MACHINERY SEEN AT THE FAIRS. 
Good results of the elimination of “horse 
trots ” from a county fair; an exception to 
a long line of successors, due to excessive 
mud ; Holsteinsand Belted Dutch cows for 
the milk dairy .; a tire-shrinking machine ; 
road machines, their working, and advan¬ 
tages. 
The Orange County N. Y., Fair this sea¬ 
son was not a success for a rarity. A number 
of years ago, the fair consisted of a grand 
combination of agricultural exhibits and 
“ hoss” trots and more particularly the latter; 
so that instead of an agricultural fair, it was 
simply an agricultural “horse trot.” The 
better part of the farming community saw 
that this state of affairs was a by-word and 
reproach to the grand old county Of Orange, 
and after due deliberation it was decided to 
eliminate the trotting part, and hold an agri¬ 
cultural fair, pure and simple, and also to 
abandon Goshen where the fair had been held 
for a long succession of years, and to hold it 
in different prominent villages in the county. 
The farmers at once took courage, became 
enthusiastic, rallied their forces, and the re¬ 
sult was that the first fair under the new 
regime was a surprise to all, and a great suc¬ 
cess in every particular. After this the fair 
for some time was usually held twice in the 
same place; but later it became the custom to 
locate it in a particular place and then hold it 
there for three successive years. Multitudes 
thronged to these fairs, and, inscead of a de¬ 
ficiency staring the managers in the face year 
after year, as was the case in the neighboring 
county of Sussex, N. J., where agricultural 
“horse trots” have a firm hold on the people 
to their great loss ani disadvantage, a hand¬ 
some surplus rolled up year after year to the 
great gratification of the management, and of 
everybody else. 
This year, however, it became necessary to 
take a slice of the surplus to meet a deficit 
which was caused by mud, yes, mud; a vast, 
boundless and apparently bottomless sea of 
mud. A day or two before the opening, a 
tremendous rainfall occurred, changing the 
beautiful grounds into a temporary lake, 
which brought confusion and an endless 
amount of trouble to all interested in the suc¬ 
cess of the fair; but, undismayed, all who had 
rubbers and rubber boots or could get them, 
went to work. Tbe lumber yards of the town 
of Goshen where the fair is now located, were 
entirely stripped of hemlock lumber to make 
walks so as to make it possible for people to 
go around. The weather overhead was pretty 
fair, and had the ground been rolling, vast 
crowds of people would have come as in times 
past. As it was, only a small part of those who 
came had the courage to undertake a tour of 
the grounds. The cattle department—and a 
fine exhibit it was—had but few admirers, and 
it required a good deal of courage and a pair 
of rubber boots, besides, to make the trip. 
As Orange County is entirely devoted to pro¬ 
ducing milk for the city market, the Holstein 
and Belted Dutch cattle are largely in the 
ascendant, because they are recognized as 
copious milkers. A number of dehorned bulls 
were exhibited and some of them wore first 
premium cards, showing that dehorning is a 
recognized fact and has come to stay among 
the dairymen. 
The display of agricultural implements was 
very light; in a great many cases throughout 
the whole fair, the entries were made in the 
books, but the articles, on account of the 
storm, had not been brought on the grounds. 
A novel machine for shrinking tires on 
wheels cold, attracted a good deal of atten- 
tion, and many heated debates for and 
against it were held around it, by farmers 
and mechanics. If a tire is loose, all that is 
required is to put the wheel in the powerful 
grip of the machine and turn the crank, not 
taking the tire off, and it is shrunk imper¬ 
ceptibly at every point. I inquired about the 
price, and was informed by the exhibitor, 
that he sold county or town rights only. So 
if the machine should prove to be practical, 
it will be some time before it comes into 
general use. 
The exhibit of the American Champion 
Road Machine, embraced two machines—the 
large, four-wheeled machine and the two¬ 
wheeled “Daisy.” The subject of working 
roads is something that concerns every one, 
and particularly the farmers, who have to 
jolt over roads which run perhaps by their 
own doors that are a disgrace to civilization; 
but the power and range of these machines 
to work up such roads are marvelous, and 
many people are incredulous until they have 
seen one at work, and ridden over the 
finished roads. One of these machines leaves 
the road a true oval, so that water runs off 
while it rains, so that when the sun comes out 
the ground dries off at once; and there is no 
occasion for the heart-rending water-breaks 
so often put in hand-worked roads, that 
nearly jolt the soul from the body while one 
is riding over them. 
Rev. J. B. Fisher, President of the Western 
Farm and Garden Club, stated to the club 
that while on a trip last fall to the Granite 
State where rocks were everywhere, he rode 
17 miles over a road worked by a machine 
and not a water-break was in the whole dis¬ 
tance. The two-wheeled machine that was 
on the grounds, was owned by three or four 
road districts together, in the vicinity, and it 
was leased out to adjoining districts, and so had 
an account in the savings bank to stand 
against repairs and breakages in the future. 
There is also a large machine owned in my 
own neighborhood by a man who goes around, 
the same as owners of thrashers do, and works 
roads at so much per day. This machine is 
doing missionary work and is a great edu¬ 
cator. But the upshot will be that neighbor¬ 
hoods will club together, as above-mentioned, 
and purchase a road machine and then roads 
can be honed up two or three times during 
the season and not allowed to become almost 
impassable from neglect, as so many are, 
and yet many farmers complain that their 
wagons wear out so soon and that their black¬ 
smith and repair bills are so heavy, while 
the remedy lies with themselves to prevent it, 
in a large degree. M. H. c. G. 
Johnson’s ,N. Y. 
CORRESPONDENTS’ VIEWS. 
The “ One Crop ” Idea.— As a farmer I 
feel like protesting against the idea that “ a 
dozen men can do one thing better than one 
man can do a dozen things.” This is the one 
crop idea, and it is very likely that it is the 
correct one for soma special crop where all 
the natural conditions are favorable; but, 
aside trom this, the tales of mortgages, debt, 
and ruin, that hang over so many farms de¬ 
voted to special crops like cotton, wheat, etc., 
ought to teach us not to put all our eggs in 
one basket. I believe that the man who 
comes nearest to producing all the necessaries 
of life at home comes nearest to being inde¬ 
pendent His surplus he is not compelled to 
sell for anything he can get, but he can choose 
his market and season, unless it may be some¬ 
thing that is quickly perishable. From my 
stand-point I may not be competent to judge 
of this matter, as I can run my plow from New 
Year’s till Christmas and make two or three 
crops on the same land every year. I have an 
open range for stock, and there are only about 
three months in the year during which my stock 
care anything for hay. I get beef, butter and 
milk from the cows, fatten hogs on the potato 
patch and peanuts, and in the winter turn a 
whole dressed hog, pound for pound, into 
Western salt-side. I get sugar and sirup 
from the cane, chickens and eggs from our 
Brown Leghorns, etc., etc. We have a good 
market and we generally obtain good prices 
in the West for all early vegetables and 
fruits. 
Liquid for Reducing Bone.— I have often 
wondered why some of the professors or 
other authorities do not tell what to use in 
wetting down the ashes and crushed bone 
mixtures. Try urine, and keep the barrels 
or casks closely covered. They need not be 
filled all at once; but a little maybe added 
each day as ashes accumulate. 
Spanish Clover for Bees.— Last spring 
I turned under about half an acre of oat 
stubble, and planted the land with buck¬ 
wheat. When it got into good bloom, I 
notieed it closely to see how my bees liked it, 
and as a result I found they seemed to care 
very little for it, as an occasional one could 
be seen on it. Near-by was a piece of land 
upon which was a good growth of Spanish 
Clover —(Richardsonia scabra)—(This is also 
known as the Mexican Coca-plant. Eds.; 
also in good bloom, and all over that the bees 
were busily at work, and they are to be found 
any day now wherever a patch of the clover 
is in bloom, and that is everywhere till frost. 
Spanish Clover for Hay.—No rains for 
about four weeks and every body has been 
busy making hp,y out of Spanish clover. It 
is rather hard to cure, as the stalks are quite 
succulent; but when well cured it makes a 
good hay. It is also a good crop for green 
manuring, as it is about the same as Northern 
Red-top chemically. 
Green Bay, Ala. c. c. W. 
What Ails The American Hen? In a 
late Rural I saw the question asked. “What 
is the matter with the American hen?” Is the 
trouble with the hen or the men who should 
take care of her? I believe the trouble is 
largely due to the attention the hen gets from 
her keeper. To be of profit to the farmer she 
should have as good care and variety of food 
as the pet Jersey cow, and when she receives 
such treatment in the way of food, drink and 
comfortable quarters at night and in stormy 
weather I believe she will pay as large a 
profit in proportion to her value as the best 
cow that is kept by farmers in general. In 
January 1888 I had 110 hens, ranging from 
late fall pullets to five and six-year-old hens. 
The latter I do not consider as good as one 
and two-year-olds, but I had them all the 
same. The number became reduced to 100 
about May in various ways. Thinking the best 
of their laying was over, I sold and killed 
enough to leave not more than 80 and a few 
have died since. From January 1, to October 
1 sold 854 dozen eggs. I kept no account of 
eggs used in the family or of those used for 
setting. Over 200 were used for the latter 
purpose alone. The average number of hens 
was about 95, valued at 50 cents apiece, and 
worth $47.50. Cash received for eggs sold in 
nine months at wholesale"? 198.40. Were not 
those hens more profitable than a $50 cow? 
Sulphur And Potato Scab. —In the Rural 
of Oct,13, page 683,in “A Jerseyman’s Jottings” 
I notice that he said that the sulphur used in 
the Rural’s trenches was plainly visible and 
that the potatoes were remarkably smooth. 
Were any planted without sulphur in the 
same soil, and what was the effect? The past 
season I tried sulphur, using 250 pounds on a 
little less than acre. A part of one row 
received what I could take up in my hand to 
each hill, to learn whether a small or large 
quantity would do the most good, but my ex 
perience with sulphur came out like the 
Rural’s project of raising 700 bushels of pota¬ 
toes to the acre—a failure. My failure, how¬ 
ever, was much worse than the Rural’s, as 
some of the potatoes were a sorry sight to be¬ 
hold. There was a good yield, but the tubers 
were so scabby and eaten by the wire-worm 
that there was not a marketable potato in 
some portions of the field. The part of a row 
that received the large amount of sulphur 
chanced to be in the worst portion of the field. 
Two rows of 160 hills each were planted with¬ 
out any fertilizer: one row received sulphur 
and the other none. The ground was rolling, 
and the soil very uneven. It was sandy- 
gravelly and a good loam. I could not see 
the least difference between the sulphured 
row and that which received rone. Where 
tne potatoes were smooth n one row, tney 
were the same in the other. The difference 
in the soil and manure that had been applied 
to the ground the year before made a great 
difference as to smoothness and scabbiness of 
the potatoes. I think the scab is a hard nut to 
crack. 
Another piece of ground, about six rods 
from the first piece, was cleared of woods in 
1887, and burned over in the fall and plowed. 
In the spring of 1888 it was harrowed and the 
roots were pulled and piled up in heaps and 
burned, and the land was planted with Rural 
Blush potatoes; 1,200 pounds of Mapes’s po¬ 
tato fertilizer to the acre were used in the 
hill, and sulphur was applied the same as on 
the first piece. The potatoes were beauties, 
and almost perfect as to scab. Where the 
roots had been burned—they were mostly 
pine—there were a few hills in each place in 
which the tubers were very rough or scabby. 
Was it the ashes that produced this result? 
The sulphur did no good in those spots as far 
as I could judge. w. G. s. 
Harmony, N. J. 
R. N.-Y. As we said last week, we had 
plenty of scab where the sulphur was not ap¬ 
plied. 
Ventilation Of Hen-Houses Again.— In 
the Rural of October 13, page 678, P. H. 
Jacobs thinks ventilation the one supreme 
error in poultry keeping. I think hen-houses 
facing the south with glass fronts the next 
great error, causing a great rise in tempera¬ 
ture in the middle of the day when the hens 
should be scratching for their midday rations 
of small grains, and when by their exercise 
they ought to be made warm enough without 
the extra heat that is produced by the sun’s 
rays through the glass. I believe the best 
way is to have the ends of the house facing 
the north and south, and windows on the east 
to receive the first rays of the rising sun, and 
on the west to admit of the long western rays. 
Thus the temperature would be kept much 
more even, and the hens sitting on their 
perches, would greatly enjoy the rising and 
setting sun. The new house I built last fall 
is on this plan. The old house has a glass 
front facing the south; but it will be re- 
modled this fall. I do not use any ventilators 
or fancy houses. Mine are simply boarded 
tightly and battened below the eaves, or 
lined with tar paper, so that no wind will blow 
through them. 
A Large Corn Crop.— I kept a milch cow 
stabled all last winter and fed her on good 
Timothy hay, bran, oats and a little corn. 
She was kept well bedded with straw and ma¬ 
nure was carefully piled up outside. By spring 
time there was quite a little bunch of it. In 
the latter part of March I had it hauled out 
and spread over half an acre of land. The 
land was plowed April 24th and planted to 
corn May 3rd. It was cultivated three times, 
cut and shocked September 14th, husked out 
and weighed October 9th. Yield for the half 
acre 63 bushels of eighty pounds each. Sixty- 
three bushels amount to $22.05. What’s the 
matter with manure? It’s all right! 
F. G. 
A LARGE POTATO YIELD. 
Here is my experience in raising pota¬ 
toes:—Last year the land was in corn. I 
plowed it on April 15 and thoroughly har¬ 
rowed it and marked it out three feet apart, 
six inches deep. I used a shovel plow and 
planted April 20. The seed-pieces were 
placed one foot apart and the soil was plowed 
back. I used J. C. Wood’s complete fertilizer 
at the rate of 800 pounds to the acre, and the 
potato yield was at the rate of 501 bushels to 
the acre. L. V. O. 
Nanuet, N. Y. 
Champion Quince. —Our trees have borne 
three times and the fruit is large and hand¬ 
some. It is a few weeks later than the Orange 
and, when cooked, tender and good, but it has 
not such decided quince flavor or fragance, 
as the Apple Quince, but it bears sooner. 
i. h. 
Woman's Work. 
CONDUCTED BY EMILY LOUISE TAPLIN. 
CHAT BY THE WAY. 
A very pretty fancv pincushion is made in 
the shape of a yellow plush crescent, with a 
raised black satin bat across it; the pins are 
stuck around the edge, and the whole is sus¬ 
pended by a silver cord. 
♦ ♦ ♦ 
The London Queen describes a very pretty 
trifle which sells well at fairs, in the form of 
decorative butterflies. They are made in the 
following manner:—Take two small squares 
of silk, say crimson and yellow, cut them 
through the center, and neatly join a yellow 
half to a crimson one, so as to re-form the 
square which makes the wings. The b idy is 
merely a common clothes-peg (those with 
small round heads must be chosen) painted 
dark brown, and further ornamented with 
rings and dashes of yellow. Long feelers of 
fine wire may be fastened to the head with a 
small brass tack. The wings must be gathered 
tightly up the center and are] simply passed 
through the slit in tbe peg as far as possible. 
They will remain in place quite securely but 
in order to prevent them from hanging limp, 
fine bonnet wire should be inserted along the 
edge of the upper wings. A hook can be fast¬ 
ened to the back of the body. These butter¬ 
flies are used for looping up curtains, or hung 
anywhere in a room where a bit of bright 
color is needed. Pretty combinations are 
made with olive-green and salmon pink, prim¬ 
rose and old-gold, terra-cotta and turquoise, 
or brown and orange. Such trifles as these 
are pretty sure to sell at bazars; more readily, 
in fact, than very expensive articles. 
A sensible woman, talking about economy 
in dress, says that the wear of clothes depends 
largely on the treatment we give them. Di¬ 
rectly a stich gives way, either in draperies 
or bodice, mend it at once. See that all walk¬ 
ing dresses are made short enough to escape 
the ground at the back; nothing looks worse 
than a frayed-out skirt or petticoat. Renew 
the braid whenever it becomes worn; the cost 
is not great, but it makes the skirt neat even 
when it is well-worn. The new plaited braids 
protect the bottom of a skirt much more than 
a plain one. We cannot say too often that 
neatness is the first requisite for good dressing. 
Even if you are obliged to wear shabby gowns, 
they are respectable so long as they are kept 
in perfect repair, and their shabbiness is much 
mitigated if the wearer adds clean collar and 
cuffs,' and a clean and ample white apron, 
which hides a multitude of defects. 
* * * 
Dr. Grace Peckham, writing in the Home¬ 
maker, gives [some rules for domestic medica¬ 
tion which are worth bearing in'mind. She 
