478 
THE RURAL NEW-YORKER 
July 18 
natural. A covered part, it is said, may have the 
poison conveyed 1o it by the hands ; but I have never 
seen an instance of such infection. A few weeks 
since, I was attending' a boy whose faoe, hands, legs, 
below the knees, and evpn the soles of his feet were 
badly poisoned. Lie could scarcely see out of his eyes 
for the swelling, and the skin, as he recovered, peeled 
off from the soles of his feet. Yet others of the family 
had hunted after a lost knife through where the 
vine that poisoned him was growing, without being 
affected in the least. The boy was barefooted and 
bare-legged at the time of the exposure. 
As already noticed in Tiik R. N.-Y., the tincture of 
grindelia robusta diluted with water, or preferably, 
the fluid extract of the same, from a dessertspoonful 
to a tablespoonful to a pint of water, applied on 
cloths kept wetted with it, is one of the best applica¬ 
tions. 
How to Treat a Wound. 
Three useful things to have in the farmer’s home as 
a provision in case of wounds not sufliciently serious 
to necessitate the calling in of the medical attendant, 
are a spool of adhesive plaster, so Tie iodoform gauze, 
and a package of carbolated absorbent cotton. Cleanse 
and dry as nearly as may be, the cut surface with a 
wad of the cotton using moderate pressure, and 
elevating the part if necessary to check the flow of 
blood. Do not apply any water. Bring the cut sur¬ 
faces together as accurately as possible, and retain 
them there with as few and as narrow strips of the 
plaster as will suffice, cutting them of a good length. 
Then cover the wound with a dozen or so thicknesses of 
the iodoform gauze which should extend an inch, at 
least, beyond the wound. Over the gauze, apply a 
liberal layer of the absorbent cotton, allowing it in 
turn, to extend beyond the gauze. The cotton may 
be kept in place by a bandage of cheesecloth, or 
where suitable, a part of the leg of a stocking may be 
drawn over it. Moderate pressure, if evenly dis¬ 
tributed, is helpful. The pressure of a string is hurt¬ 
ful. Keep the part moderately elevated, and take 
care that there is no constriction of the limb above the 
wound, by a garter or otherwise. W. o. E. 
WHAT SAY? 
Coai, Ashes ox Clay. —My garden of very stiff 
clay has been greatly improved by spading in old wall 
plaster, pounded fine, and sand. I saw in a paper 
that nothing is so good for making such ground friable 
as sifted coal ashes. Have any of The 11. N.-Y. read¬ 
ers ever made an actual experiment with coal ashes ? 
Watertown, N. Y. Q. 
To Hull Cow Peas. —I would like to learn through 
The R. N.-Y. how to make some kind of machine to 
hull cow peas. Some of the readers are likely to have 
them. I know of one, made with an octagonal box 
about two feet deep, with pegs on the inside, and a 
shaft down through the center, that is full of pegs 
and revolves by turning a crank. It has a fly wheel. 
Columbus, Miss. w. o. p. 
W hat Stbawberky Varieties? —Will some of the 
experts in the northern States give their opinions of 
the leading varieties of strawberries, such as Brandy¬ 
wine, Rio, Marshall, and the much lauded, in the 
South, Lady Thompson. State for what soil and lati¬ 
tude they are adapted, vigor of plants, size of berry, 
productiveness, and season of ripening. How do the 
Lovett and Beder Wood compare with the old Wilson 
when at its best? What is thought of the Jessie and 
Leader? What would you recommend as the best 
good-sized early berry ? The best medium early ? The 
best late? I want large, firm berries, productive, 
healthy, vigorous plants. My soil is clay upland. 
Poestenkiil, N. Y f. o. 
WHAT THEY SAY. 
Cotton-Seed Meal fok Cutworms. —I have found 
that cutworms are very fond of cotton-seed meal, and 
that it is the best medium for the administration of 
Paris-green. I use it on potatoes for the beetle, and 
thus get it and the worms. Grasshoppers are just as 
fond of it. Plants may be protected from the worms 
by mixing Paris-green with the meal, and placing it 
close to the plants ; even the meal alone will do the 
work. w. ii. a. 
Thompson, Tenn. 
Spraying When in Bloom. —On page 430, B. Buck- 
man under the heading. Spraying for the Curculio, 
asks this question, “ Does it do any good to spray 
when the bloom is on ? ” I am an earnest advocate 
of spraying, having applied about 750 gallons of Bor¬ 
deaux Mixture this year with Paris-green ; but we 
must consider that, without bees, many of our 
choicest varieties of fruits are utterly worthless, and 
would have to be discarded but for the cross-fertiliza¬ 
tion by them. It is conceded that the curculio does 
not eat the fruit but simply punctures it for the pur¬ 
pose of secreting its egg. _j Therefore, since it does not 
subsist by gnawing the fruit, and as the young grub, 
upon hatching, is secure from the poison on the out¬ 
side. and immediately burrows to the center, no good 
is derived bv applving poison for this pest at any sea¬ 
son. The best way of combating the pest is illustrated 
on page 137, that of jarring off on to a sheet; or. bet¬ 
ter, have a good flock of chickens to follow around 
and pick them up as they fall. Knowing that Mr. 
Buckman can do nothing but confess that honey 
gathered from poisonous flowers must itself be poison¬ 
ous, and that it would simply be the means of ruin¬ 
ing one great industry and, possibly, of poisoning a 
whole community, while no good in the least is 
obtained, how can he insist upon “ Spraying while 
the bloom is on”? It would simply be robbing Peter 
and, in the end, not paying Paul. s. B. s. 
Chepachet, R. I. 
“ Black Pepsin ” Butter Once More. —On page 
373 is a note about offering a bait to dairymen who 
wish to make something out of nothing. A short time 
ago, such a party called here and claimed that he had 
a preparation, a tablespoonful of which added to the 
cream, would produce one-third more butter. He 
also claimed that he could take rancid butter, soften 
it (not melt it), and add as much sweet milk in weight 
as he had of butter, then add a tablespoonful of his 
preparation to every five pounds of butter, churn 
them together, and the butter would take up all of 
the milk and leave double the amount of sweet butter 
in weight, or the combined weight of milk and butter. 
He asked §5 for his recipe. I obtained one from him 
for a dinner—here it is : 
Sulphate ’D. alumine et de potasse. 2 ounces. 
Pula gum aceie. Jounce. 
Sugar of milk. 3 ounces. 
Pure pepsin. 150 grains. 
I found afterwards that he had sold for any price from 
25 cents to $5, and had given everybody the exclusive 
right to use the preparation which, he claimed, was 
patented. He claimed that the materials named in 
ihe recipe could be obtained of a druggist for 30 cents. 
Oklahoma Territory. c. h. Littlefield. 
A Little “ Kicker.” —The Jersey Bulletin prints 
the little picture shown at Fig. 155, and says that it 
A LITTLE “KICKER.” Flo. 155. 
is a young Jersey heifer, daughter of Rioter of St. 
Lambert 10501. She is engaged in the vain task of 
trying to kick an ear mark out of her ear. She is a 
foolish heifer thus to try to destroy this evidence of 
her identity. The exercise will not hurt her any, 
however—it will help her grow up into a strong and 
healthy cow whose performance at the churn will be 
a credit to her ancestors and owner. 
The Best Late Strawberry.” —In my opinion, 
there is no best late strawberry There are a num¬ 
ber that are particularly valuable for certain quali¬ 
ties, and some that are particularly adapted to cer¬ 
tain soils. Among the best, I would name the fol¬ 
lowing : the Eureka, which is a large, firm, and 
productive berry; the Parker Earle which, if properly 
grown, is one of the most productive and profitable 
varieties, but it requires a rich soil and good care ; 
the Timbrell, which is, according to my taste, the 
best flavored of all the late strawberries, and for 
home use, cannot be excelled. It is also grown for 
market to a limited extent. The fourth variety that 
I would name is the Atlantic ; this is an especially 
firm berry, of excellent quality, but has the dis¬ 
advantage of not growing well upon all soils. I have 
seen it grown most successfully upon comparatively 
low and rich sandy loam The Gandy is a favorite 
among berry growers, but it has the great disadvan¬ 
tage of being a say bearer. The soil upon which I 
have seen the Gandy strawberry do the best, is one 
that is composed of sand and gravel, with consider¬ 
able humus. It was upland, and at certain times, 
suffered for want of water ; but in ordinary seasons, 
the land contains sufficient moisture for maturing a 
strawberry crop. 1 would say that a good yield of 
the Gandy strawberry would be about two-thirds that 
of any other productive variety that is adapted to 
the soil that produces good Gandys. it is not a prolific 
bearer. 
The Parker Earle will do well upon sandy soil that 
is not too wet. I think that the shipping qualities of 
the Parker Earle are seriously affected by giving it 
too much moisture. It is the common notion that 
giving this variety an abundance of water will cause 
it to mature all the fruits that the plants set. I thin k 
that the watering can be overdone, and the value of 
the variety injured by having too much of it. I f 
potash fertilizers are used upon low land, I think that 
the firmness of the berry would be increased. Many 
experiments are now being made by the Cornell Sta¬ 
tion to test this point. I would give the preference 
to a sandy rather than a clay soil, to obtain the best 
results with the Parker Earle, provided, of course, 
the sand does not dry out too much. 
Cornell University. e. g. lodeman. 
Guineas and Grasshoppers.— Many farmers are 
having their crops injured by cutworms and grass¬ 
hoppers. 1 think that, if they would keep a flock of 
guinea fowls, they would have no loss in that way. I 
have a flock, 80 acres of land, 10 acres of market 
garden, and am not troubled by either cutworms or 
grasshoppers, or by hawks carrying off chickens, or 
by chicken thieves. The guineas are up in the morn¬ 
ing, wander all over the farm, travel quite fast, and 
live on insects. The Doise they make when disturbed, 
will scare hawks and thieves. A. j. t. 
Franklin. Mich. 
ft- N.-Y.—The largest guineas would die of over¬ 
eating if they tried to handle the grasshopper crop on 
some farms. 
HOW TO MAKE A SHEEP PASTURE. 
FROM BRUSH TO GRASS. 
I have a piece of sprout land from which the timber was cut 
about 15.years asro, and which I am now clearing to seed for a 
permanent sheep pasture. The brush, thrown in wide rows 
together with the leaves on the ground, will cause it to burn over 
fairly well. We shall not plow it, but can run a spring-tooth bar. 
row over it. The location is rolling upland, soil good loam, and 
Kentucky Blue grass thrives in a field adjoining. What is ray 
best plan to get it seeded to grass for permanent pasture ? What 
kinds of grass seed and how much of each shall I sow ? Shall I 
sow any rye with the grass seed, and how much ? I expect to 
turn the sheep in as soon as possible to aid in keeping down the 
sprouts. H . n 
Dauphin County, Pa. 
Harrow Over and Burn. 
I have cleared pasture land similar to that described. 
I infer that there is a good deal of open space between 
stumps. I would advise H. to cut and pile the brush 
about August 1, then, after a few days of drying, burn 
over. He should make the piles as small and scatter¬ 
ing as possible, and try to cover as many stumps as 
possible. The more he can scatter his fire, the fewer 
sprouts will appear later, and the ashes will be more 
evenly distributed over the field If first burning 
over do not clean up the larger sprouts and fag ends, 
rake the debris together and burn again. I think that 
he would succeed best in seeding to Red-top. White 
clover and Blue grass. He should sow, at least, eight 
quarts of the mixture to the acre. Rye might be 
added to advantage, by sowing three or four pecks to 
the acre, but he should be careful about turning in 
the sheep. Give the grass a fair chance. 
Vermont. c. w. scarff. 
From Experience in Ohio. 
From experience with a tract of similar character. 
I wish to emphasize that it is very important to cut 
the sprouts below the surface of the ground Even 
this will not kill all of them, especially the hickory 
if there be any. No kind of stock will eat hickory 
leaves, but most other varieties of sprouts will be 
eaten off if the field be stocked as heavily as it should 
be. To avoid injury to the stock, change them fre¬ 
quently, putting in a new lot. This getting rid of the 
sprouts is the first consideration. Late this summer, 
turn the piece over as proposed. This will leave the 
ground in good shape for seeding. If Blue grass is 
indigenous to the locality, it will not be necessary to 
sow it. Doubtless it already has a foothold. It 
grows very slowly from the seed. Early this fall, 
soon after a rain, harrow and, if the ground can be 
put into fair condition for seeding, sow one bushel of 
rye and four or five quarts of Timothy seed. But if 
the ground be found to contain Blue grass roots, as I 
suspect that it will, I would not harrow, and would 
defer sowing seed until spring, omitting the rye 
entirely. At the usual time in the spring for sowing 
seed upon wheat ground, sow four quarts each of 
Timothy and clover. If there were low, moist, ox- 
shady places, I would add Orchard grass. The native 
grasses will come in rapidly. Considerable care will 
need to be taken the first summer, not to depasture 
the young grasses too closely. Frequent changing of 
stock is important. u. p. miller. 
Ohio. 
A Talk About Blue Grass. 
I cannot speak authoritatively on these questions, 
never having made a specialty of either sheep or 
grasses; yet I have been in a position to observe 
something of both, through a long, outdoor life. For 
a permanent grass, in the climate of Pennsylvania 
(and in its more humid region, near its widest river), 
there is,••probably t bo sort preferable to the most 
