448 
1 
JULY 7 
PKEPAItING OSAGE ORANGE SEED FOR USE. 
J. W. S., Wideawake . Ky. —How should 
Osage Orange seed *be treated to start plants 
for a hedge ? 
A ns.— Texas is probably the principal source 
of Osage Orange seed. There it is prepared as 
follows in small quantities : the ripe fruit is 
washed in water until the pulp is washed 
away, and then the seeds are dried and sent 
to market. The great bulk of the seed, 
however, comes from the mills where the 
“oranges” are collected in enormous num 
hers. The mills press the “oranges” into 
pomace, which passes through the strainers 
without injury to the seeds, and is so fine that 
when the mass reaches the washer, the seeds 
can be separated without trouble. The wash¬ 
ing-box, about : 0 feet long, three feet wide 
and as many deep, is sunk in the water, its 
top coming within a few inches of the sur¬ 
face. On the box rests the separator, with 
screens, rakes and pump. Water is pumped 
on to the mass of pomace and seed, which is 
worked up into a soft, watery pulp, from 
which the seeds drop down through a screen 
into the washing-box, while the pomace is 
floated away by the natural current or by an 
artificial one produced by the movement of a 
paddle-wheel in rear of the box, if the latter 
is in “ dead water.” The drying is the most 
particular part of the business: for if in this 
process the seed is not carefuby handled, it 
turns black and is rendered unsalable. Dry¬ 
ing platforms are erected at au inclination 
of 20 u to the south, and with an area of at 
least 12 feet square to the bushel. The seed 
having been carefully spread out, should be 
moved about often, so that it may become of 
a bright brown color. After drying has 
lasted three or four days—or until the seeds 
are thoroughly dry—they are sacked,weighed 
and branded, and are ready for shipment. A 
thousand good, sound oranges will yield one 
bushel of seed if properly handled, and the 
seed fetches from $3 50 to $5 per 32-pound 
bushel at the mills, the price depending on the 
supply and demand, but averaging about 
$4.50 per bushel. A bushel contains 220,000 
seeds. Worthless seed, earned by millmen 
“ souring ” the oranges, can be detected by 
letting a small quantity drop into water—if 
they sink they are sound, if they float they 
have been heated, and should be left severely 
alone. 
RUPTURED STOMACH IN A HORSE. 
W. R., Marshall, Texas.— On Nov. 22 last 
one of my horses (which up to that day was in 
apparent good health and worked nearly 
every day) was taken sick about 10 a. m. and 
died about 12 M. He was given some Epsom 
salts but nothing else, as we did not have 
time to give him anything. He was cut open 
an hour after death. The food passage from 
neck to stomach was found cut completely in¬ 
to and loose. His stomach was like a sieve; so 
full of holes was it that the food and water 
were all outside of the stomach. A few bots 
were found in him. At the time I ascribed 
his death to bots; since then I think he was 
either fed glass or poisoned. What does the 
Rural think of the matter? 
ANSWERED BY DR. F. L. KILBORNE. 
Your case is apparently somewhat similar 
to that of A. H. H. spoken of in the Rural of 
June 2, and while I suspect death was due to 
the same cause—rupture of the stomach—it 
may have been due to some other primary 
cause. I cannot quite understand how the 
lesions you describe in the gullet and stomach 
could have been produced; and therefore sus¬ 
pect you were misled into making a wrong 
interpretation of the appearance presented, 
from your not being accustomed to making 
autopsies. If only a few bots were found it 
is not likely that they had anything to do 
with his death. The stomach of almost every 
farm horse contains a greater or less number 
of bots during the winter and early spring. 
Had he been fed glass you ought to have 
found some of it about his stomach; and as to 
his being poisoned, I can give no opinion from 
your description. 
AN AILING HORSE. 
M. M., Fergus Falls, Minn —A month ago 
I had a pair of ponies brought here from the 
southern part of the State ; they traveled 
about 200 miles in six days and were not 
milch used to traveling. The day after they 
arrived, I noticed one of them—a stallion, 
800 pounds in weight, eight years old—to be 
stiff in the hind legs and he had a straddling 
gait, going wide behind. When he tried to 
trot he could not bring the hind legs forward, 
but dragged them along jumping. The man 
who had him in charge did not know any 
cause, and the man here who claims to be a 
veterinary surgeon said the trouble was rheu¬ 
matism, and that the horse would be well in 
three weeks, and gave some wash to rub into 
the hips. The horse seems now—six weeks 
afterwards—not to be much better. The 
trouble is mostly in the left hind-leg, and 
after rolling over in the yard and rising up, 
he keeps that leg raised up a little before be 
puts it down. When walking the gait is all 
right, but just as soon as he tries to trot he 
brings the hind legs forward in a kind of 
stiff, awkward jumping. What is the nature 
of the disease, and how should it be treated ? 
ANSWERED BY DR F. L. KILBORNE. 
We cannot say definitely from your de¬ 
scription to what the trouble is due. A stiff, 
straddling gait is characteristic of kidney 
disease ; what is the character of the urine ? 
Is there any tenderness on pinching the 
loins ? If there was sprain of the hip, there 
would be a quickened, short step, dragging of 
the toe and swinging out of the limb in ad¬ 
vancing it, which might be described as a 
straddling gait. If not due to one of these 
causes, it may be rheumatism as diagnosed by 
your veterinarian. The case can probably be 
cured after the true cause is discovered. 
Walking exercise in a large box stall or 
small yard will undoubtedly be beneficial, 
but more than that we would not advise at 
present. If there is no improvement, write 
again describing the case carefully. In addi¬ 
tion to above, state whether the lameness 
improves or grows worse with exercise. Is 
the stiffness aggravated by dampness, cold, 
exposure to wet, or any other cause ? 
HIP LAMENESS IN A MARE. 
J. W. K., Denton , Md. —My driving mare 
has been lame in the left hip since the 12th of 
January last. On the day it occurred the 
ground was frozen and rough; a careless 
darkey started with her to the wagon for a 
load of tile, but after au hour’s absence re¬ 
turned with the team,statiug that the mare had 
become lame on the road, and he had returned 
to get her replaced with another horse. I 
thought at first that the trouble was in the pas¬ 
tern, but found it was not there. I let her 
rest without treatment, except the applica¬ 
tion of liniment for a while. When spring 
opened I put her to light work, but whenever 
she steps on hard ground she limps badly. 
She is sore, and flinches when I press moder¬ 
ately hard on the muscles running from the 
hip-bone backward and toward the hip-joint. 
There is not now, nor has there been, any 
swelling or fever that I could detect. She is 
in good condition in every way except the 
lameness. Can she be cured ? How should 
she be treated ? When on soft ground, after 
working awhile, the limp is scarcely per¬ 
ceptible, but the first step she makes on hard 
ground is followed by an immediate limp, and 
if the next step happens to be on soft ground 
she steps all right. I had the shoes taken off 
and her feet thoroughly examined, fearing a 
nail or stab had caused the lameness, but 
no sign of any injury to the foot could be 
found? 
Ans. —If you are correct in your diagnosis 
of hip lameness there should be a short, quick¬ 
ened step, dragging of the toe, and swing¬ 
ing outward of the limb in advancing it. 
Apply a blister over the sprained muscle, fol¬ 
lowing the directions frequently given in the 
Rural. (Blister—Powdered cantharides two 
drams,spirits of camphor 5 to 10 drops, vaseline 
one ounce.) Repeat the blister in six to eight 
weeks if necessary. A rest of two to four 
months, with only walking exercise, will be 
necessary. Even after recovery the mare 
should be worked carefully for two or three 
months. 
WILLOW CULTURE. 
L. V. M., Cahokia, III .—A part of my 
land is very low; it doesn’t hold water, for it 
is very sandy; but if the Mississippi River rises 
28 feet, the water soon penetrates through the 
levee. Would it be profitable to grow willows 
here for market ? What kind should be plant¬ 
ed ? When should they be put out ? When 
should they be cut, and how should they be 
stored away ? 
Ans. —Willow-growing is getting to be quite 
a business in Bergen Co. N. J. The Osier 
Willow is grown. They are mostly planted in 
spring on low, wet land. Most of the land 
planted to willows near us could not profitably 
be used for any other crop in its present condi¬ 
tion. Cuttings or little whips from two to 
three feet are planted. The ground is plowed 
if possible and the cuttings are thrust into the 
ground to about two-thirds of their length, 
butts first, in rows about the same distance 
apart as the hills of corn. Very little cultivat¬ 
ing is done except in dry seasons when some 
growers run a horse cultivator through the 
rows. The time for cutting varies. Some 
growers cut in the fall and let the cuttings 
stand in pools or ditches of water till the next 
spring when a new growth begins. When the 
bark gets into about the condition desired by 
boys for whistle-makiug, it is peeled from the 
cuttings which are then bound into bundles 
and shipped. Others wait until the cuttings 
start in the spring and then cut and peel them. 
Fall cutting seems to be most popular with 
our farmers. The business pays fairly well 
near the cities, but at a distance from market 
it is of doubtful profit, 
AILING LAMBS. 
H. J. L , Rhinebeck, N. Y .— 1. Three of my 
lambs are in poor condition. Their eyes and 
ears are covered with a black crust and the 
skin is black all over the body. This is the 
third year on which the same ailment has oc¬ 
curred on my place. What is it ? The Rural 
gave a remedy on June 25, 1887. 
ANSWERED BY DR. F. L KILBORNE 
We are unable to say definitely what is the 
trouble with the lambs. From your former 
query we suspected some parasitic skin dis¬ 
ease, and the present cases appear to be due to 
the same cause. You do not say whether you 
used the remedy prescribed and with what 
results, so that we do not know whether it is 
desirable to make a chauge. A personal 
examination would be neces:ary to enable us 
to give you a more definite answer. 
ACTINOMYCOSIS OF THE LOWER JAW ON A COW. 
E. W. K., Staunton, Va .—I have a fine 
Jersey cow with a lump growing on the lower 
jaw. It is now about the size of a goose egg. 
It is very hard and is growing fast. I have 
treated it with iodine and camphor, but it 
continues to grow. What should I do ? I 
prize the cow very highly. 
Ans. —The symptoms are those of actinomy¬ 
cosis of the lower jaw-bone. Employ a sur¬ 
geon to trephine the lump in one or more places, 
and then inject into it one dram of compound 
tincture of iodine twice a week until the 
growth is arrested. Then continue the appli¬ 
cation externally of the iodine. 
Miscellaneons. 
.7. F., Coopersville, Mich .—What is a 
remedy for lice on hogs ? 
Ans. —Wash them all over with crude petro¬ 
leum, and next day give them a thorough 
washing with warm soft water and soap , 
using the scrubbing-brush freely. 
B. C., Corona, N. J .—Is it advisable to cut 
asparagus before it matures seed? 
Ans. Probably, if we consider the vigor 
of the root alone, it is better not to cut the 
plants until near the time when frost would 
destroy them. 
Several Siibscribers .—What paper in Flori¬ 
da treats of gardening and fruit growing in 
that State % 
Ans. —The Florida Dispatch, A. H. Man- 
ville, Jacksonville, Fla. 
T. B ., New York —Has the Rural recom¬ 
mended Paris-green as an insecticide for 
worms on elm trees. 
Ans.—Y es. 
DISCUSSION. 
PAUPER LABOR. 
H. C. A., Bergen County, N. J.—Buceph¬ 
alus Brown’s notion about “pauper la¬ 
bor” would sound very well in a Fourth 
of July oration, but how does it tally with the 
facts ? If we do not feel the effects of this 
same “pauper labor” in this neighborhood, I 
would like to have somebody tell me what it 
is. I am a market gardener. My truck is sold 
in New York and Paterson. I keep a few 
head of stock and sell some milk, butter, and 
eggs, but for my main dependence fora living 
I look to vegetables, though rye and clover 
are raised in my regular rotation. I aim to 
hire American help and to pay them their 
money when it is due. I contribute my share 
to the church and to all other necessary pub¬ 
lic expenses. My neighbor is a German—a 
type of the people who are settling in this 
neighborhood. He has a wife and eight 
children. They live in three rooms with lit¬ 
tle or no furniture. Every morning by day¬ 
light the man and woman and five of the chil¬ 
dren are at work. They work as long as they 
can see at night, and appear to go to bed as 
soon as work is over. Rye bread smeared 
with lard, and coffee is their staple food. 
They also eat what vegetables they cannot 
sell, and they raise their own pork. They buy 
poor, broken-down horses and club them 
through their work. They work all day long 
Sundays, and during the market season always 
start for market Sunday afternoon. They 
are simply models for frugality and industry. 
They spend nothing and work all the time. I 
see the wife and eldest daughter emptying the 
privy and cleaning out the hog-pen. They 
give nothing to the church or any other pub¬ 
lic need, they wear the roughest of clothing 
and they produce 95 per cent, of their food. 
They never read or study. They are expert 
market gardeners, because they think of noth¬ 
ing else and*give their whole time to their 
work. If they need extra help they get it 
from Castle Garden and avoid paying for it if 
possible. Now, I am obliged to compete with 
this family. We both raise the same vegeta¬ 
bles and sell them in the same market. It is 
easy to see that the cost of production on my 
side of the fence is greater then it is on my 
neighbor’s side, I have always believed it to 
be the duty of an American to readauds udv. 
I therefore spend considerable money during 
the year for books, papers and magazines, 
This very reading unfits me for competition 
with my neighbor. I want a carpet on my 
floor and pictures on my walls. I want clean 
dishes on my table and I don’t want to sleep 
and live in the kitchen. I don’t want to see 
my wife and daughters handling manure or 
cleaning out a hog-pen. I want to go to 
church on Sunday and to stop work now and 
then to go on a visit or excursion. I do not 
see that I can do any of these things and still 
compete with my neighbor unless I can pick 
up a special line of customers and make up in 
selling what I lack in economical production. 
Now my neighbor practices what I call “pau¬ 
per labor.” With me it is a very serious mat¬ 
ter and not at all “one of the most childish 
whims that ever came from a politician’s 
mouth.” I can show plenty of Americans who. 
* ‘lie awake nights dreading their competition. ” 
It is a fierce competition into which no Ameri¬ 
can can enter without being heavily handicap¬ 
ped, unless he drops the distinctive qualities of 
intelligence and education which are said to 
belong to the American farmer. This ‘ ‘pau¬ 
per labor” is with us and is crowding us harder 
and harder every year. 
THERMOMETERS FOR INCUBATORS. 
Giuseppe Tagliabue, New York City—I 
have noticed from time to time reports from 
those who use thermometers in incubators. 
Some succeed, others fail. Perhaps the fol¬ 
lowing experience may serve to show the ne¬ 
cessity of procuring a standard thermometer 
if one is to be used at all. 
A person who had decided to adopt incu¬ 
bating as a profitable pastime made a study 
of the various styles of incubators. Having 
selected the one which he considered the best, 
he called at my store to inquire the price of in¬ 
cubating thermometers. Upon being informed 
that the price was $2, he turned away abrupt¬ 
ly, saying, “Do you think I am a fool? I can 
purchase such thermometers at$l each,” and 
he left the store. About a month later he re¬ 
turned, saying “I have returned to tell you 
that I am a fool. I want two of your incubat¬ 
or thermometers, and I have used this (pro¬ 
ducing one) and succeeded in destroying 2,- 
000 eggs.” At his urgent solicitation 1 tested 
the thermometer for him.at 1048—Fah, and 
found it to indicate 98°. Thus he had main¬ 
tained a temperature of really 110° instead of 
104 c , as his thermometer indicated. The tem¬ 
perature worked splendidly to produce rapid 
putrification, but was quite too high for incu¬ 
bating. Another person informed me that he 
had purchased from a friend an incubator 
which originally cost $120, for half price, un¬ 
der the following circumstances: The friend 
had purchased an incubator and had not suc¬ 
ceeded in producing any chicks after several 
attempts, and upon my interlocutor making 
inquiry as to his success, he replied, “I am 
quite disgusted with the result; if you desire, 
I will sell the apparatus at half the price I paid 
for it.” The bargain was closed at once, and 
the new thermometers were substituted for 
those which went with the incubator, and 
the result was success. These are but two of 
numerous cases which have come under my 
notice, and as these parties desired me to 
make the same public, I do so through the 
Rural New-Yorker, as doubtless many of its 
readers may be similarly circumstanced. It 
is strange that an operator who knows full 
well how important temperature is in success¬ 
ful incubation should be so neglectful in the 
selection of the instrument by which he regu¬ 
lates the temperature. As well might the 
mariner attempt to navigate with an inaccur¬ 
ate compass. Another instrument which has 
been found of great service to successful in¬ 
cubating is a hygrometer in the apparatus. 
By the use of this the amount of moisture may 
be maintained to suit as nearly as possi¬ 
ble the condition of the eggs under the sit¬ 
ting hen. This point, although not so abso¬ 
lutely necessary as careful observance of tem¬ 
perature, is found to be of value. 
PRICE of oil-meal 
Samuel E. Pittman, Detroit, Michigan.— 
On page 399, S. B. H. of Crawfordsville. Ind., 
has the following: “The Rural has often 
urged the farmer to use cotton-seed meal and 
linseed meal as feed; but to get it we must 
pay $40 to $50 a ton, yet there were about 
80,000 tons of linseed meal exported during the 
last three months of 1887, at less than $23 a 
ton.” The general conclusions of this article 
are good, but the above quotation is au inac¬ 
curacy. He says that to get linseed-oil meal 
one must pay $40 to $50 per ton, while the 
export price is $23. Since last July we have 
sold, wholly for feeding in this country, 200 
car-loads of oil-meal, and it has not averaged 
over $21 per ton at our mill, and we have 
been able to obtain as much as any oil mill 
in the country. The freight for car-lots from 
Detroit to Crawfordsville is $2 per ton, so 
that by sending to Detroit S, R, W cau be 
