that the animal is not so likely to bolt his 
grain. Of course the grain alone is better 
than no ration, taking care to give ground 
feed when the animal does not well chew his 
►grain. 3. We consider tbi i one of the best 
onethods of feeding the horse. Less hay will 
■e fed and the horses will be kept in better 
■prking condition. This is especially true of 
H “barrel or round-chested" horses and those 
Vat are inclined to beheavey or wind-broken. 
Runners’ horses during the Winter and at 
Iblher tunes when partially or entirely idle, are 
very frequently fed too much hay. We make 
a practice of feeding no more hay (which 
should always be of good quality) than the 
horse will eat in one or two hours. Never fill 
a chute and allow a horse to eat all he can 
hold. It is both wasteful and injurious. 
When the horses are idle we recommend feed¬ 
ing clean bright straw and no hay, with a 
little extra grain. The cost will be practically 
the same. When the hay is cut, a bushel- 
basketful with which the ground feed has 
been well mixed and the whole then dampened 
(not wet) is ample for any horse of 1,200 
pounds or under. An excellent ground feed 
for this purpose is prepared by thoroughly 
mixing two parts of ground oats, one part 
each of corn meal and wheat bran and one- 
eighth or one-fourth of one part of oil meal. 
COLIC, BOTS, ETC., IN A HOUSE. 
H. A"., Onawa City , At.—1. What is the 
best remedy for colic in a horse!' 2. How can 
bots be got rid of? 3. One of my horses 
snagged his light fore foot two years ago, and 
ever since he can hardly travel on hard 
ground; but be goes along all right on soft 
ground. How should he be treated ? 
ANSWERED BY F. L. KILBORNE. 
I. Much depends upon the cause of the colic. 
In general give ginger (one to two ounces) or 
peppermint oil (10 to20 drops) w ith ammonium 
carbonate (one ounce) or oue to two drams of 
sulphuric ether in one-half pint of oil. 
Belladonna (two ounces), aconite (30 drops), or 
chloral hydrate (two ounces) are excellent to 
relieve the pain of the spasms. Also one to 
three grains of morphine dissolved ui pure 
water and given as a hypodermic injection. 
This is oue of the best agents, since it will act 
in a few minutes when thus given. Common 
cooking soda is frequently given with success, 
but unless cautiously used is liable to cause 
rupture of a disteuded stomach by the sudden 
addition of gas. which is formed when the 
soda comes in contact with the gastric 
juices. Rectal injections of blood-warm 
water (two to four gallons) are very beneficial. 
Slow walking exercises, rubbing at the belly, 
or both, also afford groat relief. In nearly all 
cases a dose of four to six drams of Barbadoes 
aloes should be given early, or at the outset, to 
aid in the removal of the cause of the colic. 
An excellent method is to give the aloes at the 
outset with the ginger or peppermint, and the 
belladonna or the hypodermic injection of 
morphine with rectal injections of warm 
water, followed by exercise or rubbing of the 
belly. Even after au attack has passed off, 
if the aloes have not been given, it is well to 
give a dose to carry away the irritant and 
thus avoid a second attack. 2. There is prac¬ 
tically no cure, except to wait the pleasure of 
the bots to pass out, which they will do dur ing 
the Summer. In Autumn while the larva are 
young and tender, they may sometimes be re¬ 
moved by any active vermifuge. Oil of tur¬ 
pentine (two to four ounces) diluted in oil or 
milk is one of the best. Later in the Winter 
they become encrusted with a hairy coat, and 
are then able to resist any agents that can 
safely be given to the horse. The introduction 
of the bots may be largely prevented during 
late Summer by trimming off the long hairs 
from the throat and fore limbs, and daily 
washing the limbs, throat and breast with 
strong soap-suds so as to remove the eggs there 
deposited by the bot-fly before they hatch aud 
fall into the food or are removed by the horse 
when he licks himself. 3. Without knowing 
the extent and locality of the injury, we can¬ 
not prescribe. 
WHEY FOR COWS. 
O. IF,, Williamston , N. Y. —1. Is whey 
from a cheese factory a proper thing to feed 
to cows? 2. What kind of grain feed would 
be the best to mix with the whey for profit, 
and how much should be fed per day? 3. 
Would the whey affect the milk if fed to the 
cows clear in large quantities? 
Ans. —1. Ordinarily, no. It is sour and con¬ 
tains little nutriment. If fed sweet—perfectly 
f sweet—in small quantities, it might do no harm. 
2. Wheat bran would be as good as anything 
to mix with whey. The quantity would de¬ 
pend on the need of the cow for additional 
feed, and on her condition. Two to eight 
quarts a day, or even more, would do no harm. 
The bran would be good for her at any time 
without the whey. Warm water would be 
about as good as sweet whey to convert the 
bran into a mash. 3. Yes, very seriously, if 
sour aud stinking, as it usually is when it 
comes from the vat. It would give the milk 
and the butter or chee.se made from it a whey 
flavor. Feeding whoy to cows works much like 
feeding simple sirup or glucose to bees. The lat¬ 
ter store up the sirup and glucose very little 
changed. The milk given by cows fed heav ily 
on whey is lit tle else hut whey. Of course, the 
milk secretions are mingled with it, but it is 
poor stuff for milk. There is but little iu 
whey but water and sugar which soon be¬ 
comes acid and worthless. The sugar is car¬ 
bonaceous, aud helps keep up the'animal heat. 
Cows secreting milk need nitrogenous food 
from which to elaborate it. Not only the 
caserne, but the l’ats iu the milk require nitro¬ 
genous food for their production. Hence the 
value of wheat hrau, which should not, how¬ 
ever, be the exclusive grain feed. It is better 
mixed with equal weight of corn-meal. 
KNOTS ON APPLE TREES. 
P. B., Sherwood, IF. Fa.—The trees in my 
apple orchard, just coming into bearing, are 
covered with knots towards the ends of the 
branches—something like those on cherry aud 
plum trees, except that they are not black; 
what’s the matter ? 
ANSWERED BY T. T. LYONS. 
The description is very vague and imperfect; 
quite too much so to warrant a positive opin¬ 
ion as to the source of the trouble. The knots, 
or protuberances mentioned, may, and prob¬ 
ably will, prove to have resulted from the 
attacks of the Woolly-louse of the Apple—Schiz- 
oneura lauigera (Hausm). Should this prove 
to he the cause, an examination last Fall 
would have shown, at the axils of the leaves 
and in the forks of the branches, patches of a 
woolly substance beneath which the insect 
might have been discovered. Its food is the 
sap of the tree, which it obtains by suction 
through puuctures in the bark. Ic is, there¬ 
fore, impervious to poisons; but may be de¬ 
stroyed by a vigorous use of a strong alkaline 
preparation applied and well rubbed in with 
a scrubbing brush, which must, of course, be 
done late in Autumn, or before the appearance 
of the foliage in Spring. The same insect, 
under a somewhat different foral, often attacks 
the roots of the apple, beneath the surface of 
the soil, producing similar excrescences upon 
them. This enemy, although originally im¬ 
ported from Europe, is frequently spoken*of 
as the American Blight. 
DIARRHOEA IN COWS. 
W. S. } St. Catherine, OntCan .—Since 
diarrhoea is a symptom of disease rather than 
a disease of itself, the treatment should be 
directed to the disease or cause producing the 
diarrhoea. In general, carefully examine the 
feed aud drinking water, and make sure that 
both are pure and wholesome, A change of 
feed is also frequently desirable. Medicinally, 
at the outset give one-half or three-quarters 
of a pound, according to size of animal, each 
of castor oil or raw Unseed oil and Epsom 
salts. If there is no purgation iu 24 hours, re¬ 
peat the dose. Iu simple cases this will often 
be all the treatment necessary. While this 
mode of treatment may seem rather paradox¬ 
ical to many of the readers of the Rural, 
almost any physician will tell them that it is 
the proper course to pursue. In severe cases, 
gum-arabic, linseed, slippery elm. or oak-bark 
tea are excellent, given in the drinking water. 
If these do not succeed, give two to four 
drams each of powdered opium, catechu, pre¬ 
pared chalk and ginger, twice or three tunes 
daily, the size and frequency of the dose to be 
regulated by the severity of the ease. Cease 
giving this medicine as soon as the diarrhoea 
is checked, and do not give it at all until after 
the oil and salts have been given. 
BURNING STRAWBERRY BEDS. 
M. I). S., Chews Lundiiuj, A r . ./.—What Is 
the cheapest and best way to bum straw (jerry 
beds after ]licking? Last, year the cost of 
straw aud labor for burning, proved greater 
than the outlay for clearing the land in the 
usual way. 
Ans.—I f burning is resorted to, we would 
do as follows: Supposing the laud to be free 
from stones, set the mower so as to cut close, 
and run over the rows lengthwise, leaving the 
cut foliage right on the rows; there let it dry 
sufficiently to burn readily. If that beiusufii- 
eient, strew along the rows enough of the 
cheapest combustible matter available; chose 
a time when the wind blows lengthwise of the 
rows, and beginning on the windward cutis, 
light all and burn over at once. The advan¬ 
tages of burning arc to 'destroy weed seeds 
and insects. However, we prefer one good 
crop of large berries, aud then to rotate, 
turning under the old vines; the second aud 
subsequent crops are usually inferior in size 
and quality. 
CYNTHIANA GRAPE. 
./. M. T., Brick Church, N. J. —The Cynthi- 
aua Grape resembles Norton’s Virginia closely, 
and is regarded by some as the same. It is 
said to be the best grape for red w ine, which 
opinion'appears* to be confirmed by the fact 
that it was awarded the first premium as the 
“best red wine of all nations” at the V ienna 
Exposition. Bunch medium, compact, shoul¬ 
dered ; berry medium, black, with blue bloom, 
sweet ami vinous, with dark red juice, moder¬ 
ately juicy, very rieb, Specific gravity of 
must, 113°. Vine a good grower, healthy and 
hardy: does not grow readily from cuttings,and 
will not bear much before the third year, 
when it becomes very productive. Not liable 
to any disease. Will bear best on spurs on old 
wood. Weknownotwhy itshouldnot succeed 
with you. 
SMUT IN OATS, 
A. A., Hickson , Canada.— 1. If smutty 
seed oats are sown, will the crop be likely to 
be smutty ? 2. Would smutty oat straw be 
in jurious to cattle? 3. Are whit© oats as lia¬ 
ble to smut as black? 
Ans. —All seed grain that was smutty last 
year should be steeped iu a solution of a 
pound of sulphate of copper in four gallous of 
water; this is enough for five bushels of seed. 
The seed is put into a barrel or tub, and the 
pickle poured slowly over it. After standing 
an hour, the barrel is emptied on the floor, 
and the seed is shoveled over until all the 
pickle is evenly absorbed. 2. The oat-straw 
will not be injurious, as the smut, is scatter d 
aud blowm out in the thrashing, but it is ad¬ 
visable to cut the straw and wet it. w'ith salt, 
water, and mix a little meal with it, and so 
feed it. 3. All oats are liable to smut if they 
are not treated to the copper solution al>ove 
mentioned. 
ABOUT OAT CULTURE. 
H. M., Wabaunsee , Kans.—l. Should oats 
be run over with a smoothing harrow when 
they are four or five inches high? 2. How 
would you go to work to raise a very large 
crop of oats on a small area, without much 
regard to cost? 
Ans.— 1. It is hardly necessary to harrow 
oats in the Spring. Fall grain is benefited by 
a harrowing which breaks up the hard crust, 
loosens the sail and invigorates the young 
plants, besides fuinisliing’an excellent seed-bed 
for grass seed. 2. To get> good crop of oats, 
we should plow in a liberal quantity of manure, 
sow the seed on plowed ground; harrow length¬ 
wise of the fui rows, and when the oats were 
well up, give a dressing of 100 pounds of 
plaster per acre. With this treatment and 
bushels of good seed per.acre, we have 
raised 70 bushels to the acre. 
SYNOVIAL SWELLING OR THOROUGH-PIN. 
S. T. //., Eau ('lair, Mich.— Shortly after 
weaning her colt my brood mare became lame. 
Both above and below the knee the left fore 
leg is swollenjn buuehes, which are soft like 
a wind puff; what should be doue for her? 
ANS.—Judging from the location, the swel¬ 
lings are not dropsical, but either synovial 
swellings or thorough-pin of the knee, due to 
a sprain. Apply a cold wet bandage loosely 
until soreness disappears. Then draw oil the 
liquid with a flue hypodermic syringe, and ap¬ 
ply the bandage tightly with pads on the 
swellings. A dry baudage with gradually in¬ 
creased pressure (the pressure should lie slight 
iu beginning) may be used without drawing 
off the liquid. With many blistering is a 
favorite method and is usually successful. 
Tincture of iodine applied twice a week will 
frequently reduce small sw filings. 
ASHES, ETC., FOR POTATOES. 
A. F. IL, Dansville .—Would hard-wood 
ashes, land plaster and salt, be a good applica¬ 
tion to sod land plowed last October, and in¬ 
tended for potatoes in May. 
Ans. —The ashes will do good, but the land 
will also need bone and nitrogen. The laud 
plaster and salt may do good—they may not. 
Except that the plaster contains lime, neither 
can lie considered a plant food. As much plas¬ 
ter may he applied as you chose. It will do 
no harm. Wesbould uotuseoverl2 bushels of 
salt to the acre. The distance apart for pota¬ 
toes, should be measured by the variety plants 
ed, and the richness of the soil. Rank-grow¬ 
ing kinds iu rich soil should not be planted 
less than tin ee feet apart. 
A. S., Tioga, Fa. —1. Having no manure or 
fertilizer aud wishing to improve gravelly- 
loam, well-drained land by turning under a 
green crop in Summer, how should I proceed? 
2. Would the pecan be likely to prove hardy 
here where the mercury sometimes goes down 
to 20 c or 80® below zero? 8, Cau the Japan 
Chestnut be grafted on the American, and 
where can cions lie obtained? 4. A re apple 
seeds as good for nursery planting when taken 
from grafted as from natural fruit? 5. How- 
can dried raspberries be prevented from get¬ 
ting wormy after being heated aud put in air¬ 
tight cans? 0. How cau Quack Grass be des¬ 
troyed? 
Ans. —1. Having but the few months of one 
Summer for the growth of the crop wanted, 
you must choose some annual, and it will only 
be able to supply some soft blades and stems 
in'the brief time. Plants like clover, rye or 
common grass, w-hich grow almost the whole 
year through and store up much solid mat¬ 
ter, are much the most fertilizing. Probably 
either oats, buckwheat, or millet will serve 
you best. In turning them down avoid bury¬ 
ing them very deep, especially if your soil is 
a heavy loam, as they arc then liable to mold 
or sour, and become injurious to the roots of 
your crop. 2. If the tree would survive, it 
would uot be likely to bear fruit. Still, we 
hear that trees are hardy fully as far north. 
3. The Spanish Chestnut grafts on the Ameri- 
cau as readily as apples take on each other. 
Probably the Japan will prove equally facile. 
For cions send to Stores, Harrison & Co., 
Paincsville, O. The nuts should he fresh for 
planting. 4. In Europe they have an inherited 
objection for any other stocks for standard 
apple trees than seedlings of wild trees (wild¬ 
ings). Here it is found that the fewer and 
larger seeds of cultivated apples yield the 
thriftiest stocks, varying in hardiness just as 
all apple trees do, 5. The worms can issue 
only from deposited nits, and these should be 
killed by the heat applied to the fruit immedi¬ 
ately before sealing up. 0. Turn it down in 
May or June—preferably the latter. Plow 
only deep enough to turn up all the white 
creeping stolons. Cultivate off every blade 
as soon as blades show- themselves. A rake- 
like scarifier that will comb out the stolons 
and leave them exposed to the hot, drying, 
August sun, will finish them. Otherwise some 
of them may retain an ability to germinate, 
and make a weak show- the next season. 
G. II. B., Herne, Texas.— My mare was 
“covered" eight months ago: aud since last 
Summer she has been discharging from the 
vagina a whitish matter not unlike butter¬ 
milk. She doesn’t seem to be with foal, and 
does not keep in good condition. The least ex¬ 
ertion or strain causes the discharge. What 
is the matter ? 
Ans.—T he mare has a chronic catarrh of 
the vagina or womb. She is probably not 
with foal, and cannot become pregnant as 
long as the discharge continues. With the 
aid of a catheter or other small tube, 
draw off any liquid there may he in the or¬ 
gan, and then inject luke-worm water until 
the water comes out clear, draw off any 
remaining water, and inject the following 
solution, first making sure the zinc is well dis¬ 
solved:—One dram sulphate of zinc, one-half 
glass of glycerine aud one pint of water. Re¬ 
peat the injection once daily, until all discharge 
ceases. Also give internally night aud morn¬ 
ings one dram each of sulphate of iron aud 
Barbadoes aloes, aud one-half ounce each of 
powdered gentian ami ginger: mnke into an 
oblong ball with sirup or honey, aud adminis¬ 
ter by placing the ball well back on the 
tongue, and holding up the head until swal¬ 
lowed. Should the discharge fail to cease in a 
week or two, replace the zinc sulphate by 
oue-half dram zinc chloride. 
L. G.. Omaha, Neb, —1. There is no neces¬ 
sity for sowing Blue Grass in the Spring. It 
would be far better to put the land in thor¬ 
ough condition aud wait nutil August and 
sow the seed t hen, than to try to clear the land 
of tftnber and uuderbrush in time to sow it 
this Spring. 2. A stall three feet wide is 
rather close quarters for a cow. We give 3>£ 
feet; if the cows are in stanchions thive feet 
is a good distance, os it serves to keep the 
cows straight on the floor. 8. Which is the 
more profitable “to retail milk from house to 
house at six cents per quart, or deliver it at 
three or four places at 15 cents a gallon,” 
where labor cost “#20 to $25 per month and 
hoard,” will depend upon the distance the 
houses are apart. If it takes six hours to 
deliver 100 quarts of milk, the difference in 
price is quite lost, and the wholesale delivery 
is preferable. There is also a loss of about 10 
per cent, in measuring out pints or quarts of 
milk from a can on a milk route. This is from 
actuul experience of the writer, 
T, H. B ., Dudley , lFIs.—1. How and when 
should grape seeds be planted? 2. What is 
the best chestnut for Northern Wisconsin. 
Anh.— 1. The lx*st time is when the grapes 
are ripe, if one has greenhouses or sunny win¬ 
dows and a suitable temperature. They may,, 
however, lie planted at. any time. If allowed 
to become dry, they are often several months 
iu sprouting. Yon may plant grape seeds in 
the open ground as soon us the frost is out. A 
suitable protection will carry the young plants 
over winter. 
Subscriber (address mislaid). —The ex¬ 
pression “easting of the withers” in a cow 
owes its origin to the mispronunciation or cor¬ 
ruption of the Latin word uterus —womb—by 
English country folks. “Wethers” or “with¬ 
ers'' was the nearest, thev could come to the 
correct pronunciation! lienee “casting of the 
withers” means •‘casting of the womb” or 
“inversion of the womb," according to the 
common way of speaking. The common causes 
of it are violence or injury at parturition or in 
the removal of the afterbirth; sloping of the 
stalls backward; a relaxed condition of tli 
pelvic organs, as from hot or unhealthy 
stables, digestive disorders, or other diseases. 
