656 
THE RURAL NEW-YORKER. 
October 3 
SOME NURSERIES FOR TUBERCULOSIS. 
KILLING THE COWS BUT NOT THE GERMS. 
I have been interested in the bulletins sent out by 
the experiment stations, and by the Bureau of Animal 
Industry, on the subject of tuberculosis, and I have 
been especially interested in the preventive measures 
recommended. I notice that most authorities agree 
on the means of transmission, and the importance of 
disinfection to destroy the germs that float about in 
the dust of a house or building, where the disease is 
present. Powerful germicides are recommended that 
will destroy them. I have often wondered whether 
inspectors and appointed officials who condemn the 
cattle and kill them, usually attend to the disinfec¬ 
tion, and I have taken pains to inquire. I have asked 
members of the State Board of Agriculture of Rhode 
Island, who do the inspecting, if they disinfect the 
quarters occupied by the diseased animals. They tell 
me that they do not. They sometimes tell the farmer 
to disinfect, but they do not do it themselves. They 
say that our State makes no provision for disinfection, 
and no money is appropriated for that purpose. I 
have inquired in certain parts of Massachusetts, where 
many cows have been killed, but could not learn of 
a single instance of an inspector having disinfected 
the stalls or the building, or even the floor soiled by 
pus during the post-mortem examination. They con¬ 
demn cattle out of a large herd kept in one barn ; 
they kill and open the condemned cattle, and in some 
cases, the diseased organs are laid on the barn floor. 
The organs are usually removed in a bag and buried 
near by, and the carcass carted to Brighton to be 
made into fertilizer. Will not the soiled floor contain 
infecting material ? Is there no danger of the car¬ 
cass, which is carted to Brighton, giving off infection 
before it is turned into fertilizer ? 
It seems to me that it is State money thrown away 
to condemn and kill cattle, and then neglect to kill 
or attempt to exterminate the seeds of the disease 
that remain. Should not disinfection go hand in hand 
with other measures? Should not every diseased 
cow not only be destroyed, but every germ that may 
be lurking in the dust or cracks and crevices in man¬ 
ger or stalls, be surely killed by the proper agent ? 
Water troughs, tubs, and the pails with which dis¬ 
eased cattle have come in contact, should not escape 
thorough disinfection, if the theories and reasoning 
of the veterinarians are correct. If they are right, 
why are not ordinary, common-sense precautions gen¬ 
erally taken by State officials, at the time the cattle 
are killed ? You might as well leave the farmer to 
discover and kill his diseased cattle, as to expect him 
or trust him properly to disinfect his infected build¬ 
ings. It seems to me that great blunders are being 
committed, and that the thing ought to be shown 
up, and the people educated in this matter. 
Will prominent veterinarians express themselves 
on this matter of disinfection ? Should it be done 
or net? I think that it might be worth while 
to look up cases where cattle have been killed, 
and find out whether disinfection of their quart¬ 
ers has been followed. The record of scores of 
such cases in various States would show what is the 
practice. If the scientific authorities agree that dis¬ 
infection should not be neglected, should not farmers 
demand a law compelling State officials to disinfect 
premises as well as test, condemn and kill cattle ? 
We hear of cattle being condemned and killed on a 
certain farm, not once only, but year after year. If 
the inspector’s work is a success, if his mission to 
stamp out and prevent the disease is not a failure, 
should case follow case, year after year, on the same 
farm ? It would seem that, at present, the efforts 
made in many sections to stamp out the disease, are a 
failure. The ripest and most rotten specimens only, 
whose milk and flesh are dangerous, are killed, and 
the disease continues to propagate and flourish, even 
where the inspector has been samuel cushman. 
Rhode Island. 
NEW ENGLAND PASTURE LANDS. 
WHAT CAN BE DONE FOR THEM ? 
The great acreage and low price of pasture lands in 
New England, make pasturage a very important part 
of the food of our dairy stock. The entire substitu¬ 
tion of soiling for pasture feed, can only be econom¬ 
ically practiced near cities and towns where land is 
too valuable to be used for grazing purposes. The 
use of fodder crops for summer feeding, as a supple¬ 
ment to pasturage, is almost a necessity, if we wish 
to keep the herd producing to its fullest capacity. But 
in urging the use of these crops, there is danger of 
encouraging a now too common neglect of the old 
pasture. It requires much energy to wage a success¬ 
ful warfare on the brush and weeds, but it will pay 
in the end. No feed is superior to good pasturage for 
the production of the best grade of dairy products. 
From four to five acres per cow is now about the 
average stock-carrying capacity of the pastures of 
Connecticut. Good pasture lands, however, will 
carry a cow for every two acres. This shows the 
chance for improvement. In offering suggestions, 
one must not lose sight of the fact that pasture lands 
are cheap, and that the cost of improvement may 
easily exceed the value of the land, even after the 
improvements are made. There is little doubt that 
half of the pasture lands of Connecticut might be 
more profitably devoted to the growing of wood. 
Wood and pasture together, however, furnish little 
pasturage. Old-time farmers tell us that pastures 
have deteriorated, that they will not carry nearly 
the amount of stock they did 50 years ago. Where 
shall we look for the cause of this condition ? Have 
the natural stores of fertility in the soil been so de¬ 
pleted that productiveness is greatly reduced ? If we 
look to the old countries of the world, we find that 
the best grazing lands are those that have been 
pastured constantly for 50 or, perhaps, 100 years. 
There are two conditions that have greatly injured 
our pastures, and will continue to do so unless met 
and, at least partially, overcome. These are brush 
and droughts. It is useless to attempt to grow two 
crops on the land at the same time. Every farmer 
knows that ridding land of brush is a serious problem. 
Cut the brush when you will, either “in the old of 
the moon in August,” or “ when the sap is all up in 
June,” and still, the next year, you have brush. 
Either thorough plowing, or “ grubbing ” the brush 
out by the roots, is the only sure way of subjugation. 
While the first cost is large, yet if this task be well 
done, it is permanently done. Where the land is 
not too rough, mowing the pasture over with a ma¬ 
chine, once or twice a year, rids the land of weeds 
and bushes for a time, and encourages a new growth 
of feed. I have known fields covered with a thick 
growth of small bushes to be cut over in this way at 
a very small cost. 
One reason for the decline in the productiveness of 
our pastures, I believe to be the reduction in the num¬ 
ber of sheep kept on our farms. There is no truer 
adage than the Scotchman’s, that “ the sheep is an 
animal with a golden hoof.” The best grazing lands 
of England and Scotland are those that are pastured 
by sheep. Owing to the immense areas of cheap graz¬ 
ing lands in the West, the raising of sheep has afforded 
little profit in New England ; but every farmer can 
well afford to keep a small number, if only to produce 
lamb and mutton for family use. 
Droughts are very likely to kill out the better class 
of grasses, and unless new seed be added, a growth of 
poorer grasses and weeds will take their places. Small 
pasture streams might, in many cases, easily be turned 
from their regular courses, and be made to irrigate 
a considerable area. Wherever possible, it is well to 
turn the wash from the highways to the pastures 
alongside. I have known an acre or more of pasturage 
to be kept well watered and fertilized in this way. 
Some of the cheaper forms of fertilizing materials 
may be economically used on pasture lands. Air- 
slaked lime has a chemical and physical effect not 
represented in its direct value as pla nt food. It will 
destroy an acid condition of the soil, check the growth 
of moss, and encourage the activity of bacteria which 
convert organic nitrogen into the available nitrates. 
Wood ashes, bone, and coarse manures may often be 
used to good advantage. After a season of droughts, 
which frequently kill out the better kinds of forage, 
grass seed and clover should be sown very early in the 
spring. If the land is smooth enough, the seed may 
be partly covered by harrowing. Eren where this is 
not practicable, much of the seed will germinate, 
owing to the naturally moist condition of the ground 
at this season of the year. c. s. phelps. 
Storrs (Conn,) Experiment Station. 
“STRAIGHT GOODS" BY CROOKED MEN. 
Can a crooked man make straight goods? Yes, I think 
that he can—if he has to. I would much sooner un¬ 
dertake to secure proper legislation, and then vigor¬ 
ously enforce it, than to attempt to reconstruct poor 
human nature by straightening out the crooks in some 
men’s lives. I am so often reminded of the need of 
some defense against adulteration of food, that I 
think that public opinion should be aroused to cry 
out against it. And who has a better right to start 
the cry than the producers of honest food products, 
who suffer directly through this spurious competition, 
while the consumers all over the country suffer in¬ 
directly through paying for what they do not get ? 
In my article some weeks ago on, “ The Fate of the 
Calf,” I did not allude to the practice of selling bob 
veals, although I knew that quite a traffic exists in 
selling veals but a few days old. Last fall, I met a 
young man, on the road to town, whom I invited to 
ride with me. During the ride, I learned that he was 
a French Canadian going from Massachusetts back to. 
Montreal. He had been working in a meat-canning 
establishment near Boston, for two years, but busi¬ 
ness was slack, and he was going home for a visit. 
Among other things, he told me about the trade in 
veals. He said that the factory in which he worked 
used a great many veals only a few days old, stewed 
up with a very few chickens, and sold the product as 
boneless chicken. He talked very frank and fair 
about it, and seemed to think that it was all right, 
for he said, “ You can’t tell it from chicken when it is 
cut up in small slices.” A very small slice would 
satisfy me, I think. I have since confirmed his report 
by others who are in a position to know. 
One year ago, I was in Providence, R. I., and found 
exposed for sale in the city markets, tubs of oleo¬ 
margarine (or butterine, as it is called), that were 
marked, “Choice creamery butterine, manufactured 
by the Vermont Manufacturing Company.” The 
words, choice creamery and Vermont Manufacturing 
Company, were in larger text than the rest of the 
allegation. This was, evidently, done to deceive the 
buyers, many of whom are foreigners, and but im¬ 
perfectly understand our language. On the same 
trip, I interviewed several parties engaged in canning 
fruits and vegetables. At one factory, I was shown 
through the works, and the details of the business 
were explained by the proprietor. Seeing a barrel of 
gelatine with the head knocked out, I inquired its 
use, and was told that they used quantities of it in 
making jellies 20 to 30 per cent of fruit would absorb 
the 70 to 80 per cent of gelatine that they used in the 
mixture. In making jam, they used a larger per cent 
of berries, as I was told, for they could not disguise 
so much gelatine in jam, without adding a quantity 
of Timothy or millet seed to keep up appearances, 
which they did not often do. In looking at their 
canned goods, nicely labeled ready for market, I 
failed to notice any mention of gelatine or hay seed 
on the labels ; but, perhaps, I am giving away trade 
secrets, without warrant, so I pass to another topic. 
A recent issue of The R. N.-Y. had a timely article 
on the use of Raupenleim and Dendrolene on fruit 
trees. It seems that neither substance really does 
what is claimed for it, and in some cases, positive in¬ 
jury has resulted. A few weeks ago, an agent called 
at my farm for the purpose of selling me some fruit 
trees. I wanted no more fruit trees, at present, so he 
next produced a sample of “ Protectio,” a gummy 
substance for applying to the trunks or branches of 
trees to prevent black knot, blight and other diseases 
from spreading, and for protecting the trees against 
borers, mice, rabbits, etc. The agent stated that 
“ Protectio ” had been discovered after 14 years of 
research, and was composed largely of gum found 
only in Asia Minor, whence it was carried on the 
backs of the natives across the burning sands to a 
seaport, and there bought by the Protectio Company 
exclusively. Well, I bought a quart can for 50 cents, 
although it was marked SI on the can, and the agent, 
at first, asked SI for it. 1 have applied it according 
to directions, and am hoping for good results. If it 
is a good thing, I shall want more of it ; but if it is 
not, then I think that the poor, deluded Turks ought 
to be informed of the fact, and not have them wear 
their lives out crossing the burning sands to accommo¬ 
date us. The circular accompanying the can con¬ 
tained some strong testimonials in its favor, and if 
any readers of The R. N - Y. know anything about 
“ Protectio,” I should like to know what they think 
of it. Straight goods are what we want, even though 
we have to invoke the law to protect ourselves. 
Vermont._ c. w. scarff. 
WHAT SAY? 
Feeding Oil Meal. —How much oil meal should 1 
feed at a time and how often ? What is the best kind 
of oil meal to buy ? I want any other information 
any readers can give me on feeding oil meal to pigs, 
calves, horses, etc. g. d . 
Overhead Watering Device —A New York State 
subscriber wishes to get a watering device for his 
stables, that feeds from the top, believing that it will 
be less likely to become dirty. Do any of our readers 
know of any such, and what do they know about it ? 
What Grass with Rye. —I have a natural prairie 
pasture. The hollows are much washed, and over¬ 
spread with soil washed in from the upland, during 
the unusually heavy rains this summer. I wish to 
sow rye on these washed spots late in the fall, for 
pasturing next spring. Is there any kind of grass 
that I could sow with the rye, or in the spring, that 
would give pasture after the rye during the summer? 
Moonlight, Kan. a. m. e. 
McIntosh Red Apple.-—Is not Mr. Van Deman mis¬ 
taken in regard to the quality of McIntosh Red in 
reply to No Name in The R. N.-Y., page 613 ? We 
have the variety on trial not fruited yet, and were 
under the impression that the quality was superior to 
Baldwin. We have no use for poor quality apples. 
The American Pomological Society rates it as “very 
good.” May we not hear from growers who have 
fruited the variety, in regard to its quality ? 
Kentucky. ream co. 
