August 22, 
Live Stock and Dairy 
BUYING PUREBRED CATTLE. 
How to Be Sure. 
Part I. 
On page 572 you say The R. N.-Y. can 
toll farmers where they can get the worth 
of their money in buying purebred stock. 
Now that’s just what I want to know. I 
am sick of feeding and milking scrub cows 
and I propose to unload the whole lot and 
buy (if possible) registered Jersey stock, 
if I can buy but two. Then arises the 
question, and it is a big one, or at least 
it looks so to me, what line of breeding 
am I to follow, what about the different 
families or strains, of this blood, where 
can reliable unprejudiced information on 
these point be found, and above all, where 
can stock be found that tills the bill? What 
T want to know is such facts in regard to 
the breeding, registry, etc., as any breeder 
should know in order to take up the mat¬ 
ter in an intelligent: manner. I have but 
little capital to invest in blooded stock, 
but what I have I want, of course, to 
invest in the best possible manner. There 
are breeders of Jerseys whom 1 know, but I 
can’t get much information from them; 
they are ready to sell me a bull for from 
$25 up, but as to any real knowledge of 
the Jersey cow and her history, they don’t 
seem to be very well equipped. My prin¬ 
cipal business is growing garden truck for 
retail trade, and I have made it a point 
to grow the best, put it on the market 
in the best shape, and get the best price, 
and I am very well satisfied with the re¬ 
sults. This is just what I want to do with 
my dairy. I have satisfied myself that 
for me, there is nothing better than the 
Jersey. Now where am I to get the stock 
to begin with, that I may be absolutely 
sure is purebred, of good size, with a record 
back of them for production that may 
be “viewed with pride,” as one breeder 
writes me, and all this at a price that does 
not reauire a millionaire's bank account to 
draw upon? w. e. b. 
Vermont. 
This question of giving advice to one 
wishing to start in the breeding of Jer¬ 
seys is not an easy one to answer. This 
man, like everyone else want's “unpreju¬ 
diced information,” and is apt to be¬ 
lieve that when a breeder recommends 
his line of breeding that he is getting 
prejudiced information. Yet one must 
admit that if the experience of a breeder 
is worth anything that breder should 
he able to produce and maintain cattle 
of good value. I think that' it is very 
easy for an intending .purchaser to 
put to the test the assertions of the 
would-be seller. For instance, if you 
wish to buy a bull to head your herd 
probably the better way would be to 
buy an aged bull of proven worth. In 
such a case ask for a list of the persons 
who have bought his sons and daugh¬ 
ters. If the bull is a success as a 
breeder and his get have proven of 
value to their owners, the owner of the 
bull will be glad to put you in cor¬ 
respondence with them. But, if, on the 
other hand the owner “side-steps” the 
issue, you may depend that there is 
either something wrong with the bull or 
the man. . Do not expect to buy such 
a bull for a song. He is worth a lot 
of money in the right place, and there 
is generally some one ready to furnish 
the place. Tf you cannot afford to buy 
a tried bull it is well to pursue the 
same rule in buying a calf. The seller 
has probably sold other sons and 
daughters from the sire of your prospec¬ 
tive calf and maybe some from his 
mother. Ask him to give the names 
and addresses of the people who have 
bought them. If they have given satis¬ 
faction, a pleased buyer is always ready 
to say a good word for the man who 
has given him the worth of his money, 
and on the other hand he is generally 
glad of the chance to say so if he has 
been cheated. 
Do not expect that any breeder will 
give you the names of all the people 
to whom he has sold cattle, for, if he 
has sold many, they have not always 
given satisfaction. No family of any 
breed of cattle has ever been developed 
to the extent of perfection that every 
individual is a good one. There was 
never a race, tribe or family of men 
where every individual was physically, 
or mentally strong. So why should we 
expect it in cows? When a breeder sells 
a young calf, he but little knows how 
that calf will turn out. It may be a 
fine specimen of his most cherished line 
of breeding, yet in spite of everything 
it may be a victim of the curse of atav¬ 
ism, and develop into the “black sheep 
of the flock.” Then about as much de¬ 
pends on the owner as there does on 
the calf as to whether it will amount 
to anything. I once sold a pair of fine 
young Jerseys to a man who had just 
come into possession of a fine farm. He 
THIS RURAL NE'W-YORKER 
came to my place and selected them, 
and he was one of the best informed 
men along agricultural lines that I had 
met in some time. He was a reader of 
farm papers and I was glad to be able 
to place these young things with a man 
who evidently was so able to develop 
them properly. But about six months 
afterwards I got word from him that 
they were not doing well. In fact he 
put up a vigorous “kick” about them. 
As they were quite well known and 
perfectly healthy when he took them, I 
was greatly surprised, and decided to 
investigate the matter. So I went to 
his place, arriving at about 10.30 in the 
forenoon. I found the family at break¬ 
fast and the cattle bellowing in the 
barn. (This was in Summer.) I went 
to this barn and found the very worst 
state of things that I ever saw in any 
barn. I learned from one of the little 
boys on the place that their practice 
was to bring up the cows before dark at 
evening. They were milked at any time 
between eight and 10 p. m., and were 
retained in the stable all night to avoid 
the trouble of driving them up the next 
day. (I was about to say morning). 
I do not believe that the stable had been 
cleaned in a month previously to the 
day I saw it. The bull that I had sold 
them was retained in this stable all the 
time, and was fed and watered presum¬ 
ably when the owner thought of him, 
and on this day was wallowing in filth 
nearly to his knees. He was reduced 
to skin and bone. His eyes were sunken 
and he was using his little remaining 
strength to cough. The heifer had been 
out in the fresh air part of the time 
and was apparently healthy, although 
reduced in flesh. I bought her back, 
and took her away with me, and I did 
not fail to tell that man what I thought 
of things in general, and laziness in 
particular before I left. Whenever I 
hear the farmers poking fun at the 
dairy inspector from the city and de¬ 
claiming his uselessness I always think 
of that barn. This fellow had the 
benefit of the agricultural press and a 
good education generally, but he was 
just simply too lazy to let anything 
but himself live. The city inspector 
may inform you that “farrow” is a new 
disease of cows, and that you should 
not send the farrow cow’s milk to the 
city, but, bless the poor fellow, he does 
dig up some rotten places and set the 
owner going in a better direction. The 
above is an extreme case, and does not 
often happen. I find that the buyer of 
the purebred calves is much more apt to 
over-pamper them than he is to neglect 
them. If one is just starting with the 
purebred Jerseys he is apt to overfeed 
them. If he lias been in the habit of 
raising large calves of a semi-beef 
breed that grow fast and carry much 
flesh, lie will be inclined to over-force 
the little Jerseys. Then he overtaxes 
their digestion and they begin to go 
wrong, and if they do not die with an 
attack of acute indigestion they grow 
un into what would be “dyspeptic” peo¬ 
ple—if they were people. Or maybe 
they are of a decided robust nature and 
manage to take care of all the feed 
they are given, in which case they de¬ 
velop a beef tendency that impairs their 
usefulness as cows. You may say that 
I have furnish loop-holes through which 
any breeder may crawl in case his cattle 
do not do well with you, but if that 
breeder can refer you to a lot of 
pleased customers where his cattle have 
done better than was expected of them, 
you will not have much of a case 
against him. j. grant morse. 
Breeding Sh o w Animals.—A 
breeder of cattle who exhibits exten¬ 
sively, and wins usually, has his cows 
freshen at about the beginning of the 
fair season and in two or three months 
dries them up to prepare them for the 
next year’s circuit. Is this not reverting 
to original conditions when the cow 
gave milk only till the calf could sub¬ 
sist on vegetation? If you wanted a 
calf to raise for a member of your 
dairy or for a family cow and you 
could take your choice of two of like 
breeding and whose dams at two years 
old were in every way equal, the dam of 
the one dried off after milking two 
months each year and the dam of the 
other coaxed to give a generous flow 
of milk ten months each year, which 
calf would yqu choose? I said “coaxed 
to give.” This doesn’t imply that the 
cow should be pampered and gorman¬ 
dized, but that she should have more 
than a mere maintenance ration and 
fairly comfortable quarters. The 
breeder referred to offered me the high¬ 
est price that I have ever been offered 
for a cow, evidently because he was 
afraid that another exhibitor would get 
her and show her in competition with 
what lie had. This cow is below the 
average in my dairy but she is a show 
COW. FARMER. 
Lice on Hogs.— There are many ef¬ 
fective means o-f ridding hogs of lice, 
but the chief difficulty seems to lie in 
the lack of. thoroughness in their ap¬ 
plication. The simplest remedy I know 
of, and most- easily applied, is any of 
the well-known coal tar preparations. 
If diluted- with water in the propor¬ 
tions directed and used freely and thor¬ 
oughly, and the pens sprayed or 
sprinkled with the same preparation, 
the lice pests will soon disappear. One 
application, however, is not sufficient, 
but should be followed by a second in 
a week or 10 days, and then to secure 
future immunity should be used every 
two or three weeks thereafter. In mak¬ 
ing the application a sponge or brush 
can be used to better advantage than 
any sort of spraying apparatus that 
has come to my notice. The animal 
should be well saturated with the liquid, 
and care must be taken to get at all of 
the out-of-the-way places where lice de¬ 
light to congregate on poor piggy. 
These dips are also fine disinfectants, 
and should be freely used about the 
piggery, for that purpose if no other. 
Vaseline thoroughly rubbed into the 
skin of the pig, or kerosene oil made 
into an emulsion and applied in the 
same way as the dip, are also effective, 
hut they are more difficult to apply, and 
the work is not apt to be as thorough. 
Penn Yan, N. Y. calvin j. huson. 
Cleaning a Spring. —In reply to the 
inquiry on page 614 of The R. N.-Y. 
on “Cleaning Out a Spring” by J. R., I 
would suggest a permanent remedy, 
which is, simply to clean out the spring 
and then cover it so no sunlight can 
get in. The “blue slimy growth” is 
probably an alga which requires sun¬ 
light to live and cannot grow in dark¬ 
ness. The pipe is . probably filled with 
dead algie and if no more pass into it 
from the spring it will clean itself in 
time, but if J. R. will follow Mr. King’s 
advice about cleaning spring and pipe 
and then cover the spring and cistern 
so no light enters, he will have no more 
trouble with the growth of algae. 
Massachusetts. F. l. taylor, m. d. 
pm I ICQ COD QAI c _ Due brood bitch, three 
UULLIlO rUn oHLu male pups; something 
nice: pedigreed stock. Priced light. 
T. Paul I’eery, R. F. D. No 2, Tazewell, Va. 
POLLIE PUPS from imported Stock. Females 
cheap. NELSQN.BRgS., Grove City, Pa. 
0 1 r PIGS; Mar. and April farrow. Mated not 
• *• akin. Bred sows. All Registered Silver 
Premium Stock. F. J. Schwartz, E. Pharsalia.N.Y 
[fifi CAI C Registered Rambouillet Sheep 
rUlt OHLU and O. I. C. Swine. 
C. W. HALLIDAY, Route 2, Hammoiidsport, N. Y. 
LARGE IMPROVED ENGLISH YORKSHIRES. 
from best Importation. Address 
A. A. BRADLEY, Frewsburg, New York. 
LARGE BERKSHIRES. 
Most approved breeding. All animals guaranteed 
and registered free of charge. Write for prices. 
H. C. & H. 15. Harpending, Dundee, N. Y. 
Hum C A DM Berkshire Hogs and Jersey 
UI1IU rHnlll Cattle; stock for sale; always 
on hand. M. L. BENHAM, LeRoy, Ohio. 
A Few Gilts For Sale, 
due to farrow between now 
and September 15,1908; also 
Spring pigs of both sexes. 
Write for prices to John 
Goodwin© J Potomac, Ver.Co., III. 
LOCUST HOME BERKSHIRES 
Direct Premier Longfellow, Lord Premier and 
Masterpiece strains. Young stock for sale. 
S. C. FRENCH, Atwater, N. Y. 
AYRSHIRE CATTLE OF AVON. 
As I am making arrangements for my next trip to 
Scotland, I have a few very choice young Imported 
Cows, also Heifers and Bulls from Imported Sires 
and Dams, which I will offer at very attractive 
prices in order to make room for my next importa¬ 
tion. Write for prices, etc., or call and see them. 
W. P. SCHANCK, Avon, New York. 
Wiiex you write advertisers mention The 
R. X.-Y. and you’ll get a quick reply and 
“a square deal.” See guarantee, page 8. 
BULL CALVES-YOUNG BULLS 
yeadyfor.servi.ee. that are of good size and individ¬ 
uality. Ail are from officially tested dams,-andare 
sired by Hojiieslejid (till De Kol’s Sarcastic 
I. ad. We have sixty daughters of this Bull that 
will he kept in the Herd and officially tested. 
Write for description and prices. 
WOODCREST FARM, 
Rif ton, Ulster County, New York. 
The BLOOMINGDALE HERD OF 
HOI.STKIN-PKIKSIANS 
are bred for large production. Good size, Strong 
Constitution, Best Individuality. 
If these are the kind you want write or come to 
see them. 125 to select from. Animals of both sexes 
and a.11 ages to offer at prices that will please you. 
A special offer on some nicely bred Bull Calves. 
A. A. CORTELYOU, Somerville, N. J. 
HOLSTEIN-FRIESIANS 
GENIE CT.OTHII.DK, one of the world’s 
official record cows with 30.05 lbs. butter in seven 
days and 110.45 lbs. butter in thirty days. 
PONTIAC CHIRON, one of the best sons of 
Hengerveld De Kol. Out of a dam with a record of 
25.7 lbs. butter in seven days and witli two sisters 
on tlie dam’s side with records of 26.39 lbs. butter at 
four years and 20.59 lbs. butter at three years of age. 
Hull Calves For Sale. 
W. W. CHENEY, - Manlius, N. Y. 
ALL ABOUT HOLSTEINS 
Send for free illustrated pamphlet describing 
this groat breed of cattle. 
F. L. HOUGHTON, Sec’y.-Brattleboro, Vt. 
DTTFY POT T Q Are the Most Profitable 
I'Ll/ * ULLO Cattle on Earth. 
As fine herds of Red Polls and (unregistered) 
Guernseys as any in the state of Pennsylvania at 
Uniondale Stock Farm. A limited number for sale. 
D. L. Stevens, Proprietor, Uniondale,Susq.Co., Pa. 
CLARION FARM BERKSHIRES. 
Choice individuals all ages in both sexes, bred 
sows, service hoars. Some hog as well as pedigree. 
State your wishes, prices reasonable considering 
quality and breeding. America's and England’s 
prize winners and highest priced strainsxepresented 
in our herd, all line bred hi respective families. 
Sons and daughters of Lord Premier, Masterpiece, 
Lord Premier’s Rival Sensation, Premier Long¬ 
fellow, Black Robinhood, American bred. Baron 
Kitchener, Supreme Boy, Polgate, and ('omptqn. 
English bred. ; Service of our herd boars'for sale 
on registered sows. Catalogue and text lidpk, post¬ 
age lOcts. Clarion Farm’, R. C.'3, Greenwich, Conn. 
KALORAMA 
BERKSHIRES 
A limited number of yonng sows bred to a grand 
imported hoar for March and April farrow. 
Also a fine lot of fall pigs of the highest quality 
and breeding at very attractive prices. 
CALVIN J. HUSON, Penn Yan, N.Y. 
CHOICE BERKSHIRE SERVICE BOARS 
Two 3 year old and one 1 year old son of Premier 
Longfellow; one six months old son of Lord 
Premiers Rival and one son of Lord Premier 2nd; 
one 1 year old son of O. H. F. Sensation; 3 1 year 
old sons of Premier Longfellow. Several spring 
pigs, both sexes, by same boars: all are line bred 
and out of Lord Premier and Premier Longfellow 
sows. Registered and transferred freo. Also 
several year old brood sows bred to above boars. 
JAMES MARSH, Greenwich, Conn. 
SPRINGBANK HERD 
LARGE BERKSHIRES 
A fine bunch of Sows coming a year 
old by Grand Premier, No. 80005,bred to Baron Duke 
85th, No. 91215. A son of Premier Longfellow, No. 
68600, Grand Champion at St. Louis in 1904. Booklet 
on application. J. E. WATSON, Marbledale. Conn. 
Large Berkshires 
American and English Breeding. Matings not akin. 
Catalogue on application. 
YVILXOUGHHY FARM, Gettysburg, Pa. 
Reg. P. Chinas, Berkshires, C. Whites. 
Pipe large strains; all ages, mated 
not akin. Bred sows, service Boars, 
Guernsey and Holstein calves. Collie 
Pups, Beagles and Poultry. Write for 
prices & circulars. Hamilton & Co., Middletown,Pa. 
RA RE OPPORTUNITY 
TO SECURE THOROUGHBRED STOCK. 
Lincoln and Hampshire Down Sheep; Chester 
White, Poland China and Berkshire Pigs; Jersey 
Bulls and Heifers; Scotch Collie Dogs. Send 
2-cent stamp for circular. 
EDWARD WALTER. West Chester, Pa. 
OHIO STATE FAIR 
— COLUMBUS- 
AUGUST 31, SEPTEMBER I, 2, 3, 4, 
- 1 0 0 8 - 
$4=0 OOO TINT PREMIUMS 
FINEST STOCK BUILDINGS I H THE WORLD 
AMUSEMENT FEATURES GALORE. 
T. L. CALVERT 
Secretary 
J. w. FLEMING 
Ass’t Sec’y 
