TIIE RURAL NEW-YORKER. 
January 1 
14 
NEW YORK STATE DAIRYMEN’S 
ASSOCIATION. 
I’ROCEEDINGS OF THE TWENTY-FIRST AN¬ 
NUAL CONVENTION. 
(Concluded.) 
Mr. A. Thornton, of New York City, 
spoke upon the farmer’s position in the 
politics of the future. The address was 
well received by the farmers present, 
and was rich in practical suggestions. 
lion. A. It. Eastman gave an address 
upon Seeking a Trail. He described his 
experience in the Adirondack Mountains 
when, with a hunting party, they lost 
their hearings. One of the party was 
sent up a tree to see whether he could 
discover the lost trail. In agriculture, 
many have lost the trail and are wan¬ 
dering aimlessly. They should begin 
immediately and get their bearings. We 
have men at our experiment stations 
who have climbed the tree and discov¬ 
ered the trail; we should seek informa¬ 
tion of them, and profit by their experi¬ 
ence. At his cottage in the Adirondack 
Mountains, he cleared a place in the for¬ 
est. and attempted to grow grass, but no 
grass would grow. He was at a loss to 
understand the reason, until he discov¬ 
ered one day that where logs and brush 
had been burned, there the grass was 
growing luxuriantly. He immediately 
said that it was potash which was lack¬ 
ing in the soil; that the ashes supplied 
the potash, and thus enabled the grass 
to grow. 
When Prof. I. P. Roberts was visiting 
him last summer, he related his experi¬ 
ence. Prof. Roberts looked at the great 
beech and maple trees which were grow¬ 
ing, and told him that such trees could 
never grow in a soil which was deficient 
in potash. The soil which had been 
shaded and moist for years had become 
sour ; the ashes contained sufficient lime 
to neutralize the acidity, so that grasses 
could grow. He sent him some lime and 
some grass seeds with directions for ap¬ 
plying, and he is now confident that 
when he goes again to his lodge in the 
mountains, he will find the grass grow¬ 
ing where the lime has been applied. 
Prof. Roberts had found the trail, and 
he was enabled to get his bearings from 
him. We must profit by the experience 
of others. 
Mr. George A. Smith was requested to 
give the reasons for his opinion that the 
cows of the State would not average as 
well as they did years ago. He said that 
the numbers had greatly increased, and 
that with this great increase, it has been 
impossible to maintain the standard. It 
was evident from the discussion tha t the 
opinion maintained by Mr. Smith was 
not maintained by all the members of 
the convention. Mr. W. W. Hall, of St. 
Lawrence County, said that he believed 
the farmers of his county were getting 
larger yields per cow than they did 
twenty-five years ago. 
Secretary R. I). Gilbert discussed The 
Causes of the Bad Cheese Market this 
Fall. The first cause of the low price 
was overproduction. Eight hundred 
thousand boxes more of cheese were pro¬ 
duced on this side of the water in 1897, 
than in 189(5, or 70,000,000 pounds of 
cheese more were thrown upon the mar¬ 
ket this year than last. The second rea¬ 
son for the low price this fall lies in the 
action of the English Cooperative Asso¬ 
ciation. A year and a half ago, they 
bought heavily of American cheese and 
stocked up with May and June goods. 
Last spring and summer, their competi¬ 
tors, not to be outdone, stocked up early 
in the season. This left the market 
glutted in the fall. The largest exporta¬ 
tions of the year were made in dune and 
July. The third reason for the low 
price was the heavy curtailment in the 
demand from the home trade. Wc usual¬ 
ly sell much in the South, but owing to 
the yellow fever the sales there this 
year were stopped. So we see that, both 
at home and abroad, the purchase was 
curtailed while our product was in¬ 
creased. 
Question,—What is the reason that 
Canadian cheese is better and will sell 
for more money than ours ? Answer.— 
First. Montreal will give lower rates on 
cheese to Liverpool than New York will 
by one-quarter of a cent per pound. 
Second, Canadian cheese is much better 
made on an average than ours. Why ? 
Because it goes right back to the patron 
here who demands that not more than 
10 pounds of milk be used for a pound of 
cheese, while in Canada, from 10J^ to 11 
are used. Here a larger per cent of 
water must be left in, hence not so fine 
and solid a cheese can be made. Third, 
it has been said that the soil and climate 
of Canada are better than ours, and this 
many believe. Buyers very largely be¬ 
lieve that. A factory in this State sent 
to Canada for a man to run the business, 
and told him to spare no expense in 
making as good a cheese as is made in 
Canada. He has made cheese all the 
season, and has not produced as good a 
product as Canadian cheese. He says 
the fact is due to difference in climate. 
Mr. W. W. Hall, of St. Lawrence 
County, took issue with the answer as 
given above. As good cheese can be made 
in New York as in Canada, if the men 
who furnish the milk will furnish it in 
proper shape. Where the Canadians 
excel us is in the fact that they have Mr. 
Robertson to oversee the cheese produc¬ 
tion, and he demands a uniform product. 
Here every man is a law to himself. I lere 
we dare not make a set of rules. A cer¬ 
tain man is combining several large fac¬ 
tories and purposes to lay down rules 
governing the production of milk and the 
running of the factories, and he pur¬ 
poses to make as good a quality of cheese 
as is manufactured in Canada. That 
this can be done, we have abundant 
proof. From St. Lawrence County this 
season, cheese was sent to Montreal, and 
from there was shipped and sold in Eng¬ 
land as Canadian cheese. Central New 
York grass and air and water are just as 
good as anywhere on God's earth. The 
reason why the cheese is not so good is 
because the work is not so well done. He 
recently visited a factory operated by a 
young man who never saw any cheese 
made until the winter of 1895. He took 
the short course of dairy instruction at 
Cornell University during the winter of 
1895-6, and is turning out from his factory 
at the present time a product which is not 
excelled by any manufactured in Canada. 
Mr. George A. Smith read a paper upon 
Our Milk Markets. He gave numerous 
statistics to show how the dairy industry 
has increased in the West, and how it 
has decreased in New York. The farmer, 
as a usual thing, can better afford to de¬ 
liver his milk either at the butter fac¬ 
tory or cheese factory than at the milk 
stations. From the butter factory, he 
receives back the skim-milk, and from 
the cheese factory, the whey. The aver¬ 
age price paid for milk during the past 
year has been about 71.9 cents per 100 
pounds at the cheese factory, (57.7 at the 
butter factory, and 70.1 cents at the milk 
stations. 
Mr. .Josiah 1). Smith, in a paper upon 
The Bright Side of Dairy Farming, re¬ 
minded the audience that there were 
still many things for which we should 
be thankful. That the dairyman who is 
making greatest complaint about his 
condition is the one who fails to keep 
pace with changed conditions. The man 
who has kept up with the times has 
found that there is a bright side to 
dairy farming. 
On Thursday afternoon, Prof. W. H. 
Jordan, Director of the Geneva Station, 
discussed Problems Involved in Milk Pro¬ 
duction. The difficult problems are 
financial ones, and pertain to cost as com¬ 
pared with prices obtained for products. 
The margins of profit for dairymen are 
not large. The food supply is an im¬ 
portant question as regards milk produc¬ 
tion. It may be divided into two classes, 
home production and purchased foods. 
What is the function of New York farms 
as regards feeding, and the function of 
the market as supplementing the farm '? 
The farm function has almost been 
eclipsed by the market function. We 
must know what foods are, and their 
uses. The materials which enter into 
food are familiar ones. We divide them 
into carbohydrates and proteids. The 
carbohydrates are the heat or energy- 
producing materials. They are fuel for 
the animal ; they are burned to give 
animal heat and energy. The proteids 
contain nitrogen, and are of especial im¬ 
portance because, as a rule, the farm 
products contain but little nitrogen. The 
great bulk of the food of animals is com¬ 
posed of the carbohydrates, to which 
class belong the gums and starches, the 
fats and oils. The function of the New 
York farm is to produce these carbohy¬ 
drates. Our main crops are distinctly 
carbohydrate crops. Protein crops either 
yield small returns because of climatic 
or other conditions. 
With the fact that New York produc¬ 
tion is largely carbohydrates, it is re¬ 
markable that we are in the markets as 
a purchaser of western corn. From one 
acre of corn, we may obtain 6,000 pounds 
of dry matter. The ear is less than half 
the value of the whole plant. We may 
reason that when the home cost of pro¬ 
duction of corn is less than the market 
price, it will be better to purchase it than 
to raise it. This is not so. The money 
which must be paid out to purchase corn 
must first be earned. The dairy farm 
should produce all the carbohydrates re¬ 
quired. Corn is the crop which should 
do this, and the larger part of it should 
be put in the silo. Ensilage properly made 
and properly fed has never yet injured, a 
pound of milk. .June grass is richer in 
protein than is hay. The later growth 
is richer in carbohydrates : the stored 
crops are matured crops, and rich in car¬ 
bohydrates. If we must purchase food, 
purchase protein. 
The foods which we may select are 
legion, but we must consider their com¬ 
position. cost, and effect on the animal. 
Oat feeds in themselves are scarcely more 
nitrogenous than the grain from which 
they come; they are usually fortified. 
The cheapest foods which the farmer 
can buy at the present time, as a source 
of protein, are middlings, malt sprouts 
and King gluten meal. The farmer can 
use with his hay and ensilage, brewers’ 
grains and dry malt sprouts. They will 
do no harm. The value of the manure 
made from feeding a certain article may 
be taken into consideration, but how 
much can we trust to the vicissitudes of 
stable, soil, etc., before we get our money 
back. There must be some waste. Cot¬ 
ton-seed meal has the highest manurial 
value of any of onr food stuffs, but it is 
doubtful whether its great manurial 
value will justify its use. 
Mr. R. A. Pearson, assistant chief of 
the Dairy Division, discussed Milk and Its 
Value. We must aim to decrease the 
cost of production. Poor cows should be 
weeded out. Careful experiments as to 
the cost of production of a pound of but- 
THE GRANITE STATE 
MAPLE SAP EVAPORATO 
.has for more than 21 years given enti re satisfac¬ 
tion to all users. It is simple in oioeration, and 
with our automatic regulator is perfectly safe to 
leave. Each section is constructed from one sheet 
of tinned steel, requiring no solder to prevent 
leakage. The un fa is constructed of cast iron 
and galvanized steel, and made by the manu¬ 
facturers of the. 
Granite State Feed Cookers 
A sainpleofthc “Pearl” (tinned or galvanized ] 
after lx'ing made) steel Sap Six>ut will be sent 
FREE to any sugar maker who mentions this 
pajK'r and sends a 2c. stamp to nay postage. 
Thousands of these sj>outs are sold every year. 
ACTUAL SIZE 
3 ft. high 
43 y, in. wide 
8 to 16 ft. long 
If your hardware dealer does not keep them, we will send 1,000 spouts, with 
J hooks, for $12.50; 100 
for $1.50. Send for 
catalogue of sugar- 
makers’ supplies, free 
8-500 Temple Court, New York City on application. 
** J ---- — 
Granite State Evaporator Go. 
COOK Your FEED and Save 
Half the Cost-with the 
PROFIT FARM BOILER 
With Dumping Caldron. Bmp 
ties Its kettle In one minute. Thf 
simplest and best arrangement foi 
cooking food for stock. Also makf 
Dairy and Laundry Stoves, 
Water and Steam .Jacket Ket¬ 
tles, Hog Scalders, CaldronB, 
etc. IIT Send for circulars, 
X). R. SPERRY & CO., Batavia, 
♦ Corn Shelters 
▲for hand or power; cleans and separates 
▲corn from cob. Price ♦4.?5. Shells 18-bu. an 
Xhr. Hand shelter $1; shells bu. in 4 minutes.Two 
Iholo shelter with pulley,crank.fan k table;shells 
YJ5 l»u. an hr. $ 10.50. New style self-feed sheller 
•shells 500 bu daily; 15 styles & sizes; every sheller 
Au; ii it ran teed. We have no agents but sell di- 
▲rect & save you agentaW dealers' profit . Prices 
▲all reduced t^Send for free Catalogue. _. 
jMarvin Smith Co. 68 S. Clinton St. Chicago, III. 
Feed Cookers and Tank Heaters! 
BEST AN D CHEAPEST ON EARTH * 
Aait Yodb Diilu oa 8 «kd to TJb ; 
roa CiaoULi*. 
. 5 
Economy Bfg. Co., Homer, Mich. • 
Make the Dairy Pay. 
Sell a quarter of 
your herd and put 
half of the money 
thus obtained into a 
Safety Hand Separa¬ 
tor, and the other 
half into your pocket. 
You will make more 
money than you did 
before you bought 
the Separator and 
will have the cost of the feed as extra 
profit. A Farm Separator will double 
the value of your dairy. 
F. M. SHARPLES, 
Dubuque, Iowa. West Chester, Pa. 
Omaha, Neb. Elgin, Ill. 
GOGS FOR SALE. 
All varieties of Thoroughbred Sporting, Hunting, 
House and Watch Dogs. Trained, untrained and 
pups. Send stamp and state kind wanted. 
JAMES BETTIS, - Winchester, III. 
CARET FARM KENRETjS. 
Dak-tanned leather Harness 
Ccnd »our eddresa with a-cent »Umo for Illustrated Catalorva* 
all kind* of Single and Double Custom-Made Harnea*. aold direct U> 
the consumer at wholesale prices. WE CAN SAVE YOU MONEY. 
KING HARNESS CO.. It 9 cw=h - , ow ^ , n.v : 
F 
and skins wanted; good prices, honest assort; 
ments and prompt returns. Price List free. 
F. E. PIERSON, West Groton, N. Y. 
Horses, Cattle, Sheep and Swine. 
Geo. W. Curtis, M. S. A. Origin, History, Im¬ 
provement, Description, Characteristics, Mer¬ 
its, Objections, Adaptability South, etc., of 
each of the Different Breeds, with Hints on 
Selection, Care and Management. Methods 
of practical breeders of the United States and 
Canada. Superbly illustrated. About 100 
full-page cuts. Cloth.$2 
The Rural Nkw-Yorkkr, New Yobb. 
