4:62 
AMERICAN AGRICULTUPJST, 
[Dkcembeh 
Among the Farmers—Mo. 35. 
BY ONB Or TIIBM. 
At the Agricultural Fairs. 
The most pleasant fairs are those at which there 
is a mixed attendance of city and country people. 
At Elmira, for instance, there was a considerable 
sprinkling of mechanics and 6hop people, and of 
young folks, to whom pigs and poultry, sheep and 
cattle, mares and colts, as well as many products 
and implements of every-day farm life, were a 
genuine curiosity. It was still more so at Waverly, 
situated as it is within a few minutes ride by the 
cars of four New Jersey cities, and but half an 
hour away from New York. Here city folks were 
by far in the majority, and it was very funny to see 
how “green” sensible people may sometimes be 
about things with which they are not familiar. At 
the Somerset County (N. J.) fair the country peo¬ 
ple so far outnumbered city folks, that the latter 
were lost in the crowds of the tillers of the soil 
with their wives and sweethearts. And I am sure 
that the beaux whose talk is of cattle, received 
as many smiles and favors, as those who con¬ 
versed about the picturesqueness of rural scenes. 
Horse Trotting. 
The dignified old Agricultural Society of the 
State of New York is the only one I know of which 
will not make use of the attractions of a trotting 
course, and regular trotting matches to “draw a 
crowd.” Everywhere else the trotting course is 
the principal attraction. I do not like it, but it is 
claimed that the Societies could not live to hold 
fairs without it; and certainly the trotting matches, 
as conducted by many of the Agricultural Societies, 
have little that is low and immoral about them, 
while thousands of people are drawn together who 
not only enjoy the day and one another, but who 
see and learn much that is very useful and interest¬ 
ing. Hundreds never have time or inclination to 
stand or sit through a trotting match, with its 
vexatious delays, disappointments at a favorite’s 
failure to win, and enjoyment of victory. Still, a 
good many people seem to enjoy it. Let them—the 
horses certainly enjoy it, the drivers are in a high 
state of pleasant excitement, while the judges are 
the only ones that seem not to have a good time, 
and even they have the satisfaction of sacrificing 
themselves for the general good. The money that 
pays the premiums and salaries—if salaries be paid 
—that cares for the grounds and erects tents and 
permanent buildings, all, or nearly all, comes from 
the people who assemble to see the trotting. It is 
a great deal better for the money thus to come into 
the treasuries of Agrioultural Societies, than to swell 
the profits of purely racing and trotting associations. 
[We allow our Contributor to express his views, 
but we believe these horse-races, sugar-coated with 
the name of agricultural fairs, are wrong in principle 
and tendency. They cultivate an unnatural taste 
for horse-racing that is not healthful. That they 
are not necessary, is demonstrated by the New 
York State Fair, always one of the best and most 
useful held in this country.— Eds.] 
How to Control a Fierce Bull 
is a problem, the solution of which should be 
familiar to every farmer’s boy. It is an old rule, 
never to trust a bull, no matter how gentle he may 
be. We have to trust him sometimes ; but if one 
has the least suspicion that the bull has a notion 
“to try conclusions” with his keeper, then it is 
rash not to control him absolutely. A fine Ayrshire 
bull got the better of his owner and his groom at 
the New England fair, and was shot. 1 learned the 
story from his owner: how that, as he seemed 
quiet, he was led out into the ring, among others, 
without his check strap, and taking advantage of 
his freedom from that restraint he used it to his 
groom’s sorrow, and his own destruction. 
A cheek strap for a bull is a simple strap of good 
leather, fastening by a snap into a ring in the bull’s 
nose, passing between his horns, where it is held in 
place by a strap going around them, and back 
to a leathern girth, to which it is buckled. The 
animal is led and handled by a second ring. He 
can not get his head to the ground, and is conse¬ 
quently unable to do mischief, and perfectly man¬ 
ageable. I have had occasion a few times to lead a 
bull of two or three years old through or across the 
city of New York, and have done so with compara¬ 
tive safety by putting a girth about the body, then 
attaching a stout cord like a clothes-line to one or 
both forefeet at the pastern, passing it under the 
girth and letting it be held by a man behind, while 
another lead the bull by a stall. So long as a bull 
thus encumbered goes straight forward, he can be 
prevented from running or going fast, for a vigor¬ 
ous pull as he lifts his feet will bring up first one 
foot and then throw the animal upon his knees. 
He can, however, turn upon the man who holds the 
cords, and this disarranges things for a while. But 
the check strap is not liable to any such objection. 
The bull soon finds out that he is powerless to do 
evil, and so calms down and behaves himself. 
There is usually plenty of space in the hole in the 
septum of the nose to insert a second ring, and the 
two rings may be left in without inconvenience to 
the animal. It is represented in the engraving. 
Apoplexy in Horses Induced by Fright. 
A horse trader came through the village last week 
and made an exchange with a man who contracts 
to dig cellars and haul stone, etc., the contractor 
taking a horse on trial for three days, and agreeing 
to pay some $85 to boot. The horse was set to 
work, and every one noticed how nervously he 
started at the word, and how hard he pulled. Sud¬ 
denly he fell back and died. It was a clear case of 
apoplexy, or a bursting of a blood vessel in the 
brain. The cause was a mystery until some one, 
wise in the dark doings of the horse traders, ex¬ 
plained it. He says that when these hase fellows 
get in trade a dull, nerveless, lazy horse, they cure 
him for the time being by taking him into the 
woods or other secluded spot, and there by whipping 
and yelling at him, making him pull as if his life 
depended upon it, followed by such lashings and 
beatings as puts the poor animal in mortal fear, 
they prepare him for sale, and warrant him for 
several days, or leave him on trial for three days, as 
in this case, well knowing that he will not get over 
his scare for a week. It sometimes happens that 
the excitement is too great, and the poor frightened 
animal drops dead, and is freed from his tormentors. 
This extremely nervous condition is easily ob¬ 
served, and should always deter one from purchas¬ 
ing. The human brute guilty of such practices 
should be watched, and if evidence can be obtained 
hand him over to the tender mercies of some kind- 
hearted Mr. Bergh,to be dealt with according to law. 
Mr. Bergh is tender towards animals, but judicial¬ 
ly hard-hearted towards their tormentors. The 
admirable Society of which he is the head, has 
done much to make the lives of kind-hearted peo¬ 
ple comfortable. Looking back a few years, it is 
easy and painful to remember the poor hard-worked 
omnibus and car-liorses of New York, with great 
galls exposed to the air, flies, and rubbing of the 
harness; and not these alone, but the halt, lame, 
and sick beasts that were made to do regular work, 
sometimes falling under their burdens, and often 
dying in the street under the blows of their drivers. 
How things are changed ! and it is all Mr. Bergh’s 
doings; and though he has doubtless erred some¬ 
times, it has been on the side of mercy to the beasts. 
Talks on Farm Crops.—Mo. 22. 
By the Author of “ Wattes and Talks on the Farm,'’ 
“Harris on the Pig," etc. 
“ The truth is, Deacon, we must farm better. I 
have no heart to talk about farm crops. We must 
talk more about the preparation of the land,—about 
draining, cultivation, and manure. There is no¬ 
money in poor farming.” 
“There is precious little money in any kind of 
farming, now a days,” replied the Deacon, “ we 
had a good wheat crop this year, but we can get 
but little for it. Barley brings a high price, and so- 
will potatoes, but what of it ? Many farmers did 
not get 10 bushels of good barley per acre, or 50 
bushels of merchantable potatoes. High prices do 
not help those who have nothing to sell.” 
“ It is the old story ” said the Doctor. “Things 
that are easily got, are worth but little. Potatoes 
and barley bring a high price this year, because a 
good crop could not be obtained only on land in 
the best condition. We say the season was unfa¬ 
vorable. The Hessian fly hurt the barley, and the 
bugs defoliated the potatoes. And yet you will 
find on adjoining farms, or sometimes in the same 
field, a good crop of barley, of 40 bushels per acre, 
and near by a crop that is hardly worth thrashing ; 
and so with potatoes. Now, the season is the same, 
the bugs and Hessian fly the same. The only dif¬ 
ference is, that the one piece of land has been prop¬ 
erly prepared and enriched, and the crop sown or 
planted at the proper time, and the others not; that 
is all the difference. And it is not wise to fold 
your hands and say, ‘we had a bad season.’ Bet¬ 
ter say, ‘ it would have paid me well if I had spent 
a little more time and labor and money , in making 
the land dry, clean, mellow, and rich.’' What you 
want is more faith in your business.” 
“That is the point Doctor,” continued I, “you 
have hit the nail right on the head. Experience 
and observation, prove that the only farming that 
pays in the long run, is good farming. I have a 
field that this year has produced 850 bushels of po¬ 
tatoes per acre. And on either side of it is land 
that produced less than 50 bushels.” 
“ You have no reason to complain,” said the 
Deacon, “ you have the best crop I have seen this 
year, and at a dollar per bushel, your potatoes will 
pay you better than any other crop you raised.” 
“If I had farmed better, I should have found it 
decidedly profitable. My good crop was on a field 
that is thoroughly underdrained, and which I ma¬ 
nured this spring. And the extra yield of potatoes 
will pay for all the draining, for the manure, for cul¬ 
tivation, and for the land itself." 
“ You want to prove,” put in the Deacon, “that 
we must drain our laud and make more manure or 
buy artificials. I should agree with you if it was 
not for the cheap, rich land of the West. Freights 
are low, and it would seem pretty risky business to 
spend more money in draining 10 acres of land 
than we can buy 50 acres for in the West; and then 
every year spend from $10 to $15 an acre for arti¬ 
ficial manure. Better ‘go West, young man.’ ” 
“No matter where you go,” I replied, “you will 
find that this principle lies at the basis of profitable 
agriculture. You must get good crops—not only 
in favorable seasons, but in what we call unfavora¬ 
ble seasons. We must farm better. We recognize 
the principle in feeding cattle, sheep, and swine. 
We do not, with these, trust to ‘nature.’ We pro¬ 
vide food for them in winter, and see that all their 
wants are supplied at all times. We must do the 
same thing for our crops. I have a private letter 
from Prof. Shelton, of the Kansas Agricultural Col¬ 
lege, in which he says : ‘ Our crops of all kinds are 
wonderful—surpassing anything I have ever before 
seen. This afternoon I figured up the yield and 
cost of a small field of wheat. The yield was a 
fraction over 41 bushels per acre, and it cost, ex¬ 
clusive of taxes and interest on investment, 3d 
cents per bushel. Our com promises equally well. 
I shall be disappointed if we do not get 1,800 
bushels from 85 acres. But prices are very low : 
wheat 00 cents, com 18 cents, and oats 15 cents 
per bushel, and hay only $8.50 to $3.00 per ton.’ ” 
“That crop of wheat in Kansas,” said the Dea- 
