502 
THE RURAL NEW-YORKER. 
June 23, 
has taken from the soil, with the help of his excellent 
wife. On the farm no weeds are allowed, and new or¬ 
chards are regularly set to take the place of those which 
completed their term of service. The owner is a firm 
believer in chemical fertilizers for his orchards for best 
quality fruit, yet makes the most of the farm fertilizers, 
and takes much pains with spraying and cover crops at 
the proper times. In fact, there is only one thing ever 
attempted which did not succeed, and that has been Al¬ 
falfa, but this grower still claims that it can be done, 
and will be, for he realizes the true worth of this forage 
crop. The nice little place on the left, overlooking the 
beautiful Souhegan valley, has until recently been run 
as a dairy farm, when the owner saw the possibilities 
of poultry, and has only retained a family Jersey for 
the table supply, his choice beine noultry, eggs, apples, 
peaches and small fruit, the chickens not only fertiliz¬ 
ing the orchards, but keeping them cultivated and all 
bugs cleared away. The orchard shown in Fig. 204 
had 1,300 chicks turned into it this Spring. Here, too, 
we have the story of one man caring for nearly 1,000 
laying fowls, which average $1.50 per annum, while it 
is no uncommon thing to sell $1,000 worth of peaches 
in a season, and 500 barrels of apples. The next stop 
was at the Austin place, where no active farming is 
carried on at the present day, yet the early work along 
fruit lines is still felt. We drove into the yard in season 
to see an apple merchant from Boston pay the propri¬ 
etor ten one-hundred dollar bills for the apples on the 
trees, the hay having been sold from the farm for $250 
net. The last two places before making the turn home 
are not to be despised, either; they are in a high state 
of cultivation, and would without a doubt do annually 
all that Jim had claimed, they being run by bright, ener¬ 
getic and thinking men. Either one will soon exceed 
1,000 barrels of apples alone, while one of them often 
supplies the markets with 1,500 baskets of peaches, 
necessitating the shipment of a car of peaches daily 
from this station by the B. & M. Railroad. “Are there 
any farms with opportunities like those we have just 
seen to be had for a fair price?” we asked. “Yes, and 
places that will pay for themselves inside of five years at 
the longest, and at the same time be worth double at 
the end of that time.” Is it any wonder that we are 
already looking up a place for a Summer home, instead 
of going to the seashore resort as usual? 
L. H. BALDWIN. 
“GRUB IN THE HEAD?” 
Could you tell me the trouble with my sheep? I have 
lost 25 within a year. They simply quit eating and live 
about a week and die. After death there is a discharge 
from the nose, and two or three of them I saw stretching 
with fore legs as far forward as possible, and hind legs 
as far back as possible. Is it grub in the head? Some say 
it is. j. d. w. 
Lyndonville, N. Y. 
From the meager data given above it is impossible 
to do more than guess at the trouble. Evidently from 
the expression “within a year” there has been a gradual 
dying. The size of the flock is not stated. It may 
be the sheep are old. As far as grub in the head is 
concerned, like heart failure among fowls, it is the 
trouble usually supposed to exist when sheep die, and 
the owner does not know the cause. As a matter of 
fact most sheep that are not particularly well looked 
after, have these grubs, which are the larvae of a fly 
that lays its eggs in the sheep’s nostrils. They cannot 
crawl into the brain of the sheep as is popularly sup¬ 
posed to be the case, and \yhile they cause the sheep 
a good deal of annoyance, usually come out themselves 
in due season, and if the sheep have plenty of “grub” 
of the right kind, in the stomach, and are properly 
sheltered, there is but little loss from this trouble. A 
lack of either of the above is often called “grub in the 
head,” when the sheep are weak and die, and because 
they are weak they will suffer from the grubs. If they 
are not old sheep, that have lived out their allotted 
span, I will venture a guess, that 1 think will not be 
far out of the way, that the trouble comes from stomach 
worms, of which there are several, but most often 
from the one that inhabits the fourth stomach, and is 
less than an inch long, and not thicker than a hair. 
While these are more fatal in lambs than mature 
sheep, they often seriously affect the latter. I know 
of nothing so good as the gasoline treatment, and if 
properly and carefully given there is no danger. For 
a mature sheep the dose is one-half ounce of gasoline, 
mixed with three or four times its bulk of milk or 
sweet oil, and given to the sheep when its stomach 
is empty. An ordinary pint bottle, with not too large 
a mouth, many be used. Care should be exercised that 
the head is not raised very high or the dose will go 
largely down the windpipe. If the sheep is left stand¬ 
ing there will be little danger. The writer has never 
had any trouble in giving this, but some have had 
sheep die when it was improperly done. “Joe” Wing 
recommends when sheep are affected by the gasoline, 
giving a tablespoonful of aromatic spirits of ammonia. 
It will be necessary to repeat the dose about three 
times, at intervals of four or five days. A neighbor 
and a very successful shepherd, has had his profits ma¬ 
terially cut down by this worm. A year ago I advised 
the above treatment, which was carefully given, with 
the result that he has not lost a sheep or lamb since, 
and they have run on old pastures too. If this is not 
satisfactory, if the questioner will write again, giving 
number in flock, age of sheep, their kind of care and 
A WELL-MADE HOPPERDOZER. Fig. 201. 
feed, and if possible a statement of the appearance of 
their stomachs, liver and kidneys immediately after 
death, I will try again. edward van alstyne. 
EFFECTIVE USE OF “HOPPERDOZER ” 
In the Far West the grasshopper crop does consider¬ 
able damage, and farmers are obliged to fight the pest 
in order to save their gardens, at least. In late years 
these grasshoppers have done considerable damage to 
Alfalfa, gathering along the edges of the field, along 
ditch banks, fences and other dry places. They cause an¬ 
nually losses of many thousands of dollars, making their 
PROVIDING FOR TIIE FAMILY. Fig. 202 
headquarters apparently in the Alfalfa and reaching out 
into potatoes, cantaloupes, beets or other nearby crops. 
In a bulletin issued by the Colorado Experiment Sta¬ 
tion, E. K. Blinn describes a hopperdozer, which is a 
device for catching the grasshoppers. This may be de¬ 
scribed as a large tin pan on low wheels, and a screen 
back of the pan to prevent the grasshoppers from fly¬ 
ing over it. The picture of the hopperdozer and the 
method of operating it are shown in the pictures Figs. 
201 and 203. To make the pan at home a sheet of No. 24 
galvanized iron 30 x 96 inches is taken, a frame is made 
of 2x4, 24 x 96 inches in size, the same length as the 
sheet of iron, but six inches narrower, which allows 
HOW THE HOPPERDOZER WORKS. Fig. 203. 
three inches of the iron to be turned up and nailed to the 
outside of the frame on each side. To prevent leakage 
candle-wicking was nailed beneath the iron between 
two rows of nails, and a coat of paint made a water¬ 
tight pan 24 inches inside by eight feet long. Wheels 
and runners, as shown in the picture, were then put on 
the pan, and in hitching a horse to the hopperdozer a 
short rope is put in front of one runner to the whiffle- 
tree with a longer rope running from the other runner 
to the hame staple of the harness. At the back of the 
pan is a light frame three feet high secured by uprights, 
which are braced in front of the runners; over this 
frame is stretched a sheet of oilcloth with the smooth 
side to the front. As the grasshopper flies it hits the 
smooth surface of the oilcloth and falls into the pan, 
in which is kept about two inches of water with a pint 
of kerosene oil on the surface. The hopperdozer is 
used as shown in the picture. The mower starts ahead 
and cuts down several swaths of Alfalfa, then the horse 
hauling the hopperdozer works behind the mower. The 
horse frightens the hoppers into the pan or further into 
the Alfalfa, where they are easily caught at some suc¬ 
ceeding round. Mr. Blinn states that when first used 
the “dozer” was run over the field several times during 
the day, and nine or 10 bushels of grasshoppers were 
caught, besides many that got out of the pan, but died 
from the effects of the oil bath. They went so far as 
to count and estimate the number of grasshoppers, and 
found that over 30,000 hoppers were killed in each bush¬ 
el ; at the same time many Alfalfa worms were killed and 
destroyed. It was said that the field has been compara¬ 
tively clear from hoppers since this work was done. 
It is reported that one morning in August, after an 
evening shower, a larger number of grasshoppers were 
noticed on a piece of Alfalfa. A horse was at once 
hitched to the dozer; there being no kerosene at hand 
the pan was simply filled with water, and the horse 
driven at a trot through the standing hay, which was 
then about 12 inches high. Across the field and back 
makes a run of about 40 rods, and in that run the pan 
was filled with grasshoppers that were taken out with 
the screen and thrown into a milk can with the cover 
on. With two trips this can was more than full of 
grasshoppers pressed down tight. There being no oil 
on the grasshoppers the can was carried to the yard 
and opened before a flock of young chickens and 
turkeys, which covered the can when turned on one 
side and quickly disposed of the hoppers. The fol¬ 
lowing morning, being wet and cold, the dozer was 
started again, and in less than half an hour four 
bushels of large grasshoppers were caught on less than 
two acres. There are many cases on eastern farms 
where a hopperdozer ofl this kind would prove useful 
and the one described here seems to be as good as any. 
In some cases a pan 10 or 12 feet long is recommended 
where there is a large amount of ground to go over. 
This method of fighting grasshoppers really seems 
practical, and is certainly effective. 
WHY SHOULD THIS ALFALFA FAIL? 
Last August I sowed a small plot of Alfalfa; it grew 
nicely through the Fall, wintered well, although it had 
very little protection from freezing from the snow. It 
started out growing nicely this Spring, but now it is 
turning yellow to quite an extent; looks sickly, does not 
seem to grow much. Can some reader tell me what ails 
it? We had some frosts the latter part of May. The 
weather is quite dry too, but other clovers and grass do 
not suffer as yet. The soil is warm and somewhat 
sandy, dry, water level down about 10 feet through 
gravel and sandy soil. A crop of potatoes was dug, the 
ground well harrowed, no manure used when seeded, but 
is fertile from frequent previous applications of stable 
manure; about November 10 top-dressed lightly with 
straw manure. I have kept weeds out; this Spring I 
gave it another light covering with solid stable manure. 
Sorrel grows very vigorously on this plot. I thought 
the soil might be a little sour, so have been recently 
applying lime and wood ashes to the worst spots. This 
seed I bought in Buffalo from a reliable seed house, 
and sowed it with a garden drill, so I could easily keep 
it free from weeds. Can some reader tell me where I 
have erred in this treatment, and what to do to benefit 
this, or to make a success with it? I do not use the 
cultures. Cottrell’s articles do not seem to throw much 
light for me in this case. I. P. 
So. Dayton, N. Y. 
CARRIER'S SIDE OF RURAL MAIL DELIVERY 
I would like to say something in defense of the Gov¬ 
ernment regarding rural mail boxes. I was a carrier 
for two years, and know some of the inconveniences of 
a variety of mail boxes. All mail boxes have keys, and 
a master key for the carrier. There are say 10 different 
boxes on a route. A carrier has 10 master keys and 
a U. S. collecting box key, making 11. A day in zero 
weather a carrier has to take off his mitten to pick 
out a key for a box, perhaps having to try three or 
four before he finds the right one; imagine the condi¬ 
tion of 3 'our fingers to drive, say six or eight hours or- 
more. Take it a rainy day when you have tried three 
or four keys, and the person’s mail is thoroughly wet 
through and a kick coming to the postmaster on the 
carelessness of the carrier in letting the mail get wet, 
or if the boxes are left unlocked and mail is lost a call¬ 
ing down for the carrier for the loss of the mail. The 
people on a mail route are not all angels by any means, 
and it is an easy matter to raise a “kick,” but let some 
of the kickers take a trial at it and try to do a route in 
a certain time and have ail the little hindrances that a 
carrier has to contend with, and the matter of a dozen 
cr more keys to contend with would count up a good 
deal. I say the Government should compel all patrons 
on a rural route to use the same maker’s box, and 
further, that the Government should adopt a box and 
furnish it to the patrons, and have only one style, and 
that for the country. t. l. Thomas. 
Connecticut. 
