The National tribune., 1894-08-30
OUR RURAL TOPICS.
Some Practical Suggestions for Our
Agricultural Readers
Early Apples,

Early Apples
It is difficult in the Summer to get really
good apples either for eating or cooking, and
yet at no season of the year is there more
urgent demand for them. After the long
period when no apples could be obtained,
everyone is looking forward eagerly to their
first appearance again. A few very early
ones, picked green and half-ripe, come into
the market to tempt the appetite, but they
are so uninviting that great many prefer
none to them. A good part of the Summer
apples are windfalls, apples that have been
prematurely ripened by decay and worms.
Many others have been picked green, and
they are fit only for pies.
A really good Summer apple, properly
ripened and picked, is luxury, and people
are willing to pay good price for such fruit.
| We really have very few varieties that an
swer this description, for most Of our i'm
| provements have been along the line of Fall
and Winter apples. We have some perfect
| cold weather fruit-those that will keep
until Spring, and retain their juiciness and
frmness. Our Fall pippins are excellent
apples, and can hardly be surpassed at their
time of year for deliciousness either for table
purposes or for sauce and pies.
But to come right down to the warm
| weather apples, we have very poor assort-
ment- The old-fashioned Harvest apple Is
in popular favor to-day, but it is not exactly
the ideal apple. 1t rots and decays very
easily, and is apt to be very irregular in its
productions. We have one tree that will
produce an abundance of fruits one season,
and none the next. Unless they are thinned
out rightly they grow small and knotty.
The worms bother them terribly in spite Of
all efforts to keep them away. Every year
the worms are grubbed for, and the fallen
fruit is raked up and fed to the animals or
burnt. Another Harvest apple-tree produces
fruits that are really too sour and acid to be
of pleasure to eat them. Even when dead
ripe they are not soft and juicy.
The Old-fashioned Bow apple is a sweet
fruit that is very good when grown to per-
fiction, but this tree, too, IS apt to be badly
injured by worms. The apples are generally
more uniform, however, and of larger size.
An old-fashiOned apple that was known SIS
the Streaked Sweet is met with occasionally
in few orchards, but generally in poor con-
dition. If not properly grown it is one of
the most insipid apples raised, but when a
good tree brings its fruit to maturity there
is no sweeter, jucier, and higher-favored
apple sent to market. The trees, however,
seem to have degenersted, and it is only oc-
casionally that one meets with a rare one.
Even the name is not known in many local
tiles, although many old farmers will recOg-
nize it as an old standby when they were
young Recently / came across one of these
trees, and it was a genuine treat to eat the
large, sweet apples.
There are several other old-fashioned
Summer apples that are going to decay
through neglect, and it might be worth the
while of some one to try to revive them
while so much attention is being paid to the
Winter apples. For my part good Summer
apple is great boon, and they bring from
81. so to SO barrel in the market to-day
Germaatorcn Telegraph.
Horse Dentistry.
Veterinary science has made great adj
vancement in horse dentistry, much to the
relief of many afflicted animals. The health
of horse depends on the soundness and
proper adjustment of his teeth. They are
the mill-stones that grind his food, and fire.
auently need skilled attention. Occasion
ally deformities appear, overgrowths, or
lateral formations interfere with the grind
ing process. Shell teeth, supernumerary, or
extra teeth often exist, decorating the mouth
and causing ulcers and assesses to form
which sometimes cause the death of vaiu-
able animals. Horses frequently suffer from
toothache and decayed tooth is the cause
of much torture, and sometimes death of
the sufferer. A horse drives On one rein, is
q hard puller, or develops a tender mouth;
an examination often shows that defective
teeth cause all the difficulty. How often
one sees horses out of condition with no
other ailment than defective teeth. Some
abnormal mOlar growth prevents the rotary
action of the jaws in close connection, the
food is not properly masticated, and the
sufferer is soon afflicted with Indigestion
q disease that destroys the health of man
and beast The animal becomes thin In
flesh, its coat loses its luster, and ii is always
nosing over its feed as if searching for some
thing palatable to eat The excrementS
show that the food is unmasticated and the
animal suffers from indigestion. An ulcer
ated tooth frequently produces an abscess
that causes death. The writer has II mind
a valuable imported Percheron stallion thas
was ordered to be destroyed on account of g
purulent discharge from the nose that had
baffled all treatment. The horse cost $1,000,
but had been reduced to q skeleton by his
sufferiugs. An expert veterinary dentist
examined the animal before his ordered
death was executed, and found q decayed
tooth that caused all the trouble. The re-
moval of the diseased molar resulted III
complete recovery of the animal. The USE
fulness, and even the life of many horses,
depends often on the skill of competent
operator in dentistry. None appreciate this
more than turfInen, who are careful that
their performers have good mouths, and who
frequently have their racers examined by q
veterinary. The expense OF
operating on a horses mouth and putting
the grinding-machine in perfect order is
nothing in comparison to the extra useful
ness and efficiency of an animal with per-
feet moulh.-Dr0Uer's Journal.