The  RURAL.  NEW-YORKER 
1271 
Dairying  in  the  Dominican  Republic 
Dairying  in  the  Dominican  Republic 
[The  R.  N.-Y.  has  readers  everywhere. 
From  the  equator  both  ways  to  the  poles 
they  may  be  found  in  every  country.  They 
tell  us  of  their  doings.  The  following 
note  is  from  the  Dominican  Republic.  It 
it  not  likely  to  induce  many  of  our  read¬ 
ers  to  move  to  that  country.  It  might 
be  a  good  place  for  some  of  our  readers 
to  learn  a  few  political  points.] 
I  will  give  you  an  account  of  the  agri¬ 
cultural  methods  used  by  my  uncle  on 
his  dairy  farm.  This  man  started  with 
nothing  25  years  ago.  owing  to  a  lady  in 
Porto  Rico  300  Mexican  dollars  (about 
$150  U.  S.  currency).  He  was  obliged 
to  take  his  father’s  300-acre  farm  on  a 
50-50  basis.  When  he  had  paid  off  his 
debt  and  bought  a  small  farm  he  worked 
no  more  at  his  father’s,  but  kept  on  work¬ 
ing  on  his  own.  He  has  a  well  to  take 
water  from,  and  this  well  is  in  a  one- 
acre  plot,  and  every  one  of  the  other 
plots  is  so  arranged  that  they  have  access 
to  the  well  plot,  thus  saving  daily  many 
useless  steps  to  the  cattle  and  to  the 
hired  people.  For  about  every  two  acres 
he  has  a  milking  cow,  and  he  keeps  con¬ 
stantly  from  30  to  40  cows,  and  sends  to 
town  from  100  to  200  quarts  of  milk,  to 
be  sold  by  his  sister  (the  middlewoman), 
who  charges  him  1  cent  per  quart,  and 
sells  each  quart  at  from  6  to  8  cents. 
He  keeps  one  man  and  two  boys  to  do 
the  milking  and  carrying  the  milk  to 
town,  and  these  persons  are  paid  about 
15  per  cent  higher  than  what  others  pay. 
His  whole  farm  is  planted  to  a  sort  of 
grass  called  “yerba  paez,”  and  they  don’t 
cut  this  grass,  but  allow  the  cows  on  one 
plot,  and  after  several  days  or  weeks,  ac¬ 
cording  to  the  size  of  the  plot,  where 
their  is  no  more  grass,  they  move  the 
cows  to  the  next  plot,  and  so  on.  When 
a  cow  is  dry  they  move  her  to  another 
farm  he  has  on  the  place  he  lives,  about 
12  miles  away,  and  when  a  cow  drops  a 
calf  they  take  her  back.  This  man  stops 
on  his  farm  only  on  Monday  morning  for 
|  no  more  than  two  hours,  during  which 
'  time  he  sees  everything,  then  goes  to  his 
*  sister’s  to  receive  the  money.  The  hired 
<  help  has  no  right  to  sell  a  drop  of  milk, 
1  and  if  they  do  he  fires  them  away,  after 
:  kicking  and  beating  them  good  and  hard. 
This  hired  help  must  keep  an  account  of 
the  milk  sent  to  town,  and  must  get  a 
,  receipt  from  the  owner’s  sister,  so  when 
he  rides  to  his  sister’s  he  knows  before¬ 
hand  how  much  money  she  must  give 
him.  He  spends  the  latter  part  of  Mon¬ 
day  and  the  rest  of  the  week,  Sunday  in¬ 
clusive,  talking  and  writing  to  people,  for 
he  has  been  a  politician  for  about  24 
years,  and  he  is  running  for  presidency 
just  now,  and  all  probabilities  are  that 
he  will  be  elected  quite  soon. 
This  man  talks  very  little  to  his  help, 
sometimes  barely  saying  to  them  “Good- 
day,”  but  when  he  sees  the  slightest 
thing  wrong  he  reprimands  them  severe¬ 
ly.  This  man  has  earned  about  $50,000, 
TJ.  S!  currency,  is  04  years  old,  is  honest, 
gruff  and  bad-tempered,  and  is  most  of 
the  time  talking  that  if  he  is  elected  pres¬ 
ident  he  would  do  many  wonderful  things 
to  save  the  country  in  order  that  every¬ 
body  might  have  an  easy  living,  and  that 
his  political  adversaries  are  no  good. 
I  have  been  long  becouse  I  don’t  under¬ 
stand  English  well,  and  I  want  you  to 
know  what  I  mean,  for  perhaps  some  of 
your  readers  who  live  in  the  south  (of 
the  United  States)  who  have  the  same 
conditions  before  them,  might  duplicate 
my  uncle’s  doings.  r.  m.  vasquez. 
Moca,  Domincan  Republic. 
Making  Koumyss 
Will  you  tell  me  how  koumyss  or  fer¬ 
mented  milk  is  made?  M.  B. 
New  York. 
Koumyss  is  prepared  by  alcoholic  fer¬ 
mentation  of  buttermilk  from  the  churn 
or  from  cultured  milk  from  skim-milk, 
according  to  our  leading  dairy  authori¬ 
ties.  The  amount  of  alcohol  produced 
must  be  kept  below  one-half  of  1  per 
cent  if  the  beverage  is  to  be  classed  as 
non-alcoholic.  The  percentage  of  alco¬ 
hol  can  be  controlled  by  the  quantity  of 
cane  sugar  added  and  the  use  of  ordinary 
bread  yeast,  which  does  not  ferment  milk 
sugar. 
Each  per  cent  of  cane  sugar  will  the¬ 
oretically  produce  a  little  over  one-half 
of  1  per  cent  of  alcohol.  As  the  fermen¬ 
tation  is  never  complete,  1  per  cent  of 
cane  sugar  can  be  safely  used  without 
danger  of  a  production  of  alcohol  to  ex¬ 
ceed  one-half  of  1  per  cent — the  highest 
amount  of  alcohol  in  non-intoxicating 
•beverages,  according  to  the  present  pro¬ 
hibition  law  (1923). 
The  buttermilk  is  thoroughly  agitated 
to  break  the  curd  into  fine  particles.  Add 
1  per  cent  of  cane  sugar  (1%  ounces,  or 
two  rounded  teaspoons),  and  one-fourth 
of  a  cake  of  yeast  to  the  gallon.  The 
yeast  should  be  ground  up  in  a  little 
pure  cold  water  before  adding  to  the 
buttermilk.  This  mixture  is  then  bottled 
in  stout  bottles  with  patent  stoppers,  or 
with  corks  securely  tied. 
Another  more  efficient  method  is  to 
prepare  an  active  yeast  starter  separate¬ 
ly  Add  one-fourth  of  a  cake  of  yeast  and 
one-third  ounce  (one  level  tablespoon) 
of  cane  sugar  to  four  ounces  of  pure 
cold  water.  Hot  water  will  destroy  the 
activity  of  the  yeast.  Mix  well. 
Allow  to  stand  in  a  lukewarm  place 
(about  S0°  F.)  over  night  (about  12 
hours).  Add  one-third  ounce  (10  grams, 
or  one  level  tablespoon)  of  cane  sugar 
and  two  cubic  centimeters  (one-fourth 
tablespoon)  of  the  yeast  starter  to  each 
quart  of  buttermilk. 
Hold  the  bottles  with  stoppers  closed 
for  three  days  in  a  fairly  cool  room 
(about  G0°  F.),  shaking  daily  to  break 
up  the  curd.  Keep  on  ice  until  used.  The 
yeas<ty  taste  gradually,  disappears  on 
standing,  but  the  koumyss  should  be  con¬ 
sumed  within  about  two  weeks  after  pre¬ 
paration.  j.  w.  B. 
Tumor  in  Udder 
I  have  a  four-month  pure  bred  Guernsey 
heifer  that  has  a  hard  lump  in  one  quarter 
of  her  udder.  This  lump  is  nearly  as 
large  as  a  hen’s  egg  and  is  the  result  of 
being  sucked  by  another  calf.  Can  you 
tell  me  what  to  do  for  this,  if  there  is  any 
help  for  her?  A.  L.  barnes. 
New  York. 
It  scarcely  is  safe  to  conclude  that  the 
tumor  or  lump  in  such  a  case  is  due  to 
sucking  of  the  teats  by  calves.  That 
often  causes  precocious  secretion  of  milk, 
however,  and  when  that  occurs  garget 
may  ensue  or  come  on  when  the  heifer 
has  her  first  calf.  The  practice  therefore 
should  be  stopped  at  once  when  noticed. 
It  may  be  stated  in  this  connection  that 
calves  will  be  much  less  likely  to  suck 
one  aanother’s  teats  if  stanchioned  when 
fed  milk  and  then  given  some  dry  meal 
before  setting  them  free.  We  should  ad¬ 
vise  you  to  have  the  heifer  tested  with 
tuberculin  as  it  is  just  possible  that  tuber¬ 
culosis  is  the  real  cause  of  the  lump  and 
as  that  disease  is  incurable  and  contagious 
the  animal,  if  found  affected,  will  have  to 
be  disposed  of  in  the  manner  prescribed 
by  state  law  which  the  veterinarian  who 
applies  the  test  will  explain.  If  she 
does  not  react  we  should  advise  you  to 
dry  off  any  milk  secretion  that  happens  to 
be  present.  That  is  accomplished  by  re¬ 
moving  only  a  little  of  the  milk  at  one 
time  and  then  gradually  increasing  the 
length  of  time  between  each  milking.  At 
the  same  time  massage  the  lump  and  af¬ 
fected  quarter  thoroughly  and  every  other 
uay  rub  in  a  little  iodine  ointment. 
A.  S  A. 
Dairying  in  “The  Southern  Tier” 
(Continued  from  Page  12G9) 
ing  the  chief  ones  in  most  cases.  While 
the  additional  amount  of  40  cents  per 
hundred  will  be  gladly  received,  there  is 
some  question  as  to  why  the  several 
cents  per  quart  spread  between  Grade  A 
and  Grade  B  milk  at  retail  in  New  York 
should  dwindle  to  about  five-sixths  of  a 
cent  on  the  farm. 
The  feeling  among  dairymen  is  one  of 
hopefulness  for  the  futui’e  and  gratifica¬ 
tion  that,  in  the  general  wreck  of  the 
farming  industry,  they  have  suffered  as 
little  as  they  have,  and  less,  probably, 
than  farmers  of  many  other  sections. 
They  give  credit  to  the  Dairymen’s 
League  for  keeping  them  from  being  en¬ 
tirely  at  the  mercy  of  organized  mill- 
buyers  and  do  not  feel  that  their  posi¬ 
tion  as  suppliers  of  milk  and  its  products 
to  the  great  cities  of  the  East  is  yet 
seriously  threatened  by  proposed  changes 
upon  Western  grain  farms.  Fluid  milk 
is  their  main  hold,  and  by  it  they  pro¬ 
pose  to  stick.  m.  n.  D. 
FROM  A  KODAK  NEGATIVE  MADE  ON  THE  FARM 
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that’s  the  Kodak  -way. 
You’ll  want  such  pictures  of  live  stock,  crops, 
equipment,  buildings,  for  reference  and  year-to-year 
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the  illustration  above. 
Autographic  Kodaks  $6.50  up 
Eastman  Kodak  Company,  Rochester,  N.  Y. 
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