MARCH 34 
NEW-YORKER. 
3 
One hundred fowls should have one acre of 
ground if always confined; the yanl should be 
divided into two half acres, each to be used 
alternately, and it would be better to plow the 
ground or harrow it thoroughly as soon as the 
fowls are turned off from it. Br&hum fowls 
will not fly over a four-foot lath fence. The 
best food consists of corn, wheat, barley and 
bran mush alternated. Borne chopjied grass 
or cabl>age, or even cut hay, will be required 
and plenty of fresh, pure water. 
GROWING CHESTNUTS, ETC. 
J. A. B., East Wilson, N. F.—1. How can 
Spanish and American chestnuts be grown ? 
3. Is the New Prolific Tree Bean profitable ? 
A nr— 1. From the seed. Plant in rows two 
or three yards apart, and one foot apart in the 
row, if the plants are to remain where seeded 
down. If to be transplanted, sow two or 
three inches apart in the row, rows being 4. l i' 
feet apart. Trees over five or six feet high 
do not transplant well. The young trees 
should Ik* protected the first Winter by ridging 
up and mulching. Chestnuts gathered for 
planting should not be allowed to become dry. 
but should be mixed with cool, moist sand (not 
wet) and planted the following Spring. For 
planting, seed grown in the North is preferable 
to that of Southern growth. The European 
chestnut is much larger than the American 
variety, and runs into differences in quality 
that have been introduced by cultivation, and 
that are propagated by grafting. *2. We do 
not tliiuk it would be profitable. 
SALT FOR ANIMALS, ETC. 
G. IF. IF. Economy, Ind .—Is salt absolutely . 
necessary for all animals, and vegetables, and I 
what function does it perform in their economy ? 
Ans. —Anything that may be contained in 
a plant or animal is indispensable to its life. 
Balt, or its elements, chlorine aud sodium— 
which when combined in certain proportions 
form salt.—arc found in all plants aud in the 
blood and secretions of all animals, as well as 
in the flesh. Animals that feed upon vegeta¬ 
bles do not as a rule got a sufficient quantity of 
salt, as may be inferred from the eagerness with 
which they seek and take it. The gastric juice, 
formed largely of hydroelilorie acid and salt, 
is the agent which supplies this to the stomach. 
If salt were not supplied, an animal would 
first suffer from indigestion, then from dis¬ 
order of the blood and uo doubt disease, aud 
finally death might occur in course of time. 
There is uo doubt that many instances of so- 
called depraved appetite are merely the results 
of a want of salt. 
WORMS IN A HORSE. 
T. A. ll.A'arriek, Pa .—What ails my horse? 
His coat is rough, his mane all nibbed off, he 
rubs Ins tail at every chance, and bites his side 
about the flank. With good treatment and 
very light work he does not thrive. Another 
of my horses seems troubled with worms, what 
is a good remedy ? 
Ans. —It is most, probable that both your 
horses are suffering from worms. A good 
remedy for worms is oue pint of linseed oil and 
one ounce of turpentine, given twice in a week 
for two weeks. At the same time the horse 
will be benefited by soft laxative food, as bran 
mash and linseed meal steeped in warm water. 
Give also in the food once a day a dram of 
sulphate of iron for ten days or two weeks. 
Give no corn for some days, but scalded oats 
or cut hay with ground feed. It is not likely 
that there is auy vermin ou the skin; the irri¬ 
tation is caused by the condition of the animal 
and will disappear as that improves. 
“ INCUBATION.” 
.V. E. />,, Mound City. —1. Is poultry raising 
by means of incubators a success? 2. Who 
make iucubatorsf 3. What is the best work 
on raising chickens? I. What degree of heat 
is necessary to hatch chicks? 
Ans.— 1. Some experts in the poultry busi¬ 
ness use incubators with success, but iu the 
hands of inexpert persons they have usually 
failed. 3. A. M. Halstead, Rye, N. Y.; J. L. 
Campbell, West Elizalieth, Pa,; James Deu- 
ms, East Providence, R. I. 3, All the regular 
works on poultry which we have repeatedly 
mentioned in this department treat of “ In¬ 
cubation,” and a special work (price 75 cents), 
called “Artificial Incubation aud Incubators,” 
cau be had from the Poultry Bulletin Office, (53 
Cortlandt Street, New York, or through the 
nearest, book-store. 4. About UK) degrees, two 
more or less, is required for incubation. A 
thermometer put under a sitting hen at this 
writing (March 5), a cold day, marks 98 degrees. 
WORMS IN HOGS. 
J. J. h., Otnro, Win. Is there any sure rem¬ 
edy for worms in hogs? 
Ans. —Swine are frequently troubled with 
worms, the principal symptoms being a gor¬ 
mandizing appetite without corresponding im¬ 
provement In flesh, with a severe itching of 
the hind parte. The worms are of several 
kinds, but all may bo removed from the 
stomach and bowels by doses of spirits of tur¬ 
pentine mixed with castor oil—the dose being 
from a tablespoouful to a gill of the former ac¬ 
cording to the size of the pig, and a corres¬ 
ponding proportion of the latter. The tur¬ 
pentine will kill the worms and the oil will 
help to rid the bowels of their contents and 
also have a lubricating and soothing effect. 
Before the dose is administered the stomach 
and bowels should be emptied by keeping food 
from the animal for 3*1 hours. Au excellent 
preventive of worms in swine is to give the 
animals sulphur frequently and also charcoal. 
SCRATCHES IN HORSES. 
H. /?., Waterford, Minn .—My horses 
stand on a ‘ ‘ground” floor; are kept thoroughly 
clean and bedded well; are washed, oiled and 
sulphered at least as often as every third day, 
yet they are troubled with scratches; what is 
a remedy? 
Ans. —You are giving too much sulphur. 
Scratches is due to impurity of the blood and 
cannot lie cured by outside treatment al¬ 
together. Give the horse a pound of Epsom 
salts, and afterward one ounce daily of hypo¬ 
sulphite of soda. The legs should be washed 
in warm water aud dried. A solution of one 
dram of chloride of zinc in n pint of water, 
and half a pint of glycerine added, may then 
be applied to the inflamed parts. No oil should 
be used at all. But when the inflammation is 
reduced common cerate ointment should be 
applied. The legs should be carefully pro¬ 
tected from wet aud mud, aud all kinds of filtl- 
FEED FOR BREEDING EWES. 
L. A. C., Horner, N. Y. —A ewe of mine has 
dropped three lambs a month before her time. 
Bike 19 others, she has been fed all Winter on 
oat straw with oue pock of corn and oats, half 
and half, daily among the 20. Is this proper 
feed for breeding ewes, and had it any effect 
in producing the premature birth of the lambs? 
Ans. —The feed was hardly sufficient. At 
least oue feed per day of good clover hay 
would have beeu judiciously expended. To 
nourish three lambs is a very large draft upon 
the ewe, and had she been better fed she might 
have carried them the full time and they would 
probably have lived. A pint of the mixed 
grain daily is a fail- allowance for au in-lamb 
ewe, with one feed ot good hay, and straw for 
the rest. If the oat. straw- was smutty that 
would fully account, for the loss of the lambs, 
as smut has the same effect as ergot of rye, 
FEEDING GREEN FODDER TO MILCH COWS. 
O. E. .S', Benton, Mass. —Will green rye 
produce abortion in a cow? 
Ans. —It may, under the same circumstances 
in w-hich auy other green fodder would have 
the same effect; but there is nothing in green 
rye that tends exceptionally to such au injury. 
If any green fooder is fed in excess or in a wet 
condition it may produce tympany or tym¬ 
panic colic from the indigestion, and this might 
injure the fictus and cause it to be expelled. 
But it is not. very likely to do this. The fun¬ 
gus of rye, kuowu as ergot, which will produce 
abortion, only appears on the ears when the 
grain is forming, and if the rye has much 
ergot in it it would produce abortion. It is 
easily seen, however, as a dark-colored spur 
growing out of the ear. aud can easily be 
avoided. This is the only danger in feeding 
rye, and is quite rare. 
SAWING STOVE-WOOD. 
IF. A. N., Sunrise City, Minn .— I cut 30 or 
40 cords of stove-wood a year with the axe ; is 
there any horse-power for running saw-s, that 
w-ould lighten the work without rendering the 
cost much heavier? 
Axs.—Where 30 or 40 cords of wood are 
used in a year it would pay to have a circular- 
saw and a horse-power. A circular-saw with 
a table can be gotten up for about A10 by any 
mechanic; and if a two-horse tread-power is 
not kept one can be hired to do the work, no 
doubt. A two-horse power will cut up five to 
seven cords of wood a day into stove-wood 
The contrivance for sawing wood kuowu as 
the Monarch Lightning Saw, and others like 
it, are far better than using an axe or a com¬ 
mon cross-cut saw. 
FEED FOR HOGS AND CALVES. 
A, D. Mazeppa, Minn. —1. Does it pay 
to cook food for hogs? 2. Should eoru-meul be 
fed dry or moistened? 8. Are not ground 
corn and oats better than unground for calves? 
Ans. —1. There is a difference of opinion in 
regard to cooking feed for hogs; but practi¬ 
cally we don't believe it will pay for the fuel 
and labor. But few feeders cook the food and 
that is a Strong argument against, the practice. 
2. W hen corn-meal is fed to pigs it is best to 
moisten it and feed it iu the form of a thick 
slop, and if it is fermented a little until it is 
slightly sour it is all the better. 3. Calves should 
certainly have ground food and not whole 
grain, but it should lie fed moderately so that 
it is completely digested. 
THE RURAL WHEAT. 
O. B. K., Malone, N. Y ,—The labels ou the 
packages of wheat say the wheat is Winter 
or Spring according to locality; what does 
this mean ? 
Ans.—I t menus that where Winter wheat is 
the sort usually grown, the Rural wheat may 
be grown there as a Winter wheat; and where 
Spring wheat is commonly grown the Rural 
wheat may there be grown as a Spring wheat. 
Sow- the Rural wheat in each section at the 
same time other kinds of wheat are ordinarily 
sown there. 
SWEENY IN HIP IN COWS. 
A. S. R., Transfer, Pa .—Three cows have 
sweeny in the hip, how should they bo treated? 
Ans. —Sweeny in the hip is, we suppose, a 
falling in of t he joint from a severe strain or 
fall, as is very common. The muscles shrink 
until the point of the hip projects and some¬ 
times the bone even comes through the skin. 
There is uo cure for it and no treatment will 
even alleviate it. Ail that can be done is to 
take care that cows do not slip about and fall 
and bruise themselves in this way. 
THE APPLE TREE BORER. 
IF. B. II., Como. Montana Ter.—My three- 
year-old apple and plum trees were attacked 
last Fall by a flat, whitish or dirty yellow, 
square-headed insect, having a dark point for 
the mouth and a tapering body from half au 
inch to an inch long, with alout 12 segments. 
It. always entered the tree near the ground 
never below-, and worked under the bark: 
sometimes into the wt>od: some trees were eu- 
tirely girdled under the bark which was 
dead over its works. It never descended to 
the surface of the soil or below it, and there 
were from one to six worms iu each tree. 
1. What is the worm and the best way to pre¬ 
vent its ravages. 2. Have the worms now in 
the trees done all the damage they can do? 
3. I cut out all I could find, w-as that right? 
4. How much damage will a tree sustain and 
still live! 5. What is a good liook on the care 
of fruit trees? 
Ans.—1. It is the apple-tree Borer, Saperda 
bivittata. 2. aud 8. You may bind the trees a 
foot high with laths or conn stalks. You may use 
washes of carbolic acid, lime, sulphur, etc., in 
the late Spring, repeating if washed off by 
rain. Soap boiled in the lime makes it retentive. 
You may bind strong paper above the bottoms 
of the stem. We have found the wash quite 
effectual. 4. That is uncertain. There may 
be more on the tree. The perfect insect leaves 
the tree through a little rouud hole in mid- 
Spring. 5. That w-as right. You should ex¬ 
amine the trees in early Summer for more 
borers. A wire may serve to punch them to 
death, ti. It will kill the tree if many borers 
work at it. 7. Thomas’s American Fruit Cul- 
tnrist. *3.75; Barry's Fruit Garden. *2.50. 
MISCELLANEOUS. 
.4. T. C., West Lima , IFts.—What are the 
best breeds of cattle, swine and poultry for this 
section for one just beginning farming? Blood¬ 
ed stock are scarce; mj r cows should be suita¬ 
ble for the dairy, but they should also be large 
enough to sell well iu the shambles. Where 
hereabouts eau the stock be had? 
Ans. —The best advice we cau give is that 
our frieud should look round and see what sorts 
of stock are kept by the most prosperous farm¬ 
ers iu his neighborhood. Some may have a 
reputation for fine cows; others for success 
with hogs: and others for making poultry 
profitable—which kind of cows, hogs and poul¬ 
try have they severally got? Much depends on 
the nature of the farm and more ou the 
character of the farmer. A careful selection 
of good “ native” cows or good Ayrshire, Jer¬ 
sey, Holstein, Guernsey, or milking Short¬ 
horn grades would be likely to prove much 
more profitable thau high-priced pure-breds, 
a herd of which no ordinary farmer can af¬ 
ford, especially at the outset. These may be 
graded up by the use of a pure-bred Ayrshire. 
Jersey or Holstein bull, and the herd made 
more profitable by weeding out all poor ani¬ 
mals, a record of the yield of each being care¬ 
fully kept for tli is aud other purposes. Poluud- 
China hogs would probably prove as profitable 
as any for market, while Berkshires would 
give extra-fine meat for home use. For 
eggs and meat the Plymouth Rock breed of 
poultry is hard to beat. Questions of such 
a general nature cannot be satisfactorily 
answered when nothing is known about the na¬ 
ture or size of the farm, the character of the 
farmer, the amount of capital he is willing to 
invest, etc., etc. John A. Cole. Hustisford, 
and J. C. Kiser, Oregon, IVis., deal Iu Poland- 
Chinaswine. Charles Collard, Linden, Wis., 
sells Berkshire?. Jerseys and Guernseys can 
be had from I. J. Clapp, Kenosha. Wis, Hol¬ 
stein cattle cau be had from Smiths & Powell, 
Syracuse, N. Y,, T. B. Walls, Jr., Iowa City, 
la., and W. II. Maim & Co., Gilman, 111. Ayr¬ 
shire are offered by Reuben Miller, Lake 
Bluff, Lake Co., lli. Plymouth Rocks are 
sold by J. E. White. Englewood, BL 
D. S.. Unyhesrilte, Pa. —What is the least 
proportion of corn to cob which has come 
under the Rural's observation? In my ex¬ 
perience the least was 12}^ pounds of cob to oti 
pounds of corn. This was with a little eight- 
rowed sort not shelled till May, having been 
husked iu the previous October. In the Rural 
Mr. J. IV. Good, of Camden. Mo., reports only 
88 pounds of cob to 360 pounds of coni, or 
eight pounds of the former to 56 pounds of the 
latter, while the proportion of other competi¬ 
tors for the Rural premiums vary from 14i ; * 
to 18 pounds. 
Ans. —Our weight of the cobs of Blount's 
Com is as follows: weighed in early Novem¬ 
ber, 70 pounds of ears gave 13.10 pounds of 
of cob. Our experience with the Rural Heavy 
Dent at the same date was that 70 pounds of 
ears gave 18 pounds of cob. We have w-ritten 
to Mr. Good, on this matter, and he maintains 
that his report w-as correct. 
J. F. R,. Berlin Cross Roads, O .—Iu regard 
to Prof. Cook's bee-hive, described in Rural 
of January 20: How and where does he 
get his surplus honey? What does he use 
the half-story for? Would it not be better 
to have the entrance in the side of the hive ? 
ANSWER BY PROFESSOR COOK. 
The honey, if extracted, is taken from the brood 
combs in the body of the hive. If comb- 
honey is desired the sections in a crate are set 
above the frames and covered by the half 
story, above the brood chamber. The half¬ 
story is for the purpose of obtaining comb- 
honey, as just suggested. It is also desirable 
to give room to pack sawdust pillows above 
the bees is Spring aud Autumn, and if we 
winter outdoors, for same use in Winter. I 
even let this packing remain on the hi ves in 
Winter with the hives in the cellar. It 
makes no difference whether the entrance be 
at the end or the side of hive. 
H. H., Avgusta, Gn. —1, Which Is the best 
seed drill'—the Mathews, the New York, or the 
j Planet? 2. Of what ternperature should cream 
1 be during churning? 3. Where cau a ther¬ 
mometer for registering temperature be ob¬ 
tained. 
Ans. —1. The above three drills are all ex¬ 
cellent, diffei-ing not so much in merit as in the 
mode of seeding. 2. That depends somewhat 
on the season and on the quantity of cream 
churned at one time. Sixty-two degrees may 
be called the standard, or average,temperature, 
and iu large dairies and creameries it need not 
be much varied for season. But where only a 
few quarts of cream are churned at once, the 
temperature should be from five to ten degrees 
higher in Winter and lower in Summer. 3. 
An ordinary thermometer will answer well; to 
be had through any hardware store. 
D. J. S., Minersville. Ptt. —1. How much 
space should be between different varieties of 
potatoes ? 2. Would it be advisable to plant a 
row of corn, peas or beans between the differ¬ 
ent sorts? 3. What is the earliest? 4. How 
soon has the earliest been known to mature? 5. 
What is the earliest sweet corn? 6. The larg¬ 
est solid celery ? 
Ans. —1. Just the same space as between hills 
or drills of the same kind. Why not? 2. There 
would be nothing gained; you would lose iu 
potatoes what you gained in corn, peas or 
beans. 3. The Alpha is thought to be about 
the earliest. Early'Ohiois the earliest that we 
have tested. 4. We have heard of potatoes 
being “fit for use” in tit) days from planting. 
Fouxth of July is about the earliest we know 
of under usual cultivation, no matter when 
planted, 5. Gregory's Marblehead. 6. There 
is not much difference in the Giant kinds. 
W, H. M., Montague, Fcr.—Which of the 
following fertfli 2 sra is worth most money? 
The first contains nitrogen... .4 to 5 ; j per cent. 
phosphoric acid.22 to 23 “ 
The second contains nitrogen. 4 to 5 1 
phosphate of lime...T...45 to 50 “ 
Ans. —There is very slight, difference in the 
two lots. The only difference is a very small 
one in the phosphoric acid. For instance, 44 
per cent, of bone phosphate is equivalent to 
20 per cent, of phosphoric acid, and 50 per 
cent, of bone phosphate to 23 per cent, of 
phosphoric acid; so that the two lots are prac¬ 
tically the same. As the solubility of the bone, 
however, depends very much upon its fine 
state of division, that one lot in which the bone 
was the finest would be worth the most in the 
ratio of its excess of fineness. 
A. IF,, Homer, N. F.—1. From the yield of the 
White Elephant in 1881, l selected a few pota¬ 
toes that had all the usual characteristics of 
the Elephant except that iu the white there 
was a slight blush in spots and a little color 
rouud the eyes. From these I raised two bush¬ 
els last season; are they a sport or a uew va¬ 
riety? 2. What about the O. K. Mammoth 
Potato ? 
Ans.— 1. Unless there are other differences, 
this variation is too slight to make a new va¬ 
riety. Does it mature at the same time ? Such 
slight differences are common enough. 2. We 
shall try the 0. K. Mammoth this seasou and 
report as we always do with the chief of the 
new kinds announced every year. 
N. D. B., Burlington, A". F.—1. Which con¬ 
tains more potash—muriate or sulphate of 
potash ? 2. How much real potash would there 
be iu a 300-pound bag of fertilizer marked 
“sulphated potash, four to six per cent. ? 3. 
What commercial fertilizer would lie best for 
oats on poor land? 
Ans. —1. One contains as much as the other. 
They are but different forms. 2. It would 
contain four to six per cent, of 21X1 pounds, i. e .. 
eight to 12 pounds. 3. We should use raw 
