AUS, 22 
DAIRY NOTES ON VIRGINIA. V. 
Mr. Smith drove us over the country to 
Leesburg and Rail’s Bluff. The road over 
the Catoctin Mountain is much traveled and 
was excellent. Leesburg is the county seat 
of Loudoun and a Rtation on the Washington 
and Ohio II. R. It lies at the eastern base of 
the Catoctin. l}4 miles from the Potomac 
River at Ralls’ Bluff, and 37>£ miles from 
Alexandria, Georgetown and Washington. 
It is an old town, having been established in 
1758, and many of the buildings and streets 
have a faint resemblance to some of the in¬ 
land villages of England. It has a population 
of about 1,800. There are six churches of 
various denominations, including two color¬ 
ed ; the other public buildings are the Rail¬ 
road Depot, Bank, Academy, Jail, Circuit 
and County Clerk’s offices, two free schools 
-one for white and one for colored children 
—two female academies, hotels, stores and 
restaurants. The Loudoun Co, Agricultural 
Society has its fairground and buildings near 
the village. The grounds are large, well 
fenced, and the buildings are ample. We 
were told that the annual fairs and cattle 
shows here were numerously attended and 
well supported, Mr. Paxton', a Pennsylva¬ 
nian, has a large farm on the outskirts of 
Leesburg, on which lie has erected a palatial 
residence at a cost of $100,000 and upward. 
The grounds are laid out with considerable 
taste, though the culture of the farm, it 
seemed to us, was quite ordinary. 
TNE BIG SPRING. 
The big spring near Leesburg is a natural 
curiosity. The water issues from the rocks 
in an immense volume, sufficient to drive a 
large mill. Indeed, previous to the war a 
flouring mill turning out from SO to 100 bar¬ 
rels a day was run by the stream issuing 
from this spring, and was said to employ 
only a part of the power. The mill was 
burned during the war. The rock here is 
limestone, and it is supposed there is an ex¬ 
tensive cavern through which the stream 
makes its way for a long distance under¬ 
ground, before bursting out at the base of 
the hill. 
BALL’S BLUFF. 
From the Big Spring we made our waj' 
across the fields to Ball’s Bluff and the Polo- 
mac. The fortifications on the plains above 
the Bluff where the Confederates were en¬ 
camped appear to have been nothing more 
than rude earthworks hastily thrown up,and 
arc fast being obliterated by the plow, the 
whole camp and grouuds about being em¬ 
ployed for grain crops. The Bluff is precipi¬ 
tous ami the slope heavily wooded. At the 
foot of the hill there is a narrow strip of 
level land bordering the river. Looking over 
the situation where oar forces landed on 
crossing the Potomac and the high st.eep bluff 
covered with timber facing them, and the 
difficulty of climbing to the summit even 
when unencumbered with arms, we can ap¬ 
preciate the immense advantage which the 
Confederates had and how bloody and hope¬ 
less the conflict of our soldiers under Col. 
Baker. Near the spot where Col. Baker 
fell there was a stump which tourists and 
“sight-seers” have literally carried away in 
pieces. At the top of the Bluff and near the 
brow, there is a cemetery where arc buried 
“the unknown dead”—the men who fell in 
that bloody engagement and whose bodies 
were not claimed or could not be identified 
afterward by friends. They lie in a circle, 
and the ground is inclosed by a heavy wall 
of red sandstone. 
The day of our visit was bright and sunny, 
the air was fragrant with the odm*of flow¬ 
ers—notably that of wild rose and honey¬ 
suckle ; the birds were chirping their songs 
in the groves all about this secluded sepul- 
chreofthe “ Unknown dead ”—a scene which 
impressed us as strikingly in contrast with 
the fierce and bloody struggle of the day 
which gave the place a name in history. VY'e 
looked in vain over the field for some token 
of the battle ; but except the circle of graves 
and their painted headboards, there was no 
vestige left to tell of the conflict. 
PLEASANT VALLEY. 
. The, farm bearing the above name is in 
Mount Gilead township, and is owned by the 
brothers J. M. and J. C. Hoge. It consists 
of 145 acres—5 in wheat, 40 in corn, 5 in rye, 
100 in pasture, 110 in meadow and 25 acres 
in orcharding, peach, apple and pear. No 
crop is allowed to grow on the ground de¬ 
voted to orcharding. The soil is worked 
from time to time to keep down weeds. The 
meadows yield, on an average, about 1)4 
tons to the acre, and a considerable portion 
MOOSE’S BUBAL 
NEW-¥©B 
of the hay is sent to market, netting the pro¬ 
prietors ITom $18 t<> $20 per t on. It brings 
$27 per toil; but the. cost of marketing and 
freight to Washington is about $7 per ton. 
The meadows here are mostly in timothy. 
The Hooks farm differently from most of 
their neighbors, believing that there is more 
money to be made In gras-; and fruit than in 
gr on crops. They have of late been getting 
their lands into grass as fast as possible and 
are. breeding some fine stock. At the time 
of our visit there were 110 sheep and as many 
lambs (of the South-Down breed) in their 
pastures, 8 cows (Short-Horn and Ayrshire) 
and 12 head of young cattle. They make the 
breeding of horses somewhat of a specially, 
having 1G head of the Percheron breed from 
imported stock. Last year they milked 18 
cows, sending the milk to Washington by 
rail, and the cows netted, on an average, $85 
per head. The milk brings from 80c. to 25c. 
per gallon during summer and in winter 80c., 
the cost of freighting being 5c. and t he selling 
5c. or 10c. per gallon covering all expense. 
There is a nice spring house on the farm and 
butter was being made at the time of our 
visit, which sold at from 85c. to 45c. per 
pontiff The lambs raised for market bring 
$4.50 to $5 per head. 
On this farm we saw one of the best pas¬ 
tures of blue grass noticed during our tour 
through the county. It had been many years 
down and the grass was thick set, covering 
the entire surface of the ground and In vigor¬ 
ous growth. The farm is well watered, and 
the crops show that an intelligent system of 
culture is adopted, The buildings are ample 
and commodious;, anti their surroundings 
show good taste. 
CONCLUSION. 
We were favorably impressed with the 
Piedmont region and especially the Loudoun 
Valley, and we were exceedingly well pleased 
with the people whom we met, The farm¬ 
ers, for the most part, are intelligent and 
hospitable, Courteous in their bearing, many 
of them have elegant homes and surround¬ 
ings where all the social pleasures of country 
life are well understood and appreciated. 
Taking into consideration the mildness of the 
climate, the healthfulness of the country, the 
natural fertility of the soil, the abundance of 
pure spring water, the mountain scenery and 
the proximity tjo the national capital and to 
good markets -all these make it, a desirable 
location ; and as land can be had at compar¬ 
atively low rates, this part of Virginia offers 
rare inducements, it seemed tons, for North¬ 
ern farmers who are seeking a good location 
for establishing and prosecuting dairy hus¬ 
bandry. 
Our visit was one of great pleasure, and 
we desire to express our obligations to Mr. .J. 
IC, Taylor, Cot. B. W. Franklin, Mr. Leh¬ 
man of the Virginia Press, and others for 
courteous attention. 
------ 
RESTORING RANCID BUTTER. 
Eds. Rural New-Yorker Your answer 
to Biiltoert, Baltimore, Md., in Rural New- 
Yorker of May 28, in regard to restoring 
rancid butter to its original sweet condition, 
has just been noticed. I claim to have and 
am now manufacturing a preparation for 
purifying rancid butter. 1 would not be 
willing to furnish the recipe, but will send 
(free) to any of your readers who deal largely 
in butter samples of the purifier, that they 
may test the merits of it. Inclosed find label 
which we put on the boxes and which will 
show you the whole process. 
J. F. COWQILL, for COWCIILL & Co. 
Kalamazoo, Mich. 
- ♦♦♦ -- 
NOTES FOR DAIRYMEN. 
To Avoid Greasy Butter .—Chum with 
pressure instead of friction. The dash 
churn brings butter by pressure, and makes 
better butter than most other kinds of 
churns. Butter should also bo worked by 
pressure instead Of friction. The ladle or 
worker should not be drawn across the 
butter, but pressed down upon it. 
Salt to a Pound of Jiuttrr .—At a recent 
meeting of the Fulton Farmers’ Club, Pa., 
the question was asked, “How much salt 
should be put in a pound of butter '{” One 
answered, half an ounce ; another gave the 
recipe of Shari-less, the noted dairyman of 
Chester County, which is one ounce of -alt 
to three pounds of butter. 
Cheese from Goal's Milk .—Although in 
1872 the total number of goats in France (ex¬ 
cluding Corsica) was 1, ODD, 848, and although 
goat cheese is highly regarded, It is asserted 
that at the show at Paris last February, out 
of nearly 700 entries of cheese there was but 
one entry of cheese made from goat’s milk. 
Horseman. 
TO MAKE A HORSE TAKE ON FLESH. 
There are sundry condition powders and 
tonics which are often fed to horses, and pro¬ 
duce an increase of flesh ; but they must be 
kept up or the horse will run down, and in 
the end they all do injury. Regular feeding 
faithful grooming, change of diet, salt al¬ 
ways accessible, exercise oven if it be hard 
work with sufficient rest, pure water, puro 
air in the stable, and comfort with quiet, will 
cause almost any horse properly fed to lay on 
flesh if not to become fat. A writer in an 
exchange paper .says truly : 
“ Many good horses devour large quantities 
of grain and hay, and still continue thin and 
poor. The food eaten is not properly assimi¬ 
lated. If the usual feed has been unground 
grain and lmy, nothing but a change will ef¬ 
fect a desirable alternation in the appearance 
of theanimal. In case oil meal cannot be ob¬ 
tained readily, mingle a bushel of flaxseed 
with a bushel of barley, one of oat?, and an¬ 
other bushel of Indian corn, and let it be 
ground into fine meal. This will be a fail- 
proportion for all his feed. Or, the meal of 
barley, oats and corn, in equal quantities, 
may be first procured and one-fourth part of 
the oil cake mingled with it, when the meal 
is sprinkled on cut feed. Feed two or three 
quarts of the mixture three times daily, 
mingled with a peck of cut hay and straw. 
If the horse will eat that amount greedily, 
let the quantity be gradually increased until 
he will eat four or six quarts at every feed¬ 
ing three times a day. Bo long as the animal 
will cat (his allowance, the quantity may be 
increased a little every day. But avoid the 
practice of allowing a horse to stand at a rack 
well filled with hay. In order to fatten a 
horse that has run down in flesh, the groom 
should be very particular to feed the animal 
no more than he will eat up clean and lick 
the manger for more.” 
ON BREEDING HORSES. 
An old breeder of Tennessee, (.loo. T. All 
man, in the Rural Sun, gives his ideas of 
improving stock. Ho says ;—I bog and urge 
each and all to patronize only pure bred 
males, and never a mongrel. While ray 
taate would incline me to patronize the 
thoroughbred stallion (the best for all pur¬ 
poses that horses arc used for), yet the pres¬ 
ent indications are that the trotter is the com¬ 
ing horse for the masses to handle. “ Blood 
will tell ” in everything, from a chicken to a 
man. if you propose to breed trotters, or 
mules, you want a dash of blood to give the 
produce the staying qualities desirable on 
the farm or on the turf. 
' I prefer early foals, especially if thorough¬ 
bred. A few weeks’ difference tells on the 
race course or iu the fair ring. They go 
through the first winter much better than 
late ones. 
Fillies, who have never produced, should 
bo bred so as to drop their foals middle of 
April or first of May. The trouble with all 
young dams is to give milk enough for their 
offspring, hence the necessity of having the 
produce drop when there is plenty of luxuri¬ 
ant grasses. I hold that our true policy is to 
breed only the best—have them well cared 
for. The days of pay or pleasure in handling 
inferior stock are numbered among the things 
that were. So of half-fed and poor accom¬ 
modations for the comfort of your stock. A 
few good ones, well cared for, afford more 
pleasure and profit than a host of inferior 
ones fed on shucks and promises. I find grass 
the cheapest feed I can grow for stock, and 
a meadow to pay the best of any land on the 
farm. 
GLANDERS. 
TnE New York Correspondence of the 
Peoria (Ill.) Transcript writes to that paper : 
The Superintendent of the Society for the 
Prevention of Cruelty to Animals says that 
while people arc growing excited over a false 
alarm of hydrophobia, they are neglecting to 
notice the equally fatal disease of glanders 
among the horses. This gentleman says that 
this disease is unusually prevalent just now. 
and that a large number of cases are brought 
daily to his notice. “There is more cause 
for alarm about the glanders,” said he to 
your correspondent, “ than about hydropho¬ 
bia, for if you see a mad dog coming you get 
out of his way without loss of time, but you 
have no warning of glanders. The finest- 
looking horse may have this disease without 
your knowing it, and if you happen to pass 
one on the street, and it sneezes, and you 
breathe a drop of the vapor or get a particle 
of it into the slightest cut on your hand or 
face, there is no hope for you.” It is the 
Superinlondent’s prediction that the glanders 
will follow hydrophobia asalocal excitement, 
and that, it will occasion more well founded 
alarm. 
-- 
FLIES ON HORSES. 
The Journal of Chemistry gives the follow¬ 
ing simple recipe for the prevention of flies 
on horses: 
“Take two or three small handfuls of wal¬ 
nut leaves, upon which pour two or three 
quarts of cold water ; let it infuse one night, 
and next morning pour the whole into a tea¬ 
kettle and let it boil for a quarter of an hour. 
When cold it will bo fit for use. No more is 
required than to moisten a sponge, nod before 
the horse goes out of the stable let those parts 
which tiro most irritable he smeared over 
with tho liquid, namely, between and upon 
the cars, the neck, the flanks, & r c. Not only 
tin' gentleman and lady who rides out for 
p ensure will hr* benefit,ted by this, but the 
coachman, wagoner and all others who use 
horses during the hot months.” 
FOOT ROT IN SHEEP. 
I sice in Rural NewYorkkr of August I, 
on page 7(5, “R.” asks, “What is the best 
cure for hoof rot in sheep ?” Mr. Randall 
and a great many others have prescribed for 
this loathesome disease, and all, no doubt, 
are good ; but 1 have had experience for 
three years with the disease among lOOsheep; 
I could check it, but the great trouble was 
with me to cure the last sheep, I could al¬ 
ways find one lame sheep, and have had as 
many as 4!) and 50 at once, and SOiuc so bad 
they would walk on their knees. I tried a 
great many remedies, used blue vitriol pow¬ 
dered with verdigris and strong solution of 
vitriol water in a long trough, with the sides 
boarded up so that the sheep would be obli¬ 
ged to travel the whole length of the trough 
through the vitriol water until I wasdiscour- 
agod. 1 found the following recipe in a pa¬ 
per, which effected a cure :—l ozs, bufcyr of 
antimony ; 4 ozs. muriatic acid ; 2 ozs. white 
vitriol. Rut thq antimony and acid in a bot¬ 
tle ; then powder the vitriol fine and put into 
the bottle ; shake two or three days occa¬ 
sionally ; put a quill through the cork of the 
bottle and it is (it to use. 
Pare the affected parts of the feet thor¬ 
oughly, and should they bleed, which they 
will, the preparation will stop the blood at 
once. Clean all tho feet of all your sheep, so 
that the preparation may be applied to every 
foot of every sheep. This seems to prepare 
the feet to resist the disease left upon grounds 
that have been traveled over by sheep that 
have the disease. 
I made two applications only to my sheep’s 
feet; took tho whole flock, and at tho end of 
one month my sheep were cured perfectly. 
That was three years ago, since which time 
they have been as sound as though they never 
had it. R. B. Hoag. 
Lockport, N. Y., July 31,1874. 
SHEEP IN TENNESSEE. 
Gen. Jubal Early furnishes the Rural 
Sun with the folio wing account of his success 
in keeping common sheep with only ordinary 
care, such as every good farmer would be¬ 
stow :—“ In the spring of 1880 I purchased 11 
ewes and a buck (good sheep, common breed). 
The clip of wool for the first three years was 
used at home ; during tho six years since I. 
have sold $733.18 worth of wool, and fat sheep 
amounting to $277.85. I have now on hand 
195 sheep and lambs, worth at least $500. I 
paid out originally $24, uud the above is the 
result. I cannot tell you the number that 
has been used for the table ; wc arc mutton- 
eaters, and tho table has been well supplied 
every summer. I have lost but four old sheep 
by the dogs, but 1 know they kill 10 or 15 
lambs every spring. This year l lost 80 
lambs, 20 of which I know were killed by 
two hound pupa belonging to my next-door 
neighbor. My sheep have been raised entirely 
on grass, winter and summer. When the 
ground was covered by snow, which is only 
a few days each winter, l have given them 
a few feeds of shcef oats. This spring, after 
the ewes commenced lambing, during the 
excessive wet weather, I fed 70 ewes one- 
half bushel Of shelled corn daily, for 30 days. 
1 am now paying a man to take care of my 
sheep in the barrens, where there is an abun¬ 
dance of wild grass. He herds them at night 
on four acres of land, which lie expects to 
put in herd’s grass this fall and hv that means 
to secure a permanent meadow.'” 
