1894 
THE RURAL NEW-YORKER. 
2i5 
“ Well, he does,” said Mr. Carll, “ and he gets all he 
can eat to pay for it. I know well enough what he 
earns, for I ran that separator myself twice a day for 
two years.” 
“ Have you tried other animals in the power ? ” 
“Yes, we have tried calves, but they are not so good 
as the goat. They dirty things all up, and will not 
work so steadily as a sheep or a goat ” 
“ Do you use the goat for churning, too ? ” 
“ No, that would be too heavy work for him. It 
needs two good men on our churn. What I need is a 
little oil or hot-air engine to do all such work as well 
as cutting ensilage and stalks. Until we can get that, 
the goat and myself will have to furnish a good deal 
of the power.” 
“ The separator pays, then, does it?” 
“ Pays ^ Well, I should say so 1 We would be just 
swamped without it I Here our cows have given nearly 
300 pounds of milk to-day. Think of lugging that 
around in pans or cans. If you spent a whole day 
skimming a single pan, you wouldn’t get all the cream. 
The first week after buying that separator, we made 
26 pounds of butter more than was made the previous 
week from the same cows, and the quality was better. 
You have timed the running of the separator ; look on 
the slate and see how much milk has run through.” 
The goat worked just 27 minutes. The slate showed 
that the cows gave 147 pounds of milk—the record for 
both milkings for the day showing 297 pounds, with 17 
cows giving milk. In other words, before the men 
were fairly done milking, the cream was all out of the 
milk. The one to best appreciate the saving in pans, 
labor and time by this process is the dairyman who 
tries to handle that weight of milk in the old way. 
“ Have you tested the skim-milk to see if the butter 
fat has all been taken out?” I asked as the goat backed 
out of the power. 
“ Yes, we have tested it by both the Cochran and cat 
tests ! The Cochran test is said to be even more accu¬ 
rate than the Babcock, but the amount of fat it shows 
in our skim-milk is too small to be registered.” 
“ What do you call the ‘ cat test ’ ? ” 
“ Well, we used to have a hired man who liked to 
take skim-milk home. That left in our old deep cans 
suited him first rate. After we got the separator, he 
took some home as usual, but never brought his pail 
the second time. ‘ Don’t you want any more skim- 
milk ? ’ I asked. ‘ Not much,’ he said ; ‘ the skim-milk 
out of that thing is so poor the cat won’t eat it! ’ You 
can’t cheat a cat on milk and she pays the separator a 
big compliment when she turns up her nose at the 
skim-milk.” 
The cream from the 147 pounds of milk weighed just 
20 pounds. It was put in a deep pail and carried to 
the dairy house and put in a tank through which cold 
spring water constantly runs. No ice is used in this 
dairy. In the meantime, a pail of hot water had been 
run through the separator to clean it. We were now 
ready for the last feeding. 
The Cows, What They Eat and What They Do. 
As soon as he had milked his cows, one of the hired 
men climbed into the silo and threw out the night’s 
feeding of ensilage. At the first scent of it, the cows 
pricked up their ears in eagerness. Mr. Carll is a 
pioneer in the use of his three specialties, silo, sepa¬ 
rator and “ starter.” When he fixst built the silo 
“ everybody ” thought he was on the straight road to 
ruin. People came to see him filling the silo and went 
off saying : “ I hate to see good com spoiled that way. 
It will just rot and be good for nothing.” It didn’t 
rot, and to-day Mr. Carll says he could not possibly 
run his herd without the silo. It was just the same 
with the separator. Farmers who had all their lives 
fed their cows on sun-cured corn, and left the cream 
to rise itself in pans and cans, honestly believed that 
there were no other possible ways, and they can hardly 
believe yet the evidence of their own eyesight. There 
are two ways of dealing with a new idea : One is to 
sit down and growl because it upsets the old order of 
things and the other is to accept it cheerfully and set 
up a new order of things. That is what Mr. Carll did. 
When he found that others were praising the silo and 
the separator, he investigated them and saw that the 
principles on which they were operated were true. 
But, just as he says about the separator: “ It is a 
good machine, but it will not run itself. A man must 
be enough of a mechanic to run it properly. ” So it is 
with everything. Some men would make a perfect 
failure even with that goat—because they would not 
use judgment and patience. Let no man think that 
he can run and buy the cows and implements named 
in these articles and then plunge in to make good but¬ 
ter. There is something more than that. The man 
must master the machine. 
When I visited the farm they were milking 17 cows. 
Later, at my request, Mr. Carll made a complete 
week’s test of the 16 cows then in milk. Here is his 
statement. Nothing exactly like it has ever been 
printed before: 
Test of herd for one week, beginning January 26, 
ending February 1,1894, 16 cows’ milking. Cowslip due 
to calve February 21. Clover due to calve April 28. 
Jenny and Runaway Gem milking with first calves. 
Each cow in the herd is probably with calf. They 
were fed during the test as usual, rye feed, 1 pound, 
corn meal, 1 pound, wheat bran, 4 pounds, and malt 
sprouts, 2>^ pounds, making a grain ration of nine 
pounds each per day. In connection with this, they 
were fed 25 pounds of corn ensilage, 5 pounds of dry 
corn stalks (cut) and 6 pounds of hay per day : 
Pounds of 
milk for Pounds of 
Per cent one pound butter for 
Pounds of of fat of butter by one week 
Name of 
milk for 
Cochran 
Cochran’s 
by Coch- 
one week. 
test. 
calculation. 
ran’s test. 
Dora. 
. i:«.60 
5.00 
18.02 
7.50 
Cowslip. 
. 49 00 
6.C0 
15.29 
3.20 
Dove. 
5.00 
18.02 
7.00 
Nellie. 
5.70 
16. IS 
9,11 
Lady Dana. 
6 00 
15 29 
9.84 
.Tannette. 
4.,80 
21.50 
7.81 
Lady Bird. 
. 150.50 
5.50 
16.69 
9.01 
Lady Bug. 
. 171.fO 
5.60 
16 40 
10.45 
Bess. 
. 94 50 
6.10 
15 04 
6.28 
Eva. 
. 182.00 
4.70 
19.60 
9.28 
Florinda. 
5.50 
16.69 
8.S8 
Mollte . 
5 50 
16 69 
5 87 
Little Gem. 
. 140 00 
6.00 
1.5.29 
9.16 
Clover. 
. 59.50 
6.00 
15 29 
S.89 
Jenny. 
. 119 00 
6.ro 
15.29 
7.78 
Bnnaway Gem. 
6.20 
15.00 
5.37 
This table shows that the herd made 119.93 pounds 
of butter for the week as computed by the Cochran 
test. The following are the results actually obtained : 
January 30, churned 140 pounds of cream, making 68>^ 
pounds of butter; February 2, churned 105 pounds of 
cream, making 513^ pounds of butter, a total of 120 
pounds for the week. 
Looking at the 16 Cows and Their Work. 
All these terms will be explained as we go along. 
You will see that the cows are not heavily fed, and yet 
they are doing good, honest work. You will notice 
that he does not feed as much ensilage as some dairy¬ 
men do. He has studied this a good deal, and con¬ 
cludes that 25 pounds a day suits his cows better than 
a heavier dose. With this amount, his 100-ton silo will 
give ensilage from November 1 to June 1, and this, 
with greeen corn in the dry part of August, will give 
dry, succulent food all the year around. The stalks 
are cut with a Smalley cutter—a tread horse-power 
being used to run it. A supply large enough to last 
two or three weeks is ciit at one time, thus making use 
of a wet day when outside work would be uncomfort¬ 
able. Notice how closely the actual returns from 
churning agree with the amounts figured from the 
Cochran test. We want to refer to this again at the 
proper time. The present herd contains 18 milch cows. 
With the bull and heifers and calves needed for herd 
increase, there are 35 head in all. Mr. Carll expects 
to add five or six head to his herd each year until he 
has 35 or 40 good milkers. It pays far better to raise 
your own cows, for then you know what you have, both 
as to milking qualities and disposition. He selects the 
heifers from his best cows. He weighs and tests the 
milk often enough to know which the best cows are, 
and which are the robbers. A good cow, he says, will 
sometimes drop a poor heifer calf, but not often. The 
chances are 10 to 1 in favor of a good heifer from a 
good cow if the sire’s record is also good. This farm 
is splendidly supplied with water from springs so high 
that pipes easily run it to house and barn. On pleasant 
days in winter, the cows run in the barnyard and 
drink from a tank, or they can be watered from pails 
in the barn. Matters are arranged so that, as far as 
possible, the cows will all calve in October. Mr. Carll 
claims that a cow calving in October will give more 
milk in the next 305 days than when she starts at any 
other time, because she then comes to the first bite of 
pasture just as her yield naturally would fall off most. 
Then, again, she will go dry in the part of summer 
when it is hardest to get good pasture or green food. 
The cows at Dix Hill go dry for six weeks—when it is 
possible to dry them off at all. They are fed some 
grain while at pasture while they give milk. Another 
reason why most milk is wanted in winter is because 
Mr. Carll is not fixed for summer dairying. Winter 
dairying is his specialty—he has no ice—only the cold¬ 
ness in spring water. In 1892, the cows in milk aver¬ 
aged 325 pounds of butter each. Last year the record 
was not quite so good because of the lack of good pas¬ 
ture in the drought of summer. 
(Jo he continued.) 
Gbafting Gbapes. —On page 53 of The R. N.-Y. I 
saw a question on grafting grape vines. I have had 
some experience in this line and I find that the most 
successful method is to take up the stock which is to 
be grafted, then reset it after inserting the scion, a 
little below the surface of the ground and cover with 
a mound of earth ; I use the old cleft method. I some¬ 
times take up the stocks in the fall, graft in the winter 
and set in the spring, keeping the stocks in sand in 
the cellar. The trouble of grafting a stock in the 
early spring without lifting it from the ground is that 
there is such a flow of sap that it sours and kills the 
scion. s. H. w. 
R. N.-Y.—Have any other readers tried this plan of 
taking up grape vines for grafting ? 
A CITY MAN’S TWO ACRES. 
WHAT SHOULD HE TBY TO 6BOW. 
I have two acres of land adjolnInK niy honse which I would like to 
make profitable, if possible. I am a city man, and would need to hire 
most of the work done. The Kround Is a sandy loam with clay subsoil, 
and, until I spread a little manure last spring,bad received very little 
attention, having been worked for all It was worth as farm land. It 
now has some grass on It. The location Is In central New Jersey, 
about 25 miles from New York. Bearing these cordltlons in mind I 
would like to Invite, the views of others as to how these two acres 
could be made most profitable—either by way of producing fruits, 
flowers, vegetables, poultry, or anything else that could be turned to 
profitable account. poser. 
Great Possibilities On Two Acres. 
Speaking in a general way, such a plot of ground 
has great possibilities. With fertilizers conveniently 
near, and with unskilled labor, there should be a profit 
of at least $200 per year in growing early potatoes. 
This crop could be followed by celery or cabbage. If 
local markets exist, small fruits could be made to pay 
good profits, or plants might be grown, such as straw¬ 
berry, raspberry, currant, etc., of choice varieties, 
which a small ad. in The R, N.-Y. would probably sell to 
good advantage. A friend of mine is supporting a large 
family and saving money from the product of three- 
quarters of an acre on which is a small greenhouse 
covering about 1,200 square feet of space. His special¬ 
ties are roses, carnations and violets, and he is 40 miles 
from his market. This business requires skilled labor, 
and even skilled labor is not always successful with 
these flowers in one house or at the same time as they 
require different treatment. Perhaps the most prom 
ising outlook would be a poultry and fruit combina¬ 
tion. Two acres should support 200 hens in four 
flocks and plums, pears, peaches, cherries, quinces or 
apples would thrive better with the poultry than with¬ 
out. I womd build four cheap houses, one on each 
half acre, and, starting with 20 or 25 hens, would 
increase my flock of layers to 50 hens in each house. 
I would make a specialty of winter eggs and summer 
broilers, and would take especial pains in securing a 
good retail market. The possibilities of this plan are 
great, with chances strongly in favor of success. The 
necessary knowledge can be gained from standard 
poultry books and some good poultry journal, mixing 
the advice and knowledge there gained with brains 
and experience. If convenience in handling the busi¬ 
ness is desired, the buildings could be combined in the 
center, having a central feed, incubator and brooder 
house with wings north, south, east and west connect¬ 
ing with a yard in each corner. 
CHAS. PIEBSON AUGUB. 
Hens and Fruit Suggested by Mr. A. Johnson. 
It is a poser for any one to answer the question of 
Poser in regard to how he could work two acres for 
the most profit. It all depends on circumstances. If 
Poser, being in the city all day, and probably knowing 
little himself of growing crops of any kind, would have 
to depend on casual hired help, the chances are that 
the profits would be inconsiderable. To hire a man 
thoroughly competent in growing fruit and vegetables 
would not pay on so small an area. I have been there 
myself. For several years after purchasing my little 
place, I worked in the city and hired the work done on 
the farm ; it did not pay. If I had known then what 
I do now, I could have worked differently and with 
more profit. In the first place, I would advise Poser 
not to attempt what would require too much hired 
help. Raising vegetables for market is out of the 
question, as that would Require a man to market 
them, and he would need to be near a good market to 
dispose of them to advantage. If they had to be shipped 
to commission houses, the profits would all be con¬ 
sumed in freight, packages and commission. 
Prom my experience, I would advise Poser to fence 
off half an acre with six-feet-high woven wire, two- 
inch mesh, which can be bought for three cents per 
running foot. Build two chicken houses 12 by 24 feet, 
and keep in each house 50 Leghorn or Minorca hens. 
If properly managed, I will guarantee that the profits 
from that half acre would be more than can be real¬ 
ized from a like area in any other crop. It would be 
a healthy occupation for the women folks to attend to 
the rest of the land, 1)^ acre. I would heavily ma¬ 
nure it with barnyard manure, in order to get the 
humus in the soil which, no doubt, it needs, as it has 
been cropped to death. Then set out half an acre of 
a few varieties of strawberries. They will require 
plenty of fertilizers in addition to the manure applied. 
Strawberries may be shipped to commission merchants 
and realize good profits, if of fine quality. Another 
half acre could be devoted to pears, which are about the 
only large fruit in which there is any profit. Set out 
but very few varieties. The ones that pay me best 
and do well here, in New Jersey, are Bartlett, Anjou, 
Diel, Bose and Keiffer. Get thrifty trees, not over two 
years old. In the rows of trees and between the rows, 
raspberries, currants and strawberries may be set, and 
a few blackberries for home use. There is no money in 
blackberries for market. Every year, some fertilizer 
should be used, such as bone and potash or wood 
