7io 
THE RURAL NEW-YORKER 
October 26 
not prejudiced in favor of what is, to some extent, a 
rival breed. 
Faucettan is a strong, vigorous, well-built bull; 
large, yet very active in service, lie was dropped 
March 17, 1892, now weighs about 1,700 pounds, and 
has probably attained nearly his full weight, though 
he is likely to fill out somewhat more as he grows 
older. His sire was Frank Faucette 2242, A. G. C. C., 
and his dam Stephanie 4421, A. G. C. C. On his sire’s 
side, he comes from a cow that was in the noted herd 
of Langhorn Wister, Duncannon, Pa. His granddam 
was Imported Faucette. On his dam’s side, he has 
Fernwood blood, with an outcross. He is a strong¬ 
boned animal, and stands straight on his legs. He is 
very deep-chested, indicating great lung power. His 
heart-girth is large, and he has a large barrel, thus 
having great food capacity. His tail is long, and his 
frame large and strong. His color is rich in ears and 
horns, the skin handles well, though not thin and 
papery. The milk veins are prominent. He is of a 
good disposition, and after his return from the fairs, 
was tethered in the pasture with the cows. 
The feeding of the herd is varied according to cir¬ 
cumstances. The primary object is to keep the ani¬ 
mals in prime condition for breeding purposes, and, 
secondarily, to produce a good flow of milk. The sur¬ 
plus milk is made into butter. The cattle are pas¬ 
tured during the summer, but are put into the stables 
night and morning for milking and feeding. They 
are fed a grain feed of about three pounds once a day 
while the pasture is good, and this is increased to five 
or six pounds twice a day when the pasture becomes 
poor, and during the winter. The grain feed is varied 
largely according to the other feed, and the circum¬ 
stances. In general, it is now composed of ground 
wheat screenings, 100 pounds ; bran, 200 pounds ; corn 
meal, 150 pounds; old-process oil meal, 25 pounds, 
decorticated cotton-seed meal, 25 pounds. The latter is 
sometimes not used, but is thought to give the butter 
a firmer texture. No ensilage is fed. Through the 
winter, clover hay and corn stover ai-e the main fod¬ 
ders, with mangels for succulence. The latter are 
not fit for feeding until a couple of months after har¬ 
vesting, so that the problem of a succulent feed after 
the frosts come, is a difficult one, so far as the milch 
cows are concerned ; the young stock are fed turnips. 
The mangels last until the rye is fit to cut and feed 
in the spring, this being followed by clover, later by 
corn, so that green feed of some kind is furnished 
until frost. The Retsof salt is constantly before them 
in the stables. 
The stables are in the basement of a bank barn, 
where the cows are confined by means of swing 
stanchions. There are box stalls for cows about to 
calve, and for young stock. The water supply comes 
from a windmill a long distance away, which pumps 
the water into a tank from which it flows direct to 
the stables. The self-watering device is not used. 
The cattle are always well bedded, and plaster is 
freely sprinkled throughout the stables. Kindness in 
handling and caring for them is always insisted upon. 
If sleek, healthy-looking animals are any criterion 
from which to judge, the methods employed are cer¬ 
tainly good. 
Mr. Seward’s method of building up a herd is one 
that might be followed by any breeder who wished 
to improve his herd without going to great expense. 
One way to secure a good herd of any breed, is to buy 
selected animals wherever they are to be found. But 
this is expensive business, and not many can afford 
the outlay, although it is a quicker method. As the 
bull is half the herd, the purchase of a good and well- 
bred bull, is a long step in the right dii-ection ; and 
if he be purchased when young, the expense will be so 
much less. Then if a cow of some good strain can 
be purchased, the building up is that much more 
rapid. By careful breeding, and selecting only the 
best animals, being careful not to inbreed, rapid im¬ 
provement may be made, and a good herd secured at 
much less expense than in any other way. 
A HARNESS FOR THE AGED. 
In The R. N.-Y. of October 12, is an editorial upon 
this subject, which concludes with the sentiment that 
the old should not loaf, but still be found with a light 
harness upon their backs. To this should be added, 
I think, the further conditions that bridle and whip 
should be omitted. A stranger, on one occasion, 
found a native of some country hunting for a ’possum. 
The place was extremely unlikely to be adopted by a 
’possum as its hiding place, and the stranger told the 
native that he would never find one. “ I’ve got to,” 
was the reply, “ Preacher's coming to dinner. - ’ Now 
this is my case with regard to work. 1 have to work, 
and the stern lash of necessity is always present with 
me. Now, what I look forward to, if I reach old age, 
is not to loaf, but to do what work I like, and w-hen I 
like. 
The mistake that I have made in the past is in not 
cultivating a habit of enjoyment along with my work. 
From the time that I arose in the morning, it would 
be one continual drive until night, and then I would 
be too tired to do more than read a very little before 
bedtime. I know that when we have such things as 
notes to pay, it is hard to take pleasure ; but it can be 
done, and it should be done. If we do not begin while 
we are young to cultivate the habit of enjoyment, we 
can never take pleasure when we are old. Almost 
every one has among his acquaintances, some business 
man who has enough to keep him and his family the 
rest of his life, yet whose business has become such 
second nature to him, that he is miserable if he is not 
at it ; so he keeps on till the end. 
I hold that this is wrong ; we have been put here, 
not to make slaves of ourselves, but to enjoy life. If 
any one doubt this, let him reflect upon the beauties 
of nature that are all about us, and ask himself the 
question, would the Creator have made this world so 
beautiful if we were not to enjoy its beauties? Cer¬ 
tainly not, and the farmer, of all people, has the great¬ 
est opportunity to enjoy this beauty, and probably 
enjoys it least. We are so filled with growing our 
wheat and potatoes, that we never see the beauty of 
a crop of wheat, but look on it only to guess how 
many bushels it will yield. 
There is a great deal of poetry in the farmer’s life, 
and I wish I were enough of a writer to express some 
of it ; but that I will have to leave to others. But it 
seems to me that we never get at the real meaning of 
our work. We are in direct partnership with our 
Creator whenever we plant a seed. How few of us 
realize it ! We take the rain and sunshine as matters 
of course, and never give them a thought. When we 
plant a seed, what a wonderful transformation takes 
place ! The dead seed becomes a living plant. The 
great Chicago Fair had nothing within its bounds that 
equals this transformation ; yet we never give it a 
thought. 
Then let us look at the other side : The whole world 
is dependent upon us for its food. We are the key¬ 
stone of the arch, or rather the foundation, and when 
w r e cause a field of wheat to be where, without our 
work, there would be only weeds, it does not mean 
merely so many bushels of wheat, but bread for peo¬ 
ple who, without us, would go hungry. Adam Smith 
says that ph losophers are a people whose trade it is 
not to do, but to observe. Now what we want, is that 
each of us should have a bit of philosophy in our 
make-up, especially that kind which will teach us to 
observe the higher things of life, and its beauties. 
P. B. CROSBY. 
WHAT THEY SAY. 
Fall Planting of Strawberries. —The idea that 
fall is the best time to set strawberries for a crop the 
next season, is, to say the least, misleading. When 
this idea originated, is away beyond me, as it is 
about the first advice I received and the first thing I 
learned not to do. It might have been soon after the 
flood when the ground was moist ; or later, in the 
mind of some nurseryman who had a note to pay in 
60 days and wanted to make a raise. I received a let¬ 
ter to-day, October 10, from a party in Illinois, who 
wanted a large quantity of plants to set just as soon 
as there came a rain to wet down two or three inches. 
He wanted them to raise a crop of berries next sea¬ 
son. I had already advised him to wait until spring, 
(the only safe and proper season with this fruit) but 
he had had good success with fall planting of other- 
fruits, and why not strawberries. After this date, 
he could not hope for increase of plants this season, 
if by any chance of. weather, or much labor, he suc¬ 
ceeded in securing- a good stand, or for anything like 
a crop next season, even at the expense of plants, 
should they survive the heaving process. Potted 
stock is, of course, all right, and even layer plants in 
limited quantities, if it is desired to test new varieties 
and the necessary care be given. But for the average 
grower, and in larger quantities, there is little to 
be gained and much risk to be taken into account, by 
fall planting, especially in our ox-dinary fall weather. 
My advice to all such is—wait. c. N. f. 
Leslie, Mich. 
Good Poultry Points. —I wish to compliment Prof. 
Slingerland for not giving in the article. The Pests of 
the Henhouse, the usual hack writers’ remedy for the 
red mites, that is, whitewashing the henhouse. I 
have 18 pens, 10 in one house 100 feet long- and 8 in 
four houses. Last year I discovered every hen to be 
infested with the red mites. After tacking some 
cloth on the under side of the roosts, which is the 
nearest hiding place they can find after leaving the 
hen, I kerosened them thoroughly, the worst ones 
every morning, the others every two or three days 
for about ten days, then once a week for about four 
weeks. I have not seen a single red mite in any of 
the pens this year, and the perches have not had to be 
kerosened. 
1 feed my hens in the morning a mash consisting of 
10 parts by measure of coarse bran, one part corn 
meal, two parts animal meal; in summer this is mixed 
with cold water the night before to give it a chance 
to swell, in winter with hot water, and let stand one- 
half to one hour. In the afternoon, from three to 
five o’clock according to the season, one-third cracked 
corn, two-thirds oats are thrown on the floor to be 
scratched for. The cracked corn has the meal taken 
out by the miller so that there is no waste. I would 
feed wheat, but it costs too much now, ($1.60 per 100 
lbs. for damaged). In the winter when I wish fresh 
eggs, I feed cabbages every day. If I had nothing 
else to do but look after my hens, I might apprentice 
myself to a French cook, then I could get them up a 
good dinner once in a while. 
If Geo. Hyde, page 691, would give his hens dyna¬ 
mite, he could kill them quicker than he is doing 
now. I would advise him to stop using pepper, salt, 
etc., and slacken up on their feed, both morning and 
night, until they get so that they are anxious for it 
Give them fresh water to drink and those that have 
not had their insides burned out with “ corrosive 
sublimate, copperas, carbolic, etc.,” may be able to 
get over it. His hens ought to have laid omelets all 
summer, with the feed he has been giving them. 
New Hampshire. V. E. haserick. 
Storing Evergreen Sweet Corn. —I grow sweet 
corn to feed stock during the summer drought. Usu¬ 
ally, I have some left until it ripens. I cut and shock 
it as I do field corn. I have tried storing it in the 
barn, both with the ears on, and ears removed. I 
have tied it in bundles and stacked it as we do the 
stover of the regular crop. Though it may seem per¬ 
fectly dry when stored, it will mold at the joints of 
the stalks and damage the entire bulk to some extent. 
Sweet corn is a valuable crop with us, but I would 
never grow it for dry fodder. I would advise C. M. C., 
Fly Creek, N. Y., against cutting his sweet corn as he 
proposes and storing in the barn. n. p. miller. 
Delaware County, O. 
In answer to C. M. C.’s question regarding corn 
fodder, I would say that I have had considerable ex¬ 
perience, but never succeeded in keeping any kind of 
corn fodder, either cut or whole, in the mow, without 
very dry straw was sandwiched in between it. I am 
now cutting corn fodder in one-quarter inch pieces 
for my cows, and have to cut as often as every other 
day, as it will heat in 24 hours if left in piles so that 
it will cake. This corn was in the glazed stage when 
cut three weeks ago, and is well cured. If C. M. C.’s 
corn is in the milk as he states, he cannot keep it, 
unless it is spread very thin, and I have doubts about 
it even then. The temperature has some effect, cool 
dry air being most favorable, and a hot, humid atmo¬ 
sphere the reverse. e. d. bv. 
fc'eneca Falls, N. Y. 
Sweet corn cured with the ears on, cannot be safely 
cut in three-quarter inch lengths, and put in large 
piles like hay. I have fed this kind of fodder for five 
years, but cannot cut more than three days’ feed for 
10 cows at one time, without having it heat and mold. 
Sweet corn stalks are full of moisture, even when ap¬ 
parently well cured. The only safe way I have found 
to store them is to bind in bundles and set on end on 
the top of hay mows, and on scaffolds in the barn, and 
cut as wanted in winter. Ordinary field corn that is 
dry enough to husk, can be cut, ears and all, and 
stored in large bulk in bays of the barn with perfect 
safety. Alfred h. pelton. 
Putnam County, N. Y. 
THE MILLER RED RASPBERRY. 
Mr. J. W. Kerr's reference to the Miller raspberry 
in The R. N.-Y. of October 5, as one of the good things 
he had learned of this summer, leads me to think that, 
perhaps, some would like to know more of this variety. 
Its originator was also the originator of the well- 
known Brandywine raspberry, and was then living on 
the banks of Brandywine Creek m the northern part 
of Delaware. It was Mr. Miller's intention to in¬ 
troduce it as Miller’s Woodland; but his death pre¬ 
vented, and the berry growers of the country have 
thus lost the use of this excellent berry for nearly 10 
years. The plants all went to Sussex County, and the 
most of them fell into the hands of a large grower, 
who saw more profit in keeping them for his own 
use, than in offering them for sale. It seems singular 
that this grower should have had several large crops, 
and pocketed thousands of dollars yearly, before his 
neighbors began to plant the Miller in anything but a 
very small way. 
We have now had the Miller in fruit for two years, 
and do not see what more could be desired in a red 
raspberry. It begins to ripen immediately after the 
late strawberries, and gives good pickings from the 
first; the berries grow larger as the season advances. 
It covers the whole raspberry season from very early, 
when it gives its largest pickings, to very late, when 
it yields its largest berries. In shape and size, it re- 
