20 
January 8 
THE RURAL NEW-YORKER. 
In 1896, from 3x28 feet of ground, 587 roots, weight 46 
pounds, were taken, and 491 roots, weight 13 pounds, 
taken out for replanting, leaving 33 pounds to be 
dried, making 11 pounds dry, which sold for $60. 
There were, also, 704 seedling roots, weight 4 9-16 
pounds. In 1897, from 8)4 beds, 3x16 feet each, 2,270 
roots, weight 126 2-16 pounds were taken ; 1,582 taken 
out for replanting, weight 29 15-16 pounds, leaving 
96 3-16 pounds to be dried, which made 32 pounds dry, 
value $165. There were, also, 1,505 seedling roots, 
weight 8% pounds. Had the entire product of mar¬ 
ketable roots from the 18 beds, 320 pounds, been dried, 
it would have made about 106 pounds dry, which 
would have sold for $575. This will do very well for 
4% square rods, with five years’ cultivation. I do not 
need to add the value of seed produced during culti¬ 
vation, or the value of the 4,617 seedling roots. I have 
said enough already to endanger my reputation for 
truth. The above figures are matters of record on my 
books, and open to the inspection of all who may wish 
to investigate. Can others attain as good results ? I 
don’t know why they may not, but I do not expect 
that all who attempt ginseng culture will make a 
success. 
How shall we get started ? I have stated, over and 
over again, that the best way to develop ginseng cul¬ 
ture is to gather and transplant the wild roots 
from the forest. A few thousand roots put out each 
year for a few years, would soon place the business on 
a paying basis. This is the way I have developed it, 
and others can do the same in all those localities 
where the wild roots can be found. There is ginseng 
yet in the country. One of my correspondents in 
Cortland County, N. Y., started in this Fall, and 
writes that he has put in 8,000 wild roots, and sown 
some seed, and is fitting ground for 10,000 roots next 
Fall. He says that he is not going to take up a root 
for market till he gets 100,000 plants under cultiva¬ 
tion. He is a man 60 years old or more, but is going to 
get there, if he live and have health a few years. He 
sold, this season, 20 pounds of wild dry roots for $4.40 
per pound. geo. stanton. 
Onondaga County, N. Y. 
ACTINOMYCOSIS OR LUMPY JAW IN CATTLE. 
Actinomycosis or lumpy jaw is a fungoid disease 
due to the introduction and growth of a ray fungus 
known as the actinomyces. The seed or spores of the 
fungus usually gain access to the flesh or bone through 
an artificial opening or sore, as a diseased tooth or a 
punctured wound of the cheek, face or neck. The 
irritation due to the growth of the fungus causes the 
tumors or enlarged bones. In cattle, the most com¬ 
mon seat of the disease is in the jaw bones, or the soft 
parts about the throat, or angle of the jaw, where it 
forms a fungoid tumor, or causes an enlargement of 
the jaw bone itself, hence the popular name of lumpy 
jaw or big jaw. The disease may appear in almost 
any region or organ of the body, not uncommonly oc¬ 
curring in the tongue, throat or lungs. 
The disease is recognized by the presence in a sec¬ 
tion of the tumor, or in the pus from a suppurating 
tumor, of small yellowish grains or granules about 
one-fiftieth of an inch in diameter, just barely visible 
to the naked eye, but usually plainly seen with the 
aid of a magnifier. Under a magnifying power of 
200 to 300 diametex-s, these grains are found to be 
made up of minute, club-shaped bodies—the actino¬ 
myces—radiating from the center. There is no way 
in which a case of lumpy jaw can always be positively 
diagnosed from some other tumors by a physical ex¬ 
amination alone. A microscopical examination of a 
section of the tumor or of the discharge from the tu¬ 
mor, if suppurating, is often necessary in ox’der to 
determine the true nature of the tumor. In general, 
if there is a gradual enlargement of the jaw bone, or 
a slow-gi’owing tumor about the jaw or throat, with¬ 
out the history of an injury of any kind, there is a 
strong presumption that it may be actinomycosis. 
The actinomycotic tumor may remain firm and 
rounded for some time, gradually enlarging, but sooner 
or later, suppuration takes place and an abscess is 
formed which opens at some point and discharges a 
creamy pus. The cavity does not run out as in an or¬ 
dinary abscess, but soon becomes filled with protrud¬ 
ing fungoid growths, which, in turn, enlarge, sup¬ 
purate, and finally burst and discharge. Instead of 
there being a simple tumor as just indicated, multiple 
tumors may form from one to a few inches in diame¬ 
ter, which, if protruding through the skin, appear as 
dark, reddish, fungous-like bodies covered with a 
thin, dry, scaly slough which is easily removed, caus¬ 
ing slight hemorrhage. 
TheUdisease is curable if not allowed to run until 
extensive changes or lesions occur in the jaw or organ 
affected, of such a nature that they are of themselves 
incurable or will not heal after the death of the fungus. 
The specific remedy for lumpy jaw is the iodide of 
potash which, when properly administei*ed, quickly 
kills the fungus, after which a speedy recovery usually 
takes place, with the gradual absorption of the tumor. 
The dose of the iodide is one to two drams (or about 
one dram for each 400 pounds live weight), to be 
given once daily and continued for a week or ten days. 
Then omit for two or three days, and repeat as before 
until a cure is effected. A convenient method is to 
dissolve one ounce (eight drams) of the iodide in a 
straight pint bottle of soft water, when it can be 
divided from the bottle with sufficient accuracy, and 
given either as a drench diluted in more water, or 
poured over a little dry bran or mill feed and fed to 
the animal. The medicine is most effective when 
administered in the morning before feeding. 
If symptoms of iodism occur, as will be shown by 
loss of appetite, weeping eyes, and a general catarrhal 
condition of the mucous membrane of the nose and 
throat, the iodide is being given to excess, and should 
be withheld for a few days, or the dose reduced. The 
bowels should be kept moving freely by a laxative 
diet of roots, bran mashes, ensilage or other succulent 
food, or by an occasional dose of Glauber salts if 
found necessary. 
The meat is not injuriously affected by moderate 
lesions of the jaw or about the head when suppuration 
has not taken place, and the general health of the 
animal has not been affected. The disease is rarely 
or never conveyed from one animal to another, or 
from cattle to man, so that there is little or no danger 
to man in the handling, or the eating of the flesh from 
an animal with actinomycosis, if otherwise in a 
healthy condition. f. l. kilborne. 
WHY SOME BUTTER IS “OFF FLAVOR 
The 10th annual meeting of the Maine State Dairy- 
men was a decided success, and in point of numbers 
and enthusiasm, was the most satisfactory ever held. 
The exhibition of dairy implements was very exhaust¬ 
ive. The display of dairy products was very creditable 
to the State. The 83 entries of butter shown were 
scored by Mr. O. Douglas, of Boston, and decided 
satisfaction was given by his decisions. In nearly 
every case, the score on “ General Appearance,” 
“Salting,” “Color,” and “Grain,” was perfect; but 
where they all failed was in “ Flavor.” The experts 
have an ideal flavor which they called perfect, and to 
this flavor they award 50 points in the score. None of 
the exhibits scored above 47 (and only two as high as 
this), while some fell as low as 37, which is 25 per cent 
off, and the average of the exhibits was 41 in flavor, 
which is but 82 per cent. If there is an ideal flavor in 
butter, which the trade demands, and we are 18 per 
cent below this standard in our choice exhibits (which 
are surely as good as we are producing), the great 
question with us is, Wherein lies the trouble ? In all 
other points, we are all right; but why this lack of 
flavor ? Our hay, grain and water are as good as the 
best; then what is the trouble ? 
Mr. Harris, the Boston butter expert, told us at the 
Dairy Convention in 1895, that there was what was 
called a distinctive Maine flavor to oxxr butter, which 
was objectionable. Prof. Conn told us at the same 
time that the city of New York consumed sevei-al hun¬ 
dred pounds of manure in the milk furnished it each 
day. This same reason accounts for this “ Maine 
flavor ” ; too much of the fertility of our farms goes 
into our milk pails, and once there, no amount of Bac¬ 
teria 41 can produce in the l-esulting butter the desired 
“June flavor.” Go through the barns in this State, and 
in the majority of them, you will find the tie-up so 
constructed that it is impossible to keep the cows clean. 
Even in the herds of some of our best farmers, can be 
found cows with enough manure on each one to fill a 
peck measure. The unavoidable sifting of this filth, 
together with the countless numbers of bacteria adher- 
ing thereto, will put an effectual quietus upon any 
desirable butter flavor which the dairyman may en¬ 
deavor to produce. c. e. smith. 
DO SHEEP PAY? 
WHEN A SHEEP LOOKS DOWN, WHAT STOCK IS THERE 
THAT LOOKS UP? 
W. F. S., page 787, has beaten me out of sight; still 
I am not ashamed to tell what a flock of black-faced 
sheep have done under my care. I have not kept sheep 
40 years, but barely four years will cover my experi¬ 
ence with the golden-hoofed animals. I started the 
winter of 1896-7 with a flock of 35 ewes and two rams, 
37 in all. They had two feeds of natural-gx-ass hay a 
day, and about a bushel of cut carrots without gi-ain, 
until the lambs began to come ; then I kept the ewe 
and lamb separate until the lamb was four days old, 
when they were put in a pen where they had a yai-d 
to run in. The ewes wei'e then given just what gi-ound 
oats and corn would stick to the freshly-cut roots, and 
the lambs had a trough of wheat bran to run to, in a 
little pen separate from the ewes. I sometimes mixed 
ground oats with the bran for the lambs. 
I always shut the ewes in a shed or, rather, a stable 
(as the cows are ip ope end of it) at night, until after 
they are done lambing. From the 35 ewes, I raised 30 
lambs; five ewes had twins, and all lived. The first 
lamb came in January, 1897. Some of the ewes were 
under one year, and I do not let them breed if I can 
help it. I let the ram run with the ewes all the time. 
They were sheared (unwashed) in June. Here is the 
account: 
Wool, 225 pounds, sold for 14 cents... $31.50 
One ram. 3.00 
14 lambs, at $3.00 . 42.00 
2 ewes, at $3.00. 6.00 
1 ram. 5.00 
Total sales. . $87.50 
49 ewes on hand, .at $3.00. $147.00 
37 sheep to start with. 111.00 
Gain In sheep. 36.00 36.00 
$123.50 
I will have to get a ram next spring. c=i 5.00 5.00 
$31.00 -- 
Total gain. $118.50 
Did these sheep pay as well as cows, or wheat, or 
barley ? They were pastured on land that would sell 
for $4,000 or $5,000 for a suburban residence, as they 
had the run of 20 acres lying along the shore of the t 
lake with a frontage of 75 or 100 rods, land that would 
grow 75 bushels of corn without fertilizer. But the 
sheep were not to blame for that, as they had to stay 
where they were put, and their owner, the mistress, 
wanted them where she could look at them, and they 
are beauties, although there are on the farm 50 acres 
of open woodland that would carry 150 sheep for seven 
months. I have no interest in the sheep except a lik¬ 
ing for them, and what I get the first of every month, 
as 1 am only the hired man, and have been out of a 
machine shop only five years ; but I am often told that 
“ it don’t pay to keep sheep.” So I would like you or 
some grain farmer to figure the profit and loss on these 
few sheep. I gave the mistress a statement of what 
they had done, and she merely said that I had kept too 
lai'ge a flock. The sheep are watered once every day. 
Western New York. g. a. g. 
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piece of paper.] 
Cost and Management of a Beet-Sugar Factory. 
F. D. /S'., Birmingham, Ala.— 1. What is the cost of such a beet- 
sugar factory as Mr. L. A. Clinton described at Rome ? What 
capitalization is required for the same (including cost) ? 2. What 
is the value of the waste pulp commercially ? Can it be used as 
food for cattle or hogs? What value has it as a fertilizer com¬ 
pared, say with cotton-seed meal ? 3. Is there not in the process 
described, a molasses left over ? Is it of any use as such, or like 
the residue of the old-country beet-sugar process, Is it or can it 
be utilized for making alcohol ? 
ANSWERED BV L. A. CLINTON. 
1. The cost of a beet-sugar factory varies from 
$300,000 to $500,000 or more, depending upon the size 
of the factory. Instead of capitalizing for the full 
amount, companies are now adopting the plan of bor- 
rowing, at the beginning of the working season, 
$200,000, or such an amount as will enable them to 
run through the season. They find it cheaper to bor- 
row this amount of money for a few weeks until they 
can convert the product into cash, than to capitalize 
for the whole amount required. 
2. The value of the pulp commerci ally is, at the 
present time in New York, nothing, as there is no 
demand for it. When it has been proved by experi¬ 
ments that the waste pulp is good for fattening cattle 
and sheep, and that it may be fed px-ofitably to horses, 
swine and poulti’y, then it may have a commercial 
value. At a factoi-y in Utah, a feeding company con¬ 
tracts for all the pulp, and has immense sheds near by, 
and fattens 2,000 cattle each season on the pulp and a 
small amount of hay. The following analyses show 
the relative value of beet pulp, clover ensilage and 
corn ensilage: 
Amount of Digestible Elements in 100 Pounds of Material. 
Sugar Feed value 
Protein. Fat. Fiber, starch, per ton. 
Beet pulp. 1.3 0.4 2.5 4.2 $2.02 
Clover ensilage. 2.0 1.0 4.4 9.2 3.92 
Corn ensilage. 1.4 0.6 6.5 5.6 3.22 
This is based on two cents per pound for digestible 
protein and fat, and one cent per pound for the other 
nutrients. Some beet pulp was recently fed to cows 
at the Cornell Experiment Station. The cows had 
been receiving corn ensilage, and the beet pulp was 
substituted for this. For the 12 days during which 
the experiment was conducted, there was no marked 
change in the condition of the cows or the amount of 
milk they gave. The results in detail will be pub¬ 
lished soon in a bulletin to be issued by the above- 
named station. The fertilizing value of the fresh pulp 
is not great. In 1,000 pounds of fresh pulp, there 
one pound of nitrogen, .3 pounds of phosphoric 
