558 
Ays 28 
butter. The extra manurial value of the 
feed is S'.). 00 per tou for the bran, $19 per tou 
for the oil of meal and $0 per ton for the com 
meal. The aggregate value of the week’s ra¬ 
tion returned to the soil as plant-food is more 
than 17 cents, so that I must get 13 cents for 
my increased butter product to be even. Now 
supposing I am mistaken one half in my esti¬ 
mate of the increase attributed to the extra 
ration and that the difference is really only 
two pounds, and that this is sold at the lowest 
price, or 12 cents per pound, there would still 
be a profit of seven cents, and this is worth 
saving, Some may say 1 have put the price 
of feed too low, and others that the price of 
butter is too high. I have given prices preval¬ 
ent here, giving the highest price for feed by 
the ton and the lowest price for butter, and as 
a rule the prices of butter and feed will be 
found in nearly the same proportion, so that 
it is fair to claim that extra food, if judicious¬ 
ly given, will pay even when the cows are in 
flush pasture. 
&\)t 
ABERDEEN-ANGUS COWS. 
While Aberdeenshire and Angus or Forfar¬ 
shire, Scotland, have long been contending for 
the honor of having been the first to produce 
sujjerior polled cattle and of having done the 
most to develop the great merits of the breed 
now known by their joint names, it is known 
that m Balliudalloch, in Banffshire, on the 
north of Aberdeen, in the Valley of the Spey 
and at the foot of Ben Rinne, there has been 
a race of superior polled cattle for nobody 
knows how long. For generation after gen¬ 
eration the Grants of Balliudalloch and Iuver- 
eshie have taken no small pride in the high 
standard to which their herd has always been 
kept as long as any record of it remains. The 
late Mr. MeCombie, of Tillyfour, in his book 
on Cattle and Cattle Breeding, says that per¬ 
haps the Ballindallocb polled cattle are the 
oldest in the north, and in the time of his ear¬ 
liest recollections (and his recollections went 
back to the first decades of the Century), they 
were superior to all other stock. At present 
the Balliudalloch herd of Aberdeen-An¬ 
gus is, the London Live Stock Journal says, 
acknowledged to be the fii-st iu the kingdom, 
if not in the world. It is composed of over 10 
tribes or families, each descended from a fa¬ 
mous ancestress, and distinguished for some 
special characteristic. The first of all in 
merit is the Erica family, which traces back 
its pedigree to Erica 843, bought in 1861 for 
$265 by Sir George Maepberson Grant, the 
present owner of Balliudalloch. She soon 
founded the Erica family, which at once took 
the leading place in the herd and bas kept it 
ever since. 
The entire herd numbers 140, including 
calves, and of these there are no fewer than 40 
Ericas, forming a magnificent family, with 
scarcely a common-place animal among them. 
They have been frequent prize-winners at. all 
the great cattle shows both iu Eivgland and 
Scotland. Though not the largest animals of 
the polled race, or indeed the largest family 
in the herd, tbe Ericas have great excellence 
peculiarly their ow n, which they infuse con¬ 
spicuously iu their descendants. Even crosses 
from them partake largely of their special 
features, turniug out deep, thick, short-legged, 
heavy-weighing beasts of the best quality. 
They are constitutionally hardy, and easily 
kept and fattened. They ripen early, and on 
moderate keep remain in fine condition ; and 
in the London market fetch the highest prices. 
Two fine specimens of the family are shown 
at Fig. 349,page 565. Eugenia 4,170,in the back¬ 
ground is consider! d one of the bust of the herd; 
while Eleetra 4,106, a very pretty cow' in front, 
was second at the Ceutenary Show of the 
Highland Society at Edinbugh two years 
ago. The likenesses have been re-engraved 
from the London Live Stock Journal, which 
is deserving well of British stockmen on ac¬ 
count of the excellent series of animal por¬ 
traits with which it has of late been embellish¬ 
ing its pages. 
LIVE STOCK NOTES FOR SEPTEMBER. 
HORSES AND COLTS. 
The average horse stable at this season is a 
cruelty. It is filled with the overpowering 
pungent odor of ammonia, and infested with 
those cruel flies which bite like a lancet and 
from their provoking the constant kicking of 
the tormented beasts, are known as Stomoxys 
calcitrans. How can the tired animals rest 
under these inflictions? This question should 
bo considered by every humane farmer. The 
remedy is a simple one. Keep the stables 
clean, litter the stalls with fine dry earth, 
clean sawdust or dry sw r amp muck, and spread 
plaster over the floor liberally once a day. 
This does much to keep down the flies, but 
THE RURAL NEW-YORKER. 
wire gauze over the open windows, a tight 
door, or one protected in this way, and some 
Persian insect powder will do the rest. 
Did you ever give your horse a bath on the 
hot days? If not, and there is a river or pond 
near, let him swim out a little now and then, 
and then run and roll in the clear grass to dry 
himself. If he cannot have this privilege, 
give him a sponge bath in the creek or with a 
pail of water and wash off the foulness gath¬ 
ered from the sweat and dust. Do to him as 
you would be done by if you were the horse 
and the horse the owner. It is a great incen¬ 
tive to do right, to think how it would be were 
we to change places with other men and even 
with our animals. 
It is difficult to realize the enormous quan¬ 
tity of matter which transpires from the skin 
of a horse during a day’s work in the field on 
a hot day. A man who works hard often dis¬ 
charges one pound of perspiration per hour 
from bis skin. As this fluid contains about 
five per cent, of salts, soda and potash and or¬ 
ganic acids, some quite offensive, and this 
solid matter dries upon the skin as the water 
evaporates, a little figuring and some imagin¬ 
ation will give a pretty fair idea of what will 
be the result to the horse of a hot day’s work iu 
the field before a plow. 
It is a disputed question, what causes the ac¬ 
tive salivation or slobbering of horses pastured 
on meadows and clover fields about this time 
of the year. It is worth while to consider how 
this can lie avoided, because the loss of saliva 
is exceedingly weakening and is almost as in¬ 
jurious as the loss of so much blood. Saliva is 
a very complex fluid, intended as a digestive 
agent to prepare the food for the action of the 
stomach. Hence the loss of a few quarts of it 
every day for a month or more is a serious tax 
xipou the vital forces. This effect is due to 
several causes all of which may lie avoided. 
The most frequent are acrid weeds, as lobelia, 
St. John’s-wort, pennyroyal, dog fennel, etc., 
in the pasture. Second growth clover, both 
red and white, also causes it. It is something 
to be prevented with care by keeping the 
horses off from such fields. A small quantity 
of bran or corn meal with a handful of salt 
stops the flow of saliva at once. The great 
advantage of having a crop of something 
green to cut for horses, as well as other ani¬ 
mals at this season, is that any trouble of this 
kind can be avoided and yet the horses may 
be supplied with palatable and nutritious food. 
Millet is perhaps the very best of all the green 
crops. It is not as laxative as clover, while it 
is even more nutritious and does not produce 
a softness of condition which favors excessive 
perspiration, and is sufficiently nitrogenous to 
supply all the needs of a working animal. 
New oats arc commonly considered un¬ 
wholesome food for horses. This is perhaps 
due to the irritating effect upon the bowels of 
the sharp points or beards which are found at 
the extremities of the grains and which dry 
up and disappear as the grain grows older and 
drier. If this result is feared, crushing the oats 
and adding an equal quantity of coarse wheat 
or rye bran will avoid any ill effect from feed¬ 
ing the new outs. This mixture is the best 
food for young colts which should now he 
weaned and which should have at least a quart, 
—to begin with—daily of some nutritious 
and easily digestible food. 
cows. 
Are the cows well supplied with green fod¬ 
der at this season when the pasture fails? If 
not, how can they be expected to keep up the 
supply of milk? The growth of green fodder 
crops is one of the most indispensable ‘‘new¬ 
fangled notions” w hich a farmer should take 
up with. “ New-fangled” is by no means a 
team of reproach. The railroads, telegraphs, 
telephones, and even the mowing machines 
were all new-fangled things at one time; but 
the world could not get along without them 
now. There are old fogies who pretend that 
any new device or idea in agriculture is “too 
foolish for anything,” and that w r hat, the old 
gray beards do not know is good for nothing. 
“ Old things are passing away and everything 
is becoming new” in agriculture as iu other 
matters, and pasturing one cow abundantly 
on five ucres of poor grass mingled with weeds 
in the month of September, is an old thing 
that should pass away as quickly as possible* 
A crop of fodder corn and the early mangels 
just now will reverse the order of things and 
make one acre carry five cows for the month, 
which is doing just 25 times better than the old 
way. 
Those farmers who have a fresh cow or two 
coining iu in September, should by all means 
compare the product anil its value w ith that 
from as many cows coming in in March or 
June. The price of dairy produce iu the Win¬ 
ter is about double that of the summer prices, 
and cows not yet iu-oalf may well be kept 
over for three months more to bring them in 
this time next year. 
There are a great many things in the man¬ 
agement of live-stock^ which depend upon 
calculation and forethought. How to make 
the most of our farm animals at the least 
labor, is the grand point to aim at. It. is 
enough to suggest the idea and set thoughts in 
motion in every owner’s mind. One thing 
may, however, be referred to particularly, 
which is that the time of the year has come 
when it is easy to let stock fall off iu condi¬ 
tion and so go into the Winter, three mouths 
hence, under the most unfavorable circum¬ 
stances, An old proverb says it is time to 
think of getting over a ditch when you come 
to it. This is not wise, but otherwise. Ditches 
are most easily got over when a man thinks 
berime to carry a plank with him for the pur¬ 
pose, and just now it will be quite Aviso to be 
preparing for Winter aud get the young stock 
as well as the old iuto the best possible condi¬ 
tion, and also get their lodging places prepar¬ 
ed for them. 
SHEEP AND LAMBS. 
This is the season for coupling the ewes. 
Sheep are looking up. In fact, they never 
looked down; it w*as the foolish owu rs who 
got up a panic, and became more scared than 
ever their sheep were. Now is a good time to 
select the best possible ram for the flock, aud so 
grade the flock up to a high staudard. Every 
sheep owner has his pet breed, and it is prob¬ 
ably the most satisfactory to him. But one 
thing is needful, and that Ls, to consider what 
kind of avooI is wanted, for, after all, the 
fleece brings iu the most profit from the flock, 
and then select a ram advisably. The long- 
avooI sheep are not iu favor just now, anyhow. 
If a sheep is found limping about or feeding 
on its knees, the feet want attending to. 
Paring off the old half-rotten hoof and picking 
out the gravel under the crust Avill often 
remedy the trouble. If the horn is decayed 
aud the feet sore, a little powdered blue-stone 
and then a daub of tar will be useful. Foot- 
root needs no description; it is too serious to 
be mistaken. If it appears iu a flock, refer to 
a good work on sheep, aud apply the remedies 
advised. 
A diA'ision of the flock should be made this 
month. Wethers intended for market should 
be kept by themselves, anil the lambs, which 
require good feeding, may bo turned Avith 
them. The ewes and their mate are then 
green the best treatment and feed, the re¬ 
sults of which Avill be apparent when the lambs 
conic iu due season. 
A supply of roots is essential to success Avith 
sheep. With a few roots every day from this 
time forward, a flock will produce more than 
the value of them in the quantity and quality 
of the fleece. 
Dipping as a remedy against ticks and other 
parasites should tie done this month, if at all. 
Soft soap mixed with crude petroleum, iu 
equal parts, is a good dressing l'or this purpose. 
So is crude petroleum alnue applied as describ¬ 
ed iu the Rural of August 7, page 515. 
To refer to damage from dogs is always in 
order when thinkiug of sheep. A ewe badly 
bitten on the lump by a dog became fly-blown 
and the maggots were down to the bottom of 
the deep wounds and in the wool, about them. 
Some kerosene oil was injected into the 
wounds and into the wool with a squirt can, 
Most of the maggots squirmed out ami fell to 
the ground; the rest were picked out with a 
needle and the sheep was turned loose. In a 
week the deep wounds were all closed aud soon 
healed nicely. The wool all came off, but it is 
growiug on again all right. 
SWINE. 
Fat is made most rapidly in mild weather. 
Swine put up to fatten as soon as the corn is 
cut, will make weight faster than if given 
much more food two months later. It pays to 
have especially for this purpose a piece ot corn 
planted twice as thickly as usual. The stalks 
with the soft, sweet milky ears will lie eaten 
with the best relish anil the pigs will fill out 
apace and make very sweet pork aud firm fat. 
There will be no cholera iu a herd thus fed, 
unless it is brought in by contagion. This 
feeding may anil should begin in September. 
The Immature ears and half-grown nubbins 
may be used healthfully while they are fresh, 
but when, later, they become sour or moldy, 
they are apt to be unwholesome, it cannot 
be too strongly urged upon feeders of swine 
that cleanliness in food and water is indispen¬ 
sable to health, and that pens and yards should 
be put into the best, condition at once for early 
occupation. Some persons believe that u hog 
is naturally a filthy animal, aud cannot be 
kept cleanly, and that filth being “second 
nature” to the lieast, cannot be hurtful. It is 
not a great thing to try differently for once, 
uud note the result. 
A GOOD POULTRY HOUSE. 
Every farmer should keep at least 100 hens, 
for 1 am confident that no stock will pay as 
well in view of the capital invested. I ha\'e a 
plan of a poultry house which has somepoiuts 
much better than nuy I have seen. Make the 
building 16x25 feet, with 8-foot posts aud a 
peaked roof at least one-third pitch, with large 
windows iu the south side. Make the sash to 
be opened up aud down, with Avire net-work, 
to keep out the rats, cats, etc. The windows 
should fill a large part of the south side. Di¬ 
vide it into two apartments with drawers for 
nests. The nest boxes should be 12 inches 
Avide, 12 deep and 24 long, so they can be slid 
through and used on either side of the frame 
or partition. This is to be made like a chest- 
of-drawers or bureau, less the back. One 
room is to be for the laying and the other for 
the sitting hens, so that when a hen wants to 
sit she can be set whore she lias been laying, 
and the drawer or nest can then be shoved 
tli rough to the other side. Now make, over 
the nest boxes, a platform to catch the drop¬ 
pings, sufficiently wide to allow roosts enough 
for the hens—and a hen ought to have at leust 
one foot for roost room. It should be (’»,!■j or 7 
feet high, so that one can walk upright under 
it. Put the roosts all on a level two feet above 
the platform, and have ladders on which the 
hens can walk up. Ib is a great mistake to 
put the roosts at different bights, as the hens 
crowd ou the highest roost. They should be 
made so as to be taken out and washed to keep 
them clear of vermin. A good shape for 
roostiug poles is octagon about 1 inch in 
size. Tbe platform should be cleaned often 
aud put out of the lieu house. 
This plan may seem cxin-usive fora hen¬ 
house, especially to those who are in the habit 
of allowing the hens to select their nests in 
the barn, manger, under the barns, in the 
weeds and the tall grass which are permitted 
to disfigure their premises ; and to fiud roost¬ 
ing places on the shade, apple aud pear trees; 
but it will pay. W. m. 
-- 
MORE CARE IN BREEDING POULTRY. 
Wyandottes are losing their popularity. 
They do not lack merit—they are splendid 
fowls. Too many people haA-e had bad luck 
with the eggs, Avhich they bought from so- 
called “ breeders.” Out of three settings I 
obtained but six chicks, and only two of these 
were fit to breed from. One setting from a 
thoroughly scientific breeder would have given 
more and better fowls. Wyandottes are 
doomed if tbe present system continues. There 
are thousands of amateur breeders who adver¬ 
tise to sell eggs from fowls of noted strains 
without knoAving whether they are fertile— 
or if fertile, Avhether they are from properly 
mated fowls. Such eggs, sold at low figures, 
are almost sure to give dissatisfaction, and 
the breed suffers. Many Wyandotte eggs pro¬ 
duced a bail mixture of chicks. If this iscou- 
tiuued, the breed will suffer more than the 
breeders. A real breeder works with some 
definite object in view. To accomplish any¬ 
thing like good results, requires unlimited 
time, patience aud skill. It has taken years, 
for example, to produce a strain of Light Brah¬ 
mas like the “Autocrat." People who com¬ 
plain about the high prices asked for first- 
class poultry are not ready to consider Iioav 
much patience and skill it takes to fix charac¬ 
teristics. It is no more than fair that the breed¬ 
er who has s|H-nt. years in developing a breed 
or a strain should be rewarded. A dozen eggs 
for $5 or $25 fora breeding pen may seen) like 
high prices, yet a novice may bo making more 
money selling eggs at $2 per clutch, or 
fowls at so-called reasonable prices, than a scien¬ 
tific breeder makes at the “ fancy ” price. Tbe 
fact of the matter is that if wo expect to get 
something that is good, we must pay for it. 
When we buy a really good breeding bird 
or animal, Ave pay the seller for the time, 
patience aud skill he has spent iu previous 
years; and we pay a small price for them too. 
Queens Co., N. Y. J. H. G. 
Burnt Copies. 
GREEN MANURING. 
HENRY STEWART. 
^Difficulty of rest or ini/ fertility to poor soil; 
objections to statements in regard to rye as 
a green manure, in a late article; the ex¬ 
perience of one not applicable to all; rye 
good where closer won't grow; no crop re¬ 
turns to the soil more than it has taken 
from it; clover too valuable for hay to be 
turned under; mature clover roots and 
stubble contain mure nitrogen than the im¬ 
mature crop at cutting time; how to use 
rye as a green manure; effects of plowing 
under. + k 
EXPERIENCE WITH RYE. 
The most difficult part of farm-work is to 
restore poor soil to a condition of moderate 
fertility so that i is can, so to speak, be put 
upon its feet and help itself, ever so little 
