THE 
471 
CATALOGUES, ETC., RECEIVED. 
M unster agricultural and 
DAIRY SCHOOL-This schcol is 
located at Cork, Ireland. It is maintained by 
the Irish Commissioners of National Educa¬ 
tion. It is a school for young women, though 
a few young men are admitted at times. 
These young women are taught the principles 
of good dairying from the feeding ot cows to 
the marketing of butter and cheese. There 
are also facilities provided for the study of 
plain cookery, cookery for the sick, the prop¬ 
er use of kitchen utensils, etc., etc. In 1888,75 
young women attended the school. There has 
been a gradual falling off in attendance for 
several years. Various reasons are assigned 
for this, the most probable being the intro¬ 
duction of the factory system in the south of 
Ireland. This system lessens the number of 
farmers who make their own butter. The 
graduates of the school seem to be doing very 
well. Many of them are enterprising enough 
to manage dairies or even butter factories. 
Particular pains have been taken to build 
up a herd of superior butter cows at this 
school. Unfortunately we are not told what 
breed has been selected. 
In 1886 the herd averaged 251 pounds of 
butter per cow; in 1887 245 pounds and in 1888 
247 pounds. Great attention is given to the 
feeding of milch cows. Mr. R. H. Beamish 
occupies more than half the report in an essay 
ou what he calls an improved method of feed¬ 
ing. We must confess to an inability to 
make out what the author of this essay is driv¬ 
ing at, beyond the following statements. 1. 
A good cow pays a better profit thaa a poor 
cow. 2. When the dairyman discovers the 
food best suited to his purpose he should 
stick to that and avo d all violent changes of 
food. 3. Cows should be fed on the same 
principles whether milk and butter are low or 
high in price. Id is no economy to cut down 
the food when dairy products fall off in price. 
Household Pests.— This subject was se¬ 
lected by Prof. C. H. Fernald for Bulletin No. 
5 of the Hatch Experiment Station at Am¬ 
herst, Mas?.—(We wish somebody would ex¬ 
plain why there should be two experiment 
stations at this place.) The Buffalo carpet 
beetle, the pitchy carpet beetle, the bacon 
beetle, clothes moths and ants are the in¬ 
sects selected as most needing a bulletin. 
The Jt. N.-Y. cannot see that Prof. Fernald 
has given us much information as to methods 
of kjiling these hated pest--. The habits of 
the /nsects are well described and there are 
numerous suggestions. 
Maryland Experiment Station.— The 
First Anuual Re^ ort of this institution is at 
hand. It occurs to the R. N.-Y. that this 
station devotes a good deal of space to giving 
its own history and telling what it proposes 
to do. This station claims to be the first one 
to be established in America. February 1856 
is the date given. Mr. Bishop, the Horticul¬ 
turist, discusses some potato experiments. 
He says that many experimenters have con¬ 
cluded that “ the larger the quantity of seed 
plauted, the greater the corresponding crop.” 
Mr. Hayward has cultivated the Soja bean 
and feels like recommending it for Southern 
farmers. An interesting fencing experiment 
has been started. Posts have been set in 10 
different ways to ste which will stand longest. 
Road Legislation for the American 
State. —No. 3, Volume 4, of the publication 
of the American Economic Association. By 
Jeremiah W. Jenks. It is hardiy possible to 
think of a question of economic science that 
is of more lasting importance to the Ameri¬ 
can farmer than that of the wise regulation 
and maintenance of country highways. Prof. 
Jenks has prepared a very valuable essay full 
of apt illustrations, pointed suggestions and 
logical reasoning. The R. N.-Y. is glad to 
give a synopsis of his views, because road 
legislation is a matter that appeals strongly 
to the good sense of the American farmer. 
Americau country roads are, as a rule, great¬ 
ly' inferior to roads of a similar class in Eng¬ 
land, Germany or France. Even the Ger- 
mau laborers who come to this country are 
quick to lccognize this. Do we realize that 
our interior roads may be caused by an in¬ 
ferior system of working them ? The aston¬ 
ishing growth of our railway systems, and 
the hardly less wonderful uevelopment of 
water navigation, have gone far toward tak¬ 
ing puolic attention away from common 
roads. Few of the present generation of 
Americans realize that before the perfection 
of railroads, the construction and mainten¬ 
ance of common highways was a question of 
national importance, more of an element in 
political contests than any of the railroad 
questions of the present day. 
Madnou, Mouioe and Jackson felt called 
upon by their interpretation of the Constitu¬ 
tion to veto bills appropriating money for the 
construction of roads, yet they had to ac¬ 
knowledge the wisdom of such appropriations. 
Since -830 when railroads began to take the 
place of the larger wagon roads, the question 
has been dropped from national politics. It 
might be profitable for the country if to-day, 
it could be substituted for some of the present 
party differences. When we talk about the 
wonderful convenience of our railroads, we 
are apt to forget one very important point, 
viz :—every pouqd of freight and every pas¬ 
senger must pass over our common roads be¬ 
fore reaching the railroads. Think of it. 
The iron roads of which we are so proud, are 
absolutely dependent upon our common roads 
for thqir freight. Wo have tables of statistics 
giving the cost of transportation of various 
articles over the railroads, but who estimates 
the cost of transportation by wagons and 
horses ? The Agricultural Department esti¬ 
mates that the average cost of hauling 100 
bushels of wheat one mile is .60 cents. That 
is, it costs the average farmer more to carry 
each bushel of wheat one mile than it does the 
average railroad to carry one ton the same 
distance. Have you ever thought of this be¬ 
fore ? When you do think of it, just remem¬ 
ber that the difference in force required to 
haul a ton over the best possible stone track 
and the common dirt road is as 12>£ to 200; 
that is, the force rtquired on the dirt road is 
16 times that required on the other. This will 
give you an idea of the importance of this 
road question. 
The system of road legislation now employ 
ed in many parts of our country comes from 
a form introduced from England by the 
earliest settlers. The elective township or 
district road officers and the labor tax are the 
main features of this system. In former 
times when population was sparse and traffic 
almost wholly local, such a system was well 
enough. To-day the circumstances attending 
road traffic are so different that one would 
naturally suppose that an entirely different 
system ot road legislatiou would be practiced. 
It is not so. People have clung to old tra¬ 
ditions and customs, oftentimes to their own 
disadvantage. Prof. Jenks discusses the bis- 
ttry of road legislation and then gives his 
ideas as to the system that would most bene¬ 
fit Americans. He goes to the countries pos¬ 
sessing the best roads and undertakes to show 
why these foreign roads are superior to ours. 
He infers that there are just as good road- 
making materials in America as there are in 
France, Germany or England, and that our 
climate is no more trying on roads. These 
things being truo, our disadvantage must be 
in the system of supervision and construction. 
The most important point about German 
and French roads is that they are divided in¬ 
to different grades or classes. The State or na¬ 
tional roads, those running between the larger 
towns and cities, are built and supported by 
the government and managed by government 
officials. Tnese are military roads and 
are kept in perfect repair, funds for 
maintaining them being raised by tax¬ 
ation just as funds for any other public 
service would be raised. Then come the pro¬ 
vincial roads. These connect the military 
roads and are supported mainly by the pro¬ 
vince through which they pass. Connecting 
these provincial roads are local roads 
which are supported by the village 
or country district and placed under 
local authority though the State sees that 
they are kept in good repair. In France the 
roads are under the management of State en¬ 
gineers whose chief is the Minister of Public 
Works. Oue hundred yeais ago many of the 
country roads of England were in a terrible 
condition, Arthur Young described a ride 
over oue of them as ‘‘18 miles of execrable 
memory.” To relieve the country, turnpikes 
were established—built and managed by the 
Turnpike Trusts, which collected tolls and 
thus paid themselves. These trusts failed 
though they helped the roads greatly. There 
are still mauy toll roads in England, though 
Ireland and Scotland are lreed from them. 
The English are now working towards a sys¬ 
tem that will give the government a general 
superintendence of road affairs, the details to 
be worked out by county and local authori¬ 
ties. 
After reviewing foreign road legislation, 
Prof. Jenks proceeds to suggest plans fcr 
American legislation. He would abolish all 
toll roads as soon as a due regard for the 
rights of the corporations permits. Roads 
should be classified with reference to their rel¬ 
ative importance. In most Stafo s three classes 
willanswer. These classes are:— 
(a.) Roads of the first class, main roads con¬ 
necting large towns in the same or adjoining 
comities or those much used for long-distance 
traffic, should be controlled solely by the 
county authorities and supported by county 
funds. So far as such a road served in part 
of its length as a local road the town benefited 
thus might contribute to its support. 
(b.) Roads of the second class, those con¬ 
necting roads of the first class or serving as 
principal feeders to them, also those serving 
as connecting roads for two or more town 
ships, should be supported mostly by the 
towns in proportion to the benefits received, 
aid being given by the county in case of 
special expense, such as the building of a 
costly bridge, or in case of real inability to 
pay on the part of the town. The manage¬ 
ment of these roads, details ot working, etc., 
should be in the bands of the county author¬ 
ity. 
(c.) The roads of the third class, merely lo¬ 
cal roads, should be supported by the town 
and managed by town officials. 
The classification is to be made by the 
county supervisors or other county authori¬ 
ties. They are also to hire on a salary a civil 
engineer, who is to be responsible for roads of 
the first and second class. He could also act 
as county surveyor. The county is to be di¬ 
vided into suitable districts large enough to 
keep two men busy whenever the weather is 
such that road work can be done. These men 
are to look out for all minor repairs, etc. 
Highway labor is to be abolished unless it be 
m the case of a certain rate above the ordi¬ 
nary limit. Provision should be made for 
borrowing money, under strict conditions, to 
make permanent roads. A State engineer, or 
a State board of engineers should be appoint¬ 
ed with general supervisory powers. 
The main points urgtd by Prof. Jenks are a 
proper classification of roads, the employ¬ 
ment of skilled engineers and the doing away 
with highway labor. 
OBITUARY. 
Isabella Smith. 
/~\UICEZ death is easy—he who dies 
slowly dies a thousand times;” and 
so pas-cd from earth away mild-mannered, 
pure-minded, industrious “Bella” Smith, an 
aforetime compositor in this office. The grim 
messenger came suddenly to this young girl 
and at a time when in the exercise of an 
apparently intensified cheerfulness, summoned 
to her aid in order to enliven the somewhat 
dampened spirits of a much-loved younger 
sister, who w T as about to be deprived by time 
and distance of the society and companion¬ 
ship of one to whcm she was bound by the 
most tender ties. Alas! how utterly weak 
and powerless are words to afford consolation 
and comfort to those who are comfortless ! 
“ Sister, thou wert mild and lovely, 
Gentle as the summer breeze, 
Pleasant as the air of evenlnur 
When It floats among the trees. 
Yet again we hope to meet thee, 
When the day of life has fled; 
Then, In Heaven, with joy to greet thee, 
Where no farewell tear is shed.” 
On Tuesday last, in the beautiful cemetery 
of the Evergreens, all that was mortal of this 
gentle girl was reverently laid to rest. 
THE POST-OFFICE CLUB. 
I T has been noticed that our parrot has 
been remarkably quiet of late. I should 
have explained before this why he has not 
been heard from. It is quite a sad affair ail 
around. About 10 weeks ago the parrot 
thought he had a chance to clinch his monot¬ 
onous argument. A Western man visited our 
place. He came to the store oue night and 
proceeded to give us a dismal prophecy as to 
the future of Jersey farming. Western men 
are usually great talkers and they seem to 
know so much more thau we poor Jerseymeu, 
that they have a monopoly of the conversation. 
This man made us feel very tired. He 
said that within 50 years the West would 
reduce agriculture to such a science that it 
would raise all the food needed in the 
country. Railroad transportation, he said, 
would be so developed that we would have 
absolutely no show at all. All we could do, 
he said, would be to leave our poor lands and 
move out West where a man could farm all 
day without ever leaving his comfortable 
seat. He did talk it off in great style—there 
is no doubt about it—and it made mauy of 
our young men feel pretty blue. We older 
men know there is a great deal of nonsense 
about such talk. There is just as good a 
chance in one corner of this country as there 
is in another, and so it goes. Sound sense 
and energy can make farming prosperous 
anywhere. But I tell you this Western talk 
was just nuts for our parrot. How he did 
enjoy It I He fairly danced on oue foot at the 
dismal picture our Western friend drew. 
"Farmin' don't pay! Farmin' don't pay," 
he croaked as the Western man knocked the 
cover off the sugar barrel iu one of his vio¬ 
lent gestures. 
Now the store-keeper has a flue large cat 
that is a great favorite with all the club mem¬ 
bers. He has reason to think farming a very 
good business, for he is presented with a 
variety of farm products that go to keep him 
fat and sleek. Consequently he has reason to 
hate the parrot. When he saw the bird 
dancing in glee therefore he gave a sudden 
spring and caught our great agricultural 
critic by the neck. Before we could drag the 
cat off he had shaken the parrot well. Per¬ 
haps we didn’t jump as fast as we might have 
done. The fact is the potato beetles have 
been so numerous this spring, and we have 
worked so hard trying to fight them, that we 
feel hurt whenever the parrot croak 3 . 
The cat had given the parrot’s neck a good 
twist. I think he must have thrown the vocal 
chords ail out of shape. For a long time the 
poor bird had nothing to say. He stood in 
the corner with his head under his wing. At 
last a tired farmer painted a very dismal 
picture of agriculture, and the parrot held up 
his head, opened his mouth, and croaked : 
“ Farmin’-pay ! Farmin’-pay ! ” 
It appears that the cat so hurt bis throat 
that he can’t say “don’t;■’ therefore he gives 
the lie to his own thoughts every time he 
speaks. This hurts his feelings so that be 
sulks and says nothing. A very sad case, we 
think. small pica. 
P trdlaneo n$. «|U vtttigin g. 
r Weanersand Sucking Cow Muz 
zles. The best iu the world. Send ror 
H.C. RICE, i'armiuutou, (joiiu. 
EXTRA! 
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