Mi 



— -3^3- 



TWO DOLLARS A YEAIt.] 



•PROGRESS -AJSTD IMPROVEMENT." 



[SINGLE 



ROCHESTER, N. Y. -FOR THE WEEK ENDING SATURDAY, NOVEMBER 19, 1859. 



YOL X. NO. 47. ( 



1 WHOLE NO. 515. 



HOME'S KUIiAL NEW-YORKER, 



RURAL, IJTRRART AXII FAMILY NEW'SPiTF* 

 CONDUCTED BY D. O. T. MOORE, 



With in Able Corps of Assistants nod Contributor* 



i>wn by ■Dniyses, Tbe followir 



-'■ lie <', ....JiaifAgrU-ullur. 





< -hot 



■tan 



Ab-,lrr. 



Dried U Jlf r. 



100 r.rt. 







s^'v;;,!'!! 



jpfj! 



IP 



1 ..« 



a-fs 



t 'm'.!&° 



"«L 



,„„,. 



tjj 



86.07 





















1W.0O 



100.00 



Thus, it will be seen that WO pounds of wheat 

 straw contain over 6'J pounds of muscle, beat and 

 fnt producing matter, and '2d pounds of the remain- 

 ing 30 are water. 



Dr. Ltok Playfair, the Chemist of tbe English 

 Royal Agricultural Society, gives tbe following 

 table of tbe relative value of wheat straw, hay, and 

 several other kinds of food : 



Com/'witiiin f/l'ie urirwiiKtl <i r/t. ■/<•.« u-W ,i* food . 



VALUE OF STRAW FOR FODDEH. 



At least one autumn out of every four we hear 

 sad complaints of scarcity of fodder, and of tbe 

 anxiety of farmers as to how tbey can manage to 

 get through the winter without suffering to their 

 callle and loss to themselves. Almost every 

 farmer keeps as much stock, in, with his system 

 of culture, be cut. furnish with feed in a fair season. 

 When the hay crop fails, as it bas done the present 

 year, great difficulty i- experienced in providing 

 for the deficiency. Cornstalks is the first and 

 generally the most available substitute, but these 

 are sometimes injured by early frosts, and when 

 these two evils come upon the same season, the 

 prospect for many is gloomy indecu. Tbls is the 

 case tbe present year— the cornstalks being in- 

 jured, over a large district, to at least one-half their 

 value, while the bay crop is deficient almost to 

 the same extent. Did our farmers grow from half 

 an acre to throe or four acres of roots— carrols, 

 turnips, mangels, parsnips, or kohlrabi— we 

 would not be so entirely dependent upon either 

 bay or cornstalks for fodder, and n short crop of 

 cither, or both, would not leave us in such straiten- 

 ed circumstances. It is not our design, however, 

 to discuss this subject, which was well done by 

 " 11. T. 11." in our last issue, our purpose being to 

 bring to the notice of readers the value of at raw for 

 fodder, aud the opinions recently promulgated on 

 this subject by bulb, practical and scientific men. 



During the discussion at the late Fair of this 

 State, a gentleman of Erie stated that he bad found 

 straw cut and steamed, and mixed with a handful 

 of rocol to give it a relish, of more value in keep- 

 ing itock than the same weight of Timothy hay. 

 This idea of steamed straw being more valuable 

 than good Timothy hay was rather startling, and 

 we do not think one in a score of those present 

 was prepared to endorse, or willing to believe such 

 a statement without further proof. Mr. Mecm, 

 however, the celebrated English farmer and experi- 

 menter, advances tbe same opinion, and urges its 

 trial upon tbe attention of farmers, declaring it to 

 he " a vital question for agriculture." He consid- 

 ers that the present low eslimole placed on straw, 

 arises from the fact that farmers do not understand 

 unless properly prepared it 







blc as fo-ud, In all cases straw should 

 steamed, and in this condition bethinks 

 >d as the same weight in hay. In proof 



In feeding ten Short born bullocks, 

 ty months old, he gave a steamed mis- 

 rape cake, 8 of 



malt combs and ."> of bran— tnoi 

 Ions of hot water per day. He also fed :;m, ,,,-,„' 

 of mangel wurliel , the whole cost, not includ 

 the straw and labor, is about one dollar per w< 

 Tbe »Dimals are in a fattening and growing coi 

 lion, and advancing remuneratively. After f, 

 ing tbey lie down contented, free from rtstl 

 nets. He further says: — "Tbe whole quesi 

 n»»y he said to hinge upon the condition in wl 

 the food is administered. It must be moist 

 Were I to give ray bullocks the si 

 quantity f out straw in a dry state, tbey wt 

 not cat out-half of Hj and, besides, ibr) woul. 

 resiles and diwalistred. This I know from 



By this it n 



mv, nearly a 

 rai.dy the 





. that 10(1 pounds of wheat 

 I food than 100 pounds of 



^ H'i.i pounds of bran, and 



Opoui 



a of c 



Wed 



the experience of many of our 

 Teaders will agree with this scientific estimate of 

 the value of wheat strow, and we doubt if careful 

 experiment would prove it bo in practice. But, 

 reducing the estimate one-halt, and then 100 pounds 

 of straw is equal in value to 50 pounds of oats, or 

 50 pounds of wheat bran, for which many farmers 

 willingly pay the cash, while they waste tuns of 

 straw in yards and stables. But, wbo is prepared 

 to say that this estimate will not prove correct in 

 practice? Wbo has cut and steamed, or scalded 

 straw, and fed it with a little corn or oat meal, or 

 bran, and made even an attempt to ascertuin its 

 value? Many, we have no doubt, have felt com. 

 pelled to sell a portion of their stock on account 

 of the scarcity of food, and to put tbe remainder 

 on short allowance, which all know to be a most 

 unprofitable practice, while tbey had straw enough, 

 if prepared in a manner suitable for stock to eat, 

 to keep all in a thriving condition. 



In nearly all the English estimates of the value 

 of the wheat crop, which we have seen, tbe straw 

 is reckoned at $10 per ton. This may be consid- 



ered a hit 



nth 





of Erie County, 

 to whom we above referred, informed us that he 

 considered wheat straw worth that price, and that 

 by its use, in the last two years, be bud saved in 

 feeding over $500. This is tbe experienoe of an 

 American farmer. We hope our readers will not 

 only lake care of their straw, this season, but 

 institute such experiments as will enable tbem to 

 form a reliable estimate of its true value for food. 



HORACE GREELEY AT THE WYOMING FAIR. 





Rural, In 

 f Mr.Uoiu 



- i;,! 



inded of my i; 



v Sine l'.iir 



address at the Wyom- 

 ing Co. Fair. It was his first public appearance 

 after his celebrated visit to Salt Lake, tbe "salted 

 claims," and the salt border of our Western do- 

 main. Wo should expect him to be well utatontd, 

 as indeed be was, with facts and illustrations ; but 

 I apprehend that neither tbe matter nor the man- 

 ner of his agricultural addresses explains the "im- 



speaker on such occasions creates. The early part 

 of the day was dreary, yet tbe 



mg ' 



' all t 





tbe better vehicles of the county in motion at an 

 early hour. No body much expected he would be 

 there, which prevented many from coming, as it 

 was not known that be bad returned from bis 

 western trip. He arrived, however, in New York 

 the say previous, and came on at once to fill an 

 appointment made months before, without stop- 

 ping losalule bis New York friends — emphatic 

 testimony that promise are binding on lecturers ! 

 He announced Wattr as the subject of bis dis- 

 course, treating it agriculturally and not in the 

 light of tbe " Maine Law." While be did not 

 exactly endorse the complaint of the crusty Yan- 







with an 

 e showed 





s heat 



'"V" r " 



ill.i-t 



I cheerfully concede, nay, I insist, that eve 

 farmer should bave a garden, an orchard am 

 corn field made dry by ditching, if needs be, bu 

 pioiest Bi4ni[i;-t the .vh.ikstile advocacy of drainii 

 which of late forms the staple of most of O 

 ai;t it- ul in nil addresses iind essays. Mr. Gbebli 

 stated the annual fall of rain at from three to fi 

 feet; be bad witnessed great damage from the 

 washing away of tbe bunks of streams and tbe 

 best part of the soil from the hi 



aid be. 



oleth 



off in the rivers, oud you must guard against this 

 sapping out of the life-blood of the land. Plow 

 deep and your soil will not wash. I plowed my 

 steep bill-sides in Westchester Co., so deep that 

 nothing bad washed oil from them. The first step 

 in good agriculture is deep plowing. Two thou- 

 sand years ago men took a sharp stick and tried to 

 plow with it by jabbing it into the ground. — 

 Within this century iron plows have been 

 duced. Six inches depth of plowing may do for 

 England with her moist atmosphere, but eight* 



- din 



Helguim ihi-y plow deeper than in any other coun- 

 try, and with decided advantage. Keep plowing 

 deeper till you get deep enough, if you have to go 

 twenty-four inches. The soil would then defy all 



eland. It is bet 



iany a 



in a new country. XbTOj will be leu distance 

 send the child run to so! -jI. Our farmers act 

 though they owned only six inches deep, instead 

 of to the centre of the earth." * * * "Ameri- 

 can implements are better than all others.— 

 We know bow to make the least possible amount 

 of weight in an implement and yet give it all 

 needful strength. 



"Iweuttosee a farm in California which had 

 bceo jdtiictd t/uw timet, on which corn was raised 

 without u boe ever having been put to it. Every 

 othercrop was grown in the same way, without 

 any weed«. We haven't yet begun to see what 



" In the way of fertilizers, snow plowed under 

 in April is good for the soil. Drain this land on 

 which we stand four feet, and plow three feet aud 

 you would get more and better crops than if cul- 

 tivated in the usual way." [Mr. Ghbeley stated 

 that he had three miles of defective tile drain ou 

 his farm ; he now understood wbot to avoid in the 

 way of draining.] "Get tbe best fertilizers — 

 Gypsum is among the best. All fertilizers are 

 resistants todroutb. Old leached ashes are cheap, 

 if one bushel of corn will buy two bushels 

 of ashes. Salt is also good. These fertilizers are 

 thrown away upon swamp land. Raise corn and 

 roots to use in case of a short crop of grass. To 

 make it pay to raise corn, you must get near sixty 

 bushels to the acre. Small farms are better than 



" Begin early to teach agriculture to your chil- 

 dren ; the first school book-should be a work on 

 agriculture. Now, our children grow up and run 

 away because they are not interested in the subject 

 which they should make the object of their lives' 

 Study." 



Mr. Gheelsy closed with the following very 

 timely advice to young trtai ■'— " Having recently 

 passed over a great extent of wild land at tbe 

 I say to you;— Get your land soon and keep 

 here is not so much untaken land as many 

 suppose. Don't range and wander over tbe whole 

 ,C4 of the earth. Choose your location where you 

 ill, and stick to it — make it a permanent home, 

 et a good, cheerful, and virtuous wife, and lead 

 steady, useful life. Don't be a fillibuster, rov- 

 g over the land, but an industrious American 



These were the main points in Mr. Grbelbt's 

 Idress. I understood him to recommend top- 

 ressing or grass land as a substitute for plowing. 

 This may do on some soils, but 1 think the occa- 

 al turning under of turf is one of the most 

 successful end cheap methods of enriching land. 

 much in favor of deep plo 



i Mr. Gai 



mid I 



all cases prevent the soil of side- bills from washing 

 awoy, unless, forsooth, we should plow (which I 

 did not exactly understand Mr. Omelet to re- 

 commend,) some of onr hard-pan thru, rods in- 

 stead of "three feet " Kdeep. The theory of 

 "washing" I suppose to be this:— When the 

 soil fills with water, or is very compact, so that 

 it will no longer absorb what falls, il tbe surface 

 is inclined the water runs off, taking the lighter 

 portions of the soil with it. Underdraining and 

 deep plowing enables the water to pass down 

 instead of running off on the surface, and. though 

 greatly serviceable, are not always quite effectual. 



bushels of leached ashes for ( 



I like t 

 eof c 



ludai 





leghgeotof d 



peculiar, withe 



greatest of hum 



a large audience in breathless attention duri 



the delivery of a long discourse in a prosy maum 



on a prosy subject, unenlivened with wit, unst 



soned with humor, unaided by new facts, theorr 



or assumptions. He brought his popularity wi 



A lecturer on miscellaneous subjects, a leader 

 a great party, the head of a prominent press, be 

 must necessarily be an object of interest and a 

 man of influence; but when it is recollected that 

 his "million readers" are the ardent, the active, 

 the speculative, tbe inquiring, tbe hopeful, the 

 proselyting, the agitating classes, it is seen that 

 their leader is doing more to control the destiny 

 of tbe world than any man living. Has he attain- 

 ed to this position by the force of talent?— men of 

 equal ability are not uncommon. Did he turn up 

 by accident, like Taylor or Polk?— every inch of 

 bis progress was in the lace of difficulties. lie is 



with a purpose — a good beginning always. He 

 is a philosopher, studies cause and effect, and has 

 a wide raoge of vision. He is sorry for the poor 



couuty disgorged ber thousoudsto "Agar Ur>,l,y," 

 so the solution isn't arrived ut yet. Mr. QsiiLZT 

 listens to projectors in ait, mechanics, philan- 

 thropy, social science, religion, and politics ;— this 

 makes him fritnda, but if be 

 or if he does, aumi.* also 1 



iiM,ir, 



but capable of being turned to good account; — 

 three enemies will sometimes do more for a man's 

 celebrity than five friends. Still, Mr. Grebley's 

 is not accounted for. Ilis great mental aud moral 

 peculiarity seems to be this: while be ha3 the 

 enthusiasm, the heroism, the intensity, tbe mental 

 and moral activity aud power, which comes from 

 looking at things in the light of first pruu-ipi.i, 

 (rather than conventional usage,) be also possess- 

 es what is very seldom found in combination, a 

 larldhj trptditncy that makes him "fight aud run 

 away, that be may live to fight another day." 



The history of "reforms and isms" will show 

 that Mr. GitEKLBr in no one of the "agitations" 

 has been the originator or even tbe most promi- 

 nent actor ; but while his coadjutors have staked 

 all upon the result, and retired from the contest 

 irels or overwhelmed by disaster 



nil d 



I fulm 



athemas from the Tribune against the enemies 

 "free speech and free labor." Like Tammany 

 ill, be sda-ls the issues be would like to try. He 

 ?ls the populur pulse as scientifically as Dr. 

 bed or Dr. Croswei.l in the palmiest days of 

 cir practice. He treads on dangerous ground. 

 "Practical" politics is a dirty pool, and if Mr. 

 ikzlky can dabble there without getting muddy, 

 i is "the first of his line"— probably the last. 

 Some of his friends think they see in bis repri- 

 ,nds of Gerrit Smith, who is always ready to 

 lid In the cause," evidence that the politician is 

 getting the better of the reformer; certain il is 

 whoever undervalues " uncompromising and 

 cticable " adherence to conviction*, knows 

 that material the world's teachers and 

 rs are made of. Whatever Mr. Greeley's 

 i may be — whether, in the war of moral 

 nts, his enthusiasm shall lead him to a sub- 

 limity of self-sacrifice that will quicken the hero- 

 of distant centuries, or his adroitness make 

 tbe dispenser of the city sweepings, he is a 



fluence upon philosophy and fact. 



ive appended this criticism to matter designed 

 ie Agricultural department of the Rural 

 Yorker, and to forestall objections will add 

 s Mr. Greeley has been called an "uV'it 

 ;t that I should here examine his "point*" 



heth 



r the classification 



a just. 



\t. 



are KAisiD.-Tbe 



BnnJ 



In 



nterprigliig and auct 



iMnJ." 



TJ 



ertlnenlly aiked and t 



3S£ 



perat 



ng Vitality, Intellect at 



j 1. an- 



1 tboughl it might bo 



■' i'\|'iTioiir< 



EXPERIENCE LN BtTLLDING. 



Mr. Moore: — Havin 

 house which suits the 



household, and is thong 

 comfortable by others, 1 

 a benefit to some of vour 

 plate building if I sboi 



And here I cannot but think what a fine medium 

 your beautiful paper is for the interchange of 

 thought How low tbe commission, how trifling 

 the expense for such a fund of experimental 

 knowledge fresh from the business of everyday life I 

 "May building take you," was the wish of a 

 man to his worst enemy. No greater calamity, 

 he thought, could overtake him. "Fools build 

 houses and wise men live in them." Well, build- 

 ing took me, and with the above anathema fresh in 

 my mind, I determined that I would build for 

 myself alone. As my means were limited, the 

 point was, to take time enough in order to modify 

 tbe expense as much as possible by my 'own labor. 

 I therefore determined to be three years in build- 

 ing, and that I should have the workmen at such 

 times as were most convenient for myself and man 

 njury to my business 1 



Betw 



i of 



school in the spring and the commencement of 

 farm work, I drew the stone and other material 

 for the foundation, and also considerable of the 

 lumber. After spring work, I moved into a 

 temporary abode, pulled tbe old house down, and 

 erected the cellar nnd walls reudy for the sills. 

 These I covered till after haying, when tbe car- 

 penters came. When tbey arrived, myself nnd 



oiioi, (u Yankee, tutudy with inol.-.i lid >i.i ,vnh 



them, doing the coarse work, such as scoring, 

 shingling, sheeting, planing, Ac. When thehouso 

 was finished outside and tiro rooms ready for lath- 

 ing, I turned the carpenters adrift, performed the 

 lathing, had them plastered, moved in and closed 

 up for tbe winter. In spring, after my school was 

 out, I employed a first rate joiner, and working 

 with him I completed tbe lower putt of my house 

 before spring work commenced,— boring the plas- 

 tering and painting done when 1 could most 

 conveniently assist during tbe season. Tbe past 

 spring I worked with a joiner and got the upper 

 part d my house ready for lathing, which myself 

 and man performed wet days during ibe summer, 

 and this fall tbe mason and painter, with my 

 assistance, have finished the house. 



It is now just three years and a half since I took 

 the first step in building. The expense through- 



My house is thirty-six feel long and twenty-six 

 feet wide — such a proportion dividing up to the 

 best advantage — giving large front rooms and 

 good sizable bedrooms in rear. In front there is 

 a sitting-room and parlor of equal size. Between 



tbe entry and s 

 of this proportion the stt 

 straight, the latter being 

 scriptural. In i 



In a house 

 ire not winding but 

 inly tbe cheapest but 

 of parlor is the par- 

 small clothes press, 

 with the work-room 



& large family bed 



ling. The work-room contains a .- 



s underneath for spices, bread, A 

 ;es for flour aud meal barrels. In udditiou 

 b sitting-room a large cupboard for 





back to the s 





same size a 



s the 



then 



in t 



e room. 



n rear 



of 



work-room 











oored, 





that a por 



raei f 



usl Ol 



r unusual kitchen wo 

 t of the wood-shed is 



:;::; 



« 



which is brought 

 so there is but a 

 With the execplio 

 one roof. There a 



S 



not in the bouse in pipe,— 

 to both wood and water, 

 e woodshed all is under 

 utslde works of any kind. 



for. The 1 



Ls°t fl is°n 



t the 



"J 



1 is plain 



i [■■ 



■' 



u hou,< 



omyn 



ible 



hod 



My 



ide show. My first dcsigi 

 O have a piazza in front, (for I am not inset 

 o that which pleases Hie eye,) and the corpeutei 

 eased me hard, of course, and I should hav 

 t but for a story I read of one boy boasting 

 ompanions that his father's house bad a ci 



00, for I heard him telling so lost night.' 

 iouse front* tbe road, so that ourselvei 

 isitors can see who ia passing, and we c 

 bund without half a day's search by strung 



Tbe upper part of the bouse divides to as 

 dvautage as that below. There are four 

 sleeping apartments above, besides a r«c< 

 press, and a large and comfortable 

 which I have appropriated to myself for 

 The house is nine feet between doors, aud is built 

 n the most substantial manner. The outride I 

 sheeted and clap boarded, 

 plastered between the studs, bo that there a 



:sg£g^ 



