813 
Live  Stock  Questions 
Answered  by  Prof.  F.  C.  Minkler 
Improving  Ration 
I  do  not  get  results  from  my  Jersey 
cows  as  I  should.  I  am  feeding  at  pres¬ 
ent  equal  parts  by  weight  of  cob  meal, 
ground  oats  and  gluten  me  .1.  I  give 
them  a  gallon  measure  full  twice  a  day. 
I  have  only  poor  hay  for  roughage,  Red- 
top,  some  Timothy.  I  have  lots  of  corn 
on  the.  ear,  but  have  to  buy  all  the  rest, 
even  hay.  I  have  eight  cows.  I  would 
rather  not  use  be-'t  pulp.  What  ration 
should  I  feed  when  they  get  green  rye 
and  oats,  as  I  have  no  pasture  to  speak 
of.  A.V., 
New  Jersey. 
The  average  run  of  gluten  meal  carries 
about  35  per  cent  protein.  If  this  were 
combined  with  corn  and  cobmeal  and 
ground  oats  in  equal  proportion,  it.  would 
give  a  mixture  yielding  about  17  per  cent 
of  protein.  Better  results  would  follow 
the  use  of  more  variety  and  the  obtaining 
of  your  protein  from  different  sources. 
Linseed  meal  at  the  present  time  is  rela¬ 
tively  low  in  cost  and  compares  favorably 
in  price  with  gluten  feed,  the  latter  yield¬ 
ing  about  23  per  cent  of  protein.  It  is 
proposed  that  you  feed  a  ration  consist¬ 
ing  of  200  lbs.  ground  oats,  200  lbs.  corn 
and  cobmeal,  200  lbs.  gluten  meal.  200 
lbs.  oilmeal,  200  lbs.  bran.  This  is  in¬ 
tended  for  cows  on  dry  feed,  where  beet 
pulp  provides  some  succulence,  and  where 
the  animals  are  given  all  of  a  good  grade 
of  mixed  hay  that  they  will  clean  up  with 
relish.  The  roughage  that  you  describe 
is  ill-suited  for  use  in  feeding  dairy  cows. 
As  soon  as  the  soiling  crops,  such  as 
rye,  oats  and  peas,  are  available,  the  grain 
ration  can  be  modified  to  a  combination 
of  300  lbs.  ground  oats,  300  lbs.  corn  and 
cob  meal,  150  lbs.  cottonseed  meal.  250 
lbs.  gluten  feed.  If  you  care  to  limit 
your  ration  to  the  cobmeal,  ground  oats, 
gluten  meal  and  linseed  meal,  then  a  mix¬ 
ture  consisting  of  150  lbs.  linseed  meal, 
250  lbs.  gluten  meal,  300  lbs.  oats,  300 
lbs.  corn  and  cobmeal  should  be  used. 
Short  Ration  for  Good  Cow 
I  have  a  cow  five  years  old,  milking 
40  lbs.  a  day.  I  cannot  get  her  fat.  She 
seems  to  be  getting  poorer  every  day.  I 
am  feeding  her  one  bushel  silage  one 
quart  cornmeal,  one  quart  gluten,  two 
quarts  cracked  oats  to  a  feeding,  twice  a 
day,  and  all  the  clover  hay  she  will  clean 
up.  but  do  not  give  her  any  hay  evenings. 
New  York.  .T.  C.  M. 
Your  family  cow  that  is  milking  40  lbs. 
of  milk  per  day  is  not  being  fed  a  suffi¬ 
cient  amount  of  grain.  Naturally  the 
flesh  on  her  body  is  melting  into  milk,  for 
vou  are  not  providing  her  with  a  ration 
that  will  enable  her  to  maintain  her 
body  weight  and  at  the  same  time  produce 
as  much  milk  as  you  report.  A  cow 
giving  40  lbs.  of  milk  per  day  should  be 
fed  12  lbs.  daily  of  a  mixture  consisting 
of  15  lbs.  oilmeal.  30  lbs.  gluten  meal,  20 
lbs.  oats,  35  lbs.  corn.  The  chances  are 
that  this  cow  is  a  persistent  milker,  and 
more  attention  should  be  paid  to  putting 
her  into  high  condition  during  the  time 
that  she  is  dry.  The  latter  ration  can  be 
fed  "when  the  cow  is  turned  out  to  pasture, 
and  ought  to  make  it  possible  for  you  to 
maintain  satisfactory  production  during 
the  entire  lactation  period. 
Water  Supply;  Milking  Machine;  Car* 
of  Bull 
1.  I  am  engaged  to  build  up  one  of  the 
finest  and  largest  purebred  Guernsey 
dairy  herds  in  this  community.  With  a 
herd  of  30  at  present,  and  the  prospective 
increase  to  probably  several  hundred,  I 
need  a  reliable  water  supply.  I  have  a 
well  about  3  or  4  ft.  in  diameter,  about 
12  ft.  deep  down  to  solid  slate  rock.  Al¬ 
though  on  a  springy  location,  it  went 
nearly  dry  this  year,  and  the  result  was 
that  my  cattle  had  to  brave  the  cold 
Winter  days  to  go  for  a  drink  to  the  pas¬ 
ture  every  day.  Would  it  pay  me  to  dig 
a  well  in  this  springy  place  down  to  the 
rock,  constructing  its  walls  of  concrete 
with  small  tile  or  iron  pipe  sections  laid 
across  the  concrete  walls  to  give  the  water 
free  entrance  into  the  well  of  about  10x10 
ft.  or  12x12  ft.?  2.  Being  engaged  in 
sanitary  milk  production,  is  it  possible  to 
use  a  milking  machine  and  have  as  low 
a  bacteria  count  as  if  milked  by  hand, 
provided  the  milking  machine  is  properly 
taken  care  of?  3.  How  large  a  herd  can 
a  purebred  Guernsey  sire  17  months  old, 
ii_  good  condition,  under  scientific  care, 
take  care  of?  J.  R, 
New  York. 
1.  It  is  reasonable  to  suppose  that  the 
deepening  of  the  spring,  as  proposed, 
would  provide  an  abundance  of  water. 
Much,  however,  would  depend  upon  the 
source  of  supply,  and  it  might  be  neces¬ 
sary  to  drill  through  several  strata  of 
stone  and  seek  other  channel  supplies. 
2.  The  milking  machine  has  passed  the 
experimental  stage,  and  if  properly  cared 
for  one  can  produce  sanitary  and  even 
certified  milk  by  its  use.  In  order  to  op¬ 
erate  a  milking  machine  successfully  one 
must  have  some  know  ledge'  of  mechanics, 
and  must  fully  appreciate  the  importance 
of  sanitation,  cleanliness  and  sterilization. 
The  manufacturers  of  the  better  grades 
of  the  machines  are  in  position  to  give 
full  and  complete  information  as  to  meth¬ 
ods  of  operation,  and  a  great  many  dairies 
The  RURAL  NEW-YORKER 
in  this  country  have  installed  the  me- 
ate  these  machines  and  keep  the  bacteria 
count  below  that  required  in  the  produc¬ 
tion  of  certified  milk.  #  j 
3.  In  order  to  maintain  the  fecundity 
of  a  breeding  bull  relatively  only  light 
service  should  be  permitted  until  the  bull 
is  two  years  old.  Under  the  conditions 
that  you  have  outlined  it  would  seem  pru¬ 
dent  to  limit  the  services  of  this  animal 
to  25  cows  until  he  is  two  years  old. 
Breeding  bulls  should  be  fed  only  limited 
amounts  of  silage  and .  roughage,  ,  and 
should  be  given  a  gi’ain  ration  consisting 
of  five  parts  of  oats,  three  parts  of  bran, 
one  part  of  cornmeal  and  one  part  of  lin¬ 
seed  meal.  Clover  or  alfalfa  hay  is  su¬ 
perior  to  any  other  class  of  roughage,  and 
should  be  fed  in  preference  to  silage  to 
provide  bulk  in  this  instance. 
<•  ; 
Concrete  Henhouse 
I  am  considering  a  poultry -house  to  be 
built  of  concrete  blocks  in  bdek  and  one 
end ;  the  other  end  will  be  of  wood,  so 
hotise  can  be  extended  at  any  time,  the 
front  of  reinforced  concrete  columns  to 
form  open  front  of  glass  and  cloth.  1 
have  done  quite  a  lot  of  concrete  work, 
so  that  does  not  bother  me,  but  I  am  told 
that  a  concrete  block  is  cold,  though  I 
fail  to  see  how  it  can  be  colder  than  the 
air.  Then  some  tell  me  that  a  concrete 
floor  is  cold,  and  will  wear  the  claws  of 
the  hens  down  so  the  toes  will  bleed ; 
yet  a  great  many  poultry  authorities  men¬ 
tion  nothing  but  concrete,  as  much  as  to 
say  that  it  is  the  best  construction  pos¬ 
sible.  I  can  get  concrete  material  as 
cheap  ,as  wood.,  and  laying  of  blocks  will 
offset  work  'of  cutting  and  construction  of 
wood  ;  besides  there  are  many  advantages 
in  concrete  if  it  is  hot  too' cold,  I  have 
seen  rfr;my  pictures  of  concrete  henhouses, 
both  of  reinforced  wall  and  block,  some 
in  poultry  papers,  others  in  cement  maga¬ 
zines  ;  still,  I  have  a  lot  of  poultrymen’s 
literature  which  pictures  the  old-fash¬ 
ioned  "wooden  house.  H.  p.  R. 
Mayville,  N.  Y. 
I  don’t  knowr  where  you  will  find  any 
“real  information”  upon  this  subject  that 
will  not-  involve  contradictions,  since 
there  is  a  difference  of  opinion  as  to  the 
merits  of  concrete  for  podltry'-house  con¬ 
struction.  .3:  As  to  .concrete  floors,  the  dis¬ 
pute- shems- to  have"  about  ended.  They 
are  'generally  considered  entirely  satis¬ 
factory,  and  as  hffvi’ng  the  advantages  of 
permanence  and  rat-proofiness  in  greater 
degree  than  wood.  The  stories  of  hens 
wearing  their  toe  nails  down  to  the  quick 
on  them  may  be  taken  as  wholly  imagina¬ 
tive.  In  the  matter  of  building  the  walls 
of  concrete  blocks,  there  is  less’  unanimity 
of  opinion.  Some  like  ’em  and  some  don’t. 
My  own  opinion,  gained  from  observation, 
not  from  trial,  is  that  concrete  blocks 
make  entix-ely  satisfactory  poultry-house 
walls,  and  that  concrete  buildings  would 
be  more  generally  used  if  it  were  not  for 
their  greater  cost.  I  can  see  that  moist¬ 
ure  would  condense  upon  them  in  cold 
v/ather  more  quickly  than  upon  wood, 
not  because  they  are  colder  than  wood, 
but  because  they  are  better  conductors 
of  heat  and  would  not  retain  the  warmth 
of  the  interior  of  the  building  as  well  as 
wood  might.  In  practical  use,  however, 
I  think  this  objection  is  theoretical  rather 
than  real.  Sufficient  ventilation  should 
keep  concrete  walls  dry,  particularly 
where  they  are  of  the  hollow  block  con¬ 
struction.  If  any  of  our  readers  hav« 
found  concrete  walls  objectionable,  in 
spite  of  sufficiently  opened  fronts  to  allow 
the  escape  of  moisture-laden  air  from 
within,  we  should  be  glad  to  know  why. 
M.  B.  D. 
Ailing  Hens 
I  lost  lately  two  hens  which  had  a 
heavy  abdomen.  On  opening  them  they 
contained  a  lot  of  yellowish  water;  the 
whole  inside  of  the  hen  was  like  a  hard 
ball,  and  one  had  very  bad  eggs  in  it. 
Some  of  our  chickens  have  an  unnatural 
dark  red  comb.  -What  can  be  the  reason 
of  this?  MRS.  J.  z. 
A  dropsical  accumulation  in  the  abdo¬ 
men  of  fowls  indicates  disease  of  the  kid¬ 
neys  or  other  internal  organs.  A  dark 
comb  may  also  be  found  when  the  liver 
is  affected.  There  is  no  remedy  for  these 
diseases,  as  they  are  not  discovered  until 
well  advanced.  M.  b.  d. 
IIb  (with  great  dignity)  :  “Then  this  is 
absolutely  final?”  Co-Ed:  “Absolutely. 
Shall  I  return  your  letters?”  He :  “Yes, 
please.  I  think  they’re  good  enough  to 
use  again.” — Parra keet. 
Raise  pigs  like  these! 
Speed  up  growth ,  increase  your  profits,  by  adding 
Fleischmann’s  Pure  Dry  Yeast  to  the  ration 
TO  produce  more  pork  at  less  cost — 
to  finish  your  hogs  for  market  before 
they  have  eaten  out  their  welcome — to 
make  them  pay  for  their  expensive  feed, 
and  bring  a  good  profit  as  well — 
Just  add  Fleischmann’s  Pure  Dry  Yeast 
to  their  feed! 
Practical  hog  men  are  fast  learning  that 
Fleischmann’s  Pure  Dry  Yeast,  by  im¬ 
proving  the  digestibility  of  the  feed,  fat¬ 
tens  swine  at  an  astounding  speed.  One 
breeder  found  that  yeast -fed  shoats 
weighed  125  to  145  pounds  at  the  time 
when  others  that  had  come  from  the  same 
litter  weighed  only  75  to  80. 
Turns  feed  into  pork  and  pork 
into  money 
Hog  feed  that  has  been  fermented  with 
Fleischmann’s  Pure  Dry  Yeast  is  quickly 
translated  into  sound  pork.  This  remark¬ 
able  new  addition  to  the  feed  makes  even 
the  best-balanced  ration  more  assimilable. 
A  western  breeder  reports  that  it  has  cut 
his  feed  bill  in  half!  Heavier,  faster-grow¬ 
ing  pigs  now  make  up  his  herd.  He  takes 
them  early  to  market,  and  gets  better 
prices  than  ever  before! 
A  2}/2  pound  can  for 
$2,  a  half  case  (10 
cans)  for  $20,  or  a 
case  (20  cans)  for 
$40.  Any  number  of 
cans  or  cases  deliv¬ 
ered  direct  to  you , 
transportation 
charges  prepaid . 
Still  another  breeder,  who  had  been 
proud  of  Hampshire  pigs  that  weighed  40 
to  45  pounds  when  weaned,  added  Fleisch¬ 
mann’s  Pure  Dry  Yeast  to  the  ration  of 
his  brood  sows  and  thereafter  had  litters 
that  averaged  from  60  to  75  pounds  at 
weaning  time.  His  five  months  old  barrows 
weigh  200  pounds.  His  fine  Hampshire 
hogs,  finished  on  feed  fermented  with 
Fleischmann’s  Pure  Dry  Yeast,  brought 
1  %  cents  above  the  market  price. 
What  Fleischmann’s  Pure  Dry  Yeast  is 
already  doing  for  experienced  breeders  in 
various  parts  of  the  country,  it  will  do  for 
you. 
We  ar^  prepared  to  make  immediate 
delivery,  direct  to  you,  of  Fleischmann’s 
Pure  Dry  Yeast,  in  2^  pound  cans,  by 
prepaid  parcel  post.  Mail  the  coupon  to¬ 
day!  It  will  mean  earlier  maturity  and 
better  health  for  your  hogs  and  greater 
profits  for  you. 
Fleischmann’s  Pure  Dry  Yeast  costs 
less  than  2  cents  a  tablespoonful.  One 
tablespoonful  daily  to  each  pig.  Feed  with 
dry  mash  or  with  wet  mash  after  letting 
it  ferment  24  to  48  hours.  Complete  in¬ 
structions  with  every  can. 
The  Fleischmann  Company 
Dept.  D-285 
701  Washington  Street,  New  York  City 
327  South  La  Salle  Street,  Chicago,  Ill. 
Enclosed  find  $2.00.  Please  send  me  a  2 Vi  pound  can  of 
Fleischmann’s  Pure  Dry  Yeast  postage  prepaid. 
Name . 
Street  and  Number... . 
City . . . State . 
