California Agriculturist and Live Stock Journal. 



87 



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A FAIR DSSCRIMINATGON. 



Fine Stuck vs. the Pool-Selliii;;^ Kiii^ 

 at Fairs. 



',y-OL. COLEMAN YOUNGEE, of San 

 jjj Jose, a geutleman who has had a 

 y/ll great deal to do with State and 

 yii) county fairs, and who knows the 

 -^ feeling of the people upon this sub- 

 ject, and understands the various games 

 and mauiijulatious of the horse-racers 

 themselves as well as any other man, 

 thus talks before the Short-horu Breed- 

 ers' Association, and his sentiments are 

 ajtproved ; 



The cattle interest of this State needs 

 fostering, and no one can do it to better 

 advantage than the Stock Breeders' As- 

 sociation. The State Fair is intended to 

 foster all our industries, and the Dis- 

 trict and County Fairs are expected to 

 do the same in a local point of view, 

 equally iu proportion to thtir true worth. 

 We ask the question, do the managers of 

 fairs carry out this idea? In some oases 

 we think they come far short of it, and 

 there should be a full and frre discussion 

 by this convention on that subject, and 

 to give an expression to your views as to 

 how fairs should be conducted, and es- 

 pecially so in reference to cattle. When 

 any one industry has more than its due 

 proportion of interest given to it, in 

 money or time, oil others suffer in pro- 

 portion. If, for instance, cattle were to 

 receive two-thirds of aU moneys appro- 

 priated for premiums, it would be mani- 

 festly unjust to all other interests. Now, 

 it is a fact that the managers of fairs us- 

 ually give at least two-thirds of all mon- 

 eys appropriated for premiums to the 

 speed programme. Is this just or neces- 

 sary to foster the industries of the State? 

 And this is especially true of the State 

 Fair. There were over $20,000 offered 

 for premiums by the Board of Managers 

 of the State Fair for the year 1875; and 

 for the year \H7i there were given for 

 speed purposes over $10,000 less tha 10 

 percent, entrance fee; the cattle premium 

 was under $2,000. Is there any good 

 reason why this difference should be 

 made? Is the speed of the horse of so 

 much more value than all other stock? 

 Well, if BO, give us the evidence. What 

 is it in? Does that quality of the horse 

 feed or clothe or furnish more of the ne- 

 cessaries or comforts of life to the people 

 than all other stock? Our boys would 

 scout such an idea. Then where does 

 this superior value come iu? Compare 

 the value of the siieed of the horse with 

 the beef and dairy interest, the mutton 

 and wool interest, the farming and man- 

 ufacturing interest. Well, there is really 

 not enough value iu it to make the com- 

 parison. Separate the thoroughbred 

 horse, either for running or trotting, and 

 they would not be missed iu counting 

 the balance. But it is contended that 

 the thoroughbred horse stands at the 

 head of the list for speed. Grant it; but 

 does he till any other station to much 

 advantage? I think not. Then what is 

 there in him that $10,000 can be set 

 apart for him during a single fair? There 

 must be some good reason tor this course. 

 Does it arise from the vast fortunes that 

 are made by farmers breeding them for 

 speed? If" so, who are they? Where 

 one man has done well, thousands have 

 been wrecked. I ask the question, what 

 has given the race horse the great value 

 that some place upon him? There is 

 j but one answer to the question : that his 

 value is estimated iu piroiiortion to the 

 amount of money that can be made out 



of him on the course. Then, if fortunes 

 arc made by his speed, is it the farming 

 portion that do it? I think not. He 

 has not the time, and but few have the 

 disposition to embark in this mode of 

 making fortunes. Then it is left at last 

 to a few breeders and that other class of 

 gentlemen who are fond of turf sports to 

 make it popular. But we are told that 

 the speed of the horse is grand and ex- 

 citing, and commands the admiration of 

 the world. Well, admit it. But, we 

 ask, is it the speed alone we admire, or 

 is it the vast sums of money that are 

 staked on them that gives this morbid 

 interest? To illustrate this idea: Was it 

 the $30,000 put up by the San Francisco 

 club that created the excitement, or the 

 noted horses entered for the contest, that 

 gave such state and national interest as 

 to cause 30,000 persons to visit the 

 course to see the contest at such enor- 

 mous cost? Suppose these same horses 

 had contended for a purse of $100, would 

 5,000 persons have visited the course to 

 see it at the same rate of expense? I 

 think not. If this is true, then the vast 

 amount of money staked upon the re- 

 sult had more to do in producing the ex- 

 citement than the horses did. The high 

 estimate of speed is purely speculative, 

 and that speculative interest is enhanced 

 by the new and ingenious mode of invest- 

 ing on the result of all contests of speed, 

 either of running or trotting. The man- 

 agers of this new mode know from the 

 percentage they charge that in time they 

 have the lion's share, and it is to their 

 interest to multiply these contests, which 

 they take great interest in doing. Their 

 percentage being enormous, tney can af- 

 ford to pay large sums for the privilege 

 of furnishing a box for the people to de- 

 posit their money in. This new mode 

 of investing on the result of speed has 

 done much to bring these noble contests 

 into disrepute and to lower it to a species 

 of exciting and fascinating gambling. It 

 is said men will gamble, and this is the 

 most decent mode of doing it. Well, 

 suppose it is; is that any reason for al- 

 lowing them to introduce it at our fairs? 

 Is it commendable to make our fairs 

 accessory to the carrying on of this dan- 

 gerous and seductive vice? But the 

 question arises, can managers oi fairs 

 afford, for the sake of money, to mold 

 public sentiment against good morals to 

 such an extent that fairs, as now man- 

 aged, are made the most fascinating 

 gambling places? Is this the result of 

 fairs? Was it ever contemplated that 

 this should be a prominent feature of 

 fairs? Is this new mode of gambling 

 any part of the industries of the State? 

 Does it add any wealth to the State? If 

 not, then why give it the fostering hand 

 of an agricultural society? To say we 

 cannot hold fairs without the aid of pool 

 selling, is an insult to the intelligence of 

 the people. It has been tolerated like 

 Chinese immigration; but from indica- 

 tions the days of both institutions are 

 numbered. We do not expect to con- 

 trol this institution for the present, for 

 we know the powerful and active influ- 

 ences that are brought to bear to force it 

 upon the public. If it is to be a state 

 institution we propose to limit it to the 

 course. We enter our jirotest against 

 its being permitted at fairs. It is not 

 one of the industries, and has no claim 

 for public patronage. To allow it is in 

 violation of the plain provisions of the 

 law creating the State Fair. We have no 

 desire to detract one jot or tittle from 

 that noble animal, the horse ; but we do 

 object to the enormous appropriations 

 that are given 'for speed, and the time 

 that is set apart for it. There is no jus- 

 tice nor justification iu the distribution 

 of the money as now practiced, and we 



propose to insist on the managers of 

 fairs making a more liberal adjustment 

 among the great industries of the State 

 that need and should be fostered by the 

 State, and also by the institutions chart- 

 ered by her for that purpose. We think 

 our demands are just and should be con- 

 sidered. We know that millions 

 are fed from day to day with our beef, 

 mutton, pork and dairy produce, and 

 that nothing can be adopted to take their 

 place. The produce of the cow eiiters 

 more largely into the consumption as 

 well as the luxuries of the human family 

 than perha])s any other article of food, 

 and this is especiallj' true of the farming 

 community. This is only a part of the 

 benefits. Take the wool, hides and off- 

 al, and the comforts and luxuries are con- 

 tinued until it ramifies every relation and 

 condition of life. Now, taking this view 

 of the subject, are we not justified in ask- 

 ing of the managers of fairs to give more 

 consideration to the exhibition in these 

 departments, as they have a value at- 

 tached to them that cannot be computed? 

 They should relieve us of many of the 

 burdens and lessen our expenses as far 

 as consistent. 



THE AUCTION SALE OF FINE 

 STOCK. 



As this journal, for last month, went 

 to press too early to allow of an account 

 of the late cattle sales held at Sacramento 

 under the auspices of the Short-horn 

 Breeders' Association of California, we 

 now give a review of the matter as made 

 by the agricultural editor of the Becord- 

 Union, approved bj' parties we have seen 

 who attended the sales. Probably yearly 

 sales held in some stated place, the stock 

 to be sold at private bargains, would re- 

 sult best for both buyers and sellers. 



The sale of Short-horns that took place 

 in this city on Thursday last fell far 

 short of that success which its promot- 

 ers anticipated for it. Breeders of these 

 cattle have been meeting with very satis- 

 factory success in the disposal of their 

 surplus stock at private sale for a num- 

 ber of years past, and they had reason to 

 believe that sufllcient interest had been 

 created in the public to sustain a good 

 public sale. The experience of Thurs- 

 day, however, demonstrates the contrary 

 of "this supposition. There is a growing 

 disposition on the part of stock raisers to 

 cross up their cattle with thoroughbred 

 Short-horns. The dairymen of the State, 

 at the present time more than at any 

 other period in the nistory of the State, 

 are buying thoroughbred bulls to grade 

 up their cows, and there are more men of 

 means and of lands stocking their farms 

 with good thoroughbred cattle at the 

 present time than ever before. Farmers 

 generally are acting upon the axiom that 

 good stock pays better than poor, and 

 families in towns and cities who keep 

 but one cow to supply them with milk, 

 are more than ever inclined to buy high- 

 er bred and higher priced cows. These 

 statements are all true, and yet the sale 

 on Thursday under the Stock Breeders' 

 Association, which was inteftded to give 

 all these different classes of people an op- 

 portunity of supplying their wants, was 

 poorly attended, and more poorly sus- 

 tained by bidding. In the number of 

 cattle sold and prices obtained, the sale 

 was a failure. As an effort of the Asso- 

 ciation to wake up a greater interest in 

 the breeding of fine stock, it was a 

 greater failure probably than in any 

 other respect. This was the second sale 

 under the auspices of the Association, 

 and both fell far short of anticipations, 

 and far short of what they ought to have 

 been. The causes of these failures con- 



stituie a puzzle to many of the breeders, 

 and they are disposed to feel disheart- 

 ened or discouraged in their efforts in 

 this direction. On the contrary we 

 think the trouble is easily explained, and 

 that there is no real cause for discourag- 

 ment. In the first place, such sales are 

 a new thing to this State, and the people, 

 even those who want to buy, feel a sort 

 of ditlidence in their own judgment, 

 which makes them shy bidders. They 

 would go the farm of the breeder and pay 

 fifty per cent, more for an animal than 

 they could bo induced to bid for such an 

 animal as such a public sale. To over- 

 come this feeling, the Association have 

 but to keep up the annual sales, and in a 

 few years all will bo changed in this re- 

 spect. The i)ublie sales will become the 

 popular resort of buyers, just as they 

 have become iu England and the Atlantic 

 States, and the best prices will be ob- 

 tained at them and the sales will have 

 their intended effect in waking up and 

 sustaining the public interest in good 

 stock. Another special reason for the 

 shyness of bidders is found in the fact 

 that there had gone abroad the impres- 

 sion that the breeders had hit upon the 

 pubUc sales as a means of getting rid of 

 their poorer class of animals, such as 

 they could not dispose of at private sale. 

 This suspicion was confirmed by the ap- 

 pearance of the animals offered. It is in 

 the spring of the year, and the stock, 

 however well kept, does not look as well 

 as in the fall, when the public have been 

 in the habit of seeing it at our State and 

 county fairs. They were then prepared 

 specially to show, while now they are 

 jusi shedding, or have not yet begun to 

 shed their old coats. They are compar- 

 tively thin in flesh and rough and lan- 

 guid. Buyers did not take these facts 

 sufficiently into account. Time and con- 

 tinued sales conducted with honor will 

 correct all these things. The sale on 

 Thursday was conducted in the most 

 honorable and opeu-handed manner,aud 

 all who attended became fully convinced 

 of this fact, and this conviction will have 

 a decided effect in favor of future succes. 

 The sales made at private bargains were 

 much more favorable as to prices than 

 those made bj- public auction, and a 

 number of the auimals placed iu the 

 catalogue did not make their appearance 

 on the ground because they had been 

 disposed of before the day o( sale at more 

 than fifty per cent, more than they woald 

 have brought under the hammer. 



giocicuUuvf. 



How to Take Salmon Trout. 



3^ 



f^-^VERY year since 1872 we have been 



]/f distributing salmon trout fry in 

 T £ many of our inland lakes. Those 

 {yS deposited in 1872-3 will be large 

 O^ enough to catch the next coming 

 season, and there are but few people who 

 know how to take them. I will give 

 some hints on the different ways they 

 are taken. They are taken with silver 

 and brass spoon hooks, by leading the 

 line so that the spoon runs near the bot- 

 tom. But they are taken sometimes at 

 the top of the water, and sometimes half 

 way down from the surface, and by trol- 

 ling with three lines at one time — one at 

 the surface, one half-way down, and one 

 near the bottom. 



Another way is to anchor a buoy out 

 in deep water and cut fish in pieces, va- 

 rying in size from a hickory nut to a 

 butter nut, and scattering the pieces 

 around the buoy for some days; then 

 anchor your boat to the buoy, using a 

 piece of the same kind of bait on your 



