The frontier. (O'Neill City, Holt County, Neb.) 1880-1965, August 01, 1895, Image 6
DAIRY AND POULTRY. INTERESTING CHAPTERS FOR OUR RURAL READERS. How Buecoiifnl Furman O pa rata The Deportment of the Farm —A Few Hint* at to the Tare of Un Stock •ntl Poultry. HE RURAL NEW Yorker devotes one of Its Interesting symposiums from specialists to the question of flavor In butter, Dr. Conn, Dr. Babcock, Pro fessors Plumb, Dean, Jordan, Wat ers, Van Slyke and Hills, and the Ca nadian Dairy Com the contributors. The general re sult of the opinions of these gentle men Is that the desirable aroma and taste of butter are due to the handling of the milk and cream rather than to the flavor of the original food. Fresh butter appears to have no particular flavor, it being the buttermilk rather than the pure fat which gives the taste of butter are due to the handling some weeds, such as onions, garlic, rag weed, etc., is recognized as unfavora bly Influencing butter flavor, the In fluence of feed Is generally minimized by all contributors and flavor is, as a rule, ascribed to bacterial action. Dr. Conn’s views, which may be taken as affording a fair index of the others, are as follows: "The ‘flavor’ Is not the result of any direct Influence of good. Undoubt edly tho food has great Influence upon the flavor, but the delicate butter aroma is only directly related to the food. This conclusion I base upon the fact that I have succeeded in produc ing the desired flavor from the milk of cows fed upon the widest variety of foods. Butter fat, when first drawn with the milk, does not have the flavor found In the choicest butter. In my own opinion it has no flavor at all re sembling it. Very likely indigestion ir change of food may influence the flavor of the butter. As butter is ordi narily made this will almost certainly pertinent* upon this matter. I find It possible to produce the butter flavor from all sorts of cream, and under al most any condition, provided I put the right species of bacteria Into the cream.” Vntne of Poultry Droppings* It is often claimed ttttLt poultry ma nure Is very valuable. Well, that de pends on the food from which it is pro duced. Birds that live on animal food, such as meat, fish, etc., produce manure richer than that from grain and grass. Below is a comparison of the value of manure from hens, ducks, geese, and pigeons: "In 1,000 pounds of hen manure there are 560 pounds of water, 255 pounds of organic substance, and 185 pounds of ash. The manure from the ducks very closely approaches that from hens, the same quantity of duck manure contain ing 566 pounds of water, 262 pounds of organic substance, and 172 pounds of ash. Th« estimates are based on fresh manure that has not loBt any of its moisture. Although most farmers have supposed that manure from the goose was more concentrated than that from hens, yet such is not the case. It is far behind that from the hen and the duck In fertilizing elements, as 1,000 pounds of fresh goose manure contain as much as 771 pounds of water, and 134 pounds of organic substance, while its ash Is but ninety-five pounds, or hut little over one-halt that of the hen manure. “The hen manure contains about six teen pounds of nitrogen In 1,000 pounds, the duck manure about ten pounds, and the goose manure about five pounds. The hen manure Is, there fore, three times as valuable as the goose manure In nitrogen, and the duck manure twice as valuable. Goose ma nure, however, contains more potash than that from the hen or duck, the proportion being about nine pounds for the goose, eight pounds for the hen, and six pounds for the duck. "Manure from pigeons, however, Is more valuable than that from fowls, as pigeon manure contains 529 pounds of water In 1,000 pounds, but Its organic substance reaches 308 pounds, and its ash 173 pounds. It also contains over seventeen pounds of nitrogen and ten pounds of potash. In value, therefore, the manure from pigeons comes first, that from hens second, that from ducks third, and that from geese last, yet it has always been an accepted theory RUMPLESS FOWLS. I — Rumpless fowls are not only wanting In tall feathers, but their anatomy ■hows that the caudal projection is wanting, and also even the Anal verte brae of ths spine itself. This gives them a very peculiar and grotesque ap pearance. It is supposed that these originated from the Polish breeds, and that some of them were formerly crested with partially developed beards, with leg feathers and vulture backs, but these have been bred out. Their anatomy being deficient in the usual prolongation of the vertebrae column upon which the tall feathers of the fowl are planted, renders them devoid of this ornamental appendage, the back part of the body being cov ered by a few back or saddle feathers. They were formerly bred mostly black In color, or a mixture of black and white, but are mostly found now pure white. They have been somewhat Im proved by breeding, but are now rarely seen. They are good layers, but the eggs are not apt to be so fertile as those of other breeds. As sitters and mothers they do very well, while as a table fowl they are of average quality. follow. Here, too, the Influence Is an Indirect one, but no less certain. Some times the food does have a direct In fluence In filling the butter with pe _ cultar odors, such as that of garlic. The explanation is not positively known, but it Is probably due to vo latile products of the food passing di rectly into the milk. The food is the source of the flavor indirectly, the flav or being directly the result of certain decomposition products of the cream. These flavors are produced by bacteria which multiply in the cream when it Is ripening. Whether proper flavors are produced in the cream will depend upon whether the proper species of bac teria are present in sufficient quantity. Some species of bacteria produce very ■; good flavors, some very poor flavors, and some will completely ruin the flav or and the resulting butter. The but termaker has no method of determin ing what species are present, and will get the proper flavor if he chance to have the proper species. The Various _ ^starters’ and ‘cults" are supposed to * contain the proper species of bacteria to produce a good flavor. Bacillus 41 has been demonstrated to be a bacterU which will produce this flavoa Th# use of these ‘starters’ may be Com pared to planting a field with seed. If the field is left to itself something will grow, but we can not tell what. If planted with clover we may depend ir. upon clover. So the cream, when inoc ulated with such starters as No. 41, may be depended upon to develop the right ;,J kind of bacteria, and, therefore. %he proper flavor. This flavor comes, of course, indirectly from the food, but directly from the products of bacterial growth in the cream. The conclusions which I have given above are not mere guesses, but are the results of a long Series of most careful and rigid ex that manure from geese was richer than that from any other fowls, but the chemist has shed light upon the matter, and facts show otherwise. Water is a factor in all manures, hence that from birds is no exception to the rule.” Read the above carefully and then save it. The droppings should be well mixed as follows: One bushel drop pings, one peck kainit, and two bushels sifted dry earth or coal ashes. Keep I it in barrels moist (not wet), and never | let It get dry. Pour soapsuds, urine, or ! any kind of slop water over It. When I you wish to use it, the ammonia will I compel you to hold your nose. If kept j dry it loses its value, becoming hard I and insoluble.—The Poultry Keeper. 1 Fowls for the Table.—There is no ‘ disputing the fact that if one wants a ; fast growing broiler or spring chicken, i a cross, like, for instance, Houdan on j Cochin or Brahma; Indian Game on 1 P.rahma or Langshan; or Leghorn on : Plymouth Rock, will give the best re j suits. But we have now two breeds that will till the bill almost as well. They are the White Wyandotte and the Barred Plymouth Rock. The former are to be preferred in that particular, as the skin is more yellow, the breasts more plump, and the flesh more firm and closer grained. For roasting pur poses no fowls equal the Light Brahma and the Black Langshan; but on ac count of the color of the skin and legs, the Langshans are not so popular as the Brahma; and yet those who have given them a trial are not slow in say ing that they take the lead. There Is a wild turkey taste to the flesh that is tempting. A man Is generally at his heaviest in his fortieth year. mm Mix Month* of riff Life. At the a wins herdera’ meeting held In Des Moines last week, Wm. Roberta apoke on feeding and managing pigs up to six months old. A part of his re marks were aa follows: If the topic would allow of it I would like to take a run and go before I Jump. Say about two weeks before the pigs see daylight. I do not know but that to get at the subject Just right, one would need to go back a good ways and come up to the topic. I will only take up your time for a brief period. For two weeks before farrowing I feed as near the kind of food as possible I Intend to feed afterward. I have well arranged, roomy breeding pens with good fenders In which I put the sow a few days before farrowing time. When the time is up for her to travail I am on hand, but to tell you Just what to do I will not at tempt, for my doings are various, to suit the case. One may need no attention; another may need all the skill of a breeder. I put water in a clean trough a few hours after the sow has farrowed; that is all the first day. The next day all the food I give her is a handful of shorts In water and increase from day to day until she has had shorts five days. I then take mother and pigs to a one-etghth acre lot of grass in which there is a nice house, 8x7 feet, dirt floor. Now is a critical time, and no iron-clad rule will do; of a dozen sows, no two are exactly alike, hence the necessity of having them in lots to themselves. One may have a voracious appetite and will need holding in, or you will soon have a patient on your hands with dyspepsia. Another may have but little appetite, generally occa sionea by lever in bag. She win neea close attention. I bathe the belly with cold water, and have a bottle of flax seed oil with a little carbolic acid In It, and with a turkey feather put this over her teats. The washing with water cleans off all dirt and allays fever; the oil and acid preserves the pigs from sore mouths. I try to coax up an appetite sometimes with little scraps of meat, milk, mush, etc. I now, if they have good appetites, Increase the feed, clear, fresh water, shorts and a little oil meal mixed, as feed, and give all they will eat up clean. At this time I commence on one-half ear of dry corn, Increase from day to day until on a full feed. I keep on In this way. At about three weeks old the pigs will begin to come up to the trough. It is fixed low so that they can eat all they will. Then soak oats and corn and put It in a shut-off corner. Stand and look at them eat, and grow, and feel happy. At five weeks of age I open the doors of each pen or lot, and have the sows from six to eight come up to a common feeding place. Of course the pigs come too. Toll the pigs Into a clean-floored house and feed slop as heretofore, and soaked oats and corn, all they will clean up—always sweet. At eight or nine weeks of age I turn.the sows In back pasture and leave the pigs In their pasture and keep right on giv ing same feed and care. When fair time comes we select what we want to ex hibit. After the round-up of the fairs, we separate the sexes, castrate what males appear to be below the standard, put them with such of the sow pigs as we do not want to retain either in our own herd or to ship for breeders, push them as fast as possible and try to have them in Chicago before the first of Feb ruary, at from 200 to 250 pounds. After selecting what I want to retain, I try to have the rest in other hands by the time they are six months old. This year I have had the personal care and oversight of over 130 pigs. There has not been a single case of scours, but one case of thumps and only three or four with sore mouths. There is not an unhealthy looking pig iu the bunch. They are in five groups and kept sep arate. If I could so arrange it I would prefer still smaller groups. I would give you all a personal invitation to come and see my pig town. , A most interesting discussion fol lowed, led by Mr. W. Z. Swallow of Boonaville, who was made the target for a long array of questions bearing on the subject. His plan was to keep each sow and litter separate from the others in a grass lot of not less than one-half acre until six or eight weeks of age, so they could not acquire the habit of robbing. Later a dozen in a lot will bring better results. Feed reg ularly, three times a day, milk and shorts. The milk should be sweet, as sour milk fed to sow o,r pigs is apt to scour. Red shorts are better than mite. Feed no soaked corn, prefer ring, if corn is fed, to feed it dry, and in small quantities after the other feed. Seldom feed oil meal. Feed well and give plenty of exercise, but do not overfeed. Keep salt and ashes always where the pigs can get them. Bed with clean sand on ground floor. Yearlings can be made to shed by washing daily with warm water. Best breeding sows are those bred twice a year regularly. He also advocated the feeding of wheat because of its strengthening influences on bone and muscle. Mr. F. A. Shafer, of Campbell, feeds ground corn, oats, wheat, rye, and everything a pig will eat, but no shorts. Thinks a bad Influence follows advocat ing the feeding of shorts and slops. He feeds corn because it is cheap and the best pork producer known. Considers bone a result of breeding rather than feeding. Source of Mongrels.—A writer asks, “Since so many breeds are being Intro duced, is it not likely that the common fowl will soon become extinct?” We do not see how. It is a common prac tice by people who start with thorough breds to either let them breed in and in until there is nothing left, or to get a cockerel of another breed as soon as the pure-bred one dies, and to event ually mate up the offspring among themselves. All this has a tendency to mongrelism. Then, again, many who made crosses are infatuated with the idea of getting up a new breed themselves, and in their endeavor to create something new they are placing still more mongrels on the market_ Ex. American Horses in England—John A. Logan, Jr., is about to try an exper iment that will be interesting to breeders. He will take to London about the middle of July fifty head of fine horses. Every one of the lot will be 15.3 in height or better and not one will have a record slower than 2:30. Every animal in the lot will be solid color, bay or brown, and there will be no less than fifteen matched pairs, some of them able to go double in 2:2o! All will be stylish, fine-actioned horses, and Mr. Logan believes that they will not only attract great attention on the other side, but that they will also fetch excellent prices.—Ex. GRAND OLD PART f. REPUBLICAN POLICY SUSTAINED BY EXPERIENCE. flow Mexican Cattle Are Brought Arnni the Border Coder the Wilson Bill— Secretary Morton "Called Down**—■ Crime of Democracy. There has been no more timely and pertinent contribution to current dis cussion of passing events than an open letter from ex-Congressman Abner Taylor to J. Sterling Morton, Secretary of Agriculture. It was called out by the recent orders and regulations made by that official to encourage the Mexi cans to bring their cattle across the border into this country. Colonel Tay lor is now living in Velasco, Texas, at the mouth of the lordly Brazos River, and he is In a position to know what is going. The importation of these cat tle is very heavy, and it has only be gun. The ex-Congressman i3 mistaken on one point, however. The responsi bility for this importation does not all rest on Secretary Morton and his rules and regulations. On the contrary, the chief responsibility is on the late Demo cratic Congress, which substituted for a specific tariff, practically prohibitory, an ad 'valorem tariff, practically free trade. The Secretary merely carried out the spirit of the Wilson law in the regulations made in furthering its pur pose. Colonel Taylor’s explanation of the practical effect of bringing in Mex ican cattle is none the less timely, and his suggestion as to this administra tion is pertinent to the last Congress also. The explanation given by Secretary Morton of the attempt to Mexlcanlze our cattle trade was that it would cheapen beef and hold in check the beef combine, or big packers. As a matter of fact. It does not have any bearing on the price of beef, and, as for the packers, the effect is to make their grip on the cattle raisers all the tight er. The ony real benefit is to them and to foreign consumers of canned meats. “This administration,” he says, “will go down in history as the administra tion that was conducted for the benefit of foreign countries, to the detriment of our own,” which is true also of the late Congress. He also, with a felicity which suggests the query. Is Abner also among the humorists? observes: “All persons agree that the provision in the constitution preventing any per son who was not born in this country from holding the office of President a very wise provision; but it is unfortu nate that the framers of the constitu tion were unable to put in a provision preventing any man who had no Americanism or love of his country from hclding the office of President or a Cabinet position.” But this letter is not content to deal in generalities. The point made is ex plicitly justified by the following ex planation, which is of very great sig nificance, especially to cattle growers on the ranges: “It was supposed that you were select ed for the head of the Department of Agriculture for the reason that you had great knowledge of all branches of agricultural industries; and, if you have, you must know that not one pound of beef from these Mexican cat tle will ever be consumed in thi3 coun try. You must know that the Mexican cattle are all small cattle, not weigh ing above 700 or 800 pounds, and never get fat. Feeders will not buy them. The only use that can be made of them in fcis country is for canning; there fore, they only come in competition with the range cattle in Texas, New Mexico, and other Western States. And as the canned beef finds its market in foreign countries the only people bene fited by this order of yours are the for eigners, and the ‘beef combine,’ as you call them, and whom you claim to be fighting; first, Mexicans, who have a market opened to them; second, the foreigner who buys the canned meat; and, third, the great canning establish ments, as these cattle will help to keep down the price of cattle for canning purposes; and the sufferers will be the great mass of people growing cattle on the range, who have nothing but gras3 upon which to fatten their cattle for market, and who have made no money for years, and now, when they hoped for a better market, you help to keep it down to benefit the foreigner and the beef combine.” under me McKinley tariff the duty on cattle over 1 year old was $10 a head. That did not keep out beeves, but it did keep out these runty little Mexican steers. The Wilson tariff changed it to 20 cents ad valorem. The Mexican cattle raisers can put the val uation down, for the purpose of im port taxation, to a figure so low as to make the duty insignificant, while for the fat stock of Canada the valuation is still fairly high. The policy of the McKinley tariff was to encourage the importation of the stock which would tend to cheapen beef to domestic con sumers, rather than canned goods to foreign buyers. The Democrats need not flatter themselves they will be able to slip through the next Presidential campaign without tariff discussion. In due time the dragon’s teeth of their sowing will yield a plentiful crop of enemies in arms and armor.—-Inter Ocean. , Southern Cotton Mill Profits. (Boston Commercial Bulletin.) There is reason to believe that the present are the halcyon day3 for the Southern cotton manufacturing indus try. The majority of the mills at the South are weak, small and ill-equipped, and in the struggle which is impend ing from the movement of our large spinners down that way, they will mostly be driven to the wall during the next few years. The larger, well equipped mills, can continue the co» 1-jt on even terms. The tendency In the South, as here, is in the direction of large plants, where staple goods are the product. If a man has a taking specialty, he can do a small paying business. But the Southern Industry is all staple, and will long remain so, for this is and will be their strong hold. Now, as for proflts. Some of the big mills are making 20 per cent, and there is good reason to count on our corpor ations which go South doing as well. This period of richness will last, say, for ten years, and then either the mar gin of profit becomes as close as )t is now in the North, or else some mills will turn to other classes of work, finer goods. Here, however, they Will be lit tle better off, for they will then lose substantially the advantages of posi tion which they now enjoy on coarse goods. The idea that the Southern operative or the Southern climate will' not- permit' the making of fine cloth may as well be abandoned. Climatic conditions are just as much of a factor in this case as they have been in preventing the trans ferring of any • British industry to American soil, tin-plate being the last illustration. As to the operatives, re cent articles in these columns based on the expert observations of Northern spinners, are conclusive of the capacity of the former to develop the requisite ability by the time it is required. At the present time the Southern mill making coarse goods can in its immediate vicinity procure the cotton it uses, and this saving of freight on the raw material enables -it to lay down .its goods in New York at half a cent per pound less than the mill on the Merrimack. As a cent per pound prone on me cotton used is considered a very fair return, it will be seen that the lead of the Southern mill Is con siderable. But when it comes to fine goods, conditions are more uniform. As before stated, the site of Southern cotton spinning must and will be es sentially confined to the foothills of the Appalachian system In the Carollnas, Georgia and Eastern Alabama. This places the mills at a considera ble distance from Arkansas and other producers of the long staple cottons, which it is necessary to use in the spin ning of fine yarns. The freights to the Piedmont region will not be so very much less than on the through routes to Northern manufacturing and export ing points, so that the Southern mills cannot deliver their product in New York with any advantage in the matter of transportation cost. Of course, the Southern spinner will still have what ever remains to him in the way of cost of coal and wages, but the many ad vantages which the Northern mill-own er possesses will partially neutralize that until more equality in labor is es tablished. We think that our spinners regard the question of cotton freights as the most important of those bearing on the matter of relative advantage as lia ble to be the more permanent. For these reasons we think there will al ways be business enough to employ the spindles of Massachusetts, provided the industry is not discouraged by em barrassing legislation. Tariff and Low Prices. Washington County has been the chief area of the wool-growing Indus try in Pennsylvania, and among the chief areas of the United States. On Saturday, June 15, 2,000 head of sheep were shipped from Washington County to Pittsburg. They averaged 50 cents per head in open market. One lot of ninety-five Merinos was offered at $30. Three years ago such sheep were worth $2 or $2.50 per head. This represents a shrinkage of seven eighths in the value of the sheep, which is the “raw material” of wool. But there has been no such decrease in the price of the manufactured article, as a visit to any clothing store will testify. —Inter Ocean. CARRIED UNDER BY A PICKEREL. Desperate Struggle In Lake Ontario Be tween a Man and a Fish. Harvey M. Selleck, a barber in On tario, came near losing hia life while fishing in Irondequoit bay, near Glen Edith, last Thursday, says Rochester j Herald. Selleck, in company with j Joseph Randolph of Union Hill, left the j docks at Glen Edith and, rowing a few rods out into the bay, cast anchor pre- j paratory to fishing. He had no sooner j cast his line than his pole was unex- ' pectedly Jerked from his grasp and fell into the bay. He recovered the pole • before it was out of reach and then the struggle for supremacy began be tween man and fish. Selleck hung to the line and the fish towed the boat around in a circle as far as the anchor line would permit. He soon became ex hausted and was relieved by Randolph, who, after several vain efforts to secure ! the fish, proceeded on a new line *f action. Having drawn the fish, a pickerel, near to the boat, he told Selleck to catch him by the gills. Selleck was very successful in getting a good grasp on the fish, but when he had a good | hold he was drawn into the water to his waist, head downward with his feet in the air. He was in this dangerous position when Randolph took hold of him and helped him to regain his equilibrium. His grasp on the fish by this time had become so firm that he tvas unable to release it, as the large prongs in the mouth and throat of the fish penetrated the flesh and held him firmly. Selleck’s hand is at present very badly cut and he will carry the marks of the adventure for some time to come. The fish was finally landed and proved to be the finest catch of j the season. Randolph and Selleck, ; from Thursday morning until Friday noon, caught nineteen pickerel weigh ing 127 pounds, and used only thirty minnows for bait. s COUMtUJ, product of iv __ ;» and best eq« cycle factory in America, andm suit of eighteen years of % striving to make the best bin* world. 1895 Columbias^ Stronger, handsomer, mo7t, than ever—ideal machines for t! those who desire the best ttat Hartford Bicycles cost l 160. They are the equal of m hagnar-priced nates, though. POPE MFQ. a •uuat OSca mw4 hWu lun IS II BOSTON, NKWTOW4 CHICAGO, ■AN rNANOISOO^ PftOVIDINCt, BUFFALO. II Columbia Catalogue, telling of both Colum bia* and Hartford*, free at any Columbia | 1 agency, or by mail for f 5 two 2-cent stamps. iBiMsasMeaaB /Nursing MothersJnb CHILDRE ★ JOHN CARLE ft SONS. Nw M EDUCATIONAL. ACADEMY of the »tD?S! _ » .in in tnl**1 . ...hrwo1 _ 1 .,hi, Ac»<^n,T|. , The course ef instiu* ti«*n enibr** by the Religious of the S«**\ ^ whole ranire or subjecta n c 'o(de,w end refined education. Iropiw. ... iicatittn. 1 "Tea of nur*11 eonet nettieere and the Pr 'PE,trB'i'fl . Jeefcr ot untea Ine «•»"* “ lor ford tho pui 11* every ( on.*'®'1° c doe; their health I* *" “t’;e ' ,eo will* enl in al.-lme.. they •« Fell term opene luerday. ^H|f »lP»‘A * tleulartt, address unirl, Ml. iM r Academy Caere** llrart. ^ UMIVERSITY OF TUFSOAV SEPT-ao^^l ruMeourresin *rn**]o" /i-':n*ll,rr‘ "‘f ' ’ Civil e'<1 nr Preparatory m d Comm*er '* fie<°» Hall for boys under 1* tn>e‘« ai, __ nder 19 u,,‘ "t tree*n Its equip uent. Catah’P10*, s L>, Sotr* Ukv. Andrew MoRR,!'st', The lent nerve cures nervous pc' ,**«»£» cures nervous £ nervo-vita! and se»aj I ^jbt 8; VIln—Mine I Mercer s. I BPlls * , “ __i v. mill f- „i-ts villi—Minel-nerest £ Bri.s ardson Drug Co. W“ ^ jmgg^ Co., Omaha, Jteb., an . it known conibio^.piirr t.MS.'a&fiS The best ir> weak people. »*Vj pr Pink (Mercer s.) * “ Frufe s Co. an. E. * j5ts. ion Drug Co. and r~ [Joists Jniaha, Neb.. nnd all Hf” - ■tSggWgS^m [VIS CREAM Sfcr»3f^ ould take mv«»1 JJJSSi 0» bina^-A^ fflSSwlSKr.** u