1902 
THE RURAL NEW-YORKER. 
EPIDEMIC ABORTION IN COWS. 
Contagious abortion is clearly epi¬ 
demic, appearing in a dairy or all the 
dairies of a section, and making prac¬ 
tically a clean sweep for a year or two. 
There is never a time when it is not 
raging in some of the dairy districts of 
the State. As Hillside Farm has emerged 
from a pretty severe experience of this 
nature, I thought that it might be well 
to narrate it for the comfort if not for 
the instruction of others. Two years 
ago last Winter the trouble began with 
a heifer in her first lactation losing her 
calf at about seven months. While there 
had been more or less abortion around 
us for a year or two yet we thought that 
this might be only an isolated case due 
to accident or uterine disease, and paid 
no special attention to it. A couple of 
months later two more heifers aborted. 
After three or four cases in quick suc¬ 
cession, we felt sure that we had the 
dread disease of which we had heard 
much but never seen. Pasture came and 
with it the hope that when the cows left 
the stable for uninfected pasture fields 
the trouble might be checked, but more 
calves were lost during June than any 
other time. This continued through the 
Summer to a greater or less extent. To 
make a short story of a discouraging 
matter only three calves were carried to 
full term. There were 14 cases of abor¬ 
tion among those that came daily to the 
stable. Three or four cows that had 
been sold in good faith the previous 
Winter aborted months after they left 
the farm. There were also several cases 
among the heifers carrying their first 
calves and running in a bush pasture 
two miles away. The three cows that 
escaped the epidemic did so by virtue of 
the vitality that enabled them to with¬ 
stand the exciting cause, just as some 
men have walked unharmed in the midst 
of a pestilence. 
A year ago it seemed almost hopeless 
to try to raise any more calves on the 
place, yet we knew that it was the his¬ 
tory of these outbreaks that they had 
been severe but generally ran their 
course in two or three years. Most of 
the cases occurred in Spring or early 
Summer, the trouble ceasing only be¬ 
cause there were no more cows left to 
abort. Beginning with November the 
cows were again bred, and, contrary to 
our fears, with three or four exceptions, 
no unusual difficulty was experienced in 
getting them safely with calf. We wait¬ 
ed anxiously for the reappearance of the 
trouble, but it has come in only three 
instances, two last May and one in Oc¬ 
tober. The rest of the herd are dropping 
strong, lusty calves, and we have every 
confidence that we are pretty near the 
end of abortion, for a time at least. Now 
as to the methods which we used to ef¬ 
fect so complete a cure. We did noth¬ 
ing that was worth calling a serious at¬ 
tempt to check it. At first I kept the 
hind parts of the cow sprayed with a 
five-per-cent solution of carbolic acid. 
To some extent we tried isolation. As 
has been said, we had about three cases 
before we became alarmed, and later 
when half the dairy were aborting, iso¬ 
lation became impossible. During its 
progress, a new drive-way for the ma¬ 
nure wagon was put in behind the cows, 
but this was only one of a hundred 
things that would have to be done to 
make the surroundings bacteriologically 
clean. I am convinced that as we farm¬ 
ers do it, in fact as anyone does it out¬ 
side of the operating room of a hospital, 
so-called disinfection is a farce. To at¬ 
tempt to eradicate a disease by killing 
off the germs present in a cow stable 
with its cracks and rough surfaces and 
dark corners is a task exceedingly diffi¬ 
cult, requiring a thoroughness and pa¬ 
tience that can only be given by a 
scientifically trained expert. It means a 
good deal more than running around 
with a bucket of whitewash and a 
sprinkling pot of dilute sulphuric acid. 
In the majority of cases, cows abort 
with very little constitutional disturb¬ 
ance and without the loss of a feed, fre¬ 
quently coming into heat again in three 
or four days. Of course there was never 
any “flush” of milk as in a new milch 
cow, and in some instances where it oc¬ 
curred just as the animal was being 
dried off, the tendency was to run to 
beef rather than to increase the milk. 
Why a disease of this character should 
disappear of itself is a most interesting 
subject of speculation. Why does it not, 
if it be a specific germ, remain with us 
forever, like the Potato bug for ex¬ 
ample? Why does it not multiply with 
ever increasing virulence until it ex¬ 
terminates the bovine race? Is it al¬ 
ways present, and do we only escape it 
because of an acquired immunity? We 
can only know that all diseases are to 
some extent self-limiting, and that final¬ 
ly they burn themselves out. The first 
cases of an outbreak of a disease are 
generally most malignant. No one has 
suggested any reason for this bacterio¬ 
logical law. Are the scientists positive 
that epidemic abortion is a germ? No 
one is at all sure that it has been iso¬ 
lated, and no one pretends to know its 
life history. If the trouble recurs, as it 
may some day, I should spend very little 
money on specific remedies or sanitary 
washes, but I should do the best l could, 
keep milking all the cases, feed abund¬ 
antly, keep cool and wait for the clouds 
to roll by. Our experience justifies this 
conclusion, .tared van wagenen, jr. 
Cow With Indigestion. 
Will you give treatment for a cow that 
Is bloated very much, which has continued 
for the past six weeks, since which time 
she calved? The calf runs with her in the 
pasture at present. Would you advise me 
to take the calf away from her or not? I 
have given her a pint of raw linseed oil 
twice in the past four weeks, and it does 
not seem to help her. m. a. s. 
Hadley, N. Y. 
You do not tell the age of the cow, 
whether she is old or young. The ani¬ 
mal has indigestion, and the best treat¬ 
ment for her under the circumstances 
would be a disinfectant to the intestinal 
tract. Give a tablespoonful of hypho- 
sulphite of soda night and morning dis¬ 
solved in a cupful of warm water as a 
drench. I see no reason why the calf 
should not run with the cow, as far as 
trouble with this cow is concerned, 
though I do not approve of the practice. 
Wants to Make Skim Cheese. 
We have here at a boarding school five 
cows, and while the boys are away on 
their vacation would like to make cheese 
out of the skim-milk, so as to use it 
when the boys come back. Is it practical 
to do so, or would it cost more than the 
cheese is worth? We keep our milk and 
cream in a stone house through which is 
a stream of running spring water, and use 
the cream for making butter. J. r. 
Washington, Pa. 
I might write a detailed statement of 
the manufacture of skim cheese, and J. 
R. might succeed in making a cheese of 
the quality usually resulting from such 
effort. But why make clear skim-milk 
into cheese? The stuff is very unpalat¬ 
able, and consequently indigestible. To 
be sure the casein is the same in both 
full creams and skims, but it do^ not 
break down in the SKim-milk cheese to 
that consistency of a smooth texture. I 
would not advise the manufacture of full 
skims of the American type of cheese, 
particularly in this case. I would think 
that a boarding school for boys would 
best succeed on full cream cheese, and, 
by the way, do you know that cheese is 
much cheaper food for these boys, nutri¬ 
tion considered, than meats? Buy a nice¬ 
ly cured full cream cheese direct from 
some of the large manufacturing cen¬ 
ters. Do not deal with your local dealer 
if you cannot get the oest; keep careful 
account and learn its comparative cost 
and value. Of the higher grade foods 
milk and its products are cheapest. The 
solids are nearly all digestible. 1 might 
suggest as a business proposition that 
J. R. procure a limiteu quantity of full 
skim cheese and test its efficacy as a 
nerve food for the boys before making 
preparations for its manufacture. If 
they take kindly to it your success will 
be assured. n. e. cook. 
Stlaoe For Hogs. —We do not con¬ 
sider silage a profitable feed for hogs 
for the reason that there is too much 
waste; better feed it to cows and feed 
the milk produced therefrom to the pigs. 
The cheapest pork we have ever grown 
is from pigs farrowed in March and al¬ 
lowed free access to a 40-acre clover 
field. The dams were fed slop made 
from middlings, with a light feed of 
shelled corn soaked, having a separate 
apartment for the pigs into which they 
can go and be fed separate on same feed. 
We have about 100 young Berkshires 
that we handled in this way last Spring 
that have made a gain of one pound per 
day, and at the same time grown plenty 
of bone and are up to their toes in good 
condition for breeding purposes. We are 
now cutting this same clover for hay, 
and find that the hogs have not bothered 
it at all, except a small portion at one 
end of the field nearest the buildings. 
We find trade for breeding stock very 
satisfactory, having sent stock into five 
States during the past few weeks, and 
as far west as Colorado. 
White Cottage, O. Roberts Bros. 
Chances For Bef.f Cattle.— The Na¬ 
tional Provisioner thus sums up the 
situation: Grass has been rank in growth, 
dry as a fodder and low in food properties. 
Range cattle have, therefore, not rounded 
out quickly, well or in time for market. 
Straight grass cattle will come slowly into 
the market at a stiff price for such stock. 
Partly fed rangers will go higher, and fin¬ 
ished beeves score on a high market all 
Summer and hold their position through 
the Winter. The corn crop, according to 
the late reports, has suffered severely at a 
critical time. The hope for a bumper crop 
is not likely to be realized. While a small 
run of grass-fed beeves will set in at some 
centers, it is not felt that the market will 
experience a heavy run of this grade of 
stock because of the higher relative price 
of fed cattle. Many Texans will partially 
finish their cattle before marketing them, 
as feed conditions are cheaper and easiei 
in warm weather. Tops are now 8*A cents, 
live weight, and top grass cows live cents. 
Things look up in the beef line; and even 
injunctions cannot pull them down. 
Prize-Winning Ayrshires.— The Ayr¬ 
shire Breeders offered prizes for what is 
known as home dairy tests—that is, con¬ 
tests in milk or butter production to be 
conducted on the farm. These tests cov¬ 
ered one year, and the following report is 
made: There were seven herds tested un¬ 
der the direction of the various experiment 
stations, making about 70 cows in all. Two 
of these cows gave over 500 pounds of but¬ 
ter, eight gave over 400, 40 gave over 300. 
One cow gave over 10,000 pounds of milk, 
seven gave over 9,000, 20 gave over 8,000, 33 
gave over 7,000, and 52 gave over 6,000 
pounds of milk. Five cows owned by E. J. 
Fletcher, of Greenfield, N. H., won the first 
prize, giving 43,020 pounds of milk and 2,050 
pounds of butter; George H. Yeaton, of 
Dover, N. IT., won second, with 42,417 
pounds of milk, and 1,936 pounds of butter; 
and W. V. Probasco, of Cream Ridge, N. 
J., won third herd prize with 38,326 pounds 
of milk and 1,834 pounds of butter. For 
single cow prizes, L. S. Drew, of South 
Burlington, Vt., won first prize with Miss 
Ollie, giving 514 pounds of butter; E. J. 
Fletcher, Greenfield, N. H., won second 
with Durwood, giving 506 pounds; and C. 
M. Winslow & Son, Brandon, Vt., won 
third with Acelista, giving 421 pounds. 
When you write advertisers mention The 
R. N.-Y. and you will get a quick reply and 
“a square deal.” See our guarantee 8th page. 
FOR SALE. 
One Sharpies Tubular Separator, 
good as new ; used four months. Guar¬ 
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to A. F. KIM MEL, Orwigsburg, Pa. 
Wc 
Have 
a. 
New 
Book 
f which tells all about the 
EMPIRE Running 
CREAM SEPARATOR.. 
If you own cows it will pay you to 
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.U. 8.BUTTER EXTRACTOR CO. 
Bloom Held, N. J. 
491 
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Apply to the body as a mild 
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—A specific for impure blood and all diseases arising therefrom. 
TUTTLE’S FAMILY ELIXIR cures rheumatism, 
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Dr. S. A. TUTTLE, 30 Beverly St., Boston, Mass, 
Beware ofso-callcd Elixirs—none genuine but Tuttle’s. 
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possess the patent protected 
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for full particulars. 
NATIONAL DAIRY 
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Newark, N. J. 
The Superior Cream Extractor 
“ It gets the Cream." Twenty per cent 
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WATER IS NOT MIXED WITH MILK, 
therefore, impure water does not taint 
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188 Grand River Avenue, Detroit, Mich. 
Brightwood Silo Coating 
a cm f fflOOF 
Will not scale. Perfect preservative for inside of 
silos. May be applied to new or old wood. Crane’s 
Prolific Kngllage Corn (20 tons ensilage or 180 
bushels ears per acre). Write for prices. 
THE AGRICULTURAL STORE, Springfield, Mass. 
DON’T EXPERIMENT. 
GREEN MOUNTAIN 
SILOS 
HAVE BEEN TESTED and 
HAVE ALWAYS PROVEN 
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Send for Free Catalogs of Silos 
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Co. 
wanted. RUTLAND, VT. 
STEEL ROOFING 
FREIGHT CHARGES PAID BY US 
Strictly new, perfect. Semi - Hardened 
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