1373 
<Iht RURAL NEW-YORKER 
Effect of Rye as a Manurial Crop 
I HAVE seen from time to time comments in The 
R. N.-Y. about sowing rye to plow under to en¬ 
rich the land, and some of the writers claim that in 
some cases it was detrimental to following crop 
because of its acidity. I have practiced it for years, 
and will relate my experience the past season. I 
sowed rye in a field of corn last year, intending to 
put on Alfalfa in the Spring. 1 had nearby and 
adjoining a field of Alfalfa that promised well lasc 
season, was a good catch, so I was encouraged to 
branch out a little with it. but I was surprised to 
find last Spring the Alfalfa badly winter-killed, 
probably two-tliirds of it gone. I had that plowed up 
together with the old corn ground, rye and all, in 
one field, and planted the whole field to corn. The 
rye was pretty well grown, so we used a chain on 
the plow to drag it under the furrow, and some of 
it was too tall for that. too. I bought 
seed corn, expecting to cut and feed it 
with the ears to my cows, as it was 
a large variety used for silage. I 
have never seen such a growth of corn: 
suppose it does grow like that in the 
West. It was planted about 3 ft. <‘> in. 
each way. About time for corn to be¬ 
gin to tassel out in this section this 
corn showed no signs of producing 
ears; it was like a forest. Fearing 
that there might be a wind that would 
break it down, by the advice of neigh¬ 
bors I commenced to cut it and set it 
up in stacks. Over night the bunches 
settled right down almost flat on the 
ground, the stalks were so weak and 
tender. It was so brittle you could 
snap the stems in two as you would a 
stick of candy. About that time wo 
had a rainstorm with high wind, and 
that field of corn looked as though a 
roller had been over it, flat on the 
ground. I supposed it was ruined, but 
it straightened up and came along all 
right and eared out. some of the biggest, 
handsomest corn I ever saw. Some of it 
for churches. Cliautauquas and entertainments. It 
is the same kind of a device that is used in large 
railroad stations for calling trains. c. m. baker. 
Ohio. 
A Remedy for Blackhead in Turkeys 
[In The R. N.-Y. for July 0 we printed an article on 
“A Remedy for Blackhead in Turkeys,” by George A. 
Cosgrove, in which a simple remedy was suggested. 
There have been so many calls for this article that we 
have been unable to furnish copies of the issue contain¬ 
ing it. In response to many requests the article is re¬ 
printed herewith.] 
SERIOUS LOSSES.—The discovery of a remedy for 
“blackhead” in turkeys comes to me from the Pacific 
coast. It not only cures the disease where it has been 
contracted, but it can be successfully used as a pre¬ 
ventive. In the Eastern and Middle States probably 
much more than half of all the turkeys hatched die of 
this disease. The loss must amount to hundreds of 
thousands of dollars, and as a consequence the public 
has to pay unreasonable prices to obtain this delicious 
Part of the 52 young birds and some of the old ones had 
the disease. Separating the sick from the well ones, 
the sick were given 10 drops of fluid extract of ipecac 
three times a day for three days, then twice a day for 
three days, then once a day for the same period. Of the 
52 young birds 32 had the disease; 29 recovered. Of 
the five old birds three recovered ; the other two were 
too far gone when treatment was commenced. 
PREVENTION.—Then for the purpose of experi¬ 
menting as to whether the disease could be prevented 
the Wegeforths bought IS healthy turkeys nearly full 
grown and divided them into three pens of six each. 
These birds were fed the ground-up liver and intestines 
of a turkey that had just died of blackhead. (It had 
been shown by Moore. 1S76, that the disease could be 
transmitted in that way.) The birds in the first pen 
were given the fluid extract treatment. The second pen 
were given three teaspoons of powdered ipecac in a 
quart of mash for three days. The birds in the third 
pen had no ipecac. No birds from the first two pens 
contracted the disease. In the third pen four died with 
it; the other two remained healthy. Experiments were 
resumed in the Spring of 1920, powdered ipecac being 
given in the food. The dose was a teaspoonful of pow¬ 
dered ipecac in the mash twice a week for each unit of 
20 turkeys, no difference being made for age or size. 
One hundred and six birds were hatched 
and allowed to run with the older tur¬ 
keys over ground that was thoroughly in¬ 
fected with the disease, but no blockhead 
appeared in the flock. Up to the time 
this report was written no blackhead has 
appeared in the Wegeforth flock among 
either old or young turkeys. This treat¬ 
ment .was tried on another ranch where 
there had been for several years very 
virulent attacks of the disease with the 
same result—the virtual disappearance 
of the disease. 
Of the absolute truth of the above 
statements I have no doubt, for they come 
from Robert R. McLean, Farm Service 
Department of the First National Bank 
of San Diego. 
O NE of our readers wrote the De¬ 
partment of Agriculture and re¬ 
ceived the following reply: 
“In reply to your letter of Sept. 0. re¬ 
ports on the value of ipecac in the treat¬ 
ment of blackhead are conflicting. The 
publicity which the treatment has re¬ 
ceived is based on experiments with a 
very few birds, and hence may not he al¬ 
together justified. Further experiments 
and reports of results obtained from its 
use in infected flocks will he necessary to 
determine its value. The dose recom¬ 
mended for the .treatment of sick birds 
was 13 ft. high. Evidently the rye was 
no disadvantage to that crop, but it 
might have been the cause of its being 
so tender the forepart of the season. I 
am 70 years old. and I never saw such 
a favorable season for corn, nor such 
an unfavorable season for the hay 
crop. At one time it looked as though 
there would not be any hay. and there 
was not half a crop, eber l. tayj.or. 
Vermont. 
R. N.-Y.—We have always obtained 
good results from plowing under green 
rye whenever it was well packed. When 
mature rye is plowed under and left 
loose in the ground there is usually 
trouble. The hollow rye stems admit 
too much *air. This* dries out the soil 
and prevents the rise of water hv 
capillary attraction. We have noted 
many cases where a corn crop planted 
after rve failed to grow properly, and 
the farmers claimed the rye had poi¬ 
soned the soil. The trouble was a 
is 10 drops of the fluid extract of ipecac 
three times a day for three days, then 
10 drops twice a day for three days, 
then 10 drops once a day for three days. 
“We believe it may prove more suc¬ 
cessful as a preventive. It can be given 
to the entire flock twice a week mixed 
in the feed. The dose is one teaspoon¬ 
ful of powdered ipecac to 20 turkeys 
regardless of size.” 
JOHN’ s. BUCKLEY, 
Chief, Pathological Division. 
The Use of Green Cut Bone 
I would like to know the best way to 
use green bone as fertilizer. What is it 
worth per pound? We have a grinder, 
and we feed some to chickens, but we can¬ 
not use it all. Have ground some, mixed 
hydrated lime with it and then put it in 
manure. How about that? When we 
grind a big pile it heats. Is it good then? 
We'have mixed hydrated lime with it, and 
that seems to stop the heating. Does it? 
Would it be better to use ground lime¬ 
stone, or leave both out? H. b. 
Michigan. 
mechanical one. due to a failure to 
pack the soil after plowing. If acid 
phosphate had been used on that corn we think there 
would have been little trouble with soft or weak 
stalks. It seems like a case where there was too 
much nitrogen and too little phosphorus. 
An Amplifier for Public Speakers 
MARINE yourself speaking to'40,000 people in a 
tone of voice that every person could hear you 
distinctly, and yet this is what was accomplished at 
the Ohio State Fair when Governor Davis of Ohio 
addressed farmers seated in the grand stand at the 
race track. This was accomplished through the use 
of the amplifier telephone, as shown in the illustra¬ 
tion. Fig. 593. The speaker may be standing on the 
platform under the amplifiers, or he may be some 
place else. However, it adds to the effect by having 
the speaker in view, while his voice is thrown out in 
every direction. The speaker talks into a small 
mouthpiece, like the ordinary telephone receiver, 
while the voice is thrown out through the bellows- 
slmped affair on top of the tower. 
While this device is made especially for large 
crowds, there are simpler devices operated on the 
same plan which make it possible for speakers to 
address large audiences in inside buildings and also 
\mpliflcr for Speaker at the Ohio State Fair, Fig. 51 
food. Many farmers favorably situated to raise turkeys 
will not do so because of the heavy losses from this 
disease. The discovery of the remedy was made by two 
doctors in San Diego, Cal., Drs. II. M. and Raul 
Wegeforth. 
DISEASE ON NEW GROUND.—Dr. II. M. Wege¬ 
forth established a poultry ranch some years ago in 
Paradise Valley, San Diego, where climatic conditions 
were ideal for poultry raising. On new ground, where, so 
far as known, no turkeys had ever been raised before, 40 
birds were raised the first year, no disease appearing. 
This stock came from Ohio. The year was 1914. The 
next year, without any new stock or eggs having been 
brought to the ranch, blackhead appeared, and more 
than half of the young stock and one of the old birds 
died. In 1910 only one bird out of SO hatched lived, 
although 00 reached the age where they could roost in 
trees. Then the entire stock was sold and the ranch 
moved to a location where there had been no turkeys in 
20 years* certain, if ever. 
THE DISEASE ORGAN-ISM.—Again no blackhead 
appeared the first year, but the second year out of 210 
hatched- all but 72 died, most of them from blackhead. 
In 1919, out of 209 hatched all but 52 died. Then the 
attention of the Wegeforths was drawn to the discov¬ 
eries of Dr. Theobald Smith, at one time chief of the 
United States Bureau of Animal Industry. He had 
discovered the organism that produced blackhead and 
named it “Amoeba Meleagridis,” and classified the dis¬ 
ease as entero-hepatitis, or inflammation of the liver 
and* intestines. This organism is closely related to that 
producing dysentery in human beings. 
REMEDIAL MEASURES.—This suggested to the 
Wegeforths the same remedy which has proved so 
valuable in the treatment of human cases, namely, 
ipecac. Immediately they began trying the treatment. 
T HE best way to use green cut bone 
as a fertilizer is to feed it to farm 
animals and use the manure. It will not make a 
satisfactory fertilizer when used alone, though it 
may be dried and mixed in the manure pile. Its 
feeding value is usually greater than its fertilizing 
value, and practically all of the food value is lost 
when not promptly given to hens or hogs. If you 
have too much for the hens we suggest that you get 
a drove of pigs and feed the cut bone cooked with 
potatoes and cornmeal. You can make up a good 
ration in that way, and by using the manure obtain 
most of the fertilizing value in the bones. 
Land plaster, or sulphate of lime, is better than 
either ground limestone or hydrated lime for keeping 
the cut -bone. Of the two forms of lime ground 
limestone is better, but the land plaster will dry 
out the bone and preserve it. If you want to keep 
it in this way spread out the bone as cut and dust 
it well with land plaster, working it well in. This 
will dry it, and when you want to use it you can 
crush it and mix muriate of potash with it, or 
throw it into the manure pile. Feeding it to hogs 
will be more profitable. Burning the bones will 
d*ive away the ammonia and leave lime and phos¬ 
phorus in the form of bone ash. The ammonia is 
the most valuable part of the bone, and as it is lost 
in burning we do not advise that. 
