JAM 
THE RURAL MEW' 
FARMERS’ CLUB. 
(Continued from page 73.) 
SCABBY MANGE IN A DOG. 
It. L,, Eastwood , On?., Ugh.—F or six weeks 
my collie dog bos had sores with scaly scabs 
on different parts of the body. They appear 
to give him considerable pain, as be is con¬ 
stantly scratching uud licking them. They 
are getting worse; otherwise ho is hearty and 
runs about as usual; is it. mange? What, 
should be the treatment? 
Ans.— Yes, it is what is called scabby 
mange. Wash the dog frequently with car¬ 
bolic soap, procurable at any druggist’s. A 
weak infusion of tobacco may also be used. 
It is a hard disease to conquer, and t.lio dog 
must receive attention every dny. See that 
his bedding and kennel are clean. Give him 
regular exercise. Avoid close confinement 
and salt food. The disease is by no means 
necessarily fatal, but unless cured the dog will 
grow worse with age and finally become a 
pitiable object. 
MISCELLANEOUS. 
Ha rn esvi lie, Oh i o. —1. Ls rain- water col - 
lected from a barn roof and properly stored 
in a cistern as good as well or spring water 
for horses and cattle? 2. llow many feet, square 
of a flat roof will supply enough for six hors¬ 
es or cattle? 3. How often and at what hours 
should horses in a stable and not working be 
watered? ■). Which is the better—to water 
before or after feeding? 5. What should be 
done for a three-year-old colt t hat is constant¬ 
ly rubbing and biting lilmself—no breaking 
out? fi. Will it pay to cook apples for hogs? 
Ans. -1.There is no better water for man or 
beast than pure rain-water stored in a cistern 
which admits of no leaking in from the soil. 
A cistern has this advantage over n well or 
spring—it can, if properly constructed, be lo¬ 
cated convenient to the stable or possibly un¬ 
der it; while a well must In* some distance 
away, or the water will be contaminated. 
W e have used cisterns for stock fora quar¬ 
ter of a century with great satisfaction. 2. 
It will be easy for our f riend to find out the 
average rain-fall of his locality, uud estimate 
how many barrels of water would fall iu a 
year, or how many barrels each inch of ruin- 
fall would represent. A very moderate-sized 
barn will furnish water for the amount of 
stock named. 3, Horn's should have water 
three times a day in the hot,long days of sum 
mer, und twice a day in winter. 4. All au. 
thorities agree that before feeding is best. 5. 
We would prescribe a cooling, loosening diet 
for a colt in the condition named, and would 
feed no coni for a time but feed liberally with 
bran, and if the animal can lie induced to cut 
raw potatoes, give a few each duy; or if car 
rots can be got they are best. Feed com 
fodder in preference to hay and a little oil 
meal each day. 0. We do not think it would 
pay one-tenth of the cost to cook apples for 
hogs, and doubt even if cooked apples would 
be worth as much as raw ones. 
./. ./. C. , Van Huron , Mo. ■ 1. What is the 
matter with my apple tree grafts? They will 
not grow, though I graft, the same way my 
father did, and his always grew. I cut the 
root “square” at the top; split it through the 
center, pare the twig thin on each side half an 
inch up, and to an edge at the bottom, leaving 
it thicker on one side than on the other; slip 
it into the split in the root, being careful that, 
the bark of the “thick” side of the twig and 
that on one side of the root are properly iu 
contact with each other; wrap around the 
grafted root a thin strip of paw-paw bark ex¬ 
tending down to nearly the lust bud; let stand 
long enough to allow the graft and stock to 
grow together, then cultivate. They usually 
put out leaves and look well for some time 
but about as soon us the leaves are of full size 
the grafts gradually die, not more than five 
percent, surviving. 2. Would kerosene ap¬ 
plied to apple or other fruit trees kill or injure 
them? Would it prevent rabbits from attack¬ 
ing them? 
Ans. —1. We cannot say what is the cause 
of your failure, but we think you will succeed 
better with whip grafting. A very valuable, 
fully illustrated article tolling “the whole 
story”of grafting, was published in the Rural 
on April 30, 1830. 2. Kerosene may be safely 
applied in some cases, but to make it entirely 
safe it should be diluted, as in the “emulsion.” 
It is difficult to dilute it, as it does not mix 
readily with water. It has boon recommend¬ 
ed to use one part of kerosene, two parte soft 
soap or skim-milk, and 1(! of boiling water. 
Mix by stirring till cold, and then apply. A 
very good and safe wush for trees, to prevent 
damage from rabbits or mice, is made of a 
mixture of soot aud milk. 
C. B. G ., Ml. Vernon, hid. 1. Are rhodo 
dendronx hardy iu Southern Indiana? 2. 
Where can I get the Kelsey and Simon’s Plums 
near here? 3. Would Japan persimmons 
prove hardy here? 4. Could we use a wind¬ 
mill and reservoir tank for watering our gar¬ 
den 200 feet away? Would it, cost a fortune 
to bring water, in a two-inch pipe, from the 
end of the city water-work system, about a 
mile away? 
Ans. —1. Yes, some varieties; for instance, 
R. everestianum, album, a. clegans, a. grand- 
iflorum, gloriosnm, (tee's dark purple, Alex¬ 
ander Dancer, Charles Dickens and roseum 
oleguns. 2. We know of no nursery nearer 
than Stores, Harrison & Co , Painesville, (). 
3. We do not think so. In warm, well-shel¬ 
tered places, some might, survive. I. The 
wind-mill tank would be the cheapest to begin 
with, but, ultimately, the city water would bo 
as cheap, and probably at all times as satis¬ 
factory. Get net prices of pipe from some 
iron manufacturing company near you. 
Q. K., Hewer Valley, Ky. —1. I have half a 
bushel of eatalpa seeds, but do uot, know to 
which variety they belong; are both kinds 
durable, aud would it be advisable to sow the 
seeds anyhow? 2, fs the I lock worth Apple 
grown in the North ( 
Ans. —1. We should not sow the seeds with¬ 
out knowing them to be of the Hardy Catal- 
pa, C. speciosa. Both kinds are durable, but 
the Hardy Catalpa is known to be more dur¬ 
able than the common. Yes, we have a lot of 
proof as to their durability. 2. The apple is 
unknown to us. 
T), I!., Ilol. Springs, Dak. —What is the 
best way to treat black walnuts which I wish 
to grow next spring? They were not here in 
time l'or planting last fall? 
Ans. Probably our friend could do no bet¬ 
ter than to bury them in sand in a well- 
drained soil. 
./. II., Fredonia, Fans, —Should nitrate of 
soda be npplied to land intended for a garden 
before or after plowing? 
Ans.— By all means after plowing. Nitrate 
of soda loses nothing by exposure to the air. 
It is extremely soluble, and if it were plowed 
under, much of it would be lost to the roots of 
the plants. 
DISCUSSION. 
A LARGE POTATO YIELD. 
,J. T. Constance, Ontario, Canada.—I n 
the Rural of Dec. 25, E. P, N. asks whether 
any subscriber of the Rural has actually 
raised 200 bushels of potatoes from a half 
acre I have this season raised at least 200 
bushels on such an area The whole plot was 
about three-quarters of an acre, and had 
been used for a barnyard, the barn having 
been removed tin* year before. Most of it was 
a tough sod, aud there was nothing unusual 
in the preparation of the ground, i plowed 
it, three inches deep and gave it a thorough 
dragging, and then marked it out three feet 
each way, planting three sets to the hill, mak¬ 
ing u hole for them and covering them lightly 
at first. As they grew up I guvo them an 
other hilling up aud kept the weeds down 
with a wheel hoe working them both ways. 
Of course I also kept them free from “bugs.” 
When dug 1 took the product from eight hills 
iu different parts of Half an acre and weighed 
them und they weighed 5 1 ,j pounds to the hill. 
As there are 4,S4U square yards to au acre, 
and there was one hill to each yard, the half 
acre or 2,420 square yards, produced 13,310 
pounds of tubers, which at the rate of 00 
pounds to the bushel, amounted to 221 bush¬ 
els: allowing the 21 odd bushels as u liberal 
margin for possible errors, the yield was at 
least, 200 bushels. 1 showed three quarters of 
a bushel of them at our country fair aud took 
first, premium. Not one weighed leas than 
two pounds and the largest weighed three 
pounds seven ounces. All were well shaped 
and hundreds would weigh one pound each. 
There were only two bushels of small ones 
that, were unfit for the table. The variety 
was the Queen of the Valley. 
TRAN8CONTIN ENTA L LETTERS.— 
LXXIV. 
MARY WAGER-FISHER. 
From Riverside, to San Diego; Flood and 
O'Brien's ranche; local fora; San Diego 
County; aljilcria as stock feed; San Diego 
city; the hay; the climate; a Jive local ion. 
From Riverside we went, to San Diego on 
the only railway leading thither, the South¬ 
ern California, which is of recent construc¬ 
tion, welt built, with very pleasant cure and 
practically belonging to the Atchison and 
Santa Fe Railroad Co., which is the formidable 
rival of the railroad corporations of (Jallfornia 
that have so long hold the State in their 
power and maintained very high rates, which 
have only latterly been reduced by the multi¬ 
plication of transcontinental lines, 
The road to San Diego is very interesting 
and picturesque, some twenty miles of it be- 
ing through the Temecula Oafion und several 
miles of It lie along the Pacific ocean. A largo 
part of San Diego County requires no irriga¬ 
tion,and the soil varies much in quality so that 
it is only good in spots, while the surface is 
greatly broken, making the occasional valleys 
of increased value. The San Jacinto Valley, 
watered by a river of the same name, was the 
first one we passed through, and succeeding 
this the Temecula. Mount, San Jacinto, a 
snow-covered hight in the San Bernardino 
Range, loomed up grandly from these valleys. 
We saw fine herds of cows, fine colonies of bees- 
fiolds of barley and wheat and vineyards at 
intervals iu fertile places. It was along the 
Santa Margarita River that we passed the 
great rancho of Flood and O’Brien, a pair of 
rich Californians, who have, it is said, 240,000 
acres here, having bought one of the old Span¬ 
ish land grants, eleven leagues in length, 
There are on this rancho 10,000 head of cattle 
and 500 horses. The Santo Margarita is like 
many Pacific Const, rivers, a slender stream 
that a Yankee culls u creek. The flora of the 
region greatly interested me. Spanish Bay¬ 
onets were ill bloom, poppies, pinks, blue-bells, 
larkspurs, and I found a shrubby poppy, the 
bright yellow blossoms two inches iu diameter. 
According to my baud Botany, it is the only 
true woody plant belonging to the order and 
goes by the name of Dendromecon rigida. It 
grows lurge like a rose-bush and presents a fine 
appearance. I pocketed some ripe seed pods 
I found on it, and if my collection of seeds of 
wild flowers gathered on this coast have the 
grace to grow and thrive, I shall have quite a 
novel bouquet. San Diego County is, I be¬ 
lieve, a little larger than the State of Rhode 
island. [Yes, indeed, more than ten times as 
large, the area of San Diego County being 
13,500 square miles, and that of Rhode Island 
ouly 1,300 square miles.— Eds.) and aside from 
its vast grazing lands, it produces figs, oranges, 
lemouR and the inevitable palm tree flourishes 
as an ornamental uppeudnge. 
Iu riding through the country and seeing 
the great herds of cattle and sheep, and hear¬ 
ing of more, I wondered what they fed on, for 
1 saw neither grass nor dandelion (of the lat¬ 
ter 1 never saw half a dozen blossoms from 
one end of the State to the other), butall over 
the ground grew it wild geranium and a kind 
of clover called “Burr Clover,” and we pres¬ 
ently learned that the geranium, with its 
small purple flowersand “crane’s-bills” stick- 
ing out iu every direction, was the nutritious 
Alfilleree—as the Spanish call ifc—technical¬ 
ly Altileria, and the cattle are exceedingly 
fend of it. Some of the ranchers pack it in an 
und r led state between alternate layers of 
straw. The straw keeps the Alfilleree from 
moulding, uud itnbilx*s from it its peculiur fra¬ 
grance and flavor. I wondered if Red Top 
or clover could not be treated similarly with 
success. 
Since the building of this California South¬ 
ern Railroad, San Diego and all the country 
along the route have been “boomed,” and a 
number of very pretty towns have been laid 
out, along the sea—one called Ocean Side and 
another Del Mar, I thought particularly at¬ 
tractive, being on a gentle slope with, already 
pretty cottages and flowers aud palms planted 
along the streets, for the general California 
custom is a small louse and beautiful grounds. 
The best valleys in the country have the dis 
advantage of being a long way f nun the ruil- 
roud, und even back of San Diego one must 
ride some 15 to 2(1 miles to find good farming 
land. 
As we upproaehed this famous and beauti¬ 
ful little seaport city, with a population of 
6,000 souls, we rode very near the site of the 
old town, where some adobe walls are stand¬ 
ing, and tall, old palms lift years old. The 
table mountain, Sun Domingo, and other 
striking mountains belonging to Mexico, rise 
tar away, seemingly directly from the sea, 
mid udd greatly to the beauty of the seaward 
view. The bay is not large, but it is perfect 
of its kind, both for beauty uud as a harbor 
for shipping. A peninsula, that looks to be 
hardly more than a sand-bar, curves around 
like a horse shoe, and wards off the roughness 
of the outer sea, and this peninsula forms a 
brilliant possibility for making a second 
“Coney Island” for the resort of people who 
wish to Ik* immediately on the sea in summer 
-a project already under headway. The San 
Diego climate is noted for its equability and 
mildness tho year around, and the city is a 
great resort for invalids; but. the climate dot* 
not suit all coses. We spent two days there, 
and a part of the time it rained “great guns” 
and hailed, and the laddie made hail balls iu 
great glee; but the San Diegon.v said it was 
the severest storm for many years, But 
judging from the location and invlromnout o, 
the city, I should think the climate there 
ought, to be as near perfection as one can find 
it here below! The town is finely located, the 
and rising well from the sea; jt seemed to be 
developing rapidly, was well laid out—many 
bandsome'.buildings—but still in a new, crude 
state, and building lots selling at fancy prices* 
because of the “boom.” Tbc hotels are good 
and we were told that comfortable quarters 
COUld be found ill private families at very 
reasonable rules. We stopped at, the “Horton 
House,” and bad quite an experience in the 
night, ns a rat had in some way become con¬ 
fined in u bureau drawer, where he made as 
much noise as an elephant, and it was a long 
time before we succeeded in locating the 
source of the hubbub, and setting the un¬ 
lucky prisoner at liberty. 
Soon after reaching the city we went, down 
to the Bay and fell in with a party of fisher¬ 
men, one <if whom said he liked California, 
and he had lived here for 28 years, lmd made 
and lost a dozen fortunes and was going back 
to visit the home of his boyhood in Northern 
New York iu the month Of June. The fish¬ 
ermen catch hero a tine, pike-looking fish 
called Rarracouta, and also sen trout,. In 
looking out, over the bay it appears like an in¬ 
land sea, so securely and peculiarly is it land¬ 
locked. With the mountains and islands in 
view, the scene is quite enchanting. As we 
strolled about the town, planted with palm, 
pepper and eucalyptus trees, I thought the 
growth und blossoms of Scarlet Geraniums 
(Pelargoniums) altogether extraordinary, 
both in size uud brilliancy. Tho roses were 
also fine, and nowhere on this coast have I ob¬ 
served that roses are the victims of either 
bugs or worms. There is said to be less fog 
nt San Diego than at Los Angeles,“and one 
consumptive whom we met said he had been 
here for two years and had greatly Improved 
in health. Green peus, new cabbages and 
strawberries were in market, and it was April 
11. Oranges sold for 25 cents per dozen. 
Food seemed to be cheap and good, and tak¬ 
ing San Diego County all in all, from what 
we saw and learned of it, we were rather fa¬ 
vorably impressed with its advantages. Still, 
one should always bear in mind that the best 
way to begin life in California is to try the 
climate of tho locality in which one proposes 
to settle, test the soil and Work at what he ex¬ 
pects to do—the first, year as a hired man, 
then as an employer. 
MULTUM IN PAR VO. 
Prof. W. A. Henry, of the Wiscousou Ex¬ 
periment Station, favors our esteemed con¬ 
temporary, the Farmers Review, with an ac¬ 
count of how several steers were dehorned and 
the effect of the dehorning . 
An ordinary stanchion was made in a room 
used for a hull pen; a heavy hulter with a 
very stout strap was put on each steer ami he 
was led to the stranchloo and securely fast¬ 
ened. Next, the heud was drawn to one side 
and up tight to the top of the stanchion by 
throwing the Htrnp over u hook above the an¬ 
imal's head, two men pulling on tho strap. 
With a new sharp, fine-toothed saw held close 
to the animal’s head, a few strokes cut olf first 
one then the other horn and the creature was 
set free ... 
Blood flowed freely,continues Prof. Henry, 
each animal losing from a pint to u quart, 
with the average nearer the first figure. At 
first the foreman moved rather slowly, not 
knowing how to proceed but it was found that 
he actually sawed the horns off the last six 
steers in just 15 minute**. Of course there was 
plenty of help to catch and fasten the crea¬ 
tures in the stanchion... ... 
“Dinit hurt?” Why, of course it hurt, 
and so does castration, but we never stop this 
last operation on account of pnm. As fast as 
dehorned each steer was turned into a pas¬ 
ture and allowed to remain until the bleeding 
ceased, which was, say twenty to thirty min¬ 
utes; they were then put into tho barn. Be¬ 
fore the blood had ceased running some of 
them were kicking up their heels undone or 
two of the fighters made passes at some of 
the more timid ones, as they had been wont 
to do in the stable. For three or four days 
they showed signs of soreness, but soon all this 
passed away and they settled down to busi¬ 
ness; emasculated and dehorned, what, is left 
for them to do but to eat mid grow fat ! . 
These twelve steers are now like a lot of 
Merino ewes in a pen, and Prof. Henry defies 
any man to pick out any “boss” or toll the 
weaker ones. Each one crowds up fearlessly 
to the trough, and two or three more in each 
room could as well as not be added. Their 
gain in weight, has been remarkable, and he 
would not for $50 have the horns back again.. 
There are those tliflt Imhl up their ha mis ip 
