880 
THE RURAL, NEW-YORKER 
August 17, 
RAILROAD RATES ON EMPTY COOPS. 
Can you tell me whether the various 
railroads have any fixed scale of charges 
for freight shipped from one point to an¬ 
other over two or more different lines? 
1 recently sent some chickens to a man 
at Newfield, N. Y., over the L. I. It. R. and 
L. V. II. K., who returned the crates pre¬ 
paid. The crates were all of the same 
size and made of the same material, also 
same construction throughout. This man 
sent me the bill of lading for each of two 
shipments, showing that he had paid for 
12 boxes weighing 180 pounds, .$1.33, and 
for seven boxes weighing 105 pounds, 78 
cents, or the rate of 74 cents per 100 
pounds. When the first 12 boxes arrived 
the L. I. 11. It. agent wanted 18 cents and 
the only explanation he could give was that 
there had not been enough prepaid, and if 
I did not pay it the crates would be held 
and sold for storage by the railroad. Know¬ 
ing more crates were to come 1 paid this 
18 cents and obtained a receipt from the 
agent. When the remaining seven boxes 
came I received a notice that there were 
charges of GO cents to be collected. I took 
both bills of lading to the agent and first 
demanded to know again why the 18 cents 
was collected on first 12 crates. He got all 
his way bills, and finally not being able to 
learn anything from them, made the posi¬ 
tive statement that the agent at Newfield 
had only made collection to Long Island 
City, though I held his bill of lading show¬ 
ing charges prepaid to I’ort (Jefferson. 
Then I asked him, why he charged 18 cents 
to bring 12 boxes weighing 180 pounds 
from Long Island City and GO cents to 
bring seven boxes weighing 105 pounds the 
same distance? He got his way bills for the 
seven crates and found that they showed 
no charge prepaid, and came through “col¬ 
lect” from Newfield to Port Jefferson, rated 
by L. I. It. It. at 63 cents a hundred pounds. 
(Note here that this was for entire dis¬ 
tance including transfer and all, while L. 
V. R. It. had collected at Newfield both 
times at 74 cents). Now I said “Apply 
that 63 cents rate to 180 pounds” (the 
weight of tiie first 12 boxes). This gave 
him $1.13, so I asked why he collected 18 
cents on the 180 pounds when $1.33 had 
already been paid, or 20 cents more than 
should have been by his own figures. lie 
gave up in disgust and said he would send 
the whole thing to the auditor for an ex¬ 
planation, and yesterday told me, when I 
asked him, that lie had the approval of the 
auditor of his line having delivered the 
seven crates to me as prepaid as shown by 
my bill of lading, but knew no more than 
he did before about tbe charges. I don't 
care about the 18 cents, but can you give 
any definite explanation of this method of 
charging for transportation of freight? 
Long Island. J. D. 
It. N.-Y.—Our report from Washington 
In this case is as follows: 
"The rate on empty coops is one and a 
half first class. The" first class rate from 
Newfield, N. Y., to Port Jefferson is 42 
cents per 100, which makes the rate on 
coops G3 cents per 100. Evidently J. D. 
has been overcharged. If he cannot get sat¬ 
isfaction from the agent it would be advis¬ 
able for him to report the matter to the 
Interstate Commerce Commission. The 
shipment probably passed through New 
Jersey in its journey, which would give the 
Commission jurisdiction. He should send 
Ills freight rccipts or bills of lading ahd 
expense bills with a statement of the mat¬ 
ter. Railroads can charge only the tariff 
rates, no more and no less. 
WATER FOR IRRIGATING. 
There is in a recent issue of The R. 
N.-Y. an inquiry about the quantity of water 
required to irrigate an acre of land. An 
average of three acre feet is required the 
country over. The normal rainfall can be 
safely deducted from this estimate to de¬ 
termine the amount that should be provided 
for irrigation. The rainfall, even to the 
quantity of four or five feet, might come 
in floods and be largely lost. It is prob¬ 
able that a quantity of water sufficient 
to tide the crop over a month of extreme 
drought would meet the demands for irri¬ 
gation in the rain belts. Two acre-inches 
scientifically applied would be a fair esti¬ 
mate for one month of drought, and a pro¬ 
portionate amount for any longer period. 
An acre-inch is practically 20.000 gallons. 
The most economical method of irrigation 
is what is called the trench system. In 
the case of hoed crops the water is applied 
between the rows in the depression left in 
cultivation. A stream of water so small 
that it will require five or six hours to 
run the length of the row is the most com¬ 
prehensive.measure of quantity that can be 
named. This little stream should be al¬ 
lowed to run till the soil is saturated to the 
limit of the root zone in depth. Sprinkling 
or other methods of surface application on 
cultivated ground are to be avoided. If a 
few inches of the surface is completely sat¬ 
urated the water carries all the availafile 
plant food in the saturated soil in solution. 
Rapid evaporation follows the exposure of 
the wet surface to Summer heat, and the 
minerals of the soil are left on the surface, 
and perhaps to burn the tender plants. 
Every irrigation should saturate the soil 
to the limit in depth to which the roo'ts 
of the plant extend. These roots reach 
down for the fertility of the subsoil, and 
this fertility cannot be appropriated until 
it is placed in solution by the required de¬ 
gree of moisture. The water must be made 
into the fngredients of plant food reduced 
to sap by capillary machinery of the soil 
before it will meet the requirements. The 
only water that affords food and drink for 
the growing plant is that which has been 
enriched and is on the upward course of its 
natural circulation in the soil. The water 
gathers the fertility as it goes down, and 
it is filtered till it becoihes proper food 
and drink for the plant as it returns toward 
tbe surface. newton hibbs. 
Idaho. 
Bloody Milk. 
What can be done for an otherwise valu¬ 
able three-year-old Jersey cow which gives 
bloody milk? G. L. c. 
Protect udder from bruising or chill on 
cement floor, or inadequately bedded floor. 
Do not let cow stand in cold drafts. Bathe 
the udder twice daily with cold water and 
then rub in melted lard. If she is not in 
calf, give her a dram of dried sulphate of 
iron and two of salt in feed each night. 
Milk gently. a. s. a . 
A HORSE AND HIS PICTURE, 
Some weeks ago we gave the picture 
of a horse to show how not to photo¬ 
graph an animal. For the sake of com¬ 
parison this picture is repeated in Fig 
377, while on the first page is another 
picture of the same horse, this time 
taken properly. It’s interesting to see 
how the camera can be made to twist 
things up, provided you either know 
how to do it, or do not know. The 
practice of sending pictures of live stock 
for examination before making sales is 
coming to be a common one, and when 
the pictures are properly taken so that 
they give a fair likeness of the animal, 
this is a very good plan to follow. We 
ALL RUN TO HEAD. Fig. 377. 
may see, however, from these pictures 
the care needed in making the proper 
pose so as to tell a true story. As for 
the horse itself, the owner tells the fol¬ 
lowing little tale: 
I am quite proud of this horse. I bought 
him as a weanling and no one but myself 
has ever drawn a line over him. A year 
ago I sold him for a good price, but as 
neither the horse nor myself ate a square 
meal for a week, I went back and bought 
him, riding him home, a distance of 50 
miles. No amount of money could buy this 
horse again. The American trotter is the 
greatest horse on earth. lie can do more 
kinds of work than any other type, and 
can beat most of them at their own game. 
There can be no question about the 
brain power of a well-bred American 
trotting horse. Many of them are too 
nervous and light to do the real work 
of the farm, but the blood has power 
and vigor, and a dash of it at times is a 
fine recommendation when you are buy¬ 
ing a horse to do the work on a medium¬ 
sized farm. 
Founder. 
Is there any help for a horse that is foun¬ 
dered? Can we relieve a horse that has 
chronic rheumatism? If giving a horse 
powders containing sulphur, is it well to 
let the animal sleep out of doors in good 
weather? J- H - p - 
New York. 
Founder if properly treated at the start 
of attack is curable. Chronic founder 
(laminitis) is practically incuarble, but 
some relief follows repeated blistering of 
the coronets (hoof heads) of the forefeet. 
If the soles have dropped, so that they are 
convex at the points of the frogs, they 
should be covered with pine tar and oakum, 
then with thick leather pads and flat, wide- 
webbed bar shoes, pressing only upon the 
walls of hoof. Do not touch the soles with 
a knife. Chronic rheumatism is incurable. 
Giving half an ounce of salicylate of soda 
two or three times a day may help, and 
two drams of salol given every four to six 
hours at time of severe attack usually 
gives relief. Affected joints may be blis- ! 
tered in chronic cases; in severe attacks 
rub with alcohol and wrap in cotton bat¬ 
ting and apply a bandage. Do not give 
sulphur powders for over 10 days. The 
horse so treated may live out of doors. 
a. s. A. 
Lameness. 
I have a horse about eight years old 
which is supposed to have had spavin about 
two years. A local veterinarian has treated 
him, and he says that the spavin is killed. 
The horse is still very lame. There seems 
to be no enlargement of the limb anywhere, 
and to all appearances the leg is the same 
as the others, but the horse limps very 
much when walking, and frequently lifts 
the leg when standing. The horse is a 
family horse, has done no work this Spring, 
and has been on the road only a few times. 
He is in the best of condition, fat and sleek, 
and is well apparently in every other way 
except this affection of this hind leg. He 
is on grass and has but little corn. 
Nebraska. 
We are unable to give a confident opinion 
in this case, as an examination would of. 
course be absolutely necessary to a correct 
diagnosis. It may be said, however, that if 
the spavin is there and "killed,” the horse 
would not be lame. If the lameness is due 
to spavin it will be present at starting and 
disappear as soon as the horse walks or 
trots a few rods ; but will return when he ; 
rests. Bone spavin.can ^e seen and felt 
as a small or large hard lump on the i 
lower, inner, front aspect of the hock joint. 
Occult (hidden) spavin occurs among the 
bones of the hock, does not cause a lump 
and is indicated by the same symptoms as 
ordinary bone spavin ; but they are more 
aggravated and may prove incurable. Ap¬ 
parently spavin is not present and it would 
be well to have some other graduate veter¬ 
inarian make the necessary examination. 
A. s. A. 
Pigs With (Piles. 
I have some pigs that are troubled with 
piles. Can you tell me what to do for 
them? C. c. 
New York. 
Stop all rich feed and feed milk, mid¬ 
dlings and flaxseed meal adding limewator 
at rate of one ounce to the quart. Give | 
the pigs their freedom on grass. They may ( 
have roots or green stuff to keep the bowels | 
active. Bathe protruded parts with extract 
of witch hazel and return to place. Some¬ 
times it is necessary to insert sutures in 
the skin around the anus and draw them 
together to lessen size of opening for a few 
days that the parts may be retained. In 
some cases scarification has to be resorted 
to before returning protruded parts. 
a. s. A. 
When You Buy 
an Engine 
Ask yourself this question— 
“Will this engine do my 
work as well 5 years hence 
as now ? ” 
That’s the real test of engine 
value and that is why the 
*' The engine for every purpose ’* 
is the one every farmer ought to own. 
The Novo will be running when the 
cheap engine has been sold for junk, 
because the price represents full engine 
value plus a small profit. It could not 
be sold for less without cutting the 
quality. No sensible man buys any ma¬ 
chine just because it’s cheap in price. 
The Novo is simple, compact and en¬ 
tirely self-contained, reliable in all 
weathers, and readily portable. It is 
the lightest engine forpower developed. 
Its coolingsystem is guaranteed against 
damage from freezing. Made in 8 sizes 
I to 10 H. P. 
Send for Novo Catalog 
before you buy and we will convince 
you that the Novo is the engine you 
need. 
NOVO ENGINE CO. 
Ci-ARENCK E. Bbmbnt, Sec’y and Gen’l Mgr. 
211 Willow St., Lansing, Mich. 
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Consult Your Veterinarian I 
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“ The reliable immunizing and curative agent ’ 
Reliable because its production is under the 
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Suppose the test is made with 12 hogs. We first inject into each one several strains of virulent hog-cholera-producing 
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New York 
San Francisco 
Kansas City 
St. Louis 
Chicago 
Seattlo 
