834 
THE RURAL NEW-YORKER 
December 25 
New York cows do you estimate are tuberculous ? ” 
“ A large estimate is five per cent; this likely will 
hold true in other States till we reach the prairie 
region, where cattle are not shut up much. There 
our beef cattle are grown that show but two tuber¬ 
culous carcasses to the thousand examined by the 
United States inspectors at the various abattoirs. The 
South strikes me as an ideal place for dairying, for 
cows can live out of-doors the year ’round. I never 
have found tuberculous herds there, but the shut-up 
city cow has it as badly as here.” 
“ It is reported that the herds of Holland and Den¬ 
mark are badly affected with this disease. Their sur¬ 
plus butter goes to London. Does butter carry con¬ 
tagion ? ” 
“Yes, surely. The fat of the butter protects the 
bacilli from being killed by the acid of the stomach ; 
they pass to'the intestines, where they may colon'ze 
on the walls, or begin growth in the mesenteric 
glands or the liver. Our good butter has a sanitary 
chance in London.” 
“ When you find a herd infected, you order a gen¬ 
eral disinfection of the premises. Can a farmer do 
this properly ? ” 
“ In my judgment, disinfection should be done by 
a disinfecting corps, at State expense. We fought 
lung plague this way, and did not have to disinfect 
the second time ; and could put animals into stables, 
but two days after those suffering from pleuro-pneu- 
monia had been taken out for slaughter.” 
“ Can the State afford to buy condemned herds ? ” 
“ It can afford to do so, provided the owners are 
placed under bonds to observe the regulations that 
will prevent reinfection. Tuberculosis in cattle can 
be stamped out completely if tuberculous people are 
kept from extending the disease. The 
same disease so prevalent in swine is 
traceable for the most part to cattle. 
Sometimes swine are fed raw offal—a 
particularly dangerous practice, as tuber¬ 
cle will be found there if anywhere. The 
Germans have noticed that swine fed 
separator slime become tuberculous. 
Skim-milk is never cooked before feeding 
it It would be wise for every farmer 
when dressing swine for market, to make 
a careful examination of the liver, caul 
and lungs. Should these be sound, the 
presumption is that there is no tubercu¬ 
losis. Beware of granules or lumpy, in¬ 
flamed places, or ‘ cheesy ’ spots. It will 
give an ind cation as to the probable con¬ 
dition of the cows. Fresh air and sun- 
shire kill the disease germ ; it can last a 
long time when dry. if not exposed to 
light. Dampen stall floors and alley-ways 
before sweeping them, and then turn on 
the light, and lots of it ” 
HOWARD B CANNON. 
HANTS THAT ARE HIRED 0U1. 
HOW THE CITY HOME IS DECORATED. 
Es’ery city house of any pretensions to 
refinement must now be decorated freely 
with plants and flowers, and the work of 
keeping them in order is considerable. Lack of knowl¬ 
edge as regards both treatment and environment re¬ 
sults in many losses and, were it not for the florist’s 
aid, a large proportion of these decorations would 
survive but a few months. 
“ I want to decorate my rooms prettily during the 
winter,” remarked a customer to a Fifth Avenue 
florist, “but I don’t know what I need, or how to 
care for the plants.” 
“We will send an experienced man to make an 
estimate, and care for the plants afterwards,” re¬ 
sponded the florist, and the customer left, after plac¬ 
ing an order. 
“Is that a common thing to do?” the florist was 
asked. 
“ It is a very large branch of our business,” said 
he. “People tell us what they want, and we make 
an estimate of the number and variety of plants 
needed. One person may require merely two or three 
palms and ferns in her drawiDg-room, or a fern-dish 
upon her dining-table ; another will require hall, cor¬ 
ridor and reception rooms freely decorated with the 
best foliage and flowering plants in season, and a 
certain number of vases constantly filled with flowers, 
also.” 
“ How do you estimate the expense in such an 
order ?” 
“By number and quality of plants, and also, by 
situation. The last has a good deal to do with 
it, and we must be guided just as an insurance 
man is in reckoning a risk as preferred, hazardous, 
or extra-hazardous. In an apartment overheated, 
draughty, or subject to escaping gas, we must natur¬ 
ally charge more than where more favorable con¬ 
ditions prevail. Our charges are based upon the mar¬ 
ket cost of the plants, varied by the environment.” 
“ Are the plants changed during the time they are 
rented ? ” 
“Certainly; if flowering plants, they are removed 
as soon as the flowering season is over. If foliage 
plants, a change is made as soon as they begin to 
deteriorate in quality. In some cases, an arrange¬ 
ment is made to change the plants at certain intervals, 
whether they retain their freshness or not, the rental 
charged being influenced by this. There are many 
cases where it is not necessary to change the plants 
more than once or twice in the season, when they are 
foliage varieties. Often the person renting the plants 
becomes so interested in them, that they are pur¬ 
chased outright, and then they come to us as board¬ 
ers when the owner leaves the city.” 
“ It would appear as though there were risk in thus 
hiring the plants. Are they not often injured by lack 
of care ?” 
“ Doubtless they would be if intrusted to inexperi¬ 
enced persons, but they are under our constant 
supervision. When the plants are hired, an arrange¬ 
ment is made whereby one of our men is sent to 
attend to them—it may be once or twice a week, or it 
may be, in exceptional cases, every day. He waters 
and clears the plants, notices any indications of in¬ 
sects or disease, and when necessary, changes them. 
There is thus very little possibility of neglect or ill- 
usage.” 
“ What plants are generally hired in this way ?” 
“All the ordinary foliage plants — palms, ferns, 
India-rubber plants, Norfolk Island pines, Otaheite 
oranges, or Ardisias. The favorite palms are Arecas, 
Kentias, Latanias, Ploenix and Cocos. Good speci¬ 
mens of the Boston fern, the Sword fern (Nephrolepis 
exaltata), the Forked Sword fern (Nephrolepis daval- 
lioides furcans), and Dicksonia antarctica make a 
good show. We should not be inclined to rent the 
delicate Maidenhair ferns.” 
“ What flowering plants do you rent ?” 
“Anything in season. At this time of year, Chinese 
primroses, Cyclamens and Paris daisies are used a 
great deal. A little later, Azaleas and Heaths will 
be available, and all the variety of potted bulbs. In 
addition to putting these decorating plants in rooms, 
we also fill conservatories, either with the foliage 
plants alone, or with foliage and flowering plants. 
These are cared for under the same conditions as the 
plants in rooms.” 
Some dealers formed the impression, at first, that 
this system of plant-renting might injure regular 
sales, but such does not appear to be the case. On 
the contrary, many people who say frankly that they 
“can’t bother with house plants ”, rent them, their 
trouble being relieved by the florist’s care-taker, and 
thus acquire a taste for the plants which is finally 
gratified by purchasing them. Dwellers in flats and 
apartment houses, who spend only a few months of 
the winter in the city, do not, as a rule, care for buy¬ 
ing plants, which must be boarded during the greater 
part of the year, and the hiring system suits them 
very well. The florists who make a specialty of this 
business usually maintain a regular plant boarding¬ 
house during the summer, and also a plant hospital 
where they care for ailing specimens. 
Another branch of the plant-renting business is the 
decorating of halls and reception rooms, but this is 
but temporary, and does not involve the same care¬ 
taking as the rented home plants. Arrangements to 
keep a certain number of vases constantly filled, the 
flowers being replaced at intervals, form a regular 
part of the florist’s business. A stated price being 
settled upon, the florist varies the flowers with the 
seasons. In some cases, a contract is made for certain 
flowers ; for example, so many violets or roses a week. 
Contracts are also made for table decorations, ex¬ 
tending over a series of entertainments. The use of 
plants and flowers for decorating is now regarded as 
a necessity, rather than a luxury, and the business is 
much more systematically managed than in former 
years. 
Mr. H. A. Siebrecht, of New York, who has had a 
wide experience in this branch of the business, gives 
his opinion as follows : “ The first essential is experi¬ 
enced and practical men, who use good judgment as 
to what particular plant or plants are required to 
produce the desired effect. Single plants rent for 
from $2.50 up to $25, and sometimes up to $35 per 
month, according to size and value. In conserva¬ 
tories cr groups in private houses, hotels or club 
houses, plants rent for from 25 cents to $5 each per 
month, half that amount for a week, and a quarter 
that amount for a day, and for a season of from 
three to six months, a discount of 25 per cent from 
the monthly rate. Of course, it all depends upon 
how often plants will have to be changed. All 
plants are taken full care of by us. We keep, for 
this purpose, a corps of trained men, efficient gar¬ 
deners, each of whom has a route of places, to which 
he goes either daily or every other day. The plants 
are thus watered and sponged regularly, and when 
changed for fresh plants, the old plants are sent 
to the nurseries, where they are regrown and re¬ 
cuperated. This takes from one to three years. We 
also treat ailiDg plants for their owners, maintaining 
a species of hospital for valuable speci¬ 
mens. 
“Palms used for this business are Ken¬ 
tias, Phoenix, Rhapis, Areca lutescens and 
A. Verschaffeltii, A. Bauerii and A. sapi- 
da, Latania Borbonica, Livistona Austra¬ 
lis, Cocos plumosa, C. flexuosa, C. 
Weddeliana, Thrinax, Caryota, Sabal 
glaucescens, in the order named. Other 
plants which are used are Cycas cir- 
cinalis, C. revoluta, Dracaenas, large 
Crotons, Aspidistras in large quantities, 
Araucarias, Aucuba Japonica. Bay 
trees, in standard globular and pyramid 
forms, and a number of other foliage 
plants, besides a number of what are 
termed hardy ferns for the house and 
conservatory. Flowering plants and cut 
flowers are, also, furnished on the same 
plan. Fancy baskets and costly vases 
and jardinieres and pedestals, trays, etc., 
are also furnished for and with the 
plants.” 
Siebrecht & Son’s estimate of the num¬ 
ber of plants thus used in this branch of 
their extensive business last year was 
over 20 000. In this way, people can 
have their houses decorated when they 
wish, and only for the time they desire, 
and they have no care or trouble, this 
being at a much smaller cost than if they 
purchased and owned the plants themselves. Of 
course it requires an immense capital to keep up 
such a large stock of plants. The business is figured 
out to a nicety. _ e. t. r. 
ft HAT THEY SAY. 
Different Kinds of Lime. —The answer to W. H. 
M., on page 789, advising the use of quick lime quoted 
at $6.50 as opposed to “ run of kiln ” at $4, might mis¬ 
lead. The burners generally sort out the lump lime 
to sell for building. This leaves for sale the fine 
lime—at a reduced price—while the run of kiln is 
composed of both lump and fine lime. All grades are 
alike quick lime, but for use on land, the fine lime 
can be bought at a much lower rate than either of 
the other grades, and be used with more economy. 
Pennsylvania. j. p. 
English Short-horn Heifer. —At Fig. 353, is 
shown a picture re-engraved from the English Mark 
Lane Express, which shows the type of animal desired 
by the Eaglish Short-horn breeders. This heifer has 
won prizes at the best shows, and is a fine representa¬ 
tive of the old breed that has done so much for 
English agriculture. The Short-horn cow has 
always been a great favorite with those who practice 
mixed farming. She gives a good mess of milk of 
i'air quality, and is a good-natured, handsome animal. 
When she resigns her place at the pail, she is ready 
to supply good steaks and roasts. Her daughters 
follow dutifully in her footsteps, and her sons make 
the best of beef. In this country, breeders of the 
special dairy breeds have made a good deal of noise, 
and in many neighborhoods, the Short-horn cows have 
been bred to bulls of dairy blood. This Gross has 
A CHAMPION ENGLISH SHORT-HORN HEIFER. Fig. 353. 
