An English remedy for tins wasting awa- 
of pigeons is to give them, daily, cod liver oil 
either in its usual state, or bought in capsule* 
JAN. « 
j^hecp Husbamlrg. 
GRUBS IN THE HEADS OF 8HEEP. 
Allow me to say, for the benefit of some 
of your correspondents who may have been 
deluded with the turpentine and butter rem¬ 
edy for grub in the head, that if they will 
cover the sheep ’b noseB with fre3li tar, I will 
warrant them success in preventing grub in 
the head in every case. I have tried it many 
times and never failed.— F. J. Sprague. 
In Rural New-Yorker, Feb. 17, 1872, you 
published the following recipe for curing grub 
in the head: 
One tablespoonful of butter, melted and 
mixed with atcaspoonlul of spirits of turpen¬ 
tine. Turn this iuto the sheep’s ears once a 
day, for one, two, or three days, as the case 
may require. 
In the Rural of May 11,1872, a correspond¬ 
ent cautions j*our readers against using the 
recipe, as ho applied it without success. 
From his description of the ease in which it 
was applied, I think Ids sheep wero about 
dead before lie tried the remedy, I tried the 
above remedy on my flock of seventy, which 
was badly affected with the grub. It proved 
an effectual euro. It was not too powerful, 
as stated by T, B. O, It was the butter and 
turpentine, and nothing else, that saved my 
sheep. If I had not seen the recipe in the 
Rural, I should have lost one-fourtli of my 
flock from the grub. I know it was the grub 
that troubled them, for one of them died be¬ 
cause he was too far gone before the remedy 
was applied. I out his head open, and dug 
out eleven large grubs; Ids brain was all eat¬ 
en, and his skull bone was so soft that I cut 
it to pieces with my jackknife. After two or 
three applications, I saw my sheep blow the 
grubs from their hoads. They run a great 
deul at the nose. The quantity of turpentine 
and butter above given is enough for one 
sheep at once. 1 regard the above recipe 
worth three times the price of the Rural 
New-Yorker to all farmers who keep sheep. 
—C. Coules. 
— - 
WOOL IN GREAT BRITAIN. 
One of our contemporaries quotes the fol¬ 
lowing from the Loudon Economist of No¬ 
vember 10, which says the season for imported 
wool (into Great Britain) is nearly at a close, 
*.nd O.H there Is Dearly five mouths before the 
markets can be again replenished, those in 
terosted have anxiously awaited the Board ol’ 
Trade returns up to the end of October. 
Those wero at hand, and some of the facts 
were said to be “startling.” The following 
statistics are given: 
The Import* for the ten months endinp Oe- I Mr. 
tobor, 1870, wero...233,211!,258 
Deduct exports wtiuo time. 77,388,634 
Net Imports for ton months. 166,827,724 
Of this, 18,000,000 lbs. were carried over to 
1871. 
IMS. . 
Imports for the same time, as above, in 1871 300,830,00 
Add old wool, ns above. 18,000/Xl 
8i8,rart.fKi 
Deduct exports same timo. 1JJ ,4)0,81 
Net imports for tcu months. 19,140.301 
In November, 1871, it is said it is well 
known there was a very small supply of wool 
in the hands of dealers and manufacturers, 
and prices advanced. 
Imports for Urn months in 1872, ending with I.hr, 
October..,. 275,036,066 
Deduct export#. 127,405,930 
Net Imports for ten months. 147,627,133 
This leaves 30,000,000 lbs., equal to 25 per 
cent, less wool for consumption in Great Brit¬ 
ain in 1872 than them was in 1871. 
The Economist says:—“There are several 
attendant circumstances which should be 
taken into account in reading these figures: 
1. There has been a very large quantity ! 
of new machinery started during the last 
twelve months, requiring, of course, large 
supplies of wool to keep it in work. 
2. In many branches of the trade, con¬ 
sumption has been greatly increased by the 
running of existing machinery night and day. 
3. The stock of akin wools is now extreme¬ 
ly light. 
4. Dealers and manufacturers generally 
wero never so barely stocked at this season 
of the j r ear. 
Each of these circumstances is entitled to 
attention in considering the quantity of wool 
left for consumption during the next five 
months. Were the consumption only going 
on at the same rate that it was doing last 
year, we should be short two months’ sup¬ 
ply; and when the increased machinery and 
other items are taken into account, we can 
not be much less than from two and a-half 
to three months’ supply short—the effect of 
which we leave for the consideration of those 
engaged in the trade.” 
-- 
CASHMERE GOATS. 
W. M. B. asks if we, or any of our readers, 
can give him any information in regard to 
Cashmere goats—whether there is any mar¬ 
ket for their wool; if so, where, and at what 
price? He adds he has some notion of buying 
some, his business being wool growing. We 
advise him to get rid of that “notion” as 
Boon as possible, and coniine his attention to 
not smile at this way of breaking her of eat¬ 
ing her own eggs, he aint a bit like my hus¬ 
band or father.—R. Guthrie. 
-■*-♦#- 
BLUE OWL PIGEON. 
The Owls are fancy pigeons long known to 
English fancierR. Moon says its make and 
shape arc much like the Turbit, except that 
the upper chap of the beak is hooked over 
like an owl’s. Its plumage is nl ways entirely 
white, blue or black. Another writer says: 
“ Its beak is very short, and hooked over at 
Slrburicultuntl. 
4 -t t . ir o W J J PIQ-klOiv 
sheep. We have bcou the experiment f 
Cashmere goat keeping tried repeatedly, a’d 
never knew a man, in this country, to tqicli 
it who did not lose money thereby. We 
know of no one who buys the liber m this 
country. / 
INDIGESTION IN FOWLS. 
I / 
ONpbf your correspondents in Rural New- 
Yo»fER, Dec. 14, wanted a prescription to 
cure a Brahma lien. This will probably be 
loo late to serve him, though it may be in time 
to benefit others whose fowls may be simi¬ 
larly affected. I consider the disease of which 
he speaks as Identical with indigestion in the 
Unman family. The food in the crop fails to 
digest, a nd forme Into a hard, round ball. If 
this ball is not removed, ft will eventually 
oause the death of the fowl. To remove this 
ball lay the fowl on its back, remove the feath¬ 
ers along the middle of the crop, and with your 
thumb and finger press the ball outward; 
then, with a sharp-pointed knife, make an 
incision large enough to admit the passage of 
the 1 mil; remove the ball gently through the 
opening ; then with a needle and thread sew 
up the wound securely, and the operation is 
completed. Place the fowl in comfortable I 
quarters, aud give nourishing food until the 
wound heals, wiiieh will be in a very short 
time. I have the above from a friend who 
has practised it with success.— J. O. R., Olade 
Spring, Va. 
-♦♦ ♦ 
TO PREVENT A HEN EATING HER EGGS. 
— 
We have never failed in preventing this ^ 
practice by filling the hen so full of sometliing 
else that she don’t want to eat eggs. Wc do 
it in this way:—Put a vessel (a good three gal¬ 
lon brass kettle is very convenient) over the 
fire; fill it two-thirds full of water; let the 
water come to aboil; take the hen and cut 
her bill off smoothly and nicely just behind 
her ears, plump her into the kettle, strip off 
the feathers, take out her insides, put her 
over tho lire in a steamer for two hours; 
while she is there prepare the stuffing of light 
wheat bread batter and a little sage and pars¬ 
ley; fill her vory full and lay the balance of 
the stuffing around her like eggs in a nest; 
put her in the oven till quite brown, and when 
the “ gude nian” comes to dinner, if he does 
the end, Idee an owl’s ; hence its name; the 
shorter it is the better; it has a very round 
button head and a grav'd eye; the feathers 
on the breast open and reflect both ways, ex¬ 
panding something like a rose, which is called 
the purlo by some, and by others tho frill; 
and the more tho bird lias of that the better, 
with a gullet reaching down from the beak 
to the frill; its plumage is always of an entire 
color, as white; a fine sky-bluo, black and 
yellow. The blue ones should have black 
bars across the wings; aud the lighter they 
arc in color, particularly in the hackle, the 
more they are valued. They should have 
their breeding places made so that they may 
set in private, for they arc very wild, like 
tho Carrier, and apt to fly off their eggs if 
tlio least disturbed.” 
The foregoing quotation is from an English 
Treatise of 1765? Teoktmier says:—“Tho 
only birds known as Owls, until a very recent 
period, wero birds of moderate size, charac¬ 
terized by their short-hooked beaks, round 
heads, with prominent eyes and well devel¬ 
oped frill or purlo on the breast. In color 
they wore generally either blue or silver, 
though black, white mid yellow birds wero 
not uncommon. The blue kinds were of a 
very peculiar hue, and had the Reck feath¬ 
ers sprinkled with a lighter color, which gave 
them a very handsome appearance, und led 
to the name of “Powdered Blue. Owls,” which 
waB frequently applied to them. Those birds 
were active, rapid flyers, and among the 
most beautiful of the more natural varieties.” 
-- 
INQUIRIES FOR POULTERERS. 
Ilow can I prevent or kill lice on turkeys ? 
David Jones. 
What isthe cause of, and remedy for, weak¬ 
ness in the legs of fowls ? Prince Albert, the 
pater of my Spanish flock, is thus troubled. 
Ho will walk a little distance and then sit 
down. On rising his logs tremble like an old 
person; he seems to loiter for a few steps. 
When at tho drinking trough he will sit down, 
and will crow in this position. He is fat, aud 
has a good appetite, and this morning was 
fighting.—M. L. B., Sedgwick, Kansas. 
- »♦« — ■ 
PIGEONS “GOING LIGHT.” 
The latter is regarded the bettor plan, as the 
feathers do not become greasy. This answers 
K, B., who complains that 
to be wasting away. 
is pigeons seem 
PEAR BLIGHT. 
I suppose many of your readers are con- 
| versant with this malady or disease of the 
pear, its cause, etc.; yet I frequently find 
articles in newspapers diverting the reader 
from the true cause, some claiming it to be 
tho work of on insect, and some frost bite, 
which is more plausible; but the main cause 
is the sun, the direct rays of which, striking 
the bark of the t ree when the sap is flowing 
freely, scalds or sours it. This happens from 
the first of ft .ay to the last of August in this 
latitude, forty miles south of Lake Erie. 
This fatal disease is sure to happen when 
the roots are kept at a degree of temperature 
too low for the corresponding air above, or 
in the trunk, if a young tree, or branches, if 
an old one, at a time when equal temperature 
is most needed to form the new growth of 
wood (a process going on under the. bark) at 
the time above named. Upon this principle 
I can blight any pear t ree in America, or any 
part, of one I choose. The remedy is, there¬ 
fore, protection of the exposed surface. Tliis 
is done by boarding on three sides up to limbs 
on young trees, and training twigs or limbs 
to shade each other and the trunk in their 
growth. Rags will do if not wrapped too 
tight; don’t use too heavy an article for 
mulching. E. W. Roskberry. 
WALNUTS VS. PECANS. 
On Christmas a few friends dined with Mr. 
Reid, when that wonderful walnut, tree and 
the Rural New-Yorker wero fully discussed, 
and it was unanimously resolved that you be 
excused for not believing a tree produced 
English walnuts one year and pecan nuts the 
next. But Mr. R. still insists that if “a joke” 
has been played upon him by “Ids workmen,” 
it far surpasses any trick of the Rochester 
spirit-rappings that he 1ms ever heard of, 
as there can bo no mistake that, he planted a 
walnut and that both walnuts and pecans 
were plucked, with his own hands, from the 
same free, in presence of a lady of the com¬ 
pany, who tasted the fruit with him, and 
some of the pecans arc si ill on hand for exhi¬ 
bition. With all this evidence some of us are 
faithless like yourself, and we shall “keep a 
sharp look out.” next your, if spared: and if 
other than pecans appear will send you a 
specimen of the fruit, even should it 6e “a 
bale of cotton.”— t. w. c. 
ALL right! We are willing to bo convinced I 
A Cuban told us the other day that Ameri¬ 
can pear trees, when sent to Cuba, at first 
bora pears and afterwards a distinct fruit 
common to Cuba (wc have mislaid our memo¬ 
randa and cannot name it). Possibly the 
climate changes fruit as it does the plumage 
of birds; but we want tho proof! 
<®he tfincpul. 
THE ROGERS GRAPE. 
Dr. B. G. Parker of New York, writes the 
Germantown Telegraph :—“ But few who 
have eaten Rogers’ No. I, 15, 4, 3, 9, 13, and 
Salem, after hanging long on the vines, and 
being slightly frosted, will ever forget their 
soft, mild, delicious sweetness. Bo, too, when 
boxed in upper rooms and frosted by cold in 
November, they are peculiarly grateful, and 
have over hero sold well. T am now eating 
them, as nice as Malagas, daily, this 20th of 
November, as I have been for days, and ex¬ 
pect t o be till they are gone. In this respect 
I know of no other grapes their equal. What 
cool, delicious, satisfactory, gustatory excel¬ 
lence I The apple jelly made by heat in the 
Ohio sorghum rocker boiler, is getting to be 
quite a manufacture here. It sells at twelve 
cents a pound. It is a rich reddish-yellow, 
clour jelly, and made without sugar is a little 
tart. It will yet be on© of the manufactures 
in ull the country, wherever apples grow 
abundantly.-” 
- *■•*-* - 
CONCORD GRAPES. 
Concord grapes are good keepers, and will 
come out as nice about the holidays ns when 
packed in boxes in their season in all but one 
respect, and that i3 flavor. 1 opened, Dec. 
24th, a box of Concords put up when ripe on 
the vine. They are as nice ua when packed; 
stems green, berries full, but as tasteless as 
they are handsome. They wero sweet and 
nice when put up. They were put up in tliis 
way:—Cut the bunches when ripe and dip 
the cut end in melted resin; then pack in a 
box; first put in a layer of cotton, then a 
layer of grapes, and when full, close tight 
and put in a cool place where they will not 
freeze, and they will keep till after the holi¬ 
days.—J. F. Haas, Meudvilk, Pa. 
