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PLANTING CONIFEROUS SEEDS: TRANSPLANT¬ 
ING EVERGREENS. 
F. P., Moline, Mii'h,—1 What is the proper 
way to plant coniferous seeds, such as spruce? 
2. When and how should evergreen trees, such 
as pines, be transplanted from the woods to 
ornament'd grounds? 
Ans.— 1. If in large quantity, in five to six 
feet-wide beds, in an open, sheltered place, on 
well-drained, light, rich soil. In Spring, as 
soon as the ground is mellow and well-pre¬ 
pared, sow broadcast, or in rows, and cover 
about, half an inch deep with fine soil. Over 
the surface of the beds strew a very thin 
sprinkling of bay to help keep the surface of 
the soil open till the seedliugs come up: but 
be careful not to have the bay so thick any¬ 
where as to hurt the plants. About six feet 
to seven feet above the beds, aud supported 
by stakes and cross-pieces, you should have a 
brush shading. This may be made of decidu¬ 
ous tree brush as well as of evergreen; indeed, 
nurserymeu use all kiuds, and in this way 
turn to some account their over-grown, un¬ 
salable stock Large blocks of seed beds 
shaded in this way may be seen at Rob’t 
Douglas’s nurseries, Waukegan, and at the 
Phoenix nurseries, Bloomington, Ill. In 
small quantities, you may raise them in a bed 
in the garden, in a sheltered place, on the 
north side of a fence or building, or elsewhere, 
provided you shelter them from cold aud dry¬ 
ing wiuds, and shade them from warm suu- 
shiue. O.* sowin a cold frameaad shade with 
a thin brush or slat shade. Or you may raise 
them iu shallow boxes in a cool green-house, 
and afterwards transfer them to a cold-frame. 
2, From early Spring till May and from 
after a heavy rain in August or September 
till before frost sets in. Idft carefully aud 
get as many root? as possible; cut off badly 
mutilated roots aud cloau the broken, ends of 
all main roots. From the moment the trees 
are dug up till they are transplanted, never 
allow the roots to get dry by exposure or 
otherwise. Having large-sized holes prepared 
for their reception, set the trees so that they 
shall be about the same depth in the ground 
as they were before. Spread out the roots and 
introduce fine, mellow soil among them, tak¬ 
ing care to pack it in firmly: then till iu and 
pack the ground as firmly as possible. If in 
Spring, asumuaer mulching of grass mowings, 
salt bay, or other litter, will be of much good ; 
if in Fall, a strong stake may be applied to 
each tree to keep it firmly iu place against 
winds and storms. In the case of deciduous 
trees, a small mound Of earth heaped around 
the stems answers as well, or better; but as 
evergreens branch so low the mound practice 
is not always practicable. So long as band- 
some, stocky, two to three times transplanted 
young evergreeu3 can be got so cheap in our 
nurseries, we do not think there is any advant¬ 
age iu securing young trees from their native 
wilds. 
FEEDING FOR MILK. 
C. L A., IFcwk. Co.,N. Y.— 1. Ibaveamilk 
dairy of 50 cows: 20 came in iu the Fall aud 
early Wiuter. They are stabled in a warm 
baru cellar and treated as follows: They are 
milked early in the morning and thou each 
has a pail of slightly warmed water, con¬ 
taining a quart of wheat bran. This is fol¬ 
lowed by lU to 12 pounds of bay, and at eight 
o’clock each receives from two to three quarts 
of a mixture consisting of 200 pounds of cot¬ 
ton-seed meal, 200 of fine buckwheat mid¬ 
dlings, and 500of corn meal, put on two quarts 
of sliced beet*, fed in an irou bowl, hi stormy 
or cold days they are watered iu these same 
iron bowls aud remain iu the stables On fine 
days they are turned out aud remain out from 
11 o’clock to two, at which hour they are 
again fed from 10 to 12 pounds of bay. We 
milk again at 4:80 r. m.. and, finally, they are 
again fed meal aud beets the same quantity a? 
iti the morning Iu Summer and Fall they 
are abundantly fed with extra green fodder 
uud three pints of the provender daily. The 
prices of the constituents of my mixture are 
as follows: Corn meal, $21; buckwheat mid¬ 
dlings, $25; cotton-seed meal, $39, and wheat 
bran $23 per ton. Now I would like to know 
how to improve the manner of treatment in 
any way? 2. I would like to know bow to 
grow each of the staple garden crops with the 
least labor aud obtain the largest crop, land 
being of secondary importance, aud the labor 
bat of common but intelligent farm hands? 
"8. Will it pay to buy six-weeks old pigs on 
May 1st at $3.50 each; feed them with per¬ 
fectly sweet, skim-milk at three cents per 
gallon; corn meal at $24 per ton, and sell the 
pork on Dec. 1st at $7.50 per 100 pounds? 
Ans —1. We suggest that changes be made 
in this ration as follows: Use GOO pounds of 
coni meal, 200 pounds of cottou seed meal 
and 300 pounds of bran, as well as a larger 
root ration and purchase the feeds by the 
car-load. As now compounded, this pro- 
vender costs, in round numbers, $1 28 
per hundred pounds, and contains of albumi¬ 
noids 18 per cent, carbohydrates, 52t£ per 
cent, and of fats, per cent. As above ad¬ 
vised, it would cost $1.24, and eontaiu 17 per 
cent, of albnuiiaoids, 57 per cent, of carbo¬ 
hydrates and six per cent, of fat. By increas¬ 
ing tbe quantity of beets, we think the cows 
will be able to eat and digest a greater 
amount, and thus produce more milk; and by 
purchasing at the Western mills by car-loads 
one ought to save a nice percentage of the 
cost. 2. It would require a long article to 
tell how to grow all of the separate crops. In 
a few words, make the land very rich, put the 
land for the vegetables in such a shape that 
you will be a hie to use as much horse power 
and machinery, and as little hand work as 
possible. 3 It will undoubtedly pay; but we 
think it would prv much better to breed pigs 
than to pay $3.50 for them at six weeks old, 
and sve think also that a mixture of one part 
of corn meal aud two parts of wheat mid¬ 
dlings is a much better food for the first four 
or five months than “all corn meal.’’ 
A HOME-MADE FERTILIZER. 
A. P., Shelbvrn, Mass —In mixing fertilizers 
at home, what proportion of bone, muriate of 
potash, and nitrate of soda is used? 
Ans. —It all depends upon the material 
used and the purpose for which the manure is 
to be used. Suppose we have decided to use 
a mdnure having five per cent, of ammonia; 
12 per cent, of phosphoric acid, and six per 
cent, of potash, and we can get fine bone 
flour of good quality containing 24 per cenr. 
of phosphoric acid, we should need to use 
1,000 pounds of this to contain the 240 pounds 
of phosphoric acid to make 12 per cent, in the 
ton. Good muriate of potssh contains about 
50 per cent, of pure potash, and as we want 
120 pounds of potash, we should have to use 
240 pound? of tbe muriate. To make it con¬ 
tain three per cent, of ammonia, we would 
add 300 pounds of nitrate of soda, 95 per 
cent, pure; we should uow have an aggregate 
of 1,540 pounds, and to make up the ton could 
add of rich loam or plaster 400 pounds. If 
you were to use dissolved boue or bone black, 
you would uot be able to make so high a grade 
because in dissolving them it is necessary to 
add at least as much acid and water as we use 
bone, and so we do not have much more than 
12 per cent, of phosphoric acid in pure dis¬ 
solved boue. and so, if we used the other in¬ 
gredients named and 1,400 pounds of dissolved 
bone, we would only have 7.7G per cent, of 
phosphoric acid; but in this case it would be 
more soluble and therefore more readily avail¬ 
able as plant food. 
MR. SCOTT’S METHOD OF RAISING TJIK BUTTER 
YIELD OF COWS. 
IF. P. D., hidianapolis, Ind .—What is the 
method by which Amasa Scott, of Vermont, 
raised the butter yield of common cows to 500 
or 600 pounds of butter a year, as stated by 
Dr. T. H. Hoskins in tbe Rural of February 
14. 
ANSWERED BY DR. HOSKINS. 
Briefly, Dr. Scott’s method consisted in feed¬ 
ing solely, or almost, solely, on hay (or “dried 
grass”) grown on rich land, heavily seeded, 
aud cut before heading out . Three crops were 
taken annually, amounting to about four tons 
per acre. The cows had a good pasture in 
Summer, with all of this bay they would eat, 
and in Winter were kept iu a warm stable aud 
fed this dried grass without graiu. Under 
this treatment common cows went up from less 
than 10O pounds of butter a year, in one case, 
to 504 pounds, and in another 633 pounds. One 
pair of steers feeding the same way, at 28 
mouths weighed 2,300 pouuds, live weight; 
another pair, at 24 mouths, weighed 2.010 
pouuds; a third pair, at 23)^ months, 2,740 
pounds, uud one pair, at 12 months. 1,707 
pouuds, all native stock. I copy these figures 
from Mr. Scott’s paper, referred to in my 
"Notes.” The cows that made so much but¬ 
ter bad. in Winter, seven pouuds of the dried 
grass three times a day, with four quarts of 
potatoes morning and evoniug. The first 14 
days of the test the oue that yielded 688 pounds 
churned 12 pounds of butter. The cows were 
good beef all tbe time. Mr. Scott is well 
known in this county, and bis report is not 
doubted by his neighbors. His address is 
Craftsbury, Orlcaus Co , Vt. 
ANTS AND APHIDES. 
J. McF. % Watertown, IFis.—My ground is 
infested with auts which gather around grow¬ 
ing plants iu Spring, seeming to feed on the 
young roots. But wherever the ants congre¬ 
gate close examination will detect some small 
white insects feeding on the roots and extrac¬ 
ting the sap from the plants, which generally 
scon die. Are the ants and the other insects 
akin, aDd why are they always found to¬ 
gether? 
ANSWERED BY PROF. C. V. RILEY. 
The relations of the ants to the aphides may 
be explained from the extreme fondness of 
the former for sweets, and no natural saccha¬ 
rine matter has a greater attractive power for 
them than the sweet fluid excreted bv the 
aphides from their honey tubes or the pores 
of their body. Thus, wherever large num¬ 
bers of aphides congregate, they are sure to 
be attended by numerous ants which eagerly 
lick up the exuded sweets and try their ut¬ 
most, by gentle touches with their antennae, 
to induce tue aphides to renew the excretion. 
Some species of ants even carry certain aph¬ 
ides to their hidden nest, providing shelter 
and food for them in order to obtain at leisure 
the honey excretion. Thus, the aphides are 
not inappropriately called the cows of the 
ants. There are many subterranean species of 
aphides infesting the roots of various plants, 
and they are attended to by auts as well as 
the species infesting plants above ground. 
The whitish objects observed by Mr. Farland 
on tbe roots of corn are no donbt such sub¬ 
terranean apbides. In the tropical countries 
and in the arid regions of our own country 
there are many species of ants very injurious 
to agriculture and horticulture, but in our 
more Northern States they are. on the whole, 
beneficial rather than injurious. In fact, I 
know of no species iu the Northern States 
which is injurious to growing field crops, and 
reports to the contrary, are, I believe, not 
based upon accurate observations, the real 
authors of the mischief, and more especially 
the aphides having been overlooked. If it is 
desired to rid the ground of them, however, 
I would recommend the injection of bi-sul¬ 
phide of carbon or a strong kerosene emul¬ 
sion. 
WARTS ON A COW’S TEATS: CRACKS IN A 
HORSE’S HOOF. 
Y. B , St. Catharines, Canada.—1. How 
should warts be treated on the ends of a cow’s 
teats? 2. What is a remedy for cracked hoofs 
on a horse? 
Ans.— 1. If the warts are long and narrow 
with a short neck, the simplest way is to clip 
them close to the skin with a pair of sharp scis¬ 
sors, and apply to tbe wound a piuen of finely 
powdered sulphate of copper. This ends this 
kind of warts. It they are broad, flat ones 
they may be moistened every d.iy with a 
strong solution of sulphate of copper.ard before 
applying this, the corroded surface should be 
rubbed off with a piece of sand paper. This 
prevents soreness and may be used while the 
cow is being milked. Warts are contagious 
and a cow with warts on her teats should be 
milked last, or the hands should be washed 
before another cow is milked. 2 Cracked 
hocf should be treated as follows: tbe foot 
should be examined to discover if the disease 
is or is not due to unequal pressure at the cor¬ 
onet on the side where tbe crack is formed. 
If it is found that, the foot is not well balanced, 
the crust of tbe hoof should be reduced some¬ 
what on tbe sole below the crack so as to 
relieve the pressure; the bar on the same side 
should be thiuued, and tbe shoe spread as much 
as possible, so as to close the crack if possible. 
Tbe shoe should be fitted to bear evenly ou 
the sides from toe to heel. A cut on the 
horn across tbe upper part of the crack 
should be made so as to prevent its spreading 
upward, and a plaster of Venice turpentine 
should be bound over the crack. A strong 1 
spring between the heels will very much help 
to relieve the pressure which causes the crack. 
FOOD FOR A HORSE. 
C. D , River Falls, TIT’*.—An elderly horse 
of mine, that is quite playful when turned out, 
aud apparently perfectly sound, can’t be 
induced to eat more than about two quarts of 
grain when at steady work. I have tried 
corn, oats, rye and bran, but can’t get him to 
eat enough to keep him in good condition. 
Ans.—D o you mean two quarts at a meal 
or in a day. If at a meal, it is enough for an 
old horse, which would surely suffer if overfed. 
Do not try to feed any more; but as a change 
give the grain ground, as corn and oats mixed 
with an equal quantity of bran: aud out and 
moisten the hay. A little coarse sugar on the 
feed will increase the appetite if this is deemed 
necessary. 
GROWING WHEAT. 
J. M. Y, Woodbine, la.— 1. Our soil seems 
perfectly fitted for wheat, and is sufficiently 
rolling for the water to ruu off, and yet win¬ 
ter wheat kills out. Why, and how can we 
prevent it? 1. What is the hardiest winter 
wheat, and what do you kuow of the Med¬ 
iterranean Hybrid? 
Ans.— 1. Winter wheat kills more from al¬ 
ternate thawing and freezing than from ten¬ 
derness. The seed bed should be made com¬ 
pact below, and mellow for not more than 
two inches from the surface, and the manure 
should be in the top two inches. Tbe wheat 
should be sown not more than an inch deep, 
so as to keep the roots mostly in the surface 
soil. Then, on the approach of cold weather, 
when the ground freezes for the first time, 
scatter a half inch of straw over the surface. 
This system will insure a safe passage of tbe 
Winter nine times in ten. 2 The old Medi¬ 
terranean was a very hardy winter wheat. 
We think very favorably of the Mediterra¬ 
nean Hybrid. We had 31 pores of it last year, 
and got 1,483 bushels, and we have nearly 60 
acres of it sowd now. This is the wheat sent 
out in the Rural's Seed Distribution one y*-ar 
ago, and we believe it is destined to be a very 
popular variety. All the reports so far are 
very favorable. 
MANURING. 
H. V. X., Tonganoxie, Kan. —1. I have a 
field 800 feet, long: the lower half a deep, 
rich, waxy land that has been in corn or sor¬ 
ghum for four years; the other half is more 
mellow, but has been in potatoes two years 
and has got very foul. I have plenty of 
ashes from a sorghum furnace. Now. I wish 
to plant half the field in potatoes, which had I 
better use? 2. I wish to put a field in wheat 
next Fall, if I cannot get manure enough for it 
how would it do to sow sorghum to be plowed 
down ? 3. Could I, on manured land, raise a 
crop of beans and get them off in time for 
wheat? 
Ans.— 1. The mellower land would be much 
the best for potatoes, if you were not quite so 
careless about the weeds. The heavy land 
might do, but the quality of the tubers would 
uot be as good as on lighter land. Apply the 
ashes at the rate of 50 bushels per acre after 
plowing, and harrow in. 2. Of course, you 
can sow the sorghum quite thickly and plow it 
down; but to devote two years’ time and that 
much labor, to getting a wheat crop makes 
th8 wheat expensive. We should prefer rais¬ 
ing some crop and applying more manure of 
some kind. 3 You can do so; ability to get 
manure is the only limit to the extent to 
which land may be cropped. 
OLD FISTULA IN A HORSE. 
E. L. M.. CharJemont, F«.— Some time 
ago. I bought a mare six years old. with what 
appeared to be a severe saddle gall ou the 
withers. With care in a few weeks’ time this 
completely healed up, and there only remains 
a slight scar. About three weeks ago, after 
riding down a long and very steep hill, the 
saddle seemed to have pinched her. and next 
morning there was a swelling on the side of 
her withers and right below the old scar. It 
is very tender and she flinches when touched. 
What should be done? 
Ans. —Apply tincture of iodine to the swell¬ 
ing. which will probably turn out to be a fis¬ 
tula. If the swelling feels soft and elastic, 
and there appears to be pus in it, it should be 
opened at once as deeply as possible below the 
joint, and the matter should lie discharged. 
Tbe sore should then be swabbed out with a 
sponge attached to a probe, to remove tbe pus, 
which has no means of escape, and should 
then be treated with compound tincture of 
benzine. The old scar was the rpmains of an 
old fistula, and this will always return under 
such circumstances as mentioned. The saddle 
must only be worn with a crupper strap or a 
breech band, and a sheepskin under it to save 
the withers. 
BASEMENT FOR BARN, ETC. 
C. W. D., Junction P. O., Hanover Co . Ya. 
—1. I wish to build a cattle baru, but have 
no side-bill; shall 1 excavate for a manure pit 
or wheel the manure out? 2 Whac is tbe 
best stanchiou? 
Ans — l.By all means build a basement .raise 
up tbe baru high enough IS.V 4 or 9 feet) 
and build up a drive-way. You can thus make 
one roof cover two barus really, and if you 
live a thousand years will never cease to thank 
us for the advice. We are going to build a 
new barn next Summer, 50 x 90 feet, and will 
put a basement under it by all means. It is 
not so great a chore as one might imagine to 
build a drive-wav. If you like, build a wall 
out 12 feet from the baru wall, wall up the 
ends, cover it over with plauk, putting tarred 
sheeting, coal tar and gravel for a roof, aud 
use the space thus inclosed for a root cellar. 
2. The Smith swing stanchion is a good oue, 
or you can use a single, round, smooth stan¬ 
chion and chain to go around the neck.having 
a ring to slip up and down on the stanchion. 
SWOLLEN SHOULDERS AND CRACKED HEELS 
IN A HORSE. 
C. H. C., Campbell. Minn. — 1. A very 
large, hardswelliug eoversthe whole shoulder 
of my fow-year old mare. It came ou while 
plowing last Fall. She became lame, stiff', 
and unable to work. The swelling was row- 
eled several weeks ago, but tbe operation has 
done no good. What should be the treatment? 
2. What is a remedy for cracked heels in a 
horse? 
Ans.— 1. This swelling should be poulticed. 
