The Cook County herald., February 23, 1907, Image 3

About The Cook County herald. (Grand Marais, Minn.) 1893-1909

Image provided by: Minnesota Historical Society; Saint Paul, MN

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•i
In breeding animals certain diseases
are termed "herditary" in that ex­
perience has proved that the sire or
dam affected with any one of such dis­
eases is liable to transmit or convey
to the offspring a tendency, suscepti­
bility or predisposition to contract or
develop a like disease. The foal of
unsound parentage may not come into
lie world diseased, but it inherits a
predisposition to disease which will
be likely to appear as an actuality
wivn ihe animal, at any age or stage
it its existence, is exposed to influ­
ences. circumstances or conditions fa­
vorable to the development or cause
•if such a disease.
For example the colt from a "he'avy"
mare does not come into the world
itllicted with "heaves" but it inherits
he gluttonous appetite characteristic
it animals affected with this disease
iiicl. in addition, a possible weakness
the digestive organs and lungs due
to like weakness of those organs in
the affected parent. If a horse, with
such a herditary predisposition is al­
lowed to eat all the coarse, bulky, in­
nutritions or dusty hay or fodder it
cares for and, at the same time, is
made to work hard, while its organs
are distended abnormally, it will be
likely in time to develop heaves.
A horse not born with the predispo­
sition referred to may, possibly be ex­
posed to exactly the same conditions
yet not develop heaves. "One is
taken and the other left." In a stable
containing a large number of horses
one or two may develop heaves while
the others escape, although fed and
worked in the same 'way. We should
.-ivoid producing horses having such
HEREDITARY TENDENCIES
OF WELL-BRED COLTS
Wiiile Not Born Diseased, They Are More Liable to Develop
Unsoundness of Either Parent.
1
ia hereditary predisposition as this
iso that it is wise to retire from
ibreeding all stallions or mares af
fflicted with diseases such as "roar­
ing," "broken wind," "asthma" or
'"heaves."
Many farmers have erroneously
been informed that "wolf teeth" cause
eye trouble in horses. The "wolf
teeth" usually are discovered about
the time the colt commences to de­
velop "periodic ophthalmia" or "moon
blindness" and are blamed for the
trouble. There is not a vestige in this
belief. 'The "wolf teeth" are insigfi-,
cant, rudimentary teeth (relics of the
seventh molars of the prehistoric
horse) and may be shed by the time
the horse is seven or eight years old.
'They have no connection with the
sudden appearance of eye disease, but
•the latter is due to herditary predispo­
sition acquired from a^ected parents
or ancestry and aggravated into actual
disease by irritation and inflamma­
tion or unsanitary surroundings and
influences.
The eye trouble usually appears
when the colt is "rising three" and is
'aggravated into existence by the cut
jting through of 16 molar teeth and the
{shedding ot 12 molars. If the heredi­
tary predisposition to control eye dis­
ease is absent thfe1 tooth-cutting im­
itation and inflammation do not affect
•the eyes but, if the predisposition is
present, dentitiop irritation, the de­
bilitating effects of some disease,
such as colt distemper (strangles),
Influenza, or weakness from wofrms
or malarial environment may bring it
into evidence. It is only by breeding
from stallions and mares having per­
fectly sound eyes that we can reason­
ably expect to produce horses free
from herditary predisposition to eye
disease and therefore unlikely to suf­
fer from such disease.
Carry out this idea as regards all
other diseases set down as hereditary.
The "spavined" sire or dam does not
necessarily produce offspring actually
.affected with spavin but susceptibility
to the trouble is inherited or there is
a weakness of the hock joint, or a cer­
tain imperfect formation of the hind
leg and hock that induces spavin
when the parts are exposed to any
undue strain. So is it with "bog
spavin" and "curb" and thoro'pin
with "ringbones," and sidebones
with navicular disease" and "chorea."
The actual diseases are not trans­
mitted but the offspring of sire or
dam affected with a hereditary dis­
ease is rendered liable to contract the
same disease under conditions favor­
ing its development.
It is as necessary, therefore, that
the brood mares should be sound as
that the soundness of the breeding
stallions should be made imperative.
Indeed we never can expect to have
sound breeding stock while either side
if the breeding equation is unsound.
It takes "like" to produce "like," as
a general proposition, and when the
aiarss are unsound the sound stal­
lions will be unable to offset the un­
soundness.
The stallion owner could, if he
4,
LIKE PRODUCES LIKE."
Two views of hind leg of Wisconsin-bred mare showing ringbones, bone
spavin and other bony excrescences. Subject was the progeny of an
old, crippled mare at three years developed a bone spavin which was
"fired at four years developed ringbones and at five years bony
growths formed on back of leg and animal having become useless was
destroyed.
would, be the most potent power for
good in this direction. Having a pure­
bred, sound stallion it would be great­
ly to his advantage to allow his horse
to serve only mares that he consid­
ers perfectly suitable. At present he
feels inclined to accommodate any
tjwner of mares knowing that the
"scrub" or grade stallion will be us£d
if he refuses to allow his horse to
serve, and, for this reason, many a
fine stallion fails to make a good
name as a breeder because the foals
he sires from unsound and unsuitable
mares are of poor quality and there
fore criticised by interested persons
who desire to injure his reputation
It would be well for our horse breed
ing industry could every stallion-own­
er see his way clear to reject any
maro that is either unsound or unsuit­
able and could such discrimination
become general it would quickly tend
to improve horse stock.
DR. A. S. ALEXANDER.
Turnips for Sheep.—Probably tur
nips are more desirable than any
other succulent food for all kinds of
sheep. The animals are very fond of
them and also relish mangels near
spring time. Sugar beets are gen
erally quite satisfactory.
Forcing Tomatoes.—Ohio growers
have decided that it is nojt profitable
to grow a crop of tomatoes in mid­
winter under glass, in northern lati­
tudes. Prices are not high enough.
jy
[From Bulletin on "Cost of Producing
Farm Products," Prepared by Willet M.
Hays and Edward C. Parker.]
The day of cheap productive lands
is coming to a close in the United
States. The possibility of disposing of
high-priced lands in well-settled com­
munities and purchasing equally pro­
ductive land at a lower price in the
west will soon be at an end. System
and more efficient management must
enter the realm of agriculture if rea­
sonable profits are to be extracted
from the soil and its fertility be con­
served for the use of future genera­
tions.
Waste of machinery and other cap­
ital, waste of labor, and waste of
PASTURE
35 27 A
CLOVER
15 91 A
How Some Farms Might Be Made to Pay Larger Returns
on the Investment.
Distance from city markets is 50 mile
worked and easily drained. Dent corn
and is easily matured. Improved land is
ted lines need drainage and can be cheap
the farm. The products marketed are oa
15 head of young stock, ten horses, and 15
manent pasture, and this land is too rou
ble fields. No systematic scheme of crop
clover are grown than on the average fa
stocked as heavily as it will stand as Ion
product.
fertility |tre conspicuous features of
the agriculture of the middle west.
The settler has sacrificed soil fertility
and great values of farm machinery
in order to obtain quick profits and
ready cash, and then as the country
has grown older he has neglected to
PERMANENT PASTUR
35 27 A
remodel his business to meet the new
and changed conditions. It is not
idle prophecy to sound this warning,
that, unless the next generation which
tills the soils of the middle west puts
the fields under systems of farm man­
agement, fertilizer problems such as
now confront the east -and south will
have to be met before many decades.
On the other hand, if the proper
physical conditions for soil decompo­
sition are maintained by systematic
crop rotations and intelligent methods
of farm management, the: producing
capacity of the prairie soils can be
maintained indefinitely. Land on
which crops are rotated systematically
demands more intelligent methods of
*e!d management, more intelligent use
of live stock, machinery, and other
capital and labor. All these are cor­
ollaries of crop rotation, and the re­
sult of systematic crop rotation must
always be increasing profits due to
greater productiveness in the soil,
more effective employment of capital
and labor, and sounder business meth­
ods. The intensive systems of farm­
ing practiced near the great cities of
the eastern part of the United States,
where grain and mill feeds are
shipped from the west, can not be ex­
tended to a majority of the farms in
the United States. Stich systems of
farming can only be practiced at the
expense of the fertility of other agri­
cultural regions from which concen-
GROVE
103 A
8 30 A
OATS
70.41 A
92A
FARMSTEAD
57A/
2 3»A
FODDER CORN
CORN
21 19 A
WASTE SOA
A Quarter Section Farm in Southeastern Minnesota Located on the Bot­
tom Lands of an Old River.
s. The soil is a sandy loam, easily
hrives luxuriantly on these bottom lands
worth $75 an acre. Areas within the dot
ly drained to the creek flowing through
ts, milk and corn. Twenty cows are kept,
0 chickens. Thirty-five acres are in per
gh to be put into rotation with the ara
ping is followed, although more corn and
rm in the same county. The farm is
as grain, is to be part of the market
trated feed stuffs are purchased, and
they are therefore undesirable for the
majority of American farms.
The map shown with the suggested
rotations and more businesslike meth­
ods of farm management, are pre­
sented merely to show the lack of
I ROOTS
FODDER CORN
04A. HOG PASTURE
1908 CORN
1909 OATS
1910 CLOVER
1911 OATS
1912 BARLEY
1908 OATS
1909 CLOVER
1910 OATS
1911 BARLEY
1912 CORN
1908
1909
1910
1911
1912
1908
1909
1910
1911
1912
1908
1909
1910
1911
1912
CLOVER
OATS
BARLEY
CORN
OATS
OATS
BARLEY
CORN
OATS
CLOVER
BARLEY
CORN
OATS
CLOVER
OATS
The Same Farm Replanned.
The arable land has been placed under systematic rotations permanently proj­
ected, beginning with the year 1908. In preceding years the low spots have been
drained, field seeded down in 1907, and the outside lines of the farm permanent­
ly fenced. The small fields adjoining the farmstead have been fenced with hog
fencing.
The five-course rotation on the five large fields, A, B, C, and E, provides
each year approximately 22 acres of corn, 44 acres of oats, 22 acres of barley and
22 acres of clover meadow. The crops are arranged in the following sequence:
First year, corn (manured) second year, oats (seeded down) third year, clover
fourth year, oats arid fifth year, barley. Corn, flax, or wheat instead of the oats
could be grown, following the clover sod, as a market crop, if desired, Oats are
placed on the sod land because they are the chief market crop in this region and
can be grown sucessfully on the light clover sod if desired.
The three-course rotation of small fields L, M, and N provides two acres for
fodder corn each year, two acres for annual hog pasture, and two acres for root
crops such as potatoes and mangels. These crops are arranged in the following
sequence: First year, fodder corn second year, annual hog pasture third year,
roots. The land in the five-course rotation would have to be plowed three times,
in five years and the small fields twice in three years.
The cattle and other stock may be allowed to pasture over the entire farm as
soon as the corn crop is harvested.
While this rotation cannot be considered as nearly ideal as those outlined in
figures 3 and 7, it is eminently practical and fits in well with the requirements of
a farm having a permanent pasture. The live stock will produce enough manure
to give each field a good dressing once in five years, and the manure with one
crop of clover in five year* will undoubtedly keep the soil in a good state of fer­
tility.
V'TW**" '"V
FODDER CORN
HOG PASTURE
FARMSTEAD
385 A.
2.24 A. ROOTS N
H06 PASTURE
ROOTS
2.19 A. FODDER CORN
A
23.57A.
22.00A.
23 02
A.
22.52 A
22 52 A
business system that too often pre­
vails in the methods of farming on the
high-priced land's of the middle west.
Some Winter Troubles.—Egg eating
and feather pulling are troubles not
common where hens are given extras
in the way of green foods and meat
scraps. When too many hens are
crowded into small houses, with little
'or no exercise, they are very apt to ac­
quire these bad habits.
Push the Turkeys—It is important
to get the turkeys to lay as large a
number of eggs as possible before they
want to sit, and to start/ their laying
as early as the first or middle ol
April, if •', i&i
There are three essentials to the
production of beef of the best qual­
ity an animal of good beef form,
proper early feeding and finally, pro­
per finishing. The block test is the
most accurate in showing just how
the steer should be finished and in
checking up results. More and more
attention is being given by the best
feeders to the testing out of thp car­
casses. This is being done more gen-
rib mom
THREE ESSENTIALS TO THE
MAKING OF PRIME BEEF
Beef Form, Proper Early Feeding, and tlx© Proper Finishing
Must be Considered.
ANGUd GOOD
rosir
erally at leading stock shows and ex­
periment stations.
A comparison of the live animal
with cuts of meat subsequently taken
from it, and shown as finished ready
for the retail trade, gives in a strik­
ing fashion, the relative success of
the feeding. In the illustrations shown
herewith, the difference between the
two animals before and after killing
is easily seen./
The first steer of common breeding
is lacking in the development of the
parts which make up the highest
priced cuts. The loin is not well filled
out and the rib is poorly fattened,
neither is the shank well covered.
This animal also has a poor form for
feeding Und is much under fattened.
He represents a class, many of which
are being produced, yet net their feed­
ers no profit.
The comparison of the form of the
grade Angus steer with the common
steer shows at once the superiority of
Lambsquarter Often Mistaken for Pigweed
Lambsquarter is often called pig
Weed, but it has a much smaller leaf
than does that plant. It is an annual
weed, common in gardens and in cul­
tivated crops, but is not usually com­
mon in grain fields. It produces seeds
Clover in the Orchard.—-The de­
partment of agriculture has been con­
ducting a series of experiments to test
the value of cover crops in increasing
the hardiness of young trees, with re­
sults varying according to climate and
conditions of weather. In Nebraska
cover crops were found /decidedly ben­
eficial, while in North Dakota they
proved Tory harmful. So it would seem
P' '1?** s| 'K
Wmw^ns^'W~
PP1F1E RIB FEOH ANGlfcS
'{i*f
vi,\VI^v" *,v
the latter. He is well "developed at
points where 'the high priced cuts
grow and is finished just rigjit for
market. He is not excessively fat or
lumpy, and has been produced in a
reasonably short period of fattening.
The comparison of the rib cuts from
these two animals is even more valu­
able. That from the common steer is
too light, rather short and thin and
lacking in quantity and distribution
of fat. The quality of the meat is,
coimm dizzp of poor
Comparison of Beef Steers and Cuts of Meat.
therefore, considerably below what it
might be, had the animal been fed
longer. The shape! of the rib shows
that it was not well sprung as com­
pared with that of the Angus steer.
On the other hand the rib from the
Angus steer is of prime quality,
choicely finished. There is a large
amount of lean meat and at the same
time, sufficient quantity of fat, well
distributed so as to give cuts the high
quality. The flesh is well marbled and
the well sprung rib gives deep flesh
near the central body line.
In the opinion of Farm and Home
the dressing-out of these carcasses
should be more carefully studied by
feeders. Far more of the success in
the profitable feeding of steers de­
pends upon the selection of the proper­
ly formed animal and the finishing
than have ever been supposed. How­
ever careful the stockman is to use
the proper feeds, deficiencies in these
two points cannot be made up.
profusely. The seeds are very small
and are easily separated from grain
seeds. To eradicate, use clean seed,
carefully cultivated com and similai
crops, or rotate the crops ai*
nually.
that orchard-growers will be left to
their own devices according to condi­
tions in their sections.
Give Hens Room.—-A few hens with
space sufficient to move about and
flap their wings,,will lay more eggs
than will twice that number with pooi
accommodations, be they ever sc
well fed.
4,
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v-
IN BOTH BIG EARTHQUAKES.
Crew of Steamer Uarda Experiences
Frisco and Valparaiso Horrors.
The captain and crew of the Ham­
burg steamer Uarda had the uncovet
ed. privilege of experiencing both the
San Francisco and the Valparaiso
earthquakes.
On April 18, about 5 in the morning,
as the ship was approaching the Gold
en Gate, it was suddenly shaken vio­
lently. The captain immediately or­
dered the engines reversed, but the
ship continued to quiver. While ev­
ery one was wondering what the ship
had run against the pilot came on
board and told of the great earth-'
quake. Soon the clouds of smoke also
spoke of the fires raging in the
doomed city. The next day fugitives
began to come on board and during
the following ten days about 150 per­
sons were daily fed. Then the steam­
er started homeward.
On Aug. 18 she was anchored in the
harbor of Valparaiso. It was after
supper and the captain lay on his sofa
reading, when suddenly the ship was
shaken so violently that the captain
was tossed up and glasses fell from
the cupboards to be shattered on the
floor. The first officer was shouting:
"Earthquake! Another earthquake!"
The ship continued to move up and
down so violently that one could not
stand. Then there was a pause, fol­
lowed by other earthquakes.
Looking landward, a terrible sight
presented itself. The city was in
ruins and the cri^s of the people,
mingled with the dismal howlings of
the dogs, lent additional terror to the
sight of the city burning in twenty
places at once.
ORIGIN OF NURSERY RHYMES.
Some Very Familiar Lines Are Cen­
turies Old.
Slang phrases, in course of time,-be­
come absorbed into the vernacular,
just in the same way that nonsense
rhymes and nursery verses become in­
stitutions, says the London Chronicle.
Take the following examples. The
famous lines
"Mother may I go out to swim?
Yes, my darling daughter
Hang your clothes on a hickory limb,
And don't go near the water"
are at least 1,300 years old, being
found in the book of jests of the sixth
century, compiled by Hierocles.
"Humpty Dumpty sat on a wall,"
etc., has come down to us from the
days of King John. "The Babes in the
Wood" dates from the fifteenth cen­
tury, beiug founded upon facts, an old
house near Wayland Wood, Norfolk,
having the whole story in carvings on
a mantelpiece. "Little Jack Horner,"
"Little Miss Muffett," "Old Mother
Hubbard," "Mother Goose" and
"Goosey, Goosey, Gander" are each
traceable to the sixteenth century.
"Pussy Cat, Pussy Cat, where have
you been?" belongs to the reign of
Queen Elizabeth. "Three Blind Mice"
first appeared in a music book dated
1609. "A Froggie Would a-Wooing
Go" was licensed to be sung as far
back as 1650. "Boys and Girls, Come
Out to Play" and "Lucy Locket Lost
Her Pocket" both hail from the period
of Charles II. And last of all, "Cin­
derella," "Jack the Giant Killer,"
"Bluebeard" and "Tom Thumb" were
published by their author, Charles
Perrault, in the year 1697.
WHAT A RACE SINGS ABOUT
Each Nationality Has Its Own Range
of Favorite Ballads.
"It may or may not be the case that
a race's temperament can be judged
from its folk songs," said a traveler on
a trans-Atlantic liner the other day,
"but it is interesting to note the dif­
ference of subject matter in the songs
o2
various peoples.
"The Irishman, for instance, seems
to sing for the most part about his
lacy lov 3. Hardly any-of his songs
are not addressed
#to
W^ ^wri
jF fff/r^
ir'-^l
his 'Somebody
Mavourneen.'
"The Scot, on the other hand, sings
about his country and its history, as a
rule 'Scots Wha Hae,' 'Ye Banks and
Braes o' Bonnie Doon,' 'Loch Lomond'
and so on might be taken as examples.
"The Englishman, it is interesting
to note, sings about himself all the
time. His songs are about his own
glory, bis ships, his men, his' power.
He refers occasionally to old England,
but only as a place to be made famous
by his own prowess. Unlike the Irish
and the Scot, he sings little of his
women and' his country's beauties."
"What about the American?" asked
a New Yorker who was present.
"The new American, as far as I have
observed," replied the traveler, "sings
the songs of the country he was born
in. The old American, with all re­
spect to you, sir, seems to sing almost
exclusively of the .things he hates
most—th nigger."—-New York Times.
Good Blood.
"Sure he's swell!" exchanged the
Chicagoan, referring to a prominent
fellow citizen. "Why his family's got
money to burn."
"But their blood," suggested the
Boston girl, "what of that?"
"Why, they make extract o' beef an'
such like put o' that. Nothin' never
goes to waste in their slaughter
house."
Pat Guessed It.
A motorist, who was touring in Ire­
land, one day met a native on the
road who was driving a donkey and
cart. Thinking he would have a lit­
tle fun at his expense, he began:
"What is the difference, Pat, be­
tween your turnout and mine?','
The native looked at the questioner
a minute or so, and then replied:
"Not a great deal The -donkey's In
the shafts in one and on the seat in
the other."
The motorist asked no more conun
dranw.
k.
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