i89o 
THE RURAL NEW-YORKER. 
37 
better system, and they found that by 
using the self-feeders they would lose twice 
as many sheep as they did by the old sys¬ 
tem. 
Constantine. Mich. 
FROM EDWARD F. DIBBLE. 
I should most certainly feed grain to 
sheep at regular intervals in troughs 
twice or three times a day. In using auto¬ 
matic feeders the sheep would be liable to 
lose their relish for the grain ration and 
would not do nearly so well as if it were 
fed in troughs. When the grain is fed at 
regular intervals the flock looks forward to 
feeding-time with a healthy appetite, and 
the grain is eaten up clean. It does them 
good to get hungry, and even if sheep have 
four stomachs I believe that it is best for 
their general health to give them time 
properly to assimilate the nutriment in the 
grain they eat. All of the successful sheep- 
feeders with whom I am acquainted—and 
there are many in this section who have an 
experience of more than a quarter of a cen¬ 
tury-feed grain in troughs, believing that 
it is the best and only correct method. 
Livingston County, N. Y. 
FROM P. H. MONROE. 
I have always owned and had the care of 
sheep from boyhood, commencing with 
Merinos in Vermont and keeping right on 
until I now find myself with a flock of 
Shropshires raising lambs for the Easter 
market, and my practice has always been 
(and I regard it as the more profitable) to 
feed sheep grain at regular intervals, com¬ 
mencing with a small ration for fattening 
sheep and increasing it to a point beyond 
which there would be no profit, and I be¬ 
lieve that point is before the limit of the 
sheep’s digestive capacity is reached. I 
think a decided relish should be shown by all 
fattening animals for their feed at regular 
hours. This certainly could not be the case 
when they could “ help themselves at will.” 
In feeding breeding ewes I certainly would 
not think it safe to allow them all the 
grain they would eat. A ewe handled for 
milk should be treated with as much care 
as a dairy cow, and more; for in addition 
to the profit from the ewe’s milk the qual¬ 
ity of the wool must be considered, and I 
think an excessive grain ration is apt to in¬ 
duce a feverish condition injurious to the 
fleece, and this applies to all sheep. 
Plainfield, Ill. 
FROM A. S. FOX. 
For breeding stock troughs would have 
to be used in order to give a limited quan¬ 
tity of feed so as not to over-feed. For fat¬ 
tening stock I prefer the hopper plan, which 
insures enough for all, and with good man¬ 
agement in other respects it will not mili¬ 
tate to their disadvantage. 
Oregon, Wis. 
SELLING FEATHERS. 
Several Subscribers. —Where are feathers 
sold and what parties buy them ? Are 
they sorted before being sold ? Are white 
feathers worth more than dark ones ? 
FROM C. E. L. HAYWOOD. 
I have always sold my feathers to fam¬ 
ilies here, and to tin peddlers. I get seven 
cents per pound for hens’ feathers. I scald 
all my poultry before I pick them and 
spread the feathers in a loft on the floor to 
dry. When dry I sack them and sell them 
when I have a chance. I mix all colors to¬ 
gether. I presume white ones would sell 
for a better price than colored. 
Hancock, N. H. 
FROM L. W. LIGHTLY. 
In our part of Pennsylvania feathers are 
among the waste products of the farm. No 
person thinks of bothering with the feath¬ 
ers of poultry in general. There are a few 
people who live along streams and keep 
geese, who generally save the feathers to 
supply the local trade, which is small, as 
feather beds are out of style. Some of our 
largest local poultry buyers occasionally 
care for a part of their feathers and send 
them to a commission merchant. The 
local price for good feathers is 40 to 50 cents 
per pound. 
FROM P. II. JACOBS. 
We kill very few, if any, adult fowls 
here, and the feathers are mostly from 
broilers, and are used as additions to the 
manure heap. The commission mer¬ 
chants receive feathers, the tail and wing 
feathers being selected, the tail feathers 
selling at 25 cents per pound. Such feathers 
are simply dried in the open air or near a 
stove, and bundled or bunched. Dry- 
picked, soft chicken feathers, and the 
downy feathers of geese and ducks, and 
also of turkeys are sold by commission 
merchants, or bought by dealers in feath¬ 
ers, the « prices varying according to the 
kind. White feathers are always preferred, 
and bring a higher price. To save them 
they must be plucked dry (free from damp¬ 
ness) dried in a warm, airy place, and 
stored loosely in bags until a sufficient 
quantity accumulates for sale. I do not 
now know the market prices, but geese 
feathers sell at about 50 cents per pound, 
and chicken feathers at from 15 to 20 cents. 
FROM JAMES RANKIN. 
We sell our feathers to Glover & Well¬ 
come, Boston. We are careful while pick¬ 
ing to throw out all tail, wing and pin¬ 
feathers. The feathers are gathered up, 
every evening and spread thinly on a dry 
floor. After a day or two they are turned 
and when fully dry they are thrown up 
into a pile and are then simply turned over 
about once a week to prevent them from 
adhering together and give them air. Care 
must be taken about this matter, or they 
will become offensive, which will impair 
their value. In November or at the end of 
the season the firm at our request sends 
out bags in which to pack them. These 
bags will hold about 50 pounds of feathers 
apiece. The price for nice, white feathers va¬ 
ries, according to the conditions of the mar¬ 
ket, from 40 to 50 cents per pound. Black 
or dark feathers of the same quality bring 
from 30 to 40 cents ; white hens’ feathers 
from 10 to 14 cents ; dark from six to eight 
cents. Each duck may be depended upon 
for two ounces of cured feathers. This 
makes quite an item where 10,000 birds are 
grown each season. 
South Easton, Mass. 
‘‘BIG NECK” IN LAMBS. 
W. A., Harrisvllle, Mich,.—Among young 
lambs in this neighborhood there is a dis¬ 
ease which we call “ big neck.” The lambs 
are born with lumps in their throats, 
sometimes as many as 50 per cent, of them 
being affected in this way, and none sur¬ 
vive. What is the cause, and is there a 
remedy? 
ANSWERED BY HENRY STEWART. 
This disease is constitutional and due to 
peculiarities of the soil which affect the 
water. Locality is an important element 
in considering the question and it is diffi¬ 
cult to pronounce positively in regard to 
it, as the geological character.'of the locali¬ 
ty has much to do with it. The disease is 
prevalent where the soil is derived from 
rocks containing magnesia, as magnesian 
limestone, or dolomite, serpentine and syen¬ 
ite or gneiss containing hornblende. These 
rocks being dissolved to some extent in 
the water, the latter is unw'holesome and 
causes the peculiar disease described. The 
ewes may be apparently free from the dis¬ 
order, while the lambs may be all diseased 
and appear prematurely ; or they are still¬ 
born or die soon after birth. In some cases 
not one lamb survives in a large flock. The 
disease is local and where it prevails sheep¬ 
keeping may become wholly unprofitable 
because of the impossibility of treating 
the flock constantly to overcome the con¬ 
stant tendency to the disease; hence the 
necessity of a knowledge of the locality, 
the geological character of which could be 
ascertained if not known. Some remedial 
measures are to use rain-water altogether 
for the use of the flock; to give the ewes 
nutritious food, as oats and bran, instead of 
corn, and clover hay in place of straw. A 
small quantity—two ounces daily—of lin¬ 
seed-cake meal for each ewe would also be 
useful. Treatment of lambs is very 
troublesome and rarely pays for the ex¬ 
pense. It should consist of small doses of 
iodide of potassium—two or three scruples 
daily—given to each ewe before the lambs 
are born, and while they are sucking, and 
continued for three or four months. If 
persistence in the kind of feeding and the 
use of rain-water is not found effective it 
would be advisable to abandon sheep-keep¬ 
ing in any locality where the lambs die off 
in the manner described. Where pure 
limestone prevails, as in Western New 
York, Vermont, Pennsylvania, Ohio and 
other districts noted as favorable for sheep, 
this disease is not known, but where gran¬ 
itic and magnesia rocks and sandy soils 
prevail there is always more or less danger, 
of it. As in Algona County, Michigan, rocks 
of this character have made up the soil to 
a large extent, the prevalence of the dis¬ 
ease in the sheep may be thus explained. 
TALL OAT GRASS. 
A. A. S., Charlotte Center, N. Y. —1. Will 
Tall Oat-Grass do well in this latitude and 
will it be a good soiling crop for milk pro¬ 
duction ? Where can the seed l)e pur¬ 
chased ? 2. Is Tall Fescue Grass good for a 
meadow and will it produce more than one 
crop in this section ? Timothy and clover 
“run out.” 
Ans.— 1. Experiences with this (Arrhena- 
therum avenaceum) are conflicting. Dr. 
Beal of Lansing, Michigan, has raised it on 
rather light soil for 12 years. Like Orchard 
Grass, it ripens very quickly after bloom¬ 
ing, and to make good hay there must be 
no delay in cutting. As it blossoms rather 
early, many let it go too long before cutting, 
when the stems become woody and of poor 
quality. A farmer does not want a large 
quantity of it to mow unless he is prepared 
to cut it all in a day or two. It makes a 
fine growth the first season after sowing 
and, if sown alone, will yield a good crop of 
hay. Dr. Beal finds that stock eat the 
grass well, though probably they would 
prefer a grass less bitter for a part of the 
time. Certain farmers in Virginia place it 
at the head of good grasses. It possesses the 
advantage, they say, of early, late and 
quick growth and is well calculated for a 
pasture grass. Prof. Shelton, of Manhat¬ 
tan, Kansas, says that no grass that he has 
tried made such a vigorous growth during 
the past season. It makes a better stand 
than Orchard Grass and endures protracted 
droughts, retaining its green color through¬ 
out. It makes excellent pasturage early in 
the spring and late in the fall. For general 
pasturage Prof. Shelton deems it inferior 
to Orchard Grass. It is known also as 
Evergreen Grass. The seed weighs 14 
pounds to the oushel in the chaff and about 
two bushels to the acre are usually sown. 
Our inquirer will find it in most seedsmen’s 
catalogues under the name of Avena ela- 
tior, the price being $18 per 100 pounds. 
2. Tall Fescue, Randall Grass, Evergreen 
Grass (Festuca elatior) is highly valued in 
Great Britain for permanent grass lands, 
but it is not well suited to alternate hus¬ 
bandry, as it does not attain to full produc¬ 
tive powers till the third year after sowing. 
CORNS ON A HORSE. 
J. A. P., Coldwater, Mich. —My six-year- 
old horse has a corn on the inside of each 
fore foot, caused by wearing shoes that 
were too short, last fall. A blacksmith re¬ 
moved the shoes and cut the corns so that 
the shoes wouldn’t press on them, and then 
put some hot tar and cotton on them, and 
put on new shoes. After a few days he 
showed no signs of lameness for three or 
four weeks, but then he began to grow 
lame again. The blacksmith once more 
removed the shoes, cut the corns and reset 
the shoes, without putting anything on the 
corns; but the horse still continues lame. 
He stands on a plank floor. I try to keep 
him well bedded with dry straw, but he 
constantly paws it from under him. He 
isn’t used more than enough to give him 
good exercise. What can be done for him? 
Ans.—J udging from your description 
the corns were due to retaining the shoes 
too long rather than to the fact that they 
were too short. Many young horses with 
rapidly-growing feet require shoeing as 
often as every three or four weeks ; other¬ 
wise the shoes are carried forward by the 
increased length of the toe, and the heels 
are brought to press upon the sole, a very 
common cause of corns. In this case the 
horse should be re-shod as often as every 
three weeks until the corns have entirely 
grown out. At each shoeing pare out the 
sole slightly so as to allow no pressure over 
the corn, but do not weaken the heel any 
more than is necessary. Do not cut the 
frog, but let it come to the ground to assist 
in sustaining the weight. A mild blister 
around the top of the hoof, and the appli¬ 
cation of an ointment of tar and vaseline to 
the hoof daily will favor the growth of 
horn and aid in removing the corn. The 
horse should be worked carefully and 
driven only at a moderate pace on pave¬ 
ments or hard roads. 
STARTING A STRAWBERRY-BED; BEST VA¬ 
RIETIES FOR THE EAST. 
O. B. C., Lynn, Mass. —What is the best 
method of starting a strawberry-bed, and 
what are the best market varieties for this 
section ? 
ANSWERED BY PROF. S. P. MAYNARD. 
Select a medium sandy loam and make it 
moderately rich by adding stable manure, 
bone and potash, or any other good fertiliz¬ 
er sufficient to raise 100 bushels of corn 
per acre. Plow in the fall and again in the 
spring as soon as the soil will work up fine. 
After harrowing so as to make the surface 
fine, mark out the rows 3feet apart. Se¬ 
lect young plants—those with white roots 
—the black roots indicate that the plants 
are more than one year old—and setthem 
two feet apart in the row, pressing tnk soil 
very firmly about the roots. This should 
be done in April if possible; few growers 
plant the strawberry in the fall. Cultivate 
thoroughly with the horse if.lthe bed is 
large, but if small the hoe and spade will 
easily do all. The runners may be trained 
in two or three regular rows in the case of 
plants 10 inches apart, all other runners 
being destroyed, or they may run into a 
matted row. A very thin covering of straw, 
hay or leaves will protect them during the 
winter, put on about December 1 or just 
before the ground freezes. Strawberries 
should not be planted on newly-turned turf 
land, as the white grub larv® of the June 
Beetle would destroy them. If the plants 
are not making sufficient growth, fertilizers 
should be spread along the rows before cul¬ 
tivating or hoeiDg. I consider the best va¬ 
rieties to be the Crescent, May King, 
Sharpless and Belmont. These are the 
best for general purposes. The Jessie, Bu- 
bach’and Haverland are promising; but 
may, upon further trial, prove of no value. 
CRAVINGS OF A COW FOR UNNATURAL FEED. 
A. W. C., Rochdale, Mass. —My Jersey 
cow is eager to eat all kinds of cloth or 
paper; what ails her and what can I do for 
her ? 
Ans. —Some cows seem to have acquired 
a habit of eating suoh substances, which no 
treatment, except the absolute removal of 
all objectionable matter, will prevent. 
The R. N.-Y. has a cow that, at times, will 
leave good grass to hunt for rags and 
paper. She Is, at this season, anxious to 
get at the horse manure pile, and, if allowed 
to go there, would eat several quarts of 
manure. She is in good health. If fed 
plenty of salt we notice that she loses much 
of this desire for objectionable food. We 
feed her well on good hay, fodder and 
grain, give plenty of salt, and take pains 
to keep her away from all objectionable 
substances. Veterinarians tell us that the 
habit may be due to pregnancy, tuberculo¬ 
sis, food deficient in phosphates or foreign 
bodies in the stomach. We have noticed 
quite a number of well-bred animals—cattle 
and dogs—that seem to have an irresistible 
craving for manure and other filthy matters 
even when furnished with the best food 
and care. If the R. N.-Y. owned this cow, 
and she proved a good one, it would see 
that she had an abundance of salt, and, 
when not close to calving time, at least 
four quarts Of bran with plenty of good 
hay or well-cured corn-fodder. We should 
feed a quart of linseed-meal three times a 
week, and if the cow is at all constipated, 
give a dose of Epsom salts. We should 
keep her in the barn entirely away from 
horse manure, paper or rags, and feed car¬ 
rots, turnips or small quantities of raw po¬ 
tatoes. 
MAGNETIC HAMMERS. 
G. S. M., Middleton, Nova Scotia.— Do 
manufacturers of quart berry boxes use 
magnetic hammers for picking up and 
driving tacks? If so, what are they like 
and where can they be obtained? What do 
they cost? We make our own boxes, using 
an ordinary tack hammer. After a little, 
our fingers wear through and work has to 
stop. I tried to find a special hammer for 
the purpose in Boston this fall, but could 
nowhere find anything but the common 15- 
cent magnetic hammer—not fit to drive a 
tack with any way. 
ANS. —Yes, makers use a small tack ham¬ 
mer “magnetic” enough to pick up the 
tacks without injury to the fingers. The 
tacks cost 30 cents per pound and the ham¬ 
mers 25 cents each. A great many boxes 
are now fastened together with fine wire— 
a machine costing $40 doing this work 
rapidly and well. With tacks and ham¬ 
mer, expert hands will fill from 100 to 125 
16-quart crates in 10 hours. With the ma¬ 
chine, 300 to 400 crates may be filled in the 
same time. A large majority of the fruit¬ 
growers of the country still use the tacks. 
Wells, Higman& Co., of St. Joseph, Mich¬ 
igan, sell all sorts of basket-making sup¬ 
plies. 
A NEW ORCHARD ON THE SITE OF AN OLD 
ONE, ETC. 
G. S. C., Ashaway, R. I. —1 . I intend to 
set out a young apple orchard in the spring. 
An apple orchard occupied the ground 
some years before and some people advise 
me not to set another orchard there, on the 
ground that the old trees have robbed the 
soil of the needed fertility, while thipir 
roots have ramified in it. The land, how¬ 
ever, is in good condition and has received 
a good dressing of stable manure and bore 
a good crop of com last year. It was a hog 
pasture during the two previous years. 2. 
What are the four best varieties of straw¬ 
berries for market, productiveness being 
the first requirement and size the second ? 
Ans. —1. There is no known reason why 
a second orchard should not be planted in 
the same land as the first except, as stated, 
