lore 
THE RURAL NEW-YORKER 
December 11, 
THE AMERICAN MILCH GOAT. 
For six years I have been interested 
in the milch goat industry in the United 
States, and have always predicted that 
in time, and not a very long time, either, 
we of the large cities of the United 
States must depend on the goat for a 
large part of our milk supply. The milk 
famine of to-day is not for the reason 
that the supply is smaller than a few 
years ago, but on account of the in¬ 
creased consumption of dairy produce. 
People in our large cities have taken up 
the habit of drinking milk in the last 
few years who hardly knew the taste 
of it five years ago. It is a standing 
joke that a goat can be kept on toma¬ 
to cans, cobblestones and such dainty 
kinds of food, but that is all paper 
talk. A goat to produce a good supply 
of pure milk needs the same care we 
give a good dairy cow, and above all 
things a good dry place to sleep, and 
their hay should be kept in a rack so 
they will have to climb for it. as it is 
their nature to reach up for their food. 
If your pasture has no big rock for 
them to sleep on a few good-sized 
wooden boxes set around in the pasture 
will he used by the goats for a place 
to take their nap. The main reason 
why the goat industry will grow is the 
large number that can be wintered on 
so small amount of feed. From my ex¬ 
perience I think it is safe to figure that 
six goats can be kept on the same food 
through the Winter as one dairy cow. 
and a herd can be arranged so that half 
are fresh all the time, as they can be 
fresh twice a year, and then give them 
plenty of time dry. 
The average goat gives about 2 l / 2 
quarts per day, so the six would give 
15 quarts; the wholesale price in cities 
where it is sold is 20 cents a quart 
and the retail 25. You can'plainly see 
that it is a profitable industry. Have 
you a cow that is returning you $3 per 
burg buck a good herd of milkers 
could be bred. Don't laugh at the goat 
industry until you look carefully into it 
and find the joke. I am a traveling 
man, and have had a chance to study 
different herds and see what others are 
doing, and have compared them with 
my own little experience, and expect 
some day in the near future to get in 
the business to stay. 
Maine. chas. h. williams. 
THE BERKSHIRE HOG. 
The earliest accounts of the Berkshire, 
both from tradition and those pub¬ 
lished, describe the breed as very large 
and of a sandy or reddish brown color, 
spotted with black. While this is very 
unlike the Berkshire as we know it, it 
proves they were an established breed 
over a century and a quarter ago, for 
tradition tells us that about 1785 im¬ 
provements were begun upon the orig¬ 
inal stock, with crosses from Chinese 
and Siamese swine, and by this means 
and by careful selection the breed was 
refined and established, with certain 
well-defined characteristics that distin¬ 
guished it and gave it that lead which it 
still holds. From 1820 to 1830 the Berk¬ 
shire was very much improved by Lord 
Barrington, who devoted much time and 
a great deal of care and judgment to de¬ 
veloping what was even then the most 
popular breed in England, and most 
English Berkshires trace their ancestry 
to stock of his breeding. The late Mr. 
A. B. Allen, who was authority on such 
subjects, stated that the first importation 
of Berkshires into the United States 
was made in 1832 by John Brentnall, of 
New Jersey, and a few years later Bc.gg 
& Wait of Orange Co., New York, be¬ 
gan importing largely and engaged ex¬ 
tensively in raising and shipping the 
breed throughout the great corn-produc¬ 
ing sections of the West. They became 
very popular in the corn belt, and fancy 
A BUNCH OF GOATS ON AN ALABAMA FARM. Fig. 585. 
day? There are a few full-blood Tog- 
genburg goats in this country, and they 
have been bred for the milk standard 
so they give as high as four quarts per 
day, and I have heard of one that gave 
five quarts per day at three milkings, but 
ZV 2 is a safe figure to count on. An¬ 
other point well worth considering is 
that a goat is rarely if ever sick, and I 
believe immune from tuberculosis. If 
you wish to reduce your herd you will 
have to kill them off, for it will never 
pay to wait for them to die; you might 
not live long enough. 
Goats’ milk is recommended by all the 
best doctors for babies and sick peo¬ 
ple. Wherever it can be obtained ask 
jour family doctor what he thinks of 
it. I bought a native doe for the milk 
for my little girl after she had a bad 
case of pneumonia, and she did so well 
and got better so much faster than on 
cow’s milk that it awakened my interest 
in the goat. I crossed my native doe 
with a full-blooded buck, and at that 
kidding she gave about 2^2 quarts per 
daj’. As luck would have it the kids 
were bucks. The next time I had bet¬ 
ter luck, and only got one kid, but that 
was a doe. They almost always have 
two kids at a time, and sometimes as 
many as four, but that is rare. 
I "bred the kid when she was nine 
months old to the same buck; a thing 
I do not approve is inbreeding, but in 
this case there seemed no other way. 
When she dropped her kids, she gave a 
very little more than the native goat, 
but not what I hoped for. From my 
experience and what I have learned by 
careful study in and around the large 
cities in New York State, also New 
Jersej% I believe a number of good 
American milch goats could be picked 
up from the Italians, who seem to be the 
most learned in producing a good milker, 
for about $10 per head, and from them 
to start on with a full-blooded Toggen- 
prices were paid for them, individual 
specimens having sold there for more 
money than it takes to buy a good-sized 
farm in the Eastern States. They were 
found very valuable for crossing on and 
improving the quality of all other breeds 
of swine, so in the early days, as at the 
present time, the Berkshire was a great 
favorite with the farmers and breeders 
of the Middle West. Its success has 
come largely through the fact that its 
promoters have been men of sound judg¬ 
ment, which has enabled them to develop 
those essential points that go to make 
a perfect animal with the power to 
breed up and on. 
The characteristic markings of the 
Berkshire of the present are as follows: 
Color, black with white in face, on feet 
and end of tail; white in other places is 
undesirable but is no indication of im¬ 
purity of blood. The face should be 
short and well dished, broad between 
the eyes; ears small and upright, or 
carried slightly forward, chest deep and 
full, back broad and slightly arched, ribs 
well sprung, hams and shoulders deep 
and broad, legs short and strong and 
set well apart; feet small with clear 
tough hoofs; tail slender indicative of 
fineness of bone; general appearance 
stylish and imposing. The flesh of the 
Berkshire is of the very finest quality; 
no matter how fat you make them there 
is always a good portion of lean meat 
nicely marbled in with the fat, and this 
quality is what makes them such a fav¬ 
orite with the market men. The Berk¬ 
shire sows are very quiet, make the 
best of mothers, and almost invariably 
are prolific breeders. They are easy 
keepers. We have frequently sold the 
shotes in the market, right out of the 
orchard without any finishing with 
grain, which with the present high price 
of all grain feeds is quite a saving in 
the cost of production. They will almost 
invariably make a pound of pork cheap¬ 
er than any other breed, and will fatten 
readily at any age, and dress more 
meat to the hundred live weight than 
most other breeds. There are some 
strains or families that make very heavy 
weights when mature. a. h. prince. 
Schuyler Co., N. Y. 
“I see a college professor claims that 
Chaucer will outlive Shakespeare." 
“Well, of all the ignorance! Both of 
them fellers have been dead for three 
hundred years.”—Louisville Courier- 
Journal. 
He: “I want you to understand that I 
won’t play second fiddle to any. man,” 
She: “All right. You can play the 
drum.” He: *The drum?” She: “In 
other words, beat it.”—Philadelphia 
Record. 
“George!” she screamed, “my neck.” 
“What’s the matter?” “There’s a pilla- 
cutter”- “A what?” “A taopekiller !” 
“What in the world do you mean?” 
“Oh, dear!” she moaned as she clutched 
him frantically. “A. kitterpaller! You 
know, George, a patterkiller!” “Oh!” 
said George, with evident relief, and he 
proceeded to brush the future butterfly 
away.—Melbourne Leader. 
Not Alike 
Sharpies Dairy Tubular Cream Sep¬ 
arators are unlike all others. 
Common separators have heavy, com- 
plic ated, side-tipping bowls that are hard 
to handle, hard to wash, sure to 
lose their balance, sure to get 
shaky. Then they waste cream, 
run hard, wear out. That is 
because common separators are 
built wrong. 
Sharpies Daily Tubular 
bowls are light, simple, sani¬ 
tary, easy to clean,self-balan¬ 
cing, always run easy, 
are guaranteed for¬ 
ever. That is because 
Tubular bowls are built 
I right — hang like a 
plumb bob below a 
single practically 
frictionless ball 
bearing. Pat¬ 
ented. Cannot 
be imitated. 
Tubulars are the only 
modern separators — The 
World’s Best. Made in the 
world’s biggest separator 
factory by America’s old¬ 
est separator concern. 
Branch factories in Cana¬ 
da and Germany. Tubulars 
probably replace 
more common separ¬ 
ators every year than 
any one maker of 
such machines sells. 
Sales easily exceed, 
most, if not all, 
others 
combined. 
Write for 
Catalogue 
No.153 
THE SHARPLES SEPARATOR CO„ 
WEST CHESTER, I»A. 
Chicago, III., Snn Francisco, Cal., Portland, Ore* 
Toronto, Can., Winnipeg, Can. 
Sharpies Dairy 
Tubular, World’s Best 
EXCELSIOR SWING STANCHION 
Warranted the Best. 
30 Hays Trial. 
Unlike all others. Stationary when 
Open. Noiseless. 
THE WASSON STANCHION CO. 
Box (iO, Cuba, New York. 
Your Stock Fairly BEG 
for COOKED Feed 
They need its warming, strengthening, fattening power. Cooked food tastes as good, is as good 
for them as for you. More easily digested, quicker assimilated and has double tlxe fattening 
power of raw food. Costs little and makes money for you. Try it. Buy a 
HEESEN FEED COOKER 
Hog Cholera anti 
other atock dlscas- \ 
es unknown where 
Heeaen Cookers 
are used. 
The Heoson is the simplest, 
Btrongest, easiest operated of all 
Cookers. Heats up quickly; 
burns any fuel. 
Lasts forever. Only 
two parts; cast iron 
kettle and seamless 
sheet steel jacket. 
Sets right on tho 
ground—anywhere ; 
requires no founda¬ 
tion. All sizes, 15 
to 75 gallons, full 
m e a s uro guaran¬ 
teed. ( 
Prices Low 
Qniek ihipmont*. 
fi 
Besides cooking feed for cattle, hogs, horses, cows, sheep, 
oultry, etc., is invaluable for boiling syrup, rendering lard, 
eating water, making soap, scalding hogs, etc. 
Get a Heesen—you need it. 
Try One IO 
Days FREE 
!$■ 
1 
Write and learn 
how you can try a 
Heesen Cooker for 
ten days free—any 
size. Investigate 
for your stock’s 
sake. Postal briugs 
full information. 
HEESEN BROS. 
& COMPANY. 
Box 51 
Tecnmseb.MIcb. 
Keep It Off The Cows 
Put It On The Fields 
No matter how hard you try you can’t make an old stable with dirt floors 
wd wood partitions sanitary—you can’t keep it clean and sweet Wood parti¬ 
tions gather dust and diseaso germs. Dirt floors with their tramped-in filth 
should never come within a stone’s throw of your milk pail. When a cow gets off 
her feed and her milk yield falls below normal, look to your stable. It may be 
as clean as you can make it; but that may not be clean enough. Equip your stables 
The Louden Way 
then profits will not fall off. The cow that is best treated gives the most 
milk—the best milk—the richest milk. She has a heap of cow sense. She 
appreciates light and air, and she will see that you get your money back 
for making her home modern. If you will put a Loudon Llttor 
Carrier to work behind her, your boys or your man will clean the 
barns in less time and with less labor. We have been fitting up barns 
for 50 years. We will be glad to give you the benefit of this experience by 
suggesting what you need for yours, without any expense to you. Send for 
catalog, tell number of cows you have and submit rough sketch of stable. 
LOUDEN MACHINERY COMPANY. 601 Broadway, Fairfield, Iowa. 
WILDERS SSfflSB STANCH ION 
Open or Shut—It’s Always Locked 
Stays where you put it—and easily “put” without taking off your 
gloves or mittens. Only smooth, polished hardwood touches the ani¬ 
mal— nometal.no splinters — yet the steel latch, the blind bolts and 
the solid construction make it the STRONGEST, SAFEST and MOST 
DURABLE Stanchion at any price. The most convenient fastening for 
you — the most comfortable for your cows. Keeps your stable clean, 
saves feed, saves your time and means SOLID SATISFACTION all 
year round —summer and winter. Money back if you say so. 
WRITE TODAY for catalog and factory price to you. 
WILDER STRONG IMPLEMENT CO. 
B 0 X 33 , Monroe Mich. 
