932 
7)*  RURAL  NEW-YORKER 
Live  Stock  Matters 
Conducted  By  Prof.  F.  C.  Minkler 
Feeding  Two  Cows 
I  have  a  four-year-old  cow,  Jersey  and 
Guernsey  which  has  been  very  fussy  as 
to  ration  up  to  the  time  of  freshening 
which  was  a  li t tie  over  a  week  ago,  she 
has  always  been  fed  wheat  bran,  with  a 
little  hominy  mixed  in  at  different  times. 
What  ration  would  you  give  to  this  ani¬ 
mal?  She  has  all  the  grass  land  that  she 
can  graze  over.  In  Winter  I  feed  her 
nothing  but  hay.  Some  times  I  ain  able 
to  get  Alfalfa  hay.  I  would  like  some¬ 
thing  that  could  be  used  while  she  is  on 
grass  and  also  while  she  is  in  the  barn  in 
Winter.  This  cow  is  giving  at  the  pres¬ 
ent  time  about  14  quarts  of  milk  without 
grain,  but  with  all  the  grass  she  can 
eat.  I  have  also  a  cow  five  years  old. 
half  Holstein  and  half  Jersey,  which  is 
due  to  freshen  in  January,  and  is  giving 
about  12  quarts  of  milk  a  day.  V.  L. 
Massachusetts. 
If  your  cow  is  producing  14  quarts  of 
milk  per  day  on  a  ration  consisting  en¬ 
tirely  of  hominy  and  bran  it,  is  evident 
that  you  have  an  exceptional  cow.  The 
further  fact  that  she  is  provided  with  hay 
only  during  the  Winter  and  continues 
this  flow  of  milk  during  the  Summer  is 
additional  evidence  of  her  good  breeding 
and  efficiency.  More  variety  in  your 
grain  ration  would  increase  its  pala- 
tabilit.v.  I  propose  a  mixture  for  Sum¬ 
mer  feeding,  in  conjunction  with  grass, 
of  four  parts  hominy,  three  parts  bran, 
two  parts  linseed  meal,  one  part  gluten 
meal.  Feed  one  pound  of  this  mixture 
for  each  three  or  four  pounds  of  milk 
produced  per  day.  During  the  Winter 
I  should  add  two  units  of  oats  and  two 
units  of  cottonseed  meal,  and  feed  from 
five  to  eight  pounds  per  day  of  this  mix¬ 
ture.  If  you  can  get  Alfalfa  or  clover 
hay  it  would  be  to  your  advantage  to 
purchase  enough  of  second  or  third  cut¬ 
ting  Alfalfa  hay  to  carry  you  through 
the  Winter. 
The  same  ration  should  lx*  fed  to  the 
TTolstein  cow  that  is  due  to  freshen  in 
July.  After  she  is  dried  off  a  ration  con¬ 
sisting  of  equal  parts  of  corumeal,  oats, 
and  bran  to  which  10  per  cent  of  linseed 
meal  has  been  added  should  be  substi¬ 
tuted.  Provide  for  a  six  or  eight  weeks 
dry  period,  and  you  will  find  that  the 
milk  produced  from  both  cows  will  be  of 
a  better  quality  if  due  consideration  is 
given  to  their  rest  or  dry  periods.  Cream 
that  is  difficult  to  ripen  or  churn  often 
results  from  continuing  the  lactation 
period  unduly. 
During  the  Winter  some  moistened  beet 
pulp  should  be  fed  to  replace  the  green 
grass  that  is  available  during  the  Sum¬ 
mer.  One  pound  of  beet  pulp  will  re¬ 
quire  three  or  four  parts  of  water  for 
saturation  and  25  lbs.  of  the  moistened 
beet  pulp  per  day  would  not,  be  too  much 
for  a  cow  yielding  14  quarts  of  milk. 
Feed  the  hay  twice  daily  morning  and 
night,  and  also  at  noon  if  the  cow  de¬ 
sires  this  roughage,  and  give  the  grain 
in  two  equal  feedings  morning  and  night. 
When  the  cow  goes  dry,  feed  five  to 
seven  pounds  of  grain  until  she  has 
gained  considerably  in  flesh  and  appears 
1o  be  in  good  condition.  Reduce  the 
grain  ration  previous  to  calving  to  avoid 
udder  trouble  and.  possibly  milk  fever.  Do 
not  resort  to  full  feeding  until  two  or 
three  weeks  after  calving,  and  do  not 
milk  the  udder  dry  for  the  first  few  days 
after  calving.  A  little  taken  at  a  time 
and  often  will  avoid  complications.  A 
reduction  of  the  amount  of  grain  fed 
daily  during  the  week  previous  and  two 
weeks  following  calving  is  essential  in 
order  to  avoid  inflammation  and  conges¬ 
tion  of  the  udder. 
Feeding  and  Care  of  Pigs 
We  are  raising  pigs  for  the  first  time. 
They  are  10  to  11  weeks  of  age,  weigh 
around  30  ibs.  Will  you  please  give  us  a 
good  balanced  ration  for  them,  so  they 
will  be  ready  to  butcher  late  in  Novem¬ 
ber.  We  have  plenty  of  clabber,  corn, 
cornmeal  and  middlings  but  do  not  know 
what  or  how  much  to  give.  J.  k. 
New  York. 
If  you  have  an  abundance  of  clabber 
or  sour  skim-milk  with  cornmeal  and 
middlings  you  have  the  basis  for  a  splen¬ 
did  ration  for  growing  young  pigs.  The 
addition  of  five  per  ceut  of  digester  tank¬ 
age  will  improve  your  grain  ration  mixed 
as  follows:  75  lbs.  cornmeal,  20  lbs. 
wheat  middlings,  5  lbs.  digester  tankage. 
This  to  be  fed  in  the  form  of  a  thick  slop 
and  supplemented  with  your  clabber 
would  make  an  ideal  combination.  Feed 
the  young  pigs  four  or  five  times  a  day 
in  such  quantity  as  they  will  clean  up 
with  relish.  Do  not  mix  the  milk  and 
the  feed  together  because  it  will  sour  and 
become  unpalatable. 
Allow  the  pigs  all  of  the  sour  milk  that 
they  will  clean  up  with  relish  and  feed 
them  enough  of  the  grain  so  that  they 
will  grow  and  gain  regularly.  If  some 
of  the  corn  is  fed  shelled  or  cracked  an 
advantage  would  be  gained  for  it  seems  to 
'be  more  palatable  in  this  form  than  when 
it  is  all  ground  and  fed  in  the  form  of  a 
thick  slop. 
Keep  before  the  pigs  at  all  times  a 
mixture  consisting  of  equal  parts  of  salt 
and  ground  limestone.  This  should  not 
be  mixed  with  the  feed  but  rather  kept 
in  a  separate  container  where  it  will  be 
dry.  Give  them  a  dry  place  to  sleep. 
Provide  yards  where  they  can  exercise, 
and  cool  shady  places  where  the  pigs  can 
retreat  during  the  heat  of  July  and  Au¬ 
gust.  If  they  can  have  forage  crops  such 
as  Alfalfa,  clover,  rape,  or  Soy  beans,  so 
much  the  better ;  but  I  take  it  that  you 
are  going  to  feed  them  in  dry  yards. 
Make  sure  that  the  pigs  are  not  an¬ 
noyed  by  pests  or  lice.  For  eradication 
of  these  parasites  nothing  excels  crude 
oil.  This  can  be  put  on  with  a  brush 
and  their  coats  thoroughly  saturated. 
Do  not  feed  excessively  of  corn  until 
the  pigs  weigh  about  100  lbs.,  then 
they  can  be  placed  on  full  feed.  A  normal 
gain  of  a  pound  a  day  during  the  grow¬ 
ing  and  rearing  period  is  satisfactory; 
but  after  they  reach  a  weight  of  125  lbs. 
you  ought  not  to  be  satisfied  with  less 
than  a  pound  and  a  half  of  gain  per  day. 
Ration  for  Milk  Cows 
Some  time  ago  you  gave  me  a  test  ra¬ 
tion.  1  am  not  able  to  get  all  things. 
Please  make  up  one  from  cottonseed 
meal,  cornmeal.  bran,  crushed  oats,  corn 
gluten  feed,  oil  meal.  I  have  oats  and 
peas  for  green  feed,  baled  Alfalfa  hay. 
How  do  you  feed  molasses  with  water 
and  what  part?  h.  e. 
Using  the  ingredients  named  and  in¬ 
tending  this  ration  for  dairy  cows  in  milk, 
I  should  combine  them  as  follows :  150 
lbs.  cottonseed  meal,  250  lbs.  cornmeal, 
150  lbs.  bran,  200  lbs.  gluten  feed,  150 
lbs.  oil  meal.  100  lbs.  oats.  Feed  one 
pound  of  this  grain  mixture  for  each 
four  pounds  of  milk  produced  per  day 
during  the  Summer  season.  I  should  not 
feed  any  molasses  during  this  season  of 
the  year.  It  attracts  flies,  it  is  difficult 
to  handle,  and  it  is  more  expensive  per 
unit  of  carbohydrate  than  cornmeal  or 
hominy  meal.  With  good  pasture  grass  it 
is  not  necessary  to  add  anything  to  in¬ 
crease  the  palatability  of  the  grain  ra¬ 
tion  proposed. 
Gluten  is  a  by-product  obtained  from 
corn  after  the  starch  has  been  extracted. 
It  consists  largely  of  the  germ  of  the 
corn,  hence  it  is  relatively  high  in  pro¬ 
tein.  The  oil  has  been  extracted,  how¬ 
ever,  and  some  of  the  residual  products 
added  to  establish  uniform  consistency 
and  analysis. 
Removing  Warts 
I  have  a  heifer  due  to  freshen  soon. 
She  has  warts  on  her  teats.  G.  N.  C. 
Oregon. 
Apply  castor  oil  to  the  warts  and  the 
chances  are  that  they  will  go  away.  If 
this  practice  is  continued  for  a  few  weeks 
during  the  dry  period  you  will  be  able  to 
overcome  this  objectionable  feature. 
Ropy  Milk 
We  have  four  Jersey-Guernsey  cows 
that  we  are  milking  at  present.  Three 
of  these  freshened  this  Spring  and  all  are 
on  very  good  pasture.  The  first  I  noticed 
anything  wrong  was  after  they  were 
turned  out  to  grass,  when  I  found  I  could 
not  get  all  the  butter  out  of  sweet  cream. 
I  had  never  been  bothered  before  to  churn 
perfectly  sweet  cream  after  the  cows  were 
fresh.  The  cream  has  to  be  very  ripe  to 
churn.  Then  I  tried  to  make  some  cot¬ 
tage  cheese  one  day  and  I  found  that  the 
whey  was  ropy.  The  cream  is  that  way, 
too.  when  it  is  first  sour  before  it  gets 
really  thick.  I  saved  milk  from  each  cow 
in  a  separate  dish  and  found  that  this 
condition  prevailed  in  the  milk  and  cream 
from  all  the  fresh  cows ;  the  farrow  cow’s 
milk  did  not  sour  as  quickly  and  was 
perfectly  normal.  What  causes  this  and 
what  is  the  cure,  if  any?  We  want  to 
sell  our  milk  to  the  people  at  a  Summer 
resort  near  here  and  we  would  like  to 
know  if  this  milk  is  unfit  for  people.  We 
have  been  using  it  now  since  the  middle 
of  May  and  can  notice  no  ill  effects  IIow 
could  we  test  it,  or  where  can  we  get  it 
tested  ? 
New  York.  j.  d.  m. 
The  cause  of  your  trouble  is  due  to  an 
organism  which  produces  ropy  milk  as  it 
develops.  Ropy  milk  has  been  known  for 
many  years,  but  its  source  is  not  alto¬ 
gether  definitely  determined.  In  many 
cases  the  condition  disappears  with  a 
change  in  the  weather  or  some  change  in 
the  dairy  practices.  The  bacteria  have 
been  found  in  the  water  used  for  washing 
utensils  and  in  water  vats  used  for  cooling 
purposes.  They  are  commonly  found  in 
the  water  in  pastures  where  the  cows 
drink,  and  especially  in  pools  or  streams 
through  which  cows  wade.  The  organisms 
get  onto  the  cows’  bodies  and»fall  into  the 
milk  at  milking  time.  It  can  readily  be 
seen  how  they  can-  get  localized  in  the 
utensils  or  in  the  cooling  vat.  It  is  an 
especially  virulent  germ,  and  when  once 
localized  is  quite  resistant  to  the  ordinary 
practices  of  cleansing  and  scalding. 
There  is  nothing  to  warrant  the  belief 
that  ropy  milk  is  in  any  way  harmful  to 
the  health  of  -the  consumer.  The  trade, 
however,  is  not  in  the  habit  of  drinking 
such  milk.  R-opy  milk  is  not  palatable 
and  therefore  not  acceptable  to  the  con¬ 
suming  public. 
The  remedy  for  the  trouble  is  thorough 
sterilization  of  all  utensils  and  the  dis¬ 
infecting  of  the  dairy  barns  and  milk 
house.  Steam  is  the  most  efficient  steril¬ 
izer  for  utensils  and  strainer  cloths.  The 
use  of  some  disinfectant  such  as  is  made 
This  is  Hiram  .1.  Baker,  a  great  lover  of  sheep,  feeding  his  pet  lambs.  He  owns  a 
farm  of  DO  acres  in  Erie  Co.,  N.  Y„  and  devotes  most  of  his  time  to  sheep.  He  win¬ 
tered  40  breeding  ewes,  which  raised  52  lambs.  lie  is  also  a  reader  of  Tjie  R.  N.-Y., 
having  taken  it  a  number  of  years.  The  sheep  men  are  coming  back  all  over  the  East. 
July  21,  102:: 
from  a  hypochloride  base  and  found  at 
any  drug  store  is  to  be  recommended  for 
general  work.  Because  of  the  germ’s  re¬ 
sistance  thoroughness  in  this  work  is  the 
key  to  its  complete  eradication. 
The  growth  of  the  organism  is  inhibited 
by  the  development  of  lactic  acid.  This 
accounts  for  the  fact  that  you  are  obliged 
to  let  your  cream  sour  before  you  can 
churn  with  good  results.  The  test  which 
you  ran  by  setting  aside  individual  sam¬ 
ples  is  proof  enough.  It  should  not  be 
necessary  for  you  to  send  any  samples 
away  to  a  laboratory.  j.  w.  b. 
Proportion  of  Cheese  to  Fat  in  Milk 
■Will  3  per  cent  milk  make  as  much 
cheese  as  4  per  cent  milk?  m.  f.  m. 
Wellsville,  N.  Y. 
As  the  fat  in  milk  increases,  the 
pounds  of  cheese  made  from  100  lbs.  of 
that  milk  increases:  but  the  amount  of 
cheese  made  for  each  pound  of  fat  in  the 
milk  does  not  increase.  The  following 
table,  from  New  York  (Geneva)  Experi¬ 
ment  Station  Bulletin  62.  1S95,  shows 
this  relation  of  fat  in  milk  to  yield  of 
cheese : 
Aver,  per  cent 
fat  in  milk 
3.35 
3.72 
4.15 
4.74 
5.13 
Lbs. 
green  cheese 
made  from 
100  lbs.  milk 
0.14 
10.04 
11.34 
12.85 
13.62 
Lbs.  green 
cheese  made  for 
1  lb.  fat  in  milk 
2.73 
2.73 
2.70 
2.71 
2.66 
(Geneva)  Experiment  Sta¬ 
tion  Bulletin  30S,  190S,  shows  the  fol¬ 
lowing  effect  of  the  fat  content  of  nor¬ 
mal  milk  on  the  yield  of  cheese : 
f. 
%  fat 
Amount  of 
Amount  of 
cheese  made 
°/o  casein 
cheese  from 
for  each  lb. 
in  milk 
in  milk 
TOO  lbs.  milk 
fat  in  milk 
3.00 
2.10 
8.3 
2.77 
3.25 
2.20 
8.88 
2.73 
3.50 
2.30 
0.45 
2.70 
3.75 
2.40 
10.03 
2.67 
4.00 
2.50 
10.60 
2.65 
4.25 
2.60 
11.17 
2.63 
I  dare  sa 
y  these 
statement  s 
and  to  hies 
will  answei 
•  your 
inquiry. 
J.  W.  B. 
White  Specks  in  Buttermilk 
What  causes  white  specks  in  butter¬ 
milk?  Some  flotv  off  in  the  buttermilk, 
some  are  washed  out,  hut  many  are  left 
all  through  the  butter,  and  it  is  nearly 
impossible  to  get  them  all  out  of  the 
butter  when  working  it.  We  are  milking 
two  cows — one  farrow  and  one  fresh  in 
the  Spring.  We  set  the  milk  in  open  pans 
in  the  old-fashioned  way.  It  did  not 
bother  in  this  way  to  any  extent  'until  it 
came  warm  enough,  so  we  did  not  need 
to  warm  the  cream  when  we  churned. 
One  person  told  me  that  it  was  because 
I  put  salt  in  the  cream  each  time  as  I 
skimmed  it,  but  it  made  no  difference 
when  I  left  it  out.  It  takes  longer  to 
churn  than  it  ought.  The  “specks”  are 
little  flakes  of  a  somewhat  cheesy  consis¬ 
tency.  Any  information  will  be  veri- 
much  appreciated. 
New  York.  j,x.  k.  t. 
The  trouble  which  you  are  experiencing 
with  white  specks  in  the  buttermilk  and 
butter  is  that  commonly  known  as  “white 
caps.”  The  cream  which  you  obtain  from 
the  milk  carries  with  it  a  larger  propor¬ 
tion  of  serum  or  skim-milk  than  richer 
cream  obtained  by  the  use  of  a  separator. 
When  this  cream  is  highly  ripened  for 
churning,  the  serum  part  of  the  cream 
becomes  a  rather  hard  curd.  If  these  curd 
particles  become  very  hard  they  not  only 
pass  off  into  the  buttermilk  as  “white 
caps,”  but  are  also  incorporated  into  the 
butter  and  cause  streaks  and  mottles. 
The  practice  followed  in  creameries  is 
to  strain  the  cream  into  the  churn.  This 
will  prevent  the  curd  lumps  from  getting 
into  the  churning  batch.  Wire  or  per¬ 
forated  tin  strainers  are  used.  These 
wire  strainers  should  have  about  20 
meshes  to  the  inch.  For  straining  cream 
into  small  churns  or  for  straining  the. 
buttermilk  from  small  churns  dippers 
with  strainer  bottoms  are  used.  These 
dippers  can  be  purchased  from  dairy 
supply  stores.  j.  w.  B. 
Up  in  Oxford  County,  Maine,  there  is 
a  big  stock  farm  which  takes  in  several 
smaller  farms.  On  one  of  these  there  is 
a  small  private  burying-ground  which 
has  only  two  graves.  The  owner  of  the 
stock  farm  came  up  from  Boston  one 
Summer,  bringing  with  him  a  cook  who 
had  never  been  in  that  part  of  the  coun¬ 
try  before.  On  her  first  afternoon  off 
she  went  for  a  walk  round  the  place,  and 
on  her  return  the  manager  asked,  “Well. 
Mary,  how  do  you  like  it?”  “I  don’t 
know  yet,”  said  Mary.  “But  it  seems 
to  be  a  very  healthy  climate.  I  walked 
through  your  cemetery  just  now,  and  T 
see  there  have  only  two  people  died  here 
in  the  last  hundred  years.” — Every¬ 
body’s  Magazine. 
