46@ 
SEPT. 45 
THE RURAL NEW-YORKER. 
ho Bays, ‘ 1 but not quite equal to the old cow. 
Niobe wa« a largo milker, yielding twenty 
quartB, or more, of milk through the Bummer, 
and making two pound* of butter a day. In 
the aummer of 18G8 nevera! gentlemen, interest¬ 
ed in forming the Jersey Club, saw her milked 
when she gave 11 quarts at night, and 9)4 quarts 
in the morning. The following week her milk 
yielded 14 Iba. of butter. When tested, after 
having been milked for nine months, which was 
three months before she was due to calve, she 
yielded l)J4 pounds, showing that her taattruj 
quality made the sum total of her butter yield 
for the year very large. Mr. Hiiaui'LKSh says “her 
yield was never excessive, but she was a persist¬ 
ent milker, and for one term of three years it 
was impossible to dry her off, and she was milk¬ 
ed right up to calving ; ” he mentions also the 
yield of two of her daughters, namely Niobe 2d 
who made 12 pounds or butter iu a week, and 
Niobe 4th whose product in the week ending 
Oct 4, 1876, was 1.2>£ lt>» or butter, she having 
calved September 4, and he adds; “ she would 
probably make 14 lbs when fresh in June, 
Among the descendants of the third genera¬ 
tion is the third daughter of Niobe I Id, now with 
her first calf, and if there is “ hick in odd num¬ 
bers,” and in their repetition she ought to be 
famous in some way, and so she promises to ho 
an extraordinary milker, having an excellent 
udder, and proving a groat yielder for her age. 
Bcauderc 1882, a two-year-old son of the old 
cow, is now nt the head of the Lonape herd. Her 
last calf, a heifer, was dropped last Christinas 
day and was sold when two months old to go to 
Mobile, Alabama. 
It was a general surprise - Niobe's winning the 
Centennial prize—yet it is hard to say she wan 
not entitled to it. There w ere other Jersey cows 
there which would yield more butter; perhaps 
that would give more milk, but it seems there 
were none that would mark so high on the scale 
of points, and tins waB, after all, the criterion, 
artificial though it be. Mr, Forhkh’ picture 
gives admirably the Boft, lustrous, dreamy eye 
of the cow, the silky folds and wrinkles upon her 
nock, and the play of light and shade upon her 
velvety hide. It iB an excellent drawing, and 
recalls vividly the old cow as she looked at the 
Centennial show. 
Haul) ijusfmtinj. 
COLD STORAGE AND TRANSPORTATION 
FOR BUTTER. 
IIY 3 . M. IT.TKRH. 
The use of refrigerator cars for transporta¬ 
tion of butter and of refrigerator warehouses 
for its storage may be credited to tho enterprise 
of the western dairymen, or more properly to tho 
western shippers, who wore forced to introduce 
iced cars in order to preserve the quality of their 
butter, during the long period required to trans¬ 
port it from the remote dairy regions of the 
west aud northwest. The protection thus afford¬ 
ed to tho goods lias done much during the few 
years that these cars have been in use, to raise 
the roputatiou of western butter in the Eastern 
markets, and to make it so strong a competitor 
with tho State product. The first ice-house for 
storing butter, was constructed in New York 
about two years ago, and during the summer of 
187C there were several of them iu use, though 
they w'ero chiefly owned by parties outside of 
butter trade. Their usefulness was fully attest¬ 
ed, however, and before the first of June this 
year, nearly every butter liousc, of any size in 
this market, had constructed an ice-liouso or re¬ 
frigerator room for tho cold storage of their 
consignments. They vary, in capacity, from 300 
packages to 12,000 packages each, and the ag¬ 
gregate capacity of the cold storage room in 
butter stores or a vailable for butter, is probably 
over 100,000 packages. The temperature at 
which these rooms are kopt, varies according to 
the ideas of the different owners. Rome regard 
50 to 55 degress as tho safest for butter, while 
others maintain that 40 to 45 degrees is not too 
low', aud regulate their refrigerators accordingly. 
There were jn the outset some objections raised by 
retailers to ice-house stock, as there was a gener¬ 
al belief that it would “ruu down ” in quality 
more rapidly in their stores and on tho hands of 
tho consumer, than stock that had never been so 
thoroughly chilled. This objection lias since 
boon overcome and it is now rare to boar any 
complaints. Tho experiment has not been fully 
tested as yet, hut I am inclined to think that tho 
most satisfactory results will be obtained from 
rooms kept at 50 to 55 degrees, rather than at a 
lower temperature. In fact the point to be de¬ 
monstrated is, at how high a temperature can 
butter ho preserved perfectly and kept in good 
merchantable order. If every retailer and every 
consumer were earoful during the hot months to 
keep butter in a refrigerator, there would be no 
risk iu transporting and bolding it in rooms at 
40 degrees, but iu making aUow'anco for the beat 
to which it is likely to be subjected in the retail 
stores and on the consumer’s table it would seem 
safer to go not lower than 50 degrees. 
The dairymen of this State are at a greater 
disadvantage now in tho matter of transporta¬ 
tion than are their competitors in tho remotest 
sections of Iowa. Not only are freight rates 
proportionally very much higher from points in 
this State to New York City, than they arc from 
the west, but the nse of refrigerator cars over 
the latter routes enables shippers to land their 
goods here with Iobs injury than is often sustain¬ 
ed by State good« not over twelve hours in 
transit. The cold storage warehouses are, of 
course, as beneficial to the near-by product as to 
that from a distance, but the damage is done be¬ 
fore the goods reach t he store, and it is this de¬ 
fect that lias given western butter so strong a 
hold, in many instances, in competition with the 
product of the State. 
The greatest, barrier to an cxj>ort trade in but¬ 
ter lias been, heretofore, the difficulty of landing 
goods on the other side in merchantable order. 
This season the ice rooms in many of the ocean 
steamers which had previously been used for 
transporting drossed boof, wore offered for but¬ 
ter shipments at an increased rate of freight. 
Those facilities wero secured by a committee ap¬ 
pointed at the National Butter, Cheese aud Egg 
Convention at Chicago, in March last, and they 
have been largely utilized each week since they 
wore first granted. To thorn may bo credited a 
large proportion of tho heavy exports of the 
present season, which have afforded such ma¬ 
terial relief to tho markets. We now neod only 
t he refrigerator car on all railroads to supply the 
missing link, when butter need never be out of an 
ice room from the time it Leaves tho churn until 
it is on the consumer’s table in Liverpool or Lon¬ 
don, except for tho little time required to cart it 
from the car to tho store or from the store to tho 
ship. It is to secure such facilities that the 
dairymen of this State and of other sections 
whore they are not now enjoyed, Hhould bond 
their energies at their conventions during tho 
coming season. 
To just what extent tho butter trade this year 
has been affected by the facilities that have ex¬ 
isted for carrying stock, it is difficult, as yet, to 
estimate. The season has been an exceptional 
one in many respects; tho make of butter has 
been largo and oi unusually good quality, as the 
rule ; the weather haB boon favorable for trans¬ 
porting and holding goods most of the time, 
and all of these conditions wore favorable for 
just bucIi a market aa we now have. Yet it is 
probable that those influences have boon render- 
oil the more emphatic by the refrigerators. Never 
before have wo hud so much useful butter—not 
strictly fino, but still good, merchantable stock— 
during tho summer months ; and never before 
have we had so liberal a foreign demand for our 
goods. The home domaud has boon barely suf¬ 
ficient to use up the fine goods, aud without the 
export trade wo must have had a heavy glut 
throughout, tho season, of butter that was good 
euough to use in many of the homo markets. 
It is obvious, thoreforo, that without a foreign 
trade, our markets would now bo in a very much 
worse condition than they arc. But had there 
been uo ice-houses, it may be asked, would not 
the Western stook hr.vo boon so poor in quality 
as not to interfere with State, and would not the 
State products havo then found a better market 
at higher prices ? I think not. Enough fancy 
Western arrives here even without tho use of 
ice, in such a season as thiB, to add very largely 
to the supply of fine butter from the State, aud 
although there would have beon almost nothing 
on tho market between flue butter aud grease, the 
supply of the former would have boon iu oxcohh 
of til© demands. An export outlet might havo 
been found for tho surplus, but in affording 
largo supplies of good, sound, merchantable but¬ 
ter for the Englishmen, at comparatively low 
prices -say from fifteen to eighteen cents—we 
have improved our foreign outlet, and have 
raised the avei'age price of the entire crop. The 
West lias received tho greatest, share of this ben¬ 
efit, but it has not boon lost to the Rtate dairy¬ 
men, and with a hotter average product and im¬ 
proved facilities for transportation, the butter 
makers of this Rtate will find in the very condi¬ 
tions that have caused the great increase of 
dairying at the WoBt, tho source of increased 
prosperity to their own interests. 
-- ■+++ - 
VALUE OF SKIMMED MILK AS FEED FOR 
HOGS. 
BY X. A. WILLARD. 
At the last Convention of the Northwestern 
Dairymen’s Association, Mr. I. Boxes of Byron, 
Ill., referred to the fattening qualities of skim¬ 
med milk as a feed for hogs. Ho stated, as the 
result of liis experience, that 100 pounds of skirn- 
mud milk and one bushel of whole corn, would 
put moro flesh on a hog than two bushels of 
corn meal. This gives a tiigher value to skimmed 
milk for fcodiug purposes than has generally 
been assigned to it. Corn meal—as far East as 
Central New York—is worth from 75c. to $1 per 
bushel, and when a profit in making pork can bo 
realized by feeding corn meal, the skimmed milk 
would be worth from 75c. to $1 per 100 pounds. 
At the latter figure, it would pay better than con¬ 
verting it into skimmed ebcoso; for if wo esti¬ 
mate that the 100 pounds of milk would yield 10 
ponndB of skimmed choose, tho cheese must net 
10 c. per pound to oqual the value of tho milk for 
feeding purposes. This would bo a high price 
for skimmed cheese; bnt granting it conld be 
sold at ouch rates, there is the cost, of making 
and boxing to ho deducted, which gives a balance 
in favor of tho milk for feeding. 
Mr. Botkh doeB not state what experiments he 
has mode to show this value of skimmed milk as 
a feed for hogs; bnt we presume ho has data for 
his statement. Wo Hhould be glad if some of our 
butter makers would experiment tho present sea¬ 
son with Bkimmod milk in oonnoction with meal 
as a feed for Bwine as com pared with meal alono, 
and give ub the result. The question is a very 
important one ; for if as much money can be 
turned from skimmed milk in feeding to our do¬ 
mestic animals as it will bring when made into 
skimmed cheese, then we say, by all means, let 
it be used as food, and thus relievo the market 
from a low grade of choeHe. 
HEW PROCESS FOR MAKING SKIM CHEESE. 
Mr. John T. Ellsworth of Barro, Mass., who 
is well known among dairymon for making, in 
bis dairy, butter and skim choose under a pro¬ 
cess by which the milk is heated as soon as drawn 
from tho cow to about 140° and then sot for 
cream, and after tho cream has been removed 
tho Bkimmod milk converted into skimmed 
cheese, writes to the U. 8. Butter, Cheese, and 
Egg Reporter among other thingB, as follows: 
“ We have discovered a new process for hand¬ 
ling milk, whoroby wo are able to make a fine 
butter and good cheese from the same milk; or 
rather, it should bo stated that wo have discov¬ 
ered a new process for making fiuo skimmed 
cheese, and revived and combined with it an old 
procoss for making fine butter. This process of 
making butter aud choose from tho same milk, 
aH practiced in our dairy the past two seasons, is 
now patented by Prof. L. B. Arnold of Roches¬ 
ter, N. Y.” 
Now, we do not know all the points that are 
claimed to he new or original in tbo patent re¬ 
ferred to, but it seems there is a now claimant 
in tho field for tins process. An esteemed cor¬ 
respondent from Vermont, who takes a good deal 
of interest in dairy matters and is a prominent 
member of the Vermont Dairymen’s Association, 
writes to us under a recent, date as follows: 
“ There is a big muss hero over Arnold, Ells¬ 
worth & Oo.’s patent. Dr E. A. Cl been, broth¬ 
er-in-law of Mr. Mahon and Superintendent of 
the Mason Factory since its establishment, and 
one of tho most roliable of men, says lie has 
practiced the whole tiling covered by that patent 
moro than twenty years- not all the time, but 
some part of every year. He lias not, of late, 
put the buttermilk in (lie cheese, bnt in every 
other respect, every spring and fall, ho has used 
tho wholo system. The subject. ha« been brought 
before our Executive Committee" (Vermout Dai¬ 
ryman's Association) ** and we have investigat¬ 
ed it and find tho evidence perfectly overwkolm- 
Wo suppose the Mason referred to is tho Hon. 
E. D. Mason of Richmond, Vt., President of tbo 
Vermont Dairymen’s Association. We should be 
glad to hear from Mr. Mason and Dr. Green on 
the subject, aud also from Mr. Ellsworth and 
Prof. Arnold. Possibly there are some points 
in the Ellsworth process not practiced by Dr. 
Green, and most likely these are in tho manipu¬ 
lation of tho buttermilk for the manufacture of 
the skimmed cheese. 
Jitlir Crop. 
FOOD RESULTS OF THE WHEAT CROP. 
Amount of Bread, Beef and Milk, per Acre.— 
Amount for the whole Country. 
BY CONRAD WILSON. 
There is every reason to believe that tbo 
wheat crop of the United States, foi the coming 
year will bo exceptionally largo. Even if the 
yield per acre should not exceed the avei'age of 
recent years, yet with tho incroaBing number of 
acres that will doubtloss bo devoted to the crop, 
the total result will hardly be less than 500 
million buBhelB, which would bo about 12 bushels 
each for the entire population of tho country. 
As each bushel of wheat represents on an 
average, about 120 pounds of Btraw, this 
would inako the straw crop equal to 30 million 
tons. Now if we allow 46 pounds of flour, and 8 
pounds of bran to each bushel of wheat, we 
should then havo over 11 million tons as the 
sum total of flour, and 4 thousand million 
pounds as the product of bran. 
Again, when flour is converted into bread the 
average gain of weight is not far from 40 per 
cent. Hence the flour resulting from a bushel 
of wheat would be equivalent to 60 pounds of 
bread, over and above the bran aud the toll for 
grinding. The nutritive value of the bran of 
wheat, according to Petri (one of thejhighest 
German authorities) is equal to about half the 
value of the grain, while the feeding value of 
the straw, including the chaff, iB very nearly 
one-third tho value of the bran. Ah this subject 
is of vital importance to farmors, as well as to 
all consumers of wheat, it will perhaps be of 
interest to glance briefly at some further facts 
and figures. 
IF WE TAKE FIFTEEN BUSHELS OF WHEAT AS THE AVERAGE 
YIELD 
for the United Htates, this would show a food 
result for each acre equal to 900 pounds of 
bread, while tho bran, straw and chaff from tbo 
same acre, if fed to cattle of a good breed, 
would bo equivalent either to 60 pounds of beef, 
or to 450 pounds of milk. Extending this esti¬ 
mate to tho whole country, tho annual wheat 
crop would be equivalent to 
THIRTY THOUSAND MILLION FOUNDS OF BREAD, 
plus two thotisa nd million pounds of beef, or 15 
thousand million pounds of milk. Thoti if wo 
assume tbo population of tho United States to 
bo 44 million, this yearly product of food result¬ 
ing from the wheat crop would bo equivalent to 
680 pounds of bread, plus 340 pounds of milk to 
each man, woman and child in the country. Or 
Instead of the milk, a corresponding proportion 
either of beef or mutton, butter or cheese could 
be furnished in addition to the bread. It is not 
claimed that these estimates are rigorously 
exact. Yet they arc boliovod to be, as average 
results, not far from tho truth, and may havo 
the effoot of stimulating other farmers to further 
investigation. 
Now if such is the outcome of tho wheat crop 
on a yield of only 15 bushels per acre, 
WHAT WOULD BE THE RESULT OF AN AVERAQE OF TWENTY- 
FIVE BUSHELS 
which is not only clearly possible, but is entirely 
within reach of a majority of farmers, as facts 
plainly indicate. Even during the present sea¬ 
son the number of wheategrowers who have 
reached 50 bushel per aero is greater than ever 
before, and tends to show, not merely that, the 
scasou has been auspicious, but still more, that 
practical men havo waked up to now life on a 
very important question. When it is considered 
also, that still others have reached a yet higher 
product, and that even the possibility of 100 
bushels per acre has been again and again provod, 
it is Huroly not unreasonable to expect from 
American farmers, at tbo least calculation, a 
general averago of 25 bushels. Rooner or later 
this increase of yield is suro to come, and it will 
moro than likely be realized before the eloso of 
another decade. 
When this point is gained, tho wheat crop of 
the country will show a yearly product of over 
880 million bushels of graiu, which iB nearly 
equal to 20 bushels each for tbo entire popula¬ 
tion. It will likewise show a product of 50 mil¬ 
lion tons of Btraw, and tho product of flour will 
bo equivalent to 
FIFTY THOUSAND MILLION POUNDS OF BREAD 
while the bran, chuff aud straw, if rightly used 
in feeding, will produce over 33 hundred million 
pounds of beef, or a corresponding proportion of 
other food staples. 
In view of these evident factB and possibilities 
that belong to this uoreal, tho very pertinent 
inquiry at once arises: How is this great result to 
be achieved ? If so large an increase of produc¬ 
tion is really attainable, not only by a few suc¬ 
cessful men, but by a majority of farmorH, what 
aro tho means to bo used in securing such a gain ? 
Is there some mysterious process which under 
all conditions proves infallible ? Is there a mode 
of treatment for tho wheat crop so fixed, and 
uniform, and reliable, that no effort of thought 
is requirod because no failure is possible ? To 
supposo this would bo Bimply absurd. No 
amount of effort without thought will ever 
achieve maximum crops. No intelligent man ex¬ 
pects to lay aside his best faculties when working 
for best rosults. Nor does bo exjiect to find a 
system ready-made to his hand that is equally 
adapted to all conditions of tho soil and the crop. 
Maximum yields are uot produced from any sys¬ 
tem that is limited to a single idoa, or to a sin¬ 
gle series of exact figures. And yet it is true 
beyond any doubt that system is essential to 
good husbandry, and that formulas, even if im¬ 
perfect, are very often useful, and in certain 
cases of great valuo. The largest yields, as a 
general rule, are only to be expected from flexi¬ 
ble methods that are conditional in their applioar 
tion: methods which every intelligent man may 
bend to his will, and compel them to meet tho 
varying cases that arise. Such methods as those 
are already in process of development. They 
are gradually unfolding under 
THE MAQICAL INFLUENCE OF EXPERIMENTAL FARMIN0 
on which more than on anything else depends 
tho future of agriculture. Well-planned experi¬ 
ments, if soundly conducted, always pay, and 
just in proportion as they are multiplied and 
perfected, the husbandry of the future will reveal 
