•i WHOLE NO. 57 
ROCHESTER, N. Y.-THURSMY, JANUARY 
MOORE’S RURAL NEW-YORKER: 
A WEEKLY JOURNAL, DEVOTED TO 
Agriculture, Horticulture, Mechanic Arte and Sci¬ 
ence, Education, Rural and Domestic Economy, 
General Intelligence, the Markets, &c., &c. 
WIRE FENCE—NOT ABANDONED YET. 
FARMING IN NORTHERN ONEIDA-AGAIN. 
principles of the sewer water which science 
has decided to be the most valuable for the 
purposes of manure.” 
These facts show the remarkable absorb¬ 
ent power of the soil—equal to retaining 
three tons of ammonia upon ten inches 
depth of the surface of an acre, which is 
more than twenty times the amount usually 
applied or needed. It also retains these 
manurial constituents—having such an af¬ 
finity for them, that, according to experi¬ 
ments made, “ pure water may be poured 
through the soil so charged without dissolv¬ 
ing out these substances, which are other¬ 
wise extremely soluble.” 
The above furnishes some valuable hints 
of the best means of making and applying 
manure—some valuable principles which 
our intelligent farming friends may profita¬ 
bly work out in practice. 
It has been thought by some of our Oneida 
farmers that Boonville was the poorest ag¬ 
ricultural town in the county, but I believe 
the time will soon come when it will rank 
among the best Yours, &c., 
M. P. Jackson. 
Boonville, Oneida Co., N. Y., Jan., 1931. 
Situation, Soil, Water and Timber—Clearing 
Land, ike first crops of Oats and Wheat- 
Present Farm, and Stock—Autumn Plowing — 
Product and Expense Account for 1850. 
My farm is four miles south of the vil¬ 
lage of Boonville, in the town of that name, 
and one mile from the Black River Canal, 
and plank road, on the way to Rome ; and 
on the southern slope of the height of land 
descending in that direction. The soil is a 
slate and gravel muck-loam, and the stone 
of the hard-head description. It is well 
watered with durable springs, supplying 
every lot, and the timber is of good kinds 
and quality. We have maple, beech and 
birch, white-ash, butternut and basswood, 
suitable for wood, fencing and lumber. 
My farm is adapted to grain as well as 
grass, so that I raise wheat and other grains 
for thy own use, and some to sell. In 
1843-4, I had one hundred acres cleared, 
paying $14 per acre and the ashes, and 
fencing it myself. I saved from it, for rails, 
lumber, &c., 200 white-ash trees, and 50 
each of butternut and basswood. In Oct., 
when clearing, with a hand and two teams 
I harrowed the first 50 acres thoroughly 
twice over. It took us one week to do it, 
besides the chore of milking 10 cows a 
piece, night and morning. The spring fol¬ 
lowing as soon as the snow was oft’ I sowed 
16 acres to wheat—the bald Italian variety 
—one bushel and a peck to the acre. The 
other 34 acres were sown to oats. 
The wheat yielded 23-J bushels per acre, 
and sold for $1 per bushel, amounting for 
the 16 acres to $376,00. The oats yielded 
69-5- bushels per acre, and sold for 25 cents 
per bushel, amounting for the 34 acres to 
$590,75,—making a total of $906,75. 
The crop on the other fifty acres the sec- 
,ond year, was equally valuable. This, I 
am told, was the first wheat ever raised for 
market in Boonville. The first tub of but¬ 
ter was sold in 1826. 
My farm now comprises 562 acres. I 
was set out from the parent tree by my 
father, Wm. Jackson, of Fairfield, Herki¬ 
mer Co., with 200 acres—89 acres under 
improvement—and some knowledge of prac¬ 
tical farming. For the rest of my farm I 
have paid from $5 to $16 per acre, and have 
now 250 acres in cultivation. I summered 
60 cows, 17 head of young cattle, 6 horses 
and 20 sheep. I have made 400 lbs. of 
cheese from each cow, and sold it for $6-.} 
per hundred, and have made butter enough 
for family use. I have cut hay enough to 
winter all my stock, and raised wheat and 
other kinds of grain for farm consumption. 
I do about all of my plowing in the fall, 
and get out my manure then, putting from 
10 to 20 loads to the acre. My meadow 
land yields from 2% to 3 tons of hay per 
acre. 
The products of my farm for 1850, may 
be summed, up as follows: 
Value of cheese from 60 cows,.$1,560 00 
164 tons of hay at $7 per ton,. 1,148 00 
80 bushels of wheat at$l,. 80 00 
600 “ Oats, “ 30 cts... 180 00 
100 “ Barley, “ 50 “ .. 50 00 
20 “ Rye, “ 75 “ .. 15 00 
50 “ Potatoes, 50 “ .. 25 00 
1,698 pounds pork at 5 cents,. 84 90 
50 Calf-skins at 50 cents,. 25 00 
NUMBER II. 
Before 1 proceed to speak or. the differ¬ 
ent plans proposed by others, I will give an 
account of my experiments, expecting and 
wishing my own fence to pass the severest 
criticism—for I have no desire to recom¬ 
mend a new project which shall eventually 
prove a failure. 
I commenced building wire fence in 1848 
—at first putting up only 8 rods, which was 
extended to 24 during the season. The 
next summer I put up 24 rods more.— 
These two lines were on each side of a 
lane extending from my dwelling to the 
highway, and were much exposed by rea¬ 
son of cattle rushing up so narrow a road. 
Of these fences I shall have occasion to 
speak hereafter. 
The last summer I built 25 rods, of fence 
in the interior of my farm and not exposed 
to anything but my own stock. Large ce¬ 
dar posts were set at the distance of 60 
feet apart—the two outside posts being 
braced with a cedar pole 12 feet long, the 
one end of which was against a large stone, 
the other against the top of the post Slats 
of white oak, 1-jJ inches wide by -f inch 
thick, were placed every 10 feet between 
the posts, and No. 10 wire was run through 
each of these posts and slats, the length of 
the fence. The upper wire being 4 feet 
from the ground—the 2d wire 10 inches 
CONDUCTED EY D. D. T. MOORE, 
ASSISTED BY 
J. H. BIXBY, L. WETHERELL, and H. C. ’ 
Contributors and Correspondents: 
L. B. Langworthy, Chester. Dewf.y, j.l. d., 
William Oarbutt, J. Clement, 
8. P. Chapman, W. Wallace Shaw, 
David Ely, R. G. Pardee, 
Myron Adams, Samuel Moulson, 
G. W. Marshall, Jas. II. Watts, 
I\ W. Lay, W. K. Wyckokp, 
T. E. Wetmore, W. H. Bristol, 
R. B. Warren, W. D. Allis, a 
Archibald Stone, L. 1). Whiting. 
And numerous others—practical, scientific, and literary 
writers — whose names are necessarily omitted. 
Jpg’" For Terms, &c., see last page. 
LIME AS A MANURE. I 
Mr. Moore :—From my experience with < 
lime as a fertilizer on most soils, I am dis- < 
posed to reject it entirely. I have used it \ 
on light, sandy and loamy land in all shapes, | 
air-slaked and quick, old refuse mortar, \ 
and made from oyster shells, without re- < 
alizing any benefit. A land in the middle <j 
of several fields was dressed with it without \ 
showing any indications of increased crops, \ 
or luxuriance of foliage, for a series of years, j 
The only soils that I have observed ben • > 
efited by its use, are the stiff unctous clays. ; 
It seems to render them more friable and ■’ 
pervious to water, and in some measure to $ 
act as a stimulant and fertilizer. 
I am disposed to think that the soils of ] 
the west are fully charged with the neces- \ 
sary quantity of lime to produce all of those \ 
crops, that analysis shows require that ar- \ 
tide as constituent, and it may be cuitiva \ 
ted for hundreds of years before it will be ^ 
exhausted, as the wheat lands of England < 
are—where the liming of the land, is as ) 
important an item in the lease, as the pay - ) 
ment of the rent; in fact, there the grain < 
and grass crops cannot be profitably pro- ? 
duced without it. ) 
Writers on the subject say that its use < 
with putrescent manures has a very injuri- > 
ous effect, and I am convinced of its truth, > 
for all the salts and acids have such an at- > 
traction — such a chemical affinity and - 
election for lime, as to give up these in < 
combination with all other constituents, and - 
combine with it; forming, in most cases, a s 
soluble salt, which the rains dissolve and ) 
carry off, and liberating the gases, which ) 
are dissipated in the air. If its use can be > 
tolerated in forming composts in any case, \ 
it must be in old and well rotted vegetable j 
or yard manures, and effete bog and. peat \ 
bottoms. s 
Lime is very sparingly soluble in water, j 
only one part being capable of dissolving in ) 
about five hundred of pure water, but as ) 
water becomes charged with carbonic acid ) 
before it is a proper material for entering } 
the roots of vegetables and forming sap, its \ 
ability to dissolve lime is greatly increased. ] 
Lime in its quick or caustic state, ab l 
sorbs water from the atmosphere, slacks, < 
attracts carbonic acid, and finally becomes a ] 
hydrate of lime, and has lost its property of > 
forming mortar, becoming of the nature of \ 
chalk. | 
It is one of the mineral alkalies, and may ; 
be an important agent in the solution, of < 
silex or flint, so abundantly displayed i:n the < 
coatings of ail the cereal grains and grasses ) 
That it is designed to perform an impor- ' 
tant part in vegetable vitality, there can be no \ 
doubt, yet it may well be questioned wheth- \ 
er a soil like ours, formed upon and out of i 
the sedimentary rocks, which, of a thickness ] 
of more than forty thousand feet, are nine \ 
tenths formed of lime, will need an artificial > 
application of this article for many and ) 
L. Manly. \ 
PROGRESS AND I^IPUOVIUIIINT. 
ABSORBENT POWER. OE SOILS. 
The British Agricultural Journals have 
lately been engaged in a controversy on the 
ownership of the honor of priority in dis¬ 
covering the power of the soil to absorb 
certain manurial elements, and some new 
facts in the science connected therewith.— 
It seems that Mr. H. S. Thompson and 
Prof. Wat, were engaged at the same time 
in experimenting in the matter;—but the 
honor may after all belong in this country, 
as Prof. Mapes of N. J., claims that both 
Mr. Teschmaker of Boston and himself, 
published articles on the subject before it 
attracted attention or experiment in Eng¬ 
land. But what most particularly interests 
our readers, are the facts which have been 
elicited. 
Mr. Thompson’s object was to ascertain 
the power of the soil to retain unimpaired 
in value, manures applied during the winter, 
and also its power to hold in suspension the 
fixed ammonia in barn-yard tanks and ma¬ 
nure heaps. 
Pie filtered through sandy loam, six inch¬ 
es in depth, 10 grains of sulphate of am¬ 
monia and 10 grains of sesquicarbonate of 
ammonia, both dissolved in distilled water, 
the one representing the ammoniacal mat¬ 
ter of the tank fixed by gypsum or sulphu¬ 
ric acid, and the other the free ammoniacal 
solutions of the decomposed vegetable and 
animal matter of the farm-yard,—and he 
found that after passing through this thin 
stratum of soil, only 2.4 grains of the sul¬ 
phate of ammonia resulted in the one case, 
and only 1.3 grains in the other. But, when 
an eight-inch stratum of the soil was used, 
the whole of the ammonia was retained.— 
Several other experiments were tried, to 
. the same point; and he arrived at the fol¬ 
lowing deductions:— 
H 1 . That clay soils might be manured a 
considerable time before sowing, without loss. 
“ 2 . That light shallow soils should not 
be manured long before sowing; should 
not be heavily manured one time; and the 
manure should be kept as near the surface 
as practicable, without leaving it uncovered. 
“ 8 . That it is desirable to deepen the 
cultivated soil of all light land, as it thus 
gives it a greater power of holding manure.” 
Prof. Way’s experiments were made 
partly, to ascertain the value of loamy soil 
as a deodorizer. With this view, “ lie sub¬ 
jected stinking tank water to filtration thro’ 
24 inches of a light loam, and the moisture 
at the foot of the tube was perfectly free 
from smell, and a mixture of this soil and 
white sand allowed the percolation of water 
through it quite clear and perfectly free 
from ammonia.” 
In an interesting experiment (detailed in 
the Gardeners’ and Farmers’ Journal) with 
the drainage of a London sewer, Prof. Way 
found that “ the ammonia is 
WILLIAMSON FARMERS’ CLUE. 
The writer was unexpectedly detained at 
Williamson Corners, one of the northern 
tier of towns in Wayne county, last evening 
for a couple of hours—and while there in 
waiting, was much gratified to observe 
the farmers gathering for the purpose of 
attending the regular weekly meeting of 
the Farmer’s Club of that town. Of course 
it afforded peculiar pleasure to drop into such 
a gathering, and listen to the discussion. 
The subject for discussion was “ The use, 
application and importance of Manures”— 
and I listened with exceeding pleasure, and 
no small degree of instruction, to the ex¬ 
perience and observation of the hard-fisted 
farmers of that prosperous town. I was 
surprised at the amount of interesting facts 
and experiments they brought to bear on 
the subject — giving us the clearest evi¬ 
dence that, for a series of years, they have 
been alive to the importance of the subject, 
and have been experimenting in various 
ways with liquid and solid barn yard and 
stable manure, ashes, lime, salt,green crops; 
the lienery and hog pen, and in fact the 
whole range of fertilizers was investigated 
with a clearness and truthfulness that would 
have done credit to the winter agricultural 
discussions in the capitol at Albany. I 
speak emphatically, but with deliberation. 
The discussions at Albany are often con¬ 
ducted by distinguished agriculturists, who 
are farming on a large scale, and often give 
in the results of their experiments at best 
but second handed; but these men knew 
and could tell with certainty all about the 
matter. 
Said one of the farmers present—“ We 
talk of 7 per cent interest for our money, 
but I can prove to my neighbor farmers 
that an intelligent, judicious and liberal ap¬ 
plication of manures will bring them a cer¬ 
tain income of seventy-seven per cent on 
the use of their money.” Ashes were spo- 
fence, making a ditch on each side and a 
ridge between up to the lower wire. This 
ridge was not so steep as to wash by rains 
nor heave by frosts. Each wire was strained 
by winding around a windlass 2 .]- inches in 
diameter and fastened by a rag wheel and 
dog in the usual manner. The fence was 
painted with coal tar and finished. 
The expense of building this fence, ex¬ 
clusive of the ditches and ridge, was fifty 
cents a rod—and it was done in the most 
substantial manner—and has never been 
broken, altered or fixed, or the wires 
loosened, since it was made. The fence di¬ 
vided a pasture from a field of oats and an 
orchard. In this pasture were kept horses, 
cattle, an'd hogs, and although the horses 
were very unruly, and made me much 
trouble in jumping other fences, neither 
they nor the cattle had any disposition to 
come near this fence. The ditch and ridrre 
O 
or bank of earth was a visible object so that 
when racing or frolicing they never run 
against the fence. Hogs would walk in the 
ditch, but as they could see no plunder on 
the other side of the fence, they remained 
content I have no hesitation in saying that 
cattle and horses after becoming acquainted 
with a wire fence on the farm where they 
have been reared, will always be restrained 
by it They appear to dislike the sound 
and the feeling of it Hogs have no such 
dread, and will crawl between the wires if 
they are not well strained. I think the 
ditch and bank of earth if well built, will 
form an effectual restraint to them. 
Of the expense of the ditches and bank 
I have said nothing. It will depend very 
much upon the soil and location. In some 
Expenses for the same, as follows 
One man for the year,. 
“ “ 10 months,. L 
“ boy 8 “ . . 
*• woman, 8 “ I 
Board-bill of the above,. II 
Extra help in having and harvesting, ! 
“ board-bill “ “ 
Farm utensils and repairs,. i 
Dairy expenses,. i 
many years to come. 
Orleans Co., 1850. 
Remarks. —The views and conclusion of 
of our correspondent are somewhat differ¬ 
ent from those generally prevailing—espe¬ 
cially among scientific writers. As the sub - 
ject is an important one, we shall be glad, to 
hear the opinions of other practical men, 
and trust they will communicate the results 
of their observation and experience ia the 
separated from 
the rest of the organic matter to the last 
fraction; the phosphoric acid is separated 
from its bases, and so is part of the sulphu¬ 
ric acid and all the potash; so that in fact 
the soil had selected and retained those very 
. $782 88 
I have omitted a statement of family 
expenses, and also enough to balance it, 
from the account of receipts and products. 
