THE RURAL NEW-YORKER. 
J^omromi. 
HORSES, FARM AND ROAD. 
In 1S66 I bought a pacing filly, four months 
old, for which I paid §30. It was sired by a 
large, well-formed stallion, with finely -devel¬ 
oped bone and muscle, that could pace perhaps 
at a 3:80 gait. He had no pedigree, but was a 
pretty good general-purpose horse. The dam 
was 10 hands high, deep through the chest, 
with a short back, high bead, with bone and' 
muscle unexcelled, pacing, perhaps, a three- 
minute rate untrained; pedigree unknown. 
When the filly became four years old she was 
bred to Scott’s Hiatoga—£10 insurance to pro¬ 
duce a foal. Her foal was a filly—a pacer and 
trotter—which I sold when three years old for 
§210. The next year she was again sold for 
$350, at which time she could show a 2:40 gait, 
either pacing or trotting. She was Hi hands, 
“ up-headed,” yet not very handsome. 
Next 1 raised a full brother—pacer and trot¬ 
ter—which I sold for $275 when three years 
old. Next was a filly sired by King’s Hiatoga; 
a trotter which I sold for $50 when four 
months old. 
Next was a colt sired by Scott’s Hiatoga, for 
which I was ottered $250 before he was two 
year’s old. Some time after that I traded him 
at that price for other stock. Then 1 bred her 
for three seasons to Prince Hiatoga—son of 
Scott’s—weighing 1,275 pounds. He was a 
bay, 10 bauds, with bone, muscle, head, eye, 
ear, mane and tail, perhaps entirely unobjec¬ 
tionable. He could pace at a 2:40 rate, or 
trot a three-minute gait untrained. As an 
all-purpose horse he was very hard to beat. 
From this horse I raised three colts; all could 
pace and trot. The first was a gray which I 
sold when three years old at $125. lu the fall 
of 1888 he sold for $250, and later he was sold 
at $285 when in bis 12th year. He w r as valued 
as a roadster. Next was a bay which I sold 
when three years old at $150; since that time 
$200 have been offered for him. Next was a 
gray for which I received §50 when three 
months old. The last three were sold in the 
midst of the panic from 1874 to 1878. 
The next was sired by “Hazard,” son of 
Lexington—§25 insurance. I sold him for $135 
in the fall of 1881, w hen two years past. He 
could neither trot, pace nor run. He would 
rather play thau work. He was a perfect 
mongrel, unsafe' to handle, in no way reliable, 
except as a jumper, upwards, sidewise, back¬ 
wards or forward. The next colt was sired 
by Rex Hiataga—son of Scott’s—which I sold 
when two years old at §125. He could pace 
and trot, and was sold again the same season 
for §150. My next, colt w T as by Rex Hiatoga 
(§10 to insurance). I was offered $150last sum¬ 
mer, and by next spring when he will be two 
years old, I confidently exjject to realize §200 
for him. He also paces and trots. 
As a result of breeding this pacing and trot¬ 
ting roadster or all-purpose mare of unknown 
blood, to large, well-boned and muscular road¬ 
sters, fast, and all-purpose horses, we have for 
the eight colts sold at the average age of about 
two years, §1,885, with one 18 mouths old yet 
to sell: counting it sold at §105, the figures 
will be $1,400 for nine colts. 
The above experience teaches that to insure 
greater success in the future, I must, first, as a 
basis, buy a bay mare five years old, weigh¬ 
ing 1,200 pouuds, 15% bunds high, with hind 
legs broad aud thiu, deep and round feet, 
high-headed, slim around the throat; deep- 
chested, round-ribbed, and having a heavy 
black maue aud tail. To these add a fiue head, 
eye and ear, and a free, open trot of not less 
than a four iniuute gait, aud a kind disposi¬ 
tion. I must then find a stallion possessing 
all the characteristics of the mare; lO.'j hands 
high, weighing 1,300 pouuds, with heavy mus¬ 
cles, good knee action, and a free, open trot, 
of about three or four miuutes to the 
mile, with a will to improve. I should not 
care to what breed or family either parent 
might belong, so that I could secure the in¬ 
dividual excellence above described, in both 
sire and dam. From such a cross. I should 
confidently expect to tiuruish the market with 
roadsters, all purpose, coach, park or fast 
horses, which command the highest prices in 
any city where the desire exists to excel one’s 
neighbors in a grand turn-out; ami those, who, 
like myself, are not able to keep a fast team 
for pleasure, a gaited horse for saddle, and a 
heavy span for draft, may by the means of 
such a sire and dam raise a family of horses 
possessing all the desired qualities of each, at 
a very reasonable expense. Remember we 
cannot waste time by commencing with scrub 
stock, but get a good basis for the result you 
wish, not forgetting that like begets like fre¬ 
quently. 
We can not afford to pay from $50 to §250 
for the use of last sires unless we have conclu¬ 
sive assurance that the animal’s pedigree or 
the excellence of the previous foals of the dam 
will warrant the outlay. In breeding the 
roadster, coach, park, or all-purpose horse, 
the sire must not be less than 16 hands, with 
perfect feet and limbs, well muscled, stylish 
and symmetrical throughout, and he should 
be able to show a three or four minute gait at 
trotting. 
Adhere to the foregoing line of breeding aud 
you will make plenty of money and prove a 
blessing to those who purchase your stock. 
Carroll Co., Ohio. hahvey brown. 
HORSES IN FRANCE. 
Consul Dufais, of Havre, France, has for¬ 
warded the State Departments translation of 
a book on horse breeding in France, by Baron 
do Vaux. The statement is made that some 
years ago the United States Consul at Havre, 
with the special permission of the State De¬ 
partment, imported horses from the United 
States for the French cavalry service. A se¬ 
rious advance in freights made this business 
unprofitable, but in view of the present condi¬ 
tion of French horse breeding the time is apt 
to come when enterprising men can resuscitate 
the trade. 
Baron de Vaux states that there has been 
such a demand for large horses for breeding 
purposes from the United States and other 
countries that French breeders have had their 
heads turned. They have aimed only at 
size, aud as a consequence the heavy cavalry 
horse and the light and vigorous war 
horse are steadily disappearing. In other 
words, the admirable war horses of former 
years are being developed into draft horses 
pure aud simple. Au idea has grown among 
the French farmers that improvement was 
sure to come from the stallion—that any old 
mare was good enough to bo the mother of 
the foal. They have, therefore, kept only such 
mares as could not be sold to the army. As 
an evidence of the scarcity of suitable horses, 
it is stated that in 1885 the officer of the first 
remounting district, comprising the depot of 
Paris and four more in Normandy, received 
an order for 0,387 horses for cavalry service. 
He could only find, iu that richest part of 
France, 8,582 head. Frauce has relatively I he 
largest uumber of horses of any country iu 
Europe. Her soil is one eminently fitted for 
breeding them. But in all her 3,000,000 horses 
the 60,000 needed in time of war could not lie 
found. The conclusion arrived at is that the 
breeding of late years has produced a class of 
horses unfitted for war purposes. 
THE GENERAL-PURPOSE COW. 
Every little while 1 see articles iu the agri¬ 
cultural papers asserting that cows alike suit¬ 
able for a profitable production of a combina¬ 
tion of milk, butter, cheese, and beef, do not 
exist, and cannot be bred for this purpose ; 
that they must, in order to prove profitable, 
be bred for a special purpose ; that is, either 
for a great yield of milk only, or for butter, 
or cheese, or beef, us either may be required. 
Now ior farms devoted to a special product, 
special-purpose cows will undoubtedly be the 
best sort of stock ; but the great majority of 
fanners are uot thus eugaged, for they grow 
grass, grain, and roots; and they must keep 
such a class of cows as most profitably con¬ 
sume these in combination, aud yield them in 
return milk, butter,cheese; and finally, when 
dried off and cheaply aud quickly fattened, a 
good quality of beef. 
The early Short-horn breed of cows emi¬ 
nently excelled for the general purposes of the 
English farmers, till beef and fancy points iu 
them paid better than dairy products; then 
such as were recorded in the Herd Book began 
to be bred‘more generally for the former 
rather than the latter purposes; but there are 
thousands of unrecorded cows still kept iu the 
Northern couuties of Euglaud that still excel 
as general-purpose animals, aud few others 
except these are kept by the numerous tenant 
farmers there. 
Recently such milking families of Herd-book 
recorded cows, as have been preserved, are 
beiug multiplied iu England by the Short¬ 
horn breeders, as they are now finding out 
that such strains arc the most profitable for 
them in many instances. This is also getting 
to be the case iu America, and except on these 
farms and the vast plains bordering tho Rocky 
Mountains, where the production of beef 
alone is the object, tho general-purpose cow is 
the one preferred. 
Iu the same way the beautiful Devons aud 
the Red Rolled Norfolk and Suffolk cows are 
bred both in England and in America, while 
the noble Guernseys have al ways thus excelled, 
aud in consequence of this they are likely, as 
multiplied, to become the most popular of all 
breeds among us, except the milking families 
of Short-horns. The Red Polled cows may 
also come in for a share as fast as their merits 
become known. a. b. allen. 
Dehorned Jerseys.— I have a small herd 
of dehorned Jerseys. They are all pedigreed 
stock, not like the “hornless” Jerseys produced 
by breeding Aberdecn-Angus bulls to Jersey 
cows. The horns wore removed from the 
calves when they wen* from four to eight 
w’eeks old, by cutting around them aud then 
lifting them from the skull. I do not see that 
the operation is as painful as castration. There 
is little bleeding; all know bow loose the horus 
of a calf are. There have been only good re¬ 
sults from this practice. The cattle are far 
more gentle. But one horned animal can 
drink at a tub at once. Without horus they 
will fill the tub will their heads and drink 
without fear. The cattle herd together better 
and they will not use so much feed, for they 
take it peacefully aud do not have to pull bay 
out and trample it under foot. I can safely 
say that dehorning pays me well. 
Worcester Co., Mass. john brooks. 
Pain} ijitsbffnfrn}. 
KOUMISS. 
Prof. Arnold, in his article on koumiss, 
has stepped outside of his knowledge on dairy 
subjects. He certainly never could have stud¬ 
ied tho subject of koumiss as it is properly 
made, or he would never have made so absurd 
a statement as that koumiss is an intoxicating 
beverage, I inclose herewith for the Rural 
a pamphlet on “Koumiss: What is it—what 
has it accomplished?” which gives certificates 
of some of the most eminent physicians in 
Eugland as to its benefits as a food. The 
caserne of the koumiss is largely predigested, 
aud is so finely disseminated that it will not 
coagulate again, which can easily be demon¬ 
strated by adding acids to the koumiss, and if 
it then coagulates it is not a properly predi¬ 
gested koumiss. 
There is koumiss on the market, aud there is 
what is called domestic koumiss (namely, kou¬ 
miss made at home), which is uot a predigested 
milk in any shape or form. It is A fermented. 
milk, the caseiue of which, after fermentation 
ceases, becomes putrified, and proliably Pro¬ 
fessor Arnold has had the misfortune to come 
across a koumiss of that nature. We claim as 
the great merit of our koumiss that, being free 
from yeast as a fermenting element, aud also 
from the addition of cane and milk sugar, 
which are also ferments, there is no coagula¬ 
tion of the caseine, neither is there putrefac¬ 
tion. The milk sugar in the new milk is con¬ 
verted first of all into lactic acid, and a small 
portion of that passes into alcohol; but the 
analysis made of oar koumiss by the Govern¬ 
ment analyst shows that the percentage of al¬ 
cohol is very slight indeed. Those who use a 
yeast for a ferment will find that after fer¬ 
mentation has ceased putrefaction will set in. 
This is easily demonstrated by taking a bottle, 
say, of Brush’s koumiss, letting it stand for 
a couple of weeks in a cold place, aud then 
opening it, when you will find a strong odor of 
yeast, and also of decomposition. Take some 
of our koumiss, let it stand for a couple of 
weeks and open it, aud you will find that the 
smell is sweet. It may become strong and 
sharp, but it never will pass into putrefaction. 
Asa matter of fad), I have fermented whey, 
have flavored tho whey w ith different flavors, 
and have made a most delicious drink out of 
it; but after it stands too long—say four or 
five days—the whey becomes putrefied. I am 
myself a total abstainer—have been so for 12 
years. I drink largely of koumiss every day, 
and Lave found most beneficial results from 
it; and I know that bad it the slightest effect 
of intoxication, I would have known it long 
ago. People who are total abstainers can 
drink 10 to 12 bottles a day and never feel the 
effect of it. 
Professor Arnold was not justified in the 
statements he made They are contrary to 
the opinion of all people who have studied the 
subject and who have had au experience of 
years iu its use; but it is a perfect libel upon 
a useful food, and one which he should have 
hesitated to make before he hud made himself 
familiar with the subject. 
A large portion of Zeimsen’s Therapeutics is 
dedicated to the benefits of koumiss; and it is 
absurd for Professor Arnold or anybody else 
to claim that au author who stands so high in 
the medical profession would jeopardise his 
reputation among the profession by permitting 
misstatements in any work bearing his name, 
valancy k. fuller. 
Hamilton, Ontario, Canada, 
R. N.-Y.—It will be remembered that Prof. 
Arnold objected to koumiss, not that it is in 
itself au intoxicating beverage, but that it 
contains alcohol, and that tho use of such a 
beverage could hardly fail to cultivate a de¬ 
sire fur a stronger one. This was the main 
point of Prof, Arnold’s urticle, and temper¬ 
JUNE 25 
ance people generally will agree with him. 
As to the medicinal properties of koumiss, 
Prof. Arnold distinctly stated that it may be 
right to encourage its use for medical pur¬ 
poses. He objected to its use by those who 
would drink it simply as a substitute for wa¬ 
ter, milk, or any other non-alcoholic beverage. 
DAIRY NOTES. 
T. D. CURTIS. 
ASSAYING MILK.—SWEET WHEY. 
The Executive Committee of the Wisconsin 
State Dairymen's Association have appointed 
a commission to devise some method of “as¬ 
saying” milk so as to determine its actual 
value for cheese-making purposes, according 
to the per cent, of both fat and caseiue, as tho 
per cent, of either alone is not sufficient. One 
mess may be rich iu fat und have a small per 
cent, of caseiue; another may be rich in both; 
still another may be rich in caseiue and have 
a small amount of fat, or may be poor in both, 
so that ascertaining the amount of actual 
solids may be wide of the mark, the kind of 
solids not being taken into consideration. It 
is to bo hoped that our progressive Wisconsin 
friends may be able to hit upon some simple 
and practical method which shall supply the 
long-felt desideratum and satisfy the demands 
of justice und reason. The commission is also 
charged with the task of devising some method 
of keeping whey sweet for a reasonable length 
of time, its principal feeding value beiug in 
its sugar, which is soon converted into acid. 
MACHINE SEPARATED CREAM. 
There is some complaint that cream separ¬ 
ated from the milk by tho use of the centrifuge 
does not make as firm and nicely-granulated 
butter as that obtained by the raising of cream 
by the cold-setting process. The cream separ¬ 
ated by the machine at a comparatively high 
temperature is cooled down to the churning 
point, and after slightly souring is churned. 
It is now claimed by some that if the cream is 
reduced at once to 50 degrees or below, ami 
the temperature allowed to rise to tho churn¬ 
ing point, it will produce the same grain aud 
firmness iu the butter that cream raised at a 
low temperature does. There may be some¬ 
thing in this. It is easy to try. If the cool¬ 
ing secures the result aimed at, the butter 
ought to keep longer than that produced by 
any of the cream-raising processes, for the 
reason that the machine produces a cleaner 
separation of the fats from the caseous matter, 
and also cleanses the milk from offensive im¬ 
purities which are likely to remain in the 
cream obtained by any of the milk setting 
methods. 
MILK AND TUBERCULOSIS. 
Since the discovery in 1882, by Dr. Kock, 
of Berliu, of the baccillus of tuberculosis, aud 
that it may be communicated from man to 
cattle, swine, goats, rabbits, chickens, pigeons, 
turkeys, etc., and by these to man, physiolo¬ 
gists have come to look on milk with a great 
deal of suspicion, and this prejudice is eveu 
carried so far by some physicians that they 
warn those under their care, having a tuber¬ 
culous diathesis, against tho use of milk not 
previously boiled. Aud indeed it is worthy of 
investigation whether bad milk is uot in a 
considerable measure responsible for the pre¬ 
valence of consumption, especially in cities 
aud large towns, where _the milk supply is 
chiefly from cows kept aud fed without regard 
to any other consideration than to obtain the 
largest flow of milk, at tho least cost. To the 
bacillus of tuberculosis may be justly applied 
tbo epithet of universal coutagion, since it is 
propagated through the digestive, reproduc¬ 
tive, respiratory aud cutaneous organs and 
must be fought at every point. The Jersey 
aud other milk breeds have been accused of 
being peculiarly subject to tuberculosis. If 
such is the fact, it is because under the stimu¬ 
lus of high feeding they have been made to give 
so large a quantity of milk, as to reduce their 
vitality below a healthy limit, resulting iu the 
setting up of a tuberculous diathesis, ready to 
accept tho first germs of contagion. Keepers 
of Jersey aud other so-called milk breeds of 
cattle, ought to be warned that when they 
fiiula cow “milks down,” that is, when she can¬ 
not bo kept in fair form aud flesh while giv¬ 
ing milk, she is in just that state of bodily con¬ 
dition tliut invites consumption. 
B. F. J. 
<T1)C poultvu Dart). 
WHY THERE ARE NO LARGE POUL¬ 
TRY FARMS. 
It is a curious fact that there ure only one 
or two largo poultry establishments in tho 
whole world, and though repeated attempts 
have been made by many to embark in the 
poultry business on a large scale, yet the Usual 
result is failure. This deserves consideration, 
