MOORE’S RURAL NEW-YORKER: AN AGRICULTURAL AND FAMILY JOURNAL. 
WEEVILS IN WHEAT. 
For some weeks past we have been re¬ 
ceiving accounts from different parts of the 
State about the depredations of the weevil 
upon the wheat crop. To many of our 
readers the insect is probably a stranger, 
and we hope it will long remain so. Its 
appearance in the wheat, is that of a small 
seed or mite of a bright orange color, and 
not usually one-sixteenth of an inch in 
length, and very slim. They are found in¬ 
side the chaff along with the berry—or in 
its place—having extracted all its juice and 
prevented its growth. 
The samples shown us this year are not 
very full of them, but there is fear they 
will continue to increase. We resided in 
the State of Maine in 1836-7, when the 
weevil was most destructive to the wheat 
crop in that locality—and have there ex¬ 
amined hundreds of heads that would not 
yield a kernel of wheat, their place being- 
abundantly supplied by the insect. The 
quantity was so large that upon the barn 
floor, when the sheaves were handled, quarts 
could be gathered. So fearful and de¬ 
structive were their ravages, that growing 
wheat was nearly discontinued in the State. 
Ten years later, visiting the State again, we 
were gratified to learn the weevil had nearly, 
or entirely disappeared, and good crops of 
wheat were rewarding the husbandman. 
It is a question of deep interest to Wes¬ 
tern New York how the ravages of this in¬ 
sect are to be stayed. In the chrysalis state 
they are supposed to pass the winter, and 
emerge in the form of a fly about the time 
the wheat is in the milk, or perhaps earlier, 
so their deposit assumes the form described 
at the time when the kernel is most suscep¬ 
tible of injury. Observation has brought 
out the fact, that late heads of wheat are 
most affected, and few if any are found in 
the most forward winter wheat. Spring 
wheat suffers most, though we believe there 
are varieties of both, that have so far, nearly 
or entirely escaped. 
Early sowing on ground well prepared so 
as to ensue an early ripening of wheat may 
offer one of the best precautionary meas¬ 
ures. 
■Some effort should bo made to destroy 
the insect in the fall, such as salting wheat 
in the mow, mixing dry slacked lime with it 
after threshing and unquestionably a coat¬ 
ing of lime upon the land would do some¬ 
thing toward their destruction. We have 
seen lime sown broad-cast over the field of 
growing grain where it was supposed the 
fly was most active in depositing its eggs 
and at that time the practice had many ad¬ 
vocates. Liming before or at the time of 
seeding would probably have a tendency to 
destroy the insect if deposited upon the ker¬ 
nel, or go with it into the ground and exert 
a salutary influence there. Wc hope the 
subject may early recievc attention from 
able hands as we deem it of the utmost 
importance. i 
lv*V 
' i .' 
DRILLING WHEAT. 
Messrs. Editors: —The Rural’s popu¬ 
larity increases every day among the circle 
of my acquaintance, proving that it is only 
necessary to be a reader of it, to be satisfied 
of its utility—to say nothing of its enter¬ 
taining and amusing variety. * * 
Wheat promises a good return generally, 
but especially where it was sown with a 
drill. This, by the way, is beginning to be 
looked on more favorably the more it is 
tested, and from an experience of four years, 
I am completely satisfied that sowing all 
kinds of small grains in drills, has not only 
all the arguments in its favor, but that 
practical results prove, on the score of 
economy of seed, saving of labor, and last, 
though not least, decided increase of crop, 
it is a vast improvement over the old broad¬ 
cast method. 
It requires some skill and experience in 
order to drill with precision, but above all, 
the drill should be right, in order to do good 
work. I have sown from 50 to 100 acres 
of winter wheat per year, for the last three 
years, and with two exceptions, the result 
has been very satisfactory. On those pieces, 
the soil was a very tenacious clay, and for 
some cause not fully understood, the result 
was not as favorable as we desired. Yet, 
the crop was tolerable, and the owner of one 
lot admitted that his wheat was as good as 
it would have been sown in the ordinary 
way—so he made a saving, in seed at any 
rate. R. S. Ransom. 
Butternut Hill Farm, Mad. Co., N. V. 
■■ 
P. 
HP* 
w /o 
r 5 G-lV.Br.Rf'- 
WORKING HEREFORD OX. 
We give above, the portrait of a working 
Hereford Ox, for which as well as the ac¬ 
companying description, we are indebted to 
Steven’s edition of “ Youatt & Martin on 
Cattle,” lately published by Saxton, N. Y. 
a book of which we have heretofore spo¬ 
ken favorably in our columns. 
“The Hereford white-faced breed, with 
the exception of a very few Alderney and 
Durham cows, have almost exclusive pos¬ 
session of the county of Hereford. The 
Hereford oxen are considerably larger than 
the Devons. They are usually of a darker 
red; some of them are brotvn, and even 
yellow, and a few are brindled; but they 
are principally distinguished by their white 
faces, throats, and bellies. In a few the 
white extends to the shoulders. The old 
Hcrefords were brown, or red-brown, with 
not a spot of white about them. It is only 
within the last 50 or 60 years that it has 
been the fashion to breed for white faces. 
Whatever may be thought of the change of 
color, the present breed is certainly far su¬ 
perior to the old one. The hide is consid¬ 
erably thicker than that of the Devon.— 
Compared with the Devons, they are shorter 
in the leg, and also in the carcass; higher, 
and broader, and heavier in the chine; 
rounder and wider across the hips, and bet¬ 
ter covered with fat; the thigh fuller and 
GUANO FOR WHEAT. 
The Editor of the American Farmer, 
who well understands the subject, is en¬ 
quired of by a correspondent as follows:— 
“ Would it be proper to fallow your land, 
harrow it, and sow the guano, or guano and 
plaster, with the wheat, and put them in 
with the shovel plows ?” 
He replies: 
The guano should be mixed with plaster 
at the rate of 100 lbs. of guano to 25 lbs. 
of plaster, sown broadcast, and plowed in 
as soon after as possible; the ground then 
to be harrowed until a fine tilth is obtained, 
preparatory to sowing the wheat, which may j 
bo either plowed or harrowed in, provided 
the seed is not covered more than two or 
three inches. Water furrows should then 
be formed and the field rolled across the fur¬ 
rows. Unless the soil be very poor, 200 lbs. 
of guano will be enough—if very poor, 300 
lbs. to the acre should be applied. The \ 
depth of the furrow is not material, as the 
plants will find the guano whether covered 
4, 6 or 8 inches. 
THE BE3T KLND OF FOWLS. 
As I have for several years been more 
or less engaged in poultry raising, and have 
within the time kept nearly all kinds of do¬ 
mestic fowls common to this country. 1 have 
often been asked the question, “ Which are 
the most profitable hens to keep ?” but have 
not been able to decide fully which were 
the most so until lately. And I now give 
you my decision, — hoping that some of 
your readers may be profited by my expe¬ 
rience:— 
If your object be to keep hens for laying, 
keep the pure Black Spanish Fowls. Even 
if you pay a large price for them, they will 
soon pay you back the money with interest, 
but if your object be to raise chickens for 
marketing, cross the Black Spanish with 
the Red Shanghae or Cochin China fowls; 
as chickens produced from such across will 
attain a larger size and come to maturity 
much sooner than the clear Asiatic fowls. 
And those—if any there be who doubt the 
above statement, are cordially invited to vis¬ 
it my poultry yard and see for themselves. 
As I am free to give you my experience 
in poultry raising, I hope others will give 
theirs as freely; and if there are really any 
better fowls than the above named—and it 
can be proved so—then I am willing to 
give up beat. Now, friends, do give us a 
little of your experience in the matter; and 
when convenient call and visit my pure 
stock of imported Spanish Fowls.—J. Dr- 
mon, in JV. E. Farmer ,. 
Each to his place in the great harvest. 
more muscular, and the shoulders larger 
and coarser. 
They fatten to a much greater weight 
than the Devons, and run from 50 to 70 
score. (A tolerable cow will average from 
35 to 50 score.) They are not now much 
used for husbandry, though their form adapts 
them for them for the heavier work; and they 
have all the honesty and docility of the 
Devon ox, and greater strength, if not his 
activity. The Hereford ox fattens speedily 
at an early age, and it is more advantage¬ 
ous to the farmer, and perhaps to the coun¬ 
try, that he should go to market at three 
years old, than to be kept longer to be em¬ 
ployed as a beast of draught. 
They are far worse milkers than the Dev¬ 
ons. This is so generally acknowledged, 
that while there are many dairies of Devon 
cows in various parts of the country, (none 
of which, however, are very profitable to 
their owers,) a dairy of Herefords is rarely 
to be found. To compensate for this, they 
are kindly feeders. Their beef may be ob¬ 
jected to by some as being occasionally a 
little too large in the bone, and the forequar¬ 
ters being coarse and heavy; but the meat, 
ol the best pieces is often very fine grained 
and beautifully marbled. There are few 
cattle more prized in the market than the 
genuine Herefords.” 
I UNDEEDRAINING MEADOWS, 
I - 
Some of our best farmers have lately 
adopted, with entire success, the system of 
underdrawing their heavy clay and wet 
meadows. This is done in the most sum¬ 
mary manner, by attaching two yoke of 
good oxen or two pair of horses to a strong 
sub-aoil plow, which penetrates to the depth 
of 15 to 20 inches below the surface. The 
sod is di\ ided and separated by the plow to 
a distance scarcely exceeding one and a half 
inches, which immediately closes after the 
furrow; and if moist when the operation is 
performed, the turf unites in a few days. 
By this operation, a large underdrain is 
left at the bottom of the furrow where the 
point, or nose, and wing of the sub-soil plow 
has passed, and nearly of their size, which, 
in stiff soils, remain open for years. On 
meadows where there are puddles of stand¬ 
ing water, as is always the case on stiff soils 
after rains, the effect is instantaneous. If 
the plow has been started in a ravine or low 
part of the meadow, (as it should be, so as 
to form a descent for the surface water,) 
when it passes through the little basins, the 
water vanishes as if by magic, and it is 
heard gurgling rapidly along its new-found 
aqueduct till it reaches the outlet. In ad- 
diiion to this more immediately perceptible 
effect, if the meadow thus drained, be close¬ 
ly watched for a few weeks, and especially 
during wet weather, a marked improvement 
will be noticed, over similar undrained 
meadows. The grass will be thicker, rank¬ 
er, and more forward; it will mature quicker, 
and yield heavier and better grass. 
The distance of these furrows, or drains, 
should vary according to the compactness 
or tenacity of tho soil, and the frequency of 
the basins to be drained. In the heaviest 
| soils, the drains may be advantageously run 
within ten feet of each other. If less ad¬ 
hesive, and few pond holes exist, the fur¬ 
rows may be a distance of 20 or 30 feet. 
No meadows, unless of the lightest kinds, 
will be injured by this operation, while all 
others will be decidedly benefited. This 
results from the imperceptible yet rapid 
drainage of the water which is held in ex¬ 
cess by the soil, and the escape of which is 
so beneficial to the vegetation. 
This operation has been adopted in Eng¬ 
land many years since, but with an imple¬ 
ment considerably differing from the sub¬ 
soil plow. It consisted simply of a pointed 
iron, some three inches in diameter at its 
largest end, which was connected with the 
beam by two strong, thin coulters, The 
iron point was often sent three to four feet 
below the surface, and required a strong- 
force to move it. This implement has been 
principally superseded where first adopted, 
by the substitution of thorough and more 
permanent tile underdraining.— Am. Ag. 
LIME AS A MANURE. 
The use of lime as a fertilizing substance 
for land, has long been known, and in many 
parts of the country has been brought to 
great perfection. There is however, great 
difficulty in th c practical use of this vaual- 
ble manure, as no universal rule can 
be adopted for its application. For instance, 
the quantity must be graduated according 
to the character of the soil, and the neg¬ 
lect of this fact alone has caused this dif¬ 
ficulty. Deep soil, filled with vegetable 
matter, will take three times more lime 
than should be applied to thin soil, con¬ 
taining a much more limited quantity. 
Then again, wet land will bear a much lar¬ 
ger proportion than dry. The only safe 
rule to adopt is, for every man to experi¬ 
ment for himself, and after understanding 
fully the nature of lime and the character 
of his soil, he cannot go astray. It is very 
common to hear farmers, who have been 
induced to use lime, say that their land has 
received no benefit from it. The problem 
is easily solved —they did not know how to 
use it 
I have tried upon my land, for several 
years, various experiments, and have con¬ 
stantly become wiser in the mode of using 
it. I have never failed to find that my 
land was most materially benefited by it, 
and I feel great confidence in recommend¬ 
ing it to others. I shall proceed, very 
briefly, to give my views of the character 
and efficacy of lime as a manure. I will 
state in the first place, that the use of this 
manure is so imperfectly understood, as well 
as the office which it performs, that it is 
proper to place it in a practical form. 
Lime forms a constituent part of some 
grains, such as wheat and rye, as is ascer¬ 
tained by chemical analysis; and where no 
lime exists in the soil, the crop becomes 
sickly and imperfect. But in most vege¬ 
tables it is a mere decomposer of the vege¬ 
table matter in the soil, furnishing by this 
means a constant nutriment to the plant. 
This at once explains the reason, why light 
soil, containing but little vegetable matter, 
requires less lime than that which is more 
strongly impregnated. I have tested this 
in various ways, and on a variety of soils, 
and every experiment confirms its truth. 
If I were to put one hundred bushels of 
lime upon an acre of poor soil, I am certain 
I should raise no crop for two or three 
years, for the simple reason that there 
would not be sufficient matter for the lime 
to ac^ upon, and to use a common expres¬ 
sion, it would burn the land. Before it 
could be available, it would be necessary 
for the lime to become neutralized in the 
soil, and the additional aid of successive 
vegetation, such as might grow, to reme¬ 
dy the difficulty. After this process shall 
have taken place, it will produce in abun¬ 
dance. Twenty or thirty bushels to the 
acre, for the first dressing, in sufficient. It 
plainly follows from what has been said, 
that a different soil, deeply impregnated 
with vegetable mould, will bear a much 
larger quantity of lime. For such land, 
one hundred bushels to the acre is not a 
large quantity. I would not exceed that 
quantity upon any land, but for the first 
dressing would graduate it from twenty to 
one hundred, with the nature of the soil. 
Now as to the mode of its application. 
Generally, it is put upon a plowed field in 
heaps, and spread, and afterwards plowed 
under. I regard this as a most pernicious 
mode of limeing. In the first place, the spots 
where the heaps are, receive too large a 
quantity; and in the next place, by plow¬ 
ing it under, the lime gets too deep to act 
successively upon the vegetable matter in 
the soil—consequently its beneficial effect 
is lost. Lime is heavy, and its tendency is 
to sink. The great object is to keep it as 
near the surface as possible. For several 
years I have adopted the method of spread¬ 
ing it upon the sod, and this furnishes the 
most successful mode of renovating an old 
meadow. It is spread from the wagon, 
and it requires but little experience to 
graduate the quantity according to your 
wish. In a short time the lime sinks into 
the spongy sod, and decomposes all dead 
vegetable matter, which at the same time 
nourishes the roots of the grass and causes 
the blades to spring up with extraordinary 
vigor. I have had old meadows double 
their usual quantity of hay the first year 
after this process. 
Then again, when you desire to plow the 
same meadow, the lime having sunk into 
the sod is still upon the surface, and ready 
to act as a decomposer of the sod, and 
manure in case the land should require it. 
If the ground should be left in meadow, it 
will be found that successive crops of grass 
will be greatly increased. 
I might extend this communication to a 
much greater length, but as you will often 
hear from me, I am desirous of consulting 
brevity .—Farvn Journal. 
A Heavy- Hog. —A Correspondent of 
the Mass. Ploughman, says. 
If July is not to warm to read pig stories, 
I will tell a short one. Some time since 1 
killed a pig eighteen months old whose 
weight when properly dressed (ready for 
market) was seven hundred and seventy- 
seven pounds net.—His rough fat weighed 
27£ pounds. (What breed was it?) 
CARE OF THE HORSE. 
Stewart’s Stable Economy gives very 
important directions to those having the 
care of horses, in regard to their treatment 
after having been hard worked or driven. 
Thousand of horses are yearly ruined by 
suffering them to take violent colds after 
hard exercise. 
Gentle motion to a heated horse is neces¬ 
sary, to prevent the evils likely to arise 
from one set of organs doing more than 
another set requires. But in many cases 
motion after work is useful when the horse 
is not heated. He may come in drenched 
with rain, but quite cool, and there may be 
no one on hand to dry him, or his coat may 
be so long that one man can not get him 
dry before he begins to shiver. In such 
cases the horse should be walked about. 
Were he stabled or allowed to stand at rest 
in this state, he would be very likely to suf¬ 
fer as much injury cAs if he were suddenly 
brought to a stand-still when in a high state 
of perspiration. Evaporation commences: 
the moisture with which the skin is charged 
is converted into vapor, and as it assumes 
this form it robs the horse of a large quanti¬ 
ty of heat If he be kept in motion while 
this cooling and drying process is going on, 
an extra quantity of heat is formed, which 
may very well be spared for converting the 
water into vapor, while sufficient is retained 
to keep him comfortably warm. Everybody 
must understand the difference between sit¬ 
ting and walking in wet clothes. If the 
horse be allowed to stand while wet, evapo¬ 
ration still goes on. Every particle of 
moisture takes away so much heat, but 
there is no stimulus to produce the forraa- 
rion of an extra quantity of heat; in a little 
while, the skin becomes sensibly cold, the 
blood circulates slowly, there is no demand 
for it on the surface, nor among the musc¬ 
les, and it accumulates upon internal or¬ 
gans. By-and-by the horse takes a violent 
shivering fit; after this has continued for a 
time, the system appears to become aware 
that it has been insidiously deprived of 
more heat than it can conveniently spare; 
then a process is set up for repairing the 
loss, and for meeting the increased demand. 
But before this calorifying process is fairly 
established, the demand for an extra quan¬ 
tity of heat has probably ceased. The skin 
has become dry, and there is no longer any 
evaporation. Hence the heat accumulates, 
and the horse is fevered. I do not pretend 
to trace events any further. 
The next thing of which we become 
aware is generally an inflammation of the 
feet, the throat, the lungs, or some other 
part But we can not tell what is going on 
between the time that the body becomes 
hot, and the time that inflammation appears. 
I am not even certain that the other changes 
take place in the order in which they 
are enumerated: nor am I sure that there 
is no other change. . The analysis may be 
detective; something may take place that 
I have not observed, and possibly the loss 
of heat by evaporation may not always pro¬ 
duce those effects without assistance. It 
is positively known, however, that there is 
danger in exposing a horse to cold when 
he is not in motion; and, which is the same 
thing, it is equally, indeed more dangerous 
to let him stand when he is wet. If he can 
not be dried by manual labor, he must be 
moved about till he is dried by evaporation. 
WATER FOE STOCK. 
In many situations cattle and other ani¬ 
mals suffer for want of pure water in sum¬ 
mer, especially in a dry time. In some 
cases they are supplied from a small stream, 
and the place for the animals to drink is 
nothing but a mud hole. A few of the 
strongest creatures drink and disturb the 
water so that most of the stock have a poor 
supply, both in quality and quantity. 
With proper management, a large stock 
can have a good supply of pure water from 
a small fountain or stream. Conduct the 
water into a large trough, and cover the 
spring so that the cattle cannot disturb the 
water or drop their manure in it; and if the 
trough will not hold water enough to sup¬ 
ply the whole stock when thirsty, add tubs 
or other vessels. After the animals have 
drank, wash out the trough and other ves¬ 
sels, as often as once a week, scrubbing 
them with a broom, or brush, as water 
standing in large vessels, with only a small 
supply, will soon grow foul in hot weather. 
When water is supplied from a pump or 
aqueduct, there should be the same atten¬ 
tion to cleansing the vessels.— A r . E. Ear. 
The Potato Rot. —Another candidate, 
named Phaneuil Flanders, has just laid 
claim to the reward recently offered by the 
Legislature of Massachustts, for the ,dis¬ 
covery of some specific for the potato rot. 
He says the evil consists in a small black 
bug, which preys upon the leaf until it de¬ 
stroys the vine and causes the root to rot. 
The remedy which he proposes, and the 
virtue of which ho asserts is proved thor¬ 
oughly by much experience, is to sprinkle 
all the vine once a week, after the appear¬ 
ance of the insect, with a weak solution of 
lime. The presence of the bug is always 
indicated by an appearance of rust Two 
casks of lime to the acre is thought to be 
sufficient 
