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TUI RURAL MFW-YORXER. 
334 
hour have been made, each 250 pounds in 
weight. 
SOILING DAIRY COWS. 
II. R., Brookfield, Mass. —On page 87 of the 
Rural we are told that Mr. H. P. Hopkins 
never pastures his cows. I would like to 
know how he manages to keep his cows in the 
barn all the time. I keep four cows and 
would like to keep them always up if it can 
be done with safety to their health. 
ANSWERED BY HIRAM P. HOPKINS. 
I feed my cows in the stable the year round, 
and in pleasant weather in summer I let them 
out in the barn-yard to exercise for about an 
hour. In winter I keep them in the stable, 
and do not let them out to get chilled,as I find 
I lose too much milk by doing so and it re¬ 
quires too much food to get them warm or in 
a condition to make milk again. My cows 
are as healthy and do as well (if not better) 
in the stable fed as I feed them, as the 
cows of any of my neighbors who drive their 
cows out every day in winter and pasture 
them in summer. I am now feeding silage, 
hay and grain, and shall continue to do so as 
long as my silage will last, which will be till 
about July 1st; then I shall have oats and 
peas to put in the silo, and I shall continue to 
feed as I am now feeding. Heretofore my 
first soiling crop has been rye sown at two 
sowings in the fall; next, clover; then oats 
and peas at a third sowing; then second-crop 
clover and corn. Corn is grown where I cut 
my first rye, and so on until I fill my silos. 
While I am feeding soiling crops I teed grain, 
as I find that it pays well. My herd is en 
tirely made up of pure Jersey cows, which I 
have fed in this way for six years and they 
are regular breeders and as sound as any 
cows of their years. There has never been an 
abortion in my herd or a sick cow, caused by 
soiling or keeping them in the stable. I claim 
that I make more butter during the year 
from my cows fed in this way than other 
farmers make by pasturing and feeding as 
farmers generally feed. 
“a new barley. ” 
W. H. L., Copenhagen , N. Y. —I inclose 
head of black barley for name. Two men 
here have about 200 bushels like this head, and 
are putting it out after the well-known fash¬ 
ion of the Bohemian oats swindle. 
A ns. —The head inclosed is Nepaul barley 
which was illustrated and described in the 
Rural of January 29,1887. The variety is sel¬ 
dom grown except as a curiosity, it being very 
inferior in productiveness, and not thrashing 
cleanly from the head. Nepaul barley was 
first introduced to the civilized world in 1817 
when it was brought from the Himalaya 
Mountains in the province of Nepaul, in 
Hindostan, and was known ss Nepaul wheat. 
It has not been cultivated to any extent in 
Britain. The earliest record of its culture in 
America under that name was in 1859. 
From a head of this variety planted at the 
New York Agricultural Experiment Station 
in 1885, four different varieties were grown, 
two black and two white. Of each of these 
two colors, one was bearded and one was 
bald. The seed is quite uneven in size, there 
being many small ones from the more feeble 
flowers. The grain is of medium size, rather 
plump and short, and deep amber or dark 
brown in color. 
A correspondent in Michigan sowed a bushel 
on an acre of good land, and it made a poor 
growth and a miserable yield, being worth¬ 
less, except as a curiosity. A Minnesota cor¬ 
respondent reported a heavy yield. 
Grains of this variety were sent to the 
Rural about a dozen years ago. As it was 
hullcss, we supposed it to be some kind of 
wheat, and sowed it in the fall, and that was 
the last of it. It is safe to conclude that any 
grain boomed after the manner of the Bohe¬ 
mian oat plan is best let alone. 
WHEN TO WATER HORSES. 
D. L. B., Maplewood. —Is it right to fill a 
horse with cold water the first thing in the 
morning before feeding oats or meal ? As 
watering the animal after feeding tends to 
wash the grain out of him, when should he 
be watered ? 
ANSW ERED BY DR. F. L. KILBORNE. 
It is not desirable to “fill a horso with 
cold water” at any time. Horses should 
get water frequently aud then they will rare¬ 
ly drink more than one bucketful. In fact, a 
horse should rarely be given more than the 
one bucketful to drink at one time. As to 
watering just before or just after feeding, 
l here is little choice. The preference, how¬ 
ever, is to be given to watering before, as less 
liable to produce unpleasant results. When 
given a considerable quantity of water im¬ 
mediately after a feed, especially one of 
grain, it is liable to wash the grain from the 
stomach to the intestines before it has been 
digested, and cause indigestion and colic. If 
convenient to do so, it is well to water the 
horse an hour before or after feeding; or if 
watered immediately before, feed only hay 
or other coarse fodder at first,and the grain a 
half hour or more later. An excellent plan 
is to keep a bucket of water always before 
the horse in the stable, to be refilled three 
times daily or oftener if necessary. The ani¬ 
mal will drink only a few swallows at fre¬ 
quent intervals and there is then no danger 
of any injurious effects from drinking too 
much. 
GERMAN MILLET SEED AS STOCK FEED. 
W. A., Dorchester , Neb. —There is a vast 
amount of German millet seed on hand in 
this section, for which there is no sale. We 
are told it is good feed for hogs. If so, how 
should it be fed ? 
Ans.—T he seed of German millet contains 
more nutriment than barley or buckwheat 
and approaches very nearly to corn in feeding 
value, as the following figures will show. 
Compositon of 
Per cent, of Millet. Buckwheat. Barley. Corn. 
Nitrogenous 
matter.... 14.5 9.0 9.5 10.0 
Carbohy- 
drates. 62,1 59.6 66.6 68.0 
Fat. 3.0 2.5 2.5 7.0 
Millet excels all in its nitrogenous matter, 
gluten, albumen, etc., and as this substance is 
worth as much as fat for feeding, corn only 
slightly excels it in value. On account of its 
excess of nitrogenous substances, it may be 
fed alone to all kinds of stock without any ill 
effect, as its feeding ratio is a normal one, 
viz., 1 to 5.25 (1 of nitrogenous to 5% of car¬ 
bonaceous.) For fattening animals it may 
be very usefully fed with corn which contains 
an excess of carbonaceous matters. The best 
use of the millet seed will therefore be to feed 
it as suggested. It may be fed whole or 
coarsely ground into meal. The large yield 
of this nutritious grain—25 bushels per acre— 
renders millet a very valuable crop, and, as 
when cut before grain 13 formed, the nutritive 
quality remains in the hay, its growth for 
feeding in either way is a subject of timely 
consideration just now. 
ANASARCOUS SWELLING IN A HORSE; 
LEUCORRHCEA IN A MARE. 
Subscriber. —1. One evening, I noticed 
that my mare was very stiff in front and next 
morning she was much worse. There was a 
swelling between the fore legs and a lump on 
each side of the body just back of the girth, 
and one on each side of the breast. The 
swellings are very hard and sore. I have 
bathed the parts with very hot water and 
vinegar and rubbed them with lard and poke- 
weed, with no effect. In other respects the 
animal is all right. What should be done? 
2. A mare of mine dropped a colt 10 years 
ago. She got the stallion again four years 
afterwards, but didn’t get with foal. Since 
then she has had the stallion for five years but 
in vain. The seed is full of green matter. 
She discharged from the vagina a very thin 
pale white fluid of a very offensive odor all 
through the winter. What should be done? 
Ans. 1. Give one of the following powders 
three times daily until the swellings go down; 
chlorate of potash four ounces, iodide of pot¬ 
ash twelve drams, nitrate of potash three 
ounces, mix. Make into twelve powders. If 
the bowels are at all costive, give frequent in¬ 
jections of warm Castile soap-suds until re¬ 
lieved. 2. Wash out once daily with 
tepid water, aud then inject one dram each of 
sulphate of zidc and carbolic acid dissolved 
in one pint of water. The mare will prob¬ 
ably not breed again. 
BLOODY TUMORS ON A COLT. 
P. P., Rich Hill, Mo.— My two-year-old 
filly has one lump on her neck aud another on 
nor back. At first I thought they were warts, 
but they are not The one on her neck is now 
as large as a small egg. They are blood-and- 
watery all the time, and get larger when she 
rubs herself. AVbat will take them off? 
Ans. —To remove the tumors, tie a strong 
linen twine tightly around the neck of each, 
making sure that the whole of the diseased 
mass is included outside of the twine. If nec¬ 
essary get an assistant to draw the tumor out 
so as to form a neck around which you can 
make the ligature. Apply a new ligature 
around the tumor daily; make it tight each 
time. You will find the neck will grow 
smaller each day until the twine will have en¬ 
tirely severed the tumor from the body. 
After the tumors are removed, if there re¬ 
mains a sore which looks unhealthy and does 
not heal readily, ask a veterinary surgeon or 
your family physician to cauterize the sore 
thoroughly with a stick of nitrate of silver or 
lunar caustic. Then dress it with benzoated 
oxide of zinc ointment. If the colt rubs or 
bites the sores you must keep them covered, 
until healed, with a piece of canvas or blanket 
fastened to a’halter, collar and surcingle so as 
to keep it in position. 
GROWTH OF BONES OF THE LIMBS IN COLTS. 
P. H. P., Pope Valley, Cal. —Do the bones 
of a colt’s legs grow in length after it is 
foaled? 2. If so, at about what age do they 
cease to grow in length? I am fully aware a 
colt’s legs do not grow any in length from the 
knee down after birth. But from the knee up 
I contend they do. 
ANSWERED BY DR. F. L. KILBORNE. 
I. Yes. 2. If P. H. P. bad ever taken the 
trouble to measure tho length of the legs of a 
colt when foaled and again when he is two 
yf ars of age, he would never have asked the 
above questions. If he will even stop to com¬ 
pare the limbs of any colt with those of its 
mother, he will be surprised to learn how un¬ 
observing he has been all his life. The limbs 
of colts grow in length both above and 
below the knee for two to tour years, until 
the animals have attained their full hight. 
At birth, the long bones of the limbs have a 
center of ossification—region of bone forma¬ 
tion—at each end and in the center, between 
which there is a region of cartilage. Growth 
in length takes place in this cartilage and con¬ 
tinues until the whole has been ossified, or 
formed into bone, which process is not com¬ 
pleted until the animal has attained his full 
hight. After tho cartilage has become bony, 
growth in length ceases. 
FEED AND BARE OF BROOD MARE. 
J. M. W., Eugene City , Oregon. —A mare 
of mine dropped her first foal all right, but 
the second one died when two days old, hav¬ 
ing never been able to stand up unsupported. 
It acted as if there were no strength in its 
back. The mother raised two strong foals. 
Last spring she lost another foal in the same 
way as the first that died. She will foal again 
soon. Last year I turned her to pasture two 
months before she foaled and was careful not 
to work her hard before she was turned out. 
What should be done to prevent another mis¬ 
hap? 
Ans. —The strength of the foal depends 
largely upon the feed and care received by 
the mare during gestation. We can only 
advise you to give special attention to these 
points. See that the mare has good nutri¬ 
tious food in moderate quantity, but do not 
over-feed. There is more danger in over¬ 
feeding than not feeding enough. All feed 
and drinking water should be of good qual¬ 
ity. Thorough daily grooming is very desir¬ 
able. Light work or other exercise daily is 
essential. 
GREEN AND FELLOW NEWTOWN PIPPIN 
APPLES. 
W. P., Aukland, New Zealand. —Are the 
Green and Yellow Newtown apples identical? 
A friend says that some years ago he sent to 
Ellwanger & Barry, nurserymen in the 
United States, for two specimens each of the 
Green and Yellow Newtown Pippins, and that 
they sent nim the Yellow only, saying that 
they couldn’t find any Greens in the United 
States. Downing says the two varieties are 
quite distinct, but our local pomological 
genius is of the opposite opinion. 
ANSWERED BY ELLWANGER & BARRY. 
The question as to whether there are two 
distinct varieties of Newtown Pippin, the 
Green and the Yellow, has never been satis¬ 
factorily settled. It is true that Downing 
and other pomologists describe them as dis¬ 
tinct, but in all our experience we have not 
been able to find them. It is held by many 
that the differences supposed to exist between 
the two sorts are the results of soil and situ¬ 
ation. 
SORE FEET IN YOUNG PIGS. 
Z. C. S., Jersey Shore, Pa. —My two-year- 
old Poland-China sow dropped eight pigs two 
weeks ago. About a week ago all the little 
things became lame, and some lost half a foot, 
while all the feet were swollen and sore. 
The sow was very fat, and the pigs got sweet 
milk, wheat bran and were fat and sleek. 
What was the trouble? 
Ans. —The condition of the feet and limbs 
of the pigs is evidently due to high feeding. 
Bathe with borax water or vinegar and honey. 
Breediug stock should not be kept too fat if 
you would secure the l>est results. Far more 
trouble is caused by over-feeding than by 
not feeding enough. 
PLANTING CORN. 
(?. B. H., Lansing, Mich. In its Corn 
Special did the Rural mean that, to produce 
the best yield, the rows of corn should be 
four feet apart aud that the hills should be 18 
inches apart in the rows and have two or more 
or one stalk each ? 
Ans. —Our corn is invariably planted in 
drills. Our Chester County Mammoth,which 
we have raised consecutively for many years, 
is a very tall-growing variety, with large 
stalks, each bearing its large ear high. Now 
we aim to plant this in drills four feet apart; 
that is, one plant every four feet by 14 inches 
or thereabouts. 
-- 
Miscellaneous. 
G. B., North Ogden, Utah, sends some seed 
ling apples for an opinion of their merits. 
Ans. —These apples were so injured from 
the bruises consequent upon loose packing 
that we could not judge of their quality fair¬ 
ly. They are evidently long keepers. 
J. L. S., Westfield, Mass. —When potatoes 
are planted in drills in rich soil, how should 
the “seed” be cut to yield the largest returns 
per acre ? 
Ans. —We should cut the potatoes to two 
strong eyes at least, giving the pieces all the 
flesh possible. 
W. W. D., Flint Hill, Vt. —At what dis¬ 
tance apart should corn be planted on land 
that has been meadow for 10 to 12 years? It 
is flat, between two hills, and rather moist. 
Ans. —Our friend does not mention the va¬ 
riety. On springy or wet land, probably it 
is best to plant in hills and cultivate both 
ways. If the Southern dent corn is to be 
planted, two or three plants to a hill three 
feet by four would be about right. 
V. A. T., Chili, N. Y. —I have a rather 
poor, sandy soil and but little barn-yard ma¬ 
nure. I wish to plant six acres of sod land 
with potatoes. Should I plant in hills or drills, 
and what fertilizer should I use ? 
Ans. —We should buy a high-grade potato 
fertilizer. If you propose to use but a small 
quantity, say 500 pounds to the acre, it had 
better be sown in the hill or drill; if 1,000 
pounds or more are to be used we should sow 
it broadcast and harrow it in. We know of 
no other publication which has given more 
information on this subject than the R. N.-Y. 
H. T. L., (One of the Id Brighton s in the 
country )? 1. Would bones burnt and mashed to 
a powder be a good fertilizer for cauliflower 
and cabbage? 2. What chemicals do burnt 
bones contain? 3. Would well rotted manure 
from corn-fed pigs be as good as burnt bones 
or better? 4. Could I procure a dent corn 
that would mature here? Our season is 
generally from May 24th until September 24th 
without frost. What about Hickory King? 
Ans. —If your soil is supplied with avail¬ 
able potash and nitrogen, yes; otherwise, no. 
2. Phosphoric acid and lime. 3. Better. 
4. Yes, the Prairie Queen (Yellow dent) will 
mature. It is also known as Pride of the 
North. The name of correspondents’ States 
should always be given. 
T. W., Dennville, N. J. —1. I have a lot of 
clear hen manure and want to raise 100 bush¬ 
els of corn per acre by hill culture. Would a 
liberal quantity of the manure in contact 
with the sprouting grain injure it ? How 
should it be applied? 2. Would it be advis¬ 
able to mix the hen manure with well-rotted 
manure from cattle and horses? 
Ans.— 1. We do not believe you will raise that 
quantity 'of corn from hill-manuring unless 
the soil is rich. Manure in the hill is first- 
rate for the young plant, but later, when the 
grain begins to form, the roots extend from 
hill to hill and from row to row. The hen 
manure should be intimately mixed with the 
soil of the hill. A'pint to the hill will then 
do no harm to the sprouting seed. 2. The hen 
manure and farm manure may be mixed to¬ 
gether or each may.be spread separately as 
preferred. 
F. K. P., Delavan, TFis.—Is it tedious and 
expensive to keep out or clear out of ponds 
the grass, weeds aud frog spittle that usually 
infest them? What tools are necessary to do 
so? [We submit this inquiry to our leaders 
for an answer.— Eds.] 
DISCUSSION. 
PEA-VINE HAY, OR COW-PEA HAY. 
G. H. T., Denmark, Miss.— We have 
several varieties of cow peas especially 
adapted for table use. Of these the Lady 
pea, Sugar Crowder, Small Crowder, and 
Rice pea are the favorites here. The com¬ 
mon Black, Red Ripper, Yellow Creeper—so 
called because, unlike all the other varieties, 
it will not run up on the corn—(aud a great 
many more varieties that I have not time or 
space to name) have long vines, especially the 
Sugar Crowder and Black pea. The Conch 
pea is not known here, except from advertise¬ 
ments. All the above make equally'good hay, 
but in this section the Speckled or Whip-poor- 
will pea is raised (for curing into hayi almost 
gHij*c*nau*ou£ 
“Herbrand” Fifth Wheellfor* Buggies. 
