62 
THE RURAL NEW-YORKER. 
January 25 
Live Stock Matters. 
A CATECHISM ON SHODDY. 
WHAT HURTS THE FARMERS’ WOOL ? 
What is shoddy ? It is a fibrous mate 
ial resulting- from the grindingup of old 
woolen rags. 
For what is it used ? For mixing with 
good fibers to make cloth and yarn. 
Why is it mixed with good fibers ? be¬ 
cause it has not enough strength to hold 
together when used alone. Yet, some¬ 
times, the amount of good fiber used is 
very small. 
Has the shoddy mixture, when manu¬ 
factured into cloth, good qualities? It 
has. It is warm, often of good appear¬ 
ance, and can be sold cheaply. 
What, then, is the objection to its use? 
That it lacks durability, often in so 
marked a degree as not to be worth the 
cost of making up. That it is not sold 
as “shoddy” but as “all-wool goods.” 
Is not this a fraud ? Yes. 
Ought we not, then, to prohibit the 
manufacture of shoddy altogether? No. 
The man who grinds the rags of the 
Italian nobleman into wool, is doing as 
lawful a business as the man who grows 
the wool on the sheep’s back. The other 
man who makes the shoddy wool into 
cloth and garments, is also doing a per¬ 
fectly honorable business, so far as its 
intrinsic merits go. 
Where then is the fraud ? It consists 
in selling the finished product for what 
it is not. 
Does the use of shoddy hurt any one 
besides the final buyer? Yes. Every 
pound of shoddy used supplants 2% 
pounds of the farmer's unwashed wool. 
How can that be? The shoddy pounds 
are scoured pounds. Wool wastes in 
scouring, more or less, according to the 
kind. Of some wools, three pounds 
would not make a scoured pound. 
How serious is that ? What is the 
yearly consumption of shoddy in our 
country ? Nearly 100,000,000 pounds. 
What was the clip of all our sheep last 
year in scoured pounds? Not above 85,- 
000.000 pounds. 
Why ! That beats the Jews, doesn't 
it? No. It “beats” the Gentiles, 
principally. 
What can we do about it ? There are 
two things. First, we can pass laws 
compelling all manufacturers to label 
their products just what they are; if all 
wool, stating so, if part cotton, stating 
that, and if part shoddy stating that 
also. Tnis is the plan proposed by Mr. 
Miller. 
Would that be a good law ? Excellent 
if it could be enforced. It might meet 
with overwhelming opposition from 
manufacturers, merchants and import¬ 
ers. There would be great danger of 
its shortly becoming a dead letter from 
lack of enforcement. 
Ought we to work for such a law ? 
Undoubtedly, if there is nothing simpler 
and more effective. 
Can you, then, suggest another way ? 
Yes. Let our State, the United States 
preferably, give an inspection to such 
manufacturers as desire it, marking all 
honest goods and stating plainly on the 
label that the goods contain no shoddy. 
It might be well, too, to state the propor¬ 
tions of good fibers used, as wool, cot¬ 
ton, silk or linen. 
What would be the advantage of that ? 
When one went to buy woolen fabrics, 
he would see in the store or shop goods 
with the inspectoi*‘s stamp on them. He 
would feel sure that they were genuine, 
and would buy them even though they 
did cost more than the goods without 
the labels. 
We would feel sure that the unin¬ 
spected goods were spurious, then ? We 
would know that there was very strong 
presumption that they were spurious. 
What would be the effect on our hon¬ 
est manufacturers ? It would boom their 
mills. Many who are now using shoddy, 
would cease using it, so as to claim the 
Government inspection and guarantee. 
What would be the effect on the 
shoddy mills ? They would “gangtheir 
own gait,” with lessened profits and re¬ 
duced output. 
Why do Ohio people propose to in¬ 
augurate this idea ? Because they do 
not care to wait interminably for 
National legislation. Because they wish 
to boom their own honest mills. They 
expect other States to fall in line. 
What do you wish me to do to help it 
along ? Write to your Representative, 
telling him that you are in favor of the 
measure. He desires re-election, and is 
anxious to please you. Send him a 
letter or even postal card. 
Here’s a point we have overlooked : 
Can the inspection be applied to ready¬ 
made clothing ? Yes, that is the best 
feature of it. That is the kind of cloth¬ 
ing that our people wear. 
Would it not be a great expense to the 
State ? No, there need be no expensive 
machinery about it at all, and the manu¬ 
facturers might bear part of the cost 
by paying small fees for the services 
rendered. 
Is there any precedent for such a 
plan ? Yes, the United States inspection 
of meats is similar. That has resulted 
in very great good in selling our meats. 
I always try to buy the “ United States 
Inspected” meat. Yet there is not the 
liability of fraud in our meat that there 
is in our clothing. j. k. wing. 
TO FATTEN THE OLD COW. 
If I had an old cow, and wished to pre¬ 
pare her for beef, I would not try to fat¬ 
ten her, but would aim to lay lean meat 
on her bones as rapidly as possible. 
When this is done, an old cow’s meat 
need not necessarily be a tooth extractor. 
To accomplish this, a highly nitrogenous 
food is necessary. I would feed such a 
cow a mixture composed of one part cot- 
ton-seed meal, two parts linseed meal, 
two parts corn meal, and four parts 
wheat bran. I would feed her as much 
as she would eat up clean after her 
roughage. I would give her for the lat¬ 
ter, dry feed in the morning and ensilage 
at night. The quantity must be deter¬ 
mined by the size and appetite of the 
cow. Should this, as is likely, much in¬ 
crease the flow of milk, 1 would make the 
best of this until the quantity is again 
materially reduced ; then milk her once 
a day, and gradually extend the time 
between milkings, but never strip her 
after the dryiDg-up process begins. 
To preserve the beef, cut up, pack in 
a barrel, cover with water, and for every 
100 pounds of beef, add six pounds of 
salt, two pounds of sugar, one-fourth 
pound of pepper and two ounces of salt- 
petei’. This is for use in cold weather. 
For warm weather, enough more salt 
must be added to make a brine that will 
float an egg. Or, in cold weather, make 
a mixtui'e of one ounce of saltpeter, one 
pound of sugar, two pounds of salt ; cut 
up the beef, rub well with the mixture, 
and pack closely in a baiTel, and the beef 
will make its own pickle. In spring, 
take out what remains, hang it up to 
dry, and smoke. It will make quite a 
relish for summer use. j. c. s. 
Milk the old cow all winter until the 
middle of March, then once a day until 
the middle of April. Then give no grain, 
and milk once in two, then once in four 
to five days. Let the udder get feverish, 
and milk part out once or twice, and 
the cow will dry up 10 days after you 
quit milking, which will be on grass 
feed. Let her run to grass 10 days be¬ 
fore feeding grain. Commence with one 
quart a day, increase to two in 30 days, 
then to four in 00 days. Then stable 
and feed no grass, but good bay ; in¬ 
crease the grain to six and eight quarts, 
or as much as the cow will eat clean, 
giving a part mixed feed, as all corn is 
too heating and cattle tire of it. If cows 
are fed a little gluten meal while milk¬ 
ing, to clean the old flesh off the bones, 
you can fill the old bide with better 
beef in this way than can be cut from a 
two-year-old heifer. Four to six weeks 
in the stable will be more profitable 
than longer, as it does not pay in weight, 
and prices are likely to be lower later on. 
Polkviile, N. Y. D. b. l. 
THE GUERNSEYS AGAIN. 
In a recent R. N.-Y., a correspondent 
asked, “ Which are to be preferred, Jer¬ 
seys or Guernseys ? ” As I understand 
his inquiry, it was in reference to grad¬ 
ing up a dairy herd. For this purpose, 
the Guernsey is preferable. Go into New 
England, down the Hudson into New 
York, into eastern Pennsylvania, Dela¬ 
ware, New Jersey and Wisconsin, and 
you will not only find fine herds of thor¬ 
oughbreds, but you will notice that the 
dairymen of those sections have been 
(Continued on next vaac.) 
gUintisinfl, 
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