460 
AMERICAN AGRICULTURIST, 
[November, 
The facts I have stated are surely worth con¬ 
sidering. Here are two Societies, one is solely and 
purely for the farmers’ benefit. The farmers hold 
aloof. The other uses the farmer and his profes¬ 
sion simply to make money out of him, and the 
farmers throng its gates and crowd its grounds, 
because those grounds are made attractive. These 
are the facts ; I need to say no more on this subject. 
Thoroughbreds or Grades. 
I am more and more impressed by the fact that 
few persons are fit to breed pure animals, except as 
they take continual out-crosses and raise thus a 
sort of grade-thoroughbred. Breeding in line, close 
breeding, or in-and-in-breeding, is for few to fol- 
Fig. 1.— SECTION OF PIT. 
low. It is this sort of breeding which secures the 
best types and the strongest blood, aud what we 
hear now-a-days called “ prepotency.” A lucky 
hit is made in crossing different families of some 
breed, then it is followed up, and by systematic and 
close, but judicious, in-breeding, the type becomes 
fixed, and if other breeders admire it and it be¬ 
comes fashionable, fortune comes to the breeder; 
otherwise he has no special profit. He would no 
doubt have bad better animals if he had used occa¬ 
sional out-crosses, but he would have impaired the 
prepotency of his strain of blood. If his family is 
to become famous and popular, he can not afford 
to lose this quality—if not, he had better not aim 
so high. Considering, then, the fact that very few 
can succeed, it is undoubtedly best that very few 
should try to establish a true family or strain of 
blood of neat cattle, sheep, swine, or other animals. 
1 am led to these “ reflections ” primarily from 
studying “ Poland-China,” “Jersey-Red” or 
“ Duroc,” “ Victoria,” aud “ Cheshire ” pigs at the 
Fairs. With the exception of the Jersey-Reds, 
called Durocs for some unexplained reason, these 
are all mere crosses which have been bred together 
until a sort of fixed type has been arrived at in each 
case. The “ Poland-Chinas ” have become popu¬ 
lar, and are now fast reverting to the Berkshire 
type from which they were formed. The others are '■ 
not popular, and never will be in all probability, 
because we have better breeds ready at hand in the 
Berkshire, Essex, Yorkshires, and the now estab¬ 
lished breed of Chester Whites. As to the Jersey- 
Reds, whatever is good about them is like the Berk¬ 
shire, and they have such a peculiar color, smooth 
clean skin, and are withal so hardy north and south, 
that it is perhaps worth while for some one to un¬ 
dertake their improvement by shortening their 
faces, setting their ears up, and breeding them 
liner in bone. Then, with their long bodies, and 
large meaty hams, they will be excellent pigs for the 
farmer to grow, even if they never are fashionable. 
The so-called " Holderness ” Cattle. 
I was very much interested by an exhibition of 
cattle made at the New York State Fair by Mr. T. 
A. Cole, of Solsville, N. Y., under the name of 
“ Holderness.” It seems that some 50 or 60 years 
ago cattle were imported to this State from the dis¬ 
trict of Holderness in the West-Riding of Yorkshire. 
They were much like the Durhams, as they were 
then called, had no especial pedigrees, but were 
excellent milch cows, like those now raised in that 
district, and called “ Common Cows,” and which 
are indeed the mothers of the bulk of recorded 
Shorthorns of the English Herd-book. Mr. Cole 
bought a cow said to be of this “Holderness” blood 
from imported stock, and without any foreign 
cross. She was in calf to a bull of the same breed, 
was red and white in color, of large size, and an 
excellent milker and butter-maker. She had a 
bull calf, and in due time she was bred to him, and 
by him and others of her descendants and their 
produce, bred together without a drop of outside 
blood, Mr. Cole has formed a curious and interest¬ 
ing breed. The whole stock of this blood num¬ 
bers now, after 25 years or more since the old cow 
was purchased, some 250 head more or less. I 
write from memory. They are all very much alike. 
The color has changed very noticeably. The calves 
are all dropped red and white, but after a while 
change to black and white, or to a dark reddish- 
brown, nearly black. At the fair casual observers 
passed them by as Dutch cattle. Several of the 
older ones were distinctly reddish, while none were 
jet black like the Fresians or so-called “ Holsteins.” 
The cattle of this “ Cole-Holderness ” breed are of 
good size and fair form as beef animals. Not un¬ 
like those Shorthorns which show especial tendency 
to milk. They are deep-bodied, with large udders 
and teats, with excellent escutcheons, great swollen 
and tortuous milk veins, and skins as yellow as 
Guernseys. The interior of their ears was almost 
like orange peel. The butter made from their 
milk was exhibited by the commission merchant in 
Utica to whom it is regularly shipped, and showed 
admirable color and keeping qualities. He showed 
butter in pound prints made in May, June, July, 
August, and September. It was all good and high 
colored, but not quite so deeply yellow as Mr. 
Ledyard’s Guernsey butter which won the prize. 
These cattle are said to fatten very kindly when 
dry. They are excellent handlers, and really were 
a surprise, showing what good judgment in breed¬ 
ing can do with a fixed end in view, and a keen 
breeder’s instincts to guide in pairing, weeding, and 
feeding. Could we test the various breeds of cat¬ 
tle, with the view of determining with accuracy 
which is the most profitable dairy cow for all pur¬ 
poses— butler, cheese , veal, and ultimately beef— giv¬ 
ing to each its fair weight in the scale of excellence, 
I would not be surprised if Mr. Cole’s breed would 
win the distinction of being the most useful of all. 
A Ventilator for a Root Pit. < 
In pitting roots, abundant openings should be 
provided for the escape of the heated air and mois¬ 
ture, produced by the ripening and 
fermentation of the roots. All 
moist vegetable matter, when pack¬ 
ed closely in a heap or mass, will 
begin to heat and ferment in the 
course of a few hours. The heat 
produces considerable vapor, which 
must pass off, and in its escape 
carry off the heat with it, else the 
temperature will increase, and, be¬ 
fore long,decomposition will begin, 
and the mass will rot. Danger of 
this is averted, both by having the 
roots free from outside moisture 
when pitted, and by facilitating the 
escape of that which they give off. 
This is usually done by leaving 
open spaces every few feet at the 
top of the pits, into which bundles 
of straw, or drain tiles are placed, 
to serve as flues. But it is well 
to open a ventilator from the bottom of the 
heap, into which the hot and moist air may 
escape from all sides. This may be done by tying 
anumber of rails together, as shown at figure 2 (the 
more crooked the rails, the better, as they will pro¬ 
vide more spaces), and placing a bundle in the pits at 
about every 6 feet of their length. The top of each 
bundle projects a few inches, and this may be pro¬ 
tected by a cap of straw, as shown at figure 1. 
This cap should be tied firmly to the top of the 
rails, to secure it from winds, and to shed rain. If 
small bunches of straw were fixed in the bottom of 
the pit, as shown at a, half-way between the venti- 
Fig. 2. 
lators, and so long as the weather is not too cold, 
they would greatly facilitate the cooling, and dry¬ 
ing of the roots. When frosts are looked for, these 
bottom air holes should be securely closed, and 
then the roots can take care of themselves. 
Smoke-Houses. 
As the season comes around we have, as usual, 
numerous inquiries for plans of Smoke-houses. 
Now, that brick is very cheap, buildings of this 
Fig. 1.—SECTIONAL VIEW. 
kind are made of that material rather than of wood. 
One who is not a mechanic can build of brick as 
easily as of wood, if not more easily. In fact, 
an amateur mason would be very apt to make a 
more solid job than a professional one, because he 
would use a plenty of mortar and not leave the 
bricks bare in many of the joints, as is the too fre¬ 
quent fashion with the workmen at present. At 
figure 1 we give a sectional view of a brick smoke¬ 
house, which may be made of any size; one 7 by 9 or 
8 by 12 feet will be large enough for private use; but 
the plan admits of application for the largest sized 
building. At the bottom of the building is a brick 
arch, with bricks left out here and there to give 
passage for the smoke. Above the arch are two 
series of iron rods, supplied with hooks with 
grooved wheels, by which the ring with its burden 
may be pushed back, or drawn forward, as desired. 
The wheel-hook is shown at figure 1, and can be 
procured at any hardware store. At figure 2 the 
house is shown in perspective, with the open arch¬ 
way for the fire, and the door provided with steps. 
Above the lower bar and below the upper one, are 
a series of ventilating holes through which the 
smoke may escape. These are made by leaving 
out a brick, and can be shut by inserting a brick 
closely in the vacancy. At figure 3 is the arch 
which confines 
the fire and ash¬ 
es, and prevents 
any meat that 
may fall from 
being soiled or 
burned. A few 
open spaces will 
be sufficient to 
permit the 
smoke to pass 
through. This 
Fig. 4.— frame for ARCS. arch is built 
over a wooden frame (fig. 4), made of a few pieces 
of boards cut into an oval arch-shape, to which 
strips of wood are nailed. When the brick work 
is dry the center is knocked down aud removed. A 
loose door may be made to shut up the arch when 
the fire is kindled, for safety and economy’s sake. 
Cotton-Seed Meal. — This valuable feeding 
stuff being cheap, may easily be fed to excess. It 
is highly nitrogenous, and is costive iu its effects. 
