154 
MOORE’S RURAL NEW-YORKER; AN AGRICULTURAL AND FAMILY JOURNAL. 
1 : 
GOPHERS.-WEONG AND RIGHT. 
Dear Rural:— One of your correspond¬ 
ents, in No. 15, under the head of “ Curious 
facts in Natural History,” made a statement 
that my own observations oblige me to say is 
wrong, notwithstanding it was given as a 
/act. May he pardon me for copying the 
paragraph entire, as it will the better allow 
me to correct the whole: 
DEPTH OF COVERING SEEDS. 
As to the proper depth which seeds should 
be covered, much depends on circumstances. 
Hard seeds, such as onion, carrot, beet, par¬ 
snip, &c., that vegetate slowly, should be 
covered deeper than turnip, cabbage, mus¬ 
tard seed, and other kinds that vegetate 
quickly. If hard seeds are sown late in the 
season, on dry soil, and the covering is shal¬ 
low, there is danger of the earth drying 
down to the seed before it starts. 
“ The Gopher, a species of groimd squir¬ 
rel, with pouches on the outside of its cheeks 
to carry the dirt from its hole, is very plen¬ 
ty on the west side of the Mississippi, in 
Missouri and Iowa, but has never yet cross¬ 
ed the river into Illinois or Wisconsin. It 
only works at night, burrowing holes and 
run-ways under ground—subsisting on the 
roots of trees, grasses and vegetables.— 
There are persons who have suffered by 
their depredations for twenty years, who 
have never been able to catch, or even to 
see one of these nocturnal depredators.” 
The summer of 1847 I spent in north¬ 
ern Illinois near Fox river, where I sa^v 
gophers in large numbei'S, so that when 
walking out upon the prairies I have known 
as many as five or six to rise up almost sim¬ 
ultaneously upon their haunches and chip¬ 
per away in their peculiar manner. This 
of coui-se was just at the opening of their 
holes, and as soon as you approached any 
of them they would disappear instanter. 
These were one kind of gopher; whether 
the same as mentioned by you correspond¬ 
ent I am unable to say. They burrowed 
in the ground and were similar to the 
ground-squirrel or chip-munk of this coun- 
tr)'^ except being somewhat larger. I do 
not recollect of noticing a pouch outside of 
the cheeks; but I was aware that their 
cheeks were capable of distention, undoubt¬ 
edly for the purposes of conveying dirt, &c. 
As I killed a number I think I should have 
observed the pouch alluded to, if it had been 
outside of the cheek. A cousin (with whom 
I was staying a part of the time,) and I 
used to carry out pails of water, having a 
small lap-dog with us, and by pouring wa¬ 
ter into the gopher’s retreats they would 
come out “ wet as drowned rats,”—where¬ 
But besides the differences in the pecu¬ 
liar nature of seeds, there are other circum¬ 
stances that have a great effect, and require 
that the same species of seeds should be 
covered at different depths. Soils vary so 
much in texture, that in some, half an inch 
is a sufficient depth, while two inches are 
necessary in others. We have observed in 
our garden, that while some moist soils re¬ 
main damp at the surface several days after 
a rain, other soils would dry down one or 
two inches deep in the same time. On the 
wet land, half an inch depth would be suf¬ 
ficient covering; but on the dry soil, two 
inches would be little enough; and then 
rolling or pressing the earth closely on the 
seed is indispensable to insure vegetation. 
Seeds sowed early in spring require less 
depth of covering than those planted late 
in spring or early in summer, even on the 
same soil; for as it is usually cool early in 
the season, the earth dries slowly, and if the 
seed is covered deeply it will not vegetate 
so soon, and it will be more liable to decay. 
In many cases, carrot seed is sown in dry 
soils, the last of May, and early in June, 
and it fails from the drying effects of a hot 
sun. The better way to guard against this 
loss, is to soak the seed in a warm place two 
or three days, and then drain off the water 
and let it remain a few days longer in the 
moist state, until it is about ready to sprout. 
If it be more convenient, the seed may be 
sown after soaking a day or two. There is 
no danger in soaking hard seeds several days. 
In sowing soaked seed in a seed-sower, 
spread thinly, and dry off the moisture from 
the surface of the seed, or apply dry sand 
or plaster to dry them. 
We are induced to make these remarks 
from seeing, occasionally arbitrary rules pre¬ 
scribing the depth for covering different 
kinds of seeds, without any regard to the 
important circumstances of soil, season, <fec. 
—Mew England Farmer. 
upon Jack would seize them by the head, 
not being at all particular in squeezing them 
slightly. In our boyish freaks, we called 
this sport, I having been imbued with the 
philosophy of my cousin, that they “ done 
more damage than their necks were worth.” 
As to the “ persons wdio have suffered by 
their depredations for twenty years, who 
have never been able to catch, or even to 
see one of these nocturnal depredators,” I 
can only conclude that they have never been 
where the gopher exists, else their observa¬ 
tions have been very limited indeed. I am 
unable to state whether gophers exist in 
Wisconsin or any of the other Western 
States, as my journeyings did not lead me 
in such regions, where they would natural¬ 
ly be. u. u-u. u. 
Glen Cole, Ath mo., 1850. 
Remarks. —Our correspondent, to whom 
we have subjected the above, says that it is 
quite evident U. U., never saw a gopher.— 
There is an animal on the east side of the 
Mississippi which the inhabitants call a go¬ 
pher but it is simply a ground squirrel, dif¬ 
fering from our chip-munlc.—That he has 
seen hundreds of them, and that they are 
sui generis, a distinct animal.—That what 
he asserted in his communication on that 
subject is true, and that, while residing in 
Iowa for some two years, he was unable 
to procure one, although the gopher mounds 
everywhere covered the prairies. 
SHEEP .SHEARING AND SACKING WOOL. 
This should not be done sooner than the 
season 4vill admit, as the sheep would be in 
danger of taking cold. Wool, intended to 
be sent to a distant market, may be put up 
and pressed in bales after the manner of 
cotton, or it may be crowded into sacks 
holding from 200 to 250 lbs. If designed 
to bo shipped on a long voyage, it would be 
more economical to press it into square 
bales, as it would then occupy less bulk, 
and consequently effect a saving ■©f freight. 
But in the interior of a country where con¬ 
veniences for baling are not always at hand, 
sacks may be employed, made of 40-inch 
“burlaps,” or 45-inch “gunny-cloth,” 7-^ 
feet long. Each of these sacks may be 
made of a piece of cloth 5 yards in length, 
by doubling the ends until they meet, and 
sowing up the sides with tw'ine. 
The mouth of a sack may next be sewed 
to a strong hoop of wood or iron (diameter 
25 inches for the burlaps, and 28 inches for 
the gunny cloth;) then let down its body 
through a circular hole, two inches less in 
diameter than the hoop, cut in an upper 
floor of the^ building, or of a temporary 
scaffold erected for the purpose, where it 
can swing clear beneath. One man may 
then get into the sack, while another hands 
him the fleeces, wliich he should place in 
regular layers, pressing them down in the 
mean time, with his feet, until it is filled.— 
After this the sack may be slightly raised, 
the hoop disengaged, the mouth of the sack 
sewed up with twine, and the operation is 
complete.—Am. Agriculturist. 
A Heavy Cow. —A cow raised by 
Charles H. Smith of Northampton, South 
Farms, slaughtered by Asaph Judd of South 
Hadley Falls, and eaten by the denizens of 
the latter village and Holyoke, weighed 
when alive 1940 lbs., and when killed and 
dressed 1405. That animal must have eat¬ 
en “some pumpkins,” if not more. 
^Eeat this who can.^’ —A heifer, not three 
years old belonging to Wm. N. Flynt Esq., 
of Monson, was put on the scales last week, 
and weighed nineteen hundred and seven 
pounds f 
The Springfield (Mass.) Republican is 
responsible for the above paragraphs. We 
presume it will be an easy matter for New 
York farmers to beat ‘Hhis ”—and the for¬ 
mer likewise. Will they give us the figures ? 
Guano. —The Richmond Times says:— 
“ vVo aiiuexsLcuiu HUS article is producing a 
wonderful revolution on the poor, worn-out 
lands in lower Virginia We hear of some 
cases where the first crop has paid for land, 
guano, and all other expenses, and left mo¬ 
ney in the pockets of the farmers.” 
TO DESTROY CUT WORMS. 
H. M. Baker, of Virginia, communicates 
the following to the American Agriculturist: 
I was quite successful in my first essay 
last spring in forcing tomatoes, cabbage, &c. 
In May I commenced transplanting them 
into my garden. Beautiful plants they were 
too; and as I grew them myself, I felt quite 
proud of them. A day or two after this, 
upon going into my garden, I found the 
varmint that had destroyed them, smashed 
their heads, and replanted. But oft' they 
went again. I could kill the cut worms, 
but that did not replace my plants. A new 
idea then struck me. I pulled a few hand¬ 
fuls of clover, and laying a small quantity 
at the base of each plant, put thereon a 
chip. By this simple contrivance I trapped 
the whole brood of rascals, and saved my 
plants. 
The philosophj’- of the thing is this. The 
cut worm prefers the green clover, which 
will keep so for about a week, under the 
chip, and every day or two you can hand 
the worms which collect there, over to the 
tender mercies of the old hen and chickens. 
The trouble of doing this is much less than 
replanting. 
BOOK FARM ING. 
Scene. —A rickety old barn, with the 
greater part of the covering boards broken, 
many gone, and their places supphed by 
pieces. Some on the outside slightly nail¬ 
ed, some tucked up from the inside, some 
twisted in crosswise the opening, and prop¬ 
ped up by sticks and stones! 
Inmates. —An old man, the very person¬ 
ification of sloth and filth, both hands thrust 
to the bottoms of his long frock pockets, 
and, as a consequence, his body inclined in 
an angle of 45 ° to his crooked legs, the 
whole crowned by a part of what might 
have been a new hat some ten or fifteen 
years ago! A young man milking—ap¬ 
pearance much more favorable, though by 
no means exceedingly prepossessing. Sev¬ 
en cows—small, poor in the superlative de¬ 
gree, and troubled with vermin. A small 
pony, that would live and be in a tolerable 
condition, despite neglect, if indulged in a 
little liberty from hauling old Indolence 
about 1 A pair of oxen, that like Quimby’s 
might make a shadow in a bright sunshine, 
if assisted to stand; and matched much like 
his mule and dromedaiy, while one of them 
is destitute of hair, full one side, and half 
the belly! Two black, scurvy, crusted pigs, 
that most vociferously call for a breaking 
up of the six months partial, and sixteen 
hours total fasting. A number of young 
cattle, showing great want of care and sub¬ 
stantial food. Two or three dead hens in a 
corner—seven to ten featherless, almost 
meatless live ones, perched shivering, on 
bare poles over-head. Hen turkey, minus 
tail, feathers and mate—a few bundles of 
corn-stalks; a small quantity of straw, and 
about a ton and a half of hay, commingled 
and scattered over, under and before the 
cattle, pony, and pigs. 
A stranger, hearing voices within, and 
groping along over a mass of manure, stones, 
bars, wrecks of carts, wagons, chaise, sleds, 
barrows, and the whole skeleton of a cow, 
together with other articles too numerous 
to mention, approaches, and attempts to en¬ 
ter, when he finds the door is unhinged, 
and by no means intimidated, he proceeds 
to the next, which more fortunately for him, 
hangs yet, though by a single hinge only. 
Opening it he enters, lets fall the prop 
against the outer side, and having thus firm¬ 
ly secured the door, advances toward the 
old man, who stands near one corner, se¬ 
cure from attack from the “ creatures,” by 
reason of the frailty of the floor. Discour¬ 
sing common topics quite briefly, stranger 
answers 97 questions, in relation to the fa¬ 
mous trials for murder, which are taking 
place in different parts of the country— 19 
seconds elapse—stranger, relieved by a long 
breath, ventures to ask old gentleman to 
subscribe for an agricultural paper. 
Old gentleman’s zest for news is entirely 
sated; drawing himself up in a very digni¬ 
fied manner, and looking with ineffable con¬ 
tempt on the agent, he assures him that he 
knows more about good farming than all 
their book farmers. 
The agent suggests that the old gentle¬ 
man’s oxen look as if they might be an ex¬ 
cellent pair to work—hay very good quality— 
fine fruit trees hard by—noble spring, close to 
the yard, and every thing quite convenient 
Old gentleman a little mollified, says he 
read agent’s paper while neighbor G- 
took it, but neighbor G-thinks the oth¬ 
er paper is better and takes that now; and 
honoring neighbor G-’s judgment, shall 
take the one neighbor G-does. 
Agent begs old gentleman’s pardon for 
contradicting liim, but is quite sure neighbor 
G. takes his paper, and is well pleased with it, 
for he called this morning and took his sub¬ 
scription money for a year in advance. 
Old gentleman somewhat indignant, says 
G-is a liar, he sent down to borrow his 
paper, and G-said he would not take 
it any longer, for he couldn’t get a chance to 
read it half the time himself! 
Agent rallying, and feeling for the soft 
side, attempts to persuade the old gentle¬ 
man that he had better have one of his own. 
No, no; old gentleman knows better — 
knows best, won’t have it at all, and makes 
for the house, the very counterpart of the 
hen, leaving agent to soliloquize! Agent 
marched off at double quick step, and hav¬ 
ing reached a respectful distance gave vent 
to his feelings in a fit of laughter that well- 
nigh split his sides, thus bringing this very 
ludicrous scene to a more ludicrous finale! 
—Boston Cuetivator. 
Training Cattle and Horses. —Work¬ 
ing animals, when well trained, are capable 
of doing much more work, and doing it ea¬ 
sier than when imperfectly broken. Knowl¬ 
edge is power to them, though in a differ¬ 
ent sense, and in a less degree, than with 
reasoning man. Yet, if they are taught 
how to draw, to back, and come round; 
when to lay out their strength, and when to 
husband it, they have the same advantage 
that a skilful woodman has in the use of his 
axe, the mower his scythe, the reaper his 
cradle, and the ditcher his spade. 
First procure animals of a good breed, 
naturally intelligent, and of good physical 
organization; adapt their food to their con¬ 
stitution and work; train and manage them 
properly, and you will find your account in 
it, as you do in sending your children to 
school, or teaching them to handle their 
tools .skilfully. 
anil darinn. 
KITCHEN GARDEN. 
There is no better index of a farmer’s 
mind, taste, and refinement, than the ap¬ 
pearance of his Kitchen Garden. As a cri¬ 
terion, it is equally prominent with the 
fences, door-yard, and out-houses, to fix his 
position as an intelligent, industrious and 
economical farmer—one who estimates the 
blessings of life, and enjoys them. Look at 
the difference in the enjoyments of a family 
of working hands, having during the hot 
months of planting, haying and harvesting, 
all the fine vegetables of the season; boiled 
greens, from spinach, patience dock and cab¬ 
bage sprouts,—lettuce, asparagus, pie-plant 
and currant pies—early peas, beans and 
onions, and so on—-a constant succession of 
every fine herb, fruit and esculent Think 
of the comfort of a good and healthy meal. 
See the alacrity and good will with which 
the laborers go to their work, when con¬ 
trasted with the hands of the eternal pork 
and potato farmer. Fried and boiled, and 
boiled and fried, and there ends the variety. 
If you want a favor of a man, ask it after 
he has a good dinner; and you might as well 
get work out of a balky horse, as cheerful, 
willing labor out of a man that is fed on 
salt horse and potatoes. He knows infalli¬ 
bly what his dinner is to be, and loathes it 
It is a false excuse, and will not pass to 
say, that you have no time; there are hours 
and hours that no important job is on hand. 
Hours after the completion of one piece of 
work, before commencing another. Only 
put the land in order, and put in the seeds; 
and if you will do the hoeing, the women 
or boys and girls will do up the fine weed¬ 
ing—the scientifics. If they are backward 
and negligent, plant a few roses, bulbous 
roots and annual flowers; their feelings and 
pride will be excited, and they are bound to 
keep the garden in order. If not, they are 
incorrigible, and should be kept on salt junk 
and sea biscuit. 
Every Kitchen Garden should have a 
dozen pie plants, and a bed of asparagus, 
and patience dock—which give as many 
pies and greens before the first day of May 
and until the 1st of July, as a family can 
consume; and a row of currant and goose¬ 
berry bushes. All these with the least carre 
are good for fifty years without renewing. 
Early radish, lettuce, peas, beans, potatoes 
and tomatoes—scarcity and blood beets, 
carrots, parsnips and slathers of onions— 
squashes, cucumbers, peppers and summer 
and winter cabbages—are also in order.— 
Those whose palates relish with some of the 
“ chicken fixins” of nature, may have celery, 
egg plant, broccoli, cauliflower, vegetable 
oystei-s—a bed of sage, thyme, parsley, and 
summer savory. It all pays as w'eli as any 
other labor, in health and enjoyment. It is 
pleasant to look upon—pleasant to enjoy— 
pleasant to your neighbors and creditable to 
the manipulator. 
It is sound morality, to thankfully receive 
all the good tilings of life, that a bountiful 
Creator has designed for our comfort, and 
placed within the sphere of our ability to 
produce; and those that refuse to receive 
these blessings when within their reach, are 
guilty of wilful neglect of the will and de¬ 
signs of Providence, and disrespect to the 
Great Giver. 
THE BEST VEGETABLES. 
The very best early pea, out of eight 
new sorts tried by us last season, was the 
Prince Albert. It is about five or six days 
earlier than the Early Frame or Washing¬ 
ton. Champion of England is a new pea, 
a liberal supply of the seed of which was 
sent to us last season by Mr. Bowditch, 
seedsman. Horticultural Hall, Boston. It 
grows about five feet high, and produces an 
early crop; the. pods are well filled, the peas 
large and very sugary in quality. When 
dry, these peas have a bluish color. Alto¬ 
gether this pea is the finest of the table pea 
that we have cultivated, and will undoubt¬ 
edly become a favorite. We notice that it 
ranks very high in England. The Bassano 
beet is not only the most tender and deli¬ 
cate of early beets, but when sown for a 
late crop it is always the best winter beet 
for the table. Cole’s Superb Celery is the 
best red, and Seymour’s White the best 
white celery. The early and late W^alchc- 
ron Cauliflower turns out, after two years 
trial, the best sorts yet proved in tliis coun¬ 
try. Whi(p Spanish, is the best onion for 
all purposes. The Altringham is the best 
carrot, and the Autumnal Marrow the best 
squash grown.— Horticulturist. 
Words of love are works of love. 
LIMA BEANS. 
Ed. Rural New-Yorker: —Few are 
aware of the value of this bean, and of the 
practicability of introducing and cultivating 
it in the valley of the Genesee. At our Hor¬ 
ticultural fair, last autumn, there was an ex¬ 
pression of astonishment by some persons 
who had formerly been acquainted with the 
Lima Bean in Maryland and Virginia to find 
that it could be cultivated in such perfect¬ 
ion here; others had never seen it before, 
and did not even know it by name. 
To those who are interested in the pro¬ 
duction of the choicest garden vegetables, 
(and who is not ?) allow me to say, that the 
Lima Bean may be cultivated in Monroe 
county as successfully as in part of the 
world—as profitably as any crop that can 
be raised—and that it is really one of the 
luxuries of the nineteenth century. In 
1848 I planted about two rods of ground 
which yielded one bushel, and probably 
over; a surplus of half a bushel was sold 
for $3,50—which is equal to $560,00 an 
acre. The last season, 1849, I planted the 
same ground and received the same return 
in quantity, and sold the surplus for $10 a 
bushel — a production equal to $800 per 
acre. 
The excellence of this vegetable is suffi¬ 
ciently indicated by the enormous price it 
bears in market. It is not, however, to be 
denied that a little extra care is necessary 
to produce them successfully. They should 
be planted the first warm, growing weather 
after the 10 th of May, on light, rich soil.— 
If they are planted with five beans in a hill, 
they will usually average three plants that 
will arrive at perfection, which will be suffi¬ 
cient for one pole. The poles should be 
stuck deep and firm in the ground, to pre¬ 
vent the injury which the plant receives by 
having the poles bent from a perpendicular 
position, by the strong vrinds wliich we are 
liable to have in the latter part of the 
season. 
Cultivated in this manner, they will be in 
perfection for table use by the 20th of Au¬ 
gust ; and the family that has not enjoyed 
the luxury of a patch of Lima Beans during 
our long autumns, is ignorant of at least one 
of nature’s richest gifts. If our market gar¬ 
deners would devote but a quarter of an 
acre to this bean, I apprehend it would 
yield them a richer reward than any other 
part of the garden. 
In addition to the value of the beans 
from my two rods of ground, as stated above, 
I received in premiums awarded at the 
Fairs the amount of $5—making $15 for 
two rods of ground, and yet the soil was 
not “ overtaxed.” Yours, .i. w. s. 
Rochester, May, 1850. 
Sowing Flower Seeds is an operation 
that demands more care than is usually be¬ 
stowed, in this climate of hot sun and se¬ 
vere drouths. We have several times in 
former volumes given directions on this head 
and explained the necessity of attention to 
several requisites, such as fine soil — light 
covering, moisture and shade. For the fine 
kinds of seeds, such as petunia portulaca, &c., 
a very thin covering of soil must be given, 
but then, if not shaded, a few hours of hot 
sun will dry the seeds or scorch the young 
plants so as to destroy them; hence shade 
must be given, by means of thin boards, 
shingles, inverted flower pots, or other 
means, till the young plants can bear the 
sun; and water every evening if dry weath¬ 
er. Larger seeds, as balsamine, aster, mar- 
rigold, (fee., need but little attention. — Ohio 
Cultivator. 
To Preserve Cut Flowers.— Mrs. 
Loudon thus adresses a class of her fair 
countrywomen:—“As you are fond of flow¬ 
ers in the room, you will, perhaps, be glad 
to know how to preserve cut flowers as long 
as possible. The most simple rules are, 
not to put too many flowers into one glass, 
to change the water every morning, to re¬ 
move every decayed leaf as soon as it ap¬ 
pears, cutting off the end of the stems oc¬ 
casionally, as soon as they show any symp¬ 
toms of decay. A more efficacious way, 
however, is to put nitrate of soda into the 
water. About as much as can be easily 
taken up between the fore-finger and thumb, 
put into the glass every time the w^ater is 
changed, will preserve cut flowers in all 
their beauty for above a fortnight. Nitrate 
of potash, (that is, common saltpetre,) in 
powder, has nearly the same effect, but is 
not quite so efficacious. 
Variations of the Seasons. — A corres¬ 
pondent of the Ohio Cultivator, in Ashta¬ 
bula county, Ohio, gives a table of the time 
of the opening of the first blossoms on a 
thrifty peach tree for seven years, fron 1843 
to 1849. The earliest opening was in 1845 
—April 1st; the latest in 1844—May 13; 
extreme difference forty-three days. 
