ta 
fel 
1 
|ktp 
SHEEP-THEIR PRESENT STATUS. 
How Fine Wool Slieep have Wintered. 
So far us our information extends, fine 
wool slieep as a general thing have wintered 
well. Unless in special ami comparatively 
limited localities, they have been exempt 
from the destructive epizootics of various 
former years. The contagious diseases, 
scab and hoof rot, have not prevailed more 
than usual. The sheep came to grass in 
rather better than average condition, and 
the lamb drop has been a good one in respect 
to numbers, size and health. There is no 
doubt that these favorable conditions have 
been somewhat due to the season, though 
the winter has been an opener one than used 
to he thought conducive to thrift and con¬ 
dition. But every experienced shepherd 
knows that sheep do not always winter 
equally well where, conditions are apparently 
the same, or are apparently evenly balanced. 
We believe, however, that there are some 
good and perfectly apparent reasons for the 
present healthier and generally belter con¬ 
dition of our flocks. Under the stimulus of 
war demands and war prices for clothing, 
wool—under the unreasonable expectation 
excited in the public mind that these de* 
mauds and juices must, continue for at least 
a long term of years—a Merino mania set in. 
Those who had flocks increased them us 
rapidly as possible and overstocked their 
farms. Those who had them not, bought 
them at high prices. A multitude of farm¬ 
ers, without any previous experience in 
sheep husbandry, abandoned other agricul¬ 
tural pursuits to engage in the business. 
Merchants and mechanics, clergymen and 
clerks, men of all occupations, and even 
women eagerly sought admission into the 
furious throng of speculators. Eldorado was 
just ahead. Everybody was to get rich sell¬ 
ing thousand dollar rams 1 
We need not describe at length the effect 
of these circumstances on the modes of 
breeding and managing Merino sheep. As 
is always thecase in such speculative excite¬ 
ments, every standard of excellence and 
every means of securing it partook of the 
prevailing exaggeration. Gum, wrinkles, 
and a whole catalogue of little fancy points, 
—some of very small and others of very 
doubtful value—became the great objects of 
breeding. We never yet saw an excessively 
gummy sheep that was an easy keeper or a 
thoroughly hardy animal. What of that.? 
The gum must he increased by high keep¬ 
ing, and all of ii must be preserved 
by careful summer and winter hous¬ 
ing, to give the fashionable black coat¬ 
ing and artificial weight to the brag 
fleece. This pampering and unnatural con¬ 
finement injured the stamina of the breed 
and Us capacity to withstand vicissitudes of 
weather and hardships of any kind. Be¬ 
sides, it rendered the lambs weak, unde¬ 
veloped, and subject, to congenital diseases. 
What of that? The petty fancy points 
were rarely all possessed by one ram, and 
were often obtained at the expense of essen¬ 
tial points; and when such a ram was found 
lie must he so highly fed and so managed 
as to make him get, say three hundred lambs 
in a season—causing his death generally iu 
two or three years. Will anybody believe 
that !he progeny of such a sire would be 
likely to be as perfect and of as sound con¬ 
stitution ns the progcriy of a projicrly used 
sire? What of that? And what of any 
other ultimate consequences of breeding and 
treatment, when the object was to get rich 
selling Bheep at a thousand dollars a head, 
long before ultimate consequences would be 
reached. 
There are good breeders and very eminent 
breeders who steadily improved their flocks 
through “the mania" we have spoken of. 
Some of them fell forced by competition to 
summer-house their sheep and make some 
concessions in fashion in other rcsjiecls 
which their judgments did not approve of. 
Others refused to go oven thus far. 
Adversity has taught fine wool breeders 
some wholesome lessons. The farms are no 
longer overstocked. The winter shelters 
are no longer overcrowded. The feeble 
sheep, the hard keepers, the poor breeders, 
&c., have been killed. The essential points 
—good constitution, good wool, fleeces heavy 
after thorough washing — are no longer 
sacrificed for fancy points, for the simple 
reason that the former have become the 
most profitable. The only remunerative 
business now, in forty-nine out of every fifty 
Merino flocks is wool growing —rum selling is 
out of the question with them at present. 
There is little breeding now from overfed 
and overworked rams. In lambed ewes are 
no longer pampered and deprived of exer¬ 
cise to keep them in “show condition.-” The 
cream of our Merino flocks is yet left. Their 
deterioration is mostly arrested. A better 
and sounder system of management has 
been forced on our breeders. We believe 
the exemption from c.iseases last winter, and 
the sounder and better drop of lambs this 
tjusbanbrj). 
spring, are iu a considerable measure direct¬ 
ly due to this better management. We do 
not suppose, by any meanB, that any system 
of treatment will ensure our flocks from 
other than contagious diseases in the future. 
But we do most firmly believe those diseases 
will be far less frequent and severe. We 
believe that under Ike Old natural and ra¬ 
tional treatment, now restored, the American 
Merinos will occupy their old position as by 
far the healthiest and hardiest breed of valu¬ 
able sheep in the world. 
———- 
WOOL PRICES AND THE TARIFF, 
There lias been a favorite taunt upon the 
lips of two parties, occupying respectively 
the extremes of free trade and prohibition, 
that the tariff on imported wool has been a 
failure. The argument or rather the assump¬ 
tion of the free trade party, was so much of 
a paradox in |>olflical economy, that it lias 
not deserved serious refutation, and yet their 
jicrsistent appeal to the fact, viz:—the con¬ 
tinued low juice of domestic wool — lias 
served to keep them in countenance, with 
every principle of logic against the truth of 
their assumption. 
The friends of the wool tariff, which com¬ 
prises the great majority of wool growers, 
have constantly stood by the arrangement 
which grew out of the Syracuse Convention, 
and have, by themselves, and through all the 
principal wool growers’ associations of the 
country, declared their adhesion to the 
same, and accounted for the fact of low prices, 
by the presence of an unusual quantity of 
foreign and domestic wool on the market, and, 
large unsold quantities of woolen army goods 
all of which had to be worked off at. what it 
would fetch, before the legitimate and full 
effects of the tariff of 1807 could he felt. We 
were all disajipoinled in the length of time 
which it has taken to accomplish this rid¬ 
dance, and have been obliged, in all humility 
to accept a good deal of badinage, and some 
things that were still more disagreeable to 
bear. 
The party of the other wing, which was 
much smaller, but not the less unreasonable 
and unjust in their denunciations of the wool 
tariff, consisted of the advocates of extreme 
juotection or prohibition. These hurled 
their fratricidal missiles in the faces of their 
best, friends, as if these had been the worst 
enemies to the protective system, declaring 
that they had sold out to the manufacturers 
—had allowed the wool to he pulled over 
their eyes, and all such falsehood and illi¬ 
cit aritftbleness. 
Tedious as Iwis been the time of waiting 
for a vindication of the wisdom of the tariff 
of 18(57, our revenge has come at last; and 
while wc do not desire to add shame to the 
confusion which has overtaken our revilers, 
we take this occasion to ask them, oue and 
all, how they like it as far as they have gone ? 
With California fleece at 85 to 40cents, XX 
Ohio at 55 to 60 cents, and picklock at 65 
cents, and even the “ nasty, greasy Merinos” 
of Vermont and York State at, 50 cents, and 
with gold at -fl.lOj.^ to $1,11, we feel that 
the tariff is fully vindicated as a measure of 
fair protection to the American wool grower, 
and put this opinion on record, on behalf of 
the gentlemen whose patriotic labors con¬ 
tributed to bring this state of things to pass, 
of whom the writer, having shared fully iu 
the calumny, desires to share in the glory of 
success.—s. D. h. 
NOTES AND QUERIES. 
Ontnrio uml Li viiigatoii Sli««p Shearing. 
The Annual Shearing Exhibition of Ihe 
Ontario and Livingston Wool Growers' Asso¬ 
ciation was held at Honeoye, May 11th. The 
following is the shearing record : 
Owner. 
Hay Bros. E 
Q. Pitts.. 
ltay Bros. E 
P. & G. Martin. 
N. W. Thomas. 
Ray Bros. 
Brunson, Mairlner 
nncl R*y Bros. R 
llav Bros.., . K 
S- b. Short. 
Ray Bros. 
Honeoye, N. Y., May 12,1871. 
a? 
a 
(E> 
O'* 
ft o 
© — 
- 3 
© <T> 
go 
8 3 
*-i (t. 
a ©Is. 
tf D" 
Weight 
or 
Fleece. 
y. m.d. 
y. m. d. 
lbs. 
lbs. oz. 
E 
2 
1 
70 
15 11 
W 
2 
t 
126 
20 10 
E 
2 
1 
72 
11 8 
K 
2 
1 
6S 
16 2 
K 
2 
1 
67 
13 8 
1C 
2 
1 
79 
16 7X 
R 
3 
1 
144 
23 14 
E 
2 
1 
81 
18 12 
E 
2 
1 
78 
18 12 
R 
2 
1 
mo 
21 12 
IS 
2 
1 
75 
15 7 
R 
1 1 24 
1 1 24 
10S 
1!) 5 
E 
2 
1 
67 
14 4 
Wesley 
W. Ray, Secretary. 
A Cheap Cure for Scab in Slieep. 
Petroleum, in its crude slate, applied to 
the jioints of attack, will effectually kill the 
insect that originates the scab and the eggs 
or nits which it lodges in the wool. The 
remedy is a safe and cheap one, and a sure 
cure. Kerosene might answer as tvell, used 
in moderate, quantities. The flocks of Cali¬ 
fornia are generally innoeulated with scab, 
and Avcre it not for the alkali water and dust 
that floats in the air, and lodges in the wool, 
which often checks the ravages of scab, and 
sometimes kills it out entirely, we would be 
compelled to abandon the sheep and wool 
culture altogeth. The cheap remedy alluded 
to above will be a benefit to the animal, and 
wool growers generally, if used. The ap¬ 
plication of mercury, arsenic, and other nar¬ 
cotics, are injurious to man and beast.—S. 
W. Jeavett, Kerr Co. } Cal. 
isnrsstcms. 
AMERICAN INST. FARMERS' CLUB. 
Notes of niscnsMiou, Extracts from Let- 
ter#. «fcc. 
Crows Defended.—The learned and practical 
Dr. Smith, Ex-Mayor of Boston, etc., etc., read 
a paper on crows, in which, incidentally, the 
novel fact (to the Club) was brought out that 
the distinguished gentleman had been pu four 
cotlUuauUt observing Ibis beautiful bird, and tie 
had arrived at the conclusion that he ought not 
tube killed ; tbat he did not eat corn, but pulled 
it to get the grub tbat was destroying It; that he 
was an affectionate bird; lovely In his paternal 
Character; that, lie did gel hungry often very 
hungry, but that ho ought not to be killed in 
consequence any more than ourselves; for lie 
cuts Avhflt we do not and bisects which prey 
upon what we do, ete. Mr, Geihiks thought the 
learned Doctor was mistaken in supposing that 
I,he crow does not pull corn for the purpose of 
eating it. In proof that lie does pull it for that 
purpose, ho has found that when he lias soaked 
his seed Corn in a lit t le tar water before plant¬ 
ing, the crows let It alone- they evidently do 
not consider It palatable. But Mr. Gkdijks pro¬ 
tested Hint ho never killed crows—thought them 
ansemi bird. 
Mr. Willi a ms, a gentleman noted for being a 
grim joker, and who perpetrates some of the 
awfuleat jokes with the most earnest manner, 
stated tha t, lie did not see the necessity of writ¬ 
ing against killing crows; for I here Is scarcely a 
bird that flics so ilifflciill to stioyl and so rarely 
shot. Prof. Squelch suggested that It, was all 
well enough to talk against killing crows or any 
other bird or class of birds. It might not be 
policy to exterminate them In localities; blit 
the truth Is too much of a good thing makes a 
bad thing of it. Water in its place is good; but 
when it floods the farm, sweeps away dwellings, 
fences, barns, orchards, Are., it is bad. So there 
are localities where crows are an intolerable 
nuisance—as groat a pest os they can possibly be 
benefit in any other locality. These all sensible 
men will shoot, or frighten them to prevent 
damage. The American farmer uniat. and will 
look at. the dolliir-nnd-eent. feature of the ease. 
There can he no doubt they benelll; nor is there 
the least doubt that they do injury, and under 
certain circumstances, to individuals, great 
injury. 
Remedy for Choked rattle. W. llARKNESH 
Keeseville, N. Y„ writesWrap up a tabic- 
spoonful of gunpowder iu a thin paper, the 
thinner the better,and whiletheanim'il’smouth 
iR held open drop lids powder into the throat, 
pushing it, if necessary, carefully down till it 
reaches llie obstruction. The moisture In the 
animal’s throat dissolves I he paper, and with Ihe 
powder makes a slime which lubrlcaUs the In¬ 
terior of the throat. At l.liesnme t i rue the pow¬ 
der irritates the throat and causes the animal to 
cough violently, and Hie potato, or'whatcver it 
may be, is thus forcibly ejected. This remedy 
has been known and employed for several years 
by iIk* fiiiiiu rs in tills vicinity, aud 1 have never 
heard •'•»* " ease in which it. failed. 
Carrying Witlei u»t-r lUUgcs,— 
W. T.. Its it. Purksvillc, Teun., answers n corres¬ 
pondent of the OlubOf course ho can bring 
water over A ridge from i spring to his born with 
a syphon, provided the spring be higher than the 
burn. All tie has to do is to Ion ve a hole in the 
pipe after laying it, at the highest point on top 
of the ridge, pul a funnel intoil, then stop up 
both ends of the pipe, the upper one being un¬ 
der water at the spring; pour water into the 
funnel till the whole pipe is full, then remove 
the funnel, and plug up the hole on top of ridge, 
then pull out botb plugs at the ends of Hie pipe 
at the same time. Oficourso he needs an assist¬ 
ant to do this. The main point is to drive all the 
air out of the pipe. In all probability tbe water 
will not run at Hist on this account, and repeat¬ 
ed trials will have to be made. The difference 
in the weight, of water in the two legsof the sy¬ 
phon must be more than sufiioient to overcome 
the friction of the water running through tbe 
pipe. With a small sized pipe of tbe length de¬ 
sired (300 yards) It would he advisable, therefore, 
to have considerable difference to insure suc¬ 
cess. 
What Sail Water Did.—OTJTER READ, New¬ 
port, It. 1., writes:—In the spring of 1840 carted 
the manure from the barnyard, put in a heap, 
theft carted three boxes containing about twelvo 
barrels each of salt water from the ocean and 
put into it; bad it forked over and spread on 
two acres and plowed in. M.\ hog-yard had, say 
thirty loads of manure. 1 put two boxes same 
ns above—of salt water in it, had ii forked over; 
told my man to put it in i he hill when he plant¬ 
ed the corn. He said it would burn it up. 1 told 
him I would risk it. My land was dry. I thought 
the salt would keep the roots moist, I sold the 
the farm ihe same season. The corn was esli- 
mated In the field by two farmers at sixty bush¬ 
el* per acre. 1 think there iviistiboiil 1.400 pump¬ 
kins on thesntne lot, I used salt water two years 
before. I was satisfied that it was beneficial io 
the land. Should hav e continued to use it it 1 
bad not sold the farm. 
About Cnhbago Bugs.— A Professor advised 
catching all bugs and worms in bottles of sweet¬ 
ened water. Ml'. FULLER replied that it would 
be rat her difficult to catch Pierls ratwe, named by 
the gentleman, in the manner proposed; also 
that he was mistaken in supposing that the 
above mimed inseci is not found norttb. of New 
York; for the fact is well known that it came 
from Canada here. It was probably Imported 
from Europe, where It has been known for cen- 
turlgs; but it never caused much damage there. 
Mr. Fuller added that the Southern Cabbage 
or Harlequin Rug is rapidly making its way 
Nor“h. and it might be expected here soon, He 
bad received, specimens of it from Southern 
Pennsylvania. This Harlequin bug (Strachta 
IJistrmiira) will feed upon all species of plants 
belonging to the cabbage family. The sweet¬ 
ened water in bottles is all very well in theory, 
but it will not work except in a very few in¬ 
stances. 
hedge Urn.** and Starvation, Somebody had 
writ feu tlml “sedge grass means starvation, ex¬ 
haustion, is a flag of truce," etc.; whereupon C. 
P. Rvmspkll, Spring Grove, Yn., writes;—Of 
course, I don't claim to know what was meant 
by “exhaustion." The heaviest sedge land, if 
rightly cultivated, without manure, ought to 
yield forty or fifty bushels of com per acre. I 
have ground Avliich X plowed in January, which 
I feel sure will produce corn fifteen feet high 
aud stalks so large that If the boys take out tbe 
pith and fasten them In the tops of trees the 
next spring blue-birds will build their nests in 
the hollow of them. I have wheat growing on 
sedge sod plowed down without, fertilizer of any 
kind. It is half-Jeg high, and promises well. I 
can show white clover starting vigorously from 
the bottom of furrows eight inches below the 
former surface, where “the flag of truce" 
kissed the Southern breezes. Arc these evi¬ 
dences of “exhaustion?” T say, however un¬ 
sightly it may be, the farm which bears heavy 
sedge will boar corn, will beui clover, timothy, 
or other grass. I advise owners of similar land 
to plow deep, pulverize well, and row clover. 
Two or three years later, before tbe clover has 
disappeared, repeal the process. 
Killing Sanunfm** Sprout*. A correspondent 
asks the ('Inti how lip shall kill sassafras sprouts. 
Ho Is informed that repeated and persistent de¬ 
foliation will kill any plant. 
Hoof DlNlemper ill t'Atllc.—A. Rogers, New 
■•'airfield. Conn., says kerosene oil applied to the 
part afflicted will, in most cases, cure the hoof 
disease, or “ distemper," as he culls it. 
Illnnt or lloven,— J. A. Laud, Belmont., N. H., 
writes: “A neighbor of mine had a steer in the 
bloated condition from over-eating meal. He 
tried various remedies, including tapping but 
not Inserting Hie quill—to but. liiile purpose. I 
advised him to dissolve threeor four tablespoon- 
tula ot cooking ROrln in water, which, when 
turned into Hie steer, gave instant relief. In 
less than an hour he was chewing his cud. 1 
knew a good horse cured of the same trouble by 
the game remedy." COLORADO Wolf said he 
had used that remedy for twenty years for ent¬ 
ile, horses and humans. It never fails to cure n 
ease of colic whenever administered. Henry 
Tuhneh, Pulaski, Mich., writes:— 1 “For thirty- 
three years I have bred in this county of Jack- 
son, on the same farm, and cured all the cattle 
about me. and horses too, of boven or bloat, and 
dry bellyache or colic, by giving two quarts of 
Dine or ashes and water, and in no case failed 
once. Draw t,he tongue and pour slow. In fif¬ 
teen or twenty minutes they will bo well. I 
have cured hundreds In this way. If you try it 
once you will use no other remedy,” A. A.Fikh- 
f.h, Piltc, N. V., writes: “ I have had a good 
many cuttle in the last fifteen years troubled 
with bloat, but never lost one with it, For each 
animal, take from one pint to a quart of sour 
milk or buttermilk; add a good hand! ill of salt; 
pul In a bottle and shake well; give the animal, 
t Inc dose has always been enough for the time. 
For colie In horses, two tablcspoonfuls salcratus 
dissolved in warm water and given as a drench 
lias saved a number of horses for me.” 
Irrignilim in New England. — Deacon ttKADE 
said a good thing (ha usually does) to-day, when 
he said, “We waste thousands and thousands of 
dollars’worth of water In New England that 
ought to be utilized for purposes of Irrigation. 
Throughout New England there is great drouth, 
which is going to affect the harvest, seriously, 
unless ruin comes soon. And there are thou¬ 
sands of streams among the hills of New Eng¬ 
land that eim be made to Ii rlgato land that needs 
it ns much us Colorado. 
The Colorado Potato Bug.- Secretary Cham¬ 
bers, the polite, guy and gallant gentleman Hint 
ho Is, submitted the following facts, Avhich, ho 
Slated, were condemned from an artir. j- liy Mr. 
Sanborn Tenney of Williams College, con¬ 
tributed to the American Naturalist. The arti¬ 
cle described a visit to James Huubgn of Niles, 
Michigan. In April, 1870, Mr. Hudson, In 
plowing his fields, plowed up the full-grown 
beetles, attd they walked about, being very 
lively. He planted Early Rose potatoes about 
tlm Ifitli of April, and us soon ns they were fair¬ 
ly up the beetles commenced their attacks upon 
t hem. lie began to kill them by squeezing them 
between two paddles, goiug over tho ground 
daily, but apparently without cheoking them. 
He then mixed Paris green with ashes and sprin¬ 
kled tbe mixture on a dozen rows, the vines at 
tills bine beluga foot high, and from these rows 
lie secured a fair crop of potatoes. Where the 
mixture was not sprinkled the bugB ate all the 
leaves, and in many cases they ate the stalks to 
u considerable extent. They now began ou a 
new field hitherto untouched, appearing in such 
numbers us almost literally to cover both the 
leaves and the stalks. They were go numerous 
thul In less than an hour one man gathered about 
twenty quarts of them. The beetles swept right 
through this field, going at. the rate of about 
ten or twenty rods in a week. Their yellowish 
eggs were always abundant on the inside of the 
potato leaves; but they also laid their eggs on 
wood, spires of grass, and even on dry slicks. 
While t he havoc above described was going on 
no other species Of insects attacked the pota¬ 
toes, At Ibis time the Colorado bugs wore 
ulmndunt about the farm buildings, and even 
entered the house. Toads are then natural en¬ 
emies, eagerly devouring them. Rut on this 
farm the hens were never seen cutiug them. On 
the larm above mentioned the bugs disappeared 
suddenly in the early pnrt of September. It 
may be added that they seem to prefer tbe Che¬ 
nango potatoes to the Early Rose, and Hint they 
would hardly touch the Early Goodrich, though 
growing side by side with the Chenango, which 
they eagerly devoured. I would also add that 
the insects do not, confine themselves to the 
vines, but enter the hills and attack the potatoes 
themselves. 
Onion* and Lice, — Mr. Rogers says feed 
onions to lousy stock and tlie lice will disappear. 
They should not be fed to cows in milk. Mr. 
Thompson stud shat the reason why onions are 
lice dispersing is because of tbe sulphur in them. 
II is just as well aud just as surely efficacious to 
feed pure sulphurwitliQUI .the onions- Mr. Ful¬ 
ler said that sulphur used anywhere about a 
garden, in barns, among plants and on animals, 
will help to expel insects. It is good anywhere. 
Cuttle Eating Turnips.— C. A. La MONT asks 
bow he can induce bis cattle to eat turnips— 
they object to the feed. He is advised to oook 
and mash them, aud add plenty of meal to the 
tnnsb. 
Wood Ashes on Meadow and Garden.—Mrs. 
H. E. G Alvins, Oswego, N. Y.. wrote that, she 
has found iu the reports “much information 
which has greatly assisted mein carrying on a 
small hum, four miles from the village above 
named. When 1 came in possession ot it, five 
years ago, the grass on the best, meadows did 
not. average more than ten inches in hi gilt and 
yielded About one-half toil to the acre, and was 
red iu lmying lime with sorrel, lor which I sow¬ 
ed hard wood ashes, one barrel to the acre, alii 
could obtain, and the next year the same rate 
in other fields, and so on each year; and now 
there is not a blade of sorrel to be seen, and my 
meadows averaged three tons to the acre and 
some yield more than four. I have half an acre 
in vegetable garden, and for the last ten yen* 
have bad no trouble with club-foot cahbage 
My seed beet Is liberally mixed with hard WOo ,j’ 
ashes, and the plants which show signs of clui. 
foot after belugset out. receivea sufficient q, mt J 
tity of white iye to thoroughly wet the voot ' 
which kilts the worms and makes the plain? 
thrive. The lye also kills the worms at the root 
of squash vines. One year I lost nearly all Iny 
vines by these worms, and after trying various 
remedies which did no good the lye saved ii, f . 
few vines, and they yielded abundantly. Ti, n 
cabbage which have worms io the root can easily 
be distinguished when the sun is hot and ihe 
ground dry; they will look wilted." 
Live Gate Post*.— F. M. Dougar, Mt. Pleas¬ 
ant. Kan., writes(There is nothing else so lux¬ 
uriant on a farm as plenty of good “swing 
gates." To have these, plant trees for posts; 
they should be of a dwarf nature, but quick 
growth; the osngo is very good. Those who 
have hedges should leave a space Hie wj«uii of 
the gate, and then train the first plant on each 
side with n view of making posts of them, The 
gates should be hung wit h hook-and-eye hinges ; 
the hook driven into Hie tree and allowed to 
project enough to allow of several years’ growth 
before it will bo overgrown, when it may be 
drawn or a new one inserted. 
How to Get Kid of Stumps,TH06. J. Hanna. 
McCordsvIUe, Ind., writes:—“In your discus¬ 
sions of May 2,1871. the question is asked, * Row 
to get rid of the stumps?’ The plan recom¬ 
mended, I think, is not so good as to U6e a com¬ 
mon cur jack, and lilt out all hut those quite 
solid or green; then haul thorn to others, and 
burn the solid or green stumps with the dry 
ones. For those that are particularly hard io 
burn, pile wood around them, like a coal pit, 
cover it with earth, and treat it in every way us 
you would a coal pit, except raking the coal, 
and you can burn out the worst stump that 
stands on Hie grounds of nny or your correc 
pondents or readers. No amount of soaking 
with petroleum will make a walnut or red oak 
stump burn out without the addition of a largo 
amount of wood. The coaling process is Iho 
thing, though It will take t wo or three weeks of 
such slow firing to do the work. I have got a 
good many good things from your Club reports; 
lake this in part pay.” 
PIG-PEN PAPERS. 
Tlilimp* ill Pitta. 
1 noticed in the Rural New-Yorker, 
May 20, that G. A. Porter has got into 
trouble with the thumjis among his hogs, 
It is considered fatal here. Mine had it and 
arc not entirely well yet. The remedy is, 
two purls slroug lime water and one jiart 
alcohol, mixed with their feed. If lliey are 
past eating, drench them with it. I cannot 
speak positively as to ihe certainty of cine. 
The remedy was given to me by Mr Johv -v 
See. 1 have used it only once; it cured 
some, and the worst ones are much better.— 
A. McVey, Petti* Co., Mo. 
Scours in Pins. 
Will you take the trouble to give your 
opinion iu regard to young pigs that tlie 
with the scours —the cause ami cure. We 
have had about one hundred young pigs iliis 
Spring, and they have nearly all tlied. We 
tried taking them from the sows, but it 
did no good ; and most of them died in a 
short time after. The complaint is preva¬ 
lent all over this part of the country and tlie 
young jiigs are all dying.—J. A. K., Polk 
City, Iowa. 
We have no experience in the matter, and 
cannot advise our correspondent. 
A Prolific Esnex Sow. 
J. I. Tibbitts, Michigan, writes the Ru¬ 
ral New-Yorker, May 15:—“ I have a 
thoroughbred Essex sow, hut twenty-six 
months old, that has had, in the last eight¬ 
een months, four litters of jugs—thirty-three 
in all. She has had, since the first of Janu¬ 
ary last, two litters of nineteen in all, ami 
her present litter is now two weeks old. 
She has raised each litter and weaned them 
regularly, and she is now ready to have an¬ 
other one iu due time! Two of her sow 
pigs, which came in January, were in heat 
some two weeks since. 1 have often heard 
the expression 1 Some pumpkins,’ but I think 
this is all hog." 
Black Tectli In Pig*. 
We see that A. E. McEwen, in Rural 
New-Yorker, May 13, asserts there is no 
such disease as black teeth in jugs. He may 
call it a “ disease" or not—it has ruined 
many a pig. We lost several with it before 
we knew what was the matter with them. 
When a jiig cdfiimenees wheezing, it always 
has black teeth; And if not knocked out lie 
will wheeze ami eat until lie die6. We have 
been breeding Chester Whites for the last 
twelve years, and nothing has bothered us 
more than black teeth. As for healthy jugs 
having black teeth, it is all nonsense. There 
is no stock raiser will say so.—F. M. P. 
OallipoUs, 0. 
-■» » --- 
Inquiries fur Swineherds.—W. O. CHlTTENDr-N 
has a pig troubled in breathing—“seemed like 
a cold, growing worse; a lump or ridge is raised 
back of its snout; makes a snuffling m"» e "J 
breathing; does not seem to thrive; blows out 
a frothy mucus.” Asks what to do.—Cun you 
or any of the Rural readers tell me wlnit l 
shall do for a sow that drops her pigs from two 
to four weeks before her time. She is a Suffol 
sow two years old.— e. d. c. —Do you know, or 
can any one tell, what will prevent or cure lit# 
cholera?— t. t, s. 
A 
