142 
MOORE’S RURAL NEW-YORKER: AN AGRICULTURAL AND FAMILY NEWSPAPER, 
Again, it is said, “ Thero are six cuttings 
of tho grass, and six manurirgs, and that 
6,000 gallons are required in the course of 
the season. These 6,000 gallons, it is evi¬ 
dent. aro tho required amount after each 
cutting, in an undiluted state, for tho ma¬ 
nuring of the experimental two acres.— 
Thus : 6,000 gallons multiplied by 3, as tho 
rate of solution=18,000: gallons and multi¬ 
plied by 6, tho number of the waterings— 
1 OS,000 gallons, as given above. It will bo 
observed, therefore, that Mr. Bell gives 9,- 
000 gallons of diluted manure, (or at the 
rate of 3,000 in the undiluted state,) to each 
acre of grass, after every cutting. This 
may appear, to many, an extraordinary 
drenching, but it will bo seen by tho follow¬ 
ing reports, (which wo will give in a luturo 
number,) that Mr. Telfer, of Canning Park, 
irrigates his lands to the extent ot 20,000 
gallons per acre, after every cutting. 
I may say, in conclusion, that thero ap 
pears to bo a discrepancy, however, in the 
account of tho profits arising from the sys 
tern. It will bo observed that while in the 
body of tho report 16 cwt. of guano are al¬ 
lowed, per acre, for solution, in the cash ac¬ 
count only 16 cwt. are allowed for tho two 
acres. This error is both in the misprinted 
and corrected copy. 
Guano sells in Great Britain, from about 
nine to ten pounds sterling, per ton. 
Trusting that these explanations may prove 
satisfactory to yourself, and also your cor¬ 
respondent, I am, &e., 
N. Davidson Redpath. 
Allegan, Co., Mich., 11th April, 1853. 
P. S. In page 87, the following error oc 
curs. An English acre=6,860 square yards, 
instead of 4,840 square yards. In page 94: 
“ In some places of Scotland, where dung is 
over plentiful; read even plentiful. Also, 
page 94—“ In July, as Columcla relates,” 
read In Italy, &c. 
BLACK SMUT.-(“ PEPPER BRAND.”) 
Mr. Editor :—Two years ago last June 
while on a visit to a friend in Michigan, I 
saw in his wheat fields, an unusual quantity 
of what is here called “Black smut.” It 
appeared to bo the same which, in England, 
is called “ Popper brand.” In this country 
it is frequently seon in considerable quam 
tities among oats, barley, and wheat. — 
Neither grain nor chaff is, however, found 
on tho heads—indeed, nothing but the up¬ 
right crooked stems, to which small parcels 
of black dust adhere, about the places 
where the chaff and grain grow on tho per 
feet heads. This black dust, in a few days 
after it is formed, is blown away by the 
wind, or washed off by tho rain. 
The unusual quantity among my friend’s 
wheat, induced me to go into tho fields to 
examine it; on doing so, I was very much 
surprised to find many heads, which were 
in part smutted, (say about one half, more 
or less, however,) and tho other part con¬ 
taining good, sound, and well “ filled out ” 
grains of wheat. And what was still more 
surprising, was that in all cases which came 
under my observation, the lower part of the 
head was smutted, and tho smut nearly all 
blown or washed off, leaving the naked 
stems, supporting the upper part of the 
head, well set with chaff and good grains of 
tho ordinary size. 
For more than forty years I have been 
observant of all the various kinds of smut 
found among oats, barley, wheat, and many 
of the grasses common in this country— 
and, almost every yoar, have made critical 
examinations, observations, and experiments 
for the purpose of ascertaining the causes 
which produced them. But I never before 
saw heads of any kind of grain, or grass, 
one part of which contained this kind of 
“ black smut,” and the other part bearing 
good seed. Nor have I ever seen a case of 
this particular description, excepting in tho 
State of Michigan. I have never known it 
to do any positive injury to tho grain among 
which it was found—though it necessarily 
caused the loss of as much of tho crop as 
was thus smutted. That loss, however, is 
sometimes very considerable: as was the 
case with a field of “ skmless oats,” which 
came under my observation some years 
since, in which there was a loss of very near¬ 
ly, if not quite, one half of the whole crop. 
As this kind of blight, or smut, has ap¬ 
peared within a few years past, in much 
greater quantities than formerly, it may be 
well to endeavor to ascertain the cause, that 
we may be propared to apply a preventive 
remedy, if one can be discovered. 
Can any one give information in regard 
to it ? If so, and ho can give reliable in¬ 
formation, (and in that case only, for incor¬ 
rect information is worse than none at all.) 
I shall be much pleased to hear from him. 
’Hiel. 
The abovo engraving represents a new ] 
and improved Plow Regulator, recently pat¬ 
ented by Mr. Harvey Sprague, of Riga, N. 
Y. Tho regulation of tho depth of tho 
furrow, and tho steadying and carrying tho 
weight and easing the draught of the plow, 
are objects of this invention. These aro 
accomplished by attaching to the plow-beam, 
by means of arms, two wheels, one working 
on each side of the beam and rolling on the 
sod—the one before tho point of tho plow 
and tho other at tho back end of tho land- 
side. Tho arms are arch-shaped, and one 
end of each is attached by a bolt or axle to 
the plow-beam and connected by a regula¬ 
ting bar, forming a single arch or bow with 
a wheel at each end. 
CONDENSED CORRESPONDENCE. 
Culture of Corn. 
Mr. Moore :—I once commenced work¬ 
ing a farm, portions of which were said to 
bo so badly worn that it would hardly pay 
culture. A small field of this abused land 
lay near the barn, so that I could conven¬ 
iently move tho manuro to it; accordingly 
after tho ground was sottled and sufficiently 
dry in tho spring, I cleared my barn yard of 
all its contents, rotted and unrotted, and 
placed it upon that small piece of ground, 
leaving it in heaps until I w r as ready to 
plow,—then I spread, as I wanted to plow, a 
little at a time, so that there should be no 
waste by evaporation, keeping a hand to 
fill the furrows with such parts of the ma¬ 
nure as would not plow under without, as 
ofton as the team passed. This placed tho 
manure evenly over the ground, at the same 
time taking care that no part of the straw 
should bo seen on the top or between tho 
furrows. I plowed the ground from eight 
to ten inches deep, a considerable depth 
below where it had been plowed before, and 
then rolled and harrowed thoroughly. I 
planted in rows but one way, north and 
south, hills in the row from 18 inches to two 
feet apart, with about three and four kernels 
of corn in the hill. It was but little trouble 
to keep it free from weeds, which I did, and 
the result was I had as fine a crop of corn 
as any man could reasonably ask, besides a 
very fine lot of potatoes and a largo amount 
of pumpkins. I cannot give you tho pre¬ 
cise number of bushols, but I can say I do 
not remember over to have seen more pro¬ 
duce raised from three acres and threo 
quarters of ground. I have ofton thought 
while passing some farms and seeing a large 
amount of straw and manure in the yard, 
that I would like to have tho managing of 
them a little time—long enough, at least, to 
raise a crop of corn.—J. Sibley, Ransom- 
ville, JY. Y., April 13th, 1853. 
Remember, when the team is in the field 
and your hands upon the plow, that light 
furrows empty tho pocket also. Put tho 
plow deep down, and see what golden fruit 
will result. 
South-Western Wisconsin. 
Mr. Editor :—I send you a few notes on 
Wisconsin, which, if worth tho trouble, you 
can prepare for publication and give to your 
readers. In richness of soil, as a general 
feature, the State is unsurpassed by any 
part of the North-west. The mild and sa¬ 
lubrious climate, and pleasant air and pros¬ 
pect, speak of people “ coming to tho West,” 
as it is called, and returning dissatisfied.— 
But many of these, as soon as they landed 
on the shores of the Badgor State, got into 
a stage-coach, shut tho doors and rode thro’ 
a portion of tho country, perhaps, that was 
heavily timbered, and with bad roads. In 
this way they took a circuit of one or two 
hundred miles, going in a north and west 
direction, and seeing or hearing nothing 
very encouraging in the way of getting a 
farm already under any sort of cultivation ; 
and in many cases doing this, late in tho 
season, when hurried by the necessity of 
return. 
I would just say what is in my opinion a 
hotter way. Let them, after leaving the 
Lake, take a trip in other directions and 
they will become better satisfied. Lot those 
contemplating a visit come in tho early part 
of tho season, that they may have time and 
opportunity for viewing the growth of crops. 
&c., for themselves, and not bo carried away 
by foreign ideas. 
Tho prairies aro generally surrounded by 
burr-oak openings. These openings have 
Tho action of tho Regulator will bo un¬ 
derstood by reference to the cut. Fig. 1 is 
a prospective view of a plow with the Regu¬ 
lator ready for use. D, shows the front, and 
E, tho back arm, F, tho axle or bolt, and I 
the regulating bar. Figs. 2 and 3 are sepa¬ 
rate views of the same, showing its form 
and tho means of regulating, by shortening 
or lengthening the same, tho depth of the 
furrow. By lengthening the arch also, the 
point of tho plow may be raised entirely 
above tho surface of the ground, when it is 
desired to move it from one field to another. 
Several farmers who have used the Reg¬ 
ulator, unite in the recommendation given in 
our advertising columns, to which wo would 
refer the reader. 
a rich soil, but of a different nature from 
tho prairies, and yield well. When the 
country has attained sufficient ago, no one 
can doubt that it will prove a rich one.— 
Parts of the State which but a short timo 
since were the range of tho wild deer, are 
now producing the best of crops,‘and even 
now tho plow of the farmer obliterates some 
deserted Indian trail, and we shall soon bo 
in the heart of the country. Tho prairies 
aro already noarly prepared for making 
beautiful farms, having but little compara¬ 
tively to be done in the way of clearing and 
commencement. 
Handsome locust groves aro springing up 
in many places on tho prairies, adding much 
to the value of the land and beauty of tho 
scenery. Tho wild grass, growing so luxu¬ 
riantly is killed in autumn by the frost, and 
is then burned over very readily, presenting 
a strange and majestic spectacle. Such an 
ono I witnessed a few days ago, when tho 
flames gained twenty rods upon two men, 
under full run, while going about eighty 
rods. But the country is coming rapidly into 
cultivation, and tho day of such scenes will 
soon be over.—J. S. Bliss, Door Creek, Wis. 
The Basket Willow.—Prices, &c. 
Eds. Rural: —In No. 166 of tho Rural, 
Robt. Cribb, of Racine, Wis., inquires tho 
prico of basket willow, &c. 
The Ozier or Basket Willow, brought 
from France and Germany, is sold at from 
$100 to $120 per ton. It is estimated that 
at least four millions of dollars worth of 
willow is imported into the United States, 
annually, and this quantity falls short of tho 
demand. For further particulars, Mr. C. 
is referred to Watson G. Haynes, of Gar¬ 
rison’s Landing, Putnam Co., N. Y., who is 
familiar with its growth and culture, both 
in this country and in Europe.—A. R. Ball, 
JYorth Clarkson, April 12, 1853. 
P. S.—Tho Basket Willow can without 
doubt be cultivated in this country, as well 
as in Europe. I wonder it has not attract¬ 
ed the attention of capitalists before this 
timo; one hundred per cent can be realized 
in producing it for market.— a. r. b. 
Care of Harness.— Cordevan Leather. 
Eds. Rural :—I never wrote a word for 
publication in my life, but would now offer 
a few remarks for your paper. In No. 15 
of tho Rural, I saw an extract from tho 
“ Zanesville Aurora,” on the treatment of 
carriago harness. To pour boiling suds on 
leather, and let it remain in it, would de¬ 
stroy it —to say the least, would damage it 
very much. Warm soap suds would bo vory 
beneficial to cleanse, but never to boil; 
milk-warm will answer; as warm as you can 
bare the hand in, will do no harm. Never 
dry harness in tho sun, nor bogin to oil un¬ 
til nearly dry. I was brought up in tho 
manufacture of leather, and think my ex¬ 
perience is worth something. Place your 
own estimate upon it. 
Now, I want to state what I know by ex¬ 
perience, about harness leather, and this 
every tanner will acknowledge to be a fact. 
Farmers should select their own leather, or 
rather order it finished in the way callod by 
tanners, “cordevan.” A sot of harness 
made from loather finished in this way, is 
worth from $5 to $8 more, to tho owner.— 
Tho grain of leather has but littlo or no 
strength—tho blacking usod is made of vin¬ 
egar and iron rust; this completely destroys 
tho strength of the leather. Ilenco, every 
observer will see, that almost every new 
harness will crack and bo rough liko a rasp, 
before it has been used a year. This kind 
of blacking is the only kind that will tako 
on the grain of leather. To obviate this, 
the grain is removed, and thus tho leather 
will receive oil blacking, and this makos tho 
leather more pliable and soft, and it will 
never crack. Tho reason why this kind of 
leather is never in markot, is because far¬ 
mers are ignorant about it, hence there is 
no call for it. All thero is in favor of tho 
old method of blacking is, it can bo finished 
with a little more gloss, but all that shines 
is not gold. Lot farmers bo apprised of tho 
fact, and there will bo a call for the loather 
called “Cordevan.” As I have no connec¬ 
tion in any way, nor have had, for tho last 
twenty years, in the manufacturing of leath¬ 
er, will say, if my brother farmer would get 
one set of harnoss, and wear it out, made 
from loathor as above described, he would 
award truth to my statement, and order an¬ 
other set as soon as that first was worn out 
or before.—II., Le Roy. JY. Y., April, 1853 
Shanghai — How Spelled. 
Eds. Rural : — A correspondent of the 
Boston Atlas inquires how ho shall pro¬ 
nounce tho name, so often spelled Shang- 
hao. Ho has pronounced it Shang-ha, and 
has been laughed at, tho Boston pronunci¬ 
ation boing Shang-hi. There is no such 
place in China as Shanghao. The Southorn 
Cultivator assumes tho question, that the 
word should bo pronounced Shang-high; ac¬ 
centing the first syllable strongly. It does 
this on the authority of a highly oducatod 
and intelligent gentloman of tho clerical 
profession, who spent soveral years among 
tho Celestials, was familiar with tho Chinese 
language, and one of the first to introduce 
among us, the largo fowls now so well known 
by tho name wo havo affixed to this article. 
—D. 
The Osage Orange. 
Mr. Moore:— Please find onclosed a 
dozen Osage Orange seeds. I was surprised 
to see it spoken of as a tropical plant, by 
one of your correspondents, in a late No. 
The “ Osaga Orange,” Maclura aurian- 
tica, is a native of the banks of tho Arkan¬ 
sas river and its tributaries, as far north as 
Ft. Gibson. It is a large and beautiful tree, 
and the wood being vory hard and elastic, is 
universally used by tho Osagos as the mate¬ 
rial for their bows, whence its common 
name here of “ Bois do arc,” or Bow-wood. 
It is said to mako good furniture, and somo 
persons in this Nation aro manufacturing 
large numbers of canes from it, for tho New 
York markot. 
Its fruit, when ripo, is of a greonish yel¬ 
low color, and tho size of a largo orange.— 
It is very acid, and contains from five to 
one hundred and fifty seeds. Tho Orango 
is eaten by swine, horses, cattle, &c. 
Though our winters are much shorter 
than in New York, tho thermometer fre¬ 
quently falls to 0, and sometimes ten de¬ 
grees below 0. Sufficient proof I should 
suppose, that the Genesee Valley is not too 
cold to permit its cultivation. YVhothor it 
can endure tho spring months of your cli¬ 
mate is more doubtful, and of course can 
only bo ascertained by a fair trial with seeds 
from northern localities, and not from tho 
“tropics.”—W. S. Robertson, Creek JYa- 
tion, April, 1853. 
We shall be glad to hoar from Mr. R. on 
other subjects.— Eds. 
THE AGRICULTURAL PRESS. 
Suggestions to Advertisers — Prices. 
“ H. S.” in the Albany Cultivator speaks 
as follows on this subject : 
I wish to suggest the propriety of always 
stating somo prico, to those who aro in tho 
habit of advertising proporty for sale. More 
than three-fourths of tho money paid for 
advertising is a total loss to the advertiser, 
for this reason, besides failing in accomplish¬ 
ing tho ends for which it is designed. It is 
annoying to take up a paper and read an 
advertisement of a beautiful farm some¬ 
where for sale, without a price annexod. A 
would-be purchaser knows not whether it 
will come within his means or not, or wheth¬ 
er it is worth as much money as ho would 
like to invest in real estate. Nor can ho 
know, without writing through tho mail, and 
paying postage both ways, perhaps, and few 
will take the trouble to do that, and tho af¬ 
fair is soon forgotten. Tho samo rulo holds 
good with implomonts and machinery. 
I once know three farms advertisod in a 
monthly New York paper, and tho price 
carefully stated. Before another month 
came round, every ono of them had been 
sold for cash at tho advertised prico. 
Farming and Sheep Husbandry in Ohio. 
Tiie following extract of a letter from Hon. J 
S. Copeland, of Marion, Ohio, to the Boston Cul¬ 
tivator, is similar to many communications we 
have received of late from the same State: 
“ Our next clip of wool has all been purchased 
at 40 to 65 cents. We have over four million of 
sheep in the State, and the clip will bring in 6 to 
7 million dollars. All our staple articles—hogs 
cattle, sheep, horses, wool, com, wheat, flour 
grass-seed, dairy products, &c., are selling at ex¬ 
cellent profits. These, with the present and in¬ 
creasing facilities of transportation, have given a 
rise to the pricc^of land, yet they are low enough. 
Good corn and grass lands can be had for $15 to 
20 per acre, and one year’s fair crop in corn will 
at present prices—40 cents—pay for the purchase 
and expense of raising the crop. In sheep hus¬ 
bandry, the keep of ten sheep is equal to the 
keep of one cow — this is $6,50 to 7,00 a year.— 
Ten sheep will average 3% lbs of wool each, or 
32% lbs., at 50 cents is $16,25—less $7,00 for 
keep, (equal to a profit of 100 per cent. The 
increase in numbers pays all care, washing, shear¬ 
ing, and interest invested. Lambs, pigs, calves, 
<tc., are now receiving as much care and attention 
as the children formerly had.” 
Improvement in Dairy Stock. 
The Report of the Executive Committee of 
the New York State Agricultural Society for 1852, 
gives an encouraging account of the average in¬ 
crease per cow in butter and cheese, in the dairies 
of the State. We quote the following passage on 
the subject: 
“ Our dairies have not only increased in the 
quantity of butter and cheese but in quality also; 
and what is most encouraging, while the increase 
in quantity of butter has been 264,361 pounds, 
and of cheese 12,991,437 pounds, the number of 
milch cows since the last State census has decreas¬ 
ed 68,066—showing most clearly that the efforts of 
the Society in elevating the standard of our dairy 
products and in improving the character of our 
dairy animals, have been most gratifying. The 
average yield of cheese per cow, as estimated in 
1845 was 110 lbs. each, and the yield in 1850, 
adopting the same standard of estimate, gives a 
fraction over 160 pounds each, showing an increase 
per cow at the average prices at which cheese was 
probably sold by the farmers, 6 cents, of about 
$37,50 each, amounting to $1,162,962 for the 
whole number of cows in the State employed in 
the cheese dairies alone. From the statement of 
one of the competitors, Mr. Albert G. Ford, a 
dairy farmer of Herkimer County, which will be 
found in the Transactions of 1851, it will be seen 
that his yield of cheese per cow has averaged for 
the last three years, upwards of 600 pounds.” 
How to Judge Cattle. 
“ In all domestic animals, the skin or hide 
forms one of the best means by which to estimate 
their fattening properties. In the handle of oxen, 
if the hide be soft and silky, it affords a proof of 
tendency to Lake meat. A beast having a perfect 
touch will have a thick loose skin, floating, as it 
were, on a layer of soft fat, yielding to the slight¬ 
est pressure, and springing back towards the fin. 
ger like a piece of soft leather. Such a skin will 
usually be covered with an abundance of soft 
glossy hair, feeling like a bed of moss, and hence 
it is ever termed a mossy skin. But a thick-set, 
hard, short hair, always handles hard, and indi¬ 
cates a hard feeder.” 
There is a deal of valuable information em¬ 
braced in the above short extract. The handling 
of animals, we have always considered a most 
important point in selecting a good feeder, and it 
is too much neglected. Nothiugbut practice will 
enable one to understand tire difference in this 
particular. We have heard capital judges say, 
they would prefer to buy an animal with their 
eyes shut, if they were allowed to handle an ani¬ 
mal, rather than to judge by appearance only, 
without handling.— Pa. Farm Journal. 
Horn Ail. — Symptoms and Remedy .— Mr, J. 
Damon, writing to the Mass. Ploughman, says: — 
“ When a creature is taken with the horn ail, the 
nose will be dry, the eyes dull, and the horns cold ; 
the bowels irregular, according to the sLate of the 
disease. The malady is said to begin at the end 
of the tail. Cattle whose tails are kept well cut, 
are not liable to the horn ail. For a remedy, get 
half a pound of saltpetre; give the creature one 
or two oz. at a time, every other day, pounded 
fine and put in provender, if the creature will eat 
it; if not, dissolve it in warm water, put it in a 
junk bottle and turn it down the neck. Bore a 
hole in the horn with a gimlet to let in the air. 
The creature with proper care will soon be well; 
I have tried this course for years with success.” 
Various Items. 
An Experiment with Shanghai Eggs.— 
Tho A". Y. Agricultor says : Tho high prico 
of fancy poultry has set many of tho specula¬ 
ting geniuses of Yankeodom to buying and 
soiling eggs of tho purost of tho puro brood. 
Ono wight bought a lot at six dollars a doz¬ 
en, expecting a brood of Shanghais worth 
at loast six dollars a pair. Ho “ counted his 
chickens before thoy wore hatched;” for 
when that ovont happened his new breed 
proved to be all ducks. Another of tho 
amateur “fancy fowl breeders,” seeing a lot 
of eggs in the hands of a boy in market, and 
being assured thoy were of “ something new 
in the poultry line,” bought the whole, and 
set tho old blue hen to work to bring them 
forth. In due timo ho went to look after 
the brood, and was quito surprised to find 
a nest full of turtles. 
An Ox with a Wooden Leg. —A Penn¬ 
sylvania farmer had the following misfor- 
tuno happen to a fine working ox. The ani¬ 
mal was grazing near whero tho farmer was 
at work making a fenco. The ox stepped 
into a post hole and broke his leg. As it 
was too lean to kill, tho farmer consulted a 
physician who lived close by, and the result 
was that it was determined to cut off the 
broken log. The ox rofusod food ono day 
only after cutting off tho leg. A wooden 
log was substituted in proper timo, and 
whon the ox was finally killed it presented 
tho finest beef seen in tho Philadelphia 
market. 
He who livos only to benefit himself, gives 
the world a benefit whon ho dies. 
