THE RUBAI. fSEW-VORKER 
3 
the heat is wasted by exposure to extreme 
cold, the animal cannot lay on fat. A little 
attention in providing comfortable quarters 
for the pigs will make all the difference be¬ 
tween profit and loss iu feeding.. 
Henry Woods, of England, asks if the 
present, system of over-feeding breeding stock 
leads to the beneficial reproduction of superior 
animals? Ho very much doubts it. He would 
ask any practical, thoughtful man if it is not 
an incontrovertible fact t hat the present per¬ 
nicious plan of forcing breeding animals for 
exhibition by high and pampered feeding does 
not tend to make them impotent, delicate and 
unhealthy ?.. 
Mr. Woods could quote many instances 
where the produce of priceless animals have 
been sacrificed by being forced for exhibition. 
Mr. James How had a matchless Short-horn 
cow called Lady Anne, one of the best ani¬ 
mals ever seen. She won him 2d money 
prizes, 10 cups ami four medals, and bred 
three calves. The first, a bull call', from a 
marked defect, was sold at a small price as a 
yearling. Number two calf was a heifer, and 
died when six months old. The third and last 
calf was born prematurely and only lived a 
few hours. Thus, a priceless animal and her 
produce were lost, not only to the owner, but 
to the breeders of the country. Had the cow 
been kept in fair breeding condition her pro¬ 
geny might have been available for the bene¬ 
fit of other herds... 
TnE Farmers’ Review says that though 
veterinarians scout the idea of spontaneous 
development of pleuro-pneumonia, there must, 
have been such development to first introduce 
it. and what has once developed naturally 
may be repeated. This question was the sub¬ 
ject of a controversy between Henry Stewart 
and l)r. Salmon in these columns last year... 
Those who feed the well-kept horses of 
Adams Express Co. always put a handful or 
so of cut hay with the oats, otherwise a large 
part of the oats is not digested. 
Of all the signs of hopeless barbarism, 
says the Watchman, none is more infallible 
than the knife in the hand of a quack veterin¬ 
ary surgeon when he splits open a poor cow’s 
tail to deprive her of what little blood she 1ms 
got, and to season the rest with pepper and 
salt.*. 
A writer in the Live Stock Indicator be¬ 
lieves it to be a fact that the Holstein is winning 
its way rapidly in the regard of our people as 
the grandest, “combination cow” known. The 
cowin the hands of our farmers that will give 
the most milk, and then be easily turned 
into a good beef carcass, scorns to be the Hol¬ 
stein.. • .. 
Niagara Grace. —An inquirer asks of Mr. 
J. J. Thomas, of the Cultivator, for the decis¬ 
ion of cultivators on the present character 
and reputation of the Niagara Crape. After 
examining it for some years and fruiting it on 
his own ground, he says that, while moderate 
in quality, its several characteristics of ram¬ 
pant growth, great productiveness, hardiness, 
and handsome appearance, will give it promi¬ 
nence as a market fruit until better sorts 
shall displace it. its large and showy bunches 
have aided in giving it a high price iu market, 
which will recede as it becomes better known. 
That is Mr. Thomas’s opinion and we do not 
see that it is at variance witli the Rural’s 
opinion given several yeurs ago when it first 
fruited at the Rural Grounds. 
London dog owners are obliged to muzzle 
their pots. It, is thought that by compelling 
all dogs to wear muzzles while at large, rallies 
can in time be exterminated. The police have 
orders to kill all unmuzzled dogs. The num¬ 
ber of cases of rabies has been reduced, but 
so long as country dogs run at large, the dis¬ 
ease cannot be entirely stamped out,. Many 
people seriously object, to the muzzles. It is 
claimed by some that the dogs are made ugly 
and bad-tempered by their use, and that they 
only prevent a muzzled dog from defending 
himself against a mad unmuzzled dog. On 
the other hand, it is claimed by veterinarians 
that a dog will become so accustomed to a 
muzzle that it will bother him but, little more 
than a collar. 
CiRnjutljcrc, 
RURAL SPECIAL REPORTS. 
MfiHHiirliuxettH. 
Sandwich, Barnstable Co., October 7.— 
In many townships in the upper part of Cape 
Cod frost lias done disastrous work iu the 
cranberry bogs; while the bogs near the salt 
water were but slightly touched. Fully t\w>- 
t,birds of the cranberry crop had beeu har¬ 
vested before the blighting frost, appeared,but 
it is estimated that three-fourths of the ber¬ 
ries reruainiug ou the vines yesterday are a 
total loss. Many bogs were flooded yesterday, 
thereby saviug the berries growing on them 
Colder weather is expected to-night, and it is 
feared to-morrow’s reports will show heavier 
losses from frost than for years. l. m. 
Springfield, Hampden Co., October 7.— 
The average of tobacco is still on the decline 
throughout the Connecticut Valley, and the 
Hadley meadows arc returning to broom corn. 
In the New England States potatoes yielded 
well and abundantly. The apple crop is not 
up to last year’s, but pears were never so plen¬ 
tiful. M. L. 
Ken York. 
Apalaohin, Tioga Co., October 9.—Crops 
are very good. Oats a fair yield. Corn extra 
good. Potatoes an a verage crop—all the way 
from loo to 200 bushels per acre iu this county. 
Hay about, two-thirds of a crop. Corn is 
worth about 00 cents; oats, 02 cents; potatoes, 
35 cents, and no rot. D. E. s. 
Texas. 
Abeline, Taylor Co., Oct. 10.—The crops 
were a complete failure during tho early part 
of the season, but after the rains commenced 
(alKHit August 30), a great many field peas, 
and turnips, and sorghum, and millet were 
planted, so that if we have a late frost there 
will bo plenty “roughness” raised yet. There 
has been plenty of rain since it started, and 
the farmers are putting in a large crop of 
wheat under the most favorable conditions. 
c. R. Jr. 
Virginia. 
Richmond, Henrico Co., October 16.—Our 
tobacco market this week shows more strength 
than last week, inasmuch as holders of desir¬ 
able bright wrappers uud fillers are not press¬ 
ing sales ns they were a few weeks back, and 
there is more d ispositiou to buy even at prices 
asked, only the would-be buyers have all more 
or less undesirable stock that must first be 
unloaded. A few lots of good wrappers sold 
at advanced prices of two to three cents per 
pound. Several lots of bright cutters have 
also disappeared from the market at prices 
above 30 cents, and now more is asked for au 
inferior quality. Medium grades are firmer, 
but sales meager up hi this time. There has 
been nothing to test the dark market, which 
must still be quoted quiet and without any in¬ 
teresting feature. The short and frosted 
crop has had no particular effect upon prices 
of offerings here, as there "'ill be very few it 
any primings saved this year, and ns this be¬ 
comes known holders of low grades of old leaf 
hope to see better values for common in a 
short while. What new bright has been sole 1 
in the interior markets has sold very much 
higher proportionately than old. T. h. m. 
ANSWERS TO CORRESPONDENTS. 
(Every query must he accompanied hy 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 
0 ue time. I ’m questions on a separnieptcee of paper 
COMB HONEY MAKING. 
Subscriber , Nova Scotia .—1 have a few col¬ 
onies of bees, some in box hives aud some iu 
movable frame hi\ es, bow can I get them in 
the best shape for making comb honey? 
When I got them in movable frames 1 thought 
the trouble was all at an end; but I find 
they build their combs in the wrong places 
and of wrong shapes; what should he done? 
All the instructions I have seen, might suit a 
person who understands tho business, but not 
a beginner. 
Ans. —There are several things needful in 
order to get nice comb honey in abundance, 
and not the least among them is experience. 
The bees must be in movable frame hives, and 
it is bettor still if the frames are reversible. 
The colony too should be strong, which neces¬ 
sitates a prolific queen. Home warm pleas¬ 
ant day during fruit bloom next Spring, all 
the bees in box hives may be transferred to 
movable frames, or, what is now considered 
by many as a better plan, wait until the stor¬ 
ing season begins, aud transfer the bees upon 
empty frames, or frames filled with brood, 
and then the bees are obliged to go above to 
store the honey, and as fast as new comb is 
mode below the queen will fill the cells with 
eggs. If this method is followed, a queen 
excluder must be used above the frames. By 
tho use of a divfsiou board, keep the brood 
chamber contracted so it will only contain 
as many frames as the bees eau well cover; 
then as the bees increase in number, add a 
frame of empty comb next to the outer one 
containing brood. The queen, if she does her 
duty,..will soon fill it with eggs. Then as the 
bees increase in number enough to cover an¬ 
other frame, insert it in a similar manner and 
so continue until the brood chamber is tilled. 
This chamber, according to Doolittle, who is 
good authority, should never exceed 1,500 
cubic inches inside the frames. It is of prime 
importance that, the queen be got to laying 
early iu tho season, so as to have the colony 
strong when the storing season begins, and 
then, if tho brood chamber is well lillod with 
brood, the bees will be forced to go above to 
unload their stores. If there is nothing for 
the bees to gather early in the season, and the 
queen is dilatory about laying, feeding a 
little each day will have to lie resorted to. 
If the bees are inclined to store within the 
brood-nest, by using reversible frames nnd 
turning the brood comb the other side up, the 
the bees will be induced to take the honey, 
which is now throwu below the bees, up into 
the boxes. If the frames are not reversible, 
tho same end can usually be accomplished by 
breaking up the caps with a knife or stick. 
By keeping the frames the right distance— 
half an inch—apart, and using wired founda¬ 
tion. it is an easy matter to keep the bees 
from building comb iu the wrong place and 
shape. Instructions for managing the honey- 
board and sections, are given in an article in 
a preceding number of this paper by Prof, 
Cook. Last, and most important of all. the 
novice should provide himself with the best 
bee literature If tho instructions given in such 
works ns, Prof. Cook’s Manual of the Apiary, 
A. I. Root’s A. B. C. of Bee Culture, or 
Quinby’s New Beekeeping are well digested 
this winter, success will be almost certain. 
keeping sweet potatoes THROUGH winter 
IN GEORGIA. 
F. T. Carr, Mo .—How can sweet potatoes 
be kept through the Winter? 
ANSWERED BY P. J. BKRCKMANS, AUGUSTA, GA. 
Digging the tubers should be delayed until 
the vines have been sufficiently touched by 
frost to check vegetation. Allow the potatoes 
to dry off in the field, which will take but a 
few hours. Then sort all those of eating size 
to be banked separately from the smaller ones. 
The banks are prepared as folLows: Make a 
circular bed six feet in diameter in a sheltered 
corner of the garden, throwing up the earth 
about a foot high. Cover this with straw and 
bank up the tubers in shape of a cone, using 
from 10 to 20 bushels to each bank. A trian¬ 
gular pipe made of narrow planks to act as a 
ventilator should be placed in the middle of 
the cone. Cover the tubers with straw six to 
10 inches thick and bank the latter with eai th, 
first using only asuialJ quantity, but increasing 
the thickness a week or ten days afterwards. 
A board should be placed upon the top of the 
ventilating pipe to prevent water from reach¬ 
ing the tubers. Several bunks are usually 
made iu a row, and a rough shelter of boards 
built over the whole. The main point to be 
considered in putting up sweet potatoes for 
Winter is entire freedom from moisture and 
sufficient covering to prevent heating. It is 
therefore advisable to allow the tubers to un¬ 
dergo sweating (which invariably occurs after 
being put in heaps) before covering them too 
much, aud if the temporary covering is re¬ 
moved for a few hours, a week after being 
heaped, the moisture generated will be re¬ 
moved and very little difficulty will follow 
from that cause. If covered too thickly at 
once, the sweating often engenders rapid fer¬ 
mentation, and loss is then certain to follow. 
Sand is never used here in banking potatoes. 
Some varieties of potatoes keep much better 
than others. The Yellow Sugar Yam and the 
Pumpkin Yarn arc the most difficult to carry 
through, while the Trinidad potato keeps ns 
readily as Irish potatoes, only requiring to he 
kept free from frost and light hy a slight cov¬ 
ing of strawif the tubers arc placed mu house. 
Next in keeping quality come the Hayti Yam, 
the Red-skinned, Brimstone, Nigger Killer, 
and, last of the potato section, is the Nause- 
rnond. 
FEED FOR FATTENING STOCK, ETC. 
Subscriber, Lyndon rillc, ,V. Y .— 1. Is there 
a thrashing machine that will cut the straw 
as fast as it is thrashed, and if so who is the 
manufacturer? 2. Will fattening stock—sheep 
and steers—cat, more straw cut than when fed 
whole? 3. Will it pay to give fattening steers 
straw a-i their main forage, cutting it uud mix¬ 
ing it with corn and linseed meals, the whole 
to be wet up? 
Ans. —E. W.Ross& Co., of Springfield, Ohio, 
make a cutter which can bo attached to any 
thrashing machine, in such a position that tho 
straw will fall into it as it conies from the 
thrasher, and be cut as fast as thrashed. We 
know of no other, though there may be such. 
2. Not unless it is wet and mixed with meal 
of some kind. The principal advantages in 
cutting it are that it packs closer ill the mow 
aud tho manure from it handles much nicer 
and faster. 3. We think it, not, desirable to 
mix meal with any cut forage, wetting it up 
for fattening stock, but prefer to feed the 
meals mixed together and with bran, if that is 
fed, and tho whole fed dry. It is less trouble, 
and we have had fully as good results. We 
prefer to give fattening steers ouo or more 
feeds a day of hay (clover hay we consider 
best), or one feed of hay and one of corn fod¬ 
der, and in addition, all the good straw they 
will eat, and tho more grain given, especially 
if it be such as is rich in albuminoids, the more 
straw they will consume. Of course, if one is 
short of hay, by feeding largely of linseed 
meals and bran the steers wiU do very well 
fed mostly on straw for forage. 
LEGAL AND MORAL ASPECTS OF GATHERING 
WILD FRUIT. 
R. M., Norwich, Conn .—For yearn it has 
been the custom Cor people to take nuts, wild 
blackberries, etc, without consulting the 
owner of the land; is doing so a sin in tho 
sight of heaven, aud is it illegal? 
Axs.—From the earliest clays in New Eng¬ 
land nnd many other States, fish in the 
streams, lakes and ponds, wild game wherever 
found, wild strawberries, blackberries and 
huckleberries in fields and pasture lots, chest¬ 
nuts, hickory nuts and hazel nuts in the woods 
have been considered common property, 
which every one was entitled to take without 
consultiug the owner of the land on which the 
game was taken or killed, and theftruit gath¬ 
ered. There is no doubt whatever, that the 
laud owner has a perfect legal right to pro¬ 
hibit all the outside world from gathering' 
such fruit on his premises, and any person 
who goes on the land tor tho purpose commits 
a trespass, and not only is the trespasser him¬ 
self liable ta the land owner, but all who buy 
and consume the berries so picked are respon¬ 
sible. In the case of Parker vs Wright in 
Maine, the plaintiff owned wild land over 
which berry-pickers had roamed without 
leave for years. They carried off 1,500 bush¬ 
els of blueberries to the defendant who had a 
large blueberry canning establishment at 
Jouesport, Me. Parker brought suit aud re¬ 
covered over §1,000 from tho defendant, al¬ 
though tho latter had paid for the berries, 
and did not know the pickers had no right to 
them. Where fish, game and wild fruit have 
long been regarded as common property, how¬ 
ever, it is advisable for any one who objects to 
the custom on Ins land, to make his objection 
known by putting a conspicuous sign, forbid¬ 
ding anyone to enter the land for the purpose 
of securing them; otherwise a magistrate may 
dismiss the case. Wherever the owner objects 
aud makes his objection known, it is a legal 
trespass and a moral wroug to go upon his 
land for any such purpose. 
ABOUT IMPORTING CATTLE. 
F. C. S., Elizabeth, N. Y.—l. What is the 
probable cost of importing six head of Swiss 
cattle? 2. Does the steamship company take 
care of tho cattle coming over, or is it neces¬ 
sary to have a man come with them? 
Ans. —1. Tho probable cost of importing the 
cattle will be, for actual transportation, about 
five pounds, or §25, exclusive of food and at¬ 
tention. 2. The steamship company will take 
care of cattle coining over, charging only the 
actual cost of service aud food; but if a con¬ 
siderable number are imported (say six), it 
would probably be better and cheaper to have 
a man come with them. The usual course of 
procedure in importing cattle, is, first, to ob¬ 
tain a permit from tiro Secretary of the Treas¬ 
ury. The cattle may then be purchased. It 
is then necessary to go before the Consul at 
tho port of exportation and make an affidavit 
that they are intended for breeding purposes 
only. After tho cattle arrive, they must he 
entered at the Custom House and another af¬ 
fidavit is required that they are intended ex¬ 
clusively for breeding. This of course is to 
avoid the import duty. The doctor at quar¬ 
antine is telegraphed for aud the cattle are 
taken to Garfield, near Passaic, N. J., where 
they are kept for 90 days from the date of 
their shipment from Europe or port of expor¬ 
tation. Tho sheds at quarantine are free, but 
the owner is required to furnish food and atten¬ 
dance. As a matter of course, these rules apply 
only to neat cattle. The Monarch Steamship 
Company is doing most of the cattle carrying 
trade, because it-s steamers are wider, h iff her 
between decks, and carry water ballast, thus 
rendering them steadier in their motion aud 
permitting perfect ventilation. 
THE BROAD-NECKED PRIONUS. 
F.E. It., Cawkcr City , Kan, —Tli,e accom¬ 
panying grub is doing some damage to young 
trees and vines here. It eats the roots iu the 
ground ami attacks apples, mulberries, and 
grapes. Hero it isn’t very numerous yet, but 
l have heard of vineyards iu the neighborhood 
completely nilued by the pest. What is it, 
and what can l*e done to circumvent it? 
ANSWERED BY PROF. A. J. COOK. 
The large grid* is one of our largest borers. 
The beetle is known ns Prion us latieollis. It 
appears in midsummer. It is brown orbrown- 
ish black, aud sometimes more than 1).? inch 
long. The jaws are strong, the thorax short 
