THE RURAL NEW-YORKER 
JAN. 4 
drought than the surrounding soil. These 
facts probably account for the continued ex¬ 
istence of this grass In these isolated spots. 
There are many other species of grass that 
are found in greater or less abundance through¬ 
out these regions, mauy of which contribute to 
the susteuance of stock in the form of both 
hay and pasture; but the ones named, both on 
account of their quantity and the quality, are 
so predominant that the subject may be consid¬ 
ered fairly treated without entering into a de¬ 
tailed description of the remaining ones. 
There is no question about the abundant sup¬ 
ply of grasses to meet all probable demands for 
man}' years to come, provided the present sup¬ 
ply can be kept up; but it is very questionable 
whether ibis cau be done where the land is 
heavily stocked with animals. These native 
grasses seern to be quite easily killed out by 
close grazing and tramping, and tbeir places 
are speedily occupied by worthless and nox¬ 
ious weeds. It Is a question of vital import¬ 
ance to the prosperity of this country to know 
what success can be had in the cultivation of 
the tame grasses and clover. The discussion 
of this question would extend this article to an 
undue length, and so must be deferred. 
Reno, Co., Kansas. 
_____ 
A COEN CROP. 
On the 14th; of May, 1875, on a piece of 
ground which had never been manured, I plant¬ 
ed a variety of corn from Tennessee. It was a 
White Dent Corn. 1 made 120 hills, four feet 
apart each way, putting throe grains to a hill. 
Every seed grew, ran up very tall, bore from 
two to nine ears to a stalk, averaging four, 
having from eight to twelve rows each. 
The patch was shovel-plowed twice, a shov¬ 
elful of hen-house manure (one-third manure 
10 two-thirds common soil, mixed) put upon 
each hill, and afterward hand-hoed tw ice. The 
corn was husked Oct. 13, yielded 3.41 bushels of 
ears counting three half bushels to the bushel. 
From this I selected two-thirds of a bushel of 
twelve-rowed ears for future seed, and discard¬ 
ed the rest. 
It will be seen that the corn received but 
common care, and but little manure, and yet 
it produced at the rate of 77.4 bushels per 
acre, all sound corn, there not being a nubbin 
in it. The season was quite wet, too wet for 
small grain, but just right for com on upland, 
like the land on which this grew. The ears 
were medium in size, but very even. I hope 
by careful selection, to increase the yield of 
this corn to 100 or more bushels per aere, with¬ 
out any fancy cultivation. I think few of the 
great corn crops of this season can excel this, 
considering all the circumstances. s. R. m. 
Dodge County, Neb. 
---- 
Raising Potatoes in a Green-house. 
With regard to a short article on this subject 
in Rural for December 14, a correspondent 
writes us: “Mr. Peter Henderson, in hiB reply 
to the query of \W. W. K..’ of Toronto: 
• Would it be possible to plant the * Beauty of 
Hebron ’ potato now, in a bed in the green¬ 
house, so as to have the product for planting 
in spring P ’ remarks somewhat to this effect: 
The tubers, being cut lengthwise, so as to ex¬ 
pose as many eyes as possible, should, after 
drying, be plauted in small pots, and then 
placed in the green-house not sooner than 
March 15th. When the shoots are about two 
laches long they should be removed, and then 
propagated. He ^concludes by saying: ‘ Every 
plant of these, if properly handled, is equal to 
a dry ‘ set.’ ” With all liis remarks do I agree 
except this last. It is true that these plants, 
If properly handled, will produce other po¬ 
tatoes ; but he is in error in supposing that 
these tubers will be as good as those grown in 
the natural way. This is not a uew experi¬ 
ment ; but when produced in this mauner, it 
will be found that such tubers arc exceedingly 
liable to rot, and consequently not desirable 
for keeping purposes; nor are they suitable 
for replanting, as they are weak, and the bulk 
of their product are certain to rot. x. 
-- 
The Most Prolific Variety of Corn.— 
Apropos of our Editorial Brevity on this sub¬ 
ject on page 748, a correspondent writes us 
from Burr Oak, St. Joseph Co., Mich., to the 
effect that the variety of corn which has aver¬ 
aged the best yield with him for the past thirty 
years, is the White Dent or the White Gourd- 
seed. It ears large; frequently has to each 
ear 1,200 kernels of great length, and sometimes 
as mauy as 1,800. It was introduced into this 
county about 1842. and down to to-day has 
not been generally grown by farmers there¬ 
abouts. He doubts whether it would thrive in 
Pennsylvania, New York, or the States to the 
north-east of them. 
-♦ » ♦- 
We know of a wealthy farmer but a short 
distance from our farm that up to a few years 
ago failed to get good crops though manure 
was literally piled upon the laud legardless of 
expense. Lime was suggested and used in 
large quantities aud the best crops ever kuown 
on that farm have since been raised. “The 
more dung the more lime," aud the converse is 
equally true. 
fjfrtrsman. 
THE EXHIBITION OF FAT STOCK AT 
CHICAGO. 
An exhibition of fat cattle was held at Chicago 
receutly to which our crowded columns have 
prevented us from alluding. This show is some¬ 
thing novel and of much interest. We have had 
many exhibitions of fine cattle whose fancy 
points, rather than their merit in the butchers 
eyes were their chief elaiinB to excellence. In 
this exhibition intrinsic value as to beef was the 
object most desired, and the result of the 
competition cannot fail to be of great import¬ 
ance. American beef has been considered as 
of inferior excellence to what has been more 
poetically than truthfully called the grand, 
unsurpassed “roast beef of Old England.’ 
English beef has long beeu supposed to be the 
best in the world, aud it has been thought that no 
other beef could ever come into successful com¬ 
petition with it. The results of the Chicago Ex¬ 
hibition go to show that we can produce as 
good beef aud of as early maturity as our 
British competitors ever showed at their Smith- 
ficld butchers’ shows. The cattle exhibited at 
Chicago consisted of Short-horns, Hereford*, 
Devons and their grades. The premiums 
awarded were as follows 
Shobt-hobn Cows. 
1st.... 
ad... 
Age. 
Gain 
Weight*, per d y. 
2,076 lbs. 1.201b. 
1.285 ” 1.08 ” 
Hf.rkfoud Steers, 
4 years old. 
lit..., 
.2.692 day 8. 
2,010 lbs. 
.76 lb. 
Hebkfobd Stebbs. 
8 years old 
1st... 
2d... 
. 1,336 days. 
.1.3W “ 
1,706 lbs. 
1.760 ” 
1.20 lb. 
1.29 “ 
Hebkfobd Steers, 
a years old. 
1st... 
1,470 lbs. 
1.961b. 
Devon Stkkbh, 3 years old. 
1st... 
ad... 
. 1,371 days. 
.i.*n •• 
1,666 lbs. 
1,476 ” 
1.201b. 
1.16 “ 
Devon Htbkuh. 4 years old. 
1st... 
ad... 
. 1,663 ” 
1,645 lbs. 
1,870 ” 
.981b. 
1.18 ’* 
Gbadks and Crossed Steers, 4 years old. 
1st. 
2d. 
. 2,058 days. 
2,760 lba. 
2,833 “ 
1.691b. 
1.79 ** 
Grade Steebb, 
3 years Old. 
1st. 
2d. 
. 1,277 “ 
2.185 lbs. 
2,805 - 
Grade.Htebus, 
2 years old. 
1st. 
2d. 
. 958 “ 
1,88a lbs. 
1,660 •’ 
1.96 lb. 
Gbadb Stekbs. 
1 year old. 
1st.. 
2d. 
. 690 days. 
. 641 ” 
1,420 lbs. 
1.S2U *• 
2.38 lb. 
3.87 “ 
Sweepstakes. Steers. 
1st. 
3d. 
. 1,902 days. 
2.440 lbs. 
2,186 •• 
1,640 " 
1.480 “ 
1.281b. 
1.66 ” 
1.71 “ 
3.27 “ 
3d. 
4td. 
. 660 " 
Cows, 3 years and over. 
1st. 
The above list deserves some notice. It 
should be stated that no first premiums for 
grade animals were secured by any but Short¬ 
horn crosses, although a Hereford steer came 
near to capture ft premium in the sweepstakes. 
It will be observed that young beef is the most 
profitable because an average growth of more 
than pounds per day may be made within 
two years. Beef older than two years does 
not pay so well, because the increase iu weight 
is out of proportion to the necessary increase 
in food. The rapid maturity of (Short-horn or 
gradc Short-horn steers has totally changed 
the old system of feeding, aud it no lunger 
pays to feed until three or four years old, be¬ 
cause the former average weights of that age 
can now be gained in half the time. It may 
be that the quality of the meat may suffer, but 
the profit of the feeder is everything and the 
consumer must take what he can get and be 
content. There is, however, little to grumble 
about in the quality of a well fed two-year-old 
of 140(1 or 1500 pounds. This fact may well be 
considered by tbostj who htive not yet iiitio- 
duced the improved breeds into their herds, 
and are still throwing away feed iu the en¬ 
deavor to grow r beef lit for market in four or 
five years. 
-♦ « - »- 
FAT-STOCK EXHIBITION AT BIRMINGHAM, 
ENGLAND. 
JOHN HILL. 
The 30th exhibition of fat stock, poultry, 
agricultural seeds and implements was held at 
Biugley Hall, as usual, Nov. 30th ami Dec. 2d, 
3d, 4th and 5th. Although, of course, there 
were some good specimens iu each class, the 
collection was not as good as it has been on 
other occasions. The new rule which has beeu 
made by the Smitbfleld Club, which excludes 
any beasts that have been shown at Birming¬ 
ham from being exhibited there, for fear of 
spreading disease, iu a great measure Lends to 
spoil both shows, many of the best animals in 
the present case having been kept for the 
Smitbfleld exhibition next week. 
hekefokds. 
Taking .the classes us they are arranged in 
the catalogue, first come the Herefords, which 
as a lot are decidedly not so good as usual, a 
few entries excepted. There is to be a large 
show of these cattle in Loudon, aud the best, 
no doubt, are reserved for it. The ox that wins 
the first prize in his class for those over four 
years old is a grand, massive animal with a 
girth of 9 feet 10 inches; his live weight is 2,520 
pounds. The first-prize beast iu the steer class 
not exceeding four years old has wonderfully 
heavy flesh, with grand Hereford character, on 
short legs and beef to the ground. He has won 
12 first- prizes previous to this exhibition. At. 
three years eight mouths old he weighs 2,114 
pounds and girths 9 feet 1 inch- This animal 
takes the £100 prize for the best Hereford iu 
the yard. The only other beast of this breed 
that deserves special notice Is the beautiful 
heifer “ Beatrice,” three years three months 
old. She has been one of the great features in 
the leading shows ever since she came out as a 
calf, and it is a pity her life is now to be ended 
in the butcher’s shop; but this, unfortunately, 
happens to mauy of our young show boilers. 
She often has been exhibited as a pair with the 
still more celebrated heifer “ Leonora,” bo often 
the champion female of all breeds, beatiug the 
crack Short-horns and others. Fortunately 
she is breeding, and no doubt will produce off¬ 
springs .worthy of their dam. “Beatrice 
weighs, alive, 1,922 pounds. She is wonderful 
in the chine, back and loin, with an extraordin¬ 
ary rib and forepart, but rather fails in her 
flank. 
SHORT-HORNS. 
There were four entries for Short-horn oxen 
exceeding four years old. The first prize was 
taken by a very fine well-bred beast, full of 
quality, carrying a great weight of good flesh, 
with fine character. He was expected to have 
won the champion honors of the yard, but iu 
this he was defeated by the cross-bred ox of 
which I shall speak presently; his live weight 
is 2,974 pounds at the age of five years five 
months. America is well represented In this 
class by the second-prize ox, bred by Mr. 0. P. 
Bedford. Paris, Ky., and exhibited by Messrs. 
John Bell & Sons of Glasgow, Liverpool aud 
London. I learn that he had been in this coun¬ 
try six weeks, and be certainly is a good speci¬ 
men of a iwell-fed Short-horn, and shows far 
more good breeding and quality than the other 
American ox exhibited in the class for animals 
not eleglble to any of the other classes. The lat¬ 
ter is a large,coarse beast, rough in liiB shoulders 
and tight iu flank and thighs, and not quite fat 
enough for au exhibition of this sort. He is 
four years old and shows a good deal of the 
Short-horn type. He is exhibited by the mine 
firm. The weight of the second-prize oeast just 
mentioned is 3,110 pounds at four years six 
months old aud the other beast weighs 2,114 
pounds. The most level and evenly led bullock 
in the Short-horn classes is the first-prize aui- 
mal exhibited by Mr. A. Darley of Little Ness, 
Shrewsbury. He weighs 1,958 pounds at two 
years six mouths old. 
There are a large number of Short-horn cows 
entered. The first aud second honors were won 
by Walter Cottrell, Thame, Oxford, and Mr. R. 
Stratton of the Duffryn. Newport, Monmouth¬ 
shire, respectively. Both the winuers were of 
great merit; but the most striking cow in this 
class, showing beautiful Short-horn character, 
of excellent quality, with splendid head and 
carriage, a beautiful handler, covered with cap¬ 
ital hair, with a back aud thigh and loin nearly 
perfect, but rather light iu her forepart and 
thiu on her .chine (no doubt partly accounted 
for by her age aud what she lias done, com¬ 
bined with the great milking properties of the 
herd she comes from), is the animal exhibited 
by Mr. John Allan Rolls of the Heukre, Mon¬ 
mouthshire. The judges highly commended 
her, aud as she has not long been feeding, is ten 
years old, and has reared six calves, it is a very 
respectable situation to have obtained. 8he 
was much admired by all Short-horn breeders, 
as she is a good specimen of the herd to Which 
the great “ Duchess " breeders are beginning to 
look with interest, tracing back as they do iu a 
direct line to the celebrated “ Dairy ’’ bull, and 
it is believed by many that the old “ Dairy 
tribe will turn out to be the oue to which the 
breeders of the “ Duchess" cattle must look 
for a cross. It is quite certain they are now at 
their wits’ end where to go, and at all events 
such a cross is well worth their serious atten¬ 
tion, the two tribes being so nearly descended 
from the same source. Mr. Thornton, the Short¬ 
horn auctioneer, has advertised a few of these 
“ Daily ’’ cattle to be sold by order of Mr. Rolls 
on the 28th of March, 1879. 
The special LtOO prize for the best Short-horn 
iu the yard is won by a beautifully fed white 
heifer bred aud fed by Mr. Hubbard Sound, 
Lowesloft, Suffolk. At three years five mouths 
old she weighs 1,953 pounds, being two weeks 
older than the Hereford heifer, she weighs 31 
pounds the heavier. This is another example 
of how nearly the two breeds agree in weight 
for age. 
OTHER BREEDS AND CROSSES. 
The Devons were fairly represented, as also 
were the Long-horns, but they need no special 
comment. The Scotch cattle were very fine, 
but not so remarkably fine as I have sometimes 
seen them. The cross-bred animals were not 
good, excepting the magnificent bullock that 
won the first prize of jE 50 in his class. 
The Elkingtoq challenge cup, value 100 
guineas, and silver cup, value 100 guineas, 
given by Messrs. Jones, Gibbs & Co., as the best 
animal in the yard. This ox is black, being a cross 
between a Short-horn bull and a polled cow. 
He takes rather more than is usual in such 
cases after the dam, but is horned. He is won¬ 
derfully well fed and is square aud meets you 
well with great forehead, foreflank, and rib, 
perhaps a trifle slack behind his shoulders and 
low iu his back, but he has rare loins and great 
thighs, and altogether is an enormous mass of 
firm well-laid-ou beef. He weighs at four years 
ten mouths old 2,816 pounds, and before he 
left his Scottish home he weighed 3,024 pounds, 
losing the difference on the journey. I suppose 
from not eating so well when traveling and, 
having been weighed when empty at the en¬ 
trance of the show yard. 
Among the cows or heifers of any age not 
eligihle for any of the other classes, there are 
always some beautiful specimens; young ani¬ 
mals’that have been in constant show condi¬ 
tion aud which have failed to breed. The Rev. 
R. Bruce Kennard of Maruhall, Blandford, wins 
with a splendid heifer “ Isle ” which ran the 
champion ox very hard for the chief honors of 
the yard, and some good judges even went so 
far as to say she ought to have had them. She 
certainly iB better in her back, and is the most 
level aud perfectly made animal for her size I 
have ever seen. She is square and thick on 
short legs, has extraordinary hind quarters, a 
capital top and wide in her chine. She has a 
beautiful coat and;handlea to perfection. She 
Is really a “gem "and worthy of the grand 
herd she comes from. The second-prize ani¬ 
mal, bred and fed by the Rev. Walter Sueyd of 
Keele Hall, Newcastle, Staffordshire, is a 
charming heifer aud would, have won in less 
high company. _ 
(v«v 
ROAD-SIDE ORNAMENTATION. 
W. I. CHAMBERLAIN. 
Difficulties in the Way. 
Country road-sides are usually unsightly and 
unprofitable. They are often a refuge for 
stones, weeds and briers, or a tramping ground 
for teams iu muddy weather. Uuder most of 
our State laws a “ supervisor ” or “ path-mas¬ 
ter ” is chosen for each road district, by vote, 
each spring. The position is no sinecure, it 
brings no pay except for labor, and is there¬ 
fore ofteu takeu in rotation by all the farmers 
in a district, and so all sorts of men hold the 
office. But the supervisor is “ monarch of all 
he surveys.” He can order out the property- 
holders to work on the road when aud where 
he will. He can run the ditches straight or 
crooked. He can cruelly plow into your nice 
turf in front of your very house-lawn, if lie 
chooses. “ His right there is mine to dispute," 
Add to this the fact that in spring aud fall, 
when roads are muddy, every man that rides or 
drives on the road is also an autocrat, and can 
poach up your turf the whole length of your 
farm, if he will, and it is plain that road-side 
ornamentation in the country is not an ear¬ 
thing, even if one sets about it. formerly, 
too, cows and hogs roamed the streets, but now 
that nuisance is almost everywhere abated. 
People began to see that since each farmer pays 
for all highways running through or past his 
farm the same price per acre as for the rest of 
his farm, and pays yearly taxes on them, too, 
his neighbors plainly have no right to tise Ids 
road-xi'lf* for Ihrir hog yard or cow pasture. T he 
public have a right to the proper and necessary 
use of them for travel, and uotblug more. All 
else belongs to the laud-owner. It logically 
follows that the latter has the right to improve 
and ornament his road-sides, and reap all bene¬ 
fits arising from such improvement; also, 
that the supervisors and the traveling public 
have uo right to hinder his doiug so. But how 
shall we prevent their ruining our roadsides by 
driving on them in wet times ? Some throw 
down rails and chunks, hut the irate aud inde¬ 
pendent public will jump out of their wagons 
and throw the rails aside with a jerk and au 
oath. 
TREES THE REST ORNAMENTS. 
I know but one effective way, and that is 
to do what should he done anyway, viz.: set a 
row of shade trees on each side of the road, 
about six feet from each fence, and double¬ 
stake and guard them while young. i lie laws 
iu most States give the right to plant and pro¬ 
tect thus. The trees will not only be a great 
ornament and hlessiug themselves, hut will 
make it possible to have a lawn-like strip of 
grass, uncut by wheels and boofB, all along the 
roadsides. Most of our country roads are 
about 00 feet wide. If. now, we allow 32 feet 
for the turnpike, or roadway aud ditches, there 
remains room for u nice grass plot, 14 feet 
wide, on each side. But with a row of trees, 
well guarded by stakes, ruuuing nearly through 
the middle of each, it will he impossible for 
wagon b to drive there. And with care, a nice, 
straight, smooth strip of grass may be had. 
