THE RURAL NEW-YORKER. 
4 
fortifying the system against contagion, but 
they should be administered by a skillful 
veterinary practitioner, and. in this disease 
the bungling of the ordinary cow-leech should 
never be tolerated. 
As the disease seldom or never affects the 
same animal twice in a lifetime, inoculation 
has been largely employed as a preventive of 
the regular form of the malady. As the result 
of a long series of experiments in Germany, 
Belgium, France and England, it has been cal¬ 
culated that the total loss from iuoculation 
amounts to about fonr per cent, as compared 
with that from the natural disease, and that 
at least 30 per cent, of the animals exposed to 
infection become manifestly diseased, of which 
number 60 per cent., as above stated, die of it. 
Hence the benefit of inoculation. Of 22,348 
cases of iuoculation, mentioned in a late num¬ 
ber of the American Veterinary Review, it 
failed to “ catch ” in 5,476 cases; and of the re¬ 
maining 16,872, 1.582 inoculated animals lost 
their tails; 53 suffered from extensive gan¬ 
grene, chiefly on the hind-quarters; and only 
490 died. 
The efficacy of this preventive largely de¬ 
pends on the virus or “ ens " employed. This 
should be obtained by squeezing out into a 
eleau vessel some of the serum from the lung 
of an animal killed in the lirst stage of the 
malady. Care should be taken that the deceased 
animal suffered from no disease except pleuro¬ 
pneumonia, and the lymph should be used at 
once. The operation is performed by making 
a couple of shallow incisions at the tip of the 
tail, placing a few drops of the serum therein 
and applying a bandage for a few days. If 
the inoculation is successful, a constitutional 
disturbance will be apparent in about ten days’ 
lime. The animals operated upon should be 
shut up in a secluded and disinfected stable, 
and treated in every respect like diseased stock; 
and all animals that have been in contact with 
infected beasts should be so treated. It is 
useless to inoculate animals already infected. 
The matter of the contagion is exhaled in the 
breath as well as from the pores of the skin, 
aud thrown off by evaporation from the solid 
and liquid voidings which retain it until 
thoroughly disinfected. Hence it impregnates 
the air, and even the walls of the buildings ; 
mixes with the surrounding air to a considera¬ 
ble extent, defiles the stamping ground and 
pasturage of infected animals, and adheres to 
every person and thing that come within its 
influence. Wherever it appears, therefore, 
the utmost precaution should be observed to 
prevent its spreading, and no stable in which 
infected animals have been confined, should be 
used for four or five months after their re¬ 
moval, and then only when it has been 
thoroughly disinfected. 
f jjc §)frtrsijtan. 
JOTTINGS AT KIRBY HOMESTEAD. 
COL. F. D. CCUTIS. 
Sheep Rating Turnips. 
Thbee sheep of medium size eat a half bushel 
of cut turnips at a feeding. This is about as 
much as they can hold. They get no water, as 
the turnips supply all the moisture they re¬ 
quire. They are thriving fast. Last winter 
our breeding ewes had uo graiu uutil near 
lambing time, but they had turnips and they 
did well. Since this crop is so easily raised 
aud the roots are so natural and healthy a lood 
for sheep, it is a wonder more farmers do not 
have a patch of turnips and grow them for 
their sheep. They keep the sheep from get¬ 
ting constipated, and help to keep up their ap¬ 
petites. Sheep are very apt to have these 
troubles—constipation and loss of appetite—in 
our long winters, When turnips are led to 
them regularly there is uo danger of their pro¬ 
ducing any colic or diarrhea, or of their de¬ 
ranging the foetus—as the books tell us they 
are apt to do—by causing a chill aud spasms. 
They are not any more likely to do this than 
ice-water, of which they are allowed to drink as 
much as they want. We have never had a 
sheep sick through eating turnips, but we have 
had them sick on account, no doubt, of drink¬ 
ing too much cold water. This is one cause of 
ewes aborting, as it produces a chill aud spasms 
of the w omb, which, in most eases, would re¬ 
sult iu the loss of the youug. It stands to rea¬ 
son that five or six months of dry feeding must 
try the system and produce a feverish condi¬ 
tion, and carry a flock of such delicate animals 
as sheep to the very verge of disease if not to 
disease itself. Where is the wisdom of pursu¬ 
ing such a course when a daily feeding of tur¬ 
nips will correct it all and make the sheep 
much better aud at the same time save other 
food? Not one farmer iu a hundred under¬ 
stands, or if he does, he does not practice a 
correct system of feeding in winter. More 
greeu or succulent food is necessary. It is the 
cheapest food we eau raise: ail that is wanted 
is the disposition or determination to do it. 
American fanners are babies in the art of feed¬ 
ing. An Englishman can make mutton and 
beef faster, and he must make it cheaper to en¬ 
able him to pay such big rentals and have any 
profits. 
Why Hens Eat Eggs. 
Mr. Joseph Alexander says the reason why 
hens eat eggs in winter is because they are dry 
aud they eat the eggs to quench their thirst. A 
neighbor was troubled by his hens eating their 
eggs; after he heard the explanation of Mr. 
Alexander lie supplied them w ith water, and the 
first day they drank several basinfuls. This 
seemed to corroborate the theory of thirst. 
To keep a Horse from Rubbing its Tall. 
This habit, which spoils the appearance of 
some horses, is caused by acurf on the skin of 
the tail, or by worms iu the rectum. [A foul 
sheath is often the cause.— Eds.] The first 
can be remedied by a thorough washiug with 
borax. Carbolic soap is also excellent. A 
horse which has formed the habit of rubbing 
will probably keep it up for aw hile after the 
cause is removed. Greasing the anus, and sy¬ 
ringing the rectum with a mild decoction of to¬ 
bacco, will relieve these parts and kill the 
worms, but the nibbing will doubtless be kept 
up for a time. To prevent disfigurement of the 
tail, nail a plank at the back side of the stall, 
with the edge projecting toward the horse, and 
at a hight just opposite the thighs. With this 
obstruction the tail canuot touch the sides of 
the stable. Another preventive is to fasten a 
rope at the back end of the partition of the 
stall and attach it to a rope hanging down from 
the ceiling directly in the rear of the tail, and 
then tie the other end to the partition on the 
other side of the horse. When he comes out 
of the stall the rope may be slack enough to 
allow the horse to back up a step or two, and 
being suspended from the floor overhead, it 
cannot fall down and will not allow the animal 
to get entaugled. It may be kept taut by hav¬ 
ing the perpendicular rope fastened consider¬ 
ably iu the rear—enough to draw it. 
Why Sows do not Conceive. 
A neighbor had a great deal of trouble to get 
his breeding sow to conceive. He took her to 
the male five times before she did. He was an 
old farmer, but he did not know the reason 
why his pig made him so much trouble. It 
was on account of her low' condition—she was 
too poor aud lacked vitality. Such instances 
are common. If breeding sows are expected 
to have young, as soon as possible after a litter 
are raised, or taken away, they must be fed 
liberally, so as to be in a thrifty or vigorous 
eoudition. The young pigs wrill be stronger on 
this accouut and more likely to live and do 
well. Breeding animals should not be poor 
and weak, nor should they be over fat. Thrifty 
and vigorous is the proper condition. They 
should also be fed a variety of food, or at all 
eveuts not be coufiued to any one kind which 
is heating or constipating id its character. 
They should be separated at least two months 
before the young come, and not allowed to run 
together at all if they are quarrelsome, or if a 
master oue is inclined to be vicious. They will 
not winter so easily and are liable to injury 
constantly. Suckling, unless there is a bounti¬ 
ful supply of food, will rapidly emaciate an 
animal, and even then reduces the strength. 
MANAGEMENT OF YOUNG C0W8. 
Ox some accounts it is probably better that 
cows should be fed and grown on the farms 
where they are to be kept. If brought to a 
strange place it tukes boiuc time for them to 
become wonted to the locality aud to the other 
stock. A calf saved for a cow will be petted 
and humored in such a way as to be made 
gentle aud kind to handle. It will also proba¬ 
bly be a better feeder, and this usually means 
a better milker also. These hearty feeders 
should be allowed to breed early, so as to de¬ 
termine the flow of vigor to the milk glands as 
early as possible, and thus increase their size. 
After huving one calf, the heifer may be fed 
liberally to keep up the flow of milk as loug as 
possible, and also to increase the size of the 
cow. If the heifer is of a good milking strain, 
she will, with such treatment, make a superior 
cow, and, iu any event, this management will 
bring out the best results of which she is 
capable. 
Variety of food is especially important for 
milch cows. It insures hearty eaters and a 
good digestion. Cows that have been trained 
to eat any and everything edible are much 
surer to be profitable; because they thus eat 
much more thau they could of a single article, 
no matter how rich or palatable it may be. 
One of the best cows I ever knew, M as grown 
on the farm where she always lived, and never 
lost the liking for sour milk which she ac¬ 
quired while a calf, fed from the pail. This 
liking for sour milk is often a valuable point 
in a cow at times when there is uo other w ay 
to dispose of the surplus. It used to be 
thought hard usage to keep cows in the early 
settlement of the country on “ browse”—the 
buds and tender twigB of fallen trees. But 
oowe so fed had always a little hay. some corn- 
stubble, a few nubbins of corn and the waste 
from the kitchen. In this way the great vari¬ 
ety of food they received was much more 
favorable to healtb and a large production of 
milk, than forced feeding on one or two arti¬ 
cles of food. High feeding is profitable for 
fattening animals; for with these, impairment 
of the constitution is thought to be of less im¬ 
portance, as they are to be killed so soon. But 
iu feeding cows, and especially young cows, 
to induce a large milk secretion, the high feed¬ 
ing should include u groat variety of articles, 
and thus induce a habit of hearty appetite 
which will continue through life. w. j. f. 
Monroe Co., N. Y. 
-- 
STOCK NOTES. 
In 1876 the importation of oxen and bulls 
into the United Kingdom w r as 168,598 and their 
average price per head, 8102.64. Of sheep, 
1,041,494 were imported, worth 810.39 each. 
In 1877 the importations of the former fell to 
148,619; average price per head, 8108.80; 
while the number of sheep imported dropped 
down to 874,062 at $10.93 apiece. Iu 1878, the 
number of oxen and bulls imported rose to 
197,101; worth ou an average $109.24 each; 
and the importations of sheep also went up to 
892.126; price, $11.06 each. Thus it is seen 
that the increased supply has stimulated the 
demand, so that prices have been steadily 
rising. This, however, is attributable, to some 
extent, to the better quality of animals im¬ 
ported, especially from this country ayd Spain. 
The aggregate sum paid by John Bull to for¬ 
eigners for live stock aud dead meat during 
1878 amounted to $100,615,776. Of the cattle 
imported the Continent furnished 138,000. or 
two-thirds of the whole, while 55,000 were 
supplied from this country and 10,000 from 
Canada; but about half the Canadian ship¬ 
ments were bred in the Uuited States.The 
British Privy Council has decided that typhoid 
fever in swiue, which has lately been very 
prevalent in that country, comes under the 
provisions of the Contagious Diseases Act, 
and accordingly that all infected hogs must be 
slaughtered and their owners compensated; 
but not at a higher rate thau $8 per auimal. 
.... Ireland is the great source of imported 
cattle supply to England. The small farmers 
of Ulster alone sent 193,596 head across the 
Channel during the year before last. 
Formerly the presumption in Great Britain 
was that all cattle from abroad were healthy; 
but since the passage of the Cattle Diseases 
Act last year, the presumption is that all for¬ 
eign cattle are diseased, and live burthen of 
proving to the satisfaction of the Privy Coun¬ 
cil that they are healthy rests upon the im¬ 
porters.What is held to have been the 
heaviest beast ever slaughtered in Ireland was 
the Short-horn steer Jove, wiuuer of several 
prizes, wfflose live weight was 8,696 pounds. 
He was butchered the other day at Coleraine. 
Jflorintllural. 
WINTER FLOWERS.-No. 2. 
W r ILLIAM FALCONEB. 
Soft-wooded Cape Heaths, as Erica hyerna- 
iis, caffra aud gracilis, are really pretty at this 
time of the year, but they are best grown iu a 
cool greenhouse; so are Epaerises. Some 
growers plant them out iu summer, w r hile oth¬ 
ers prefer growing them on in pots. Plants 
under three years old are considered better 
thau older oues- Acacias are "real pretty” 
from December till March or April, but most of 
them grow too big for window use. A. urmuta 
blooms when very small and so does A. Drum- 
mondii. Corouilla glauca aud Cytisus Canarien- 
sis aud its varieties are profuse yellow blos- 
somers, compact, aud if grown out-of-doors iu 
summer and iu a moderately cool room iu win¬ 
ter make good wiudow plants, lied spider is 
their greatest enemy. Chorozemas, orange, and 
Hardenbergias, purple aud white, arc neat and 
copious Australians, requiring treatment like 
the last. Violets iu a cold-frame yield blossoms 
from November till early May, aud, as a pre¬ 
ventive against severe weather, u few potfuls 
in the house will furnish many blossoms in 
winter. Of Begonias we can have a feast or a 
famine, just as we choose; the tuberous-rooted 
aud Rex varieties had better rest till spring, but 
the shrubby ones, Manicata and others, only 
need warmth and water to gladden our hopes. 
A few late summer-sown Browallias, or old 
plants lifted iu the fall, cut back a little aud 
potted, bloom continuously. Abutilons will 
come in a little later, unless you have a green¬ 
house, w hen you can have them all the year 
round. Libonias bear great crops of orange 
and scarlet; they like to be planted out and 
pinched iu summer and get a little warmth in 
winter. Red, white and yellow—single and 
double—Oxalises are now in their heyday; they 
are splendid house plants. Oxalis versicolor— 
the little rod and Avhite variegated one—has 
been and still is very flue with me. 1 keep it 
pretty dry, cool, and near the glass. The little 
yellow-blooming Othonna iu suspended pots is 
like a heavy fringe studded w r ith golden stars. 
Crassulas, white aud piuk, Cotyledons, red; Se- 
duras, yellow, and some other succulent plants, 
are in full bloom. They like a dry atmosphere 
and to be kept a little dry. Aloes are pushing up 
flmver spikes. Aud I may say here that Aloes, 
Crassulas. and other South African succulents, 
unlike the Cacti and succulents of the Northern 
Hemisphere, grow freely in winter, hence are 
benefited by light w r aterings and warmth. 
Linum trigynum is a pretty plant of the flax 
family, with large deep-yellow blossoms that 
on tiny and massive plants alike are borne iu 
great profusion. It likes a little warmth, as do 
also Peristrophe speciosa, GoldfuBsias, Jaeobl- 
nias and the like—all serviceable at this sea¬ 
son, particularly for the greenhouse. Cestrum 
elegans is at its best now, but though its flow¬ 
ers are show'y aud many, its leaves and stems 
are so hatefully odorous that I very much dis¬ 
like it. Catalonian Jessamines are great favor¬ 
ites and good house plants, aud they bloom 
more or less all the year round. In green¬ 
houses Roses can always be had ; in windOAVs, 
if the Roses were well established in pots, ri¬ 
pened thoroughly and early, aud pruned in ac¬ 
cordance, we may soon expect a goodly re¬ 
ward. If timely cared for, we can now have 
any quantity of Suowdrops, Crocuses, Christ¬ 
mas Roses, Winter Aconites, aud other early- 
blooming bulbous plants The Jerusalem 
cherry plants, with their multitude of bright 
fruits, are very pretty and last several months 
in perfection. They are good house plauts, 
but much better greenhouse ones. 
Of course, the non-seasonable blooming 
plants will add a deal of green, but when 
“green” is wanted for cutting, besides smilax, 
Rose-geraniums, Maiden Hair, Pteris and 
climbing Ferns, I Avould highly recommend 
some of the evergreen kinds of South African 
asparagus. We have a species here that grows 
about ten inches high, is lo\ely as green iu 
bouquets, aud keeps iu good conditiou as long 
aud as Avell as the best of our Ferns; and Ave 
have one that groAvs some two or three feet 
high that is far heaAier aud richer; also, a 
climbing species Avhose long, sprayev strings 
are as handsome as those of Siuilax. And I 
would also commend to notice for winter work 
the Lemon Verbenas. If grown iu pots, Avell 
ripened aud cut backin fall, like a Heliotrope, 
a little moisture and warmth will give lots of 
fragrant shoots in Aviutcr. 
(entomological, 
THE PEACH APHIS ON THE EASTERN 
SHORE OF MARYLAND. 
Tiie severe freezing weather we have had 
during much of the Aviuter, brighteus the pros¬ 
pects for our escape from the devastations of 
the dreaded "Peach Aphis” the coming spriug, 
as there is notliiug that approaches as nearly 
to a remedy for this aphis as a severe Avinter. 
A few Avinters back, mild weather character¬ 
ized the mouths of December aud January,— 
and during January, investigation shoAved the 
iusect to be iu line working eoudition, congre¬ 
gated iu knots and patches upon the roots of 
youug trees in the uursery aud orchard. I had 
abandoned all hopes of saving the trees budded 
in the nursery the preceding fall from their 
blighting ravages. In February, however, a 
severe spell of freezing weather visisted us, 
which put a complete * quietus' upon the little 
intruders, and that spring the trees escaped all 
harm from them. 
Last winter, ou account of the total absence 
of hard freezing, Avas very favorable for the 
preservatiou of the innumerable pests that had 
fastened themselves ou the roots of the trees 
for shelter; aud, as a result, avu had them last 
spring iu such quantities as to baffle all our 
efforts at their destruction. Although their 
natural enemies—such as Lady-bugs, aud se\ r - 
erai kinds of flies—were feasting upon them ail 
the time, the supply steadily increased rather 
thau diminished. Now this aphis question is 
gradually looming up as a subject demanding 
the best study and thought ol peach growers 
on the Peninsula. May not the increasing 
variableness in fruit of some of the standard 
market varieties, such as the Heath Cling, for 
example, be attributed to the under-ground 
operations of these depredators ? Last spring 
iu digging trees—upon the roots of Avhich the 
insects had subsisted all the Aviuter—many of 
the fibers and smaller roots tvere found to bo 
eutirely dead, aud iu many cases roots as thick 
as a knitting-needle Averc deadened and the 
bark seemiugly rotten for a half iuch out¬ 
wardly from iheir junction Avith the main 
roots. The aphis Avorks iu the same manner 
upon bearing trees, as has been several times 
proven by investigation; and this assuredly 
weakens the vitality of the trees to a consider¬ 
able extent, aud. as a natural consequeuce, ma¬ 
terially influences the yield of fruit. 
I have not yet been ublc to notice anything 
in the appearance of trees repeatedly attacked 
by the aphiB, that will support the belief of 
many intelligent and prominent peach-growers, 
that the aphis and yellows are Indeutical in 
their influence upou the tree; or, in other 
Avords, that the aphis on the roots, produces 
yellOAVs iu the branches. On the other hand, 
