592 
THI BUBAL I8EW-Y0BSC1B. 
SEPT 7 
cow, night'and morning, with a small ration 
of hay. There was plenty of pure water in the 
pasture. Salt was given every other day, 
mixed with the grain ration. The churning 
was done by direction of Mr. Gilbert, and the 
butter was washed, salted and worked by 
him. A small audience assembled in an ad¬ 
jacent room and listened to instructions from 
Messrs. Curtis and Gilbert, and some remarks 
from Prof. Cooke, of the Vermont Experiment 
Station, which were very instructive and 
entertaining. The excellent “ hay weather,” 
and the desire of the farmers to improve it, 
were the causes for the small number of 
dairymen present. 
AT ELLENBURGH CENTRE. 
At this conference, held on Friday after¬ 
noon, the 19tb, no churning was done. A late 
train delayed matters so that the instructors 
did not reach the creamery in time to do 
much. There was a good attendance, the 
large school-house hall being filled. The 
creamery is one of Mr. Boomhower’s, and one 
of the best. Cream is raised by the Burrell 
& Whitman lce-vat System, the vats having 
a capacity of 3,000 pounds each. The milk is 
from 86 patrons having 500 cows; 9,000 
pounds are now daily delivered. Maximum 
receipts, 11,200 pounds; ratio at present one 
to 22.59. Milk is delivered twice a day. There 
are500 packages, of 62 pounds each, of butter 
now in cold storage at the creamery. The 
milk is strained into the Burrell & Whitman 
ice-vats, and cooled to 46 degrees. It is 
skimmed after 24 hours’ setting ; the cream is 
allowed to ripen for 24 hours at a tempera¬ 
ture of 60 degrees, and churned at 60 degrees 
in a 400 gallon Blanchard Box Churn. Seme 
butter is sold to private customers and to the 
Adirondack hotels. The conference was a 
good one, and much attention was given by 
the audience. A nice dinner, spread in an 
upper room of the creamery building, and 
music by a brass band were two excellent 
features of the occasion. On the whole, the 
conferences were successful, and Clinton 
County may well be thankful for the quota 
which the State Dairy Association appor¬ 
tioned her. c. w. jennings. 
---- 
HOW THE GOVERNMENT CAN HELP 
THE BUTTER MAKERS. 
J. W. NEWTON. 
Good, suggestions: work for the National 
Department of State through the U. S. con¬ 
suls abroad ; specimens of valuable in- 
foimiation already given by them; need of 
a national association to battle effectually 
against “oleo.” 
There seems to be but one way to relieve 
the glutted condition of the butter market, 
and that is to export the surplus stock. This 
is being done to some extent, but not enough 
to cause any stiffening of prices. What is 
needed is a foreign market that will take large 
quantities of butter at a paying price, and af¬ 
ford a steady demand for good American but¬ 
ter. Now, why cannot the government, 
through the consuls, make an investigation of 
the various foreign markets and place the 
results before the farmers in consular reports? 
China has been suggested as a market for 
dairy products, and could a beginning be 
ir ade it might lead to important results. The 
Department of State did a most excellent 
work in preparing and publishing the Report 
on Cattle and Dairy Farming. I find in that 
work many statements that bear on the sub¬ 
ject we are considering. The Mexican con¬ 
suls report as follows : 
Chihuahua : “ But little butter and cheese 
are made. Butter is worth 62>.fcents per 
pound, and a very, ordinary article of cheese 
15 cents per pound.” This is partly explained 
by the high duty. 
Monterey: “Nearly all the butter used is 
oleomargarine imported from the United 
States, of a very inferior quality, which re 
tails at 60 cents a pound in Monterey. In con¬ 
clusion 1 would state that, if some enterpris¬ 
ing dairyman would start the ball by bring¬ 
ing to market pure, rich milk and fresh, pal¬ 
atable butter, it would create a taste among 
the people for these luxuries, and a crying de¬ 
mand, before much time, for goodly quanti¬ 
ties of both.” 
Tamaulipas; “Butter is not made to any 
extent. ’ 
Our Consul in the Argentine Republic re¬ 
ports: “It may seem paradoxical, yet it is 
true that while the Argentine Republic con¬ 
tains about 12,000,000 ‘horned cattle, it pro¬ 
duces neither milk, butter, nor cheese... Such 
a thing as a dairy farm is unknown; such a 
thing as butter-making, in the true sense of 
the word, is a myth.Butter, if it is used at 
all, has, until very recently, been brought 
from Italy. Of late years an unsalted butter, 
the work of Spanish Basques settled near 
Buenos Ayres, has been finding its way to 
market, but it is nothing more than coagu¬ 
lated cream, while the cheese comes mostly 
from England or Germany.” 
Brazil: “ The fact that most of the buttsr 
used iu a city like this (Rio de Janeiro) is the 
modern adulteration, imported in tin cans, is 
one of the many proofs that might be ad¬ 
duced of the backward condition of the dairy 
Industry in this country.” 
These are samples of the reports from the 
countries south of the United State. 
In Japan no butter or cheese is made. 
“ There are no words in the Japanese lan¬ 
guage for beef, butter, and cheese, except 
these recently framed from the English for 
convenience sake, and in use only at the 
treaty ports. In China the consul at Canton 
says: “ Butter is unknown in this part of 
China, except as imported from Europe and 
America for foreigners’ use.” The consul at 
Hankow could not “ learn that butter or 
cheese is ever made, in this part of the Em¬ 
pire, at least.” 
It will thus be seen that there are millions 
of people who know little or nothing of but¬ 
ter and cheese, and it would seem that among 
some of them an outlet might be found for 
American dairy products. Oleo hangs like a 
dead weight upon the butter-makers of the 
United States, and there is good reason to be¬ 
lieve that the exportation of oleo has bad 
much to do with ruining the foreign market 
for American butter, which has existed in 
Europe. It would be well for the Department 
of State to ascertain how far this is the case, 
also the laws of different countries 
concerning adulterated and imitation good®, 
and also to learn how far these laws are en¬ 
forced and what effect thiy have had upon 
the manufacture, sale, and consumption of 
such goods, and to publish such information 
for the use of American dairymen. It would 
be well, too, for Secretary Rusk to have the 
laws of the different States concerning oleo 
compiled and published, together with the 
United States law and the decisions of the 
courts in regard to the manufacture and sale 
of the stuff. 
Another suggestion is that a National Dairy¬ 
men’s Association be formed. The State asso¬ 
ciations are doing most excellent work, but a 
national association is needed to fight oleo. 
It must be fought resolutely in every possible 
way. The government can aid the farmers in 
the ways I have indicated, and by seeing that 
the law is strictly enforced. We need a pam¬ 
phlet showing the present legal status of oleo, 
to be used in the legislatures of the New Eng¬ 
land and other States; we need an association 
with a strong executive committee to push the 
battle wherever earnest work is needed, 
whether at Washington or in the State legis¬ 
latures. 
Stowe, Vt. 
farm Copies. 
SOME COGITATIONS. 
“ Seems kind o’ queer,” lamented Mr. Bob- 
common; “but I can’t get hands to come and 
work for me like Cap. Jackson can. When 
his hay or grain is ready to harvest, or he is 
“rushed” with his corn, he drives into town 
and gets all the strong, young tellers he wants 
without any trouble. I offer the same wages 
and just as good feed, yet I have the hardest 
kind o’ work to get any o’ them stout young 
fellers to come out and help me. Can you 
tell me the reason for this? ” 
“Yes. Captain Jackson has two pretty 
daughters, and ever}' summer he makes it a 
point to have two or three of their attractive 
city cousins or friends to come out and visit 
them, and rusticate with him. He has pro¬ 
vided a nice croquet ground and lawn tennis 
lay-out, besides hammocks, swings, etc. The 
girls are always ready for a game after sup¬ 
per, and, bless you! the boys would almost 
work for the Captain for nothing to get to 
play with them. He has the pick of all the 
young fellows in the town,and everyone that 
goes to work for him, I notice, takes a change 
of clean, light clothing along. At noon the 
girls are “ not at home,” and the boys eat, 
rest a short time and goto work. At night 
the Captain gives them time to bathe and 
trig themselves up a little before supper, and it 
is astonishing how clean and spruce they ap¬ 
pear when they come in. The Captain is a 
jolly fellow and he’s constantly poking fun at 
some of them during supper, after which he 
swings himself in a hammock while he watch¬ 
es them play. And don’t they have a jolly 
time, though! Why I know young chaps who 
engage themselves to the Captain for harvest 
and haying nearly a year in advance. The 
old fellow is a schemer. His daughters and 
their friends do the greater part of the house¬ 
work, almost without being aware of it, and 
at the same time gtve him advantages in the 
labor market that are not to be sneezed at.” 
A great light flashed upon Mr. Bobcom- 
mon’s intellect and he walked off scratching 
his head with a whetstone and thinking at the 
rate of 40 miles an hour. 
Some men who till the soil are constantly 
regarding themselves as martyrs to circum¬ 
stances. They hate farming, but are obliged 
to stick to it to provide themselves and their 
families with food and clothing. They are 
always on the alert for a cbauce to quit “slav¬ 
ing,” as they term it, and get at something 
else. Unobserved I sat down on a clod and 
waited for a plowman to return. He came 
trudging along with his head down, and I 
wondered whether he was watching for grubs 
or meditating on some important matter con¬ 
nected with his internal arrangements. 
“Hello! Whoal What were you thinking 
about so intently ?*’ 
“Why I was trying to make up my mind 
whether I’d better take Hank Jones’s bet of 85 
that the Cnicago base ball club wouldn’t win 
the pennant this year! They’re a little behind 
now, but are playing pretty well, and I’ve a 
big notion to take him up. What do you 
think about it ? Hiwl wish I was as good a 
player as Anson You can bet your boots 
I’d not be here niggermg!” 
His wagons and other implements stood in 
a corner of the yard seasoning. His stable 
and—but we’ve all saeu his surroundings. 
On another farm I hid behind a hedge and 
awaited the return of another plowman. He 
was seated upon a sulky plow, held a tight 
rein and was looking at his horses and smiling 
complacently. 
“Whoal What were you grinning at ? 
“I was thinking what a fine stroke I made 
when I sold my hogs last Saturday. They 
dropped a cent Monday and are likely to stay 
down for some time. I had been watching 
the market closely for some weeks aud nabbed 
it on the rise. If a man keeps his eyes open 
and strikes at the right moment be can as¬ 
tonish the natives every time. That lot had 
just reached their best point, and I made a 
good thing on them. I’ll have another bunch 
ready in about six weeks—just in time to 
catch the market as it comes up again. Yes, 
this is my old clover field and the soil rolls up 
nicely. It averaged 27 bushels of wheat this 
year, and I ought to raise some splendid corn 
on it next. Like farming ? Wouldn't trade it 
for any other business under the sun 1” This 
is one of those farmers who are not looking 
about for a good “opening." 
I passed a pasture in which were two groups, 
one of colts and another of cattle, huddled to¬ 
gether the better to keep off flies. The field 
was as bare as a board and both of these 
groups were sizzling under the boiling sun. 
Some men say that it does no harm to horses 
and cattle to let them take the fierce glare of 
the sun through the long summer days. A 
mile farther on is another pasture with a 
small grove in one corner. All the animals in 
this one are gathered in the little grove and 
apparently enjoying the umbrageous shelter 
quite as much as human beings might, thus 
proving the advocates of shelterless pastures 
to be humbugs aud base deceivers. I still 
think that the catalpa is one of the best trees 
in the world for pasture groves. Its growth is 
rapid, and its broad leaves make a shade so 
dense that neither weeds nor brush can exist be¬ 
neath it. Another important point in its favor 
is the fact that no stock will eat it—at least no 
stock that I ever saw would. Both cattle and 
horses love to tear down and devour ash and 
Soft Maple, but they have no appetite for cat 
alpa. Plant a little grove of catalpas about 
the center of your farm, so that the pasture 
will abut upon it when changed from one field 
to another. Place the trees about 4x6 feet 
apart, cultivate like corn a couple of years, 
and after that the trees will take care of them¬ 
selves. With a few rods of movable fence, 
you can connect the grove with the pasture in 
a jiffy, and your flocks aud herds will peace¬ 
fully lie down therein and call you blessed. 
Christian County, III. fred grundy. 
Cwnjwljm. 
RURAL SPECIAL REPORTS. 
Colorado. 
Greei.ey, Weld County, August 21 —There 
is really no such thing as potato rot iu this 
part of thq State. The crop will be cut a lit¬ 
tle short for want of water, but at least four- 
fifths of an average crop is expected. 
0. F. M. 
Connecticut, 
Franklin, New London County, August 
15.—Potatoes are rotting very badly. Some 
farmers report an almost total failure. But 
few have been dug yet, but judging from the 
reports of farmers in this vicinity, I think 
there will be less than half an average crop. 
G. h. g. 
Illinois. 
Rock Island, Rock County. August 
16.—The condition of the potato crop in this 
neighborhood is good; there is no rot except 
on very low ground. I think there will be 
more than an average crop. Potatoes are 
selling at 30 cents per bushel and not very 
ready sale at that. Quality good. h. d. 
Quincy, Adams County, August 20.— There 
was probably nearly an average crop of early 
potatoes grown in this vicinity this season. 
Very few late potatoes were planted. We 
had fight enough with the bugs over the early 
ones to satisfy us fully. The rot has ap- 
ppa ed in this neighborhool, but to what ex¬ 
tent the crop will be affected by it cannot 
cot be estimated, as but a small part has yet 
been dug. O. H. p. a. 
Iowa. 
Sroux City, Woodbury Counfy, August 
18 —I have heard of no rotting of potatoes 
anywhere in this county. Their quality is 
unsurpassed, but the quantity will not be up 
to the average on account of dry weather. 
Oats were somewhat shortened on that ac¬ 
count, but corn now looks as if it would yield 
an average crop, though I was informed yes¬ 
terday that much in the bottom was drying 
up. Potatoes here are only bringing from 20 
to 30 cents per bushel. J N. s. 
Michigan. 
AVhite Pigeon, St. Joseph County, August 
20.—Potatoes hardly ever rot in this country. 
I have lived here 36 years and have never 
seen a field of potatoes affected with wet rot: 
for the land is too dry and sandy. There is 
some prairie laud here, but it is not much used 
for potatoes. We have a dry rot, however, 
which is bad in some years. Before the pres¬ 
ent year we had three years of terribly dry 
weather. This year, except during a long, dry 
spell in the spring, we had rain enough up to 
the second week of July; since then we have 
had only a light shower aud things are dryiug 
up. The weather is hot by day aud cool by 
night. Last year was the worst the farmers 
have ever seen. It was the driest, being 
worse than the two before it. For the last 
three years thousands of bushels of corn have 
been shipped in and sold to the farmers, and 
last year a good deal of baled hay was ship¬ 
ped in, taking money away from the farmers. 
Potatoes have been a light crop for three 
years past. What with the potato beetles aud 
dry weather and low prices the farmers got 
discouraged and did not plant more than half 
the usual aiea this spring. The crop looked 
first-rate this summer; the tops were the larg¬ 
est 1 have seen for several years and there is 
prospect of a large crop if we have rain 
enough. The tops look nice an I green. 
Wheat, rye aud oats were good this year. 
Corn will be a fair crop if we have no early 
frosts. A good many beans are planted. The 
R. N.-Y. No. 2 did not come up well, but I 
will try it again next year on a larger scale. 
I never could raise a large crop from small 
seeds. The kind that does the best for me is 
the Empire State, as it stands more dry 
weather than any other sort I nave tried so 
far. I hope the Rural will keep us well 
posted in regard to prices for potatoes. We 
have no home market unless we draw 20 
miles to Elkhart. Potatoes are mostly sold 
to commission-men who ship them wherever 
they can find a market. Our best market is 
in Eastern Ohio or York State. I like the 
Rural first-rate. I wish I could place it iu 
the hands of every farmer in the United 
States. [Thank you. Eds.] t. t. 
Benton Harbor, Berrien County, August 
17.—I have heard of not more than one or two 
cases where there is any rotting of potatoes; 
the acreage is perhaps about four-fltths as 
large as usual. In some places on low land 
perhaps one-fourth have been drowned out by 
the spring rains. In our immediate neigh¬ 
borhood, where on high land, the crop 
will be a good deal better than an average, 
perhaps enough better to fully make 
up for the shortage. The lands here are 
principally sandy with sandy or gravelly sub¬ 
soil and our tubers seldom suffer from rot. 
Up towards Hartford, that is, northeast of us 
18 miles, the crop looks poor. I was up there 
last week and I saw only one piece of pota¬ 
toes that would yield over 100 bushels per 
acre. Out in the direction of Royaltou on 
the bottom lands. I hear a good proportion 
are drowned out—fully one-fourth to oue- 
ihird. I lose about one acre out of eight, ow¬ 
ing to the wet in J une. The rest look very 
well; about 2>^ acres promise a very heavy 
yield, the remainder a fair crop. Corn looks 
