vol. xxxvii. no. 1. 
WHOLE No. 14 5S. 
NEW YORK CITY. JAN. 5, 1878. 
PRICE SIX CENTS 
*2.50 PER TEAR. 
[Entered according to Act of Congress, in the year 1877, by the Rural Publishing’ Company, in the office of the Librarian of Congress at Washington.] 
Ijrriisman. 
THE TENTH DUCHESS OF GENEVA. 
It iB just about a year ago that the Tenth 
Duoliess of Geneva died. A sketch had been 
taken to enable the taxidermist to “ prepare her 
head as a trophy” with gome degree of truth¬ 
fulness, and this sketch, as reproduced by the 
London Graphio, is copied above. There have 
been few more famous cows. The Eighth 
Duchess was actually sold for $40,600, but that 
was owing to a misunderstanding, and there was 
some compromise, and though Mr. Campbell got 
the full sum, the cow really sold for only 
$30,600. The Tenth Duchess, however, sold 
for $35,000 cash, which is the highest price ever 
actually paid for any cow. This cow was the 
eleventh in direct line from First Duchess by 
count (145), the cow bonght by Mr. Bates at the 
Calling Sale in 1810 for 183 guineas. Tenth 
Duchess w«b sold at the Campbell Sale, nt New 
York Mills, near Utica, in 1873, bought by Earl 
Bective, and sent to England. She produced in 
this country the Third Duke of Oneida, the 
Sixth Duke of Oneida, and Eighth Duchess of 
Oneida; and after going to England the Duke 
of Under ley. the Duchess of Underloy, and 
Duchess of Lancaster. The last three, with the 
Duchess of Oneida, are still in the herd at 
Underlev, 
The personal and family history of the 
“Tenth Duchess" is somewhat remarkable. 
Tradition ascribes the origin of the family to a 
breed of cattle possessed for cen¬ 
turies by the family of the Duke 
of Northumberland; bnt the actual 
records commence in the last cen¬ 
tury, wheu an. ancestress of this 
cow passed into the possession of 
Mr. C. Colling of Kt-tton, Dur¬ 
ham, England, who was one of the 
founders of the Short-Horn as a 
distinct and highly improved 
breed. In 1804 Mr. T. Bates of 
Kirklevington, Yorkshire, pur¬ 
chased one of the “ Duchess" 
cows, and recognizing in her ex¬ 
cellence and that of her male off¬ 
spring the superiority of the 
family over the Short-Horns he had 
previously owned, he determined 
to obtain move of the sort, and at 
Mr. Cou.rNO’s groat sale in 1810, 
when 47 animals of both sexes and 
all ages, from 11 years downwards 
made the then unprecedented 
average of 8700, he gave 8925 for 
the two-year-old heifer “ Young 
Duchess,"afterwards called “ First 
(sold on the same occasion for 
Duchess," a daughter of *• Comet,'’ 
$5,000;, and grand-daughter of 
the cow he had first purchased. 
From that heifer, in the female 
line direct, sprang those “ Duch¬ 
esses " which have at different 
periods won the chief honors at 
agricultural shows, and for many 
years past commanded the high¬ 
est prices at public and private 
sales. 
Mr. Bates, while practicing to a 
considerable extent the system of 
“in-and-in-breeding," crossed bis 
Duchesses, at different times, with 
other approved Short-Horn fami¬ 
lies, notably with those of Mr. 
Colling’s Red Rose and Princess, 
thus combining what he considered 
three of the oldest and best Short- 
Iloru families in the Kingdom. 
In 1853, at the Tatworth sale 
11 Sixty-sixth Duchess ” was bought, 
by Pecar &. Morris of Now York, for $3,670. 
Her descendants having changed owners in this 
country were finally dispersed by auction in 1873, 
when “ Tenth Duchess of Geneva ” was bought 
by Mr. Berwick for Earl Bcctive for the mar¬ 
velous figure above mentioned. 
She had here bred the bulls “ Third Duke of 
Oneida," “Sixth Duke of Oneida,” and the 
heifer “ Eight Dnchess of Oueida " bought also 
for Lord Bective, at the same sale, for $15,000. 
Her progeny in England are enumerated at the 
opening of this condensed sketch. 
HOW TO ORGANIZE A STOCK FARM. 
Some people are complete muffs at the under¬ 
taking, having no decision of oharnoter and no 
discernment as to the merits of one plan of 
buildings over another, and no judgment what¬ 
ever to guide them in the selection of live stock. 
They will consult with various people, and be 
swayed one way and then another, till they get 
a medley of ideas, which produces confusion 
worse confounded than any in the brain of the 
hopelessly insane. 
Having to purchase the animals of every vari¬ 
ety, the first consideration,—after having put all 
the fenoes in such thorough repair as to prevent 
a possibility of any breach being made by unruly 
cattle, and after having provided good stabling 
for whatever requires keeping up,—is to select 
with care the cat tle, sheep, eto., required, from 
Buch breeds as will answer the purposes for 
which they are intended. A great deal depends 
upon this first selection, for, as the ancestors of 
the purchased cattle or sheep were, so it is prob¬ 
able the progeny will be—consequently there 
are flocks and herds from which the worst 
creatures among them would breed better stock 
than the very best picked out of another lot. In 
addition to using every caution and being very 
particular about the foundation of the future 
herds and ilpcks, a good sensible system of rota¬ 
tion of crops should be acted on, in which course 
of cropping there should be every kind of food 
necessary for the prosperity of the different vari- 
ties of stock. Many Americans are totally igno¬ 
rant of the great advantage attending system 
and forecast. These are the men who practice 
what they call economy till their oattle and 3beep 
die of slow starvation, very few farmers here 
having any knowledge of high farming. Bnt 
the high feeders who have well-bred stock gain 
every way, for they save a year in getting their 
young stick into Belling condition, and bring 
their heifers into milk a year earlier, while then- 
fat stock, being always of No. 1 quality, secures 
an extra price. 
In commencing to run a good farm, it is also 
wise to choose the best and most trustworthy 
laborers that practical knowledge can enable a 
man to select, and then, when all is onoe straight¬ 
forward, it is comparatively very pleasant to get 
along. 
Imagine the difference between the condition 
of a man who has erected his barns in accord¬ 
ance with the opinions of a number of people, 
who haB laid in a stock of cattle and sheep by 
yielding to the judgment of a man who does not 
e ‘ l/orougL-uroiI Bom a grf.de; then pict¬ 
ure to the mind another man who has judicious¬ 
ly commenced with horses, cows, sheep, hogs 
and poultry, of which not one among all the 
varieties bnt was undoubtedly descended from a 
long line of valuable ancestors, and who grows 
crops to feed so as to bring out every good qual¬ 
ity, and who has barns which afford every com¬ 
fort and convenience. A Working Farmer. 
A BARN FOR STRAW. 
W. J. FOWLER. 
i 
TENTH duchess of geneva. 
One of my neighbors, an excellent farmer, 
proposes to build next season a barn 30x40 feet 
with 20 feet posts exclusively for storing straw. 
It will be built where the present stack stands, 
and he believes that the size named will be 
large enough to hold most of the straw on his 
150 acre farm. What the barn will not hold 
may be stacked outside as at present. His idea 
is to keep the straw under cover and thus have 
it always easily accessible and in good condition 
for feeding. lie believes that it will pay be¬ 
sides being a great convenience for wintering 
stock. The straw-barn will be set on a wall 
eight or ten feet high fnmishing a basement 
which will give suitable room for horses and 
cattle in winter. In the center of the building 
or at one side there will be a tube, three feet or 
more square, through which straw may be 
thrown into the basement 
The upper part will be one room enclosing a 
solid mass of straw—forming in fact an enclosed 
stack. An outside ladder with doors on the 
aide of th* bui’dhv at different higbts will 
furnish means of ingress. The straw will be 
run by the carrier from the threshing-machine 
through one side of the roof, and 
be packed by “ stackers" inside. 
Getting the straw inside so high a 
barn, is probably where my friend 
will find his chief difficulty. With 
the basement, the roof will be 
twenty feet or more from the 
ground. His barn, however, is on 
a side-hill, with basement under 
tbe grain barn, so that the stock 
will be on ground twelve or four¬ 
teen feet lower than the threshing 
lloor. 
With plain heavy wall and no 
inside compartments to the upper 
barn, the expense need not be 
large. The basement should be 
divided, both for convenience in 
keeping different kinds of stock aud 
to strengthen the building. Such 
a structure is adapted to side-hills 
and sheltered locations, rather than 
to the level wind-swept prairie re¬ 
gions of the West. 
One of its best features—the 
barn basement—may be secured 
by building the wall and stacking 
tbe straw over it. To save tbe wall 
from freezing, it should be protect¬ 
ed from wet by a roof or by build¬ 
ing the straw well over it. In a 
cheaper but excellent way, the 
same advantage is secured by ex¬ 
tending straw stacks over rough 
sheds, furnishing comfortable shel¬ 
ter through tbe season, though at 
tbe expense of the straw. How¬ 
ever, in many sections straw is of 
so little value that this loss is 
scarcely appreciable. 
In some way a good supply of 
straw may always insure comfort¬ 
able winter quarters for farm stock, 
and whoever lets animals suffer 
while plenty of straw and rough 
boards are at band, is inexcusable. 
The plan for saving straw in an 
inolosure built expressly for stor¬ 
ing it, is only adapted to localities 
where straw is scarce. 
