APRIL M 
THE RURAL NEW-YORK£R. 
THE SQUASH VINE-BORER. 
T. U. C., Square Pond, Conn .—In our sec¬ 
tion Hubbard squashes begin to die as soon as 
fairly safe from bugs, and continue to die 
through all the season. I examined and dis¬ 
sected hundreds of vines, from the end of the 
root to the tip of the vine, and found no visible 
cause of death—by what is it caused. 
Ans. —By the larva of the Squash vine 
Hilgeria, first described by Harris in 1S2X under 
the name of Algeria cueurbitae. This grub or 
borer perforates the stem of the pumpkin and 
squash vines near the ground and devours the 
interior. It becomes a winged insect the 
secoud year. A teaspoonful of saltpeter dis¬ 
solved in a gallon of water, and a pint poured 
on each hill, is said to be an efficient remedy. 
The trouble is that the presence of the pest is 
not made known by the wilting of the vines 
until the mischief ha-s been done; prevention 
is therefore easier than “cure.” The parent 
moths may be caught by sticky fly-paper 
placed about the vines, or by means of a net. 
If the moth is seen flitting about , and escapes 
capture the vines should be closely examined 
for eggs and for wounds made by the larvae in 
entering the stem. The former should he de¬ 
stroyed, when found, and tjie latter cut out. 
As the eggs are deposited near the root of the 
vine, covering several of the lower joints of 
the stem with earth has been found beneficial. 
HORSE-POWER THRASHING. 
W. P. R,, Opoiyetown. Ill.—l. Being tired of 
the worry, hurry and bother of the present 
mode of thrashing wheat by means of a hired 
steam-power, and wishing to adopt a more 
convenient method. I’d like to learn how much 
grain a two-horse tread power would thrash 
in a day; whether it is harder on the horses 
than a lever power; and if the horses must, be 
specially shod to work itf 2. How deep should 
tile be laid in a nursery, and how large should 
the mam drain tile be to drain 15 acres' 1 
Ans.— 1. A two-horse power will thrash 100 
to 150 bushels of wheat a day and clean it, if 
the cleaner is attached to the thrasher. - he 
level tread power has some advantages. A 
horse does not need shoeing to work in a tread 
power and the work is not so hard as a lever 
power. The writer has thrashed and cleaned 
100 bushels of wheat in a day. with two hands 
to help. If the barn floor is large enough one can 
thrash during the Winter whatever the weather 
may be outside, and may work half a day 
and leave it and begin again when he wishes. 
With two boys a man can do all his own thrash¬ 
ing with ease and very cheaply and conve¬ 
niently. 2. The tile should lie laid three feet 
deep: for 15 acres a three-inch discharge would 
be sufficient unless the soil is very wet. 
HORSE BLEEDING FROM NOSTRIL. 
./, S., Nvoxho Co., Kansas.—I have a horse 
which after working in the plow was taken in 
the night with bleeding from one nostril; the 
blood flowed in a small stream or dropped as 
fast as drops could fall. What is the cause and 
what should lie done ? 
Ans. —Bleeding from one nostril indicates 
rupture of a blood-vessel in the bronchial or 
nasal membranes; when from the lungs both 
nostrils bleed; son ietimes the blood <•<>mes f rom 
the stomach, when it is black and sour. In 
this case it is due to a tight collar, over-load¬ 
ing of the stomach, or over-exertion. The 
treatment should be to tie the head up high; 
to put cold-water cloths on the head and neck; 
to test the animal, and give daily one ounce 
of tincture of muriate of iron or one scruple 
of sugar of lead daily. It is sometimes due to 
constitutional defect, when it is only tempo¬ 
rarily relieved. When the bleeding is copious 
plugging the nostril with a sponge tied to a 
string fixed to the nose-band, or made safe in 
some way, and dipped in infusion of willow or 
oak-bark may be resorted to. 
HEN MANURE FOR CORN. 
II. R. L.. GoodalVs, Va.—l. What should be 
mixed with hen manure and in what propor¬ 
tion so that it can be safely applied to corn? 
2. How should it be applied? 
Ans.— 1. A mixture of ben manure, wood 
ashes and plaster is excellent for corn. Spread 
the poultry manure on a floor and beat it fine 
with the back of a shovel, breaking all lumps. 
Then spread the plaster evenly over it, and 
then spread the ashes evenly over the plaster. 
Take a rake and mix evenly and thoroughly. 
The manure should be dry and should not lie 
mixed until needed' for use. If you have not 
ashes and plaster, dry earth or line coal ashes 
are good—four parts to one of manure. Dry 
muck, however, where obtainable, is the best. 
Let the mixture lie in a heap until it heats; 
then work it over and mix more until the dung 
is mixed with four times its weight of muck, 
which will be nearly eight times its bulk. 2. 
When hen manure is drilled with the seed 
there is danger that it will “burn” unless it is 
much diluted. It is always safer to have a 
thin layer of soil between the manure and seed. 
APPLE-TREE BARK SPLITTING IN WINTER. 
H., no address,—hast Spring I planted 150 
apple trees. They grew all right during the 
Summer, but this Winter nearly all of them 
have split in the bai'V Just above the ground 
The length of the splits A r aries, but is usually 
about six inches, and all were filled with ice 
Is there auy preventive? What is the cause? 
Can anything be done to help them now? 
Ans. —The splitting referred to is due to 
sharp and sudden freezes early in the season, 
which affect some varieties worse than others? 
Professor Budd, of the Iowa Agricultural Col¬ 
lege, attributes it to the hygroscopic (water-ab¬ 
sorbing) quality of the bark, and says the stems 
of the varieties subject, to it may be noticed to 
be wet near the ground when others are dry. 
There is no preventive known,, and the only 
remedy is to bind up tho wound with waxed 
cloth as soon as discovered. This splitting is 
often very destructive in nurseries as well as 
young orchards, aud some varieties are so gen¬ 
erally ruined by it before arriving at a salable 
size that nurserymen dislike to grow them. 
INQUIRIES ABOUT PATENTS. 
.4. «/., West Chenango, N, V .—Is there a 
patent on the iubber bucket used in endless 
chain pumps? A mau is traveliug around 
here claiming $5 royalty on them. 
Ans. —The number of patents still in force 
is 112,000. These cover all conceivable sorts of 
devices; aud many of them differ in very 
minute points only. It would therefore be al¬ 
most impossible and entirely too troublesome 
for us to go back through old volumes of the 
Patent Office Reports in search of any patent 
so vaguely described as that here referred to. 
Whenever anybody claims a “royalty” he 
MUST, on demand, give the numlier of the pat¬ 
ent under which he claims it. If he refuses to 
do this it would be fortunate if a bulldog, fed 
on raw meat for a mouth, investigated the 
contents of the fraud’s pants, or a stout No. 
IS boot helped him off the farm. Once knowing 
the number of the patent, we can furnish in¬ 
formation about it. 
ANTHRAX IN A COLT. 
. 1 . V„ Van hwmi, Neb .—A colt of mine is 
dying from a disease known here as “black 
tongue.” Symptoms: first a yellowish matter 
oozed from the eyes: swelling on lower jaw; 
breathing very heavily aud foaming profusely 
at the mouth, together with a copious dis¬ 
charge from the nostrilsafter having been sev¬ 
eral times smoked with burned woolen rags aud 
sulphur. My neighbor has lost two horses and 
two calves with the disease—what is it, and 
how should it. be treated ? 
Ans. —This is a virulent contagious disease 
of the same type as black leg in cattle and 
cholera in pigs, and known as Malignant An¬ 
thrax. It would better to destroy au animal 
so taken at once, and bury it safely or burn it. 
If any treatment should be deemed judicious 
it should be first a brisk saline purgative, 18 
ounces of Epsom salts; and after that give one 
ouuce of hyposulphite of soda und one dram of 
chlorate of potasli daily, alternating the doses. 
The disease can be communicated to human 
beings by infected animals or their carcasses. 
POOR TOBACCO GROUND. 
B. P. C., Oakfwld, N. Y .—Is light hemlock 
soil which will grow 15 bushels of oats to the 
acre without manure, and grow fodder corn, 
but cannot produce ears, suitable for tobacco 
if enriched by the use of commercial fertili¬ 
zers? What fertilizer would be suitable, and 
what variety of tobacco would be likely to 
do well. 
Ans. —The prospects would seem to lie so 
much against a profitable crop of tobacco, 
without bam-yard manure, on land that fails to 
produce good corn, as to render the experi¬ 
ment unadvisable. There may lie nothing 
in the nature of the case, however, to render 
it impossible. We would recommend a very 
thorough preparation of the soil, aud a very 
liberal, broadcast, surface application of some 
“complete” fertilizer, like Bow kers Hill aud 
Drill Phosphate. For a variety we would 
recommend the Wilson’s Hybrid, if it is de¬ 
sired to grow a Havana variety or the “Brand” 
for a Connecticut seed-leaf. 
INJURY TO GRAPE-VINE ROOTS. 
C. R- M., Dun iii ore, W. Fa.—Are not grape¬ 
vines injured, while plowing, by the breaking 
and bleeding of the roots ? 
Ans.— Yes, undoubtedly. This injury is 
one of the mysterious, unrecognized, so-called 
diseases of grape-vines, especially on land with 
a hard sub-soil which the roots cannot pene¬ 
trate. Almost everybody lias observed that 
vines over tile drains are much more healthy 
and vigorous than those dc we-by, The explana- 
ti<Tu is that there the roots penetrate deeply. 
It is not the. bleeding only that is injurious; 
but the cutting of the feeding roots deprives 
the vines of all power to repair damages until 
they are re-established, and by this time the 
season is over. The use of the cultivator or 
very shallow plowing is the remedy, and, 
where phylloxera abound, leaving an unculti¬ 
vated strip in grass under the vines is very 
beneficial. 
BLOOD POISONING IN COLT. 
H. S., Marion, Va .—About a year ago a 
yearling colt got the “distemper,” aud in a 
short Hum » swelling appeared under the jaw. 
soon spread and discharged a deal of matter, 
after which the condition of the colt improved; 
but at the end of two months the swelling ap¬ 
peared iu the flank, where it. soon opened aud 
discharged more or less matter until about six 
weeks ago. when the sore healed, but siuce 
then the animal has been rapidly declining; 
what ails him ? 
Ans.—T he colt is suffering from blood poison¬ 
ing from absorption of the matter (pus) from 
the first abscess. Immediate treatment is 
required. First, give a dose of eight ounces of 
Epsom salts. Afterwards give half an ounce of 
hyposulphite of soda every day, aud alternately 
and daily one ounce of powdered Peruvian 
bark with half a drachm of iodide of iron in a 
bran mash. 
COTTON-SEED AND CORN MEAL FOR MILCH COWS. 
D. C. H., Cincinnati's, A r . Y. —1. Wlmt is the 
comparative value of cotton-seed meal and 
coru meal as feed for milch cows for milk aud 
also for butter and how much should be fed per 
day? 2. Mixed witli boiled vegetables or bran, 
would it lie better feed for hens thau middlings 
and bran? 
Ans.— 1. Cotton-seed and corn are so entirely 
different that they cannot be compared with 
each other excepting as regards their money 
feeding value. This is equivalent to $3.fi0 for 
cotton seed meal aud $1.70 for corn meal per 
hundred pounds. But cotton-seed meal is too 
rich a food to be used alone or in any hut 
small quantity, as one quart per day, with 
three quarts of corn meal, when it adds to the 
com meal the nutritive elements in which 
it is deficient. 2. Yes. 
MORE ABOUT CONCRETE HOUSES. 
./. 8., Denver, Col, —How should the frames 
for concrete walls be made? How thick 
should the wall lie for a small house ? What 
should be the proportion of sand, gravel and 
cement ? How long does it take to set ? 
Ans. —The frames are made of boards or 
planks, held in place by posts kept in their 
position by notched cleats. Fora small house. 
12 iuches thick is sufficient. One part cement; 
two parts sand; five parts gravel, ami as many 
stones as can be worked iu. The concrete will 
set hard enough to build more on it. in 24 hours. 
By beginning at one corner and working 
round, it will be set by the time the starting 
place is reached. This method is as cheap as 
brick at £2 a thousand, and cheaper if the 
sand, gravel and stone are handy. 
A BLIND COLT. 
A. F. AT., Wayne, IU .—About a mouth ago 
the eyes of my year-old colt began to water, 
and he has become blind in both eyes, over 
which there is a bluish film. He appears to no¬ 
tice moving objects; how should he be treated! 
Ans.— The film might be removed, no doubt, 
by a careful application of a solution of three 
grains of nitrate of silver in rain-water. This 
should he applied by drawing a soft earaolV 
hair brush charged with it across the clouded 
film. It. would be safe to procure professional 
assistance in dealing with such a tender organ 
as the eye. 
MISCELLANEOUS. 
“ Chautauqua ,” Bvoe.klon, N. I r .—1. How 
should coarse ground bone aud wood ashes ne 
applied to grapes? How while planting a vine¬ 
yard, and how on a bearing vineyard? 2. 
What is the meaning of the terms “uniform,” 
“renifonn,” und “globose” glunds and “gland¬ 
less” as used iu describing grapes? 
Ans.— 1. We purchase the bone meal and 
spread it on the soil at. the rate of 5(H) or more 
pounds to the acre. We use all the wood 
ashes that we can procure at a reasonable 
price. In planting a vineyard use about two 
quarts of bone to each vine, mixing it with 
the soil Immediately about the roots. Iu case 
of a bearing vineyard, sow broadcast, between 
the rows, and harrow in. 2. At the base of 
the leaves of certain kinds of peaches are 
always found small glands, either round aud 
regular, or oblong or irregular, while the 
leaves of certain other kinds have no glands 
at all, but are more deeply cut or serrated on 
the margins. These peculiarities of the foliage 
are constant and aid us greatly in recognizing 
a variety by forming three distinct classes, 
viz.: 1, Leaves serrated and without glands. 
2. Loaves with small round or glolnise glands. 
:-!. Leaves with large, irregular uniform glands 
Strictly speaking, “ uniform ” means single¬ 
form; globose, spherical, or nearly so; aud 
reniform, kidney-shaped. 
8, S. ('., Bingham Center. I'a. I. Which is 
the better—to boil or grind grain for cows and 
calves? 2. Is the Vergennes drape what is 
claimed for it? 3. Is G. S. Wales, of Rochester* 
N. Y., a reliable dealer? I. How cao bones 
be made into a fertilizer so as to lie used this 
Spring? 5. Is the Mapes complete fertilizer 
as good as it is claimed to be? (5. Would 
plaster be of benefit to potatoes if applied as 
soon as the seed is cut? 
Ans.— 1. It is best to have grain ground as 
fine as possible and feed it with cut feed moist¬ 
ened with water. is then ull digested. 2. 
W« think it is. We are testing it and cannot 
yet answer from experience. 3. Yes. 4. If 
it is desired to save all the fertilizing matter 
it cannot he done so quickly. If they are putiu 
n pit, in the ground with some fresh quick-lime 
Or wood ashes, or both, and moistened and cov¬ 
ered up. w ith the earth aud left for three 
months; they may he broken up line quite 
easily. If the bones are burut, how r ever, they 
can lie readily reduced to powder, and so be 
quickly prepared for fertilizing purposes. The 
small proportion of nitrogen they contain will 
then be lost, but all the phosphoric acid will 
remain, and it is chiefly this that gives bones 
their fertilizing value. 5, Yes. <5. We ean- 
uot yet answer positively, but from our last 
season’s trial we arc disposed to favor it. 
R. S., Fort Plain, N. Y. —1. Is oil meal good 
for milch cows? 2. Is a Jersey cross on com- 
mou edws good for dairy purposes? 3. Which 
is the best to cross on a Chester White sow'—a 
Berkshire or Essex boar? 4. My four-year- 
old colt goes slightly lame, owing to the sw ell¬ 
ing of tho muscles of one of bis hind legs— 
how should he be treated ? 
Ans. —1. For butter, linseed-oil meal is not 
desirable; cotton-seed meal is, in small quanti¬ 
ties—say a quart at a meal, with a qua it each 
of bran and corn meal, 2. The very best for 
butter; if for milk the Dutch (Holstein so 
called) or the Ayrshire is preferable. 3. For 
bacon and ham the Berkshire is better than 
the Essex; for small, early market pigs the 
Essex is a good cross; but a really good Ches¬ 
ter-White is itself an. excellent kind. 4. The 
hind leg is altogether too indefinite a descrip¬ 
tion to base an opinion Upon. The symptoms 
point to a spavin; but it would bo better to 
write again more fully. 
II. F., Chicago, III .—I am thinking of buy¬ 
ing five cows whose milk is to be sold iu this 
city. Grazing will cost, $1.25 per week, and 
in Winter I intend to feed hay. slop, mill-dust, 
bran, corn aud distillers 1 “grains 1 ’; the cows 
will cost $40 each and yield 12 quarts of milk 
a day; I shall have to liny a horse and wagon 
to deliver the milk—is it likely I can make 
the business pay? i am youug and single. 
Ans. —Our young friend’s ambition is praise¬ 
worthy and if he is careful at tho start he will 
undoubtedly succeed. One mau should be well 
able to care for five or even ten cows and de¬ 
liver the milk, with perhaps a little help at 
milking time if he has 10 head. Ten make 
very little more labor than five and tic ex¬ 
penses of horse, wagon, etc., will be no more. 
The cost of grazing is too high. A cow can he 
fed on hay and feed for about that, cost: 12 
quarts a day are also too high an estimate for 
the milk. It is all a question of figuring the 
cost aud income aud careful figuring is needed. 
A*. A'.. Keene, Neh, —l. Could cranberries lie 
profitably grown on good corn laud? 2, What 
is the best, soil for the huckleberry ? 3. What 
sort of a plum is Bassett’s American? 4. What 
about the Stump Apple ? 
Ans. —1. Much bus been said about upland 
cranberry cultivation, but we know of uo suc¬ 
cessful endeavors. It would scarcely pay to 
mulch heavily. 2. Leaf mold. 3. It is a 
small, hard plum, of no value except for cook¬ 
ing. 4. The Stump Apple is supposed to Inn r 
originated in Delaware, accoixling to Down¬ 
ing. The fruit is medium in size, oblate, yel- 
lowish, shaded with light red nearly over the 
whole surface. Stalk short and small. Flesh 
whitish, rather firm, crisp, juicy, tender, 
sprightly sub-acid. Good, core small. Sep¬ 
tember, October. 
TF. K, K., New Windsor, IlL—1, What is the 
matter with the seed corn in this neighbor¬ 
hood? Tlie germ is black and shrunken and the 
corn won’t germinate. 2. What would be a 
good variety for this section? 3. What seeds¬ 
man would the Rural specially recommend? 
4. Is last year's corn taken from the crib je- 
liablo for seed? 
Ans,—I. It was not fully ripened, or if so, 
uot properly harvested. 2. The Chester Co. 
Mammoth would do well with you if you don’t, 
mind tall, heavy stalks. 3. We havo no pref¬ 
erences. 4. Wo cannot say as to'individual 
cases without seeing the corn. There was 
much inferior seed com in Iwith ycurs. Why 
not test it yourself? Put u few grains in moist 
earth and keep it warm. A few days will tell 
the story. 
G. W, Dallas, Texas.—I b cotton-seed 
meal a good fert ilizer for potatoes, cabbage 
and garden truck? 1 can get it here for *1* 
per ton; while the Mapes Potato Manure 
costs $75. 
Ans, —Cotton-seed meal contains in one ton, 
181 pounds of nitrogen, 74 pounds of phos¬ 
phoric acid, and 41 pounds of potash. The 
value of these is about $80 per ton. If these in¬ 
gredients were iu an available form and soluble 
condition, they would be worth nearly twice 
as much. As the meal rapidly decomposes it 
in the end supplies the lull value of t he fertil¬ 
izing elements. Tt slum Id be well mixed with 
the soil simply to hasten its decomposition. 
P. T„ Norwalk, O.—l have a young cow 
that, scours badly at times. Kht> is gi\ ing milk 
