305 
MAY 7 
THE 
RURAL HEW-YORKER. 
the most benefit from it, and will make a stood 
growth and become strong before their first 
Winter arrives. The rearing of the calf is 
the building that is to be put upon the founda¬ 
tion mentioned ; and that is of sulUcient impor¬ 
tance to be referred to more particularly 
hereafter. Bui. a good eummeriug on grass 
will have the effect to enlarge the frame of the 
calf and to develop its digestive powers, both 
being esseutial to a good cow. It is also a 
good season for the cow to begin milking, 
and she will come into her full Hush when 
the first grass is ready; the calf will then be 
out of the way; and the whole attention 
can be given to the butter-making. 
When the cow is young and has her first calf, 
it is advisable to put off her second breeding 
for six months after her first calving, so as to 
form a hat it of persistent milking and the 
milking should al«o he continued as long as 
any milk is yielded, if it is only a quart, or 
even less. A young cow at this period, is in 
course of training tor her future useful¬ 
ness and this is a part of her breeding. She 
should therefore be induced or compelled to 
contract a habit of long-continued aud copious 
milking, and only such cows as possess this 
quality should be kept for breeding. A heifer 
should be bred, too, at an early age. Twelve to 
fifteen months is late enough so that the young 
animal should come into profit at, or a little 
before, two years of age. Her first breeding 
should be carefully managed, for the first 
mating will exert an effect upon all her future 
progeny. If a coarse, common bull is used, 
the damage will remain during all her after 
life and all her future progeny will bear some 
of the marks of the first parentage. This is 
one of those curious conditions of animal 
physiology and is difficult to account for, but it 
has been so often observed and proved that one 
cannot reasonably doubt the truth of it. On 
this account the first breeding of the heifer 
should be the best that can be secured. The 
calf of a heifer may safely be bred to its sire, and 
this is even advisable when an improvement is 
designed to be fixed upon au animal. If the 
sire has improved the dam he may be expected 
to improve still further the second generation, 
and a third cross may even be given, in special 
cases. Then a young bull from the best cow 
of the herd may be used, rather than to bring 
in outside crosses, unless there is the best rea¬ 
son for it. Some of the best herds that ever 
existed have had no outside blood introduced 
for many years, and this course is the best 
adapted for the improvement of dairy stock. 
There are exceptions, of course, and the breeder 
phould be able to j edge when he has gone far 
enough in line breeding, and make a wise and 
judicious infusion of new blood when it is 
necessary. But in this case the introduction 
should be from a source superior and never 
inferior in character to his owd herd. Every 
Btep in improvement should be fixed and made 
a basis for another step in advance, and the 
greatest care should be taken that progress is 
not arrested by a mistake, else all that has 
been gaiued in several years of patient effort 
may be lost. The aggregate value of our 
dairy cows may easily be doubled iu five years, 
if dairymen would take eome trouble in breed¬ 
ing better stock, and abandon the wasteful 
and mistaken policy of producing calvesof aDy 
kind whatever, never caring how poor they 
may be so that the dam may be brought into 
a milking condition. Such a method is too 
much like the mistake of killing the goose for 
the sake of the eggs it might be supposed to 
contain, and for a small, insignificant present 
advantage sacrificing a future profit, the ag¬ 
gregate value of which might be enormous, 
and which would not only accrue to the pres¬ 
ent generation but would go on Increasing in 
a wider and larger scope year after year for 
the benefit of our childreu and their children 
after them. 
BADEFFECT OF IN-AND-IN BREEDING OF 
PIGS. 
A correspondent of the English Live-Stock 
Journal says that the largest number of really 
bad and valueless pigs he ever saw was in the 
year 1851, at the farm of the late Mr. Fisher 
Hobbs, at Colchester. There were about 100 
of them, from two to four months old, not 
worth five shillings each for even fattening 
purposes, as they were very pot-bellied aud of 
all shapes, with bandy legs, warped spines and 
all sorts of other deformities that one could 
mention. These bad points came, not from 
neglect, as they had the best of food and atten¬ 
tion. It was solely from the result of loo much 
in-and-in breeding, Aside from the above de¬ 
formed, a few good ones were dropped now 
and then, which Mr. Hobbs sold for breeding 
purposes at from 10 to 30 guineas each ; yet all 
these were soon used up. This shows how 
careful every one should be in undertaking too 
close breeding. In-and-in breeding may bo 
pr aeticed safely and advantageously to a eer- 
ta in extentaxu under certain circumstances; 
but when carried too far it may prove not only 
injurious, bnt even destructive to the lives of 
the over-closely-bred animals. 
Mr. Hobbs, above mentioned, was a noted 
breeder, and at one time his pigs were highly 
popular. They were of a pure black color, and 
in shape much like the Small White Yorkshires 
of the present day, a fine specimen of which 
was represented in an engraving in a late 
Rural. They were fine in all their points, ma¬ 
tured early, fattened easily, and made tender, 
excellent side pork, but it was too fat for good 
haras and bacon. The males were excellent 
for crossing on a lean sort of common female 
swine, and these grades made good, thrifty 
porkers. A , 
®|)r IJmiltrp jjarii. 
American 8ebright«. 
These beautiful bantams, referred to in the 
Rural of April 19. originated, I am pretty con¬ 
fident, with Sir John Sebright (I think his first 
name was JohD), [Yes. M. P. for Hertford¬ 
shire—E ds.]; at any rate he was an English 
knight. Many years ago several friends and 
myself kept these beautiful birds, and they 
bred as true as any other sort of our flocks. If 
they do not breed true now, I presume it must 
be in consequence of some out-cross of another 
kind of fowl which has been taken on them 
since coming to America. It is a great pity 
that this has been done, for they were not only 
among the handsomest of the poultry-yard, but 
also of the most hardy, thrifty and among the 
best layers, sitters and nurses. a. b a. 
[The Sebright to which our correspondent 
alludes, as mentioned in Querist Department 
of above date, is not the old-time Sebright 
breed produced by 8ir J. 8. about 60 years ago, 
but, as stated, a recent mongrel American sort, 
which has been exhibited at several poultry 
shows. The former, here and elsewhere, still 
breed as true as when our friend and his 
friends kept them ; bat the latter do not and 
never did.— Eds.] 
Industrial fntjitfmints. 
The 8. K. Aye Improved Bay State Rake. 
This rake is manufactured by that trust¬ 
worthy old firm, the Belcher A Taylor M'f’g 
Company, of Chicopee Falls, Mass., a sure 
guarantee that it is made of first-class material 
and in a thoroughly workman-like manner. It 
is an implement, so strongly made in every part 
that the chances of its getting out of order are 
reduced to a minimum. The peculiar shape of 
the teeth prevents them from scratching the 
ground so that the gathered hay is unusually 
free from dust, and the position of those at 
the ends of the rake in advance of those in the 
center, prevents the hay from scattering—a 
eature of special advantage on a hill-side or 
up the hay in a cleanly and easy manner. His 
advertisement appears in this issue. 
UliscfUaiuous, 
‘•KNOWLEDGE, NOT GUESSES.” 
GEN. WM. H. NOBLE. BRIDGEPORT, CONN. 
I have just been shown the comments of H. 
8. in the Rural of Jan. 33d on my Christmas 
article headed as above. Had his murder of 
logic and discolor of my sayings and moods 
been seen when first out, he wonld have won a 
straight reply. So far as personal to myself 
what he says about ray temper and purpose in 
writing is not deserving of notice. The great 
public of lvaders have no stake or interest in 
H 8. or "Gon. Noble," beyond the soundness 
of tbeir facts and logic. But in behalf of right 
thinking and writing, and the courteous 
brotherhood becoming the garden and the farm, 
1 invite notice of the facetious shams and un¬ 
fairness before which H. 8. postureB himself 
as a literary athlete. 
And first, H. S. says that I write in a “ real 
state of mind," in "ill humor, or mad about 
something;” as if my moods had anything to 
do with my facts or logic! What help doth the 
world get to right methods in rural life out of 
facetious smartness over another's infiimity? 
But neither did I In that article, nor do I ever, 
vent the spleen, of which I have a good share 
aboard, through the columns of a rural jour¬ 
nal. If I write at all, I write to help its work, 
and not to let out my ill-humor, or to make a 
spread of how much I (or anybody) do or do 
not know. H. 8. will find it much easier to set 
up and ride down with literary lance shams 
about facts or temper, than to deal with their 
solid front and sound logic. No unfairness 
towards another, no parade of what you do or 
you do not know, will make up for the want of 
these. 
H. 8. next says that my charge against crude 
and thoughtless writing was aimed at your 
graceful and senseful corps. It's enough to say 
to this that I am not so big a fool as not to know 
sense and good English and sound logic, from 
anything that apes either. 
H. 8. then tries his hand at the reasoning 
art. The paint of linseed oil, advDcd to kill 
the coccus, killed both the coccns and ray treee 
H. 8 says l have no right to grumble : that the 
killing was the logical insult of the prescrip¬ 
tion given to cure. This is good news for 
quacks. H 8. can now take the head and 
cake on logic. When the doctor cures the dis¬ 
ease by killing the patient it’s all right! It’s 
just the logical result!! Nobody is to blame!!! 
That will do. H. 8. Go up to the head. 
If such logic is not one of Wendell Phillips's 
'* Lost Arts,” it ought to be. In it the world's 
history has only two rivals of H 8 —the im¬ 
mortal Bunsby, whom Capt. Cuttle so wor¬ 
shipped in Dotabey <fc Son, and the Heathen 
THB s. R. NYB IMPROVED BAIT STATE RAXE—FIG. 339. 
gleaning The teeth, being held in their places 
by a guide, do not flop about, while as each 
acts independently of the others it can pass 
over an obstruction 30 inches high without 
affecting those alongside of it in the least, 
thus enabling it to rake uneven ground in a 
clean mauuer. Being dumped almost entirely 
by horse power, a foot pressure of only a 
couple of pounds is needed. We strongly ad¬ 
vise all who may be in need of a rake the com- 
iug season to send to the above address for 
circulars describing this one more in detail 
and containing a number of testimonials 
speaking highly of its efficiency from various 
prominent farmers in different parts of the 
country. <j. u. b. 
■-*-*-•- 
Mr. J. R. WniTTKMORK, Chicopee Falls, 
Mass., is the manufacturer of a rake wiih in¬ 
dependent teeth so constructed that they do not 
catch up the dirt or old rubbish while raking 
Chinee. The likeness of H. 8. to Bunsby ii 
rather in lucid p-ofundity than in feature 
But he is the very Droiuioof the " Moon-eyed.’ 
Hear the great Bunsby roll out his logic anc 
opinions to Capt. Cattle: " If so be he’s dead 
my opinion is he won't come back no more,- 
if so be as he’s al've, my opinion is he will: dc 
I say he will ? No. Why not ? Why not ? be 
cause the bearing of this observation lies in th< 
application on’t. For why? which way? ii 
so, why not? therefore!” 
But the Heathen Chinee’s invention of rose 
pig is a case in point, going, as the lawyer! 
say, on all fours with H. S. The Flowery Land 
first tasted the toothsome viand of a roasted 
suckling when a litter was cooked In the flame! 
of a burning dwelling. Directly John Chinn- 
man saw the "logical result " as cleariy as H. 
8. Roast pig aud burning bouses becatiu 
chronic together. The method was tather allo¬ 
pathic, to be sure, a good deal of roast, for « 
very small pig. But in this the Heathen Chi¬ 
nee and H. 8. are peculiar. ** The bearing of 
this observation lies in the application on’t.” 
To cure the disease, kill the patient. Mr. 
Bunsby cuu now "step down and out.” H. 8. 
and the Heathen Chinee have the floor. 
Ju6t as wide of the mark, but, in l etter taste, 
is H S.'s attack upon my text, "Knowledge, 
not Guesses I say again, "not even well- 
thought-out opinions are wanted, unless 
backed by facts and logic.” I put neither a 
brake nor embargo on any man’s thinking or 
telling what he thinks, if b-i only backs it by 
the why he thinks. When H. 8. says he thinks 
the English sparrow picks the corn-grub as 
well as the grain from his ears, and backs that 
opinion hy the next year's fr-ed^m from the 
pest-, he gives us a chance to judge about how 
rightly he thinks. We can tell about the mat¬ 
ter just about a* well as he. It becomes pretty 
plain that the English sparrow wants a deal of 
study on his grub work. Before H. 8. has a 
right to say that he eats the grubs, we need 
more years and closer scan of where the grub 
goes to—into the sparrow’s crop or into the 
ground. 
Before H. 8 asks this thought of his to save 
the sparrow, and get him a better name, he 
should show us how much among the corn¬ 
fields the sparrow roams; how many other 
worms and grubs he gobhles. Above all, a 
good place to see where the grub goes to, is in 
the sparrow’s crop. That is where are found 
the tell-tales about bird work on insect, grub, 
or grain. Such looking at one fact, and guess¬ 
ing at a conclusion, sometimes called think¬ 
ing, no more warrants an opinion than one 
swallow makes a Summer. 
8o I say to H. S., and all; study out your 
opinions, through facts and trial. There is 
need of careful search and test, to save thi 
seeming facts from becoming a mental delu¬ 
sion and a snare of thought. It is only coura¬ 
geous patience that winnows the chaff from 
the grain of opinion. It is only the short¬ 
sighted guesserB who hurry up to say ; “ I 
think,” and “I think,” “because I saw this 
and I saw that." It’s just this sort of hurry 
which entails a lot of blanders, springing up 
into a ten-fold harvest of follies and failures. 
A blunder is j ust as much a crime in the garden 
or the farm as elsewhere. 
Yes, tell us what you think, but in the same 
breath tell u« why you think so. The history 
of human effort and reach of knowledge in 
eveiy line of life, is filled with apt indorsement 
of my text. At the same tinm, 1 tally heed 
that forecast of intuition, which, in all we 
know and enjoy, has ty methods of the brain, 
too rapid to trace, grasped the great truths 
and inventions which hold and move the mod¬ 
ern world. The apple’s fall, revealing to Sir 
Isaac the force that swings the universe, was 
but one of the lightning methods by which 
the airy visions of some intellects, over the 
great drift of facts, settle into solid knowledge, 
and " reason for the faith that is in ur>.” The 
grand results of human effort all through the 
life of man on earth, are largely due to a 
lightning grasp of truth by methods whose 
" ways are past finding out.” Steam's mighty 
sway and push of industries, the lightning’s 
voice and light, the foretellmg of the storm 
and the tidal currents of the air, the flre- f ed 
iron horse and all his wondrous work for man 
were born of rapid •• thought’s pale fore¬ 
cast." With wings as of the moruiog light, by 
paths and methods without trail or span, in¬ 
tuitive thought has forecasted the grandest 
achievements in human life. Of such is the 
mental quality that lifts the generations to 
higher planes of what we know, and to surer 
standing ground. The world owes as much 
to this lightning process as to the Baconian 
methods It’s true, the latter are a good deal 
safer for the avera e brain. But all along 
the statious of man’s advance, at rare inter¬ 
vals. God has stamp* d on some one an intel¬ 
lectual or moral diviuity. The thoughts of 
such are not guesses, or airy mnsings, or 
jumps from very small facts to very big con¬ 
clusions. They are intuitions that speak by 
results. Let mortals of slower movemeut and 
shorter reach of thought, beware how they 
ape the eagle’s flight, 1 ara content to feel 
my way along the paths of knowledge, and to 
never tell what I think, till 1 have studied out 
the why. 
BOOKS, CATALOGUES, ETC. 
The Society for the Promotion of Ag¬ 
ricultural Science wi 1 hold its annual 
meeting at Cincinnati, rm Tuesday, August 16, 
1881, the day preceding the *• ssirms of the 
American Association for the Advancement of 
Science. It is hoped that eveiy member will 
endeavor to h« present, or will send a paper to 
the Secretaiy to be read. The announcement 
of the hour and the place of meeting will be 
made at a later date. The following gentlemen 
have indicated to the. Secretary their readiness 
to present essay* at the coming meeting :— 
ProfeesorS. W, Johnson : Patrick Barry; Pro¬ 
fessor W. J. Bee!,, sub)- ct, Testing St- ds ; 
Professor J. Henry Comstock; Professor E. W. 
litigat'd; Professor K. C. Kcdxie, subject, The 
