ments, thereby benefiting the people and coun¬ 
try as well as, we trust, themselves. And It 
was so in other departments of both Fairs— for 
here was Geo. Geddes, there L. F. Aleev, and 
elsewhere M. K. FathJCK and— but we cannot 
enumerate the “ men of mark” who have made 
reputations by t heir efforts to cause “ t wo blades 
of grass to grow where only one grew before,” 
or In acts promottve of Rural and Mechanical 
“Progress and Improvement.” May all such 
live long and enjoy the fruits of their labors 1 
conscious security. Knowing that expensive 
insurances are profitable to the company and 
for this reason unprofitable to the party whose 
confidences they are too conscientious to be¬ 
tray or abuse, they will usually advise him to 
take that insurance which requires the smallest 
annual outlay for a given amount of protection. 
Upon the smaller premium they receive a 
smaller commission, hut are almost certain to 
be rewarded by the commissions upon the con¬ 
tinued renewals of contented policy-holders. 
There Is security for honest representations In 
the very circumstance that they advise a low 
premium, which must he renewed often to be 
profitable to them, but which will not be re¬ 
newed unless their predictions be verified by 
experience. Such agents will not take advan¬ 
tage of the dividend results of a sample whole- 
life policy to leave the inference that the same 
percentage of dividend will be paid upon a 
short endowment Insurance but will, if they 
venture any prediction whatever, fix the latter 
at a fourth or fifth of the former. 
These are some distinguishing characteristics 
of the trustworthy agent: but no combination 
of these or other tests should be accepted as 
reasons for surrendering one’s self wholly to 
the dictum of any agent. Asaferplan Is always 
to examine everythingrelating to the company 
and.policy, to accept nothing at second-hand 
and to become perfectly familiar with every 
condition of the proposed contract before pay¬ 
ing any money upon it. One hasty investment 
of premium has induced many a dissatisfied 
policy-holder to continue through fear of loss 
of what has been paid. A few dollars carelessly 
paid may act as the priming poured Into a dry 
pump, and draws after it an incalculable waste 
of money. 
A suitable and satisfactory Insurance once 
effected, should not be abandoned in any emer¬ 
gency whatever, except the death *>f the party 
to b<* benefited by It. Whatever the temporary 
sacrifice or inconvenience, a policy should be 
retained, If only for economic reasons. The 
greater the need of money to pay the premium 
the more precious and sacred the only legacy 
of the loved ones. Ill health may prevent its 
recovery when convenient to reinstate It and 
the new insurance can be had only at increased 
rates. 
best) for the purpose in America. The build¬ 
ings are ample,beirigoommodlous,tasteful and 
well situated for the accommodation of a mul¬ 
titude, and yet avoiding a crowd. Indeed, on 
entering the grounds, and seeing no dense 
crowd at any point, one would at first consider 
the attendance meager, whereas the grounds 
are so extensive, and the buildings, like places 
in the Western country, so far apart as to de¬ 
ceive the visitor as to the number of people. 
If objectionable at all it is In the fact that one 
has to travel somewhat to see all the attrac¬ 
tions, the grounds being a reminder of Wash¬ 
ington, the city of magnificent distances; the 
show of cattle being nearly as far from that of 
horses as the Capitol from the treasury build¬ 
ing. But. the Rochester Driving Park it* a deci¬ 
ded “ institution.” Tt is located only one mile 
north of the center of the city and easily acces¬ 
sible by street railroad and carriages, and beau¬ 
tifully located near the lower falls of the 
famous Genesee. 
The grounds of the Western New York Fair— 
the old stamping ground of the Monroe Co. 
Ag. Society—are finely situated south of the 
city and near Mt. Hope, that lovely “City of 
the Dead,” in the adornment, of which Roches¬ 
ter justly takes so much mournful pleasure. 
They are accessible by the Genesee Valley 
Railroad on on side and street cars and car¬ 
riages on the other. The grounds comprise 
many fine exhibition buildings, stalls, pens, 
etc., and are well arranged for both exhibitors 
and spectators. 
_ But I must stop right, here, to natch the 
mail, and fear misBlng it. now. Other represent¬ 
atives or the Rural will probably give you 
details. At any rate, even if 1 had time, I can 
write no more, for the cordial hand-shaking of 
a myriad of long-time friends (God bless them !) 
during the past three days, has disabled my 
right arm and shoulder. More anon about both 
the Fairs and People, which lat ter are the best 
part of the show. P. D. t. m. 
[The above was intended for our last Issue, 
but failed to arrive In timc.l 
“PROCRESS AND IMPROVEMENT 
A NATIONAL ILLUSTRATED 
Kowadsr and Oonduoting Editor 
Now is the Time I—For what? To figure up 
profits and losses on various crops, seeing how 
much you have made on this and lost on that, 
and to make calculations from the results for 
the future. To decide whether it is best to 
continue this crop or change to another, taking 
production, probable price, etc., into consider¬ 
ation. To write out your experience for ihe 
season—it Is beneficial to keep note? or a jour¬ 
nal of all farm operations—und send notable 
results to the Rural or some other periodical 
for publication. To—well, how many things 
ought you to do at this season that are fre¬ 
quently left undone ? 
CHA8. D. BRAGDON, ANDREW 8. FULLER, 
A.s»oolate Editors. 
HENRY S. RANDALL LL, D., Cortland Village, N. Y., 
Editou or TH* DM'-hTMHNI or Shkky Ho»u*i*i>aY, 
X. A. WILLARD, A. M., Little Falls, N. Y., 
Editor of th* Dxpasimsnt of Dairy Hchbamdby. 
G. A. C. BARNETT, Publisher 
TERMS FOR 1875, IN ADVANCE, 
INCLUDING POSTAGE, WHICH |1 ItUBHKUS PREPAY. 
Single Copy. $2.05 per Year. To Ulobs:-Flve Cop¬ 
ies, uod one copy free to Agent or getter up of Club, 
for $13.40; Seven Copies, and one free, for $17.20; Ten 
Copies, and one free, $21.00—only $2.15 per copy. The 
above rot es inclwh pottage (which we shall be obliged 
til prepay after Jan. I, 1B75, under the new Inw.ito 
any port of the United States, and the American 
noslavon nil copies mailed to Canada. On papers 
RURAL BREVITIES 
California Is successfully raising banana 
trees. 
A new cotton mill has been established in 
Augusta, Ga. 
Tite cranberry crop throughout Rhode Island 
will be very’ large this season. 
The cutlery’ business at Southington, Conn., 
Is making satisfactory progress. 
The Fairs are In full blast now-a-daya, suc¬ 
cess to them. Give us notable results, in brief 
terms. 
The Annual Meeting of the Vermont Dairy¬ 
men’s .Association will be held at Montpelier, 
Oct. 21. 
Chari.es Wheeler of Halifax, Vt... had 
thirty out of a flock of thirty-one sheep, bitten 
and iwenty-one killed by dogs one night re¬ 
cently. 
Don't forget to tell your friends about the 
Rural’h “Trial Trip” and ask (hem to step 
aboard. 
The sum of $700,000 is expended annually in 
the City of Minneapolis, Minn., for flour bai rels. 
One mill firm alone pays about $125,000 annually 
for cooperage. 
The direct shipment of grain to Europe from 
the aoutbern region of California has begun. 
Hitherto the grain from that quarter was.sent 
to Sau Francisco for export. 
The Portland (Me.) Observer says that Mr. 
Thomas Tann of that township, threshed 150 
bushels of Treadwell wheat from four acres, a 
yield of 37 'A bushels per acre. 
Potatoes are rotting to such an extent In 
North Stonington, Conn., that in sonic places 
“fhe stench arising from imdug fields la Intoler¬ 
able to the traveling community. 
An onion patch In Amador County, Cal., of 
the fifty-seventh pari of an aero only, is cred¬ 
ited witty a crop of 1,540 pounds of onions, 
which sold for 2(4 cents a pound. 
Tub Flint (Mich.) Globe says that present 
appearances indicate that there will be a much 
larger breadth of ground sown with wheat in 
Genesee County this fall than last. 
By planting several Llmberger cheeses about 
Ids potato patch, a farmer lu Linn County, la., 
drove off all the potato bugs, while his neigh¬ 
bors suffered severely from their ravages. 
The Mason, (Mich.) News says that Oscar 
Earl of Bunkorbill claims the boss turkey gob¬ 
bler of the State. He Is of f lic bronze breed 
ami weighs forty pounds. Mr. Earl has refused 
$15 for him. 
A COMPANY with considerable capital has 
been organized for the manufacture of spades 
and shovels in 8t. Louis, where hitherto these 
implements were procured from Pittsburg and 
Eastern factories. 
MR. .1. L. Davis of Delhi, N. Y., has sold this 
year 2.500 lbs. of comb honey. He has also 700 
lbs. of machine honey. He has also increased 
the number of his swarms from 47 last spring 
to 113 at the present time. 
Mb, Peter Wyman of Fairfield, Conn., re¬ 
ports one of th© largest yields Of potatoes ever 
recorded iu the country. He planted two hush- 
els of seed upon a low piece of land, just drain¬ 
ed, and the result was that he harvested 140 
bushels of potatoes. 
The corn factory at Minot, Me., has begun 
operations. Borne sixty to severity persona are 
employed, under the same management as last 
year. Borne two hundred acres are growing, 
which, tt is thought, can be secured before, the 
heavy frosts injure it. 
Iowa has an excellent prospective corn crop, 
but only three-fourths as many hogs as last 
year. Illinois will have one-third less corn 
than last year, and half as many hogs. In ts- 
consin, Kansas and Nebraska, there will be a 
great falling off in both corn and hogs. 
Six Baxter steam canal boats are now run¬ 
ning upon the Erie Canal. While the low rates 
of freight are threatening the profitable exis¬ 
tence of the present style of canal boats, these 
new steamboats are making money. It was 
ever thus when steam had been substituted for 
horse labor. 
IT has been ascertained that grain loses fifteen 
per cent, by being allowed to become dead 
ripe—fifteen percent, from what it would have 
been had it been cut in the early dough or last 
stage of the milk state. There Is also a differ¬ 
ence of five per oent. In the bran in favor oi 
ADVERTISING RATES: 
Inside-Hth and lfitb pages (Agate space).60ft. per line. 
13 th page.-JO 
Outside or last page.... uw 
Fifty per cent, extra for unusual display. 
Special Notices, leaded, by count. i.2j m 
Business ’* . 
Beading " 2 -°° 
Discount on 4 Insertions. 10 per ct.s 8 Ins., 15 per ct.; 
13 ins.. 20 per ct.; 201ns., 2a per et,; 52 ins., 33)4 per ct, 
ty No advertisement Inserted for less than $3. 
FALLACIES OP LIFE INSURANCE, 
PUBLICATION OFFICES: 
78 Duane Street. New York City, and No. 67 
East Main St., (Darrow's Bookstore, Osburn 
House Block,) Rochester, N. Y. 
Number XXVII 
RURAL NOTES AND QUERIES 
The Intelligent reader does not require to be 
assured that the purpose of these articles Is not 
to assail life insurance, or to dissuade them from 
the performance of a sacred and manifest duty. 
The intention Is rather to assail the abuses 
which have been engrafted upon a noble and 
beneficent institution, and to furnish much- 
needed Information upou an illy-comprehend¬ 
ed matter. 
Of the Ills which befall the policy-holder, a 
very large proportion are directly traceable to 
mistakes in the Initial transactions with the 
agent- The interests of the two parties are sel¬ 
dom Identical, and almost always directly an¬ 
tagonistic. The applicant, naturally, desires to 
get the most benefit from ht9 outlay of money ; 
the agent, as naturally, wants tho highest Im¬ 
mediate compensation for bis labor. Some ex¬ 
perience has usually taught him the insocurltj 
of his position with the company and the com¬ 
parative advantage of a “bird Id the hand.” 
He recommends the most expensive insurance 
because he Is paid, usually, a percentage, and 
maybe pardoned for foisting upon an unsus¬ 
picious customer such plans us be Is paid to 
specialize, without regard to the advantages, 
present or prospective, of the other party. The 
company may be expected to prefer and spe¬ 
cialize jilans which combine tho largest deposit 
with the smallest risk of loss, because such 
plans arc not. only more profitable to them, but 
are more easily carried out. are less hazardous 
than those which combine a small deposit with 
a large risk. The company that holds strictly 
to its primal assumptions in regard to mortal¬ 
ity, Interest and expense can always keep its 
contracts. The policy-holder is the fallible 
party. The natural consequence is that tbs 
latter party loses athousand dollars by making, 
at the Instance of the agent, bad bargains with 
good companies, to every dollar lost by maklDg 
good bargains with bad companies. These and 
all preceding remarks concerning the tricks 
and devices of agents are not intended to be 
indiscriminate. There are thousands of noble, 
conscientious agents who appreciate the sound¬ 
ness of their missiou of usefulness and would 
scorn to abuse the confidence they inspire. 
They continue to be honest in spite of tho 
temptations to exaggeration that grow out of 
reckless rivalry, and preserve their integrity in 
the midst of countless incentives to misuse 
their privileges, and are deserving of all confi¬ 
dence, The applicant who trusts to them is 
certaiu to be provided with that kind of insur¬ 
ance which will he best suited to his future as 
well as present needs, and to be Instructed how 
best to keep and profit by the bargain made 
with the company. They are usually as well 
informed in regard to the essential features, if 
not the principles, of insurance, as their facili¬ 
ties permit, and when their knowledge falls 
short are not betrayed by vanity or dread of 
non-success into the realms of mere conjecture. 
They may be distinguished from the creations 
of a faulty agency system by their habitual 
moderation. They are never too confident; 
they do not indulge in confident predictions; 
they are careful and economic of promises. 
Insurance, by their showing, is not u specula¬ 
tion that must inevitably enrich the lucky in¬ 
vestor. but an expense; but one, however, that 
yields an equivalent of protection, comfort and 
New Quarter.—Our Trial Trip.—A new Quar¬ 
ter of the Rural New-Yorker commences 
this week, every number of which we hope to 
render worthy the past history of this Journal 
and bo acceptable as to Induce thousands of 
occasional readers—we will not say borrowers 
to subscribe for next year. It will be the Inst 
Quarter of Its Twenty-Fifth Year (or first quar¬ 
ter of a century) of the Rural, and we are 
naturally anxious to render each issue both 
readable and attractive, and so acceptable lu 
all respects as to augment the power and popu¬ 
larity of the paper among tho people. Indeed, 
wo propose to “roll up our sleeves" and give 
the Rural such a “send off" for next year that 
the ball cannot be stopped. But mind you, 
good friends all over the land, unless you talk 
for and otherwise help ua our efforts will be of 
little avail. We therefore again ask you to Ml 
everybody what we are doing and offering. 
Please "rise and explain "—and let your lan¬ 
guage be plain—that we are making the Rural 
—well, you can tell what, and thus prevent our 
assumption of “cheek”—and also about our 
offer to furnish the Thirteen Numbers of Tills 
Quarter, (Oct. to Jan.) on trial, for only Fifty 
Cents. Let your friends know this, and fur¬ 
thermore, that we intend to furnish a better 
paper during 1875 than ever. What we most 
desire and need is tho oo-operalion of those of 
our readers who believe in the Rural and con, 
if they only wiU, materially Increase its circu¬ 
lation and usefulness. 
SATURDAY, OCT. 3, 1874, 
N. Y. STATE AND W. N. Y. FAIRS, 
ROCHESTER, Sept. 19, 1874. 
The New York State and Western New York 
Fairs, held in this lovely city (which wo were 
wont to denominate “The Metropolis of the 
Eden of America ”) during the past four days, 
have proved noteworthy in some respects. 
Many feared that the holding of two exhibi¬ 
tions in one town, at the same time, would 
result in t wo failures. But Rochester is noted 
for the success of Its Agricultural and other 
exhibitions, and the people of tho city and sur¬ 
rounding country have demonstrated the truth 
of 8 am Patch’s axiom that “Some things can 
be clone as well as others”—for both Fairs were 
creditable, and would have proved pecuniary 
successes had the weather been favorable. And 
yet it was a mistake to attempt two large exhi¬ 
bitions at the same time, albeit the rivalry 
displayed helped each, and we trust the experi¬ 
ment will not be repeated. 
Having been for many years a workiDg mem¬ 
ber of the Monroe County Society (under whose 
auspices the M estero New York Fair was held) 
and acted in various capacities, from high pri¬ 
vate to President, we naturally feel a pride in 
its prosperity, and rejoice that it was not out¬ 
stripped^ it did not surpass, Its rival in the 
recent, contest. But we hope that both soci¬ 
eties, seeing that neither can absorb “all the 
(surrounding) world and the rest of mankind” 
will bury the hatchet, smoke the pipe of peace 
and hereafter act in harmony—and when they 
do that both can sing ptearis of triumph. 
As we bad the pleasure of attending both 
Fairs, dividing our time between them, we cau 
speak advisedly of each, but only in general 
terms, as this Is written in great haste. Neither 
excelled the other in all respects, while each 
was superior to the other in some departments. 
For example, while the State Fair had the 
largest grounds, best conveniences, and finest 
display in some departments, especially live 
stock, live Western New York Exhibition was 
superior In some respects—notably in Fruits. 
Flowers, Poultry, and trotting and racing, 
(which latter ought not to be counted,)—and 
as largely attended- The management of each 
Fair was commendable, though the omission 
of a Press Headquarters and Register at the 
State Fair was a mis take, as it subjected several 
of “ We, Us & CO,” who wished to meet friends 
of the craft, to inconvenience. 
The State Society was fortunate in securing 
for tts Fair the grounds of the Rochester 
Driving Park Association, which comprise 
some ninety cores, with many fine buildings. 
These premises are among the finest (if not th e 
Connecticut Sfnle Fair.—There had been no 
State Fair held in Connecticut for many years, 
the old State SoL-iety being as good as dead, so 
the Legislature last spring gave a handsome 
sum of money to that wide-awake body known 
as the Connecticut Stock Association, in order 
that they might hold a State Fair. This Society 
owns a superb park (Charter Oak Park, near 
Hartford), with a mile track upon it, with stalls 
and stables sufficient to offer excellent accom¬ 
modations to stock breeders, and tents were 
erected for fruits, vegetables, agricultural im¬ 
plements, etc., etc. The weather was most 
propitious; the show was very fine ; the attend¬ 
ance large. In respect to order and decorum, 
the comfort of visitors, the entertainment of 
guests and facilities offered to the press, noth¬ 
ing was wanting. The show of Short-Horns, 
Devons and Jerseys was large and very supe>- 
rior; that of working oxen such as Connecticut 
only can show; that of sheep fair; swine in¬ 
ferior : horses, of course, extraordinary. We 
The Best Show at the Fairs,—N. Y. State and 
Western New York, for example—after all, was 
the people who were present. Vide the fact that 
on entering Floral Hall at the State Fair, 
we had the pleasure of meeting, within five 
minutes, such earnest workers and notabilities 
in pomology, horticulture, floriculture, etc., 
as Charles Dow.Ntxa, P. Barry, George 
Ellwanoek, J as. Vick, J. J. Thomas, and a 
score of other prominent persons who have 
done good service in their respective depart¬ 
