368 
THE RURAL NEW-YORKER. 
May 21 
in this way, puts it into a tub, pours boiling water 
over it, then covers with a sack, and lets it steam over 
night. A little bran or middlings put with it give a 
taste that is much admired by the hens. They eat it 
greedily about the middle of the afternoon. This, we 
think, is much better than any effort to save green 
clover in barrels as ensilage. 
A reader in Hanover, Pa., says that he is feeding 
his hens whole corn, cracked corn, corn chop, wheat 
and bran, with boiled potatoes and chopped onions, 
once a week ; the hens have cut grass every day. He 
wants to know what else he can feed to make the 
yolk of the egg a deeper yellow. We do not believe 
that anything is superior to corn and green grass for 
supplying a high color to fat or oil. A pinch of sul¬ 
phur might, possibly, heighten the color, but gen¬ 
erally speaking, corn and grass are the best dyes, both 
for butter fat and egg fat. 
Fads of Business Men. 
The amount of real pleasure that men engaged in 
active business find in cultivating a little garden, car¬ 
ing for a few trees, or managing a half dozen hens, 
certainly is remarkable. Apparently the happiest 
moments in the lives of such men are those spent in 
discussing their little fad with each other, or with an 
expert in these lines. At such times, they forget all 
business matters, drop all official dignity, and enter 
into all of the minutest details of their pet fad with a 
zest that would almost lead one to believe they were 
interested in nothing else under the sun. The pro¬ 
prietor of a large furniture factory, whose fad is B. 1*. 
Rocks, once caught me in the city where he lives, and 
would not be satisfied until I walked nearly two miles 
to see his nine fowls. 
He was well informed concerning the characteristics 
of that particular breed, and he talked until I was 
almost dizzy. Naturally he felt satisfied that his birds 
were very near perfection, and when I told him they 
were beauties, his cup of joy was full, and he called 
his wife to hear me repeat the compliment. The joy 
ray visit gave him amply repaid me for the long walk 
on granite pavements that nearly used me up. Re¬ 
sides, I dined sumptuously at his expense. 
A high official of one of the largest railway systems 
in the country has repeatedly asked me to come to the 
city where he lives to see his little fruit garden, and 
have a “long talk 5 ' with him about growing small 
fruits. I would very much like to do so, but when I 
remember that four-mile walk to see nine fowls, an 
excuse bobs up. 
Almost every thorough business man has a harmless 
fad of some sort to which he is devotedly attached. 
The pursuit of a little fad on the part of these men is 
simply the reaction of the brain from the intensity of 
business cares, and the stronger and more active the 
brain, the greater the interest in the restful fad. 
What I set out to tell about is the “ discovery ” my 
friend Leroy Martin has made. Mr. Martin's business 
interests are centered in a bank, and his fad is garden¬ 
ing. If he learns of any method by which he can 
better assist Nature in the production of perfect vege¬ 
tables, he is not slow to adopt it, so far as his limited 
spare time will allow. It is a well-known fact that 
one occasionally produces from seed a tomato plant 
that bears larger, smoother and finer fruit than all 
others in the garden. Mr. Martin’s plan is to take a 
few cuttings from such a vine, Winter them over in 
flower pots, set them out the following Spring, and 
thus grow only the very best tomatoes without any 
guesswork about it. or the risk one runs in producing 
them from seed. This is his latest. I think it is a 
good idea. _ fred Grundy. 
THE SMALL F R U / T M A R K E T M A N. 
GET READY ; START EARLY AND KEEP AHEAD. 
The first problem which will confront the market- 
man when his fruit begins to ripen, will be the matter 
of securing packages in which to convey it to market. 
The old-fashioned bushel-crate can hardly be improved 
upon as a means of conveyance. A common mistake, 
however, sometimes made by veteran growers whose 
annual experiences should have taught them better, 
is to wait until the fruit begins to ripen, and then go 
in mobs to their hardware dealers after crates and 
baskets. As a usual thing, hardware dealers keep a 
limited number only in stock, and many patrons are 
compelled to wait until the merchant can send ordtrs 
to the factories, and have them filled. The conse¬ 
quence is that many are disappointed in securing the 
full number of crates wanted. “ Order early and 
avoid the rush”, is as safe a motto to follow in this 
business as in any other. 
If the grower wish to economize his package ex¬ 
penses, he may manufacture crates at small expense 
by buying discarded coffee boxes of the right dimen¬ 
sions from grocers. Most grocers have them by dozens 
in their back yards, and they may be bought very 
cheaply. Take the siding off by means of a crow¬ 
foot, and nail it to 11 x 16-inch end pieces: put on a 
bottom, swing a lid for the top on light hinges, or 
straps cut from an old boot top, put in the three false 
bottoms, and you have as good a crate as ever was 
patented. It will be borne in mind by the reader that 
the inside measurement should be 22x11x16 inches 
when inch end-pieces are used, the three false bottoms 
occupying a space of one inch each. It may be well 
to buy an unpatented crate from a dealer, and take it 
as a model thz’oughout. 
Another phase of the subject about which the ama¬ 
teur will, probably, have something to learn, is the 
employment of pickers. As far as may be possible, 
country boys and girls should be employed to do this 
work, and where an abundance of help applies for the 
work, I would limit the employment of help to girls 
only. They do not whistle or swear or distract the 
attention of other workers by loud laughter or 
boisterous conduct. At the same time they are readier 
to learn, and more accommodating than boys. Of 
course, exceptions may be made in favor of some 
boys, but many town boys are of little account except 
to promote confusion. A foreman should be kept in 
the field to give each picker proper credit for the work 
he does, as well as to keep order. 
There is considerable diversity of opinion as to the 
prices at which different varieties of fruit may be 
sold at a profit. I should say that it is a question 
which every grower ought to settle to his own satis¬ 
faction. It is a notable fact, however, that prices are 
depreciated more by persons who have “just a few 
bushels” to dispose of than by producers who sell 
hundreds of bushels annually. A farmer who has 
other work at home demanding his attention, and 
who sells at a loss in order to get at it as soon as pos¬ 
sible, can destroy the entire market quicker than any 
other known agency. 
In cities of the second and third classes, a losing 
price is sometimes offset by the grower jugging his 
own fruit at home, and recooking it for Winter mar¬ 
ket. In some places, country-canned goods command 
an advance over canning-house prices, but it is doubt¬ 
ful whether a great preparatory expense would be 
justified by the better prices obtained by this method, 
and some kinds of fruit cannot be treated this way at 
all. ,t. d. 
TRADE IN CONDEMNED COWS. 
SHOCKING STATE OF AFFAIRS AT BUFFALO. 
A reader at Sheldon. N. Y., sends us a clipping from 
the Buffalo Evening Times, which states that diseased 
cows are sold from the Buffalo stockyards to New 
York State dairymen. Dr. Fromhotzer, the health 
officer at Sheldon, has written the following letter to 
Dr. D. E. Salmon, of the United States Bureau of 
Animal Industry : 
Dear Sir. —During March, 1898, a drove of cows was brought 
here from Buffalo. Threeofthe.se died, one of which had a tag 
in'oneof her ears marked “U. S. condemned, 217014.” Dr. Sevenster, 
V. S., and I made post-mortem on two of these cows. The lungs 
of both were studded with tubercular nodules, the lung of one 
cow containing quite a number of vomic®. We have specimens 
of both these cases in alcohol. Being health officer of the town 
of Sheldon, I sent Dr. Sevenster to Buffalo to look up the tag 
number 217014 in the record of the United States Inspector’s office. 
The doctor says that opposite the above number he found the 
word “pregnancy,” and that he had been informed that the cow 
had passed the tuberculin test. Dr. Sevenster is at present treat¬ 
ing two cows from the samedrove, which two cows have the same 
symptoms as the other three had. 
Did they have poor tuberculin at the Buffalo inspector’s office ? 
Or are such cows fraudulently sold after their condemnation ? 
Can any cow with the U. S. condemned number be sold at all 
for butcher or dairy purposes ? 
Can we obtain trustworthy tuberculin for testing the other sick 
cows ? If so, how, and where ? 
Mr. Daniel Redden bought one of the cows April 9. The cow died 
on the 20th. Her lungs were highly tubercular. Is Mr. Redden 
obliged to pay for that cow ? 
This territory is an extensive dairy district. Consequently the 
importation of tuberculous cows becomes of very grave import¬ 
ance. For that reason we took the liberty to trouble your honor 
with the above questions. Most respectfully yours, 
F. FROMHOTZER. 
Our correspondent says that many such cattle have 
been sold in his neighborhood, and he wants to know 
what can be done about it. Dr. James -Law, of Cor¬ 
nell University, 
Explains the Matter. 
I have known for years, and have stated the same, 
by way of warning, in public lectures to agricultural 
societies, etc., that New York herds were being made 
the final destination of cattle that had been rejected 
by other States. The New England States and Penn¬ 
sylvania have declined to admit dairy cows unless it 
can be certified that they have successfully stood the 
test of a dose of tuberculin. Cattle, therefore, that 
were bought from our New York herds were deliber¬ 
ately picked, the sound having been shipped out of 
the State, and the unsound retained. Similarly, cows 
arriving from Pennsylvania, Ohio, and other States 
to the west of us, have been tested at Buffalo and 
Albany, so that the sound might be shipped to New 
England or Pennsylvania, and the unsound left to be 
sold to the unsuspecting dairymen of New York. Be 
it observed, these were not official inspections by the 
authorities of this State, or of the United States, and 
as the animals were not officially condemned, the case 
did not necessarily come under the cognizance of any 
one authorized to forbid the sale of the diseased stock. 
If the purchaser could ascertain that the cattle had 
been condemned, he would, doubtless, have a claim 
against the vendor for damages; but as a rule, this 
knowledge would fail to come to him. 
In still another way the tuberculin in the hands of 
others than State officials has been employed to the 
detriment of the unsuspecting New York dairyman. 
The dairyman supplying milk, to be sold with a guar¬ 
antee at a high price, has his herd tested with tuber¬ 
culin, and gets rid of all that fail to stand the test. 
He can thus secure a certificate that the herd from 
which his milk is furnished has successfully stood the 
tuberculin test. But no one knows what has become of 
the rejected animals, and if he has been unscrupulous 
enough to sell them in the public market, the unfor¬ 
tunate purchaser is actually made to pay for the 
privilege of introducing tuberculosis into his herd. 
The clipping from the Buffalo Evening Times seems 
to put the matter in a still worse light. If the state¬ 
ment is true that animals bearing the ear tags show¬ 
ing that they have been condemned by the United 
States inspectors, have been sold into dairy herds, it 
shows that the work of the Bureau of Animal Indus¬ 
try is being made a means of serious injury to the 
State. This case is, however, a more complicated one, 
as the bureau has no legal right to condemn and destroy 
diseased cattle in the State of New York. Its jurisdic¬ 
tion is strictly limited to interstate commerce , and it is 
legally helpless to prevent the movement of diseased 
animals from one part of a particular State to another. 
It has no right to test cows in the Buffalo stockyards, 
unless it be to furnish certificates on which they will 
be admitted into another State. The result- is, as in 
the other cases above mentioned, that the sound are 
shipped out of the State and the unsound are left in 
the State to be destroyed, or sold, according to the 
decision of the owner or commission man. A frightful 
wrong is being done to the New York stock owner, 
' but on the face of it, the Bureau appears to be doing 
all that the law allows it. 
Whether the United States Bureau is called upon to 
make such examinations and condemnations at all is 
a weighty question. It is doing the work in the inter¬ 
est of the New England States and Pennsylvania, 
which have laws prohibiting the introduction of tuber¬ 
culous cattle, and incidentally it is bringing a greater 
evil upon the State of New York, which has no such 
law. If it were the mere retention in New York herds of 
cattle that belonged originally to them, there would be 
no good ground for complaint; but the essential wrong 
consists in the introduction into New York herds, of 
diseased cows brought from other States, and intended 
for New England or Pennsylvania, but detained in 
New York because they could not pass the tuberculin 
test. We may complain that the Bureau is using 
National funds in performing what is the domestic 
sanitary work of the New England States, and inci¬ 
dentally contributing to the destruction of the dairy 
industry of the State of New York, which is a con¬ 
tributor to such National funds. But apart from our 
quota of the National tax, it would, in no respect, 
benefit us to have this inspection transferred to the 
officials of the New England States. We would still 
receive the offscouring of the cattle trade from the 
West, and our dairymen would still buy the same 
number of tuberculous cattle. If the Bureau could 
be compelled to do its inspecting of the cows before 
they enter this State, there would be an apparent 
advantage ; but so long as our New York law admits 
stock cattle without question and without test, the way 
would be open as before for the dealer to sell the 
unsound to New York dairymen. 
The only available protection would seem to come : 
1, From the Courts—the purchaser has a good cause 
against the vendor for damage, present and prospec¬ 
tive, from the introduction of infection into his herd ; 
and 2, From the State Board of Health, through its 
tuberculosis commission, and through the municipal 
health boards whose duty it is to see that the herds 
supplying milk and other dairy products for human 
consumption, should not be replenished by animals 
condemned as tuberculous. The Bureau officials 
would willingly furnish the State or municipal board 
with all the necessary information as to the rejected 
cows. 
Another question would arise when destruction of 
the diseased was determined on. Neither State nor 
municipal authorities have sufficient money available 
to offer indemnity, and many of the rejected cows 
would present an appearance of good general health. 
Being mostly from other States, it would be mani¬ 
festly improper to furnish indemnity out of State 
funds. The obvious alternatives would, therefore, be 
to destroy them without indemnity, or to compel their 
reshipment back into the State from which they came. 
Apropos of Dr. Fromhotzer’s inquiry for tuberculin. 
