TWO DOLLARS A YEAR.] 



MOORE'S RURAL NEW-YORKER, 



Agricultural, Literary and Family Newspaper 



CONDUCTED BY D. D. T. MOORE, 



s. Puillj, UmThJikm ■ 



'PROGRESS AND IMPROVEMENT.' 



[SINGLE NO. FIVE CENTS. 







ftal ptow-ftofe. 



HOUKS WITH THE FARMERS. 



1 boij other duties we have snatched a few hoars 

 to spend among the farmers. We love to read the 

 doings of the greatest farmers In the world, such 

 as we find reported in the books and the European 

 journals — the results of their costly experiments 

 are invaluable to the world of agriculturists. We 

 like to examine, too, the theories of scientific men, 

 especially when they give ns the cause of certain 

 well known results. But we never spend a few 

 hours so pleasantly and profitably as when we walk 

 and talk with intelligent, practical farmers, and 

 learn their hopes and (ears, their successes and 

 failures-sec this field of luxuriant foil-eared com, 

 and learn tbo treatment that bos produced such a 

 desirable result — that, short and stunted, and as- 

 certain the cbdso of the failure. So we pass 

 along, taking a look at all the fields, and the crops, 

 [never forgetting the melon patch,) thinking and 

 talking, teaching and learning, until 





my employed 



posses rapidly away, and we hasten 



Of no one thing have we been more forcibly im 

 pressed, In our journeyings of late, than the impor 

 tonce of rightly instructing the youth in farming 

 Farmers should learn their boys to be neat anc 

 thorough in everything they do. Youth is the tim< 

 in which habits, good or bad, ore formed, and the; 

 are seldom changed. Many farmers that we kso^ 

 of— intelligent, reading, thinking, and in many re 

 spects valuable men — who can write fluently anc 

 agriculture, have slovenly farms, 



(and this they k 





■ just t. 





formed slovenly, careless habits in their 

 which they now And it clmont impossible t 

 come. Habit la strong, almost overpowering, and 

 we are all more or less under the influence 

 habits formed in oar youth. Example is all pov 

 ful in its Influence upon the young. Let all 

 readers with boys growing up see that they 

 thorn no bad examples. To leave sons with good 

 habits is better than to leave tbem with farms 01 

 fortunes. We speak advisedly when we say that t 



prompt, energetic mechanic or 



merchant who 



knows nothing of farming, wil 



make a better 



farmer In three years than the yon 



ng man who has 



been brought up on a farm with 



i careless, thrift- 



less father or guardian. This wo 



uave seen proved 



a while standing on the 

 farm of one who but four or Ave years ago first 

 "put his baud to the plow," that these reflections 



Corn, as a general thing, is looking well, 

 yield will be fair, as for as we have seen, though 

 we have beard some complaint from the southern 

 portion of this county, that the yield of grain 

 be light, though there are plenty of stalks. Many 

 of the cornfields show the want of drainage. In 

 the lower spots the corn la light, and 1: 

 cases almost entirely destroyed, while o 

 ground In the same field it Is good. A very few 

 days of this hot weather, (thei 

 put the corn out of danger of frost, indeed much 

 of It is already » glazed," and 

 Island Premium Com, we see Is fully ripe. The 

 grasshoppers are troubling it somewhat, but they 

 are not sufficiently numerous to do much mischief. 

 Potatoes are suffering * C ry much from the pre- 

 mature death of the tops. Yesterday, (Sept fith.,) 

 we saw many fields where the hioitm were entirely 

 dead, from the effects of the insect described in 

 the Fcral a few weeks since, or some other cause. 

 On examining the roots we found the tubers small, 

 not baring made more than about halt their natu' 

 ral growth. About three weeks ago we saw a fine 

 field of English Flukes, vigorous and healthy, with 

 the exception of occasionally a blighted and 

 bin ukened top. Now the haulms are destroyed as 

 effectually as though they had endured a week's 

 frost That insect, the Phytocorui, which Mr. Hem- 

 dkbson thiuks causes the rot is found In every 

 field, and In Immense swarms and we saw hun- 

 dreds of them feeding on the tender tops of the 

 ears of com. If this theory of the cause of the 

 potatoes 



one time. Dr. Likhlby, in the London Gardeners' 

 Chronicle, in three or four lines, scouts the idea that 

 this insect muses the rot, and Dr. Fitch is almost 

 as brief and as equally decided oh the same side. 

 Now, we are open to conviction on this question, 

 and we have very little respect for the ipsi dixit of 

 those who have the reputation of being "scien- 

 tific men." Tbey are apt to be conceited and dog- 

 ic, and we ore not willing to adopt their opin- 

 without a reason. Science is apoorsnbsti- 

 for brains, and some of the great "professors' 



The operations of the " scientific" men at the Dud- 

 icy Observatory, Albany, should prove a useful les- 

 son to common people. A little careful investiga- 

 tion, and a decent respect for the opinions of others 

 would not hurt the wisest. This iuseot has com- 

 menced its ravages in a sew direction, and is now 

 destroying the Dahlia buds as fast as they appear. 

 An extensive grower informed ns that he would 

 not have a dozen flowers, although he usually 

 counts them by hundreds. Potatoes in some placea 

 are suffering badly from the White Grub, the larva? 

 of the Juno Bug. On examination wc found many 

 hills where the tuber were almost entirely eaten 

 up. On the grounds of BL N. Lanoworth v, in the 

 town of Greece, in this county, we caught nineteen 

 In one hllL 



Suoab Cane ia growing this season exceedingly 

 tine, as the weather has been quite favorable Tor its 

 fall development We notice, too, that there has 

 been a good deal sown, although there has not 

 been much noise made about it this year. What 

 ever may be the result as to sugar, this must be a 

 splendid crop for summer feeding, and for making 

 fodder. One farmer, who has a fine crop growing. 

 expressed doubts whether it was possibly to dry 

 the canes effectually so as to prevent heating, they 

 seemed bo fall of sap. If the stalks were pretty 

 well ripened before cutting, there would be no 

 trouble in curing, we shonld think. Perhaps for 

 the value of the fodder, just aathe seed commenced 

 to form would be the best time for cutting. We 

 have seen several fields where the stalks were 

 growing bo thickly that it was Impossible to see 

 through them the distance of a rod, almost impos- 

 sible to make headway in endeavoring to walk, and 

 where we could not find a cane measuring less than 

 suit of 

 ■egeta- 



blei 



', If c 



It I 



that we never saw any other plant that would yield 

 such an amount of green food, and it is eaten 

 voraciously by all stock. In England, they out it 

 when about three feet high, and it then gives 

 twenty-five tuns of feed to the acre. It then makes 

 a second growth, and la cut towards fall, giving 

 about the same quantity of feed as at the first cut- 

 ting. In the south of France and Italy it is said 

 to give three good cuttings. This matter is worthy 

 the consideration of farmers, who are now giving 

 so much attention to the best means of feeding 



Hungarian Gras9 planted in drills, on a sandy 

 loam on the sixth day of July, is now about three 

 feet in height, and the proprietor thinks he could 

 grow two crops in a season very easily. We have 

 notes of some other matters, which we must defer 

 for the present. 



SHEEP: 



i simply a 



e from the disc 



: destined t 





The Leicester IS be eh. — The modern Leicester 

 belongs to the division of long-wooled breeds. It 

 was originated by Roesert Basewsll, whose first 



hundred years ago. The breed was first called the 

 Bakewell, in honor of its founder; then Disbley, 

 from the name of Mr. Bakewell's farm; thcnNew 

 Leicester, to distinguish it from the old Leicester; 



to supercede the old breed, i 

 the Leicester. 



It Is a highly artificial breed, very different from 

 any known before Bakswxll' stime. Its origin has 

 been the csuse of much speculation, la reference 

 to the materials from which it was derived. Baeb- 

 wrll himself, it is said. Bought to envelope the 

 subject In mystery. Yet he could not wholly 

 screen his operations from the public eye, and to 

 particular friends he was not wholly uncommuni- 

 cative. It is generally admitted that the parent 

 stock of the Leicester was obtained from various 

 breeds. Bat perhaps the most direct information 

 on the subject is given by Pitt, in his "Survey of 

 Leicestershire," published by the British Board of 

 Agriculture towards the close of the last century. 

 He informs ns that Bake well formed in his own 

 mind, in the first place, "an ideal of perfection," 

 which he endeavored to realize. He then proceed- 

 ed to select from the flocks axoond him, such sheep 

 sa came nearest his standard. Some of those 

 which he obtained, were said to have descended 

 from stock, which had several years before been 

 brought from a section of Yorkshire, and crossed 

 with the common sheep of Leicestershire. He 

 also bought sheep of jobbers, who brought them 



" Animated by his early success, he still went on, 

 breeding from his ou-n, or crossing with others that he 



of perfection, by which means, and (in the opinion 

 of one of the oldest breeders In the county.) by a 

 cross with the Durham sheep, by slow degrees he 

 produced a form against which he believed no 

 possible objection could be raised." 



These facts in regard to the origin of the Leices- 

 ter should not be lost sight of, as they involve an 

 important principle in reference to breeding, viz: 

 the production of a distinct breed from two or 

 more diverse atooks. Baeewell'b breed gradual- 

 ly gained in popularity. He bred on a large scale, 

 and after a few years formed an association with 

 other breeders, by which he was enabled more 

 fully to carry out his objects. Like other improvers, 

 he had at first to contend against much prejudice, 

 and 20 years elapsed before he fully 

 opposition. The following extract w 

 his progress: 



"InlTCOitwas with difficulty that he let three 

 ramB for the season, at 17s. Gd. each. In 1780 he 

 received ten guineas each, for the hiring of some 

 of his best ramB, Bud in 1764 and 1785 some were 

 engaged at the expense of one hundred guineas. — 

 In 178i". he let out one ram to a flock, one-third of 

 the ewes being his own, for 200 guineas. In that 

 year he received upwards of a thousand guineas 

 for the letting out of rams. In 1730 he cleared 

 1,200 guineas by throe rams, and 2,000 guineas by 

 Beven others, exclusive of a sum of 3,000 guineas 

 for the aee of the rest of his stock, received from 

 the Disbley Society, of which he was the founder. 

 One ram of first-rate excellence, he let out to two 

 breeders, receiving from each 400 guineas, receiv- 

 ing one-third of the ewes for himself; the value of 

 the ram for the ecason being estimated at 1,200 



The sheep were sought after not only from all 

 parts of Britain and Ireland, but from distant coun- 

 tries. It may, in fact, be said that the Leicester 

 breed has obtained a world-wide celebrity, and has 

 immortalized the name of its founder. The Im- 

 provement which Bakewell effected consisted in 

 reducing the bone and offal and increasing the ten- 

 dency to fatten. He regarded the animal aa a ma- 

 chine for converting vegetables into flesh and fat, 

 in the greatest quantity, and in the least time. The 

 old atockwasnotfitfor the butcher till 4 years old. 

 The new gave as mach meat in half the time; 

 wethers weighing 20 to 30 lbs. per quarter, at two 

 years old. The tendency to fat was astonishing,— 

 CrjLtiBY speaks of a three-year-old wether which 

 measured seven inches and one eighth of solid fat 

 ut straight through without any 









aforti 





old wethers to cut four inches thick of fat 

 ribs, and from 2 to 3 inches all down the back." 



The symmetry attained In the New Leicester 

 sheep, their early maturity and tendenoy to fatten 

 —qualities which became so thoroughly establish- 

 ed as to constitute a new race (ss we may say,, of 

 a peculiar fixity of type— rendered tbem well 

 adapted to the improvement of other breeds; and 

 notwithstanding the comparative lateness of their 

 origin, they have, by an infusion of their blood, 



long wooled breed. The Cotswold, the Lincoln- 

 shire, the Romney Marsh, and others, have received 

 from Bakewells Leicesters an improvement in 

 form and disposition to fatten which, perhaps, they 

 never could have possessed without this cross. 



But In the Leicesters themselves, the qualities of 

 early maturity and tendency to fatten were carried 

 too far. The constitution of the animal was weak- 

 ened, and the carcass was too fat The error, how- 

 ever, was seen by some breeders, before it was al- 

 together too late, and tbey have restored the hardi- 

 hood and at the same time developed the wool- 

 beorlne, habit The characteristic of the Leicester, 

 is, nevertheless, a faculty of making a large pro- 

 portion of fat meat compared with the lean. The 

 mutton does not sell u high in the English mar- 

 kets, by at least a cent a pound, aa the Sontb Down, 

 or the mountain breeds of Wales and Scotland. — 

 The advocates of the breed claim that this is over- 

 balanced by the earlier maturity of the Leicesters. 

 In America, little or no difference Is made between 

 the mutton of the South-Down and any other Eng- 

 lish breed; but it is probable that, as our people 

 come to appreciate the difference In the quality of 

 meat the different breeds of cattle and sheep will 

 stand in the markets In a similar position to what 

 they do la England. 



The wool of the Leicester is adapted to combing, 

 and to all such fabrics as combing wool isusedfer. 

 Well-bred and well-kept flocks overage from five to 

 eight pounds per fleece, washed. 



Io our next, the breeds of long-wooled sheep 

 which have been derived, more or less, from the 

 Leicester, will be spoken of. 



ENGLISH DRAFT-HORSE. 



The above engraving is a very good represen- 

 tation of the Draft-Horse used in England. This 

 horse ia not an aboriginal breed in that country, 

 but was originally imported from the Continent 

 William "the Conqueror," ia aupposed to have 

 first placed them upon British soil, as the 

 horses of his Knights and menatarme— great 

 strength being requisite (so long as armor was i 

 faahlui.) to support the enormous weight of tl 

 steel-clad warrior, and to withstand the ponderoi 

 attack of a similar opponent Daiing the relf 

 of the Edwa.ru9, repeated importations of thai 





;plu. 



prevailing color of this horse is black; so 

 much so, tbat a distinct breed, under the appella- 

 tion of the "old black carl-horse," Is recognized. The 

 breed is pretty generally distributed throughout 

 England, and may be divided into three kinds— the 



tion.) reared in the rich marshes and plains of the 

 midland counties, expressly for the London Bi 

 ers; the smaller sized, but still tolerably heavy 

 horBe, generally employed for agricultural purpo- 

 ses— a strong, compact animal, butslow in motion: 

 and a lighter and more active animal, possessing 

 some admixture of blood of a less heavy breed. 



According to the Cyclopedia of Agriculture, 

 " breeders usually sell them as two-year old oolts, 

 retaining, as much as possible, mares for their own 

 work, and for tho purpose of breeding. The pur- 

 chasers of these colts work them moderately till 

 they are four years old, feeding them well during 

 thia period; and, indeed, previous to their resale, 

 they are often taken out of work and fattened in 

 loose boxes, i 

 which state t 



THE CHIHESE SDGAB CANE. 



In accordance with the intimation contained In 

 the lost Issue of the Rural, we commence 

 of the experiments made by Josbpd S. Lo 

 of Philadelphia, for the purpose of determining 

 the value of the Chinese Sugar Cane as a sugar 

 producing plant It was the desire of Mr. L. to 

 throw what light he could upon the subject, and, 

 In the event of the result proving favorable, to give 

 such a formula as would enable the uninitiated 

 proceed with confidence of success. To thise. 

 he devoted considerable time — from the 2Sth 

 September to the ^Oth of December, 1867 — a 

 brought into active use every appliance that b 

 ence could suggest in order that all his movemer 

 might be as accurate as the circumstances would 

 allow. Whatever is to be the ultimatum in the 

 case of this cereal, its cultivators are much Indent 

 ed to Mr. LovERiKo for the energy and tact he has 

 displayed. 



On the 10th of May I planted about half an acre, 

 on upland of good quality, such as would yield, in 

 ordinary seasons, fifty to sixty bushels Indian com 

 to the acre. The rows fonr feet apart and the 

 plants intended to be six inches apart in the rows, 

 but which, on taking off the crop, proved to be a 

 little over seven inches apart When the canes 

 were about eighteen inches in height I had the 

 suckers removed. During the month of June I 

 passed the hoe-harrow through It twice, 

 lowing with the hand-hoe, as in the case 



grew 



or Indian 

 itself. It 



Idly and evenly, and attained the height 



j to fourteen feet 



the London brewers, for whose more particular 

 use these pampered animals are bred. Thus the 

 colt purchased, perhaps for £ 10, realizes in 

 course of two years, double this amount, besides 

 working moderately during this period. Thus, if 

 the horse docs not fall a victim to the varioui 

 easea which a redundancy of fat is calculab 

 induce, he yields an ample profit to his feed 



bonds high; and their sleek and glosBy appearance 

 as tbey move majestically through the stree 

 the metropolis, presents one of the most Btri 

 sights to the eye of the foreigner. That such 

 large, massive animals are really required, o: 

 the most profitable for their peculiar work, is a 

 matter of considerable doubt; however, It 

 species of pride which has long prevailed amc 

 our London brewers; and, whilst they cant 

 tho premium, iu the shape of high prices for these 

 massive animal-, the breeding of them will 

 tlnue a profitable pursuit, and the streets ol 

 metropolis will continue to exhibit the largest 



These heavy horses are much injured, ss ah; 

 by a tendency to weak und convex feet SDi 

 ossili cation of the cartilages and tho pasterns; the 

 former being the effect of their great weight 

 In g on the soft hora iadaced by moist pastures; 

 and the latter to their great predlspositioi 

 throw out bone, caused, perhops, partly by 

 large amount of the phosphates In their food.— 

 Very many of these horses are rendered useless 

 from these morbid deposits, although the latl 

 so common that scarcely a dray horse In London 

 but what possesses, In some degree, these rids I 

 which, In very many Instances, do no Injury. 



My apparatus and utensils for conducting th 

 experiments consisted of the following, viz.—, 

 pair of iron roUers, seven inches diameter an 

 twelve inches long, set in a frame one eighth of a: 

 Inoh opart, with spout to catch and colled the 

 jaice, and a cronk tamed by hand; a few sugar 

 moulds and pots; some ivory black or animal 

 bon; two filters, made of common bed ticking, in 

 the shape of an elongated pudding bng; a ther- 

 mometer, Beaume's Pese Sirop, or socchnroineter, 

 and a polariscope. All the other utensils I obtain- 

 ed from the kitchen, viz.; a copper kettle of ten 

 gallons capacity, a ladle, some tin pons, bowls, 

 buckets, Ac, to contain the juice. 



F, uaT PoLABtsiorit Observation.— Sept JSth, 

 oon, 71- F-, wind 8. W,, clear.— Of 

 the first joints above the stay roots: 



temponfore, 



After precipitation by basic acetate of lead, of a 

 ■oluminous green colored flocculeni substance, it 

 filtered with difficulty, then completed tho decol- 

 orizatioo by passing it through animal csrbon, and 

 found by first observation In polariscope, 



__.ssum of inversion, H^.fti at temperature 27°, 

 Indicates 6t.35 grammes of pure dry sugar to the 



