590 
O5o RURAL N E W-Y O R K E R 
April 20, 191S 
What the Curb Clamp 
Does toK^ STAR Stalls 
The STAR Curb Clamp has been an undying friend of every 
user of STAR Barn Equipment because it makes the installations 
of these stalls the work of minutes instead of hours. 
Since it is patented, the Curb Clamp is found exclusively on STAR Steel 
Stalls. It does away with templets and anchor bolts and enables you to 
finish up your curb along with the rest of the concrete work. 
To set a stall the STAR Way, just drop it in place—tighten up the Curb 
Clamp draw bolts and the job is done. And the stall is set in sixty seconds 
—taught, tight and permanent. 
_ _ Stalls, 
Sta nchionsMteijlter Carriers 
Among the many exclusive features of STAR Stalls are the Arch Con¬ 
struction giving sanitation and strength—the Unit System by which your 
stalls grow with the herd and the fact that our stalls are assembled in the 
factory not in your barn. 
The Giant Star Stanchion is easily adjustable to any animal s neck—is wood-lined 
and the stronsrest made in addition to being equipped with the One Hand Lock and 
Automatic Sure Stop. The STAR Line of Litter and Feed Carriers meets every 
possible need and reauirement in every size and shape of bam. Our catalogs are 
very interesting and gladly sent free for the asking. 
STAR goods sold by best dealers everywhere 
HUNT-HELM-FERRIS & CO., 23 Hunt St., Harvard, III. 
New York Branch: Industrial Bldg.. Albany, N. Y. 
DANA’S EAR LABELS 
Are stamped with any name or address with serial 
numbers. They are simple, practical and a distinct 
and reliable mark. Samples free. Asents wanted. 
C.H. DANA,74 Main St.,West Lebanon, N.H 
Market Gardener’s Paper 
If you grow vegetables, send M cents for 3 months’ trial 
subscription and find out what you liave been miss¬ 
ing. Do it today. Satisfaction guaranteed or money back. 
MARKET GROWERS JOURNAL, 603 Inler-SMilbern Bldg., Louisville,Ky. 
For Your Empty Bags 
Don’t throw away a sin 
they're worth money to you. Prices are 
'way up now. Cash in on all you have. 
But be sure you get our prices before 
you sell a single one.We guarantee most 
libera! grading. Over 20 years in busi¬ 
ness is your assurance of a square deal 
every time. We buy any quantity. 
Freight paid on all shipments to 
Werthan. Find out what real satisfac¬ 
tion is. Write quick, stating what you 
have. Address I 
WERTHAN BAG CO. A 
66 Dock St. St. Louis, Mo. 
mm 
highest 
empty 
Bags 
Are You Working for the Machine 
or Is the Machine Working for You? 
No one wants to be bossed by a bell, or chased by a 
speedometer. Fixed-feed separators are hard task¬ 
masters, unless cream waste means nothing to you. 
How much better it is to have your separator skim clean at 
any speed—working for you, not against you. Only one 
separator does this—the Sharpies suction-feed. It skims 
equally clean at all speeds, averaging a saving of 10 lbs. of 
butter per cow yearly over any other separator. Every time 
you turn a Sharpies you are saving the butterfat that will 
help win the war. 
SHARPIES 
^ SUCTION-FEED q 
Cream separator 
—the only separator that will skim clean at 
widely-varying speeds 
— ^the only separator that gives cream of un¬ 
changing thickness—all speeds 
—the only separator that will skim your milk 
quicker when you turn faster 
—the only separator with just one piece in 
bowl—no discs, easiest to clean 
—the only separator with knee-low supply 
tank and once-a-month oiling. 
Write today for catalog to nearest office, 
addressing Dept. 12 
The Sharpies Separator Co., West Chester, Pa. 
Sharpies Milkers—used on half a million cows daily 
Branches: Chicago San Francisco Toronto oc 14 
_ 
Inbreeding Swine 
Can I breed father and datightor in 
pigs? How long should I keep a bosir 
after he has been altered? The boar is 
IS months old. Does the meat of a boar 
that old have a tainted taste? E. w. 
Peunsylvania. 
I would not advise breeding animals as 
closely related as father and daughter. 
Three very serious objections are most 
generally recognized. Incestuous mating 
usually decreases size, weakens constitu¬ 
tional vigor and impairs the procreative 
function. Pigs from sneh a mating would 
no doubt he weak and small; they might 
be deformed (crooked necks, one testicle, 
blind or hunch-backed), and unless there 
is some constructive motive like concen¬ 
tration of blood lines to establish a per¬ 
fected type, the practice is objectionable. 
Despite the fact that some of our great¬ 
est improvements in live stock achieve¬ 
ment have resulted from the mating of 
animals more or less closely akin, it is a 
practice that the average prodvicer of 
pork should avoid. It is false economy 
and will usually prove a disappointment 
to the owner of the animals. 
Stags should not be slaughtered for 
meat iintil a period approximating DO 
at the center and base of the throat is 
very much larger than it should be. It 
was then noticed that the hairless pigs 
all had goiter or enlarged thyroid gland, 
and it was found that in the great ma¬ 
jority of cases the greater this enlarge¬ 
ment of the gland, the less development 
of the h.air. It has been observed that 
when the thyroid is removed, or its func¬ 
tions interfered with, the hair and nails 
cease to develoj), and the skin of 
the face and neck becomes thjek and 
l)ulpy. It has been found that iodine is 
essential to the normal development of 
this thyroid gland. When the gland is 
enlarged iodine is either lacking, or very 
low in amount. Analysis of these glands 
from hairless pigs show that the iodine 
was very low in comparison with normal 
glands. It is also found that the pigs 
with the least hair had the least iodine 
in these glands. The conclusion was 
that for some reason the sows were not 
getting the re(iuisite amount of iodine in 
their food and water. With that theory 
an experiment was tried in feeding iodine 
to the sows in the shape of iodide of po¬ 
tassium. In this feeding two to five 
grains of the drug were given daily for 
Litter of Pigs, Including Animals Affected with Ooitcr 
days has elapsed. In any event the meat 
will be coarse, though not of necessity 
strong or off flavor. The wound may take 
some time to heal; the shoulders will of 
cour.se he “shieldy” and the quality of 
the meat less tempting as the age or size 
of the animal increases. Often, howevei-, 
I have observed boars slaughtered and 
their carcasses sold over the counter as 
fresh meat, even though they were entire 
at killing time. There is difference of 
opinion here, no doubt due perhaps to 
the great difference in standards estab¬ 
lished by various consumers. 
F. C. MIXKLER. 
Feeding Iodine to Sows 
The Montana Experiment Station at 
Hozeman has issued Oircular 71, which 
tells of a curious trouble with pigs. It 
appears that there arc certain sections 
in all the Northwestern States where the 
newborn of the domestic animals were 
often defective. Newborn p‘ arc hair¬ 
less, and seldom live. The calves are fre¬ 
quently hairless, and more frequently had 
cases of goiter or “big-neck.” It appears 
that in Montana the lu’avy loss was in 
pigs, and it is said that annually about 
100,000 young pigs die from this cause. 
It seems to be a disease of definite locali¬ 
ties. but outside of those there are scat¬ 
tering cases. It is not entirely a fixed 
disease, as there may he variations in a 
single pen of sows or in a single litter. 
For instance, the picture here reproduced 
shows one litter of seven pigs, three 
being normal, while four were nearly 
haii'less. The disease does not see’"’ to 
depend on any system of feed, care or 
management, for these hairless pigs seem 
to be produced regardless of the method 
of handling or feeding. Many causes for 
the trouble have been suggested, such as 
improper rations, alkali in ti e soil, short¬ 
age of water, and others, but all were 
rejected. Investigations of the little pig 
showed that it is geuei’ally of full size, 
but hairless, except on the head. The 
skin is thick and pulpy, the hair is not 
fully developed, and the thyroid gland 
a month, being fed in the grain. Thi.s 
feeding has been carried on at the Mon¬ 
tana station very carefully, and as a re¬ 
sult Howard Welch, veterinarian, says he 
feels justified in feeding the iodine to 
domestic animals where goiter is preva¬ 
lent. The use of the drug seemed gen¬ 
erally to prevent these hairless pigs, and 
the results were quite marked. This may 
not be of general interest, except in cases 
where this trouble occurs, hut hog men 
generally will be interested in the bulle¬ 
tin, which is well written and clearly ex¬ 
pressed. 
Endless Chain of Pigs 
The picture at Fig. 283, page 579, 
shows a group of pig boys in ^'irginia, 
who are starting an endless chain of pigs. 
The scheme is outlined in a Richmond 
(Va.) paper as follows: 
I’ig culture by boys on an endles.s‘ chain 
l)lan is to he inaugurated in Henrico 
County this year, and the young agricul¬ 
turists are enthusiastic over the pro.spects 
of raising hog.s, when pork is selling at 
l)rices never before dreamed of by the 
farmers of this locality. The plan was 
worked out by W., L. Kirby, farm demon¬ 
strator and agricultural agent of the 
county. 
At the State Fair last October Mr. 
Kirby won ,$2(X) in prizes with an ex¬ 
hibit* made from the coiinty. The money 
has been invested in 19 purebred Duroc- 
Jersey female pigs, and these are to be 
given 16 hoys, .sous of farmers of the 
county. The only condition in the gift 
is that the pigs are to be well taken care 
of, and two female pigs are to be given 
Mr. Kirby from the first litters raised. 
The 32 pigs thus obtained by Mr. Kirby 
will then be given to 32 boys on the same 
conditions as the first 16 were distrib¬ 
uted. The second return of pigs to the 
farm demonstrator will be 64, and these 
will be given to as many hoys, and the 
plan is to he continued as long as boys 
can be found who will undertake to raise 
pigs. 
The plan of Mr. Kirby will not only 
encourage the boys in stock raising, but 
it will help to stock the county with high- 
grade hogs. 
Customer: “I want to make a flag for 
a home regiment. Now, will these colors 
run?” Salesman: “Madam, that will de¬ 
pend entirely on the regiment’s line of 
action.”—Baltimore American. 
