A NEW WAY TO BUY CATTLE. 
Eds. Rural: — I thought per-haps those 
few lines might help some one that was in 
the same situation as myself, so I send thorn 
to you. 
Wanting to purchase a few cows this 
spring, and not having the necessary money 
to obtain them, I had to pub my wits to 
work and invent something to take the place 
of the so-called filthy lucre. Of course I 
could have given a note, which perhaps 
would have been the same. But most all 
notes have a certain time to run, and T am 
against notes in most any manner. But to 
the point:—It is simply to purchase cattle 
and give a mortgage on them the same as on 
land—only I suppose the rate of interest will 
have to be a little higher, The security is 
first - class. For instance, buy one, two or 
three cows ; give a mortgage on them sub¬ 
ject to payment at some time agreed (one 
or two years, 3ay). Interest to be agreed on 
between buyer and seller. All accidents or 
casualties to be the loss of the buyer. In 
case of death or deterioration of value of 
auimals, the same to be replaced or paid for 
by buyer equal fully to the loss or deteriorar 
tion. How will it work i Is it not an easy 
way for one to get a thoroughbred animal ?— 
and a good way for one who has animals to 
dispose of and is not in need of immediate 
money ? The mortgage is drawing a good 
rate of interest; the buyer assumes all risks, 
yet he has with a nominal expenditure, the 
means of raising good stock without the 
very heavy expense at once. And, being in 
possession of stock that will sell, if the right 
kind of a man it will very materially help 
him to pay the mortgage when it falls due. 
I think it would work to the mutual interest 
of both buyer and seller if some such idea 
could bo put in practice, with some forms or 
agreements drawn up b.tween parties to 
treat each other conscientiously. There are 
plenty of houest farmers who would take 
advantage of such an idea who cannot well 
afford to place the needed money cash down. 
But buying like this the animals would, if 
properly used, help to pay and be an incen¬ 
tive to the obligation of the debt. It works 
good with me. John Borns. 
New Brunswick, N. J. 
HORSERADISH POISONOUS FOE CATTLE'{ 
I have never seen or heard it ao stated. 
Therefore to satisfy my opinion ou the above 
question, I would like to hear it answered 
by some one who knows more about it that 
I do. Will the Rural do it ? If so, 1 wll 
state the facts which lead me to the opiuior 
that it is poisonous. These amas follows 
Among a lot of ten cows which have beer 
wintered on corn fodder only, I had twe 
which had their first calveg about 8 week! 
ago and were since that time fed on bran 01 
com meal, mixed with some parsnips, daily 
Cleaning the garden, several days ago, 
threw some small roots of horseradish ove. 
the fence into the cattle-yard, and I noticcc 
that none but these two, being used to par 
snips, would eat them, the others rejectin; 
after tasting them. 
Several hours afterwards (at milking time 
I noticed that one of these two acted in j 
singular way, as I had never seen a sick cov 
net before. Besides rejecting all food sh< 
kleked with her hind legs towards her belly 
ran a few steps, then backed up, laid dowi 
and jumped up again, looked hack at he 
sides—in all showing unmistakable signs o 
great pain about her stomach. 
It was impossible to get h r to stand Ion; 
enough to be milked, and was therefore ru 
all over the yard three or four times, afte 
which she biowed and puffed as if she ha 
been run for miles, thereby throwing up (t 
my observation) only one piece of horst 
radish. Iu about fifteen minutes after thi 
she ate as usual and was in every way a 
l ight again. About this time nothing out c 
the way could be noticed about the otlie 
cow, which had partaken of the same fooc 
Otherwise the next morning when she acte 
in the same way as tho other one had on tb 
evening before, I paid no further attentio 
to her, thinking that she might getover the 
spell ’■ as well us the other one did, an 
went about my work. On arriving home i 
noon, however, it was evident that she coul 
not live much longer, and one hour later si; 
was dead. From that moment, a stron 
odor of horseradish was perceptible, whic 
increased as I opened her carcass to fie 
some other cause of her sudden death, 
found noue. The insides were apparently i 
MOORE’S RURAL NEW-YORKER. 
9 
a sound, healthy condition, except the stom¬ 
ach, which was swollen to a considerable ex¬ 
tent, the swelling consisting of a yellowish, 
watery mass and in it I found five pieces of 
horseradish about the size of a little finger, 
but the whole contents were strongly scent¬ 
ed with horseradish, so that I could hardly 
doubt this to be the cause. Does any one 
know better or had similar experience ? In 
both cases information would be thankfully 
received by—A Young Farmer, Alien Co., 
0., April 10. 
There is no doubt whatever that the horse¬ 
radish killed the cow. The same or even a 
less amount taken into a man’s stomach at 
one time would be likely to kill him. If our 
correspondent hud given the animal a large 
dose of castor oil when he first discovered 
her suffering, or some other active purgative, 
he might have saved her. But lie has now 
learned not to feed cattle horseradish roots, 
and has paid for his experience so liberally 
he will be likely to remember the lesson. 
•-- - ■ 
ANSWER TO D. JONES, COL. CO., 0. 
If you had opened the stomachs of the 
two young cows you lost after turning them 
into the dpa-.l swale-grass you described, you 
would probably have found it in many places 
packed tightly and about as hard as bone. 
Cows about to calve have an ungovermible 
appetite and will fill their stomac hs w’ith all 
manner of indigestible food, especially the 
dead grass you name. Fever immediately 
follows, and determination of the blood to 
tiie head terminates lire. If you did not 
find the stomach in that condition perhaps It 
contained the sprouts of various bushes grow¬ 
ing in your swale, eateu in such quantities ns 
to destroy life (see Youatt and Martin on 
cattle, page 313). To avoid such conse¬ 
quences cows should always be fed liberally 
with roots and given plenty of water pre¬ 
vious to calving. Your cows (should have 
been bled freely and then given one pound of 
epsom salts and a half pound repeated until 
it operated. If you had dislodged the con¬ 
tents of their stomachs your cows would 
have recovered. R. L. Dorr, 
Dansville, Liv. Co., N. Y. 
--- 
SALT FOR CATTLE. 
L. N. M., in Live Stock Journal says upon 
this subject:—I have been a dairyman since 
1889. “Once a week ” was my rule for the 
first five years ; then twice a week for five 
years more ; then alternate days for about 
ten years ; than daily for the lost six years. 
In the winter season, when my herd are In 
milk, aud fed upon coarse food, 1 salt three 
times per week. When dry, but twice. In 
the summer, I salt, in the stalls, the first 
thing after stabling. I find iu my animals a 
marked difference in their capacity, or appe¬ 
tite for salt. They all eat an allowance 
daily, with avidity—not one in my herd that 
will not consume three-quarters of an ounce. 
My best milkers require the most; one will 
take at least two and a half ounces. I am 
satisfied with my present practice. 1 think 
I get more milk, and of a richer quality, 
since salting daily ; am troubled less with 
garget, and my cows seem to bo healthier. 
Some dairymen think suiting a non-essen¬ 
tial ; I douot know of any non-essential in 
the care of dairy cows. Some of tho uses of 
salt in the economy of nature, both in the 
animal aud vegetable kingdom, may form 
the subject of a future communication. 
NOTES FOR HERDSMEN. 
{looking Food for Cuttle.— M. Laforte of 
France, as related by the Paris correspond¬ 
ent of the Baltimore American Farmer, 
cooks his food for eatte by fermentation. 
On a layer of cut straw he places one of 
pulped potatoes, and so on ; according to the 
supply required, a thicker layer of potatoes; 
and left for sixty hours it becomes admirably 
cooked for pigs and poultry. 
A Good Jersey Cow. — The Manchester, 
N. H., Mirror tells of a handsome five-year- 
old Jersey owned by Daniel Farmer of that 
place. She did not have a calf till four years 
old, and soon after the calf was taken away 
the butter from her milk yielded a pound 
and a half daily. The Mirror asks where 
there is another Jersey that can do us well at 
the same age. 
The Fuot-and-Mouth Disease which pre¬ 
vails so generally in Great Britain ought to 
cause great caut ion on the part of American 
importers of cattle, sheep and swine. We 
don’t want it here among our herds but we 
shall have it again introduced unless great 
precautions are taken. 
Jersey Cows —A Jersey stock man says : 
"That the Jersey stands ahead of all other 
breeds us a butter cow. is probably conceded 
by all who have tested them.” la it ? 
PARTRIDGE COCHIN. 
The Partridge Cochin is a fowl that must 
bo bred to size and color, since size and color 
are the chief characteristics of this class of 
fowls. A nicely shaped and correctly plu- 
maged bird are all important to success. A 
massive, dumpy fowl, although of brilliant 
plumage, but straight and lumpy on the 
back, or scantily feathered on the legs or 
thighs, cannot win with a Judge of taste. 
These defects may be cured by proper met¬ 
ing. It is no easy matter to perpetuate the 
exact colors in all the respective parts of 
this fowl; and as color is one of tho most 
desirable things to attain, I should, in making 
up breeding stock, select a cock that is black 
in the thighs, braa3t and tail, with bright red 
hackle and saddle, whichshould not be light, 
but very darkly striped, dark red back, and 
bright, well-defined bar on the wing, I should 
not care so much for a very large bird if the 
hens are of good size ; but I should want 
him short-backed, slightly arched in the 
neck, so as to correspond with tho tail, which 
should rise out of a thick cushion or covert. 
The breast should be full, the feathering 
running et might to the knee, giving the bird 
a very uniform peg top appearance. 
I have had the honor of acting as judge at 
a number of poultry exhibitions this last 
winter, and have been surprised at the 
great disparagement between the male and 
female birds of this class of fowl. How it 
was possible to breed puliets so universally 
alike end imperfect in color and markings, 
and cockerels so generally alike in perfection 
of plumage is more than I can account for. 
If such mala birds were produced from such 
imperfect, miserable specimens of female 
buds, I must confes 1 that my knowledge of 
the laws of mating and breeding ia very 
limited, and that all my experience is good 
for naught, and I must begin again by a 
complete reversal of such laws, is it possible 
that such splendid male birds, which I saw 
at these several exhibitions, were bred from 
such imperfect hens—such red and clay- 
colorcd breasts with pencil marks as dark 
and black as those on the Dark Brahma ? 
My idea of a Partridge Cochin hen is that 
she should be well feathered, large in frame, 
a full, ri-fiug cushion, very small comb and 
head, with a rich, gold-colored hackle densely 
striped in the middle with black, and the 
body, even to the fluff of the thigh, distinctly 
penciled with very dark brown on a much 
lighter ground,cro 80 eut» 8 hapcd,the penciling:, 
following the outline of the feathers. Ac¬ 
cording to the old English standard the 
feathers on the wings and sides should show 
shafts of a nice creamy white, forming a 
white streak down tho center of each feather. 
The English fanciers of the present duy, 
however, have shown a decided objection to 
this kind of marking. I never fancied it 
myself, and believe that the white shaft 
birds breed poor cockerels. In breeding 
cockerels I have alwrys selected grouse- 
colored hens, and from these dark plumaged 
birds, mated with brilliant plumaged cocks, 
bred better marked cockerels than when 
mated with fighter and more brilliant plum¬ 
aged hens. 
Iu a very high class of hens tho markings 
or pencil ings in the breast, back uud sides 
should be nearly alike. The purer the brown 
in color for the base, the higher the standard 
of the bird, and the nearer it approaches lo 
the red, dusty elay color, the less it approxi¬ 
mates the standard of perfection, or just in 
the ratio as the color of the hen recedes from 
the true color, is the fowl to be judged, and 
the more dull and cloudy the color, aud 
minute, and indistinct tho markings, the 
greater its condemnation, I can account in 
no other way for these red and clouded fowls 
than tno blending of too many strains, the 
blood of which is incompatible. Those 
fanciers who buy up birds from various 
breeders expressly for exhibition purposes, 
regardless of every other purpose are more 
apt to breed such mongrels than one who 
has bred his own birds and kept his strains 
distinct. 
You can breed Cochins for four or five 
years without any perceptible deterioration 
of blood. It i3 often asserted that this 
variety of fowl breeds very true ; my ex¬ 
perience is that they require quite as much 
skill in mating as the Dark Brahmas, and 
you should Bolect your stock for breeding 
pullets and for breeding cockerels. 
Greenville, N. J. Isaac Van Winkle. 
-♦ »» 
Eggs for Setting. — An English agricul¬ 
tural paper says that eggs intended for set¬ 
ting should be stored with tho large end 
down, because the air bubble does not spread 
30 much as when the small end is down—this 
spreading of the air bubble being known to 
affect the freshness and vitality of the egg. 
Fggs stored with the large end down will 
keep perfectly good for hatching more than 
a month, while the others cannot bo depend¬ 
ed on after two weeks. The New England 
Farmer says a successful poultry breeder in 
Franklin, Mass., has been experimenting 
with eggs for setting, and declares the above 
statement correct, and adds that eggs stored 
on t he large end for a few weeks before set¬ 
ting will hatch at once, instead of varying 
several hours, as is usually the case with eggs 
not so prepared. 
MEASLES ON PIGS AND CALVES. 
Tiie Agricultural Gazette, London, Eng., 
publishes tho following under this head : 
Among parasitic diseases, “measles” take an 
important place, not so much on account of 
the effects which are produced on the health 
of the infested animal as from the danger 
which is likely to arise to those who eat the 
meat of such animals. 
It is scarcely necessary at the outset to 
explain that the disease, which is known as 
measles in pigs and ealw s, is not in any way 
allied to the disease of that nnme which 
attacks Unman being'. Ou the contrary, the 
latter is quite unconnected with parasites, 
being a febrile disease of a decidedly infec¬ 
tious nature, attended with a characteristic 
eruption, while the infection described as 
measles in the pig aud call'is 6imply a spot¬ 
ted state of tho flesh due to tho prosence of 
small hydatid cysts which contain the im¬ 
mature or larval forms of two species of 
tapeworms proper to man—the so called 
Tcenici solium aud the Tania mediocaneb 
lain. 
The hydatid of tho first worm is the 
Cyslicercus celktlosa, which causes the 
measly state ao commonly found in pork, 
and the swallowing of which, while eating 
underdone pork, is the cause of the existence 
of the Tania, solium in the intestines of man. 
Swine affected with measles do not suffer 
a pparently from the invasion ; at least they 
manifest no symptoms of pain or disturb¬ 
ance, but in well marked cases it is said that 
an expert examiner may detect the small 
hydatid cysts, by feeling with Ills fingei 
along tho side of tho animal’s tongue, close 
to its junction with the membrane of the 
mouth. Admitting that tho cysts are 
present in the position indicated, the fact is 
not worth much because it would be impos¬ 
sible to examine all the pigs which ure 
brought to market, and there aro no signs 
which might direct attention to any particu¬ 
lar animals, and induce tho intending 
purchaser to have recourse to a somewhat 
rash method of testing tho correctness of his 
suplclons. 
When an infested pig has been slaughter¬ 
ed and cut up, there is no difficulty in detect¬ 
ing the disease. No artificial aids are re¬ 
quired in the inspection, as some of the 
hydatid cysts will be a3 large as a horse 
bean, looking like small bladders filled w ith 
a clear fluid. If the cysts be carefully 
ruptured, and tho larval worm removed, a 
white spot will be seen at one part of its 
circumference. This, if carefully manipula¬ 
ted, will show the head of a tapeworm 
identical in till respects with that of a soli¬ 
tary tapeworm of man. Immediately ex¬ 
tending from the head will be seen the long 
slender neck, and then the vesicle, or water 
bladder, composed of a fine, transparent 
membrano having a ringed appoai'arce if 
viewed sideways. When t he parasite obtains 
an entrance into the diec-stive organs of 
man, the vesicle is dissolved away, and tho 
tapeworm segments grow from the neck. 
Obviously the hydatid is conveyed to the 
muscles of the pig by the matur e segments 
of the tapeworm which are voided by the 
human bearer, the egg3 from which are 
picked up by vagrant pigs iu their w ander¬ 
ings in search of food. 
It is difficult to cctermine which was first 
affected, swine or men : but it will be more 
satisfactory to humanity to arsume that the 
hydatid cysts somehow were first developed 
hi the pig, and from the consumption of the 
flesh of the animal man became subject to 
the tapeworm, the eggs of which being ex¬ 
pelled, are swallowed by pigs, and shortly 
develop into hydatids, ready to furnish a 
new generation of tapeworms when intro¬ 
duced into tho digestive organs of the human 
subject. 
Probably the popular prejudice against 
underdres’sed pork in any shape is due to 
tho recognition of the fact that larval forms 
of parasites are often present in this meat; 
at auy rate, It is satisfactory to be able to 
state that infested pig's flesh is rendered 
harmless as food if the cooking process be 
effectually carried out. 
<■: 
w 
