1892 
THE  RURAL  NEW-YORKER. 
9 
Bits  of  Business  Dairy  Talk. 
NEW  YORK  STATE  DAIRY  ASSOCIATION. 
W.  H.  Phillips,  cheese  instructor  of  the  State  of  Wis¬ 
consin,  said  :  “  One  of  the  worst  difficulties  I  had  to 
contend  with  was  to  secure  absolute  cleanliness  from 
the  stable  to  the  cheese  press.”  Prof.  Roberts  depre¬ 
cated  wooden  floors  in  factories  as  one  of  the  chief 
causes  of  filth.  Gov.  Hoard  said  :  “  Portland  cement 
will  crack  and  absorb  moisture.”  Geo.  A.  Smith  advo¬ 
cated  Georgia  pine,  which  makes  a  tight  floor  easily 
cleaned. 
Selling  Milk  by  Its  Fat. 
Dr.  Van  Slyke,  of  the  Geneva  Experiment  Station,  said: 
“  An  ideal  cheese  contains  one-third  each  of  fat,  casein 
and  water.  The  richer  the  milk  in  fat  globules,  the 
greater  the  loss  in  making  the  cheese ;  still  enough 
more  fat  is  retained  to  add  materially,  to  the  value  of 
the  cheese  made  from  the  richest  milk.  Milk  should  be 
paid  for  according  to  its  richness.  The  following  table 
shows  conclusively  the  injustice  of  paying  by  weight. 
Eight  patrons  bring  100  pounds  of  milk  each ;  this 
mixed  milk  when  made  into  cheese  gave  each  patron 
$1.06.  The  table  shows  the  percentage  of  fat,  the 
amount  of  cheese,  and  what  each  patron  would  have 
received  had  each  lot  been  made  into  cheese  by  itself : 
l’er  cent  Weight  of  Amount  Pounds  of 
No.  of  fat.  milk,  lbs.  received,  cheese.  Value. 
1  .  2.85  100  $1.00  9.05  $.59 
2  .  3.01  100  1.06  9.86  .  76 
8 .  •  3.88  100  1.06  10.11  .98 
4  .  3.96  100  1.06  11.25  .  99 
5  .  4.70  100  1.06  11.07  1.17 
6  .  4.73  100  1.06  12.12  1.18 
7  .  4.8(1  100  1.06  11.12  1.20 
8  .  6.49  100  1.06  12.52  1.62 
‘  ‘  To  pay  for  milk  by  weight  is  to  put  a  premium  on 
dishonesty  and  the  breeding  of  ‘  dish  water’  cows.” 
Question  :  “  How  often  should  you  test  ?” 
“  Twice  a  week.  The  composite  test  is  not  reliable 
unless  exactly  the  same  amount  of  each  sample  is 
taken.” 
Ex-Gov.  Hoard  :  “  One  hundred  and  seventy  five  fac¬ 
tories  in  Iowa  and  75  in  Wisconsin  pay  according  to 
the  percentage  of  fat  in  the  milk  After  using  this 
system  from  1887  to  1891,  the  milk  had  improved  29  4-7 
per  cent  in  quality.  If  you  tempt  men  to  water  their 
milk  some  will  yield  to  the  temptation.  The  Babcock 
tester  can  beat  the  Bible  in  making  honest  milkmen. 
I  buy  milk  by  the  Babcock  test.  One  customer  gets  $75 
net  per  cow  ;  another  $37.50.  One  is  careful,  pains¬ 
taking  and  progressive  ;  the  other  careless,  indifferent 
and  retrograding.  The  great  problem  is,  how  to 
cheapen  production.  Study  more  !  Most  farmers  seem 
to  think  they  must  work  twice  as  much  as  they  think 
because  they  have  two  hands  to  one  brain  ;  but  they 
should  use  their  brain  twice  to  the  hands  once  to  equal¬ 
ize  things.” 
“When  Shall  We  Sell  Butter?” 
Wm.  H.  Gilbert  said  :  “  The  most  important  part  of 
dairying  is  to  sell  right.  Get  it  on  the  consumer’s  table 
before  it  becomes  spoiled.  Dairymen  adopt  new  methods 
in  making,  but  stick  to  the  old  rut  in  selling.  They 
keep  their  butter  till  it  has  lost  its  flavor  and  sell  it 
for  a  small  price.  They  send  it  to  commission  men. 
If  it  reaches  a  falling  market  these  say  it  is  off  flavor 
and  weight,  and  make  very  small  returns.  Some  system 
of  auction  selling  should  be  devised  ;  then  butter  would 
sell  on  its  merits  and  the  consignor  would  receive 
quick  returns.  Butter  should  be  sold  as  fast  as  made. 
More  would  then  be  consumed  at  home  and  abroad. 
Only  six  per  cent  of  the  butter  is  exported  at  an  aver¬ 
age  price  of  17 %  cents.  The  butter  sent  is  so  poor  that 
it  kills  the  trade.” 
Prof.  Edmunds  :  “I  have  sold  $250,000  worth  of  butter 
this  summer  at  an  average  of  19  cents.  If  kept  till  now 
it  would  have  cost  me  for  storage  .015  ;  interest,  .05 ; 
shrinkage,  .01;  price,  .19.  Total,  .265.  It  is  better 
for  me  to  sell  at  once.” 
Prof.  Robertson  of  Canada  said:  “There  is  economy  in 
attending  conventions  and  subscribing  for  papers;  you 
may  read  the  reports,  but  you  fail  to  get  the  enthu¬ 
siasm  which  comes  from  actual  contact  between  live 
men.  There  is  economy  in  maintaining  the  fertility  of 
the  soil.  There  is  economy  in  allowing  corn  to  ripen 
before  feeding  or  putting  it  in  the  silo.  It  is  economy 
to  feed  succulent  food  to  cows  in  winter.  It  is  not 
economy  to  let  milk  stand  after  it  has  been  drawn  from 
the  cow  before  it  is  set.  It  is  not  economy  to  skim 
milk  until  it  has  set  22  hours  even  in  ice  water.  There 
is  a  loss  of  16  per  cent  from  an  hour’s  delay  in 
setting. 
“In  the  milk  from  cows  in  milk  two  months  there  is  a 
loss  of  14  to  16  per  cent,  six  months,  26  per  cent,  and 
nine  months,  33%  per  cent,  with  any  kind  of  setting. 
This  great  loss  can  be  avoided  only  by  using  a  separa¬ 
tor.  The  cream  from  cows  fresh  in  milk  should  be 
churned  at  62  degrees,  at  six  months,  at  64  degrees, 
and  at  nine  months,  at  70  degrees  to  avoid  loss.  Small 
animals  give  the  best  returns  for  the  food  consumed.” 
Prof.  Roberts,  of  Cornell,  spoke  on  “  Shortening  the 
Rows.”  His  introduction  was  an  ideal  dream  of  a  boy, 
beautifully  told,  in  poetic  language.  The  rows  he 
advocated  shortening  were  the  corn  rows,  which  would 
reach  to  the  sun  and  nearly  back  again.  His  directions 
for  the  preparation  of  the  soil,  the  cultivation  and  care 
of  the  crop,  if  followed,  would  shorten  the  rows  one- 
third  without  decreasing  the  yield. 
I).  P.  Wilton  said  :  “  The  paying  cow  of  to-day  must 
give  'milk  10  months  in  the  year.  The  rules  for  suc¬ 
cessful  feeding  and  the  care  of  cows  are  fixed,  and  if 
we  break  them  we  suffer  loss.  Good,  comfortable 
quarters  and  plenty  of  temperate  water.  Some  of  my 
cows  drink  320  pounds  per  day.  An  economical  ration 
consists  of  albuminoids  and  carbohydrates  in  proper 
proportion.  An  animal  fed  entirely  on  carbohydrates 
will  die  almost  as  soon  as  if  no  food  were  given.  The 
average  dairyman  feeds  one  pound  of  albuminoids  to 
10  pounds  of  carbohy drat  is  and  asks  the  cow  to  give 
him  a  product  compounded  of  one  pound  of  albuminoids 
to  4.4  pounds  of  carbohydrates.  She  will  have  to  eat 
an  excess  of  11  pounds  of  carbohydrates  to  get  the 
albuminoids.  This  is  a  dead  loss.  This  kind  of  feeding 
is  changing  profit  into  loss  and  sending  many  a  valu¬ 
able  cow  to  the  shambles.  The  cow  Flora  gave  511 
pounds.  Every  year  since  has  given  better  results 
until  a  yield  of  1,156  pounds  have  been  reached.  The 
latent  powers  of  a  cow  can  be  brought  forth,  not  sim¬ 
ply  by  abundant  feeding,  but,  to  accomplish  the  highest 
results,  the  man  who  handles  her  must  have  a  sys¬ 
tematic  mind  and  thorough  knowledge  of  how  the 
work  is  to  be  done.  The  ignorant  believe  there  is  some 
Double  Rocking  Chair. 
Fig.  6. 
trick  or  “condiment”  about  making  an  830-pound  cow 
give  945  pounds  of  butter  in  a  year.  The  key  to  the 
riddle  lies  in  well-balanced  rations.  My  milk  costs  me 
at  present  44  cents  per  100  pounds.” — [Who  can  beat 
this  ? — Eds.] 
did  He  Make  it  out  of  others  ? 
Our  correspondent  C.  R.  Beach,  of  Wisconsin,  made 
a  forcible  speech  at  a  recent  farmers’  institute.  His 
friend  Mr.  Goodrich,  had  just  told  how  his  cows  aver¬ 
aged  320  pounds  of  butter  per  year.  The  butter  cost 
him  13  cents  a  pound.  He  charged  the  cows  market 
prices  for  food,  interest  on  all  the  capital  invested,  and 
still  showed  a  net  profit  of  $53  per  cow,  above  all  cost. 
Mr.  Beach  said  among  other  things: 
Mr.  Goodrich  tells  us  that  he  got  over  $1,000  from  his  herd  of  20  cows, 
besides  Interest  on  the  capital  Invested,  good  pay  for  his  labor  and  the 
market  price  for  all  the  food  they  consumed.  Does  that  money  belong 
to  Mr.  Goodrich  ?  He  says  he  did  not  earn  It.  He  received  lawful 
usury  and  pay  for  his  labor  aside  from  that.  Has  he  the  right  to  keep 
It  ?  or  Is  It  his  duty  to  turn  It  over  into  a  general  fund  for  the  benefit  of 
that  class  of  poor  farmers  who,  through  a  lack  of  skill  and  knowledge 
of  their  busrness,  are  unable  to  make  a  profit  on  their  Investments  and 
pay  for  their  labor  ?  By  that  accomplishment  Mr.  Goodrich  has  re¬ 
moved  himself  from  the  farmer  class,  In  the  generally  accepted  term, 
and  has  placed  himself  with  that  class  commonly  called  robbers  of 
labor  and  of  the  people.  He  has  Joined  Vanderbilt,  Gould,  Phil.  Armour 
and  the  railroad  corporations  of  the  country.  He  has  made  over  100 
per  cent  profit  and  has  put  In  his  pocket  that  which  he  has  not  earned. 
He  has  reaped  the  fruit  of  his  acquired  skill  and  of  wisdom  applied  to 
the  management  of  his  business.  This  Is  exactly  what  the  great  cor¬ 
porations  and  capitalists  of  the  country  are  doing. 
There  is  a  class  of  persons  in  this  country  who  tell  us  the  corpora¬ 
tions  and  monopolies  are  robbing  the  people,  and  some  go  so  far  as  to 
say  they  ought  to  be  compelled  to  turn  into  a  general  fund  for  distri¬ 
bution  among  the  people  all  of  their  profits  above  a  centaln  percentage. 
If  that  Is  good  doctrine  as  applied  to  corporations  and  capitalists,  why 
not  apply  it  to  Goodrich  the  farmer  ?  He  has  made  over  100  per  cent 
profit  on  his  capital,  while  the  statistics  prove  that  the  railroads  of  the 
country  don’t  make  seven  per  cent.  Will  any  man  stand  up  and  tell 
us  that  Mr.  Goodrich’s  $53  profit  on  each  cow  In  his  herd  does  not 
rightfully  belong  to  him  ?  I  tell  you  it  does  belong  to  him,  and  no  just 
law  under  heaven  could  take  It  from  him  to  disburse  as  a  premium  on 
slothfulness. 
There  is  a  mighty  big  chance  for  an  argument  on  this 
point  with  plenty  of  good  ammunition  on  all  sides. 
The  $53  does  belong  to  Mr.  Goodrich.  He  earned  it 
fairly  and  “  stepped  on  no  man’s  right”  to  secure  it. 
Probably  nine  out  of  ten  of  his  neighbors  could  have 
done  the  same  thing.  But  he  did  not  have  any  “  mo¬ 
nopoly.”  He  did  not  crush  out  opposition  and  “  lobby” 
for  laws  that  gave  him  an  unfair  advantage !  That 
is  the  respect  in  which  he  differs  from  the  “trusts 
and  monopolies  ”  and  that  is  why  his  profits  may  be 
just  while  theirs  are  unjust. 
Business  Bits. 
Double  Rocking  Chair. — About  the  latest  thing  in 
furniture  is  the  chair  illustrated  at  Fig.  6,  on  which 
some  genius  has  just  secured  a  patent !  We  have  seen 
a  good  many  tete-il-tete  sofas  and  lounges,  but  this  is 
about  the  first  time  we  have  seen  the  rocking  chair 
utilized  in  this  way.  It  ought  to  make  a  comfortable 
seat  “  for  two.” 
Drying  Rubber  Boots. — About  a  year  ago  there  ap¬ 
peared  in  The  Rural  an  illustrated  article  which  was 
largely  copied  by  the  agricultural  press.  It  represented 
a  wire  arrangement  for  suspending  rubber  boots  over 
a  cook  stove  for  the  purpose  of  drying  them.  I  can 
imagine  that  some  farmers’  wives  would  object  to 
having  a  pair  of  boots  hanging  over  their  stoves,  and 
for  the  benefit  of  their  “  wet-footed”  husbands,  I  will 
give  my  method.  Make  a  pair  of  lasts  of  any  soft 
wood  fitting  the  boots.  Heat  them  on  the  stove  or  in 
the  oven  as  hot  as  possible  without  burning.  Put  them 
in  the  boots  and  in  a  very  short  time  the  latter  will  be 
as  “  dry  as  a  bone.”  I  have  a  pair  that  I  have  used 
two  years,  and  I  have  no  use  for  the  wire  arrange¬ 
ment.  j.  o. 
Wind  Power  fob  Churns. — The  dog  power  for  churn¬ 
ing  has  been  discussed  through  The  R.  N.-Y.,  but  how 
about  the  wind  ?  I  have  a  windmill  and  why  can  I 
not  use  it  for  churning  ?  Does  any  of  our  brother 
dairymen  use  a  windmill  to  run  a  barrel  churn  ?  How 
is  it  arranged  ?  Why  doesn’t  some  ingenious  Yankee 
invent  an  engine  and  boiler  to  be  set  on  or  in  the  cook- 
stove  for  churning  purposes  ?  WM.  b. 
R.  N.-Y. — Lots  of  farmers  are  using  wind  power  for 
churning.  An  ordinary  pumping  fixture  will  not  do — 
one  must  have  a  device  for  turning  a  wheel.  All  the 
windmill  men  sell  geared  mills  which  are  fitted  for 
the  work.  Several  firms  offer  “power  converters” 
which,  when  fixed  to  the  pumping  rod,  will  apply  the 
power  to  a  wheel.  We  shall  soon  show  a  picture  of  one 
of  these  “converters.”  The  little  engines  are  prac¬ 
tical,  but  cost  too  much  for  general  use. 
Irish  Business  Challenge. — We  have  heard  much 
about  the  proneness  of  the  Irish  to  maintain  the  supe¬ 
riority  of  their  goods  or  opinions.  We  find  the  follow¬ 
ing  in  a  Dublin  agricultural  paper.  It  is  a  new  way  to 
attract  custom. 
Challenge. — Wo  hereby  challenge  Mr.  THOS.  Lipton  to  submit  a 
sample  of  his  Is  7(1  Tea  (which  he  says  Is  the  finest  the  world  can 
produce)  against  a  sample  of  Our  Tea  at  Is  Id  to  three  unprejudiced 
experts.  £100  to  be  forfeited  to  the  poor  of  Dublin  by  the  firm  selling 
the  inferior  drinking  tea.— Valentine  Si  Co.,  24  South  Great  George’s- 
street,  Dublin. 
Niagara  to  be  Harnessed. — Recent  electrical  ex¬ 
periments  in  Germany  show  that  the  power  of  water¬ 
falls  can  be  transmitted  for  an  almost  indefinite  dis¬ 
tance.  A  turbine  water  wheel  of  300  horse-power 
on  the  Neckar  River  is  connected  with  a  dynamo,  and 
from  this  “three  delicate  copper  wires”  convey  the 
electric  force  108  miles,  and  lose  but  25  per  cent  of  it 
on  the  way.  English  electrical  engineers  declare  that 
these  experiments  are  “  the  most  momentous  made  in 
technical  electricity  since  that  mysterious  natural  force 
which  we  call  electricity  has  been  made  serviceable  to 
mankind,”  and  also  that  “the  way  is  now  open  for 
Americans  to  harness  the  wasted  energy  of  Niagara 
and  a  thousand  smaller  cascades  and  rapids  in  every 
part  of  their  great  country  to  the  varied  purposes  of 
daily  life.” 
Buck  Thorn  Fencing. — This  fencing  is  popular  in 
many  parts  of  the  country  for  the  following  reasons  : 
Being  flat,  with  a  single  longitudinal  rib,  the  largest 
possible  surface  is  presented  to  view.  It  is  plain  to  be 
seen.  No  part  of  it  is  made  of  wire.  The  barbs  are 
short,  broad  at  the  base,  and  only  one-quarter  of  an 
inch  apart  at  the  point.  One  of  its  chief  merits  is  that 
every  part  of  the  strand  is  perfectly  coated  with  zinc, 
the  process  of  galvanizing  being  the  final  one  ;  there¬ 
fore  it  never  rusts.  The  present  cry  is  “No  fence  at 
all  or  a  good  one  !  ”  It  will  pay  you,  therefore,  to 
address  the  Buck  Thorn  Fence  Company,  Trenton,  N. 
J.,  and  see  what  they  have  to  offer. 
Stoves  and  Stencils.— 1.  Is  there  anything  better 
than  a  kerosene  stove  for  heating  a  room  which  has  no 
flue?  2.  Where  can  I  obtain  letters  for  branding 
names  on  wood  ?  c.  A.  u> 
Ans. — 1.  We  do  not  know  of  anything  better  except 
the  more  costly  gasoline  stoves.  Several  firms  in  this 
city  make  what  they  call  a  “fuel  cartridge”  which  is 
supposed  to  give  out  heat  without  smoke  or  odor. 
They  have  not  come  into  anything  like  general  use. 
2.  Of  Wm.  F.  Lutz,  Jr.,  34  Park  Row,  New  York. 
A  man  in  Des  Moines,  Iowa,  has  invented  an  elec¬ 
tric  carriage,  or  a  device  that  can  be  put  on  almost 
any  carriage.  The  motor  is  on  the  rear  axle  and  is  so 
arranged  that  the  carriage  will  run  backward  and  for¬ 
ward  as  desired.  The  latter  runs  well  on  the  smooth, 
level  streets  of  cities.  These  storage  motors  give  best 
results  with  light  loads  on  level  runs.  For  steep 
climbs  with  heavy  loads  the  overhead  system  is  best. 
