MOORE’S RUKVl NEAE-YORKEli: AN AGRICULTURAL AND FAMILY JOURNAL. 
EDITORIAL CORRESPONDENOE. 
Chicago, June 18, 1850. 
Mr. Moore: —You -will hardly expect, 
in this letter from the city, any thing strict¬ 
ly agricultural; but as the “Rural” is de¬ 
voted to general intelligence, as well as ag¬ 
riculture, something not inconsistent with its 
design may be gathered here, provided it 
contains intelligence of any land. Of this 
you or ypur readers must judge. We have, 
however, a subject to start with not at all 
foi’eign to the agricultural character of the 
paper. 
The establishment of Mr. McCormick 
and others, for the manufacture of McCor¬ 
mick’s Reaping Itlachine, is well worth vis¬ 
iting, and should not escape the attention of 
those interested in agricultural implements. 
The demand for these reapers in the west, 
where wheat growing like every thing else 
is done on a large scale, induced Mr. McC. 
toremove from Virginia to this place, where 
he is engaged extensively in their manufac¬ 
ture. The buildings occupied are of brick, 
substantially built—the machinery of the 
most approved kinds, driven by steam pow¬ 
er, and the whole establishment arranged 
and conducted as far as we could judge in 
the most systematic manner. All the work 
is done on the premises, excepting the cast¬ 
ings, which are procured at a neighboring 
foundry. A large number of men are em¬ 
ployed, especially in the winter and spring, 
while the preparation of the machines is 
most active—some fifty or sixty being en¬ 
gaged at the same time on the different 
branches of the work. Some idea of the 
demand for these labor saving machines, 
may be had, from the fact that last year 
about fifteen hundred were .sold, and this 
year sixteen hundred have been prepared 
and a large proportion already ordered.— 
Such is the demand for labor in wheat har¬ 
vest, and such the quantity of grain grown 
in the west, that hand labor is unequal to 
the task, and altogether too expensive.— 
McCormick’s machine is, we think, well ap¬ 
proved. We do not, however, feel compe¬ 
tent to express a decided opinion of its mer¬ 
its when compared with other machines.— 
Its great sale is perhaps the best evidence 
of its practical utility. 
At the machine shop of Mr. Gates a 
large number of Easterly’s Harvesting Ma¬ 
chines are made and sold, but we know less 
of its workings and of its success. We 
should judge that it was in demand, from 
the great number we saw finishing or under 
way. This is a different machine from Mc¬ 
Cormick’s, altogether—taking off the heads 
of the grain only, instead of cutting it near 
the ground. Mr. Gates is also largely engaged 
in the manufacture of threshing machines. 
These remarks led to the reflection, that 
here, in the great west, the granary of the 
Union, where land is cheap and labor dear, 
and where the soil is so generally free from 
stones or other obstructions, the greatest fa- 
cilites for using labor-saving machines are 
afforded, and that to be successful in agri¬ 
cultural pursuits, advantage must be taken 
of all the improvements in cultivation and 
machinery. The farmer who has a section 
(640 acres) of good land, and who grows 
one or two hundred acres of wheat annual¬ 
ly can accomplish, by the aid of the Seed 
Drill or Broad-cast Sower, the Reaping Ma¬ 
chine, and Threshing Machine and Separa¬ 
tor, at a comparatively trifling expense, what 
would cost him a vast expenditure of labor 
and money, and what in fact could in sea¬ 
sons of scarcity of help hardly be done by 
manual labor alone. 
But we have, after all, extended our re¬ 
marks upon agricultural subjects, so far as 
to leave little room for indulging in any 
speculations upon the appearance and busi¬ 
ness prospects of this city. Chicago has 
been making rapid strides in building and 
business for several years. The city is now 
supposed to contain about 25,000 inhabi¬ 
tants, and at no time has it been advancing 
so rapidly as at present. New buildings 
are going up, new streets are being opened, ] 
new branches of business engaged in, and 
a general spirit of improvement and enter- 
prize seems to prevade the atmosphere of 
the city. And why should not such be the 
case ? Its position, by nature one of the 
most favorable in the west, is being strength¬ 
ened and sustained by the enterprise which 
prompts, and the energy which pushes to¬ 
wards completion the various public works 
so calculated to make Chicago the city of 
the Lakes, and to build up in a few years a 
town of great importance in commercial af¬ 
fairs. 
We speak of the position of Chicago with 
reference to business, but were we to con¬ 
sult beauty of location, and the comforts 
and conveniences which are sought in se¬ 
lecting a residence, we might be led to dif¬ 
ferent conclusions. Its low and flat surface 
so slightlv elevated above the Lake, the dif¬ 
ficulty of proper drainage, and other draw¬ 
backs, detract seriously from its advantages 
as a place to live in; but then, its superiority 
for business is such that all other consider¬ 
ations can be easily overlooked in the all ab¬ 
sorbing one of business and money making. 
But we must not do injustice to the place. 
There are some pleasant streets and beau¬ 
tiful situations, made so by the good taste 
and judgment of the owners, and attractive 
to strangers as Avell as citizens. The street 
most to our mind for a residence is Michi¬ 
gan Avenue, parallel wth the lake shore 
and commanding for miles a charming view 
of Lake Michigan. Wabash Avenue is also 
a pleasant street, as are some others—but 
in the main, our impressions are as before 
stated. 
We chanced to meet, about two miles out 
of the city, Mr. F. H. Hastings, lately from 
Clinton, Oneida Co., in our State, who has 
established himself in the nursery business 
on the bank of the Chicago river, about that 
distance from the city,'and who has a very 
good stock of trees, shrubs and plants for 
sale. Mr. H. has chosen his location with 
good taste and judgment, and in good time, 
his lands, which were purchased a few years 
ago for twelve dollars, being now worth two 
or three hundred dollars per acre. We 
trust he may meet the success which his 
efforts deserve. 
We blight speak of many matters of in¬ 
terest which present themselves on every 
hand, did our space permit, but must deny 
ourselves the pleasure. One fact, connect¬ 
ed more particularly with the agricultural 
interest, is worthy of notice. The vacant 
lands back of the city, of which there are 
thousands of acres, belonging to different 
owners, and generally held for sale as “ city 
lots,” afford fine pasturage for an immense 
number of cows belonging to the milkmen 
and citizens. We saw droves of a hundred 
or more together, all looking well and in 
good pasture, at least as good as a prairie 
can afford. At night they are driven to the 
city, and separating of their own accord, 
each finds her way to her own home. This 
is cheap pasturage for such close proxmity 
to a tity. Yours truly, c. 
WHEN SHOULD GRAIN BE CUT I 
Here is an excellent article on an impor¬ 
tant subject. It is from a practical corres¬ 
pondent of the Germantown Telegraph, and 
will be read with interest at the present 
time: 
It has ever been the practice with most 
farmers to permit their grain crops to re¬ 
main in the field until fully matured. This, 
it was thought, was indispensably necessary 
to secure the complete development of aU 
those characteristic excellences upon which 
the value of most grains, used for food for 
man and beast, is found intrinsically to de¬ 
pend. To cut it, therefore, one day before 
its entire and perfect maturation, was sup¬ 
posed to detract to some extent from its nu¬ 
tritive powers, and consequently to diminish 
somewhat the value of the crop, without 
securing any advantages worthy of consid¬ 
eration in return. The assumption upon 
which this hypothesis is predicated, is, that 
the stalk acts merely as a conduit, or tube, 
through which, as the grain demands it, the 
nutriment is conveyed from the soil. No 
allowance is made for the action of the vitali¬ 
zing fluid, or sap, which is supposed to act 
merely as a solvent, and is arrested and ren¬ 
dered incapable of operating any favorable 
action upon the grain, as soon as the crop is 
cut, though the stalk be replete with sap, 
and the grain unfilled, or immature. My 
own experience, however, aided by the ex¬ 
periments and observations of others who 
have made these phenomena a subject of 
critical and patient investigation, induces me 
to adopt an altogether diferent view of the 
.case; and this, I find, is the fact with many 
of the most distinguished scientific writers, 
both in this country and in Europe. 
In the 2d volume of British Husbandr}% 
pp. 136, 137, it is said,—“ The question has 
been for some time agitated, regarding the 
state of ripeness in which grain should be 
reaped; and it has been recommended as a 
general rule of practice, to cut down the 
crop before the uppermost grain can be 
shaken out. Taking all things into consid¬ 
eration, it seems to be the most prudent plan 
to have the grain cut before it is fully ripe; 
but in this a medium course should be 
adopted; for, although grain, if allowed to 
become too ripe, assumes a dull, husky hue 
in the sample, yet, if not rqiened enough, it 
shrivels in the drying.” 
PATENT SELF-ADJUSTING CHURN. 
This is a recent improvement in rotary 
churns—designed for churning, gathering 
and working butter in one operation. It is 
the invention of Robert W. & Daniel Da¬ 
vis, of Rogersville, Steuben county, N. Y. 
Should this churn fulfil the purposes de¬ 
signed, it must prove an exceedingly valu¬ 
able and popular article. We give the de¬ 
scription furnished by the inventors. 
Figure 1 represents the churn box. 
Figure 2 is an ehd view of the dasher; 
A is one of the heads of the dasher, to 
which the floats are affixed; B B are the 
stationary floats; C C are moveable floats 
attached by wire hinges, as represented in 
the engraving; D D are slats which serve 
to strengthen the dasher, and also serve to 
separate and agitate the cream. 
2 
This improvement is designed to effect the 1 
Cadet de Vaux asserts that “grainreap¬ 
ed eight days before the usual time, has the 
berries larger, fuller, and finer, and better 
calculated to resist the attacks of the weevil. 
An equal qu antity of the corn thus reaped 
with corn reaped at maturity, gave more 
bread, and of a better quality. The proper 
time for reaping, is that when the grain, on 
being pressed between the fingers, has a 
doughy appearance, like a crumb of bread 
just hot from the oven.” 
Mr. C. Howard, in the Report on Select 
Farms, says: “ Wheat ought never to be al¬ 
lowed to remain uncut till it is fully ripe.— 
Experiments, easily made, will prove to every 
cultivator of it, that by permitting it to stand 
until the straw has lost its succulency, he 
gains nothing in plumpness or bulk of grain, 
but loses much in color and fineness of skin; 
besides which, he incurs the risk of shelling, 
by the high wind, or by its being cut under 
the influence of a burning sun. 
“ When fully ripened by standing in the 
shocks, no dry hour should be lost in getting 
it well secured.” 
Landon observes, that “ in harvesting 
wheat, the best farmers, both in England 
and on the continent, agree that it ought to 
be cut before it becomes dead ripe. When 
this is the case, the loss is considerable, both 
in the field and in the stack-yard; and the 
grain, according to Von Thaer, produces an 
inferior flour.” 
These extracts from the most distinguish¬ 
ed theoretical and practical writers on agri¬ 
culture, might be multiplied ad infinitum; 
but enough has been presented, I presume, 
to show what is the general belief upon this 
important subject. My own experience, 
also, goes to corroborate the correctness of 
the theory which proposes that all grain in¬ 
tended for human food, or for feeding ani¬ 
mals, be cut at least five days before it be¬ 
comes mature. In the summer of 1836, I 
had a piece of oats, about four acres, which 
were remarkably stout. As hay was that 
season rather short, and as less than a me¬ 
dium crop had been harvested, I wished to 
preserve the straw of this field in a condi¬ 
tion which would render it in some nieasure 
an efficient substitute for English hay; and 
with this vieAV, cut the whole of my oats at 
a period of their growth when the straw Avas 
perfectly green, but not before the berries 
had become somewhat hard to the touch, 
though by no means ripe. From appear¬ 
ances, I was induced to believe that about 
five days of dry, warm weather Avould be 
required to ripen the crop; and in this opin¬ 
ion I was afterwards confirmed by the time 
required fully to ripen a small strip which I 
caused to be left near the centre of the field, 
the produce of which was afterwards care¬ 
fully threshed and weighed. The weather 
purposes of churning in the most effectual 
manner and afterwards gathering the butter 
and working it to expel the buttermilk.— 
These objects are attained in this churn by 
forming the revolving dasher, so that when 
turning in the direction qf the arrow, the 
cream is agitated by meeting with the slats 
of the dashei’, which are set at such angles 
as to force the cream toward the centre; it 
is then met by the movable floats, which, 
when revolving in this direction, stand open 
and cause the cream to move outwards, 
which various and contrary motions so agi¬ 
tate it, that the butter is soon produced. In 
order to gather and work the butter, the 
dasher is turned in the direction of the dot¬ 
ted arrow, and the movable floats closing, 
the outside of the slats of the dasher form 
a uniform curve eccentric to the axis, and 
moving with the convex side foremost. By 
a few revolutions, the butter is thrown from 
the centre to the side of the churn box, and 
there gathered into a roll. The milk may 
then be drawn off, and by continuing the 
motion of the dasher the butter is pressed 
against the bottom and side of the churn, 
and worked entirely free from milk, ^le 
dasher may be easily taken from the churh, 
in order to remove the butter; and then re¬ 
placing it, a quantity of water may be pour¬ 
ed in, and a fcAv revolutions will complete 
the washing of the churn. 
The chui-n may be manufactured for from 
S3 50 to 85 each, according to size and fin¬ 
ish. See advertisement 
was favorable during the harvest, and the 
sheaves was stored without injury from the 
wet On comparing the produce of that 
portion of the field to which the sickle had 
been introduced first, with the produce of 
that which had been allowed to become 
fully matured before cutting, there was no 
perceptible difference either in the size or 
weight of grain; but there was a marked 
difference in the appearance and value of 
the straw. That wliich Avas cut first, re¬ 
tained its green, brilliant hue, and was eaten 
by my cows and young stock with the 
greatest eagerness and avidity; whereas, 
that from the other section was rejected, 
and was used for littering horses, hogs, 
sheep, and other animals kept on the farm. 
Since then I have made it an invariable rule 
to cut my oats (of wheat I raise but little) 
as soon as the heads begin to turn. I allow 
the crop a fair time to make, and bind in 
small sheaves, which 1 expose for several 
days to the sun, if the weather be favorable; 
if not, I stack them a Avhile before deposit¬ 
ing them in the barn. 
CROPS, &c. IN SOUTHERN OHIO. 
Under date of June 21, a subscriber re¬ 
siding at Madisonville, (near Cincinnati,) 
Hamilton county, Ohio, writes us as follows: 
We have had an uncommonly backAvard 
spring, the fore part of which Avas wet and 
cold though the latter part has been so dry 
as to do considerable injury to the crops, 
particularly corn and oats. But the late 
copious showers and warm weather have 
straightened things up in the vegetable line 
so as to look quite promising. The fruit 
crop promises well. Green apples and 
peaches are of the size of large hickory nuts 
—and though potatoes are not fruit, I Avould 
just say that ncAV ones are larger. 
Bees are doing finely in the way of swarm¬ 
ing and making honey. And speaking of 
bees reminds me of bee-hives, in regard to 
which I should like to see something ffi the 
Neav-Yorker. Also the best mode of ta¬ 
king honey. J- f- 
To Cure the Sore Necks of Oxen.— 
A neighbor of mine had a pair of working- 
oxen whose necks became very sore. He 
covered that part of the yoke resting upon 
the neck, Avith sheet lead. They got Avell 
almost immediately, though constantly kept 
at Avork. I suppose the lead being a good 
conductor of heat, dreAV off the inflamma¬ 
tion, and thus enabled the sores to heal.— 
Cor. American Agriculturist. 
REMINISENCE OF 1816, 
The article in your paper on that cold sum¬ 
mer, has recalled some of the facts of that 
period to one who witnessed them in Berk¬ 
shire County, Massachusetts. There Avere 
feAv inhabitants then in the Genesee Country, 
and little is known about the cold summer 
here. The cold summer Avas not confined 
to the United States, but extended over 
Europe. 
I have before me the mean temperature 
of eA'ery day in 1816. The mean tempera¬ 
ture of the months of March, April and May, 
was vei-y nearly the same as that of the same 
months of the present year here. But, June 
of 1816 Avas a gloomy month. My record 
states as folloAvs:—“June 5th, at noon, the 
temperature was 83 ° —but a thunder 
shower cooled the air 14 ° at 2 P.M. June 
6th thejtemperature about 44 ° through the 
day; snowed several times. The hills and 
mountains were covered with snow, and 
travellers complained of the severity of the 
N. West AA'ind and snow storm. June 7th, 
no frost as it was so windy, but the ground 
was frozen and ice on water was one-eighth 
inch thick. Moist earth was frozen half an 
inch deep, and was raised from around 
Indian corn, which slipped through it and 
stood yet unhurt. Ground thawed in the 
day, continued cold, and June 10th was a se¬ 
vere frost. Indian corn, beans, cucumbers 
not already destroyed, potatoes, (fee., all cut 
down to the ground. June 11th severe frost. 
The foliage had just put out on the sides 
of mountains about 800 feet in elevation, 
and the young leaves Avere killed, and the 
forest appeared a few days after, as if the 
trees had been scorched by a fire, so black 
and dead Avere the leav'es. The leaves put 
forth anrain, and the Indian corn, cut down 
by the frost, soon came forth again, as well 
as potatoes, whose tops were just emerging 
from the ground. Rye and oats were not 
injured by the cold, or the little wheat then 
grown in Berkshire county. 
The sun had been covered with numer¬ 
ous and large spots, and the notion became 
current that the spots were closely connect¬ 
ed with the cold as cause, and as crops of 
wheat, ly^e, (fee., were large and fine on both 
sides of the Atlantic, it Avas maintained that 
those grains were adapted to a c(X)ler sum¬ 
mer, as the Indian corn demands hot weath¬ 
er for its perfection. 
Frost occurred in all the summer months 
of 1816, and on August 22nd, Indian com 
was so injured by frost, except on the hills, 
as not to ripen. Some farmers cut up their 
corn at the roots, and set it up in shocks 
on the ground, by which process about one- 
half of it became ripened. That corn left 
standing produced very little but soft corn. 
The mean temperature of 1816 was but 
little less than that of the three following 
years. 
There was no approach to famine, be¬ 
cause the crops of rye, oats, (fee., were so 
abundant. Indeed the English maintain¬ 
ed that their years of plenty of wheat, rye, 
(fee., had always been attended with cooler 
summers. c. d. 
-WESTERN PENNSYLVANIA. 
Erie, Pa., June 28, 1850. 
* * We have had a very dry season. 
Yesterday and to-day, however, we have 
been favored Avith A-'ery fine showers of rain. 
Wheat looks Avell. Corn is backAvard and 
uneven—but it is coming on rapidly at 
present. 
A word, by the way, about the “ Rural.” 
I think it the best farmer’s family paper in 
the country—and that it will be profitable 
to you (if not noAv) when the people become 
more acquainted Avith it and its merits. I 
can do more for you another year in the 
way of extending its circulation. 
Where can the Transactions of your 
State Society be had—particularly the vol¬ 
umes for the last tAA^o years? We Avant 
them for our Library. Have sent to Buf¬ 
falo but could not procure them. 
Truly yours, R. E. 
[The Transactions can be obtained, we 
presume, on application to the Secretai-y of 
the Societj’—B. P. Johnson, Esq., Albany.] 
To Measure Hay in the Stack.— 
More than tAventy years since, I copied the 
folloAving method of measuring haj^ from 
some publication, and having verilied its 
general accuracy, I have both bought and 
sold by it, and believe it may be useful to 
many farmer, where the means of weighing- 
are not on hand. “Multiply the length, 
breadth, a id heighth into each other, and 
if the hay is someAvhat settled, ten solid 
yards Avill make a ton. Clover Avill take 
from ten to tAvelve yards per ton.” 
