<8S» 
THE RURAL REW-YORKEB. 
J^iYfrsman. 
SELECTING A BULL 
DOES SOILING IMPAIR VIGOR? 
404 
MUST ANIMALS EXERCISE? 
A subscriber in New York State sent us 
the following letter, and as it has to do with 
a matter that is being now quite generally 
discussed, we have made it the basis for the 
following discussion : 
I expect to purchase a bull for my dairy. 
I find that some of the breeders that I have 
corresponded with soil their cattle so that the 
cattle have comparatively little exercise. I 
have plenty of pasture, and shall not raise 
any soiling crops. I am told that an animal 
from a herd that has been kept on the soiling 
system for a number of generations, will not 
do so well on my pastures as would one raised 
more as I should raise him. Is there any¬ 
thing in this ?” 
FROM L. F. ALLEN. 
Can cattle accustomed to soiling do as well 
in pasture, after they have become used to 
feeding in the stable? I do not know why a 
change from one kind to the other should af¬ 
fect their dairy qualities if they were well fed 
in both cases. Cows while soiled in confine¬ 
ment in stables or sheds should have more or 
less exercise through the day-an hour or two, 
more or less, as convenience may govern.' 
Cows that run at pasture when they have to 
range over large spaces for their food, fall 
greatly off in their production of milk owing 
to the harmful exercise required in gathering 
their food. A ready filling of the stomach 
and an immediate rest afterward until the 
time for feeding again are great stimulators 
of lacteal production. Therefore unless 
abundant pasture is furnished, the best and 
most economical way is to adopt soiling 
throughout the grazing season. During the 
winter season while cows are in the stable, a 
few minutes’ or even an hour’s exercise in a 
well wired inclcsure outside is beneficial and 
even necessary for the highest health of the 
animals. 
A bull should never run at large with the 
cows either in a yard or pasture. He should 
be always stabled or yarded—stabled always 
iu winter, and closely yarded iu summer, or 
even stabled if necessary, but in such a case 
he should have some exercise during the day. 
If he is allowed to run loose with the cows, he 
is either idle or teasing them with his impor¬ 
tunities, whereas a single service or, at the 
most, a double service is all that is required 
for procreation. At the time of heat, the 
cow should be withdrawn from the herd 
quietly placed with the bull, and after she 
has been served by him she should be placed 
in a stable stall, or small yard by herself until 
her excitement has fully passed. If s be is sent 
immediately back to the herd, she is again 
worried to no good purpose, but to her detri¬ 
ment. So treated, a bull which serves only 
one or two cows per day, if of full age, well fed 
and vigorous, may successfully serve 100 or 
more cows throughout the year. 
Niagara County, N. Y. 
FROM SMITHS, POWELL & LAMB. 
We believe that cattle thrive better and 
are more healthy, and that their progeny are 
more apt to be vigorous when they have regu¬ 
lar exercise every day, and this they can get 
in no more natural way in summer than by 
running in the pastures. We would not ad¬ 
vise this inquirer to allow his bull to run in 
the pasture with the cows; but he should have 
regular exercise every day. We have no 
knowledge from experience bearing on the 
point which is raised; ouly in a general way 
we would not anticipate as good results from 
a bull from stock that had been soiled for 
jears, as we would not expect him to be so 
vigorous and prepotent as a bull from stock 
that had enjoyed the benefit of more exercise 
Unondaga County, N. Y. 
FROM C. M. WINSLOW. 
The tendency of all stock is to revert to na- 
ure, and as grazing is the natural way of 
eei mg, and as soiling is comparatively a 
modern method of doing so, I see no reason 
the^H Ck ’, ifta " eny0UnK aud 8ub J e oted to 
,. 8U1U uud mitural method of feeding 
is e “ 0t , t thrive - I. do not think theie 
noug difference in the two methods 
of feeding to have any effect on the offspring 
if another method is adopted before the calf 
is himself subjected to the soiling plan. It is 
possible that an animal that has had food 
given abundantly to it for a long period, 
would, if a change were made, fall away for 
a while, until it became accustomed to pro¬ 
viding for itself, and a man would be liable to 
suffer loss in buying such stock; but not if he 
began with the calves. 
Rutland County, Vermont. 
FROM MILLER A SIBLEY. 
Our experience in relation to the soiling of 
cattle and its effect on the progeny has not 
been sufficient to enable us to answer the 
question with such a degree of positiveness 
as would make our opinion of much value 
The whole question to our minds would form 
itself thus: 
What has been the treatment of the 
animals under the soiling system ? Have they 
been allowed an abundance of fresh air and 
ample exercise? If 8U ch has been the case 
and the herd from which the animal came 
was of a strong-constitntioned class, we would 
have no more hesitation in purchasing such 
an animal than we would (other conditions 
being equal) in purchasing one from a herd 
where ordinary methods of feeding were 
followed. We are all disposed to look at any 
question from one stand-point and not from 
all sides. A person selecting a bull for which 
he pays more than an ordinary price should 
carefully examine the family history and 
characteristics of the strain from which the 
animal sprang. He must consider the indi¬ 
viduality and external evidence of constitu¬ 
tion as well as historical evidences of the 
same and all the minor questions which go to 
make it apparent that one animal is more de¬ 
sirable than another. 
Venango County, Pa. 
fimentm the dryness and good flavor we ’so 
highly.esteem in this vegetable, but they leave 
a bitter taste.’in the mouth and cause a burn- 
Ing or smarting sensation in the throat. 
hen such results follow from eating them 
we may be sure that a poisonous element has 
been developed in the tubers and that they are 
no longer healthful human food 
Marblehead, Mass. j. j. H . Gregory. 
I Commenced Testing Grapes in 1884 I 
hoped to be able by this time to report a num¬ 
ber of facts relative to the many different va- 
neties which I have, numnering over 230 ; but 
1 find that facts of one season may not be 
facts the next, and I have hesitated, and still 
hesitate, to make public the results of my ex¬ 
perience, as my notes are apparently very 
contradictory. I hope to have something to 
1 ' 6ft a bunch on a Mary vine un¬ 
til October 22,and although we had had sever¬ 
al severe frosts,there were no signs of rot; the 
berries adhered firmly to the peduncles and 
were but slightly shriveled. The Mary mav 
be the same as the Lindley, but it does not 
appear so from my experience this season. It 
fruited for the first time. uber 
there is no need to make a spade or anything 
else too obtrusive. 
OUTINGS IN NEW ENGLAND. 
IX. 
MARY WAGER-FISHER. 
ttJjxmmt’s tUtrrk. 
CONDUCTED BY EMILY LOUISE TAPLIN. 
CHAT BY THE WAY. 
FROM M. P. ROWE. 
* b , aVe never had experience with bulls 
that have been soiled altogether, and which 
have not been allowed to run out in pasture, 
but the general impression is, (and my obser¬ 
vation confirms it) that neither bulls nor stal¬ 
lions that have been so treated, and which 
have had comparatively little exercise,” are 
as sure for breeding purposes as are'those 
which have been otherwise treated. Should the 
Rural s correspondent, however, procure a 
bull calf bred from cattle that had been alto¬ 
gether soiled, and never pastured, and should 
he raise him under different conditions, I do 
not think that any defects his ancestors had 
acquired /rom their mode of keeping would 
be inherited by the calf. 
Spottsylvania County, Va. 
FROM H. B. RICHARDS. 
Calves bred from a male kept in confine¬ 
ment without exercise are generally small 
with weakened constitutions. If the dam also 
be confined and have insufficient exercise, the 
tendency will be the same. Inactivity on the 
part of the dam will make the offspring slug¬ 
gish. Nothing will compensate for exercise 
and breeding for a few generations from 
stock fed in this way must result in loss of 
vigor, activity and constitution, and the ani¬ 
mals wiU not be adapted for the changes of 
ducGon 1 " Climate ° r for Pasturing and repro- 
Northampton County, Pa. 
CORRESPONDENTS’ VIEWS. 
Poisonous Potatoes. -Ordinarily the po¬ 
tato is one of our most healthiul articles of 
diet With the addition of a small propor¬ 
tion of other food it has more than once been 
the barrier between the Irish nation and star¬ 
vation. Several years ago, when on a visit 
to the famous island of Iona, I was told that 
the failure of the potato crop had compelled 
o\ er half its population to emigrate. In our 
own land among the great variety of vege¬ 
tables with which.we are blessed this is the one 
most universally used and the last to be spared. 
| tUl we must not overlook the fact that 
ealthful as it is, and acceptable as is the po¬ 
tato to our palates, with its floury richness and 
agreeable flavor, yet it belongs to a family 
that includes among its members belladona 
tobacco, stramonium and henbane, some of 
the most poisonous plants known to man. Its 
relationship to these can be recognized in the 
intense bitterness left in the mouth when we 
taste the cellar-grown sprouts, or that por¬ 
tion of the tuber which has been made green 
by exposure to light. Last season was a very 
f ° r 811 VCgetable S rowths a ° d the 
lebult of this is strikingly seen in its effeots 
on the quality of a potato raised in some 
ocalities. These appear all right to the eye 
but when cooked are found not only to be de- 
TF we talked only when we had something 
X to say, and then said it in the best and 
simplest words in our vocabulary, we would 
add a good deal to the value of our conversa¬ 
tion We meet plenty of talkative people 
but few good talkers. One of the greatest 
troubles is that we are apt to talk to interest 
ourselves, rather than to interest others. 
* * * 
We think it a great mistake so to repress 
children that they are never allowed to join 
in the family conversation, but it is a mistake 
of equal magnitude to let them interrupt the 
conversation of their elders. But it is well 
when they interest themselves in sensible or 
instructive talk. The chief disadvantage of 
repressing children is that it is apt to render 
them awkwardly bashful when older. There 
is no doubt that bashfulness is usually the re¬ 
sult of excessive self-consciousness which is 
after all, but a form of vanity—one who talks 
to interest others without considering- him¬ 
self, is never bashful. 
We expect most of our talking to be done 
y women, and it is really necessary that our 
girls should practice the art. To begin with 
the voice should be agreeable. Harsh tones 
must be modified, clearness of utterance cul¬ 
tivated, and one should try to attain 
“A low, sweet voice, 
An excellent thiDg in woman.” 
The language should be carefully chosen 
Now, wo abhor any affectation, and we do not 
admire the young lady (she would feel hurt if 
you called her a young woman,) who always 
says she “resides ” at so and-so, rather than 
that she lives there," retires” when 'she goes 
to bed, and whose language is best described 
by genteel ’that poor old word that has 
been abused until it is really vulgar Never 
be ashamed of talking plain English, but 
never abuse it by using vulgar catch-words 
or current slang. Thackeray said that there 
was gentlemanly slang as well as vulgar slang, 
,T°. are n° ineitricab 'y “«ed that it 
is difficult to tell one from another. So it is 
, aVOld either - If girls knew tb e abom- 
nably low origin of many slang phrases that 
they so ghWy repeat, we think they would 
utterly abjure them in disgust. One mav 
use pungent, expressive speech without ap- 
proach to slang. K 
* * * 
1 hen there are words which are not slang 
ye are objectionable and incorrect. Take' 
for example, that most terrible of all Ameri- 
“eenhO’ ^ aUtS ’” " ^ acco “P-inient, 
,< g !?, S ° Ine punst Glares that only a 
gent would wear “pants;” and indeed the 
two words seem to go together. It is just as 
easy to speak correetJy, and say trousers, as 
to use the more objectionable word. Even 
such a woman as Mrs. John Sherwood, con¬ 
sidered an authority on good breeding, is 
guilty of using the word pantaloons when 
she means trousers, and though this word is 
not really incorrect, it is certainly inelegant. 
bOME ultra-modest people really give an of- 
ensive turn to their conversation simply in 
the effort to be very correct. For example 
we know so many who always use the am¬ 
biguous word limb when they mean leg, and 
though it may be meant in all simplicity it 
does sound a little absurd. But in this one 
must be governed both by taste and surround¬ 
ings; it is well to call a spade a spade, but 
A little ride from Nantucket—one can go by 
rail—is Sconset (Siasconset), a miniature vil¬ 
lage of fishermen’s cottages of the quaintest 
description. Here, after a storm the surf rolls 
in 50 feet high, and is both magnificent and 
fearful to contemplate. While the surf on 
this side of the island is so great, one may 
bathe on the opposite shore in water as calm 
as an unruffled mill-pond. In the days of 
Nantucket’s commercial prosperity from two 
to three hundred large vessels were owned 
here, but now scarcely a vessel of any rig lies 
at the wharves. That the island should be em¬ 
inently “healthy,” with a fine temperature 
is readily understood, and it is a scrap of the 
world quite free from pretentious people and 
from the newly rich. It is quiet, comfortable 
aristocratic and very enjoyable for the best 
class of people. Indeed the entire New Eng¬ 
land coast from Maine to Connecticut, inclu¬ 
sive, with its bold shores, its wealth of islands 
and of bays, both large and small, is one long 
stretch of beauty and every spot has its own 
charm and attraction. 
From Nantucket we sailed to New Bedford 
across Buzzard’s Bay, nearing the old-time 
whaling town at sunset, and the view of water 
and shore, of islands, villas, boats and ship¬ 
ping bathed in the twilight colors, was ex¬ 
quisitely beautiful. New Bedford is a wide¬ 
awake city, with handsome stores, and public 
buildings, and beautiful elms. I noticed on 
the doors leading into the waiting rooms at 
the Old Colony Railroad Station, a fine new 
building, the simple words “Men” on one and 
“Women” on the other—two brief words 
stripped of all unnecessary verbiage, which 
gave all the information required. From 
New Bedford we had a delightful ride by rail 
on to Providence, Rhode Island. We saw, en 
route, what we had never seen before, a forest 
that had been felled by fire, the Are working 
m the peat underground and burning the 
roots off so that the trees toppled over 
There is very considerable both of beauty and 
interest in Providence, but our visit had for 
its principal object the museum of Brown 
University. There are museums and mu¬ 
seums, which suggest catalogues of birds and 
stones, but this one of Brown possesses great 
originality and is well worth a visit even from 
museum-satiated travelers. To me among the 
most interesting relics in it were the “ re¬ 
mains ” of the body of Roger Williams, that 
most liberty-loving, sane-minded young par¬ 
son, who after being driven out ol Massachu¬ 
setts, made his home in Rhode Island, and 
called the place Providence, “ because God 
had provided for him.” Some few years ago, 
it was deemed proper to look after his mortal’ 
remains with increased care, when it was 
found that his body had already been resur¬ 
rected and had ascended into an apple tree 
which had grown near the head of his grave! 
the roots having absorbed the body, following 
Ihe outline of it, the legs, knees, feet, etc., 
then continued on into another grave. So 
that these apple tree roots and a few bits of 
nails that were in the coffin, are all that are 
left of the contents of Roger’s grave, and these 
preserved in a glass case belong to the 
museum. The Memorial Hall of Brown Uni¬ 
versity was built by Mr. Sayles, whose son 
died while in college. 
From Providence we had a charming sail 
down Narragansett Bay to Fall River, where 
we spent one Sabbath. Here too, the death 
of a son had resulted in a memorial building, 
a superb structure costing a million of dol¬ 
lars and devoted to education—the Durfee 
High School, built of granite, and supple¬ 
mented with an endowment of a million dol- 
* ars ^ be gift of a mother whose only son had 
died at 23 years of age. Every day she drove 
to his grave to cover it with flowers—the one 
poor little comfort left to her. 
Presumably, like all other strangers to Fall 
River, 1 bad thought of it only as a city of 
enormous cotton mills, and tenement houses 
of operatives. True, the great mills are 
there, high, long buildings, full of windows, 
looking prosaic and utilitarian to the last de¬ 
gree. But the greater part of the city is 
very attractive, built on a bluff commanding 
beautiful water and shore views, and rich in 
charming and costly houses. We attended 
the Central Congregational church—New 
England is the home of Congregationalism- 
an edifice spacious and beautiful, and filled 
with a congregation elegantly garmented. 
Une cannot but wonder, the country over, 
where so much money comes from for fine 
apparel. 
