which, being caused by the diurnal motion 
of the earth, is uniform and regular, and each 
current makes the circuit of the earth always 
in the same length of time. 
In reference to the effects these currents 
have upon the temperature of the weather, I 
1. In view of the very 
Ifictforologicitl 
NOTES FOR NATURALISTS, 
ataralist 
erbsmatt 
Trapping iVlugkratB. 
A subscriber at Ames, N. Y., inquires 
the best way to catch the muskrat. I have 
had a little experience catching them. In 
the first place I eet my traps (I use the New- 
house steel trap) near where the rat burrows, 
which is generally near a creek, river or 
pond, on the top of the ground, fastening 
the chain of the trap to a stake driven into 
the ground. For bait use sweet apple, 
parsnip, or even carrot; cut them in 
./ slices and place one of them on the end 
ot a slick,stuck obliquely in the ground 
in such a way that the end of the stick 
will come directly over the trap, and 
about twelve or fifteen inches from 
the ground. The trap may be covered 
/ or not, as desired. The muskrat, in try¬ 
ing to get. the bait, will, in most cases, 
be taken. 
Great numbers of them have also 
been caught by setting a number of 
traps in a circle near enough together 
^ so as not to allow a muskrat to pass 
between them; then by placing some 
of the extract of musk in the center 
of the circle, you have your trap com¬ 
plete. The perfume of the musk will 
call the male muskrat a great ways.— 
Philip. 
INDIAN SUMMER, 
And Periodical Hmoky Terinn, 
ICHNEUMON FLIES. 
The formidable insect that lodged on the 
shoulder of your correspondent, M. W. 
Richards, “ trying to stick his bind end into 
him,” and which made him shudder, and 
which he succeeded in killing “ after several 
COWS IN FLY TIME. 
I read in the Rural New-Yorker the 
recipe for keeping flies off horses. Here¬ 
with I inclose a general one for cattle, &c., 
not in use. I have proved it very valuable, 
and still practice it, and since it was pub¬ 
lished, have heard many speak so well of it 
that 1 send you a copy, that you can pub¬ 
lish if you wish. Isaac Rei.f. 
The recipe Mr. Rf.lf incloses comes iu 
the shape of a communication by him to the 
Titusville Herald. We print it entire, as 
follows“ About the 20th of July, av hen 
the hottest days prevailed, and the flics, in 
the bight of their glory, drove every animal 
Ayith their needle guns, 1 had trouble in get¬ 
ting my cow to stand their pierc ing Aveap- 
ons while I milked, and I became satisfied, 
by smashing a few flies on her and looking 
at my hand streaked with blood they had 
taken from her, that the coav was not to 
blame for moving and switching them off, 
ami instead of whipping and chasing and 
fighting my cow, as 1 beheld my neighbors 
do, I took her into my stable, where it was 
too dark for the Hies to follow, and all was 
quiet and gentle* 
reason as follows 
marked influence the tropical currents of the 
ocean arc known to have upon the climate 
of even fur northern regions, it would natur¬ 
ally be supposed that the influence of the 
serial currents must also he considerable; 
and whatever the effect of the tropical cur¬ 
rent is, whose source is the torrid zone, it 
must be the reverse of that produced by the 
polar current, Avho.se source Is the frigid zone; 
hence, other conditions of the Aveathcr being 
equal, it must l>e Avarmer when the tropical 
current is over us, and colder when the polar 
current is passing us. 2. As those cur¬ 
rents have a constant and uniform lateral 
movement from east to west around the 
globe, and supposing them to be situated at 
about 
qtial distances from each other, 
(which is not an unreasonable supposition,) 
they would t herefore pass any given point at 
regular intervals, and it would therefore fol¬ 
low, that if these currents had any marked 
effects upon the weather, these effects would 
be seen at periodical intervals; which en¬ 
tirely agrees witli the fact of the periodicity 
of these terms, as before stated. 
There are other evidences which point to 
the same conclusion, from all of which I am 
thoroughly convinced that in these grand 
atrial currents of the globe, wc have the true 
cause of the heated or tropical terms in our 
weather—including Indian summer — and 
also of the alternating cold or polar terms. 
Edenvilie, Iowa. 1870. ItOBx. Cole. 
On turning her out to 
pasture, she soon returned with a sAvarm of 
her enemies, and tried to get into the stable; 
so I opened the door, and she started for the 
stall. 1 let her stay in half a day, and turn¬ 
ed her out again for Avater and feed, but she 
could not bear the flies and returned. 
I have since that lime milked at six 
o’clock A. M,, and let my cow stay in the 
stable through the day, until sundown, and 
then turn her out to pasture, which is good, 
and she easily eats sufficient to hist, the next 
day, after milking, and is always at tbe stable 
ready to go in by that time, 
efforts," has come to hand, minus its head, 
parts of its legs and terminal joint or joints 
of its long, thin, jointed 
O l> I on a Leaf-Wimrcd Katydid. 
W. T. O., Brieksburg, N. J., sends us the 
eggs of this Insect, and asks Avhat they are. 
These eggs were illustrated and described In 
the Rural Neav-Yorkbr, April 10,1869. 
They are the eggs of a vegetable feeder, and 
should lie destroyed,Mr. Riley says, where- 
ever found. 
abdomen. On 
comparing its mortal remains w ith such of 
this family of Hymenoptcrous insects as I 
have figured, I find it agrees in the nervines 
of its Avings and general character with lhe 
7 cf-ecmus polyceralm described by Say, voi. 
1, p. 29, 80, and figured on his plate XV. Ji 
evidently belongs to a genus of (hat; exten¬ 
sive family of parasitic wasps known by the 
general term of Ichneumon Flics, of aa liicli 
there are at least 3,000 species recognized as 
found in Europe and America. 
Their size, form and habits vary—some 
being so small that the egg of a butterfly or 
the body of an aphis is sufficient to nourish 
one or two of them to maturity; others so 
large that the body of a full-grown cater¬ 
pillar is not more than enough for one. You 
may frequently fiud caterpillars covered all 
over with little cottony pellets, each con¬ 
taining a small maggot, the larva of a species 
of these parasites. The parent insect, a 
c .Apiarian 
orstman 
1 have offered 
her water several times, but she refused. I. 
don’t feed her anything, but keep the stable 
as dark as I think will keep out the flics. 
She slays there quietly, improves in flesh, 
and increases in the quantity and quality of 
the milk, which is now only kept at common 
natural animal heat, without fighting flies 
and running to get awuy from them. The 
milk and cow was at fever heat all day, 
Avhich, in my opinion, injures the milk, and 
perhaps makes it unhealthy to use. 
For the short time I have tested stabling 
through the day, I am satisfied it Avould pay 
largely for the little trouble in dairies; and 
the pastures yield much more feed on ac¬ 
count of the cattle not tramping and cutting 
the grass off with their feet in traveling and 
fighting flies. A close watch will soon dis¬ 
cover the severity of the flics and disclose 
how much blood a cow or horse has to lose 
in a day by the increase of flesh. In my 
cow, I am satisfied it is more than many ex¬ 
pect, and therefore write this account for the 
benefit of “the ox and its owner.” The 
only extra trouble is to keep your stable 
clean. Try it. Those who have not stables 
suitable for their stock, could easily dig out 
from the hillside deep enough for their cattle 
to stand, and cover it over with cheap 
boards, thus making a nice, cool place, and 
then fatten their cattle fattest in fly time. 
BEE NOTES AND QUERIES. 
Removing Hivea iu tlic Day Time. 
About a month ago, I had occasion to 
remove a hive from the spot where it had 
stood a year, to a distance of twenty feet. 
1 his Avas done at mid-day, when many of 
the bees were away. I noticed tlmt it 
seemed to derange their calculations serious¬ 
ly ; for on their return they flew about the 
old site of their home, alighted on the grass 
and a polo that happened to stand near, and 
few of them found the hive that day. This 
suggested to me the importance of moving 
hives at night.—R. Prlnce. 
Beo Experience. 
Last spring I had eleven iiives of bees 
that came through the winter in good Avork- 
ing condition. They commenced swarming 
the 6 th of June, and I had thirty swarms; 
but not wishing to increase the number of 
my hives so much as to keep them strong, 
I doubled them and put some back till I got 
them all in eighteen hives, so that I have 
twenty-nine. From twenty-seven of these 1 
got eight hundred and three pounds of box 
honey. From one that swarmed the 12th of 
June 1 took seventy-eight pounds of surplus 
honey, and the hive is full. I have sold 
seven hundred and fourteen pounds of honey 
lor $156.— Ira L. Terry, Searsburg, 7, 
t* A A- J L * OfVA ’ * *1 
THE FOOT AND MOUTH DISEASE 
Some months since we gave, in the Rural 
New-Yorker, accounts of this disease in 
England, together with an account of its 
characteristics, and the most approved mode 
of treatment, which farmers Avould do well 
often to consult. A recent issue of The 
Farmer, Edinburgh, says:—“The foot and 
mouth disease has again broken out in Lan¬ 
cashire, and is spreading rapidly in t he Black¬ 
burn division, at Longrldge, near Preston, 
and in the Lancaster division, where much 
of the mischief is attributed to dogs and ped¬ 
dlers, who wander thrmij 
That it was more smoky in the East in 
the early settlement of that then timbered 
country when Lbo lire Avas so extensively 
used iu the clearing operations of tbe pio¬ 
neer—and that it was warmer then when 
every settlement, was surrounded and shel¬ 
tered by the tall dense growth of the original 
forest, we can believe without admitting a 113 * 
influence of decaying vegetation. Whatever 
is tiie cause of these remarkable interludes 
to the season, it is evident it cannot be any¬ 
thing of a merely local or temporary nature, 
from the fact of their periodicity, the long 
duration of each and their occurring all over 
the United States. It would also seem from 
these lac's, and from the very marked simi¬ 
larity of the whole series, that the}* were all 
produced by the same cause; Avhich accords 
with the writer’s theory, that, they are 
caused entirely and exclusively by extensive 
healed or tropical aerial currents at a little 
distance above the earth, such currents, to¬ 
gether with polar currents, being occasioned 
by the great inequality iu temperature and 
density of the air between the equator and 
poles. Their periodical recurrence is de¬ 
pendent upon the diurnal motion of the 
earth. That there is this constant interchange 
of air between the polar and equatorial re¬ 
gions all philosophers are aware. And as 
the water of the ocean operates in like man¬ 
ner and flows in vast currents, there is no 
reason to doubt that llm corresponding 
movements of the air in the great serial 
igh the grazing fields, 
and thus communicate the disease to the cat¬ 
tle. Unscrupulous cattle jobbers, hmvever, 
are most blamed for the sale of animals 
which they know to be in the incipient stage 
of the disease. Strenuous exertions are be¬ 
ing made to put a stop to the outbreak. A 
very serious attack of this disease has oc¬ 
curred in the Easingwold division. Borne 
beasts, bought at York market a few weeks 
ago, introduced the disease into Brandshy, 
whence it lias spread to several other vil¬ 
lages and farms, and is yet increasing its area. 
Several beasts have died. Pigs are attacked 
as lmdly tis the beasts. The district is one 
famous for valuable high-bred Short-Horns, 
which makes the outbreak all the more 
serious," 
Importers of improved stock for the Amer¬ 
ican market, cannot be too careful in the se¬ 
lection of their stock, else this terrible dis¬ 
ease may be introduced into our herds, as 
from recent accounts from abroad, it. appears 
that there are in Great Britain, fifty-three 
counties in Avhich foot and mouth disease is 
prevalent; and altogether there arebetAveen 
three and four hundred centers of infection. 
NOTES FOR HERDSMEN. 
To Prevent Black Let in Cattle. 
Take rue ami garlic, pound them together 
Avilh a lillle butter, and make a small slit in 
the brisket, ami put iu the size of a large 
bean, and let it be in twenty-four hours.— 
C. A. Brown. 
STABLE NOTES. 
A Swellcil NomIi-II. 
Father has a throe-year-old colt, that 1ms 
a swelling as large as a hulled walnut, right 
above the nostril; does not seem to hurt 
him, only he is afraid it is enlarging inside of 
the nostril and Avill affect his breathing. He 
would like to know what to do with it, it 
does not seem sore to the touch.—R etta. 
characteristics. The disease is marked by 
severe inflammation, obstinate sores, a con¬ 
siderable amount of lameness, a serious fall¬ 
ing off in condition, and in many instances 
results in death. Attention having been 
called to the subject, different persons have 
communicated to the Toronto Globe the re¬ 
sult of their observations and examinations 
upon the matter. Their united testimony is, 
that it has been caused by the persistent at¬ 
tacks of the fly now so prevalent, and whose 
attacks have been more than usually severe 
and long continued, resulting in abrasions of 
the skin and sores, on account of the great 
heat of the summer and severe drouth. They 
agree the cases present, no good cause for 
alarm. Mr. Gibson of Bright, Ontario, 
thinks this is evidently the fly mentioned by 
Dr. Livingston as prevaling in Africa, and 
there known as “ 
i he American Grocer says:—“ Honey is 
very much affected by the sources from 
which it Is derived. The taste and odor are 
modified by the flowers that the bees fre¬ 
quent. The honey of some districts lias be¬ 
come famous owing, doubtless, to the flow¬ 
ers of the particular regions. Mount Ida 
was famous lor its honey among the ancients. 
Nurbonne and Chamouni are equally famous 
now. Sometimes particular districts yield a 
poisonous honey. The honey of Trebizond 
produces headache and vomiting, and even 
death, owing its poisonous properties to the 
Azalia Ponticti , from which the bee gathers 
its honey. This difference of odorand taste 
between the honey of the South gathered 
from wild flowers, and that of the North 
gathered from cultivated flowers of different 
character, is very apparent. No less than 
five different kinds of honey are brought to 
the markets of Paris, characterized by the 
district from Avhich they come. The same 
is true ot London. The honeys of Worces¬ 
tershire and Salisbury Plain arc easily dis¬ 
tinguished from samples from Wales or 
Bristol; the former of a rich golden color, 
am! the latter a dirty brown. The soldiers 
of Xenophon av ere made sick by eating the 
honey of particular districts through which 
t.limr noccnil ** 
Warm ou n Colt’s Nose. 
I noticed in Rural New - Yorker, 
Sept. 17, au inquiry from " A Subscriber," 
Horsehcade, N. Y., for a cure for Avarts on a 
colt’s nose. I Avil! give you a remedy, which 
I have tried with success. Take mutton 
talloAV and burn it; then apply it to the 
Avarts, and they Avill soon disappear; at least 
they did on my colt, — F. M. Irish, Oswego 
Burdock and Air for Horttes and Humana. 
Let burdock be cut and cured before 
blossoming, as the blossoms and seeds are 
too prickly to be used Avithont steeping. 
Let a well cured burdock lie placed within 
reach of a sick or stupid animal, and his in¬ 
stinct Avill tell him local it, and he cured. 
The seeds may be dried, steeped, and poured 
on to their food. Slobbering horses are 
cured by eating a few burdock leaves. 
Stupidity iu animals, that are housed, as 
well as in people, is often for Arnnt of suf¬ 
ficient pure air to cleanse the blood of its 
impurities. Sec to it that .sufficient pure air 
is received into the lungs of all breathing 
animals — the human not excepted. This 
cannot he, unless pure fresh air is admitted 
into the room somewhere.—u. 
Tretze." He recommends 
equal parts of black (crude) petroleum and 
tar applied to the parts affected. Another 
writer prescribes a lotion composed of equal 
parts of oil of tar and tincture of benzine, 
applied once a day to the affected parts. A 
Avash of the infusion of smartweed is also 
said to be good for warding off the attacks 
and allaying the irritation of the bites of the 
flies. 
