VOL. XLVII. NO. 1982. NEW YORK, JANUARY 21, 1888. 
PRICE FIVE CENTS. 
$2.00 PER YEAR. 
[Entered according to Act of Congress, In the year 1888, by the Rural New-Yorker in the office of the Librarian of Congress at Washington.] 
Kv>ky,v 
orsnixun, 
PJERCHERON COLT PLUTARQUE. 
The magnificent animal shown at Fig. 14 is 
owned by Messrs. Savage & Farnum, Detroit, 
Mich. The following description is taken 
from their catalogue: 
“Gray black; 16-3 hands; weight 1,940 
pounds; foaled April 4, 1884; imported 1887; 
bred by M. Simon, of La Roche, commune of 
Ceton, canton of Thiel, department of Orne; 
got by Coco (355), belonging to M. Emile 
Chouanard; dam Catherinne (3014), belonging 
to M. Simon, by Vidocq 483 (732), and out of 
Pelotte by Vieux-Chaslin (713).” 
Coco (355) by L’Ami (1388) and out of Brebis; 
L’Ami (1388) by Coco; Coco, belonging to M. 
Chatillon, by Coco II. (724); Coco II. (714) by 
Vieux-Chaslin (713) and out of La Grise by 
Vieux-Pierre (883); Vieux-Chaslin (713) by 
Coco (712; and out of Poule by Sandi; Coco 
by Mignon (715) and out of Pauline by Vieux- 
Coco; Mignon (715) 
by Jeau-le banc (739) 
Vidocq 483 (732) by 
Coco II. (714), etc., 
and out of a daugh¬ 
ter of Cheri, he by 
Rustique. 
Plutarque was im¬ 
ported in August, 
1887, and is at pres¬ 
ent at Island Home 
Stock Farm. He is 
an exceedingly 
promising animal 
and will add value to 
this already cele¬ 
brated breeding es¬ 
tablishment, where 
200 fine animals are 
constantly on exhi¬ 
bition. Percheron 
horses are growing 
in favor, there can 
be no question about 
it. There are thou¬ 
sands of their grades 
in New York city 
and there is a con¬ 
stant demand for 
more of them. The 
Adams Express Co., 
in particular, take 
great pride in fur¬ 
nishing their wag¬ 
ons with these beau¬ 
tiful gray animals. 
There will always be 
a demand here for 
good, shapely Perch¬ 
eron grades, even af¬ 
ter electricity shall 
drive the horse car 
horse out of the city 
limits. The produce 
of such an animal as 
we show in the pic- 
ture, crossed on 
strong, well-built 
mares, will always be 
valuable horse prop¬ 
erty. 
Many farm writ¬ 
ers have pictured the 
grade Percheron as 
a clumsy, stupid ani¬ 
mal fit only for 
heavy, plodding 
work. A walk 
in the streets of 
this city would easily 
prove the absurdity 
of such statements. 
P ain) ijitsliantiri). 
METHODS OF MAKERS OF TOP- 
PRICED BUTTER. 
L. S. HARDIN. 
The Rural New-Yorker, in a recent issue, 
showed very commendable enterprise that 
has been quoted far and near, in procuring 
descriptions of the methods pursued in making 
butter by those who took prizes at the late 
dairy show in New York. The question of 
who makes good butter is, however, an open 
one. The judges at dairy fairs are usually 
chosen from men who have well-known repu¬ 
tations as dairy expounders or noted agricul¬ 
tural college professors. These gentlemen 
are usually wise in their way, but for the 
want of practice are not experts at butter¬ 
testing. To cover this point I obtained from 
Mr. G. B. Douglas, a prominent butter com¬ 
mission merchant of New York City, per¬ 
mission to address a number of questions to 
the persons making the butter that he uni¬ 
formly sells at the highest prices to be ob¬ 
tained in this market, as this is a test of 
quality that cannot be questioned. There 
are some very interesting developments in 
these answers. Of the five first-class butter 
makers, four set the milk in open pans, show¬ 
ing no regard for modern improvements. All 
of them churn every day except Sundays, 
thus showing great regard for that prime 
necessity in good butter making, not to allow 
the cream to become old and stale which is 
probably the cause why nine-tenths of the 
butter that finds its way to the general 
market is such poor stuff. As a rule they 
work the butter a second time and do not use 
the granular method. Here they are proba¬ 
bly in error, though if well done a second 
working does not hurt butter and makes it 
dry and firm. 
The most important development in these 
answers is contained in the responses of Messrs. 
Mitchell and Smith, who milk farrow cows. 
A great deal has been written of late to the 
Percheron Colt Plutarque 2911 ("2838). Pig. 14r. 
effect that all the evils that occur in butter¬ 
making can be traced to the use of far¬ 
row cows in the dairy. Here are two men 
milking about 30 cows each, who buy fresh 
cows with a view to their “general-purpose” 
qualities, feed them well, and, not putting 
them to the bull, milk them so long as they 
are profitable at the pail, and when failing in 
milk turn them off to the butcher. This is 
against all modern philosophy, but these men 
certainly make good butter or they would not 
get top prices for their goods. I have known 
many dairymen who have made money by 
this system of milking and fattening for the 
butcher. It is not high dairying, but is a good 
way to make money. Here are the questions 
sent to the five persons whose butter brings 
top prices among the commission merchant’s 
customers. To avoid repetition, the questions 
are put first in order; then come the answers 
of each butter maker. 
1. How many cows do you keep? 
2. Of what breed are they? 
3. Do you raise or breed your own cows? 
4. To what breed does your bull belong? 
5. What do you feed summer and winter? 
6. Do you salt your cows and how much? 
7. Do you wash the 
c 2,^. 8 udders before 
milking? 
*• H™ many pounds 
of butter do you make 
Per cow per year? 
J;, How do you set the 
or raise the cream? 
Jii'i How , lon « *s the 
skimmed? 1 bef ° re “ 13 
ehurn?° W ° ften do yon 
12. How long do you 
keep the cream before 
churning? 
13. How do you keep 
the cream? 
14. Do you stop the 
churn when the butter 
comes in granular form 
and then wash It in the 
churn? 
15. Do you wash the 
butter with brine or 
with fresh water? 
10 . What kind of churn 
do you use? 
17. How do you work 
the butler? 
18. Do you churn by 
hand or power? 
19. At what tempera¬ 
ture do you churn? 
lid. Do you use a ther¬ 
mometer? 
21. Do you color the 
butter? 
22. How much salt do 
you use? 
y°u put sugar in 
the butter? 
o H 4 .', Ho V l°ug after 
salting the butter do you 
let it stand before re¬ 
working It? 
25. How many times do 
you work the butter? 
26. What kind of salt 
do you use? 
P How many pounds 
or milk do you need to 
niake one pound of but- 
terr 
28' Do . you test the 
milk and butter capacity 
of your cows and how 
do you do it? 
29. Do you make but¬ 
ter in summer and win- 
ter? 
FROM C. L. SMITH. 
L- On an average 
about 30. 
2. The majority of 
them are natives; 
but there are some 
Ayrshire and Short¬ 
horn grades. 
3. Ordinarilyl 
raise them; but at 
present I buy them 
either in the fall or 
spring ;letthem come 
in and then begin to 
feed them light feed, 
such as bran or other 
wheat offal, which is 
continued through 
the summer until the 
weather is cool in the 
fall. 
4. When I raise mj 
cows I use the best 
grade Ayrshire o r 
