VOLUME I. }■ 
ROCHESTER, N. Y.-THURSHAY, APRIL 25, 185C. 
NUMBER 17. 
MOORE'S RURAL NEW-YORKER, 
PUBLISHED WEEKLT. 
Offioe in Buma’ Block, comer of Buf&lo and State 
Btreete, (entrance on State,) Rochester. 
CONDUCTED BY D. D, T. MOOBE, 
{Late Publisher arul Associate Editor Gen. Pamier.) 
L. B. LANGWORTHY, Associate Editor. 
Corresponding Editors: 
ELON COMSTOCK, (former Ed. Centra! N. Y. 
Parmer,) of Oneida County. 
T. C. PETERS, (Editor of the Wool Grower,) 
of Genoeee County. 
Educational Department by L. WETHERELL. 
(O’ For Terms, &c., see la.st page. JIB 
PROGRESS AND IMPROVEMENT. 
AGRICULTURAL DISCUSSION. 
[Reported for the Rural New-Yorker.] 
The Central Fanners’ Club met at their 
Agricultural Rooms, on the 16th of March, 
1850, pursuant to adjournment, when the 
meeting was called to order. Col. G. in 
the chiur. 
M. O’D. said he was but a young farmer, 
and would ask for information if the use of 
Guano, or Poudrette, were found of suffi¬ 
cient value to warrimt their use on the com¬ 
mon crops of the farm; and also which of 
the two was esteemed the greatest fertilizer. 
Dr. M. said the use of Guano did not pre¬ 
vail to any great extent in this country; in 
fact its expense forbids its application to any 
kind of culture, except fancy farming and 
gardening. In Maiyland it had been used 
with great advantage, on some of the worn 
out and prostrated tobacco lands; and tl. i 
Dr. here took occasion to say, that tobacco 
in any shape, and in any use, was fatal to 
every tiling it touched, except the Tobacco 
worm —it was the Bohan Upas of the coun¬ 
try—^rum and it were joint conspirators 
against health and existence. He said he 
spoke advisedly and professionally. 
On some perfectly sterile soils of the 
South, worn out by a constant and indjudi- 
cious system of cropping, the most extraor¬ 
dinary results had been realized, and par ¬ 
ticularly when applied to the wheat crop.— 
It was a short lived and very active manure 
and in most cases where he had seen it ap¬ 
plied, it was used too freely, and did not an¬ 
swer the expectations of its users. 
Guano is analytically composed of all the 
required elements for fertilization, except 
vegetable matter; with Poudrette he liad no 
acquaintance. 
The Chairman said that, from the con¬ 
stituents of Poudrette, as it should be pre¬ 
pared, it could hardly fml of containing val¬ 
uable food for plants, it being, or should be, 
mostly the excreta of human beings, dried 
down and deodorized by vegetable and car¬ 
bonaceous substances. He said that his ex¬ 
perience was not favorable to its use, as he 
once procured a barrel from what he sup¬ 
posed a reliable source in New York, and on 
examining and sifting it he found it com¬ 
posed of all the materials that would be 
found in street sweeping's—Lehigh coal, 
glass, grave], peach pits, bits of iron, but¬ 
tons, and every thing but money and food 
for plants; and in use it was entirely inert 
and valuless. It was a sham imposition. 
The Chairman said if there was nothing 
further offered the subject of the circulation 
of sap which had been continued, would be 
in order. 
Dr. M. said he was not present at the last 
evening’s discussion, but he observed by the 
minutes that it was suggested by one of the 
speakers, that there must be someotlier con¬ 
ductors of the sap than the longitudinal pores 
or sap vessels—that there was a circulation 
between the annual grains or by lateral 
ducts. Such I believe to be the fact, as it 
is impossible tliat the few veins or pores cut 
off in tapping, could contain the amoimt of¬ 
ten produced, and the following simple ex¬ 
periment confirms tliis thing. Bore a hole 
in the sugar maple, fit in a spout and note 
the quantity it runs in a given time. Then 
bore two others, one on each side of the 
first, at about an inch distance, on the same 
line horizontally, and the quantity produc¬ 
ed is but a trifle more in the same time, in¬ 
stead of three times as much, which would 
bo the consequence if only the straight con¬ 
tinuous sap vessels tliat were cut ofl' in the 
tapping were concerned. He should now 
give way for Dr. R. to explain his views, as 
he had proposed at the last meeting. 
Dr. R. said the more he (igitated in his 
own mind the subject of the cause of the 
ascension of sap, the less confidence he had 
in any of the proposed theories. It w<is a 
subject he did not feel able to elucidate, or 
hardly sensibly to speculate upon. That a 
simple fluid should, contrary to the laws of 
gravitation, leave a lower to ascend to a high¬ 
er point, witliout any motive force, was con¬ 
trary to the established laws of nature; 
therefore tlie woody fibre being devoid of 
sensibility and vital action, there must be 
some cause obedient to those eternal laws to 
effect tliat motion. It must at once be evi¬ 
dent, that the cause must be entirely inde¬ 
pendent of the causes operating in tlie ani¬ 
mal economy, efiecting the circulation of the 
blood; although there was some analogy in 
the modus operandi of its action. 
Some persons have supposed that the 
valves in the sap vessels of the alburnum, 
hiiuk • the ‘;ap from passing only upwards 
and that the constant bending and swaying 
of the tree to and fro by the winds, short¬ 
ens and elongates the fibres of the wood, 
and pumps up tlie sap from valve to valve, 
until it is finally brought to Uie terminal 
buds. Others have ai'gued that capilliary 
attraction was the sole and adequate cause. 
In experimenting with fine glass tubes, it 
will be found that fluids rise above the level 
of the fountain to given heights, according 
to the calibre of the tube, and never vary 
from this rule, which ascending power is 
wholly incapable of rising a fluid to a height 
of more than 200 feet, the elevation of some 
of our forest trees. 
Another theory, and the one I think ap- 
proacliing nearest to the truth is, that the 
change of temperature from night, and the 
absence of the sun, to day and its increased 
heat, is the true explanation of the mystery. 
Each pore of the wood is a sealed duct, 
like the tube of the Barometer, with its open 
ends at the roots, and cold by contraction 
that has a tendency to condense the fibre 
and the valves hold the sap from descend¬ 
ing; when the warmth of spring, and the 
increasing power of the sun expands the 
woody fibre, creating a partial vacuum, the 
sap rises to restore the equilibrium, and so 
continues at every change of temperature, 
constantly supplying the increasing growth 
of leaves and wood, with the pabulum ne¬ 
cessary to its existence and growth. 
The doctor said he was aware that this 
view of the subject was not without its ob¬ 
jections and difficulties; but he felt confident 
there was no witchcraft nor mysterious 
JcnocJcings about the subject, and when fully 
established, would be found simple jmd in 
obedience to known laws. 
Mr. McD. wished to ask the doctor to ex¬ 
plain two or three points in his theory. 
The Chairman said the evening’s were 
getting short, and the hour for adjourning 
having an-ived, the subject must lay over. 
Mr. J. moved that the treasurer report the 
state of the funds of the Club at the next 
meeting. Adopted. 
Adjourned to the 23d of March, at the 
usual hour. 
The hand of the diligent maketh rich. 
FARMER’S DAIRY STEAMER, 
Among the improved implements 
and fixtures now considered neces¬ 
sary in a well conducted Dairy, is 
the Steamer. It is used for heating 
the milk, previous to putting in the 
rennet, and for other purposes An 
uniform temperature of the milk is 
necessary to the production of the 
largest amount of cheese, and in no 
way has this been so successfully 
accomplished as v/ith the Dairy 
Steamer. The heating of the large 
mas.s of milk to 85 or 90 degrees 
Fah., without scalding or oier-heating any 
portion of it, has led to the construction of 
various steamers for that puipose. The most 
perfect one with which we have met, so far 
as our limited knowledge extends, is manu¬ 
factured by Gordon Farmer, of Moliawk, 
Herkimer county, N. Y., of ivhich the ac¬ 
companying cut is a fair representation. 
This steamer consists of a cylindrical 
boiler of copper, so adjusted to a box stove 
that a portion of the cylinder makes the top 
of tlie stove. The. fire from the stove, by 
means of side flues, goes from the back pai't 
to the forward end, where it enters a flue in 
the lower part of the boiler, and passing- 
through the lower portion of the same, con¬ 
nects with tlie smoke pipe. The boiler is 
two and a half feet long, and will hold about 
twenty gallons of water; which, exposed to 
over one thousand inches h<’ating surface, is 
sufficient to generate aU the steam needed | 
for heating purposes in onr largest dairies. 
On the top of the boiler are a two-way 
cock and safety-valve, combined. From the 
cock, by means of lead pipe, steam is con¬ 
ducted into a vat of Avood partly filled with 
water, into which is placed a tin vat con¬ 
taining the milk. By this means all of the 
milk is heated to the required temperature, 
“BIRDS AND INSECTS.” 
Eds. New-Yorker: —Your Clyde cor¬ 
respondent, “ N. G.,” writes very feelingly 
upon the “implacable enemies hf man’s 
happiness” named above, and it is owing 
perhaps, to my limited experience—to my 
not having “been about thcv world a good 
deal”—that I cannot fully sympathize with 
his sufferings from these “ formidable an¬ 
noyances.” Mosquitoes have drawn bills at 
sight on my circulating medium occasional¬ 
ly, when I have ventured into their swampy 
haunts, but I took it as the homeopathic 
substitute for venesection;—and the crows 
have offered bad notes in exchange for my 
sprouting corn, but the coating of tar and 
ashes was not discount to their liking, so^ 
they never injured me materially. Robins, 
and other birds, have earned off my cher¬ 
ries— insects and rust have injured my grain 
—but there has always been considerable 
left uninjured, so I must acknowledge that 
my sufferings in this respect are not to be 
compared with “all the other troubles of 
life.” With “ frost, hail, drought, rain and 
winds,” I have reckoned them “inevitable 
results of the laws of nature, bowing to 
them in all humility, as concomitants of that 
complicated machine, the globe and its or¬ 
ganization,”—and so managed to bear all 
with a comfortable degree of patience. 
Though I may seem one of “ those who 
strain to make the poorer seem the better 
reason,” in the eyes of “N. G.,” I would 
not venture to arraign the wisdom of the 
Creator who feedeth the fowls of the air, i 
and suffers not a single sparrow to fall to 
the gTOund unnoticed—or to say that 
“ many things were created for a curse to | 
man;” but would rather believe that labor 
was ordmned as a blessing to man — and 
that where the difficulties which can be sub¬ 
dued by his hand prevail most abundantly, 
without danger of scalding or injury from j 
the kettle. It is also used to heat the curd i 
to the degree required before salting and I 
pressure. Another pipe, leading from the 
cock to a tub of water, heats it, not only for 
supplying the boiler when necessarj?-, but 
furnishes hot water at all times for all pro¬ 
poses as needed about tlie daii-y house.— 
The boiler is replenished with water from 
the tub, by means of a pipe leading from 
tlie bottom to the lower part of the boiler. 
The pipes are funiislied with the necessary 
stop-cocks for governing the steam and sup¬ 
ply of water. The boiler is constructed in 
the most neat manner, veiy' strong and du¬ 
rable, furnished with safety-valves and try- 
cocks, and in all respects arranged so as to 
be safe from explosions or danger from col¬ 
lapsing. 
The steamer is sold here at $30, includ¬ 
ing the usual ieiiguis of lead pipe. The 
price of vats vary according to size, and can 
be furnished here or made where needed. 
Taken as a whole it may be considered a 
most perfect dairy apparatus, and would be 
found useful in steaming food for hogs or 
cattle, and for various other purposes. 
H. C. W. 
Mohatok, N. Y., April, 1850. 
there menai-e most intelligent, and best sat¬ 
isfied with the wisdom which orders it, and 
far from wishing that two whole races of its 
I inhabitants “ were annihilated at one fell 
swoop” for their own especial gratification. 
Though it may seem but adding to the 
already large expenditure of “namhy parnby 
twaddle about birds and buttei’flies,” yet I 
cannot forbear to say that I have, in com¬ 
mon with a majority of the civilized world, 
found much pleasure in the observation of 
“ these useless inflictions” upon the comfort 
and patience of your correspondent. And, 
to say nothing of the many instances which 
■prove birds to be of great benefit to the ag- 
i-iculturist, I will venture to assert that were 
his wishes gratified, a blank would be left 
in creation, for which its increased products, 
if any there be, would come very far from 
proving an adequate compensation. The 
mere idea is painful to every person of re¬ 
fined tastes and sensibilities. 
Still, I am far from justifying the doctrine, 
that we are not to protect ourselves from 
the injuries which some species do unques¬ 
tionably inflict—far from saying, for instance, 
if a farmer sees a hawk carrying off his 
chickens, he is not to send tm officer of jus¬ 
tice, in the shape of cold lead, after him; or 
that the gardener who catches bugs, Yvorras, 
&c., preying upon his vines and cabbages, 
is not to bring into use that remarkable re¬ 
sult of civilization—the guillotine —or some 
equfilly summary mode of disposing of the 
offenders. But to an indiscriminate war¬ 
fare upon birds and insects, I emphatically 
object, for the reason that we are thereby 
inflicting an irreparable injury upon our¬ 
selves. N. c. 
Orleans County, April, 1850. 
Don’t give the boys the poorest tools, 
and then complain because they can’t keep 
up with men in planting, hoeing, &c. 
LATE SPRING. 
It b doubtless unnecessary for us to tell 
the readers of the Rural New-Yorker what 
every one knows as well as ourselves, but 
we cannot forbear remarking upon the back¬ 
wardness of the spring and its probable 
effects upon tlie interests of farmers. In 
Western New York, where the climate b 
milder and the winters shorter, we suppose 
that farmers can generally rely upon com¬ 
mencing active operations on tlie farm in 
tlie latter part of March, or at the latest as 
early as the first of April. In the central 
part of the State, Yvhere the writer resides, 
no reliance can be placed on commencing 
plowing until April—usually from the 1st 
to the 10 th of that month — except in the 
higher and colder districts, where it b fre¬ 
quently if not generally postponed until the 
last half of the month. We have been 
many years engaged in farming in the coun¬ 
ty of Oneida, and always a close observer 
of agricultural operations, and we are con¬ 
fident that, in the last 20 years, not more 
than one or two at most lias been as back¬ 
ward as the present. 
At the time of wi-iting, (April 15th,) the 
ground has been mastly bare in the milder 
regions for some two weeks, but the weatli- 
er has been cold, raw and uncomfortable, 
and the land not at all in condition for plow¬ 
ing. Indeed it has much of the time been 
frozen too hard for turning a furrow well, 
besides being too wet and cold for profita¬ 
ble tillage. On the highlanils, embracing a 
large range passing through the counties of 
Lewis and Herkimer, as ivell as considerable 
ranges in the counties further south, the 
ground is still deeply covered Avith snow and 
the sleighing very passable. At this time 
the sleighing on the Rome and Turin 
road is good for ten miles over the high¬ 
lands, and the snow ct%npletely covers the 
earth to the depth of one to two feet. 
The effect of this late spring upon farm 
labor, upon the “ spring’s work,” must be 
very sensibly felt. The labor of a month 
or six weeks, usually devoted to the prepar¬ 
ation of ground and putting in the seed, 
must this year be crowded into half the 
usual space. The preparation of the land 
must be hasty, and too often imperfect; 
teams must be overworked, and it b to be 
feared that, in too many instances, the crop 
will be put in too late for a rcjxsonable hope 
of a bountiful return at harvest W’^ere we 
to volunteer a word of advice at such a time 
it would be to attempt not too much work. 
If the se.ison is too short for accomplisliing 
all you desire or had comtemplated, rather 
than undertake more than you can accom¬ 
plish well, resolve to do well what you un¬ 
dertake. It is better to cultivate one acre 
well than two imperfectly, and it may be 
sound discretion to keep this rule constant¬ 
ly in mind the present spring. 
Fortunately for the farmers of this sec¬ 
tion, and Ave believe of the whole county, 
this cold and backAvard spring has not, like 
some of its predecessors, found the barns 
destitute of fodder, or the granaries poorly 
supplied. There has been generally a good 
supply of fodder in all this region. The 
dry Aveather of last season diminished the 
hay crop, but the stock Avas reduced in a 
corresponding ratio, so that most farmers 
have gone through the winter very well.— 
I The backAvardness of the spring will, how¬ 
ever, probably cause the stock of hay to be 
so nearly consumed that very little will be 
kept over the summer. c. 
Dairy Cows.—The excellency of admry 
cow b estimated by the quantity and qual¬ 
ity of her milk. The grand desideratum 
b to dbeover a breed alike useful to the 
grazier, dairyman, and small farmer. 
