1892 
THE  RURAL  NEW-YORKER. 
525 
No.  5,  3.75.  This  showing  was  quite  remarkable.  The 
cows  were  running  in  a  rank  pasture,  and  were  receiv¬ 
ing  no  grain  feed  other  than  a  very  small  quantity  of 
wheat  bran  to  keep  them  quiet  during  milking. 
“You  are  not  feeding  much  ?  ”  suggested  I. 
“  Practically  very  little,  indeed.  We  aim  to  keep 
the  herd  in  good  condition — a  working  herd.  They 
are  never  fed  up  for  dress  parade,  hut  are  kept  in  just 
the  condition  we  would  aim  at,  were  we  dairymen 
primarily  instead  of  breeders.” 
“  Are  you  selling  much  stock  at  present  ?” 
“  All  we  have  cared  to  sell.  We  never  sell  a  heifer 
until  she  has  dropped  her  calf  and  her  butter-making 
capacity  has  been  tested.” 
To  The  Rural  representative  one  of  the  most  not¬ 
able  features  of  this  wonderful  herd,  was  their  size. 
We  are  sure  they  will  average  much  larger  than  any 
other  Jersey  herd  we  have  seen,  and  we  noted  this 
point  with  especial  pleasure.  There  is  no  reason  why, 
in  the  hands  of  careful  breeders,  the  size  of  the  Jer¬ 
seys  may  not  be  increased  to  that  of  the  average  cow 
with  a  corresponding  increase  in  her  product.  It  is 
simply  reversing  the  processes  of  evolution,  by  which 
her  size  has  been  reduced,  and  the  one  process  ought 
to  be  as  easy  as  the  other. 
Facts  About  the  Butter  Making. 
The  dairy  house  is  a  model  of  neatness  and  is  excel¬ 
lently  adapted  for  its  work.  On  a  steep  hillside,  150 
feet  above  it,  is  an  artificial  reservoir,  fed  by  springs, 
which  furnishes  the  water  for  a  motor  which  propels 
all  the  machinery  of  the  dairy  house — separator, 
churns,  butter  worker,  etc.  In  an  adjoining  room  is 
an  engine  to  be  used  in  case  of  any  failure  in  the 
water  supply.  The  milk  of  each  cow  is  weighed  at 
every  milking.  The  cream  is  separated  immediately 
after  milking  and  put  in  cans  for  cooling,  where  it 
remains  about  24  hours,  when  it  is  poured  into  the  vat 
for  ripening,  where  it  remains  about  24  hours  longer. 
It  is  then  churned.  The  milk  from  the  Meridale  Herd 
is  kept  separate  and  churned  separately.  The  butter 
is  all  made  into  prints,  branded  “Meridale”  and 
marketed  entirely  in  Philadelphia  to  a  private  trade. 
At  this  time  of  the  year  it  is  sold  at  40  cents  per 
pound.  The  blitter  from  the  other  herds,  the  milk  of 
which  they  buy,  is  separately  made.  This  is  also  put 
in  prints,  but  is  branded  “  Wheat  Sheaf,”  and  also 
goes  mainly  to  the  Philadelphia  market.  They  have 
made  as  high  as  0,044  pounds  in  a  single  month. 
The  remainder  of  the  herd,  young  stock  and  dry 
cows,  were  scattered  in  six  different  parts  of  the  farm, 
most  of  them  in  pasture.  A  rigid  system  of  inspection 
is  kept  up,  each  group  being  visited  and  examined 
every  alternate  day  while  in  pasture.  Cows  about 
ready  to  drop  their  calves  are  brought  to  the  home 
barn,  where  they  are  under  the  superintendent’s  eye. 
The  Food  and  How  it  is  Fed. 
“  What  do  you  feed  in  winter  ?  ”  said  I. 
“Corn  ensilage  night  and  morning,  with  hay  in  the 
middle  of  the  day.  For  grain  feed,  we  use  corn  and 
oats  ground  together,  equal  parts  by  weight,  also 
wheat  bran.  These  are  our  staples.” 
“  You  think  well  of  ensilage  ?  ” 
“  Oh,  yes.  We  have  no  trouble  in  growing  or  keep¬ 
ing  it  and  our  stock  thrive  on  it.  The  elevation  is 
rather  too  great  here  to  make  corn  growing  successful, 
but  we  can  easily  get  it  to  the  condition  when  it  makes 
excellent  ensilage,  that  is  when  the  ears  begin  to 
glaze.” 
“  What  crops  do  you  grow  beside  ensilage  ?  ” 
‘  We  shall  house  about  200  tons  of  hay  this  season  in 
addition  to  the  27  acres  we  have  in  ensilage  corn.  We 
have  00  acres  in  oats.  This  crop  flourishes  admirably 
here.  We  have  grown  as  high  as  55  bushels  to  the 
acre  and  grow  regularly  from  45  to  50.  Both  soil  and 
climate  seem  admirably  adapted  to  them.  Potatoes 
also  do  well  here,  but  we  aim  to  grow  only  enough 
for  our  own  supplies.  We  have  about  five  acres  this 
season.” 
“  What  fertilizers  did  you  buy  to  aid  you  in  bringing 
up  these  run-down  lands  to  their  present  fertile  con¬ 
dition  ?  ” 
“We  bought  largely  of  hard  wood  ashes — more  of 
these  than  of  anything  else.  We  use  for  potatoes  each 
year  some  bone  phosphates.  These  additions,  as  we 
take  nothing  off  the  farm  but  butter  and  pork,  will  of 
course,  with  our  stable  manure,  gradually  restore  the 
lost  fertility.  We  buy  our  bran  and  corn  and  these 
too  add  to  the  value  of  the  manure.  It  takes  one  team 
pretty  much  all  the  time  at  this  season  to  draw  out 
the  manure,  and  when  our  herds  are  all  stabled,  one 
team  cannot  do  the  work.” 
“  How  many  men  do  you  employ  ?” 
“We  have  14  employed  by  the  year,  with  extra  help 
from  time  to  time.  We  have  two  engaged  continuously 
in  laying  wall.” 
“  Do  you  use  the  Babcock  tester  often  ?  ” 
'  'Cl<,^yes.  We  find  it  very  useful.  Here  is  a  test 
made  a  few  days  ago  of  the  first  10  cows,  just  as  they 
came  into  the  stable  :  Meridale  Oakland’s  Nora,  4.6  ; 
Dilwa,  4.8  ;  Daisy  Lisgar,  4  ;  Meridale  Bloomfield,  5  ; 
Meridale  Coquette,  4.8;  Lady  Matilda  Pogis,  3.8; 
Gilfillia,  5  ;  Priscilla  Pogis,  5.4  ;  Pomona’s  Ida  of  St. 
Lambert,  5.8;  Meridale  Nora  of  St.  Lambert,  4.  That 
shows  an  average  of  4.72,  pretty  good  for  a  working 
dairy.” 
“  How  much  milk  do  you  buy  of  your  neighbors?” 
“  We  bought  in  June  last  about  70,000  pounds.” 
The  Meridale  herd  should  be  the  healthiest  and  best 
in  the  country.  The  air  is  pure  and  salubrious  ;  the 
water  is  abundant  and  pure — indeed,  it  would  be  hard 
to  find  a  field  of  any  considerable  size  without  a  fine 
spring,  the  water  in  many  of  which  stands  below  50 
degrees  all  summer  long.  Dr.  Francis  Bridge,  the 
Pennsylvania  State  Veterinary  Surgeon,  visited  the 
herd  while  we  were  there,  and  made  a  most  thorough 
examination  of  it.  Dr.  Bridge  excels  as  a  diagnosti¬ 
cian,  especially  in  all  lung  diseases,  and  when  we  left, 
he  assured  us  that  there  was  not  a  trace  of  tuberculosis 
or  any  kindred  disease  in  the  herd. 
Messrs.  Ayer  &  McKinney  are  to  be  congratulated 
on  their  success  in  establishing  such  a  noble  herd  of 
Jerseys,  and  we  are  confident  they  will  reap  a  fitting 
reward  for  their  enterprise  and  business  sagacity,  f. 
[Every  query  must  be  accompanied  by  the  name  and  address  of  the 
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ut  one  time.  l*ut  questions  on  a  separate  piece  of  paper.] 
Raspberry  Curl  Leaf,  Etc. 
P.  S.,  Exeter,  Pa. — 1.  Will  Orchard  Grass  do  well  if 
sown  with  rye  or  wheat  in  the  fall  ?  2.  What  variety 
of  grass  would  be  likely  to  do  best  on  a  very  gravelly, 
poor  soil  ?  3.  What  ails  my  raspberries  ?  A  great 
many  of  my  Johnson’s  Sweet  have  a  curly  leaf,  are 
full  of  small,  worthless  berries  and  the  best  of  them 
are  not  by  any  means  what  they  ought  to  be.  The 
Greggs  are  somewhat  inclined  to  follow  suit,  and  I 
notice  a  plant  here  and  there  among  several  of  the 
other  varieties  that  looks  sickly,  especially  among  the 
Cuthberts.  Shaffers  are  the  healthiest  of  all  with  me. 
Thompson’s  Prolific  bears  no  perfect  berries.  They 
are  nearly  on  a  par  with  that  humbug  introduced  a 
few  years  since  under  the  name  of  Crimson  Beauty. 
Ans. — 1.  Yes,  as  well  as  could  be  expected.  It 
would  do  better  sown  in  the  spring  and  ha;  »wed  in 
without  any  other  crop.  2.  We  cannot  ant-  vyer  that 
question.  Better  fertilize  the  soil  than  to  try  to  find 
something  that  will  grow  on  a  poor  kind.  3.  The 
curl  leaf  may  be  produced  by  the  Bramble  F*ea  Louse 
(Psylla  rubi),  a  minute  insect  which  sucks  the  juices 
from  the  leaves.  You  may  have  some  anthracnose 
among  them.  The  wisest  course  is  to  dig  out  every 
infected  bush  and  burn  it  up. 
What  Aijls  the  Orchard  Grass  ? 
./.  V.  L.,  La  Crosse.  Wls. — Six  years  ago  seeds  of 
Timothy,  clover,  Red-top,  and  a  liberal  quantity  of 
Orchard  Grass  were  sown  together  on  a  well  prepared 
field  ;  each  following  year  for  four  years  it  was  cut 
just  as  soon  as  the  Orchard  Grass  was  in  full  bloom 
and  always  before  it  seeded.  One  year  ago  last  win¬ 
ter,  it  was  noticed  that  several  of  the  Orchard  Grass 
plants  were  injured  and,  finally,  in  the  spring  follow¬ 
ing,  the  entire  seeding  was  dead.  Was  the  crop  cut 
too  early  or  is  the  plant  more  tender,  and  subject  to 
kill  out  than  the  other  grasses  mentioned  ?  Or  is  it 
short-lived  ? 
Ans. — Orchard  Grass  is  not  only  very  hardy,  but 
long-lived  and  able,  under  ordinary  conditions,  to 
maintain  itself  when  growing  with  Blue  Grass,  Quack 
and  Timothy  ;  at  least  that  is  the  case  here  in  New 
York.  No,  it  was  not  cut  too  early.  Without  doubt 
some  disease  attacked  the  grass.  It  is  no  uncommon 
thing  for  the  new  growth  of  not  only  Orchard  Grass, 
but  clover,  to  be  attacked  with  fungous  diseases. 
Sometimes  the  leaves  of  the  young  clover  will  die  off 
entirely,  and  if  the  weather  after  harvest  is  very  dry, 
it  will  fail  to  make  new  leaves  and  this  results  in 
death  to  the  plant.  I  suggest  trying  it  again,  as  it  is 
probable  that  the  grass  will  withstand  all  adverse 
influences  in  the  future,  as  it  is  one  of  the  hardiest 
valuable  grasses  which  is  in  general  use.  i.  i\  Roberts. 
Skin  Eruption  on  Young-  Horse. 
F.  P.,  Stochpoi't,  N.  Y. — I  have  a  young  horse  whose 
blood  seems  to  be  out  of  order.  His  body  is  covered 
with  pimples  and  bunches.  His  hind  legs  from  hock 
to  feet  are  covered  thickly  with  them.  A  scratch  or 
sore  is  a  long  time  in  healing.  What  can  I  do  for  him  ? 
Ans. — Give  an  active  purgative  to  clear  out  the 
bowels — five  or  six  drams  of  the  best  aloes  with  one 
ounce  of  ginger,  made  into  a  ball  or  administered  as  a 
drench.  Repeat  the  dose  in  three  days  if  the  bowels 
are  not  freely  moved.  A  bran  mash  or  other  laxative 
diet  should  be  given  until  the  physic  has  operated. 
Then  give  two  tablespoonfuls  of  the  following  powders 
on  the  feed  twice  daily  :  sulphate  of  soda,  one  pound  ; 
nitrate  of  potash  and  pondered  nux  vomica,  of  each 
one-fourth  pound ;  powdered  gentian,  one  pound. 
Mix.  A  light,  laxative  diet  should  be  given  during  the 
summer.  dr.  f.  l.  kii.borne. 
A  Hopeless  Case. 
H.  W.  McG. ,  Pocatello,  Ida. — I  have  a  six-year-old 
horse  which,  when  two  years  old,  was  tied  to  a  post 
with  a  rope  around  the  neck  ;  he  strained  his  neck 
close  to  the  head.  The  neck  is  stiff  and  hurts  him  in 
turning.  When  driven  he  throws  his  head  to  one  side 
and  cannot  raise  it  higher  than  his  withers;  otherwise 
he  is  in  as  good  condition  as  any  horse.  Is  it  too  late 
to  help  him  ? 
Ans. — Nothing  can  be  done  now  to  relieve  the  horse. 
Lime  Paste  for  Bordeaux  Mixture. 
C.  W.  G. ,  Waynesboro,  Pa. — We  always  have  on  hand 
lime  of  excellent  quality,  slaked  and  in  paste  of  the 
thickness  of  heavy  cream.  Should  I  keep  on  hand 
sulphate  of  copper?  Can  I  not  at  any  time  prepare  the 
Bordeaux  mixture  as  I  need  it,  or  will  the  lime  paste 
lose  its  properties  ? 
Ans. — We  are  not  aware  that  such  lime  would  prove 
in  any  way  inferior  to  fresh  lime,  though  some  have 
assumed  differently. 
Worms  in  Sweet  Corn. 
E.  D.  II.,  Inanda,  N.  C. — What  causes  the  worms  in 
the  ends  of  the  ears  of  sweet  corn  ?  Is  there  any 
remedy  and,  if  so,  what  ? 
Ans. — This  is  the  corn-worm  or  the  boll-worm  (He- 
liothis  armigera).  In  the  South  it  feeds  upon  cotton 
bolls  as  well  as  on  corn  ;  in  the  North  it  annoys  us 
only  on  corn.  It  is  a  most  vexatious  and  destructive 
pest  and  no  practicable,  thorough  remedy  has  been 
found  for  its  ravages.  The  moths  are  greenish-yellow 
insects,  with  a  prominent  black  spot  near  the  middle  of 
the  front  wings.  They  deposit  their  eggs  on  the  silk  of 
the  ears.  The  larvae  soon  hatch  and  greedily  eat  through 
the  husk  to  the  corn  and  then  eat  faster  than  ever. 
When  full-grown,  they  are  an  inch  and  a  half  long,  of 
a  pale  green  or  dark  brown  color  with  longitudinal 
stripes.  Hand-picking  is  about  the  only  practical 
remedy.  The  silk  of  the  infested  ears  is  prematurely 
dry  and  the  larvae  may  be  crushed  in  it. 
A  Southern  Cabhagre  Enemy. 
J.  G.  W.,  Salem,  Va. — I  send  The  Rural  specimens 
of  cabbage  bugs  which  injure  cabbages,  kale  and 
cauliflowers  in  this  section.  What  will  kill  them, 
without  injuring  the  plants?  Slug  Shot  has  done  no 
good. 
Ans. — The  insect  accompanying  the  inclosed  letter 
is  the  Harlequin  Cabbage  Bug  or  Calico-back.  It  is 
a  well-known  pest  in  the  South,  and  although  many 
experiments  have  been  tried,  no  satisfactory  method 
of  combatting  it  has  been  discovered.  The  usual  way 
is  to  resort  to  hand-picking.  Something  can  be  done 
in  the  way  of  trapping  the  pests  by  laying  boards  be¬ 
tween  the  rows  of  cabbages  or  scattering  wilted  cab¬ 
bage  leaves  about;  the  bugs  will  hide  under  these 
during  the  night  and  can  be  captured  early  in  the 
morning.  [PROF.]  j.  H.  COMSTOCK. 
Miscellaneous. 
0.  K.  Q.,  Wheeling,  W.  Va. — Robert  Douglas,  Wau¬ 
kegan,  Ill.,  grows  evergreens  from  the  seeds. 
A.  L.  M.,  Groton,  N.  Y. — The  best  way  to  get  a  slip 
from  a  clematis  or  wistaria  vine  is  to  layer  at  once. 
Rev.  J.  II.  K.,  Lisbon,  III. — Write  for  the  catalogues 
of  dealers  whose  advertisements  may  be  found  in  our 
columns. 
A.  S.  M.,  Lakewood,  N.  J. — The  “Cole”  system  of 
drainage  and  irrigation  is  very  expensive,  and  would 
not  be  practical  except  with  high-priced  crops.  A 
book,  “The  New  Agriculture,”  (price  $1.50)  describes 
the  method  in  full. 
Raspberries  for  Illinois. — L.  B.  C.,  Mendota,  Ill. — It 
is  difficult  to  tell  you  which  black  and  yellow  rasp¬ 
berries  are  best  for  a  home  garden  on  Illinois  prairie 
soil.  The  Souhegan  is  among  the  best  all-round  black¬ 
caps  in  this  latitude.  The  berries  are  not  as  large  as 
the  Gregg,  but  much  better  and  of  better  color.  The 
Ohio  would  come  next  in  our  judgment.  For  yellow, 
we  would  recommend  Golden  Queen,  which  is  a  yellow 
Cuthbert  and  just  as  hardy.  We  should  be  glad  to 
have  the  opinions  of  some  of  our  Illinois  growers  on 
the  selections  above  given. 
Buhach  for  Cabbage  Worms. — W.  F.  A.,  Loudonville, 
N.  Y. — The  best  insect  powder  to  kill  the  cabbage 
worm  on  cabbage  and  cauliflower  is  pyrethrum  or  bu¬ 
hach.  It  may  be  diluted  or  attenuated  with  six  times 
its  bulk  of  flour  and  dusted  on  with  a  powder  gun  or 
bellows  ;  or  it  may  be  used  in  a  solution — one  ounce 
of  buhach  to  four  gallons  of  water,  sprayed  on  the 
plants.  Hot  water  at  130  degrees  is  said  to  be  effec¬ 
tual  in  killing  these  worms.  The  water  may  be  boil¬ 
ing  hot  when  carried  to  the  field,  but  will  cool  suffi¬ 
ciently  to  be  harmless  to  the  plants.  Kerosene  emul¬ 
sion  is  also  recommended. 
