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MOOBE’S BUBAL NEW-YORKER. 
3U'NE as 
Jiniw of it Utoralist. 
DAILY RURAL LIFE. 
From the Diary of a Gentleman near New 
York City. 
KEROSENE AND KEROSENE. 
June 1).—Two or three years since, I read 
an account in one of the Western papers of a 
wonderful discovery made by a Mr, Gregg 
of Iowa, namely, that kerosene would drive 
away the plum cureulio. Mr. Gregg, it ap¬ 
pears, hung up rags that had been dipped in 
kerosene, in his plum trees, and that season 
had plenty of plums; the theory founded 
upon these two facts was, that kerosene 
would drive away ouroulios. Tf a little kero¬ 
sene was good, then a larger quantity would 
be still better, appears t o have been the gen¬ 
tleman’s ideas of the subject; consequently 
next, year, the stems of the trees were wrap¬ 
ped in mgs. and these saturated with the oil ; 
the results, as I learn, are perfectly startling ' 
No curcidios, no plums, no trees, the kerosene 
having done up the three all at once. One of 
my neighbors, a few years since, gave the 
nests of the tent worms in his apple trees a 
dose of kerosene with equally as unfavorable 
results. Such experiments, with their disas¬ 
trous results, are amusing, to say the least,, 
because the experimenter usually starts off 
with the idea that he is going to astonish 
somebody with his grand discovery. 
I once knew a man who read in an agricul¬ 
tural paper that salt was an excellent fort ili- 
zev f or _ Well he laid down the sheet with¬ 
out finishing the sentence, and started for Ins 
cellar, whore there was a barrel of old pork 
brine that should have been thrown out 
weeks previous. He then proceeded to give 
his cucumber vines a thorough soaking with 
brine ; result, dead vines in sixty minutes ; 
and Mr — never again subscribed for, or read 
an agricultural paper. 11c declared to me 
that in his opinion nobody but a set of city 
blockheads ever wrote for agricultural 
papers. 
How many times have the fumes of sulphur 
been recommended for destroying certain 
kinds of insects, particularly for the Red Spi¬ 
der (Aoarus talaris) which infests greenhouse 
plants, but Stupid persons often take it that 
fumes, means burning sulphur, which of 
course will kill a plant as quick as it would 
be. if struck by ligktuing. YVheu I read or 
hear of a gardener destroying a I i no collect ion 
of plants through burning sulphur in the 
house, which by th© way is a frequent occur¬ 
rence with those who read little or carelessly, 
I am reminded of the kerosene and salt ex¬ 
periments, or of another neighbor who being 
very much annoyed with wasps in the ganvt 
of iiis house uudortt >ok to smoke them out 
with sulphur. He placed a half pound upon 
a board and set it on Are, then retreated be¬ 
low, closing the door after him. 1 ho wasps 
were destroyed, and our unusually quiet 
neighborhood experienced the novelty of 
being aroused by the cry of Arc. 
A SPECIAL TO MY CORRESPONDENTS. 
June R).—To D. AV. C. Helena, Montana 
Ter. 1 will say the beetles you Rent me alive 
in a tin box came to hand in about, the same 
condition as the two bravo Kilkenny cats 
were last seen, having eaten each other up, 
the fur on the tips of their tails was still 
fighting when the historian of the event left, 
the battle field. Two Calosomas, which be¬ 
long to a noted family .of cannibal beetles, 
were left alone in the box, and the feet, legs, 
heads and mutilated bodies of their victims 
were unmistakable signs of the terrible battle 
that had been raging all the way from Mon¬ 
tana to New York. I wish my correspond¬ 
ents would remember that it is not a good 
way to send beetles safely, to pack them 
alive and a number of thorn together in one 
box, even if they should all happen to be one 
speeies ; for their moral instincts are not 
above those of man, consequently there is 
danger of a light. I have frequently received 
specimens of the Colorado potato beetle alive 
and in frail paper boxes, which might have 
been broken allowing the occupants to escape 
into fields heretofore free from this great 
pest. I presume this potato beetle has been 
assisted in its distribution over the country 
by such means, and it is time for people t,o 
be a little careful in such matters, I am not 
particularly in want of live insects of any 
kind, therefore please kill them with whisky, 
alcohol or chloroform before’ forwarding 
them to me. The larva* (grubs or culerpiUa/rs) 
may be sent alive if the species is not known, 
because one must feed such things until they 
pass into their pupa state in order to secure 
the imago" or perfect insect. 
The insects sent me by Rev. R. H. C., Juni¬ 
ata, Neb., arrived in excellent order, being 
par ked in a tin box filled with sawdust. I 
was much pleased to find among them sev¬ 
eral specimens of THcania sanguinepennis , 
Leo. , not so much on account of its rarity, for 
it is found in my own neighborhood, although 
exceedingly scarce, but to obtain it from 
Nebraska adds a fact" iu regard to its geo¬ 
graphical distribution. It is a small beetle, 
scarcely u ball inch long, head and body 
black, wing cases (elytra) red, hence its spe¬ 
cific name. It belongs t<, the IjyUinl or can 
thn. ie family, better known probably under 
the name of Mister beetles. Of course there 
were other acceptable specimens but the one 
named was the most interesting to me and 
for the reason stated. 
The case of specimens received from 8. O. 
M.. New London, Minnesota, arrived in good 
order and are very acceptable. Mr. M evi¬ 
dently knows how to send specimens safely 
by mail, t he ease being made out of a block 
of light wood an inch and a-lialf square, and 
four or five inches long. A hole an inch in 
diameter is then bored lengthways of the 
block, and nearly the whole length. This 
wooden tube is filled with beetles and Raw- 
dust, the hole sealed up or plugged, and the 
package wrapped in paper. There is no dan¬ 
ger of specimens becoming broken when 
packed in this manner. 
PACKING IN COTTON AND WOOL. 
As I have commenced scolding, perhaps it 
would be as well to growl to the end of this 
chapter. When 1 was a boy and like all other 
boys very fond of play, my mother used to 
try my putlence by making me hold a skein 
of yarn while she wound it into a ball, and 
Bn,i, was waiting and whistling outside ; 
which 1 knew meant, “let’s go in swimming 
or fi shin g.” Years after this, and when 1 
was a young man (which by the way was a 
long time ago) I used to visit a young lady 
now known os Mas. Rtjrauht, who tried to 
find out how much patience I had by inviting 
me to unravel a snarled skein of silk ; but 
under th© circumstance the trial was not a 
severe one, although it would be now, But 
.•til these vexatious trials are but pleasant 
pastimes in comparison wit h a box of beet les 
packed in cotton or wool. The feet of beetles 
jure usually terminated with small hooks, and 
(.he way these will cling t o any small, fibrous 
materia) is enough to make any modem Job 
crazy. The feet, legs ami antenna- become so 
entangled in the mass that to extricate 
them without breaking, to say nothing of the 
loss of time, is next to an impossibility: If 
my correspondents do not want to hear of 
mV demise m a fit of perplexity, they must 
cease to send me specimens in cotton or wool. 
Use grass, cut straw, sawdust, paper, in fact 
almost anytliing but cotton or similar fibrous 
materials. 
DROUTH AND THE STRAWBERRIES. 
June 12.—We are now having one of the 
most severe drouths that 1 have ever known 
at this time of t he year. Those who believe 
in the old bed system of growing straw)fer¬ 
ries, will have a good chance to test, it in dry 
weather ; iu fact they are already proclaim¬ 
ing a short, crop. My strawberries were 
never bd er, and although it does cost a little 
more to carefully cultivate the plants in single 
rows and apply mulch between them, still it 
is the only system 1 ever tried which would 
insure a full crop of good, eleau fruit in time 
of drouths. Of eoui-sc rich, deep soil is al¬ 
ways a necessary adjunct, to success ; but the 
mulching is the finishing stroke in the battle. 
It, is seldom that we have too much rain at 
the time strawberries are ripening : and if 
such should be the case, the mulch will do no 
greater harm than to increase the size and 
make the berries a little more acid than 
usual, which will scarcely injure their mar 
ket value, as most persons purchase fruit that 
looks well even if the quality is not first rate. 
CARE Of PLANTS IN ORY WEATHER. 
June 14.— 1 begin to hear my neighbors say 
there is no use in cultivating the ground 
among plants because there arc no weeds 
growing and they do not believe in stirring 
soil In tun© Of drouth, Now 1 believe this is 
a great mistake, at least my practice lias al¬ 
ways been to stir the soil move frequently, if 
ossible, iu dry weat her than in wet. It may 
e that 1 am wrong in this but I have always 
thought there was a marked beneficial result 
produced by frequently starring and pulver¬ 
izing the soil even in time of drouth. Turn¬ 
ing down the dry, hot surface soil, and bring¬ 
ing up the cool from below, appears to cause 
a condensation of moisture from the atmos¬ 
phere, from whence it Can be drawn no 
matter how severe the drouth. Laying theo¬ 
ry aside, we can soon get at the facts in the 
case, by trying both systems side by side. 1 
am keeping t he hoes, plow and cultivator 
going among mv corn, potatoes, and other 
farm and vegetable crops, without, paying 
any attention to the growth of weeds. In 
thu flower garden I do the same thing, and 
where the soil is deep and rich, there appeal's 
to i»e no cessation of growth although the 
drouth through which weave passing Ls quite 
severe. Those who prefer a shallow-plowed 
soil, are welcome to it ; for my part I do not 
want one less titan twelve incites and I would 
have it stirred two feet if I could without in¬ 
curring too much expense. A piece of sponge 
two feet square will hold moisture longer 
when exposed to the sun than one two incites, 
and the same truth holds good ill regard to 
soil. I own to being just enough in the old 
fogy line to believe m deep culture every 
time. 
ai{i 
CHEAP POULTRY-YARD. 
Set posts firmly in the ground, six feet 
high, eight feet apart. Take No. i) wire, and 
stretch from post to post outside, fastening 
with staples made of wire driven into posts. 
Place three wires one inch apart, one foot 
from the ground ; another three at three feet 
ten inches from the ground ; another three 
at top of posts. Take common laths and 
weave in, leaving three inches space between 
sides of each. This makes the fence four feet 
high. Then take other laths, picket one end, 
and chamfer the other like a chisel blade, and 
interweave among the top wires ; then shove 
the chamfered edge down beside the top of 
the bottom lath, lapping under wires two 
inches. This makes a cheap, durable, pretty 
fence, that is seven l’eet and ten inches high, 
and fowl-tight. Wires should be left some¬ 
what slack, as interweaving the laths will 
take it up.—./. IP. Lang in the Poultry 
World. 
-- 
CHARCOAL FOR FOWLS. 
pentine up each nostril as possible, by using 
a stiff feather or small brush. Give light 
diet, or grass only for a day or two, and a 
cure is effected. 
A Colt That will not Fatten .—Having a 
fine colt, about four years old, and finding it 
impossible to get him fat, l am going to ask 
you if you can tell mo how I can do it. I feed 
just as much as he can eat and change his 
food often. He eats hearty and seems in 
good health, yet lie is so poor that I am 
ashamed to ride him.—W ii.l. L. C. 
We advise that you feed less—say one- 
third to one-half less food and feed regularly 
three to four times per day. You are proba¬ 
bly feeding too much. The horse don’t di¬ 
gest his food. 
Weight of Norman Horses .—Isaiah Dillon 
writes to the Western Rural that t he average 
weight of eight Norman horses, owned in 
McLean Co., TIL, is 1785 pounds, thirteen 
yearling colts averaged 1210 pounds, and one 
tw o-year-old Ally weighed 1540 pounds. 
MILK FEVER IN COWS. 
The benefit which fowls derive from eating 
charcoal is, I believe, acknowledged. The 
method of putting it before them is, how¬ 
ever, not well understood. Pounded char¬ 
coal is not in the shape in which fowls usually 
find their food, and consequently is not very 
enticing to them. 
I have found that corn burnt on the cob, 
and the refuse—which consists almost entire¬ 
ly of the grains reduced to charcoal, and still 
retaining their perfect shape -placed before 
them, is greedily eaten by them, with a 
marked improvement iu their health, as is 
shown by the brighter color of their combs, 
and their sooner producing a greater average 
of eggs to the flock than before.—*S. Ruins 
Mason in the Poultry World. 
--— 
POULTRY NOTES. 
Crossing Dorkings and Brahmas .—A poul¬ 
try-keeper says Persons desirous of ob¬ 
taining large fowls, equally good as layers of 
large eggs, and also combining good table 
qualities with early maturity and being per¬ 
fectly hardy, should cross the Dorking hens 
with a small Brahma cock. The cross be¬ 
tween the Dorkings and dark Brahmas is also 
good for the table, being also easily raised, 
but their eggs arc small.” 
Crop-Bound Fouls. —One person must hold 
the fowl quite still, while another cuts the 
crop open, and entirely empties it of its con¬ 
tents, then sew it carefully up again. When 
this is done, place the patient iu a coop by 
herself for a few days, and feed her on soft 
food, Under this treatment, ninety out of 
every hundred will recover. 
©he Horseman. 
TESTING A MARE’S ENDURANCE. 
THE Western Parmer of May Si, says:— w It 
is reported that on a wager of $200 a mare at 
St. Paul has been driven 200 miles in 44 hours 
and 20 minutes—the wager being that she 
could not go 200 miles in 48 hours. This was 
undoubtedly a cruel test, but it should be 
boruc in mind that if in really good condit ion 
and carefully driven, she may not have been 
as much injured us many men injure their 
horses by what they call simply “a hard 
day’s drive.” Tile trial was made on the 
Driving Park at St. Paul, commencing at 
4-20 in the morning. The first 50 miles was 
made inside of six hours. The mare was then 
rested until 1 o’clock. Starting again she 
completed the second 50 miles by 7-3U. She 
then rested until 5 o’clock the next morning, 
and trotted 31 miles by 10 o’clock. She then 
rested two hours, and again started, traveling 
until 7 o’clock in the evening. A last rest of 
two hours was made, after which she com¬ 
pleted the required distance at a few min¬ 
utes past 1 o’clock, trotting the last mile in 0 
minutes and 31 seconds. 
-- 
NOTES FOR HORSEMEN. 
Blind Staggers in Horses, a writer in the 
Southern Cultivator says he has seen cured 
by the following remedy :—As soon as it is 
known that the animal has staggers, which 
can readily be told by its dull, sleepy appear¬ 
ance, disposition to move round in a circle, 
and running against objects that come in its 
path, bleed copiously from the neck, and 
immediately pour into each ear about a gill 
of spirits turpentine. Also, got as much tur¬ 
In answer to C. B. S., we give the follow¬ 
ing from Prof. Law of Cornell University 
in relation to its character, prevention and 
curative treatment. He says : 
This disease is essentially connected with 
plethora, or excessive formation and richness 
of blood. Its victims are mainly the cows 
that lay on flesh rapidly, or those that give 
an abundance of rich milk. A strong, vigor¬ 
ous digestion and great powers of assimila¬ 
tion, therefore, propert ies which render their 
possession so valuable for feeding or daily 
purposes, are precisely those which predis¬ 
pose them to this destructive complaint. 
Let a cow of this stamp calve early in June, 
on our pastures of rich and juicy clover, 
exposed to the great heats of an American 
summer, and with little loss of blood in the 
process, and she is but too likely to prove a 
doomed animal. The supply of blood to the 
womb necessary for the support of the em 
bryo calf is suddenly arrested and thrown 
back on the system at largo ; it has not yet 
become diverted to the udder, so as to 
establish a vicarious secretion of milk ; the 
richness and plasticity of the blood supplied 
to the nervous centers are incompatible 
with the due exercise of their functions, and 
the nervous system, already exhausted by 
the strain made upon it during parturition, 
and sympathetically depressed by the loaded 
condition of the digestive and circulatory 
systems, is suddenly prostrated, and too 
often beyond recovery. The suppression of 
the secretions alike of the bowels, kidneys, 
skin, and udder, rapidly aggravates the al¬ 
ready unhealthy state Of the blood, and deuth 
often results from apoplexy, or serous effu¬ 
sion on the brain. 
Prevention. —Then, the main causes of the 
disease cau he, to u great extent, obviated. 
It is not desirable to seek to change the ten 
dency of the animal to the production of 
beef or milk. But without prejudice to these 
properties, we can check the production of 
blood at the time of calving and even reduce 
the already existing state of plethora. We 
can keep calving cows in a yard for a week 
or fortnight before the expiring of gestation ; 
we can rest rict then' diet to a-lialf or a-fourtli 
Of what they would consume if left in the 
pastures ; wc can see that the bowels arc 
kept acting freely, either by reason of the 
nature of the food or by giving two or three 
ounces of sulphate of soda daily in the food ; 
we can induce a considerable depletion from 
the circulatory system by giving a dose of 
physic (1 pound to 2 pounds Epsom Salts 
according to size of the animal), to act at the 
time of parturition or immediately after- 
wurd ; we can rub the udder and draw the 
teats so as to insure an early anil free secre¬ 
tion of milk; and we can keep on a very 
restrictive and hixative diet for the first 
week after calving. With sufficient care the 
disease may be almost entirely prevented. 
Curative Treatment.— This is so uncertain 
in its results that it is folly to neglect any 
measure of prevention. Strong purgatives, 
stimulants, ice-bags to the head, nibbing 
the udder, drawing the teats, copious warm 
water injections, and damp sheets laid over 
the body aud covered by dry ones, or tepid 
sponging over the surface, may all be em¬ 
ployed, and in slight cases will prove success¬ 
ful [n the earliest stages, while the animal 
is still able to stand and the pulse full and 
strong, bleeding from the jugular may ward 
off the severity of the attack ; later it will 
only increase It. In cases attended by little 
fever, half-dram doses of nux vomica morn¬ 
ing and evening are often of great value. 
