MOORE’S RURAL NEW-YORKER, 
PUBLISHED WEEKLY. 
Office in Bums’ Block, comer of Buffalo and State 
streets, {entrance on State,) Rochester. 
CONDUCTED BY D. D. T. MOORE. 
(LeUe Publisher and Associaie Editor Gen. Fanner .) 
L. B. LANGWORTIIY, As-sociate 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. 
O’ For Terms, &e., see last page. ,f~n 
PROGRESS AND IMPROVEMENT. 
AGSICULTUEAL DISCUSSION, 
MANURES. 
[Reported for the Rural New-Yorker.] 
The Central Farmer’s Club convened at 
their Rooms on the 23d of March, pursuant 
to previous adjournment Judge S. in the 
Chair, 
The Treasurer reported the state of the 
funds. There being a balance in his hands, 
it was proposed that premiums be offered 
for essays on some important unsettled ag¬ 
ricultural subjects, involving the expenditure 
of time and money in experiments, which 
few individuals, unaided, could be expected 
to undertake. Another member proposed 
that it be deposited in the Savings Bank for 
the present, for the purchase of a Library, 
or other future disposal As no formal mo¬ 
tion was made, the subject was not dispos¬ 
ed of. 
The Chairman said that Dr, R, not be¬ 
ing present the standing question of the 
evening, the circulation of the sap in vege¬ 
tables, would lie over if there was no ob¬ 
jection, and the meeting was open for gen¬ 
eral conversation and discussion, 
Mr. Van V. said, he should like to hear 
the opinions of the Club, on the subject of 
the economy and philosophy of using re¬ 
cently made, fresh manures, in opposition 
to those that were well rotted and fermented. 
In England they greatly preferred de¬ 
composing and composting it, by mixing 
turf, soil, lime and refuse vegetables with 
the accumulated droppings of the yard and 
stables, and often mixing and turning it du¬ 
ring the summer. Both processes cannot 
be the best and most economical. 
Col. G. observed that the crops and the 
system of farming were so different in the 
two countries, that the use of manures in 
both stages may, with equal economy, be 
tolerated. In this country we cannot use 
rmfermented manures safely, since the pre¬ 
valence of the potato rot, with any other 
crops except roots and corn, and with them 
he considered that, by using the fresh, long, 
coarse article, at least one half of their value 
was saved, which in composting was lost, as 
the nutritive salts {ind gases produced by 
fermentation were used to make one crop, 
while it was going through the very process 
of composting under the soil, and preparing 
those properties congenial to the grain crops. 
He said the loss was still greater when it 
was allowed to lie in the barn yards where 
it was made, uncovered and unheaped, and 
exposed to the leaching and bleaching of the 
rains, winds and heat. It was true, that a 
cord of well preserved compost manure, 
more sensibly enriched a given quantity of 
land; but it must be taken into considera¬ 
tion, that it took three loads of recent ma¬ 
nure to make one that was thoroughly con¬ 
verted. , 
Mr. A. said he enterUiined some peculiar 
views in relation to the action and value of 
manurea He doubted very much whether 
there was any virtue in the droppings of 
animals, and the refuse hay, straw and lit¬ 
terings of the barn yard, over any other kind 
of vegetable matter. He would as soon 
have hard wood shavings, saw dust and oth-; 
er finely comminuted vegetable matter to 
enrich his land, as the winter’s manure. 
The Only value he attributed to what was 
termed manures, or fertilizers, was the de¬ 
composition of the ligneous fibre; and what 
was the manure of the barn yard but sim¬ 
ple vegetable matter finely divided, and 
even divested of a great part of its vsduable 
saline, saccharine and farinaceous properties, 
which went to sustain and augment the an¬ 
imal frame. He supposed one of the im¬ 
portant agencies performed, by the mixing 
vegetable matter in soils, was its property 
of rendering soils more pei*meable to water 
and air, a qualification equally possessed by 
the simple vegetable fibre as by any kinds 
of manures. Vegetable matter when ex¬ 
posed to moisture rapidly decomposes, pro¬ 
duces carbonic acid gas, which was the 
principal food of plants after being dissolv¬ 
ed by water, as the vehicle to convey it 
through the sap vessels to the organs of the 
plants. 
Dr. M. said, that there was some philoso¬ 
phy in Mr. A.’s remarks; for his part, he 
had veiy little faith in any of the saline and 
easily dissolved materials that had been rec¬ 
ommended by various visionary theorists, 
who have proposed their adoption. For in¬ 
stance—common salt, nitre, ammoniacal 
salts, or even unleached ashes, over those 
that had been deprived of their potash, as 
the very first rain would dissolve, carry off, 
and deprive the surface soil, of every parti¬ 
cle and OY'idf'ncc of their existence, and in¬ 
stead ui oeVrig in the neighborhood of the 
intended recipients, salts were career¬ 
ing to the ocean by the nearest descending 
streams. 
The Chairman said his views were not 
queit as vUra as those of the two previous 
speakers. lie thought that all the sulphu¬ 
ric salts, and the alkalies, at least, produced 
beneficial results. They probably combined 
with some of the constituents of the soil and 
become partially insoluble in simple water, 
and were not immediately carried off, and 
formed gases and nitrogenized substances, 
that were absorbed by water, or some pe¬ 
culiar vitality possessed by the vegetable 
economy, that brought them within the 
ability of the organs of the plant to evapo¬ 
rate them for use. 
The same views would apply to unleach¬ 
ed ashes, as potash is the natural solvent of 
silex, or flint sand, and formed the silicate of 
potash, so important and necessary an ingre¬ 
dient in the woody fibre. 
Dr. M. said that it was a much mooted 
point, how the whole vegetable kingdom 
derived its potash from the earth, as there 
was no plant, shrub or tree but what pro¬ 
duced potash and silex, on being subjected 
to destruction by fire. 
It was not known what was the agent 
that dissolved silex, and rendered it a liquid 
material capable of passing through the cir¬ 
culating system of vegetable life, and cover¬ 
ing all the straws, corn stalks, grasses, rat¬ 
tans and bamboos, and various other vege¬ 
table structures. 
Silex, as far as was known, was only sub¬ 
ject to solution and intimate mixture with 
potash, by the process of a very great heat, 
as in the manufacture of glas*’. 
Mr. McD. observed that the manure of 
animals was, in his opinion, preferable to 
simple vegetable substances; from its fine 
division by the grinding and digestive pro¬ 
cess of the animed, and the possession of 
some salts, generated in the stomach of the 
consumers, which caused spontaneous and 
quicker fermentation and decomposition, 
than could be gained from simple vegetable 
matter. 
Mr. J. smd the speakers were etheriaii- 
zing the subject, arfd departingdVom the in¬ 
quiry stipulated in the original question, 
which was the preferable manner of using 
manures, whether in a fermented or unfer¬ 
mented state. He supposed that if a farm¬ 
er was not able, or did not desire to put In 
root crops or corn sufficient to use all of his 
winter’s manure, the best process was to put 
it in heaps, with a mixture of some absorb¬ 
ents, as plaster, charcoal, or swamp muck— 
to turn it over once or twice, and apply it 
to his summer fallows for wheat. It might 
also answer to apply recent fresh manure to 
green sward, if well tmmed undoi for spring 
grain, when that process became necessary, 
as in that case it would not come so direct¬ 
ly in contact with the plant, as to cause a 
premature excitement and a great growth 
of straw, at the expense of the grain. 
Dr. M. again observed, that the only ma¬ 
nures that were truly valuable and lasting 
to soils, were vegetable matters and the fer¬ 
tilizing’ matter contained in bones and horns. 
Vegetable materials were not immediately 
absorbed by water, but underwent a pro¬ 
cess of decomposition, and became a car¬ 
buret of the ligneous fibre, which was a 
ITALIAN, OE BLACK SPANIS ' FOWLS, 
UBEEAL MANUEING. 
veeretaoie matenais were not immcaiaieiy ^ , , ,. . ... ' u 4 u <' 
abirbed by water, bat underwent a pri- Thu '■ Fowl-Fair ” held at Boston, last mother- of tamdre^ even when Urey do ».h ; 
cess of decomposition, and became a oar- “ S’'''’* ® ‘T “f*®” Mndescend to do, , 
buret of the ligneous fibre, which was a Poultry, and, as a natural consequence, the provmg very carele^ and frequently tr^p- r 
stage of decomposition, between live wood tenants of the hen-roost are m the ascend- ling hah their brood mder foot But the j 
and carbon or charcoal, that had a great ’»>>«■ Though the excitement which is pre- mconveiuenccsof his liabi are ^ly obvi- . 
affinity for oxygen, which it absorbed and '“hug throughout chickendom smacks a ated, by causing the eggs to be hatched j j 
formed carbonic acid gas, and was eagerly htUe of the Morns Multicaulis speculation, some more motherly hen. - 
absorbed by water, and fed the plant thro' ‘hink the remit will be far more benefi- These beautiful fowls are highly esteemed I 
its proper organs. countr}\ Even if some pay too in New England, where they have become j 
Vegetable matter afte.r a.-riving at this dear for the whistle, the best breeds of do- acclimated. The editor of the Maine Far- j 
state, was called by the chemists, humus, ^estic fowls will be generally introduced | mvr ^ ays they do veiy well in that State, 
and was that peculiar prop..,;^ -.iV r.mdors their management better understood, j ’ mu. Ii they generally lose their splenihd ^ 
all ricli soils of a darker color than the sub- But our present object is merely t.) nv^uoe b .fpee the winter is pa.st, wit 1 t'.s < 
soil, or the barren sterile blowing sands. the race of fowls delineated above —the exception there is no particular troub e m 
This was the true rationale of the action Black Spanish. The engraving is drawn dien en uring tec mate, 
of manures, and that substance which pro- from life, and represents specimens of a fine ' 
moted this change in the shortest time, lot exhibited at the Boston Fah, by Mr. D. - ^ 
whether the exuvia of animals or the finely Buxton, of Danvers, Mass., some of which Nothing, indeed, can be more strikingly < 
divided atoms of the ligneous fibre of vege- sold for ten dollai’S per pair. obvious than that the farmer who is so eco- < 
tation, w'cre in the best state to he used, and The author of the “American Poultry nomical as to apply only from five to six j 
the most valuable and hxstingfertilizers. Yard,” (D. J. Browne,) says: loads of manure to the acre, should, in ' 
The Chairman announced that the hour “This is a noble race of fowls, posses- end, find dame nature equally as eco- ; 
for adjournment had arrived, and the meet- sing many great merits; of spirited and an- comical as himself. Whenever such a ; 
ing adjourned to the 30th of March, at 7 matei appearance, of considerable size, ex- course is pui’sued the operator invariably ' 
o’clock, P. M. cellent for the table, both in whiteness of^ gets poorly paid for his labor, and this, in 
- flesh and skin, and also in flavor, being jui- opinicn, is the sole cause of the power- 
- ^ cy and tender, and laying exceedingly large [•^| prejudice which at present pervades so 
It was confidently asserted a few years eggs, in considerable numbers. Amongst large a portion of the public against farm- 
since, by some speculative theorists in Eu- birds of its own breed, it is not deficient in q'jjg fact is one of importance, and 
rope, that the time would come when a far- courage; though it yields without showing | should ever be borne in mind by the practi- 
mer could carry the manure for his farm much fight to those which have a dash of gal farmer, that from no item is the nett 
in his breeches’ pocket. There has, howev- game blood in their veins. It should be a profit derived by the systematic fanner so 
er, been but little progress made as yet in general favorite in all large cities, for the ample, so certain, as that derived from liber- 
effecting this grand desideratum, either in additional advantage that no soil of smoke al manuring. Instead then of the scanty 
enlarging his pockets or condensing ma- or dirt is apparrent on its plumage. manuring of only five cart loads to the acre 
nures. This great reform was to be effect- The thorough-bred birds of the fancy —which under the most favorable circum- 
ed, by using some chemical saline com- should be entirely black, as far as fqjithers stances can scarcely yield a remunerating 
pounds to impregnate the seed. This ma- are concerned, and when in high condition^ harvest — I would advise that the amount 
gical elixir was so to stimulate and accelerate display a greenish metallic lustre. The fjg increased six fold. o. w. m. 
vitality in the plant in its early stages, combs of both cock and hen are exceeding- Macedon, Wayne Co., 1850. 
that its vigorous developement was to cause ly large, of a vivid and most brilliant scar- —-— u-un.i-un--u-i-n_ ^ 
it to live on “ air, thin air,” and a supply let, that of the hen drooping over on one THOEOUGHjCULTUEE. 
of water. side. Their most singular feature is a large :_Perhaps there are some of 
Analagous to this abstraction are all the white patch, or ear lobe, on the cheek, of a readers of the New-Yorker who might 
nostrums of soaks and steeping fluids fleshy substance, similar to the wattles, benefited by observing the advice of the 
adhered to by many at the present time.— which are small in the hens, but large and foPo-^yino- lines: 
We have no faith in any of them, and any very conspicuous in the cocks. This mark- „^ 
one may be convinced of their fallacy, by a gd contrast of black, bright red, and white, E-xtensive fields and till them ill. 
simple comparativ e trial Indeed the slight- jjjakes the head of the Spanish cock as The farmer, pleased, may boast aloud 
est examination of the proce^, and econo- as that of any other variety; and plovied 
my of the progress of assimilation of iood ^ • i, 1 1 i, 1 • And, pleased, indulge the cheering hope 
by the vegetable animal, and the food re- genuine breed, the whole lorm is That time will bring a plenteous crop, 
quired for its extension, perfection and equally good; but the scragg’y, long-legged. Shrewd common sense sits laughing by, 
growth, settles the question definitely. misshapen mongrels are often met with And secs his hopes abortive die; 
enough tothrowdiscreditonthewholerace. 
er the corn seed witS water near the scald- produced hand- Advi.ecl, thi. empty pride expel— 
S;“anT?h"onglty alont »«>ely staked with red on the hackles T.11 dttle »d the. well. 
onepintof tar, to the®bushel, for deterring and back. This is no proof of bad breeding, “^nd wU rich then peer; 
the inroads of crows and wire worms—al- if other points are righU .^^re one fertile acre yields, 
ways excepting the soak for wheat to hin- Spanish hens are also of lai’ge size and Than the huge breadth of barren fields," 
der smut, which is an effectual application, figure, and are celebrated as good lay- - 
''"‘T '“8"' ^ “ »ook ^ sweet and 
themselves much sooner, sown or planted in of a peculiar shape, being very thick at pnnty, and on every illumined^ the be- 
their natural state, than when any saline both ends, and yet tapering oflf a little at nevolence and goodness of God is divmely 
j compound is used. . each end. They are by no means good shown. Study it pages, and learn wisdom. 
Macedon, Wayne Co., 1850. 
THOEOUGH CULTUEE. 
Mr. Moore :—Perhaps there are some of 
“ 'folly in the extreme to till 
Extensive fields and till them ill. 
The farmer, pleased, may boast aloud 
His bushels sown, his acres plowed, 
And, pleased, indulge the cheering hope 
That time will bring a plenteous crop. 
Shrewd common sense sits laughing by. 
And sees his hopes abortive die; 
For, when maturing seasons smile, 
Their sheaves shall disappoint his toil. 
.4dvi8ed, this empty pride expel— 
Till little and that little well; 
Of taxing, fencing, toil, no more 
Your ground requires when rich than poor; 
And more one fertile acre yields, 
Than the huge breadth of barren field*," 
Nature is a book of sweet and glowing 
VOLUME 1. }• 
EOCHESTEE, N. Y..-THUESDAY, MAY 9, 1850. 
■I NUMBER 19. I 
