486 
THE RURAL NEW-YORKER. 
MAR 21 
in his senses can doubt it, yet the animals ar 
turned out all the same. 
It is well known that in Nebraska, Colorado, 
Wyoming Territory, Montana and several 
other States and Territories, herds of cattle, 
numbering hundreds, thousands, tens of thous¬ 
ands, hundreds of thousands,are turned loose, 
without shelter and w ithout food, except such 
as thsy can gather in the frosts and snows and 
fierce winds that torture and often terminate 
the lives of men and beasts. 
We may refuse to notice it; we may extenu¬ 
ate and excuse it, but as sentient beings, we 
cannot help knowing that the hundreds of 
thousands of animals on Western plains, that 
have buffeted the storms of this terrible Win¬ 
ter, and now with sunken eyes, bended back, 
and protuberant bones, are lying down to 
sleep their last sleep, have passed through the 
intensest agony animal life is capable of. "Use 
and wont” often reconcile people to great 
enormities—"immemorial usage” made the 
thumb screw a means of grace; "cattle kings” 
and their bumble imitators have practiced this 
worse than savage cruelty, till we look upon 
it complacently, or at least with small con¬ 
ception of the terrible wrong that is com¬ 
mitted. 
Let the same protracted suffering, the same 
degree of torture be inflicted by some new 
process, some unaccustomed method, and we 
would denounce it with one accord. If cattle 
ne ver bad been forced by cruel owners to 
gather their living where a decent living 
could not be found; if never before had they 
been compelled to make their bed in snow, 
when the thermometer was below zero, and 
the wind like a scourge of thorns, the first 
man who deliberately put them to that tor¬ 
ture would be pronounced a monster of cru¬ 
elty. 
We are told that many cattle are dying at 
the West, and that many more will die, owing 
to the severity of the Winter—the statistics of 
mortality ought to be collected and collated. 
Beef eaters will do well to consider whether 
multitudes of animals that barely escape 
death will ever fully recover. Will they not 
be consumptive? Will not their organism be 
so impaired, their vital forces so enfeebled 
that they can never make healthful food for 
man. even if they live and get into fair con¬ 
dition? Cattle should never be wintered where 
they cannot be provided with food and shelter. 
There is no earthly necessity for crowding 
them into inhospitable regions. The older 
States ought to keep more stock, and some of 
the newer States and Territories less. No 
section, no locality should winter cattle where 
they cannot be full fed and made comfortable 
Where grass is too thin, or the surface too 
rough to cut aud cure hay profitably, let 
stock be pastured in Summer, but let them be 
driven elsewhere to winter. A friend suggests 
that birds which go South to winter, and the 
buffalo that migrates to milder regions as cold 
weather comes on, are far wiser in their gen¬ 
eration thau the herdsmen who force their 
stock to buffet the almost arctic winter, pre¬ 
venting them from wandering to milder 
climates if they could. The most observant 
and successful stock men of the State of New 
York have found out for a certainty that 
short rations and poor shelter are the worst 
kind of economy—Western graziers may be 
assured that this applies to their case also. It 
cannot be that owners can afford the terrible 
percentage of loss to which they subject them¬ 
selves. Profits do not depend on the number 
of their animals so much as on their growth 
and development. 
A Western cattle man informs me that 
winter feed and shelter are not generally pro¬ 
vided, because very large mortality occurs 
only in exceptional years, and that in balanc¬ 
ing loss and gain, it is thought to pay better 
to take chances and pocket the loss than to cut 
and secure hay and build sheds I That is the 
most sulphurous arithmetic I ever smelt of. 
Is there a Divine Government? Will cruelty 
have commercial value in the final fouting-up? 
Western cattle men and all others who freeze 
and starve their cattle will wish they were 
never in that business; they will wish to ef¬ 
face their brands, deny ownership, and prove 
an alibi. 
ROOTS REVERTING. 
I see that a Rural, correspondent had 
Swedes which were all tops and no bottoms 
Roots are liable to grow in this form when 
the seed is not perfect. The seed to be per¬ 
fect shonld be grown from roots which have 
been taken out of the ground in the Fall and 
kept in a sound condition through the Winter, 
and set out in the Spring to bear the seed. 
When roots are left in the ground where they 
grew, aud bear seed, this seed will never bot¬ 
tom well, 1 cannot account for it unless it is 
that the natural way causes the seed to 
lack vitality, aDd the roots revert back to the 
original types—seeds and roots simply. The 
large and teuder bottoms are the results of 
ooltivation and care, and resetting Is one of 
them. No one should ever sell self planted 
seed. F D. c. 
DAIRY DISCUSSION. 
The farmers of the East have been bolding 
very interesting discussions in Boston. One 
of the late topics talked about was “ The 
Dairy” or “Milch Cows and Dairy Farming.” 
The remarks are fully reported in the Massa¬ 
chusetts Ploughman. The Chairman, C. L. 
Flint, remarked that if he were running 
a dairy for the best quality of butter,he would 
use the ordinary Jersey. If he wereruuning 
a farm for the sale of milk, he would prefer 
something with the general characteristics of 
the Ayrshire. As to the wisdom of confining 
ourselves in a dairy farm to a pure breed of 
cattle, of course that must depend very much 
upon the jugdment of the individual. After 
the first cost, the raising of a pure-blooded 
animal, up to three or four years of age—the 
period of production—is not much greater 
than that of a low grade, coarse, scrub ani¬ 
mal. So, if the farmer is able to stock his 
farm with pure blooded cattle.in the long run 
he will be able to make more in that way, tak¬ 
ing the chances of raising and selling, and 
he should keep pretty near the line of 
pure blood. It does not follow that the dairy 
products are better, but, including the pro¬ 
ducts and the chance of selling from time to 
time at an advanced price, there may be econ¬ 
omy in it. 
Mr. Madison said that nothing can con¬ 
tribute more to the profit of the farmer, than 
the judicious breeding, feeding and housing 
of dairy stock. 
George M. Baker believes the agricultural 
interests of New England have been going 
down hill for the past ten years. He does not 
like to acknowledge it, but, nevertheless.be be¬ 
lieves it to be true. He thinks nothing could 
elevate those interests but the dairy. He be¬ 
lieves that if the public can be satisfied that 
they are using pure milk aud butter, the de¬ 
mand would be increased one half. Another 
thing, it costs too much to get milk from the 
producer to the consumer. He believes it has 
been thoroughly demonstrated that while it 
costs four cents a quart, on an average, within 
a radius of 40 miles from the city of Boston, 
that two cents a quart is an ample sum. When 
you can accomplish this, aud give the com¬ 
munity pure milk and pure butter, any one 
will readily see that the demand will be in¬ 
creased threefold. 
Mr. Hersed said that whatever may be the 
condition of New England, Massachusetts is 
not going down iD agriculture. It is gradually 
gaining. 
Mr. Chamberlain said that we cannot afford 
to make milk or butter by growing bay. Corn 
is an article that will produce beef, butter 
and milk, and leave something handsome in 
the way of profit. Corn can be produced for 
half a dollar a bushel and stover for $9 per 
ton, and leave the farm a good margin com¬ 
pared with its present cost of production. 
Mr. Kind said that he bad seen as good na¬ 
tive cows as he ever saw in his life,by selecting 
them from New England hill-sides. Perhaps 
it would be well for some of our farmers to 
travel over New England and try the experi¬ 
ment, Once he went into the State of Maine 
to select a good herd. In one day he bought 
40, and he sold 40 out of his own herd to make 
room for them. 
Mr. Ell ms said that the two important 
things in dairying are good food and cleanli¬ 
ness, without which no good butter can be 
made. His way is to give them such food as 
will make the most aud best butter. Dot detri¬ 
mental to their breeding. We know that in 
June the pastures have the grasses in their 
earliest stage, largest proportion of albumi¬ 
noids, the best for butter. Now we should 
strive to get our hay as near the June grass as 
we can. He cuts his bay in early June and 
gets it into the barn free from rain; then he 
gets another large crop, aud sometimes three 
crops in the same season. He plants corn two 
years and seeds down in Spring, using two- 
and-a-half bushels of rye, half a bushel of 
Herd's Grass,one bushel of Red Top, 10 pounds 
of clover to the acre. He has done th is way for 
years and has been successful, getting two 
crops of rye and one of clover the first season; 
the next year three crops, and after that two 
crops till the fifth year, when be breaks up. 
Daring this time he has spread manure on the 
surface, and so has a heavy sod for bis corn, 
and has no fear of a deficiency of nitrogen for 
the crop The rye is cut when the heads show 
themselves, which gives the grass a good 
chance before the usual drought, and then at 
the second cutting of the rye it has a good 
start for a third crop. By this method be has 
a good deal of clover hay for his cows, which 
with rye, English bay, corn fodder, bran and 
corn meal, constitutes mainly bis winter feed. 
The value of the manure from a ton of clover 
is $9 64; from a ton of bran 114.59. He sows 
TimiJfhy to keep the clover from lodging. His 
apples answer the place of roots. There is no 
more manure value from 15 tons of root j than 
from one ton of bran, and there is quite a cost 
in raising 15 tons of roots. His cattle eat the corn 
fodder so clean that he does not have enough 
butts left to warrant his cutting. Planting so 
thick both for the corn and fodder, the stalks 
are not very large. He stooks bis com early 
when the corn is glazed. If the stooks are up 
well, the fodder will not be injured if it stands 
until snow comes. He warms the water in 
Winter for the cows; they drin k more. In the 
Summer they have running brooks to go to. 
as pure water is very essential. After June 1 
he feeds them some in the barn; as the weather 
becomes hot the flies bother them so that they 
do not satisfy their huDger, which is a loss 
at the pail. At this time he gives them cut 
grass and then corn fodder, green, with shorts 
and meal, which keeps up the flow. He does 
not clean his stable out until after he has 
milked. He wants no odors whilst milking, 
from stirring the manure. He beds his cows 
with fresh hay and wipes their udders with a 
cloth before milking. They stand on a plat¬ 
form and the manure drops into a gutter, so 
that the cows are always clean. As soon as 
he gets a pail of milk it is taken to a room 
and put into a strainer over a can, and drains 
whilst he continues milking. 
to buy in the first place, Mr. Johnson would 
advise to buy a blooded animal, for its off¬ 
spring will sell aud it gives greater nroGt, 
To day there are in Framingham two cows 
that are giving 45 to 47 quarts of milk a day. 
The same man has got two more that he 
bought recently, that are beating these. He 
got them from Vermont this Fall. Mr. John¬ 
son was asked if the two cows were Holsteins? 
He replied, "No—merely grade cows.” 
Mr. Coburn spoke of a grade cow from 
Maine. He kept her for three years and she 
kept gaining on her milk. She came in in 
December. Through January she averaged 
a little over 31 quarts a day. He kept her 
high, as he found the more she would eat, the 
more she would give. Every day that she fell 
off in food, she fell off in her milk. He kept 
account of the cow’s milk for nine months 
and it averaged a little over 20 quarts a 
day for that time. Good grade cows are bet¬ 
ter for his purpose than any thoroughbred. 
One great secret of raising milk is in having 
a warm barn. He stops all the cracks.aud iu 
the warm mornings opens the doors and win¬ 
dows and ventilates thoroughly. Cows want 
a variety of food. He has fed cotton seed, 
but he thinks it is likely to get the cows out of 
order. Me uses corn meal aud some brewers' 
grains, which are healthy. He can raise as 
much milk in Winter as in Summer, but the 
cows must be better tended. He gives about 
half a bushel a day of brewers’ grains, two 
quarts of Indian meal, a few shorts and a few 
turnips three or four times a week. 
SAMPLES. 
When he gets through roilkiDg the cans of 
milk are taken to the room where the creamer 
is. An inverted pan is placed over the top of 
the can placed under water. A bar is placed 
across to keep the cover down, and the air 
that is carried down uader the cover prevents 
the water from coming in contact with the 
milk. It is important that the milk should be 
cooled as quickly as possible, so that the tem¬ 
perature of the water wants to be 45 degrees. 
It stands from 12 to 24 hours. If you use ice, 
12 will do. He has not used ice for years. 
He uses water from the well daily at about 51 
degrees. Some will say that milk fresh from 
the cow wants airing, that it has all the ani¬ 
mal odor, and it will not answer to put. it so 
soon under cover. There is animal odor 
only when a concentration of flith has pollut¬ 
ed the milk. The cold water around the can 
cools the milk and sends its chill from every 
quarter into the milk. The motion of the 
particles is almost like that of water boiling 
over a fire. The odor or steam is forced to 
the air space, from which no return is made 
as long as the water is kept cold. The cans 
are 20 inches deep and eight inches across. 
There is a glass in the upper part to see the 
thickness of the cream, at the lower part a 
gauge with a rubber tube and faucet to let 
the milk off. Through the glass you can 
usually see from five to six inches of cream. 
After the milk has been in the creamer a 
suitable lime, the cans are taken out, the 
gauges adjusted, the faucets turned, the milk 
runs off, and the cream remains and is emptied 
as from a pail. You can let the skimming go 
on from any number of cans and be at some 
other work. The merits of the creamer 
(Cooley is the one that he uses) are that you are 
independent of ihe condition of the atmosphere 
and there is a great saving of labor; no mat¬ 
ter how hot the days of July and August are. 
your milk is always sweet, and the washing 
of a large number of pans is saved. Butter 
is injured by the cream standing too long 
He never churns less than twice a week. He 
uses a thermometer, which is very important 
to show the temperature of the cream, and gen¬ 
erally takes40 minutes in churning. Churning 
consists in separating the fats from the rest of 
the milk, getting them into a solid. All the 
phosphates are left in the milk, so iu selling 
butter you do not impoverish the farm. 
His skim-milk is fed to his calves, also to 
his pigs, which he prizes much, as his pork is 
made so cheaply. With milk, brau and some 
meal, they are kept over Winter; as soon as 
Spring comes they are put into movable pens, 
and he has quite a piece of sward pulverized 
before the plow commences operation. The 
calves are brought up on skim-milk aud oat¬ 
meal, and seldom has he had any trouble with 
those complaints that calves are liable to 
have. In reply to a question, Mr. Ellms said 
that he fills his creamer with water at 45 de¬ 
grees, and if it should go to 55 or (JO lie would 
not care. He fills it every day. 
Mr. Johnson said that the dairy stands at 
the head of the farming interests of New 
England, perhaps of the whole country, ex¬ 
cepting the Southern States, it is said: 
"Without hay, no stock.” That iB very true. 
Aud without tbe dairy there is no hay, He 
has yet to learn of a single thing that is not 
Bold from the farm at as low a comparative 
price as milk. In keeping a dairy the first 
thing Is to get a good cow. If you have got 
Dr. Schnioger, of the Dairy Institute at 
Preskau, has recently made experiments lo 
determine whether there is any material ad¬ 
vantage in milking cows oftener than twice a 
day. He concludes that the superior results 
of milking three times a day as compared 
with twice a day, are unmistakable. 
Josiah Hoopes asks, in the N. Y. Tribune, 
why farmers over-feed their gardens and 
starve their orchards?. 
For the latitude of Southern N. Y. and 
south, the Chester Co. Mammoth Corn, a 
yellow dent, will give immense crops. The 
ears average aa large as those of any other 
variety, though hut one is, as a rule, borne on 
a stalk. The objections are that the ears 
shrink very much and the stalks grow too high 
and too thick, and bear few loaves in propor¬ 
tion to their size. They are therefore not 
valued for fodder. Remember if you 
want a fodder corn, to buy the Rural Thor¬ 
oughbred or Ensilage Corn. This gives three 
or four stalks to every seed; the joints are 
short—the leaves many and broad. 
SPECIAL SEED REPORTS. 
Arkansas. 
Fayetteville, Washington Co., March 1. 
—We are having now the first pretty weather 
since before Christmas. The Winter was 
remarkable for its blizzards of snow and 
sleet. Wheat it is feared will only make 
half a crop. Produce is very cheap, but times 
are dull. S. L, 3. 
Canada. 
Carlton, Ont., March 3.—All crops were 
good here last year. Corn and potatoes were 
extra, but prices have been very low:— 
wheat, per bushel, 80 to 85 cents; oats, 29 
cents; peas, 55 to 5fi cents; barley, 50 cents; 
corn, 45 cents; timothy seed, 81.25 to $2.00; 
clover seed, $5. Fall wheat looked splendid 
when Winter set in, and it has been well cov¬ 
ered with snow all Winter so for; so if we 
have a favorable Spring, we shall look for an 
excellent crop. We have had very cold 
weather this Winter, the thermometer falling 
as low as 34 degrees below zero. Tbe weather 
at present is quite moderate. w. H. c. 
Iowa. 
Ella, Pepin Co., March 5.—The thermom¬ 
eter has ranged from 10 to 00 degrees below 
zero this Winter—the coldest that the oldest 
inhabitant can remember. Wheat, 61 cents; 
hay from $4 to $7 iter ton. The Winter wheat 
is ail right, in this section. It was pretty dry 
for it last Fall, but there came a good coat of 
snow soon enough to save it. t>. G. b. 
Kitnaua, 
Caldwell, Sumner Co., March 5 .—'Ibis 
part of Kansas has been visited with the se¬ 
verest Wiuter iu the memory of the oldest sel¬ 
lers, and that is saying for the last 14 or 1 ’ 
years. We can usually plow half the Winter 
here; but this Winter the ground has been 
frozen from one to two feet deep since about 
December 15, uud there has been a great deal 
of snow aud slaet, which has causea terrible 
losses on the cattle ranges south of this in the 
Indian Territory. Cattle have actually died 
by thousands. Stock in this Statu that has 
