OCT 28 
THE RURAL NEW-YORKER 
738 
E. W. S. Tallahassee, Fla. —1. Why do my 
Lima beans shed their blossoms without bear¬ 
ing fruit ? 2, My land having had 1,000 
pounds of kainit p:*r acre last January for 
potatoes, will it need another application for 
the next crop ? 3. How should I grow seed of 
the Pyretbrum roseum 1 
Ans— 1, Heat, drought, frost, too much 
moisture, soil too rich or too poor, may oper¬ 
ate to produce such an effect. One, several, 
or all of such causes make the climate or soil 
unsuitable. 2. Probably, unless your land 
needs potash only or chiefly. 3. The plant is 
perfectly hardy, and the seeds need no other 
cart than you would give to a balsam, petunia 
or zinnia to start them. Once started, weeding 
is all that is required. 
L. B., Greenwich, O., sends insect for name. 
Ans. —It is a specimen of a large water-bug 
known as Belostoma grande. It is carniv¬ 
orous, feeding usually on other water insects, 
and it has been known to devour small fish. 
W. C. C., Ricecille, Trim., wants full infor¬ 
mation with regard to snlky plows from those 
who have used them, and therefore know prac¬ 
tically about their merits or shortcomings. 
Ans. —We have asked those of our subscri¬ 
bers who have used sulky plows to favor the 
Rubai, with their experience. It is not fair 
to make comparisons when other makes not 
tried may be ju3t as good. 
A. B. E., Williamsboro, N. C. —Many of 
the grains of the Rural Heavy Dent Corn 
received and planted did not germinate. On 
the prescribed area of ground I have 86 stalks 
and IK) ears. I think of being a contestant for 
some of the prizps offered by the Rural. 1, 
Will the corn be adjudged by weight of ears, 
or by measure, or by weight of grain. 2, 
At what time should a statement of the 
yield be furnished? 
Ans. —1. By weight of ears and shelled 
grain. 2. December 1. 
F P. W., Belmont, BT's., sends grasses for 
name. 
Ans. —No. 1 is a Calamagrostis—Reed Bent 
Grass. No. 2 seems to be Crab Grass—Pani- 
cum sanguinale. No. 3, Eragrostis pilosa. No. 
4. Barn-yard Grass—Panicum Crus-galli. 
They were poor specimens. We could not de¬ 
termine the second, or specific, name of No. 1. 
C. B. P., Albany, III., sends three kinds of 
wild flowers for name. 
Ans. —No. 1 is Gerardia grandiflora of 
Gray—Dasystoma grandiflora of Wood. We 
may be mistaken as to the specific name, there 
being no flowers to guide us No. 2 is Gen- 
tiana crinita, the Fringed Gentian. No. 3 is 
Gentiana puberula. 
M. H., Paloma, III. Is it too early to cas¬ 
trate colts while sucking. 
Ans.— Generally, yes. Too early castra¬ 
tion checks the proper development of the 
colt, especially in the fore parts of the body. 
J. S. McC., Fort Collins, Col. —Some of my 
Golden Heart well Celery has gone to seed ; 
will it ripen, and if so, should 1 save it ? 
Ans. —We cannot say whether it will ripen. 
Seed is usually saved the second year. 
J, H. S., Herscher, Vermillion Co., III .— 
Where can I get Jersey Red pigs ? 
Ans. —Thos. Bennett, Rossville, Vermillion 
Co., Ill., is the nearest to you of the dealers 
in this breed that we know of. 
E. W. T., California, sends, for name of 
plant, samples of flowers and leaves of a tree 
known in Southern California as the Bird of 
Paradise Tree. 
Ans. —It is Poinciana Gillesii. 
D. D., Moravia, N. V., asks where the 
Champion Amber wheat can be procured. 
Ans —We obtained ours from J. 8. Wood¬ 
ward, Lockport, N. V. 
A. C. M., Union City, Mich, —Why are 
nearly all my tuberoses single? 
Ans.—B ecause your bulbs were of the sin¬ 
gle kind. Other answer later. 
P, D., Short Creek, W. Fa., asks for infor¬ 
mation about Cheshire hogs. 
Ans. —See article by Col. F. D. Curtis, un¬ 
der Swineherd, in this issue. 
and coal, six barrow loads of lime go to one 
of small coal (slack). When the kiln is half 
filled it is to be fired, and when the fire is 
well under way the regular charges are put 
in at the top at the same iuteivals at which 
the lime is drawn; the lime being drawn first 
the charge is then given. The damper 
hole is closed when necessary to lower the 
draft. A kiln 12x12 and 15 feet deep inside 
will hold 1.000 bushels. This is a perpetual 
kiln and if \* ell built will last for years with¬ 
out repairs, excepting perhaps some new 
or five ears set, but none has more than three 
good ones and many only two, but some ears 
measure five-eighths of a yard along the out¬ 
side husk. I have not husked any yet, as it 
seems too green. The corn was injured some¬ 
what by winding up the tassels so tightly it 
could not get out till I split the Wades in rib¬ 
bons. I have now 85 stalks with ears on, be¬ 
sides many too short to count. I have just 
counted 409 grains on one ear that was partly 
stripped. From 22 small White Elephants, I 
had almost a bushel of very nice tubers. The 
celery seed never came up. The squashes 
grew finely, but bore about 2,000 false blos¬ 
soms. We have five hollyhocks about one foot 
high, and 10 varieties of pinks. K. c. mce. 
llliode Island. 
Harmony, Providence Co., Oct, 9. —The 
Rural Thorough-bred Flint corn was planted 
May 25th. It is immense in every respect: 
but the season is not long enough here for a 
sure crop. I cut my corn up and shocked it 
October 4, in small shocks, but I do not think 
there is any show to shell it by Nov. 3, as 
some of the ears were hardly out of the milk 
when it was cut up, but the yi Id will be 
heavy. All persons who have seen it say it 
beats anything they ever saw. wm. c. s. 
Wisconsin . 
Hudson, St. Croix Co., Oct. 9.—From the 
hollyhocks I have a dozen nice roots grow¬ 
ing; ouly one of the Lima Beans grew, and 
one squash: both too late for this climate. 
The celery did well. The wheat I sowed in 
Spring and it did well until about six incties 
high; then it went “towards China.” OdIv a 
part of the flint corn came up; the squirrels 
took a good part of that, the remainder grew 
well, but it is late and grows too large. H. A. 
Plainfield, Waurara Co., Oct. 6 .—I have 
two ears of the Rural Heavy Dent that meas¬ 
ure 16 inches and several of the Thoroughbred 
Flint Corn that are 15}£. I never saw such 
corn; the kernels will average three-quarters 
of an inch wide. It is a perfect monster 
The Rural Heavy Dent Cora, too, is very 
good. We had a frost two weeks ago that 
hurt it somewhat although nearly all of it 
will get ripe. My corn beats everything in 
the shape of corn I ever saw; in fact, all of 
our corn is splendid this Fall. .f. l. w. 
Troy, Walworth Co., Oct. 9,—My White 
horse got in again and destroyed 15 ears more, 
besides biting off several stalks that bore 
ears not sufficiently matured for seed. On 
the night of September 10 the horse got in 
again, destroying one-third of the corn that 
was left. I then gathered what remained, it 
being in the dough and hung it up to dry. I 
then measured the hight of some of the stalks. 
One was twelve feet two inches high; others 
measure! eleven feet eight inches. One ear of 
the corn was 11% inches long, and I measured 
several that were 12 inches. The circum¬ 
ference of some of the stalks was 7% inches 
above the first joint. On September 23 I and 
Mr. Patten weighed the Rural Heavy Dent 
Corn in the ear: the weight was 48 pounds. 
Then I shelled it, and the shelled corn weighed 
34 pounds. This shows a big weight for the 
cob, but so many of the ears were bitten by 
the horse that allowance must be made in 
the weight of the cob. Five of the average 
ears weighed four pounds, and there were (50 
ears. If the corn had ueen left to get ripe the 
weight would have been much better. I 
weighed none except what I am sure will 
grow. The corn suckers more than any I 
have ever seen. I think one grain in a hill 
four feet apart is enough, for then there 
would be from four to six stalks In a hill, 
and at gathering time half of the suckers 
could not be distinguished from the stalk that 
came from the grain that was planted. G. D. 
[From what is said, we judge this corn must 
have been the Thoroughbred Flint.—E ds.] 
Nebraska. 
Palo, York Co., Oct 10.—I have a poor 
report to give of my “premium corn," as we 
call it. We planted the Rural Flint accord¬ 
ing to directions on April 10th, there be¬ 
ing 130 kernels; 100 came up, and grew 
finely. When about six inches high I ap¬ 
plied a quart of rotten manure to each hill; 
when a foot high, I gave a quart of corn cob¬ 
ashes to each hill; I cultivated twice with 
horse cultivator and hoed once. During the 
last part of August the pigs got in and de¬ 
stroyed ten hills. On October 1st I found 
Ihe corn looking fine and began to consider 
myself pretty sure of a premium; but those 
pigs again appeared and destroyed nearly 
half of it, I counted the cobs and found they 
had eaten 85 ears. Well, I gathered the re¬ 
mainder which made just one bushel; the ears 
are not all wel l filled out, but some are ex¬ 
tremely handsome, quite a large number be¬ 
ing 15 inches long. L. 0. V. 
New Hampshire. 
Mason, Hillsboro Co.—The Rural Thorough¬ 
bred Flint corn gave promise of a large crop 
early in the season, but the long and unprece¬ 
dented drouth cut it off before it shed its pol¬ 
len, and it has only ripeued two or three ears. 
Think it would make a very valuable fodder 
corn, but am afraid our season is too short for 
it. California Branch Bean yields well for 
this reason. e. a. h. 
New York. 
Elba, Genessee Co., Oct., 11.—The Rural 
Thoroughbred Flint corn is too late for this 
latitude. To-day there is considerable of it 
that would do for roasting ears. If it was 
only two or three weeks earlier it would be a 
decided acquisition. A, b. g. 
Moravia, Cayuga Co., Oct. 10 —My White 
Elephant potatoes have done splendidly this 
year, and so have the Washington Oats; the 
Elephants are the coming potato. I raised 2>$ 
acres of Shumaker wheat this year; yield, 105 
bushels of clean wheat. The Rural Flint corn | 
is too late for this section. d. d. 
Ohio. 
New Lisbon, Columbiana Co., Oct. 9.—The 
Rural Heavy Dent corn is very large, both in 
hight and size of ear. I measured one stalk; 
it was 11 feet 2 inches, and 7 feet 3 inches on 
top of ear; circumference of stalk, 5)$ inches; 
ear, 12 inches long, with 14 rows; circumfer 
euce of ear, S>£ inches; number of grains, 6S4. 
Of the celery I have 187 plants; it is splendid. 
Of hollyhocks, 4 plants—onebloomingt j.t.h. 
I'cnimy lvun In, 
Sligo, Clarion Co., Oct. 6 . —The Thorough¬ 
bred Flint corn 1 planted as near your direc¬ 
tions as possible, making a stick exactly two 
feet long; 10 loads of stable manure, 25 bush¬ 
els of burnt lime, and 20 loads of sand were 
hauled ou about one-third of an acre about 
March 20. The ground had been manured 
some for two years before, but was formerly 
very poor, wet, yellow clay. Last year I 
raised corn and one row of Rural Branching 
Sorghum on the same ground. This year I 
planted 157 grains of the Rural Thoroughbred 
Flint corn exactly two feet apart each way. 
The ground was plowed on April 29, and har¬ 
rowed May 1st; but we had such a long, wet 
spell, that 1 planted the first row—45 grains— 
on May 10; then it raiued and froze till May 
16, wheu 1 planted the remaining seeds, mak¬ 
ing 3% rows. The first all came through in 
about five weeks; the cut-worms took about 
six hills. Then 32 hills of the last 3>* rows 
came through in about three weeks, so I had 
about 71 grains to grow. The highest stalks 
are about nine or ten feet. Ou some stalks four 
Fig. 404. 
lining; but even this will not be needed if the 
lining is of the best fire brick laid in fire clay 
and ashes mixed into a mortar. WTien the 
lower part of the lime is burned, a few of the 
middle bars are drawn out and the lime falls 
into the fire hole, from which it is raked into 
the arch to cool. A shed should be built near¬ 
by in which the lime can be stored as soon as 
it is cool enough to be removed. Iron wheel¬ 
barrows are used for this purpose. The kiln 
is made near to or in a bank, and a bridge Is 
made from the bank to the top of the kiln. 
Usually a shed of sheet-iron is put over the 
top of the kiln for protection. 
WEAK HIND-QUARTERS IN PIGS. 
C. J. B., Manchester, la .—We have five 
pigs three months old that about three weeks 
ago became weak in theif hind legs. At first 
we attributed it to heat, but they do not im¬ 
prove with the cold weather. They eat heart¬ 
ily, but have to drag their legs on the ground. 
They try to stand on them, but if they suc¬ 
ceed in getting on them, they tumble over the 
other way. They were all “takeu” at the same 
time. They have been fed on corn, slops from 
the house and milk. They have a plank floor 
in their pen and ground to run on: what is the 
matter with them and what is the remedy ? 
Ans. —These pigs are probably foundered 
from eating too much corn. Their food should 
be changed to wheat middlings or oat-meaL 
It will help them to immerse them in water 
as hot as they can bear, and keep them in 
it for twenty or thirty minutes, and then rub 
them, especially the legs. The heads should 
be kept out of the water. Give charcoal and 
sulphur, and take them off from a plank floor. 
The sulphur may be mixed in the food—a 
tablespoonful daily for a week. Let them 
eat all of the charcoal they will. Stiffness or 
weakness in the hind legs is often caused by 
worms in the kidneys. In such eases the pig 
will drag the hind part. A tablespoonful of 
spirits of turpentine diluted with milk should 
be given in such cases. One or two doses 
daily are generally sufficient. For small pigs 
a teaspoonful of turpentine may be rubbed 
across the kidneys, 
STRAIN ON BACK TENDONS OF HOBSE. 
E. H. M., Ashton, Mich. I have a horse 
that is very lame in the off fore foot; the back 
tendons are swollen and sore, the shoulder is 
a trifle sunken an 1 the animal stands holding 
its heel up, how should it be treated i 
Ans.— Keep it quiet, wrap coarse woolen 
rags round me leg and keep them constantly 
wet with cold water for two or three days. 
Afterwards apply along the back sinews, 
twice daily during a week, a portion of equal 
parts of tlucture of cantharides and oil of 
turpentine, shaking the mixture at the time 
of applying. The shoes should be removed 
and the animal should not be worked for at 
least a month. Wheu again put to work the 
horse should have shoes with heels, but no 
toe pieces. 
Miscellaneous. 
E. C. McE., Sligo, Pa., asks: 1, the name 
of a black bug which attacks potato vines, 
and is more in j urious than the Colorado beetle; 
2 , what use can be made of okra. 
Ans. _1. From so brief a description we can 
hardly give a definite answer to the question, 
but we presume it is the potato-stalk weevil 
(Baridius trinotatus), occurring abundantly in 
the Middle States. 2. It can be served as a 
soup or stewed, fried, and prepared in other 
al)C (Querist 
[Every query must be accompanied by the name 
and address of the writer to insure attention.] 
BURNING LIME. 
W. S, M., Ursina, Pa. How should a kiln 
for burning 100 bushels of lime a day be built 
in the side of a hill-fuel soft coal? 
Ans. —The accompanying illustrations show 
the common form of kilns for huruing lime. 
At Fig. 403, is shown the arch-way, enlarged, 
with the fire-hole, the draw-bars and the 
damper. Fig. 404, shows the whole kiln. This 
is built of stone having walls two feet thick 
and filled in at the bottom with loose rubble 
work to the lining, which is of fire-brick; the 
COMMUNICATIOXB RECEIVED FOR THE WEEK ENDIJiO 
Saturday, October 21. 
S. Mills, for the “ Poor Farm” story. Sorry we made 
the mistake In name.—Mrs. Levi H. N., thanks. We 
think it will Interest our readers.—J. G. L , for “Poor 
Farm” series.—Zenla.—A. D.. thanks.—A A., "Poor 
Farm” series.—W. B. N.. sMine.—M. M.—G. it. S.—H. F. 
E.—B. C. D -C. P,—Mrs. A. L.. answers by mall.—J. 
A, W—W. P. P -H. S.-&, M. R. H. B—C. A. B.-J. J. 
M.-E. C. O.-E. W, R.-E. C. McE.. thanks.-W. c. D. 
—E. W. G.—J. P —J. P. K.—D. a Paine, thanks for re¬ 
port.— a C. R.—W.C. S. We cannot now publish re¬ 
ports of previous seed distributions except In a gene¬ 
ral way Thanks all the «ame.—C S, Osgood, thanks 
for report.—H. A.—K. A. H —John Haynes, thanks for 
seed potatoes. Ac.—A C. M.—S, T. H —R. W. B., Dun¬ 
lap, thanks to yon.—B. T. S, sugar received.—John 
H. CL, for “ Poor Farm” premiums.—G. W E.— J. W.— 
John Isom, "Poor Farm” series,—J H E,—"Clem 
Auldon.” Thanks for your “ Farm Economy."—C. B. 
P.—W. M. R_—C. 4 . Q.—P. E. A. S.—G. W. C. t thanks 
for fruit; received all right.—G. G.—T. H. H.—R. H.— 
E. B. R.—T. E. T.—A. M. 11.—M. W.—A. F. B.—C. A.—L. 
M. N.-P. A. S.-U. A. L.-F. H -M. O. D.-F. H. P.-C. 
S.—C. B.—W. F. B.-P. S. C—W. G. G.—Mrs. L. C. V. 
A., sorry.—B. F. J.—C. D. W.—A. M. W.—I. D. B. 
Fig. 403. 
lining is shown by the dotted lines. At the 
bottom of the lining are the draw-bars which 
hold the burned lime as it settles to the 
bottom. The kiln is charged by putting a 
quantity of wood at the bottom on the draw¬ 
bars, which form the grate. These bars are 
of iron three inches wide, one inch thick, set 
on edge and each has a large ring at the end 
by which it can be drawn out to let out the 
burned lime. The bars are three inches upart. 
The grate hole should be four feet wide for 
a 100 -bushel kiln, and the lime can be drawn 
three or four times a day, or twice, or once, 
as may be convenient. Upon the wood, a 
charge of small coal and lime-stone broken 
small, is placed; then alternate layers of lime 
