1910. 
THE RURAL NEW-YORKER 
363 
A TALK ABOUT PLOWING. 
Experience of a New York Man. 
Nearly every man seeking employment 
on the farm when asked the question 
“Can you plow?” answers “Oh, yes, I 
have plowed since I was so high.” I 
think plowing as a whole is one of the 
works on the farm which receives the 
least attention of any. About 1839, on 
the return of Daniel Webster to his 
farm, and subsequent to his stay in 
France where he was deeply interested 
in the intensive farming in the latter 
country, and wondered at the immense 
productivity of the soil, he became in¬ 
terested in improving the plow. The 
construction of the moldboard was the 
objective point of his effort. That is, 
how nearly the plowmen could approach 
a perfect seed bed with the plow, thereby 
preventing packing the soil with the use 
of eight heavy pounders carried by two 
horses weighing from 2,400 to 2,800. I 
think he was on the right road to suc¬ 
cess in dealing with a sandy, gravelly 
soil or any but a heavy clay soil. There 
is much pleasure in following the plow 
properly adjusted for the land to be cul¬ 
tivated, with the soil particles rolling 
away from the moldboard, thereby 
forming new positions, new associates, 
bv means of which plant food is being 
made available, not simply inverting the 
furrow slice, which perhaps might be 
justifiable in some conditions of soil. 
Such a plow will draw harder and not 
as easily held—but does better work. 
The jointer should always accompany 
the plow, but I am sure many good 
farmers are hostile to the latter, but 
without argument on either side. When 
once put in use for a few days it is apt 
to remain on the plow; it will not pre¬ 
sent a smooth finished piece of work, 
which is only temporary, but the ground 
is left in just the ideal conditions to re¬ 
ceive the disk pulverizer passing diago¬ 
nally over the land. 
On our sandy land we plow round, 
beginning on the outside first, remem¬ 
bering never to throw the first furrow 
slice nearer than three feet to the fence 
corner, nor four feet from a post fence 
so that when beginning in the center to 
reverse the plowing there will be room 
for the team to turn that furrow slice 
next the fence back to its original place 
thereby leaving the field in a good level 
condition. I have seen many fields with¬ 
out obstruction left in such a condition 
after the man said it was done, and his 
big day’s work praised, that I would 
rather have the field before he opened 
the gate and drove that team and plow 
on the land. Of course there are soils 
where it is necessary to see that the field 
is plowed in lands. Care is taken in lay¬ 
ing out the field in lands so that in each 
succeeding year it will be simply the 
work of reversing the furrows of each 
land, and no large ditch is left between 
the lands. The pickets used for marking 
out the lands should have the measure 
for the width of lands, and not a “pace” 
of the plowman, for the six-footer may 
stride longer than the “five-footer.” The 
former can do it more easily, and es¬ 
pecially if it is a little down grade. It 
requires a well experienced plowman to 
plow the first three and last three fur¬ 
rows so that the binder and the mower 
will not be running into the ground. I 
think the plowman should have a little 
rule in his pocket so as to get accus¬ 
tomed to depth, for the word “depth” is 
differently understood by some. More 
land is plowed from three to four inches 
deep than five to six inches. The aim 
should be from five to seven inches. Lit¬ 
tle by little each year the latter will look 
deep, but on all but very light sandy 
soils I don’t think it is. Anyway all 
will agree that the plow is the great tool 
of the farm and so simple and durable 
in its construction, and yet its construc¬ 
tion has not been an accident, but a 
thought worked out on scientific prin- 
ciples. ANDREW TUCK, 
St. Lawrence Co., N. Y. 
VALUE OF GOAT’S MILK. 
Will you tell us about goat's milk? Is it 
really superior for feeding infants or in¬ 
valids? What about the various “infant’s 
foods” or proprietary mixtures? 
For several reasons, goat’s milk ought 
to be useful in infant feeding, and it 
has been proved so in cities where it is 
used. In Paris, for instance, the goats 
are driven from door to door and milked 
on the street, thus insuring a fresh milk 
supply. The cow’s milk of Paris is no¬ 
toriously bad, however, so that the fresh¬ 
ness of the goat’s milk may be the reason 
for its successful use rather than its 
difference in composition from cow’s 
milk. I do not believe that this differ¬ 
ence in composition is of any very great 
importance from the standpoint of in¬ 
fant feeding. The goat, however, can be 
kept nearer large cities, and much less 
ground is required for it; the animal is 
cleanly, and the milk can be delivered 
fresher. For this reason, I believe that 
a goat farm near New York city could 
be made a profitable investment, al¬ 
though it might not have a large field 
of usefulness, because we shall always 
have to depend upon cow’s milk for feed¬ 
ing the majority of babies who require 
the bottle. Occasionally, however, we 
meet with a very severe case for which 
it is not possible to procure a wet nurse, 
and which does not do well upon cow’s 
milk. For these cases, goat’s milk might 
prove useful. If I knew where I could 
obtain fresh goat’s milk, I could use it 
for several cases at present, and would 
be glad of the opportunity to do some 
experimental work with it. 
Nowadays, we depend upon fresh un¬ 
cooked cow’s milk, sometimes modified 
by the addition of water, barley water 
or some other cereal, or whey. Propri¬ 
etary foods are divided into two classes. 
First, those which consist simply of some 
cereal like barley or a mixture of cereals. 
These are used as milk diluents; that 
is, they are mixed with fresh milk and 
fed to the baby. These foods are useful 
sometimes, if properly used, but they are 
no more useful than the simple cereal 
gruels, although they are much more 
expensive. The other class of propri¬ 
etary foods, composed of milk which 
has been preserved and sometimes the 
constituents altered, for example, con¬ 
densed milk, malted milk, and various 
proprietary milk fooc|,s, are all positively 
harmful if used exclusively. In the nro- 
cess of manufacture, the milk has been 
boiled or exposed to a high temperature, 
and it is so altered that it does not con¬ 
tain the life-giving properties which an 
infant should receive from its food. The 
result is scurvy, rickets and other con¬ 
stitutional diseases. 
The whole matter may be summed up 
as follows: There is no perfect sub¬ 
stitute for mother’s milk, but the best 
substitute that we have at present is 
fresh, unsterilized, unpasteurized, cow’s 
milk, so modified as to meet the indi¬ 
vidual needs of the infant. This adapta¬ 
tion of food to baby is the most im¬ 
portant element in successful infant feed¬ 
ing, and cannot be accomplished by the 
manufacture of proprietary foods by 
the corner druggist, nor by the, doctor, 
unless he has had extensive experience 
with babies. Unfortunately, however, 
the general public has not been educated 
up to this point as yet. The time will 
come, however, when the laity will real¬ 
ize, that taking the.baby from the breast 
is as important a step as an operation 
for appendicitis, and one which requires 
quite as high a degree of skill and ex¬ 
perience on the part of the physician. 
REUEL A. BENSON, M. D. 
Little Chicks In Greenhouses. —It is 
not practical (page 117, F. H.) to grow 
chickens in a greenhouse. The extreme 
heat at noon when the weather is clear 
and the drop in temperature towards 
night, makes too great a variation, and 
when the ventilators are open there is 
too much cold air on the chicks, and 
they feel it very quickly. Then they 
keep the walks very untidy by scratch¬ 
ing; they are constantly under foot, as 
they soon get very tame, and in an in- i 
credibly short time they fly on to the 
benches and do more mischief in five 
minutes than one can cure in months. 
Yv e have tried the experiment thorough¬ 
ly and abandoned it. f. c. c. 
Bridgeton. Me. 
Enraged Creditor: “I’ve had enough 
of mounting all these stairs every day 
to collect this bill.” Debtor: “Well, 1 
can tell you a piece of news that will 
please you. After to-morrow I’m going 
to live in the basement.”—Pele Mele. 
Gladys : “Oh, mamma ! Here’s a note 
from that long-haired pianist. Fie says 
it will be impossible for him to play 
at our reception to-night.” Mamma: 
“What’s the trouble?” Gladys: “Some 
one stole his wig.”—Chicago Daily 
News. 
Game Warden : “1 his deer was found 
dead on your premises, and yet you deny 
that you killed it?” Farmer: “Waal, it 
happened like this: My wife was throwin’ 
a stun at the hens, an’ some way the deer, 
which was feedia’ round back o’ the barn, 
got hit.”—Boston Herald. 
When you write advertisers mention The 
It. N.-Y. and you’ll get a quick reply and 
“a square deal.” See guarantee 
Single Bit, $1.50. Double Bit, $2.00. 
Do you know Ed. Moot? He’s the Vermonter 
who used a C. A. C. Axe when he cut up, split 
and piled 5 Vi cords of wood in ten hours and 
twenty-one minutes. You’d call that a pretty 
good stunt, wouldn’t you? 
Lsn’t that just exactly the kind of an axe 
that you want ? 
You know it isn’t what you pay for an axe, it’s 
what you get out of It that proves its value, anil 
Eil. Moor knew he could get more out of a C. A. C. 
Axe than any other. That’s why ho used it. 
Go to your dealer and ask him 
to show you the C. A. C., and if lie 
hasn’t it send us his name, and 
we’ll tell you how to get it and 
we will send you “Tho Story of 
Ed. Moot,” besides. 
T1IE C. A. C. AXE CO., 
12 Henri fit,. Heston. Muss. 
Look for this 
Trade-Mark 
<S> 
RICKER HAY CARRIER 
(l for 
•oklets 
mill 
tell U8 
your 
lieeils. 
For Barn or Stack 
With Fork or Sling 
Holds the load at 
any point, draws 
easy, runs either 
way, never binds on 
track; will last a 
lifetime. Dozen 
different styles-all 
the result of 40 years’ 
experience. 
The Ricker Mfg. Co. 
250 N. Water St., Rochester, N. Y, 
PERFECTION 
SWING STANCHION 
with frame fitted to stable, ami 
with New Latch that does not 
wear the Plate. Warranted the 
Best on the market. Sold on 30 
days’ trial. Also Water Basins, 
Steel Stall and Manger Parti¬ 
tions. Send for Booklet. 
BATES & SWIFT SPECIALTY MFG. CO. 
Box 5. Cuba, N. Y. 
FRANK MILLER’S 
SAVE 
YOUR 
HARNESS 
BY TH E USE OF 
HARNESS SOAP 
HARNESS OIL 
HARNESS DRESSING 
Occasionally a dealer may try to substitute some¬ 
thing on which his profit is larger, but the majority 
will recommend the old reliable Frank Miller s. 
11 BLACK BEAUTY” FREE 
We want you to have a copy of this wonderfully in¬ 
teresting book, the “Uncle Tom’s i»’’ of the 
horse. Probably no book has ever received such uni¬ 
versal and unanimous praise from both the secular 
and religious press. 
Write us to-day, mentioning this paper, and en¬ 
close 6 cents in postage, to cover mailing expense, 
ami we’ll promptly mail you a copy of “BLACK 
BEAUTY,” 200 pa^es, colored covers,free of charge. 
Don’t delay. Supply limited. 
THE FRANK MILLER CO. 
ESTABLISHED 1836 
349-351 West 26th St., New York City 
TRANK MILLER'S 
HARNESS DRESSING 
f* twi hen to n» to 
Ima* Utx, moq U 
Ty* r'Tf 
»UT vr im C**Z ««■>» AMO — —IU 
MMuracTuMD if 
THE FRANK MILLER CO. 
NEW TORE. TJ.O.A. 
1 Want You to Try My Horse 
Collars—and I’ll Pay the Freight 
H ERE’S my proposition—I make the most humane, con¬ 
venient, economical Horse Collar ever put on the market. 
It will not only positively prevent sore shoulders, galled I 
necks, etc., but will cure old sores and galls. 
My collar is the most economical collar you can buy. It will 
positively last a lifetime—and it costs less than other collars, hames 
and pads. I want you to try a pair of my 
Indestructible able Horse Collars 
for a full year—then decide. If they are not the most satisfactory collars yon ever used—if they arc not all I 
claim them to be—if they are not the best thing you ever put on your horses—if they haven’t cured old sores 
and galls and prevented new ones—if they do not prove the most profitable investment in the collar line you 
ever made, send them back, and I’ll refund every cent of your, money. 
The Indestructible Collar does away with all the galling sweat pads, expensive hames, straps, buckles, etc. 
Let me show you what editors, horse experts, government officials and thousands of others say about my 
collar. I’ll send you a portfolio of valuable pointers on getting the most from your horses—curing and prevent- 
Ing galls and sores—saving your horses pain and saving you all kinds of trouble and expense. Write me a 
postal by next mail. My collars are sold direct where I have no dealers. 
Fred Slocum, General Manager, JOHNSTON-SLOCUM COMPANY, 540 State Street, Caro, Michigan 
N 
Fred Slocum 
The Horse-Collar 
Man 
Don’t bother yourself, 
waste money and torture 
your horses with old- 
style leather collars and 
hames. Just leave it to 
me. Send me your name 
and address. 
—Fred Slocum. 
