1879.J 
AMERICAN AGRICULTURIST. 
15 
in part with barbed wire, at this time of the 
year. Their wool is 60 thick and long that they 
do not feel the barbs, which thus only serve to 
tear out the wool. The thing to do is to put 
the sheep into such lots in the early summer, 
when they soon contract a wholesome dread of 
the fence, and will keep away from it thereafter. 
With other animals, the only thing necessary is 
is to let them once get acquainted with its general 
appearance and the results of too close contact 
with it. If it be really true that sheep may be con¬ 
veniently controlled in this way, I see no reason 
why a radical change in the agriculture of some of 
the older States may not result. Sheep require 
very little labor in their management, little shelter, 
coarse food, straw, weedy hay, aud roots, with a 
little corn, best fed unground. There is always a 
market for lambs, and for fat mutton ; the -wool 
and the skins sell also ; but after all, the best thing 
about sheep-keeping is the facility with which 
straw, stalks, swamp hay, and other vegetable sub¬ 
stances may be converted into manure. Speaking of 
Changes in Agricultural Practice, 
none is greater than that effected by the handling 
of milk in great quantities by cheese factories, but¬ 
ter factories, and creameries. These are extending 
with great rapidity all over the country, relieving 
the farmers’ wives from untold drudgery, while* 
their habits of industry find for them full employ¬ 
ment in other ways. Among other things to which 
my attention has been particularly directed, is 
The Use of Skimmed Milk. 
This is much better and more w'holesome food 
than most of us who have been brought up in the 
country, and upon plenty of milk, are apt to think, 
and until they learn better, city-folks, of all others, 
have a horror of skimmed milk. Milk disagrees 
with a great many people. If they drink it, pure 
and fresh, it gives heart-burn, and other forms of 
indigestion, headache, etc. Even children, fre¬ 
quently, can not drink it freely. The number who 
can not take as much skimmed milk as they are 
inclined to is very small. The now common plan 
of using deep coolers, or 15 to 18-quart pails, which 
are tall and narrow, and kept nearly submerged in 
cold spring water until ready to be skimmed, which 
is within 24 to 36 hours usually, gives an abund¬ 
ance of sweet skimmed milk. If either of the air¬ 
tight systems, Cooley’s or Hardin’s, be followed, 
the skimmed milk aud cream may be separated in 
8 to 12 hours, and the milk from having been ex¬ 
cluded from the air is found to be sweeter (because 
of the presence of sugar) than even milk fresh from 
the cow. Milk is slightly alkaline when first drawn, 
from the presence of less than a tenth of one per 
cent of free soda. The action of the air is to rapid¬ 
ly convert the milk-sugar into milk-acid, and this 
of course neutralizes the alkali; then, the formation 
of acid still going on (more slowly as the milk 
cools), after awhile it loses its sweet taste, and be¬ 
fore long is perceptibly sour. We are used to see¬ 
ing and tasting skimmed milk between the loss of 
its sweetness and the time when it becomes posi¬ 
tively sour. Excluded from the air, this chemical 
action can not go on. When, therefore, the cream 
is removed, the full taste of the sugar may be bet¬ 
ter observed, and so it seems actually sweeter than 
at first. Such “skim-milk” ought to be retailed 
at half the price of “whole milk” in all of our 
cities, and it would furnish a most admirable article 
of diet for families with moderate means. [In some 
cities the sale of skimmed milk is prohibited. Eds.] 
Keeping Potatoes Through the Winter. 
In cold weather, when the temperature can be 
regulated, potatoes keep well enough, but in warm 
cellars, or during warm spells, I find it difficult to 
prevent their starting, and we have to rub off the 
sprouts. I saw at Dr. Hexamer’s, a few weeks ago, 
a contrivance which it seems strange has never been 
described and figured by the agricultural papers. 
The doctor takes any old boards or strips, and with 
i them makes little bottomless bins about 2i feet to 
3 feet square, and 2 feet high—at any rate, large 
enough to hold 5 bushels with tolerable accuracy. 
The corner pieces project an inch below the lower¬ 
most strip, and fall short the same amount at the 
top. Three of these bins constitute a set; two of 
them are alike, but the one to go on the bottom 
has a bottom to it, and a cheaply made slide-door 
on one 6ide. When the potatoes are harvested, 
these bins are filled, the bottom one first of course ; 
then another is set upon the top and filled, and so 
on. Thus 15 bushels are held in a very compact 
space, and yet the air passes freely through them. 
These sets of bins are placed side by side with the 
sliding-doors accessible. Now when the potatoes 
need stirring—which they do once in a few weeks, 
and oftener to- _. 
wards spring— 
all that it is ne¬ 
cessary to do is 
to raise the 
door, and take a 
bushel - basket¬ 
ful out from the 
bottom and put 
it upon the top. 
Thus every po¬ 
tato in the whole 
bin is turned, 
and its relations 
to air and moist¬ 
ure more or less 
varied—at least, 
enough to stop 
or greatly to in- js 
terfere with the 
first beginnings 
of sprouting. 
When necessary, the whole stock may be con¬ 
veniently “overhauled” and picked over, one set 
of bins at a time. In such bins different sorts are 
conveniently separated and kept distinct, aud any 
kind or all are accessible at any time, and whenever 
bins are emptied they may be removed and space 
gained for other thiDgs. Smaller bins for the 
same purpose hold about one barrel each. 
Crushed Grain for Horses. 
TO VENTILATE POTATOES. 
Oats are justly advocated as the grain above all 
others adapted to horses—and it is true, that for 
young horses, and those used on the road, there is 
probably nothing equal to oats, but they ought to 
be crushed or bruised and not ground. In fact, I 
think all grains are better fed in this way, and it 
seems strange that there are no good American 
oat crushers. They seem to me simple affairs—as 
I have seen them in English stables. A wheel of 
perhaps 18 inches diameter, made strong, and hav¬ 
ing, a perfectly flat periphery, of steel, I presume, 
like a steel tire, having a face about 3 inches wide, 
is turned so as to bear evenly against a smaller one 
of say 8 inches or less in diameter, having a similar 
face. These two wheels are geared to turn to¬ 
gether, and the oats are slowly fed in by a hopper. 
Good oats, when crushed, are nearly round and as 
big as a silver 3-cent piece, and the husks are quite 
inconspicuous; poor ones show more husk than 
grain, and retain more nearly the form of the un¬ 
crushed oat. Barley may be crushed equally well 
with oats, although harder; and com, v'hen too 
green to grind, might well be thus treated. If grain 
be swallowed whole it is not easily digested, but if 
crashed, or broken even, it is likely to be. “ Coarse 
meal,” that is, the corn-meal usually sold for feeding 
iu many Eastern towns, simply because it can be 
cheaply produced, is better than whole corn, be¬ 
cause it is broken and some portion of it tolerably 
fine, but all the flinty part is in large solid pieces, 
which do not adhere to cut hay, do not soak quickly, 
and are slow of digestion. When new corn is crush¬ 
ed, although it is not comminuted into meal, its in¬ 
tegrity is destroyed and is easily digested, because 
it readily absorbs water or the juices of the stomach. 
render the whole ration more like the natural sum¬ 
mer food, keeping the digestive apparatus healthy 
and active, and a relish to the drier food. 
The Practice of Veterinary Medicine— 
Will it Pay? 
BY A. LIAUTARD, H. D., V. S. 
The attention of our people has been directed, 
within the past few years, towards Veterinary Medi¬ 
cine ; many able writers have urged its importance 
and have presented the claims of this much neg¬ 
lected profession. Yet, notwithstanding this, young 
men of good education and social position hesitate 
to join the ranks of the veterinarians, and the num¬ 
ber of skilled practitioners remains far short of the 
needs of the community. Young men are deterred 
from becoming veterinary practioners, in part, be¬ 
cause of the low standing of some who claim to 
belong to the profession, and in part because the 
prospect of present success and an ultimate com¬ 
petence, if not a fortune, is not satisfactory. The 
importance of veterinary science to the agricultur¬ 
ist generally, and to the stock raiser especially, its 
relations to farm economy and to national health 
have been forcibly presented, and in a manner to 
direct young men towards its study. But these 
have not been sufficient. We are a matter-of-fact 
people, and while we are as ready as any other to 
admit the claims of science or art, and fully appre¬ 
ciate and recognize the importance of veterinary 
science, we are also ready to ask —Will it pay ? This 
is an important question, especially to a young man 
who is considering the selection of an occupation 
or profession for life, and it is very proper, in con¬ 
sidering the veterinary, or any other profession 
with a view to making it his life’s work, that he 
should ask, “Can I make a living by it?" While 
this may seem to the pure scientist a material view 
to take, it is one that in this work-day world must 
be taken, and the question is a very proper one. 
It is to attempt to reply to this question that this 
article is written. The best method of showing 
what may be done is to point out what has already 
been accomplished. Not long ago I addressed a 
letter to several veterinarians, all of whom are 
graduates of the American Veterinary College, who 
have been engaged in practice, some for several 
years, and others for a few months. The object of 
this letter was to obtain such statistics as might be 
of use to those who are considering whether they 
shall become veterinary surgeons, and, by showing 
what others have done, give them, so far as possi¬ 
ble, some idea of their own future prospects. 
s.3 s js 
S to a, ^; 
K 
e 
to 
§.§ 
S’© 
II 
3 e 
c s* 
Cqo, 
Penn’a. 
Rhode I. 
Penn’a. 
N. Jers’y 
N. York. 
N. York. 
N. Jers’y 
Mass'ts. 
N. York. 
N. Jers’y 
N. York. 
Mass'ts. 
Maryl’d. 
N. York. 
Mass'ts. 
Ohio. 
N. Y ork. 
Returns from Practice in the 
First 
Year. 
Second | Third 
Year. Year. 
1874 4K yr’s, 
1877 17 mos. 
1874 i'A yr’s 
1878 
1867 
1878 
1S78 
1878 
1876 
1876 
1871 
1877 
1876 
1878 
1876 
1874 
few mo. 
scv’l ys. 
fewrao. 
fewrno. 
few mo. 
2K yr’s. 
2^ yr’s. 
4 years. 
19 mos. 
2 years, 
fewmo. 
2A yr’s. 
4 years 
1875‘3 years. 
$475 
$600 
$1500 
$00 to 75 mo. 
$4000 to 6000 yr. 
$100 to 150 mo. 
$300 
$75 to 160 mo. 
$■800 
$600 
„ . - to 900 
$2000 
$700 
$125 to 150 mo. 
$1000 to 1500 yr. 
$1200 
$300 
$530 
$75 a m’th. 
$2000 
$400bto6066 
$100tol50m 
$650 
$1600 
$1554 
$800 to 900 
$2000 
$1000 
$4000to 6000 
■ •■"......A 
$1000 6 in’s. 
$2200 } 
$800 to 9001 
,$2000 If 
$1000 tol500 $1500 
$1200 | $1200 
$5(0 I $800 
Among the questions was one asking if the person had 
any regret at having adopted the profession, but as the ans¬ 
wers to this was invariably “ no,” we omit that column 
* Subsequent years. $1,480 to $1,530. Expect to double it 
as soon as general trade Is better, t Now in partnership 
expect to make it $2,500 to $3,000. t Regrets he did not qual¬ 
ify sooner. § Well pleased. II With increasing profit proud 
of it. If Would not change for an M. D. ** In partnership. 
Value of Turnips.—A Connecticut farmer esti¬ 
mates the value of turnips [the flat English turnip 
in his case,] as a food for milch cows at 25 cents per 
bushel. He arrived at these figures by noting the 
diminished yield consequent upon leaving off the 
feed of turnips. The roots did not save the hay, 
as quite as much was consumed with as without 
them ; but the turnips, as also shown by European 
experiments, were an aid to the digestion of the hay 
and similar fodder. Succulent roots of any kind, 
make up for other deficiencies of hay aud grain, and 
A few of the answers to this letter—enough to 
show their tenor and scope—are here condensed J *\ 
the form of a table, which may be carefully con¬ 
sidered by those young men who hesitate to enter 
the veterinary profession for fear it may not pay. 
What profession, what trade, what occupation of 
any kind, can offer to a young man better induce¬ 
ments than this table shows ? This whole country, 
with costly and valuable stock in every direction, 
is a field waiting for careful exploration, and, unlike 
most opportunities for scientific research, it prom¬ 
ises at the same time to be remunerative as well aa 
