turn 
Diitrir of a %nnM. 
DAILY BIRAL LIFE. 
FBOM THI DIARY OF A GENTLEMAN HEAR NEW YORK CITY. 
Epizooty Among tlic Horses.— Nov. 7. 
—“ How are your horses,” has of late be¬ 
come the password among friends, instead 
of the older forms of recognition. My 
horses were taken sick with the prevalent 
epizootic disease, and are still on the sick 
list, but doing well and I think out of dan¬ 
ger. I followed the treatment recommend¬ 
ed by the veterinary surgeon of the Spirit 
of the Times,—(since published in the Ru¬ 
ral New-Yorker, see page 801, Nov. 1).— 
Ed.) and have found It safe aud efficacious. 
I have had my horses exercised a little ev¬ 
ery day by leading them about the place, 
closely blanketed, for an hour during the 
middle of the day. Horses are so near 
“ human ” thut a similar treatment answers 
when they are sick. 1 find that flaxseed is 
a most excellent thing to allay irritation in 
the throat, and have given a handful at a 
time, two or throe times a day, to my hor¬ 
ses, with apparent excellent results. When 
too sick to eat other food they would lick 
up the llaxsecd from the manger, seeming 
to enjoy its soothing effect upon the throat 
and glands. This diseasu is not a dangerous 
one, and few horses will probably die from 
it, provided good care is given, and they 
are not killed with medicine. There )s 
probably more danger of giving too much 
medicine than too little, the same as it is 
with most persons when sick, they being 
impatient, swallow drugs instead of wait¬ 
ing for nature to restore health. All sorts 
of poisons will be poured down the tin oats 
of the poor horses that are attacked by 
this disease, aud the old practices of bleed¬ 
ing, purging and blistering will be resorted 
to by those persona who practice a similar 
system in their own families when any 
member of it is slightly indisposed. 1 have 
already heard of several instances of such 
torture being practiced upon Uorses for this 
late prevalent disease, but the results are 
far less satisfactory tliau a purely let-alone 
system. Bettor not give any medicine 
than too much. 
Storing Bulbs and Tubers.—Nov. 8.— 
In taking up bulbs and tubers, such as 
Tuberoses, Dahlias, Tigridias aud (’annas, 
it is very important that they should be 
thoroughly dried before putting them 
away fur Winter. Dahlias, perhaps, re. 
quire less drying thau any of the other 
kinds named, but these should have all the 
soil which may adhere to the tubers when 
taken from the ground shaken off and then 
exposed to a dry atuiosphere until they 
shrivel a little, before being packed away. 
Tigridias and Tuberoses it is almost impos¬ 
sible to dry too much without oue puts 
them iu an oven. If not thoroughly dried 
they are very liable to gather moisture 
during Winter, after which mold and decay 
soon follow. Persons having no green¬ 
house in which to keep such bulbs may 
keep them by putting into small clotb bags 
and then bang up iu a dry, warm room, or 
spread thinly upon shelves in a di'y cellar. 
Thousands of such bulbs are annually lost, 
and while this brings custom to those who 
keep t hem fur sale, still it would be far bet¬ 
ter for the community if no losses occur¬ 
red. 1 was reminded of the difficulty which 
almost every one experiences iu keeping 
Tigridia bulbs, from tiudiug my own get¬ 
ting moldy, although they were spread up¬ 
on a shelf iu the furnace room of my green¬ 
house. All such bulbs and tubei’s should 
be examined frequently during the Winter 
and if too wot brought out and dried. It 
sometimes occurs that Dahlias will beoomo 
too dry aud a sprinkling ot water is acces¬ 
sary, but this will seldom be the case when 
kept in a cellar. Dry sand is probably the 
best material in which to pack Dahlia tu¬ 
bers iu Winter, although straw, hay or 
chaff will answer the purpose very well. 
Dry thoroughly and pack in bands, then 
set in the cellar and there is little danger 
of decay unless they freeze or become wet. 
Planting' llaspberriesand Blaekber- 
ries.— Nov. y.—1 am not much in favor of 
planting fruit trees iu the Fail, especially 
iu the more Northern States, but with such 
plants as raspberries aud blackbei-ries, the 
caues of which are cut off when set out, the 
Fall is certainly the best season. The roots 
are safely protected by the earth, aud this 
is all that we wish to preserve of trans- 
planted plants, and by putting them out 
iu the Fall they are in position and condi¬ 
tion for growth early iu Spring, aud usual- | 
ly before the ground is in a suitable condi- 
tiou to be worked advautageously, I have 
been planting several varieties of these 
fruits to-day, and know from long experi¬ 
ence that the plants will make a better OUE FUR-BEARING ANIMALS-VII. 
growth next season than if I had delayed - 
this operation until Bpring. When the THE COUGAR, OR AMERICAN PANTHER, 
plants are taken up from the plaoe where (Felis concolor-LINN.) 
they were growing the canes are cut off to - 
within a foot or less of the ground, only The Cougar, or, as it is more frequently, 
leaving sufficient to enable us to handle though improperly, called, the Panther, 
them rapidly during the process of trans- Painter, Catamount, Puma, or American 
planting. The canes of our raspberries and Lion, was once sparsely distributed over 
blackberries are only biennial, aud those the whole of North America south of the 
m 4 -ps 
f J. ** p 
COUGAR, OR AMI 
that are produoed this year die next, 
whether transplanted or uot; and ir««s folly 
to try to get a crop of fruit from plants re¬ 
cently set out. Almost every novice in 
small fruit culture will try to obtain fruit 
the ffrst season that he sets out his plants, 
but he usually pays a very dear price for it, 
iu consequence of the check upon their 
growth. The old talk of ‘‘plants for im¬ 
mediate bearing,” so common in catalogues 
during the “grape fever” a few years since, 
has nearly become extinct; still thei’e are 
impatient men who cauuot wait, but must 
try to obtaiu fruit the first season from all 
the trees aud plants Bet out. The best way 
to hurry is to begin in time; and those who 
waut fruit of their own raising in 1874 
should begin now In the Fall of 1871$. 
Money, if properly expended, will do con- 
sidei’able toward hastening the growth of 
plants, but it will not permit a man to 
crowd nature beyond certain limits, aud a 
ten year old tree cauuot be produoed in 
ten months. 
The Lautaixa aa a House Plant.— 
While looking over my greenhouse plants 
to-day, I could uot help admiring some 
small Lantanas iu full bloom, although 
growing iu three-iuch pots. Everybody 
who has grown these plants for bedding 
out in Summer, is aware of their rauk 
growth, which entirely unfits them for or¬ 
dinary house culture in Winter, even if 
they could be taken up iu the Fall without 
checking their growth. To avoid handling 
those largo plants, or at least not trying to 
save anything more than the roots and a 
small portion of the main stem, 1 struck 
a quantity of cuttings during the Summer, 
puttiug thorn in three-inch pots about the 
first of September. These little plants, 
which are uot more than six inches high, 
ase now in full bloom, and will coutiuue to 
produce flowers all Winter. If the lady 
readers of the Rural New-Yorxlek have 
never tried this method of propagating 
aud culture of the Lantuiuxs, I think they 
will be pleased with it. There are many 
beautiful varieties, aud all produce flowers 
very fi-eely under the most ordinary cul- 
7., 
AMERICAN PAN'J’HKR. 
next, 45th degree. Now it is not found in any 
s folly part of the United States, exoept in unset- 
jts re- tied regions, and seldom is seen in the 
joe in Northern States at all. It is often found 
fruit in the miry swamps and evergreen glades 
ilants, of Florida and on tho open prairies of 
for it, Texas. 
their Its body Is about six feet long; tail, two 
>r im- auda-half; some are much smaller. Body, 
logues Blender; head, small and round; jaws, 
sinoe, strong; neck, long; ears, rounded; legs, 
re are short and stout; claws, strong, retractile, 
must pearly-white; tail, long, slender, round, 
>m all sometimes trailing, not tufted, that of the 
t way male longer than that of the female. The 
e who color is given so differently by different 
» 1874 writers, it must vary in the specimens, and 
1871$. probably with age, the seasons and the cli- 
i con- mate. Audubon gives the color of the 
rth of body aud legs uniform tawny; under sur- 
an to face reddish-white. THOMPSON says the 
aud a general color ou the back is brownish-red; 
ed in sides, reddish-gray; belly, light ash. An¬ 
other writer says the upper parts of its 
, _ body are a bright, silvery fawu; beneath 
daiits auc * ou t '* ie inside of limbs, nearly white. 
The ears are blackish; Ups at the wous- 
80U1 f tache, black; throat, whitish; tail, brown 
. at tip. The young are beautifully spotted 
, y. ^ aud barred with blackish-bi’owu, aud their 
rank hair is soft and downy. 
n . or _ The Cougar lives iu the very wildest parts 
en if °f f* 10 country, in deep, wooded swamps 
thout and mountain cliffs. Its den is generally 
idling near the mouth of a cave iu the rocks. Iu 
ingto thc South, its lair is in dense thickets or 
and a cam-brakes. It is a rude sort of bed, of 
truck sticks, weeds, leaves or mosses, aud where 
nmer the evergreen canes reach over it. During 
it the the day ^ usually lies concealed, and bunts 
lants iu the ulght. Its peculiar cry strikes horror 
high to the heart of the remote settler or luck- 
iue to leB6 traveler, though being quite cowardly, 
lady if seldom attacks rnau unless driven by ox- 
have treme hunger, or when wounded aud at 
•atim' b »y- It generally takes its prey by creep- 
they ing, With a cautious, noiseless step, within 
many a proper distance, and then leapiug upou 
■ jwers it aud seizing it by the throat. If it be a 
r cul ^ large animal, like a calf, sheep or deer, he 
swings it upon his back aud dashes off with 
great ease to some retired place where he 
wing feasts at leisure. 
at we Thompson says:—“Some years ago one of 
trees these animals took a large oalf out of a peu 
’kind iu Beuuiugton, Vt., where the fence was 
lbs it foui’ feet high, and cai’ried it off" ou hie 
as he back. With this load he ascended a ledge 
thus of rocks where one of the leaps was fifteen 
feet in hight.” 
How to Keep Rablflts from Gnawing 
Trees.— P. C. Benton is informed that we 
know an oi’cliardist who protects his ti’ees 
by smearing them late in Fall with any kind 
of blood. He takes beef’s liver aud rubs it 
over the body of the tree as high up as he 
thiuKs necessaiy. He loses no trees thus 
treated. 
He generally lives on small animals, as 
young deer, skunks, raccoons or birds. The 
female Cougar is a very affectionate mother 
and never leaves her young, except at long 
Intervals, to procure food. The whelps, 
usually two in number, are produoed iu the 
Spring, though far South they are some- 
limes found in the Fall. 
Travelers who fear a visit of a panther at 
night, build a large fire, which serves to 
keep this cautious animal at a distance. In 
the great wilderness of Northern New 
York it is sometimes hunted, but not suc¬ 
cessfully; it is usually shot when come 
upon accidentally, during the pursuit of 
other game. We were told by Curtis 
Stevens, who was one of the most success¬ 
ful hunters of this region, as well as one of 
the best men wa ever knew, that he once 
followed two panthers three days without 
being able to get a shot; and only once or 
twice getting a glimpse of them. Another 
hunter, going to put out his dogs, heard 
something following him, and ou looking 
around saw a large panther, which he killed 
with a well directed shot. It apparently 
followed him through curiosity rather than 
with any evil intent; and it is the testi¬ 
mony of all the Adirondack hunters that 
this animal will not attaok man. In the 
South it is hunted in the same manner as 
the wild cat. It is quickly “treed” and 
generally shot, but sometimes shows fight 
before taking to the tree aud sometimes 
after it falls, being wounded. 
We are unable to give much information 
concerning the trapping of this animal, as 
it is bo scarce and roving iu its habits it is 
seldom caught, except in traps set for 
wolves or bears. Sometimes, when it has 
killed a largo animal, having gorged itself, 
it retires until hunger Induces it to return; 
in such cases a trap may bo oarefully set by 
the carcass. We do not find tho value of 
the skins among the New York price list of 
furs, hence are unable to give it. E. 
>hccp HufilmiulrjJ. 
USE FULL BLOODED BUCKS. 
Perhaps the most important step in se¬ 
curing and maintaining a good flock of 
sheep is the securing of males that ai*e the 
perfect type of what you wish your flock to 
be. As to what a male should be 1 would 
say first let them bo thoroughbred. No 
grade buck should ever bo used when there 
is a desire to improve or even keep up the 
quality of the flock, even though he may be 
the most desirable iu appearance of the 
whole flock. The chances are against the 
transmission Of his desirable qualities; it 
is probable he will transmit undesirable 
qualities of his ancestors that are concealed 
in him. A thoroughbred male can bex-elied 
on to reproduce himself in his offspring, but 
such is not the case with a grade, however 
perfect he may be in form. Second, I would 
say let him be a good specimen of the breed 
(whatever that breed may be.) Among the 
best of flocks there will be a difference. 
While all may be good, some may be better 
aud others best. I would say get the best 
at any price In selecting males. Be sure be 
has an eminent degree of all the essential 
points of the breed in size, make, charac¬ 
teristics of wool, etc. Again let him be 
sound iu constitution and limb. It is found 
that defects and disease are more easily 
communicated to offspring than more de¬ 
sirable qualities. Hence every thing of this 
kind should bo avoided with scrupulous 
care. The character of the female is of lesB 
importance. True, if a man has a flock of 
thoroughbred ewes to begin with, all tho 
bettei’, his work is half doue; but if he has 
a flock of grades or scrubs, be need uot go 
to -the expense of buying a full-blooded 
stock to build up a flock with. With proper 
care in the selection of bueks, a flock can 
soon be built up to a high point of excellence 
with only common ewes to start with. With 
the facilities now offered for securing choice 
bucks, there is no excuse for tho man who 
Continues to propagate the scrub stock of 
the country. Let none but first-class males 
be used, and soon all our flocks will become 
first-class flocks.— Car. Agricultural Com¬ 
monwealth. 
-♦•»» — 
NOTES AND QUERIES. 
Price of Angora or Caslxmere Goat 
Fleeces.—We see it stated that the fleeces 
of the Cashmere goat in California (there are 
said to be 70,000 pure aud grade animals of 
this breed in that State) bring *1 M0 per 
pound—that is, wool of the pure bred goats 
do. We do not believe it. Will some Cal¬ 
ifornian tell us if he knows it to be a fact. 
v 3-32 
MOORE'S RURAL NEW-YORKER. 
