VOLUME I. 1- 
ROCHESTER, N. Y.-THURSDAY, MARCH 21, 185 0 
MOOKE’S RURAL NEW-YORKER, 
PUBLISHED WEEKLY. 
Office in Bums’ Block, comer of Buflalo and State 
streets, (entrance on State,) Rochester. 
spective languages Turkish Corn, and the 
other Indian Corn—Indian Wheat, or 
wheat from the Indies. 
Columbus first discovered the West India 
Islands, and it was a considerable time af- 
tenvai’ds that the continent was known and 
called America, after Americus Vespucius. 
All the early writers speak of the New 
World as the Indies. The kings of Spain 
took the title of “ King of Spain and the 
Indies.” Shakspeare and his cotempora¬ 
ries speak of it as the Indies, and lienee the 
w'ord Indian Com. 
Columbus probably carried home speci¬ 
mens of rare productions, and corn would 
naturally be one. It might have been car¬ 
ried to the Turkish dominions, and actually 
been dispersed from that quarter by 
CLOVER AS A FERTILIZER 
It is a fixed fact—an unchangeable prin¬ 
ciple—that, after wheat or other cereal 
grains, land cannot be left naked, and run 
over with clover or grasses, without a great 
loss, and entailing sterility in very short pe¬ 
riods ; and as certain a fact that the poorest 
and most barren soils may be made prolific, 
with a proper feeding of green crops plow’- 
ed in deeply, and a judicious and constant 
rotation. 
No wise fanner ever fails to seed with 
wheat You need look no further into a 
man’s history and habits, to learn his quali¬ 
fications as a fiinner, than to see a naked 
Yvheat stubble; the mysterious knockings 
could not be more oracular. There is no 
such thing known among farmers. 
If only the fertilizing of th^ soil is the ob¬ 
ject, and that on over Yvorked or naturally 
poor land, sow' only clover, and do not stint 
it at that Never talk of less than 10 pounds 
to the acre; and, at the proper time, one 
bushel of plaster. 
Where the soil is in fair tilth, and intend¬ 
ed to perform a long rotation, to be mown 
or plastered two or three yeai*s, soyv timothy 
with your clover, (if it was not done in the 
fall at the seeding, which is for preferable,) 
say eight quarts of timothy and eight pounds 
of clover to the acre. This looks like a 
large dose, but remember that timothy 
spreads only by suckei-s as the Yvheat plant 
docs, and clover not at all; and when the 
liability of a dry spring or late frosts to in¬ 
jure and tliin the* young plants, and the an¬ 
nual winter killing, it is not a whit too much. 
It costs only about one dollar per acre to 
form a compact, lasting and fertilizing sur- 
lace—yielding an abundance of grass, and, 
when turned under, a valuable manure for 
the succeeding crop. 
Be siu-e and soyv, wdiether there is snow 
or not, before the black, frosts are past.— 
Snow is of no other benefit to the success of 
the sowdng, than to direct the eveness of the 
lands. 
RAIL FENCES.-ANOTHER STIQOE3Tr.^N. 
Mr. Moore: —In a late number of the 
Rural New-Yorker I observed an article 
relative to making durable fences, in the ab¬ 
sence of lasting timber for stakes. The 
suggestion was perhaps a good one—but I 
think I can offer a plan which Is much bet¬ 
ter, as follows: 
For stakes take any timber which can be 
split six feet long; and instead of two caps, 
as suggested by G. W. M., take only one, 
somewhat longer than Yvhen used in the 
common Yvay. Fii-st make the fence four 
rails high; then drive the stakes into the 
ground, sufficient to keep the fence to its 
place while setting, and the stakes while lay¬ 
ing the fence. The stakes should be pla¬ 
ced in such a manner that the caps will be 
lengthways (instead of crosstvays) with the 
fence, as indicated in the accompanying di¬ 
agram. The black dots represent the stakes, 
which shoidd be close in the corners. The 
position of the cap is such as to bind the 
corners and give the fence great strength. 
CONDUCTED BY D. D. T. MOORE. 
{Late Publisher and Associate Editor Gen. Farmer.) 
L. B. LANGWORTHY, Associate Editor. 
Corresponding Editors: 
ELON COMSTOCK, (former Ed. Central N. Y. 
Farmer,} of Oneida County. 
T. C. PF.TER.S, (Editor of the Wool Grower,) 
of Genesee County. 
Educational Department by L. WEl'HERELL. 
visited by navigators several years previous, 
wdio might have introduced it, yet it was 
hardly probable that a people so little ad¬ 
dicted to cultivating the earth, should have 
seized that single plant, and disseminated it 
so generdly, in so short a period, Yvhile to 
this day no other European vegetable had 
made any progi-ess. His opinion was de¬ 
cidedly that it Yvas of American origin. 
Mr. J. smd it was a subject he was not 
veiy conversant with. He had read some 
disquisitions on the subject, and he found 
there Yvas conflicting opinions entertained 
among those who had most examined it.— 
He for one Yvas unwilling to believe that a 
good and beneiicent Creator should have re¬ 
stricted the production of so great a bless¬ 
ing to the most important part of the crea¬ 
tures of His hand, for more than .5,000 years 
of his sojourn on the earth—and indeed ave 
j have indisputable record.s of corn being one 
i of the principal articles of food, in the earli¬ 
est times, and the latest tran.slations and 
corrections of the holy writings Yvere made 
by the most pious and learned men of the day, 
long after the gram Yvas known in Eiirope. 
Tlie ChairmaH here observed, that the 
Yvoi'd com Yvas a generic term, used in Eng¬ 
land and oY'or all Europe, to designate all 
breadstuff's, fus the “ Corn laYv.s,” <• Corn Ex¬ 
change,” &c.; and as ice sometimes use it in 
the same sense, in speaking of the family 
supply of h’ead corn, and so our English 
translators of the Bible, rendered the Greek 
term for breadstuffs, as the most learned 
English translators Yvould do at this day, 
Yvhich Yvould not indicate to Europeans that 
they meant Indian Cora. 
He said there Yvas in this countiy* noYv, 
and he had grown it, a variety called Egyp¬ 
tian corn, producing kernels on the ends of 
the tassels, like broom corn, only the gTains 
were naked—a peculiarity, he had some¬ 
times observed on our ordinary corn, partic¬ 
ularly on suckers, so that in his opinion, 
that word in the holy Yvritings did not go to 
prove that the ancients Yvere acijuainted 
Yvith our Indian Corn. 
Mr. W. observed tliat lie thought, the 
witholding the discovery of corn from man 
imtil the discovery of America, could hardly 
be held us proof against its being native to 
this country, as the potato is most undoubt¬ 
edly indigenous to the Ncyv World, and Yvas 
of still later discovery and introduction. It 
Yvas of equal, or even greater importance 
than corn for the subsistence of mankind. 
Dr. M. said there was no good proof in the 
writings of the ancients, that had come doYvn 
to us, that the Zea Maize, (the botanical 
term for Indian Corn,) Yvas knoYvn to them. 
Skilled as they Yvere in sculpture and the 
ornamental arts, and fond of all kinds of al¬ 
legorical emblems, on all their costly Yvorks, 
yet neither the plant nor the ear appears on 
any of the standing monuments of antiquity, 
or the discovered ruins of historical sculp¬ 
ture ; nor have the discoveries in Pompeii or 
Herculoeneum, the cities overYvhelmed by the 
eraptions of Vesuvius furnished any eYoden- 
ces, although on their exhumation every thing 
in the temples, houses and shops Yvpre found 
precisely as they Yvere left 2,000 years ago. 
Considerable reliance has been placed up¬ 
on the names by Yvhich com is knoYvn in 
Europe, to support the opinion held by some, 
tliat it is of eastern origin. About one half 
of the Christian nations call it in tlieir rc- 
(LF For Terms, &c., see last page. ^ 
PROGRESS AND IMPROVEMENT, 
•AGRICULTURAL DISCUSSION. 
SUBJECT — ORIGIN OF INDIAN CORN. 
[Reported for the Rural New-Yorker.} 
Tuk Central Farmers’ Club met at their 
Agricultural Rooms, on the 23d of Febru¬ 
ary, 1850, and the meeting Yvas duly called 
to order. Col. G. in the chair. 
After the address on the subject of Far¬ 
mers’ Clubs, (a copy of Yvhich the speak¬ 
er will furnish for publication,) Mr. W. said 
he had the seeds of Peaches, Dates, and 
Figs, that were brought by one of Captain 
Lynch’s party, from the Holy Land on their 
visit to the Dead Sea, which, if planted be¬ 
fore the frosts were past, would yet germin¬ 
ate, and might produce something new and 
rare in this country. Also, some corn, pro¬ 
cured from the Indians on Yuba River in 
California, by Mr. J. Jones of this county. 
Mr. McD. said he did not think it desira¬ 
ble, that eveiy thing that was said on all 
subjects^ at these meetings, should be re¬ 
ported for publication; at any rate, he hoped 
the matter for the papei-s Yvould undergo 
the scrutiny of the censors. 
The Chairman said such was the rules, 
and such their duty, and all matter thought 
of sufficient interest for the press, must take 
that course. He then said the subject for 
discussion this evening, Yvas in order, viz; 
The inquiry whether Indian Corn was In¬ 
digenous to this country, or of foreign origin. 
Mr. C. said, that his opinion had always 
been in favor of its being a native of this 
country, or perhaps of’feome region further 
south—Mexico or even Chili, or Peru. He 
had no doubt but Yvhat it Yvas the only 
breadstuff knoYvn to the Indians, for thou¬ 
sands of yeai-s, except to those living in the 
neighborhood of the great Lakes, where 
they could procure the Yvild Rice. He also 
said that the hills of their corn fields YY'ere 
to be found, where now grow the heaviest 
and most dense forests, and Yvere found in 
many locations, in the eastern and western 
States, at their first settlement 
He related the following fact;—Some 20 
years ago, neai- the shore of Lake Ontario, 
to the east of Irondequoit Bay, a large 
hickory ti'ee Yvas turned up by the roots, and 
brought up tYvo or more feet of the earth, 
—that very near the centre of the tree, Yvas 
what had been several bushels of shelled 
com; almost every kernel yvjis entire, but 
black and rotten, like the matter of .SYvmnps; 
in fact it looked as though it had been char¬ 
red. The tree Yvas boxed in two or three 
inches, and the grains counted, which made 
the tree 283 years old. The supposition 
was of tliose who examined 'it, either that a 
Yvig-wam was burned over Yvhere it was 
stored, or that it had been buried and for¬ 
gotten, or the OYvners driven off, and it had 
decayed and turned to muck, and the tree 
grown over it in the course of time. There 
was also some flint stones, of the kind they 
make their arrows; and bones, apparently 
of the deer kind. He had no doubt that 
this collection of com, dated back a great 
many years before the discovery of Ameri¬ 
ca; at least to its being inhabited by the 
whites, as the tree could hardly have sprung 
com¬ 
mercial intercourse to other nation.s, and the 
name may have been accidentally given by 
the pcasantiy, Yvithout knowing or inquiring 
its origin. The conquerors of Mexico found 
it gi-OYving in that countiy, and their princi¬ 
pal and in fact only material for bi'oad. At 
the period of the settlement of Canada by 
the French, Ncyv York by the Dutch, and 
Virginia by the English, all the adjacent 
tribes cultivated Indian Corn. 
The history of its origin and gift to the 
Indian.s, by the Great Spirit, constitutes the 
theme of many of their traditions and sto¬ 
ries, and various feasts and sacrifices depend 
upon the different periods of its gTovi^th and 
ripening. It can hardly be agreed, with 
any reliance upon probability, that it could 
haY'o been so generally di.sseminaf-rJ.s r nave 
come into use and been interYvoven Yvith 
their religion and traditions, if ithadbtH Tvfii-st 
introduced by the discoverers ofthe contir.ent. 
The Chairman said his vieYvs coincided 
Yvith those of the hist speaker, but it Yvas 
due to fair discussion to say, that the facts 
brought forYvard, and the subject in gene¬ 
ral, had been very keenly contested by va¬ 
rious Yvriters. It has been asserted, by a 
very reliable traveler, that grains of com 
had been discovered in some of the mum¬ 
my excavations of Egypt, Yvhich other Yvrit¬ 
ers have endeavored to shoYV Yvas a species 
of hlillet, or Egyptian Corn before spoken of. 
There are no good reasons, or authOritY’', 
for asserting that it was even knoYvn to the 
ancient or even European nations, either by 
their Yvritten or sculptured remains—Yvhile, 
in the Mexican Temples, it Yvas found in 
bos reliefs, represented in {ill stages of its 
growth, richly ornamented Yvith silver and 
gold arabesques and flowers. 
It Yvas probably an original production of 
the tropical or some southern climate, as it 
is a tender plant, requiring a good deal of 
heat to perfect its production. It dwarfs, 
dwindles, and looses its productiveness as 
it is brought to the north, until, in certain 
latitudes, the period of summer heiit is not 
of sufficient duration {ind intensity to ripen 
it at all. Such is the climate of Great Bri¬ 
tain and a part of France. 
It has been found buried Yvith the mum¬ 
mies of the Incas of Peru, Yvhich have been 
exhibited in this countiy—and one of their 
oldest traditions relates to one who taught 
them how to plant and cultivate it 
In short, every fact and feature of the in- 
quiiy shows that it is an indigenous plant of 
the NeYV World, which did not come into 
notice or use in the Old World, till Yvithin 
a little more than 100 years; and it cannot 
but be thought very singiUiU', if such an im¬ 
portant production was known to the an¬ 
cients, that it should luive been forgotten 
and lost, and even the very fact of its exis¬ 
tence be involved in the diirkest obscurity. 
The hour for adjournment having passed, 
the Chaimian announced tlie subject for the 
next evening’s discussion to he—The cause 
of the ascension and circidation of sap in 
the vegetable system. 
can De aonc oy springing the top raus m 
betYveen ihe stakes. ’Hie bottom rails 
should bo of g(x»d size, in order to keep 
the bottom of the stakes to their places 
after the portion in the ground is rotted off 
A tence made in the above manner is 
very strong. It cannot be pushed over, un¬ 
less the caps split or the stakes break, except 
it goes over bodily. Indeed I have seen a 
strong man put his shoulder to the comer, 
and exert his strength to the utmost, with¬ 
out being able to push it over. The plan I, 
think is a good one, especially where dura¬ 
ble timber, in the ground, (such iis cedar or 
oak) cannot be obtained. In fact it makes 
the strongest staked and clipped fence that 
can be made. Yours, &c. w. h, ir. 
Wheatland, N. Y., March, 1850. 
FLAN OF OPERATIONS. 
Ed. Neyv-Yorker;— To conduct Yvith 
propriety and advantage the business of the 
farm requires system, and in some measure 
a rotation of crops. Every fanner believes 
in a kind of rotation in the culth’ation of his 
fields; but in most cases this is Yvithout sys¬ 
tem, and subject to continual inteiTuptions. 
This would all be avoided by a little fore¬ 
thought, and Yvriting out a plan, designating 
the manner in Yvhich each field is to be cul¬ 
tivated the coming season, Yvhat crop it is to 
beai‘, &c. 
Every farmer should have a map of his 
farm, and every field should be numbered 
and designated by its number. Thus, in¬ 
stead of saying the field north of the wheat, 
Yvhere yy'C had corn last year, say field No. 
4. At yoiu- leisiu'e during the long winter 
evening's, begin with lot No. 1; and Yvrite 
doYvn hoYV it should be managed, what crop 
it should bear and hoYv cultivated. For the 
sake of being undei-stood I will give you an 
example: 
Lot No. 1 is in grass; should be plaster¬ 
ed, and a heavy growth of grass should be 
turned under Yvith one ploYving, imd soYvn to 
Yvheat N o. 2 is in corn stubble—should be 
sown to barley. No. 3 Is meadow—the 
fence needs repairing on north side. No. 4 is 
sheep pasture—to be summer fallowed. 
If fiirmers Yvere to pursue some such plan, 
Yve should not so often heai* them say they 
hiive no Yvhere to plant or sow oats or peas 
this year. They Yvould not as often be 
obliged to do that Yvhich they condemn— 
as sowing wheat after wheat, or planting 
com upon an exhausted field Yvithout ma¬ 
nure. Yours, <fec., M. A. 
E. B., Marclt, 1850. 
KINDNESS TO ANIMALS. 
Uncle Bill, in one of his Barn Yard ( 
Lectures, and he is an old coon at that, says: f 
“ Keep up, my boys, such a social and friend- ( 
ly intercoui-se with the tenants of your sta- f 
hies, and b{irn yard, and over your pig styes, ( 
that they may be as Rime iis kittens, and ; 
prick up their ears and wag their tails when- ' 
ever y<;u .-ipproach them. 
Animcils Yvill not thrive even on apple pie, " 
if they must eat their alloYvance with fear ' 
and trembling, expecting every moment to ' 
have a horn knocked offj or a pitchfork thrust ' 
into their sides by the cross keeper—who, I i 
am clear to say, is sometimes more of a brute ] 
than those that have the misfortune to be ^ 
under liim. Cattle feel kindness and are ^ 
sensible of gentle treatment, as quick as 
humans. Animals knoYv a kind master quick 
enough; the well tre{ited cow or young heif- i 
er Yvill rub her face against you, and the ^ 
horse lay his head over your shoulder. It ^ 
is so in some families; the children are kind, *> 
Yvell behaved, or loving to their guardians '( 
—Yvhile others, Yvhen they see the parent / 
lift his hand to scratch liis ear, dodge three j 
or four !it a time, expecting a blow or box \ 
of the eai'. Some men can’t come within ; 
a squirrel’s jump of their own animals.— u 
Kind treatment renders them easy to man- Y. 
age or to treat in case of sickness, or acci- ) 
dents; Yvhen by bad usage they are render- \ 
ed as wild as deers, and as cross and sav- / 
age as catamounts.” ^ 
