MOORE'S RURAL WEW-YORKER 
JUNE 27 
Omnj gusbandrg. 
SENDING FORWARD DAIRY PRODUCTS 
IN HOT WEATHER. 
We have referred from time to time in 
these columns to the importance of trans¬ 
porting dairy products during hot weather 
in refrigerating cars. This is especially re¬ 
quired when butter is to be carried long dis¬ 
tances to market. A vast deal of butter, in 
good order when it leaver the farmer’s cel¬ 
lar, arrives in market in wretched condition, 
partly from the careless manner of trans¬ 
porting from the farm to the nearest rail¬ 
road depot, being exposed to the sun and 
warmed up, but mostly from its further ex¬ 
posure to heat in the cars during its transit 
to market. When butter is packed in tubs 
in the ordinary way, great precautions 
should be taken by formers to have the 
package under cover in the wagon to pro¬ 
tect from the sun’s rays, and then if freshly 
mown grass or moistened sacking be thrown 
about the packages, whereby a rapid evap¬ 
oration can be effected, the butter will be 
kept cool and will reach the depot in good 
order. If It then be immediately placed in 
refrigerator cars it. will arrive in market in 
as good condition as when it left the farmer’s 
cellar or the creamery. 
Greater puitlS seem to be taken at the 
West than at the East in the transportation 
of butter packages by rail. At the lirst 
meeting for the year of the Watertown, 
Wis., Board of Trade, which occurred June 
3 —as we learn from the Western Farmer— 
W. W. Chandler, agent at Chicago of the 
Star Union line, was present by invitation, 
and being called upon, ho made a few re¬ 
marks concerning the rates offered and the 
facilities possessed by that line for the ship¬ 
ment of butter, cheese, <Sie., in refrigerator 
cars. “ The rate of cheese from Chicago to 
New York,’’ according to the statement in 
the. Farmer,” is eighty cent* per 100 pounds; 
to Philadelphia, 70 cents; from Watertown, 
Wis., to these points, $1 and 00 cents respec¬ 
tively. On butter and eggs the rates from 
Chicago are:—to New York, $1,10; to Phila¬ 
delphia, $1; to Boston, $1.30.” Mr. CHAND¬ 
LER invited the members of the Board to 
examine one of the refrigerator care used by 
the line, which he had sent to Watertown 
for the purpose, which is described by the 
Farmer as follows: 
“The cars are the ordinary freight cars 
with double sides, roof and doors, the space 
between the outer and inner boarding being- 
packed with sawdust. At each end of the 
car is a large zinc lined ice chest, extending 
across the car and about half way from the 
roof to the iloor, and about throe feet in 
width. The ice is introduced from the top, 
and while provision is made for the free pas¬ 
sage of cold air from these chests, there 
seems no danger of leakage, the water being 
let off by pipes at each corner of the car. it 
is stated that the expense of fitting up those 
cars is about $150 each, and that about $13 
worth of ice is used each trip. The claim is 
made that a uniform temperature of about 
fifty degrees is maintained, and that the 
supply of ice is sufficient for eight days.” 
It. will be seen from the above, mat the ex¬ 
pense of converting a freight into an ice car 
is but trifling compared with the advantages 
secured by the arrangement; and a* very 
heavy losses often result from shipping but¬ 
ter and cheese during hot weather on ac¬ 
count of cars not suitable for conveying per¬ 
ishable products fit. such seasons, it behooves 
shippers and dairymen to require of the 
loads the running of refrigerator cars from 
all the leading dairy depots. Take for in¬ 
stance such shipping ports as Utica and Lit¬ 
tle Falls, where more than fifty millions 
pounds of cheese are annually sent forward, 
besides large quantities of butter, and what 
a In rge. saving from loss would result from 
the introduction of refrigerator cure during 
hot weather. A large quantity of cheese in 
summer gets badly heated up by the time it 
reaches New York, and in consequence art 
rives abroad more or less “off flavor,” and 
this defeat is the fruitful source of weak 
markets and low prices. If we can provide 
against this loss in part by so simple means 
as the refrigerator cars, then there should 
be no delay in their introduction on the 
roads of New York. With the refrigerator- 
car the West Inis better facilities for ship¬ 
ping butter and cheese to New York than 
Little Falls or Utica under the present ar¬ 
rangement; for the cheese skipped from the 
West gets to New York City in as perfect 
condition as when it left the Western fac¬ 
tories. On the other hand, the New York 
make of cheese goes to the city in the com¬ 
mon freight car, is heated up and loses 
flavor, and thus we are in a fast way of fall¬ 
ing behind our Western friends in quality as 
well as prices on our “hot weather goods.” 
We believe in the- improvement of our 
dairy products by all possible means, but if 
we uro to put upon the market, nutty, new 
milk flavored goods, we must adopt some 
means of sending them forward in hot 
weather iu good order. Otherwise what is 
gained by skill and attention in manufacture 
is liable to be lost by improper methods of 
transportation. 
The hot weather season is now at, hand, 
and we call the attention of shippers and 
dealers to this matter, in the hope that 
some action may be taken to secure a better 
transit of our dairy goods to the seaboard 
than that which has been in operation here¬ 
tofore. 
afield ^t[op. 
RAISING CARROTS. 
A correspondent of the New England 
Farmer tells how he raises carrots ns follow : 
My land has a deep soil, and l broke the 
sod in the fall and planted corn one year, 
with a moderate supply of manure in the 
hill. After harvesting the corn, 1 plowed it 
as deep as 1 could, with a No. 1’^ Nourse it 
Co.’s side-hill plow, with one pair of horses. 
The next spring, spread a thin coat of stable 
manure, which was plowed in lightly with a 
small plow add one horse ; harrowed with a 
common A harrow, and then went over 
with a light bush, llad the land iu readiness 
about four days before sowing the seed. I 
sow the seed in rows about thirty inches 
apart, just as tlic apple trees begin to blos¬ 
som. As soon as the carrots are up large 
enough to see, hoe with a common hand hoe 
to the distance of about four inches each side 
of the plant*), thinning out to from six to 
eight inches apart. This is all the hoeing or 
weeding that I usually do by hand. 
I have an old-fashioned cultivator, the 
teeth of which are so badly worn out that I 
had discarded them. I had two of the teeth 
cut off on one side of them so they would 
throw the dirt only one way and that from 
the row, with one good, whole tooth in the 
center, at the forward end of the cultivator ; 
with this one whole tooth and t he two half 
teeth I have the best horse hoe I ever saw 
for garden use. 1 run this cultivator between 
the rows about once iu two weeks until the 
carrots are large enough t o shade the ground 
between the rows. This I find to be much 
easier and cheaper than sowing nearer and 
doing the hoeing all by hand. 
The way 1 dig them, I tuke my side hill 
plow, with two horses, anil plow the land as 
I did the fall before, letting the laudside of 
the plow run as near to the row of carrots as 
i wan and not hit them ; I also lot the plow 
run as deep as it will. In this way a boy can 
puli the carrots out of the ground very easily, 
without the use of fork or spade, and it 
avoids breaking or cutting the roots. I al¬ 
ways want sone one to drive the team, as it 
needs one’s whole attention, with a steady 
hand, to guide the plow and do the work 
well, and when it is done the ground is ready 
for the next spijug’s plowing. 1 use the 
same piece of land for several years, and 
find the last year’s crop as good as the first. 
I don’t think carrots will run out a piece of 
land hs some other crops do. I always get a 
good erop, but I am very careful not to get 
them too thick in the row ; six inches is near 
enough. Can any one tell me a better way ? 
POTATO BEETLE IN IOWA. 
The potato beet les are very abundant here 
this season, stripping t he potat o vines of their 
leaves. The beetles deposit their eggs, not 
only upon the potato, but also upon corn 
stalks, gross and weeds. In looking over my 
vines, I discovered a lady-bird eating the 
eggs of the Colorado potato beetle and I 
enclose you a sample of both in order that 
you may see how the thing is done. Will 
you please inform me to what class or family 
the lady-bird beetle belongs.—P. W, H., 
Jl'rxf lira uch, I own. 
The Colorado potato beetle lias many mu¬ 
tual enemies among the insect tribes, but 
they are not as yet sufficiently abundant, or 
powerful to entirely overcome this great 
pest. But oiu- little insect friends are doing 
a good work in this direction and will event¬ 
ually clean out the Colorados. The little 
lady-bird beetle which you found eating 
these eggs, is a well-known enemy of the 
potato beetle, and its name is Hippodamia 
convergent, Guci, and belongs to the Coc- 
cinellidce, or lady-bird family, most of the 
members of which feed upon other kinds of 
insects, therefore should be treated as 
friends. 
<£h? Horseman. 
MANGE IN HORSES. 
Wilkes’ Spirit of the Times pronounced 
the following to be a safe and most effective 
remedy : Whale (sperm) oil, (5 ounces ; oil 
of tar, 3 ounces ; lac sulphur, 3 ounces ; mix 
thoroughly, and apply by mears of a bail- 
brush. The skin should be thoroughly 
washed before the remedy is applied. At 
the end of the second or third day the ani¬ 
mal iH again to he washed and the remedy 
reapplied, as it is very possible that all the 
ova (of the mange insect) are not killed by 
the first dressing. 
Mange being a contagious disease, it is es¬ 
sential that all animals suffering from it 
should be isolated, and all objects with 
which they may have come in contact puri¬ 
fied. 
The clothing is to lie boiled with a solution 
of soap and carbolic acid, and the harness, 
saddle and grooming utensils washed with 
warm water and soup, and dressed with a 
solution of arsenic or corrosive sublimate, 
in the proportion of 10 grains to the ounce 
of water. After being so washed and 
dressed they are to be kept for several days 
exposed to dry air, washed again with soup 
and water before they are used, and before 
they are again pat on the horse they should 
be sprinkled on the side next to the horse’s 
skin with sulphur. These may seem useless 
precautions, but in many cases the harness 
and clothing arc lined with thick scabs, con¬ 
taining the ova of the parasites, the vitality 
of which is so great as to almost defy all 
efforts to destroy it. 
-- 
NOTES FOR HORSEMEN. 
Horses Poisoned by Foul Water. — The 
North Brinish Agriculturist says :—Another 
illustraiiou of the dangers of drinking foul 
water recently occurred at the Btoke-under- 
Ham iu .Somersetshire. Several sheep hav¬ 
ing died, were opened and skinned in the 
field where the work-horses were pastured. 
One of these was subsequently attacked wit h 
violent and somewhat unusual symptoms, 
shortly died, and was most carelessly ex 
umined und skinned close to the pond where 
the animals of the farm were watered. 
Blood, intestinal contents, and garbage were 
swept into the pool, which in addition ap¬ 
pears to have received, as is still sadly too 
common, the soakage from theyards and the 
drainage from the farm-house. But it is the 
lost straw that breaks the camel’s back ; 
the putrifying, poisonous organic matter 
swallowed with the foul water, speedily pro¬ 
duced blood-poisoning, fever, congestion, and 
deatli of the six surviving horses.” 
SOUTHDOWN SHEEP IN FRANCE. 
A Paris correspondent of the Massachu¬ 
setts Ploughman says :—The friends of the 
Southdown sheep arc in jubilation. It. is 
now 30 years sinco feoutlldowns were lirst 
imported from Englaud into this country, 
and here, as elsewhere, they occupy even 
the first letter in the first hue as possessing 
all the qualities for precocious and excellent 
meat. The admirers of the Merinos up¬ 
braided the South downs, not with producing 
a lesser quantity of wool, so much as that 
their wool was coarse. In the exhibition of 
Merino sheep especially, recently held in the 
department of the Seine-et-Marne, the sec¬ 
ond prize for fineness of wool was carried off 
by throe Southdown rams, in the midst of 
the beat Merinos from la Brie. M. Lam- 
brecht of Vienna draws attention to u mal¬ 
ady, “tremblings” (prurigo lombaire), pe¬ 
culiar to sheep folds, where races may be 
undergoing amelioration, or where the ani¬ 
mals are fed on richer food. The food ap¬ 
peal's to be the principal cause of the disease, 
such as a forage abundant, but poor, or bit¬ 
ter, and derived from marshy lands, or from 
light, sandy soils, with Insufficient pastur¬ 
age. The absence of mineral matters in the 
food, perhaps principally phosphorus, is the 
chief cause of the malady, as mixing bone 
dust and powdered chalk—observing ordi¬ 
nary hygienic care — with the food, cures. 
-- 
SHEPHERDS’ NOTES. 
Angora Gouts at the Cape of Good Hope, 
where extensive attempts have been made 
to render the business of breeding and rear¬ 
ing for the fleece profitable, has, from the 
latest accounts, proven unprofitable. The 
testimony of men engaged in the business for 
many years is not encouraging to Ameri¬ 
cans who think of indulging in this enter¬ 
prise. 
Dog-Killing Sheep and Goals are t he latest 
novelty in the pastoral wu.y. John Jones of 
Magnolia, Ark., is as rich as Job was before 
his difficulties. He has five hundred Cash- 
mere goats, nine hundred Merinos, three 
hundred Cotswolds, and two hundred South- 
downs, all doing well. Mr Jones writes to 
the St. Louis Republican that his sheep “in¬ 
stinctively hate dogs,” nor do bis goats love 
them any better. “ My flock,” says the 
patriarch, “have bitten, hooked and other¬ 
wise killed more than a thousand head of 
dogs, and now a sheep-killing dog will not 
come within a mile of them and their long, 
sharp horns. 
Ohio Sheep Registry. — It is announced 
that the Ohio Wool Growers’ Association 
have taken the initiative in establishing a 
public record of sheep, and that it is under¬ 
stood that Mr. Klipi*akt, Secretary of the 
State Board of Agriculture, will have charge 
of the compilation of pedigrees. 
Jjmmt (ftconomg. 
ECONOMICAL NOTES. 
Salt on Land. — A correspondent of the 
Western Rural, says :—“ About five o’clock, 
one fine summer’s morning, I noticed that, 
where salt had been sown the previous day, 
every grain of salt had attached to itself the 
dew, and formed on the surface a wet spot 
about the size of asixpence, tliegrouud being 
generally very dry. On our light lands it 
consolidates them and makes them especially 
firm and acceptable to the wheat plant, 
whose straw will stand firm and erect, 
although four and a half feet long. It is also 
unfavorable to certain weeds by this consid¬ 
eration. It prevents tlio ravage of the wire 
worm. It is especially favorable to saline 
plants, such as mangolds, whose ashes con¬ 
tain fifty per cent, of salt. I never sow 
guano, except mixed with its own weight of 
salt. Like everything else it lias, I am sorry 
to say, greatly risen in price. 1 observe that 
all crops seem to thrive well on land near 
Balt water, especially where the land is 
drained.” 
Cause of Potato Rot.— The Chemical News 
ascribes the potato rot to a deficiency of lime 
and magnesia in the soil. Different observers 
st ate the percentage of magnesia in the ash 
of sound tubers at from five to ten per cent; 
in the diseased tubers an analysis shows only 
8.94 per cent. Analysis of sound tubers shows 
over five per cent, of lime ; but in the ash of 
diseased tubers only 1.77 per cent., was found. 
A similar observation was made, some years 
ago by Professor Thorp, with regard to dis¬ 
eased und healt hy orange trees; in the former 
there was a deficiency of lime und magnesia. 
Sugar per Sugar Tree.—Mr. J. M. Stevens, 
East Hardwick, Vt., says he put out 1,616 
buckets to 1,614 trees, and has made of dry 
sugar—dry enough for cakes—5,200 pounds. 
S'h e (Smitten. 
GARDENERS’ NOTES. 
The Brittany Parsnip .—A French corre¬ 
spondent of the Massachusetts Ploughman 
says:—“ The Brittany parsnip is becoming a 
favorite, and its culture is extending. In 
that part of France the parsnip is so esteemed 
as almost to exclude other roots. It is sub¬ 
stituted for oats when horses do not work, 
at the rate of sixteen pounds a day; it fat¬ 
tens cattle and increases the richness of the 
milk. Pigs prefer it to all other food, and 
they receive nine pounds of the cooked root 
four times per day. Resisting the winter 
season well, the parsnip is allowed r,o remain 
in the soil as long as possible, only removing 
a supply for four days at a time.” 
Manures for Cabbage .— Thomas Meehan 
is reported as saying:—On the subject of 
cabbage plants, we may note that to have 
large, solid heads, such as anil make a genu¬ 
ine old-fashioned sour-krout maker dance, it 
is essential to have a soil very rich in what 
are called by the learned ones nitrogenous 
manures. As a rule, one might say that all 
those tliiugs which smell very badly are full 
of this element, and will thus be just the 
thing for cabbage growing. Strong stable 
manure is capital for cabbage. Old soap 
suds, or auy fatty material, are also excel¬ 
lent cabbage manures. 
