I do'to develop the milking qualities of a half- 
blood Holland heifer calf four months old? 
2. Give scale of poiDts for Wyandottes; there 
seems to be two markings 1 in my flock, one 
black, with white lacings; the other white, 
with black lacings; the latter are the prettier? 
Ans. —1. Have the heifer served the first 
time in heat so as to have her commence to 
give milk as soon as possible. For food, give 
wheat middlings, bran, and ground oats, and 
pea meal in moderate quantities, and but 
little corn, also feed succulent food, 2. The 
scale of points is ns follows: Standard weight, 
cocks Spounds; hens 6V£ pounds; cockerels 
pounds; pullets pounds, Deduct two 
points per pound for any deficiency. Sym¬ 
metry 10; weight 10; condition 8; head 0; 
comb8: wattles and ear-lobes 5: neck 8; back 
8; breast and body 10; wings 8; tail 7; flulT 
5; legs and toes 7. The disqualifications are 
not matching, comb not a rose or lopping to 
either side, crooked backs; deformed beaks; 
wry tails, twisted wing-featliers, feathered 
legs or of any other than yellow in color; solid 
black or white breasts and solid white or 
solid white or yellow ear-lobes. 
FISTULA OF THE WITHERS IN A MULE. 
S'. R- C., Dexter, Ark,— Six months ago, a 
mule of mine was affected with a fistula of 
the withers, but after a time, the swelling 
disappeared. About, 10 days ago, however, it 
reappeared larger than ever, extending over 
the withers to the left shoulder. About a 
week ago, I made two small incisions in the 
lower part, and inserted a leather string 
which I turn round every day, but the sore 
doesn’t run much. What should be done? 
Ans,—M ake sure that the opening is in the 
bottom of the sac, and large enough to allow 
the free exit of the pus. luject daily into the 
sac a solution of zinc chloride, one half dram to 
each quart of water, and continue until the 
inflammation disappears,and the sac is nearly 
closed. Then pull the string half way out of 
the wound, lettiug it hang from the lower 
opening. When the upper opening is healed, 
the string may be pulled entirely out, and the 
wouud left to heal with simple dressings. 
THE MELON APHIS. 
G. B„ Omaha, Neb., sends for name an in¬ 
sect found on a cucumber leaf. 
Ans.—I t is the Melon Aphis, The pests, so 
far as we know, do not visit any plants of the 
gourd family, except musk aud water melons, 
and cucumbers. They do notcause noticeable 
damage every year; still they are to be con¬ 
sidered a serious garden pest abounding in 
nearly every part of the U. S. On the under¬ 
side of the leaves sent, are the swollen egg¬ 
like remains of dead aphides having the 
appearance of bark lice. Their death was 
due to parasites, four-winged chalcid flies. 
Triox ys piceus. Cres. Judging by the leaf 
sent, these parasites and the yellow maggots 
of the Syrpbus Fly were very numerous, and 
must have destroyed most of the lice. These 
beneficial insects are often in their turn 
destroyed by other parasites. Were it not 
for this, their good work would prevail. The 
kerosene emulsion sprayed under the leaves 
will rid them of the pests, but rich surface 
mauuring, and the picking off and destroying 
of the first leaves on which they appear will 
prevent their ravages. 
KEEPING APPLES, ETC. 
B. W,, Charlton, Mass. —1. What is the best 
method of keeping winter apples, particularly 
Roxbury Russet f 2. I have a few quince 
trees that do not bear; how should they be 
treated ? 
Ans.— The requisites for keeping apples in 
good couditiou are, a temperature at or near 
30 degrees, aud air not too dry. The usual 
method in Western New York is to place the 
apples in the barrels, earetully sorted, and 
after they have seasoned somewhat, head the 
barrels tightly. They are then placed m cel¬ 
lars or buildings made on purpose wit h double 
walls and the temperature is kept at 30 degrees 
ora little lower, as fruit in barrels will easily 
endure 38 degrees without injury. We have 
seen some cellars in which there was runniug 
spring water, which produced a temperature 
in which the fruit was kept splendidly. 3. 
It may be the fault is in the soil, or it may be 
in the treatment. Try mulching heavily (so 
as to keep down all weeds) with corncobs, 
chip manure, suit hay or almost anythiug 
else, aud apply liberal quantities of salt, ashes 
or mur iate of potash and bone dust. 
WEAK EYES IN A HORSE, ETC. 
F. A. $, Holden, Mo .—My Norntau mare 
has weak eyes, and the hair is eomiug off her 
tail; w hat can be doue for her? 
Ans,—K nowing nothing of the condition 
of the eyes or of the causes producing the 
weakness, we cannot prescribe very satisfac¬ 
torily. Have the eyes carefully examined for 
foreigu bodies. Bathing with a weak solution 
of borax or salt, or a lew applications of lead 
acetate solution; oue dram to a quart of 
water, may be beneficial. Keep the animal 
in a daikened stable on a laxative diet. Give 
daily one dram each of aloes and iron sulphate, 
and one-half ounce of ginger made into a 
ball with sirup or liuseed meal. After making 
sure that the loss of hair is not due to rubbing, 
apply mercurial ointment or a one per-cent, 
solution of corrosive-sublimate to the tail. 
Miscellaneous. 
B. B., Farminydale, III. —L. Willitnot pay 
to root-graft cuttings from rare or high-priced 
grapes on whole roots of strong growing but 
cheap varieties, such as Concord, etc., and 
handle them the same as apple root grafts? If 
so, which is best to use, one or two-bud grafts ? 
2. What do you kaow regarding the different 
varieties of the Russian apricot ? 3. What is 
the difference between High and Low-Bush 
Huckleberries aud dwarf aud standard June- 
berries? “ 4. In raising apple, pear, cherry, 
grape, etc., seedlings, why is itnot a good plan 
to drill on the top of the ground as soon as 
taken from the fruit, and cover with two or 
three inches of rotten sawdust, thereby saving 
much weediug the following Spring and Sum¬ 
mer? 5. Why is it not reasonable to suppose 
that from the millions of Russian Mulberry 
seedlings planted, there will be some worthy 
of propagation I 
Ans.— 1. No. Use well established, well 
rooted stocks and cions having two buds. 2. 
That for use in the North they are more desi¬ 
rable than our old garden varieties. They 
are, however, so far grown from seed, aud 
hardly any two are alike. 3. The common or 
dwarf huckleberry is Gaylussacia resinosa. 
High Bush Huckleberry, or, more properly. 
Swamp Blueberry, isVacciuium corymbosum. 
Juneberryis Amelanchier Canadensis, and the 
“dwarf” is an alpine from off it. We do not 
tbmk it will pay to plant any of them for 
market. 4. The plan is feasible, but we should 
prefer a mellow soil whose surface would be 
kept well stirred after the plants came up. 5. 
It is perfectly reasonable, but so far vve have 
failed to find any. 
G.A. B ., TroutxiUe, Va. —1. Will it pay to 
haul the bottoms of old charcoal pits burned 20 
years ago one mile as absorbents in the stable, 
or as application to berry vines and fruittrees? 
If so, how can the stuff be used to most ad¬ 
vantage? 2. Will the dust from a macadam¬ 
ized road passed through the hen house, and 
allowed to remain a week or so, pulverize the 
droppings from the chickens and make a good 
manure? If so, bow should it be handled 
to the best advantage; and should anything 
else be added thereto; aud to what crops can 
it be applied to most advantage, and how? 
Ans. —1. Yes; for an absorbent in the stable 
and also as a mulch. It is best to use it iu 
the stables, as it will absorb many times its 
weight of gases. Use as litter under the straw 
litter. 2. Yes; if cleaned up once a week and 
put into barrels or boxes, it will make a good 
manure. Ashes or muriate of potash should 
be added to it for most crops. It would be 
spleudid for corn, and can be applied in the 
hill. 
W. M. K., Washington, D. C. —1. Last 
Spriug I got some Haskell Grapes from the 
Agricultural Department; are they worth 
growiog? 2. What is the proper food for 
cows for milk, and also for butter? 
Ans. —1. There have been quite a munber 
of Haskell seedling grape3, so you hardly 
know what you have got. But we know of 
none of them worth the room they occupy r 
when there are so many better ones. 2. Good 
food for milk couslsts of wheat bran or 
middlings, barley meal, oat meal, pea meal, 
malt sprouts, brewers’ grains, if sweet and 
good, with a little corn meal and oil meal add¬ 
ed, together with a full ration of roots or 
silage. For butter, increase the proportion of 
oil meal (uew-prucess) aud corn meal. 
J. W., Charnbly Basin, Que. —Where a 
driven well is in sand so fine that it continu¬ 
ally comes out with the water, and sometimes 
so fast as to close the strainer on the point, 
will continued pumping cure ft after a time? 
Ans. —The sand comes from the strata in 
which the water was found, and by pumping 
it out a chamber, or reservoir, w ill be formed, 
w hich, after a time, will become so large that 
not sufficient motion will be given the water 
to carry the sand along with it. When the 
straiuer becomes clogged, if the pump 
valve is “tripped” or lifted, the water in the 
pipe will suddenly rush back to the water¬ 
bearing strata, most likely with sufficient 
impetus to force the obstructing sand from the 
meshes of the wire strainer surrounding the 
poiut; or the pump head may be removed aud 
a stiff rod having a temporary plunger the 
size of the well lube, can bo used, to force the 
water rapidly back through the straiuer, hav¬ 
ing first filled the tube with water. 
G. A. B , Groton Oily, N. Y, —1. When 
should apple seedlings grown from seed last 
Spring be grafted or budded? 2. What is the 
best way to do it? 
Ans.— 1. If large enough, say one-fourth of 
au inch iu diameter at the crowu, they may 
be taken up this Fall and root-grafted during 
the Winter or in early SpriDg; or you may 
plant them in nursery rows, and at the proper 
season bud them. 2. A very good way to 
“work” was shown in the cuts and described 
in the article by Prof. Budd, on page 677 of 
the Rural for October 10; or they may be 
worked by what, is called splice or whip graft¬ 
ing, in which both stock aud cion are cut 
standing, and each ha3 a lip cut on it, and 
these are locked together, the whole being 
wound with waxed cloth or paper. 
P. G. S , Eaton Rapids, Midi. —What does 
the Rural know about Prickly Comfrey? 
Ans.—W e fancy that we know all about it, 
having raised it in small quantity for 12 years. 
We were the first to deuounce it as of no 
agricultural value, much to the disgust of 
those who advertised it at the time. Farm 
animals will not eat it unless starved. It is a 
very hardy perennial plant, and will produce 
an Immense crop upon good soil. It may be 
cut twice or thrice in a reason. 
C. L. Chatham, AT. Y. —In what proportion 
shall l mix sand and cement to make a strong 
mortar for pointing up my barn cellar wall? 
Axs.—You should not use cement at all, but 
good, fresh quick-lime. One bushel of un¬ 
slaked lime to three or even four bushels of 
sharp, clean sand, will make a very strong 
mortar. The cleaner the sand (that is the 
freer from dirt or soil) the stronger will be 
the mortar. 
A. S. B., Mifflin Co., Pa —The apple you 
send for name is not in the books; it is proba¬ 
bly a seedling, we think, of the Vandervere. 
It is a good apple, and if the tree is healthy, 
vigorous and productive, the variety is worthy 
of a name and of extensive propagation. 
G. W, Davis, Litchfield Co.. Conn.—Ot the 
three apples you send for name. No. 1 is not 
known iu the books; probably it is a fruit 
only known in your locality; it certainly is 
not Northern Spy. Nos. 2 and 3 are the 
same, and no doubt true Fall Pippins. 
L. H. P., Jefferson, N. H. —1. Yes, hen 
manure is good for the strawberry bed; mix it 
with muck, soil or barnyard or cow manure. 
2. There is nothing gained by using the Moun¬ 
tain Ash as a stock for pears. 
O F Richfield, Ohio. —You can do no bet¬ 
ter than to cover them with dry sand and 
keep them in a cellar where the temperature 
is above freezing. 
DISCUSSION. 
J. T., Olive Bridge, N. Y.—In “What 
Others Say” in a late Rural, Dr. Sturtevant 
is reported “to state in a late bulletin that it 
seems to be accepted as a fact that varieties 
of potatoes tend to degenerate.” I have 
reason to believe it to be a fact that they do not 
degenerate. When I immigrated to this country 
about 30 years ago, I read in some book or 
pamphlet brought from England, that by 
selection, taking well formed, large potatoes 
and cuttiug off and planting only the head 
eyes for seed, they would not degenerate, and 
if the plan was frequently followed they 
would become earlier. 1 never experimented 
to ascertain the truth of the latter statement, 
but about every fourth year I made a selec¬ 
tion, cut off the head eyes, planted them sep¬ 
arately and reserved them for the next year’s 
seed, and I never bad to complain of any kind 
degenerating with me. 
When the r’riuce Alberts were first intro¬ 
duced into this country, 1 obtained from J. 
R, Allen & Co. of New York half a bushel, 
and I was the first to introduce them in this 
neighborhood. After a while, my neighbors 
begau to complain that they were degenerat¬ 
ing; but they did not do so with me, and I 
always got good crops uutLI the first appear¬ 
ance of the Colorado beetle. The Prince 
Alberts being the latest plank'd, the second 
crop of beetles got the mastery and destroyed 
the whole crop. Four years ago, while dig¬ 
ging our potatoes. iuy sou found a hill that he 
leit sure was the same as our former Priuee 
Alberts. We planted them alongside of about 
a dozen kiuds that have beeu advertised as 
something extra, with those we received from 
the Rural, such as the White Elephant, 
Blush. Burbank, etc., and they all seemed to 
do equally well. Last Spring we plauted a 
small patch of the Prince Alberts, as my sou 
would have them called, aud sure enough 
they had the tops, the color, and the look in 
every respect of our old favorite, and there 
w as uo degenerancy, and we had a first-rate 
crop. ___ 
Communications received sob tbk Week ending 
Saturday, October si, 1885. 
J. M. H.- G. K. J. D -H. T. D.-G. B.-S. anil 
\V., thanks—A S. B.—P. O. o.—H.W.— J. L. G., or 
G. B. C.-E. C, R. U R. C.-G. H. S.-N. E. W.-C. R. 
-F. D. C.-G, R —A. B.-E S-J W. P —R. L C.— 
C. V. It,—M. L t., thanks, do.—C, W. McK,—Mrs. 
M. R.-G H and J. R —W. B. >l.-\V. B. M.-S. N. & 
Do.—A «. S — E. S. T>. —N. D. H. and S.—P. M. A. aud 
S— J. E. P.. many thanks.—G. W M S. A. MeD.— 
W. Jacobs, thanks.-F. \V. R.-P. G. S.-J. E. E.-T. 
S a-M. B.-M P. W.-M. C. L—T. S.-A. M. S.- 
L. H. P.-T. A. P.-C. A. G.-G. G.-M. W.-F.-J. A. E. 
C G.-F. E. B.-A. B. A,-F. D. C.- «. P. C.-T. 1. S.- 
A. J. C. 
745 
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