iiiiiimuiuu»*^S 
yJ.OTiW- * 
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Vol. XLVI. No. 1948, 
NEW YORK, MAY 28, 1887. 
PRICE FIVE CENTS 
*2.00 PER YEAR. 
Filtered, accorilliiK to Act of CoiiRress, In the year 1887, by the Rural Nkw-Yorker, In the ofllee of the Librarian of Congress at Washington. 
poso” breeds, so that one can suit bis own 
fancy. For family use the butter breeds will 
give sufficient milk, and at the sum *. time not 
lie too large in size so as to be too expensive to 
keep, nor will they look out of proportion on 
a farm of a few aeres, But for the milk dairy, 
the large-framed cow, bred for many genera¬ 
tions fur one specific purpose—milk—will be 
the choice, and the less tendency she has to 
show beef points the better for her owner’s 
pocket. And when It comes to selecting a 
cow for beef, then the butter and milk points 
are a secondary consideration, and size be¬ 
comes of the first importance. Shall we ever 
buvo the “general-purpose” cowl No. And 
we have no use for her uow, uor will we ever. 
Catousville, Md. A. L. C. 
by any process of feeding is very doubtful. 
Fat itself indicates a diseased condition of the 
system, and when found excessively abundant 
on on animal, it is the sure sign of a weak ami 
enfeebled system. Continual over feeding 
would soon sicken and kill a pig in this con¬ 
dition unless the knife interferes beforehand 
to hasten its death. Pigs that have been 
raised by the “forcing” system—that is, 
brought to maturity in nearly half the time 
that it formerly took—ulways have an excess¬ 
ive amount of fat, which is often an entire 
waste to the fanner, if any particular class 
of swine diseases are prevaleut these over- 
growu youngsters are almost sure to catch it 
first, and in the mujority of cases they are the 
first to die of the epizootic, it is a matter of 
Email farmers have to use their best judg¬ 
ment in feeding their cattle, as many of them 
ure not so highly educated as to be able to 
conduct their feeding upon purely scientific 
principles. To force an animal properly re¬ 
quires considerable experience, and at least a 
practical knowledge of thoscientific principles 
which govern the growth and development of 
the tissues. Ail fodder substances contain 
nutritive elements of one sort or another, but 
none contains a sufficient amount of each 
to warrant the exclusive feeding of it to the 
animals. The system requires a fixed propor¬ 
tion of the various nutritive elements before 
it can reach tho highest perfection of physical 
growth and development. If this ratio is 
not maintained between the food elements, 
there Is a loss in that 
one which contains 
tho excess. Iu times 
of extra feeding this 
, . law becomes tho more 
; -'.j; •, ^ exacting in its de¬ 
mands. because tiio 
system is being over- 
' V* " strained by the extra 
burden imposed upon 
i 
most care is <>xercis- 
' ed, a considerable loss 
"dll t>o tin’ result, or 
even death itself will 
Su ? i"H"w. No scientific 
ru l <M can be laid 
I ■ A In for feeding, the 
V| system of the animal, 
~ '*’*^31' the condition of the 
,; ■ ' weather and climate, 
. ' r '-‘;! ami the comparative 
........ l value of the foods 
] given having impor- 
‘ • | taut effects in deter. 
• j mining the character 
' r •'.? of the developing ani- 
; • i mat. The farmer 
.jj must obsLTve for him¬ 
self, and iu a seuse 
experiment, until he 
7 is satistle<l that he has 
r v ■ > struck tho exact food 
•• ration required. Pro- 
• bubly firsto-lass hay 
‘;i comes the nearest to 
■?* - a normal ration of 
any separate food, 
" but even this varies 
' * so that t his statement 
amounts to but little 
of prauticol value to 
tho farmer. The 
,. A time and manner of 
5?- cutting it might so 
change the character 
ol’ it that it would not 
isyrt have the same results 
Jf in two different cases. 
The whole matter of 
feeding cattle, even 
after science has had 
GUERNSEY BULL WONDER OF THE 
WORLD. 
The animal shown at Fig. 202 took the first 
prize at tho New York Dairy and Cattle Show 
for best bull over one and under two years 
old. He was calved October 20, 18K5, on the 
Island of Guernsey, lie is by Wonder, out of 
Adventurierc. He is now owned by Mr. IS, 
N. Howell, of this city, whose fine herd of 
Guernseys made the neatest and most attrac¬ 
tive display of all herds at the Dairy Show. 
The Guernseys are beautiful animals, and 
always make a line 
display In tho show 
ring. They arc some- , 
what larger than Jer- . , ■ . 
seys, and more uni- • 
form iu color. ...A 
THE SPECIA I 
PU RPOSE COW. 
Therm ore a good 
many people nowa¬ 
days looking for that 
live stock myth, the 
“general-purpose” 
cow. They want a 
cow that will give a 
large quantity of 
milk, make 1)4 to 2 
pounds of butter per 
day, and at tho end 
of her period of use¬ 
fulness give them 
from 700 to 1,000 
pound* of beef. Now, 
is it reasonable to ex¬ 
pect to get all tills in 
one hide! Wo have 
breeds of cows that 
have been perfected 
to produce one of the 
three above requis¬ 
ites, but have we a 
breed that will give 
us all? 
if our object is but¬ 
ter, is it not butter to 
buy a cow that has 
been bred especially 
for that one thing, 
one that will turn her 
£ 00(1 into butter and 
not into milk or beef? 
Hupposo she is small 
iu size, and when too 
old for work in tho 
dairy will not bring 
much money for beef, 
is that any reason 
why we should feed 
an extra 400 or 600 
TtUfWl 
GUERNSEY BULL WONDER OF THE WORLD. Fi 
pounds of cow Inr 10 or 12 years so that, at the 
end of that time wo may get. a few dollars 
more for the beef? This extra weight in u 
eow costs money all tho time, and unless it 
helps to make mi extra amount of butter, the 
food necessary to keep it up has been wasted. 
In buying an engine, do we get the largest one 
we can find—one large!* than necessary to do 
the required work—merely because we euu 
get more for it as old iron when it is worn out? 
Jt is just the same in buying u cow; we need 
just sufficient size to do the required work, and 
no more. 
For milk alone wo want more eow than for 
butter, und lor beef we want all the cow we 
can get. First, we must know what we want, 
whether butter, milk or beef; then the ease is 
plain enough, as we have enough “special pur- 
FEED1NG CATTLE. 
GEORGE 8. WALSlt. 
In the light of modern science the methods 
of breeding and feeding cattle have been so 
much improved of Into years that it is claimed 
that the period of maturity has been hastened 
more than one-half. The steer that was ready 
for slaughter at five years formerly is now 
ready for the butcher in nearly ball' that 
length of time, provided that the “forcing” 
method is used. The same is the case with 
pigs and other animals that, are raised for the 
market. Almost, any animal can bo forced to 
prematurity. Physiology reveals to us the 
methods by which fat can he produced by 
over-feeding, but whether the muscular 
growth of an animal can really he hostelled 
doubt whether or not the diseases are uot 
often induced by the abnormal condition of 
the animals. As soon as the feeding season 
begins the spread of swine diseases increases, 
and many are the looses through this cause. 
The “forcing” system is employed by nearly 
all cattle raisers; but when carried to an ex¬ 
treme it is very doubtful if it proves profitable 
either to the producer or consumer. The only 
thing gained iu forcing the maturity of the 
aniinul is time; the same quantity of food is 
required whether tho animal is mat ut ed in nine 
months or two years. [Fins'] The condition of 
the meat, however, in the two auimuls is very 
different. The meat of the over-grown ani¬ 
mal is but half matured, and is devoid of much 
of its tluvor and nutritive quality. Moreover, 
it is overloaded with fat, which is a waste. 
its say, depends upon the judicious manage¬ 
ment of the farmer; and experimental know¬ 
ledge rather than scientific must be the most 
valuable aid to him. 
Vdmmmj. 
PARTURIENT APOPLEXY. 
u. F. JOHNSON. 
Professor McIntosh, Veterinary Pro¬ 
fessor at the Illinois University, having beeu 
remarkably successful in treating parturient 
apoplexy, that dread scourge of high-fed or 
high-bred cows and dairies where cows are 
kept to produce tho largest fiow of rich milk, 
