1915. 
THE RURAL NEW-YORKER 
Feeding Value of Potatoes. 
N page 3 I find two communications 
regarding the feeding value of pota¬ 
toes. These two articles are quite con¬ 
flicting. Mr. Borkind starts in by say¬ 
ing: “Potatoes are an inferior feed for 
dairy cows,” Mr. Stone says: “Potatoes 
might be figured at from 15 to 20 cents 
a bushel for feeding purposes, and for 
want of a succulent feed might be 
worth 25 cents a bushel.” What is one 
to learn from the two articles? It is 
possible the feeding value of potatoes in 
Vermont and in New York are very much 
at variance. I will say without any ex¬ 
ception I have found potatoes the very 
best milk producer; have grown and fed 
potatoes to dairy cattle for a half cen¬ 
tury. and it is my candid opinion there 
is nothing that will produce more milk 
under all conditions than potatoes. Even 
when cows are on clover pasture in 
Spring, and are being grained, a very 
noticeable increase in milk can be ob¬ 
tained by the feeding of potatoes. Again 
in Winter when cows are eating a large 
amount of silage and grain, potatoes will 
increase the milk flow surprisingly. 
I do not know the analysis of potatoes 
or the amount of protein they contain, 
but from actual experience I do positive¬ 
ly know I am unable to get as much milk 
from any other feed as I can from the 
proper feeding of potatoes. You might 
ask: “What is the proper feeding of 
potatoes?” Commence feeding them 
lightly or in small amounts, gradually 
increasing the amount. When cows get 
used to them a bushel divided between 
four cows or a peck to a cow is what 
are usually fed. We never cut or smash 
them, but feed them whole, no matter 
how large or small. I have never had 
any serious trouble from cows choking 
on them. Should cow become choked an 
inch rubber hose properly used will over¬ 
come the difficulty. 
New York. sunny slope farm. 
Potatoes Fob Hogs.—I noticed a 
question regarding potatoes as food for 
hogs, and would like to add my experi¬ 
ence. I feed three pecks each apples 
and potatoes, cooked, and two quarts 
middlings to four brood sows a day, and 
still my neighbors tell me I keep my hogs 
too fat for breeders. This would prove to 
me that there must be more food value 
in potatoes than the article wmitten by 
C. L. M. would allow. c. H. E. 
Athens, Me. 
FARM NEWS. 
The farmers of Minnesota are up in 
arms against the recent increase in 
freight rates, which they regard as 
wholly unjustifiable. At a recent meet¬ 
ing of the Riverside Farmers’ Club after 
a thorough discussion of the subject the 
following resolutions -were unanimously 
adopted: 
“1. We regard the present system of 
distributing farm products—having been 
established and now largely controlled by 
middlemen—as unjust and detrimental 
to the interests of both the producer and 
the consumer. 
“2. As the first step towards bringing 
the producer and the consumer into closer 
business relations with each other, the 
government should acquire possession of 
all the railway and telegraph lines by ex¬ 
ercising the right and power of eminent 
domain and operate the same at cost. 
“3. As this, being a political question 
can be brought about only by concerted 
action, we hereby request all farmers’ 
clubs and kindred organizations to take 
up the discussion of the subject to the 
end that public sentiment may be created 
and crystallized in favor of this move¬ 
ment. 
“4. For the present we recommend that 
all our members and others make use of 
the parcel post in establishing direct busi¬ 
ness relations with the ultimate consum¬ 
er wherever practical. 
“5. We request all papers friendly to 
the farmers to publish these resolutions 
in order that they may be given as wide 
publicity as possible.” 
Cass Co., Minn. j. w. witham. 
Jan. 5. Much tobacco is being moved 
at a lower price, from $5 to $7 per hun¬ 
dred for best grades. Cold weather has 
prevailed here for several weeks. De¬ 
cember was the coldest since 1904. No 
hog cholera nor foot and mouth disease 
in our section. Hard times is the talk 
everywhere you go. A great many coal 
mines in our surrounding county, but 
they work little or none at all; not much 
property changing hands; everything 
seems to be on the standstill. Idle men 
from the towns and cities are seeking out 
locations in the county. Prices our mer¬ 
chants are paying are, wheat, $1.30; corn 
50; hogs $6.50; cows $50 to $75; old 
hens 9: geese 9; ducks 9; turkevs 13; 
butter 19; eggs 33. r. s. k. 
Warrick Co., Ind. 
Dec. 29. Milk delivered Rochester, N. 
Y., 18c. gallon; creamery butter, 38; 
specially fancy dairy butter, 34; pota¬ 
toes, delivered cars. 25; cabbage, $6.50 
per ton; apples, from $1.75 to $2.50 per 
barrel; Timothy hay, baled. $14; clover 
hay, $12; Alfalfa hay, $16; fat steers, 
$6.50; cattle on foot, 7c.; hogs, 6%; 
turkeys, dressed, 25; chickens and geese, 
dressed, 16; ducks, dressed, 18; pea 
beans, $2.10; marrows, $3.50; Red kid¬ 
neys, $3.25 per bushel -of 60 pounds. 
Avon, N. Y. c. d. n. 
Dec. 28. Farms are higher than they 
were two years ago. Cattle are high, 
anywhere from $75 to $125, but good 
cows are scarce; beef is high, also pigs. 
Not many breeding. Pigs at four weeks 
$10 a pair if you are lucky enough to get 
them for that price. Butter selling any¬ 
where from 30 to 38. Fruit is cheap; 
gardening crops must be given away in or¬ 
der to get rid of them. Potatoes 70. No. 
1 apples $1.50 a barrel, hard work to 
sell them at any price. Cabbage 75 
cents a barrel, low price, they do sell for 
$1 to $1.50 a barrel. Green horses are 
high from $200 to $300; our horses are 
low from $25 to $200. Poultry cheap; 
live 14; dressed 22; turkeys 17 to 27. 
Wood is high, $6 a cord. Eggs 55; meat 
20 to 30. f. N. 
Derry, N. H. 
Dec. 26. Butter 25; eggs 35; chickens, 
live nine; turkeys 14. live; potatoes 50 
baled Timothy $19; oats 55. I. w. w. 
Winchester, Ya. 
Dec. 28. Dairy cows $50 to $100; 
sales so infrequent as to make quota¬ 
tions problematical. Dairying is the 
main pursuit in this section, and we are 
so far from milk stations that very lit¬ 
tle Winter dairying is done. We have 
customers in Rome, 14 miles from here, 
who are paying us 40 cents per pound; 
delivery once in two weeks. I do not 
think that factorvmen have averaged to 
pay more than $1.25 or $1.40 per hun¬ 
dred during past season. Some hay is 
sold to piece out neighbors who are short, 
and brings $14 at the barn. Culls, bulls 
and fat stock were picked up in the Fall 
by drovers at from $16 to $60. Potatoes 
sold to shippers in the Fall for 35 and 
40. Real estate agents are doing quite 
a lively business in selling farms in our 
town to Polanders. n. c. V. 
Ava, N. Y. 
Dec. 24. I am living on a farm about 
three miles from Oneonta, the leading 
market for Otsego and Delaware Coun¬ 
ties. Market prices are as follows: 
Cows that are coming fresh $60 to $75; 
cows coming fresh in the Spring $30 to 
$35 ^ bulls high, yearlings are worth $25 
to $30 and older ones in proportion. 
Pork that will weigh 150 pounds $11 to 
$12 per cwt.; heavier pork $10.50 to 
$11; veal, good. $12 to $13 per cwt. 
Potatoes 40 to 45 cents; apples 50 per 
bushel. Butter, creamery, 40; dairy 38; 
eggs 45:_ cabbage four cents a head; 
turnips 35. Milk seven cents per quart, 
or four cents per pint. w. H. M. 
North Franklin, N. Y. 
Jan. 5. December was a very wintry 
month, with plenty of snow and rain, 
roads frozen solid. Not much corn left 
in the fields; some ice is being harvested. 
Cattle and sheep not very high since 
the State was quarantined. While there 
were no cases in this county it affected 
prices just the same, and lost the farm¬ 
ers and stock dealers lots of money. No 
chance to plow sod so far this Winter. 
HI 
Butchering all done. Wheat $1.20; corn 
75; potatoes 75; butter 20; eggs 36; 
chickens 10; turkeys 14 to 16. 
Morgan Co., O. w. B. h. 
Jan. 8. We live 20 miles north of 
Washington, D. C., and carry on mixed 
farming; hay, wheat, corn and potatoes; 
dairy for the sale of milk and cream, hogs 
for home consumption and sale; also graz¬ 
ing and feeding of cattle. The cattle and 
hog business has been very unsatisfactory 
since about Nov. 1. The State and 
United States have both kept a very strict 
quarantine since that date. On one farm 
near us 55 cattle were killed and buried 
about 10 feet deep. 100 bushels quicklime 
was used on them before filling the grave. 
Cattle contracted for delivery, about the 
time of the outbreak are still in the 
farmers’ hands, costing much for feed. 
Those not yet sold have greatly depre¬ 
ciated in price. Calves cannot be sold 
at any price. Best steers contracted for 
$8.75 to $9 per 100. Hay $20 per ton ; 
wheat $1.25. f. j. l. 
Montgomery Co., Md. 
Jan. 8. We get here at the present 
time the following price for farm pro¬ 
ducts from the dealers: Wheat $1.23; 
oats 48; beans, hand picked, $2.55; bar¬ 
ley $1.15 to SI.25 cwt.; corn, shelled, 63; 
buckwheat $1.50 cwt.; potatoes 25; clov¬ 
er seed $7 to $8.50 bu.; hay, baled, choice 
No. 1 Timothy $9.50 to $13; eggs 35; 
butter 30. Hogs six cents on foot; 
dressed, seven cents for heavy, weighing 
over 150 pounds and 8*4 for light hogs 
weighing up to 150 pounds. Veal 11 *4 
dressed; Spring lamb 13; mutton 9% ; 
dressed chickens, live, old 11; Spring 12; 
ducks 16; geese 12%; turkeys 20. The 
sugar companies are contracting with 
the growers for beets at $6 per ton for 
next Fall delivery Land ranges in price 
from $50 to $125 per acre, good im¬ 
proved land ranges about $100 per acre. 
Milk is $1.70 per hundred at eondensery. 
We are in a fine dairy section which is 
developing quite rapidly. M. o. T. 
Birch Run, Mich. 
After 3% weeks of extremely cold and 
snowy weather, with temperature from 
16 to 24 deg. below and roads almost 
impassable from drifts, on Jan. 5 a thaw 
began, followed by rain, so that people 
who were compelled to get out met with 
very serious difficulties. Stock dealers 
who buy cows every Fall here and drive 
to eastern counties where more grain is 
raised, and they buy cheaper grades of 
cows to eat their straw, got quarantinel 
on one drove and consequently did not buy 
as many as usual, so more farmers are 
wintering their stock and using up their 
rough fodder in that way. Dairying is 
the main source of income, with hogs as 
a side issue. No sheep are kept. IIol- 
steins predominate and better stock of 
all kinds is gaining in numbers every 
year. Purebred horses, cattle and hogs 
are no longer the exception. e. a. b. 
Cattaraugus Co., N. Y. 
You’ve Got To Start 
YOUR MILK PROFITS 
In Your Feed Box 
It depends on what you put into your feed 
box as to what you get back in milk profits. 
You may be feeding plenty of protein and yet fail to 
get the best results. 
Most dairymen feed TOO MUCH protein. 
A cow cannot store up excess protein for future 
needs like she can carbohydrates and fat. 
Too much protein, besides being wasteful, is injurious to 
the kidneys, "burns out” your cows, renders them sterile, 
and makes it difficult to keep up your herd. The question is: 
Are you feeding the best combination of Protein and the 
other necessary food elements in the best proportions for 
milk production and health maintenance of your cows ? 
You can answer this important question correctly with 
WONDERFUL RECORDS 
Valdessa Scott, 2nd — 
World’s Champion Hol¬ 
stein. First 40 lb. cow in 
the world. Produced in one 
week, 41.875 lbs.of batter. 
SCHUMACHER FEED 
was a part of the ration 
during test. 
Castlemain’s Nancy 
4th — World’s Champion 
two-year-old AYRSHIRE, 
averaged 39.7 lbs. milk per 
oay for one year. She was 
fed a grain ration contain¬ 
ing more SCHUMACHER 
than any other feed. 
Auchenbrain Brown Kate 
4th — World’s Champion 
Ayrshire, was fed SCHU¬ 
MACHER as a part of the 
ration. Official test showed 
23.022 lbs. milk for her 
year’s work. 
SCHUMACHER FEED 
No matter what ration you are now feeding, here is one which you will find, as thousands have, not 
? nly P r °duces the maximum milk flow, but also puts your cows in BEST CONDITION and KEEPS them so, regardless of 
ow hard you force their production. It is the ration which helped the World’s Champion Cows to make records. Here it is- 
A Record-Brea kina Feedina Plan Take any of the high protein concentrates you are 
D„ wpr e m i. c -7- - —t7Tr"r ———■ -- now feeding, such as Gluten, Oil Meal, Distillers or 
nf ^ It ^ P I 0Ut I^S-TT?i A^ T ^h b ^ on J? airy Feed and make your ration one-third of these, or a combination 
two-thirds SCHUMACHER FEED. If cottonseed meal is used, make the ration three-fourths 
SCHUMACHER and one-fourth cottonseed meal. 
find tbe ab °Y tbe b e ft combination you ever used and the answer will be in your milk pails and condition of your 
cows after a reasonable period. With SCHUMACHER you can mix your own ration and make it suitable for each individual. 
idell V^nVfVV ™ is cor ?P° s i d finely ground kiln-dried products of com, oats, barley and wheat, so skillfully blended that it makes the 
ideal ration for nulch cows. Also fine for horses and hogs. Your dealer will be glad to supply you. If he can’t-write us direct. 
ASTONISHING RESULTS 
Sophie 19th — World’s 
Champion Jersey, was fed 
on SCHUMACHER as part 
of the ration and made 
1,175 lbs. of butter far the 
year. 
Joanna De Kol Van 
Beers, Second 40 lb. cow 
in the world, produced 
40.32 lbs. butter in one 
week. She was fed a 
ration of SCHUMACHER 
during this test. 
Colantha’s 4th Joanna 
—Champion long distance 
cow of the world, pro¬ 
duced 27,432.5 lbs, of milk 
in one year. SCHU- 
MACHER.FEED was part 
of her ration. 
--- umici wui uc bum tu aujji«y you. n ne can c—write us direct. ot Her ration. 
Sfllllllllllllllfll THE QUAKER OATS COMPANY, Chicago, U. S. A. BIIIIIIIIIIIIIII|r 
