AMERICAN AG-RICULTU RIST. 
im.] 
*309 
difference as to who is at its head. The insignificant 
salary, and the limited appropriations with which to 
work, are not very tempting to a competent man, and we 
doubt if we should be doing a friendly act to urge the 
appointment of any one to a place where his opportuni¬ 
ties for usefulness are restricted, and where, to eke out a 
livelihood, he has to quarter his family in the garret 
of the Department Building, and put its members 
and servants on the pay-roll. So long as members of 
Congress look upon the Department as a means of sup¬ 
plying their constituents with garden seeds, and the 
Commissioner and his subordinates have to lobby for the 
yearly appropriation and to keep their present meagre 
salaries from being cut down; we do not consider the 
position of Commissioner a desirable one. It is true 
that almost any one would do more with his meagre 
means than any former Commissioner has yet done, and 
several of those whose names have been mentioned 
would be a great improvement upon the present incum¬ 
bent, though even he is vastly better than some who are 
named. Still we look for a reform that goes much deeper 
than a mere change of Commissioners. Let Congress 
appoint a commission composed of representative agri¬ 
culturists from every part of the country. Let these con¬ 
sider, 1st. Can the general government do any thing for 
the advancement of agriculture? 2d. Wbat can it do? 
3d. What will it cost to do it ? Lastly. Who is the man 
to direct it ? In this way the Department could be put 
on a proper footing: then give it all the money it can use¬ 
fully employ, and if at the end of five years no results 
appear, stop appropriations and shut up shop. Were 
this done, we should here no more calls for a Grasshop¬ 
per Commission; no more meetings to get some one ap¬ 
pointed Commissioner of Forestry; no more millions of 
dollars running hopelessly to waste by “ hog-cholera,” 
and perhaps we should hear no mo-e feeding of pigs and 
poultry on Department seeds. 
Basket Items continued 
on page 233. 
An Exhibition of Dogs in New York. 
One of the most popular of the exhibitions that 
have occurred in many years, was recently given in 
New York City. This was what is known among 
dog-fanciers and breeders as a “bench show” of 
dogs. It was given under the auspices of the West¬ 
minster Kennel Club, of New York City, and turned 
out to be very successful. Many thousand persons 
visited the show, and the extensive building, the 
Hippodrome, formerly occupied by Barnum’s Me¬ 
nagerie, was crowded for the three days of the ex¬ 
hibition. Heretofore dog-shows have been unknown 
in this country, at least to any noteworthy extent, 
but in England they are a conspicuous feature of 
agricultural shows, and many very extensive exhi¬ 
bitions are devoted exclusively to these animals. 
In that country, dogs are carefully bred and well 
kept, and many farmers are as enthusiastic dog- 
fanciers and breeders as any sportsmen. Conse¬ 
quently, there are very few complaints of tres¬ 
passing and depredations upon flocks, although as 
many sheep are kept in that small island as in our 
own extensive territory, which is many times as 
large. As “ every dog will have his day,” it is to be 
hoped that the American dog may have his, and 
this animal, useful or desirable for his virtues, may, 
by proper care and higher consideration, be freed 
from his vices, consequent upon his ignorance and 
poor care, and be enabled to hold the place in cre¬ 
ation for which he was undoubtedly intended. The 
dog deserves a better fate than he generally meets 
and if well bred, well kept, and well trained, may 
be made a useful and respectable animal. The 
popularity which the bench show has met, proves 
the consideration in which he is held, and will un¬ 
doubtedly result not only in a repetition of the show 
in the City of New York, but will make similar 
shows popular elsewhere, and tend to elevate him 
in public opinion. Heretofore much of the bad 
reputation in which dogs, especially sporting and 
hunting dogs, have been held, has been owing to 
the inconsiderate and selfish conduct of ignorant 
and irresponsible hunters (who are neither sports¬ 
men nor gentlemen), and who have no idea of, nor 
care for, the rights of the owners of the ground 
over which they trespass in pursuit of game, or of 
the fields which the dogs scour over and the flocks 
which they are permitted or encouraged to chase 
and worry. This must all be changed, if sports¬ 
men desire to have the sympathy of the farmers and 
the privilege of hunting over their grounds. 
It is that a better understanding between farm¬ 
ers and sportsmen may be brought about, that 
we have noticed this exhibition, and give por¬ 
traits of some of the prize dogs on page 201. The 
dogs represented were selected as excellent types of 
their different races, although not all of them were 
prize-winners. Prizes are given at these shows for 
beauty, not for usefulness, as the true qualities of 
the hunting dog do not lie in color or form, but in I 
keenness of scent, sagacity, and docility. The set- | 
ter and the pointer excel in these qualities, and the 
two setters, Nellie and Flora, whose portraits are 
given, are known to us as having more than an or¬ 
dinary endowment of these canine virtues. Nellie, 
3 years old, is owned by Milo Seagars, Blooming- 
burg, Sullivan county, N. Y-, a. noted fancier and 
breeder of dogs. Flora is the property of W. C. 
Waters, No. 1 John street, New York. 
The pointer, Daisy, which took the first prize, is 
owned by Dr. A. R. Strachan, of the City of New 
York. The Chesapeake dog is a native race of 
Spaniel, and is used in duck hunting, so common 
in that locality. This breed is celebrated for its 
endurance and vigor, taking to the water in pursuit 
of game amidst ice and snow, aud never flinching 
from work or exposure. This devotion to the 
wishes of its master is one of the most conspicuous 
canine virtues. This dog is named Trip, owned by 
C. H. Tilghman, of Easton, Md., and took first prize. 
The shepherd’s dog is the true farm dog, and no 
breed excels this in intelligence. To one who ob¬ 
serves him handling a flock of sheep, he seems to 
possess reasoning powers; in fact, one experienced 
in his ways, can scarcely doubt that he does reason. 
The fine specimen shown is Tom Ridley, first-prize 
dog, owned by Mr. F. Bronson, of Wall street, New 
York. The pair of beagles shown are the property 
of Jesse Sherwood, of Edina, Mo. This class of 
dogs are generally tri-colored—black, tan, and 
white—and are used for hunting rabbits or foxes. 
They are a very handsome dog, and hunt in packs 
or pairs. The magnificent mastiff, of whose vigil¬ 
ance, bravery, tenacity, and patience—and at the 
same time, gentleness when off duty—so many 
stories have been told, is well represented in the 
specimen whose portrait is given. This is Vandal, 
owned by an English gentleman, from. Liverpool. 
—We have no space to further describe the in¬ 
cidents of this bench show. 
The Prices of Nursery and Greenhouse 
Products Abroad and at Home. 
BT PETER HENDERSON. 
While the price of labor is from one-third to one- 
half more in this country than in Europe, nearly all 
the products of the nursery, greenhouse, or garden, 
are sold lower here than there,—not merely lower, 
but in a majority of cases at less than half the 
price. In nursery stock, I have the authority of 
Messrs. Ellwanger & Barry, of Rochester, N. Y.,for 
stating that, in many leading articles in fruit trees, 
the differences in prices in favor of this country 
are as follows: In England, “Standard” Apple- 
trees are quoted at $18 per 100 ; the same quality 
are sold here at $12 per 100. Dwarf Pear-trees 
there sell at $35 per 100; here at $15 per 100. Stan¬ 
dard Pear, Plum and Cherry-trees average in Eng¬ 
land $18 per 100 ; here $15 per 100. Apricots and 
Nectarines are sold for about the same price here 
and in England,but Peach-trees, which are sold here 
at an average of $70 per 1000, are there sold at $150 
per 1000. The general assortment of ornamental 
trees and shrubs show a corresponding average in 
favor of lower prices here. In greenhouse or bed¬ 
ding plants, the difference in favor of our lower 
rates here is even greater, both at wholesale and 
retail. Roses, for example, which are sold lower 
in Europe than almost anything else, can rarely be 
purchased at less than $15 per 100 ; here, the same 
quality, averages $12 per 100. Carnations, or Pinks, 
which are quoted in England as specially low at 
$20 per 100, are sold here at $12 per 100. Ferns 
sold here at $8 per 100, are offered at $12 there; 
Tuberoses and Gladioluses that are sold here at $4, 
are quoted there at least double these rates, 
while, to take the average of bedding or green¬ 
house plants, that may average here $10 per 100 to 
the trade, are offered to us by the wholesale Eng¬ 
lish houses as specially low, at $12 per 100. 
Owing to the unusually dry weather of last sum¬ 
mer, nearly all our stock Fuchsias were destroyed, 
so that we had to import from London ; the price 
paid was $25 per 100, the very same quality that we 
sell at $12 per 100. In prices at retail, particularly 
for new plants, the prices paid in Europe are fully 
four times more than what we charge here. For 
example, a new rose, when first offered, is sold in 
London at £1. Is., the plant, about $6; here, the 
first sales of the same are at from $2 to $3 each. 
New Fuchsias or Geraniums are rarely sold in Lon¬ 
don at less than $3 each ; here we think wc are get¬ 
ting well paid if we get one-fourth of that sum. 
In addition to the greater price paid for the article 
itself, they invariably saddle us with the expense of 
boxes and packing, often no small item, which here 
is rarely charged by the florists. If we add to these, 
our 30 per cent, duty, which our government in its 
wisdom exacts for these perishable commodities, 
it may well be wondered that Europe can ever sell 
to us at all, particularly when it is known that at 
least one half of the imported plants are lost by in¬ 
jury sustained in transit. The question arises, how 
can our nurserymen and florists sell so much lower, 
and make the business pay—for that they do make 
it pay quite as well as European growers do, there 
is but little doubt. The answer to this is, the 
known fact that the high cost of labor, has long ago 
forced us to use our ingenuity in simplifying oar 
work. What we do with the plow, the English 
gardener still thinks it necessary to do with the 
spade. What we do with our horse or hand culti¬ 
vator, he still does with the hoe, and often a very 
primitive sort of hoe at that. Where we use stakes 
and labels that are made by machinery, they, in 
many cases, yet make them by hand, when a single 
one, actually, costs as much in labor as do a hun¬ 
dred when made by machinery. When it comes to 
the manual operations, necessary in the propaga¬ 
ting and growing of greenhouse plants, the same 
waste of labor is apparent. Our average propaga¬ 
tor will take off, make, and set in bench, 1,000 cut¬ 
tings per day ; at the rate I saw the propagators of 
two of the leading establishments in London work¬ 
ing, when there a few years ago, I doubt if the 
average was 200 a day, and when we tell them that 
some of our crack workmen can place 10,000 rooted 
cuttings in pots in 10 hours, they honestly think it 
false, for probably not more than one-third of that 
number has ever been done in the same time there. 
I do not wish to be understood that the English 
gardener can not move as rapidly as the American 
can, but custom there clogs his hands with un¬ 
necessary work, to accomplish the object desired. 
The other day a man of 40 years of age presented 
himself to me, with credentials from a long estab¬ 
lished Edinburgh firm, stating him to be an expe¬ 
rienced propagator and cultivator of plants. To 
test his capabilities, I handed him a lot of rose cut¬ 
tings to prepare, every one of which he cut at an eye 
or joint, in the approved orthodox style of a quar¬ 
ter of a century ago ; all propagators of experience 
here have long known, that this is not only a great 
waste of material, but a still greater waste of time, 
and we never do it unless in particular cases that 
very rarely occur. I might mention scores of 
similar operations which are performed abroad 
in a manner which seem to us as primitive as this. 
Those who have studied the subject, tell us that 
from the specimens of the “ stone period,” at the 
Smithsonian Institution at Washington, there is 
reason to believe that it took some thousands of 
years for our “ rude forefathers ” to discover that 
the handles could be better fastened to their ham¬ 
mers of stone, by drilling a hole through them, 
than by lashing them to the handles with thongs ; 
and it is a matter of not very ancient history, that 
in parts of the South of Ireland the plow was at¬ 
tached to the horses’ tails, and that a great row was 
the consequence when some meddling innovator 
suggested a change. It appears that mankind. 
