1242 
Live Stock and Dairy 
A PROBLEM FOR BREEDERS. 
Will you give us your opinion regarding 
the following actual case? A farmer, evi¬ 
dently a poor man, purchased a breeding 
animal from a breeder. He made a small 
payment and promised to take the animal 
when it had reached a certain age. When 
this time came he claimed to be unable to 
pay for it, but arranged with the breeder 
to keep it for a time until he could raise 
the money. This breeder kept the animal, 
although he had a chance to dispose of it 
at a fair price. One morning the animal 
was found dead, through no fault of the 
breeder’s. The question now is who should 
stand the loss of this animal, under these 
circumstances? Very likely cases of this 
sort are not infrequent. What would you 
do in such a case? 
If I had been the buyer of the animal 
THE RURAL NEW-YORKER 
point. There was a bona fide sale, ac¬ 
knowledged by the purchaser by his de¬ 
posit. There seems to have been no un¬ 
derstanding that the animal was to be 
kept at the purchaser’s risk. Again, it 
is fair to assume that the seller gave the 
animal the same care he would have 
given had he still owned him. The fact 
that he had another chance to dispose of 
the animal cuts no figure unless he 
could have delivered him at once. Sup¬ 
posing the seller had availed himself of 
the other opportunity and had disposed 
of the animal, returning the deposit, 
what position would the first purchaser 
take? Wouldn't he be pretty sure to be 
damaged and want redress? Were it a 
personal matter, I think I would meet 
the purchaser half way, asking him to 
pay half the purchase price and I stand 
half the loss. The trouble is, that such 
... deals are made in a loose manner, 
in question, I should have acknowledged neith< T se J ler nor purchaser thinking that 
a misunderstanding may arise. My 
my responsibility. Had I been the seller 
I should probably have told the buyer 
that while under no obligation to do 
so, I would be willing to share the loss 
to the extent of one-half. This is un¬ 
der the assumption that the buyer is a 
poor man. If a man of means, I would 
consider sentiment uncalled for. 
New Jersey. j. l. hope. 
The contract between the vendor and 
the vendee being complete the animal 
became the property of the vendee, his 
right to possession being enforceable. 
The animal remained in the possession 
of the vendor at the request of the ven¬ 
dee, and, unless it died by reason of 
some fault of the vendor while in his 
possession, the liability for payment of 
the full contract price would fall on the 
vendee. This, I think, the legal prop¬ 
osition. Practically, however, the death 
of the animal having taken place, and 
not by the fault of either party, I think 
a compromise at one-half or two-thirds 
of the price would be the most sensible 
and least troublesome way out of it; or, 
if the vendor can furnish another an¬ 
imal of equal merit Vith the one which 
died, I would suggest a substitution, to 
be agreed upon by both parties. 
Pennsylvania. c. E. staiile. 
Yes, these cases come up occasionally, 
and I can only say in regard to this that 
when the purchaser agreed on the price 
of this animal and made a payment on 
it the animal to all intents was his. Had 
the seller been offered 25 per cent more 
for this animal he could not have sold 
it, because it did not belong to him, and 
in this case I would say that the pur¬ 
chaser was indebted to the seller for the 
whole amount of the animal. Now, of 
course, in an arrangement like this it 
sometimes becomes a personal matter 
where the seller would like to help out 
some, and in that case if he so desired 
he could pay a part of the loss, but 
from a business standpoint, in my esti¬ 
mation, the purchaser is indebted to the 
seller for the whole amount of the pur¬ 
chase price of the animal. 
New Jersey. a. a. cortelyou. 
There is no doubt at all in my mind 
that the purchaser and party who paid 
part of the money on the animal with 
the request it be held a certain time, 
was the owner of the animal at the 
time it died, and, of course, that makes 
him liable for the balance of the pur¬ 
chase money, as the transaction de¬ 
barred the other party from disposing 
of the animal at any time after the first 
purchase. If this were a case of my 
own, I would be willing to compromise 
the matter, as I have always found, in 
my 50 years’ experience, it is a great 
deal better to satisfy a customer than 
to undertake to fight him. 
Pennsylvania. edward Walter. 
I have never had such an experience 
as you mention. As a seller, my settle¬ 
ment of such a matter would depend 
very much on the financial condition of 
the purchaser and his willingness to do 
the fair thing, there seeming to be a 
difference between these parties on this 
opinion is that the’ seller has the strong¬ 
est case; however, I would never resort 
to law in such a matter. 
New York. e. w. mosher. 
I do not think on the facts stated that 
the seller has any claim against the 
buyer. If A purchases an animal from 
B, to be delivered at a future time, and 
the animal dies before the date fixed 
for delivery the loss is B’s and not A’s. 
B being unable to fulfill his part of the 
contract by the delivery of the animal 
contracted to be sold has no claim what¬ 
ever against A for the balance of the 
purchase price but should return to A 
the amount paid thereon. I do not see 
how the fact that at the time fixed in 
the original agreement for delivery A 
was unable to pay, and at his request 
B consented to extend the time of pay¬ 
ment and delivery affects the rights of 
the parties. If at the time fixed for 
the delivery B had elected to call the 
deal off by reason of A failing to per¬ 
form on his part, he could of course 
have done so and sold the animal to 
some one else or made any disposition 
of it he pleased, and A would have been 
liable to him for the damage resulting, 
if any. But instead of doing this he ex¬ 
tended the time within which A might 
perform his part of the contract. That 
this was done at the request of the pur¬ 
chaser makes no difference. Under the 
contract as modified the purchaser was 
not legally in default. Both parties 
seem to have treated the contract as in 
force, and now, without fault cn his 
part, B is not in a position to perform 
by reason of the death of the animal. 
That the breeder had an opportunity of 
selling the animal to another party does 
not affect the question at all. In this 
particular case it may seem like a hard¬ 
ship on the breeder, but the establish¬ 
ment of any different rule would in the 
long run be more likely to work injus¬ 
tice to the purchaser in many cases. 
New York. calvin' j. huson. 
SHALL IT BE HENS OR SHEEP? 
Part II. 
And what about sheep? I started in 
much as you think of doing; by read¬ 
ing, studying and taking a. fancy to 
them. I believe Wing’s “Sheep Farm¬ 
ing in America” and one or two timely 
articles in The R. N.-Y. helped me as 
much as anything. And now after three 
years of “trying out,” I am just getting 
to the early lamb stage and to the point 
where I hope to make a little something 
off them. During this time I have 
learned a good deal about them, have 
got some fields on my place pretty well 
cleaned of weeds and manured with 
their help, and have quite a decent flock 
of Dorset grades to bank on. Now, I 
am ready to try a few purebreds and 
go to the expense of the housing and 
care needed for early lambs. The sheep, 
like the hens, have come to stay. I 
think that though very slow, my way 
of starting is proving the safest and 
soundest in building up an early lamb 
flock. Uncertain crops, poor land, and 
the disastrous droughts of the past 
three years have made progress diffi¬ 
cult. I started with 20 ewes in the Fall 
of 1908, paid $7.25 apiece, and thought 
I was getting the pick of a large bunch. 
To-day, three years later, I have 
just four of the original lot that are fit 
to winter. The remaining 30 are all 
ewes of my raising and selection, mostly 
grade Dorsets, excepting four yearling 
Shropshires. My first year’s lambs 
were sired by unknown rams, and I got 
four or‘five fine animals out of the lot 
to keep. I have made it a practice to 
sell only ram lambs until I could pick 
the ewes. An epidemic of foot rot 
lasting over 18 months put my flock in 
bad shape and I lost several indirectly 
from their resulting poor condition. By 
the second Winter I had only 11 ewes, 
and bred them to a Dorset ram. These 
gave me eight fine ewe lambs, my first 
real material for producing early lambs, 
and this year past I have added 10 
more. Ewe lambs have been largely in 
the majority every year, so that I have 
had few lambs to sell for meat. The 
first year the foot rot spoiled most of 
them, the second year we had so few 
and late that we kept them to kill for 
ourselves, the third year nearly all the 
rams were dropped by young ewes— 
“first lambs,” and were harder to get 
size to. None has been dropped early 
enough for high prices as yet. The fol¬ 
lowing statement shows what cash re¬ 
turns have been. A number of ewes 
were killed for meat that are not ac¬ 
counted for; we find home the best 
market for them. 
1911. 5 lambs, 180 lbs., 11c.$19.80 
72 lbs. wool, at 29c. 20.88 
Total .$33.79 
1910. 5 lambs (killed for home use) 
at $3.00 . 15.00 
88 lbs. wool, at 22c. 19.36 
Total .$34.36 
1911. 5 lambs, 180 lbs., 11c.$19.80 
1 lamb, 32 lbs, 7c. 2.30 
3 lambs, 151 lbs., 6c. 9.06 
170 lbs. wool, at 18c.30.00 
Total .$61.76 
Now, looking forward to the land for 
a living, you have my viewpoint and 
some of my experience with sheep and 
hens to think over. I believe both 
would prove good investments. That I 
have not made a fortune out of them 
yet is plainly my own fault. I had to 
have experience, to realize just what 
“eternal vigilance and constant applica¬ 
tion” mean, and to learn what I really 
liked. If you want country life and 
are willing to pay the price, I say go 
ahead with all my heart. Glad to have 
you along! If you are after country 
life and profits in a hurry, too, stay 
where you are and keep on reading 
about them; it’s safer. If not, put your 
money into a little place near a city as 
possible, start with a hundred hens, 
live with them this Winter, raise what 
you need next Spring, and don’t build 
any permanent houses until you know 
just what suits your conditions. Then, 
next Summer, get a few sheep, and a 
good Dorset ram and get acquainted 
with them when the chickens can spare 
you. Later sit up a couple of Winter 
nights nursing an ailing lamb through 
the bulb of a medicine dropper, and 
think it over. Maybe you won’t want 
to go on with them; I think you will. 
Luck to you! reuben brigham. 
Maryland. 
December 30, 
When you write advertisers mention Tub 
K. N.-Y. and you’ll get a quick reply and a 
“square deal.” See guarantee editorial page. 
RHElD! 
i 
BLOOD 
TONICS 
Ask 
your 
dealer 
for 
them 
Full 
Milk 
Pails 
Keep Your Animals 
In Proper Condition 
The only way you can save feed and 
increase the producing jrowers o£ 
your cows, horses, sheep and hogs is 
by perfecting their digestion and 
purifying their blood. Don’t make the 
mistake of using an old style “All-in. 
One” conditioner. Use 
Blood 
_ Tonics 
an individual preparation for each kind 
of animal. Blood Tonic for horses only. 
Milk Producer for cattle only. Egg 
Producer for Poultry only. Blood Tonic 
for hogs only. Each preparation is 
scientifically compounded to 
meet the individual require¬ 
ments of each kind of animal. 
These*1.00 Books FREE. The in¬ 
formation contained in these 
books is valuable to 
-.every farmer—FREE if 
[/you send name of dealer. 
FAIRFIELD MFG. CO. 
Fairfield's 
605 S. Delaware Ave. 
FrH? 
Philadelphia, 
I'enusjlvanla. 
I Dealers write 
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Write for our prices and illus¬ 
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FOSTER STEEL STANCHION CO. 
i>0(> insurance itldg., Rochester, N. Y. 
EXCELSIOR SWING STANCHION 
Warranted The Best. 30 Days’ Trial 
Unlike all others. Stationary when open 
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P ROBERTSON’S CHAT X 
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Saul tar him, Plainfield, N. J. 
Thirty days* trial on application 
O. II. R0BERT80X 
Wash. St., Foreatville, Conn. 
Now Is the Time to Buy and 
Start the New Year Right 
There is no good reason to defer the purchase of a DE LAVAL 
cream separator until Spring. On the contrary you may buy one 
now and save half its cost meanwhile. Moreover, if you can’t 
conveniently pay cash you can buy a DE LAVAL machine on 
such liberal terms that it will actually pay for itself. 
As to YOUR need of a centrifugal separator, if you have the 
milk of even a single cow to cream you are wasting quantity and 
quality of product every day you go without one. This waste 
is usually greatest with cold weather and cows old in lactation, 
and it counts most, of course, when butter prices are high. 
Then there is always the sweet skimmilk and saving of time and 
labor in addition. 
When it comes to a choice of separators DE LAVAL supe¬ 
riority is now universally recognized. Those who “know” buy 
the DE -LAVAL to begin with. Those who don’t replace their 
other separator with a DE LAVAL later—thousands of users do 
that every year. If YOU already have some other machine the 
sooner YOU exchange it for a DE LAVAL the better. 
Why not start 1912 right in dairying? TRY a DE LAVAL 
machine for your own satisfaction if nothing else. See the 
nearest DE LAVAL agent or write us direct and we’ll do the rest. 
The De Laval Separator Co. 
NEW YORK 
CHICAGO 
SAN FRANCISCO 
SEATTLE 
