THE CULTIVATOE. 
CURE for GAPES—DORKINGS with YELLOW LEGS. 
Mr. Editor —Of course you know every thing; for, 
do you not publisli a newspaper ? 
Erom the ocean of knowledge, may I ask for one 
little drop ? In return I will tell your readers how to 
cure gapes in chickens. 
Cure. —Perhaps you will call my prescription Irish, 
for I shall say do not let them get sick; and, as it is 
quite practicable, I think it excellent Yankee, if not 
perfectly good English. 
Some of our hens run at large, have access to pure 
water when they please, and having a wide range, are 
usually fed but once a day ; others are kept in coops, 
each hen having from fifteen to thirty chickens; and 
are fed regularly three times a day with a mixture of 
Indian meal with wheat bran, potatoes, sour curd, or 
any thing that happens to be convenient;—we have 
discovered no difference in the effect of food. Two or 
three times a«$ay their dishes, of tin or iron, are well 
rinsed and supplied With clean water ; the coops are 
moved their width, or more, once or twice a day. 
Last year we had about ninety chickens ; this year, 
about one hundred and fifty; except upon the list of 
killed by casualties, or caught by vermin, we have to 
report the loss of only three ; which occurred last year, 
in the following manner. During a sudden illness in 
the family, the chickens were only so far inquired af¬ 
ter, as to ascertain that they had food and water by 
them; at the end of three or four days, three were 
dead or dying with the gapes, more were badly af¬ 
fected, and all (twenty-five) were drooping and sickly. 
The coop was moved several rods, a drop of spirits of 
turpentine was put into the windpipe of two or three 
of the worst cases, their usual habits resumed, and in 
u short time they were all as bright and cheerful as 
ever. We have not had a case of gapes since. 
Now for my question May not Dorking fowls have 
yellow legs'? Some of your correspondents say they 
must be white. Among my schoolday recollections, is 
the image of 
“ An old white hen with yellow legs, 
That laid her master many eggs,' 
which was immortalized by the poet for her discretion 
in declining to walk out one bright moonlight evening 
with the agreeable apd gentlemanly Mr. Reynard ;— 
she has ever been my beau ideal of a perfect hen ; and 
the impression was doubtless strengthened by seeing my 
mother invariably prefer such for the table. When 
some of my own beautiful white Dorkings appeared, 
supported upon golden pedestals, provided with the re¬ 
quisite number of toes, I smoothed their little downy 
heads, with more than ordinary satisfaction, and con¬ 
sidered them quite the aristocracy of the brood. Am 
I now to be told that they are therefore not Dorkings ? 
I have even thought of writing a book upon poultry, 
so as to be deemed authority, but unfortunately, I 
must say (just under my breath of course,) that I have 
nothing else to put in it, for I do not know a Shanghai 
from a Cochin China;—so in my perplexity, Mr. Edi¬ 
tor, I appeal to you, and if it has never been permit¬ 
ted before, do grant a dispensation to Dorking fowls, 
to wear yellow legs. Alla Du Pays. 
Our correspondent, to whom we are already indebt¬ 
ed for several very interesting communications, will 
please accept our thanks for the above account of her 
experience in the poultry yard. We should be glad 
to return the favor by solving her problem, but a con¬ 
sultation held in our library, shows so much disagree¬ 
ment on this subject among the doctors, that rather 
than take the attitude of umpire ourselves, we beg 
leave to refer to the Editor of The Poultry Chroni¬ 
cle for a solution of the difficulty. 
Meanwhile will not more of our own poultry fanciers 
and breeders let. us hear from them on the different 
matters connected with fowl raising and its accesso- 
lies ? - 
Raising Corn for Fodder. 
Messrs Editors —I read your article on l< Sowing 
Corn for Fodder,” in the July Cultivator, with con¬ 
siderable interest, but I have a mode of raising it dif¬ 
fering slightly from yours. It is this : Sow in drills 
one and a half feet apart at the rate of about four 
bushels to the acre, and when just up sow on the rows 
plenty of plaster, (say three or four bushels to the 
acre.) When six or eight inches high, run through it 
with a small corn plow or cultivator, made very nar¬ 
row. Commence cutting to feed green, every alternate 
row, when about two or three feet high, and get over 
the field by the time the corn is four feet high if pos¬ 
sible ; then turn and cut out rows two feet wide cross . 
wise. 
The advantage of this method is, that, (if the soil 
is rich,) we will have left on the ground all that can 
stand up, and will have all that is cut up clear gain, 
which is several tons. I think an acre will produce 
nearly twice as much in this way as to have the rows 
three feet apart in the first place. 
I wish some of your correspondents would weigh the 
product of an acre, and communicate the result to the 
public through the Cultivator. I believe it would as¬ 
tonish all who have not tried the experiment. I sow¬ 
ed mine this year on the 17th of May, and from some 
experiments in cutting and weighing, I believe I have 
places in my field that would, if weighed now (July 
10th) green, amount to near 60 tons to the acre. W., 
Oswego , July lOth, 1854. 
Ground Hay. —Every intelligent person knows the 
advantage of ground grain and chopped hay for ani¬ 
mals, assisting, as the operation does,, the finer masti¬ 
cation of the food by the animal, and consequently 
securing the digestion of a larger amount of the nu¬ 
triment. The question arises, are there not instances 
where -still greater advantages may be gained by a 
finer pulverization of food? A writer in the German¬ 
town Telegraph thinks that ground hay will possess 
sufficient advantages over the crude material, to re¬ 
pay well the expense. Whether any thing more than 
chopping it exceedingly short, (say the thirtieth of an 
inch) will be useful, is of course entirely conjectural at 
present, but would not a set of experiments on this sub¬ 
ject be well worthy of trial ? 
