes would soon become badly inflamed; 
and it is the same with the colt to a certain 
extent, as with the child. lie attempts to 
chew his food, which gives him pain, the 
tears start iu his eyes and soon dry upon 
the lids aud collect dirt sufficient to cause 
inflammation of the eyes, which many 
times terminates in blindnoss. 
But the question arises—Why did the 
eyes get well when the teeth were extract¬ 
ed ? My answer is, in extracting the teeth 
you also extracted a small quantity of blood 
from the inflamed gum, thereby removing 
the cause, when the effects ceased iu the 
eyes. 
Then another qustion arises:—Is it not 
well to extract the teeth ? 1 answer, No; 
there is an easier way: examine the mouth, 
and if you find that the colt is cutting a 
back tooth aud the gum is badly inflamed, 
take a sharp knife and slightly cut the gum 
over the inooming tooth, wash the dried 
tears and dirt from the eyes a few times; 
or if you find the gums but little inflamed, 
feed the colt for a few days upon soft food, 
and wash the eyes with simple cold water. 
If the eyes have reached the stage of in¬ 
flammation, cutting the gums or extracting 
the tooth will do no good to the eye. a» it is 
then a disease of itself, and you had better 
go to a reliable veterinarian, or in his stead 
to your family physician, and get him to 
prescribe for you. 
There is still another reason why I say let 
the teeth alone :—Many breeders are unable 
to distinguish the diffei’ence between a 
permanent tusk and a so-called wolf tooth; 
the result may be that the permanent 
tooth is broken off, thereby adding fuel to 
lire, aud causing great i>ain to the colt. A 
portion of the first, grinder is also some¬ 
times broken off, the operator supposing it 
to be wolf tooth, when the front edge pre¬ 
sents a sharp projection caused by its over¬ 
lapping the tooth on the opposite jaw, 
which soon causes t he tooth to decay and 
as a consequence the colt suffers with tooth¬ 
ache for weeks. C, D. Smead, Y. S. 
Logan, N. Y. 
Remarks. —Here is a very fair statement 
of the whole matter of wolf teeth in horses; 
hut as those teeth seem to be superfluous 
and the taking of them out is usually fol¬ 
lowed by good results, we should say—take 
them out when it can be properly done. 
—Eds. 
-,-♦♦♦- 
LINSEED TEA FOR SICK HORSES. 
We find the following in an Agricultural 
paper, credited to an Exchange. Wo do 
not know its origin, but know enough of 
the matter to know that what is said inthe 
extract is worth knowing: 
“ Linseed tea is not only a valuable restora¬ 
tive for sick horses, hut is exceedingly use¬ 
ful in cases of inflammation of the mem¬ 
branes peculiar to the organs of respiration 
and digestion; it shields and lubricates the 
same; trauquilizes the irritable states of 
the parts, and favors healthy action. We 
have prescribed linseed toa iu large quanti¬ 
ties, during the past month, for horses la¬ 
boring under the prevailing influenza; they 
seemed to derive much benefit from it, and 
generally drank it with avidity. Aside 
from the benefit we derive from the action 
of mucilage and oil which the seed contains, 
its nutritive elements are of some account, 
especially when given to animals laboring 
under soreness in the organs of deglutition, 
which incapacitates from swallowing more 
solid food. In the event of an animal be¬ 
coming prostrated by inability to masticate 
or swallow more food, linseed tea may be 
resorted to, and In case of irritable cough, 
the addition of a little honey makes it still 
more useful. In the latter form it may be 
given to animals laboring under acute or 
chronic disease of the urinary apparatus, 
more especially of the kidneys. 
“To Make Linseed Tea.—Rut a couple 
of handsful of the seed into a bucket, and 
pour 'a 'gallon aud a half of boiling water 
upon it. Cover it up a short time, then add 
a couple of quarts of cold water, when it 
will be fit for use.” 
-♦ ♦♦-• 
“ HIP-SWEENEY ” 
I ttaa’E a fine horse that received a severe 
fall about two months since. His right hip 
has shrunken greatly iu the flesh, and it is 
prououuced “ hip-sweeney.” Can I get in¬ 
formation from you by which 1 ean effect a 
cure ?— b. j. T. 
The "shrinking of the flesh” is due to 
the wasting away or lessening of the mus¬ 
cles, consequent upon the injury received 
by falling. If the animal ever regaius the 
use of the limb as before the injury, these 
muscles will resume their normal size. No 
such disease as Sweeney exists—at least it is 
not recognized among Veterinarians as a 
disease. The horse’s injury may bo iu the 
knee or the foot. If the horse picks up the 
foot clear of the ground the injux-yis not in 
the shoulder, but if the leg drugs, with the 
toe on the ground, the injury maybe in the 
hip. If the injury is in the hip or shoulder, 
a liniment composed of one pint of linseed 
oil, one ounce of chlorio ether, and one-half 
ounce of oil of cedar, mixed, and applied 
night aud morning to the shoulder, is good. 
If the trouble is in the joint, a counter-irri- 
tant of the acetate of cantharides should be 
applied occasionally over the parts affected; 
or the following stimulating liniment may 
be used:—Olive oil, spii’its of camphor, and 
tincture of ginger—equal parts. 
-- 
NOTES FOR HORSEMEN, 
Horse Trouble.—Can you tell me what 
is the trouble with my horse? Sometimes, 
when he has been worked quite bard, he 
will have a sort of a fit. It will come on all 
of a sudden; he is taken with trembling, 
will shake all over, and will keep walking 
backwards, and sometimes it is a very diffi¬ 
cult matter to hold him. Sometimes he 
falls down and seems to be blind ; his tongue 
will turn black aud the beating of his heart 
can be heard several feet. These fits sel¬ 
dom last more than ten minutes. If any 
one oan f ell me the cause and remedy, the}' 
will very rnuoh oblige.— A Subscriber. 
Our experience does not enable us to aid 
our correspondent by advice. 
The Brain of a Horse.—We find the fol¬ 
lowing In the Soientific American:—The 
brain of a horse seems to entertain but one 
thought at. a time; for this reason contin¬ 
ued whipping is out of the question, and 
only confirms lxis stubborn resolve. But if 
you can by any means change the direction 
of his mind, giving him a new subject to 
think of, nine times out of tenyou will have 
no further trouble In starting him. As sim¬ 
ple a trick as a little pepper, aloes, or the 
like, thrown back on his tongue, will often 
succeed in turning attention to the state of 
his mouth. 
Horse that Kicks at Night.—R. P. S. 
is informed that the cause of a horse’s kick¬ 
ing at night is oftener the result of nervous¬ 
ness and restlessness than of vicious pro¬ 
pensities. It is a form of hysteria of the 
limbs. We have cured animals of this by 
attaching a round ball of wood weighing 
two pouuds to the bind fetlock of the limb 
most used in kicking, by means of a strap 
two and n-holf or three feet long. When 
he kicks he administers to himself a blow 
from the ball. He quickly finds that if he 
keeps still he receives no blow and ceases 
to kick. 
Horse Gnawing his Shoulder.— I 
have a horse, who, when in the harness, 
when st anding and sometimes when in mo¬ 
tion, will lick and gnaw at the lower part of 
his shoulder. Can you, or any of your read¬ 
ers, tell me what is the cause of it and what 
will cure it.— A. P. Cole, Wellsville, Alle¬ 
gany Co., N. Y. 
It is probably pain of somo sort, though 
we cannot give any opinion without seeing 
the animal. 
POINTS OF HOULANS. 
A correspondent asks:—“IIow do you 
distinguish the sex of Houdan chicks?” 
We can only answer this question by giving 
the approved features of the sexes of these 
birds. Those of the cock are:— Or eat, com¬ 
posed of hackle feathers, full and well 
arched, falling back, and right and left of 
comb, clear of the eye rather than over it. 
Comb,well developed, large, red and branch¬ 
ing, broad at base, well indented, looking 
like a mass of coral w’ith antler-like 
branches, inclining rather backward into 
the crest. Beak, curved, with nostrils wide 
and cavernous and of dark horn-color. Eye, 
large, full, bright and lively; color various. 
Wattles, thin, rather long, neatly rounded 
and bright red. Muffling, or Beard, full 
and thick under beak and reaching well 
back in a curve to the back of the eye. 
Face, red; the less seen tho better. Breast, 
deep, full aud plump. Back, wide and 
straight. Wings, moderate and carried 
well up. Tail, moderate, ei’ect and well 
gickled. Thighs, the shorter the better. 
Legs, liue in bone, white shaded. Toes, five 
iu number, the fifth curved upwards at tho 
back. Color, broken black and white, as 
evenly broken as possible, free from colored 
feathers, which, however, though objec¬ 
tionable, are not a disqualification. Car¬ 
riage, lively, brisk, well set up and spirited. 
The murks of the hen should be: — Crest, 
large, compact and even, as in Polish. 
Comb, small, branching and coral - like. 
Eye, full and bright. Wattles, small, red 
and neatly rounded. Muffling, full, form¬ 
ing a thick beard reaching back to the eye. 
Neck, rather short, full-feathored and 
arched. Breast, full and deep. Back, wide 
and straight. Wings, moderate and carried 
closely to the body. Tail, moderate, fan¬ 
like, carried well up. Thighs, short. Legs, 
fine in bone, white, or shaded in color. 
Toes, five, the hind, or fifth claw, curved 
upward. Color, as in tho cock. Carriage, 
brisk and rather upright. 
--- 
Rule for Exhibition Coops.—Has the 
N. Y. State Ag. Soc. any rule goveniing the 
size of coops for fowls at its exhibition at 
Elmira? Please answer .—s . V. it. 
Write to the Secretary of N. Y. State 
Ag. Soc., Albany, N. Y., who will inform 
you authoritatively. 
