864 
DEC. 12 
THE RURAL NEW-YORKER. 
A DESERTED SCHOOL HOUSE. 
In 1889 the State of Massachusetts expended $7,510,719 to 
educate 363 166 children enrolled In her public schools. 
She employed 9,222 female and 901 male teachers. The 
average duration of her schools In days was 171. There 
are only four States that spent more for education and 
these are far more populous. No State spent more for 
each pupil—and probably in no other State is a better 
system employed for graded or town and city schools. The 
district or country schools are. however, in many cases far 
below the mark. That is to say, the district school does 
not receive the careful oversight and wise direction that are 
given to the schools in towns. In the schools of many 
large Massachusetts towns, sewing, cooking, manual train¬ 
ing and other useful things are taught so that the pupils 
are interested in them, and really learn practical ideas 
that will help to make them self supporting. The country 
schools in the hill towns and back districts are not so for¬ 
tunate and one of the most melancholy evidences of the 
decline of New England agriculture is the failure to keep 
school houses and town halls in repair. 
The picture shown at Fig. 315 is made from a photograph 
of an old school house in western Massachusetts. It is 
“ deserted” like some of the homes of those who in former 
years made it the headquarters for the learning and neigh¬ 
borly feeling of the district. One can have few regrets for 
the abandonment of such a building for school purposes. 
It was cold and Inconvenient, as any teacher will testify 
who has ruled in such a housewe are sorry to say that 
there are thousands more just like it in the country to-day. 
The regret is that no new house has been built to take its 
place. There are too few pupils and too little interest 
among parents—too much of a desire to go to the town to 
school, where there is more “society” and fun. The old 
house will probably stand where it is for years a silent 
reminder of days that were better or worse, just as you 
view certain changes or developments that have taken 
place in American farm life. There are those who think 
that this desertion of the country school and the concen¬ 
tration of the means to obtain a higher education than our 
fathers obtained, in the towns and cities, is a good thing. 
Unfortunately we must let the world grow about 25 years 
older before we can be sure of it. If it is not a good thing 
—what then ? 
PLANTING FISH IN NEW YORK STATE. 
But a small proportion of the citizens of the State of 
New York have anything like an adequate idea of the 
value to the people at large of our Fish Commissioners. 
These have gone on for years in a quiet manner, working 
for the love of the work, as they receive no salaries, and 
have accomplished really wonderful results. The Com¬ 
mission consists of E. G. Blackford, president, and Messrs 
Henry Burden, L. B. Huntingdon, Wm. H. Bowman and 
A. S. Joline. All over the State there are salutary evi¬ 
dences of their work. Streams which had been stripped 
of fish are again well stocked, and lakes and rivers that 
were once on the decline as food producers, are improving 
in that direction. The time has gone by when the utility 
of their labors can be questioned. The Rural believes 
that the work of the Commission can be profitably ex¬ 
tended and it urges on the legislature a more generous 
policy in the matter of appropriations. Other commis¬ 
sions, in which all the officials are salaried, do not fail to 
secure liberal appropriations from the legislature each 
year. This is because the interested parties themselves 
attend the legislature and by vigorous and persistent 
lobbying and button-holiDg, work their measures through. 
But the members of the Fish Commission receive no pay 
for their services and are gentlemen who will not stoop to 
any questionable methods. This is an additional reason 
why they should be liberally dealt with. It is safe to as¬ 
sume that the money which goes to them is honestly ex¬ 
pended in the work for which it was intended. All our 
citizens are alike interested in their labors—denizens of 
the cities as well as those of the rural districts. 
The Commission have five hatcheries as follows: at Cale¬ 
donia, Monroe Co.; Adirondack, Franklin Co.; Fulton 
Chain, Herkimer Co.; Saccandaga, Hamilton Co.; and 
Cold Spring Harbor, Queens Co. They have also a hatch¬ 
ing station for muskalonge at Chautauqua Lake, and 
temporary stations for shad hatching at points on the 
Hudson. They have also operated the private hatchery 
of M. B. Hill, at Clayton, for white fish and wall-eyed 
Pl ln the past four years the Commission have planted in 
the waters of this State 121,000,000 food fish. The princi¬ 
pal varieties are brook trout, brown trout, lake trout, 
shad, white fish, wall-eyed pike, channel pickerel, ciscoes, 
smelts, tomcod, lobster, black bass, yellow perch, salmon, 
etc. The brown trout is an importation from Germany. 
It is very like our brook trout (Salmo foutinalis) and 
would be taken for this variety unless very closely in¬ 
spected. Its flesh is said to be equally good, but It is a 
much more rapid grower than the brook trout, reaching a 
weight of from four to six pounds when four or five years 
of age. 
One of the troubles attending the business heretofore, 
has been due to the difficulty of the distribution and suc¬ 
cessful planting of the fry. Persons not familiar with 
the business received the fish and planted them as best 
they knew how, but owing to their inexperience, a very 
large proportion were lost. To obviate this difficulty, the 
legislature of 1890 was persuaded to give the Commission 
an appropriation of $3,500 for constructing a fish car. 
This has been recently finished and The Rural will furnish 
Its readers with a cut of its exterior next week. It has 
a total capacity for 86 cans of fish and is furnished with 
water tank, ice box, pumps, etc., as well as a kitchen for 
the employees. Hereafter all fish will be distributed, as 
far as possible, by means of this car. Most, if not all, of 
the railways in the State fwn agreed to give the car free 
transportation over their lines. The fish will be taken 
directly from the hatcheries to the car and by the car to 
the points where they are to be planted. The car will be 
in charge of the trained men of the Commission, who will 
see that the work of planting is propsrly done and it is 
safe to assume that we shall have much better results in 
future. 
This Commission receives about $30,000 annually from 
the legislature. The amount should be increased to $50,- 
000 for the next five years at least. It is not a wise econ¬ 
omy which restricts the work of this most excellent 
institution, _ 
GIVE THE TREES SUN AND AIR. 
Notwithstanding the discouraging outlook and the 
gloomy forebodings of many of the orchardists of western 
New York during the earlier part of the season, the 
apple harvest has resulted, in the aggregate, mauyfold 
greater than was anticipated by the most sangnine. And 
while the fruit as a whole (owing largely to the absence of 
the ravages of the codling moth and other insect enemies) 
proves of much better quality than heretofore, the observ¬ 
ant fruit grower Is forcibly impressed with the fact that, 
as a rule, the baneful effects of too closejplanting have de¬ 
tracted much from the perfect formation of the fruit. In 
proof of this one had only to pass with me through por¬ 
tions of the great apple-growing districts of western New 
York during the time of fruitage and luxuriant foliage ; 
for it is a lamentable fact that thousands of trees were so 
thickly planted during the orchard planting boom of 
twenty-five or more years ago, that they are now standing 
with limbs so interwoven and the tops so dense that it is 
nearly Impossible to raise a ladder between many of them 
for the purpose of picking the fruit; and thus it is that 
much of the fruit is imperfect and “off color,” and while 
the once enthusiastic and hopeful orchardlst Is lamenting 
the evil effects of too close planting, he is at the same time 
debating in his mind how best to effect a change for the 
better. Heroic treatment is found to be the only remedy, 
and thousands of trees that have long been the pride of the 
painstaking owner are doomed to extirpation in order that 
the required air and sunlight may eventually perform their 
part in the perfect development of the fruit on the trees 
allowed to remain. 
The common practice in the past in planting apple trees 
80 feet or two rods apart each way, is an error not easily 
recognized when one is making a beginning of an orchard 
while planting the small trees as obtained from the nur¬ 
sery; for it is difficult to realize the changed condition 
that a few years of good cultivation and growth will pro¬ 
duce. So it is that many of our orchardists are impressed 
with the fact, as never before, that in order to succeed 
best in the production of fruit as regards size, color, flavor, 
etc., it must be grown on trees sufficiently far apart to 
admit a free circulation of air and the uninterrupted rays 
of the sun, factors of as much importance as are the usual 
fertilizing elements considered so necessary for all farm 
products, and from my own practical experience I feel jus¬ 
tified in stating that 40 feet or even 45 feet is not too far 
apart for planting apple trees; this applies more particu¬ 
larly to those of the winter varieties. For the cultivation 
of hoed crops between the trees such a distance will be 
found more convenient and profitable, and the trees will at¬ 
tain their maximum growth, and will be well developed and 
well cared for, and ample rewards will be more probable. 
Genesee Co., N. Y. irving d. cook. J 
Live Stock Matters. 
COB MEAL AND TIMOTHY FOR HORSE3. 
A subscriber in western New York, who makes a busi¬ 
ness of wintering over gentlemen’s road horses, asks these 
questions as to the vilue of corn-aud-cob meal and the 
safety of feeding it to horses: “1. What is the feeding 
value of corn-and-cob meal for horses in connection with 15 
pounds of Timothy hay (cut) ? 2. With a good, warm 
stable and no work, how much of the meal would winter 
a horse over In good condition ? 3. Is it in any way Injuri 
ous to horses; if so, in what way ?” 
Bran and Straw Would be Better. 
1. The analysis of corn-aud-cob meal agrees quite closely 
with that of Timothy hay; so that the addition of corn 
meal to Timothy hay will not very greatly change the 
composition of the ration. Armsby gives as the standard 
for animals at rest, or the “ maintenance ration,” 17)^ 
pounds of dry substance, per 1,000 pounds of live weight 
per day, with a nutritive ration of 1 to 12. This is very 
close to the nutritive ratio of Timothy hay, so that Timo¬ 
thy hay, or Timothy hay and a small amount of corn and- 
cob meal, would theoretically form a proper ration for 
horses doing no work. 2. The addition of six pounds of 
corn meal to 15 pounds of Timothy hay, per 1,000 pounds 
live weight, would give sufficient dry matter to maintain 
the animal in good condition; or, 20 pounds of Timothy 
hay alone would furnish enough dry matter. 3. Though 
there is probably nothing better or cheaper to lay on fat, 
corn meal is not usually considered a good food for horses; 
it has a tendency to cause spasmodic and other forms of 
colic. If corn were to be fed, especially to horses still in 
their prime, I should prefer to feed the grain whole rather 
than ground. Horses wintered in the way indicated, that 
is, in a warm stable with no work, on T-imothy hay with 
a moderate amount of corn, would be very likely to come 
out in the spring sleek and fat, but very “ soft.” That is, 
when put to work they would not have endurance, would 
be short-winded, would sweat easilv and profusely, and 
would be extremely liable to derangement of the stomach 
and bowels. For my own use, I should prefer a horse win¬ 
tered on bright straw with a liberal feed of bran, and from 
the 1st of March on, a few sound whole oats. Such a diet 
would not be more expensive than the one of corn mea 
and Timothy hay, and would leave the animal in far better 
condition for duty in the spring. H. H. wing. 
Cornell Experiment Station. 
Corn With Clover; Bran With Timothy. 
1. The feeding value of the corn-and-cob meal is not so 
great in connection with Timothy as it would be with a 
more nitrogenous food. A better ration than the clear 
corn-and-cob meal and Timothy would be, 1, corn-and-cob 
meal combined with hay, half Timothy and half clover; 
2, half corn-and-cob meal, half bran, combined with all 
Timothy. 2. The quantity required will vary, as no two 
animals will be likely to keep alike on exactly the same 
ration. I would suggest that this correspondent should 
combine the grains and hay In the proportion of one of 
the former to three of the latter by weight, and then vary 
the quantity and proportions as may be necessary for the 
good of the animals. 3. If finely ground, as it should be 
to reduce the tough, fibrous corn cob, the grain might 
pack in the horse’s stomach, if fed alone. Mixed with 
twice its bulk of finely cut, moistened hay, I think there 
would be no harm. 4. In the Mississippi Valley, the com¬ 
bination of corn-and-cob meal with clover and Timothy, 
would not only be better but cheaper than the meal with 
all Timothy. c * uatta. 
Indiana Experiment Station. 
Don’t Grind Away the Horse’s Stomach. 
Early in my farming experience I formed a decided con¬ 
viction against feeding corn-and-cob meal to horses or to 
any other stock. I did not form it from personal experi¬ 
ence in feeding it, but from analogy. To get the mechani¬ 
cal effect claimed for the cob meal, I prefer to feed with 
the corn a feed which has a known feeding value, as well 
as the property of lightening up the feed, and which, too. 
supplies other elements, tending thus to make a ration. 
Bran, mixed with meal, has every beneficial effect that is 
claimed for the cob meal, and has not the irritating quality 
attributed to the latter. Even though there might be no 
danger In feeding it, I believe it to be a waste of force to 
call upon the stomachs of our horses to digest cob meal, 
which does not supply the nourishment required to digest it. 
South Haven, Mich. A. E. B. 
Don’t Feed Corn to an Idle Horse. 
I have fed but very little cob meal to horses, and never 
to idle ones. Ido not know that it is injurious, and if 
this correspondent must feed his corn and cob meal, I 
should think two or three quarts, the quantity depending 
on the size of the horse, would keep him in good condition. 
But I would not feed corn at all to an idle horse. Let him 
sell it and buy wheat bran, of which he should feed about 
four quarts per day. It will keep the bowels in better 
condition, and the coat smoother, and the results will 
be much more satisfactory. EZRA R benton. 
“SIRED BY A SAW”—AT LAST ? 
In connection with what has been published on the sub¬ 
ject rf obtaining polled progeny from dishorned parents— 
which every one who has made a scientific study of the 
matter regards as an impossibility—I give, for as much as 
they may be worth, the following alleged cases to the con¬ 
trary of such belief. 
The first I find published in the Holsteln-Friesian Reg¬ 
ister: “Edward P. Hals, New York, sends me the follow 
ing: ‘ I have a remarkable case in cattle breeding. For 
two generations my bulls have been dishorned, but not 
the cows, and as these never get out of my fields, they are 
served by none but my own bulls, yet now I have a pure¬ 
bred Holsteln-Friesian bull calf about eight months old, 
perfectly hornless, just like a polled Angus-Aberdeen. Did 
you ever hear of such a case and would it be the means of 
breeding that kind of cattle hornless hereafter ? ’ ” 
The second seems to refer to one of the Jersey calves 
already reported in these columns. The information is 
received from Mr. W. 3. Miller, Elmore, Ohio, the well- 
known breeder of polled Short-horns, who says : 
“A neighbor of mine, Mr. D. W. Wood, has told me 
several times during the summer that he had a heifer calf 
sired by a purebred dishorned Jersey bull, that is entirely 
hornless. I paid no attention to the matter, as I believed 
such things possible, until I saw your article, in which you 
say that no proof can be obtained of polled animals having 
been bred from dishorned parents. I then went to see Mr. 
Wood’s calf. It was In the pasture and I could not get my 
hand on its head, but it appeared to be entirely smooth, 
and as it is now eight months old, horns would have begun 
to appear if they were ever going to. and Mr. Wood as¬ 
sured ms there were no signs of them. He also stated that 
there is no doubt about the sire of the calf, as the cow had 
no chance to get with any other bull, and I am sure she 
never even saw any of my polled Short-horns. All of Mr. 
Wood’s cattle are dishorned and this cow saw no horns 
during the time she was carrying the calf. Having had an 
experience of 18 years in breeding hornless cattle, I have 
learned to firmly believe that a cow with horns, if allowed 
to run with a herd of polled cows, will cause many of them 
to drop calves with horns. My experience in sheep breed¬ 
ing has taught me that if I want no black lambs I must 
keep black dogs away from the ewes, and I account for this 
calf’s being hornless because its dam saw only smooth 
heads while she carried it.” 
In the above Mr. Miller attributes the dishorned head of 
the calf, not to the influence of dishorning at all, but to 
the influence of imagination on the dam. These cases are 
worth investigating further. R. C. A. 
R. N.-Y.—It takes very little time to investigate the 
first case. Mr. Hals informs us that he does not own any 
cows at all—horned or polled. He says he found this 
statement as a floating newspaper clipping and sent it to 
the paper in question marked “ How is this ?”—seeking in¬ 
formation rather than giving it. The story is a pure 
