634 
THE RURAL NEW-YORKER. 
September 19 
WHAT GRAIN TO FEED WITH APPLES ? 
Several readers wish to know, in feeding apples 
to dairy cows, bow many can safely be fed, and 
what grain goes best with them. 
Sweet, Ripe Ones Are Best. 
Eleven years ago, I fed 300 barrels of 
apples to a dairy of 16 cows, during a 
period of over two months in the fall. 
The resulting flow of milk and cream 
was marked. Beginning slowly, the 
amount was increased to a large ration, 
the cows being on short pasture, and the 
apples thrown from the wagon twice 
daily. For best results, apples should 
be sweet, or ripe, but not decayed and 
fermented. Ensiloed apple pomace was 
not so satisfactory. It would be well, 
this season, when apples are over-abun¬ 
dant with many, to ship only large, fine 
fruit, and keep the second grade till 
mellow, for feeding dairy cattle and 
other stock. The sweetest apples should 
be kept for the horses, and may be sub¬ 
stituted for part of the gi-ain ration 
when at light work with marked advan¬ 
tage. Cotton-seed meal is always better 
when fed with pasture, ensilage or any 
laxative food such as apples, rather than 
with dry fodder. For giving most body 
to milk, cotton-seed meal, corn meal and 
bran should form a proper ration, with 
rather more corn meal fed with apples 
than with ensilage. w. H. hart. 
Cooked Apples Are Best. 
My experience with feeding apples to 
milch cows has been limited to the fall, 
when we were sorting apples, and when 
the fall feed in the mowings began to 
fail. I do not feed much grain at that 
season. There is a heavy growth of 
rowen, usually, yet not quite heavy 
enough to mow, so we let the cows in a 
little while. When the frosts come, I do 
not like to turn cows out to eat frozen 
grass, and a little later I do not turn 
them out till noon or later. They do 
not take kindly to hay at that time ; 
they will eat the corn, but there is a 
place which apples just seem to fill ; so 
all the poor apples are picked up for the 
cows. About 12 to 14 quarts are fed at 
a time. There is always some danger of 
the apples choking them, though in 
many years’ experience, I never have 
had a case. My father used to smash 
them with a sort of maul, but we do not 
do this. I should not want to put cows 
upon a very heavy diet of apples—one- 
half bushel a day fed morning and night, 
a peck at each time, would be a good 
ration. But it would be best to experi¬ 
ment with apples and cotton-seed meal, 
and larger quantities of apples. I fat¬ 
tened several cattle on cooked apples, 
giving them all they would eat, with a 
little hay, and they made very fine beef. 
I think that, if the apples for cows could 
be cooked, they would be much better. 
j. w. NEWTON. 
Store Small Apples for Feeding. 
Apples have value as food for live 
stock ; all kinds relish them and thrive 
upon them. But I do not know of ex¬ 
periments to determine their relative 
food value, or the best combination in 
which to feed them. We know, from 
experience, that hogs will fatten upon 
apples and grass. The most rapid gains 
I was ever able to make on pigs, were 
when they were fed apples and corn, 
ad libitum, and given skim-milk as their 
nitrogenous food. Cows will increase 
in flow of milk when given the run of 
orchards in the fall. After becoming 
accustomed to eating apples, there is no 
danger, except the constant one of their 
choking, from giving them access to ap¬ 
ples if they have other food. But they 
have such a relish for them, I doubt not 
they eat more than is best or px-ofitable, 
for apples do not afford a complete 
ration. Their food elements are largely 
carbonaceous, being fruit sugar and the 
woody fiber. Hence, when used, they 
should substitute some carbonaceous 
factor in the ration and be supplemented 
by a nitrogenous one. 
The excess of acids in fruits must also 
be counterbalanced for best results. Dry 
feeds, as mixed hay, and the by-products 
of flouring mills, are satisfactory. To the 
direct question, What grain should be 
fed with apples to increase both quality 
and quantity of milk ? I would say that, 
if by “ quality ” is meant the proportion 
of butter fat, I do not know, as it is gen¬ 
erally recognized that this cannot be 
controlled by feeding. There is no 
other one feed that can be used in con¬ 
nection with apples to increase the flow 
of milk to so good advantage as wheat 
bran. But I should not confine cows to 
such a diet. Were I to store apples for 
winter feeding to cows, I should not 
allow each over a peck a day, given in 
two feeds. 1 should not feed them at all 
until they were thoroughly ripened, and 
the time for picking is not the test of 
this. 
I believe that it will pay to store the 
small, unmarketable apples for the 
stock. We once wintered two colts on 
Harrison apples and hay ; for some rea¬ 
son, they would not learn to eat grain. 
I remember that we then believed that 
we could not have got them through the 
winter without the apples. They were 
allowed all they would eat, and they 
consumed about 40 bushels during the 
winter. They may be fed whole to 
horses without danger, but cows are 
much less liable to choke if the apples 
are cut in halves for them. I believe 
that a safe rule in regulating the amount, 
is to allow a pound a day for each 100 
pounds of animal ; this for all kinds of 
stock except hogs. For them, the quan¬ 
tity may be doubled or trebled, as they 
are the largest feeders among domestic 
animals. I have had no experience with 
cotton-seed meal. h. p. millkb. 
" MURRAIN " IN SOUTHERN CATTLE. 
Ticks have been uncommonly plenti¬ 
ful this past hot season, and I am, there¬ 
fore, not at all surprised that reports 
are coming in from all directions, of cat¬ 
tle dying with the “ murrain.” In the 
hope of being able to benefit some of the 
readers of The R. N.-Y., I inclose the 
following clipping from the Practical 
Farmer : 
Bloody Murrain.— We lost two heifers last 
week. They were well until the day of death, then 
got weak, strained to evacuate bowels, but with 
little effect and feces hard. A post-mortem re¬ 
vealed that the bowels were clogged, and bladder 
full of bloody urine. The pasture is upland and 
swamp, and the grass is muddy on the lowland. 
Since the heifers died, three others have been 
sick. I gave a pound of salts each, and had the 
hard, fecal matter removed from the rectum. They 
recovered. e. r. Matthews. 
Fairfield Co., S. C. 
I want to call particular attention to 
the treatment received by the three 
heifers that recovered. The older readers 
of The R. N.-Y. may remember my 
account, some years ago, of the success 
met by this treatment. There may 
have been cases where the animal so 
treated has died, but I have never heard 
of a single one. On the other hand, 
thousands simply drenched with all 
sorts of stuff, have fallen victims to this 
scourge. The truth of the matter is 
that the partly digested food becomes so 
hard and dry as to be practicably im¬ 
permeable to any amount of physic that 
a sane man would think of administer¬ 
ing. Removal by hand is the only way 
of accomplishing the object. Give the 
animal a well diluted dose of linseed oil, 
epsom salts or sulphate of soda. Then 
quickly roll up your sleeves, grease the 
hand and arm well with lard, vaseline, 
or the like, and carefully remove by 
degrees all the fecal matter within 
reach. Repeat every half hour, if 
necessary, until a natural condition is 
apparent. I have never known this 
treatment to fail. If it does in your 
case, you may rest pretty well assured 
that you began treatment too late, and 
that nothing else would have availed. 
Nothing but easily digested food should 
be given for some days after a natural 
passage is secured. This is an ideal 
“ murrain ” year ; so watch your cattle 
closely until after heavy frosts. 
J. C. SENGEK. 
DANGER IN MILK “PRESERVATIVES " 
The R. N.-Y. made a vigorous warfare 
against “ Preservaline” when that stuff 
was advertised so extensively. It con¬ 
tained boracic acid, and was both a 
humbug and a dangerous article for use 
in milk. We now read in Hoard’s Dairy¬ 
man of a case in England where seveD 
persons in a boarding house were 
attacked by a mysterious disease : 
Suspicion was attached to the milk supplied to 
the household, which had been taken alone, 
blended with tea, and in the form of blanc mange. 
To the morning and afternoon supply, the cook 
had added a preservative which was found to 
contain, as its basis, boracic acid. A sample as 
delivered by the dairyman, was an.i'.zed and 
found also to contain a similar substar.ce. Thus, 
for the same purpose, a preservative had been 
added both before and after its arrival at the 
house, by which treatment an overdose had been 
administered. Permission was obtained to give 
the portion of unconsumed blanc mange to nine 
fowls. Five devoured the food with avidity, and 
thus secured a larger portion than the remaining 
four, and, though vigorous pullets, they all died. 
The remaining four suffered badly, butultimately 
recovered. 
That reminds one of the kettle of mush 
which was salted by every member of 
the family. It was bad enough for the 
milkman to use the drug, but when the 
cook used it after him, few stomachs 
could stand the dose. 
The State of Connecticut prohibits the 
use of such drugs. It declares that milk 
is illegal when, among other things, it 
contains poisonous ingredients which 
may render such article injurious to the 
health of a party consuming it, or if it 
contain any antiseptic or preservative 
not evident and not known to the pur¬ 
chaser or consumer. This clearly pro¬ 
hibits the use of all preservatives like 
“Preservaline”, and it would be a good 
thing if all the States would drive this 
nasty stuff out of the milk dairies. 
In writing to advertisers, please always mention 
The Rural New-Yorker. 
The Average Farmer 
may not know that by cooking he 
can double the bulk and value of 
meal for horses, cattle and pigs. 
THE GRANITE STATE 
B0ILER HMD COOKER 
is the simplest, cheapest and best 
boiler and cooker now in the mar¬ 
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Cooking food for stock is recommended by the 
highest authorities and most successful stock- 
feeders. An interesting pamphlet on the subject 
will be sent free on application. Address 
GRANITE STATE EVAPORATOR CO. 
203 Main Street, Marlow, N. H. 
I I I I I « » TTT T 
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1 17 River Street, YPSI L AN Tl - MICH . macs: 
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“SMALLEY 
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Grinder 
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VICTORY 
Feed Mill 
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Send for catalogue 
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