TWO DOLI^AltS A YEAR.] 



' PROGRESS AND IMPROVEMENT." 



[SINGLE NO. FIVE CENTS. 



VOL. IX. NO. 36. 



ROCHESTER, N. Y. -SATURDAY, SEPTEMBER 4, 1858. 



i WHOLE NO. 452. 



MOORE'S RURAL NEW-TORKER, 



Agricultural, Litarar, and Family Hcwapaper. 



CONDUCTED BV D. D. I. MOORE, 



hxnl pnr-f ml$x. 



STEAM ON THE NEW YORK CANALS, 



Ih our columns wo nave given a pretty fn 

 aooonntof the experiments Instituted to testtt 

 l.raottcati.tity of using Bteam on tbe Erie anil othi 

 Canals of the Stale, for propelling boats. We r 

 juice greatly that the nsullB of these trials we: 



m.lii 



men, that Bteam can be used as 

 «eer, at a great saving of expense, an' 

 jury to tbe banks of the canal. In tbi 

 I we aee & prospecl of good that teem 

 en overlooked by those who have wri' 



, in the many congratulatory speech 

 We nre not Insensible t 



great end aimed at la cheapness of carriage, and 

 irrangements for the comfort of the animals 

 that they will softr no diminution of weight on 

 voyage. These boats will be contracted for 

 purpose of carrying slock alone, and will be 

 inged with every convenience for watering and 

 feeding. It is estimated that ihe cost of traospor- 

 i will be abont one half the price no* charged 

 by the Riilroads. Interest, ifnot humanity, there- 

 fore, we hope will indoce all engaied in forward- 

 Ing cattle to tbe Eastern markets, to give the canal 

 boats a trial. 



DOES UNDEaDRAlNLNa PAY! 



Ratmb s strange query for the editors of tbe 

 Bcril to proponnd to all their readers, when they 

 have labored long and earnestly to prove that It 

 was one of the best Investments which could be 

 made by the agriculturist Strange, truly, when 

 tbey have iterated and reiterated that a thorough 

 system of underdrawing would prove of incalcula- 

 ble benefit to almost every foot of laud possessed 

 by tbe firmer. Stranger still, that, after all tbia 

 labor of word and argument, we are ready lo go 

 back to the starting point— to nntettle a prinolple 

 tnpposed to be fixed — and put forth anew the 

 qnery, — Does Underdrawing Pay? We hove a 

 reason for this, however, aa will be seen by the an- 

 nexed sentence :—•' Underdrawing is a popular pro- 

 cess by which Buy quantity of money can bo hidden 

 under ground past finding again." This valuable 

 we first saw in a political 

 State Capital, and if we ever 

 ef in tbe aphorisms — " False- 

 u Truth;" or "Truth has hut 

 rings," such doublings 



as soon aa the frost Is out in tbe spring, or within 

 ten hours after a heavy rain. Daring the dronth 

 of 1351, there was at all time* sufficient dampness 

 apparent on scraping the surface of the ground, 

 (with tbe fjut, in poising,) and a crop of beans 

 was planted, grown, and gathered therefrom, with- 

 out ao mooh rain aa will usually fall in a shower of 

 fifteen minutes' duration, while vegetation on tbe 

 next field was parching for tbe lack of moisture. 

 Cndrained land of similar character was hard and 

 lumpy in dry weather, and cohesive and miry 

 when wet, while thin was light, porous, arable and 

 free from water." The one had been drained, the 

 other drowned. 



A correspondent of tbe Rtntir., in onr Issue of 

 August 15tb, 1857, remarks:— "It has been demon- 

 i over and over again, that tbo Increased 

 ct from a well-drained field for a series of 

 will not only provide for the interest on tbe 

 outlay, but extinguish the principal in a little time, 

 after the first year; and yet many farmers cling 

 the 'penny-wiie and pound foolish' policy of 

 allowing a superabundance of water to remait 

 iltivated lots, and bear with all patience 

 frequent loss of onehelf or two-thirds what tl 

 lands would readily have produced. When, 

 when, will tbey j/rattitaUy understand that it 



safer, or better yielding investment of their 



paper published 

 had a particle of 



legs while Falsehood 



made on the 

 the fact that 



power willle' 



advantage ol 



York and the Great West, whose grain will find 

 access through this channel to the New York 

 market, and the marbetaof Earope; bntwe rejoice 

 more especially at the humanizing influence of 

 steam on tbe internal navigation of tbe State. 



Who that has traveled on the Erie Canal, or be- 

 come conversant with Its operations, has not been 

 pained at the treatment of horsea engaged in the 

 llfelesB drudgery of towing? Given over to the 

 oare of Ignorant, and often cruel driver*, exposed 

 to all weather, seven days and nights in tbe week, 

 their haggard appearance, and galls and bruiser, 

 appeal to tbe sympathies of every humane heart. 



The Erie Canal, from it* origin, has been a school 

 of vice. Many a bright boy, tempted by 

 tbe Independence of a driver's life, ha 

 father's house, to relnrr, if ever, a wreck In mind 

 and body. Lnred by tbe hopes of earning a live 

 lihood, many a widowed notber has permitted her 

 only son— her last hope In tbia world— to " drive 

 on the canal," to see him return after 

 steeped In vice, grown old in sin— a corse, inBtead 

 of a blessing— her grey hairs soon brought down 

 with sorrow to the grave. And is it strange 

 that this should be so? Look at tbe hosts of low 

 drinking homes that almost Hue the banks of the 

 Canal— tbe character of the men with which these 

 boys are compelled to associate— sleeping in boats 

 Or barns— working nights and daja, and Sundays, 

 and we see an array of evil Influences brought to 

 bear that few hoys— m»y we not say few men?— 

 oonld resist The Erie Canal may have enriched 

 business men, but it has impoverished families, 

 robbed many a mother of her richest Jewel— It 

 may have filled the State Treasury, bnt it has also 

 lined the State PrisonB aad Penitentiaries. We 

 b'.jio the time Is not far distant when no more 

 boys shall be employed on onr canals. Let them 

 receive their education, not on the canal, but in 

 the common school, or at work on tbe farm, 

 where the; can read evenings, and bave tbe benefit 

 of family Influence and wholesome example. We 

 look npon tbe application of Bteam on the canal 



Scores of cattle end hogs die every summer in 

 their transit through this Slate in Railroad cars 

 It Is truly painful to see the*« animals, packed as 

 closely ,-j they can stand, In hot tnmmer n 

 their tongnes protruding from their monl 

 showing other signs of suffering. Here the 

 not only from the heat and close packing, 

 want of water, sod it Is not strange that mi 

 and are thrown ont at the stopping places, 

 wo have sometimes thonghl It strange I 



so mnch suffering, are unfit for human food, and on 

 their destination, are no doubt much 

 depreciated In value. For humanity's sake, at 

 least, we have long hoped that an end wonld be 

 put to this mode of transporting stock. It is 

 Ifaal with steam, boats will reach New 

 York in foor d-ijs from Buffalo, without tranship 

 ment Boat builders and cattle dealers are now 

 engaged in o>.igt,i D g tbe bo«t form of a boat to be 

 rued, for transporting 



effectually scattered to the winds, hecaase of the 



avidity with which the " Union-Saving" portion of 



presB has seized so precious a morseL Wby 



assertions of this character should be given to the 



public through the agency of the printer, we are at 



lossto discover. Common sensewlll never found 



a argument npon such premises— facts will not 



arrant such declarations. Theory brands the 



lib falsity — practical experience will 





Letn 



, tU..! 







feet nnder the surface? When will tbey come 

 know that fur hardly any purpose can they so w 

 afford to submit to exorbitant rates of interest, 

 to provide themsekea with the wherewithal 

 change their swamps and swales, and cold, dai 

 fields into warm aaiftliablt soil for the production 

 of crops? » * * * Of some thirty 

 spring grain on the writer's f-^cn, all of which 

 looks pleasant in hil eye, onrW/" would ba' 

 nearly or quite rniied bnt for some 1,100 



drainage in the s 

 that the e 

 irly ci oal I 



; and the preac 



.■['I',' ;ri.i[!i i: 



late, i 



ine a few of {he facts recorded upon this subject 



From the article on the "Progress of English 

 Agriculture," we learn that lands where, to u 

 words of Mr. Cokf, "two rabbits might be found 

 quarreling over a blade of grass," were given by o 

 thorough introduction of drains to profitable agrl- 

 culture. " Hundreds of thooBsnds of acres," says 

 the Rrview, "formerly condemned to remain poor 

 pasture, or to grow at long intervals uncertain 

 crops of grain and beans, have been laid dry, ren- 

 dered friable, and brought Into regular rotation. 

 Sheep stock thrive where previously a few cowb 

 starved; the produce has been trebled, the ren- 

 tal raised, and the demand for labor increased in 

 proportion. In the neighborhood of Yorkshire 

 manufactories, moorland, not worth a shilling an 

 acre (rental) has been converted into dairy f.irms 

 worth two poonds," 



In 1816, Sir Robxkt Pbel passed the act loaning 



twenty millions of dollars fur the purpose of assi&t- 



Isnd owners to drain their farms. The various 



ems of husbandry which had wrought such 



derB npon light soils, those who possessed 



heavy, retentive clays desired to adopt, and to grow 



eh crops as afforded a certain reward. For cen- 



rles tbe farmers had been engaged in tbe trial of 



multifarious expedients to relieve the soilof water. 



The means called into use were upon tbesnrfsce, as 



laying up In ' lands," "backs," or" stechec," that tbe 



rain might flow off Into drains a few inches 



deep. Not unfreqoontly, it is said, fanners would 



traverse their fields after heavy rains, attempting to 



lead tbe stagnant little pools to the neighboring 



ditches. Favorable seasons rewarded tbe husband 



man for his toll, bat a wet season destroyed his 



hwpes. The aolls were valued for their strength, 



and for their returns nnder bright auspices, and the 



quest I one we re, in what manner csn the uncertainty 



attached to them be removed?— how can we plant 



and be sure that we may also reap? These were 



tbe aspirations of tbe cultivators, and dcrp draining 



osed product 



■d fully and amply compensated 



be remembei 



e and longoontinned 

 r testing the benefi- 



'he Atlantic Telegraph scheme having sne- 

 ded, ail other visionary and impossible enter 

 see will of course raise their heads and step 

 forward; so I venture foith with mine. It is no 

 less than this. Make a hog pasture big enough fur 

 all your hogs, and divide- it into two or three 

 part?, letting the animals remain only a week in 



ediv: 





.'ins t 



iry way original, but I won't 

 take out a patent right or copyright, provided you 

 give credit to the Rural for the suggestion. We 

 have often heard that a cluvtge of pastures makes 

 fat calves— horses and sheep, too, have not been 

 forgotten in this connection; bat hog*, alas! are 

 not counted in. I propose to count them In. I 

 don't know bnt tbey pay as much for their board 

 as anybody, its cost and quality being cnosuh-red, 

 and I don't know hut they have as good right to 

 find fanll when It don't suit You "didn't know 

 they had fastidious appetites." Well, yon ougfu to 

 adge them by yourself. The 



July bet 



i ol u 





m not well enough informed to express 

 m as to the best hind of grass for pigs, bn 

 heard a man in a fat office, a boy in a peach 

 young fellow going to the Fourth 



i clover," from which I conclude 

 that somebody has found ont that a clover field is 

 a delectable place for bogs. I ask for information, 

 and wonld be glad to know of Robil readers, 

 which are ibe best grasses for swine? 



I think hogs should not pasture in tbe 

 field with other stock, as there Is an objectionable 

 flavor where they go; bo let them have a pie 

 themselves, and have it well fenced and plenty of 

 water. I have an excessive dislike of i-welrr. b 

 1 sometimes think that hogs are better for rings 

 their noses.— u. T. B. 



buy 3,(1(10 bushels this year, and for two yeara 

 past floor has been Imported to supply tbe Inhabi- 

 tants of one of the finest wheat regions or the Union. 

 The midge, oue of the frailest of Insects, Is In 

 its ravages the most destructive enemy the farmer 

 has to contend with, and Its power will soon be 

 felt over a whole Continent. In Ihla State alone, 

 its ravages have cot-t the farmers n»i less than ten 

 millions of dollars for this j cur. When thev reach 

 the black lands of the prairies in the Western 



they are now In Michigan, it will become a pretty 





■ shall ■ 



t not much has been said abont our friend's 

 iog. We will defer that till another visit— r. 



rains, and the opportnniti 



cial effects of a syaem of drainage were excellent 



An experienced niriculturist, residing within a 



few miles of this cty, speaking of the advantages 



of draining, remarked that "he had sown bis 



,ey and it was tp, while his neighbors had not 



yet got their grooids prepared. All those whose 



id was not thoroighly drained had almost begun 



despair— that for the crops on portions of his 



-n farm, on whicl he had noi created any means 



which to relie'e it of surplas water, he bad 



little hope. Tbatwhere drains were erected he 



conld pnt on his horses and plow twenty. four 



hours after tbe m«t severe rain, and find the soil 



In better conditio! than where it was nndrained 



three days snbseqient" 



There are hnndeds who can furnish experience 

 corroborating theitatements already given, bnt to 

 tho thinking farmir tbey are not necessary; other 

 reasons might ale be furnished and arguments 

 pnt forth claiminpmore attention in this particnlnr 

 branch of husbarjry, but 



A FEW HOURS IN THE GENESEE YAXLEY. 



One day last week we were at Avon, with a few 

 unemployed hours before us. As we had some 

 farming friends in the neighborhood, we thought 

 a part of the time spent with Ihem would be use- 

 ful, especially as we bad never been npon the 

 firms in that region, though often in sight 



A good half-hours' walk bronght us to a friend's 

 house. He la the ooenpant of a " flat" and an up- 

 land farm of abont seven hundred acres, which he 

 rents from some heirs of tbe Wad3woiith Estate. 

 Nearly or quite five hundred acres belong to the 

 flala, and are more or less subjeot to the overflow 

 io wheat npon 



cultivated i 



The barley • 



■ ond 





advantages to beierived from thorough draining 

 cannot but be apparent Those who have not 

 witnessed what 6 revelation well-constructed 

 drains can work vpon a retentive, cold, heavy soil, 

 will find a viaitto lands provided with these 

 artificial outlets 0? redundant moisture a profitable 

 one, fully convincing them that drainage is an 

 exceedingly effeilve agent in Progressive Agri- 

 culture. 



dfru 



What are the details of experience in our own 

 country? In the Report by Mr. Nomas, of Orr- 

 ington, Me., to tbe Bangor Horticultural Sooiety, 

 we find some Interesting facts in regard to tbe 

 effects of draining upon "cold, springy land." 

 The dralna were constructed partly with tile and 

 partly with stone— depth three end one half and 



r feet He describes his farm 

 heart aide of a hill, oat 

 : for working until late 



rally ? 



s lying on the 

 at and hence 



a the Canal, and the 



for a pear orchard; drains laid in 1661 "Tblrteei 

 drains," says the Report, "fifteen rods in length 

 and twenty feet apart, were opened down the hill' 

 The effects of draining are thus described:— 

 "Upon this piece of land tbe frost come 

 some days earlier. Is later In the fall, and of less 

 depth In winter than contiguous land cndrained. 

 la dry enough for spading or plowing 



EOG PASTURES. 



It being generJly understood that hogs live t>y 

 "special provldiBcea" until it is time to "fat" 

 them, there is lltJe attention paid to the most 

 wayjr growing them up. Certain it 

 good, easy-keeping variety will moke 

 a-jlo prjgreas on grass, snl It is worthy 

 of Investigation ahether hog-ralsing may not be 

 profitably carriei on to a larger extent In Western 

 New York by tb-ald of good pastures and other 

 appliances. It lay be safe to calculate that a 

 good sited, thrift pig will gain In six months on 

 gra*s, a hundredpounda or more. If an acre of 

 grass wonld keel three hogs, and add a hundred 

 pounds to the wilght of each, that would be $12 

 for the acre of pauurc, reckoning the 300 pounds 

 gain all cents ajaund, live weight The particalar 

 point which lUalftxtfaiai letter Is ambitious to In- 

 culcate is this:graas being a good thing and 

 profitable to swif>, attention should be paid to the 

 famishing of ankbundance of it and of the best 

 quality, to theseinimals. Instead of being forced 

 to bite twice at* short, dirty, dried and battered 

 spear of Jone gees by the roadside before getting 

 any off, imagin a clean and comely Buffolk In 

 a fresh, green pasture just four Inches 

 filling himself rtlb evident reliab. That looks 

 like gain. 



, barley 



promising a good crop, 

 v productive, yielding a 

 id gen ft rally ol fn>l i)'inl- 





Kentocky. 

 e, the farms 

 j depend for 



along this region will be compelled 

 their main support 



The grazing of cattle or the dairy most take tbe 

 place of wheat growing, and these "flats" will 

 farnlsh ihe material for capital di 



fjrms embrace a portion of uplc 



"flan?," there will be no diffloltyiE 



to a moderate extent by using manore freely, and 



underdrawing when required. Still, for 



being, the value of tbe Und must deprec 



sensibly, until a more diversified system of farming 



Is adopted. 



The midge will not bo got rid of. It haB been 

 more or less prevalent for the last twenty yeara 

 Its ravages have only become Berlous, 

 too severe a system of cropping, some c 

 ments of fertility have been so exhausted that the 

 wheat plant does not grow with its accatrtomed 

 vigor. Some other element most be returned to 

 ibe earth, besides what clover and plas~r famishes, 

 before the farmer can defy the midge. That will 



BELFOPERATfirO -WELL BUCKET. 



Eds. RoitiL: — Although we have, In this progres- 

 ,ve age, almost every expedient for drawing wa'er 

 i the shape of pomps and elevators that could tie 



wella and cisterns c 

 hundreds of yooi 



om the well In a burket 

 Those, then, who wish to drink v 

 'om the taint of deca> log wooder 



nparatively easy; yet t 



: by any of these means 

 when di 



r put 



pipes or maty 

 The Old Oaken 

 Bucket" hang In the welL 



ingb "dear to the hearts" of all "coW tra/er 

 thsrelsan Inconvenience attending it, as It 

 nmonly used, In fllling and emptying. With 

 your permission, I will tell your teadera ho! 

 came the difficulty. Here, then, la a corn 

 uig of my well curb, a board being left off 



Its owner, it is plain looking, but I find It 

 the purpose for which it was designed, admirably. 

 I cut a hole three inches square in the bottom of 

 Ibe bucket, then, on a thin piece or board, four 

 inches square, or % half inch larger each way than 

 the hole inihe buckeVl tacked asoftpieceofleatber, 

 letting It extend far enough on one Bide to tack to 

 tbe bottom of tbe bucket— forming a binge to the 

 valve. I then hail a blacksmith move the ears from 

 the top, to a mile above the middle of the bucket, 

 or to that point, where the bucket when filled, 

 would babUUM nicely without tipping over. I then 

 bad the bail cut in two pieces, making each piece 

 afoot long, after being straightened, and tin eye 

 turned on each end, aa seen in the drawing. 



,• Iui:j,i1 i 





nd the great 



:b pasturage of 

 yield of hay which they will furnish, render them 

 very valuable, and if the landlords confine ihem 

 to those two branches, the permanent wealth of 

 that region will not be materially diminished. No 

 conntry can be really Independent that depends 

 mainly npon grain-growing for the support of its 



this State are really more independent tin 



wheat region, although tbe wheat 



commanding much tbe highest 



Many think that more capital is I 



farms than dairy farms. It 'a 



though the wheat 



price, the stock up< 



difference. .. 



The entire failure of the wheat crop m this re. 

 glon is but exemplified by the fact that at a polo 

 on the Valley Canal, just west of Avon, where 

 few years ago from 260,000 to 300,000 baaball Q 

 wheat were taken in yearly, they do not expect t. 



.rice per acre. 



mistake — for, 

 i st a higher 

 adairy I*" 11 W1 " W»nM the 



A thin piece of iron Ii Inches long. 

 bent over, for tbe hook, fastened to the cp 

 catch Into, was riveted to the top of the bail 

 side. I procured a well twisted % loch cord, 

 as long Bs my well is deep, found 

 fastened It, In two places, by drivii 

 Inches each side of the cen re of 

 wound the cord evenly on the nx'e, 

 Ids towards rh<- end*,— and fastened 





cord U> the I 



«.l n 



t made of a 



lapliugaslaoften I 



