208 
THE RURAL 
ER 
MARCH 28 
‘ ‘ haste-to-get-rich ” style of breeding as to be 
nearly worthless. The blood may be pure from 
improper crossing, (?) but it is so weakened 
by confinement to close yards, by breeding loo 
young, and by breeding too many times in a 
season, that for any advantage it could have 
for the general improvement of the common 
stock of the country, fancy poultry has seen 
its best day, and with the present stock can 
never be regenerated- Mr. Curtis says ‘ breed¬ 
ing to improve stock is an intricate work,” and 
our breeders seem to multiply the intricacies 
faster than they do their customers. “ Haste 
makeB waste. The more haste the less speed.” 
Any old almanac would teach even a boy better 
methods of breeding successfully. 
8 . Rufus Mason. 
less extent in solubility, in pure water, and in 
the soil water, which has a notably greater 
solvent power than pure water. It is self-evi¬ 
dent that thaL phosphate will be the most re¬ 
munerative which for a given price yields up 
to the plant requiring phosphoric acid in extra 
quantity the largest amount of the needed food 
dnriDg the growing season; but it is not so 
clear which kind of phosphate will fulfill this 
condition, and the same kind will not answer 
in all cases. Mineral phosphates from 8outh 
Carolina, bone-meal, and superphosphate are 
to be found in our markets; in the first the 
phosphate is practically insoluble, in the sec¬ 
ond substance it is slowly dissolved in the soil; 
in the third we have more or less phosphate of 
three differentdegrees of solubility, viz , a part 
that is soluble in water, a part that is a6 insol¬ 
uble as the mineral phosphate or as the bone- 
meal, according as the superphosphate was 
prepared from one or the other, and a third 
part that stands between as to solubility, or 
the so-called reverted acid. 
Dr. Hoskins, in a recent communication to 
the Rural, questions the reliability, at least 
for practical purposes, of the comparative trade 
valuation generally adopted in this country 
of the phosphoric acid in these three forms of 
phosphate. He thinks that reverted acid is 
quite as valuable as soluble acid; that bone 
ash, finely ground, is nearly as effective as sol¬ 
uble phosphate, and that South Carolina phos¬ 
phate may be, if ground fine enough, nearly 
equal to bone ash. I should suy Lhat he may 
be correct, in respect to a part of these propo¬ 
sitions, and that he may not, for it depends. 
In France and Belgium soluble and reverted 
acid are, it is true, held to be equal in value, 
for reasons based partly on the results of pot 
and field culture experiments, and no distinc¬ 
tion is made between them in the analysis and 
valuation ol a commercial fertilizer. Bat this 
view doe6 not prevail elsewhere in Europe. 
The relative value of the two forme of the acid 
has recently been made the subject of much 
discussion, some of it quite acrimonious, in 
Germany. It appears from these discussions to 
be established that on sandy or peaty soils, 
poor in lime, the reverted acid may be tally as 
effective as the soluble acid, and in some cases 
it has even given a better return. It is sup¬ 
posed that in such cases 
the soluble acid, meet¬ 
ing no lime with the aid 
of which it can pass 
back into a difficultly 
soluble state and remain 
fixed in the soil and 
within reach of the 
plant during the season’s 
growth, Is really leached A 
out of the soli before the 
crops can get hold of a Sfc M 
sufficient quantity of it WHBSjy 
to affect the yield to any 
considerable extent. On 
the other hand, experi¬ 
ment has shown a bet¬ 
ter result, also on a 6oil 
quite rich in lime, with 
ieverted acid than with 
soluble acid. In this case - 
it was explained that the 
soluble acid, when taken 
into solution in the soil 
in the presence of such 
an excess of lime, passed 
quite back into the oilgi- 
nal condition in which 
it existed when first 
treated w ith oil of vitriol 
to convert the common 
phosphate into super- £ 
phosphate; but the re- _ 
verted acid applied to g-: ^gapiggg 3 l|g^ jB 
the soil, occupying an 
intermediate position ss 
to solubility, remained in " — ~ 
that condition in the soil, 
accessible to the jlant 
and yet not so soluble as 
Mercker, one of the 
most prominent of Ger¬ 
man agricultural chem¬ 
ists, while granting the 
weight, the Clydesdales are heavier-boned than 
horses of any other breed, especially in the 
limbs, which are wide, flat, cordy and hard. 
The boneB, too, it is claimed, are exceptionally 
fine-grained and solid, to which circumstance 
is probably mainly dne the fact that ringbones, 
bone-spavins, splints and other diseases of the 
bony structure are said to be unknown to this 
breed in their native land. The eye in the 
Clydesdale is prominent and uuusually intelli¬ 
gent; the head neat; the neck light and well 
set on splendid shoulders. The barrel is round 
and straight; the body long and the quarters 
large and powerful. The mane and tail are 
both heavy, with a tendency to curl. From the 
knee and hock to the fetlock the back of the 
leg is “ feathered ” with long hair, a character¬ 
istic highly prized by Scotchmen as an indica¬ 
tion of pure blood. In disposition this horse 
is gentle, though spirited, with abundance of 
courage and resolution. With or without a 
load he is an excellent traveler, for a heavy 
horse; is endowed with fine “staying” quali¬ 
ties, and is easily kept. 
In this country the Clydesdales are rapidly 
striding to the front place in popular esteem 
as draft horses in cities and country places, 
and as begetters of prime serviceable stock 
crossed on oar ordinary home-bred mares. 
Probably the largest importers of this breed are 
the Messrs. Powell Brothers, of 8pringboro, 
Craw ford County, Pa., one of whose choicest im¬ 
ported Clydesdales is here represented. Scot¬ 
land’s Glory was foaled in 1873, at Balwhine, 
Aberdeenshire, Scotland, and imported in July, 
1874. He Isa handsome bay, 17 hands high, 
with a white left hind ankle. He has a wide, 
strong bone, fine action, and a powerful, sym¬ 
metrical form. His 6ire was the ‘ Marquis of 
Lome,” a famous 6ire and prize-winner in 
Scotland. 
well satisfied with reverted acid as with sol¬ 
uble acid, when they are so situated that 
they can be sure of getting as good super¬ 
phosphates as they ought to receive for the 
prices paid. 
At another time I may notice the present 
condition of the no less important question 
concerning the use of bone-meal, bone-ash, 
or mineral phosphate instead of superphos¬ 
phate. 
THE CLYDESDALE HORSE 
What the Sbort-horn among cattle is to the 
English-speaking people, the Clydesdale is 
among horses—both are to be found improv¬ 
ing their respective races wherever the United 
Kingdom has sent forth colonists, whether 
these have assumed their independence, as in 
the United States ; or still remain subject to 
the Mother Country, as in Canada, Australia 
and New Zealand. Nor are exportations of 
these horses confined to these offshoots of 
Great Britain ; for the breed is also employed 
to a considerable extent for improving the 
native stock of draft horses in France, Belgium, 
Russia and Germany. It speaks well for the 
Clydesdale that he ‘'improves” Od acquaintance; 
the belter horses of this breed are known in 
any section, the more favor do they find there, 
and consequently not only is the number ex¬ 
ported from Great Britain yearly increasing, 
but this Scotch horse is steadily coming into 
favor in England in competition with the 
choicest specimens of the best native breeds. 
The Clydesdale owes his name to the place 
where the breed originated aud which, with 
the surrounding country, is still the region 
where choice specimens most abound. This 
is the now busy vale of the Clyde along whose 
waters more vessels are built than beside any 
other stream in the world, and 2L miles from 
whose mouth Glasgow sends aloft dense clouds 
of smoke in token of her earnest life and in¬ 
dustry. From the Middle Agee this region 
possessed a hardy race of pack horses, which 
were also good at the plow and other farm 
HOLSTEIN SALES, 
The Messrs. Smiths & Powell, of Syr- 
cuse, New York, say they have lately made 
the following sales of Holstein cattle:— 
To Messrs. Dye aud Stillwel, Troy, Ohio, the 
Holstein cow Imogenia (333), which made a 
two-year-old record of 47} pounds of milk in 
one day, 1,362} pounds in a month, and the 
past season about 11,000 pounds in a little over 
llmonthB; the imported cow Finesse with a 
record of 40 3-16 pounds in a day, 1,366} 
pounds in a month, and 10.330 7-10 poundH in 
10 month& and 2S days ; the imported two- 
year-old heifer Gazelle (312), which gives 
promise of being a remarkable milker; the 
imported yearling heifer lone (844) ; the year¬ 
ling heifers Music (565) and Juanita 2nd (562); 
the heifer calves Neilsou 2nd. Finesse 3rd, and 
Leontine, and the bull calf St. Elmo, weighing, 
at 10 months, 900 pounds, an elegant animal 
and suitable in all respects to bead such a herd 
as Messrs. Dye and Stillwel are founding. 
To Messrs. Whitman & Burrell, LittleFalls, N. 
Y., we have sold the imported two-year-old 
Holstein heifers Lucretia Mott and Matchless 
(898) and the yearling bull Victor Knight and 
imported Gipsey Queen's heifer calf. To D. II. 
Burrell. Esq . we have sold the two-year-old 
heifers Orange Girl (861) and Finesse 2nd (561). 
To J. H. Ives, Emj,, of Little Falls, the two- 
year-old heifer Undine (913). To E. J. Burrell, 
Esq., the two-yeai-old heifers Octoroon (916), 
Coral (907) and a heifer 
calf from imported Clo- 
thilde. To E. B. Ward, 
^7 ' —: • **" ’• Esq., Detroit, Mich., I he 
elegant imported Clydes- 
i dale stallion Perfection 
and the Clydesdale mares 
Middy Morgan, Molly 
Bawn, Madam ChriBty 
aud Highland Girl, and 
the imported Holstein 
cow, Mabel (371), and tbe 
— - - yearling bull Ingomar. 
t 7 -- -S- 353 ” To George Stilson, Liv¬ 
ingston County, 111, we 
have sold the yearling 
bull Vecai. 
CLOSE BREEDING 
This question, so ably advocated by “ Stock- 
man,” has a side which I have never seen no¬ 
ticed by any writer on the subject. I consider 
A Pine Milk Record for 
a Holmcln Herd, 
We have numerous 
inquiries in regard to 
the milk records of our 
Holstein herd, andthink- 
iug they may be of inter¬ 
est to readers of the Ru¬ 
ral New-Yorker, we 
will mention a few - — 
Our cow “ Aggie”is mak¬ 
ing a six-year-old record 
as follows:—84} pounds 
in a day; 2,362^ pounds 
in a month ; and 17,206 
pounds in 11 months, 
and she is still giving 35 
to 40 pounds per day. 
“ iEgls” has just closed 
her six-year-old record 
as follows82} pounds 
in a day ; 2,289 9-16 
pounds in a mouth ; and 
16,823 10-16 pounds in a 
year. “ Lady of the Lake” 
dropped her calf when 
only 22 months old and 
validity of these conclu- Clydesdale stallion, Scotland's glory.—pig. 178. has just closed her two* 
sions as to the effect of year-old record as fol- 
reverted acid ou soils either very poor or very work. As the industry along the Clyde grew, 
rich in lime, affirms that, with respect to the however, a need arose for a heavier, sturdier 
large majority of soils on which superphos- race of horses, better able to accomplish the 
phales are used, we do not yet know what the heavy work that the various sorts of manufac- 
comparalive value of reverted acid is for pro- turing needs demanded. Towards the end of the 
dueiDg crops; and the general feeling in Ger- last century, therefore, the Duke of Hamilton, 
many is that more experiments are needed to who owned much of the land along the Clyde, 
establish the conclusion which the French and imported a fine specimen of tbe Flemish stal- 
Belgian chemists have already adopted. No lion, which was crossed on the native race, 
figures have been given of any comparative ultimately producing the excellent breed 
experiments in this country that furnish any known as the Clydesdale, 
contribution to the solution of the important Among Clydesdales bays and browns pre¬ 
question. I am hardly ready. In the face of dominate, with some white usually on the face 
the widely prevailing opinion in favor of solu- or feet. The bight varies from 15:3 to 17:1 
ble phosphate, based on an experience of many hands, though occasionally one reaches 18 
years in England. Germany and the United hands; the weight generally ranges from 1,500 
States, to acknowledge that farmers should to 2,100 pounds, but sometimes as much as 
everywhere and on all kinds of soils, be as 2,500 pounds are attained. According to their 
the question of close breeding to establish lows:—45 13-16 pounds in a day; 1,344 11-16 
family trait6, to be entirely settled in its favor pounds in a month; and 12,200} pounds in 
because the desired end cannot be reached by a year. We have several other two-year-olds 
going outside of the family which possesses the which have given from 10.000 to 11,000 
desiruble points. But, if we endeavor to per- pounds; but they have not completed their 
petuate the good qualities, we must take great records. We think the yearly average of 
care not to carry along the weak points our herd is eveu more remarkal le than the 
which always accompany them. Weaknesses, individual records. We find that our entire 
like weeds, propagate themselves, and weak herd of mature eows, including all that are 
parents always transmit their worst faults and four years old and over, have averaged, up to 
never their beat qualities. Breeding from too this date, 13,741 3-16 pounds and only three 
young or from immature stock, always results have completed their year’s record. Our en- 
in irremediable deterioration. All efforts after tire herd of two-year-old heifers that have been 
that to correct this very common error only milked ten months «r more, have averaged, up 
make the matter worse. We eee this in every to this date, 9,614 10-16 pounds, 
kind of stock in this country. This record has been carefully kept by accu- 
The stock of poultry now offered for sale as rate weight of every milking with as much 
absolutely.pure, is so badly demoralized by this care as we have kept our cash account. This 
