into. 
THE RURAL NEW-VORKER 
62 9 
DAIRYING AS A BUSINESS. 
Part I. 
Dairying as a business, much the same 
as any other business, is successful if 
carried on with intelligence and fore¬ 
sight; details properly looked after and 
the proper amount of energy put into 
the enterprise. It furnishes many ex¬ 
amples of well-deserved successes, and 
all too many failures, and the principle 
factor in either case is the farmer him¬ 
self. Let it be understood at the out¬ 
set that the business of dairying is to 
manufacture raw material into some 
form of finished product, i. e., con¬ 
verting roughage, grass, soiling crops 
and grain into such marketable products 
as fresh milk, cream, butter and cheese. 
Let the dairyman get the fact firmly 
fixed in his mind that he is a manu¬ 
facturer as well as a farmer and busi¬ 
ness man; a producer of goods which 
not only should be pleasing to the eye 
but to the palate as well, and that every 
detail collected with his business, from 
his raw material to the placing of his 
finished product upon the market, should 
receive his constant attention and careful 
consideration. His cows arj but one 
factor, (although a most important one) 
in his business. They are the machines 
to reduce raw material into finished pro¬ 
duct, and should be operated just so long 
as they are able to turn out the market¬ 
able article at a profit. When the ma¬ 
chine works too slow, when the per¬ 
centage of finished product, as compared 
with the amount of raw material con¬ 
sumed, is too small, then the machine is 
running at a loss, and should be dis¬ 
carded or replaced by another of better 
quality. This rule would be at- once 
applied by the manufacture of any other 
goods and why not by the dairyman ? 
The cows, however, in a given dairy 
may be good, the product bringing the 
regnlar market price and still the busi¬ 
ness may be losing money, because 
the dairyman fails to secure his raw 
material at a proper cost price. In 
other words, his feed costs too much, 
and this is one of the details of the 
business which will be discussed, with 
the hope that a different system of feed¬ 
ing may be practiced by the dairyman, 
at least in the eastern part of our coun¬ 
try. We will spend no time in arguing 
a self-evident proposition ; to wit, when 
the price of grain goes up 50 per cent 
in 10 years, and the price of dairy pro¬ 
ducts increases but 30 per cent in the same 
period, the business is bound soon to 
run at a loss unless we can do one of 
two things; either stop purchasing grain 
or raise the price of dairy products, and 
as the dairyman is still outside of the 
trusts, it is evident that the law of sup¬ 
ply and demand will still fix the price 
of his product; consequently, he must 
turn his attention to the question of a 
substitute for his grain ration. 
At this season of the year the dairy¬ 
man has the right to expect that his 
grain bills will materially decrease or 
altogether vanish, because his pastures 
will soon be ready for use, and there 
is no balanced ration yet discovered 
equal to good pasture for dairy cows, 
and still the dairyman knows full well 
that his pastures will furnish a full 
ration but two or three months out' of 
the twelve, when he will be again met 
by the same old problem of how to 
furnish a feed ration to fill the milk 
pail which will leave him a margin of 
profit. Good sense would dictate that 
any land too rough for profitable tillage 
should be used for pasture, but good 
practice has demonstrated that good, 
tillable land can be made to serve a 
better and more profitable purpose. Few 
farmers realize what an enormous quan¬ 
tity of green forage can he secured from 
a small acreage, in the form of soiling 
crops, and few who ever tried the ex¬ 
periment in feeding the dairy, will ever 
rely wholly upon pasture during the 
Summer season. The practice of soiling 
is becoming more common every year. 
and many of our most successful dairy¬ 
men having little or no waste land, de¬ 
cline to rely upon pasture at all, but 
furnish the entire daily ration in the 
form of soiling crops. While the sys¬ 
tem involves more work than that of 
allowing the dairy to run in the pasture, 
yet the system will maintain many more 
cows upon a given acreage, and will 
be quite certain to furnish a good supply 
of fresh feed when the pasture becomes 
dry or is devoured by grasshoppers. 
The soiling system will continue to fill 
the milk pail without extra cost except 
the item of additional labor, while short 
pasture will result in a decreased flow 
of milk or compel a resort to the grain 
ration. How then can a constant, re¬ 
liable ration of fresh, succulent food be 
maintained throughout the Summer sea¬ 
son to take the place, wholly or partially 
of pasture feed? 
There are two generally adopted meth¬ 
ods of feeding soiling crops, the selec¬ 
tion of which is largely governed by the 
crops raised and the conditions sur¬ 
rounding the dairyman. The first of 
these methods simply involves the feed¬ 
ing of the soiling crop, or some portion 
of it, where it grows. In other words 
it is pasturing the soiling crop. A 
portion of the field is fenced off, and 
the animals allowed to graze on that 
portion until the available food is con¬ 
sumed, when another area is thrown 
open. It is evident that this practice 
would not be wise if the soiling crops 
were corn, sorghum, Kaffir corn, Milo 
maize, teosinte and the like, but would 
be entirely proper in the case of small 
grain crops, such as oats, barley, rye 
or wheat, and also leguminous crops, 
such as the clovers, peas, Alfalfa, Soy 
heans and vetches. While there is al¬ 
ways more waste in pasturing a soil¬ 
ing crop than in cutting it and feeding 
it in the stable, still a considerable 
amount of extra labor is avoided, and 
upon the whole, it proves very satis¬ 
factory. 
The second, and most common method 
is to grow the crop and cut it when in 
the best condition for feeding, and de¬ 
liver it to the stock in the barn. This 
method admits the use of crops which 
could not properly be pastured, some of 
which yield a very heavy tonnage per 
acre, and are much relished by the stock. 
Under this system corn becomes a very 
desirable crop, as well as sorghum, 
Kaffir corn, and Milo maize. Cabbage 
also is a very satisfactory milk pro¬ 
ducer, and may be profitably fed when 
the market price for the crop is low. 
It is plain, however, that if soiling crops 
are to be relied upon for Summer feed¬ 
ing, the dairyman cannot wait for corn, 
cabbage, or sorghum to develop, but 
must “chink in” with some quick-grow¬ 
ing crop, to the end that some one crop 
shall always be ready to feed. In other 
words, there must be a crop going and 
another coming all the time. 
JOHN MC LENNAN. 
What is Acid Phosphate ? 
11. P. 8., Buck Run, Pa .—What is meant 
when you use the words “acid phosphate?’’ 
Ans. —It is ground phosphate rock 
which has been “treated” or cut with sul¬ 
phuric acid. It seems to be necessary to 
tell this story over and over. Scattered 
over the country in South Carolina, 
Florida, Tennessee and other places are 
deposits of “phosphate rock.” This is 
supposed to have been formed from the 
bones of animals now extinct. Ages ago 
it is supposed that great numbers of 
these animals died in certain low places 
or along streams, and that through slow 
processes of Nature their bones were 
petrified or turned to stone. These 
stones are now rich in phosphoric acid, 
and when crushed are used as a fer¬ 
tilizer either raw or when “cut” by the 
acid. In this rock as it comes from the 
mines the phosphoric acid is combined 
in the proportion of one part to three 
parts of lime. Plants cannot use the 
phosphoric acid in this combination. 
When the sulphuric acid is mixed with 
the crushed rock a chemical change oc¬ 
curs. Two parts of lime are taken from 
the combination leaving one part each 
of lime and phosphoric acid. This form 
is soluble in water and is called acid 
phosphate. The object is using the acid 
is to make this soluble form out of the 
insoluble. During recent years much 
has been said about the “floats” or raw 
phosphate. This is the phosphate rock 
simply crushed without being “cut” by 
the acid. These “floats” will not feed 
the plants just as they are. As with 
the acid phosphate, the combination of 
lime and phosphoric acid must be broken 
up before the “floats” will serve as plant 
food. It is claimed that the acid in na¬ 
turally sour soils, or the ferments from 
green crops plowed under as well as 
other chemical action in the soil will 
slowly give part of the results which 
the sulphuric acid gives at once. 
Mr. Penn : “They say the streets in 
Boston are frightfully crooked.” Mr. 
Ilubb: “They are. Why, do you know, 
when I first went there I could hardly 
find my way around.” “That must be 
embarrassing.” “It is. The first week 
I was there I wanted to get rid of an 
old cat we had, and my wife got me to 
take it to the river a mile away.” “And 
you lost the cat all right?” “Lost noth¬ 
ing! I never would have found my way 
home if I hadn’t followed the cat!”— 
Yonkers Statesman. 
First Lady: “How very happy the 
bridegroom looks! Really, it is pleas¬ 
ant to see a young man looking so joy¬ 
ful.” Second Lady: “Hush! That’s 
not the bridegroom. That’s a gentleman 
the bride jilted six months ago.”—Tit- 
Bits. 
YOUR SILENT SALESMAN 
A PARSONS “ LOW-DOWN ” MILK WAGON 
will sell more milk for yon. It will solicit the 
better class of trade, because such trade is attracted 
by its sanitary features and neat appearenee. 
The daily papers are educating the public to do 
mand sanitary handling of all kinds of dairy pro¬ 
ducts, and a Parsons wagon will appeal to them 
and earn for you the reputation of being “The 
Leading Dairyman” in your town. 
Write for descriptive circular. 
DAIRY DEPARTMENT, 
PARSONS WAGON CO., Earlville, N.Y. 
When you write advertisers mention Tun 
It. X.-Y. and you’ll get a quick reply and 
“a square deal.” See guarantee 
A DIP THAT DOES THE WORK 
WITHOUT INJURY 
TO THE ANIMAL OR FLEECE 
NO BURNING OF THE FIBRCC; 
NO STAINING; NO POISONING; 
NO SICKENING. 
WHY USE DIPS THAT HAVE THESE DESTRUCTIVE 
AND DANGEROUS QUALITIES? WHY EXPERIMENT 
WITH UNKNOWN PREPARATIONS? 
1 '^ 
KRESO DIP N91 
STANDARDIZED 
INEXPENSIVE, EASY TO USE 
PERMITTED BY THE U.S DEPARTMENT OF 
AGRICULTURE FOR THE OFFICIAL DIPPING 
OF SHEEP FOR SCAB 
FOR SALE BY ALL DRUGGISTS 
WE HAVE BOOKLETS GIVING FULL DIRECTIONS 
FOR USE ALSO MANY VALUABLE HINTS ON 
HANDLING SHEEP. WRITE FOR FREE COPIES. 
Parke, Davis &Co. 
DEPARTMENT OF ANIMAL INDUSTRY 
DETROIT, MICH. 
■ V/ 1 1' 1 ' >. 
JACOBSON 
SELF-CONTAINED ENGINE WITH AUTOMATIC DRAINING 
WATER TANK. 
No Freezing No Overheating 
No Lurjc Water Tank 
The Agency is available in some sections and 
valuable in all. 
JACOBSON MACHINE MFG. CO. 
ill Irvine Street W'arren, Pa. 
New England Corn Phosphate 
The best corn in the world can be grown in New England. 
Our New England Corn Phosphate gets the seed 
out of the ground quickly, develops the stalks and assures well 
filled ears and fat kernels in the Fall. Will grow excellent 
fodder corn. 
High percentages of pure bone phosphates 
and potash in soluble form. 
Works freely in the drill or planter. 
Use New England Corn Phosphate in New 
England Soil, and you can raise corn crops that will 
challenge Kansas in quality and bushels per acre. 
Write today for our booklet and prices. 
NEW ENGLAND FERTILIZER COMPANY, 
BOSTON, MASS. 
See Local Agents or send for descriptive booklet and price list. 
