f 
FOOT-ROT IN CATTLE, 
The Climax did not prove as good as the 
Early Rose. The quality may be as good; 
but they were small, and did not yield near 
as well. 
Breese’s Prolific is rightly named ; 
they are prolific. I received the seed too 
late to plant in my best soil, and planted it 
on poor clay ground; worked them but 
twice, and had a yield of near one hundred 
per cent. I would have worked them 
oftener, but the ground was not dry enough 
to work. For a late potato they are the 
most desirable of all to raise. 
None of the varieties rotted worth men¬ 
tioning, except the Peach Blow. I think 
the Goodrich is the best on w r et ground. 
Part of mine grew on very wet soil, and I 
saw no difference in quality or quantity. 
on finding here twice as great a yield as 
there was in any equal space in the lot. 
Prattsburgh, S. Y. W. B. P. 
We would never turn sod more than four 
inches deep for potatoes; but we know that 
it pays to follow the surface plow with a sub- 
soiler, lifting the soil twelve inches deeper. 
It will pay every time on any kind of soil, no 
matter whether the sod Ls turned in full or 
spring.—Er>s. Ritual. 
Many garden culturists suppose that to 
raise good, sound tubers, and a large, remu¬ 
nerative crop, the necessary requisite is stable 
manure; or, if this particular kind of ma¬ 
nure is not at hand, or not thought desirable, 
barn-yard manure is appiiod instead, almost 
always bringing a large crop of potatoes, al 
though by far the most thus raised arc very 
much eaten by the grubs, and present a rath¬ 
er unsalable appearance, besides necessita¬ 
ting the removal of a thick rind when pre¬ 
paring them for the table. Thus, potatoes 
grown with any heating manures are not so 
desirable, for the above mentioned reasons; 
and although, many continue to plant so, 
others have discovered that the application 
of some other fertilizer, if not of so violent 
or heating a nature, is preferable, obviating 
all the above objections, and producing a 
nice, smooth tuber of splendid appearance, 
and at the same time a very salable product, 
thus conducing to the health, as well as the 
wealth, of the producer and the consumer, 
We have tried several kinds of manures, 
with varied success. Among others, we 
plowed the furrows for the potatoes, put a 
thick layer—say three or four inches thick— 
of rushes from the river shore, which were 
brought up by the tides; and when this was 
done, we put the cut potatoes immediately 
on the top of the rushes, plowed the ground 
onto them, and waited patiently for the re¬ 
sults; hutlhe result was no potatoes. Why? 
Because the potatoes had become almost 
worthless before we planted them. A wet 
spell coming on, and thinking that it would 
last for only a day or two, at the most, we 
let them stand out in the field, in a tight 
barrel, and they rotted, although, when 
planted, they seemed to he sound. 
We have tried the experiment with rushes 
several times since, with the best of results, 
especially last year, when we planted all of 
our late potatoes—the Peach Blow variety 
mostly—with the river rushes above ; ‘ra¬ 
tioned; and, notwithstanding thevry un¬ 
favorable, dry weather, we suco- '^1 in 
harvesting a large crop of splendid ntoc 
both in regard to appearance ami oiuer - 
sit-able qualities. I suppose that the moi. 
turo contained in the rushes kept the pota 
toes moist, at the same time giving them 
much valuable manure, but not of a beating 
nature; and to the use of violent manure 
and the very dry weather may be attribute 
the ruin of last year’s potato crop through¬ 
out the country. 
Muck alone, after having undergone a 
freezing process, will raise much nicer pota¬ 
toes than stable manure, as we have tried 
both, with the described results. 
Many planters never specially manure for 
potatoes, but give the proceeding crop a 
heavy dose, and then merely plant without 
the direct application of any fertilizer, and 
when they are planted, the manure has been 
so diffused as to increase the yield and 
growth without, any of its injurious effects; 
but where, this plau is noL convenient to re¬ 
sort to, you can adopt the other methods as 
described, which are really excellent, as we 
have tried them all, with good results. 
Chesapeake City, Md. D. Z. Evans, Jr. 
t lurirsmatt 
A correspondent furnishes the Mirror 
and Farmer, Manchester, N. H., the follow¬ 
ing remedy for this disease:—Put them in a 
place where you can handle their feet, and 
then take half a pint of common tar and as 
much soft soap, put. them into any vessel, and 
heat them together until they get thoroughly 
mixed; then let. it cool down some, but not 
too much; put it on the parts affected quite 
hot, and in seven cases out of ten it will 
effect a cure, but if it does not, repeat the 
soap and tar, which will be sufficient to cure 
any case that I ever saw, in a few days. 
This is not guess-work, but knowledge. 
FATTENING STOCK. 
EXPERIENCE WITH POTATOES. 
Fifteen years ago I got a barrel of Ber¬ 
muda potatoes of Hon. A. B. Dickinson. 
He said they were simply the Western Reds 
taken to the Bermuda Isles and planted, 
and their product brought back with the 
new name, and greatly improved qualities. 
He. further claimed that they were good to 
hake or boil, good when first dug, and good 
the succeeding August., and witlml excellent 
to yield and withstand the rot. In his em¬ 
phatic way he added :— 1 “ I have cultivated 
one hundred and twenty-five different varie¬ 
ties of potatoes, and they are the best pota¬ 
to that grows.” 
We planted them, found them to answer 
well the high recommend of Major D., and 
they became the standard potato of the re¬ 
gion, doing well several years, but finally 
deteriorating to such an extent as to give 
way to other varieties. We think a mistake 
was made in not getting fresh seed every 
few years of the same kind, for with the 
single exception of the Peach Blow, no va¬ 
riety introduced within a few years past has 
done as well, or, all things considered, given 
as general satisfaction. The nigh price of 
seed—often fourteen dollars per barrel—and 
the trouble of ordering from the ci ty, coupled 
with the fact that it has to be kept over to 
the following year to make a crop, have 
operated to deter farmers from renewing 
their stock. 
Among the new varieties is the Harison, 
and it can he said for it that it withstands 
disease well and is wonderful to yield—four 
hundred bushels to the acre being easily ob¬ 
tained. As an eating potato, it is passable 
when baked, but an outrage when boiled, be 
mg soggy and streaked with dark shades, 
giving to a dish, when mashed, such a dirty 
look as rather to repel than to tempt the ap¬ 
petite. They grow in a compact mass near 
the surface and are consequently easily dug, 
but give many sunburnt and ill -shapen tu¬ 
bers. It may be a valuable sort for feeding 
purposes, but otherwise must prove unsatis¬ 
factory in this region. 
An older variety — the Garnet Chili—is 
largely cultivated and well esteemed, but is 
manifestly failing. They axe becoming sub¬ 
ject to disease, and like the Harison give too 
large a proportion of overgrown, sunburnt, 
and ill-shapeu specimens. Intrinsically, in 
our judgment, they always were inferior to 
both the Peach Blow and the Western Red, 
or Bermuda. 
Of the early sorts, the Early Rose is just 
now making the most noise. Sundry part ies 
hereabouts planted so many tubers or so 
many ounces, or so many eyes of seed, and 
got a product of bushels, peeks or pounds 
corresponding with ad nauseam reports at 
sundry times printed in the Ritual New- 
Yorker from various correspondents. It is 
hoped they will prove better than the Early 
Goodrich, about which almost ns much noise 
was made by interested parties a lew years 
ago. It is time that humbug was knocked 
in the bead. We have grown them two 
years, which proved to he just two years too 
many. Compared with a variety we had 
cultivated a dozen yeai-s, called the Early 
Shaw, we found that when planted side by 
side, the same day, and treated in all respects 
alike, tbo Goodrich was a week longer get¬ 
ting out of the ground, ten to twelve days 
later becoming fit for the table, and pro¬ 
ducing many more ungainly specimens, only 
exceeding the Early Shaw in the single par¬ 
ticular of better withstanding rot. The 
Goodrich yields well with us, is fine-grained 
and white, and when ripe, cooks dry and 
mealy, but sadly lacks flavor. “It don’t, 
tnste tatery,” and seems about as nutritious 
as a mixture of sand and saw-dust, or an 
average northwest wind. We want no more 
of them. 
Perhaps it is not appropoa to this subject, 
but permit us to state a fact in our potato 
experience which bears upon tbo question 
of deep or shallow plowing, so frequently 
mooted among the Manhattan savans. We 
were never successful in get ting a good yield 
of potatoes from >od deeply turned. Two 
years ago we had a couple of rows planted 
around a piece of corn. In a cavity on one 
side of the lot, for a distance of two to three 
rods, the ground was go stony and hard that 
ttie plow ran on the surface, scarcely scratch¬ 
ing the Tod. While dropping the seed, we 
at, first thought it hardly worrii while to try 
for a crop there, hut on second thought, con¬ 
cluded to do so, as we should thereby com¬ 
pel the cultivation of the ground. So the 
seed was duly placed and earth brought from 
a few feet, off to cover it. Tiie cultivator 
scraped .along sods, stones, Ac., which were 
spread on the grass and piled around the hill, 
checking, to some extent, the green growth. 
A shovel-plow, at the lust hoeing of the corn, 
dug up more stones and sods, which were 
used as before, so that, finally the patch had 
the appearance of being partially cultivated. 
Judge of our surprise at the lime of digging, 
We feed our animals to get them fat as 
soon as we can, with as little trouble and as 
little expense as possible. There arc various 
ways in which this is done. First, breed is 
of considerable importance, and cannot well 
be overlooked. The Short-Horns are se¬ 
lected for this, and are decidedly preferable. 
There are others good ; some because they 
lay on fat more readily, and others because 
they digest their food better. All these 
things are to be considered. 
As to the feed, there are various opinions. 
In England, they feed differently from what 
we do here. It is because they understand 
it belter—understand cattle better. They 
use roots more than we do, turnips in par¬ 
ticular. This we may add to our feed, and 
should, as it has an influence on the sanitary 
condition of stock. But in England the 
turnip is raised, largely as it is, not alto¬ 
gether for the immediate benefit of feeding, 
whether for fattening or otherwise, but as a 
crop favorable to the soil, affording manure 
and benefiting the land by tillage; also, aid¬ 
ing in rotation. 
With us the treatment is different, and 
quite various, take the whole community 
through. The result is, we have not that 
uniformity and general good condition of 
beeves that we find in Great Britain. Still 
we have exceptional euscs. We have also 
the English feed in some instances. The 
English feed is good, but is sometimes car¬ 
ried too high. High feeding improves the ma¬ 
nure—what the English want.; not that they 
aim specially at this, as that would be simply 
changing grain into manure so that it may 
be changed hack again into grain. It will 
do for the straw and waste matter to be thus 
treated, but not the grain itself. 
Turnips are fed at the rate of one hundred 
to ope hundred and fifty pounds a day in 
England to fatten cattle. As nine-tenths of 
tins food is water, the impropriety of feed¬ 
ing such diluted food will at once be seen. 
But a reform is taking place in this respect, 
it, seems. Experiments have been made the 
past inter that reprobate tins practice. 
From inrty to seventy pounds, it is found, is 
much more beneficial. More straw or hay 
ally chopped straw—and water 
in .1 rr , which was not the case hi 
the firmer Treatment. 
Here m improvement, and the Ameri¬ 
can sin approaches this—only we feed 
col this is the main stay. And so far as 
ve can see, we have the advantage here. 
We certainly have in the "West, where this 
grain is cheap. If we do not fatten our ani¬ 
mals ns well as is done in England, neither 
does It cost us as much. But whether it 
costs more or less, or however much it may 
be, certain it is that a great improvement 
may be made with ua in fattening cattle. 
We are apt to over-feed when we put up 
to fatten; we feed too much of the strong, 
concentrated, rich food, oorn. This wants 
to be diluted ; and this can be done so as to 
meet various advantages. Tbe health of tbe 
animal, vigor of digestion and assimilation, 
may be improved, and thus fit the machine 
for a more efficacious use. Roots, straw, (or 
hay,) oil-cake mixed with straw or hay, (cut,) 
—these will have the desired effect. The 
turnip no doubt, lias its good use; so have 
other roots, Good, tender, well cured liay 
may be made a substitute for most of these, 
or all. This, with corn meal, will probably 
do as well as almost any course that has 
been practiced. A little oil-cake and a few 
turnips for variety, or the oil-cake as a regu¬ 
lar (small) feed, may be of benefit. But we 
do not know but that, all things considered, 
the grass, and the corn alone, will do well. 
There is certainly not much difference. 
But let us never lose sight of this; that 
the comfort of the animal must be consid¬ 
ered. Good, convenient, warm (in winter,) 
and well ventilated quarters are necessary. 
And let us not forget another very import¬ 
ant thing,—one of the most important,— 
that is, not to over feed. 
It is the one great fault in our fattening 
stock. The digestive and assimilative func¬ 
tions become disordered, tbe appetite suf¬ 
fers, and a corresponding lack of the con¬ 
version of food into fat must inevitably fol¬ 
low. Do we not see this often ? The dis¬ 
criminating see it and take advantage of it. 
Besides, as before stated, much of the value 
of the food in its nutriment passes off into 
the manure. The stomach could not digest 
it, and so threw it off as a foreign substance. 
Here is a loss two-fold—that which goes into 
the manure and the time lost in fattening. 
Judgment, care, an interest in the well¬ 
being of the animal, are important elements 
in the fattening of stock. Avoid then, over¬ 
feeding ; look to the health of the animal; 
and then by a liberal, regular course of feed¬ 
ing, having reference to appetite , ease, and 
the general regimen of the animal, there will 
be no lack of success. f. a 
Information AhUoiI For.—One of our neighbors 
lost a yearling and a calf about two weeks ago, 
(both wore large and nfce .,1 with n disease tlmt is 
not understood much here. The first one found 
seemed lame in one hind leg. with a slight swel¬ 
ling in the gambrel joint, which .soon spread so 
that the whole leg nod liip was bloated till it was 
hard as a stone. The animal seemed to suffer 
greatly. (ihrnk it did not live twelve hours af¬ 
ter it was first known that it was sick. On cut¬ 
ting into the hip after death, the flesh was notat 
all natural, but (us the one expressed tt who cut 
it) more like lights; porous, cut very easy, and 
gave forth men a foetid smell that it was loft un¬ 
skinned. The other died about, the same, gome 
call it the Black Leg, and recommend quick and 
copious bleeding; but it. Is a new disease here, 
and II any of the many contributors of the Ru- 
ual will give us any inlommlion concerning it 
we shall be very glad.—H. H. VALENTINE, Wy¬ 
oming Co., Pa. 
pmrran 
NOTES AND QUERIES 
Transferring to Foul Brood Combs. 
H. J. Conger, in Rural of March 5th, 
asks:—“Can new comb, not containing 
liouey, but which Las a few dead larvae, 
(from foul brood,) be transferred, and a 
swarm, not diseased, be introduced and fed 
with honey, without contract ing the disease ? 
Tf not, would removing the larvae make it 
safe ? ” 
It is not safe to make use of any comb 
taken from hives containing any foul brood 
whatever, for any purpose, except melting 
up for beeswax. I consider it unsafe even 
when there is no honey or larva; transferred 
to the new hive. Too much care cannot be 
used in dealing with Ibnl brood, and, with 
our present light on the subject, we are not 
warranted in tolerating the least hint or 
odor of it in any hive. 
1 would add that after straining out the 
wax, in making beeswax, the refuse should 
be carefully buried beyond tbe reach of 
the bees. 
Painting Hives a Dark Color. 
I would remark, in reference to the sug¬ 
gestions ol F. B. fAYiK, in the same paper, 
concerning the “ req lisites of a good hive,” 
that l object to lu . e« being .painted a dark 
color, on account of the tendency of dark 
colors to increase t.i$ heat of the hive during 
the summer. 
How to malt- TL'.ih Conte toil* 
D. J Uekdv, Armstrong Co., Fa., pants 
to know“Tho beat method of inducing 
very large to utay and work in a 
non-swarming, vety large-sized box hive, 
without frame*.” 
ir M r. I jeedt menus simp I’, 1 hew to 'Lake 
anew swarm *toy and commence work in 
au empty hive, such as he describes, let him 
before hiving the swarm, find the queen and 
clip her wing, and then use the contrivance 
described in tbe Rural of March 19 This 
ia proper only when an old queen -leads the 
swarm. My impression is, however, that he 
means to ask how a colony can be mado to 
st ay in such a hive without swarming—lite¬ 
rally, how can a box hive be made a non 
bwarmer? I answer that it is impracticable 
with any hive in which there is not free 
access to the interior, and complete control 
of all the queen cells. Any form of mov¬ 
able combs, however imperfect, is preferable 
to a box hive, and no one can succeed in re¬ 
straining swarming without some hive that 
embodies that principle. For further ideas 
on this point see article on hives in the 
Rural, March 19. 
My doubts concerning Mr. R.’s exact 
meaning, arose from the use of the word 
swarm” in such a manner that it was un¬ 
certain whether lie meant a swarm just is¬ 
sued. or used the term as many do, to indi¬ 
cate any colony, without reference to age or 
condition. The word is used indiscriminate¬ 
ly by many bee keepers, but I am of the 
opinion that clearness and perspicuity would 
be promoted if the term “ swarm ” was con¬ 
fined solely to tbe imp swarm just issuing, 
or issued from the parent hive, and until per¬ 
manently located, when it may he called a 
colony. The difference in age could he as 
easily expressed as now, when “swarm” 
means anything from a body of bees issuing 
from a hive to an old settler of ten or twelve 
years.—M. Quincy, St. Johtmilh , AT. Y. 
Maple Molasses for Bees. 
R. Johnson writes the Rural that maple 
molasses is very good food for bees. “ It 
should be only moderately thick, and with it 
should be stirred coarse corn meal siftings. 
Place it in the bottom of the hive and ns the 
bees consume the molasses their buzzing 
blows tbe dry meal out and still that which 
has molasses on it keeps its place until all is 
eaten. This coarse meal prevents the bees 
sticking in the composition.” 
0rstman 
NOTES FOR HORSEMEN, 
When Should Marcs Breed. 
Joseph Wood writes the Rural: —“A 
mare should not be used for breeding until 
five years old. Old age does not make any 
difference, if the animal is sound, and of a 
good constitution. By all means use your 
best mares. I have a colt foaled June 2d, 
1808, that was awarded three first premiums 
last fall, successively, by the Winfield Union, 
Brookfield, and Sangerfield and Marshall 
Agricultural Societies. The dam is twenty- 
two years old, and now, al. the age of twenty- 
four, is with foal.” 
For Colic, Supposed Dots, &c„ &c. 
Slightly scarify the inside of the upper 
lip cf the horse, next the gums, and rub the 
place well with fine salt. It is said to afford 
relief in a short time. 
For n Homo Choked with Fodder. 
POUR a quantity of water into the ear of 
the animal, which will cause him to shake 
his head violently, and the obstruction will 
be speedily dislodged; if necessary, repeat 
tbe operation, but tbe first dose will general- 
ly suffice.—W., Caldwell Co., Texas. 
Corn Cob lu tbe Mouth. 
S. Partridge of New Jersey writes us be 
thinks that “ Seneca Subscriber” will fiud a 
corn cob in the roof of the colt’s mouth. He 
has known horses to act precisely as de¬ 
scribed, from such cause. 
Distemper In Horses. 
An old farmer recommends tbe following 
in the place of smoking ith. tar and feath¬ 
ers :—Boil a small quantity of shelled oats, 
and put in a close sack. While hot and 
steaming, slip the mouth of the sack over 
the horse’s head so that he will be compelled 
to inhale it. This is consistent with the 
prescription by physicians of warm inhala¬ 
tions in tonsillitis—a kindred or correspond¬ 
ing disease in the human being. — N, B. ; 
North Carolina , 1870. 
How to Make a Mitre Own Her Colt. 
A., Manchester, Iowa, writes the Rural ; 
“ Tell L. N. G. (see Rural, March 12th. 
page 171) to tie the mare op beside the barn 
where she cannot harm herself; put a cord 
around the neck of a good-sized dog; let 
the cord he fifteen or twenty feet long. Let 
the dog be set on the colt, holding the 
former by the cord so that lie cannot bite 
the colt. The colt will run to the mare for 
protection, and she will own and protect it 
immediately. It is the best mode I ever saw 
adopted to make a mare own her colt, a cow 
her calf, or a sheep her lamb.” 
Bruise or Gravel 
Is quickly cured by cutting away the hoof 
a little where the gravel went in. Then 
take a crooked awl and get out the dirt as 
much as possible ; work gunpowder into tbe 
cavity with the back of the awl and touch 
it with a hot iron ; by putting the powder 
in two or three times in this way it will 
clean all the gravel and dirt out. Then 
melt one part tallow and three parts resin 
and pour into the cavity, and the horse is 
fit for business.— a. 
FIELD NOTES, 
Peanut Culture. 
C. II. Latham, Craven Co., Pa,, writes 
the Country Gentleman:—“ Tbe usual mode 
of cultivation here is as follows : Wc check 
our land off twenty-four to thirty inches; 
plant two kernels in each check and culti¬ 
vate both ways. We find lime in modera¬ 
tion to be the best fertilizer. It should bo 
evenly spread and harrowed in before check¬ 
ing off. Apply a shovelful of barn-yard ma¬ 
nure to each hill and cover lightly the depth 
usual to corn. We cultivate them flat, not 
hills or ridges. Keep them free from weeds 
and work them until the viues commence to 
spread, and the peas to form in the ground; 
at this time the crops should he clean—then 
leave them to mature. They will 60 on cover 
the ground. Plant last of April to 10th of 
May. Seed cau be bad at, two dollars and 
fitly cents per bushel, at Newborn or Wil- 
mingten, N. C. Large planters put tbe 
whole pea (shell and all) in tbe check; but 
when five or ten acres are planted, we shell 
them, and put two to four kernels in the 
hill. It takes longer for them to come up 
when planted whole.” 
Notes oh Potatoes. 
J. T. S., Wooster, 0., writes:—The Good¬ 
rich with us is hard to excel, both as to quan¬ 
tity and quality. The yield was nearly, if 
not quite equal to the Harison, and they 
were excellent for use the last of February. 
The Early Rose proved productive; but 
we cannot say that it is much earlier than 
the Goodrich. 
Inquiries for Horst-men.—JOSEPH WOOD asks 
iX a two-years-old stallion can bo used safely for 
breeding purposes without injuring his future 
usefulness; also if tbe Black Hawk blood Is 
identical with the Morgan; If not, where did it 
originate?— Wm. Miner asks If we can tell him 
where he can get a pure bred Clydesdale colt. 
We cannot,—P. H. Clow asks some experienced 
horseman to furnish a reliable remedy for string 
halt.—H. S. Reynolds has a choice colt nineteen 
months old which he thinks has a ringbone com¬ 
ing on eueh hind foot; he asks for a sure cure 
or kill for the ringbone.A Subscriber” wants 
Preserve the Combs. —E. Gallup writes about 
preserving old combs:—“Keep the combs in a 
dry room; and by all means preserve them. All 
drone Or store comb can be inserted in honey 
boxes. After the dead bees arc dry, either put 
a swarm into the hive containing the combs, or 
insert a frame at a time into a strong stock hive, 
and the bees will clean out the dead ones aud 
not injure the comb.” 
