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VOLUME IV. NO. 3. }■ 
MOORE’S RURAL NEW-YORKER : 
A QUARTO WEEKLY 
Agricultural, Literary and Family Newspaper, 
CONDUCTED BY D. D. T. MOOSE, 
WITH AN ABLE CORPS OF ASSISTANT EDITORS. 
The Rural New-Yorker is designed to be 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 Sub¬ 
jects connected with the business of those whose interests 
it advocates. It embraces more Agricultural, Horticul¬ 
tural, Scientific, Mechanical, Literary and News Matter — 
interspersed until many appropriate and handsome engrav¬ 
ings than any other paper published in this Country. 
£3'"° For Terms, &c., see last page. 
Ultral |lfi«-i)odtfr. 
Progress and Improvement. 
FARM PLANS AND RECORDS. 
j ) Plans for the future and records of the 
i < doings and occurences of the present, are 
' c to no class of business men of more value 
) than to tho Farmer. The success of Agri- 
< cultural labor is as dependent on system^ 
) and a full understanding of the results 
( which that labor may and should produco, 
/ as that ot Commerce or Manufactures.— 
( And wo have sometimes thought, a highor 
$ wisdom and forethought might find full 
) employment in the study of tho wide and 
( complicated range of influences hero ex- 
7 erted. Tho Merchant and Mechanic deal 
S with dead matter and lifeless organisms; 
7 but the Farmer has to do with active exist- 
( ences—with living, growing, food-consum- 
!c ing plants and animals; demanding constant 
S provision for thoir wants, and a wide range 
( of knowlodge to enablo him to turn thoir 
> production and activity to tho truest advan- 
( tage. Ho, if any man, should know cost 
) and result—should keep those records which 
S would show all this —which would supply 
7 him with “facts and figures” whereon to 
> found wcll-considored plans for the future. 
) All farmers should have somo sort of a 
( system of book-keeping. They should be 
) able at tho close of the season, “ to strike a 
S balance,” showing how tho account stands 
) between themselves and farm; not by guess 
s work, hut tho real statement in dollars and 
) cents, pounds and bushels—disclosing ‘the 
) profit or loss of tho business for tho year, 
s I hey cannot tell how they stand with tho 
) world; how each plan has resulted ; how 
S each crop and animal has repaid their labor 
) and care without so doing, with any accu- 
( racy or dotail. They may bo losing money 
(■ by that to which their chief attention is 
) given, and making a good profit on another 
} product which is considered as of minor 
> consequence. A correct account of capital 
) invested, tho expenses of growth and cul- 
> turo, and tho receipts or return from tho 
> products, would at onco decide the whero- 
J about and truo policy of tho farmer—his 1 
i profits and losses, and from wheuco they ; 
j flow. 
: Lot us give a few hints on farm plans and I 
records, which wo hope, in some sort, will i 
meet the views and adoption of many of our i 
readers—that they will, if they do not al- < 
ready, employ somo systom by which thoy ' 
may know whether their labor has been “as 1 
water spilled on dry ground,” or has gone 1 
to tho increase of their means of usefulness 1 
and comfortable subsistence. r 
In planning tho work of tho present and l 
future years, a map of the farm is very ser- n 
viueablo, — one showing every field, tho t 
character of the soil, the situation of build- a 
ings, streams, wood-lands, &c. This may tl 
be readily prepared, in most instances by d 
the farmer himself, and at any rate at a p 
trifling expense. Tho temporary divisions si 
of the farm may bo shown by poncil lines, c« 
that changes may bo marked without diffi¬ 
culty or confusion. Each field should bo 
numbered or named, and now, or before ! ‘f 
spring comes with its many demands for ? d 
labor, lot tho purposes to which thoy shall jjjj 
be given bo decided upon. Consider care- ar 
fully the character of the soil; the manure 
which it noeds and which you can furnish: mi 
tho crop to which it is host adapted, and the , pu 
ROCHESTER,. N. Y. — SATURDAY, JANUARY 15, 1853. 
i WHOLE NO. 
prospects of tho markets, and put in black 
and white tho use to which it is devoted, 
that in the season for action, hesitation or 
calculation may not bo felt or called for. 
Tho Farmer should tako now, dating at 
the opening of tho year, an account of stock, 
implements, crops on tho ground or in tho 
barn; everything duo him and every thing 
ho owos; that ho may have a dofinito stand 
point; showing his present condition—one 
he may compare with that of another year, 
to prove his progress or retrogression.— 
Every man and boy—every one who pays or 
recoives money, should keep a cash account 
of receipts and expenditures, and in addi¬ 
tion to this, when the season opens for ac¬ 
tive labor, lot tho farmer debit every crop 
with tho expenses which occur in its pro¬ 
duction. Tho same should bo done with 
every animal or class of animals. An ap¬ 
paratus for weighing will be found very use¬ 
ful, tor without it ono cannot know tho cost 
of keeping and fattening animals. Ono 
cannot decide which is the most profitable 
kind of food unless ho can tell with some 
accuracy which makes tho most show in tho 
stable, the dairy, and the larder. 
And who, more than tho Farmer, has in¬ 
centives for keeping a journal or diary of 
tho ovents of his labor and his life. To 
whom are lessons of experience and obser¬ 
vation of greater value than to him, who in 
tho very laboratory ot Nature watches her 
operations and depends for wealth, comfort 
and subsistence upon her workings? The 
daily work ot the farm; the planting, cul¬ 
ture, and gathering of its fruits; the details 
and results of varied experiments and ob¬ 
servations in tho different departments of 
Agriculture—all furnish valuable materials 
worthy of recording — worthy of careful 
study as the ground whereon Practical Sci¬ 
ence shall plant tho seed of many a golden 
harvest in the Future. 
AN ESSAY ON DRAINING.* 
BY X. DAVIDSON REDPATH. 
, Tile Drains. 
, Drain-tiles are vory simplo in their con- 
i struction. Thoy usually measure from 12 
i to 14 inches in length, and when placed in 
the bottoms of drains form a conduit or 
channel 4 inches wide and G inches high.t 
Tho drains for tiles aro generally cut very 
narrow; a tributary 2 feet deep, 18 inches 
at tho top and tapering down to G inches at 
tho bottom would bo considered perfectly 
sufficient. For this purpose a common 
spade, one a littlo narrower, and a third 
about G inches wide, aro requisite for exca¬ 
vating thoso drains. Great caro ought to 
bo taken in examining tho tiles, previous to 
their deposition in tho drains, as ono bad 
ono (and thcro aro many of that descrip¬ 
tion) would stop tho current of the water 
and render the work useless. Tiles, if made 
of good material, will last for thousands of 
years. $ 
M hen tho soil is a stiff retentive clay, a 
foot of stone, or gravel, where procurable, 
is placed over tho tile, then a sod, as for¬ 
merly explained, and tho remainder of tho 
dram filled up with surface earth. This 
will allow a sufficient depth of soil above 
for tho operation of sub-soil plowing._ 
M lion stones or gravel, howover, cannot be 
had tho drain tile is used alono. Tho ter¬ 
minations of drains ought to be protected 
by a guard, to prevent the intrusion of fiold- 
mico, moles, and other vermin from making 
their nests therein. Even larger animals, 
as rabbits, ducks, &c., have boon known, 
through fear, or otherwise, to penetrate into 
drains so far as to render thoir return im¬ 
possible from tho narrowness of the pas- 
sago. Much troublo and expense have been 
caused to farmers from tho stoppage of 
* Concluded from page 13, last number. 
{ Four inches by six, inside measure, may bo considered 
a good servicable article. Tiles, however, are manufactur¬ 
ed of various kinds; diflering in size from 1 iuch to many 
inches in diameter. Of the horse-shoe kind some are 
made with and others without soles or bottoms. Pipe-tiles 
are made both circular and cliptieal. 
t T!ie writer has seen clay pipes constructed by the Ro¬ 
mans while in Great Britain, taken up a few years ago, as 
sound and entire as when luid down by that ancient peo¬ 
ple. 
ck drains in this way, which might easily have 
3d, boon prevented, by the insertion of a drain 
or guard between tho two last tiles in tho 
drain, that discharges its waters from tho 
at field. Tho tributary drains, which run into 
:k, mains and sub-mains, do not requiro any 
ho guard, allowing the latter aro protected at 
ng their terminations. 
^d The annexed cut shows a 
no plan for a Drain-tilo guard |:f [jjTj ^ 
ir » which may bo formed out || j I p | 
- of a piece of zinc, or sheet |i jjj jj !| I 
or lead, by any farmer him- If jjj | 'jj I jjj! 
nfc self, without having re- 
course to a tradesman.— 
Tho samo object may bo attained by procur- 
>P in g stout wire and placing tho pieces at such 
distances as to exclude tho smallest vermin, 
: 1 or the guards could be made at a foundry, 
P‘ of cast metal, similar to the above plan ; 
c ' or, a whole tilo could be cast of metal with 
st tho guards attached to its end. Tho cost 
j° in either case would bo but little. 
I ho operation of draining having been 
1(3 completed,—the treasure having beon hid 
in tho field, an accurate plan or map of 
tho whole, including tributaries, sub-mains 
and m ains ought to be taken, and preserv- 
? ed for referonco in case of accident. Theso 
0 will sometimes happen by tiles giving wav. 
r ' or by a lodgment of sand or mud. 
The accompanying cut 
’ t shows tho section of a 
drain ; the drain tilo — % 
tho guard — the gravel, 
s and surfaco soil above. 
Draining may be avoid- 
,f ed on somo soils, and WUfW 
s deep plowing, according Wlilil 
q to Mr. Stephens in his excellent work on 
- Draining, advantageously substituted for it. 
a ‘I h avo seon,” ho says, “large tracts of 
clayey land, intermixed with whitish stones 
^*ng in tho sub-soil perfectly impervious, 
effectually drained by means of trench- 
plowing, and keeping tho furrows regularly 
deep from one end of tho ridge to the oth¬ 
er. If farmers, occupying clayey soils, 
- would pay moro attention to the formation 
- of ridges and furrows, and keeping tho open 
i ditches and cross-furrows sufficiently deep 
i to clear the surtaco ot all stagnant water in 
tho hollow parts of the field, there would 
r bo much loss necessity for making drains 
3 for removing tho surfaco water.” 
: Indeed, it is fortunate for early sottlers 
r that new lands, in this country, in tho raa- 
i jority ot cases, do not require to bo drained 
1 for a considerable number of years. Tho 
• surface soil, in general, is loose and friable 
1 and tho roots of tho trees servo as so many 
1 conductors lor conveying down the humidi¬ 
ty into the strata beneath. As the roots of 
the trees, howover, become decomposed, tho 
pores ot the sub-soil become closer and 
closer, and tho frequency of plowing, and 
the washing of the finer mould downwards, 
adds to tho evil, until the substratum be- ' 
comes hard and imporvious. Tho water, ' 
unablo to escape by percolation, remains bo- 
twoen the surface and tho sub-soil, and im- 1 
parts a sickly hue to tho crops. The evil ( 
may bo remedied by sub-soil plowing, (at 1 
least for somo years,) and tho liberal uso of 1 
water-furrows, or open surfaco drains for 
carrying off the surplus water. Whore this c 
is not attended to it is no uncommon thing v 
to see whole fields, nay whole farms, being € 
converted into a general brick-field, which ^ 
requires only tho aid of the summer’s sun n 
to complete the procoss of brick-making. 
There is scarcely any land, however poor, t 
but would yield a fair return for tho extra c 
outlay of drainage. Yet there are somo so Cl 
parsimonious that they would begrudge the t! 
trifling outlay of a few hours labor in mak- Si 
ing cross-furrow drains for voiding the sur- ^ 
face water from thoir valuable crops. Such d: 
men seem to forgot that two and two do not ^ 
always make four, and that a penny saved lc 
is not always a penny won. How different g 1 
from theso penny wise but pound foolish P J 
characters aro tho wise husbandmen, whose tc 
eyes are in their foreheads, who look pros- as 
pectively, and therefore scatter that they ot 
may gather, and give that thoy may ulti- ~ 
matoly receive. They fully understand tho 
riddle put forth by honost John Bunyan in 
his Pilgrim’s Progress: 
“ A man there was, though some did count him mad, 
The more he cast away, the more he had.” 
We conclude this part of the essay by pre¬ 
senting the plan of two fields;—the first un¬ 
drained, but ridged and water-furrowed ; the 
second, drained and exhibiting tho tributa¬ 
ries, mains and sub-mains. 
PLAN OF AN UNDRAINED FIELD. 
A, A, water-furrow, 10 inches wide and G 
inches deop. B, B, water-furrow, bordering 
tho field. Tho dotted lines show the ridge 
furrows 30 feet apart. 
PLAN OF A DRAINED FIELD, WITH ITS TRIBUTARIES, SUB- 
MAIN AND MAIN DRAINS. 
The dotted lines denote tho tributaries, 
and tho parallol lines, tho main and sub- 
main drains. The tributaries aro laid with 
horse-shoe tile 4 by 6 inches, without bot¬ 
toms ; tho sub-main, with tho samo 4J by S£ 
inches; the main drain is constructed of 
stono, with an opening 9 by 18 inches. Tho 
1 distance of tho tributary drains is shown in 
' tho plan. In mapping a drained field, the 
length and depth of each drain should be 
s inserted, and the kind of drain tile employ- 
> ed, with their depth from the surface, gradu¬ 
ated fall, &c., &c. 
f The advantages to be derivod from a ju¬ 
dicious system of drainage aro very numer- 
’ ous. Draining removes all superfluous mois- 
1 ture from tho soil and prevents all that 
1 acidity or sourness which proves so very in- 
’ jurious to the vegetable, kingdom. It ren- 
j dors stiff clays soft and friablo, and pulver- 
1 izes the whole surface of the soil. It not 
only facilitates the operations of plowing 
sowing, cleaning, and other kindred occupa¬ 
tions, but, by instantly carrying off all ex¬ 
cess of humidity from the soil, it enables the 
husbandman to ro-commenco his field ope¬ 
rations in a vory short time after the heavi¬ 
est falls of rain, instead of waiting until tho 
water has been carried away by the slow 
process of evaporation. 
Thorough draining, too, reduces tho soil 
to a more equable temperature, and pre¬ 
vents, or at least considerably modifies, the 
“ heaving,” or throwing out, as it is called, 
of winter wheat, so very annoying to farm¬ 
ers, especially on wet prairie soils. 
By it the husbandman is enabled to con¬ 
tinue his field works later in the fall, and to 
commence them earlier in the spring, than 
ho otherwise could have done on undrained 
lands. 
It is worthy of remark that the beneficial 
effects of draining aro not confined to the 
vegetable, but extend their salutary influ¬ 
ences to tho animal kingdom. It is well 
known to graziers that all kinds of stock are 
maintained in sound and healthy condition 
when kept in dry and well drained pastures • 
that they oscapo the numerous diseases in¬ 
cident to thoso fed in wet and marshy pla- 
cos; that sound and genorous food causes , 
tho animals to fatten quickly, and at the 
same time imparts a greater tenderness and * 
finer flavor to tho flesh. “ Tho neglect of s 
drainage” says an author well versed on t 
this subject,* “ is often attended with serious j 
loss, from the unwholesome quality of the i 
grass, which a superabundance of moisture I 
produces. It is from tho stagnant waters a 
too on the soil, or confinod under it, as well v 
as from tho bad herbage, that tho rot and a 
other diseases, to which many thousands of v 
* Johnston on Drainage. 6 
io valuable animals fall victims every year, in 
in a great measure, proceeds. 
In the south of Scotland, particularly in 
id, the counties of Roxburgh, Berwick, Selkirk, 
and Peebles, a great proportion of the sheep 
e- farms have been drained; and tho result 
n ~ l ias been, that tho size, quality, and healthi- 
ie noss ot tho stock in these districts have beon 
a- so much improved, as to be scarcely credita¬ 
ble by those who are unacquainted with the 
past and present conditions of the farms 
and flocks of'thoso districts.” 
JEEEERSON CO. AGRICULTURAL SOCIETY. 
The Annual Meeting of this Society took 
place at Watertown, Dec. 24, 1852; tho 
President, John A. Sherman, iathe chair.— 
C Tho Treasurer's report shows a prosperous 
ig state of tho Society and somo funds on 
r G hand. Premiums were awarded on field 
crops and winter fruit: also for an experi¬ 
ment in raising crops after subsoil plowing; 
a very judicious premium. Tho officers for 
the ensuing year aro : President, John Wins¬ 
low, of Watertown; Treasurer, Talcott 
H. Camp ; Recording Secretary, Edward S. 
Massey ; Corresponding Secretary, Hiram 
Holcomb. Also ton Vice Presidents and an 
Executive Committee. A committee of 
twelve was appointed to attend tho Annual 
Meeting of tho State Society, or any other 
3 - convention pertaining to agriculture. 
Our northern friends are wide awake, and 
3 ’ will be asking for the State Fair soon.— 
^ Watertown is well located for accommoda¬ 
ting the State Society, with all volunteer 
~ and invited guests. 
'f SWAMP MUCK.—BOOK FARMING, &c. 
0 - 
u Few know the valuo of swamp muck; 
e and probably the greatest reason why it is 
e n °t turned to better account is because it 
_ is so very abundant, cheap and easily ob¬ 
tained. There is scarcely a farm in West¬ 
ern New York that has not enough and to 
spare, ot this valuable fertilizer. An open 
winter liko the present, is very favorable 
_ for throwing it up in localities easy of access, 
t when sleighing comes. Then, let it bo 
drawn out on hard land in heaps, or spread 
broadcast with a shovel on meadows and 
pastures, and in spring harrowed over with 
^ 11 light fine harrow or a heavy brush to pul¬ 
verize and spread it evenly over the surface. 
’ By this process the writer is confident that 
the quantity of hay was increased 100 per 
) cent on a clover and Timothy meadow of 
a gravelly loam soil. As a top dressing I 
have found it very valuable. 
I have made no other experiments with 
it worthy of note. Many have used it on 
different crops and different soils, and in 
different ways, all of which, whatever the 
result, will be interesting to many of tho 
readers of tho Rural. Fifty men may 
give us the result of fifty experiments in ' 
ono year, each of which may bo a valuable j 
acquisition in tho science ,of agriculture, 1 
while it would require half a century for an < 
individual to obtain tho same amount of ( 
experimental knowledge. Reader, can you ( 
not clearly see that thero is something in ^ 
“book farming” after all ? ( 
I was surprised the other day, when ask- / 
ing a neighbor to subscribe for the Rural, < 
that ho should reply, “ I would not give a ( 
fig for any agricultural paper.” This same ) 
man owns and cultivates about three bun- ? 
dred acres of land, and we call him a pretty > 
good farmer. His greatest objection was ( 
that, “ Theso papers aro written by men ; 
who know nothing about farming.” I as- < 
sured him that tho Rural was made up of ( 
everything that constituted a fanners pa- S 
per, and many articles were written by just ) 
J such men as himself, the cultivators of the i 
soil; and most were free from tho “ scion- (j 
titles,” to which he objected. Now, this is ) 
precisely the position of many good far- ( 
mers, who will yet become subscribers to tho / 
Rurad, and consequently better farmers; S 
and when they have learned that you mean 
what you say in relation to their sending in j 
accounts of all valuable experiments, you ( 
will have more correspondents, moro read- >{ 
ers, and more thousands on your books. < ; 
