I 
MOORE’S RURAL NEW-YORKER: AN AGRICULTURAL AND FAMILY JOURNAL. 
jects of improvement, the procuring and 
exchanging of cabinet specimens, plants, 
and the performance of other friendly offi¬ 
ces. Regular monthly meetings should be 
held for transacting business —the discus¬ 
sion of topics, reading essays, &c., by mem¬ 
bers;—in winter weekly meetings, in addi¬ 
tion to these, should be held, when lectures 
on practical and scientific subjects should be 
delivered before the association. 
The desirableness and importance of a 
Cabinet of Natural History and Geology, 
and of other things curious and useful, will 
be admitted by all who have reflected care¬ 
fully on the subject of educating the mind. 
It would be many years doubtless before a 
very valuable collection could be made.— 
FARM GATE—THE NE PLUS ULTRA. 
The above cut exhibits a Farm Gate, 
fetill every town has within its own borders combining all the qualities required—sim- 
the material for a most interesting collection plicity, strength and durability. A is a 
of natural objects. The minerals, plants, catch for a gate opening both ways; B is a 
insects, birds, &c., found in our own imme- wedge to drive over the dovetail of the top 
j i rail. To suit our column the drawing is 
diate vicinity, properly classified and arrang- , , , ,... . , . . ® 
. ,, / 1 , . r • j . , shortened a little in length, in proportion to 
ed, would be an object of just and rational height, but fairly represents all the pe- 
pride to every citizen. YV hat activity of culiarities of the article we wish to present 
thought, —what habits of close observation and describe. 
— what vigor of intellect would it not give There is nothing too much, nor anything 
to the children who should visit and study lack,n S in its fo [ m and construction, to meet 
its specimens? IIow pleasing andinstruc- ]ect(;d art j c , e . and _ as we think> cannot b B e 
tive would be the employment of collecting improved, for our opinion is based upon a 
these various objects, in which all, young twelve years use of this plan, as a gang- 
and old, might participate. Not long would wa y S a ^ e f° r cattle and teams, to the barn 
men grow old in ignorance of the habits, and ^-y&Td. One in particular, has 
° , , . been tested in the most searching manner, 
metamorphoses, modes of life and existence by the swinging of boys and the slamming 
of the various insect tribes that come under 0 f winds, and it never has changed half an 
their daily observation. Much of that ex- inch. Every addition of braces, or at a 
istence which before was passed in dreamy different angle t is a positive detriment to the 
listlessness, would now become a clear and d ^ ura( l ue - ..... .. 
note-worthy reality. Mtnd thus awake- sions and manner „f construct™:-The 
its progress ever onward and upward, would f rarne work to be made of good, straight 
lead to results not to be estimated by any grained oak, 3 by 4 scantling, as long as a 
mere financier; or any mode of property 12 foot stick will make it, or not less than 
valuation whatever. Of the chemical ap- 1 1 feet at any rate. The hinge post or 
, . T , stile, 5 feet long, 3 by 4; the latch stile, 4 
paratus, and oilier matters I must write (,t feet „ incheSi 3 \ y 3 f and tbe centre slile 
ever) hereafter.- the required length, 3 by 4. 
I have thus briefly and imperfectly pre- The slats, or bars of seasoned pine—the 
sented something of the idea in my mind tw0 lower ones 5 inches wide, and the three 
when penning the caption above. If others upper ones 4 inches. They are framed 
1 ° r . through the stiles with a nice and tight fit, 
will do as much, (gi\e their views of the a j. ^ ie f 0 ]l 0w jng distances apart; the lower 
subject,) we shall doubtless soon see more ones 3^ inches, and so on, 4, 5, 6 and V 
clearly what we want, what indeed we must inches. It is important that all the bars 
and will have, sooner or later—a complete the mortice tightly on the edges, a great 
• .?_ r „„„ into the hinge stile with a dove-tail part 
organization ot the town, otatc, nation, nay . . . . . , 
°, , . ,, . , of the strength of the gate depending 
of the whole world,—commencing at the U p 0n it. ° 
lowest and advancing to the highest,—in The top rail is tapered from the centre 
pursuit of truth—in pursuit of whatever of stile to the latch stile on the under 
reality there is knowable in the universe. s ^ e > t° 3 inches square, and is framed 
* r • 1. _' / y.j lll \rm 
Claymount Farm, N. Y., 1851. 
REPRODUCTION OF VEGETABLE LIFE. 
S Luther °f one g a * n > ( see dotted lines.) The 
Claymount Farm, N. Y., 1851. ‘ mortice must be laid out 1 inch higher, to 
___ allow the drop, and the space left in the 
REPRODUCTION OF VEGETABLE LIFE. mortice, filled with a long, slim iron wedge, 
- with a head turned, and fitted with holes, 
Natural philosophers and physiologists an( l spiked to the rail. r J here is a brace 
maintain that all animal and vegetable vi- on , eac , 1 ' s ‘ de of , tho « ate topd ila at the , foot - 
. , . . • . . and shouldered at the top, and a large 
tahty is produced at ovo, from a seed, or w ht nail put through alternately, both 
germ, and deny the production of proof that W ays, and clinched. 
vitality exists, or is originally reproduced in There are various ways of hanging this 
any other manner, and as a general rule it gate—costing from three dollars, to ten 
holds good. It is said that every tree, cents. The cheapest method, and all suf- 
shrub and plant produces seed in their na- d(dent ^ ^ fdd use >’ s totake J 2 inches of 
. . .. ; y round bolt iron; cut off 4 inches for the 
tural states and climates, even the mosses, bottom> karing 8 for the top _ bore with 
fungas and cryptogamii, with the excep- a ji qr aU gur, and drive in the pins, leaving 
tion of double flowering plants, or plants out inches at the bottom, and 5 inches 
producing double flowers, which are in most a * the top. The ends of the stile may be 
cases a forced existence, produced by high handed if thought best. Hie bottom of the 
. ,. , i ,. hinge stile, is sometimes brought to a point, 
feeding and cultivate,) when the organs ol an( f the top rounded t0 3 in " hcs> A , et 
generation are changed into petals or the j,} lr0U gfi the cap for a hanging, 
leaves of the dowei, destioying their abil- rp be grea t secret of keeping gates in po- 
ity of procreation, and producing seed, and sition is, to have a large post, set very deep 
are thereafter multiplied by layering or and firm into the ground, or it, will lean 
grafting. and sag the gate; —indeed it cannot be set 
b b .. , , . . too firmly, and, as a further security, fill the 
We are not disposed to controvert this ho]e hal / way with stone> and the rest with 
doctrine, or to maintain the views of some leached ashes. 
philosophers, that a single monad of vitality At the proper height for the bottom of 
has produced the whole present structure the gate, mortice in a piece of three inch 
of life and being, bv a regular grade of im- oak settling, and on the top, spike firmly 
provement and development, from the mo- ,J ght t0 a „ ow tbe ga ^ t0 be lifted £ p> and 
lusck to man, and from the fucoides and out 0 f jt s place, which is sometimes con- 
moss, to the beautiful rose and the gigantic venient in deep snows, 
oak. For fastening, a long iron latch may be 
We know of but a single exception to used > or a round wood bolt, with a spiral 
i , . , spring, and an iron pm through to keep it, 
this rule—(there maybe others of which \ • P ■ ■ . r ^ ,• . L , 
' J which springs into a mortice m the post, 
we are not advised, and if any of our read- wb ] 1 ^ be s i des beveled off, to cause the gate 
ers can add to the number, we will give it to shut with a push. There should always 
publicity,)—anil that is the potato onion; be a strong pin bored into the post, to slam 
an article now extensively prevailing, par- a g' a ^ ns t when not opening both ways. . 
Tr.i These gates can be made, and painted 
tieularly for early marletmg. It has never ^ 0f br = vn for , w0 dollars each> a ^ d less 
been known to seed or show a disposition by tbe quant ity. We have been thus par- 
to flower, and only increases by division or ticular that every one who wishes can have 
offsets, and how or where produced is a a good Farm Gate,—the result of long trial 
difficult problem to answer. The tiger lily, a nd experience. 
also, only produces seeds by small bulbs T • i , , . . , . • r n 
J r . J , . It is better to cut grain before it is fully 
growing at the axils of the leaves, and yet it dead ripe . When the straw immediately 
flowers but shows no seeds in the capsule, below the grain is so dry that on twisting 
— " it no juice is expressed, it should be cut, 
for then there is no further circulation of 
Two thousand beans may. be raised in one juice to the ear. Every hour that it stands 
season from a single seed. uncut after this stage is attended with loss. 
OREGON CORN. 
Eds. Rural: —In compliance with your 
request I give you my experiment with the 
Oregon corn. 
In the fall of 1849,1 saw an article from 
the pen of A. G. Moody, Esq., of the Isle 
of Wight, Virginia, recommending this corn 
as an early variety—and gave his opinion 
that it could be successfully cultivated in 
our State. I wrote him and requested a 
few grains, for a trial. He sent me, enclosed 
in a polite note, thirty grains. 
As the spring was backward I did not 
plant it till near the last of May. However 
it matured, and gave me some five ears, 18 
to 22 rows in the ear. The stalks were 
very large and long, —one of which, with 
its two suckers, I pulled up by the roots 
and exhibited it at our County Fair in Pal¬ 
myra, last fall. The stalks were ll-^- feet 
long, and the top of the ear over 9 feet from 
the ground. 
From my experiment I should not think 
this corn very well adapted to our soil and 
climate, as .a market corn; but it may be 
just the thing for soiling, if planted close or 
sown broad-cast, at the rate of three or four 
bushels to tbe acre. On strong land it must 
give a large amount of fodder. I intend to 
try it on a small scale. I. W. Briggs. 
West Macedon, N. Y., April, 1851. 
STOWELL SWEET CORN. 
This is a new sort, and is every way su¬ 
perior to any other we have seen, for after 
being pulled from the ground the stalks 
may be placed in a dry cool place, free from 
moisture, frost, or violent currents of air 
(to prevent drying,) and the grains will re¬ 
main full and milky for many months. Or 
the ears may be pulled in August, and, By 
tying a string loosely around the small end 
to prevent the husks from drying away from 
the ears, they may be laid on shelves and 
kept moist and suitable for boiling a year 
or more. This corn is a hybrid, between 
the Menomoney soft corn and the Northern 
sugar corn, and was first grown by Mr. Na¬ 
than Stowell, of Burlington, New Jersey. 
We purchased from-Mr. S. a number of 
ears dried for-seed, and he presented us 
with a few ears surrounded by the husks 
grown the previous summer; the inner 
leaves of the husks were in as green a state 
as when pulled the previous August. Near 
the close of the late fair of the American 
Institute, we presented the managers with 
two ears pulled in August, 1849, and twelve 
ears pulled in August, 1850. They were 
boiled and served up together, and appear¬ 
ed to be alike and equal to corn fresh from 
the garden. 
The ears are larger than the usual sweet 
corn, and contain twelve rows. To save the 
seed, it is necessary to place them in strong- 
currents of air, freed from most of the husks 
and assisted slightly by fire heat when near¬ 
ly dry. In damp places, this corn soon 
moulds and becomes worthless. The seed 
when dry, is but little thicker than writing 
paper, but is a sure grower. The stalks 
are very sweet and valuable as fodder.— 
Working Farmer. 
ROOTS vs, SCYTHE AND PLOW. 
Passing by a farm the other day, we 
found a long string of line fence thrown 
aside, and the two farmers hard at work 
I grubbing up a wide strip of briars and bush 
es which had been steadily encroaching up¬ 
on both farms. It was a good sign for the 
future, but the huge piles of roots and the 
sweating brows told of tbe penalty due 
past neglect. But better late than never. 
Another dense fringe along the road either 
way, told of hard work there too, where 
thrifty and lawless roots were disputing 
supremacy with the scythe and plow. 
There are plenty of such farmers. The 
system is both slovenly and wasteful. We 
have one now in our minds’s eye who has 
been conquered by the bushes along his 
road fences and rebuilt his fence within the 
intruders, and turned them into the high¬ 
way. The hoof of the horse and the tire 
of the wheel will be more dreaded than his 
grub hoe. 
Again we see large patches of briars and 
noxious weeds in the meadows, perhaps en¬ 
trenched behind or between old logs which 
might be burned and removed by a few 
days work sat most. These are unmistakea- 
ble signs of a “slouch.” Should he live 
long enough he would be driven out of his 
own dooryard. What miserable economy, 
to say nothing of farming.— Cayuga Chief 
The Potato Rot. —The reward of $10,- 
000, offered by the Legislature for the dis¬ 
covery of a cure for the potato rot, has been 
claimed by Mr. Joshua F. Hatch, of Dor¬ 
chester. His remedy consists of ground 
charcoal mixed with sulphate of lime, (plas¬ 
ter .)—Boston Journal. 
Another claimant for the same prize 
says, dry ashes, sprinkled freely on the tops 
before the appearance of the red rust, or at 
the first hoeing, is the thing. We think we 
see these discoverers pocketing the Massa¬ 
chusetts bonus! 
FLAX vs. COTTON. 
Some considerable inquiry has of lale 
been made in relation to the probabilities of 
a sufficient supply of flax cotton in the Nor¬ 
thern States, in case there should be a de¬ 
mand for it for manufacturing purposes.— 
The following data, gleaned from reliable 
sources, will be satisfactory to those inter¬ 
ested in the growth of cotton, or the man¬ 
ufacture of linen therefrom. 
The annual imports of fine linens average 
about $6,500,000, and the wholesale prices 
of these cloths range as high as to average 
o o o 
65 cents per yard, while the retail prices go 
up to 95 cents and $1,20 per yard. 
In 1840, the number of acres and land 
on which grain, <fec., was grown in ten of 
the Northern States, was about 29,000,000; 
and the flax crop of that year in all of the 
Stales north of the Ohio river, including 
Maryland, covered some 4,000,000 acres. 
The average crop of flax lint is about 350 
lbs. per acre, of which one-third, or say 120 
lbs. is flax cotton, leaving 120 lbs. of coarse 
tow for paper, bagging, or any other article 
it will make. 
The flax seed is about 15 bushels per acre 
and is generally worth $1,00 per bushel. 
We may readily suppose, that in all the 
States suitable for the growth of flax, 8,000,- 
000 of acres could now be turned to that 
crop, without at all disturbing the present 
serial crop, or diminishing the quantity now 
devoted to the culture of other crops. 
This basis gives us the following results: 
8 ,000,000 acres, average 120 
lbs. flax cotton pr. acre,... 960,000,000 lbs. 
8,000,000 acres, average 15 
bushels seed per acre. 100,000,000 lbs. 
8,000,000 acres, average 230 
lbs. flax tow, rough, per 
acre,. 1,840,000,000 lbs. 
This being sufficiently near the amount 
of such a crop of flax, the following figures 
give us the value of the same, as near as 
we can determine from our present limited 
knowledge of its properties: 
960,000,000 lbs. flax cotton at 7c. 
per pound, factory,. $67,200,000 
100 ,000,000 bushelsof seed, at$l 
per bushel at factory,. 100,000,000 
1,849,000,000 lbs. coarse tow, at 
3c. tier lb. at factory,. 55,200,000 
Total value of the crop,.$222,400,000 
The cotton crop of ’49 and ’50 was about 
2,200,000 bales, at say 400 lbs. per bale; 
and the price averaged ll£ per lb.—value. 
$90,400,000. 
The flax cotton would be 2,400,000 bales 
of 400 lbs. each, giving above the present 
average of cotton 200,000 bales. 
The difference in the total value of the 
two crops would be $132,000,000 in favor 
of the flax crop. Allowing these estimates 
to be high, still $132,000,000 is quite a 
margin to work on. 
For the new Leavitt machinery the flax 
may be either mowed or cradled, so that 
the harvesting of the crop may be done on 
the cheapest possible scale. 
Farmers would do well to consider these 
facts and act accordingly; for that there 
will be a demand for their flax crop of the 
coming season, there cao be little doubt. 
Those who raise flax should, after thrash¬ 
ing the seed, bind up the stalks in conveni¬ 
ent bundles to handle. It should then be 
laid as even as possible, and in this condi¬ 
tion stacked away and covered with straw, 
to dry and prepare for tbe market— Cleve. 
Democrat. 
FLAX?* AND COTTON. 
The qestion whether “ flax may be em¬ 
ployed as a substitute for cotton,” is crea¬ 
ting a good deal of interest now-a-days in 
the. commercial and agricultural world. 
There seems to be no doubt that raw flax 
can be furnished to the manufacturers quite 
as cheap as cotton, and that, when not a 
finer, at least a more durable article may 
be manufactured from flax. If flax could 
really be a substitute for cotton, the competi¬ 
tion would be immense. But as we have 
stated before in the columns of this paper, 
any such competition is quite out of the 
question. Even if flax might be furnished 
in some localities as cheap as cotton, it can 
only be there, where labor is exceedingly 
cheap, as for instance in Belgium, and some 
parts of Germany. But as flax is a crop 
which can only be returned every 5th or 
6th year on the same spot, it is out of the 
question, that these countries could supply 
all the demand needed, in case of the abo¬ 
lition of the manufacture of cotton stuffs. 
In some countries, like ours, such a state of 
things cannot be thought of; as labor is too 
high, and raw cotton can be obtained at a 
much cheaper price, and in more extensive 
quantities than the raw material of flax. It 
is one of the things that may be done, but 
cannot be done very well practicably; just 
like the manufacture of bpet root sugar 
against that of the cane, or the raising of 
silk in northern latitudes, against that of 
Italy.— Wool Grower. 
The New England farmers annually 
raise 35 millions of bushelsof potatoes, 225 
millions of bushels of wheat, rye and corn, 
which yield 25 millions of dollars. 
A Cord of green wood contains about 
1,400 pounds of water. 
A PET PONY 
Some years since I owned a colt of a 
small breed of horses, which by kindness, 
good food and warm stabling, I reared to 
such a size that the person of whom I 
purchased him did not know him, or believe 
it could be the same, and which was at length 
valued at $500, having cost just $30. So 
much for self-interest. 
The pet of the family was broken in at 
two years old, and from that time was free 
of the house, walking into the parlor or 
kitchen, and eating of our bread and drink¬ 
ing of our cup! All the family rode him 
in turn; but it was truly remarkable to see 
the way in which he carried himself when 
either of my daughters mounted. So care¬ 
ful was he to learn their desires as to the 
pace to assume — whether the trot or the 
gallop, or even the canter—that he would 
never move a step until they were seated 
and all right, and then receiving the clue 
from the mode in which the bridle was 
taken in hand as to bow he was to conduct 
his movement; the lying on his neck being 
a signal for walking with the bead low, and 
this he did at the rate of fiv’e miles an hour. 
If taken sharply and lifted high, then it 
was the canter that was struck into at the 
first step, and as a slight rearing before pro¬ 
gressing; and this canter was to be con¬ 
tinued so long as the bridle was so held, 
but when dropped, he dropped so quietly 
into a walk as to slide from one into the 
other. Then the tight low grasp of the bri¬ 
dle produced such a length of trot as would 
astonish one. 
In the roughest roads and in the darkest 
nights, it was only to let him have the brai- 
dle, so as to carry his head low, even nearer 
the ground, and no fear need be felt, either 
for ourselves or him. In a storm of thun¬ 
der or rain, it was only to lie on his neck 
and wish yourself at home, and you were 
soon there in safety. When my daughters 
visited him in the stable, his first object 
was the salt, or the apple, or potatoe, and 
then the apron string, which it was his cus¬ 
tom to untie. It was usual to ride with a 
whip, and he delighted to canter with it in 
his mouth. I remember once to have struck 
him, when he immediately stopped, not 
knowing what I meant —no more did I, and 
therefore could not tell him. There was 
nothing that he loved so much as to be 
talked to and fondled, while he would be 
continually placing his nose to one’s mouth 
and draw in his breath, expecting you to 
pay him the same compliment in return. 
Did our young friends ever try the effect 
of breathing into the nostrils of an animal ? 
Let them do so. It is said that this is the 
secret praticed by the horse tamers; and 
this law of love is applicable to all animals, 
in all situations, and under all circumstan¬ 
ces, it being quite as easy to obtain a proper 
command over them by kind as by cruel 
treatment—and who would not incompara¬ 
bly rather be served through love than fear. 
—Boston Cult. 
ABOUT COFFEE. 
The Philadelphia Ledger has an article 
about “ the drink that Mocha’s fragrant 
berry yields,” (though we are not sure about 
the location of “ fragrant” in that line) which 
contains some suggestions that we dish out 
to our readers. 
A habit is coming in vogue of purchas¬ 
ing-coffee already ground, and roasted, which 
is deemed unadvisable on several grounds, 
prominent among which is the liability to 
adulteration, and the further fact that the 
essential oil or aroma is lost in the case of 
the coffee roasted long before use. The 
Arabs originated the use of coffee, and we 
might take a lesson from them in the man¬ 
ner of preparing thir beverage. They roast 
it, break it while hot, and boil it for use, 
immediately, thereby securing- the full 
strength of the article, and enjoying its rar¬ 
est virtues. Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, to 
say nothing of the “ Arabian Knights ’’ 
never purchased ground coffee at the cor¬ 
ner Groceries for their “entertainments.” 
They had palates that detected ohico y. rye, 
oats, carrots, peas and crusts of bread, How¬ 
ever subtilv enveloped they might b in 
the pulverized berry of coffee, and they were 
not to be outwitted in this way. A pound of 
the genuine, will make a compound that 
will set the wisest among the Gentiles o 
tasting and doubting, and fully convince 
them of the high value of even the ‘ o.mce 
of prevention.” 
The true way is to buy coffee by he 
bag—-the genuine Mocha—sonv prefi 'die 
Java —and roast it and use it as nc ded. 
It will go farther, and do more good .han 
tons of the illegitimate material that is too 
often palmed off upon the comtmnm pre¬ 
pared to hand for family use.” 
Instinct of the Turtle. —It Ins been 
observed that turtles cross the oc an from 
the Bay of Honduras to the Can man Isles, 
near Jamaica, a distance of450 miles, wit h an 
accuracy superior to the chart nnd compass 
of human skill, for it is affirmed that vessels 
which have lost their latitude in hazy 
weather have steered entirely by the noise 
of the turtles in swimming. ■' of 
their voyage, as in the case o. . 
tion of birds, is for the purn e of laying 
eggs on a spot peculiary favorable. —Bishop 
Stanley on Birds. 
