154 
MARSH§ 
THE RURAL HEW-Y9RKER. 
ANSWERS TO CORRESPONDENTS. 
[Every query must be accompanied by the name 
and address of the writer to Insure attention. 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 palter. | 
SWEENY IN A MARK. 
M. C. G., lO'edericlcshurg, Va .—My six- 
year-old mare became quite lame one 
uight last Summer. 1 could discover no sign 
of injury. Now the top of the shoulder seems 
slightly flattened. She was turned out to 
grass for several mouths in Summer, and did 
not limp when taken off. I drove her twice 
to a sleigh, and now the lameness has re¬ 
turned. If it is sweeny, how should she be 
treated t 
ANSWERED BY F. L. KILBORNK. B. V. S. 
Stand directly in front of the animal and 
compare the two shoulders. If one shoulder 
is sweenied and the other sound, there will he 
a marked rolling, or bulging outward, of the 
point, of the affected shoulder when the weight 
of the animal is thrown upon the lame side. 
For slight wasting of the muscle, as in this 
case, active friction river the wasted muscle 
with a wisp of hard twisted straw, a corn-cob. 
brick, or other hard substance for 15 or 311 
minutes ouce or twice daily, may he all that 
is necessary. Failiug in this, repeated au 
application of a mild blister of ammonia and 
oil. The most, rapid method, however, of re¬ 
placing the wasted muscle is by sending a cur¬ 
rent of electricity through the muscle for 15 
or 20 minutes daily. Apply one electrode of 
au electric battery at the upper end of the 
wasting muscle, and the other electrode at the 
lower end. During any form of treatment, 
moderate daily exercise on level ground is very 
important as tending to stimulate the growth 
of the muscle. If the affected shoulder does 
not roll outward, the cause of the lameness 
must be looked for in the lower part of the limb 
and be treated accordingly. A slight wast¬ 
ing of the muscles of the shoulder is sometimes 
due to such lameness, and does not. always in¬ 
dicate sweeny. 
FEED FOR MILCH COWS. 
E. G. B., Penn's Grove, N. J. —I am feeding 
my cows 30 pounds of dry, cut corn-stalks and 
six quarts of “cob meal” each per day. They 
are in fairly good stables and kept up most of 
the time, except on pleasant days, and yet. they 
are failiug off rapidly in milk; what is the 
cause ? 
Ans. —There are two reasons: the cows are 
insufficiently fed and the food contains too 
little nitrogenous food. If the cows are 1,000 
or more pounds in weight they should have 
not less than 30 pounds of good clover hay 
per day, even wheD not giving milk, and if 
giving milk, an additional quantity. Of the 
20 pounds of ordinary Stalks not 10 pounds are 
really valuable food, and of the six quarts of 
meal at least one-half is cob. In both these 
foods the albuminoids do not constitute more 
than one part to every eight or more parts of 
carbohydrates; while the lowest profitable 
proportion should he one to four, and it would 
Ik? better still if the proportion was much 
higher. The cows should have, in addition to 
the ration already given, at least four quarts 
of wheat bran and one-and-one-half quart of 
oil meal. The whole grain ration should be 
well mixed aud the ration intended for the 
night feed be mixed with boiling water in the 
morning, and the same should lie dime at 
night for the next morning's fees!. It would 
be much better if the cows had a liberal 
allowance of roots or silage each day. Also 
make the bams a little warmer aud keep the 
cow's there all the time, except when out to 
driuk. 
WORMS IN PIGS. 
M. B., Anna, HI. —What is a good remedy 
for worms in pigs: 1 
Ans. —Pigs are greatly troubled by several 
sorts of worms. The round worm is usually 
the size of a small goose-quill, six or seven 
inches long, of a brownish color and some¬ 
what corrugated. Probably the most effectu¬ 
al remedy is santonin—the active princi¬ 
ple of a plant, called worm-seed. It is 
in small white crystals and may he given 
in doses of one-third of a teaspoouful morn¬ 
ings aud nights for three or four days, 
following with a brisk carthartic, such as 
calomel, iu teaspoouful doses. Two other 
worms, one a white, slender peRt, as large as a 
knitting needle and three inches long: and 
the other a little white wretch, three-quarters 
of an inch long, aud shaped like a tad-pole, 
dwell in the lower bowels and larger intestines, 
and are sometimes seen coming from the anus. 
These may often be removed by giving, each 
morning for a week, one-and-one-half table¬ 
spoonful of Barbadoes aloes with a teaspoon¬ 
ful of copperas. If this fails after having 
been taken for four or five days, give au in¬ 
jection: tincture Of assafoetida, one teaspoon¬ 
ful; salt, one teaspoonful; water, half a pint; 
mix together, warm slightly, and inject A 
remedy much easier aud generally effective 
is to mix wood ashes with soap-suds and feed 
once a week with slops. 
DIARRHEA IN HENS. 
N. FT., Peterboro. X. II .—Can you give me 
a remedy for diarrhea iu hens? 
Ans. — We do not know the cause of the 
disease. It may lie a symptom of cholera. Iu 
this case the ilischage will be thin and frothy 
—greenish or like sulphur and water. Treat¬ 
ment for cholera is generally unsatisfactory. 
Remove the sick fowls from the others in any 
event. Ordinary diarrhea is not uncommon 
among fowls. It is not a dangerous disease in 
a mild form, btit the danger lies in permitting 
it to become chronic, which will be the result 
if left to itself. The disease is caused gener¬ 
ally by indigestion, resulting from unwhole¬ 
some food, lack of grav'd, or inability to ex¬ 
ercise properly. All who have examined the 
digestive organs of a fowl know how necessary 
gravel is to the proper digestion of the food. 
Hens should always he allowed access to 
coarse saud or gravel. The diet should be 
changed. Cooked rice or stale bread with 
milk and seasoued with ]>epper is good, with 
plenty of burnt bone. Where liens can lie 
"dosed" a pill as large as a pea made of equal 
parts of powdered chalk, rhubarb aud cay¬ 
enne pepper, with a little camphor, may lie 
given daily The “Douglass Mixture” is high¬ 
ly recommended by many. This is maile by 
disolving one pound of copjieras iu two gal¬ 
lons of soft water, to which one ounce of oil 
of vitriol is added: this is placed in a jug and 
kept corked. The dose is one teaspoouful in 
a pint of drinking water. This medicine will 
lie found valuable iu mauv of the diseases to 
which chickens are liable. 
COTTON-SEED FERTILIZER FOR POTATOES. 
J. M.,Selma, Ala. —1. Which is the better 
for growing Irish potatoes, on sandy laud with 
a red clay subsoil, ashes from cotton-seed 
hulls, or cotton-seed meal, each costing $30 per 
ton at the mill? 2. How should I use them 
and hen manure to produce the best results? 
3. Would you prefer all of each or a mixture 
of both with the ashes? 
Ans.— 1. Ashes from cotton-seed hulls, when 
pure, contain about 30 per cent, of potash and 
about seven per cent, of phosphoric acid, 
mostly in au available form, aud valuing the 
potash at six cents per pound (it being mostly 
carbonate), and the phosphorio acid at about 
mno cents, it would be worth $48.00. Cotton¬ 
seed meal contains only 2,47 per cent, of phos¬ 
phoric acid and 1.51 per cent, of potash; but 
it contains 7.25 per cent, of nitrogen, which, 
valuing the nitrogen at 17 cents and the phos¬ 
phoric acid and potash as before, makes it 
worth $ 30.89 per ton, so it is easy to see which 
is the best to buy. 2. A mixture of cotton- 
seed-hall ashes with hen manure would be a 
capital ] iota to fertilizer, although it would 
contain a surplus of potash. 3. We should 
prefer the ashes mixed with hen manure and 
soluble phosphate or very fine bone dust, 
although the cotton-seed meal is a good mauure 
at the price; hut it is too rich in nitrogen and 
too poor in potash and phosphoric acid for a 
potato manure. 
ROUP IN POULTRY. 
P. IP, Helena, Dak.— One eye of a hen 
was afflicted with a red swelling; she died 
shortly afterwards. A small red lump Is now- 
growing between the eye and the hill of a 
turkey hen; is it the same trouble; and what 
is it ? 
Anh,—R oup iu both cases. There are dif¬ 
ferent forms of the disease, or rather different 
symptoms; but whatever the indications, the 
malady is caused by exposure to cold or 
damp weather. The swelling may lie relieved 
by bathing the head in a solution made by dis¬ 
solving a teaspoouful of boraeie acid in half 
a glass of water. Bathe the heud and eyes 
once a day, using a soft sponge, and making 
the solution warm, Keep the birds iu a dry, 
warm place. Feed on nourishing food, A 
teasi>oonful of the solution poured down the 
throat will lie beneficial, as it will do no 
harm, aud will destroy the disease which is 
really in the system. After bathing with the 
mixture, anoint with a few drops of glycerine. 
subduing prairie grass. 
II. < Slate Line, hid .—I have about 10 
acres oi drained slough, completely covered 
with prairie grass. Tin* sod is so tough that 
it is next to impossible to break the ground. 
Is there any crop that I can sow on the ground 
that will, in a year or two, kill the prairie 
grass? 
Ans.—I t must lie a tough prairie sod a 
sharp steel sward plow' will not turn. 1q sub¬ 
due without breaking the sward, all that is 
necessary is to fence off the 10 acres so they 
can be pastured. Sow', during the Winter or 
early in the Spring, about, twice the amount 
of Timothy, Blue Grass or clover used on 
plowed land, to let the cattle tramp the seed in. 
The tame grasses will not make much show 
the first seasou; but they will get a good 
catch the second, aud have routed the wild 
grasses out the third. The w'aste from hay 
where stock is fed in considerable numbers, 
may he scattered on the prairie grass to assist 
iu subduing it. 
grafting wax, etc. 
O. S. C., Greenlaim, L. 1., X. Y. —1. How 
shall I make a good grafting wax? 2. When 
should cherry cions be cut. and when set? 
Ans, —t. Melt four pounds of resin, two 
pounds of tallow, and one pound of beeswax 
in an iron kettle, aud when thoroughly melted 
stir it well and pour it into a tub of cold water, 
aud as soon as it is cold enough to handle, 
pull and work until it becomes quite light- 
colored, like candy. It i-au he made harder 
or softer by using more or less tallow. 2. They 
should lie cut any time between now and 
Spring, when not frozen. They should lie set 
on the first, warm day and before the Imds 
start in the least. 
“Inquirer," Freiloniu, Whs. —I wish to 
make a fruit garden on new land, some 
heavy clay anil some inclined to be sandy. 
A part received a heavy coat of stable manure 
last Summer aud was thoroughly harrowed 
several times. It is on a river bank and I 
think of underdrainiug most of it. I am 
thinking of planting a part to raspberries and 
a part to strawberries next Spring. Should 
1 wait auother year, cultivating the ground 
to other crops, and uuder-draiuing it where 
necessary, and manuring it? 
Ans. —Waitiug until another year, as you 
represent it, would he the better w av, we are 
confident. 
RASPBERRIES AND BLACKBERRIES FOR N. S. 
B. W. T., Halifax, X. S. —1. What are the 
best raspberry and blackberry for market in 
this section? 2. Will rasper lies keep better if 
picked with the bulls on? 
Ans. —1, The Winters of Nova Scotia are 
reported not to lie so severe as to prohibit the 
cultivation of such varieties as the Cuthbert 
aud Turner Raspberries, or any of the black¬ 
caps, of which Doolittle is as good as any. 
The Snyder aud, perhaps, the Wilson 
Blackberries would probably prove success¬ 
ful. 2. It is not practicable to pick aud 
market raspberries with the hulls attached. 
TOP-DRESSING FOR MEADOW. 
G. W. I)., Hew Haven, Ct. —What is the 
best commercial fertilizer for top-dressing an 
upland meadow that has been seeded to Tim¬ 
othy tw'o or three years? My land is rather 
heavy loam, with hard-pan two or more feet 
below' the surface, and ashes appear to do no 
good while bone manure produc es good results, 
hut I have to draw it Id miles. 
Ans. —We should use bone flour, 400 pounds; 
wood ashes, 10 bushels, or in place of these, 
200 pounds of muriate of potash, and 200 
pounds of tankage or fish scrap per acre, scat¬ 
tered broadcast, and the surface well har¬ 
rowed. All this early iu Spring. 
Miscellaneous. 
H. N. C., Columbia, Dak. — 1. Where can I 
get the best seed corn of the dent variety, 
suitable for Central Dakota? 2, Where caul 
procure seeds of the Angel of Midnight Corn 
8. Where can I get Maushury Barley true to 
name? 4. Is the wheat you are experimenting 
with, all winter varieties? 
Ans— l. Write to Nortlirup & Brasliu, Min¬ 
neapolis, Minn., for the corn. 2. Of Joseph 
Breck & Sons, Boston, Mass. 8, Probably of 
any large seed dealer near you. If uot. write 
to H. M. Jaques, Wright’s Corners, N. Y. 4. 
Yes,—without au exception. 
.1. II. F., New York City .— What kind of 
commercial fertilizer would Ik* best on a sandy 
kitchen aud flower garden ? 
Ans.—P urchase the “complete manures for 
light soils” offered by fertilizer firms, Boue 
alone is, however, all that is needed on many 
such soils. Try, bone, potash, etc., on differ¬ 
ent. plots. 
E. E. F. t Hampden, Me .—Where can 1 
obtain the pure strain of the Rural New-Yor¬ 
ker Peas? 
Ans.— Of the lending seedsmen, w’e think, or 
certainly of A. B. Cleveland, Cape Vincent, 
N. Y. 
H. S. B.. Cat ski 11, N. II—We have repeat¬ 
edly stated that all works printed liy the Gov¬ 
ernment. can lie obtained by application to 
the Representative in Congress for the appli¬ 
cant’s District, or one of the Senators for his 
State. Prof. Riley’s reports arc printed by 
the Government. 
T: IF., Malta, Ohio,—A good paint for 
shingles is made by thinning Portland cement 
with skimmed milk (not soured) to the con¬ 
sistency of whitewash. It is also a good ap¬ 
plication to all out-buildings and fences. 
Objects coated with it. have stood exposure to 
all sorts of weather for 20 years. 
J. H. Gallatin , ///. — Maushury is a 
Winter barley. It ought to he suitable to 
Southern Illinois and Missouri. A small 
work on tobacco culture and marketing is 
made up of 14 essays by practical growers. 
Price 25 cents; to he hail through the Ameri¬ 
can News Co., this city. 
L. W.i Malta, Ohio .—It is our impression 
that the flow'ers of the pyretbrum should he 
cut w'hile in full bloom, then dried aud 
powdered. The foliage is of no yse as an in¬ 
secticide. 
./. H. G., Little Horse Creek, H i/. Ter. —A 
good work on the management of cattle is 
Allen’s American Cattle, $2.50; to be had 
through the American News Company, this 
city. 
E. II. —“Hooks” of several years standing 
can be cured by the treatment given in a 
late Rural, if they can lie cured at all. 
E. S. IF., (wo address). —Yes: asparagus 
roots from a five-year-old bed w ill do for set¬ 
ting out a new bed. 
E. B., Union . -V. F,—Yes; tobacco stems 
are good to plow under for strawberries, if 
given time to rot. Use as much as you can 
plow' under. 
.7. R.. Fayette Co., Pa., asks what kind of 
apples, sweet or sour, should be raised for hogs? 
DISCUSSION. 
C. H.. Cankstoga. Pa. —Iu the Rural of 
Feb. 18, it is stated that Prof, Bun-ill says 
that fruit is uot in the least affected by pollen 
from auother variety; anil to this the Rural 
appears to assent. A few years ago I had a 
top graft of the Reiue Hortense Cherry on a 
Mahaleb stem. After a few years’ growth it 
was neglected, and the sprouts from the Mah¬ 
aleb grew through the top of the Heine Hor- 
teuse, and both fruited—result, tlie Hortense 
was about two-thirds of the usual size, and the 
fruit was nearly as 1 litter as the Mahaleb. 
J. S. H., Saco, Me. —In a late Rural, it 
was said that petroleum w ould preserve shjug- 
les. Here is au illustration of w lmt another 
oil will do. A neighbor about 2!» years ago 
shingled liis house with No. 1 cedar shingles, 
w-hich he had boiled in a kettle of hot linseed 
oil—he used about six gallons per thousand. 
They are in good condition now, and seem 
good for 10 to 20 years to come. During the 
same time my father’s residence, about 50 feet 
away, has lieen shiugted three times with the 
liest cedar shingles. 
D. F. G.. Osceola Co., Mich.—In answer 
to an inquiry iu the F. C. of a lute Rural, 
it was said that from 2j _. to 4 bushels of peas 
should lie sow-ti per acre. Well, I should like to 
see the crop from that quantity of seed grow ing 
and harvested. This is one of the best sect ions 
for raising peas I have ever seen, the crops 
running from SO. to 00 bushels per acre, and 
we sow, broadcast, from 1 % to 1 1 bushel per 
acre, and no more. If we sow more we get 
too many vines aud a small crop Of peas. 
8. J., South Bend, Ind. — An inquirer 
asked about the Surprise Apple, in a late F. 
C. We have here au apple known by that 
name. It is medium-sized, colored outside 
like the Maiden’s Blush, while the flesh is a 
dark-rose or purple to the core—not streaked 
with red, hut a solid color like a beet. 
J. J. C., Marietta. Ga.—In a late Rural 
C. A. Green is discouraged about killing Can¬ 
ada Thistles. The right way to kill the pests 
is to plow early and deep, harrow, roll, aud 
gang-plow so often that they cannot show their 
heads above ground from May until frost. 
Quack and Bermuda Grass can be got rid of 
iu the same way. 1 speak from experience in 
Western New York as well as in this State. 
R. N.-Y.—Canada Thistles are easy to kill. 
We never fail to “fix” them the first time we 
try, by plowing once, and afterwards thor¬ 
ough culture through the season. 
Communications Kkckivkd fob trk, Wkkk Ending 
SaTUKDAY, February'27, 1986. 
A. VV. A. U.—A. O. A. F. L. K.—I*. M. O.—SI. O. 
C. A.—A. P. V. r. H. II. -H. M. K.-W. R. S.-P. H. J - 
M .1 FL—A. C. S. - P. It. J K. H. 1'. A. H. R.—E. .1. B. 
F„ C. H.-F. S. W.-T. T. L.- P. B. M.-K. B.-W. A. B. 
,1. H. v. N.-.l. H. D. It. W, W., thunks.—J. S. H.—H. W. 
V N., Johnson Grass Ir not tin* UiIuk- A. V. II.—A. G. 
C. -S. VV. H.-IL T. G.-VV. F, B, J. ILK. II. S. B.-T. 
E. P. J. A, S.-C. 0. W. Z. H.-E. A. H. F. L. K.-L. 
s.- n. d. u a. vp.t n $ is. c. m a. s. b. a 
M. L. H.-C. T. G, A. K. -J. W. J. F.-.I. M. S.-W. B. 
IL— S. W. B. -VV. II. B. B.-A.- K. K. F. D.C.-D.S.—S.S. 
D. O. B —W. B, T. R. V.—E. K. B. E. A.—A. S. B.—E. 
VV. H. A. F. VV\—D. B. F,. V\ . .1. VV. P. A.—T. J. D. 
C.—T. R. W. -J. I. C.—G. W. II.— D. C. S.-F. R.-H. 0. 
W.-S. W. H.-E. H. S.-I1. P. D.-H. VV. C.—J. P. S. 
J. F. G.—J. W.F.—J. R. -E.S.S.—8. E. H.—T. W.—VV. 
II.G.-L. J. T.-W. D. S.—VV. II.-O. H. A., seed re 
reived.— D. S.—J. C. B.—P.S.-L. K. M.—C.E. M.—K. M. 
VV. P., declined.—J. P. V.—J. VV. H. C. li.-T, J. VV.- J. 
L. B.-.I. U. T.—'T. D. C.-IL It. B.-P. D.-H. M. 8.-J. 
P, B.—A. K. I,—J S. McF.—S. J.—J. A. L,—H. S. C. L. 
