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THf RURAH WFW-YORKIR. 
233 
first place, it saves all trouble of cutting it 
down; and it is very easy to fork or rake it 
off from the top. Again, if we take twice a 
day from the top, the exposed surface is con¬ 
stantly kept fresh, and so there is no spoiling 
of the silage. This saves the silage and keeps 
the barn sweet. Where the silage is cut 
down, the side molds and ferments and fills 
the building with the sour, disagreeable odor 
ol fermentation. My barn is sweet, so that 
even on warm days, one may enter the close 
basement without being reminded of silage or 
the silo. I know of another silo where the si¬ 
lage is as sweet as that in my silo; but where 
the barn is so sour with fermentation that I 
dislike to go into it. I do not like to keep my 
stock where I find it disagreeable to stay. 
This barn has a large silo,and the silage is cut 
down from the side. I believe this explains 
the sour odor, so I say emphatically, feed 
from the top, and make the opening on the 
side reach to within two feet of the top. 2. 
Tarred paper in the North is used extensively 
for sheeting frame houses inside the clap¬ 
boards. Now we get a thin, tough paper that 
is preferred by many to the tarred. The 
tarred costs about two cents per yard, the 
other a little more. The hardware merchants 
keep this paper on hand in all our villages 
and cities. 
AN AILING FLOCK OF HENS. 
A CL., Windfall, Ind.— What is the mat¬ 
ter with my Brahma chickens? One has lost 
the use of his legs which stick out straight 
behind him; another has a big boil just back 
of where the wing joins the body and it dis¬ 
charges what to all appearance is clear blood. 
Two others appear crazy; they will start and 
run a few steps then turn round and run 
straight back again, jerking their heads from 
one side to the other as though looking for 
something they imagined was after them. 
The wing of one which died became a mat¬ 
tered sore, and its comb was a dark purplish 
red, but the combs of the rest are bright and 
healthy. They have been fed mostly whole 
corn with potato and apple parings. They 
have an almost unlimited range and have 
had Douglas mixture. • 
Ans. —The difficulty is due to the use of 
the Douglas mixture, so far as the boils are 
concerned, while the vertigo is due to pressure 
of blood on the brain, caused by over-feed¬ 
ing, and an over-fat condition. The fact that 
the Douglas mixture shows the effect stated 
indicates scrofulous tendency, probably in¬ 
herent, (which often occurs) and the birds 
should be no longer used. The exclusive feed¬ 
ing of carbonaceous food has thrown the 
whole flock out of condition, making them 
more liable to disease. 
FERTILIZER QUERIES. 
E D. G., Ashburnham, Mass. —1. My soil 
is an upland, neither clayey nor sandy, but 
just medium; can I use a better top-dressing 
for grass than ground bone with muriate of 
potash ? Would fish and potash be a good ap¬ 
plication ? 2. What is the best manure for 
oats to be cut for hay just as they begin to 
head ? 3. What would be the best fertilizer 
for flat turnips put in on sod lands in August? 
4. In a favorable season could I reasonably 
expect 200 bushels of turnips per acre from an 
application of a ton, per acre, of high-grade 
potato fertilizer, or would bone and potash De 
better ? I shall seed to Timothy and Red-top 
or Blue grass. 5. For one who doesu’t want 
to use more than from 1,000 to 2,000 pounds 
of commercial fertilizer is it advisable to buy 
the raw materials 1 l can get them as easily 
as the prepared article. 
Ans.— 1. Not uuless you substitute sulphate 
for muriate. The mixture would be deficient 
only in nitrogen Fish might be advautage- 
ously added. 2. In the absence of any infor¬ 
mation as to what your soil needs, wo would 
answer, superphosphate (dissolved bone) three 
parts, potash oue and nitrogen (nitrate of 
soda) one. 3. A complete high-grade fer¬ 
tilizer strong in phosphate. 4. The potato 
fertilizer is needlessly strong in potash. 5. 
No, we would buy the prepared fertilizer in 
such a case. 
ABOUT POTATO PLANTING. 
,7. If. N., Afton, N. Y. —1. I am going to 
plaut about 14 acres of potatoes on a sandy 
loam upland. The White Star aud Burbank 
are the kinds mostly raised in this section; 
would the Rural advise me to plant those or 
some other varieties, aud what kind would it 
advise? 2. How many bushels shall l allow 
to the acre, aud if cut how many eyes to the 
hill? 3. Would wood ashes be good as a fer¬ 
tilizer? 4. 1 am also going to sow about 20 
acres of spring wheat on the river flat a part 
of which is very rich land. I intend to top- 
dress the rest with about 20 loads of fine 
manure to the acre; what kind of spring 
wheat shall 1 sow aud how much to the acre? 
Ans —1. It will be safer to plaut potatoes 
that you know do well on other farms near 
you, than to try experiments. New varieties 
ought always to be tried on small areas. 2. 
If you cut medium-sized potatoes, having a 
medium number of eyes, and plant one by 
three feet apart, you will need 12 oushels. Not 
less than two strong eyes. Give all the iesh 
possible. 3. Yes, a splendid fertilizer but 
one-sided. On your land, add raw-bone flour 
—400 pounds to the acre. Bow broadcast. 4. 
We prefer not to advise in the matter of 
spring wheat. 
FEED FOR EWES AND LAMBS. 
J. H. K., Pompey, N. Y.— I can buy buck¬ 
wheat middlings quite free from hulls for 
$15.00 per ton: they seem quite rich and oily; 
also wheat shipstuff, buck-wheat flour 
“which has been heated just enough to spoil 
it for family use,” mixed half and half for 
$18 00: also ship-stuff (clear) and corn-meal. 
Which is the cheapest feed or feeds for 
ewes and lambs the object being to make 
the lambs fat as fast as possible, beets to be 
fed in connection with the grain and clover 
cut fine, all being mixed and fed together as 
cut feed? 
Ans. —Sheep masticate their food better 
than the larger animals and for this reason 
the buckwheat middlings which contain the 
bran of the grain (not the hulls) will be the 
best of the foods mentioned. But moderation 
must be exercised to avoid over-feeding grain 
food to lambs. Begin with four ounces a day 
per head and do not exceed eight ounces. 
Buckwheat hulls with the large proportion of 
cracked graiu usually mixed with them make 
an excellent food for sheep, but as tney are 
rich in nitrogen they will be apt to cause 
heating and shedding of the wool if fed too 
liberally. At the prices mentioned the buck¬ 
wheat middlings are cheaper than corn. 
LAMENESS IN A HORSE: SPRAIN OF BACK. 
F. C. F., Mobile, Ala.— My horse got lame 
iu the loin about four months ago while grad¬ 
ing with a scraper. I have blistered him but he 
seemsto have got little if any better. Is there 
anything that I can do for him? 
Ans. —How do youknow the lameness is in the 
loin ? Is there any tenderness along any part of 
the loin when pinched,or any difficulty in back¬ 
ing? Does there seem to be any pain or difficulty 
in arching the back to urinate? Can the animal 
turn quickly in a circle, one way as readily as 
the other? You should have given a careful 
description of all the symptoms, so that we 
may be sure your agnos s is correct. sus¬ 
pect you have not discovered the true seat of 
the sprain. If the sprain is of the loin, the 
horse should not be allowed to get down and 
up. Tie the head from above so that he cannot 
get his head within two feet of the floor. If 
weary, place a sliug under him so that he can 
stand on his feet or rest in the sling at pleasure. 
Repeat the blister over the loins. Allow daily 
walking exercise only for three to six weeks. 
AN AILING HEIFER. 
D. IF., Benton, Da.—My two-year old 
heifer got quite poor last fall. She has been 
up and fed now for some time, and has im¬ 
proved somewhat, but she is still weak and 
stiff in her feet which are large and flat. Her 
appetite is good now. Her bowels were loose 
for a while and she passed some bloody 
mucous stuff; but her bowel3 are all right 
now. What ails her? 
Ans.— Your history and syinptons lead us 
to suspect that the poor condition of the 
heifer was due to neglect and want of suit¬ 
able food rather than to any particular dis¬ 
ease. One would not expect the heifer to 
thrive on ticks and acorns. If she continues to 
improve medicinal treatment will not be nec¬ 
essary. See that the heifer is well cared for. 
Feed generously, and make sure that the food 
and drinking water are both of good quality. 
If the hoofs are overgrown they should be 
trimmed. An occasional dressing of pine tar 
would favor a better growth of horn. 
ABOUT CHURNS. 
C. B., Chemung, N. Y. —Can better butter 
be made by churning in any of the new kinds 
of churns than by the old dash churn; or, in 
short, is there any better churn than the old 
dash churn? 
Ans.— Yes. The fact that, almost without 
exception, the people who make the butter 
that brings the highest price, use the modern 
churns is a pretty good argument in their 
favor. We have found churning with the 
newer churns easier than with the old-time 
affair, aud it is beyond all question that the 
newer churns will permit a far better obser¬ 
vation of the cream during the churning. It 
is true that many good dairy folks still make 
excellent butter with the old dash churns. 
We can only say that we believe they would 
makestill better butter with one of the newer 
churns. We hope to publish soon an article 
giving the chief points of superiority of the 
four distinct classes of churns—the agitator, 
the barrel, til 9 box fthd the dash. 
COTTON-SEED AND COTTON-SEED MEAL AS 
FEED. 
S. A. L., Mooresville, V. C. —Which is the 
cheaper feed for milch cows—cotton seed at 
$11 per ton, or cotton-seed meal at $22? There 
will be plenty of wheat bran, corn-meal and 
shorts in either case. 
Ans —Cotton seed contains about one half 
its weight of useless if not injurious substance. 
The husk is hard and indigestible unless it is 
ground fine and the lint attached to the seed 
is apt to form masses in the intestines which 
may cause serious trouble. The excess of oil 
in the whole seed is also an objection to its 
use. When well boiled, however, the whole 
seed has been used without any injurious re¬ 
sults, but the labor of boiling is both costly 
and troublesome. Hence the meal freed from 
husk is the cheaper and better feed for cows. 
Wheat bran would be the best food to mix 
with the cotton-seed meal in the proportions 
which have been so often mentioned in this 
department. 
PREPARING A FIELD FOR FALL SEEDING. 
P. M. H.,New Paltz, N. Y.— I have a field 
which was sown with oats last year, but was 
not seeded. What grain crop can be most 
profitably grown on it with the view of seed¬ 
ing it or preparing it tor seeding in the fall? 
It is high ground. The soil is loam with 
clayey subsoil, and is rather light. How 
much fertilizer should be applied and how? 
Ans —To get the land into good condition 
for fall seeding, the best crop to raise next 
summer would be German millet sown broad- 
ca t, early in June, at the rate of one bushel 
to the acre so as to have it grow fine for hay. 
This can be cut early in September and then 
the land can be plowed, harrowed, seeded and 
rolled at once so as to get the advantage of 
the autumn rains: 500 pounds of good super¬ 
phosphate per acre should be sown on and 
bushed in with the millet. Should the millet 
be fit to cut for hay earlier than September, 
so much the better. 
RAISING POTATOES FROM SPROUTS. 
E. H. L., Athens, Ga. —A late Rural says 
the best way to obtain the largest yield of 
potatoes is to sprout the “seed” in a hot-bed 
and plant the sprouts out until the “seed” 
tuber is exhausted. Will the Rural give full 
particulars ? 
Ans.— Cut the potato into single eyes with 
all the flesh to each possible. Plant each 
piece three inches deep in the hot-bed. As 
soon as the sDrouts are two or three inches 
long cut them off just above the seed-piece 
and plant these cuttings. Some shade and 
sufficient water will be required. The seed- 
piece will continue to throw up shoots which 
may be treated the same as the first. When 
these shoots shall have become established, 
cuttings may be taken and rooted in the 
same way. This process of propagation may 
be continued even after the sets are planted 
out-of-doors up to about the last of May or 
June farst. 
BLOODY MILK. 
A. C. F, Capac, Mich .— I have a heifer 
that gives bloody milk out of one teat at 
times. She is all right tor three or four days 
and then she gets bad again; the last milk 
drawn from her bag is bloody. She is other¬ 
wise in good condition and well fed. IV hat 
can be done for her ? 
Ans.— Drench the heifer with one pound of 
Epsom salts and one ounce of ginger dissolved 
in a quart of warm water. If this does not 
move the bowels in 24 hours, repeat the dose. 
Then give one table-spoonful of pulverized 
saltpeter night and morning in the feed. 
Bathe that quarter once daily with camphor¬ 
ated spirit?. If you are feeding much grain 
it would be well to reduce the feed until the 
trouble is over. A thin bran mash or other 
sloppy food at least once daily would be ex¬ 
cellent. 
A FERTILIZER. 
J. E. D., Little Cooley, Pa.—1. A phos¬ 
phate is being sold here which has the follow¬ 
ing ingredients: 1,700 pounds of South Caro¬ 
lina rock;200 pounds of potash; 100 pounds of 
ammonia. Is this a good fertilizer for com¬ 
mon use? 3. Would the same amount of gyp¬ 
sum be as good as South Carolina rock ? 
Ans —1. The proportions of plant food are 
good euough. The South Carolina rock, un¬ 
less dissolved iu sulphuric acid, is insoluble. 
The ammonia may or may not be soluble. 
The potash may be sulphate or muriate. It 
is impossible to give auv correct estimate of 
the value of the fertilizer. 2. No, the gyp¬ 
sum will furnish lime alone. The rock fur¬ 
nishes phosphoric acid. 
GROUND AND UNGROUND GRAIN AS FEED. 
L. H., Dansville, N. Y.— What is the differ¬ 
ence iu value betweeen whole grain and the 
same ground as feed for stock? 
Ans.— This is a question of digestibility of 
the food. Generally in feeding whole gram 
one-half or more is wasted and ejected in the 
manure. If the grain is finely ground nearly 
the whole is digested, and less as the meal is 
coarser. As a rule for feeding cows, cattle 
and horses, when economy is an object, the 
grain should be ground as finely as pos¬ 
sible and fed with cut hay, in sufficient quan¬ 
tity to insure mastication and proper saliva¬ 
tion. The latter is very important as the sal¬ 
ivary fluid is a digestive agent and prepares 
the food for the action of the gastric fluid. 
RAWLE’S JANET AND STARK APPLES. 
E. A. T., Croton, Ohio. —What is a de¬ 
scription of Rawle’s Janet and the Stark 
apple? 
Ans. —Rawle’s Janet originated in Vir¬ 
ginia. It is quite large, oblate-conic; of a 
yellow 'color shaded and striped with red. 
The flesh is a yellowish-white, juicy tender, 
sub-acid. Its season is late winter. The tree 
is hardy, vigorous and productive. It thrives 
well in the Southwest. The Stark is a large, 
striped, coarse, sub-acid winter apple of fair 
quality. It is valued as a keeper. It origi¬ 
nated in Ohio. 
A COW BEST FOR THE BUTCHER. 
J. D. B., Modus, Conn —What is the best 
feed for a heifer coming in in May ? She will 
be two years old in April and is quite fat 
though she has been fed no grain this winter. 
I wanted to feed bran, but was advised not to 
do so as she was so fat. 
Ans. —This heifer is not promising for a 
cow, as milk and a fattening proclivity do not 
go together. Evidently she is in no want of 
special feeding; an animal that will fatten on 
hay would get still fatter on bran. 
Mtaoeuaneoua. 
A. H. H., Brunswick, Me .— When should I 
trim apple trees ? 
Ans. —At once. 
W. C. R., Bridgewater, Ft.—What i3 the 
inclosed bean? 
Ans. —This is the old Dun-colored bean 
known to seedsmen for the past 75 years. 
J. B. W., Charlton, Mass .— Where can I 
get Stachys tuberifera, and at what price ? 
Ans. —We find it in Thorburn’s catalogue, 
page nine, at 10 cents per ounce (the roots) or 
one dollar per pound. 
E. C., Berlin, Conn.— Where can I get Con¬ 
sular Reports 99 and 100. 
Ans. —These books are published by the 
Department of State, Washington, D. C. 
They will be sent to any address. 
F. O. C., Washington, Kan. —My 2,000 
grape-vires as well as my raspberry vines 
are covered with tree cricket eggs; how can 
I get rid of them ? 
Ans. —Cut out the infested canes and burn 
them now. 
J. T. E., Sharptown, Md. —Who are re¬ 
liable commission men who sell fruit in New 
York and Philadelphia? 
Ans. —S. H & E. H. Frost, 100 Park Place, 
E. & O. Ward, 279 Washington St., New 
York; Warren Harper, Bro. & Co., Philadel¬ 
phia. 
E. H , Utica, iV. Y.— Where can I get the 
Cloud’s Seedling, Parker Earle and Hilton 
strawberries? 
Ans —Cloud’s Seedling, from A. B. Cole¬ 
man, Princeton, Ky. ; Parker Earle, from T. 
V. Munson, Denison, Texas; Hilton, from W. 
W. Alley, Hilton, New Jersey. 
W T. S , Greene Co., N. Y .— What are the 
earliest good potatoes? 
Ans. —Nott’s Victor is an early variety. 
Early Ohio should be tried; also White Early 
Ohio, (T. C. Davenport 124 Dock St., Phila¬ 
delphia, Pa.) Crown Jewel is sold by John¬ 
son & Stokes, Philadelphia, Pa. 
H. S., Marlboro, Ohio .— 1. How can I get 
most plants for next year’s planting from a 
given number of blackberry plants purchased 
this year? 2. How many Ancient Briton 
blackberry plants must I purchase this year 
to have 200 next year? 
Ans —1. By root cuttings. 2. We should 
say about a dozen. 
H G.,Hamburg,Conn.—Wherecan Igettbe 
Paragon chestnut, the Parker Earle straw¬ 
berry, and the Crown Jewel potato? Is the 
last early and productive? 
Ans. —The Paragon can be got from H. M. 
Engle & Son, Marietta, Pa.; the Parker Earle 
strawberry originated with T. V. Munson of 
Denison, Texas. We cannot speak positively 
as to the Crown Jewel. See second answer 
above. 
L. M. W., Shelbyville, III. — 1. Will seeds 
from the Wild Goose plum produce trees 
which will hear fruit of the same_quality? 3. 
