446 
JULY 6 
the rate of from 440 pounds to 2,200 pounds of 
fertilizer to the acre. Without a single ex¬ 
ception an increase of vine growth is shown 
by an increase of fertilizer. This experiment 
has been tried for eight or ten years and 
always with the result that the yield is pro¬ 
portionate to the size of the vines. When we 
have immense vines and small yields, it is due 
to some unfavorable condition. For example, 
if at this time you plant late potatoes in a 
rich soil, and the rest of the season prove 
favorable, you will have heavy vines but a 
small yield of tubers. Again, one-sided fer¬ 
tilizers, such as unleacbed ashes, have given 
us heavy vines and a small yield. 
UNWHOLESOMENESS OF OLEOMARGARINE. 
Reader, Fulton County, N. Y. —1 noticed 
that Dairy Commissioner Bvown made the 
statement that oleomargarine is indigestible, 
and, therefore, unhealthful. Is this the case? 
Ans. —In the 2nd Annual Report of the 
New York State Dairy Commissioner it is 
stated that artificial butter is not a whole¬ 
some article of food on the following grounds: 
First, on account of its indigestibility; 
second, on account of its insolubility when 
made from animal fats; third, on account of 
its liability to carry germs of disease into the 
human system; fourth, on account of the 
probability of its containing, when made 
under certain patents, unhealthy ingredients. 
The first and second points were arrived at 
fey a series of experiments upon the artificial 
digestion of different fats. These fats were 
•od-liver oil, butter, oleomargarine butter, 
the commercial oleomargarine oil, lard oil, 
benne oil, cotton-seed oil, lard, and mutton and 
beef suet. The surprising statement is made 
that “rancid butter is probably more readily 
digested than fresh, and is not poisonous, the 
repugnance to it being simply one of taste.” 
It is said that “lard is difficult of digestion. 1 ' 
In support of the third and fourth points, a 
number of diseases are mentioned which are 
communicable from animals to man, and the 
methods are mentioned by which some of 
them may be communicated. It is stated 
that the heat applied to the fats employed in 
making artificial butter is not sufficient to 
destroy these disease germs. It seems to us 
that this is a very important consideration. 
The commission appointed by the Academy of 
Medicine at the request of the Prefect of the 
Seine in France, disapproved of the article on 
the ground of its indigestibility. It was never 
allowed to be sold in the public markets of 
Paris except unaer its own name, and its sale 
is now prohibited. 
ABOUT STRAWBERRIES. 
E. I. L., Speedville, N. Y. —I want to pre¬ 
pare as a strawberry bed a piece of ground 
which is infested with white grubs that work at 
the roots of the plants. 1. How can the pests 
be exterminated? 2. How deep should the 
ground be cultivated? What would be the 
best fertilizer? Would salt be of any use? 3. 
How much superphosphate, at the outside, 
should be applied per acre? Are ashes bene¬ 
ficial ; if so, how much per acre should be 
used? How about hen manure? 4. What 
three kinds—early, medium and late—would 
it be best to plant? 5. Which are reliable 
firms from whom purchases can be made? 
Ans. —1. The best way to get rid of the 
May beetle grub is to keep the land fallow 
and to dig it up or plow it the last thing in 
the fall or in midwinter if the land has be¬ 
come open and sufficiently dry. 2. Plow the 
land as deep as possible without bringing up 
the subsoil. We should not use salt. 3. 
Wood ashes (unleached) and bone flour are 
excellent. Instead thereof, muriate of pot 
ash, bone and sulphate ot ammonia may be 
used. Two thousand pounds of a complete 
fertilizer may be used. If unleached ashes 
can be purchased at a reasonable price, use as 
much as two tons to the acre. In this case a 
thousand pounds of bone may also be used. 
4. Crescent, Downing, Sharpless, Bubacb 
and Gandy’s Prize. 5. Ellwanger & Barry, 
of Rochester, N. Y., and other nurserymen 
who advertise in the Rural. 
RHEUMATISM IN A COW. 
J. E. P. R., Laconia.—A cow of mine be 
came stiff in her limbs two days after she had 
dropped a calf. She eats well, chews her cud, 
and gives the usual amount of milk. I think 
she took cold, and it cattle have rheumatism, 
I believe that is what ails her. Is it? 
ANSWERED BY DR. F. L. KILBORNE. 
The case is very likely one of rheumatism, 
which is not uncommon in the cow. If there 
is swelling or stiffness of the joints especially, 
or^other fibrous structures, with a tendency 
to shift from place to place, or if the stiffness 
is aggravated by cold, dampness, or exposure 
to wet, the trouble is probably due to an at¬ 
tack of rheumatism. For treatment give a 
dose of purgative medicine to unload the 
bowels. One^pound.ot^Epsom salts, one-half 
pound of common salt and one ounce of 
ginger, for an average cow, the whole dis¬ 
solved in a quart or two of water and given 
as a drench. If the cow is small or under 
three years of age, reduce the dose one-third. 
Then three or four times daily give two-dram 
doses of salicylate of soda for several days, or 
until the stiffness disappears. Rub the limbs 
once daily with the following liniment: 
Olive oil one pint, strong aqua ammonia 
one-half pint, camphor gum two ounces, spirit 
one pint. First dissolve the camphor iu the 
spirit, the oil with the ammonia, then mix. 
Shake well before using. 
“NO PLACE LIKE HOME.” 
H. C., Lemars, la. —In the Rural of June 
8, Professor Sheldon tells us of the very de¬ 
plorable condition of English farmers. If the 
case is so bad, why do English farmers, as a 
class, not come here ? It is sufficiently well 
known that few have done so. I began ask¬ 
ing this question several years ago: I am ask¬ 
ing it still. 
Ans. —It is doubtful if the question ever 
will be answered entirely satisfactorily. It is 
a part of human nature to think that our 
neighbor is better off than we are. There are 
doubtless men in all parts of the world who 
grumble at their surroundings, and see “bet¬ 
ter times” in every other land than in their 
own. Yet they rarely move away to exper¬ 
ience the better times. “There’s no place like 
home.” That accounts for a good many in¬ 
stances where men stick to seemingly unde¬ 
sirable locations. Two classes of people are 
able to pull themselves away from home as¬ 
sociations: those who are too thoughtless to 
really value home or are too enthusiastic to 
fully count the cost of removal, and those 
whose homes have been made unbearable 
by some mighty despair or some terrible 
sorrow. 
GIRDLING GRAPES. 
O. E. II., Ulster Park, N. Y. —1. At what 
stage in the growth of grapes should the vine 
be girdled to hasten the ripening of the fruit? 
2. Is there a special tool for the purpose; if 
so, where can’it be bought? 3. Does girdling 
injure the flavor of the fruit? 
Ans. —1. As soon as the fruit is so far 
developed that satisfactory selection of canes 
to be operated on can be made, which will be 
soon after the berries swell. If deferred till 
later, the effectiveness of the process will 
merely be more or less diminished. 2. We 
know of no tool especially intended for this 
purpose. None is, in fact, needed—beyond a 
sharp budding or pruning knife. Indeed the 
effect may be as certainly produced by wind¬ 
ing twine or wire tightly around the cane at 
the proper place for ringing. 3. The effect is 
to considerably enlarge the fruits upon the 
girdled cane, to generally hasten the time of 
ripening, and to more or less injure the 
flavor; while the cane is nearly or quite 
ruined for either future growth or fruiting. 
LUMP ON THE UDDER OF A HEIFER. 
T. E. B., Schuylerville, N. Y. —About a 
week ago I noticed a lump about the size of 
an English walnut on the left fore-quarter of 
the udder of a two-year-old heifer now on 
grass and due to calve on July 13. The rest 
of the udder does not seem at all congested, 
and appears to be all right. What is the 
cause of the trouble, and what’s a remedy? 
Ans. —The lump is probably the result of 
some injury to the udder. Unless near the 
base of the teat, or even then, it may never in¬ 
terfere with the flow of milk, in which case 
no treatment is necessary. When the heifer 
comes tresh, if the lump is found to obstruct 
the flow of milk from that quarter, you 
should employ a skilled veterinary surgeon to 
open the passage. Painting now once daily 
with comDound tincture of iodine might re¬ 
duce the size of the lump. 
Miscellaneous. 
Me. A. K., Winchester, Va. —Is the Ciu- 
namon Vine the same as the Chinese Yam, 
and does it ever bloom? 
Ans. —Yes, it is the same. The vines bloom 
very freely and the yams are hardy. The 
bloom is not showy, but the odor is that of 
cinnamon as nearly as it can be described. 
W. J. M., Canaseraga, N. Y. —A tumor 
now as large as a hen’s egg, has been grow¬ 
ing on the stifle joint of my mare for four or 
six years; what will remove it? 
ans.— Apply an active blister, and repeat 
once or twice if necessary. A competent vet¬ 
erinary surgeon might be able to safely cut it 
out. 
C. W., Waukegan, III. —1. Mr. Childs’s cat¬ 
alogue highly recommends the Tree black¬ 
berry; what does the Rural think of it ? 2 
Is the Black-bearded Centennial wheat likely 
to be hardy here ? 
Ans. —1. As soon as announced, we wrote to 
John Lewis Childs for several plants of the 
Tree blackberry, but they were not sent. At 
any rate they were never received. We don’t 
believe in it. 2. The Black-bearded Centen¬ 
nial is tender at the Rural Grounds and prob¬ 
ably will so prove with you. 
J. H. B., Lansing, Mich. —1. What is the 
clover a sample of which is inclosed? 2. Wbat 
is the best tame grass for a piece of marsh¬ 
land which appears to be getting too dry for 
wild grass? 
Ans.— 1. The small yellow-flowering speci¬ 
men is Trifolium procumbens—Yellow clover 
or Low Hop clover. The pinkish-flowering 
one is Trifolium reflexum—Buffalo clover, 
valuable for pasture, as cattle are fond of it. 
We do not known why it could not bo culti¬ 
vated profitably in some portions of the coun¬ 
try where Red clover may fail. Trifolium 
procumbens is thought to be of little value, 
being an annual and not growing tall enough. 
2. lied-top is the best grass we know of for 
moist situations. 
DISCUSSION. 
“TRAIN UP a CHILD.” 
“A Son.” —An article from “A Reader,” in 
the Rural some weeks since, giving his ex¬ 
perience as a boy with regard to his father 
and farm life, leads me to say that there are 
other and brighter pictures of farm life which 
we may do well to contrast with his dark 
side of farming. I was born and reared 
upon a farm. My father was not rich, neith¬ 
er was he poor. He made me to feel, as long 
as I can remember, that I had the same right 
to opinions as he, and though I was often 
wrong, he never made my mistakes the sub¬ 
ject of ridicule, but often brought out the re¬ 
sults as valuable lessons by which I now often 
profit. I do not recollect that he ever gave 
me any certain piece of property to do with as 
I saw fit, but he made me interested in the 
whole, by saying “we”and “ours,” instead of 
“me” and “mine,” and not restricting me with 
regard to my personal expenditures. When 
I arrived at a suitable age to go into society, 
he said to me at one time: “I am pleased to 
see you go and enjoy your life while you are 
young; but be cautious with regard to the 
companions with whom you associate, as they 
will have a strong influence on your after 
life.” I always had free permission to invite 
my friends to our house, whenever 1 wished, 
and I preferred doing so to going from home 
for the purpose of having their company. 
With regard to money matters, he advised 
me faithfully, and instructed me carefully. 
One piece of advice which I shall always recol¬ 
lect was something like this: “Remember that 
we are not rich; that we have nothing to 
squander on drink, or burn up in stnoke; but 
also i emember that we only go this road once, 
so do not be niggardly and deprive yourself 
of the good things of life that are really good, 
whether they are to benefit, instruct or 
please.” He never gave me but one dollar 
that I recollect, but frequently he told me to 
go to his pocket and get what I thought “we” 
could afford to use. And l assure you I never 
misused the privilege. When I was about 16 
he told me I had better begin keeping the 
farm books, and about three years afterwards 
1 began looking to all the farm business, al¬ 
ways asking his advice, and being governed 
by it. 
On my part, I never deceived my father in¬ 
tentionally, and, although I often made mis¬ 
takes, he was always patient with me, and 
when he asked me with regard to anything, 
either ray mistakes iu business or the follies 
and mistakes of boyhood 1 always told him 
just as it was, and what was best, and did me 
most good, was that father believed just ex¬ 
actly what I told him, and 1 do not think he 
ever asked any one, to verify my report. 
Now the result of all this early training is 
that I am a farmer. I could not be anything 
else. My father’s farm and mine join each 
other, and I manage both. He is now a ven¬ 
erable old man, and I am near middle age, 
but still we are all to each other that we ever 
were. He trusts me implicitly, and I love 
him sincerely. There is scarcely a day in 
which he does not come to my house. He 
sometimes asks what is the order of the day, 
and often gives me good advice for he is able, 
and when well enough often lends a helping 
baud about some light work. 
Do you wonder that I am a farmer; that 
I love the dear old home where I have been so 
kindly cared for; and that I love the good, 
kind old man, who has many times denied 
himself for my sake? And if more parents 
would jiursue a like course with their sous, 
respect their ideas, and encourage them to 
think and act for themselves, aud that in¬ 
stead of being mere machines for earning and 
accumulating the almighty dollar, they are 
reasoning, intelligent human beings, on whom 
the welfare of the nation depends, we would 
soon have a nation of able, energetic and pro¬ 
gressive farmers, who would make farming 
pay. 
SHOULD IMPORTED TROPICAL FRUIT BE TAXED. 
J. H. G., Queens County, N. Y.—A late 
Rural mentions the fact that some fruit-men 
feel that the sale of tropical truits hurts the 
trade in home products. 
We have a good deal of complaint among 
farmers because of the low price of their 
fruit products. Apples have scarcely brought 
enough to pay the farmer for picking and 
packing: strawberries are sold at ruinous 
prices and there is every prospect of a still 
poorer market for other small fruits. One of 
the reasons for these ruinous prices is the plen¬ 
tifulness and low prices of tropical fruits. With 
bananas retailing at 10 cents per dozen and 
fine pine-applts at 10 cents apiece, it is not 
strange that people do not buy apples or 
small fruits. It is the custom of the manu¬ 
facturers to demand protection as soon as a 
foreign product comes into competition with 
the home product. Now, it is evident that the 
products due to the sunny skies, fertile soil 
and cheap labor of the tropics are coming in¬ 
to direct competition with those produced by 
the labor of the American farmer. 
Why not, therefore, put a tariff on bananas 
and pine-apples and other fruits, which shall 
prevent their importation to any great ex¬ 
tent? There is now an Insignificant duty 
on oranges, but bananas and pine apples are 
free. If a duty be put on these and other for¬ 
eign fruits, sufficient to prevent their importa¬ 
tion, the price of apples, pears and small 
fruits will be doubled in a year. In the year 
1888, $3,482,846 worth of bananas were im¬ 
ported. Suppose all, or nearly all, of this 
vast sum had been spent for apples and pears, 
would the market have been glutted and 
prices ruinously low? If the policy of pro¬ 
tection is to prevail, let it apply to farming 
as well as to other industries. 
PYRETHRUM AMD POWDER GUNS. 
J. li. H., Mountainville, N. Y.—The 
air gun I use for the destruction of insects 
with pyrethrum, is simple and inexpensive, 
costing only 25 cents. It is of cylindrical 
shape, slightly conical, made with small cir¬ 
cular pieces for top and bottom, with a spiral 
spring between them. It is about four inches 
long, covered with thin leather, and holds 
about one-half pint. By placing two fingers 
on the top, and the thumb at the bottom, the 
little gun is closed together and the dust is 
thrown in a cloud through the foliage with 
two or three pressures. I think such guns 
can be found at any ot the New York drug¬ 
stores. As to how often, and the best time 
to use the pyrethrum, it should be used every 
day, at noon, especially if the weather is dry 
aud hot, as at that time all the insects are 
actively at work, aud can be found, but in a 
humid atmosphere the powder appears to be 
much more fatal ; for instance, wheu there is 
dew or on a damp day. When the atmos¬ 
phere is in this condition the powder is fatal 
to the asparagus beetle and its larvue. The 
question: “How does pyrethrum kill the in¬ 
sects ?” would bring forth some very interest¬ 
ing information. The theory presented to 
my mind is that it poisons the lungs, as it 
acts upon the pests in a few seconds after the 
cloud has'enveloped them, apparently before 
they have had any time to eat any of it, and 
they really pay little attention to it until they 
commence to rub themselves with their feet. 
A prominent physician has informed me that 
an insect has no lungs. He said that insects 
breathe through tubular passages aud these 
pa«sagea were stopped up by the powder; but 
if this be the case, why should not other fine 
powders answer the same purpose? 
his favorite churn. 
P. C., Milford, N. H.—In a late Rural I 
saw the criticism on the New Hampshire Ex¬ 
periment Station director in regard to the 
trial of dairy apparatus. Now, I do not think 
the director said that the Stoddard was the 
best churn; but he does say that there is prac¬ 
tically no difference in the elficiency of the 
three churns mentioned and if there is auy 
preference it must come from convenience iu 
handling and ease of operation. On this 
point there is no doubt in the mind of those 
who have actually operated the churns here 
at the Station. For ease of handling and 
cleaning and for perfection in the granula¬ 
tion of butter, the Stoddard churn stands at 
the head. The Blanchard is open to the ob¬ 
jection that it has inside floats which serioudy 
interfere with the grauulatjpu of butter. The 
Davis is harder to operate aud is more diffi¬ 
cult to clean. I see no need to criticise the 
director for telling the farmers what they 
ought to know. Eight years ago we wanted 
auewchuru. There were in my neighbor¬ 
hood two Stoddard and one Blanchard. Each 
owner thought his churn the best. I went and 
