FEB. 44 
&\)t fyoxsemau. 
CALIFORNIA HORSES. 
The foundation for California horses of the 
present day is derived from two quite remote 
sources, The first comes from the Spanish 
horses brought over by the earliest settlers in 
Mexico and California, which were probably 
of the Andalusian or some cognate breed, be¬ 
cause they were ol' full medium size, with fine 
points and action, and very spirited and en¬ 
during. Some of them also were quite last, 
little inferior, indeed, in pace to an English 
race-horse. 
1 he second foundation comes from Ameri¬ 
can horses taken by immigrants to California 
in large numbers, from the first discovery of 
gold down to the present day. Many of these 
were the get of thoroughbred stallions, often 
out of good part-bred country mares, brought 
from the Eastern, and more particularly the 
Southwestern States. 
As the country increased in population, and 
more attention was given to agriculture, 
horse breeding also rapidly increased, and 
the rearing of those of a su[>erior kind was 
found to pa much the best In consequence, 
many excellent thoroughbred aud trotting 
stsliions were taken there from the hbnf.es 
east of the Rocky Mountains from time to 
time, and crossed freely on both American 
and Spanish mares. The result now is, that 
California cun probably show as many superior 
horses, in proportion to the numbers bred 
there, as auy other State in the Union. A 
considerable number nrr especially well fitted 
for the saddle, as they have a good walk and a 
free, easy gulloji. Their feet, legs, muscles 
aud sinews are not surpassed even by those of 
the Arabian, and they are fully as enduring 
for along distance. 
Maiiy r u California horse will gallop his 50 
to 60 miles per day, if required, for weeks in 
succession, and from 80 to 1:10 miles for some 
days in succession, with no other food during 
the time Uluu the grass he crojis at night and 
at his short rests by day, which he finds in the 
country over which he is traveling. This 
may seem iucrouible, but it must be recollected 
that the native grass of California is extra- 
nutritious, probably fully equal to that 
grown at tho East, supplemented with a lib¬ 
eral ration of oats. 
Some of the largest and stoutest sort of 
thoroughbred and trotting stallions were 
taken to California, which have got extra- 
large stock of sullicient size and power to 
answer for the gentleman’s family carriage. 
Fine style, good speed and uction also distin¬ 
guish these. 
Latterly a few stallions have been taken 
there of the Nonnun, the Percheion, the 
Clydesdale, and English Shire-horse breeds, 
for the purpose of obtaining auimals suitable 
for heavy farm, quarry, mining, express and 
city truck work. Coupling these with the 
lurge sized mares of the country will produce 
a progeny of sufficient power for all such 
work, aud which will prove more active and 
enduring than the several breeds of their 
sires in the various countries from which they 
are imported, because the climate and herb¬ 
age of California are much superior for their 
rearing. Those of the smaller size and finer 
points may probably answer well for coach 
horses, and if so, they will be very marketable 
at as high a price as the larger and more 
powerful class. 
To give readers of the Rural an idea to 
what extent horse breeding is carried on in 
California by a single poison, I cite the ex 
ample of Governor Sandford at his Palo Alto 
ranclcof 2,000 or more acres, in the beautiful 
valley of Santa Clara. With the Toais to be 
dropped this season, his rnce-hoi sea, all of the 
finest kind, will probably count to upwards of 
700. In addition to these, he keeps a good 
stud of trotters, and an ordinary supply for 
ordinary work or farm horses. Owing to the 
amenity of the climate here, the horses can l» | 
kept at pasture all Winter, and in consequence 
of this, they get so rapid a growth that the I 
colts at twelve months of age attain the size I 
and power of those reared in Northern cli- j 
mates or East of tho Rocky Mountains, which 
are six to eight months older; and those two 
years old or a little more appear like others 
ordinarily at three years of age. This is a 
vast und lucrative advantage in rearing 
horses, or, indeed, domestic animals of any 
kind, it requires a small army of men to at¬ 
tend to this superb stock, and t l -e cottages for 
their residences, together with the barns, sta¬ 
bles and other out buildings, make up a con¬ 
siderable town. 
Some of these homes cost Governor Sand- 
ford many thousand dollars each, as ho sought 
for the best w ithout regard to price; and in all 
selected for the ranch he allowed nothing in¬ 
ferior to be brought there. None but the 
owner of this immense establishment can know 
its oost, but I should suppose, whatever it 
THE BUBAL HEW-Y0BKEB. 
was, its present value may be safely estimated 
at a million or more dollars. All must wish 
him a rich reward from it both in purse and 
the high satisfaction of greatly benefiting his 
country in the production of an improved 
quality of live stock. 
I am not aware of any stud on the east of 
the Rocky Mountains approaching the num¬ 
ber of Governor 9amlford’s, except that of 
Mr. M, W. Dunham, of Wayne, Illinois. But 
these are of the Perehoron or Norman breed, 
which may, perhaps, be the more highly com 
mended in consequence of their being the most 
useful to our country. Californian. 
SociclicB, &jC. 
THE NATIONAL AGRICULTURAL CON¬ 
VENTION. 
About 75 members of the American Agri¬ 
cultural Association met at the Grand Central 
Hotel, this city, on February 1, at noon. 
These gentlemen represented various agricul¬ 
tural societies of the country, both State and 
local. A large number of letters were re¬ 
ceived from pr ruiueut gentlemen, who re¬ 
gretted their inability to be present. Among 
the wr iters were President Arthur. Governor 
Cornell, of New York; Governor Foster, Of 
Ohio; Erastus Corning; Governor Caldwell, of 
Georgia; Governor Farnbam, of Vermont; 
President White, of Cornell University; Dr. 
Stock bridge, ex President of the Massachu¬ 
setts Agricultural College; Hon. William M. 
Eva i ts, General Horace Porter, and various 
others. 
Colonel Sprague, of Vermont, President of 
the Association, then delivered his annual 
address. He suid the great questions for ag¬ 
riculturists to settle were how to elevate their 
calling, increase Uie products of their land, 
and make farming attractive to young men. 
More than three-fifths of our population were 
said to be interested directly in industrial 
pursuit*. The speaker compared the United 
States with European countries, showing that 
this coun'ry has 45 per cent, more milch cows 
than any other; that our poultry and egg pro¬ 
ducts are worth <& 0,000,600, w-hile our sheep, 
swine and cattle valuation is but *400,000,000, 
I he manufacture of oleomargarine was pro- 
nouueed one of the greatest enemies to our 
dairy Interests. 
General H. E. Trem .in, of New York, de¬ 
livered a spirited and interesting address on 
“How Crops are M..ved.’ The quest on of 
relations and differences between the crop 
producers and great transportation companies 
must be settle 1 by intelligent and public-spir¬ 
ited agriculturists, and if necessary they 
should make themselves f R through State 
legislation. If it costs four bushels of « heat 
iu Kansas to get one to New York, the farmer 
should have something to say about the mat¬ 
ter. The speaker urged that a remedy could 
be found iu the establishment of some author 
itative and uniform relation between through 
and local freight rates; by increased penalti°a 
for violation of the law in cose of improper 
charges for transportation; direct representa¬ 
tion of the State in the governing authority 
of railroads and telegraph*; by adixpiate pre¬ 
vision for tho State to exercise the right of re¬ 
lieving owners of railroads of their properties 
at a value that should, of course, accord with 
the public interests and welfare, and by secur¬ 
ing publicity of every act of railroad admin¬ 
istration and every penny of expenditure. 
Profeasor B. G. Northrup, of Connecticut, 
spoke on “Farmers’ Homes.” As the homes of 
America are the hope of America, so the far¬ 
mers’ homes are the hope of the farmer. They 
should be made healthy, attractive and taste¬ 
ful, and their sanitary arrangements should 
be carefully looked to. lie showed that the 
age attained by the farmer was, on the aver¬ 
age, greater than that reached by those en¬ 
gaged in any other occupation; but it does 
not follow that farmers’ wives are so long- 
lived. They are too often over worked. The 
chief causes of disease among farmers are 
sanitary defects- poor drainage, cess-pools— 
ignorance of hygienic laws, over-work, etc. 
1 he location of the farm-house should not be 
on low ground; 5ho wells should lie as far as 
po.-sible from any cess pool or vault, und not, 
as the speaker had seen them, within 10 feet 
of such places. He made au earnest plea for 
better literature for tho young, and for train¬ 
ing them iu the proper use of the English 
tongue. Homes should be cheerful, and the 
occupants thereof should be social, and there 
should always be a free interchange of kindly 
feeling. 1'inally, tho home should be made 
attractive by external adornment with 
trees, vines and flowers, and a love of the 
beautiful in nature should be cultivated. 
Ou the opetiiug of the afternoon session the 
lollowing officers of the Association were 
chosen:—President, N. T. Sprague, of Ver¬ 
mont (re-elected); First Vice-President, Henry j 
E. Alvord, of New York; Secretary, J. H. 
Reall; Treasurer, H. M. McLaren. 
Dr. J. M. Bailey, of Massachusetts, read a 
paper on ensilage, aud insisted on its grea t 
value to farmers. 
The i veiling’s session was largely occupied 
with a discussion on ensilage, President 
Sprague, E. M. Remington, Major Alvord 
and others speaking of favorable experiences 
with it. A paper ou “ Fish Culture." by Seth 
Green, followed this discussion. 
During the afternoon quite a lively discus 
sion took place on the position taken by the 
editor of the Journal of the Association con¬ 
cerning the railroads. His sentiments, as 
therein expressed, met with much disfavor on 
the part of the Association. The advisability 
ol transferring the Journal to private enter¬ 
prise was discussed, and later it was decided 
to give it over entirely to Secretary Reall. 
On the opening of the Convention for the 
second day, Prof. Perry of Williams College, 
spoke on the tariff question. He was greatly 
opposed to the so-called “ pr /teetive” theory, 
and said that the present tariff rates were a 
clog and an obstacle fco agricultural iuterests. 
The farmer has to pay more than is right for 
much that he buys, and has to sell for less than 
is right almost all that he sells. He thought 
the farmers sufi'er much injustice, Spoliation 
and robbery. His arguments were severely 
handled by Mr. Grinnell an ex- Member of 
Congress lrom Iowa,and by Mr. Chapman, of 
Vermont. The Hon. E. J. Wheeler of Ne¬ 
braska, presented the following resolution 
w hich was adopted: ’ 
“ Whereas, The present tariff wasadopted 20 
years ago, during the time of our late war, 
to secure an extraordinary revenue for an ex¬ 
traordinary purpose; therefore be it 
Resolved That this association favor a tariff 
revision by Congress at an early day.” 
1 he Hon. H. I. Kimball, Director-General 
of the recent Atlanta Exposition, read a paper 
on the results of that great show. A Missis- 
sippi planter told the Speaker that it had be*-n 
worth *26,(100 to himself, and this wits not an 
exceptional case. Over 500 car loads of en. 
gines, plows, harrows etc., 200 new pattern 
carnages and 1,500 cotton-planters had been 
sold iu consequence of the Exposition, and since 
it opened. In conclusion, he said: “ We want 
men and women of brain who are not afraid of 
work. VVe have discarded sentimentund turned 
ail our energies toward practical things. There 
is room for all, a hearty welcome for all, und 
a fortune for all who will come and settle in 
the young South.” 
Alter a number of addresses a committee of 
fit teen was appointed on the proposed Nation¬ 
al Fair, who have full power to act iu the pro¬ 
ject. The Fair is to tie known as the Amori- 
caji Exposition, and the Committee is to report 
to the Directors before April 1, 1882, 
Rolfe S. Humidors of the Southern Planter, 
made a vigorous speech in favor of a Florida 
ship canal, and Congress is to be memorialized 
in favor of it. On Friday the delegates visit¬ 
ed the farm of Mr. Havemeyer at Mahwah 
N. J. 
i-Uisccllancoits. 
MAYVILLE, DAKOTA. 
Beauty and Fertility of the Goose River 
Valley, in Traill County. 
MESSRS. HOLMES AND SVVEETLAND. 
(Special Correspondents of the Rural Nkw-Yorker. J 
Having spent the earlier days of our boy¬ 
hood in one of the valleys skirting the Green 
Mountains, and received from our youthful 
associations and surroundings the impressions 
which the picturesque locality conveyed: 
when we looked upon Vermont with our 
youngster ideas ns a pretty large world of 
itself, and studied primary geography and 
gazed at the atlas with equal incomprehension, 
us they undertook to impart information of 
the country as far west as the Mississippi 
| River, and declared the territory lying west | 
of Minnesota to bo “The Great American 
Desert we can measurably sympathize with I 
our,Eastern friends who rend or hear of this 
V\ estern world with decided incredulity; and 
behold the flood of wheat, cattle and minerals 
which this same so called desert is pouring 
into the marts of the world, and demanding 
in return hundreds of millions of money, w ith 
utter and unaffected astonishment! But what 
surprises ns most of nil is the fact that so many 
in the Eastern and New England States, in 
tlie face of all this evidence still remain incred¬ 
ulous, and will even go abroad and ventilate 
their unpardonable ignorance of their own 
country rather than journev W est and see for 
themselves the reauuroes, beauties and meth¬ 
ods of the land that can “bread” the world. 
But, pardon our digression, and we will ad¬ 
here to our text. 
Traill County, Dakota, is the third 
@7 
south of the British possessions, and on the 
boundary line of Minnesota, along which the 
Red River of the North courses northward, 
and is of sufficient size and depth to sustain 
quite an extensive traffic by 1 he boa Is plying 
in its waters; and the valley of the river upon 
either side has become known in both Ameri¬ 
ca and Europe as producing the unequaled 
No. 1 Hard ” wheat. Rising from numerous 
sources, by lakes and spring*, in this county 
and the adjoining one upon the north is Goose 
River, its many branches converging «b they 
flow- to tin southeast and finally uniting into 
one, which empties into the Red River: hence 
the eastern half of Traill County lies iu the 
valleys of the Red and Goose Rivers, where 
the soil is as rich and fertile as plow- ever 
turned to the sunlight, producing an average 
crop of from twenty to twenty five bushels of 
No. 1 Hard 11 wheat to the acre, and grading 
this standard so strongly in size, weight and 
richness of kernel that it brings the highest 
price in the market. These valleys of rolling 
prairie, from their beauty of topography and 
temarkable fertility have been sought by en¬ 
terprising. Rtalwnrt yeomen in advance of the 
railways, and when the Northern Pacific sys¬ 
tem reached Mayville by its Oasselton Branch, 
last Fall, it found the valleys dotted here and 
therewith thrifty farms upon which were 
comfortable improvements and every indie i- 
tion of prosperity. Beside the streams of 
which we have spoken, are many springs, and 
the water of both is pure and limpid; this is 
also true of most of the wells that are dug for 
domestic uses, and whenever traces of alkali 
are found the well is abandoned and another 
dug close by, which wifi yield the best of wa¬ 
ter, This county is 30x48 miles in size, and 
contains 021,600 acres, with no debt, and taxes 
of only ten mills. Government lands are avail¬ 
able for homesteads, within easy reach of rail¬ 
road; while lands unimproved, and indeed 
some partially improved, can be purchased 
near Mayville for from *6 to *12.50 per acre. 
1 he conclusion should not be assumed that 
wheat is the only crop here, for oats and other 
small grains give equally as good returns, and 
potatoes average 300 bushels to the acre; and 
the rivers of whirl! we have spoken are fringed 
with timber of indigenous hard-wood varie¬ 
ties, which makes the farms bordering on 
them desirable for stock raising, and much in¬ 
terest is manifested in improved grades of cat¬ 
tle und horses. 
The largest farm near Mayville, and one 
worthy of mention is the “ Grandin Stock 
Barm, so called in distinction from another 
owned by the same parties, which Tiik Rural 
New-Yorker has mentioned in its popular 
Bonanza Series as managed by Mr. Oliver 
Dairy tuple. This farm lies northwest of and 
near (be town, aloug Gxwe River, contains 
8,!XJ0 acres of which 2,000 are under cultiva¬ 
tion, and raised 40,000 bushels of grain last 
year besides several thousand tons of hay, 
one stack or rick containing 1,000 tons. 
They have 300 head of blooded stock iu cat¬ 
tle und horses; ami 200 more in sheep—the 
work of the farm giving employment to 50 
men. The buildings are large and conven¬ 
iently arranged and aid iu giving character 
to the enterprise. Estimate the resources and 
advantages enumerated as tributary to 
Hlayville. 
a town opened to the market 1st of March, 
1881—which commenced its rapid improve 
ment only the 1st of lost July—was not 
reuebed by the Northern Pacific Railroad un¬ 
til the 15th of October, and yet, by a con¬ 
servative estimate has to-day ut least 400 
population, and the reader will not be sur¬ 
prised at what follows. 
Their permanent improvements, principally 
constructed since the 1st of August, foot up 
$158,500, among them a grain elevator of 00,000 
bushels’ capacity, costing *25,000; the May¬ 
ville House (hotel) *8,000, and six mercantile 
buildings averaging *4,0(H) each. 
There have been marketed here thus far, 
fiom the crop of 1881, 800,000 bushels of 
w heat, which would have been increased pos¬ 
sibly 50 per cent., had tho railroad reached 
here at an earlier date. 
1 he commercial business of this bouncing 
infant of a town, exclusive of its exports, 
foots up * 6 UU, 000 , and the Goose River Bank 
mukee an exhibit of business equal to many 
for an entire year in some older and larger 
towns. Business lots are selling at from *300 to 
*1,000, which six months ago eould have been 
bought from *1.50 to *300, and residence lots 
can still be bought for an advance of 20 to 25 
percent, from former prices. The population 
are an admixture of American and foreign 
who unite harmoniously and zealously in all 
that pertains to the growth and welfare of 
Ma> ville and it. sun oundings; and though we 
visited them in mid Winter, with the ther¬ 
mometer below zero, the music of saw, chisel 
and hammer rang constantly in tho erection 
and finishing of new buildings. 
The present season will witness the comple¬ 
tion of a * 2,000 school-house and two church 
edifices—Union and Lutheran, the organiza- 
