■whatever in this objection. These bulls got 
just as well marked, healthy calves after de¬ 
horning as before it. My experience with 
daily cows shows that they can be as ugly 
and dangerous as any it' they make up 
their minds to it. In the high-toned dair¬ 
ies where there can beau attendant for every 
cow aud “braid the brush 11 to make it curl, 
the cow may be lamblike enough, but T have 
been in dairies where horns wars uotbiug but 
dangerous weapons, pure and simple. People 
still claim that dehorning is very painful. I 
am well satisfied it is not as painful as castra¬ 
tion. As to taking the horns from calves, I 
may state that long experience, lias taught me 
that it is very difficult to get rid of the. em¬ 
bryo horn even in the calf. Burniug is very 
severe and is not a certain operation I use a 
gouge that lifts out the entire horn aud also 
scrapes the bone below: this I think, must be 
done. The fact is that horns are of no possi¬ 
ble use. They eau lie taken from the old cow 
as easily as from the calf. It is all well 
enough to say we will begin with the calves. 
I say, take the old cattle too. and let all the 
horns go. Five years from now a great ma¬ 
jority of our cattle will be hornless, and far¬ 
mers will wonder why they were so sleepy 
about this great matter. n. n. haaff. 
Henry Co., Ills 
EXPERIENCE WITH SWINE PLAGUE. 
“FRED. GRUNDY.” 
My experience has fully convinced me that 
pigs which arc fed on a variety of foods and 
are supplied with pure water, and warm and 
dry shelter are capable of great resistance to 
the contagion of swine-plague, and also that 
if attacked by the disease, they frequently 
can be cured if prompt action be taken. 
Every swine breeder may as well kuow first 
as last, that it is utterly useless to treat hogs 
that are attacked by the plague if their sys¬ 
tems have been especially prepared for its re¬ 
ception and cultivation by injudicious feediug 
and unsanitary surroundings. Such hogs not 
only contract the disease upou the slightest 
exposure, but they also help to increase its 
virulence to such an extent that even those 
that are healthy and vigorous are unable to 
withstand an attack. 
Swine breeders should bear in mind that 
the disease always increases in virulence in 
proportion to the number attacked. Ileuce 
the necessity for close attention, and prompt 
action in whatever method of treatment may 
be adopted. The first symptoms of the dis¬ 
ease manifested by a pig should be the signal 
for its instant removal from the herd Home 
advocate removing the sound animals from 
the yard and leaving those that are sick. Iu 
case the owner has eight or ten yards, each 
provided with warm and dry sheds, the idea 
would bo a good one, but when he has only 
one yard fitted up with sheds, troughs, feed¬ 
ing floors, etc., it would hardly be practicable. 
If the first pig attacked is promptly removed 
when the first symptoms of illness are exhibi¬ 
ted, no germs will be deposited; aud there will 
be much less danger of others taking the dis¬ 
ease while surrounded by pig comforts and 
conveniences, than if turned into an open 
yard and exposed to storms and cold. And, 
besides, I think that 99 in a 100 farmers 
would rather not have their best pig yard 
turned iuto a cholera hospital, and thereby 
rendered unfit, for pig use for two or three 
years. 
When the herd is closely watched, and the 
matter of removal carefully attended to, a 
herd that is healthy and vigorous will frequent¬ 
ly pass the crisis with very little loss, either in 
number or weight. If the affected ones do not 
show good signs of recovery within three days, 
it is best to knock them on the bead, and then 
destroy ever}’ vestige of them with fire, to¬ 
gether with all litter and bedding they have 
come iu contact with. Then apply disinfect¬ 
ants freely to the lloor and wails of the build¬ 
ing they occupied. In some cases the simplest 
remedies supplemented with clean, dry quar¬ 
ters, and varied food, will work a complete 
cure in a short time. 
Last year I had a pig which I was fattening 
in the highest style of the art, for my own use. 
Its food comprised the best materials and was 
varied daily, and its drink was milk and 
water. It was one of the most lively and 
frisky pigs 1 ever saw, und my appetite wuxed 
keeu when I thought of the delicious ham and 
juicy sausage contained iu its frame. But, 
.during my absence, the pigs of my nearest 
neighbor caught the plague in its worst form, 
aud all died. On my return I learned that he 
had turned them out of the pen when first at¬ 
tacked, and one of them had strayed through 
my_yard. I immediately went to the pen of 
my porker, and found it lying in one comer 
with its eyes closed, and the end of its nose 
resting on the ground. I took a lath aud with 
some smart spatting induced it to walk into a 
small shed. Finding that warm milk and 
other pig delicacies failed to tempt its appetite, 
T gave it a quantity of soft coal, broken small. 
It chewed a bit, gave a grunt of satisfaction, 
then crunched away until it bad eaten nearly 
half a peck. That pig ate over half a bushel 
of coal in two days, and would touch nothing 
else. At the end of that time it had become 
quite lively aud began to eat food; then it 
wouldn't touch coal. It recovered completely 
in five days, but it had lost 20 pounds in 
weight. It regained its weight within three 
weeks, but my appetite for that particular 
piece of pork had vanished, and I sold it. 
Many men wonder how the contagion is 
spread over a neighbot hood so rapidly. It is 
distributed by running water, stray animals, 
dogs, crows and buzzards, aud by the boots 
and clothing of hog buyers an 1 the owners of 
affected hogs. 1 have seen hundreds of buz¬ 
zards. and thousands of crows feasting on the 
dead hogs that short- witted farmers had hauled 
out into their fields aud pastures, and even 
along roadsides. Cau any sane man wouder 
at the rapid spread, and increased viral, nee of 
the disease. The only w’ay to keep it out of a 
herd, is to put tho animals into a small, clean 
yard and establish a shot-gun quarantine. But 
even with these precautions a buzzard, crow 
or wandering dog mag introduce it. Not until 
people learn to destroy every vestige of their 
dead hogs with fire, and to use disinfectant 
freely, need any man hope to keep his herds 
perfectly safe from the plague when it appears 
in his neighborhood. 
Christian Co., Ills. 
Odd Sows for Breeding. —In my exper¬ 
ience at hog raising, 1 prefer to keep a good 
sow as long as she will give me two good lit¬ 
ters in a year. I prefer a large sow, either a 
native or a grade Chester White. 1 use n full 
blood Yorkshire or Berkshire boar. When I 
get a sure breeder I keep her as long as she 
breeds. I have had sows give me six litters of 
healthy jugs, while my neighbors who depend 
on young sows for breeders have lo«t. a large 
percentage of the progeny. L. s. s. 
Wyoming Co., Pa. 
Do ini finsibrntinj. 
KOUMISS. 
PROF. L. B. ARNOLD. 
A new avenue that leads to intemperance; 
koumiss may hare some virtue as a reme¬ 
dial agent; its virtues not apparent; Na¬ 
ture makes milk about right in the first 
place; koumiss alters it for the worse. 
In reply to the Rural's inquiry whether I 
am correctly reported as advising, in the New 
York Tribune, that koumiss should not be 
used as a drink for the reason that it contains 
alcohol, I have to say that I did take such 
ground in the weekly Tribune of May 11, and 
that 1 hold to that position, most pointedly. 
There is no question about the fact that alco¬ 
hol is invariably a constituent of koumiss. It 
is present, however, iu varying quantity. As 
made by the ancient Arabs, of mares’ milk, it 
contained from three to four per cent. As 
now made from cows’milk, it probably does 
not contain more than one to two per cent.., 
cows' milk being less favorable for the pro¬ 
duction of alcohol. But eveu one per cent, 
would, in my estimation, be too inueh alcohol 
for a drink to contain. The use of such a 
beverage could hardly fail to cultivate a de¬ 
sire for a stronger one, aud to open a new 
avenue leading to intemperance, of which we 
already have too many. Great claims are 
made for koumiss as a remedial agent. If it 
really has any power in that direction, it may 
be all right to encourage its use for such a 
purpose. 1 certainly would not stand iu the 
way of anything that would serve to relieve 
suffering humanity. It is only its use u-s a 
beverage that 1 object to. Iu regard to the 
strong claims made for it for other purposes 
than a drink, though it may possibly be en¬ 
titled to all that is claimed for it, I must con¬ 
fess that, to me, its great virtues are not very 
apparent. Koumiss is milk hi a fermented 
and greatly altered condition. Nnturo has 
been credited with making milk about, right 
in the lirst place. She certainly did mako it 
so that it has answered the purpose of animal 
nutrition most admirably. Iu koumiss, near¬ 
ly evorytldng in milk that is vuluublo Is 
materially altered. Since milk is known to bo 
good in its natural condition, the presumptive 
inference is that if it is greatly altered it must 
lie for the worse. Suob an inference, how¬ 
ever, is not conclusive. Art has improved 
Nature's grains and fruits. Art has improved 
Nature’s cow, and it is not impossible that art 
may improve the conditions in the milk of 
that cow. Whether art has beaten Nature iu 
converting milk iuto koumiss, I will not 
make bold to decide. I will state briefly tho 
changes which take place in tho operation, 
aud let the Rural's readers draw their own 
inferences. 
When milk is left open to the air at a favor¬ 
able temperature, the vinous fermentation in¬ 
variably sets in if it stands long enough for it 
to develop. At first the sugar begins to be 
changed into lactic acid, and, according to 
well-known chemical action, a part of the acid 
is converted into alcohol, and another part is 
broken up into butyric acid aud hydrogen 
and carbonic acid gases. The tendency to 
form alcohol varies with the per cent, of case- 
ino in the milk. The more caseino the less al¬ 
cohol, ami the more butyric acid in its place. 
As cows’ milk contains the most caseino, its 
koumiss may bo expected to contain the least 
alcohol. Butyric acid is a solvent of caseino, 
aud lactic acid, though it coagulates caseino 
when weak, dissolves it when strong, aud be¬ 
tween the two. the caseine which has not been 
destroyed to support, the growth of ferments, 
is c-bauged from its naturally solid state in the 
milk into that of a liquid and in this condition 
it exists in koumiss, which, considered by it¬ 
self, is undoubtedly an advantage, since the 
solid caseino must bo converted into a liquid 
before it can bo digested. The fat the milk 
may contain is the only thing not materially 
changed. Similar changes often occur iu 
cream which has been kept too loug before 
churning. When it stands so long that buty¬ 
ric acid is developed the caseine in the cream 
is dissolved, making it so viscid and slimy as 
to moke churning very difficult if not impossi¬ 
ble. The question to be decided is, whether 
koumiss with the caseino left in it iu a state of 
solution accompanied with an installment of 
alcohol and of lactic and butyric acids, is bet¬ 
ter than the original milk with all its caseine 
retained in a solid state accompanied with its 
easily digested sugar in its native condition 
instead of in the form of alcohol aud acids. 
THE AMERICAN WONDER MACHINE. 
peter b. mead. 
A late number of the Rural eontaius an 
allusion to tho “American AVonder Machine,” 
which would seem to invite further informa¬ 
tion. My opinion is very decided, that when 
a new thing is placed before the public all 
that is known about it should be fully aud 
frankly stated, iu order that those who pur¬ 
pose purchasing it may know how far and in 
what respects it will suit them. This has been 
the practice of the Rural hertofore, aud it is 
a good one. 
It so happens that I can furnish additional 
information about the “Wouder Machine,” 
that may be useful to the readers of the 
Rural as well us to others. The “Wonder” 
was exhibited at the last Fair of the Ameri¬ 
can Institute, and referred for trials to a com¬ 
mittee, of which I was chairman. Their re¬ 
port is now on file at the rooms of the Insti¬ 
tute. I propose to outline it and state 
briefly what the committee did. They first 
tested the inventors’ claim for time, that the 
machine will make butter iutwo minutes from 
milk warmed to a temperature of from 74 
degrees to HO degrees. Since the inventor lays 
particular stress ou this high temperature, 
the committee carefully tested the milk with 
a thermometer. The claim for time proved 
to be well-founded, though it requires a very 
rapid motion to get butter iu this brief time. 
The inventor also claims that the milk will 
still be sweet after the churning. This is also 
true. 
These are the two chief claims. The com¬ 
mittee, however, concluded to make some 
comparative trials in another direction. The 
following trials were made in competition 
with a churn in common use. The milk from 
three cows was used, mixed and equal por¬ 
tions by measure pul in each churn. The milk 
was used at the temperature called for by the 
inventor—74 to HU degrees, t will summarize 
the results of a number of trials. As to time, 
there was a great difference in favor of the 
“Wonder.” As to quality, there was no ap¬ 
parent difference. As to color, the test was 
greatly in favor of the common churn, the 
butter from the “Wonder” being very pale. 
As to quantity, the common churn gave by 
weight twice as much butter us tho “Wonder” 
from the same quantity of milk. In these 
trials we were assisted by one Of the best 
butter-makers in the county. 
It has been remarked that the milk iu the 
“Wonder,” as claimed by the inventor, was 
still sweet after the churning. Talking this 
over, tho conclusion was reached that the 
milk was still sweet because all the butter had 
not been taken from it. The milk was ac¬ 
cordingly put back in the “Wondei ’ and 
chui ned over again. The result was that the 
second churning gave as much butter u.s tho 
first, but it took the sweetness out of the milk. 
Practically, using the rapid motion and high 
temperature recommended by the inventor, it 
required two churnings with the “Wonder’' 
to get as much butter as the common churn 
gave with one, the milk being the same iu 
both. 
As to color , the conclusion was reached 
that good color could not lie obtained with 
the high temperature and rapid motion re¬ 
quired by the inventor. It. was accordingly de¬ 
termined to make a series of independent trials; 
that is, independent of the printed require¬ 
ments of the inventor. The temperature of 
the milk w^s gradually reduced until 60 de¬ 
grees was reached, and the best results were 
obtained between 60 and 64 degrees. The mo¬ 
tion was also gradually slowed with like good 
results. Time, however, was still in favor of 
the “Wonder.” With the lower temperature 
and slower motion the “Wonder” gave about 
as much butter as the common churn. Iu the 
case of tho “Wouder” it was interesting to no¬ 
tice, as the temperature was gradually lowered 
and the motion slowed by degrees, how surely, 
though slowly, the quantity of butter w r as in¬ 
creased and the color improved. 
It seems evident, therefore, that butter may 
be produced very rapidly, but at. the expense 
of quautity and color; and color, from a com¬ 
mercial point of view, is worth, I should say, 
several minutes of time. I mean natural, and 
not artificial color; for good butter no more 
needs the latter t hau good wine needs a “bush.” 
The butter-maker will understand the reasons 
for these results without further explanation 
from mu, 1 have briefly stated the trials 
made, and given the results. The reader can 
draw his own conclusions, 
The “Wonder” has its merits, but iu just 
how high a degree has not yet been fully de¬ 
termined. Further trials must be made to 
this end. A small family keeping one or two 
cows may find it very nice to make a little 
butter iu two or three minutes, aud still have 
milk sweet enough for domestic purposes; but 
the professional butter-maker, I suspect, would 
prefer a temperature of say 64 degrees, a little 
more time, and all the butter that is in the 
milk. 
I may just as well finish this article with a 
little story. A\ r hen the two-minute trial w'as 
being made, a gentleman present tasted the 
milk after the churning, and finding it sweet, 
said, with a twinkle iu his ye, “Why this 
would be just the thing for Charlie B. He 
could make butter, and sell his milk too.” But 
Charlie B. is au honest mau, takes the Rural, 
and will continue to sell his butter in the milk 
like all holiest men. 
Creamers Forever!—I cau testify to the 
truth of what the Rural says about the 
economy of using a creamer m the dairy. 
\\ r e used the tin pan system for years. For 
the past 15 months we have used a creamer 
and we can see, ns we never saw before, how 
much work we have thrown away at handling 
and washing those tin-pans. AVe mako better 
butter, make it easier and save at least five 
hours ever}’ week. The man who sold a cow 
to buy a creamer had good sense, in my 
opinion. n. s. l. 
Ulster Co., N. Y. 
farm (Toincs. 
if 
CORRESPONDENTS’ \ T IEAA r S. 
Objections of City Folks to Country 
Board. —Since reading Mr. Pond’s article on 
summer hoarders last week, I have taken 
pains to ask some of my city friends a few 
questions on the subject. I wanted to find what 
they considered objections—tho things that 
would keep them away from a farm Imuso the 
second year. Perhaps a synoposis of their 
ideas will he of advantage to farmers. They 
can doubtless cut off objectionable things eas¬ 
ier than they can add desirable ones. One 
great cause for complaint comes from a poor 
milk supply. City people want plenty of milk 
to drink. They tell of farmers who soud their 
milk and cream to the city and find fault if a 
child wants a drink of milk between meals. 
They don’t like to stop ut a place where the 
people are all the time trying to find out their 
business and family history. An inquisitive 
family will seldom see them u second .season. 
Too many farmers’ wives try to apo “city 
style” with poor effect. Good, wholesome 
fare, well cooked and neatly served gives the 
best satisfaction. One woman tells of a place 
where the young woman who waited on the 
table sut up nights to crimp her hair. She ap¬ 
peared in her iiest dress aud flaming ribbons, 
but every time she passed a dish one could see 
an eighth of an iucli of black at the ends of 
her Huger nails. AA r itli a neat calico dress, 
smooth hair and clean hands, she would have 
pleased every lowly. The farm pri vy is a cause 
for much dissatisfaction. It stands in the 
most conspicuous part of the premises and is 
unfit for a bumau being of any refinement to 
outer. This is one of the thlugs that people 
