820 
THE RURAL. MIW-Y0RSCER. 
(WAY 12 
pastern joints makes a creaking noise each 
time she steps. She is not lame in the leg, ex¬ 
cept a trifle sometimes when she trots. I have 
let her rest nearly all winter, and bathed her 
leg for rheumatism. This did some good but 
did not stop the noise. She was badly cut in 
that joint by a shovel plow, she strained her 
leg and also burnt it by catching it over a 
hernp rope while being hobbled at grass. It 
is not sore or feverish. 2. Is there any way 
of telling what fertilizer to use except by trial; 
if so, how? 
Ans. —1. Apply'a cantharides blister to the 
joint, clipping the hair short, and rubbing the 
blister well into the skin (powdered canthar¬ 
ides,2 drams;vaseline, 1 ounce; spirits camphor, 
lOdrops). When the blister is well raised, re¬ 
quiring 13 to 24 hours, wash off with castile 
soapsuds, and anoint daily with vaseline un¬ 
til the scab is removed. Repeat in six weeks 
if necessary. The head must be kept tied to 
prevent reaching the blistered surface with 
the mouth. 2. That’s the only satisfactory 
way, as analyses of the soil would be by far 
too expensive and very uncertain in the les¬ 
sons to be drawn therefrom. Of course, a 
“complete” fer ilizer will produce good re¬ 
sults, as it contains all the elements of plant 
food; but some of those may not be needed by 
the soil or crop. • 
C. E. S., Cacles, La. —Some time ago the 
neck and shoulders of one of my hogs swelled 
to a large size, the animal felt great difficul¬ 
ty in breathing; the passage of the breath 
was accompanied by a wheezing sound often 
like snoring. The appetite remained good, 
however, until the sufferer died, apparently 
from suffocation, in about seven days after 
he attack. Another was taken sick about a 
week ago, but doesn’t appear to get any worse. 
What would .be the best treatment? 
Ans. —Call a veterinarian to examine the 
pig. We cannot diagnose the case from your 
description, and consequently cannot advise 
suitable treatment. 
W. H. S.,Tull amor e, N. Y. —1. Is fall plow¬ 
ing advisable, the land to be plowed again in 
the spring for potatoes? 2. How would pota¬ 
toes do on old pasture sod broken last fall? 3. 
Should the seed pieces_.be cut two eyes to a 
piece and one piece to a hill or one eye to a 
piece and.two pieces.to a.hill? 
Ans. —1. Yes, it would be better, but the 
trench makes it less necessary. 2. The sod 
would help them in furnishing some food and 
rendering the soil more mellow. 8. We pre¬ 
fer two to three strong eyes in one piece, with 
all the flesh that can be given. 
D. W. T., Mt. Vernon, la. —My two-year- 
old colt was castrated a year ago, but the 
wounds have never entirely healed and he has 
ridgling on both sides. There is an opening 
on each side extending up to the cord, the 
holes being large enough to admit a finger. 
Pus is constantly discharged, otherwise the 
animal is in good health. How should I treat 
him? 
Ans. —You cannot treat the colt yourself. 
It will be necessary to have him operated 
upon by a competent veterinary surgeon; and 
the earlier the operation is performed the 
better the chances of recovery. 
T. B., Morristown, N. J. —What sort of 
a potato is the Rural Blush? How long has it 
been on the market, and is it a good cropper? 
Ans. —It is a late potato of the first quality. 
We use no other kind when we can get the 
Blush. It yields heavily and withstands 
drought finely—better than any other we 
know of. It keeps as well as any potato—a 
remarkable keeper. It “straggles” in the 
hill—its chief fault. 
A. T. J., Villa del Pila, Paraguay, South 
America.— Can fruit treesand vines be packed 
in the United States so that they would arrive 
in this country in fairly good condition—say 
in 45 days? 
Ans. —Yes, nursery stock can be packed so 
that it will stand a shipment of 45 or even 60 
days with safety, if proper care is exercised 
by the steamers, according to directions, in 
transit. 
H. A. R., Greenport, N. Y. —In what form 
is potash most available for fertilizing fruit 
trees—muriate or sulphate? Where can it be 
got? 
Ans. —For fruit trees muriate is generally 
preferred. Kainit would answer, being vir¬ 
tually a muriate and common salt. All fer¬ 
tilizer firms sell the several forms of potash 
used in chemical fertilizers. 
A. P. S., Bedford, Mass.— Does Prof. Arms- 
by tell the truth, on page 149, when he says 
that the source of the quality in milk is to be 
found in the breed rather than in the feed? 
Ans. —There are many opinions on this 
point. The “doctors" do not seem to agree. 
We shall soon publish the opinions of mauy 
breeders and dairymen. 
J. L. C., Keshena, Wis.— Is sub-soiling on 
a light sandy laud of any use? 
Ans.—T he object of subsoiliug is to loosen 
and mellow the soil to a depth greater than 
the furrow plow can reach. Light, well- 
drained soils do not need this. 
W. W. S., York, Pa., and A. M.P., Ashta¬ 
bula, Ohio, want to learn from whom they 
can procure eggs of the Red Caps mentioned 
in a late R. N.-Y ? 
Ans. —W r e bought ours of W. Atlee Burpee 
& Co., Philadelphia, Pa. 
DISCUSSION. 
“the three best.” 
W. D. G., Clintondale, N. Y.— E. P. P. 
appears to have misunderstood my remarks 
(p. 213) in regard to the “Three Best” Iruits 
of the Rural senes. He says (p. 270), “I take 
square issue with him as to the Brighton 
grape not being one of the three best reds.” 
His issue is of his own creation. I expressed 
no adverse opinion of the Brighton, but ex¬ 
plicitly stated that “if I should plant three 
reds for market B. would be one.” Reference 
was made to the Brighton, some facts being 
given as to its unsatisfactory action in some 
parts of the Hudson Valley, only to show that 
Mr. C.’s favorite at Oneida might not be 
everybody’s favorite everywhere, as well as 
in justification of the expression of widely 
varying preferences by growers throughout 
the country as to the “three best.” It was 
hoped that the facts referred to might suggest 
the possibility of more honesty in the ex¬ 
pression of these preferences than E. P. P. 
seems willing to accord to the writers. If I 
have misunderstood him and his issue is with 
the facts alluded to, an intimation to this ef¬ 
fect will be responded to by a prompt com¬ 
pliance with a request for the facts, either to 
himself or to the Rural. In his communica¬ 
tion he speaks of his location as “superfine” 
for growing grapes. Perhaps it is for this 
reason that some varieties do better there 
than elsewhere. I will add that any location 
having advantages above the fair average, is 
not the best for testing varieties for general 
use. The remarks about nurserymen boom¬ 
ing fruits, etc., don’t come near me, but I be- 
believe there are honest men in that business, 
and I think it best not to condemn any for 
expressing an opinion different from my own 
as to grapes or anything else. Does E. P. P. 
want the facts as to Brighton? 
the perfect gem squash. 
N. H., Creedmore, N. Y.—In the Rural 
of April 23 Dr. Sturtevant is quoted as saying 
that the “Perfect Gem Squash excited much 
curiosity in the sixteenth century.” I take It 
for granted that the good Doctor’s curiosity 
was not much excited in the sixteenth cen¬ 
tury, and he may be misled by a similarity of 
descriptions, which are always misleading. 
What I know about the Perfect Gem is this: 
Some years ago I grew some of Vick’s Cocoa- 
nut Squash beside a squash the seed of which 
was given me, but the origin of which I do 
not know. The squash was not unlike the 
Cocoanut in shape—white and quite warty, 
with a hard shell. The next year I planted 
only seed saved from the Cocoanut Squash. 
One plant bore fruit that differed from either 
and was a “Perfect Gem,” the seed of which 
was planted the following year. Some plants 
bore fruit auite warty, and for a number of 
years would sport that way. A friend saw 
and ate some, got the seed of the perfect 
fruit, grew several acres of it, sold the seed to 
J. M. Thorburn, who put it out as “Perfect 
Gem,” which it is yet. 
L. A. M , Unadilla, N. Y.—I am much 
surprised to see the note from Mr. Henderson 
in a late Rural stating that pot grown roses 
are to be preferred to those from the open 
ground for planting out. If florists can send 
out roses from their greenhouses, which pay 
for planting, I wish to know it. My experi¬ 
ence with them has been a sad one so far. I 
hope the Rural will accept his offer of the 
dozen, and report success. Mr. Henderson is 
certainly good authority, but 1 am almost 
discouraged about buying greenhouse roses, 
and it is the generally accepted opinion about 
here that pot-grown roses are of no use, espe¬ 
cially the Hybrid Perpetuals. A few years 
ago the neighbors about here formed a club 
and ordered quite a number. From the 
whole lot I never saw more than one good, 
healthy bush. They were not planted out un¬ 
til the weather was warm,and mine at least had 
good care, for roses are my pets. Uf quite a 
number put out two years ago,only two lived, 
and they are not a foot high, and never have 
been. A few more did live a short time, and 
tried to grow, but it was in a poor, sickly 
way, and in a few weeks they gave up the 
struggle. One year ago last July I took a 
rose bush from a friend’s yard, kept it out of 
the ground several days with only a cloth 
around the roots, carried it quite a distance 
on the cars, and it is now a finer bush than 
any pot-grown rose I ever saw. If I knew I 
could get pot-grown roses which it would pay 
to try, I would order some to-morrow. 
C. A. D , Brotherton, Kans. —Law's Farm¬ 
ers’ Veterinary Adviser is for sale by Dr. 
James Law, Cornell University, Ithaca, N. Y., 
price, $3. 
Oatmeal for Store Cattle —Professor 
William Brown, of the Ontario Agricultural 
College, was asked by the Ontario oatmeal 
millers to test oatmeal as a fattening food for 
stock. To do this satisfactorily he handled 
six head of cattle—three heifers and three 
steers—from two to three years old, and hav¬ 
ing Durham, Hereford, Aberdeen Poll and 
Holstein blood in their breeding; average 
weight on entry 1,281 pounds. These were 
properly paired and grouped so as to allow of 
rotating from one ration to another every 
third week, beginning January 7ih and 
ending March 10th. One week was al¬ 
lowed between each change in order to over, 
influence the previous feeding before precise 
testings were ncted, and of course each meal 
of all the animals was weighed and every 
other proper tbiDg attended to as in all exact 
work of the kind. The following daily rations 
were employed per head: 
No. 1. 
25 lbs. mangels. 1 All cut, pulped and 
10 “ Timothy bay. | mixed twice or 
5 “ oat straw. thrice a week. 
2 “ wheat bran. J 
42 
12 “ oatmeal, mixed with above when 
served. 
No. 2. 
42 lbs. pulp as above. 
12 “ wheat (winter), mixed as above. 
No. 3. 
42 lbs. pulp as above. 
8 “ ground oats. I Mixed as above. 
4 “ “ peas. ( 
The rations may be criticised by the practi¬ 
cal farmer in this way: About equal weights 
of dry fodder and of grain, and about half of 
fcje whole being roots; plenty bulk and varie¬ 
ty; looks more like a good meal for cows than 
for fattening cattle. 
The market value of the materials per head 
for the whole period of the test, under deduc¬ 
tion of what was unconsumed and the approx¬ 
imate nutritive ratio of each course are: 
Oatmeal ration, cost $11 30; n. r. 1:7.08. 
Wheat ration, cost $9.82; n. r. 1:7.98. 
Peas and oat ration, ccst $8.10; n. r. 1:6.10. 
In preparing oui selves for the actual results 
of the feeding by a study of these rations 
based on the chemical composition of the foods, 
we should expect that the peas and oats 
would do best, the oatmeal second and the 
wheat third. This is not always safe reason, 
ing, however, as the form or mechanical com¬ 
position of food has a great deal to do in ani¬ 
mal economy and often upsets our best theor¬ 
ies ; there is no chemist equal to digestion. Or 
it might be guessed that as the oatmeal ration 
is the most free of any crude materials, such 
as skin or husk of the grain, it w ill be more 
indigestible and therefore cannot give results 
equal to wheat with its shell and the peas 
and oats with their rougher skins. But wtyat 
are the practical facts in this preliminary in¬ 
quiry? Overall the period of 63 days with 
six cattle in three groups, rotated, and alto¬ 
gether under strict management, w’e have 
this per head per day record of increased live 
weight: 
Oatmeal, .47, or almost one half pound. 
Wheat, .93, or nearly one pound. 
Peas and oats, 1.30, or about Impound. 
That there is interesting material here can¬ 
not be doubted. Rich in albumen, and par¬ 
ticularly in fat, as oatmeal is very consider¬ 
ably over all others in this testing, except al¬ 
bumen in peas, it may be considered that be¬ 
cause of its compactness as a food, or rather 
peihaps its want of natural husk, even 
though mixed with coarse, bulky fodders it is 
more indigestible than either wheat, oats or 
peas. The theoretical feeding value of the 
three rations being regulated by the respective 
grains,and wheat being the least in that respect 
(see nutritive ratio) we would expect the poor¬ 
est result in the animal report; but it has al¬ 
most doubled the daily rate of oatmeal, and 
Prof. Brown finds no such irregularity or 
back-going in its use as he had in two in¬ 
stances with different groups of cattle in the 
case of oatmeal. The most prominent back- 
going was when the changes were made from 
wheat to oatmeal. 
Another look at the relative composition of 
these rations and of their digestibility shows 
that we have had a close agreement between 
science and practice in this testing. Of the 
oatmeal 77 per cent, is considered to be taken 
up by the animal system, 83 per cent, of win¬ 
ter wheat, and as much as 84 per cent, of the 
mixture of peas and oats is digestible. 
In conclusion, therefore, it may be taken as 
correct to say that oatmeal is too rich, as well 
as valuable of course ($35 per ton), for exten¬ 
sive use to store cattle, and maybe should 
only be given sparingly to calves and milch 
cows. Wheat for the second time in Prof. 
Brown’s experience, has given a good record 
in cattle feeding, when its concentrated form 
is considered, though much of this result is 
due no doubt to the coating usually called 
bran. _ 
Feed and Wool. —The experiments in Ger¬ 
many, reported by Prof. Samuel Johnson, of 
the Michigan Agricultural College, on the 
feeding of sheep, to determine the effects of 
keeping on the amount of wool produced, are 
quite a surprise to Michigan farmers, and do 
not tally with the conclusions arrived at from 
general observation and experience. According 
to Mr. Gliddtn, in the Albany Cultivator, 
the experiments (the Professor says) show: ]. 
That the most wool seemsto be produced when 
the animals are thoroughly well fed, but not 
fattened; 2. Increase of daily ration beyond 
this produces no effect upon the wool; 
3. If the ration falls much below this mini¬ 
mum (maintenance ration) the amount of 
wool falls to a certain extent: 4. The growth 
of the wool is not directly dependent on the 
food, and will continue even in the absence of 
it, or when it is small in amount, and is only 
affected by it within the limits mentioned. 
As a summing up of some further experiments, 
he says: “To keep sheep fat when wool is the 
one product desired is, then, an unnecessary 
expense or outlay for all the extra fodder, 
over and above a good maintenance ration, 
which will give the full product. A ration 
less than this will affect the fleece somewhat, 
but the animal will suffer much more in flesh 
than in wool.” 
Experience in Making Prize Butter.— 
The N. E. Farmer prints a letter from Mr. G. 
L. Shortt, of East Montpelier, Vt., whose but¬ 
ter scored 91 points and who was awarded a 
premium at the butter exhibit held in Mont¬ 
pelier during the past winter. He milks from 
30 to 40 cows, full-blood and high-grade Jer¬ 
seys. Their feed consists of hay, silage, 
corn-meal, bran and cotton-seed meal. He 
milks at 5 a. M. and 5 p. M. In the morning, 
after milking, a light foddering of hay is 
given them; after they have eaten that the 
mangers are cleaned; then he feeds silage, 
a heaping bushel and a half basket feeding 
five cows; then he sprinkles meal on top of the 
silage. He takes a barrel of corn on the 
cob and grinds with it one bushel of Western 
corn and 25 pounds of bran. He takes four 
quarts of this and two quarts of cotton-seed 
meal, mixes thoroughly and feeds two quarts 
to each cow morning and night. After this 
feed is eaten they are watered, the water be 
ing warmed to 70 Q , then the stables are clean¬ 
ed and the cows bedded with sawdust; thus 
they are kept as clean as in summer. After 
being watered, they are tied up and have a 
light feed of hay. At 8 p. m. the same pro¬ 
cess except watering is repeated. The cows 
being clean the milk is clean and is carried 
direct to the dairy room. He uses a Ferguson 
Bureau creamery. He believes in dry setting 
and is certain he can make butter of a better 
flavor and that will keep longer. He lets the 
milk set 36 hours, when it begins to sour. He 
churns three times a week; stirs cream in the 
can when a new lot is put in so as to ripen it 
evenly. He churns at a temperature of 64° 
in winter. When the butter gets into gran¬ 
ules he puts in a pail of weak brine, churns a 
little and then draws off butter-milk and 
rinses in three waters at 62°. Weighs, then 
salts in churn, cne ounce to the pound, and 
works with a butter-worker. 
Success in Dehorning.— Mr. B. F. John¬ 
son mentions, in the Albany Cultivator, that 
as dehorning has been practiced in Champaign 
County (111) and neighborhood to some extent 
this spring, he has heard of no case of bad re¬ 
sults, but there is a story afliat in the newspa¬ 
pers of a herd of a hundred cattle or more in 
the neighborhood of Bloomington, Ill., which, 
having been submitted to the ordeal about 
March 1st, are in a very pitiable plight—in¬ 
flammation and ulceration having followed, 
the operation with probabilities of disastrous 
results. Interviewing leading veterinary au¬ 
thorities of the county, among them Dr. Mc¬ 
Intosh, of the University of Illinois, Mr. 
Johnson found there had been nothing but 
success with the operation. There is no ques 
tion but sawing off the horns, even when done 
in the most skillful manner, is a very painful 
operation, the animals, in fact, suffering in¬ 
tense agony for a few moments. But it is 
soon over, and they are so little hurt or shocked 
that iCscarcely affects the appetite. The repar¬ 
ation is so rapid that a gristle-like substance 
is^formed’over the wounds in a few days. Be¬ 
sides, it so subdues the fighting propensities of 
steers and cows that they^feed at the rack like 
