i 89 o 
THE RURAL NEW-YORKER 
9 
(Tl)c poitllnj IJmt). 
GLASS IN THE POULTRY HOUSE. 
(Continued from Page 2.) 
FROM A. F. WILLIAMS. 
Poultry buildings should face the south 
if possible and the windows should be on 
the east, south and west sides. If all were 
on the south and they were closed during 
the day, disease would most surely soon 
get among the dock. The first symptoms 
would be colds, owing to the intense heat 
during the day, and the chilling tempera¬ 
ture at night. The windows on the south 
side of the hennery should be opened dur¬ 
ing the hottest part of the day if the sun 
shines. Fowls must have fresh air every 
day, and they will not do well unless they 
do have it; but at night the building 
should be closed up and everything should 
be kept dry inside. Dampness leads to 
colds and roup, and this is contracted at 
night. The roofs should not be permitted 
to leak. 
Bristol, Conn. 
SlrboricMltm'al. 
SUGG ESTIONS. 
WILLIAM FALCONER. 
Timely treatment, of deciduous and ever¬ 
green trees; profitable Wistaria seeds; 
precautions against field mice; prun¬ 
ing roses ; treatment of cracked bark on 
trees. 
Go OUT among your young deciduous 
trees and with a knife, shears or saw get 
them into symmetrical, handsome shape. 
Cut out branches that run cross-wise or 
rub against others, shorten back to 
the desired length limbs that protrude too 
far and thin the branches where they are 
too thick; but avoid heavy pruning and 
don’t cut off sprayey branches. In cutting, 
cut in close to a joint, branch or stem, cut 
clean and smoothen large wounds with a 
paring iron. Then paint the wounds with 
dark-colored paint. 
# 
* * 
2. Tie up the main branches of the 
pretty evergreens, as Arbor-vitaes, Retinis- 
poras, Yews and Irish Junipers, to prevent 
heavy snow from spreading them apart, 
and when heavy snow does come take a 
long rod or bean pole and shake it off your 
choice evergreens rather than leave it on 
them to weigh down and misplace or break 
their branches. 
♦ 
♦ ■* 
3. You shouldn’t throw money away by 
letting your Wistaria seeds go to waste 
upon the vines. Gather them and sell 
them (in the pods if you want to). You 
will get six times as much for them as you 
will for oats or corn. 
* 
* 
How beautifully brown many of the ever¬ 
greens have now turned. Douglas’s Golden 
Juniper has changed from golden yellow to 
bronze brown; so too has the Golden Chi¬ 
nese Arbor-vit®. Retinispora ericoides, 
Thuja gigantea and some others have also 
assumed the bronzy color for the winter, 
and as brown as any of them is the ever¬ 
green Azalea amocna. 
* 
* * 
Look out for damage by field mice to all 
young trees, especially evergreens, whose 
branches are close to the ground and afford 
the mice good shelter. It is hardly prac¬ 
ticable to pack earth or snow up against 
the trunks of these trees because they are 
branched to the bottom; so about the only 
thing we can do is to clear away all dead 
grass or leaves about the tree to rob the 
mice of any shelter. A piece of old w-ire 
mosquito netting rolled and tied round the 
but of the trunk will repel the mice. 
Don’t prune roses now; wait till spring 
till you see how much the winter has killed 
them back, then cut the shoots back to 
sound, living wood, even if you have to cut 
the plants back to the ground. 
♦ 
* * 
You will probably find the bark on the 
southwest side of the stems of some of your 
trees cracked and dying off. Take a 
strong, sharp knife and cut off this loose, 
dead bark clean to the living bark, then 
tie a piece of thin board against this bare 
side of the trunk till the young ba*k begins 
to grow over the bare strip, or the leaves 
and branches shade it well. 
COWS FOR THE DAIRY. 
A QUESTION. 
Are heifers that give a large yield of milk with 
their first calf sure to excel those that give a 
smaller yield at first ? 
The following statement comes from a 
subscriber in New York State. 
“ In my experience I have found that 
when a heifer came in and was ‘A. No, 1’ 
for milk, she failed sooner than one that 
gave an ordinary mess of milk to begin 
with ; while the latter improved with age 
and at maturity became the better cow. I 
do not find this in all cases, but in a large 
majority of them.” 
FROM F. D. DOUGLAS. 
My early experience with heifers was 
somewhat like that of “ the New York Sub¬ 
scriber,” but my late experiences have led 
me to believe that my failures were to 
some extent at least due to my own fault. 
Heifers giving a large flow of milk at the 
outset must be judiciously fed and cared 
for. Their organism is much more deli¬ 
cate than that of animals of a beef-produc¬ 
ing type. Their lacteal organs especially 
are much more delicate, and more liable to 
injury from various causes than are those 
of cows of a less sensitive and precocious 
development. They must not be fed on too 
concentrated food, like corn-meal, etc. 
They will not bear exposure to cold and 
wet as will animals of a less perfect lacteal 
organism. By a forcing process, even with 
properly constituted rations, their vital 
energies may be so impaired that their in¬ 
feriors at the outset, even with the same 
treatment, will beat them in a race. It is 
not advisable to discard heifers having all 
the external indications of good milking 
stock because they do not make a satisfact¬ 
ory showing the first season. I find, as does 
the above correspondent, that for causes 
not always apparent some of my best heifers 
will not give a satisfactory flow of milk the 
first season, but will the second do much 
better, and ultimately develop into the best 
of milkers. But these cases are with me 
exceptional, and I have come to expect the 
best results from those cows which start 
off well, provided I do not allow the machine 
—so to speak—to be overtaxed or abused in 
any manner. The question of the early de¬ 
velopment of dairy stock is an important 
one, upon which much may be profitably 
said and written. 
Whiting, Vermont. 
FROM GEO. M. ORRIS. 
Some years ago my attention w as called 
to this subject: We had two heifers; one 
gave the promise of being something extra; 
the other did not look as if she would ever 
make a milker. She looked mean, and the 
older she grew the meaner she looked. 
When they had their first calves. No. 1 had 
a very fine udder, gave a very large mess 
of milk for a heifer and I was very proud 
of her, and while showing her to an old 
farmer, he said : ‘‘My friend, you will be 
disappointed in that heifer, for I have al¬ 
ways noticed that heifers that gave an un¬ 
usual promise the first year disappoint the 
owners,” and it was so. She gave more 
milk the first time she came in than at any 
subsequent time. The other did not give 
more than one-half, but she improved with 
every calf and was one of the largest milk¬ 
ers I ever ow ned, and ever since that time I 
have noticed the same thing to occur in a 
number of cases. While I am always 
proud of heifers that give promise of be¬ 
coming something extra, I have been dis¬ 
appointed more in such cases than with 
heifers of fair promise; but this has not 
been true in every case. 
Meadville. Pa. 
FROM P. H. MONROE. 
My experience corresponds with that of 
the New York Subscriber with heifers of 
mixed blood or scrubs, though perhaps not 
•‘ in a large majority of cases.” But given 
two heifers of the same blood and of true 
dairy form, I always expect them to de¬ 
velop before and after calving in about the 
same proportion as they will at maturity, 
all the conditions surrounding them being 
equal. The one that is superior for milk 
or butter after her first calf, rarely fails to 
keep the lead to the end. But let these 
heifers change hands, each going to a dif¬ 
ferent owner, and the different care they 
would receive might easily change the re¬ 
sult and cause the inferior heifer to be “at 
maturity the better cow.” I don’t think 
this statement correct if applied to dairy 
cattle, both being animals of the same 
breed; but in case of two heifers, one a 
Jersey and the other a grade Short-horn, 
the latter might easily give more milk with 
her first calf, but her hereditary tendency 
to convert food into beef instead of into 
milk would make her comparatively worth¬ 
less for the dairy as a cow. So it seems to 
me that in making a comparison of this 
kind both animals should be of the same 
blood, the same age and subjected in every 
way to the same conditions. 
Plainfield. Ill. 
FROM J. W. NEWTON. 
My dairy experience does not extend over 
a long period, and has consisted principally 
in changing a 100-pound-per-cow dairy to a 
225-pound-per cow dairy. I have been get¬ 
ting rid of the older common cows and 
raising up a herd of Jerseys. I have never 
noted the fact this New York Subscriber 
mentions. The best common cow I have and 
the only old cow in the herd, was “ A No. 
1 ” when a heifer and still continues to be. 
I have, however, read statements similar 
to that of the subscriber, and it seems rea¬ 
sonable that when a cow makes 300 pounds 
of butter per year she should fail sooner 
than one making only one-half or two- 
thirds that amount. I am glad the R. N.- 
Y. is making these inquiries in regard to 
practical dairy points. Some old-rut-fol¬ 
lowing farmers probably object to 300- 
pound cows because they wear out so fast— 
any excuse for keeping in the old way. I 
heard the other day of a man who did not 
like the Jerseys because they did not make 
enough swill for his hogs ! Hewanted cows 
that made lots of swill! 
Lamoille County, Yt. 
FROM A. L. CROSBY. 
My experience has been with th orough- 
bred and grade Jerseys. I have never had 
a Jersey that was anywhere near A No. 1 
for milk, but if any animal started into 
cow-hood with a pretty fair yield of milk 
she kept it up, but if one began with a 
small yield she did not improve to any 
great extent. I have grades that started 
with very good yields of rich milk and they 
have kept it up; at maturity. I would pre¬ 
fer to have a heifer begin with a good yield, 
trusting to be able to make her keep it up, 
as it is much easier to keep a cow from de¬ 
creeing than to make her increase her 
milk production. 
Catonsville, Md. 
FROM W. E. RINES. 
I am not a very old farmer, but as far as 
my experience has gone in raising cows, 
they generally improve until they are 
seven or eight years old. Of course there 
are a few- exceptions to this rule. At any 
rate I am better satisfied at having a heifer 
doing well at first. I think it pays to take 
good care of a heifer the first year or two 
or until she comes in, as this has much to 
do with making a good cow. Many farm¬ 
ers seem to think that the more cheaply 
they keep a heifer until she calves, the bet¬ 
ter off they will be, but poor treatment is 
poor economy. 
Dover, N. H. 
FROM A. B. ROWE. 
I have sometimes known heifers that 
gave an abundant flow of milk at first, 
which, after a few- months, dropped off, and 
gave no more than others that had given a 
much smaller quantity at first, but had 
kept up an even flow, and I have known 
the latter to improve with age, and make 
fine cow’s when fully matured, but, as a 
general thing, those giving the largest flow 
of milk at first, would always be my choice 
for the dairy, where milk is sold. In the 
case of butter, it is not always the greatest 
milkers that will make the most butter. 
Fredericksburg, Va. 
FROM W. B. PRATT. 
I have had such cases but not in a suffi¬ 
cient majority to establish a rule. There 
is a four-year-old in the yard at present 
that is not up to her early promise. There 
are others of different ages that were good 
at the start and have been so ever since. 
There was one which was rated “ ordinary ” 
after two seasons’ use, and which was sold 
as such last spring for $40, that has de¬ 
veloped so well in the buyer’s hands during 
her third season as to be now “extra” and 
worth $100. These are all grade Jerseys. 
Prior to the advent of this breed, 25 years 
ago perhaps, a grade Short-horn heifer 
seemed to be an animal of special promise 
for a dairy cow during the early part of her 
first season, but she began to fail in milk 
yield during the second year, and was of 
little account in the dairy, and the third 
year she went, fat, to the butchers’ in June, 
after dropping her third calf the preced¬ 
ing March. I recall one similar case in my 
experience with Jerseys. 
Prattsburgh, N. Y. 
The R. N.-Y. has an excellent account of 
Mr. Colcord’s “preserved forage,” that 
will be sure to interest our ensilage friends. 
An article on sweet-cream butter, soon to 
appear, will doubtless cause considerable 
discussion. 
DAIRYING IN NEW ENGLAND. 
T. H. HOSKINS, M. D. 
A revolution in dairying; “ old-time 
dairying ”; poor inducements for im¬ 
provement; the “ entering wedge” for a 
change; better appliances and broader 
knowledge ; co-operative dairying ; bet¬ 
ter conditions all around except among 
the poorer farmers; the desperate plight, 
of the latter likely to lead, to abandon¬ 
ment of their farms. 
A remarkable change has taken place 
throughout New England during the past 
decade, in dairy husbandry ; a change, in¬ 
deed, which amounts to a revolution. The 
business is in no particular what it was, 
and the condition of the great body of 
dairymen cannot be understood by those 
who knew it only as it was before this rev¬ 
olution began. 
In the time which, though not long past, 
may justly be called “ the old time,” the 
farm dairies which supplied the market of 
the commercial and manufacturing centers 
with their products were much upon an 
equality as regards their methods and their 
opportunities. They were, in fact, much 
more so than was just; and it was a com¬ 
mon complaint that very insufficient in¬ 
ducements were held out for any improve¬ 
ment in the quality of the product. The 
buying was conducted mainly by the coun¬ 
try merchants, who held direct personal 
and trade relations with the farmers with¬ 
in their circle of business, whom it was im¬ 
portant not to offend. These buyers were 
sharp business rivals, and the conditions 
surrounding them were such that a pref¬ 
erence given to one customer over another 
was sure to lead to trouble. The practical 
result was that all butter not absolutely 
bad brought substantially the same price, 
and the grading was done subsequently, to 
suit the market. In a few places, where 
the amount brought in was large and of 
high average quality, city buyers, or their 
agents, were able to act on a different plan, 
much to the advantage of the improving 
farmer. The effect of these central markets 
was good, not only in giving the good 
dairymen a fairer price, but in stimulating 
the inferior dairies to improvement. But 
this influence was limited to comparatively 
small and infrequent areas. As a rule, 
every farmer who made choice butter had 
to sell it at the average price, or seek a pri¬ 
vate customer. Only those of considerable 
means and business ability could do this 
and the remainder, however skillful and 
ambitious of improvement, were unable to 
help themselves. 
The organization of dairymen’s associa¬ 
tions was an entering wedge leading to a 
change. Simultaneous with these, and, I 
cannot help believing, in a large degree 
consequent upon them, came great im¬ 
provements in dairying apparatus, a bet¬ 
ter and more widespread knowledge of the 
true conditions of successful dairy work, 
and a considerable modification in the com¬ 
mercial conditions of the business. Per¬ 
haps one of the leading factors was the 
more general use of ice, necessitated by the 
improved apparatus, and discovered by ex¬ 
perience to be invaluable in controlling 
the great factor of success, temperature, 
