1ht RURAL NEW-YORKER 
1355 
All Sorts 
Shall I Keep a Goat? 
We ure thinking of buying a goat, and 
would like your advice on the subject. 
We have several small children, and are 
using three quarts of milk a day. which 
we get fresh and pure from tested cows 
at It. cents a quart. As we are very 
fond of milk we feel that we could use 
at least five quarts if we could afford it. 
We live on tin* edge of u village, and 
although we have only laud enough to 
keep a few hens and a small garden, 
there is pasture land all around us, and 
wide grassy strips beside the road. We 
have a smalt building about 5x8 ft. to 
keep the goat hi. The questions wo 
would like answered are these: 
1. 1Imw many months in a y.u- docs 
a goat give milk, and how much does it 
give? 
2. At what age does it begin to give 
milk? 
3. How does the milk compare with 
cows’ milk? 
4. Is it satisfactory as a food for 
babies? , 
5. About how much would it cost to 
feed it. and bow should it be fed? 
6. What breed is the most satisfactory? 
7. Taking everything in consideration, 
would it be better for us to gel a goat 
or keep on buying cows’ milk as we are 
doing? Would it be possible to have 
goat's milk all the year around by keep¬ 
ing two gouts? IW hat would be a lair 
price to pay for one? c < E - A - 
Connecticut. 
After a 12-year experience with goats, 
I have found them satisfactory in almost 
every way. My goats give milk from nine 
to fit months n year. They are grade 
Toggenburgs, the only breed that 1 have 
had experience with. They have given 
from two to four quarts pci* day when 
fresh. Owing to carelessness or "shift- 
lessness" on my part, they have gener¬ 
ally been bred too young, beginning to 
give milk at about 15 months old. It 
bred later they might have grown larger 
and possibly have given more milk. 
If the cheese element as well as the fat 
element were taken into account, 1 believe 
their milk is much richer than cows' milk, 
bur the Jersey milk will generally out- 
yield it in cream. The cream separates 
with difficulty l l have never tried a sep¬ 
arator). and the skim-milk is as rich as 
much of the whole milk of cows. 1 be¬ 
lieve the tests jit Geneva, N. V., proved 
that it was much more wholesome as food 
for babies of weak digestion than cows’ 
milk, i think they have issued a bulle¬ 
tin on the subject. 
I think my goats eat from 3 to 5 cents 
per day in grain, bran, oats and corn, 
each animal, but they have plenty of pas¬ 
ture. and in Winter have good clover bay. 
which is much better for them than grass 
hay. Probably they would eat about 5 
lbs. of clover hay per day in Winter. 
It would be "possible,” but 1 fear pot 
probable, to have a supply of milk the 
year around from two goafs. Their nat¬ 
ural breeding time is the Fall, freshening 
in Fenruary or March, but occasionally 
I have succeeded in getting one fresli in 
the Fall. Some breeders claim they have 
no trouble in this mutter. 1 have found 
tethering very bothersome, and should not 
like to depend ou roadside pas,lire. I 
have never found them unruly in a woven 
wire pasture, but they do not kno.v what 
a slone or board fence is for, except to 
jump over, and they must not be tethered, 
within reach of a fruit free. The one 
fault 1 have had to find with them is 
that occasionally in midsummer ihc milk 
will have a somewhat rank taste, hut 
many breeders say they have no trouble 
with ibis. 
While they are practically immune 
from tuberculosis. I believe, from my ex¬ 
perience. that they are a little more sub¬ 
ject to sudden and unaccountable illness 
than cows. This may tie because we don’t 
know them so well as we do cows, or be¬ 
cause they find poisonous things to eat 
in the pasture. In 12 years, keeping 
from three to nine goats. I have lost four 
from unaccountable illness. 
Hue advantage over ■•own might be men¬ 
tioned. 1 have never been kicked over by 
a goat while milking, but a buck (horn¬ 
less, at that > once bowled me over by 
taking an unfair advantage when my back 
was t U rn ed. K. N. It. 
Internal Revenue Tax on Trucking 
In November, 15)20, my sister moved 
her household goods’ from New Jersey to 
this State. These goods were moved by 
truck; the company doing the work stated 
a price for their services, and nothing was 
said about a revenue tax. The bill was 
paid on arrival of goods. Now she is in 
1 of a l ill calling for $13.25 revenue 
tax from the trucking company, ami 
stamped on their bill rendered is the fol¬ 
low tig: 
"The Internal Revenue Department has 
m Uteri our hooks and found you owe 
$13.25 war tax as per bill rendered on 
hauling made for you. If not paid in 10 
days they instruct u> to send your hill to 
them for collection." 
’There has heen no other bill rendered 
since hauling bill was paid. Who is sup¬ 
posed to bill this tax? The moving eon- 
Taetoi"-- made a price to deliver the goods 
here. They made no statement about war 
taxis. Their hill Was paid in full and 
accepted. Does the law state that the 
owner of the goods shipped shall pay the 
lax, or is it up to the transportation com¬ 
pany? A. if. i:. 
Connecticut, 
The internal revenue law provides that 
a tax equivalent to 3 per centum of the 
amount paid for transportation on and 
after April 1, 15)20. hy any form of me¬ 
chanical motor power, when in compe¬ 
tition with carrier by rail or water, of 
property by freight transported from one 
point in the United States to another, 
shall be levied. assiK.sed and collected aud 
paid. It further provides that the taxes 
imposed shall he paid by the person pay¬ 
ing for the services, and there is a provis¬ 
ion that a person receiving such payments 
for transportation shall collect the 
amount of the tax and make a return un¬ 
der oath. 
From your statement we see no way of 
ascertaining whether or not you paid the 
tax in question. It would seem reason¬ 
able that the trucking company had in¬ 
cluded the tax in the amount required of 
you. We would not advise payment to 
them at this time. You might as well 
pay it to the Internal Revenue Depart¬ 
ment if they demand it from you, for 
then you will know where it is going. 
N. T. 
Syrup to Feed Bees 
1. Will you inform me how to prepare 
sugar syrup for bees that have not enough 
honey to supply them through the Win¬ 
ter? 2. How much honey does it take 
to support the average hive through a 
Winter season? __ A.V.S. 
East Chatham, X. Y. 
1. Syrup for feeding to bees short of 
'Winter stores is prepared by dissolving 
pure granulated sugar in an equal 
amount, by measure, of cold or boiling 
water. The syrup is not boiled, though 
boiling water may be poured over the 
sugar in a suitable bowl and the latter 
siirred until the sugar is dissolved. If 
feeding has been deferred unril la re Fall, 
it may lie better to use three parts of 
water to four of sugar, though this 
thicker syrup is more likely r,< sugar iu 
the combs, and is inferior to thinner 
syrup that the bees have thickened and 
ripened during warmer weather. 
2. Ail average colony should have in 
the neighborhood of 25 lbs. of sealed 
stores for outdoor wintering. m. b. d. 
Government Fur Auction 
At the October auction, held at St. 
Louis, the government goods brought the 
following prices: United' Si ales govern¬ 
ment Alaska seals, high. $f>2 : low. $7.50. 
for dressed, dyed aud machined goods. 
April last figures Were: High. $03 : low. 
•SI.50. Last September figures were: 
High. $00; low, 82.10. The total volume 
of tht* seal sale alone amounted to 8530,- 
430.05. 
Seven hundred and twelve United 
States Government blue foxes brought: 
High, SIi;5; low. $7: the darker and 
liner grades declined about TO per cent, 
while the poorer grades advanced about 
10 per cent. , 
Eight hundred and sixteen Talked 
Slates government wolf, average collec¬ 
tion. high. Si! 1.50; low, 81.5(1; inferior 
merchandise in some instances brought 
more than -the better skins; 220 wild and I 
lynx cat Thought, high. 85: low, $1.30: J 
21 white fox brought 810 cadi. 
Ships of Concrete 
We arc informed by the Navy Depart- 
lueni iii Wasliiugtcn that in Ibis the de¬ 
partment enutmeted for 12 barges for 
Coal and oil of 500 tons capacity. ’These 
were to be built of concrete. ’These 
barges are 112 ft. long and ahoul 35 ft. 
in breadth. It happens that six of the 
barges were actually built and delivered. 
One of the barges was lost at sea. One 
has been loaned to the city of Boston, 
and one has been converted into an nil 
simip barge for the ltse of Hie Navy, while 
the other three are used as coal barges. 
It seems that Jit present these barges are 
in fairly good condition. The Navy of- | 
licials say that these barges demonstrated 
the practicability of the concrete barge, 
but For use in the naval service, steel or 
wooil barges are considered more saiisfac- | 
(ory. and it is not expected that any more 
of the concrete barges will be built. There 
were also a number of concrete steam¬ 
ships built during the war. We are seek¬ 
ing full information about them, and ex¬ 
pect to be able, in a short time, to tell 
how they are made aud how they hav< 
stood the service. 
Lime for Cleaning Cider Barrels 
Seeing inquiry about cleaning cider 
barrels. T will give my experience. Put 
a piece of stone lime about the size of 
two goose eggs into the barrel, and pour 
111 about two gallons of hot water; put 
in the bung tight. Let it slake and then 
roll the barrel around, stud shake it 
around well; let it stand for two or three 
hours, then empty and rinse tin* barrel 
thoroughly, till all traces of the lime have 
been removed. Your barrel will be as 
free from must as when new. 
Connecticut. A. c. LAKE, 
The New Columbia Steel 
Case "Hot Shot” Battery 
A sensational improvement in an ignition 
battery for gas engines, tractors, motor boats, 
and non-self-starting Ford cars— 
Super-Durable — constructed to withstand the roughest 
service 
Waterproof —unaffected by exposure to the elements 
Unbreakable — full service and life assured through pro 
tection of the battery by the steel case 
Costs No More Than Fiber Case Batteries 
The Steel Case "Hot Shot” No. 1461 is now on sale at 
electrical, hardware, and auto accessory shops; general 
stores; garages. This 4 cellpower battery is the most 
popular for ignition. Other standard "Hot Shot” 
sizes will be made in steel cases as fast as practicable. 
Always insist upon Columbia 
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