576 
THE RURAL NEW-YORKER 
r 
of twin lambs early in the season. As a rule, 
one lamb will be found as many as any ewe 
can properly feed, and when ready for mar¬ 
ket, the one will be found so much plumper 
and in so much better condition that the 
largest profit will be found in raising only 
one lamb to each ewe. This is doubly true of 
those which come during the first three weeks, 
aud, as a rule, it will pay iu such cases of twins 
to select the strongest and best for raising, aud 
to kill the other. As an exception to this, a 
few of the best may tie saved, so as to be pre¬ 
pared, in case a ewe for any reason happens 
to lose a lamb, to put an extra one on her, so 
that each ewe may be raising a lamb. Later 
on, however, if the shepherd wishes to make 
the most money possible out of his fiock, and 
is willing to give a little extra care and feed¬ 
ing, he may save both lambs when good, and 
keep them until the first lot of lambs have 
been sent to market, when the twins may be 
separated, one being put upon some ewe, 
yielding an extra large amount of milk, that 
has already fitted one lamb. Though such a 
lamb may not be fitted for market, quite so 
early as one raised by its otfn dam, yet in or¬ 
dinary years it may be fattened aud sent to 
market in time to receive the high price. 
EWES OWN STRANGE LAMBS 
sometimes very readily, aud at others with 
considerable difficulty, and sometimes they 
will not own their own offspring withoutcon- 
siderable trouble, lu all such cases, they can 
soon be brought into subjection by beiug con¬ 
fined until each is compelled to recognize her 
lamb and allow it to suck. For this purpose, 
we use a sort of crate or hurdle, without top 
or bottom; it is made just large enough to 
pass down over the ewe, aud has a hole in one 
end through which, when desired, the sheep’s 
head may be passed and fastened so that she 
cannot drive away the lamb; the side slats ou 
either side are so cut away that the lamb has 
free access to the teats. With a very little 
assistance for a few times, if very young, and 
for only once or twice if a few weeks or more 
old, the lamb will be perfectly competent to 
help itself when the ewe is thus confined, in 
addition to this treatment, the ewe and lamb 
should be placed in a little inclosure apart 
from the rest of the sheep. The ewe should be 
kept in this crate during the day, aud let loose 
with the lamb iu the smalt inclosure at night, 
and the case will be extremely rare when 
more than two days of suen treatment will be 
necessary to make the most refractory ewe 
own any lamb. 
TWENTY EWES ARE ENOUGH, 
with their lambs, under any circumstances, 
to be put into a single pen, no matter what 
its size. If more than that number are to¬ 
gether, they will be found to crowd eutirely 
too much at feeding time, and the ewes and 
larger lambs will run over and often injure 
the smaller lambs, As each mother will have 
at least one lamb, it will be found, by the 
time the lambs are two weeks old, that more 
room is needed, and the size of the pens should 
be doubled. This we accomplish by moving 
either dry ewes,or lambs coming one year old, 
into other quarters, and throwing two pens 
into one by changing the division racks so as 
to throw them entirely into the pens, allowing 
the sheep to pass all around them. By tLis 
time the larubs will begin to eat, pickiug out 
the sweet clover heads and the brightest 
leaves, aud at this age they should be also eat¬ 
ing some sort of special food. To do this, it 
will he now necessary to provide a separate 
pen for their exclusive nse. This we provide 
by partitioning off about one-third of the 
double pen, by using some pannels of fence 
made ou purpose, with a couple of holes just 
large enough so that the sheep cannat pass, 
while the lambs can until fit for market. In 
this inner pen we arrange a rack which we 
keep filled with the finest aud brightest clover 
hay we have, and no matter how little of it is 
eafep, it should be changed morning, noon 
and night, and this should continue at all 
times, as the lambs should not be expected to 
eat more than the heads and the leaves; the bal¬ 
ance will be as quickly eaten by colts or horses 
as though not nosed over by the lambs. Sep¬ 
arate V-shaped troughs, placed on risers high 
enough to bring their tops one foot from the 
ground, should also be provided iu this sepa¬ 
rate apartment, so that the lambs may have 
extra food. 
LAMBS SHOULD BE CROWDED 
along as rapidly as possible, for the reason 
that one pound of lamb in market before 
April 15th, will bring as much money us two 
pounds after the middle of June. Two ways 
are open to secure early maturity—one, as we 
have before intimated, by the highest feeding 
of the mother, so as to produce a large quan¬ 
tity of the richest milk; the other by giving the 
lamb, as soon as old enough to eat, some extra 
food. When two weeks old a healthy lamb 
will be capable of eating and digesting more 
food than the mother can supply,and it should 
be induced to eat such extra food as will 
cause it both to grow and fatten without induc¬ 
ing disease. We have tried various foods, such 
as bran, middlings, oat meal, cracked corn, 
etc., but have never found anything quite 
equal, for this purpose, to new-process oil 
meal. It is inviting to their taste and if they 
are given as much as they will eat, it never 
disagrees with them in any way or cloys their 
appetite. As soon as they are two weeks old 
we daily sprinkle a little of this meal in the 
troughs, aud as soon as one learns to eat, they 
will all take hold, being as quick to learn from 
each other as a lot of children. 
Each day the quantity given should be 
gradually increased until, iu a very few days, 
the troughs should be filled about half full 
and so kept, allowing the lambs to eat as 
much and as often as they like. When they 
are a month old, one peck of cracked corn 
(the kernels broken iuto three or four pieces) 
and with this one peck of good, bright bar¬ 
ley, the kernels being slightly broken, can 
be profitably added to each bushel of the oil 
meal; and this ration should be continued 
until the lambs are fit for market. 
SlimiC-ljfjL'l*. 
PIG-LOOKING. 
COL. V. D. CURTIS. 
The man who succeeds with pigs must look 
them over frequently. They are so much 
like the human family, that they are liable to 
all sorts of ailments. I say “liable;” but, 
like the human species, with ordinary care 
and a lack of abuse, they will live out their 
allotted time. I like to look ut my pigs. I en¬ 
joy seeing them till their little stomachs at 
Nature’s fountains, and then stack themselves 
in a pile regardless of form, and take a re¬ 
freshing snooze. I have almost envied them 
their solid comfort. To make the jncture 
perfect, it must he noticed that they have a 
clean bed aud a clean pen. Looking the 
pigs over often, pays, it is always easier to 
cure any trouble wheu it first starts, aud 
looking at them frequently is the way to de¬ 
tect anything wrong. 
Thumps may usually be arrested when the 
first symptoms are apparent, by compelling 
tbe pig to take a great deal of* exercise. 
Piles, a common disorder with pigs, can lie 
stopped ou the first signs of protrusion, by 
giving more laxative food; or, if the food has 
been too sour, so as to produce irritation aud 
inflammation, it should be changed. After 
the protrusion has lasted several days, the 
parts will have to slough off before there will 
be a cure. The food must also be changed. 
A pioor appetite, common among hogs, is 
caused by overloading the stomach, and cold, 
or unsuitable food. Less food, different food, 
or warm food, for a mess or two may prove 
a remedy, or it may be well to intermit a 
mess or two. Observation will tell all about 
it. Neglect will let them suffer and die. 
A disordered stomach is quite common 
among pigs; sometimes vomiting follows. 
Charcoal will help to regulate the stomach. 
A little salt will aid, and so will sulphur. 
These are simple remedies, which will correct 
the digestion, or, rather, set it at work in a 
natural way; but if the trouble is neglected, 
and the causes of itcontinue (as will be likely 
without observation), fever and inflammation 
will follow. 
Stiffness, either from too long confinement 
or from too much solitlaud heating food,especi¬ 
ally corn, may lie overcome by a change of 
condition aud food, when the first symptoms 
are noticed. This stiffness is one of the 
things the hog-breeder must always bo look¬ 
ing for, and avoid if possible. It will run 
his profits down at a rapid rate. Looking for 
causes and effects, is the pig man’s safety, aud 
in the looking lie may also find food for study 
and even pleasure. 
£«i& Crops. 
SEED CORN NOTES. 
Breeders of thoroughbred animals, wheth¬ 
er horses, cattle, sheep or swine, have an ideal 
of a perfect animal, which they seek to de¬ 
velop, and all their efforts are made in that 
direction; then why should not the farmer 
have an ideal iu crops, and use seed selection 
as one meaus of reaching it ? As people in 
general, and farmers iu particular, are iu- 
cliued to be somewhat bigoted, or “set” in 
their ways, I willingly start the matter by 
giving my own views upon tbe subject. In 
doing this, it becomes uecessary to state for 
what general purpose we would raise the 
crop—that is, whether for soiling, grain or 
fodder: and I shall uot be far wrong iu assert¬ 
ing that with most farmers, the corn crop is 
for grain first, and fodder next. 
“Select for me two bushels of ears, from 
stalks bearing two ears each, saving both 
ears.” Such was the request sent to a farmer 
the past season. Iu my experience, the very 
best ears are always found growing singly, or 
oue to a stalk; aud I have also found that the 
more ears growing upon a stalk, the poorer is 
the quality of the ears. A single stalk, shown 
at our county fair, bore seven well matured 
ears; they were good enough, what there were 
of them; and enough of them, such as they 
were. It was simply a curiosity with no other 
merit. Mark Twain in his speech on babies, 
says: “As long as you are in your right mind, 
don’t you ever pray for twins * * * and there 
ain’t no real difference between triplets and 
an insurrection.” I think this is as applicable 
to coni as to humanity, for who doesn't know 
that it takes longer to husk a nubbin than a 
good-sized ear; and what farmer has not been 
provoked by unhusked nubbins, more especial¬ 
ly where corn has been husked by the bushel 
or by the share, aud this because of the dis¬ 
like of the busker to small ears, or from the 
poor pay for the work. Tbe aim, then, should 
be to procure corn that will fully mature in 
ourowu locality; and then select seed to in¬ 
crease the number of kernels to the ear, 
either by increasing the rows ou the ears, or 
by increasing the number of kernels to the 
row, or perhaps both ways, thus enlarging 
the ears; ueeding less for the bushel, rather 
than increasing the uumber of ears on a stalk. 
Seed-corn selected on this single-ear plan, 
can, I think, be made to outyield seed selected 
on any other; out even if the yield from both 
plans were alike, the advantage would be 
with tbp single-ear policy in husking, if in 
nothing more. 
My ideal corn for this section should grow 
without suckers from six to seven feet high, 
one ear to a stalk, each ear beax*iag from 16 to 
24 rows, with 36 to 50 kernels In a row. I 
would wish it to ripen in 90 days; but, as such 
early maturity is unattainable with such 
corn, I will be content if it ripens iu 100 to 
110 days. We hear much about field corn 
that will ripen in 90 days; I have new-found 
it, and yet, some of the Rural seed reports 
give only that period for ripening the corn 
sent out in the Free Seed Distribution iu 1834. 
It took mine 128 days to mature fit for cutting, 
and it grew all the time, not losing a day. 
Saginaw Go., Mich. l. r. macomber. 
[Tbe number of days mentioned in our 
columns were always exactly the same re¬ 
ported by our frieuds.—Eds.] 
CLOVER AND TIMOTHY IN NEBRASKA. 
In a recent Rural D. S. Hicks thinks 
clover would be as hard}' in the extreme 
West as in the same latitude East. From 
actual experience ou our high prairie land, I 
know it is not. There is but very little rain¬ 
fall, especially in the Fall, and when thg 
ground freezes hard there is often no moist¬ 
ure to speak of in the earth, and the dry 
ground takes the moisture from the roots of 
the clover, and,I think,kills it more from lack 
of moisture in the ground than from the se¬ 
verity of tbe freezing. To illustrate : two 
years ago I had a bed of parsnips ou high 
ground; the Fall was very dry; just before it 
frozed up for good, we had a slight rain. I 
mulched the parsnips well with straw. In the 
Spring I found them nearly all frozen, except 
a space of about two Inches of the top of each 
root, which was uninjured. The rain had wet 
the upper two inches of the ground,but below 
that it was so dry that there was not enough 
moisture to take the frost out of the roots as 
it had done above, and they were all soft. I 
think this is the case with clover here, and 
will be for u few years until we get buough 
rain iu the Fall to moisten the ground as deep 
as the roots or frosts extend. 
Timothy, however, on ground that is well 
enriched is as fine a hay crop as one could 
wish ; yet I would advise those who have 
only the common harrow to put it in with, to 
use half a bushel of seed per acre. Sow a 
quarter of a bushel one way, and cross-sow 
with the other one-fourth bushel. The cost of 
the extra seed and time will be more than 
made up in not having a number of barren 
places that will be standing invitations to any 
kind of weed to become your guest. By using 
a plenty of seed, you have au extra good sod, 
aud if you pasture it iu the Fall, it will not 
get tramped out, as it will if the roots are 
very scattering; but if so unfortunate as to 
have a thin stand, by all means cut it early, 
aud by sowing on more seed the next year’s 
crop will please you. Timothy has some 
strong points over clover for this country. 
It can be cut eurly or late, uud makes good 
hay. It will last in ihe ground for an indefi¬ 
nite period if properly fertilized, and for that 
reason if youbuve to neglect any ground, let it 
be that for some annual crop, but see that the 
ground that is to be seeded down is in the very 
best condition. H. J. brown. 
Dixon Go., Neb. 
Poffixdflgital 
VERY EARLY APPLES FOR THE 
NORTH. 
The Yellow Transparent has a uumber of 
rivals among the Russian apples as to earli¬ 
ness of season, size and quality of fruit, and 
hardiness of tree. At this time (August 6) my 
table shows fine specimeus, about equally ma¬ 
ture, of Yellow Transparent, Charlotten- 
haler. Transparent Juicy, Kleiner’s Green, 
Blushed Calville, Breskovku aud Repka Sweet. 
These vary but little iu season, and all would 
pass in the East or South for first-class dessert 
fruits of their season, which is in advance of 
that of the Red Astrachnn aud even of the 
Tetofsky. At this time I wish to call attention 
to the two last-named, ns they are less known 
aud seem to have special merit. 
Breskovka was imported from the grounds 
of the Agricultural Institute at Moscow in 
1880. Root-grafted trees are already in bear¬ 
ing, and have proveu quite as hardy iu the 
North as Duchess. It has been sent out for 
trial as No. 152 m. Tbe tree is a nice, up¬ 
right grower, with firm, thick foliage. The 
fruit, iu size, color and general appearance, 
is much like Grimes’s Golden; but the basin 
is wrinkled more, like that of Tetofsky. In 
lirmuess and weight the fruit reminds me of 
theSwaar; yet the flesh is peculiarly juicy 
aud tender, this year slightly in advance of 
the Yellow Transparent, With further tests, 
on varied soils, it may show some defect of 
tree or fruit: but at preseut it seems to lead 
tbe very early dessert apples. 
Repka Sweet. At the West we have 
specially needed an early sweet apple of good 
quality for dessert use. This seems to meet 
our wants fully, as it is completely ripe ou 
August 6th, in this late season. It is an early 
bearer, and the fruit is of fair size, handsome, 
aud really of good quality for table use. In 
shape, ridging aud color, it is much like Beno- 
ni; but tbe scarlet striping is deeper, and cov 
ered, next the sun,with bloom. While it will 
not be popular as a market fruit, it will ap¬ 
parently till a gap in our Western and North¬ 
ern list. Its native home is in Kazan, Russia; 
hence it should endure the extreme climate 
ofNortheru Dakota. If No. 466 Repka Kis- 
laja) of the list sent out by the Department o x 
Agriculture, is true to name, it is probably 
identical with Repka Sweet, yet, singularly 
enough, the Department translation reads 
“Sour Turnip.” J. l. budd. 
farm Copies. 
INJURIOUS FUNGI.—GORN SMUT. 
A. A. CROZIER. 
Fungi are true plants, but devoid of greeu 
coloring matter, aud though often of compli¬ 
cated form, are without true leaves, stems or 
roots; they have no flowers or Beed as other 
plants have; but many of them have a pro¬ 
cess of fertilization corresponding to that in 
higher plants. Their reproductive bodies or 
spores are simple in structure, and several 
distinct kinds are sometimes produced by the 
same fuugus. In some cases the spores of oue 
kind are the result of a sexual process, and are 
intended to reproduce the plant the following 
season; while other Bpores produced iu large 
numbers, and without fertilization, are for 
propagating the plant through the Summer. 
These retain their vitality but a short time. 
Some fungi are parasitic aud injurious to the 
plants they infest; others live only on dead 
matter, and may therefore be considered 
beueflcial. 
Tbe smut of corn is a fungus known as Us- 
tilago maldis and, so far as known, is found 
only on Indian Corn. The mycelium, or 
vegetating part, penetrates nearly all parts of 
the plant, thrusting out branches of peculiar 
shape, which serve as feeders. 
In particular ports, especially iu the young 
kernels, the fruit-bearing branches of the 
fungus are produced. These are threads of 
the mycelium which become thickened aud 
gelatinous, so that contiguous threads fuse 
together iu a mass. Their contents then break 
up iuto spores which, in their development, 
gradually absorb the gelatinous material, 
leaving finally the black, powdery mass of 
spores known us smut. In this fuugus but one 
kind of spores is known to be produced. 
These spores, kept in damp air. have in a few 
cases been seen to germinate. It is not known 
how the germinating spores penetrate this 
plant, though careful observations have been 
made to determine the point. A prominent 
agricultural paper (uot the Rural) said not 
loug since that the spores ripeu iu the tassel, 
then, falling on the Bilk, are propagated in 
the ear—a case manifestly impossible, as it is 
