Show BUYING A GOOD DAIRY COW first consideration Is whether aal mal persistent ribs are an important guide the first thine to consider in buy ing a dairy cow Is whether she Is persistent or not tor no mat ter how much milk she may give or how rich her milk may be she will not be profitable it she goes dry more than two months and I 1 should prefer that she should not go dry over one month says a writer in western farmer the only way to judge accurately la to try her but her general form will indicate very closely what may be expected she should have a broad and well formed pelvic arch In curved borns well arched flanks large barrel wide udder in front and reaching up well behind milk veins large and sinuous and milk wells large and open the ribs are an important guide they should be well sprung and far apart the latter andl cates that she Is not inclined to lay on fat the tall should be small A large fleshy tall usually belongs to a beefy animal above all the head should show an intelligent gentle expression A cow of bad disposition Is almost sure to show it in her face the same as a hu man being A good cow properly fed should make not less than three hundred pounds of butter a year she should make at least two hundred pounds to cover the cost of her keep yet the average of all cows kept tor dairy purposes is about one hundred fifty pounds a year so that a considerable portion of the cows of the whole country are free boarders milk scales and a babcock tester judiciously used would probably send a third of them to the butcher where they should go regardless of family ties METHOD OF DEHORNING CALF caustic potash applied to button when it can be felt will save much bother later on unless the horn buttons are removed from many thousands ot calves when they are from a week to ten days old there will be a big job later on when the de horning has to be done it Is in reality a cruel business why not apply caustic potash to the but ton as soon as it can be felt thus doing yourself as well as the calf a favor before applying the potash remove all hair from about the horns close to the skin the potash Is moistened slightly and rubbed over the skin which covers the point of the horns until skin Is white one application of potash it properly applied Is sufficient to prevent the growth of the bom to avoid injury to the operators hands wrap the potash in a heavy paper the potash should not be moistened too much or the liquid will run over the face and cause unnecessary pain one stick of potash it preserved will serve to de hom several calves EXCELLENT FEED FOR COWS especially desirable for fall and early winter as they are palatable and stimulate milk flow by T I 1 haeckel HA ECKEn university farm st paul glnn roots are excellent feed for dairy cows and are especially desirable tor the all and early winter as they are palatable easy to digest and late the now of milk they are especially effective with cows that freshened in the spring and whose flow ol 01 has been depressed during tho lummer because of annoyance by files and mosquitoes and unfavorable pasture condition if such are given i liberal supply of roots when brought 10 stall feeding the flow of milk U aten materially increased les train Is required while roots are bs ing ed the change from roots to bore erain should be made gradually idding grain at the rate of one pound or ten pounds of roots withdrawn policy hard to change many a tarther sells cream and buya butter sells pha and buys the product ro duct sells beet and buys meat from the shop t a form of com progress and while some may balm lalm that it la poor policy it la lard to change by KATHARINE ATHERTON GRIMES the hen has three reasons tor eat ing to repair the tissues of her body to keep herself warm and to make eggs it therefore follows that her diet must be varied and plentiful it we open the crop of a hen that has been allowed to eat what she pleased we shall find that she has provided herself with three kinds of food grain green stuff and meat the last named Is usually in the form of bugs and worms we must then furnish our hens with food of these three classes moreover the quantity must be about right of each it they are not given enough they will have to use it all for body building and heat production and will have nothing left over to make eggs with it we feed too much of some kinds the surplus will go to tat and the hens will get too lazy to lay it takes considerable studying and experimenting to find out just what the hens need and how much they ought to have but we must learn as soon as we can or we will find our poultry is not so profitable as it ought to be the feeding question Is one of the most important in the whole poultry business experts tell us that a hen needs about six ounces of food per day A flock of ten then will need about three and three fourths pounds per day or a trifle over twenty six pounds a week 0 this amount two thirds by weight should consist of grains the grain should be a mixture of equal parts wheat cracked corn and oats A few handfuls hand of sunflower seed cane seed or buckwheat should be added for variety they are to the hen what pie Is to the boy and you know what that Is the other third should be mash which Is a mixture of bran and other finely ground feeds usually fed dry some poultry men moisten the mash but the majority claim that it Is bet ter to feed it dry and let the hen moisten it in her crop by drinking what water she wants it fed dry there Is less danger from certain kinds of disease A good formula for a mash Is as follows one halt bushel of bran tour quarts of alfalfa meal two quarts each ot ground oats and cornmeal one tablespoonful salt and one tea spoonful ot pepper this furnishes both meat and green food in about the right quantities where these elements are given in other ways the alfalfa meal and beet scraps may be omitted from the mash these ingredients should be thor hughly mixed together and the mash kept where the hens can get it at any time they may want it jt Is a bulky food but not a fattening one so there Is no danger of their eating i too much the bran is one of the best condition powders poultry can have it keeps the system vigorous and healthy and furnishes a large part of the egg making elements A good way to give green food for a change is to hang a head of cab bage by a string so the fowls can just reach it the exercise Is good tor them and they will thoroughly enjoy the feast or a large beet car rot or turnip may be stuck on a nail driven about a toot from the ground for them to pick such food should never be thrown down in the dirt the grain food should always be thrown into a deep litter of straw or chaff where the birds will have to scratch tor a living it you have ever watched an old hen digging about the yard you will know that it Is as natural for her to dig as it is to breathe and that she needs that kind of exercise you know of course that corn Is a fat making food on that account less should be given in the summer than in the winter as then there Is not so much need of a layer of tat to beep the body warm through the warm season it may be left out of the mash entirely some do not feed corn at all in the summer but that Is a mistake as if the ben gets too thin she will stop laying now as to the time 0 feeding early in the morning a light feed of grain should be scattered in the litter on the floor of the coop the hens get off the roost hungry and should j find something ready for them some scatter the grain in te straw after the fowls have arc to roost at night so it will be there early in the morning in the middle ot the forenoon the green food it ills in the form ot vegetables should be given at noon it Is a good plan to throw in a few handfuls of table scraps to keep them busy late in the afternoon so that they will have plenty of time before dark the heavy grain teed of the day should be given there should be all they will clean up of this enough so they will go to bed with full crops it you are in doubt as to whether you are feeding enough you can tell by feeling of the crops after they have gone to roost it they are full and hard and there Is no feed left in the straw you are giving about the right amount water lots of it clean and fresh is a great item in the bens diet an eggs Is 60 per cent water it the hena are stinted in this respect it will tell in the egg basket in a hurry just one days neglect to furnish plenty of water has been known to cut the egg yield nearly halt grit and lime usually given in the form of oyster shells are two necessary elements they should be kept before the fowls all the time A very convenient hopper tor feeding the mash grit and shells may be made like the illustration the corn apartments part ments for mash being much larger than the others SHOWER BATH OF KEROSENE value of oil recognized by man as enemy of vermin but not applied in time most poultry keepers recognize the value of kerosene as an enemy to lice on fowls but often neglect to apply it in time to dress a large flock of chickens individually would require consider able effort but device seen in use on a large poultry farm does this work automatically and with excellent re suits in the bottom ot a email tin pall Is cut with a chisel a gash barely large enough to accommodate an ordinary size lamp wick fill the pall with kerosene putting on a tight fitting cover to prevent spilling and hang the pall immediately over the small door cut tor the fowls exclusive use each chicken as it goes through will brush against the hanging lamp wick which will deposit its drop or two ot oil and the ben will do the rest ALFALFA CHAFF FOR LITTER hens will eat every available bit of leaves and dry blossoms excellent green feed not much has been said about the use of alfalfa as green food for growing chicks and a winter relish tor adult fowls yet it has been used with great satisfaction for this purpose the chicks delight in it when they are given tree range if there Is an avail able alfalfa field you will find them spending hours here neglecting other fields they particularly like the tender topa and purple buds in the winter if the alfalfa Is stored in barn the leaves and dry blossoms still green in hue fall in masses of fine fragrant litter useless to cattle and horses which only eat the bulkier stems it this alfalfa chaff Is used tor litter in the chicken house you will find that the hens will eat every available bit they can pick up by night the floor will be bare and a fresh supply thrown in tor the morning meal keep accounts Ac couns with poultry are you keeping accounts with tho poultry can you tell bow many you have sold how many you have set and how many hicks ave latched and later how many chicks ou raise and how many you nell nd hat you get tor them all athla will be interesting next winter pure air fop turkeys pure air and plenty of it is an absolute necessity or turkeys they will not bear confinement agga egga absorb odors aba shell of an egg Is porous and will quickly absorb such odors a camphor onions eto |