1900 
THE RURAL NEW-YORKER. 
683 
Ailing Animals. 
ANSWERS BY DR. F. L. KILBORN1E. 
Chronic Cough in Pigs. 
I have about 40 pigs that are affected 
with a peculiar dry cough, and are not as 
thrifty as they should be, considering the 
feed and attention they get. Can you tell 
me what ails them, and what treatment 
would be advisable? I am anxious to get 
them in condition for market. Is there 
such a thing as a treatment to induce hogs 
to fatten? Some people recommend strych¬ 
nine. F. M. D. 
Ocean Springs, Miss. 
The chronic cough may he due either 
to intestinal worms, or to chronic swine 
plague or hog cholera. Try the turpen¬ 
tine treatment advised for “intestinal 
worms in pigs,” page 47 of The R. N.-Y. 
for January 20. If the stunted condition 
is due to swine plague or hog cholera, 
there is very little you can do beyond 
giving them good care and feeding. Do 
not overfeed so that feed is left stand¬ 
ing before them. There is no medicinal 
treatment to “induce. hogs to fatten.” 
The only reliable treatment is good care 
and management, keeping the animals 
in good health, and judicious feeding. 
Quittor or Foot-Rot in Sheep. 
Several sheep in my flock are lame, and 
on examining their feet I find a small hole 
about one inch above the cleft of the hoof. 
When I squeeze the ankle this discharges 
a thick white matter of offensive smell. 
What is the matter, and what is the rem¬ 
edy? R. a. G. 
Lestershire, N. Y. 
If there is simple quittor without dis¬ 
ease of the feet, syringe out the cavity 
daily with a five per cent solution of car¬ 
bolic acid until the offensive discharge 
is checked, then reduce the solution to 
two to 2 y 2 per cent and continue until 
healed. If there is disease of the feet 
(foot-rot), pare away all diseased horn 
so as to expose the whole of the dis¬ 
eased surface. Then sponge off thor¬ 
oughly with the five per cent carbolic 
solution, after which dress with pine 
tar. Keep the sheep on a dry floor or 
dry pasture, where they will have no 
opportunity to get into mud or filth of 
any kind. Repeat the dressing twice a 
week until healed. 
FIRE AND MILK CANS. 
In reply to C. B. Lane on milk cans as 
fire ougs, on page 651, would say that 
while I have no personal knowledge of 
buildings being set on fire by milk cans, 
I believe such a thing might be possible. 
Having heard of such instances I ex¬ 
perimented with my can when new, and 
found no trouble in setting paper on fire. 
The can was the usual concave bottom 
variety used in this section. 8. h. 
Union Valley, N. Y. 
On page 651 I notice reference to milk 
cans as fire bugs. Early in May, 1899, 
a milk can was placed on an old sap 
boat (or sled) at my farm, the bottom 
facing to southwest and exposed to the 
rays of the afternoon sun, which focused 
the rays on a pine crate, 12x18 inches, 
and painted black. This box was dis¬ 
covered on fire by our little boy, who 
gave the alarm, fire having reached such 
headway that the sled was on fire and 
had nearly destroyed the cover of an¬ 
other can which was on the sled. Like 
Mr. Lane, I could hardly believe that the 
cause until investigating for myself, 
when I was satisfied it was, as no other 
possible thing could have done it. I 
found the can almost equal to a sun¬ 
glass. J. R- h. 
Seagertown, Pa. 
A milk can set a wagon on fire back 
of our store one warm June morning 
several years ago. I went out to get 
some lime for a customer. In a horse- 
shed close by a man had a team fast¬ 
ened. I noticed smoke curling up from 
the rear end of the body.which was sim¬ 
ply a platform with an inch hard-wood 
cleat nailed around the edge; just a milk 
wagon. The smoke arose from the angle 
formed by the platform and the cleat, 
and on further investigation the cleat 
and platform were coaling away and 
ashes forming. The man had a new 30- 
gallon milk can lying down in the 
wagon, with the bright concave bottom 
facing the hot morning sun, and the 
rays were concentrated on the burning 
spot. I am very sure I remember the 
man who owned the team. I go into so 
much detail, as you and others seem to 
doubt its possibility. At the time I was 
quite astonished, as I had read of such 
things, but never seen them. f. h. 
Vermont. 
THE MILK SITUATION. 
The order of the council of the Five 
States Milk producers’ Association last 
June was obeyed with great unanimity, 
although, as I have since become con¬ 
vinced, the majority of the producers be¬ 
lieved it inopportune, and ill-advised at 
that season of the year. Every man 
whom I have talked with on the sub¬ 
ject has expressed the opinion that there 
should be some definite plan for the dis¬ 
position of the milk before diverting it 
from the usual channels, and not a few 
are heartily in favor of the co-operative 
creamery. Newspaper reports of the 
latest conference for the southern part 
of the State give the impression that 
this is to be the next move of the As¬ 
sociation, although the meeting was a 
secret one. This view is strengthened 
by the expressions of men who are ac¬ 
tive in the Association’s interests. Some 
go so far as to say that there should be 
a creamery at every station, owned by 
the farmers,even though it is never used 
at all. It doesn’t look at all as though 
the farmers are preparing to give up the 
fight. 
One of the men who, although opposed 
to holding back the milk last June, yet 
obeyed the order loyally when it came, 
told me that he made a saving of over 
$3 during the 10 days, and that under 
unfavorable conditions. Of course he 
figured what he saved on milk drawing 
and the worth of the skim-milk, and 
he had the work of caring for the milk 
and making the butter in place of cool¬ 
ing the milk for the station, which was, 
of course, much more. But even then 
it was not a bad showing, for his con¬ 
veniences for making butter were not 
good, and he did not get all the cream 
for several days. Then, too, the milk 
was fed on the farm, which is a benefit. 
n. h. l. 
FOOD FOR GERMANS. 
The National Provisioner is the organ 
of the meat and provision industries of 
America. Naturally it does not like the 
efforts made by the German farmers to 
shut out American meats. This is what 
it says: When the Reichstag passed the 
German meat inspection bill to hamper 
or to exclude foreign meat from Ger¬ 
many in the interest of the Agrarian’s 
high-priced cow, the natural result was 
to drive the hands of the wealthier 
; classes deeper into their pockets to pay 
the piper, and to drive the poorer classes 
to horses, dogs, cats or to starvation. 
For some time certain scientific and lay 
organs have been dishing out the mar¬ 
velous discoveries of the wonderful value 
of sugar as a food. The Imperial Gov¬ 
ernment was thus induced to include 
sugar as a large component in the ration 
of the army. No one then suspected that 
the Agrarians and the sugar barons of 
Germany were both getting hold of the 
government’s leg. A feeling is now 
dawning In the minds of the people that 
a systematic effort is being made to 
change the common diet of the Father- 
land, to make the masses munch sugar. 
“For sanitary reasons,” says a high of¬ 
ficial, “it is deemed wise to encourage 
Germans to eat more fruit and fruit 
products.” Sugar is a “fruit product.” 
These “sanitary reasons” are simply the 
welfare of the German sugar industry. 
The Southern “nigger” in this country 
who fosters his young tribe on “milk 
and’lasses” has consolidated the German 
Agrarian cow idea and the sugar indus¬ 
try’s "sugar reasons” into one item on 
his simple bill of fare; Sambo’s ditty 
“Milk an’ 'lasses 
Grows ’em fas’es’ 
Den enny white man’s grub 
Er sassy nigger lub’’ 
may, possibly, have first prompted Ger¬ 
man science to find “sanitary reasons" 
for suggesting sugar to the populace of 
the Fatherland as a diet, without telling 
the eater that he is dieting in the in¬ 
terest of the sugar monopolies of his 
country. We admire the well-built, 
hardy German and we hope to never see 
the day when he becomes over-fattened, 
flabby, greasy-looking and lazy upon his 
sugar diet like the “milk and ’lasses” 
negro has become about New Orleans 
and through our sugar belt. When the 
sturdy Teuton gets up and kicks later on 
something unusual will happen. 
THE SILO IN OKLAHOMA. 
I have thought quite a little on the silo 
question for this country, whether or not it 
would be a paying investment. Corn is gen¬ 
erally cheap, but we have a long dry Fall 
here, and it seems to me that good silage 
for a time in the Fall and also for Winter 
THE SILOS ARE SHORT. 
Has the drought in your part of the coun¬ 
try cut down the corn crop, so that the 
silo will not be as full as usual? We hear 
reports from some sections to the effect 
that there will be less silage than usual 
because of this drought. 
less than one-half my average for the past 
six years. c. l. b. 
Millport, N. Y. 
I have made several inquiries among 
dairy-farm operators, and learn that there 
is a shortage of full 50 per cent in the corn 
crop for silage. Several parties have placed 
the shortage higher than 50 per cent, while 
no one estimates less than this. This has 
been one of the driest Summers experienced 
in many years in this section, and the dam¬ 
age has been quite general. j. b. 
Elmira, N. Y. 
There are but few silos in this section, 
one to about every 20 farms. Most of the 
milk is sold, and a majority of the buyers 
object to buying milk from cattle fed on 
silage. The corn crop has nearly the usual 
growth of stalks, but on the average will 
not husk more than half the usual amount 
of grain. Most of the farmers having silos 
planted more than the usual acreage of 
corn, so will have their silos full. I. s. 
Davenport Center, N. Y. 
The drought has been very severe in this 
county. It has injured the corn crop seri¬ 
ously. There are scarcely any ears on the 
corn, and the stalks are half size and dried 
up. The silos will not be full, and as the 
drought has extended through the entire 
season our hay crop was short, and the 
pasture a nonentity. Dairymen are fod¬ 
dering and feeding their herds. The Che¬ 
mung Valley has never before experienced 
so much loss from a lack of rain. We 
have had no soaking rain the entire sea¬ 
son, but in the early months (April, May 
and June), there were occasional light 
showers which kept cultivated crops grow¬ 
ing. Some fields of sugar beets, tobacco, 
celery, etc., on the lower lands are better 
than one could believe possible with so 
little rain during the growing season. 
Horseheads, N. Y. J. s. v. 
What a Doctor Says. 
Or. O. O. JOHNSON, Loomis, Neb., January 12, 1899, 
writes: 
I have used Jayne’s Expectorant for the last thirty 
years, and believe it to be THE BEST COCGH 
MEDICINE ON THE MARKET.— Adv. 
Cream Separators. 
0§ Laval “Alpha ” and “Baby " Separators. 
First— Best—Cheapest. All Styles—Sixes 
Prloss, tBO to $800. 
■eve 110 per oow per year. Sen* for Catalogue. 
THE DE LAVAL SEPARATOR CO., 
Randolph and Canal Streets, I 74 Cortlandt Street 
CHICAGO I NBW YORK. 
SHARPLES 
CREAM SEPARATORS 
ALWAYS THE BEST. 
Till 8IUKPLK8 00. P. S. SIUBPLKS, 
Chicago, Ill, ITaat Cheater Pa. 
would be very beneficial. We have the best 
natural facilities here for making cisterns 
I ever saw. All we have to do is to make 
the excavation and cement well with a 
good quality of cement, put in good filters 
and we have a good cistern. Do you think 
a silo could be built in the same way? I 
am told that the continued hot weather 
here after the corn or whatever other crop 
used for filling the silo, will cause it to 
sour or spoil. Is this theory correct, or 
would it keep as well as in a cooler cli¬ 
mate, or where it could be put up later in 
the season? Corn would be ready for the 
silo not later than August 1, I should think. 
Would my plan of putting it in the ground 
do, or is this too far south for silos to do 
their best? J. b. m’c. 
Woods Co., Okla. 
There is but little doubt that a silo 
would ue a paying investment in Okla¬ 
homa. The Experiment Station has not 
yet put in a siio, but a small one is to 
be added to its equipment very soon. I 
know of no one using silage in the Ter¬ 
ritory, and silos have not taken hold in 
Kansas as they have in the East and 
North. If the silo is properly construct¬ 
ed, and filled correctly, there is little 
danger of loss from spoiling, It is prob¬ 
able that silage would keep as well in a 
cistern-like silo as in one constructed 
above ground. The chief trouble would 
be in handling the silage as it was be¬ 
ing fed out. With a silo above ground 
the silage is elevated by power and put 
in a place to be economically handled. 
This would not be the case with a silo 
below ground, unless it were possible to 
build it in the side of a hill or bank with 
a place for doors on one side. I believe 
it is the average experience that pit silos 
are not satisfactory, and that the ad¬ 
vantages of one above ground repay the 
difference in cost. Both corn and Kaffir 
corn make a strong, heavy growth of 
stalk in Oklahoma and give large yields 
of fodder. With corn, the long period 
of dry and hot weather after it matures 
greatly injures the quality of the fod¬ 
der. Much more corn is cut and shocked 
than formerly, and this is a long step 
in advance from me stalk where most of 
the fodder was wasted. JOHN field. 
Oklahoma Agl. College. 
The silage corn is not more than half a 
crop In my section. x. b. b. 
Big Flats, N. Y. 
The drought has cut the silage crop down 
to about 40 per cent, but a larger acreage 
will about half fill the silos. v. m. d. 
Erin, N. Y. 
The corn crop in well cultivated fields is 
a full crop, but where it was not thorough¬ 
ly cultivated, and a crust allowed to form 
it is rather short. w. f. v. b. 
Margaretville, N. Y. 
The corn crop in this section is a very 
short one. The silos are not as full as 
common. Much of the corn is of very poor 
quality, having dried up instead of ripen¬ 
ing as it should. a. w. s. 
Sidney, N. Y. 
The people in this section have corn 
enough to fill the silos. Of course, they 
have had to plant more acres to secure 
this amount. The number of silos have 
been increased fully 30 per cent. s. s. c. 
Chemung, N. Y. 
There is a usual amount of corn for si¬ 
lage; it might not be so heavy in growth. 
The prospect for poor hay crop caused 
more to be planted than usual. The crop 
was not as heavy as some previous years. 
Cook’s Falls, N. Y. l. d. f. 
Corn in this section is the poorest crop 
for years, being less than half a crop. This 
is quite a dairy section, and I know of but 
one full silo, and many not over half full. 
Potatoes will not be half a crop this year. 
Many are going less than 50 bushels per 
acre. I think my own potatoes will yield 
a little over 100 bushels per acre; that is 
ttiadi 
. MARK 
BUTTER P ROFITS 
(BESTOW More money comes with the use 
/ of improved machines—and easier 
work. Send for our big illustrated 
catalogue—mailed free. 
“BESTOV” every¬ 
thing for dairymen. 
THE DAIRYMEN’S 
SUPPLY CO., 
1937 Market St. Phila.' 
X**¥¥¥¥¥¥¥¥¥¥¥¥¥¥¥¥¥¥*2$ 
1 ™EMPIRE * 
¥ 
¥ 
¥ 
¥ 
¥ 
♦ 
♦ 
¥ 
¥ 
¥ 
¥ 
¥ 
¥ 
¥ 
¥ 
¥ 
¥ 
¥ 
¥ 
_ ♦ 
Cream Separator J 
possesses features of 
advantage found in 
no other. We ship 
ma-chines on ten 
days’ trial that you 
may learn of these 
through actual use 
in your own dairy. 
Try one and you’ll 
buy it as the Empire 
is an all round 
¥ Profit Producer. 5 
J Write for particulars and free catalogue 
4 U.S. BUTTER EXTRACTOR COMPANY, 2! 
4 212 Orange Si., Newark, N.J. j* 
k6*4444444444444444444*% 
TX7ANTED—You to use the “IDEAL”Milk Pail 
vv Pure Milk absolutely secured. Write for par¬ 
ticulars. The National Specialty Co., Racine, Wls. 
IF YOU WISH A DURABLE MACHINE BUY 
The Improved U. S. Separator. 
Repairs in 5 Years Only $1.00. 
LoganspOrt, Ind., April 23, igoo. 
I have had a No. 5 U. S. Separator now for 5 years and am very 
much pleased with it. 1 have not spent $ 1.00 for repairs so far, and it 
Skims very clean. _ COTT BARNETT. 
For Clean Skimming, Durability, etc., the U. S. is unequalled. 
Catalogues and prices free for the asking. 
VERMONT FARM MACHINE CO., Bellows Falls, Vt. 
