MOORE’S RURAL NEW-YORKER: AN AGRICULTURAL AND FAMILY JOURNAL. 
precaution;—this can be done by leaving 
the bottom too short to cover the whole 
length. The moulds need to be kept sand¬ 
ed on the inside and also need w r ashing as 
often as every third brick is moulded, on 
account of the soft clay adhering to the 
tides and bottom—a barrel filled with wa¬ 
ter should be placed at hand for this pur¬ 
pose. When the bricks become somewhat- 
hard they should be raised from the recum¬ 
bent position and placed on the edge, both 
sides are then exposed to the air, which fa¬ 
cilitates the drying. And when they are 
nearly cured, they should be stacked in a 
large pile, and covered with boards to pro¬ 
tect them from the weather, that the drying 
process may be completed before being laid 
in the walls of the buildings, as the shrink¬ 
age is considerable from the time that they 
are made until perfectly dried. In laying 
them in the walls, the same kind of mortar 
can be used that the brick arc made from, 
omitting the cut straw. 
As to the durability of these houses there 
can be no question, if properly constructed. 
The following precautions should be used. 
Elevate them well from the ground, so 
that no moisture reaches the brick by ca- 
pilliary attraction. No base should project 
to impede the running off of the w r ater, and 
the mortar for plastering the outside of the 
building should be composed of the best 
of materials for such purpose. Good, coarse, 
sharp sand, not too much lime, and if at any 
time it should cleave off it can be perma¬ 
nently attached, by driving in a few good 
sized nails with large flat heads, and then 
plastering over the nails, each of which will 
at least hold G inches square of the plas¬ 
tering. 
The qualities of these brick for building 
purposes, need the investigation of a more 
scientific head than I possess, and I hope 
that the proper persons will take hold of 
the matter and lay it before the public, as 
the true merits of the subject require. A 
few things I am certain of: the brick being 
dry and porous and to a certain degree 
non conductors of heat; consequently the heat 
generated in a room does not pass off as it 
would if it came in contact with burnt brick 
or stone; and also being porous they imme¬ 
diate!) absorb all moisture that comes in 
contact with them, which is again gradually 
dried up by the air; and also from their pe¬ 
culiar qualities do not condense the moist¬ 
ure that may be in the air. 
They are capable of being finished so as 
to appear as well as if built of any other 
common material, and at one half the cost 
of brick, stone, or wood, and every laboring 
man can build his own house if he thinks 
proper, or if he hires a mason to lay up the 
walls he will be surprised at the advance¬ 
ment which a day’s labor will accomplish 
from the large size of the bricks. Should 
I ever build another house for my own use 
it would be of this material. In construct¬ 
ing our dwellings we should have an eye 
to the comfort of the concern, more than 
the display, for it is not the costliness of our 
homes that secures the former, but in the 
conveniences pertaining. There are many 
things required about the home of a man 
and his family to make it agreeable, besides 
the outward display of the dwelling, and if 
we can secure comfort at a cheap rate it is 
time to lay prejudice one side and use com¬ 
mon sense in matters pertaining thereunto. 
Big Stream Point, Jan. 30,1851. I. H.- 
SALE OF SHORT-HORN STOCK. 
Wk would direct attention to the adver¬ 
tisement of Geo. Vail, Esq., of Troy, favor¬ 
ably known as an importer and breeder of 
thorough bred Short-horns, who proposes to 
sell a part of his excellent herd at public 
auction on the 25th of June next. The list 
embraces some of the best short-horn bulls 
in the country. The sale is worthy the at¬ 
tention of breeders, and others wishing to 
procure choice animals of the Bates’ stock, 
from which Mr. V.’s importations have been 
derived. 
—In this connection we may mention 
that S. P. Chapman, Esq., of Clockville, N. 
Y., has recently sold his two year old Short¬ 
horn heifer “ Fashion” to R. D. Palmer, 
Esq., of the same place, for 8150. “ Fash¬ 
ion” is derived from Bates’ stock; was sired 
by “ Buena Vitas”—dam “Willey 11,” by 
“ Mars,” &c. She has taken the 1st premi¬ 
um at Madison Co. Fair two years in suc¬ 
cession. “ Fashion” was exhibited by Mr. 
C. at the State Fair held in Syracuse, 
and attracted much attention. We then 
“ reckoned ” her superior. 
CROSS-CUT SAW-MILL AND HORSE-POWER. 
The above cut represents a simple and 
effective apparatus for sawing wood, cutting 
off logs, and cutting timber into various 
forms, by means of horse-power. It is 
manufactured by Messrs. Emery & Co., of 
Albany, and was exhibited by them at the 
last State Fair. The arrangement is very 
simple, as it is only necessary to affix a 
strong wrist, or crank-pin in one of the arms 
of the large converge wheel, (as shown,) 
and attaching a connecting rod or pitman 
to the saw itself, or to a light frame, in. 
which the saw is sometimes strained. If 
the saw is strained, it may be quite light— 
about three inches wide and five or six feet 
long. If is is not strained, it should be stout 
and strong, and six or eight inches wide, 
with teeth filed to cut with the drawing 
stroke, so as to avoid the liability of break¬ 
ing the saw. The motion as given with 
the power above represented, (about sixty 
revolutions per minute,) is found sufficient 
without any extra gearing or expense. 
Mr. P. B. Haven, of Sangerfield, N. Y., 
who has had one of these machines in use 
the past season, states that two men with a 
two-horse power, without any change 
horses, can readily work up from ten to 
BEES, CLOVER, &c. 
Bees— White. Clover—Cause of its decay—Mir- 
acles and witchcraft—Every thing produced ab 
ovo —Curious property of red clover. 
It is quite certain, that a wheat growing 
country is unfavorable to the successful prop¬ 
agation and production of the Honey Bee, 
and simply from the lack of the "Wkite 
Clover; an article of prime necessity, dur¬ 
ing a period in summer, when there is no 
flower in bloom to supply its place. 
However natural the soil may be to its 
growth, the process of constant rotation for 
the wheat crop is fatal to its production; as 
it is never sown as a grass crop, or for im¬ 
proving the soil, its production can only be 
produced in those lands that lie long in pas¬ 
ture and allowed to increase by runners, 
which it does contrary to the nature of the 
other clovers, and in a very rapid manner 
A single plant from the seed, has been 
known to cover four feet square the second 
year. 
It is rather difficult to account for the 
coming in of white clover in some soils. 
The vulgar saying and belief prevails, that 
some lands are natural to white clover, 
conveying the idea, that it is spontaneously 
produced, without the intervention of a 
germ, or seed—by a kind of miracle in the 
exclusive favor of this plant, of which the 
believers in this doertine assert no other in¬ 
stance. It is a' monstrous absurdity, that 
cannot be tolerated a moment—a rupture 
of those eternal and unchangeable laws, that 
govern and control all created things. 
Every individual material of vitality, both 
vegetable and animal—from the moluck to 
man, from the cryptogamii, (toad stools,) 
to the wheat plant, or the contemptible little 
mosses on the stones and fences,—are en¬ 
dowed with the seeds and sexes of propo- 
gation, and there is no better reason, for 
supposing a departure in nature, a super¬ 
natural interference to reproduce (he white 
clover, than there is that the same unseen 
agency can turn wheat into chess. Ihey 
are both subjects that fare better with be¬ 
lief than with reason. 
It is a curious fact, that the red clover, 
now in such extensive use as a fertilizer, and 
fourteen cords of hard wood, into lengths of 
eighteen inches, in a day, and that he has 
cut off a solid hard wood log, two feet 
through, in two minutes. 
The ease and facility with which this ap¬ 
paratus can be made to perform what has 
heretofore been a laborious and tedious 
operation, is another economical application 
of the power of horses in lieu of manual 
labor, which deserves the attention of far¬ 
mers in the lumbering districts, and all those 
who have wood and timber to be prepared 
for market or for use. The arrangement 
j of the machinery is so simple, that it can 
be put together by any mechanic. The 
cost of a saw is about one dollar per foot in 
length; the cost of a one-horse power, which 
is sufficient for working the saw, is $80 — 
that for a two-horse power which is better 
calculated for threshing, (fee., is $110. The 
expense of the frame or rigging, will vary 
from five to twenty dollars—making the 
whole cost of the apparatus, for a one-horse 
power, from $90 to $105, and that for a 
two-horse power $120 to $135. For fur¬ 
ther particulars inquire of Messrs. Embry 
& Co., Agricultural Warehouse, Albany. 
— Albany Cultivator. 
the nectary of whose flower contains more 
honey than any other blossom of the 
j field, is so constructed that its stores are al¬ 
most beyond the reach of any creatures 
that subsist upon that production. The 
cell of the flower is so deep, that the honey 
bee cannot, and the humble bee only par¬ 
tially reaches the nectary, and the tube is 
so small that the humming bird never 
meddles with it. There is more absolute 
sugar in an acre of red clover, than in the 
best acre of sugar maple trees ever created, 
and its peculiar structure in those relations 
are provisions beyond our comprehension 
of the motives of its formation. 
Millitus. 
“COVER YOUR BARNYARDS.” 
Messrs. Editors: —I noticed in the 5th 
No. of the present volume of the Rural, 
and article entitled as above. Now, we have 
had some experience in keeping manure 
under cover, but not that which was very 
satisfactory. Eight years ago my father 
built a barn large enough to stall 20 head 
of cattle, and with sufficient room for the 
manure to be thrown back behind them, 
where it could remain for months. But in 
less than one month it heat so that we had 
to remove it to the yard, or it would have 
been entirely spoiled. 
If there is a mode of keeping manure 
under cover without heating, we should 
like to learn the process, and should like also 
to be informed where there is a barnyard 
covered as there proposed. c. d. c. 
Lockport, N. Y.,Feb. 28, 1851. 
Remarks. —The article referred to was 
copied from an English periodical, and re¬ 
commended, the protection of manure from 
the weather. No one would imagine from 
anything contained therein, or from its ap¬ 
pearance in. our columns, that we supposed 
that unmixed manure would keep uninjured 
in large heaps, under cover, or even out of 
doors. We publish the above, with the 
hope that some of our correspondents will 
give us an article on the best mode of 
managing manures, so as to preserve as far 
as may be, all their fertilizing qualities.— 
i Eds. 
SUBSOIL PLOWING. 
Friend Moore:— In the 1st No. of Vol. 
2d of the New-Yorker is an article on 
“ Subsoil Plowing.” Now I do not profess 
to be a practical farmer, although I read 
Agricultural papers with much interest, and 
in imagination am much engaged in Agri¬ 
cultural pursuits. Hence my farming op¬ 
erations are chiefly theoretical I have 
learned, however, that theory is not always 
worthless, as it may sometimes explain, the 
causes both of success and of failure. 
In regard to subsoiling there appears to 
be several things that may modify the result 
1st The season. Suppose a wet season 
and a wet soil with a compact subsoiL The 
operation of subsoiling according to my 
theory, could hardly fail of being beneficial, 
by affording opportunity for the escape of a 
portion of the superfluous moisture. But 
suppose the season to be dry, the operation 
would be still more beneficial, both because 
it would render the soil more capable of 
retaining necessary moisture, and because 
it w ould afford a greater range for the roots 
of the growing plants. 
But suppose a wet season and a natural¬ 
ly dry soil, with a compact subsoil Here 
again subsoiling would be serviceable for 
the reason first above mentioned. But sup¬ 
pose the season to be dry, subsoiling would 
still be beneficial for the second reason 
above mentioned. 
But suppose in either case that the sub 
soil is light, porous, spongy, (fee. Subsoil¬ 
ing could be of little use, as none of the 
reasons above could operate, to any great 
extent. Hence'—• 
2d. The character of the subsoil will 
modify the result If this be porous, light 
&c., subsoiling would be of little use under 
any circumstances, unless the object were 
to mix it with the surface soil. But if hard 
and compact it could hardly fail of being 
serviceable under any circumstances, as all 
the above reasons would operate. 
3d. The depth to which the surface soil 
is plowed. If this be turned up to the 
depth of eight or nine inches, the necessity 
for disturbing the subsoil will be very much 
diminished, especially for those kinds of grain 
whose roots do not extend to a great depth. 
These considerations will, I think, partial¬ 
ly explain why the writer of the article 
above mentioned, did not derive the antici¬ 
pated advantage from his “subsoiling” op¬ 
eration. He plowed “ eight inches deep.” 
His “ subsoil was gravelly.” His grain was 
“ wheat,” which doubtless obtained a full 
supply of food without descending into the 
subsoil. 
Such is my theory on the subject Ex¬ 
perience, however, may prove it ill-founded 
Down East, Feb. 10,1851. II. 
MULTICOLE RYE. 
Some few years since we received from 
the Hon. H. S. Ellsworth, Commissoncr of 
the Patent Office at Washington, a small 
package of this grain, but not having time 
to make experiments with it, we parcelled 
it out to individuals who promised to give 
it a fair trial, and furnish us with the result. 
Whether it proved a failure or not we are 
unable to say. Very high expectations 
were entertained concerning it by many, 
based, no doubt, on the extravagant repre¬ 
sentations which had been circulated, re¬ 
specting its great powers of prolification, and 
its perfect adaptedness to almost every des¬ 
cription of soil and climate. From a New 
England paper, we abstract the following 
remarks in reference to it:— 
“ It is later, and on that account may be 
more liable to rust than other rye. As it 
produces much foliage, it may be valuable 
for early feed in the Spring, by soiling or 
otherwise, and will form a good green crop 
to turn under in the Spring. 
But in one respect, it far exceeds common 
rye; that is, in furnishing straw for braid, 
not only of superior quality, but of superior 
length. Some of the joints are more than 
eighteen or twenty inches in length; the 
leaf covers the straw one-third further than 
common straw, and that covered part is all 
that is used in fine work.” 
The same writer further remarks that, 
“as the grain has been scattered widely 
over the land in small parcels, which have 
now multiplied to moderate quantities, ena¬ 
bling cultivators to give it a fair test, wc hope 
to have their opinions by and by, as to its 
utility. If it yields a common crop, we have 
do doubt it will be a valuable acquisition, 
as the amount of business in the way of 
straw braid is very great, in some sections, 
and many very fine fields of rye are cut be¬ 
fore ripe, in order to furnish the material 
for this profitable branch of domestic indus¬ 
try.” As a grain crop, it will probably be 
considered by most cultivators, as inferior 
to our common varieties.— Olive Branch. 
ON WHEAT GROWING. 
Mr. Editor: —I have been much inter¬ 
ested in the perusal of the “Prize Essay 
on Wheat Growing,” prepared by the Edi¬ 
tor of the Michigan Farmer for the Michi¬ 
gan State Agricultural Society. It abounds 
in valuable information well deserving the 
attentive consideration of every intelligent 
wheat-grower. The superior advantages of 
deep and thorough tillage, over the wretch¬ 
ed practice of skinning the surface which 
still prevails with us to some extent, are 
clearly set forth. Several instances known 
to the writer are mentioned, where the true 
theory in this particular has been satisfac¬ 
torily sustained by the amply remunerating 
profits of actual experiments. 
In connection with deep plowing the 
turning under clover as a fertilizer and ma¬ 
nure for the wheat crop is strongly urged. 
Although I would not for a moment 
question the benefits of the clover system, 
I am inclined to the opinion that the writer 
relies too muck upon it, for restoring or 
keeping up the fertility of the wheat lands of 
Michigan; as the clover like all broad leaf 
plants, derives its organic constitution chief¬ 
ly from the atmosphere, it is well calcula¬ 
ted to supply the lack of vegetable matter 
iu the soil, and by its long tap roots pene¬ 
trating the subsoil, it brings to the surface 
the mineral elements of wheat and other 
grain crops. But we should bear in mind 
the fact that not a particle of mineral mat¬ 
ter is imparted to the soil by plowing un¬ 
der a hundred clover crops growing there¬ 
on; but, as we have just remarked it is 
brought from the subsoil to the surface, 
there to furnish the constituents of the grain 
crops, and to be carried with them from the 
soil. 
From what little knowledge I have of 
Michigan, I infer that generally there is a 
deficiency of vegetable matter in the soil, 
excepting, perhaps the timber and prairie 
lands; a plentiful supply of lime, but not 
of the phosphates and potash, both of 
which enter largely into the composition, 
particularly of the wheat and corn crops. 
When we reflect that nearly 50 per cent of 
the ash of wheat is phosphoric acid, and 
from 25 to 30 per cent, potash; while tlie 
straw which alone is returned as manure to 
the laud, contains only about 3 per cent of 
the former, and *1 per cent of the latter, it 
is evident that merely returning the straw 
and plowing under clover will not alone suf¬ 
fice, when there is not a full supply of these 
mineral elements in the soil The intelli¬ 
gent farmer will at once perceive the ne¬ 
cessity of looking to other sources for these 
essential elements of the wheat crop. 
One important fact in connection with 
agricultural progress should not be disre¬ 
garded ; that, in order to reap the most re¬ 
munerative profits from labor expended in 
cultivation, we should first arrive at just 
conclusions in regard to tho character and 
constitution of our soil, by bringing to our 
aid the labor and skill of the experienced 
analytical chemist We shall then be able to 
act intelligently in conducting the labors of 
the farm, and satisfactorily to determine 
how far we may safely rely upon deep til¬ 
lage, and the clover system, as auxiliaries 
to the successful and profitable growing of 
grain crops. w. r. s. 
Ovid, Seneca Co., N. Y., 1851. 
STANDARD SHAPE FOR FOWLS. 
At the late exhibition of poultry at Bos¬ 
ton a well known gentleman, who had care¬ 
fully examined the different kinds of fowls, 
observed: 
“ These long legged, thin breasted chickens 
will never answer for the table. I speak 
from forty year’s practice in carving. I 
have formerly had them, sometimes, on my 
table, but have grown wise by experience, 
and will have no more of them. To say 
nothing of the poor quality of their flesh, 
their shape is not right For instance, if I 
have a pair of such chickens, and there are 
half a dozen ladies at table, each chooses 
from the breast, and there cannot be enough 
cut from that part to serve round; but if I 
have a pair of partridges (ruffed grouse,) 
though they may not weigh more than half 
as much as chickens, I can readily take a 
slice from the breast for each guest. 
The partridge, then, should be the shape 
of fowls; and, beside the advantage alluded 
to, it will be found in genera! that the near¬ 
er this form is approached the better will 
be the flesh, and the greater the quantity 
in proportion to the bone.”— Albany Cult. 
Cough in Horses.— It is said the small 
twigs of cedar, chopped fine and mixed with 
their grain, will cure a cough, and that it 
has been used with complete success. 
