1900 
THE RURAL NEW-YORKER 
475 
THE LATEST IN SKUNK FARMING. 
An Ohio Idea. 
It takes a man with a natural instinct 
and love for hunting and trapping to 
have anything at all to do with the 
skunk. With such a man, the perfume 
that goes along with the business is of 
trivial importance. My neighbor Strick¬ 
land, who lives only a mile back through 
the fields from my home, and whose 
farm joins mine, has a hired man of this 
sort. He is a veritable genius in the 
hunting and trapping business, and 
through the late Fall and Winter he 
does chores for his 'board and devotes 
his time to c^e pursuit of game, espec¬ 
ially the skunk. All is fish, however, 
that comes to his net, for everything 
that he catches, he sells for something. 
Last Winter, when rabbits were selling 
for 10 cents apiece, he took to the local 
market 60 at one time. All through the 
late Fall and fore part of Winter we no¬ 
ticed a light in our back field© and 
sugar bush, especially on warm or rainy 
evenings. We talked about it among 
ourselves, and wondered who it could be, 
and what he could want, but as we oc¬ 
casionally heard a dog barking back 
there we concluded that it was some fel¬ 
low out “cooning.” One day in Novem¬ 
ber last, my boys, who are big enough to 
be interested in the trapping business 
themselves, went over to Strickland’s. 
When they came back, they gave a very 
voluble account of what William, the 
hired man referred to above, had got 
over there. 
“You just ought to go over to Strick¬ 
land’s and see the skunks that William 
has got,” said one of the lads. 
“Do you mean live skunks?” I asked. 
“Yes,” mey said. 
“Why, how many has he got?” I 
queried. 
“Twenty,” said ootn the lads with 
eagerness. 
“Twenty skunks? Where does he keep 
them?” 
“He’s got an old piano box rigged up 
with nests of straw, and a screen front, 
so any one can go right close up and 
look at them.” 
“But you didn’t go ‘right close up’?” I 
queried, somewhat anxious for tne good 
school suits they had on. 
“Oh, yes!” they replied, “Most of the 
skunks have been in there quite a while, 
and there is no danger.” 
I didn’t feel quite so sure on that 
point as the boys did, and their mother 
felt less sure than I did. “But what is 
William going to do with all those live 
skunks?” I questioned. 
“He’s going to keep them till Winter, 
when their fur will be prime, and then 
he’ll get a good price for it.” 
“But what does he feed them on?” 
“On rabbits mostly,” they replied. 
“You see, William has got a ferret, and 
he can get rabbits over there, all he 
wants, with very little trou'ble.” 
“Well, where in the world did he get 
so many live skunks?” I asked, getting 
considerably interested in their account. 
“Oh, he goes out evenings and catches 
them. You see,” they went on, “he has 
got that dog of Strickland’s trained to 
the business. They go out almost every 
good evening, and when the dog finds a 
skunk, he doesn’t tackle him, but runs 
around and around him, barking furious-j 
ly all the while. By the time William! 
comes up, the dog has the skunk pretty 
well rattled, and William watches his 
opportunity when the skunk’s attention 
is fixed on the dog, rushes up quickly, 
seizes the skunk by the tail, drops him 
into an old phosphate sack, slings him 
over L.s back, and starts off after an¬ 
other.” 
“But how about the odor?” I inquired 
“Doesn t the skunk—or, doesn’t Williaax 
take a big risk in picking up a skunk bj 
the tail?” 
“Well, not often,” they said. “Once iD 
a while he gets a dose, of course, but hf 
doesn’t mind it much if he does—he’s 
used to that sort of thing.” 
“You see,” they continued, “William 
lets the dog ‘rush’ the skunk quite a 
while, and by the time he gets ready to 
pick him up, the skunk is about out of 
ammunition. And he says, too, that if 
you can only get hold of the skunk's 
tail, you aTe all right; he can’t do you 
any harm.” 
That certainly is an instance where “a 
tail hold is the best hold,” but I don’t 
want to take any chances, especially 
with tnat sort of an animal. It general¬ 
ly takes a genius from Ohio to astonish 
the people with some wonderful new in¬ 
vention, or new way of doing business. 
William is certainly a genius in this sort 
of business. He didn’t go at it in the 
old stereotyped way of breeding them 
himself, but went out o’ nights, picked 
them up by the tail when their fur was 
nearly prime, fed them a few weeks, and 
then skinned them and took them to 
market when the price was right. All 
the account the boys gave me I know 
to be facts. And more than this, along 
in December William killed those 
skunks, that he kept in the old piano 
box, and sold their hides for $29. This 
money, however, is but a small amount 
compared with what he gets from all 
sources. The muskrats, ’possums, coons, 
minks, etc., that he catches, make the 
season’s business of considerable profit 
to him. 
“Well,” I said to the boys, after their 
story was fully told, “that accounts for 
that mysterious light in our back fields 
and woods last Fall.” 
“Yes,” they replied, “it was William 
out after skunks.” 
“But do you like to have him hunting 
9kunss on our farm?” said one of the 
boys, who felt that William was “poach¬ 
ing upon our preserves?” 
“No, I don’t,” I said most emphatic¬ 
ally. “The skunk is among the most 
useful of our wild animals. He is very 
fond of young mice, he likes grasshop¬ 
pers and crickets, and he just dofes on 
the big white grub that eats the roots 
off almost everything the farmer grows, 
and gnaws those unsightly, disgusting- 
looking holes in the potato. No, boys, 
let the skunk wear his own furs—milady 
can do without them.” 
Ohio. A. R. PHILLIPS. 
DORSET AND MERINO SHEEP. 
Would the Horned Dorset or the Meri¬ 
no be the most profitable and best 
adapted to the climate of western Pennsyl¬ 
vania? L. W. R. 
Patchinville, Pa. 
The Dorset is a special-purpose sheep, 
and for the ordinary uses, in localities 
where either of its double uses is im¬ 
practicable, of course it loses its chief 
point of value. It is kept in the south¬ 
ern part of England, where the Winters 
are exceedingly mild, and snow is rarely 
seen, so that outdoor pasture Is possible 
all the year round, and the mildness of 
the weather admits of rearing a lamb 
for marketing at the Christmas holidays. 
The ewe, being always in season, will 
bring two lambs in the year, one in the 
Fall and one in the Spring. It is not 
valued for its fleece, but for this special 
purpose. It is easily seen that where 
( this special purpose is not applicable the 
value of the sheep is then reduced to the 
level of any other breed, and as it is not 
a large sheep, desirable for mutton, and 
has a light, short wool of the cheapest 
kind, it is not profitable for this use in 
competition with any other breed. It 
may pay a farmer to keep a flock near 
a good market for the lambs, to build a 
special barn which may be warmed in 
the cold weather, and depend on the 
lambs for the profit, but a good deal of 
labor is involved and the business must 
be understood, or there will be no profit. 
The Merino, especially the largest kind 
7 f it, the Rambouillet, is, on the other 
band, a hardy animal, and will live any¬ 
where, bringing a fleece of 10 pounds or 
more of wool of the highest price, and 
.he wethers make a good carcass of mut¬ 
ton, or its fat lambs a year old or less 
will bring $6 or $7 a head. This sheep 
reaches a weight of 180 pounds or more 
for ewes or yearling wethers, and 250 or 
more for old sheep, and even more for 
the rams. Many rams will shear 20 
pounds, and ewes 12. The wool brings 
the highest price in the market. It is a 
hardy sheep, living and thriving all over 
the western ranges, and north away up 
into Canada, and has proved the hardiest 
kind of sheep for the range. It makes a 
good mutton, and is an excellent herder 
and very hardy. I recently examined a 
flock of 100 of these sheep imported 
from Germany, which had been 17 days 
on the journey on a ship, and in cars, 
and there was not one with a dirty nose, 
or off feed, or in the slightest degree 
showed any indication of suffering. The 
largest ram in the bunch was two years 
old, and weighed over 300 pounds. The 
largest ewe weighed over 200 pounds, 
and the yearlings, with only two ma¬ 
ture teeth, weighed up to 180 pounds. 
This sheep is far preferable for a farmer, 
and needs no special care through the 
Winter, being a genuine rustler. All 
the Merino sheep are not horned. There 
is not a better climate or locality for 
sheep anywhere than in western Penn¬ 
sylvania. . H. STEWART. 
WELCOME FARM STOCK NOTES. 
A Rorber Cow. —While in the yard 
this morning I saw a cow sucking an¬ 
other one. We have found by past ex¬ 
perience a sure cure as follows: Take 
three pieces No. 10 steel wire, about 14 
inches long; sharpen each end, grasp in 
a vice all three at once two inches from 
the middle, and twist into a rope for 
two inches. Pass the small blade of a 
jackknife through gristle of the nose, 
Insert the wire and bend forward with 
pincers, so as not to gall the nose, now 
carry one wire entirely across front of 
nose to opposite side and give it one 
twist; repeat the process in the oppo¬ 
site direction, and twist one pair in the 
middle. Arrange them in a row with 
the points raised a little, and though she 
can eat all right, she will do no more 
sucking till you take that out, and I 
advise not to be too hasty about it. It 
won’t improve her looks any more than 
dishorning does for a few days, but all is 
well that ends well. I have practiced 
dishorning for 10 years, and every year 
I am more convinced that it is a duty 
we owe to the cow for our own safety as 
well as hers. My 12 cows will all lie 
down on the straw-stack bottom at once, 
and lap each other, while under the 
sway of horns they covered the whole 
yard. 
Drought an Object Lesson. —As a re¬ 
sult Of it we turned the cows into what 
was to be a meadow last Monday, and 
to-morrow will cut about half of another 
12 acres, and let the stock finish it. 
Shall we learn by this experience that 
superficial farming leads to that same 
kind of result? We say by our acts that 
six inches of soil is as good for plant 
growth and the conservation of mois¬ 
ture, as a foot would be; that to scatter 
grass seed among the wheat plants in 
April (when Nature does it in Septem¬ 
ber) without even attempting to cover 
it, and the catch so anxiously looked 
for later on comes to grief, or does not 
come at all, we sometimes think with 
Prof. Roberts that “Some time we shall 
learn to raise apples in the orchard and 
grass in the meadow.” 
An Alfalfa Year. —That scientific 
idea in a late R. N.-Y. of just letting the 
wilted leaf pump the stalk dry is all 
right, as I found by testing on the Al¬ 
falfa. Cut before blossoms appeared (as 
it begun to lodge), lay from noon till 
five, raked and put two rakefuls in each 
cock. The second day rolled the cock 
over, and the fourth day turned out to 
the sun three hours and drew to the 
barn. It was of a bright green color 
and without the loss of a leaf. It has 
started up fresh and green again, as 
though it liked this droughty weather. 
A neighbor reports 30 acres, eight years 
old, 60 tons, first cutting. Truly the 
lion’s share, and a rented farm at that. 
Onondaga Co., N. Y. r. w. c. 
I have noticed cases of moon blindness in 
horses for 30 years or more; can t say that 
in my mind it is hereditary, as I have had 
horses affected with it whose ancesters for 
several generations had the best of eyes. 
What causes it I am unable to tell. 
Sometimes one only in a large family may 
have it. Still it may run more in some 
families than others. 
Kentucky. John t. woodfokd. 
The Mtlic Situation.— When the farmer 
can be thoroughly organized he will then 
receive true returns for his labor. It is 
easy enough to organize mechanics, as they 
are together in each town, while tne farm¬ 
ers are scattered and often on a mort¬ 
gaged farm, yet nothing is more sure of 
success than the farmer properly organized. 
Your article of June 9 on the milk pro¬ 
ducers is right; they must expect defeat 
at first; then tney see their weak spots. 1 
should think, if the Five States were laid 
out such as a war map, and each section 
told off to certain creameries, even though 
many of them are individual concerns, if 
this milk was manufactured for one week, 
outside farmers would soon join them. 
Then farmers would have their own mar¬ 
ket and the law should be enforced against 
adulteration. We had the State inspectors 
here; they said that adulteration is seldom 
done by the farmer; the creamery men 
keep at him so that they can adulterate it 
the more. f. b. 
SHARPLES 
Cream 
Separators . 
Don't think if 
you buy a 
farm separ¬ 
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must buy 
something 
comDlicated 
and hard to 
manage. 
T' Don't think 
thatbe cause 
one kind of 
farm separ- 
ator re-| 
quires an 
hour to|wash 
it that all do. 
Don't think that constant re¬ 
pair bills are a necessity just 
because some one with a com¬ 
plicated separator has to pay 
them. 
Don't think that some other 
farm separator is as good as the 
Sharpie because soma agent for 
the otnercondemns the Shur pies. 
He fears Its superiority, is the rea¬ 
son he condemns it. Send for free 
Catalogue No, 25 
P. M. SHARPLES, 
West Cheater, Pa. 
THE SHARPLES CO., 
28 80 , Canal St., Chicago, III. 
SEPARATOR FR 
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easiest running HAND Separator. 
NATIONAL Cream 
Separator 
Free book tells all about it. 
National Dairy Machine Co., Newark. N. J. 
Cream Separators. 
De Laval “ Alpha " and “ Baby " Separators. 
First—Best—Cheapest. All Styles—Sixes 
Prices, *80 to *800. 
Bare HO per cow per year. Send for Catalogue. 
THE DE LAVAL SEPARATOR CO M 
Randolph and Canal Streets, I 71 Cortlandt Street 
CHICAGO I NBW YORK. 
The Improved U. S. Separators 
Have excelled in the past, and witli their “New Century” improvements are 
further in advance than ever. Note their capacities and prices : 
No. 9. Low Frame. Capacity 150 to 175 lbs., $50.00 
No. 8. “ “ “ 225 to 250 “ $65.00 
No. 7. High “ “ 275 to 300 “ $85.00 
No. 6. “ 44 “ 350 to 400 “ $100.00 
No. 5. “ " “ 450 to 500 “ $125.00 
No. 3**}. “ “ “ 650 to 70 0 44 $165.00 
We furnish a complete line of Dairy and Creamery Apparatus. Cata¬ 
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* • VERMONT FARM MACHINE CO., Bellows Falls, Vt. 
