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MOORE’S RURAL NEW-YORKER. 
©he f l|at[i 
GAPE8 IN CHICKENS. 
Editor Rural New-Yorker:— In your 
issue of July 25, J. D. Stewart, M. I)., 
speaking of gapes in young chickens and 
turkeys, somewhut astounds me. He re¬ 
marks:— “ThiB disease, so destructive to 
young chickens and turkeys, is pneumonia 
(inflammation of the lungs) .... The 
popular idea, therefore, of 1 worms in the 
windpipe, 5 is nothing more than a myth.” 
Now. sir, with all due regard to the learn¬ 
ing and experience of thi9 modern Escula- 
pius I must say, and not of my own experi¬ 
ence and investigations, he is wrong I Nay, 
to speak as strongly as I deem the author of 
the above merits, 1 must add that lie knows 
nothing whatever about the matter. I re¬ 
gard such a statement as the ubove as a di¬ 
rect insult to myself, to my neighbors and 
any others who may huve had occasion to 
remove the worms from the chickens so 
affected. To myself more especially do I 
apply the affront, as, if the gentleman is a 
close reader of the Rural New-Yorker lie 
must have read my manner of removing the 
worms, as therein published some weeks 
ago. After 1 go to the trouble to explain 
the method of their removal by me, he 
comes cut and tells me and all of us that 
we never took u worm from the chickens, as 
per his ipsi dixit there never were any 
worms in a chicken's windpipe to remove! 
Permit me to say to this medical gentle¬ 
man that I have raised hundreds of chickens 
this summer; many of them had the gapes, 
but I cured them in every instance by 
taking the worm or parasites from them. 
Some of my neighbors’ chickens had the 
gapes; few bothered with them, and almost 
all chickens with the gapes died of them. 
In fact, a chicken so affected is almost sure 
to die of the affliction, unless the worms, 
the noth const' of their “gaping,” be care¬ 
fully removed. I have been so successf ul in 
curing the gapes that others have brought 
their chicks to me to operate on. Some of 
these chicks were so far gone that they 
could not stand alone; yet, with a loop of 
horse hair I have removed the worms 
(sometimes live or six in number in one 
chick), and they revived immediately, not 
one of them gaping a dozen times after the 
parasites were taken out. These worms 
were in some cases 1 b, inches in length. I 
have examined them under a microscope of 
1,000-power, and found them to be disagree¬ 
able objects to look upon, but worms never¬ 
theless; sound too, and complete, and all cel 
Can the gentleman have the assurance to 
tell me and the thousands of others who 
have seen these worms that there are no such 
things as worms in chickens’ windpipes? Or, 
if he eat his words (as he doubtless will), 
and admit that these worms do thus and 
there exist, will he tell us they are harmless f 
Can such an occupancy prove beuefleial or 
even painless to the chick? To solve this 
question for hiuiself I would suggest that 
the doctor suspend, or cause to be suspended 
a few single worms iu his windpipe, and see 
if he will not sneeze and gape tool It can¬ 
not be denied thut parasites do exist in 
chickens’ windpipes. 1 have cut open the 
windpipes of chickens that died of the gapes 
and never failed to And worms in greater or 
less numbei-s in every such case, but never 
found a worm in the throat or windpipe of 
any chick meeting death from any other 
ailment. Does this M, D, ignore the fact 
that these worms so placed iu the breathiug 
organs as to almost if not altogether ob¬ 
struct respiration, will produce congestion 
of the lungs? Their being found there at all 
is sufficient proof of great local irritation, 
woieli must finally inflame the whole respir¬ 
atory apparatus, and, I doubt not, appear¬ 
ances analogous to those of pneumonia are 
apparent. 
No, sir ; unless he wishes us to infer in his 
case, as in that of too many others, his 
vaunted M. D. stands for Mere Dunce let 
him stick to pills and poultices. 
Hopewell, N. J. R. H. Clayton. 
EGG SWINDLE. 
My wife (Mrs. M. W. Ralston), has been a 
subscriber several years to your Rural New 
Yorker, which I highly prize. I read in 
your issue of April 25tb the advertisement 
of Isaac Lyndk, proprietor of the “ Buck¬ 
eye Poultry Yards,” located at Marlboro, 
Stark Co., Ohio. By this advertisement I 
was induced to send him an order for two 
dozen eggs. Only five hatched, four of the 
one dozen and one of the other ; none of 
the fowls hatched having the least resem¬ 
blance to those ordered. I have written to 
Isaac Lynde twice, stating the facts, and 
requesting a correction of the blunder, but 
can get no answer. While undecided as to 
my duty in the case, I saw in the Christian 
Advocate of Nashville, July 11th, a notice 
endorsed by three miuistei-s of the Gospel of 
high standing—Rev. A. H. Rkdford, of 
Nashville. Tenn., and two other ministers of 
Mississippi (J. w. McNeil and W. E. Bal¬ 
lard). They had been treated by said 
Lynde in a similar way, and hesitated not 
to publish him as a “ swindler.” I presume 
the said “Poultry Yards” are about wind¬ 
ing up the business, and perhaps the said 
Lynde has left for parts unknown. But lest 
others, induced by the advertisement in your 
paper, may be similarly imposed upon by 
him, 1 hope you will allow this statement of 
facts a place in your Rural. 
Newport, Ky., July 37. T. N. Ralston. 
[Wk received Mr. Lynde’s advertisement 
in good faith, having known him as an ad¬ 
vertiser some time. We have had no suffi¬ 
cient reason for supposing him a “swindler” 
until the receipt of Mr. Ralston’s letter 
printed above.—E d. 
--•♦♦♦- 
Peas for Poultry.—W. C. F. asks the 
Rural New-Yorker if peas are good food 
for poultry. We have never fed them ; we 
know i >f no good reason why they Bhould not 
be if they are either boiled or ground. We 
know that they are fed by English ponlterers. 
©he Horseman. 
INCIPIENT POLL EVIL. 
A Correspondent of tho Western Farmer 
writes:—“I have a 4 year old colt which in 
working was checked up too much, and it 
made his neck very stiff, since which time he 
has not been worked. I have driven him a 
little in a buggy. It is turning into a poll 
evil I think. In the last few days, his head, 
or the top of his head begins to swell.” To 
which Wm. Horne the Veterenarian res¬ 
ponds Make a pad of several thicknesses 
of woolen ; soak this in acetic acid one part, 
water six parts. Place this upon the swell¬ 
ing, and let it so remain, ehauging or rewet¬ 
ting with the solution as it becomes dry. 
Give internally 30 grains of iodide potassa, 
for as much as a week or ten days. Give iu 
a little water, in the food. Feed a few bran 
mashes, end then give the well tried and 
proved Western Farmer physic ball. Keep 
the head of the horse covered in some man¬ 
ner, when out in the sun, as exposure to the 
heat of the sun will aggravate the evil. Let 
this result of high cheeking be a warning to 
you. Remove the cause at once. This tight 
checking is a cruel practice, and whilst it 
does no good, is a source of much evil, and 
ought not, by any one, to be adopted. 
-- 
NOTES FOR HORSEMEN. 
Protecting Horses from Flies .—A French 
pharmaceutical chemist has discovered a way 
to protect horses from the attacks of flies, 
according to a London medical paper. His 
invention consists iu rubbing the horses, es¬ 
pecially on tlie parts most subject to attack, 
with a little concentrated oil of laur. There 
is not the slightest danger in its use. and the 
cost is said to be very small. Another repel- 
lant suggested by the same person, is a solu¬ 
tion of gtYty grammes (one pound and live 
ounces avoirdupois) of asafaetida in two 
glasses of water and one of vinegar. If horses 
be well washed with this, not a fly will settle 
upon them, as the strong odor of the asafoe- 
tida drives the flies away. This drug has no 
deleterious qualities as an external applica¬ 
tion, and may be used unhesitatingly by 
borsemen, —Co. Gentleman. 
How they get a Horse up .—When a horse 
falls down, fourteen men put their hands in 
their pockets and ask each other why they 
don’t do something. Fifteen other men ad¬ 
vise the driver until he is half mad, and two 
small boys stand by, with their hands clasped 
and an expression of determination written 
on every lineament. Then several men ask 
why somebody don’t hold his head, until one 
old gentleman volunteers to hold it. He 
steps forward Calmly, bends over the pros¬ 
trate animal and puts one hand gently on his 
ear. The horse, getting tired, raises his head 
suddenly, the crowd laugh, and the old 
gentleman seems to take no further interest 
in the proceedings. Then the horse, having 
had all the fun he can have, rises like a tidal 
wave, and the crowd disperses —Forest and 
Stream. 
(Jltrriqultuipl 
FLORAL GOSSIP. 
by rose geranium. 
I think the most important item which 
this summer’s experience has impressed 
upon my mind is that hot suns and con¬ 
tinued absence of rain render the ground 
very dry. This is the basis for a great many 
other facts. It accounts for divers bare spots 
and totally empty flower-beds lying around 
in dusty forlornness, the burial-place of pet¬ 
ted favorites which grew for a brief space 
and then gave up the struggle for existence. 
But a meager stock remains, and for courage 
and hardiness the verbenas take first rank. 
Petunias, Phlox, Sanvitalias and Zinnias 
managed, with frequent watering and shad¬ 
ing, to perpetuate their lives, and at this 
late period commence to show flower. The 
rains, which have delayed for weeks, come 
at last to their aid, and if some modest- 
looking weeds will vouchsafe to spring up 
and hide the devastation, they may grow, 
in welcome, and I shall be grateful. Other¬ 
wise, it may be wisdom to plant a crop of 
cucumbers—for the foliage. 
But there is a limited quantity of land 
where, in defiance of the elements, we can 
generally manage to regulate the season. I 
refer to that portion bounded by our flower¬ 
pots. I have had quite a fund of enjoyment 
already from some geraniums grown from 
seed, which are thriving luxuriantly in four- 
inch pots and promise to soon blossom. They 
are planted in a mixture of leaf-mold and 
garden soil, and receive a watering of liquid 
barnyard manure once a week. 
Chrysanthemums, a single stalk in a pot 
and trained to branch by nipping out the 
center when not more than three inches 
high, make at this season very ornamental 
specimens. Later, their wealth of bloom 
well repays the little extra attention. To be 
sure, tlie flowers are not so large, but in this 
instance my rule is quantity, the quality 
being satisfactory. 1 have just been admir¬ 
ing a collection of very distinct varieties, tin- 
colors of whose leaves, varying from shades 
of palest green to the darkest, present a 
very pleasing contrast. Their delicately-cut 
edges and velvety texture render them quite 
equal to many plants cultivated for their 
foliage alone. 
In a neglected spot I find some self-sown 
Cypress vines branching and trailing, car¬ 
peting the bed as luxuriantly as could be de¬ 
sired. They are just ready to come into 
bloom. 1 am expecting the effect will be 
delightful. 
If 1 chronicle here the failure of the, per¬ 
haps, over-petted Auratums, am I not certain 
of sympathy 1 For have not many of the 
Rural readers been sadly convinced that no 
amount of either petting or letting alone will 
save them if they are determined to die ? 
Our last specimen sent up this spring a 
sickly, straw-like spire, which soon toppled 
over. I am sure it must have been a fare¬ 
well. But the Lancifolium and L. Jtubrnm 
quite equal our expectations, and improve 
from year to year. 
Ah, me ! how shall it be expected that I 
shall be anything else but. dull when the at¬ 
mosphere seems ready to ignite with heat 
and at, dinner-time the goldenest butter melts 
into little, yellow puddles before it can be 
eaten f For the present my only plea to 
brilliance shall be my brevity ! I will not 
neglect, though, to tell that yonder cliff, 
with the quiet water winding around its 
base, and the jutting stones' and wreathing 
ferns, the heavy boughs of maples and 
beeches, is to-day a mure lovely and restful 
garden than my hands could fashion in the 
most favored of seasons. Listen ! A score 
of feathered prima donnas flood the fairy 
nook with cool, entrancing melody, and in 
their pause a sweet voice warbles :—“ Come 
here! come here.! come hereP’ 
- -4 » »■ - 
WOMAN IN THE GARDEN. 
It really seems to do nothing but rain, 
rain, rain— no chance for working in the 
yard or garden ; weeds growing everywhere. 
Dear me ! What shall be done ? My method 
usually is to keep the ground well worked, 
giving the weeds no chance whatever : but 
t his season they have considerably the best 
of me, and yet X don’t know that we ought 
to complain, as a drouth would have been 
less acceptable. This time last year out- 
gardens were dried and parched, while at 
the present everything is growing luxuri¬ 
antly. Look at those Gladiolus, how they 
grow end flourish, forming the center of a 
circular bed opposite the kitchen window ; 
next to the Gladiolus is one row of tall 
Asters ; next, a circle of all-colored Phloxes, 
and lastly a row. or circle, of dwarf bouquet 
Asters, bordered with stones of equal size, 
whitewashed, finished with a narrow gravel 
walk. The effect, I assure you, is very 
pleasing indeed. 
Those little cherry trees that were set last 
spring:—it being needful that the grass 
should be kept from round about them, 
around seme 1 planted Phlox, others Petu¬ 
nias, Dwarf Asters, Sweet AlyBSura, or any 
low-growing annual, making such dear little 
flower beds (now all in bloom), where you 
would least expect to find them. At tlie 
base of an old apple tree are to be seen, 
growing finely, pansies this spring from seed 
grown iu the hotrbed ; they are all budded 
now, and as soon os we have cooler weather 
will bloom abundantly. Up the body of the 
tree twines a tender Ivy. Thus mat we 
make seemly objects of even old apple trees. 
As we rapidly pass along we suddenly 
come upon a roughly-constructed basket out 
of bark, two iron hoops and a grape vine to 
support it, a grape vine for the handle, with 
a smaller one turned around it, filled with 
many-colored Verbenas, with a delicate vine 
twining over the handle. Here among the 
vegetables: Look at those strawberries— 
only a small lot to be seen ; and yet we have 
had enough for the table and Borne consider¬ 
able for market, and all the labor of one 
woman, working at it odd times when re¬ 
lieved of household dutieB, just as every 
woman in the land could do who has a small 
piece of ground and a reasonable degree of 
health, and thus furnish their own table at 
least with this most delicious fruit, beaus, 
peas, radishes, beets ; and 1 must not forget 
to mention that cucumber bed, started in 
March (under glass), which for the lost four 
weeks has furnished cucumbers enough for 
a family of six. Who will say she was “out 
of her place” when gaining health and 
strength, the greatest boon of life, working 
in the garden ? Then, too, later, what pleas¬ 
ure there is in seeing on the table vegetables 
of your raising (and strawberries, too !) that 
the men folks had not the time or the in¬ 
clination to attend to ! Brownie. 
STAKING TREES. 
It is common to advise the planter to 
stake and tie his trees in an upright position. 
Just now I have been reading in an English 
journal, as well as several paragraphs in 
American journals, advising the staking of 
trees and how to do it when planting. The 
claim is that this assists in the support of the 
tree against winds, etc., but is really a claim 
only in support of ignorance and want of 
care and careful labor upon the part of tlie 
operator in planting. Thirty years of prac¬ 
tice planting trees from six inches to thirty 
feet high, and at all seasons of the year, 
when the ground was not frozen, has satis¬ 
fied me that a stake is never needed when 
the work of planting and pruning of the 
tree at the time is judiciously and common 
sensely (there’s a word for you !) done. 1 
have planted trees of deciduous uud ever 
green varieties twenty and thirty feet or 
more in bight, in every month from April to 
October ; never staked a tree, and rarely hud 
one die from removal. F. R. Elliott. 
-♦-*-*- 
ARBORICULTURAL NOTES. 
The Purple-Leaf Birch.—Co. Andhie 
writes to L’ Illustration Horticole that 
while at the Horticultural Exhibition at 
Orleans he saw some forty plants of a beau¬ 
tiful variety of the common white birch of 
Europe, the leaves of which were completely 
purple or purple-black, like the purple-leaf 
beech. Noticing tho peculiarity in the color 
of the foliage, he took cions from it anu 
grafted them upon the young stocks ot the 
common birch, so that now he has some sixty 
plants of oue and two years of age. He 
thinks this new leaf-color in the bircli wm 
prove to be a great acquisition, and that it 
succeeds in the poorest soils, at the same 
time preserving all the strength and rural 
beauty of the original type. 
Lilac Dr. Lindtey .—This is by far the best 
addition which has been made of late years 
to our hardy forcing shrubs. Here we have 
a sort that will in a short time supersede the 
French production in the way of white lilac, 
since it sets its beds as small plants and opens 
freely, while the French plants are large 
before fit for forcing. We have some plants 
eighteen inches high, with a dozen clusters 
of bloom, and if forced iu a shady house, it 
comes a good white, When it is more Pj en " 
tifui and the plant gets up to, say three feet 
or so in bight, there will toe no more showy 
plant for a greenhouse .—The Florist. 
