326 
AMERICAN AGRICULTURIST. 
[August, 
ered, they are abundantly able to take care 
of themselves ; many breeders then let the 
geese find all their own food, which they can 
readily do on a large farm, until fattening 
time, or when the grass begins to get short, 
when they are brought up, and liberally and 
regularly fed with corn, still being permitted 
to have their liberty, until a week or two be¬ 
fore they are to be killed, when they are 
penned up and fed with all they can eat. 
Varieties. 
In breeding for mere fancy, no doubt the 
odd or handsome kinds, like the White, or the 
Brown China, etc., would be satisfactory, but 
where heavy weights, hardiness, and prolific¬ 
ness is concerned, the Toulouse, Bremen, and 
Embden are superior sorts, and mature early. 
A Rail Holder or “Grip.” 
Drive two posts, 6, b, three feet long, firmly 
in the ground, four feet apart, between two 
parallel logs, a, a. A third post or “jaw,” 
c, somewhat shorter, is mortised in a block 
A RAIL HOLDER. 
placed between the logs, and out of line with, 
or to one side of the posts, b, b, so as to 
hold a rail, d, between the three. A lever, 
e, 8 feet long, and heavy at the outer end, is 
mortised into another block, which is placed 
on the side of b, b, both blocks bearing against 
the posts. The lever and j aw are connected by 
a chain passing around the lever, over its block 
and through a hole in the jaw. An iron pin 
through a fink couples them just enough 
apart to hold a rail firmly when the lever is 
on the ground. To remove the rail, raise 
the lever and rest it upon the small post,/, at 
the farther end, which slackens the chain. 
Farm Yard Manure.— The composi¬ 
tion of the manure made in the barn-yard, 
is determined by the character of the animals, 
and the food which they receive. In case of 
a full grown animal, that is neither gaining 
or losing in weight, the manure will con¬ 
tain the same amount of nitrogen, and ash 
constituents, as were present in the food con¬ 
sumed. The animal is like a machine for the 
conversion of the principal fertilizing con¬ 
stituents of the fodder, into a more available 
form for plant food. If an animal is gaining 
in flesh, producing milk, or growing wool, 
etc., its manure will be less valuable. The 
character of food affects the quality of ma¬ 
nure. A diet of straw can give only a poor 
manure, while if the animal has a good sup¬ 
ply of rich food, as oil-cake and bran, its ma¬ 
nure will be correspondingly rich in nitrogen, 
and ash constituents. Aside from the ani¬ 
mal and the food it gets, the value of a ma¬ 
nure is governed greatly by the treatment it 
receives after being dropped. Save the urine. 
Agricultural Shows.—Their Abuses. 
BY COL. MASON C. WELD. 
-o- 
Why do we call these Shows, Exhibitions 
or Expositions, “Fairs?” Goods are not 
there for sale. A few sales are made and 
there ought to be more; but they are not Fairs. 
The managers and the public assume that 
animals and articles exhibited come fairly in 
competition for the prizes,—which, by the 
way, are absurdly called “premiums.” No 
doubt the managers intend that all exhibitors 
shall have an equal opportunity to present 
their articles and to have them fairly judged 
upon their merits. In some cases this really 
occurs, and managers who fail to do all in 
their power to secure this, neglect their duty. 
If the entry books or the stock and articles 
in the show may be examined by exhibitors 
before the entries are closed, and an exhibitor 
may thus learn what will be shown by a com¬ 
petitor, he may modify his own entry, with 
the view of capturing prizes, by artifice 
rather than of securing them by merit. 
I have known a favored exhibitor after a 
sight of the books to change his entire set of 
entries. He could tell very nearly what cat¬ 
tle were to be shown and in which classes he 
would be beaten and in which pretty sure to 
win. I believe this is a common practice of 
some men in almost every Agricultural Soci¬ 
ety, and of some who have official connection 
with the societies. When entries are closed 
a month in advance, the only way that any 
such advantage may be gained by one ex¬ 
hibitor over another, is for an exhibitor to 
make a large number of entries, but to bring 
or present only such as he thinks will win. 
It should not be forgotten either by man¬ 
agers of shows, or by the general public who 
look on, or indeed by the judges and jury 
who make the awards, that with many ex¬ 
hibitors the honor of winning is not so much 
valued as the money won, and that with a 
large class the honor counts for less than the 
trade or consideration which that honor 
brings with it. To such, a prize dishonorably 
gained is just as valuable as one fairly won. 
This is the reason why an exhibitor will often 
make great efforts to prejudice the jury in 
his favor, and so secure the award. 
Influence is brought to bear upon the jury 
of awards in various ways. One man will 
openly address a judge in praise of his com¬ 
petitor’s exhibit, and loudly call attention to 
the best points, but quietly regret certain de¬ 
fects, or express doubts about the age or 
breeding of the animals, or other points af¬ 
fecting the competing exhibit. Sometimes a 
third party discusses matters with a judge in 
a disinterested, friendly way, talking up his 
friend’s stock or goods and trying to preju¬ 
dice him against other exhibits. It is very 
hard to guard a jury against such influence. 
I have known the principal officers of Agri¬ 
cultural Societies take judges to one side and 
indicate how in their judgment the awards 
should go, by calling special attention to cer¬ 
tain entries of those who were known to be 
on terms of personal friendship with them, 
and disparaging others—or damning them 
with faint praise. There are many men ap¬ 
pointed as judges who are unfit to serve, and 
who know it themselves. These are wide 
awake to watch and listen and find out what 
practical men think, and it is very easy, if it 
is known that they are not strong, to influ¬ 
ence them. An exhibitor who goes to the 
show to get prizes, by fair means or foul, 
will measure such a man at the first glance, 
and “ go for him,” as the saying is. A weak 
judge is of no account in any way. A jury 
of two judges works better than one of three, 
and a single good judge better than either ; 
but he must be a man to be depended upon. 
The system, especially prevalent in small 
societies, of distributing the prizes about so 
as to “encourage” all exhibitors, and make 
everybody happy, is most pernicious. At 
such shows it matters very little who the 
judges are. The prizes are worth nothing 
any way as honors, and very little in money, 
and so long as such a system is in vogue, 
they will be worth no more. 
If the jury could be from a distance, and 
have valuable awards to make, and be real 
judges of the animals or articles of whose 
merits they decide, and be let alone, to make 
their awards without knowing that this, 
that, and the other are shown by the Hon. 
Mr. Blank, by Judge So-and-So, or by the 
President of the Society, and without know¬ 
ing that certain animals belong in one herd, 
others in another, and so on, we would have 
awards which would be worth something. 
True, 1st, 2d, and 3d prizes might go to the 
same man, and the President of the Society, 
or the member of Congress, might go with¬ 
out ; but what of that, so long as a fair, dis¬ 
interested judgment is given? 
What is true of animals, is true of goods 
of all kinds. One rule should prevail every¬ 
where, every time—the prizes should go to 
the article or animal, and not to the exhibit¬ 
or. It is remarkable how few of the men 
who are picked up as judges at the smaller 
fairs about the country, have any idea that 
they ought to consider this, the merits of the 
animal or article solely. Nothing is more 
common than such remarks : “We can’t do 
that; we shall be giving the same man both 
1st and 2d ; that won’t do.” Or, “If we 
give him 1st, he will be taking 1st in two or 
three classes ; we ought to change that.” 
Juries are very imperfectly instructed how 
to judge. They need instruction—definite 
rules, plainly stated, not only in printed 
form, but verbally. A great many men have 
such an idea of their own knowledge and 
abilities, that they will not read the printed 
rules. To such it is essential that some of¬ 
ficer of the Society should most distinctly 
lay down the law by word of mouth. 
There is always more or less hurry-scurry 
at the time of the Show, and questions which 
come up then cannot always be discussed 
and settled. For instance, who is to decide 
to throw out an entry for fraud or mistake 
on the part of the exhibitor—the Judges or 
the Society ? Suppose the judges suspect a 
“ pair of geese ” to be both of the same sex, 
or a heifer in the yearling class to be two 
years old, or an animal to have artificially- 
colored horns or skin ? Many a jury of judges 
will decide that they have nothing to do with 
these questions, but decide upon the entries 
presented to them, presuming them to be all 
right. Thus, of course, great injustice is done. 
I might show how Agricultural Exhibitions, 
which ought to be, and, in spite of abuse, are 
of great service to the community, are prosti¬ 
tuted to private gain in mean, underhand 
ways, which are enough to disgust one who 
sees them worked out, with all such Shows, 
but this is enough ; and if published in the 
American Agriculturist for August, will put 
exhibitors, spectators, and officers of Socie¬ 
ties on their guard. 
