California Agriculturi^i 



AND Li\E Stock Journal. 



i£^chi(atian<il 



Self Made. 



i>IS star of fate, to eoiniiion eyee, 



Seemed very email aud dim; 

 And few the augel visitants 



That sung the natal hymn! 

 But in that little feeble frame 



Was lit a fire divine; 

 Destined to burn its bright way out, 



To all the world a sign! 



"Self-madel" No land to build upon, 



Except the rock of trust! 

 No helpers, save one's own brave hands 



And will, that cry "We musti" 

 Proud energy in every limb, 



And in truth every glance 

 Of eyes that straightway seek your own. 



As warriors throw the lance! 



Nature (dear mother) waxes kind 



To children all her own: 

 And often gives them wealth of blood 



Add wondrous nerve and bone! 

 No pampering dries their sinews up. 



No foolish, needless care 

 Relaxes muscles that are made 



Life's burdens well to bear! 



"Self-made!" The world has need of such 



To plow her mighty seas! 

 To drive her commerce and her trade. 



And catch each prospering breeze! 

 As years gone by such noble souls 



Have worked, nor worked in vain, 

 That "knowledge might run to and fro 



The earth." an endless chain! 



Do Agricultural Colleges Make Farm- 

 ers? 



It has often been asserted bj- those who are 

 opposed to Agricultural Colleges, and espec- 

 ially those who object to having any State 

 money expended in this direction, that the 

 colleges do not turn out farmers— that a col- 

 lege course tends rather to turn the graduate 

 from, than towards the farm, when his stud- 

 ies are finished. 



In his address before the Legislature, Presi- 

 dent Abbot, of the Michigan Agricultural Col- 

 lege, alluding tu this oft-repeated assertion, 

 makes the following statement regarding the 

 policy pursued at the institution and the re- 

 sults attained thus far: 



"It has been the design, says the Presi- 

 dent, of those who manage the Agricultural 

 College, to create a bias towards, and not 

 away from the farm ; to make the whole at- 

 mosphere of the place one of respect for all 

 kmds of work, and a feeling of fellowship 

 toward farmers. To this end manual labor is 

 insisted on from all, if we can speak of insist- 

 ing on what students ofter in excess of our 

 requirements. To this end there is no fur- 

 nishing of easier or more tasteful work to the 

 seniors than is given to other students; the 

 habit of work aud taste for it is kept up to 

 the end. To this same end the labor system 

 and the instruction are planned to m;itch each 

 other, to illustrate each other, so th;it to the 

 labor is given to some of the dignity of scien- . 

 tific work, and to the scientific instruction 

 labor serves as a kind of laboratorv practice 

 for instruction. 



The result of these efforts to create a truly 

 apcultural school, appears in the fact that in 

 place of V,4 per cent, of graduates going to 

 , farming, as from other colleges, 38 per cent., 

 or not counting those not living and those 

 who are still students, 42 per cent, have gone 

 to farming, fruit raising, and the nu°serv 

 business as their chief or only business. In 

 this respect the college is doing what has 

 never been done before— sending men with 

 good education in fair proportion back to 

 work farms.— :\c(c Enqhmd Farmer. 



Agricultural Colleges in France. 



Considerable attention has been drawn of 

 late to the various agricultural colleges in this 

 country, and the comparatively small per- 

 centage of pupils in them who devote them- 

 selves after graduation to agricultural pur- 

 suits. The utility of institutions which do 



not really foster the industry in whose behalf 

 they are established has been questioned, 

 with some reason, and a discussion has arisen 

 in consequence which is likely to bring out 

 the defects in the institutions 'we have, and 

 possibly make them generally useful. As 

 bearing upon this subject, certain statistics 

 have been published relating to the agricul- 

 tural colleges or "farm-schools" of France, 

 with a \-iew to showing that the difficulty 

 complained of is not eontiued to this country. 

 There are in France 33 farm-schools, with 862 

 pupils and 9,317 graduates. Of these gradu- 

 ates 2,992 have become farmers, owners and 

 cultivators, or renters of farms; 845 have be- 

 comef gardeners, market gardeners or florists; 

 46 have become drainers, irrigators or makers 

 of drain-tiles; 841 farm laborers, cow-herds 

 or rig-feeders; 5 land-surveyors; 16 foresters 

 and game-preservers; 29 agricultural account- 

 ants; 39 merchants in grain, wine or fertil- 

 izers; 38 farm directors; 1-5 veterinary sur- 

 geons; 19 students in agricultural coUeges, 

 and 104 belong to other employments con- 

 nected with agriculture. From these figures 

 it aijpears that about 44 per cent, of the 

 pupils engage in what may fairly be termed 

 agricultural pursuits. Although this propor- 

 tion may seem much smaller than desirable, 

 there is only one college in this country, that 

 in Slichigan, which makes an equally" favor- 

 able exhibit. — Ex. 



Influence of Newspapers. 



The Boston Traveler states that a school 

 teacher who had the benefit of a long practice 

 of his iJi-ofession, and had watched closely the 

 influence of a newspaper upon the minds of 

 a family of children, gives as a result of his 

 observation that, without exeei^tion, those 

 scholars of both sexes and all ages who hare 

 access to newspapers at home, when com- 

 pared with those who have not, are : 



1st. Better readers, excelling in pronuncia- 

 tion, aud consequently read more under- 

 staudingly. 



2d. They are better spellers aud define 

 with ease and accuracy. 



3d. They obtain a partial knowledge of 

 geography in almost half the time it requires 

 others, as the newspaper has made them 

 familiar with the location of important places 

 aud nations, their governments and their do- 

 ings. 



4th. They are better grammarians, for 

 having become familiar with every Vixriety of 

 style in the news2>aper, from commonplace 

 advertisements to the finished and classical 

 oration of the statesman, they more readily 

 comprehend the meaning of "the text, and 

 consequently annahze the construction with 

 accuracy. 



She ^iovisc. 



Horse Racing at Our Fairs- 



ff ERY conclusively the present year has 

 r shown the efiect which horse-ntcing and 

 i pool-selling has had upon all our Coun- 

 vtj^j. ty and District Fairs, aud upon our 

 i^ State Fair also. Whoever has attended 

 these fairs and witnessed the scenes enacted 

 at these places — the gambling tables in full 

 blast unchecked, the large amount of drunk- 

 enness and blasphemy witnessed, the dis- 

 putes and quiin-els seen, all the very out- 

 growth of the race-track, must see and be 

 convinced that the time has come when a 

 change must be made at our fairs— either the 

 horse-race must be abandoned or our Agricul- 

 tural Fairs must be given up wholly, this is 

 certain. The general dissatisfactiou"expressed 

 this year shows that the people are in earn- 

 est tor a change in the management of f;iirs, 

 beginning with the State Fair, and thus revo- 

 lutionizing the plan of all our fairs. The 

 fairs that have been held this year have been 

 complete failures, aud so far from any bene- 



fit or improvement to our farmers and their 

 children, they have been the source of dis- 

 grace to every place where fairs have been 

 held. We shall here except from the list of 

 fairs thus far held this year, the Santa Clara 

 Valley Fair, held at San .lose,— Ca/. Fanner. 



XT 'r m* ^ 



«ow, If we wish to breed for a profit, we 

 must breed what the demand calls for. There 

 is a certain d.-maiul f.jr hciivy horses, but it is 

 not among the high priced" men of the pres- 

 ent day. They want symmetry, style, beauty 

 in appearance, and a good stepper. Such 

 horses are always in good demand at good 

 prices; and by breeding to perfect all points 

 we produce muscle and endurance, aud 

 horses thus bred will endure greater hard- 

 ships. They are medium hight, will draw all 

 the load necessary for any farm team to draw, 

 and when we hitch to our road wagons they 

 will glide along with that loftiness of spiri't 

 which nothing but a well bred horse will 

 show, and it is generally conceded by our 

 best breeders that the medium size, well" bred, 

 is the better horse for all purposes. A horse 

 that will weigh from eleven to twelve hundred 

 pounds, fully developed, of good breeding, is 

 of sufficient weight, and is worth buying, and 

 is also worth keeping. — Fartiier.i Union. 



*** 



Bbidle-Beeaeing. — To cure a hor.se of 



bridle-breaking, get a jnece of bed-cord, four 

 times the length of the horse, and double it 

 in the middle, and at the double end make a 

 loop, through which pass the animal's tail. 

 Then cross the cord over his back, and pass 

 both ends through the halter-ring under his 

 chin and tie both ends of the cord to the 

 trough-ring through which the halter-strap 

 plays, the end of the halter being attached to 

 a billet of wood. Should the horse attempt 

 to pull back, the strain will all be on the root 

 of his tail before the halter-strap will become 

 tightened, and he will at once step forward to 

 avoid it. After so fixing him a few times in 

 the stable he will abaudon any such propen- 

 sity. — Canada Farmer. 



Keepi.xg Hor.sEs' Feet and Legs in Obdeb. 

 If I were asked to account for my horses' legs 

 and feet being in better order "than those of 

 my neighbor's, I should attribute it to the 

 four following circumstances: First, then- 

 are all shod with few nails, so placed in the 

 shoe as to permit the foot to expand every 

 time they move; second, that they all live in 

 boxes insteaB of stiills, aud can move when- 

 ever they please; third, that they have two 

 hours' daily walking exercise when they are 

 not at work; and fourth, that I have not a 

 head-stall or trace-chain in my stall. These 

 four circumstances comprehend the whole 

 mystery of keeping horses' legs fine, and 

 their feet in sound working condition ujj to a 

 good old age. — Milen. 



Glasder-s. — Following is the ordinance in 

 existence with reference to glanders in horses 

 in San Francisco: Section 14 — Any person 

 who shall keep or have in his po session, 

 within this city and county, any horse afflict- 

 ed with the disease known as the glanders, 

 shall, within twenty-four hours after having 

 knowledge or being notified thereof by any 

 person, kill and bury the same, er remove it 

 without the limits of the city and county. 

 Any person who shall violate any of the pro- 

 visions of this section sh:ill be deemed guilty 

 of a misdemeanor; aud upon conviction there- 

 of shall be punished by a fine of net less than 

 fifty not more than five hundred dollars, or 

 by imprisonment in the County Jail not less 

 than twenty-five days nor more than six 

 months, or by both fine and imprisonment. 



Maw horses are ruined by harsh treatment 

 when they are colts. Their dispositions are 

 soured, aud they come to look on man as a 

 demon aud an enemy. Teach the colt by every 

 act that you are his friend. Be kind "to him 

 always, and you will gain his confidence to 

 that degree that he will always obey the word 

 when he understands your meaning. 



