38 
MOOBE’S BUBAL NEW-YORKER. 
rJAN. 43 
£)ain> Utisbaitdrji. 
THE MILK TRADE. 
[The followinR letter, written last May. has bean 
overlooked or it would have appeared promptly. It 
may, however, In- of service to those who are to de- 
<-l«le What to do with their milk thaeonanx reason i 
henee wo rIvp It now . regretting that It was not made 
useful last season- - Eds. Ilf It At. Nirw-VouKEK.J 
In the Rural New-Yorker of May 20. I 
see a oominunicat.Ion from “B.” of Man¬ 
chester, Vt.., in relation to the profit of send¬ 
ing milk to New York or making it into but¬ 
ter and cheese. As I have been in the milk 
business, and have also made butter and 
cheese, perhaps my experience in the mat¬ 
ter may be useful to “B.” and perhaps to 
others. 
In the first place, Cummings, Hakeu & 
Co. are well known along the Housatouic 
Railroad, on which I reside, as middlemen, 
who take all the profit from the farmers 
who have all the trouble and expense in the 
matter. They only make a market for the 
milk, handle the money, and pay the farmer 
what they please. “ B. 1 ’ says they will guar- 
antce three cents per quart for the summer. 
They guaranteed three cents, and more, on 
the Housatouic Railroad, but their guaran¬ 
tee didn’t amount to much. I have before 
me one bill received from them in May, 
1808, for 20 40-quart cans of milk, in which 
they return me 913.(15, taking out a commis¬ 
sion themselves of 85.70, which leaves for 
the milk but a little over 1 1-3 cents per 
quart. They had previously guaranteed the 
farmers 3 1-2 cents per quart, leas it commis¬ 
sion of 20 cents per can, which they were to 
have for t heir trouble. This is but a sample, 
but it M ill do. More will be furnished if 
required. 
In relation to the milk business, it has, 
undoubtedly, been a paying business in 
years back, ami may be now to those favor¬ 
ably situated; but according to the prices 
that have ruled in New York from January 
1, 1871, it has been a losing one. For the 
last few years, until now, the average price 
received in New York for the year lias been 
about four and-a-lialf cents per quart; at 
that price farmers could make something, 
provided they had a good customer who paid 
regularly, and who returned the cans in 
good shape. 
Lot us consider the outlay that the farm¬ 
er has, who is in the milk business:—First, 
The cans of which, if near New York, he 
has to have one forty-quart can for each 
cow; if as far from New York as 1 am, one- 
and-one-half for a cow. They cost now 
..’bout 85.15 per can, which is nn outlay of 
8258.75 for a dairy of t hirty cows. The loss, 
wear, and tear, and interest on the cans, 
will amount to at least 850 per year, which 
has to be replaced. Some men say they can 
more than pay that- by the water they put 
in their milk; hut we are now talking of 
honest men. 
It is notorious, that the majority of the 
milkmen in New York are a set of swind¬ 
lers, who pay only as it. suits their conven¬ 
ience; and pay just as little as they can. 
They occasionally “ bust up,” when nothing 
can be got. There are, of course, a few hon¬ 
orable exceptions to the rule, and the farm¬ 
ers who deal with such generally do all they 
can to suit them, and even take less price 
for their milk in order to have them keep 
it. But 1 may say, that a grout many farmers 
expect to lose the pay fora month's milk 
during the year. This must be taken into 
consideration. 
It is necessary for a man who makes a 
good dairy of milk, to make ;m oven one. 
By this I mean, he must make as much, or 
but little less milk in winter than he does 
in the summer. To do this he must have 
his cows coming in at all times of the year, 
or as many in the fall as in t he spring. Now 
take into consideration the cost of making 
milk in winter. The cows have to be fed 
regularly and heavily on grain, kept in 
warm stables, and with all the caro you ean 
give them, they will not give as large a flow 
of milk as they would on grass. The ex- 
pen <e to make the milk is so great that a 
good many farmers sav t hey can make more 
from their summer’s milk than they ean in 
winter, when milk is worth 5c. or (it;, per 
quart. The only advantage, then, in win¬ 
ter, is that it makes a market for your hay 
and grain. 
A farmer who is making butter and cheese 
can get more milk from his Cows (as he has 
them come in in the spring) than lean from 
mine which come in at all seasons. For he 
has all his cows in milk in the last season, 
while part of mine are dry. A dairy of 
cows that average six cows to a 40-quart 
can for the year, is an unusually good one; 
while a dairy of cows where they all come 
in in the spring ought not to average more 
than four cows per 10-quart eau, a- the; 
have the best of the season and when it 
costs less to keep them. 
Suppose “B“ can get three cents for his 
milk in New York—that is, 81.20 per 40- 
qunrt can—and he has to run all the risks, 
loss of cans, &c. By making that can of 
milk into butter, calling 10 quarts a pound, 
we have 4 pounds of butter, besides the skim 
milk, which is worth at least 1 cent per 
quart to feed hogs; and if his butter sells at 
30 eta. per pound, he is making more money 
than he would if lie sent it to New York, 
Besides, be can keep more cows on hi - 
farm by milking them through the summer 
and then drying them up; for a new milch 
cow will eat one-third more hay, besides 
the grain, than one kept dry through the 
winter, The law of “Supply and Demand” 
rules the price of milk inNew York. When 
milk is scarce a good price can be got; but 
when plenty, hardly anything; and when 
milk is plenty the milkmen wilt keep the 
cans back to prevent your sending more 
milk than they want. 
So tmui\ new railroads are being opened 
lo New York that, the supply of milk now 
is more than the demand, and a good many 
farmers who have been sending milk are 
making calculations to make butter and 
choose, as they find it will pay equally as 
well, and be less “vexation of spirit." 
IIakky Sedgwick. 
Cornwall Hollow, Conn. 
-- 
WEIGHT OF A QUART OF MILK. 
A conuEsroNDENT writes us in regard to 
the weight of a quart of milk. He says; 
“ I have seen various statements in the 
papers as to the weight of a quart of milk. 
They make it weigh different weights, from 
two pounds to two pounds six ounces, and 
sometimes even more. What is the standard 
weight? You may have given it in the 
Rural New-Yorker, but 1 cannot find it 
in back numbers. 1 always find your state¬ 
ments reliable, and you will confer a favor 
on mo and others by answering this ques¬ 
tion in the Rural. ” 
Different samples of milk will vary in 
weight, according to the quality of each. 
There will also be a variation in weight, ac¬ 
cording to t ho temperature of t he milk when 
weighed. In other words, a quart of milk 
at 60° will weigh more than a quart of the 
same milk at £10*. In our tests of milk of 
fair average quality, at a temperature of 
70 -, we find the weight , generally, of a 
quart of milk to be about thirty-five ounces. 
In a recent conversation with Mr. Hail 
Borden <«t White Plains, N. Y. ( the distin¬ 
guished inventor of the process of condens- 
ing milk in vacuo, he stated that In* had 
taken great pains to get a correct solution 
ot this matter. Taking the milk from sev¬ 
eral cow's and mingling it together and then 
thoroughly cooling it, he carried it directly 
lo the “ U. 8. Sealer of Weights and Meas¬ 
ures." who measured and weighed the milk 
by accurate Government weights and meas¬ 
ures. The result was that a quart of milk, 
so measured and weighed on delicate scales, 
was equal to t wo pounds, two ounces, and 
one-quarter of an ounce (2 lbs. 2 1-4 028.) 
The tests M ere made M ith different samples 
of milk at different times, but without ma¬ 
terially' altering the weight, and hence he 
had adopted the above as the true M'eigbt 
of a quart of milk having a fair average 
quality, 
Perhaps one leading cause of dissimilarity 
in tins weights of milk noticed by' our corre¬ 
spondent, is the lack of accuracy with which 
the measuring and weighing are done. A 
great proport ion Of the quart measures sold 
are not accurat e.w'hlle the scales and weights 
used may not bo perfectly correct. Again, 
when all these are accurate, considerable 
caution must be taken in filling the ves¬ 
sel m it li milk and taking the M'eigbt. Hence 
it will he seen that, with samples of milk of 
different qualities, weighed at different t em¬ 
peratures. measured in vessels not. perfectly 
accurate, Sc., Sc., there must be more or 
less variation in the statements of persons 
who have given t he weight of a quart of milk. 
We are inclined to take Mr. Borden’s 
weight, above given, as a standard; or, at 
any rate. a. quart of milk having a tempera¬ 
ture of 7fi : may be. expressed in round num¬ 
bers a weighing 35 ounces, 
FOWLS WITH BLACK BONES AND FLESH. 
In the Rural New-Yorker of Nov. 25, 
1871, I noticed an article on “ Black Bones 
in Thickens.” The writer seems to think it 
a disease, (it may be in his case,) butthere is 
a breed from both Japan and China, one 
having the periosteum (cartilage round the 
bone) black; and one with the flesh and 
bones discolored. It is considered a rare 
breed. Au account of it will be found under 
Ornithology, GalUift moro and Callus cres- 
pux ; Encyclopedia Brit t unica. — T. Law¬ 
rence, fl2 HY*/ Thirty-sixth street, A*. Y. 
Relative to the above, query, 8. M., of 
Trumbull Co., O., writes us as follows: 
“Several years since I bought a pair of pure 
Black Spanish chickens. They proved to he 
splendid layers, but unfit for table use, be¬ 
cause the flesh and bones were so black. I 
disposed of them all but one pullet. My 
other chickens were pure white. When I 
raised chickens the next summer, some had 
pure white plumage and blue flesh and 
bones. 1 had one of those left when I pro¬ 
cured pure Light Brahmas, a year ago last 
spring. 1 have killed several chickens tills 
fall, whose skin, flesh, and bones are spot¬ 
ted, and ot hers darker color all over. The 
eggs which J. H. S. purchased were not pure 
or else his chickens have a Black Spanish 
mixture. The plumage of the above-men¬ 
tioned chickens, when alive, have the mark¬ 
ings of the pure Brahmas. Mine at least 
have,” 
E. C. Falls City, Neb., writes, “ that 
if J. TL S. will examine hie chickens closely, 
he will And they are mixed with the Guinea 
foM'l, but as t hey are eatable be need not be 
afraid of the black bones. A few years ago 
there was scarcely a flock but what, was 
mixed hi this way, by the coupling of the 
Guinea cock with the common hen, in this 
neighborhood. In some of them the bones 
M'ould be all black, in others there was one 
or two, or any number of bones colored. 
By getting rid of the Guineas and getting 
new breeds we got rid of the black bones.” 
--+■+-+- 
POULTRY NOTES AND QUERIES. 
Chicken or Duck Coops and In- 
elosures.—We give herewith a plan for 
chicken or duck coops with inclosures, which 
we consider very convenient fixtures in any 
poultry yard. Thoce coops are made so that 
they are movable, and can be constructed 
by almost any one conversant with the use 
of a hammer and nails; any refuse hoards 
and odd pieces are all that are necessary to 
build them. The coops can be set in any 
desired position, then fenced in M’ith boards 
12 to 1C inches wide, as shown in the engrav¬ 
ing, with stakes driven in the ground on 
each side of the boards, at intervals, to keep 
them from falling over; put up in this man¬ 
ner the stakes cun be withdrawn at will and 
the inclosure moved as often as desirable. 
For partitions our engraver has shown a 
light wire mesh, which is easy to handle and 
can be procured at a very small cost. This 
is fastened into position by pinning down 
w'ith wooden pins, which, in this way, is 
made also movable. Ducks kept within this 
in closure need only a pan of water to pad¬ 
dle In until they become of sufficient age to 
leave the mother-hen or duck. 
Of Whom Shall wo Purchase Fancy 
Poultry and Eggs? —This has been a 
question repeatedly asked the past year. 
Those desiring to purchase eggs of fancy 
fowls, or the birds themselves, being fear¬ 
ful they would become victims of humbugs 
and frauds, ask the question. In all cases 
we have referred such to the advertis¬ 
ing columns of the Rural New-Yorker, 
and we have as yet heard of but one single 
complaint from this reference. That one 
isolated case, on investigation, proved only 
CHICKEN AND DUCK COO}' INCLOSURES. 
a misunderstanding on the part of the com¬ 
plainant. We make this statement with 
some pride because of the character of our 
advertisers and of the advertisements that 
have appeared in the “ Poultry and Stock 
Department’* of the Rural during t he past 
year, and herewith name some of them and 
the States M bere they belong: 
TTew York .—.7. Y. Hicknell, O. H. Warner, E. 
C. Third well. 1,. Burlingame, W. Banks, W. It. 
Hills, 8. H. Jones, O. B. Leavitt, F. H. Loucks, 
wtn. Pomeroy, O. R. Hawley, E. C. Coiney and 
E. A. Rowe. 
A> ic .// >*<(/. TI. Bales mid I. Van Winkle. 
IVimaj/Tixinirt.—D. W. Horst Inc, J. Krause, D. 
II. Oates, J. Stone and If. F. Stowell. 
Masxachvtrt tx.~ E. Hartshorn A- Son, John S. 
Ives, 1m II. Sampson und Philander Williams. 
Ohio .—(\ Flndirur, Little. Man and E. Riddle. 
CVhi next tout. —S. J Heritor and Asahel Tanner. 
Wisconsin.— A. II. Howard and W. E. Stitt. 
Toicn. —C. E. Phelps. 
Rhode Island.—W. R. Wells. 
liens Eating Eggs, Etc.—Some mouth 
or t wo since I saw an inquiry in your valu¬ 
able paper with regard topreventing hens 
from eating their eggs. 1 am sure that 
people teach t heir chickens to cat eggs by 
throwing the egg shells among the scraps of 
food that is given them. In this May they 
get the taste, of the cooked egg, and then 
when sitting they eat them rather than leave 
the nest to get other food. I have killed 
many a hen for this when it was really my 
own or the cook’s fault. I now take the 
shells carefully from the scraps at the table 
and the slops in (he kitchen and throw them 
in the fire. If not entirely burned when I 
take the ashes up I throw them back again. 
Always keep a heap of ashes from the 
kitchen in the chicken yard, they like it and 
will go to it immediately after eating. This 
with an occasional sprinkling of lime, will 
keep them healt hy and make good firm egg 
shells.— Old Forty. 
White Dorking Bantams.— Inquirer, 
Glen’s Falls, N. Y.—We do not recollect to 
have seen any of them at the poultry exhi¬ 
bitions, therefore cannot give you any in¬ 
formation upon the subject. 
Weak Fowls.- Fowls that show lassitude 
or weakness may be strengthened by giving 
a decoction of citrate of iron mixed with 
water in such proportion as to give it a very 
perceptible taste of iron. 
Uligiciiif information. 
HYGIENIC NOTES AND QUERIES. 
Recipe for Tough Drops.—A lady sends 
the Rural New-Yorker the following; 
Tincture of blood-root, two ounces; tincture 
of lobelia, one-half ounce; oil of spearmint, 
ten drops; sale molasses, two and one-half 
ounces. Shake well before using. Dose, 
one teaspoonfuL 
Remedy for Chills and Fever.—G. W., 
Macon, Ga., writes the Rural Nfav-York¬ 
er that he has cured cases of two or three 
years’ standing M-ith two doses, given on sep¬ 
arate days, of (for an adult) one tablespoon¬ 
ful of Mandrake or May Apple, (Podophyl¬ 
lum peltotum) root. He says, “Grind it in 
a coffee mill. Clean the mill M’ith corn meal. 
It can be made into pills with a small amount 
nf flour.” _ 
Remedy for Burns. — Wm. II. Lemus 
sends us the following which he has “thor¬ 
oughly tested and knows to be good—One 
ounce air-slacked Uiue and three ounces 
hog’s lard; mix thoroughly and apply to 
the burn. It will afford immediate relief 
and when applied to a fresh burn will heal 
the sore and leave no scar. We may say 
that whatever will exclude air from a burn 
will give relief._ 
Washing the Hands in Turpentine. 
—In the Rural New-Yorker, Nov. 18,1871, 
we published a statement that what is called 
lead-paralysis, common among painters, is 
chiefly produced by washing the hands in 
turpentiuo. A Georgia correspondent M'rites 
us if, instead of turpentine, oil is used, it 
will answer every purpose, and no ill effects 
will follow. We thank our correspondent 
for the information. 
Novvouh or Hick Headache, says a 
correspondent of the Cincinnati Gazette, 
“Can generally be Cured if taken in time, 
by the use of bromide of potass. When the 
attack is felt to be coming on, take twenty 
grains of the bromide dissolved In water; 
go to bed and sleep two or three hours and 
you are cured. Sometimes it may be neces¬ 
sary to repeat the dose which may be done 
iu two or three hours. The bromide is per¬ 
fectly harmless, unless taken in very large 
doses. There will be no danger in taking 
twenty grains every two hours, until you 
have taken three doses. But most cases, if 
taken iu hand early, M'ill need only one or 
at most I wo doses." 
