drawing wood or plowing hard all day, and 
then taking the boys and girls to singing 
school at night, with a spirited and well con¬ 
tested race for three miles, on the road home at 
eleven o’clock at night, with the “swell" horse 
of farmer Jones’s boy. The farm horse in this 
country that can’t stand that, had better go 
out of the business. 
Cattp ftrsknirrg. 
OLEOMARGARINE. 
HENRY STEWART. 
An old Fable Newly Applied. 
Once upon a time there was an Arab, which 
his name was Am Eric Audai Ryman. He 
was reclining in his tent at midday and busily 
thiuking over his past good fortune and the 
bright future which he anticipated. Suddenly 
the door of his tent was thrust aside and the 
uncouth head of an umuvited camel presented 
itself to his disturbed gaze. “Avaunt! profane 
beast,” he exclaimed, “ wherefore doest thou 
intrude upon my privacy and disturb my rest?” 
Then the camel replied, “ My master, the heat 
of the noonday sun iB intolerable, the inhospi¬ 
table desert affords no shade, and the coolness 
of this tent invites me to shelter my head with- 
iu it. There is room enough for both of us, but 
all I ask is to rest my head in the shade. Deny 
me not. The world owes everything a living 
and a shelter.” “What art thou that askest 
this favor of me, thy master, oh beast.” 
“ I am only a camel seeking a subsistence in 
this stupid world; my name is Oleom Arga 
Rine, and I am closely related to thy family.” 
“How so, profane beast,” asked the Arab; 
“ all flesh is grass, all fat is grease; therefore 
we must be related.” 
And the camel looked so piteously that the 
kind heart of the good Am Eric Andai Ryman 
relented and he bid the camel put in his head 
and even offered him food from his table. But 
no sooner had the camel put in his head than 
he encroached 6lill further and squeezed in his 
shoulders, and by and by his hump eo crowded 
on the owner of the tent that the poor man was 
completely thrust out and had to content him¬ 
self wiih the poor Bhelter afforded by the out. 
side. 
“Ungrateful beast,” complained the Arab, “is 
this the way my generosity is returned ?” 
“The world was made for all,' replied the 
caiuel, “I have now the tent, and what a fool 
wert thou that thou didst not keep me out 
when I was out, and uot permit me to get my 
head into thy tent. Know, oh Scbeik, that it 
is easy to resist an enemy when he has no 
foothold in thy tent, but once be is in thou art 
at his mercy and must yield tby place to him.” 
“Alas, It is even so,” exclaimed Am Eiic 
Andai Ryman. “ft is too late to cry over 
spilled milk. My own folly i6 to blame, and 
what has come upon me must be endured, for I 
see no way to regain my tent.” 
The facie in Ibe case. 
A few years ago an innocent-lookiDg exhibit 
might have been seen at the American Institute 
Fair in New York. It was a plain glass case 
containing a few bottles of clear yellow oil, 
made from taliow and called oleomargarine. 
It was introduced from France, where it 
was used to adulterate or simulate butter. 
The writer, assured that this was a serious 
affair, threatening the dairy interest, imme¬ 
diately began to call the attention of dairy¬ 
men to it, In the hope that steps would be 
taken to restrict the sale of the article and 
prevent injury. But the most surprising re¬ 
sult occurred. Instead of fighting this thing 
“ tooth and nail,” it was invited into the 
dairymen’s tent and at the dairy conventions, 
leading dairymen defended it and speakers 
glorified it. It was openly recognized as 
a fit substance to mix with Bkimmcd milk 
for the manufacture of cheese, and I accom¬ 
panied a deputation of influential dairymen to 
a factory .near Rome, N. Y., splendidly fitted 
lor this very manufacture, where samples of 
base cheese were examined and tasted and de¬ 
clared all right. Of that company I was the 
only one recognized as opposed to oleomarga¬ 
rine. The camel's head was in the tent. It was 
a very short time until the camel crowded the 
former occupier until he began to grumble, 
and now he is out and the other is in. Pre¬ 
cisely what I prognosticated several years ago 
has happened, and the dairy interest has a 
powerful competitor to fight, which it actually 
helped to nourish and strengthen, when by one 
grasp it could have strangled it. These are the 
facts. Now what is 
The truth about it. 
When a manufacture has become established 
it cannot be put down. Capital and vested in¬ 
terests are concerned, and the solid footing 
gained helps to further advauces. It i6 now, 
not as butter, but as a substitute for butter, 
that oleomargarine will come before the pub¬ 
lic, and there is no law, and can be no law, to 
prevent its sale for what it is. The trouble is 
that it really makes a very fair substitute for 
butter. I have seen dairymen smacking their 
mouths and looking wise over it, and unable to 
distinguish it from batter. I believe the only 
test short of a chemical analysis or a micro¬ 
scopical examination, which is perfect, is the 
manner in which it cuts into thin slices with a 
knife blade. Then it cnrls or bends and cracks 
because of its granular texture. When well 
made and fresh its flavor is agreeable; when 
pure, it is an unobjectionable article of food, 
for there is nothing about it that i« not already 
used as food. The fat of au ox is perfectly 
healthful and nutritious, and the process of 
separating the limpid oil from the fat and of 
churning it into an emulsion with milk adds 
no more to It than Is already contained In the 
major part of the batter, and that is a portion 
of milk. As a dairyman, I suffer from the 
competition, for although this substitute will 
affect mostly the lower grades of butter, yet 
the cheapening of these cheapens all above 
them, just as cutting off a few of the lowest 
steps from a ladder lowers the top Oues with 
the rest. Now that the camel has our tent, I 
see nothing to be done but to let the world 
know that the present occupant has no con¬ 
nection with the former one, and compel him to 
go by his own name and label himself as he is, 
oleomargarine in conspicuous and unmis¬ 
takable letters, at least one inch long, on the 
outside of the cover of the package. 
-» » » — . - 
.Jersey Milk for Babies. 
Col. Curtis is mistaken in saying I “ as¬ 
sume ” that there have been no cases in which 
children or calves fed with Jersey milk, have 
sickened. What I assume is that when this 
occurs with sound Jersey or any other milk, it 
is due to just what the Col. lays it to when he 
says “ Probably If the milk had been dilated 
by making it one-third water, there would 
have been no trouble." Jersey milk, haviug 
les6 water, needs more dilutiou. I agree to 
that. But I protest against Dr. Sturtevant or 
or anybody else “ assuming ” that for this 
reason Jersey milk shall be refused to intants. 
All cows’ milk, not exeluding the immaculate 
Ayrshire's, will sicken iufants fed with it un¬ 
less water is also given, either in it, or with it. 
If Dr. Sturtevant had merely said that when 
Jersey milk iu fed to babies, it should be more 
freely diluted w ith water than that of Ayr- 
ehires, nobody would have disputed it. What 
he did say was quite different, and, in my opin¬ 
ion, needed contradiction. Properly diluted, 
or as I prefer, with all the water in addition 
that the child wants, Jersey milk is perfectly 
suitable food for babies, certainly not less so 
than that of any other breed of cows. Having 
for years, during the practice of my profession 
in a large city, made the diseases of children 
a specialty, and the alimentation of such as 
were deprived of their natural food, a particu¬ 
lar study, I welcomed Jersey milk as being 
naturally equal to the best for that purpose, 
and generally superior, because Jersey dairy¬ 
men are, as a class, neat aud careful persons, 
whose milk, when supplied to families, is more 
apt than that of others to be sweet, clean, aud 
from carefully fed and tended cows. 
Orleans Co., Vc. T. H. Hoskins, M. D. 
®{}f fjnriisraaiL 
STOCK NOTES. 
Large Importation of Hereford Cattle. 
—We note in ourEaglish papers that Mr. H. C. 
Burleigh, of Maine, has been selecting for him¬ 
self and Mr. J. R. Bod well, from no less than 
nine different herds, soma of the best speci¬ 
mens to be found in England, of Hereford 
cattle. He commenced by purchasing from 
the celebrated herd of the Queen, and finished 
his ninth selection from that of the renowned 
Grove. The Hereford cattle heretofore im¬ 
ported into Maine, owing to their rapid 
growth, hardiness and excellent quality of 
beef, have become great favorites there. The 
extra thickness of their hides, clothed with 
abundant hair, and great vigor of constitu¬ 
tion, enable them to withstand the severe cold 
winters of oar most northern 8tates equally 
well with the hardiest of the natives. Here- 
fords also are making rapid progress on our 
vast Western plains, rivalling the Buffalo 
there In thrift and hardiness, aud also nearly 
iu size. 
-- 
Sale of Angus Cattle. —The famous herd 
of Black Polled cattle, of the late Mr. M’Com- 
bie, half of which was bequeathed to his 
nephew, Mr. R. Campbell, is to be offered for 
sale soon at auction. Here will be an oppor¬ 
tunity which rarely happens, to obtain the 
choicest of Polled stock. Mr. M’Coinbie’s ani¬ 
mals have almost universally taken first and 
second prizes for years past ut Fat Cattle and 
Breeders’ Shows throughout Great Britain and 
in France. The few Polled cattle imported 
into the United States daring the past four 
years, have giveu much satisfaction, aud their 
stock is just beginning to appear in market, 
and is eagerly sought for. We are persuaded 
that further importations would pay well, and 
we trust some of our enterprising breeders 
will soon visit England as well as Scotland to 
make purchases. 
-- 
Heavt Farm and Cart Horses —In breed¬ 
ing these, farmers should look very particular¬ 
ly to get plenty of bone, strong joints, cords, 
and tendons. Though mnscle, that is, hard, 
firm flesh, instead of soft and 6pongy, must 
also be regarded. The bone of a thorough¬ 
bred horse (racer),is of a much heavier weight 
in proportion to his bulk, than that of the 
great, flabby, farm horse, which seems to be 
bred mostly like a bullock—for his flesh alone. 
But recollect horse meat is not a favorite In 
our markets, as it i9 in Paris, and some other 
cities of France. We want a horse alone for 
his work, and the one that can accomplish the 
most of this in the quickest time will sell 
quickest, and at the highest price. 
--- 
Ugly Bulls. —In answer to the inquiry of 
Able Hoyt, what kind of slip-noose we use on 
ugly bulls, we reply, a slip-noose made with a 
rope strong enough and loose enough to choke 
th8 bull if he dou't keep quiet. Our experi¬ 
ence is, that after one or two tugs at Bueh a 
slipping-noose an ugly hull will remain quiet 
where he is placed without endangering life 
by getting loose. Fastening by a ring in the 
nose is not safe, and a furious bull might break 
a rope around his horns. Hence we always 
rely on a slipping-noose in such cases, and 
“sleep well,” feeling thas everything is safe. 
We shouldn’t worry much if an ugly bull did 
get choked. F. D. Curtis. 
-♦a-*- 
Sulphur for Animals. —If taken internally 
with their food, sulphur will almost invariably 
keep all kinds of animals free from lice. We 
have made a practice for years past of giving a 
heaping tablcspoonful once a week in the feed 
of each of our cows, and the same quantity to 
about every ten hens in our flock, and they 
have never been troubled with lice iu them. It 
maybe given in the same proportion as to Bize 
when required in the food of poultry, pigs and 
sheep. Sulphur is a mild cathartic when desired 
for this purpose, and in small doses seems to 
have a general beneficial effect on the animal 
system, something like salt, though, of course, 
not of that nature. 
Cbc lonltrjr gartr 
DORKINGS ON TRIAL-THE BEST PLAN 
COL. F. D. CURTIS. 
In many respects the experience of Mr. Jon¬ 
athan Talcott with poultry, as given in the 
Rural of February 14, coincides with my 
own. We have tried nearly all the fancy 
breeds and at last settled down to Dorkings, as 
combining probably the most good qualities of 
any breed. We first procured gray Dorkings 
sent over by Cooper, the great Irish fancier. 
After a few years we imagined they did not do 
as well as they ought to, although we had 
changed roosters, and so we procured a 
trio of White Dorkings, splendid specimens, 
and crossed them with the gray. We have 
as a result fowls of beautiful plumage— 
a great variety of colors—from the most del¬ 
icately-tinted dove color to bright silver gray. 
Some are robin-breasted, and altogether they 
are as pretty a lot of fowls as we ever saw. 
They are large, square-bodied aud plump, very 
quiet and hardy to raise. The hens arc excel¬ 
lent mothers aud the cocks not at all pugilis¬ 
tic. They are not given to scratch or to roam 
about, but at Ibe same time are sufficiently ac¬ 
tive in searching for worms, bugs. etc. They 
have averaged during the winter about one egg 
a day for three hens. Some of our neighbors 
boast of haviug beaten this. We confess we 
are not quite satisfied with the winter's pro¬ 
duct. We hope, now that spring has come, 
that they will do Letter. Some farmers say that 
the hens which lay in the winter will not do so 
well in the spring. Perhaps our Dorkings 
are saving their energies for epring work. 
The neighbor who sold the most eggs last 
year had Leghorn hens. These fowls possess au 
advantage over the Dorkings as they are non- 
sitters. Dorking hens, unless closely watched, 
will waste a great deal of time and flesh in sit¬ 
ting on nest eggs or in empty nests, which is 
not the ease with Leghorns and other nonpit¬ 
ting breeds. It does not require so much food 
to keep these smaller birds in profitable condi¬ 
tion,which is quite an item. This extra expense 
is offset iu part, as Mr. Talcott says, “ by hav¬ 
ing something to show when dressed.” They 
are undoubtedly the par-excelleuce table fowl. 
Their egg6 do not possess the rankness iu color 
aud taste of the Asiatic breeds. We have a few 
Plymouth Rocks, stately birds, which we are 
going to put on trial this spriug alongside of 
the Dorkings, and a few llumburghs (uou-6it- 
ters) have also been added to the flock by 
way of comparison. Up to the opening of 
spring they excelled all the others in laying. 
The friends of the Hamburghs claim that they 
will keep ahead. We shall see. The truth is 
poultry keeping and breeding should be gov¬ 
erned by the same general principles and rules 
which control stock breeding. Fowls should 
be bred for the purpose for which they are de¬ 
signed. If numbers of eggs, without particu¬ 
lar reference to the 6ize, are desired, then the 
Hamburghs, Leghorns, and games should be 
selected. If large, clear eggs are wanted, then 
the Spanish, Dorking and French breeds—the 
Houdanb and Crevecoeurs—should be had. If 
kept for table use, then the Plymouth Rocks 
and Dorkings should head the list as the most 
valuable. 
If neither the quality of the meat nor of 
the eggs is to be considered, then the Asiatic 
breeds will supply the demand. For eating 
when young there is no nicer chickens than the 
Games. The Leghorns are also good, but the 
naraburghs are not much better than a crow. 
We have an idea that following oat the line of 
the above reasoning, we shall settle down to 
the common-sense as well as philosophical 
basis of keeping a few Dorkings aud breeding 
them for table use, and Leghorns or Hamburghs 
for the produel Ion of eggs. These would breed 
together nicely, as the Dorkings’ eggs could 
be readily separated and the Dorking hens used 
for the mothers. In this case Dorking roosters 
should be exclusively kept for the barn-yard, 
and a few of the laying breed should be con¬ 
fined by themselves in the early part of the sea¬ 
son to get eggs to keep up the stock. Is not 
this the best plan to obtain the roost perfect 
success? In this way we would get the fulj 
benefit of the special characteristics of the dif¬ 
ferent breeds. 
Jielli Crop. 
SMALL AND DENT CORN IN THE WEST. 
To the new-comer from New England and the 
East generally, no featureof our Western agri- 
eul ure is more striking than the great size of 
the corn fields and the enormous growth, of 
stalks especially obtained therefrom. Of 
course, the grain is proportionately large, 
as every one knows, who has seen specimens 
of the Dent corn so generally grown in this 
section. Our long Bummers aud very rich 
soils are certainly calculated to greatly in¬ 
crease the growth of the corn plant in all Its 
parts. This I have proved by cultivating the 
small-growing Eastern sorts, which in New 
York and Michigan rarely grow higher than 
six or eight feet. After growing these in Kan¬ 
sas for four or five years without admixture, iu 
favorable seasons they attain a bight of eight, 
ten or more feet. But it is worth while to re¬ 
member in this connection that the great yields 
which we “read of,” are not obtained in the 
Southern or Southwestern States, where the 
plant attains its maximum developement, but 
in a more Northern regiou where the growth 
of the plant is held in check by a comparative¬ 
ly low temperature. The prize-corn fields, so 
far as my readinghas gone, have been generally 
located in Western New York, on Pennsyl¬ 
vania hill-sides, or Ohio creek bottoms. 
A comparison of views with some of the best 
farmers of Central Michigan, has convinced 
me that where their soIIb approach ours in fer¬ 
tility, they can grow as large and perhaps 
larger crops than are grown iu the great West¬ 
ern corn fields. I do not mean to say that corn 
can he grown as cheaply there as here; in this 
matter we have no rivals. 
A review of the above facts, led me to con¬ 
clude some years ago that the small Eastern 
sorts ol corn might be advantageously grown 
in the West, ana especially iu those sections 
subject to late summer droughts- III 1870, I 
planted five acres of “ King Phillip" corn, a 
kind having uo special value over a half dozen 
others of the small Eastern sorts. This was 
plauted in the poorest field on the farm, and 
as late as June 9th, while the Dent wosplautad 
one month earlier. The result was a great 
surprise to roe. lor under all these disadvan¬ 
tages, the “ King Phillip” gave 44 bushels of 
shelled corn per acre, costing 10 cents per 
bushel, while the Dent yielded only 49 bushels 
costing 16J cents. 
Iu 1878. under equal conditions as to soil and 
time of planting, me “ King Phillip” gave 50 
bushels per acre, costing 13 cents per bushel, 
aud the large Dent, 42 bushels, costing 12? 
eeuts. Again in 1870, the “ King Phillip" came 
to the front with a yield of 53 bushels, costing 
14 cents per bushel, while the Dent gave 
41 7-10 hushels, costing 15 cents. I should 
have said that both sorts received precisely 
the same treatment during ’78 aud '70, except 
that the “ King Phillip” was planted In drills 
feet apart, while the Dent was planted iu 
lulls three feet nine Inches each way. The 
item “ cost" io the above account refers sim¬ 
ply to the expense of labor and seed. 
But this Is not all; lids mnall sort ripens six 
to eight weeks earlier than the coarser Dent, 
and 1 am satislled that had this small sort been 
iu general cultivation in the State during the 
drought of 1874, more than half a crop would 
have been made, Instead of the total failure 
then experienced. Moreover, the " Kiug Phil¬ 
lip” is sweeter aud more palatable to stock, 
which prefer It to all other sorts. 
I should say, in conclusion, that our expe¬ 
rience upon the college farm with the small- 
growing sorts, has uot only satisfied me of 
their value, but it has convinced rnuuy of our 
best farmers of the same truth, and iu this 
section a largo urea will, the present season, 
be plauted to •• King Phillip” corn. I have no 
hesitation in advising Western readers to give 
the small corn a trial the present season. 
Agr'l Coll., Manhattan, Kan. E. M. Shelton, 
