1863.1 
AMERICAN AGRICULTURIST. 
403 
Hamilton. The same is true of sheep. Wo expected to 
see a grand display of Cotswolds, Leicester, and South 
down sheep in Canada, and were not disappointed, but 
there were actually more "American Merinos " shown 
nt Hamilton than at Rochester. The sheep fever was not 
as high in Canadians hero, and the reaction is not as se- 
vere. There was a magnificent display of Long Wools, 
and also of the different varieties of Downs— Sussex, 
Hampshire. Oxford, and Shropshire; but the former, 
there as here, are apparently more popular on account of 
their larger size and of the demand for combing wool. 
In thoroughbred pigs there was a miserable show at 
Rochester, and a capital one at Hamilton. Our State So- 
ciety docs nothing to encourage the raising or importa 
tion of thoroughbred swine, while in Canada much atten- 
tion is devoted to these useful animals. Any pig import- 
ed during the year, if it takes a prize, is awarded a pre- 
mium of double the ordinary amount. Accordingly there 
were several pens shown that had been recently import- 
ed. At Rochester there was not one. There were one or 
two pens of Yorkshire and Essex, and it may be of Suf- 
folk*. The rest of the swine on exhition were Che- 
shires or grades, that should have been shown as such. 
Id wheat, barley, oats, peas, and vetches, the competi- 
tion was far greater than with us. The farmers take an 
interest in the matter, and the bags were constantly sur- 
rounded, and their contents examined and discussed. At 
Rochester there was the best display of grains we have 
had for years, but the barrels were all headed up. and so 
far as the public good was concerned, they might as well 
have been in the barn at home. In corn, beans, and po- 
tatoes, the show was superior to that at Hamilton : so it 
was in fruits and Mowers, and perhaps in garden vegeta- 
bles ; but in roots for stock, such as Swedes, carrots, 
parsnips, and mangel wurzels. we "cannot hold a candle" 
to the Canadians. At Rochester there was a great dis- 
play of agricultural implements and machines, and an ex 
cedent one also nt Hamilton, but in this department we 
need not fear comparison- We bad several excellent 
ditching machines, that did good work. There was one 
in operation on the grounds at Hamilton that was not 
worth a " Yankee shinplaster." We had three good ma- 
chines for husking corn, a dozen or so of potato diggers, 
some of much promise, a good steamer for cooking food, 
scores of good plows, cultivators, etc., churns, butter 
workers, wringers and washing machines without num- 
ber, and for visitors as grand a company of intelligent 
men and women as can be found in any country. 
Spring Barley. 
The following is from a firmer in Western N. 
Y. "Spring hurley requires riclier land than win- 
ter wheat The roots do not extend half as far, 
and the crop grows so rapidly, especially in this 
climate, that it is necessary to have a liberal 
supply of food in the ground. Fifty bush-els of 
barley take no more plant-food from the soil 
than forty bushels of wheat, but we need more 
plant-food in the soil because the roots have not 
time to push out far in search of it, as is the 
case with winter wheat. For this reason I am 
inclined to think it will be well to summer-fal- 
low good, strong land for barley, and follow it 
with wheat. We should in this way get rid of 
red-root.' Of course we need not break up the 
land as early as for wheat. Plow, say in August, 
and harrow well, and then after we are through 
wheat sowing, plow again a little deeper; and 
if there is time, and the weather favorable, 
plow it again the middle of November, and 
leave it rough for the winter. The barley might 
he put iu early in the spring, simply by harrow- 
ing or cultivating. In this way we divide up 
the work better. Summer-fallow one field for 
wheat and another for barley. If the whole is 
summer-fallowed for wheat there is little for 
the teams to do after the middle of September, 
when they are better able to stand hard work 
than during the heat of summer. Autumn is 
the time to work land." 
Paint in the Tool Room. — Paint pots and 
brushes are among the good investments upon 
the farm. They are suggestive of carefulness 
and of thrift. The essential materials iu a good 
paint are Linseed oil and white lead. Coloring 
matter is cheap, and not much of it is needed 
to give any desired shade. Not much skill is 
required in the mixing, and any farmer can 
soon learn to paint his own buildings, tools, 
vehicles, and fences. Tools last much longer if 
their woodwork is kept well painted or oiled. 
Linseed oil, well boiled, without the lead, makes 
an excellent protection for axe helves, and the 
handles of all tools that are much exposed to 
the weather. The painting and oiling of tools 
is good wet weather work, and there are always 
leisure days after the harvests are gathered, 
when the fences and farm buildings can be 
cleaned up and painted. Cheap paints are usual- 
ly poor investments, except as they may be use- 
ful for specific purposes. 
Steamer or Mill ? 
Cooking grain for cattle and swine is certain- 
ly the best substitute for grinding it, and the 
steam apparatus has a much wider application 
than the farm mill. So that for a farmer en- 
gaged iu common mixed husbandry, there can 
be no question which he had better buy, a farm 
mill or a steam apparatus. With a steam boiler, 
in which steam may be economically raised, all 
kinds of grain, roots, root-tops, cabbages, hay, 
in fact any kind of hog or cattle feed, may be 
profitably cooked, even if fuel is not cheap. The 
question of the profit of having his corn ground 
if a farmer has a good steamer or boiler, we 
cannot now answer, but from what facts we 
now have, we are induced to think cooking pref- 
erable. We know very well that ground corn 
will go a great deal farther in fattening pork or 
beef than whole corn, and that cooked meal 
will go further still. We know also that cook- 
ed whole corn is of a much higher feeding value 
than raw, that it is more easily digestible, and 
more palatable. Who can give us the figures 
by which we can compare the feeding qualities 
of simply cooked and simply ground corn ? 
How and When to Milk. 
As a general rule, farm men dislike to milk, 
and consequently seldom do it well. In the 
dairy districts, where milking is one of the most 
important labors on the farm, it is not difficult 
to get good milkers, but iu the gram districts 
it is easier to get ten men who are good team- 
sters than one who can milk rapidly and clean. 
It is not so important to milk rapidly as it is 
to keep up a steady flow. To milk fast one 
day and slow the next is injurious. If the 
milker becomes tired, it is better to rest when 
he has finished one cow and before beginning 
another, than to rest or lag during the opera- 
tion. An irregular milker will soon spoil a 
cow. She will not give down her milk steadily. 
On the other hand, a cow that is milked steadi- 
ly will give down her milk freely and with a 
steady flow. Such a cow can be milked in five 
minutes. We have a cow that gives about 10 
quarts at a milking, that we have milked in 44 
minutes. After letting a poor hand milk her a 
few weeks we could not milk her clean under 
seven minutes. We have little doubt that a poor 
milker, although he strip the cow clean, will 
cause her to give less milk. This is the general 
opinion of dairymen, and is doubtless correct. It 
is certain, if a cow is not milked clean she will 
gradually fail in her milk. And it is equally cer- 
tain that the last drawn milk is much richer than 
the first drawn. Experiments show that the 
strippings contain four or five times, aa much 
cream as the rest of the milk. As a check on 
careless milkers, it is best to have a member of 
the family or some trusty person go over all the 
cows after the milking is finished, and strip every 
drop of milk from the udders. With an empty 
pail this is little trouble. Some object to the 
practice on the ground that " the cow should be 
milked clean at once." This is true, but it will 
be found lhat when the practice of stripping is 
regularly adopted, the cows will be milked much 
cleaner than where a perverse or careless milker 
knows he is in little danger of being detected. 
We have known a good and usually reliable 
man to leave four quarls of milk in the udder ! 
In milking it will be found that "even the best 
of men are none the worse for a little watching." 
It is not easy to describe the operation of 
milking. It can be learned only from example 
and practice. Our own method is to have a 
three-legged stool, as being firmer lhan the one- 
legged kind sometimes used, and to hold the 
pail up from the ground firmly between the 
knees. We do not like to see a man stick his 
head against the side of the cow. There is no 
advantage in the practice, and the position is 
not as good for the free action of the muscles of 
the arms and hands as to sit upright. Grasp 
the teats firmly, with all the fingers, if possible, 
and close the upper finger a shade earlier than 
the lower ones, in order to keep the milk from 
being forced back into the udder. The princi- 
pal work will be done by the three lower fin- 
gers. Some good milkers pull down on the 
teats, but this is unnecessary. A steady con- 
traction of the fingers is all that is required; 
the pressure forces out the milk, and when 
they are opened, the elasticity of the teat forms 
a vacuum, and a fresh supply rushes in, which 
is forced out as before. This is all there is to 
milking. It is one of the simplest and pleas- 
antest of operations, and we can but think 
that the reason so many farm men object to it 
is based on prejudice and perversity. 
Where but few cows are kept it is seldom 
convenient to milk at the same hour at night as 
in the morning. As a general rule, cows are 
milked before breakfast, say from half past four 
to half past five; and at night from half past 
six to half past seven. At night, therefore, we 
get the milk from 14 hours, and in the morning 
from only 10 hours. Prof. S. W. Johnson, in 
his "Notes on Recent Progress in Agricultural 
Science " in the Am. Agricultural Annual for 
1868, gives the results of some experiments, 
which show that the milk after an interval of 
10 hours contained 4.36 percent fat. 
It " " 4.31 " " 
13 " " 3.97 ' 
13 " " 3.97 " " 
14 " " 3.51 
When the above system is adopted, therefore, 
the night's milk would, other tilings being equal, 
be about 20 per cent poorer in butter thau the 
morning's milk. Dr. Voelcker, in his admira- 
ble article on Milk, in the Journal of the Royal 
Agricultural Society, says : " The popular 
opinion ascribes to morning's milk better quali- 
ty than to that obtained in the evening. My re- 
sults do not favor this all but generally received 
opinion. As far as my experience goes, the re- 
sult depends on the quality and quantity of the 
food which is given to the cows four or five 
hours before milking. If the supply of food 
given in the day-time he good and plentiful, 
and that furnished in the evening be uunutri- 
tious and scanty, the evening's milk is of the 
better quality. Op the other hand, when the 
cows get a good supply of rich food in the 
eveuing, and are stinted or fed upon very wa- 
tery food during the day-time, the evening 
