i3o 
THE RURAL NEW-YORKER. 
February 19 
[LIVE STOCK! 
AND DAIRY. 
Every few years, there comes a so- 
called new theory regarding the regula¬ 
tion or control of sex. This is a mat¬ 
ter of great i importance to stock breed¬ 
ers, and it is safe to say' that all 
such theories have been tested with 
great care. The results have never been 
entirely satisfactory. The most satisfac¬ 
tory results have been obtained by work¬ 
ing upon the theory that sex is usually 
determined by the weaker parent. The 
latest theory appears to be based some¬ 
what on this line of reasoning, viz., that 
high or low feeding of the female parent 
will determine the sex of the offspring. 
The advantage of possessing a definite 
and positive rule for determining sex, is 
quite evident. The breeders of Jersey 
stock, for example, would desire 90 per 
cent of females, while a horseman would 
secure that proportion of males. The 
rule carried out with humans would, 
probably, result in such a large propor¬ 
tion of males that there would, in time, 
be danger of a decline in the human 
race. 
It is said that a Scotchman has in¬ 
vented a milk-can washer which, we 
understand, works by means of stiff 
brushes on the outside as well as the in¬ 
side of the can. Not much is known 
about this machine except in a few cream¬ 
eries out West. The general opinion is 
that a live jet of steam forced inside of 
the can under powerful pressure, is the 
best cleaner that can be devised. Too 
many cheap cans have ridges or rough 
rivets on the inside where sour milk can 
easily gather. Rough soldering on the 
inside will often make a bad place for 
sour milk. Such cans ought to be rinsed 
in boiling water, then thoroughly steam¬ 
ed, and the cans left topside up in 
the sun, if possible. The New York Board 
of Health would do well to enforce an 
ordinance requiring all milk cans to be 
thoroughly steamed before they are 
sent back to the farm. This would help 
the farmer, and aid in securing better¬ 
keeping milk. 
We have often referred to “ deviled ” 
butter—the new fraud that promises to 
injure the sale of the pure article. It is 
working into the regular dairy markets, 
and competing with honest butter every¬ 
where. What are dairymen to do about 
it ? Here is a note from Prof. C. S. Plumb, 
of Indiana : 
I have visited such a butter factory as you re¬ 
fer to. I have seen quantities of old butter that 
had grown rancid in groceries, brought into this 
factory, where it was melted and clmrned in 
milk or buttermilk and made over and shipped 
east to commission firms. This butter, as brought 
or shipped into the factory, is offensive in appear¬ 
ance and smell. It is fit only for soap fat and 
other similar purposes. I believe that manufac¬ 
turers of oleomargarine are better justified in 
placing their goods upon the market in imitation 
of butter, than are these people who make this 
worked-over material, that should never be sold 
under the conditions that it is. It is certainly 
unfit for table consumption, although it might 
serve for some cooking purposes. I see no reason 
why manufacturers of this class of material 
should not be obliged to comply with a law which 
should specify that such stuff should be labeled, 
“Reworked Shop Butter.” In that event, con¬ 
sumers would know what they are buying. 
The trouble is to frame a law that will 
describe this grease properly. It often 
contains even more butter fat than fresh 
butter, and it cannot be said that it con¬ 
tains inferior animal fats as does “ oleo.” 
The Massachusetts Dairy Bureau, after 
considering the matter, does not recom¬ 
mend legislation against it. It is not 
true butter, however, and those who sell 
it ought to be forced to mark it with 
some distinct name. In New England, 
it is called “sterilized” butter. This 
name is not only misleading, but it 
“ steals the livery of heaven to serve the 
devil in.” So much is said about “ ster¬ 
ilizing ” now that some people really 
think this rotten butter has been treated 
so that “disease germs” have been killed ! 
All the good the heat does is to take the 
stench out of it. We would like to see 
all dealers compelled by law to mark 
the stuff, “ Deviled Butter.” If some 
one will suggest a better word, we will 
accept it, but some brand must be put 
on this fraud. 
Rivalry between separator agents and 
manufacturers has led to some queer 
stories about the supposed value of cer¬ 
tain machines. For instance, some agents 
undertake to say that their separator 
will give a more “churnable” cream than 
others. The conditions which influence 
the “ churnability ” of cream are such 
that the kind of separator usee has no 
effect upon them. These conditions are : 
The quality of the globules of fat, the 
viscosity of the milk, the ripeness of the 
cream, the nature of the agitation, and 
the temperature. The viscosity of the 
milk and the quality of the globules of 
fat, both as to size and degree of hard¬ 
ness or softness, are governed by the 
cow, her feed, and the length of time she 
has been in milk. The larger the globules 
of fat, the more readily will they adhere 
to each other as they move in the churn ; 
likewise, the softer they are, the more 
easily will they adhere. The other con¬ 
ditions affecting churning have to do with 
the treatment of the ci*eam after it has 
come from the separator. Thus it will 
be readily seen that the kind of separator 
used has no influence upon the “ churna¬ 
bility ” of the cream coming from it. One 
separator may give a richer cream than 
another, but the ease and thoroughness 
of churning, and the quality of the butter 
obtained are not affected thereby. 
It will not do to depend too closely 
upon the Babcock test in judging a milk¬ 
man’s honesty. The machine has neither 
brains nor judgment. Dr. Jenkins, of 
Connecticut, tells of a milkman who sold 
milk to a public institution under a 
guarantee of four per cent butter fat. 
The station was asked to examine the 
milk, as it seemed of poor quality. Care¬ 
ful instructions were given about sam¬ 
pling. and the milk was drawn and 
tested. The samples were found to 
be below the guarantee ; yet the milk¬ 
man was positive that he gave what he 
charged for. Later, an agent of the 
station stopped the wagon at 5 A. m., and 
carefully sampled the contents of each 
can. The wagon delivered the full cans, 
and left the ground with empty cans. 
Shortly before dinner time, and again 
before supper time, on the same day, the 
agent took samples from the cans just as 
the milk was delivered for use. The Bab¬ 
cock test showed that the milk on the 
milkman's wagon varied from 5 to 5.8 
per cent fat. In the same cans before 
dinner, the milk varied from 2.7 to 3.95 
per cent, while just before, the compari¬ 
son ran from 3.70 to 4.40 per cent. It 
appeared that some one had poured off 
the cream from the tops of the cans for 
kitchen purposes, and then poured out 
the remaining milk as it was required, 
always without stirring. The milkman, 
therefore, was right—the Babcock test 
was also right—but the samples drawn 
from the cans were not fair, for the top 
had been poured off before they were 
taken. 
The old question about feeding tur¬ 
nips to milch cows, comes up every year. 
On page 21, a New York State reader 
said that his butter was bitter, and he 
was told that this “off” flavor came from 
feeding turnips. The advice given him 
was to feed turnips directly after milk¬ 
ing. The characteristic flavors due to 
feeding garlic, onions, turnips and cab¬ 
bage come from volatile oils. These 
pass easily through all the tissues of the 
animal, and in a short time, will pass off 
through the various excretory channels. 
If they are fed, therefore, 10 or 12 hours 
before milking, the chances are that 
they will have passed away without fla¬ 
voring the milk. The man who asked 
that question now says that he always 
fed turnips within half an hour before 
milking. Now he sends the following 
note : 
When I received The R. N.-Y. of January 8, and 
read the answer to my question, I started to 
feed turnips again after milking, to the cows 
from which we were making butter, and the but¬ 
ter was all right and did not have the bitter taste 
any more. That was three weeks ago, and I 
think it all right to feed them after milking. We 
have always been feeding mangels, but for the 
last two years, we had poor luck in growing 
them, so I have tried turnips, thinking them just 
as good, but they are not. J. G. 
That seems to be in line with the com¬ 
mon experience. It is, also, probable 
that most of the bitter principle in the 
turnip is found near the crown. We 
know that, in sugar beets, the part above 
ground must be cut off, as it contains 
most of the principles that must later 
be taken out of the sugar. Chopping 
the turnips some hours before they are 
fed, will, also, enable most of this vola¬ 
tile oil to pass away, as will be found by 
smelling of a box of chopped turnips. 
Every now and then we get a state¬ 
ment about a cow that gives bad milk— 
bitter or off flavor in some way. These 
cows are generally well fed and well 
cared for. and the scientists look wise 
and talk about “bacteria” as a last re¬ 
sort. Dr. W. O. Eastwood, of Ontario, 
Canada, gives this curious case of a 
family cow: 
Of late, our family cow has been giving us a 
good deal of trouble. Her milk became so un¬ 
pleasant that we could not use it. The cream at 
first was hard to churn, and the butter, when it 
did come, was bad; but after a while, it got so 
that it was impossible to get the butter at all, 
and for a short time, the milk was fed to the pigs. 
The cow seemed in perfect health, and gave a 
liberal allowance of milk, having calved last 
Spring. Her progenitors for several generations 
back, were liable to fall into the same way when 
shut up in the stable, especially if fed grain. 
This one has been getting hay, bran, mangels or 
sugar beets, and dry corn stover. With all the 
experience that we have had in this way with 
bitter, stringy, ill-smelling milk, and with all the 
information and advice that our friends have 
afforded us upon the matter, the best method of 
dealing with the difficulty was still an object of 
search—we had yet to find it. This case seemed 
about as bad as it well could be. I directed the 
man that attends to the cow to mix a small hand¬ 
ful of Epsom salts in every mess of bran that he 
gave her. She did not approve of the change, 
and would, at first at any rate, leave some of her 
mess. But the milk gradually improved until it 
got quite right, and it still remains so. We can 
make butter, or we can scald the milk and use 
the cream in the shape of Devonshire or clotted 
cream, as it is called. The butter is good, and 
the cream is perfectly sweet. As it was, if the 
churn was going in the attempt to make butter, 
one could sometimes be almost certain by the 
smell of it that the butter would never come. 
Now who will tell us how the Epsom 
salts helped the milk ? We have seen 
cases where the “ milk of human kind¬ 
ness ” was, apparently, sweetened by a 
good dose of pills. One thing is sure : 
The cow takes either good or bad quali¬ 
ties from her mother. 
At least one progressive farmer on the 
south shore of Long Island finds a very 
satisfactory profit in dairy cows. He 
keeps 15, having a large proportion of 
Jersey blood. He sells his milk in a near¬ 
by town which is considerable of a sum¬ 
mer resort. The price varies from five 
to eight cents a quart according to the 
season and the amount taken. His sales 
of milk and cream last year amounted to 
$118 per cow, not counting the butter 
made from surplus milk, the calves sold, 
or the milk and cream used in the family, 
which was considerable. Had these been 
included, the returns would have been, 
at least, $125 or $130 per cow. Besides 
this, a lot of valuable manure is made 
for the land, and that the fertility of the 
latter is well maintained, is shown by 
the yield of 150 bushels of ears of corn 
per acre. Most of the corn, how¬ 
ever, goes into the silo, one of the very 
few on the Island. The grain feed is 
largely bran and cotton-seed meal, and 
these, with the corn in the ensilage, give 
excellent results. The ensilage is made 
from well-grown and matured corn. He 
expects to increase the yield of corn 
largely the coming year, by planting in 
drills. These results, on a soil not natur¬ 
ally the best, indicate that there is a 
good profit in supplying what people 
want, if it is gone about in the right 
way. 
BABY’S COniNQ. 
Nature intended that 
every woman should 
look forward to the com¬ 
ing of her baby with joy 
and hope, unclouded by 
anxiety. Almost pain¬ 
less parturition is quite 
the usual thing among 
uncivilized people. 
Even in our own country 
it occasionally happens 
with women in robust 
health and good condi¬ 
tion. It ought to be the 
rule instead of the excep¬ 
tion ; and it is a fact that 
a very large proportion 
of the usual pain and suf¬ 
fering may be avoided by 
looking after the mother’s general health, 
and specially strengthening the particular 
organs concerned in parturition. 
Manymothers have been brought through 
the trying time almost painlessly by the aid 
of Dr. Pierce’s Favorite Prescription. It 
prepares the system for delivery by im¬ 
parting the organic strength and elasticity 
which the mother specially needs; shortens 
the time of labor and of confinement; pro¬ 
motes the secretion of abundant nourish¬ 
ment for the child and fortifies the entire 
constitution against the after period of de¬ 
pression and weakness. It’s use should 
begin in the early months of gestation—the 
earlier the better. 
Mrs. Fred Hunt, of Glenville. Schenectady Co., 
N. Y., savs : “ I read about Dr. Pierce’s Favorite 
Prescription being so good for a woman with 
child, so I got two bottles last September, and 
December 13th, I had a twelve-pound baby girl. 
When I was confined I was not sick in any way. 
I did not suffer any pain, and when the child 
was born I walked into another room and went 
to bed. I never had an after-pain or any other 
pain. This is the eighth child and the laigest 
of them all. I suffered everything that flesh 
could suffer with the other babies. I always had 
a doctor and then he could not help me very 
much, but this time my mother and my husband 
were alone with me. My baby was only seven 
days old when I got up and dressed and left my 
room and stayed up all day.” 
Ilf. J— Head Farmer at Long Island State 
VVallTcll Hospital, Kings Park, L. I. To till 
position March 15. For all further information and 
terms, apply, stating all facts regarding qualifica¬ 
tions and experience to LONG ISLAND STATE 
HOSPITAL, Kings Park, L. I. 
S uperintendent or Manager of Farm or Estate wants 
position. Capable, energetic, strictly honest; 
accustomed to handling large bodies of help. 
A. E. ODIORNE, Brunswick, Me. 
« I About 85 acres of excellent 
t Ol Fruit, Vegetable or Farm 
land, or would make an excellent Chicken and Poul¬ 
try farm, located in Cumberland Co.. N. J. Price very 
low. Now is the time to get a cheap home. Inquire of 
WM. A. WHITE. P. O. Box 20, Staatsburgh, N. Y. 
^ _ I Ohio Farm, 103 acres, good 
I O I Cl I w land, 10 room house, two barns, 
buildings and fences good; nice orchard, plenty of 
water; 20 acres timber, well drained. Numerous 
pikes. Two miles from railroad station, 12 miles 
from Wesleyan University and Seminary. Good 
neighborhood. No waste nor overflow. Taxes low. 
No objectionable features. Price, $7,500, on long time. 
HAYES THOMPSON, Marion, Ohio. 
OTATOES 
UNCLE SAM (from Henderson 
stock), $1 per bushel; CARMAN 
No. 3, 80c. per bushel, four bush- 
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