346 
THE RURAL NEW-YORKER. 
May 20 
and more uniform in temperature. A thermometer 
should be hung inside and the air should be kept at 
95 to 100 degrees the first week, and at not less than 
90 degrees at any time. If too warm, the chicks can 
go outside or out into the feeding room, but if too 
cold they will crowd and smother each other, and die 
from diarrhea. Let them be so warm that they will 
keep apart; use sand or earth on the bottom of the 
brooder; clean out often, and with vigorous chicks 
all should be raised. c. e. chapman. 
THE BEST YEARLING DAIRY HEIFER. 
THE MAN’S PART OK THE JOB 
Begin Before the Calf is Born. 
What food and care will produce the best yearling 
heifer at the least cost, is a question which will always 
interest the breeder. A breeder who has during the 
last 15 years raised something over 300 calves from all 
sorts of cows, and who has, all told, lost but three 
head, gives his ideas founded on experience. 
“ What do you feed first ? ” 
“ Clover hay or pasture, and a fair allowance of 
grain.” 
“ What! to a calf just born ? ” 
“ Well, no ; that ration is for the calf in part, and 
before it is born ; in other words, I feed the cow that 
she may produce a good, strong, healthy subject for 
me to work on, and most of my calves get upon their 
feet unaided within 10 minutes after birth.” 
“ Ilow long do you let a calf suck the cow ? ” 
“ Not at all if I can help it. Sometimes a calf is 
born in the night, or by some chance I do not know of 
its birth for some hours, and such a thing sucks the 
cow just once, but I am generally on hand at every 
birth. No; I teach the little creatures to drink at 
once, and I have only two or three times failed to have 
them drink at the first trial ; then I know just what 
quantity each calf gets, and I can control the bowels 
by the temperature of the milk. To loosen the bowels 
I give the milk not quite so warm, and for an opposite 
effect I give it somewhat warmer than usual, and less 
of it.” 
“ How much do you give at a feed and how often ? 
“ That depends on the calf. The very first time, 
few calves drink over a quart, but for the first three 
weeks, three pints to two quarts at a feed, three times 
a day work well with me. Then I drop to two feeds 
a day and divide the day’s mess, and add sweet skim- 
milk to the above quantity of whole milk as the calf 
requires a larger mess. When it is about eight weeks 
old I begin grain feed. I take half a teacupful of oat¬ 
meal to two quarts of water, let it cook slowly on the 
back of the stove until "cooked to death,” it will then 
have become glutinous and there will be enough for 
two feeds. It should be mixed with the milk and the 
calf will drink it and lick out the pail to get it all. 
Right here let me say, the feeding pail should be 
scalded and washed out quite as thoroughly as any 
article about the dairy, and be well aired. I use tin 
pails as it is much easier to keep them clean and 
sweet. I increase the quantity of skim-milk and oat¬ 
meal gradually as the calf grows. When about two 
weeks old most calves will eat a little hay, and there 
should always be some where they can get it. Do not 
overfeed ; more calves die from this cause than any 
other. A fat calf, dead, is not so valuable as a living 
one nor quite so thrifty, especially if you want to raise 
it. I know many will not agree with me when I say, 
by all means, keep the calves indoors on hay over the 
first summer, unless six months or more old when grass 
comes in the spring. Grass may be "natural,” but we 
can sometimes improve on Nature. I keep them in 
small box stalls or pens about six by eight or more 
feet, and they will get exercise enough, and not run 
the flesh off as fast as I put it on. Keep the floor dry 
with plenty of bedding. Every time I clean out a calf 
pen or stall, I dust the floor with plaster or air-slaked 
lime, before putting in the fresh bedding. When they 
are three or four months old, I take my calves and 
with a good leather collar on, tie them in a regular 
cow stall, built their size, and as they grow, move 
them along to larger stalls. They are easier fed, and 
the necessary cleanliness is secured with much less 
labor when they are in stalls and tied, but they seem 
to get a better start when allowed the freedom of a 
small box stall for the first few weeks. I always keep 
a lump of rook salt in every manger, and as soon as a 
calf is large enough to tie, it will generally lick it some. 
Another point: notice often the neck strap, and let 
it out a hole occasionally as the calf grows. I brush 
my calves and keep them free from filth, and they 
seem to enjoy it as much as the cows do.” 
No Case of Scours in Ours. 
"Do your calves never have scours or other troubles?” 
" Sometimes, but the trouble can nearly always be 
traced to some careless act. To illustrate: The first 
calf I ever lost got inflammation of the bowels from a 
cold, wet bed, and died in a few hours. The next 
the man forgot to feed it in the morning, and at night 
gave it a double quantity, and, worse, being in a hurry, 
did not warm it, thinking just one cold mess would do 
no harm ; the calf died in great pain within 20 min¬ 
utes. The last was given a feed out of a pail which 
had not been washed and in which there was a little 
sour milk. The result was a case of scours which was 
fatal in less than two days.” 
“ What treatment do you find best for scours ? ” 
" I decrease the quantity of milk, feed it as hot as 
the calf will take it, add from one to three raw eggs, 
according to the age of the calf, and, in severe cases, 
give from 15 drops to a teaspoonful of laudanum every 
four hours. Once a calf was taken ill when I was away 
from home, and when I returned it was passing clear 
Outline of Home-Made Brooder. Fig 127. 
blood. For this case—a calf six months old—I boiled 
some oil meal to a mucilage, and gave a pint warm, to 
coat the raw intestines, after each feed, and I fed a 
quart of boiled whole milk and three raw eggs every 
six hours, and every four hours a teaspoonful of lauda¬ 
num, gradually tapering off, and the calf was taking 
its regular mess in about four days.” 
" What caused so severe a case ? ” 
“ No one knew ; every one insisted that the calf had 
its regular mess as I ordered ; that it just got sick and 
got worse.” 
" What do you do for bloat ? ” 
" The only serious case I ever had was a yearling 
heifer; cause, too much wet clover. She got down, 
and seemingly died, anyway she stopped breathing. 
I was away. My men thought they could not make it 
any worse, and cut through the side into the stomach 
with a penknife, letting out the gas; the result was 
she was up and chewing her cud before night.” 
" How long do you feed milk ? ” 
"If I have it, or can get it at a fair price, I always 
feed skim-milk until a heifer is nine or ten months 
old, or refuses it, up to 20 quarts or even more a day, 
and find it pays. I give dry feed when I stop the milk, 
and substitute water for their drink.” 
" I notice your cattle are very tame.” 1 
" Well, why not ? No one abuses them; they are 
all cleaned and used to men around them daily. Then, 
all are halter-broken while small and are easily man¬ 
aged, and any animal broken to lead well is worth 
dollars more on that account. F. m. carryl. 
VIEWS OF A SUCCESSFUL ILLINOIS CORN 
GROWER. 
It is easy enough to see if a farmer is prosperous or 
not. His surroundings give him away ; and his per¬ 
sonal appearance does the same thing. The farmer 
who is successful in his calling wears a naturally enter¬ 
prising business air which instantly impresses one with 
the idea that he is a master of his art, while his build¬ 
ings, fences, stock, etc., proclaim the fact in an unmis¬ 
takable manner. There is no affectation of spread- 
eagleism about him ; but that plain, impressive busi¬ 
ness air noted in the eminent lawyer and skillful 
physician, is in every movement. He has confidence 
in himself. He is an " Eli,” a winner, and he knows 
it; and, without being conscious of it, he shows it in 
his bearing. I met one of these men a few days ago, 
and, knowing him to be an eminently successful corn 
grower, I interviewed him on the subject. It will be 
noted that his replies to my interrogations are straight 
to the point, and, while some of his practices are not 
exactly in accord with those of some other good 
farmers, the fact that he has made considerable money 
by growing corn must give his "testimony” great 
weight. 
“ What kind of land is your first choice for corn ?” 
I asked. 
“ Blue grass sod that has been pastured several 
years.” 
" Next ? ” 
" Wheat stubble top-dressed with manure the pre¬ 
vious autumn.” 
"Third?” 
" Clover sod.” 
•" How do you prepare these lands for corn ? ” 
" I plow six inches deep in October, and again in 
spring three inches deep. If the soil has not been 
beaten down hard by heavy rains after the frost came 
out, I prefer to disc-harrow instead of plowing, and 
plant close after the disc.” 
" How far apart are the rows ? ” 
" Three feet eight inches.” 
" How far apart are the hills in the rows ? ” 
" The same distance, and we put three to four grains 
to the hill. I try to get three stalks in every hill, and 
usually succeed.” 
" Do you harrow ? ” 
“ Yes ; within three days after planting, before the 
grain sprouts, I run over the land with a light, fine¬ 
toothed harrow.” 
" Do you harrow after the corn is up ? ” 
"No. I think it does more harm than good.” 
" What tools do you use in cultivating ? ” 
"Two-horse cultivators with narrow shovels that 
stir all the soil between the rows.” 
" When do you begin cultivating ? ” 
" Very soon after the corn is up.” 
“ How often do you go over the land ? ” 
“ Five to ten times. We keep moving lively as long 
as we can straddle the rows.” 
" Deep or shallow?” 
“ Fully four inches deep the first time, and after 
that as near to two inches as the cultivator will run. 
I aim to keep all of the surface of the ground perfectly 
loose and mellow as long as possible.” 
" Do you cut any corn for feed ? ” 
" Yes, some. It is cut just as the grain is harden¬ 
ing, and the shocks are made 16 hills square.” 
" What do you consider the fodder worth?” 
“ Two or three dollars per acre.” 
" When do you husk?” 
"I begin as soon as the corn is ripe and fairly dry 
and get it all in before Christmas.” 
’" What do you consider a good yield?” 
" Eighty bushels per acre.” 
" When do you sell?” 
" That depends on the market and crop conditions. 
I usually sell about half the crop by February, the 
rest some time the following summer.” 
" What varieties are best ?” 
" Yellow dent for feeding ; large white dent for 
market. White brings a cent or two more per bushel 
than yellow because much of it is ground for food, 
and to be mixed with the lower grades of flour. In 
feeding I get slightly better results from yellow, while 
it usually keeps best in the crib.” 
" When do you select seed?” 
" When husking. I then get just what I want, and 
without loss of time. It is thoroughly dried and then 
stored in a dry place, and every grain grows and sends 
up a strong plant. There is no ‘chance’ or ‘guess’ 
about my seed corn. I know that every kernel I put 
in the ground will grow. I get good crops because I 
fit the ground properly, plant reliable seed and culti¬ 
vate thoroughly. There’s no secret about it! ” 
Christian County, Ill. fred grundy. 
AN OHIO CELERY KING. 
NO KNEE SERYIGE TO WEED OR BANK. 
Historic Ground for a Celery Bed. 
In Ross County, O., abutting up against the rising 
elevation on which the historical town of old Chilli- 
cothe stands, is a narrow strip of land lying in an 
angle formed by the rising of the land to the west and 
north, which, by its peculiar mucky nature is particu¬ 
larly adapted to the growth of celery. At present 
about 14 acres are reclaimed and'used in growing 
celery and other vegetables. There are a few acres 
more lying to the east not yet reclaimed from the 
water and frogs. This reclaimed land is cultivated 
by Mr. T. O. Miller, who has justly received the name 
of Celery King of Southern Ohio. The soil is so light 
and dark when dry that it resembles chimney sweep¬ 
ings, and, when thrown up in heaps exposed to the 
air, a white alkaline substance forms on the surface. 
In the part of the swamp yet unreclaimed in many 
places a fence rail 11 feet in length can be forced down 
its full length into the muck and water. The reclaim¬ 
ing is slow work, as the soil, when the water is first 
taken out, is too light; but with use it constantly im¬ 
proves, so that it is better each year for the growth of 
celery. Between this celery land and the streets to 
