Book-Farming* 
New- York State Poultry Society. 
The following is a copy of the Constitution adopted 
at the late meeting of poultry-raisers at Saratoga :— 
Article I. This Society shall be known as the “ Few 
York State'Society foe the Improvement of Do¬ 
mestic Poultry.” 
II. The officers of this Seiety shall consist of a Pre¬ 
sident, two Vice-Presidents, a Corresponding Secretary, 
a Recording Secretary and Treasurer,, and a Board of 
ten Managers, who, together, shall conduct the affairs 
of the Society. 
III. This Society shall' hold a public exhibition of 
Poultry annually, at such time and place as the Man¬ 
agers may designate', during which time the officers of 
the Society shall be chosen by ballot, and the reports 
of the Secretary, Treasurer and Managers be presented. 
IV. Any person may become an annual member of 
this Society upon the payment of one dollar, and any 
person paying ten dollars into the treasury of the 
Society at any time, shall be considered a member for 
life. "Honorary members may be appointed at any 
time, at the pleasure of the Society. All members and 
their families shall have free admission- to the Society’s 
exhibitions. 
V. Members of the- Society only, shall be permitted 
to compete for premiums at any of its exhibitions. 
VI. The receipts of the Society, after deducting the 
expenses, shall be wholly devoted to premiums. 
VII. The Board of Managers shall have power to 
make such additional rules and regulations, not con¬ 
flicting with tho provisions of this Constitution, as to 
them may seem necessary, and shall give at least six 
months notice of such regulations previous to each ex¬ 
hibition of the Society, excepting the first. 
VIII. This Constitution may be altered or amended 
at any regular meeting of the Society, by a vote of two- 
thirds of the members present. 
The list of officers elected, was published in our last 
number. —— 
Black. Leg in Calves. 
Messrs. Editors —I noticed a remedy for the “black 
log in calves,” in the Country Gentleman of the 15th 
September, which, like many prescriptions for the hu¬ 
man species, seems superlatively .ridiculous ; mislead¬ 
ing the credulous and wonder-loving, without contri¬ 
buting to science or proving efficacious in the removal 
of disease. 
We would like to inquire if the upper side of the 
tail would not answer 1 or whether the introduction of 
the clove or garlic into any other portion of the body, or 
even into the stomach would not do as well 1 Is the 
rapid traveling of tho medicine from the tail headwards 
a sure indication of its happy remedial action'? If so, 
we trust that if “If. J. F.” should be attacked with 
mortification of the hand, he will not complain if his 
surgeon should cleave a toe and introduce a garlic, and 
leaye him to the rapid remedial action of the same. 
What is science in the one case is so in the other. 
We have no remedy to suggest, but enter our decided 
protest against quack prescriptions, and mysterious and 
wonder-working manipulations, whether designed to be 
carried out on man or beast Medicos. 
Colic in Sheep. —For this Randall prescribes “ half 
an ounce of Epsom salts, a drachm of ginger, and sixty 
drops of essence of peppermint. The salts alone, how¬ 
ever, will effect the cure, as will an equivalent dose of 
linseed oil, or even hog’s lard.” 
Messrs. Editors —I presume there are not many 
of your subscribers who have not one or more neigh¬ 
bors within a mile or two from them, who are in the 
habit of sneering, more or less openly, at book-farmers 
and book-farming. I wish all such silly or self-con¬ 
ceited persons were obliged to sit still patiently and 
hear read or repeated to them the substance of the re¬ 
marks which W. S. King made upon this subject in his 
late Address before the N. H. Agricultural Society. 
The following contains the pith of what he offered on 
this subject: “ What is called Book-Farming is simply 
the appropriation of the experience of other farmers, 
which 1 they or others for them, have thought proper to 
print. If a farmer, known to you to be a good farmer 
and'a truth-telling man, tells you that by a system of 
management differing somewhat from yours, he has 
nearly doubled his crops, you listen with widely-open¬ 
ed ears ; you store in memory every particular of his 
proceeding, and you determine to pursue, another year, 
that plan that has so well answered the purposes of 
your neighbor. But if this very man, desirous of ben- 
efitting a whole community by his experience, and hav¬ 
ing too much business at home tp go about repeating 
his success from man to man, by word of mouth, shall 
write out his experiment, and cause it to he printed in 
a book or periodical, that moment it becomes a part of 
book-farming, and ceases to have virtue in the eyes of 
many. There is a magic in types, it would seem, that 
converts what is wisdom when spoken into folly when 
printed. But the species of book-farming, that above 
all others calls into play the prejudices of working 
farmers, is the printed advice of men who work more 
with their brains than with their hands; of men, who 
observe the operations of others, and carry into prac¬ 
tice, by the hands of hired help, what commends it¬ 
self to their judgment by its fruits; of men who re¬ 
gard agriculture as a science.” 
Let the above find its way to the eyes or the ears of 
every sneerer at book-farming, and perhaps some of 
them may begin to suspect that they have not been 
so very wise as they have thought themselves- 
How to Rear Figs. 
Mr. Editor — I have a fine Suffolk sow, which lately 
had a litter of ten pigs; in the course of forty-eight 
hours after the pigs were born, she killed six of them, 
by over laying and smothering them. I was relating 
and lamenting the loss, in the presence of an Irish girl 
that lives in my family, and she immediately said, if 
they had been in her country, all would have been 
saved. I said, Mary, how do they manage pigs in 
your country? “ Dear a me!” she replied, “ we put 
them all in a box, so the mother can't hurt them.” 
“ Well, how do you feed them?” I inquired. “ 0 bless' 
my soul,” said she, “ we put them with the mother 
several times during the day, until they are week old, 
and then they can take care of themselves.” 
The thought occurred to me, that possibly some others 
besides myself, might be ignorant of the Irish science 
of rearing pigs, and if you think proper, you can pub¬ 
lish the method for the benefit of the community, until 
we get something better from Congress, or the Colleges. 
S. D. Walbridge. North Bennington, August 25, 
1353. 
