ass 
THE AURAL NEW-YORKER. 
MAY 4 
judgment are needed to assure success and 
profit. The expense attending the building 
can be much lessened by proper location and 
forethought as to material and construction. 
h. A. w. 
ANSWERS TO CORRESPONDENTS. 
[Every query must be accompanied by the name 
and address of the writer to insure attention. Before 
asking a question, please see if it is not answered in 
our advertising columns. Ask only a few questions at 
one time. Put questions on a separate piece of paper.] 
POUNDS OF MILK TO A POUND OF BUTTER. 
Several Subscribers. —How many pounds of 
milk are required to make a pound of butter ? 
^NS.—What is the length of a piece of 
string? There is almost as much difference 
in the quality of different samples of milk as 
there is in the length of different strings. The 
public and private records of famous dairy 
cows show some remarkable facts bearing on 
this point. A few weeks ago the Rural asked 
its readers to test their milk. They were to 
weigh a quantity of milk, weigh the cream 
obtained from it, and also the butter obtained 
from the cream. Following this we have a 
few of the reports made in response to this 
request. These figures are of more import¬ 
ance to the farmer and dairyman than the 
marvelous results recorded in tests of high- 
priced cows. It will pay our readers to try 
their own cows and see if they can duplicate 
these figures. 
FROM A. M. SHELDON. 
I have two cows; one is a Devon, 15 years 
old, was fresh last March; the other a grade 
Holstein, two years old, came in In April. I 
weighed the milk from the two for 3% days 
in the first part of January. I had 60 
pounds nine ounces of milk from which 
we got seven pounds 10 ounces of 
cream which made just four pounds of but¬ 
ter. The milk was set in common tin pans. 
The cows were fed on good Timothy bay and 
soft corn and apples. Now who can beat 
that? 
FROM MRS. A. A. RICE. 
At the end of January, I bad two grade Jer¬ 
sey cows which were fed upon swale hay with 
a ration of one quart of corn-meal and two 
quarts of bran twice a day and a few apples 
once a day, the milk being set in shallow 
pans. I tested 129% pounds of milk, which 
gave 25 pounds 10 ounces of cream, which 
churned 7% pounds of butter. Thus it took 
17 and one-fifth pounds of milk for one pound 
of butter. 
FROM R. J RAY. 
Having seen several statements in regard 
to yields of small dairies, I give what my six 
cows have done: One is two years old; two 
are three years old; one is four years old; 
two are five years old. During the 
past year they made 1,647 pounds of butter 
to sell, besides what milk, butter and cream 
were used in a family of four. I also fed four 
calves at least two weeks each on new milk. 
My cows are half Jersey. They had no extra 
feed while on grass. During the winter, I 
fed corn-stalks once a day, hay once a day, 
and four quarts of oat-meal a day and turned 
them out to drink once a day. They are left 
out awhile if the weather is warm; but if it 
is any way cold, they are put back in the 
stable as soon as they drink. 
I have made one pound of butter from 13 
ounds of milk during the winter. During June 
I ^ade 75 pounds per week. I use a Stoddard 
creamery during hot weather, and barrel 
churn. 
FROM S. D. READ. 
We are milking six farrow cows—grades 
with some Jersey blood. I find by weighing 
their milk for one week, that it takes 24 
pounds of milk for one pound of butter. Feed: 
good hay and three quarts each of bran and 
cob-meal night and morning with some roots. 
Either the feed or the cows are at fault, for 
they should do better. If the fault lies with 
the cows I shall dispose of them and get some 
that will do better. 
MRS. O. J. PUTNAM. 
Seeing a wish expressed in the Rural that 
the owners of cows would try the test of 
weight of milk to make one pound of butter, 
I did so for seven days—weight of milk 59% 
pounds; of butter from the same 3% pounds 
or one pound of butter from 15 5-6 pounds of 
milk. The cow is grade Jersey, five years old 
23d April, 1889. She dropped her last calf 
May 20th, 1888. Her grain per day consists 
of three pints of shorts and one pint of corn- 
meal in one feed in the morning before she 
gets her hay,which consists of all the common 
English hay she will eat morning, noon and 
night. She gets water slightly warmed once 
a day and one gill of salt three or four times 
a week, 
CROPS FOR FEED ; DEHORNING ; CAKED BAG 
IN A COW. 
B. W.B., Saratoga Springs, N. Y— 1. Ihave 
25 acres of sandy land, mostly in poor conii- 
tion. Two acres are in winter rye and one 
acre in winter wheat; no grass for hay and 
no pasture. I want to summer and winter 
eight or 10 cows, and can sell the milk in the 
city—not over three miles distant. I have for 
use the manure made by eight cows and a 
horse since last October, but no capital to 
work upon. I want to make a good quality 
of milk. What should I do for summer and 
winter feeding fodder and grain ? 2. I have 
a cow which makes too free use of her horns; 
how close to the head should they be sawed 
off? 3.1 have another cow one-quarter of whose 
bag cakes occasionally. A few doses of salt¬ 
peter correct this; but there remains an un¬ 
natural enlargement of that quarter about 
two inches above the teat, and the flow of 
milk from that quarter is diminished about 
one-half; is there any way of restoring it to 
its natural condition ? 
Ans.— 1. Probably the best thing to be done 
in this case would be to put all the land in 
corn—half for ensilage and half for gram. 
This would afford feeding enough for the 
eight or ten cows and give some corn for 
grain feeding. The land should be enriched 
with at least 600 pounds of a complete fer¬ 
tilizer per acre or our friend cannot hope for 
a crop that would repay the labor spent upon 
it. By planting early varieties of sweet corn 
the first feeding would come in m July, and 
after that is cut off, the land may be immedi¬ 
ately planted again with a second crop as the 
first is removed. Forty pounds of green fodder 
or silage, with a peck of brewers’ grains 
and four pounds of corn meal, fed to good 
cows, should make 12 to 14 quarts per 
day from each, and cows of less ability 
than that can not be fed profitably in this 
way. 2. Horns should be sawn off with a 
narrow-bladed sharp saw close to the skin 
and with a cut following the curve of the 
skull, so as to leave no protuberance. The 
wound may be dressed by applying common 
pine tar and making a mat of the hair with 
it, by which means the raw surface is cov¬ 
ered and protected. 3. Saltpeter is a bad 
thing for cows; it has a temporary effect in 
reducing fever; but its effect on the kidneys 
is bad and causes a renewal of the fever by 
the reaction. Give one ounce of hyposulphite 
of soda daily; foment the swollen udder with 
hot water, wipe it dry and apply campho¬ 
rated soap liniment with gentle rubbing and 
kneading. Use no iodine in any form, or salt¬ 
peter either. The milk may be restored in 
time by this treatment and by feeding bran 
mash once a day. Continue this hyposul¬ 
phite of soda daily for 10 days. 
“ONIONS FOR STOCK”—A DENIAL. 
H. B. V., Westfield, N. J. —The following 
article recently appeared in the Husbandman. 
Will the R. N.-Y. tell us whether it is sensi¬ 
ble or not? The item was written by a cor¬ 
respondent in Chautauqua County, N. Y. 
“ I noticed some time ago a letter from a 
farmer in Ogdensburg, N. Y., relating to 
onions as a feed for stock. In this section 
they have been used as a food for beef cattle, 
young stock and dry cows for years, when 
there was no market for them. They are con¬ 
sidered a healthy and nutritious food. When 
the price of onions falls below 20 cents per 
bushel it will pay to feed them to stock.” 
Ans. —the R. N.-Y. has never had any ex¬ 
perience with onion feeding for stock, except 
a strong effort to keep milch cows lrom eat¬ 
ing them. This letter was referred to the 
R. N.-Y.'s friend, Mr. H. A. Whittemore, 
who has lived for many years in Chautauqua 
county. Here is his answer. 
Mr. Whittemore says:—“lam well aware 
that sometimes cattle will crop onion tops 
when they get near them; but in over 45 
years’ experience and observation, never 
have I known of cnions being fed to any kind 
of stock either as a relish or a ration. Never 
since I have had any knowledge of farm crops 
or the markets for farm produce, have I 
known onions to command less than 40 cents a 
bushel; the usual wholesale price has varied 
with grocerymen and consumers from 75 cents 
to $1.50 and sometimes $2 a bushel. Chautau¬ 
qua county soil is tolerably well adapted to 
the culture of onions, and sometimes produces 
tolerably heavy crops; but I think it will 
puzzle this correspondent or even the oldest 
inhabitant to mention the year when the 
price of onions fell to or below 20 cents a 
bushel. I must say that I would not criticise 
any man’s intentions in airing his opinions, 
but I do question the knowledge of any man 
in Chautauqua county, N. Y., who says he 
knows of onions being raised as food for 
stock—or who says that the price of onions 
has ever fallen below 20 cents a bushel. In 
the southern and eastern parts of Chautauqua 
county the average farmer does not produce 
over from two to six bushels of onions a year. 
A few market gardeners may have from half 
to one acre. In a day’s ride anywhere in the 
towns south of the ridge , one will find 
scarcely an onion bed measuring one-sixteenth 
of an acre. ‘ Onions for stock ! ’—the notion 
is too absurd to need farther comment.” 
If any of our readers have other facts to 
present, we want them. 
CHRONIC COUGH IN A COW. 
J. H ., Fulton, Mich.— 1. My horse Is appar¬ 
ently perfectly healthy. He is sleek and fat. 
An hour after putting him in the stable after a 
drive, I find a place about as long as my band, 
just below the whirl-bone quite wet and it re¬ 
mains so for five or six hours. What should 
be done? 2. A heifer came into the stable in 
fine condition last November. Towards the 
end of December I noticed that her eyes were 
much swollen and watery. I gave her three 
doses of aconite at intervals of four hours. 
On my return attor a week’s absence, I found 
her eating well but coughing. A veterinary 
surgeon said the trouble was caused by her 
liver, aud ordered aloes. The dose was fol¬ 
lowed by mandrake root. No relief; and she 
gradually ran down. She is now in calf. She 
eats a little shorts and relishes carrots. There 
is a rash all over her body and legs. Bathing 
with Pond’s Extract soothes, but doesn’t cure. 
Her lungs seem much better than some time 
ago and her pulse is lower; but she still 
coughs and has no appetite. She stands with 
her head .slightly elevated. What can I do 
for her* 
Ans. —1. Rub occasionally with iodine oint¬ 
ment. 2. Give the cow one pound of Epsom salts 
and one ounce of ginger dissolved in a quart 
of warm water, as a drench. For the cough 
mix one table-spoonful of pulverized nitrate 
of potash and 25 drops of tincture of bella¬ 
donna with sufficient honey or sirup to make 
a thick paste. Give this dose two or three 
times daily by pasting it well back on the 
tongue and back teeth to be swallowed slowly. 
Also rub the throat with a good liniment. 
For the general system, give two table-spoon¬ 
fuls of the following powders in the feed night 
and morning: Carbonate of soda and Glauber 
salts each one pound, sulphate of iron one- 
fourth pound, mix. If the cow comes fresh 
and the cough continues, we would advise 
you not to use the milk at present for family 
purposes. It may be a case of tuberculosis in 
which case it would be unsafe to use the milk. 
If there is no marked improvement in three 
or four weeks, have the cow examined by a 
competent veterinary surgeon to ascertain 
the presence or absence of tuberculosis. If 
the cough ceases, however, and there is an im¬ 
provement in the general health, the milk 
may then be used. 
CHRONIC COUGH IN DAIRY COWS; CRIB- 
BITING. 
F. H. W., Auburn, N. Y. —1. I have a 
dairy of 20 cows, most of them in milk. 
Tne past winter some of them commenced to 
cough and they seem to get worse; it is a dry 
cough and seems to affect most of the cows 
that are heavy with calf. I am feeding beets 
with corn-meal aud bran mixed. The cows 
are in a warm stable. What should I do? 
2. Is tnere any cure for a horse'that has just 
commenced to crib? 
Ans. —1. The cough may„be the result of 
colds or exposure during the winter or may be 
due to disease of Ihe lungs. Apply to the out¬ 
side of the throat of each coughing cow a lini¬ 
ment of equal parts of raw linseed oil, aqua 
ammonia and oil of turpentine. Apply this 
twice a week until the skin is slightly blistered. 
Also make a paste of one table-spoonful of 
pulverized saltpeter mixed up in honey or 
sirup, and add 25 drops of tincture of bella¬ 
donna. Give this dose two or three times 
daily to each cow, by placing it well back on 
the tongue to bo slowly swallowed. If there 
is no improvement after two or three weeks 
you would do well to have the cows exam¬ 
ined by a competent veterinary surgeon for 
tuberculosis. 2. There is no satisfactory 
treatment for crib-biting. Various methods 
are practiced to prevent the habit, some of 
which are very successful. One of the sim¬ 
plest by which some cases may be checked is to 
cover the exposed wood-work with a thick, 
sticky paste containing some very disagree¬ 
able substance, as aloes, turpentine or kero¬ 
sene oil. Spanish flies are sometimes used, 
but these will blister the lips and tongue and 
should be used cautiously. Another method is 
to cover all the wood-work within reach with 
sheet iron. Some horses will not crib on the 
iron sheeting. A muzzle to be worn when not 
eating will effectually prevent cribbing while 
worn. One of the most practical methods is 
to tie the animal at a high side wall where 
there is no exposed wood-work upon which 
the horse can crib. In this case feed must be 
given from the floor or a shallow manger be¬ 
low the knees. 
PARTIAL LUXATION OF THE PATELLA IN A 
COLT. 
J. S., Center Hall, Pa— When my 21- 
months-old colt was about six months old—a 
few weeks after I bad bought him—1 noticed 
that the patella of one leg would si p out 
when he was running about or when he threw 
a good deal of his weight on that leg, causing 
him to limp while it was out. The trouble 
has continued right along. After standing a 
little the part slips int > joint again of its own 
accord. There has been no swelling; but 
there is a soft, pulpy place on the patella. I 
think the trouble is hereditary, as a consider¬ 
able number of the progeny of the same stall¬ 
ion are affected in the same way. What 
should be the treatment? 
ANSWERED BY DR. F. L. KILBORNE. 
This partial luxation or slipping out and in 
of the patella is not of uncommon occurrence 
in colts. It is usually due to a sprain or other 
injury, which often passes unnoticed, but 
there results more or less inflammation fol¬ 
lowed by relaxation ot the ligaments which 
hold the patella in place. With the several 
colts you mention as being similarly affected, 
I doubt if any special tendency to this luxa¬ 
tion of the patella is inherited, any further 
than that they are naturally weak, at least in 
the stifle joint, and the luxation is the result 
of some trivial cause that in a stronger colt 
might not have produced any effect. In 
many cases the colt will outgrow the trouble 
without treatment; but it is better to stimu¬ 
late the ligaments to contraction in order to 
keep the patella in place and strengthen the 
joint before the trouble becomes too chronic. 
For this purpose apply a cantharides blister 
over and around the joint. Powdered can¬ 
tharides two drams, vaseline one ounce, spir¬ 
its of camphor 10 to 15 drops. First clip the 
hair and then apply the blister, following the 
directions and precautions frequently given 
in these columns for blistering. A second 
blister may be desirable when the effect of 
the first has nearly passed off, if the luxation 
has not been entirely reduced. 
WATER-CRESSES. 
O. S. J., Newtown,\L. J.—1. On what kind 
of bottom do water-cresses thrive best? 2 
How can one get rid of what is here called. 
“ duckery ”—a parasite that feeds on or 
smothers the cress? 3 How can snails in the 
cress beds be killed without injuring the 
cress? 4. Should cress be covered entirely 
with water throughout the winter? 5. Is there 
any work on growing water cresses. 
Ans. —1. A gravel or hard bottom. Water¬ 
cress doo3 not thrive well in a mud bottom; 
besides, a mud bottom is a hospitable breed¬ 
ing and feeding ground for cress-destroyers, 
both animal and vegetable. 2. You probably 
mean duck-weed (Lemna.) It smothers (uot 
“ feeds upon ”) the cress. In order to be able 
to grow water-cresses with good success you 
should grow them in a brisk, shallow stream; 
then you would have very little trouble with 
duck-weed, as the current would float it 
nearly all away; but without this brisk 
current you cannot well get rid of it. 3. Not 
very well. Here again you will perceive the 
advantage of a brisk current of water, also of 
thoroughly cleaning out, regraveling, and re¬ 
planting the beds once a year, say, in Sep¬ 
tember. Considering the fact that water- 
cresses grow wild and luxuriantly as per¬ 
manent plants in some streams, so much 
trouble to cultivate them artificially may 
seem unnecessary, but it is an easy job and 
pays for doing, especially when one has such 
pronounced evils to contend with as appear in 
your patches. 4. Water cress is hardy and 
will survive the winter even if it be not 
covered with water, but it is usually covered 
with a greater depth of water in winter than 
in summer. As it inhabits running rather 
than still waters, however, it is seldom frozen 
in winter. The particular thing to guard 
against in winter is letting it freeze to the 
ground, and then have a freshet come and 
raise the ice and with it the cress plucked out 
by the roots. 5. We do uot know of any. 
LAMENESS IN FRONT LEG OF A HORSE. 
H. B., New Albany, Ind. —Within two 
weeks after I began to work a fine young 
horse I bought last September, what I took to 
be a wind-gall appeared on his left front leg 
just above the pastern joint. About January 
1, he began to show weakness there, resting 
that foot frequently by throwing it out in 
front of him. I bandaged it, applying tincture 
