1899 
THE RURAL NEW-YORKER 
74 r 
Events of the Week. 
DOMESTIC.—The Mallory Line steamer Leona was 
burned at her pier in New York City October 5; loss 
$300,000. . . An earthquake occurred along the Tennessee 
and North Carolina line October 5. An opening several 
hundred feet in length was made at the foot of a moun¬ 
tain, but no loss of life occurred, the situation being 
isolated. . . An epidemic of smallpox has broken out 
in the Orphans’ Home at Dayton, O.; 33 cases were re¬ 
ported October 5. . . Key West, Fla., reported 39 new 
cases of yellow fever, and one death, October 7. . . The 
Mazet Committee is again in session in New York. Octo¬ 
ber 7, witnesses testified that they bribed members of the 
Building Department for permits to put up stands in 
connection with the Dewey celebration. . . The first 
cyclone ever recorded in the State of Washington swept 
from Orting to Mossy Rock, a distance of 6 j miles, Octo¬ 
ber 6. Orchards and timber were devastated, but no 
lives lost. . . October 8 was the hottest October day 
ever recorded in California, the temperature at San Fran¬ 
cisco reaching 93 degrees in the shade. . . Suits have 
been bi ought in Indiana against CD or more insurance 
companies, under the Anti-trust law. It is asserted that 
these companies have combined to keep up the rates of 
premiums. . . Lime-kiln men in Ohio, Indiana and 
Michigan have formed a trust, with a capital of $3,000,090. 
. . President McKinley was the guest of honor at the 
Chicago Fall festival October 9. He addressed an enor¬ 
mous audience, and received calls of ceremony from Vice- 
President Mariscal of Mexico, Premier Laurier of Canada, 
and others, and laid the cornerstone of the new Chicago 
Post Oliice. . . One of the steamers which took excur¬ 
sionists from New York to see the yacht i-ace October 
7, the Georgeanna, proved to be a floating gambling den, 
managed by thugs and thieves, who terrorized and robbed 
the passengers. The steamer has been seized by the Col¬ 
lector of the Port, and the ringleaders will be tried for 
felony and piracy, the penalty for the latter being death. 
Their crimes were committed upon the high seas, hence 
come under the statute regarding piracy. . . During the 
first week in October, eight children and several adults 
in Selinsgrove, Pa., were bitten by a pet dog, which has 
since developed virulent hydrophobia. . . October 8, 24 
new cases of yellow^ fever, and four deaths, were reported 
from Key West, Fla. . . A child in Williamsburg, New 
York City, was recently pecked in the cheek by a rooster. 
Lockjaw ensued, and the child died as the result of the 
slight wound. 
FARM AND GARDEN.—The Davies County Fair, the 
largest stock and agricultural exhibition in Kentucky, 
opened at Owensboro October 2. . . A canning factory 
at Warrensburg, Ill., packed 1,480,000 cans of corn this 
year, the product of 1,200 acres. . . The National Anti- 
Horse Thief Association concluded its annual convention 
in Crawfordsville, Ind., October 3. Within the last year 
the Association secured the arrest and conviction of over 
200 criminals, in Ohio, Illinois and Indiana. The next 
meeting will be held at Greenfield, Ind. Officers were 
elected as follows: Grand organizer, James McManomy, 
Covington; president, S. D. Anglin, Warsaw; vice-presi¬ 
dent, Thomas Sutton, Crawfordsville; secretary, J. W. 
McCorkle, Wingate; treasurer, James Carroll, Eaton, O. 
. . The New England Beet Sugar Company will erect a 
$300,000 plant at North Judson, Ind. . . Samples of 
wheat, oats and barley grown near Dawson City, Alaska, 
were received at Duluth, Minn., recently. The grain was 
sown late in May, on ground thawed a few inches, and 
it was thoroughly ripe in 75 to 85 days, which is a shorter 
time than required in the Red River Valley. The va¬ 
rieties were Red Fife, White Fife, and Scotch wheat. 
The oats and barley are as good as any raised in the 
Northwest. . . October 10, Illinois broom corn had gone 
up to $100 a ton, and was still rising. This is the first 
time in 10 years that the farmers have been in a position 
to control the market. . . Malignant hog cholera has 
brcken out in Chester County, Pa. . . Farmers in Berks 
County, Pa., have brought 21 suits against coal com¬ 
panies for permitting dirt and refuse from the mines to 
come down the Schuylkill River. . . The increase in the 
price of rye is causing the German government to con¬ 
sider the introduction of one-third wheat in the bread 
furnished to the soldiers. In Saxony, the price of rye is 
now higher than that of wheat. 
PHILIPPINES.—It is said that the President is resolved 
to send powerful reenforcements to Gen. Otis, and to 
prosecuie the campaign with vigor. This is said to be 
the iesult of Admiral Dewey’s interview with the Presi¬ 
dent. . . The town of Paranaque was attacked and set 
on fire by the insurgents October 5. The enemy was re¬ 
pulsed. . . The transport Siam, which sailed from San 
Francisco for Manila August 20, with 47 horses and 326 
mules, arrived at Manila October 6 without her cargo. 
Of the animals, 357 were killed in a typhoon off Luzon. 
. . Sharp fighting continues near Bacoor. October 8, the 
rebels were driven back south of Manila. . . Gen. Otis 
announces to the Government that he removed the press 
censorship September 9. . . Secretary Root is to in¬ 
crease the number of transports, as there are not enough 
available to Lake the required troops to Manila before 
December. 
CUBA.—Mayor Lacoste of Havana has issued an order 
prohibiting the display of the Spanish flag. Spanish resi¬ 
dents are very indignant, and will protest to Gen. Brooke. 
They say that the prohibition is a confession of weak¬ 
ness on the part of the authorities, who are unable to 
control the populace. . . At Cabanas, October 9, 200 men 
went to a store where a Spaniard was working, and tried 
to lynch him. The mob was dispersed by the police. 
Several other men have been ordered by the mob to leave 
the place, on the ground that they were antagonistic to 
the Cubans. . . The steame” Flandria, from Mobile by 
way of Havana, arrived at Santiago October 10, with two 
cases of yellow fever. It is likely that quarantine will 
be declared against Key West and Havana. 
PORTO RICO.—An attempt has been made to buy coffee 
for Cuban troops here, but the dealers refuse to sell ex¬ 
cept at greatly advanced prices. Only inferior grades 
are offered. 
GENERAL FOREIGN NEWS—Sunday, October 8, a 
Spanish bullfight was held near Paris. The bull escaped 
from the arena, trampling on the spectators, and one 
man was killed. . . Floods in the Salerno district of 
Italy destroyed several villages and drowned 40 persons 
October 9. The property loss reaches millions. . . A 
typhoon in Japan blew a train from a bridge into a river, 
killing 50 persons. . . The revolution in Venezuela con¬ 
tinues. all hopes of a peaceful arrangement between the 
insurgents and the government being at an end. 
AGRICULTURAL EDUCATION AT FAIRS. 
SCHOOLS WITHOUT TEACHERS. 
Judges Who Judge Not. 
A GRAVE QUESTION.—I saw, in a recent issue of 
The R. N.-Y., this item; “$160,000 for fairs and 
$20,000 for institutes. What do you think of it?” I 
have attended and exhibited at fairs for the last six 
weeks, and have had the question “on my mind.” 
The fairs can be made more useful by remedying some 
faults. I have been exhibiting potatoes, and there 
has not been one place where the judge was able to 
distinguish more than a few varieties, and there has 
not been a fair where one-quarter of the exhibits were 
correctly named. Neither the exhibitors, if honest, 
nor judges, knew much about types or varieties. 
Even at the State Fair, where the better-posted grow¬ 
ers exhibit, there were two or more varieties entered 
in every class. 
POTATO JUDGES.—At one fair, with 500 entries, 
judges consisted of one bookkeeper and one store¬ 
keeper. They were drafted in at the last minute, and 
did not pretend to know anything about potatoes. 
They gave the finest-looking and largest specimens 
the premiums, without regard to color, type, or sea¬ 
son of the variety. I saw men with pencil and book 
taking down the names of the winning plates for fu¬ 
ture planting. Even an old variety like Early Ohio 
had the true plate discarded, and card was hung on a 
big late red potato which would weigh three pounds. 
Equally absurd was the display of Hebron, which 
had the first premium on a dish of long, late whites, 
and second on a plate of round red ones. The R. 
N.-Y. No. 1 and Carman No. 2, which I found in one 
premium list, to the best of my knowledge, have 
never been sent out yet, by any one. The true Car¬ 
man No. 1, R. N.-Y. No. 2, and Carman No. 3 are al¬ 
ways free from knots, and usually free from scab. 
This, with their habit of growing large, make them a 
favorite with exhibitors, and they are made to do 
duty as almost everything on the list, from Lady- 
fingers to “Cubans,” and nearly always win, too. 
BIG THINGS WIN.—At one fair the judges placed 
no premium cards, and neither the public nor the 
exhibitors knew which plates were placed first until 
weeks afterward, when the local paper published the 
list. The practice of placing the award on the biggest 
specimens 'is on a par with giving the fattest animal 
first, in a breeding class. Many of the big potatoes 
are hollow, poorer in quality, are not wanted by the 
buyers or consumers, and are worth less than a 
medium size. 
In judging, I would place the award on the plate 
which was the finest in appearance, best quality and 
most profitable size—i. e., best seller. One premium 
could be offered for the largest potato, for the novelty. 
The practice of offering premiums on old obsolete 
kinds of no value, which are never grown except for 
exhibition purposes, benefits no one. New and valu¬ 
able kinds which would become known sooner, and 
prove profitable, adding much to the income of the 
planters, are never found in the list. A special pre¬ 
mium for an exhibit of the newer tried varieties 
would be of great value, if correctly named. Many 
firms either knowingly or ignorantly send out hun¬ 
dreds of barrels of seed potatoes misnamed, and the 
fair should teach the observer the true type, so that 
he can detect fraud, but it does not. 
WONDERFUL STOCK JUDGES.—At more than 
one fair, any three men who could be induced to act 
were put on the stock classes. Their neighbors, and 
those in their county, received most of the premiums; 
an outsider did not receive one, unless his stock was 
so vastly superior that the judges dared not pass him 
by. The premium cards at these fairs are flaunting 
signs of disgrace as they swing in the wind. So 
great was tne feeling that the exhibitors who desired 
fair play offered to pay the expense of an expert 
judge, but were denied. In one instance, it was 
proved that a judge said that not a premium should 
go out of the county. A premium is thus put on dis¬ 
honesty, for exhibitors are tempted to enter articles 
out of class, under age, and unregistered stock, know¬ 
ing the uninformed judge will not know the differ¬ 
ence. At one fair a young sow, shown in the under 
six months class, showed plainly that she was very 
near to farrowing time. The judge either did not see, 
know, or care, and gave her first. An indignant ex¬ 
hibitor remarked: “It’s no use to be honest, and why 
have an ‘age limit,’ anyhow, if it is not observed?” 
Perhaps some of you can answer him! 
WHAT’S THE REMEDY?—The faults mentioned 
are mostly possible by reason of the ignorance of the 
judges. Very few are the cases where there is more 
than a desire to please a neighbor or friend. Absolute 
premeditated dishonesty is rare, but “mistakes” are 
so frequent that the honest expert, who has spent 
months of time, many dollars and many anxious 
hours, building up his exhibit, is discouraged when a 
scrub, bob-tailed cow walks away with his richly- 
deserved prize, and he abandons the show. 
The employment, by the society, of a single expert 
judge, a revision of the premium list, and more speci¬ 
fications as to points to be considered, would do away 
with most of the evils. The New York Breeders’ As¬ 
sociation have considered this matter carefully and 
long, and have sent a list of experts, whom they are 
willing to vouch for, to all fair societies in the State. 
Wherever these judges have been employed, the 
awards have been given to the exhibit, and not to 
men, and no true breeder has objected. The careless 
gatherer of a scratch exhibit has not won a premium 
at his local fair, and the careful, honest farmer’s boy, 
who has fed his heifer calf till it was really fine, has 
not been discriminated against by the friendship of 
the judge. The boy, encouraged by honest apprecia¬ 
tion, will redouble his efforts, and become, perhaps, a 
noted breeder. 
WHAT TO DO.—One objection urged by societies is 
that they cannot stand the expense, but the fact is, a 
good judge would, in many cases, throw out enough 
exhibits which were not entitled to premiums, to pay 
half his fee. The State pays all societies enough, at 
the present time, to enable them to afford a good 
school. I would think it a good law which would 
withhold State money from all who did not have com¬ 
petent judges, who did not display premium cards, 
and who did not furnish sufficient room to give oppor¬ 
tunities for study, of all exhibits. An able superin¬ 
tendent to explain such exhibits would add to the 
interest and knowledge of the student. 
At one fair $300 was paid to a man for diving off a 
tower 80 feet high into a tank of water 42 inches 
deep. That amount would pay for expert judges for 
all classes for the next five years. A fair that is too 
poor to give a judge his dinner after he spent a whole 
day for them, paid a boy $250 to ride a bicycle down 
a steep stairway. What worthy object was taught by 
this, or by the diving? The two acts cost more than 
20 days’ solid instruction at institute. Who was bene¬ 
fited? Let some one answer. c. e. chapman. 
THE FUTURE FARMERS’ INSTITUTE. 
Shall it be Scientific or Practical ? 
It is clear to me that in some of the States where 
institutes have been in operation for a number of 
years, it will be necessary gradually to change the 
method of giving instruction, as well as, perhaps, to 
Change the character of the instruction itself. I have 
regarded the institute work up to this time as largely 
revival in its character, and intended to awaken an 
interest on the part of our farming people in scien¬ 
tific truth as it bears upon agriculture. There was a 
very deep prejudice against what was rather con¬ 
temptuously called “book farming”; in other words, 
scientific farming. This prejudice had to be broken 
down, and farming people brought to understand that 
their only hope for the future lies in the direction of 
the discovery and application of scientific truth to 
their business. The experiment stations have been 
doing splendid work in the way of collating and dis¬ 
covering, through scientific inquiry, much that our 
farmers have come to realize is of service to them, 
and the old prejudice is giving way through the pres¬ 
entation of these facts by our scientific men, and by 
practical men who have been using scientific methods 
to serious interest in all that looks like valuable 
truth. 
With regard to the future, it seems to me that it 
will be necessary to move cautiously, and not to 
make any radical change at once, but to send to some 
of the most intelligent communities, instructors, thor¬ 
oughly versed in science and its applications, who 
shall deliver courses of lectures before farm clubs and 
farm organizations, taking up the special lines of 
agriculture in which the community is most inter¬ 
ested. In other localities, less advanced, it will be 
necessary, for some time to come, to continue our 
present method, gradually raising its character and 
instructive features, until the citizens are ready for 
the more advanced course of instruction before indi¬ 
cated. The chief difficulty in the way of this movement 
is the lack of funds necessary to carry it into effect. 
The lecturers, of necessity, would have to be men of 
superior qualifications, and would also have to be 
employed during the entire year, since no man fit for 
the position would be willing to give up the perma¬ 
nent occupation that he would doubtless have, for the 
sake of a temporary service lasting but two, or three, 
or six months. I had intended this year to start one 
man on such a tour, but failed to secure the additional 
amount of money necessary to pay his expenses, and 
so have had to abandon the project; but we have in 
mind the introduction of such a method just as soon 
as the conditions warrant it. The traveling high- 
school method will, I fear, be found to be quite ex¬ 
pensive, and unless some preparatory work be done 
in the communities in which this corps of instructors 
is to appear, there will not be attendance sufficient to 
justify the expense. john Hamilton. 
Pennsylvania. 
