mid 
VOLUME II. NO. 
ROCHESTER, N. Y.-TIIURSDAY, MAY 29, 1851 
-{ WHOLE NO. 74. 
MOORE'S RURAL NEW-YORKER: 
A WEEKLY JOURNAL, DEVOTED TO 
Agriculture, Horticulture, Mechanic Arts and Sci¬ 
ence, Education, Rural and Domestic Economy, 
General Intelligence, the Markets, &c., &c. 
CONDUCTED BY D. D. T. MOORE, 
ASSISTED BY 
J. H. BIXBY, L. WETHER ELL, and H. C. WHITE. 
(O’ For Terms, &., see Inst page. ,i~H 
PRO&KESS AX1) IMPROVEMENT. 
DAIRY INTEREST OF NEW YORK. - No. 4. 
THE DAIRY HOUSE. 
Much of the convenience, and economy 
in the management of a dairy depends up¬ 
on the judicious construction of the dairy 
house, by which is intended apartments suit¬ 
able for utensils, for milk, for the butter 
while churning or the cheese making and 
curing. It is more than probable that a ma¬ 
jority of the poor butter and cheese of which 
market-men have so much cause to com¬ 
plain, can be attributed to want of a prop¬ 
er construction of, and attention to the dairy 
house and utensils. 
Many of the smaller dairy men, having 
no room devoted to the specific purpose, 
make tqeir cheese in the kitchen or cook 
room, pressing them in the wood-shed, and 
placing them to cure in the pantry, cham¬ 
ber, or other place found most convenient. 
Our recollection is vivid of an unfortunate 
wight whose innate modesty, or something 
equally overpowering deterred him from the 
companionship of a “ better half,” who 
made use of his barn for stable, milk-house 
and cheese-house; making the cheese most¬ 
ly with his own hands. Such dairy men 
are ever ready to find fault with any one 
who will not pay them the highest price for 
their cheese, which can be little else than 
the most inferior grade. 
The custom prevails in Holland of so 
constructing their dairy houses, that they 
answer for stables for their cows, which are 
ranged in two rows as represented by the 
letters “ G ” in the accompanying cut 
5 — A ° ~" 5 
C fl u jj^D H 
J , )T" ; n"i\- * 
F fcz I 
I H 
here noticed, nothing except the proverbial 
neatness of the Hollanders, could render 
them supportable. 
Another plan of a dairy house, which 
might answer a good purpose, more espe¬ 
cially where butter is the principal product, 
was furnished for the Ohio Ag. Report for 
1850, by S. W. Jewett, Esq., of Vermont 
The plan contemplates an ice, and milk 
house combined. The dimensions are to 
be 18 by 24 feet, with fifteen feet posts as 
shown by fig. 1. 
The apartment devoted to milk, butter, 
&c., are shown at C, on one side of the hall 
B. The room, represented at D, is the 
cheese room, where cheese is made, the 
utensils kept, cleaned and scalded, use be¬ 
ing made of a copper or large kettle set in 
one corner for the purpose of heating.— 
The milk-room, C, is sunk three feet below 
the level of the cow-house, and covered 
with an arch of brick, as seen in the accom¬ 
panying diagram. 
ice 
MILK 
DOOM. 
BOOM. 
12 X IB. 
I 2 X IB 
It has one latticed window and several 
ventilators. Over this is the room for cu¬ 
ring cheese as shown at M, and another 
loft, N. Little food is kept in the dairy 
house, it being brought in carts which are 
driven between the mangers. Cleanliness 
is at all times indispensable in dairy opera¬ 
tions, and in houses constructed as those 
The ice house is to stand some eight 
feet below the surface of the earth and to 
be 12 by 18 including walls, leaving a space 
for milk or roots in the cellar 12 by 18 feet 
(See cut.) By carrying the walls of the 
ice house above the surface some three 
feet, it may be ventilated by means of 
double windows between the sills and 
ground. Over this there is a milk room 
18 by 24 feet with a partition to correspond 
with the division of the cellar, leaving the 
smaller room 10 by 18 feet. The building- 
can be ceiled or plastered on the inside on 
the walls and raftors, making a double roof 
and wall, leaving the room high and airy. 
Ffo. e. The ice is under the 
^ room B, and extends four 
$111111 milk feet under the room A, 
noohi, as represented by the 
11111111 lattice work: (see fig. 3) 
The cold air rises through 
the lattice work into both rooms if desired- 
Over this lattice work with a space of six 
inches is the main floor, which is made move- 
able. When it is all down over the lattice 
work no cold air can rise into the milk 
rooms, but escapes through the ventilators 
in the wall. All the cold air from the ice 
house can be conducted into the smallest 
room, or all may be turned into the larger 
room A. 
The large doors observed in the upright 
part, are for the purpose of driving through 
a loaded team with ice if necessary. This 
plan meets our approbation, and can be en¬ 
forced to suit the want of any sized dairy, 
or varied to suit the tqste of the occupnut 
Where butter alone is the object of the 
dairy, “ a butter dealer in Fanueil Hall 
Market,” in the N. E. Farmer, says: “The 
best and cheapest plan, is to build of stone, 
laid in lime mortar. This almost every in¬ 
genious farmer can do within his own 
means. It should be placed in some con¬ 
venient spot, if possible under the shade of 
large trees, where there is good circulation 
of air, and if convenient, where a good 
stream of water can be carried into it, as 
high as the upper shelves; then if you wish 
to fix your milk-room so that you can set 
the pans of milk in water, in the hottest 
weather, it can be done with little extra 
expense; and it will greatly improve the 
quantity and quality of the butter. It is 
done by making the shelves of good boards, 
and having the ends well secured from ex- 
p;insion or contraction, by putting good wide 
cleats at each end, and then put a strip of 
board all round the edge of the shelves; 
have them placed one above another around 
the milk-room, and let the water in at the 
top of one end and carry it to the other end; 
then let it down to the other shelf by a 
small lead pipe, and so let it pass back and 
forward through the whole, and pass off at 
the bottom. 
“ The shelves should be placed at a good 
distance apart, and out from the wall so 
that the air can circulate around and be¬ 
tween them. The cream will rise much 
better than it will in confined air. The 
dairy-room should be well ventilated, so 
that it can be aired at pleasure, and it should 
be kept thoroughly cleansed, so there will 
be no unpleasant smell about the milk room. 
It should be kept as sweet and clean as any 
lady’s parlor.” 
Equally important are the arrangement 
and temperature of the room devoted to 
curing cheese. An upper room is gener¬ 
ally used for this purpose. It should be 
dry and well ventilated. The necessary fix¬ 
tures of a room for curing, are tables suffi¬ 
cient to allow all the cheese room and air, 
with space for the person in attendance to 
pass around them. Many dairy rooms are 
furnished with a board for each cheese.— 
Much attention should be paid to the ar¬ 
rangement of windows and blinds so as to 
admit lfoht and heat as are desirable.— 
O 
Windows should be arranged so as to raise 
up and let down from the top, and blinds 
of lattice work be put inside and out. 
These are crude hints, hastily given, though 
we hope they may not be devoid of benefit 
to dairy men. j 
RAISING TURKEYS 
In raising young turkeys, it is necessary 
they should be among grass; and yet it does 
not answer to let the old one go free, for 
she will drag them here and '■here, over 
runs, swamps, &c., no matter how wet it 
may be, and as a natural consequence, in a 
short time the number of her brood is con¬ 
siderably and seriously curtailed. Now, to 
remedy this, we build a movable coop.— 
The best method of constructing these coops 
is to form a square pen, by placing one rail 
upon another, until you have your pen of 
sufficient height Then make one portion 
of it wftter proof, and lay slats over the 
other part, so that the sun’s rays will have a 
chance to enter. The back should also be 
made rain proof, in order to protect them 
more effectually from the inclement weath¬ 
er. If the rails or slats are fastened together 
—which may be easily done—when the 
grass becomes pretty well eaten in one 
place the coop can be moved to another.— 
There should be a roost fixed in the coop, 
so that the young turkeys can learn as soon 
as possible to rest on the roost. Feed them 
regular, and always keep them well sup¬ 
plied with drink. We have always found 
thick milk—which they are very fond of— 
to be an excellent article for the promotion 
of their growth. They should also have 
sand in their pen. 
When pens are constructed in this man¬ 
ner the young can roam about, in the vi¬ 
cinity of the pen, catching flies, &c., which 
will answer much better than being drag¬ 
ged about through the wet grass, and will 
amply repay all the trouble. After they 
attain a certain age, that is, when they be¬ 
come of sufficient size to be able to follow 
the old one, it is then best to leave her at 
liberty. Leonade. 
Philadelphia Co., I’enn., 1851. 
Plaster upon Clover.— With the ex¬ 
ception of a small district near the sea 
shore, clover is greatly benefited by the 
application of plaster of Paris. About one 
bushel to the acre is, perhaps, the most 
suitable quantity. Apply it upon a moist 
day, early in the spring. Ammonia is con¬ 
stantly brought to the earth by dews, rains 
or snow, and the plaster acts as a collector 
of this fertilizing matter, and preserves it 
for the use of the plant.— Exchange. 
A patriot is known by his interest in the 
advancement of Agriculture, 
ON DRAINING.-(NO. VI.) 
Wiiat depth is the most profitable to 
put drains, is a question that farmers may 
differ upon; yet if there can be an exchange 
of views on the subject, it may be profita¬ 
ble to all. 
The pioneer settlers of Western New 
York did but little at draining in their day. 
The labor of changing the wilderness into 
fruitful fields, was such that they had but 
little time to devote to such improvements, 
and the rich virgin soil enabled farmers to 
obtain good crops by keeping their dry I 
land to grain and the wet parts of the farm 
lo grass. But after cropping their land in 
this way from thirty to fifty years they find 
their farms failnig to produce as they did 
when first brought under cultivation. If 
there wet were places on their plow land it 
was left for grass, or a mere furrow was 
run through to drain the water off. 
But by the aid of Agricultural papers, 
and emigrants from the European world 
settling among us, who had been well 
schooled in the improvement of draining, a 
few enterp*j|^3g fanners were induced to 
try a few under drains as an experiment. 
Finding the improvement so great on their 
wet land, they have increased their efforts 
until they count the length of their drains 
by so many hundred rods, and some by so 
many miles. And still they are increasing 
the amount, and how could you expect it 
otherwise when farmers are so frequently 
heard to say they have received enough 
extra in the first crop to pay all expenses. 
I consider most of the drains have been 
too shallow for the farmers’ interest. They 
have labored under the impression, if the 
drain was sunken far into the subsoil, the 
water would not settle into it unless the 
ditch was filled with loose stone above the 
water course—nearly within reach of the 
plow. There has been another difficulty in 
many cases in getting drains as deep as is 
profitable. Much of the ditching is done 
at so much per rod, and no farmer need 
expect drains dug any deeper on these terms 
than is necessary to have the work accepted. 
If farmers would adopt the practice, in 
all cases where the surface of the land 
would admit of it and give a good outlet f 
of putting their drains thyee feet deep, they 
would receive* more profit on the outlay, 
the cost for materials to build them being 
the same, and the extra labor of digging- 
being more than compensated for in the 
extra breadth of land drained. But here 
the objection is raised that the water would 
not get into the drain at that depth; but, 
friend farmer, I will state a rule by which 
you may determine this, while digging your 
ditch, by proof positive. 
When you have your ditch one foot deep s 
if the water comes in at the bottom, you 
may dig deeper, say another foot,—if the 
water still comes in at the bottom, then you 
may settle your ditch three feet deep or 
deeper. If the water still settles down and 
comes in at the bottom, need you ask any 
better pi oof that it will get into your drain 
at three or more feet deep. And in no 
case need you have any fears as to the 
depth of your drain, unless the water runs 
in on the top of the subsoil, and down the 
banks of your ditch. 
There are several important advantages in 
favor of deep drains. First, it requires less 
of them for thorough draining. Second, the 
water filters so far through the soil and 
subsoil before it reaches the drain it enters 
it clean and clear; and thirdly, other rea¬ 
sons I stated in my last article. 
No farmer need expect shallow drains to 
last many years uuless there is a brisk cur¬ 
rent to the water through the drain. 
West Bloomfield, May, 1851. Alvin Wilcox, 
STOCK-IMPROVED BREEDS - BREEDING, &c. 
NUMBER one. 
The first great requisite to the successful 
breeding and rearing of good stock, is to 
procure good animals of a good breed. Of 
the merits of the diffeient breeds every one 
must decide for himself. The principal 
breeds of this country are the Durhams, or 
Short-horns, the Devons, Herefords, Ayr- 
^ shires and Natives. 
The Short horns are heavy cattle, arrive 
I early at maturity, fatten easily, and are 
small- consumers in proportion to their size. 
The cows are generally good milkers, yield¬ 
ing a large quantity of rich milk. Their 
colors are “ red or white, or a mixture of 
the two, combining in endless variety, and 
producing very frequently, most brilliant 
effect.” Black, brown, or brindled, are col¬ 
ors which are not found among pure bred 
Short-horns; and whenever there is an ap¬ 
pearance of black, whether it pertains to 
the hair or nose, it is a sufficient indication 
that the animal should be rejected, so far 
as relates to its purity of blood. 
The Devons are beautiful cattle, are of 
medium size, their color red, horns long 
(compared with the Durhams) and grace¬ 
fully curved. The nose of the pure bred 
Devon, is invariably of a rich yellow. The 
cows give a medium quantity ’of rich milk. 
For the yoke, this breed of cattle is unri¬ 
valled. 
The Herefords, for size rank next to the 
Short-horns. Their color is a middle red, 
with white faces. The cows usually give 
only a small quantity of milk but the qual¬ 
ity is excellent. They arrive early at ma¬ 
turity and are good and quick feeders.— 
Their beef is of excellent quality, and for 
the shambles they are probably unsur¬ 
passed. 
The Ayrshires are the smaller of the im¬ 
proved breeds yet introduced into this coun¬ 
try. Their color is generally red and white. 
The cows are excellent milkers, and, size 
considered, are probably unrivalled for the 
dairy. Could they be bred of larger size, 
and still retain their excellence in propor¬ 
tion, they would constitute a most desirable 
breed. As it is, however, they are beauti¬ 
ful animals, and worthy of much encourage¬ 
ment. 
I have given above very briefly, some of 
the leading characteristics of the principal 
improved breeds of this country—to be 
more minute, would require too much space, 
and besides would not be necessary for our 
present purpose. 
Having procured good animals, and of 
a good breed, it is evident that in order to 
become successful, it is necessary to under¬ 
stand the principles of breeding, and the 
1 proper management of stock; for a want of 
knowledge in these two particulars, would 
soon deteriorate the best herds in existence. 
As to the principles of breeding, there has al¬ 
ready been so much written, and from such 
high authority, that I shall say but little. 
In the first place an individual must have 
, some idea of what he wishes to accomplish. 
, He must form in his own mind what con- 
, stitutes the beau ideal of bovine excellence. 
, He will then select the animals that ap¬ 
proach nearest this standard—for, if he en- 
L tertains correct views, he will be unable to 
. find a perfect animol. He will then pair 
, his animals so that a defect in one shall be 
counteracted by a corresponding excellence 
. in the other, and vice versa. If an excel¬ 
lence is hereditary, it will easily counteract 
an accidental defect, but a defect that is he- 
) reditary will require a long time to become 
entirely removed. It will, consequently, re¬ 
quire great perseverance to rear a herd 
that shall contain none but superior ani- 
