3-38 
MOORE’S RURAL NEW-YORKER: AN AGRICULTURAL AND EMILY JOURNAL. 
USING UP THE PIG. 
Sgrtuiltarnl /airs. 
CHEMUNG CONNTY FAIR. 
It wa§ our good fortune to attend the 
Chemung County Fair, held on the 8th 
and 9th inst. at Horse Heads, but—prefa¬ 
cing remarks—it should in justice be stated 
that the Society had lost its vitality, no Fair 
having been held in the county for several 
years previous. This year some friends of 
the cause, animated by the spirit of “ pro-* 
gress and improvement” have reorganized 
the Society, and held this their first Fair 
under these untoward circumstances. They 
have abundant cause of congratulation, and 
of pride, for though the exhibition was not 
large it was of a most commendable char¬ 
acter, and marked throughout with a spirit 
'which augurs ultimate success—reflecting 
much credit upon the efficient officers and 
managers, as well as upon the exhibitors 
themselves. 
The show of horses was not what it 
might have been, as many very fine 
pairs and single horses were on hand but 
not entered for exhibition or competition.— 
Of these we noticed several pair, among 
others a fine farm team belonging to M. F. 
Rood of Dix, not raised in the county. J. 
Patterson of Elmira, and W. Worden Jr. 
had excellent horses not entitled to com¬ 
pete. The best Stallion was owned by A. 
S. Durkee, second J. Townsend. There 
was also many desirable young horses shown 
—an excellent matched pair owned by S. 
Decker, and another, little if any inferier, 
by M. Bennett. 
Of stock the show was small with the ex¬ 
ception of a herd of two and three year old 
steers, exhibited by Messrs. Owen’s of Big- 
flats, 0. Hurd and others whose names we 
could not ascertain. Some good cows, owned 
by Rev. C. C. Carr, .S C. Smith, W. Sayre, 
Ac., merited and received premiums.— 
Four year old heifers of Geo. Bennet, 
Horse Heads and 2 year olds of A. G. Owen 
Big Flats, were noted as being fine. A full 
blood Devon bull was presented by 0 Hurd, 
and a grade, by S. C. Smith, which made 
up this class. Excellent working oxen 
were presented by M. Rennet, R. Beck¬ 
with, D. Bennet and Ralph Bentley, all 
of whom received prizes. 
The Swine turned out in goodly numbers 
to honor the festival, but with the excep¬ 
tion of some of extra size, none were notic¬ 
ed which deserved individual mention, 
though all grunted a hearty assent to the 
proceedings of the day. Of Sheep, the 
exhibition was certainly commendable.— 
We noticed as particularly fine, some full 
blood Spanish and French Merino bucks 
presented by J. G. Burritt, Port Creek; 
some Paulnrs by T. S. Tuttle, and very 
fine Sheep by Milo Hurd and Reed Bur¬ 
ritt of adjoining counties. 
We saw not a single agricultural imple¬ 
ment exhibited except a Grain Cradle, by 
J. G. Burritt, a Thermometer churn byN. 
Clark, Rome, and the plows at the plowing 
match. Whether the plow makers of Che¬ 
mung designed this as an invitation to plow 
makers from abroad is not certain, but such 
will be the effect of their remissness.— 
Good work and carriage harnesses were 
shown by S. Carpenter, Horse Heads, and 
an extr£ single harness by T. S. Keif, Jef¬ 
ferson. J. Henderson, Ithaca, exhibited 
his patent horse shoes and horse shoe 
swedge which received a premium at the 
State Fair. Samples of Jewett A Root’s 
folding-door parlor stoves, and a fair cook¬ 
ing stove, were exhibited by Mr. Ramro, 
Horse Heads. 
Only two samples of butter were shown, 
both fine, but Chemung Co., which has re¬ 
peatedly competed successfully with the 
whole State in this department, should have 
better sustained her reputation at home.— 
The show of cheese was meagre and could 
give little character to the dairy products of 
the County. In this as in other depart¬ 
ments there is abundant room for improve¬ 
ment. 
The Fruit growers of the county deserve 
especial mention for their display of choice 
fruits, named, and displayed in order, with 
much taste, Messrs Owen of Big Flats, J. 
G. Burritt, Walter Lyon, A. Latta, and 
Col. E. C. Frost, made good exhibitions, 
and received premiums. We have found 
nowhere finer specimens of apples, or of 
more choice varieties. R. C. .Frost, of the 
Seneca Lake Highland Nursery, made a 
fine display of dwarf fruit trees, also orna¬ 
mental shrubs and trees. 
The Ladies —wives and daughters of the 
farmers of Chemung—with a praiseworthy 
zeal contributed freely of their handiwork, 
in domestic manufacture, embroidery and 
worsted work, which compared favorably 
with that of any of the more popular and 
favored localities. It would afford us pleas¬ 
ure to name many who made exceedingly 
creditable additions to the exhibition, but 
space will not admit. Not only their handi¬ 
work, but their presence in the hall, on the 
field, at the plowing match, and in the 
church was an honor to themselves and 
gave an earnest that the Chemung County 
Society should succeed if its success de¬ 
pended upon themselves. 
On the second day the plowing match 
came off. But three teams were entered, 
none of which performed what would be 
called good plowing, though such as a fair 
average of farmers, or at least too many of 
them practice. The address was deliver¬ 
ed by Charles Lee, ,Esq. of Penn Yan, who 
we learn, is a practical farmer. The pro¬ 
duction was a plain common sense talk, and 
contained views and suggestions which were 
not only creditable to the speaker, but which 
will be found eminently useful to the Society. 
We feel under obligations to the President, 
S. L. Rood, Esq., and also to the secretary 
A. J. Wynkoop, as well as other gentlemen 
of the society, for their attentions, and hope 
hereafter to renew the associations so pleas¬ 
antly commenced. -f- 
THE CORTLAND COUNTY FAIR. 
The Cattle Show and fair of Cortland 
County was held at the village of Homer 
on the 1st and 2d of the present month, 
and is said to have been the largest both 
in spirit and attendance, of any ever held in 
the county. The exhibition of stock was 
very creditable. A great variety of farm 
implements were on the ground, among 
them, a mowing machine which was put in 
operation. The mechanics’ department of 
the fair was fine, especially in carriages and 
harnesses. 
Floral Hall, in fruits and vegetables was 
abundantly supplied. Garden flowers had 
been cut off by the frosts, but there were 
some present from parlors and green-houses. 
The needle, shell and wax-work was varied 
and excellent The Dairy department was 
better filled than ever before. Mr. Marks 
of Onon ago Co., delivered the address af¬ 
ter the plowing match, on the second day 
of the fair. * 
GREAT YIELD. 
Though wheat varies greatly in the 
amount of its ordinary produce, yet the av¬ 
erage in any given country will exhibit the 
advance of its inhabitants in skill and cap¬ 
ital. When the elements are combined 
properly in the soil, its disposition to tiller 
is quite remarkable, being greater than 
that of any other cereal cultivated. I re¬ 
member reading, a few years since, of an 
experiment copied from the 58th vol. of 
Philosophical Transactions, that shows to 
what an extent it may be carried, and points 
out how successful scientific skill may be¬ 
come in enlarging the means of human 
subsistence. 
A Mr. Miller, of Cambridge, Eng., 
says the account, sowed on the 2d of June 
a few grains of common red wheat. It 
tillered so much that on the 8th of Aug. 
he divided one of the stools into 18 parts. 
In Sept, and October these were divided 
again and 67 separate plants put out to 
stand the winter. In the spring the tillering 
went forward as briskly as ever, so that in 
March and April another division was made, 
which resulted in 500 plants. These were 
allowed to grow to maturity, though it was 
thought another division might have been 
made that would have quadrupled the 
number. The 500 plants proved exceed- 
ingly vigorous, so that 21,109 ears were 
submitted to the sickle, making an average 
of about 40 to each plant. The ears were 
remarkably fine, being some of them 6 and 
7 inches long, and containing 60 and 70 
kernels. The cleaned wheat weighed 471- 
lbs. and measured 3f pecks, and all the 
produce of one kernel. t. e. w. 
Bones. —Save all the bones, and having 
mashed them, place them in a tub and pour 
over them a quantity of sulphuric acid.— 
They will be dissolved, and may then be 
applied as manure to your turnip and other 
crops. Not a bone should be thrown away. 
“FARMING IN NEW ENGLAND AS IT 
WAS AND AS IT IS.” 
Mr. Editor: —Some time since I penned 
an article which appeared in the Rural 
with the above caption—in which article I 
gave my honest views in regard to farming 
in New England now, and farming in New 
England twenty-five or thirty years ago.— 
What I then stated, I sincerely 7 believed,— 
and what I believed then, I believe now, 
notwithstanding a “ Massachusetts farmer,” 
has seen fit to “ gainsay ” what I therein 
advanced. I have no doubt your Massa¬ 
chusetts correspondent thinks he is on the 
side of truth when he states that “ the soil 
has improved, and is more productive than it 
was 25 or 30 years ago;” but it does appear 
to me that when he made such an assertion 
he had a prejudice against the West, and 
was partial to New England. It is true I 
am not so familiar with farming in Massa¬ 
chusetts, and not so well acquanted with 
the quality of the soil, Ac., as in Rhode Is¬ 
land,—but from close observation for many 
years, I must repeat that “ a greater quan¬ 
tity of manure is required to bring the land 
into a productive state,” now, than it was 
years ago, throughout the New England 
States; and this statement is not made from 
my observations alone, for I have like tes¬ 
timony from those who have continued to 
“ dig and delve ” here in New England 
twice the number of years that I have. 
Your correspondent says, (in order to 
adduce facts for proof,) “ Many a young 
man here, (meaning in Massachusetts,) has 
within the past few years, bought a farm 
on credit, with no more capital than was 
necessary to stock it, and by skill and in¬ 
dustry has paid for it.” This may be true, 
—but allow us to say, that while one young 
man has been thus fortunate, three are still 
in debt for their farms, and no doubt will 
be for years. The chance for the farmer 
here is not what it once was; and the rea¬ 
sons are obvious to every candid mind.— 
Since the introduction of railroads in this 
country, the advantages of the Western 
farmer have increased, while here they 
have decreased; and if “N. E. F.” requires 
proof of this statement I am prepared to 
give it iu some future communication. 
I would ask your correspondent—what 
advice he would give a young man of 21 
years of age, who had by his skill and in¬ 
dustry accumulated a property of $500 
and with which he wished to purchase a 
farm? Would he advise him to lay out 
his five hundred dollars in the Old Bay 
State, and purchase five or six acres of land, 
and then “ run into debt ” in building his 
house—and still deeper in debt for stock 
and implements for his five or six acre farm ? 
Would he not rather advise him to turn his 
face Westward, and there purchase from 
one to two hundred acres of land (that 
would grow crops without manure,) and 
then have enough left to erect a log house, 
and to purchase stock, and all the necessa¬ 
ry implements required for cultivating and 
carrying on the same ? 
It does look reasonable to me that if a 
young man desires to engage in Agricul¬ 
ture, with the intention of accumulating 
property, the Western country holds out 
the greatest inducements. True it is that 
the individual who settles in the far west 
has got to deprive himself of many privi¬ 
leges, and of many of the comforts and lux¬ 
uries of life, for a time—but this is trifling 
when compared to what many an honest 
poor man has to suffer from vexation and 
perplexity by harassing creditors here in 
New England. Then again, there is some¬ 
thing pleasant in the idea of being the 
original founder of one’s own homestead. 
The prospect may, for a time, look rather 
gloomy, but Hope stands by the new set¬ 
tler, and gives him strength and courage 
to persevere. The future soon looks bright 
before him. 
As I said in my former communication, 
many a farmer here in New England has 
hired farms, paid rents for the same, suffi¬ 
cient to have made him a rich man, provi¬ 
ded he had laid out the same for a farm in 
some of the Western States; but now he 
is no better off, than he was twenty-five or 
thirty years ago. 
In conclusion let me say—if I was a young 
man of 25, and had $500 or $600 at my 
command, and intended to engage in Agri¬ 
culture for a livelihood, soon would my face 
be turned towards the setting sun; not but 
that I love New England. Indeed I should 
be telling an untruth if I should say I 
prized any other land higher; and I trust 
your Massachusetts correspondent will take 
me as I mean. By the way, if he would 
just take the trouble to peruse my former ar¬ 
ticle A second time, carefully, he will no¬ 
where find I spoke disrespectful of New 
England. My aim was then, and is now, 
to give young men, with but small capital 
(who desire to engage in farming) to under¬ 
stand that the Western country is better 
adapted at the present day for that business 
than our New England States. 
A. Todd. 
Smithfield, R. I., Oct., 1851. 
FLESH FOR HENS. 
If you keep hens, and desire to render 
them a source of profit, as well as luxury, 
see that they are liberally supplied with 
flesh. The fish taken in ordinary streams, 
afford an excellent and most grateful sub¬ 
stitute for the flesh of animals, and can gen¬ 
erally be obtained in almost any desirable 
quantity, and at comparatively small ex¬ 
pense. When at large, the hen is carnivo¬ 
rous, and procures much of her daily food 
from the resources of the insect world, de¬ 
vouring almost indifferently, and with little 
discrimination, all such insects, bugs, flies 
and worms, as fall in her way. These pro¬ 
mote fecundity, and in situations where she 
is deprived of the privilege of catering for 
herself, either these, or some adequate sub¬ 
stitute, in the form of more solid viands, 
must be supplied, or she will cease to lay. 
Neglect of this, is the principal cause why 
hens, closely confined, are so generally 
complained of as unprofitable. — Granite 
Farmer. 
Remarks. — The above is perhaps not 
new to your readers, and yet there may be 
some who will be benefited by it. Every 
one has observed how eagerly hens will 
eat all kinds of offal, scraps, soap-grease, 
Ac. They will also contend with the cats 
and dogs, for the refuse of the table, the 
last “ picking of the bones,” Ac. I have 
seen them work for hours at a dead mouse, 
a young frog, or snake, to reduce it to the 
proper dimensions for swallowing. I have 
also seen them refuse corn and run for the 
scrapings of the plates, the shakings of the 
table-cloth, Ac. 
It can hardly be admitted, that an ani¬ 
mal will eat what it does not like, or that 
its likes are influence*!, like those of his ra¬ 
tional brother, by “ the fashions of society.” 
The unerring dictates of instinct are the 
guides of all the lower orders of the ani¬ 
mal creation, and their likes are regulated 
by real, not imaginary, wants. Hence the 
milch-cow will endeavor to supply the cra¬ 
vings of nature, and the deficiencies of veg¬ 
etable food, by spending hours in the fruit¬ 
less attempt to masticate a bone. Hence 
hens will leave their corn and oats for a 
fragment of meat Give them, then, ani¬ 
mal food of all kinds, raw or cooked, fresh 
or decaying, (they prefer the latter,) in such 
a condition that they can eat it, except salt 
meat. A very little salt may perhaps not 
be hurtful, but I have known hens to pine 
away and die in a few days, after eating- 
salt. Food in its natural state doubtless 
contains all the salt necessary for the use of 
hens, as well as for many other animals. 
Down East, August, 1851. H. 
t 
More Land.— The fault of many a farm¬ 
er is his appetite for more land. However 
poorly cultivated what land he has, he al- 
•ways wants more. The next field must be 
his. The fences between them may be a 
good boundary for his neighbor, but not for 
him. His policy is to buy more land and 
give manure in homoeopathic doses. There 
is no lesson so needful for him as that de¬ 
rived from the well known story of the 
Frenchman and his two daughters. When 
the first daughter was married he gave her 
for her portion one-half of his vineyard.— 
But to his surprise the half he had left, re¬ 
ceiving as much cultivation as he had be¬ 
fore bestowed upon the whole, yielded as 
much as the whole had done. When the 
second was married, he gave her the half of 
what he had left, and still he had as many 
grapes as before.— Geo. R. Russell. 
Coal-Ashes.— I beg to state the result 
of an application, on a small scale, of coal- 
ashes on grass land. Part of a piece of 
wet, heavy land was dressed with them; 
the result was most satisfactory. It could 
be easily seen at a considerable distance 
how far they had been applied; and the 
crop was quite as heavy as it could have 
been expected, had good manure been ap¬ 
plied. I imagine they acted not directly 
as a manure, but, like charcoal, they are 
instrumental in absorbing ammonia and 
other gases, which plants are known to feed 
rapidly on, and to yield it to the plants, 
without giving off any of their own sub¬ 
stance, which remains unchanged for a se¬ 
ries of years.— W. Wakefield. 
Coleridge declared that in Cologne he ; 
“ counted two and seventy stenches, ail well ) 
defined.” How many he might have de¬ 
tected in Cincinnati, is a matter of curious ? 
conjecture. Although admirably suited for ) 
sewerage, and abundantly wealthy, it is on 
a par with the old towns of Europe in the 
barbarism of open drains, with undisguised 
tributaries from every yard and dwelling. 
What crocodiles were, in Egypt, what 
cows are, in Bengal, or storks in Holland, { 
pigs are, here, with this trifling difference— < 
their sacredness of character lasts but as ; 
long as their mortal coil; and this is abbre- ' 
viated without ceremony, and from the most 
worldly motives. In life, the pig is free— 
is honored; he ranges the streets; he re¬ 
poses in thoroughfares; he walks between 
your horse’s legs, or your own; he is every 
where respected; but let the thread of his 
existence be severed,-and shade of Ma¬ 
homet! what a change? They think, in 
Cincinnati, of making nothing but the most 
of him. How many of this kind perish an- j 
nually to cement the vast prosperity of that 
city, cannot be told. 
About fifteen years ago, when it con¬ 
tained only one-fifth of its existing popula- ; 
tion, a few bold speculators began the trade. \ 
Selecting the hams and sides of the animal, ( 
they made pickled pork; of the rest, they 
took small account. Soon, however, the ) 
idea occurred to one more acute than his : 
fellows, that the heads and feet—nay, even < 
the spine and vetebrte—might be turned to 
account. Trotters and cheeks had their ‘ 
partizans, and these parts looked up in the > 
market. About this time, the makers of \ 
sausages caught the inspiration; they found / 
those luxuries saleable, and so many pigs $ 
were to be slaughtered, that the butchers ) 
were willing to do it for nothing; that is to < 
say, for the perquisite of entrails and offal 
alone. The next was due to the genius of \ 
France. ) 
A Frenchman established a brush man- : 
ufactory, and created a market for the ) 
bristles; but his ingenuity was outdone by 
one of his own countrymen, who soon after j 
arrived. This man determined, it seems, < 
to share the spoil; and, thinking nothing \ 
else left, collected the fine hair or wool, ; 
washed, dried and curled it, and stuffed 1 
mattresses with it. But he was mistaken 
in thinking nothing else left. As but little ■ 
was done with the lard, they invented ma- ' 
chines and squeezed oil out of it; the re- ; 
fuse was then thrown away. Mistaken men - 
again! This refuse was the substance of ; 
stearine candles, and made a fortune to the ;• 
discoverer of the secret. Lastly came one < 
who could press chemistry into the service \ 
of mammon. He saw the blood of count¬ 
less swine flowing through the gutters of s 
the city; it was all that was left of them, ( 
but it went to his heart to see it thrown 
away. He pondered long; and then col- ) 
lecting the streams into reservoirs, made <> 
prussiate of potash from it by the ton.— ( 
The pig was used up. 
Age may wear and waste a mother’s ) 
beauty, strength, and estate; but her rela¬ 
tion as a mother is as the sun, when he goes 
forth in his might ; for it is always in the 
meridian, and knoweth no evening, The 
person may be grey headed, but her moth- \ 
erly relation is ever in its flourish. It may 
be autumn, yea winter with the woman ; 
but with the mother—as mother—it is al¬ 
ways spring. 
WHAT MAN IS MADE OF. 
Liebig, in his popular lectures on chem¬ 
istry, gives the following rather startling in¬ 
formation as to the material of which the < 
animal man is composed of. It appears 
that he not only feeds on the “ chamelion’s 
dish, the air,” but that he is nothing but 
air himself. It is no wonder that men have \ 
such a disposition to be gassy, and that J 
there are so many “blow hards” among 
the species, when we consider that he is ■ 
himself nothing but air. Liebig is good 
authority on such a subject, and therefore, 
the following which is extracted from one. 
of his lectures, may be received as gospel; 
“ Science has demonstrated that man is j 
formed of condensed air (or solid and liqui¬ 
fied gases;) that he lives on condensed as 
well as uncondensed air; that he prepares 
his food by means of condensed air, and by < 
the same agent, moves the heaviest weights , 
with the velocity of the wind. But the ) 
strangest part of the matter is, that thou¬ 
sands of these tabernacles, formed of con- / 
densed air, and going on two legs, occasion- ; 
ally, and, on account of the production and ) 
supply of those forms of condensed air which , 
they require for food and clothing, or, on 
account of their honor and power, destroy 
each other in pitched battles, by means of j 
condensed air; and, further, that many be- < 
lieve the peculiar powers of the bold and 
conscious, thinking, and sensitive being, j 
housed in this tabernacle, to be the result, ( 
simply, of its internal structure, and the ar- . 
rangCment of its particles or atoms; while j 
chemistry supplies the clearest proof, that, 
as far as concerns this, the ultimate and ( 
most minute composition and structure, <' 
which is beyond the reacli of our senses, . 
man is, to all appearance, identical with the ) 
ox, or with the animal lowest in the scale of 
creation.” < 
