74 
THE RURAL NEW-YORKER. 
February 4, 
breeding, in individual excellence, in productive capacity 
and in cash value. A beautiful cow is Netherland Fancy 
Rosetta No. 45618. She produced in an official test in 
seven days 20 pounds eight ounces butter; per cent 
of fat 4.2. Another young cow bred in the purple, and 
a great producer, is Countess Dorinda DeKol, A. R. O., 
No. 18.'].’!. During the present season she has produced 
in seven days in an official test 424.9 pounds milk, butter 
20.5 pounds. Another is Scotia 4th, No. 37262; she has 
produced in an official test in seven days 433.6 pounds 
milk, 20 pounds three ounces butter. Still another is 
Netherland Van Friesland Pietertje, who made an 
A. R. O. seven-day butter record of over 20 pounds 
when 12 years old. Mina Ophelia No. 46621. A. R. O., 
No. 2192, is a beautiful young cow that has made an 
official butter record of 421.8 pounds milk, 19.1. pounds 
butter. Victorine Clotbilde No. 42445 has made offi¬ 
cially in seven days 422.8 pounds milk, 18.11.8 pounds but¬ 
ter. Marion DeKol No. 46668, A. R. O., No. 3263, dur¬ 
ing the present season has made officially in seven days 
409 pounds milk, 18.4.8 pounds butter. Aaggie Idaline 
Nell, No. 44400, A. R. O., No. 2404, is credited with 
an official seven-day record of 391.6 pounds milk, 18.19 
pounds butter. Susie Pietertje Inka, a handsome young 
cow, has recently made an official seven-day butter 
record of 18.12 pounds. DeKol Queen, another prom¬ 
ising young cow, has an official seven-day butter record 
of 18.8 pounds. Another good one is Mercedes Julip’s 
Pietertje’s Grand-daughter. No. 66235, sired by Sunny 
Side DeKol No. 28976, and her dam is Mercedes Julip’s 
Pietertje 2d, a daughter of Mercedes Julip’s Pietertje, 
the 1900 world’s official champion cow, with an official 
seven-day butter record of 584 pounds milk, 29.5.7 pounds 
butter. Another great one that should be a record 
breaker is Segis Inka McKinley No. 62411. Her dam 
was A. & G. Inka McKinley No. 55163 and sbe holds 
an official seven-day butter record at three years of 22 
pounds; her dam Segis Inka No. 36617, holds an official 
seven-day butter record of 460.3 pounds milk. 2S pounds 
butter. 
The average length of life of the registered cow is 
estimated by Mr. Bronson to be from 16 to 22 years, and 
the great majority will breed regularly until they are 
from 16 to 18 years of age; indeed, some females breed 
until they are past 20. The milk of each cow is weighed, 
and an accurate record kept of the production of every 
milking animal in the herd. The herd is constantly being 
enlarged and the number of advanced registry animals 
is nearly double to-day what it was six months ago. 
There are about 40 animals in the herd that have made 
large advanced registry records, and there is also a 
large number of females that are descendants of the>e 
celebrated cows. / 
The animals shown in Fig. 32 are as fojJ»<sj reading 
from right to left: Aaggie Cornucopia Pauline Co/rt 
in foreground; Mina Ophelia behind; Netherland'-Prmcy 
Rosetta; Saake 3d’s Netherland; Ononis Francine in 
foreground; Marion DeKol and Scotia 4th at rear; 
A. & G. DeKol Pietertje 2d; Mercedes Julip’s Pietertje 
Paul. 
A BARN OF CONCRETE BLOCKS . 
Fig. 36 shows a barn that is somewhat out of the ordi¬ 
nary. It is owned by J. M. Cutshall, Clay Co., Ind., 
and was built by him. It is built of cement blocks; the 
blocks were made on the ground where the building was 
erected. It is 2S x 40 feet, and the walls are 17 feet 
high. The entire floor is made of Portland cement, and 
the interior of the barn is fitted up with every con¬ 
venience. Every detail, both in work and material, was 
followed out in the very best way. A building of this 
construction will last as long as time endures. Should 
a fire destroy the wooden portion, as can be seen from 
the details given further on, it can be replaced at a com¬ 
paratively slight cost, as the walls and floor would re¬ 
main intact. The tower, which adds so much to the 
appearance of the building, can be used for a silo. The 
cost of the structure complete is as follows: 60 barrels 
of Portland cement, $96; 40 yards sand, $3^; making 
the blocks, $40; foundation complete, $12; hauling bats, 
$10; laying blocks in the wall, $36; windows (including 
glass), complete, $17; hardware, $10; carpenter work, 
$81; roofing, $50; lumber, $123; anchors and bolts, $5; 
painting, $10; concrete floor, $89.60; hay carrier, $20; 
total, $681.60. Mr. Cutshall was raised on a farm, and 
his home is little more than a stone’s throw from the 
old homestead where he was born. At present he is a 
builder and contractor. b. 
Indiana. 
R. N.-Y.—Mr. Cutshall gives the following additional 
information: 
“The cement blocks are hollow, two cores, 3 1 / x 4 
inches. They are better made hollow on account of 
making a dry, warm house and for ventilation. Size of 
blocks is 8 x 8 x 20 inches. The weight is 50 pounds. 
They can be made by any laborer. The complete outfit 
costs $125. With this you can build a State House by 
a little skill added. We usually leave the blocks to dry 
three to four days before laying. We use good lime 
mortar cut with Portland cement to insure the tensile 
strength. I claim to build the barn for about the same 
money it would cost in wood. I use cement for floor, 
finished floor in carriage room, rough floor in stalls 
padded with clay.”_ 
PROF. BEACH GOES TO IOWA. 
Prof. Beach, for 13 years horticulturist at the Geneva, 
N. Y., Experiment Station, is now leaving for Iowa, 
where lie will be horticulturist to the State Experiment 
Station, and professor of horticulture at the State Col¬ 
lege, A. 1'. Erwin being associate professor. Prof. 
Beach is a graduate of the Iowa College, spending two 
years of practical work as nursery superintendent for 
Silas Wilson, Atlantic, Iowa, lie then held the chair 
I’It OF. S. A. BEACH. Fig. 33. 
of horticulture at the Texas Agricultural College for 
one year, leaving this position for the New York Exper¬ 
iment Station, where he has acquired an enviable repu¬ 
tation. Prof. Beach is now engaged in writing an ex¬ 
haustive work on pomology, for which the State of New 
York has made a special appropriation of $20,000. He 
is also an active worker in the American Pomologica! 
Society, and Secretary of the Society of Horticultural 
Science. His services will be of great value to the col¬ 
lege from which he entered into active work, and the 
horticultural interests of the Northwest will share the 
benefit. A portrait of Prof. Beach is shown in Fig. 33. 
ICE AND AN ICEHOUSE. 
,-^yiy family and servants do not exceed live. But of course 
when ice is most needed our guests swell the number. 
l!o\v many cubic l'eet are in a ton of ice? Live me your 
idea as to the size and capacity of a family icehouse such 
as you may suppose will answer my purposes. (Jive me 
an approximate cost of such structure and specify the 
most desirable mode of construction. w. n, g. 
New Jersey. 
A solid ton of ice contains about 36 cubic feet, but in 
estimating size of house for a required amount of ice 
allowance must be made for spaces between the blocks, 
for sawdust space between the mass and the walls, and 
TIIE llOLI.Y-LEAVEI) CHERRY. Fig. 34. 
See Kuraiisms, Page 80. 
for shrinkage. This latter in the course of the season 
amounts to 50 per cent or even more for small houses. 
Ice as ordinarily cut and piled in the icehouse weighs 
in the mass about one ton to every 45 cubic feet. 
Under the circumstances mentioned, a desirable size 
for house would be 13 x 13 feet and 12 feet high, making 
a mass of ice about 10 feet square and 12 feet high. It 
is not advisable to make the house too small, as the loss 
is relatively larger and in fact, it is difficult to keep ice 
all Summer in a small house. An icehouse should al¬ 
ways be built above ground. It should be double walled 
with walls about 10 inches apart. It is to be preferred 
to fill the spaces between the walls with sawdust; a 
dead-air space is all right if it is a dead-air space, but 
it is difficult to make an ordinary board siding tight 
enough without sheathing paper to effect a dead-air 
space; there will be openings enough to cause a circu¬ 
lation of the air, and thereby heat is quickly transferred 
to the inner wall. Almost any kind of cheap lumber 
will do for the inner wall, but the outer enclosure ought 
to be fairly good. A shingle roof is the best, and this 
should also be double as well as the sides. This is not 
usually done, but everyone knows how hot it becomes 
beneath any kind of a roof on a Summer day when the 
sun shines. An enclosed space beneath the roof is of 
great benefit in keeping the air above the ice from get¬ 
ting too warm. Another important thing to be looked 
after is to see that the house is tight around the bot¬ 
tom, so that no air can get in. Warm air rises, and if 
there is a hole in the bottom and air works its way up 
in the ice the latter will be rapidly melted. If the earth 
upon which the house rests is porous the drainage front 
the ice will soak away in it; otherwise it would be nec¬ 
essary to lead the water away by a pipe, which should 
be trapped to prevent a warm current of air from 
ascending it. Under no circumstances should ice be 
laid upon the ground. It can be laid on almost anything 
that will keep it from coming in contact with the ground. 
A house of the size and kind here indicated will cost 
about $60 for material at ordinary lumber prices. Your 
correspondent can tell more definitely about cost by 
consulting a carpenter, and having decided upon just 
what kind of boards he is going to use, get prices from 
the lumber yard and then make estimates. 
GRANT DAVIS. 
USE OF FERTILIZERS IN MISSOURI. 
Within the last five years the farmers have com¬ 
menced the use of chemical fertilizers. Pure bone meal 
was first used, about 100 to 200 pounds per acre on 
wheat and in starting new meadows. Now from three 
to five or six carloads of bone meal and various mixtures 
prepared by the- fertilizer companies are used every 
Spring and Fall. Most of these are slaughter house 
refuse ground and prepared, and sold for from $25 to 
$32 per ton. A fertilizer company of St. Louis sends 
out a wheat grower composed of raw bone meal and 
tobacco dust, which has been used this season, but I 
have no authentic report of results. I used a mixture 
on corn the past season which cost $29 per ton. Judg¬ 
ing simply from appearances as compared with the corn¬ 
fields nearby on same kind of ground, where fertilizers 
were not used, there was an increase in yield of two 
to three barrels, 10 to 15 bushels per acre. 1 used 200 
pounds per acre of the mixture drilled on the ground 
with wheat drill before corn was planted. Rating the 
increase at 10 bushels per acre, and at 50 cents per 
bushel, there is a small profit in favor of the land where 
fertilizer was used. We grow corn principally for the 
grain ; although much fodder is cut up little commercial 
value is allowed for it. 
Where bone meal has been used on wheat at rate of 
150 pounds per acre and part left unfertilized the in¬ 
crease is often doubled, but personally I have failed to 
see any profit in wheat growing. The yield per acre 
without fertilizer is oftener below 12 bushels than above, 
and no actual tests by weight have been made around 
here that 1 have heard of. There has been no attempt 
as yet among farmers to mix their own fertilizers. 
Much of the land in this part of Missouri has become 
so much worn by injudicious management that it does 
not pay to cultivate without fertilizing in some way. 
Clover and stable manure are depended on mostly yet, 
but many different chemical preparations are being used 
in a small way. _ a. f, g. 
SEPARATOR MILK AND CALVES. 
We are now running our hand separator by the use 
of a small steam engine. It is not necessary to do so, 
but as we have the engine we find it convenient. Among 
the advantages of separating the milk upon the farm I 
will mention, first, that there is no time milk will separate 
by the use of a machine more easily or more completely 
than when fresh and warm. Second, we have the skim- 
milk fresh and warm for our calves. Third, there is 
so little time for germs to multiply that danger from 
bowel trouble is averted. We have not lost a calf from 
scours for several years, although all are Jerseys, and 
claimed by some to be delicate. Fourth, our cream is 
sold, tested, and paid for upon the basis of its butter fat; 
we are paid for just what we furnish. Nothing could 
be more fair. I know of no drawbacks. I should not 
care to go back to the old ways, especially to the feeding 
of the milk that had stood long enough to cool, or that 
was composed of the indiscriminate product of many 
herds. We feed in addition to the separator skim-milk, 
a small amount of hominy meal, given dry just after 
each feed of milk. Calves are ready for the show ring 
at any time. We are now feeding 15 calves, also 11 hogs. 
I might mention that a part of the calves are boarders. 
These are sent when but a few days old and remain 
until they become cows. 1 have not as yet received a 
complaint as to feed or care given. If farmers want 
good cows they must raise them, and to do. so advanta¬ 
geously, must have clean, warm, fresh skim-milk; this 
means separators of their own and at home. 
Connecticut. jeffeky o. phelps, jr. 
