THE RURAL NEW-YORKER 
6o3 
1899 
BUYING A HORSE. 
What New York Dairymen Want. 
Light Horses Wanted. —Just before 
haying commenced, I had occasion to 
buy a horse. The reason why, was that 
1 had just sold one. Tommy had served 
us two years, and had now come to be 
all eight-year-old, 1,200-pound horse, as 
good as he would ever be; so when I 
got a chance to make a few dollars on 
him, t did so. Our butter trade necessi¬ 
tating a drive of 10 miles, and often 20, 
makes it rather imperative that we 
should have fairly good roadsters. Be¬ 
sides, 1 do not like a horse in the corn 
field that will walk on two rows of corn 
at the same time, so i never consider 
the western Short-horn horse when 
buying, but rather look around home for 
a good-sized trotting-bred colt, that is 
too coarse for the city market. 
Hard to Find. — I was three days find¬ 
ing the colt, and in that time, looked at 
12 or 15 young horses raised in this 
vicinity, and for which the owners had 
no use on their farms. These horses 
were mostly unsalable nags, too small 
for farmers, and too homely for any one 
else. One pair were small, flea-bitten 
grays, bred from a little Canada mare 
and a fine trotting-bred stallion. Why 
on earth a man ever wasted his money 
in paying the service of such a horse 
for that kind of a mare, is more than I 
call conjecture. Next I saw a 16-hand, 
1,200-pound bay horse; he was a nice, 
stylish fellow, and a good one; but, 
alas! his owner had a price of $300 on 
him, and he will, probably, “eat his head 
off” several times, and then go for a 
third of that sum. As a general thing, 
horse owners have gone a little crazy 
over the rise in the price of horses, and 
now instead of selling them for what 
they have been asking, they put the price 
out of reach of the buyer, anu keep feed¬ 
ing those extra horses. 
Farmers Breeding Horses. —Many 
farmers are breeding their mares this 
year, and in this vicinity, are mostly 
using an undersized old horse that is 
supposed to have made a fast mile at 
some prehistoric time. It is no wonder 
that the man in search of a horse turns 
in despair to the corn-fed, Short-horn 
horse of the West. As I was unable to 
find what 1 wanted at a reasonable price, 
I resolved, at least, to buy one that 
would not make my eyes sore when I 
looked at him; so I bought a six-year- 
old horse, weighing a little more than 
1,000 pounds. In the first place, he is 
gentle. The little boys go in his stall 
and pet him, and think that perhaps he 
will do about as well as the long-wanted 
Shetland pony. He is a powerfully-built 
little fellow, and wears a 20-inch collar. 
He has a clean head, a fine eye, and 
sharp, small ears. He is a dandy in the 
corn field, and all right on the mower 
and in drawing hay; but I think I shall 
rather pity him when he comes to the 
spring-tooth harrow, the drill and the 
reaper. 
Mistakes of Bulls. —So much, then, 
for the horse business! I think we are 
rather prone to think that the other fel¬ 
low has the better trade; but I guess I 
will keep right on raising the little Jer¬ 
sey calves, while the more ambitious 
raise trotters. This calf business has its 
drawbacks, too. A short time ago, I 
came home from selling my butter, and 
found my neighbor’s grade Holstein bull 
with my cows. I keep a first-class, pure¬ 
bred bull, but I keep him in a small lot 
by himself, where he will not trouble 
any one (who keeps away from him). 
I had warned this man about his bull, 
and he had built a good strong board 
fence, reenforced by two barbed wires; 
yet the bull had broken through and 
served one of my best purebred cows, 
and thereby done damage to the extent 
of $25 or $50. This man is a kind, good 
neighbor, but “terrible sot in his way,” 
and his way is to let his bull run free 
with the cows. The question is this 
Can one afford to have his business 
ruined for the sake of neighborly kind¬ 
ness? A rather hard question, isn’t it? 
Winter Dairying. —The haying is over 
at Hickory Hill Farm (July 11), with 
about two-thirds as much as last year. 
The clover was gone, but the Timothy 
was fine. Nice horse hay, but not so 
good to balance the cow's ration with 
ensilage. We had one good piece of 
clover, but were obliged to turn that to 
pasture. It is about finished now, but 
the peas and oats are being fed in its 
place. Our cows, which are to come fresh 
in the Fall, are being milked but once a 
day now, and are not allowed access to 
the peas and oats. We wish to keep 
them from getting too fat. It seemed 
quite good to get a let-up on milking 
just when we Were rushed with haying, 
and I shall remember that as one point 
in favor of the Winter cow. 
Madison Co., N. Y. j. grant morse. 
Abortion in a Cow. 
I. Will a stall floored with plank and the 
floor sloping 3 inches to tile rear in the full 
length of tlies stall, harm a cow that has 
aborted? 2. Could the stall be too tight, or 
in a stall in which Ihe fumes of ammonia 
could not freely escape, would the ammo¬ 
nia fumes, or lack of free circulation of 
air, cause the above trouble? 3. Would 
staking a cow out to graze for several 
years continuously, with no other exercise 
than that at the end of a 25-foot rope or 
chain, have any effect on her? 1. Would 
an overfeed cause it? 5. Would standing 
and grazing on hillsides harm her? G. In 
the stall, the floor at the rear end being 
wet, the cow's hind feet sometimes slip 
considerably; wotdd a slip or strain In this 
manner injure her sufficiently to cause the 
above trouble? J. n. F. 
Kentucky. 
Anh.— 1. Ordinarily such sloping of the 
stall will not injure a cow, but it would 
tend to favor abortion in a cow that 
was predisposed to abort. 2. Only as it 
injured the cow’s health, which might 
result in abortion. 3. No. 4. It might 
be the cause in a susceptible animal. 
5. Not unless the cow slipped or other¬ 
wise strained herself. 6. Yes, it might. 
If the vaginal discharge has not re-ap- 
peared it will be well to breed the cow 
again at the next heat. Should she get 
with calf, endeavor to avoid all causes 
that would favor abortion. 
How the Lapps Milk Reindeer.— 
The milking of reindeer is not a very 
easy occupation, according to the Cen¬ 
tury Magazine for August. The entire 
herd of half-wild animals is driven to 
the camp, into an inclosure. Then, says 
the writer; 
Our hostess, having hung her baby to a 
birch in the middle of the inclosure, stood, 
like a number of other women, mostly girls, 
with a wooden scoop in her hand, ready to 
milk the first of the female reindeer caught: 
while at the outskirts of the inclosure 
stood a number of children with large pails 
to receive the milk'from the scoops, the 
smaller children either running about play¬ 
ing outside the camp, or giving salt and 
angelica to some of the tamest animals. 
The most important actors on the scene, 
however, were the men, moving about 
slowly in the midst of the herd, holding 
tiie lasso behind their back in the right 
hand, and looking sharply at the running 
animals. As quick as lightning a lasso 
whizzed through the air, the frightened 
animals recoiling and then increasing their 
speed. When the lasso hit the mark, the 
cow was hauled in, and tied to a birch 
while the milking was done. So they kept 
on for nearly two hours. The quantity of 
milk yielded by each animal is very small, 
at the most .about a teacupful, but it is of 
very high nutritive quality. The milking, 
which is by no means regular, is done, if 
possible, once a day. In Winter there is of 
course no milking. To prevent the calves 
from sucking their mothers, pieces of bone 
are tied into their mouths, or the udders 
are besmeared with tar. Some of the Lapps 
consider it sinful to milk the reindeer and 
thus deprive the calves of their food. 
At Coxsackie, N. Y., a piece of ground 
has been bought in which to bury pet dogs, 
cats, horses, birds and other two and four- 
footed friends of man. Lots will be sold 
and monuments will be put up just s.s in 
cemeteries for people, and trees and trail¬ 
ing vines will be planted, while a regular 
undertaker will have charge of funerals. 
SCRAPS. 
A steamer which arrived recently at 
New York brought 201 English prize sheep, 
Shropshires, Lincolns, and Oxfords. One 
Lincoln ram valued at $500 died on the 
voyage. Some of these animals went to 
Canada, some to Illinois, while others re¬ 
mained in the vicinity of New York. 
The city council at Fort Dodge, Iowa, 
has passed an ordinance providing that no 
milk be sold in the city from cattle that 
have not been tested and found free from 
tuberculosis. All milk venders are also to 
be licensed, the requirements for a license 
being that all cows in the herd from which 
milk is supplied shall be tested and found 
free from tuberculosis. 
Sheep Stories.—I n my experience with 
sheep, I hear some big stories, and when I 
know them to be true, I remember them. 
I can vouch for the truth of the follow¬ 
ing: One sheep raised, (or gave birth to 
and all lived) six lambs in 12 months. An¬ 
other sheep had seven lambs in 16 months; 
but did not raise them all. One flock all 
had lambs last August, and every sheep 
had lambs in March. Another sheep gave 
birth to four lambs, and they all lived. A 
flock of 1G sheep raised 32 lambs, etc. 
Here’s one more for the sheep. One flock 
has several lambs without ears, and an¬ 
other has several without a particle of a 
tall. CLARK ALLIS. 
Free-Martins.— Some time ago, there 
was considerable controversy as to 
whether twin calves would breed or not. 
We had twin heifers dropped in Novem¬ 
ber, 1896, which calved in March and April, 
1899. Each had heifer calves ((4 Jersey), 
which sold at five and seven weeks of age, 
for $13. We can see no difference between 
these twins and other heifers which we 
have raised before. One is with calf, and 
the other we shall beef next year, because 
of her short teats. R. H. m. 
It. N.-Y.—The discussion was about “free- 
martins.” These are heifers with a bull for 
twin brother. They rarely if ever breed. 
Where twins are of the same sex, they are 
usually perfect. 
The Belgian Hare Business.— We be¬ 
lieve that it Is possible to raise Belgian 
hares in large numbers, under favorable 
conditions, and that the same time, care, 
and close attention applied to this, as to 
other pursuits, will give equally as good re¬ 
turns. Hares must be kept clean, dry, and, 
in warm weather, their quarters must be 
kept well ventilated and as cool as possible. 
We would prefer to raise in hutches, until 
the young are weaned, after which, the 
young can run in good-sized flocks until 
three months old, when the sexes should 
be separated. They can be raised in large 
numbers, and made to dress four pounds 
each, at six months of age, and, in our 
opinion, this is the most profitable time at 
which to market them. We know a man 
who raises and markets about 600 each 
year, in hutches, in a building on a city lot. 
Pennsylvania. w. b. oibson & sons. 
Make Cows Pay. 
If every cow would 
give half as much more 
milk as at present 
without increasing 
feed or expense, dairy¬ 
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Little Giant Sepa¬ 
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an increase in product 
almot t every time, and 
will change a losing 
busin.ss into a paying 
one. It is so simple 
that a boy or girl can 
easily manage it. Send for illustra.ed 
Catalogue No. 25. 
The Sharpies Co , P. M. SHARPLES, 
Canal & Washington Sts., West Chester. Pa , 
CHICAGO. U. S. A. 
A 
GOOD 
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(V.i 
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Cream Separators. 
De Laval “ Alpha " and “ Baby " Separators. 
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Save 110 per cow per year. Bend for Catalogue. 
THE DE LAVAL SEPARATOR CO., 
Randolph and Canal Streets, I 71 Cortlandt Street 
CHICAGO | NEW YORK. 
Top Price Butter. 
The kind that a fancy private 
trade demands, is colored with 
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the color that does not contain 
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THATCHER MFG. CO., Potsdam, H.Y. 
LIVE-STOCK FEEDERS 
should see that a guaranteed analysis 
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Cotton-Seed Meal. 
It is the only safe way to avoid adulterated Meal 
Every bag shipped by the American Cotton Oil Com¬ 
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Ammonia.8.50 per cent. 
Nitrogen. 7 00 “ 
l’rotoin.13.00 
Crude Fat and Oil. .9.60 “ 
Send your address for free information about 
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THIS AMERICAN COTTON-OIL COMPANY, 
16 Cedar Street, New York City. 
NewYork State Fair, 
SYRACUSE N Y , 
September 4 to 9, 1899. 
$25,000 in Premiums 
New Buildings, New Water Plant. 
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Premium lists now ready. Apply to 
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Dairymen, Don't You Know 
That you are losing cream and doing work 
That might be saved if you were using the 
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