832 
December 10 
THE RURAL NEW-YORKER. 
and prayer, or other general religious observances. 
The term half-holiday, includes the period from 
noon to midnight of each Saturday which is not a 
holiday. The days and half-days aforesaid Ishall be 
considered as the first day of the week, commonly 
called Sunday, and the public holidays or half-holi¬ 
days, for all purposes whatsoever as regards the trans¬ 
action of business in the public offices of this State, 
or counties of this State. On all other days and half¬ 
days, excepting Sundays, such offices shall be kept 
open for the transaction of business. 
Chapters 27, Laws of 1875 ; 34 of 1881 ; 289 of 1887 ; 
603 of 1895, are hereby repealed. 
Act took effect October 1, 1897. R. d. f. 
FEEDING ENSILAGE TO PIGS. 
IT IS NOT A SATISFACTORY FOOD. 
I have about 100 tons of ensilage corn, heavily eared and par¬ 
tially ripe, with nothing to which to feed it. Stock is scarce and 
out of reach as to price. I am buying some calves, but they are 
hard to get. Pigs are plentiful and cheap—81 each, four to six 
weeks old. Can the ensilage be utilized as the main part of a 
wintering ration ? I also have large quantities of cabbage that 
will last in good condition for feeding until, say January 1. 
Windham, N. Y. * B - A - H> 
Clover Hay Better. —My experience with ensilage 
as a swine feed has been very unsatisfactory. I would 
prefer early-cut clover hay, passed through a cutter, 
then moistened or steamed. If pigs four to six weeks 
old were to be fed so that they would consume the fod¬ 
der closely, they would scarcely live upon it. If fed 
additional grain enough to make them thrive and 
grow, the larger part of the stalk and leaves would 
remain uneaten. I would feed wheat shorts, as it is 
a good pig feed, and if mixed with the ensilage, would 
more readily adhere to it. But a large per cent of the 
grain would be wasted with the rejected ensilage. 
Chautauqua County, N. Y. l. d. gale. 
Better Feed the Calves.— I have tried often the 
making of ensilage a large factor of pig food, but 
must say that I have never been satisfied with the 
result. Pigs will root it over, and take out the corn, 
but eat very little of the forage. If I were in the 
same position, I would buy a lot of those small calves, 
and feed the ensilage to them. In fact, that is just 
what we are doing this Winter, and have been doing 
for several Winters. We feed these calves—the lot we 
have now weigh about 350 pounds on an average—and 
feed them all they will digest and assimilate of the 
ensilage, wheat bran, gluten feed, linseed meal and 
clover hay and, towards Spring, we add a little corn 
meal, enough to have the calves good beef in the 
Spring. It is not a hard matter to make a lot of well- 
bred calves make an average gain of from 300 to 400 
pounds, and at a cost such as to leave a good margin 
for profit. 
We cut the horns off, turn them into pens loose, 
give plenty of straw for bedding, and find it but little 
more work to feed 20 calves than the same number of 
sheep. The most serious objection to feeding the calves 
is the amount of room they occupy in the barns ; 1,000 
pounds of these calves will take twice the room of 
that weight of steer or cow, but they will, as a com¬ 
pensation, make more gain in proportion to the feed 
eaten. Our experience the last couple of years goes 
to show that they will make double the profit. I wish 
1 could report more encouragingly of the practice of 
feeding ensilage to pigs or hogs, but the facts will not 
allow me to do so. J. s. woodward. 
Niagara County, N. Y. 
Experiments Against It. —The stomach of the 
pig is small in comparison to the size of the animal, 
and is so adapted to a concentrated food that it can¬ 
not handle such coarse food as ensilage to -good ad¬ 
vantage. Moreover, even though the leaf and stalk 
of the ensilage may be of some value if eaten, the 
pig will root around so much in search of the corn 
that the coarser parts are nearly all lost under foot. 
Experiments in feeding ensilage to pigs have invariably 
shown that it cannot be fed with success and profit. 
Only in the case of store hogs, such as boars or brood 
sows that are not raising pigs, where a maintenance 
ration only is desired, has it been found in any way 
satisfactory. This class of hogs do not require a great 
deal of food, and they can get along nicely with en¬ 
silage as the larger part of their ration. But for grow¬ 
ing or fattening pork, ensilage cannot be used with 
profit. 
Some experiments in this connection have been con¬ 
ducted at the Geneva Experiment Station (Bulletin 22), 
and a statement of the results will be of interest. In 
determining the value of the food consumed, a very 
low price was put on ensilage. It was estimated at SI 
per ton, which is only one-half of its estimated value 
in some quarters. The results found by the Station 
are, 1, when ensilage formed an average of 70 per cent 
of the total food, the gross cost for production of pork 
was considerably more than its market value (4% 
cents) and 23 per cent higher than where corn was 
substituted. 2. When corn took the place of the en¬ 
silage, the ensilage forming an average of 44 per cent 
of the total food, the gross cost of pork was about the 
same as where no ensilage was fed. 3. With the en¬ 
silage ration, 7.33 pounds of water-free food were re¬ 
quired to produce one pound of gain ; without ensil¬ 
age, 3.76 pounds of water-free food were required 
for one pound of gain. By “ gross cost ” is meant 
the cost of the food without taking into considera¬ 
tion its manurial value. Three kinds of rations 
were fed: 1, ensilage, wheat middlings and bran ; 2, 
corn, wheat middlings and bran ; 3, ensilage corn, 
wheat middlings and bran. These results show that, 
where ensilage forms the larger part of the ration, the 
pork is produced at a loss, even though the ensilage 
be rated at the low price of $1 per ton, and that, where 
ensilage forms the smaller part of the ration, it is no 
cheaper than other foods. L. A. 
New York. 
Turn Up Their Noses at It. —Swine are very fond 
of succulent food of any kind, but despise the same 
dried, withered or tough. My mature animals live 
almost exclusively on raw flat turnips, usually, but 
are getting fat this Winter on sugar beets. I have 
tried many times to get them to eat ensilage, but after 
they had eaten out the corn, the rest was unnoticed. 
It was the same with all ages and with any kind of 
feed in addition. Perhaps they might be starved into 
eating it, but would waste it, and I do not think they 
would do well. Pigs four to six weeks old are too 
young to wean, and will be stunted if taken from the 
mother unless fed skim-milk until they become accus¬ 
tomed to eating. With great care and experience, 
they could be fed oil meal gruel, wheat middlings 
stirred into warm water, and made to do well without 
milk, even at that age. 
I have filled my cooker and boiled some ensilage. It 
brought out the smell stronger than a Thanksgiving 
dinner, and lusty 12-weeks-old pigs stuck up their 
noses and went without their dinners, even after mix¬ 
ing it with corn meal and wheat middlings, and feed¬ 
ing it warm. Toward night, they sorted it over, 
but most of the ensilage was, after two days’ trial, 
thrown away. 
Under the most favorable conditions, it cost about 
three cents per pound to grow pork, and as it now 
brings only 4% cents, there is but little profit, and 
doubtful methods with improper food will result in 
loss. If they did eat it clean, for the main part 
of the Winter ration, they would grow but not fatten 
and not be in condition to kill when four or five 
months old, the age when there is most profit. 
New York. _c. e. chapman. 
SUGGESTED CHANGES IN FERTILIZER LAWS 
Ail Important Matter. —Perhaps there is no sub¬ 
ject in which farmers are more directly interested, 
and yet in which more confusion prevails, than that of 
the composition and value of commercial fertilizers. 
Nearly all our States have laws whose ostensible ob¬ 
ject is the prevention of frauds in these goods. The 
officers whose business it is to see to the execution of 
these protective statutes are, for the most part, labor¬ 
ing diligently to secure their enforcement. But these 
men can work only within the limitations which the 
laws impose. From not a little experience in this 
matter, I am convinced that certain simple changes, 
in the statutes which are common to most of the 
States, would greatly enhance their effectiveness, and 
would relieve the whole subject of elements of un¬ 
certainty which now greatly impair the working 
value of the laws. 
Give Clearer Figures. —To illustrate, in most of 
the States, the composition of all commercial ferti¬ 
lizers legally sold must be stated on the accompany¬ 
ing tag, e. g., an average fertilizer contains say, 
Available phosphoric acid (P 3 O 5 ).8 to 10 per cent. 
Nitrogen, estimated as ammonia.3 to 4 per cent. 
Potash, soluble (K 2 O).5 to 6 per cent. 
This fully complies with the law, and to a chemist, is 
all intelligible enough as far as it goes. Even to him, 
however, it is the mere skeleton of the truth. But to 
the average farmer, even where he is skilled in the 
matter of percentages, it leaves out a number of facts 
that he is fully entitled to know, and to a great many 
otherwise intelligent farmers, who are not ‘ 4 good in 
figures ”, it simply means nothing at all. Our ferti¬ 
lizer laws are not made for the benefit of scientists, 
but for the plain people, or at least, they should be, 
and the facts concerning every fertilizer sold should 
be so clearly stated that there would be no room for 
mistake. 
Let us suppose that, in addition to the percentages, 
the calculations were carried out, and the farmer 
could see at a glance how much of each form of plant 
food each ton of fertilizer contains. The amended tag 
would read as follows : 
Available phosphoric acid (P 2 O 5 ).9 to 10 per cent. 
In each ton, from 160 to 200 pounds. 
Nitrogen, estimated as ammonia.4 to 5 per cent. 
In each ton, from 80 to 100 pounds. 
Potash, soluble (K 2 O).6 to 8 per cent. 
In each ton, from 120 to 160 pounds. 
This would simplify the matter, and prevent all pos¬ 
sible mistake as to the amount of each of these 
materials purchased. 
State the Sources. —But the reform should go much 
farther than this. In the case of phosphoric acid, 
there is not much room for deception, with the State 
chemist to “ go behind the returns.” Available phos¬ 
phoric acid has very much the same value whether it 
comes f-om animal bone or phosphate rock ; but so 
long as many prefer the former, it is the undoubted 
right of the purchaser to know what he is buying. 
The next item is a good deal more slippery, and is the 
one above all others where the farmer has a right to 
insist upon exact knowledge. Some nitrogen “ esti¬ 
mated as ammonia” is worth, we will say, 15 or 16 
cents a pound, while some is worth only 9 or 10, or 
even less than that. I am asking only simple justice 
when I insist that the farmer has a perfect right to 
know whether he is buying the 10 or 15-cent kind. 
The percentage business tells nothing about it, and 
when the matter is calculated out in pounds, he is 
very little wiser. When he pays out his hard-earned 
dollars, the farmer should demand, and the law should 
protect him in the demand, the exact sources of the 
nitrogen he is buying. If this element comes from 
“ mixed ” sources, as is often very properly the case, 
this, too, should be stated, and the exact amount that 
comes from each kind of raw material used. 
So far as potash is concerned, the case stands some¬ 
what like that of phosphoric acid. Still, as this alkali 
does come from several sources, and varies slightly in 
price, the form used should be given. The fully 
amended analyses on each tag of fertilizer sold would 
read something like this : 
Per cent. 
Available Phosphoric Acid (Pa0 6 ). ; . 9 to 10 
Each ton contains from 160 to 200 pounds, derived en¬ 
tirely from phosphate rock. 
Nitrogen Estimated as Ammonia . 4 to 5 
Each ton contains from 80 to 100 pounds, 20 pounds of 
which comes from sulphate of ammonia, 20 pounds 
from nitrate of soda, and 40 pounds from fish scrap. 
Potash, soluble K 2 O. 6 to 8 
Each ton contains from 120 to 160 pounds, all of which 
is derived from muriate (chloride) of potash. 
These changes are radical, and of course, will be 
vigorously fought; but I am fully persuaded of their 
substantial justice. norman Robinson. 
Formerly Florida State Chemist. 
The Farmers’ Club 
[Every query must be accompanied by the name and address of 
the writer to insure attention. Before asking a question please 
see whether it is not answered in our advertising columns. Ask 
only a few questions at one time. Put questions on a separate 
piece of paper.] 
STARTING A BUTTER CREAMERY. 
HOW MANY COWS? THE COST? 
A reader in southern Delaware is interested in establishing a 
ereamery, and wishes to know the smallest number of cows that 
would make the creamery pay. Butter will average 25 cents a 
pound the year around. What should an outfit cost, including 
buildings ? What should a man be paid to run such a creamery ? 
What should milk from grade Jersey cows delivered at the 
creamery be worth, the skim-milk to be returned to patrons ? 
ANSWERED BY JOHN GOULD. 
There are many creameries, where the dairies are 
of the rich milking strains, where a success is being 
made with 250 cows, and the creameryman is making 
a fair return upon his outlay. But with ordinary 
cows, such as you “ take on the run,” I would want 
fully 500, and a guaranteed delivery for the year, to 
be warranted in making a creamery venture. Of 
course, where one can be assured of a uniform 25-cent 
rate for the butter, it would make a difference, as this 
is a better price than Elgin can assure for the best 
month, and the price there runs all the way down to 
14 cents in July. 
Outfits vary in price so much that it is hardly safe 
to quote exact figures. The skill of the fellow who 
buys, and knows what he wants and what he does not 
need, and how much the things he does want are 
actually worth, makes 50 per cent or so difference in 
the matter. If one have water, and a building that 
can be utilized, he ought to get a good separator for 
$350, and the other machinery for anywhere from $500 
up into the thousands, if desired. Building and all 
ought to be made complete for $1,800. If one get 
tied in with a “shark-promoting scheme,” he will 
want $5,000. If the reader will apply to some good 
dairy school like that of New York (Ithaca), Ohio 
(Columbus), or Wisconsin (Madison), he will be sup¬ 
plied with a graduate who is posted in dairy work. 
One can, probably, get such a capable man for $60 
per month. 
Do not buy any one’s milk. Buy butter fat on the 
Babcock test! Pay the patrons a fair price for it. 
Let us illustrate : If different patrons bring in 500 
pounds of butter fat by the test, the separators are 
run right, and the foreman ripens the cream, and 
