702 
THE  RURAL  NEW-YORKER. 
Oct.  29 
[Brery  query  must  be  accompanied  by  the  name  and  address  of  the 
writer  to  Insure  attention.  Before  asking  a  question,  please  see  If  It  Is 
not  answered  In  our  advertising  columns.  Ask  only  a  few  questions 
at  one  time.  Put  questions  on  a  separate  piece  of  paper.] 
WHAT  IS  A  FAIR  PRICE  FOR  THE  MILK? 
THE  QUESTION. 
A  agrees  to  pay  for  milk  on  the  subjoined  plan:  the  prlc  of  milk- 
all  new— Is  to  be  as  follows:  25  pounds  of  milk  to  bring  the  same  as 
one  pound  of  fancy,  fine  creamery  butter  In  a  leading  city  market;  the 
prices  to  be  adjusted  once  In  two  weeks  for  the  year.  Is  this  as  profit¬ 
able  as  home  butter  making  ?  From  January  1  to  January  1  can  the 
average  dairyman  get  four  pounds  of  market  butter  from  100  pounds 
of  milk  •> 
This  question  cannot  be  answered  as  readily  as  asked. 
Gilt-edged  dairy  butter  should  not  be  placed  “  on  the 
market,”  but  go  directly  to  the  consumer  at  30  to  35 
cents  per  pound  the  year  round,  and  on  this  basis  the 
party  would  get  a  good  price  for  his  milk  and  save  the 
labor  at  home — a  very  important  item.  A  good  herd 
of  cows  would  make  about  5  to  5%  pounds  of  butter 
from  each  100  pounds  of  milk  ;  an  extra  good  herd 
would  make  six  to  seven  pounds  to  the  100  of  milk  ; 
but  the  cost  of  manufacture  and  marketing  is  to  be 
deducted  from  what  the  farmer  gets  for  his  butter  and 
so  the  question  needs  to  be  analyzed  and  the  geograph¬ 
ical  conditions  must  be  considered.  The  “  average  ” 
dairyman  is,  I  am  sorry  to  say,  a  poor  pattern  to  judge 
by.  What  our  dairymen  are  and  what  they  can  he  are 
two  very  different  matters.  h.  m.  ames. 
President  Vermont  Dairymen's  Ass’n. 
I  make  exclusively  full-cream  cheese,  and  believe  it 
to  be  the  only  kind  that  should  be  made  for  general 
market.  I  would  sell  the  milk  in  preference  to  making 
it  into  butter,  because  the  average  farmer  cannot  get 
one  pound  of  butter  from  25  pounds  of  average  milk 
the  year  through.  G.  E.  horton. 
I  do  not  think  the  proposed  arrangement  is  as  profit¬ 
able  as  home  butter  making.  With  me  it  only  takes 
19  pounds  of  milk  to  make  a  pound  of  butter  from  Jan¬ 
uary  1  to  January  1.  I  think  the  average  dairyman  can 
get  more  than  four  pounds  of  butter  from  100  pounds 
of  milk.  GEORGE  W.  STANLEY. 
Why  Be  an  “  Average  Dairyman  ”  Anyway  ? 
Answering  this  question  on  the  basis  of  the  average 
dairyman,  it  would  pay  better  to  sell  the  milk  at  the 
price  named  than  to  make  it  into  butter,  but  why  should 
any  one  go  into  dairying  in  the  “  average  ”  wTay  of 
conducting  it  ?  Why  not  go  into  it  with  the  intention 
of  conducting  it  in  a  way  much  above  the  average  ?  In 
the  case  in  point :  if  the  milk  seller  would  get  good 
cows  of  one  of  the  milk  breeds,  he  would  make  much 
more  money  by  selling  milk,  at  the  rate  of  25  pounds 
for  the  price  of  a  pound  of  fancy  creamery  butter,  than 
the  average  dairyman  makes  from  selling  either  milk 
or  butter. 
If  A  knew  his  business,  he  would  insist  upon  “  Bab- 
cocking  ”  the  milk  before  he  paid  for  it.  There  are 
records  of  a  pound  of  butter  being  made  from  five 
pounds  of  milk,  and  of  a  pound  from  60  pounds  of  milk; 
it  would  be  to  A’s  advantage  to  know  a  little  more 
about  the  quality  of  the  milk  he  is  buying  before  he 
pays  for  it  at  the  rate  mentioned.  If  he  is  satisfied, 
however,  to  buy  at  that  price,  the  seller  could  easily 
get  the  better  of  the  deal  if  he  would  keep  self-skim¬ 
ming  cows. 
As  to  the  last  question,  I  think  the  average  dairy¬ 
man  will  hardly  get  four  pounds  of  market  butter  from 
100  pounds  of  milk,  taking  the  year  through,  for  his 
cows  are  not  rich  milkers,  nor  are  they  fed  so  as  to  do 
their  best.  A.  l.  cbosby. 
Fair  for  the  “Average  Dairyman.” 
WTe  find  that  from  April  1  to  November  1,  1891,  the 
average  amount  of  milk  from  70  to  80  different  herds 
for  one  pound  of  butter  was  22.75  pounds,  but  the 
average  production  from  January  1  to  January  1 
would  be  somewhat  less,  yet  not  below  22  pounds,  I 
think.  The  butter  made  was  by  the  centrifugal 
method,  in  which  very  little  fat  is  allowed  to  escape. 
But  I  do  not  think  the  average  dairyman,  with  aver¬ 
age  cows,  can  make  more  all  the  year  round  than  one 
pound  of  butter  from  25  pounds  of  milk  as  good  as 
“A”  agrees  to  pay  for.  Of  course  by  selling  the  milk 
the  owner  of  the  herd  loses  his  skim-milk  which  is 
worth  from  15  to  25  cents  per  cwt.,  to  the  dairyman 
who  knows  how  to  use  it  to  the  best  advantage.  Yet 
it  would  take  a  good  deal  of  it  to  pay  for  the  extra 
work,  packages,  etc.,  necessary  in  buttermaking.  It 
is  not  said  whether  the  milk  is  to  be  delivered  at  the 
farmer’s  door  or  in  the  city.  A  great  many  dairymen 
who  have  an  extra  herd  for  butter  and  all  the  neces¬ 
sary  modern  appliances  for  the  business  and  a  good 
private  market  for  their  product,  will  say  that  they 
can  do  better :  but  T  tliink  the  average  dairyman 
could  do  no  better  than  to  accept  the  above  offer. 
Erie  County,  Pa  A.  L.  wales. 
Can  We  Feed  “  Yellows  ”  Off  the  Place  ? 
S-  S.  H.,  Ohio. — Are  we  to  understand  that  the  yel¬ 
lows  may  be  exterminated  by  using  certain  fertilizers 
in  our  peach  orchards  ? 
Ans. — Hardly  ;  though  it  is  in  that  direction  that  we 
must  look  for  relief.  Trees  and  men  are  alike  in  one- 
respect — those  lacking  in  health  and  constitutional 
vigor  are  the  first  to  fall  victims  to  disease.  Years 
ago  in  thousands  of  sections  the  peach  grew  luxuri¬ 
antly,  with  no  yellows — to-day  yellows  prevail.  The 
only  possible  conditions  that  have  changed  are  “  soil 
conditions.”  In  other  words,  the  soils  have  become 
exhausted,  or  unbalanced  by  losing  more  of  one  constit¬ 
uent  than  another,  and  so  our  trees  do  not  make  a 
fully  developed  growth — they  lack  in  some  direction 
and  succumb  to  disease.  When  we  can  so  fertilize 
our  soils  as  to  restore  them  to  their  original  condition 
we  shall  be  able  to  grow  peaches.  Hale  Bros. ,  of 
South  Glastonbury,  Conn.,  are  doing  this,  and  others 
can  do  it  also. 
Treatment  for  Pasture  Land. 
P.  J.  C.,  Rochester,  N.  Y. — I  have  a  friend  in  New 
York  city,  also  one  near  Utica,  in  this  State,  who  want 
to  know  how  to  treat  pasture  land.  The  one  near 
Utica  has  a  paddock  now  in  hops.  The  crop  is  to  be 
taken  up,  and  he  wants  to  seed  the  land  down  to 
grass.  Should  the  seed  be  sown  this  fall  or  next 
spring,  and  how  many  kinds  ?  The  friend  near  New 
York  city  has  land  that  has  been  in  pasture  many 
years,  and  some  of  it  cannot  be  plowed.  What  should 
be  the  treatment  ? 
Ans. — It  is  now  too  late  to  sow  grass  seeds  for  the 
best  results.  Usually  it  is  better  to  sow  in  the  first 
days  of  September  than  in  the  spring,  because  the 
spring  seeding  is  sure  to  be  choked  more  or  less  by 
weeds,  whereas  the  weeds  are  killed  by  the  frost  in 
the  September  seeding,  and  then  the  grass  lias  two  or 
three  months  to  establish  itself.  The  ground  might 
be  fitted  this  fall,  because  it  is  best  to  sow  early  in 
the  spring,  in  order  that  the  grass  may  get  established 
before  the  dry  weather  sets  in.  If  there  is  danger  of 
the  ground  running  together  if  plowed  this  fall, 
then  prevent  it  from  doing  so  by  plowing  excessively 
wide  furrows,  so  that  the  land  will  be  left  in  a  cor¬ 
rugated  condition.  This,  too,  will  surface-drain  it  if 
it  is  p’.owed  in  the  right  direction.  As  soon  as  the 
surface  is  dry  in  the  spring,  harrow  and  sow  with  a 
mixture  of  five  pounds  of  Timothy  seed,  five  of  Tall 
Meadow  Fescue;  if  this  cannot  be  procured,  then  sub¬ 
stitute  the  same  amount  of  Orchard  Grass  and  two 
pounds  of  Alsike  and  two  of  Red  Clover  per  acre.  If 
Blue  Grass  does  not  come  in  naturally,  as  it  always 
does  here  in  great  abundance,  though  we  never  sow 
any,  then  a  small  amount  of  it  should  be  added  to  the 
above. 
There  is  no  better  way  to  fit  an  old,  rough,  run-out 
pasture  for  reseeding  than  by  a  thorough  summer 
fallow.  The  worn-out  pastures  which  have  been  used 
for  many  years,  and  which  can  be  plowed,  should  be 
cultivated  very  thoroughly  during  the  entire  season 
of  1893.  To  improve  pastures  without  replowing 
them  is  not  difficult,  unless  they  are  unusually  steep, 
or  so  stony  that  it  would  not  pay  to  bother  with  them. 
If  possible,  those  which  cannot  be  plowed  should  be 
harrowed  in  early  spring,  after  a  quarter  as  much 
grass  seed  has  been  sowed  upon  them  as  is  recom¬ 
mended  above.  They  will  be  the  better  if  they  can  be 
rolled.  In  order  to  give  opportunity  for  the  young 
plants  to  get  a  firm  hold  on  the  ground,  less  than  the 
usual  amount  of  stock  should  be  kept  on  these  re¬ 
seeded  pastures.  Few  things  improve  pasture  more 
than  a  mulch.  Fine  brush,  corn  stalks,  straw,  horse 
manure,  in  fact  almost  anything  that  will  help  to  con¬ 
serve  the  moisture,  partially  shade  the  ground  and  pre¬ 
vent  the  animals  from  cropping  the  grass  too  closely, 
will  be  beneficial.  Reseed  the  weak  places  every 
spring.  Even  a  casual  study  of  the  grasses  in  any 
particular  locality  will  show  what  ones  thrive  best, 
so  no  formula  for  mixing  grass  seeds  which  is  entirely 
satisfactory  can  be  given.  In  addition  to  all  these  ef¬ 
forts  at  betterment,  a  direct  application  of  commercial 
fertilizers  which  have  a  high  percentage  of  potash, 
may  be  made  with  very  satisfactory  results ;  and  in 
all  these  efforts  to  improve  the  pastures  it  should  be 
remembered  that  the  most  economical  way  to  do  so  is 
by  feeding  plants  not  a  great  amount  any  one  year, 
but  a  small  amount  every  year  ;  not  by  sowing  a  large 
amount  of  grass  seed  and  then  paying  no  more  atten¬ 
tion  to  the  wants  of  the  pasture,  but  by  sprinkling  a 
few  seeds  every  year  wherever  the  plants  are  too  few-. 
Then,  if  the  soil  is  too  poor,  or  too  hot  and  dry,  or 
other  conditions  are  not  sufficiently  favorable  for  the 
growth  of  the  plants,  some  mulch  and  plant  food 
should  be  added  for  one  or  more  years  until  the  plants 
are  able  to  shade  the  grouud  and  protect  one  another. 
I  think  I  have  as  fine  pastures  as  any  that  I  saw  in 
Europe.  I  have  been  10  years  making  them  and  the 
expense  has  been  very  trifling — simply  careful  watch¬ 
ing  and  an  intelligent  application  at  frequent  intei  - 
vals  of  a  very  small  amount  of  grass  seed,  mulch  ami 
fertilizers,  to  all  places  in  the  fields,  wnich  did  not  re¬ 
spond  satisfactorily.  The  other  factor  of  improve¬ 
ment  has  been  the  feeding  of  small  grain  rations 
during  the  summer  to  the  animals  which  grazed  upon 
our  steep  pastures.  [prof.]  i.  p.  Roberts. 
Selling:  Corn  to  Buy  Other  Stock  Food. 
Several  Subscribers. — Under  what  circumstances  will 
it  pay  us  to  sell  our  corn  and  use  the  money  for  buying 
cotton-seed  or  linseed  meals,  bran  or  other  food 
products  ? 
Ans. — The  statement  that  it  will  pay  farmers  to  sell 
corn  and  buy  cotton-seed  meal  or  other  highly  nitro¬ 
genous  feeds  is  doubtless  based  upon  the  following 
facts  :  1.  That  the  produce  of  a  farm  available  for 
stock  food  contains  a  larger  proportion  of  carbohy¬ 
drates  than  is  consistent  with  economical  feeding, 
and,  2,  that  under  present  market  conditions,  the 
usually  deficient  nutrient,  protein,  costs  less  per 
pound  than  the  carbohydrates.  Thus  in  selling  corn 
for  three-quarters  of  the  total  nutrients  which  exist 
as  carbohydrates,  and  which,  under  present  condi¬ 
tions,  are  liable  to  be  wasted,  as  high  a  price  is  re¬ 
ceived  as  is  paid  for  protein  or  albuminoids,  nutrients 
of  relatively  greater  feeding  value  and  which  must 
usually  lie  purchased  in  order  to  prevent  waste  of  car¬ 
bohydrates.  This  exchange  of  food  compounds  is  also 
important  from  another  standpoint,  viz,  fertility  ;  that 
is,  when  a  ton  of  corn  or  other  highly  carbonaceous 
product  is  sold,  smaller  amounts  of  the  essential  fer¬ 
tilizing  constituents  are  removed  from  the  farm  than 
can  be  brought  to  it  by  the  purchase  of  a  ton  of  cot¬ 
ton-seed  meal,  linseed  meal,  gluten  meal  and  wheat 
bran.  In  selling  corn  for  68  cents  per  bushel,  the 
price  received  per  pound  for  the  nutrients  is  about  20 
per  cent  greater  than,  on  the  average,  has  to  be  paid 
for  them  in  cotton-seed  and  gluten  meal  and  wlu-at 
bran  at  the  prices  given.  Of  course  the  proportion  of 
the  nutrients  in  the  different  classes  of  feeds  will  be 
different,  and  whether  it  will  pay  to  sell  or  not  de¬ 
pends  upon  the  supply  of  carbohydrates.  If  the  farmer 
has  hay,  corn  fodder,  straw,  etc.,  sufficient  to  provide 
these,  there  can  be  no  question  as  to  the  advantage  to 
be  derived  from  disposing  of  his  corn.  A  palatable 
daily  ration  may  be  composed  of  10  pounds  of  corn  fod¬ 
der,  5  of  meadow  hay,  3  of  gluten  meal,  3  of  wheat 
bran  and  2  of  cotton-seed  meal.  This  ration  would 
furnish  in  good  proportions  sufficient  amounts  of  the 
various  nutrients  for  an  animal  of  1,000  pounds,  live 
weight.  The  estimated  fertilizer  values  per  ton  of  the 
four  feeds  mentioned  are  as  follows:  corn  meal,  $5.79  ; 
wheat  bran,  $13.02;  gluten  meal,  $16.84,  and  cotton¬ 
seed  meal,  $27.12.  The  manurial  values  of  these  feeds 
will,  of  course,  be  somewhat  less,  especially  if  fed  to 
dairy  cows ;  still  the  values  will  be  proportionately 
the  same,  thus  indicating  the  gain  in  fertility  to  the 
farm  where  the  purchase  of  concentrated  feeds  of  this 
character  is  practiced.  [prof.  1  e.  b.  vooruees. 
A  Wheat  That  Turns  Pale. 
A.  A.  C.,  Pails,  Ont. — Two  years  ago  I  received  the 
six  hybrid  wheats  sent  out  by  The  R.  N.-Y.,  and 
planted  them  as  directed,  but  only  two  varieties 
wintered  satisfactorily — the  Willets  and  Johnson. 
These  two  I  again  planted  a  year  ago  ;  they  wintered 
well  and  gave  good  returns  this  fall,  but  I  was  some¬ 
what  surprised  to  find  that  the  Johnson  had  changed 
from  amber  to  white.  The  soil  was  a  good  sandy 
loam. 
Ans. — Slight  changes  in  color  are  often  caused  by 
changes  of  soil  or  climate,  or  both.  This  change 
seems  more  pronounced  than  any  we  have  noticed 
from  such  causes. 
What  Is  A  Good  Gooseberry  ? 
M.  M. ,  Marlboro,  N.  Y. — Is  there  any  gooseberry 
better  than  the  Downing?  Now  that  we  have  to  spray 
so  many  of  the  fruits  the  matter  of  mildew  is  not  so 
great  an  objection,  but  to  prevent  injury  from  it  is  quite 
expensive. 
Ans. — In  so  far  as  quality  is  concerned,  Downing 
is  among  the  best;  but  is  not  large  enough.  From  ex¬ 
perience  The  R.  N.-Y.  is  inclined  to  rank  the  Columbus 
as,  all  things  considered,  the  best  gooseberry  for  mar¬ 
ket  in  which  size  is  of  the  first  importance.  The  qual¬ 
ity  of  Columbus  is  fair;  the  size  ranks  with  the  foreign 
sorts  and  thus  far  the  bush  (as  well  as  the  berry)  is 
free  of  mildew. 
MISCELLANEOUS. 
The  Bose  Pear  Is  “  Boss.” — O.  W.  M.,  Orange  County, 
N.  Y. — The  Rural  speaks  highly  of  the  Bose  Pear. 
Would  it  be  a  profitable  one  to  plant  ? 
R.  N.-Y. — We  think  so.  To-day  (October  18)  the 
Bose  pear  is  quoted  in  New  York  markets  at  from  $  > 
to  $7  per  barrel,  and  is  as  salable  as  any  variety  w  e 
have.  The  only  other  sort  which  is  selling  at  as  high 
a  price  at  present  is  the  Seckel,  but  that  pear  does  not 
average  as  high  as  does  the  Bose.  The  Bose  keeps 
well  for  several  weeks  after  picking,  and  is,  moreover, 
so  large  and  handsome  and  of  such  fine  quality  that  it 
is  always  among  t1  e  highest  in  the  market. 
