1896 
THE RURAL NEW-YORKER 
593 
sold upon the floor of the Board, and a member of a 
couple of years’ standing told me that he had never seen 
a pound of cheese sold there. This apparent discrep¬ 
ancy is due to the fact that members are required to 
report monthly the product of the factory or factories 
which they may own or with which they may be con¬ 
nected. The statistics thus obtained are incorpor¬ 
ated in the annual report of the Board. 
Ohio. THOMAS F. HUNT. 
CO-OPERATIVE INSURANCE COMPANIES IN 
NEW YORK STATE. 
There are, in New York State, 110 mutual or co¬ 
operative insurance companies, one of the largest of 
which is “ The Farmer’s Reliance,” which insures 
farm property in Chemung, Schuyler and Yates Coun¬ 
ties. This company has been in existence 18 years, 
and now covers over $5,000,000 worth of property. 
Nearly SI,500,000 have been added during the past 
year. This rapid growth is, no doubt, due to the fact 
that a number of the old stock companies refuse to 
insure farm property. The rate, for a number of 
years past, has been two mills on a dollar per year, or 
at the rate of $6 per SI,000 for three years, while the 
stock companies charge $10. This year, the assess¬ 
ment will be three mills, or at the rate of S9 per 
SI,000. The increased loss is not chargeable to farmers 
setting fire to their buildings to secure the insurance, 
but to a large number of destructive thunder storms. 
The members living in each county meet annually 
and elect one of their number as a director for three 
years. This makes a board of nine directors, and not 
more than three (one from each county), can be new 
members. The directors elect a president and secre¬ 
tary from their own number. The expenses are kept 
down to a minimum. The directors get $2 per day 
for time actually given, and the secretary receives 
$300 per year. But one assessment is made each year. 
They carry over some money each year, so as to pay 
the losses which occur during the earlier part of the 
year, and borrow money for the losses of the latter 
part. They find it cheaper to borrow than to make 
numerous assessments. The whole expense for the 
year is much less than $1,000. Any director can ex¬ 
amine property and take the application for admit¬ 
tance. The secretary issues the policy, which runs for 
five years, and costs the applicant $1 for each $1,000 
insured. They are very careful not to insure property 
at too high a figure, and then in case of loss, they 
pay all for which it was insured. Most insurance 
agents will take risks on the highest value on which 
a man will pay a premium ; then, when loss occurs, 
pay what the oflicial sent on by the company will 
allow, which is generally far below the face of the 
policy. 
The director in my district keeps his eye on all 
buildings he has insured, and knows their condition. 
He said to me when I renewed my policy the last 
time, “ Your house is kept in good condition ; in fact, 
you have improved it since your last renewal, but 
your barns are not worth as much as they were five 
years ago.” I explained that I made them convenient 
for myself and comfortable for stock, but did not 
wish to lay out much money on them till I could tear 
them down and build anew. He then advised me to 
lower my insurance on the barn, which I did. 
A carpenter and builder here told me that this 
director had often consulted him as to the value of 
buildings he was about to insure. Some two years 
since, an agent of some of the old stock companies 
tried to get me to insure with him, but after finding 
that I was a firm “ Reliance” man, he acknowledged 
that, were he a farmer, or an owner of farm property, 
and not an insurance agent, he, too, would insure in 
the “Reliance.” e. c. gillett. 
THE TUB SILO. 
WHAT IT 18; HOW MADE. 
The “ tub silo ” is what its name implies—a big tub 
of wooden staves held together by iron hoops, and 
set upright on a floor of cement. The ensilage is cut 
into it, the hoops are drawn up tight, the top of the 
ensilage covered and weighted—“and, there you are.” 
Prof. Clinton, of Cornell, gives the following direc¬ 
tions for making such a silo : 
The foundation should be of cement. While this is 
yet soft, or before it is laid down, a peg should be 
driven near the center ; then with a line whose length 
shall be one-half the desired diameter of the silo, 
strike a circle with the peg as a center. This will 
give the form for the bottom. With a trowel, scrape 
away the soft cement outside the circle to a depth of 
about one inch, thus giving a shoulder against which 
to set the staves. 
The staves are best made from well-seasoned Geor¬ 
gia pine, though other material may be used. They 
should be two inches thick, and from five to six 
inches wide with the edges beveled. This beveling 
should be done at the mill so that, when the staves 
are set up, tight joints can be made between them. 
Some recommend having the staves grooved and 
tongued, but this is entirely unnecessary, and makes 
extra expense. 
With the scaffolding constructed, the work of set¬ 
ting the staves in place can go on very rapidly. A 
form may be made for the top to give the circle. One 
ingenious man used old barrel staves, nailing them 
to the outside, the curve in the barrel staves giving 
him the curve for the silo, and serving to hold it to¬ 
gether until the hoops were put in place. 
The hoops should be of round, half-inch galvanized 
iron or steel, or common iron may be used. The first 
hoop should be within one foot of the bottom, and the 
space between hoops 3% feet for small silos, three 
feet for large ones, one hoop being within 13 or 18 
inches of the top. 
After the hoops are all in place, the staves should be 
drawn up moderately tight. The doors should now 
be cut out, every second or third space between hoops 
being sufficiently close. Bolt to the outside of the 
staves where doors are to be cut, two pieces similar to 
the felloe of a wagon, then with the saw set at a bevel, 
cut out the door. The bevel should be such that the 
door can be removed only from the inside, and when 
in place, cannot be crowded out. The cut made by 
the saw will permit the insertion of the tarred paper 
above and below the door when filling, and by plan¬ 
ing slightly at the side, paper can be inserted there, 
also, making the door perfectly air-tight. 
Paint the interior with coal tar after the hoops have 
been drawn tight. Should it be done before, there 
would be danger of the tar getting on the edges of 
the staves, and when hardened, it would prevent 
their being drawn close enough to exclude the air. 
The only objections I have heard to this form of 
silo, are that, during the summer when empty, it will 
all fall to pieces, and that when filled, the strain will 
be so great that the hoops will break. If the staves 
are of well-seasoned material, there will be very little 
shrinkage when empty. Should it be seen that the 
hoops are becoming loose, they could quickly be 
Lightened, and all danger of the silo falling to pieces 
would be removed. Short staples could be used to 
hold the hoops in place, and to prevent the falling to 
pieces of the silo. The staples should be driven over 
the hoops and into the staves, six or eight over every 
hoop, so that, finally, every stave will have, at least, 
one or two staples to hold it in place. 
The Farmers’ Club. 
[Every query must be accompanied by the name and address of 
the writer to insure attention. Before asking a question please 
see whether it is not answered in our advertising columns. Ask 
only a few questions at one time. Put questions on a separate 
piece of paper.] 
When to Set Berries. 
M. V. G., Mill City, Pa. —1. When is the proper time to bury 
black raspberry tips ? How deep ? 2. When is the best time to 
set out red raspberries ? 3. Is fall or spring preferable for set¬ 
ting strawberries? 4. Should horseradish and ihe plant roots be 
set fall or spring ? 
Ans.— 1. Just as soon as the canes are long enough 
Insert the tips two to four inches into the soil. 2 . 
Either fall or spring—it matters little which. For 
your climate, we would choose fall, covering the sets 
with manure. 3. Spring. 4. As one prefers. 
An Ice House of Concrete. 
F. P. B., Liberty Corners , Pa. —In one of my books, I find a plan 
to make gravel houses, which states that they are cheaper and 
better than wood or stone. 1 wish to build au ice house 12x12 feet 
on the inside, and 10 feet high. Wood does not last very long in 
an ice house, and good wall stones are not very plenty in this 
place. Will concrete do ? How thick shall I make the walls ? Can 
I make them part at a time, that is, about three feet high, then 
let them harden, then put in more ? 
Ans.—I f the foundations are made with sufficient 
care, good walls may be built of grout; but from the 
fact that the walls must be rather thick, and much 
material used in their construction, they are seldom 
as cheap as stone walls, and never cheaper, if all the 
labor is counted, than wooden walls. A concrete wall 
should not be less than 18 inches, for if made but 15, 
what is gained in material will be lost in having to 
make the mortar much richer than in the thicker wall. 
It may be made part at a time ; in fact, it is better to 
build such walls slowly. The usual method is to erect 
2x4 scantlings as wide apart plus the board which is 
to hold the grout, as it is desired for the thickness of 
the wall. The boards are usually 12 to 16 inches 
wide, placed on the inside of the scantlings, which 
should be taller than the proposed height of the will. 
These scantlings are kept together by means of about 
three cleats nailed across them, which cleats, except 
the top and bottom ones, are removed as the work pro¬ 
ceeds, to give room for the boards. We have just 
built a wall of small, round field stones and mortar, 22 
inches broad at the base and 15 inches broad at the 
top, being battered on the inside. From four to five 
inches of the round and irregular stones were laid in 
the box ; upon this, mortar (rather thin, composed of 
one part of water lime and four parts of sand) was 
poured and worked into the interstices; then a new 
layer of stones was placed in this mortar, and a second 
coat of mortar put over the top, and so on until the 
wall was completed. As the work proceeded and the 
wall hardened, the boards were raised to form a new 
box for the material. When well constructed on a 
firm foundation, such walls are really better than 
stone, and if they could be constructed with farm 
help instead of high-priced labor, they are usually 
much cheaper. i. p. Roberts. 
Hoops for a Tub Silo. 
A. B. B. C., Hampden, O.—I intend to build a tub silo 20 feet 
deep by 12 feet across. Which is the best for hoops, one-half-inch 
rods, or hoop iron, and how many will be needed ? 
Ans. —Round hoops are better than fiat ones ; six 
of them will be ample for a silo 20x12 feet. The most 
satisfactory hoop that we have yet seen is one made 
by the Aermotor Company, Buffalo, N. Y., of gal¬ 
vanized iron, with two or more places, as desired for 
tightening. They cost but a trifle more than com¬ 
mon plain iron hoops, provided they are furnished 
with tighteners. 
Warts on Cow's Teats. 
„ G. 1)., Trimble Co., Ky. —What will remove warts from a cow’s 
teats ? 
Ans. —The common small warts may be clipped off 
with very sharp scissors, and the part burned slightly 
with lunar caustic or chloride of zinc. Sometimes 
warts are removed by tying a thread tightly around, 
drawing it up occasionally until the wart drops off. 
Treatment should be given, if possible, while the cow 
is dry. 
Garget in Cow and Its Results. 
E. T., New Berlin, N. Y. —My three-year-old heifer was a large 
milker; pasturage being poor, it was supplemented with a liberal 
grain ration, consisting of wheat bran and hominy meal. About 
a mouth ago, when milking one night, one quarter of her udder 
was a little inflamed and I gave her 25 drops tincture of aconite. 
In the morning, the milk had some lumps in it, and I gave her 114 
pound Epsom salts, and three 20-drop doses of aconite during 
the day. At night, I could get nothing but water from that quar¬ 
ter, the solids staying in the udder. I then gave one-ounce doses 
of saltpeter and three 20-drop doses of aconite daily for three 
days, and then physic was repeated and followed by the saltpeter 
and aconite for two weeks. During this time, the udder was 
bathed with warm water and camphorated oil. The udder was 
badly inflamed and very painful, and one-half of it became in¬ 
volved. When the pain subsided somewhat, I stopped treatment. 
A little more than a week ago, I found a soft spot on the quarter, 
and when it was opened, a large quantity of watery fluid came 
out. Since then, two other places have opened. They do not 
open into the tissue of the udder to any extent, but the fluid is 
located between the tissue and the skin. I have syringed it out 
as well as may be with carbolic acid and warm water; but the 
holes keep getting larger, and the tissue protrudes. One hole is 
about as large as a hen’s egg now. How should the cow have 
been treated at the start, and how can I heal the udder ? 
Ans. —This was an unusually severe, persistent case 
of garget terminating in suppuration. The descrip¬ 
tion of your treatment shows that you treated the 
heifer as well as a non-professional man could. It 
was a case requiring the personal attention of a com¬ 
petent veterinary surgeon, and when the inflamma¬ 
tion did not yield to the ordinary treatment, it would 
have been well to call a veterinarian. If the diseased 
tissues still protrude or have an unhealthy appear¬ 
ance, dust over with finely powdered sulphite of 
copper. Then after 12 hours, wash off and dust night 
and morning with iodoform. If there are cavities 
into which the iodoform cannot be dusted, syringe 
out with a two or three-per cent solution of carbolic 
acid. f. l. k. 
n Chop Feed Ration for Horses. 
•J. V., Sewickley, Pa. —What is the best formula to feed horses 
chop feed ? I have hay, straw and corn fodder of my own, and 
have to buy all chops. The horses are about 10 and 12 years old, 
and weigh nearly 1,500 pounds each. I wish to keep them in good 
condition. How much shall I feed each one ? 
Ans. —No definite ration can be made up that will 
be “the best” under varying circumstances, or for 
any length of time. I would suggest that the follow¬ 
ing is, probably, best adapted to your case : I would 
feed chop feed morning and noon, when the horses 
have less time to eat, with a ration of long fodder at 
night. For the chop feed, give each horse about one- 
half bushel of cut hay to which add four to six quarts 
of ground feed ; dampen slightly and mix thoroughly. 
The composition of the ground feed will vary with 
the work required, the season of the year, and the 
price of each article in your locality. An excellent 
general mixture is made up of two parts by weight 
of ground oats, and one part each of corn meal and 
wheat bran. During cold weather, or if it be desired 
to lay on more flesh, increase the proportion of corn 
meal. The proportions may, also, be materially 
changed to suit fluctuation in prices, so as to buy 
the cheaper article, without seriously affecting the 
efficiency. For the night ration, give a full feed of 
straw, or of the corn fodder if you prefer, with three 
to six quarts of white oats or the ground feed. The 
quantity of grain will have to be varied to meet the 
requirements of each horse, depending upon their 
present condition, work being done, and individual 
characteristics. f. l. kilbornk. 
