Vol XLII. No 1742. 
NEW YORK, JUNE 16 , 1883. 
PRICE FIVE CENTS 
$2.1a, PER YEAR. 
Entered according to Act of Congress, in the y ear 1SS3, ly (be Kimil New-Yorker, In the office of the Librarian of Congress at Washington.] 
<Il)e i)or 1)5man. 
AT PLAY. 
JOTTINGS AT KIRBY HOME¬ 
STEAD. 
COL. F. D. CURTIS. 
The reverse of repose is generally said to bo 
work: but what kind of work, outside the 
supreme exertion of some critical moment, 
ever calls forth such energy, such strain of 
muscle, such eagerness and excitement of 
mind, such forethought, caution and anxiety, 
as are developed in vigorous play? The rush 
and enthusiasm of battle cun alone compare 
with the fervor of play in exciting physical 
force, but the rush and enthusiasm of battle 
fall short of piay in stimulating mental activity. 
Indeed muscular play is closely akin to light ing, 
in man and beast, and it is more than likely 
that the trial of strength and skill begun in 
play by thu couple of steers here depicted, 
will end in ill-blood and buttle. Both are 
“ heeled ” for light, and in moments of 
excitement the quadruped as well as the 
bipod brute is apt to make the most hurt¬ 
ful use of his weapons. 
THE PEDIGREE QUESTION. 
PROFESSOR U. K MORROW. 
A pedigree of an animal is a record of its 
ancestors. When we speak of “Pedigree 
Stock” wo usually refer to animals of a dis¬ 
tinct breed and of whose ancestry enough is 
known to entitle their pedigrees to record of 
registry in a stud-book or herd-book published 
by some society or individual inter¬ 
ested in the breed to which the 
animals in question belong. 
There is great difference of opinion 
us to the value of pedigrees for our 
farm animals. Generally animals 
which can be “pedigreed” in accor¬ 
dance with the rules cur, out for the 
breed to which they belong, will sell 
for higher prices because of this 
fact; sometimes for many times as 
much as they would command if they 
were not eligible to record There 
lias often been justice in the criticism 
that some breeders bought and sold 
pedigrees rather thuu animals. In 
the ease of some breeds it has been 
not uncommon to find three animals 
of nearly equal merit and each 
“purebred,” valued in the proportion 
of one, three and 100, the first being 
unpodigreed, the second buving uu 
“ unfashionable pedigree,” while the 
third possessed a pedigree of an 
especially fashionable character. 
On the other hand, there are many 
fanners who claim that there is uo 
value iu pedigree, the only tost of 
value being the merit of the indi¬ 
vidual animal. There are those who 
insist that herd-books and all record¬ 
ing of pedigrees are more harmful 
than beneficial. The truth lies iu 
the middle ground. A pedigree gives, 
or should give to be satisfactory, 
the means of identifying the animal. 
Usually this is done by giving a name, 
the color, distinguishing marks, the 
age, the add rets-, of the breeder, and, for con 
vonience of reference, a number or the page 
of record. Identification thus made easy, a 
list of the ancestors is given, with, preferably, 
similar facts regarding them, or the menus of 
determining those fuels by reference to their 
pedigrees, it is impossible that any pedigree 
should be literally complete; sooner or later 
our knowledge fails, liven were the informa¬ 
tion attainable, our patience in copying would 
fail. Iu tin' first generation there are two 
ancestors; iu the fifth, 82; in the 10th, 1,084; 
in the 20th, 1,082,57(1; that is, if there has been 
uo breeding together of animals related or 
with common ancestors. It is practicable to 
truce the descent of some animals through 20 
generations in some one lino, but no human 
being would think of copying out ail the 
crosses, even were they known or knowable. 
The rules of customs vary much in case of 
different breeds, some requiring much more 
extended pedigrees than do others. 
The claim that pedigrees have value rests 
on a few fundamental principles iu breeding. 
Insjrection of an animal enables us to di eide 
many points concerning it, but not all. Few 
men go so far as to ignore, in selecting ani¬ 
mals for use or breeding, the basal Law that 
usually like produces like, or the offspring 
will resemble the parents. The most vehe¬ 
ment railer at the folly of long pedigrees will, 
if he be wise, value his colt or calf the more 
highly if from a horse or mure or cow or bull 
of unusual merit. An untried colt may look 
as if bo could run fast, but we all recognize the 
increase of probability of speed, if the sire and 
dam were fast runners. We would be sorry 
to learn that a promising young horse just 
purchased was out of a mare noted for vice 
and uusoundness. It hardly needs argument 
that, except iu case of animals designed for 
certain purposes, as immediate slaughter, it is 
desirable to have the beginning of a jiedigreo 
—a knowledge of the parents. 
We all know, however, that animals do not 
always resemble the parents, but may copy 
the form or other character of some more 
remote ancestor. It is quite possible that an 
exceptionally fine animal may have been sired 
by an inferior one, and that the undesirable 
reproduced A satisfactory pedigree gives us 
the best attainable means of deciding whether 
the ancestry did possess the qualities we desire, 
and is, therefore, of value iu our choice of an 
animal for brer- ling purposes. 
There arc qualities common to the animals 
belonging to any breed. Borne ure better than 
others, but we expect all Devon cattle to be 
red, of medium size and with peculiarities of 
form, horns, etc. If a pedigree shows that the 
ancestors of a cow were pure Devons, we count 
it certain that they all had the Devon charac¬ 
teristics in reasonable degree. If we not only 
know that they were pure Devons, but also 
that they were all exceptionally fine animals, 
we properly give greater value to the cow. 
There are pedigrees which contain a long list 
of animals noted for excellence. Such pedigrees 
are good ones, more valuable tlian those w hich 
simply give us evidence that an animal is 
pure-bred. There are many pedigrees which 
show us that an animal has descended from 
ancestors bred by men who had good reputa¬ 
tion as breeders; whose stock was generally 
excellent. These pedigrees have greater value 
than those which show that ancestry were bred 
by men of little or poor reputation. Descent 
from a single famous ancestor, even 10 genera¬ 
tions back, may give additional value to a 
pedigree because of the presumption raised 
that the descendants of such an animal would 
be well cared for and coupled only with good 
animals. Usually, however, it is much more 
important to have the immediate ancestors 
their parents. For careful study of a pedigree 
it is desirable to have all the crosses before 
one, as far as it is desired to carry- them, rath¬ 
er than to trace each out separately. The 
form of a tree—the animal in question repre¬ 
senting the trunk; the parents the two branch¬ 
es, and these dividing indefinitely- into pairs— 
is the best form; or rather, such a tree cut 
dowu and lying on its side. 
It is possible to forge a pedigree, but such 
forgeries are generally easily detected by one 
familiar with pedigrees. It is easy to give a 
pedigree to an animal which docs not belong 
to it. The guard against this is the honor 
of the breeder. On the truthfulness of the 
breeders wo must, finally depend in case of an¬ 
imals closely resembling each other. Espe¬ 
cially iu case of those which produce several 
young at a time, there are serious practical 
difficulties in keeping pedigrees accurately. 
Fashion in pedigrees has often done great 
harm. There has often been undue import¬ 
ance given to the stock of some one breeder or 
to the descendants of some animal; but these 
and other errors and abuses do not make pedi 
grees valueless. A good animal is the first 
consideration in selecting breeding stock: good 
ancestry is the second, and this is, ordinarily, 
best determined by a pedigree. The further 
back w-e go, t ic less importance is to be at¬ 
tached to the character of an ancestor. Five 
or six generations of known go*xlancestry are 
sufficient for ail practical purposes. The 
names of the breeders are. 1 impox-tant as means 
of determining the correctness of the 
pedigree, and giving presumptive 
evidence of the merit of the animals 
named; the final test of the value 
of any line of pedigree is the merit 
of the animals to which it belongs. 
Past reputation of a family cannot 
cover inferiority in the present. 
Present general excellence of the 
menders of any family of animals 
ought to be sufficient to give reputa¬ 
tion to their pedigrees, A farmer 
may easily attach too much import¬ 
ance to pedigrees. He may equally 
readily make a serious mistake in 
refusing to recognize their value 
when properly used, 
indust’i University, Champaign, Ill. 
AT PLAY.— Fig. 
character of the gnmdsiro may reappear in 
the offspring of the good-lookiug home If 
we wish to breed pure white pigs we would all 
prefer to purchase a boar and sow known to 
have descended from white ancestors for sev¬ 
eral generations, rather than rely on those of 
whose ancestors we know nothing. When any 
character lias persistently appeared for a 
number of generations we count it fixed, and 
confidently exjieet it to reappear. The posses¬ 
sion of any quality by an animal does not 
make it certain that this quality w ill bo trans¬ 
mitted to the offspring. If it is known that 
all the ancestors of the animal for a reason¬ 
able number of generations have possessed 
this quality, it is almost pertain it will be 
832.—From Life. 
good than to have famous remote ancestors. 
Some breeds and some families withiu breeds 
have been greatly improved within recent 
years; others have greatly deteriorated. 
As has been said, the custom in recording 
varies much, in Short-horn pedigrees the 
custom is to carry liack the pedigree ou the 
dam’s side alone, giving only the name and 
number of the sires. The original design was 
to have the pedigrees ot these sires referred to. 
Iu practice, often no thought is given to any¬ 
thing that does not appear on the written or 
printed pedigree. In the lending Jersey Herd 
Register only the names and numbers of sire 
and dam are given. Reference must lie 
made to the record of each of these ami of 
Waste in Feeding Corn. 
The waste in feeding corn unless it 
is ground is very much more than 
most persons suppose. From recent 
experiments in feeding shelled corn, 
l am satisfied fully one-fourth is 
not masticated sufficiently to be 
digested, and, of course, there is a 
elt-ar loss, so far- as the gain of the 
animal is concerned. Diming this 
time the corn w as scattered on the 
dry ground or on a plank floor so 
that the feeding would lx 1 slow-. 
This was the most favorable way to 
feed the corn except boiling. When boiled 
soft it w ill digest although swallow ed w hole. 
Soaking will not soften it enough to be di¬ 
gested unless it Is masticated fine, which is 
never the case. There is quite a difference 
between one-fourth, and one-tenth—the 
amount of the miller’s toll. Hereafter l shall 
not attempt to feed pigs old corn in the kernel 
or in the ear. 
SUGAR cane for figs. 
A patch of sugar cane to cut off in Septem¬ 
ber to feed the pigs has become a necessity. 
It gives them a tine start and makes the fatten¬ 
ing season ou coru much shorter. Two quails 
of seed w ill plant cue-fourth of an acre in 
