320 
THE RURAL NEW-YORKER. 
May 9 
at the crossing of the two marks. I push the handle 
from me, and the third very small boy who can bend 
his back very easily, being close to the ground, takes 
one of the plants by the leaves, and gives it a flip into 
the hole at the back side of the shovel so that the 
roots shall go straight down to the bottom of the hole. 
I pull out the shovel, put a foot each side of the plant, 
putting my whole weight on it. By this method, I 
can set almost as fast as I can walk, and rarely lose a 
plant. The labor bill for the three boys’ work is only 
$1.50 per day. 
I would caution any one against using straw for 
mulch, unless very sure there is no Timothy seed in 
it. Timothy seed, whether in the straw or in horse 
manure, which some advise to use for mulch, will seed 
a bed so as to ruin it almost the first year. 
Mr. Ballou says, “ When warm, settled spring 
weather comes, the straw should be carefully raked 
from over the plants and allowed to remain between 
the rows, where it will serve the triple purpose of 
retaining moisture, keeping down weeds, and keeping 
the fruit clean.” In looking at Fig. 78, one sees the 
wide stretch of ground unoccupied, and will readily 
agree with his reasons for removing the mulch. Had 
he but a narrow path, why would not the mulch be 
much better where it is ? The plants will grow right 
up through it, the soil will be kept soft and damp 
around the plants, instead of in the middle of the 
row,'the fruit will be much cleaner, as it lies on top of 
the straw, and beating rains have very little un¬ 
mulched surface from which to spatter soil upon it. 
If the mulch is too thick in spots, and the plants are 
not coming through, the mulch should be loosened a 
little. Why take off the mulch ? Cultivating both 
ways reduces the cost of hoeing three-fourths. I grant 
that Mr. Ballou will raise, by his method, large ber¬ 
ries and large crops, but that I can get as many or 
more quarts at one-half the expense by the “ cut-and- 
cover ” process. This is not intended as a criticism 
on his article, but a look at the subject from another 
standpoint. c. E. chapman. 
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AILING ANIMALS. 
ANSWERS BY DR. F. L. KILB0RNE. 
Swelled Sheath and Legs On a Horse. 
W. F. It., Peshtigo, Wis. —The sheath on my horse is beginning 
to swell ; it is about twice its natural size now. He is a lumber 
horse, and has worked in the woods for the past five winters. I-Ie 
has done no work since he came home this spring, about a week 
since. He seems to be all right otherwise, with the exception of 
stocking behind. His sheath swelled some last spring, also, but 
not so much as now. 
The swelling of the sheath and “ stocking” of the 
legs, may be due largely to overfeeding and idleness, 
or to the condition of the blood. See that the horse 
has daily exercise, either light work or turned into a 
yard or field. If his condition is good and you are 
feeding liberally, reduce the feed. Give little or no 
corn. In his grain night and morning, give two table¬ 
spoonfuls of the following powders : Glauber salts, 
one pound; powdered nux vomica, four ounces ; 
nitrate of potash, six ounces ; sulphate of iron, two 
ounces ; mix. 
A Cribbing Mare; Lame Foot. 
E. C. A., Aberdeen, S. B — Some two months ago I came into 
possession of a mare eight years old. She is all right except that 
she is cribbing, and the lower bars of her mouth are badly 
swollen. It seems as though the itching of the bars is, in part at 
least, the cause of the cribbing, as she will grasp any outstand¬ 
ing edge and fairly rub her mouth back and forth on it. She was 
quite sore in her front feet when I got her, from constant use in 
the livery business, but has improved materially In them since. 
What should be the treatment? 
Place the mare’s feed-box on the floor, and have 
nothing in front higher than her knees, upon which 
she can crib. This will effectually prevent cribbing 
in the stable. Avoid hitching out of the stable where 
she can crib. In this way, the habit may be broken 
if not a confirmed cribber. Have the swollen bars 
lanced lightly, to relieve the congestion. Apply a fly- 
blister around the coronet of both front feet, and re¬ 
peat once or twice if necessary. 
Blanket to Help a Horse’s Coat. 
W. J., Fredon, A. J. —I have a very fine saddle horse, and I am 
advised to keep him blanketed in the stable so as to keep his hair 
healthy and glossy. Does blanketing in wool or cotton produce 
this effect? Human beings are directed to keep their heads free 
from close covering for the same reason. 
Blanketing a horse gives the coat a sleek, glossy 
appearance, with only moderate grooming. Extra 
grooming, without the blanket, will produce a similar 
effect. A light linen or hemp blanket is suitable for 
summer, and a woolen blanket during cold weather, 
the weight of the blanket depending upon the warmth 
of the stable, the climate, and whether the horse has 
been clipped. 
An Old Collar Gall. 
W. G. K., Owensburg, Ky. —I have recently bought a six-year- 
old mare that had a very sore breast, probably caused by her 
collar not fitting her. I have tried almost everything to heal her, 
but without success. How can I heal this sore, probably of long 
standing ? 
Cover the raw surface with finely-powdered sulphate 
of copper, and allow it to remain for 12 to 18 hours. 
Then wash off with warm Castile soapsuds, dry, and 
dust over once daily with iodoform. If discharg¬ 
ing freely, it may be desirable to dust on the iodoform 
twice daily for a few days. If at any time the sore have 
an unhealthy appearance, or cease to improve, apply 
the sulphate of copper again ; but only a single appli¬ 
cation at one time. 
Wolf Teeth Again; Lumpy Eyes. 
0. F. JR., Clifford, Texas. —I have a fine filly between two and 
three years of age, that, for two months, has been reported to be 
afflicted with “wolf teeth,” .‘‘blind teeth,” etc.; but I failed to 
learn, upon inquiry, that there were any symptoms except “ weak 
eves ” or “ watery eyes.” There are “lumps’’below each eye, 
which are hard, roundish—apparently attached to the bone—one 
about the size of a half of a hen’s egg, the other smaller. Both 
are increasing in size. What are they ? What causes them ? Is 
there a cure ? If so, how should they be treated ? 
The “ wolf teeth” certainly have nothing to do with 
the trouble. As has been repeatedly stated in these 
columns, the so-called “ wolf teeth ” are simply rudi¬ 
mentary teeth which are harmless, and in no way con¬ 
nected with disease of the eyes or other organs. Run¬ 
ning or weeping eyes may, however, be due to the 
upper back molar teeth, which are situated directly 
below the eye, and are cut when the colt is three to 
four years old. For the lumps under the eyes, if they 
continue to increase in size, I would advise you to 
take her to a competent veterinarian for treatment. 
How to Kill Cabbage Insects. 
M. W. W., Vienna, Va. —How can I spray cabbages to destroy 
the various enemies to their growth and perfection? Is Paris- 
green a safe insecticide for that plant ? What is better, or, at 
least, safer ? 
ANSWERED BY M. Y. SLING ERRAND. 
What insecticides shall be used “to destroy the 
various enemies to the growth and perfection ” of cab¬ 
bages, depends entirely upon what kind and the 
nature of the insects which may be at work upon the 
plants. There is no one insecticide that is the best 
for all occasions, whatever the insect that may be at 
work. Kerosene emulsion comes the nearest to being 
a general panacea of this sort. Make it according to 
the Hubbard-Riley formula, so often quoted in bulle¬ 
tins and the agricultural press, and dilute it with 
about 10 parts of water. When poured around the 
base of the plant, this emulsion may check the on¬ 
slaught of the cabbage maggots on the roots, but an 
emulsion made with crude carbolic acid (one pound of 
soap, one gallon of boiling water, and one pint of the 
acid, all thoroughly agitated and diluted with 25 or 
30 parts of water) or bisulphide of carbon injected 
into the soil under the roots with the McGowen in¬ 
jector, will prove much more effectual against the 
cabbage maggot than the kerosene emulsion. 
For the green worm of the cabbage butterfly, Paris- 
green, mixed with three or four parts of flour, and 
dusted on when the dew is on, or mixed with water 
(one pound to 150 gallons), and sprayed on, is the best 
insecticide to be applied before the plants begin to 
head. If the green caterpillars are checked in this 
way when the plants are young, there will not often 
be any occasion to fight them on the headed plants. 
Some scruple against the use of this poison on cab¬ 
bages, but there is no danger before heading begins, 
and it has been shown by experiment, that a person 
would have to eat more than a barrel of heads thus 
treated at one meal, to get enough arsenic to kill him. 
It is said that many of the largest market gardeners 
in the neighborhood of large cities, use the Paris- 
green freely on the young plants. Hot water (130 de¬ 
grees F.) pyrethrum powder, or kerosene emulsion 
may be effectually used to kill the worms on the 
headed plants. If the children could be interested in 
catching the lively yellow butterflies flitting here and 
there over the cabbage patch, stopping to drop one 
of their pretty eggs now and then, with a butter¬ 
fly net, the numbers of the greedy worms would be 
very materially lessened. This, and the other kinds 
of caterpillars that feed upon the cabbage, are the 
only enemies of the plants that can be successfully 
fought with the Paris-green. The poisonous insecti¬ 
cides are only for those insects that bite off and chew 
their food. 
The cabbage is often attacked by two insects which 
suck their food through long beaks that pierce the 
outer skin of the plant, and pumpout the juices ; thus 
these insects are incapable of eating the poisonous 
particles with which a leaf might be coated. This 
very important distinction in theiway insects feed, is 
not understood by a large majority of those most 
interested. One of the sucking insect pests of the 
cabbage, is as yet a Southern insect; I refer to the 
Harlequin Cabbage bug. It is, probably, the worst 
cabbage pest of the South, for it is not very suscept¬ 
ible to the insecticides that are ordinarily used to kill 
sucking insects. The only sure method of controlling 
it is to hand-pick the bugs, beginning early in the 
season so as to get as many as possible of the old bugs 
which hibernated, to prevent their laying eggs for 
the future generations. The other sucking insect, the 
Cabbage Aphis or plant-louse, attacks cabbages in all 
parts of the country, and is often very destructive. 
It may be the most successfully checked by the thor¬ 
ough and frequent use of the kerosene emulsion. 
Crickets as Strawberry Pickers. 
E. G., Moons, N. Y. —What can I do to protect my strawberries 
from the crickets ? They are the worst enemies to strawberry 
culture that we have here. They eat them in both the green and 
ripe state. I grow Bubach, with Miner to fertilize them, also 
Gandy. I find that the Gaudy will escape serious injury on 
account of lateness, when the others will be nearly ruined. 
Ans. —It is not often that the companionable and 
familiar chirp of the cricket presages harm to our 
cultivated crops. I have been able to find on record 
only one or two cases where the cheerful little, brown 
creatures have done noticeable damage. In 1887, they 
infested cotton, tobacco and potato fields, and gar¬ 
dens in one locality in Louisiana. The usual methods 
of rapid cultivation, large flocks of poultry, and num¬ 
erous birds failed to keep them in check, so thick did 
they get. In Bulletin 33 of the Indiana Experiment 
Station, Mr. Webster states that crickets had long 
been accused by growers of eating the fruits of the 
strawberry; but no one had actually seen them at 
work on a berry. In 1886, Mr. Webster caught one at 
work destroying a berry. This observation and E. G.’s 
query, show that strawberry growers must count the 
crickets among the insect enemies of their fruit. The 
only recommendation which seems to me practicable 
for combating these little chirpers, was suggested by 
the late Dr. Riley in his answer to complaints from 
the Louisiana sufferers in 1887. The method was to 
make a poisoned bran mash by thoroughly mixing 
with dry bran enough Paris-green to give the whole 
mixture a decided green color (an equal amount of 
white arsenic would answer as well and be cheaper), 
and then add sufficient water to make a bran mash. 
The addition of a little sugar or molasses might make 
the mixture more attractive to the crickets. Dis¬ 
tribute this poisoned mash in tablespoonfuls among 
the infested strawberry plants. Use it liberally, and 
keep all domestic animals away. If applied towards 
night, it will not dry out so quickly. This is one of 
the best methods of fighting cutworms, and I think 
that it will prove an efficient check for the crickets. 
m. v. s. 
Acid Phosphate and Green Crops for Sourness. 
L. A. B., Nimmo, Va.— 1. Will the continued use of acid phos¬ 
phate have any bad effect on land ? 2. It is the opinion of some 
farmers in this vicinity, that green crops plowed in, unless fol¬ 
lowed with an application of lime or something else to neutralize 
the acid, will sour the land and promote the growth of sorrel. Is 
this true ? 
Ans.— 1. The long-continued use of acid phosphate 
alone on land, would be injurious to the extent that 
it lacks provision for a “ balanced ration ” for any 
crop. On some soils, this would be far more serious 
than on others, as some contain more potash than 
others. 2. The condition of the crop plowed under, 
as also the soil when the plowing is done, are factors, 
regulating to a very considerable extent, the produc¬ 
tion of acidity of the soil. A heavy crop of green 
succulent matter, turned under when land is wet, and 
temperature high, would be poorer farming than the 
continued use of acid phosphate alone. As fine a 
stand of sorrel as I ever saw, was produced by the 
use of 500 pounds to the acre of dissolved animal bone, 
on land that was too wet at the time. The use of 
lime, subsequently, failed to eradicate the sorrel, but 
400 pounds of kainit per acre left not a vestige. There 
is a whole world of difference as to the value of a 
green crop plowed in, when the stage of maturity of 
the crop is considered. At certain periods, the water 
in such green crops is greatly in excess, and their 
value relatively small, and vice versa. The former 
condition would require lime and plenty of it; the 
latter none. j. w. kerb. 
The Squash and Its Enemies. 
G. G. B„ East Pembroke, N. Y.— I intend planting about six 
acres to either Marrow or Hubbard squashes. Which would you 
advise ? What insects will be liable to attack them, and how 
shall I exterminate them ? 
ANSWERED BY N. HALLOCK. 
G. G. B. should go slow if this is his first attempt to 
grow squashes in quantity ; but if he persist, this 
may help him. Many acres are grown in this town. 
The Boston Marrow yields most, the Hubbard brings 
a little the most. All growers of six acres of squashes 
have squash houses, where they are stored before 
frost, kept warm and dry by stove heat, and mar¬ 
keted through the winter. They plant a,bout the last 
