No dressing of a horse is complete without a 
thorough hand-rubbing of the legs. 
If a horse has the scratches, wash his feet 
twice a day with warm water and Castile 
soap ; it removes all Of the soabB that will 
come off readily without leaving a bleeding 
surface; dry thoroughly and apply some 
simple cerate; turn him into a box stall if 
convenient ; reduce his grain considerably, 
and give him bran mashes ; if in high condi¬ 
tion, a mild physic ball will do no injury, al¬ 
ways following a mash ; let him have regu¬ 
lar exercise. A few days of this treatment 
will doubtless effect a cure. 
If he has something worse than common 
scratches, some mild esebarotic or astringent, 
like blue vitriol, alum or white oak bark, 
may be advisublc, followed by an ointment 
with some stimulating drug in it; in some 
cases a poultice continued for some time will 
be necessary. Nothing can be better than 
carrots boiled soft, mashed, and applied 
while warm ; wheat bran answers excellent¬ 
ly. In severe cases no grains should be given, 
but the horse supported by mashes, roots and 
hay ; the bowels should be kept open, and a 
light bleeding may be necessary. Let him 
have walking exorcise as soon as lie can move 
without keeping him out of the mud ; and as 
soon as his legs can stand it, have recourse 
to friction; and if they are much swollen 
and the tissues considerably weakened, let 
them be carefully bandaged, commencing at 
the hoof, with a flannel roller or hay band ; 
the latter cuu be kept wet, and thus lessen 
the heat. Such treatment will generally ef¬ 
fect a more or less speedy cure. 
Scratches and grease, like most other dis¬ 
eases of horses, are affections that can be 
much more profitably kept off than they can 
be cured. Bad stable management is the 
almost universal source from which they 
arise, and they should always be regarded as 
an evidence of such, and the offending par¬ 
ticular found out and removed. Better, far, 
give a little more of your own intelligent at¬ 
tention to vour st ables, and pay a good man, 
than to neglect them, pay a poor man, and 
a farrier. 
Kanawha C. H., W. Va. A. R. K. 
C. W. €. has tried a rational treatment for 
his horses and the trouble still hongs on, it 
is probable that they have grease. The im¬ 
mediate cause of scratches I have given— 
the proximate causes arc numerous. Chief 
among them arc:—First, ignorance on the 
part of the man having the horse in. charge, 
and second, negligence on the part of the 
aforesaid (saying that a man is ignorant or 
negligent on one point must not be construed 
into a charge of general ignorance or negli¬ 
gence.) A man ignorant of the physiology 
of the parta will very likely shear Ids horses’ 
legs close, and then when they come in from 
work, hot and tired, plunge them up to their 
bellies iu some si mum t o " ••v;l-<1i 'em off ;” or 
worse still, if he wants to be very thorough, 
take a bucket of hot water and sponge them 
down, and then, just as they are, hot, and 
dripping, (the condition most favorable to 
rapid evaporation,) put them at once into 
their stalls to dry off at their leisure. Here 
the horses’ heels are in the best position to 
get every draft, not only from all tli5 cracks 
in the walls and floor, but also from the door, 
which generally stands hospitably open, par¬ 
ticularly on cold evenings. Evaporation goes 
rapidly forward, and the horses’ feet and 
legs soon become intensely cold, t he temper¬ 
ature being sometimes reduced almost to the 
freezing point ; this is speedily followed bv 
reaction, with more or less congestion and 
inflammation ; the secretion of the fluid of 
which I spoke is checked, the parts become 
dry and harsh, and a few repetitions of this 
treatment will be followed by scratches. 
Much better is the treatment of the negligent 
man ; he would have neither sheared the fet¬ 
lock nor washed the legs, but lot the horse 
stand With the mud which had partially 
dried wliilo he was yet kept warm by exer¬ 
cise, still on, and the long fetlocks, oven if 
loaded with mud and iee, would have afforded 
some protection from drafts, and have re¬ 
tained some of the heat which is so freely 
freely given off during evaporation. 
In the ill-conducted stables of many farm- 
era, and the stables of villagers and towns¬ 
men who keep a horse or two for pleasure, 
but who cannot afford to keep a man to at¬ 
tend them, there are many fruitful sources 
of scratches. Irregular work, feed and groom* 
mg, days of inactivity, and then a hard drive, 
after which t he horse receives no extra atten¬ 
tion ; too high feed for his work ; exposure to 
drafts of cold air tending toward the floor 
and first striking his heels ; an accumulation 
of manure und litter under him going on for 
days and sometimes weeks (until his body 
is pitched forward at on angle of thiity de¬ 
grees) in which fermentation is continually 
taking place, and from which most pungent 
fumes and moisture arise, keeping the feet 
irritated, damp and cold ; reaction is set up ; 
a kind of chronic congestion is established, 
the cellular tissues are weakened, engorge¬ 
ment follows (which disappears on driving but 
recurs when the horse returns to the stable), 
the heels crock, and “here are scratches.” 
If not attended to, and the animal in left 
under the same condition, the fissure becomes 
deeper, a n offensive, greasy matter is exuded 
from them, the sore becomes more extensive, 
the leg is tender atul irritable, the horse 
catching it up and almost lulling when it is 
touched, the joint appears weakened, and we 
have grease. Still neglected, the ulceration 
extends over the whole of the skir. of the 
heel, and around in front, “and a fungus 
springs from the surface, highly sensitive, 
bleeding at the slightest touch, and inter¬ 
spersed with scabs. By degrees, portions of 
the fungus begin to be covered with a homy 
substance protruding in the form of knobs 
and collected together in bunches. These 
are known by the name of ‘grapes.’ A 
fetid and very peculiar exudation proceeds 
from nearly the whole of the unnatural sub¬ 
stance. The horse evidently suffers much,, 
and is gradually worn down by tne dis¬ 
charge.” 
Some horses are much more liable to 
scratches than othera ; it is very annoying, 
and materially lessens their value on account 
of the unusual care which they require. The 
following hygienic treatment will bo found 
beneficial:—Have the stable free from drafts 
but well ventilated ; see that it is always 
kept perfectly clean, strewing lime, ashes or 
plaster freely about in summer. When the 
horse comes in from his work, have his legs 
freed from dirt at once, and do not leave him 
until the> T are perfectly dry ; have him well 
groomed also, if possible, and let his limbs 
receive a good, hard rubbing, with plenty of 
elbow grease ; do not give him any grain 
until his circulation is restored to its usual 
condition. When he is not to be worked, see 
that he has regular, gentle exercise ; do not 
feed him too high, particularly if he is young 
and of a fleshy habit, and have him always 
groomed once a day, and twice if practicable. 
tubers a bulbs, such as dahlias, cannas and 
lilies, in be forced in the same manner, 
and the time of blooming hastened. 
WINTER-KILLED SHRUBBERY. 
May 9 .—At the opening of spring, I tl ought 
we had escaped any very severe loss in orna¬ 
mental plants, owing to the abundance of 
snow the past winter. The winter of 1871 
and ’72 was the most disastrous to evergreens 
ever known in the Eastern States ; and al 
though we experienced much colder weath¬ 
er the past winter, very few evergreens 
are injured. But when the: mercury drops 
down to 20° belows zero, even for a few 
hours, we may' look out for scorched plants, 
which will be seen as the season for leaves 
and flowers comes along. Every day for a 
week or two past, I have discovered more or 
less dead or half killed specimens among my 
ornamental shrubs. For instance, 1 have a 
number of that comparatively new shrub, 
Deutsiu crenata plena, which have been 
growing luxuriantly in my garden for the 
past eight or nine years, and not a twig was 
ever injured In winter before ; but every 
plant is now killed to the ground, The other 
species and varieties of the Dculzia have also 
been killed, except that little dwarf, D. gra- 
dUitt, which escaped, because covered with 
snow. The Golden Bell [Forsyth ia vMdissi- 
ma) show no flowers, except on the few low 
or most branches that were protected by 
snow. The branches are not killed, only the 
flower buds have suffered. Many of the 
Spireas are severely injured. S. Rr evr.sH, and 
,S. Re.evc.sii ple.no , are killed to the ground, 
while M callosa and S. callosa alba are bad¬ 
ly scorched. The Japan Judas iroe (Curds 
Japonica), which, by the way, is one of our 
most charming, early-blcoining shrubs, has 
not escaped injury, although heretofore con¬ 
sidered very hardy, T noticed, to-day. a 
lew flowers on some small twigs, which were, 
no doubt, protected with snow last, winter, 
and they seemed to sav, we are here at the 
usual time, but few in uuraber. T shall be 
obliged to cut away the old stems, and wait 
some years for a complete renewal of my 
highly-prized specimens. The Primus t riloba , 
another magnificent, early-blooming shrub, 
has also suffered the loss of nearly all its 
flower buds, for the first time. Weigc.las, of 
all the .species and varieties, except IF. rosea, 
are injured more or less, and the new Weiycla 
nil>ea is killed to the ground. But those 
grand Oriental shrubs, or small trees, known 
as Chinese Magnolias, have passed t he winter 
unharmed. The early-blooming sorts are al¬ 
ready filling the air with their delightful per¬ 
fume. The. most valuable of these arc Mag- 
nolia conspicua, with flowers three inches 
long, pure white ; M. Soulongcana, a. variety 
of conspicua , the flowers white and purple ; 
M. Lennc, a new and scarce variety, with 
large, dark-purple flowers. If we lose a few 
plants occasionally, through the severity of 
the winter, we have the satisfaction that 
there is still enough left to make our sur¬ 
roundings beautiful. The loss of a few makes 
us appreciate what is left the more highly, 
and a surfeit of even the beautiful in nature 
becomes intolerable monotony. 
DAILY RUEAL LIFE. 
From the Diary of a Gentleman near N ml 
York City. 
NATURAL AVERSION TO INSECTS. 
May 1.—I notice in my last number of the 
Rotiax. Nkw-Yohkkw, which has just come to 
hand, that Harriet of Wyandotte, Kansas, 
rather takes me to task for admiring as well 
as desiring to know something of the habits 
of all creatures which God, in His infinite 
wisdom, has made, even to snakes and spi¬ 
ders. Perhaps it is wicked to believe that 
not one of these creeping things was created 
fcjr other than a good purpose ; if so, then I 
confess to be very wicked. If we fail to dis¬ 
cover the good, it should not be considered 
as proof that none exists, for we must re¬ 
member that mankind are still very ignorant 
in regard to the things on, or the law's which 
govern, this little lump of matter called the 
Earth. Harriet fe no doubt a fair type (no 
pun meant) of a majority of her sisters who 
have inherited a natural aversion to reptiles 
especially, as well as many other less harm¬ 
less creatures. I certainly shall take excep¬ 
tions to my fair critic’s statements In regard 
to “the natural aversion that all mankind 
have to the crawling, creeping, biting insect 
world,” because there is no such universal 
natural sentiment prevailing among the 
human race. Whenever we find any exhibi¬ 
tion of aversion, it can readily be traced to 
education based on superstition. How comes 
it that the slimy, fill liy-looking snail, which 
few persons in this country could be induced 
to touch, is sought for in other count ries by 
equally as refined people as ourselves, and 
considered a great delicacy. Superstition 
either exalts or debases, in Che estimation of 
a people, certain families or species of these 
creeping, crawling, or flying creatures, their 
power of doing good or harm having little in¬ 
fluence over beliefs or prejudices. There are, 
it is true, a few venomous species of snakes, 
but they are comparatively few in compari¬ 
son to the number of innoxious ; but the en¬ 
tire race is decried on account of the misdeeds 
of a small minority. If the same rule were 
applied to our race, Harriet and her sisters 
would soon be without mates. We have with 
us the venomous ratt lesnake and Maisasauga, 
and although quite abundant in some par Its 
of the country, still there arc a less number 
of deaths caused by the bite of these snakes 
than from the sting of hooey bees and wasps. 
Fatality in either case depends more upon 
the health of the person wounded than the 
virulence of the poison. The hundreds of 
species of beneficial spiders are denounced 
because the somewhat venomous Tarantula 
belongs to t he same family. We might with 
os much propriety condemn all that is good 
in the human race because a something which 
has been termed evil is occasionally seen 
among us. Our likes and dislikes, fears and 
prejudices are the result of circumstances 
and education, and Harriet’s story of her 
experience with moths, butterflies and bee¬ 
tles shows that she is attracted by brilliaut- 
colored insects, while another person would 
admire form and structure most, it is well 
and just as it should be, t hat, all persons have 
not the same tastes or inclinations to pursue 
the same paths through life; for were it so, 
there would be much crowding und jess op¬ 
portunities for personal distinction. Har- 
rilt’r question in regard to the instant loss of 
color in the bcautifid specimen of a bug or 
beetle, which sho caught last summer, 1 can¬ 
not answer, without knowing to what order 
the insect belonged. There are oerl iin spe¬ 
cies the colors of which fade with death; but 
it is seldom, if ever, instantaueously. 
FORCING TUBEROSE. 
May 2.—Every one who has had any ex¬ 
perience in cultivating the tuberose in our 
more Northern States, knows how difficult it 
is to get the plants into bloom before the ap¬ 
proach of cold weather. The tuberose re¬ 
quires a long season in which to mature, even 
in the most favorable soil and climate, and 
when t he blooming bulbs are planted late in 
spring, os is always necessary in cool climates, 
the flower stems are very tardy in appear¬ 
ing, consequently autumn frosts are likely to 
come before one-half the flowers have opened. 
North of the latitude of the City of New 
York, the only safe plan to insure early flow¬ 
ers is to start the tubers into growth before 
the weather is warm enough for planting 
out. The tubers may either be potted singly 
or a number placed in boxes of sand or soil 
mid then kept in a warm room until all dan¬ 
ger of frost is piasf, then placed in the open 
ground. If it is desirable or necessary, all 
TRAPPING HEN-HAWKS, 
A correspondent of the New England 
Farmer says :—As soon as the hawks begin 
to trouble your chickens, take a wire bird 
cage, such as is commonly used for canary 
birds : put a smart, live young chicken in it 
and set it on the ground, a small distance 
from the buildings, in a sightly place. Now 
take a steel trap, set a small dead chick on 
the trencher, tie a small string over the 
chick’s back, round under the trencher to 
keep it in place ; then take a small stick about 
an inch and a-half long, sharpen one end, stick 
it under the chick’s throat, letting the other 
end rest on the trencher, which will bring the 
head in the natural position when alive. Then 
with thumb and finger open the chick’s eyes, 
and he will look as if alive. Place the trap 
on the ground about three feet from the live 
Chick m t he cage and set it. At the same 
time shut up all your young chickens in some 
building where they won’t be seen. When 
the hawk comes he will hear the live chicken 
calling for its mother, and will go for it ; but 
as he cannot take it, he will quickly see the 
chick on the trap and clutch it in a moment, 
and oh suddenly find himself clutched, and 
you ha vc liim fast. Hav i ng been troubled for 
fifty years with a small hawk, light blue on 
the bock, with slim, yellow legs, called in 
Natural History the sharp shinned hawk, on 
account of the sharp edge on the front side of 
the legs, I applied the means I have now 
shown you, and it cleaned out every chicken 
hawk in the neighborhood. 
SCHATCILES AND GREASE 
G. W. C, wishes some one with experience 
to tell what will effect a permanent c ure of 
scratches. W hen he will tell the readers of 
the Rural New-Yorker what will effect a 
permanent cure of bronchitis, then we will, 
some of us, comply with his request, maybe. 
Scratches can be cured in a few' days ; proper 
care will prevent a recurrence of it; but 
there is nothing that will effect a permanent 
cure. Some author says that “ grease is the 
child of neglecthad he said that scratches 
was the young child and grease the fnli- 
grown son, it might have been more exactly 
in accordance with the facts. The skin of 
the horse's heel is exceedingly soft and plia¬ 
ble ; it is abundantly supplied with glands 
wdiich secrete a greasy matter, to prevent 
excoriation and to keep it. in its natural, sup¬ 
ple condition ; and it is protected, a- f-u- as 
possible, from dirt, injury and cold, b> n tuft, 
of hair which falls over it., and is called the 
fetlock. Any inflammatory action in the 
vicinity of the heel or an accumulation of 
filth there, w'ill stop, or materially vitiate 
the secretion of the fluid ; the parts will be¬ 
come red, hot and dry, and on motion (if not 
before) will crack open, leaving sore seams 
and little scales corresponding to chapped 
hands ; this is, as I understand it, scratches. 
Scratches neglected, will run into grease. 
The worst form of grease is a very trouble¬ 
some and well-nigh incurable affection. If 
SPORTSMEN’S NOTES, 
Dogs Imported. —Mi'. Izaac Van Winkle, 
Greenville, N. J., has recently imported some 
full-blooded English mastiff stock and also a 
Scotch collie or shepherd dog from the South 
of Scotland. 
The Gun for Illinois Sportsmen and for all 
kinds of shoot ing is described by an Illinoisan 
as one weighing about 8 pounds, 30-inch bar¬ 
rels, tnade to take the 12 A metallic shell. He 
says such a gun w'ill suit 19 out of 20 Illin ois 
sportsmen. 
The Illinois Central Fair to be held at 
Jacksonville, ill, will offer a diploma for the 
best breech-loading shot-gun. The judges 
are to be O. D. Fitzsimmons, Dr. C. Henry, 
John N. March, Gates Straws, and H. C. 
Hammond. Competition open to the world. 
