064 
'U'l-ILS RURAL NEW-YORKER 
August 23, 
LIVE STOCK MATTERS. 
Why We Breed Guernseys. —“The 
recollection of quality remains long after 
the price has been forgotten.” This quo¬ 
tation may be overworked, but it ex¬ 
presses a deep psychological truth, a 
truth of which the business man is con¬ 
stantly made aware. It is in harmony 
with this fact that the good business man 
is always striving to reach his ideal of 
quality, which will place his product 
above all other similar products. The 
dairyman as a business man should strive 
to place upon the market as high-grade 
milk, cream and butter as his market is 
capable of using. In my estimation, the 
Guernsey breed furnishes the quintes¬ 
sence of excellence in the products of the 
dairy. Her milk is on a par for rich¬ 
ness with the Jersey, but of a more 
creamy color and a flavor surpassing all. 
Her cream the same, and her butter the 
year round, shows that delightful flavor 
and golden color associated with the 
product in the Spring of the year when 
the cows are on new grass. Now when 
the excellence of the products of the 
Guernsey is admitted, the next point to 
consider is at what cost they can be pro¬ 
duced, and we believe that butter fat is 
obtained from this breed at even less cost 
than from others. Witness the result of 
tests at the Pan-American Exposition in 
Buffalo, where the Guernseys showed the 
lowest cost over other breeds for the 
production of butter fat. Add to these 
advantages the uniform type, beautiful 
fawn and white color, good size and do¬ 
cility, and you have our reasons for ad¬ 
miring and breeding ut Lochevan Farm 
these fine animals. Howard Kellogg. 
New York. 
A Live Stock Partnership. —I am 
the man who asked the question about 
buying purebred cattle in partnership, and 
I have read with much interest the arti¬ 
cle on page 802, under the heading “A 
Business Deal in Live Stock.” Certainly 
the information gathered from your cor¬ 
respondents is very enlightening. J. 
Grant Morse takes it upon himself to 
lecture both parties to the proposed deal 
without giving any information that 
would be of the slightest value to either. 
B. Walker McKeen ends up by saying: 
“It will be best for both men to stay 
out of the business unless they have a 
genuine love for the animals and are 
looking for rewards other than mere 
money gain to come from their labors.” 
This was not to be a sentimental propo¬ 
sition as Mr. McKeen seems to assume. 
It was a business proposition, the idea 
of both parties being to get their reward 
in Inoney and not in sentimental satisfac¬ 
tion. Mr. Herr does touch very lightly on 
the real subject at issue, but none of the 
correspondents or your comments in any 
way tend to do anything except throw 
doubt on this whole question of dairy¬ 
ing. I assumed to start with that there 
was a reasonable return to the farmer 
engaged in the dairy business. If that 
assumption is wrong then no plan could 
be devised that would work out satisfac¬ 
torily, but going back to my assumption 
that there is a reasonable profit in the 
dairy business as conducted with the or¬ 
dinary grade animal shouldn’t there be as 
much profit in the business carried on 
wholly with registered animals and 
wouldn’t most any dairyman take better 
care of registered animals than he would 
of a lot of grades? I am honestly seek¬ 
ing for information and not to get into 
an argument. We are not all as wise as 
J. Grant Morse, who says: “If these 
men want to go into partnership in 
breeding cattle, they ought to know best 
on what terms they can start. If they 
don’t they would better not start.” 
T. E. 
Why I Prefer Berkshires. —Among 
the many reasons why Berkshires are 
my favorite breed, I would mention: 
First, they are perfectly gentle. I have 
never known a cross one in all of the 
years I have had them. Even the old 
boars are gentle as a kitten and on enter¬ 
ing the field where they are, they will 
come up like a dog to be caressed. When 
we wish to ship Berkshires they readily 
walk into the crate when a few kernels 
of corn are thrown into it. We never 
try to drive them, but can lead them any¬ 
where with an ear of corn. Second, the 
sows are unsurpassed for prolificacy and 
are careful nurses and are great milkers. 
A litter of nine or 10 pigs is well pro¬ 
vided for even by a young gilt, and older 
sows often raise 12 or more, so strong 
arc the digestive and assimilating powers 
of the dam. Third, they are great rust¬ 
lers for feed, so that they may be easily 
fattened at any age and may be made to 
weight at maturity from 000 to 1,000 
pounds. Fourth, the Berkshires are 
noted more than any other breed for 
their finely marbled lean and fat. They 
have good hams and shoulders with 
plenty of side meat for bacon, and such 
delicious meat that carloads of this breed 
bring a higher price than any other 
breed in the market. Fifth, they are 
strong and husky. Their strong limbs, 
well-arched back and great muscular 
power, render them less liable to accident 
and disease than other breeds. Sixth, so 
active, strong and vigorous are the pigs 
at birth that it is not unusual for every¬ 
one to survive. I once noticed two of 
them less than two hours old scrap vig¬ 
orously for at least live minutes. Sev¬ 
enth, while their black color at first 
blush would seem to be against them, 
yet to my mind this is greatly in their 
favor as a breed, for they do not show 
dirt as readily as the white breeds and 
their six white points (four white feet, 
white nose and white tip to the tail), 
with the black body, make them attrac¬ 
tive and when dressed the skin is as 
white as that of any breed. Visitors to 
the International Stock Show at Chi¬ 
cago seem more numerous around the 
Berkshire pens than around the other 
breeds of swine, not only for this reason, 
but because they find more quality, more 
ham, deeper bodies, straighter pasterns, 
straighter and longer top and bottom 
lines and more uniformity in the Berk¬ 
shires. At the 1912 Live Stock Exposi¬ 
tion they won the grand championship 
prize of .$75 for a carload lot averaging 
850 pounds or over, thus securing the 
prize of $100 for the grand champion¬ 
ship of all breeds and the special prize 
of $100 given by the American Berk¬ 
shire Association. “This is especially 
noteworthy in that the pork barrel is the 
ultimate destination of all hogs. If 
Berkshires win out just where the aver¬ 
age farmer wants them to win, it is con¬ 
clusive evidence that they are the best 
breed of hogs for the farmer to raise. 
Competition in. this carload class was 
strong. Ten carloads of swine of the 
different breeds were pitted against the 
Berkshires. This grand championship 
car of 50 Berkshires averaged 424 
pounds. Berkshires also took the sec¬ 
ond prize on a carload averaging 896 
pounds. The average weight of this sec¬ 
ond prize car of Berkshires was an aver¬ 
age of 86 pounds over the largest average 
rate of any other breed.” s. g. Harris. 
New York. 
Hampshire Downs. —I have been 
keeping sheep for 50 years, and the 
Hampshire Downs suit me better than 
any I have ever had. In the first place 
they give a very good fleece of wool aver¬ 
aging eight pounds each to the flock. 
They are very good breeders, very often 
have two lambs and quite often have 
three lambs. I had one ewe this year 
that had three lambs and raised them 
herself, and did not have to feed them 
on the bottle at all. Of course this is 
rare, but it shows that they are good 
milkers. The lambs are always big and 
strong when born, and if given proper 
care and feed are always ready for mar¬ 
ket. Ram lambs that were born in Jan¬ 
uary, February and March will weigh 
110 to 140 pounds now. This, 1 think, 
is very good for this age. I keep pure- 
breds only, and only keep the best for 
breeding and am not afraid to show with 
any breeder. Just think, a six months’ 
ram weighing 140 pounds! Of course 
this is rare, but my sheep do not get 
grain, only in lambing time, and some¬ 
times not then, but there is one thing 
that they do get, and that is plenty of 
good Alfalfa hay in Winter, and run in 
Alfalfa grass in Summer. If I kill a 
lamb or sheep I get a good size carcass, 
or if I sell a sheep to the butcher it 
brings a good price, as they weigh heavy, 
from 140 to 200 pounds. I used to keep 
Southdown, but they do not shear as 
much wool, the lambs are small and of¬ 
ten very weak when born, and take quite 
some extra care. They are smaller bone 
and of course do not get so large. Our 
butcher was telling me the other day 
that he got better lambs this year where 
they had a Hampshire Down ram with 
grade ewes than he ever did from the 
same parties with the Southdown ram. 
New Jersey. ellis tiger. 
AILING ANIMALS. 
Tumor in Sow. 
One of my sows has a hard swelling on 
her left under side adjoining one teat. 
The swelling seems to be composed of 
three or four lumps joined together, but 
appearing as one swelling. What is the 
matter with the sow? Is the trouble 
curable? If incurable, does it spoil her 
for pork or for breeding? c. w. 
New York. 
The tumor may be actinomycotic, from 
the ray fungus which causes lumpy jaw 
in cattle, and might be successfully re¬ 
moved by a trained surgeon. If it does 
not interfere with the udder she may be 
used for breeding. Her meat may be 
used if it is thought best to kill her and 
if it proves that the tumor is not tuber¬ 
cular or cancerous. a. s. a. 
Distemper. 
I have two little black kittens, and 
they are badly afflicted with sore eyes 
and sneezing. What shall I do for 
them? m. C. 
Bathe the eyes two or three times a 
day with a saturated solution of boric 
acid applied each time on a fresh swab 
of absorbent cotton. Keep the kittens 
dry and feed them generously. The dis¬ 
ease will have to run its course, but they 
may recover if well nursed and fed. Keep 
them away from children. a. s. a. 
Feeding a Colt. 
Will you tell me how much grain to 
feed a colt the first Winter. What kind 
and how to feed it? a. w. ii. 
• 
Feed a mixture of equal parts of whole 
oats and wheat bran and allow at least 
one pound of this for each hundred 
pounds of body weight, adding to the 
amount in that ratio as the colt increases 
in weight. You will find that this is 
about all that the colt will clean up daily 
and if the colt is allowed plenty of out¬ 
door exercise every day it may have that 
amount of grain mixture, although the 
amount may exceed the quantity we have 
suggested. The colt must be kept stead¬ 
ily growing; so weigh it once a month. 
During cold Winter weather corn may 
be added to the other mixture. In addi¬ 
tion to grain feed mixed clover or Alfalfa 
hay and some bright corn stover. If 
you have nicely made silage a little of 
that makes a splendid adjunct to hay as 
a Winter feed; but the silage must be 
free from mold. A. s. A. 
Founder. 
My 12-year-old farm mare, in good 
condition, has been growing tender and 
lame in her front feet for the past month 
or two, until now she cannot trot with¬ 
out stumbling very badly. There is no 
swelling or sore place. I pulled her 
shoes off and turned her out to pasture a 
few days ago, but see no change. Would 
wearing front shoes with packing be bet¬ 
ter than going barefoot? I can let her 
rest for several months with only occa¬ 
sional light farm work. L. M. S. 
New Hampshire. 
Shoe with flat bar shoes, put on over 
dressings of pine tar and oakum, cov¬ 
ered with thick sole leather pads. Clip 
the hair from the lioof-heads of both fore¬ 
feet and blister them, one at a time, with 
cerate of cantharides. Repeat the blis¬ 
ter at intervals of two or three weeks, 
until most of the lameness has abated. 
If the soles have not “dropped” this 
treatment may, in time, remove the lame¬ 
ness. A. s. A. 
Hygroma. 
My Jersey cow has one of her knees 
much enlarged. A neighbor says it is 
commonly called the big knee. She has 
for some months shown some lameness 
and difficulty in getting up in her stall. 
What is the cause and what is the proper 
treatment? w. C. P. 
The technical name of the condition is 
a “hygroma,” or cyst or sac containing 
serum. The cause is bruising of the 
knee upon the manger or inadequately 
bedded stall floor. In a majority of cases 
lameness is absent. Lameness may indi¬ 
cate a more serious condition than ordi¬ 
nary hygroma. Treatment consists in 
freely opening the sac at its lowest part, 
so as to evacuate serum and clots and 
insure perfect drainage. Such an opera¬ 
tion should only be performed by the 
trained surgeon who will give appropri¬ 
ate treatment at the time and prescribe 
the treatment to be given daily until 
healing has taken place. In simple cases 
the popular treatment is to run a tape 
seton down through the sac and move 
it back and forth two or three times a 
day to cause the serum to discharge. The 
tape is rubbed with tincture of iodine 
daily. A. s. A. 
CUT THE STRING 
The 
Light Running 
EMPIRE 
Starts under the weight of its crank. 
Two keen dairymen li^e close 
together. One recently exchanged 
another cream separator for the 
EMPIRE. Why? Because his former 
machine was so noisy it could be heard 
as far as his neighbor’s house, while he 
could never hear his neighbor’s quiet 
running EMPIRE. 
Ask about free trial or exchange. 
Separators $25 to $150 
Write for Catalogll2. 
EMPIRE CREAM SEPARATOR CO. 
Bloomfield, N.J. Chicago, III. ^ Portland, Ore. 
Toronto, Can. Winnipeg, Can. 
BARGAINS 
Fence. 150 styles- 
„ 13 cents per rod up. We pay 
r freight. Send for bargain fence 
book and sample to test—ALL FREE. 
THE BROWN FENCE & WIRE COMPANY 
DEPT. 69 CLEVELAND. OHIO 
BOOKS WORTH BUYING 
The Rose, Parsons. 1.00 
Plant Diseases, Massee. 1.60 
Insects of Farm ami Garden, Treat. 1.50 
Black’s Medical Dictionary. 2.50 
Law for the American Farmer, Green 1.50 
THE RURAL NEW-YORKER, 
333 WEST 30tli ST., NEW YORK. 
Ranked at the Very Top 
TAAVID RANKIN was a big farmer and he knew 
U his business. He owned the largest corn farm in the 
world, about 35,000 acres down in Missouri. He 
devoted his life to the pleasant study and practice of right farming, and 
he succeeded mightily, for he made $4,000,000 in the business of farm¬ 
ing. This is what David Rankin said about the manure spreader: 
“It is the most efficient money-maker on the place.” 
It’s warm praise to be ranked above all other farm machines, but it 
is in keeping with what all the agricultural world has been recognizing. 
Soils rebel when crop after crop is taken from them, without return of 
fertilizer. Witness the abandoned worn-out farms of New England. 
Return every bit of manure to the soil by the spreader method. The 
I H C manure spreader will save you much disagreeable, hard labor, 
will spread evenly, and will make one ton of manure go as far as two 
tons spread by hand. 
I H C Manure Spreaders 
are built to suit you, to do best work for the buyer in every case, to 
convince him that he has made the wisest purchase. Every detail in 
the construction has a purpose, for which it was made after thorough 
tests and experiment. They have the maximum of strength and endur¬ 
ance, and their construction bristles with advantages. 
You will find all styles and sizes in the I H C spreader line. They 
will cover the ground with a light or heavy coat, as you choose, but 
always evenly, up hill or down. There are high and low machines, 
with steel frames, endless or reverse aprons, but always giving best 
possible service. Tractive power is assured by position of the rear 
wheels well under the box, carrying nearly three-fourths of the load, 
and by wide-rimmed wheels with Z-shaped lugs. _ 
These and many other things will intere'st you if you look the I H C 
spreader line over at the local dealer’s and will convince you that 
an I H C is the spreader for you to buy. There is one for 
your exact needs. Read the catalogues that the dealer has for you. 
International Harvester Company of America 
(Incorporated) 
Chicago USA 
