&1T 
1910. 
THE RURAL NEW-YORKER 
PREPARING FOR AN AGRICULTURAL 
COLLEGE. 
A. R. (No Address). —A young man 26 
years of age wishes to take a complete 
course in an agricultural college. lie lias 
only a common education, not going through 
common school, has worked all his life on 
a truck farm, and takes great interest in 
farming. Do you think it would be too 
late for him to enter college, as he would 
have to take a course in some high school 
or college before he could enter? What do 
you think of a correspondence school for 
preparing for college? 
Ans. —The writer, when a little young¬ 
er than this man, and with no better 
school training, entered an agricultural 
college and finished the course. That 
was some years ago, and probably the 
requirements for entrance are higher 
now than then. They ought not to be, 
for the agricultural colleges should be 
for just such men as this, and not for 
the highly educated. It is true, how¬ 
ever, that a good knowledge of mathe¬ 
matics at least is needed in order to 
understand the principles of agriculture 
as taught in our colleges. The corre¬ 
spondence course will help somewhat, 
but our advice would be for him to 
work through Summer and Fall and 
then take one of the short courses of 
10 or 14 weeks at one of the smaller 
colleges. This will show him just what 
he needs in order to enter in the regular 
course, and the chances are that he can 
make it up by home study, or he might 
enter one of the “secondary schools” 
in New York where the entrance ex¬ 
amination is not severe. 
ICE CREAM SIDE OF DAIRYING. 
After trying several plans of stabling 
and saving manure, the following suits 
me best. Bedding is scarce with me, 
and straw at $6 or $8 is too expensive. 
We use a plank floor for the cows to 
stand upon, with cement dropping floor 
one to three inches lower, sloping back¬ 
ward a little to a slight hollow at back. 
These shallow hollows slope to outlets 
which empty into cisterns just outside 
the stables. These cisterns are simple 
pits cemented and covered with locust 
logs laid closely and floored over with 
old boards or slabs. The solid manure 
is thrown out on these cistern decks 
so that drainage goes into cistern. This 
liquid is equal to nitrate of soda on a 
meadow. 
For fastening cows I have tried ropes, 
chains and some new-fangled notions, 
but like the old stanchions best, with a 
long row of latch bars fastened to one 
top piece that can all be thrown open 
or fastened at once. 
The opinion advanced sometime ago 
in The R. N.-Y. about the cause of 
milk fever seems to me correct. I have 
not had a case in 10 -years, and never 
milk a cow immediately after calving, 
sometimes not for three or four days. 
If distension of the udder is the cure, 
why not leave it distended in the nat¬ 
ural way until all danger is past? 
Ice cream has become so near a neces¬ 
sity that wherever a few people assemble 
in warm weather it is usually wanted. 
Immense quantities are shipped long 
distances that could be better made on 
farms near where it is used. In many 
cases it might solve the problem of 
keeping the boy on the farm. It would 
help the farmer to get more of the con¬ 
sumer’s dollar, as the wholesale price 
of ice cream when analyzed figures out 
from 40 to 60 cents per pound for but¬ 
ter fat. The farmer would have many 
advantages; cheap ice, cream at first 
cost, no rent, cheap labor, but he must 
go at it in a businesslike way, as there 
will usually be competition. The ice 
cream maker, must always be r'eady 
with the goods when wanted, as next 
day will not do. In the season nothing 
less than a funeral will be an excuse 
fi r failure, and the retailer will usually 
buy from some one else that day if he 
can get it. I have always sold ice 
cream wholesale to confectioners, drug 
storas, etc. There are no doubt many 
towns and villages from which cream 
is shipped to larger towns, manufactured 
into ice cream and shipped back to the 
point of origin. Any dairyman who has 
mastered the job of producing good 
milk, cream and butter should be com¬ 
petent to make ice cream, dairyman. 
THE CASE OF THE HEN. 
Natural Incubation the Favored Method. 
Part I. 
Just why a greater number of farmers 
do not consider poultry keeping a profit¬ 
able department of farming has not as 
yet been correctly nor satisfactorily an¬ 
swered. Various reasons have been 
cited, such as: ‘‘Fowls are a nuisance—■ 
always in the way and into everything.” 
“Chickens? Why, they eat their heads 
off every three months!’’ “Raise chick¬ 
ens? That’s a business for the women 
and children.” Regardless of the fact, 
however, that nine farmers in ten con¬ 
sider chickens a pest, there is a greater 
number every year who begin seriously 
to consider poultiy. When, at the end 
of a long laborious year mother and the 
children figure up the profits and an¬ 
nounce to the head of the house that 
they have made such and such amounts 
“oft the chickens,” it is often an eye- 
opener. How few, too, realize that the 
pin money the women folk make in this 
way counts double, in that it saves the 
head of the house his dollars, so to 
speak, and at the same time mother and 
the children have their little necessi¬ 
ties. It is often false pride that'pre¬ 
vents the men folk from acknowledging 
these facts. For instance, the 50 hens, 
after deducting all expense for feed, 
have netted $100 clear profit. Father 
John’s two acres of potatoes, after 
spending $35 for fertilizer and an al¬ 
most endless amount of hard labor fight¬ 
ing bugs, scab, weeds, grubs, drought, 
and lastly and the most discouraging 
after a hard years work, low markets, 
have netted him possibly the same, more 
often less. 
Now, neighbors, why not acknowl¬ 
edge the “corn”—or the chickens, rath¬ 
er? I don’t mean that you should drop 
everything else and develop a genuine 
incurable “hen fever,” but just give the 
hens a decent chance, and you can 
make two dollars easier than you made 
the one on potatoes. Don’t go into it 
too heavily; that would more likely 
prove disastrous. Just feel your way 
along and make them pay their way 
from the start, and each year plan to 
winter a few more than previously. 
Our Agricultural Department an¬ 
nounces that the value of the poultry 
products of these United States amounts 
annually in the neighborhood of six 
hundred million dollars. Yet this poul¬ 
try business is only in its infancy. With¬ 
in 15 years the product will pass the 
billion mark. The Western range steer 
will soon be an extinct animal, and all 
we shall have to remind us of the good 
old days when porterhouse steak could 
be had at 15 cents per pound will be 
his mounted hide and long horns placed 
along beside the skeleton of the dino¬ 
saur in the Museum of Natural History. 
Now. can’t you see the chicken taking 
his place? It is doing so now, and the 
supply scarcely meets the demand. 
New England Markets. —There is no 
section of our country demanding such 
large quantities of poultry and gar¬ 
den products as the New England 
States. The population of the cities and 
manufacturing centers is increasing all 
the time, drawing a large percentage of 
their increase from the farms, thus les¬ 
sening the number of producers, and, at 
the same time, increasing the number of 
consumers. Take, for example, the 
State of Massachusetts, which alone im¬ 
ports annually twelve million dollars’ 
worth of poultry and eggs. The de¬ 
mands of other States in this section 
are as great in proportion. These facts 
are enough to convince the most skep¬ 
tical of the practically unlimited possi¬ 
bilities in poultry farming. The market 
is here awaiting the producer. 
Having pictured the market condi¬ 
tions, I will now relate some of my own 
experience with a small flock such as 
every farmer who farms for his liveli¬ 
hood should have. I might say in be¬ 
ginning that, in making the following 
statements, I do so not unmindful of 
the fact that a great many experienced 
in the poultry business will take excep¬ 
tion to certain methods advocated there¬ 
in. I will first expose myself to criti¬ 
cism by saying that the best method of 
raising chickens is “grandma’s way”— 
the natural way. Flocks as large as 
2,000 can be reared and maintained by 
the natural method as easily and with 
as little expense (all things considered) 
as with incubators and brooders. One 
must, of course, have the necessary 
equipment for that method, as they must 
for the artificial. For $35 I can buy all 
the material for the construction of all 
necessary equipment for hatching and 
rearing to broiler age 1,000 chicks. One 
must, in addition, have the material 
made up at a cost of $12 or do it him¬ 
self, if handy with saw and hammer. 
And right here let me say that, unless 
one is handy with tools and can also 
turn a hand to almost anything, he 
would better let the poultry business 
severely alone. The poultry business is 
not the business for one who wishes to 
“take things easy.” It requires constant 
vigilance, and things must be done at 
the proper time, else your efforts spell 
failure. That is the reason large poul¬ 
try plants fail. Hired help will not 
do' tiie little things which insure suc¬ 
cess, i. e., unless the boss is there to 
see it is done. It is the little things done 
or undone that empty or fill the egg 
basket. And the empty egg basket is 
soon followed by a slim-waisted bank 
book. 
But back to the natural method. One 
must have a system. System is every¬ 
thing. A poor one is preferable to 
none. In advocating natural incubation 
I realize from experience that it seems 
slow at times. But the time apparently 
lost during incubation and brooding 
with hens will be more than made. Up 
next Winter when you are looking most 
assiduously for eggs. Which hens do 
the laying? Those that have the vi¬ 
tality. What will a weak chick do? 
Eat? No, he will peep all day. Take 
him out and give the strong one his 
room. Don’t raise them beyond broiler 
age. What will a weak hen do? 
Scratch? No, but she will run from 
first one scratching hen to another and 
steal the morsels she uncovers. Take 
her out and to market quick. When a 
weak or indolent hen gets her fill she 
gets on the perch or droops. When a 
hen full of vitality gets her crop full 
she then gets on a nest. Vitality is 
what you want, and the way to get the 
largest amount of it is to raise by the 
natural method. w. H. Tomlinson. 
Connecticut. 
GUERNSEY CATTLE CLUB. 
The American Guernsey Cattle Club held 
its annual meeting at the Hotel Imperial, 
New York, May 11. About 75 members were 
present. James M. Codman. of Brookline, 
Mass:, is the president and \V. H. Caldwell; 
I’eterboro, N. II., secretary. The object of 
the club is to register Guernseys in the 
United States and Canada and to improve 
breeding. Sixteen years ago the club had 
a business representing only $3,000 a year. 
Last year it amounted to $21,000 and this 
year it will total $39,000. This represents 
fees collected for entries, registering, etc., 
of $1, $3 and $10. The American Guernsey 
Club was founded in L878, but the importa¬ 
tion of Guernsey cattle to this country goes 
back as far as 1833. Then there is a 
gap to the ’60s. The original Guernseys 
imported into this country came to New 
Hampshire. The captain of a sailing vessel 
brought over a pair of them and gave them 
to his brother, who was a farmer in New 
Hampshire. They were bred in a quiet 
way but the strain was kept intact, and in 
the '80s it was found that a complete record 
of them had been kept and they were ad¬ 
mitted to registry. In 1862 Mr. Codman, 
president of the club, started the importa¬ 
tion of a herd and others in the country 
have followed. The club is not in the cattle 
business. It simply takes care of the rec¬ 
ords for guarding the purity of the breed, 
the advanced register, for which a roll of 
honor is kept of cows exceeding the re¬ 
quirements. and the publicity work. One 
cow, Dolly Dimple, lias made a year’s record 
of 18,458 pounds of milk and there are two 
cows that have produced practically 1,000 
pounds of butter each in one year. In the 
advanced register are 1,057 cows that aver¬ 
aged 7,900 pounds of milk a year and 408 
pounds of butter fat, which is the equiva¬ 
lent. of 475 pounds of butter. 
JACOBSON 
SELF-CONTAINED ENGINE WITH AUTOMATIC DRAINING 
WATER TANK. 
No Freezing No Overheating 
No Large Water Tank 
The Agency is available in some sections and 
valuable in all. 
JACOBSON MACHINE MFC. CO. 
Ill Irvine Street Warren,Pa. 
The Farmers’Handy Chemical 
Wo will send you interesting printed matter tel¬ 
ling you all about PUltl KINK, the Disinfectant 
that is receiving so much attention and favorable 
notice from leading physicians, business men and 
farmers, Highly endorsed for hen houses, stables, 
etc. Superior sheep, hog and cattle dip. Liberal 
sized package by mail for 50c; gallon by 
express, $‘4, 5 gallons $6. Freight paid to your 
railway station. Agents Wanted. 
FITCH CHEMICAL CO., KAY CITY, MICH. 
When yon write advertisers mention The 
I t. N.-Y. and you’ll get a quick reply and 
"a square deal." See guarantee. 
<; 
EVERYBODY 
Having Cows 
Will Some Day Use A 
DE LAVAL 
CREAM SEPARATOR 
Nearly 1,200,000 farmers, eream- 
erymen, milk dealers and owners 
of country homes, throughout the 
world, are already doing so, and 
150,000 or more are being added 
to the number every year—many 
more this year than ever before. 
If you haven't a De Laval Cream 
Separator already you can’t be 
anywhere near the head of this 
tremendous procession that start¬ 
ed thirty years ago, but it will 
| lie foolish to wait to bring up the 
tail end of it. 
Why not fall into the De Laval 
procession now? You can’t re- 
I cover the dairy waste and worry 
of previous years, hut you can 
stop it going- further. Why not 
do so ? Every day of delay means 
just that much more waste of 
product, quality and dairy eom- 
|fort. Why prolong-it ? 
If you don’t know the nearest 
De Laval agent write for his name 
and a catalog, which we shall 
he glad to send you. 
The De Laval Separator Co. 
166-167 BROADWAY 
NEW YORK 
42 E. MADISON ST. 
CHICAGO 
DRUMM & SACRAMENTO 3T8 
SAN FRANCISCO 
173-177 WILLIAM ST. 
MONTREAL 
f4 & 16 PRINCE88 6T. 
WINNIPEG 
1016 WESTERN AVE. 
SEATTLE 
EXCELSIOR SWING STANCHION 
Warranted the Best. 
30 Days Trial. 
Unlike all others. Stationary when 
Open. Noiseless. 
THE WASSON STANCHION CO. 
Kox 60, Cuba, New York. 
CATTLE STANCHIONS 
When in the market, write L. A. GREEN, 
Ogdensburg, N. Y„ for Illustrated Circulars, 
Mentioning This Paper 
flArpS ss* 
“New Modern” 
Sanitary Steel Stalls 
Wood or Steel Stanchions (chain or 
swivel hung). Litter and Feed 
Carriers, Watering Basins, etc. 
Glor Bros. & Willis Mfg. Co. 
35 Main Street, Attica, N. Y. 
“EVERYTHING FOR THE BARN" 
DAIRY SUPPLIES 
We are headquarters forMilk Bottles, 
Cans, Caps, Carriers, Churns, Drain¬ 
ers, Pasteurizers, Separators, lee 
Crushers, etc., and every utensil used 
by handlers of milk, cream, butter, 
eggs, ice cream or cheese. Best goods, 
fair prices, prompt shipments. Satis¬ 
faction guaranteed. Send us today 
your list of needs. No order too small. 
WISNER MFG. CO , 230 A Greenwich St..N.Y. 
Everything For Dairymen Always In Stock 
—99 %o % Pure—i 
American Ingot Iron Roofing 
Guaranteed For 30 Years 
Without Painting 
The Only Guaranteed Metal Roofing ever put on the 
market. Samples tree. Write for a free book showing 
remarkable tests. A way out of your roof troubles. 
THE AMERICAN IRON ROOFING CO., Dent. 0, ELYRIA. OHIO 
BIG MILKERS 
The New York Experiment Station at Cornell University, Ithaca, N. Y., after two years’ test, in Bulletin No. 269 states, 
“SCHUMACHER CALF MEAL seems io be the best commercial substitute m the nature of grain, for skimmed milk on the 
market at the present time.” 
You cannot do without SCHUMACHER CALE MEAL as a supplementary feed if you expect to develop your calves into largo 
producing dairy stock. Start this year’s calves right; if your dealer can’t supply you, write us. 
THE OUAKElt OATS COMPANY, Chicago, Illinois. 
