THE RURAL NEW-YORKER. 
beds are equivalent to at least one-eighth part 
of the food in the process of fattening. Keep 
a thin, hungry pig in a pen next that of the 
fattening pigs, and when these have eaten all 
they feel inclined to, let in the huugry neigh¬ 
bor to clean up what is left. The filled pigs 
will find room for a little more. 
THE NEW YORK POULTRY SHOW. 
Premiums; classification; trying to satisfy 
all; impartiality in judging’, pigeons and 
other pets. _ 
The premium list of the poultry show to be 
held at Madison Square Garden December 14 
to 21, has just been issued. Silver medals, 
cups and money prizes are offered iu all de¬ 
partments. Fowls and pigeons not disqualified 
will be scored and classed. All birds in the 
first class will receive certificates of mperior- 
ity; in the second class, certificates of excel¬ 
lence, and iu the third class certificates of 
merit. This plan will give amateurs and 
breeders w ho have good birds, but not the best 
in their class, the recognition and encourage¬ 
ment they deserve. Usually veteran breed¬ 
ers carry off a majority of the prizes and reap 
all the benefits of the judging. Less fortn nate 
exhibitors, who have birds scoring a fraction 
of a point less than the winners, get little or 
nO credit for the stock they have brought so 
near perfection. But by the class method the 
fowls will be graded and the owners will re¬ 
ceive a guarantee of excellence in the form of 
a certificate that will be not only a personal 
gratification, but of value in selling stock and 
eggs. The scoring will be done with absolute 
impartiality. The American Standard of Ex¬ 
cellence will be the guide for all varieties that 
it covers. The White Wyandotte, the White 
Plymouth Rock and the Minorca Clubs will 
furnish standards for judging the breeds that 
they represent, and other new breeds will be 
left to the discretion of the judges. 
In the pigeon department, the different 
classes will be arranged systematically. The 
birds of each variety will be brought to¬ 
gether, and not left in individual displays. 
Prizes will be awarded on single birds in¬ 
stead of pairs. Special prizes will be given 
for collections and the largest number of en¬ 
tries. A handsome silver cup valued at $50 
will be offered for competition in the “Hom¬ 
ing” class, and will be awarded to the best 
record at 200 miles or over. 
Premiums wall be offered for toy dogs, cats, 
birds, and minor pets, and this part of the 
show promises to be very interesting. A 
number of rare ornamental fowls will be 
shown, and artificial ponds will be constructed 
for black and white swans and wild ducks 
with beautiful plumage. The applications for 
space, and the entries are now being received 
and indications point to a larger and fiuer ex¬ 
hibit than ever before. 
OUR FARMERS’ ASSOCIATION. 
Why some farmers' clubs decay; starting a 
“ private ” club; work and discussion; so¬ 
cial entertainments; subjects for debate; 
force of example. 
There seems to be a growing desire among 
farmers to organize for mutual benefit. While 
the farmers’ dub of 20 years ago satisfied the 
aspirations of a few in a locality and was of 
value to them, its influence and usefulness 
waned gradually, until there are very few 
now that enjoy the reputation of former times- 
In a club, organized as a public affair, a tew 
alw ays get to the front, or are pushed there 
by others, and upon them the labors and re¬ 
sponsibilities of sustaining the enterprise at 
last rest entirely; while those who shirk 
when opportunity offers, settle back as lookers- 
on or critics, or very possibly clogs and checks 
to every effort at advancement. 
Such a farmers’ club was organized in our 
neighborhood in the fall of 1870. We held 
weekly meetings through the winter and made 
occasional appointments during the summer. 
This continued until 1872, when the Grange 
absorbed the active element, and the farmers’ 
club, in name, ceased to exist. 1 know our 
experience tallied with that of very many 
other communities, The Grange cultivated 
and fostered a fraternal feeling that did not 
before exist, and this seemed to demand a 
closer relationship among farmers. 
Early in Ju e, 1-879. invited 12 farmers 
and their wives to meet at my house, request¬ 
ing them to arrive at 10 o’clock A. M, These 
gentlemen and their wives I had selected as 
being of like tastes aud temperaments, having 
a bias toward intellectual improvement, and 
they were also among the beet farmers within 
ial feature. In many cases, anxious to make 
a good showing for his goods, he prepares the 
best collection of vegetables to be found on 
the grounds. In the Far West this exhibit is 
wanting. If the Western farmer would smile 
at some of the exhibits at Eastern fairs, East¬ 
ern farmers would have a chance to smile at 
some of the exhibits at English fairs. The 
latest novelty at the English fairs is a “cattle 
spice.” This is a condiment designed to make 
rough fodder more palatable to stock, and to 
tempt them to eat more of the best fodder. At. 
the fairs samples of the condiment will be 
shown with cattle fed with it, side by side with 
those fed without it. Pamphlets describing 
the condiment are distributed free. Probably 
by the time Kansas farmers use chemical fer¬ 
tilizers, their Eastern brothers will be ‘ spic¬ 
ing” 1 heir cattle. h. c. 
New York. 
Potato Storing in Colorado.— The grain 
elevator people here have the basement of the 
elevators fitted up as potato bins. They 
started out to store for others at two cents per 
month per 100 pounds. Now they buy and 
store potatoes as they handle wheat. I figured 
that it would cost me $55 to store 500 sacks of 
potatoes for five monfbs. For that money I. 
could build a dug-out on my own claim, that 
would protect my potatoes for years. The 
dealers here buy assorted potatoes iu sacks at 
so much per cwt. The early ones I raised 
brought 90 cents. Then the price dropped to 
65 cents and now it has risen to 80 cents. 
Weld Co,, Colorado. w. d. s. 
Wyandottes. —What is becoming of the 
Wyandottes? The showing of these fowls at 
the fairs has been very meagre in numbers, 
aud poor in quality. In fact, they have not 
begun to hold their own with either the Ply¬ 
mouth Rocks or the pure Asiatics. A few 
years ago, it seemed as though this breed bail 
come to stay, but want of care in breeding 
and the total luck of uniformity in markings 
seem to have made them unpopular. They 
are, when properly bred, a very handsome 
fowl, and are excellent layers aud mothers; 
aud there is no reason why they should not 
stand high among our domestic fowls. 
J. H. G. 
idea; if not, I suggest that he give it some of 
his attention. J. D. s. 
Whitewater, Wis. 
R. N.-Y.—Like all men with but one idea, 
Mr. George seems to have magnified the im¬ 
portance aud truth of bis theory. So far as 
we can see, he is a philanthropist really anx¬ 
ious to benefit mankind, but obstinately cer¬ 
tain that his way is the best and only method 
by which the sufferings of the poor cau be al¬ 
leviated. There are, beyond all question, in¬ 
equalities in our present system of taxation. 
Reforms are absolutely needed in several di¬ 
rections, and it is sincerely to be hoped that 
the present “anti poverty” agitation will sot 
people to thinking ami planning out these re¬ 
forms. It has been stated by some that all 
Mr. George seeks really to accomplish is the 
awakening of the people to the questiou of 
taxation. We do not take this view of it. 
We believe Mr. George is in earnest, and 
would honestly 6eek to carry out the wild 
schemes he proposes. But it seems evident to 
us that- the scheme would run away with any 
man who attempted to work it out iu real 
practice. Here arises the danger from all 
one-man schemes. Any man can plan 100 
times as much work as he cau do. Plenty of 
men can sow, iu the hearts of the people, the 
seeds of a revolution that they never can han¬ 
dle in after years. History has repeatedly 
proved this. Mr. George informs us that the 
question referred to by our correspondent has 
been cousidered. He has no thought of mak¬ 
ing land ownership, or really laud tenantry, a 
qualification for citizenship. The right to 
hold office or vote would, if anything, be freer 
than it is now, if his theory were reduced to 
practice. In fact, so far as we can see, it will 
not be good business policy to own laud under 
the George system. Auy man of common 
sense would prefer to put his property iuto 
such form that it will not be taxed. The 
farmers, who have their property mostly in 
land, would be taxed away from their farms 
aud have nothing left to show for their for¬ 
mer property. 
Brutality of “Sport.”— I cannot express 
too strongly my approval of the Rural’s con¬ 
demnation of bunting aud killing animals for 
sport. I wish every one would read Thoreau’s 
Essay on Higher Laws. He says, “I have 
found repeatedly of late years that I ennnot 
fish without falling a little in self-respect. I 
buve skill at it and, like many of my fellows, 
a certaiu instiuct for it, which revives from 
time to time, but always when I have done 1 
feel that it would have been better if I had not 
fished ” The essay is a noble product of a 
keen, honest, sensitive mind. Thoreau was a 
heretic—-better a heretic honest to the con¬ 
victions of a humane heart than an orthodox 
sportsman who finds his sport in work akin 
to that of a butcher. We have quite too 
much of this brutal work described iu our 
magazines. It is uot one whit more refining 
than reports of prize fighting. E. P. P. 
Clinton, N. Y, 
DEVICE FOR TIGHTENING A WAGON 
TIRE. 
The extreme heat aud drought of the past 
summer caused much trouble with wagon 
tires, and often they would get clear off the 
wheel before the driver suspected that they 
were loose. Fig. 450 represents a handy de- 
Utilizing Rag-weeds. —The rag-weed is 
the greatest pest we have to contend with in 
the weed liue. It grows everywhere, and 
there seems no way of keeping it out of mead¬ 
ows. In cultivated fields it is so bud that 
more than half of the potato fields at digging 
time resemble thickets of young scrub oaks. 
The weeds must be cut with a scythe—au axe 
is almost necessary—before the potatoes can 
be dug. The best farmers try to kill the pests 
on the meadows, but it is hard work. A Ger¬ 
man gardener who moved into this neighbor¬ 
hood lust year gave us all a good lesson. 
When he cut his buy the weeds came up iu 
clouds. Just before they got ready to head, 
he ran his mower over the field, raked up the 
green weeds and put them iuto a compost 
heap which stands in the corner of his potato 
field. The pile was made up of muck, green 
weeds and horse manure. It made, in the 
spring, some of the best compost I ever saw. 
Bergen Co., N. J. h. b. b. 
The Indications of Weeds.— “The wise 
prospector seeking an eligible farm will not 
try to find oue where weeds never grow, but 
will choose where they grow or have grown 
rankest, deepest und highest.” That is sound 
doctrine, but there are classes even among 
weeds. There are some that can grow on 
soils not yet qualified to produce cereal crops, 
but which, by the agency of these humblest 
plants will gradually become so: while there 
are others so aquatic us to endure soil too 
water-logged for even meadow. Such weeds 
as flourish in grain-fields—lamb’s-quarter, 
docks, sweet grasses, etc.—indicate soil ready 
aud able to give a full crop of any cereal by 
merely overturning tbo old tenants and giving 
their place wholly to the new one. W. 
Customs at Fairs.— At every large fair 
held east of the Alleghany Mountains the ex¬ 
hibit of the fertilizer manufacturer is a spec- 
LAWES’ & GILBERT’S EXPERIMENTS 
JOSEPH HARRIS. 
M ANGEL-W URZEL, 
The experiments ou sugar beets were con¬ 
tinued year after year on the same land till 
1875. The next year, the same plots, instead 
of being sown to sugar beets were sown with 
Yellow Globe Mangel-wurzel. The manures 
used are the same as for the beets, except 
that on No. 9, which was previously a no- 
manure plot: barnyard manure aud super 
phosphate are now used,aud on this plot the seed 
is sown on the fiat anil the plants ridged up 
afterwards. On all the other plots, the land 
is ridged aud the seed dibbled by hand ou the 
CORRESPONDENTS’ VIEWS. 
The Henry George Theory and Taxa¬ 
tion. —Perhaps George, in his “Land Taxa¬ 
tion Scheme,” has struck a good thing, if he is 
only honest enough to develop it squarely. 
Of course it would be necessary to be a taxpay¬ 
er under the new regime in order to have 
any voice in the affairs of government. Pos¬ 
sibly Mr. George has already developed this 
