374 
THE RURAL NEW-YORKER. 
Industrial ®o|irs, 
THE FRENCH EXPOSITION. 
FINANCIAL CONSIDERATIONS. 
Paris, May 2Tth, IS 78. 
At home, it is not an uncommon saying that 
in society the chief question with regard to a 
stranger is, in Boston, “ What does he know ?" 
in Philadelphia, *' Who was his grandfather?” 
and in New York, 11 What is he worth?" a form 
of interrogation which plainly shows that while 
the Modern Athens and the Centennial City are 
merely provincial in their curiosity, the capital 
of the Empire State is the true representative 
of the nation in its inquisitiveness as well as in 
other respects ; for to the average American the 
value and excellence of an objeot depend mainly 
on its money worth, Hence with regard to the 
French Exhibition “ What did it cost ?” is a very 
legitimate question in the minds or months of 
Rural readers. 
The first estimate of the cost of the palace on 
the Trocadero and the vast piles of buildings on 
the Champ de Mara was presented to the Corps 
Legislate, on the 6ih of June, 1876, and amount¬ 
ed to 35.313,000 francs. This was a trifle of 
about twelve million franca in excess of the cost 
of LouiB Napoleon’s Exhibition in 1867 ; but the 
republican show covers in the neigh l*oi hood of 
125,000 yards more than the last international 
ftair under the empire. During 1877 apphear 
cations for space poured in very rapidly from at 
home and abroad, and before the close of the 
year it was found that the projected accommo¬ 
dations wonld be insufficient to satisfy all de¬ 
mands, and accordingly, 44,000 square yards, 
in addition to the original design, were covered 
with annexes intended chiefly for the display of 
machinery and other cumbersome exhibits. This 
necessitated a considerable increase on the origi¬ 
nal estimate, and the last statement of accounts 
which has come to my notice, shows that by the 
middle of May, 44,795,000 francs had already 
been disbursed ; and as a considerable amount 
of labor even then still remained to be done be¬ 
fore the completion of the works, the total ex¬ 
penditure for the buildings, their appurteuauces 
and the embellishment of the grounds will cer¬ 
tainly not be less than fifty million francs. 
In addition to this first outlay, the expenses 
connected with the management of the institu¬ 
tion, and the fetes projected during its continu¬ 
ance, will he very heavy. Among these inci¬ 
dental disbursements will be a sum of 1,500.000 
francs appropriated for prizes ; an allowance of 
500,000 francs to President McMahon to defray 
the cost of balls, banquets, and other official fes¬ 
tivities ; 250,000 francs for the same purpose to 
Minister of Foreign Affairs; a like stun to the 
Minister of Agriculture aud Commerce, and 
100,000 francs to each of the other Ministers. 
In addition to this, there will be a bonus of ten ' 
per cent, on their salaries for six months to all 
the minor employes of the government, resident 
on Paris, while the cost of fireworks, illumina¬ 
tions, and other public displays, must aggregate S 
au enormous sum. 
Talk either of fighting or making any other 
great national effort merely for an idea or pour 
la gloire, has gone out of fashion here with the,.. 
Empire which made insincere pretensions to this 
kind of Quixotism, aud accordingly the means of 
recouping this largo expenditure are freely 
discussed. During the first Exhibition, in 1855, 
the sale of tickets produced 3,200,000 francs; 
the same source during the second Exhibition, 
in 1807, yielded 10,765,000 francs, and this year 
it is expected that upwards of 4,000,000 franca 
will he iu this way collected. Moreover, 1,235,- 
000 francs, at least, will he gained from rents of 
different establishments, Buch as restaurants, 
drinking places, etc., not directly connected with 
the buildings ; the materials of the latter when 
they shall be demolished, are put down as worth 
4,000,000 francs; 6,000,000 francs are expected 
as 8,i appropriation from the city of Paris, 
which contributed a like amount to the last great 
show; and the remaining 10,000.000, or more, 
are to be made up from special taxes on the re¬ 
ceipts of railroads, passenger boats on the Seine, 
omnibus lines, hacks, and other public vehicles in 
the city, all of which reap a rich harvest from the 
pockets of the visitors attracted from every 
quarter of the globe to witness this grand dis¬ 
play. 
But away beyond the sordid consideration 
of immediate return of outlay, are the beueficial 
effects so vast an exhibit of the very best results 
of the world's invention, ingenuity, skill, aud 
industry must have upon the arts, sciences and 
manufactures of the country. While to thegen- 
eral public the Exhibition is chiefly a source of 
amusement, and only indirectly an element of in¬ 
struction, to the shrewd denizens of the work¬ 
shops of France it is a glorious school in which 
they will learn many a lesson which will enable 
them to win a still higher reputation and gain a 
yet wider market for their productions. And 
while the country at large is in this way 
educated and benefited by this World’s Fair, 
Paris must reap an especial harvest of pride, 
pleasure, instruction and shekels. 
To secure the last object, the hotels and most 
—-y - --- 
of those who let furnished rooms have ju6t 
about doubled their ordinary prices, nor will 
they lease their rooms for more than a 
month in advance. ‘ ; Wo made nothing last 
year, we shall make the same next, therefore 
we must make all we cun this season, and were 
we now to rent our rooms for a loDg time, wo 
wonld bo throwing away a chance of getting 
much more for them” is what is sometimes openly 
said, and often indirectly expressed by these 
makers of hay in the sunshine. Yet even a 
stranger in Paris, provided he possesses some 
natural shrewdness and s avoir faire, can get 
along very comfortably for a moderate sum—say 
#150 a month ; and pass the time very agreea¬ 
bly, seeing everything worth seeing, for con¬ 
siderably less. To accomplish this it would be 
necessary to biro a room either in a inaison meu~ 
Vlee or in a small hotel in one of the quiet streets 
that can readily be found not far from the gay 
boulevards. Such a room is generally cosier 
and better furnished than one costing two or 
three times the price in one of the huge caravan¬ 
saries on the main thoroughfares. Meals 
should bo taken at any of the excellent restau¬ 
rants that abound throughout the city, es¬ 
pecially around the Exhibitou buildings, many 
of which have made only a modest addition 
to the prices on their bills-of-fare. To the 
sight-seer wandering about at his own sweet 
will, such a practice is far more pleasant and 
convenient than the necessity uf Bitting down 
to the table at stated times. A clean, palatable 
dinner with quite enough courses to satisfy any 
guest, can be obtained at any of the sixteen 
Elablixsmenia Duval in different parts of the 
city, for two and a half to three francs—about 
half a dollar—and at many other excellent diniug- 
rooms easily hit upon by the wide-awake visitor, 
prices are equally reasonable. 
Even to those whom circumstances prevent 
from making a pleasure tr ip to a scene of inter¬ 
est which attracts thousands of their country- 
mem, there is a certain satisfaction iu learning 
the price the excursionists must pay for their 
gratification aud the consequent saviug made by 
the “ etay-at-homes." To gratify this very nat¬ 
ural sentiment, a fair estimate of the expenses 
of a trip to the Paris Exposition can be made 
from the following data: A first-class excursion 
ticliet/rom New York to Liverpool aud back, can 
he had for from #110 upwards, according to the 
lino of steamers patronized and the situation of 
the s)ate-room; the railroad fare from Liverpool 
to Paris, via London, Dieppe aud Rouen, is 
#15.50 by flrst-elaBs carriages and #11.50 by sec- 
ond-claBs; comfortable board and lodging in 
Paris, say #3.50 per day; incidentals measurable 
by one’B inclination and the length of his purse. 
This would be the cheapest rate at which the 
trip could be made in a comfortable, gentleman¬ 
ly faction. No sooner, however, does the aver¬ 
age Amerieau plant his foot on the soil of effete 
Europe than he patriotically feels himself the 
representative of the grandest country in the 
world, and is inclined straightway to squander his 
money with a liberality supposed to be iu har¬ 
mony with the proud character he has assumed. 
'% Threber. 
Jfatnt ®o|ics, 
JOTTINGS AT KIRBY HOMESTEAD. 
COL. F. D. CURTIS. 
We are trying an experiment which we think 
milkt be a success. Last year the mangels came 
up very uneven, and some did not come up at 
all. The carrots were a bad failure. At. first we 
were inclined to lay all the blame to the seed, 
but after a while, when we saw that the Boed 
came on nicely in buuchos, and then made a skip 
for a number of feet without any signs of life, 
we concluded the fault was iu the covering; either 
the drill, or the man who Used it, did not work 
right. The carrot seed were sowed two weeks 
ago by baud, and covered by hand. They are 
now up aud look tine ; every seed was covered. 
It was slow work hut it has insured success ho 
far the carrots getting a good start. The man¬ 
gel ground was ridged yesterday aud rolled witli 
a heavy roller, and to-day the seed is going in. 
A shallow furrow is made with a hoe. and iu 
this, jnst a foot apart—a man’s foot—three 
Beeds are dropped. They are thon covered with 
a hoe a half au inch deep, aH nearly as possible, 
and the surface smoothed and patted with the 
hoe. The seed have been soaking in water for 
four days, and being rolled ju white plaster they 
are readily dropped and easily seen in the fur¬ 
row. It will not take more than half the seed 
to plant in this way the same amount of ground 
and the work of thinning out and weeding will 
he largely reduced. This is not all : the seed 
will come up sooner and eveuer and ho get 
ahead of the weeds, and this will lessen the 
amount of labor in tending. 
The worms have started to eat ail of the 
leaves on the curmut bushes. It is said strong 
soap-suds will drive them off. Our currants 
had been small aud poor for several years, until 
fhe ground was thickly covered underneath them 
with manure, and the first season they were 
very large and much improved in quality. Fruit 
of under-size is always of inferior taste. Chip 
manure is excellent for putting around them. 
A Chinese Yam was planted a dozon years ago, 
and although we have dug for it several times 
we never found it, but somehow or other it has 
made its appearauce every season and the vine 
being ornamental, it has beon allowed to grow. 
This year it has not come to hand and perhaps 
it has changed about and gone the other way to 
adorn some Celestial garden. 
We spent five minutes in the Dorking hennery 
spading up the ground, and our little effort gave 
the fowls a cropful of worms and a spot of fresh 
earth in which to scratch and wallow. A few 
green sods were thrown in, and this addition to 
the dry grain is not only healthful hut necessary 
if hens confined are oxpected to lay many eggs. 
The butcher i9 now taking the lambs at #3.50 
each. Last year we only got #3 25, and meat is 
lower this year, but the lambs came two weeks 
earlier and hud better care and so they are larger 
and fatter. This price makes the sheep pay the 
best of any stock ; for in addition to the #3 50 
for a lamb, the sheep will average #1.50 each iu 
wool. They ate the straw and made a grand 
lot of the best mannre. Onr sheep are of mixed 
blood with the largest share South down. We 
want enough Merino to thicken the fleece and 
South-Down to make a meaty or plump lamb, 
and then a cross of Leicester or Ootswold to fur¬ 
nish a good udder aud ability to give milk, and 
then we will have the best kind or sheep for 
practical utilty. 
This is the time of the year for kicking cows. 
There are various ways to prevent the trouble, 
but the best one undoubtedly is to tie a small 
rope tightly around the body just in front of the 
bag. Some people buckle a strap around the two 
hind legs, and others tie one fore leg up, so the 
cow must stand on three legs. This way strains 
the animal, as she will struggle to free herself and 
fall down. A worse plan is to put a rope around 
the hind foot on the milkiDg side and try to hold 
it back, as it sets the cow to jerking aud pulling 
and is apt to injure her. A cow will not kick 
unless she is frightened, or her udder or teats 
are soro. To find out the cause of the trouble 
or rather to look out and prevent the irritation, 
is the first thing to do. 
■-- 
VAN’S VIEWS. 
TOOLS. 
It is qnite common to hear a man say that 
Eastern manufacturers dou’t know how to make a 
-*<.ol; not that they don’t have well-shaped tools— 
for the Mohawk Valley Clipper is the most popu¬ 
lar plow iu our market—but they don’t seem 
to have any steel in their shops, or at least, 
they are afraid of running out of that article. 
The machine of which I am non’ thinking, is 
True’s potato-planter, a good machine saving 
many times its cost during its lifetime ; but its 
plow and covers are great “ gluts ” of cast-iron, 
that wouldn’t scour in emery-dust; and one 
must either have cast iro.i morals, or else get 
steel plates made to take the place of these 
iron gluts. Now, I follow the latter course and 
get along well thereafter—tho machine doing 
good work. But why couldn t this be done at 
the factory ? A wheelwright, whom I wanted to 
put in bent felloes when he fixed a wagon-wheel 
for me, told mo he had no bent felloes—they 
cost so much he didn’t keep them. When 
further pressed, he acknowledged thatif he used 
them he was afraid that he would ruin his 
custom, as he would have no wheels to repair. 
Now, poor as is the excuse, these manufacturers 
have not even this, as their cast-iron will wear 
as long as steel; and why will they persist in 
this course ? 
One of the handiest tools in a garden or on 
a farm, is a small double-mold-board plow ; but 
they are all cast-iron, and a man whose farm is 
not located on a gravel-bed or sand-bank, is un¬ 
able to lino one. Inquiry has failed to find a 
steel plow, of this form, at our home dealers or 
in Milwaukee. 
Another tool that we want, is a horse-cultiva¬ 
tor that will work between the rows of fodder- 
corn. I use i’ratt’a Early Sweet Corn, and 
plant tho rows two feet apart. My cullivatur 
will work well down to two aud a half feet; 
below that, the single-shovel plow is the only 
tool that I can use with a horse; and that does 
unsatisfactory work at the best. Now, I think, 
we might have an irou-frame cultivator, with 
long shanks, which would do tho work. Does 
any oue know of a tool which will answer my 
purpose ? 
There is a one hand-tool to which I can give un¬ 
qualified praise, and that is the Warren hoe. ft 
was some time before I could coax any of our 
hai'dware men to get them, but since they got 
the first ones they have kept increasing their 
orders, and the hoe is more and more popular 
as it becomes known, I have tried to get some 
of them to order some of Hexamer’s prong hoe, 
but they seem afraid of it, aud to order a single 
one would make it cost something for express 
charges. 
ROOT CROPS. 
At a late farmers’ meeting, this subject was 
under discussion, and the president spoke in 
favor of parsnips and mangel-wurzels. Others 
favored other roots ; Borne preferring the sngar- 
beet, the carrot, the ruta-baga, etc. For my 
part, I prefer the Long Orange carrot, \ T ellow 
Globe mangel-wurzel and American Yellow ruta¬ 
baga. An olu Englishman, who is a better 
farmer than I claim to he, prefer^ the Long Red 
mangel-wurzel, and another good farmer near 
him, considers nothing equal to Lane’s Imperial 
sugar-beet; whilo au old gentlema n on the 
other side of the river, considers ruta-bagas 
away ahead of any ol her root. Now. here is a 
variety of opinions; all are conscientious in what 
they recommend, and tho apparent contradiction 
comes from the difference in their soil. The 
president is on a sandy loam ; I am on a heavy 
Clay ; our English friend is on a black, mucky 
soil; his near neighbor is on a clayey loam ; and 
the gentleman across the river is on a gravelly 
clay. 
FARM HORSES. 
There is much discussion among onr farmers 
about which breed of horses, or what sized hor¬ 
ses are most suitable for farm work. I am inclined 
to horses from 1.000 to 1,200 pounds iu weight, 
as being the best size; and i think that a blood 
stallion bred to a large roomy marc, will give 
us the most satisfactory stock. Many incline to 
the Noriuan horses, and if you want to sell the 
colts, you will find them as profitable as any; 
hut I would prefor horses with less beef on their 
legs. I have seen two teams this spring, each 
having a beefy horse and a trim-built one, and 
in each case the heefy-legged horse had the 
scratches badly, while biH mate was free from 
the ailment. That these beefy horses wilt keep 
in good order on less feed than a high-strung, 
active horse, I am quite willing to admit ; that 
they arc able to do aH much work when well fed, 
I doubt; and I am certain that, in an emergency, 
one active horse is worth two of the others. 
There is almost no limit to what au active, am¬ 
bitious team can pull for a short distance, and 
after a rest or “ blow ” they can do it again and 
again, while your big, beefy horse is discour¬ 
aged and lias to be urged to make him take the 
collar after a severe pull. Aud, anyway, with 
our farm work, pluck is more needed than 
weight. I have seen a big team tired out, 
plowing, when a small, active team had done 
more work and felt fresh at tho end, in plowing 
a fallow where the ground was soft. 
Drown Co., Wis. 
-♦.-*.>- 
HOW CULTIVATION W4RMS THE SOIL, 
S. RUI'CS MASON. 
We aro almost daily informed by the agricul¬ 
tural press that cultivation warms the soil. As 
no man should believe what is not made mani¬ 
fest to his perceptions, let us examine this 
question, and thon form a positive opinion. 
The rapidity with which heat or cold passes 
through a body, is called its conductive power. 
One end of a bar of iron, inserted in tho fire, 
soon heoomes too hot to hold at the other end ; 
a bar of wood may, so treated, burn nearly up to 
the hand witliont causing discomfort; and our 
flesh may be brought quite close to a candle 
blaze and slill he comparatively cool. 
Those throo substances show very different 
degrees of conductive power, iron acting 
quickly, wood more slowly, and air (which was 
between the flesh and the blaze) scarcely acting 
at all. The conductive power of iron is 347, of 
wood 33, and of air only the one-half of one. 
Or, if air is called one, wood is called 66 times as 
great, and iron 694 times as groat as air. 
Of these three, iron is the most dense, and air 
the least; and in fact, the conductive power of 
most substances is nearly iu proportion to their 
density. When we wish to employ this quality 
to the Lest advantage, we use thin clothing in 
summer and thick iu winter. In each case we 
employ the fabrics as a covering demanded by 
modesty, and tne non-conductive property of air 
to keop us cool in summer aud warm in winter. It 
makes very lit lie difference as to the material 
used -cotton, silk or wool—as their respective 
conductive properties do not vary one-quarter 
of one per cent. Their sole value, as protectors 
from heat or cold, lies in 1 he amount of air held in 
a quiescent state within their texture. Cotton 
and silk being comparatively close woven, and 
wool more loose and open. 
In regard to soils: a solid, compact, hard or 
densely packed one holds little or no air, hence 
is a powerful conductor of both heat and cold; 
while a light, loose, porous soil holds a large 
volume of air, and is a poor conductor, is not 
liable to extremes of heat or cold, retains 
moisture well, but not water, is warmer in cool 
seasons, cooler in hot ones, and thus is more 
congenial to plant growth at all times. 
It is evident, then, that to render a cold soil 
warmer, we must, cultivate deeply, to let in the 
balmy influence of the air ; but if tho soil is too 
hot and dry, wo must add some heavier con¬ 
stituents, like clay or muck, to temper it to a 
proper consistency for crop purposes. Deep 
cultivation makes soil earlier in spring, cooler in 
summer heats, and warmer during winter's cold, 
only because it allows the non-conductive at¬ 
mosphere free access. 
