1889 
THE RURAL NEW-YORKER 
7o9 
ANSWERS TO CORRESPONDENTS. 
[Every query must be accompanied by the 
name and address of the writer to insure atten¬ 
tion. Before asking a question, please see if it 
is not answered in our advertising columns. 
Ask only a few questions at one time. Put 
questions on a separate piece of paper.] 
AN AILING COLT. 
F. H. Arenzville. III .—A yearling colt 
was castrated last spring and did well. He 
was put in a strange pasture with other 
horses. After some time he was found down 
and when he got up he would sway back¬ 
wards and forwards and then fall down. 
About four weeks later when I saw the 
colt, when standing up he was liable to fall 
at any moment. His jaws were not locked, 
hut there was every other appearance that 
he was suffering from tetanus. He was 
and is still very easily frightened; the cords 
of his neck were so tightly drawn that he 
couldn’t get his head to the ground, and he 
was weak in his back. I gave a stimulat¬ 
ing liniment to be rubbed on the back, neck, 
and loins and prescribed for him inwardly, 
and he seemed to improve, but not suffi¬ 
ciently. In traveling 2%miles to my place 
he fell a number of times. I have had him 
for 10 weeks. He eats heartily, looks well _ 
and can get his head down to the ground. 
His fore parts are apparently all right, but 
he is still weak and his hind parts are ail¬ 
ing, and the muscles near the roots of his 
tail are wasting away. What is the trouble? 
ANS.—The condition of the colt may be the 
result of an injury, a kind of blood poisoning, 
or possibly a mild form of tetanus. If the 
wound from castration healed readily and 
there has been no trouble from it since, it 
is probably not tetanus, at least not from 
the castration. Having no clue to the 
cause of the condition, we cannot suggest 
treatment, or give any opinion as to the 
chances of recovery. It is probably a pecu¬ 
liar case, that would require a personal ex¬ 
amination to form a correct diagnosis. 
MARE NOT BREEDING. 
J. E., Keokuk, la. —My 16-year-old mare 
is in good health, has a good appetite and is 
able to do all the work required of her ; she 
has been a regular breeder until the last two 
years. She has been bred each of these sea¬ 
sons, but she has failed to bring a colt 
since 1887. This season she has been bred to 
a five-year-old stallion—a sure getter—six 
times. The last time she received a double 
service, and then refused for two months. 
About that time she began to spill blood 
and continued to do so for five weeks and 
then acted as if she was in heat. The 
party who owns the stallion refused to let 
him serve her, thinking she had some dis¬ 
ease. She then stopped bleeding and 
showed no more signs of being in heat. She 
eats well, is in excellent Health and gaining 
in flesh, but now after three months she 
begins to bleed again. 1. Is it possible 
that she is with foal ? 2. If not and she 
should come in heat, would it be safe to let 
a horse serve her ? 3. Is the spilling of 
blood caused by disease, and should she be 
treated ? If so, what treatment should she 
have to effect a cure ? 
ANSWERED BY DR. F. L. KII.BORNE. 
1. The mare is probably not with foal. 
2. Until the cause of the hemorrhage— 
bleeding—is ascertained we would not con¬ 
sider it advisable to have the mare served. 
The chances are against her breeding again. 
3. The bleeding may be due either to dis¬ 
ease or injury. A pei onal examination 
would be necessary to ascertain the nature 
of the trouble before we could advise treat¬ 
ment. 
TIIE SCOTCH PINE AS AN ORCHARD WIND¬ 
BREAK. 
w. B. (?., Farmington, Michigan.— 
Would Scotch Pine make a good wind-break 
around my orchard on heavy clay soil ? 
What other variety would be more suit¬ 
able ? At what distances apart should the 
trees be set ? 
ANSWERED 15V ROBERT DOUGLAS, WAU¬ 
KEGAN, ILL. 
Within 200 feet of where I am writing 
stands a Scotch Pine wind-break, planted 
19 years ago on heavy clay soil, with trees 12 
to 18 inches high, which were once trans¬ 
planted, placed 20 inches apart in a single 
row. It was cultivated the first year, but 
has not been cultivated since that time. It 
has never been pruned. The trees are all 
living and nearly of uniform hight. A sin¬ 
gle row planted closely, makes a much 
better wind-break than a double row. 
While the Scotch Pine should not be planted 
as a permanent forest tree, its extreme 
hardiness makes it second to none for a 
wind-break. 
LAMENESS IN PIGS. 
Mrs. M. It., Presque Isle, Ohio.— My 
three-months-old pigs are in good growing 
order; but three weeks ago they became 
lame in the hind legs, and their joints are 
slightly swollen. They have a dry pen and 
a small, dry yard to run in, and are fed a very 
little com with a slop of boiled potatoes, 
milk and shorts. What ails them? 
Ans.—T he lameness may be due to rheu¬ 
matism or to constitutional weakness. See 
that the pigs have warm, comfortable quar¬ 
ters with plenty of dry bedding. Do not 
overfeed. Add flax-seed-meal to the ration 
in proportion of one part of meal to six or 
eight of the swill feed. Try the following 
powders giving one dessert-spoonful night 
and morning in the feed to each pig: Sul¬ 
phate of magnesia, bicarbonate of soda and 
nitrate of potash, each one-half pound— 
mix. 
climate of New- York. 3. It is a mistake 
to call the Golden Queen Tomato Livings¬ 
ton’s. W. Atlee Burpee of Philadelphia, 
Pa., catalogued it years ago. It is the best 
of the yellow tomatoes. 
Discussion. 
FARROW VS. FRESH COWS. 
Prof. C. S. Plumb, Knoxville, Tenn. 
—The articles in the Rural of Sep¬ 
tember 28, on the relative merits of 
farrow vs. fresh cows, interested me very 
much. Fortunately I had, near by in 
my desk, over 200 milk records of cow's, 
covering periods of from 150 to 720 consecu¬ 
tive days. These records all relate to one 
herd, which consisted of Jerseys, Ayrshires 
and natives, with the Ayrshires strongly 
predominating. Of the 210 records, 34 pass 
over 12 or more 30-day periods. 
In January 1887, in an article in the 
National Live Stock Journal, I discussed 
this same subject and from that article I 
quote the following first table as the most 
direct evidence I have upon the matter. It 
is compiled from the records in my posses¬ 
sion, and may be accepted as reasonably ac¬ 
curate. The periods are 30 days each, and 
A, B, C, D, E, are records of native cows, 
and I, II, III, IV, V, of Ayrshires. 
he would have found them very profitable 
animals. But, under ordinary circum¬ 
stances, it seems to me that the figures 
strongly favor breeding the cow each year. 
A rest of a month or six weeks will suffice 
for the animal prior to calving. On the 
college farm here, I breed the cows yearly, 
endeavoring to arrange so as to produce the 
least amount of milk in one herd during 
July, August and September, when there 
is not the demand or price in this region 
for milk or butter that we get the rest of 
the year. 
As I write this, I have before me a copy of 
an agricultural paper containing a picture 
of Landseer’s Fancy, with a brief statement 
concerning her record, which has not yet 
been beaten by a Jersey—936 pounds, 14% 
ounces of butter in a year. As bearing di¬ 
rectly upon this question of farrow vs. fresh 
cows, I note that Landseer’s Fancy has but 
just dropped her 14th calf. And yet she 
must be a very profitable cow entirely out¬ 
side of her value as a breeder of thorough¬ 
bred stock. 
THE NEW JERSEY MILK LAW. 
Franklin Dye, Secretary N. J. State 
Board of Agriculture.— A farmer in 
New Jersey rests in jail rather than pay a 
fine imposed upon him for selling milk 
which fell below the legal standard. The 
farmer claims that the milk came directly 
SEEDING WITH GRASS. 
H. P. L., Bergen County, N. J .—On 
page 640 Charles Chapman says he sows 
grass seed with rye in the fall, but if wheat is 
sown the grass seed is used in the spring. 
Why is this? 
ANSWERED BY CHARLES CHAPMAN. 
I would not sow Timothy with wheat in 
the fall because I believe that several fields 
of -wheat have been seriously injured in 
former years by the rank, thick growth of 
Timothy. I have never noticed any injury to 
the rye crop from a heavy growth of Timo¬ 
thy, and as this protects the clover roots 
during the first winter, I shall continue to 
sow Timothy with rye in the fall. 
Miscellaneous. 
E. M. Me M., Southville.—' The Empire 
Drill is made by the Empire Drill Com¬ 
pany, Shortsville, N. Y. It is a good one. 
F. IT. II., Warren, Maine. —Would the 
Berckmans Grape be likely to bear and 
ripen its fruit here, if laid down and cov¬ 
ered with earth during the winter ? 
ANS.—We think so. 
M. I. Me M., Smithville Flats, N. Y. — 
What is the name of the tree from which 
the inclosed branch was taken ? 
Ans. —The Common Cork Elm (Ulmus 
racemosa). It grows wild on “ river-banks, 
west of New England to Wisconsin and 
southward,” says Prof. Asa Gray. 
P. H. A., Fort Smith, Ark. —Which of 
the two inclosed specimens of grass is John¬ 
son Grass—No. 1 or No. 2 What is the 
name of No. 3 ? 
ANS.—No. 1 is Johnson’s Grass; No. 2 
Panicum virgatum—Tall Smooth Panic 
Grass—No. 3 Erianthus ravenme—Ravenna 
Grass or Giant Wooly Beard Grass. 
T. B., Townville, Pa.— How should a 
monthly rose be treated ? 
Ans. —If in a pot, see that the drainage is 
perfect. Keep the soil mellow on top and 
mingle with it a pinch or so each of un¬ 
leached wood ashes and nitrogen in some 
form. Fine bone would be good. If in the 
open soil, mulch it with old manure. 
W. B. C., Shippensburg, Pa— I have a 
fine heifer that eats well, and seems well 
when lying down; but when up she 
breathes heavily, like a horse with the dis¬ 
tem per. There is no discharge from the 
nostrils, though there are indications that 
the seat of the disease is there. She has 
been thus affected only for a few days. 
What is the cause and a cure, and is the 
disease contagious? 
ANS.—A personal examination would be 
necessary to locate the cause of the heavy 
breathing. It is probably some local trouble 
and not a contagious disease. 
Tl. D.M.. (no address).— 1. What is the 
best way to protect through the winter 
young grape-vines that were set last spring 
and which have made a fair growth 
t hrough the summer ? 2. Does a thrifty 
Shaffer’s Raspberry need winter protec¬ 
tion ? 3. Where can seed of Livingston’s 
Golden Queen Tomato be got ? 
Ans.— 1. Lay the canes down and hold 
them by a stone on the top of each. Then 
cover with evergreen boughs or any loose 
material. 2. The Shaffer is hardy in the 
TABLE I. 
PERIOD. 
A. 
• 
C. 
D. 
E. 
L 
II. 
m. 
IV. 
V. 
1. 
681 
812 
809 
859 
816 
800 
998 
923 
783 
691 
2 
688 
843 
885 
920 
739 
877 
1039 
953 
794 
753 
3. 
767 
885 
862 
453 
705 
901 
1002 
940 
631 
801 
4. 
726 
830 
781 
318 
621 
694 
740 
666 
572 
573 
5. 
650 
784 
776 
312 
581 
665 
654 
552 
496 
605 
6....;. 
631 
746 
608 
349 
604 
612 
642 
631 
564 
624 
7. 
662 
729 
565 
321 
533 
593 
654 
624 
512 
470 
8. 
530 
577 
516 
392 
520 
491 
654 
565 
463 
429 
9. 
522 
545 
500 
358 
453 
420 
599 
480 
456 
411 
10. 
466 
471 
446 
361 
462 
359 
544 
392 
462 
401 
11. 
389 
46(1 
418 
331 
459 
389 
477 
298 
466 
396 
12. 
378 
504 
386 
307 
386 
573 
474 
225 
520 
346 
13. 
415 
440 
411 
339 
361 
506 
422 
494 
579 
374 
14. 
446 
402 
398 
314 
372 
561 
400 
504 
528 
403 
15. 
409 
333 
370 
321 
359 
545 
356 
540 
445 
423 
16. 
436 
345 
343 
196 
311 
456 
291 
460 
355 
380 
17. 
382 
365 
278 
226 
320 
421 
271 
412 
344 
369 
18. 
554 
316 
262 
248 
335 
425 
243 
430 
249 
264 
19. 
589 
362 
118 
343 
389 
... 
392 
233 
20. 
547 
399 
. 324 
356 
130 
21. 
531 
365 
165 
• • • 
321 
122 
22. 
555 
351 
• ■ • 
... 
... 
321 
140 
23. 
559 
279 
... 
• • • 
• . • 
290 
... 
24. . 
... 
228 
* * * 
248 
• * * 
Total pounds .... 
12,513 
10,387 
11,598 
7,043 
9,2S0 
11,166 
10,460 
12,017 
9,844 
8,713 
Average lbs. [ 
544 
577 
483 
371 
488 
532 
581 
500 
447 
484 
per period ) ’ 
All of the above figures refer to pounds. 
The first five rows, designated alphabeti¬ 
cally, relate to natives, while the last five 
relate to Ayrshires. 
The smallest average yield given was 371 
pounds, the highest 581 pounds. Only two 
cows fell below 450 pounds. The natives 
gave an average yield per period, of 
492.6 pounds, and the Ayrshires 508.8 
pounds, or an average yield of 500 pounds 
for each of the 10 cows, for IS months or 
more. Estimating this milk to have at 
least a value of two cents per quart on the 
farm, the milk for one period would be 
worth $5, or for a year $60. Adding to this 
income the value of manure, we get a con¬ 
siderable additional sum. There certainly 
was a profit here. 
As nearly as I can estimate, from 179 
yearly records, discounting all under five 
and over 15 months, a cow producing milk, 
not with calf, practically becomes farrow 
after 9.3 months. Comparing the first nine 
periods of the animals above mentioned as 
not farrow, and the last 15 periods as far¬ 
row, we find the smallest average quantity 
giveu by any one farrow for 30 days, is 276 
pounds; the largest 475 pounds. The na¬ 
tives’ average is 376 and the Ayrshires’ 383 
pound 3 , with 379 pounds for the 10 animals. 
After selecting the yields of five other 
natives, and five Ayrshires, not noted in 
the table given for the first nine months of 
milking, and comparing them with the 
average period yields of each animal given 
in the above table, we get the following: 
.-NATIVES.-, ,-AYRSHIRES.-, 
Average of table. 544 577 4S3 871 488 5Si 581 500 447 484 
Av. of other set, 700 607 454 488 560 614 444 5«S 693 493 
In the first table, it will be noted that the 
average amount of milk produced per period 
for the 10 cows during periods 15-24 was 379 
pounds, while in the second period we get 
an average of 561 pounds for the 10, or a 
gain of nearly 100 quarts in favor of those 
not farrow. 
All of the above cows were better than 
average milkers, hence if a milkman had 
kept the best of them, and fed them high, 
from his cow and that nothing had been 
added to it. If this be true, which is the 
culprit—the man or the cow ? The New 
Jersey law requires that milk shall contain 
at least 12 per cent, of solids. This looks 
reasonable enough ; it would seem that a 
cow giving milk less than 12 per cent, of 
solids is not worth keeping, yet there should 
be no foolishness or carelessness about the 
official examination of the milk. The pro¬ 
portion of solids in milk from a given cow 
will vary considerably. A cow at the Wis¬ 
consin Station gave but 11% per cent, of 
solids in the first pint of milk drawn from 
her ; while the last pint contained 19% per 
cent. Fright, change of feeding, a chill and 
other conditions may affect the cow so that 
a sample of her milk would give an entire¬ 
ly untruthful record of her usual perform¬ 
ance; so that we see that carelessness in 
the enforcement of a milk law may do in¬ 
justice. 
In the above—taken from the Rural of 
October 5, page 664—there are a few ques¬ 
tions to be answered which will require a 
few “ ifs.” 
The first “ milk bill,” or starting point of 
our present milk laws, was passed in 1S75, 
and grew out of the practice followed by 
the creameries in the northern part of our 
State, to enter the market and sell their 
“skimmed milk” in competition with 
“whole milk,” and though at a lower price, 
the retailer could and, it is claimed, did 
add, or mix a small quantity of “whole 
milk” with it, and sell it as “pure milk.” 
This was, of course, an injury to those en¬ 
gaged in milk dairying, and to consumers 
of milk—to the former because he did not 
obtain the price he should for the product 
of his cows, and to the latter because he did 
not receive “whole milk.” On account of 
this, an agitation of the question was begun 
and carried to the legislature and resulted 
in the enactment of the law referred to. 
That law was subsequently changed and 
amended in many particulars, and the law 
now governing the milk question wan 
passed in 1882. It requires a man to sel 
pure or unadulterated milk, and the ad 
dition of water, however pure it may be, 
claimed to be, under the law, an adultera¬ 
tion. A person cannot be imprisoned under 
this law except for refusing to pay the fine 
