corn made at the Connecticut Experiment 
station, gave the following 
Water . 
Anil... 
.85-7 per cent. 
1 <>3 “ ** 
Albuminoids. 
.1.20 “ 
.4.95 “ 
Carbohydrates. 
Fat. 
.6.73 •' 
. 18 “ “ 
91t.:so 
Sugar LeetB contain the following, according 
to the tables of Professor Wolff. 
Water .., .81.5 " “ 
Aft}). 8 - " 
Albuminoids. l.o •' 
Oarbohydr ates. 15.4 " “ 
Crude liber... 1.8 “ *' 
100.IKI 
Now a ton of sugar beets lias more than twice 
the feeding value of the same weight of fodder 
corn, and a still greater advantage is that the 
roots may be kept fresh and succulent during 
the winter, while the fodder corn cannot, and 
loses in digestibility very much in the curing. 
I think fodder corn is by no means as valnable 
as even the poorer roots, mangels and turnips, 
for instance, or even cabbage.” 
“Corn fodder is more easily handled,” re¬ 
marked the old gentleman, “and any one can 
grow it, but few can grow roots. They are a 
difficult crop to grow.*’ 
“ Roots, especially sugar beets, will not he 
a popular crop at present,” remarked Mr. Mar¬ 
tin ; “ our system of farming is too rough and 
slipshod for them to be very profitable. They 
require the highest kind of farming, and 
although they may in fact be worth more per 
ton, ten tons of corn fodder can be grown as 
eaaily as one ton of beets, with our average 
farming. There are many crops of turnips 
grown about here which will not make 200 
bushels per acre, that is, about six tons. This 
crop of fodder corn will weigh six times as much 
while green, and quite as much when dried. 
Now which is the most profitable ? * You can¬ 
not make a silk purse out of a pig’s ear,’ and 
you cannot make a good crop of roots out of 
a poorly-farmed field, and before you talk of 
feeding crops, yon must grow them.” 
®j)t flotiltqi 
THE BEST BREED FOR AMATEURS. 
A. M. IIALSTED. 
What is an Amateur ! 
first of all, or rather who are amateurs ? Those 
who raise poultry for eggs and llesh to supply 
their own tables only? or those who breed 
poultry as a hobby and amusement to develop 
some specially fine points; who compete for 
prizes at some of the exhibitions, lint who sell 
no fowls, except occasionally a pair or trio 
which are “too fine to kill,” and yet not need¬ 
ed in the breeding pen ? 
Both of these classes are amateurs, yet each 
looks at his fowls in an entirely different light. 
One takes a calmary view of them and 
makes all his selections of breeding stock 
to that end. The birds that produce 
the most eggs, that are earliest fit for the 
table, and that are hardy and best able to take 
care of themselves, are his choice. The other 
makes these qualities a secondary consider¬ 
ation, his ambition being to produce something 
to excel his friends in beauty, iu breeding 
qualities and in size—if in the Asiatic, large¬ 
ness; if in the Bantam, smallness. 
The readers of the Rural will doubtless be 
largely of the first class of amateurs, and to 
them I will address this article, leaving the 
consideration of the second point for another 
communication. But eveu in the consideration 
of this half of the subject it will be necessary 
to sub-divide itagain.forone person may be,and 
frequently is so situated that he can keep a few 
FOWLS FOR THEIR EGGS, 
hut canuot raise any chickens. To such an 
amateur I should recommend some of the non- 
sitting breeds: either Hamburghs, Houdans and 
Spanish or Leghorns : which , will depend upon 
his fancy and the suitability of his location. 
If his poultry yard is on low, damp ground, 
and exposed to cold storms, he does not want 
the Hamburghs, for they are too subject to 
roup when exposed to such conditions. If 
living in the far north where the winters are 
intensely cold, neither Spanish nor Hamburga 
will he found profitable; they are too tender— 
good summer layers, hut very poor in ex¬ 
tremely cold weather and while molting. If 
located in mountainous localities where hawks 
abound, the Houdans should be his last choice, 
for their overhanging crests completely hide 
from view the approach of any enemy from 
above; and if the crests are very large, from any 
direction. If situated where the fences are low, 
and the flower or vegetable garden is close at 
hand, neither the Hamburghs nor Leghorns will 
shirk their share of “ garden work,” unless 
their wings arc clipped. In such a spot, other 
things being favorable, the noudans or one of 
the Polish varieties will cause least trouble, 
and, next to them, the 8panisb. Of the four 
above-named breeds, the greatest yearly pro¬ 
duction of eggs will be, first, from the Leg¬ 
horns ; second, the Hamburghs; third, the 
Houdans, and, fourth, the Spanish. Iu table 
qualities I would place the Houdans first, with 
the Leghorns second, and Hamburghs third. Of 
the Leghorns, my preference is the Brown, as 
being more hardy, larger-bodied, of earlier 
maturity, equally good layers, and better for 
table. 
The next thing to consider is the kind best 
adapted to the wants of the amateur who 
wishes 
Fowls Tor both Eggs nnd Meat. 
My experience with the Plymouth Rocks has 
been of only two years’ duration, and if it con¬ 
tinues as it has begun, I should place them 
among the first in this class, as they are with 
me good layers, mature early, good broilers, 
and large-bodied when full-grown. Next I 
should place the Dark Brahmas with the Light 
Brahmas thiid, the difference In favor of the 
Darks being iu their better laying qualities and 
their more plump condition as broilers. The 
Light variety, however, are the largest at 
maturity. With both varieties of Brahmas, 
there is one drawback, the hens are so large 
that in sitting they are very apt to break the 
eggs, and when they tread on a young chicken, 
which, being so clumsy, they will frequently 
do, the little thing is usually crushed out of all 
scmblauce of life. 
For the same reason, and for their persist¬ 
ence as sitters, I reject the Cochins. 
Next to the Brahmas, I place the Dorkiags, 
and of them, first the colored variety. Large, 
plump bodies of the very highest quality of 
llesh. of fair eariiness iu maturing, and of good 
but not extra laying qualities, they have been 
for many years the type of excellence iu the 
English markets. In France the lloudan takes 
the 6ame rank for quality as the Dorking does 
in England. But although a far better layer, 
it is a non-sitter and necessitates the keeping 
of some common fowls as sitters. If this were 
allowable in a question of this kind, I should 
place them next to the Plymouth Rocks for 
general utility. 
Both Plymouth Rocks and Brahmas have this 
excellent recommendation : they arc very quiet, 
and will rarely attempt to My ; even a three-feet 
fence will usually keep Ikem within bounds. 
The Dorkings and Houdans are both more ac¬ 
tive and need a high fence or clipped wings. I 
might add the Games as a desirable breed—and 
they are in both laying and table qualities—but 
their pugnacious disposition is so annoying to 
most people that their good qualities are over¬ 
looked or ignored. 
With all the above, not a little lies with the 
fancy of the amateur. Should lie prefer Hou- 
duns, he will make Houdans the breed which 
suits him best and gives him the best returns. 
If it be the Leghorns, none will suit his palate 
either in eggs or fiesh so well, and their super¬ 
ior beauty is something that ought, in his opin¬ 
ion, to be apparent to everyone. If Brahmas 
fill his desire, then their good qualities more 
than overbalance those of any other breed. 
The would-be amateur, who is looking for 
some breed with which to stock his poultry 
yard, may let his fancy have some voice in his 
selection of any of the above-named breeds 
and still find he has chosen wisely. 
®Ij t 'gors etitau. 
HORSES’ LEGS. 
It is within the experience of nearly every 
horse owner that more trouble is caused by 
ailments of the legs than by those of all the 
rest of the body combined. A large propor¬ 
tion of these are due to malformation or 
faulty disposition of the limbs, and to lay 
plainly before our readers the chief shortcom¬ 
ings in the way, we reproduce here the ac¬ 
companying excellent illustrations redrawn 
from the English Agricultural Gazette. The 
cuts with the annexed brief explanations so 
clearly illustrate the various forms of horses’ 
legs to be ordinarily met with, that little if any 
further description is necessary. 
A plummet dropped from the point of the 
shoulder of a well made animal, will reach the 
ground at the point of the toe, when a healthy 
horse is resting on its limb6. If the foot is to 
the rear of this, the equilibrium is lost, the ac¬ 
tion clambering and unsafe. If the line falls 
“without,” the legs are too close; if it falls 
“ within,” the legs are too'far apart. Where 
the limb quits tJie trunk, it should be well 
developed, since here dwells the power by 
which the lower parts of the limbs are im¬ 
pelled. The fiesh should bulge out; for a thin fore¬ 
arm is incomputable with excellence in ahorse. 
Toward the knee the swelling should grad¬ 
ually diminish, leaving upon the surface of the 
joint a broad, clean and firm appearance. The 
forearm should be long, the shin comparatively 
short, for the reach depends mainly on the 
former, and no muscles of any importance are 
located in the latter. Though not absolutely 
straight, the shin should present no obvious 
inequalities. The bone should be compact, 
giving to that portion of the limb, when 
viewed from the front, an appearance of being 
almost too thin ; but from a side view, the 
lower part of the leg cannot well be too broad; 
for width and strength arc here synonymous. 
This applies equally to the hind and fore leg6: 
to the hiud legs below the hock as well as to the 
fore ones from the knees down. Each here 
should be thin when seen from the front; 
neither can well be too deep when viewed from 
the side, and both sets should appear solid 
and feel almost as hard as metal. With re¬ 
gard to the hind legs, a line let fall from the 
stifle, should reach the grouud barely in front 
of the hind toe, for hunting and draft hor¬ 
ses. When the toes recede, as in racing stock, 
beyond this line, it is a token of a speedy for¬ 
mation. The distance from the stifle line and 
the toe, may vary from four to eight inches, 
when the animal is standing at ease. 
By bearing in mind the faults indicated m 
these cuts, note will he taken of misplaced 
legs and feet, which are frequently the cause 
of many of the ailments to which horses’ legs 
and feet arc subject, such as splints, spavins, 
thorough pins, curbs, wind galls, sprung ten¬ 
dons, etc. 
A CHANGE IN FARMING.—COMBING WOOL. 
COL. F. D. CURTIS. 
American farmers should produce, if pos¬ 
sible, those things which are imported. This 
is a wiser political economy than attempting to 
sell in an overstocked market at home, and to 
be obliged to send the sorpins abroad to con¬ 
vert it into money. A change of policy in this 
respect would relieve overdone farming iu 
many respects. If one-third of the cheese and 
butter fanners in the State of New York would 
fatten their poor cows for the butcher, and sell 
the good ones to the other two-thirds, and then 
if these, too, would get rid of their poor 
milkers, there would he a large increase in 
the percentage of profit with those remaining 
in the dairy business. The one-third who go 
out, should engage in sheep husbandry and 
grow combing wool, which brings the highest 
price, and nearly all of that used in this coun¬ 
try is imported. The dairyman transformed 
into a sheep man, would find himself iu a new 
world, as it were. His labors would be so 
much lessened that lie would find time to make 
many improvements about his home, although 
his former occupation was not nearly as labor¬ 
ious as many others. There would be the 
greatest change in the house, with no milk to 
skim, or churning or butter making, or cheese 
making, rubbing and turning, there would 
come a millenium of rest and opportunity for 
doing a thousand tilings the hard-worked wife 
and daughters] could never get time to do 
before. In spring time the women could find 
healthful occupation as shepherdesses, with 
all the romantic associations of out-door life. 
Here would be, in caring for the sheep, a kind 
of work not uusuited to females and not half 
so laborious as daily work. The cow stables 
could readily he changed to places for shelter¬ 
ing and feeding sheep. The stanchions being 
removed and portable racks put iu, all would 
be ready for the sheep. 
We recommend combing-wool sheep for the 
dairy sections, because their wool will bring, 
on an average, ten couts a pound more than the 
average price for the lower grades. Further" 
more, it will be a business with a long future, as 
there is such a scarcity of such wools, and but a 
limited portion of our farmers will ever pro¬ 
duce them. The reason for this statement lies 
in the fact that combing wool in this country 
and high farming go together. We infer that 
a class of farmers, who have had the enter¬ 
prise to develop and build up the factory sys¬ 
tem of eheeso making and the creameries 
which have made the dairy sections of New 
York noted the world over, eould take hold of 
sheep and grow combing wool successfully, 
It must be understood at the outset that this 
is the most difficult as well as the best paying 
branch of sheep husbandry. The unnatural 
influences of climate must be overcome and a 
new system of feeding be inaugurated. 
In the first place, what Is combing wool ? It is a 
staple of wool four inches and upwards in 
length, with as much brightness or luster as pos¬ 
sible. The longer the staple and the more lus¬ 
trous, the more valuable it is. The breeds of sheep 
which furnish the best combingwools are the 
Cotswold. Lincoln and Leicester. Sheep of 
these breeds vary in the leugth of staple and in 
the luster, even when fed the same. Some 
have more open fleeces than others, with long, 
wavy wool. These sheep have the brightest 
aud best quality of combing wool, but they 
are never so hardy as the thicker and shorter- 
Jieeccd sheep. Such sheep must be carefully 
housed in cold, wet weather. A medium 
between the two would be the most desirable, 
as a little less value in the wool will be found 
to he more than made up in the hardiness of 
the sheep. The thicker aud shorter-lieeced 
sheep usually shear aB much in weight as the 
longer and wavy sort, if not more. They are 
also more easily fatleued on account of their 
stronger constitutional qualities. 
A leading exhibitor at the UlicaState fair, last 
year, had a few wavy-fleeced sheep on exhib¬ 
ition, and as they won the prizes, this year he 
selected none but the wavy ones, and got no 
prizes. Last year the awards must have been 
made on the character of the wool, and this 
year on the character of the sheep. The latter 
is the most important. 
EXHIBITION OF NEW YORK STATE HOR¬ 
TICULTURAL SOCIETY. 
(Special Report.) 
This Society held an excellent exhibition of 
fruits and flcovers at Madison Square Gardens, 
this city, on the 17th. 18th and 19th inst. The 
fruits formed the most attractive feature. 
Messrs. Eilwauger & Barry took first premium 
for the best collection of pears; their collection 
contained 116 varieties, in which were the fol¬ 
lowing excellent ones:—Benrre Hardy, Doy¬ 
enne Boussock, Duehesse Precoce, Beurre 
Bose, Horton, Canandaigua, and Mikado, a 
new Japan variety which has just fruited for 
the first time. 
J. II. Ricketts exhibited also a large var¬ 
iety of pears, for seven of which he was award¬ 
ed first premiums. His seedling grapes, how¬ 
ever, were the most interesting of his exhibits. 
Among these, the Welcome, Lady Washington, 
Naomi and the Bacchus are new varieties of 
merit. 
The Rev. E. P. Roe was awarded first pre¬ 
mium for the best new seedling apple, and also 
for tiie best new seedling peach. 
C. J. Copley was awarded first premium for 
the best three bunches of each of the following 
grapes : Eumehui, Senasqua, Crcveling, Sa¬ 
lem, Rogers's No. Sli, Fdslugburgh, and Elvira. 
Mr. Peter Henderson took first premium for 
the best six varieties of foreign grapes; these 
were: Muscat of Alexandria, Victoria Ham¬ 
burg, Black Hamburg, Royal Muscadine, Mus¬ 
cat Hamburg and Charles Worth Tokay ; the 
last is a beautiful clear grape. 
There was au excellent display of potatoes. 
B. K. Bliss ifc Son exhibited 150 named varie¬ 
ties, for which they were awarded first pre¬ 
mium, being the best collection, and 50 new 
seedlings that were not named, Mr. P. Hen¬ 
derson took first premium for the new potato, 
St. Patrick, which was considered the best new 
FORE LEGS. 
1. Standing- 2. Too wide. 3. Too close in 4. Duck-footed, 5. Cannons 6. Calf-kneed. 7. Knee too open 
true. front. with cannon twisted in- 
twiBted outward, ward*, and 
pin-toed. 
HIND LEGS. 
1. Standing cor- 2. Too wide 3. Too close be- 4. Duck foot- 5. Bow-legg-ed 6. Cow hock. 7. Too open 
rectly. hind. ed behind, aud pin-toed. 
