AUG 49 
SSI 
Wisconsin. 
Delevan, Walworth Co., July 23.—Weather 
fine for haying and harvest which commenced 
last week. Rye and Winter wheat extra. 
Other crops of small grain very promising as 
yet. Corn has improved rapidly of late, 
despite the uniformly cold nights. Apple 
sets have dropped badly until many trees are 
as bare as last year. Pie cherries plenty now 
at $2. per bush. Harvest help scarce at $2.50 
per day. w. 
tyt Clucrist. 
ANSWERS TO CORRESPONDENTS. 
[Every query must be accompanied by the name 
and address of the writer to Insure attention When 
writing on other mntters, please put queries on a 
seperate piece of paper. I 
LIME AND SUPERPHOSPHATE. OTHER INFOR¬ 
MATION ABOUT FERTILIZERS. 
O. McC., Mount Morris, Pa. —1, Is it right 
to put lime and superphosphate together on 
wheat land; or would it be better to put them 
on at different times? 2, How much freshly- 
burned lime should be applied to an acre? 3, 
Which is the better for land—lime or super¬ 
phosphate? 4, There is a lot of sheep manure 
Btill in the sheep house, which is the better 
plan—to haul it out now and spread it on the 
land at once, or let it stay where it is? 5, How 
should I apply the sheep manure, lime and 
superphosphate ? 
Ans. —1. Lime has an injurious effect upon 
superphosphate. Superphosphate of lime has 
one part of phosphoric acid to one part of li me, 
while phosphate of lime has one part of phos¬ 
phoric acid to three parts of lime; the former 
is soluble and the latter is not. The following 
explanation will make this important matter 
clear. Phosphate of lime consists of three 
atoms or equivalents of lime united chemically 
with one atom or equivalent of phosphoric 
acid. This is the natural, stable and permanent 
combination of lime and phosphoric acid, and 
is known by chemists as tri-calcic or three- 
lime phosphate. It is practically insoluble in 
water. Superphosphate of lime is an un¬ 
natural and artificial product, and consists of 
a loose, unstable, and temporary combination 
of one part of lime with one part of phos¬ 
phoric acid. This change of phosphate into 
superphosphate is made by treating the natural 
phosphate with sulphuric acid by which two 
parts of the lime in it are drawn from the 
phosphoric acid and united with the sulphuric 
acid forming sulphate of lime or gypsum, 
thus leaving only one part of the lime with 
the phosphoric acid. The superphosphate 
thus produced is so called because the phos¬ 
phoric acid is iu excess of the natural pro¬ 
portion. As everything artificial tends to go 
back or revert to its former natural con¬ 
dition, so this artificial phosphate goes back 
to its former state as soou as it can recover 
from any source the lime of which it has been 
robbed. It first gets back one-half of this or 
one part of lime, and then becomes a two-lime 
or di-calcic phosphate, which is known as 
“ reverted ” phosphate or phosphate that has 
gone back. This is not nearly so soluble as 
the superphosphate and therefore not so valu¬ 
able or effective. As there is nearly always 
some lime, more or less, in all soils, super¬ 
phosphate will always revert to some extent 
w'heu it is used as a fertilizer, and this occurs 
to the least extent when the crop is vigor¬ 
ously growing and is able to use the fertilizer 
quickly. But when there is much lime in the 
soil, and especially when this is fresh, the 
superphosphate reverts or goes back to its 
first condition very rapidly and becomes a 
three-lime phosphate, which is insoluble and 
of very little use in the soil. Therefore in 
practice it is not advisable to use superphos¬ 
phate at the same time with lime, but, on the 
contrary, it is better to keep it until Spring 
and use it then when the lime has become less 
active and the crop is ready to take up the 
fertilizer very quickly. 2. From 20 to 50 
bushels. 3. They cannot be compared in this 
way any more than one can say which is 
better for food, bread or butter. The soil 
wants both; superphosphate supplies phos¬ 
phoric acid and not lime; while lime not only 
supplies itself, but it exerts a beneficial action 
on the soil and on the organic matter in it, de¬ 
composing them and making them soluble to 
some extent, 4. The manure is better where 
it is until it is required for use. 5. To make 
the best work the manure should be spread 
and plowed in; it would be better still to plow 
the land first, spread the manure, cross plow 
and cover the manure lightly ; then spread 
the lime, harrow and drill in the seed, or, if a 
drill is not used, low and harrow across the 
first harrow marks. If the seed is drilled, it 
would be very advisable to drill with the seed 
150 pounds of superphosphate per acre, as the 
young plants will get it before it can become 
reverted. If sown broadcast, 200 pounds may 
be used. It must be understood that the effects 
above described are produced only as moisture 
is supplied by the rain, and are therefore 
gradual and slow in their action and they do 
nob “go off” as it were, suddenly, as a fire¬ 
work when a match is applied. 
BLEACHING * EVAPORATED FRUIT. — MAKING 
CHEESE ON A SMALL SCALE, ETC. 
J. II., Lewisville, Oregon. —1. How can sul¬ 
phur be used to bleach evaporated fruit ? 2. 
How can cheese be made on a small scale ? 3. 
How many pounds of milk have been given 
by a cow in one day ? 
Ans. —I. Evaporated fruit is uleacbed by 
the fumes of sulphur, by burning the sulphur 
under the trays filled with fruit and passing 
the fumes through them. A small quantity 
only is required; if too much is used the sul¬ 
phur is deposited in the fruit and gives it a 
strong taste and smell. The effect is to draw 
oxygen from the fruit, and so remove the 
brown color which has been produced by the 
oxidatiou. The process should go no further 
than to destroy this brown color and whiten 
the fruit, and should be stopped at onco when 
this effect is produced. 2. Cheese can be 
made in a small dairy by saving one day’s 
milk in ice and skimming it and adding the 
second day’s milk to it, not skimmed. The 
three milkingB are warmed to 90 degrees and 
the new milk added as soon as it is drawn; 
the whole is stirred and the rennet is put into 
it; one tablespoonful to 10 gallons of milk is 
enough; or one ounce of the dried stomach, 
which is a piece three inches square, for 
50 gallons. The curd is cut and heated iu the 
whey in the usual manner, then broken up, 
salted and pressed in a hoop; 10 pounds of 
milk, or 4% quarts, will make one pound of 
cheese. 8. The largest yield of milk for any 
cow in one day that we know of was 100j^ 
pounds from a Short-horn and Ayrshire cross¬ 
bred, known as Old Creamer. But the milk 
was all given to her again as it was taken, 
so that it could not be called a fair test; 43 
quarts or 94 pounds in a day were actually 
given by an Ayrshire cow, Beacon Belle, on 
ordinary feed. 
RHEUMATISM IN TURKEYS. 
E. C. S., Taylortown, Fa.—My young 
turkeys often become lame and limp or crawl 
around for a few days and then die: very 
few recover. I keep them in clean coops and 
give them plenty of food aud clean water. 
What ails them and the remedy ? 
Ans.— This is rheumatism, to which young 
turkeys are very subject at two periods of 
their lives, one in very early youth aud one 
when completing their plumage, which cor¬ 
responds with the teething of animals. To 
prevent it the chicks should never be permit¬ 
ted to get wet with dew or rain, or be over¬ 
fed or over-heated by too close brooding. 
Turkeys nre so tender when young, aud there 
are so many accidents which produce this 
trouble that it is impossible to avoid all risk, 
and some will be lost with the best of care. It 
is useless to try any remedies; they come too 
late when their necessity is seen. If, how¬ 
ever, any medicine at all is given, a small 
pinch of sulphur for each chick might 
be put in the feed once a day, and 
sufficient sulphuric acid to acidulate the 
drinking water would also be useful. Two 
or three drops of acid in a teacupful of water 
would be sufficient, as the acid is intensely 
sour. In raising young turkeys the greatest 
care is necessary to avoid this frequent trou¬ 
ble. It is not safe to shut them up io a coop 
together, and it is destruction to let them 
wander abroad in the damp, dewy grass. 
Perhaps the safest way is to keep them up at 
night in a coop, inclosed in a small yard sur¬ 
rounded with laths, so they cannot get out un¬ 
til let out when the grass is dry. 
SHEEP POISONED BY EXCESS OF SALT. 
C. T. H ., Moore Park, Mich. —Can sheep be 
fatally poisoned by eating too much salt ? If 
so, what are the symptoms ? 
Ans. —Salt taken to excess is an acrid poi¬ 
son and produces gastritis ,or inflammation of 
the coats of the stomach. One ounce (a table¬ 
spoonful) would act as a poison if taken by a 
sheep on an empty stomach, and this quantity 
mi^ht be easily swallowed when the sheep has 
not been properly supplied. Animals that 
are supplied regularly will ne^er take too 
much, and it can be safely given if it is always 
put where they can reach it; otherwise it 
should be given with caution. The symptoms 
of poisoning by salt are the same as those of 
inflammation of the stomach by poisonous 
plants, as laurel or wild parsnip or any other 
irritant. The sheep moans, hangs the head, 
slobbers at the mouth; the nose is contracted 
and pinched in at the sides; there is straining 
aud attempts to urinate; the mouth is hot and 
dry and inflamed; the pulse is rapid, the belly 
is full and tense and painful when pressed; 
the bowels discharge blood with loose, dark 
duug; and the animal soon falls into torpor or 
convulsions. The remedy is io give abund¬ 
ance of warm water and thin oatmeal or lin¬ 
seed gruel; the latter or gum water will 
soothe the irritation of the membranes and re¬ 
lieve the pain; give also half-drachm doses of 
hyoscyaraus to relieve spasms and one ounce 
doses of olive oil or lard oil to eject the poi¬ 
son. This treatment is advisable in all cases 
of poisoning. 
HOW TO DISTINGUISH SORGHUM SIRUP FROM 
GLUCOSE SIRUP. 
T. J., Spring Grom, Minn. —How can one 
who is not a professional chemist detect 
sorghum sirup from glucose sirup ? 
Ans.— One of the easiest test9 recommended 
for distinguishing qualitatively between the 
sugars is the following:—Dissolve 77 grains of 
acetate of copper in a bottle containing a 
mixture of 20 grains of acetic acid to four 
ounces of water. Add about a teaspoonful 
of the re agent to a portion of the sirup in a 
test tube, and boil for about two miuutes. If 
glucose is present there will be a red precipi¬ 
tate of sub-oxide of copper. Cane sugar and 
milk sugar are unaffected. It must be borne 
in mind, however, that sorghum sirup con¬ 
tains usually (naturally) some glucose. If a 
small precipitate is formed, it does not neces¬ 
sarily show adulteration of glucose. A heavy 
precipitate would be very suspicious. Only 
analysis by an expert will distinguish between 
natural and artificial glucose when present. 
SHEEP ON SHARE8. 
S. K. E., Kenneth, Kans. —Where in this 
State can I get 250 sheep on shares? 
Ans. —Procuring sheep on shares is not such 
an off-hand business as this. The owner of 
sheep does not put them out until he is quite 
satisfied of the capability and honesty of the 
applicant. It is practically a loan of so much 
money as the sheep are worth. Fair sheep 
are now worth in Kansas $3.00 per head and 
the money involved is $750. No person would 
lend this sum without ample security, and 
neither would any person loan the same 
amount in sheep without equal security. 
Sheep are put out on shares every day, but it 
is obvious that a stranger could not help any 
person to get them any more than he could 
help him to a loan of money. H. W. Pearsall, 
Emporia, and J. G-. D. Campbell of Junction 
City, Kansas, are live stock agents and might 
procure a flock for you. 
RAISING CALVES ON SKIMMED MILK. 
W. C. E., Nashua, N. H. —Is there any way 
of raising calves taken from the dam when 
only a few days old, by feeding them on 
skimmed milk, etc. ? 
Ans. —There is not the slightest difficulty in 
rearing excellent calves on skimmed milk 
alone fiom the fifth day; the ordinary mixed 
skimmed milk of the herd can be used, but it 
should be given as warm as the new milk. In 
the writer’s dairy every calf is thus raised, 
aud some cows, no w four years old,are yielding 
10 pounds of butter weekly, that never tasted 
new milk when calves after the dam's milk was 
fit for use. The raising of calves, on milk 
dairy farms, can be made profitable, and very 
fine calves can be reared if they are given, 
milk until four or five months old. After the 
calf is two months old the milk may be gradu¬ 
ally given cooler, until it is taken cold, but 
the sudden change is to be avoided. 
Miscellaneous. 
M. B. R., Fredericksburg, Fa., sends for 
name two grasses which were imported to 
that section in bay. 
Ans. —Elymus Canadensis—Wild Rye—is 
the “one with the bearded head, like wheat.” 
This is a valuable grazing grass, though its 
cultivation does not extend very rapiuly. It 
is a perennial grass, liking rich soils, but 
growing fairly in poor ones. The other is the 
Couch, Quitch or Quick Grass. It i3 known 
under many other names, as Quack, Twitch, 
Chandler, Dog, Wiicb, Quake, Squitch, and 
Wheat Grass. Now its botanical name is 
Triticum repens. We therefore prefer to 
call it Creeping Wheat, a very appropriate, 
familiar name. It has been referred to very 
frequently of late iu the Rural. 
E. S. M., No Address— What is a remedy 
for warts on my yearling’s leg? In two 
months they have grown the size of a walnut. 
Ans.— The wart, it narrow-based, may be 
removed by tying a ligature tightly around 
its base, when it will drop off before long, or 
it may be touched daily with nitrate of silver, 
which can be had in solution at the nearest 
drug store, or, again, it may be washed with 
a solution of the same. In the present case, 
the safest and perhaps the best way to remove 
a large excreseuce of this sort is by the use of 
the knife and the cautery. The cautery will 
stop the bleeding and destroy the root of the 
wart, and thus prevent it from reappearing. 
KEEPING GRAPES THROUGH WINTER. 
H. IF, Bainbridge, Pa — How can grapes 
be kept through the Winter ? 
ANSWER BY D. S. MARVIN. 
The best success has attended bagging with 
paper sacks, then packing with dry saw-dust 
(the bags remaining on the clusters) in a tight 
box, and storing in a dry, cool cellar. The 
grapes should remain upon the vines until 
cool weather sets in, and then be kept as near¬ 
ly air-tight as possible. Thick-skinned grapes 
only will keep well, such as Catawba, Isa¬ 
bella, . Iona, Diana, Salem, Agawam and 
Wilder. No use to pack Concord, Delaware, 
Hartford, etc. 
J. B. S., Larwill, Ind,, sends for name a 
flower which the honey-bee frequents more 
than any other in that neighborhood. 
Ans. —This is Aselepias tuberosa, or But¬ 
terfly-weed. The root is considered diaphor¬ 
etic aud expectorant, and in large doses cath¬ 
artic. It is sometimes employed in catarrh, 
pneumonia, pleurisy, etc. Oue of its common 
names is Pleurisy Root. It is sometimes used 
in acute rheumatism and dysentery. From 
20 grains to a drachm of the root in powder 
may be given several times each day. 
C. S., Taylorsville, Va. —1, Where can 
I purchase a small quantity of Zimmermann’s 
Wheat, the kind raised in Virginia some 20 
years ago? Head compact; yielding as high 
as 40 bushels per acre. 2, What is the aver¬ 
age yield per acre of navy and marrow beans ? 
Ans. —1, This wheat is not offered for sale 
anywhere that we know of. 2, Thirty to 
forty bushels. 
J. B., Ravenswood, III., asks for some infor¬ 
mation about raising onions for pickles on a 
large scale. 
Ans.— LeDgthy articles on this topic were 
published in the Rural of February 25, and 
March 25. We must refer our friend to 
these, as it is really too soon to treat of them 
here again. 
J. S., Memphis, Tenn. —Where can I find a 
good school at which the duties of a veterin¬ 
ary surgeon are taught as a profession ? 
Ans. —American Veterinary College, 141W. 
54th St., N. Y. A. Liautard, M.D., D.V.S., 
Dean of the Faculty; or N. Y. College of Veter¬ 
inary Surgeons, 205 Lexington Avenue, W. P. 
Wooster, Sec. 
W. E. J., Berkley Eights, N. J. —1, When 
are cucumbers for seed? 2, Are wood ashes 
sprinkled on bean and pea vines a protection 
against bugs? 
Ans.— 1. We do not understand the question. 
2. Some substance more gritty and sharp is 
better—coal ashes, road dust, plaster, for in¬ 
stance. 
C. J. W., New York City, asks: 1, if there 
is a ready sale for sorghum ; 2, where can 
sumach seed be obtained ? 
Ans. —1. You do not say whether you mean 
sorghum seed or sorghum cane for sugar. 2. 
Sumach seed can l>a obtained of any seedsman 
in the city. See their catalogues. 
M. W. TL, Roanoke, Ind., asks, 1, how to 
raise seed from celery and chicory ; 2. how 
can old iuk stains be removed from linen and 
muslin. 
Ans. —1. Keep the plants over to the second 
year, then set them out and they will produce 
seed. 2. See Domestic Economy Querist. 
F. F. F., Talinadge, Ohio ,—Where can I 
get the best information on raising peach 
trees? 
Ans. —In a treatise by the Hon. J. Alex¬ 
ander Fulton. Price, $L. 50. To be had through 
the next book-dealer. 
R. T., Ulsli, Pa. —What are the names of 
some commission merchants who handle tobac¬ 
co in N. Y. ? 2, What is the best way to dis¬ 
pose of a small quantity of tobacco? 
Ans.— 1, Reynes Brothers, 46 and 48 Ex¬ 
change Place. 2, Sell it at home. It would 
hardly pay to send a small quantity to a dis¬ 
tant market where the sender is unknown. 
E. A. H., Mason, N. H .—1, Which is the 
better for soiling—Winter rye or Winter 
wheat ? 2, What causes onions to have stiff 
necks ? 8, Does Paris-green contain arsenic ? 
Ans. —1, Winter rye. 2, Bad seed or dry- 
weather. 8, Yes. 
H. C. McC., Fulton, Mo. —Did Prof. Rarey 
ever publish a system of horse-taming ? 
Ans. —Yes: Rarey and Knowlson’s Com¬ 
plete Horse-Tamer, price 50c.: to be had 
through any bookseller. 
H. J. L., Burlington, IT., asks why onions 
sometimes have thick, stiff necks. 
Ans. —Generally on account of poor seed, 
though extremely wet or dry weather may 
cause it. 
T. A. P., South Bend, Ind .—How is 
“Hebron” pronounced? 
Ans. —Just a3 it is spelt, with the accent on 
the first syllable—Hd-bron. 
Communications Received foe the Week Ending 
Saturday, Aug. IU. 1332. 
W. L. D„ thanks-H. O. S.—E. F. C.— H. E. A., 
thanks—G. E. M.—I*. J. B., thanks-I. P. S., thanks— 
W. H. R —1>. S. M.-F. G. R—W. E. J.—G. W. F.—F. F 
F.— J. B. S,—W. F. B. C. T. H.—E. G , samples ol soil 
not yet received—W. I. C.— F. S.—G. VV. — A. J. C.— J. 
W. S.—J. II. M.—E. C. S.—O. M. C. -S- K. E , unless of 
special ami real Importance, we cannot answer 
letters by mall—G. W —H. C- McC.- S. B P., thanks, 
always Box and bag ol wheat Irom C. Leat, Erie Co.• 
Pa., no letter—Champion Amber Irom J S. Wood 
ward—J. B. a—A. E- S.—W. G. W.—A. P. R.—H.—A 
L. J.-M. G.-J. C.-W. C. E.->L H.-J. P.-H. W. 
