; AUG 24 
S56 
tained their maximum growth. Raise big crops 
one year and then plow it and raise big crops 
of something else. This is the way to make 
the most out of it. The clover beetle will not 
hurt them. It may be a blessing to some 
others. 
Summit County. O. 
THE DOUBLE-ROWED SYSTEM OF 
PLANTING CORN. 
This plan of planting corn will give more 
stalks and sunshine to the acre than any 
other, and experiments have shown that 17 
inches in the drill is about as close as our 
large corn will grow and produce ears, and I 
have one acre planted this year on very rich 
and highly manured land on the double- 
rowed system, viz: double rows five feet wide 
w th hills 17 Inches lengthwise and the double 
rows 17 inches between them. This plan 
will give about 11,500 stalks per acre. Allow¬ 
ing 106 ears to the bushel and one ear to each 
stalk, this will be about 108 bushels per acre, 
or two ears to the stalk would be 216 bushels 
per acre. 
In order to get the same number of stalks 
or hills to the acre on the single-rowed sys¬ 
tem, the rows must stand only 30 inches 
apart, which is too close to admit the neces¬ 
sary sunshine and air to form the ears; while 
the double-rowed system will afford a space 
43 inches wide between them for sunshine and 
air. 
I used 12-inch sweeps for plowing out one 
furrow between the rarrow rows and I plowed 
two furrows with a one horse cultivator in 
wide rows which lessened by one-third the 
number of times I bad to go through the rows, 
t.f T ft 
nrrr 
Fig. 210. 
and weeds and grass cannot stand the shade 
in the double rows as well as in the single 
rows. J. C. STRIBLING. 
Anderson County, S. C. 
Buuel (Topifs. 
AT A FAIR. 
FRED GRUNDY. 
“Say, Bill, ain’t ye goin’ to see the race?” 
“Why, I hadn’t thought of it, John; what 
sort ot a race is it?” 
“Runnin’, Boomer an’ Scooter an’ several 
more. Big thing, I tell ye! Miss half yer 
life if ye fail to see it. Come along, we’ll be 
late if we don’t hurry.” 
The first speaker was a brown-faced, hard- 
handed, loud-talking, “horsey” farmer, 
plainly dressed, evidently one of those 
late and early hustlers who believe there is 
wealth in “ elbow grease,” and health in pork, 
beans, cabbage, corn bread and molasses. 
The second was also a farmer; a rather neatly- 
dressed, pleasant, easy-going sort of a chap, 
and evidently one who believed in newspapers, 
and enjoyed pictures, flowers, nice clothes, 
etc. The place was the fair grounds of a 
noted agricultural society. 
To pick up a few notes I followed this pair 
to the race track. John elbowed his way 
through the crowd and led Bill to a seat in 
the amphitheater, not far from the line. I took 
a position just above them. 
“Have ye seen the bosses, Bill?” asked 
John. 
“No,” replied Bill, “Nettie and I were 
looking at the poultry and machinery and 
fine hogs so long that I didn’t get time to go 
down to the horse stalls. She wants to get a 
fine rooster and a new churn, and I was sort 
o’ looking after a good pig.” 
“Gosh! I went amongst the bosses soon’s 
I got on the grounds. I don’t give a cent for 
chickens! Hosses is my holt! Last year I 
got a p’inter from a jockey an’ won §17 on 
the races inside o’ 20 minutes!” 
“Is that so!” exclaimed Bill, in astonish¬ 
ment. 
“You bet it is. Best day’s work I ever 
done in my life! Now, don’t say a word 
about it to nobody, but I’ve got §10, even up, 
on Boomer. You jest ought to see him—you 
will pretty soon, I see the marshal clearing 
the tiack now. Oh, but he’s a buster! He’s 
in prime condition— fit to run fer a million. 
Yessir; Boomer’s the winner, an’ don’t ye 
forget it I” 
Just then a languid-looking chap dressed in 
checkered clothes and gold-rimmed specta¬ 
cles halted in front of John and drawled out : 
“ Did you say that Boomah would ween ?” 
“ You bet I did 1” responded John, emphat¬ 
ically. 
“ Bet you aw fivah he don’t, awnd put iha 
monee in your friend’s hawnds. He's a awn- 
est mawn, 1 know be his looks. ” 
John placed §5 in Bill’s band and the dude 
covered it. 
“ Bet you awuother fivah I ween the bet,” 
said the dude. §5 more were placed in Bill’s 
hands. 
“ Any moah ?” queried the dude. 
“ I’d go you more if I had it,” replied 
John. 
The horses appeared and after some pre¬ 
liminary monkeying ran twice around the 
ring, while John and the multitude yelled 
themselves hoarse. Boomer led finely up to 
the last quarter when Scooter ran ahead and 
came in an easy winner. 
John’s face turned yellow. “ Don’t say 
nothin’ about this, Bill.” said he, as with 
a sickly smile on his features he quietly arose 
and slipped away through the crowd. 
I followed him to the “ Fine Art Hall,” 
Fig. 212. 
which he entered. As I came in at another 
door I overheard him speaking to a tired-look¬ 
ing woman who was seated on a small bench 
fanning a worrying and sweating babe that 
lay on her lap. “ Come, Jane,” said he, 
shortly, “ it’s time to go home. Where’s 
Tommy ?” 
“ He’s just went out with Sammy Smith. 
He begged me for ten cents to take him in one 
of them side-shows where there was something 
funny. I guess he’s down there now.” 
“ What do ye let him fool away money on 
such trash fer ? They’re reg’lar swindlers. 
Ye are old enough to hev more sense an’ know 
better. I’ll side-show him when I find him !” 
As they started toward their wagon I heard 
the woman say : “ I didn't get to see nothing. 
Belle was so cross she wouldn’t walu, and she 
is too heavy for me to carry. I wisht you’d 
o’helped me carry her round awhile so I 
could have seen a little of something. ” 
Christian County, Ill. 
THE MUCH-DESIRED COW. 
L. F. ALLEN. 
I am asked the following questions: 
1. Have you ever been able to secure a 
grade or cross-bred animal that could be call¬ 
ed a success both in the dairy and at the 
block? 
2. Has there ever been a period in Ameri¬ 
can agriculture when what is known as the 
“general-purpose” cow paid? If so, of what 
breed was she? 
1. In my experience of more than 50 years 
breeding dairy cows, I have succeeded in rear¬ 
ing many of what may be called “ general- 
purpose ” animals; that is, cows good for the 
Fig. 213. 
dairy and for good carcasses of beef at any 
age at which the owner may choose to devote 
them to the latter purpose. Those “ general- 
purpose ” cows were composed of grade ani¬ 
mals chiefly from thoroughbred Short-horn 
bulls of good milking descent, and well select¬ 
ed common or native stock, their produce be¬ 
ing various grades, extending from half-bred 
Short-horn higher up. 
In explanation of these grades and my 
choice of the Short-horn sires, I will remark 
that the early importations of that breed into 
our Eastern States—say from 1818 to 1830— 
were from the best herds of the English 
breeders who attached great value to the 
dairy as well as to the beef qualities of their 
herds, being thoroughbreds, with pedigrees re¬ 
corded in the early volumes of the English 
Herd Book. Large numbers of cows from the 
imported bulls were bred in New England 
and Pennsylvania and other Eastern States, 
proving flrst-elass for general purposes of 
the thoughtful farmer, and such stock is still 
bred in various sections ot our Northern and 
Middle States, as good general-purpose cows as 
can be found, but no distinct breed of them 
has lieen established, as more or lees failures 
in either the 'quality of the milk or the flesh 
will sometimes occur. 
In regard to the present status of thorough¬ 
bred Short-horns as first-class dairy cows, and 
the ordinary opinion of the present day that 
they are not good milkers, the importations of 
them from England since about the year 1830 
have been selected mainly for their flesh¬ 
bearing qualities without regard to their dairy 
products, and these later importations have 
almost altogether been consigned to our 
Western grazing States where beef is the 
main object and the dairy is of no less ac¬ 
count. Thus, the Western Short-horns are 
little sought by dairymen, and the purely 
dairy breeds are adopted in their place. The 
“general-purpose” cow is, therefore, a crea¬ 
ture of selection rather than of a distinct 
breed. Evod if the dairyman chooses to breed 
his grade cows to a thoroughbred Short¬ 
horn bull, the latter must be descended from a 
Fig. 214. 
line of good milking cows of his own kind or 
the breeder may be disappointed in the success 
he looks for; if the bull runs to flesh through 
his ancestry, his produce may inherit that 
quality over that of his good-milking dam. 
2. I bred from Devon cattle for more than 
30 years, and they were, in their purity, more 
nearly the “general-purpose” animal than 
any other that I have known a3 a distinct 
breed. The cows, as a rule, were superior for 
the dairy and for beef, at any age, and their 
meat was of the best quality. They are of 
medium size, the cows weighing, at full age, 
1,000 to 1,200 pounds, and well fed steers at 
3j 4 years weighing from 1,200 to 1,400 pounds, 
alive. No handsomer or more graceful cattle 
—pure red in color—can be found, and the 
farmer who possesses a herd of them has as 
good “general-purpose” animals as he can 
find or better, and the same can be said with 
regard to their high grades. 
The Red Polled cows, from what I have seen 
of them (never having bred them), I consider, 
next to the Devon, as good general-purpose 
cows as any others. They are of about equal 
size, well shaped and for those who object to 
horns these may take the place of Devons, 
either pure-blooded or grades. 
The distinct dairy breeds, such as the Guern¬ 
sey, Jersey or Holstein, cannot be called 
general-purpose cattle, as their purely flesh¬ 
taking qualities are not of special considera¬ 
tion, and the choice of either one of them in 
preference to another may be left to the de¬ 
cision of the dairyman. They cannot be 
enumerated for “general-purposes.” 
Niagara County, N. Y. 
A GROUP OF JERSEYS. 
Have you ever seen a more life-like cattle 
picture than that shown at Fig. 209? The en¬ 
graving is taken directly from a photograph 
kindly sent us by our contributor, Mr. W. B. 
Pratt, of Steuben County, N. Y. It is a beau¬ 
tiful scene. The cows are well grouped and 
stand exactly as farmers have dozens of times, 
seen such cows stand in the pasture. It is a 
peaceful, restful view. The early October 
frosts have begun to strip the foliage from 
the trees. Could we paint this picture in col¬ 
ors, the woods would be radiaut with the 
glorious autumn tints. Off to the left is a 
pretty country village. To the right rise the 
uplands that stand between this valley and the 
grape regions bordering on Lake Keuka. It is a 
picture that does one’s eyes good to look upon. 
As to the value of this herd for the butter 
dairy, our readers are referred to Mr. Pratt’s 
dairy record for 1888, which may be found on 
page 36 (January 19) of this volume of the 
R. N.-Y. While this picture was taken sev¬ 
eral years ago, and does not fairly represent 
the present herd, it at least shows the animals 
from which the present grades are descended. 
These grades, as the record will show, average 
nearly 300 pounds of butter per year. 
CLEAN CULTURE versus CUT-WORMS. 
C. P. GILLETTE. 
The intelligent tiller of the soil knows full 
