FES 9 
DISCUSSION. 
ANOTHER WATER WITCH. 
A Farmer’s Daughter, Logan Co., Ken¬ 
tucky. —A correspondent of the Rural 
want's to know something about “witching’ 
for water. “There seems to be just enough 
of mystery about it,” be says, “to make it in¬ 
teresting, and enough of reality to make it 
worthy of study.” That is what I have 
thought for a long time, and I have never 
neglected an opportunity for investigating 
the subject; still I must admit that it remains 
quite as great a mystery as ever. The method 
which he describes, however, as being used in 
Dakota, is entirely different from that prac¬ 
ticed in Kentucky. Here our “water-witches” 
use a forked twig, broken off a few inches 
ahove the fork, leaving two long, slender 
prongs to be used as handles. 
Several years ago, we needed a well on the 
outskirts of the farm to furnish water for a 
tenant’s home, and employed an Irishman, 
named Pete Allen, to dig it. Having shown 
him the locality, we looked on with interest 
while he procured a divining-rod from a 
peach-tree near-by, for he was a “water- 
witch” as well as a well-digger, and went to 
work to discover the spot where the nearest 
underground stream approached the surface. 
He held the forked switch in both hands, with 
the palms turned inward, and the thumbs 
down, concealing the long ends of the supple 
twig, and in this position, he walked slowly 
across the place where it 'was desirable the 
well should be located. When he reached a 
certain spot, the upper extremity of the twig 
began to bend steadily downward, until final¬ 
ly its position was completely reversed, and 
the end that at first pointed toward the 
zenith, now pointed directly downward to a 
certain spot in the ground beneath. He walk¬ 
ed over the ground several times with the same 
result, and then announced that he bad found 
water, and a fine, bold stream at that. After 
prospecting around for some time longer, for 
the rod showed signs of great activity, Pete 
announced with a triumphant voice that at a 
certain spot, two streams, one from the south¬ 
west, and the other from the northwest, came 
together, and from that point there was only 
one stream leading off toward the east. 
He also predicted that at the point of their 
conjunction, the limestone rock, in a fissure of 
which the water ran, was broken, making a 
vertical opening where the points of rock 
came together. “This being the case,” he 
said, “the well will be an easy one to dig, and 
I am sure to reach water, and plenty of it too, 
at about 35 feet.” [The “witches” or “div¬ 
iners ” who claim to be able to predict the 
depth below the surface at which water can 
be found, base their belief either on the force 
of the movement of the “rod” or on the 
diameter of the circle over which the move¬ 
ment is noticeable, one rule being that the 
depth is half the diameter of the circle; hence 
the deeper the water below the surface, the 
farther the influence it exerts.— Eds.] He 
showed bis faith by his works, and at once be¬ 
gan to dig. 
Strange as it may seem, the two streams 
came together exactly as the “witch” predict¬ 
ed, except that he had to dig a few feet further 
to reach them, but when he did, the water 
poured in with such a rush that he was 
obliged to stop work and wait until a dry 
season, when the water was bailed out in 
tubs, the channel closed, and the well walled 
up from the bottom; after which the stream 
was again permitted to run in, and until this 
time the well has furnished an inexhaustible 
supply of excellent water. Whether the 
divining rod had anything to do with it, I do 
not pretend to say, but my experience goes to 
show that a well that is “set” by a water- 
finder, guided probably more by his own in¬ 
stincts than by the switch in his hands, is more 
apt to prove a success than when the spot is 
arbitrarily fixed by some one else. At any 
rate, that has been the case on our plantation, 
and as it is pretty large, there have been a 
good many wells dug on it first and last. 
So now we let people have their own 
way about it, for the same reason per¬ 
haps that we permit the old colored women 
to make soap “ at the light of the moon ’’—be¬ 
cause then their hearts are in their work, and 
they go about it in earnest. Still, in spite 
of all the wise ones say to the contrary, I can 
not help thinking there is something in the 
divining-rod not yet understood, for I have 
seen the switch move with my own eyes, and 
felt it with my own hands. 
The “ water-witches’’were in great demand 
last summer. There w-as a severe drought in 
our section of Kentucky, the cisterns and 
wells were exhausted, and on our place water 
for the cattle became so scarce that two new 
wells were dug. The site of each was selected 
by a “ witch,” and good water was obtained 
in both instances at a reasonable depth. The 
divining-rod is selected from different kinds 
of trees in _ different localities; here 
} any fruit-bearing tree is used though 
the peach, I believe, is rather preferred. 
The “ witch ” does not presume either to 
doubt his “ gift,” or to account for it: he 
simply accepts it. Neither does he appear to 
think there is any magic connected with it; 
most of them are men of little or no education 
except what they have learned from exper¬ 
ience. 
The divining-rod is still used in Europe for 
the detection of subterranean streams in times 
of drought, and the practice can be traced 
away back beyond the ken of historians; 
nor is its efficiency in finding water the only 
virtue|attributed to it; for superstitious people 
have long employed it in ascertaining the 
position of silver, gold, and precious stones 
concealed 'in the earth. Mr. Fiske, the 
scientist, who has given the investigation of 
curious myths much of his attention, tells us 
that the divining-rod itself is but one among 
a large class of things to which popular 
belief has ascribed, along with other talis- 
manic properties, the power of opening the 
ground or cleaving rocks, in order to reveal 
hidden treasures. In his learned way, he 
traces the origin of the curious superstition 
back to one of the many myths which owe 
their genesis to lightning, and claims that 
the forked streak of light is the archetype of 
the divining-rod in its oldest form. “ Hence,” 
he says, “ the one thing essential to the divin 
ing-rod, from whatever tree it be chosen, is 
that it shall be forked.” 
MORE ABOUT LIME AS A “SOIL IMPROVER.” 
A. T. T., Franklin Park, N. J.—The 
article in a recent Rural in relation to the 
benefits of using lime on some soils, is a 
matter of much interest to those who may 
have an opinion but who have not yet had 
much experience. The experience of the 
Rural contributors covers a variety of soils, 
and therefore the reports given are all the 
more valuable. Lime has been extensively 
used in this vicinity for years, and many a 
farmer “points with pride ” to his well cul i- 
vated and fertile fields, whose condith n 
no amount of argument can convince him is 
not due to the free use of lime. The soils 
through this section are mainly of decomposed 
shale, in which limestone is an unknown quan¬ 
tity. They are red, and contain clay enough 
to render them sticky and tenacious to an un¬ 
pleasant degree at certain seasons of the year. 
This red, porous rock lies within half a foot to 
four feet of the surface, and while all right 
during a season of abundant moisture, it is an 
unprofitable factor in a year of drought. 
Numbers of farms that were formerly 
overrun with wild blackberry vines and 
useless weeds, and which were either 
abandoned entirely or only farmed by 
starvation methods are now blooming evi¬ 
dences of the value of a new “sesame” 
that has unlocked the hidden fertility of the 
red fields and made them to blossom like a 
rose in the wilderness. Ask any of these 
farmers the cause of this change, and he will 
unhesitatingly answer—“ lime.” This radical 
improvement I am informed dates back for 
a period of perhaps 30 to 40 years. The sta¬ 
ple business of these places has been that of 
furnishing hay for market. The yield has 
been gcod, and the Timothy offered lor sale, 
commands the highest market price. 
“ How do you grow such crops?” 
“I use lime” 
“ Nothing but lime?” 
“ Yes, 1 use all the manure I can make from 
the little stockl keep, and I sow lime liberally.” 
I mentioned this subject as a vexed qm stion. 
With all this evidence of the value of lime 
about me. there would seem to be little doubt 
about the course to pursue in any contemplat¬ 
ed treatment of my own ground. The trouble 
is this; for the past few years, perhaps five or 
six, the professional hay buyers—those with 
hay presses who buy as middle-men—insist that 
there has been a steady deterioration in the 
quality and a diminution in the quantity of 
the hay from these sections that formerly, 
or during the later periods mention¬ 
ed, furnished such a valuable product. 
Lime is still plentifully used and the 
same quantity of manure is made and applied, 
but the result is not the same as formerly. 
The farmers themselves differ greatly in opin¬ 
ion as to the cause. Of course, the decreased 
revenue points unmistakably to some cause, 
whatever that may be. With these latter 
facts at hand, the use of lime to me is a vexed 
question. I have used lime at different times » 
on different fields and in varying quantities. 
I have also used bone liberally. Now, why do 
I not in effect sow lime when I apply bone? 
Is not bone a phosphate of lime, and in 
applying bone, do I not also add to the appli¬ 
cation a quantity, and a useful one at that, of 
phosphoric acid, and in doing this am 1 not 
economizing in time, labor and cash All 
the advocates of lime admit the necessity of 
manure in conjunction with it, or if the t>ian- 
’ ure pile is small, then they urge the use of 
some other form of fertilizer to supplement 
the shortage in manure. We usually sow 25 
to 40 bushels of stone or unslaked lime per 
acre. This is first slaked with water and 
then spread broadcast either on sod for the 
following 3 ear’s crop of corn, or on the corn 
crop shortly after planting. Its bulk is near¬ 
ly doubled by slaking, so that 40 bushels be¬ 
come 80 bushels when applied. It is not ea e y 
or rapid work to haul and sow lime, neither is 
it inexpensive work. The price is about 13 
cents per bushel of stone lime and it is ad¬ 
mittedly necessary that manure or fertilizers 
must be used, therefore I do not see why I am 
not right and am not justified in expecting 
all the effects of lime in sowing either pure 
bone or a fertilizer whose base is largely bone, 
together with such manure as I may make 
from an understocked farm. What say others? 
WHY NOT MAKE YOUR COWS PAY? 
H. C. M., Fairfield Co , Conn.— Prof. 
Roberts’s statement in a late Rural, that of 
the 1,534,000 milch cows in New York State 
seven-eighths are now dry, is true; 00 per cent, 
of the cow r s of this part of the country are so. 
How any dairy-man that can take a pencil 
and put two and two together can feed cows 
150 days without any return is a mystery I 
am unable to explain; for I find it costs near¬ 
ly as much to feed a dry cow as one in milk, 
to make her good for anything when she 
comes in; for what one saves in the meal-bin 
will be lost out of the hay-mow. I milk my 
cows nearly tbe year round. I cannot afford 
to let them run dry more than 40 to 00 days 
each, and every one must give a good flow of 
milk up to withip 30 days of her tirre; other¬ 
wise she is too poor for me to own. I try to 
time my cows so that when one goes dry, I 
have a fresh one to take her place as nearly as 
possible. 
Below is a statement of what my cows did 
in 1888. I do not expect them on a cold or 
stormy day to get shelter on the lee side of a 
stone wall, or to fill tbe pail from straw, corn¬ 
stalks and hay too poor for market. I com¬ 
menced 1888 with nine cows, some fresh and 
tbe rest two to nine months in milk; but all 
had calves some time in 1888. Through the 
year I bought a tenth cow, and I had her milk 
for two months in the latter end of her milk¬ 
ing, and for t«o months when she came in 
frtsh. 1 kept one calf with the dam until it 
was six weeKs old, and sold it tor veal, ana a 
second until it was three weeks old. The rr st 
were disposed of when seven diys old; the 
cows also supplied all the milk, cream and 
butter consumed in a familv of six persons, 
besides some milk and cream that were sold, 
yet I made 2.940 pounds of unsalted butter. 
Here are tbe figures; 
Butter sold. $881.74 
Milk “ . 9 35 
Cream “ . 7.98 
Calves “ . 22 40 
$921.47 
BIG BUTTER BUSINESS. 
G. W. H., Rochester, Mass.— In answer 
to the Rural’s inquiry regarding the num¬ 
ber of pounds of milk required to make a 
pound of butter, here is my experience. I 
milk 12 grade Jersey cows. During 1888 tbe 
herd made 3,777 pounds of butter which was 
sold weekly to consumers at 35 cents per 
pound. Last week 177 pounds of milk made 11 
pounds of butter, or about 16 pounds of milk 
for one pound of butter on an average of the 
whole herd. The milk from some of the cows 
would do much better, and I think that in a 
few years I can get from these a herd that 
will be a great improvement over what I now 
have. The plan to have cream weighed, will 
hardly work as it is raised under such vari¬ 
ous conditions. If raised by cold, deep setting, 
it will take more than two quarts for a pound 
of butter, whereas if it is raised in open pans 
or in the Ferguson creamer, and carefully 
skimmed, less than one quart will make a 
pound. I use the Ferguson Bureau Creamer 
and have used deep setting, and also the old 
method of open, shallow pans, and I am satis 
tied that about the same amount of butter 
can be made in all cases if the weather is 
favorable. Cream will rise no matter 
whether the'milk is set three inches or three 
feet in depth, if the temperature is such that 
it will not sour in less than 36 hours. Still I 
think so well of the creamer that I would use 
it if I had to buy a new one every year. 
SCOURS IN CALVES. 
W. B. P., Prattsburg, N. Y.—Sometimes 
there will occur a case of obstinate scours 
among the calves either before or after 
weaning. The discharges may be light-col¬ 
ored, or dark and fetid. There will be dullness 
iu the eyes and general wasting away. The 
best remedy I have ever found for this is 
from half-ounce to ounce b ts of salt, fat pork 
according to age of calf, thickly sprinkled on 
both sides with ground, black pepper, and 
given twice a day as long as relished or until 
improvement is satisfactory. When I first 
decided to experiment with it in a case that 
had resisted various other kinds of treatment, 
I anticipated objections to the dose by the 
calf. To my surprise, after once getting the 
taste, the ca’f seemed to like it, and in the 
course of a day or two would stagger to me to 
seize the morsel from my extended fingers. 
In another case during the past season, after 
improvement was manifest, the calf would 
come from the opposite side of the field to me 
ons°eing me with his medicine. The relish is 
lost when the difficulty is corrected. This 
remedy has been fouud adequate in every 
case in my experience. A slice of pork a half¬ 
inch thick is cut to proper sized pieces, cov¬ 
ered all over with the pepper on a plate, and 
set within easy reach. 
H. A. W , Erie, Pa. — [think the asparagus 
bed referred to in Rural of Jan 19, must be of 
inferior quality and poorly managed,otherwise 
the family of four must be exceedingly fond 
of this delicacy. Several years ago I nut out 
a bed 32 by eight feet, with two-year old roots 
and the next season cut all we could use in a 
family of nine, and all were very fond of it. 
My only care of the bed was to cut the old 
stalks and apply a liberal amouut of well 
rotted manure, the richer in nitrogen the 
better. Throw some loose boards or brush on 
the bed to hold tbe manure in place, leave the 
covering on until spring, then slightly fork 
the manure in, and so continue from year to 
year aud I will warrant a family of four or 14 
will get all they need. 
Value of Little Things.— Mr. J. H. 
Hale, of South Glastonbury, Conn , speaking 
in the Courant of the importance of “little 
things,” instances a man who 15 years ago 
bought a farm in Connecticut for §S,000, 
paying down what cash he could and giving a 
mortgage of $4,500 for the balance. The gen¬ 
eral line of his farm operations has been tbe 
same as his neighbors’, in addition to which 
he has been looking about the farm for brush 
to cut and stones to pick up, touching up the 
pastures with a little top dressing here and 
there, gathering leaves in fall aud muck In 
winter to add to his manure pile. With a 
good dairy, pigs and poultry, and a large 
fruit and vegetable garden, and with o her 
“ little things” that can be picked up about 
the farm from time to time, he is marketing 
something in the village two or three days 
in the week all through the year, and thus 
always has cash to meet the daily expenses. 
A family of five have been well educated, the 
mortgage has been paid off, many improve¬ 
ments have been made on the place, and he is 
several thousand dollars ahead in money 
safely invested. His neighbors, who have 
only been able to just make a living, say that 
he spends too much time “ fussing with little 
things,” yet after all he has been “ mighty 
lucky.” 
Animals’ Pulses. —Iu horses the pulse at 
rest beats 40 times, in an ox from 40 to 55, 
and in sheep aud pigs about 70 to 80 beats per 
minute. So says Wallace’s Monthly. It may 
be felt wherever a big artery crosses a bone. 
For instance, it is generally examined in the 
horse on the cord which crosses over the bone 
of the lower jaw in front of its curved posi¬ 
tion, or in the bony ridge above the eye, aud 
in cattle over the middle of the first rib, and 
in sheep by placing the hand on the left side, 
where the beating of the heart may be felt. 
Any material variations of the pulse from 
the figures given above may be considered as 
a sign of disease. If rapid, hard and full, it 
is an indication of high fever or inflamma¬ 
tion; if rapid, small and weak, low fever, 
loss of blood or weakness. If slow, the possi¬ 
bilities point to brain disease, and if irregular 
to heart trouble. This is one of the principal 
and sure tests of the health of an animal. 
SAUNTERINGS. 
If you want the lowest-growing vines of 
any pea known to the R. N.-Y. buy the 
“Minimum ’’advertised in many catalogues. 
If you want a pea that will pay you for the 
planting and cultivation, buy some other 
variety. 
James J. H. Gregory says that the great 
mass of onion seed now sold in this country, 
is raised in California, aud sometimes gives 
as good an onion as some strains of Eastern 
seed; but the onions do not always keep well. 
Mr Gregory calls attention to the seed 
of the “ New Queen onion,” aud also to the 
mammoth varieties. The seeds ot these are 
