1891 
THE RURAL NEW-YORKER 
747 
SQUARE BUSINESS IN THE 
“OBLONG VALLEY.” 
( Continued .) 
give it In full: “ The cows shall not be fed 
on feed which will impart a disagreeable 
flavor to the milk, or upon any feed which 
will not produce milk of standard richness, 
namely, turnips, barley sprouts, brewery 
or distilled grains, linseed meal, glucose 
refuse, starch refuse, or any damaged feed 
or ensilage." 
The only items I object to in this clause 
are the linseed meal and ensilage. I asked 
Mr. Bishop why he objected to the latter. 
“ It’s a poor thing,” he replied, “ to make 
condensed milk. When we received milk 
from cows fed on ensilage, there was so 
much acid in the milk that the verdigris 
ran down the sides of the copper kettles.” 
“What is the trouble with linseed 
meal f ” 
“I don’t know. We had trouble last 
winter. Many of our patrons were feeding 
linseed meal and refuse of other kinds, 
and we were obliged to stop the use of these 
foods also.” 
As nearly as I could find out, the trouble 
from ensilage came in this way : Seven or 
eight, years ago this part of Dutchess 
County was the first to build silos. They 
were built of stone. The corn was grown 
as large and thick as it could stand in the 
field. It never bore any ears, never ma¬ 
tured, and was put into the silo in a soft, 
green condition. Of course it fermented 
and spoiled, and the milk was not good. 
The condensary people had trouble with it, 
and having had no further experience with 
ensilage or silos, properly managed, still 
conclude that they don’t want Ensilage 
milk. 
The check on the use of linseed meal is, I 
am sure, due to a little error. Feed was 
dear last year, and the farmers, or some of 
them, used glucose and starch refuse. Con¬ 
siderable linseed meal was also used. The 
glucose gave trouble, and the factory, not 
knowing just what caused it, concluded, 
like a puzzled doctor, to insist on a good al¬ 
lopathic prescription, and excluded linseed 
meal with the really objectionable foods. 
This error can easily be remedied another 
year ; and from what I saw of Mr. Bishop 
I think he will readily reconsider the lin¬ 
seed meal matter if asked to do so by his 
patrons. This food is certainly wholesome 
and nutritious, and is an article to be 
recommended rather than forbidden. 
Good, sound, well-matured ensilage, 
would be found equally valuable : but as 
there is no safe guarantee that some one 
would not be careless in the matter of 
growing or storing the ensilage, and as the 
damaged stuff is injurious to the quality 
of the goods turned out at the factory, the 
management may be justified, until they 
get a proper guarantee, in insisting that it 
shall not be fed to cows whose product 
they receive. No such objection, however, 
can be urged against linseed meal. 
Altogether, the factory is a model. It is 
in the hands of responsible business men, 
and is a valuable Institution to the town 
and the farming community in the Oblong 
Valley. _ _ j. j. d. 
Poultry Yard. 
ADVICE FROM A POULTRY EXPERT. 
I was greatly interested in reading the 
article by C. H. Wyckoff in The R. N.-Y., 
of August 29. Will he kindly inform me 
what his chicken houses cost and give a gen¬ 
eral plan and description of the materials 
used ? What is a good incubator and what 
would it cost ? What kind of fence does he 
use around his park ? What advice would 
he give a new beginner ? What is his opin¬ 
ion of Plymouth Rocks ? Are they good 
general-purpose fowls l H. c. R. 
Bedford, Ohio. 
ANSWERED BY C. H. WYCKOFF. 
I refer H. C. R. to The Rural of March 
21, 1891, page 239, for the size and descrip¬ 
tion of the hen houses used by me. They 
are built of the best quality of hemlock 
with roofs of pine shingles. The frame¬ 
work is all 2x4 scantling, except the sills, 
which are 4x4. The prices of the building 
materials vary greatly in different locali¬ 
ties, still one can easily figure the cost 
after getting the prices of materials, etc. 
here. Mine cost about $100 for the materials 
in one house and the fencing of two parks. 
I did the work myself and kept no account 
of the time. For the park fences I used 
chestnut posts set 12 feet apart; 2x4 
hemlock for the railiDgs, and lx2>£ inch 
hemlock pickets six feet high pointed 
at the top, nailed to the railings 2% inches 
apart. The railings were wired to the posts 
so that they could be driven down when 
raised by frosts; also for convenience in 
replacing the old with new ones when neces¬ 
sary. 
I do not consider myself competent 
to name the best incubator. I am greatly 
in favor of using incubators where much 
hatching is to be done, and believe there are 
several good ones on the market. All of 
them, however, require a considerable 
amount of study and skill in the operator 
to get good results. One must not buy an 
incubator expecting that the machine will 
do everything. He will meet with dis¬ 
appointment If he does. I would advise 
a new beginner in any branch of tne poultry 
business to “go slow” and learn from prac¬ 
tical experience; for while much can be 
learned by reading and obtaining the advice 
of others, nothing short of close personal 
application to the work will secure the best 
results. I have no doubt that the Plymouth 
Rocks come as near to being general pur¬ 
pose fowls as any breed we have. I am not 
a believer, however, in trying to combine 
all of the good qualities in one breed, as I 
am sure better results can be obtained by 
selecting and breeding for one especial 
purpose. _ _ 
Progress 
HOW THE WORLD’S METHODS ARE 
CHANGING. 
Electric Railroads for the Country. 
—At Cleveland, Ohio, an electric road is 
projected to run 20 miles, touching five 
towns and eight post offices that have been 
leR high an I dry by the old steam rail¬ 
roads. This road will be equipped with 
freight cars of a carrying capacity of five 
tons or more each for the special handling 
of farm products. Around other cities, not¬ 
ably Boston and Minneapolis, similar roads 
are being built. This use of electric roads 
for farm work is destined to be enormous. 
At the present time the state of the vast 
majority of our rural highways is such as 
to render transportation a frightful tax 
upon production. But nothing Is easier 
than to track and wire these roads, furnish 
them with motor trucks upon which the 
farm wagons can be run fully loaded, and 
then turn on the current at stated inter¬ 
vals from the power house In the nearest 
town or at the nearest water power. These 
electric roads will continue running 
through the winter and spring months 
when the ordinary dirt roads are utterly 
impassable and when the multitudes of 
draft horses kept by the farmers are simply 
eating their heads off in idleness. Between 
the writer’s place and the New York mar¬ 
ket is a stretch of bad road that cuts the 
load down 33}£ per cent. That is, it requires 
three horses to haul a load that two can 
easily haul after they reach the “ turnpike.” 
It would pay our farmers well if they could 
drive on to an electric truck and have the 
horses and load hauled quickly to the city. 
We could in this way make two or even 
three trips a day. This thing is coming 
simply because it must. 
Fighting Bogus Butter.— An “Inter 
national Agricultural Congress ” has just 
been held at the Hague, Holland. One of 
the chief topics discussed was the best 
means for suppressing the sale of oleomar¬ 
garine or, as they called It, “ bosh ” butter. 
The congress finally proposed that an in¬ 
ternational agreement should be made that 
would enable the authorities to prosecute 
in each country the accomplices in the act 
of adulteration discovered in any one of 
the countries bound by the agreement. 
Fertilizers were afterwards added to the 
list of articles named to be subjected to 
such treatment. The trouble now is that 
while dealers in England and France can be 
fined, the manufacturers in Holland go 
free. Consul Gardner reports from Hol¬ 
land that 165,000,000 pounds of “bosh” 
butter were made in that country during 
1890. He also says: “ Consciously or ig¬ 
norantly, in European countries, and, I 
think, also in the United States, a very large 
percentage of the less well-to-do people 
must eat substitute butter. I have official 
statistics before me as I write which show, 
after a trifle of computation, that if all the 
milk of all the cows in Great Britain were 
devoted to butter making, the utmost pos¬ 
sible average product of a year would be 
just four ounces per week per head of pop¬ 
ulation.” 
It seems that the European manufacture 
of bogus butter is settling in Holland. In 
1890 that country bought 93,240,600 pounds 
of American oleo oil to be made into the 
“ bosh ” stuff. The demand for our oleo 
oil is increasing rapidly, so rapidly in fact, 
that it might all be shipped abroad to ad¬ 
vantage without making a single pound of 
“ bosh ” butter here. 
Insect vs. Insect.— The Californians a 
few years since were in despair at the dam¬ 
age done by the cottony scale insect. 
Human efforts seemed unavailing to exter¬ 
minate the pest. It was learned that a para 
site—the Australian lady-bug—liked noth¬ 
ing better than a square meal on these 
scale insects. The lady-bugs have now 
about exterminated the scale insects, sav¬ 
ing the State fully $20,000,000 a year. Prof. 
Koebele has now been sent to Australia 
for other useful parasites, onte in particular 
being an “ insect which attaches itself to 
the grasshopper and lays its eggs beneath 
the skin of that pest. When these eggs are 
hatched, the resultant insect bores its 
way into the vitals of the grasshopper, 
with fatal results. So rapidly do the para¬ 
sites breed that all that is necessary is to 
introduce a few of them where the grass¬ 
hoppers are plentiful, and in a short time 
the latter will disappear.” We should cer¬ 
tainly think it would have small use for 
life after such an operation. The fact is 
that the prospects for combatting injurious 
insects with parasite s or contagious diseases 
have greatly improved during the past 
few years. 
Rapid Trains and Telegraphs.— We 
wish one of the old pioneers who traveled 
by ox team from Albany to Buffalo could 
have gone on a recent trial fast train over 
the New York Central Railroad. A total 
journey of 436 miles was performed In a 
little over 425 minutes, including stops and 
changes. The big railroad lines are al¬ 
ready in training for the World’s Fair 
traffic. New engines, new cars and, if need 
be, new tracks will be devised—anything 
that will safely shorten the running time 
between Chicago and the seaboard. The 
thing needed most is a more powerful en¬ 
gine-one with boilers better able to gener¬ 
ate and maintain steam. It is the main 
effort of railroad engineers to build such 
boilers. Another wonderful thing is the 
writing telegraph. By means of this, writ¬ 
ing and drawing may be exactly duplicated 
at a distance of 500 miles just as accurate 
No. 1.—A genuine New York Standard move¬ 
ment: 7 Jewels, safety pinion, com¬ 
pensation balance, stem wind and set; 
In a solid nickel sliver case, open face; 
a really excellent watch and far su¬ 
perior to any other cheap watch 
we have seen (two years).$ 8.50 
No. 2.—Same movement as No. 1, In gold-filled 
case, 15-year guarantee, open face 
(three years). 15.00 
No 8.—Same as No. 2, hunting case (three 
years). .... 17.00 
No 4.—Same movement as No. 1, In a solid gold 
14k. hunting case, weighing 40 dwt. 
(live years). 39.50 
RURAL SPECIAL BARGAINS. 
No 5.—A genuineWaltham movement; 7 Jewels, 
compensation balance, safety pinion, 
stem wind and set; In a solid nickel- 
silver case, open face (two years). 9.50 
No. 6.—Same movement as No. 5, In gold filled 
case, guaranteed to wear 15 years, 
open face (three years. 16.50 
No. 7.—Same movement as No. 5, In hunting case 
same as No. 6 (three years).18.50 
No. 8.—Same movement as No. 5, In solid 14k. 
gold hunting case, weighing 40 dwt. 
(five years).42.00 
No 9.—A genuine Waltham full Jewel move¬ 
ment, compensation balance, safety 
pinion, stem wind and set, patent reg¬ 
ulator, Breguet hair spring, hardened 
and tempered In form, In open face, 
nickel-silver case two years). 13.00 
^ sounds are now sent through the tele¬ 
phone. Many electrical experts claim that 
this writing telegraph will do entirely 
away with the present system—for short 
distances at least. Now If our patent laws 
were such that the government could se¬ 
cure control of this system and use It for 
the benefit of the people ! 
How to Multiply Plants. 
How to Graft. 
How to Bud. 
How to Seed. 
How to Inarch. 
How to Increase by Cuttings. 
How to Increase by Layers. 
How to Increase by Separation. 
How to Hybridize. 
How to Produce New Varieties. 
How to Propagate over 2,000 
varieties of shrubs, trees and her¬ 
baceous or softestemmed plants: the 
process for each being fully described. 
All this and much more is 
fully told in 
The Nursery Book. 
A new book, by L. H. Bailey, 
assisted by several of the most 
skillful propagators in the 
world. In fact, it is a careful 
compendium of the best prac¬ 
tice in all countries. It con¬ 
tains 107 illustrations, 
showing methods, processes 
and appliances. 
Over 300 pages. 16mo. Price, library 
style, cloth, wide margins, $1.00; Pocket 
style, paper, narrow margins, 50 cents. 
THE RURAL PUBLISHING CO.. 
No. 12.—Same movement as No. 9, In solid 14k 
gold hunting case weighing 40 dwt. 
A very handsome watch (five years).. 45.00 
LADIES’ SIZE. 
No. 13.—A genuine Waltham ladies’ watch with 
Jewels, compensation balance and 
safety pinion, stem wind and set; In a 
solid coin silver case (four j ears). 14 50 
No. 14.—Same move 
ment as No. 13, In 
a 15 year guaran¬ 
teed g o 1 d- H 11 e d 
hunting case (four 
years).$19.25 
!o. 15.-A beautiful 
11 Jewel move¬ 
ment, full nickel, 
In a handsomely 
engraved hunting 
case made of 14k. 
U. S. Assay solid 
gold, usual retail 
price from $50 to 
$75. One of the 
prettiest watches 
for a lady that we 
have ever seen. 
The Illustration 
shows the case In 
exact size and 
style (five years) 
.$29.00 
The watches we sent to our subscribers on our previous offers have surprised us 
greatly. 1, As to the high-grade demanded in most cases; cheap watches were not 
wanted. 2, On account of the great number called for. Only one or two complaints have 
reached us, and many have expressed great satisfaction with the watches received. 
We send the watches prepaid by registered mail to any part of the United States. 
Watches sent to Canada are subject, of course, to Custom House restrictions. 
THE RURAL PUBLISHING CO., Times Building, New York. 
Times Buildinar, New York. 
FREE Subscriptions 
/, 2, j, 4 or 5 Years. 
Our Watch offers have been so exceedingly popular that we believe the following 
combinations with subscriptions will meet with quick favor. These watches, as before, 
we believe, are as good as can be produced, and at 25 to 50 per cent below the prices 
usually charged by retail jewelers. 
Our object in making these offers Is to give our subscribers good watches at low 
prices, to advertise The Rural New-Yorker, and to get new subscribers. 
The subscriptions are given for the number of years mentioned in parentheses, thus 
(three years), which indicates that for the price named you get the watch described and also 
a free subscription for the period named. Your own subscription can be continued for the 
time mentioned, or, if preferred, new subscriptions will be taken to correspond. That is, 
on a three years’ offer, your own subscription may be continued for one year, and we will 
also send the paper for a year (or from receipt of order to end of 1892) to two new names 
which you may send us, to whom you will have sold the subscriptions. 
|J3F* At the same time you are (jetting both watch and subscriptions at 
considerably less than the retail price oj’ the watch alone. 
MEN’S SIZE8. No. 10.-Same movement as No. 9, In gold filled 
ease, guaranteed for 15 years, open 
face (two years). 18.25 
No 11—Same as No. 10, hunting ease (two years) 21.25 
