1900 
THE RURAL NEW-YORKER; 
5oi 
SOME HELPFUL OBSERVATIONS ON ENG¬ 
LAND’S ROYAL SHOW. 
Hints for American Managers. 
The writer has, for the second time, very recently 
attended the annual show of the Royal Agricultural 
Society of England at York, and in view of the fact 
that The R. N.-Y. has long been an advocate of im¬ 
provement in fair management, I have thought that 
some notes on the better methods in use at England’s 
great Royal show, might be acceptable. The Royal 
Agricultural Society is an organization dating from 
early in the century. Its membership includes Queen 
Victoria, the Prince of Wales, the Duke of York, hi.s 
son, and many titled men, and the most prominent 
farmers in England. The Society has published since 
1839, if I remember correctly, a Journal, annually till 
within 10 years or so, since which it has been quar¬ 
terly, in which is collected a most valuable amount of 
agricultural literature. The Society has its chemist, 
entomologist and scientific staff, and takes a leading 
part in English agricultural affairs. The Royal show 
is held once a year at some point in England, in a 
park or meadow, where in temporary buildings is 
shown an exhibition remarkable for its superior qual¬ 
ity. No collection of farm animals of equal number 
and merit come together elsewhere in the world, that 
I know of, each year. This year there were exhib¬ 
ited 696 horses, 687 cattle, 614 sheep, no pigs, 629 
fowls, and 4,933 implements in 412 stands. On live 
stock alone nearly $30,000 was offered in prize money. 
The pigs were ruled out on account of the existence 
of swine plague 'in England. 
This Society makes use of absolutely no catchpenny 
schemes. There is no horse racing and no side shows 
on the grounds. A few swings, merry-go-rounds, etc., 
were this year located outside and to a distance from 
the main entrance. It is mainly a live stock and im¬ 
plement show. The Society requires each exhibitor to 
enter his exhibit early in the season. Then a printed 
catalogue of the show is got out for distribution on the 
grounds. Every animal shown is given a catalogue 
number, and the number of class it is in. name of 
owner and address, breeder, name, age, and sire and 
dam. The number of each is placed in a conspicuous 
position in each stall or pen, so that visitors having 
the catalogues (and they are in general use) may at 
a glance ascertain what the animal is before him. 
For the show ring, during judging, the class being 
judged and awards made are constantly made known 
to the audience by assistants placing this information 
on prominent bulletin boards in the middle of the 
ring, where all can read it in clear, large type. Fur¬ 
ther, each day a list of awards is posted in a con¬ 
spicuous place on the grounds, under a covered stand, 
having “Awards” on it, erected for this sole purpose. 
On boards in front of some buildings, awards are also 
posted concerning contents judged. The judging is 
usually completed the second or third day, and on the 
last day is published a complete official list of all 
prizes awarded. Such lists are also published each 
day of previous day’s awards. Another interesting 
form of notice is the publishing, in a prominent place 
near the entrance, and also elsewhere on the grounds, 
a statement showing the daily attendance, and com¬ 
parative statement of the attendance for the same 
days for different years in the past. The Society 
seems to embrace excellent opportunities to keep the 
public posted. 
One of the most valuable features of the Royal 
show, outside of opportunities for studying the live 
stock and implements, lies in the educational work 
done. In America we have attempted some of this, 
but not so successfully as have our English cousins. 
Demonstrations are given at regular hours in morn¬ 
ing and afternoon each day. As the Society publishes 
a daily programme, one can learn where and when 
this or that demonstration is to be held. This year 
a working dairy was in operation. It was an open 
pavilion with artificial stone floor, about 18 by 50 feet, 
■with a covered shed with raised tiers of seats capable 
of seating, perhaps, 300. Here butter and fancy 
cheeses were made by four young women, one of 
whom explained the process to the eager crowd from 
time to time. Demonstrations in handling bees and 
lecturing on the same were conducted, and a horse¬ 
shoeing competition brought out a large force of ex¬ 
pert blacksmiths (53) from many counties in Britain. 
Sheep-shearing and cow-milking machines also gave 
demonstrations twice a day. I noted that these vari¬ 
ous exhibitions of methods attracted such crowds that 
it was very difficult to get near enough to watch the 
work. One noon a veterinary surgeon gave a lecture 
on horseshoeing, describing the horse’s foot and tell¬ 
ing how to shoe it, illustrating the same at the shoe¬ 
ing forge. In connection with the catalogue of the 
show, is given a map showing the location of each 
class of exhibits, so that a person is able with no diffi¬ 
culty whatever to find any exhibit on the grounds 
desired. 
Each morning and afternoon, after the judging of 
stock is over, the cattle and horses are required to 
parade in the show ring. This year the cattle and 
heavy horses paraded at 11 A. M., and the hunters, 
Hackneys and other light horses in the afternoon at 
2 or 2.30. 'Crowds thronged the ring day after day, 
and watched the interesting procession, which passed 
in single file once or more about the large ring. Each 
animal had its number conspicuously on it on a card 
in front, suspended from the neck, and the first prize 
one in each class led, followed by the other winners 
in order of merit, and then in regular catalogue num¬ 
ber order. It is surprising to note the interest even 
the English women show in the stock. On Thursday 
over 50,000 people were on the grounds, and the pav- 
vil'ion by the parade ring was crowded, as was also 
the ring. The people were intensely interested. 
Another feature of this show, which commends it¬ 
self to me most heartily, is the sanitary arrangements. 
Lavatories are placed at convenient points on the 
grounds. These I invariably found to be respectable 
and decent in every way, and such as a sanitary en¬ 
gineer would, no doubt, approve. This applies eispec- 
ially to the free closets. On the payment of four 
cents one might have access to wash rooms with clean 
towels, soap, etc. But I saw nothing of the disgust¬ 
ing condition that I have seen in closets in some fairs 
in America, that were a disgrace to the administra¬ 
tion. 
The arrangement for handling the attendance, 
which was altogether by carriage, bus, or vehicle, 
was excellent. All teams were compelled to follow a 
certain circuit by the entrance, and they entered the 
grounds in front from one side and passed off at the 
other side. 'No confusion wais practicable. A gang of 
policemen kept every team in place. I was informed 
by a member that 80 policemen had come up from 
London, and were policing the grounds. Police from 
Leeds also assisted in the city. These policemen 
were not there entirely to keep order. They had 
duties all over the grounds, assisting in various ways 
to make the work of tne Society pass off smoothly. 
One might ask, does the Society have a large attend¬ 
ance? The Manchester meeting in 1897 had the great¬ 
est yet, 217,000 being admitted to the grounds. The 
average figures must exceed a total yearly attendance 
of close to 110,000. This communication has simply 
the purpose of suggesting to some of our American 
fair managers some ideas that they may consider 
commendable. The Royal show is by no means per¬ 
fect, but it is not necessary to dwell on the imper¬ 
fections here. We have a great field for improvement 
in future in our American fairs, and for that reason 
our managers will do well to make use of any ideas 
for bettering things, no matter from what source. And 
John Bull, in his Royal, gives us a mighty good abject 
lesson to study. c. s. thumb. 
York, England. 
SOME FERTILIZER WASTES IN THE WEST. 
We have referred several times to the value of corn¬ 
cob ashes as a fertilizer. They analyze 30 per cent or 
more of potash, in some cases giving almost as much 
of this substance as the potash salts imported from 
Germany. The immense quantity of corn consumed in 
Kansas leaves thousands of tons of these corn-oob 
ashes, and there is no doubt but that a good trade 
could be built up by collecting and shipping them to 
the East to be used as a fertilizer. The Canadians 
handle and collect thousands of tons of wood ashes, 
which give on the average five per cent of potash. 
These ashes are shipped to this country, and find a 
ready sale. If the Canadians can afford to spend their 
time collecting a five per cent ash, it would seem as 
though Kansas people could well afford to collect and 
sell a sample worth six or seven times as much. 
“That is all right in theory,” said a man who knows 
the Kansas people well, “but would not work in prac¬ 
tice. There is a great difference in the character of 
the Canadian people as compared with Kansans. The 
life of the average Kansas man is considered by him 
too short to waste in what others regard as sensible 
economy in fertilizing. He prefers to cultivate a 
great, big area in the easiest possible way, and to 
feed the product in such a way that no attention need 
be given. Of course there are many marked excep¬ 
tions to this, and changes are coming about, but there 
are few farmers who consider it necessary to save 
their corn-cob ashes and use them economically. Cer¬ 
tainly, when an article of this sort has so little value 
at home, it would be hard to make the farmers be¬ 
lieve it has a value elsewhere.” 
'“I suppose there are other wastes in the West equal¬ 
ly great.” 
“Yes, indeed; take for example the pods of the 
castor-oil bean. Large quantities of castor-oil beans 
are grown in Oklahoma. The leaves and stalks of the 
plant are left in the field. The pods are harvested 
and the beans are taken out. Analysis shows that 
these pods contain an amount of plant food worth 
more, ton for ton, than average wood ashes, and yet 
they are practically thrown away, used for road-mak¬ 
ing material, or burned to get rid of them. If crushed 
or ground they are valuable enough to ship east as a 
fertilizer, and yet farmers regard them so lightly that 
they are seldom considered worth saving.” 
EVENTS OF THE WEEK. 
DOMESTIC.—July 4, seven children were killed by a 
dynamite explosion in front of a store in Philadelphia, 
Pa. The tragedy was caused by a boy firing a pistol 
wantonly into a basket full of dynamite torpedoes. The 
persons offering these torpedoes for sale are under ar¬ 
rest, as their dissemination is prohibited. 
Shortly after midnight July 5 the oil tanks of the Stand¬ 
ard Oil Company at Constable Hook, N. J., were struck 
by lightning. The resulting fire raged all day, the fire¬ 
men being powerless to control it. It lasted for three 
days. Hundreds of acres were ablaze, and 14 persons 
injured. The loss was about $2,300,000.Reports 
received from 125 cities show that 30 persons were killed 
and 1,325 injured on the Fourth of July by accident. 
. . . . An entire family of nine persons, in Marion 
County, Ark., were fatally poisoned July 8 by eating 
toadstools mistaken for wholesome mushrooms. 
A tornado swept the New Jersey coast July 8. It was 
accompanied by a terrific hailstorm. Much damage 
was done to property and crops at Long Branch, Vine- 
land, Freehold and Asbury Park.The sinking 
of the yacht Idler, off Cleveland, O., July 7, caused the 
drowning of six women and children.During 
a fire at Pittsburg, Pa., July 7, 14 firemen were impris¬ 
oned by the falling of a floor; three were taken out alive. 
. . . . After a week’s work, 172 bodies were removed 
from the burned German Lloyd steamers at Hoboken, 
N. J.A trolley collision at Scranton, Pa., July 
8, killed the motorman, and injured 11 others. 
The street-car strike broke out afresh in St. Louis July 
9. July 10, five assaults were committed on persons who 
rode on boycotted cars, and dynamite was exploded 
under a car.Francis Truth, the “divine 
healer,” under indictment at Boston for using the mails 
to defraud, has been fined $2,500. He is said to have 
made a small fortune.More than half of the 
business portion of Walnut, Ill., was destroyed by fire 
July 10, causing a loss of $112,000.The War 
Department has proclaimed martial law at Cape Nome, 
to preserve order among the 10,000 prospectors, as there 
is no municipal organization to protect life and property. 
PHILIPPINES.—During the week ending July 8 the 
scouting in Luzon resulted in 11 Americans killed and 
10 wounded; 100 Filipinos were killed. The rebels are 
slowly accepting amnesty. In Antigue, Px - ovince of 
Panay, a running fight of three hours’ duration result¬ 
ed in the killing or wounding of 70 insurgents. 
GENERAL FOREIGN NEWS.—The allied troops at 
Tien Tsin, 12,000 in number, were cut off by 100,000 Chi¬ 
nese July 5. At Peking the foreigners made a heroic 
stand in the British Legation, but there is no doubt 
that they were finally overpowered and murdered with 
extreme barbarity. The party would include Minister 
E. H. Conger and his family. Many women and chil¬ 
dren were among them. The Russian government, 
which opposed the plan of giving Japan a free hand, has 
given in, and will follow the plan proposed by the other 
powers. Japan has a large army corps ready for ser¬ 
vice. The Government at Washington has ordered 6,254 
regulars to China.The State Department has 
made public the text of the identical note which was 
recently delivered to the Powers as defining the posi¬ 
tion of the United States respecting the Chinese 
troubles. It was very cordially received by the Powers, 
and the policy outlined seems to have been generally 
adopted. In brief, it said that this country did not 
consider itself at war with China; that efforts should 
be made to localize the disturbances, and, if possible, 
enlist the aid of the Viceroys of the southern and 
central provinces. July 6, the Chinese forces defeated 
the allies at Tien Tsin, and they are in great peril. 
FARM AND GARDEN.—The Oklahoma peach crop is 
expected to reach 1,000,000 bushels. The fruit has been 
ripe since June 10, and picking is expected to continue 
until November. 
The Rockwell City creamery, one of the largest in 
Iowa, was burned to the ground June 28. The fire 
started from the smokestack. 
Hereafter scabby sheep will not be permitted to pass 
from one State or Territory to another, and inspectors 
are to be detailed by the Bureau of Animal Industry to 
enforce this rule. Montana is said to be absolutely free 
from scab. 
The buildings on the Inter-State Fair Grounds at 
Trenton, N. J., were destroyed by fire July 7. They will 
be rebuilt at once on a more elaborate scale, and will 
be ready for the fair the last week in September. 
The California hop growers have formed an associa¬ 
tion, the object of which is “to improve the industry, 
regulate supply and demand and maintain fair prices.” 
On account of the high price of meat in Germany, not 
only horseflesh, but dog meat is being used for food. 
The new Meat Inspection bill, while shutting out the 
foreign product, does not protect the consumer from bad 
meat at home. 
The Texas farmers’ congress met at College Station, 
July 3-6. T. V. Munson gave an illustrated address on 
the improvement of fruit varieties. Many delegates 
were present from Texas, Arkansas and Oklahoma. 
The Texas wheat crop is estimated at 20,000,000 bushels. 
Harvest conditions were exceptionally good, and the 
grain is in fine condition. 
A number of nurserymen convened at College Station, 
Tex., during the recent farmers’ congress, and organized 
the Texas Nurserymen’s Association. E. W. Kirkpat¬ 
rick, of McKinney, was made president; Stanley H. 
Watson, Brenham, vice-president; John S. Kerr, Sher¬ 
man, secretary-treasurer. The membership is to con¬ 
sist of active nurserymen in Texas, Arkansas, Louisiana, 
Oklahoma and Indian Territory. 
