17 0 
MARCH 46 
ails my chickens ? They sicken and mope 
around, refuse food and die, sometimes within 
24 hours from the first attack. The first symp¬ 
toms noticed were pale combs, and eyes nearly 
closed. Their droppings are slimy and loose, 
and often tinged with blood. My flock of 
100 to 150 have a run of four acres, and they 
can easily get into the broad State road. I 
clean their new frame house every Spring, and 
give them plenty of wheat and clean, fresh 
water every day, yet I have lost as many as 
100 in a season. 
Ans, —The secret probably may be found in 
the fact that you “clean their house every 
Spring” only. To clean it every week at 
least is necessary. The disease is iutestinal 
fever, commonly called cholera; the paleness 
of the comb is the principal indication of the 
disease. The facts also seem to point to over¬ 
crowding of the fowls. A large flock like this 
should not be kept in oue house. There are 
not facts enough given to warrant, any decided 
opinion upon which suggestions could be made; 
but we are very clear that the sanitary con¬ 
ditions of the fowls are not sufficiently good. 
Wheat alone is not a sufficiently varied food. 
Some animal food should be given. It' any 
suggestions at all could be usefully made, it 
might be advised that the house should be 
thoroughly cleansed and disinfected by burn¬ 
ing sulphur in it on some hot coals in a pau of 
earth. The sick fowls should be separated at 
once and put in coops by themselves and treat¬ 
ed with teaspoonful doses of strong solution 
of hyposulphite of soda three times a day. 
The well fowls should be supplied w ith some 
fresh vegetable and auiraal food, as potatoes 
boiled with some coarse flesh of some kind 
into a thick mush, lightly salted, but abund¬ 
antly peppered aud given when nearly cold. 
VALUE OF FERTILIZER INGREDIENTS. 
P. .S'., Hillsboro , N. J.—How can farmers 
tell the actual amount and the cost of the 
different ingredients in a package of com¬ 
mercial fertilizer from the analyses pasted on 
the bag, Here is a specimen of such a label: 
Ammonia...1-2 
Available Phos. Acid..6-7 
Insoluble Phos. Acid.1-2 
Potash (sulphate).2 4 
Or Muriate of Potash.85 
Ans. —The law in several States compels 
fertilizer manufacturers to mark upon each 
bag a statement of the analyses of the con¬ 
tents. This is intended to show the percent¬ 
age of the various ingredients that are of 
special fertilizing value, or bow many pounds 
of each iu 100 pounds of fertilizer. Thus the 
figures above given represent the percentage 
of the fertilizing element of a supposed fertil¬ 
izer (a very poor oue by-the-by). A bag con¬ 
tains 200 pounds, and the value of a bag of 
this particular fertilizer would be as follows: 
Ammonia 1-2 per cent,=to 3lbs.at20c. 60c. 
Available ( .. 7 ( < 
Phos Acid ' 
13 “ 
10c. 
1.30c. 
Insoluble I , a u 
Phos Acid j 
3 “ 
6c. 
18c. 
Potash (sul.) 2-4 “ = 
6 “ 
4c. 
24c. 
Totul.. 
$2.32 
The ton of 2,000 pounds would therefore be 
worth 823.20. Muriate .85, means muriate of 
potash of 85 per cent, purity, ami is equal to 
about half as much actual potash. It is 
always desirable to know in what form the 
potash is, as the effects of the sulphate or of 
the muriate vary greatly with different crops; 
the anal) sis therefore usually states iu what 
form the potash is contained. 
PEACHES ON PLUM STOCKS. 
W. C. D., Naples, N. Y .—What is the 
Rural’s experience with peaches on plum 
stocks? Is it true that peaches on plum stocks 
are not attacked by the yellows or borers? 
Ans. —Our experience with the peach on 
plum stocks is by no means extensive. 
There is a very considerable difference in the 
degree of readiness with which the peach 
unites with the various kinds of plum stocks: 
but, in all cases, the effect is to check the 
vigor of the peach, with the general result of 
increasing its already excessive tendency to 
the development of fruit buds, and, by the 
earlier ripening of the young shoots render¬ 
ing them hardier and bettor able to withstand 
severe cold, although we are by no means sure 
that the ability of the fruit buds to withstand 
extremes is proportionately or even at all in¬ 
creased. Plum stocks are among the most 
difficult to either bud or graft, and hence the 
use of such would be likely to very consider¬ 
ably increase the cost of the trees, to say 
nothing of the much greater cost of the stocks 
themselves. Peach trees thus grown could 
not, of course, derive the yellows from the 
stock, but if the bud were taken from a dis¬ 
eased tree or if the contagion be subsequently 
imparted, iu any manner, the result will be as 
surely fatal as would be the ease were the 
tree on its own roots. Aside from the earlier 
ripening of the young shoots, and a supposa- 
bly increased degree of hardiness consequent 
thereupon, the effect upon the longevity of 
the tree will most assuredly be found akin to 
that of the quince upon the pear in the paral • 
lei case. 
SMALL FRUIT QUERIES. 
E. W., MarshallvUle, Ohio. —1. Which is 
the nicest way to train grapes on the lawn. 2. 
Iu addition to Bartlett, is this a good selection 
of d warf pears for the lawu—Duchesse d’Au- 
goiilemc. Doyenne d’Ete, Clapp’s Favorite, 
and Louise Bonne de Jersey? 3. Is the Down¬ 
ing Strawberry any better than Miner’s Pro¬ 
lific? 4. Has the Crystal City any merit be¬ 
sides eaiiiness? 5. What is the best fruit to 
plant on the shady side of a ravine running 
east and west? 6. Which is the best evaporator 
for making apple jelly? 7. Am I right in 
planting James Vick, Manchester. Old Iron¬ 
clad, and Daniel Boone Strawberries? 
Ans — 1 . To trellis. 2. Yes. 8. In our “Straw¬ 
berry Election,” a full account of which was 
given iu the Rural for October 20, 1883. in 
72 reports from 20 States and Territories, SO 
commended Downing aud 14 Miner’s Prolific. 
The Downing was praised as a medium- 
early berry for family use chiefly, though 
about one-third of those who praised it spoke 
of it as a late berry, and five recommended it 
for market as well as family use. Miner’s 
Prolific was recommended ns a fine, late, mar¬ 
ket berry, though some admired it for the pri¬ 
vate table also, and several found it profitable 
as a medium late berry, 4. Crystal City was 
commended by three persons only, and earli- 
hess was the only merit attributed to it. 5. 
Black-cap raspberries. 6. Cook’s is the best. 
7. Yes, iu a small way on trial. 
VEGETABLES IN HOT-BEDS. 
*4. G, IF,, Wheeling , IF. Fa.—1. How 
should vegetables, such as radishes, cucum¬ 
bers. lettuce aud cauliflowers be forced in hot¬ 
beds? 2. What are the best varieties of each 
that will do for forcing? 
Ans. —1. The best beating material for hot¬ 
beds is rank, fresh stable manure, that which 
has been well moistened in the stable being 
preferable to the dry or burued kiud. This 
may be put iu the hot-beds from the middle 
of February until the latter part of March. 
It will be well to add oue-half the bulk of 
manure in leaves, mixing thoroughly. Have 
the manure about 2\4 feet deep in the beds. 
When ready put on the sashes and keep close 
until the heat begins to rise. When a gen¬ 
eral heat has reached about 90 degrees, put on 
top of the manure about six inches of rich 
soil. The seeds may be sown in the beds or 
in boxes, and the plants be transplanted to the 
beds. Give air every mild day by raising the 
sashes at the back. During cold nights aud 
showy weather cover the frames with straw 
mats or board covers. 2. Radishes: French 
Breakfast, Wood's Early Frame, Early Scar¬ 
let Turnip, aud Early Scarlet Whitetail. 
Cucumbers: Early Russian, Early Short 
Green, and Early Green Cluster. Lettuce: 
White Forciug Head, Early Curled Simpsou, 
Tennis ball or Boston. Cauliflower: Hender¬ 
son’s Early Snowball, Thorburn’s Early Dwarf 
Surprise, Early Dwarf Erfurt. 
THE NEW RUSSIAN APPLES. 
J. B. R , ShelbyviUc , III ,—What is the rela¬ 
tive value of the new Prussian apples? 
ANSWERED BY CHARLES GIBB, OF CANADA. 
Of the apples which 1 saw last year iu Rus¬ 
sia, and which I described iu my report on 
Russian fruits, there are many of great prom¬ 
ise. Our great lack in the North is long 
keepers. We found good, long-keeping Green¬ 
ings among the Stekliaukas, Aports (Kaiser 
Alexander) and Arahkoes. Bogdanoff, also, 
is a good keeper. Babousbkino aud many 
others are said to be. But these fruits have 
to be tested in this country before their value 
can be known, for only a few of the members 
of the Greening and Arabkoe families are 
long keepers. Of earlier apples, fruits like 
the Red Koroshooka and Beriosooka are alto¬ 
gether too good to be lost sight of, while ap¬ 
ples like the Titooka, Autonooka, widely 
known commercially, ought to find somepro- 
protional e valuein parts of this continent. The 
early apples we had little opportunity of see¬ 
ing except in the district of the Upper Volga. 
As to the apples imported by the Department 
of Agriculture at Washington iu 1870, they 
seemed to be very largely confined to the ap¬ 
ples known in Western Russia. 
FRUIT QUERIES. 
“ ColoradianCation City, Col. —1. Is it 
necessary to freeze apple, pear und quince 
seed before sowing them? 2, "Where did the 
Mazzard and Mabaleb Cherries originate ? Is 
the latter the Choke Cherry? 3. Is froeziug 
once enough for any sort of fruit pits? 4. 
What is the best way to keep one-eye grape 
cuttings? 
Ans,— 1. It is not necessary to freeze pear 
or apple seed iu order to make them grow. It 
is best, however, to plant them soon after they 
are taken from tbe fruit. Dry seed, kept over 
Winter, if soaked over-night in warm water 
before planting, will often grow about as well 
as Fall-sown seed. But it is not very easy to 
keep dry seed in perfect condition. There is 
danger of beating, of molding, and of getting 
too dry; aud all these things must be looked 
out for when seed is kept over. 2. Neither 
Mazzard nor Mabaleb is the Choke Cherry. 
They are both European, or Asiatic, in origin. 
The Mazzard is the native or slightly improved 
species of the Hearts and Bigarreaus. The 
Mahaleb (Prunus Mabaleb) is a dwarf foreign 
species, used as a dwarfing stock by nursery¬ 
men. It is also called tbe “Perfumed Cherry.” 
The Choke Cherry is of no use as a stock for 
the cultivated sorts. 3. Yes. 4. Bury them 
in the ground where surface water canuot 
reach them. Bury eight or 10 inches deep, 
aud mark the spot with a stake. They can 
also be kept in damp moss, sawdust or sand, 
in the cellar, but not so safely. 
THE “FAMOUS RUSSIAN ArPLES.” 
J. M D., Chen.ebv.sco, Ind —1. Are the 
Russian apples more valuable than other sorts? 
Oily-tougucd agents are going around here 
offering “the famous Russian apples” for 
high prices. 2. Are the Emperor, World’s 
Wonder, and Hyde’s King of the West good 
Winter varieties? 3. What sort of a grape is 
Moore’s Early? 
Ans. —1. The Russian apples are desirable in 
the extreme Northern States and provinces, 
but not in ludiana, where the standard varie¬ 
ties succeed well. There is no one “ famous 
Russian apple n that we know of. The Duchess 
of Oldenburg would come nearest to this de¬ 
scription. being popular over a large extent 
of territory. It is an early variety. The trees 
are sold by all nurserymen at low prices. 2. 
The Emperor is a synonym for the Alexander, 
often called Emperor Alexander. It is one of 
the largest and showiest apples grown; the 
tree is hardy and productive: the fruit of 
medium quality; season September and Octo¬ 
ber. World’s Wonder is a synouym for tbe 
Nickajack, a good Winter apple, a native of 
North Carolina, and marked as a new and 
promising soi t for Indiaua in tbe Cat. of the 
Am. Pom. Soc. Hyde’s King of the West is 
unknown to us. 8. Moore’s Early Grape is 
very similar to Concord, but about two weeks 
earlier. 
FATALITY AMONG COLTS. 
R. M., address mislaid —We lose many 
foals every Spring by some disease, tbe chief 
symptom of which is constipation. We 
usually give physic aud injections, with very 
little success. What should be done to prevent 
these losses? 
Ans. —The case of tbe foals requires preven¬ 
tive measures. Keep the mares’ bowels open 
through tbe Winter by feeding bran mashes 
or cut turnips at least twice a week. What¬ 
ever affects the dam troubles tbe colt, as 
while the colt, is unborn or suokiug, tbe food 
of the mare, of course, nourishes the young 
animal. A colt may thus be born sick unless 
care is exercised. But bow very often is this 
fact wholly ueglected? It is of very little use 
and indeed dangerous to physic acoltsoyoung 
as this. It is better to give the physic to the 
mare, and the colt will get it in the milk. As 
soon as the colt is found to be constipated, 
give tbe mare a mash of linseed steeped in 
boiling water over-night. A tablespoonful of 
molasses or honey—which is far preferable- 
will make an easy and excellent laxative for 
a colt. We shall treat this more fully else¬ 
where very soon. 
A CARP POND. 
T. If. €., Square Pond, Conn. — I have a 
three-acre pond partly covered with grass 
growing from the bottom. The water is now 
from oue to three feet dee]), and can be raised 
two or three feet more. It overflows only in 
wet weather; would it be too large for a carp 
pond for private use? How many carp would 
be required to stavt with ? Where can carp 
be obtained? 
Ans. —With some improvement the pond 
could be well fitted for carp. A place in the 
middle should be deepened so that the fish 
may hibernate there in safety during the 
severest frosts, There is no more reason why 
the pond should be crowded with carp t han 
with an}' other fish. From 200 to 250 would be 
enough to start with. It would be well to 
raise the water as high as it can be done con¬ 
venient! y. Precautions should be taken to pre¬ 
vent the carp from escaping during high wa¬ 
ter. A surplus should Ik? let out through a sluice 
protected by netting. Carp are for sale by 
C. S. Medary, Little Falls, N. J. They can 
also bo obtained, free, from the Commissioner 
of Fish and Fisheries, Washington, D. C., as 
we have often explained. 
CANKER OF THE FROG: ROTATION FOR A 
DAIRY FARM. 
IF. S., PlainviUe, Conn. —1. The frogs of the 
hind feet of one of my horses appear to be rot¬ 
ting away; how can this be stopped? 2. What 
is a good rotation of crops for a da toy farm? 
Ans.— 1. The horse is suffering from canker of 
the frog. The treatment should be as follows: 
Pare away all the rotten horn down to the 
diseased port, wash it with a solution of one 
dram of chloride of zinc to a pint of water. 
Then apply the following ointment, viz.: four 
ounces of pure lard, one ounce of Venice tur¬ 
pentine; melt together, and add one ounce of 
turpentine and stir in one dram of acetate of 
ctipper. Apply on a pad of lint and bind up 
tbe foot. The cause may be from ulceration 
of the inner part of the foot or decay of the 
frog from saturation of the horn by standing 
ou or iu manure. 2. A good rotation for a 
dairy farm is clover and grass, corn, mangels 
or beets, oats or barley with clover; the clover 
to he cut for bay or green fodder; wheat 
seeded down with Timothy and clover, the 
grass to bo mowed for hay and pastured two 
years. 
BOTTLES FOR DELIVERING MILK AND CREAM. 
“A SubscriberEast Paris, Mich. —What 
milk bottles are used in New York for de¬ 
livering milk and cream, and with what re¬ 
sults? 
Ans. —The Warren bottle is the only kiud 
used for this business, It is a quart bottle 
with a mouth about 1 inch in diameter, 
which is closed by a glass stopper and a cork 
or rubber ring The stopper is fitted to a wire 
attachment, which acts as a self-sustaining 
lever to force the stopper down upon the ring 
and hold it securely. This closes the bottle 
air-tight, and prevents leakage. If the con¬ 
sumers are not satisfied wit h such an excellent 
and clean manner of delivering pure milk, it 
is because they are exceedingly uureasonable; 
and yet there are such dissatisfied people, for 
one reason on account of tbe extra two cents 
n quart charged for the milk, and for another 
on apeount of the trouble of opening the bot¬ 
tles. Of course, no milk dealer can sell milk 
put up in this way as cheap as that dipped out 
of cans. A great many milk-men have failed 
to make the bottled milk business satisfactory. 
SORGHUM FOR SHEEP, ETC. 
“ SubscriberWoodlaum, Neb. —Would it 
pay to raise sorghum for Winter feed for 
sheep, when “wild" hay is worth $5 per ton, 
and how should it be raised ? 
Ans —Sorghum would lie au excellent feed 
for sheep, more especially if the seed were 
ripened. Sheep cannot he fed wholly on dry 
prairie hay with success; it will surely induce 
indigestion, unless they have a run out most of 
tbe time. A few acres of turnips or pumpkins 
would be of the greatest service; six or seven 
acres for 590 sheep. An acre of sorghum will 
produce 40 bushels of seed, which is equal to 
corn for sheep. Ten acres would be required 
for 500 sheep, with some hay. Sorghum is 
cultivated aud cured precisely as corn, but the 
seed may be thrashed out with flails. An acre 
of average sorghum should produce four tous 
of dry fodder, enough aloue with the grain for 
10 sheep But the turnips or pumpkins would 
be of the greatest benefit with the dry feed: 500 
head would ueed about six or seven bushels a 
day cut into slices. 
ILL EFFECTS OF FEEDING MILLET TO STOCK. 
C. IF. A\, Arkansas City, Kan. —Does mil¬ 
let fed to work animals have a teudency to 
make them stiff? 
Ans.— Millet is a food that is rich in nitro¬ 
gen, and ha3 also an exciting effect upon the 
kidneys. The result of the feeding of such 
food is to produce more or less excessive action 
of the kidneys, %vhicb is known as albumi¬ 
nuria. This disease produces paralysis of the 
nerves of the region adjacent to the kidneys 
(paraplegia), os in pigs which cannot move 
their hind legs but. drag them about; also 
stiffness of the hind limbs aud loins aud rheu- 
uatic affections, so that it is well to mix this 
class of foods with others less rich in nitrogen, 
as straw, corn fodder, or with corn meal, or 
feed them only at intervals, or in moderate 
quantities. The seed is the chief disturbing 
agent, and to avoid the trouble, the millet, if 
for fodder, should be cut before the seed is 
formed, as the seed will otherwise mature and 
ripen iu the cut fodder. 
PRUNING A NEGLECTED YOUNG ORCHARD. 
D. E. Q., West Chenango, N. Y.— When aud 
how should u young orchard be trimmed that 
has not been trimmed for a long time? The 
trees are about from four to five inches iu 
diameter, and very bushy and thick, so that 
their fruit is worthless. 
Ans.—I t is very hard to give intelligent di 
rections for pruning such an orchard without 
cuts in a general way thin out the tops so 
as to let in air aud sunlight. It would lie bet¬ 
ter to cut off two or throe small branches than 
oue large oue, aud better to prune moderately 
two years iu succession than too severely iu 
one. The best time to prune depends upou 
circumstances; if the orchard is too vigorous 
and making too much wood prune iu June, 
after the leaves have attained some size: but 
if stunted, aud mossy, prune early before the 
buds have swollen much. Early pruning stirnu 
lates to wood; audjate, to fruit production. 
