SIPT 2 
i 
THI RURAL MEW-YORKER. 
Pennsylvania. 
Damascus, Wayne Co., August 16.—Corn 
will be a light crop unless we have rain soon. 
Oats are short and thin. Hay was a large 
rop. Apples scarce: no peaches. o. C. 
—- -- 
RURAL SEED REPORTS. 
Connecticut. 
Uncasville, New London Co., August 9.— 
On April 19th I sowed part of the Rural 
wheats as directed, in ground that I seeded to 
Timothy April 18th, and most of the wheats 
came up and were doing well until the Timot hy 
to my surprise overtopped the blades. July 
24th I cut the Timothy which was three feet 
high and blossomed, and the wheat was not to 
be found. The Flint Corn is tasseling out; 
looks well, considering the drought. 8ix 
Lima Beans came up weakly but are doing 
well. Squash vines look very well. I trans¬ 
planted two when six inches high; ground dry 
and they are growing nicely. Celery not as 
forward as Henderson’s Half-dwarf. Holly¬ 
hocks look well. My wheat is gone, but I ex¬ 
pect to try for the corn prize. d. s. 
Iowa. 
Melrose, Grundy Co., August 3.—I had 148 
kernels of Rural Heavy Dent Corn, 98 of 
which came up. It was planted on May 4; 
is now just tasseling out, setting for two or 
four ears to the stalk. It is fully 10 feet high; 
mauy of the ears are six feet high. It 
suckers badly; some of the plants have four 
stalks and it is difficult to tell which is the 
original stalk in some of the hills—hills I 
call them although I put only one kernel in a 
place. I am afraid it will not ripen here this 
Fall. e. m. 
Osaok, Mitchell Co., August 0th.—My 
Rural Flint corn crowded itself along between 
storms and is now a “beauty to behold,” The 
corn worm has literally infested the whole 
plot. I have watched it with vigilant care and 
killed many of the worms; yet they are 
masters of the field. What can be done to 
head off the destroyer? [Not a thing that we 
can suggest. Eds.] I measured several stalks 
of the Rural Flint this morning—one measures 
six and three-eighth inches in circumference, 
eight inches above the ground; another six 
and seven eighth inches; one of Chester Co., 
Mammoth, six and three quarter inches—fair 
honest measurement. The stalks are, I think, 
the largest I over saw. l. s. e. 
Pennsylvania. 
Damascus, Wayne Co., August 16 —All the 
forepart of the Summer we had rain, raiDj 
rain, until about the 12th of July when it 
stopped short, seemingly never to rain again. 
I did not get the Rural Corn in till June 7. I 
had 154 kernels and 152 grew. The cut worms 
took a few and now the dry weather and wind 
want the rest; but I shall fight for it. The 
highest number of stalks at the ground is 13; 
the tallest stalk is 11 feet. I planted one 
kernel in a hill aud they should have been 
four feet apart. C, C. 
Wisconsin. 
Greenbush, Sheboygan Co., Aug. 3,—We 
are having a very wet time. We had a good 
time to get our hay aud commence to cut 
Winter wheat and barley, but the raiu is 
lodging the grain badly. Grains of all kinds 
are very heavy. The hay crop good. Corn 
is doing well, but is late. My Rural corn 
beats anything iu this county for the amount 
of seed. I measured off one-fortieth of an 
acre, planted it two by three-and-a-balf 
feet, on May 16. It was frozen down three 
times. There were 170 kernels and 115 ger¬ 
minated. The worms crippled two or three of 
them; the rest stand five feet high with from 
three to ten suckers. It will average two 
suckers as tall as the main stock. I plowed in 
a good coat of hog manure, then put on hen 
manure, dragged it in; planted the com, and 
as soon as it was up, put on plaster. The catal- 
pa seeds came up well and are all alive, but 
grow slowly. The Gem Squashes are growing 
nicely. The wheat I shall put in on the first 
of September. a. m. s. 
<Tl)C OllCfbt. 
ANSWERS TO CORRESPONDENTS. 
HOME-MADE CIDER MILL AND PRESS. 
G. IF. D., Fallsburg, Ohio .:—How can I 
make a cider mill and press for a two-horse 
power? 
A ns. —A very effective cider mill may be 
made as follows:—Make two cylinders of 
hard wood, 20 inches in diameter, grooved 
like cog wheels so that one w'll mesh iu with 
the other. In one of these fit a gudgeon with 
a square pin to receive an arm by which the 
rollers may be turned. The rollers are fitted 
in a strong frame and connected with an arm 
made to traverse at a convenient bight by 
means of one horse. A strong floor or table, 
six feet square, is made the bottom of the 
frame, and on one side of the rollers is fitted a 
proper hopper to convey the apples to the 
crushing-rollers. A deep groove is cut 
around the table to conduct the juice into a 
proper spout which leads into the vat of the 
press. The press should be built close by con¬ 
veniently for removing the crushed pulp into 
it by means of a wooden scoop. No iron 
whatever should come into contact with the 
pulp or the juice, as it gives a disagreeable 
flavor to the cider. The press consists of a 
strong floor four feet or more square, grooved 
near the edge, and having a spout for the es¬ 
cape of the juice. A gallows frame is built 
over the middle of this floor, having a strong 
beam under the floor for the sill of the frame. 
The frame is properly braced. A female 
screw is fitted in the upper cross beam and a 
two-inch iron screw is provided to fit it. 
Near the bottom of the screw there is keyed 
on to it a set of eyes, into which handspikes are 
made to fit, by which the screw is turned. 
The sides of the press are made of three by- 
six hard-wood plank, halved at each end to 
lie snugly upon each other, and bored so the 
ends cnn be secured by strong pins. These 
pieces are built up and secured as the pulp is 
shoveled in, and some clean rye straw is laid 
against thj joints to prevent the pulp from 
being squeezed through. A sufficient number 
of these side plank should be provided to 
make a receptacle three or four feet deep, 
eight being required for each foot in depth. 
When a sufficient quantity of pulp is in the 
press some planks are provided to cover it, 
and cross blocks which are built up to dis¬ 
tribute the pressure evenly over the mas3 
of pulp. One strong cap block is provided 
with a hollow steel plate in which the end of 
the screw works. A proper vat is required to 
receive the juice and in which the juice 
should be fermented before it is drawn off 
into the barrels. A small tub should also be 
provided for a filter, and it should have at 
least three or four inches in depth of the 
cleanest washed sharp white sand, through 
which the juice is to be strained. With such 
a press, worked with cleanliness, and with 
ripe, sound, clean apples, free from worms, 
the very finest cider may be made. 
TREATMENT OF “GRAVEL” IN A HORSE, ETC. 
G. H. S., Vienna, Mel.: —1. What is the 
proper treatment of “gravel” in a horse ? 2. 
How should a “truck” patch be seeded down 
to form a pasture? 
Ans. —1. If the gravel appears in the form 
of fine sand or muddy matter which passes 
with the urine in the last part ejected, it re¬ 
quires different treatment from that consisting 
of larger granules which are passed with dif¬ 
ficulty or which are confined in the urinary 
passages and cause great pain and difficulty 
in urinating. In the former case, the treat¬ 
ment would be to induce the animal to drink 
as much fluid as possible; give onlv soft water 
with one drachm of caustic soda dissolved in 
it daily; or add to the feed a handful of com¬ 
mon, fresh, hard-wood ashes. Give also infu¬ 
sion of willow hark or gentian root, and give 
salt with every feed; feed no brau, but linseed 
oil-cake meal, steeped and softened in water. 
If the gravel is only recognized by the symp¬ 
toms—and these differ in different forms of 
the disease—the treatment must vary some¬ 
what. There are three forms of the disorder: 
iu the kidneys; in the passage from these to 
the bladder; and in the bladder. In the first 
there are seen tenderness of the loins, and a 
stiff, straddling gait, with blood or pus in the 
urine and sometimes small pieces of stone; 
for this there is no effective treatment except 
to give soothing mucilaginous drinks and oc¬ 
casional doses of one ounce of sweet spirits of 
niter. 1 he second appears by more violent 
symptoms and great distress as the calculi pass 
through the ducts, and wheu they are arrested 
in the passage the flow of urine is stopped 
with very serious complications. In this form 
the only treatment is by anti-spasmodics as two 
drachms of lobelia, or four drachms of tobacco, 
by which the passages are relaxed aud the ob¬ 
structions removed. In the third case, there 
is frequent straining, the urine dribbles or 
passes in jets and stops; clots cl blood pass 
with it and occasional small stones are passed. 
To remove these an operation is required, 
which only an experienced veterinarian can 
perform, audit is therefore needless to describe 
it. All these forms are relieved by keeping 
the system in a cool, laxative condition, feed¬ 
ing roots, linseed, and hay, and no bran or 
oats and moderately of corn; by giving wood 
ashes and salt freely in the food aud usiug 
only rain water for drink. 2, The pasture 
may be made by seeding down the land at 
once with Orchard Grass (one bushel), Timothy 
(five pounds), and Red Clover (six pounds). 
It would be advisable to add one pound of 
white turnips as protection to the grass; 
these may be pulled for calves or dry cows, or 
may be left to protect the grass during the 
Winter und to decay and fertilize it in Spring 
CONSUMPTION IN A COW. 
E. F., Providence, R. I. A seven-year-old 
cow of mine died lately. She had been 
troubled with a cough for two years and 
has wasted away greatly. She sometimes 
ejected a mucous matter in the feed troughs, 
but this was always carefully removed. On 
opening the carcass I found no fat, but “the 
caul and internal membranes” were filled with 
cheesy granules from the size of mere specks 
to that of peas. What should be done for the 
safety of the rest of my herd? 
Ans. —The cow died of tuberculosis, com¬ 
monly called consumption. This is an infec¬ 
tious disease, but if the carcass was buried 
deep no harm will come from that. The feed 
trough used should be thrown away and no 
other cow should use it. As a precaution 
w hich is late but better than never, burn sul 
phur on a quantity of sand orearth in the barn 
floor and fumigate the building well and then 
ventilate it. Give each cow half an ounce of 
hyposulphite of soda daily for several weeks. 
You don’t mention the lungs; these were the 
most important organ to examine, but there 
is no doubt they were also diseased. The 
tubercles are often found in the intestines and 
sometimes in the udder of the flesh; but it is 
the gradual decay of the lungs which pro¬ 
duces the deep-seated cough or the wasting of 
flesh. 
SUMACH. 
C. A. V., New Fork, sends leaves of plant 
for name, and asks whether it is the sumach 
used for tanning. 
Ans. —This is the Dwarf or Mountain Su¬ 
mach (Rhus copallina), a neat shrub seldom 
more than six or eight feet high. The smooth 
Sumach (Rhus glabra) is far the most com¬ 
mon, often covering extensive tracts of bar¬ 
ren soil, growing from two to twelve feet 
high. The Stag’s horn Sumach (R. typhina) 
is the largest of the Northern species, reach¬ 
ing a hight usually of about ten feet, but 
sometimes of twenty feet. All three kinds 
are collected indiscriminately for tanning 
light-colored leather aud dyeing and calico 
printing ; but as the smooth sort is by far the 
most abundant the product consists mainly of 
that, the StagVhGrn coming next, and the 
Mountain Sumach last. American Sumach 
contains from 15 to 20 per cent, or more of 
tannin. The amount of native sumach used 
is small in comparison with the quantity of 
foreign sumach employed in our industries. 
This is the Elm-leaved Sumach (R. coriaria), 
which greatly resembles the Stag’s-horn, but 
contains froir 30 to 35 per cent, of tannin and 
it is a product mainly of Southern Eu¬ 
rope and especially of Sicily, where it is ex¬ 
tensively cultivated. American Sumach grows 
wild so abundantly that it has not hitherto 
been cultivated. 
ENTRANCE TO WEST POINT. 
G. S. H ., Dublin, Ga., asks what are the 
conditions of admission to the U. 8. Military 
Academy at West Point; how long cadets 
are to remain in the service after graduation, 
their rank, pay, etc. 
Ans. —A candidate must be between 17 and 
23 years of age, unmarried, at least five feet 
in hight, and free from any deformity, dis¬ 
ease or infirmity that can unfit him for mili¬ 
tary service. He must be well versed in the 
common English branches and in the history 
of the United States. Applications can be 
made at any time by letter to the Secretary 
of War, who will place the name of the appli¬ 
cant on the register, that it may be furnished 
to the proper representative in Congress when 
a vacancy occurs. Name, age, permanent 
abode and number of Congressional District 
must be giveu. Appointments are made one 
year in advance of date of admission. The 
successful cadet is to serve in the army eight 
years. The pay of a cadet is $540 a year 
from the time he enters. The course is four 
years. On graduation he is among the candi¬ 
dates for a commission either in the Ordnance, 
Artillery, Infantry or Cavalry. The lowest 
commissioned officer is Second Lieutenant. 
THE WESTERN CRICKET. 
H. C. S., Iowa City, Iowa, sends for name 
an insect that has been doing considerable in¬ 
jury to crops in that section. 
Ans. —The insect is what is known as the 
Western Cricket or Anabrus purporescens. 
Dr. Packard says this species, so far as he i3 
aware, is found only in the mountains and 
foot-hills of Colorado, but other writers give 
it a wider range North and South. We do 
not know that this species has caused much, if 
any, damage to crops, but a similar species, 
A. simplex, has been very annoying to the 
farmers of Utah and adjacent Territories by 
destroying their wheat and other grains. 
They breed mostly in the more dry, elevated 
places and are full-grown when they appear 
in the fields. The farmers usually protect 
themselves from their attacks by ditching 
along the side of the field whence they come. 
MISCELLANEOUS. 
T. G. L., St. Louis, Mo. It was stated in 
the Rural of April 1, last, that seed of Ber3 
muda Grass was being tested at the Rural 
Farm; if the experiment has turned out a suc¬ 
cess, where can the seed be obtained ? 
Ans.—T horburn & Co., 15 John St., New 
York sent us a very small quantity of what 
they said was Bermuda Grass seed to test. 
A part was sown in a flower pot; the rest out- 
of-doors in our garden. The seed germinated 
freely and the plants have since bloomed. It 
is positively Bermuda Grass—Cynodon dacty- 
lon. Where Thorburn & Co., procured the 
seed we do not know. They are the first to 
have offered this seed for sale, so far as we 
know. 
W. McL., AbbyviUe, Fa.—If the mulberry, 
a branch of which I inclose, is the silk-worm 
mulberry I will set out an orchard and go to 
silk-worm raising. 
Ans.—I t is the Red Mulberry (Morus 
rubra), one of our natives, usually a small 
tree found from New England southward. 
The other native is M. parvifolia. The white 
(alba), the multicaulis and the black (nigra) 
are the imported kinds used for silk-worm 
food. Of these Multicaulis and Alba are best. 
The worms do not like our native kinds and 
cannot be successfully raised upon them. The 
Osage Orange also (Madura aurantiaca), 
serves well for silk-worm raising. 
D. J. C., Caledonia, N. Y. How can I 
start raspberry plants for seed ? 
Ans. —The best plan is to start the seeds in 
well-drained pots of mellow soil in mid-win ter. 
Boxes will answer just as well. As soon as 
the plants get rough leaves, prick them out 
into little pots. Then turn them out into the 
open soil about May 25, to June 1st. Each 
will throw up canes that will bear the second 
year as a rule. We wish all of our readers 
would engage more than they do iu this seed¬ 
ling cultivation of small fruits. 
O. M. C., Mount Morris, Pa.: says he has a 
sow nearly a year old that reels and falls down 
and will run around and roll its eyes in their 
sockets. What is the disease and treatment? 
Ans.—C onstipation, worms, or epilipsy, 
Give laxative food, wheat middlings or, what 
is still better, turn out to grass in fresh young 
feed; administer a tablespoonful of spirits of 
turpentine mixed with a half pint of milk; 
repeat the second day; and next day if no 
better, give a half pound of Epsom salts: put 
charcoal and sulphur before the animal. 
W. J. S., Albion, N, Y. My Fultzo Claw¬ 
son wheat marked on envelope as the largest 
kernel variety in cultivation, is a rather small 
inferior-looking wheat; is this good ground 
for supposing a mistake has been made? 
Ans. —No, we have already stated that the 
seed of this kind which we sent out was very 
inferior as to size. It was the best and all we 
had to send. 
G. D. K., Industry, Mo. If the Rural 
wheats are planted side by side will they mix? 
Ans. —You may plant them side by side. 
They cannot mix. Thanks for your report. 
We hope to hear further of your experiment. 
W. A. H., Basking Ridge, N. J., asks for 
the name of a responsible commission mer¬ 
chant to whom he might ship dressed pork. 
Ans.—E. & O. Ward, 279 Washington St. 
N. Y. 
D. A. F., Novi, Mich .—What is the right 
time for taking up rose bushes ? 
Ans.—T aking them up to bloom in the 
house 1 Now. 
A. M., Eagle, 117s., sends seed of plant for 
name. 
Ans. —We cannot determine such little 
things from seed without flowers. 
J. E. Heston. We have uot the writer’s 
address. It was merely signed “ Waif.” 
C. IF., et al. The address of A. J. Cay- 
wood is Marlborough, N. Y Answer to pear 
leaf injury later—E. F. E., entered for the 
Poor Farm series. 
G. IF. R, Fa. We are sony to say we do 
not know at present where either Shumaker 
or Black-bearded Centennial can b9 purchased. 
Perhaps the State College, Fort Collins, Col., 
can furnish some. Try Prof. Tracy, care of 
D. M. Ferry & Co., Detroit, Mich. This firm 
can furnish Golden Grains we think. If not, 
try J. J. H. Gregory, of Marblehead, Mass. 
The price is very high—at the rate of at least 
$75.00 per bushel. Thanks for your report. 
Cojimcnioations Received for the week Ending 
Saturday, Auk. '-’S, 1882. 
T. H. H,, good—P. B. P.—J. E. T.—thanks for crop 
reports which the Fair No. has prevented from ap¬ 
pearing—W. L.—W. F., thanks—A. J. C.-B. T.—J. H. 
W„ thanks-D. McL.—G. W. D.-S. & P.—F. D. C.—A. 
M. S.-S. M. W.--A. M.—A. M. P.-M. W.-E. W. D.~ 
W. A. H., thanks—J. A. W.—S. E. W.—E. C. S.-C. A. 
G.-J. M. L.—W. S.—A. N. R -C. A. V.-E. B.-E. W.- 
E. C. S., atrald we cannot—shall try—A. J. W.—T. P. 
D.— E M., Eldora, Iowa. It can do you no harm to 
try. Thanks for report—C. C.—2L A. W.—E. W. 
