189$ 
THE RURAL NEW-YORKER. 
247 
THE MILK QUESTION. 
WHAT IS TO FOLLOW “ THE MILK EXCHANGE ?” 
In regard to the breaking up of the Milk Exchange, 
you ask what the farmers will now do in fixing prices 
for their milk. They are already entering into agree¬ 
ment with the large dealers at milk stations on the 
railroads, and are generally making a schedule of 
prices for each month of the year. Some will probably 
fix prices for only six months. At our milk station in 
Deposit, the proprietor has fixed the prices which he 
will pay monthly, through the year, as follows : April, 
2 cents per quart; May, IX cent; June, 1% cent; 
July? 1 X cent; August, 2 cents ; September, 2% cents; 
October, 2X cents ; November, 2% cents; December, 
2% cents ; January, 2% cents ; February, 2% cents ; 
March, 2 cents. This makes an average of 2 14-100 
cents for the year, a little more than has ever been 
paid at this milk station. At the Borden Milk Con- 
densery, which has recently been established at this 
place, the prices are made for six months as follows : 
For April, SI.20 per 100 pounds; May, $1; June, 70 
cents; July, 80 cents ; August, 95 cents ; September, 
SI.05. This is an average of 95 cents for the six months, 
or 2 4-100 cents per quart. The price for the next six 
months of the year, beginning with October, will be 
greater, probably averaging about SI. 40 per 100 pounds. 
The amount of milk received and shipped from these 
two stations the present year, will probably be 500 to 
GOO cans per day. Quite a number of our farmers will 
make butter. 
You ask, “ What can be done by the farmers in the 
future, to protect themselves in the prices of their 
milk ? ” This is a hard question to answer. Farmers 
have been so long helpless in the hands of the middle¬ 
men, and so accustomed to taking whatever came to 
them, that they are like the old fisherman’s eels : 
“ They are so used to being skinned, that they do not 
mind it much.” 
My remedy for the farmers has been, is now, and 
will be until the final result shall be accomplished, to 
form a heavy stock company, with a large majority of 
the stock in the hands of from 3,000 to 5,000 farmers. 
The amount of each farmer’s stock would be regu¬ 
lated by the number of cans of milk which he was per¬ 
mitted to ship. At milk stations located at several 
different points on railroads, surplus milk might be 
worked up into butter and cheese. Then, if possible, 
find three honest , capable, sharp, business men in New 
York, who would furnish about $50,000 each, of the 
capital of the company, and who would manage the 
business in New York, Brooklyn and Jersey City for 
the interest of all concerned. Let these meet every 
evening, show their accounts, and take their oaths 
separately that they have not defrauded the com¬ 
pany during the day. This last suggestion may be 
modified to suit circumstances. 
Now, with a capital of $500,000 or $1,000,000 invested 
and managed properly, who could prevent such a com¬ 
pany from selling their milk at reasonable prices in 
the market ? And who could go into the country be¬ 
yond and behind these farmers and prevent them 
from sending their milk to the cities ; or buy at a 
cheaper rate than they would give ? g. d. wheeler. 
THE NORMAN BREED OF CATTLE. 
This breed was described and illustrated in The R. 
N.-Y. of August 29, 1891. it is said to be a very old 
breed, having its origin some 800 or 900years ago. An 
importation was made into this country several years 
since by Chester W. Chapin, whose farm is situated in 
Massachusetts. The latest importation is now in the 
quarantine station at Garfield, N. J. It consists of 
one bull two years old, and 11 cows three, four and 
five years old. These were brought over by Mr. J. B. 
Guillot, who expects to make further importations, 
and came from Caen, France. The cattle have not yet 
recovered from the effects of the sea voyage, having 
been a month on the ocean, and having encountered the 
terrible February blizzard. But they are doing well, 
and those now in milk are making a good record at 
the pail. A representative of The R. N.-Y. visited 
them there, saw one of them milked, and also saw the 
calves that were born on shipboard and since their 
arrival. They are strong looking animals, and withal 
heavy milkers, and should meet the needs of those 
who wish general purpose cows. They weigh from 
1,200 to 1,800 pounds. Those in quarantine are milked 
three times daily and give 25 to 30 quarts of milk 
daily, which makes about two pounds of butter. The 
one we saw milked is five years old, and while a large 
cow, showed no disposition to lay on fat. The attend¬ 
ant said that she turned all the extra feed into milk. 
Yet the size of the breed, renders it a good one for 
beef purposes if for any reason it becomes necessary 
to send them to the butcher. 
In color, there is a great variety, though the pre¬ 
vailing one is dark, often more or less mixed with 
white spots. The head is large, and the eyes promi¬ 
nent ; the horns fine and bent forward. The chest 
is broad and betokens good lung power. The breed 
is claimed to be non-tuberculous, and Mr. Guillot says 
that if these cows are kept away from affected ani¬ 
mals, he will guarantee that no trace of the disease 
will ever be fouud. The cows’ conformation shows a 
great storage capacity for food, which is an important 
matter. The udder is of good size, set well forward, 
and the teats are of generous proportions. The milk 
veins are prominent. The breed is said to be very 
quiet and docile, the bulls not developing the ugly 
habits of those of some other breeds. 
The cow shown at Fig. 79 is a typical specimen, and 
is owned by Mr. Chapin. The illustration shows but 
three legs ; she has four, however. 
Mr. Guillot is satisfied that there is a place for this 
breed in this country, and will make further importa¬ 
tions with a view to extending its introduction. While 
the milk is apparently not so rich in butter fats as 
that of the Channel Island breeds, the quantity far 
exceeds that of the latter, the size would seem to 
recommend them to those who wish a general-pur¬ 
pose animal, and the claimed freedom from tubercu¬ 
losis is a strong point in their favor. They will, 
apparently, crowd the Ilolsteins hard as milkers, while 
the quality of the milk seems to be superior. The im¬ 
portation of Ilolsteins seems practically to have ceased, 
and if the claims made for this breed are substah- 
tiated, there should be a place for them on American 
farms. They come from a district in France near the 
coast off which lie the Channel Islands. 
A committee of the New York Mercantile Exchange 
has been investigating the sale of oleomargarine as 
butter in Spanish-American markets. It is said that 
cans containing the oleomargarine are shipped with¬ 
out branding, and are cleared at the Custom House as 
oleomargarine ; but that, on arrival at their destina¬ 
tion, butter labels are pasted on them. The United 
States law provides that every parcel, package, etc., 
A TYPICAL NORMAN COW. Fig. 79. 
of oleomargarine, shall be branded as such in letters 
of not less than one inch. A former Commissioner of 
Interal Revenue decided that this applied to the cases 
containing the tins or cans, and that the latter need 
not be so branded. The present Commissioner has 
been appealed to, and proof furnished him of the 
violation of the law, but so far has done nothing to 
enforce this law. A firm having a West Indian trade 
bought oleomargarine of a manufacturer, on condi¬ 
tion that it must be branded as butter, and the bill 
rendered for the goods, was itemized as butter, 
when it was well known by all parties that the 
stuff shipped was oleomargarine. This proof with 
some of the purchase, was sent to the Commiss¬ 
ioner, but he simply ruled that such goods must not be 
branded as butter in any language. According to pub¬ 
lished reports, last year exports of oleomargarine 
nearly doubled while exports of ‘‘butter” increased 
about 50 per cent. A large part of the latter increase, 
some say 75 per cent, was “ oleo.” The argument has 
been that foreign countries wanted oleomargarine. 
But they seem to want butter more. The imports of 
butter into Rio Janeiro amount to $G,000,000, of which 
the United States gets only about $100,000, because of 
the fraudulent practices. This is but one example of 
the injury done to our butter trade. Fully three- 
quarters of the butter trade of Brazil has been secured 
by the Danish markets, which guarantee shipments of 
butter to be pure. The committee communicated with 
a number of officials, dealers, etc., in South America 
and the West Indies, and with few exceptions were 
informed that oleomargarine was not known and not 
handled. It is said to be a fact, however, that a sail¬ 
ing vessel left this port for seven ports in the West 
Indies, with oleomargarine, so cleared through the 
Custom House, but entered at the ports of destination 
as butter. A brig left here for St. Croix with 100 
cases of oleomargarine, so cleared through the Custom 
House here, but entered at St. Croix as butter. The 
committee purchased one of those cases as butter, re¬ 
turned it to the United States, and sent it to the Com¬ 
missioner with the brand, “ I. X. L. Butter,” still on 
it. Still the fraud goes on. 
BUSINESS BITS. 
The Deming Co., Salem, O., send out a very pretty catalogue of 
their spraying pumps, including knapsack sprayer, all of which 
are carefully illustrated. It will be sent free. 
Fertiline is an odorless fei’tilizer in liquid form for house plants, 
and does away with objectionable powders and objectionable 
odors. It is prepared by Mr. Lucien Sanderson, New Haven, Conn. 
Those having trouble with garget, or milk fever in the dairy, 
will tind Scott’s Arabian Paste and fever remedy invaluable. 
Particulars will be sent by Scott’s Hoof Paste Co., Rochester, 
N. Y. 
Farmers who have built stone walls and wooden fences, will 
turn with interest, it seems to us, to a means of fencing at 25 cents 
a rod. The Carter Wire Fence Co., Box 30, Derby, O., guarantee a 
fence at this price in their catalogue, which is sent free. 
An inquiry received some time ago induced us to look up the 
Diamond fruit package, and we tind that it has many things to 
recommend it to the fruit grower. It is light, clean, cheap and 
can be shipped flat and be readily put together for use. Send 
stamp for a sample and catalogue to the Rochester Package Co., 
18 Furnace Street, Rochester, N. Y. 
The legal standard for milk is 12^ percent solids or cream, 
and it is unlawful to sell milk in New York State under that 
standard ; hence Mr. A. V. Whitman, 144 Chambers Street, New 
York, has graded his milk bottles with a line that shows when the 
milk is up to standard and when below it. It is called the Stand¬ 
ard Indicating milk jar. It is just the bottle for the farmer or 
milkman who wants to build up a trade in pure milk. 
Mr. Geo. R. Tate, Chairman of the Executive Committee of the 
Illinois State Grange, writes Mr. O. W. Ingersoll in a way to give 
Ingersoll’s mixed paints a pretty strong indorsement. He says: 
” During my connection with the business arrangements of the 
State Grange of Illinois, I have made it my business to inquire into 
the merits of your paints, and find that they have given general 
satisfaction wherever used. I would recommend them to patrons 
everywhere.” 
If potatoes and fruits were more generally and more carefully 
assorted, they would often bring the producer much better prices 
than they do. When all sizes and qualities go in together, they 
generally sell for the price of the poorest ones. The choice fruit 
in these mixed shipments, would often sell for much more than 
the whole dot together if shipped by itself. J. H. Shireman, York, 
Pa., has invented a sorting machine, and it will pay shippers to 
look into its merits. It looks like just the thing. 
With some classes of tools, it is impossible to say which is 
best, because different soils and different men require different 
work. If a man should ask us to name the best furrower and 
marker, we would promptly say, Darnell’s furrower, made by 
II. W. Doughten, Moorestown, N. J. There is no tool on earth that 
will leave the furrow in better condition for potatoes or similar 
crops. That disc running over the ground opens the furrow and 
leaves the bottom loose and open. This is a strong indorsement, 
but it is made after seeing the tool at work. 
It has become generally known that the Walter A. 
Wood Harvester Company, of St. Raul, Minn., has gone 
into the hands of receivers. This action was rendered 
necessary because of the hasty and ungenerous action 
of one small creditor (a bank) in Chicago. This cred¬ 
itor, as we are informed by the directors of the St. 
Paul company, disregarding an agreement not to press 
its claim until negotiations then pending to finance 
the company were concluded, entered judgment 
against the company, without notice, and levied upon 
its Chicago warehouse. The act precipitated a general 
alarm, and before the matter could be explained, 
various other attachments were issued, thereby ren¬ 
dering a receivership necessary, in order to protect 
the company’s property. 
It has come to the attention of the undersigned, that 
efforts are being made by some of our competitors to 
make it appear that the receivership above mentioned 
applies to the Walter A. Wood Mowing and Reaping 
Company, of Iloosick Falls, N. Y. In spreading this 
false report, advantage has been taken of the fact that 
the name of our company is similar to that of the St. 
Paul company. We desire to impress upon the trade 
and general public the fact that the Walter A. Wood 
Harvester Company, of St. Paul, is a distinct and sepa¬ 
rate corporation from the Walter A. Wood Mowing 
and Reaping Machine Company, of Iloosick Falls, N. Y., 
and that the receivership of the St. Paul corporation 
has nothing whatever to do with our company or its 
business. The Walter A. Wood Mowing and Reaping 
Machine Company is in no way directly affected by 
the embarrassment of the harvester company of St. 
Paul. And we believe that every right-minded per¬ 
son will agree with us that any attempt to injure the 
trade or credit of a great and successful business by 
such a despicable method as falsely representing it to 
be involved in the misfortune of an entirely distinct 
and independent company, merits the severest con¬ 
demnation. 
The business of the Walter A. Wood Mowing and 
Reaping Machine Company is progressing as usual, 
and the company issues this statement in order that 
the situation may be understood, and to dispose once 
for all of such false reports as may have been insti¬ 
tuted by our competitors to injure the reputation of 
this company. In this connection, it may properly be 
said that the prospect for the season of 1895 is very 
flattering. We have the lai’gest orders from our for¬ 
eign trade that we have ever had in the history of the 
business, and there never was a time when we were 
turning out a finer and more complete line of machines 
than to-day. 
The business of the Walter A. Wood Mowing and 
Reaping Machine Company, is an old and established 
one. During more than 40 years past, it has preserved 
its early acquired reputation in the trade all over the 
world. That reputation always has been, and still is, 
second to none ; and our friends and customers may 
have the most absolute assurance that nothing has 
occurred which in any way whatever will tend to 
diminish it. Walter A. Wood Mowing and Reaping 
Machine Company, Iloosick Falls, N. Y.— Adv. 
