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California Agriculturist and Live Stock Journal. 



(&duf«iti0ttal 



Before School. 



ninel Boys and girls, do yoxl 

 be quick, mo- 



then- 



■• Under the 



VfUAHTEK to 

 hear?" 

 "One more bucliwbeat, 



tiler, dear. 

 Where's my luncheon box?" 

 shelf— 

 CJ^ Just in the place you left it yourself 1" 

 " I can't say my tablel" "O. find me my eapl" 

 " One hiss for mamma and sweet Sis in her lap." 

 " Be good, dcarl" "I'll try." "g times 9'b 81." 

 "Take your mittensi" "All right." "Hurry up, Bill; 



let's run. " 

 With a slam of the door, they are off, girls and boys, 

 And the mother draws breath in the lull of their noise. 



After School. 



" Don't wake the babyl Come gently, my dearl" 

 " O mother! I've torn my new dress— ju.^t look herel 

 I'm sorry; I was only climbing the wall." 

 " J mother, my map was the nicest of all!" 

 " And Nelly, in spelling, went up to the headl" 

 " O say! can I go out on the hilt with my sled?" 

 " I've got such a toothachel" "The teacher's unfairl" 

 " Is dinner 'moat ready ? I'm just like a bearl" 



Be patient, worn mother, they're growing up fast; 



These nursery whirlwmds, not long do they last; 



A still, lonely house would be far worse than the 



noise; 

 Rejoice and be glad in your brave girls and boys! 



— (It. I, Schoolmaster, 



Do Farmers Read Enough? 



Is it not true that many farmers read very 

 little, hardly enough of the news of the day 

 to keep posted in regard to the enrrent events 

 of our country, to say nothing of the foreign 

 news? Further, do they read that which per- 

 tains to their business, trying to improve the 

 mind upon the great study of agriculture? 

 This class do not seem to realize how much 

 education and improvement of the mind have 

 to do with farming. They count strong hands 

 and muscle as the only requisites for success- 

 ful farming. They depend altogether too 

 much upon the weather and circumstances, 

 and too little on skillful, intelligent manage- 

 ment for success in their business. We know 

 there are some who will say th;it this is not 

 true — that many ignorant, unread men are 

 quite as successful in tilling the soil as those 

 who read. But we think we can point out 

 some of the reasons to show that the same 

 men could do better if more brain labor were 

 applied in connection with the labor of the 

 muscles. In the first i>lace, mind is regarded 

 as the measure of the man in every other pro- 

 fession; and all other business succeeds in 

 proportion to the active knowledge and intel- 

 ligence the man has who manages it. Why 

 should it not be so with the farmer? Much as 

 we value bone and muscle, brains are the 

 most important. The body is but the tool, 

 the mind is the hand that works it. It is to 

 education and progress in the arts and sci- 

 ences that all our enlightened and civilized 

 countries owe their greatness. ,The barbar- 

 ous have strength of body, and in many 

 countries superior soil and climate to our 

 own. Why has this country become great 

 and prosperous except for its superior culture 

 of the mind? Intelligence is strength, and 

 whateeer power or influence a people possess 

 must be developed through the intelligence of 

 that people. But, to apply it more practical- 

 ly to the business of farming, we would say 

 that in no industrial pursuit is the improve- 

 ment of the mind — education is the thing 

 which )iertains to the profession — more im- 

 portant. The desired culture andinformation 

 can he gained mainly through reading. New 

 and valuaVile ideas gained by reading and 

 study will be as so much capital to him. A 

 reader is generally a man of knowledge and 

 culture, and he acts in proportion to his 

 knowledge. We should read more agricul- 

 tural books and papers, and if we»'cau by 

 reading ascertain a lietter way of doing any 

 kind of farm-work, or make any advances 

 whatever in theory or pructici^ that would 

 benefit us, we should be prejiarcd at once to 

 adopt it. If wo have a farm of poor soil to 



be brought up to a certain standard, let us 

 study the science of agriculture and the means 

 best and most economically adai>ted to im- 

 prove it as rapidly as possible. If we are the 

 fortunate possessors of a soil rich in all the 

 elements of fertility, it should bo our constant 

 aim and study to keep it so, and see that no 

 injudicious system is pursued in its cultiva- 

 tion, and that its natural fertility remains un- 

 impaired, but constantly improved. This 

 applies also to every department of the busi- 

 ness, whether it be in the cultivation of crops 

 or the raising of stock. A farmer's hbrary, 

 books and papers, which are in the reach of 

 everybody, will develop and improve the 

 mind, so that farming will be done on correct 

 business principles. — Neio Eiiifland Homestead. 



Fob The Bots. — Keflection upon observed 

 facts is one of the best means of obtaining an 

 education. Many men are wise who hardly 

 know how to read. Knowledge is not wis- 

 dom; but knowledge to a greater or less ex- 

 tent is necessary to the one who would be 

 wise. Now we gather knowledge — we learn 

 facts by reading, by experience, and by ob- 

 servation. But we cannot be ateaj/s reading ; 

 ■we would not wish to experience many things, 

 but we can always observe, and that without 

 danger to ourselves. We observe the experi- 

 ence of others, and if we be wise, make use of 

 the facts thus gained to direct our own life. 



Let me then say to the young, learn to ob- 

 serve, let nothing escape your eye or ear. For 

 instance you are walking in the city, close by 

 the corner of the street lies a man in the gut- 

 ter. Notice him, look at his bloated face and 

 bloodshot eyes, look at his rags, notice, ob- 

 serve, see him there, use your eyes. But as 

 we come nearer to hear some remarks made 

 by the men standing around him. Now listen, 

 hear — "He was the best lawyer in the city, 

 but drink has brought him here." So says 

 a man who knows the drunkard. Now let us 

 travel on while I teach you to reflect upon the 

 fact which you have gathered by observation. 

 Drink has brought the best lawyer in the city 

 to the gutter. Upon reflection you will con- 

 clude that drink is the foe of mankind — a 

 snare for the foolish, the destroyer of many 

 strong men. So far, so good. Observation 

 well made. Reflection has done her work 

 well. Now comes the test. Are you wise? 

 Let me see. Come with me and have a drink. 

 If you will go in now and drink then you are 

 a fool. You did not know how to apply the 

 result of you observation and reflection to 

 your own life. Oh, you won't go, won't you, 

 then you are wise. Observation and reflec- 

 tion has given you a principle, and you wisely 

 apply that principle to your own life. Let 

 us, while young, learn to observe. Reflect 

 upon the facts thus learned, and then show 

 our wisdom by the application of these prin- 

 ciples to our own life. What good will a head 

 full of facts like the above do us, if we do not 

 apply them to our lives? The carpenter may 

 have his chest full of tools, but if he will not 

 use them they will beuetit neither himself nor 

 any one else. A few tools well used will ben- 

 efit more than many never touched. So a 

 few facts well thought over and strictly aji- 

 pUed to the life often make a man great, when 

 the walking library is often a sot. Let us 

 then gather facts as we may, by reading, ex- 

 perience, or observation. Reflect upon and 

 deduce principles therefrom, and apply them 

 to our lives, and be not only educated, but 

 wise. 



DivEKsiTx OF Gifts. — One of the most dif- 

 ficult questions parents are called on to set- 

 tle concerns the particular training each in- 

 dividual child requires. No two of a dozen 

 children in the same family agree in disposi- 

 tion, in ability, in taste and inclination. Each 

 has his idiosyncracics and his special gifts 

 which render special treatment necessary. 

 One boy has a passion for farming, his bro- 

 ther delights in music, still another enjoys 

 using tools and solving mathemiLtical prob- 

 lems. \S'hat folly it would be to subject these 

 three boys to the same curriculum of study, 



and expect in this way to make the most of 

 them as men, Not what we put into a boy's 

 head educates them, but what we di-aw out of 

 it. Education is a process not of crammii\g, 

 but of development, and wise are those pa- 

 rents who, nuderstauditig the abilities of their 

 children, suit the training each receives to Ids 

 special requirements. It is not easy in a 

 multitude of cases to tell exactly what partic- 

 ular talent a boy or girl possesses. We most 

 wait for time to develop his or her special 

 gift, and while so doing give the best general 

 training in our power, shaping the child's 

 course in the direction in which it seems most 

 probable he will be successful in winning the 

 desirable things of this life, and so winning 

 them as not to lose in the life to come. — Mrs. 

 Lyman, t/i j\'. 1'. Tribune. 



Teacheu — "John, you young scapegrace, 

 come here, and I'll paj you back your impu- 

 dence to me yesterday." 



Pupil — "No, thank you, I have conscien- 

 cious scruples against taking back-paj' of that 

 sort." 



Live and Dead Weight of Cattle. 



It is well known that the amount of flesh 

 obtained from animals sold by live weight is 

 exceedingly variable, even in animals of the 

 same breed, as so much depends on the con- 

 dition or fatness of the beast. There is also 

 a great variation in the quality of the meat in 

 breeds; as a rule, the finer the breed of the 

 animals the more eminent the prime points, 

 the Short-horns and Heref ords being noted for 

 muscle and fat, and the Ayrshires and Jerseys 

 being types of milk producing breeds. Again 

 the Jerseys are eminent for richness of milk, 

 and the Ayrshires fot quantity. The English, 

 French and Belgians have instituted numer- 

 ous experiments to show the weight of the 

 different jiarts of the animals slaughtered. 

 Two instances, one a bullock, another a sheep, 

 will suffice. 



In the case of an ox a live weight of 1,322 

 pounds yielded, meat, '771.4 pounds; skin, 

 110.5; grease, 88; blood, 55; feet and hoofs, 

 22; head, 11; tongue, G.G; lungs and heart, 

 15.34; liver andspleen, 80.5; intestines, 6G.15; 

 loss and evaporation, 152.72; makiug the total 

 of 1,322 pounds. 



The product of a sheep weighing 110.02 

 pounds were as foOows: Meat, 551; skin, 7.71; 

 grease, 5.51; blood, 5.508; feet and hoofs, 

 1.201; head, 4.400; tongue, lungs, heart, liver 

 and spleen, 3.408; intestines, G.612; loss and 

 evaporation, l'J.656; making a total of 110.02 

 pounds. 



French statistics show that the same cattle 

 yield as much as 70 per cent, meat, while 

 others give only 50 per cent. The mean 

 ■B'eight of meat produced is estimated at 55 

 per cent, of live weight. In the case of the 

 sheep, the production is from 40 to 45 per 

 cent., the fatter animals always give the 

 greatest net weight. 



To show how the same nile will apply to 

 the United States, we may state that in New 

 York native steers are allrwtd fifty-six pounds 

 to the hundred, live weight, while grades are 

 estimated at forty-six pounds per hundred. 

 As an instance, weighing net 500 to 700 !tw, 

 will bring 8)4 to 12;^ cents per Bj; those from 

 700 to 800 lbs will bring from 12^; to 14 cents, 

 and grade steers 875 to 1,200 Ujs will bring 

 12,'/4_,to 15 cents, and weighing 1,400 to 1,500 

 lbs w'iU brine 14 to 18 cents. 



The propagating houses of the Agricultural 

 Department of the State University, at Berk- 

 eley, were ready for use last August, and 

 since that time, .says the Oakland Stirs, 10,- 

 000 i)lantsof 20 species of eucalyptus; 5,0(10 

 acacias of 25 species, 200 sjieciea of native and 

 foreign conifcra', also utimerous rare ferns 

 peculiar to Australia, South and Central Amer- 

 ica, and elsewhere, and many species of tex- 

 tile, medicinal and other economic jilaiits 

 have been produced. Wc may mention 112 

 varieties of roses, 12 of azaleas, 13 ol canie- 

 lias, and (J of m.agnolias, for ornamental pur- 

 poses. 



