JULY 30 
THE BUBAL HEW-YOBKEB. 
would be well to give only a email quantity of 
meal. Grain food should not be the buBe food 
for a young animal, but only the additional 
ration added to the base food to increase its 
nutritiveneBB, and the grain should be given 
with care to see that it is healthfully digested 
and assimilated. 
AUlng Pigs. 
A. J B , Belmont, Miss , says that his hogs, 
and especially his small pigs, have of late been 
attacked by a disease In the ear, which be¬ 
comes completely raw Inside; ihe green fly 
then "blows" on the place and the hog dies 
soon afte-wards ; sometimes It holds its head 
to one side, as if it had the blind staggers, and 
our friend asks for some preventive and remedy. 
fl 
Ans, —The ears should be cleansed with 
soap-suds and then the parts affected should 
be touched with a mixture of carbolic acid and 
water in the proportion of one drop of acid to 
twenty of water. The sore should then be 
smeared with gas coal-tar, which will keep the 
flies away. The smearing with coal-tar should 
be repealed every two or three dayk until the 
ears are healed. The gas coal-tar is healing 
and antiseptic, and may be asuffldeut remedy 
without the application of the carbolic acid. 
Staggers may be relieved by bleeding in the 
neck followed by an active physic—a pint aud 
a-half of linseed oil or a pound of Glauber salts. 
Bran mashes should be given afterwards for a 
week. If horses are liable to this trouble, 
their heads should be shaded in hot weather 
with a canvas or cloth hood, which may be 
stretched on a wire frame-work and attached 
to the bridle and suspended a few inches over 
the top of the head. 
Illnoil Spavin. 
N. M., Rolling Blow, Minn., has a one-year- 
old filly both of wnose hindlegs are swollen on 
the inside of the hock, and he asks what is the 
remedy. 
Ans. —This is a case of blood spavin, an ail¬ 
ment to which young horses are peculiarly 
liabl8. It has no relation to bone spavin and is 
usually comparatively harmless. As treatment 
a persistent application of cold water will gen¬ 
erally be effectual in the early stages, followed 
by cooling lotions—equal parts of alcohol and 
water, or a pint of brandy mixed with half a 
pint of water, applied as a lotion. In later 
stages a strong infusion of bayberry bark 
should be applied and, lastly, brandy and salt 
should be perseveringly applied. 
Watering Tree*. 
II A. I’., Zanesville, Ohio, ask b whether it is 
advisable to water decidnoaB shade trees and 
evergreens a great deal in Summer. A neigh- 
bo-of his waters his trees thoroughly every 
ni'tat all through Summer. 
Ans. —Generally we do not think it a good 
plan. The earth becomes hard over the roots 
which no strict rnle can be laid down, any 
more than the time occupied in churning can 
be restricted to rule. The rule should be to 
examine the cream as soon as tbe peculiar 
" slip-slop” sound is beard, and to take no no¬ 
tice of scattered particles of butter that may 
appear, but when the fine butter begins to 
form all through the cream to turn the churn 
slowly, by which the fine butter is gathered 
more quickly and In better condition than by 
quick churning. It may take five minutes, or 
less, or 15. or even more, to gather the hntter; 
but tbe time may be shortened in Summer by 
putting some ice water in the churn, and In 
Winter by adding a little warm water. 2. 
Nothing. 8. Plow deep and thoroughly pul¬ 
verize the land. A sub-soil plow is desirable. 
Select a sandy loam if possible Plan tin rows 
not less than three feet apart, the plants one 
foot apart or more—not Icsb. One-year-old 
roots if well grown are best. Salt is consid¬ 
ered an excellent dressing for asparagus un¬ 
less the plantation Is near the sea. The field 
may be dressed with any quantity of manure. 
We are of opinion, however, that a reasonable 
quantity—say 20 tons to an acre—answers just 
as well as the immense amounts sometimes 
used. 
A Drag Hake for liny. 
" Subscriber, ’’ Blanwood, Kansas, asks for a 
plau of a drag rake for hay. 
An&.—T he drag rake is made as follows :—A 
stout pole is bored at intervals of six inches so as 
to receive rake teeth one and a-ha!f inch thick 
and four feet long on each side. These should 
he of tough wood, either white oak or hickory. 
The rake teeth are tapered and pointed at the 
endB so that they will easily slide over the 
ground. The rake head is about 11 feet long, 
and when finished appears as shown at Fig. 
363. The end teeth are of extra strength, and 
are braced to a post set in each end of the main 
bar, as shown at Fig. 361. The bracing is re¬ 
quired to “strengthen the post, because the 
weight of the draft comes upon it. A center 
post is fitted in the middle of the main bar and 
two strips are bolted to the end and middle 
posts, as shown at Fig. 
359. The ends of the t 
drag consist, of gates 
made as shown at Fig. „ 
860, and hinged Bti ong- | 
ly to the end posts. 
Each of the end gates 
has a stout ring fitted 
to it, as shown, and the bolt should pass 
through the rear post and be secured there by 
means of a wasber and nut. The ends swing 
around on their hinges so that the rake, which 
is a double one, may be drawn either way. A 
horse is hitched to each end and is ridden by a 
boy ; the rake gathers up its load and Is drawn 
to the stack or baru, when the horses are 
Bwung around, drawing the ends around at 
the same time, and the rake is drawn out from 
under the load, leaving it ready to be forked 
up to the stack or in the windrow. The drag 
may be eleven leet long and eight feet wide, 
that is, four feet on each side; the center may 
be four feet high. It will hold 500 pounds of 
hay, when filled. 
Quack Gram—fillgrail on of Swallows. 
G. O. B., Worth Rochester, N. Y., sends 
grass for name, which is very tenacious of life 
and is there called " Dog Grass,” and asks, 1, 
how to exterminate it; 2, where do swallows 
go in winter. A learned neighbor of his says 
they go into the mud. 
Ans. —1. The grass is a kind of wheat often 
alluded to in thi6 journal. Its name, botani- 
cally, is Tritlcum repens. Couch, Quitch, 
Quick, Rye Grass and Quack are some of its 
many “ common” names. If a field infested 
with this, be planted to corn and well cultiva¬ 
ted during the season, the Couch Grass will 
have been killed, root and stem. There is one 
thing to be said against suffering this grass to 
get a foothold upon one's farm, viz , it 1 b hard 
to get rid of. But, as we hope to show Borne 
day, there are many things to be said in its 
favor. We have just cut one old field, three- 
quarters of the grass upon which whb 
"Quack,” and harvested two tons (or nearly) 
per acre therefrom. 2. There are more than 
50 species of swallows, differing more or less 
in shape, habits and time of migration. None 
of the 50 go Into the mud in Winter, so that 
that learned ornithological neighbor of yours 
must be, for once, in error. The cliff swallows, 
however, have occasionally been found hiber¬ 
nating in the inmost recesses of their nests 
instead of migrating southward, like the rest 
of the genus. They all go as far south as the 
Tropica where swallows are seen in the great¬ 
est numbers in our midwinter season. The 
barn swallows start southward in large flocks 
by the end of August or the first of September 
on some fine morning, following the shore or 
course of rivers. They reappear in the South¬ 
ern States from the middle of February to the 
first of March, a few at a time, reaching the 
latitude of N ;w England in mild seasons by 
the middle of May. The white-bellied swal¬ 
low or house martin comes the earliest of all 
in Spring aud generally leaves the last or 
almost the last. 
Cow Milkers. 
8. OH, Tleadwood, D, T , having heard 
about a newly patented “cow-milker” with 
which a friend’s friend is reported to have 
milked 100 cows a day, asks as to the merits of 
this and other milking devices. 
Ans —There have been many so-called milk¬ 
ing machines and devices for drawing milk in¬ 
vented and puffed into transient notoriety, but 
all have failed. We suspect your friend’s friend 
never milked 100 cows with a machine, and 
that there is some misunderstanding about it. 
The cow can’t be made to submit to any ma¬ 
chine. Tbe engraving here given represents 
a milking machine of which some thousands 
were sold by profuse advertising about three 
years ago. It consists of four sliver tubes to 
be pushed into the teats, each attached to a 
rubber tube, and these are gathered together at 
the end as shown. The cows, and owners who 
used the^e machines regularly, came to grief, 
for tbe tender mucous membrane of the teats 
and udder, which 16 as 
sensitive as the peri¬ 
toneal membrane of the 
abdomen, became in¬ 
flamed by the contact of 
the lu be§: und garget 
and other troubles su¬ 
pervened. Here is tbe 
difficulty. The writer 
in pursuit of knowledge 
and experience devoted 
two good cows to ex¬ 
periments with these 
machines, and persevered to the end with 
them with the effect of completely ruin¬ 
ing one old cow, and nearly spoiling a 
young one In less than two months. The 
milk flows perfectly well, but the irritation 
of the tender membrane is a serious evil. 
Other machines, operateo by air pumps which 
cause suction and are intended to milk a whole 
dairy of cows at once, have been introduced, 
but the thing wont work and the pipes and 
tubes and attachments to the teats give end¬ 
less trouble and bother. We know of none of 
these milking devices in use at Ihe present 
time; but know of many that were discarded 
very soon by dairymen who would gladly have 
made them successful if possible. 
Treolment of n Young 4’all'. 
J. B. R., Rouseville, Pa., says:—"I have a 
calf eleven weekB old. that has as yet eaten 
no grass. It is in good health apparently, and 
lively, though somewhat thin in flesh. It gets 
about two quarts of corn and oats chop and 
bran mixed with fkimmed milk nights and 
mornings. Its teeth appear to project, so that 
their edges come outside of the upper jaw 
when itB mouth is closed. They are somewhat 
loose, and the calf is continually rubbing them 
against the board fence. What should be done 
under the circumstances, If anything ?” 
An 3 . —This calf has been perhaps over-fed 
with grain. A young animal requires judi¬ 
cious feeding and before any grain is fed it 
should begin to eat hay or grass. The loose¬ 
ness of the teeth indicates disordered diges¬ 
tion and an inflammatory condition of the 
system. It would be better to give the calf a 
little fine grass or clover wetted and dusted 
with the chop and bran, and withdraw the 
clear meal until it eats the grass with relish. 
A calf of this age should eat at least a bushel 
basketful of grass or clover daily, and until it 
takes this naturally and with good appetite it 
363. 
and air is excluded. When trees are newly set 
out and evidently suffering for moisture, the 
best way is to remove the surface earth and 
give the rootB a good drenching. Then replace 
the surface earth and cover with leaves, old 
manure, straw or hay This will carry the 
plant through the drought, and it will thrive 
better than if watered every night according 
to your neighbor’s practice. 
Information Wauled. 
J. G. Dyson , Washington, Ga., writes: “The 
Rural’s correspondents, Messrs. Holmes and 
Sweetland say that the herd or fence law in 
Iowa is the poor man's friend. An election 
on which the question of establishing a herd- 
law depended has just been held here, and has 
resulted in the defeat of the proposed law by a 
vote of nearly five to one, the majority being 
swelled by all the poor men—negro and white. 
I would therefore like to know something 
about the provisions of that Iowa herd law 
/“7 
li t / s a s iru it St t / n 
~vujj '// ifr/i // // // / ~ 
in n a a s a a 
FIG. 
which is a boon to the poor man. A good law 
of the sort would be worth thousands of dol¬ 
lars to farmers here ; bnt they can’t have it be¬ 
cause the poor man thinks it would curtail his 
privileges—or rights, as he deems them ’’ 
MiaccllanenuN. 
W. B. P„ Mt, Baton, Ohio, in the Rural 
of June 9, complains of some White Russian 
Spring Wheat which he ordered from a N Y. 
seedsman and which came to hand poor and 
shriveled. It came up nicely, but after a time 
stopped growing and he asked whether its 
stoppage was due to the fact that the seed was 
shriveled or to the climate. We replied that 
lu our experience wheat grew fairly well from 
shriveled seed, bnt that the grain was smaller; 
and the heads longer. '.Our friend A. M. writes, 
from Bay City, Michigan, that the trouble was 
due to the fact that White Russian is a WiDter 
wheat, and having been sowed in Spring it 
will not mature until " after it has encoun¬ 
tered tbe frosts of Winter.” White Russian 
wheat, however, is a Spring variety, although 
it is often sown in Fall in some parts of the 
country. As W. II. P. sent for White Ru‘slan 
Spring, however, it is highly probable he got 
the Spring sort, so that the above "explana¬ 
tion” of the trouble will not "explain” if. 
We have raised both kinds of White Russian 
wheat at the Rural Farm, and have succeeded 
in changing the Spring Into a Winter variety. 
8 F. B , Buckeye. Center, IU., has a grape 
vine, 43 years old, that has never borne a 
grape though it blossoms every year. It is a 
fastgrower, the vine increasing from 14 to 20 
feet per season, and he asks, 1 what will 
make it bear fruit; 2 a remedy for light on 
fruit trees; 3. where can Tree Peonies ught 
and at what price. 
Ans. —The blossoms are probably sterile— 
that is, they have no stamens. If you would 
procure pollen from other vines and dust It 
upon the blossoms as soon as fully open, we 
think such blossoms would bear fruit. This 
is neither so impracticable nor dllH.ultas it 
seems. 2, N othing that we know of. Saw or 
cut off the branches a? soon as it appears. 
Wash the stems (trunks) with lime and whale- 
oil soap. 3 Tree Peonies cost from one to 
two dollars each ; of most nurserymen. 
" T.," no address, asks whether it would not 
be well to bind grain with cord after it has 
been cut with the cradle, in view of the great 
use of cord binders now in connection with 
reapers, and the loss of time in binding the 
sheaves with straw bands. 
Ans —So far as our experience goes, and 
from what we can learn from others, there is 
nothing cheaper than straw for hand-binding. 
Twine at present costB from 20 to 35 cents per 
acre. 
M. IP. H., Roanoke, Ind., asks, 1, when is the 
best time to sow turnips; 2. what is the best 
kind. 
Ans —1 In Indiana all turnip seed, with tbe 
exception of Rutabaga, may be sown up to 
September 1. 2. The best turnips, such as 
White Egg, R*d top Strap-leaf, Golden Ball, 
etc., do best sown about the middle of August. 
Rutabaga should be sown In the latter part of 
July to August 1. 
J. H. G., Hart, Web , is preparing ground for 
artichokes, but hiB neighbors sav " Dou’t get 
’em; they’ll spread over the whole country.” 
and he asks whether there is any danger of 
their doing so, and which is the best kind. 
Ans.— The artichokes are hard to get rid of 
when once established, the root-stocks spread¬ 
ing out In every direction. That known as the 
Large Globe is preferred. 
W. II, Pan iPerf, Ohio, asks why Potato 
Onions are rottiug at this season, while in tbe 
bed—the bulbs are as large as hulled walnuts, 
and both the sets and the large ones are rotting 
alike. 
Ans. —This passes our understanding. If 
we were on the spot and familiar with all the 
circumstances, we would, possibly, be able to 
fathom the mystery. 
G. P. II., Evansville, Wis., asks whether 
there is any strawberry that doesn’t have run¬ 
ners, but multiplies from the roots, and, if so, 
whether it is hardy. 
Ans. —None that we know of, except the 
Bush Alpines. Mammoth Bush conies the 
nearest. After hot Summers the Alpines often 
fail. 
Mrs, M. IT , De Ruyter, N. Y. —They are as 
good as any. You should have sent your full 
name. Inquiries of that sort we prefer' to 
answer by mail. 
Communications rbckivbd fob tub wkkk bnb- 
iNfl Saturday, July 28. 
W. F. B.—F. IP. P.—T. T. L.—W. F.—IT. IT. C.— 
M. \V. J.—B.—K. J. R.—E. W. B.—H. S -P. H. B. 
A. B. A.-W. K. E.—L. H—S. T. R.-D. L.— 
S. R. M., you should try our methods of corn cul¬ 
ture on a small plot. An experiment farm, con¬ 
ducted on your plan, would need to consist of sev¬ 
eral thousand acres. -U. C. B.—W. M — J. W. Mc- 
C ,M.D.-F. II. S.-J. C. I).-W, IT. M.-C. K. I\— 
Mrs. B. C. D„ wheat number—M. W. II.—J. W. S. 
-G. A.-J. B. R.—E. L. P.—Mrs. S. II. R.—A. M.— 
P. S.jW.—“ Stockman”—T. H. H.—I. H. M.—H. 
