1268 
The  RURAL  NEW-YORKER 
Dairying  Today 
Business  men  all  over  the  world  at 
the  present  time  are  trying  to  look  into 
the  future,  in  the  endeavor  to  learn  what 
it  has  in  store  for  them.  This  is  no  less 
true  of  the  dairy  farmer  than  it  is  of  the 
merchant,  the  manufacturer,  the  contrac¬ 
tor  and  the  builder.  This  desire  to  fore¬ 
cast  the  future  does  not  indicate  that 
the  present  is  any  more  wrapped  ;n 
doubt  and  uncertainty  than  the  past  has 
been.  Human  wisdom  is  limited  at  best. 
The  future  must  always  be  to  a  greater 
or  lesser  extent  a  matter  for  specula¬ 
tion. 
We  have  no  way  of  forming  a  rational 
opinion  about  the  things  which  lie  ahead 
of  us  than  to  reason  from  the  known  to 
the  unknown.  With  a  clear  conception 
of  those  things  which  are  evident  as  the 
basis  of  our  reasoning,  supported  by  the 
light  of  the  past,  we  are  able  with  more 
or  less  precision  to  reach  a  definite  con¬ 
clusion  as  to  what  may  come  to  us  in  the 
future. 
Applying  this  rule  to  our  consideration 
of  the  dairy  business,  we  find  that  all 
the  cities  and  larger  towns  of  the  east¬ 
ern  part  of  the  country  are  rapidly  in¬ 
creasing  in  size.  The  gains  in  popula¬ 
tion  made  in  all  these  centers  are  little 
less  than  marvelous.  We  do  not  need 
to  quote  statistics  in  proof  of  this  as¬ 
sertion.  We  know  it  to  be  indisputably 
true.  It  must  follow  that  the  demand 
for  all  kinds  of  foodstuffs,  milk  among 
them,  must  constantly  increase.  Here  we 
are  on  safe  ground.  Never  has  there 
been  so  great  a  consumption  per  capita 
of  milk  in  our  cities  and  towns  as  there 
is  today.  The  same  thing  is  true  of  the 
use  of  milk  in  the  rural  districts.  Farmer 
folk  are  learning  to  use  the  milk  of  their 
own  dairies  more  freely  than  at  any 
time  in  the  past.  On  the  list  of  every 
city  householder,  milk  holds  the  first 
place.  Nothing  but  a  widespread  finan¬ 
cial  panic,  for  which  no  one  is  now  look¬ 
ing.  can  prevent  still  more  striking  gains 
in  population  in  the  future  than  we  have 
witnessed  in  the  past.  Our  cities  are 
bound  to  grow,  and  as  they  become 
larger,  milk  will  be  in  ever  increasing 
demand. 
We  find  added  reason  for  this  state¬ 
ment  in  the  fact  that  our  yeople  are 
more  and  more  coming  to  understand  the 
value  of  milk  as  an  article  of  food.  The 
results  gained  in  the  laboratory  prove 
its  worth ;  medical  science  declares  it ; 
the  experience  of  everyday  life  makes  it 
absolutely  certain  that  milk  contains  the 
most  vital  elements  for  the  conservation 
of  bodily  growth,  health  and  happiness 
known  to  man.  We  are  not  compelled  to 
rest  our  opinion  here  upon  speculation. 
We  have  the  light  of  knowledge  to  sup¬ 
port  us.  And  as  these  facts  become 
more  widely  known,  the  consumption  of 
milk  will  more  and  more  take  its  rightful 
place  in  the  household  economy  of  peo¬ 
ple  everywhere. 
For  the  production  of  the  milk  needed 
to  supply  the  requirements  of  our  daily 
increasing  population,  the  farms  of  the 
Fast,  and  particularly  of  New  York,  are 
remarkably  well  adapted.  It  seems  as  if 
an  all-wise  Providence  must  have  fore¬ 
seen  that  vast  bodies  of  people  would  one 
day  gather  in  the  cities  of  the  East,  and 
that  lie  must  have  been  providing  for 
their  prospective  wants  when  He  spread 
out  our  broad  fields,  traced  the  course  of 
our  streams  and  tapped  the  secret  re¬ 
cesses  of  the  earth  for  the  creation  of  our 
springs.  We  have  the  soil,  the  water  and 
all  the  other  natural  advantages  needed 
for  the  making  of  the  world’s  greatest 
food  product,  milk.  It  cannot  be  a  mis¬ 
take  to  conclude  that  dairy  farming  must 
have  been  in  the  thought  of  the  Creator 
for  us  from  the  beginning,  and  that  this 
is  no  less  true  now  than  it  has  been  in 
the  past.  Finally,  we  have  a  great  body 
of  men  with  the  energy  and  ambition  to 
avail  themselves  of  the  possibilities  of 
Huid  milk  production.  Great  as  have 
been  our  successes  in  this  direction  in  the 
past,  it  cannot  be  otherwise  than  that 
still  greater  things  lie  before  us. 
'With  this  as  our  major  premise,  it 
naturally  follows  that  those  men  will  be 
most  successful  who  have  the  mental 
acumen  to  recognize  the  possibilities 
lying  before  them  and  the  energy  to  put 
themselves,  their  herds  and  their  farms 
in  condition  to  take  advantage  of  them. 
This  applies  to  all  dairymen  alike, 
whether  engaged  extensively  in  dairying 
or  not.  It  is  not  so  much  a  question  of 
how  much  men  shall  do  as  it  is  how  well 
they  do  what  they  undertake  to  do.  It 
is  just  as  possible  for  the  man  who  has 
a  small  farm  and  who  keeps  only  a  few 
cows  to  do  a  successful  dairy  business  as 
it  is  for  the  one  who  has  larger  facilities 
at  his  command.  In  other  words,  the 
prospect  is  just  as  good  for  the  small 
dairyman  as  it  is  for  anyone;  and  i t  is 
a  safe  prediction  that  he  will  recognize 
this  fact  and  hold  his  ground  just  as  suc¬ 
cessfully  as  will  his  neighbor  who  owns 
much  more  land. 
Not  only  will  the  cows  kept  by  our 
dairy  farmers  hereafter  be  the  best  pos¬ 
sible,  but  they  will  be  fed  and  given 
other  necessary  care  in  a  more  workman¬ 
like  and  systematic  manner  than  in  the 
.past.  Barns  will  be  better  adapted  to 
and  Tomorrow 
the  keeping  of  cows.  Pastures  will  be 
improved.  We  shall  produce  more  of 
the  feed  we  need  on  our  own  farms.  We 
shall  have  better  dairy  equipments.  Hu¬ 
man  ingenuity  has  well  nigh  exhausted 
itself  to  give  us  they  finest  possible  dairy 
equipment.  Never  have  we  had  such 
perfect  machinery  for  all  kinds  of  dairy 
work. 
Our  shipping  facilities  are  unrivaled. 
Our  highways  are  daily  becoming  better. 
Everything  conspires  to  make  this  par 
excellence  the  world’s  greatest  milk  pro¬ 
ducing  territory.  This  applies  to  milk 
in  all  its  varied  forms,  but  especially  to 
milk  in  fluid  form.  The  very  nature  of 
things  takes  this  forecast  of  the  future 
out  of  the  realm  of  possibility  and  places 
it  absolutely  within  the  bounds  of  prob¬ 
ability.  EDGAR  L.  VINCENT. 
Result  of  the  Cow  Guessing  Contest 
At  the  New  York  State  Fair  there  was 
a  guessing  contest  over  nine  cows.  Yis- 
itors  who  cared  to  do  so  submitted  esti¬ 
mates  on  the  amount  of  milk  these  cows 
had  produced.  The  point  was  to  see  how 
accurately  dairymen  can  estimate  the 
milking  power  of  a  cow  by  looking  her 
over.  Some  men  claim  they  can  tell  how 
much  milk  a  cow  will  give  by  looking  at 
her  face.  There  were  8,840  estimates 
made  in  this  contest.  The  prizes  were 
four  purebred  calves  and  $100  in  cash. 
They  were  won  by  the  following  named 
people : 
Almon  O.  Nye,  Pleasant  Valley,  N.  Y., 
was  the  winner  of  the  first  prize,  which 
consisted  of  a  choice  of  four  calves,  and 
selected  the  purebred  Guernsey  bull  calf 
donated  by  Henry  M.  Sage.  Fernbrook 
Farm,  Albany.  N.  Y. 
W.  A.  Pritchard  of  Oswego,  N.  Y.,  won 
second  prize,  a  purebred  Ayrshire  bull 
calf,  from  the  Metropolitan  Insurance 
Company  Sanitarium  Farm,  Mt.  Mc¬ 
Gregor,  N.  Y. 
H.  W.  Burritt  of  Romulus  was  third 
in  the  contest  and  the  winner  of  the 
purebred  Holstein  heifer  calf,  donated  by 
It.  E.  Chapin  &  Son,  Bonalevo  Farm,  Ba- 
Fay  .1.  Dougherty.  10f>  Eldorado  St., 
Syracuse,  won  fourth  prize,  a  purebred 
Jersey  bull  calf,  donated  by  Meridaie 
ITarms,  Ayer  &  McKinney,  proprietors, 
Meredith,  N.  Y. 
Leigh  H.  Park,  Cortland,  was  fifth, 
and  won  the  $50  cash  prize. 
C.  H.  Burroughs.  Savannah,  was  sixth, 
prize  $30. 
Harry  Foster.  West  Monroe;  G.  N. 
Miller,  Tthaca.  and  W.  II.  Weller,  Al¬ 
bany,  divided  the  seventh  prize  of  $20. 
Arranging  Cow  Stable 
I  have  a  bank  barn  30x40  ft.,  outside 
dimensions.  Walls  of  stone.  18  in.  thick. 
The  lower  half  of  it  is  now  being  used 
for  four  horses,  and  I  wish  to  concrete 
the  entire  lower  floor,  using  the  other 
half  for  a  cow  stable.  Will  you  advise 
me  of  the  best  length  and  width  of  cow 
stalls  for  Holsteins  weighing  about  1,200 
lbs.,  size  of  mangers,  gutters,  and  alley 
behind  cows,  amount  of  pitch  to  allow 
for  cow  stalls?  How  would  it  be  best  to 
lay  concrete  so  that  there  will  be  enough 
pitch  to  drain  liquid?  How  would  it 
be  best  to  drain  liquid  from  horse  stable 
and  that  from  cow  stable  to  a  liquid  ma¬ 
nure  pit?  J.  L. 
New  Jersey. 
A  report  recently  put  out  by  the  Amer¬ 
ican  Society  of  Agricultural  Engineers 
gives  the  length  from  the  point  of  the 
shoulder  to  the  tail  plus  6  in.  as  the 
proper  length  from  the  stanchion  line  to 
the  edge  of  the  gutter.  With  medium- 
size  Holsteins  this  will  be  about  5  ft.  and 
6  in.  The  width  of  the  stall  should  be 
about  3  ft.  6  in.,  but  may  be  varied 
slightly  to  meet  existing  conditions. 
With  a  barn  36  ft.  wide,  with  two 
rows  of  cattle  facing  out,  the  most  fa¬ 
vored  arrangement  for  common  farm 
practice,  the  center  driveway  should  be 
8  ft.  wide  between  the  gutters.  This 
permits  cleaning  with  a  team  if  desired. 
October  C,  1923 
The  walks  in  front  of  the  cows  will  be 
about  4  ft.  and  3  in.  wide.  Gutters 
should  be  about  16  in.  wide,  S  in.  deep  on 
the  standing  platform  side,  and  5'  in. 
deep  on  the  side  next  to  the  driveway. 
If  you  are  planning  on  housing  horses 
and  cattle  in  the  same  stable,  look  up  the 
board  of  health  rules  governing  milk 
production  and  make  sure  that  the  pro¬ 
posed  arrangement  is  going  to  pass  their 
requirements  before  going  ahead  with  the 
work.  A  pitch  of  1  in.  in  25  ft.  will  pro¬ 
vide  sufficient  drainage  if  the  floor  is  laid 
on  an  even  grade.  The  best  practice  is 
to  absorb  the  liquid  with  bedding  and 
handle  it  in  this  way,  rather  than  through 
the  use  of  a  cistern.  r.  ii.  s. 
Fitting  Sheep  for  the  Show 
(Continued  from  Page  1266) 
the  sheep  look  as  neat  and  blocky  as 
possible.  If  the  sheep  have  been  selected 
as  to  type,  good  backs,  full  heart  girth 
and  good  in  the  twist  (the  area  between 
the  hind  legs  just  under  the  tail,  which 
should  be  full,  more  so  in  the  distinct 
mutton  breeds),  the  sheep  man  will  not 
have  to  do  much  in  covering  up  of  de¬ 
fects  by  leaving  wool  long  in  some  places 
and  short  in  others,  which  is  always 
found  by  a  real  judge.  After  sheep  have 
been  gone  over  once,  repeat  the  brushing 
or  currying  with  wool  card  and  damp 
brush,  going  over  until  all  ends  seem  to 
stand  out  and  are  cut  off. 
Fine  Wool  Breeds. — As  to  the  fitting 
up  of  the  fine  wool  breeds,  they  are  never 
trimmed.  Select  sheep  showing  plenty  of 
oil,  and  if  properly  housed  and  given  a 
fair  grain  ration,  which  includes  a  little 
corn,  no  dope  of  any  kind  is  necessary. 
The  fine  wool  fleeces  must  not  get  wet. 
and  the  hot  sun  is  equally  as  bad.  A 
damp,  cool  place  is  ideal. 
R. 
C, 
Produce  Clean  Milk 
It’s  Easy  with  a  Burrell  Milker 
LEAN  milk — both  freedom  from  vis¬ 
ible  dirt  and  low  bacteria  content — pays. 
In  some  markets — like  New  York,  for 
instance — a  liberal  premium  is  paid  for 
low  bacteria  counts.  In  fact,  some  Bur¬ 
rell  users  make  enough  extra  in  premiums 
every  year  to  pay  for  an  entire  Burrell  ' 
installation.  And  this  additional  profit 
earned  without  additional  effort. 
is 
Cash  In  on  Clean  Milk 
Even  where  direct  profit  in  the  form  of 
premiums  is  not  received,  there  is  nev¬ 
ertheless  good  profit  in  producing  clean 
milk,  because  of  the  good-will  created. 
If  you  sell  through  a  dealer,  you  help  him 
to  increase  the  demand  for  milk.  If  you 
sell  at  retail,  you  not  only  make  it  easier 
to  sell  your  output  but  you  can  secure  a 
better  price.  Moreover,  a  rightful  pride  in 
product  enhances  a  profit  well  deserved. 
A  Big  Burrell  Feature 
Throughout  the  development  of  the 
Burrell  Milker — starting  back  in  1860  — 
cleanliness  has  been  given  first  attention, 
and  much  time  and  money  has  been 
devoted  to  scientific  research.  The  re¬ 
sult  is  that  with  a  Burrell  Milker  you 
have  the  means  of  producing  the  cleanest 
milk  possible.  The  Burrell  Milker  not 
only  may  be  used  in  certified  dairies  but 
its  use  makes  it  easier  to  maintain  the 
necessary  low  bacteria  count.  Ask  about  it. 
Send  today  for  our  28-page  book,  "Burrell  Milker”.  It  is  more 
than  a  catalog  —  and  free  for  the  asking.  Please  address  Dept.  20 
D.H.  BUrrell  &  Go.  Inc. 
Little  Falls.  New  York 
