1911. 
THE RURAL NEW-YORKER 
U69 
A FRIEND INDEED. 
That all mishaps have their compen¬ 
sation in making one realize the value 
of friends, I certainly believe. At least 
that is how I felt about it when I 
limped out on a twisted ankle the other 
morning to turn my sheep from one 
held to another, and had to whistle in 
my collie for help. Generally, with a 
whistle or two, or even by calling, if 
they are the least bit hungry,' I can get 
them where I want them without the 
dog. Sometimes, though, when I am in 
a hurry, or as now, disabled, nothing 
less than “Bonnie” will bring them in. 
They were out of sight, over the brow 
of the hill, but I knew their general di¬ 
rection from the sound of the heavy 
cow bell on one of my largest ewes. 
After a couple of false starts I got the 
dog off in the right direction. In a 
couple of minutes I heard the flock 
bunch up and come hustling over the 
hill. They were not in the least scared, 
but they were well in hand, with the 
dog about 60 feet behind them, traveling 
at a slow trot. There had been no 
barking, no fuss or noise, and as they 
went by me through the gate I easily 
caught the ram, lame as I was, to give 
him his “private” feed of grain. Of 
course, we do not always do business as 
quietly as we did that morning. Some¬ 
times it is the dog and sometimes it is 
myself that gets excited and loses his 
head, but as a rule there is no foolish¬ 
ness. 
Of course we didn't learn our busi¬ 
ness all in a day, but if one has pa¬ 
tience and an intelligent collie, training 
is not difficult. The main thing is to 
keep the dog under control from the 
start, and at first work him alzvays from 
behind the flock; “heading off” he will 
learn later. Never let him start in and 
rush them off their feet. You don’t 
want them to get scared to death every 
time they see or hear a dog, but to 
understand that the dog and yourself 
are a combination they might as well 
give in to. One thing is essential, a 
signal that will make the dog stop in 
his tracks, when you want him to, for 
if once sheep are stampeded they will 
tr • to take ’most anything coming, and 
running them through a barbed wire 
fence is very bad business. The main 
thing is to go slow and try to be patient 
with both sheep and dog; then they will 
work well together. Under any circum¬ 
stances, I have found the dog a great 
help, especially in keeping the flock in 
bounds when pasturing in poorly fenced 
or even unfenced fields. 
But my dog’s usefulness does not end 
here by any means. An unexpected call 
from the house for a dressed chicken at 
noon obliged me to pick a bird from 
the general flock. So I took the dog 
along, pointed out the hen I wanted to 
have, and in very short order she had 
the bird cornered and pinned to the 
ground. Sometimes she pulls a few 
feathers out in the process, but never 
injures the birds in any way. When a 
puppy, she started catching and killing 
chickens, but a sound whipping seems 
to have cured her for all time. Once 
she did “dry pick” a turkey that I sent 
her after one wild night when I was 
getting them under cover. She was 
gone so long that I started out after 
them with a lantern, and after slipping 
along over a quarter of a mile of ice 
and sleet met her rolling the big bird 
toward home, the latter scared to death 
and very much “undressed.” Still later 
in the day, a thunder shower came up 
and “Bonnie” was needed again, this 
time to help mother get her “fireless” 
broods and stray turkeys under shelter. 
Certainly nothing is more provoking 
than playing tag with a fool chicken 
about the size of a sparrow, but the dog 
takes care of them now, and never that 
I can see with any injury to the little 
birds. Of course, because she is useful 
in such ways, does not lessen her value 
as a watch dog, and more than once 
she has given warning when a neigh¬ 
bor’s stock got in the cornfield at night, 
or a new-born lamb was deserted or in 
trouble. And in this land of the darky 
and the darky’s dog, where the sheep 
and chicken farmer has but troubled 
dreams, the value of a good collie and 
of the time spent on his learning can¬ 
not be questioned. reuben brigham. 
Maryland. 
FEEDING PROBLEMS. 
Under this headi g we endeavor to give advice 
and suggestions about i'eeaing mixtures of grains 
and fodders. No detinito rules are given, but the 
advice is based upon experience and average 
analyses of foods. By ‘'protein” is meant the 
elements in the food which go to make muscle or 
lean meat. “Carbohydrates” comprise the starch, 
sugar, etc., which make fat and provide fuel for 
the body, wnile “fat” is the pure oil found in 
foods. Dry matter” means the weight of actual 
food left in fodder or grain when all the water is 
driven off. A “narrow ration” means one in which 
the proportion of protein tc carbohydrates is close 
—a “wide” ration means one which shows a larger 
proportion of carbohydrat es. 
Ration for Milch Cow. 
With oat hay as a basis, what do you 
consider the proper ration for a dairy 
cow ? Q. o. 
Connecticut. 
In compounding rations for live stock 
it is usually necessary to use the most 
available feed stuffs, but as you only 
mention oat liav I have selected com¬ 
mon feeds for these formulas which are 
usually sold by dealers. Of course the 
quantity and to some extend the quality 
of a ration for milch cows depends upon 
their size and the amount of In ilk they 
are giving. 
The following formula is for a cow 
weighing about 1,000 pounds and giving 
15 to 30 pounds of milk per day: 
Digestible. 
Dry Carb. 
Feeding stuff. matter. 
Protein. 
and Fat. 
20 lbs. oat hay.... 
1 0.80 
.814 
7.422 
3 lbs. dried brew- 
er’s grains. 
2.80 
.024 
1.35 
2 lbs. cottonseed 
meal . 
1.84 
.744 
.888 
5 lbs. dried beet 
pulp . 
4.68 
.34 
3.27 
Nutritive 
20.08 
ratio 
2 522 
1 :5.l“ 
12.93 
For horses at moderate farm work I 
would recommend the following for¬ 
mula : 12 pounds oat hay. eight pounds 
whole or ground oats, two pounds wheat 
bran, four pounds cracked corn. Tin 
grain ration to be mixed in the above 
proportions and the amount for each 
horse regulated according to conditions, 
work and individual requirements, some 
horses requiring more feed than others 
of the same size and doing the same 
work. You will find that a long-con¬ 
tinued die of oat hay as the only rough- 
age will not produce the best results 
with either horses or cows. For long 
periods of time the oat hay should not 
constitute more than about one half of 
the roughage for horses and one-third 
for milch cows. By feeding the oat hay 
in the proportions mentioned the avail¬ 
able supply on most farms will all be 
utilized to the best advantages. 
_ C. s. G. 
Comparison of Grain Values. 
Will you give the feeding value of wheat, 
ground and fed to cows and hogs? Wheat 
80 cents per bushel, middlings $1.40 per 
hundred. It seems we are paying as much 
for the middlings a pound as they give us 
for the wheat. If you could give us a 
comparison of the common feeds compared 
with grain at about the average market 
price it would be of assistance to some of 
your readers. m. a. 
New York. • 
While it is possible and also very 
necessary from an economic point of 
view to determine the relative values 
of the different feeding stuffs for a 
special purpose it is not reasonable to 
expect these relative values to apply 
when the feed is used for other pur¬ 
poses;,as, for example, a feed which is 
very valuable for fattening steers may 
not produce milk enough to pay its cost, 
and vice versa. The most valuable ex¬ 
perimental work along this line th 't I 
have been able to find was performed in 
the State of Kansas and described in 
the Twenty-first Annual Report of the 
Bureau of Animal Industry, United 
States Department of Agriculture. As 
these experiments were made and the 
values calculated several years ago, 
when prices were much lower than they 
are at the present time, we will multiply 
the values all by two in order to adapt 
them more nearly to present market 
conditions. The following list is taken 
from the report above referred to, each 
value having been multiplied by two: 
Total value of digestible 
_ nutrients in 100 IDs. 
miu ion i/o tu iuvi in.-'. 
torn, dent . $ 1.00 
Corn and cob meal. .71 
Wheat . 1.15 
Wheat bran. Winter. 1.096 
Wheat shorts . 1.18 
Wheat middlings . 1.24 
Wheat screenings . 1.01 
Oats . .80 
O. P. Linseed meal. 2.20 
Cotton-seed meal . 2.75 
While the above list’ gives a fair com¬ 
parative valuation of the different feeds 
for dairy purposes, it should not be used 
as a guide in feeding other classes of 
stock. It shows plainly that there is 
nothing gained by selling wheat at 80 
cents per bushel and buying wheat mid¬ 
dlings at $1.40 oer 100. c. s. G. 
T7T3 I 7 I 7 this real leather bill fold 
-L JV J2/X2/ for the Head of the Farm 
(Not for boys they're all right and their turn 
will come later—but this is for the boss.) 
Thousands of farmers will buy gasoline engines this Summer and Fall. 
I want to get in direct and personal touch with every one of them, as I 
want them to know about the Olds Engine. 
If you are going to buy an engine, or are thinking about it, you ought to know what an 
Olds Engine will do for you. I want to tell you about them— 
give you just the information you want —so if you will fill out the 
coupon below (or write me a letter) saying what size engine you 
want, whether portable or stationary, and when you expect to need 
one, without asking you to make any promise or obligating you 
in any way, I will send you absolutely free this genuine calfskin 
bill fold, stamped with your name in gold letters. 
It will hold fifteen bills easily. When folded it will go in 
a small pocket. It is very convenient, handsome and useful; 
will last a lifetime. Has no advertisement on it. 
f\| fNQ GASOLINE 
V-Jl-ii-JO ENGINES 
are known the world over and used by farmers everywhere. They are the most satis¬ 
factory engine made for farm work. I guarantee them to do all we say they will—you 
to be the judge. Ask any man who has an Olds Engine. He will tell you. 
IVe also make complete electric light and water systems especially for farms. 
Write for our prices on corn shelters, corn huskers, feed grinders and cream separators. 
If you are going to buy an engine, put a check mark (X) in the place showing the size and styl e 
engine you want, and when you expect to need it, and mail to me personally at once. Address me 
as below. 
BRANCHES 
1007 Farnam St. 
Omaha, Neb. 
2112 Central St. 
Kansas City, Mo. 
J. B. SEAGER, Gen. Mgr. 
Seager Engine Works 
908 Walnut St., Lansing, Mich. 
BRANCHES 
102 N. Los Angeles St. 
Los Angeles. Cal. 
65C Beverly St. 
Boston, Mass. 
To make quick deliveries, I also have a complete stock of engines and parts in wareliouses at 
Houston, Tex. Atlanta, Ga. Decatur, 111. Lexington, Miss. Cairo, HI. Minneapolis, Minn. Binghamton, N.Y. Philadelphia, Pa. 
NOTICE—If you prefer, write to my nearest branch, and if I am not there, 
my personal representative will attend to it. 
Cut or tear off here 
Send me full particulars about the following engine. It 
is understood that I do not obligate myself in any way by 
asking for this information. 
Style wanted : Portable Stationary 
Horse Power wanted: \'/ 2 3 4 1 / 2 6 8 12 15 20 
Expect to need it: Aug. Sept. Oct. Nov. Dec. 
Name. 
Town.. R. F. D 
County.. State. 
Sign name plainly, just the wav you want it on Mil fold. 
908 
