160 



THE LANCASTER FARMER. 



[ October, 1880. 



heated ami fcverib, aud the milk is in a similar 

 conditiou — ihc cream seems to be melted, and the 

 milk soon tieeome<i sour, the cream does not rise 

 well, aud tlie butter is soft and oily. These diffi- 

 culties, almost universally rttendiug butter making 

 at this time of year, are mostly overcome ;.by the 

 practice of milking thre.i times a day, and the cow- 

 being near at hand it is a small matter to adopt this 

 practice. — Americvn Agriculturist. 



Shorthorn Cattle. 



The leading class in the cattle shows throughout 

 the entire country will be, with very rare exceptions, 

 the Shorthorn. This is an English breed, originating 

 in tlie valley of the Tees, and at one time called 

 Teeswater cattle. They are also sometimes called 

 Durhame, from the county in which they were ex- 

 tensively bred. They have long been famed for ex- 

 cellence as both beef and milk producers, but it must 

 be confessed that the practices of modern breeders 

 have been such as to seriously impair the reputation 

 of the breed for the latter purpose. As a class, 

 lioivever, tliey are still good milkers, and for the 

 production of good beef, under a system of liberal 

 ieeding, it is doubtful if they have any equals. They 

 attain a greater size than any other breed, and with 

 rich pastur.ige and liigh feeding mature very early 

 and make most excellent beef. In color they are all 

 red, led with white spots, roan, or pure white. They 

 have been more generally disseminated in this coun- 

 try and throughout the world tlian any other of the 

 improved breeds. — Xatioyial Live Stock Journal. 



Feed Calves Liberally. 



We have often attempted to impress upon our 

 readers the fact tliat it is only from the extra I'ood 

 that any growth can be made. For if the ealf only 

 gets enough to support its present condition it must 

 remain without growth, and the food it eats is whol- 

 ly lost, for the calf cannot remivin stationary without 

 becoming unthrifty, and this unthrifty condition will 

 greatly interfere with its future growth. Every con- 

 sideration therefore requires that calves should not 

 be permitted to remain stationary, but should keep 

 up a steady, thrifty growth throughout the season. 

 This is what some skillful, practical feeders mean 

 when they say that calves should never be permitted 

 to lose their calf fiesh ; and if this can be prevented 

 they will continue to make a profitable growth till 

 fitted for market. There is no feed given to a ealf 

 during its whole life that will pay a better profit 

 than this extra food we have advised to be given 

 dui ing the first season. The feeder cannot afford to 

 be illiberal in feeding his calves — his only profit de- 

 pends upon his liberality. — National Live Stock 

 Journal. 



^ 



The Yorkshirs Swine. 



This is the oldest and was originally the largest of 

 the English .breeds of swine. In fact, at one time 

 they were of immense size, very coarse, with pendu- 

 lous ears, and slow in coming to maturity. But the 

 efl'orts of English breeders, aided by crosses with the 

 Neapolitan and Chinese, have broken them up into 

 several types, until we have the Large Yorkshire, the 

 Middle breed, the Small Yorkshire, and the Suffolk 

 —all from the same original, and all white. The 

 Large Yorkshire is tlje old Y'orkshire, refined and 

 improved by selection. Tlie Small Yorkshire is the 

 finest-boned, smallest-eared, shortest-headed, most 

 dished-faced, shortest-legged, and most easily fat- 

 tened pig in existence ; and the Middle breed is, as 

 its name indicates, about halfway between these 

 breeds. They are all white, with occasional blue 

 spots in the skin, which usually increase with age, 

 and which probaldy come from a remote Neapolitan 

 cross. — National Live Stock Journal. 



Keep Sheep. 



At least a few sheep sliould be kept on every farm. 

 No kind of stock is more profitable. In starting a 

 flock, a few superior animals should be chosen in- 

 stead of double the number of inferior ones. The 

 increased value of a flock range from good sheep, 

 will greatly exceed the increased cost of a few good 

 ones to start with, over what inferior ones would 

 have cost. Start with good sheep and keep them 

 good or make them better, Ijy generous keeping. If 

 one intends to half starve his sheep he might as well 

 begin with half-starved ones, as they would be more 

 likely to " hold their own " than those used to better 

 keeping. Sheep-keeping, however, is not profitable 

 when the starving process is adopted, and we would 

 not recommend it to farmers who practice any such 

 methods. When good sheep are purchased to start 

 with and are well kept, sheep-keeping is profitable, 

 beneficial to the farm, aud is to be commended. — 

 Lewistown Journal. 



herd. A notable record of an English Jersey cow, 

 however, is worth recording. The cow is "Luna," 

 owned by Mr. Simpson. In 187(), she guve 8,98.5 

 pounds; in 1877, 8,202 pounds; in 1878, 8,368 pounds; 

 an average of 8, .518 pounds per year, or equal to a 

 daily average af more than 2J pounds or 11 quarts. 

 One of the most conspicuous characteristics of a 

 Jersey cow, is her persistence in milking, and al- 

 though she may not give so great a yield, yet by 

 hanging on during 300, or 330 days, she makes up 

 by perseverance, what others do by more copious, 

 but less continuous milking. If there were only 

 more Jerseys like this one I — American Agriculturist 

 for April 1. 



A Jersey Cow's Record. 



It is not rare to find a heavy milker among Jersey 

 cows, yet the average' is Ijy no means extraordinary. 

 Possibly a true record of a whole herd of Jerseys as 

 to weight of milk would fall below that of a herd of 

 natives even, and greatly below that of an Ayrshire 



Lunch for the Team. 



A lunch at a fence corner, or from the end of the 

 wagon box, under a tree, is much enjoyed by the 

 team, aud the time thus spent is not lost, but more 

 than made up by the freshness with which the ani- 

 mals go to their work"agaiu. There are many times 

 when the team of oxen or horses must stop work, 

 and wait while some other matter is being attended 

 to by the driver, and a half hour, or less, spent at 

 lunch, will go far to keep the working stock in good 

 condition through the season of heat and hard work. 

 The same may be said of occasional light drinks if 

 the water is not too much out of the way to allow 

 them to be given. 



Over-Big Horses a Mistake. 



The London Live-Stoek Journal observes that 

 "over-big horses for any purpose are a mistake ; so 

 the Corporation of London have found out. When 

 they staited to do their own scavengering, instead 

 of contracting for it, they selected all the giants they 

 could get — seventeen hands was preferred. The mis- 

 take has been found out ; sixteen hands is now the 

 favored height. These do more work, are less sub- 

 ject to roaring, and altogether more healthy." 



farm;notes. 



Clean steel with kerosene oil. 



A cord of biichwood weighs 2,368 pounds.' 



Beets of all kinds are injured somewhat by hard 

 freezing. 



Twenty-four cubic feet of loose earth will be found 

 to weigli one ton. 



Three pints of milk contain as much nutriment as 

 a pound of beef. 



Sour milk will bring better returns in eggs than in 

 any other way. 



A very small addition of glycerine to common glue 

 prevents brittleness. 



It is calculated that one gallon of white paint will 

 cover about forty-four yards of surface. 



Heavy fowls sometimes receive severe injuries in 

 trying to fly down from higii perches. 



It is estimated that the amount of butter made in 

 the Iowa creameries is 50,000,000 pounds per annum. 



If hens have a warm house and enough to eat, and 

 of the right kind, they will lay in winter as well as 

 summer. 



Algeria exports $5,000,000 worth of wheat an- 

 nually ; of oxen and sheep, $3,000,000 ; wool, $3,- 

 500,000, and of grasses, $2,000,000. 



It is said by those who have tried it that bran is as 

 good as the best commercial fertilizer for potatoes 

 and corn, and much cheaper. 



The manufacture of agricultural implements has 

 doubled within tlie last ten years. In 1850 this in- 

 dustry gave employment to 5,301 hands ; this year it 

 gives emgloyment to 40,680. 



Among the causes which produce brittle hoofs in 

 horses and cattle the National Live Stock .Journal 

 mentions tne frequent standing in rotting dung heaps 

 or in pools of decomposing liquid manure. 



Gas lime is a valuable fertilizer. It may be sown 

 on grass at the rateof atiout twenty-five bushels per 

 acre, or applied at the same rate for wheat and other 

 crops, harrowing it well into the soil. 



At the sale of orchards belonging to Lord Londes- 

 horough, aplant of Cattleya labijvta (with twenty- 

 five bulbs) sold for$260; four plants of C. exoniensis 

 brought §315, $270, $220 and $120, and a large num- 

 ber of others ranged from $175 down to $35 each. 



To prevent hens from scratching their nests make 

 the nests of sawdust. Do not have the boxes too 

 large— only long enough fortwo nests, witli a parti- 

 tion. Place a little hay on the sawdust until the 

 hens get accustomed to it; also sulphur, to prevent 

 vermin. 



The largest hog in the country is a Poland-China, 

 4 years old this spring, lately on exhibition at Junc- 

 tion City, Kansas. His length is 7 feet ; girth of 

 neck, 6)2' feet ; girth of chest, 7}.: feet ; girth of 

 centre, 8 feet ; width across the hips, 30 inches, and 

 weight, 1,533 pounds. 



Young stock at pasture should be taken to the 

 barn before the nights become very cold or the feed 

 very scant. There is no profit whatever in keeping 



any animals that are not constantly gaining, and it 

 is not unusual to find cattle at pasture growing poor 

 in October. 



In the United States there are produced 800,000,- 

 000 pounds of cheese, 40 per cent, of which is ex- 

 ported, amounting to 130,000,000 pounds. The 

 amount of butter produced is estimated at 1,000,- 

 000,000 pounds ; of this only about 2 per cent, is 

 exported, yet this small percentage amounts to 

 20,000,000 pounds. 



The sale of the flock of Merino sheep owned by 

 the lateMr.Ingalls,of Almont, Michigan, was well 

 attended. The non-registered rams,mostly yearl- 

 ings, averaged $22.50 per head. Fifteen registered 

 ewes of mixed Atwood and Robinson blood brought 

 $31 each, while the pure-bred Atwoods brought $36 

 each. 



Peter Henderson names fuchsias pansies, violets, 

 lobelias, phlox, lily of the valley, etc., among her- 

 baceous plants which do well in partial shade, and 

 the ornamental leaved plants, aseoleus, caladium, 

 variegated geraniums, centaurea, etc., as more 

 particularly adapted to such situations. 



Literary and Personal. 



The Cosmopolite. — A fifteen by eleven: (per- 

 haps) between a Royal octavo and a demi-folio, 

 published monthly at $1.00 per year in advance — ■ 

 "far away out in Sioux City," Iowa, devoted to the 

 land and home interests of emigrants and settlers. 

 No. 3 of Vol. 3, of this excellent journal has found 

 its way to our table, and its face is so clear, so dis- 

 tinct, aud so varied in its topics, that the pur-blind, 

 nearsighted, and absent-minded are immediately in- 

 terested in its literary contents. It is said that »n 

 nnsophisticated Hiberian, in order to illustrate the 

 excessive mortality of a certain district, very naive- 

 ly remarked that "a great many people had died 

 that year who had never died before ;" and it may 

 as truly be said that a great many read the Cos- 

 mopolite who had never read before. Its typography 

 is so clear, large, and distinct, that the aged, in 

 poring over its pages, feel a renewal of their youth- 

 ful sight again. This may seem a small matter in 

 the quality of a newspaper, but we can assure our 

 readers tliat, from our physical standpoint, it is a 

 great one — one by no means to be — "sneezed at." 

 How many newspapers are cast aside solely because 

 their typography is too indistinct to be read. This 

 is a great merit, but it is by no means the greatest 

 merit of the Cosmopolite. Next to being able to 

 read is the quality of the reading matter, and this 

 the journal before us possesses in a high degree. 

 Long live the Cosinojmlite, far away out in Sioux 

 City, Iowa. The centre of civilization can learn 

 much from its circumference. 



Illustration Industrielle. — Finance, mines, 

 manufactures, agriculture, inventions, aud Cherains 

 de Fer, Vol. 1, No. 1, Montreal, ler Octobre, 1880. 

 A sixteen-page illustrated quarto, published by 

 Kouilliard L. Dumais, semi-monthly 1st and 15th, at 

 a little over the American Dollar, per annum, with 

 a great reduction made in behalf of societies, colleges, 

 the clergy, and other institutions. This first num 

 her contains eleven illustrations and a full page 

 map. Doubtless this will prove an excellent journal 

 to those who are readers of the French languge, but 

 no matter how ably it may be conducted, being in 

 that language, it will be of little value to the masses 

 of the citizens of Lancaster county, even if its 

 teachings were adapted to our locality. We know 

 there are some excellent journals published in 

 Canada, and this may be inferior to none of them, 

 and from the topics to which it will be devoted, it 

 seems dcfetined to pursue a noble and useful career, 

 and therefore we extend to it " the right hand of 

 fellowship." 



Thirteenth annual catalogue of the officers and 

 students of the University at Lewisburg, Pennsyl- 

 vania, for 1870 and 1880. A royal octavo of 85 

 tinted pages, containing the usu.al information on 

 subjects relating to sueh institutions in general, and 

 this one in particular, admirably classified and am- 

 plified. The curriculum is both scientific and practi- 

 cal. Students should by all means consult this cata- 

 logue before coming to a conclusion. 



J. B. LippenCott it Co.'s classified catalogue of 

 Publications and Importations containing nearly 100 

 pages, with prices attached, will be scanned with in- 

 terest by "book worms" and book dealers. "Never 

 since the world began" have there been greater fa- 

 cilities afforded to stock a public or private library 

 than those of the present period. The September 

 issue of this catalogue will be found an effective 

 means to such an end. 



The Youth's Home Library. — This is an eight- 

 page illustrated demi-folio published monthly to 

 amuse and instruct youths and the family circle, by 

 the "Youth's Home Library Co." at Boston, Mass., 

 largely devoted to the advertisement of matters in- 

 teresting to the family, and especially the youthful 

 portion of it. The "Soapstone," however, is very 

 old. We heard it .50 years ago. Still it is good, 

 very good, and will bear being "an oft told tale." 



