DEC 23 
tention is needed, which is generally repaid 
with interest. 
The first requisite is good, stimulating 
food. The morning or mid-day meal should 
be of warm, soft food, such as corn- 
meal, wheat middlings, oatmeal or buck¬ 
wheat. meal, changing from one to the other 
occasionally, or two of the meals may be 
mixed. With any of them give boiled pota¬ 
toes; small ones a re as good as large ones, and 
come cheaper. These should be mashed while 
boiling-hot and the meal stirred in, which 
saves the trouble of scalding the meal sep¬ 
arately. The mess should he quite stiff when 
fed; it is cleaner than a soft, pasty mess, and 
the birds like it better, Wheat or barley is a 
good morning meal. Whole corn should only 
be given for the evening meal. If it is given 
them unsparingly they are apt to eat it in 
preference to wheat, which is a better egg- 
producer. The birds should always go to 
roost with crops full of grain, to carry them 
through the long Winter nights. 
Warmth is the next consideration. No person 
must expect eggs in severe weather without a 
good fow 1-house for his stock. All through our 
Northern and Eastern States the walls should 
be lathed aud plastered. One coat on the lath, 
if good, hard mortar is used, is enough. There 
should be no openings on the north or west 
sides; there ought to be glasB on the south 
aDd east sides, and that low down to warm 
the floor. Where it is not practicable to plas¬ 
ter walls, they may be lined with straw to 
stop all drafts; laths should be nailed over 
the straw to hold it and to keep fowls from 
pulling it down. All houses must be ven¬ 
tilated thoroughly near the top or ceiling, 
and the ventilators should be so constructed 
that during zero weather all can be closed, 
but, by all means, open them as soon as the 
weather moderates, or disease will surely fol¬ 
low. Whenever the thermometer rises to 16 
degrees aud the weather is clear during the 
day, let out the flocks, and do so w hen the 
temperature is at 20 degrees during cloudy 
weather, unless it storms. Near the glass, on 
the south side, must be a dust-bath, where 
'the fowls will dust and clean themselves. 
This they are fond of doing when the sun 
shines on them. The baths can be made by 
sinking a box tilled with sand and fine coal or 
wood ashes and a handful of pulverized sul¬ 
phur, which will prevent parasites multiply¬ 
ing on the fowls; but this will not affect the 
perch mite or little animal that breeds in the 
wood-work, nests, etc. This can only be killed 
by fumigation, or sprinkling with carbolic 
acid, kerosene, or some good insecticide. It is 
always requisite to fumigate once or twice 
during the Winter where many fowls are 
kept in one building. 
This reminds me to caution against over¬ 
crowding. No more than 50 to 100 should be 
kept together in one house. Fowls should have 
plenty of room, without crowding; dry ashes 
or earth should cover lhe floor, aud the drop¬ 
pings should be frequently removed, especi¬ 
ally when the birds are confined. All food 
ought to be given in troughs constructed so 
that the fowls cannot soil them by hitting on or 
getting into them .which would be a sure source 
of trouble by sickness. The water also should 
be fresh and clean, aud protected while in the 
house; but in all weather mild enough the 
water should be outside, aud the food too. 
Beef or pork scraps should be given the birds, 
either broken fine or soaked in cold water 
till the fowls can pull them to pieces. Ground 
oyster-shell must not be omitted; it is wanted 
for egg-shells and to aid digestion. It is best 
to keep some in a box always accessible to 
the poultry. A cabbage hung up by its stalk, 
so that the birds can reach it without getting 
it into the dirt, is very good Scrupulous care 
in keeping nests clean, with clean straw and 
a nest-egg, w ill promote laying. The perches 
in a poultry-house are always beet placed low 
and all on one level. This promotes peace. 
When snow covers tho ground a place should 
be cleared for them; standing on the cold 
snow or in slush is very detrimental to lay¬ 
ing. Early pullets will lay sooner than hens. 
All quarrelsome or feather eatiug birds should 
be removed. If these directions are followed 
out, almost any breed of fowls will lay hi 
Winter. On a farm, when other work is not 
pushing, the time can in this way be profit¬ 
ably employed. 
“A SURE PREVENTIVE OF CHICKEN 
CHOLERA.” 
Several experiments have been made 
during the last five years by different parties 
for the purpose of preventing the spread of 
chicken cholera by inoculation or vaccination- 
During the last two years, I have vaccinated 
the fowls in 19 different yards where the 
cholera was prevailing badly. In each \ard 
some common fowls were left un vaccina ted 
and these all died ; but of the 2,000 vaccina 
ted only eleven died, although they were in 
the same yard with those that were dying 
daily by the scores. I have every reason to 
believe that this ohickeu vaccination is as 
effectual in preventing cholera among fowl 
as ordinary vaccination is in preventing small, 
pox among the human family. To prepare 
the vaccine, vaccinate a hen and in eight days 
her system will be thoroughly inoculated; 
thbn cut off her head and catch all the blood 
in some vessel; then pour the blood out on 
paper to dry. Half a drop of this blood is 
Btiiliciont to vaccinaie a fowl and the blood of 
one hen will vaccinate a whole flock. Catch 
the fowl you wish to vaccinate and with a 
pin or knife make a little scratch ou the thigh 
just enough to draw blood) then moisten a 
little piece of the paper with the dried blood 
on it, and stick it o i the chicken’s leg where 
you scratched it, then let tho fowl run and 
you need have no fear of chicken cholera. 
Logan Co., Ohio. W. H. Griffith. 
Remarks.— We print the above for the rea¬ 
son that the same communication has been 
sent apparently to all the agricultural papers, 
and has already appeared in several; and we 
have doubts about the good faith of the writer 
of it. There seems to be a bidden purpose in 
it, and unless we should have the evidence of 
some of the 19 persons whose fowls have been 
inoculated we have grave doubts as to the 
statement. Inoculation by the blood of a 
diseased fowl would be fatal; for it is stated 
by Dr. Salmon that virus diluted 2,000 times 
with water will kill a fowl and that 10,000 or 
20,000 dilutions will be sometimes fatal. A 
greatly diluted or attenuated virus is said by 
Pasteur to prevent infection, but we have no 
knowledge of the operation having been per¬ 
formed except by Pasteur. 
OUR ANIMAL PORTRAITS. 
GUERNSEY COW, LADY EMILY 
FOLEY 2D. 
The term Channel Island Cattle embraces 
two quite distinct breeds—the Guernsey aud 
Guernsey cows yielding 18 to 20 quarts of milk 
are by no means rare and there are many 
records of 14 to 18 pounds of butter a week. 
The progeny of a Guernsey and Jersey ex¬ 
hibits the large size of the former combined 
with the elegant form of the latter, while the 
butter of the cross-bred usually combines the 
firmness and woxiness of the Jersey with the 
richer shade of the Guernsey. Grade Guern¬ 
seys inherit the characteristics of tbeir pure¬ 
bred progonetor in a very extraordinary de¬ 
gree, exhibiting them in the color and quality 
of theekiu and in their milking aud feeding 
qualities. Guernseys, pure-bred or grade, are 
therefore excellently adapted to those parts 
of the country where beef and veal as well as 
butter are important farm products. 
The Guernsey Herd Book just published by 
the Royal Guernsey Agricultural Society of 
the Island of Guernsey gives the following 
“scale of points’* * for this breed. 
1 . Registered pedigree. r> 
2. Head rather long and line, with quiet and gen- 
tk- expression. 0 
3. Cluwk small, throat clean. 4 
4. •"uiszle broad, nostrils wide and open. 4 
5. Horn ullirntly curved (awards, not coarse, glos¬ 
sy yol low tit b:i9C. 4 
6. Kars small and deep,orange color within. 5 
7. Et e large and placid . :s 
!). Wither# line, shoulders flat, chest broad and 
deep. ... . 4 
10. Barrel round and deep at flank well ribbed up. 4 
11. Back level from the withers to the Betting on of 
the tall. .. 4 
12. Hips and loins broad and wide apart, not too 
fine bone.. ....... 3 
15. Rump Ion? broad and level. .. 3 
14. Tall long nml Oiln, reaching down to the hocks 3 
15• Skin deep yellow on end of tail, on udder, feats 
and body generally. 8 
16. Skin soft and flexible, well covered with fine, 
soft, hair. 5 
17. Lefts not too Ion?, with hocks well apart In 
walklug, hoofs small . 3 
18. Arms full and swelling above the knee. 3 
19. Milk veins very prominent.... 5 
20. Udder full In front, lnrgc hut not fleshy.... 6 
2 1. Udder Dill and well up oeblDd.. 5 
22; Udder-teats moderately larvre. yellow, of equal 
size, wide apart., aud squarely placed. fi 
23. General appearance.fi 
100 
The subject of the engraving, Fig. 479, is 
Lady Emily Foley 2nd, a Guernsey cow which 
took the first prize in her class at the late 
Dairy Show at Agricultural Hall, London, 
England. She was 5J>£ years old and bad pro¬ 
duced four calves. She was bred in Guernsey 
and is considered a good specimen of the 
Guernsey Cow—Lady Emily Foley 2nd,— Fig, 479. 
Jersey. These are different in everything ex¬ 
cept the quality and production of butter. 
Those familiar with neither of them can read¬ 
ily distinguish the Jersey by its biack nose 
and a white or light-colored band around the 
muzzle, the Guernsey having almost invaria¬ 
bly a rich yellow or buff nose. This charac¬ 
teristic, however, occasionally crops out in a 
Jersey, showing a Guernsey strain in some re¬ 
cent or remote generation, just as a black nose 
marks an impure cross in a Sbort-horu. The 
Guernsey is larger-boned, taller and stouter 
than the Jersey, as well as coarser In the coat 
aud deficient in the symmetry and neatness of 
form of tho other. The best specimens are 
decidedly above the medium size, many of 
them approaching the Short-horn in magni¬ 
tude. As beef animals they fatten economic¬ 
ally at any age above two years and tbeir 
beef is of lino quality, the fat being laid on 
evenly and the meat well marbled. The 
calves are of good size when dropped, and 
make heavy veals when five weeks old; so far 
as beef or veal are concerned therefore the 
Guernseys and their grades are decidedly su¬ 
perior to the Jerseys. 
Like the Jersey, however, it is as a producer 
of milk aud butter that the Guernsey has won 
a high reputation. Like that of her rival, 
the Guernsey’s milk is of extraordinary rich¬ 
ness, being fully as rich as that of the ordin¬ 
ary Jersey. In Bummer the Guernsey butter 
is so iutensely yellow as to be distasteful to 
some people so strong is the impression that 
the color is unnatural. During Winter it 
pales somewhat, being generally lightest in 
March if the cows are fed principally on hay. 
breed. The likeness hes been re-engraved 
from our esteemed contemporary, the English 
Agricultural Gazette. 
±iclt) <£xoy$. 
WALL’S ORANGE POTATO A FAILURE 
WITH MR. TALCOTT. 
Are Early Sunrise and Clark’s No. 1 
the Same? 
In the Rural for December 2d, page 812, 
is a record of an experiment in cultivating 
Wall’s Orange Potato, also Eariy Sunrise, tne 
Wall’s Orange from I. F. Tillinghast, and 
Early Sunrise from Price & Knickerbocker. 
As the outcome of that experiment was very 
different from that of mine, I give the results 
of mine, so that the readers of the Rural 
can have two pictures to look at instead of 
one. I sent Mr. Tillinghast $1 last Spring 
for a quarter of a pound of Wall’s Orange 
Potato, telling him I expected to be hum¬ 
bugged, but I did not think it w ould prove 
such a large “sell.” The potato was cut to 
single eyes and planted in 12 hills, iu sandy, 
gravelly' garden soil, without special fertil¬ 
izers; the result was a vigorous growth of 
vines, not a ball on one of them, with crop of 
tubers that were small and flat with not one 
quality of a good potato about them. In 
cooking they were pasty and wholly unlit for 
the table. Compared with such potatoes as 
Beauty of Hebron, Snowflake, Clark’s No. 1, 
and White Star, and all the new sorts culti¬ 
vated by the writer, Wall’s Orange is the least 
promising. Judging from my trial of them, 
as well as from that of a friend in an adjoin¬ 
ing town, and also from specimens shown at 
the State Fair in Utica last Fall, they are 
a splendid failure. 
The Early Sunrise sunt by Price & Knicker¬ 
bocker were very small and budly wilted, 
such potatoes os no person should send out 
without stating that fact. At the State Fair 
at Utica, I told Mr. Price of their condition, 
and also said to him I feared he had made a 
mistake and did not seDd me the genuine 
Early Sunrise. He assured me that there was 
no mistake iu the seed sent. They were 
planted alongside of Clark’s No. 1, and no 
difference could be disco veied between them 
in growth of vine, time of ripening, or the 
a ppearance of the tubers at the time of har¬ 
vesting. I have called the attention of 
potato growers to them now in the cellar, and 
no one can detect any difference between the 
two sorts. Are they so nearly alike that no 
difference in discernible; or did Price & 
Knickerbocker through their shipping clerk 
fail to send me the true Early Sunrise Potato? 
Who will solve the question? 
Rome, N. Y. Jonathan Talcott. 
[The Rural did not plant Clark’s No. 1. 
Eds.] 
Turnips in Corn and Potatoes. 
When 1 finished cultivating my corn and 
potatoes I sowed Purple Top Strap Leaf Tur¬ 
nips broad-cast, and have just harvested a 
good crop of roots. No other kind will do so 
well, on account of the shade which they will 
be subjected to. The crop seems to be all 
gain, and is worth more to feed than most 
farmers imagine. Many argue that because 
they contain so large a percentage of water 
they cannot contain much nutriment, but an 
experiment will satisfy any intelligent person 
they are worth more than most people think, x. 
NOTES ON BACK NUMBERS. 
In the Rural of March 18 appeared an 
article from Mr. Alfred Rose, in which he 
described his way of preparing potatoes for 
planting, “cut five weeks before planting, 
and dusted with plaster and lime,” etc. I 
followed the plan of so good an authority, 
and utterly spoiled 25 bushels of “seed,” be¬ 
sides injuring very much several bushels 
more. 1 wonder how many more can echo 
my experience ? 
* * 
I have soid for ten years past from 50 to 
100 bushels of seed corn each year, and expect 
to sell more next Spring. It would ruin my 
reputation to sell seed of which even one- 
eighth would not grow, to say nothing of one- 
fourth or one-thiid, but perhaps uot to give 
it away. I am afraid you w ere imposed on 
iu the matter of the Rural Dent Corn. [Not 
at all, as many reports will show. We have 
raised it two years. The seed corn we sent 
out was poor of both kinds for the reason that 
our corn crop was nearly a failure, as stated 
at that time, owing to the severe drought. 
Most of our subscribers are willing to make 
allowances for such failures.— Eds.] 
* * 
I regard the suckering habit in some kinds 
of coru as objectionable; if more stalks are 
desired, it is very easy to plant more seed. 
But from a variety that throws up from two 
to five suckers, from 10 to 12 feet high, 
“ good Lord, deliver us.” 
* * 
Will some one kindly explain why any 
kind of eight-rowed flint coru is desirable 
where dent corn of 18 to 24 rows will mature ? 
Where it will not, then, of course, the flint 
is desirable. 
* * 
My corn this year was planted with a one- 
horse drill aud cultivated with five-tooth cul¬ 
tivators shallow, except once with shovel 
plows, to bury weeds in the row. I am much 
pleased with the result. It Anders one band- 
hoeing necessary (costing me $1.25 per acre) 
mainly to thin out the corn. One piece of 
eight acres, planted to hops, made it neces¬ 
sary to have every alternate row in hills. 
While all received the same care, the drilled 
rows were noticeably ahead all the season, 
matured about a week earlier and bad a 
heavier crop of larger ears. My drill cannot 
be relied on to plant with much regularity, 
so twice as many seeds as will be allowed to 
grow are necessary for a satisfactory “stand.” 
* * 
I find Livingston’s Ferfectiou Tomato the 
best I have ever grown, by far superior to the 
Mai flower, and 1 was not charged a cent apiece 
for seeds, half of which would not germinate 
for the first, either. [This is not our experi 
