290 
MOORE’S RURAL NEW-YORKER; AN AGRICULTURAL AND FAMILY JOURNAL, 
> AGEICUXTUKE. 
) State of American Agriculture, by Prof. Johnston, 
> About a year ago, many of our readers 
> had an opportunity of making the acquain- 
} tance of Professor Johnston, the distinguish- 
) ed agricultural chemist, at Syracuse, when 
? he delivered an address at the State Fair. He 
? has since returned to England, and at a 
^ late meeting of a Farmers’ Club in Berwick- 
l shire, gave a short account of his tour in 
\ America. An abstract of his observations 
^ will be read, here, we presume, with some 
^ interest: 
“ The professor mentioned that the state 
of agriculture in the northern parts of 
America, in our own provinces, and in New 
England, was generally what the state of 
agriculture in Scotland probably was eighty 
^ or ninety yeai-s ago. In some parts of New 
> Brunswick they are very nearly in the pre- 
s cise condition in which Scotland was 120 
i years ago. Go as far west as you like, the 
? same general description applies to the 
? whole. In regard to the cultiv ation of land 
\ in America, its condition aiises from a va- 
\ riety of causes, and very few considerations 
\ will enable you to understand how it has 
> come about If you ask yourself to what 
' class does the majority of emigrants belong, 
! you will have no difficulty in coming to a 
conclusion. Look at the great crowds of 
> people who go from Ireland, from the 
1 Highlands of Scotland—ask yourself of what 
class they consist—what amount of intelli¬ 
gence and agricultural knowledge they pos¬ 
sess; and in the answer to this you will at once 
find the key to the state of the land in the 
whole northern part of America. 
“ Now, w'hat has been their procedure— 
^ by what kind of procedure have they bro’t 
; about the state of exhaustion to which the 
; soil has been reduced ? Of course in speak- 
’ ing of the exhausted soil he did not refer 
> to the virgin soil which had never received 
the plow or the spade, but to the soil under 
/ their culti'fation, and which they were now 
exhausting. The forest was in the first 
place cut down and burned, after which the 
ashes were scattered, and a crop of wheat 
) and oats was sown ; when this crop was 
) cut down and another was sown; but they 
) did not always remove the straw—they do 
; not trouble themselves with any manure.— 
' The second year they sowed it again, and 
harrowed it, and generally took three crops 
in succession. When they can take no 
' more out of it, they either sow grass seeds, 
^ or, frequently let it seed itself. They will 
then sometimes cut hay for twelve, fourteen, 
■; sixteen, eighteen or twenty years in succes- 
sion; in fact, so long as they can get half a 
;• ton an acre from it. The land was then 
broken up, and a crop of oats taken —then 
potatoes, then a crop of wheat, and then 
hav for twelve years again; and so the same 
course was repeated. Now .this was the 
t way in which this was treated; this was 
the way in which the exhaustion was bro’t 
about. This exhaustion existed in Nova 
Scotia, New Brunswick, Lower Canada, in 
Upper Canada to a considerable extent, 
t over the whole of New England, and ex- 
) tended even into the State of New York. 
\ Well, but what steps were they taking to 
^ remedy this state of things ? Were they 
? doing anything to bring back the land to a 
^ productive condition? and in order to do 
i this, were they taking steps to put any 
; knowledge into the heads of those who cul¬ 
tivate it? Now on those points he was 
V happy to say that he could speak favorably. 
( •' But what inducement had they to make 
these exertions ? They grow corn enough 
i —they have no want of agricultural pro- 
^ duce as we have: but when he told them 
( what was the condition of New England in 
t reference to the Western States they would 
I understand. All the new States—all the 
' virgin land where wheat was cultivated— 
' yielded a crop for little or nothing, but it 
/ could not yield by any means a large crop. 
1 In the State of Michigan, between Lakes 
Superior and Erie, the average produce was 
? not twelve bushels an acre; but it was got 
> for nothing. In New Brunswick, which is 
\ very thinly populated, he was told that ten 
( bushels an acre paid well—but the produce 
; was not large. In the Western States they 
! were unable to produce it very cheaply.— 
; At the tifne I was there the prices varied 
; from 60 to 80 cents a bushel—that is, 100 
^ cents being 4s. 4d. In the extensive West¬ 
ern States, and part of New York, where 
it was shipped to England, the price varied 
' according to the distance. Now, the con- 
dition of things in the Western States in 
■ reference to England was precisely the 
( same as the condition of England in refer- 
} to the wheat-growing countries of the Bal- 
s tic. The condition of the farmers was ex- 
' ceedingly bad, and in Maine he was inform- 
( ed that they were all in a state of bank- 
ruptcy. The land was all mortgaged, which 
' hung like a millstone round their necks, and 
was worse even than the state of the farm¬ 
ers in this country.” 
< Pasture Lands. —When fields that have 
< laid in pasture two years have been subject- 
^ ed to the plow, the yield from the subse- 
■ quent crop has been found to be one fifth 
5 more productive than land similarly situated, 
from which the grass had been mowed the 
first year, although pastured the second. 
THE MOST PEOFITABLE BREED OF SHEEP. 
There is much discussion upon the ques¬ 
tion as to the most profitable breed of sheep. 
One party asserts that the true breed is the 
finest and purest Saxony; another is equal¬ 
ly certain that it’s the hard, gummy Meri¬ 
no ; a third is opposed to all fine wooled 
sheep, and can only grow the South Down; 
while still another can see no profit in any 
but long wooled and stately Cotswold or 
Leicester; while a great multitude are in 
favor of the mongrels, obtained by a cYoss 
from a part or all of the kinds mentioned. 
The object of raising sheep, as of any 
other kind of farming, is to make money, to 
turn the annual herbage into cash. The 
best breed of sheep for the farmer to adopt, 
will depend in a great degree upon his lo¬ 
cality. Whether near or at a distance from 
a good market for live stock, as large towns, 
or upon railroads leading thereto; whether 
in a grain growing or a grazing district; or 
in a warm or cold climate. 
It is settled that a fine staple of wool can¬ 
not be grown upon a profitable carcass for 
the butcher. A large and early maturing 
sheep like the South Down and Cotswold, can 
not be made to produce a fine clothing wool. 
But the wool they do produce is valuable, and 
brings a remunerating price, especially the 
long wool of the Leicesters. The coarser 
and larger bodied sheep require a larger 
amount of pasture, and cannot be kept in 
large flocks. For the farmer who keeps but 
few, say from 50 to 100, we should recom¬ 
mend the coarse wooledh sheep. Many a 
farmer who can keep his 50 or 60 head, 
could make his $2 annually clear upon each 
with very little trouble. It would require 
care, and that is what a great many farmers 
complain of, though constantly grumbling 
about hard times. In a warm climate, and 
especially at the south, fine wooled Saxons 
should be preferred. The experience of 
years demonstrates that, in the growing of 
line wool the south need have no competi¬ 
tor, and we feel fully satisfied that it would 
now be the most profitable branch of their 
agricultural industry. There are flocks in 
that region, which produce wool that can¬ 
not be surpassed by Uny in Germany.— 
Among them, and perhaps the very first, is 
the flock of Mr. R. Cockrill, Esq., of Nash¬ 
ville, Tennessee. For evenness, firmness, 
and strength of staple, his flock has not yet 
been out-done by the very highest bred 
German flocks. Though there is little en¬ 
couragement for growing fine wool any¬ 
where, yet we would advise our, friends 
south not to abandon it, but to keep steady 
along, for it will not be many years before 
they will have the fine wool market entirely 
to themselves; for the amount of strictly 
fine Saxon wool grown this side of the Ohio 
river will grow less and less every year.— 
Some men who have superior flecks, like 
our friends, Reed, of Dalton, Ohio, and 
Ladd, of Richmond, Ohio, and who are fond 
of. and understand breeding, will continue 
them and make them profitable. But we 
fear that unless there is some great change 
soon, the Saxon will not spread north and 
'west. 
The great belt of our country lying north 
of the Alleghany mountains, and the Ohio 
river, and extending clear to the Rocky 
Mountains, seems admirably adapted for the 
Negreti and Infantada branch of the Meri¬ 
no families, as south of that line does for the 
Escuria and Electoral branch. The best 
representative of this branch is found in 
what is now termed the Vermont Merino. 
They are a hardy race, with thick heavy 
fleeces, full of gum and yolk, and formed 
to withstand well the rigors of our hard 
winters. Like their congerier, the Saxon, 
they delight in a dry soil, and will thrive 
upon pastures where larger sheep would 
starve. In Vermont, objections are made 
to this breed of sheep by wool dealers, be¬ 
cause the wool is so heavy by reason of its 
gum and yolk. It may not be so profitable 
for them, but it shows the great value of 
the breed for cold and bleak regions. But 
as this sheep travels west it loses this ob¬ 
jection, for in this State and throughout the 
west the wool retains its fineness but loses 
much of its superfluous gum and oil, but 
none of its vigorous constitution. Crossed 
upon the common breeds of Ohio, Michigan, 
and the other Western States, it produces a 
valuable breed; giving a fine and heavier 
fleece, and a stronger and more healthy 
habit The breed is not confined to Ver¬ 
mont, but may be found in great purity in 
this State, and Connecticut, and Massachu¬ 
setts. Among the best now in our mind is 
the flock of our friend Mr. Dickinson, of 
Victor, whose communication on the sub¬ 
ject of his flock can be found in the last 
volume. 
It is not necessary here to particularize 
the various mongrel breeds which have 
grown out of these great leading famines. 
We believe that one great cause of contro¬ 
versy has arisen from not taking a true view 
of the great and natural division of our 
country into northern and southern wool 
growing sections. Around large cities, and 
upon small farms, coarse wooled sheep will 
be found the most profitable ; while in the 
milder climate of the south the Saxon; and 
in the colder regions of the north, the Me¬ 
rino will be found the true breed.— Wool 
« Grower. 
MILBING COWS-A NEW METHOD. 
The new method of milking which our 
readers may already have seen something 
of in the papers, is no joke, but a practical 
reality. An informant of ours witnessed 
the operation in the farm yard of Joseph 
Fellows, Esq., of Geneva, but a few days 
since. India rubber bags were drawn over 
the cows teats, which set close enough to 
exclude the air, in the lower end of which 
metallic tubes were inserted, closed by taps, 
when the four were adjusted, the taps were 
withdrawn, and the milk streamed from 
each teat into the pail, exhausting the whole 
quantity in the cow’s bag in half the time 
it would take to milk in the ordinary way. 
It is a useful invention, against which no 
valid objection can exist, and will be likely 
to come into general use. The prime cost 
of a set — four milkers, we shall have to 
call them, cannot exceed fifty cents. They 
are simple; easily and cheaply manufactur¬ 
ed, when cows are stalled, it would seem 
that one man could milk ten in fifteen min¬ 
utes, if he was supplied with the apparatus 
for each cow.— American. 
If the whole secret is disclosed, and the 
operation described in the above article, we 
do not exactly comprehend how an elastic, 
constantly compressing ligature or band, 
can cause the milk to issue from the udder 
of the cow; nor what use the metallic tubes 
and taps can be. The operation of milking 
is a succession of force to cause the milk to 
pass the contracting muscles of the lower 
part of the teat, and a relaxation to allow 
the passage to fill again. The constant pres¬ 
sure of the rubber cannot perform the op¬ 
eration. It has long been known that to 
introduce a straw or metallic tube into the 
teat beyond the contracting muscle, that the 
udder empties itself. 
LARGE YIELDS OF WHEAT. 
New York State gives it up, that Ira 
Phillips of Amanda, Macomb county, in this 
State, has produced more wheat on 2 acres 
of land, being 124 bushels, than was ever 
accomplished there. They seem to doubt 
the story; Mr. Phillips is prepared with cer¬ 
tificates, to present to the State and Coun¬ 
ty Agricultural Fairs this fall, to obtain the 
premium for the best crop of wheat.— De¬ 
troit Tribune. 
Hold on, Mr. Wolverine; one story is 
good till another is told. In the year 1833, 
Jira Blackmar, of the town of Wheatland, 
in this county, harvested from one measured 
acr(5^08 43-60 bushels of wheat, half white 
flint and half red chafti The whole opera¬ 
tion was well attested, and the grower is a 
man beyond the suspicion of deception. 
In 1837, Gen. Mills, of Mount Morris, 
harvested and threshed a five acre field on 
the Genesee Flats, that yielded 66 bushels 
and some pounds to the acre. The writer 
of this article was present at the threshing 
hnd measuring. When you can beat that 
we give up. “ Then, and not till then, let 
our epitaph be written.” 
CORN STALKS FOR COWS. 
Let the boys cut enough stalks at night 
to be used the next morning, for it is a wet 
job to cut them when the dew is on. 
The question is yet to be settled wheth¬ 
er it is not better to let all the corn you 
plant come to an ear than to cut any of it 
at the root before earing. We are some¬ 
times told what a great amount of fodder 
we can obtain from an acre planted with 
corn. No doubt we get a great amount, 
but may we not do better to save the corn 
and let the cows have the stalks and husks 
only ? 
We obtain 50 or 60 bushels of corn from 
an acre when we take good care of it and 
let it stand for the purpose of saving the 
grain. We ought therefore to expect a 
great amount of fodder when the whole is 
used for that purpose. 
We like the idea of letting cows have 
green stalks, cut at the foot or at the ear— 
but we suggest that more profit may be ob¬ 
tained by saving the ears till they are fit 
for grinding, or at least for boiling. For 
hogs there is not much loss in cutting up at 
the root as soon as the ears are full. They 
like a variety of food, and for a time they 
thrive well on green corn.— Massachisetts 
.Ploughman. 
Saltpetre for Wheat. —The May num¬ 
ber of the London Farmer’s Magazine, gives 
an account of an experiment made near 
Glasgow, on the application of 84 pounds of 
saltpetre to an acre of wheat. One half of 
the salt was down the l7th of April, and 
the other the 5th of May. Unmanured 
wheat weighed 2,552 pounds; straw 3,148 
pounds. Manured wheat 3,068 pounds; 
straw 4,500 pounds. Difference in weight 
of wheat 516 pounds; straw 1,353 pounds. 
The above figures demonstrate the inter¬ 
esting fact, that each pound of the salt 
named gave per grain 6 pounds of wheat 
and 16 of straw, making 22 in all. 
WESTERN NEW YORK-ITS HARVEST. 
If there were no Cataract at Niagara, no 
mighty Lakes, and no objects of bold inter¬ 
est to attract visitors through Western New 
York, a view just now of her verdant pas¬ 
tures, her fragrant meadows and her golden 
wheat fields richly compensate the traveler 
for his time and expense. A hurried visit 
to Rochester enabled us to enjoy, all too 
briefly, glimpses of Agricultural prosperity, 
the sight of which fills the heart with joy 
and thankfulness. Never has the teeming 
earth yielded her treasures with a more 
bountiful hand. Never did “ seed time and 
harvest” promise a more abundant reward 
to the husbandman. Never did prolific 
Western New York present a more beauti¬ 
ful panorama, for to a railroad passenger the 
view is highly panoramic. 
Onondaga, Cayuga, Seneca, Ontario and 
Monroe, are in a truly high and palmy con¬ 
dition. The growing crops of every de¬ 
scription are healthy and vigorous. Fruit 
promises to be excellent and plentiful. On¬ 
tario and Monroe resemble the richest and 
best cultivated portions of England and Be^ 
-gium. We have never seen, in that portion 
of our State, so many acres promising a 
larger yield of better wheat. This wheat, 
ripening early, invited the cradles several 
days since, and, blessed with good harvest 
weather, most of the crop is already secured. 
These waving wheat and luxuriant corn 
fields are beautiful landscape pictures, fami¬ 
liar alike to the eye and memory of a West¬ 
ern New Yorker; yet we cannot but be 
amazed at other changes and transitions. 
The daily trains, with from one hundred 
to two hundred and fifty passengers, are 
transferred as if by magic, upon bars of iron, 
between Albany and Buffalo. We drank 
tea at our own table, and found ourself 
waiting, the next morning, at Rochester, a 
full hour, for an early breakfast. Before 
taking the cars at Albany in the morning, 
you may step into the Telegraph Office and 
whisper over mysteriously magnetized wires, 
that you want supper at Bufelo, or a state 
room on board a Lake Steamer. 
It is distinctly within our memory when 
a lumbering stage, running every other day 
(stopping at night,) accommodated the west¬ 
ern travel. It is but 25 years since two 
daily stages, with an occasional extra, and 
the canal packets, answered every purpose. 
We have been 6 days and nights, by stage, 
in going from Albany to Rochester. Then, 
delays, occasioned by heavy roads, over¬ 
turned coaches, jaded teams, (kc. (fee., were 
borne patiently. But now, the loss of five 
or ten minutes time, in a 300 miles journey, 
puts Mr. Fretful in a passion, and Mrs. Var- 
den exclaims that these horrid slow cars will 
be the death of her! 
Of these thing's, while a beaming harvest 
moon and a canopy of shining stars waked 
old memories—we mused. In view of well- 
remembered objects the past with its “sweet 
and bitter fancies,” came back. The de¬ 
serted village, forsaken tavern, untraveled 
turnpike with its forlorn and rusty gates, 
once proudly prosperous, now look mourn¬ 
fully upon their thrifty, dashing rivals, the 
canal and railroad.— Albany Eve. Journal. 
Bees Prognosticators of the Weath¬ 
er. —Mr. J. A. Payne, author of Bee-keep¬ 
er’s Guide, says:—“I am not aware that 
bees have ever been placed in the list of 
those creatures which are said to foretell 
the changes of the "weather, as many ani¬ 
mals of the feathered and insect tribes are; 
but in my opinion they stand foremost of 
the‘ weather wise. A nice observer, by 
looking at them in the early morning, du¬ 
ring the working season, will very soon be 
able to form an opinion as to what the day 
will be, and that almost to a certainty; for 
they will sometimes appear sluggish and in¬ 
active, although the morning is very bright, 
and showing every appearance for a fine 
day; but the sun soon becomes clouded, and 
the rain follows. And again, the morning 
may be dull and cloudy, and sometimes rain 
may be falling, when they may be observed 
going out in considerable numbers; and as 
j sure as this is seen, the day becomes bright 
and fair.” 
To MAKE A Horse Follow You. —You 
may make any horse follow you in ten min¬ 
utes. Go to the horse, rub his face, jaw, 
and chin, leading him about, saying to him. 
Come along: a constant tone is necessary. 
By taking him away from other persons 
and horses, repeat the rubbing, leading apd 
stopping. Sometimes turn him around all 
ways, and keep his attention by saying. 
Come along. With some horses it is im¬ 
portant to whisper to them, as it hides 
the secret and gentles the horse; you may 
use any word you please, but be constant in 
your tone of voice. The same will cause 
all horses to follow. 
To Detroy Rats,— Professed rat-catch¬ 
ers in England use the following compound, 
and so affected are the rats by this perfume 
they can be taken by the hand with impu- 
nity. 
Powdered assafeutida, one quarter grain; 
oil of annise seed, one drachm; essential oil 
of lavender, one scruple; essential oil of 
rhodium, three drachms. Mix this com¬ 
pound, and put it on the bait in the trap. 
>1 
_ ( 
THE PLEASURES OF A COUNTRY LIFE, ^ 
T ^ ^ 
Lrv^iNO, as we do, in a warm, densely- [ 
built city, where the air is sultry and op- = 
pressive, the occasional glimpse we may, in ! 
our walks or rides, catch of the green fields, : 
the grassy meadows, and rural scenery in ! 
general, cannot convey an adequate idea of 
the pleasures of country life. We may ex- c 
perience much happiness in gazing on the \ 
beauties of Nature, and we may take pains, \ 
as far as possible, to profit by the lessons I 
gathered from her open pages; bat, even : 
yet, we have not arrived at the true source j" 
whence spring's the even life, the tranquil ; 
happiness, and the undisturbed pleasure of ( 
those who are born and nursed in Nature’s ^ 
lap, who grow up by her side, and who, at ( 
the close of a long life, free from care and ) 
sorrow, are buried in the village graveyard. < 
There is no class of men who can look ( 
with as much substantial pleasure on their I 
work, as farmers. They know they are ^ 
working for the good and benefit of their \ 
fellow-men; they feel the crop which they ( 
are reaping will be disseminated through ) 
the land, and bring comfort wherever it < 
goes, and that their harvest is watched for ( 
eagerly over the whole world; more than ) 
this, they love their way of life, they love ; 
to see the fields dressed in their robes of s 
green, the golden tufted crops nodding in c 
the summer air, while the ear delights in ) 
the merry carol of the bird, as he sits on \ 
the limb of some majestic tree. Yet, not s 
only the summer has charms for them, but ( 
they derive pleasure from blushing spring, ) 
from sober autumn, and from hoaiy winter; \ 
every season in its turn has charms for the ( 
farmer; he knows that an all-wise Provi- < 
dence created them, that His purpose was 
good and kind, desiring the comfort and < 
happiness of the tiller of the soil. He feels ( 
this, and is happy. He is the man who [ 
knows to its full extent the happiness of j 
country life. It may have its occasional ; 
crosses, crops may fail, harvest may not turn 
out right; yet, on the whole, the son of Na- < 
ture alone can feel the real pleasures of a ^ 
country life. —iU A. Farmer. . < 
AN AMATEUR FOWL BREEDER \ 
_ ( 
The editor of the Lynn “ Bay State,” has < 
been buying fancy eggs of some one in Bos- \ 
ton, at a big figure, which didn’t turn out [ 
what he expected and so he concludes that < 
the hen fever is a humbug! Served him < 
right; he bought what were said to be Co- 1 
chin China eggs, and after waiting patiently j 
over four weeks, he found six ducks in his < 
hatching coop on(} morning. So much for / 
his foresightedness. ) 
This isn’t half so bad as the case of one ( 
of his neighbors, however, who paid a round ( 
price for half a dozen choice eggs, queer ( 
looking—speckled eggs—small, round, “out- ; 
landish” eggs—which he felt certain would ; 
produce rare chickens, and which he was ( 
very cautious in setting under his veiy' best \ 
hen. [ 
At the end of a fortnight, ho was start- [ 
led, at the breakfast table, to hear hi.s favor- < 
ite hen screaming “ bloody murder” from \ 
under the coop. He rushed to the rescue, ^ 
raised the box lid, and found his hen still ( 
on the nest, but in frightful perturbation— i 
struggling, yelling and cackling most vocif- $ 
erously. \ 
He spoke to her kindly and softly; he <I 
would fain appease and quiet her; for there \ 
was great danger lest in her excitement and ' 
struggles, she should destroy the favorite | 
eggs, which had cost him so much money ( 
and trouble. But soft words were vain.— / 
His “ best” hen continued to scream, and 
he raised her from the nest to look into her < 
cause of trouble more critically. His asion- \ 
ishment was instantaneous, but immense; | 
and his surprise found vent in the brief ex- < 
clamation— ( 
“Turtles! Turtles!” ^ 
Such was the fact. Tlie poor innocent ^ 
poultry “fancier” was the victim of mis- | 
placed confidence. The party who had sold ( 
him the eggs had sold the buyer shocking- 
ly ! And instead of a brood of Cochin \ 
China, he found that his favorite hen had 
hatched half a dozen pure mudturtles, all of 
whom on breaking from the shell, seized \ 
upon the flesh of the poor fowl, and had S 
well nigh destroyed her life before they ( 
could be “choked off!” He has given up J 
the chicken trade, and has since gone into ^ 
the dwarf pear business. — .4w. Union. 
• __ ) 
How much may be Made on a Small ^ 
Farm, well Cultivated. —In one year, c 
about 30 years ago, there was made on the 
Alms House farm, in Salem, Massachusetts, 
t consisting of about thirty-five acres, under I; 
the management of Mr. Paul Upton, as ^ 
follows:— ) 
Pork killed, weighed 7,960 lbs.; twelve ; 
live pigs, sold for $42; on hand, 57 live pigs; ^ 
400 bushels corn; 2,250 bushels potatoes'; ) 
900 bushels turnips; 3 tons squashes; 50 ^ 
tons pumpkins; and all the common sum¬ 
mer vegetables of the Alms House. ^ 
All from 35 acres—but the mouths were ^ 
all on the land to consume the products of 
the land, and when that is the case, land s 
will produce by tons in place of bushels and ^ 
pounds weight, and will • enrich itself as a ^ 
spider spins its web out of its own bowels. ■ 
—American Gour. ) 
