i89o 
THE RURAL NEW-YORKER. 
74i 
This is one reason why the organization of farmers in 
Ohio is sure to* result in good. It is nonsense to suppose 
that all the demands of agriculture are to be answered at 
once. We must go slow and learn to work in a team. Make 
the organization and then hang together. The following 
words from the Ohio Farmer may well be pondered over:— 
“In any contest between individuals or parties, the advan¬ 
tage lies with the side that keeps a level head, or, in other 
words, with the man or party that keeps cool and does 
everything deliberately, thoughtfully, and with a view to 
ultimate results. The farmers’ movement has attracted 
the attention of all other classes of people. They are 
watching it closely and critically, and from its declaration 
of purposes, the utterances of its leaders in public, the res 
olutions adopted at its meetings, and the opinions and 
doctrines promulgated through the press, they are making 
up a verdict of approval or condemnation.” 
The latest scheme for helping the dairy business is cer¬ 
tainly an original one. We are told that several farmers’ 
organizations propose to “demand” a law compelling the 
keepers of prisons, almshouses, insane asylums and other 
similar institutions to use more cheese and less meat for 
food. In this way, it is argued, a fresh demand for cheese 
will be created, to the benefit of all dairy products, while 
western dressed beef will lose considerable of its trade. We 
wonder if one of those “joint committees” would pass such 
a bill. 
The following note comes from a New Jersey farmer : 
“ I do not know whom to vote for in the coming election. 
Our Republican candidate for Congress is a man who had 
a fight on the floor of the House during the Cannon 
episode. He struck a fellow member in the face with his 
fist and blustered about like a bar-room loafer. The Demo¬ 
cratic candidate is said to be a rum-seller, nominated and 
supported by the saloon element of his party. What about 
the influence of the farmers’ movement in New Jersey ?” 
In this district nominations are “ cut and dried ” in a way 
that would startle some of our civil service reformers. The 
writer lives in a farming township and has attended many 
caucuses. He never knew more than five farmers to be 
present, except when the road question came up for dis¬ 
cussion. There is not a farmers’ club or Grange in the 
county. People generally accept the party candidates and 
say little. This year there are many Republicans who ob¬ 
ject to their candidate. Two arguments are used to keep 
them in line. “The other man is no better,” and “the 
loss of a single seat may cost us the House.” How is a 
man to give a practical illustration of his political indepen¬ 
dence in this district ? The farmers of New Jersey need an 
effective organization if it is needed anywhere. 
SOME RECENT BULLETINS. 
Feeding Linseed Meal.— In Bulletin 38 of the Massa¬ 
chusetts Experiment Station, Dr. Goessmann gives his ex¬ 
perience with feeding both old and new process linseed 
meal. He started out to find the effect of these foods on 
the quantity and quality of milk, and the cost of the feed 
consumed. The old-process linseed meal costs, in the Am¬ 
herst market, $27 per ton; while the new-process costs $26 
per ton. As TnE R. N.-Y. has frequently stated, the old 
process simply crushes and presses the oil out of the 
seed. In the new process, the seed is boiled and crushed 
and subjected to a chemical process. The result is that 
there is more oil or fat left in the old-process meal, while 
the new-process meal gives a better analysis of nitro¬ 
genous elements. This is explained by these analyses 
found by Dr. Goessmann : 
Old-Process. New-Process. 
Water.percent. 9.88 5.08 
Ash.-. “ 7.8> 6 81 
Cellulose. “ 8.74 8 93 
Eat. “ 7.24 2.17 
Protein. “ 8o.97 41.02 
Carbohydrate. “ 89.66 41.56 
It will thus be seen that the old process meal is much 
stronger in fats. 
Four cows were fed during the experiment. The main 
part of the ration consisted of hay, rowen,fodder corn and 
corn stover, silage, carrots and sugar beets. To these were 
added corn meal, wheat bran and linseed meal. 
Here 
are some sample rations 
Corn meal. 
Wheat bran. 
Linseed meal. 
Hay. 
Lbs. 
8* 
3*4 
8* 
Is* 
Wheat brau. 
Linseed meal . 
Carrots. 
Fodder corn. 
Lbs. 
.... SM 
.... SH 
... ISM 
Corn meal. 
Wheat bran. 
Linseed meal. 
Hay. 
Silage. 
; *4 
a* 
5 
45 
Corn meal. 
Wheat brau. 
Linseed meal . 
Sugar beets. 
Hay. 
.... 3M 
.... 8M 
. .. *M 
The cows were changed about to all these rations and 
new-process and old-process meals were used alternately, 
careful milk records being kept. It is very hard to tell 
from the figures which food is ahead. Both make excel¬ 
lent substitutes for grain when fed properly—with other 
foods. The old-process meal gave a trifle better results in 
milk yield, and this milk contained a higher percentage of 
fat. This very fact, however, has been objected to by 
butter dairymen, who say that too much old-process meal 
makes a poor quality of butter. 
Cream Raising by Dilution— In a Cornell bulletin we 
find the record of some experiments with the new method 
of raising cream by the addition of hot or cold water to 
the milk. These results are somewhat different from 
those reached at other stations. It was found that the 
cream rose well when diluted with either cold or hot 
water, but the separation of the cream was not so perfect 
in either case as when the Cooley creamer was used. To 
be exact, in 100 pounds of milk there were 4.12 pounds of 
butter fat. When the cream was raised in the Cooley 
creamers only one-fifth of a pound of this butter fat was 
lost between the milk and the churn. When the milk was 
diluted with cold water, however, the loss was 1% pound. 
The hot water gave a little better result than the cold, but 
the milk soured much sooner. Churn tests were also 
made with cream raised in ice-water, diluted with cold 
water and set in shallow pans. In this test the ice-water 
setting, or Cooley creamers, again gave the best results. 
With the Cooley cans it required a little over 21 pounds of 
milk to make a pound of butter; with the cold water 
system, over 36 pounds, and with the shallow pans, 24 
pounds. The following table gives the amount of butter 
fats found in the skim milk from these different methods. 
PER CENT. 
Cooley creamer, water at 44 degrees.21 
Diluted with equal weight of cold water. 1.28 
With 20 to 50 per cent, of cold water. 1.24 
With 10 to 100 per cent of hot water. 1.11 
Deep cans without dilution in running water.89 
Shallow pans. ...45 
Shallow pans with water at 120 degrees added.75 
It will thus be seen that in this diluted milk more than 
1 pound of good butter was thrown away or fed to the 
pigs in every 100 pounds of skim-milk. These experiments 
indicate that the cold-water system is valuable only when 
ice cannot possibly be obtained. 
The second cash-prize offer of $100 will be read with 
interest by those who care to make a little money in an 
easy way. It appears on page 748. 
The Farmers Club. 
ANSWERS TO CORRESPONDENTS. 
[Every query must be accompanied by the name and address 
of the writer to insure attention. Before asking a question, please 
see if it is not answered in our advertising columns. Ask only 
a few questions at one time. Put questions on a separate piece 
of paper.] 
WHAT IS A FAIR BUTTER TEST ? 
J. H. S., Berrien Springs, Mich.— There appears to be 
considerable difference of opinion regarding the condition 
butter should be in when weighed as the result of a butter 
test. It is evident that no fair comparison can be made 
when the butter from one cow is unworked; that from an¬ 
other worked and salted, and that from a third reworked 
and resalted. What should be the condition of butter 
when weighed to indicate the result of a butter test? What 
will be fair for all breeds? 
Ans.—T his question has been referred to a number of 
parties interested in such matters. The following replies 
are typical: 
The butter should be salted and worked to afford a fair 
test of its quality as well as quantity. H. B. Richards. 
Secretary, Dutch Belted Cattle Breeders’ Association. 
The Churn Too Antiquated and Cumbersome. 
The value of a cow for butter depends on the amount of 
fat her milk contains. There is but one accurate way of 
determining this—that is, by chemical analysis. If the 
churn be used, the butter, buttermilk and skim-milk must 
be analyzed to get the true yield. A much better, simpler, 
and more accurate way is to analyze the milk itself. It is 
the way which commends itself to every intelligent person 
who wishes to know the truth. The churn is antiquated, 
cumbersome, and utterly unreliable for accurate work. If 
the cow puts a certain amount of fat in her milk, it is the 
dairyman’s fault if he does not get it out. The actual 
amount he does get in butter, whether salted or unsalted, 
is no indication, except in a very rough way, of what there 
was to be got. Chemical analysis, in the hands of a compe¬ 
tent and disinterested chemist, is the only evidence which 
any intelligent person will accept as proof positive on the 
subject. J. MCLAIN SMITH. 
Breeder of Red-Polled Cattle. 
The Chemical Test Best. 
The only true test for butter is a chemical analysis for 
butter fat. The common method is open to so much varia¬ 
tion that it is worth but little as a test. The difference be¬ 
tween the results of an honest and a fraudulent test is 
fully one third, and as the common test may give the 
latter without detection, it is really no test at all, while if 
all the samples are tested for butter fat the test is fair and 
equal, and all stand alike. The specimens of butter as they 
come from the churn, even in an honest test, are very dif¬ 
ferent, some being almost pure butter fat, while others 
contain a large amount of caseine. Sometimes fraudulent 
methods are used, which give to the butter a large amount 
of caseine and water, while the amount of butter fat is 
not in any way remarkable. Such a test is made simply to 
deceitfully boom the breed to which the cow may belong. 
We have now so many experiment stations that are testing 
milk and butter that it is a comparatively easy matter to 
submit the milk, cream or butter to a chemical analysis 
so that the test will show the actual merits of the animal, 
and I think that before long such a test alone will give a 
butter record to a cow. c. M. winslow. 
Secretary of the Ayrshire Cattle Breeders’ Association. 
“Marketable” Butter Should Count. 
Our idea is that the Holstein Friesian Association’s rules 
for the acceptance of a butter record for registry, embody 
about as clear and concise a statement as can be made. It 
is : “ In each and every butter record reported the butter 
shall be of good, marketable quality, salted not higher 
than one ounce of salt to a pound of butter, and worked 
free from any excess of water and buttermilk.” A butter 
test that produces butter that is not marketable, and not 
of first class quality, either on account of the excessive 
amount of water or buttermilk it contains, or the unusual 
quantity of caseine in it, has not the same value to the 
public as a test that produces butter thoroughly well 
worked and of marketable quality. The matter of work¬ 
ing we find depends much upon the interpretation of the 
party who makes the butter. While one works it very 
thoroughly, another does not work it sufficiently. The 
amount of salt generally used in this section is one ounce 
to a pound of butter, and this, if thoroughly mixed with 
the butter, will generally work out most of the buttermilk 
and caseine. If butter is of good, marketable quality, 
such as dealers and consumers are willing to pay a fair 
market price for, we see no reason why the teat that pro¬ 
duced it should not be considered fair for all. The system 
of superheating milk, thus throwing down an unusual 
amount of caseine into the butter; also the use of drugs 
that tend to produce the same effect, should be discount¬ 
enanced and prohibited. While it is desirable, so far as 
practicable, to employ the same system in the management 
and treatment of the milk of the various breeds, it is a 
fact clearly and conclusively proved that the milk of the 
different breeds cannot be treated absolutely in the same 
way, as the cream from the milk of one animal does not 
separate so rapidly, or at the same temperature as that 
of another; nor can the butter from one cow’s cream be 
produced in the same time as that from another with the 
same amount of churning or agitation. Thus the owners 
of each breed should have the privilege of treating the 
milk and manipulating the butter in such a way as will 
secure for it the best results, and still produce a uni¬ 
formly .good, marketable butter. 
SMITHS, POWELL & LAMB. 
Breeders of Holstein-Friesians. 
“Butter” Should be the Only Standard. 
It seems plain to me that there can be but one object in 
testing butter cows, and that is to ascertain how much 
genuine butter can be made from the milk produced by 
them in a given time. It seems to me useless to determine 
the quantity of butter fats by chemical tests (alone), or of 
these fats collected by churning and mixed with more or 
less curd and serum. The butter should be the only 
standard for comparison of results, and by this I mean a 
good, merchantable article, such as every one recognizes 
as butter ready for table use. Accordingly, the process of 
manufscture must be completed, the curd and whey must 
be separated from the fats as far as possible, most of the 
water also must be removed, and the butter must be 
“ salted to suit the taste.” Fresh, or unsalted butter can 
be made as firm and as high in its percentage of fats as 
any salted, and if this were the usual form of merchant¬ 
able butter in this country, it would be the proper 
standard. But American markets require salted butter, 
and although there is a constant movement towards 
lighter salting than formerly, there can be no doubt that, 
for the general market or average taste, the old ratio of 
one ounce of salt to a pound of fresh butter, is still the ac¬ 
cepted standard. My opinion is that for the present, and 
for some time to come, in all butter tests, the butter 
should be thoroughly washed, or otherwise freed from 
buttermilk, well drained, weighed, and to every pound of 
this fresh butter one ounce of salt should be added. This 
should be “worked” or otherwise well mixed in and the 
butter be made ready for table use. It should then be 
weighed again, and this final weight should be recorded as 
the result of the test. To insure still greater accuracy and 
fairness in comparison, a standard of time should be agreed 
upon and uniformly observed in all tests between the first 
and second weighings of the butter, and also a fixed tem¬ 
perature at which the butter is to be held between the 
weighings and to which it should closely conform at the 
time of final weighing for the record. These are fine points, 
but they materially affect the weight of the butter. 
Director, Maryland Ex. Station. henry e. alvord. 
Evaporating Potatoes. 
F. E. V. E„ Stanley, N. Y .—How are potatoes evapor¬ 
ated so as to be fit for eating ? I have read that such pota¬ 
toes were very nice, and as mine are rotting badly I tried 
evaporating a few; but they turned very dark-colored, 
and when cooked were strong and unfit for food. 
Ans.—A good many potatoes are evaporated in Califor¬ 
nia, but we do not know that much of this work is done 
at the East. The California product is mainly sold to 
feed the armies in Mexico and South America and even in 
Europe. We are informed that the potatoes are cut into 
small cubes by a machine made particularly for this pur¬ 
pose, and then evaporated in an ordinary fruit evapor¬ 
ator. We cannot tell what caused your potatoes to turn 
black. We would like to hear from any of our readers 
who have tried this. You can probably save some of your 
potatoes by turning them into “Saratoga chips;” that is, 
cutting them into very thin slices and frying them in hot 
fat. If they are then packed in stone jars and covered with 
melted lard, they will keep for weeks. 
“Chestnut” Price Quotations. 
A. E. S., Sun Cliff, Pa.— I see by to-day’s Rural that 
chestnuts are quoted at $7 per bushel I have about 10 
bushels that I would like to ship to the New York market. 
What is the name of a commission firm to which I can ship 
them ? 
Ans.-—I t is true, as our friend says, that we quoted chest¬ 
nuts at $7 per oushel, but when that paper reached our 
readers the price had dropped half. The high price early 
was caused by a scramble for the few early receipts. 
When chestnuts became plentiful the price declined 
rapidly. We speak of this to correct wrong impressions of 
our market reports. They are correct records of the 
markets at the time we go to press. No living human 
being can tell what the prices will be one week later. We 
can tell something sometimes of what the prospects are, 
but the prices we publish in this isssue are simply history 
and not predictions of what next week’s prices will be. 
Bear this in mind, friends, and do not be disappointed if 
there is sometimes a big change in a single week. 
T. M. R., Erie County, Pa .—Will wheat stubble 
heavily seeded to clover, be suitable for early potatoes 
another season ? 
Ans.—Y es, if the soil is in good condition, well drained, 
warm and well manured. 
