n VOLUME II. NO. 31. I 
ROCHESTER N. Y.—THURSDAY, JULY 31, 1851 
I WHOLE NO. 
MOORE’S RURAL NEW-YORKER: 
A WEEKT.Y JOORNAI,, 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. 
Da. M. M. RODGERS, Foreign Correspondent. 
The Ruh at. New-Yorker is designed to be unique an 
beautiful in appearance, and unsurpassed in Value, Purity 
and Variety of Contents. Its conductors earnestly labor 
to make it a Reliable Guide on the important Practical 
Subjects connected with the business of those whose inter¬ 
ests it advocates. It embraces more Agricultural, Horti¬ 
cultural, Scientific, Mechanical, Literary and News Matter 
—interspersed with many appropriate and handsome en¬ 
gravings—than any otiier paper published in this Country. 
f-W For Terms, &e.. see last page. 
PROGRESS AND IIIPROVEMENT. 
DAIRY INTEREST OF NEW i YORK. - No. 6. 
SELECTION OF DAIRY STOCK. 
After an interval, unexpected!}' pro¬ 
longed by illness and a press of business 
consequent therewith, we propose to resume 
and continue more regularly, the serial ar¬ 
ticles upon this subject. 
The paramount object of a dairyman in 
selecting his stock wall ever be their fitness 
for his purpose. If his intention is to make 
butter, his selection should consist of cows 
that give milk yielding large quantities of 
cream. Every one is aware of the marked 
difference in the quality of milk drawn 
from different cows. The richness of milk 
is estimated by the amount of cream which 
it furnishes, or the amount of butter a giv¬ 
en quantity will yield. Such dairymen as 
would act understanding^ in forming their 
opinion of the good qualities of a cow for 
cream, could make use of an instrument 
known as a Lactometer, or properly and 
simply a milk guage. 
i This consists, as shown in the cut, of a 
number of long glass tubes, divided into 
100 equal parts, and placed in a wooden 
] frame. By filling the several tubes with 
the milk of different cows, and allowing it 
> to stand for 24 or 36 hours, the amount of 
cream on each parcel would be shown by 
the graduated scale in the tube, and by 
comparison the amount of cream furnished 
by the milk from each cow would be read¬ 
ily seen. In this way a selection could 
be made, best adapted to the wants of the 
owner. 
There is the same difference in the 
amount of casein, or cheese particles, in 
several samples of milk as in the quantity 
of cream, and if the amount of cheese that 
could bo made regardless of its quality 
was all the dairyman desired, choice could 
be made of cows, the milk of which fur¬ 
nished the. most cheese; but as richness is 
a very desirable quality of cheese, it would 
unquestionably be good policy to make se¬ 
lections ot those cows furnishing the largest 
amount of both combined. The amount of 
casein in milk is not so easily determined, 
though Prof. Johnston in his Agricultural 
Chemistry has detailed the method, from 
which we may hereafter give some ex¬ 
tracts. 
There has been an animated contest <m. 
ing on among breeders of the different 
kinds of stock, as to the merits of their fa- 
\oi,te breed, for milk or dairy purposes — 
As much attention should be given to such 
a subject before advising others which to 
choose, we shall be excused from entering 
into the detail of the experiments and opin¬ 
ions of the contestants. 
With some, the Ayrshires are great fa¬ 
vorites, and are represented as excellent 
milkers yielding on grass feed 10 to 20 qts. 
of milk per day for the season. The} 7 are 
small, close, and fine made cattle, and are 
most in favor where best known. The 
Devons are favorites with us, being “ fine 
boned, clean limbed and very active—re¬ 
sembling in cattle, what is called blood in 
horses, more than any other stock.” Their 
rank as milkers is similar to our good native 
cows, and Mr. Allen in his “ Domestic An 
imals ” remarks:—“The cows invariably 
yield milk of great richness, and when ap 
propriately bred none surpass them for the 
quantity of butter and cheese. The Dur- 
hams are a fine stock, and meet with much 
favor, but as a general thing are not as 
highly esteemed for milkers as some others. 
I rom their large size and fine appearance 
we should naturally expect much of them, 
but we have high authority for saying, 
“ ,nan y ot them are inferior milkers,” and 
cannot be pronounced distinguished or pref¬ 
erable to all others for their dairy qualities. 
They have however a host of warm heart¬ 
ed and intelligent blends, and our own ob¬ 
servation has detected among them some oY 
the best milkers, we have anywhere met. 
These observations might apply also to 
the Holderness, Herefords, Sussex, and 
other varieties of foreign stock, and still we 
think with ordinary care in selecting and as 
good attention to their keeping, a dairy 
stock could be made up from our “natives’’ 
that would not suffer in comparison with 
the same number of any stock that could 
be named. Such a selection would be the 
work of some years, and attended with much 
expense and trouble. By purchasing a full 
supply and testing their qualities as milk¬ 
ers, and the quality of the same furnished, 
and retaining the choicest of the herd only, 
in a few years a model dairy stock might 
be obtained, and to such a course we should 
advise any one who would successfully pur¬ 
sue the business of a dairyman. 
\\ here practicable we should recommend 
the raising a few calves from the best cows 
in each year, as a means of furnishing some 
good milkers, but as small farmers deem 
this too expensive, the utmost care should 
e\ er bo bad in the selections which are 
made. YYe fully coincide with the remark 
of the proprietor of the Rural, published 
heretofore that for the dairy, good cows 
may be found among all breeds in this 
country, native and foreign—and it is, as a 
general rule, best to secure deep milkers 
wherever they can be found, without regard 
to origin. I 
MICE IN BARNS. 
Mr. Moore: — A year ago last spring I 
moved to my present residence, into build¬ 
ings all new at that time. Last fall I har¬ 
vested my grain, threshed it, and put it in 
the granary. During last winter I was 
very much annoyed by the mice destroying 
it. I tried every means in my power to 
get rid of them, but to no purpose. I set 
traps for them, got cats and dogs after them, 
stopped their holes with pounded glass, 
gave them poison,—and in fact did every¬ 
thing except burn up the barn, and leave 
the farm. But it was no go. There they 
were, and there they are still, in spite of all 
my efforts to route them out. And there 
they are like to stay and multiply if not re¬ 
moved, of which I see no prospect, unless 
some of your correspondents can tell me how 
to get rid of them. A Young Farmer. 
WHAT IS THE CAUSE OF FERTILITY 1 
There are some remarkable exceptions 
to the generally received opinions of the 
cause of fertility in soils. It is an axiom, 
that you cannot long draw from the soil, 
and remove its productions without repla¬ 
cing the loss in some way or other. Yet, 
this rule does not in all cases hold good.— 
Meadows have been known to furnish a 
good clip for 20 or 30 years without renew¬ 
ing, and there are soils on river bottoms 
that are never overflowed, in some of the 
Western States, that have annually yielded 
large and constant crops of Indian corn for 
more than 40 years. Now in what does 
the fecundity of these soils consist. Not 
in decomposable vegetable matter, or in hu¬ 
mus; as all such fertilizers must have de¬ 
composed, and passed off’ in the crops and 
gaseous productions long ago. Is the en¬ 
riching, and resicustating material inorganic 
the marls, gypsum, phosphoric or sulphuric 
acids in combination with some of the earths 
—ammonia and other alkalies—or to what 
is to be attributed their continued product¬ 
iveness; while many other apparently good 
and perfect soils, constantly require the 
stimulus of manures or green crops? 
We were led to these remarks by a visit 
made a few days since among the rich wheat 
lands lying contiguous to the south shore 
of lake Ontario. Our visit was principally 
devoted, to view the crops of the Blue stem 
wheat, on the farms of Mr. Ax, uony Kentz, 
Mr. Davison, and others, in the town of 
Greece. 
It is a new and very valuable variety— 
standing the winter well—a strong stiff 
straw, with a large white skinned berry, and 
nearly as early as the Soules, and often 
gives 35 and 40 bushels per acre. It was 
brought into the country by Mr. Kentz, 
from Ohio, and is gaining universal favor. 
Mr. Kentz has a field of 14 acres now, 
in a very heavy crop of wheat, which has 
been cropped 23 years, and never manured 
at all except plowing in occasionally green 
crops, and during that time has several 
times had wheat after wheat without seed¬ 
ing, and several times has been followed 
with oats and corn, and sowed with wheat 
in the fall, and never but once laid over in 
grass, or was mowed or plastered but one 
summer, without summer-fallowing for 
wheat. In the 23 years he has had 15 or 
16 crops of wheat, and which has averaged 
over 28 bushels per acre, and the present 
crop, of the Blue-stem variety, will exceed 
that amount. 
The soil has the appearance of a prettv 
stiff clay, with some sand and gravel, and 
more or less colored of a dark or chocolate 
hue, and is in no way to be distinguished 
by the eye from many other wheat soils. 
Analysis may detect its peculiar virtues, 
and samples of the soil will be furnished to 
the call of the President of the State Soci¬ 
ety, for examination. Samples of the grain 
of this wheat field, may be examined at our 
office; also, a most extraordinary variety 
grown by Sam’l Davison, Esq., of Greece, 
called the Australian, having 17 houses, or 
setts, with 8 kernels in a sett, and conse¬ 
quently containing 136 kernels, or certainly 
120 , and very large. , 
SPRING WHEAT. 
Editors Rural: —I saw an article on 
Spring Wheat, in your paper about seed 
time, speaking of its being a sure crop, or 
rather not much risk,—and also, recom¬ 
mending Italian spring wheat as the best for 
biead, which I will not dispute. I purpose 
to speak of the uncertainty of the crop. I 
have raised it frequently, and it has done 
well—yielding from 20 to 25 bushels to 
the acre. In the spring of 1846, I sowed 
8 bushels of this wheat on good land, it 
came up finely and looked well for two 
weeks, but then it began to dwindle, grew 
thin, and vanished away until harvest time, 
when nearly all was gone. I found the 
cause to be an insect at, or near the root.— 
YVhat few stalks stood, turned white as it 
headed out, and on examination I found the 
insect working near the lower joint. This 
was the season the winter wheat crinkled 
down in a measure, as it was ripening. 
Recently, I passed through a wheat field 
and found heads lying down; on examina¬ 
tion, it appeared this insect had severed the 
straw near the lower joint, and was bedded 
in the side of the straw’. It has the color 
of a flax-seed, and is nearly the same size. 
The destruction by this insect of the winter 
j wheat, may be small it is now so near har¬ 
vest. I did not sow spring wheat again 
until the spring of 1850. I sowed ore 
acre of Italian, and harvested 23 bushels of 
fine plump wheat. At the same time I 
sowed one peck of Canada chub wheat, 
along side for experiment, likewise to get 
the seed—this was fine and yielded well. 
This spring I sowed one acre of each 
kind, on good land side by side; both came 
up fine, and promised equally well for two 
or three weeks, then the Italian began to 
dwindle, grew thin, and is still thinning out 
I should now judge not over one-third is 
left, and what that will amount to, must be 
light, while the Canada chub wheat along¬ 
side, is stocky, all standing, and promises 
well. It is true, the insect will not prey up¬ 
on all kinds of wheat alike. Several indi¬ 
viduals sowed ot the Italian spring wheat, 
and to my knowledge, have it similarly de¬ 
stroyed. Mattison. 
Penfield, N. Y., June, 1831. 
inconveniences, so that they shall not appear 
as such. 
As to visiting, I have not yet got so new- 
fashioned as to go without my work, allho’ 
I have been where not a woman appeared 
to have any but myself. 
Lastly, as “ Lucy” requests hints for her 
information, I will give some of my plans 
and experience. I have a box or basket in 
one corner of my room where I usually sit 
to work, and in that you will find some 
work or other, that is handy to catch up a 
minute if any one comes in, or while you 
wait for the folks to come to their meals, 
and also visiting work. Perhaps a little 
“love of d splay” may stimulate one to take 
some fancy piece of work when she goes 
a visiting, and the desire not to be behind 
her neighbors, induce another to do the 
same, and so on, till work can no more be 
dispensed with at an afternoon visit, than 
the usual amount of talking. Now, if all 
would do in this way, vve should soon have 
a more sociable and friendly neighborhood, 
than we do where each one tries to outdo 
the other ia setting the best table, and dis¬ 
playing the best furnished parlor, and our 
moral and intellectual interests might have 
more of our attention. 
But I have already extended this, farther 
than I intended to, and will close by ex¬ 
pressing a desire to hear again from “Lucy,” 
and subscribe myself, 
Very respectfully, Emma Jane. 
breaking colts. 
FARMERS’ WIVES.-ANOTHER LETTER. 
Pasturing Meadow Lands. —Farmers 
cannot be too particular in keeping cattle, 
horses, or sheep from the new shorn mead¬ 
ows, until a good crop of grass has grown 
up. If the roots are eaten down too close¬ 
ly the next year’s crop will be much lessen¬ 
ed. Not a hoof should go into meadows 
after they become soft from fall rains, or a 
still greater injury will be done. Meadows, 
to be profitable must have good care. 
Mr. Editor: —I am a constant reader of 
your valuable paper which contains much 
useful information, not elsewhere met with. 
I was much pleased in reading “ Lucy’s” 
letter in the Rural of July 17th. I think 
her a more sensible woman, than many 
“ farmers’ wives.” I lived with one of them 
live years, and thought it was a hard place, 
and am of the same opinion still. She kept 
me on my feet, from morning till night, and 
used to tell me, there was no time to sit 
down, at a farmers home. 1 used frequent¬ 
ly to say, “ I never will marry a farmer.” 
Yet, when I considered the matter over a 
little, I thought that I could make my own 
regulations, and find some time to sit down, 
to read, write or sew. And my experience 
proves that I have plenty of time to do all 
my work myself. 
It is astonishing how differently women 
calculate their work. While some have it 
done, and well done, others prove to a dem¬ 
onstration, that “ woman’s work is never 
done.” By a little forethought and calcu¬ 
lation, how many steps might be saved even 
in one day ?—to say nothing of the months 
and years, and the expense of shoe-leather. 
Many women complain that their houses 
are so arranged as to make a great many 
steps. I will allow this in some cases, but, 
it is one thing to have a house convenient, 
and another to accommodate yourself to the 
In the 22d number of the Rural, is an 
article on “ Rearing and Breaking Colts,” to 
which, I think, a few words should be add¬ 
ed, in relation to the gradual use of the har¬ 
ness. io illustrate, my meaning; suppose 
we take a young man from the Professor’s 
office, or from the Counting-house, put him 
on the farm and require him to work faith¬ 
fully one half-day. Long before the half¬ 
day is terminated, his hands will be blister¬ 
ed, the muscles of his body sore, and his 
ambition gone, if he had any at first. Let 
him rest now “ till after dinner,” take his 
“nooning,” and be called out again to his 
labor. He will be stiff and lame in all his 
joints and limbs, and totally averse to ac¬ 
tion. Such is the condition of young horses 
when first set to work; (and even of old 
ones that have not been harnessed for some 
time;) and hence the reason why they often 
refuse to go, after being kept too long in the 
harness the first time, or were worked too 
hard, or harnessed to soon afterward._ 
Hence the necessity of training them grad¬ 
ually, both in regard to the length of time 
they are kept in the harness, and the amount 
or severity of labor they are required to 
perform. H> 
Down East, June, 1831. 
HIVING BEEi. 
I rom four swarms kept over in common 
box hives, we have had in 3 weeks after the 
23d of June, thirteen young swarms. One 
after hiving went to the woods. Another 
started, but after going about 20 rods were 
brought down on a beech tree, by throwing- 
dust among them, and were hived—but in 
two hours they left and went into a stump, 
about two feet from the ground, the cavity 
in it—running upward—being a little more 
than large enough to hold them. And yet 
another started oft) but by persevering- 
ly throwing dirt among them, they were 
brought down on a fence, hived, and went 
to work. By this it appears that dirt 
thrown among a swarm of bees will make 
them light; but it is generally useless, for 
when once started they will not often stop 
l° n g- Arvillo. 
Ulysses, N, Y., July, 1831. 
