1913. 
THE RURAlj NEW-YORKER 
ei 
GET JERSEYS; GET GOOD ONES. 
Merits of Island Cattle. 
In 1901 I had the pleasure of visiting again the 
very beautiful Island of Jersey in company with Col. 
J. J. Richardson of Davenport, Iowa, and our wives, 
during the week of the annual show in August. We 
visited also many herds, seeing the bull Golden Jolly 
by Golden Fern’s Lad out of Brookhill Rose. We 
considered him the most beautiful of any we saw; 
masculine, very vigorous but fine lines, always on 
the move, so much so, I could not get a photo. I 
then said he was by inheritance the greatest son of 
his famous sire. I have always wanted one of his 
daughters, and when the chance of¬ 
fered, bought Golden Jolly’s Faus¬ 
tina then just calved. In shipping 
she was nearly dried up through 
careless handling, but came back 
very fast, pushing the scales until 
for the seven days she gave 299 
pounds of milk with 15.57 pounds 
butter fat, which 1 thought pretty 
good, that long after calving. Her 
picture, Fig. 33, is just as she was in 
the paddock, no fixing up, posing, 
etc. Now I shall criticise her; a 
little small but fine in bone, front 
udder not as full as might be, teats 
well placed but carries her grand 
sire’s family characteristic, too 
short. Enormous appetitie, gorging 
herself when she can, but putting it 
to profit. We are retailing milk, 
and when we claim five per cent 
it is a guarantee, as we go to and 
over 5.75 in daily composite tests 
of over 60 cows. Is the Jersey cow 
a good dairy cow? By that I mean 
profitable. Yes or no, as you treat 
her; by that, take individuality, not 
fashionable, boomed, high-priced 
auction animals, but the cow that 
will give 40 pounds of 5 per cent 
milk with her third calf at four 
years old, and goes along steadily 
for 10 months, and then has to be 
dried off if possible, and it is not, in 
many cases. Mr. Sweet lost Ida 
Marigold by forcing her dry. 
The great trouble is, the farmer 
wants low-priced bulls, and if not 
asked a long price for a calf with 
authenticated (?) yearly tests, 
thinks yours is no good. Our net 
milk sales in December, 1912, were 
nearly (a few cents off) an aver¬ 
age of $21 per cow. I have in 37 
years sold a large number of bulls 
and do not hesitate to say that they 
improved 95 per cent the cattle in 
the neighborhood they went into, 
and I never got over $100 for a 
calf. I have experimented side by 
side with other dairy breeds, and 
know the Jersey will produce better 
milk for less cost than any other 
breed. And I know further, with 
an average of over 50 babies on our 
deliveries, that it is a safer, better 
food than any other breed, adver¬ 
tisements to the contrary notwith¬ 
standing. Not only that, but Jer¬ 
sey skimmed milk will produce bet¬ 
ter results fed to pigs and poultry, 
because the solids other than fat 
have a percentage of seven to 10 
per cent. If you want bulk add 
water and then it equals that quoted 
by many authorities. Summing up, 
get the Jersey, but get good indi¬ 
viduals, lose sight of pedigree, but 
not ancestry; any reasonable color 
of hide, tongue and switch, but get 
the black nose, remembering solid fawn does not 
guarantee pure Jersey. • r. f. shannon. 
Pennsylvania. 
CREDITS FOR FARMERS. 
I notice you ask for information regarding the 
facility with which farmers can get loans with which 
to purchase cash goods, such as fertilizers, feeds, ma¬ 
chinery, etc. Anyone owning his farm in part or 
whole can get a limited amount at the banks, pro¬ 
vided he has a good record for paying and wants the 
accommodation for 30, 60 or 90 days, but if the money 
is wanted for improvements and is needed for a year 
or two years or more and a larger amount, he must 
give a chattel real estate mortgage and pay seven 
per cent for the kindness. I recently purchased a 
farm for $13,000, paying $2,000 down and putting 
about $2,500 or more into the equipment. About a 
year after I had to meet a series of misfortunes, 
among which was failure of crops and the loss of a 
$3,000 investment in an industrial concern in which I 
had been interested for a number of years, and then 
the loss of my health. Although I had been known 
here all my life and had always borne a good reputa¬ 
tion for meeting my obligations on time, and had time 
and again borrowed $200, $300 and $400 for 30 or 60 
days, when I wanted a loan of $650 for a year to 
make improvements and buy fertilizer, I had to give a 
mortgage on my personal property and pay seven per 
cent interest and the necessary cost of the papers, 
and could only get it for six months at a time at 
that, and this in face of the fact that I had made my 
payments of interest and principal on time and had 
improved a rundown farm so it was worth $2,000 or 
$3,000 more than when I bought it. I know of more 
than a dozen such instances as this within a radius of 
20 miles of my home and am not judging from my 
own experience alone. I have been in other commer¬ 
cial affairs for 20 years where, when I borrowed 
money at the bank, only needing it for 30 or 60 days, 
when the nature of the business was such that no 
longer loans were needed, but a farmer cannot bor¬ 
row on such time, as he cannot get the returns in less 
than eight to 12 months. Government aid to farmers 
is the only solution of the problem; we hope it is near. 
Michigan. a borrower. 
In regard to our credit system I will give actual 
figures as near as I can. If I were to have an auc¬ 
tion to-morrow I could take the proceeds and pay all 
debts and have about $2,300. I owe notes to the 
amount of $200 at one the most accommodating banks 
on earth, but in order to raise $200 more I had to give 
chattel mortgage on $700 worth of stock. The $200 
worth of notes all have a signer. I gave the mort¬ 
gage rather than ask a friend to sign a note with me. 
They will take pretty poor notes if they are indorsed, 
but as one of my neighbors said, asking a man to 
sign with you is like dying: “You don’t mind it when 
you get used to it.” I am writing 
this because I appreciate the service 
you are rendering myself as well as 
the nation. r. e. m. 
Alleghany Co., N. Y. 
I have read with interest the let¬ 
ter you printed on page 1270 from 
a New York State farmer of his 
inability to borrow money from 
banks on his own note (without a 
signer). As you ask for statements 
of facts concerning this money 
borrowing problem, would submit 
my own experience. Some time 
ago I wanted to borrow $1,200 for 
a short time. I asked my banker 
whether he could accommodate me; 
he asked me what interest I could 
afford to pay, to which I replied 
that I was willing to pay just what 
any other business man was obliged 
to pay who borrowed the same 
amount. I offered to secure him 
by mortgage on my little farm; I 
told him I wanted the money in 
about three weeks. He then told 
me to come in when ready and they 
would fix me up. At the end of 
three, weeks I called for the $1,200, 
expecting to secure this loan by 
mortgage, when to my surprise he 
told me that my own note was good 
enough without a signer even. A 
smaller amount I borrowed from 
another bank for 30 days at six 
per cent at another time without 
a signer, though I never had done 
any business with this bank before. 
I am confident I can get all the 
money I need to do business with 
as well as any other business man, 
though I am worth much less than 
some business men I know of who 
borrow at the same bank and are 
obliged to furnish a signer. 
You will naturally wonder why I 
am able to borrow where others 
seem to be unsuccessful. Allow me 
to explain. Years before I became 
a farmer I was in the milk busi¬ 
ness. I ran a milk depot, bought 
the milk from farmers and sold it 
both wholesale and retail. Every 
day after selling the milk (sold for 
cash only), I deposited the proceeds 
in the bank, and every Monday 
morning as regularly as clockwork 
sent checks to my shippers for the 
amount due them. After coming 
on the farm I still continued my 
bank account, deposited my money 
no matter how much or how little, 
and paid all my obligations by 
check. In so doing the bankers be¬ 
came acquainted with mg and I 
with them; they had a chance to 
study my way of doing business, 
had a chance to study my character 
and all about me. I have done 
business with this bank for over 35 
years continuously, satisfactory to me and to the bank. 
It is the oldest First National bank in Ohio and the 
sixth oldest in the United States. 
My belief is that many farmers are unable to bor¬ 
row at reasonable rates of interest and on their own 
notes because they are not known by the banks. Un¬ 
like the business man, they have no open account with 
them; what money they handle they carry around 
on their person or salted down in some old stocking. 
I remember well when I first came on the farm, how 
some of my neighbors were amused at my having a 
bank account; how some sneeringly hinted that my 
pants pockets would easily hold what money I had. 
However, some have followed my example and are 
now having an open account at the bank and pay their 
obligations by check. If the farmer wants the privi¬ 
leges the business man enjoys he must become a busi¬ 
ness man (a business farmer). The banks will treat 
him like any other business man. j. h. ballinger. 
A BUNCH OF WESTERN SHEEP ON A ILLINOIS FARM. Fig. 31. 
A MEETING OF THREE FARM COMPANIONS. Fig. 33. 
JERSEY COW—GOLDEN JOLLY’S FAUSTINA, 230338. Fig. 33. 
