acted on the plant through the roots. I am 
inclined to think that in most cases the in¬ 
creased greenness follows altogether indepen¬ 
dently of the sulphate of lime, as I have 
frequently observed that young plants, es¬ 
pecially Indian corn, often appear yellow for 
a week or so when a few inches high, but 
shortly afterwards assume a deep, healthy 
green without, auy application whatever. 
The young plant is at first nourished almost 
exclusively from the seed. It may easily 
happen that the cotyledons are nearly ex¬ 
hausted before the rootlets have struck deeply 
enough to draw adequate nutriment from the 
soil, and the plant may suffer temporarily 
during the weaning process, but quickly re¬ 
covers when its root-tips reach a depth that 
insures suitable aud regular supplies of mois¬ 
ture and plant-food, and protects them from 
too great fluctuations of temperature. 
GRAPE QUERIES. 
H. K. Onawa , la. —1. Would pigs pastured 
in a plum orchard destory the curadio? 2. 
When should plums Ijo grafted? 8. What j s 
the standing of the Duroc-Oersoy among breed- 
el's? 4. Can grape-vines be grafted with suc¬ 
cess, and when? 5. What is the advantage of 
bagging grapes, and what kind of bags arc 
usod, and when should it be done? (1. How 
are grapes hybridized? 
Ans. —1. They would have no immediate 
effect, but would help to diminish future uum- 
l>ers were there no trees outside of the pig 
yard in which the eureulio could breed. The 
best and cheapest way to rid the plums of 
these pests is to jar the trees, catching the 
“bugs” on canvas sheets, and destroying 
them. 2. Plums should lie grafted as soon as 
the first warm days of Spring come: though 
if the cions are well kept, the work may be 
done later with fair success, 3. They have 
many friends, though most people regard them 
as too large aud late-maturing. 4. Yes. at 
auy time before tire buds swell much. It is 
best done by what is called the Wagener 
method. This consists in sawing and cutting 
out a small piece of the stock, so that when 
the cion is cut on thr ee sides, so as to moke it 
a little wedging, it is crowded tightly into the 
kerf, the whole then being buried. It is hard 
to describe this method without cuts. If you 
can find a file of last year's Rural, it is fully 
illustrated on (urge 259. 5. The advanta¬ 
ges of bugging grapes are that it prevents'the 
lodgement of the rot or mildew “spores” on 
the fruit, and thus saves it from disease. It 
should lie doue early—as soon as the grapes 
are fully out of bloom. The bags are what 
grocer's call one and two-pound bags. They 
are nrade of thin. muuiJla paper. In putting 
them on, the lower corner of the bag is cut off 
so as to lot any water that might enter escape. 
The bag is slipped over the cluster, up over 
the oaue and pinned. 7. The petals of the 
unopened flowers of the plant used as l’cumle 
are carefully opened; the stamous, or male 
organs, ore cut out aud the clusters covered 
with fine muslin. In a day or two the cluster’s 
are uncovered and dusted with the pollen of 
the plnnt used as male, and the clusters are 
again covered with the rnusliu. It is well to 
repeat this operation again the following day 
ABSCESS IN BULL’S NAVEL. 
C. S., Halbur , hi .—About throe months 
ago u swelling, the size of an egg, appeared in 
the navel of my uight-months-oldhull calf. It 
soon opened and for some time discharged pus; 
then disappeared, and finally the sore healed. 
Three weeks ugo the swelling reappeared in 
one night, as large as a man’s list, A blistering 
salve was applied, and within a week it open- 
ed aud discharged a lot of matter. Now the 
swelling has again all disappeared, but there is 
a small hole from which a quantity of thick, 
yellow pus is discharged. AVhat should be 
done? 
Ans.—T here is evidently an abscess due to 
some unknown cause, or, possibly, the navel has 
never perfectly healed. If the opening is large 
enough to admit the finger, carefully explore 
the cavity from which the pus flows und en¬ 
deavor to reach the bottom of the abscess. If 
this can 1 m? done, wash out, daily with some 
weak astringent antiseptic solution, us one- 
half dram of zinc chloride m a quart of water, 
or, if t he opening is small and the bottom can¬ 
not be reached, use a common syringe to 
throw the solution into the opening. 
TENDER FEET IN A HORSE. 
''Subscriber,” Mao re's Forks, X. V .—For 
three years my seven-year-old roadster has been 
lame at times in the right fore-leg aud left 
hind-feet, The wall of the hoof is thin. Long, 
hard drives and heavy pulling, or standing in 
the stable do not make his limbs tender or 
swell them; but he is often lame when first 
hitched up; what uils him ? 
Ans.— Unless the difficulty or tenderness eau 
be more definitely located a satisfactory au- 
swer cannot Ik? given. It, may be that the 
animal is constitutionally week in his limbs, 
and all that i« necessary is careful usage, A 
competent veterinary surgeon by a personal 
examination of the horse would probably be 
able to locate the difficulty and prescribe a 
proper course of treatment if such is necessary. 
FODDER QUERIES. 
J. D. J., St. Thomas, Florida.—1. We can 
raise only about 10 bushels of corn per acre, 
while we can buy it at the railroad station for 
85 cents. Would it not lie better to buy it, 
raising some sort of fodder crop? Timothy 
hay costs £ 1.75 per hundred pounds. 2. What 
is the best plant for me to use for soiling and 
curing for fodder? 3. Would it not pay to 
plant artichokes, chufas aud sweet potatoes 
for hogs, letting them root them out? 4. 
What is the best breed of hogs to use for cross¬ 
ing on our long-nosed pigs for making pork 
for home use? 5. Where can chufas be pro¬ 
cured? 
Ans. —1. Ten bushels at 85 cents would be 
$8.50 per acre. You should be able to tell 
whether any other crop will pay better. It 
would seem to us that some other crop would 
give more clear money; if so then it would pay 
to buy the corn. 2. Try the Rural Branch¬ 
ing Sorghum or Millo Maize; also try corn 
sowed thickly for fodder; also try the cow- 
peas in a small way. 3. No one can tell you 
half sowell as a trial on a small scale,although 
we doubt the practicability of this plan. Ar¬ 
tichokes have been tried for this purpose 
North, but have not been a success. 4. Either 
Essex, Small Yorkshires or Berkshires. 5 
Try P. J. Berckmaus, Augusta, Ga.,or W. B. 
Jones, Heradou, Ga, 
RING-WORM OR MANGE IN A CAT. 
F. M. B. B., Buffalo, N, Y.—l. What is a 
cure for mange in a cat? The symptoms are 
a humor or sore on the head, which is incline? 1 
to spread, and has closed her eyes and made 
the hair fall out. 
Ans. —The symptoms given would indicate 
ring-worm rather than mange, a baldness and 
eruption most commonly about the face, caus¬ 
ed by a vegetable parasite—Trichophyton ton¬ 
surans—living within the hair follicles and 
bulbs. As a test, apply a little chloroform to 
the hairs about the affected part, and if it is 
ring-worm, the diseased bail’s will be bleached 
while the sound oues will not be changed. The 
diseased hairs will also be found to be split, 
broken, and bristly, and the microscope wifi 
show the presence of the spores of the parasite. 
The treatment is very simple. Pull or shave 
the hair from the part affected aud paint thor¬ 
oughly with tincture of iodine. In the absence 
of the above symptoms, trad lor mange. Apply 
a dressing made of oil of tar one part and 
sweet or castor oil 25 |mri«. Two or three Ap¬ 
plications may be necessary. 
COUGH in a cow. 
R. M. C. y Portland, Ohio .—Last April one 
of my cows aborted and didu’t clean well. 
Soon afterward she commenced to cough in a 
low subdued way aud did so considerably for 
ten or twelve weeks. Thorough then abated 
but lately it is as bad as ever. She looks and 
eats wall; w hat can be done for her- 
Ans. —Unless the bowels are already laxa¬ 
tive, give one pound of Glauber salts with two 
ounces of ginger. Then take one dram of 
solid extract of belladonna, aud four drams 
of saltpeter, mix with a sirup or honey to 
form u thick paste, aud smear upon the liaok 
teeth to be swallowed leisurely. Repeat twice 
daily. Apply a mild blister over the region of 
the throat—ammonia one part, sweet oil two 
parts. Steam the nostrils every evening by 
feeding a hot. bran mash made by pouring 
boiling water over four quarts of wheat bran, 
aud let the animal eat from the bucket while 
cooling. 
Miscellaneous. 
C. S. X., Lamartine , TFY$.— What is the 
ratio between the fattening values of corn 
and barley? 
Ans. — The fattening value of a grain de¬ 
pends almost entirely upon its free oil or fat, 
and its carbohydrates (the sugar, starch,gums, 
etc). One per cent, of oil is reckoned as 
equivalent to about 2.4 per cent.carbohydrates. 
At these rates (19 pounds of corn are equal to 
78 pounds of barley. Dr. Wolff, in his tables, 
gives their values of 147 pounds of corn as 
equal to 175 pounds of barley: but in these 
figures lie includes the value of the albuminoids 
which are considerably iu favor of the barley. 
L. C. B., Bora , no State named. —Cook’s 
Manual of the Apiary is the best work on 
bee-keeping; price $1. _ To be had from Prof. 
A. J. Cook, Agricultural Collage, Lansing, 
Mich. 
DISCUSSION. 
W. H. H. J., Houokus, N. J.—I wish to 
note my decided objection to the plan of hen 
roost by Mr. L. D. Wood, illustrated in the 
Rural of January 2. Any plan that permits 
the fowls to spend a night in such close prox¬ 
imity ,to the7 fresh., droppings, breathing the 
gases which are constantly being thrown off, 
must be dangerous to health; nor do I advo¬ 
cate the low roosts used by many poultrymen. 
The natural instinct of the fowl is to roost 
high, out of dampness and foul air. Build 
the roosts not less than 3}£ to 4 feet from the 
floor and have easy steps or ladders for the 
birds to go up and down. Cover the floor 
with about six inches of sand sieved through a 
quarter-inch-mesh sieve, so that it will be free 
from stones larger than peas. Every morning 
rake up the manure with a fine-tooth irou 
rake and remove it to the manure shed. This 
will keep the poultry house always sweet and 
clean. The sand can be renewed when nec¬ 
essary, but it should always be dry when put 
in. 
R. N.-Y.—We do not wish to take the lance 
in defence of Mr. Wood. He is able to defend 
himself. We only wish to remark that while 
we are iu favor of having the roosts at least 
above the middle of the house, we do think 
there should be a floor under them aud not 
more than one foot away. With the improved 
and heavy breeds the danger of injury by 
falling from the roosts is worth considering, 
aud the floor effectually prevents this. 
G. H.. Penfield, N. Y.—This cold Winter 
weather I have been studying the Rural’s 
Special Fertilizer Number, which I had laid 
away for reference. From the study of that, 
combined with my own observation and ex¬ 
perience, I confess I have become rather mix¬ 
ed on the question. Several contributors to 
the Special agree that more benefit is derived 
from the use of commercial fertilizer’s on clay 
than on light soil: but they do not touch on 
the question whether there are not some soils 
upon which commercial fertilizers are of no 
benefit whatever. That has been my experi¬ 
ence after testing them for a number of years, 
and my soil cannot be called either light or 
sandy. I have used several standard brands 
of superphosphate which should be complete 
fertilizers, as they contain phosphoric acid, 
potash and nitrogen. They are considered 
very valuable in this immediate vicinity by 
farmers who use them upon what is here call¬ 
ed “phosphate land”—that is land inclined to 
be moist, and nearly always beech and maple 
land, also black or peaty and clay soils. Did 
you ever know of commercial fertilizers ben¬ 
efiting a crop raised upon limestone land. 
u]>on which the natural timber was oak aud 
chestnut? If so, what were the situation of 
the land, the fertilizers used, the amount per 
acre, the crop raised, the yield per acre, and 
was the increase in yield sufficient to pay for 
the fertilizer? If complete fertilizer is of no 
benefit on this soil, would you advise me to 
try phosphoric acid alone, potash alone, and 
nitrogen alone, and combinations of two of 
these constituents with the third left out? If 
so, what shall l buy to get the phosphoric acid 
in the best and cheapest form? What for pot¬ 
ash, and what for nitrogen? My soil is neither 
light, porous, sandy nor leaehy, the only soils 
mentioned as those upon which phosphate is 
of little or no benefit. 
R. N.-Y.—A sujierphospliate is not a com¬ 
plete fertilizer. It contains ouly phosphoric 
acid. Your land may need one, two or all. 
This can be ascertained only by trying them 
separately aud iu their several combinations. 
Our friend may rest assured of oue thing, viz., 
that commercial fertilizers will increase the 
crop if the soil is not already abundantly sup¬ 
plied with plaut food, no matter whether the 
land is limestone or not: no matter what trees 
grow upon it. Bone flour is best for phos¬ 
phoric acid—muriate or sulphate of potash or 
wood ashes for potash; blood, nitrate of soda 
or sulphate of ammonia for nitrogen. We 
have seen barley growing upon lands of 
gravelly limestone character, whereon a com¬ 
plete fertilizer had been used, strips the width 
of the drill being occasionally left without, and 
the difference between the fertilized and un¬ 
fertilized parts was at least fourfold in favor 
of the manured. We did uot see the grain 
harvested and thrashed, and so cannot tell 
whether the fertilizer was paid for by the in¬ 
creased crop, but we have no doubt of it. We 
have seen equally as favorable results with 
wheat and other crops, and yet the ouly safe 
way is for every man to test these manures 
for himself. 
CoJOttMCATioss Received for the Week Ending 
Saturday, January 23.1886. 
M. B. P.— F. H. P.—W. H. C.—J. K. E.—B. E. M.—T. , 
'V.—L.—J. T. M.. thanks—M. K. R. Jr. ,1. \V.—F. A. . 
U. C. D.-M. A. S.-W. E. J.—G. K. K.-E. S.—F. H. I - 
M. C. B.—F. D, t\—H. K.—E. S. J. M. H-—T. B. Mo . 
—ILL. F.-J, B. C.-C. E. B.. thanks— R. J. Y.-F. F., 
thanks.—II. s. T.-W. H. H. J. W. J. C. C. S.—C. T. G. 
-E. L.D.-U. R.S.-H. W,-W. A. B.-R. E. D.->J. 8., 
thanks.—T. H. B.-L. H. T.-E. G., thanks.—R. L. G.— 
T. D. S.-E, P. J.—B. F.J.—S. IL—O. M. B.—J. P.—D. J. 
B. - L. L. K.—C. B. P.-T. H. H.-J. MoK.-T. D. C.-A. 
W. B.-J. R. A.-J. D. M. -S. 8. C.-F. A. B.—S. C.-R. A. 
F. A.-C.w, c.. thanks.—n.B.S.—A. J.O.—E.T.. thanks. 
W. M.-S. M.-H. W. L.—A. W. \\\—W. F. B.-P. B. M. 
W. B. H.-A. M.-H. W.-U. O. B.-A. N. F.-G. A. R.- 
M. H.-C. L.-W. E.-C. F. G.-T. E. C.-W. W. C.-W. 
6-S- W. M.-W. B.-W. t R. L.-D. H. B.-J. J. D.-E, G. 
C. Y.-F, H, H.-B. K.-E, C\-S, L. W.-GJf. 
<AVK Your POI8TS and use SHAWLS WIRE 
FENCE TIGHTENER. Can be aclWed toihy 
wooden post; cau tighten or slacken, according to cli¬ 
mate, with an ordinary monkey wrench. Price 88 
per doz. For full particulars, apply to 
„ , W. SHAW. 
Delaware, Ontario, Canada. 
Agents wanted. Patent applied for. 
HOW TO CATCH THE FOX. By an old 
Trapper. Directions. Si. Address 
5' . S CURRIER, Ragley, N. H. 
SITUATION U t VTED, by a ma» who thor- 
oughly understands Farming in all its brauches. Age 
35. Sober. Industrious, and a worker. Can refer to 
Editor of R. N. Y. Address ’FARMER.” R!ver Edge® 
Bergen Co., N, J. 8 ’ 
Farmers and Horsemen will find 
it to their advantage to send for new 64- 
page Catalogue and Price List of heavy 
and light, slugle and double Harness, 
made of the best oak leather, all hand 
work, at wholesale prices to the con¬ 
sumer. K I NG «Xr CO.. Oweoo. N.Y. 
CAN’T BE BEAT! 
THE “STANDARD” 
WIRE NETTING 
POULTRY FENCE. 
Only One Cent per Square Foot, for %-inch 
Mesh, Xo. 19 Wire. 
IN BALES OF 150 LINEAR FEET. 
or all kinds for the Poultry Yard 
Garden. Write for circular: 
Dog Keimef, and 
Brockner Sk Evans. 
(Formerly 422 West St.) t*8 Vesey St reet, X. Y. 
Alaco tuber’s Hand Planter, for Com, Brans, 
and Bert Seed. The best in the world. Money refund¬ 
ed If it does not prove satferfsetorv. after a fair trial 
| Agents wanted. Send for circular and terms. 
mi ». M. Macomber & Co., M’f’g's, Grand Isle. Vt, 
MATTHEWS’ „ s r e , e l? 
Hand Cultivator, 
Wheel Hoe, 
INGLE OR COMBINED. ___ 
Admitted hy leading Seedsmen and Market Garden 
>rs everywhere to be the most perfect and reliable 
mipleiueius in use for plan fin* ami cuHisaUntf vrur- 
lcn crops, sitxcnre oj Inquire for 
lie genuine machines which are unvlp only by- 
r. B* EVERETT & C0. f Boston, Mass 
Scni) for circu.&rft fivitip mo .rnx» r <twexneotJ 
EXTRACTED 
HONEY. 
At 10 cts. per lb., In kegs of 50 and 100 lbs. Samples by 
mall, 10 cents. Address W. Z. HUTCHINSON, 
Rogersville, Genesee Co., Mich. 
3 PTTRTC MILK. 
WARREN MILK BOTTLES 
Patented March isd, 1680. 
Adapted for the Delivery 
of Milk in aU Cities 
aud Towns. 
A Long Needed Want 
at last Supplied. 
DESCRIPTIVE CIRCU¬ 
LARS ON 
APPLICATION. 
A. V. WHITE-MAN, 
R N. 
7'i Murray St., 
NEW YORK. 
TELEPHONES SOLD. 
Do HI pay exoctxUAii rct.iAl fees to 
the beli Telephone Monopoly to use 
their Telephones on lines less than 
two mUcs in Jenjcthi A tew months’ 
tenul buys a ins!-class Telephone 
that is no Infringement, anti works 
splendid on line* lor private use on 
any kind of wnre. and wor*s good in 
stormy weather. It makes homes 
pieasnrt: annihilates brne; pc^vents 
Imr^Uricv, uvrx many steps, and is 
_ just wh.itevetv l -slricss ni.iti and far¬ 
mer should hAve to connect stares, bouses, depots, fac¬ 
tories. colleges, etc., etc. The n-v practicable:andreliabie 
Telephone that is sold oiHri^h! A:nl warranted to work. 
Chance for Agents. No mevUFai evferi * i.e required. 
*•>. niars free Wltf. I NORTON . HuflfUo N \ 
nflIRY THERMOMETERS 1 
All Glass. Easily kept clean. j5-"Trlls 
you when to Churn, Scald, etc. 
SENT BY MAIL FOR 
50c. 
W. MITCHELL M ALLISTER. 
OPTICIAN, 740 Chestnut St., Phila., Pa. 
LITTLE S 
PATENT FLU I I 
MORRIS, LITTLE & SON, 
Manufacturers. Brooklyn. K. !>., N. Y., Box 3. 
and Doiivuster, England. 
IT D1V0 to sell our Rubber Printing Stamps. S&m 
! 1*10 pies fret. j. M, Mitten & Co., Cleveland, O 
