516 
THE RURAL NEW-YORKER 
AU6. 6 
Rural does not appear to be included in the 
list of those who have nothing but praise for a 
seedling that has been tested only in one place, 
perhaps the editor will allow tue an additional 
word. 
Yon mention three white grapes as before 
the public—the Niagara, Pocklington and Lady 
Washington. The first cannot properly be be¬ 
fore the public until it has been tried in differ¬ 
ing soils and climates. But when you speak 
of the fruit, I have tasted clusters of these va¬ 
rieties in their supposed perfection, and I must 
say it is an injustice to name the Lady Wash¬ 
ington in connection with the other two. This 
grape, although somewhat lacking in spici¬ 
ness, is a good dessert fruit, entirely free from 
the foxy odor so plainly and, allow me to say, 
so disgustingly prominent in the Niagara and 
Pocklington. 
You remark that the Niagara may be good 
enough to Bell well in the general market. Let 
me tell you that grape-eaters are growing 
yearly more exacting in their demands for 
good fruit, and the cultivators of really fine 
grapes are even now reaping their reward. 
Catawba6 doubled on the price of Concords in 
the New York market last season. Good 
judges there report a continued inquiry for a 
better quality of grapes than the Concord and 
Hartford, while a doll, greenish-yellow grape 
like the Niagara is most unattractive, and the 
quality is not up to the ordinary standard. 
Between the Niagara and the Pocklington, 
with their sickening odor, there is the differ¬ 
ence that the latter shows larger berries, more 
nearly golden, with a shade more of saccha¬ 
rine, although neither can serve the purpose 
of a wine grape, for which I understand the 
Niagara is now recommended. 
Newburgh, N. Y. A. A. Bensbl. 
®|f jgrrirsman. 
NOTES BY A STOCKMAN. 
When a person undertakes to criticise 
another he should be sure he is right before he 
goes ahead. 1 am led to make this remark by 
reading the strictures of Sereno Edwards Todd 
on Mr. French’s description of the cattle gad 
fly, CE^trus boviB. Mr. Todd is all wrong, not¬ 
withstanding his 50 years’ study of this insect. 
He even convicts himself of error when he 
says in one place that the mature fly gnaws 
and nibbles a passage through the skin and in 
another place that the larva 1 , do the same thing. 
He says that the larvae pass into the chrysalid 
state before the Winter, and that there is no 
orifice in the skin, etc. Further, he uses the 
following curiously incomprehensible sentence, 
viz., “After the chrysalid has become a fly, 
which Is the parent insect, the fly gDaws and 
nibbles a passage up through the skin of the 
ox or cow, where it remains until it is fully 
developed.” Now, after 50 years of study of 
this creature, Mr. Todd can perhaps tell us 
precisely where this "where” is located, 
where the perfect fly “ remains until it is fully 
developed. 
The facts are that the larvae remain under 
the skin, in the tumors which they cause, until 
late in the Spring and the early Summer; 
and that there is an orifice during the whole 
life of the larva? in the tumor. The orifice 
may sometimes be covered by a sort of scab of 
dry pus, but there is a distinct hole in the 
hide and it is these holes which cause the 
tanners to grumble so much when they get to¬ 
gether at conventions and pass resolutions 
against these very holes. The^Chicago hide 
dealers who buy the hides of the* caitle which 
are packed in the Winter in that city, have 
complained loudly of the damage, and deduct 
a certain sum for every wormy hide. 
Mr. Todd advocates the use of the card or 
a rubbing pole to destroy the insect, “ whether it 
is in the larval, chrysalid or fly transformation," 
as soon as it begins to emerge from the back 
of the animal. Here it seims the insect may 
emerge at any state; but how can a chrysalid 
which is dormant and helpless gnaw itself out? 
And how can the carder be on the watch to 
catch the creature when it puts out its head, 
and card its head off ? And, lastly, how would 
these remedies answer in the large droves on 
the plains where the most of the mischief is 
done? A person who deals with "scientific 
facts which cannot be controverted,” should at 
least give reasonable and practical remedies. 
I think there are at least 10,000 readers of the 
Rural who know that at least some of Mr. 
Todd’s statements are wrong and I leave them 
to judge. 
The death of Jersey Belle of Scituate is a 
loss to mourn over. She was undoubtedly a 
phenomenal cow and has met the fate common 
to such large producers. Milk fever is the 
bane of heavy milkeis and it seems, whether 
they are naturally prolific or are made so by 
undue forcing the danger is equally to be 
feared. The unnatural excitement of the or¬ 
gans is more than a cow can survive for a 
full term of life. 
There was once a man—either real or imagi¬ 
nary, it serves the same purpose—who wanted 
to carry on wars by contract. His method 
was as follows: “ I will take a thousand men 
watered regularly. On the old system o 
carrying stock the loss of weight caused by 
the suffering of the cattle was 10 per cent.; in 
the new cars the loss is found to be only three 
per cent. The value of the quantity of human¬ 
ity involved ean be computed to a dollar, 
being seven per cent, on the gross value of the 
ESPALIER PEAR TREE— HORIZONTAL TRAINING.—FIG 380. 
and challenge a thousand of the enemy. Kill 
them. Ghallenge a thousand more. Kill them. 
In a hundred days a hundred thousand men 
are disposed of. Let them bring on a hundred 
thousand more; 1 will kill them all off by com¬ 
putation.” This seems very absurd, but 
things equally absurd are said and proposed 
every day. Here is an instance. A person 
tells ns in an agricultural paper how to get 
cheap butter. He feeds 3*3 quarts of meal 
daily to eight cows and gats 26 pounds of but¬ 
ter in a week. He feeds the same quantity of 
meal to six cows and expects to get 35 pounds 
a week ; then he feeds the meal to four cows 
and gets 40 pounds a week. Alas! why did he 
live stock carried. Humanity costs money, 
but it is money well spent always. 
-- 
Hereford Cattle. 
In his article on Hereford Cattle in the Ru¬ 
ral of July 23, Mr. Miller asserts that they 
have the advantage of 25 per cent, in the graz¬ 
ing and feeding qualities. This is very easily 
said, but It remains to be. proved. Some of the 
choicest Herefords imported by Mr. Corning, 
of Albany, New York, in 1840 and subse¬ 
quently, were taken into Erie and Genesee 
Counties, kept for several years alongside of 
Short-horns, and did no better, if even so well. 
ADJUSTABLE PROTECTION OF STRAW-MATTING 
FIG 381. 
stop ? Had he given the meal to two cows he 
might have, at the same rate of computation 
120 pounds of butter and with one cow about 
240 pounds. And all by computation. Such 
foolishness as this does much harm by weak¬ 
ening the confidence of the persons who read 
it, 
Harvest time is a weariness for the house¬ 
wife who is put to her wits’ ends to provide 
food for the help. The farmer who has a 
small flock of sheep is saved all bother of 
this kind. A carcass of mutton is a very ac¬ 
NOZZLB OF FRENCH WATERING CAN 
WITH COPPER LIP.—FIG 382. 
At any rate, they soon ran out there, and 
scarcely one can now be found in that whole 
region; while Short-horns have multiplied 
rapidly, and the full-breds, and their grades are 
at present a maj mty of the cattle in these and 
some adjoining counties. It has been proved 
over and over again, for the past 50 years in 
America, that Short-borns are as hardy as any 
other cattle in existence. If some bulls tnrned 
out on to the ranches of tha great Western 
plains have not proved so hardy, it is simply 
because they were too high-led, pampered and 
forced from birth till taken there; and conse¬ 
CLOCHZS PROTECTED BT STRAW-MATTING.—FIG 383. 
ceptable provision for a lot of hungry men and 
there is no danger of the meat spoiling before 
it is all consumed. Domestic consumption is 
the first thing for a farmer to consider and for 
this purpose a few sheep might be usefully 
kept on every farm, j ust as a moderate flock 
of poultry is kept for eggs and meat for the 
household. If this were done the dog nuisance 
would be got rid of; for farmers would then 
get along without dog6 of their own, and stray 
ones would be cursorily dealt with. 
We do not sufficiently estimate the value of 
the modern improvements in our methods of 
quently when let looee to shift for themselves, 
and deprived of their accustomed meal or 
grain ration, and above all allowed to serve 
numerous cows without restraint, they very 
naturally lost in condition. Herefords, or any 
other breed of cattle would have suffered in 
the same manner, reared and then used like 
the Short-horns above, 
Jeriey Working Oxen. 
What is said of Guernseys on p. 485, is excel¬ 
lent and no one values them more highly than 
I do. 1b speaking of the bullocks, it is said 
they make strong and excellent draft animals, 
FIG. ifS4. 
FIG. 885. 
GRArES IN POTS. 
FIG. 886, 
life. Ease and comfort prevent physical waste 
and tend to lengthen life. What is good for 
man is good for his beast. When men traveled 
much on horseback it was customary for the 
horseman to see his horse fed and watered and 
rubbed down aud made comfortable before he 
fed and rested himBelf. We ought not to ig¬ 
nore this principle now. It pays. There are 
now parlor and eating cars for cattle in which 
the beeves ^travel in comfort and are fed and 
a purpose for which their most delicate rivals 
(meaning the Jerseys), are entirely unsuitable. 
The Italics are mine. In reference to them I 
wish to add there are exceptions to this. A 
neighbor of mine haB a pair of four-year-old 
full-bred Jersey Bteers at work now on his 
farm, which are as strong and useful as a pair 
of good 15 hand horses. Their natural walk is 
at least four miles per hour, and they are fair 
brothers, reminding me in all their movements 
and work of the admirable Conneeticnt work¬ 
ing oxen. They are also very hardy, and do 
not mind the hot sun at all. Considering the 
small cost of their harness—a simple yoke and 
a pair of bows—and the quickness and ease 
with which they can be attached to and de¬ 
tached from the cart, plow or harrow, these 
cattle are more economical than either of the 
three pairs of work horses which are kept on 
the same farm with them. 
Jersey bulls are Dot very salable as a gen 
eral thing, and hundreds of the calves now 
annually go to the butcher for veal. As there 
is no doubt if made Bteers that they will make 
first-rate, smart working oxen, it is to be hoped 
now they may be more often saved and reared 
for this purpose. The doing of this will prove 
quite an advantage to the country, and render 
the Jersey cow more popular than ever among 
us. A Cattle Breeder. 
Pure-Bred Holstein Cattle. 
On the 28',h ult. there arrived in this city, by 
the “Rid Cross Line " from Holland. 127 head 
of pnre-bred Holstein cattle, imported by 
Messrs. Smiths & Powell, of Syracuse, N. Y. 
The herd consisted of 101 heifers, 19 heifer 
calves, three bull calves, one cow, three bulls, 
aged three, two and one years respectively. 
It has not been our good fortune to see all of 
the importations of cattle that have arrived in 
this port, but of all that we have seen this was 
certainly the finest lot that we have ever ex¬ 
amined. The animals were selected from the 
representative herds of North Holland bv one 
of the above firm, who are dealing largely in 
this breed. They were looking unusually well 
after their eight days’ voyage, and were im¬ 
mediately transferred to Lakeside Stock Farm 
at Syracuse. This breed of cattle is faBt be¬ 
coming popular in this country and as milkers 
they have already taken a front rank, for the 
record of some of the Holsteins has not as yet 
been excelled. Speaking of the record of some 
of these cows, we are reminded of a recen- 
inquiry from one of our subscribers, who was 
anxious to know if we, personally, believed 
that the record of the Holsteins, as published 
in our special "Cattle Number,” was a true 
and correct one. The Rural has certainly 
nothing to gain and much to lose by stating 
things in its columns that are not strictly true. 
We answered our inquirer that we certainly 
did believe it true, otherwise we should not 
have inserted it, and we are informed that the 
parties are ready to make affidavit to the cor¬ 
rectness of the record as printed in that num¬ 
ber. 
®j)t ^jiiariait. 
COMB FOUNDATION. 
How Oon»tracted. 
The process of making comb foundation is 
not an intricate one. In a deep boiler wax is 
melted, and in this a thin piece of board or 
metal plate of the desired width ie dtoped and 
to thi6 the melted wax adheres. After the re¬ 
quisite thickness is obtained the Bheets are left 
to cool and will then cleave readily from the 
molds. Sometimes cylinders are revolved in 
the melted wax, so constructed as to be raised 
or lowered at will and on these the sheet is 
formed. When the sheet is thus prepared it is 
ready for the foundation machine which gives 
it the honey-cell impression. 
There are before me four specimens of comb 
foundation recently received Ircm J. Van Deu- 
sen «fc Sons, Sprout Brook, N. Y., varying in 
measure from four to fourteen square feet to 
the pound. Gne specimen for brood frames 
illustrates the use of wire in comb foundation, 
which prevents the sagging or breaking down 
of the comb when weighted with honey. In 
extremely warm weather there is a liability 
for the wax to melt and thB cells to become 
somewhat distorted. This distortion the wire 
is said to preclude. Our best apiarists prefer 
foundation measuring about five square feet 
to the pound, and not lesB than four inches in 
width. 
fle«n*on« for Us Use. 
It economizes time for the workers. B ies 
busily engaged in making foundation cannot 
do this and work in the fields also, and in 
honey-harvest time it is essential that eveiy 
worker be at its post. Wax Is a secretion 
formed underneath the abdomen in little pel 
lets, and there may be as many as eight of 
these at a time. The time consumed in remov¬ 
ing, molding and working these wax pellets 
into comb foundation is considerable, aud the 
rapid Becretion of wax requires large con¬ 
sumption of food. The amount of honey re¬ 
quired to secrete a pound of wax i6 said to be 
not less than 15 poundB. Again, comb foun¬ 
dation insures worker comb. Anything that 
shall aid directly or indirectly In the rearing 
of the brood, should be sought for, and in no 
way can worker-comb be more economically 
produced than by this artificial means. 
Aid lh« Ilren 
in the time of comb-making by placing cap¬ 
pings of new combs in feeders near the hive, 
and they will quickly appropriate it to their 
