farm. In lulling lice, two or three applications 
are necessary as tho nits keep hatching. Many 
fail by not observing this ; it is a mistake to sup¬ 
pose that fat cattle do not have them, but no ani¬ 
mals can long remain in good condition where 
they are abundant. People who are negligent in 
the care of their animals, will not discover and 
exterminate the pests until their animals are over¬ 
run with them. Those who card their cattle daily 
are seldom much troubled with them. It is a 
mistake to suppose that filth will generate 
thorn, as many suppose. There most be life 
to boget life. With a little care, and the free 
use of carbolic suds, no one need be troubled 
with them long, Where the barn is onoe clean, 
by a little watching wo may easily keep clear of 
them. 
Hampton Falls, N. H. W. Brown. 
-- 
OIL-CAKE. 
Tnxs extraordinarily fattening food has been 
going from the United States to England in 
great quantities, but now that beef and mutton 
are being sent and are becoming a regular trade, 
and it is found that none but the best fed meat 
pays for seuding, it would seem altogether 
wrong for the farmers of this country to allow 
the English to keep on feeding their cattle and 
sheep with what ought to be used here to make 
the first quality of moat for exportation, and at 
the same time to enrich tho aoil by the valuable 
manure always following tho use of oil-cake. 
More especially is it surprising when it is so 
well understood that roots cannot be profitably 
grown as well in America as in England, because 
of tho greater heat and less moisture in summer 
and the much severer cold in winter; on this 
account anyone would suppose that oil-cake 
would be much more valuable here than in En¬ 
gland and also because it is very desirable on 
account of its counteracting the evil effects of 
coarse, dried-up hay. 
Orange County dairy farmers purchase muoh 
food to force milk and enable them to send to 
New York City a certain quantity regularly all 
winter, and doubtless it would pay them well to 
use this exceedingly luscious food. 
A few years ago I superintended a large dairy 
establishment near Baltimore. On commencing, 
I bought bran and fed, dry, between the times 
slop was given, and I raised tho quautity 
of milk above one hundred gallons per day iu 
three weeks, without any extra cows. The cost 
of bran was not felt, us wo put less corn-meal in 
the slop, but just at this time we purchased some 
oil-cake meal and boiled it up in the slop with 
the rest of the feed and there was another rise 
of about thirty gallons, and from all the boat 
customers w r o had expressions of pleasure and 
satisfaction at tho beautiful quality of the milk. 
I used oil-cake freely in England many years 
ago, but it is right to add that on one occasion 
I fed a good deni wheu makiog butter, and 
although it did not hurt the milk, the butter 
was certainly unpleasantly affected, but never¬ 
theless increased nearly thirty per cent, iu 
quantity. 
I have not the slightest donbt but that, if fed 
iu moderate quantity to Orange County cows, it 
would pay yell aa regards tho sale of milk, and 
would ulso enrich the manure, and thereby add 
to the production of grass so much ns to enable 
those feeding it to keep twenty-live per cent, 
more cows. There is a gentleman now in the 
county who has been tryiug it on some cows 
and steers, and a man who did not kuow what 
feed was being given to them, on seeing them 
two weeks afterwards, exclaimed that ho had 
not seen such an improvement in cattle in so 
short a time while he had been in the country. 
Try some by mixing small quantities first, and 
the results will astonish every ono not accustomed 
to witness its effects. Georoe Gardner, 
- 4 ~»"*- 
VENTILATION OF STABLES, 
All considerate individuals are aware of the 
importance of pure, sweet air Iu the economy of 
health to the human family. Of equal import¬ 
ance ii it to the well doing of our dumb animals, 
horses cows, etc.; but how many farmers seem 
to disregard this requirement! Many, other¬ 
wise excellent barns and stables, are faulty in 
this particular of ventilation. How to so arrange 
for perfect ventilation of our stables for cattle 
and horses, so that they may at the same time 
be protected from cold drafts of air, chills, etc., 
I confess myself not qutliliod to advise; but 
that with our presoQt knowledge bettor ventila¬ 
tion may be had chan is provided by a largo pro¬ 
portion of farmers, there is unquestionably no 
denying. That individuals and cattle may en¬ 
dure and live iu the stable atmosphere of farm¬ 
ers barns is true; bat can they live in health ? 
Iu the majority of stables one cannot pass 
through without carrying the ammoniacai gases 
iu his clothes for some tune, even in the open 
air. Ibis ought not so to be. What an atmos¬ 
phere to milk cows in! but how frequently is it 
thoughtlessly done; although milk is exceed¬ 
ingly sensitive to all odors. Is there any I 
wonder that so much poor butter and milk find 
their way to market, when we consider the 
stables and atmosphere which the cows are shut 
up in, to say nothing of other kinds of unclean¬ 
ness which often affect the milk while being 
drawn. 
No stable should be built without some duct 
through which foul air may ha conveyed away ; 
one, two, or more, according to the size of 
stable, should ascent! from the top of the stable 
and pass out through the roof. Foul and 
heated air ascends, and the draft enoouraged 
by the duct, will tend to clear the air of the 
stable; sufficient fresh air will find its way in 
through cracks, and over the heads of the 
animalB from in front, to keep ventilation 
tolerably good, much better than where no ducts 
arc provided. Milk producers beoomo so habitu¬ 
ated to this stable atmosphere that they are not 
aware of the amount of ammonia whioh they 
constantly carry about in their clothes, but not¬ 
withstanding this, it is none the less sufficient 
oftentimes to taint a good-sized room of pure 
air. With free ventilation thiB would bo very 
muoh less frequent. W. H. White. 
-- 
Maine Dairymen’s Association’s fourth an¬ 
nual meeting will bo held with South Paris 
Dairying Association, South Paris, February 
12th and 14th in And retv’s Hall. This meeting 
promises to be one of unusual interest.—J. W. 
Lang, Secretary. 
®ljf IJoultnr far! 
POULTRY ACCOUNT. 
Last year I sent you my “ Poultry Account.” 
(See Rural of April 7, 1877.) I think it must 
have been of some interest to those concerned 
in the care and profit of fowls. I saw the ac¬ 
count copied iu several papers ; also received a 
large number of letters from Rural readers, 
asking me to state how my fowls wore housed, 
fed and cared for. All letters I cheerfnily an¬ 
swered, giving full particulars of my way of 
managing my flock. I am quite sure, therefore, 
that some Rural friends would like to hear 
of my success or failure during the year just 
dosed. 
The following account has been very carefully 
kept, and may be relied on as a truthful state¬ 
ment. My chickens were hatched during the 
month of May. Last year, as stated, my fowls 
were nearly pnre-blood Dominiques ; this yoar, 
I raised fifty Brahma and Cochin pullets, also a 
few Plymouth Rocks. The Dominiques com¬ 
menced laying tho last of September; one Brah¬ 
ma Deo. 22d. No eggs from the Cochins or 
Plymouth Rocks. At this date I am getting 
sixty to seventy eggs daily. From my experi¬ 
ence, I still think the Dominique tho most desi¬ 
rable fowl for the farm-yard. 
In Account with 141 Fowls. 
Jail. 1,1877. Dr, 
To 144 fowls, at SO ots. eaefi.$ 72 00 
2 tons wheat screening’s, at $27. 54 00 
1 ton oracked corn. 26 00 
h ton wheat middlings... 13 5U 
15 bushels oats, at 40 ots. 6 00 
10 bushels ryo. at 70 ots. 7 00 
BO bushols shelled corn, at 60 cts. 54 00 
Meat sorap, &o.,. 3 20 
50 doz. eggs set, at 18 cts. a 00 
Total cost.....$244 70 
Dec. 31,1877. Cr 
13y 1,070V dozen eggs... $252 97 
74 hens sold, April 10th. 51 45 
139roosters sold, July and August. 82 34 
69 pullets sold, NOV 1st, at 60 cts. 36 40 
27 pullets sold, Dee. 28, at 75 cts. 20 25 
174 stock on hand, at 60 cts. lo4 40 
36 bbls. hen manure, at $1. 36 uo 
Total proceeds,..$682 81 
Deduct cost. . 2-14 70 
Profit.$338 11 
The eggs were sold to grocery stores for cash, 
the range of prices was from 15 to 40 cts. per 
dozen; 74 hens were sold April 10th to 15th, 
prices at that time being unusually high—20 cts. 
a pound, dressed. By reading and following the 
advice of your excellent correspondent, Mr. H. 
Hales, I have kept my fowls in good, healthy 
condition, Wat. C. Hart. 
Walden, X. Y,, Jan, 14, U5TS, 
-*-•-*-- 
POULTRY HINTS. 
The last month having been one o^extraor¬ 
dinary mildness, much of the advice given for 
January still holds good for February, The 
absence of snow, and extreme cold have given 
poultry a favorable chance for health, and lay¬ 
ing birds that have had a range, have had the 
benefit of fiue, young grass iu most localities. 
After such weather as we have had, we must ex¬ 
pect 6om© more like winter, that coming on sud¬ 
denly, will necessitate extra care on the part of 
tho keepers of poultry ; for sudden cold chocks 
their laying. To remedy this, give a little more 
stimulating food, and Bee that their quarters are 
warm at night. With these precautions, a oold 
snap can be bridged over without much loss 
Do not forget more vegetable food than usually 
given, is required when the ground is oovered 
with snow. u. u. 
.isrrHitiuous. 
THE PRINCIPLES OF SEED PLANTING. 
8. RUFUS MASON. 
There are two facts connected with this sub¬ 
ject which must be considered: bad seeds are 
plentiful enough, but bad planters are entirely 
too numerous. The best of seeds, in the hands 
of a poor gardener, are nearly worthless, and it 
is to remove this last difficulty that I write this 
article. I hope to make every one who reads 
this a competent judge of good or bad seeds, 
and then it is very probable their own judgment 
will fall upon their own defenceless heads. 
Seeds may be likened to the human raoe, as 
thoy are of every possible variety and disposi¬ 
tion, and for their perfect development to ma¬ 
turity they require as diverse treatment as a lot 
of school children. There are seeds of a soft, 
tender shell, hard, leathery shell, and almost a 
stony shell; some, natives of hot and dry, hot 
and moist, cold and moist, of temperate and 
even of frigid atmospheres and soils. When we 
consider that we have all this variety of nativi¬ 
ties to bring to perfection in onr single soil and 
climate, we cannot help feeling that we have a 
lot of foreigners to raise from infancy in an en¬ 
tirely new country. This fact should induce us 
to plant them in such soil and at such a time, in 
our planting season, as will best suit their sev¬ 
eral dispositions. 
On the other hand, their sizes and consequent 
strength must be considered. A largo, robust 
seed can, even if planted deeply, force its way 
up through heavy soil, while a small one would 
perish in the effort.. Seeds from warm coun¬ 
tries cannot grow, if put into the ground in the 
cold part of the spring, nor can those from oold 
regions thrive, if sown late and exposed to too 
high a temperature while young and tender. 
Seeds with a thick, hard shell or skin must have 
time in the ground to allow the natural moist¬ 
ure to soften it, and allow tho fonder germ to 
make its way out. In fact, treat the different 
kinds as you would so many infants—the tender 
ones tenderly, and tho robust ones according to 
their strength. 
Now, as to the depth to plant: The old rule, < 
** to plant only as deep as the size of the seed,” 
is entirely wrong, and while, in a carefully man¬ 
aged gieen-house, it might be adhered to, it is 
pci feet folly iu the opon air. Warmth, moist¬ 
ure aud protection from strong light are neces¬ 
sary for all Becds; but the amount of the two 
first, as I have intimated above, varies vastly 
with the kind of seed. Not only must the con¬ 
dition of soil and temperature at the time of 
planting bo well considered, but their probable 
fitness, as tho season advances, must also be 
taken into account. If every demand be fully 
met at seed sowing, but tho soil bo likely to be¬ 
come, by its natural position aud the natural 
changes of the season, too dry or too wot, these 
difficulties must be provided against, or failure 
is certain. Merely causing a seed to germinate 
is nothing, if its after condition is to be adverse 
to its healthy growth. Planting too early pro¬ 
duces a weakly plant, aud at an improper season, 
and if planted too late the same difficulty attends 
it. In tho first case cold, and iu the last heat, 
will check its growth- 
This ia the time of year for serious thought 
upon the spring business of the farm and gar¬ 
den, and a careful digest of the abovo ideas will 
prepare one for a later article, in which will be 
given practical directions for insuring success, 
in the hope that bad planters w ill not be as 
numerous as bad seeds iu the future. 
DARDEH EXPERIMENTS. 
Mr. Crane, iu the Rural of Jan. 5th, notices 
that the Early Rose potato is running out, and 
as that variety is yearly improving here, so as 
now to be nsed as a winter sort, as well as a 
very early one, I think I can tell him how to 
restore its value on his farm. Our soil is a black, 
sandy alluvial, very rich in undeoomposed veg¬ 
etable matter, varying from two and one-half to 
four feet deep, resting on a sand-bed of unknown 
dopth—not lees than a hundred aud fifty feet. 
It is also fully impregnated, evenly through, 
with potash. Niue years ago, when the Early 
Rose was a new thing, it was the best summer 
and the worst fall and winter potato known 
hero'. Constant cultivation, early digging, close 
covering in hills in the field till frost, and care¬ 
ful housing in “ pits not vaum enough to sprout 
them,” about the early part of November, have 
almost entirely changed then- character as keep¬ 
ers. The moment a potato sprouts it ia unfit 
for food ; but if Mr. Crane will use potash as a 
fertilizer, he will, no doubt, still plant the Early 
Rose. I have a higher price offered for mine. 
than the regular market rates, merely because 
I dig, shelter and house them so as to maintain 
their good qualities. Hubbard’s Curled-leaf 
tomato is onr earliest kind, and a heavy cropper. 
This, I believe, is as much due to our potash as 
to anything else. All tho soil east of tho Alle¬ 
ghany Mountains suffers from lack of potash ; 
it never had as much as that west of the Missis¬ 
sippi, and the constant drain of two hundred 
years has totally depleted it. The remedy sug¬ 
gests itself. 
Dodge Co.. Wls. 
- - 
WESTERN ECHOES PROM THE “MAPLE 
SHADOWS.” 
DB. A. O. WILLIAMS. 
“ HARD TIMES.” 
All classes in general, and the farmers of 
Central Illinois, in particular, are passing 
through the gloomiest, darkest monetary crisis 
that this section has ever experienced since the 
country was settled, 50 years ago. Time was 
here, when the man who went into bankruptcy 
was only to be heard of, not seen. Ho resided 
far away in some other vicinity, was no neighbor, 
and was regarded as a visionary monument of 
misfortune, or monster of villainy; but now he 
has a real existence, and is just as likely to be 
yourself or neighbor, as he is to be somebody 
else’s neighbor. Onr local papers chronicle, 
each week, bankruptcies and assignments that, 
like mighty earthquakes, are shaking up the 
country from oentre to circumferenco, and 
neighborhood after neighborhood, hamlet, vil¬ 
lage and town, are being drawn into the widen¬ 
ing vortex, while the great weeklies and dailies 
come from the large cities and capitals loaded 
with new shocks which run over the country 
like tidal waves, frequently wrecking the fortunes 
of citizens, shippers, and bankers of our rural 
districts, until it looks as if sooner or later, we 
must all be drawn into the eddy, as it were, of the 
great financial maelstrom. Yet, as I have before 
said, there iB a large portion of the hard times 
here, the natural and legitimate results of our 
own extravagance and imprudence. 
A DANDER TO PEACHES. 
Owing to the changeable weather we are get¬ 
ting this winter, peaches will evidently nevor get 
through it alive. Bads will push sufficiently, I 
fear, dining some of the warm days, to bo killed 
by the following frosts. My trees which I laid 
down and covered up with earth aud straw, are 
apparently enjoying good health; and even if 
they should do nothing else, I shall feel amply 
repaid by the questions I have been asked to 
answer concerning them. 
A DODD SUGGESTION. 
I have been wondering of late if tho managers 
or editors of the Rural could devise some plan 
by which its subscribers could, another year, be 
brought into competition with each other, in 
growiugor producing large yields of corn, roots, 
and large vegetables. It would matter but little 
if the intrinsic value of the premiums or prizes 
were but nominal, as the rivalry in such mat¬ 
ters generally consists in striving for the high¬ 
est success. Each competitor would bo bene¬ 
fited by the impulse for better farming one nat¬ 
urally feels when he knows he is being brought 
into competition with his neighbors. Moreover, 
if one fails to secure the prize, Lis work is not 
lost; for his condition will be even better than if 
he had not participated, since he is likely to have 
better yields from the soil under such efforts as 
he would make. I am confident there are those 
among the readers of the Rural, blessed with 
fortune, who would offer email prizes, them¬ 
selves, just to advance the interests of agricul¬ 
tural pursuits. If it did not look so personal, I 
could name now several prominent gentlemen, 
well-known to Rural readers, and whose names 
grace its pages freqneutly, who would be almost 
certain to offer reasonable prizes to further the 
project. 
Douglas Co., Illinois. 
-- 
FRUIT IN WESTERN N. Y. 
The following item of interest was crowded out 
of our report of the Western N. Y. Horticultural 
Society last week. 
Despite partial failures of the apple and pear 
crops, the fruit of Western New York the past 
year ia a leading item in its salable products. 
Erie county sold of apples alone upwards of 
$1,000,000 worth, and of pears and quinces and 
small fruits, half as much more. Some statis¬ 
tics as to the products of individual orchards for 
a series of years show that even apples when well 
cared for are a fair source of income during 
thoso hard times. Two orchards in Orleans 
County, indicate what may be done. Wffl. Wood 
& Son, in the town of Carlton. Eet twenty-five 
beds of apple trees iu 1860 including 1250 trees of 
which 600 were Baldwin, 400 Roxbnrv Russet, 
and the balance Greening and other productive 
varieties. From this orchard tho sales since 
1871 have been as follows: 
Yoar 
1*72. 
barrels 
.. BOO 
■value 
$! 11110 
1878. 
. 445 
3.3(10 
1*74.. . 
. . 968 
2 662 
1*75 . 
3,300 
1876 
.. SOU 
1 080 
1877. 
3,000 
It will be noticed that this orchard bears most 
in the odd years when apples are scarce and 
doar, which materially helps the goodly column 
of figures which toll the product of the crop. 
