1894 
THE RURAL NEW-YORKER. 
3i7 
THE PROSPECT. 
It isn’t always best to be grasping. Four quarters 
of beef were Seized in Washington Market, whose ap¬ 
pearance strongly indicated tuberculosis. The seizure 
resulted in an investigation which traced the meat to 
a milk producing farm in Orange County, in the midst 
of the dairy region, and the milk and animals produc¬ 
ing it will now be subjected to a test. This is the 
third seizure of tuberculous meat within a few days. 
* 
Philadelphia wants a shorter outlet to the sea. 
Her business men realize that such an outlet is neces¬ 
sary if they are to compete with New York, Boston, 
and Baltimore. Before the Erie canal was built, 
Philadelphia was the first commercial city in America. 
Now she is third, chiefly because the journey from her 
wharves to the sea-board, is long and complicated. It 
is proposed to build a ship canal between the Delaware 
River and Raritan Bay. Through such a canal, steam 
ships could sail in directly to Philadelphia, while 
now they must sail through a long and crooked river 
—requiring three tides to get to the city. In the con¬ 
test between New York, Philadelphia and Baltimore 
for cheap export facilities, farmers and producers are 
likely to benefit by decreased rates for transportation. 
* 
Labor Commissioner Carroll D. Wright has issued 
a report on “Building and Loan Associations.” There 
are in the country 5,838 such associations with 1,745,735 
shareholders, and assets worth $450,667,594. The total 
profits amount to $80,664,116, and 314,755 homes have 
been acquired through these associations. This re¬ 
sult is about the most practical example of the bene¬ 
fits possible under cooperation that the world can 
show to date. Not only have townspeople been able 
to secure money for building homes, but farmers and 
others have been able to find profitable investments 
for their savings. We wish this principle of doing 
business could be extended so that the common people 
with small investments could be brought together 
without the intervention of expensive banks and 
middlemen. It seems to us that this system offers the 
most practical basis for future cooperation among 
farmers. ^ 
In England, farmers are making a great fight 
against the sale of bogus goods. Strict laws against 
“oleo” have failed to prevent the fraudulent sale of 
that stuff ; thousands of tons of foreign grown meat 
are sold labeled “prime British,” and now the brewers 
are making beer from various cheap materials that 
spoil the market for barley. To show the anger and 
desperation among English farmers, it is enough to 
print this resolution introduced at a recent council of 
the Chamber of Agriculture ; “In the opinion of this 
Council, it is desirable that all brewers who use sugar, 
or any substitute for barley-malt and hops, in beer, 
should be charged an additional license and extra duty, 
and that when beer is brewed from other substitutes 
than malt and hops, it should be so declared.” The 
confessed object of this resolution was to force those 
who use other materials than barley and hops to pay 
for the privilege. These farmers declare, in effect, 
that brewers have no business to use articles that will 
hurt the sale of barley. That is carrying the ‘ ‘ Pro¬ 
tection” argument to its extreme limit. 
* 
The writer was stopped on the street last week by 
a strong, able-bodied man with a kindly, good-natured 
face. The following dialogue took place : 
“ Please give me a little money to buy my dinner ?” 
“ Do you want a good job ?” 
“ What is it ?” 
“ In the country, on a good farm I” 
“ Not much ! What do you take me for ?” 
That man may be begging or hungry yet. At the 
same time, within 20 miles of this city, farmers are 
literally begging for honest and reliable help. While 
many of our towns and cities are well filled with beg¬ 
gars and idle men, we maintain that there is abundant 
work in the country for every idle hand. The trouble 
seems to be that the idlers in town want to choose 
their own work. Some of them are too old to begin a 
new trade, others can do but one small part of a great 
whole. Anyway they will not leave the towns, and 
they thus upset the industrial system because they 
provide little or no market, and yet will not help in 
production. With these facts in mind, it is hard to 
know whether we should pity or condemn the various 
“industrial armies” that are marching through the 
country to Washington. The very fact that intelli¬ 
gent men will go into such a business, indicates that 
something is wrong. We are not inclined to belittle 
or make sport of these misguided men. At least one 
of the prominent leaders we know to be a very intel¬ 
ligent man. At the same time, we believe that the 
readers of The R. N.-Y. alone could provide work for 
two-thirds of those marchers if they would accept it. 
We are forced to conclude that the majority of these 
men do mot want work. They have become so im¬ 
pressed with the idea that a great injustice is being 
done the poor by the rich, that plain, every-day labor 
seems too prosaic and slow. It is not the duty of this 
Government to provide food or clothing or work for 
the people. The majority of us ask nothing better 
than opportunity, and we venture to say that few can 
really say they have not had that. At the same time, 
no thoughtful man will deny that the present labor 
demonstrations show a feeling of unrest and dissatis¬ 
faction that cannot be sneered down. 
“Dr. Babcock made a great mistake when he 
failed to patent his system of testing milk,” said a 
milk expert the other day. 
“ You mean so far as his own profit was concerned ?” 
we asked. 
“Yes, and so far as the accuracy and reliability of 
the test go, too. Had the scheme been covered by a 
patent, one manufacturer would have taken hold of 
it and we would have had accurate and exact appli¬ 
ances. They would have cost more, but they would 
have been accurate. As it is, every one has been free 
to make the testers, competition has lessened the 
price, and the result is a lot of cheap and wrongly- 
marked bottles, and tests that are of very little 
account.” 
That may be so, but these cheap testers have en¬ 
couraged lots of farmers to test their herds who 
never would have done so otherwise. Though they 
do not get as exact results as a chemist would, the 
comparative showing is what they want in order to 
find the poor cows. This Babcock tester matter is a 
good illustration of the advantages and disadvantages 
of a patent. With a patent, quality and reliability 
can be regulated. Without it the public enjoy a much 
cheaper price, but have less guarantee of quality. 
The worst feature about the patent is that the inven¬ 
tor seldom gets anything like fair value for his time 
and care. Let him leave his reward to the generosity 
of those who benefit by a cheap price, and he would 
star ve to death. The case of Ephraim W. Bull is a 
fair sample of the way public benefactors are remem¬ 
bered by those who profit by their work. There 
seems to be too much grasp about this age to permit 
the practice of many of the theories of those who 
believe in co5peration. 
* 
It is now nearly three years since The R. N.-Y. 
first called attention to the “butter accumulator,” a 
device for making instantaneous butter. Last week 
we saw the improved accumulator at work, and as 
the machine has now come fairly before the public 
for patronage, we desire to give the exact facts about 
it. In appearance, the machine is like a separator 
with a steel attachment at the top. A can of milk 
was poured into the vat and the machine started. In 
half a minute, skim-milk began to run away through 
the proper tube. Fifteen seconds later cream ap¬ 
peared, and in one minute grains of butter began 
tumbling out. By simply moving a tube up or down 
cream can be drawn at will. The butter was thrown 
out in grains about the size of wheat. There was no 
paste or smash about it, but the grains were as per¬ 
fect as those in the avera ge churning. A quantity of 
skim-milk runs out wi,th the butter. We consider 
this an advantage, as it gives all the conditions found 
in the churn. This skim-milk may be drawn off and 
run through the accumulator to take out all fat left 
in it. In exactly 14 minutes the can of milk passed 
through the accumulator and was accurately divided 
into skim-milk and butter. In half an hour from the 
time the milk is taken from the cow, the butter 
may be washed, worked, salted and printed. The 
milk was cooled to 64 degrees before passing through 
the accumulator. We used the thermometer at the 
last of the run; the milk showed 65 degrees, and the 
butter as it came out, 63 degrees. The coloring is 
regulated by a little attachment which delivers the 
color drop by drop as the milk passes in. We made a 
careful test of the skim-milk just as it came from the 
accumulator. It showed only one-twentieth of one 
per cent of fat. ^ 
These are the facts as learned from watching a 
single run of the machine. We hope, before long, to 
study its operations in some practical dairy where the 
butter has been tested by actual customers who pay 
for it. Till then, we shall not attempt to explain just 
how the butter is taken out of the milk. It seems to 
us that the accumulator is likely to revolutionize the 
business of making sweet-cream butter. Certainly 
this is the most economical method of butter making 
—with no pails, churns or ice needed. It is a question 
as to the possibility of selling much of the sweet- 
cream butter unless some one can discover a way of 
quickly ripening the butter in the grain—before work¬ 
ing. Certain it is that the accumulator does the work 
that is claimed for it. There is one possible use that 
would render it very valuable—that is in testing cows. 
With the milk of each cow run separately through the 
machine, the exact amount of marketable butter could 
be determined at once. This would be a quicker and 
more accurate method of testing than with the Bab¬ 
cock test. 
SOME JERSEY FARM NOTES. 
One of the best farmers in my township is Mr. A. J. 
Bogert. He does not pretend to run a model farm, 
but he always has good crops and his methods are 
sound from a practical point of view. The farm 
crops are potatoes, sweet corn, rye, hay and field 
corn. Two cows, work horses and several pigs are 
kept, and a good deal of manure and fertilizer is 
bought. I purpose giving from time to time brief 
notes on the methods of handling the crops on this 
typical north Jersey farm. There are five acres of 
potatoes this year—planted on light, open soil, that 
was in corn last year. The year before it was a heavy 
grass sod. During the fall and winter a good coat of 
stable manure was spread over the ground. Early 
in the spring, this was plowed in, and the whole thing 
well harrowed. Trenches or drills were then made 
with the Darnell’s furrower. As Mr. Bogert uses it, 
this tool is far ahead of any plow for this purpose. 
The furrowing is done by a disc, which turns like 
a wheel, cutting out the furrow and scooping the soil 
away from it. This leaves a soft, mellow bottom, not 
at all like that left by a plow. Mr. B. runs twice in a 
furrow, throwing the earth both ways, thus leaving 
a wide, deep trench. 
This year he used 600 pounds of fertilizers per acre 
in the drills. Dropping fertilizer by hand, especially 
when the wind is stirring, is a bad job for anybody. 
This year, Mr. B. tried a machine for doing it. This 
is the Hudson fertilizing cart. It may be used for one 
horse or two—Mr. B. used one. The cart has two 
wheels and the hopper holds about a bag of fertilizer. 
It will feed out all the way from one bag to one ton 
per acre. The horse walks in the furrow. The fertil¬ 
izer is delivered close to the ground and, by means of 
a very simple arrangement, is scattered over a space 
from a foot to 18 inches wide. Several iron fingers, 
fastened to a rod, follow the distributor and work the ^ 
fertilizer into the soil. This is done so thoroughly 
that I could not tell without digging which had been 
fertilized and which not. There is a plow in front of 
the hopper for making the furrows at the same time 
the fertilizer is dropped. This would be fine for mak¬ 
ing a ridge for cabbage, cauliflower or tomatoes. ^ 
With this machine in use, there is no blowing and 
dust. This is the way the potatoes were planted: 
The furrows were made with two horses. Then with 
one horse Mr. B. dropped the fertilizer, which was 
done as fast as the horse could walk. The other horse 
was hitched to a cultivator with the side wings 
attached. The two hired men began at once dropping 
seed in the furrows, about 18 inches apart. Every 
four or six rows, one of them would stop dropping 
and drive the horse and cultivator up and down thus 
covering the seed and partly filling the furrow. In 
this way the planting was rapidly done and when all 
was finished a harrow was run across the furrows and 
the whole thing leveled. 
As compared with the work done in former years, 
this saves considerable labor. This is an evolution 
from the old plan of furrowing with a plow, scatter¬ 
ing fertilizer by hand,; and covering with a hoe. The 
fertilizer machine gives the greatest saving of dis¬ 
agreeable work, and does the job better than any 
hand. The next step will be to rig a planting attach¬ 
ment to it so that a man or boy can ride and drop the 
seed pieces through a funnel into the furrow. It is by 
means of such developments that potato growers are 
to reduce the cost of producing a bushel. 
JERSEYMAN. 
BUSINESS BITS. 
THB Hoover potato digger has now been so long on the market, and 
the prslse of It has been so general, that little remains to be said 
about It. Hoover & Prout Company, Avery, O., will send catalogue. 
BuoAi) metal wheels for wagons are Just what farmers need on 
their wagons. The Empire Mfg. Co., of Quincy, Ill., are offering these 
to at any axle, and of any sl7.e needed. They are sure to become 
popular. 
When water is carried in pipes, care should be taken to see that 
the pipe will In no way damage the water, either by rust of pipe or 
otherwise. You are always safe with the Rustless" pipe, made by 
the Wells Rustless Iron Company, Little Eerry, N. J. 
Faemeb Miles, no doubt the mostsklllful castratorln this country, 
and whose operations In foreign countries have been witnessed and 
commended by noted veterinarians, will be at the International Hotel 
New York City, during May and .June. Letters addressed to him there 
will receive attention. 
Thehb are a great many farms In this country that would pay bet¬ 
ter prottts than they now do If their owners would Invest In a windmill 
and give their stock a constant supply of fresh water. Smith & Win¬ 
chester Company, Boston, Mass , will furnish all needed information 
about windmills, and the varied services they can be made to per¬ 
form. 
Cattle flies have given stockmen a great deal of trouble In hot 
weather. We have been In stables where the fore shoulders and 
necks of the cows were covered with fly paper as a protection. Also 
where cows have been covered with a light blanket. C. K. Mills Oil 
Company, Syracuse, N. Y., have a preparation which they say will 
keep them off A sample for trial costs only 25 cents. 
No man can say that his barn Is complete until he has provided a 
constant supply of freshwater for his stock. We believe that the 
most complete arrangement for this purpose Is tne Buckley water de¬ 
vice, made by C. E. Buckley & Co.. Dover Plains, N. Y. This device Is 
in the new Bllerslle barn, and is used by the best dairymen and stock¬ 
men In Dutchess County, where It is made. We would not think of 
putting up a barn without it. 
