43o 
THE RURAL NEW-YORKER. 
June 27 
A CURIOUS MILK PROBLEM. 
I have a herd of 30 Jersey cows; in a test on grass this spring, 
they averaged 4 1-5 per cent butter fat. The buyer of my milk has 
been more than pleased with it all winter, and it has given the 
best of satisfaction all around. Just after I first turned the cows 
out to grass on May 2, the buyer complained of a disagreeable 
taste, and his customers refused the milk. The first complaint 
came in May 24, and the milk is as bad as, or worse than, at the 
first. I fed ensilage all winter, and cotton-seed and linseed meal 
alternately, with bran. When I first turned them out, I continued 
to feed a little ensilage nights, and fed some grain—wheat, bran 
and linseed or cotton-seed meal—night and morning. On the first 
complaint, I discontinued the ensilage, with no improvement ; I 
have now discontinued the linseed and cotton-seed meal, and feed 
only a little wheat bran night and morning. I have examined 
the pastures, and can find no weeds in them; the pastures are all 
fresh, being laid down in grass two years ago, mowed last year, 
and brought again into pasture this year. An examination of the 
milk from the individual cows, showed that four young heifers, 
some quite fresh in milk—two weeks—the others from one to 
three months, gave the worst tasting milk, not bitter, but like 
strong soapsuds, and quite nauseous. Four others gave milk 
that had the same taste, but not so bad. All the tainted milk 
came from young heifers; the milk from the old cows is quite 
sweet and good. No one that I can hear of, has had a similar 
experience. Of course, I am separating the sweet milk from the 
tainted, but what I am trying to find out is this: What has so 
suddenly made these heifers give such nauseous milk, when the 
milk was sweet and good all winter up to May 20-24? A neighbor 
suggests that the rank pastures and the addition of grain are 
the causes; but it seems impossible that that could turn the 
heifers’ milk into such nauseous stuff so suddenly. Can you 
suggest anything as to the cause and the remedy ? t. .j. s. 
Connecticut. 
Dr. Babcock Gives an Opinion. 
A number of complaints similar to the above, have 
reached me this spring. The trouble in every case 
has been coincident with a change from dry to succu¬ 
lent feed. In two cases, it occurred when cows were 
turned into green rye, in another when rank clover 
was fed. It is suggested that overeating, induced by 
a sudden change to a ration which the cows relish, 
may derange, the digestion, or make the animals fever¬ 
ish and cause them to give tainted milk. If this is 
true, the difficulty would, probably, be avoided by a 
gradual change from dry feed to pasture, allowing 
the cows to run out but a short time for the first few 
days, and feeding them some hay until they become 
accustomed to the green feed. 
An Aerator Would Help It. 
T. J. S. says that he fed ensilage and certain grains 
all winter, and his milk gave the best of satisfaction. 
He turned his cows out to grass continuing the ensi¬ 
lage and grain, and his milk had a bad flavor. With¬ 
out more data, I do not see what other conclusion can 
be reached than that the grass tainted the milk. It 
has been our experience that fresh pasture usually 
taints the milk, and this taint will often show at the 
first milking after the cows are turned on the grass ; 
if the grass is rank or there are weeds, the milk is 
often tainted for some time. Milk will sometimes be 
tainted a few days after a heavy shower, when grass 
and weeds are growing rapidly, and also during a 
drought when weeds are more vigorous than the 
grass. In fact, we found it impossible to get a uni¬ 
formly good quality of milk when cows were past¬ 
ured, and as our trade demanded milk free from taint 
at all times, we stepped pasturing our cows, and for 
the past three years, have fed them ensilage at least 
11 months in the year, and soiling crops when the 
ensilage ran short. 
In regard to a remedy, the first thing I would do 
would be to get an aerator and pump air through the 
milk with it until the milk had no odor. Unless the 
milk is extremely bad, this aerator will take out all 
disagreeable odor and flavor, and all milk ought to 
be treated w ith it, no matter what the feed. Sudden 
changes of feed, even when the new feed is better 
than the old, will often taint the milk, and we are 
very careful to avoid them. When we pastured our 
cows, we turned the dry cows and heifers on the 
fields first, and after the grass and weeds were eaten 
down pretty well, we turned in the cows giving milk. 
We were careful to give the cows a full meal of dry 
feed before they were turned on the pasture, and 
then allowed them to remain on the grass only a 
short time, say, an hour. The cows were then re¬ 
turned to the barn, and at night, given the usual 
ration of dry feed, making the grass only an extra 
lunch. The next day we allowed the cows to stay a 
little longer on the grass, and each day still longer, 
keeping up the dry feeding for several days, and then 
reducing it very slowly. With this method, we 
avoided most of the trouble with tainted milk ; but 
sometimes, we would have a bad lot in spite of all 
precautions. 
Why the heifers gave tainted milk and the old cows 
sweet milk, I can only hazard a guess, without know- 
ing more about the case. In our work, we sometimes 
find a single cow’s milk tainted, while that from all 
the rest of the herd will be sweet. Sometimes, the 
milk from four or five cows will be tainted slightly. 
This may be due to overloaded stomachs, chill from a 
draught, or any one of a dozen other causes. T. J. 
S.’s heifers may have been more greedy than the old 
cows, and overloaded their stomachs. There may 
have been weeds in the pasture, and the heifers being 
less particular than the old cows, have eaten the 
weeds. I would watch and find out. h. m. cottrell. 
May Be Due to Bacteria. 
It is not possible, with absolute certainty, at this 
distance, to say what is the trouble with the milk. It 
seems probable, however, that some bacterial infec¬ 
tion is at work. Why it should pick out the heifers 
and not the old cows, is not clear. We have not had 
this particular trouble in connection with any of our 
station work ; yet, in looking up the experience of 
others as given in available literature, I find the fol¬ 
lowing : 
“ A case of soapy milk, which failed to sour and 
had a soapy taste, was traced by H. Weigmann and 
E. Zirn to the straw used for bedding. The straw was 
moist and discolored. All five forms of bacteria found 
in the milk were found on the straw. The bacteria 
got on to the udder, and from there into the milk. 
The trouble disappeared when the straw was discon¬ 
tinued. Another case in which the milk would not 
sour, and had a soapy taste, was traced to the hay 
on which the same bacteria were found as on the 
straw. Pasturage on certain pieces of land also gave 
rise to this trouble ; the remedy was found in chang¬ 
ing the pasture. The authors conclude that the kind 
of food may indirectly have an effect on the bacterio¬ 
logical composition of milk, and recommend that cows 
be milked before feeding or bedding.” 
There are several alkaline and semi-soapy fermenta¬ 
tions ; some cause a bitter taste, and some curdle the 
milk and then dissolve it into a more or less slimy 
solution forming peptones. The sources of these bac¬ 
teria are seldom clear. They come without excep¬ 
tion, in the case of the healthy cow, from the exterior, 
and can usually be prevented by sufficient care and 
cleanliness, once the source of the trouble is ferreted 
out. I am inclined to think that, in the present case, 
STAND FOR STRAWBERRY PICKERS. Fig. 141. 
the coincidence of pasture feeding and soapy milk, 
taken in connection with the statements of Weigmann 
and Zirn of similar coincidences, are suggestive. I 
would recommend changing pasture, and thorough 
cleansing and scalding of milk vessels as being, per¬ 
haps, as liable to bring about a change as anything. 
Vermont Ex. Station. Joseph l. hills. 
STRAWBERRY NOTES. IRRIGATION; PICK¬ 
ER’S STAND. 
The strawberry season began here the earliest ever 
known—about May 18, and at this writing (June 8), it 
is almost over. The fore part of May was quite dry, 
and fearing a repetition of last year’s drought, I made 
arrangements to irrigate, purchasing a centrifugal 
pump and 400 feet of 2-inch pipe. But I did not begin 
soon enough, and just after the first and only irriga¬ 
tion, it began to rain and the weather and moisture 
since have been all that could be desired. But I do 
not regret the purchase, as I believe that I shall now 
have command of the conditions for a perfect straw¬ 
berry plantation. 
In April, 1895, 1 set about three acres, one of which 
had been in potatoes the previous year; the other 
two were an old Blue grass sod, that had been in 
pasture for more than 25 years. Of course, I had 
White grubs by the thousands; but they were fully 
as bad in the potato land as in the pasture sod. The 
consequence of these and the severe drought, was 
that there was a very poor stand, and the plants went 
into winter quarters in a discouraged and truly dis¬ 
consolate state, or I was at least. But this spring, 
not a sign of White grub is seen, and every tiny run¬ 
ner of last fall is now a vigorous plant. I shall mow 
and rake off this year, and not burn as I did last year. 
The rakings will be saved for mulch. Then, as soon 
as the mowing and raking are done, I shall go through 
the rows with the Cutaway cultivator, which tears up 
the ground and destroys weeds better than anything 
else I have tried. 
I am fruiting, this year, 15 varieties, but shall plant 
next year about the following : Bubach, Haverland, 
Muskingum, Lovett, Brandywine, Marshall, Timbrell, 
Greenville, and a few Enhance for the sake of its 
pollen. I may also keep to Parker Earle, now that I 
can have water at will. 
When I sat down to write it was to describe a pick¬ 
ers crate or carrier that we made and have used this 
year. The pickers all rush for them, and feel hurt to 
have to take the box with the hoop handle. I send a 
sketch of it—see Fig. 141. It is easy to make and can 
be made of small, light pieces of lumber. The ends 
are 11 inches long on top and 10 inches on the bottom, 
of one-half-inch lumber, 2)4 inches wide. Nail four 
strips of thin stuff (I use plastering lath with the 
rough planed off) 17 % inches long, for the bottom, 
and two strips for the sides. Then use two pieces 16 
inches long at each end, letting them extend below 
the box about 3)4 inches for legs, and join them 
together at the top where they are nailed to a handle; 
a piece of broom handle 17 )4 inches long, will do 
very well. This holds six baskets, but we have one 
that holds nine—that is 16 )4 inches inside each way. 
Mechanicsburg, Ohio. s. s. s. 
WHAT THEY SAY. 
Ensilage and Cows’ Teeth. —I have three cows to 
which I have fed ensilage eight years in succession, 
and so far as I can see, the ensilage has hurt their 
teeth about as much as corn hurts hens’ teeth. These 
cows are from 11 to 15 years old, and one of them, a 
Jersey-Holstein cross, has given, when fresh last 
January, over 60 pounds of milk per day. Their teeth 
are much better than cows’ teeth usually are at that 
age. It is high time that these hollow-horn, soak- 
tail, black-tooth ideas about ensilage, were cast aside, 
and that every intelligent farmer who can raise a 
good crop of corn, and wishes to keep 10 or more cat¬ 
tle or their equivalent of sheep, had a silo. Fifty 
dollars’ worth of material, and a few days’ time, will 
provide one as good as the best. Beware of the costly 
ones ; they do not usually give as good satisfaction 
as the cheap ones. j. o. w. 
Shortsville, N. Y. 
Crimson Clover a Success.— Last year, I sowed 70 
acres, and received from it all that I expected. My 
object was improvement of the soil, and I realized it. 
It went into the winter a good stand, and gave valu¬ 
able protection to the soil when it needed it. The 
spring killed the most of it, but there was no loss, for 
the soil has received the benefit I had aimed for. For 
the fruit grower, it would be almost a misfortune to 
have it come out alive in the spring, for many would 
be tempted to leave it too long in its new growth. It 
should be plowed down early in the spring, other¬ 
wise, if allowed to grow, it will rapidly pump up the 
moisture that should be conserved for trees and 
plants through frequent surface cultivation. This 
discussion and presentation of experience by The R. 
N.-Y. will be worth untold millions of dollars to the 
farmers of the country. They must carefully study 
the subject and the plant, and know just what they 
wish to accomplish with it. Its chief value in the 
northern States, thus far, is clearly proved to be for 
a catch crop, to benefit the soil during a few months’ 
growth, from July to January, with its added value 
of winter covering and protection to the soil. I shall 
sow 75 acres with Crimson clover the coming season. 
GEO. T. POWELL. 
Spraying for the Cur culio.— Fruit plants bloomed 
here in about their usual season ; yet strawber¬ 
ries and other fruits have ripened, or will ripen, two 
weeks earlier than is usual. The season has not been 
particularly hot, but we had two or three days of 
strong, warm wind from the south, amounting to 
almost a gale at times. Is it possible that a wind of 
this kind can so enormously hasten the ripening or 
maturing of fruit? I am reminded that during the 
first of these gales, I was spraying part of my orchard 
with Bordeaux and London-purple. A Russian apri¬ 
cot (the first of the bloomers), was in full bloom, and 
was thoroughly sprayed with the other trees, which 
consisted of apple, peach, cherry, pear, plum, etc. 
The spray was, of course, thrown entirely from one 
side, and was driven with great force through the 
trees. This apricot tree now is holding a large crop 
of perfect, unstung fruit, on the south side, with 
half a crop on the north side. Another apricot tree 
not far distant, that was equally full of bloom, but 
not sprayed until a week later, when the petals had 
fallen, can look down and see nearly all its fruit on 
the ground, with the undercut of the curculio on 
every specimen. As I put a pound of purple in every 
100 to 120 gallons of the Bordeaux, I think that I have 
proved, at least, that there is no danger of injury to 
the bloom from spraying with the ordinary amount 
of arsenic, when plenty of lime is added. As to 
the question so often asked by bee men, “ Does it do 
any good to spray when the bloom is on ? ” I have not 
