3070 
CATS AS FARM STOCK. 
O ccasionally i see in the r. n.-y. 
a discussion of cats. As is usual 
in a discussion of any subject, some per¬ 
sons are strongly pro and some are 
strongly con. Personally I am for the 
cat, not that I dearly love a cat, though 
the cats and I are upon nice friendly 
terms, but largely because they are useful 
to me. For instance, we have a large 
three-story barn. When the mows are 
full of hay and straw, the loft covered with 
corn stover, the granary containing oats, 
rye, buckwheat, etc., and finally perhaps 
the barn floor and all available space 
stuffed with shocks of corn brought in 
from the field to await their turn to be 
husked, then, you see, we have a lovely 
place for rats and mice, and, I assure 
you, the “varmints” do not fail to dis¬ 
cover such excellent quarters. If left long 
undisturbed I fully believe these pests 
would actually “eat the barn down!” At 
any rate the rats once gnawed several 
holes through the shingles of our barn 
roof, and were in a fair way to spoil the 
foundation of a large silo. Since then we 
try to keep at all times four to six grown 
cats. These cats are fed with moderate 
liberality at the ham and are encour¬ 
aged to stay there. These cats have the 
same care as any of our farm animals 
and are regarded by us as farm stock, as 
a part of the necessary farm equipment. 
Any dog found bothering these cats is 
promptly dealt with. This includes our 
own dog. Neighbor or strange children 
who do not know our views upon the sub¬ 
ject are carefully but pointedly told that 
there is to be no stone throwing or other 
abuse of this stock, just as we would 
show them that running the cattle or 
throwing apples at the colts is not good 
business. More than that, our own chil¬ 
dren are at no time, from babyhood up, 
allowed to maul or pester the cats, or any 
other animal, but are carefully taught to 
talk to them, stroke them and be at all 
times friendly and kind to them. This 
we consider good business, because it is 
good for the cats and, what is more im¬ 
portant, is excellent for the children. As 
to results, we have cats that come to 
meet us at any time, literally with smiles 
upon their faces. They come with tails 
erect, mewing, purring and telling us as 
well as they can that we have been good 
to them, that they like us and are glad 
to see us. This, coming from even a cat, 
is to me a pleasant thing, and fully re¬ 
pays me all kindness shown them. 
As to their board and lodging I could 
not say how many times over it is paid, 
but I know this: At no time for years 
have we had rats or mice in our houses 
or barn to any serious or near serious ex¬ 
tent, and, as a rule, it is at intervals of 
weeks, even months, that I see a rat or 
mouse or even evidence of one, now and 
then I find the hide of a rat lying some 
place and that is about all. Moreover, 
our cats give attention to fields outlying 
the barn for a good distance, and bring 
in literally hundreds of the short-tailed 
meadow mice. This, I feel sure, is a 
splendid service, since we mulch young 
fruit trees as fast as set out, also small 
fruits, grapevines, etc. 
There are some objections made to cats. 
They kill chicks. In 40 years life on the 
farm I have known one cat to do this. 
The gun promptly cured him of the fault 
and he has had no successor in 25 years. 
Again, they kill birds. I am reluctant to 
admit that they sometimes do this, and I 
am sorry for it, since I am also strongly 
for the birds. Upon that point I have 
this to say: For over 20 years I have 
been an observer of birds as found in 
my home locality, being more or less fam¬ 
iliar with some sixty varieties. This be¬ 
ing the case, I should be likely to notice 
if cats were making any bad inroads upon 
birds. This is the sense of my observa¬ 
tions. In the early months of the .Sum¬ 
mer, when young birds are maturing and 
leaving the nests, now and then some¬ 
thing will frighten the young and cause 
them to flutter from the nest before they 
are fledged enough to fly. Cats are likely 
to get these as they have little to do but 
pick them up. I might say that such birds 
would in many cases perish anyway. As 
to adult birds, it is rarely that my cats 
get one. Considering the numbers of 
birds that are about all the Summer 
months I should say that the per cent, 
killed by the usual cat would, to compute, 
take you deep into the fractions of one 
per cent. I suspect that by catching an 
THE RURAL 
occasional pine or red squirrel the cats 
of my region save many more birds than 
they destroy. And finally (I fear I shall 
say something a little “mean” now) those 
persons who condemn cats as bird-killers, 
have they, perhaps, some boys? Have 
these boys any kind of guns? Have those 
persons seen to it that these boys do not 
in a Summer shoot more good birds than 
the cats will kill in a lifetime? Further, 
it is declared, cats carry disease, upon 
this point I have observed nothing, con¬ 
sidering that disease, largely speaking, 
may be conveyed in almost any way, I 
suppose it might be carried by a cat, but 
when a half dozen reasonably thrifty cats 
make their home at a barn in the coun¬ 
try, and seldom or perhaps never go 
beyond the bounds of the home farm, 
they may carry disease, but I will have 
to be shown. Therefore, as a matter of 
good business keep some cats. 
F. A. M. 
W’i 
Lame Shotes. 
I 
traced to an injury, 
Oftentimes animals 
are quarrelsome, and do more or less 
scrapping, and we have found that such 
lameness can be traced to one or more 
individuals that are especially ugly, and 
inclined to rule the ranch. It would be 
well to make sure that the sleeping quar¬ 
ters are easily accessible, that there are 
no deep wallow holes for them to climb 
out of or step into, that the colony houses, 
if they are in use, are not overcrowded, 
and in addition add some bone meal, to 
the charcoal-lime mineral mixture that 
you are feeding. F. c. minkler. 
I 
Cutting Down Roughage. 
AM buying dried brewers’ grain at 
$1.10, and am feeding it straight with 
the exception of a little bran. Good 
clover and Alfalfa hay cost me about 
$1.20, and it is hard to get it good, so I 
try to feed a little heavily on grain, 
swelling it before feeding to save bay. 
Grain is cheaper for me, bran $1, mid¬ 
dlings $1.20; nil meal, $1.00: hominy 
feed, $1. Will you advise a ration? 
Illinois. w. A. P. 
A mixture of two parts by weight of 
brewers’ dried grains and one part hom¬ 
iny feed will give you good results dur¬ 
ing warm weather, and while your cows 
will need some hay, the grains will be 
very bulky and can take the place of hay 
to a considerable extent. I think you 
can cut down the roughage to half what 
the cows would ordinarily eat, if you 
increase the grain proportionately. Dur¬ 
ing cold weather, or if the cows do' not 
keep in good flesh, increase the amount 
of hominy feed. c. L. M. 
Preparing Corn for Hogs. 
I 
in the value of 
hogs, whether 
or cooked and 
J. J. D. 
S there any difference 
corn that is fed to 
whole, ground, cooked, 
fermen ted? 
Vermont. 
For feeding swine weighing more than 
50 pounds there is no advantage in any 
method of its preparation sufficient to 
justify the cost of such preparation. The 
best results will follow where the corn is 
fed on the ear, provided it is supple¬ 
mented with some protein carrier, pre¬ 
ferably digester tankage. It has been 
demonstrated by experiments that it is a 
disadvantage to cook or ferment corn, 
and grinding does not justify cost. 
Shelled corn soaked for 12 hours will in¬ 
crease its palatability for young pigs, al¬ 
though it should not be soaked longer 
than this period for fear of souring, 
which would decrease its palatability. 
The tankage suggested as a supplement 
with corn can be fed to the extent of 10 
per cent, of the ration, and given to the 
animals in the form of a thin slop, pre¬ 
vious to the time of feeding the ear corn. 
Some one has said that pigs like to hear 
the “crackle of the corn.” and that their 
grinding machines are far superior to 
those manufactured commercially. 
F. C. MINBXER. 
NEW-YORKER 
AILING ANIMALS. 
Cow With Cough. 
ILL you advi se m e with regard to a 
Jersey cow we purchased last 
Spring? She had a slight cough, 
which seems to have become rather worse. 
We have had her tested for tuberculosis, 
but she tested out all right. She is in 
the pasture all day and in the barnyard 
at night with a chance to get under cover 
if it rains. I think the irritation is in 
her throat, as she begins to cough nearly 
every time she is lead by the strap around 
her neck. s. E. s. 
Massachusetts. 
Halter the cow and lead her by a hal¬ 
ter rope which does not irritate the 
throat. Tuberculosis is strongly to be 
suspected in such a case, but actinomyco¬ 
sis of the glands of the throat possibly is 
present. Have her tested again, with a 
double dose of tuberculin, when the 
weather becomes cool. If she does not 
then react we should advise blistering her 
throat and administer two or three times 
daily a cough paste to be had from the 
local graduate veterinarian. a. s. a. 
August 20, 
When you write advertisers mention Th» 
R. N.-Y. and you’ll get a quick reply and a 
“square deal.” See guarantee editorial page. 
Fill Your Silo the Modern Way 
jrpon t cover your silo with the old style root and! 
have it only three-fourths full after the ensilage 
has settled. Use instead a II00SIEK Ol’EMNU K00V. 
A roof that you can open up and will add about six 
feet extension to your silo. After the ensilage has 
settled, close, ana you will have a perfect roof. 
The kind of silo cover you have been looking for. 
It is not only right in theory, but guaranteed to bo 
practical in results. Write for catalog and prices. 
SHEET METAL SPECIALTY CO., Dept. G, GOSHEN, IND. 
Alfalfa 
four to 
HAVE 51 head of shotes on 
and Alsike clover pasture, 
five months old. 40 to 85 or 00 pounds 
apiece; lime and charcoal at all times be¬ 
fore them. We feed one basket ear corn 
morning, a small feed of middlings at 
noon, with a gallon and a half of 60 per 
cent, tankage mixed with water, and one 
basket corn at night. I see two or three 
of the hogs go lame in their hind legs 
and limp; they have always been thrifty 
and hearty to eat. What is the trou¬ 
ble? f. A. L. 
Frankford, Del. 
It would seem that F. A. L. is feeding 
a well-balanced ration to his pigs, for 
ear corn with 10 per cent, of digester 
tankage, and a small amount of middlings 
as a supplement should supply the neces¬ 
sary food nutrients. It is my judgment 
that lameness of the three animals can be 
A 
and not to the feed, 
running at pasture 
Lump Jaw. 
COW has had a hard swelling on the 
left side of the jaw, about the size 
of an egg, at the largest, and also a 
swelling of the lower eyelid on the same 
side. Both came about the same time 
and have been of about four weeks dura¬ 
tion. The swelling on the jaw has 
broken lately and is much reduced. Cow 
is perfectly well otherwise. What can be 
done for her? t. r. ii. 
Maine. 
Actinomycosis (lump jaw) probably is 
present and if the bones of the head" be¬ 
come badly involved the case will scarcely 
prove profitable to treat. The diseased 
mass should be cut out and the wound 
cauterized; afterward applying tincture 
of iodine once daily until healed. Apply 
the tincture to the swelling under the 
eye, every other day and do not use the 
knife unless a considerable growth forms 
and discharges. If the cow is not in calf 
she may have a dram of iodide of potash 
in water twice daily for several periods 
of 10 days with 10 day intervals between 
periods of treatment; but this medicine 
dries up milk flow and causes emaciation 
and scurfy skin. a. s. A. 
W E have 
what 
Sheep Grubs. 
re recently lost one sheep with 
is known as “grub in the 
head” and fear that others in the 
flock may be similarly affected. Is there 
any cure for this? If so will you give, 
in your columns, method of treatment and 
medicine to be used? m. e. b. 
New York. 
By “grubs” we take it you mean those 
of the sheep gadfly which inhabit the 
nasal passages and sinuses of the head. 
If so they rarely if ever cause death; but 
they may occur along with other ailments 
and the combination proves deadly. For 
instance one finds sheep infested with 
stomach worms or tapeworms, nodular 
disease of the intestines and gadfly grubs 
at the same time. There is no specific 
cure for grubs. They grow from small 
larvae deposited in the nostrils of sheep 
in Summer and the flies may be prevented 
from this pestiferous work by daubing 
pine tar on the noses of sheep during fly 
time. Some shepherds claim to get good 
results from pouring medicine into each 
nostril in turn, the sheep being laid on 
its side and the nose turned upward dur¬ 
ing the operation. For this purpose they 
use a mixture of equal parts of kerosene 
or turpentine and sweet oil. It also is 
possible to operate for the removal of 
grubs, but the operation scarcely pays. 
A line is drawn down the middle of the 
forehead and one intersecting it from 
eyebrow to eyebrow. By means of a tre¬ 
phine a disk of bone is cut out in each 
«>f the upper angles formed by the cross¬ 
ing of the two lines and through these 
grubs sometimes may be extracted by 
means .of forceps. Grubs often can be 
removed- from the cavities made by the 
close cutting off of a sheep’s horns. 
A. s. A. 
S. J. C. 
Atrophy of Udder. 
I have a young Jersey heifer, milking 
12 months, that shows shrinkage in right 
front quarter. Is there any remedy for 
this. She is a registered Jersey, about 
20 months old, and I place a high valua¬ 
tion on her. 
Virginia. 
Patient massage of the affected quarter, 
applied twice daily, may improve matters, 
but the tuberculin test should be applied 
in all such cases, as tuberculosis is some¬ 
times the cause of gradual painless en¬ 
largement or wasting (atrophy) of the 
udder. a. s. a. 
Strong Fans, a Tight Case and the Best Dis¬ 
charging Stack get the ensilage away from 
the knives. That principle in the 
SILAGE 
CUTTER 
CLIMAX 
insures quicker work on small power. 
Then there are the principles of the 
Inward Shear of thin oil-tempered 
knives; the heavy toothed feed roll, 
narrow throat, all illustrated and 
described in 
Catalog, Sent FREE 
Study it alone or with your neighbor ij 
who buys with you. 
If we have no dealer or agent in your-localityl 
we will OHtabllnh one with your help. 
WARSAW-WILKINSON CO. 
104 Highland, Warsaw, New York 
Fill Your Silo Satisfied 11 
Over 
64. 
Years 
Experience 
Back of it. 
ROSS 
Machines are 
fully guaranteed 
You take no risk 
Oldest 
and 
Largest 
in the World I 
We want to prove that our machines are af 
vestment before you give up your money. W_ 
they are so good that we do not feel it a risk to make 
this offer. Many new features have been added which 
you should know about. Special made machines for 
New York State ami the East. We make many styles 
and sizes to meet ally and all conditions. Write for catalog 
The E. W. Ross Co., Box 113, Springfield, O. 
i a good in- 
We know 
TO ONCE, IF SPECIFIED! 
To meet Your needs, we 
can assemble and ship a 
UNADILLA SILO 
within 12 hours from 
receipt of your order! 
With immense stocks of spruce, 
whitepine, Oregon fir and cypress 
lumber in our yards and double 
shifts of mechanics to keep the 
machinery humming, we guaran¬ 
tee to make prompt shipments, 
•n w * 1 '* e a Unadilla working for you 
will enable you to flail every possible 
cent of profit out of your farm products 
while Europe fights. Your postal re- 
quest for catalogue, prices and terms 
will bring them post haste. 
Sales Agents for Papcc Gutters 
Unadilla Silo Co., Unadilla, N. Y. 
ei66up 
depending on the 
size. Wemake any 
size just ascheap. 
W nat you get in addition to this Cypress Silo is; 
1st— Our *'1914” continuous door opening, with 
galvanized hardware and combination ladder; 
2nd— Two galvanized cables; 3rd— Two new style 
anchor rods; 4th— Interior coated with "Sheico” 
gloss; 5th— Outsido painted with oxide red paint. 
This ja the biggest value ever offered—buy now 
to be shipped when wanted. 
Exam In o It and If It la not aa 
raprosontod, don’t taka It. 
That la our proposition— can you beat it? We 
take the risk, and pay the freight back. Think it 
over. Deal with the maker direct. 
You can buy the “Arundel” Silo on credit. Make 
a profit before you fully pay for it. Write for our 
New Way Selling Plan No. 25 Do it now. 
THE ARUNDEL SILO BUILDERS 
MAKE BIG PAY DRILLING 
WATER WELLS 
Our Free Drillers’ Book with 
catalog of Keystone Drills 
tolls how. Mai.y sizes; trac¬ 
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terms. T h e so machines 
make good anywhere. 
KEYSTONE WATER DRILL CO 
Beaver Falls, Pa. 
For Threshing and Ensilage Cutting 
°" >rino is t,le power plant for the 
of 8 riw ;. lik t 11 rcshi, ig and ensilage cutting. Reliability, plenty 
power, steadiness ^nd readiness, required for these big jobs, 
a< grr. Made of the best materials; speed and 
adjustable- *■- 
typify the 
nSSd rttai th p 0n «! ne develops more speed than 
Consumes no fuel which Is no'tmnfe.fintoWw? " kel '° 8ene ’ 
iw.iml “^JJdger" is always ready to run—Winter or Summer—at an instant’s 
part gimrunteed tor live year* unconditionally. 
Send for Catalog. Free Engineering lessons sent on receipt of dealer’s name. 
Address. Tho Christenson Engineering Co., Milwaukoo, Wis 
( 1 J. B. NORTON CO.,Inc., Distributors, 209 Elizabeth St.,Uticn.N.Y. 
gasoline Engines 
