336 
THE RURAL NEW-YORKER. 
May 16 
visible effect upon him than it would have had upon 
his mules. The first agent had failed, and he had 
been sent to get the range into the kitchen. After 
one hour of courteous treatment of the stranger, I 
changed my tactics and offered him the alternative of 
getting his mule team off my place in two minutes, 
or taking a sound thrashing. He chose the former, 
much to my relief, as he was a very able-bodied man. 
While at a Columbus (Ohio) hotel a short time after¬ 
ward, a young man was given a seat at my table in 
the dining-room. Some inquiry by him led to con¬ 
versation, and I learned that he was an employee of 
this western range company. That interested me, 
and he was encouraged to talk. Among other things 
he said: “There is plenty of hard work in this busi¬ 
ness. 1 go to men who have no more idea of baying 
one of our $69 ranges than of buying a steamboat, 
and sell to them before I leave. I can get $20 more 
for one of our ranges than a regular hardware dealer 
can get.” If the range company is inclined to dispute 
the authenticity of this incident, I can, at least, fur¬ 
nish it with the name of the agent, as I took the pre¬ 
caution to get it from the hotel register. The fact is 
that the methods of this concern can not stand The 
R. N. Y.’s searchlight, and it should be turned on for 
the benefit of the public. ai,va agee. 
RYE AS A GREEN MANURE. 
DON’T LET IT GROW TOO LARGE. 
Some years ago, I plowed, in July or August, afield 
from which had been harvested a crop of wheat and 
rye. I sowed the rye early, to get a good growth for 
plowing under the next spring for corn. The land 
was not tile drained, and the best soil, naturally, was 
the wettest. The rye on the higher parts of the 
field, started the quickest, while that on the black 
soil was nearly two weeks later. Authorities said that 
if the most was to be made of the rye as a fertilizer, 
it should be out in head before it was plowed down, 
and I followed directions to the letter. When it was 
fully headed, I started the plow, with three good 
horses drawing it, and put on a heavy chain to drag 
the rye down into the furrow. It was a heavy growth, 
and difficult to get under. At that time, the weather 
was dry, and the heavy growth of rye drawing 
moisture from the soil, made the plowing very hard. 
We had a hard time getting the land in order to plant, 
as it broke up cloddy, and remained so till there came 
a rain after the corn was planted. 
The benefits to the corn crop failed to materialize, 
for the season was too dry; the mass of straw plowed 
under did not become thoroughly saturated during the 
corn-growing season, or at most, not to a sufficient 
extent to prevent the corn from suffering. As a result, 
I got nothing but hard work, disappointment, and a 
deal of experience out of the trial. The corn crop was 
only about one-half what I would have had without 
the rye. To get the greatest growth of rye, I delayed 
plowing about two weeks longer than I would other¬ 
wise have done. While I planted about the same time 
that my neighbors did, the land was not in so good 
order ; it was too dry, and too cloddy, on account of 
the late plowing when the weather was so dry. Had 
I been satisfied with a smaller growth of rye, and 
plowed two weeks sooner, the land would have been 
in excellent condition for plowing, and the rye been 
so full of sap that it would have begun decaying at 
once. 
A neighbor owning rich bottom land, sows rye in 
the standing corn when laid by, and if that fail, sows 
after the corn is cut. When plowing time comes, he 
goes ahead, regardless of the growth of rye. Of 
course, the rye has not made a very tall growth, but 
he says that he cannot afford to take the risk there is 
in plowing under a heavy growth of it; if the growth 
is not very heavy, he says that it pays. A short, 
thick growth fills the soil with roots, which prevent 
packing, and make it more easily worked. If it is ex¬ 
pected to follow a crop of rye, plowed under, with a 
crop of corn, the only safe way is to plow at the usual 
time, and not wait for the rye to complete its growth. 
Ross County, Ohio. JOHN m. jamison. 
WHAT THEY SA>. 
Neat Front Fences. —A house has a sort of broadly 
pleasant, inviting appearance when open to the street 
or road—that is, without any front fence or hedge ; 
but, in a majority of cases, especially in the country, 
the open lawn is the favorite night pasture of the 
“ poor man’s cow,” and a very attractive frisking 
spot for all the stock that may be driven along the 
road. Nice walks, flower beds, and ornamental trees 
and shrubs, invariably meet with disaster when frisky 
stock mingles with them, especially when the soil is 
softened by rains. A few years ago, I had a little 
experience along this line, and the result was a front 
fence that was barb-clad, and guaranteed proof against 
the most vigorous assaults of any animal that was 
likely to come along. Since that time, I have not 
advised anybody to open his lawn, shrubbery or flower 
garden to the “ poor man’s cow ” and steer rampant. 
Almost anything ornamental or unique is suitable 
for a front fence. I have seen solid stone walls, and 
light, airy, twisted and twirled iron rods, and both 
were elegant and effective in their way. I have also 
seen arbor vitae hedges, well grown and neatly 
trimmed that were very good. In sections where stock 
ran at large, these arbor vitae hedges were made bull- 
proof by setting short posts 12 feet apart, and attach¬ 
ing three or four barbed wires to them, the whole 
being concealed by the growth of the trees. Such a 
hedge looks innocent enough, but the quadruped or 
biped that attempted to pass through it, invariably 
came to grief. 
Another neat and effective fence is made of woven 
wire netting, 3)4 to 4 feet high, attached to posts set 
8 to 12 feet apart, and topped with a barbed wire to 
prevent animals from breaking it down, the whole 
being nearly concealed by climbing roses and other 
vines trained upon it. This sort of a fence is cheap, 
easily constructed and, if kept neatly trimmed, one of 
the most ornamental fences I ever saw. fred grundy. 
Sulphur as an Insecticide. —For three years or 
more, the almond and prune trees have been badly in¬ 
fested with red spider or yellow mite, the trees being 
entirely denuded of foliage in midsummer. The only 
remedy so far found effectual, is dry powdered sul¬ 
phur, which has been applied in many primitive ways. 
I find that one-fourth pound to the tree, is sufficient 
for good-sized almond trees, four years old, and two 
ounces for a prune tree of the same age. In many 
parts of the San Joaquin Valley this season, the army 
worm, or a similar insect, did great destruction to 
grape vines, the loss amounting to many thousands of 
dollars. In this vicinity, several persons saved their 
vineyards, at a cost of a few cents per acre, simply 
powdering the vines immediately in front of the invad¬ 
ing army. 
In this State, thousands of tons of sulphur are 
used on vineyards to prevent mildew, the sulphur 
being thrown on by hand, shaken from perforated 
cans, or grain bags, or blown on by use of a bellows 
arrangement. In most cases, they could save the price 
of the Paris-green gun, through the lessened quantity 
of sulphur required by one man’s work, as the ordi¬ 
nary methods are very wasteful, as well as disagree¬ 
able, and sulphur sold last season for two to three 
cents per pound (ordinary ground sulphur). The 
tomato worm is a serious pest on many plants here, 
but a very light dusting with Paris-green, has saved 
my vines. 
On early peaches, the diabrotica, a yellow-spotted 
beetle resembling a lady-bird, is very destructive, eat¬ 
ing its fruit or spoiling its appearance for market. 
This season, I used a mixture of one part Paris-green 
to 12 parts sulphur, dusting the trees early in the 
season. It kept the beetles away, and I saved my 
early peaches. There is no danger in this practice, as 
the quantity required is very small, and it should be 
applied as soon as the fruit is half grown. The same 
method will save a considerable portion of the apricot 
crop. Some of the larger orchards are sulphured by 
the use of a broadcast seed sower, which is mounted 
on a wagon, and driven by gearing from the wagon 
wheel. This arrangement sulphurs three to five 
rows of trees at one trip, the trees being full grown, 
and 20 to 40 feet in height. A larger style of Paris- 
green gun to be hauled on a wagon, etc., would be a 
great improvement over the seed sower, and would be 
a great saver of material. w. b. j. 
Merced, Cal. 
WHAT ARE “FARMERS’ WAGES”? 
“ I see in your article, the Making of a Smoothing 
Harrow ” (page 176), “ that you figure your wages at 
$3.50 per day. Do you charge your corn crop $2.50 
per day when you are hoeing, and do you never 
charge more than that when you are doing work of a 
professional nature ? ” says Honest Doubt. 
A farmer is a jack of all trades, an all-around man, 
a more or less well-rounded man. He is town official— 
in Connecticut a large percentage of the selectmen, 
the highest town officers, are farmers—local preacher, 
justice of the peace, day laborer and every kind of 
mechanic. Therefore, a farmer’s wage scale will have 
as many ups and downs, and as wide a register be¬ 
tween maximum and minimum, as a weather chart 
for March, 1896. As he invades the various callings, 
it is necessary to adjust his compensation to the rates 
common therein. 
If all his days are spent in physical drudgery upon 
his farm, doing only work which a greenhorn can do 
for $1.25, he places himself upon the level of that 
man. He is a dollar-and-a-quarter man. Too much 
of such work will dull him below a profitable brain 
working point. On the other hand, the man who has 
made a lucky strike, and taken in a casual $5 with 
little effort, does ill to go to the corner store and wait 
for another like job. That kind of patience, when 
averaged for the year, is likely to put him into the 
“ cent-a-day band ” instead of the “ five-dollar class.” 
The dollar-and-a-quarter man is away ahead of him. 
A successful farmer once said that he could hire 
muscle cheaper than brain, and was himself a fine 
example of a brainy farmer. Probably $1,000 per 
year would have been necessary to hire a suitable 
substitute for him on his own farm. 
Another large farmer, in figuring the expense of an 
onion crop of some 20 acres, charged his own time at 
$10 per day. The farmers’ club took him to task for 
this item. Perhaps $5 would have been better. It is 
doubtful whether he could have found a man for less 
than $1,500, capable of taking entire charge of his 
diversified and extensive business, aDd of running it 
at a profit. 
We should measure ourselves from time to time. I 
may ask, For how much could I have hired that job 
done, or what would a professional ask for this piece 
of work ? Ry so doing. I can construct a dynamic 
chart of myself, and find how many pounds I am pull¬ 
ing on the car of progress. e. c. birge. 
[Every query must be accompanied by the name and address of 
the writer to insure attention. Before asking a question please 
see whether it is not answered in our advertising columns. Ask 
only a few questions at one time. Put questions on a separate 
piece of paper.] 
Cause and Treatment of “ Snuffles" in Sheep. 
./. L.. Ripley , N. Y.— What is the cause of, and cure for, the dis¬ 
ease in sheep called “ snuffles” ? 
Cf. 11. C'., Spencerport, A. Y. —What is the cause of “ snuffles” in 
sheep? The sympto ms are a constant discharge from the nose, 
and hard breathing. The sheep are strong and thrifty, strongest 
in the flock affected. Is it chronic, or caused by a cold ? What 
are the remedies to arrest the disease, if it be a disease ? 
ANSWERED BY I)R F. L. KILBORNE. 
The condition in sheep commonly called “ snuffles,” 
may be due to either one of two causes: 1. Nasal 
catarrh or cold in the head, which affects sheep that 
have been exposed to vicissitudes of climate, especially 
during fall and winter. The condition usually appears 
suddenly in several animals, following exposure or a 
sudden change in the weather, and is in dicated by the 
discharge from the nose, also from the eyes in severe 
cases; frequent sneezing or snuffling, and more or 
less labored breathing, with dullness and stupor. If 
neglected at the outset, it runs into a chronic catarrh 
which depletes the animal very rapidly. In pro¬ 
longed cases, the disease proves fatal, with extensive 
inflammation of the air passages, the inflammation 
often extending down the trachea to the lungs. If 
taken at the outset, this disease usually readily yields 
to proper nursing and a good diet, with little or no 
medical treatment. The sheep sheds should be made 
comfortable and free from draughts of air, but not too 
hot and close. When the catarrh has become chronic, I 
have had excellent results from feeding spirits of tur¬ 
pentine in wheat bran or on oats. Feed one table¬ 
spoonful of the oil of turpentine, well mixed in two 
quarts of the grain, once every other day to about 
eight sheep, and continue for two or three weeks if 
necessary. 
2. (Estriasis, or grub in the head, due to the pres¬ 
ence in the sinuses of the head, of the larvae of the 
sheep bot or gadfly, the oestrus ovis, a dull-colored fly 
little more than one-half the size of the horse botfly. 
During midsummer, the female gadfly deposits the 
young larvae just within the rim of the sheep’s nostrils, 
where they soon attach themselves by means of 
minute hooks, then gradually work their way upward 
in the nose and into the sinuses. The larvae remain 
in the sinuses about 10 months to complete their 
larval growth, when they crawl out and, escaping 
from the nostrils, fall to the ground, where they bore 
beneath the surface for an inch or two, and then 
transform into the pupal stage. They remain in this 
state three or four weeks, when the fly emerges, thus 
completing the cycle of its life history. 
The symptoms due to grub in the head, are very 
similar to those of simple nasal catarrh, except that 
they appear less suddenly, without reference to 
changes of weather, and are often more or less con¬ 
fined to one nostril, while in the catarrhal trouble, 
both nostrils are affected alike. Positive diagnosis in 
many cases can be made only by opening the sinuses 
on the head of a dead sheep, and examining them for 
grubs, which, if found, will be from one-fourth to 
three-fourths inch in length, according to their 
age. It is rare to find a sheep’s head in winter in 
which one or more larvae are not found. In such 
small numbers, they prove harmless, the irritation 
being slight; but when present in large numbers, 
they cause much irritation, a copious nasal discharge, 
