SEPT 30 
that tomatoes were palatable. We are very 
careful to have no melon rinds thrown about 
where the hens can get them; but ali are 
saved up and taken directly to the hogs.” 
“But that is not all,” rejoined Perkins, 
“the fowls nearly ruined a half acre or more 
of my wheat before harvest, and in the best 
part of the field, too—just behind the stables.” 
“1 suppose a half bushel of wheat fed to 
them at that time would have saved five or 
more bushels. We feed mostly corn with an 
occasional mess of meal and wheat bran made 
into dough, also wheat now and then, wheat 
being now cheaper by 10 cents per bushel, 
we feed no corn. The lice we keep in sub¬ 
jection by applications of a few drops of oil 
or grease of any kind under the wings, on top 
of the head and on other parts of the body 
where the pests seem most to congregate. Lice 
are almost sure death to young chicks; but 
little loss will be suffered from this cause if 
the hen and nest are well dusted with sulphur. 
Formerly we lost a good many chicks from 
feeding fine meal. It packs so closely in the 
crop as to be indigestible; it is much better 
ground coarse like the samp of Yankee-land 
or the hominy of the South.” 
“Isn’t there something in the breed?” says 
John, who reads what agricultural papers he 
can get hold of, and is trying to convert the 
“old folks” to his way of thinking in regard 
to what they style his “new-fangled notions.” 
“Which do you consider the best?” 
“That is a hard question to answer. There 
is certainly scmething in the breed, and that 
something depends almost entirely on the re¬ 
sults desired, and the care to be given and the 
situation and range attainable. Eggs being 
the main object with me, non-sitters are most 
desirable. If you want chickens, select that 
breed which has a reputation as good sitters 
and mothers. None but professional prize- 
takers can afford to pay fancy prices. Look 
about and find something that pleases your 
fancy, that you can buy at a fair price; give 
them good care, keep a correct account with 
them, and after a time I think you will be 
able to convince father and mother not only 
that the hens pay, but also that a pound of 
butter per day is more profitable than a pound 
per week, and that two pounds of pork can be 
made as cheaply from some of the improved 
pigs as one pound from the long-nosed razor- 
backs which so many of our farmers persist 
in keeping.” 
“It appears to me,” said Mr. Perkins, as I 
rose to take my leave, “that you are reflect¬ 
ing on some of my stock, but perhaps you are 
about right. At any rate yours seem to be 
the more profitable, and I reckon, as John 
is the only boy we have left at home and 
the only one that seems to care to keep the 
old farm when I am done with it, that 
we must give him a chance to try some of 
these new ways, but mind, Mr. Cornplanter, 
I give you fair warning that he will pester 
you mightily with questions about this, that, 
and the other thing.” Cornplanter. 
Warren Co., N. C. 
Important to Shippers of Poultry. 
Messrs. E. & 0. Ward, Commission Mer¬ 
chants, 279 Washington St., N. Yj, have 
favored us with a copy of an ordinance adopted 
by the Board of Aldermen of New York City 
on April 11th, 1882 and approved by the 
Mayor, April 13: 
Section 1. That no turkeys or chickens be 
offered for sale in the city unless the crops of 
such turkeys and chickens are free from food 
or other substance and shrunken close to their 
bodies. That all fowls exposed for sale in 
violation of this ordi&nce shall be seized and 
condemned; such of them as shall be tainted 
shall, upon examination, be destroyed, and 
the rest which are fit for food shall be used in 
the public institutions of the city. 
Section 2. Every person exposing for sale 
any chicken or turkey in contravention of this 
ordinance shall be liable to a penalty of five 
dollars for each chicken or turkey so exposed 
for sale. 
Section 3. This ordinance shall take effect 
on the first day of October, 1882. 
There is every probability that the foregoing 
ordinance will be strictly enforced during the 
coming poultry season. Poultry dressers will 
therefore save i hem selves from loss and their 
consignees from much annoyance, and also 
make their poultry much better than it would 
otherwise be, by observing the following 
simple rule:—Keep all poultry from food 12 
hours before killing. 
-- 
The Guinea Fowl.— While guinea fowls 
are esteemed for their beauty they are not 
very common on the farm. They are great 
birds to fly and are very severe on young 
chickens and often make it “unpleasant” for 
older fowls. They are great foragers and de¬ 
light in stealing their nests where they can 
rear their broods unmolested. In rearing 
these fowls it Is best to procure eggs and set 
them under a common hen, since the guinea 
hen is a great rover and will expose her brood 
to the wet grass or to prowling enemies. 
&l)t Snritte-ijcril. 
PIG EXPERIENCE—DISEASE AND 
REMEDY. 
COL F. D. CURTIS. 
We have had recently some new and un¬ 
pleasant experience with two breeding sows. 
The first one that gave us trouble was a very 
large Red Berkshire, six years old, which had 
10 pigs—all smart. The sow had been taken 
from the pig pasture about a week before, 
from among the other hogs, and allowed a 
run on grass by herself; she had only been 
confined in the pen a day or two before the 
pigs were bjrn. While in the pen, previous 
to their birth, she was fed nothing but house- 
slops. The udders were large, and everything 
worked well for the first day; but the second 
day she would lie down, always carefully, for 
the pigs to suck, and then as soon as they be¬ 
gun she would get up. The udders and nip¬ 
ples were examined to see if there was any 
soreness to account for her uneasiness. We 
have had such cases occasioned by scratches, 
or cracks, which gave a great deal of trouble, 
as the mothers would refuse to nurse the pigs 
as soon as the sore parts were touched by 
them, but would jump up, angry, and appear 
quite ferocious. In such cases the sore parts 
were smeared with coal tar several times in 
a day to keep the pigs from touching them, 
and in one instance where the nipple was 
badly cracked it was cut off and by so doing 
the pigs were saved. 
To return to the Red Berkshire; in her case 
the udders had been washed and greased some 
days before the birth of the pigs—hence there 
w as no trouble on account of soreness. For 
several days we were unable to determine 
what was the trouble with this sow. At first 
we were disposed to think it was a freak of 
the mother, or a Btreak of contrairness, which 
is not unnatural to a hog. The feed of the 
animal had been so light, (nothing but Orchard 
Grass and water,) and her manner was so 
gentle with the pigs in her care of them—all 
except nursing—that we were satisfied she was 
not in the feverish condition common to hogs 
when confined and fed hearty food, like corn. 
In spite of all our care the pigs got so weak 
that they all died but four. We stinted the 
mother in her food so that there should not 
be any fever created. 
Another sow—a Victoria—which had borne 
pigs for a half dozen years, was soon to pro¬ 
duce young, and we determined to follow 
nature in her case, and to give her noth iag to 
eat after parturition for at least two days— 
only water to drink. When left to follow 
their instincts sows will hide themselves at 
this time and not seek food for several days, 
but remain quietly with their young. We 
have known them to thus hide away for 
nearly a week and when found, to be all right. 
A mistake was made in the case of the Vic¬ 
toria sow, by one of the meu giving her four 
feedings of wheat middlings and swill after 
the pigs were bom. She had a litter of 10 
healthy and vigorous pigs. The second day 
after they were born she began acting the 
same as the other, lying down and getting up 
as soon as the pigs began to draw milk. 
There was no visible soreness in her case, and 
we concluded that the difficulty in both in¬ 
stances was in Che udders. An active treat¬ 
ment was begun by washing them with vin¬ 
egar. A decoction of Witch Hazel would 
also have been good, or any lotion which 
would tend to reduce inflammation. In order 
to allow the young pigs to get their sustenance, 
the mother was thrown upon her side and 
confined by putting a slipping noose over her 
snout, and another over each leg on the 
farther side of the body and passing them 
under it, by which Bhe could be easily thrown 
and held, the pigs being first removed from 
the pen to prevent their being injured. This 
somewhat tedious operation was repeated 
four times during the day and late in the 
evening, and the pigs allowed to work at. the 
udders for a full half hour each time. This 
treatment was continued for two days, no 
food being given except very thin swill, when 
it was found that the mother would remain 
quiet for the pigs to suck. 
The above condition of a sow may be known 
if not observed when the pigs attempt to 
suck, by the pigs following the mother around 
the pen, indicating hunger, and by the mother 
lying down on her stomach so that the pigs 
cannot get at the udders. 
The disease may very properly be called 
mammitis and is akin to milk fever. It 
must have been caused in these two instances 
by the hot weather w hich preceded the birth 
of the pigs and the large amount of milk 
which was secreted and carried by the 
mothers, which inflamed the mammary orgaus 
internally so that when the pigs began fci 
draw the milk the operation was so painful 
that the mother would not remain quiet. 
We are satisfied that too much food is gen¬ 
erally given to sows before and after partu¬ 
rition. We have known instances where the 
flow of milk was so great on this account that 
the pigs took more than they could digest, 
which made them sick so that they died. Too 
much food is liable also to cause caking of the 
udders which results in drying up the milk. 
From the above experience we are impressed 
with the fact that but little, if any, food is re¬ 
quired until the pigs are several days old, 
certainly not for the first 48 hours, as nature 
has enough in store for all immediate wants, 
and an excess will only promote inflammation 
and disease. 
DR. JOHN A. WARDER. 
Larch-Mere. 
(Continued from page 6o2.) 
Plantations on Waste Lands and Blowing 
Sands. Description — Situation — Natural 
Growths. Nature's Methods of Shading the 
Soil. Pinus Strobus the Exemplar. Results 
of the Work. Successes and Failures. 
Upland Growths of an Old Nursery of 
Pines and Larches Left Without Cultiva¬ 
tion. 
The most interesting forestal study here was 
the behavior of the young plants of White 
Pine (Pinus Strobus) on these sands: feeling 
the necessity for a cooler soil, the upward 
growth of the young trees was suspended, 
while the lateral branches were extended quite 
near the surface until, in some cases they had 
reached a diameter of a rod or more, when at 
length an aspiring leader would shoot up *ard 
and the growth of that tree was assured. 
Here was a valuable hint, and the lesson 
conveyed has not been lost; moreover, it has 
been confirmed by the result where opposite 
conditions existed in some of the trees that 
were afterwards planted from crowded seed¬ 
beds and nursery rows. The naked stems 
became baked by the exposure, many of that 
character of inferior stock died outright, 
others merely survived until they could start 
out new laterals to shade the ground, after 
which they grew well enough. So also where 
a little of the native “ground herbage” ex¬ 
isted to lend its kindly shade to the new tree, 
the latter was able to grow off at once. 
Planting under such conditions was a very 
simple affair. Many kinds of seeds were sown 
broadcast upon the surface, but these experi¬ 
ments failed, as might have been expected, 
when there was so little herbage to protect 
the seedlings from the winds and sunshine on 
the baked sand—this plan has therefore been 
relinquished in favor of planting. As a guide 
for the workmen, furrows were struck along 
the ridges, and in many placea the track of 
wagon wheels made a sufficient mark in the 
sand, if used before it was effaced by the 
wind. The trees were then set, either by pit¬ 
ting or by simply notching with the spade, 
according to the size and requirements of the 
roots. They were set closely 4x4 feet or wider. 
The kinds selected were chiefly conifers—the 
common pines, particularly the native Stro¬ 
bus, and larches, with some ailanthus, eatal- 
pas, and other species, but the latter have not 
succeeded in these sands. Of the pines Scotch, 
Austrian and native Red and White have 
done best and make good growth, while the 
Pitch Pine and the Table Mountain have 
measurably failed, and the larches, from 
crowded seed beds, with naked stems suffered 
from the exposure to the hot sun in their new 
homes; some died, others formed new lateral 
branches to cover the sands and then grew 
off finely. 
A recent report from the plantation, (July 
29) is very satisfactory—“Many Scotch and 
White Pines and a few Austrian are now 8 
to 10 feet high, some larches, 12 feet. Where 
the trees stand close they come up about as 
fast as on good land, but single trees have to 
spend some years in making lateral branches 
to shade the ground, and then they shoot 
upwards. My Garch-Mere plantation is a 
constant study.” 
These premises are exposed to the inroads of 
teams, cattle, skating parties, pot-hunters and 
fires, nnd yet it may be said “they are far 
ahead of those ou Cape Cod or any other bar 
ren land plantation I have seen, , . If the 
ailanthus would stand our climate, it would 
be the tree to cover all these wastes rapidly, 
and it would not be so liable to bum as the 
conifers—of course, the Spruce, Balsam Fir, 
Arbor-vita 1 and Red Cedar will not grow in 
blowing sand, but the White, Red and8cotch 
Pines will grow as rapidly here as in good up¬ 
land without cultivation." 
Here, by the efforts of a private citizen, we 
may see 000 acres of a forlorn waste of marsh 
and sands, that had furnished but a meagre 
pasture of inferior herbage, now put in 
the way of approaching a grand forest, 80 q 
acres being already well stocked with valu¬ 
able timber trees. 
The situation is one that cannot fail to at¬ 
tract the attention of travelers in the future, 
as the Chicago and Milwaukee Railway 
courses along the base of the bluff on the 
Western eide of the plantation, and commands 
a view across the flats. 
Some 24 acres of trees, planted on the up¬ 
land by Mr. Douglas are also worthy of note 
in this connection. A large nursery well- 
stocked with pines and larches that became 
unsalable from their size during a period of 
commercial depression, have grown into a 
bit of forest, and show wbat trees can do on 
such land when left to themselves. The 
larches have been somewhat thinned for the 
poles, which has helped those which are left, 
now 25 to 30 feet high and from three to seven 
inches in diameter. The pines are in close 
rows, four feet wide and much crowded. The 
best of them are five inches in diameter and 
20 to 25 feet high. The surplus plants have 
been smothered by crowding, and nature is 
thus thinning them—after they have done 
good work by trimming the stems of those 
which attained the mastery. Here are les¬ 
sons of value. 
-♦ ♦- 
The Common Locust or False Acacia* 
In the Rural of July 8 . an inquirer asked 
what kind of locust was alluded to in my ar¬ 
ticle entitled Planting a Locust Grove. In 
our vicinity it is called Yellow Locust [Rob- 
inia pseudacacia.] It is a tall, straight-grow¬ 
ing variety with very few thorns; wood of a 
yellowish color, generally straight-grained; 
easy to split, when seasoned; very hard and 
stiff; valuable for many other uses than fenc¬ 
ing. W. B. Nearing. 
♦ • ♦— 
RAYS. 
I will endeavor to give, from time to time, 
some seasonable, plain, practical hints on the 
care and cultivation of window and garden 
plants. But as the same sorts of plants in 
different parts of the country may require 
different treatment, as the conveniences of 
cultivation may vary with different people, 
and as some folks may grow plants outside of 
the common run of amateurs’ plants, un¬ 
prompted hints from me may not meet all of 
the individual eases of the Rural readers. I 
therefore ask them to help me in assisting 
themselves, and this they can best do by ask¬ 
ing for the information they want to get. 
* * 
All plants, as carnations, bruvardias, ste- 
vias, cestrums, abutilons, roses and the like, 
that you had planted out for the Summer and 
which you want for Winter blooming, should 
now be lifted and potted. By lifting early 
you get them nicely rooted before severe 
weather sets in, and they blossom better and 
earlier for it. Use good, mellow, loamy soil, 
with some old well-decayed cow or barnyard 
manure in it; pot firmly and into compara¬ 
tively small pots; water well at first, and for 
a few days after being potted sprinkle the 
