1897 
THE RURAL NEW-YORKER. 
WHAT I SEE AND HEAB, 
The sign, Delaware Strawberries, made its ap¬ 
pearance on many a dealer’s stand days before a Dela¬ 
ware strawberry made its appearance in the market. 
The nearer the source of supply of these and other 
fruits, the more desirable they are supposed to be, 
hence the deception often practiced. If buyers were 
posted on these matters, they couldn’t be fooled in 
this way, but the majority of them are not. 
X X t 
I saw a retailer thawing out some chickens, which 
had just been brought out of a refrigerator, and had, 
probably, been frozen solid for months, possibly since 
last fall. They were put into cold water and allowed 
to remain for a time. When taken out, each one was 
coated with ice, the chickens being so cold as to freeze 
the water on them, even on a tolerably warm May 
day. The chickens came out as fresh and fine-looking 
as though they had been killed but the day before. 
t X X 
One commission man, who does an extensive busi¬ 
ness, especially in fruits and vegetables, told me that 
he is now selling about $3 000 worth more of produce 
per week than he was one year ago, but is handling 
about the same amount of goods. This indicates that 
prices average considerably better, and is encourag¬ 
ing to the shippers. He said, also, that sales are 
brisker and business more satisfactory all around. 
The extra commission on that $3,000 alone makes a 
pretty sum. 
X X X 
California cherries have made their appearance in 
our market about a week earlier than usual. The 
varieties comprised in these earlier shipments are 
Mayduke, Rockport, Purple Guigne, Gov. Wood and 
Belle D’Orleans. The first shipments, which have 
been coming for some time, were by express, but the 
fruit is now arriving regularly by the car-load. It is 
reported to be in prime condition, and prices received 
are very satisfactory. These cherries are all packed 
in regular layers and rows in flat boxes, and make a 
beautiful appearance when opened up. 
X X X 
A western reader wishes to know the variety of 
potatoes that are now coming to this market from 
Florida. We frequently receive such questions, the 
idea frequently being that the variety has something 
to do with the high price. This is not the case, the 
high prices being due to the fact that these early 
products find a market which is looking for something 
new and fresh, and is ready to pay high prices for it. 
The quantity which can be sold at these prices is 
limited. In this case, the variety of potato which 
seems to be most in favor is the Red Chili, because 
this stands shipment best. Then come Early Rose, 
Hebron and others. The seed of most of these is sent 
from the North. 
X X X 
An example of the extreme fluctuations to which 
the market is subject occurred last week. On Friday, 
the market was nearly swamped with strawberries, 
and dealers were doing their best to get rid of them 
at almost any price. Of course, prices went very 
low. On Saturday, arrivals were very light, not 
nearly enough to meet the demand, and prices jumped 
up, while some retailers could not get enough to 
supply their trade. Probably shippers had heeded 
the oft-repeated advice not to ship perishable goods 
so that they would arrive on Saturday. This is the 
safest plan in general, but there are occasioual excep¬ 
tions in the case of some special product like the one 
noted. 
X X X 
Apples are still arriving in considerable quantities, 
but trade is dull. One dealer says that there is no use 
in shipping apples longer to this market, as straw¬ 
berries are too plentiful and cheap. Of course, some 
will sell, but they are now practically out of season. 
Asked about some apples he had received packed in 
boxes, he said boxes are no good for packing apples ; 
that the best packages for apples are full-sized bar¬ 
rels, and that careful assorting and packing will help 
sales more at good prices, than any smaller packages. 
At another store, I saw some sweet apples wrapped 
in old newspapers and packed in boxes; they were 
overripe, did not present an attractive appearance, 
and were very hard to sell. The dealer had just sold 
a fine lot of Roxbury Russets packed in barrels for 
shipment to Richmond, Va. He said that many of the 
apples now being sold went to the South. They send 
us their strawberries and we send them our apples. 
What is said to be the first cargo of grain ever ship¬ 
ped from this country to Egypt, cleared from Phila¬ 
delphia this week. It consisted of 137,906 bushels of 
corn, and the exporters said that it had been pur¬ 
chased by the Egyptian Government for seed pur¬ 
poses, and that part of it would be sent away into the 
interior on the backs of camels. It seems that the 
uttermost parts of the earth are beginning to appre¬ 
ciate our products. Why not have more trade with 
those countries ? Egypt sends us onions and other 
vegetables, and we might as well send her corn and 
other grains. f. h. v. 
AILING ANIMALS. 
ANSWERS BY DR. F. L. KILBORNE. 
Diarrhea in Sucking Calves. 
R. IF. C., Waterbury, Conn .—What is the best and cheapest 
remedy for diarrhea in young calves ? I raise about 100 yearly, 
and am much troubled with this complaint. The calves suck the 
cows. 
First give the calf one to two ounces (two to four 
tablespoonfuls) of castor oil with one to two teaspoon¬ 
fuls of laudanum, according to the size of the calf. 
In severe cases, one teaspoonful each of laudanum 
and tincture of Jamaica ginger may be given every 
six or eight hours until the diarrhea is checked. The 
laudanum should not be repeated unless the diarrhea 
is very bad, and then should be discontinued as soon 
as there is an indication that the diarrhea is being 
checked. If the calf become weakened, give him a 
teaspoonful of whisky in an ounce of water three or 
four times daily. 
A Knee-Sprung Horse, 
J. B., Oordon8ville, Minn .—I have a fine driving liorae five years 
old, which stands leaning forward a little with the front knees 
bent. What can I do to make him stand straight ? 
Remove the shoes, and allow the horse to run on 
pasture for a couple of months. Apply ammonia lini¬ 
ment to the back tendons from the joint above the 
fetlock to a little above the knee joint. Repeat the 
application every third day until the skin is well 
blistered. As soon as the effect of the blister has 
passed off, rub the back tendons daily with a little 
soap liniment. Following the application of the lini¬ 
ment, rub the legs actively for 15 or 20 minutes, 
using considerable force. A complete recovery can 
never be expected. The knees may become nearly 
straight under treatment, but they will be very liable 
to give way again, if the horse be put to active road 
work. 
Heaves in a Pony. 
C. P., New York .—Can anything be done for a pony that has 
the heaves? He was affected some early last spring, through 
the summer did not appear much affected, but this spring is 
much worse. 
Feed the pony exclusively on chop feed or grass 
and grain, and no hay or other dry corn fodder. Dur¬ 
ing the summer, grass, with sufficient grain to keep 
him in condition, would be excellent. During the 
winter, or if grass cannot be conveniently fed, feed 
chop feed, i e., cut hay with which ground feed is 
mixed, and the whole slightly dampened. Equal 
parts of ground oats and wheat bran, with one-fourth 
part corn meal, would be excellent for the ground 
feed. The grass or cut hay should be fed sparingly, 
the deficiency being made up by feeding more grain 
if necessary. A handful of oil meal in the feed night 
and morning could be given to advantage. Always 
water before feeding, and do not allow a full drink 
of water for, at least, two hours after eating. When 
possible to do so feed, at least, two hours before driv¬ 
ing. Medicinally give him one teaspoonful Fowler’s 
solution of arsenic in his feed once daily for several 
weeks. Then omit for a week, and repeat if neces¬ 
sary. If there is costiveness, give one teaspoonful 
raw linseed oil once daily until relieved. 
Periodic Blindness in Horses. 
T. M., Nelson County, Va .—Oar horses seem to be losing their 
sight; one is about blind in both eyes and the other three are 
affected only in one eye 'as yet. It seems to be the effect of the 
distemper, which they seem to have had for the past six months. 
At first, they lose their appetite, then are dull and very short- 
winded and heavy, but never very sick. Then the eye seems to 
get milky, and they get gradually worse. We have only blown a 
little calomel into the eye and given them a dose of it at night 
and a pint of raw linseed oil next morning. They then seemed 
some better in health, but the eyes get gradually worse. The 
horses are kept at two different places and fed a variety of food, 
mostly mill offal and corn for grain, and hay, oats and cut corn 
stover for the roughage; the last was musty, and some seemed to 
think that the cause of the trouble, but we have discontinued 
feeding that for some time. 
The symptoms indicate periodic ophthalmia, a con¬ 
stitutional, incurable disease of the horse, which 
usually terminates in blindness. At the onset of an 
attack, temporary relief is afforded by a dose of 
physic (three-fourths to one ounce each of aloes and 
ginger), followed by a tablespoonful of Epsom salts 
with one teaspoonful nitrate of potash twice daily. 
As soon as the animal shows signs of improvement, 
give two tablespoonfuls of the following powders in 
the feed night and morning : Sulphate of soda, one 
pound ; powdered gentian, eight ounces ; powdered 
nux vomica and dry sulphate of iron, of each, four 
361 
ounces ; mix. A recurrence of the attack is best pre¬ 
vented by keeping the animal in prime condition. 
Daily exercise, thorough grooming and good feeding 
are essentials. 
COLD STORAGE FOR FRUIT. 
Apples at Rochester, N. Y. 
We had a car-load of Baldwins in cold storage at 
Rochester, which were sold on board the cars for $1 50 
per barrel, without commission. It cost us 40 cents 
per barrel for cold storage, and 7% cents per barrel 
to sort over the apples. Although there were few 
decayed apples, the barrels had to be unheaded and 
filled up a little to keep the apples from rattling. 
The day these apples were put on the track, we were 
told that they were worth $2 per barrel here in ad¬ 
vance. We sold them to a man from Washington, D C. 
You will note that the apples netted something 
over $1 per barrel. Had we sold them last fall, we 
would not have received over 70 cents, possibly not 
that. So we think our cold storage venture a profit¬ 
able one. The apples were placed immediately in 
barrels after picking without beiDg sweated, and 
were placed in cold storage as soon as possible there¬ 
after. They kept better than other apples in cold 
storage which were picked up here and there, and 
doubtless had been sweated. The quality of our 
Baldwins is more than ordinarily good, hence I think 
cold storage improves the quality rather than other¬ 
wise. I find that the apples keep well three or four 
weeks after being removed from cold storage and 
placed in an ordinary cellar. There were, perhaps, 
30,000 barrels of apples in this same cold storage 
house, and all kept reasonably well. c. A. green. 
Not Generally Successful this Year. 
The past season, on the whole, has been a disastrous 
one to cold storage holders. My own crop of pears 
came out in excellent condition, and sold well, aver¬ 
aging fully 60 per cent advance by holding about 40 
days. Many other pears taken out of the same build¬ 
ing were a total loss, because not taken from the 
trees soon enough. The ammonia and brine or chem¬ 
ical process was used to cool the air, and for pears 
was kept at 34 degrees. For apples, 33 degrees is de¬ 
sirable, and this temperature can be kept uniform 
only by the chemical process. Where icehouses are 
used, there is, at least, 50 per cent more loss, for 
the same low, even temperature cannot be maintained. 
Apples have not kept as well as usual the past sea¬ 
son. The entire crop matured too early. Large 
quantities of eastern apples were sent to Kansas City 
and stored, as the houses were comparatively empty, 
the crop of Missouri being light; but prices even 
dropped instead of advancing when the fruit had to 
come out, and many lost heavily. Russets and Bald¬ 
wins were selling at Atlanta and other southern mar¬ 
kets early in May for $210 to $225 per car, which 
does not leave a satisfactory result for the time of 
year. In Cleveland, the first week in May, common, 
sound apples sold for 90 cents to $1.10 per barrel, 
while the best quality brought but $1.50 per barrel. 
In New York, Pniiadelphia and Baltimore, some 
really fine selections have brought $3 to $3 50 per 
barrel, but such sales are rather limited in extent. 
An attempt has been made the past winter to hold 
oranges in cold storage, but results have not been 
satisfactory. They have come out in poor condition, 
and have sold for less than when they first reached 
the market. The cold storage system is all right, but 
there have been many circumstances that have made 
the past year an exceptional one in the production of 
losses. Apples have been introduced where they have 
never before been used in quantity, and the low 
prices and wide distribution will make a largely in¬ 
creased demand for this fruit in the future, and this 
can be met only by the cold storage system. It can 
safely be said that there has been more money lost 
than made oh cold storage fruit, especially on apples, 
the past year; but tue losses will more than be made 
up in the future from the wider distribution and 
greater demand following from the present low prices. 
Columbia County, N. Y. geo. t. powell. 
BUSINESS BITS. 
Changed conditions and the decrease of wood in many parts of 
the country, render wire fencing a necessity. The question is as 
to the best fence to meet the requirements. The Keystone Woven 
Wire Fence Company, 19 Rush Street, Peoria, Ill., think that they 
have solved the problem. Write them for their book on fencing. 
One of the best of wells for the farm is a drilled well. These 
wells are also the thing for oil and gas. An experience of 30 years 
in the manufacture of machinery for this business ought to count 
for something, and this is what the Arm of Loomis & Nyman, 
Tiffin, O., have had. Write them for any information in this line. 
We are told by a subscriber that a minister at Tyrone, Pa., 
recommends the artistic establishment that we condemned a 
short time ago. The best that we can say for the minister is that 
his confidence is not well placed. This is one of the meanest 
frauds we know, because it allures money from poor and helpless 
people under the promise of profitable employment. The scheme 
is a fraud on the face of it, and the wonder to us is that any per¬ 
son should be caught by it, much less a minister under the 
shadow of the humbug. 
