1883. J 



THE LANCASTER FARMER- 



185 



three generations. The result is that there is 

 a lack of uniformity and Ejradual iniprove- 

 ment, and in the methods adopted small 

 point's are not given the importanoe that long 

 experience suggests. The best milkers I 

 have ever seen were natives of Switzerland, 

 and, so far as my observation has gone, tliey 

 have one uniform method that has, probably, 

 been handed down from generation to gener- 

 tion, from tlie lime tliat man's mind runneth 

 not to tlie contrary. The Switzcr straps a 

 one-legged stool tiglitly around his liips, gives 

 the cow a smart slap on the rump, sits down 

 by her side, drawshis right leg under him and 

 spreads the other out behind the cow ; the 

 pail is lield tietween liis knees and his liatlcss 

 head is pressed lirnily into the cow's Hank. 

 The udder and tlie milker's hands liave al- 

 ready been washed clean, and a few pulls are 

 taken at the teat to moisten the hands. The 

 thumb is bent back upon the palm of the 

 hand and rests against the side of the teat 

 while the fingers encircle it, the lijis of tlie 

 fingers not touching it. He milks with a 

 rapid, steady pull until the udder is lialf 

 emptied, repeatedly moistening his hands 

 with the milk as he proceeds. 



He then passes on to the nest cow, and 

 •when she is half milked goes back to the cow 

 he has just milked and rapidly strips her to 

 the last drop. I am sorry to say I have seen 

 him pour these two milkings into separate 

 cans. That is, the first half is taken from 

 different cows until the pail is filled, when he 

 empties it, and returns for the stripping pro- 

 cess, and the richer yield is probably saved 

 for a different purpose or another set of cus- 

 tomers. They tell me that cows give more 

 milk if allowed a slight rest between the two 

 milkings. The head resting in the flank gives 

 timely "notice of any attempt on the part of 

 the cow to kick, and the left arm is thrown 

 forward to intercept the blow. I have noth- 

 ing to say as to the morals of the Switzer's 

 methods, but he is certainly the most finished 

 hand at the pail that I have ever seen, and I 

 think it would be well for others to follow his 

 methods of manipulation.— Pftita. Press. 



pmmnrec for perfect symmetry, but he is low 

 in the twist, lias round, deep body, is fiim 

 boned, and his hide is remarkably mellow, 

 handling admirably. Altogether, he is a good 

 sample, of Mr. Cruicksliank's riglit sort. 

 Sweepstakes Shorthorn Cow. 

 This was a large class, and some dilliculty 

 was experienced in judging it. After a care- 

 ful oxaininatioii, the committee balloted, each 

 clioosing a different cow. Tlie unsuccessful 

 beasts were led away. The judges had selected 

 two of tlie older Potts cows— Caroline of Oak- 

 land and Emma 4th, one of the famous twins- 

 and John G. Meyers & Son's fine red cow Susa 

 I;ee, bred in Kentucky, we believe, and trac- 

 ing lo an impm-tetl daughter of the old Duke 

 of^Gloster (llH-i-J). There were many good 

 judges on the ground who would have made 

 dilfereut selections. 



SHORTHORN PRIZES AT DESMOINES. 

 Mr. J. H. Sanders, of the Breeders' Gazette, 

 has the following to say of the sweepstakes 

 awards in the Shorthorn ring at the recent 

 state fair at Des Moines: 



Sweepstakes Shorthorn Bulls. 

 Six red bulls faced the committee on best 

 Shorthorn bulls, as follows : Proud Duke -id, 

 Frederick AVilliam, Orange Lad, imported 

 Van Tromp, John W. Porter, and a young 

 son of Frederick William out of a Red Daisy 

 cow. The two first named are the well-known 

 sons of that great sire of prize winners, im- 

 ported Duke of Richmond ; the next two are 

 of Mr. Cruickshank's Queen of the South and 

 Victoria families, respectively ; and John W. 

 Porter, shown by " Uncle John" Meyers, is a 

 good three-year-old of the Phyllis sort. By a 

 unanimus vote, the prize went to Mr. Miller's 

 Orange Lad— an animal of fine length, mas- 

 sive front, and good crops. He had been 

 used very heavily during the summer, and was 

 not in as high flesh as Proud Duke -Jd, but 

 handled better. His fin equality has evidently 

 ■won him the ribbon. His hips are rather too 



LOOKING OUT THE BACK DOOR. 



A friend of ours wished to hire a farmer for 

 a wealthy neighbor, and we mentioned one 

 who was wanting an engagement. Knowing 

 that our friend had been to see this farmer, we 

 asked the result. His reply was, in substance: 

 "Yes, I went there; I wnnt around to the 

 oack door and came away, knowing that he 

 would not suit." The front doors of many 

 farm-houses are rarely opened. The back 

 door is in constant use. One need not go far 

 in any locality, to find the outlet of the 

 kitchen sink ending in a sort of ditch, which 

 is supposed to carry off the waste water, but 

 which only allows it to soak away and saturate 

 the ground near the back of the house. The 

 seldom used front door is opened when a 

 small coffin is to be taken out. The minister 

 speaks of "the mysterious dispensations of 

 Providence. " They are not at all mysterious. 

 Bad sink drains at the back of the house are 

 sure to bring typhoid fever and other sick- 

 ness. Let the back door surroundings be 

 looked to. If nothing better can be done, 

 carry the kitchen wastes to a cesspool a dis- 

 tance from the house, where they can soak 

 away far below the surface. Prohibit all 

 throwing out of slops at the back door. The 

 ground soon becomes charsed with matters 

 that ferment and breed disease. Where pigs 

 are kept, and that includes every farm, there 

 should be a pail, to receive all animal and 

 vegetable matters and daily emptied. Noth- 

 ing of the kind should be thrown out at the 

 back of the house. Where there is such a 

 disease-breeding sink spout as we have men- 

 tioned, let provisions be at once made to carry 

 off the water to a cesspool, and cover up the 

 saturated ground with dry earth. Let the 

 back yard to the house always be kept scrupu- 

 lously neat.— ^wicricau Arjrkidturist for 

 August. 



CARE OF FARM HORSES. 

 Successful farming is next to imiio.-sible 

 with the u.se of inferior horses. Even when 

 the best animals are secured skill and care are 

 required to maintain them in proper working 

 condition. Inefticient team help increases the 

 cost of almost every farm operation, and 

 makes high-priced labor expensive by dimin- 

 ishing its effectiveness. With careful but 

 liberal feeding, and thorough grooming, a 

 good team of horses should thrive even after 



performing a good day's work every work- 

 ing day in the year. In some avoca- 

 tions men work every day through the year 

 with the exception of Sundays, and, though 

 this may not be the best practice for men and 

 women, yet it is because of a liner nervous 

 organization, which is not presumed to be an 

 impediment in the ca.se of the average work 

 horse. Muscular weariness alone is relieved 

 by resiular rest at night, and also that of one 

 day in seven set apart for that wi.se purpose. 

 In the care of the horse, if the grooming be 

 faithfully performed, it goes far towards rest- 

 ing the tired muscles after a hard day's work. 

 We have in mind a most careful lior.se owner, 

 who is accustomed every night to thoroughly 

 rub and brush the wearied muscles of his team 

 of horses. From the fresh and lively appear- 

 ance of his horses and their disposition to 

 work, we fancy this grooming is quite as im- 

 portant a factor in the well-being of his team 

 as the grain which is fed lo them. These 

 horses have not been fed heavily, yet, from 

 spring until fall, working every day excepting 

 Sundays, the team continues to improve. 



The mistake commonly made by farmers is 

 in givin<: their horses too little grain in wir.ter, 

 or when not working, and then overloading 

 the animals' stomachs when heavy work has 

 Lo be accomplished. Grain thus fed not only 

 fails to strengthen, but also absolutely weak- 

 ens. It is really a tax on the digestive organs, 

 to which they are not accustomed, and are 

 therefore unable to bear. Every person knows, 

 or lucky indeed is he who does not, the sudden 

 weakness which almost invariably accom- 

 panies any derangement which generally fol- 

 lows any sudden increase in food iust as hard 

 work begins. In tact, sudden changes of 

 food in kind as well as in amount should as 

 far as possible be avoided. 



A certain but moderate proportion of green 

 food should form part of the daily ration for 

 horses in winter as well as summer. At no 

 time, however, should a working team be al- 

 lowed to fill itself with grass to the exclusion 

 of more substantial food. One feed of carrots 

 daily through the winter is better with two 

 feeds of grain than the feeding exclusively of 

 grain rations morning, noon and night, with- 

 out the roots. In a limited extent as an aux- 

 iliary feed carrots are wortli as much for 

 lior.ses as oats, and more than corn. This lat- 

 ter grain, so well adapted for nearly every 

 other purpose, is not well adapted to horse 

 feeding. Some horses can assume corn with- 

 out bad results, and it is a good sign for a 

 horse that can, since it shows his digestive 

 apimatus in excellent order. But, as a rule, 

 ahorse corn fed will not be able to do as much 

 work as if given oats. When the corn does 

 not cause colic, it may be given before hard 

 work begins, but after that the oats are worth 

 as much per bushel as the corn, though it 

 takes only thirty-two pounds of oats to make 

 a bushel and fifty-eight or sixty of corn. In 

 hot weather the oil and starch in the corn are 

 worse than wasted. The poor animal is hot 

 enough already, and he needs strengthening, 

 not heating food. We are aware that many 

 heavy, slow-moving city draw and truck 

 horses are fed a large proportion of meal, yet 

 this does not change our opinion of its com- 

 parative value. 

 After spring plowing and planting are fin- 



