^crrsmau. 
OUR ANIMAL PORTRAITS. 
A GROUP OF NORMAN HORSES. 
On our first page, at Fig. 33, we present, 
from life, a group of Norman horses from the 
justly celebrated herd of Dillon Brothers, 
Normal, 111. This firm has long been in the 
business of importing and breeding Norman 
horses, and lias done much to introduce these 
fine animals over the United States. Our cut is 
a faithful reproduction of the photographs of 
the different animals; but in one or ,two in¬ 
stances the position of the animal is not the 
best that might have been selected. In the im¬ 
mediate foreground is the prize-winning stal¬ 
lion Leisure 407, N. R. N. H. He is five years 
old,a beautiful dark gray,powerfully built and 
weighing 2,020 pouuds. He was sued by St 
Laurent 753, his dam being Evaliua 034. He 
received the first prize at the Illinois State 
Fair in 138-3, and in 1884 was shown at five 
fairs and received eight first and sweepstake 
premiums. Next, back of and partly in 
front of Leisure, stands Modesty 008 N. R. N. 
H. She is eight years old and a line dapple 
gray. Her sire is also Sc. Laurent, her dam, 
Gertrude. Duriug 1884 she was exhibited at 
five fairs,and received 10 first and sweepstake 
premiums. Directly back ot her stands Char¬ 
lemagne, 2413; black with a small star in his 
forehead. He was foaled in lSSl.aud import¬ 
ed in 1883. At ti ve fairs in 1884 he received four 
first premiums. In front of the last and 
looking directly back is Boccaccio, 2424. He is 
a fine mahogany bay of good form. He is 
two years past, and was also imported in 1884. 
Next to him aod looking to the front is Lin¬ 
net 2170, a beautiful gray, foaled in 1883, 
sired by Leisure, dam Cullalee, 015 She re¬ 
ceived, in 1884, five first premiums at five fairs. 
The remaining animal to the right in the back¬ 
ground, is Ida Volgara 1705. four years old 
past, and a solid gray She also received, in 
1884, five first premiums. 
Thus we see that this group of six horses, 
during 1884, were shown at five fairs and in 
the aggregate received 27 first premiums and 
10 sweepstakes, a record of which the owners 
may be justlv proud. 
HARD TIMES AMONG THE FARMERS. 
PROF. S. A. KNAPP. 
From all quarters of the West has come 
the complaint of low prices for farm 
produce. Corn in Kausas, Nebraska and 
Western Iowa is quoted at 15 cents per bush 
el; in Central Iowa at 20 cents, and in Eastern 
Iowa at 25 cents. Considering the price of 
iaud at the different points, this is less than 
cost. To receive a reasonable compensation 
for labor and capital employed, the price 
should be ten cents per bushel higher. The 
general market does not indicate any proba¬ 
bility of such advance. Under such conditions, 
what shall be dune with the corn? 
In Iowa the surplus can be mainly fed into 
hogs and cattle during the year, if ihe farmers 
resolutely set to work to breed, purchase aud 
feed; aud apparently it is the intention to do 
so Of course, many of the smaller farm rs 
and renters must sell, aud many farmers are 
buying to feed, or store for future use. Upon 
the College Farm we are purchasing coru at 
20 cents per bushel of 70 pounds (including 
cob). Wheat bran can be purchased, by the 
car-load, at eight dollars per ton; adding two 
dollars for freight and delivery, the cost in 
the burn would be $10per ton. Thirty horse9 
and colts, ldU head of cattle, mostly Short¬ 
horns, Friesians and Jerseys—100 hogs, mostly 
brood sows—aud 120 ewes—pure Shropshire, 
or Shropshire and South Down—are kept 
upon the farm. The horses are fed bran and 
corn in the ear. 
All, but one Bpan which does heavy work, 
are each fed six pounds of bran and four 
pounds of corn daily from December 1st till 
May 1st, and all the hay and straw they will 
eat. For the cattle the coru is shelled, ground 
and mixed with half its weight of bran: each 
cow receives 11 pounds of the mixed grain 
daily and all the hay and straw she will eat 
without waste. For the sheep the corn i3 
shelled and mixed with half its weight of 
bran; each ewe receives one pound six ounces 
daily, fed io two rations, and a full allowance 
of hay. The hogs are fed corn in the ear and 
a slop of wheat bran, wheat shorts and oil- 
meal—well salted, and varying in proportion 
according to the age and size of the animals— 
richer for the younger pigs and nearly clear 
bran for the older. 
The cost of food for keeping horses in 
thrifty and improving condition during the 
Winter—150 days—averages 8>£ cents per 
day; for cows, nine cents per day; for sheep, 
two cents per day; for brood sows, gaining 
three quarters of a pound, 1 }4 cent per day. 
Twenty-five pigs are fed for pork; the cost of 
food to make a pound of gam. live weight, is 
1 % cent, at present prices of grain. It is 
worth ‘ 6 % cents when ready for market—a 
fair profit for labor, AH animals are weighed 
the first day of each month, and the food 
is weighed daily. 
I have averaged the cost of keeping on the 
entire herds, deeming it better to give averages 
upon large numbers than special tests with a 
few selected animals, The cost of food per ani¬ 
mal may look high toWesteru farmers. It could 
have been made less by feeding only corn, 
hay and straw, but most of the animals are 
for breeding purposes, and vigor is an impor¬ 
tant consideration. At ruling prices for 
horses, cattle, sheep aud swine, corn fed intel¬ 
ligently' on the farms in Iowa will net from 35 
to 40 eeuts per bushel. The exclusively grain, 
or dairy fanners, are the principal sufferers 
under present conditions. 
Ames, Iowa. 
Ipflmnanj. 
ABORTION IN CATTLE. 
PROF. F. L. KILBORNE. 
By abortion, in its restricted sense, is 
meant the expulsion of the fmtus before it 
has attained sufficient development to enable 
it to live outside the womb. When the fretus J 
is expelled after it is able to live out of the 
womb, but before the full period of gestation, 
it is known as premature parturition. Thus 
abortion occurs under seven or seven-aud-a- 
balf months, aud premature parturition after 
this date and before the expiration of the fall 
term. lu practice, however, there is no d*- | 
fined limit between abortion aud premature 
parturition, and as the causes aud results from 
each are quite similar, except that the prema¬ 
ture birth is usually more dangerous as the i 
time advances, it will answer our present 
purpose to class all premature births under 
the head of abortion. It is in this sense that 
the term is generally used. 
The causes of abortion in cattle may be di¬ 
vided into external and internal. The more 
common external causes may be enumerated 
as follows:—sudden changes In temperature; 
abrupt setting in of cold weather; exposure to 
cold rams or wiuds; coarse, indigestible food, 
or an over-abundance of too stimulating food; 
impure water; large quantities Of cold or iced 
water, especially when the system is heated; 
feeding on certain plants, notably savin, rue, 
hellebore, sedges, rashes, or horse-tails, or on 
ergoted grains or grasses, smutty corn or 
wheat, and large quantities of wet, frosty, or 
mu>tvfood; certain medicinal agents incau¬ 
tiously used, as cantbarides, turpentine, dras¬ 
tic purgatives (calomel, croton oil. gamboge, 
large doses of Glauber, or Kpsom salts or oilsi, 
or diuretics (niter, sweet spirits of niter, col- 
chicum, squills); hot. damp, or foul stables; 
keeping in stalls with floors much inclined 
backward; injuries, especially pressure, blows, 
or kicks on the abdomen, falls, slips, severe 
exertion, fatigue, riding of animals iu heat; 
excitement, fright, fear, chasing, especially 
by dogs; contact with or proximity to dead 
or decomposing animal matter; peculiar 
odors, especially those arising from abortion; 
breediug at too early an age, arc all exciting 
causes. 
Internal causes include ull diseases in which 
the genera) system is seriously affected; le¬ 
vers, inflammation of the bowels, constipa¬ 
tion, diarrhcp.a, previous abortions, uterine 
diseases, disease of the foetus or its mem¬ 
branes, deformity or death of fcetus, very 
fleshy or poor condition of the mother, aud, 
finally, the presence in the passages of a mi¬ 
croscopic vegetable parasite iLeptothrix vagi¬ 
nalis), which is readily transferred from oue 
animal to another so as to produce abortion. 
Frequently an animal aborts without any 
apparent cause, in which case there must 
have been a special predisposition to abortion ( 
so that a very trifling or inappreciable cause 
produced the effect; wbileother animalsnever 
lose their fcetus, though exposed to ihe influ¬ 
ence of apparently more potent causes. In 
general, anything which greatly affects the 
system of the parent is liable to produce abor¬ 
tion. 
The symptoms of abortion are extremely 
varied. Iu the early stages of gestation abor¬ 
tion frequently occurs without any previous 
symptoms or warning, and is only determined 
by the animal coming in heat again. At 
other times, and usually in the later stages, 
the abortion is more complicated and labor¬ 
ious, in which case there may be more or less 
uneasiness, dullness and fever, or even the 
usual symptoms of normal parturition. When 
the abortion is recent, or about to take place, 
there is usually a filling of the udder, or a 
falling off in milk, in the case of milch cows, , 
a relaxed condition of the.external generative { 
organs and passages, with a glutinous or 
bloody discharge from the vagina, and a 
slight falling of the flanks and abdomen. 
Where abortion occurs in the early stages 
of gestation, little or no medicinal treatment is 
demanded. Even iu the later stages all that 
is usually required is rest aud seclusion with 
plenty of soft, nourishing food. A course of 
tonics (sulphate of iron two drams, gentian 
and ginger each one ounce, twice daily, dis¬ 
solved in a pint of ale or gruel) may be desir¬ 
able if tbe animal is much weakened. In all 
cases an animal aborting, or showing symp¬ 
toms of abortion, should be immediately re¬ 
moved from the herd aud kept apart from 
sound animals until fully recovered. All pro- 
. ducts of aborting animals, aud tbe stable in 
which they are confined should be thoroughly 
disinfected by the free use of disinfect¬ 
ants—a strong solution of copperas or 
one ounce of corbolic acid disolved in every 
gallon of water. Where abortions have 
broken out iu a herd and appear contagious, 
these precautions are very essential. Dr. Law 
further recommends half-ounce doses of 
chlorate of potash daily. An auimal having 
aborted should be allowed to ruu over several 
beats after recovery before being again 
served. 
Preventive measures are to besought rather 
than treatment, inasmuch as an abortion can 
rarely be checked after the symptoms have 
appeared. These consist in avoiding, as far 
as possible, all causes which may give rise to 
abortion. Moderate sudden changes iu tem¬ 
perature and protect from cold rains aud 
winds by suitable shelter or stables. Atten¬ 
tion should be given to the diet, auddry, coarse 
fodder should be supplemented, iu part, by 
more digestible or stimulating food, as roots, 
potatoes, cotton-seed meal, oil meal or lin¬ 
seed cake; but over feeding on these concen¬ 
trated stimulating foods must be avoided; the 
animals should not be allowed to drink large 
quantities of cold or iced water after lung 
abstinence or when heated. Impure water 
and filth of whatever nature are to he avoid¬ 
ed. See that the pastures and hay fields 
do not contain irritating plants, and on 
low pastures that there is plenty of grass 
so that the animals will not be con¬ 
fined to the coarse sedges uud rushes. 
Ergot, smut, aud musty fodder are to be fed 
sparingly, if they must be fed at all. with 
succulent food, and free access to good water 
must be provided for. In administering medi¬ 
cines to pregnant animals, care should be 
taken uot to give too large doses, or to use 
too freely externally, especially of those 
remedies that act upon the urino-genital or¬ 
gans. Tbe stable-s should be kept cool, dry, 
and wholesome, witn the floor nearly level, or 
only slightly inclined backward. Loose ani¬ 
mals should notbeconfiued in small quarters, 
as they are liable to injure each other by 
hooking or crowding, and care should be 
taken not to have icy or slippery places over 
which the animals must pas*. Avoid too long 
drives, chasing, running, excitiDg, or -fright¬ 
ening the animuls. All decomposing animal 
matter should be burned or buried, and of¬ 
fensive odors be removed. Do not breed be¬ 
fore the system is nearly developed, uud avoid 
ruuning down the system by milking too 
heavily the first season. Animals that have 
aborted should receive special attention, since 
they are very much more liable to abort 
again than those that have never aborted. 
Finally, by keeping the animals iu good, 
healthy condition, and having them properly 
fed and cared for, the number of abortions 
may be sensibly diminished. 
SI )t |)ouUn|-JJariJ. 
WYANDOTTES. 
Here is my experience in keeping Wyan¬ 
dottes;—The first point in their favor is their 
hardihood. I have now kept them for one 
year with other varieties, and so fur they have 
proved more hardy thun any other breed I 
have. While there la very little sickness in 
any of my breeding pens, the Wyaudottes 
have been most hardy. I have not hud one 
sick bird among them during the Fall aud 
Winter, so far. My birds all receive the same 
care and treatment; all have good shelter and 
plenty of food. 
For marketing, they are the equal of any 
variety known. They are of rapid growth; 
for early feathering I have not found their 
superior. They have a compact Dorking-like 
body, and a fine quality of flesh, with yellow 
legs and skin, giving them a tine appearance 
when properly dressed. 
For eggs, they are laying more to day, 
for the same number of t irds, than any other 
variety I have, and during the whole of lust 
season they continued to lay a greater num¬ 
ber of eggs than my Brown Leghorns, or 
Light Brahmas, laying quite as many as any 
pen of Plymouth Rocks on my farm. The 
eggs are fully as large as those from the Ply 
mout h Rock hens, and of like color. 
For size, the Wyandottes are nearly as 
large as the P. Rock and quite as pretty. 
They are very tame, bear confinement as well 
as tbe P. Rock or Brahma, aud consume less 
food. As to breeding, before they were ad¬ 
mitted to the Standard of Excellence, they 
were bred to suit the fancy of the owner, 
with feathered legs, single combs, white ear¬ 
lobes, etc.; now-, however, that they must 
conform to the Standard to be admitted for 
exhibition, there will be more uniformity in 
breeding hereafter. 
Do they breed true to color, etc. ? Not ex¬ 
actly ; single chickens were entirely “ off 
color” with me last seasou, and a number of 
them had single combs. Now, however, a 
careful breeder will gradually overcome the 
difficulty by mating and care. Being of an 
artificial color, as all silver-laced varieties 
are, it will require time and labor to establish 
a uniform strain of this fine breed. Much 
depends upon the shelter and care of any 
breed of fowls to realize tbe largest profits 
therefrom Treat them fairly well, aud they 
will give a fair return for the labor bestowed; 
neglect, starve, aud keep their quarters filthy 
aud filled with vermin, and the profits will be 
small. c. s. cooper. 
Bergen Co., N. J. 
PASTURING SHEEP ON CLOVER AS A 
PREPARATION FOR WHEAT. 
A. B ALLEN. 
Under head of “Larger Crops the Antidote,” 
on page 800 of last year’s Rural, you give an 
excellent example of growing wheat profit¬ 
ably at 80 cents per bushel, on your own farm, 
the fields of which devoted to this purpose, 
are valued at the high price of $100 per acre. 
This is encouraging to our farmers in general, 
and shows them that by proper cultivation 
they can be assured of a fair Det annual in¬ 
come from their laud, eveu at the present low 
prices of grain, lu the example before us, 
the stable manure applied to the crop involves 
heavy labor, aod tltc commercial fertilizers 
an extra expense, both of which might be con¬ 
siderably lessened by adopting Uie system fol¬ 
lowed in many districts of great Britain, in 
rearing .-beep combined with the growing of 
wheat. For this purpose they resort to vari¬ 
ous crops for early pasture, such as rye, 
vetches, etc.; but ihe best and most easily 
practical for our Northern fanners m Sum¬ 
mer would be clover fed off by sheep, as this 
crop may be continued for about, four weeks 
at that season, and at the end of iL would be 
the right time for plowing the laud for the 
succeeding wheat Crop. In doing this, how¬ 
ever, it would be very wasteful to turn a 
numerous flock on a large field, us the sheep 
in roaming over it would tread down and foul 
more clover than they consumed by feeding. 
Tbe method pursued iu Gre*t Britain is to 
divide a large Hock of sheep into bands of 
about 100, hurdle in an acre of clover, and 
keep each band on this tilL eaten up clt-au. A 
good growth of clover on an acre will last 100 
sheep of medium size from five to seven days. 
The hurdles are theu taken up and a fresh 
acre is inclosed, aud the sheep turned on to 
this, and thus continued till all is led off. 
Examining the ground after the removal of 
the sheep, we find their dropping* thickly 
covering it, and spread out over it as evenly 
as if they had beeu carefully scattered by tbe 
human hand. All know that the clung of 
sheep is one of the richest and very best kinds 
for every sort of crop, and that the stubble 
and roots of clover are also of great excellence. 
Combined, they undoubtedly form a healthful 
pabulum hoth for the straw and graiu of 
wheat, which cannot be excelled. Disease of 
any kind scarcely ever attacks the crop then, 
aud it grows and ripens with tbe most perfect 
evenness. 1 have carefully examined numer¬ 
ous fields by going round afld into them when 
ready to be harvested, and could scarcely ever 
find one square yard of the crop differing iu 
growth from another. 
Sheep thus hurdled ought to be of nearly 
equal size and strength, so that none can be 
easily thrown dowu aud trampled upon, to 
their injury, by others. Lambs, when weaned, 
must be hurdled by themselves,and ewesduring 
their nursing must be kept in open pastures, 
where they can rim loose with their lambs at 
pleasure. This iusuros the lambs from being 
harmed iu overcrowding by their dams. Rough 
bibs, thatcannotbe profitably cultivated, are 
devoted to pasture, uud the valleys between 
them, being of a better soil, are reserved for 
crops of various kinds. When more suitable 
or convenient, tbe store, or fattening sheep, 
are turned on to these pastures by day for 
exercise and a short bite, and brought down 
