MAY 5 
THE RURAL NEW-YORKER. 
kinds—tho best, or “ kings,” at the top of the , 
plants, being cut first; next, the " middlings," 
at the ends of the branches; and lastly, the I 
"buttons,” growing from tho main branches. 
Two or three men per aero will do this work. 
After each cutting, the heads, until cured, are 
placed under cover (or in the sun in dry weath- 1 
er) and stirred frequently, to prevent heating, 
and cause the seeds to drop out. The three kinds 
are then separately packed in suitable boxes. 
About 125.000 heads is an average yield per acre. 
In England the raising of Teasels is a hazardous 
affair, owing to tho humidity of the climate, and 
is attended with great labor and care. Grubs 
attack tho growing plants also: but a successful 
crop brings large profits. 
Knight says the Teasel was known to the 
Greeks and Romans, and used for napping wool¬ 
en cloth. This work was, until recent years, 
done by hand, a number of Teasel heads being 
fixpd in a small wooden frame with cross handles. 
The surface of the damped cloth was worked first 
in tho direction of the warp and then in that of 
the weft. Teaseling machines are now altogether 
used, the burs being so arranged as to press in 
a body upon ttio wholo width of tho cloth which 
passes beneath them, and the hooked bracts 
catch upon tho libers, causing them to project 
from tho surface end form a nap, luventivo 
talent, has failed to provide a substitute for Tea¬ 
sels, which, being well adapted Tor the work in 
other respects, will yield or break in contact with 
a. knot or other obstacle, without injury to the 
cloth. 
USES OF INDIAN CORN. 
B. F. Johnson, in writing to the Wisconsin 
Farmer on tho varieties and production of Indian 
Corn, sums up its nsoa in a way that may strike 
people as rather novel, inasmuch as he puts the 
whisky product as first in the liBt. He says : 
1. The most profitable use of Indian Corn, in a 
general sense, is manufacturing it into which /— 
since it makes money for tho distiller, affords a 
large revenue to tho Government, and opens a 
home market for the farmer, and a sure market 
for dishonest politicians and conspicuous thieves, 
by putting the first out, of the pale of respectable 
society, and the other within the walls of tho 
penitentiary. 
2. In an agricultural Bonne, tho most profitable 
uso of Corn is found in tho old custom of the 
out-of-door feeding of hogs and cattle : but in 
case prices advance and times chango, and when 
tho country becomos older, and labor lessens 
relatively in prloo; when other foods than corn 
are cultivated for feeding, and there is less cost 
in improvements, grinding and cooking will be 
pretty sure to supersede tho present stylo of 
rough feeding. 
3. Under a certain set of circumstances, the 
most profitable uso of Indian Corn is to suffer 
herds of cattle and hogs, moving and feeding in 
company, to consume the standing crop on the 
ground where grown. 
I. Among tho minor profitablo uses of Indian 
Corn is soiling milch cows lu summer, and pre¬ 
paring whole green corn for winter food for 
these and younger stock, and the now process of 
of the ensilage of maize is recommended, since, 
if it succeeds as well in our State as in the hot 
and dry elimato of the south of Europe, it will 
afford dairymen the easy means of securing suc¬ 
culent and nutritive milk-producing food during 
the winter months. 
5. The Corn crop of 1860 having boon estimat¬ 
ed in the census report of 1870 at 210,000,000 
bushels, an advance each year of ten per 
cent, over the previous year wonld bring the 
crop up to the enormous figures of 376.000,000 
bushels in 1875. An annual increase of live per 
cent, would make tho total for tho same year 
354,000,000 bushels. But wo really know noth¬ 
ing about it. Tho commercial classes take ad¬ 
vantage of our ignorance, and we are left at 
their mercy, which is merciless; therefore, tho 
adoption or agricultural statistics would bo one 
of the greatest boons tho legislature could con¬ 
fer on tho farming interests of the State, and 
illustrate hotter than any other essay could do, 
"Indian Corn, its varieties, its cultivation, and i 
most profitable uses.” 
iiiirg gjMkitirm 
THE USE OF SODA OR SALESATUS IN MILK. 
A correspondent inquires whether soda or 
saleratus may be used in milk and, if so. how it is 
to be applied in milk designed for cheese making. 
When milk becomes changed an alkali is some¬ 
times used for neutralizing acidity. There is no 
harm in using a small quantity of saleratus or 
soda for tho purpose named, and it shoull be 
added before the rennet is applied. It should 
he applied in solution, being dissolved in water. 
Care must he taken not to use alkalies in too 
large quantity, as they have a tendency to com¬ 
bine with tho fats of the milk, making soap. 
i Wo have often employed a solution of saleratus 
for sweetening sour milk, in tho way named, 
and then worked it into a fair quality of cheese. 
A few years ago, Mr. Jocelyn (then of tho 
Little \ alley Factory') claimed he could produce 
a superior skimmed cheese by tho use of alkalies: 
1 and hia process, as described by him, is as 
follows: -The milk is set long enough for the 
cream to sonr before skimming—then churn and 
mix this sour buttermilk with tho sour skim- 
milk and "tho acid will destroy the liber in the 
milk so that it will bc> a tender cheeso.” Then 
tho mass is heated up rapidly, and when at tho 
proper temperature alkalios are added sufficient 
to neutralize tho acid and saponify the remaining 
grease in the milk, so that a smooth onrd and a 
clear grease whey aro obtained, aud the curd goes 
into the hoops no sourer than when cheese is 
made from sweet milk. 
At a meeting of tho American Dairymen’s 
Association, Mr. Jocelyn exhibited cheese which 
he claimed was made under this process, and old 
cheese-makers as well as experts, were astonished 
at the lino flavor and rich quality of tho product 
shown. Since that time wo have heard but 
little of this process, aud wo conclude it, has not 
been practiced to any extent, or that it did not 
meet all the conditions claimed when in the 
hands of other makers. 
-»--*■•*-— 
TURNING COWS TO PASTURE. 
There is great difference of opinion among 
dairymen in regard to t he timo when cows should 
bo turned to grass. Many contend that all kinds 
of stock should bo kept off pasture grounds 
during spring until there is a good growth of 
grass. In otlior words, the herbage must luivo 
obtained such a start that the stock will not bo 
able to cat it down short during tho season, and 
thus they believe a supply is more fully insured. 
Another plan, practiced by many, is to let 
stock have the full run of pastures as soon as 
tho snow’ is off the ground, allowing it to pick on 
the old grass and eat of tho early vegetation as 
soon as it springs up. Thu chief reason urged 
for this latter course Is, that tho chango from 
hay to grass in feeding should bo as gradual as 
possible, hi order that stock may bo kept, in good 
health; that, if cows hi spring are turned 
suddenly from dry food upon luxuriant pastur¬ 
age, the change is very liable to produce serious 
troubles—excessive scouring—bloating and other 
disorders that impair health, often for a con¬ 
siderable length of time, and even if they do not 
lead to tho total less of tho animal, they cause 
tho loss of her milk for longer or shorter periods. 
Now a middle course, botweon tho two plans 
named, we think, is to bo preferred aud will give 
the best results. In the first place, it may he 
remarked, pasture lands will he injured in pro¬ 
ductiveness by allowing stock to roam over the 
fields early in spring before the grouud is settled, 
and while it is soft and easily trodden up. Tho 
“ poaching of the hind,” by the frequent tread 
of cattle, destroys the grass in places while the 
surface is rendered uneven or filled with holes 
made by tho feet of cattle. Again, when the 
frost is coming out of the ground it is often 
rendered so loose in texture that the roots of 
grasses are easily pulled out and cows feeding on 
the old herbage not unfrequently injure tho 
turf by pulling up grass by tire roots, it will be 
advisable then not to turn stock upon pastures 
until the ground is fully Bottled, and is not in 
condition to be injured by the feet of cattle. 
Nothing is gained by allowing pastures to get a 
tall growth of grass before turning stock upon 
thorn, because they tramp tho herbage down 
in places, aud by neglecting to feed other por¬ 
tions down, it soon becomes hard aud woody 
and will not bo eaten. 
Grass is sweetest and gives the best results in 
milk when it is eaten off at regular intervals aud 
is not allowed to get a large growth. In this 
way tho product is greater while the exhaustion 
to tho soil is less than it is where tufts of grass 
are allowed to mature aud go to seed. Cows 
ought not to ho turned at once from hay to 
pasture, since a sudden chango of thi 3 kind will 
he apt to affect their health. A better way is to 
give them tho run or pastures for an hour or 
two at first, and so allow them gradually, from 
day to day, to become accustomed to the change 
of food, and they should be fed from time to 
time with hay after they have been turned to 
pasture altogether. Cows will frequently eat 
greedily of hay when they have been out to 
pasture for a considerable length of time aud 
rations of hay will often be found useful in cor¬ 
recting a tendency to looseness of tho bowels or 
scouring. 
Some dairymen arc in tho habit of giving salt 
to animals at certain intervals of time, but the 
better way is to keep it constantly before them 
or w ithin their reach so they can taka it daily or 
at will. Nature regulates the quantity of salt 
needed much better than it can bo done by 
portioning it out at intervals, and if the animal 
always has it within reach there is no danger of 
over-feeding and the milk will show less variation [ 
in character. An important point to bo observed 
in the management of milch-stock is to keep 
them in a healthy, thrifty condition, and if cows 
on turning to grass, are inclined to loose flesh 
and run down weak and thin, they should be fed 
rations of ground grain and thus kept up to tho 
maximum in health and strength. 
--- 
CHEESE MADE FROM SKIMMED MILK — 
ITS CONSTITUENTS, &c. 
The well-known chemist, Dr. Henry A. Mott 
of New York, has recently been making an ex¬ 
amination of skimmod-milk cheese and of that 
known as oleomargarine choose. In o, recent 
letter to us, ho givos tho result of his analyses 
of two specimens of choose, made from t,ho same 
quality of skimmed milk, tho one being treated 
with oleomargarino and the other receiving no 
additional fat. They arc as follows : 
Constituents. 
Water. 
Cheese solids. 
Skfiiimnd-Mlllc Oleomargarine 
('haose. Choose. 
Fat. 
Oascitie. . 
Inorganic soils. 
It will bo observed, he says, that tho oleo¬ 
margarino cheese (that is to say, this sample,) 
has not as high a percentage of fat as American 
wholQ-milk cheese; this, of course, can be aug¬ 
mented at pleasure. And ho adds " I con¬ 
sider tho choose very palatable and very health¬ 
ful, and one which cannot help but command a 
market.” 
1‘rof. Galdweli. of Cornell University, wo 
have been informed, has made a number of 
analysoB of oleomargarine cheese, but tho re¬ 
sults, so far as we know, have not been publish¬ 
ed. Dr. Mott seems to agree with Prof. Cald¬ 
well in regard to tho palatahlenoss and health- 
fulness of oleomargarine cheese. Aud theme 
statements havo hoou frequently verified by oth¬ 
ers who have used olcoruargarine cheese in their 
families, knowing it as oleomargarine when pur¬ 
chasing it. Indeed, In regurd to its hoalthful- 
ness, no complaint has been offered by any con¬ 
sumer, so far as we havo hoard, though the arti¬ 
cle has now boon, before tho public several years. 
Oleomargarine cheese w-as not designed t.o com¬ 
pete with whole-milk choose, tho point claimed 
by the inventor being that it was an improve¬ 
ment of alutumod-milk cheese, aud this it cer¬ 
tainly is. 
The low price at which butter has ruled for 
some time past, renders it doubtful whether it 
will pay to make this character of choose, lint 
we hope it may, since it helps to relieve the mar¬ 
ket of a part of the skimmed cheese that would 
otherwise come forward; and much of this can 
hardly ho esteemed as palatablo, even if it ho 
healthful. Now that a law is to he passed, re¬ 
quiring oleomargarine cheese, as well as skim¬ 
med choose, to bo branded, we suppose most of 
tho objeetious urged against the former will bo 
obviated. 
Cljf ,A|)i;ni;ut. 
ARTIFICIAL COMB. 
Mocu has beeu said of late about artificial 
comb for boos, many claiming that the bees 
will do far better and lay up more honey with 
this artificial help (ban if left to make Ukir own 
comb out of the honey which they gather. But 
now comes Mr. J. I». Moore, an old New York 
Stale apiarist, and reads a paper before tho 
Michigan State Bee - keepers’ Association, in 
which ho denounces the so artificial combs and 
comb foundations in no measured terms. In 
referring to what many term tho great progress 
made of late years in Leo culture, lie says: 
" Why, some oven go ao far as to say they 
want to make tho oombB for tho poor, innocent 
bees ; yes, and the honey, too. What will the 
poor bees do? Get lazy, of course, and die 
with gout and rheumatism, and forty other dis¬ 
eases that their lazy owners are already sub¬ 
ject to! 
"But look at it from a standpoint of dollars 
and cents, if you please. Mr. Doolittle says 
that tho natural comb can he produced for SI) 
cents per pound, and I think so, too; but I 
don’t tl fink an apiarist could mako all the white 
comb he needs to uso in his own apiary for box 
honey, or by the quantity, at that price. There 
aro many times in the season when we can get 
comb built without costing a cent—only to put 
in and take out the frame. For instance, last 
spring, in May, when the hard maples were in 
bloom, I put an empty frame in each of my 
strong stocks, and they built a Langstroth 
frame full of drone comb within a week, and 
followed with eggs ; there was hardly a drop of 
honey in any of it, and as stocks were all strong 
at that time, except one or two, it gave me a 
’ quantity of comb to start with. Then by a little 
) miuu-gcment through tho season, all tho neces¬ 
sary CDub can be made without lessoning tho 
crop of box honey a particle. 
"As thore aro about twico as many square 
feet in a pound of natural comb as in a pound of 
artificial, It reduces the value of artificial to 25 
cents per pound, as compared with tho natural. 
1 he natural comb has the cells already drawn 
out, and as tho bees cau deposit honey in the 
■ colla at once, they will commence work on them 
immediately, thereby saving valuable time in 
the bight of tho season, which reduces the value 
of the artificial comb one-half, or again makes 
it worth only about 10 or 12 cents per pound, as 
compared with tho natural at 50 cents. 
"This calculation is biwod upon tho supposi¬ 
tion that tho artificial comb foundation is just 
as good for the consumer as tho natural, which 
no good judge of comb honey is willing to ad¬ 
mit. Hence, when the facts are all in, there is 
no difficulty in showing that tho artificial comb 
foundation is an actual damage in tho surplus 
department; or in other words, if the apiarist 
should have tho artificial comb foundation fur¬ 
nished him fur nothing, he would make nionoy 
to melt it up and sell the wax, aud use natural 
comb in place of it. 
"As to the actual damage that the artificial 
combs are to the apiarist in the brood chamber, 
Mr. Burch is more competent to judge. I wonld 
ask, * \\ hat did tho Almighty create bees for, if 
not to nuke comb ?' if yon aro going to com¬ 
pete with tho bees in making comb, you will 
need to import cheap Chinese labor, got ma¬ 
chines furnished for nothing and have tho wax 
thrown in, and then tho bees will leavo yon be¬ 
hind. When my bees gel, so lazy that they 
won't mako their own comb, then I will brim¬ 
stone the whole lot and turn my attention to 
some other business. 
" Of all tiro humbugs that havo been imposed 
upon tho bee-keepers of this continent iu times 
past, L consider artificial comb fraught with 
more danger and damage to the interests of boo- 
culture than all the otliors combined, as it 
strikes a vital point that of vitiating comb hon¬ 
ey in our markets. In many cities, it is now im¬ 
possible to sell pure extracted honey to any ex¬ 
tent, as consumers discovered that, there was an 
artificial product in tho market put up iu that 
rorm, and being incompetent to judge, they 
reject all of that class of goods. Now, when 
they find that comb-honey has boon tampered 
with, they will refuse to buy at all.” 
- 4 - »'»-- 
BIBULOUS BEES. 
We have a'ways admired the way, says tho 
Los Angeles Herald, "the little busy bee im¬ 
proves each shining hour,” but there is one 
tiling about the industrious creature that is not 
generally known. A u immense honey production 
has grown up in Los Angeles and San Diego 
Counties in the past two or three yours. Every 
canyon and coigne of vantage, in both counties, 
has its bco farm. Col. Chalmers Scott informs 
us that tho bees iu San Diego County have 
developed a groat fondness for orange blossoms 
and grapes. It was the fashion, formerly, to 
make 4,000 or 3,0f)() gallons of wine at Gnajoine 
every year, hut, since the bees have made their 
appearance, tho vineyard at that point has failed 
to yield. Tho grape forms as of yore, but the 
juice is sucked out by the bees, thus anticipating 
tho wine press. They dip into the orange blos¬ 
soms also, tuid tho consequence is that the fruit 
is dwarfed. Of course, in Los Angeles County 
we have enough grapes and orange blossoms to 
make the depredations of the insect a very trilling 
matter. Besides, the bco ranches are located at 
siieli a distance from our vineyards and orange 
groves that any injury they could possibly 
inlliot Upon them is a very trifling matter. 
Some ill-feeling lias grown up between the 
bee-men and sheep-men of Sati Diego County, 
from a cause which develops an Ini cresting trait 
on tbo part of tho bees. As is generally known, 
ft groat portion of the feed of bees in Southern 
California is the blossom of the white sago. It 
makes a white aud agreeable honey. But when 
sheep havo once pastured among tho white snge 
tho bees will havo nothing more to do with it. 
It is quite likely that, at tho next session of 
the Legislature, there will bo an effort both 
upon tho part of tho bee-men and the sheep-men 
to obtain some legislation from their respective 
standpoints. If the bees multiply at the rate 
which has characterized them for tho past three 
years, tho controversies which will arise about 
them may rival the fierce collisions of the fence 
and no-fonco men. We have thus far had tho 
sweet, wo shall shortly be treated to the sting. 
-»-»♦ 
In May, if not done already, should old hives 
need repairing or cleaning remove both bees and 
combs into new ones, leaving out drone combs. 
Build up weak stocks by feeding or uni .ing them 
with queenless ones. It is especially desirable 
that all moth-worms should be destroyed now, as 
the Hiirvivors may breed a large progeny by 
autumn. 
