VOLUME 
ROCHESTER, N. Y.-TIIURSDAY, SEPTEMBER 4, 1851. 
WHOLE NO. 
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. WETHEKELL, and H. C. WHITE. 
Contributors and Correspondents: 
L. B. Lanoworthy, 
William Garbutt, 
S. I’. Chapman, 
David Ely, 
Myron Adams, 
II. P. Norton, 
T. C. Peters, 
F. W. I, AY, 
T. E. Wetmore, 
R. B. Warren, 
Archibald Stone, 
Chester Dewey, ll. d., 
.1. Clement, 
D. W. Ballou, Jr., 
R. G. Pardee, 
I. Hildreth. 
Jas. H. Watts. 
W. K. Wyckoff, 
W. H. Bristol. 
Wm. Perry Fogg, 
S. Luther, 
__ L, D. Whiting. 
/Nfctl numerous others—practical, scientific, and litiirary 
writers—whose names are necessarily omitted. 
The Rural New-Yorker is designed to lie unique and 
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 other paper published in this Country. 
STgrFon Terms, &c.. see last page. 
PltOGRESS AND IITffPROVF.ITIEIYT. 
; FARMING IN NEW ENGLAND AS IT WAS 
AND AS IT IS.” 
In No. 85 of the Rural is an article on 
the above subject, in which the writer says, 
“ the soil in New England has greatly degen¬ 
erated,”—“even with a plentiful supply of 
manure, it will not produce now, what it 
would many years ago, without manure.” 
“ Every cord of manure costs the farmer 
from two to three dollars.” On this I wish 
to make a few remarks. And 
First. —Although the language of the 
writer seems to imply it, yet I do not sup¬ 
pose that he means to say that any “ de¬ 
generacy ” has taken place in the soil, ex¬ 
cept what has been produced by “ long 
culture.” Allowing this to be his meaning, 
I conclude that the land has been reduced 
by long, and doubtless injudicious, culture; 
i. e., the soil was once good but is now near¬ 
ly worn out. 
Much of the land in the Southern States 
is in the same condition; and yet many of 
these worn out lands have lately been pur¬ 
chased by New Englanders, and are 
now being restored to fertility and produc¬ 
tiveness. The fact that the “ soil was once 
good,” shows that there .Is something to 
work upon; and the only question to be 
decided is, “ what is now the best method 
of proceeding in the process of renovation ?” 
“Every cord of manure made by the 
farmer costs him from two to three dollars.” 
I know not what is the cost of renovating 
the exhausted lands of Western Virginia 
and other southern districts, but it appears 
to me that the writer’s statement shows 
that the best method of renovation has not 
been adopted; especially as “even a plenti¬ 
ful supply of manure will not restore its 
productiveness.” It is true one unacquaint¬ 
ed with the nature of the soil is poorly 
qualified to instruct in this matter; and yet 
it is certain that the wants of the soil must 
eit'.er be vegetable or mineral, (the ele¬ 
ments of animal being embraced "in these.) 
That they are not so much vegetable, 
appears from the fact, that the writer 
speaks of the inefficiency “ even of a plen¬ 
tiful supply, &c.” As mineral matter could 
hardly be required by the “ cord,” and a 
“ plentiful supply ” of manure is inefficient 
1 conclude the “manure.” to be vegetable, 
and that something more is wanting. If, 
however, vegetable matter be wanting in the 
soil, this could easily be supplied by plow¬ 
ing under a few green crops; as clover, 
buckwheat, corn, &c. 
It is most probable, therefore, that miner¬ 
al elements are wanting, and those of a 
particular kind. These could hardly be 
wanted “by the cord;” or certainly not 
many “cords to an acre,” although the ex¬ 
pense might be more than “ two or three 
dollars per cord.” As furnishing a clue, 
therefore, to the means of restoring the 
fertility of the soil, the writer, Mr, Todd, 
will excuse me, I trust, for throwing out 
the following suggestions: 
1st. A new supply of mineral elements, 
(if these are wanting,) may be obtained by 
turning up the soil one or two inches deep¬ 
er than it has usually been plowed; (a 
method which has been tried with complete 
success;) after which the subsequent plow- 
ings might be more shallow again. This 
would furnish a supply for a number of 
years, after which a still deeper plowing 
might be resorted to for a further supply, 
and the covering up of green crops might 
furnish the necessary amount of vegetable 
matter. It is true there may be soils of 
such a nature, or character, that deeper 
plowing would be injurious, or impossible; 
but the former are comparatively few, and 
the latter must of course be dispensed with. 
2d. If the nature or character of the 
subsoil will admit of it, mineral elements 
may be brought within the reach of most 
kinds of grain by subsoiling. This opera¬ 
tion, by breaking up the impermeable bed, 
or subsoil, allows the roots of plants to ger¬ 
minate further in search of the necessary 
supply of proper nutriment. 
3d. If neither of these processes should 
procure sufficient to meet the wants of the 
case, a careful examination, or at least an 
analysis of the soil would determine the 
deficiency, and suggest the proper remedy. 
The greatest defect in the soils of New 
England, is, perhaps, the want of lime.— 
This defect, however, may be supplied at a 
moderate expense; and may be made up by 
scattering gypsum, lime, marl, sea-shells, &c. 
An occasional application of any of these 
substances, together with the plowing un¬ 
der of green crops would doubtless restore 
the exhausted lands of New England at a 
comparatively small expense. Salt, when 
it is cheap, might also be sown broadcast, 
on many soils, with decided advantage.— 
Ashes, valuable on dry lands are of little 
use on wet soils. 
4th. “The West—” But the West is 
fast becoming filled up, and the time will 
come when many parts of the West will 
be in the same condition with many parts 
of the Eastern States; i. e., very much ex¬ 
hausted. This appears to be the natural 
course of things. Few think of the need 
of judicious management in the culture of 
the soil, till driven to it by necessity. All 
must learn this lesson by experience. Hence 
it appears vain to think of leaving even 
New England for “ the West.” The West 
cannot hold every body, and the sum re¬ 
quired to carry a family there would go far 
towards renovating a New England farm. 
Some must remain at the East, or return 
thither if they leave; (for I do not believe 
the modern doctrine of Milierism;) and 
certainly none are better qualified to man¬ 
age New England soil than New England 
men, if they improve the light they enjoy 
5ih. There is one mode or means of fer¬ 
tilizing land not yet practiced (extensively) 
in this country, but to which our farmers 
must sooner or later resort. I mean the 
preservation and use of human excrements 
both fluid and solid. I know the aversion 
to their use; but this aversion need not 
exist, since their offensiveness may be almost 
wholly removed, and in the absence of a 
better plan for their preservation, I suggest 
.the following: 
Dig a cistern, or vat, (kettle-shaped,) that 
will hold two, three or more cart-loads, and 
line it within with cement. Put into this 
one or two loads of muck, sods, leaves, weeds 
&c. Throw in also, old plaster from walls, 
waste salt, lime, ashes, leached or unleach- 
ed; old shoes, boots, hats, rags, &c., cut in 
pieces; bones, broken or burned; sawdust, 
hair, &c., &c., together with the “ night- 
soil,” &c., adding quick-lime, or plaster, or 
both plentifully as occasion may require to 
absorb the gases. Let the whole be under 
cover, and let the mass be occasionally 
worked together with a spade or fork, be¬ 
ing sure to add dry material sufficient to 
absorb all the fluid, especially when it is to 
be removed. It may then be mixed with 
other manure from the barn yard, or spread 
thinly over the .field and immediately cov¬ 
ered with the plow. The materials thus 
brought together, (i. e., the waste from 
the family,) would make a more valuable 
(because richer) and more lasting manure, 
than that obtained-from the barn yard, and 
would be a clear gain to the farmer, in as 
much as it is made up of materials that are 
now tin-own away. Farmers, try it, and 
you will not ail be obliged to “ sell out and 
go West.” ii. 
Down East, Aug., 1851. 
RURAL SALMAGUNDI. 
Granaries, Rats, &c. — When barns are 
built the granariesshould always be made rat 
proof. Some do this by lath and plastering; 
some by building with two inch plank lined 
with matched inch hoards, and others even 
take the trouble and expense of lining with 
brick. But for those already built, into 
which rats have gnawed, I think a good 
plan would be to nail 1 by 6 inch hardwood 
boards in the angles, as rats never gnaw 
except they find a hole or crack. 
That squirrels and rats will not together 
occupy the building, I think likely; hut 
that rats must always yield I doubt, —for 
when they were so thick under our barn 
that they might be seen running about at 
almost any time, a red squirrel appeared, 
pitched battle with a rat, but was soon glad 
to retreat, minus the most of its whisking 
extremity. 
Keep a Diary.— Every farmer, especial¬ 
ly every one who wishes to act indepen¬ 
dently, and profit by past experience, should 
keep a diary or record of the operations on 
his farm. A book for this purpose may be 
bought ready bound; but a cheaper way is 
to purchase at a discount two quires of wri- 
ting paper, two pieces of pasteboard half 
an inch larger than the paper, and a strip of 
black muslin or leather two inches wide, to 
which paste the pieces of pasteboard half 
an inch or more apart; then sew in the 
paper. 
At night it will he hut a short job to 
write a line or two, recording the principal 
items of weather or work, or any other 
matter you may think useful for future ref¬ 
erence. A few words which often occur 
may be abbreviated, thus: fin., for finished, 
com. for commenced, &c. At the close of 
each week or month a few remarks on the 
weather, crops, &c., will be interesting to 
read at some future day. It would be well 
to draw an outline of the farm in the book, 
and number the fields. My way of keep¬ 
ing a diary is this: 
Aug. 1st, 1851. Cloudy; rain at 1. J. cut wheat 
in 3, (the number of the field,) S. rake and bind. 
Sat. 2. Sun and warm. J. cradle; S. bind, and 
W. sow turnip »eed. 
Sun. 3. Sun and hot. Heard A. at T. from “Ad 
Scriptute, &c. 
Mon. 4. Shower all day after 7. Drew a load of 
wheat from 10, and cap 120 doz. sheaves. S. corn 
cross plow in 14. 
Tu. 5. Sun. and cloud. Unbind 50 dozen which 
was cut too green and is slightly growing, &.c. 
By keeping this record the comparative 
forwardness of different seasons at a speci¬ 
fied time—the amount of grain raised on 
the same lot in different years—and many 
other things too numerous to remember, 
yet often useful to know—may be known. 
From mine I know that peach, plum and 
cherry trees commenced blossoming May 
9th, ’51; May 13, ’50; May 12, ’49; May 
1st, ’48, &c. 
Preserve the Rural. —This may be 
cheaply yet conveniently done by planing 
two sticks half an inch thick, and three- 
fourths of an inch wide, and four inches 
longer than the paper. Then take a couple 
of shingle nails or pieces of wire, and then 
smooth and sharpen one end. Drive thro’ 
the sticks, two inches from one end and six 
from the other, so as to make a handle. 
After one or more papers have been read, 
put them between until 26 numbers are in; 
then begin anew. If a person wishes in¬ 
formation on almost any farm concern, the 
index will direct where to find it. 
The Crops. — Summer crops promise welb 
except, perhaps, potatoes, the tops of most 
of which look as though badly frost bitten. 
This appears to be caused by a small black 
bug with four red spots and white tipt wings 
such as may be seen on mullins. This is 
thought ominous although I have heard no 
complaint of the rot. Fruit unusually abun¬ 
dant. Arvillo. 
Ulysses, Tompkins Co., N. Y., August, 1851. 
WHAT CROPS TAKE FROM THE SOIL. 
An average crop of wheat, it has been 
found by analysis, takes from the soil per 
acre 210 lbs., of which 30 lbs. go to form 
the grain, and 180 furnish the mineral con¬ 
stituents of the straw. An acre of barley 
takes about 3 lbs. more, and more goes to 
the grain than in the case of wheat—53 lbs. 
to the grain and 160 to the straw. Oats 
make a little larger draft upon the soil. 
They demand 310 lbs., 62 to the husks and 
grain, and 254 to the chaff and straw. The 
weight of mineral matter in an acre of tur¬ 
nips, or twenty tons, which they often yield, 
is but about 650 lbs. Potatoes, including 
vines, give 580 lbs., and cabbages take from 
the soil per acre, nearly 1000 lbs. Corn 
requires about the same amount as oats, 
and all crops are constantly drawing from 
the soil that which makes it productive. 
The necessity of adding fertilizing ma¬ 
terials is self evident. This wasting pro¬ 
cess is continually going on, and there is, 
in most instances but a small supply of some 
of the constituents necessary to produce 
abundant crops present in the shallow sur¬ 
face soil acted upon by. vegetation. There is 
not only necessity for supply, but for deep¬ 
ening the soil, so that its full power may 
become available for the use of the grow- 
O 
ing crop. Rotation will also aid in preserv¬ 
ing the fertility of the soil, as different 
crops demand different materials for their 
production. Analysis will show what may 
be lacking to constitute a productive soil, 
and thus give valuable hints in regard to 
the manures to be supplied. 
UPON WHAT DOES MAN SUBSIST ’ 
Potatoes among Corn. — The Rot .—An 
experiment in planting potatoes among corn, 
which has met our eye, was attended with 
good results, and acted it appears as a pre¬ 
ventive of the rot. In 1850, a Massachu¬ 
setts farmer planted his corn and potatoes 
in alternate rows, so that after the first of 
July the potatoes were constantly shaded 
by the corn. In most other fields in the 
neighborhood they decayed, and in his own 
where they were not shaded—but here he 
had sound potatoes and a good crop.— 
This fact is worth remembrance. 
When an implement is no longer want¬ 
ed for the season, lay it carefully aside, but 
let it first be well cleaned. 
IN FOUR NUMBERS —NO. IV. 
In investigating further the inquiry upon 
what do plants subsist, it becomes import¬ 
ant to know the sources of carbon and ni¬ 
trogen. Atmospheric air and water con¬ 
tain and furnish oxygen and hydrogen gen¬ 
erally in sufficient quantities for the growth 
of vegetation. Whence then comes the 
other essentials of vegetable structure, car¬ 
bon and nitrogen? It is well known to 
every observer that animals and vegetables 
when deprived of life, immediately begin 
to decompose, and are in part dissipated 
through the atmosphere, as all can bear 
testimony from the sense of smell. This 
decomposition produces carbonic acid, am¬ 
monia and water, which is composed of 
oxygen and hydrogen. What remains 
after decay is called manure, which still 
further changed into humus, a vegetable 
mould. Now it was argued in this way, 
says Schleiden, to whom we have before 
referred :—“ Carbon and nitrogen are 
abundant in humus ; in a soil that is rich 
in humus or is well manured, plants thrive 
better than in one which is poor in humus ; 
consequently, humus is the source of the 
carbon and nitrogen of plants. But this 
reasoning is altogether inconclusive.” 
He further remarks—“There was a pe¬ 
riod of earth’s history when yet no vege¬ 
tation clothed its crust — when no animal 
lived, and when there was no humus.— 
From this soil or crust, devoid of humus, 
gradually developed vegetation in sucli 
vast quantity, in such gigantic luxuriance, 
that the * same, buried and preserved by 
subsequent revolutions, assumes a most es¬ 
sential place in human economy at the 
present day. I mean the vegetation of 
one of the oldest geognistic formations — 
the coal period. The annual consumption 
of coal in Europe amounts to more than 
33,875,000 tons, and geognosy shows that, 
even if the consumption of coal should in¬ 
crease, the store will certainly last for 500 
years longer. Such a store corresponds to 
about 12,025,000,000 tons of carbon, which 
these plants evidently could not have ac¬ 
quired from the soil of the ancient world, 
in which no humus existed. That unsound 
argument does in fact silently presuppose 
the following hypothesis :—There exists on 
the. earth a definite quantity of organic 
matter, which circulates between the veo-e- 
O 
table and animal kingdoms ; the decaying 
animals serve as nutriment to the plant, 
and the developed plant again to the ani¬ 
mal.” 
The fallacy of the argument as stated, 
is shown from the fact that a large portion 
of bodies, whether animal or vegetable, 
while undergoing putrefacation or decom¬ 
position, are as before stated dissipated in 
the atmosphere—hence withdrawn from 
the supposed circle as stated above. This 
process would have exhausted before this 
the earth-organic substance on the supposed 
hypothesis. But instead of this there has 
been a constant increase of organic life, 
both in the animal and vegetable world.— 
“Whence springs this,” says S., “if there 
is no process by which the inorganic mat¬ 
ter is carried over into the circle of the 
organic?” Combustion and respiration 
and volcanoes have been pouring into the 
atmosphere for an indefinite period, carbon¬ 
ic acid and ammonia, while they are found 
in very small relative quantities in the air. 
These are withdrawn from the atmosphere 
and re-incorporated into organic matter.— 
Ammonia is a volatile alkali, obtained 
from the decomposition of animal matter, 
or artificially by subjecting bones, horns, 
hoofs, &c., to heat in iron cylinders. It is 
J 
