VOLUME I. 
MOORE’S RORALENEW-YORKER, 
'’published weekly. 
Office in Burns’ Block, corner of Buffalo and State 
streets, (entrance on State,) Rochester. 
CONDUCTED BY D. D. T. MOORE. 
(Late Publisher and Associate Editor Gen. Farmer.) 
Ili. E. LANG worthy, Associate Editor. 
Corresponding Editors: 
ELON COMSTOCK, (former Ed. Central N. Y. 
Farmer,) of Oneida County. 
T. C. PETERS, (Editor of the Wool Grower,) 
of Genesee County. 
Educational Department by L. WETHERELL. 
(Hr For Terms, &c., see last page, 
PROGRESS AND IMPROVEMENT. 
CORN COBS.-THEIR VALUE AS FOOD. 
Ed. Rural New-Yorker: —I'would like 
to have you give an analysis of the corn 
cob, as there is a great diversity of opinion 
as to its nutritive qualities, &c. Some main¬ 
tain, and I think with some plausibility, that 
it is unsafe to feed corn ground in the ear 
to horses, as full feed; and the reason they 
give is, that the potash the cob contains will 
injure the coating of the stomach, and pro¬ 
duce disease. 
By burning corn cobs, potash is procured. 
Now does the burning process make it en¬ 
tirely, or is it a component part of the cob ? 
And if so, in what proportion to the other 
parts? Your views upon the subject, I 
presume are correct. Will you give them 
to the public?—and oblige at least some of 
your many readers. c. n. s. 
Cortland Co., February, 1850. 
In compliance with the request of our 
correspondent we give the mineral, saline 
and inorganic constituents of both kernel 
and cob—procured by the process of incin¬ 
eration and reducing to a.shes — in parts and 
hundredths: 
Kernel. Cob. 
Silicic acid or silica or pure sand,. .23 .60 
Phosphoric acid,.14.55 .77 
Potash,. 6.47 2.02 
Soda,. 1.00 .67 
Lime,.02 .22 
-Magnesia,. 4.92 .39 
Chlorine, (muriatic acid,).08 .07 
Sulphuric acid,.14 .07 
By the above analysis it will be sij^An, that 
the cob contains quite a notable degree of 
potash—that it is the leading feature of its 
contents after burning, but not in as great a 
degree by two-thirds as the grain; and no 
one ever suspected that any injury was ever 
derived by the animal, from the action of the 
potash, by feeding the grain alone. 
It is a very difficult fact to settle, from 
whence the potash, or in the pure metal- 
loidal state of Potassium, is derived. It 
cannot be detected in any vegetable sub¬ 
stance until it is burned. No test, yet dis¬ 
covered, can detect the slighest trace of it, 
until it has undergone that process. It is 
generally supposed that it is in the form of 
a silicate of potash, or glass, and insoluble. 
But what becomes of that substance in 
charing ? It is not found in the coal, and the 
ashes of coal do not give a one-hundredth 
part as much potash as the same quantity 
of green wood. It may be derived from 
the air used in combustion in the process of 
burning. The earth under old houses — 
sods, and old lime rubbish that have lain a 
longtime under cover—on leaching pro¬ 
duce saltpetre, (niti-ate of potash,) having 
procured its nitre from the nitrogen of the 
air; but where its pottish is derived from, is 
difficult to determine. There are a few 
primitive rocks, that contain a small portion, 
but they are not often found in ordinaiy 
soils. All vegetable matter produces it, and 
undoubtedly procures it from either the earth 
or air, or in the process of burning; but no 
process of the animal stomach is capable of 
eliminating potash, from any of the grains 
or the vegetable fibre. 
The cob of corn is not very valuable as 
a nutricious substance. One of its greatest 
ROCHESTER, N 
values is to give bulk, and to distend the 
stomach, in feeding the meal of corn. In 
feeding corn ground with the cob, if it is 
not finely ground, the animal does not 
masticate it; and the woody fibre being in¬ 
digestible, it often irritates the stomach and 
bowels and causes looseness and diarrahoea. 
We subjoin the analysis of the kernel and 
cob in their inorganic state, showing the 
quantitative contents of the constituents of 
nutrition, in parts and hundredth parts: 
Kernel. Cob. 
Sugar and extract,.14.41 6.79 
Starch,.60.92 .01 
Woody fibre,.94 63.84 
Oil,. 4.98 .00 
Gluten,. 3.98 .00 
Matter separated IVoni the fibre... 6.48 22.75 
Albumen, (like white of egg,)_4.64 .75 
Casein, (like cheese curd, 1.08 .14 
Dextrine or gum,..3.52 1.15 
Resin,.00 .90 
Glutinous matter,.00 3.70 
By the above table it is easy to compare 
the relative value of the cob to the grain, 
as food. The kernel is rich in all the sub¬ 
stances which support animal heat and nu¬ 
trition — the cob is comparatively poor . 
GOOD BUTTER IN WINTER. 
We often hear the complaint that butter 
made in the winter is poor. Ours was so 
for several seasons. It was very slow in 
coming, and frothy, white, sometimes bittfer; 
while butter made from the same kind of 
milk in the warm seasons was good. I de¬ 
vised many plans for improvement, such as 
throwing in salt, warm milk, scalding cream, 
(fee., but to no purpose. At length I scald¬ 
ed my milk when brought from the cow, af- 
tens ards setting it in either a cold or warm 
place, as was most convenient. I mean, I 
communicated sufficient heat to destaoy the 
effect which frosty feed hiis in Autumn, or 
dry fe<'d in Winter, upon it Since which 
time we have made, with fifteen minutes 
chuniing, surer, sweeter, and more yellow 
butter than we have ever made in summer 
— and sometimes from the frozen cream 
gradually warmed. And, were it not that 
the increase of manufacturers, the piuvsuit 
of fa.shion, and other causes combined, ren¬ 
der helping hands in a dairy room now-a- 
days very scarce, I should be at.the trouble 
of scalding my milk before setting it during 
the summer as well as in the winter; for 
surely butter in this way possesses a delici¬ 
ous richness and dryness which cannot be 
found in any other.— Cultivator. 
Remarks. —We subscribe to every word 
of the above article, and would impress the 
facts there stated upon every manufacturer 
of butter, especially if they desire to make 
winter butter. Every body knows that it 
is difficult to make good yellow butter in the 
fall, after the feed has been frost bitten— 
and still more so in winter, when the c^s 
are fed on dry feed alone. There are a 
thousand vexations in the business; the 
cream can hardly be converted into butter, 
or if so, two hour’s churning will be some¬ 
times required; the butter when made is 
white and unfit for the table—and, what 
interests the farmer most of all, is the fact 
that he must sell much cheaper than if he 
had a good article. 
Now, one of the secrets of makino- irood 
winter butter’, is to pursue exactly the pro¬ 
cess above described. Scald the milk while 
new, as soon as brought from the cow, and 
all the trouble and vexation, the back aches, 
arrd perchance the scalding of both the dcii- 
r-y woman and the help, are at oirce obivated 
—while the farmer has the satisfaction irot 
only of seeing the golden butter on the ta¬ 
ble, but what is to him of equal moment, 
he pockets some two cents more per pouird 
Avhen he carries it to market. We said this 
was one of the secrets of making good win- 
ter butter. There are other things quite 
important, especially the care of the stock, 
and the food used in their keep, &c. But 
we can only refer to these things now, hav¬ 
ing penned this paragraph simply to en¬ 
dorse the article copied from the Cultiva¬ 
tor. c. 
THURSDAY, FEBRUARY 28, 1850. 
CANADA THISTLES. 
Ed. Rural New-Yorker: —In a late 
number of your paper I noticed an article 
in relation to destroying the Canada Thistle, 
by plowing or summer fallowing. It is a 
vei’y good process, though we lose the use 
of the land during the whole season; and 
not only that, but. we lose a great amount 
of the richness of the «soil, by its being ex¬ 
posed to the burning rays of the sun during 
the Avhole summer, for no other purpose 
than to destroy these fiirmer’s pests. I have 
a process for destroying them which I think 
is much more easy, and as fatal as plow¬ 
ing, which is done by planting to corn. 
My modus operandi is as follows: I turn 
over my ground, just before planting, about 
eight inches deep, the thistle at this season 
having got quite a start. I cultivate and 
hoe my corn twice, as is usually done in 
this section — the second time when the tas¬ 
sels are just making their appearance; and 
when the corn has ears about suitable for 
roasting, I go through w’ith a hoe and cut 
up all thistles as deep as possible, and they 
are what some call “ completely used up.” 
I have tried the experiment on two pieces 
for two year-s, wherev-there was not much 
else but thistles; and to my great satisfac¬ 
tion, I now grow crops of barley and oats 
entirely free from them. Instead of a na¬ 
ked fallow all summer, I have a bountiful 
crop of corn. The reason of this proving 
so fatal to'^^them is, I think, on account of 
the corn shading the ground so that they 
cannot grow, and also the dryness of the 
season which we usually have at this time 
of the year. Some think that it must be 
done in the moon — but I think if the op¬ 
eration is done well in the cora- field, the 
result will be at least equally effectual. 
Ekaneateles, N. Y., Feb., 18.50. L. s. 
Rem.ARKS.— Our correspondent’s process 
is a good one, and perhaps preferable to the 
one to which he refers ■— especially if he is 
so situated as to give the land a hoed crop. 
The leaf is the lung of the plant, and 
there is no vegetoble so tenacious of life, as 
to retain vitality long after the destruction 
of its leaves, and again the leaves of all 
the suckers. A few cuttings of the leaves, 
if thoroughly done, is sufficient to exhaust 
all the processes of suckei’s, and the root, 
devoid of the organs of circulation, decom¬ 
poses and rots like all vegetable matter un¬ 
der the same circumstances. 
ANOTHER WIRE FENCE. 
Mr. Moore: —I am inclined to try my 
hand at Avriting an article on “Wire Fen¬ 
ces” for your very interesting and useful 
paper. I see in a late number, that you 
invite your correspondent, W. R G., to givtf 
a drawing and description of his new fence 
— and, like you I am anxious to have the 
question settled which is the best plan, and 
whether any of them will “ supercede the 
present mode of fencing.” 
Mr. Langavortiiy’s plan, presented in 
your seventh number, would not please me 
—and in my judgment is not wdiat is want¬ 
ed. If Yve have a wire fence, let it be a 
wire fence — and if a board fence, let it be 
all boards. Durability and cheapness is 
what should be sought for—but with these 
impoi’tant requisites, the object of a fence 
must be fully answered. 
I have examined the fence of wliich much 
has been said and written, built by one of 
your correspondents in East Bloomfied.— 
This fence, thdugh very well built, and an¬ 
swering admirably other objects than those 
of merely a fence, which Mr. Adams had in 
View, is, after all, not exactly the thing.— 
Therefore I have come to this conclusion, 
that hvo thing’s are indispensable for the suc¬ 
cess of the wire fence:—The first is, it must 
be built on a low wall, or a ridge of earth 
thrown up from slight ditches on each side, 
that horses and cattle may have an obstacle 
that they can see, and will not be likely to 
pass over without at least some hesitation. 
And so, also, with the smaller animals on a 
farm; they cannot as readily come up to a 
wire fence and press their Avay through.— 
The common half wall, so much used where 
there are stone, I think is admirably adapt¬ 
ed to a wire superstructure. But, secondly 
— to add wire to any of the abov'e plans, 
it must be put into some shape that it may 
be used without all the troublesome strain¬ 
ing and tangling, and consequent breakage, 
which it is liable to in the present method 
of use. 
Now for the plan. Let the wire be put 
into a loom made for the pui’pose and wove 
into a web, of the width and length desired. 
The web is represented in the above cut. 
The filling may be of quite small size, 
and the warp of a size that shall not make 
more heft of both than is used in the com¬ 
mon way. This web, used on the top of a 
wall or ridge of earth, need not be more 
than three feet wide; and, when taken from 
the loom, is roUed into the size of a com¬ 
mon roll of wire, and is convenient for use. 
It may be fastened to posts with small 
staples, and without any vei-y hard strain¬ 
ing. Posts probably might be 1.5 or 20 
feet apart. In using Avire for fence in the 
common Avay it is indispensable to strain it 
to its utmost streng-th, to prevent small ani¬ 
mals passing through. This makes it very 
liable to be broken, and when broken diffi¬ 
cult to repair. But let the Avircs be all com¬ 
bined, as in a sieve, and they are not easily 
broken or passed through by any animal.— 
Let the thing be fairly tested, and proved by 
experiment to be the thing for fence, and 
some “ Avire Avorkers ” Avill be found Avho 
Avill supply the market Avith the article ready 
for use, and at a cost probably less than is 
noAv paid for the bare Avire. 
But I Avill forbeai’ comments. If there 
is any thing Avorthy of notice in my plan, 
I trust you Avill be free to approve or reject. 
Yours truly, s. s. 
FENCES.-A SUGGESTION. 
There is no department of farming so 
necessary, yet so neglected, as that of fences. 
Farmers appear to think that they cannot 
make durable fences unless they have eith¬ 
er cedar or oak for stakes. This evil may 
be remedied by adopting the folloAving 
method, Avhich has been thoroughly tried in 
this vicinity. Where you have nothing but 
black ash or other non-enduring timber for 
rails, stakes and caps, use tAvo caps instead 
of one—that is, one at the top, and one at 
or near the bottom. The one at the bot¬ 
tom is to hold the stake Avhen that part of 
it in the ground is rotted off', Avhich Avill be 
in about six months, or a year at the long¬ 
est Thus you see the fence is steadied by 
the stake in the o-round lonu; enouo-h for it 
to settle; and Avhen the stake is rotted oft' 
the bottom cap is the main stay. 
A fence Avell built after this style, Avill 
stand, Avith a v^ry little attention (unless it 
is in a very bleak place,) for at leiist ten 
years. I recommend annealed Avire for 
caps—size about No. 8. I have some on 
my place that has been in use about five 
years, and it appears perfectly good as yet 
and does not cost a half cent each. 
Macedon, Co,, Feb,, 1850. g. \v. m. 
NUMBER'9. ; 
( 
-—- I 
BREAKING YOUNG STEERS.-OXEN, ; 
This is the right period to commence j 
breaking young steers, which are coming ! 
two years old in the spring. When broke 
thus early, and in a proper manner, they 
make incomparably better working oxen.— 
They are never refractory, sullen, or unman- . 
ageable—they become accustomed to one 
another, and the yoke is second nature to 
them—they are more tractable, and are 
Avorked Avith le^s noise and bluster. 
There is great importance attached to 
the habit, that they may be easily accustom¬ 
ed to in walking fast, and that habit is gain¬ 
ed by never overloading them while young, 
and thus learning them a fast gait. Of two 
yoke equally valuable, one fast walkers and 
the other sIoav, one Avill, for Avork, be AA'orth 
one half more than the other. In fact it is 
one of the most important features to at¬ 
tend to, till they have got their full strength. 
Some persons effect this by driving a span 
of horses ahead of them, to draw the load, 
and them too, if they do not come up to the 
required pace. 
Ahvays use good long yokes for farm 
purposes, and the steel’s Avill neA'er contract 
the habit of crowding or hauling, which 
fault often renders them almost AN'orthless. 
The use of oxen is fast going out of fash¬ 
ion in the Avestern counties, an error we are 
sorry to see, as there is no more useful and 
economical animal on the farm. The Ox- 
Cart is a thing that Avas, and there is dan¬ 
ger that the patient, willing ox, as a farm 
servant, is a doomed animal. 
BERKSHIRE PIGS. 
What has become of all the Berkshires 
with Avhich the country abounded a few 
years ago ? We have not seen a real, gen¬ 
uine Berkshire in many a day — the feAV 
Avhich make any pretension to the name, 
being at least but mongrels, and unworthy 
to claim any relation to the noble race which 
a feAV years ago were so much admired by 
all lovers of good poi’k. We ask. again, 
Avhat has become of the genuine Berkshires ? 
—and Ave pause for a reply,.trusting that 
some of our readers may be able to 
ansAver a question so important to the farmer. 
We are not among those who belie a’g 
that the Berkshires are the only breed 
Avorthy of cultivation; but Ave haA'e been 
accustomed to consider them a a erj" good 
specimen of the SAvinish family, and Avorthy 
of being kept in their purity, if for no other 
purpose than to cross Avith other breeds.— 
There may be better breeds of swine than 
the Berkshire, but Ave are strongly inclined 
to the opinion that there has not been, in 
the last three yearn, so good an exhibition 
in this department, at any of our Cattle 
ShoAvs, County or State, as Ave were accus¬ 
tomed to see Avhen the Berkshires were in 
their glory. 
We doubt whether any of the breeds have 
been retained in their purity, in very' great 
numbers, in this part of the country. The 
general opinion among farmers seems to 
have been, that a mixture of different breeds 
is best suited to their Avants. This view 
may be correct, but it Avould nevertheless 
seem necessaiy to presen’e in their purity 
the animals used for breeding. They may 
then be crossed to suit the interest or the 
fancy of the breeder. c. 
Cuban Ploav.— The plow used in Cuba 
is of the rudest form:—A pointed piece of 
iron, Avedge-shaped, attached to a wooden 
tongue, and draAvn by oxen, without yokes. 
The beasts bear the Aveight of their burden 
upon tlieir heads, (not necks,) and pull by 
their foreheads, the rope being tightly drawn 
around the horns. The plow turns no fur¬ 
row, but merely roots up the ground. 
