THE RURAL NEW-YORKER. 
was poor, plebeian, and of easy virtue, as 
Russians and Creoles are said to be. 
But when a naval officer is good, he is very 
good. For instance, a Lieutenant Glass, 
stationed here several years ago, did more 
to improve the condition of the Indians than 
any number of missionaries could have done. 
He compelled them to build decent houses to 
live in, had the houses numbered, made 
them dig ditches for drainage, construct 
walks, had regular Sunday morning inspect¬ 
ion, when they must have their houses and 
themselves clean, and made attendance at 
school compulsory. He had a tin label tied 
about the neck of every child, with the num¬ 
ber of the bouse it belonged to upon it, and 
any child found playing truant, inflicted a fine 
upon its parents. The attendance at school 
sometimes reached 275 a day. He drove all 
Indians who painted their faces black, out of 
the camp; the women learned to sew beauti¬ 
fully, and the condition of the tribe was im¬ 
measurably improved. But now, when the 
Indians are invited to school, they practically 
ask “How much will you pay me tor going?” 
The missionaries, who all along have had 
great difficulty in keeping the girls in their 
“homes,” have more now, as the parents ap¬ 
ply to the court for their possession, and the 
temper of the present Judge, Mr. McAllister, 
of San Francisco, isof the quality to order the 
missionaries to give over the girls, even under 
circumstances which, to my mind, are quite 
unjustifiable. The laws of Oregon prevail 
here, but undoubtedly a judge in Alaska, as 
everywhere else, has certain discretionary 
powers. I am very sure that I would bend 
the spirit of the law mightily in favor of with¬ 
holding a girl from disreputable purposes, 
and Indians will hire out their daughters and 
even their wives to any of the various adven¬ 
turers who come into the country and desire 
a squaw for a "companion. •' After a girl has 
been trained in the missions she is all the 
more attractive and marketable. The boys 
run away from the missions as well, but often 
return when Winter sets in and they want a 
comfortable home. That their children are 
clothed and fed is the one thing that induces 
the Indians to allow them to live in the mis¬ 
sions and attend their schools. They are as 
eager and shrewd for gain as the traditional 
Yankee, and the feeling is general that they 
are doing the missions a favor in patronizing 
them, instead of realizing that the favor is 
altogether on the other side. I believe those 
missions succeed best that are furthest re¬ 
moved from points of civilization, and Mr. 
Duncan’s success at Metlakabtah has unques¬ 
tionably been largely due to his isolation from 
white men. The missions, too, have suffered 
from the unpopularity of the gentleman ap¬ 
pointed by the Presbyterian Board to superin¬ 
tend them, and who Las more recently been 
appointed Superintendent or Commissioner of 
Education for the Territory. He is a man of 
good social position, of education and char¬ 
acter, but he has succeeded in winning the 
intense dislikeltf nearly everybody who knows 
him in Alaska. It is unfortunate, for it re¬ 
tards the progress and development of the 
public schools just being established at various 
points in the Territory—schools that at this 
time need to be opened and sustained under 
the most favorable auspices. A new country 
is a poor place for an unpopular man, how¬ 
ever God-fearing and devoted he may be. He 
can only succeed iu proportion as the people 
like him. 
I think mission boards of all denomina¬ 
tions have a tendency to lay too much 
stress upon “preaching the Gospel to 
all the world.” The gospel the Indians need 
is, first and foremost, the gospel of work— 
saw-mills, shoe shops, the carpenter’s bench, 
barrel making, the doctrine of cleanliness and 
morality, with hymns and texts for season¬ 
ing, if desired. I fully appreciate the Christ¬ 
ian religion and its value, but I think it 
is the tallest kind of nonsense to try to make 
a fine and gentle horse out of a kicking mule 
by whispering sweet and sacred things in its 
ear,—and to try aud elevate an Indian by 
simply preaching the Christian doctrine at 
him is very much the same thirjg. It is alto¬ 
gether above where he lives. But, withal, 
the missions undoubtedly accomplish much 
good, and their work is necessarily of Blow 
growth. The Government, I believe, pays 
the missionaries $25U per annum for each child 
they care for. But the best tbiug that could 
be done for every Indian child, if it were 
practicable, would be to send it to an Tudiau 
school in the East—like Captain Pratt’s School 
at Carlisle, Pa.—and then settle it in the East. 
I haven’t much faith iu the future of the In¬ 
dian youth with an environment of Indians, 
and of unprincipled white men and drunken 
marines. The mission at Sitka is endeavor¬ 
ing to establish an industrial school for boys, 
aud the girls are taught sewing and house¬ 
work. But the education of the Indians was 
begun years before the incoming of American 
missionaries. The Russiauu had schools, and 
very devoted missionaries, and a great many 
Indians are adherents to the Russian Church. 
In 1879 a Creole school was established in 
Sitka. A Creole is here understood to be any 
person of mixed blood—an alliance of white, 
Indian, negro, Russian, Chinese, or Aleut— 
native of the Aleutian Islands. The grand 
total population of South Eastern Alaska, ac¬ 
cording to the last census, was 7,74S—whites. 
293; Creoles,230. In Sitka there are now but five 
Russians of pure blood, I have been told , about 
85 Americans and the remainder Creoles. Tbere 
is a public school, recently opened, and sup¬ 
ported by the Government, for Creoles and 
whites. The teacher, a young woman from 
Pennsylvania, is paid a salary of $S00 per 
annum, which, if she remains but a year, will 
about cover her expenses. But she will have 
had the “experience.” 
RURAL SPECIAL REPORTS. 
Michigan, 
Galesburg, Kalamazoo Co., Oct. 11.— I 
had two packets of the Deihl-Mediteranean 
Wheat to sow last Fall; at harvest this year 
I gathered two quarts of extra nice, plump 
wheat, all of which has been sown in drills 
for cultivation; it is all up aud looking fine. 
There were a few heads of “bald” wheat in 
it; this was sown by itself, so I expect to be in 
possession of two choice kinds ere long. I 
would not sell my interest in this wheat alone 
for the price of the Rural for a year. The 
corn did finely. Among the several kinds 
it seems tbere must be some adapted to any 
and all sections of the Union. G, s. n. 
Langston, Montcalm Co., Oct. It.—The 
Johnson Grass failed to germinate. The 
tomatoes were splendid. The 50 crosses of corn 
all grew—about one third hardened so that the 
seed will grow. I shall plant it next year, as 
I believe there is among it some of the best 
dent corn I ever saw. The peas did not amount 
to any thing; did not germinate. The beans 
(Flageolet) are the nicest for succotash we 
ever had. t. s. c. 
New Hampshire. 
Center Luftonborough, Carroll Co., Oct. 
12.—Potatoes are rotting badly in some towns. 
The corn crop will be heavy, much better than 
that of 1884. j. L. H. 
Dover, Stafford Co., Oct. 8.—The season 
has been rather cool. Frost came early, but 
was not severe enough to injure grapes. Corn 
will be fair, but it is a general complaint that 
the ears are not filled as well as usual. Po¬ 
tatoes that promised a large crop have not 
come up to the expectations raised by the 
earlier outlook. The}' have rotted badly all 
around. Apples in some localities are abund¬ 
ant: in others light. Pears were never better, 
and prices rule low. Grapes are late in ripen¬ 
ing, but the bunches are fine, the rose bug 
not having injured them in the least. The 
fairs have been well attended, j, m. n. 
New York. 
Mallory, Oswego Co., .October 5th.— 
One grain of the Thousand-fold rye produced 
1,004 grains; in all I bad 6% pounds from the 
package sent. The Deihl-Mediterrauean wheat 
I have not cleaned yet—not a very large 
growth. I have not tested the quality of the 
Flageolet Beans, but judging from the num¬ 
ber of pods, they yield well. This season has 
been very poor for everything here. I saved 
all the Rural peas for seed next year. Judg¬ 
ing from the looks of them, I think they are a 
very desirable acquisition. The Prince Albert 
pleases me most for yield and growth. 
B. P. M. 
Mt. Upton, Chenango Co., Oct. 12.— Far¬ 
mers in this section have not cut more than 
half the usual hay crop for three years in suc¬ 
cession. w. s. M. 
Ohio. 
Ashley, Delaware Co., Oct 9.—The Rural 
seeds were splendid, except the Johnson Grass, 
which did not come up. The peas were not 
only good, but very good. The corn grew 
finely—a little of everything in the shape of 
corn. We have better here, except the Can¬ 
ada corn, as we call it, which is very desirable 
for late planting. Onr corn crop through 
Central Ohio, is not only good, but larger than 
usual—perhaps the largest that Ohio has ever 
raised. Oats good; injured by grasshoppers, 
which were very numerous. Our wheat was 
five bushels per acre. Potatoes rather light. 
More wheat has beeu sown this Fall than 
usual, and it has been put in with extra care. 
Peaches aud plums do not grow here. Apples 
are not plentiful, and what we have are infer¬ 
ior. Our markets are good for what we can 
raise suitable for shippiug, although we have 
no large cities close at hand, This is a good 
county for corn, wheat aud grass, and will 
make a favorable show with any county in 
the State in hogs, cattle, horses, fine sheep aud 
Germau carp. Sheep are rather a drug; but 
fish are just coming into profit, b. w. 
ANSWERS TO CORRESPONDENTS 
(Every query must be accompanied by theuame 
and address of the writer to Insure attention. Before 
asking a question, please see if It is not answered in 
onr advertising columns. Ask only a few questions 
at one time.] _ 
ACUTE ANABARCA IN A COLT. 
W. A. 7’., St. Clair, Mich .— What ails my 
two-year old colt? This morning 1 noticed 
that hie shoulders were all covered with hard 
bunches which are getting larger ; his nose 
was swollen very badly, and his eyes too were 
so swollen as to be shut; the spots seemed to 
run together. After a while the places be¬ 
came very itchy; though the animal did not 
appear in pain. He has been running where 
he had good feed and plenty of clean water. 
ANSWERED BY F. L. KILBOENE, B.V.8. 
It is an attack of acute anasarca, or some¬ 
times called purpura b/einorrhagica, an erup¬ 
tive, non contagious fever, and primarily a 
disease of the blood, which becoming abnor¬ 
mally fluid, transudes through the blood ves¬ 
sels and permeates the connective tissues.caus- 
iug the extensive swellings, Most commonly 
the disease follows some debilitating malady, 
asstrangles,influenza,or other affections of the 
respiratory organs; but it is also liable to fol¬ 
low aoy condition which debilitates the sys¬ 
tem and thus impoverishes the blood. Sudden 
chills or exposure, especially when heated, by 
checking the secretion of the skin, close, im¬ 
pure, damp stables where the blood becomes 
impure for the ant of fresh air, and certain 
medical agents given to excess, as the nitrites, 
tend to favor the transudation of the liquids 
of the blood through the tissues to form the 
dropsies. This disease uas been unusually 
prevalent the past season, particularly in a 
mild form with more or less extensive anas- 
arcous swellings, and has probablv been large¬ 
ly due to the severity of last Winter, followed 
by the extreme aud sudden changes of tem¬ 
perature during the Summer. 
The treatment of acute anasarca is usually 
successful if taken at the outset, aud where 
the dropsies do not extend to internal organs, 
in which case it is usually fatal, while the 
milder forms will often disappear with¬ 
out medical treatment, if the animal has 
proper care and good feeding. On the first 
appearance of the disease, it is well to give a 
mild laxative,—one pint of olive or linseed oil 
—except in very severe cases with extreme 
prostration, or where the disease has run 
some time, when injections are preferable to 
relieve any constipation. Then give a half¬ 
ounce dose of chlorate of potassa. and follow 
with two-dram doses of the chlorate every 
four bom's, continuing until the swellings 
have subsided. Also give four drams of 
sweet spirits of nitre and one dram of tincture 
of terchloride of iron, thrice daily. If the 
urine becomes scanty, add two drams of ni* 
trate of potassa to the above, As soon as the 
Bwellings have gone down, a course of bitter 
tonics will be useful by giving a better tone 
to the system. Give one half ounce each of 
powdered cinchona bark, gentian, and ginger, 
thrice daily; and, after a week or two, if the 
system becomes stronger, replace the cinchona 
by two drams of sulphate of iron for a like 
period. Should the bowels now become cost¬ 
ive, add a dram of Barbadoes aloes to the 
above until relieved. 
Externally, warm fomentations to the swel¬ 
lings at the outset tend to relieve the inflam¬ 
mation, even if they increase the swellings 
at first, and later bathe the swellings frequent¬ 
ly with tepid solutions of zinc chloride or 
carbolic acid, using one ounce to each gallon 
of water. The fact that this disease is essen¬ 
tially due to debility would indicate that with 
proper care, wholesome surroundings, and 
good feeding, the attack could usually have 
been avoided. And from the fact that the 
majority of cases can be traced to some care¬ 
lessness or neglect on the part of the person 
in charge, it becomes of far greater import¬ 
ance to know how to be able to avoid the 
disease thau to know how to cure it. Remem¬ 
ber that “au ounce of prevention is worth 
more than a pouud of cure,” and keep the 
horses iu strong, vigorous health. Let the 
stables boolean, dry and warm; but yet well 
ventilated, so that the animals will not be 
obliged to rebreuthe the air filled with the 
germs of disease and the decomposing pro¬ 
ducts of urine, dung, and other organic 
matter. Cold barns, exposure to cold rain or 
winds, and cold drafts of air, especially when 
an animal is heated, perspiring, or fatigued, 
are daugerous. Good feeding ami thorough 
grooming are very essential. Finally, aui 
mals that are “run down” in condition, or are 
recovering from exhaustive disorder, should 
receive special attention; particularly avoid 
working such animals to fatigue, or subjecting 
them to weakeuing treatmeut, exposure, or 
other conditions known to favor the precipi¬ 
tation of the disease. 
AGRICULTURAL COLLE IES. 
D. A. F., Bridgeport , Conn. —What agri¬ 
cultural college can you recommend* Tell us 
something about the education at such an in¬ 
stitution, age of students, cost and examina¬ 
tions. 
A ns. —The Michigan Agricultural College 
at Lansing, Mich, is the oldest and best 
equipped of its class. We can heartily recom¬ 
mend its course of study. There are several 
other good institutions of like character, with 
which we are not so familiar. (Students at 
Lansing are expected to understand some¬ 
thing about farming before they go there. 
Plenty of practice is given at hoeing, chopping 
ditching, etc.; but a good farm is the best 
place to learn how to do these things. To get 
the best of the course, students should spend 
a year at least with some good farmer, before 
they go to college. The prime object of the 
institution is to give the student an idea of the 
sciences that underlie agriculture, so that he 
can work out the principles of botany; chem¬ 
istry, entomology, etc., on his own farm. The 
course in English is designed to lit boys for 
practical and intelligent citizenship. “Com¬ 
mencement” is not looked upon as the ending 
of an education, but rather the beginning of 
practical life. The average age of members 
of the last three or four graduating classes 
was 21 years. Most boys go to college before 
they are old enough to appreciate its advan¬ 
tages. The average economical student will 
probably spend about $120 to $130 during the 
year. This includes board, room rent, inci¬ 
dentals, etc. The majority of students prob¬ 
ably spend more than this. Work is furnished 
at eight cents per hour. The average student 
will earn from $30 to $40 in this way. Hecau 
earn more than this by working on Saturdays, 
but the economy of such a coui-se would be 
doubtful, os a certain time should be taken 
for reading. The examinations are thorough, 
but not severe. A boy is expected to be able 
to parse an ordinary sentence, to have mas¬ 
tered an ordinary arithmetic, and to under¬ 
stand the geography of the world. A knowl¬ 
edge of elementary algebra is desirable. The 
fall term opened Sept. 2d, aud will close Nov. 
18; the spring term opens Feb. 2-lth, 18Sfi. 
The long winter vacation affords students an 
opportunity to teach school, or work at other 
occupations, thus earning money to pay their 
expenses. Many students have, in this way, 
entirely educated themselves. 
RONE ASHES, ETC. 
F. E. S., Canyon City, Col.— 1. My plan is 
to sprinkle the platform under hens with char¬ 
coal dust, and every day or second day clean 
it out and scatter the droppiDgs on the man¬ 
ure heap; can I do better/ 2. In burning 
bones so thoroughly as to reduce them to 
ashes, bow much of their manurial value is 
lost? 3. I cau get any quantity of bone ashes 
at from $7 to $ 10 per ton; would it pay to use 
them on apples, pears and grapes not yet fruit¬ 
ing; also on farm crops; also on small fruits; 
and if so, how much per acre? 
Ans. —1. You can not improve the practice, 
though it may not be necessary to clean out 
the dust aud droppings so often; if a little 
fresh dust was thrown in every second day, 
once a week would be often enough to clean 
it out. 2. They lose the ammonia in the ani¬ 
mal matter that is driven off; that is all. It 
amounts to from 2}^ to 7 per cent, according 
to the kind of bones. But the relative pro¬ 
portion of phosphoric acid is doubled so that a 
tou of bone asb is worth more than a ton of 
raw bone. 3. It all depends as to whether 
your soil is deficient in phosphoric acid or not. 
If it is deficient in this, uotliiug would pay so 
well us the bones ; but if it already bus a sur¬ 
plus, then it would uot pay at all. Try the 
application on some annual farm crop needing 
phosphoric acid, and if it benefits that, then 
tuko it for granted it would benefit all. At 
seven dollars per tou, 400 pounds would not 
cost very much; try that aud also more and 
less. 
TnRUSH IN A HORSE: CANINE DISTEMPER. 
Subscriber, no address. —1. What will cure 
“foot evil” in a horse? 2. My shepherd dog 
first lost his appetite, aud shortly afterwards 
his limbs jerked spasmodically, especially the 
hind ones; dually he lost the use of his right 
hind leg as if it were parulized He became 
weak iu the Joins aud yulped nearly all the 
time as if in pain. He lingered about six 
weeks before death came to bis relief. Several 
other dogs here have died in the same way. 
What was the trouble? 
ANSWERED BY F. L. KILBORNK, B. V. S. 
1. Thrush, occasioually called “foot evil,” 
iu the horse, is usually readily cured by re* 
