icrbsman. 
A DISEASED COW. 
1 would be much obliged if you or some 
of your many readers would give me a little 
information in regard to a disease that has 
proved fatal to many cows in this vicinity. 
Having just lost a valuable one myself, I 
will try and describe the disease, its symp¬ 
toms, &e., so that you may tell me what it 
is and how to treat it in future. Our cow 
was just three years old, with her first calf, 
which is two months. She was in lino con¬ 
dition and as slick as a well kept, horse. We 
allowed her to graze during the day on the 
commons, but led her well morning and 
night with shorts, bay, green corn shucks,&c. 
The first tiling we discovered wrong about 
her was that her milk was failing suddenly 
and rapidly; in fact, so much so llmt we 
thought someone milked her; her appetite 
still remained good, and with the exception 
above mentioned she seemed as well as ever. 
In two days, however, her appetite failed, 
and her eyes looked weak and she would 
stand with her head drooping, showing 
plainly something was the matter. Not 
knowing wiiat to do, we sought the advice 
of un Irishman, said to he skilled in diseases 
belonging to cows, lie advised us to give 
her whisky and black pepper; her bowels 
being quite loose at the time, we did so, 
thinking sin; might need a stimulant. Late 
that evening we discovered her urine to be 
about the color of muddy coffee, which color 
it retained until to-day, when it. appeared to 
be bloody. For the last twenty-four hours 
she would neither eat nor drink. 
If you know the disease, please let me 
know its name* its causes and treatment, 
and possibly 1 may be able to save t he cows 
of some of illy friends. I suppose the calf 
which remained in the sa.me lot with the 
cow will be apt to take the disease. 
Petersburg, Va. Geo. J. Morrison. 
--- 
AGORNS FOR STOCK. 
Centuries ago the inhabitants of Britain 
made bread from acorns. Coarse and rank 
as must have been its flavor, still it was called 
good by those who were compelled by cir¬ 
cumstances to use such food. Ger.vrde, in 
his Historic of Plants, 1597, says of acorns 
ns food for man :—“ Accrues, if they he eaten 
am hardly concocted; they yeehte no nouf- 
ifhmenl to man’s bodle but that which is 
grosse, rawe and colde.” But for swine he 
tel Is a different story:—“Swine are fatted 
herewith and by feeding heereou have their 
flesh hard and sound." Nearly three centu¬ 
ries have past since Gerarde wrote the 
above, and we presume thousands of hogs 
have been annually fattened in Britain as 
well as elsewhere upon acorns; but all at 
once several English agriculturists have dis¬ 
covered that acorns are not only of no value 
for fattening stock, but positively injurious, 
and often poisonous. It seems to us as 
rather late to commence a battle with 
acorns; for, more than two thousand years 
ago the fruit of some of the species native of 
Southern Europe, were used as a dessert, on 
the tables of the rich aud opulent Spanish 
Grandees—at least, so say some of the his¬ 
torians of those days. Our pioneers in all 
tiie Western 8tuies and territories know 
something of the value of acorns as food for 
stock, and never heard of any injury result¬ 
ing therefrom. There is as great a difference 
in the quality of acorns as in oilier nuts, 
and the time may come when oak groves 
will lie planted for the double purpose of 
producing food for stock as well as timber. 
If not, why not? For it is certainly true 
that acorns do possess a large amount of 
nutriment, and are greedily devoured by 
various species of animals. 
Mr. Author White, agent for Sir Walter 
Cakew, gives bis experience in a late num¬ 
ber of the Farmer, as follows:—“Several 
weeks since l desired the hind on Sir Wal¬ 
ter Careav’s Marley farm to employ per¬ 
sons to collect as many acorns as they could, 
and up to this time about three hundred 
bushels have been gathered, at a cost of Is. 
3d. per bushel, at which price those em¬ 
ployed get good w ages. The hind has regu¬ 
larly given the acorns to calves, young 
sheep, and pigs, which eat them greedily, 
ami appear to thrive well on them. Sir 
George says he had seen a letter in your 
paper warning the public that acorns were 
a deadly poison for cattle, and that much 
cattle m his neighborhood had died from 
having eaten too many, and that the veteri¬ 
nary surgeon lias tried all the remedies be 
can tbinlc of; but lie dues not mention bow 
soon after symptoms of illness set in, nor 
ivliat the remedies tried were. 
“ Sir W. Cakew has had cattle grazing in 
ibo lawn of forty acres and several other 
Helds, where there are many large oak trees, 
and tliis year they have borne immense 
quantities of acorns, which, together with 
lots of small branches, have been blown 
down by the severe gales; yet the bullocks 
Avhich have been depastured there have 
been perfectly healthy. In another letter, 
‘ W. M.’ urges that acorns should be boiled, 
saying that it quintuples their value, I would 
venture to ask how he arrives at this con¬ 
clusion — on scientific principles or from 
having proved it by giving acorns in the 
different states, cooked or raw ? 
“ It is well known that, pigs are so fond of 
acorns they will go over any hedge almost 
to get, at, them, and also that they cat them 
in large quantities, yet are healthy and 
thrive wonderfully well on them. How 
does ‘ W. M.’ account for this ? One would 
think, if acorns are so poisonous for bullocks 
ivliy not also for pigs? Last year, acorns 
were plentiful, but ive did not gather any 
then, aud bullocks were depastured on the 
land, as now, yet no harm came to them. 
How does ‘ Southdown ’ account for this? 
“ As the past summer lias been so hot and 
dry, thereby causing a total loss of the root 
crops in some districts, and hut a very light 
crop of liny throughout this country, any 
food which is wholesome for cattle, and pan 
lie used to assist in supplying the deficiency, 
is most desirable. 
‘ I may add the hind boiled about a bushel 
of acorns and gave them to several calves 
and pigs. The calves ate them greedily, but 
the pigs preferred t hem in tlieir natural state.” 
It aril of a Uuralist. 
if lb 
raps. 
FIELD NOTES AND QUERIES. 
How to ivill Quacli Grass, 
In reply to queries how to kill quack 
grass, plow early in spring as shallow as 
sod will turn well, and cultivate as often as 
grow starts with some small-toothed, long- 
legged cultivator, like “ Ford & Howes 
Excelsior No. 1,” Llmt. will not clog. Should 
the ground gel too hard to work well from 
heavy rains, cross plow and cultivate as be¬ 
fore ; then cross deeply and carefully just, as 
late as will do to have it. and I will promise 
that, even in as wet a season as 18(59 was here, 
there will he no quack left. I have perfectly 
cleared from quack and thistles, ten to fif¬ 
teen acres yearly, for the past five years, in 
this way.— I. B. Jones, Geneva, iV. Y. 
Ox Eye Daisy. 
A whiter in The Massachusetts Plough¬ 
man suys lliuL this weed “will not grow a 
second season in a field occupied by sheep; 
they lute it so elisely as to effectually exter¬ 
minate it. Give them an opportunity and 
the lambs will lake care of the daisies. On 
dairy farms, where only cows are kept, a 
very few cossetts should be allowed to run 
with the cows. As the sheep are very fond 
Of the 'weed,’ and take that first, perhaps 
it Would do to allow them to run a few days 
in the mowing fields in spring and fall.” 
Such is not. our experience, except when the 
flock of sheep is large enough to defoliate 
everything in the field. “ A few cosset is ” 
with the cows will not kill ox eye daisies by 
a good deal. 
Early Rose auii Early iHwliiiwk Col at or-. 
Of the various kinds of early potatoes 1 
have for several years given the preference 
to Hie Early Rose and Early Mohawk. 1 
have now come to the conclusion not to 
plant the latter kind again. Both kinds 
were planted the same day, side by side, and 
had the same treatment. The Early Rose 
yielded better, were quite as early, and are 
u much belter potato for the table. Tlu: 
soil is a light sand; in a heavier soil the 
Mohawk may do heller. 
This season 1 let my early potatoes re¬ 
main in the ground—it being quite dry—for 
some time after they were ripe. On dig¬ 
ging, I hardly found a decayed potato 
among either kind ; but since then some of 
the Early Rose have spoiled.—G. M., West 
Jersey, Sept. 
tiow Potatoes ure Crown in Now MnulniKt. 
Tuk farm of Dr .). R. Nichols, Haver¬ 
hill, Mass., was recently visited, at his invi¬ 
tation, by a party of agriculturists. Among 
others examined was t he potato field, which, 
it was estimated, would yield three hundred 
bushels per acre. The N. E. Farmer says: 
“Standing in the midst of these crops, the 
inquiry was made, * What was the condition 
of the land before the potatoes were put 
upon it ?’ l’lie reply was, ‘ Three years ago 
it was covered with young oaks. These 
were pulled out by the roots, the land thor¬ 
oughly plowed and pulverized, and last year 
planted with |Kitatoes. Gypsum and ground 
hone were applied to the hill, and the crop 
was a large one. Last spring it was plowed 
deeply again, pulverized finely, applied the 
same fertilizer, kept the weeds down, aud 
here is the result. They have had no stable 
manure whatever! The potatoes were large, 
fair and as good looking as potatoes could 
well be. The reader ought, to know, how¬ 
ever, that the potato field was on the edge of 
a meadow of a rich black soil, and that it 
received the wash of a narrow strip above 
on its whole length. These advantages 
would not, we should judge, bring such a 
crop of themselves.” 
DAILY RURAL LIFE. 
From the Diary of u Gentleman near New 
York Cltv. 
American Museum of Natural History. 
Sept. 11.—The Department, of Public 
Parks of New York lias kindly allowed the 
American Museum of Natural History the 
use of the old Arsenal building in Cen¬ 
tral Park. The specimens already deposited 
there amount, in the agregate, to many 
thousands, among which there are vast 
numbers of rarities found in very few col¬ 
lections of the kind, in this or any other 
country. The entire museum of Prince 
•Maximilian of Ncuwied, Germany, which 
was one of the most celebrated private col¬ 
lections in ihe world, lias been purchased 
and is now on exhibition. Also, the great 
Elliot collection of birds, consisting of 
2,500 specimens, lias been carefully mounted 
and placed In glass cases where it can be 
inspected by visitors. I visited the Museum 
to-day for the express purpose of examining 
the Entomological Department, of which I 
had heard many favorable, reports. There 
is a magnificent collection of Tjqpidoptera, 
(butterflies and mot,Its,) consisting of 10,000 
specimens presented by Mr. Coleman T. 
Robinson. Another of foreign beetles pre¬ 
sented by Mr. R, A. Witthaus, Jr.; but 
the collection of native beetles, consisting 
of 4,000 specimens, comprising about 1,000 
species, presented by Baron R. Osten 
Sacken, is. extremely valuable, and would 
lie of great assistance to students in Ento¬ 
mology if the names had been written in a 
legible band. I avus quite anxious to com¬ 
pare some specimens from uiy own cab¬ 
inet with those in this collection for the pur¬ 
pose of determining theidenty of the species; 
but tiie names as written upon thorn Avore so 
obscure that they could not be read through 
the glass covers to the cases, ami even when 
removed a magnifier was necessary to deter¬ 
mine the name. This collection should tic 
entirely re-labeled so that, visitors could see 
the names of every species distinctly. There 
are thousands of our young men who will 
avail themselves of the opportunity here 
presented of gaining a knowledge of Ento¬ 
mology ; and the first, step after catching 
specimens is to learn the names. The com¬ 
mendable spirit iniinit. ■: by the officers of 
llie Museum, in opening their rooms free to 
all, should lip extended to the careful label¬ 
ing of specimens, and, as soon as possible, 
publishing a catalogue of the entire collec¬ 
tion. There are many liberal persons who 
would gladly contribute rare and valuable 
specimens to the Museum if they could know 
in advance what it. already contained. 
Broad- Lea veil ICn on yin us. 
Sept. 12.—There are many species of the 
Euonyuuts cultivated for tlieir bright colored 
berries, which are exceedingly handsome in 
autumn. Our native species, known gener¬ 
ally as Spindle trees or Burning-bush, are 
quite valuable for ornamental purposes; but 
in the more Northern States the berries do 
not assume their bright colors until so lute 
in the autumn that their season of beauty is 
exceedingly brief. There is a variety of the 
European Spindle-tree known as the Broad- 
leaved (Euonyimis latifolia), the berries of 
AVhicii ripen or put on their bright red color 
the lust of August and continue through 
most of September. In addition to earli¬ 
ness, the berries of the Broad-leaved are 
nearly double the size of the other kinds. 
This variety is comparatively a slow grower, 
bill when worked upon some strong grow¬ 
ing stuck it becomes quite vigorous. My 
specimen plant, which is now loaded with 
berries, avos grown from a bud inserted into 
one of the more common sorts standing 
among my »hrubbery, and in almost every 
garden there are suitable stock for budding 
or grafting Avit.li the broad-leaved variety if 
the owners Avould only take the trouble to 
perform these operations. 
Stnadc Tuberoses. 
Sept. 13.—The tuberose was brought to 
Europe from tiie East Indies about two hun¬ 
dred and fifty years ago. The original wiki 
rose produced single flowers, and when the 
double variety was introduced it soon went 
out of cultivation, oral least lost so much of 
its popularity as seldom to be seen in gar¬ 
dens. I was fortunate enough lust spring to 
obtain a few bulbs of the old wild sort, and 
they are uoav in full bloom. 1 do not think 
they are any heller than the double, but the 
flowers uro far more perfect in form, appear¬ 
ing like delicate tubes of white wax, emitting 
a most delicious mid delicate odor, 'flic 
great difference in size and term of I,lie two 
sorts affords a pleasing contrast, when both 
are worked into the same boquet. I shall 
endeavor hereafter to preserve and cultivate 
a goodly number <>f the old but beautiful 
single tuberoses. 
.Second) or Auiuiini Growths. 
Sept. 14.—1 notice that many of my trees 
and shrub* are making a. second or autumn 
growth, i. e., they seemed to have ripened 
up tlieir Avood, preparatory for Avinter, in 
August ;but the late warm rains have forced 
out new shoots. Raspberries and blackber¬ 
ries, in particular, which have been summer 
pruned, show more of this late growth Uutu 
those un pruned. The same is true with 
grape vines, currants and fruit trees, and I 
fear that they will be far more susceptible to 
injury by cold next winter in consequence. 
There is always more or less danger of late 
growth in autumn upon plants severely 
pruned in summer; for this reason I have 
avoided severely shortening raspberry and 
blackberry canes at this season. The same 
rule holds good ivilh fruit-bearing trees, 
although some good pomologists recommend 
pruning in mid-summer. After tiie first 
frost in autumn is my favorite time to prune 
t rees, as there will then be sufficient-time for 
wounds to dry before severe cold weather. 
White I’iiie Worm*. 
Sept. 15.—Nearly every year some of my 
evergreens are attacked by what, is usually 
called the White Pine Worm, Lophyrus 
Abbotii) although it docs not coniine it self 
av holly to this species of evergreen. To-day 
1 found them in great numbers upon an 
Austrian piue. From the upper shoots they 
had taken every leaf, nearly destroying the 
beauty of the tree. These worms are so 
small and of such an inconspicuous color 
that their presence av ill scarcely be noticed 
until they have done considerable damage. 
They often appear in myriads upon a single 
tree, and in a few hours or, at most, days, a 
fine, specimen Avill be ruined; all of which 
only shows how necessary it is that a man 
with both eyes open should visit, every por¬ 
tion of his grounds at least, every oilier day. 
By dusting the worms Avith fees lily slaked 
lime, early in the morning, they can be 
readily destroyed, and it. is only through 
negligence that they ever become very 
numerous. They usually appear In autumn, 
remaining until quite late, as it requires a 
very severe frost to kill them. 
Lute Mowing of T.atvns. 
Sept. 16.—T am considering Ihe subject of 
mowing lawns late in autumn. Whether it 
is best to keep the grass cut. short, up to the 
time of severe frost, or allow it to make a 
few inches of growth before tiie cold 
weather, is a question that i should like to 
have answered by some one who has 
thoroughly tried both systems. My opinion, 
based upon observations, is that a better 
growth Avili be secured in spring if late 
moAvings are omitted. 
ffbf Uincnarb. 
GRAPE CULTURE. 
interest in horticultural matters generally 
and especially in grape culture. The result 
of my observation lias been;—1. Where 
large vines have been cultivated and trained 
over the entire back verandahs of large 
houses, two, three, or four stories high, the 
grapes have generally ripened well, and the 
crop of fruit, year after year, has been con¬ 
sidered a permanence. 2. In my rambles In 
the woods Avliere the wild grape abounds, 
both North and South, it bus been no un¬ 
common thing to find vines from two to six 
inches ill diameter covering from one to half 
a dozen trees, producing immense crops of 
fruit— and the best {/rapes mere usually found 
among the highest branches ! 
Out here in Missouri we have ivild grapes 
in abundance. Last year in our immediate 
neighborhood, the wild grapes were gath¬ 
ered by the cart load, and over two thousand 
gallons of wine were produced. I have not 
heard of any epidemic attacking these vines. 
I avhs in tiie garden of a friend a few days 
since examining his grape vines, etc. His 
“Concords" were very fine—promising an 
abundant yield and no signs of rot. The 
vines Avere trained on a trellis about eight 
feel high, and each vine had a length of 
about twenty feet on the trellis. T suggested 
that even more space than that would be 
beneficial. He agreed with me, and then 
took me to another Concord vine which Avas 
trained,or rather growing Avild on a large 
apple tree, at least thirty feet high. “This 
vine,” said he, “ l cultivate for my birds—the 
wild birds who build tlieir nests and rear 
their young here.” T found that on this vine, 
the fruit within reach on I he lower branches, 
Avas poor and somewhat rotten, while that 
on the upper branches was full and abundant. 
I think, Mr. Editor, I had better stop here 
just now, and give you my further observa¬ 
tions in a future number. Any one interest¬ 
ed can verify the correctness of them Avith a 
very little trouble. To me it appears in¬ 
evitable that we must either abandon the 
cultivation of the grape, as a paying crop, 
or else adopt some radically different mode 
of culture than that which now so generally 
prevails. In niy nextl propose to glance at 
the French and German mode of culture 
uml to show Avliy it never can be adopted 
with success in our country, T. 
Springfield, Mo., 1871. 
-- 
Concord Grapes Tills Year. 
The last of my grapes—Concords — were 
sent, to market about a Aveek since. They 
were nearly two weeks curlier this year than 
they were last, and brought rather more. 
Last year but few brought over eight cents 
per pound; this year tiie price ranged from 
eight to ten cents, The expenses of market¬ 
ing deducted—not including tiie time of 
pickiug and preparing for market—they 
Have we any Reliable System of Grapo 
Culture ? 
The above presents a very important ques¬ 
tion, and I very much doubt if any one can 
answer it, positively, in the affirmative. We 
find, after twenty or thirty years’ experi¬ 
ments, that Ave are as far from real solid suc¬ 
cess, as we Avere in the olden times, Avhen 
the hardy “Fox Grape” of the North, or 
the “ Scuppernong” of the South, were 
about the only grapes Avhich could be de¬ 
pended upon, season after season, for any 
purpose. 
We find that the Catawba grape, after be¬ 
ing extensively cultivated in the valley of 
the Ohio, on ihe borders and islands of Lake 
Erie, in the interior of New York and other 
places, belli as a table fruit and as a wine 
grape, is now being generally discarded,— 
hundreds, if not thousands of acres having 
been dug up within the past four or five 
years. On the banks of the Ohio ami near 
Cincinnati, the Ives’Seedling and Norton’s 
Virginia have generally been substituted for 
the Catawba, which, from its deterioration 
in quality and propensity to rot, has been 
found to lie unsatisfactory and unprofitable. 
Ill our own section, South western .Missou¬ 
ri, the Concord and Norton’s Virginia have 
been the favorites, and large vineyards have 
been planted and cultivated for a time with 
apparent success; hut now we find vine¬ 
yards four or five years old are beginning to 
fail; the rot has shown itself extensively, 
and the grape culturist is beginning to be 
disheartened. 
I think the same remarks, as to the failure 
of the grape crop, may lie repeated of almost 
any section of our country where the cul¬ 
ture of the grape lias been attempted as a 
crop. Hence the question at tiie head of 
this article recurs:—“Have we any reliable 
system,” or, is not our present system of 
close planting and close pruning all wrong 
—radically Avrong? Tim very lucid and 
practical article of Mr. Churchill, (I think,) 
published some year and a-half since in Til- 
ton’s Journal, to my mind settled the ques¬ 
tion us to the disadvantageous consequences 
of close planting and close pruning, by iriv- 
ing the results of his culture by the opposite 
mode, but I do not think he has hit upon 
the true remedy. 
Now I am not. a practical grape culturist, 
but for the past thirty years have been a 
rather close observer and have taken a deep 
averaged a little over seven cents a pound. 
—G. M., West Jersey. 
HEIGE’8 IMPROVED CHESTERS. 
In your issue of Aug. 6 a correspondent 
(F W. Ragley) states some facts in regard 
to the Improved Chester hogs, which I 
wish to supplement by calling attention to 
the Heioe’s Improved Chesters, Avhich are 
attracting much attention in this portion of 
the Stale, and which will, 1 think, surpass 
any of the Improved Chesters Unit are now 
known as such. These hogs are a cross 
with the Chesters now known us the Ohio 
Improved Chester Whites; and I think 
that these are an additional improvement. 
J’lie improvement at first was obtained by 
the crossing of the Boyer and Ashbiudge 
Chester hogs of Chester Co., Pa., and still 
further improved by a cross Avith the Im¬ 
proved Chesters of Chio. 
They are a white hog and fatten at all 
ages; us for weight, at any age they will 
hold tlieir own, if not surpass, any other 
so-called Chesters. I shipped one of the 
IIeige’s Improved Cliesters nine weeks old, 
weighing 75)^ lbs., to Lit Gro, lnd., which 
will be exhibited this fall at the Wabash 
county fair; and another one of thirteen 
weeks’ old, weighing 95 lbs., to New Free¬ 
dom, Pa. This one was the smallest of a 
litter of nine. 8. D. R. 
York, Fa,i Sept., 1871. 
-- 
Steamed Food a Preventive of Host Cholera, 
An exchange says: —“ Several very exten¬ 
sive iiog growers of Henry Co., III., Buy llmt 
feeding steamed feed is a perlect preventive 
of the hog cholera, and that no one there 
lids season, who fed steamed feed, lias lost a 
Iiog by the cholera." We seriously doubt if 
it is the food alone that prevents ihe hog 
cholera. Our observation is that with a 
Avholesuiuu diet there must lie care, shelter, 
dry pasturage and good, pure water. 
•-- 
Correction of IIok Cholera Remedy, 
There is n mistake in the “ Hog Cholera 
Remedy” as given in the Rural New-York¬ 
er of Sept, 9. 1871. It should lie tour table 
spoonfuls to fee hogs iuslcad of one.—A. 8. 
