1897 
THE RURAL NEW-YORKER 
469 
any benefit from the practice. In regard to tbe 
watermelon, I would say, go slow ; nipping the run¬ 
ners of one or two vines will be enough for the ex¬ 
periment. GEO BITTNER 
Ohio. 
I have never given the matter a thorough trial. 
Those of my neighbors who have, do not seem to be 
over-enthusiastic in regard to the method, and in 
large field culture, it would hardly be practicable. 
We find that leaving one plant in the hill and giving 
them plenty of room to grow, allowing the vines to 
make all the growth they choose, gives best results. 
The melon family does not like to be crowded for 
room, and any mutilation of the vines seems to be 
resented by the growing plant. Pinching back may 
do for the small Gem varieties where fruitfulness and 
not size is the object to be obtained. r s cole 
Maryland. 
In growing cucumbers and melons in the green¬ 
house, and sometimes in garden culture, we pinch the 
main vine j ust beyond the first fruit. When a fruit has 
appeared on the side shoot which is thus forced out, 
that also is pinched and the same method is practiced 
with succeeding shoots, More attention is given to 
the training of the vines in the greenhouse than in 
the garden I am of the opinion that it pays to 
follow the method above described in greenhouse 
culture. I am not prepared to say that it pays in 
garden or field culture. The pinching is done as soon 
as the female flower bud appears, without waiting 
for the fruit to set. s. A. beach. 
Geneva Experiment Station. 
AILING ANIMALS. 
ANSWERS BY DR. F. L. KILBORNE 
Horse Eats His Manger. 
B. F., Tingley, Pa .—What is the difficulty and remedy when a 
horse in good condition eats away the bottom of his manger? 
The habit of eating the manger is, usually, due to 
mischievousness from want of exercise. Idle horses 
quite frequently acquire the habit of eating their 
mangers or the sides of the stall, while it is rarely 
seen with horses that are worked regularly. The 
natural remedy in such cases is to give the horse more 
exercise. Where this is impracticable or not suffi¬ 
cient, it may be necessary to board the sides of the 
stall up tight, so that the horse cannot reach the top. 
The manger should, also, be made tight, and the top- 
rail, as well as the bottom, if necessary, covered with 
heavy tins or sheet iron. The desire for salt may be 
the cause of the habit in some cases. It is well al¬ 
ways to keep a lump of rock salt in the feed box, or 
have a small box or compartment of the feed box in 
which a liberal supply of salt is kept constantly be¬ 
fore the horse. He can then eat it at will, and rarely, 
if ever, will he eat too much. 
A Case of Bloody Milk. 
.7. //., Greendale, Mass .—I have a valuable young cow subject to 
what I suppose to be bloody garget. The milk is reddish in the 
bottom of the pan after standing. Is there a sure remedy, and if 
not, will the trouble be likely to recur after the next calf ? 
The bloody milk is the result of congestion or in¬ 
flammation of the udder, probably due either to injury 
or to over-stimulation of the gland. Give the cow 
one pound of Epsom salts with an ounce of ginger dis¬ 
solved in one quart of warm water. Then follow 
with one of the following powders in the feed or 
drinking water twice daily : Nitrate of potash, eight 
ounces ; chlorate of potash, four ounces ; mix and 
make into 16 powders. Bathe the udder frequently 
with water as hot as the hand can bear. If there is 
any garget, rub with hot lard, and knead vigorously 
with the hands until the induration is softened. If 
the cow is a heavy milker or is being fed liberally, 
reduce the feed until the trouble ceases. The trouble 
will not be likely to recur after next calving unless 
the same or other causes should again excite conges¬ 
tion. If not relieved in a week or 10 days, write 
again, giving full particulars, including feed, condi¬ 
tion of the udder and time of calving. 
Contracted Foot in Horse. 
G. II. S., Laconia , N. 7/.—My young horse has one contracted 
fore foot, is a little lame, and it seems inflamed. It was so when 
I got him. What shall I do for it ? 
Remove the shoe and lower the heels. If the foot 
is unduly long, as is usually the case, it should be 
shortened and the sole pared away until all the old 
brittle horn is removed. Do not cut the frog or 
weaken the bars by “ opening the heels”. Finally, 
put the foot in a flaxseed poultice, where it should be 
kept for 36 to 48 hours, renewing the poultice every 
12 hours. When the hoof has been well softened, the 
poultice is to be removed, the foot dried, and a can- 
tharides blister applied around the coronet and to the 
sides and front of the lower half of the pastern. The 
blistering ointment is best applied, after clipping the 
hair as closely as possible, by rubbing well into the 
skin with the palm of the hand for 15 to 20 minutes. 
The horse should now be turned to pasture, preferably 
on low or damp ground. If on a dry pasture, the 
hoof should be smeared daily with an ointment of 
equal parts of pine tar and vaseline mixed together, 
to prevent drying and further contraction of the hoof. 
If the first application of the cantharides do not pro¬ 
duce a blister, repeat the application after five or six 
days. Then as soon as the crusts from the first blister 
have been shed, it will be well to blister, at least, 
once or twice more. 
No “ Sure Cure ” for Heaves. 
J. H. S , New Pallz, N.-Tc .—I had a horse that had the heaves 
very badly, and after trying several things that did no good, I 
heard of Sure Cure for Heaves. Tae first box made such an im¬ 
provement that I continued, and by the time I had fed five boxes 
at a cost of $2.50, the horse was completely cured. 
The heaves, when once well established, is prac¬ 
tically incurable. Occasionally a case of so-called 
heaves is reported to have been cured; but such 
cases were, undoubtedly, either not true heaves, or 
they were not cured. The heaves can be relieved by 
careful dieting and, usually, benefited by a course of 
arsenic with or without other tonics or antispasmodics. 
Much more depends upon the diet than upon the 
medicine. Like nearly all patent medicines, the 
claims of this heaves cure are very extravagant. Used 
in connection with a suitable diet, it may be a good 
general tonic and, possibly, relieve some cases ; but 
it will not cure the heaves. 
Harlequin Bugs on Cabbage; Gooseberries 
A. F. A., Claremont , Fa.—One of my best paying crops is early 
cabbages, part of which are set in the fall. I also grow some 
turnips, and get some money out of them. Last fall, for the first 
time, the Harlequin bug appeared on the turnips. I had turnips 
till late in the spring, so they kept on them and did not trouble 
the cabbages. I tried to kill them with very strong kerosene 
emulsion, also with hot water, and succeeded very well ; but a 
few escaped, and went for the cabbages, where I hand-picked 
them. About the middle of June, the new crop began to hatch 
and is now working on some late cabbages. Would I better 
drop the turnips and rutabagas, get the place cleared of all of 
the cabbage family as soon as possible, say July 15, and plant 
nothing that they will feed on till I plant the fall cabbage October 
1 ? Will this do any good, or shall I sow turnips and let them 
work on them ? I find that they will not touch cabbages while 
there are turnips growing. I can’t pick them on the turnips ; it 
would cost more than the crop is worth, and any thing that will 
kill them will kill the turnips. Will it pay to plant gooseberries 
here, in Tidewater Va., for market. The Downing and Houghton 
do well, and are ready for market the flrst week in June. What 
should they bring then in New York or Washington? They have 
advantages over most small fruits, as they can be gathered at 
once, keep well, and do not suffer by too much rain as straw¬ 
berries do. 
Ans. —A. F. A.’s experience with the Harlequin bug 
is similar to that of many others in Virginia. For 
years, it has steadily advanced, until now the State is 
practically occupied. I am surprised that he did not 
have it sooner, as we have had it here on top of the 
mountains for five years. I have experimented care¬ 
fully with remedies, and can say that applications 
are quite impracticable. To kill the insect, it will be 
necessary to U3e such strong substances that the 
plant itself is nearly or quite destroyed. Conse¬ 
quently we have, for several years, destroyed them 
by trapping and picking. Our cabbages are not set 
until March, but we have winter turnips, and in these 
the bugs always settle. As soon as they become so 
bad that the turnip salad is of no further value, we 
either burn the remaining plants, bugs and all, by 
heaping straw over them, or else plow them under as 
deeply as we can, and work and compact the soil to 
prevent their escape. Should any escape or others 
come, they will take to the kale or early radishes, and 
can here be treated in like manner. Or, I believe, it 
would be wise to sow successive crops of turnips in 
convenient strips, purposely to trap this gaudy fellow. 
If they get on our cabbage or cauliflower, I send 
little boys over to pick them, both bugs and eggs, 
with great care. Strange to say, after five years of 
fight, we haven’t a single bug thus far this year. It 
seems probable that we have actually cleaned them 
out of our grounds, but they will soon fly in again 
from surrounding places. I believe strongly in trap 
strips, and our crop work is such that we always have 
them in regular succession. 
It would not be possible for me to answer about 
the probable profit in gooseberries. If A. F. A. can 
grow them well, free from mildew, he ought to try a 
limited area first, and develop as his market wai rants. 
The crop is a cheap one to grow. wm. b. alwood, 
Virginia Experiment Station. 
Peach Budding ; When and How to Do It. 
J. R. L ., Birdsboro, Pa. —I have 3,000 or more peach trees from 
the seed this spring; when is the proper time to bud them? 2. 
Would you advise taking buds from trees two years old in my 
own orchard ? 3. What would be a fair price per hundred for 
doing the work ? 4. Where could I get an experienced man for 
budding by the hundred ? 5. Is the Triumph peach a good one 
for eastern Pennsylvania ? 
Ans.—1. The time to bud peach seedlings in Penn¬ 
sylvania is about August 15 to September 15. 2. If 
there is no doubt of the correctness of name of the 
young orchard trees, and they are in thrifty and 
healthy condition, they would afford good buds for 
insertion. But I always like to be sure of the identity 
of trees from which I propagate, therefore I usually 
select bearing trees It is also claimed by some good 
authorities that buds or grafts from such trees as have 
proved their productiveness, will produce more fruit¬ 
ful trees than those cut from young trees. In any 
case, the buds should be large and well developed 3. 
If a budder is hired who understands his business 
well, he will, probably, want to select and cut the 
buds from the tree, instead of trusting an inexperi¬ 
enced person to do it. He may, also, wish to do the 
tying, which is a particular, but not very difficult 
part of the work. If he do the entire work, assum¬ 
ing the responsibility for the job being well done, 
$10 would not be too much to pay him for the 3,000 
trees. This should include rebudding those that fail 
to take, after about two weeks from the time the 
buds are set. There are those who can set 3,000 or 
more buds per day, but this does not include tying, 
which is done by another person. Almost any smart 
boy or girl can be taught to tie buds. I have taught 
many to do it, and in several cases, they soon were 
able to do it as neatly as, and more quickly than, 
myself. I do not profess to be a quick hand, but I 
do it so that there are few failures. I like to begin 
early and have time to rebud those that miss. 4. Ask 
some nurseryman to direct you to some good budder. 
5. Triumph is a very good peach for eastern Penn¬ 
sylvania. H. E. VAN DEMAN. 
Strawberry Culture in Kansas. 
F. 0. C., Washington County, Kan.—I wish to raise strawber¬ 
ries and raspberries in northern Kansas—Washington County— 
for a family of 10. Waat varieties shall I plant and how cultivate 
for best results ? How many of each? Could they be success¬ 
fully planted this summer or fall ? 
Ans —Washington County, Kan., is a good section 
for the culture of strawberries and raspberries, if 
proper attention be given. It is very difficult to get 
a good set of strawberry plants in Kansas in the sum¬ 
mer or fall, because of the lack of moisture which 
usually prevails there during the fall and winter. If 
good potted plants are to be had, and irrigation is 
practiced, the case would be quite different, and suc¬ 
cess attainable. Spring is the best time to set almost 
every kind of fruit plants in the whole of that great 
prairie region, from Illinois westward to the moun¬ 
tains. A good list of strawberries for family U3e 
would be : Michel, Beder Wood, Warfield, Babaeh, 
Cyclone, Brunette, Parker Earle, Windsor and Gandy. 
These varieties will make a succession from early to 
late. Of raspberries, the following named kinds will 
do likewise : Progress, Palmer, Kansas, Offier, Turner, 
Loudon. As to cultivation, etc., this would be a long 
story. The two species require different distances 
and methods of culture, but these are carefully 
described in almost every nursery catalogue, and are 
easily understood. The narrow, matted row is the 
best for the strawberry, in a general way. Rows 
should be four or five feet apart, and the plants 18 
inches in the row. Keep the patch scrupulously 
clean with the cultivator and hoe from start to finish. 
Raspberries may be set in rows seven feet apart, the 
plants being three feet apart at the start; or they 
may be set five or six feet apart each way, and culti¬ 
vated so. The hill system is liked by those who have 
tried it. Nothing will ever compensate for neglect of 
cultivation the first season. As winter comes on, 
about December 1 in Kansas, apply a mulch of old 
prairie hay or very coarse stable manure, h e v. d. 
Apples for North Carolina. 
B., Hendersonville, N. C.—l have recently come into possession 
of an orchard six years set of the following varieties: 100 each of 
Stark, Ben Davis, Winesap, Red Limber Twig, 50 Red Vandevere, 
25 each of Yellow Vandevere and Virginia Beauty. Our local 
shipper says that Stark, Red Limber Twig and Yellow Vandevere 
are not profitable. Shall I graft them? To what varieties ? In 
branches or trunks ? 
Ans —Ben Davis and Winesap are profitable apples 
for the mountain region of North Carolina. Stayman 
is a new variety, a seedling of Winesap, and is much 
better in several respects than its parent. As Stark 
is Jtoo dull colored and Limber Twig too small and 
often too dull in color, also, to sell well, it would be 
well to top graft the trees. B. will find York Imperial 
and Stayman decidedly better. Paragon and Mam¬ 
moth Black Twig are, also, very good kinds for that 
section. There is much confusion about the varieties 
bearing the name Vandevere (Vandiver is the correct 
name), and just what B. may mean by the terms 
Yellow Vandevere and Red Vandevere I am not cer¬ 
tain, as both are used for the variety that is commonly 
grown the country over. Supposing he means this 
one, I would think that his trees should be grafted 
over, for it usually rots badly and does not sell high 
on the market. It will be necessary to graft in the 
branches, as the trees are six years old. u e. v. d. 
What Strawberries to Plant. 
A. J. P., Branford , Conn.— 1. What are the best strawberries to 
raise for market—soil a ligat, sandy loam? 2. Should blackber¬ 
ries be cut back when about three feet high ? 
Ans — 1 . Our choice for market would be Haver- 
land, Eahauce, Brandywine, Babaeh and Warfield. 
2. We nave found no advantage ia cutting back the 
bearing canes. It makes them less productive. Let 
them grow naturally, and stake them securely. 
