298 
THE RURAL NEW-YORKER. 
MAY 10 
DEVICE FOR LEADING CATTLE. 
At Fig. 91, is shown an arrangement that bas been found 
valuable in managing cattle that are “ ugly ” and hard to 
lead. It is made of a strong surcingle belted around the 
body, with a ring on either side and a long rope running 
through each and fastened by a strong clasp around the 
front foot. Whenever an animal fixed in this way starts 
to jump or run, if the driver having one of the ropes in 
each hand, gives a good pull, the beast will fall on its 
knees in an instant. It soon becomes tired of this treat¬ 
ment and is easily conquered. Always keep the ropes out¬ 
side of the hind legs. w. A. 
A FORMIDABLE ENEMST TO THE TULIP TREE IN 
' NEW JERSEY. 
The Tulip Tree, in this part of the country (New Jersey), 
at any rate, where it forms an essential part of the forests, 
has until the past three years been considered as exempt 
from the injuries caused by insects as any other tree. Its 
odd leaves, its “tulip” blossoms, its vigorous growth, and 
when cut back from year to year, its symmetrical luxuri¬ 
ance of habit, are valid reasons why it should be selected 
for conspicuous positions in any grounds spacious enough 
to afford ample room for its development; for it will not 
bear unlimited restriction and must in the course of a 
dozen years assert itself as a tree of majestic bearing. It was 
three years ago when the Tulip Tree was first (in this sec¬ 
tion) attacked by the bark-louse in a way to mar its beauty, 
not to say, threaten its existence. Our own trees, three in 
number, which were, 18 years ago, planted in prominent 
places, are now so disfigured by this disgusting insect that 
they will have to be destroyed. The branches are covered 
with the scales which resemble so many chronic sores. 
The infested branches first turn black, as if scorched by 
fire and then die. An examination of the Tulips in the 
forests about us show that they, too, are suffering from 
the bark-louse. Most of the lower branches have already 
Work of Lecanium Tulipiferum. From Nature. Fig. 90. 
been destroyed and have fallen or are ready to fall and, 
unless the insect be destroyed by some natural enemy, it 
is reasonable to suppose that the higher branches will suf¬ 
fer next. There is practically no way of fighting this in¬ 
sect. The kerosene emulsion, if applied at the right time, 
and at repeated intervals during two or three weeks, 
would, no doubt, afford a temporary relief. 
The infested twigs as shown at Fig. 90, are specimens 
taken from one of the trees planted 17 years ago in the 
Rural Grounds. 
THE ANTI-STEAL BAR. 
At Fig. 94, we present the cut of a very simple yet effec¬ 
tive contrivance for locking the stable door, which we saw 
on a recent trip in the country. It consists simply of a 
couple of pieces of strong bar-iron. The upright at the right 
of the door is mortised to allow the longer bar to pass back 
far enough for the other end to enter the upright at the 
left. The left end is notched as represented, and a short 
piece is fastened by a single bolt, allowing the notched end 
to play up and down. When the bar is pushed in, the catch 
rises until the notch is passed, when it drops into the 
notch in the bar, holding it firmly. To open it is a puzzle 
to the uninitiated. The key is simply a short piece of fence 
wire, which should hang near at hand. Move the bar to 
the left, which raises the catch, pass the key through a 
gimlet hole represented just over the catch, press against 
the catch, holding it up, when the bar can be pulled out. 
There are several advantages in this mode of fastening. 
It is inexpensive; there is no trouble if the key be lost, as 
another can be easily made; it is effective, as it is impos¬ 
sible to get a horse through the door even if opened; the 
door may be left open in warm weather, often a desirable 
consideration. The device is unpatented, and may be 
made by any blacksmith. 
BUILDING WIRE FENCE ALONE. 
I am indebted to a neighbor for the idea of unraveling 
fence wire, illustrated at Fig. 92. As far as I know, it has 
never been in print; but it is too good to be kept from the 
public. It can be made in a few minutes, and it lays the 
wire snugly and tightly. It can be used by one man with¬ 
out a team, and in soft meadows where a team cannot go. 
A. C. CARPENTER. 
STOCK AND DAIRY NOTES. 
“The Cow of the Fdture.”— Probably no poem has 
had a wider range of readers than “Mary Had a Little 
Lamb.” It has been translated into every modern lan¬ 
guage and into most of the dead ones too. It has been 
illustrated and recited until it may be said that the per¬ 
son who cannot repeat it without notice is behind the 
times. The little picture shown at Fig. 93, seems likely to 
become almost as widely known as the poem. It first ap¬ 
peared, we believe, in the Ohio Farmer, then it was copied 
into some English papers, and now we find it in a French 
publication. It is supposed to be a sarcasm directed at 
the arguments of the smart individuals who show, on 
paper, just what the dairy cow ought to te. One man says 
dishorning is the thing. Dairy cows have no use for horns; 
besides, it requires lots of food to produce these horns— 
waste, all of it. What’s a cow’s tail good for anyway 
except to brush away the flies ? Save the amount of food 
required to keep that tail in good condition and you can 
afford to hire a boy to brush the flies away. A dairy cow 
should never be fat. Boil her down to pure muscle and 
bone. Encourage her to put all the fat she can make into 
the milk. Develop her udder. Begin handling it when 
she is one day old and continue it till she dies. The larger 
you make it of course the more milk she will give. The 
cut is supposed to show what we may expect about the 
year 2,000, by breeding carefully in the lines indicated 
Fig. 92. 
above- Did Nature know what she was about when she 
made our dairy cows t Are our ideas more sensible than 
hers ? 
Milk Records.— Last year an effort was made to ascer¬ 
tain the yield of milk and gross receipts from about 800 
dairies in New York State. When the blanks which were 
sent out were returned, it was found that but one person 
kept an account of the yield of the individual cows, and 
but very few knew the gross receipts from their dairies 
during the year, except those who sold all their milk to 
factories or for immediate consumption. In order to interest 
dairymen and for the purpose of getting reliable statistics 
from a large number of dairies, the State Dairymen’s 
Association directed that blanks for keeping records 
should be prepared and sent out to all those who would 
agree to keep a careful account of the milk product of 
each cow and report to the secretary, Hon. Josiah Shull, 
Ilion, N. Y., on or before December 1, 1890. The blanks 
IFig. • < ' 
are now prepared and a supply sufficient for a yeai j 
furnished on application to the undersigned. The appli¬ 
cant will state how many cows there are injhis^dairy and.in- 
close four cents in]stamps to pay return postage. No charge 
will.be made for blanks. A premium of $10 is offered for the 
neatest, best, and most accurate report that shall be re¬ 
ceived by the secretary on or before December 1, 1890. 
The prize will be awarded at the annual meeting in Decem¬ 
ber. It is hoped that this will induce many young men 
and boys to find out what their fathers’ cows are doing. 
Ithaca, New York. I. P. Roberts. 
Scrub Dairy, Gilt-edged Record.— We keep 23 cows, 
most of which are grade Short-horns (general-purpose) 
cows. For the past year they gave 138,821 pounds of milk, 
or an average of 0,035 pounds per head. We consider this 
pretty fair, taking into consideration the breed and age of 
the herd. We had four two-year-olds, three three-year- 
olds, and one four-year-old that aborted. The milk went 
to the cheese factory from March 25, to December 9, so I 
cannot state how much butter it would have made; but 
from tests made in the spring 22 pounds of milk made one 
pound of butter, and in December 18 pounds did the same. 
I think had it all been made into butter, there would have 
been very nearly 300 pounds per head. 
My father went into the dairy business in 1867, purchasing 
anything that had teats and horns, and paying as high as 
$75. per head. I was but three years old at that time, and 
have worked in the dairy every year since I became large 
enough to begin to milk. We do not claim to have mas¬ 
tered the entire business yet; but we are learning some¬ 
thing new every year. I have no data as to profits previous 
to 1876; but can give a partial account since. We are 
trying to beat our last year’s record: this season we are 
getting over 400 pounds per day from 16 cows, and one of 
them aborted. We do not grain very heavily, as we are 
trying to produce milk at a profit, even at the present low 
prices for dairy products. We are feeding only seven 
pounds per day of oats, wheat, and corn ground together. 
We raise the Welcome Oats, and White Russian spring 
wheat mixed (weighing 42 pounds per bushel), and grind two 
bushels with one of corn. F. L. MCE. 
Allegany County, N. Y. 
A Grade Jersey Herd.— We have a herd of 19 grade 
Jersey cows, five of which are two years old, (and two of 
them have lost one-quarter of their udders). From April 1, 
1889, to April 1, 1890, they made 5,448 pounds of butter. 
Here is the product per month : 
April. 
May. 
June. 
July. 
August. 
September 
October.... 
November. 
December. 
January... 
February.. 
March.. 
. 854 pounds. 
. 557 
. 705 
. 771 
. 547 
. 331 
. 824 
. 802 
274 
. 807 “ 
. 373 
. 593 “ 
6,448 
That makes an average of 286 14-19 pounds per cow. We 
think that is doing pretty well. We raise all our own cows 
and do not think it pays to buy any. When we have one 
that is not very good we dispose of her as soon as possible, 
as we do not think it pays to keep poor stock. We use a 
first-class Jersey bull and raise the calves from the best 
cows, as that is the proper way to build up a herd. We 
take the R. N.-Y., and think it a first-class paper. We 
have a farm of 160 acres and all we raise we feed out on 
the farm and buy a great deal besides. We are getting 
into winter-dairying as fast as we can, for we think it pays 
best. A great many people here think farming does not 
pay, but we don’t think the farms are to blame ; to make 
farming pay one must plan as well as work. 
Walworth, N. Y. j. F. & sons. 
Feeding Grain on Pasture.— Does it pay to feed 
grain to cows on pasture? I think it does, no matter how 
good the pasture may be. We can never tell exactly how 
much feed a cow ought to have; but it is better to err a 
little in the way of over-feeding than of under-feeding as 
the results of the former can be more easily remedied. I be¬ 
lieve that a good dairy cow will pay for a grain feed even 
when on the best pasture. If cows are kept at work up to 
their full capacity, there will be a greater amount of profit 
than if they are allowed to fall off in yield during summer 
when the good pasture seems to supply all their wants, 
and the prices of milk and butter are so low that it ap¬ 
pears to be a waste of grain to feed it to the cows. But 
while this feed may not pay just at that time, it will pay 
in the better working order of the cows when cold weather 
and better prices arrive together. A. L. c. 
A Big Calf. —Mr. N. K. Reed, of Ontario County, N. 
Y., sends the following note: 
“ Clementine, a four-year-old heifer of the American 
Polled herd, of Richmond Mills, N. Y., gave birth to a bull 
calf October 25, 1888, which weighed 134 pounds.” 
If this is not the heaviest calf thus far recorded, the 
R. N.-Y. will be glad to learn of heavier ones. 
Improving Stables.— I increased the stable room of my 
barn quite inexpensively by putting on an L, 41 feet long 
and 81 wide, with 18-foot posts, giving me a loft, under the 
rafters and over the stable, 10 feet from the floor to the 
plate, and nine feet in the clear. This improvement af¬ 
fords me 80 feet of stable room and all necessary working 
space, with a large hay or straw loft. The whole expense 
