THE KURAX; NEW-YORKER 
January 31, 
158 
is a feed of great value in itself. It increases the assimilative and 
digestive powers, of your Farm Stock. 
It is absolutely different from any other feed in the world, 
because of its peculiar properties. 
Its antiseptic properties free the stomach 
and intestines from worms or bacteria, thus 
enabling your animal to get full value 
from its food. 
FOR ALL FARM STOCK 
feed 34 Molassine Meal, % regular ration 
to get best results. 
Write us for our latest book on Feeding. 
Look for this Trade 
Mark 
on overy bag 
“MOLASSINE 
MEAL” is put up 
in 100 lb. bags. 
Ask your dealer for 
it or write direct. 
of America Board of Trade, BOSTON, MASS. 
St. John. Montreal. Toronto. Winnipeg. 
Don’t Buy; 
Until You Get My Factory Price 
on the Detroit-American Tongueless Disc—I’ll save you 
money—don’t pay dealers’ prices but send a postal NOW 
for the greatest low price, long time, free trial offer 
lever made on the original 
Detroit-American Tongueless 
It’s all steel—perfectly balanced—light weight—light 
draft—greater strength—absolutely guaranteed and 
> sold only on 
,«5A n„„„> MANURE SPREADERS and 
'oUDays rree Inal cultivators at equally 
low bedrock prices. A complet e spreader $65—deli vered— 
yes. freight Prepaid-to all East, Central and Middle 
West States. 
¥>• n I rv„ „ for the asking—drop me a line 1 
Dig DOOR rree right away. 
FRED C. ANDREWS 
General Manager 
AMERICAN HARROW CO. 
1416D Hastings St., Detroit, Mich. 
■—The One Spreade r — 1 
Saves Strength of Manure 
It is a well known fact that thin or liquid manure has the greatest fertil¬ 
izing value—it is much more valuable to land than dry or rotten manure. 
The wetter it is, the better; every load of it is worth gold dollars to the farmer 
as soon as it is spread on his land. 
There are many manure spreaders on the market today but they are so 
constructed that practically all of this valuable thin manure is wasted before 
it reaches the field. 
The Flying Dutchman Spreader 
NO. 14 NEW ENGLAND TYPE 
is so constructed that it saves this materia) and enables the farmer to spread 
it just where he wants it. 
It is a Low Down, Easy to Load, Endless Apron Spreader built with a 
level body and an Automatic Tail Board which prevent the thin manure 
from running out behind and wasting. 
Load your spreader right from your barn, spread it while it is fresh and 
has its full liquid strength. 
This spreader is unusually light draft, the rear wheels are under the load 
insuring perfect traction. It has steel frame, steel wheels, steel beater and the 
apron runs on three sets of hardened steel rollers. 
It is very simple in construction—simple to operate—one lever does every¬ 
thing. A small boy can easily handle it. 
Let us send our Free Folder and our 1914 Almanac. Write today. 
Ask any Flying Dutchman Dealer about the Flying Dutchman 
Spreader No. 14. 
New York Moline Plow Co. 
Dept. 119 POUGHKEEPSIE, N. Y. 
MOLINE PLOW CO. W 
Dept. 119 MOLINE. ILL. 
SKUNK FARMING IN NEW YORK. 
[We have for years advised our readers 
to keep away from “skunk farming.” It 
was recently reported that five skunk 
farms have been licensed in New York 
State. Se we wrote the Conservation 
Commission about it, and' this is the re¬ 
port. Mr. Legge makes it appear easy 
and fragrent of profit, but the business 
carries no temptation for us.] 
This Department has issued five li¬ 
censes allowing the possession of skunks 
for propagation purposes in the State 
of New York. Skunk raising is not well 
understood, and the people who are con¬ 
ducting skunk raising are not successful 
because of the fact that they are not fa¬ 
miliar with the , proper method of caring 
for the skunk and its young. 
The question always asked when skunk 
farming is mentioned, is concerning the 
difficulty of conducting such a business 
in any reputable neighborhood on account 
of scenting. Contrary to popular expec¬ 
tation, the skunk appears to be least 
objectionable of all ranched animals, the 
fox being the most objectionable. One 
might, pass alongside a hundred skunks 
and not observe any odor. They can be 
easily handled, and by cutting out the 
scent glands when they are about 10 
days old they will be deodorized. The 
•operation is unnecessary, and is not 
harmful to the animal. 
Of course, the skunks are graded ac¬ 
cording to the proportion of white hair 
on the skin; as No. 1 with no stripes or 
boxes, and fight the real mothers away 
until the kidnapped young starve to death. 
Others that have had young would steal 
the young of two or three others and 
then, having more than they could care 
for, some would starve. Another disad¬ 
vantage in a small enclosure is that they 
get so tame they come *mt in the daytime 
to feed and the exposure to sunlight fades 
the fur to a certain extent. 
As it is almost impossible to supply a 
lot of skunks with the kind of food they 
get in the wild state, it becomes neces¬ 
sary to substitute some other kind of 
food, such as dead horses, cows, chickens, 
corn and various other things which a 
man with a small lot cannot always have. 
If not fed properly they become can¬ 
nibalistic. Skunks can be raised as 
easily as house cats, provided you have 
an enclosure where they cannot dig out 
or climb over. For every hundred ma¬ 
ture skunks, you should have an acre of 
ground enclosed. 
I know where one man experimented 
for three years on a small scale. The 
first year he had one male and three 
females. They brought forth 15 young. 
One of the young died. Five of the 
young graded as No. 2, the balance star 
black. 
The gestation of the skunk is about 
six weeks, and runs from four to nine 
in a litter. The young come out to eat 
when two months old, and can be ad¬ 
mitted to the general run when four 
A GATHERING OF 
very short ones; No. 2. with longer 
stripes, and No. 3 when the stripes ex¬ 
tend the full length of the body. It is 
probable that the rapidly advancing 
prices in 1912 will he the means of 
stimulating the skunk-raising industry. 
No. 1 northern skunk brings $4.25 at 
present and, if this price continues, there 
is a large profit to be made in skunk- 
farming. 
Skunks can he kept in captivity under 
conditions similar to those recommended 
for mink, i. e., in pens. The males will 
not injure the females, hut the females 
will kill the males after mating if they 
are kept enclosed with them. The females 
might be kept in pens, after mating and 
while rearing the young. A wide range 
is necessary in order to permit of their 
securing a variety of natural food. Skunk 
raising will prove a failure if done on a 
small scale, while on a large scale, it 
would be a paying business. One of our 
correspondents writes that “the first sea¬ 
son he had 12 females and three males, 
all black; the average litter of young was 
from three to six; the average grade, 
about S5 per cent, black, the balance 
being Nos. 2, 3 and 4.” 
Naturally, skunks live in holes in the 
ground, rocks, trees, stumps, etc. Their 
food consists of mice, birds, bugs, 
crickets, grasshoppers, bees, wasps, yel¬ 
low-jackets. angleworms, seeds, berries, 
ground roots and hark. There is a great 
disadvantage <ui starting on a small 
scale. If you have a large number of 
skunks in a small place it will cause 
them to crowd and fight and kill one 
another, while to have a separate pen for 
each female is expensive. After the rut¬ 
ting season the female will kill the male, 
apparently to protect her young. Skunks 
are liable to fatal diseases, similar to sore 
throat or diphtheria. The female skunks 
which have had no young are known to 
take the young of other mothers to their 
FRIENDS IN FUR. 
months old. A strict diet of meat will 
kill every skunk. They should be fed 
once a day in the evening. If the bodies 
of the skilled animals are fed, they 
should he thoroughly boiled with vegeta¬ 
bles. The oil rendered from the skunk 
fat is valuable. 
There are different methods of killing 
skunks. One way is by drowning. They 
can also be dispatched easily and pain¬ 
lessly in a poison box, using carbon hi* 
sulphide gas or hydrocyanic acid. The 
latter is a deadly poison and is very 
dangerous in the hands of an inexperi¬ 
enced person. They can also be killed 
by a blow over the back, which paralyzes 
the muscles and destroys the power to 
scent. They should be skinned by the 
case method. The skins should be care¬ 
fully cleaned of fat to prevent heating 
and should be packed separately for 
shipping. LLEWELLYN LEGGE, 
Chief Protector Conservation Commis¬ 
sion. 
Contagious Abortion. 
One of my cows and two young heifers 
have recently aborted. I fear for the rest 
of them, have bought no cows for two 
years, have fed silage almost exclusively 
for the last month to the heifers. It has 
a few moldy spots in it, presumably from 
being too ripe and not packing quickly. 
Could the silage cause it? r. 
Pennsylvania. 
Most silage will contain a few moldy 
spots where air has gained access to it, 
either from insufficient packing or leaky 
silo walls. Unless of considerable extent, 
I have never known these to do any harm 
and do not think it possible that the 
silage can be responsible for the abor¬ 
tion in your herd. It is more likely that 
the germs of contagious abortion have in 
some way gained access to your herd, 
possibly through the use of an infected 
bull. If you are within reach of a com¬ 
petent veterinarian, I would suggest that 
you have him prescribe the new methy¬ 
lene bine treatment for your cows as 
described on page 11(58 of the October 
25 issue of this paper. M. n. D. 
