638 
THE RURAL NEW-YORKER 
September 17 
lamb is quite dead and has bled dry. It is skinned 
carefully, keeping' the meat clean and from contact 
with the wool; the fore leg's are cut off at the knee 
joint. It needs no washing except a pailful of cold 
water thrown over it inside and outside. This closes 
the pores of the skin and chills the outside. A sheet 
is pinned around it and the breakfast bell then calls 
just as the work is finished. 
After breakfast, the meat is taken to the cellar or 
any other desired place and the liver, milt, heart, and 
tongue, are served for dinner, or for a small family, 
with a little homemade bacon, these will make two 
good meals. If the head is scalded and scraped clean, 
it will make an excellent soup and meat for the next 
day. The quarters are separated as soon as the car¬ 
cass is stiff, and put into the refrigerator, where the 
meat will keep well until it is used. If a sheep is 
dressed and, as it should, make 40 or more pounds of 
meat, this may readily be divided with a neighbor who 
is doing the same thing and divides in his turn. 
A fatted calf may be managed in the same way, at 
practically no cost. n. 8. 
THE NEW YORK STATE FAIR. 
GOING BACK TO OLD DAYS. 
What Farmers are Talking About. 
[editorial correspondence.] 
The New York State Fair at Syracuse, August 29 to 
September 3, was one of the best exhibitions ever 
given by the Society. It was a natural, genuine farm¬ 
ers’ fair. The fakes and snide shows that have dis¬ 
graced the fair in former years were taken out at the 
back door and killed. It was a clean, honest exhibi¬ 
tion, and we rejoice that the farmers poured out by 
the thousand to show their appreciation. The faint 
hearts in other years claimed that farmers would not 
come to the fair unless there was some “excitement.” 
How the farmers did turn out this year and kick the 
stiffness into Faint Heart’s backbone ! It was a sight 
calculated to double one’s respect for agriculture to 
see that orderly crowd scatter over the ground, ex¬ 
amine the exhibits, greet old friends and discuss 
prospects and methods. To me the farmers themselves 
were the best exhibits on the grounds. In giving a 
report of this thoroughly successful fair, I wish to 
drop the usual order, and simply tell something of 
what the people talked about. 
Horses are Higher. —Horse breeders are all talk¬ 
ing of better prospects. There is a shortage of first- 
class stallions. Farmers seem to be using a better 
animal for a driving horse. In driving about with 
farmers, I always ask what such a horse as they drive 
is worth. Without exception, they now say that 
prices have risen. A few years ago they were lower 
than they ever should have been. There is a great 
difference in the type of horse demanded by farmers 
in different sections. For instance, a farmer near 
Baldwinsville, N. Y., said, “ For drivers in our coun¬ 
try we like a class of horses known as Bonny Dun- 
dees. They are named after the old stallion of that 
name. They haven’t so much speed, but will go all 
day long. They are nervous and hard-bitted, not good 
horses for women to drive, but great roadsters.” In 
many localities, you will find the favorite type of 
horse resembling some old stallion that was famous 
in old days. It is wonderful how these stallions have 
left their mark. 
The Hay Crop is generally reported heavy, and 
prices are low. Farmers generally attribute this de¬ 
cline to the decrease of horses in town and city. 
Electricity is now doing the work formerly done by 
thousands of horses. Another thing not often con¬ 
sidered is the great development of the silo. Few 
people stop to realize how much hay is left free for 
sale by the modern plan of feeding dairy cattle on 
ensilage. The silo has increased the production of 
hay on some farms—but 90 per cent of it is reserved 
for sale. The ensilage men at the fair seemed to 
agree that more silos than ever are being put up, and 
that most of them are round or tub silos. 
The Fruit Exhibit was good, considering the 
season. Last year the fair was held too early, and 
much of the fruit was green and undeveloped. This 
year it has been hard to secure first-class specimens. 
It has been especially hard on plums. I asked Prof. 
Beach, of Geneva, what plums had made the worst 
showing this year. 
“ You ought to put it the other way,” said he, “and 
ask which have been able to live. At the head of the 
list this year we must put Reine Claude Bavay and 
Italian Prune.” 
“ How about the Japan plums ? Is the interest in 
them subsiding ? ” 
“ On the contrary, they are likely to be wonderfully 
developed by future selection and crossing with our 
common plums. Burbank stands easily at the head. 
The Japs will not take the place of our domestic va¬ 
rieties, but will supplement them. The chances are 
that very superior varieties will be introduced during 
the next few years. Many growers realize this, and 
therefore, go slow on planting at present, as they do 
not want to stock up with inferior varieties. One 
good thing about the Japs is that they will color well 
if picked green.” 
Best Varieties of Apples. —In looking over the 
bewildering assortment of varieties of apples, one 
often wonders why so few varieties are found in the 
average orchard, and why the experts do not recom¬ 
mend a wider list for general use. The experts them¬ 
selves give as a reason the fact that some of the finest 
of the choice varieties are fine chiefly because they 
have choice care. They demand better care than the 
every-day farmer with grain, potatoes and stock to 
look after can give them. There was one exhibit of 
beautiful specimens of the Longfield apple. “ That,” 
said Prof. Beach, “ is a fine apple where a man like 
S. D. Willard can grow it. A farmer who would not 
or could not spray and prune and feed just right, will 
do better to take some of the tougher old standards, 
which can stand more neglect.” 
The Erie Canal. — I should say that the majority 
of the farmers at the Fair were from the counties 
bordering on or near to the canal. It was interesting 
to hear them talk about it. While many had, evi¬ 
dently, profited in one way and another by the money 
already spent in making repairs, I did not hear a 
farmer say that he would vote for another big appro¬ 
priation to finish the job. I did not hear much talk 
about dishonesty or squandering of the money already 
spent from those who live near the canal, but most 
farmers said, “They have had enough — stop it.” 
POLYGONUM CUSPIDATUM. Flo. 294. 
See Ruralisms, Page 642. 
Farmers will mostly vote against more canal money. 
Those who live away from the canal were loud in con¬ 
demning it. They would like it filled up. 
The Poultry Exhibit seemed to me to indicate, 
among other things, that Black Minorcas are gaining 
somewhat on the Leghorns. The Silver Wyandottes 
are going out of date, and the Whites are taking their 
place. It struck me that there was less talk than 
usual about buff-colored breeds. The* e were, also, 
fewer men sailing about with big stories about great 
poultry profits and 250-egg hens. I talked with a num¬ 
ber of good, careful men—about 250-hen farmers. They 
smiled at the big-story crowing of these surplus 
roosters. They know that a profit of $1 per hen for 
the busy farmer with a variety of stock to care for is 
a good showing. I heard a good deal of talk about 
“fresh” eggs. What does “fresh” mean? Lots of 
farmers take their eggs to market “ once in 10 days or 
two weeks,” and feel quite hurt if the buyer caHs 
them stale. 
The Grape Eaters. —The vineyard and fruit men 
tell great stories of the quantities of grapes they eat 
during the season. On the way to the barn, they 
take a bunch of grapes. Coming back to breakfast, 
they take another. So it goes on all day, and by 
night, they have consumed more than a basket of 
fruit. Most of them swallow seeds and all. Now 
and then you find a man who bites a grape. When 
asked what variety they select for their own eating, 
the answers vary all the way from Concord to Cataw¬ 
ba. The soil and locality usually make the difference. 
Thinking' of Children. —“ Why didn’t you bring 
the Bud along ?” said one appreciative reader of The 
R. N.-Y. Of course, I had to say that it was too hot 
weather for shipping tender fruit, and that I didn’t 
want to take the shine off the prize young stock in 
New York State ! Middle-aged farmers are thinking 
seriously about the future of their boys and girls. 
You will often hear such a farmer say, “ I would like 
to send my boy to an agricultural college if—” The 
“ if ” implies a doubt as to what the college will do for 
the boy. Will it make him a farmer, and if so, what 
sort of a farmer ? I find that some farmers have an 
idea that the college will make their boys demand 
more capital and better tools and stock than the old 
farm can afford. The earnings of the farm ought to 
be as safe when invested in the farm itself as when 
put in bonds or in a mortgage on some other farm. 
They are not so considered because the farm is not 
easily salable. 
Childless Farmers. —One meets at such fairs men 
and women of 55 years or over who have about this 
story to tell: “ We have lived on the farm ever since 
we were married. We have no children. The farm 
is not salable, and we do not want to leave it anyway. 
We live alone with only hired help around us. We go 
to town or away upon a long visit, yet we are always 
glad to get back home.” It is remarkable how many 
elderly farmers in New York State are living in this 
way. Most of them seem to be growing grain and 
hay or pasturing stock, so as to utilize as much land 
as possible with one hand. Many of them are well- 
to-do people, who could live in town if they cared to, 
but they prefer the farm. There must be many sad 
days in their lives. 
Good Cattle. —The stock shown at Syracuse was 
of fine quality. An animal must be a fine specimen 
to stand any chance for an award. The Short-horns 
seem to be gaining again, and farmers think that steer 
feeding will pay again in New York State. There 
was a grand exhibit of Ayrshires. These cattle are 
noted for their hustling qualities, but after all, a 
New York State grade Jersey can keep them moving. 
These grades will climb steep, hilly pastures like 
goats. Mr. L. J. Clifton, of Memphis, drove me 
through a section where the hills were steep enough 
to make a Jerseyman dizzy. At one place, the road 
ran between a good co*n field and a hilly pasture in 
which were a herd of Jersey grades. The only fence 
between was a single strand of barbed wire about 30 
inches above the ground, yet I could not see that the 
cows had touched the corn. Mr. Clifton said that 
when he lived on a hill farm, his cows were often 
troubled with garget. He thinks that it was largely 
due to their racing and running down hill at night 
with full udders. They would run down the steepest 
hills, and never lose their footing. 
Effects of Irrigation. —Mr. Clifton’s farm borders 
the Erie Canal about 14 miles west of Syracuse. At 
that point, the canal water backs or soaks upon the 
land. There is, apparently, a stratum of gravel or 
sand through which the canal water leaks back to 
the surface soil. The lower part of the farm is al¬ 
ways more or less wet, although open ditches have 
been dug which carry back considerable of the water. 
On the lower part of the farm was a meadow which 
looked very thrifty. Mr. Clifton’s remark was that it 
gave a good yield of hay. but there was little butter 
to be made from it. This idea that irrigation is likely 
to give a soft and flabby crop of poor quality or 
strength, seems to prevail among farmers. Even in 
the wet seasons, farmers are to be found who feel the 
need of irrigation. Most of those who try it say that 
they cannot raise the best quality where too much 
water is applied. 
Mr. F. G. Tice, of Oswego, makes a specialty of the 
Marshall strawberry, which he grows almost to per¬ 
fection. He has shipped these berries the past season 
over 300 miles, having them arrive in good condition. 
He says, however, that on his soil, irrigation would 
not answer, for it would make the Marshalls soft, and 
injure their shipping qualities. I visited Mr. Tice’s 
farm during the Fair, and shall have something to say 
later about his great display of Marshalls. 
Rape lor Sheep. —Frank D. Ward, the Shrop¬ 
shire sheep breeder of Batavia, N. Y., was found in 
the sheeppens cutting up cabbage for the sheep. He 
says that cabbage makes an excellent sheep feed, and 
he sets out a large acreage every year, although he 
also feeds large quantities of rape. The rape is sown 
in the corn fields early in August so that, after the 
corn is shocked and taken out of the field, the rape 
gives a fine pasture for the sheep. This method of 
feeding gives a very cheap and agreeable sheep feed 
up to the time that they are sent into Winter quarters. 
Mr. Ward says that there is a good deal of misunder¬ 
standing about rape. One man once wrote him that 
he intended to sow rape, cut it for hay and put it into 
the silo. This would be a foolish operation. The 
rape will not cure as grass or corn will. It will 
make a black, foul-smelling mass, almost like decayed 
cabbage. Its only value is as a green fodder to be 
