1280 
The RURAL. NEW-YORKER 
Silage Left in Silo 
On page 1146, under the heading “Keep¬ 
ing Silage Over Summer,” F. H. says he 
has three feet of silage left in his silo 
and wants to know how to keep it till 
next Winter. Let us drop theory for a 
time and talk about experience. In the 
Summer of 1889 I helped to build a silo 
on my father’s farm in Southern Minne¬ 
sota. It was one of the old-fashioned 
rectangular kind, built in one end of the 
barn, and was about 15x27 feet in size 
and 24 feet deep. The following Spring, 
iwhen the cows were turned out to grass, 
we had about six feet of silage left in the 
silo. We simply left it there till the pas¬ 
tures began to be a little short in the dry 
weather of August. We then went into 
the silo and found a dense mat of white 
mold about two inches thick over the 
surface of the silage. This was removed 
and under it the silage was as good as 
any I ever saw. We fed it to the cows 
till we began to fill the Flo again with 
the new corn. This was during the last 
days of August. At that time we had 
about three feet of the old silage left. 
The new silage was put in on top of the 
old. The next year we again had some 
silage left for Summer feeding, but not 
so much as the first year, and this time 
we got to within two feet of the bottom 
before putting in the new corn. In the 
Spring of 1892 I dug the last of the origi¬ 
nal 1889 silage from the bottom of the 
silo. It was perfectly good silage and 
as sweet as any I ever handled. It was 
so firmly packed that it was real work to 
dig it loose with a fork. 
In the light of this experience, my ad¬ 
vice to F. H. would be to give his silage 
a good letting alone. If he should cover 
it with anything it would seem to me very 
foolish to “loosen it up from time to time 
to allow the air to circulate through it. 
It is long past the settling stage. 
J. M. DKEW. 
The Farm Superintendent’s Wife Talks 
I have read with much interest the 
letter of “City Farmer,” and the editorial 
comment on the same. I think the edi¬ 
torial sums up the situation pretty thor¬ 
oughly. Perhaps a few illustrations of 
what actually has come under my obser¬ 
vation will be interesting. For several 
years I worked for men who were trying 
to help city farmers obtain farm super¬ 
intendents. One of these men visited 
such farmers and tried to help the own¬ 
ers. Then I married a farm superinten¬ 
dent. I was brought up in the city, but 
had always longed to live in the country. 
One day a student came into the office 
of the travelling advisor to ask about 
accepting the managership of a certain 
farm. “It will be all right,” was the re¬ 
ply, “while Mr. A. is in Europe, but you 
will not be able to do anything while he 
is in America.” 
Mr. B, a promising college graduate, 
accepted a position as superintendent of 
a wealthy estate. Several years later he 
left, discharged I think. I overheard a 
friend ask his successor why he had failed. 
“He never had a chance,” was the in¬ 
stant reply. 
One wealthy man who had put in all 
modern conveniences, and done everything 
else he could to make his farm a pleasant 
living place, said: “I have only one fault 
to find with my farmer. He is dirty per¬ 
sonally and about the farm.” 
I want to give one instance of our own 
troubles as farm superintendent, because 
it illustrates a common fault of city 
farmers. They may be the most success¬ 
ful of men in hiring help in the city, but 
they do not seem to know an honest man 
in the country. 
My husband went to work for Mr. C. 
When he took the place there was a man 
working there whom I will call Ed Jones. 
Mr. C. praised him highly. He was a 
carpenter and had worked on the new 
buildings which had been put up. For 
the next few weeks, every man in the 
neighborhood that my husband met, 
warned him to look out for Ed Jones. 
One of these men lived six miles from us. 
No one of the neighboring farmers would 
hire him, because he would not give them 
a fair day’s work. A few r months later, 
my husband said one day, “I don’t see 
how Mr. C expects me to get things done, 
when he countermands my orders, as soon 
as my back is turned.” My husband, by 
the way, took practically two days in the 
week to make deliveries of farm butter, 
etc., in a neighboring city. Some months 
later he said, “What do you suppose Ed 
is doing now? If I set him at a job he 
does not like, he goes to Mr. S. and says 
‘Don’t you think I’d better do. so and 
so?’” One day I stood at the window 
watching my husband as he drove out. 
As I turned away, I saw Ed Jones enter 
the incubator cellar. He had no business 
there and an incubator full of chickens 
was due to hatch so I stayed to see what 
would happen. In about an hour he 
came out, walked straight over to the 
house and said: “The incubator full of 
chickens is burned up.” My husband’s 
last job before leaving was to. look at 
that incubator, and it was all right that 
morning. We boarded the hired men. We 
had trouble almost from the start. We 
begged Mr. C. to come and see for himself 
what the men had to eat. He would not. 
We had definite information before we 
left that the trouble was stirred up by 
Ed Jones. Some eight months after we 
went on the farm I was warned that Ed 
Jones was telling everyone around that 
my husband was to leave at the end of the 
year and he was to take the farm. My 
husband stayed a second year and Ed 
Jones did not take his place, but Mr C 
had not yet found him out. 
My h sband had interested Mr. C in 
purebred cattle; he had taken care of the 
poultry and ducks and a garden. There 
was a coachman on the place on whose 
hands time hung heavy, but Mr. C never 
thought of having him take care of the 
garden. The farmer who succeeded my 
husband refused to raise poultry or care 
for a garden, although he had an auto¬ 
mobile to do the peddling, while my hus¬ 
band had used a horse. It would have 
been possible without increasing the 
amount of help to have increased the 
butter trade, but Mr. C would not do it. 
There were people begging for butter. Do 
not think that I consider my husband had 
no faults. I am not discussing the faults 
of the farm superintendent but the owner. 
There are two types of the “City Far¬ 
mer.” They are the man who was brought 
up in the country and had gone into the 
city and made a fortune; and the rich 
man who was born and brought up in the 
city. The former has less trouble than 
the latter. I am thinking only of the 
latter. I suppose he gets his idea of a 
country estate from the places he sees in 
Europe. But in Europe there have al¬ 
ways been farm superintendents. Here 
they have not been, and the American 
farmer has an independence partly inher¬ 
ited and partly acquired. He does not 
“knuckle under.” Neither does he under¬ 
stand the “City Farmer.” He has been 
brought up in the country where it is a 
hard struggle to obtain a living. There 
has been little or no leisure to beautify 
his place. 
One thing which the “City Farmer” 
does not consider is that the farmer’s 
wife must be taken into consideration. 
It is all right to provide her with all 
modern improvements, but she does not 
want a kitchen 22*4 feet long by 12 feet 
wide, which were the dimensions of the 
kitchen in the place I have been describ¬ 
ing above. The outside of the house is the 
“City Farmer’s” main consideration. The 
farmer’s wife does not care whether you 
copy an English, French, or Swiss cot¬ 
tage, or a Spanish castle, but do let some 
practical woman plan the interior. No 
city architect has yet solved the problem. 
MARGARET GRACE. 
July 31, 1920 
polyvalent calf dysenteric serum or with 
a calf scours bacteria. Consult the local 
graduate veterinarian about that method 
of treatment. It will even have a reme¬ 
dial effect in some cases of the disease if 
applied in time. 
Skin Disease 
Dysentery of Calves 
What will stop scours or dysentery in 
young calves? For the past four or five 
months nearly every calf has had the 
scours, and most of them die. Feces pass 
from them like water, very light yellow 
in color. It starts when the calves are 
between 24 and 48 hours old. Can you 
tell me what will stop it, if possible? 
New York. p. w. 
You describe an infectious disease com¬ 
monly called “calf cholera” or “white 
scours,” _ which is caused by germs, and 
is born in the calf or. contracted at birth 
by way of the raw navel or mouth. It 
does not respond to medicinal treatment, 
but usually may be prevented as follows: 
Perfectly cleanse, disinfect and white¬ 
wash the stable. Concrete floors should 
be put in if the present ones are of earth 
or boards. Instantly at birth saturate 
the stump of the navel with tincture of 
iodine, then dust with fine sifted slaked 
lime. Repeat the applications daily until 
the navel is perfectly healed. Also cleanse 
and disinfect the cow’s teats before the 
calf is allowed to suck for the first time, 
and then once daily for a week, if the 
calf is allowed to nurse. The calf also 
should be immunized at birth with a 
I have a cow afflicted with barn itch. 
She is covered with patches of small 
brown scabby spots and more are ap¬ 
pearing all the time. I have clipped her 
and treated her with sulpho-napthol and 
carbolated vaseline with no result. What 
treatment would you advise? She has 
been fresh two months and has dropped 
several pounds in production since. She 
is an excellent feeder. Could one attrib¬ 
ute this drop to the disease? Could a 
horse get the disease from the cow? 
Massachusetts c. h. m. 
If a cow has true parasitic ringworm 
(barn itch) it may spread to man or 
other animals, but the disease in the case 
mentioned may be eczema. That we can¬ 
not decicfe, however, without making a 
personal examination. The ringworm 
spot is covered with thick scabs or crusts, 
and occurs chiefly about the eyes and on 
face and neck of calves, but may occur 
upon the body, especially about the tail 
and head. A solution of four ounces of 
sulphate of copper (bluestone) to the 
pint of hot water applied once a week is 
an effective remedy for ringworm on the 
body, but cannot be used on the face. 
The other night Maisie’s father brought 
a guest home to dinner, a very intense 
young man. He sat next to Maisie at 
table. “Everyone has a mission in life,” 
he murmured to Maisie after the fish 
course. “Is that so?” asked Maisie in 
surprise. “What is yours, then?” “My 
dear young lady.” he said, “my mission is 
to save young men.” It was too much for 
Maisie. “That’s fine!” she giggled. “I 
wish you’d save a nice one for me!”— 
Melbourne Australasian. 
BH 
(This announcement is made with the approval of the Bureau of Animal Industry. United States Department of Agriculture) 
Better Sires-Better Stock 
$1,000 Money Prize 
U NDER rules and conditions provided by the Bureau of 
Animal Industry, United States Department of Agri¬ 
culture, a money prize of one thousand dollars will be paid 
by Chapin & Company, Chicago, to that county in the 
United States which first becomes free from inferior sires. 
By inferior sires are meant low quality 
purebred sires as well as all crossbred, 
grade and scrub sires. The word “sires” 
includes stallions, bulls, jacks, rams,boars 
and bucks. Poultry is not included. 
A county eligible to receive the prize 
must have a total of 500 or more sires of 
all classes and 5,000 or more head of 
female breeding stock. 
All owners of males kept for breeding 
purposes, in the classes mentioned, and a 
majority of other livestock owners in the 
county, must have declared their inten¬ 
tion of hereafter using nothing but pure¬ 
bred sires by joining the “Better Sires— 
Better Stock” campaign of the Bureau 
of Animal Industry. 
Upon notification by a County Agent 
or the officer of a county livestock organ¬ 
ization, that the county he represents is 
free from inferior sires, the Bureau of 
Animal Industry will investigate the 
claim. If the Federal expert finds that 
the county is, in fact, free from inferior 
sires, the Chief of the Bureau of Animal 
Industry will declare that county as 
winner of the prize. 
The prize money will be deposited in a 
local bank to the credit of the County 
Agent, official of the county livestock 
organization or other person or persons 
considered best qualified to administer 
the fund. It will be maintained as a 
revolving fund from which loans may be 
made to persons desiring to purchase 
purebred sires in any of the classes men¬ 
tioned. After three years from date of 
the award, the fund, with accumulated 
interest, will be distributed in five equal 
prizes, in open competition, for the most 
meritorious young stock resulting from 
the use of purebred sires. One prize for 
horses, beef cattle, dairy cattle, sheep 
and swine. 
County agents or officials of county livestock organizations desiring to enter their 
counties as competitors for this prize, will indicate their intention of so doing by letter 
to Chapin 86 Company, sending a duplicate of the letter to the Chief of Bureau of 
Animal Industry, United States Department of Agriculture, Washington, D. C. 
No time limit is placed on the offer of this prize. No other rules govern the com¬ 
petition except those herewith provided by the Bureau of Animal Industry. 
In addition to the money prize, the county that is declared winner will be pre¬ 
sented with a silk banner and a certificate signed by Secretary of Agriculture 
E, T. Meredith and Dr. John R. Mohler, Chief of Bureau of Animal Industry. 
CHAPIN &; COMPANY 
327 S. La Salle Street Chicago, Illinois 
