1896 
THE RURAL NEW-YORKER. 
37 
Some Facts About Cold Storage. 
B., Constitution. Pa.— 1. Would it pay a farmer to store fruit in 
the cold storage warehouses in the cities ? 2. Would it pay a 
country storekeeper to store eggs ? 
Ans. —1. No, it will not pay a farmer to store any¬ 
thing' in the city cold storage houses, for any length 
of time—not in this city, at least; storage rates are 
very high. The place to store produce is in the 
country where space is not so valuable. 2. In the 
country, yes, provided the eggs are perfectly fresh, 
and are rightly handled. Plenty of eggs are thus 
stored every year. A temperature of about 40 degrees, 
Fahr., must be maintained, and the eggs must not be 
kept near anything that would taint them. Of course, 
the advantage is that eggs can be bought when plenty 
and cheap, and sold when high. 
Cotton-Seed Meal for Poultry. 
Y. II. C., West Rutland, Vt. —Is cotton seed meal a good feed for 
hens ? Is old-process oil meal good for horses ? I am feeding a 
small quantity, and it seems to agree with them. What is the 
analysis of flax-seed meal ? 
Ans. —We would not feed much cotton-seed meal to 
hens. A small quantity, say, three times a week with 
plenty of laxative food, may be safe, but we would 
not expect good results from it. It is constipating 
in its effect on the system, and is sometimes fed in 
small quantities to broilers when threatened with 
diarrhea. It is safe to feed most horses as high as 1)4 
pound of oil meal per day. It does them good, espe 
cially when they are a little run down or constipated. 
Most of the “condition powders” contain more or 
less oil meal. An average sample of whole flax seed 
will contain 17 per cent muscle-makers, 19 of fat- 
formers and 35 of pure fat. 
A Grain Ration for Dairy Cows. 
E. E. T., Scott , Pa.—Corn meal is worth $15 per ton; bran, $17; 
linseed meal, $20, and ground oats, $18. What ration should 1 
feed with 35 pounds of'corn ensilage of good quality, and eight 
pounds of mixed hay ? 
Ans. —We presume that this food is intended for 
dairy cows. As a matter of theory, a cow of good 
size should eat enough food each day to provide 2 % 
pounds of muscle-makers, 12)4 pounds of fat-formers, 
and two-fifths pound of pure fat. Your 35 pounds of 
ensilage and eight pounds of hay, if of good quality, 
will furnish .7 pound of muscle-makers, 7.64 pounds 
of fat-formers, and .255 pound of pure fat. You need 
to add grain enough to furnish 1.8 pound of muscle- 
makers, and about five pounds of fat-formers, and a 
small quantity of pure fat. Now let us see what you 
can buy in these foods : 
ACTUAL FOOD IN ONK TON. 
Muscle- Fat Pure 
makers, formers, fat. Price. 
Corn meal. 145 1,268 69 $15 
Bran. 234 893 52 17 
Linseed. 517 530 142 20 
Ground oats. 169 922 79 18 
That is, assuming that the linseed meal is “ old 
process.” 
Or, to put it in another way, take this table : 
POUNDS BOUGHT FOR ONE DOLLAR. 
Muscle- Fat Pure 
nuikers. formers, fat. 
Corn meal. 9% 84*4 4*4 
Bran. 13% 5254 3 
Linseed. 30*/ 2 31 % 8*4 
Ground oats. 9% 51% 4% 
That shows in a nutshell what you can do for a dol¬ 
lar. You need more muscle-makers than anything 
else, and, according to these figures, corn and ground 
oats may be counted out, for they bring the cost of 
muscle-makers too high. There may be corn enough 
in the ensilage, but for buttermaking more might 
be added. At the prices given, bran and linseed are 
the cheapest grains. The trouble is in estimating the 
value of the hay. We have given it a low valuation, 
but if of good quality, two pounds of oil meal, eight 
of bran, and two of corn meal will answer fairly well. 
A cheaper ration could be made from 1 % pound of 
oil meal, one pound of cotton-seed meal, six pounds 
of bran, and two of corn meal. Where ensilage is 
fed, we consider it safe to experiment with cotton¬ 
seed meal. Of course, you understand that this is a 
theoretical ration, more in the way of suggestion 
than anything else. 
Feeding Corn to Breeding Swine. 
G. W. M., Polo, III .—Should a brood sow have all the corn she 
wishes while running with a boar? Should a young brood sow 
be kept fat all the time ? Should a boar be kept fat for good 
service ? Last spring, my sows had only from two to live pigs, 
and I had old sows and a boar used the second season, which 
was 19 or 20 months old when left with the sows. The same sows 
and boar did better the year before. I was told that sows would 
have more pigs if not fed much when left to run with a boar. I 
always have fed pretty heavily, and I let the boar run with all 
the sows, all the time during the season from December to March. 
ANSWERED BY L. N. BONHAM. 
Corn is not the best feed for breeding stock, young 
or old. In the West, where corn is our great crop, we 
are tempted to rely on it almost wholly for growing 
and fattening hogs. There is no feed they like better, 
and it is convenient, green or dry, whole or ground. 
In feeding breeding stock, we should keep in mind 
that we must feed for bone and muscle, rather than 
for fat. The former means vigor and strength—the 
latter weakness and early decline. We aim to feed 
our brood sows very liberally while young, to secure 
strong growth and as early development as health 
will permit. The profitable feeding animal is one 
that matures early, and the feeding habit and consti¬ 
tution of the dam will be inherited by the offspring. 
It is the generally accepted theory that the dam im¬ 
parts to the young her constitution and tendency to 
growth arising from strong powers of digestion and 
assimilation. In order to grow a strong and early- 
maturing sow, with a vigorous constitution, we must 
give her food that is rich in muscle and bone-forming 
elements, rather than in fat-formers. We wish to feed 
the brood sow and the young sow so that they will 
keep growing bone and muscle, and increase in 
powers of digestion. They are not only to be made 
strong to endure the strain of developing a healthy, 
vigorous litter in embryo, but to suckle them well 
after birth. Instead of giving the sow all the corn 
she will eat, we find it far better to limit the corn to 
about half the ration, and make up the other half of 
bran and middlings, oats, clover, Blue grass, etc. 
After an aged sow has weaned her pigs, and has had, 
while suckling, all she will eat of corn and mill feed, 
with all the grass she needs, the best place for her is 
in a clover field, from May to October. If the boar 
has been well wintered, he will be the better for a 
run to clover and grass during the summer. If he has 
much service, however, he should be fed during that 
time corn and oats, half and half, or corn and mill 
feed, so as to give him vigor and strength. The con¬ 
dition of the male and female at the time of coupling, 
should be that of thrift and vigor, rather than what 
is termed fat. If they have been allowed a generous 
keep, wherein corn has not been more than half the 
ration, they will be plump, muscular and vigorous. 
If they have, in addition to the grain feed, all the 
clover and grass they need, they will be the better 
for it, and the coming litters will be stronger and 
MILK MUZZLE FOR A SELF-SUCKING COW. Fig. 17. 
larger than if the sire and dam had been made fat on 
corn alone. 
There is a common belief that both the boar and 
sow are more prolific if they are thin in flesh. But 
as our aim is to produce, quick-maturing, rapid-feed¬ 
ing pigs, we more frequently gain our end, by having 
both sow and boar in good flesh, with all that im¬ 
plies of vigor and health. I have seen very promising 
young sows and boars, that were great failures in the 
breeding pens, and generally found the cause in heavy 
feeding of little else than corn. I have also seen as 
successful breeding from full-fleshed, or fat sows and 
boars, where the flesh has been put on with oats, 
mill feed and grass and a little corn. When the sow 
is in good flesh from a wholesome variety of feed, she 
is in the best condition to breed, she has strength, 
with her flesh if she has had all the exercise she 
would get on grass or clover. She will likely suckle 
well, and unless very skillfully fed, will lose flesh, 
before the pigs are weaned. If one can give the sow 
a gallon or two of skim-milk with all the corn and 
mill feed she will eat, with all the Blue grass or clover 
she needs, she will keep up her flesh and flow of milk 
remarkably, and the rapid growth of the litter, will 
repay all extra care bestowed on the dam. 
We cannot secure best results from corn alone. The 
food of all breeding stock should be such as contains 
elements necessary to growing bone and muscle. 
Corn contains 66 per cent of starch, 7 per cent of fat, 
and only about 10 per cent of nitrogenous food, with 
too small a portion of phosphate of lime for building 
the strong frame-work of the profitable hog. If one 
has skim-milk enough to give sows and pigs all they 
will take, he can make good, healthy pigs on corn as 
his only grain feed. One quart of milk to a pound of 
corn meal is nearly a perfect feed for pigs. Fifty-six 
pounds corn meal, with 112 pounds of skim-milk, will 
make better growth than two bushels of corn. If one 
has not the milk, then he must have grass or clover, 
with less corn and more oats, barley and mill feed, to 
secure the best growth, health and a profitable num¬ 
ber of vigorous pigs. 
Bunches on Heifer's Legs. 
W. M. D., Corunna , J/ieA.-»-Wluit shall I do for the bunches on 
the outside of my Jersey heifer’s hind legs ? They came on about 
four weeks ago, were as large as my tist, and do not go away. 
They are about opposite the udder ou the large muscles; are not 
hard, neither are they sore. This heifer will be fresh next mouth, 
and is 18 months old. 
Ans. —Try painting daily with the compound tinc¬ 
ture of iodine, until the skin is well blistered. Then 
apply only once or twice a week. If this fail to re¬ 
move them, employ a veterinary surgeon to remove 
them by surgical means, if necessary. f. l. k. 
Bad Scouring in a Horse. 
A. I). IF., Anderson/own. Aid .—My horse scours badly at times 
when driving, and then again he does not. He does this without 
any change in food whatever. His hair has the appearance of 
being dead, and he is in very bad condition, also, although well 
fed and receiving fairly good attention. What can I do to get him 
back to his right form ? 
Ans. —Such scouring is usually due to some fault in 
the food or drinking water, or to some functional dis¬ 
order of the digestive organs. You should have given 
the ration you are feeding, to have enabled me to sug¬ 
gest a change of diet, if desirable. Some horses are 
predisposed to scour, and are almost sure to do so if 
driven on the road. Feeding or watering just before 
driving, increases the tendency. Examine the feed 
and drinking water to make sure that both are whole¬ 
some. Feed only a moderate allowance of corn fod¬ 
der, giving more grain, if necessary, and do not allow 
the horse to drink more than 10 to 12 quarts of water 
at once. Give,one of the following powders in the 
feed night an 4 , morning : powdered nux vomica and 
sulphate of copper, of each three ounces ; arsenic, 70 
grains ; mix, and make into 32 powders. f. l. k. 
Contagious Foot Rot in Cattle. 
T. R. C., Hustonville, Ay.—What is a remedy for a cattle dis¬ 
ease called cracked heels, or sore heels ? The cleft of the hoof 
cracks up further, gets sore, and matter sometimes forms some¬ 
thing resembling honey comb. It makes cattle so lame that they 
can hardly walk. They are worse in the spring and in times of 
heavy dews. It appears to be contagious. 
Ans. —Clean the feet and pare away all dead or dis¬ 
eased horn. Between the claws, it can best be 
cleaned by drawing a strip of old cotton cloth or 
untwisted rope backwards and forwards. Then thor¬ 
oughly cauterize, all diseased surfaces, with a swab 
dipped in muriatic acid, after which apply a dressing 
of pine tar. Repeat once a week until cured. If care 
be taken in paring away the dead horn so as to expose 
all of the diseased surface, two applications are 
usually sufficient to effect a cure. During treatment, 
the cattle should be kept where the feet will become 
soiled as little as possible. Even after recovery, all 
feet should be examined once a month for two or 
three months, to detect any disease that may not 
have been entirely stamped out. f. l. k. 
Parasites in Sheep; Self-Sucking Cows. 
A. P. E., Pennsylvania. —1. What shall I do for my mare ? She 
wrenched her hind fetlock joint; there is no fever and no swell¬ 
ing, but she canuot bend the joint. 2. What can I do for my sheep? 
They have a cough, and are very poor. I am feeding good, clean 
corn stalks and Timothy hay. I have no clover. I have also fed 
them sulphur, and am now feeding condition powders; but they 
are getting worse instead of better. I do not stable them, but 
have a good shed in the barnyard for them to run under. 3. Is 
there any way to break a six-year-old cow from sucking herself ? 
Ans. —1. Blister the whole joint severely, by rub¬ 
bing thoroughly with equal parts of sweet oil and 
strong aqua ammonia well shaken together. If not 
blistered by the first application, apply a second in 
three or four days. Repeat if necessary. 2 . The sheep 
are evidently badly infested with parasites, but 
whether simply grub-in-the-head or intestinal worms, 
I am unable to say from the description. It would be 
well to kill one of the worst affected, and carefully 
examine the sinuses or cavities in the head at the 
upper end of the nasal passages, and between the 
eyes, for grubs ; and the stomach and whole length 
of the intestines for round worms one-half to an inch 
or more in length, and tapeworms of a few inches to 
several feet in length. Then report the result of the 
examination, and I shall be able to advise suitable 
treatment. The sheep should have a ration of grain, 
which I would advise you to begin at once. 
3. A very effectual homemade anti-sucking device, 
to be worn in the nose, is shown in Fig. 17. It is 
made of half or five-eighths inch soft wood, usually 
basswood. It should be about five by six inches, and 
carved out on one edge as shown in the cut. The 
opening, c, between the two points, is about one-half 
inch ; and the space, b, 2)4 by 3 )4. This space and 
the opening, c, will vary a little with the size of the 
cow, being larger for a larger animal. The points, 
a a, should be well rounded, so as not to injure the 
nasal septum. The dotted lines represent wire nails 
carefully driven in the opposite edges to prevent 
splitting. To insert the anti-sucker, hook one point, 
a, into one nostril, and by manipulation work the 
muffle edgewise through the space, c, so as to bring the 
opposite point in the other nostril. It can be worn 
by the cow with very little inconvenience in feeding; 
but when she attempts to take hold of a teat it is in 
the way. f. l. kilborne. 
