4878 
£!)e J^ivtaman. 
REFORMATION IN REGISTRATION OF 
LIVE STOCK. 
HON. T. C. JONES 
Necessity of excluding inferior animals; a 
puzzling problem; experience of Merino 
sheep breeders; Early British registration 
of Thoroughbreds and Short-horns; cur¬ 
rent British practice; American registra¬ 
tion\ undue value, attributed to registra¬ 
tion; suggestions for reformation. 
rrMIE communication of Prof. Sanborn, in 
JL the Rural of October 1, respecting what 
he calls the “Mischief of Herd Books, etc.,” is 
opportune, and while l may not agree with 
all that is contained in this interesting contri¬ 
bution, I am in full sympathy with the opin¬ 
ion ho expresses respecting the necessity of a 
radical re formation in tho breeding of pedi¬ 
gree stock of all classes, by returning to the 
old practice of rigorously weeding out infer¬ 
ior animals however fashionable their lineage. 
Professor Sanborn is generally regarded as 
a very practical man, and yet he does not 
point out how the changes he advocates in the 
public registry of pedigrees is to be accom¬ 
plished. He would admit to Herd Book 
record only animals meritorious in useful 
properties us well as in purity of blood. Very 
well: all intelligent men will perhaps agree 
that this is desirable: but howls it to be ac¬ 
complished.' The breeders of Merino sheep 
attempted to carry out this idea by providing 
for the appointment of a committee of compe¬ 
tent judges to visit at the expense of the 
owners all the pure bred stock, and deter¬ 
mine wlmt animals of approved merit in fleece 
and carcass were to be honored with the in¬ 
dorsement of the association. 
But this method, for a variety of reasons 
which cannot bo here mentioned, was, I be¬ 
lieve, found to be utterly impracticable. And 
yet it is difficult to conceive how a selection 
of meritorious animals for registry is to bo 
enforced without an examination by an im¬ 
partial and disinterested judge. What can 
intelligent breeders of the day do to counter¬ 
act tho deterioration resulting from the pre¬ 
vailing practice! It. seems to me that the 
managers of our Herd Book associations may 
do much to reform the present system with¬ 
out establishing a compulsory rule and assum¬ 
ing to determine the merits of all the animals 
admitted to record. 
The Brit ish Stud Book was, I believe, the 
first English publication for the registration 
of pedigrees. The object, of course, was to 
make known to the public the fact that the 
animal entered was descended from a dis¬ 
tinguished line of ancestors. There were no 
complicated details in the record —the name, 
date of birth, color, name of sire and dam, 
etc., etc., were given; ami the merits of 
these animals were generally known to tho 
public. There was no requirement that the 
dam should be recorded, or the sire. It was 
very much the same with the registration of 
Short horn cattle. Thus wo lind the pedi¬ 
grees of the distinguished bulls Kettou ami 
Ketton 2d, owned by a man so critical in 
pedigrees as Mr. Bates, recorded in the 1st Vol. 
of Coates’s Herd Book as below: 
(709) Ketton 1st. Got by Favorite, dam 
(g. d. of old Duchess) by tho Daisy Bull (by 
Favorite) g. d. by Favorite; gr. g. d. by Hub- 
bach; gr. gr. g. d. by Mr. James Brown’s red 
bull. 
(710) Ketton 2d. Got by Ketton 1st., dam 
grandson of Favorite; g. d. by Mr. James 
Brown’s red bull. 
Here, it will bo observed, no numbers are 
given, the sires living of such merit that they 
were presumed to be known to all breeders of 
Improved Short-horns. It was not practic¬ 
able to continue this method after the Short¬ 
horn had become the prevailing stock of far¬ 
mers engaged in mixed husbandry in all parts 
of England, and the number of meritorious 
bulls had increased so that more definite desig¬ 
nation than the more name became necessary. 
But there was not, nor is there asl understand, 
to this day any rule requiring the registration 
uf the dam; nor was there until witliiu the 
hist “0 years any positive requirement as to 
the registration of tho sire, and it was not t he 
custom to register u female until she had 
giveu birth to a calf. Furthermore, the Brit¬ 
ish custom has boon to allow the registration 
of cows showing uot less than four crosses of 
registered sires. Thu tomloucy of these lib¬ 
eral rules has been to encourage the selection 
for registry of only such cattle as proved to 
be meritorious, for they clearly imply that 
merit is not determined by pedigree alone. 
It is scarcely neeessury to point out how 
different has been our practice ju this country. 
At the beginning every encouragement was 
given to record as soon [as born all [animals 
THE RURAL (IEW-V0RKER. 
725 
having the prescribed breeding. Then came 
the requirement that the pedigree must show 
descent in all the crosses from imported an¬ 
cestry or from cattle previously recorded in 
the American Herd Book, and this was soon 
followed by the rule requiring the registration 
of the dam as well as the sire, and then that 
which provided that if an animal was not 
registered before it was six years old the fee 
for registration would be five dollars. 
Similar regulations are understood to he 
prescribed by associations of breeders of other 
races of cattle, sheep, swine, etc. In conse¬ 
quence of the existence and enforcement of 
these complicated and technical regulations an 
undue importance is attached to the registered 
pedigree, many people supposing that such 
registration is sufficient to constitute the high- 
ranking thoroughbred without reference to 
individual excellence. Such opinions have not 
been confined to persons who are ignorant in 
pedigree lore; but m many instances experts 
have been known to make purchases at ex¬ 
travagant prices without any knowledge or 
information respecting the animals. 
If I am right in these observations, it would 
soetu to follow that the repeal of the rules re¬ 
quiring the registration of dams, and impos¬ 
ing a penalty of four dollars for neglecting to 
register a cow until after she is over six years 
of age, and the adoption of a rule that females 
should not be registered until after they have 
produced living issue, would tend to discour¬ 
age the registration of animals of objection¬ 
able characteristics, or inferior merit. Aud 
if, in addition to this, our agricultural societ¬ 
ies could be induced to offer liberal prizes for 
breeding bulls to bo exhibited with four of 
their get not less than two years old. or for 
cows with, say, three of their progeny, and 
requiring all cows over three years old to be 
shown in milk, in my opinion very material 
encouragement would be given to breeding 
excellence in useful and profitable qualities 
iu our cattle. 
Delaware, Ohio. 
MORE ABOUT SALTING CATTLE. 
1 ) EFERRING to a discussion between T. D. 
V Curtis and J. R., of Charter Oak. Iowa, 
on the necessity of salting cows, I would sug¬ 
gest that, the “make up” of the soil has au im¬ 
portant bearing on this question. Here in Colo¬ 
rado, stock often goes from one year to another 
without “being salted.” This is true not only 
of range cattle, but of those that are kept iu 
pastures and well cared for. In fact, it is 
rarely that my own cattle or horses will 
cut salt when it is placed before them. While 
this is true, L think it can be explained upon 
the ground that our grasses contain the neces¬ 
sary elements Much of our soil is largely Im¬ 
pregnated with alkali, aud to know just what 
to do with the “soluble salts” is often a ques¬ 
tion This is particularly true where laud is 
kept too moist from auy cause. The weight 
of experience aud testimony seems certainly 
to be largely in favor of the proposition of 
Mr. Curtis, that “salt is a constituent of the 
blood, . . . aud must be derived from some 
source,” although there are those who hold 
that the great food staples contain in them¬ 
selves all the saline substances that are neces¬ 
sary, without additional artificial supply. May 
not, after all, then, a knowledge of the consti¬ 
tuents of the soil of a pasture be essential to a 
proper solution of the problem under discus¬ 
sion! An analysis might disclose the fact that 
the grasses or food upon which ’’J. tt.” kept, 
his cows were really supplied with au abun¬ 
dance of salt from the great storehouse of na¬ 
ture. A. E. G. 
Greeley, Colo. 
ittiscel Uncoiis. 
MARKET NOTES. 
M ALAGA grapes are coming iu vast quan- 
tii ics One would suppose that when our 
native grapes are so plentiful, there would he 
little market for foreign, yet the Malagas ure 
everywhere. It is a fact that those who buy 
grapes in this market care but little for varie¬ 
ties. Concord, Niagara and Delaware repre¬ 
sent the three colors pretty well and probably 
nine-tenths of the grapes are sold under these 
names, unless they are plainly marked. It is 
about like the potato market. Everything is 
“Early Rose” here. It does not matter that 
50 per cent, of growers have given up the 
Early Rose. The name is still popular, and it 
is “what's iu a name?” to most of the purchas¬ 
ers. The Rural Blush is a fur better eating 
potato than the Early Rose, and yet, until 
the} - eat the former, customers are willing to 
pay more for the older variety. 
.Several wide-awake cooks in New York have 
made a discovery regarding the Rural Blush 
potato. The “hot corn” season is now about 
over. The people who went about muuehiug 
boiled com are ill at.ease without'somathing 
to “keep their jaws going.” A baked potato 
is the best substitute for the “hot corn.” 
Good-sized potatoes, piping hot, served with 
salt, pepper and butter, will bring five cents 
each on the streets, and there is no potato 
grown better suited to this trade than 
the Rural Blush. Some people talk about 
tho flavor of a potato as they would 
of the flavor of an apple or pear. 
I begin to believe that the potato which 
gives the best satisfaction is almost ab¬ 
solutely tasteless. People want a potato that 
is dry, white and mealy; that will mash easily 
and not make a paste. The fact that most 
people make use of gravy, butter and various 
condiments on their potatoes seems to me evi¬ 
dence that they do not care for any distinct 
potato taste. I believe that most people eat 
potatoes, not because they like them, but be¬ 
cause they instinctively realize that the potato 
supplies a certain kind of food that they need. 
Vegetables with a characteristic taste like car¬ 
rots or turnips will only be eaten in compara¬ 
tively small quantities. 
Quite a business is done in “checkerberries” 
in this market. Some city people are very 
fond of them and are willing to pay eight cents 
per quart. Large shipments are made from 
Delaware. 
The prices for tomatoes this season have 
surprised everybody. We ail expected low 
prices, but instead of that prices have ranged 
40 per cent, higher than those of last year. 
Next year everybody will go into tomatoes 
and as a result there will be a glut during the 
whole season. If gardeners would plant 
about the same area every year and guage 
the supply by the demand they would always 
have satisfactory prices. Last year the can- 
ners were able to secure stocks at very low 
prices, but this year they have had to pay 
more. Most market moo tell me that tney 
prefer to sell their tomatoes and buy what 
canned stock they need. It is the custom this 
year to pack choice fruits, like apples and 
pears, in crates. This pays with a certaiu 
class of customers who want to see what they 
are buying. Too many barrels of apples have 
the good ones all at the top. When crates are 
bought, the purchaser cau see pretty well what 
he is baying. The apples in tho crates, how¬ 
ever, are more easily bruised and after stand¬ 
ing for a few days in the commission houses 
are in poor condition. market boy. 
XPomnn’s IPork. 
CONDUCTED BY EMILY LOUISE TAPLIN. 
CHAT BY THE WAY. 
f^I^HE upholders of women’s suffrage and wo- 
X men’s rights generally will be much elated 
by the appointment of Miss Phoebe Couzins 
as United States Marshal of St. Louis. Miss 
Couzins’s father held this position, aud during 
his ill health his daughter managed the affairs 
of tho office with perfect satisfaction until his 
death, when she received the appointment. 
She is a clever woman, with a good knowledge 
of law. She has been an ardent agitator on 
the question of woman’s suffrage; but she 
will probably pay less attention to this, since 
her convictions have been thus fully recog¬ 
nized. 
* * * * 
Mrs. Emma C. Hewitt, writing in Daugh¬ 
ters of America, speaks very sensibly of en¬ 
tertaining guests. She says it is often really 
inconvenient when the lord and master will 
bring people home to supper without auy pre¬ 
vious notice. Of course, we can say that a 
woman ought to be always prepared, so that 
she is never entirely at a loss when guests ar¬ 
rive unexpectedly. But this is quite out of 
the question in a very small house. And no 
matter how awkward it may bo, a man is 
ulways annoyed it his wife makes a mild pro¬ 
test, under such circumstances. Undoubtedly 
the best plan is, as Mrs Hewitt suggests, to 
set one day iu the week on which he may 
bring home anyone he likes without previous 
notice. Such a rule entails very little extra 
expense, aud it is certainly more satisfactory 
than inviting more people than one cau really 
manage to large tea-parties at regular inter¬ 
vals. * * 
Young people are very apt to feel the need 
of more active social life in the winter season, 
when the evenings are long and dreary. Yet 
it is not really hard to brighten things up a 
good deal, if one only has the will. A single 
bright girl possessing what we may call the 
social instinct, is indeed a treasure iu such 
case. Possessing tact aud good nat ure, such 
a girl will completely transform a dull neigh¬ 
borhood. Of course one must decide what 
tiie entertainments are to be. They must be 
something livelier than what in some country 
neighborhoods is described as a “social even¬ 
ing,” where the guests sit around i aektug their 
brains for topics of polite conversation, varied 
by a little music. 
* * * 
Iu a neighborhood where dauciug is per¬ 
mitted, it is easy enough to settle on the amuse¬ 
ment. When a few.youngjpeople[are collected 
DRESS GOODS. 
JAMES McCREERY & CO. 
Announce for this week an 
important exhibition of 
rich Dress Fabrics, espec¬ 
ially adapted to the mid¬ 
winter season: A very 
select invoice of Broad- 
Cloth Rohes, richly embel¬ 
lished xvilh spun s^old, in 
the new ‘■'■Cascade” designs; 
Berlin-braided costume 
patterns in varied and 
original styles, “llyma- 
lah” and Scotch Tweed in 
handsome Stripes and 
Plaids for school and street 
wear. Also <500 Pattern 
Dresses, in a variety of de¬ 
sirable and seasonable col¬ 
ors at $10, $12, $1.1 and 
$17.50. Each pattern has 
an adequate quantity of 
all-wool plain material, 
with an accompanying 
novelty in Velour, Jet or 
(incutVelvet forGarniture. 
The above robes are re¬ 
markable valne. 
Broadway and 11th St.., 
New York. 
together, let them be ever so shy and awk¬ 
ward, Sir Roger de Coverley will put quick¬ 
silver into their heels and their spirits alike, 
until the last trace of bashfulness is removed. 
Nor is there any need of elaborate preparation, 
either in dress or entertainment. Let the 
lads and lasses simply put on their ordinary 
“best,” and as for refreshments, why, some 
plain cake, coffee, and rosy apples will give 
as much satisfaction as the finest supper from 
Pinard. If there is any objection to dancing, 
a little musical and literary programme may 
be prepared, to be followed by jolly, old-fash¬ 
ioned games. Or a skating party will be good 
sport for a moonlight night; anything, in 
short, that will draw people together. This 
world is all a fleeting show, we are told, but 
we might as well have all the innocent fun 
possible. And many a country place could 
be made much livelier and pleasanter, socia¬ 
bly, if people would only pull together, each 
doing his best to promote the general enjoy¬ 
ment. 
AND YET ANOTHER. 
I HAVE read with much interest J. H. G.’s 
remarks on “Woman’s Work” in the Ru¬ 
ral for Oct. 15 While agreeing with him in 
some respects ho takes a very narrow view— 
like a man. The young man—he appears to 
be very young—does not give us very much 
choice. We must either strain every nerve 
to catch a “male critter,” or unless we take 
up a profession aud devote our whole life to 
it, we are classed among the “anxious and 
aimless.” 
There is no reason why a woman when pro¬ 
ficient in a profession should give up all 
thoughts of matrimony. The qualities that 
make a good business woman would make the 
best wife. J. H. G. says that there are three 
conditions in woman’ssphore—“Public life and 
eelebacy; private life and possible matrimo¬ 
ny: or anxiousness and aimlessness.” 
I rise to object. I am a “lone, lorn crit¬ 
ter,” like our friend "Min, Guuimidge.” I 
haven’t a mission and I suppose my aims are 
not very high, as 1 do not even spend my time 
in bunting for the aforesaid male critter, and 
yet I do not think 1 come under the head of 
“anxious and aimless.” 
Pefhaps the life of the average woman is 
full of uncertainty—I think it is—particular¬ 
ly a married woman's. But these assertions 
of anxiousuess aud aimlessness are looked at 
from one side—and that the man’s. 
BETSY TROTWOOD. 
A WORD TO SONS AND DAUGHTERS. 
ALICE BROWN. 
r INHERE are hundreds of bright boys and' 
X girls, who are just beginning to see that 
*hey cau do a great deal to make those around 
hem happier. 
They are doing some helpful.things without 
