MARCH 43 
467 
Railroad, through a region quite dis'ant, totally 
diverse from the other, going through the 
most level parts of Cuyahoga, Lorain, Huron, 
Richland, Crawford, Morrow, Delaware arid 
Franklin counties, and returning through 
about the most h'lly parts of Knox, Holmes, 
Wayne and Summit., golug most of the way 
through a loDg monotonous stretch of dead 
level, with only occasional and slight undula¬ 
tions, and returning through scenery so fine s 
to remind one of sprightly Vermout hills and 
valleys, or the Iloosac region of Western Mas¬ 
sachusetts, or of the hold scenery of the Alle- 
ghanies in Pennsylvania. The January weath¬ 
er was mild and balmy, the Helds were bare of 
snow and free from frost, the wheat and even 
some of the grass still green, and the whole 
country spread out to view almost as if in 
summer. Most of the ground was not new to 
me, but I fouud myself again and again saying 
two things I bad often said before. One was, 
“ What a vast and varied Mato Ohio is!" and 
the other, “What is there in hilln that puts 
life into the farmers, and i a dead level that 
takes it out of them ?" 
But my work is not to talk in a moral or po¬ 
etic strain, but diligently to inquire what ex¬ 
cellences may we imitate, and what defects 
should we avoid in the farming of any localily ? 
So, then, iu riding through the great level 
stretch first mentioned, I found myself con¬ 
stantly asking, “What does the agriculture of 
this region chiefly need?" and the answer 
every time was the same, “Two things, drain¬ 
age and manure." Not that it is naturally an 
infertile region: some portions of it are the 
very garden of Ohio naturally. Huron couuty 
and ■ ric, which adjoins it, arc two of the best 
wheat counties in Ohio. Erie stood first in the 
State iu 1878, giving an average of nearly 80 
busluls. But even this flue county sadly 
needs under-drainage. The waters stood over 
this great level area long after they had re¬ 
ceded from the higher and more hilly portions 
of the State. The soil is largely alluvial—the 
settlings rather of the great waters before 
they finally tubaided to the present level of 
Lake Erie's surface ; so, at least, the geologists 
tell us; and the soil 1 b black and rich, hut it is 
so level that It must have drainage of some sort. 
The open ditches at the roadsides (I speak of 
the parts of Huron and Erie couutics near the 
lake) are often from two to live feet deep, and 
into these runs the water from theopeu ditches 
or furrows on cither side. The wheat fields 
are plowed In very narrow, high lands, with 
deep, open dead furrows for the waters to 
stand and slowly flow In. Of course, this sys¬ 
tem of draiuago is most Imperfect and waste¬ 
ful in many respects. It wastes the fertility of 
the soil—how, 1 need uot now show. It wastes 
time iu tilling and more in harvesting, and is a 
fearful strain on any reaper. The proprietors 
of the Buckeye Reaper told me that they had 
more trouble from breakage of their table-rake 
In those and similar counties than in the whole 
world besides. Tile-drainage must iu time re¬ 
place this superficial and unsatisfactory work. 
But further hack from the lake, iu Richland, 
( rawford and Morrow counties, the soil, at 
least from our line of road, seems uot so fertile 
naturally, aud there is even greater need of 
thorough tile drainage. The water seemed to 
Btand In all the dead furrows aud depressions 
for scores of miles here, and over half ol some 
of the fields, the suh-soll being retentive clay, 
and the wheat showed the ill effects of It. 
Still, it is a good, strong, clay soil most of the 
way, and sufficiently undulating for tile-drain¬ 
age, provided it be thoroughly and skillfully 
done. And if thoroughly underdrained and 
properly tilled and manured, this land will 
make some of the very host wheat land in the 
State, already tiling ia well begun, and tile 
factories are springing up everywhere, and a 
new era in agriealturo at the West is already 
dawuiug. Portions of these counties, indeed, 
lying back from my present route, are more 
undulating and gravelly and less In need of 
drainage. 
Thorough manuring arid tillage must, how¬ 
ever, follow tiling, or the era I spoko of will 
dawn all too slowly. 1 looked in vain through 
this fiat region for the sourots whence the 
manure is to come. There were neither stock 
nor barns nor clover. Not absolutely none, 
for the agricultural statistics show quite to 
the contrary, but nothing adequate. I do not 
remember seeing from the ear windows one 
thoroughly good barn in a stretch of a hundred 
miles on the C-, C., G. and I. R. R. I mean 
one that looked as if it housed adequate feed 
and Btoek for the size of the farm, uud planned 
for the careful saving of every particle aud 
drop of the manure from the animals. Again 
and again 1 fouud myself comparing the farm¬ 
ing of tills region with that of a certain town 
iu Massachusetts that T visited and studied 
some six years ago. That town is naturally bar- 
reu sand, and some of it still remains so. But 
many of the farmers there have made splendid 
farms. They make their money chiefly by 
raising stock, or sending good milk and butter 
to Boston. And they make their Janas by u 
scrupulous saving and proper use of every par¬ 
ticle of manure, both liquid and solid, from all 
their animals. Cloyer ib uot plowed under, but 
) 
THE RURAL MEW-fORKER. 
fed, and the manure saved. Straw is not rot¬ 
ted down, but cut and fed with mill feed, and 
the manure saved. Their great bank-barns, 
chiefly with manure cellars, tell the story. 
Which iB cause and which Is effect it may be 
bard to tell exactly, but one thing is certain: 
the bank-barns aro usually on good farms. Iu 
that town the neglected farm!* with tumble¬ 
down burns one would be slow to take as a 
gift, the laud Beerua so absolutely Infertile. 
But farms even adjoining, with the good barns 
and the good farmers, would bo cheap at a 
hundred dollars an aerc. And as 1 thought It 
over I said to myself, “ If these men make 
such farms out of such miserable land, why 
should we be discou agcd with the naturally 
fertile soil found almost anywhere in Ohio. I 
found also akind of conundrum slowly “evolv¬ 
ing" itself from iny sluggish brain. It was 
this: What Ia the best and safest “ bank ” for 
farmers? Ans.—The bank barn. 
But of the picturesque scenery, and the fine 
farms, and the lessons learned on the home¬ 
ward trip I must speak at another time. 
THE LAW ON LINE FENCES IN NEW 
YORK. 
F. K. MORELAND. 
The law relating to line fences is a matter of 
some interest to farmers. Disputes iu refer¬ 
ence to them are too often a prolific cause of 
discord and sometimes of litigation. A farmer 
will guard his line feucoa with jealous eare, 
not only to Insure their being properly located 
but also to insure their Itclng efficient. The 
statute law upon this subject is all-sufficient. 
It is provided in substance that each of two 
adjoining land-owners shall make aud main¬ 
tain a just proportion of the division fence 
between them. Any land-owner may per¬ 
mit his land to be open aud unfcnccd; but when 
such owner sees tit to fence his lands, he shall 
pay to the adjoining owner the value of the 
division fence, or rather his just proportion of 
It at the lime aueh division fence was orectud 
by the adjoining owner. All disputes iu refer¬ 
ence to fences shall be submitted to two fence 
viewers whose decision shall be final. No 
farmer may retuovo his portion of the divis¬ 
ion fence without giving due notice. 
There Is another question which will arise 
most frequently in the older sections of the 
country, where land is more valuable; and that 
is as to correct location of line fences. When 
laud was less valuable than now, farmers 
were careless In locating their division fences. 
They were very often crooked and too often 
erroneous; and now when this may cause 
an error of several acres iu the survey of a 
man’s farm, itbecomes an interesting question. 
When a fence has been located for twenty 
years between two farms, the statute of limita¬ 
tion intervenes, aud says that ia the fence. The 
parties have acquiesced too long in that lino 
fence for oue to disturb the other. The object 
aud aim of all statutes istoprevent litigation. 
And this is the object of the statute of limita¬ 
tion—it is a statute of repose. The party who 
acquires any land by the erroneous location of 
a line fence, acquires a good title by prescrip¬ 
tion. This principle has been decided too 
often by our courts to bo overruled. In Jack- 
sou vs. Dyoling, 2 Caines, 198, the Supreme 
Court decided that “ A possession of 40 years 
or an acknowledged, though erroneous line, 
is a good bar to recovery in ejectment. A 
parol agreement to abide by a certain di¬ 
vision line, will bo sufficient to prevent 
either party from claiming In ejectment con¬ 
trary to it, though it will not pass tho lands, 
but such agreement may, It would seem, be 
revoked or modified by a a subsequent parol 
agreement." In Dufort vs. Conroy, 1 Hume, 
609, the following language Is used: “The re¬ 
ferees having found as matter of fact in an 
ejectment suit, that, for more than 40 years, 
the lots of the respective parties had been sep¬ 
arated by a partition fence; that the lots had 
been used and cultivated by their respective 
owners for more than 00 years up to the fence 
on each aide; that in I860 plaintiff's agent 
moved the fence two feet on the lot occupied 
by tho defendant; that in August 1871 defend¬ 
ant removed the fence to where It stood before 
and brought an action and recovered damages 
against plaintiff for removing the fence; held, 
that it was error to And as conclusion of law, 
that tho plaintiff was owner of Ihe strip of 
laud betweeu the feuee, as it originally Btood 
and as it stood after its removal by plaintiff," 
To the same effect is Roblusou vs. Phillip, 
r>ti N. Y. (Court of Appeals) 634, and Pope vs 
Hammer, 74 N. Y. 240. When a division fence 
has stood for upwards of 80 years, undisputed, 
even if not opeuly acknowledged or even if not 
located by the joint act of the adjoining owu- 
ers, there is no reason or Justice iu removing 
It. It would seem that the statute of limitations 
(30 years) is a sufficient length of time iu 
which to correct its location. 
It is not often that any grievous lujury will re¬ 
sult from allowing the old line to remain. One 
principal object in correcting the line fence is 
to have it straight—neighbors ean usually 
flgree upon this. I know of cases where the 
old line has been piled full of boulders and 
stones, where neither party could wish to 
change the line. ^ 
St. Lawrence Co., N. Y. 
flairij IJuskitiTj). 
BUTTER PRINTS. 
Once, while ou a visit to a very noted dairy 
near 8t. Louis, I saw the butter muker print 
butter nearly hb fast as a man can mold bricks 
at a brick-yard, lie had a six-sided frame open 
ut top and bottom and larger at the top than 
at tho bottom. In the bottom of this frame he 
would insert a false or loose bottom with the 
monogram of the dairy cut on it. He would 
BUTTER KNIFE AND RAMMER.—FIG. 79. 
then force the butter into the mold with a 
small rammer and with a long slim wooden 
knife, lie would “ strike” or cut off the top of 
the butter just even with the surface of tho 
mold. Quiekly reversing the mold, with his 
two thumbs bo would push the false bottom 
and butter out upon a cloth already Bpvead to 
receive them. The false bottom was removed 
from the butter aud tho ends of tho cloth 
dxawu neatly over it, and then tho same pro¬ 
cess was gone over again. I weighed many of 
the prints aud found them as nearly an exact 
poand as they could have been weighed by the 
most practiced band. I afterwards adopted 
the same principle, but with a slightly differ¬ 
ently shaped mold at my butter factory with 
complete success—see fig. 80. Butter in rect¬ 
angular shapes will pack closer in a box than 
iu any other form, ft is also very easy to 
divide into half pounds either on the counter 
or for the tabic, one full pound being usually 
too much to put upon the tabic at one time. 
UUTTER PRINT.— FIG. 80. 
There is no reason whatever for requiring 
the butter maker to weigh every pound of 
butter. It is not only a waste of time and 
labor; but if the butter is packed solid in the 
mold, as it should bo, an exact weight can be 
arrived at with greater preeisiou by “ Btriking" 
than with the scales. Iu weighing, the last 
ounce must be dropped on, aud bow bard tho 
scale goes down depouda much upon how 
much salt brine or rust has gotten on the 
liiuges or points of balanco. Besides, very few 
dairymaids, or men either, aro slow and cau¬ 
tious enough to measure closely, and most of 
them prefer to throw on a half ounce too much 
than either to lose tho time and patience re¬ 
quired to make elosor measure or to take the 
risk of a complaint coming back from the sUru. 
Good butter-making is made up of little things, 
and this Is oue of the biggest of the little 
things when a whole year’s waste comes to 
bo recorded. 
The above tools Bhould all be made of cherry 
wood and the frame put together strongly 
with brass screws that will not rust. The pad¬ 
dle, however, may he made of white ash and the 
longer and wider it is the better. Tho false 
bottom should fit quite loosely at first, as it 
will certainly swell after being used a while 
On the face of it any figure or monogram may 
bo cut and on the back four brass screws can 
be inserted to regulate tho size of the print of 
1)U * ,ter - L. S. Hardin. 
-■» •» »- 
DAIRYING-HOCUS-POCUS. 
T. II. IIOSKIN3, M. D. 
The mysteries of milk to the popular mind 
are various and manifold. “Witches in the 
cream " have sufficed to excuse much ignor¬ 
ance and many blunders among the dairy¬ 
maids. But fondness for the marvelous in 
this connection is uot limited to the unlearn¬ 
ed. I have recently been making a collection 
of agricultural textbooks used iu European 
schools for primary instruction, and in read¬ 
ing them I find, In regard to dairying at least, 
a good deal of vulgar error taught for truth- 
In the “Agricultural Class-book,’’ published by- 
Alexander Thom, Dublin, Ireland, (3d. ed. 
1870), not only is shallow setting (3 inches) 
at a temperature of 50 deg. insisted on, but wo 
are told that “ at a higher temperature it takes 
a shorter aud at a lower temperature a longer 
time," and that “ ut 34 deg. to 87 deg. milk 
may be kept three weeks without throwing up 
any notable quantity of cream." In the same 
treatise wo are also told that “churning con¬ 
sists in breaking up the coals of the fatty- 
globules and setting the butter free." and that 
“this is effected by tho combined effect of fric¬ 
tion, bout and air." All this is repeated verba¬ 
tim in a book entitled “Introduction to Practi¬ 
cal Farming for the Use of Bchools,” published 
in London. 1875, by MacMillan and Co. 
Cold setting and box churns have blasted 
this “learning of the ancients," but now crops 
of absurdities spring up on the same ground 
on both sides of the Atlautic. Among those I 
am compelled, very reluctantly, to include the 
widely quoted declaration of Dr. 8turtevant„ 
(In Land and Homo), to the effect that Jersey 
milk is an unwholesome diet, noi only for hu¬ 
man infants but for Jersey calves! “The 
cause at the bottom of this difficulty,” Bays the 
Dv. in italics, “is the difficulty of digesting the 
curd of Jersey milk." But he also ascribes it 
to the rlehuess of the milk by reason of the 
excess of butter it contains. He cites no in¬ 
stances of babies beiug slain with Jersey rnilk, 
but he referB in proof to a “well-known com¬ 
plaint unioug Jersey breeders, over that of the 
breeders of other stock, that their eulvua scour 
to a troublesome degree.” I have a pretty 
wide acquaintance among Jersey breeders in 
Vermout, and have never heard this complaint, 
nor do I believe the disease spoken of is any¬ 
more common among Jerseys than among our 
common cattle; while wherever it occurs it is 
simply to be ascribed to bad management. As 
a great many “ Jersey breeders " in Southern 
New England belong to the class of “fancy 
farmers," who have to depend upon hired help 
in rearing their ealvea, and as tho calves art: 
very rarely allowed either to suck their dams 
or have whole milk for more than a few days 
after birth, it ia easy to surmise the probable 
origin of the complaint where Dr. Bturtcvant. 
has heard it, without resorting to the explauac- 
tion he provides for it. 
There iB no doubt that Jersey milk is richer 
iu both cascine and.fat than that of most other 
breedB. It ia richer in all its solid constituents, 
merely because it has less water. We have: 
uot the slightest reason for believiug that there 
is any other difference, or any, at least, ot a 
character to lesseu digestibility. The writer in 
his professional practice has long been in the: 
habit of recommending Jersey milk in prefer¬ 
ence to any other for Infants “ brought up ou 
the bottle," und never has seen any evil results 
that could bo fairly ascribed to the milk. His 
own child, now 17 months of age, has been so 
reared, (the milk of a cow making one pound: 
of butter from 12$ pounds of milk, being used! 
exclusively), and this child is aud always baa 
been a picture of health. As the parents aver¬ 
age 46 years in uge, and the babe weighed but 
six pounds at birth and now weighs 88,1 think 
it is a pretty good showing for Jersey milk. 
But the most remarkable aud self-stultifying 
statements in this connection, that have lately 
come under my notice, ure those mudo by a 
correspondent of tho Boston Cultivator in re¬ 
lation to tho effect of mixing the milk of vari¬ 
ous breeds, or of different cows, upon the yield 
of butter. If true, they would practically load 
to the necessity of churning every cow's milk 
separately, no matter how large the dairy 
might be. For with the multitude of dairy¬ 
men It is practically impossible to get together 
any considerable herd without having In it 
cows varying greatly In the size of their butter 
globules And, besides that, every cow's inilb 
contains both large and small globules, so that 
in fact we should, ou the theory propounded, 
have to “ split tho milk," lu order to get all the 
cream. Let us examine these statements a 
little, and see how they contradict themselves 
to the eyes of a practical man. The writer be- 
