AMERICAN AGRICULTURIST. 
11 
low rates as it is now furnished by milk¬ 
men in the immediate vicinity of this city, 
with a profit to the farmers and manufac¬ 
turer, and to the decided advantage of the 
consumer. 
Suppose, for example, that we have a 
factory located in Ohio. The manufactur¬ 
er pays the farmer 2i cents per quart— 
add 1 cent for condensation and profit, $ 
cent for cans, and J- cent for transporta¬ 
tion. The result would stand thus : 
100 quarts of milk at 2£c.. 
Condensing & manufacturer’s profit 
Cans (to be frequently used). 
Transportation of 20 quarts (con¬ 
densed) 
Cost of 100 quarts delivered in 
New-York. 
Add for commissions, &c 
Total 
Equal to 5 cents per quart for 100 gallons. 
We have given these figures for illus¬ 
tration only. They are doubtless higher 
than would be necessary if the business 
were carried on upon a large scale. But 
with this estimate we have good milk de¬ 
livered to the distant consumer at 5 cents 
per quart, while the producer gets 21 cents, 
which would pay him a better profit than butter or 
cheese making. For our own use we should cer¬ 
tainly prefer the 100 quarts obtained by adding 80 
quarts of water to 20 quarts of the concentrated 
milk, than an equal quantity of the best milk sold 
in New-York as “ pure Orange County.” 
The Inventor of this process, Gail Borden, Jr., 
is a quiet, modest man, more disposed to make 
improvements than to derive alter benefits for 
himself—had not this been the case he would 
have been immensely rich from his “ Meat Bis¬ 
cuit” invention. But we write not for or on ac¬ 
count of Mr. B., but to call attention to the pro¬ 
cess itself, and to elicit further information as to 
the practicability of establishing manufactures in 
different parts of the country. The concentrated 
milk is on sale at 173 Canal-street, in this city, 
and those desiring information can address Mr. 
Borden at that place. 
Saw-dust for Littering Stables. 
This is quite valuable to absorb the liquids 
tnd to prevent the foul odors arising from stables. 
It ammonia is one of the most powerful fertili¬ 
zers, why should not the greatest pains be taken 
to save it 1 For this purpose, saw-dust is just 
the thing. It is useful, also, on the score of the 
horse’s health and comfort. It is injurious to an 
animal’s feet to stand in the liquids of his stall: 
it is hurtful to his eyes and his stomach, and his 
lungs, to remain long in an atmosphere charged 
with the powerful vapors arising from those li¬ 
quids. We wonder that the poor creatures stand 
it so well as they do. Dry muck answers very 
well to scatter daily in the stables, though saw-dust 
is much neater. It is quite important, however, 
in clearing out the stalls daily, to mix a little 
muck or plaster with the saw-dust and manure to 
prevent the whole from violent fermentation. * 
To give brilliancy to the eyes, shut them ear¬ 
ly at night and open them early in the morning; 
let the mind be constantly intent on the acquisi¬ 
tion of human knowledge, or the exercise of be¬ 
nevolent feelings. This will seldom fail to im¬ 
part to the eyes an intelligent and amiable ex¬ 
pression. 
A Plea for Shanghais—Selling Eggs by 
Weight- 
To the Editor of the American Agriculturist: 
Much has been said about Shanghai’s, and the 
shanghai fever in times past, but we hear very 
little on the subject at present. Some of the 
would-be-wise, and those that have never tasted 
them, have more to say, I find, than those that 
have had some experience in the matter. Now 
to those who have never seen or tasted them I 
would say, they are more valuable than any other 
kind of fowl that I have kept. As to size, they are 
worth as much again as the small kinds. Any 
one having a roasted fowl weighing eight pounds 
is not to be laughed down by those not having such 
a luxury. The shanghais are more juicy than any 
other kind and for that reason better to roast, and 
a large one is better than a small one of any breed. 
I have kept the “ Everlasting Layers,” the 
Maylays, Topknots, Dorkings, and all the com¬ 
mon and uncommon varieties of color and kind. I 
have had shanghais to lay at six months old, and 
you will see but few others that will lay at that 
age. Their eggs are larger and weigh more than 
those of common fowls, and in consequence I shall 
sell no more by the hundred or dozen as is cus¬ 
tomary, but by the pound as beef is sold. We 
find these eggs cheaper even at two dollars and a 
half per hundred, than beef at fifteen cents per 
pound, especially if tough at that. 
Here is another point. I can keep the shang¬ 
hais out of my garden with a fence one lath high, 
which makes a very cheap fence. Now, sir, it 
makes no difference how fat and good natured a 
man is, it is very trying to his temper, especially 
if a little nervous, when he has made a garden and 
the seed is just coming through the ground, to 
have the hens begin their labor of scratching it out 
without asking where to begin. Why, sir, I have 
been more plagued with the small species of hens, 
than they are worth the whole season, hens, gar¬ 
den and all. 
Now then comes the objector, who says sneer- 
ingly, “ I don't want your great long legged fowls 
that cannot stand up alone.” I say there is no 
I reason why you should have them, if you are a¬ 
fraid to pay for the pure blood and are waiting un¬ 
til there are a few more crosses, or till they get a 
little cheaper. To such a man as this. 1 would 
never sell cheap, but would rather g»ive them to 
some one who knows how to value then:. I can 
say for the information of such, that I have shang¬ 
hais as short legged as any of the small kind, and 
they weigh twice as much ; and as to their meat 
which is said to be very coarse, I could see but a 
slight difference. I have eaten them at all ages, 
and find their meat sweet and juicy, and second 
only to a turkey for a roaster. As to the shang¬ 
hai fever, some men have been excited it is true, 
but that has nothing to do with their real worth. 
The last poultry show I attended at Albany, N. Y., 
I was surprised to see the improvement in fowls. 
I did not find a poor fowl there. So much for 
good breeding. The poor breeders did not bring 
their fowls there knowing it would be useless. We 
will go on improving, and at the next show I ex¬ 
pect to see better fowls still. When eggs sell for 
three cents apiece in your city, I think it would 
be more profitable to keep hens that lay ten montlis 
in the year like the shanghais, than those poor lit¬ 
tle common fowls. When I hear something from 
your friends that do not like shanghai fowls 
and eggs, I may say something more. S. G. 
Rhinebeck, N. Y. 
Remarks. —This is the kind of talk we like. If 
a man has got a good thing that he wants the 
world to have, let him tell of it. If our friend has 
such shanghais—we don’t doubt it—he has got a 
good thing. We have had a somewhat long ex¬ 
perience in fowl culture, but we honestly confess 
we have not fancied the shanghais at large, al¬ 
though at the State poultry show at Albany, of 
which he speaks, as well as that which followed 
it at Barnum’s Museum in this city, the week af¬ 
terwards, we did see specimens of that breed 
which surprised us by their fine breeding and ap¬ 
pearance. They were truly noble birds and could 
we always have such as those, with all the good 
qualities our friend gives them, we snould be 
quite content. 
We do not, however, see the virtues ol a par¬ 
ticularly large chicken for the table. A cnidien 
is not a turkey ; nor can you make -t one ;n taste 
