602 
SPET 13 
<L\)t l)crDsnt an. 
RAYON D'OR. 
The Jersey bull Rayon d’Or (Fig. 356), with 
his pedigree, his life of vicissitudes, the jea¬ 
lousies he engendered, the w-ssionB of commit¬ 
tee* and the discuBBlons had over him, the 
rules of the cattle club under which he was 
“entered,” aud the party feeling which ran 
so high in the club, have all passed into his¬ 
tory. He died not long ago at Troy, Ohio, the 
property of Messrs. Dye & Childs. The story 
of this bull is one of special interest. He was 
the last culf dropped by his famous dam. Co- 
inassle, before her purchase by Mr. Burnham, 
of Saugatuek, Conn., and her importation to 
the United Suites in January, 1S81. He w r as 
dropped on March 8, l WO, the property of Mr. 
C. F. Dorey, of Trinity Parish, Jersey, who 
sold him, when a few months old, for five 
guineas, to Mr. Emil Blaize, of Gordie, near 
St. Bneux. in France. Mr. William Simpson, 
of this oily, was on the Island of Jersey at the 
time of Comassie’s shipment, to Mr. Burnham, 
by whom she hud been purchased by telegraph. 
Mr. S. saw and admired the cow, and learn¬ 
ing that her last calf, the bull Rayon d'Or, bail 
teen recently purchased by Mr. Maize, went 
to Gordie, and, though he made a handsome 
offer, failed to purchase him. Comassie's 
fame was so great at the time, that all her 
immediate progeny on the island were held or 
bought at high prices, and Mr. Maize was re¬ 
peatedly visited and urged to sell his prize; 
but he would not until he had a fair amount 
of his blood in his own herd. This occurred 
in the Spring of 1882, w hen Mr. Simpson be¬ 
came his owner through the active agency 
of Ca; t. Philip Le Brocq, of St. Mary’s, Jer¬ 
sey. He was shipped from France to South¬ 
ampton, where, on account of the stringency 
of English cattle laws, ho was not allowed to 
land, but was kept afloat until the agent of 
the American Jersey Cattle Club would see 
urul identify him, and certify him to be the 
identical animal sold as a calf by Mr. Dorey 
in 1K80, 
He made a prosperous voyage, arrived in 
New York, and underwent the usual 90 days’ 
quarantine. Placidly ruminating in those 
rich Westchester County pastures—just pre¬ 
vious to that time included within the limits 
of the city of New York—he was the subject 
of most acrimonious discussions among mem¬ 
bers of the American Jersey Cuttle Club. The 
rules of the Club were rigidly complied with, 
aud j et there was the most strenuous effort to 
prevent his being registered in the Herd Book. 
It appeared that Mr. Simpson was not in the 
"Coomossio ring,” aud it was for mouths a 
matter of doubt whether honorable counsels 
or prejudices would prevail. However, the 
executive committee honorably passed upon 
the papers, aud admitted him to record, not¬ 
withstanding the racket aud the hight to 
which party feeling ran. 
The record on the books of the club is as 
follows: In Vo], XI. of the Herd Register of 
the Am. Jersey Cattlu Club * 7516, Rayon d’Or, 
sire Farmer’s Glory 5190 (F. S. 144:2 j. K. lb), 
dam Coomassie 11874 (F. H. 1442 J. 11. B ), 
spot on each flank, on each foot, and on tail 
above mixed switch: white tongue. Breeder, 
C. F. Dorey, Trinity, 1, of J., owner, Emil 
Blaize, Gordie. France.” In the same volume 
he is recorded as transferred from K. Blaize 
to Fraucis Le Brocq. of St. Peters, Jersey, 
April II, 18X8, from him to Philip LeBrooq, 
April 15, is;s2, from him to William Simpson, 
May 1, 1888, 
He remained in Mr. Simpson’s herd until 
June 7, 1883, when he was sold to Mr. J. F. 
Boyd, of Brooklyn, at the annual public auc¬ 
tion at the Simpson Homestead. In June of 
the same year, as recorded in Vol. XIW, ho 
was transferred by Mr, Boyd to Mr. Charles 
R. C. Dye, of Toledo, Ohio, and by him to 
Dye & Childs, of Troy, Ohio, both transfers 
bearing the same date. 
Rayon d’Or cost Mr. Simpson about $1,000. 
lie retained him in his herd and used him 
largely for more than one year, when he 
brought $2,500 at auction. Mr Boyd sold 
him for $2,800. His sire, Farmer’s Glory, 
when bought by Mr. Dudley, of Camden, for 
importat ion to this country, w as regarded as 
the best bull that ever left the Island. He 
was sold at. auction in this city in 1881 for 
and stood a long time at the head of 
Mr. T. A. Havemoyer’S famous “Mouutain- 
side” herd. His get are famous for their 
beauty aud as prize winners, and Farmer's 
Glory himself is (for he is still alive aud well) 
one of the handsomest bulls in the country, 
and before his importation won on the Island 
every possible prize. 
Rayon d’Or’s dam, Coomassie, was not only 
a cow of extraordinary beauty, but, though 
tested when past, her prime, she gave 17 to 19 
pounds of butter in a week, and among her 
grand aud great-grand daughters (for she has 
been blessed with sons, and has only one living 
THE RURAL NEW-YORKER. 
daughter), there are several credited with 
over 20 pounds a week, and one with over 27 
pounds. Ho rare a combination of blood 
must tell both in the bull himself, and in his 
get, which are and will be numerous in the 
herds of Mr. Simpson and of Mr. Dye. his 
last owner. Coomasic, whose fame hardly 
waned, died in May last at Mr. Burnham’s 
place in Connecticut. What occasioned her 
sudden death the public has not been in¬ 
formed, but certainly the old cow never looked 
better than she did among a score or two of 
her descendants this Spring. She was famous * 
for the strong resemblance which her progeny 
bore to her, and for their uniformly high 
character even to the third and fourth genera¬ 
tions. 
Rayon d’Or was a handsome, well formed 
animal, very deep in body and flank, with 
excellent hindquarters, a soft, mellow, yellow 
hide, flue bones aud alight head with strongly 
dished face, and resembled lioth his famous 
parents not a little. 
^rboricnllural. 
“THAT WOOD LOT.” 
Our people are the most expert forest de¬ 
stroyers in all the world. Forgenerations we 
have been taught to consider the forest as an 
enemy to be cut down and destroyed, but 
soon this inherited habit, and ill-directed euer- 
gy must find new channels for exploiting, for 
in self defence we must begin to restore that 
which we have so ruthlessly destroyed. We 
must teach ourselves to realize the evils of 
such past action. Land in natural forest, in 
all the older portions of the country,is already 
worth twice the price of cleared land. The 
student of this topic lookson with amazement 
at the present apathy of the public mind, 
and the little attention ] aid to a subject that 
must soon be our most pi easing national agri¬ 
cultural question. It is not only u question of 
the increasing scarcity of forest products, 
but there are other and higher topics bock of 
this, such as the disastrous annually increasing 
floods in all our river xalleys, destroying not 
only farms and homesteads, towns and cities, 
but undermining the health uud prosperity 
of the unfortunate inhabitants. And behind 
these Is that deeper and still more vital ques¬ 
tion that is as old as the history of civilization 
—the insidious but certain encroachments of 
the desert, sooner or later, on all lauds de¬ 
nuded of their arboreal covering. Witness 
the present condition of Arizona, parts of 
New Mexico, Utah and Colorado, and many 
large areas in Europe, Africa and Asia. 
But what about “ That Wood Lot?” Well, 
I have not forgotten it. I have been trj'ing 
to emphasize the need of more attention to it. 
Most of our farmers have reserved certain 
portions of their farms in so-called forestland. 
In doing this they imagine they have done 
their whole duty iu staying the encroachments 
of the desert, affordiug forest products, 
lengthening the period of moisture from rain¬ 
falls, etc. But the naked truth is, that, as 
usually tuauagod, those reservations are no 
better than plowed laud. Real forest laud, 
with its forest conditions, will hold and give 
up slowly more than double the amount of 
moisture retained by such wood lots. In a 
natural forest, it is the low aud creeping plants, 
the mosses, the roots, twigs, and, more than 
all, the annual coat of leaves, that retain the 
moisture aud give it slowly to the springs 
and rivers. How is it with the wood lot? It is 
usually a wood's pasture; the underbrush (that 
would restore forest conditions when the old 
trees are removed) is cleared off or eaten off 
by the cattle; grass seed is sown, or comes in 
naturally ; the leaves in the Fall drift awaj’, 
and the trees soon begin to decay, except a 
few varieties that adapt themselves to their 
changed conditions. In short, the wood lot 
has effectually and for all practical forest 
pupases, lost its character, and fails to prop¬ 
erly exercise the ameliorating influences of 
original forest land. The mosses, the twigs 
aud the leaves uo longer cover the soil, pro¬ 
tect the germs of plauts or hold the rain water. 
Water iu all the economies of tree life, is some¬ 
thing akin to the circulation of the blood of 
animals; it is through aud by means of water 
that uutrition and growth take place, im¬ 
mense quantities are needed, aud must he at 
hand during the season of growth, or growth 
cannot go on. It is estimated that three tons 
of water a day are used by the largest trees, 
and thrown into the atmosphere iu the form 
of vapor, and it. is this vapor that causes the 
cooler and damper atmosphere of forests, and 
that exercises so mauy important conserving 
iulluences in all the manifold economies of 
vegetable and animal life. Hence it may be 
seen why the floods annually* increase in our 
river valleys; the water ruiis off rapidly, 
carrying with it soil, nitrogen aud other fer¬ 
tilizing ingredients. And it follows that, 
unless the forest conditions are, in part, re¬ 
stored, an increase of disasters must really 
follow. There is no occasion for restoring 
entire forests. Groves and wind breaks occu 
pying, say, one-third of the surface of the 
country, with the natural mountain reserva¬ 
tions, wbe ein natural forest conditions are 
maintained, will be profitable for the timber, 
and there is every reason to believe that the 
remaining two-thirds of the land will yield 
heavier crops to the farmer than if the whole 
surface were cult!voted! but stock must be 
excluded from these woods, and their forest 
conditions must be restored and maintained. 
Then fertility will crown us with plenty, and 
the increasing floods will be avoided. For 
one, I cannot sever a single bud from a tree 
without feeling somewhat of the paiu It must 
cause the plant.. W T ho has studied and com¬ 
prehends the wonderful capabilities of a single 
bud? Scientists tell us its constituent ele¬ 
ments and energies are nitrogen, protoplasm, 
etc.; but there is something greater than 
these that scientists have never teen able to 
explain—life, and plant life is so different 
from uuim'il life; each bud is a whole being, 
capable under proper conditions of being 
developed into a monarch of the forest, endur¬ 
ing for ages. Whoever has sufficiently studied 
to comprehend the wonders of a single bud, 
is a student of nature,aud should l>e a forester. 
Watertown, N. Y. n. s. marviw. 
farm (licononuj. 
CONSTRUCTION OF UNDER-DRAINS. 
PROF. R. C. CARPENTER. 
In a recent issue of the Rural is a com¬ 
munication which takcs.decided issue in regard 
to some very unimportunt points that I made 
in my articles on under-draining. The article 
is written evidently by a mere novice in drain¬ 
ing, who is so Ailed with egotism as to suppose 
the method he practices to be the only one by 
which drains can be constructed. I never 
wished to give in my articles the impression 
that drains could not be constructed Gy other 
methods than those laid down. For fear that 
an occasional person may l>e led to follow the 
advice given by “Picket,” 1 will make a few 
remarks on the subjects treated of. 
To any one who has had an extensive prac¬ 
tice in drainage, his remarks are so simple as 
to excite ridicule aloue, aud could possibly do 
no harm. In the first place, the practice point¬ 
ed out by “Picket.” of using “collars,” and of 
using a beveled board with a level on top for 
getting the grade, is the practice, I believe, of 
every novice in draining; at least I never 
knew a man who had any ideas of gradiug 
his own ditch, who did not first try the identi¬ 
cal “bevel-board level,” on the bottom of his 
ditch. I have tried that same arrangement 
myself, and I was never more surprised in my 
life than to see that arrangement illustrated 
and described as something new. It. is, how¬ 
ever, a very awkward device to use, and is 
not of any use on extensive drains, unless the 
grade is found by some other method. 1 have 
known a number of men (whose names I can 
give if necessary) who formerly used a (level¬ 
ed board and level, as described, one rod 
long, to test the bottom of the ditch, and who, 
on trying the method of grading from a string 
supported above the ditch, gave up the old 
method aud used the other one, solely on the 
ground of accuracy and saving of time. “Pick¬ 
et” savs his method is more expeditious, and 
in making that statement bo is simply talking 
about what he knows nothing of. Perhaps 
the new method is teyond his understanding, 
and he must stick to the ways of his ancestors. 
Let us compare the two methods: before he 
can fiud his fall, he must, dig his ditch; that 
is, be must dig the ditch before he cau know 
whether it will work or not. Then he will get 
his grade, not from a long sight, which would 
eliminate errors, but from a succession of short 
trials, which any one must know are certain 
to multiply errors. It is no wonder that with 
such construction, the least hole at a joint 
means failure for his drains: hut the true rea¬ 
son for this is, not in the joint covering, but 
iu the defective grade line. With the other 
method, the grade line is laid out above the 
ground, aud the comparison may be made 
with points 40 or even 160 rods apart, instead 
of a single rod at one time. As to rapidity, the 
method above ground is fully 10 times as fast. 
In pointing out the method, ( did not claim 
it as having any exclusive merits, but simply 
as being a good aud accurate way to test a 
drain. “Picket’' says his work is perfectly 
accurate. I would like to know how he tells. 
I would not accept, as worthy of confidence, 
anj- tests made with the level he describes, and 
the test of working is not a complete one, for 
the drain may work insufficiently or even not 
one-fourth of its capacity, aud yet satisfy 
him. Has be ever had his finished ditch bot¬ 
tom. on a low grade, tested with an engineer’s 
level by a competent man? That is about the 
only waj T he can tell. 1 would like to ask him 
how be knows his inserted level is in adjust¬ 
ment. I think, very likely, it is in such a 
position as to make an error of more than two 
inches per rod. The insertion of a level is 
something few mechanics know anything 
about, and the instrument described is one 
not capable of adjustment. He, himself, 
gives incidental evidence that his machine 
does not do good work, when he saj's his dram 
is destroyed bv omitting to well protect a 
single joint. As I will show further along, 
this could never affect a well-graded ditch. 
Again, the beveled board level for a bottom of 
a ditch is a failure in soils that will uot stand. 
We frequently construct drains in soils that 
will not stand more than five minutes to one- 
half hour, and do it successfully, too. This is 
done by use of the grade lino above the ditch. 
JOINT COVERINGS. 
Now in regard to joint coverings, [ feel it is 
a matter of utter indifference, and I not only 
think this, but 1 know it. “Picket’ seems to 
know that sod aud tarred paper soon give 
out, will he please relate a single instance 
where he has ever known such a thing to hap¬ 
pen. His drainage has evident!}' been done 
mainly on paper. I know of miles of tile 
drain, some in quicksand, some in clay, that 
has been laid all the way from twelve to 
twenty-five years, and is now in efficient con¬ 
dition; jet the joints were only protected by 
a piece of turf turned grass side down, or, in 
many instances, by nothing at all. Not a sin¬ 
gle joint has made any trouble. 
Many of the most experienced drainage meu 
are using no protection whatever for the joint, 
and I would advise nothing in clay soils. If 
the grade of the drain Is perfect, the earth 
that will work ia through even a half-inch 
crack, will not affect the drain, nor will it 
show on the surface, except it may be in some 
very liquid soils. 1 have constructed drains 
In quicksand, and never have had a single 
failure in which the joint covering has teen a 
cause; and I have never used anything except¬ 
ing turf or tarred paper. Iu one instance no 
joint covering whatever wus used on a drain 
in which the quicksand was so ted that the 
work had to be done by curbing the sides of 
the ditch, yet that drain lias worked efficient¬ 
ly eight years, und I have no doubt that it is 
good for 800 more, but I did uot level that by 
dragging a beveled board along the bottom ! 
As to the use of collars, 1 have no objection 
to them whatever: they might do good in very 
liquid quicksand or muck, but they are cost¬ 
ly, and from inquiries made at the last con¬ 
vention of Michigan tile-makers, 1 learn that 
they are not to be had, unless especially or¬ 
dered, while in many instances the tile-makers 
had no dies that would make coll are. 
The English drainage engineers at present, 
strongly advise against the use of them, unless 
perforated, as they teud to check the free 
drainage of the land. The use of collars 
twenty years ago was thought essential; but 
experience bus shown them to tie of no practi¬ 
cal benefit: that, results just as good are ob¬ 
tained without them as with them. 
All I kuow of drainage has teen obtained 
from in}’ own und other people's experience, 
aud l have learned mauy things tote different 
from what I once supposed. I have come to 
believe that the main essential is to lay the 
tile to ft true grade, and to a true line, aud 
that whatever is washed in at the joints by a 
feeble current and through a small hole, will 
be readily washed through the tile. This 
wash I have found to be after the first year 
almost imperceptible, even in soils of bad 
quicksand. Experience shows the joint cov¬ 
erings to be of uo especial importance, so far 
as I know or can learn. In my original 
article, I laid no stress on joint protection for 
the reasons above stated. 
In conclusion, I would state that I have no 
pet theory of drainage; but presented several 
practical schemes with uo especial recom¬ 
mendation. I know they will give good re¬ 
sults: I think they ate the test methods; but 
do not claim for them any especial merits, 
nor do I say that simpler aud tetter methods 
may uot be produced. I am not even certain 
that my descriptions regarding those methods 
were clear. If any particular was not made 
plain. I should, of course, be pleased to make 
it so. 
As to who or what “ Picket” may be, 
I do not know; but I do claim that it is uot a 
proper thing to write such an article as the 
one that appeared in the Rural of August 
23 over au assumed name. The public have 
a right to kuow r the name of a man who says 
that tarred paper or sods will stand over a 
joint covering only two years, and who uses 
collars over his tile, aud who drugs a beveled 
board level on the bottom of his ditch to get 
his grade, believing he lias the quickest-work¬ 
ing and most accurate level iu existence. 
Ag. Coll., Lansing, Mich. 
[Remarks.—W e quite agree with Prof. 
Carpenter that one a Hacking or criticising the 
fairlj r aud candidly stated opinions of another, 
should do so over bis own name, aud we will 
endeavor to be more watchful hereafter. The 
