i89i 
THE RURAL NEW-YORKER. 
roots, often gnawing the pastures io completely that im¬ 
mense areas of green pasture lands become so denuded of 
vegetation as to resemble naked rocks. Furthermore, cat¬ 
tle and horses tramping the land so harden the surface 
that the rainfall cannot soak into the ground, but masses 
itself and produces ravines, which after heavy rainfalls, 
become veritable torrents. 
“ The great problem of Australian agriculture, then, is 
to retain or hold in some way the rain that falls so abun¬ 
dantly and thus make it serve for purposes of irrigat on. 
It is on the creation of a vast system of irrigation that the 
future agricultural prosperity of that fertile country de¬ 
pends. Let us add that the configuration of the surface 
lends Itself readily to the formation of artificial reservoirs.” 
Champaign Co., Ill. b. r. Johnson. 
MEETING OF THE AMERICAN POMOLOGICAL 
SOCIETY. 
[R. n.-y. short hand report.] 
( Continued .) 
The fruit exhibit of the pomological society was some¬ 
what less extensive than in past years and not specially 
noteworthy for new varieties and seedlings. It must be 
remembered that the fruit displays made in connection 
with the biennial meetings of the society are not fairs. 
There are no cash premiums, nor any solicitation for 
entries. Only a few Wilder medals are offered as incen¬ 
tives to competition, and there is reason to fear that these 
are not valued as highly as they should be, or once were, 
in view of the comparative lack of strife to obtain them 
and the want of interest shown by prominent fruit growers 
In the competition. 
In the Washington display there were a few notable ex¬ 
ceptions. Virginia was the chief exhibitor, and got the 
first silver medal. Its exhibit was in charge of Henry L. 
Lyman, of the State Board of Agriculture. His three long 
tables Included 336 plates of apples, embracing 165 varie¬ 
ties, 76 varieties of plums, 30 of pears, and a large number 
of grapes, peaches and other fruits, comprising a most in¬ 
structive exhibit, representing the great diversity of 
climate from tidewater to the mountains. Her famous 
Albemarle Pippins were present in immense and magnifi¬ 
cent specimens. The next largest collection was shown by 
Ellwanger & Barry, of Rochester, N. Y., including 112 sorts 
of pears. They also received a silver medal for this fine fruit. 
Nearly every specimen had been carefully selected. Most 
brilliant of all in color and appearance was the old Bart¬ 
lett and the mammoth Souvenir du Congres. President 
Berckmans also won a silver medal for his persimmons, 
Kelffer Pears, Hawaii Pears, Pyrus Japonica and figs, and 
Rev. Lyman Phelps, the citrus expert of Florida, got the 
other for eight varieties of lemons, five of limes, four of 
Japanese persimmons and a plate of pomelo. Bronze 
medal* were given to Luther Burbank, of Santa Rosa, 
Cal., for a magnificent collection of seedling quinces, 
which could not be surpassed In size, form, uniform 
smoothness, color and general appearance. 
J. H. Hale awakened Interest by a plate of Ironclad 
peaches known as Excelsior or Hale’s Hardy, which he 
said had fruited in Massachusetts, Connecticut and New 
Hampshire, for nine years, when all other sorts were 
winter-killed. It originated in Worcester, Mass., in 1875, 
is rather small; its color is a warm orange and red ; flesh 
jellow; flavor good ; a free stone; ripens just before Late 
Crawford; tree rather small in growth. Among the 
oranges shown was a mammoth Navel Orange, from River¬ 
side, Cal., about five inches in diameter either way, grown 
by P. S. DInsmore. 
Among the most attractive and beautiful apples shown 
were magnificent specimens of McMahon White, shown by 
Mr. Hatch of Minnesota, and others. This apple was per¬ 
haps more generally admired for its beautiful appearance 
than any other variety upon the various tables. California 
exhibited pears showing the result of Le Conte fertilized 
by Bartlett pollen. One of these was an improved com¬ 
bination of both parents apparently, but the other was in¬ 
ferior to the worst phases of either. Mr. Engle’s Paragon 
Chestnuts were well displayed, three large nuts in each 
burr, and attracted marked attention. New seedlings 
from the Winesap Apple came from Tennessee, and some 
fine specimens of the new Lincoln Pear were shown by W. 
E. Jones, of Illinois. H . H. 
(To be continued.) 
WILLIAM I. CHAMBERLAIN, A. M., LL. D. 
William I. Chamberlain, A. M., LL, D., etc., whose like¬ 
ness is shown at Fig. 268, was born at Sharon, Litchfield 
County, Connecticut, on February 11,1837. In May, 1838, 
his parents migrated to Hudson, Summit County, Ohio, 
where they bought the farm which he now owns and lives 
upon. From his paternal ancestors he inherited strong 
agricultural and mechanical tastes, and strong literary 
and scientific tendencies from his maternal progenitors. 
In 1852, when only 15 years of age, owing to the poor con¬ 
dition of his father’s health, he assumed the virtual 
management of the farm, which he has maintained, either 
personally or through substitutes, to the present time, 
uninterrupted by college studies, absence while teaching, 
or official duties. In 1859 he obtained the degree of Bach¬ 
elor of Arts, with high honors, in the Western Reserve 
College, then situated at Hudson, Ohio, now known as 
the Western Reserve University, at Cleveland. In 1862 
the same college conferred on him the degree of Master of 
Arts in the regular course. For 10 years, partly after he 
had bought and resided on his farm, he was engaged in 
teaching, chiefly as tutor or assistant professor of lan¬ 
guages and mathematics in his own alma mater. 
In 1863 Dr. Chamberlain married Lucy J. Marshall, a 
teacher in Pittsburg, Pennsylvania, and of the marriage 
three.children.Iall college graduates,lare^now living. Of 
these the daughter is a teacher in the High School, St. 
Paul, Minnesota ; the eldest son is an architect, and the 
second son a chemist, botanist and prospective farmer. 
A third very promising son died suddenly on March 22, 
1891, at the age of 16. 
In 1865, as Dr. Chamberlain’s health began to fail while 
teaching, he bought and moved on to his father’s farm 
near the college, and has worked it in person or by proxy 
ever since. In 1880 he accepted the offer of State Secretary¬ 
ship of Agriculture for Ohio. Under his vigorous control 
the receipts, attendance and influence of the State Fair 
nearly doubled, and new grounds, now worth $200,000, 
were bought and beautified. At his suggestion the hold¬ 
ing of farmers’ institutes was at once begun. Nearly every 
county in the State held one once a year, with great 
advantage, and the system adopted in the Buckeye State 
was extensively copied in others. Indeed, Dr. Chamberlain 
may be said to be the father of the present system of 
farmers’ institutes, for he was the first to hold them In 
considerable numbers in all parts of the State, and to 
secure liberal State aid for them. Wisconsin, New York, 
Minnesota and other States adopted the system consider¬ 
ably later, and copied the leading features of the Ohio 
plan. He also originated the system of official monthly 
State crop reports made up from data furnished by a cor¬ 
respondent in each township. He was also the first to 
advocate the State inspection and analysis of commercial 
fertilizers and aided materially in securing the needed 
legislation. 
In 1884 he declined the offer of the Presidency of the 
Iowa Agricultural College ; but on repetition of it in 1886, 
he accepted the position which he held for nearly five years 
—a period of peace, harmony and steady growth in the 
number of students and professors, as well as In the value 
of the buildings and equipments, and in the amount of the 
State and National endowments and appropriations. In 
1886 his writings on questions of agricultural, statistical, 
William I. Chamberlain, A. M., LL. D. Fig. 268. 
economic and sociological science won him the honorary 
degree of LL. D. from Rutgers, one of the oldest and most 
conservative of our colleges, and in 1890, the same honor 
was conferred on him by the Ohio State University, one of 
the youngest and most progressive of these institutions. 
In 1890, owing to differences in opinion between Dr. 
Chamberlain and some of the trustees of the Iowa Agri¬ 
cultural College as to the policy of the college government 
and administration, to the surprise of all, he quietly re¬ 
signed his office in November,-at the close of the most 
prosperous year in the history of the college, and returned 
to his Ohio farm. For years he had been a liberal contrib¬ 
utor to the agricultural press, but his duties as head of the 
Iowa College had necessarily forced him to suspend or 
greatly lessen the number of his contributions; but after 
his retirement he renewed and greatly increased the num¬ 
ber of his writings for the press, and was widely sought as 
a lecturer at farmers’ institutes. This summer, while 
gradually putting his farm on a basis of careful experi¬ 
mentation in certain lines, the Ohio Farmer secured his 
services as Associate Editor, to begin his duties in October, 
and henceforth his farm will virtually be the experiment 
station of that paper, though he will retain its ownership 
and complete control of all the experiments tried there. 
Well known to the agricultural world as a clear, crisp 
writer on agricultural and economic questions, and a man 
of strong convictions, but courteous manner and language, 
one who has done much to mold agricultural thought and 
to secure needed agricultural legislation not only In his 
own State but at Washington also, we heartily congrat¬ 
ulate the Ohio Farmer for having secured the valuable 
services of so able a writer and so excellent a man. 
My onions, raised by the “ New Onion Culture,” were the 
wonder and admiration of all who saw them, both as to 
quantity and size, many of them weighing a pound and a 
half each. They were planted alongside or lettuce, in a 
mild hotbed, early in March. I find no drawback In their 
case unless it be as to their keeping properties. While 
drying out, they peel and peel and I am afraid that by 
winter I shall have only small onions and a lot of hulls. 
There are few new methods or devices that are free from 
some shortcomings at the outset. w. A. 
Winchester, Ky. 
751 
Live Stock Matters. 
CORN STALKS FOR HORSES. 
Axtell, when a colt, was fed during the winter on corn 
stalks and oats. The stalks do not seem to have injured 
his wind or speed; still there are many who claim that 
stalks are unfit for horse feed and should be thrown away 
rather than used for that purpose. Below we give the 
views of a number of horsemen who were asked their 
opinion on the wisdom of feeding stalks to horses and the 
economy of steaming the stalks with other food. 
Safe and Economical Food. 
I certainly believe corn stalks to be both safe and eco¬ 
nomical feed for horses and colts, provided the crop has 
been cut In seasonable time and properly cured; by this I 
mean that it should have been cut before the stalks had 
become too woody, and cured so that the fodder does not 
come out of the shock musty or mildewed. Regarding 
the kind of grain to feed with the stalks, I feed bran and 
oil meal, and find therat'on all that is required, as it keeps 
the bowels In proper condition, and does away with any 
possibility of impaction or clogging, which not Infrequently 
occurs where a steady diet of stalks is the rule. As an 
economic article of food I find that a very large quantity 
can be produced on a small amount of land ; that horses 
and colts are fond of it, and that it is fed with very little 
waste. I do not believe that cutting and steaming pays 
for the trouble of rigging for the work, but if I already 
had a cutter and steamer I might use them. 
Aurora, Ill. geo. E. brown. 
Ensilage Is Coming. 
We have at times fed a good deal of corn stalks to horses 
and colts, and have never experienced any trouble what¬ 
ever from them, although we would not consider it advis¬ 
able to feed them to brood mares. We have usually 
chopped up the stalks, putting on a little bran or mid¬ 
dlings, and have considered them more economical 
than anything else we could feed. A good many in this 
section are now erecting silos and curing the corn fodder 
in this manner, claiming advantages for the ensilage over 
any other kind of feed, and we are so fully convinced that 
It is an economical food for stock of all kinds that we in¬ 
tend to give it a trial another season. It certainly works 
well with horned cattle, and we believe it can be safely fed 
to horses and colts to good advantage by feeding, in connec¬ 
tion with it, a small allowance of hay, although this may 
not be necessary if it is properly put up and cured. 
De Kalb, Ill. w L ellwood. 
The Steamer Pays Here. 
We have for some time been feeding corn stalks with 
good results. Our plan of feeding has been to cut the 
stalks and mix them with bran and ground corn and 
turnips when we could get them, thoroughly steaming 
the whole mess. Daring the past year we fed this to our 
stock, both aged horses and colts, and they have never 
done better. It made them grow rapidly, put on them 
plenty of flesh, and, best of all, kept them in almost per¬ 
fect health. We scarcely had a sick horse or colt all the 
year. We shall try the same again this winter. 
Topeka, Kan. E. bennett & son. 
We have never yet fed any green corn stalks to our 
horses and therefore cannot give an opinion in the matter, 
but we understand from those who have used them, that 
they have given good satisfaction. Galbraith Bros. 
Janesville, Wis. 
MUTTON SHEEP FOR NEW ENGLAND. 
In The Rural for October 3, in an editorial paragraph 
referring to the talk of sheep husbandry as the best busi¬ 
ness for the abandoned lands of New England, it Is added 
that “Shropshires, Hampshires and South Downs, owing 
to their superior mutton qualities,” etc , are recommended 
as the “money makers.” Is it intimated by the order in 
which these varieties of Downs are named to Indicate that 
the Shropshires stand first in point of quality or profitable 
excellence, and the South Downs last ? [No.— Eds.] The 
Shropshires unquestionably have at present the right of 
way, especially in the West, on account of their siza and 
their weight of fleece. But as respects the quality of mut¬ 
ton, hardiness and vigor of constitution, easy keeping, per¬ 
fection of form, uniformity and denseness of fleece, to say 
nothing of purity of blood and long established uniformity 
of type and refinement of symmetry, the South Downs are 
superior to all other breeds. You cannot have the larger 
carcass and greater length of staple without more fat than 
is desirable or profitable in the mutton. Furthermore, as 
regards lands of inferior quality, it is perfectly certain 
that the occupiers or owners will find the South Downs 
more profitable than any of the larger varieties. But as 
regards the choice of blood for crossing to improve native 
breeds, the best results are always obtained by the use of 
sires of well established breeds and ancient lineage. Cross¬ 
bred sorts will frequently yield more profitable results for 
the time being, but they cannot stamp their characteris¬ 
tics on the inferior stock as the old and pure blood always 
does. 
“ Blood will tell; ” but what Is blood ? Certainly not 
all the multitude of *• breeds ” which are being manufact¬ 
ured to order in our day and registered as such In the 
flock books published for the purpose. As recently con¬ 
fessed by one of their advocates, in the London Live Stock 
Journal, the main object of these is to aid dealers and 
speculators in making sales of these new sorts in other 
countries ! These artificial methods of competition thus 
aided by the press, are certainly detrimental to the busi¬ 
ness of breeding the old and well established races of live 
stock, the superiority of whose blood has done so much to 
improve the profitable excellence of the farmers’ stock, as 
shown by the^general diffusion of their blood in the flocks 
