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laf- . The Cost of Production.
The Question Is frequently asked
whether the farmer should try to
t . make money'by getting a lager price
for the things he grows or by cheapening .
enlng vroductlon. We reply both ,
but In the main It must be by cheap
ening production. The reason is that
l the control of cost of production Is
% more under his hand than the control
of selllns price. The selling price Is
; 1 regulated by conditions extending far
beyond the boundaries cf his own
farm. This depends on the kind at
.
' / a crop he Is growing. If he Is proS
duclng a crop that Is perishable he
, will be facing prices controlled by 10'
I cal conditions largely. If he Is grows .
lug wheat he will be facing prices
s that are made by world.wide condl
tlons. What Is the use of a man
: stopping production o _ wheat and sayS
Ing that before he produces any
, mON wheat he wlll help shove the
. " , price up to a figure far in excess of
- that prevalllng at the present time
Some men are saying that , but these
same men can have no more effect on
the price of wheat in the world than
the man that owns a meadow brook
can affect the tides of the ocean ,
which flow back and forth in response
to great laws vary far beyond the
control of man.
The man In his wheat field has to
a considerable extent the cost of pIa'
ductlon under control , and his ability
to manipulate the factors that enter
Into the cost of production will de
termine his profit or his loss. The
cost of production " 7U1 be determined , .
; by numerous things , among them the
r yield of crops. There Is many a
\ farmer that says he Is making money
tram the averages he now raises and
is not particular about making more.
If that is so he should be contented.
But there are thousands of farmers
' ) that if they kept books on every crop
,
would find that they were annually
losing on some of their crops. Of
this they are now Ignorant. The increase .
crease of the average yield Is the
first and most Important means of decreasing -
creasing the cost. That these yields
can be Immensely Increased under
better methods of culture Is proved
beyond aU controversy by the results
that have been attained In different
I European countries. The average
yield of wheat per acre In England ,
is double what It Is In the United'
etates. This alone shows how great.
r , ly we can yet reduce the cost of each
- bushel of wheat grown ou our farms.
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I Another great factor In reducing
, the cost Is drainage , this " 'letting the
, air Into the ground arid making : : : ore
available by oxidizing It the manure
now In the ground or that Is annually
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placed there. We go on year after
rear burying manure In the ground
ti and then so saturating It " with water
; that the aIr cannot make It suitable
for plant food. The complete utilization '
; . . tlon at all the fertility placed In the
. . . . ( soil Is one ot the most complete ways
at reducing the cost of the crops.
, Hay In the Mow.
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. : The moisture content of hay when
, l It Is put Into the mow varIes greatly ,
, : m this depending largely on the way in
/ which it Is 6ured. Some hay that is
oJ made from grass cut late and cured
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In dry weather has 'In It so little
( t \
r : moisture that during the winter it
may frequently Increase In weigh : .
As a , usual thing hay docs not jn.
t , crease in weIght durIng the \ , .nter.
, If It Is cut quite green and stored In
. 8n imperfectly cured condition It will
often bo found with such a large per.
centage of moisture In it that spon
taneous combustion Is possible. Hay
cured rroperly will have In It a cone
sidera . .e quantity of moisture and
will tend to lose this moisture during
the winter , and this loss will equal
ten per cent of the buIlt In many in-
' stances.
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Buy a Thermometer.
Wo have often advised our readers
that make butter to buy a thermom
eter , whether they are engaged In
making butter on a large or small
scnle. In fact , they should purchase
a number of thermometers , as they
are freQuently broken , and cost but
little. In getting them , however , it
Is best to be careful and get good
ones , as there are many on the market -
ket that are carelessly made and
will not give correct results when
used. A large number of agents that
have thermometers handle only exceedingly .
ceedingly cheap makes with the ob
sect of malting as much money as
possible out of them. If the farmer
tries " " thermometer
to buy a Udalry"
from them he will be told that they
do not know anything about such
thermometers and never handle them.
Perhaps they will refer to a catalogue
and show an expensive thermometer
made on an elaborate scale. The
writer hat this experience In trying
to get a thermometer In Chicago.
Most of the stores visited had there
mometers , but not of the kind de-
sired. One or two had thermometers
made for floating around In liquid , but
costing more than they were worth
for practical use. At last one place
was found. that had dairy thermometers .
ters that sold at 2S ! cents each and
which proved entirely reliable. A dole
lar thermometer Is as likely to be
broken , as _ a d' twenty-five . cent . . thermom- , . ,
eler , anu tDlS IS a contingency lllal
must be provided for.
The buttermaker of the past seldom
or never used a thermometer and as
a result made a very uneven lot of
butter , taking one make with another.
It Is certain that no scientific butter-
maker now ever thinks of making butter .
ter without learning the temperature
of his cream. There Is nothing that
can be relied on to give this temperature .
perature record but the Instrument
created for the purpose.
Drainage from Creameries.
The drainage from creameries often
becomes a source of much annoyance
to people living In the vicinity. The
drains become foul with decayIng
casein and other refuse As most of
our readers are aware , putrId sour
milk has not the smell of roses. Residents .
dents In the neighborhood of such
ditches make complaint at the nul.
sauce , while the cattle and. other stock
that are In the habit of drinking at
the brooks refuse to take the water.
Some creameries undertake to remedy
matters by running sewers for a long
distance to some brook that Is at a
considerable distance from houses ,
but even In such cases some of the
objectionable features remain. This
may be remedied by the building of
large tanks that will receive from
3,000 to 6,000 gallons of the drainage
material at a time. These tanks can
be constructed so that the water In
them will gradually run off but the'
tank wlll be kept nearly full at all
times. In effect , this Is a septic tank.
It should be kept closed at the top ,
so that the air will not have free
access to the tanle. The result will
be that the casein In the slop will
largely rise to the top and form n.
l cum , In this the bacterIa of a kind
that to : not use air will work and
d ( ' : : ' : 'oy all the organic matter , preclp-
: sting the ash only. The water then
Haws away clear without odor and
can be allowed to run Into any brook !
without a suspicion of polluting It.
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Milk Powder.
At different times we have discussed
In these columns the matter of mlllt
powders and have cautioned our readers .
ers against too quickly accepting the
statements that arc going the rounds
ot the press , so far as the malting
of milk powders that will change back
Into milk Is concerned. There never
was n time when this matter was receiving '
cOl\'lng so much attention na 11t the
present time. Yet In the matter or
milk powder wo have made no revo'
lutionary dlscoverlea The making , at
mille Hour has been followed for some
years anti this four 19 now 11n article
of commerco. The men that put out
the now processes claim to have discovered .
covered some way of making a powder
that will Quickly turn back Into fresh
milk. On the Investigation of any
one of these powders It Is discovered
not to have this valuable vropcrty.
A report from Germany says that an
Investigation Into milk powders In
that country shows that they fall far
short of the mark and will not change
back into milk but do change Into a
liquid that has a sediment and Is little
like milk.
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The Pipette and Teat Bottle.
II A good many of our readers arousing
using the Babcock tester To such we
would say , "Bo careful as to the core
rectness of the pipette ; as n variation
In the gradations of this may result
In rendering the test of no value at
all. For many years this matter has
been discussed , and In some of the
states laws have been passed In an
attempt to regulate It. It has been
decreed that every creamery should
provide Itself with a Ipette approved
by the state , this pipette to bo used
to , test all the others. But a good
many creameries paid no attention to
the law and others bought time p1-
pettes and laid them away carefully.
It was easier to assume that the p1-
pettes bought from the commercial
houses were right than to find , out by
testing them. But to the man that
purchases a tester for the sake of
finding out what his cows ap'o doing
this carelessness will not be passed
by In silence. He has his own inter-
ests to act as a spur to make him
careful. One of the common methods
of testing bottles Is to make the tests
and then , compare the results from
the different bottles or pipettes. If
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aU agree It Is quite safe to assume
that the pipettes and bottles are cor-
recto This docs not , however , necessarily .
sarlly follow ; for the reason all of the
pipettes and bottles may have come
from the same manufactory and been
all made wrong On the test bottles
the neck from 0 to 10 should contain
two cubic centimeters of liquid , and
the pipette should have a capacity of
17.0 cubic centimeters. Where possible .
ble It Is pest to send to the state experiment .
perlment station and get sample bet
ties and pipettes known to be accu
ratc-l < 'fil'mCl'S' Hevlew.
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Bill Nye as a Dairyman.
"When 1 was young and used to
, roam around over the country , gath-
ering water melons by the light of ' the
moon , I used to think I could milk
anybody's cow , but I don't think 80
now I do not milk the cow unless the
sign Is rIght , and It hasn't been right
for a good many years. The : ast cow
I tried to milk was a common cow ,
born In obscurity , kind at a selt.mado
, co v. I remember her brow was low
but she wore her tall high ; and she
was haughty , oh , so haughty. 1 made
a commonplace remark ! to her , one
that Is used In the very best society ;
one that need not give ottence. I said
'so'-and she 'Soed. ' Then I told
her to 'Hlst'-and she 'Hlsted. ' But
I thought she overdid It. She put too
much expression to It. Just then 1
heard something crash through the
window of the barn end Call with a
thug-slclwulng thug-on the outside.
"The neighbors came to see what It
was that caused the noise. They
I found that I had done It In getting
through the window. I asked the
neighbors It the barn was : .tlll stand-
Ing. They said It was. Then 1 asked
them If the cow was Injured much.
1'hey said she seemed quite robust
! Then 1 requested them to go In and
! calm the cow a little , and see It they
I could get my plug hat off her horns
! "I am buying all of my milk now
; of a milkman. I select a gentle milkman .
man , who will not kick ! , amid feel an
: though I can trust him. Then If he
I feels as though ho can trust me , It's
I all right. "
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Wisconsin Buttermaklng.
Prof. J. O. Moore , after an Inspec- ,
tlon of Wisconsin creameries , says :
The methods of making butter are
by no means uniform. Some butter-
makers have success with high temperature -
peraturo In ripening ; others with low
temperature. The conditions at each -
creamery have to determine for the
buttermakor what plan bo will pursue
to get the best results , as It Is mans
featly impossible for a maker to prase
tico high rIpening temperature unless
he has leo or some other means at his
command to control the temperature .
at wUl. however , more important
than methods of making , to my mind ,
Is the factor of cleanliness both In
the handling of the machinery In the
factory and In the carp of the mmG
by pntrons. The pumps and pipes ,
through which the milk passes should
bo cleaned much oftener than they are ,
amid to this one cause a great deal
of ort flavored butter can be traced.
The gates to the milk and cream V'nfB ,
too , are liable to become contaminated
and prove a lively source- bad flav-
ors. Churns are usually kept clean ,
although not always , as I have had
frequently to clean churns this last
summer. The reason for this Is In 11
good many cases duo more to ignore
ance than a deliberate dcslro to be
dirty. There Is more of a chance ,
however , to reach the slovenly maker
than there Is to Impress the average
patron with his shortcomings. In look-
Ing over the cans brought to 11 factory
It Is rather a delicate task for the
maker to tell a man that his cans are
dirty and his milk Impure. Not only
from the fact that he Will incur his
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enmity , but that he will no doubt be
tolll that If' ' he does not want to take
his milk In , there are other creameries .
erles where they will bo gIRd to take
It , and thIs Is too much the case and
where a creamery Is getting hardly
enough milk to pay expenses the los
of a patron or two Is keenly felt. '
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The Eggs We Sell. I
Sooner or later some system of col.
letting and distributing eggs will
have to bo Inaugurated In this country -
try as the present system Is very uu
satisfactory. Any system Is unsatisfactory .
factory that gives the merchant II
large percgntage of bad eggs to sell
to his euato ners. ' This omes bacl <
to the farmer In many ways but principally -
clpnll In the lower price 'of eggs In
the summer time. Men that take
their meals In the hotels and restaurants .
rants arc very careful about ordering
eggs In the summer time , as they too
often have very unsatisfactory experiences '
rlences In so doing It Is safe to say
that It the eggs were always fresh avery
.
very muct larger number would be 1 :
eaten during the summer months and
the prIces would be correspondingly
good. The well conducted poultry
farm Is not the establishment that
sends poor eggs to market ! nor does
. . .
the farmer that has a pOUltry hotiso
and obliges his hens to lay their eggs .
In It furnish that kind of eggs. The
had eggs comQ"largely from the mows
1\1\11 the scaffold of the barns where
the hens have bidden away their
nests and sometimes lay as many as
two dozen before they arc discovered
Then the eggs are gathered and sold
to the traveling peddler , who cares
little about their freshness so long as
he can get rid of them In turn to the
man that supplies him with his mer
chandlse. In Denmark they have a
system at gathering eggs that pre.
vents bad eggs from getting Into the
consignment at nil. We can do the
same In this country whtn we lave
time to get down to a sys em.
About 1,400,000,000 pounds of butter .
tel' are mae In this country annu-
ally. The demand for It Is such that
little Is sent abroad.
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