1900 
THE RURAL NEW-YORKER 
5o 7 
A TOUGH OLD MARE. 
W. H. B.’s letter in Tiie R. N.-Y. of 
July 7 reveals nothing new in horse 
breeding. The rule that “like begets 
like or the likeness of some ancestor” 
is, sometimes, apparently inoperative. 
Several years ago I bought a long¬ 
bodied, short-limbed mare that would 
weigh about 1,100 pounds. Her color 
was between mouse color and brown. 
She was with foal by a big bay stallion 
weighing 1,200, and standing 16 hands 
high. Her former owner had raised one 
colt from her by the same horse. It was 
a slender sorrel with four white feet and 
a white nose, and looked for all the 
world like a gelding that was pastured 
with her while she was with foal. When 
I bought her she was pasturing with a 
little white saddle mare weighing about 
800. When she foaled some boys who 
were boarding with me came running 
home from the field to say that “Brownie 
had got a sheep!” And sure enough it 
looked so. She had a little white filly, 
that grew up into a saddle pony, and 
was sold to a young woman for use 
under a saddle. When her new coat 
came out'in the Spring it was a little 
creamy, bleaching out to milk white, al¬ 
though her skin was as black as 
Brownie’s. Brownie had other peculiari¬ 
ties beside breeding freaks. Put in any 
ordinary stable, she would kick it down; 
turned out to pasture, she would get on 
a roaming fit, and go off across fields, 
fences and highways for a mile, some¬ 
times jumping and sometimes pushing 
the fence down. Hitched to a post, she 
would pull for all she was worth, but 
hitched to a plow or harrow, she would 
balk every time. To an ordinary wagon 
you could drive her four miles an hour 
by persuading enough, but any kind of a 
load was no go. Turned out to pasture 
with other horses she showed her cun¬ 
ning. She would nip grass until near 
enough to turn and kick with a ven¬ 
geance. I never saw her beaten but 
once, and then she tackled a big bay, 16 
hands high, with a good deal of day¬ 
light under him, as the horsemen say. 
He was brought up on the place, and 
thought he had rights. His name was 
Prince, but we called him Pinny, for 
short. I saw Brownie slyly working to¬ 
ward him, and watched the outcome. 
When she got within what she thought 
was striking distance, she whirled her 
heels his way, gave a squeal, and started 
backward. Pinny heard the squeal, and 
got his batteries quickly in position, and 
before Brownie was near enough to 
make her short legs effective, he let fly 
his heels with the force of a catapult, 
not only stopping the old mare’s advance 
backward, but nearly throwing her on 
her head. The satisfied way in which 
she went about her business was a com¬ 
fort to me. I have owned balky horses, 
pullers, kickers, jumpers, and horses 
with other unpleasant traits, but 
Brownie had more traits than any other 
horse I ever saw, and when a fellow 
came along and made an offer of $25, he 
got her, and made me happy, although 1 
had paid an even hundred for her. 
R. S. 11 IN MAN. 
DIARRHEA OR SCOURS IN CALVES. 
In fattening calves, I have lost several 
with the scours. What remedy would you 
advise? In fattening calves on Jersey 
cows, which is better—to reduce the milk 
with water and feed by hand, or let them 
suck the cows? x. y. z. 
Connecticut. 
At the first indication of the diarrhea 
give the calf two full tablespoonfuls of 
castor oil with one teaspoonful each 
laudanum and tincture of Jamaica gin¬ 
ger. Then give one-half teaspoonful 
laudanum and one teaspoonful of the 
tincture of ginger every four hours, un¬ 
til the diarrhea is checked. If the calf 
become weak give two or three tea¬ 
spoonfuls of whisky in a little hot water 
every four hours. If the calf is being 
raised by hand, add one part lime water 
to three parts of milk. Do not feed 
more than one pint of milk at one time. 
but repeat the quantity every four hours, 
iif the calf will take it. If the calf is 
raised on the cow, do not allow it to 
suck but a few minutes at one time, but 
feed about every four hours as before. 
Inasmuch as the disease is very liable to 
be contagious, it would be well thor¬ 
oughly to whitewash the calf-pen or any 
part of the stable with which the calves 
come in contact, and to dust the drop¬ 
pings and floor with dry, air-slaked 
quicklime. The success of the treatment 
depends largely upon the thoroughness 
with which it is carried out, both as to 
giving the medicines and to the feeding. 
I have seen calves raised by this treat¬ 
ment, after they were so weak from the 
diarrhea as to be unable to stand alone. 
In acute, severe cases, I sometimes give 
full doses of the medicine every two 
hours, for a few doses, instead of every 
four hours. 
Do not overfeed. Better to let the calves 
go a little hungry. They will not starve 
for a few days, even though put on the 
short allowance of only one-half to one 
pint of milk at a feeding, to be repeated 
every four hours. The disease is, evi¬ 
dently, contagious in your locality, so 
that special attention should be given 
to cleanliness and disinfection. If the 
calves are to be raised by hand, it 
would be better to remove them to a 
separate stable as soon as possible after 
birth, where more thorough disinfect.on 
could be practiced. 
SOME SILO PROBLEMS. 
In the management of the silo there 
are many practical questions which ex¬ 
perience and local condition only are 
capable of solving. There is little ques¬ 
tion but what the round silo is the best 
form to use under most circumstances. 
On many farms, however, where there is 
ample barn room, ft would often be more 
economical to utilize one of the bays 
and put 'in a rectangular silo. A round 
si'lo in such a place would cause a con¬ 
siderable waste of space. We believe, 
however, that the silage would keep 
enough better to warrant the exclusion 
of the small areas in the corners of the 
bay. Much silage is often spoiled in 
rectangular srlois by the air getting into 
the corners, owing to the difficulty of 
keeping the silage thoroughly trodden 
in the sharp corners. A section of at 
least 16 to 18 inches across the face of 
the triangle should be cut off. On most 
farms it is a simple matter to get out 
material for staves for a round silo, and 
to have them beveled so that a silo of 
any desired diameter may be put to¬ 
gether without cracks. If the diameter 
is large, say 20 to 25 feet, a fairly tight 
silo can be made without straight-edged 
staves. One of the most common mis¬ 
takes in the construction of silos is in 
getting the diameter too large in propor¬ 
tion to the height. For a herd of 20 
cows we consider 12 feet 'in diameter 
and 26 feet in height to be preferable to 
a silo of greater diameter and less 
height. From one inch to two inches 
per day, for the whole area of the silo, 
should be fed out in order to have the 
silage keep In good condition. Silos of 
comparatively small surface area are 
especially needed for the storage of si¬ 
lage for Summer use. Owing to the high 
temperature of this season the silage 
will mold and decay rapidly if long ex¬ 
posed to the air. We consider a isilo for 
Summer use of 12 feet in diameter to be 
about right for a herd of 25 to 30 cows. 
There has been much said about the 
use Of cheaper means than the ordinary 
round rods for holding the staves. A 
few farmers have used the Page wire 
fencing, but unless one has a full equip¬ 
ment of tools for tightening this fence, 
we fail to see where the advantage 
would be. This material would need to 
be re-tightened at least once each year. 
Ordinary round rods, varying from 
three-quarters of an inch near the bot¬ 
tom to a half inch near the top, make 
an easily-adjusted hoop. These should 
be of such a length as to reach half way 
around the silo, and they may be easily 
tightened through blocks of hard wood. 
It is a wise precaution to support the 
hoops by means of staples in a few 
places. This will prevent their drop¬ 
ping down in case the silo shrinks bad¬ 
ly when empty in the Summer. 
c. s. rHELPS. 
HENS THAT LAY BAD EGGS. 
I have been through a similar experi¬ 
ence in warranting eggs to customers as 
being fresh and all right, that I knew 
were fresh laid, as S. A. F., page 458. 
Probably the trouble with his eggs is 
caused by one or more in the flock suf¬ 
fering from inflammation of the ovaries, 
and the eggs are spoiled before they are 
laid. It is not always easy to finu out 
which nens are suffering from this dis¬ 
ease, although one of the signs is lopping 
of the tail, and sometimes when there 
is a large mass of corrupt matter, such as 
he describes as finding in a fowl. It can 
be felt by the fingers from the outside, by 
gently squeezing the fowl just back of 
the breastbone. With a little experience 
it can be distinguished from a normal 
condition of tue ovaries, intestines and 
gizzard. Old fowls are more liable to be 
affected in that way than young ones, 
and fowls that have been stimulated to 
an abnormal production of eggs the pre¬ 
vious Winter are very liable to the dis¬ 
ease. All the so-called egg-foods are de¬ 
signed to stimulate the reproductive or¬ 
gans, and when fed for any length of 
time are pretty sure to cause trouble. 
Too much attention from heavy males 
will also cause the trouble in some 
cases. 
When double-yolked eggs are laid, or 
small, imperfect ones, the size of a mar¬ 
ble, it is a sure sign that abnormal con¬ 
ditions prevail with the ovaries. In 
dressing old fowls for market—in our 
market (in this vicinity all poultry has 
to be drawn) I have often found badly- 
diseased ovaries in fowls that had bright 
red combs and every appearance of per¬ 
fect health before they were killed, so 
the reader will see that it is not always 
easy to judge of the healthiness of a 
fowl by external appearances. One of 
the advantages of keeping fowls in small 
flocks is that when any one becomes dis¬ 
eased it is easier to pick out the one 
among a few than a large number. 
With fowls as with cows, the greatest 
producers are more liable to disease than 
those of more moderate production, and 
I believe that the average keeper should 
set his mark at a fair average produc¬ 
tion, rather than an excessive one. 
Dudley, Mass. f. a. p. 
Holstein Cattle. —There are several 
reasons why Holstein cattle are much 
higher in price than Jerseys. In the 
first place, they are much larger, health¬ 
ier, less subject to disease, can produce 
more milk and butter in a year, their 
calves sell for more, and the cows sell 
well when fattened for beef. They will 
consume more coarse fodder than the 
Jersey, and will adapt themselves to all 
conditions, and are more docile. Cow 
buyers come up from the Elgin district 
and will not look at a Jersey, but will 
pay a good price for a good grade or 
purebred Holstein cow. 
Ripley, Wis. w. r. gates. 
Cattle Prices. —If the Holstein com¬ 
mands the higher price it must be be¬ 
cause of smaller numbers. The Jersey 
has been in this country so long that the 
numbers are large in comparison with 
the Holstein. As a Jersey man of 26 
years’ experience, I am not ready to con¬ 
cede the better intrinsic value to the 
Holstein. I tried in the height of the 
HOlstein boom, a few years ago, to get 
the Holstein fever. I had a flattering 
offer to go over to the old country and 
bring over some Holsteins. I looked up 
the Holstein thoroughly, vMted many 
herds and the quarantine station at 
Waltham, Mass., but could not get di¬ 
vorced from my first love, the Jersey. 
Maine. geo. blanchard. 
Dog Protectors. —Some fashionable 
women are showing good judgment by 
discarding pug dogs and poodles as pets, 
and substituting bulldogs. It is nothing 
unusual to see one of these women step 
from a carriage on Fifth Avenue, fol¬ 
lowed by a bulldog with a short strap at¬ 
tached to his collar. A pug does not 
know much, and succeeds chiefly in get¬ 
ting under foot or upsetting bicyclists. 
He is not the slightest protection to his 
owner. The animal with the double pad¬ 
lock on his jaws amounts to something, 
however. He has a resolute and deter¬ 
mined air, and, when well trained, is a 
picture of strength under absolute con¬ 
trol. Unless thoroughly broken, he is 
dangerous and, like dynamite, should 
not be fooled with anyway. As a pro¬ 
tector for a woman who is left alone in 
the house part of the time, he cannot be 
bettered. It is interesting to see him 
watch his mistress under such circum¬ 
stances. No soldier on picket duty could 
be more alert, and the consequences to 
any tramp or peddler who makes him¬ 
self obnoxious would be serious. 
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Of dimes into the pockets of the cream¬ 
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West Chester, Pa. 
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Cata- 
