88 
m 
between the standards of the corn plow to 
hold the seed potatoes, with an opening at the 
back, so that the pieces will feed out just in 
front of the hole (a Fig. 60;. A spring (not 
shown in the cut) . 
is fastened to the 4 
axle in such a way 
that it will rap on 
the spokes of one 
wheel as the wheel 
revolves. Then the 
man who does the 
dropping pokes a 
piece down the 
hole at every rap 
of the spring. The 
spokes are one foot 
apart, and for a 
longer distance 
wire nails are 
driven into the 
hub for the spring 
to strike on Of 
course, the team 
must walk slowly and steadily, and by driv¬ 
ing one wheel m the furrow made by one cov¬ 
ering shovel the time before, the rows will be 
about three feet apart. One has to carry a 
lot of seed in front (as shown in Fig. (50) so as 
to have enough to plant a “round” half a 
mile. 
I have used this “rig” for two years, and 
last year I planted for two neighbors also. It 
gives good satisfaction, putting the seed in 
the moist earth without drying it in the hot sun 
and wind—with it I can plant three or four 
Fig. 61. 
acres a day. In sod ground we use a rolling 
cutter running just ahead of the furrowing 
shovel and just as deep. Fig. 62 shows how 
I fix the plow when I get through planting, so 
that it will work in the potato field without 
running on the vines. It works just as well 
in corn and a good deal better in narrow rows. 
Dakota Co., Minn. a. c. carpenter. 
ANSWERS TO CORR ESPONDENTS. 
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askliiK a question, please see if it is not answered In 
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CHRONIC LAMINITIS OR FOUNDER. 
A. It, Chippewa Falls, Wis.— My four- 
year-old horse was taken lame in the left hind 
leg about two months ago. He holds that leg 
up and when he travels he steps on the toe of 
that foot. That leg got well in about a week 
and the other hind leg got lame. He stands 
all humped up with his four legs almost to¬ 
gether. He is lame one day iu one hind leg; 
the next day in the other. His urine is as 
white as milk, and he urinates three or four 
times a day. He does not flinch when handled 
on the back. His appetite is good. I am giv¬ 
ing him sweet spirits of niter and bran mashes 
with oil cake meal, which seems to help him. 
What is the matter and how should he be 
treated? 
ANSWERED BY DR. F. L. KILBORNE. 
We suspect the animal has been foundered, 
resulting in chronic inflammation of the feet. 
Apply a linseed poultice to all four feet for 
three or four days to soften the horn and re¬ 
duce the tenderness. Then remove the poul¬ 
tice, pare down the sole and hoof-wall if over¬ 
grown or brittle, and blister the front and 
sides of each pastern for four inches above the 
hoof with a mild fly blister—powdfred can- 
tharides, three drams; lard or vaseline, two 
ounces—clip the hair short and rub the blis¬ 
ter well into the skin with the palm of the 
hand. When the blister is raised, carefully 
wash off with warm water and castile soap, 
and keep the surface soft by the daily appli¬ 
cation of pure vaseline. Tie up the head so 
that the animal cannot reach the blistered 
surface with the mouth. Repeat the blister 
in three weeks. Keep the hoofs well an- 
nointed with hoof ointment—equal parts tar 
and vaseline—daily to prevent the drying of 
the sot'teued horn. The animal must not be 
worked during the treatment. Except for 
two or three days following the application of 
the blister, daily walking exercise will be de¬ 
sirable, however. If the bran mashes and oil¬ 
cake meal have not loosened the bowels, give 
five drams of aloes to move them and then 
continue the mashes and oil cake. Give two 
tablespoonfuls of the following powder night 
and morning in the feed—powdered gentian, 
niter and carbonate of potash: mix. 
WOOD ASHES, ETC. 
A. W. II. (address mislaid). —1. What is 
the value of ashes made by burning wood in 
the furnace of a steamboat. Would it pay to 
haul them five miles for fertilizing purposes? 
2. What is the value of bone dust as a fertil- 
izer?.Would a bone mill pay? 3 How should 
bone dust be sown? Will it pay to grind feed? 
What is a good grinder? 
Ans —1. Their value depends to some extent 
on the variety of wood consumed; if light and 
soft wood the ashes are apt to be somewhat 
deficient in pota-h: first, because these woods 
furnish but little potash and, second, because 
the intense heat is apt to drive off a part of 
what they do contain. Hard woods make less 
blaze and the ashes, dropping to the bottom 
of the furnace more readily than when the 
blaze is strong and fierce, escape to some ex¬ 
tent the intense heat of the fire. Their value 
can be determined only by analysis, but there 
is not the least doubt that they are of suffi¬ 
cient value to haul five miles and spread upon 
the laud. Ashes are never benefited by being 
mixed with anything else. They should be 
kept perfectly dry and should not even be put 
in a building with a ground floor until they 
are used. Spread them directly upon grass 
land at any time of the year that may be most 
convenient. 2. There is about $35 worth of 
phosphoric acid in a ton of bones and also a 
greater or less quantity of nitrogen com¬ 
pounds. A bone mill without doubt would be 
a good investment. Address Wilson Bros., 
Easton, Pa. The power required would de¬ 
pend upon the size of the mill. 3. The wagon 
broadcast seeder will be just the thing to sow 
ground bone with as well as the ashes 4. 
ANSWERED BY DR. F. L. KILBORNE. 
I am unable to diagnose the disease affect¬ 
ing these cattle. It may be due to the water 
or possibly to the feed, resulting in part or 
wholly from the change of locality and clim¬ 
ate. Reports of a somewhat similar disease 
have come from Texas, where it is designated 
as “creeps.” The symptoms are not those of 
the contagious pleuro pneumonia. I can only 
suggest that care should be taken in the pur¬ 
chase of stock, and that only such as are in at 
least fairly good condition should be accepted. 
They will be less likely to be affected by the 
change, and they will be better able to resist 
the evil effects of the water and feed if there¬ 
in lies the trouble. 
COMMERCIAL FERTILIZERS FOR ONIONS. 
E. M. A., Essex Co , Canada. —1. What 
quantity per acre of nitrate of soda should be 
applied to onions? 2. W ill it destroy or im¬ 
pair the germinating power of the seed if so wn 
in the drill? 3. Should the whole amount 
be applied to the crop be sown at once with 
the seed, or should successive applications be 
made? 4. Would the use of nitrate of soda be 
advisable on marsh land which, after 12 inches 
of muck were burned off, makes an average 
crop of 300 bushels per acre for several years 
without any manure whatever? 
ANSWERED BY JOSEPH HARRIS. 
1. Use 500 pounds of nitrate of soda per acre 
and 300 pounds of some commercial fertilizer 
containing, say, 10 percent of phosphoric acid 
and four or five per cent of potash. The nit¬ 
rate will cost three cents per pound and the 
fertilizer 1)4 cent per pound. 2. If the 
ground is moist, nitrate of soda is so rapidly 
diffused through the moisture in the soil that 
it will not injure the seed. Superphosphate, 
if made from burnt bones or mineral phos¬ 
phate, will not injure the seed and can safely 
be drilled in with the seed. 3. As a rule, we 
find it better to sow the whole at once. Per¬ 
haps one year in five we may lose a little nit¬ 
rate by leaching, but the advantages from 
early sowing are more than enough to com¬ 
pensate for the risk. 4. Yes. Are we to 
__o.°_a 
POTATO PLANTER. Fig. 60. 
Without doubt it will pay to grind feed not 
crack it. The Raymond Bros. ’ Chilled Burred 
Grinder, capacity 20 to 40 bushels per hour, 
with six to eight horse power is a good one. 
Their manufactory is at 213 to 221 S. Canal 
St., Chicago. The Scientific Grinding Mill 
made by the FoosM’f’g Co., Springfield, Ohio, 
is also a good one. 
AILING CATTLE. 
D. P. R., Hermosa, D. T. —During last year 
I shipped 400 cattle to this place from Illinois 
and Iowa—50 cows and two bulls in March, 
and 350 calves and yearlings in the fall. I 
have had the most awful luck, having lost 35. 
Most people here turn their cattle on the range 
to hustle for themselves—that is, to pick up 
their own living in summer and winter. I 
have the finest and warmest sheds in the Ter¬ 
ritory. On the north I dug out a bank and 
built a stone wall, while I boarded up tightly on 
the south. The sheds are 200 feet long and 32 
wide inside, and the buildings are so divided 
that weak animals can be fed grain without 
being disturbed by strong ones. I feed corn- 
and-cob meal, and have fed some unground 
shelled corn. The affected animals get weak 
and appear deathly sick. As many as 100 
at a time were bleeding at the nose three or 
four weeks ago. Some ccugh and some swell 
at the ankles and become lame. The joints 
don’t work readily. I have fed them all the 
hay they cau eat and some grain. They 
were poor and in bad condition when I got 
them here, and, of course, they have not fat¬ 
tened except in a few cases where grain was 
fed. Those that die are mostly calves, though 
a few yearlings have gone. When they go a 
short distance to the creek for water some 
give out on the way back. These are hauled 
to the warmest spot and well fed, but they 
appear to prefer death to life—and always get 
what they like best. What is the matter? Is 
it pleuro-pneumonia? 
understand that all the muck was burned off 
down to the hard soil beneath; and is it a 
fact that you get a good onion crop every 
year on such land without manure? 
TREATMENT OF CLAYEY LAND FOR SEEDING TO 
GRASS. 
W. C. V. A., Wellsville, N. Y.— What is the 
best way to treat clayey land which was sow¬ 
ed to oats last spring, and upon which the 
grpss failed to grow? Barn Grass, sorrel and 
daisies now occupy it. 
Ans.— Plow early this spring with a jointer 
plow, harrow and fit most thoroughly and 
sow three bushels of oats per acre. Roll when 
the oats are about two inches high. If the 
land is inclined to be dry, sow, before rolling, 
200 pounds of equal parts of land plaster and 
salt per acre. Plow under the oats with a 
jointer or chain attached to the plow, when 
fully headed out. Harrow and roll until the 
ground is firm and fine, then drill 16 to 20 
quarts of buckwheat per acre; at the same time 
drill with the seed 50 pounds of some reliable 
commercial fertilizer. If no drill is available, 
sow both broadcast. Plow under the buck¬ 
wheat when in full bloom, and take great pains 
to fine and solidify the ground. Sow or drill 
one and one half bushel of wheat or one bush¬ 
el of rye per acre about Sept. 5th ; but before 
doing so, sow broadcast 50 to 100 pounds of 
fertilizers as above, per acre, in order that 
the grass may get more benefit from it than 
the wheat or rye. Immediately after the grain 
has been drilled in or before the final harrow¬ 
ing, if it has been sowed broadcast, sow six 
quarts of Timothy seed per acre, and about the 
last of March sow six quarts of clover seed. 
Repeat the dressing of plaster and salt as soon 
as the grain is harvested, and from four to six 
weeks afterwards run over the stubble with 
the mowing machine set high , Keep all stock 
off the first year and mow early the following- 
SOWING AND FERTILIZING MANGELS, ETC. 
M.M.W. (addressmislaid). —1. How,should 
superphosphate be applied to a mangel patch 
to produce the best results? 2. Is it a good 
plan to plant mangels on the same land year 
after year if it is well manured? I planted them 
twice on the same patch and the second crop 
wasn’t more than half of the first. 
ANSWERED BY JOSEPH HARRIS. 
Ans. —In my experience superphosphate 
alone does little good on mangel-wurzel. Ni¬ 
trate of soda is the best of all fertilizers for 
beets and mangels. But it is always desirable 
to use superphosphates in connection with the 
nitrate. I drill in my mangels and beets with 
a grain drill, sowing three rows at a time 28 
inches apart. The drill has a fertilizer 
attachment and drills 150 or 200 pounds of 
superphosphate with the seed. If you want a 
a large crop of mangels, sow broadcast 400 or 
500 pounds of nitrate of soda before drilling 
in the seed. I have had very favorable 
results from drilling in with the seed a mix¬ 
ture of half nitrate of soda and half super¬ 
phosphate-drilling in as much as the drill 
will sow, or about 200 pounds per acre. I 
should use more if the drill could sow more, 
but it cannot. The coulters are seven 
inches apart and when sowing in rows two 
inches apart we stop up three holes and let 
one sow. In other words, only one-fourth of 
the drill is sowing, so that if the drill is made 
to sow 800 pounds of fertilizer per acre, it will 
only sow 200 pounds in rows 28 inches apart, 
and the amount of seed you wish to sow can 
be regulated in the same way. For instance, 
a bushel of beet or mangel seed weighs about 
22 pounds. If you use the four-peck wheel 
you would sow a peck per acre, or 5% pounds. 
Theoretically this is more seed than is needed; 
practically we would rather sow more than 
less. 2. Mangels and beets are “gross feeders.” 
If they have nitrogen enough they take up a 
large quantity of other plant food provided it 
is present in available condition in the soil, 
and produce a great crop. There is no objec¬ 
tion to sowing mangels year after year on the 
same land. It is merely a question of con¬ 
venience and manure. 
PECANS, ENGLISH WALNUTS, LOCUST, ETC. 
W. B., Wading River, Suffolk Co., L. 1.— 
What nut trees and locusts will thrive here? 
ANSWERED BY N. HALLOCK, QUEENS CO., L. I. 
The pecan with me is perfectly hardy. I 
have one 40 feetj high and over two feet in 
diameter at the ground. Never a bud winter- 
killed. Its growth is its only success, as the 
nuts never ripen, though there are plenty of 
them. My English Walnut has so far stood 
the winter as well as the native pignut. Trees 
of large size at Glen Head and Glen Cove 
standing much exposed, are regular bearers. 
In planting locusts I should prefer to take 
pieces of roots of some reliable stock than 
to plant seedlings. Trees giving a large 
supply of seed I always look on with 
suspicion as being of the dark heart or 
smooth bark variety. The kind most desirable 
has a deeply cracked or corky bark when of 
some age, a yellow wood, and it is a shy 
seeder and always grows more erect than the 
other varieties. I have had much experience 
in planting the tree. Set in a wood lot recent¬ 
ly cut off, 10 to 15 feet apart, let them grow 
three or four years, then go through and cut 
off all sprouts and sets. The roots will then 
have well filled the ground and will come up 
all over. Let them grow four years and then 
cut out all sprouts. The locusts left will take 
care of themselves. This was the plan adopted 
on nearly 100 acres here. I found later that 
a root-cutting a foot long as large as one’s 
finger did equally well or better, and needed 
much less work. Otherwise the treatment is 
the same. There are thousands of acres where 
locust might take the place of less valued 
wood. There is no tree that comes in use 
sooner, as at 20 to 22 years-it is large enough 
for posts, and if cut then another crop at 
once starts, which can be cut 15 to 18 years 
later. Very large timber is not as much 
sought for as formerly, since so much iron en¬ 
tered in ship-building. For posts locust has 
no equal. Last spring I reset a fence, built 
in 1836, and not over one post in 20 had to be 
replaced. Is there any other wood of which 
one can say as much? I don’t know any. 
BROKEN BONES. 
J. W. J., Campbellford , Ont., Can.— 1. I 
have seven acres which I intend to plant to 
sweet corn for evaporating. I also have ten 
tons of ground bones from one-half inch down 
to coarse salt in size. Would it be extrava¬ 
gance to put all these bones on that quantity 
of land, as I also intend to apply 50 bushels of 
unleached hard-wood ashes per acre? The 
land was sod broken up last year, and pro¬ 
duced a good crop of peas, and is in fair con¬ 
dition now. 2. Would it not pay me to make 
a part of these bones into superphosphate, 
and how should I proceed to manufacture it? 
3. Would it be a good plan to sow the'bones 
