1891 
THE RURAL NEW-YORKER. 
881 
the work can succeed many difficulties must be over¬ 
come. In the first place, it is necessary to know how 
the fungus causing - the disease lives, in order that it 
may be attacked at its weakest point. After this come 
the trials with various supposed or known fungicides 
involving many details, such as the best time to apply, 
the proper strength to use, the best and cheapest 
means of application, etc. In the short time work of 
this kind has been under way it has, of course, been 
impossible to perfect any particular method, still 
enough has been done to show the great practical 
value of the investigations. In view of the fact that 
within three years such diseases as black-rot of the 
grape, apple scab, potato rot and others equally as 
destructive have been conquered, no one can predict 
what the next decade may bring forth. As time goes 
on and the nature of plant diseases becomes better 
understood, we may expect to control them with as 
much certainty as we now do any ordinary operations 
of the farm and garden. [prof.] b. f. galloway. 
Department of Agriculture. 
How Man has Changed Domestic Fowls. 
The turkey is purely American. It was unknown, 
until the discovery of this continent, though through¬ 
out Asia and Europe there are now varieties that greatly 
differ from those bred from the wild turkey in this 
country. All domestic turkeys are descended from the 
wild bird, but man has changed the bird’s form in 
many ways, while its colors vary from pure white to 
the brilliant blue and green of the Bronze. 
The duck has been known in England as far back as 
history reaches, and it has been domesticated so long 
that its wild disposition has 
been completely obliterated, 
and though there are more 
varieties of wild ducks than 
of wild geese, yet there are 
probably as many varieties of 
domestic geese as of ducks. 
No instances have been re¬ 
corded mentioning the domes¬ 
tication of birds by our North 
American Indians. The first 
fowls came with our fore¬ 
fathers. Although it is con¬ 
ceded that all domestic poul¬ 
try have descended from the 
jungle fowl of India, yet the 
pugnacious Game for centuries 
held the first place in the 
affections of Europeans, but 
it is known that the Chinese, 
during that period when they 
excluded foreigners, possessed 
all kinds of domestic fowls 
except turkeys, though their 
fowls differed as widely from 
those of Europe, as did the 
Chinese from the Caucasian; 
for whereas the European de¬ 
voted his attention to the 
breeding of birds for courage, 
pugnacity, and even ferocity, 
the Chinaman bred his in the 
opposite direction, preferring 
clumsiness, size and incapacity of flight. 
The Game cock of England and America has been 
the pet of the nobles and gentry for years, and what 
we now style a display of brutality was as late as 30 
years ago considered noble sport. No sporting event 
was complete without a royal battle between mains of 
cocks, and the great four mile heat races between 
Eclipse and Sir Henry, between Boston and Fashion, 
between Lexington and Lecompte, and between Rev¬ 
enue and Charmer, were rendered more attractive by 
the desperate conflicts in the cock pit between birds 
from different sections of the country. In England, 
all the Earls of Derby have been famous as patrons of 
the cock pits and as breeders of the gamest and truest 
birds. 
But the Chinese conquered us with their peaceable 
birds. From the Shanghais, which were imported into 
this country forty years ago, along with the Chitta- 
gongs and Brahma-Footras, have descended some of 
the best breeds known in this country and Europe. 
The Dorking is one of the old-established English 
breeds, and the active Leghorns, Minoreas (and proba¬ 
bly the ancestors of the Hamburg, and Red Caps), are 
credited to the Mediterranean section, but the Game 
blood has, no doubt, been liberally used at some period 
back to improve nearly all the small breeds. 
No greater achievement by inventors has been ac¬ 
complished than the handling and manipulation (if I 
may use such terms), of the different domestic fowls 
by man in his efforts to adapt them to his purposes. 
He has taken one breed and put feathers on its legs, 
reduced the wings to prevent flight, shortened the tail, 
and entirely changed the size and shape of the comb. 
Another breed has been so bred that its instinct of ma¬ 
ternity has been nearly obliterated, the bird being 
disinclined to incubate. Where he desired an active 
forager he has produced it. When necessity demanded 
it, he has colored the legs. He has given various and 
peculiar shapes to the combs, and he has even attached 
to some of his productions heavy beards. He has or¬ 
namented his favorites with crests of curious shapes, 
and he has made the plumage to glow with all the 
hues of the rainbow. Wherever man may be, and 
whether the climate is mild or rigorous, he has taken 
the domestic fowl and changed its form, its color and 
its habits, and adapted it to the purposes desired, and 
there seems to be no limit to his power. He has even 
taken the duck from the water and compelled it to 
thrive better, grow more rapidly, and reach heavier 
weight than when in its natural condition. 
Nor has the age of progress left the poultry man be¬ 
hind the others. He has called to his aid all the arti¬ 
ficial methods of hatching, taken advantage of archi¬ 
tecture in building, and used all the modern appliances 
known in order to keep pace with competitors. The 
domestic birds of to-day are as different from their 
ancestors in characteristics as the intelligent man of 
the present century is from the primitive man of the 
Stone Age. W here the work will end no one knows. 
Another century may behold something beyond our 
conception, and the superb birds of to-day may be in a 
class with the jungle fowls of former years. 
The domestic fowl, however, is found only where the 
barbarian and the savage have departed. It is the 
companion of men who have stepped into a more civil¬ 
ized condition. Where the home and the family circle 
exist and agriculture is fostered, there will be found 
the domestic fowl, and the higher the civilization the 
greater the usefulness of the bird. It holds a place as 
high as the horse or the cow in the scale of civilization, 
and it progresses with man, always changing as he 
changes, and following him in adapting itself to all 
conditions and circumstances, its fate depending on 
him, for when he retrogrades, or falls by the wayside 
in his onward march, it will fall with him and lose its 
place among the vast throngs. p. H. JACOBS. 
Progress in Veterinary Science. 
No science has so rapidly developed as that of veteri¬ 
nary medicine. Considering that it is only 100 years 
since the first veterinary college was established, and 
that the promoters had to overcome prejudices and su¬ 
perstitions which had been handed down from genera¬ 
tion to generation, we have reason to be proud of the 
success. 
Going back to the earlier times, so that we may trace 
the origin of many practices which we even find in 
this nineteenth century, we come across Xenophon in 
a vein of mystic folly asserting that a mare will not be 
bred to an ass until her ears are cut off. Plutarch 
tells us that depriving horses of their tails made them 
swifter and their backbone more robust “ et eqal hue 
mutilatione alacriores, et spirit cU/i'sl robustiores fierunt.” 
Again, the belief that slitting the nostrils would g - ive 
the horses better wind was a popular fallacy long since 
exploded. In lampass where the palate is congested, 
which is always caused by indigestion, it was a com¬ 
mon barbarism to burn the mouth with a hot iron— 
instead of removing the cause so that the effect might 
cease, they treated the effect and left the cause to 
take care of itself. It was also a common custom to 
fire the hocks and back tendons of young horses, 
believing that by so doing they were strengthening 
the parts, though of course, while putting the horse 
to infinite pain, they derived no earthly good from the 
practice. 
As for treating diseases it was bleed, purge, and 
blister for everything. It was no uncommon thing for 
horse leeches to take 20 quarts of blood from a horse in 
a day, though possibly suffering from a debilitating 
disease and, therefore, needing all the vitality it could 
muster, without depleting its system by copious bleed¬ 
ing. T. GORDON LILIE. 
M. R. A. V. S. 
R. N.-Y.—There are horses in New York whose teeth 
have been filled with gold as carefully as any human 
teeth were ever “ doctored.” Horses are treated for 
eye and ear troubles, for sprains, broken limbs and 
other ailments as tenderly as if they could speak. Of 
course these are exceptional cases—horses that are of 
great value—but, without doubt, veterinary science 
and practice have made wonderful progress. There 
are few books on human diseases that can compare in 
practical worth with “ Diseases of the Horse,” issued 
by the Agricultural Department at Washington. 
The Evolution of the Dog. 
The earliest settlers kept dogs for pets, protection 
and pleasure. In 1492, Columbus found the Indians 
keeping dog’s—but they were unable to bark. This 
pleasing accomplishment was acqtiired later. It is 
a pity in some respects that silence has been bred 
out of dogs. The Indians took 
kindly to dogs which they kept 
for guarding their settlements 
from sudden attack. The 
whites were frequently foiled 
in their attempts to surprise 
the savages by the barking 
of dogs. The Indians also 
kept one or two breeds of 
dogs for providing’ meat, and 
a nice, fat puppy well roasted 
or stewed was an Indian del¬ 
icacy. While the cur of 1891 
is but little in advance of his 
ancestor of 1620, the dog of 
to-day is like another creature. 
He has been bred and trained 
through many generations 
until to-day he is, truthfully, 
“worth his weight in g’old” 
on many farms. As with every 
other living creature, honest 
labor gives real dignity. Let 
one of our readers thus de¬ 
scribe tlie working dog of 1891. 
A Dog - Can Do the Family- 
Washing. 
Other correspondents omit 
mention of operating washing- 
machines by dog-power ; but I 
find that women most appreci¬ 
ate the dog doing the washing 
and that a well-bred bird dog is the best for endurance, 
and is also otherwise useful owing to his great intelli¬ 
gence and willingness. Having a friend who manu¬ 
factures churns, washing machines and dog-powers, I 
have heard of the practical experience of many people. 
My English setter, weighing 55 pounds, was lent to 
run a washing machine at the Pennsylvania and New 
Jersey State and various county fairs, and invariably 
proved about the greatest attraction on the grounds. 
At the Danbury (Conn.) Fair, a bench show was also in 
progress, and various breeds were tested for “ break¬ 
ing in.” My dog did good daily work for three con¬ 
secutive weeks, and was just as willing at the end as 
at the beginning. I believe that setter dogs possess 
the greatest endurance, even greater than horses, and 
that along with the collies, they are the most willing 
and most easily taught. Ordinary dogs can be gener¬ 
ally taught by one good lesson. Tie them or, prefera¬ 
bly, hold them by the collar and encourage them by 
“petting.” For an unwilling dog the power should 
be set with a steep pitch. Pinching the toes is more 
apt to discourage than help a dog. In purchasing a 
power, look out for the pinching fault, and get one with 
a track that is easily adjusted, so as to increase the 
pitch to enable the same weight of dog to do heavier 
work as the butter comes. My dog was a capital com¬ 
panion for children, an excellent watch dog, very good 
for driving cows as well as for game, and no tidy 
housewife could find fault with her. Assuredly she 
earned her board. F. n. 
Jenkinstown, Pa. 
Alt. about vermin dogs next week. It is wonderful 
how these game dogs have been bred. 
A Binder with Grass Twine Attachment. Fig. 324. 
