litrtn iwdmnbrn, 
x. a. wtlurd, a. m., editor, 
Ov Limi FAT.tS, If^cKtMKB County, Nrw Yobk. 
MANAGEMENT OF DAIRY STOCK. 
Experience of Herkimer County Farmers in 
Obtainius the Beat Rruu|t„. 
The Herkimer county, N. Y., farmers lmve 
been engaged in dairying as a specialty for 
more than sixty years. During that time 
they have made many experiments in regard 
to the management of stock for the produc¬ 
tion of milk. The result, as might be sup¬ 
posed, has been to introduce methods that 
are deemed an improvement on the old prac¬ 
tice. Some years, ago the opinion prevailed 
pretty generally that, grass should be quite 
mature before it could be economically cut 
for hay. The question is now clearly set tled, 
we believe,—in Herkimer county, at least,— 
that the best results aro obtained from cut¬ 
ting grass early. Cows winter better upon 
it; they yield more milk in early winter and 
in spring upon the early than upon the late 
cut grass; while the early cuttings are less 
exhaustive to meadows, rendering them more 
permanent or enduring. 
At a recent meeting of the Little Falls 
Farmers’ Club, when “ the treatment of dairy 
stock to produce the best results” was under 
discussion, we were present, and gleaned the 
following as the result of the experience of 
those present 
llou. «J. Suitle said lie considered the 
farmer as much a professional man as the 
lawyer, doctor or professor who devotes his 
time to any special brunch of learning. The 
farmer needs an equally thorough educa¬ 
tion, with habits of study and observation, 
to enable him to discharge the duties of his 
profession with profit to himself and for the 
good of community. A careful study of 
our domestic animals reveals the tact, that 
they possess a certain degree of intelligence, 
which is observed in their recognition of 
the persons wh« aro hi Hie habit of feeding 
and taking care of them. If the treatment 
be kind it. will be reciprocated by friendly 
action. If the treatment be harsh and un¬ 
friendly they will exhibit fear and a desire 
to get from the presence of the person who 
has them in care. Fear creates a nervous 
excitement in the animal injurious to its 
prosperity, and consequently to that of its 
owner. Quietness, ease and familiarity, aside 
from plenty of food and water, seem to be 
very essential elements for the production of 
increased profits in dairy stock. The food, 
its quality and quantity, the time and man¬ 
ner of feeding, require a careful attention to 
study. That a good quality and sufficient 
quantity is necessary is admitted by all. 
Grass is the natural food for dairy stock. 
It may be in a green stale or it may be dried. 
A plent iful supply of good nutritious pastur¬ 
age, and a good supply of fresh spring water, 
are essentials for producing t he best results, 
and yet in a large number of eases this 
requisite is infringed upon by overstocking. 
Especially is this the case when dairy pro¬ 
ducts command high prices. In the eager¬ 
ness for gain, in many instances this essential 
(a full supply of food) is overlooked. There 
is a season of the year when pastures seem 
to yield a surplus of feed, and this, some¬ 
times, leads to the habit of overstocking. 
Mr. iSntrUj said bis experience Is, that no 
more stock should be kept than can lie well 
kept and well cared for. He would prefer 
fifteen cows well kept to twenty poorly kept 
Winter lUmiatenivut of Stock. 
Mr. Siiulk regarded a comfortable stable 
properly ventilated, as one of the first requi¬ 
sites in wintering stock. The temperature 
of the stable should be as even as it can be 
conveniently kept. A tight, stable, with im¬ 
perfect ventilation, is unhealthy for the cattle. 
Where many arc kept, such stables become 
warm and moist, and the air is offensive and 
poisonous. Cattle kept in a stable that is 
tight and Improperly ventilated, will be af¬ 
fected by the cold when turned out to water 
and exercise, much more than when the air 
is kept pure and fresh in the stable by proper 
circulation. Many dairymen make a prac¬ 
tice of turning stock out of the stable in the 
morning and leaving it out all day, let the 
weather be as inclement as it may. That 
practice should be discontinued. When the 
weather is pleasant and comfortable, there is 
no objection to allowing stock the liberty of 
the yard during the day ; but in case of rains 
or storms, the animals should not be left out. 
longer than is necessary to slake their thirst 
at the water-vats - and it Is important tor 
the health and thrift of stock that the places 
for water be convenient and comfortable. 
The practice of compelling stock to make 
long journeys to some creek down rn the lot, 
bus prevailed to some extent, and is to be 
deprecated. 
The winter feed should consist of hay 
made from grass, cured or dried in the best 
manner, instead of allowing it to stand in 
the field und become hay before cutting. 
Mr. Shule stated that experiments which 
he had made in feeding hay made from early 
cut grass and late cuttiug had abundantly 
satisfied him that the early cutting was alto¬ 
gether the best for stock. Stock will eat, it 
up clean, while they will leave a part of that 
which is about ripe. Place the two kinds 
before the cattle and they will readily pick 
out the early cut grass. There is more 
weight in the late cutting, hut, it is not so 
nutritious; the additional weight being made 
up of woody fiber of little or no value for 
food. 
The hours of feeding should be regular, 
and at each feeding a sufficient quantity 
should be placed before the animals to fully 
satisfy the appetite. The quantity will vary, 
according to the size of the animal, from 
seventeen to t wenty pounds of good hay per 
day. The frequency in feeding varies very 
much with different dairymen. [Some feed 
twice each day, while others feed three, four, 
or even five times a day. Mr. 8. said, from 
his own experience, and from inquiries as to 
feeding in different dairies, he had come to 
the conclusion that stock fed twice a day 
(morning and night,) have wintered better 
than when the practice was to feed oftener. 
He thought the process of rumination and 
digestion requires the intervals of the two 
feedings in a day, and that when food is fre¬ 
quently being.supplied the appetite is dulled, 
the food is not. properly digested and assim¬ 
ilated, while health would be more liable to 
be deranged. With regular hours in fowling, 
the stomach performs its office with regular¬ 
ity, and the interval named prepares it for 
taking the next meal, and disposing of it to 
the best advantage. 
lion. W.m. T. 8kinner said he found quite 
a difference among the animals of his herd 
in regard to the requirement for food. His 
best cows—those that yielded a large quan¬ 
tity of milk— were more industrious, or at 
least spent more time in feeding, while at 
pasture, than the poor cows. They not only 
required more food, but needed it. oftener 
than animals yielding a small quantity of 
milk, lie believed that a close observance 
of the manner in which cattle feed upon 
“ flush pastures” in summer should he taken 
partly as an index as to what would he best 
in winter feeding. In artificial feeding the 
nearer we can approach to the natural habits 
of the animal, the nearer we shall be to the 
best practice. He favored the system of 
^ feeding at regular hours and three times a 
day—each feed in such quantities as to suit 
the appetite, and no more food should be 
given at a meal than the animals will eat up 
clean at. that meal.- [Concluded next week. 
- +-*-■+ - 
HOVEN IN CATTLE: 
li» Treatment in the Dairy Illustrated. 
• 
Among the diseases of dairy stock, hoven, 
or hove, as it is usually termed, is of frequent 
Occurrence. It is induced by a sudden 
change of diet, as when animals in spring 
are turned from hay upon luxuriant pastur¬ 
age, or later in the season, by changing from 
the pasture to a lull growth of after feed in 
meadows. Cows, when thus turned Into 
fresh herbage, devour it greedily, which pro¬ 
duces over-distention of the rumen, followed 
quickly by hove. A similar derangement of 
the digestive functions sometimes happens, 
it is said, from feeding turnips, though the 
more frequent occurrence of tills disease, 
coming under our observation, lias been 
from a change of diet, and where the animals 
have been allowed to gorge themselves upon 
luxuriant grass. The food in such cases Ls 
imperfectly matured, the stomach becomes 
loaded, the process of rumination is prevent¬ 
ed, decomposition takes place, gas is gene¬ 
rated, and the animal becomes swollen witli 
confined air that disturbs the pauncli and 
intestines. 
Great care should be exercised in the man¬ 
agement of stock, at the particular seasons 
referred to, since, with proper precautions, 
the malady may be often avoided. It is al¬ 
ways best that the change of food should be 
brought about by degrees, allowing the cows 
at first to take only a part of a meal, and 
continuing in tlm course for a few days, 
until they have become somewhat accus¬ 
tomed to the fresh grass. In spring, after 
having been restricted during our long win¬ 
ters to dry food, a sudden change to a full 
supply of succulent food will be apt to de- 
rauge health, even if the animals, by chance, 
escape an attack of liove. It will be well, 
too, on first turning to grass, that it be done 
at such times as when the weather is dry 
and the herbage is not covered with dew; 
and this rule should be particularly ob¬ 
served on first turning stock into luxuriant 
aftermath. 
There is scarcely a dairyman of any 
considerable experience but has had cases 
of liove more or less severe among his 
cows — and the loss of valuable animals on 
account of the malady is of frequent, occur¬ 
rence. Indeed hove is so sudden in its 
attack, and the disease progresses so rapidly,, 
that unless speedy relief is given the animal 
dies. The fermentation which the food un¬ 
dergoes Is facilitated by the heat and moist¬ 
ure to which it is exposed while in the 
rumen. The gaseous compounds produced 
by the fermenting process vary according to 
its duration; at first carbonic acid gas is 
evolved, hut in a short time this product 
gives place to carbureted hydrogen gas. 
Various medicines have from time to time 
been recommended, but scarcely any, with 
the exception of chloride of lime, is of much 
avail. When the attack is not severe, Llio 
animal often recovers without any assistance. 
Chloride of lime is frequently found effect¬ 
ual iu bad cases, administered in a small 
quantity of water, the dose cf the chlo¬ 
rinated lime being from three to four 
drachms. Used in time, it effectually neu¬ 
tralizes the carbureted hydrogen gas. In 
its action the chlorine quits the lime and 
unites with the hydrogen and forms a sub¬ 
stance— muriatic acid — with which the 
new un combined lime unites, and the result, 
is a harmless substance — muriate of lime. 
- - .. i \ 
a . , v 
hi' : 'V&l 
Pig tm k t. 
In severe cases there should be no delay 
in adopting the necessary treatment, or the 
animal may be lost, for death in this disease 
is caused by suffocation. Immediate relief 
is given by puncturing the rumen, a quite 
simple operation when iv, is understood, and 
one which should always be resorted to in 
bad cases. As the disease is of such a char¬ 
acter that no time is to be lost., (for if the 
animal is to be saved, prompt action is re¬ 
quired,) every farmer should understand the 
nature of the operation and he aide to per¬ 
form it. By observing the following dia¬ 
grams, but little difficulty need be had in 
operating successfully. 
It is important to bear in mind that the 
operation should always be performed ou 
the left side of the animal, in consequence of 
the inclination of the rumen to that part of 
1 the abdominal cavity. Figure 1, is a sketch 
intended to represent live first stomach in its 
natural situation: a , the anterior pouch; l>, 
the postero-superior, the one which is opened 
in these, cases ; c, the middle, and c/, the 
postero-inferior. 
The place of puncture is in the flank 
about three inches below the spinal column 
and midway between the last rib and the 
hip. 
The instrument recommended by veter¬ 
inary surgeons is called a trocar; it consists 
of a stilct, having a lancet, shaped point and 
a sheath. We give Professor Simonds’ direc¬ 
tions as follows: 
“The stilct should bo about six inches in 
length uud when placed within the sheath it 
should protrude about three-fourths of an Inch; 
Its diameter may vary from throe-eighths to half 
an inch. In performing tho operation it is best 
to first puncture tho skin with a lancet; which 
having been done. Insert the point, of the in¬ 
strument m the wound and throat the stllet 
covered by the metal wheath hiwurdsuudslightly 
downwards using sufficient force to penetrate 
the coats of i he rumen; afterwards withdraw the 
stilct leaving tho sheath in the situation. Tho 
sheath is to remain until the gits lias escaped 
whon it )s to bo removed and the edges of tho 
wound in tho skin brought, together by a stitch 
of strong silk." 
As farmers are not usually provided with 
the proper instrument for performing the 
operation, a dirk-bladed knife may lie used 
and a quill or any small tube introduced 
into the puncture for the escape of the 
offending gas. There is no danger attending 
the operation when the proper instrument is 
used. 
man's Corners of Ml mien 21 c.; Springfield 
Center 2So.; Middlevlllo 22c.; Hopson's 82c.; Old 
Fairfield 22.Se., Knell's Hush 22.x, e,; Turnpike 
2LVc.; Ford's Hush 38o,; A. Smith & Co„ St. 
Johnsville, 22c.; Avery & Ivea22o.; North Fair- 
field 281:, c. The cheese on salo this woolc was all 
fodder make, but generally of pretty good 
quality. 
The receipts of butter wore not large. Prices 
for “bay make" ranged from 37 to 38c., while 
“grass butter" sold readily at 40o. per pound. 
Tho usual number of dealers were in tho mar¬ 
ket, and our quotations this week aro as high as 
any wo have hoard of in the State for county 
sales. 
Wo hoar of some call this week for lots of 
“pale choose” for shipment. Tho cost of an¬ 
il of to and potash for a factory of five hundred 
cows will amount during tho season to about 
$200. Some estimate can bo made from this of 
the large amount of money used during the 
season throughout the dairy districts for color¬ 
ing matter for cheese and which adds nothing 
to its quality. 
---- 
Report of Ashford’* C'hct-s<* Factory, Hush- 
ford, S. Y„ for 1 —Commenced operation 
March 30th, and closed November 16th. Was in 
operation 331 days. 
Received lbs. of milk. . 3,810,540 
Cheese, lbs. of, mauulaet'd from same. 216,831 
Made twelve sales, uinoiml iny to.$39,354 06 
Whole number of boxes sold 3,567 
Average per owt., $16.01 3.10, taking 9 36-100 
lbs. of milk forono lb. of cured choose. 
Whole number of cows, 758; average number, 
600; a portion kept out on Sabbaths. 
Received for cheese.$39,354 00 
Average per cow.$65 59 
Paid patrons *88,800 98 
Paid fur miiiiiil'.icturing. 4,935 32 
Paid for curling. • • 
Paid directors_ 
Paid for printing. 
iii' uu, 'iii, 
356 70 
190 76 
4 3a 
$39,354 06 
Figure 3. 
Figure 2 represents the point where the 
puncture should be made—at the point 
where the lines a, b and c, d intersect eacli 
other. 
-«*-*-*- 
The Country Cheese Market.— The cheese 
market at Littlo Falls, for tho week ending May 
291 h, was quite firm, with receipts of about 
3,000 boxes. Some 1,400 boxes farm dairies were 
delivered at tho railroad depot, in the early part 
of the week at prices ranging from 18 to 23c. 
per pound, the latter figure for “gilt edged.” 
Oood farm dairies sold readily at 20 to 2le. 
Quite a number of factories were on sale this 
week at prices n trifle lower t han our quotat ions 
for t he week previous. We give sales this week 
as followsManbeim Turnpike Association 
fifMc.; Osquego 22c. Moi her Creek 2IXe.; Opcn- 
heim 32e.; Fairfield Association 22!«fc.; St. Johns- 
villo 21?ie.; Fulton 21,'fe.; Shells' Rush 21ge.; 
Dairy Hill 213$c\; Norway Association 224fo.; 
Win. Peck 21c.; Brocket Bridge 22c.; Hickory 
Grove Sljtfe.; Danube Cold Spring 81c.; Stork- 
ville 224fc.; Davis 82c.; Nowvillo 23>fc.; Brook- 
lomcstk Stott ernm. 
CONDUCTED BY MARY A. E. WAGER. 
TRUE ECONOMY. 
Under this heading Queechy contributes 
a very readable article in tins Rural ol 
April 17th. T have heard a wealthy man 
ridiculed for taking a shovel into the street 
to save cow droppings from waste by throw¬ 
ing them over into his garden. But he 
did it. from habit, or an impulse of saving, 
and not from stinginess, for at another time 
1 have seen the same man pay a poor laborer 
more than he asked for tho work lie had 
done, because he thought he had richly 
earned it. There is as great a difference 
between a stingy man and a saving one as 
there is between a miser and a benevolent 
man. I have known a man to use turned 
envelopes to avoid the five hundred percent, 
extortion of the village stationer, when Jits 
daily charities amounted to dollars; while 
in buying lie gave extortion a wide berth, he 
often refused to take back a few pence In 
change from an old apple woman. 
But, apropos of true economy; it is well 
known that some families will live better 
and make a much tidier show on a very 
small income Ilian other families do with 
ample means, i have known a family to 
take boarders and lay up money, while an¬ 
other family with the same price for board 
lost money; yet the hoarders of the last 
family complained of poor fare and had cook¬ 
ery, while those of the other family were 
satisfied; hence the failure must, have been 
owing to the want of economy and skill in 
the manager. I once heard a landlord say 
if his tenant's family kept a lean swill pail, 
he felt easy about the quarter’s rent; but if 
he saw the pail full of half-baked or mouldy 
bread and joints of meat, he always required 
his rent in advance. I once remonstrated 
with a poor man for keeping a pig when be 
could always buy a hog in the fall for much 
less money than he had to pay for corn and 
swill feed to fat his own pig; but the man 
broke me down by saying the pig was his 
saving’s bank, the money paid for com every 
week would be uselessly expended, and iu 
the fall he. would have no pig nor money to 
buy one. A great many families live up to the 
amount of their earnings, without any at? 
tempt at laying up something for a wet day; 
ilton Saturday night t hey have a few shillings 
over, it is spent, for luxuries, and the last live 
cents for candy t,o take home to tho chil¬ 
dren. I know a laboring woman who sup¬ 
ported a lazy husband by her own industry, 
but when war came and large bounties were 
paid for soldiers, she encouraged him to en 
list, to get, the bounty, which amounted to 
five hundred dollars or more; but the money 
went like water; turkeys, sardines, oysters, 
and every other luxury graced their table, 
and all their friends were called in to par¬ 
take. The wardrobe was replenished with 
lavish expenditure, and the noble was fast 
being reduced to a ninepence. Although 
a quarter’s rent was due, the landlord, for 
the first time, felt a delicacy in dunning so 
rich a tenant, and now a patriot soldier; 
but, alas, when the second quarter’s rent 
fell due, the bounty money was all gone, and 
the rent was paid, like the sailor’s debt, un¬ 
der the foretopsail.—s. w. 
--— 
Oeam Toant.-St.il- three tablespoonfuls of 
flour to a very thin paste in cold milk. Stir this 
in a quart of rich milk, brought to a boil. Add 
butter and salt. Boil live minutes. Toast the 
bread uud pour the sauce over it. 
SOAP MAKING. \ 
Soap is a combinat ion of an active caustio \ 
alkali with grease or oil. Soda and potash a 
aro generally used for this purpose, the 'j 
former making hard, and tho latter soft, soap. < 
Tito Barilla of commerce is a crude Sal 
Soda, a carbonate of soda much used by 
soap makers* prodttcecf by burning sea 
weeds and li xiviating the ashes os the house¬ 
wife^ makes lye from ordinary wood tushes. 
Tho more caustic the alkali, the more 
perfect ami easy is the chemical union. All 
ashes, such as are saved in domestic use, are 
constantly absorbing carbonic acid from the 
atmosphere, which neutralizes their caustic¬ 
ity, and renders their union with the grease 
both difficult and imperfect. To separate 
this carbonic acid iVom the lyo, quicklime 
is Indispensable. Tho lime should he freshly 
slaked and scattered over the bottom ot the 
ash loach an inch or two deep, or Ik may be 
added to the lye after it is run off. The 
lime, having a greater “ affinity,” as chemists 
say, tor the carbonic acid, it leaves the 
potash and goes to the lime, which settles to 
the bottom of the alkaline solution as a 
carbonate. The lye should be used imme¬ 
diately after doing this, before it can absorb . 
more acid from the atmosphere, A 
Herein lies the chief trouble in making | 
soap. If tho lyo is strong enough to bear up ' 
an egg, and is rendered caustic by the use ot 
lime, it, must make good soap. One pound 
of grease generally makes a gallon of soft 
soap. [ notice in ou« of your recent articles 
on this subject, that you copy tho “ Saponi- 
tier,” which promises to make fifteen gallons 
of soft soap from one pound of alkali aud 
five of grease. As all the virtue of the soap 
is in the six pounds of active solid matter, 
your readers may guess what value there is 
in the one hundred and forty-four pounds of 
water. That quantity will make just five 
gallons of good soft soap and no more. - 
Common salt, which is a chloride of sodi¬ 
um, is often used lo harden soft soap, the 
soda in it. producing the effect. It, is not a 
good article to use, the salt always coining 
to the surface and injuring it. One pound 
of sal soda, put in the lye with quicklime is 
much better for this purpose than ten pounds 
of salt. {, 
In making soap, housekeepers should al¬ 
ways try out their grease, aud throw the 
bones, dirty rinds, &c., away. These are ot 
no use in the soap, though they may be cut 
up by the alkali, if boiled long enough. 
They only render jt. dirty and weak. With 
clean, melted grease and sharp lye, no cook¬ 
ing or boiling at all is necessary. The com¬ 
bination will bo perfect in a day or two, 
without further trouble. 
Very elqgant, soap may be made by using 
sal soda, made caustic with lime, and clean, 
nice tallow or lard. Perfumed with a little 
essential oil, it. is the same as the fancy soaps 
of the shops. 
Especially do 1 wish to protest, against the 
boiling of dirty grease aud weak lyo by house¬ 
keepers, for days at a time. One of my 
neighbors now lies at the point of death from 
this practice, her clothing having taken fire 
behind her in a high wind. No cooking 
whatever is necessary in making home-made 
soap, if properly made. Northwest. 
P. S.—Since writing the above, a corre¬ 
spondent asks how many ashes are requisite 
r to make one pound of soap? It is impossi¬ 
ble to say, as the yield of potash varies so 
much with tho sort of wood used. As a 
, general title, the ashes of the following 
, woods give: 
100 lb*. nf pine a»ticM yield 15-100 lbs., or less than half 
1 it pound of potuHh. 
I tooths, of poplar ashes yield \ lb. 
100 " beech “ " i.e> •• 
too " oak •* “ 2,03 “ 
lfiO " willow “ “ 2.8f, ** 
100 “ miji.inupln “ 3.9 » 
100 “ aim “ “ 3.9 •* 
100 “ wh't, at row “ i.if) ** 
too “ vine hr’nehs “ 5.5 “ 
too “ Orjroonmt'lks “ 17 . 5 “ 
ItHJ “ potato do. " 65.- “ 
Ono pound of caustic potash, on an aver¬ 
age, combines with five pounds of clean 
grease, and will make five gallons of good 
soft soap. 
— ■ ♦»» - 
Yeimt Cokes.—Take one bowl of hops, put Into 
a spider, and fill up with water; let them boil 
for half tm hour or more, keeping it full of 
water; Mien strain the liquor Into a small pan, 
add a good teaspoon or salt, one handful of 
flour, and stir with Indian meal to tho consis¬ 
tency of batter; let it stand until lukewarm, 
then stir in your emptyings and cover up warm 
to rise; when light, mix with Indian meal and 
make In rolls and si ice off in cakes, and lay them 
on your mix board to dry. 1 set mine on a smalt 
table in the kitchen ; turn every day, and, when 
dry, put In a bag and hang up for use. i make 
three or four Mines a year,ami have never failed 
in having nice ones. 
Tip Top Johnny Cake.—Take ono and a half 
pints of sweet milk, two tublenpoonfuis of sour 
cream, one teaspoon of saleratus, ono tea spoon¬ 
ful of salt, one large spoonful of flour, and stir 
with Indian meal, not too thick, and bake in a 
quick ovou. Try it with good, sweet butter and 
a cup of good coffee for breakfast, and if your 
husband does not ask you to bake another, th« 
next morning, t am much mistaken. 
Brown Bread-One pint, howl of flour, two of 
Indian meal, ono of Sweat milk, ono of sour 
milk or buttermilk, one teaspoon of salt, one 
good teaspoon of saleratus, two large table- 
spoonfuls of molasses; stir ail together, and 
bake one hour in a two-quart basin.—Mas K 
Deerfield, N. Y., \m. 
