yield. Clover and Timothy, where not winter- 
hurt, will give large returns, while corn is now 
in such thrifty growth as to promise well for 
future crops this Fall. Scarcely half last 
year’s acreage iu potatoes; while tobacco will 
fall short of last season’s acreage. More was 
planted last year than could bo marketed or 
properly eared for, and the quality will por- 
haps be better if it receives proper culture. 
E. M. ,G 
ANSWERS TO CORRESPONDENTS. 
[Every query must be accompanied by the name 
and address of the writer to Insure attention. Before 
asking u question, please see If It Is not answered In 
our advertising columns. Ask only a few questions at 
one time, 1'ut questions on a separate piece of paper. | 
TEMPORARY OR PERMANENT STERILITY IN 
MARES. 
.7, W. B., Shelby villr, Te.nn .—Why do some 
mares not get with foal, and why don’t some 
breed every year? Can anything be done for 
such animals? 
ANSWERED BY F. L. KILBORNE. 
Temporary or permanent sterility in the 
mare is not uncommon, only bO to 75 per cent, 
of those put to the horse get with foal. Why 
there should be so large a percent, unfruitful, 
even under favorable conditions, we cannot 
say. There are various known conditions 
that tend to prevent conception, while on the 
other hand there is in many cases no apparent 
cause for the sterility. Any malformation of 
the generative organs, unless removable, 
usually produces permanent sterility. Such 
malformation may or may not be recognized 
during the life of the animal. Disease or de¬ 
rangement of nuy part of the generative 
apparatus may produce either temporary or 
permanent sterility; and anr general disease 
or disease of auy other important organ usual¬ 
ly produces temporary unfruitfulness. Some 
mares will uot breed while nursing a foal, so 
that they will breed only every other year. 
The diet has much to do with sterility. Ani¬ 
mals that are poorly or improperly fed, and 
especially those that are pampered and over¬ 
fed, are very likely to be unfruitful as long 
as that state of affaire exists. A good, healthy, 
working condition is the most favorable. 
There is no remedy, except to avoid as far as 
possible all conditions that tend to prevent a 
successful fecundation. Keep a brood mare 
always iu prime, healthy condition, but not 
too ful. Work moderately and allow daily 
exercise when not at work, Idleness and 
much l'at are always unfavorable. See that 
the surroundings are dean and healthy, the 
stables light, airy and free from foul odors. 
Daily grooming is very desirable, aud will go 
a great way towards keeping a mare in good 
breeding condition. 
itch in cows. 
D. FI. L., Iienovo, Pa. —1. "What is a remedy 
for itch in a cow? 3. What’s a good book on 
the cow and her diseases? 
ANSWERED BY F. L. KILBORNE. 
1. Itch, also known as mange, scabies or 
scab, etc,, is a disease of the skin, due to the 
presence of minute animal parasites, or aeari. 
The disease is common to all domestic ani¬ 
mals, each animal having its peculiar itch 
parasite, or iu some cases, as with the horse 
and cow, three or four such parasites. The 
treatment is very simple, but to bo effective it 
must be thorough. First wash the animal 
with warm, stroug, soft-soap suds and a stiff 
brush, to break up aud remove all dandruff 
and scabs or crusts. Then apply a decoction 
of tobacco made by boiling one pouud of leaf 
or stem tobacco iu each 13 quarts of water. 
Other parasiticides may bo used with equal 
success, but this is one of the simplest aud 
safest remedies, and very effectual. I See 
what Mr. Woodward says in the lost issue 
about remedies from'scub in sheep. The same 
treatment will^bo etfectual’for itch.orjscab iu 
all kinds of ^domestic animals. -Eds.] Re¬ 
peat the application on the third and sixth 
days,'first washing.with the sonp-sudsin each 
case. The three applications should be suffi¬ 
cient. It will also be desirable to treat the 
stable and rubhlug-posts to a similar wash. 
3. “The Farmer’s Veterinary Adviser,” by 
Prof. Jamas Law, of Cornell University, 
Ithaca, N. Y., price l$3—to be had of th au¬ 
thor, is one of the bast. 
YACHTING. 
C. //. if., Cayuga N. 1 This is an agi i 
cultural, not’a nautical paper, so'we really can¬ 
not spare room for “a good account of 
yachts, their construction, rig and sailing.” 
In view of the numerous yacht races the 
THE RURAL HEW-YORKER. 
coming season, however, the following brief 
answers to some of our friend’s questions will 
be of general interest: A “boom” is the spar 
or stick attached to tho foot of a sail to keep 
it over a boat’s side: a “gaff” is the spar fixed 
to tho head of the sail for the same purpose. 
Sloop yachts, such as the contestants for the 
America's Cup last year aud this, carry two 
booms—the “main boom” attached to the 
mainsail, and the “spinnaker boom,” which, 
when not in use, is generally carried vertically 
against the mast, aud lowered ou the side of 
the boat opposite that over which the maiu 
boom happeus to hang, when the spinnaker 
Is to be set in sailing before the wind. Then 
the main sail spreads out on one side of the 
boat and the spinnaker on the other, and the 
vessel sails on a pretty even keel. The “bow¬ 
sprit” is the spar stuck out iu front of the boat 
to hold the headsails—the sails set in front of 
the mast. The top-sails are the upper sails: 
the “gaff” top-sail is the triangular sail set 
over the mainsail: the “club” topsail is a saq 
set. in light winds over the gaff topsail and 
attached to “clubs,” or small spare, to make it 
reach higher up in the air. The gib “top-sail” 
is the topmost gib or headsail. “Working to 
windward” is an expression used to indicate 
that the vessel is ranking a number of tacks to 
reach a point iu the direction from which the 
wind is blowing; and “sailing close to the 
wind,” or “close-hauled,” indicates that she is 
headed as near to the ]x>int from which the 
wind is blowing as she can be made to sail. 
A JERSEY COW BECOMES STERILE. 
D. C., Deer Park, N, Y, —My eight-year- 
old Jersey cow has dropped six calves; has 
never been dry since she dropped the first; has 
given 14 quarts of milk per day, which would 
make 125 J pounds of butter per week; she is a 
good feeder and iu fair condition. Eight 
months ago she dropped a calf and has been 
iu heat regularly siuce, anil been served 
several tames by different bulls, but doesn’t 
get with calf; what can be done for her? 
ANSWERED BY F. L. KILBORNE. 
Without knowiug the cause we cannot sug¬ 
gest a remedy. It may lie due to some gener¬ 
al disease, or to disease of the generative or¬ 
gans. Tuberculosis would be suspected if this 
disease is in your herd. Were her ancestors 
prolific? If not, she may inherit a tendency to 
become sterile early. We can only suggest 
that you call a competent veterinarian to 
personally examine her, although we suspect 
the cow may lie permanently sterile. 
GOITRE IN A HORSE. 
E. J. It., Lowville, N. F.—My horse has a 
difficulty in breathing as if troubled with the 
heaves, but there is no cough. On each side 
of his neck, well up under the jaw, there is a 
bunch the size of a large hen's egg. That ou 
the left side came when the trouble began. 
What should be done ? 
Ans. — The trouble is probably goitre, a 
diseased and enlarged condit ion of the thyroid 
body, (hie to debility or the drinking of water 
from lime-stone regions, or both. Give one 
dram iodide of potassium night and morning. 
Rub the swellings thoroughly every other day 
with tincture of iodiue; or, if the swellings 
are soft , draw off any liquid they may con¬ 
tain with a hypodermic syringe, and inject a 
solution of compound tincture of iodiue, one 
part, and water, four or five parts. Keep the 
animal iu good healthy condition, and use 
rain-water for drinking. Continue the treat¬ 
ment for several weeks if necessary. Re¬ 
covery will probably be slow. 
TO REMOVE WARTS ON A COW’S TEATS. 
J. C. /’., Minneapolis , Minn. —The warts 
on the teats of your cow should be easily and 
safely removed. With a pair of sharp scissors 
cut the warts close to the teat. Then thor¬ 
oughly cauterize the cut surfaces with nitrate 
of silver. They can be best removed while 
the cow is dry. If the}' crack open or become 
sore before then, cauterize the raw surfaces by 
touching with a stick of the nitrate of silver. 
Miscellaneous. 
C. A. K., Beattie, Kan. —1. When aud how 
should strawberries be set out? 3. What is a 
remedy for black striped bugs on water-melons ? 
& What for the cabbage worm? 4. What’s 
a good feed for young ducks and Guineas? 5. 
How can Ground Squirrels be destroyed? 
Ans. —1. Any time after fruiting when the 
soil is moist, up to September 15. Spring is 
perhaps the best time. If for tho field,set the 
plants three feet by two apart. If for garden, 
set three feet by one foot. 3. Sprinkle the 
leaves, when covered with dew, with plaster, 
or even fine, dry soil. 3. The best remedy is to 
blow pyrethrnm (or buhach) powder upon 
them through bellows. Or wet two table- 
spoonfuls of the powder with alcohol, add this 
to two'gallous of water, and spray the plants 
with this. 4. The first food for ducks may lie 
bread moistened with milk; curds or hard-boil¬ 
ed eggs chopped fine, ore also good for them. 
After a few days’ corn meal, boiled and mix¬ 
ed with milk, boiled potatoes, a few chives, 
or lettuce chopped fine, will be a good addi¬ 
tion. They thrive well on all kinds of sop¬ 
ped food, such as barley meal and water mix¬ 
ed thin. Later on pot-herbs will do them 
good, raw, chopped fine, mixed with bran 
soaked in water, with barley and bciled pota¬ 
toes beaten up together. The Guinea chicks re¬ 
quire food almost immediately—at most with¬ 
in six hours after hatching—and should be fed 
and cared for the same as young turkeys: but 
they require more constant feeding than any 
other chicks, as a few hours’ abstinence is 
generally fatal. They also require a good 
deal of animal food to make them do well, es- 
pecially in Winter. 5. The name Ground 
Squirrel is given to two kinds of animals in 
the West—the Striped and Spotted Prairie 
Squirrel — (Spermophilus tredecimlineatus ), 
and the To mi as striatus, or Chip-muck. The 
first only, however, is a real squirrel; but un¬ 
like other varieties of squirrels it never in¬ 
habits timber when prairie is near at hand. 
It is very destructive in cornfields by dig¬ 
ging up the corn which it carries to its bur¬ 
row, often necessitating replauting. The pests 
also inflict serious injury on some other crops. 
They soon disappear before the plow, how¬ 
ever, aud are readily trapped or shot, 
and a few buckets of wuterwill always drown 
one or a pair out of their hole. Staycbnine is 
also used to kill them, mixed with the food of 
which they are fomL The same modes of exter¬ 
mination will be effective with the Gray Prai¬ 
rie Squirrel, which is also called “Ground 
Squirrel” in some places, though it is not so 
easily drowned out of its hole, especially when 
it is in a bank or drain—a favorite location. 
E. A., Aberdeen, Dak .—1, At what age 
should I breed my two-year-old coit without 
running any risk of injuring her* Two of my 
horses sweat a good deal across the kidneys 
when they have drank water after a hard 
day’s work; what should be done? 
Ans. —1. If the colt is quite forward it will 
do to breed her now. But if she is not, we 
would prefer to wait a year, when we would 
expect a better foal with less injury to the 
young mare. 2. If there are no other symp¬ 
toms—no weakness or tenderness across the 
kidneys—probably no medicinal treatment is 
needed. Work more carefully and give the 
drinking water frequently, in small quanti¬ 
ties. Attend to the general comfort of the 
animals; see that the food is wholesome and 
the surroundings healthy, 
S. C. M., West Millcreek, Pa .—We have 
now a very effective remedy for moles in 
Hales’ Mole-trap, which in its way is simply 
perfection. The trap is now reduced to £2, 
and will last a lifetime. It is easily set, 
though a little experience is needed to adjust 
it just light. Follow the direction. The 
earth over the mole run should be gently 
pressed down, and the trap set so that the 
plate merely rests upon tho compressed soil. 
It will never fail. The Isbell trap (£1.50) is 
good, but after several years’ experience, we 
much prefer the Hales. Address H. Hales, 
Ridgewood, Bergen Co., N. J., or you may 
buv it of any seedsman. 
P. G. W., Oswego Co., N. Y .—A valuable 
trotting mare got with foal accidentally about 
a week ago; can anything be done to prevent 
her from having a foal? 
Ans. —We cannot recommend any of the 
methods that might be used to produce an ab¬ 
ortion. Less injury will propably be done the 
mare by allowing her to carry the foal, than 
by attempting to produce au abortion in the 
way desired. 
E. H. B., Meridian, N. I'.—My three-year 
old colt has a bunch growing on the back of 
bis hind leg, at the bottom of tho gambrel 
joint; what should be done for it? 
Ans. Without knowing the nature or cause 
of the bunch, we cannot prescribe definitely. 
Fainting with tincture of iodiue twice a week 
for a few weeks might be beneficial. Excis- 
siou may be demanded. 
G. IF, T., Stelton. N, J .—My horse has a 
tremendous swelling on his sheath, due proba¬ 
bly to bad castration; can it be removed in 
any way except by excision? 
Ans. —Excision is probably the only remedy. 
Unless vital structures are implicated the oper¬ 
ation should be successfully performed by a 
competent operator. 
It. M. .4., Frederickstown, Mo .—My mare 
dropped a colt six weeks ago; she makes water 
all the time while driving; what should be 
done with her. 
Ans. —Consult a veterinary surgeon if the 
difficulty does uot soon remedy itself. We 
connot advise you so that you would be able 
to treat the case yourself. 
P. P. S., Mehoopany, Pa.— There is no 
remedy that is uot too costly for lice swarm¬ 
ing on a cherry tree. Tobacco tea sprayed 
through a force pump and cyclone no* 3 }<} ^1] 
kill the lice, 
435 
E. G. L., Essex, N. Y .—The grass sent for 
name is Blue Gra&s—Poa pratensis. 
DISCUSSION. 
T. L. K., McMinn Co., Tenn.—That was 
an interesting article on salt feeding in a late 
R.CRAL, but I don’t think what was said 
against the use of salt will make much differ¬ 
ence in the quantity of salt fed. All farmers 
and farmers’ wives know the beneficial effects 
upon milk and butter of keeping the cows 
regularly salted. All hunters know of the 
“licks” dug out in salty places by deer and 
other wild animals. We would like to have 
some one explain how these wild creatures 
have acquired this “fixed habit” that is so 
hurtful to them. Guided by instinct, they 
readily discriminate between wholesome and 
unwholesome herbage around them. If salt 
was unnecessary and hurtful, would not in¬ 
stinct teach them to reject it? Too much salt 
is injurious, and so is too much corn, oats or 
clover, but what would our stock do if they 
were deprived of everything which, taken in 
excess, proves injurious? I never knew 'an 
animal that had salt continually before it, to 
eat too much. Animals seem to know just 
what they require. They take a few licks at 
the salt trough aud then go about their busi 
ness. If the great laboratories of nature should 
get out of order and the ocean be deprived of 
its salt, those who now object to the substance 
would call far more loudly for its return. 
A few days since, while walking in my gar¬ 
den. I saw a common gray rabbit standing on 
his bind legs with his head resting against my 
meat house. On watching him closely I found 
that he was eagerly licking salt from the wall. 
It had exuded through the brick, and he had 
discovered, either by accident or instinct, 
where he coidd draw his rations free of 
charge. Now. please, tell us where this “vic¬ 
tim” of a “dreadful habit,” a poor little rabbit, 
acquired his taste for this unwholesome stim¬ 
ulant. 
PimllanmiS 
Scrofula 
Probably no form of disease is s re, norally dis¬ 
tributed among our who! popular :n>. as scrofula. 
Almost every mdn-idnal has tl s aesnt pois fi 
coursing hts veins Th> terrible sufferings en¬ 
dured by those afflicted with rofutous sores 
cannot be understood by others, and their grati¬ 
tude ou finding a remedy that cun.- them, aston¬ 
ishes a well person. The wonderful power of 
Hood’s Sarsaparilla 
In eradicating every form of Scrofula has been so 
clearly and fully demonstrated that i: leaves no 
doubt that it is the greatest medical discovery of 
this generation. It is made by C. I. HOOP & CO., 
Lowell, Mass., and is sold by all druggists. 
IOO Doses One Dollar 
REED IBARTON 
(Established 1S‘24,) 
MANUFACTURERS OF 
Silver-Plated Table Ware 
Ot every Description, 
Would call especial attention to their Patent 
CHINA-LINED 
ICE PITCHERS. 
The Linings of our Pitchers are held 
in position by the Cover, which is se¬ 
cured by thumb-screws and is easily 
removed and replaced, thus facilitat¬ 
ing the cleansing of both pitcher and 
lining. The lining is of the finest 
Stone China, and has no equal for 
preserving ice and keeping water pure. 
SALESROOMS: 
37 UNION SQUARE, 
NEW YOKE. 
