23o i 
March 19 
THE RURAL NEW-YORKER. 
94 shows the cows at pasture with two dry yearlings 
in the foreground. J. grant morse. 
Madison Co., N. Y. 
HENS VS. COWS. 
Some figures on the profits of dairying have come 
to my knowledge recently that have surprised me on 
IT NEEDS A NEW,'HEAD. Fig/96. See Page 234. 
account of their littleness. A neighbor (as we call 
them in the country, though he lives four miles away) 
keeps cows, I do not know how many, but he told me 
boastingly that his creamery check last month was 
$86 and his bill for grain $60. That leaves $26—a dol¬ 
lar a day—for profit, if he didn’t have to feed any 
hay. Taking out the cost of hay for his 12 or 15 cows 
it would not leave a great deal for his month’s work. 
Another farmer who keeps 30 cows, has a splendid 
farm, is a powerful man in the prime of life, and a 
worker, says that with grain bill and hired help there 
is not a dollar in the cow business. He makes his own 
butter and sells it to private customers in a village 
six miles away. The two following items are from 
Hoard’s'Dairyman of January 29, 2904: 
W. H. Jenkins took a census In 1901 of 50 farmers who 
were patrons of the creamery in Montrose, Pa. Twenty- 
five of them read dairy papers; 25 did not. The 25 who did 
read dairy papers averaged $50.23 per cow for the year. 
The 25 who did not read averaged $32.95. Here is a differ¬ 
ence of $17.28 per cow. Did it pay the 25 to read? Did it 
pay the other 25 not to read? That’s not all. Those who 
did read averaged a profit over cost of food of $15.06 per 
ccw. Those who did not read averaged a profit of 66 cents. 
C. P. Goodrich took a cow census at Plymouth, Ind., a 
few weeks since of 50 farmers, patrons of a creamery. 
Note the following facts: The total number of cows was 
250; the average cost of keeping per cow was $24.96; the 
average returns in butter fat per cow was $32.20; the 
average number of pounds of butter fat per cow was only 
166; the average net price was 19.4 cents; the average net 
profit per cow above cost of feed was $7.24; the average 
returns for $1 worth of feed was $1.29. The six patrons 
who read a dairy paper averaged $21 per cow over and 
above the cost of feed, while the 44 who did not read a 
dairy paper received only $5.58 per cow above the cost 
of feed. Does it pay to go without sound dairy reading? 
It will be noticed that the best half of the Pennsyl¬ 
vania cows averaged $15.06 net profit per year, while 
best, six out of fifty of the Indiana farmers averaged 
$21 per cow per year. It is fair to assume that these 
hest cows were worth $45 to $60 each. Consequently 
it appears that it takes a good cow to pay an annual 
profit equal to one-third her market value. 
Now I rise to say that if there is anywhere in these 
United States any old dunghill, scaly-legged, blear- 
eyed, frosted-combed, roach-backed, crooked-breasted, 
twisted-toed apology for a hen, that with relative good 
care won’t pay an annual profit on her market value 
of more than 33 per cent then she ought to be ex¬ 
hibited at the St. Louis Exposition along with the 
“rara avis” and the “guyascutis” as the biggest curi¬ 
osity in the show. I have kept fowls off and on for 40 
years, in city and village back yards, and for the last 
10 years on a farm, and I know there has never been 
a year when they did not pay me from 200 to 300 
per cent on their market value. The cow men ought 
to be ashamed; let them go to work and breed up their 
stock as the hen men have theirs, and in time the 
word “farmer” will not be synonymous, as it fre¬ 
quently is now in the city mind, with ignorance and 
gullibility. geo. a. cosgrove. 
Connecticut. 
It is said that the Pampas grass Industry, once im¬ 
portant in California, is now dying out. The industry be¬ 
came prominent about the time of the Philadelphia Cen¬ 
tennial, and gradually assumed large proportions. Apart 
from changes in public taste, the inflammable nature of 
the plumes has created prejudice against them. 
FINE APPLES AND THE DAIRY COW. 
Wayne County, New York, has a strong hold upon 
Ben Davis, and it would really seem that the accepted 
poor quality of the eastern “Ben” is not true here. 
They are in demand, are money makers and so these 
people plant them. It is passing strange why New 
York apple growers are so negligent in securing the 
fancy fruit trade. They seem to think because they 
have a sort of copyright on fine flavor that nothing 
else is necessary. Prof. Craig informs me of a case in 
New York City where Spitzenburgs were retailing two 
for a quarter, or $5.50 per bushel box, that were 
shipped from the Hood River section of Oregon. About 
200 growers are in a combine. They pick their fruit, 
send it to a central packing house where an unpre¬ 
judiced expert handler sorts the fruit, wraps it with 
soft paper first and a glazed parchment over this, and 
then carefully packs them in small boxes. The gain 
in space by the paper used in wrapping, fully balances 
the cost of doing the work. They keep much longer 
and each apple is free from the contamination of a 
neighbor, and the fruit when used has the bloom and 
appearance of fresh picked apples. The apple grow¬ 
ers are far behind the dairymen in seeking out new 
markets with fancy products. Butter and cheese are 
put up in various fancy and attractive forms and 
packages. When will the fruit growers of the East 
learn the same important lesson? Another most sig¬ 
nificant and important observation is the growth of 
dairying in the fruit sections. These fruit growers 
claim that their returns are fabulous compared with 
dairying, and yet show eagerness to get cows and cow 
information. What is the reason? Is it due to the 
fact that dairy income is regular and sure, coming 
each month, while fruit and crop growing yield their 
AS CUT BACK. Fig. 97. See Page 234. 
returns only once a year and sometimes biennially? 
Or may we attribute this desire to an urgent demand 
for stable manure that these crop growers are coming 
to feel so keenly? The dairy cow is the great modera¬ 
tor and conserving force in agriculture, and the proper 
equilibrium that must be maintained between various 
productive interests she is able to maintain. If this 
idea is correct, there is no reason to expect fabulous 
prices for dairy products in the future, rr. e. cook. 
SUCCESS WITH BORDEAUX MIXTURE. 
Thorough Work Necessary. 
I read H. W. Heaton’s article, page 91, “Does Po¬ 
tato Spraying Pay.” I am quite sure it does if it is 
thoroughly done. To receive the best results we 
should not spray part of the top or half of the vines 
and see how quickly we can go over an acre. The 
aim should be to apply the spray evenly and thor¬ 
oughly over all the foliage; treat each hill as if it 
was the only hill one had to spray. If there is one 
joh on a farm that will not stand rushing it is spray¬ 
ing. As sure as it is done in a slip-shod manner just 
so sure it will turn out to be a failure. Do not wait 
until the blight makes an appearance and then start 
to spray, for one spraying as a preventive is worth 
five of cure. I will give you my experience with two 
acres of potatoes in 1902. We planted two acres June 
9; they received good care, and by August 1 the vines 
had almost covered the ground. There was not a 
sign of blight. About two weeks later I noticed the 
vines began to change color. The first week in Sep¬ 
tember I went over the field and every vine was as 
dead as a doornail. The potatoes were not half ma¬ 
tured. We dug 141 bushels of small and medium¬ 
sized tubers. So much for 1902, without spraying. 
Last year (1903) we planted the same piece to pota¬ 
toes June 12; sprayed July 20 with Bordeaux Mixture. 
The formula used was l-l%-8. I left eight row’s un¬ 
sprayed as a check. August 10 we sprayed again, and 
noticing that the unsprayed rows were beginning to 
blight we sprayed them also. August 25 we sprayed 
for the third time. The vines were all good and 
healthy, with the exception of the eight rows. They 
were showing quite a little blight. September 10 we 
sprayed for the last time. The vines still looked vig¬ 
orous and healthy. The eight rows left unsprayed at 
the first spraying showed about 50 per cent of dead 
vines, and the remainder died about three weeks be¬ 
fore the rest of the field. The last week in October 
we dug the potatoes; the yield was 406 bushels of 
marketable potatoes. With my experience of last 
year I have come to the conclusion that in order to 
receive the most benefit from spraying we must spray 
when the vines are small, and keep them well cov¬ 
ered with Bordeaux Mixture during the growing sea¬ 
son, even if we have to spray every w r eek. w. f. 
Oswego, N. Y. 
Potato Blight and Bordeaux Mixture. 
I used Bordeaux Mixture on four acres of potatoes 
the last season. I gave them four sprayings between 
July 1 and August 15. All potatoes in this section 
that were not sprayed went down with the blight be¬ 
fore August 20. My potato tops held green until about 
the fifth of September, and I venture to say that the 
tubers increased one-third during those last two 
weeks. The tops were not free from blight, but its 
progress was so slow that the tubers had time to ma¬ 
ture before the tops were killed. p. e. d. 
Taunton, Mass. 
An Experiment Through Mistake. 
I wish to give our experience with potatoes last 
year. Our crop started badly and when some of the 
hills were in blossom others were just breaking the 
ground. At this point we commenced spraying every 
two weeks during last part of July. Our Bordeaux 
solution was mixed according to station rule. We 
bought a power sprayer; all the driver has to do is to 
drive and watch nozzles, which is very necessary for 
perfect work. At the third or last spraying our agi¬ 
tator became disconnected and was nQt discovered 
until about V-/ 2 acre was Imperfectly sprayed and this 
gave a fine illustration of the effects of our work. The 
first acre was sprayed with machine all in order, then 
iy 2 acre no agitator in barrel; then repaired agitator 
and finished piece except three rows on one side of 
piece. The first acre showed hardly any sign of 
blight, when the middle strip or the part where ma¬ 
chine was out of order was as black as though fire 
had been over it. Then came a strip after repair¬ 
ing machine that remained green; then three rows 
on side of piece not sprayed third time also all or 
nearly all brown. It was quite an interesting sight to 
us after spending nearly $100 on the strength of 
reports of our experiment station, which we have 
great confidence in. Let’s help the good work on. We 
had a big yield for the stand of vines as did everyone 
HOW THE NEW HEAD STARTS. Fig. 98. See Page 234. 
in our vicinity. We shall try to be more thorough 
this year than last in our spraying. b. briggs. 
Erie Co., N. Y. 
Some people seem to cast the stalest bread they have 
upon the waters, expecting; it to come back as plum cake. 
