1876.] 
AMERICAN AGRICULTURIST. 
411 
When it came to awarding the herd prize, it 
seemed almost farcical to make the examination, 
which courtesy to the exhibitors required—Charles 
L. Sharpless was an easy first. Although he had 
not a first-prize animal in his herd, he had not one 
that was not in the “ highly commended ” class, 
and three of the five had been stout competitors 
for the Club’s “firsts.” No other herd had any¬ 
thing approaching such uniformity—excepting that 
some of them were uniformly bad. Almost per¬ 
fectly good bulls were flanked by a harem of inferior 
cows, or cows of golden goodness were headed by 
a bull of very ordinary merit. It needed but a 
glance around the ring to see that “ Cheiten Duke,” 
“Milkmaid,” “BlackBess,” “Tiberia,” and “La¬ 
dy Maud,” offered a combination of quality in both 
sexes that was unapproached in the other herds. 
And while C. L. Sharpless’s animals lacked the 
hair’s breadth more that would have given them 
the individual prizes, the aggregate quality of the 
herd outstripped anything on the ground. 
There were many other animals than those named 
above, which deserved more than passing notice, 
but the limit marked by the Club’s prizes draws the 
easiest line at which to stop. The shortcomings 
which placed the best competitors of the prize ani¬ 
mals just below them in the scale, were in the di¬ 
rection of indications of butter quality—a little 
thickness in the throat or cheek, an absence of yel¬ 
low color in the horn, ear, or skin, a tendency to 
fatten while milking, a hard “ touch,” a fleshy 
udder, or some similar characteristic. 
In making the judgments the Club’s scale of 
points was found to answer its purpose remarkably 
well. This scale is arranged on the principle of 
giving the preponderance to those qualities which 
indicate large butter-producing capacity. It recog¬ 
nizes beauty, but does not permit it to over-shadow 
characteristics of more practical value ; for exam¬ 
ple, in a scale counting 100 as perfection, a fine 
muzzle counts 2, the shape, color, and 6ize of the 
horn6, 3, and all items relating chiefly to beauty of 
appearance, count, in the aggregate, 17; on the 
other hand, a large deep-flanked body counts, (if 
perfect) 5, a good hind udder, 8, a good fore udder, 
8, good and well placed teats, 8, good milk veins, 8, 
and a perfect escutcheon, 10. All of the qualities 
which relate especially to production, count, in the 
aggregate, 57. I think it is safe to say that not one 
of the judges at first sight thought of “ Niobe ” as 
a promising candidate for the first cow prize, and 
when she was measured by the scale, the first items, 
—relating to the head etc.—ran much below the 
same items in her competitor; but as we worked 
back toward her “ business ” characteristics, she 
came to the front with rapid strides, and the effect 
of the scale in this case was very decided, in plac¬ 
ing in the front rank a cow which, judged by gen¬ 
eral appearance—as a show animal—would have 
fallen somewhat to the rear. 
This exhibition of Jerseys was full of instruction 
for those who are considering the question of 
“ solid color and black points.” The best two cows 
have much white, the second best bull has some 
white, and the best bull has none. Iu the prize herd, 
the bull is broadly mapped with white, (over a golden 
skin), two of the cows are almost black, one a solid 
gray, and the other gray and white. Among the 
“ highly commended ” animals, a very large pro¬ 
portion, especially among the best, have considera¬ 
ble white, while in the remainder of the field the 
“ fashionable ” colors prevailed very generally. It 
is hardly necessary to 6ay that the judges paid ab¬ 
solutely no attention to this color question, regard¬ 
ing it only as a fancy consideration which has 
nothing to do with the goodness or badness of the 
animal. The rejected animals were not rejected 
because of their color, but because they were not 
good animals. My own inference is, that their 
owners adopted, as a fundamental principle in their 
breeding, that they must have animals of uniform 
color in order to meet the demand of the highest 
priced market; and that their selection in purchas¬ 
ing was guided by this consideration, and not, as 
it should have been, by the more valuable character¬ 
istics of the Jerseys. One breeder with whom 1 ex¬ 
postulated for breeding with this as his chief aim, 
and to whom I endeavored to 6et forth the greater 
importance of the producing standard, replied: 
“ That is all very well, but I can get fifty per cent 
more for a calf if of solid color.”—Another breeder 
stated it as a principle not to sell a solid colored 
animal, and to fix a very low price, without regard 
to quality, on all having white markings. It is not the 
least of the good service that this exhibition has ren¬ 
dered to the Jersey interest, that the fatal effect of 
this sort of breeding has been so completely demon¬ 
strated by the comparison between herds which 
have grown up uuder the control of the color stand¬ 
ard, and those where the useful and handsome cow 
standard has been the leading motive. It is safe to 
predict that if the present state of feeling on the 
part of the solid color men continues for ten years 
longer, the Jersey race will be divided into two dis¬ 
tinct families, one valuable for ornamental purposes 
only, like deer, and another which, while retaining 
the characteristic beauty of the race, will show the 
wisdom with which it has been selected by an 
average butter producing capacity, exceeding any¬ 
thing that has yet been known. 
W. B. Martin, of Roselle, N. J., who has just 
bought a bull calf from onr herd, asks me to give 
in these papers my method of feeding, from the 
time dropped until one year old. I really can answer 
this question fairly only by saying that we feed exact¬ 
ly as we should for common stock. We try to have 
our calves fed on skimmed milk only, after they are 
six weeks old, but sometimes the change from fresh 
milk at this early age, leads to scouring, and the 
time has to be extended. After that time we give 
them only skimmed milk until they can be gradu¬ 
ally brought to a full hay diet. If a calf needs ex¬ 
tra feeding to bring it to a thirfty condition, we 
give it about a pint of oats a day, previously soak¬ 
ed in water. We avoid bran with calves, for fear 
of loosening their bowels too much, and we avoid 
corn-meal for fear of inducing a tendency to take 
on fat in the carcass. We even avoid giving the 
most nutritious hay, and this for two reasons; 
first, to prevent fattening, and, second, in order 
that the calf in satisfying his appetite, shall con¬ 
sume a large bulk of food, and so develope the 
capacity of his digestive apparatus, and create a 
permanent desire for large feeding, that will con¬ 
tinue when the richer feeding of maturity becomes 
necessary. As a rule, we hold that the young 
Jersey should be “growthy,” deep-flanked, and 
loose-jointed, and should have, generally, the cha¬ 
racteristics which farmers know as “ rangy.” 
New Agricultural Machinery. 
Conspicuous amongst the wonderful display of 
agricultural machinery at the Centennial Exposi¬ 
tion, were some newly introduced machines and 
implements which deserve more than a passing no¬ 
tice. Some of these, although attracting consider¬ 
able attention for their novelty and obvious useful¬ 
ness, have already made a standard favorable repu¬ 
tation for their successful application to work 
which has hitherto been done by hand, slowly and 
laboriously; or imperfectly by inferior methods. 
To recapitulate all that was exhibited worthy of no¬ 
tice would be utterly impossible here ; we simply 
introduce to our readers in the engraving on the 
first page 6ome of the machines which we consider as 
especially noticeable. First, there is the Hay 
Loader, (fig. 1,) which is not exactly a new machine, 
but it has been so much improved in its construc¬ 
tion, that it may now be considered as perfect as 
may well be. This, Fousts’ Hay-Loader, did its 
work so well on the experimental field at the 
Exhibition, as to receive the warm commenda¬ 
tions of the judges, and more especially of the 
English judge, J. J. Coleman, Esq., the Agricultur¬ 
al Editor of the “ London Field.” This was high 
praise, as Mr. Coleman is an exacting and a com¬ 
petent judge of what is required in the hay field. 
This machine, which is made by Stratton & Co., 
Meadville, Pa., is a labor saver of no mean value. 
The machine of perhaps the highest value in the 
harvest field, is the Reaper and Binder of Walter A. 
Wood & Co., (fig. 2.) To see this machine in oper¬ 
ation is about at wonderful a thing as would be to 
see one of our present sewing machines for the first 
time. The grain is cut as by an ordinary reaper, 
but is carried by the apron to the binding table, 
seized 'ey ^he revolving arms, compressed by the 
binder, bound and tied tightly with wire, and the 
sheaf is thrown to one side ready to be shocked. 
The binder is known as Locke’s Binder, and has 
been under a course of perfecting for some timo 
back. We do not see how any large farmer can 
undertake another harvest without this harvest¬ 
er and binder. It is in use in Europe, and we 
have favorable accounts of its action in Scotch, 
English, French, and Germau journals. It has been 
used the past season by the large grain growers of 
Kansas and Minnesota, whose fields cover thous¬ 
ands of acres, and by many other farmers elsewhere. 
We consider this the most conspicuous improve¬ 
ment on exhibition at Philadelphia. 
More modest, but no less useful on the farm, es¬ 
pecially to the root grower—and that should be 
every farmer—is the double Turnip and Root Drill 
of Messrs. Watson & Co., of Ayr, Ontario, Canada, 
(fig. 3.) To have one of these implements at a 
moderate price would remove much of the difficul¬ 
ty that stands in the way of root culture in this 
country; a culture that is more needed for an im¬ 
proved rotation of crops and a better agriculture 
generally than any other improvement. This ma¬ 
chine is wholly of iron, and practically indestruc¬ 
tible ; it rolls the drills to a proper shape; crushes 
the clods ; plows its furrows ; drops the seed and 
covers and presses the surface over them, operating 
on two ridges at once. We have seen no other root- 
seed drill so acceptable in every way as this one. 
A three-furrow iron-frame wheeled Gang-Plow, 
by the same makers, (Watson & Co), shown 
at figure 4, is a peculiarly strong, light and ser¬ 
viceable plow. The use of gang-plows must be¬ 
come common in time, and it only requires that 
farmers get over a certain prejudice against them 
to bring them into general use on such soils and 
farms as are adapted for their use. We have seen 
four horses on a single plow turning one furrow. 
Four horses and one man can turn three furrows 
with this plow. By the use of the wheels, the plow 
having the shares raised, may be turned upon the 
headland without tearing up the surface, and a 
careful plowmau may*make as neat work with this 
plow as need be. 
Each of these improved machines relate particu¬ 
larly to a special part of farm work, plowing, sow¬ 
ing and reaping. While there are many other ma¬ 
chines and implements in the Agricultural Departr 
ment at Philadelphia, that are worthy of the highest 
commendation, these seemed to us to be so novel 
and yet so useful, as to make them worthy of 
special notice, which is given here solely on their 
merits, -without any request from, or any communi¬ 
cation whatever with their manufacturers. Many 
other machines attracted our attention at Phila¬ 
delphia, to which we may refer at a future time, 
when occasion may serve. 
-— ■—-- 
A Southern House Costing $2,500. 
BT 8. B. REED, ARCHITECT, CORONA, LONG ISLAND, N. T. 
This plan of a simple, yet genteel Southern house, 
embraces ample interior accommodation for the 
wants of a good sized family. It has an abundance 
of outside verandas, and artificial shade, and may 
be constructed at a very moderate cost.... Slxte= 
rior, (fig 1.)—The style is adapted to the Middle 
and Southern States, because of its elevation and 
airiness, the overhanging projections of its roof, 
and the facility with which wings, or verandas, may 
be added. The Tower is a conspicuous feature, and 
though without any special ornamentation, it gives 
an expressi n of unity and completeness to the 
whole structure. The Verandas on every side afford 
protection from the sun. Many persons prefer dis¬ 
connected verandas, (as shown in figs. 1 and 3,) with 
open ends to the roofs for the escape of the heated 
air that would otherwise be retained in them. 
Moreover disconnected verandas prevent the an¬ 
noyance arising from the noise made by children 
who are fond of running and playing upon them. 
