THE RURAL f^IW-YOBMER. 
291 
INFLAMMATION OF A COLT’S EYE. 
A. L., Hingham, Wis. —From one of the 
•eyes of a colt a thick matter has been oozing 
for several months, without injuring the 
sight; how should the eye be treated? 
A ns.— 1 This is caused by inflammation of 
the conjunctiva or outer membrane, which 
joined the ey e to the muscular tissue of the 
head. It should be treated as follows; Make 
a solution of four grains of chloride of zinc 
in one ounce of rain water. Inject, with a 
glass syringe, into the eye about 10 drops of 
this solution once a day. Then hang a cloth 
kept wet with cold water over the eye and 
keep the colt in a darkened stable. Give four 
ounces of linseed oil, and feed a little bran 
mash to keep the bowels laxative and the sys¬ 
tem cool aud open. 
KAINIT FOR FRUITS. 
G *$'. E ., Vincent Town , N. J .—How much 
kainit would it be advisable to use per acre 
for pear trees aud grape-vines, set in dense 
Blue Grass sod? 
Ans.— Kainit is muriate of potash, and a 
very different thing from sulphate. Kainit 
contaiusabout 13 per cent, of actual potash: 
the balance is mostly common salt. Sulphate 
of potash contains about 2(5 per cent, of actual 
potash. We think you could safely apply from 
200 to 300 pounds of either. Make it fine and 
sow broadcast, mixiug enough dry earth or 
land plaster to make it handle well. 
PERMANENT PASTURE IN AN ORCHARD. 
F. H W., Guelph, Oaf.—What is the best 
grass for permanent pasture iu an orchard? 
Ans —We could not recommend putting the 
orchard in permanent posture; it is bad for 
the trees. But if it is to be done, we would 
recommend as the permanent grass only Blue 
Grass (Poa pratensis), using about two bush¬ 
els (28 pounds) per acre, sowing with it for 
quick results 10 pounds of Red Clover If you 
expect any fruit after two years, you must use 
an abundance of manure each year about each 
tree, as far as the limbs extend. 
suffering from diabetes, in which profuse stal* 
ing may be due to drinking immoderate quan¬ 
tities of water, the improper use of niter, salt¬ 
peter, or other powerful diuretics, mow burnt 
hay, too much grain feed, new oats, fright, or 
anxiety of any kind. As treatment, a change 
of food is very desirable. Green feed will 
often check it at once, and a bran mash con¬ 
taining a few carrots has a similar ten¬ 
dency. The grain ration also should be re¬ 
duced. If the temperature of the stable is 
low, the animal should be blanketed or 
removed to a warmer place. Usually this 
treatment will effect a cure without medi¬ 
cine. Of the latter, the following may be 
given with advantage: Half au ounce of pul¬ 
verized opium, an ounce of sulphate of iron, 
and an ounce of gentian root; mix with mo¬ 
lasses and divide into six balls—one to be given 
every day. If no other medicine is given, 
half a dram of sulphate of iron should be 
mixed with each feed. 
Miscellaneous. 
5. O., Oriakany, N. F. — 1. Which variety 
of grape yielded most at the Rural Grounds? 
2. Which breed of cows is best for butter, 
cheese, milk aud beef? 3. Which is the best 
breed of hens for eggs aud meat? 4. Which is 
the best sheep for wool and mutton? 5. 
Which is the best potato for market and fami¬ 
ly u=e? (5. Whio i is the best onion, and how 
should onions be raised? 7 What is the best 
wood for fence posts? 8. What is the best 
time to cut wood? 9. Should grape-vines be 
manured in the hill or ou the surface of the 
ground? lfl. How many plauts grow from 
cuttings? 11. Will a mare that has borne a 
mule afterwards bear horse colts? 12. Will a 
mule bear colts? 13. Is chemistry a good 
study? 14 Lots of more questions about 
grapes. 
Ans —I. The Victoria. 2. Probably the 
Holstein or the Friesians. 3. The Plymouth 
Rock. A cross between Shropshire or South 
Downs, aud Merinos. 5. This cannot be an¬ 
swered. White Star, Mayflower, Rose’s Mag¬ 
num Bonum, Telephone, Garfield, Early Sun¬ 
rise. are all good. 0. Wethersfield Red is the 
standard sort: Yellow Danvers is also raised. 
7. Chestnut, White Oak aud Cedar are all 
good. Seasou thoroughly and saturate with 
coal tar; those split will usually last best. 8. If 
cut and split at once, the Winter is the 
best t ime; if not, cut in August, and leave the 
leaves ou the top for a few days. Wood sea¬ 
soned under cover is best, if piled so open tlmt 
it will season and not mold 9. O n the 
surface. 10. Greenhouse men succeed 
in growing most plants from cuttings with 
bottom heat; generally currants, gooseber¬ 
ries, grapes and quiuces among the fruits 
grow from cuttings. 11. Certainly, if bred to 
a stallion. Occasionally the foal has a trace of 
the mule in bis appearance, but this occurs very 
rarely. 12. Mules do not breed, though there 
may ha ve been an exception once or twice. 13. 
Chemistry is a good study, 14. Send to Bush 
& Sou St Meisner, Bu^hberg,Mo.,for their cata¬ 
logue; price, 25 cents. It will answer all these 
questions better than we could iu a whole 
Rural. 
S - R - T > Allen Co., Ind.—l. How can 
I cut the seed end of a potato to single eyes 
aud have any potato ou each piece? 2. What 
causes so many fish (angle) worms iu my gar¬ 
den, and what will drive them out? 3. How 
much barley should be sown to the acre? 4. 
What is the matter with my horse; he urin¬ 
ates too often, but is not iu bad flesh, and seems 
to feel well ? 
•^ N8, *• In cutting to single eyes, we have 
to reject the extreme seed end, where the eyes 
are so very thick. 2. The grouud is very rich. 
.ve the boys pleuty of time to fish, and they 
will soon dig the worms or apply from 409 to 
11111 pounds of salt per acre; they dou’t like 
that. 3. From !)-£ to 3J* bushels. The richer 
’he land the less seed needed. 4. The horse is 
C. H. IF, Eaton Rapids, Mich. — 1 . Can a 
horse suffer from sweeny without showing 
lameuess? .2. How can I get rid of lice on a 
colt? 3. The coat of my horse is rough; skin 
dandruffy, after exercise he suffers from itch, 
and he seems to be going blind. What ails 
him? 4. How can I get rid of some rotten 
saw dust that won’t burn? 
Ans.— 1. Sweeny is a shrinkage of the 
shoulder muscles, aud is caused by lameness— 
the favoring of the limb, of which the lame¬ 
ness is the only visible sign —producing a waste 
of the tissue through the want of exercise, so 
that it cannot occur uulessas the result of lame¬ 
ness of some kind. 2. It may be that fowls 
are kept uear thecolts, as this will make them 
lousy. fowls nearly always being infested with 
lice; or rats may bring in the lice. To relieve 
the colts, brush them twice a day with a brush 
upon which a little lard and kerosene oil— 
equal parts-arerubbed. 3.The horseissuffering 
from indigestion aud irritation of the skin. 
Give him a pint of linseed oil; and if it does 
not operate well, repeat it the third day. After 
that give one ounce of hyposulphite of soda in 
a bran mash every evening for two or three 
weeks, or until the skin becomes healthy aud 
his hair is smoot h and glossy. Brush him well 
twice a day: this is important as having a 
great effect upon the skin. 4. Spread this 
rotten sa wdusfc over the land. It will be of 
benefit there, and will soon decay and mingle 
with the soil. 
■J. K. L., Dig Flats, N Y.~ 1 What kind of 
field corn would he likely to succeed best, iu 
this Chemung Valley? 2. Is the Rural Branch¬ 
ing Sorghum a good fodder crop? 3. Is the 
Rural Thoroughbred Flint what it is repre¬ 
sented to be iu B. K, Bliss & Sou's Catalogue, 
and how much of it should I plaut? 4 What 
variety of potato would it be advisable to 
plant here? 5 Whose fertilizers are best for ! 
potat >es and tobacco? t5. What maugel-wurt- : 
zel is best—the Golden Tankard? 7. Would it 1 
be advisable to try four or five different va- j 
rieties of corn, leaviug loug intervals between 
them ? 
Ans.— 1 . Waushakum (flint); Longfellow 
iflint); Pride of the North or Queen of the 
Prairie (yellow dent) aud King Phillip. 2. It 
is a splendid plaut for the purpos°. The only 
trouble is to get a good stand. S. Precisely. 
In unfavorable seasons the grain maj* not 
ripen with you. We cannot advise as to area 
4. Try Beauty of Hebron. White Star, Late 
Beauty of Hebrou. or W bite Elephant If we 
could afford to do so, we should try a small 
quantity of all the new kinds offered. May¬ 
flower and Dakota Red are much praised by 
many. 5. Our friend should look over the 
catalogues of the firms that advertise in tie 
Rural, and judge for himself. They are all 
trustworthy coucerns. 0. It is as good as any. 
Try also the Yellow Ovoid. 7. Yes. Such tests 
will often pay 80 times over for the cost and 
trouble. 
5 IF. G, Belleview, Mich.— 1. Wbat is the 
best way to exterminate Canada Thistles? 2. 
1 have two acres of clover sol plowed last Fall, 
which 1 have just sowed to oats; I propose to 
cover thickly with coarse manure and plow 
down iu June for late cabbage Is there any 
better way to (It the ground? S. Will there 
be much waste of manure? 4 Does the Acme 
Harrow work well ou stony laud? 5 Which 
is the cheaper, to haul garden truck 12 miles 
by team or to pay eight cents per hundred 
freight aud have it sold ou commission? 6. Is 
there a pottery where flower pots are made 
nearer than New Brighton, l’a ? 
Ans.— 1 . Any thorough treatment that will 
prevent full development of leaves one Sum¬ 
mer, will totally eradicate Canada Thistles, 
lor instance, plant the field in coru and go 
through every two weeks and cut off every 
thistle below grouud. 2. A capital fitting; 
after plowing in June, put ou 25 to 50 bushels 
of uuleached ashes per acre. 3 None to speak 
of. 4. Not iu first rate style if there are many 
flatish stones. 5. You can tell which is the 
cheaper by experiment on some days. Truck- 
sters here drive in as much as 20 miles. 6. 
We think there is a pottery at Williamsville, 
N. Y., near Buffalo. 
J. S. S,, Benjamin, Mo. —1. How should 
seed com be treated to prevent mice from 
eating it? 2. My mule appears stiff all over, 
and has rubbed the hair off his hind parts; 
what ails him? 3. Where can I get Prof. A. 
J Cook’s Bee-Keeper’s Guide? 
Ans. —1. If the seed corn is steeped in a solu- 
t'On of one ounce of sulphate of copper in one 
quart of water—this is enough for half a bushel 
—the miee will not eat a second grain, if they 
even eat one. It will also help to prevent 
smut, and, considering the growing preva¬ 
lence of smut iu corn, this precaution should 
not be neglected. 2. The mule has taken cold, 
and is suffering from congestion of the skin 
in consequence. Give a pint of linseed oil, 
and afterward one ounce of hyposulphite of 
soda daily for two or three weeks in a bran 
mash. Apply a solution of one dram of 
hyposulphite in a pint of water to the irri¬ 
tated parts. 3. From Prof. A J. Cook, Lan¬ 
sing, Mich. 
IF. H. P., Baltimore, Md., asks a number of 
inquiries as to the chances of success in agri¬ 
culture for a young man of limited means, 
with no knowledge of the business, but a strong 
liking for it? 
Ans. —Under such circumstances, many 
have made a success of fanning or gardening; 
but more, we fear, have failed. Everything 
will depend on the pluck, perseverance and 
intelligence of the novice. What branch of 
husbandry to start in, will depend on the paid; 
of the country selected, the market facilities, 
the tastes of the man, and the amount of his 
capital It would be worse than foolish for 
us to give advice while ignorant on these 
points. One point, however, is certain—be¬ 
fore investing a dollar in the business, the 
young man should spend at least one year with 
some intelligent, successful farmer, to learn 
something practical about the business and his 
own adaptability to it, 
T. J. K. , Industry. Pa. —1. Will different 
varieties of potatoes “ mix’ - if planted side by 
by side? 2. Will wheats 4 'mix’’ if grown in 
the same manner? 3. What will destroy the 
bugs that eat small cucumber vines? 4. What 
will cure “ big gall" in sheep? 
Ans.— 1. No; not if in the same hill. 2. No; 
it is impossible, as the wheat flower is fertilized 
before the glumes are opened. 3. Paris-green 
and w ater in the proportion of one teaspoonful 
of green totnree gallons of water, sprinkled 
over the vines. 4 There is no such disease. 
The conditiou to which the name is given re¬ 
sults from a loss of appetite and the want of 
any food in the stomach and bowels to be di¬ 
gested and needing the action of bile; under 
such conditions the bile is, of comse, retained 
in the gall, greatly distending it. Any rem¬ 
edy that will cure whatever disease causes 
loss of appetite, will relieve the gall. 
.4. S., Walworth Co.. Dakota .—L Is there 
any way to prepare seed corn so that the go¬ 
phers will not eat it? 2. What is the best way 
to poison gophers? 
Ans. —Souk the corn in water containing 
four ounces of copperas (sulphate of iron) to a 
gallon of water for 24 hours; drain out the 
water and pour over the coru a little hot 
water, just enough to warm it, and then for 
every gallon of corn add a large tablespoon- 
ful of either piue or coal-tar. Stir quiekly 
and well, so as to thoroughly coat every ker¬ 
nel with the tar. Dry wish wood ashes, coal 
ashes or plaster, aud plant at once before the 
corn has time to shrivel. 2. Soak some corn 
in water containing arsenic, and drop the poi¬ 
soned coru iu their holes, or put a Small table- 
spoonful of bisulphide of carbon iu each hole 
aud immediately cover tightly. 
O. G. R ., Yew Dome, FFt's.—Can a milk-tank 
be made of water-lime cement, so that it will 
not leak? One leaks badly that I made last 
year by constructing a box of the desired di¬ 
mensions and putting insideof it another with 
sides and ends only, leaving all round a space 
of three inches, into which the cement was 
poured, the inner box being lifted out when 
the cement was dry. . 
Ans.— It is very difficult to make cement 
harden in the way you describe, so as to hold 
water. The wood shrinks aud swells so much 
that the cement is broken. We would pre¬ 
fer making it tight by makiug the joints 
close and tilling with a putty made with red 
lead and oil; or, what would be better still, 
put iu and solder a zinc lining that will just 
slip down iuside. A tank so made would last 
for uiauy years. 
G R. IF., M'inehenden, Mass—l. Should 
the eyes uext to seed end of seed potatoes be 
discarded in cutting to plaut? 2. Iu seeding 
dowu meadow for hay iu the Spring with 
Orchard Grass, will it do to sow oats with the 
grass seed, and is Orchard Grass the best 
seed for dry, light soil? 
Ans. —1. As you like. The eyes are cluster¬ 
ed together at the seed end, aud more shoots 
will, of course, spring from this end than from 
the other portions of the potatoes, and conse - 
quently smaller potatoes are produced. If we 
have plenty of seed we cut off the seed end, and 
cut two strong eyes to a piece with all the 
flesh that can be given. 2, Yes. We do not 
consider Orchard Grass as valuable as either 
Timothy, Red-top or Blue Grass for such soil. 
It has been well tried at the R.ural Farm, and 
except for shady places is not much liked. 
D. B. Tanger, Beliefontaine, O .—Is there 
such an institution as a U. S. Anti-Horse 
Thief Association, and if so, where can I ad¬ 
dress it? 
Ans. —There is such an organization as the 
Anti-Horse Thief Association, and it has a 
National Grand Orderand State Grand Orders. 
Will some of our subscribers in the West be so 
kind as to post vou, and as to whom the present 
officers are and the post-office addresses of 
each? There are county associations in this 
State. The writer has belonged to one in 
Niagara County for the past ten years, and it 
has not cost him over $6 in the whole time, 
and it prides itself on never giving up till the 
thief is caught. In one ease he was followed 
for three years and finally caught, and is now 
in prison 
G B , Millville, N. J. —1, Should a gravel¬ 
ly' loam be marked deep or shallow for corn? 
2 How should composted barn-yard manure 
mixed with leached wood ashes be applied to 
potatoes? 
Ans —1. It is much the best to mark shal¬ 
low and plant the com near the surface; the 
roots will run as deep as the soil is rich and 
mellow. 2. Plant the potatoes in furrows or 
trenches, putting the composted manure and 
wood ashes on when the trench is only partly 
filled with soil, and then covering the whole. 
The latter covering, if in field culture, may be 
done with a harrow or team. Leached wood- 
ashes as a fertilizer are little better than lime, 
while unleached ashes are a special fertilizer 
for potatoes. 
H. G , Amboy Center, N. F.—Is buck¬ 
wheat straw injurious to horses or cattle, when 
used as bedding? 
Ans. —There is a common idea that buck¬ 
wheat straw is injurious to animals littered 
with it, and that it produces irritation of the 
skin. There is no apparent reason for the 
opinion, and as we have never noticed it, 
although this straw has been frequently used 
in this way. we think it is a mistake. If the 
straw is eaten by the animals it may produce 
some ill effect, as it is not wholesome fodder 
for any animals, as it heats the blood and 
causes an itching sensation in the skin. The 
green fodder of buckwheat will have the same 
effect. 
M. S. H., Pierpont, X. F.—1. Will fresh 
cow manure, bound about trees girdled by 
mice, do any good, and how long should it 
remain ? 2. Where can Rural Blount Com be 
obtained ? 3. How deep should com be planted, 
according to the Rural, and how much super¬ 
phosphate to the acre? 
Axs.—1. This method of treating them is all 
right, if the mice have not eaten through the 
cambium, or film next to the wood; if they 
have, nothing will save the trees except bridg¬ 
ing. as described iu R. N-Y. recently, and that 
is only temporarily successful. Leave the ma¬ 
nure till mid-Summer. 2 See Querist else¬ 
where. 3. Plaut in drills, dropping the kernels 
about 12 inches apart and about two inches 
deep. Use from 300 to500 pounds of superphos¬ 
phate per acre. 
IF, & 2’., Cornwall , Ont., Can.— 1. Would 
hulls from an oat-meal mill be good bedding 
for pigs? 2. Are the soot, or ashes from a 
manufacturing establishment where hard coal 
is used and the dust accumulates back of the 
grate at the base of the chimney, worth the 
hauling? 
Ans. —1. By all means use them; they are 
much richer in fertilizing elements than any 
saw-dust. They will also be better bedding. 
2. The coal-dust and ashes might pay for haul¬ 
ing if not too far, and would pay much the 
best ou heavy clay or light sandy soil. Their 
principal beuefit would be the mechanical 
effect they would exert. Coal ashes have 
scarcely auy manurial value. 
*4. Braid wood, IU .—What is a good 
book on stock raising? 
ANS.—If information ou feeding and caring 
for stock is wanted. Feeding Animals, by 
Prof. E. W. Stewart, price $2. to be l*ad of 
the author, at Lake View, N. Y.. and Manual 
of Cattle Feeding, by Prof. H. P. Arrnsby, 
price $3.50, to be had of Robert Clark, til, 63 
and 65 W. Fourth Street, Cincinnati, Ohio, 
are loth excellent works. If information 
about breeding is needed, Stock Breeding 
by Prof. Manly Miles, $1.50, to be had of Ap¬ 
pleton & C o., -N. \. City, is good. For vet¬ 
erinary information. Law’s Farmer's Veteri¬ 
nary Adviser, $3, to be had from Prof. Law, 
Ithaca, N Y., is excellent. 
D.Z. F., York Springs, Pa.— 1. What is the 
