VOLUME I. !■ 
ROCHESTER, N. Y.-THURSUAY, MAY 30, 1850 
MOORE’S RURAL NEW-YORKER, 
PUBLISHED WEEKLY, 
C^ce in Burns’ Block, comer of Buffalo and State 
streets, (entrance on State,) Rochester. 
FACTS AND SPECULATIONS ABOUT CORN 
There are advantages derived from plant¬ 
ing different varieties of com together, par¬ 
ticularly those kinds that have a period of 
I ripening of not a greater difference than 
j twelve or fifteen days. 
! Indian corn is a monoecious plant, having 
I its pistils and stamens on different organs.— 
I The silk or filaments of the ear are the pis- 
! tils, or female organs—and the tassel the 
stamens, or male. Each kernel must have 
its filament, and that must be impregnated 
by the pollen of the stamen, or no grain will 
be formed. Every silk that fails of impreg¬ 
nation by accident, or being cut off by grass¬ 
hoppers or other insects, makes a blank on 
the cob. 
Ears often set so late, that in dry seasons 
the tassel is dried up, and incapable of shed¬ 
ding any pollen to perfect its organization. 
A little later variety, would be in a state to 
perform that duty, and carry out the re¬ 
quirements of nature. The design of the 
suckers was for the same purpose—which 
some farmers injudiciously pluck away, in¬ 
juring the crop in all cases from 8 to 10 per 
cent Where the ground is not sufficiently 
fertile, suckers are not freely produced, and 
therefore a failure occurs in the perfecting 
the late set ears. JErgo, the benefit of plant¬ 
ing seed of different periods of ripening. 
In cold, backward and wet seasons, corn 
had better be out of the ground than in, 
till all the first week in June. If it does 
not rot, it comes up a feeble, yellow, sickly 
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. PETERS, (Editor of the Wool Grower,) 
of Genesee County. 
Educational Department by L. WETHERELL. 
ILF For Terms, «fec., see last page. .i~~n 
PROGRESS AND IMPROVEMENT. 
POLAKD TOP-KNOT FOWLS. 
catch more than a passing glimpse of either 
farms, crops, or cattle; and as my business 
is mostly in the “towns,” I shall not, during 
a journey through the Western States, be 
able to give you as definite information up¬ 
on the agriculture of the country as I could 
desire. But as the finest wheat is sometimes 
gathered from a large proportion of chaff, so 
may you be able to select from the letters 
which I hope to furnish weekly, something 
interesting if not mstructive to the readers 
of the Rural New-Yorker, 
Before proceeding to speak of other mat¬ 
ters, let me crave your pardon for neglect¬ 
ing to pay you a visit during my brief stop 
in Rochester, and assure you that business 
alone prevented me from enjoying that plea¬ 
sure— for a pleasure it would be to look in 
upon you, in your “Rural” retreat. Per¬ 
haps, however, I may take you by surprise 
on my return from a tour which will em¬ 
brace several of the Western States, 
To yourself and to most of your readers 
it will be worse than useless to speak of 
Western New York, a section of coimtry 
every inch of which is known to most of 
you as well as the streets of your own city, 
or the towns in which you reside. I may 
nevertheless speak of the appearance of the 
crops, and perhaps be allowed my own im¬ 
pressions upon other subjects. The wheat | 
crop, which was once all important to the 
“ Genesee Country,” to which the eyes of 
the State were turned for a supply, seems 
every where to promise abundantly. I speak 
from personal observation in the counties of 
Madison, Onondaga, Cayuga, Seneca, On¬ 
tario, Chemung, Monroe, Genesee and Erie 
— and from information gathered from tra¬ 
velers and the public prints with reference 
and think it is 
being equal in this respect to the counties 
which have been longer engaged in this 
profitable and successful branch of agricul¬ 
ture. Portions of its soil are well adapted 
to wheat culture, and we doubt not tHht the 
two branches of farming may be most suc¬ 
cessfully united — each contributing to the 
Improvement of the other, in a tour which 
we contemplate making through the south¬ 
ern tier of coimties in the course of the sea¬ 
son, we hope to witness more fully their 
system of agriculture, and may at that time 
speak more at length upon the subject 
If the plows which we saw exhibited at a 
manufactory in Elmira are such as are in 
general use in that region, we can certainly 
entertain no very high opinion of the skill 
of the mechanics, or the good judgment of 
the farmers in selecting their implements. 
This useful and leading implement of agri¬ 
culture, has almost every where undergone 
substantial improvement, and is now offered 
to the farmer equal in finish and scientific 
construction to the most intricate and valu¬ 
able machinery. And why should it not 
receive the benefit of science and of me¬ 
chanical ability?—and why not be finished 
in a workmanlike manner ? Upon its suc¬ 
cessful performance of the work allotted to 
j it depends almost the entire success of agri- 
j cultural pursuits. Without good plowing 
we can have no good crops, or successful 
farming. 
While upon this subject I am reminded 
of a brief visit to the manufactory of Mr. 
Burrall, of Geneva, whose implements are 
known to the farming community, in all the 
western part of the State, and indeed all 
over the State, as among the best in use.— 
The inventive talent of Mr. T. D. Burrall, 
and the scientific application of that talent 
to the improvement of agricultural imple¬ 
ments, has given him a claim to the regards 
of farmers, higher than could have been 
attained by almost any other direction of 
his scientific attainments. Scarcely an im¬ 
plement used on the farm has failed to re¬ 
ceive attention at his hands, and the model 
manufactory of his son is every year turn¬ 
ing out a supply of improved and highly 
finished tools for the use of farmers in all 
parts of the State. 
Although writing from Chautauque coun¬ 
ty, I have seen very little of its agriculture 
or other busmess, having but just landed 
from the steamer which brought me from 
Buffalo. As I contemplate a land journey 
to Erie, and perhaps to Cleveland, some¬ 
thing may present itself worthy of being 
laid their litter. Of course, though excel¬ 
lent for laying, they are less productive in 
eggs than the Polands. But they have great 
beauty of form — their flesh is stated to be 
excellent — and they wholly surpass other 
fowls in plumpness and size, united with 
smallness of bone. They are shaped like 
the quail or partridge, being very full in the 
breast, with deep heavy bodies. I have 
weighed one hen, seven pounds and eight 
ounces, and others of nearly the same size. 
As to color, according to the best English 
accounts, they vary, the same as common 
fowls. But I have seen none except the 
fawn or cinnamon color; in some instances 
deep, bordering upon brown. A dmiri ng 
the fawn color, I would tolerate no other.— 
But no one color is decisive as to blood. — 
Another peculiarity is to have five claws on 
each foot This mark, however, though de¬ 
sirable as a distinctive characteristic of the 
breed, still, like color, it does not decide 
conclusively, the purity of the blood. It is 
not uncommon that a brood, from a pair 
genuine as to blood, having all the charac¬ 
teristics, should still in part have five, and in 
part four claws. The cock is a sjflendid 
bird — rich and beautiful in plumage — 
Idge, erect, sprightly, and bold as a warrior. 
I consider them healthy, hardy, easy to 
keep, and in all respects a valuable and de¬ 
sirable fowl. To the farmer, who raises 
poultry for the market for table use, no 
breed, on account of size and quality, offers 
higher promise. I should consider the poffi- 
try yard of a good farmer, inexcusably de¬ 
ficient, unless it embraced both these breeds 
—the Poland for the production of eggs, 
and the Dorking for the market — especid- 
ly since improvement is the order of the day; 
and since eggs of both breeds, meeting every 
reasonable expectation of genuineness, can 
be so easily obtained. e. d. 
- to other western counties 
^ safe to say that this staple crop has not for 
) years looked more promising. Not that it 
^ is as forward as in other seasons, but it seems 
^ to have passed the winter remarkably well, 
> and to have a good “stand” in nearly all the 
j fields. 
j But with all your reputation as farmers, 
' in the westera counties, your wheat crop 
/ now averages far less (if I am not right be 
kind enough to coiaect me,) than it did 20 
years ago. It is, however, gratifying to be- 
(; lieve that the deterioration which for many 
j years went on steadily but siurely, has reach- 
^ ed its lowest point, and that the tendency is 
again to improvement. 
The Basket Willow. —The planting of 
t\^. basket willow tree, in wet, waste places, 
or along the margin of streams, yields more 
profit proportioned to the outlay, than rais¬ 
ing wheat or making butter; and when once 
started requires no further trouble than an¬ 
nually to cut the twigs. It Is a shame to 
put it in print, and yet it is twe, that annu¬ 
ally there are large quantities of willows for 
baskets imported mto this coimtry from Hol¬ 
land. We also import annually thousands 
of dollars worth of baskets, ready made to 
our hands, from France and other foreign 
countries. 
that the cultivator is entirely preferable to 
the plow. 
When ashes are used as a top dressing 
for corn, apply it as soon as the plant is up, 
so as to cover it at the first hoeing. If plas¬ 
ter, alone, immediately after; or sow it broad 
cast—it matters not, only use one half more 
in quantity. It is a good process to mix 
plaster and ashes for top dressing,—espe¬ 
cially for those who doubt the efficacy of 
broad cast sowing. 
Instead of constant 
i and repeated cropping m wheat, most of 
j your farmers have introduced clover and 
s sheep into their system, and are thus laying 
^ the foundation for a permanent and rapid 
^ improvement of their farms. Under this 
^ system it is perhaps not too much to hope 
