some of his daughters. These four were selected, not 
for any special merit, but because the negatives hap¬ 
pened to turn out better than the rest. They were 
photographed in August, after the flush of the milk¬ 
ing season, but these pictures will serve to illustrate 
the kind of cows one may expect to develop in the 
process of grading up a herd. 
“Belle,” page 34 is a handsome black and white 
cow of the true dairy type. Her udder is not re¬ 
markably large, but is well carried, and the teats are 
of good size and well placed. The dam of this cow 
was a half-blood Jersey, a daughter of our pugna¬ 
cious Jersey bull. She was the equal of her daughter 
as a milker, and her superior as a butter cow, for 
her milk tested higher in butter fat. 
“Pattie,” Fig. 8, or “Pat,” as we call her for short, 
is black and white in color, short-legged and deep- 
chested. Her udder and teats are large and well- 
formed. She is a trifle beefy about the neck and 
brisket, but in general she is a fine dairy cow for the 
average farmer. She has so far invariably given birth 
to bull calves, which is unfortunate, for we would 
very much like to raise some heifers from her. Like 
most good cows she is intelligent, and always looking 
for something to eat. From her expression in the 
picture she seems to be thinking of fresh fields and 
pastures new. Although not exactly unruly, she has 
an eye for weak spots in the neighbor’s fences, espe¬ 
cially when there is something tempting on the other 
side. The dam of this cow was the black French cow 
of the original herd. 
“Dollie” is a three-quarters blood Holstein, black 
and white in color, of good dairy form and very 
gentle in disposition. Her milk tests lowest of any 
cow in the herd, but she gives a good quantity and is 
a persistent milker. Like many good cows she has 
the power to transform her food into milk at the 
expense of her own body; consequently she will lose 
flesh rapidly when milking heavily, unless she is well 
and carefully fed. A cow of this tendency should be 
fed a wider ration (that is a ration with a greater 
proportion of fat-forming foods) than one with a 
tendency to put on flesh when fed for milk produc¬ 
tion. 
“Topsy,” Fig. 10, is all black except a portion of 
her udder. She is raw-boned and always reminds me 
of Cassius in Shakespeare’s “Julius Caesar.” You 
will remember that when Caesar notes Cassius.in the 
crowd about him he turns to Mark Antony and 
says: 
“Yon Cassius has a lean and hungry look; 
He thinks too much; such men are dangerous.” 
“Topsy” certainly has a lean and hungry look and 
she thinks a great deal, but her thoughts are not 
dangerous; they chiefly concern the condition of her 
stomach. This is a faulty cow in many respects, yet 
she is a fairly good producer and is improving as a 
milker every year of her life. Her dam was a half- 
hlood Holstein, sired by our $10 bull. She was the 
heaviest milker we ever owned, and an all-around 
hustler. One of the jobs she took upon herself was 
to mow out the wire fences before haying. By kneel¬ 
ing down and thrusting her head between the two 
lower wires she could reach to a remarkable distance, 
end always cleaned up everything that her tongue 
could touch. These four cows are simply examples 
of what one may expect from crossing purebred 
bulls with ordinary cows. They are decidedly better 
than scrubs, but not equal to the female ancestors of 
their sires—nor could this be expected. Our present 
bull, now a yearling, is a grandson of Mr. Moyer’s 
$10,000 bull, King Scgis, and'his dam is an exception¬ 
ally fine cow, so we are expecting a decided improve¬ 
ment in our heifers for the next few years. 
Although our present coavs are a decided improve¬ 
ment on the original herd, yet we have not made the 
advance I had hoped for at the start. 1 his was 
partly due to the fact that for several seasons most 
of the calves were bulls, necessitating the raising of 
heifers from more or less inferior cows. For two 
years contagious abortion played havoc with our herd, 
which was another serious setback. There is no 
doubt, however, that it pays to use purebred bulls. 
The ancestry and the indi\’iduality of the animal 
selected are both important. See to it that the pedi¬ 
gree is rich in females of large producing powers, 
then be sure that the bull is right in makeup, of good 
size and vigorous. Select the breed which you fancy 
most and stick to it until you ha\’e a high-grade herd. 
Mixing breeds is seldom if ever successful; instead 
of combining the good qualities of two or more 
breeds, the result is very apt to be a gathering to¬ 
gether of the faults rather than the virtues of all. 
Quebec, Canada- c - s - moore. 
T still advocate the muslin system of ventilation; 
have it in use in cow. horse and hog quarters, and 
also poultry house. I have introduced it in manufac¬ 
turing where drying must be carried on with fresh 
air but no draft. Tt has been a great success, and 
in the simplest and cheapest form of all. w. f. h. 
THE RURAL NEW-YORKER 
A DISEASE OF SAN JOSE SCALE. 
In a recent issue of The R. N.-Y. you publish a 
statement of a man in Florida in regard to the black 
fungus killing the San Jose scale, and he states the 
fungus will not thrive in the North. How does lie 
know? Does he know of anyone in the North who has 
tried the fungus? I read an article by one J. P. 
Henderson, who claims to have discovered the fungus 
and introduced it into a number of peach orchards in 
Florida, and I wrote for some of the black fungus; 
they sent me a number of peach tAvigs Avith the fungus 
on them, and directed me to put a Avet rag over each 
twig Avhen I apply it, as the fungus does best in Avarm 
wet weather. 1 applied the twigs, July 27, to some 
apple, pear and one cherry, one plum and one persim¬ 
mon tree. On the apple and pear trees it worked like 
a charm, and the San Jose scale is nearly or quite all 
dead on those trees. The trees are forming neiv bark 
and casting the old bark with the San Jose scale on it. 
so the trees look something like a shellbark hickory. 
But the plum, cherry and persimmon do not sIioav much 
effect from the fungus. The fungus is much easier 
applied and much cheaper than lime and sulphur or oil, 
as you only need apply the fungus to every fourth tree 
in an orchard and it Avill spread over the orchard. 
Virginia. d. av. laws. 
R. N.-Y.—Our friend has yet to see Avhether the 
fungus will live through the Winter or not. We took 
our facts on page 895 from a bulletin from the Florida 
Experiment Station. The fungus is a disease Avhich at¬ 
tacks and kills the scale without hurting the tree. A 
small tAvig with the fungus on it is fastened to the tree 
and left there. If the fungus can be kept alive it will, 
in time spread over the tree and kill the scales. This 
plan seems to have value in Florida- Most experi¬ 
ments farther North have not been successful. We 
shall Avait with much interest to see Avhat happens 
further in Mr. Laws’-orchard. 
A GROWER ON “GUARANTEED SEEDS.” 
One of the reasons why seeds cannot be guaran- 
ted is that very few are willing to pay the price. 
We grow large quantities of vine seed here, both 
for the Avholesale dealers and the Government, get¬ 
ting from 10 to 20 cents per pound. In order to start 
this seed out with guaranty as to variety we would 
have to have five or six times present prices, as 
scarcely more than 20 per cent of the fruit is of per¬ 
fect type. The crop to pay must yield from 200 to 
300 pounds per acre. In order to get this Ave are 
compelled to plant closely, and cut everything that 
will give sound seed. 
Our stock seed is always the best, yet even in our 
best fields some sports and hybrids may be found. 
Bees and other insects are continually working over 
the fields, and when we consider that in many neAV 
varieties the type is not well fixed it is a Avonder 
the results are as good as they are. Then there is 
the chance of stray seeds in the Avashing and drying 
machines, and Avhen the seed is delivered the dealer 
simply has the grower’s word for it. Of course the 
seed has to grade to certain standards as to color, 
weight, vitality, etc. Taking it altogether I think 
the planter gets about all he pays for; at least Ave 
think our part of the dollar is small enough. 
Lakin, Kans. J. w. l.. 
A FEW FAKES. 
Patent Peach Borer Remedy. 
I saw quite a while aso that some one had patented 
a remedy for the T’each borers, and that a certain person 
had given $5,000 for the right to sell or use that remedy 
in the State of NeAV Jersey. When was it patented and 
by whom? How was it applied? When was it applied? 
Was it of any value? Were any more rights sold, and at 
what price? Are peach trees oA*er eight years old liable 
to he injured by them? At Avliat age are the trees most 
liable to be injured? Is the borer a pest in all peach¬ 
growing countries? M. B. 
Chatham, Ont. 
R. N.-Y.—An expert has searched the record at the 
patent office for us, but can find nothing in the line 
of a Peach borer remedy. There is nothing recorded 
either chemical or mechanical. Whoever started the 
story is certainly a “peach” at boring into the pocket- 
book. Nothing to it! All peach trees are liable to be 
attacked by borers. They do us most harm on the 
young trees, two and three years old. If there is any 
peach-groAving section where borers do not bore Ave 
Avould like to be told of it. 
Influence of the Moon. 
A reader in Florida sends us this short and expres¬ 
sive note: 
Here's a fake—hot from the press, that is new to this 
section. Swat him one. ' H. s. IT. 
He sends a pamphlet entitled “Science and Agricul¬ 
ture.” We do not see very much of either about it. 
Seed of a new tomato is offered at $1 a packet of 
one-eighth ounce. No other seedsmen, it is said, can 
furnish this seed, but that is no argument in favor of 
the tomato. The pamphlet goes on to argue that seeds 
January 9} 
should be planted in certain changes of the moon. It 
claims that the moon's influence over plant growth is 
greater than that of sunshine! Read this : 
Considerable research work along this line is now being 
done at several of the universities and agricultural col¬ 
leges, although the experiments at these institutions have 
not as yet covered a sufficiently extended period that the 
records are considered as absolute or fixed, and for this 
reason, no doubt, will not be published in the department 
bulletins for some time. 
So it seems the experiment stations are investigating 
moonlight. We did not know it before, and still doubt 
it. The author of this pamphlet Avith his “moon in¬ 
fluence” has certainly thought up a good bait for 
suckers. 
Photographs Made to Lie. 
The folloAving note is sent from California: 
If the inclosed leaf from a catalogue does not make 
you sick, about how much of a drug store would it take 
to do the business? The corn is longer than the horses. 
You can make a very safe bet (though I know you don’t 
gamble) that they get no orders from me. 
The leaf referred to is from the catalogue of Aggeler 
ccMasser Seed Company. We have had the cut re¬ 
produced at Fig. 12. You see they try to represent 
an ear of corn nine feet long as -compared with the 
horses. Many people believe that a photograph can¬ 
not lie, and they will actually accept this as a true 
picture of a Avonderful corn. It may be some inferior 
sort. They charge $4 for 100 pounds! There are 
various ways of making these fake pictures. They 
may have taken the team of horses and then pasted a 
large picture of an ear of corn on it and photographed 
the picture. At any rate it is a fake- On the other 
side of the leaf Ave find some information about the 
spineless cactus. Think of 90 tons on an acre! 
Mr. Burbank is authority for the statement that in five 
years from transplanting an acre, of the cactus will 
yield 90 tons of leaves to the acre for feed. The leaves 
are large and full of watery nourishment. The fruit is 
also a very delicate table food. The carload of 
plants Is valued at $60,000. We have had several 
inquiries from land owners 1o what extent they should 
plant thornless cactus. To such we replied: “To plant 
a piece of waste land to this cactus will, if undisturbed 
for several years, be a permanent storehouse of forage, in 
good preservation to be used when needed. It is a guar¬ 
antee against a famine. If, during the drought of 1908, 
there had been ranges of this cactus, there would have 
been no famine for the thousands of cattle that perished 
on the plains at that time.” 
FARMING AS A BUSINESS. 
From time to time Ave get questions about like the 
following: “The R. N.-Y. claims to be The Business 
Farmer’s Paper. Why then does it talk about the 
farm home, Avhy discuss moral issues in public life, 
or make an appeal to sentiment? Those things have 
little if anything to do Avith business as the word is 
understood.” One good definition of the word busi¬ 
ness is “what one has a right to do or ought to do.” 
The R. N.-Y. does things because it thinks they ought 
to be done. There are many sides to a farmer’s 
business. The most important is earning bread, cloth¬ 
ing and shelter for his family. He owes it as a debt 
to his family and society to turn his labor into money 
as freely and fairly as he can. We try to help him 
do it in various ways. In order to make his labor 
count he must know the best methods and the best 
tools, and knoAv how to make a day’s Avork accom¬ 
plish most. We do not claim to tell him all about 
it without effort on his part, but Ave try to give him 
the chance to study it out. We can find for him Avhat 
science has demonstrated and Ave can get practical 
men to give experience. This gives a man a chance 
to reason it out for himself. We call it self help—• 
the only help that really counts. But this producing 
food or fibre and then selling it or feeding it to stock 
is only one side of farm business. The price Avhich 
the farmer finally receives is generally determined by 
things over which he has little personal control. 
Railroad rates, exactions by middlemen, State Legis¬ 
lature and Congress may all be responsible for tak¬ 
ing an unjust share of Avhat belongs to a farmer. We 
consider it a part of our right and duty to point this 
injustice out Avhen Ave feel sure of it, and suggest a 
remedy. All these things have a direct bearing upon 
the farmer’s hunt for a dollar. Rut his business docs 
not stop there. In caring for his family a man as¬ 
sumes a higher duty to his country. A man without 
sentiment or ideals is little better than a hitching 
post. We believe the farm home and Avhat it stands 
for should be the highest expression of faith and 
patriotic feding that is in a man’s life. If men in 
other occupations desire to limit their idea of “busi¬ 
ness” to the narroAV side of money getting Ave can 
only say that the Avorst trouble with society to-day is 
the fact that too many haA r e succeeded in doing it. 
Tt onrrht to be a part of a farmer’s business to take 
i broader vieAv of life, so that the children he gives 
to America Avill make a far nobler asset than a great 
hank account. We urge fanners to invest their sav- 
irsrs in their own homes and farms, because there is 
room for both heart and treasure there. We urge 
them to sunnort the moral side of public questions, 
1 ecause their influence ought to he there regardless 
of r #, v«v. Our advice is to make home the beet nlnee 
on earth, because the business of home making is the 
sure foundation of every other business. 
