The record-union., 1891-08-11
FARM And ORCHARD.
The Dairy Interest an Important
Branch of Farming.
The Farmers Hens-Olive Oil Adult
teration-CaIifornia RaisinsS in Eng
land - Asserting the Hens - Damp
Nests-California Peach Pits-Farm
Notes


Nests-California Peach Pits-Farm
Notes.
Dairying has become one Of the most
important branches of farming, and the
prospects are that it viii increase largely
during the next ten years. Whether the
profits of dairying will be any better de-
pends partly on the dairymen themselves
and partly upon legislation. We need
laws that will compel makers of bogus
butter aud cheese to brand and sell their
products for just what they are, and until
we get those laws we must work under
great disadvantage, for we must sell our
butter and cheese in competition with
that made from grease and oil, and of
course we will suffer loss in consequence.
On our own part we can do much to in
crease our profits by keeping better cows,
feeding them better and working up their
product in a more scientific manner.
There are many dairymen who are to-day
making butter after the manner of their
fathers, and of course they complain that
there is no money in the business. There is
money to oe made in dairying If we will
use all the means at command to make
the business what it ought to be.
We must have good COWS. There is no
use In dairying with poor COWS. Too
many are trying to get along with lot OF
scrub cows-cows that when times are
good will barely pay profit over cost Of
feed, and when feed is high and dairy
goods low, bring their owners into debt
every day in the year. Why is it that
dairymen are 50 unconcerned about the
qualities of their cows? We see men
~ in h1-ar1 nf i'm
have the very best animals and imple-
ments, while they keep a mean lot of
cows, and their facilities in the dairy
room for making butter are Of the poorest.
1t is because dairying has been side
issue, or because the dairyman has in
herited certain notions about his buSi-
ness that are out Of date but he has not
been able to get rid of? In either case
there is plenty OF room for reform, and
now is good time to begin,
There is almost as much room for inn
provement III feeding as in breeding.
There are many cows fed year after year
that never have chance to show what
they can do, because they never have
enough feed-sometimes not One-quarter
enough. 1t is wonderful how much good
feed a firSt-claSS COW can eat with profit;
and COWS that have been regarded as be-
ing only moderate mixers may really be
OF the best, and only require plenty Oi
=
ority.
We should test each cow by feeding ho1
good ration, beginning with moderate
quantity and slowly increasing it so as
not to get her digestive system out of or
der. We may be surprised at the result
and find out what a loss we have been
sustaining by not knowing the working
capacity of our cows. Our object should
be TO get certain amount of milk or but
ter out of the fewest number of COWS; the
fewer the number of COWS we keep to do
the requisite work the better each cow
pays US: We want cows that will pay a
big profit per head. 1t is the big herd OF
only few really good cows that pays,
not the big herd of many average cows.
The size of the herd ought to be Judged
by the work done, not by the number OF
cows 1t contains. Many ten-cow herds
are practically larger than others that
number thirty COWS. If intensive farm
dairy branch oft. Wewant concentrated
effort in the COW, in the feed and in the
dairyman. We want everything con-
nected with dairying to be much in little.
Farm and Fireside.
THE FARMERS HENS.
The breeder of thoroughbreds is often
at loss to account for the fact that the
scrub hens OF some careless farmer lay
more eggs than do the priZe-winnerS OF
some showroom. The difficulty is not
with the breed however, for the pure
bred fowls will lay more eggs than the
scrubs, and pay a better profit. The fact
Is that great many sO-called breeders,
though familiar with the points" Of the
breeds, know very little about the proper
care Of fowls. They write long articles
showing how the farmers neglect their
fowls while the breeders are feeding well.
Both claSSeS-the breeders and farmers
have much room for improvement. The
breeder makes his hens too fat, does not
compel them TO work and scratch, while
the farmer leaves his hens to work or
starve; but the farmer is nearer right than
the breeder. If eggs are desired, il is
better to feed the hens sparingly than to
closely confine them and make them as
fat as seals, as they simply entail an eX-
pense and give no profit, while the half
starved hen entails no expense at all, nor
does she give profit to her owner.
But the fact is that the farmers hens
seldom lay in winter unless III the pos
session Of those who care for them. 1t is
in the spring, when vegetation is appear
ing and the frost is out of the ground, SO
that the hens can find food in plenty,
that they begin to lay, and when the
breeder does not get eggs at the same
time il is because his hens are confined
must subsist on grain, and have no OPP
portunlty TO live in a manner somewhat
approaching the natural conditions best
conducive to the thrift and production OF
eggs.
II is a mistake to suppose that all farm
ers' hens are scrubs. They may not be
pure bred, but they may be well bred
An inspection of a flock on any we'll
regulated farm will show that the hens
are crosses, or possess quite a proportion
of Leghorn, Brahma or Plymouth Rock
blood, and are perhaps harder than the
inbred flock of some breeder who may
have for years been discarding his strong
est and most vigorous birds in order tC
retain those that possess some useless
point that fits them for the showroom
only. 4 little white spot no larger than
a pea will cause the breeder 10 discard
n vigorous Brown legh0rn male and re-
tain weaker one that has perfect color
of the wing. This mode OF selection by
the breeder is not conducive to prOduc-
ton, nor should he wonder if the farmers
hens, that are of good crosses, and which
have all the advantages of liberty, should
prove superior to the showroom pets.
Farmers, however, can have eggs in
winter, and can give good care to the
hens. While they are correct in com
peliing the hens to hunt for a share o1
their food, yet they should not overlook
the fact that there are periods when the
hens must derive all their food from the
farmer, and by using good breeds, OF
crosses, the farmer need not look TO the
spring and summer seasons only, for 8
1lock of vigorous hens should lay during
the entire year, except when they arc
moultlng.-tarm and FireSide.
OLIVE OIL ADULTERATIoNs.
The adulteration of olive oil has long
" N H. L - IL