680 
April 10, 
THE RURAL NB>W-YORKER 
A PROLIFIC EWE. 
Enclosed find photo, Fig. 189, of a 
grade Shropshire ewe and her family, 
owned by Mr. John Stevens, and 
dropped on his farm 1*4 miles north 
of the village of Le Roy, Genesee 
County, N. Y. I have owned and bred 
sheep for 50 years, and this is the first 
quintette I ever heard of. I was curious 
enough to investigate, and found that 
three credible and responsible witnesses 
would take oath of the fact. Mr. Ste¬ 
vens had another ewe that had five dead 
lambs, but this one kept hers all alive 
working plan to improve your farm, in¬ 
crease its productivenesss and your in¬ 
come. 
Estimating the amount of horse 
power you will require on your farm 
is something like estimating the cost of 
building or repairing a house; the time 
is pretty sure to come when your esti¬ 
mate is a little low. After deciding on 
the number of horses that will do the 
work in first-class shape on your farm, 
you must decide on the breed of horses 
best suited for farm work and to make 
you a profit, when your surplus stock 
EWE WITH FIVE LAMBS, Fig. 189. 
for several days. One has died since 
picture was taken. I would like to 
know if anyone else has had such a 
wonderful increase. Perhaps the mother 
was preparing for free wool. 
WM. L. BRADLEY. 
Genesee Co., N. Y. 
R. N.-Y.—A picture of this ewe with 
her family is shown at Fig. 189. This is 
the record so far as we have yet heard. 
Can anyone top it? 
DRAFT-HORSE BREEDING. 
From the lack of interest in draft 
horse breeding it would seem that some 
plan had been worked out whereby 
farm work and farm machinery could 
be operated without horse power. This 
of course is not true, the facts show¬ 
ing just the opposite. As the younger 
generation of farmers learn the better 
and more up-to-date methods of culti¬ 
vating the soil, the requirements in 
more larger and better tools have 
doubled. The hired man’s wages have 
also doubled, making hand labor too ex¬ 
pensive to use in place of machinery. 
Horse power on the farm to-day is 
the first and greatest consideration; 
without horse power your farm is 
worthless, and it is only valuable in 
proportion as you use this power to 
the fullest extent in its cultivation. 
Think of what our great railroad lines 
would be like if limited to locomotives 
of one-third or one-half their present 
power. Yet many farms, are being 
poorly farmed with inadequate horse 
power. 
Instead of our farmers giving the 
horse but little or no consideration, he 
should be developed and improved to 
our best advantage. The little kingdom 
of Belgium produces four times as much 
per acre as do the average farms of 
the United States. The price of land 
in the Middle West is from $100 to 
$300 per acre. Why? Better culti¬ 
vation and more brains mixed in their 
live stock production. If you are only 
earning a living on your farm, just 
about keeping even, your farm is practi¬ 
cally worthless as an investment. A 
little good hard study on what has been 
done and what is now being done in 
horse breeding, considering only the 
practical, profitable, hard horse sense 
end of the business, will give you an 
outline from which you can decide on a 
is sold, giving consideration to your 
market facilities. 
The draft horse is the only kind 
that it is possible for the farmer to con¬ 
sider at the present time. There are 
several breeds of draft horses. All 
have their admirers and advocates. A 
little study of the kinds that are the 
most largely used and bring the highest 
prices in our large cities will help you 
to decide on the breed that it is the most 
profitable to handle, and after you de¬ 
cide on your breed see that your work 
stock are all mares. If you have geld¬ 
ings, sell them. It costs no more 
to keep a mare, and a good grade 
mare properly mated will produce you 
a $100 weanling colt, besides earning 
her keep. No matter how many mares 
you have on the farm, breed them all 
to the very best draft stallion available 
of the breed you have selected. The 
ordinary farmer gets about 50 per cent, 
of his mares in foal. With care you 
should do better than this. Stick to 
one breed. Remember that a uniform 
bunch of colts, all of one kind, will 
look better to a buyer than a mixture. 
Good breeding and good feeding are 
sure to show in the quality of your 
stock, and the quality of your horse 
means money. No other class of live 
stock is so necessary on the farm, so 
easily raised and cared for, and so 
easily turned into money at a profit 
as the draft horse. A combined effort 
should be made to give draft horse 
breeding a prominent place in the 
eastern agricultural press, and in the 
programmes of all of our farmers’ 
institutes, and a more practical side of 
the business should be given to the 
students at our agricultural colleges. 
e. s. AKIN. 
Horses as Boarders. 
Farmers near large cities say they are 
often able to obtain work horses as board¬ 
ers during a dull season. This business 
ought to pay. How do they get such 
boarders? 
Those who have horses to place in 
this way learn of boarding farms 
through friends, stable men or adver¬ 
tising. Anyone wishing to take such 
boarders should get in touch with the 
better class of sale stables and veterin¬ 
arians or advertise in the city papers. 
The price paid depends on the require¬ 
ments and ideas of the owners. Some¬ 
times they want the horse to do light 
work in part payment for his board, and 
they may demand some special feeds, 
such as carrots or oil meal. A business 
arrangement should be made covering 
all sides of the question. There is no 
great fortune in the business, but it 
makes a nice market for surplus hay 
or stalks and a good Winter job. 
w ^ n 
Your Soil Is Alive 
T O all intents and purposes, soil is alive. It 
breathes, works, rests, it drinks, and, most important 
of all, it feeds. It responds to good or bad treatment. 
It pays its debts, and pays with interest many times compounded. 
Being alive, to work it must be fed. During the non-growing seasons 
certain chemical changes take place which make the fertility in the 
soil available for the next season’s crop. But this process adds no 
plant food to the soil. Unless plant food is added to soil on which 
crops are grown, unless the soil is fed, in time it starves. There is one 
best way to feed your soil. Stable manure, which contains all the 
essentials of plant life, should be spread evenly and in the proper 
quantity with an 
I H C Manure Spreader 
I H C manure spreaders are made in all styles and sizes. There are 
low machines which are not too low, but can be used in mud and deep 
snow, or in sloppy barnyards. They are made with either endless or 
reverse aprons as you prefer. Frames are made of steel, braced and 
trussed like a steel bridge. Sizes run from small, narrow machines 
for orchard and vineyard spreading, to machines of capacity for large 
farms. The rear axle is placed well under the box, where it carries 
over 70 per cent of the load, insuring plenty of tractive power at all 
times. Beaters are of large diameter to prevent winding. The teeth 
that cut and pulverize the manure are square and chisel pointed. 
The apron drive controls the load, insuring even spreading whether 
the machine is working up or down hill, or on the level. I H C 
spreaders have a rear axle differential, enabling them to spread evenly 
when turning corners. 
A local dealer handling these machines will show you all 
their good points, and will help you decide on the one that 
will do your work best. Get literature and full information 
from him, or, write 
International Harvester Company of America 
(Incorporated) „ 
Chicago USA 
TKc SILO VitK 
3 bearings around 
THE DOORS Y 
Used on all GREEN MOUNTAIN 
SILOS. Doors are like those on a 
safe or refrigerator and exclude the 
air perfectly. The Staves are creo- 
sotcd to make them last. Hoops are 
stronger than on other silos. 
Write for catalogue TO-DAY. 
THE CREAMERY PACKAGE MFG. CO. 
338 West St., Rutland, Vt. 
For Future 
Generations ^ 
Why fuss with a silo, loosen or tighten 
Iron hoops at the weather’s command 
when you can have a permanent silo, 
proof against weather, frost, air and 
water ? The most durable yet lowest 
price is the 
CRAINE TRIPLE WALL SILO 
1NSIDK, ordinary silo stave construc¬ 
tion, AND IN ADDITION—NEXT, thick 
Felt Lining—acid-, air- and water-proof. 
OUTSIDE, a spiral wooden hoop that 
starts tapering at the bottom, winds 
around with ends locked together like 
Interlacing fingers, sides overlapped liko 
novelty siding. Costs no more than 
ordinary. Write for booklet. 
ENSILAGE BOOK FREE 
Also got copy of our valuable book on 
■electing, testing, and raising corn. 
It’s free. 
THE W. L. SCOTT LUMBER CO. 
63 Main St., Norwich, N. Y. . 
529-544 Watkins Itldg., Milwaukee, 
You throw away half 
of your corn when 
you feed without an 
INDIANA SILO' 
Only about half of the 
food value of your corn 
crop is iu the grain. The 
rest is in cobs, stalks and 
leaves. The Indiana Silo saves all this 
and gives you summer forage all year 
round. 25,000 farmers have proved it. 
Write for Booklet. 
Address nearest office 
INDIANA SILO CO. 
And.rMn, Ind. Ilea Moines, la. Xanana City, Mo. 
318 Union Bldg. S18 Indiana Bldg. 3I8 Silo Bldg. 
$32 BuysThislV2KP Engine 
Huns for lc an hour. Uses cither gasoline or kerosene 
Will drive any machine not requiring more than 2 H. P, 
THE AMERICAN JUNIOR 
Comes complete, ready to run. Mount¬ 
ed on skids. Easily carried about. 
Simpie, strong,durablo. Guarun- 
teed for life. Send for circular. 
AMERICAN ENGINE CO., 
480 Iloston St., Detroit, Mich 
Philadelphia SILOS 
have ft 10 year reputation for strength and efficiency. 
Positively the only Silos made that have an Opening 
Roof—Only Continuous Open Front. Our 30 ft. Silo 
equals other 30 ft. Silos capacity. Over 5,000 in use. 
Opening root works automatically—permits Silosbe- 
ing fully packed. Also splendid line in WaterTanks, 
Gasoline Engines, Pumps, etc. Get free catalogue. 
E. F. SCHLICHTER CO., 129 Fuller Bldo . Phila. Pa 
»PCUTC-$173 IN TWO WEEKS. MADE BY MR. 
HUCI1 I O ^vmiams, Illinois, selling the Auto 
matic Jack, Combination 12 tools in one. Used by 
auto owners, teamsters, liveries, factories, mills, 
miners, farmers, etc. Easy sales, big profit. 
Exclusive county rights if you write QUICK. 
AUTOMATIC JACK COMPANY, Box 0, Bloomfield, Indiana 
HARDER 
The“Quality” 
SILOS 
Don’t buy a silo which only holds your corn when you 
can get the famous “Harder Silo’ 1 which preserves it 
and converts it into rich, succulent ensilage of the 
greatest milk-producing value. Better investigate the 
old reliable '‘Harder Silo.” Our latest patented 
feature—The "Harder Anchor”—holds Silo solid as 
an oak. No danger from storms. The kind Uncle 
Sam” uses. Catalogue free. 
HAKDEK MFG. CO., Box tl, Coblesklll, N. Y. 
ALBERTA 
The Price of Beef 
High and so is the Price of Cattle. 
^ For years the Province of 
ALBERTA, (Western Canada), 
was the Big Ranching Country. 
Many of these ranches today are 
immense grain fields,and the cat¬ 
tle have given place to \he culti¬ 
vation of wheat, oats, barley ana 
flax, the change has made many 
thousands of Americans, settled 
on these plains, wealthy, but has 
*. i. j increased the price of livestock. 
There is splendid opportunity now to get a 
FREE HOMESTEAD OF 160 ACRES 
(and another as a pre-emption) in the 
newer districts and produce either cauit 
or grain. The cropd aro always good, the 
climate Is excellent, schools and churches 
are convenient and markets splendid m 
Manitoba. Saskatchewan or Alberta. 
Send at once for literature, the latest 
Information, railway rates, etc., to 
J. S. Crawford 
301 E. Genesee St. 
Syracuse, N. Y. 
or write Superintendent of Immigration, 
Ottawa. Canada. « 
