THE RURAL NEW-YORKER. 
• OCT 4 
other hardy plants when mature, Alfalfa 
is tender in its infancy and requires nursing, 
and remember, too, that, after the second year 
the land must Ire fertilized with phosphate 
and potash fertilizers, applied iu liberal 
pleasures, if three heavy crops of forage are 
to be taken off each. It is very much more 
difficult in the average season to get a stand 
of Alfalfa than one of Red Clover; but when 
once obtained it, will last for a generation; 
whereas clover, unless the second crop is left 
on the land to seed itself, dies down the second 
year, and when the soil is approaching the 
condition of “clover sickness,” a little extra 
frost in severe winters will throw Lhe roots 
out, whether young or old. Seeding to 
Timothy and clover having measurably failed 
this season, it will be a good time to experi¬ 
ment, with Alfalfa, the seed of which ought to 
be had at the price of clover seed, after the 
failure of this year’s crop. 
Champaigu County, Ill. 
A SURPRISING YIELD OF EARLY OHIO POTATO. 
Here is a surprising yield of the early Ohio 
potato, and the report may be trusted as abso¬ 
lutely correct. The Early Ohio we have 
fouud to be the earliest of potatoes, but never 
a heavy yielder. 
“We have raised 3.800 bushels of Early 
Ohio potatoes from 12}{ acres, this present 
year, or at the rate of 304 bushels per acre. 
If we had waited for them to ripen before we 
dug them there would have been hundreds of 
bushels more. They were dug iu the midst of 
their growth—nearty all between July 2 and 
16. Our method of treating the crop is as fol¬ 
lows: the tubers were cut to one eye and 
sprouted by artificial heat. They were 
planted 14 to 23 of April, and fertilized with 
one ton of steam-dried fish scrap to the acre, 
spread on broadcast after plowing. They 
were marked in rows three to four inches iu 
depth; the rows were 27 inches apart, and the 
pieces planted 10 inches apart iu the rows. 
They were covered lightly and received good 
cultivation and were dug in the bight of 
their growing, and 3,800 bushels weie sent to 
market, the small ones having been left on the 
ground. 
From oue piece of 3% acres, 415 barrels 
were dug and sent to market between July 2 
and 9, or 339 bushels to the aero. 
Orient. N. Y. geo. w. hallock & son. 
Slje ijtuJsnuui. 
CATTLE INTERESTS OF THE WEST. 
PROF. J. W. SANBORN. 
Mischief of herd books ; a check to rapid 
improvement by selection ; evils of indis¬ 
criminate registration ; more rigid selec¬ 
tion of animal8 for registration impera¬ 
tive ; pedigree and merit must be 
synonymous ; all cows of pure-bred stock 
suffer ; reformation needed. 
The following views touching the cattle in¬ 
terests of the West have been long lingering 
in my mind and have been emphasized anew 
by my experience in buying several breeds of 
cattle, sheep, etc., for the Missouri State 
Agricultural College. 
The mischief of herd books can scarcely 
escape any good observer’s attention, and 
especially that of a breeder or buyer. Selec¬ 
tion will be generally agreed upon as the 
road to gradual improvement of stock by the 
breeder’s art, aside from his skill as u feeder, 
especially so after a breed has been formed 
aud is not only to be perpetuated iu its purity 
but advanced. The herd book is clearly seen 
to work as a positive check to the most rapid 
advance of the mass of stock by the art of 
selection. A successful breeder ascribed his 
success to the fact that he “ hung some and 
shot many.” 
The herd book after being founded to keep 
up the genealogy of a line of stock that owes 
its greatness to the most rigid selection, takes 
pi everything that is dropped, and pedigrees 
unimals that are scrubs in characteristics, and 
thereby lends to them a fictitious value aud 
aids iu inducing unwarranted use of poor 
animals aud the certain descent of bad 
material. 
To the beginner in breeding a pedigree is 
somewhat remarkable, and he buys ou the ex 
aggerated value loaned to it by the genera; 
faith attached to it, aud iu the same spirit he 
repeats the recording of everything born 
rom pedigreed stock, and thereby perpetu- 
tes bad ami good alike, and renders breeding 
more of a lottery and less of a certainty than 
it ought to be. There is an unquestionable 
demand for some regulating power in this 
matter of pedigrees ; but a fraction only of 
the “pure-bred” calves dropped should be re¬ 
corded if we are to maintain a rapid advance 
in the general average of our breeding stock. 
How this restriction shall be applied I need 
not attempt to point out, but applied it must 
be and applied I am sure it will be. 
Pedigree means far too little now, and so lit¬ 
tle bold is it having upon the masses because 
lumbered up with so much that is worthless, 
that I predict that ere long some bright breed¬ 
ers will reorganize on closer lines and uuder 
very material restrictions for registration. 
Unpopular as it may be, aud doubtless finan¬ 
cially injurious as it would be to some, I do 
not hesitate in sayiug that our Western stock 
interests as a whole would be much advanced 
b^ the enforcement of a more rigid system of 
selection by herd-book rules l hope to see the 
time when tbe breeders of beef breeds will 
test their animals for digestion and assimila¬ 
tion, and ascertain the amount required per 
pound of growth before using their bull, 
while the dairy animals may be judged by the 
food required for a pound of their product. 
But we ought to shut out half or two-thirds 
of the auimals dropped. An owner of native 
stock is relieved from the temptation to breed 
from everything owned by him, while the 
owner of every recorded female at present is 
induced to keep her, whether suitable or not, 
and record all calves. I must not be under¬ 
stood as opposed to pedigrees or herd-books, but 
rather as call iug attention to their weak and 
even pernicious side. If the old herd-book as¬ 
sociations wish to prevent a uew and closer 
organization that will inevitably make every¬ 
thing out of it unfashionable, they will soon 
have to curtail registration of pure-bred 
scrubs, and thereby make pedigree and merit 
more nearly synonymous. No one needs, or 
ought to need, convincing on this point who 
has at tended .the annual sales of stock, or, 
better still, who has visited the herds at home 
before they are fitted for sale. 
The poor stuff in herd books is not con¬ 
fined to beef breeds; iu fact, my observation 
is that, the dairy breeds are in worse condi¬ 
tion. Amoug them there certainly are some 
very worttiless auimals recorded. This state 
of affairs grows out of the fact that herd 
books have assumed that their only function 
is to keep the genealogy. The primary fuuc- 
tiod of herd books is to record a line of super¬ 
ior beasts in order not only to give assur¬ 
ance of their origin, but to euoonrage the use 
of none but good auimals, whose origin is 
thus authenticated. If them original and a 
part of their true fuuctions have uot been in 
pan lost sight of, the time is rife aud progress 
demands that they take on a new one, and 
make the recording of animals an assurance 
of superior merit. 
Columbia, Mo. 
BREEDING LARGE MALES TO SMALL 
FEMALES. 
From my earliest study of the true princi¬ 
ples of breeding down to the present time, all 
authors on this subject I have perused con¬ 
demn it, and assert that it would be better to 
practice the other extreme of breeding—small 
males to large females. But at the same time 
they say it is still better to couple males and 
females together of nearly the same size, the 
male, as a geueral rule, being somewhat the 
larger, ami always perfectly sound and vigor¬ 
ous. The greatly-increased demand for sev¬ 
eral years past ol’ druy horses, botti in Great 
Britain and America, has tempted the bleed¬ 
ers of these to stint their stallions, in many 
instances, to smaller mares of other classes. 
The result of this has gt-uerally been the pro¬ 
duction of offsprings irregularly shaped in 
their bodies—that is, anunals wi h large fore¬ 
quarters uud small hind ones, or the reverse, 
slab-sided, aud with extra long and rather 
weak legs. 
British agricultural periodicals are now 
calling earnest attention to this subject and 
emphatically coudemniug the practice. How 
is it with American publications? 1 have not 
seen a single oue that says a word for or 
against it—they seem to ignore the subject 
entirely. Is this because they are ignorant of 
it? If so, I would suggest their seeking infor¬ 
mation about it, particularly iu our Western 
Territories, where 1 believe a considerable 
number of dray stallions have been taken to 
breed to the undersized native mares run¬ 
ning half wild iu those regions. 
A. B. ALLEN. 
lUfifriniuij. 
VETERINARY QUACKERY. 
DR. F. L. KILBORNE. 
Quackery still abundant, though diminish¬ 
ing; hollow-horn; wolf-in-the-taU; lost- 
cud; a specimen quack: wotf-teeth ; hooks 
in the eyes; conceited ignorance; trust to 
nature rather than quackery, 
The rapid advancement made in the sci¬ 
ence of veterinary practice within the past 
few years has done much towards doing away 
with some of the enormous stock of veterinary 
quackery throughout the country. The vari¬ 
ous veterinary schools of this country and 
Canada yearly graduate several hundred 
young men; while not a few of the graduates 
of the foreign schools come to this country 
to locate in practice. But even with the year¬ 
ly addition of this large number to our regu¬ 
lar practitioners, the quack thrives iu many 
places. His operations, however, are mostly 
confined to small towns and rural districts. 
There we still have men who, iu their ignor¬ 
ance, persist iu calling various diseases of cat 
tie by the very significant (?) name of “ hoi- 
low-horn” or “ horn-ail,” and treat the cases in 
the approved “ cow-doctor” style by boring 
the horns and tilling them with turpentine, 
pepper, or other equally irritating and injuri¬ 
ous agents, to torture the poor animal. In 
many cases the treatment is worse than the 
disease itself; aud it is a wonder that so many 
cases recover under such barbarous treatment. 
Another will find “ w’olf-iu-the-tail,” ami the 
tail must be forthwith split and bouud up in 
salt, pepper, tobacco or ashes. If the patient 
is so unfortunate as to be very sick, and the 
quack so learned (?) that he can find both 
“hollow-horn” and “ wolf-in-tlie tail,” her 
case is indeo 1 a sore one. The disease is then 
said to reach from her horns to the end of her 
tail; and in addition to the above treatment 
she must have the whole length of her back 
rubbed with soft-eoap, turpenline, wet wood- 
ashes, or with some mysterious mixture which 
tiie quack will prepare himself, much after 
tbemanuer of the “ Iudiou medicine-man.” 
Possibly a cow may not be credited w ith 
having either of these diseases, but has simply 
“lost her cud;” where or how it was lost they 
do not attempt to explain. In fact, it is 
against their principles to explain anything, 
except to deepen the mystery surrounding the 
case and impress their hearers with their own 
importance. For the loss of cud they pro¬ 
ceed to collect some elder, wild cherry, or 
other suitable shrubs, scrape the inner bark 
and mix the scrapings with herbs and molas¬ 
ses to form a mass tbe size of the closed fist, 
or larger. This artificially prepared, mystic, 
cud is then placed well back iu tbe cow’s 
mouth, wiLh the expectation that it will take 
the place of the lost cud; that the animal will 
immediately begin to ruminate as usual, 
and that a speedy recovery may be looked 
for. Kulliee it to say their expectations are 
never realized, except by accident, as it were. 
One unusually self-conceited quack of my 
acquaintance, confines his operations almost 
entirely to horses, and his treatment is almost 
always mercurial blisters. A ring-bone, 
spavin, puff or other swelling will always re¬ 
ceive a severe blistering; so also with a case 
of pneumonia, sore throat, glanders, colic or 
indigestion. He claims to have made many 
most wonderful cures, including several eases 
of glanders (a feat no veterinarian has ever 
accomplished), and although his patients are 
constantly dying on his hands, his self-conceit 
will always prevent his seeing the folly of his 
course of treatment. 
Like all other quacks, he is a firm believer iu 
the theory that the pressure of tbe harmless 
little wolf-teeth m the mouth of the horse, is 
injurious to, and causes disease of the eyes If 
a youug horse has any trouble with his eyes, 
as he is very liable to have when cutting the 
large molars or grinders of his upper jaw, the 
wolf-teeth are looked for, ami if present are 
ruthlessly knocked out, to cure a disease for 
which they are iu no way responsible. If the 
wolf-teeth are uot present and the haw par¬ 
tially covers the eye, as the result of more or 
less inflammation (causing the so-called “hooks 
in the eyes”) this important membrane is out 
out, a very injurious as well as barbarous 
practice. This “horse doctor" has never read 
a standard work on veterinary science and he 
has no regard for the opinions of any veterin¬ 
arian, which differ from his own set opinions. 
Such is the self-eouceit and bigotry which 
most quacks add to their ignorance. They 
pretend to know all about tbe diseases of ani¬ 
mals and their treatment, when in fact they 
know little or nothing. It was a quack who 
prescribed a dose of one-hull' pint of croton 
oil for a sick horse, and was only prevented 
from having his order carried out by the re¬ 
fusal of the druggist to fill such a prescription. 
Not Infrequently he figures as a contributor 
to agricultural papers and journals. Even in 
the Rural as late as May 7th, two writers 
persist in the use of “hollow-horn” uud “boru- 
ail” after having been repeatedly informed 
through the Rural, as well as by auy of our 
leading agricultural or stock journals, that no 
such diseases were recognized by the veteri¬ 
nary profession; and that the use of such 
meaningless, nonsensical terms belongs only to 
quackery. Why will men continue to ex¬ 
pose their ignorance of the profession by 
writing about that of which they know little 
or nothing? Do these writers suppose their 
opinions will have equal weight with the 
opinions of such men as Drs. Law, Salmon, 
Liautard and others, who have made a life 
study of veterinary science, and who now 
stand at the head of the profession in this 
country ? 
Certain it is that quackery still flourishes 
and will eontiuue to do so as long as people 
will employ men whose only ability consists 
in being able to “talk hoss” joekery, aud 
lounge about public places or stables, where 
they arouse their hearers with their vile con¬ 
versation. They never fail to name every 
case of disease they meet, and they always 
know “just the best” course of treatment to 
pursue. Ti e more outlandish and barbarous 
the treatment, the more knowledge and skil; 
they are supposed to possess. Why really 
intelligent stockmen will place such blind 
confidence iu men who really know less about 
the ailments of stock than they do themselves, 
is a mystery. 
True, the quack occasionally relieves the 
paiu of his patient, but it is usually by killing 
iostead of curiug the animal. Even if the 
animal does recover, it is in spite of, and not 
because of the treatment. If a competent 
practitioner cannot be had, better to employ 
none at all. With good nursing, rest in com¬ 
fortable quarters, and a light, wholesome 
diet, the majority of sick animals will recover 
more readily without medicine than they will 
when dosed indiscriminately with the injuri¬ 
ous mixtures of an ignoraut quack. 
ANSWERS TO CORRESPONDENTS. 
[Every query must he accompanied by the name 
and address of the writer to Insure attention. Before 
asking a question, please see If U Is not answered In 
our advertislUK columns. Ask only a few questions at 
one time. Put questions on a separate piece of paper.] 
RED POLLED CATTLE AND CLEVELAND BAY 
HORSES. 
C. J. W., Fergus Falls , Minn .—What are 
the distinctive advantages and disadvantages 
of Red Polled cattle uud Cleveland Bay horses 
for this section ? Can they be registered ', 
Who are reliable dealers in them ? 
Ans. —Neither Red Polled cattle nor Cleve¬ 
land Bay horses have any distinctive advan¬ 
tage or disadvantage for Otter Tail Country 
uny more than Tor other parts of the country. 
Their merits or demerits there, as elsewhere, 
will depend on the purposes for which they 
are wanted. There is nothing in their origin 
or character to render them ill or well adapted 
to any particular section, where ordinary 
good care and protection against extremely 
inclement weather arc afforded. The lied 
Polled Ls an excellent dairy cow—the deepest 
milker urnoug the polled breeds. When from 
age or any other cause, she is to he turned off 
for the butcher, she lays ou readily flesh of 
excellent quality, which brings a good price 
in the market. Tne Red Polls are an excellent 
general-purpose breed and wherever a horn, 
less breed of that kind is wanted, there is 
none better. For beef alone, the Galloway or 
Aberdecn-Angus among the Polls, and tbe 
Short-horn and Htteford among horned cut 
tic arc more desirable, uud so is the Devon, 
which looks very like a horned Red Norfolk 
aud Suffolk. For strictly dairy purposes the 
Holstein uud Aryshire will average more 
milk, and the Jersey uud Guernsey w ill aver¬ 
age more butter from the same quantity of 
milk. A Red Polled Cattle Society was organ¬ 
ized iu this country iu November, 1883, of 
which Mr. J. C. Murray, of Moquoketa, Iowa, 
is secretary, aud he has charge of the Ameri. 
cau Red Polled Herd Book L. F. Ross uud 
W. Hanke, Iowa City, la.; W. Steele, Wuu- 
kesha, Wis.; C. U. Henderson, Beloit, Wis., 
and Sexton, Warren ik Oxford, Maple Hill, 
Kansas, have Red Polled cattle far sale iu the 
West. 
It is very doubtful whether any of the pure 
descendants of the original Cleveland Bays 
are now in existence. They were doubtless 
produced by crossing large, bony Thorough¬ 
breds on the large bay cart mares of York¬ 
shire, thus producing large, strong, spirited 
horses well adapted to the stage coaches so 
numerous iu England before the era of rail¬ 
roads With the advent of railroads differ¬ 
ent styles of horses .were more desirable 
heavier beasts, like the Shires, Cl)des and 
Suffolka for heavy work; and lighter horses 
for other business, aud to obtain the latter the 
Cleveland Bay mares were crossed with 
Thoroughbred or high-bred stallions,Cleveland 
Bay stallions boiug seldom or never used, so 
