MILK AS WELL AS BEEF 
During a recent discussion at a meeting of 
NOTES FOB HERDSMEN 
Charbon Remedy. —S. C. Hyde, Areola, 
La., gives the following remedy for char¬ 
bon :—One tablespoon fill of saltpeter, dis¬ 
solved in cold water, given once a day inter¬ 
nally until relieved. Rowel or scarify the 
partB swollen ; rowel is the best; the same 
as for sweeny ; draw cords through the 
swollen parts, just under the skin ; apply to 
the swelling a mixture composed of one 
ounce of Milestone and one of saltpeter, dis¬ 
solved in spirits of turpentine; remove the 
cords every half hour. When it is thor¬ 
oughly blistered and running freely, stop the 
application of the mixture, as it would keep 
blistering aud make the swelling larger, and 
be a useless punishment. I saw it tried two 
years ago on Bayou Grasse Tete, and have 
tried it this year on three horses and one 
mule, all of whom are now living and able to 
perform their allotted work. 
To Insure Heifer Calves.—A skillful cattle 
424 
AL NEW-YORKER. 
English breeders on the management of 
Short-Horn cattle, the Chairman said:—“One 
great fault of Short-Horn feeding had been 
that they had looked too much to beef and too 
little to milk. He had been grieved to see a 
Short Horn heifer unable to bring up her 
calf and to require an inferior animal to be 
used, Mr, Thomas Bates and other breeders 
used to boast about the milk as well as the 
beef-producing qualities of their animals, hui 
this was not so now. The object of the early 
breeders of Short-Horn# was not to have 
fashionable herds, but animals in the best 
condition. The miners and well paid arti 
sans would not buy those great lumps of fat, 
but as prime mutton and beef as could be 
had. Wliat the farmer now wanted was the 
class of stock fit to briug into the market as 
■ arly as possible, and which would briDg th; 
greatest profit. What was wanted was to 
produce two-year-old bullocks as prime as 
tticyformerly were at four years ” Ourown 
breeders would do well to give heed to the 
above observations ; for too many of them, 
especially at the West, have latterly greatly 
neglected the milking qualities of their 
Short-Homs, paying almost exclusive atten¬ 
tion to them for beef. We have repeatedly 
seen the first prizes at our cattle shows award¬ 
ed to cows that had but two or three servic- 
able teats, and to others whose udders aud 
teats were so small they could not produce 
half milk enough to bring up a calf. It was 
not thus with the early Short-Horns—they 
Were almost universally great milkers. 
Physiognomy of the Head.—When the 
crest is fully developed the hen can neither 
see at the side nor in front, but only on the 
ground, because the feathers w Inch occupy 
the eyebrows cover the whole e>o, giving the 
hen a restless character on bearing the least 
sound ; and it is not without particular at¬ 
tention, and looking well beneath the crest, 
that the eyes can be seen. 
Foot and Sole of Foot (fig. 14).—Strong, 
fleshy, and provided with five toes, like that 
of the cock, similarly arranged, 
if j$tmite-g)tnl. 
THE POULTRY-KEEPER—NO. 6. 
THE HOUOAN HEN — PROPORTIONS AND GENERAL 
CHARACTER. 
Body. —Compact, almost more bulky in 
appealance than the cock, firmly set on 
strong feet. Breast, thighs, legs, and wings 
well developed. Head large, half or whole- 
crested. Whiskers and cravat very full. 
Comb and gills very small. Five toes on each 
foot. Feathers of the abdomen spread out, 
pandant, and abundant, the other feathers 
of an ordinary length. Plumage spangled 
black and white, witn violet and green iri¬ 
descence (see fig. 12). 
WEIGHT, SUE AND CHARACTERISTICS. 
Weight .—When full-grown from 5 lbs. 8% 
ozs. to fl lbs. 10 ozs. 
Siee .—From the upper part of the crest to 
the feet In an ordinary position, 15% inches : 
from the back to the feet, 11.8 inches. 
Plead .—Large (see fig. 13). 
Comb , ears and gills, email. 
Beak. —Strong, dark grey and yellow. 
Eye. —Iris, reddish yellow. Pupil black. 
Crest or Halfcrest .—Sometimes the crest 
entirely envelopes the head, and rises from 
Fig. 13— Houdan Hen’s Heaij. 
Color of Foot .—Like that of the cock. 
Laying,— Precocious aud abundant, pro¬ 
ducing Hue eggs. 
DESCRIPTION OF FEATHERS. 
The entire plumage, composed of feathers 
of ordinary size, is spangled—that is, mixed 
with feathers sometimes black, sometimes 
white, and sometimes black and white ; 
sometimes black at the beginning and white 
at the tip, and vice versa , but on the back, 
shoulders, the sides of the breast, and the 
feathers covering the great tail feathers, 
showing generally spots more decided, less 
mixed at the sides, the belly, and the crest. 
The large tail feathers and those of the flight 
Fig. 14-nouDAN Hen's Foot. 
are equally mixed with black, white, or 
spotted feathers ; but it is better when they 
are all white. 
GENERAL CONSIDERATIONS. 
The Houdan is one of the most beautiful 
varieties of fowls, and nothing is more im¬ 
posing than a yard full of Houdans, but its 
merits far exceed its beauty. Besides the 
lightness of its bones and the qantity and 
delicacy of its flesh, it is a variety to be ad¬ 
mired for its early productiveness and fecun¬ 
dity. The chickens in four months can be 
fattened and acquire great size. 
The hen produces very fine chickens, and 
of all the varieties the hen approaches in 
s MY PLAN WITH PIGS. 
) 
A CORRESPONDENT of the New York Trib¬ 
une, in writing about pigs, says: —I have 
studied the nature of the hog, and, after 
many trirls and disappointments, have come 
to the following conclusionFirst, have the 
pigs dropped about the first of May, thus 
avoiding the cold winds of March and April, 
and the overlaying occasioned by penning in 
early spring. I save by t his plan about ten 
percent., and sometimes more, especially in 
a wet, cold spring. Second, have a good 
blue grass or clover pasture for them to run 
in, with plenty of fresh water, and feed 
liberally on corn. Third, the following year 
have a good field of rye to turn on as soon as 
it begins to harden, and if possible a good 
clover lot. I feed no corn while they are on 
the rye. In the meantime, I have four cr 
five loads of coal ashes from the steam mill 
or refuse from the brickyard, and mix with 
salt and wood ashes. By i he fir it of Septem¬ 
ber they are ready for corn, not fat, but 
healthy, and sleek as moles. I then com¬ 
mence feeding, each day increasing the 
amount until they are on full feed ; never 
overfeed, but as much as they will eat up 
clean. I give plenty of fresh water and in 
six weeks I am ready to market pigs, that 
average over three hundred pounds each. I 
am not p-irtidulur about the breeds, but 
prefer a cross between a Berkshire and 
Bylleld, A person may do better with a few, 
but this plan is for those who keep from 
sixty to one hundred head, and feed no 
cattle. 
-- 
CLOVER HAY FOE HOGS. 
The Sacramento Union says “ It is a 
strange sounding proposition to feed hogs 
with hay, but we have experienco in thi9 
line, and howeverstrange or odd it may seem 
it is. nntwitlistanding, a fact that hogs will 
not only eat alfalfa (lucerne or Spanish clo¬ 
ver) hay, but that they will do w'ell on it. We 
flrBt discovered the fact by throwing a lot of 
al alfa chaff from which the seed had been 
cleaned, over to some hogs for a nest, when 
to our surprise they devoured it with as much 
greediness as they would so much oats or 
bat ley. Our own experience and observation 
since has proved to us that good alfalfa hay 
witli plenty of water will keep liogs in a 
good growing condition all through ihe win¬ 
ter. They may be foddered in the same 
way you would fodder sheep or cattle, but 
if cut up with a cutting machine ai d wet 
before feediug, they will eat it cleaner and 
do better on it.” 
It may seem strange, yet it is well known 
to a great many eastern farmers that hog# 
will winter well on clover hay and a few 
roots. Hlioats will keep thus in first rate 
growing order ; the manure pile will increase 
with rapidity and be of most excellent 
quality. Many a sow too fat for breeding 
kept a few months on clover hay has regained 
the lost fecunndity. 
FEEDING SWINE IN SUMMER. 
2^* a- 
Fig. 12 — Illustration of Houdan Hen. 
breeder writes to the Canada Farmer a 9 
follows :—Many farmers wish to breed heifer 
calves from favor te cows. To accomplish 
this, nothing more is necessary than to watch 
carefully when the cow is in heat, and before 
close behind the beak. It is composed in 
that case of large feathers superposed like 
the others in a globular form, and is as hand¬ 
some as the crests of other varieties. At 
other times the crest is not so large, and com¬ 
posed of irregularly-placed feathers, pointed 
and bent. Either of these forms equally 
characterises the variety. 
Wh iskers. —Small. 
Cravat.— Abundant, thick, but not coming 
down very low. 
weight nearest to that of the cock. They 
are precocious and abundant layers of a fine, 
white, considerable-sized egg. The pullets 
begin to lay in the month of January. 
The variety is a farmer’s fowl, and is more 
easily raised than any other of the indigenous 
French varieties. It is also less roaming, less 
plundering than many of the others. 
The hen lays long and abundantly, and 
after the second or third year sits fairly and 
brings up the chickens carefully. 
A correspondent of the Germantown 
Telegraph writes :—My own theory of pork¬ 
raising based upon experience, observation, 
and probably a little philosophy of things, if 
written for the benefit of others, would be 
about as follows :—During the hot summer 
months I would feed very little solid feed, 
such as corn in the ear or uncracked. I 
would keep hogs upon green feed constantly, 
either grass, oats or rye, and feed them at 
regular intervals, once or twice a day, upon 
mashed feed, either shorts, chopped oats or 
rye, buckwheat, etc., feed in troughs. When 
fed in this way and at the same time al¬ 
lowed access to water and shade, hogs wall 
bear crowding through the hot months, a 
very good time if not the best, to take on 
flesh. This puts them in the best of condi¬ 
tion for corn feeding, which should com¬ 
mence about the first of September, when 
the new crop is still soft and tender. Treated 
in this way hogs become probably as perfect 
as any method could make them. Upon the 
whole, I believe it the cheapest and most 
economical. 
■» »» 
Garget or Caked Bag in Sows. —To a 
slighter degree then in cattle or sheep, the 
teats of sows are subjeet to inflammation and 
ulceration, and especially if the sow -was in 
too high condition at the time of farrowing. 
Withhold heating food, feed raw roots, bran, 
sour milk and, if needed, loosening medicine. 
She gasman. 
“ CROSS JERSEY BULLS.” 
Under this heading Friend Morris of the 
Practical Farmer says :—“While the Alder¬ 
ney or Jersey calf, heifer or grown-up cow 
are proverbially the quietest, most docile and 
gentle of all the cow tribe, there are very’ 
many cases where the Jersey bulls are ex¬ 
actly the reverse. Can this be explained ? 
r A._ t . < - a » t il _ 
milking her take her to the bull. Five times 
out of six, the resulting calf will be a heifer. 
The rule, however, will not work so well 
when the opposite sex is desired. If the rule 
fails under some cases of management, the 
cause is due to not taking the cow in time, 
as the instances from whicli the above rule 
are taken, were in constant trial for ten 
years, during which lime a large dairy of 
heifer calve# was reared from two or three 
favorite cows. It Beems that the full udder 
cause# the sex to be pretty nearly determined, 
| as even if partially relieved by milking, the 
desired result is not by any means so likely 
to follow. 
Caked Bags in Cows .—A correspondent of 
the Cincinnati Gazette says for cake bag in a 
cow get ten cents’ worth of dry iodine ; fill a 
teacup with good fresh lard and stir in the 
iodine until it be thoroughly mixed ; let it 
stand for a day or night ; stir it agai n and 
rub it in with the hand frequently, and cure 
1# certain. 
Whoever employs the violent remedies 
should understand that they may do more 
than he desires, iodine affects the secretions 
powerfully and causes the absorption of tu¬ 
mors and abnormal growths, may it not also 
cause a decrease in the secretion of milk ? 
We have found that persistent rubbing aud 
kneading wa# better than any thing else. 
If the bag be very tender as it often is, give 
ateaspoouful of tincture of arnica in water 
and rub the same diluted with twice as much 
water upon the bag to take out the soreue69. 
Sexes at Will .—The American Fanciers’ 
Journal says :—“ Cocks of one year old mated 
with hens two years old or more, usually 
produce a greater proportion of cockerels 
than pullets ; and if more pullets than cock¬ 
erels are wanted, they may generally be ob¬ 
tained by mating old cocks with pullets.” 
f3oultt[l> fj?3l[il. 
