1893 
THE RURAL NEW-YORKER 
To Make a Kentucky Creamery Pay. 
F. B. L., Carlisle, Ky. —Here at Carlisle about 40 of 
us farmers have subscribed stock and are now building 
a creamery from a Chicago house and a cheese factory. 
Will The R. N.-Y. from its varied experiences give us 
a little light on the subject? At present we can supply 
milk for about one-fourth of the capacity of the fac¬ 
tory. 1. What is the best way to get the farmers 
generally to supply us with milk—by purchase at so 
much per gallon, or by taking and making butter and 
cheese and marketing it at so much per pound, giving 
them the net proceeds of the sale ? 2. If by buying 
the cream from the milk, (returning the extracted 
milk to the farmer) how much ought we pay for the 
cream so extracted ? 3. If we manufacture and sell 
the butter and cheese for the farmer, at what price 
per pound can the manufactured articles be made and 
marketed, leaving some margin for the stockholders? 
Of course, only an approximate estimate can be given, 
I suppose. 4. In any number of The R N.-Y. has the 
estimated amount received from cows supplying a 
creamery and factory been published, and what part 
of the gross receipts were profits ? All I have noticed 
in The R. N.-Y. of returns from cows seems to be from 
butter made by the dairyman himself, or the milk sup¬ 
plied to the city. 5. The Jerseys seem the rage just 
now for milk and butter, but how are they compared 
with the Guernseys ? 
Ans.—1 . This seems to be another of the thousand 
cases where a few farmers have been “ hoodwinked” 
into paying just two prices for a creamery plant, built 
by this Chicago firm, without ever considering the 
most important point, viz; is there enough milk 
obtainable to support a creamery? In my opinion 400 
cows is the least number that should induce parties to 
invest in the business, and when I say 400 I do not 
mean simply the number promised on a subscription 
paper but those whose milk is delivered at the factory. 
There is one deplorable feature about all these cases, 
and that is, that they never give the alarm or look for 
advice until this firm has them in its grasp too tightly 
to escape. This is the fourth or fifth instance of this 
very character that has come to my notice this winter, 
and this same firm has been at the bottom every time. 
I know a party who has offered to duplicate these 
same contracts at just half the price paid, yet there 
seem to be “ just as fine fish in the sea as have ever 
been caught” [by this firm). The way to get farmers 
to supply the milk is to show them that dealing with 
a creamery will pay them as well as any other method, 
and the first necessary step is to get a Babcock tester 
and pay each patron for just what he has supplied, 
then charge so much per pound for making, selling 
and all other work connected with the business, and 
the profits or loss would be determined by the amount 
of business done. If it is wholly a cooperative con¬ 
cern, each must share in the profits or losses. 2. If 
you wish to buy the cream and return the skim-milk, 
the Babcock is right “ in it,” as you can pay the value 
of one pound of marketable butter for one pound of 
butter fat as the price of making. Of course the price 
of butter would have an influence on the price of 
making, but for the year this system would give 
results not far from right. Thousands of creameries 
buy the milk outright, the price being deter¬ 
mined at stated intervals, usually every month, 
yet I think a price for making the better way ; then 
the farmer knows he is getting all there is in it. The 
price in the Western States for making butter by the 
separator system is four cents per pound; but for 
some reason the price in the Eastern States is three 
cents per pound, everything being furnished. The 
cost of selling and all work by the secretary are deter¬ 
mined also by the amount done, probably a quarter of 
a cent per pound would be the average. 4. The an¬ 
swer to this question depends entirely on too many 
considerations, such as the kind of cows and, probably 
more than anything, on the man himself. As to the 
average amount per cow delivered to the factories, 
I believe it is about 3,000 pounds for the season of six 
or seven months. As to what share of the gross re¬ 
ceipts are profits, as I have said before, this depends 
entirely on the amount of business. Thousands of 
factories have been started under similar conditions, 
where the supposed profits have been actual losses 
and business has had to be suspended, and there have 
been cases where the plant mysteriously burned down 
and the works have been closed. As to the fifth 
question, I think no one man is competent to judge 
for another as to which is the better breed, the Jersey 
or Guernsey ; but since we have the Babcock tester to 
determine our rights, there should be no mistake in 
either. a. l. wales. 
About the Black Hamburg- Grape. 
S. H. J., Mound, La. —Are grapes of the Yinifera 
type hardy enough to stand the climate here (32nd par¬ 
allel) if grown on the southern side of the house ? I 
see that Mr. Bull, who originated the Concord, say 
he grew the Black Hamburg on the side of his house 
at Concord, and in Boston. Has The Rubal ever ha6- 
any experience in growing it in this way ? When does 
the Black Hamburg ripen in relation to the Concord ? 
Ans —The Black Hamburg is medium to ripen. It 
is early, as raised under glass, as there is more heat. 
We fancy—but do not know—that where the climate 
suits Black Hamburg it would ripen later by at leas 
a week than the Concord. The R. N.-Y. has raised 
many Vinifera vines from seed. All have died of 
mildew. Their actual hardiness is not known. We 
know of instances near New York city where Vinifera 
grapes are successfully raised without heat and with 
but a partial cover, indicating that it is rather mildew 
than a tender constitution that kills them. See the 
article on this class of grapes by that excellent 
authority, E. Williams, in last week’s issue of The 
Rural. 
A Fortune in Wyoming Lambs (P) 
H. P. M., Nichols, Conn .—I have a circular about 
selling stock in a sheep range in Wyoming. It says 
the “range is free;” no “winter protection” is 
needed, and that the wool pays the cost of herding, 
while the lambs are a clear profit, giving 26 per cent 
on the capital, etc. Do you think that even in charge 
of a good manager, the facts regarding sheep raising 
in Wyoming justify the expectation that this would be 
a profitable investment, paying such a large interest ? 
Ans. —No, not by any means. You can make more 
money raising lambs in Connecticut. Every now and 
then somebody starts such a “ stock company ” for fat¬ 
tening steers or sheep on the plains. Let them alone 
and invest your money near home. 
Coal Ashes, Hauling Manure, Etc. 
D. C. A., Cattaraugus, N. Y. —1. Are coal ashes a 
good mulch for currants, raspberries and blackberries? 
2. Will it do to put wood ashes on strawberries in 
February or March ? 3. Are coal ashes good for 
meadow land, and are tan-bark ashes a good fertilizer? 
4. Which would be the better—to buy manure and 
draw it two miles, or get phosphate for onions, car¬ 
rots and other garden truck, especially Hubbard 
squashes ? I draw my manure, both solid and liquid, 
on my meadows as fast as made. 5. I want to set out 
blackberries ; had I better get sprouts of my neighbor 
for nothing, or buy of a nursery ? 6. I have half an 
acre of asparagus ; should I gather up the tops and re¬ 
move them before the seeds mature ? 
Ans. —1. Yes. 2. Yes, as soon as the snow is off. 
3. Coal ashes contain little or no fertility, yet some¬ 
times when spread on porous, open soils, they produce 
an abundant growth of grass. This is due almost en¬ 
tirely to the fact that the fine coal ashes fill up the 
pores of the soil and make it “ hold water” better, by 
preventing the excessive drainage that occurs in all 
open soils. The grass on such soils generally suffers 
more from a lack of water than from a lack of food, 
and the coal ashes simply make the soil more reten¬ 
tive of moisture. Tannery ashes are worth about the 
same as leached wood ashes—a little over $2 a ton for 
an average sample They supply lime and a small 
amount of potash and phosphoric acid. 4. We do not 
know what you have to pay for manure and there¬ 
fore cannot give a fair comparison between it and the 
fertilizer. 5. If the blackberries are the varieties you 
want, you had better get them for nothing as you can 
pick out strong plants in this way. If you do not 
know what varieties they are, you had better buy 
and make sure. 6. Yes. 
What Grasses To Sow HereP 
J. J. T., Buffalo, N. Y. —A seven-acre piece on my 
farm I would like to seed down for hay. I have tried 
clover and Timothy without success ; the former, 
although a fine catch, was completely winter-killed 
the first season, and the latter was an utter failure at 
the start. The soil is a sort of sandy clay and is quite 
dry and cracked in summer. It has a northern expos¬ 
ure and is a hill rising about half an inch to the foot* 
I propose putting on four car-loads of horse manure 
to be plowed under and sow to oats with bone and 
muriate of potash, one potash to four bone, and seed it 
down with some grasses suitable to such soil. 
Ans. — The R. N.-Y. calls for information from those 
who know. 
Getting Water to the Barn. 
R. H. T., Warren, R.I .—What would be the cheapest 
and best way of getting water to my house and barn, 
situated, say, 50 feet from a brook with a fall of 20 
feet of water. The buildings are below the brook on a 
hillside. What would be the probable expense of a 
hydraulic ram ? 
Ans. —If the buildings are below the level of the 
brook, as much even as three feet with a distance of 
50 feet, there will be no necessity for a ram, for 
merely to lay the pipes around the hill with a regular 
fall from the brook is all that is required. The cost 
of this will depend on the amount of digging that must 
be done to lay the pipes. The Wells rustless pipes, 
although of iron, may be taken around curves by mea-a 
165 
of curved joints that are supplied for the purpose. 
The pipe may cost $7 or $8. A hydraulic ram for a half¬ 
inch delivery will cost about $15. If the ground is such 
that it will be cheaper to use a pump rather than dig 
trenches for the pipes, a pump may be used, or two, 
one at the barn and the other at the house. It will 
draw the water over any intermediate elevation. 
To Try Fertilizers in Illinois. 
J. B. W., Sterling , 111. —I want to set aside five acres 
on my farm this year for potatoes, and to try some 
commercial fertilizers on them. The land with good 
cultivation will usually yield from 50 to 60 bushels of 
corn per acre, but we cannot raise over 100 to 150 
bushels of potatoes per acre. I want to double this yield 
if possible. The land had a light dressing of barnyard 
manure on the oat stubble last fall and was then plowed. 
What quantity and in what proportions would it be 
advisable to apply the fertilizers ; or would it be best 
to experiment in a small way with different propor¬ 
tions, and depend mainly on a complete fertilizer for 
potatoes ? If there are any Rural readers who have 
tried fertilizers in this part of the country, I should 
like to hear from them. 
Ans. —We would advise you to do a little experi¬ 
menting. Divide the five acres, say, into 10 parts 
and treat each differently, using at the rate of all the 
way from 500 pounds to one ton per acre. This, and 
this only, can give you trustworthy information. If 
you do not know what plant food your soil most needs, 
the safest way would be to use a potato fertilizer 
which of course would be a “complete” one. We 
would advise you, however, to experiment in a small 
way with the several ingredients separately and in the 
several combinations of which they are capable. 
Sweet Corn. 
C. F. S., Houghton, N. Y. —1. What varieties of sweet 
corn give the largest yield per acre in weight as usually 
picked for canning purposes ? Will Stowell’s Ever¬ 
green mature sufficiently for picking in this latitude ? 
2. Which is the better method of culture for largest 
returns, hills or drills, and how far apart should it be 
planted? 3. How long can sweet corn be grown pro¬ 
fitably on the same piece of ground using phosphates 
in hills ? My soil is Genesee river flats. 
Ans —1. We would mention Hickox, Old Colony, 
Asylum, Stowell’s Evergreen, and Mammoth Sugar. 
Ne Plus Ultra (Country Gentleman), is a magnificent 
variety for canning, but the canners have not found 
it out; the quality is excellent. Stowell’s is a favorite 
at present and will no doubt mature with you. Con¬ 
cord is one of the best yielders and the ears are large. 
The factory will probably furnish seed of best varie¬ 
ties, but just what will succeed best, and give best yields 
on any particular soil can be determined only by trial. 
The later kinds give heaviest yields. 2. Drills. The 
taller varieties should be planted three and a-half to 
four feet by one foot. 3. For many years if well fed. 
In the usual way, however, clover and grass should 
intervene in the rotation. “ Phosphates in the hills” 
does not mean much. Corn needs broadcast manur¬ 
ing, using, if one likes, fertilizers or manure in the 
hill as starters. 
MISCELLANEOUS. 
A Fertilizing Strawberry .—C. S., Curtis’ Corner, Me. 
—Try the Burt as a strawberry for fertilizing the 
Crescent. 
Gladstone Raspberry.— W. D. E., Platteville, Colo.— 
Owing to anthracnose, we cannot speak of the Glad¬ 
stone from our own experience. 
Spraying Potatoes.— J. M., Intercourse, Pa.—All the 
experiments made go to show that spraying is advis¬ 
able. We should prefer the mist spray. 
Largest Nursery, Etc.—A.. J., St. Louis County, Mo.— 
We do not know, but we think Stephen Hoyt’s Sons of 
New Canaan, Conn., have more land in actual nursery 
stock than any other firm. John Saul is at Washing¬ 
ton, D. C. 
To Reach the Dairy Commissioner .—Sardinia, N. Y.— 
A communication addressed to the Dairy Commis¬ 
sioner, Albany, N. Y., will reach him, and any com¬ 
munication, it is assumed, will receive attention, 
either personally, or through some of his subordin¬ 
ates. 
Thompson's Red Raspberry.— A. L., Pine City, N. Y.— 
The R. N.-Y. is trying this. It is much like the 
Brandywine in most respects. The color is bright, 
the berry of medium size. It is a few days earlier 
than Brandywine—as early as Uansell, but a stronger 
grower and more prolific. 
Club Root in Cabbage.— S. S., Freeville, N. Y.—The 
cause of club root in cabbage is an insect. Among 
market gardeners in this locality a heavy dressing of 
lime in fall and spring is used. It is best not to plant 
two years in succession on the same land. Alternate 
with other crops. The Flat Dutch is probably as good 
as any for a general crop for winter, though it is well 
to try some of the new kinds in a small way. 
