48 
THE RURAL, NEW-YORKE R 
January 11, 
CONNECTICUT BOARD CF AGRICULTURE 
The Connecticut Board of Agriculture at 
its annual convention, held about the mid¬ 
dle of December, always furnishes a high 
class of speakers and the farmers from 
all parts of the State look forward to a 
“feast of reason” and are seldom disap¬ 
pointed. This year was no exception to 
the rule and the subjects, as a whole, were 
perhaps of more direct, practical im¬ 
portance than usual. Much disappointment 
was felt at the absence of Mr. Hull of 
Michigan, who is always a “live wire,” but 
the dairymen present were glad to excuse 
his absence when it was learned that he 
was detained by a hearing at Washington 
on the oleo bill, and, by the way, the con¬ 
vention passed unanimous resolutions 
against any change in the oleo law as it 
now stands. The oleo business is most 
carefully supervised in Connecticut and 
yet the licensed sellers of oleo have in¬ 
creased from about 50 to over 500 since 
the passage of the present law. The State 
Dairy Commissioner says he feels sure 
there would be a great tendency to evade 
the law if the restrictions against the sale 
of colored oleo should be removed. 
H. O. Daniels, one of the most success¬ 
ful dairymen in Connecticut, was asked to 
take Mr. Hull’s topic, ‘‘Selecting and 
Breeding of Dairy Cattle.” Few farmers 
in this State have made a more marked 
success in building up a profitable herd 
than the Daniels Bros, of Middletown. 
Mr. Daniels pointed out that he considered 
their success due chiefly to careful selection 
and breeding. He said that for six years 
they tried to improve the herd by carefully 
selected purchases, but had not been suc¬ 
cessful. After six years records were 
available, from a herd of 60 head, they 
found that there had been no permanent 
increase, the average varying from 5,500 
to 6.000 pounds of milk. They then de¬ 
cided to buy a first-class sire and began 
to rear calves from their best cows. At 
the end of four years of breeding they had 
increased the average yield to 6,500 pounds 
and 17 grade heifers gave an average of 
over 7,000 pounds. At the end of eight 
years they were able to show an average 
of over 7.000 pounds per cow, while half 
the herd were producing over 8.000 pounds. 
It was their aim to bring a herd of 60 up 
to an average of 8,000 pounds each. Too 
few farmers, Mr. Daniels thought, were 
willing to pay the price a really good sire 
was worth. No sire should be chosen ex¬ 
cept after a careful study of the records 
of the dam and grand dam. This was more 
essential than a study of individual points, 
although vigor of constitution and good 
dairy points was very essentiol. 
Improved live stock could not be made to 
retain their good qualities except by good 
care and good feeding. Warm, clean, dry 
well-ventilated quarters were essential. 
Great care should always be used to pre¬ 
vent troubles at calving time by the liberal 
giving of warm water and laxative foods, 
together with the use of dry, roomy 
stalls, and blanket protection if necessary. 
Mr. Daniels said that their success in im¬ 
proving the herd was due to liberal feed¬ 
ing as well as to careful selection. The 
financial end of the business too had been 
bettered by growing much of their own 
feed. 
Mr. Frank Gerrett, of Franklin Co., 
Mass., is a practical sheep breeder and 
gave many suggestive and helpful points 
based on his own experience. lie said that 
the sheep industry had the advantage over 
dairying in requiring less capital for stock 
and less outlay for buildings. He was sure 
that on many farms, especially on the 
rougher lands' of New England, sheep of¬ 
fered opportunities that were not generally 
appreciated. The New England farmer, 
however, must specialize in raising lambs 
for meat rather than for wool. lie had 
most of his lambs dropped in January and 
February and sold them at good prices in 
the Boston markets when 12 to 18 weeks 
old. At that ago they would weigh, dressed, 
32 to 34 pounds and brought 25 to 30 
cents per pound. Some sheep breeders 
were getting about the same price for late 
lambs, by retailing them to Summer resi¬ 
dents. The speaker thought the best 
lambs were produced from grade ewes, 
mainly of the Down breeds, but preferably 
with a small proportion of the fine wooled 
stock. Such ewes, when bred to pure 
Southdown, Shropsire, Hampshire or Dor¬ 
set sires, gave early maturing lambs of fine 
quality. The general verdict was that, if 
the dog laws were well enforced, the pro¬ 
tection from dogs was ample. The cheap 
lambs, coming from the West, were the 
cause of decline in the sheep business 
rather than dogs. 
Prof. Minkler of the New Jersey Station 
gave a very suggestive address on the pos¬ 
sibilities in horse breeding in the East. He 
said that five years ago colts were pro¬ 
duced only on 9 per cent, of the farms of 
New Jersey, and that the average farmer 
kept four or five misfit animals, where two 
or three well-suited animals could do the 
work. Most of the horses on Eastern 
farms are brought from the West, and 
have to be acclimated, at much loss of 
time, and often with considerable expense. 
In 1908 the New Jersey Live Stock Com¬ 
mission placed on farms, in 10 counties of 
the State, 10 pure-bred draft stallions. 
This greatly encouraged community breed¬ 
ing. In 10*12, 78 pure draft stallions were 
used in the State. All stallions must now 
be approved and registered as sound by the 
State commission before they can be used. 
In 1908, 72% of the stallions in the State 
were grades or mongrels. Now the num¬ 
ber of this type of stallion is reduced to 
40% of the total. The speaker said that 
the old saying that ‘‘a good sire is half 
the herd” should be supplemented by its 
corollary ‘‘that a poor sire is the whole 
thing.” The speaker was sure that more 
horses were injured by the over-feeding of 
Timothy hay than by any other means. The 
solution of the problem of cheap feed for 
live stock in the East was the raising of 
more corn and more Alfalfa. The cheap 
lands of the East now offered greater op¬ 
portunities for the profitable rearing of 
horses than did much of the higher priced 
lands of the Central West. 
The address by Prof. John F. Graham 
of the Massachusetts Agricultural College 
on the “Business End of the Poultry In¬ 
dustry” was full of practical points. He 
thought that the many failures in the poul¬ 
try business wore often due to the wild 
schemes of irrational advertisers, who gen¬ 
erally had some poultry supplies or books 
to sell, that made the foundation of their 
so-called success. Too many take up the 
business without first mastering its many 
details. It’s the man and not the busi¬ 
ness that makes for success or failure. 
New England offers many opportunities to 
the poultryman because of her dry soils, 
dry, cool climate, comparatively cheap feeds, 
good markets and her many means for the 
dissemination of poultry knowledge. Com¬ 
parisons were made between the retail price 
of eggs in Kansas and Masacliusetts which 
showed 50 per cent higher prices in the 
latter State, while the increased price of 
feeds in Massachusetts was much less than 
50 per cent. The use of standard-bred, vigor¬ 
ous stock was almost essential to success 
today. It meant more uniform, as well as 
a larger production in both eggs and meat. 
Carefully kept records of income and outgo 
were also essential. This should include 
cost of feed, cost of labor, value of stock 
and value of plant and equipment. Only 
by carefully kept records could one tell the 
lines of his business that afforded the great¬ 
est profit, and what branches of the work 
offered the best chances for cutting the ex¬ 
pense. A poultryman must also study the 
best markets and the best class of cus¬ 
tomers for his particular product. The 
practical poultryman must know what fac¬ 
tors affect the market values of eggs and 
how they can be best met. Some of these 
factors are too great age, difference in 
size and color, dirt and the presence of the 
males in the laying flocks. There is a loss 
of 40 to 50 million dollars every year from 
spoiled eggs. Clean houses, clean nests and 
pure feeds are very essential, as eggs take 
up bad odors almost like butter. Coopera¬ 
tive collecting and marketing, by creameries, 
has been tried with success in some States. 
Where a strictly clean, uniformly sorted, 
product, is put up and guaranteed the in¬ 
crease in price has fully paid for all the 
extra expense. c. s. fiielps. 
Apples and Purslane for Cows. 
Are sweet apples chopped fine good for 
a milch cow or any cow'' Are some apples 
good for any cow? Is purslane that 
grows so abundantly iu gardens about 
A.ugust 1, good for cows? R. 
New Jersey. 
Apples are relished by cows and tend to 
keep the bowels active. Roots or silage 
would be preferable for this purpose. Purs¬ 
lane is practically worthless as cow feed. 
A. S. A. 
Quarter Crack. 
I have a valuable mare that sprained 
her front foot last February by over-reach¬ 
ing. and pulled the shoe off. It got ap¬ 
parently well by the first of June, so I 
bred her at that time, but iu a few days 
it swelled just above the hoof and broke, 
and has kept doing so every five or six 
weeks since, and it has left a crack in her 
hoof which has grown the whole length 
of the hoof now. And she still goes lame. 
Veterinarians say they cannot throw her 
to put a hot iron on it, because she is in 
foal. Can you tell me what to do? 
Massachusetts. f. m. 
It is not necessary to throw the mare 
to fire the quarter crack. By putting a 
twitch on her nose and holding up one 
foot it should be quite possible to fire the 
unsound foot. Clip the hair from coronet 
of lame foot. Fire a deep line across crack 
at juncture of horn and hair and in the 
skin of coronet (hoof-head) fire a large 
V. the apex of which is to rest on the 
cross line, exactly at the top of the crack. 
The lines of the V should not be burned 
through the skin. After the operation the 
hoof-head should be blistered with cerate 
of cantharides. The mare may run out, 
after the blister has been washed off iu 
three days. The blistering may be repeated 
in a month. If a pus forms at any time 
diseased tissue is present and will have 
to be scraped away; then inject a saturated 
solution of corrosive sublimate and repeat 
the injection in 10 days, if the discharge 
persists. a. s. a. 
Feeding Idle Horses. 
What should I feed to horses that are 
idle, with mixed clover and Timothy hay 
and corn. How much should I feed* twice 
a day in Winter? f. a. c. 
Ohio. 
Allow one pound of grain and one and 
one-third pounds of hay for eacjh 100 
pounds of body weight of horse as a day’s 
ration, and in addition supply some roots; 
or the horses may be given a few pounds 
of silage daily. It also is customary to 
allow horses to run to a rack filled with 
bright oat straw. If this is allowed the 
hay may be cut to one pound per hundred 
of live weight. Increase oats, add bran 
and decrease the hay as Spring approaches 
and weather becomes warmer. This gets 
the horses into good shape for Spring work. 
During idleness horses require but little 
grain, and may cat freely of roughage, pro¬ 
vided the bowels are kept active by feed¬ 
ing roots or silage. a. s. a. 
Kicking. 
I have a mare six years old that is a 
bad kicker, ('an you tell me how to break 
her from kicking. s. p. n. 
Maryland. 
We presume that you mean “stall kick¬ 
ing.” This can be prevented by buckling 
a 10-inch length of heavy chain to the 
pastern of the foot used for kicking; or 
letting her kick against a swinging stall 
partition that will kick back; or against a 
sack filled with sand and hung on a rope 
back of stall. If she kicks in harness put 
on a kicking strap over hind parts. 
a. s. a. 
Feeds and Feeding, by Dr. W. A. Henry. 
The standard work on this subject, now in 
its twelfth edition. Full discussion of ra¬ 
tions for various animals. Tables of com¬ 
position and digestibility of food stuffs, etc. 
For sale by The Rural New-Yorker; price 
$2.25. 
Treat 
Cows Right 
Get a bigger milk- 
yield from any cow, 
and keep her in better 
condition, through regu¬ 
lar feeds of 
C ROWN 
BREWERS* 
Dried Grains 
''rs*%r ‘ip 
_ I ^ 4 
Wa \ ) <4 
S>, 
Rich in just the nutrients the cow wants for 
milk-making. Eagerly relished by all cat¬ 
tle. Wholesome and pure, better than 
even its own guarantee, yet cheap 
in price. Mention your feed deal¬ 
er’s name and address, and get 
interesting bulletin on cattle¬ 
feeding. 
MILWAUKEE GRAINS 
& FEED CO. 
452 Third Street 
__ Milwaukee, 
Look * Wis. 
for Crown 
Brand on bag. 
/ 
D 
One Man 
Does Four Men’s Lifting! 
A Wonderful, Positive, Safety 
Tackle Block for the Easy Lifting 
and HANDLING of Heavy Weights 
Get Free Catalog! 
The Burr is the only tackle 
block that does the work of 
a chain block without bit¬ 
ing, wearing and tearing the 
rope. Locks as positively 
and holds as tight on wet and 
greasy rope as on dry. You 
can lift weights easily and 
handle them easily. So 
simple in operation 
that one boy can 
change wagon boxes, 
handle bales of hay 
and do other heavy 
work without danger 
of exhaustion. Don’t 
w strain your back and 
waste the time of your men in doing 
big lifting jobs when for 75c you can 
get a 600-lb. capacity Burr Block or a 
5,000-lb, capacity block for $4.45, 
Burr 
Automatic Safety Tackle Block 
is the strongest, most 
simplest tackle block 
Thousands of farmers 
to get along; without one 
or two. The cost is too 
little and the danger to 
their backs is too great 
to even consider doing 
the lifting the old way. 
The Burr catalog 
shows all sizes and 
prices. Send for it now. 
Learn dealer’s name in 
your neighborhood. (22) 
BURR MFG. CO. 
Viaduct 136 Cleveland, 0. 
reliable and 
in the world, 
would not try 
Ladder 
Jacks 
Aak also about 
Burr Reversible 
Safety Ladder 
Jacks, another 
farm necessity. 
Thousands in use. 
Great conveni-'ics. 
YOURS 
—For Greatest 
Power Profits! 
Send lu your name on postal! Don’t buy 
a power outfit of any kind till you get our 
“ facts, figures and proof. You don’t 
realize the economy, reliability and 
superiority o£ the famous 
LEFFEL Hs 
They are replacing all other power 
outfits wherever Introduced. Learn 
the reasons. Huy your last engine 
first and save big money. Leffel 
runs any machine, does many 
things gasoline can't do. 
Burns anything for fuel. 
Don’t waltl Write us nowl 
James Leffel & Company? 
ox 281* Springfield, Ohio 
Run on gasoline, kerosene, distillate, 
any cheap fuel oil. Cost less to run— 
develop more power. Patent throttle 
gives three engines in one. Many other 
exclusive features — guaranteed 10 
years—we pay freight—30 days' frtc 
trial. Send for coUlogiu- today 
Ellis Englnt Co., 5| Mulltt St., Detroit) MIiIl 
Why not take a crop of lumber off the farm 
this winter? It’s there, in your wood lot—and 
in your neighbors’—waiting to be harvested. 
You have the time, the team and the engine. 
All you need buy is an inexpensive “American’’ 
Saw Mill. You can run it yourself, and make 
good lumber for a new house, a new barn, or 
for the market. Lumber prices are high. Good 
lumber is in demand. There’s big profit in 
working wood lot limber with an “American” 
Mill because it does so much at so little cost. 
An 8 H. 1’. engine will cut np to 2600 feet a 
day. When you’ve cleared yonr wood lot, go 
to your neighbor. Saw his lumber for him and 
share bis profits. You ought to know all 
about this farm lumbering business. Ask us 
for our new book No. 2C the book that tells. 
Write nearest office now, while interested. 
AMERICAN SAW MILL MACHINERY CO. 
Makers of Standard Saw Mills of Any Size 
or Capacity. 
129ltope 8t.. 
Hacketutoirn, 
New Jersey 
1589 Terminal 
Bldg. N’ewYork 
CHICAGO 
SAVANNAH ' 
NEW ORLEANS 
ATTENTION TO THE LITTLE DETAILS 
IS WHAT HAS MADE THE 
Parsons “ Low-Down ” 
MILK WAGON 
4t The Wagon of Durability 99 
THE PARSONS WAGON COMPANY 
Ask far Cataloo "D" EARLVILLE, N. Y. 
LET US TAN 
YOUR HIDE. 
Cattle or Horse hide, Calf, Dog, Deer, 
or any kind of skin with hair or fur on. 
We tan and tlniah them right, mako 
them into coats (for men and women), 
robes, rugs or gloves when ordered. 
Your fur goods will cost you less than 
to buy thorn, and bo worth more. Our 
ilhistrotod catalog gives a lot of in¬ 
formation which every stock raiser 
should have, but we never send out this 
valuable book except upon request. 
It.tolls how to take off and eare for 
hides; how and when wo pay tho freight 
both ways ; about our safe dyeing pro¬ 
cess which is a tremendous advantuge 
to the customer, especially on horso 
hidos and call skins j about the fur 
goods and game trophies wo sell, taxi¬ 
dermy, etc. If you want a copy send ub 
your correct address. 
The Crosby Frisian Fur Company. 
571 Lyell Ave.. Rochester. N. Y. 
