HANDLING CRB AM. 
In the old method of shallow setting in pans, 
it was the custom of the best butter makers to 
skim as soon as there was the least sign of 
acid; generally, the skimming was done daily. 
The cream may be safely taken off at any 
time when it is found to be fully separated. 
The skimming should always be done before 
the milk “loppers,” aud so as to have the 
cream as free as possible from caseous matter. 
Keep the cream in a clean, sweet place, and 
give it frequent stirrings to expose all portions 
of it to the air, and make it of uniform consis¬ 
tency and condition. In shallow setting and a 
gradual fall of the temperature,the cream will 
rise slowly and be dense, and sometimes, if the 
air is too dry, leathery. In such case, itis well 
toruuit through a fine sieve to reduce and dis¬ 
solve all lumps which migbtotherwise remain 
solid, and make white specks in the butter, 
lu deep setting, tbe cream is always more 
liquid, contains more milk and caseous matter, 
and is less dense. It needs more airing than 
cream raised by shallow setting, and seldom 
makes good-flavored and good-keeping butter 
if churned sweet. Well-aired cream from 
shallow setting may be churned sweet, and 
moke deliciously flavored butter, having good 
keeping qualities. But few are in the habit 
of churning cream sweet, and the public are 
habituated to the taste of sour-cream butter. 
Some even want it to have a fresh butter-milk 
taste. This requires that a large amount of 
butter-milk should be retained in the butter, 
and it is not safe to make such butter, unless 
it is to be immediately consumed, as it will 
keep sweet but a short, time. But butter 
churned from slightly-soured cream and well 
washed, has a fine flavor, keeps well, and gen¬ 
erally brings the highest price; hence, it is 
best to churn the cream as soon as it takes on 
a slightly acid taste. It should never be 
allowed to sour enough to cause a coagulation 
of the cream and a separation of the whey 
from the solids—a practice followed in some 
of tbe Western creameries. Never put a fresh 
lot of cream into the cream jar just before 
churning. The chances are that It will not 
churn as soon as the other, and will remain in 
the butter-milk and be wasted. It is quite 
certain that there is loss of butter from mixing 
the cream of different breeds, the cream of 
each having different churning qualities. At 
all events, the cream should be of uniform 
condition throughout, in order to secure per¬ 
fect churning. 
(£1 )t 
THE LIVE STOCK REGION OF THE 
SOUTH. 
Thb Southern States are rarely thought of 
as suitable for the business of rearing stock. 
To remove this impression from the minds of 
Northern and Western stockmen, it might be 
sufficient to remark that Texas, which was 
formerly the most extensively occupied by 
herds of cattle, horses, aDd sheep, is a South- 
era State, and subject to all the conditions 
(and to some more intensely) that prevail in 
other Southern States. In Louisiana, Missis- 
sipi, Alabama and Florida, large herds have 
been kept by ranging on the cane-brakes and 
the broad prairies, known as savannas, ever 
since the Spainards occupied them. To-day 
the Texan herdaaro precisely paralleled by the 
Florida herds, which are bred, fed, herded, 
branded aud rounded up in precisely the same 
mauner as in Texas, and a large trade is done 
in shipping Florida cattle to Cuba and the 
other West India Islands, aud to Central 
America, 
But there is another stock region which is 
far more favorable to the rearing of stock 
than these Gulf regions, became it is entirely 
free from all their disadvantages—extreme 
heat at times; pestiferous flies; want of water 
and shade; the hard, coarse herbage, and the 
malaria which poisons these Southern cattle, 
aud renders them so exceedingly dangerous to 
other cattle as bearers of the fatal contagious 
Southern cattle fever. This is tbe great South¬ 
ern mountain regiou, which lies between the 
Smoky Mountain range on tbe west, and the 
Blue Ridge range on the east. This regiou has 
an average elevation of 2 500 or 8,000 feet above 
sea level, aud a great part of the range lies 
from 4,000 to 0,000 feet above the sea. These 
elevated table lands and broad mountains are 
covered, in great part, with fine grass; in 
placeB hundreds of acres of Blue Grass and 
E.ed Top cover the “bald” mountain tops; 
while the almost un iversal forest which clothes 
the slopes aud the valleys bears an under¬ 
growth of Bunch Grass, and other nutritious 
herbage, upon which cattle get fat during 
nine or ten months of tbe year, and live fairly 
during the remaining two or three months, 
always supplied with the purest water in the 
greatest abuudauce from the frequent springs, 
brooks, and large rivers, which carry off from 
THE RURAL NEW-YORKER. 
IEPT as 
the mountains the large annual rainfall of 00 
inches. There is no cold weather sufficient to 
freeze over these streams, while there is never 
snow enough to cover the ground more than 
for a few days at a time, or a few hours on 
tbe southern slopes, and never so as to cover 
up the undergrowth upon which the cattle, 
horses, 8nd mules find a far better subsistence 
than the Western sage bi'ush affords. There is 
also shelter from every storm, but there 
never are any storms which could cause dis¬ 
comfort to cattle or to their herdstneu, as 
cold sweeping winds are unknown. 
These lands are, for the most part, unoccu¬ 
pied, and only five per cent, of them are 
cleared and inhabited by farmers, wboculti- 
vate tbe common farm crops of tbe North, and 
runge aud tend small herds of cattle and 
sheep. The lauds are held in some cases in 
large tracts, 100,000, 50,000, 20,000 acres, down 
to 5,000 aud less. It is not difficult to procure 
contiguous tracts amounting to 5,000 or 10,000 
acres, while the larger tracts are generally 
summuded by natural boundaries which make 
them convenient to inclose and range over. 
One dollar per acre is the usual price for these 
tracts, and §1.50 up to $3 for smaller will pur¬ 
chase ranges which by clearing, in part, can 
be made to produce grass, bay, corn, roots 
and other fodder crops upon which cattle can 
be reared at very small cost. Mr. Waring is 
quite right in calling attention, in a late Ru¬ 
ral, to the great advantages of this region 
for stock rearing, on account of its flue cli¬ 
mate, rich soil, abundant water, cheap land 
and nearness to the best markets, with a rail¬ 
road now running through the middle of it, 
which gives an outlet for Its products. The 
markets are all tbe Southern cities, and fat 
cattle are now being shipped from the moun¬ 
tains to Richmond and other cities, and in tbe 
Winter go as far as Washington, and supply 
Atlanta, Charleston, Savannah, and all the 
low country where cotton is grown. 
a friend of the rural. 
Jackson Co., N C. 
FIGHTING CATTLE DISEASES IN ILLINOIS. 
The last Legislature of Illinois passed a law 
in relation to contagious and infectious 
diseases among domestic animals, which make 
it the duty of the Board of Live Stock Com¬ 
missioners to quarantine all premises or farms 
where such diseases exist; also to prescribe 
regulations necessary to prevent such diseases 
from being commuuicated in any way from 
the premises so quarantined. In doing this, 
the lHW-makers doubtless felt that they bad 
accomplished a grand work, and had made it 
easy to hereafter keep the animals of Illinois 
healthy. But the Board at its last meet¬ 
ing, bad a hard time in deciding just “what 
an efficient quarantine is,” and also just what 
rules and regulations are uecessary to prevent 
tbe spread of contagious diseases. It is very 
evident that the Commissioners feel that the 
work before them is but just begun, and 
although the task is a heavy one, they are 
awake to the responsibility imposed upon 
them. Although theirH is a new line of work, 
one in which very little has hitherto been 
done, it is quite evident the Board are deter¬ 
mined to prove themselves equal to the task 
imposed. P. s. 
<l\]£ 
CONCENTRATED MISREPRESENTA¬ 
TIONS ABOUT FIGS. 
F. D. CURTIS. 
Thk American Cultivator says that the Poland- 
Chlna pips are perhaps the very best to cross with 
the smaller breeds. The sows are always kind, 
have large litters, and rear them with less dlillculty 
aud loss than any other breed the writer has tried. 
The Chester-White and Jersey-Red sows become 
cross aud uuiuauapeable arter rearing one or two 
litters, and It ts at this ape that a good sow should be 
worth more to the breeder than she Is at any other. 
The I’oland-Chinus are of the large breeds, and are 
well adapted to furnish the sow lu crosses with the 
smaller kiuds. 
A more preposterous pig paragraph was 
never written. The man who wrote it was a 
Poland-Cbiua crank. There is no large breed 
of hogs which has smaller litters aud raises 
a smaller per cent, of pigs than the Polutid- 
China. The Chester-W hite and Duroo- Jersey 
breeds average one-third more pigs born and 
raised. The be6t breed of hogs to cross with 
the smaller breeds is the Duroc-Jersey; 
although all are good, and the pigs of such 
crosses will be more profitable than those of 
the smaller breeds, for the reason that there 
is more growth. The Chester-White ranks 
next to the Duroc-Jersey for crossing. Now 
for the reasons;— 
The Poland-Chiua hogs are the weakest 
breed in boue and muscle of any of the large 
or medium breeds. The cause of this con¬ 
dition is found in the close in-breeding and the 
universal system among the breeders to crow d 
! the pigs with corn from birth. This is the 
fancy breed of the West, aud breeders have 
tried to outdo each other in piling on fat, aud 
in pushiug the hogs until they have gone to 
the front in numbers and in “perfection,” 
according to the fashionable and deluded 
notion of perfection. They get their best 
qualities from the Berkshire, and are, iu fact, 
three-fourths of that good blood. The exces¬ 
sive condition of fatness which these hogs 
have beeu kept in, for years, has begun to tell 
on them, just as it would on any other breed. 
Another thing — they want fresh blood, 
which the Berkshires get from England, aud 
which keeps up their stamina. The Duroc- 
Jersey hogs, ou the contrary, are full of fresh 
blood, as they have been bred scarcely long 
enough in a direct line to have become thor¬ 
oughly established in all respects. There is no 
mistake about one thing—they have more 
vigor, better appetites and growth on coarse 
food than any other breed, and this is just 
what the small, tine breeds lack, and the Fo- 
land-China hogs are rapidly reaching the same 
state. Simple assertion will not give hogs 
stamina, or lots of pigs, or large udders; nor 
will fat. 
Tbe assertion that “Chester White and Jer¬ 
sey Red sows become cross and unmanage¬ 
able, after rearing one or two litters” is very 
absurd, and proves to me that the writer is 
blinded by self-interest, or an utterer of things 
he knows nothing about. I have had both 
Chester-White aud Duroc-Jersey sows, young 
and old, and it. is not true that they become 
cross; nor is it true of any breed. There may 
be instances of this kind in individual sows of 
any breed; but, as a rule, old sows make tbe 
best of mothers. I always keep a well-bred 
sow till quite old, for this reason. 
£>hfqj jkjiisbimiDnj. 
A WIRE FENCE FOR SHEEP. 
I am not in favor of barbed wire, uulessused 
exclusively for cattle. It is too dangerous for 
horses and sheep. I have built a sheep fence 
with five strands of plain wire, and having 
fastened a piece of wire to the top strand, 
passed it down around tbe second, and so on 
to the bottom. One or more of these iu each 
span (according to the distance between the 
posts) prevent the wires from spreading apart 
and letting the sheep through. Perhaps pick¬ 
ets stapled to the wires would he better; but 
wire is cheaper and can be more quickly put 
on. For horses, put one or two extra-strong 
wires at the top, and hang a light pole or strip 
of board to tbe top wire. 
An excellent way of bracing posts is shown 
in a late Rural. In ground that is heaved 
by frost, holes should be dug and a & at¬ 
tached to the bottom of the post by boring a 
hole and inserting a pin or spiking it to the 
side of the post. Then set the post with the 
X across tbe liue of fence and place a stone on 
each side and till up the hole. This prevents 
the post from rising out of the ground. 
Cuba, N. Y. e. w. m. 
A CONVENIENT ARRANGEMENT FOR FEEDING 
SHEEP. 
At Fig. 418, we show a novel device for 
feeding sheep, directly from the barn floor. 
The bottom board is about eight inches wide, 
and keeps the oats or other food from getting 
into the manure. The portion of the partition 
which is hinged, so that, it can he raised, is 
only of sufficient width to permit the sheep's 
head to pass through to reach the food. Old 
strap hinges of almost any kind, if sufficiently 
strong, will answer. The arrangement is so 
simple that unyouo can make it in a few min¬ 
utes. The method of Construction and the ad¬ 
vantages of the device will be understood at 
once from the illustration. The description Is 
sent us by our friend, C. L. P. Handy, Ken¬ 
nebec County, Maiue. 
.poultry 
“SALTING” POULTRY. 
A few years ago I was raising a few hun¬ 
dred ducks and fed them in three yards, as 
usual, with wheat bran soaked, and ou re¬ 
turning in about 10 minutes, I saw a sight 
that I’ll not soon forget—they were jumping, 
tumbling, gasping aud quacking as only dying 
ducks can, all over the pens. Not knowing 
what was the matter, 1 filled my large apron 
with them, ran to the house, and dropped them 
on the kitchen floor and turned to the cup¬ 
board. The first thing I saw was a glass of 
cream aud the soda paper near it. At a ven¬ 
ture, I put some soda iu cream, and began 
dosing them with a spoonful each; by the time 
I got all dosed tbe first began to revive, and I 
ran for some move, takiug-tbe sickest, and 
finding several dead in the pens. I dosed all, 
and out of about 170 lost only 13. 
I now began to think “what did it.” The 
ducks iu two other yards not fed were all 
right. I tasted the food and found it salty. 
1 found considerable salt had beeu spilled in 
the box of bran, but as it was iu a dark place, 
I bad not noticed it. Tbe affected ducks 
ranged from tbree to eight weeks old. 1 gave 
them clear water with a little more soda, aud 
they were all right in a few hours. Now to 
comjjly with the injunction,“prove all things,” 
I took a duck tbree weeks old from one of the 
other yards that had not been supplied with 
the same sort of feed, and gave it one-fourth 
of a teaspoouful of salt with some feed; it 
acted like the others which were sick. I gave 
it sweet milk and soda, and saved it; but it 
had a close call, having taken too much salt 
for one so young. The soda seemed to neu¬ 
tralize the action of the salt. 
I keep from SOU to 500 chickens, and have 
made it a rule for years to give them a little 
salt every few days. In Iowa I used it as a 
cure for gapes in chicks with good results. 
An hour ago I took a healthy three-months old 
cbicken and gave it a fourth ol’ a teaspoonful 
of salt, aud it hasn’t got sick yet. I’ll experi¬ 
ment further and have “soda" ready. 
Later; I have given two teaspoons of salt,even 
full, to a half Hamburg cockerel four months 
old. It hasn’t affected him, beyond making 
him thirsty for an hour or two, T don’t be¬ 
lieve my poultry could be hurt very easily 
with salt, as they are used to it. 
Jewell Co., Kaus. mrs. s. S. Seymour. 
A FEW words about the English sparrow. 
In September, 1883, a committee was appointed 
by the American Ornithologists’ Union to in¬ 
vestigate the habits of the English sparrow, 
as found in the United States and Cauada. Of 
this committee, Dr. J. B. Holden was chair¬ 
man. The committee seem to have conducted 
their investigations iu a thorough and exhaus¬ 
tive manner, and their report furnishes inter¬ 
esting aud instructive reading. Besides their 
personal investigation, the committee sent 
circulars all over the couutry, requesting 
answers based ou personal observation, to a 
series of questions relating to the habits of the 
sparrows, fortified, as far as possible, by dissec¬ 
tion. Carefully collating all this testimony, 
and compariug it with their own examinations, 
the committee reached the conclusion that the 
diet of the sparrow is “almost wholly vege¬ 
table.” This conclusion seems to have been 
sustained in all cases whore recourse was had 
to dissection. The sparrow feeds chiefly on 
seeds aud grain. That is just my opinion, too; 
and I dou’t see whore the little wretches can 
find room for anything else after all the seed 
they eat. The committee say that public 
opinion is against tbe sparrow, and they rec- 
comtnend that he bo no longer shedtered or 
fostered, and “that all existing laws protect¬ 
ing the sparrow be repealed, aud that bounties 
be offered for its destruction." 
* * * 
Brooklyn at one time enjoyed the doubtful 
honor of haviug first introduced the English 
sparrow, aud 1 remember how it grieved the 
tender-hearted Dr. Trimble, who could see 
nothing but trouble for his pot birds; but it 
seems that Portland, Maine, was first, in 1868; 
and later in the same year, they were intro¬ 
duced in Peacedale, U. I. They were placed 
iu Madisou Square, New York City, in 1800; 
iu Central Park iu 1804, aud so on I learu 
from the report that six is tbe maximum 
number of broods iu a season, with four to 
five young for each brood. No wonder they 
have become so wide spread and numerous. 
* * * 
There are two plumbagoes that ought to be 
better known, or at least more frequently 
grown. One, Plumbago larpentflu, is a low- 
growiug herbaceous plaut, beariug pretty 
dark blue flowers in tbe Fall. It is hardy,ami 
deserves a place in the border among choice 
plunts. The other is P. capetisis, a green¬ 
house shrub, bearing what ladies call the 
most lovely lavender blue flowers, a color by 
no means common among winter flowers. 
The plant is not difficult to grow, though, if 
left to itself, it will take up a good deal of 
' room,particularly in bight. It can be kept w itb- 
