1899 
THE RURAL NEW-YORKER. 
65 
Foods and Feeding 
A BIT OF COW CHAT. 
MILKERS ASD THEIR FOOD. 
We recently caught John Gould on the 
wing, and during a brief interview, fired 
a few short questions at him. Mr Gould 
spends much of the year at institutes 
and dairy meetings, and is a keen ob¬ 
server. 
Breeding Cows. —“ Why don’t your 
farmers out on the Western Reserve 
breed more of their cows ? ” 
“ That is one of the things that no mor¬ 
tal man cin find out. They have an idea 
that they cannot use the milk needed 
to bring a calf up. They think that 
they cannot afford $30 or $40 worth of 
feed to grow a calf.” 
“ Are there any cheese sections in this 
country where they do raise their own 
cows ? ” 
“ There are very few. There has been 
a greater start this year towards raising 
their own cows, though, than I have 
ever known before.” 
“In these districts where they do raise 
their own cows, either for cheesemaking 
or milk selling, what substitutes do they 
use ? ” 
“That is a pretty hard thing to 
answer. In sections where most cows 
are raised, dairying is not practiced to 
any great extent, and that leaves the 
skim-milk and everything on these farms, 
to raise cows with.” 
“In your travels, do you come across 
anybody who is running a 1 heifer farm,' 
directing his energies to producing dairy 
cows ? ” 
“ I do not know of any Some men in 
Indiana are raising calves because they 
know cow buyers want them.” 
“ Have your people ever tried buying 
cows on the plains, and driving them 
east for milking ? ” 
“ Where we live, it is a great recruit¬ 
ing ground for buyers to come east. In 
our great dairy section of Ohio, we have 
what are known as cow merchants. They 
go all over Ohio, Indiana, Michigan, 
Illinois, and they buy every cow that 
they can get hold of, bring them on to 
northern Ohio; there they are graded 
and sorted so that each market can have 
about the cows it wants, and at the same 
time, they sell all they can to farmers 
who live in that vicinity. Philadelphia 
wants a large cow, New Yo k a smaller 
one, and Buffalo takes what neither 
ma ket wants.” 
Ensilage and Grain.—“ Do you find 
through the country generally that 
people are using ensilage more than they 
used to ? ” 
“ Its use has enormously increased. It 
is certainly 20 per cent greater every 
year. Right back of Philadelphia, it is 
perfectly surprising how many people 
are using silos who never thought they 
could use one.” 
“Then there is nothing in the claims 
that are made against ensilage ? ” 
“ No, not if it is good ensilage.” 
“In your country, what have you 
settled on as the best grain ration to go 
with ensilage?” 
“ Fine bran, known there as wheat 
seconds, not the coarse bran.” 
“ What are wheat seconds ? ” 
“ Tney are a finer grade than common 
bran.” 
“ Do you mean to say that you do not 
use cotton seed ? ” 
“Not a ton of cotton seed is used in 
northern Ohio.” 
“ Why is that ? ” 
“ Because when it is fed to the cattle, 
there is always something ailing them. 
Eight out of 10 tons sold in our section 
are wheat seconds.” 
“Where does all this fine bran come 
from ? ” 
“ Most of it comes from the Cleveland 
Milling Company and the Kent Milling 
Company, but a good deal comes from 
Chicago.” 
“ Have you found in your travels any 
farmers who are using anything besides 
corn in the silo ? ” 
“ I have found three men who are 
using clovir in the silo, but corn is the 
great crop for this purpose ” 
“ We have men now asking whether 
they can use some crop like beans with 
the corn and thus save grain.” 
“ No, that would never be successful. 
If they are used in the silo at all, they 
should be put by themselves, and a large 
amount of water put on them when fill¬ 
ing.” 
“ In different sections of the country, 
don’t you find that they use different 
grains with the ensilage ? ” 
“ Yes.” 
“ What is the favorite grain ?” 
“Chiefly gluten and bran. Some feed 
malt sprouts with the bran, and some 
use a little cotton seed. In the East, I 
find men who use a pound of cotton seed 
or gluten, but none using either en¬ 
tirely.” 
Prices and Pasture.—“ Do you think 
there is going to be a fair price for but¬ 
ter in the future ?” 
“ I cannot see that prices are going 
any lower. The dairy will always be a 
source of human food, and we shall de¬ 
velop the fact more and more that it is 
a food, not a luxury.” 
“ Do you find Pasteurizing milk for 
both cheese and butter is increased ?” 
“ No, everlasting cleanliness is all that 
is necessary. They sterilize the milk 
things. I am finding that everywhere.” 
“ Lots of people are thinking of switch¬ 
ing over to sheep in connection with 
cows. What do you think about that ?” 
“ A limited flock of bheep would pay 
on a farm, but any time they begin to 
encroach upon the domain of the cow, 
it will not be successful.” 
“ Do you believe that a good silo is the 
best August pasture?” 
“ Yes, the silo is the best August pas¬ 
ture, or the adjunct to an August pas¬ 
ture.” 
“What is the advantage of putting 
fodder corn in the silo over feeding it 
green in the pasture ?” 
“ By putting it in the silo, you a^e 
ready to feed the corcs in July, before 
the corn is ready.” 
“ Then we understand you to say that, 
with plenty of ensilage, a man never 
need to bother with a soiling crop like 
oats or peas ?” 
“No, never! You do not need to 
bother with any soiling crop. July is 
the worst month of the year for shrink¬ 
age ; it is the worst month in the year 
for falling off, and that never can be 
brought back. If you feed ensilage in 
July, you will hold them from shrink¬ 
ing, because they will keep just as much 
above the other cows that do not have 
the soiling crop as the difference in the 
shrinkage.” 
“ Does a cow like ensilage better than 
green stuff cut and thrown to her?” 
“ She likes it just as well as anything. 
There is something about that acidity 
of ensilage that she prefers to any green 
crop that you can ever throw to her in 
Summer.” 
GREEN FEED FOR COWS. 
PLAN FOR IT NOW. 
As we are making our calculations for 
the next season’s work, let us not forget 
to save a small piece of good ground to 
sow to something for early feeding for 
our milch cows. Don’t say, “ Oh ! nev r 
mind ; I can buy a few tons of mill feed 
to supply that want ” Those few tons 
will cost so many hard dollars which 
can just as well be saved. As farmers 
are not all millionaires, they should try 
to curtail all unDeces ary expenses. 
Eurieh one or two acres of good ground, 
prepare it in good shape, and as early 
as possible, sow on broadcast peas and 
oats, mixed half and half at the rate of 
four bushels per acre. Sow half of the 
piece first, and say a week later, sow the 
other half; that gives green feed long¬ 
er, as by the time the first sowing is out 
of the milk, the second sowing will be 
just right to begin. This way of man¬ 
aging will give much good feed off a lit¬ 
tle ground, and this kind of green feed 
makes more milk than any other kind, at 
least that has been my experience 
There is no more economical way of sup 
plying the cow with a milk-producing 
food than this. 
I would begin feeding the last of June ; 
cut and just let wilt before feeding. Cut 
a feeding a few hours before wanted, as 
cows will eat it better when wilted. 1 
believe in feeding early, as that doesn't 
give the cows a chance to shrink as 
they will about that time of year, as feed 
or grass begins to get hard, and that 
means less milk. We should aim to keep 
their flow of nr Ik up as best we can, 
for when a cow once begins to shrink in 
her milk, it is harder to start her than 
it is to hold her up by feeding plenty of 
green feed. w. s. g. 
Castorland, N. Y. 
SHORTS. 
The Ayrshire Cattle Breeders’ Association will 
meet at the Fifth Avenue Hotel, New York City, 
February 1. 
The 13th annual meeting of the Standard 
Poland-Chiua Record Association will be held at 
Maryville, Mo., February 1. 
An Indiana hog was killed lately, and six 
pounds of horseshoe nails were found in its 
stomach. That is certainly hardtack. 
Among the wonders recorded for the egg is one 
stating that the whites and yolks of 1,200 average 
eggs contain everything needed to make a mar 
weighing 150 pounds. 
J Horatio Eakll, Skaneateles, N. Y., is secre 
tary of the New York State American Merinc 
Sheep Breeders’ Association. The associatioi 
has just issued its thi’-d volume o* the registry. 
For Heating Feed—I want a small eas!ly-port- 
able boiler that can be used for heating watei 
for washing milk cans and other dairy utensils, 
and afterwards steaming them, and that can 
then be easily moved to some otter place to be 
used for cooking feed for hogs in a hogshead or 
other large tank. r s. d. 
We use a feed cooker with a tank of 25 gallons 
capacity. This we tind very useful for heating 
water or boiling roots, as it can be carried from 
place to place without great inconvenience. Of 
course, there is no way of using steam from such 
a cooker by forcing it into milk cans, which is 
the way they should be steamed. Small farm 
boilers are made which are fitted with steam 
pipes, so that the steam may be forced into a tub 
of milk or steam, to heat hog food, or directly 
into a milk can. 
A Feed Cooker —Several readers ask why it 
is that so much interest is taken this year in feed 
cookers for stock. It is hard to say why this 
sudden demand for feed cookers has come up. 
We use one, and find it very helpful, especially 
for feeding hogs and chickens. Our experience 
is that it does not pay to cook the grain portion 
of the food. We would rather feed that raw. 
With roots and potatoes, squash, waste beans or 
similar crops, we find it a great convenience and 
saving to boil the roots thoroughly before they 
are fed. This boiling can be done cheaply, the 
warm feed adds to the comfort of the stock and, 
we think, induces them to eat more of the feed. 
On farms where there are wastes aDd where 
roots are grown extensively, we think the cooker 
will pay, and it may also be used for heating 
water to good advantage. We find it a great ad¬ 
vantage in slaughtering or whenever large quan¬ 
tities of hot water are required. 
Remember that Bowker’s Animal 
Meal is sold only in yellow bags and 
yellow packages. The original; richest 
in protein.— Adv. 
SPECIMEN RATIONS. < 
The rations appearing in our 
larger advertisements are true 
and proved. No matter what 
your roughage, Quaker Dairy 
Peed can be profitably fitted in. 
And the same with your feed; it 
matters little what grain you 
have grown or what feed you 
have bought, Quaker Dairy Feed 
can always serve its purpose as 
a milk maker. It is profitable in 
every connection. 
Sold only in sealed andbrandedsacks 
MODERN DAIRY FEEDING, 
an invaluable book, containing sci 
entifically proportioned rations, in 
eluding every form of roughage and 
variety of feed sent postpaid on re¬ 
quest. Scientific Advice on Feeding 
Free. Address, Science Dept., 
The American Cereal Co. 
1339 Monadnock Bldg., Chicago, III. 
LIVE-STOCK FEEDERS 
should see that a guaranteed analysis 
accompanies every bag of 
Cotton-Seed Meal. 
It la the only safe way to avoid adulterated 
Meal. Every bag shipped by the American Cotton 
Oil Company contains a red tag guaranteeing 
not less than the following analysis: 
Ammonia. 8.50 per cent. 
Nitrogen. 7.00 “ 
Protein.43.00 “ 
Crude Fat and Oil. 9.00 “ 
See that the name of The American Cotton-Oil 
Company is ou the red tag attached to bag. 
Send yonr address for free information about 
cotton-seed meal. 
THE AMERICAN COTTON OIL COMPANY, 
46 Cedar Street, New York City. 
O 
RAISE THE CALVES 
o 
on Blatchford’s Calf Meal, the 
perfect Milk Substitute, and sell the milk 
“Have Spring Calves as Big as Cinvs." 
J. H. Cooley, New Woodstock, N. Y 
Ask your Feed Dealer for it. 
J. W. BAR WELL, Waukegan, 111. 
J. id 
O 
. i. 
o 
Top Price Butter. 
The kind that a fancy private 
trade demands, is colored with 
Thatcher's Orange Butter Color — 
the color that does not contain 
any poison. Send for a sample. 
THATCHER MFC. CO., Potsdam, H.Y. 
A FEED COOKER 
is a money saver on every farm. It 
increases the grain you hare by 
making it more palatable and dl 
gestible. THE 
FARMER’S FAVORITE 
is a thoroughly reliable cooker at a 
reasonable price. Furnace made of 
best gray iron j boiler of best gal¬ 
vanized steel. It is of special value 
for cooking feed for nil kinds of 
live stock und poultry! for heat¬ 
ing water for scalding nogs, etc. 
Excellent for eviiporutlng Muple 
sup, boiling down syrup, “sugar¬ 
ing otf,’’ etc. Just the thing for boiling down elder. 
Don’t buy until you get our circulars andprices. 
w. R. LEWIS, 50 Main St., Cortland, N. Y. 
UUdLc the food valoe 
lean be secured from prrain fed to live stock if it is cooked. It is 
Jmore easily dlgeHted and assimilated by the animal stomaeh. 
ELECTRIC FEED COOKERS 
cook feed in the quickest and best way and with the least amount of 
fuel. Made of cast iron, lined with steel, Boilers made of heavy gal¬ 
vanized steel, made In 12 sizes. Capacity from 25 lo 100 gals. Strong 
well made and will last indefinitely. ' Order before the cold weather 
catches you. Write at once for ri iul in n 
free circulars und price*. ElBCtriC RABBI CO., BOX 88 
One-third Larger than any other 
Our Cookers are guaranteed full measure. Besides, they are the cheapest in 
fuel (corn cobs can be used), quickest iu heating, simplest, strongest, and the most 
durable. Let us show you what hundreds of farmers say of the 
Heesen Feed Cooker 
IT ALWAYS GIVES SATISFACTION. 
Heesen Bros. & Co.: Novi, Mich., November 8,1898. 
Bear Sirs —Excuse me for not acknowledging receipt of cookers sooner. Sold 
one—am using the other myself, it is just as you said Your c'.okers are larger 
by one third than other makes, and use less fuel. Would not sell mine for $25, if I 
could not get another. Thanking you for your honest and prompt dealings, 
Send lor Circular. I remain, yours truly, SEYMOUR BROWN. 
HEESEN BROS. & CO., 28 High St.,Tecumseh,Mich. 
