7ht  RURAL.  NEW-YORKER 
961 
Live  Stock  Matters 
Conducted  By  Prof.  F.  C.  Minkler 
Grain  With  Pasture 
I  have  hue  cows,  half  Guernsey  anil 
Jersey,  remainder  Holstein,  all  good 
milkers.  Can  get  brewers’  grain,  22  per 
cent  protein,  hominy  10  per  cent,  ground 
oats,  bran,  wheat  middlings,  gluten  and 
linseed  meal.  Have  good  pasture  now 
but  might  get  short  in  July  and  August. 
New  York.  w.  N.  v. 
You  are  wise  to  provide  a  useful  grain 
ration  to  supplement  pasture  through 
July  and  August.  If  you  can  get  brewers’ 
grains  carrying  22  per  cent  of  protein, 
and  hominy,  together  with  the  other  feeds 
mentioned  the  following  combination  will 
be  suitable  for  Summer  feeding.  250  lbs. 
hominy,  200  lbs.  brewers’  grain,  150  lbs. 
gluten  feed,  150  lbs.  linseed  meal,  150 
lbs.  bran,  100  lbs.  cottonseed  meal. 
If  the  cows  are  not  in  good  flesh,  the 
cottonseed  meal  should  be  replaced  with 
oats.  If  they  are  in  good  condition,  how¬ 
ever,  the  added  protein  will  more  than 
pay  its  cost. 
Changing  Ration 
Will  you  tell  us  a  ration  (about  20  to 
22  per  cent  protein)  for  feeding  milk 
cows?  At  present  writing  have  just  se¬ 
cured  this  farm  with  12  cows.  They  are 
feeding  1  (it.  gluten,  1  qt.  balanced  ration 
or  stock  food  and  a  sprinkling  of  rye 
bran  on  the  wet  mash,  two  messes  a  day. 
1  wish  to  change  their  ration.  No  silage, 
but  have  fair  grade  pasture,  and  mixed 
clover  and  Timothy  hay.  I  am  putting 
in  silo,  so  expect  to  have  silage  and  good 
clover  hay  for  the  Winter.  D.  B.  n. 
New  York. 
You  would  be  wise  to  change  the  ra¬ 
tion  of  the  12  cows  now  in  milk.  The  ad¬ 
dition  of  gluten  to  the  low  grade  feed 
that  you  mention  would  not  provide  a 
satisfactory  or  economical  mixture.  Any 
combination  that  includes  oat  hulls  and 
weed  seeds,  and  residual  products  in¬ 
cident  to  the  manufacture  of  hominy  or 
oat  meal,  must  contain  a  high  fiber  con¬ 
tent  and  consist  of  undigesfible  material. 
With  silage  and  clover  or  Alfalfa  hay 
available  for  Winter  use  and  with  your 
cows  running  on  pasture  during  the  Sum¬ 
mer,  a  simple  combination  consisting  of 
150  lbs.  ground  oats,  300  lbs.  liominy, 
200  lbs.  cottonseed  meal,  150  lbs.  linseed 
meal,  100  lbs.  bran,  100  lbs.  gluten  feed 
will  prove  satisfactory.  Feed  this  to 
your  cows  in  milk.  For  the  dry  cows 
use  equal  parts  of  corn  and  oats  to 
which  20  per  cent  of  linseed  meal  has 
been  added. 
Of  course  if  you  care  to  use  only  corn- 
meal,  two  parts,  and  bran,  two  parts,  and 
gluten  feed,  two  parts,  during  the  Sum¬ 
mer  it  could  be  substituted  for  the  above, 
but  with  scarcely  as  good  results. 
Feeding  Family  Cow;  Ponies  for  Work 
I  am  thinking  of  securing  a  Jersey  cow 
for  our  milk  supply.  Could  you  tell  me 
how  to  feed  her  and  the  cost,  taking  pre¬ 
vailing  prices  in  this  locality  as  a  guide? 
I  have  been  told  that  two  Shetland 
ponies,  not  the  fancy  breed,  but  those  a 
slight  bit  larger  and  not  suitable  for  show 
purposes,  could  be  used  for  light  field 
work  and  are  capable  of  pulling  an  8-in. 
plow.  Have  you  any  data  on  this? 
New  Jersey.  J.  G.  H. 
Jersey  cows  are  very  well  suited  for 
family  purposes.  The  milk  that  they 
produce  will  test  around  five  per  cent 
butterfat,  and  a  cow  of  average  produc¬ 
tion  can  be  depended  upon  to  yield  about 
six  quarts  a  day.  You  will  find  that 
the  cow,  if  properly  fed,  can  be  milked 
IO  months  of  the  year,  and  she  should 
be  bred  so  that  the  dry  period  wrill  come 
during  the  season  of  the  year  when  you 
have  the  least  demand  for  milk  and  dairy 
products.  July  and  August  are  the  best 
months  to  have  a  cow  go  dry  under  aver¬ 
age  circumstances. 
The  feeds  necessary  for  feeding  a  fam¬ 
ily  cow  of  this  sort  consist  of  baled  Al¬ 
falfa  or  clover  hay  and  a  grain  mixture 
consisting  of  equal  parts  of  cornmeal, 
ground  oats,  wheat  bran,  linseed  meal, 
and  gluten  feed.  Perhaps  it  would  be 
to  your  advantage  to  use  some  one  of 
the  better  brands  of  prepared  feed  which 
would  save  mixing  and  the  purchase  of 
the  several  ingredients.  If  this  prac¬ 
tice  is  adopted  select  a  24  per  cent  feed 
that  yields  not  more  than  10  per  cent 
of  fiber.  Beet  pulp  should  be  fed,  es¬ 
pecially  during  the  Winter  to  provide 
succulence.  Its  use  may  be  continued 
during  the  Summer  in  case  the  cow  does 
not  have  access  to  pasture  grass.  You 
will  find  that  mixtures  of  this  character 
will  cost  you  in  the  neighborhood  of  .$50 
a  ton.  It  will  require  from  five  to 
eight  pounds  a  day  of  the  grain  and  ap¬ 
proximately  10  pounds  of  hay  with  from 
four  to  five  pounds  of  the  dry  beet  pulp. 
It  would  be  unwsie  to  use  Shetland 
ponies  for  even  the  light  farm  work  that 
you  have  under  consideration.  If  it 
seems  unwise  for  you  to  secure  regular 
work  horses  then  it  would  be  better  for 
you  to  hire  some  farmer  in  the  neighbor¬ 
hood  to  plow  your  land  and  put  in  the 
crops  desired. 
Fish  Meal  for  Pigs 
iWhat  would  be  a  good  ration  for  a 
pig  weighing  about  175  lbs.?  He  will 
be  turned  on  a  rape  pasture  in  about 
three  weeks.  Is  fish  meal  considered  as 
good  as  digester  tankage  for  swine  when 
milk  is  not  available?  w.  J.  T. 
New  York. 
Fish  meal  is  less  expensive  than  tank¬ 
age  and  serves  well  as  a  supplement  for 
Any  one  who  has  ever  kept  Holstein 
cattle  will  tell  you  of  strange  marks 
put  on  by  nature  with  charcoal  on  the 
white  background.  We  had  one  cow 
with  the  picture  of  a  human  face  dis¬ 
tinctly  marked  in  this  way.  Sometimes 
these  markings  show  a  close  resem¬ 
blance  to  some  noted  human  character. 
All  sorts  of  curious  things  appear  and 
corn  in  swine  feeding.  The  fish  meal 
alone  will  not  yield  as  high  a  percentage 
of  protein,  hence  it  is  necessary  to  feed 
more  fish  meal  than  tankage  in  -order  to 
bring  the  mixture  into  balance. 
You  do  not  state  whether  the  pig  in 
question  is  to  be  maintained  for  breed¬ 
ing  purposes  or  to  fatten  for  Fall  kill¬ 
ing.  Assuming  that  you  desire  to  butcher 
this  pig  and  if  the  jug  has  access  to  rape 
pasture  then  a  simple  ration  consisting 
of  85  parts  of  corn  and  15  parts  of  fish 
meal  will  suffice.  The  pig  already  has 
its  growth  and  it  is  not  necessary  to  use 
the  more  expensive  feeds  such  as  mid¬ 
dlings  and  oats  in  its  ration.  Usually 
it  does  not  pay  to  carry  hogs  along  at 
a  uniform  weight  during  the  Summer; 
but  I  judge  that  you  do  not  desire  that 
this  animal  shall  weigh  more  than  250 
to  300  lbs.  at  butchering  time.  If  this 
is  the  case  then  about  four  lbs.  of  grain 
should  be  fed  per  day.  This  will  pro¬ 
vide  a  gain  of  one  pound  a  day  and  the 
amount  can  be  increased  about  the  first 
of  September  and  the  pig  placed  on  full 
feed. 
Where  animal  protein  is  obtained  from 
either  fish  meal  or  digester  tankage  rath¬ 
er  than  from  skim  milk  it  is  esssential 
that  some  ground  limestone  and  salt  be 
available  at  all  times  to  provide  ample 
mineral  constituents.  These  substances 
should  not  be  mixed  with  the  feed  lest  it 
may  decrease  the  palatability  of  the  feed ; 
but  put  in  a  separate  trough  or  box  pro¬ 
tected  from  the  weather. 
The  Milkhouse  Question 
Farmers  in  New  York  State,  you  will 
agree,  are  having  obstacles  to  meet  on 
every  hand.  The  city  people,  millions  of 
them,  are  calling  for  their  produce,  espe¬ 
cially  milk  from  these  northern  counties, 
as  that  furnishes  food  for  thousands  of 
children,  the  babies  in  our  large  cities. 
What  mother  is  there  who  does  not  wish, 
sacrificing  anything,  to  supply  her  baby 
with  the  best  of  milk  ;  the  best  that  it  is 
possible  to  buy?  These  farmers  of  this 
State,  of  our  own  county,  are  attempting 
to  help  supply  that  need.  Our  State  has 
an  Agricultural  Department,  a  State 
Board  of  Health,  to  inspect  the  dairies 
and  conditions,  to  help  these  farmers  to 
know  how  to  supply  the  best  of  milk.  We 
are  glad  for,  and  we  hope  we  appreciate, 
those  State  departments.  Inasmuch  as 
we  farmers  pay  taxes  to  help  maintain 
these  departments,  we  appeal  to  them  to 
send  men  out  as  inspectors  who  possess, 
not  only  scientific  knowledge  from  our 
agricultural  schools  and  colleges,  but 
practical  knowledge  of  a  well-ordered 
farm,  and  at  least  some  of  the  ordinary 
working  conditions  of  these  farms  as 
well.  The  farmers  believe  these  inspec¬ 
tors  incompetent,  sometimes. 
The  State  is  demanding  of  the  farmers 
this  year,  milkhouses  for  the  proper  care 
of  milk  when  it  is  in  the  farmer’s  hands. 
The  company  which  buys  our  milk  also 
has  its  inspector  of  dairies  and  condi¬ 
tions.  His  demands  are  more  lenient,  be¬ 
cause  his  company  is  after  the.  pounds 
of  milk  more  than  he  is  demanding  that, 
sanitary  laws  be  observed.  Now,  which 
inspector  is  authority  on  this  subject? 
This  latter  inspector  does  not  agree  with 
the  State  as  to  details  concerning  the 
milklfouse.  We  believe  that  if  the  farmer 
would  realize  that  the  State  is  the  au¬ 
thority  instead  of  anyone  else  who  pre- 
've  know  farmers  who  are  quite  super¬ 
stitious  about  such  matters. 
But  these  curious  markings  are  not 
confined  to  the  Holstein  cattle.  Mr. 
C.  E.  Snell  of  St.  Lawrence  Co.,  N.  Y. 
sends  us  this  picture.  This  is  an 
Ayrshire  cow  and  it  is  easy  to  dis¬ 
tinguish  the  figure  7  marked  in  white 
on  her  forehead.  Seven  is  a  lucky  num¬ 
ber.  This  ought  to  be  a  good  cow. 
tends  to  know  ;  that  if  he  had  depended 
on  that  State  for  information  when  he 
wanted  to  provide  a  suitable  place  to 
care  for  his  milk,  instead  of  someone  who 
did  not  really  know,  he  would  be  spared 
the  condemnation  of  his  milk  by  the  State 
and  of  the  kind  of  a  milkhouse  he  ignor¬ 
antly  provided,  and  he  would  not  be  con¬ 
demning  the  State  Board  of  Health  and 
its  demands. 
Granting  the  farmer  has  complied  with 
the  State  in  this,  and  many  have,  that 
does  not  guarantee  the  milk  to  be  in  per¬ 
fect  condition  when  it  reaches  those 
babies,  does  it?  Why  do  not  the  authori¬ 
ties  realize  that  there  are  other  avenues 
of  contamination?  If  that  milk  is  car¬ 
ried  in  cans  that  are  not  properly  steril¬ 
ized  and  bottled  under  conditions  that  a 
farmer  would  condemn — with  flies,  laden 
with  poison,  filth  and  disease  germs  of 
the  city,  about  the  bottling  stations  as  re¬ 
ported — then  what  is  the  matter  with  the 
city  end  of  the  inspection?  It  seems 
someone  prefers  to  condemn  the  more 
wholesome  farmer  than  to  condemn  the 
city  inspection,  a  demonstration  of  how 
people  will  condemn  a  thing  before  they 
actually  know  if  it  is  right  or  wrong. 
When  that  city  awakens  to  the  true  cause 
of  milk  contamination  the  farmer  will 
not  be  a  disrespected  factor. 
Even  as  the  intelligent  farmer  realizes 
he  has  a  need  for  these  State  depart¬ 
ments,  realizes  that  his  taxes  support 
them,  he  will  get  wide  awake  to  recog¬ 
nize  who  is  the  authority  on  the  milk¬ 
house  question,  and  depend  on  that  au¬ 
thority,  and  also.  when  contentions  arise 
over  testing  of  his  milk,  unfair  prices  of 
milk  and  feed,  instead  of  hearsay,  and 
then  in  consequence  complain.  The  en¬ 
lightened  farmer  sees  the  need  of  an  or¬ 
ganization  of  farmers  for  the  promotion 
and  protection  of  his  interests.  He  is 
also  interested  to  know  if  the  Dairymen’s 
League  is  headed  by  capable  men  of  his 
own  class  and  are  not  veritably  only 
“lovers  of  money.”  If  there  are  any 
such,  why  does  not  the  farmer  appeal  to 
his  State  authority?  When  all  farmers 
learn  to  recognize  and  use  that  author¬ 
ity,  we  believe  many  farm  problems  will 
be  solved.  Even  as  people  fail  to  recog¬ 
nize  who  is  the  authority  in  our  everyday 
life,  but  follow  these  various  codes  of 
ethics  as  excuses  for  refusing  to  follow 
the  Bible  precisely,  so  do  farmers  fail  to 
recognize  their  authority  on  farm  prob¬ 
lems.  A  SUBSCRIBER. 
“Sure  and  Simple  Chickenpox  Cure” 
Let  me  tell  you  of  such  a  very  simple 
remedy  for  the  most  malignant  form  of 
chickenpox,  even  birds  that  were  so  bad 
that  swollen  lumps  had  closed  both  eyes 
and  that  had  begun  to  have  a  bad  odor. 
It  is  sure  and  it  is  safe,  and  so  easy  and 
simple,  and  was  discovered  simply  by 
trying  whatever  one  could  think  of  that 
was  safe  and  which  might  by  chance  cure 
a  lot  of  suffering  poultry. 
Borax — nothing  but  common  20-mule 
borax  that  you  can  purchase  for  a  few 
cents  at  the  grocery  store.  Simply  take 
an  old  dish  that  is  absolutely  clean  and 
into  a  pint  of  water  dissolve  all  the  borax 
you  possibly  can,  wash  the  lumps  and 
swellings  with  this  borax  water  and  wipe 
with  a  clean  cloth.  Next  dampen  a  little 
dry  borax  with  water  and  rub  onto  each 
swelling.  Follow  up  with  this  treatment 
every  three  days  for  four  times,  and  you 
can  cure  every  case.  Of  course,  if  the 
bird  has  had  its  eyes  swollen  together  for 
several  days  and  cannot  eat,  you  must 
feed  her,  else  she  will  die  of  exhaustion. 
We  see.  too  much  in  the  poultry  papers 
advising  inoculation  of  poultry  for  chick¬ 
enpox,  which  is  not  necessary  when  the 
above  remedy  will  surely  effect  a  cure. 
Wash  all  drinking  vessels  and  feed 
dishes  with  the  borax  dissolved  in  water 
about  as  strong  as  what  you  used  to  wash 
the  swollen  heads  with,  only,  of  course, 
a  new  clean  mixture.  With  the  thor¬ 
ough  use  of  the  above,  your  chickenpox 
troubles  will  never  return.  Those  lumps 
will  dry  down  and  have  a  dirty  brown 
scab  form  thereon,  but  the  germs  are  dead 
and  the  scabs  will  drop  off. 
Many  birds  with  a  malignant  form  of 
this  trouble  die  from  exhaustion  and  also 
being  unable  to  see  the  food.  Any  birds 
that  have  become  weak  should  be  fed  a 
liberal  supply  of  bread  and  milk  daily 
for.  a  week  or  10  days  besides  its  usual 
rations;  any  bird  with  natural  vitality 
will  come  up  info  as  good  a  condition  as 
before  the  chickenpox  attacks  if  the 
above  treatment  is  followed. 
E.  R.  SWEETSER. 
Borax  is  a  chemical  combination  of 
boric  acid  and  soda,  or  borate  of  soda, 
and  its  effect  is  that  of  boric  acid  alone,  a 
drug  so  frequently  recommended  in  the 
treatment  of  chickenpox,  roup  and  like 
germ .  diseases.  Neither  is  a  germicide; 
ihat  is.  capable  of  killing  disease  germs’ 
but  both  are  antiseptics;  that  is,  inimical 
to  germ  growth  and  development.  An 
antiseptic  may  be  considered  a  substance 
capable  of  doing  part  of  the  work  of  a 
germicide,  but  not  powerful  enough  to 
do  it  all.  Antiseptics,  however,  have 
then-  use  where  germicides  are  not  need¬ 
ed.  I  he  use  of  borax  as  suggested  is  ra¬ 
tional  and  to  be  commended. 
I  should  like  to  call  attention  to  sev¬ 
eral  expressions  used  by  our  correspond¬ 
ent;  not  to  criticize,  but  to  illustrate  a 
fault  so  commonly  found  in  articles  upon 
disease.  These  expressions  are,  “The 
above  remedy  will  surely  effect  a  cure  ” 
and  “Your  chickenpox  troubles  will  nev¬ 
er  return.”  When  one  has  had  but  limit¬ 
ed  experience  in  the  treatment  of  disease 
and  finds  a  malady  readily  yielding  *0 
some  particular  treatment,  he  is  pretty 
apt  to  conclude  that  he  has  found  an  in¬ 
fallible  cure,  and  he  does  not  hesitate  to 
make  the  strongest  possible  statements 
with  regard  to  it.  This  is  as  true  in 
human  medicine  as  in  the  treatment  of 
the  lower  animals.  A  more  extended  ex¬ 
perience,  however,  is  pretty  apt  to  show 
him  that  any  disease  may  at  times  act 
like  a  lamb,  and  at  other  times,  without 
any  evident  reason,  like  a  devouring  lion. 
This  is  quite  true  of  chickenpox.  Or¬ 
dinarily,  it  is  a  mild  affection,  recovering 
spontaneously  or  yielding  to  simple  meas¬ 
ures  of  treatment,  but  occasionally  it  as¬ 
sumes  an  almost  malignant  form  and  be¬ 
comes  very  fatal.  It  has  been  especially 
so  during  the  past  Winter  and  seems  to 
have  been  accompanied  by  all  the  symp¬ 
toms  of  roup.  Many  poultrymen  have 
had  most  unfortunate  and  discouraging 
experiences  along  this  line  in  the  past 
few  months*.  Oflher  remedies  failing, 
vaccination  has  been  turned  to  as  a  prom¬ 
ising  preventive.  In  writing  about  our 
experiences  with  remedies,  then,  let  us 
be  chary  of  such  expressions  as  “I  know” 
and  “surely.”  There  are  but  few  things 
that  we  can  be  sure  of  in  this  world : 
most  people  limit  them  to  two — death  and 
taxes.  M.  b.  n. 
A  Handy  Wood  Basket 
I  have  previously  told  how  a  market 
basket  may  be  made  durable  and  ex¬ 
tremely  useful  for  carrying  firewood  by 
lining  it  with  strong  cloth  or  carpet.  My 
brother  has  lately  added  improvements  to 
ours,  which  make  it  practically  inde¬ 
structible  ;  at  least,  for  a  long  time.  A 
piece  of  pliable  roofing,  cut  to  fit,  is  laid 
in  the  bottom  of  the  basket,  over  the  lin¬ 
ing,  and  the  handle  is  reinforced  with  a 
leather  strap  which  goes  completely 
around  the  basket,  following  the  handle, 
upon  which  it  is  laid  and  tied  fast  with 
leather  shoestrings.  This  supports  the 
weight  carried,  and  makes  the  basket  a 
luxury  never  to  be  dispensed  with  bv 
those  who  have  used  it.  Think,  too.  how 
much  dirt  is  kept  from  the  floor,  and  how 
much  wear  saved  on  sleeves. 
G.  A.  TIMMERMAN. 
