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4 
A “Sucker” Comes to Confession 
HE saying that “there is a sucker born every 
minute” is a very true one. I have been caught 
.so will make way for the next. There surely will 
be one; there were others before me, as I have late¬ 
ly found out. Now I will tell what led me to say 
the above. 
In January, 1915, I attended a sale of cattle. On 
the bill was advertised for sale a registered cow. 
When this cow was put up I bid on her, and she 
was struck off to me. The next day I and my 
man went after her. He went in and got the cow, 
while I got the papers that went with her. I gave 
my note, indorsed, for the amount I bid, $101. Of 
course I was new to registered cattle, and supposed 
when I got the papers and the cow I was all right, 
so next day I sent the papers in to the association 
to be transferred, the seller saying he did not want 
to do it, as it would not cost much and he did not 
have time. I consented to do it, as I was anxious 
to get the cow in my name. It ran along five or 
six weeks, when the cow calved, and she had trou¬ 
ble and was very sick. A neighbor came one day 
and said that the cow was not registered, so I got 
the papers and found they did not compare with 
the cow. That was the first I thought of compar¬ 
ing the papers. This neighbor told me a man had 
put these papers on the cow during the sale, and 
he had seen him. I went to the seller and told 
him how it was. He said he would not take the 
cow back unless I could bring her as I got her. 
That put me off, and I did not take her back which 
I should have done, even though I put her on a 
stone boat. He woiild not settle. I offered $75, 
but he wanted more, I went to a lawyer and he 
told me to go to the bank and have a notice put on 
the note, which I did, and then I thought I was 
good on the note part. 
I let the note run past the date it was due, when 
about a week after the indorser got a Supreme 
Court summons saying a woman owned the note 
and wanted it paid. Of course a suit was started. 
I went again to my lawyer, and he said if this note 
had been transferred and the holder paid full value, 
and would say she knew of no trouble, I would 
have to pay. He went to see the woman, who 
proved to be a sLster of the seller. Of course she 
maintained she bought the note in good faith and 
l>aid value, so I had to pay up. Now tell me where 
a man who gets in such a scrape has any show? 
You see the notice I put on the note was taken off, 
and for all I know this woman is not telling the 
truth. ,You see a man ought to be just as sure that 
the man he gives a note to is good, same as when 
he takes one, for if this man was good I could go 
back and sue him, but he is not. 
Since getting in this trouble I find people he has 
“.stung,” so you see I was one sucker who just hap¬ 
pened along. The whole deal cost me in the end 
about $1.30, but I will take my medicine, and you 
may believe that notes will be rather distasteful 
to me from now on. Also when buying registered 
stock, I will compare the papers on the spot, and 
the seller will transfer them or there will be no 
sale with me. I tell you all this not for sympathy, 
but to ease my mind, as I see such trouble is given 
a hearing in The R. N.-Y. I will try to be a game 
loser and pass my experience along whenever I get 
the chance. 
Montgomery Co., N. Y. 
p, N.-Y.—^This man deserves a vote of thanks for 
giving this little history. Most people hide the 
place where they were stung and say nothing about 
it. The result is that others get into the same 
- trouble. Surely no man who reads this story will 
get caught in the same way. It is a good New 
Year’s reminder. 
Here is a New One—Ox Power 
W HEN I am asked if I do any farming, I 
usually reply: “As much as I can afford.” 
Just what to do with land in the suburbs that is 
taxed for $1,000 an, acre is a problem. After seeing 
a good field lie idle 10 years I recently had it 
plowed. Two men and two horses were considered 
necessary, and the plowing of less than an acre 
cost $15.50. I intend to plant potatoes next Spring, 
but in a recent R. N.-Y. I read two reports of the 
cost of raising potatoes, and in each case the plow¬ 
ing cost $3 an acre. Evidently the suburbanite can¬ 
not compete with the professional farmer, and it 
would probably be cheaper to pay $5 a bushel for 
potatoes and leave one’s land (and peace of mind) 
undisturbed. It has occurred to me that a single 
ox might be the best solution of the traction prob¬ 
lem on such a place as mine, and I should like your 
opinion of the possibilities as I see them. 
1. An ox could do the plowing, harrowing, culti- 
RURAL NEW-YORKER 
3-ating, haying and hauling and do heavier work 
than a jingle horse. 
2. The hay I now dispose of with difficulty would 
feed an ox. 
3. No shoeing required. 
4. The manure would be valuable for the garden. 
I buy it now at $8 a cord. 
5. The idle land would pasture an ox six months 
or more each year. 
So much for the theoretical possibilities. I will 
not dwell on the aesthetic and psychological con¬ 
siderations at this time. 
On the other side is the difficulty of getting a 
well-trained ox. Such a rig as is used abroad, a 
pad and cross bar fastened in front of the horns, 
with traces attached and the driving done with 
reins, would be the most practical method for one 
man to handle, but where can one find an ox trained 
for this? If you consider my suggestion practical 
I shall be very glad to buy such an ox if any of 
your readers have one for sale. I will make the 
experiment and report the result. 
If I succeed in carrying out the scheme you shall 
have photographs of the various processes and an 
accurate record of work accomplished and expenses, 
for the benefit of any who may care to repeat the 
experiment. It is not an attempt to compete with 
the Aroostook potato grower or the Dakota wheat 
farm, although we have been encouraged to hope 
that the small tractor might help in that direction. 
Recently, however, I saw a demonstration of plow¬ 
ing by a small up-to-date tractor, and I was dis¬ 
appointed, for it did not seem suited to a farm of 
a few acres. The demonstrator admitted that a 
hor.se would be needed for cultivating. If the man 
with a few acres must keep a hor.se for his farm 
work he will hardly feel warranted in keeping a 
tractor also. We may find that the ox will take 
the place of a horse plus a small tractor. p. 
Massachusetts. 
R. N.-Y.—This will make Western farmers smile, 
but it only serves to show how conditions vary. 
Here is a man close to a great city where many 
five-acre farms may produce more in value than 100 
acres in Dakota, Montana or Oklahoma! Under 
such conditions, going back to the .single ox may be 
an economical and practical plan. For what is a 
“practical plan” if not one which fits in with actual 
conditions? We hope this plan can be carried out. 
The only way to know anything about it is to try 
it. Who can furnish the trained ox at a fair price? 
After all, it is something to consider when we think 
of the ox producing a crop of potatoes and then 
passing on into beef to make a balanced ration with 
his crop. 
Will It Pay to Ship Hen Manure ? 
We note on page 1421 an inquiry regarding hen 
manure salability. We would very much like to get 
into touch with poultrymen having manure for sale, 
and would gladly advertise for same in your paper if 
we can see a way to making it a practical business 
operation. This manure is very valuable to us, as I 
have proved by experiment, and we would gladly pur¬ 
chase in considerable quantities—at least 10 tons per 
year—if we can buy at a unit value for its ammonia 
and phosphoric acid content at all comparable to that 
in ordinary commercial fertilizer. Can you put us in 
touch with persons who might be interested in solving 
the question as to whether we can afford to pay the 
initial cost with freight added? We are rather of the 
opinion that with reasonable preparation by drying it 
might be practicable to use this manure, provided al- 
w^ays that it is not too much adulterated by absorbents. 
We can have analyses made at our experiment station. 
Florida. esperanza fruit co. 
IJRING past years we have had a good many 
letters from poultrymen who want to sell dried 
hen manure. Our experience shows that the best 
way to find a customer is usually to advertise the 
manure in the local papers. You can generally find 
some farmer or fruit grower who will buy such 
manure at a fair price when he can get it with a 
short haul. As a rule it does not pay to ship guch 
manure any great distance. It is bulky, and varies 
greatly in composition, so that while one sample 
might be worth considerable money, another which 
contains more dirt and feathers might not come up 
to the first sample in quality. Some months ago 
we published severjfl articles about the manure at 
plants where poultry were fattened. There were 
many letters from people who wanted to buy the 
product, but when they figured the cost of freight 
they gave up the plan, as it would cost too much 
to bag and ship such manure. We should regard it 
as impractical to attempt to ship poultry manure 
from the North to Florida. By the time freight 
and handling were paid the plant food would prob¬ 
ably cost more than equal amounts of nitrogen, 
phosphoi’us and potash in chemical fertilizers. If 
any poultryman wants to try shipping the manure 
in this way we will, as an experiment, put him in 
touch with this firm or others who may want to 
January 6, 1917. 
buy, as we would like if possible to develop such a 
trade. Our judgment, however, is that this kind 
of manure is too bulky to permit profitable ship¬ 
ment. We have for some time advised the men who 
run large chicken farms to try the plan of turning 
this manure into a mixed fertilizer by drying it 
fully and mixing nitrate of soda, bone or acid phos¬ 
phate with it. They could, with a little experience, 
develop a very good mixture for garden crops or 
potatoes, and we believe there would be some profit 
in such a venture. As for buying the manure alone, 
we think its sale will be limited to the locality for 
short hauls and prompt removal. 
Cost of a Two-year-old Heifer 
I have been asked to take a three-months-old heifer 
to board for two years, and I have figured the cost. I 
estimated that the calf would eat about two tons of 
hay a year m addition to pasturage. Figuring the hay 
at $12 a ton, the price at which I am selling it at the 
present time, and the pasturage at $4 a season, which 
is the current price, it made the cost of the roughage 
$28, Then I figured on giving it three quarts of pain 
a day. The grain I am feeding is a mixture which I 
was told by a student who worked for me they were 
using at Cornell. It consists of .30 lbs. each of ground 
oats, cornmeal and bran and 10 lbs. of oil meal. The 
present prices are: Ground oats $2; cornmeal $1.95; 
bran $1.40; oil meal $2.10 a hundred. I figured this 
feed mixed at $2 per hundred, which I thought was 
no more than .safe, as prices are likely to advance dur¬ 
ing the Winter and I really ought to make some 
charge for drawing and mixing the feed. The exact 
cost of the mixture, exclusive of labor, is $1.78l^ per 
hundred. A quart of this feed weighs three-quarters 
of a pound and I therefore figured the cost of this 
ration at 2i/4 lbs. for the three quarts, to allow for 
a slight wastage, making the cost of the grain five 
cents per day, which would be $1..50 per month, or 
$18 a year. I figured that the manure would offset the 
bedding and stable room, and think this a liberal al¬ 
lowance. The cost of the feed as above totals $46 for 
the year, and I divided it into eight months at $5 and 
four months at $4. I added, a dollar for labor during 
the eight months, making the charge .$6 per month and 
the other four months at .$4 per month. This makes 
the total for the twm years $108, whereas $100 is con¬ 
sidered around here a high price for a cow, and the 
person who wants me to board the calf, says I am way 
off in my figures. I think my labor charge is much too 
low, as it was ba.sed on an estimate of 10 minutes per 
day, which would make five hours per month, which at 
20 cent.s, the prevailing rate here, figures $1. In ad¬ 
dition I have not made any labor charge for four months, 
though of course there would be some labor in taking 
care of the calf during these months, as it would have 
to be given its grain the same as during the Winter. 
Do you think that the grain ration is too large for a 
Guernsey calf? Do you think that a man could pos¬ 
sibly take care of a calf, feeding it three times daily, 
cleaning it off and cleaning its stable on an average of 
10 minutes a day, even when done in connection with 
the feeding of other calves? o. G, H. 
T he following table taken from Bulletin 289 of 
the Ohio Experiment Station on “Raising 
Dairy Heifers” shows item.? to be considered, and 
with exception of grain fee^d, and labor, up to date 
figures on their costs. 
1 st year 
2 d year 
For 2 years 
Value at birth. 
. ,$5.00 
$5.00 
Cost of labor. 
. 6.50 
5.00 
11..50 
Bedding . 
. 2.00 
2..50 
4..50 
Service fees . 
1..50 
1.50 
Tools, etc. 
.. 1.00 
..50 
1..50 
Housing . 
. 2.00 
2.00 
4.00 
Interest and taxes (6%). 
. 1.29 
3..39 
4.68 
Total fixed charges. . . . 
. 17.79 
14.89 
32.68 
Credit by manure. 
. 3.00 
6.00 
9.00 
Net cost . 
, . 14.79 
8.89 
2.3.68 
Feed . 
. . 28.5.3 
28.34 
56.32 
Total ... 
37.23 
80.00 
However, this is figured for every day in the 
year, and for a late Fall calf, where pasture condi¬ 
tions are good, practically no labor is required dur¬ 
ing pasture season. The grain feed averages a little 
less than 1.5 cent per lb., which is low for this sea¬ 
son. 
The following table taken from the same bulle¬ 
tin shows the amount and kind of feed fed to heif¬ 
ers during first two years of their life. These fig¬ 
ures are obtained by averaging requirements of 29 
Jersey and 22 Holstein heifers. 
Feed Consumed—Pounds. 
Days Fi.xed 
In charges Net 
Milk Milk Pas- Feed less total 
W'hole Skim Grain Silage n.ay Stover ture cost credit cost 
457 2.920 1,433 3,887 2,010 2C7 275 ?68.32 $23.68 $80.00 
From these figures it can be seen that your as¬ 
sumption that manure would pay for bedding and 
housing was about right. I should say your figures 
could be revised about as follows: 
Expenses of keeping three-months calf for two years 
to come: 
Cost of labor, 14 mo., at $1.$14.00 
Service fee . 2.00 
Cost of pasture 2 seasons, at $4. 8.00 
Cost of hay, 2 tons, at $12. 24.00 
Cost of grain, 1,500 lbs. of grain, at 2 cents.30.00 
$78.00 
The labor charge is about as you figured it. An 
additional sum of $2 has been added for a service 
fee to come in on the second year. Since this calf 
is three months old now, it will not eat a large 
amount of hay this Winter, and should be in shape 
