372 
AMERICAN AGRICULTURIST. 
New Series, 140. 
ENGRAVED EOR THE AGRICULTURIST, AND DEDICATED TO THE MANAGERS OF CERTAIN SO-CALLED “AGRICULTURAL FAIRS.’ 
Horse Races at Fairs- 
We have heretofore borne our testimony 
against horse-racing at Agricultural Exhibitions, 
and urged all sensible farmers to stay away entire¬ 
ly from any so-called agricultural fairs, where 
horse-racing is directly or indirectly encouraged 
or allowed; and we have, likewise, been so ungal¬ 
lant as to advise the ladies to make no display 
of equestrian skill on such occasions. Let Ag¬ 
ricultural Exhibitions be such, and such only, and 
let those who delight specially in fast horses get 
up their own shows or races. If, however, the 
advocates of racing insist on showing off their 
fast horses at the Fairs, we commend to their 
consideration the following hints from the Spring- 
field Republican : 
At every Show there are a class of beautiful 
horses, of moderate abilities. Like some hand¬ 
some humans we have read of, they are pretty 
but not smart. We have a plan to display these 
at the coming Fair, of course with the consent of 
the owners. It is said that the inhabitants of 
Minorca have the following amusement on their 
list, viz., a donkey race, in which there may be 
fiom twelve to twenty competitors. The rules 
o' the race are, that no owner shall ride his own 
animal; that no one who starts shall turn back, 
or stop ; and that the last one at the goal shall be 
considered the winner. Of course, it is for the in¬ 
terest of every aspirant for the prize to urge on 
the donkey on which he rides, so as to keep 
ahead of his own, ridden by another. It must be 
a very comical and ludicrous sport, and being a 
very unusual thing, we throw it out as worthy the 
attention of the horse-committees at the approach¬ 
ing Fairs. 
Laurels and Rhododendrons. 
We have read of an 
amateur, who, having 
failed with these plants in 
the common soil of his 
garden, tried a peaty 
earth from the side of a 
ravine, with perfect suc¬ 
cess. He considered the 
lime which is found in 
most soils, to be poise n- 
ous to the roots of these 
shrubs. The earth on 
the sides of ravines, he 
thought, was leached 
pure of all lime, by the 
rain which had filtered 
through it for many 
years. Though his the¬ 
ory was probably incor¬ 
rect, his practice was em¬ 
inently successful. We 
throw out the hint here 
for the benefit of any 
who may have been dis¬ 
couraged in their first 
attempts with this tribe 
of plants. 
From our own experi¬ 
ments, we are satisfied 
that these plants may be 
grown well, if the fol¬ 
lowing rules are attend¬ 
ed to, viz : 
For the laurel and rho¬ 
dodendron, prepare a bed 
by excavating the soil 
eighteen inches or two 
feet deep. Then fill up 
the cavity with a mixture 
in about equal parts of 
good garden soil, muck 
from the woods, and 
Can anything be more beautiful than these na¬ 
tive evergreen shrubs 1 Whether we prize them 
or not, our cousins across the water do, esteem¬ 
ing a collection of “ American plants ’’ among the 
choicest embellishments of their lawns. Ameri 
can taste runs too much after foreign trees, shrubs 
and plants. Anything from England or Scotland, 
is very fine ; whatever comes from Austria is a 
little better ; from northern Asia, or from China, 
or Japan, it is superb ; and if it is tender, diffi¬ 
cult to manage, and withal quite costly, it is un¬ 
surpassable ! 
Would it not be better for us to be more ec¬ 
lectic 1—first, collect whatever is truly valuable 
at home, then obtain those of real worth else¬ 
where ; despising nothing because it is native and 
familiar, and running after nothing simply because 
it is foreign and strange. 
Many persons refrain from attempting to culti¬ 
vate the laurel, holly, and rhododendron, because 
they suppose that great pains must be taken in 
selecting a suitable aspect for them, in making 
an artificial soil, in watering and mulching in 
Summer, and in protecting them in Winter. And 
they have been told that many persons who try 
to cultivate them, soon lose them, and that in no 
case do they thrive as well as in their native hab¬ 
itats. Let nature, they say, raise her own laurels 
and hollies, and we’ll raise hollyhocks and lilacs. 
sand. This depth of soil is needful, because these 
plants require constant moisture at the roots; 
and this can be obtained better by having under¬ 
neath them a deep, finely pulverized soil, than by 
constant watering. This quality of soil is need¬ 
ful, because it better suits the constitution of the 
plants, than does stiff clay or rich loam. 
In planting them, do not bury the roots deep, 
but rather set them near the top of the soil, 
spreading out the fibrous roots, and covering them 
with an inch or too of earth. After planting, 
give them a good sprinkling with rain water, and 
then mulch the whole surface of the bed with 
forest-leaves, two or three inches in thickness, 
fastening them down with small flat stones. In 
preparing the bed—we should have added before— 
do not fill up the excavation quite to the surface, 
but leave a depression below the surrounding 
ground, of two or three inches. This is import 
ant, to catch the rains from the neighboring sur¬ 
face, and to allow of a good thick deposit of leaves 
for mulching. This mulching is very useful in 
Summer to retain moisture, useful in Winter as 
protection to the roots from hard frosts, a id 
useful all the year round, in affording nutriment 
to the plants. 
But there is another thing as important as the 
above : and that is, shelter from the sun. Those 
plants are found wild mostly in the shade ; they 
succeed best in such situations. For a single row 
of plants, it may answer to make a bed on the 
north side of a high, board fence. But for an oval 
or circular bed, containing a good collection, some 
wider spreading shade will be necessary. The 
north side of a house will answer, if the bed ia 
