642 
SEPT 45 
THE BUBAL HEW»Y@BK1B. 
tatoes and certain sorts of fruit, as to their 
capacity to stand cold, he will have taken a 
step in advance. G. s. 
EDUCATION IN THE DAIRY IN ENG¬ 
LAND. 
PROFESSOR J. P. SHELDON. 
Excellent results of recent dairy instructions 
in the British Islands; dairy farming ex¬ 
ceptionally profitable of late years , hence 
the great attention given to it; instruction 
inside the dairy hasn't kept pace with in¬ 
struction outside; the British Dairy 
Farmers' Association fits aims and achieve¬ 
ment s;its projected Dairy School; plenty of 
room for improvement of home-made but¬ 
ter and cheese to bring them up to the level 
of the best imported. 
During the past ten to fifteen years, there 
has been a great deal of dairy tuition sown 
broadcast over the face of the British Islands, 
but it has chiefly been-in print, in lectures, in 
shows and so on— outside , instead of inside 
the dairy. That this external method of tui¬ 
tion, as we may call it, has done a great deal 
of good, most persons who know anything 
about it will be willing to admit. Many in¬ 
telligent farmers, both male and female, have 
studied in books and in the agricultural press 
of the land the various disquisitions which 
have appeared on the systems pursued in 
modern dairying, on the many marked im¬ 
provements which have been adopted, on the 
striking inventions of new machines for the 
dairy, and on the scarcely less striking im¬ 
provements and modifications which have 
been engrafted on old machines, utensils and 
equipments. As a matter of fact, the various 
details of dairying, from the breeding and 
feeding of cattle to the marketing of produce, 
have of recent years received a vast deal of 
attention at the hands of the many experts 
who have devoted themselves to the theory 
and practice of dairy farming, and, as a re¬ 
sult of this attention, a stream of light has 
been thrown on every point, so that the 
topic in all its bearings is, as we suppose, 
thoroughly understood by those who have 
taken the trouble to understand it. 
Dairy farming, indeed, with the exception 
of an odd year or two now and again, and of 
the last two years in succession, has been far- 
and-away more remunerative than any other 
branch of our insular husbandry, and, on the 
average,—since 1870 at all events,—it would 
come out well in comparison with all 
the rest. This, in fact, is the explanation of 
the increased attention it has received, and of 
the popularity it has won; of all the articles, 
pamphlets, and books which have been pub¬ 
lished, and of all the numerous inventions 
which are now, or may be if people like, part 
of the equipment of the dairy. All the same, 
however, tuition inside the dairy has not 
kept pace with tuition outside of it,—with im¬ 
provements, inventions, and so on, save and 
except in so far as it has been done by private 
enterprise. What I mean is this, viz., that 
educational institutions of a public character, 
where young men and maidens can be train¬ 
ed in[dairy work, have been attempted at very 
few places in Great Britain, and at only two 
in Ireland. Tuition, indeed, has been for the 
most part left to private enterprise, so far as 
practical work is concerned, and public aids 
to Dairy Education have taken the form of 
shows, lectures, and so forth, with occasional 
demonstrations in cheese and butter-making, 
chiefly the latter. And thus it is that dairy 
tuition so far has been for the most part ex¬ 
ternal in its operation, so far as corporate 
efforts are concerned. 
It is now well-nigh twelve years since the 
formation of the British Dairy Farmers’ 
Association, whose object was the improve¬ 
ment of the dairy practices of the British 
Islands. That Association had to stand the 
test of time, and to win its way to public 
favor. One of its objects from the first has 
been the establishment of a Dairy School 
which, it was hoped, would obtain some little 
encouragement at the hands of the Imperial 
Government. Hitherto the Association has 
not found itself in [a position to estab¬ 
lish anything in the .nature of a public and 
permanent School of Dairying, and has had to 
content itself with holding an annual Show 
and a Conference, and with publishing a 
journal. These evidences of life and energy 
have of course been distinctly educational, 
stimulating practical tuition in the dairy, but 
they have unavoidably been purely external 
aids in themselves. Meantime, however, the 
Association has been gaining ’strength, and 
accumulating the sinews „and potentialities l 
necessary to a war against false practices, 
and against ignorance generally, in the 
domain of the dairy. And at length the 
Council of the Association sees its way to 
attempt something in the way of education 
in the dairy, with the view of training young 
folks in the arts of cheese and butter-making 
—to make them dairy missionaries, in fact. 
This will be attempted by the aid of sub¬ 
scriptions from individuals and from the Gov* 
emment, the association supplementing sub¬ 
scriptions out of its own funds, or having its 
funds supplemented by subscriptions, to the 
amount which is necessary for the purpose. 
Already have considerable promises of help 
been received from noblemen and gentlemen, 
and a committee of the House of Commons has 
received a good deal of evidence relating to 
the question. It is hoped that the committee 
will see its way to advise the Government to 
grant a subsidy to the movement, and that the 
Government will see its way to act on such 
advice. The object is to start a Dairy School 
for the training of those who will be engaged 
in cheese and butter-making; and, in order to 
this, a factory suitable for the purpose will 
have to be built or adapted and furnished with 
the best and most approved equipments. The 
scheme is well afoot already, and some of the 
preliminary steps have been taken, so that we 
may look forward to tangible progress pretty 
soon. The Aylesbury district, which is one 
of the most famous in the land, will probably 
be the scene of the society’s labors in this di¬ 
rection, and so the town of Aylesbury will 
become more celebrated than ever as a center 
of dairying. 
That there is urgent need, not for one only, 
but for half a dozen establishments like that 
which will probably be located at Aylesbury, 
most people in this country will be free to 
admit, for we cannot deny that our cheese and 
butter are, in many localities, far beneatk 
what they ought to be in character. The need 
for dairy education in any case is perennial, 
for old operators are passing away, and new 
ones are coming in all the time. I consider 
that we may, if we try long enough and 
squarely, so greatly improve the quality of 
the products of our dairies as to raise their 
selling value by quite 25 per cent. This result, 
when attained, would be seen to be well worth 
striving for. It is estimated that we import 
quite as much cheese and butter as we pro¬ 
duce, and in this we see reason sufficient why 
we should try to improve the quality of our 
own products so that at all events we may 
make the best use of our own markets. We 
cannot expect or even wish to check the 
volumes of foreign importations, no matter 
how much we may improve our own goods, 
for we simply cannot feed our population on 
what we produce ourselves; but we may cer¬ 
tainly hope to be able to produce cheese and 
butter whose quality shall be equal to that 
which we import, and so may we win better 
prices for what we have to sell. 
(Surrey, England. 
farm Cftftimraj. 
HOW TO CHOOSE A MOWING MACHINE. 
In buying a mower or-'reaper look first to 
the pitman connection with the knife-head. 
If it does not have some kind of ball-and- 
socket joint at this place, discard it, no 
matter what the agent claims for it. Some 
machines have a ball-and-socket joint where 
the pitman connects with the crank shaft. 
This is wrong. The pitman should connect 
with the crank by a rigid bar of brass or 
other box metal, made in two parts, so that 
wear can be easily taken up. The connection 
•of the pitman with knife-head should always 
be by ball-and-socket. This will allow the 
necessary rocking motion without cramping 
or binding when, the ^tilting lever is used, 
an attachment which .should be on every 
machine. 
See that.the crank-shaft has long bearings. 
It ought to run in Babbitt boxes, made in 
two parts so as to bejeasily renewed. The 
ratchet wheels ought to be on the outside of 
the drive wheels, if on the main shaft, as the 
shaft is not so liable to get sprung. 
See that the guards fasten on with bolts, 
instead of rivets. They will not get loose so 
•easily as when riveted on, and if they do get 
loose they can be tightened more readily. 
Do not buy a machine that has wheels on 
•either end of the finger-bar, but steel shoes 
instead. The wheels will drop into every 
little uneven place they come to, keeping 
the finger - bar in a tremble all the time, 
while a shoe will slip smoothly over. 
The wheels should be set wide apart, so as not 
to travel on the cut grass. The above are 
some of the main points to observe when 
•choosing a mower. 
I am not writing in the interest of any 
manufacturer or to run down any machinei 
but I have made a specialty of repairing 
mowing and reaping machines for a number 
of years, and have had a good opportunity to 
learn where the machines first fail. It would 
be for my own interest, perhaps, to say noth¬ 
ing about these points, but I am a farmer 
myself, and am always ready to help my 
brother farmers. I have several times tried 
to get manufacturers to consider some of these 
points, especially the pitman connection with 
the knife-head, but they invariably reply that 
their machines give good satisfaction now. I 
am satisfied that a mower made as described 
above, will out-wear two of the other styles. 
It would require too much space at this time 
to give my reasons for this opinion. 
Grand Isle, Vt. s. m. macomber. 
Cntomclfigkjfll. 
THE CLOVER ROOT BORER. 
PROFESSOR J. H. COMSTOCK. 
The farmers of Western New York have be¬ 
come very familiar with the ravages of the 
Clover 'Borer (Hylesnus trifolii), but those of 
other sections, into which it is spreading, 
have not yet learned to look for its injuries. 
We have therefore no data as to the extent 
to which this insect has spread. It was 
first observed in this country in Western 
New York, but the attention of the entomolo¬ 
gists was not called to it there until it had 
increased in sufficient numbers to so injure the 
clover as to prevent the cutting of it, “ the roots 
being ,entirely devoured and the plants pull¬ 
ing up with the greatest .ease, and gathering 
m windrows before the mower.” The origin¬ 
al account of this insect in this country was 
published by Professor Riley in the Report of 
the U. S. Department of Agriculture for 1878. 
Almost ithe only additional information we 
have, is the .fact published by Mr. Fletcher, 
that the insect has been found in Canada. 
During a recent visit to the Rural Farm, on 
Long Islaud, we found that the insects had 
spread to that locality, a fact that had no 4 
been observed before; and doubtless it is now 
common in large numbers in many places 
where it is unnoticed. The presence of this 
pest is easily detected. In the localities where 
it exists one has only to pull up two-year-old 
plants of clover and split open the upper part 
of the root to find the burrows of this pest 
and perhaps the insects themselves. The 
larvae are small, white grubs, and the adult 
insects are brown beetles less than an eighth 
of an inch in length. The insects may be 
found at all stages of the year. 
Entomological Laboratory, Cornell Uni¬ 
versity. 
Ctmcatiomil. 
THE COUNTRY SCHOOL. 
E. S. GOFF. 
Agricultural importance of this much 
neglected subject; wretched condition of 
the average country school; the teacher; 
some pertinent questions; elementary 
instruction in agriculture; the mechanic 
arts and natural philosophy. 
The Rural strikes a key-note when it takes 
up the subject of the country school. This 
much neglected institution has, indirectly, 
a most important bearing upon progressive 
agriculture. We cannot instruct people who 
have no desire to learn; and it is generally in 
the primary school that boys and girls catch 
the inspiration of a thirst for knowledge. 
I know of no public interest in which there 
is a more urgent need of reform than in the 
management of the country school. The 
evils arise chiefly from a lack of interest in 
the welfare of the school, and from a desire 
to shirk the few responsibilities that it involves. 
These motives coupled with parsimony serve 
to defeat very much of the good results that 
might be attained. The management and 
instruction far too often fall upon those least 
competent to do justice .to them, so that the 
feeble effortsjthat are put forth largely fail in 
their end. 
As I ride over country roads, lam very of¬ 
ten struck with the dismal, and even barbarous 
condition of district school-houses. It is 
scarcely possible to find a dwelling so poor 
that it has not a more inviting aspect than the 
average country school building. The pinched- 
up grounds, inclosed in their dilapidated 
fences, rarely boast the luxury of a shade tree. 
Shameful neglect of repairs and improve¬ 
ments is visible everywhere. Often a single 
out-house divided by a broken or perforated 
partition is compelled to serve the needs of 
boys, girls and teacher. A supply of drinking 
water is a very rare appurtenance, and any¬ 
thing partaking of the nature of tasteful 
ornamentation is unthought of. Within we 
find the rude and much whittled benches of 
fifty years ago, with a conspicuous absence of 
needful apparatus for instruction. 
The teacher has generally been employed 
either through favoritism, or because she pos¬ 
sesses the all-important quality of cheapness. 
And yet the teacher, though charged with 
all the faults of the school, is generally more 
faithful and conscientious in the discharge of 
her duties than any of the school officers. 
Under such conditions, it is needless to 
remark that the ihstruction in the country 
school is generally not much of a success. 
Knowledge is not presented to the pupils in a 
fascinating way. The humdrum of unskilled 
teaching, without means for illustration, is 
enough to drive all but those most studiously 
inclined from their books, while^the vices that 
propagate between idle children have full 
opportunity to grow. On the whole the aspect 
is a discouraging one. 
But it is folly to harp upon evils unless we 
can suggest plausible remedies. How can we 
correct the indifference that prevails in rural 
communities in relation to the welfare of the 
district school? Nothing can be done without 
effort. If every farmer into whose hands this 
issue of the Rural comes will investigate far 
enough to answer for himself a few questions 
like the following, some good will certainly 
grow out of it. A knowledge of evil must 
be the first step towards its remedy. 
Has your teacher any qualifications com¬ 
mending her for the place, except that she is 
willing to teach for a low price, or is a per. 
sonal friend to one of the school officers? Has 
your school any sort of apparatus to assist in 
the work of teaching, and does your teacher 
know how to use it? Does your teacher attend 
the teachers’ institutes, and does she show an 
interest in the work in which she is engaged? 
Has your school any adequate grounds for the 
accommodation of the children, or are they 
obliged to play in the street or in adjoining 
fields? Is your school-house in such a state of 
repair that it is possible to keep it comfort, 
able in cold weather? Are the out-door ac¬ 
commodations such as to make any seclusion 
between boys and girls possible, or do they 
serve to propagate vice? These subjects first 
demand attention. After these have been 
attended to, it will be time to take up the 
question of improving the grounds with shade 
trees and flowers. There are other subjects, 
too, that ought to be considered. Quite a 
large proportion of our district school jiupils 
never reach a higher school, and of this num¬ 
ber many will become farmers. It seems very 
desirable that for the benefit of such pupils- 
some elementary instruction should be given 
in the principles of agriculture, mechanics, 
and natural philosophy. This information 
might be given while the pupils are learning 
to read, by requiring them to practice reading 
from some clearly-written, simply-worded 
text book. The little work recently published 
by Professor Gulley, would be an admirable 
one for this purpose. Such a book explained 
and illustrated by a skillful teacher would 
awaken in many minds an interest in scientific 
agriculture, that would not be satisfied until it 
had mastered a college course. 
Our country schools sorely need to be im¬ 
proved. The State school authorities fully 
realize this, and are laboring constantly to 
this end. But they can do very little without 
the co-operation of country people. To in¬ 
spire their interest in a reform is a most 
difficult task, but there is no better way of 
promoting it than to have the subject re¬ 
peatedly discussed in influential papers like 
the Rural. 
Experiment Sta., Geneva, N. Y. 
CATALOGUES, ETC., RECEIVED. 
Report of the Division of Forestry for 
1887.—This pamphlet, prepared by B. E. 
Fernow, is issued by the U. S. Department of 
Agriculture. There is an immense amount of 
statistical and general information here that 
will be of great interest to the student of for¬ 
estry. Among the curious statistics given to 
show the importance of wood manufactures 
generally considered insignificant may be 
given the following: 
The door capacity of Northwestern factories 
is approximated at over 1(5,000 doors daily, 
not counting smaller factories; and this manu¬ 
facture, together with that of sash and blinds, 
may be roughly calculated to need an annual 
supply of 50,000,000 cubic feet of raw material. 
The product of looking-glasses and picture 
frames alone is valued at $4,871,248. 
Over 5,500 furniture factories are reported 
in the country, using over $350,000,000 worth 
of lumber, while the value of wood in sewing- 
machines alone is estimated at $1,239,400. 
