sharply criticised by some of his readers for 
doubting the existence of such productions. 
Of course the only facts brought forward on 
the part of those who hold that a hair may 
become a living reptile, are their belief in 
what somebody else, equally as ignorant, had 
told them. WI1 hout. claiming to speak as an 
authority on this subject, perhaps I may 
throw out a few hints that will aid those who 
are in search of the truth, in regard to the 
nature and habits of what are termed “hair 
snakes.” It is probably unnecessary to add 
to what 1 have already said, that hairs do not 
turn to snakes, no matter how much they 
may wriggle about when thrown into water. 
There are, however, several species of small 
black, or very dark parasitic worms, found 
in water and wet places, which, to the unas¬ 
sisted eye, look very much like snakes ; find 
these are the wriggling creatures supposed , 
by many persons to be transformed horse 
hairs. Very few of our scientific naturalists 
have made the study of the Gordius or hair 
worm a. specialty ; hence, their true life his¬ 
tory may not be fully known : but this much 
has been discovered, to wit : TJley live 
through the greater part of their lives in the 
intestines of insects, such as spiders, crickets, 
grasshoppers, and various spee'esof beetles 
which live on the ground or under stones in 
low, wet places. The next question which 
would naturally follow, is, how do those 
worms get into the insects ? Let us suppose 
that one of these wormsisliving in the water 
or under a stone, where it is damp or wet, 
and there deposits her eggs, which are so 
minute that it requires a glass of high mag¬ 
nifying power to detect them, although they 
are fastened together in a long string of many 
thousands in each. From these eggs minute 
tad-poles, like worms, are hatched, and these 
lie in wait for some luckless cricket, beetle 
or other insects of proper size to supply a 
comfortable home for the worm, in which it 
may thrive and grow to full size. When 
such comes within reach the little tad-pole 
cold climates, at least all of the best species 
and their varieties do, and are most exten¬ 
sively cultivated north of the peach-growing 
regions. Plum trees on peach stocks have 
been sent in large numbers to the North¬ 
western States, and I have seen hundreds 
and thousands sold in a single season to 
farmers in Wisconsin, not one in a hundred 
of which passed through the first winter 
alive, while plums on their own roots suc¬ 
ceeded very well in the same soils and situa¬ 
tions. 
It may be said that no one recommends 
peach stocks for the plum in such localities, 
but how is the purchaser to know that the 
plum treos he is buying are on peach roots, 
unless he is an expert in such matters ? It is 
not every farmer, or even fruit-grower, who 
is fully informed upon this question of stocks 
for fruit trees, and those who know that the 
plum succeeds in their neighborhood are very 
likely to purchase the best, trees, in appear¬ 
ance, that are offered, and in this respect 
plums on peach roots, have a decided advan¬ 
tage, for they usually grow far more rapidly 
on peach roots, than on plum, at least for 
the first year or two. I can readily under¬ 
stand why a nurseryman may favor peach 
stocks for plums, if he looks no further than 
quick sales and large profits, because they 
cost little or nothing beyond planting, take, 
the bud readily, and produce a vigorous, sal¬ 
able tree the first, season. Now I know Mr. 
HoorES too well to think him capable of 
recommending plums on peach stocks to 
customers residing in Wisconsin, or Minne¬ 
sota, but a dishonest tree-peddler might 
call and purchase such trees in large quanti¬ 
ties, ostensibly for Delaware, and take them 
t<> Minnesota. I know of one just such 
HOW TO SECURE A KICKING COW 
DAILY RURAL LIFE. 
I have no doubt there arc a great many 
readers of the Rural New-Yorker who. like 
myself, feel grateful for the many useful and 
valuable suggestions which have appeared 
from time to time, and many which I have 
been glad to get and which have paid and 
paid with interest my small annual subscrip¬ 
tion. Now, as I consider myself in debt for 
more than value received, and I have no 
doubt you have a large number of readers 
who think likewise, we should consider it our 
duty, should we have any useful item to 
communicate, to send it to your office, of 
Course leaving it to your judgment as to its 
fitness for publication, and in that way clear 
oil' old scores. My suggestion now is how 
to secure a kicking cow. I have tried every 
way that I have heard or read of, but have 
found none so effectual as the following : l 
fasten the cow in the usual manner in the 
stall. From the front part of her manger to 
the back of the stable is 0 feet; I therefore 
procure a stout, smooth pole, 9 feet *> inches, 
about 3 inches in diameter, bore a hole about 
three feet from the (lour in tho manger and 
fit one end of the pole in It ; take hold of the 
other end and crowd the cow close up to the 
side of her stall by pressing it firmly against 
her thigh sufficiently high to bo out of the 
way of milking, and drop the end in a notch 
prepared in the right place ut the back of the 
stable. When the pole has been fixed in its 
proper place, it can be replaced with very 
considerable ad- 
From the Diary of a Centleman Near New 
York City. 
PERPLEXING BLUNDERS. 
March 15.—To purchase pear, apple, and 
other kinds of fruit trees, then plant and 
cultivate for several years before discovering 
that they are not what you desired, is one 
of those perplexing episodes which are likely 
to occur in the experience of every fruit 
grower. Then, it is always so very difficult 
to trace these blunders to a responsible 
source, however well satisfied we may be 
that somebody has designedly or otherwise 
swindled us out of time and money. If 
these mistakes in the naming of trees, and 
other plants, were confined to the first 
purchaser of a specimen, comparatively 
little harm would be done, but. through the 
distribution of cions, buds and cuttings, they 
thousand fold, 
are frequently multiplied a 
and a little bad leaven of this kind spreads 
through a great deal of meal. 
It is certainly perplexing enough for a 
mau to discover after years of careful culture 
that his Bartlett and Seekel pears are some- 
worthless old sorts scarcely fit for cooking ; 
but if he has been a generous sold through 
those years, giving cions freely to his less 
fortunate neighbors, thereby causing them 
to spend valuable time hi propagating and 
cultivating such trash the ease assumes a far 
worse aspect, and language would fail to 
express one’s indignation towards the perpe¬ 
trators of the original blunder. In the older 
States errors of this sort, are sooner detected 
than in the new ; but they are far too 
abundant and long standing everywhere, 
besides being traceable to first, as well as 
second class establishments; in fact I am 
not quite sure but the latter would come out 
ahead if an impartial examination was 
made, 
1 have been somewhat perplexed myself 
with plants received incorrectly named; 
but that which provokes me most is to 
purchase a new sort, paying perhaps a high 
price for the same, and find instead of the 
one variety ordered, I get. a half dozen, all in 
the one package. This has been my luck or 
Utile trouble and no risk, a 
vantage when women do the milking. 
Wellington Square, Ont. 
NOTES FOR HERDSMEN 
Black Leg'.— This was a great scourge 
among the yearling calves in the part of 
England 1 was born in. There was one 
reliable preventive ; it was called “ pegging. 
A peg of wood of a peculiar character was 
inserted in the. dewlap and on causing a dis¬ 
charge never failed to secure the animal 
from an attack. When this wood could not 
be obtained, any other way of producing an 
issue from the dewlap was effectual. This 
was done In November, as the disease in that 
climate only attacked calves between that 
time and the next May. It seemed as if 
there was a poison abstracted from the 
blood by this process or that, like vaccination 
preventing small-pox, the seton prevented 
the animal ever having “black leg’ or 
“ murrain.”— a. w. p. 
Fattening Milch Cores.—Deacon Bcffum 
is reported as saying at a recent Farmers’ 
Club meeting in New England, that “ a cow 
should sell for more for beef when she is 
done giving milk than she costs when a 
milker. There were men in his neighborhood 
who made money buying new milch cows 
and fatting them while they gave milk, 
sending them to the butcher 08 soon as dry. 
Their feed is three quarts of meal and three 
quarts of shorts with hay per day, fed twice.” 
Steamed Food for Cores. —Mr. Goggin of 
Amherst steams the feed for his cows. Says 
he bought a steamer aud 100 feet of pipe for 
.*100. Burns refuse wood from a saw mill 
which costs $1 per cord. Half a cord will 
steam the food of 12 cows a month. Cuts 
the hay by hand. Has never had any 
trouble with the boiler during 7 years’ use. 
Feeds 5 pounds shorts, 2 pounds meal and 10 
pounds hay to each cow per day. The. daily 
expense of keeping his cows is 18 cents. 
A Scurvy Heifer .—Will you, or some of 
the readers of the Rural New-Yorker, have 
the kindness to tell me through the columns 
of the same, what to do for my yearling 
heifer i She is very scurvy; is not lousy ; 
has a good appetite, but is poor, and does not 
seetn to thrive. Have given her sulphur, but 
it does not improve her looks. I keep hex- 
in stable, and feed plenty of hay. with one 
quart of mill feed per day.—T. E. B., Shef¬ 
field, Pa. 
Stanchions for Cattle — Byron Davis is 
informed that, all things considered, we 
know of no better mode of fastening cattle 
than with stanchions. If we were going to 
build a barn for ourselves, we should use 
them. Concerning the self-fastening stan¬ 
chion alluded to, we know nothing beyond 
what we published in the article referred to. 
Scrub Butts .—We believe it to be the sen¬ 
timent of our best farmers that there ought 
to be a law compelling the killing off of 
scrub bulls in any neighborhood, They are 
both a damage to those who own them and 
added, a nuisance to those who do not. 
have been informed since, that no more 
plums on peach stocks are grown in said 
nursery. Now I leave it to Mr. Hooper and 
others in the trade if in using peach stocks 
for plums, they do not put. too great a temp¬ 
tation in the way of those who are. inclined 
to be a little “tricky” in their dealings. 
3 , The peach tree is far more likely to suf¬ 
fer from the attacks of insects than the 
plum. Its greatest enemy, the peach tree 
borer, makes its attacks close to the root, 
or just at the right point, not only to escape 
the not ice of unprofessional eyes but to do the 
most, injury to a plum or a peach stcck. It 
is all very well for Mr. Hooi-ks, or others, to 
say that " the man who is too lazy to devote 
a few minutes once a year to killing them 
(the borei-) don’t deserve to have plums, nor 
peaches either. >’ But, I fail t o see the wisdom 
of putting a man’s orchard iu jeopardy when 
it is entirely unnecessary; besides, a man 
may not be very lazy, and still neglect to dig 
out the peach borers from his hundreds or 
thousands of trees. It is now about twenty- 
five years since my tlrtt experience with 
plum on peach stocks, and during this time! 
have discovered little in them to recommend, 
but much to condemn. 
HAIRS TURNING TO SNAKES. 
Mareh 17—There are few boys or girls re¬ 
siding in the country who have not heaid 
marvellous stories of horse or cow hairs turn- 
in<r to snakes when thrown into water. 
contents of its habitation, Vi lien the worm 
is fully grow n it again escapes to the water 
the first chance ; and any one who has suffi¬ 
cient interest in this subject to catch a few 
of the large black crickets in the fall and 
throw them into water, will bo pretty sure 
to find an occasional specimen containing one 
or more of these hair worms. The worms 
will leave the cricket almost instantly, upon 
its touching the water, showing that they 
are waiting for just sueh opportunities to es¬ 
cape to their apparently natural element. 
The worms may he kept in a fair condition 
for examination and study in alcohol, al¬ 
though they will become quite brittle if the 
spirits are of high proof. I have obtained 
specimens of the Gordius from various spe¬ 
cies of the cricket family-, but t he most in¬ 
teresting specimens in my collection are from 
a species of large Texan beetles known os 
Gaaimachus. lu collecting the beetles they 
spirits killed it. In another specimen of the 
same species of beetle, there appears to have 
been two of these hair worms, both having 
made an unsuccessful attempt to leave at the 
same time, but King Alcohol stopped their 
progress beyond a certain point., just as he 
does some other creatures of a higher ordex-. 
Hair worms, or horse hair snakes, are not 
transformed hors© or cow hairs, no matter 
how many persons there may be to testify 
that they have “ with their own eyes” wit¬ 
nessed the transformation. A pair of ordina¬ 
ry eyes, backed by a good quality of brains, 
don’t amount to much iu these days of supe¬ 
rior compound microscopes, either monocu¬ 
lar or binocular. 
Ostriches. —How very extraordinary none 
thought of going into raising these birds until 
J. C. L. has communicated his ideas and 
asked for information ! Tho matter of hatch¬ 
ing is easily managed ; the eggs are in no 
danger of being easily broken, therefore they 
can lie in the sunshine all day and betw een 
some heavy sleepei-s all night, and if the 
mornings are cloudy “helps" will jump, no, 
“ lump” at the chance to lie in bed till the 
clouds clear away. There is u great deal in 
ost riches ; they will do all the plowing, and 
talk about trotting ! If J. C. I/, had been 
but like President Grant and said nothing, 
he might have fenced his farm and raised and 
trained quite a number, and then have en¬ 
tered them for all the great stakes and have 
short ly been a millionaire. I imagine J. C. 
L., in bloomer costume, with one of these 
magnificent striders racing ahead of all the 
■ . .. a a . _ T . 1 - ^ . .1 Vt .... 
