i 
l:38 
MOORE’S RURAL NEW-YORKER: AN AGRICULTURAL AND FAMILY JOURNAL. 
INSECTS AND BIEDS. 
) ; 
“ Who gives its lustre to an Insect’s wing, 
And wheels His Throne upon the rolling worlds.” 
“ Ten thousand warblers cheer the day, and one 
The live-long night; nor these alone, whose notes 
Nice-fingered art must emulate in vain. 
But cawing rooks and kites that swim sublime 
In still repeated circles, screaming loud, 
The jay, the pie and e’en the boding owl. 
That hails the ri.sing moon, Jxave charms for me.” 
■■ Superior as we are, they yet depend 
Not more on human—than w-e on them.” 
“ And God made the beast of the earth 
after his kind and cattle after their kind, and 
every thing that creepeth upon the earth 
after his kind: and God saw that it was 
good.” “N. G.,” a correspondent of the 
New-Yorker, nevertheless, asks emphati¬ 
cally in relation to the creation of birds and 
insects, “cm hono”? That is to say, To 
what or for whose good? Let the lan¬ 
guage of the Creator answer as above. 
“ N. G.” however, before he puts his con¬ 
cluding “ evi hono” uses the following lan¬ 
guage, to wit: “ I am clear in my mind, that 
both races are implacable enemies of man’s 
happiness; and if they were annihilated at 
one fell swoop, it would conduce to liis wel¬ 
fare.” So thought not the old English poet 
who gave utterance to the following couplet: 
•‘From Nature’s chain whatever link you strike. 
Tenth or ten thousandth, breakes the chain alike.” 
“ N. G.” does not hesitate to strike from 
“Nature’s chain” the 6,000 species of birds 
and the 200,000 species of insects, i. e. he 
says their “ annihilation would conduce to 
man’s welfare.” Why this annihilation of 
birds and insects by your correspondent “N. 
G.”? Let him answer: “ I am but a young 
farmer, says he, yet I have been about the 
world a good deal, and I am free to say that 
in my travels and in my present vocation, I 
have sulfered more from bird and insect 
than from all the other troubles of my life.” 
Poor man! lie says that “ he can bow in 
humility to frost, hail, drought, rain and wind 
as concomitants of the globe”—but says 
that “ the annoyance and positive injury, of 
the feathered race, and the insect tribe, is 
more than he can bear.” He does not, 
however, make it clear to the reader wheth¬ 
er the insects and the birds troubled him 
when travelling, or whether the former 
“ tribe” attacked him then, and the latter 
“race” in his “present vocation.” It 
very common for persons who “ have been 
about the world a good deal,” to complain 
of the annoyance of certain species of in¬ 
sects which it might be deemed indelicate 
to mention, yet few travelers whose inju¬ 
ries fmd sufferings may have been much 
more than tolerable, from this annoyance, 
would concur in the extermination of the 
entire “ insect tribe.” 
One word as to the birds. We shall try 
to demonstrate that “ N. G.,” in his “pres 
ent vocation,” which he says is that of a 
“young farmer,” is much indebted to the 
birds as his co-laborers in his present occu 
pation. Wilson, the celebrated onithologist 
makes the computation that each red-wing 
ed black-bird devours on an average fifty 
grubs a day; so that a single pair in four 
months will consume more than 12,000 
grubs. Allowing that these birds do, with 
the crow and others in the greedy and dili¬ 
gent search for these grubs and other worms 
and insects destroy a little corn—-is it not 
clearly shown that they do good service, 
that they render the farmer aid that far out¬ 
weighs the evil they are charged with? 
“Every cultivator,” says Dr. Peabody in 
his State ll(3port on the birds of Massachu¬ 
setts, “for his own sake, as well as the pub¬ 
lic good, should endeavor to spread right 
Aaews on this subject, and to show that the 
Avanton extermination of birds, is tlirowing 
difficulties in the way of horticulture and 
farming, which no industry, science or skill 
can overcome.” x. y. z. 
Seneca County, April, 1850. 
Insect Life.— Prof. Agassiz says, more 
than a lifetime would be necessary to enu¬ 
merate the various species of insects, and 
describe their appearance. Meiger, a Ger¬ 
man, collected and^escribed 6000 species 
of flies, which he collected in a district ten 
miles in circumference. There have been 
collected in Europe 27,000 species of in¬ 
sects preying on wheat. In Berlin, two pro¬ 
fessors are engaged in collecting, observing 
and describing insects and their habits, and 
already they have published five large vol¬ 
umes upon the insects which attack forest 
trees. ^ __ 
American Wool.— Of a large number of 
samples of the finest wool of different coun- 
b"- Peter A. Brown, Esq., of 
I’hiiadelphia, by a micrometer distinctly 
marking the five thousandtii part of an inch, 
including specimens of the famous Saxony 
and Silesian fleeces, it Avas found that the 
finest was from a Merino ewe, bred by Col. 
H. S. llandall, of Cortlajid Village, New 
York.— Jour. Com. 
LETTEK FKOM A YANKEE FARMER, 
MAKING AND SAVING MANURE, d:C. 
Messrs. Editors : — It is not often that I 
scribble for the public prints, yet I am well 
aware that an interchange of ideas, opinions 
and experience among farmers tends much 
to promote the general agricultural inter¬ 
ests. Therefore I have thought proper to 
relate a little of my experience in farming, 
and you can insert or withhold at pleasure. 
About thirty years since, I commenced 
operatioiS on a very small tract of rough 
land, such as is usually found in Ncav Eng¬ 
land. My great and principal object was to 
increase my number of acres, and so con¬ 
tinued until some seven years ago, wffien I 
waked u]) to the fact that I was in possess- 
if»n of considerable old, worn out and ex- 
liausted land, which would barely yield a 
support for a small family; and I concluded 
that I was “ barking up the wrong tree,” 
(as sportsmen say,)—so 1 called oft the 
hounds and gave up that drive. 
Well, I am one of those beings that was 
born to always be making an effort, Avheth- 
er I succeed or not, so 1 changed my pur¬ 
pose, and since that time my first and prin¬ 
cipal object has been to make, save and 
properly apply all the manure that I could, 
in which I have been much assisted by pe¬ 
rusing the several agricultural papers. The 
system which I have pursued has been to 
fold my sheep during the summer, on the 
field intended to be soAvn Avith rye in the 
fall — and always to winter them on the field 
Avhich I intended to plant with corn the fol¬ 
lowing summer. Also, to make all the ma¬ 
nure I could in the barn-yard in winter, and 
the cow and hog pens during the summer; 
and the result has been that many of my 
fields have doubled, and some of them quad¬ 
rupled, in their productions. 
Muck I had never tried, until last fall, 
when I went into a bog sw^amp, of. which I 
have about one acre. I found that it con¬ 
sisted of large bogs, from one to two feet 
apart, and between them mellow black dirt 
to the depth of some twenty inches—and 
beneath that coarse gravel. The mellow 
black dirt I carted into my barn-yard, where 
iny cattle have been wintered. The large 
bogs I carted into the field which I intend 
to plant with corn the ensuing summer; and 
with them built a house, covered Avith poles 
and straw, in which my sheep have been 
protected from the storms of winter. Be¬ 
fore planting I intend to take the house 
down, burn in small heaps, and spread the 
ashes. If any of your readers know of a 
better way to dispose of those lumps, they 
will please communicate the modus operan- 
di through the columns of the New-York¬ 
er— and perhaps, in return, I can answer 
some equally important question. Let us 
“ teach one another.” o. c. t. 
Connecticut, March, 1850. 
SUMMER SQUASH, OR CYMLING, FOR STOCK. 
FLAX-METHOD OF CULTIVATION.* 
VVm. Newcomb, Pittstown, Renssealear County. 
We are not aware that this article has 
been raised'as a field crop, yet we think it 
may be introduced with decided advantage, 
for such as require additional food for stock, 
during the summer months. There are 
two varieties of vines, the bush and the run- 
neis; the former may be planted nearer 
than the latter. Both are prolific bearers, 
where the choicest kinds are selected, and 
the soil, manure, and cultivation are judi¬ 
ciously chosen. They are picked while still 
green, and given to the stock, either raw, 
steamed, or boiled. In consequence of this 
early harvesting, the vines will continue to 
floAver and bear abundantly, through the 
warm season. 
The soil should be similar to that for 
pumpkins, being a light sandy or alluvial 
loam, well pulverized and very fertile. In 
addition to a good soil, the plant pays abun¬ 
dantly for heavy manuring. For this pur¬ 
pose scarcely anything comes amiss. We 
have found the droppings from the poultry 
yard one of the most efficient manures, 
Avhen mixed with ashes, and immediately 
buried within and around the hill. Where 
this is not attainable, guano may be used in 
connection with other manures. There is no 
danger of applying too much compost, pro¬ 
vided the vines can be irrigated at pleasure, 
if the season require it In the absence of 
the requisite moisture, an excess of manure 
would be likely to burn the vines. 
May we ask that some of our readers, 
having milch cows or swine, to feed this sum¬ 
mer, will plant a half acre or more, under 
favorable circumstances, and communicate 
the results of cost and manner of cultivating, 
the yield, and its value for stock. — Ameri¬ 
can Agriculturist. 
Existence is only really valuable while 
it is necessary to some one dear to us. The 
moment we become aware that our death 
would leave no aching void in a human 
heart, the charm of life is gone, 
The importance of this crop to the far-, 
mer has but just begun to be appreciated, 
and as it has a few peculiarities in its cul¬ 
ture, I shall attempt to give the results of 
my experience for the last sixteen years.— 
I have been extensively engaged in the 
raising and managing of flax, and have 
draAvn the folloAving conclu.sions: First, the 
soil best adapted to its culture is a rich 
loam; but it Avill succeed well on almost 
any soil, except sand, provided it be high or 
hilly land; it will not groAv Avell on low 
lands, on borders of streams or rivei-s; it 
Avould not probably succeed oftener than 
once in ten years, for causes I shall pres¬ 
ently state. The seed being small, it must 
not be placed deep in the ground. I would 
recommend the ground to be well plowed, 
and thoroughly pulverized by dragging be¬ 
fore sowing, and very lightly dragged or 
bushed in, after sowing. The earlier soAvn 
in the spring after the ground is fit to work, 
the better. One bushel of seed to the acre 
is the best amount of seed to ensure a good 
yield of seed and lint; if a less quantity of 
seed be soAvn, the quantity of seed Avould 
be increased, but the quantity of lint would 
be lessened, and if a little more seed be 
soAvn, the lint would be increased but the 
seed would be lessened. On low lands the 
flax is subject to mildew or rust, Avhich is 
of two kinds, the red rust, which destroys 
both seed and lint, and the black rust, which 
affects the stem of the flax and destroys the 
lint; this is the great enemy of flax grow¬ 
ing ; but on elevated or hilly lands it is very 
seldom attacked with either of these kinds 
of rust. 
Flax succeeds best after corn or po¬ 
tatoes, or such croj>s as have been culti¬ 
vated the previous year so as to destroy 
weeds. The ground cannot be too rich, 
yet it must not be made so by manuring 
the flax ground Avith manures filled VA illi 
seeds of grass and weeds, Avhich would 
spring up and destroy the crop. Therefore 
I would not recommend . manuring the 
flax ground the season it is sown, except 
with the folloAving stimulants and manures, 
to wit: to each acre of land apply 1 bush¬ 
el plaster of Paris, 1 bushel of fine western 
salt, 1 bushel of wood ashes, 1 bushel of 
slaked lime, of course varying these ma¬ 
nures according to the nature of your soil. 
If it be a light loam mixed with gravel or 
sand, leave out the lime; if it be a tenacious 
soil bordering on clay, or nearly so, be sure 
and put on the lime. The salt and ashes 
in the quantity mentioned are not only ma¬ 
nures, but a preventive to the operations of 
the worm, Avhich is often very destructive 
to flax. Plaster is a strong stimulant, and 
is invaluable on dry soils by its attractive 
principles for moisture. The expense of 
getting in a crop of flax is about the same 
as oats. The expense of hand pulling usu¬ 
ally is $3 per acre; thrashing the seed and 
cleaning, $1 per acre; dew rotting and ta¬ 
king it up, $1 per acre; and dressing at the 
m il l s from $2 to $2,50 per hundred lbs. of 
flax. The average quantity of seed rmsed 
is 8 bushels per acre, and the average quan¬ 
tity of flax, 250 lbs. per acre; although this 
has frequently been more than doubled 
both in seed and lifit. The aA'erage price of 
seed is $1,25 per bushel and average price 
of lint, 9-| cts. per lb. 
I now state from the statistics of 1845, 
that the number of acres of flax soAvn in 
Renssealear county Avas 1,793 acres, and the 
quantity of flax or lint, 282,690 lbs., an av¬ 
erage of 150 lbs. to the acre; but that year 
was considered as a partial failure in the 
flax crops. I have raised from 10 acres up 
to 50 acres yearly, and in that year the 
yield was less than any previous or succeed¬ 
ing year. In 1847, I raised sixteen acres 
of flax, producing a little over $800 as gross 
receipts. From my book of that year I 
copy the following results of 1 acre I sur¬ 
veyed, of about the average of the tield.— 
Weight of flax and seed before thrashing, 
3,848 lbs.; Aveight of flax after the seed was 
off 2,664 lbs.; weight of flax after it Avas dew 
rotted, 2,009 lbs.; weight of lint when 
dressed, 348 lbs.; quantity of clean seed, 
13 bushels, 1 pt., and 1^ bushels of yellow 
seed. 
Flax sold for 10 cts. per lb.,.$34 80 
13 bushels, 1 pt. seed, 10s. per bushel,- 16 2? 
1;^ “ yellow seed, Ss. “ - 78 
process many hundred thousand pounds, I 
may be excused in being a little more par¬ 
ticular, more especially as it requires more 
exercise of judgment, and is a process less 
understood, and one which much enhances 
the value of the lint when done. I have 
been offered an advance of 25 per cent, on 
the present price of dew rotted flax for wa¬ 
ter rotted, and, it may be asked, what bet¬ 
ter is water rotted flax than dew rotted?— 
In ansAver I state that many articles manu¬ 
factured from flax are required by govern¬ 
ment to be made from water rotted flax or 
hemp, and that the cloth and twines thus 
manufactured Avill withstand in Avarm cli¬ 
mates the mildew or rotting, which dcAv 
rotted cloth is subject to. After water rot¬ 
ting flax, for an experiment, I have left ly¬ 
ing on the ground spread, a few bundles 
for months, without injury to the flax, when 
deAv rotted flax would have been entirely 
lost. In Avater rotting flax, it is important 
that the flax be entirely immersed in water 
and kept under by heavy weights, and sec¬ 
ondly, Avhen sufficiently rotted, it must not 
remain in the water. It is rotted much 
better in still water or vats, than in running 
streams; and I cannot perhaps do better, 
to give the idea of Avhat ought to be done, 
than to describe my own pit, which is about 
60 feet long by 20 wide and 5 feet deep, 
which will contain nearly 20 tons of flax in 
the stem, Avith a gate at the lower part 
of the pit, to draw off the water from 
the flax, and a gate from the pond above 
to fill the pit Avith Avater. The flax is 
first placed on poles laid on the ground, 
regularly as it Avould be in the barn, (I do 
not think it of any importance to stand it I 
up,) and Avhen the pit is filled and the*** 
Aveights placed on the flax, letjn sufficient 
Avater to cover the flax. In warm weather 
from the 6th to the 10th day fermentation 
will have taken place, and the flax will rise 
above the water and remain a few hours, 
after which it sinks and the process of rot¬ 
ting is then finished. But this process is 
retarded when new Avatcr is added, and 
then the only way to determine is by the 
stem. When the lint slips freely from the 
stem, by drawing it through the fing;ers, 
leaving the stem free from the fibre, it is 
then sufficiently rotted and the vat let off, 
and the flax immediately drawn out and 
spread on the land for drying. Of course 
all flax, before being immersed in wa¬ 
ter, must be well bound in bundles with 
strong bands; the size is not important, but 
if very large, it makes very heaA^ handling 
Avhile wet I have rotted in this one pit 
during the summer and fall 60,000 pounds, 
and as I observed, the Avarmer the weather 
and the water, the sooner the flax rots; and 
I have had a pit of 3,000 lbs. rot in 5 days, 
and I have had, later in the season, the 
same quantity to remain in the water for 
30 days and not be over rotted, and even 
with all the directions that can be given in 
this process of rotting, constant watching is 
necessary and some experience before it can 
be done safely and with certainty. The 
flax crop I consider less exhausting to land 
than any other cereal grains. It is true 
the crops do not succeed well sown in suc¬ 
cession, but all of the crops succeed better 
after flax than any other, and it is my fa¬ 
vorite crop to lay uOtYfi in grass seeds; and 
I have uniformly had seed tak^ after 
this crop than after any other. 
frOL^ it to leave, when burned, 42 per cent, 
of aS)L^> which the composition was as 
folloAVS" >' 
Chloride of . 
Sulphate of pov'‘®^>.tO.48 
C^arbonute of }K)tft. .. 
t i HOCifl ^ - v* • 43 
Phosphate of iron un*.'^ alumina,. 7.62 
“ lime........ 5.00 
Cajbonatc of lime,.-. 
Silica,. 13,09 
100.00 
Per centage of ash in dry extract,.. 42.01 ^ 
From this table it appears that the salts / 
of potash and soda, as we should exjxsct, are ) 
principally dissolved out during the pr.ocess \ 
of steeping. We have as yet no experi¬ 
ments which show how much of the whole 
saline matter of the plant is removed by the 
steep water. 
It is not by any means all removed.— 
The scutchings or outside portions taken off 
at the flax mill, contain much mineral mat¬ 
ter, and the flax itself—both the pure fibre 
and the coarser parts or pob, removed from 
the dressing—leaves, when burned, a con¬ 
siderable portion of ash. The ash of dress- 
$51 85 
Expenses of seed, interest on land, at $50 
per acre, and every expense attending the 
flax, $14,75. This, however, is less than 
ordinary, as I own a mill for dressing the 
flax. This season one acre of flax has pro¬ 
duced 10 bushels of seed and 548 lbs. of 
flax. 
Water Rotting. —There are two meth¬ 
ods of rotting flax, one by spreading it thin¬ 
ly and evenly on our meadows, and is call¬ 
ed dew rotting. It is considered sufficient¬ 
ly rotted Avhen, by rubbing the stem and 
breaking it with the hand, the hurl or lint 
easily separates from the Avoody portion of 
the stem. This is the common process and 
requires but little judgment to do it prop¬ 
erly. The other method is, by immersing 
it in water, and as I have rotted by this 
*An extract from the forthcoming volume of Tran- 
sactioiiB of tlie N. Y. State Agricultural Society. 
following proportions: 
Coarser parts 
Dreasi’d flux 
Alkaline salts, chiefly 
common salt and sul- 
or pob of flax. 
phate of soda,.8.93 
Phosphate of lime and 
magnesia, and a little 
9.58 
phosphate of lime,.17.89 
14.12 
Carbonate of lime,.45.56 
51.43 
Carbonate of magnesia,... 6.38 
9.24 
L-fsoluble silicious matter,-21.24 
15.63 
100.00 
Per centage of ash in dry 
100.00 
fibre,. 1.29 
1.78 
ANALYSIS or THE SEED AND STRAW OF FLAX. 
We give in connection with the above ar¬ 
ticle of Mr. Newcomb, an analysis of the 
seed and straw of flax, showing what sub¬ 
stances are extracted from the soil in the 
cultivation of Flax, and also a prepar¬ 
ed manure to restore fertility to the soil 
in consequence of the exhaustion resulting 
from this crop. The attention which is be¬ 
ing given to the cultiA'Ation of flax, will ren¬ 
der the accompanying statements valuable 
and useful to the farmer. 
A composition of the Ash of the Seed and Straio 
of Flax. .Johnston's Lectures, .381, 2d edition. 
1. The seed. 
From Riga. 
Potash,. 17.59 
Soda,. 6.92 
Lime,. 8.46 
Magnesia,. 14.83 
Oxide of iron,. L25 
Phosphoric acid,. 36.42 
Sulphuric “ 2.47 
Chlorine,. 0-17 
Silica,. 10.58 
Dutch. 
30.01 
1.88 
8.12 
14.52 
0.68 
37.64 
2.16 
0.29 
.5.60 
98.69 
100.90 
Flax seeds leave from 4^ to 5^- per cent 
of ash when fully burned; the entire dried 
plants leave nearly the same proportion. 
2nd. The straw. 
Potash,.11.78 
Soda,.11.82 
Lime, ..14.8o 
Magnesia,_-.-. 8.38 
Alumina and oxide of iron,.7.32 
Phosphoric acid, .13,05 
Sulphuric “ 3.19 
Chlorine,. 
Silica,.25.71 
100.00 
Per oentage of ash [dry,] 5.00 
These analyses Avere made upon the ash 
of the entire plant. When the flax plant 
is steeped in the ordinary way of preparing 
it for the flax mill, much of the saline mat¬ 
ter is extracte'd by the water. 
A portion of this steep Avater has been 
examined by Sir Robert Kane, and the na¬ 
ture of its saline constituents determined.— 
He found the dry solid extract obtained 
Suppose the flax-steep water to be return¬ 
ed to the land, and even the scutching also, 
the fibre, as it comes from the mill, and 
even as it goes to the market, would still 
carry off a considerable quantity of valuable 
matter from the soil, 
SPr.CI.VL .MANURE FOR THE FLAX CROP. 
The importance of providing for the ex¬ 
haustion made by the flax crop, renders it 
important to secure the manure that will 
restore fertility to the soil. The following- 
recipe for supplying what is carried off by 
the seed and stem of the plant respective¬ 
ly, as prepared by Prof. Johnston, cannot 
fail of being interesting as well as useful. 
The substances contained in 100 lbs. of 
seed, supplied by the following mixture: 
Bone dust,.144 
Sulphuric acid,.72 
- 216 lbs. 
Carbonate of potash [dry]. 36 “ 
“ soda, “ . 6 “ 
“ magnesia,. 22 “ 
280 “ 
Linseed leaves 6^ per cent of ash, so 
that for every 100. lbs of linseed reaped, 
13 lbs. of the above mixture require to be 
added to the land. 
The following mixture will supply what 
is contained in 100 lbs. of the ash of the 
stem of flax. 
Bone dust,. .50 
Sulphuric acid,...25 
- 75 lbs. 
Carbonate of potash, [dry].17 “ 
“ soda, “ .20 “ 
" magnesia,.21 “ 
133 “ 
The dry stem of the flax plant leaves 5 
; per cept of ash; every ton therefore, car¬ 
ries 0^ the land 112 ibs. of inorganic mat¬ 
ter, to replace which, 150 lbs. of the above 
mixture must be added. If this be care¬ 
fully done, and if that which the seed carries 
off be also replaced, and if the fermented 
scutchings be returned to the land, the cul¬ 
ture of flax Avill cease to be exhausting. 
Drill Husbandry. —At one of the cele¬ 
brated sheep shearing-s that used to be giv¬ 
en by Mr. Coke, of Norfolk, afterwards Earl 
of Leicester, at Avhich hundreds congregated 
and remained for days together, he mention¬ 
ed a fact that is not generally alluded to, as 
being founded on the observation and prac¬ 
tice of his manager, Mr Blaikie, a man of 
great sagacity. It was that a field with a 
southern aspect, if rich, should be drilled 
north and south, but, if drg, and in want of 
shade, it should be drilled east and Avest. 
It is easy to see that in the latter case, the 
crop would shade the land from the influ¬ 
ence of the sun, and counteract the effect 
of drought. 
Barley. —Myron Adams, Esq., of East 
Bloomfield, Ontario Co., states that nine pre¬ 
mium* crops of barley have been raised in 
that tOAvnship, in the last six years; the 
greatest, 79 bushels to the acre; the least, 
48^ bushels; the average, 59^ bushels.— 
The average, including interest on lands 
$19, average prices 50 cents—average nett 
profit $14 per acre. They all grew after 
well manured corn. The amount of seed 
sown in nearly every case was tv/o bushels 
per acre. 
Grain Weevils. —Agriculturists who 
wish to get rid of weevils have nothing to 
do but, as soon as he is aAvare of their pres¬ 
ence, to pitch the surface of some old board 
and place them in his granaries; the pitch 
must of course be reneAved several times in 
the course of the year, in order to keep the in¬ 
sects away. The mere fume of the pitch 
is disagreeable to the weevils, and will prove 
fafol if long inhaled.— English paper. 
