FES. 7 
transplanting forest trees more anre, dig 
aronnd and cut their roots the year before 
moving, to obtain a new set of fibers. 
The Aiidiphone and Deninphone. 
.St veral inquirers ask information about the 
Dentaphone and Audiphone. 
Ans.— We have carefully tested both of these 
“helps to hear” in about a dozen cases of 
deafness from various causes aud of different 
degrees. In several cases neither was of the 
least help. In such instances the deafness was 
total or nearly so, had been of long standing 
and was caused by violence, accidental or 
otherwise. On a deaf-and-dumb man the Audi¬ 
phone had absolutely no effect, but a deaf- 
and-dumb child could, what she called, •* hear” 
singing under the instrument, but not before it. 
In neither case was the Dentaphone of any 
use. Indeed, in moro than half the cases 
tested, this device was of no practical benefit, 
bnt in several instances it seemed to help ma¬ 
terially, and considering Us low price, it can¬ 
not, therefore, be classed among the “ hum¬ 
bugs.” In about half the number of cases, the 
Audiphone waB really serviceable, but in only 
two out of all the tests did it give entire satis¬ 
faction. In one of these the deafness had been 
produced by erysipelas about 18 months ago, 
and in the other a child had been made deaf a 
year before by concussion of the brain, the 
result of a fall. Ou the other hand, a nnn 
who four years before had been made almost 
totally deaf by concussion of the brain could 
obtain absolutely no aid from either device. 
When the auditory nerves are severely injured, 
neither i& worth a cent. The loss of the eye¬ 
teeth and, still more, the use of false teeth, 
both diminish any good effects that might 
otherwise result from the use of either 
instrument. In recent cases, and especially 
where the deafness was not very severe, the 
Audiphone gave much more satisfaction than 
in severe cases of long standing. From our 
various tests we have come to the conclusion 
that in oases of comparatively slight deafness, 
itmight be worth while to try tbe Dentaphone, 
and in all cases it would be well to test the 
Audiphone, were it jiot so high-priced. The 
chances seem to be about eveu whether the 
device will, or will uot, be of un 3 ' real service, 
but we do not expect that more than one iu ten 
will be entirely satisfied; yet the knowledge 
that no help lies in that direction, is of itself 
soothing to the anxious deaf man. 
Feed Table— Nutritive Ratio. 
G. E. A.. Afton A. Y., unites :—I want a 
little explanation on the feed table on page 39. 
In the nutritive ratio colurnu meadow hay is 
8.0, clover hay 5 9; does it mean that 5 9 
pounds of clover hay are worth as much as 
eight pounds of meadow hay ? 
ANSWER BT PROF. E. W. STEWART. 
Ans. —This means that in meadow hay, there 
is one proportion of albuminoids or muscle- 
forming matter to 8.0 of carbohydrates, or heat 
or fakforroing elements, and in clover hay 
one to 5.9 Our inquirer will see that linseed 
cake is 1 to 1.4. The nutritive ratio is to 6how 
the relative proportion of these two classes of 
constituents. But one of fat is reckoned equal 
to 2.4 of carbohydrates. The nutritive ratio 
is found by dividing the carbohydrates aud fat 
(increased 2.4 times) by the albuminoids. As in 
meadow hay, carbohydrates aud tat make 43. f, 
divide this by 5 4 (albuminoids) aud youhave 8 
as tbe quotient, according to the nutritive ratio 
in the table, if N, had looked at the value 
column, compared with meadow hav he 
WOffld have seen that clover is rated at 8 per 
cent, more than meadow hay. Some of the 
early agricultural chemists rated the value of 
all food according to its amount of nitrogen or 
albuminoids, regarding the albuminoids as the 
only nutritions elements, but now the value of 
a food Is calculated from the carbonaceous 
elements as well. Dr. Wolff takes the follow¬ 
ing as the basis for estimating the value of a 
food: 4J cents for each pound of digestible 
albuminoids; 44 cents for digestible fat, ard 
9-10 of a cent per pound for carbohydrates. 
Now, if the reader will turn to the table, he 
will see that meadow hay has 5 4 pounds of 
albuminoids in 100 pounds, and one pound of 
fat; these two mako 6 4 pounds at 4$ cents, or 
87.7ccnts, and 41 pounds of carbohydrates, at 
9-10 of a cent, or 36 9 cents, added, make 64.6 
cents per 100 pottuds. Clover hay calculated in 
the 6ame way, amounts to 69.7 cents per 100 
pounds. ThiB is 8-100 or eight per ceut. more 
than meadow hay, which is taken as the unit 
of value. We trust this will make the table 
clear. Those foode that have the largest 
amount of albuminoids are most valuable. 
Vertigo (Megrim*.) 
& H., Lowell, Mich., has a valuable mare 
bought out of a sale stable last fall, so that he 
knows nothing ot her history. She is naturally 
a kind animal, but sometimes she starts up 
suddenly and shakes her head as if 6tung by a 
bee in the ear, and pauses a moment as if 
expecting to be stung again; then jumps, 
shakes again and acts as if furious. The 
entirespell seldom lasts more than five minutes 
and the lit uever comes on more than once or 
twice iu driving all day, but he scarcely ever 
hitches her up without Its occurring. Some¬ 
times she acts like a wild horse, rearing up, 
bnt generally she only manifests the above 
symptoms, and he asks what is the nature of 
the trouble and a remedy therefor. 
Ans. —This is a form of vertigo—a trouble 
cansed by disease of very different organB. 
Thus, the same symptoms result from tumors 
or effusions in the brain, from obstructed 
blood-vesseJs, from heart disease and from 
plethora. Of course, a careful examination is 
necessary before the best practitioner could 
give intelligent advice; and, even then, this is 
one of those difficult cases in which It might 
prove unsatisfactory. The most generally 
applicable treatment consists in lessening tbe 
quantity of food aud giving purgatives, fol¬ 
lowed by alteratives aud sedatives; but it must 
be evident in such uncertain cases it is worse 
than pseless for us to lay down any coarse of 
treatment. Unless she is very thin and weak, 
however, light feeding may cause an improve¬ 
ment ; and, If so, bromide of potassium may be 
given in two to three drachm doses twice a day 
for a week or two. 
Earle** Coro. 
J. E. R., Morris Co., Kan,, says : “In gath¬ 
ering corn here we often find large, nice 
stalks without an ear on. This is so much 
the case that a field of corn often looks as 
though it would make a much larger yield 
than it really does. Then, too, we have some¬ 
times found in the same field a stalk with a 
good ear, that also produced a 6ucker with a 
fair-sized ear on the top of it. Can you en¬ 
lighten us as to why this is so? The laud i6 
alike all over the field, good, rich bottom land. 
Stalks without ears on are quite common 
here, and we would like to know a remedy for 
it." 
Ans. —We cannot answer why this is so, ex¬ 
cept to say that such is the nature of the 
variety of corn, modified by climate, soil and 
culture. The only way that any given variety 
can be improved is by selection aud cross¬ 
breeding. Thus, we should select our seed 
corn from the most prolific stalks and from 
the best ears. We should cut off the tassels 
(male flowers) of barren stalks so as to pre¬ 
vent them from fertilizing fertile stalks. 
Where pracieable, it is a good plan to raise 
a small plot of seed corn as far removed from 
all other plants as possible. As soon as the 
ears have set, go over the plot removing all 
barren or comparatively unproductive stalks. 
Muscovey Duck*. 
G. B. C-, Kanawa. Falls, A. Y., asks whether 
Muscovy ducks are prolific Iayeis, good moth¬ 
ers, good breeders and good table fowls. 
Ans. —A* layers, the Muscovy, Musk or Bra¬ 
zilian duck—for it is knowiq by this trio of 
names—is inferior to thu liouen or Aylesbury, 
but probably on a par with the usual inhabi¬ 
tants of the duck-pond. The eggs are a dull 
white and seldom exceed three ounces .in 
weight. The mother is ordinarily careful of 
her ducklings, but the drake shows no affec¬ 
tion whatever for them. Muscovy ducks are 
prolific breeders, but in a warm climate they 
are better layers and breeders than iu northern 
latitudes. Their period of incubation is five 
weeks. The flesh of the white duck is Lhe 
most delicate; that of the black, the finest- 
flavored, and these are also the most prolific. 
The bird, though a voracious feeder, is easily 
fattened, and excellent eating, if killed just 
before it is fully feathered; but it is longer in 
becoming fit for the table than the common 
duck. At first the flesh is high-flavored and 
tender, but that of an old bird is rather rank 
and tough. The female is much smaller than 
the male, the former seldom exceeding five or 
six pounds live weight, while the latter often 
reaches nine or ten pounds. The male pairs 
readily with other domestic ducks and the 
offsprings of the cross are large birds, often 
seven or eight pounds live weight, but such 
hybrids are said to be generally unprolific. 
Applyiug Lime. 
R. A. W., Genesto, A. Y., asks how many 
bushels of good air-slaked lime should be 
sown per acre on a stiff clay 6oil plowed last 
fall, and on which it is desired to plant pota¬ 
toes in tbe spring; when and how should the 
lime be applied. 
Ans.— Forty or fifty bushels of lituc per acre 
is the quantity generally applied. But because 
lime is useful in one case, it by no means fol¬ 
lows that it is useful for every crop, k is 
most useful when clover or grass is to be 
sown, and the nsnal practice is to apply It 
when fall grain is sown to be followed by 
clover in the spriug, or on a summer fallow. 
Potatoes are injured iu quality by freshly ap¬ 
plied lime. They are made hard and will not 
boil soft or mealy ; peas, also, are made hard 
by the use of lime. Oats, too, are injur¬ 
iously affected by lime, while corn, wheat and 
clover are benefited. Theso are crops that are 
assisted more by mineral feeding; while oats, 
potatoes, peasi and some other crops require 
barn-yard manure more than mineral fertil¬ 
izers. To use lime indiscriminately is there¬ 
fore not advisable. Lime is always to be 
spread on plowed ground and harrowed iu, 
aud never to be plowed under. Being fine and 
heavy, it soon sinks dowuwards, and after 
three or four years will be found settled to the 
bottom o f the furrowB. 
The Rural Only. 
H. D. 0-, Clayton, Bel. and others ask If we 
have “Ennobled Oats” for sale by the bushel, 
aud the price. 
Ans. —Such inquiries come from ®ur new 
friends (may they prove steadfast in the ratio 
of their numbers), wbo are not aware that we 
make a Specialty of selling nothing whatever 
except the Rural New Yorker. Our seeds 
and plants are free to all yearly subscribers 
who apply aud who care enough for them 
to be willing to share with us the postal 
charges, according to our announcement in 
our Fair No., and in cur Supplement which 
will be seut free to all on application. Most of 
the seeds we offer are specialties which cannot 
be procured, except through our Free Seed Dis¬ 
tribution. We guarantee every seed to be of 
last * easou's production, and as choloe and 
valuable of their kinds as any novelties off* red 
either In this or any other country. We have 
no disposition whatever to be modest or reti¬ 
cent as to the value of our seeds, or to have 
them associated with the ordinary seeds which 
may be found in any one of the hundreds of 
seedsmen’s catalogues of the country. We have 
been at too much pains to secure the j, and 
they have cost us too much for that. We have 
a pride in this matter, and aim to be the first 
either to introduce or to popularize improved 
or new varieties. 
Value of Barley, Corn and Oat*. 
W. S- II., address mislaid, asks what is the 
relative value of barley as feed for cattle, espe¬ 
cially for milch cows, as compared with corn 
or oats. 
Anb.—B arley has a larger percentage of al¬ 
buminoids, and consequently furnishes a better 
food for supplying the caseinein milk, bat corn 
has some excess ot oil over barley but not over 
oats. Oats, however, have more husk and not 
as much digestible food per hundred pounds 
as either barley or corn. Corn is Lhe richest 
in starch, which goes to support animal heat, 
to form the milk sugar or whey aud perhaps 
the oil in milk. It is generally conceded that 
corn meal is most excellent food in. the pro¬ 
duction of butter. It does not increase the 
quantity of milk as much as barley or oats. 
Now this statement of the peculiar qualities of 
these foods shows that, tbe best food can be 
only obtaiued by mixing all these together. 
Each one possesses some qualities the others 
do not, and the feeder shoald study, uot to 
find the best siugle food, but how to combine 
the best food from the variety which he has at 
hand. Variety is required to make the best 
food. 
The Chteheuter Rifle. 
H. J. S., Rochester, N. Y., and several others 
a6ks what is the character of the rifle adver¬ 
tised by circulars by the Chichester Rifle Co., 
of Jersey City. 
Ans. —We visited the store of the Co., to 
find out all about this weapon, and saw there 
a large assortment of them. They are cer¬ 
tainly, as advertised, a new style of rifle, 
much resembling a lanky, overgrown pistol, 
or like some of the air-guns frequently seen 
in gun-siultbs’ windows. The cut in the cir¬ 
cular, several of which have been seut ns, 
represents great execution done at long range 
by this formidable weapon, but weare strongly 
impressed with the conviction that there is 
more “loug-bow" than fifle shooting about 
the coueern. It may be worth the price as a 
boy’s dangerous play-thing, but any one who 
sends on $4 50 expecting to get a rifle worth 
at least double the money, is pretty likely to 
be vexatiously disappointed. It seems de¬ 
signed for target practice. 
Ursprt. 
R. A. W-, Geimaee, A. Y, asks where can he 
obtain the following Grape-vines:— Uhland, 
Downing, Ithaca, Imperial. Don Juan, Cassady, 
Marine’s Seedling, Onondaga. 
Ans.—U hland can be had of Bush, Son A 
Meissner, Bnshburg, Mo. Downing or Rick¬ 
etts's No. 1. is still in the possession of the orig¬ 
inator, Jas. H. Ricketts, and has not yet been 
offered for sale. Ithaca originated with Dr. 
Parker, Ithaca, N. Y., and has not, we think, 
yet been offered to the public. Don Juan and 
Imperial are now in possession of Messrs. Mer- 
rell & Coleman, Geneva, N. Y., and have not 
been offered for sale. They own the stock. 
Cassady is uow so nearly obsolete, it is doubt¬ 
ful if vineB of it can be had. A. Hanoe & Son 
have vines of it in their Trial Vineyard, and 
can probably supply grafts. Marine'6 Seed¬ 
ling and Onondaga must be Dew sorts not yet 
offered the public—at any rate they are new 
names to us. 
A Spavin “ Cnre.” 
W. S. M., Bendersville, Pa., asks whether 
Kendal’s spavin cure, sold by W. H. Schieflelin 
& Co. of this city, is a humbug. 
Ans.— This firm is one of the largest dealers 
in drugs in N. Y. city or in the eouutry, and 
would not deal In humbugs. They say, how¬ 
ever, that they have no persoual knowledge of 
the merits of this •' curebut that uo com- 
plaints have reached them with regard to it, 
though they have sold a great deal of it. and it 
has therefore been tested very extensively. 
Miscellaneous. 
J. B. T. W., St. Charles, III., asks, 1, what 
are the constituents of what is there called 
sugar-corn meal: 2, would it be Injurious if fed 
to dairy stock ; 3, about what is its compara¬ 
tive value as compared with wheat bran for 
that sort of stock. 
Ans. —L, We know nothing of the feed. It 
Is. quite likely, the refuse of corn after extract¬ 
ing glucose for the adulteration of the cane 
sugar and sirup of commerce; 3, if so. nearly 
all the sugar and starch are extracted, and 
there would be a heavy discount on its 
valne; pure corn meal is worth little more 
than wheat bran as a dairy teed, even less for 
simple milk, This would probably be worth 
far less; 3, can’t say about in jurlonsness. Sul¬ 
phuric acid is used in obtaining glacose. We 
shouldn’t liketo risk the feed without analysis. 
Submit samples to the Ill. Agr’l. Col. Chemist. 
A. K., Shelby, 0-, in cribbing his corn found 
a double ear 8£ inches long, 10 J around, solid for 
two Inches, then there were two well-lonned 
ears, one 10 rowed; the other 14-rowed, con¬ 
taining altogether over 1900 grains, and he asks 
whether such things are tare, and whether the 
seeds would be likely to reproduce double 
ears. 
Ans.— 8uch abnormal growths are not very 
rare. We have seen three ears joined atthe bot¬ 
tom. We hare never seen them, however, so 
large as the twin ears above described. Twin 
apples or fruits of any kind are homologous 
cases. Such monstrosities are rarely repro¬ 
duced in their seedlings. 
W. S- H. asks, 1, Whether Heik’s Nursery 
Co., of Dayton, Ohio, is reliable; 3, what are 
the qualities of the Weaver plum ; an agent of 
the above firm has been selling specimens at $1 
per tree, warranting them to be hardy and 
cut culio-proof, and showing specimens pre¬ 
served in alcohol In glass jars. 
Anb. —1, The above company is represented 
to be of “ excellent" standing by the mercan¬ 
tile agencies here. 3. We have never heard of 
the Weaver Plum. There is no 6ueh thing as 
a curculio-proof plum (as we believe) that is fit 
to eat. AU standard fruits are described in 
horticultural papers and books. Persons 
ought never to be influenced by the appear¬ 
ance of fruit in jars displayed by strangers. 
A. S. S., Waco, Texas, asks the name of a 
good standard work on the propagation of 
fruits and flowers, its price and where it can be 
had, 
Ans.— We do not know any single standard 
work treating of both subjects. For fruits, 
Thomas's American Fruit Culturist is as good 
as any. Price $3 75. For flowers, Hender¬ 
son’s Floriculture is good. Price $1.50. Both 
can be had through the American NewB Com¬ 
pany, N. Y. 
E. P., Verbeck, Kan., askB where he can 
buy evergreeus and if he can raise evergreen 
trees from seeds. 
Anb —Of R. Douglass, Waukegan. Ill. If 
correspondents would take tbe trouble to 
consult our advertising columns, they would 
find a great many such questions answered 
satisfactorily. We advertise none but relia¬ 
ble Arms. Evergreens are easily raised from 
seed. 
Several. —Regarding the Doura—or that 
particular kind of Doura of which we wrote 
as sending up at least eight stalks from one 
seed—apply to R. H. Allen & Co.—see adver¬ 
tising columns. Judging it from one season's 
test at the Rural Farm, it was pronounced by 
the farmers thereabouts the most profitable 
fodder plant they had ever 6een. We should 
like to have our inquirers send for a small 
quantity, try it, and report the results to the 
the Rural New-Yorker. 
O. L. 8., Canastota, N. Y., asks, 1, what Is 
the best work on apple culture; 3, Its price; 8, 
where can it be bought. 
Anb.— 1, Thomas’s American Frnit Culturist 
is as good as any; 3, $3 75; 8. from the Amer¬ 
ican News Co., N. Y. City. 
O. O. B., WellvUle, Va., r asks what is the 
best kind ®f corn to plant for fodder in drills. 
Anb.— For that section Blount’s White Pro¬ 
lific is likely to be as good as any for that pur¬ 
pose. Try it. 
F. B. Columbia, Pa., wants to know If red 
cedar posts will last as long iu the ground 
as locust posts. 
Ans.— Locust is more durable. 
COMMUNICATIONS RECEIVED FOR THE WEEK ENDIN'!} 
SATURDAY, JAN. 31St. 
J. L. C., thanks.—N. C.—A. B. A.—A. K.—J. P. 
P._ j, f. a.—W. B. P., we prefer pencil to pale 
ink.—J. F. A.—A K.—C. D.—F. K. M.—L. F.— 
N. B.-F. A. G.-F. D. C.-B. F. R.-T. T. L. 
thanks.—G, G.-E. K. B.-E. W.-M. J. G.-“ Carl 
Veva,”-J. T.—H.8.—G. C. C.—E. F—F.H. D.—R. 
A. W.—A. J- 8. H., thanks.—E. S. B.—H. E. K.— 
D. L. B.—JL F. Me C.-B.-T. G. T.-M. A. L.- 
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C.-W. A. R.—J. Y,-L. N. R.-W. A. K.-S. T.- 
