4888 
rm RURA1 MFW-YOBKIR. 
384 
that selling either cream or butter would be 
more to his advantage and that of his farm 
than raising sheep. A few sheep may be ad¬ 
vantageously kept ; but to devote his entire 
area to sheep grazing could hardly be wise. 
A great deal is published in favor of sheep 
husbandry as a mode of enriching laud, keep¬ 
ing down weeds, etc., but my general objec¬ 
tion to fully stocking a farm with sheep is 
that they “bite too close,” killing out not 
only the weeds but the sweet grasses, compel¬ 
ling frequent cropping to the ultimate im¬ 
poverishment of the soil. Especially is this 
true in soils naturally thin and already worn, 
where thistles, white and yellow daisies, etc., 
etc., have become as it were indigenous. 
Sheep will kill out on such lands a fresh seed¬ 
ing every two or three years, thus giving to 
the noxious growths full swing, for which the 
plow is the usual and necessarily often-applied 
remedy. 
Steuben County, N. Y. 
FROM EDWARD VAN ALSTYNE. 
I would say to this inquirer that If he can 
keep only one kind of stock, let him keep 
cows. I do not know just what he means by 
a gauge of cream, as the milk would vary 
with the different modes of setting. I have 
therefore figured on 15 cents per quart which 
is the ruling price in New York State, many 
getting much more. Eight sheep at $3.50 per 
head cost $28; but he can scarcely keep eight 
sheep and their lambs where he could keep 
one grade Jersey cow. From eight sheep be 
ought to raise that number of lambs, which 
if they weigh 80 pounds will bring $4, or $32 
for the eight, at five cents per pound. They 
should shear five pounds of wool each, which, 
at 80 cents per pound, will bring $1.50 each, or 
$12 for the lot, making the gross sales $44. 
Taking a little more than his average price 
for a cow, viz. $45, he would have to invest 
more capital in the cows, but the profit would 
be enough greater to make up the difference. 
An average grade Jersey ought to give 
400 quarts of cream, in 300 days (an 
extra-good one will give 450 to 500 
quarts), leaving 65 days for stauding dry, 
which is too long a period; 400 quarts of 
cream at 15 cents per quart would bring $60; 
and the skim-milk, worth from $10 to $15 
more, can be fed not only to hogs, but to 
calves and poultry' as well. 
Thi labor would bo more with the cows, the 
amount of manure made would also bo greater, 
but it would not be so valuable as that of the 
sheep. On his cleared land he should prac¬ 
tice soiling, and have a silo, whereby he can 
keep many more cows on the same ground, 
than by the old way of pasturing and hay 
raising. On an average farm I recommend 
and practice keeping both cows and sheep. 
Columbia Couuty, N. Y. 
FROM C. H. FI.ETCHER. 
If I should figure out the question on the 
basis of this or last year’s prices, and say that 
cows would pay better than sheep; sup¬ 
pose dairy products go down and sheep and 
wool go up, that “young farmer” would soon 
find that the sheep were paying the best, con¬ 
trary to my figuring. In fact, the cow might 
pay me the better of the two, while the case 
might be the reverse with another. A great 
deal depends on the adaptability of one’s 
farm. It may be especially adapted to either 
dairying or sheep husbandry', or both. If it 
is low, fiat, damp laud and not well drained 
sheep will not pay. These animals require 
dry, hard ground for pasturing; low, wet 
ground is conducive to most diseases preva¬ 
lent among thorn; besides, the grass grown on 
low, damp grouud is not as sweet or as well 
adapted to promote a healthful and profitable 
growth in the sheep as that produced on drier 
ground. If tho farm be hilly or composed 
largely of gravel of a dry nature, I would ad 
vise this inquirer by all means to keep sheep. 
If it bo low,flat and of a damp nature I would 
greatly prefer cows. If the laud is part dry 
and part wet, I would say let him try mixed 
farmmg, if it is possible to do so; then he 
would have a chance to experiment and find 
out for himself, a far safer way' of doing than 
to rely entirely on some one else’s judgment. 
Mixed farming I believe will pay as well and 
be a great deal safer. 
There are a groat many points to be 
brought into consideration in answering this 
question, far more than can be discussed here, 
in fact,it would beau impossibility for a man 
liviug in another State aud unacquainted 
with the correspondent’s farm and surround¬ 
ings to answer the question as it should be. 
Chautauqua County, N. Y. 
FROM IRVING D. COOK. 
My answer to the above important problem 
can hardly fully relieve the anxiety or expec¬ 
tations of the inquirer. In the first place, 
were it possible to designate certain reasons 
why either one of the two industries referred 
to would meet with better financial success in 
a certain locality, at the same time giving 
“ facts and figures ” to substantiate it, the 
conditions and circumstances existing in an¬ 
other might be such as to cause an entire re¬ 
versal of what would have seemed a wise 
course to pursue. While therefore it seems 
impossible to establish any definite rules, to 
be followed year by year in relation to this 
matter, would it not be well for “Young 
Farmer” by his own experiment to settle the 
question for himself. As he has about 150 
acres of cleared land, good barns, etc., also 
several head of high-grade Jersey cows, it is 
to be assumed that he also has the conven¬ 
iences at hand to manipulate the milk and 
cream either at home or at a near-by cream¬ 
ery or cheese factory. He can thus faithfully 
devote the care and attention required for a 
maximum production in this direction, care - 
fully calculating the expense as nearly as may 
be. He can also invest in sheep to the extent 
his accommodations will allow, selecting those 
best adapted for success. The most desirable 
at present perhaps are those belonging to the 
coarser-wooled breeds, as they are better 
suited for supplying the increasing demand for 
the choicest quality of mutton,and also for tho 
production of the early or “ hot-house lambs’’ 
now so popular in our Eastern markets. A 
favorite and common method practiced-by 
our Western New York farmers is to feed 
lambs during the winter, when at the age of 
eleven or twelve months they are in condition 
for market, usually selling on the farm at 
about six cents per pound and this is consider¬ 
ed the most profitable feature connected with 
sheep-raising at the present time. Of course 
our friend will not allow himself to be confin¬ 
ed solely to these two branches of husbandry, 
thus risking all his eggs in two baskets as it 
were; but he should adopt a system of mixed 
farming, growing the different fruits, espec¬ 
ially the apple and pear, for market purposes, 
together with the grain crops Indigenous to 
his latitude and locality, reserving each year 
a liberal area to be planted to the most popu¬ 
lar variety of market potatoes: allot which 
with proper care and cultivation, will, as a 
rule, bring satisfaction and profit, and it will 
undoubtedly be made manifest in the mean¬ 
time, which if either of the above industries 
will be the more desirable. 
Gouesee County, N. Y. 
SKIN DISEASE AND COLDS IN A HORSE. 
J. R., Marshville, N. Y. —1. A skin disease 
like mange breaks out in blotches on one of 
my horses the year round, doing so worse in 
warm weather than at other times. What 
should be the treatment ? 2. What should I 
do for another horse that is troubled with a 
bad cold ? 
ANSWERED BY DR. F. L. KILBORNE. 
I. Give six drams of Barbadoes aloes with 
one ounce of ginger in a ball or drench, to 
open the bowels. Repeat the dose in 36 hours 
if no effect is produced by the first. Then 
twice daily in the feed give two tablespoon¬ 
fuls of the following powders : Carbonate of 
potash aud sulphate of soda each one pound, 
powdered gentian root one half pound, and 
powdered nux vomica one-fourth of a pound, 
mix. Feed moderately on a laxative diet. 
Give no corn or other heating agents. 2. Rest 
in a dry, well ventilated stable, and a restric¬ 
tive, laxative diet usually constitute all the 
treatment necessary for a common cold. If 
the bowels are inclined to be costive five or 
six drams of aloes nmy be given to advantage. 
If the animal be feverish, give 25-drop doses 
of tincture of aconite two or three times daily, 
and one ounce of nitrate of potash night and 
morniug ; or if the animal shows signs of 
weakness give one to two-ounce doses of sweet 
spirits of niter instead of the nitrate of pot¬ 
ash. If the cold be accompanied by a cough, 
mix 25 drops of tincture of belladonna aud 
one tablespoonful of powdered nitrate of pot¬ 
ash, with sufficient honey or sirup to form a 
thick paste. Give this dose two or three times 
daily by placing it well back on the tongue 
aud teeth, to be slowly swallowed. If there 
is hard breathing or a discharge from the 
nose, steam the head by feeding a hot bran 
mash, made by pouriug boiling water on four 
quarts of coarse bran, aud feediug it immedi¬ 
ately in afimeket. If hungry, the horse will 
work at the mash while hot, but if he does not 
do so, hold his head over the bucket until wefi 
steamed. 
RUPTURE OF STOMACH IN A MARE. 
J. D. L., Moore's Salt Works, Ohio. —What 
caused the death of my mare l Her time for 
a colt was up. She had been worked moder¬ 
ately hard during the spring, and when not 
worked was pastured. On April 25, she was 
at work in the forenoon, amt was turned to 
grass in the afternoon, wheu she seemed in 
good health. At four o’clock she was found 
sick and sweating. She would lie dowu, but 
would not struggle; theu she would get up, 
walk about a little aud lie down again. It 
was supposed she was trying to foal; but in 
half an hour sho was dead. Iu 2j^ hours she 
was opened ; she was then swollen so much 
that some of her bowels had burst out through 
the vagina. The colt was found all right iD 
the womb ; but the stomach was bursted for 
about 27 inches. The contents of the stomach 
and bowels were rather loose. In each ven¬ 
tricle of the heart there was a good handful 
of matter resembling gelatine formed in cook¬ 
ing beef. Near the top it was colored and had 
the appearance of clotted blood. 
Ans. —If there was no error in your finding 
the stomach ruptured, the rupture was un¬ 
doubtedly the immediate cause of death, it 
probably being due to gaseous distension of 
the stomach, from indigestion or colic. The 
condition of the contents of the bowels or 
heart was probably Dormal, or such as you 
would expect to find in an animal dying in 
that way. The mass in the heart was simply 
clotted blood. 
DEATH OF A CALF FROM INDIGESTION. 
.7. H. A., Randolph, Yt. —I had a very 
fine, large, Short-horn bull calf which was 
bright aud fat when dropped. Though to all 
appearances healthy, ho soon began to bloat, 
and when he sucked the cow he bloated worse, 
yet he seemed strong and active. I took him 
from the cow and fed him twice, and each 
time he bloated. When I went to feed him 
the third time he refused to eat aud appeared 
in great distress. I gave him two injections 
and some physic, but he died soon. On open¬ 
ing I found nothing in his stomach but a few 
lumps of curds and some fluid of a light green¬ 
ish color and somewhat acid. 
Ans.— The symptoms indicate indigestion, 
which may have been due to the calf being 
kept from the cow, with too long intervals 
between feedings; or to the milk being affected 
through the diet or condition of the cow, so 
that] it did not agree with the calf. If the 
cause could have been discovered and re¬ 
moved, probably no treatment would have 
been necessary. 
A PARASITE OF THE POTATO BEETLE. 
S. L. A., Roslyn, 2V. Y. —I send the Rural 
specimens of the Colorado potato beetle cov¬ 
ered so thickly with parasites that in some 
cases the pest is entirely concealed. Is the 
parasite known to entomologists? 
ANSWERED BY PROF. J. H. COMSTOCK. 
Yes; this parasite of the Colorado potato 
beetle is a well known one. It is a species of 
mite not infrequently found infesting the po¬ 
tato beetle in New York State. Its scientific 
name is Uropoda Americana. There is a figure 
of it in Riley’s ninth Missouri report, page 41. 
When this mite infests a potato beetle it is apt 
to occur in such great numbers as to complete¬ 
ly cover the infested beetle. But I have not 
observed instances in which any considerable 
number of beetles were infested by it. I 
hardly think we can hope this mite will play 
a very important part in keeping auy check 
on this scourge of the potato. 
TO REMOVE WARTS FROM A COW’S TEATS. 
W. H. J., Joliet, III. —1. How can warts 
be removed from a young cow’s teats? 2. 
What kind of onions are the best to sow in 
the fall to produce early green onions in the 
spring? 
Ans. —1. There are several remedies for 
warts; the following was published in the 
Rural last year: Apply nitro-muriatic acid 
to the warts every other day. Hold the teats so 
that you can apply the acid drop by drop, 
and rub it in, using the bruised end of a soft 
stick the size of a pencil. Be careful not to 
get the acid on the other portions of the teats 
or udder, or to apply so much to the warts 
that it will run off. The calf must be kept 
from the cow while applying this treatment, 
and the acid should always be applied after 
milking. 2. Any good kind, red, yellow or 
white, as preferred. 
INCUBATORS AND POULTRY BREEDS. 
M. B. T., Ashville, N. C. —1. Where can I 
gee a cheap, but good, incubator ? 2. What 
are the best three breeds of chickens for lay¬ 
ing, sitting and [the.table ? 
Ans.— 1. Cheap in the sense of low-priced 
aud good are not always synonymous terms. S. 
W. Guthrie, Homer City, Pa., makes a good 
incubator. There are cheaper ones, but they 
are not always reliable. 2. Wyaudottes, Ply¬ 
mouth Rocks and Leghorns or Light Brahmas 
are as good as auy, although the choice of a 
breed must be determined largely by personal 
preferences, conditions under which they are 
to be kept, and the object in view. The Leg¬ 
horns are useless as sitters, and are inferior to 
the other breeds mentioned as table fowls. 
SOUTH CAROLINA PHOSPHATES. 
E. O. H., Windham, N. Y.— Who sells 
South Carolina phosphates iu the form of 
floats? 
Ans.— J. Campbell «fc Co., 50 Wall St., New 
York, who deal in South Carolina rock write 
as follows: The present price of South Caro¬ 
lina phosphate rock in the ground form is $15 
per ton of 2,000 pounds f. o. b. in New York 
in car-load lots in bags. The crude rock hav¬ 
ing recently advanced, ground has gone up 
proportionately. There is no difference in 
price between floats or ordinary ground rock. 
Mona Island W. 1. guano is in even a finer state 
of division than South Carolina floats and con¬ 
tains seven to 10 per cent of available phos¬ 
phoric acid, besides 15 to 20 per cent, insol¬ 
uble. This we sell at $21. 
ABOUT TEOSINTE. 
J. M., Sarnia, Canada.— What has beeu the 
Rural’s experience with Teosinte * 
Ans. —Teosinte was raised at the Rural 
Grounds 10 or 12 years ago. The plants make 
little giowth until settled warm weather and 
then grow luxuriantly. The stem is short- 
jointed as compared with corn and will con¬ 
tinue growth if cut back. Our season is all 
too short either for the plant or for seed to 
mature. A single seed will produce a great 
number of stems or suckers. The plants were 
s with us about four feet high when killed by 
early frost. This'is botanically Euchloena, by 
some called Reana luxurians. 
MtecelianeouB. 
S. M. K., Williamsport, Pa.—What is the 
proper time to start a strawberry bed ? 
Ans.— We should select August, late or 
early, as the weather may be dry or wet. 
O. R. W., Lyndon, Ky. —What is the par¬ 
entage of the following grapes : August 
Giant, Amber Queen, Rochester and Wood¬ 
ruff Red? 
Ans.— August Giant is said to be a cross 
between Black Hamburg and Marion. The 
parentage of Amber Queen is not known to 
us. Rochester and Woodruff Red are pure 
Labruscas. 
B. R.,1 Broad Ford, Pa.— What is the cause 
of the appearance of lice on currant bushes 
and various trees, and what is the best way to 
destroy them ? 
Ans. —These plant lice attack many dif¬ 
ferent kinds of plants. If the plants are very 
vigorous they do little mischief : if the plants 
are weakly they injure them accordingly. 
The cause of lice is simply that they exist in 
great numbers and naturally seek their food. 
The best remedy is the kerosene emulsion. 
H. K. G., Columbus, N. J.—I have a cow 
that has a swollen tongue, with a swelling un 
der the jaw, and her cud often gets fast in 
her mouth so that she cannot swallow until 
relieved. She has been in this condition for 
over two months. Within this time she has 
bad a calf which will weigh over 150 pounds. 
She has become very thin, but is otherwise 
apparently well. What is the trouble ? 
Ans.—A personal "examination would be 
necessary to ascertain the cause of the trouble, 
which may be the result of disease or an in¬ 
jury. * 
E. W. 77., Bowling Green, Ky. —I dried off 
a cow about four months ago when she was 
giving about a quart of milk a day. In about 
two months I noticed that one of her teats 
was larger than the others, and an examina¬ 
tion showed that there was blood in it. I have 
milked it out two or three times. She is due 
to calve in about 30 days. What should be 
done to preserve the teat in good condition? 
Ans. —The teat or quarter was probably 
injured in some way. If hard or swollen, 
bathe frequently with hot water, and if ten¬ 
der, apply belladonna ointment after each 
bathing. Keep well milked out. 
G. S. C., Ashaway, R. /.—Six years ago I 
set out 50 Orange quince trees, as I supposed. 
They have borne a few fruits for the past two 
or three years. Last fall I noticed a differ¬ 
ence in the fruits. Those from some trees were 
small and stunted; those from others large 
and yellow. The latter were one-third longer 
than the fruit from the other trees. They 
were round, with short necks, clean skins aud 
no.bloom. The other quinces had larger necks, 
were of a greenish-yellow color and had a fair 
bloom. I noticed to-day that the trees that 
bore large yellow quiuces have pink buds, 
while the buds on the others are yellow. Are 
there two varieties ? 
Ans. —Probably the quinces with short 
necks are the Orange or Rea’s ; the others the 
Pear. 
-4. P., Hoboken, N. J. —1. What will kill 
blight on plants ? Tobacco smoke has no effect. 
2. Is there a plant called Brugmansia ar- 
borea ? 3. How long would a Washington 
fillifera palm have to grow to show the true 
character of the species. 
Ans.— 1. By “ blight” you probably mean 
some sort of insect vermin ; while tobacco 
smoke destroys green flies and thrips, it does 
