should be well dusted, and may be wiped with a moist “shammy”; if
it becomes dimmed, make a suds of soft water and Castile or crown
soap. Apply it with a sponge and dry with a “shammy” moistened in
clean water; if the leather shows spots, rub them with cotton waste
and linseed oil; if the leather becomes hard, wash it clean and oil
with neatsfoot oil; when the oil has permeated the leather, wash the
surface oil off with crown soap suds. Dash and other smooth leather
should be treated in the same manner as the paint.
(_g_) The trimmings require a great deal of attention. All roll-up
curtains, aprons, &c., should be unrolled and stretched out smooth.
The joints should be “struck” so as to slack the leather, but
not enough to allow the top to fall. Cloths, cushions, and other
removable portions must be well beaten and brushed, and all immovable
parts be well brushed; this, while preventing injury from dust, is
also a protection from moths. Moroccos can be cleaned by rubbing them
with a moist “shammy.”
(_h_) Mountings should be kept clean by repeated rubbing; all acids
or powders injure the paint, leather or cloth, and it is impossible
to clean metals with them without coming in contact with the
trimmings. If the metal is tarnished, use a small piece of “shammy,”
that has been prepared by having rottenstone, or other fine polishing
powder, rubbed into it and afterwards whipped and brushed to remove
all surplus powder, then rub with a dry rag. To clean lamps mix
whiting with spirits of wine; apply to the reflector and other inside
plating; when dry rub off with a rag, clean the glass with water and
polish with paper.
(_i_) Oil the axles frequently, but use but little oil at one time.
Support the axle by a jack, having a leather padded top; take off
the nuts, and if much soiled, remove the grease with spirits of
turpentine; remove the wheel and clean the axle arm and hub box
thoroughly, then apply a few drops of castor oil, replace the
washers, wheel, and nuts, seeing that each has a thin coating of oil.
The fifth wheel and king bolt should also be oiled enough to prevent
the metal surfaces from grinding.
(_j_) A carriage should be inspected carefully to see that there are
no moths in the trimming, carpet, &c.; if discovered they can be
expelled by beating and brushing; moth preventatives are valueless
as against the moth grub, but they will prevent the fly depositing
its eggs. Musk and other strong perfumes will keep the flies from
depositing their eggs in the trimmings.
(_k_) If repairs are needed, it is best to send to the carriage shop;
but the paint will become worn off of step pads and tires, which can
be restored by a little black japan, which should be laid on thin.
(_l_) Carriages should be revarnished as often as once a year; but if
the paint cracks badly, varnishing increases the deformity, and there
is but one way to correct it--to burn off the paint and repaint from
the wood. Repairing is as much of an art as building, therefore do
not send a carriage for repairs to any but skilful mechanics.
(_m_) If a carriage is not in regular use it should be run out of
the coach-house once or twice a week, and thoroughly ventilated, by
removing cushions, carpets, &c., and opening the doors and windows.
After being well aired, it should be thoroughly dusted, and washed
before it is returned to the house.
(_n_) The person having charge of the carriage should examine it
closely each day after it has been used, to see that there are no
loose or broken nuts, bolts, tires, &c. If proper attention is given
to this matter the carriage will always be ready for use.
=Cow.=--_Choosing._--Form, general appearance, and the “touch” of the
skin, are points to be attended to; with regard to these, an idea may
be obtained from the following description of a good dairy cow:--Head
small, long, and narrow towards the muzzle; horns small, clear, bent,
and placed at considerable distance from each other; eyes not large,
but brisk and lively; neck slender and long, tapering towards the
head, with a little loose skin below; shoulders and fore-quarters
light and thin; hind-quarters large and broad; back straight, and
joints slack and open; carcass deep in the rib; tail small and long,
reaching to the heels; legs small and short, with firm joints; udder
square, but a little oblong, stretching forward, thin-skinned and
capacious, but not low hung; teats or paps small, pointing outwards,
and at a considerable distance from each other; milk-veins capacious
and prominent; skin loose, thin, and soft like a glove; hair short,
soft, and woolly; general figure, when in flesh, handsome and
well-proportioned. The extent of the upturned hairs on the escutcheon
indicate the properties of the 2 hind-quarters of the cow’s udder as
to the quantity of yield of milk, but not as to the 2 fore-quarters.
These latter should be separately investigated; judges generally look
at the size of these and examine the size of “milk vein” which runs
along the belly.
_Breeds._--The Yorkshire yields very large quantities of milk when
fed liberally; the Ayrshire is held in high estimation for cheese
making; and the Alderney (Jersey) for butter and cream. The Suffolk
is well fitted for districts where the pastures are poor; the yield
of milk is good, and it is comparatively rich in butter. Weight for
weight, shorthorns are about 50 per cent. heavier than Ayrshires, and
require ⅓ more food. At the same time, it is found that Ayrshires
yield quite as much milk as shorthorns. The only difference claimed
in favour of the shorthorn is, that it maintains more flesh than the
Ayrshire, keeps its money value together better, and can be finished
for the butcher with greater ease and more satisfactory results. The
small Scotch race is found to be, when used for the production of
milk for sale, of greater value than the ordinary dairy shorthorn,
producing an equal amount of milk at much less cost, while a far
smaller amount of capital is required in the formation of the herd.
As a butter maker, the Holstein is nowhere with the Jersey; nor yet
as a converter of ordinary farm produce into milk, because no value
set upon the Dutch superiority in skim milk can bring them up to the
Jersey standard for butter, when the difference in consumption is
taken into account. The Jersey milk contains 26 per cent. more solids
of all kinds than the Dutch; whilst of butter-fat the Jersey milk
contains 80 per cent. more.
_Keeping._--Amateur cowkeepers are advised not to think of breeding
at all. Buy a cow, newly calved; do not let her be served; feed her
very highly all through her time, and when the milk ceases to pay
for the keep, sell her at once to the butcher and get another. This
is the town dairymen’s system, and they would not so universally
follow this plan if it were not the safest. Above all, sentiment must
be shunned. The amateur must keep a close watch over each week’s
expenditure and income, and sell the cow, however favourite a one,
directly these approximate. Then the trouble of settling a newcomer
will have to be faced over again. On the whole, it may be doubted
if one amateur in a hundred will ever succeed in making a cow pay,
even where there is a garden and small paddock, by reason of the
costliness of good dairy servants. (_Field._)
The great art of feeding is in selecting the foods most suitable
for the purpose in view, without entailing waste, or an undue
strain on the digestive system. Every cow should have no less than
650 cub. ft. of breathing space; the cold air should be admitted
near the floor line, with ample ridge ventilation, for the escape
of the vitiated air; the building itself should be kept clean and
free from fermenting or decaying animal odours or vegetable matter
(underground drainage, however skilfully executed, is an utter
abomination in a cowshed); all the inside walls should be limewashed
at least twice a year, and the beds, floors, and passages well washed
and scrubbed once a week. Whatever tends to increase the health and
comfort of the animal economises food, as well as increases its
effective results; every source of irritation, whether in the field
or the stall, entails an undue waste of food, whilst for the time
it reduces the flow and deteriorates the quality of the milk. The
quality of the drinking water has a great influence on the yield of
milk. Soft water is preferable to hard; hence the water from running
streams or ponds is preferable to well water, which is generally at a
low temperature. The action of the atmosphere on ponds or reservoirs
has a softening influence on the water, a favourable condition for
milk cows; impure or tainted water should be excluded. Unlike the
food, a portion of the water taken in by the cows passes direct to
the third stomach, and enters at once into the circulation. The
influence of the food on the yield of milk is well known. Chemical
investigation proves that the milk solids are only slightly affected
by the food, the casein and sugar being nearly stationary, whilst the
quantity of butter fat varies considerably; the greatest variation is
in that of the watery constituents.
Decorticated cotton cake exclusively used as an auxiliary in
conjunction with large quantities of roots and hay is not an
economical food for dairy cows, owing to the large percentage of
flesh formers it contains, whilst practically cotton cake, though
admirably adapted for rearing and fattening purposes, when given
to milking cows in quantities of 4-6 lb. a day produces a leathery
cream, and certainly not a superfine quality of butter. A mixture of
pea and palm-nut meals will produce a rich milk, though not of the
finest quality. A mixture of rice and linseed meals will produce a
large yield of butter of a somewhat oily character. If quality is, as
it should be, the chief desideratum, nothing can equal the home-grown
cereals--beans, peas, wheat, barley, and oats; under ordinary
circumstances these will produce a quality of milk, cream, and butter
that cannot be surpassed.
The cowhouse must be kept as near as possible at a uniform
temperature of 60° F.; the cows may be turned into the fold-yard
daily for ½ hour, about noon. Large quantities of cold water taken
into the system are positively injurious, lowering the temperature
of the body, which is maintained in a normal state at the expense
of the food. For cows in full milk, cooked food is much preferable
to raw, entailing less labour on the organs of digestion and
assimilation. The mixture of chop, meal, roots, and grain may either
be boiled in the ordinary cast-iron boiler or steamed. To obtain
the most effective results, the food should be given to the animals
in a sloppy state, and at a temperature of 55° to 60° F. Regularity
of feeding and milking must be strictly observed. The morning meal
should be given before milking commences, and the dung removed
from the beds and grip. As milkers, females are preferable, the
hands being soft and pliable compared with the horny hand of man.
The quantity of food necessary to supply the wants of individual
animals is governed by its weight. A cow in full profit consumes
daily 3 per cent. of her live weight. During April, a cow in full
milk should have, in addition to boiled or steamed roots and hay
or straw chaff, 2 lb. bean or pea meal, 2 lb. wheat meal, 2 lb.
ground oats, and 2 lb. bran. If these cannot be grown on the farm or
purchased at moderate cost, 2 lb. linseed, barley, or Indian corn
meal may be substituted for the wheat meal. If the aim is quality,
it is essential that bean, pea, or oat meals be used. Care must
be exercised in regulating the quantity of food to meet the wants
of the different animals, and not, as is too often the practice,
of serving a uniform quantity to each. In every case the mangers
should be cleanly swept out before feeding. By far the best kind of
hay for milking cows is well-saved clover or mixed seeds cut just
before coming into flower. Dusty or highly heated hay injures the
health and deteriorates the quality of the produce. The chief part of
the hay and straw should be cut and mixed with the meal and boiled
roots. Only a small quantity of long hay should be given twice a
day in order to excite rumination. Raw roots are only admissible
when given as a mid-day meal. As in the case of the steam boiler a
quantity of fuel is wasted in raising the temperature of the water
from the freezing to the boiling point, so it is in the animal
system; the fat producers which, under favourable conditions, would
increase the quality of the milk, are expended in bringing a large
quantity of water to the heat of the body. Brewers’ grains are highly
charged with water, and consequently open to a similar objection.
Pastures, if saved during the spring months, will be ready for
stocking from the first to the middle of May. With the first bite
of spring grass the food must be changed; the boiled roots should
be gradually discontinued; the same quantity of meals cooked and
mixed with chopped hay as before, fed in a less soppy state, in
order to counteract the opening tendency of the young succulent
grasses. This régime may be continued to the middle of June, when
the quantity of meal may be reduced one half, or, if the pastures
are good, discontinued till the autumn. So long as the artificial
feeding is continued, cows must be fed in the stalls twice a day. By
the beginning or middle of September, the early cabbage should be
ready for use; this will increase the flow of milk at the expense
of the quality. To maintain the standard, the use of meals and chop
must again be continued, commencing with 2 lb. a day, with a gradual
increase, arriving at the standard allowance by the 1st of November,
which will be maintained throughout the winter and following months.
The estimated cost of keeping a dairy cow in full profit during the
winter months, including labour of milking and attendance, is not
less than 1_s._ a day, charging the home-grown produce at market
price. Green hay is greatly to be preferred for milking cows, tending
to enhance the value of the produce. Grasses should not be allowed to
stand till over-ripe, causing the soluble matters to become converted
into indigestible woody fibre; and sufficient labour should be
employed; the hay should be constantly stirred from the time it is
cut until it is placed in the stack, unless meantime showery weather
should intervene; hay barns, too, are indispensable to the dairy
farmer. (Gilbert Murray.)
Turnips give a disagreeable flavour to butter, when used in feeding,
in autumn and winter. No mode which will prevent the taste of turnips
being imparted to the milk is better than the practice of giving the
turnips to the cow after she has been milked, instead of before.
When at pasture, cows are often tethered with chains or ropes of 12
ft. and upwards in length, having swivels to prevent twisting. At one
end there is a ring, through which the chain is passed to form a loop
that is passed over and tightened round the base of the horns, or
secured to a head stall. The lower half from the swivel is sometimes
made of rope, and at this end the tether is attached to an eye in a
pointed iron peg of 9 in. or so long and about 1¼ in. in diameter at
the head, which is flattened like the head of a nail. This peg is
driven into the ground. The cows are shifted according to the weather
and the grass they have eaten, averaging perhaps 6 times a day, the
swivel referred to usually preventing the chain from fouling; and
they are left out at night in warm weather only. The amount of grass
economised by the tethering system is considerable.
=Pig=.--To make it pay, any kind of stock must be well treated. This
is even true of the pig, and no animal pays better when well housed
and fed. Much depends upon the system adopted--whether sows are kept
for breeding, or whether the pigs are fattened. Some persons do best
with breeding sows, and cannot make any profit out of the fatting
process; others declare that fatting is very lucrative. In keeping
pigs for profit, several points are to be considered.
_Styes._--The styes must be practicable, dry, warm, and easily
cleaned, not facing the north, nor with a moist or damp earth bottom.
Farmers generally fill the bottoms 1 ft. deep with chalk; but
although this is better than nothing, it is a poor substitute for a
proper floor, which should be of concrete, with a nice dry raised
wooden bench at one end for sleeping. Wherever earth is found in a
stye, there will be mud very soon--and very filthy, unhealthy mud
too. The stye must be warm, and the straw clean--wheat barley straw
is not so healthy, and encourages vermin as well as dirt. If it is
true that a pig, put up to fatten, should be either sleeping or
eating, then the bed must be as sweet as the food, and even at 35_s._
a load in the country straw will be paid for; but in a bad stye twice
as much will be used as is necessary.
_Breed._--Choice small breeds are too small for the market; they have
not quick growth, and that is what is wanted in breeding for sale at
8-10 weeks; again, choice breeds, from men who exhibit, are sometimes
wanting in vitality, sometimes diseased, and never produce so many or
such vigorous litters as hardy breeds of another type. The best breed
to select is, perhaps, the larger or middle York, which has quickness
of growth, and makes a big strapping youngster in a few weeks. A
cross with a strain of the same type, but of entirely different
blood, is quite necessary for vigour, and to obtain large, strong,
and frequent litters.
_Breeding._--It is an old practice to advise that the pig should
never be used for breeding until at least 15 months old. There is
soundness in the advice, if a man desires to obtain the finest
animals for stock or exhibition: but not when the object is to
obtain as much money out of your stock as you can. Some make a
practice of obtaining first litters from yelts under a year old.
A September litter is divided into boars and sows; the former are
cut and fattened; the latter are well fed, and allowed to run out
to increase their vigour until the following September, when they
have a litter, having been put to the boar about the end of May.
They thus grow fast during the best months of the year, and approach
maturity just as they litter. The young do not show any symptoms of
deficiency in stamina, but grow well, and are sold off in 8-9 weeks
at 20_s._-22_s._ each, and the mother is soon prepared for mating to
the boar again, bringing the litter about the beginning of April.
A breeding sow costs very little when she is without pigs; but she is
naturally an expensive animal when she has a litter. It has been said
by many that a sow should be always in pig or with pigs, and this is
very near the truth. When her pigs are taken from her, she should be
dried and fed up for taking the boar as quickly as possible. Thus, as
she goes 16 weeks with young, she will, if they are taken from her at
8 weeks produce 2 litters a year, if she has no accident, and if she
is rightly managed, for she will at each time have just a fortnight
for taking the boar. Of course, the thing will not always be managed
so exact and so regular as could be wished; at the same time it is a
good guide, and if 2 litters can be managed in the year, so much the
better. Taking the pigs at 10_l._ at 8 weeks, this gives a return of
20_l._ and the value of the manure. Against this you may place 8_l._
as the cost of keeping the sow, where everything has to be bought,
but much less where there is plenty of house wash, milk, roots, and
refuse from gardens, &c.
In breeding little pigs for sale, there is not the same element of
chance that exists when pigs are fatted. The little ones vary but
a shilling or two if they have not done so well as usual, whereas
with a fat pig the process is longer, much more expensive, and may
not turn out so profitable after all. When a large quantity of skim
milk or refuse has to be consumed, fatting may be necessary, and,
valuing the food at much less than meal and corn would cost, it may
pay very well; but as there are plenty of men who buy young pigs for
the express purpose of fatting, and who have no milk, no refuse, and,
indeed, no stubble for them to clear up at all, but have to purchase
everything, there must be some return.
_Fatting._--When fatting will invariably pay for purchased food, is
when porkers come in just right for the London market, nice in size
and quality, and realise about 5_s._ 9_d._ per stone. A 16-stone pig
would at this rate realise 4_l._ 12_s._; and there is no reason in
the world why it should not be attained in 16-20 weeks, instead of
which it would, as a store, be worth at this age some 2_l._ Breed,
attention, and feeding will help to bring this about. The youngsters
must be continually pushing ahead; if they get a check, so much
profit goes, and so much time is lost. To this end, too, it is of no
use to go in for a small breed--the York or the York and Lincoln will
do very well.
_Feeding._--With regard to feeding there are many opinions; but
barley meal is perhaps better than anything, only it must be good,
and feeders should always grind their own. Mills are now generally
made, and by no means expensive. Boiled barley is, again, first-rate
food, and may be given with capital effect. Peas are useful for
finishing off little pigs, and they make the flesh of fat hogs firm
and sweet; but cannot be compared with barley when cheap, and do
not yield the same return. Maize is a good food when cheap; but
it is better boiled than raw or ground. Feeding upon potatoes,
although very cheap, is not the way to sell a second lot; a buyer of
potato-fed pork is not very often anxious for a second consignment.
(_Field._)
=Fowls.=--_House._--Where eggs alone are required, a few pullets may
be kept in a moderate-sized run, and, when they cease to be prolific,
may be changed for fresh birds, whose stamina has not been injured by
confinement over ground saturated with their own excretions; but for
rearing chickens satisfactorily, a good run is absolutely necessary.
No particular dwelling is essential; any unused cart-shed, coach or
tool house, stable, or similar building may be modified to suit the
requirements of the inmates. It is exceedingly desirable that the
perches should be of one uniform height; otherwise the contest for
the highest leads to quarrelling and fighting. Nor should the perches
be high, as in that case the confined space in a house renders it
necessary that the birds should fly down perpendicularly, to the
great injury of the feet, and frequent fracture of the keel of the
breast bone. The house must be kept clean, which is best accomplished
by movable boards under the perches, from which the droppings can
be removed daily. The house must be ventilated, and so constructed
that the fowls can be out at daybreak. The nest places, if intended
for hatching, should be on the ground; eggs, to hatch well, must be
placed in natural conditions, i.e. on the comparatively cold ground,
so that they are cooler below than above, and exposed to the moisture
arising from the soil.