814 
THE RURAL NEW-YORKER 
June 12, 101 r.. 
Live Stock Notes 
Skipping a Milking. 
When cows are milked twice a day 
and a milking is skipped, will it impair 
the quality of the milk drawn at the next 
milking, and does such an occasional skip 
tend to decrease the flow of milk? 
Gasport, N. Y. s. v. A. 
The skipping of one milking will not 
greatly disturb the afterflow of milk of 
a cow, possibly would affect one or two 
milkings. Its influence upon the quali¬ 
ty would not be more than is often found 
in the variations between different milk¬ 
ings. which in many cases are found to be 
considerable, and not as yet explainable. 
The fat percent of a cow’s milk is not 
an invariable factor but varies slightly, 
so that the term average percent for a 
given period was “so much.” The ser¬ 
ious thing about skipping a milking, is 
not so much “just once,” as frequently 
going to town and forgetting to come 
home the same day. J. G. 
How to Grow Pork Cheaply. 
We have of late years given up the 
idea that on our slightly rolling land in 
Central Ohio we can successfully compete 
with farmers in the great level corn belt 
in growing hogs on corn alone at a good 
profit. Of course with the prices of the 
last few years we can make some money 
feeding any kind of hogs in any old way. 
I remember as a boy seeing hogs shut up 
and fed in a dry lot. How surprised I 
was to see some that broke into a field of 
clover greedily eating the blooming plants. 
When we learn that the hog is a graz¬ 
ing animal and supplementary feeds are 
only necessary to hasten development and 
increase profits, we are ready to grow it 
with the greatest possible net profit. The 
method outlined here given is to eliminate 
all the labor possible, thus making the 
cheapest gain and largest net return. 
Last year in an article in Tije R. N.- 
Y. I told how on four acres of clover, one 
acre of rape and four acres of corn and 
Sov beans I produced $450 worth of pork 
without a dollar’s worth of expense iu 
harvesting crop. This year I have two 
acres of Alfalfa and two acres of other 
grasses in a four-acre field. I shall carry 
hogs on this with a very small feed of 
corn until about the 20th of June, when 
they will have in addition one acre of 
dwarf Essex rape sown with oats. This 
grows more , forage than any other crop 
we can grow. The same four-acre lot is 
in corn and Soy beans again this year, 
and there is no reason why when a field 
is prepared for hogs by properly fencing 
ir. it should not grow corn two or three 
years when hogged off. We put one 
pint of the Soy beans to a peck of seed 
corn, mixed in the planter box, and plant 
and cultivate as though going to harvest 
it. I prefer drilling, as the bean stalk 
thus stands by itself instead of in a hill 
of corn. This is the program : The hogs 
are kept on the Alfalfa (or clover) un¬ 
til the rape is from eight to 10 inches 
high, when they are given the run of both 
hits, until the corn is ready, which is 
when it is well hardened. Rape is sown 
in the corn at the last cultivation. The 
hogs are now turned into the corn and 
Soy beans, and allowed to balance their 
own rations. The different feeds and the 
exercise necessary to obtain them keeps 
the hogs in good healthy condition. 
Ohio. IIORATIO MARKLEY. 
Likes a Dog. 
I notice your discussion on the sheep 
and dog question, and in my opinion 
there are two sides to this subject. Here 
in Western Kentucky we have both, and 
there is very little trouble that the dogs 
cause, in fact, there has been only one 
sheep killed in our neighborhood in the 
last three or four years and I have four 
neighbors within one mile of me who have 
quit keeping sheep in the last two years. 
Why? Because they say there is noth¬ 
ing to be made, considering time for car¬ 
ing for them, the loss of lambs and the 
risk of the old sheep dying seemingly 
without any cause. Our sheep men are 
protected from loss from their flock by 
a State dog tax of $1 per head over six 
months old. Over half of this tax is not 
paid out on account of small losses. Will 
some of the dog haters explain why there 
is so much difference in the price of a 
sheep? The assessor comes today, and 
asks the value of a farmer’s sheep and 
they are from $1.50 to $2.50 per head. 
Let a train or a dog kill one and mutton 
becomes dear at once. It has been known 
and proven that there have been sheep 
killed by train and dogs, that were dead 
already. So let the dog lover rest. If he 
wants a dog, and pays the damage, it is 
his business. There are many dogs on 
farms that come nearer paying their way 
than some hired men, and a much better 
companion (morally) for the children. 
Kentucky. n. w. P. 
Poisoning from Wild Gherry. 
I think I have seen a discussion of 
wild cherry poisoning in Tiie R. N.-Y., 
but in moving my files are so mixed up I 
cannot look it up. Please tell me if there 
were given authenticated cases of pois¬ 
oning to animals from wilted wild cherry 
leaves. J. H. p. 
Long Island. 
There is no question about the the dan¬ 
ger from wilted leaves and twigs of the 
wild cherry. The black cherry, a hand¬ 
some and valuable tree, is not generally 
viewed as poisonous, yet it is responsible 
for some mysterious deaths among cat¬ 
tle and horses. A horse may nibble at 
the tempting shoots upon the tree with¬ 
out harm, while wilting branches from 
the same tree may produce the labored 
respiration, numbness, fright and convul¬ 
sions of prussic acid poisoning. It is. ac¬ 
cording to toxicologists, the chemical ac¬ 
tion of two non-poisonous substances, 
which, in wilting, liberate prussic acid. 
The poison is very volatile, and quickly 
passes off, but for a short period it is 
deadly. No doubt many cases of mys¬ 
terious poisoning among cattle may be 
traced to this cause, where the animals 
have had access to freshly-cut brush. 
The flesh of the fruit is not poisonous, 
but children have been killed by eating 
the kernels, and though this wild black 
cherry is often used to flavor liquors, 
the seed itself is open to suspicion. Some 
years ago we had a discussion of this 
matter and some definite cases of poison¬ 
ing by wilted wild cherry and peach were 
reported. 
A Barn Contrivance ; Cats. 
I have installed in the barn on my 
farm a way of disposing of the manure 
which is simple and seems to be more eco¬ 
nomical than any other method so far 
known to me. Our cow-barn is 114 feet 
long, with the manure pit at the end of 
the barn. At this location, above the 
trench, I installed a windlass with one 
stationary and one loose pulley. With a 
long-handled, large scoop-shovel, and a 
rope with one end attached to the shovel 
and the other to the windlass, the manure 
is pulled along the trench behind the 
cows, and deposited in the pit with the 
least waste of labor. Anyone who has 
power can install this machinery. 
A few' years ago the cats at the farm 
began to destroy our chickens, and I sent 
them every one away. Not long after¬ 
ward I observed the rats were multiplying 
very rapidly, and finally they were so 
plenty that all sorts of traps and many 
varieties of poisons were used to rid the 
place of them, and still they became more 
numerous. At last it was thought best to 
bring back the cats. This was about two 
years ago, and the rats have been rapidly 
diminishing ever since. It cannot be 
proved that the cats have done the work, 
but appearances point strongly in that di¬ 
rection. J- H- R- 
Portland, Me. 
E. II. Wentworth of the Kansas Agri¬ 
cultural College makes the good point 
that size in cattle cannot be obtained by 
breeding unless the stock is properly fed. 
While it is true that a hen or a steer bred 
to the habit of doing so will utilize food 
to better advantage than a “scrub,” the 
habit alone will not answer. There must 
be food in order to make profit or size. 
“Many cattlemen in the short grass 
and feed country cannot obtain size in 
their steers by feed, due to its scarcity, 
and hence try to obtain it by breeding 
and inheritance, through the introduc¬ 
tion of big-boned and large-framed bulls. 
Yet it takes a definite amount of feed 
to make a pound's gain, and the big rough 
stock may require more feed a pound 
than smaller-sized animals. The engine 
does not run without coal, but the larger 
it is the more coal it requires. The same 
is true of the steer, except that if it 
lacks fuel it does not develop into as big 
an engine.” 
To distribute milk as a postman would 
mail, is the plan in Jamestown, New 
York. The city will take over the milk 
business, will insure quality, prompt de¬ 
livery and minimum waste in the hand¬ 
ling ' of surplus supply. Such activity 
will be regarded with suspicion and open 
hostility by dairymen. Iu Jamestown 
as in other cities as many as a half doz¬ 
en milkmen cover the same ground and 
deliver to people in the same block. Not 
infrequently it requires a man and team 
to deliver* milk from a medium-sized 
dairy, and no time is left for farm work. 
Erie, Pa., milkmen solved their problem 
through association fifteen years ago, 
and since the dairymen have become 
much more prosperous, the net returns 
are greater, and the farmers would in no 
way return to the old system of each de¬ 
livering his product each day. 
Now Is 
When Hand-Milking Is ® 
An Extremely Costly Proposition b 
m 
T\URINGr having time, when everybody is up to his H 
^ ears in work and when every hour that the hands ■ 
are taken off the job to milk a string of smelly cows H 
means an actual loss of Good monev, the dairy farmer 
is up against a pretty tough proposition. _ 
For cows and hay wait for no man. Hay must ■ 
be cut, cows must be milked. The farmer can’t afford 
to neglect either. 
That’s the time when a blessing in disguise is the ■ 
SHARPLES MILKER: 
IB 
Knowing that the milker is on the job, the hands ■ 
go at the milking in the morning and evening with hi 
none of the old-time ill-humor that they were more » 
or less justified in displaying when hand-milking was » 
necessary. m 
M 
They get right down to business and make short b 
shift of milking. The pump is started, the teat cups 
adjusted, the cows relieved of their milk quickly, 
gently, with beneficial results. No old-fashioned, 
liand-milker rough treatment, jerking of teats, goug¬ 
ing finger nails, half-hearted milking, half-milked 
cows. Simply a steady flow of absolutely clean milk 
into air-tight buckets, one man and a Milker doing 
more and better work than three good hand-milkers 
formerlv did. 
Then there is Sunday and holiday freedom; contented 
hands; purer, higher priced milk; regular sleeping hours ; and— 
quite frequently—an increased production. 
Milking never should seriously interfere with the regular 
work of the men—and it won’t, once you realize the big possibili¬ 
ties of the Sharpies Milker. You already know the Sharpies 
Milker pretty well. You’ve read about it, discussed it with your 
neighbors, perhaps have seen one in operation. You know of the 
big, sound company behind it, with a reputation of making only 
the absolute best. You therefore realize you do not take the 
slightest risk when you invest your money in a Sharpies Milker. 
A Complete Sharpies Milker 
—two unit one-man outfit, capable of milking 20 cows an hour- 
installed in your dairy barn. This outfit includes a simplified single 
cylinder pump, vacuum and pressure tank, valves, gauges, stall 
fixtures, and necessary piping. Also two regular Sharpies milking 
units complete with pulsators, teat cups, rubber tubing inflation, 
and German silver buckets. Installation work and instructions for 
operating the Milker also are included. $288 covers everything. 
With this outfit, one man can easily milk 20 cows in an hour, 
allowing sufficient time for cleaning the Milker. In dairies of 10 or 
more cows this outfit will pay for itself inside of a year. Extra 
units at the standard price may be had at any time. 
Full particulars on request 
Made by the same company that makes the 
SHARPLES TUBULAR CREAM SEPARATOR 
—the word’s standard for a third of a century. 
The Sharpies Separator Company 
West Chester, Pa. 
Principal Branches: Chicago San Francisco 
DISTRICT OFFICES AND AGENCIES EVERYWHERE 
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