864 
December 24 
THE RURAL NEW-YORKER. 
A YANKEE IN OHIO. 
HOW THE STATE LOOKS TO EASTERN EYES. 
Its Advantages and Disadvantages. 
Part X. 
| EDITORIAL CORRESPONDENCE. I 
A Hog Country. —Mr. Jamison has told us in print 
how they handle the hogs in Ross County, but I did 
not appreciate what it really means until we walked 
out into a thick clover field. A year before the field 
had been sown to rye after corn. In the Spring, clover 
seed was sown on the rye. By the time the rye was 
about ripe, the clover had made a good growth, and 
the hogs were turned in to harvest the rye—which 
they had done, both stalk and grain. They had 
cleaned it up so well that I did not notice at first that 
any grain had been grown with the clover. Here and 
there, a small bunch of straw and a few headed grains 
were left, but the hogs had taken practically all of it. 
Enough rye shelled off to produce a small volunteer 
crop which gave excellent Fall feed. Mr. Jamison 
says that he usually gets a better clover seeding with 
rye than with wheat, and when one figures the cost 
of cutting and thrashing the grain, the hogs will 
pay more than the miller. Wheat is seldom if ever 
“ hogged ” down in this way. 
The clover in these fields was magnificent! What 
corn this ground will produce ! Clover, corn and wheat 
are the crops, with most of the- first two fed to hogs 
and sheep. When I was a boy, I had to pull grass 
with my hands, and carry it to the pig in the pen. 
Here were these clean, respectable hogs doing their 
own harvesting. In this country, they build up a 
covered pen of rails, and fill it with corn. Every day 
they throw out so many ears on the sod, and let the 
hogs do the rest! How a Yankee from a New England 
hill farm would have had the heartache at a sight of 
the great piles of corn cobs in these fields. He would 
have heated half his house with them and then made 
enough soft soap out of the ashes to pay half his taxes! 
The Polancl-Cliina.— In our country, we call the 
Poland-China hog just about too lazy to live. It 
seems that our farms are not up to his style of living. 
He has better fare at home—in southern Ohio. You 
should hear O. A. Cory, of Frankfort, tell his story. 
Ross County is not a dairy section, and there is little 
skim-milk for the pigs. Mrs. Poland-China doesn’t 
mind that. Give her the feed, and she will attend to 
the creamery department. Mr. Cory said that his 
hogs will average 225 pounds at six months old. “No 
other breed will do that!’’said he. Mr. Jamison’s 
Berkshires, he said, would rustle better and get 
around livelier for their feed, but in big clover, where 
there was no need of rustling, the Polands were the 
hogs for profit. In the same way, I presume, these 
farmers do not see why they should slave at dairying 
. when a Poland-China sow will earn more than two 
good cows, and do the work herself ! Needless to say, 
most of these Ross County people came across the 
Ohio River ! 
It was as good as a farmers’ institute to hear Mr. 
Cory talk, for he has studied the hog, and knows what 
he is talking about. “ Get good parents,” he says. 
“ Get a sow of good reputation, and a well-shaped 
boar. Get the sow into good condition. People are 
so afraid that a sow will get too fat that they some¬ 
times go to the other extreme, and get her so lean 
that both sow and pigs will suffer. Don't let her get 
too lean. If you do, and then pour the feed into her 
after the pigs are born, she will utilize most of it to 
build up her own system, and the pigs will not get the 
benefit of it. Pigs win or fail in the first few days of 
feeding, and we have but little skim-milk for them. 
We don’t need it when the sow is in condition to make 
whole milk for them.” 
HOW He Grows.— Think of a hog weighing 225 
pounds at 180 days old. He can’t afford to be sick for 
a day or to squeal for an hour. It looks like a steady 
thing of eating and sleeping, but Mr. Cory says that 
most hog diseases are caused by overeating. The 
young Poland-China will gorge himself if you let him. 
The remedy is—don’t let him ! Mr. Cory says that 
nothing is better for young pigs than whole wheat; 
not shriveled or poor grains, but the best and plump¬ 
est wheat in the bin. If possible, have it ground 
whole and fed dry. Don’t put it in a slop. A good 
way is to scatter it broadcast over the sod, and let 
the pigs pick it up. That is the way we feed our hens, 
and Mr. Cory says that the pigs will get just as much 
of the wheat as the hens will. 
Mr. Jamison was feeding a flock of lambs, and I 
noticed that he broadcasted whole corn over the 
grass, and let the lambs pick it up. Mr. Cory said 
that there is nothing like wheat, ground or whole, for 
young pigs. Mr. Jamison does not go as far as this. 
When wheat is worth 85 cents a bushel, he would sell it 
and buy shorts and bran with the money. As they get 
larger, the hogs run in a Blue-grass or clover pasture, 
and have corn regularly. Blue grass takes second 
place with these farmers. They love clover. Mr. Cory 
says that Blue grass is good for nothing in time of 
drought. It dries up for two months. Clover will 
give him good pasture from April till November, and 
longer yet when hogged down with rye. Mr. Cory 
has about 90 acres of land, and I was surprised to hear 
him say that he would prefer a smaller farm. I sup¬ 
posed that stock growers were after larger areas, but 
Mr. Cory said that he could keep about as much stock 
on half the land by practicing soiling. You see these pro¬ 
gressive men all understand that doubling the crop on 
one acre is cheaper and better than working two acres 
to produce equal results. A study of this clover-hog 
farming is enough to make an eastern farmer want to 
knock down his pig pens as soon as he can get hold 
of an ax, and let the hogs out to pick their own liv¬ 
ing. We can follow their plan—not with Red clover, 
perhaps, but with substitutes like rape, sorghum, 
Crimson clover and cow peas, letting the hogs har¬ 
vest these crops in succession, and feeding corn or 
bran. Somehow a man is not easily convinced by 
reading about it. He must go and see it actually 
done. H- w. c. 
FEEDING COTTON-SEED HULLS AND MEAL. 
A dairyman in North Carolina sends us the follow¬ 
ing question : 
I am in the retail milk business. I can buy cotton-seed meal 
at $20 per ton, wheat bran at the same price, corn meal at $19, 
and cotton hulls at $4, all net, to be fed with corn stalks, beets 
and small potatoes. What shall I buy ? I sell my milk at four 
cents per quart. 
This brings up a curious thing with regard to the 
use of cotton-seed products for feeding. In our part 
of the country, we would certainly buy the cotton¬ 
seed meal and wheat bran, and feed them in combina¬ 
tion with our ordinary roughage, in a mixture of 
about half and half, by weight. Prof. F. E. Emery, 
of North Carolina, however, tells us that a combina¬ 
tion of cotton-seed hulls and the meal will produce 
milk at the least possible cost, in that State, ne 
would use from three to five parts of the hulls, to one 
of meal. He says that, if there is any particular mar¬ 
ket for corn stalks, beets and small potatoes, it would 
usually pay better to sell them, and buy hulls. If the 
potatoes and stalks are to be fed, he would feed a 
daily ration of one peck of potatoes with as much 
stalks or stover as the cows will eat, and balance 
with cotton-seed meal. The North Carolina Station, 
at Raleigh, has issued two bulletins, No. 106 and No. 
143, in which this feeding question is fully discussed. 
If cotton-seed meal is objected to, Prof. Emery says 
that it may be mixed with equal weights of wheat 
bran, and thus make an agreeable and profitable feed. 
We speak of this to show how feeding problems differ 
in different latitudes. North of Virginia, we doubt 
whether cotton-seed hulls would pay as a feed. Efforts 
have repeatedly been made to introduce them among 
northern dairymen, but never with great success, 
since farmers recognize that any of their common fod¬ 
der crops, or even oat straw, will afford just about as 
much nutriment as the hulls. In the South, however, 
the hulls are popular, and apparently, give good re¬ 
sults in feeding. 
INSURANCE RISKS ON INCUBATOR LAMPS. 
WHAT THE INSURANCE MEN SAY. 
Two weeks ago, we spoke of the fact that most fire 
insurance companies refuse to insure houses in which 
incubators are operated. This gives great annoyance 
to many careful people who wish to use an incubator 
during the cold weather. We have written the lead¬ 
ing fire insurance companies, asking them why they 
object to an incubator lamp, and in what way they 
consider that this lamp is more dangerous than the 
ordinary kerosene lamp used in most farm houses. This 
week, we give a synopsis of the replies to this ques¬ 
tion. Another week, we hope to give the experience 
of farmers who operate these incubators. 
The secretary of the Greenwich Town Insurance 
Company says that they have never had an oppor¬ 
tunity to refuse to insure property where an incubator 
is used. Personally, he sees no reason why they should 
not take such a risk, but the directors might think 
otherwise. His company, however, refuses to take 
risks where a steam engine is used. According to 
their by-laws, a man must use an engine for thrash¬ 
ing, at his own risk. 
E. O. Weeks, vice-president of the iEtna Insurance 
Company, says that incubator risks are refused be¬ 
cause insurance people consider the continuous burn¬ 
ing of an oil lamj), located in a cellar out of sight, 
close to wood or other combustible material, an in¬ 
crease of hazard. This is especially true when an in¬ 
ferior grade of oil is used. He says that farmers, as 
a rule, have more rubbish and litter about than does 
the merchant or manufacturer. They do not have 
the appliances for extinguishing fire, found in towns 
or cities. He says that insurance on farm property 
has not been profitable for a long series of years. In¬ 
surance companies are reluctant to accept any in¬ 
crease of hazard. Ilis own company does not prohibit 
such risks absolutely. They sometimes insure incu¬ 
bators if located in a small detached building not 
exposing barns or other buildings. They always in¬ 
sist that the oil to be used be never less than the 
United States standard of fire test, and that the lamps 
be filled when cold and by daylight only, and,never 
when near a fire or open light. 
The Glens Falls Insurance Company state that they 
charge 25 cents extra on each $100 of insurance for 
three years’ permission to use incubators. They have 
suffered severe losses originating from their use. The 
hazard, in their opinion, is much greater than with 
ordinary kerosene lamps, because they are left alone, 
and not carefully watched. Losses from the explosion 
of ordinary kerosene lamps are not usual^- severe. 
J H. Washburn, vice-president of the Home Insur¬ 
ance Company, does not know of any company that 
will not discriminate against buildings where incubat¬ 
ors are used. The objection is that the incubator 
lamps are not under continued observation. They are 
liable to start a fire, or explode w T hile no one is near 
them to look after the damage. 
Louis P. Bayard, of the Phoenix Insurance Company, 
says that their experience shows that many fires in 
dwelling houses are caused by incubators. The trouble 
is that the lamps burn all the time, and are left un¬ 
watched. The only way in which farmers can use 
these machines in their dwellings without giving up 
their policies, is by paying a largely increased pre¬ 
mium. 
The Queen Insurance Company state that their ex¬ 
perience with incubators or incubator lamps in build¬ 
ings has been so disastrous that they decline to grant 
the privilege for their use in any property insured by 
that Company. 
The Continental Insurance Company say that they 
have paid so many losses caused by incubator fires 
that they cannot afford to insure buildings where they 
are used, at any obtainable rate. The insurance of 
farm property at present makes a loss for them ; in 
fact, they contemplate an advance in rates. They 
have had ma ny losses from bursting or burning of 
kerosene lamps, but such losses are always small, as 
the accident generally happens when people are pres¬ 
ent. When the incubator lamp takes fire, there is 
usually no one on hand, and the fire gets beyond con¬ 
trol before it is discovered. 
SELLING MILK BY A STANDARD. 
NEED OF A PURE-FOOD LAW. 
On page 830, The R. N.-Y. says that a wholesale 
milk dealer had been fined $350 for selling skim-milk, 
and, “ Why not place the milk business on an honest 
and firm basis, by requiring that every dealer in milk 
shall guarantee the per cent of butter fats which the 
milk contains ? ” Why should the milk deal er be re¬ 
quired to guarantee the purity of his goods any more 
than the man who sells tea or coffee or any other 
food ? I know that milk is used in almost every 
family, while perhaps a few may not use tea or coffee. 
But should we who get our milk pure from the cow, be 
obliged to ask ourselves, wh en we add it to our coffee 
or tea, What are we drinking ? We know for a cer¬ 
tainty that the milk is pure, but how about the rest 
of it, sugar and all ? Is it not time that the dis¬ 
crimination against any one article of food or drink 
be stopped, and a law passed whereby all that is con¬ 
sumed for food or drink shall be guaranteed abso¬ 
lutely pure ? When I go to the store to get my family 
supplies, have I any guarantee, except the manufac¬ 
turers’ guarantee, that a thing I purchase is pure or, 
in fact, what I desire to purchase ? 
Much is said in the agricultural press about the 
farmers putting their goods upon the market under 
guarantee that every egg or apple or print of butter 
is just like the sample. While it is very gratifying to 
the consumer to find a dealer that he can rely upon, 
or a farmer who will furnish an article that will be 
just like the sample, how is it with the farmer? Is 
there a thing that he purchases where, perhaps, he has 
sold his guaranteed eggs or butter, that he can call 
as pure as his own product ? I know that the milk 
dealers are inclined to have their milk and cream hold 
out, but why discriminate against the milk dealer 
and producer, and let so many other producers of food 
supplies for human consumption go free? Is it not 
time that we have a United States law requiring 
everything for human consumption to be made abso¬ 
lutely pure—milk and all—under a fine and penalty 
so strong that a person once caught in adulterating 
an article for human consumption will never w T ant to 
try it again ? Then, and not until then, will there be 
just cause for discriminating against the milk dealer 
or producer. A. D. baker. 
Cayuga County, N. Y. 
R. n.-Y.—W e think that a law compelling the dealer 
