MOORE’S RURAL NEW-YORKER: 
A QUARTO WEEKLY 
Agricultural Liiterary and .Family Newspaper 
CONDUCTED BY D. D. T. MOORE, 
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 with many appropriate and handsome engrav¬ 
ings— than any other paper published in this Country. 
husbandman that thrives. Let those, then, 
who desire to live in tho midst of plenty and 
in the fullest enjoyment of life’s choicest 
blessings and comforts, attond well to their 
Agricultural and Horticultural affairs du¬ 
ring seed time — for he that soweth, shall 
in due time reap, if ho faint not.—w. 
SPRING HINTS.-OBSERVE AND IMPROVE. 
IW For Terms, &c., see last page. 
tm . 
Progress and Improvement. 
MAY-FARM AFFAIRS. 
( “ Month of the Oriole, and rival birds, 
( Who out of her sweet honey-breathing mouth 
i Would steal or echo all its music-words 
) Tliou’rt here again, once more from the soft South, 
) Where thou sojourning hast been since the time 
( Thou last wert banish’d from our fickle clime 1 
( Yes 1 yes—thou comest again as fresh in Charms 
) As e'er we do remember thee invest— 
) The very rustling of thy pinions warms 
) And wakes all Nature from a sullen rest 1 
( Thou art like Hope unto an aching heart 
( Which often bidden by Despair to go— 
S Will but awhile (and then but seem) depart— 
) Returning soon new solace to bestow.” 
s Ihis month is said to have boon named 
( Maias, by Romulus, in honor of tho Sena- 
) tors and nobles of his city, who wore called 
^ mayors. It is supposed by somo to derive 
) its name from Main, tho mother of Mercu- 
( ry, to whom tho Romans sacrificed on tho 
t first day. By tho Saxons it was callod, Tri- 
i milfci, pasturago boing so abundant as to on- 
j ablo thorn to milk their cows, threo times a 
> day. 
May has been denominated by somo as 
tho most cheering month of tho year—and 
so it is usually during its last half, the first 
boing moro fickle, and like its prodecossor. 
Tho temporaturo is variable—tho mercury 
sometimos boing down to 32°, and again 
rising to 80°. 
May, with us, is tho fruit-flowering month; 
henco tho air is mqro richly fragrant with 
tho perfume of blossoms than any other 
month of tho season. Every landscape 
view improves rapidly through this month, 
in beauty and loveliness. Nature’s attrac¬ 
tions now are sufficient to call forth to tho 
fields and tho woods all her dovout and con¬ 
stant admirers—whoso hearts aro filled with 
wonder, admiration, gratitudo and praiso.— 
These are somo of tho emotions that aro 
awakouod and sustained by May. 
Tho pastures will soon furnish sufficient 
sustonanco for tho sheop and tho cows._ 
They will, howover, roquiro somo fooding 
during tho first part of tho month, in addi¬ 
tion to what they got in tho pastures. This 
care should bo rendered, especially to your 
cows,—for if you would have them do well 
through tho summor, you must take good 
caro ot thorn through May. Rood your 
shoep a little with turnips if you havo them; 
if not, cut potatoes for thorn — thoy will 
amply reward you for paying thorn a little 
extra attention. 
Ordinarily, this is tho month for plowing 
and seeding. Having already mado all your 
plans for plowing and sowing and planting, 
soo that you show yourself a good oxocutor. 
Do not put your hand to tho plow and look 
back, but go right forward, perfecting every 
well-matured plan. Your spring wheat and 
ryo havo boon sown. Oats do woll sowed 
in May. Plant your corn as soon as tho 
ground is warm enough to recoivo tho sood. 
Potatoes may bo planted much earlier than 
com and furnish a good and plentiful liar- . 
vest. , 
In selecting your sood, of whatovor sort, i 
ondoavor to procure tho host, in ordor that 1 
you may havo good and thrifty plants which, ) 
if well nourishod and tended, will produco i 
a bountiful harvest. 
Attend to your fruit trees and shrubs,— i 
if attacked by insects dostroy thorn at onco < 
—do not wait until thoy dostroy tho foliage s 
or tho fruit, either or both as tho caso may t 
bo. It is tho diligont, carotul and watchful \ 
_ He who would bo a successful tiller of 
lv ' tho ground, must necessarily bo a man of 
much observation and thought, as well as 
one of reading and practice — in a word, a 
~ practical, thoorotical man—else ho is a moro 
machino, going through certain operations 
♦ in a sort of automatic mannor. If thoso 
_ operations are successful ho counts himself 
a fortunate man; otherwise, tho weather or 
z: a thousand-and-ono casualties bear the bur¬ 
den of blame. 
’Ibo farmer, governed by prudonce and 
oconomy, may bo surely successful, if ho but 
store his mind with a knowlodge of his em¬ 
ployment, and understand woll tho princi¬ 
ples that govern tho vegetable kingdom, and 
tho laws by which tho productions of tho 
earth aro brought forth in tho greatest per¬ 
fection and abundance. But who is so well 
informed as this ? Wo may venture to say 
not ono in a thousand, if there bo one in a 
hundrod thousand. Yot we may all ap- 
1 proximato to this knowlodgo, and trav 1 
forward to tho great consummation of tho 
1 desired ond, which is a perfection of human 
3 knowlodgo, so far as human knowlodge may 
. bo perfected. Though wo cannot hope to 
3 see tho summit in our own “ day and gone- 
. ration, yot wo may bo pleased to witness 
. tho rapid progress which earnest workers 
i and thinkors can make. And further, wo 
may be gratified with tho moro generous 
> hai vests that aro sure to reward labor in- 
l tolligently applied. 
i .So, then, should we all improvo each 
golden moment, to store somo valuablo 
thought, idea or fact, in tho memory, for 
future uso. Tho field of tho farmer’s obser¬ 
vation is unlimited. It is circumscribed by 
; no bounds save those of ignorance or preju¬ 
dice, which may bo lurking in his own mind. 
IIo may look up to tho heavens, and down 
i into tho earth for matter to enlarge tho 
mind. Ho may tako into his viow tho mul¬ 
titudes of animal creation that buzz in tho 
air, that make vocal tho woods, that crop 
tho horbago or crawl on and in tho ground, i 
or ho may turn in and study himself. The i 
lightning’s flash, tho buoyant cloud, the fall- ( 
ing snow, tho dow, fog and vapor, tho un- i 
folding loaf and flowor, tho maturing fruit, s 
tho autumnal changes and tho falling loaf, i 
and the protecting scales and down of tho 1 
bulbs against tho winters rigors, all furnish f 
fruitful lossons for unfolding and develop- i 
ing tho powers of man, and fitting him \ 
for a moro successful prosecution of his \ 
labors. r 
With tho farmer, tho winter has boon a r 
season of a comparative cessation from his c 
toil — a season, with long evenings, that is cl 
peculiarly adapted to tho storing of the c 
mind with knowlodge from tho writings of r 
others, and of eliminating now ideas from s 
gathered facts — of combining observations v 
— of laying plans and figuring results, or if d 
it bo so, of theorizing from known facts, or t 
| from probabilities that are to bo tostod by h 
future oxporienco. No ono, wo trust, has a 
allowed tho past winter to go by without b 
drawing from its hours much that will bon- t< 
efit himself and the groat community of b 
which lie is an active integer. ii 
Spring is now with us, and tho quiot of o 
tho winter is changed for tho busier time of b 
seeding. The ground is to bo prepared, 
and the sood entrusted to the genial caro of w 
mother earth, to bo roturnod from hor a: 
bosom in tho gathering harvest, increased 
many fold. But hero, emphatically, works G 
must accompany faith. e , 
Now, too, is tho time for renewed obsor- ta 
vations in all tho operations connected with oi 
good husbandry. No ono should permit a fa 
single season to pass without adding largely hi 
to tho stock ot his available experience, fo 
which should also go into the general stock 
for tho good of tho whole; thus experience 
and facts gained by one, help on tho good 
cause universally. This is tho time to pre¬ 
pare for harvest, and as tho preparation is, 
so will bo tho gathering in. For wo aro 
most assuredly informed, that as wo sow so 
shall we reap, which is equally as truthful 
temporally as spiritually. Tho farmer must 
then, rightly manage tho beginning of his 
crops, olso all will go wrong after it. Just 
as if ono gets on the wrong road—tho moro 
ho travels tho farther ho is from his desti¬ 
nation. But there is this difference, though 
ho rotraco his stops, with his crop there is 
not much inonding tho matter. Ho may 
j learn — for it is a dear lesson — and profit 
thereby, when tho vernal soason comes again. 
Honco it is that tho thinking farmer under¬ 
stands best what is suited for tho develop¬ 
ment of his particular crop, and ho plants 
and sows without any guess work, but with 
tho full assurance that his labors will be 
crowned with fair, if not abundant success. 
Ho adapts his grains and roots to tho soil 
best suited for thoir condition, understands 
tho nutriment necessary to be applied, and 
when to feed it, when and how to till and 
caro for them, and does it all when it should 
be done, and as it ought to bo, and tho grand 
result is, ho is successful and prosperous 
in tho highest degree; whilst tho shiftless 
man looks on with envious oyos, and frowns 
at Providence. How wide tho difference. 
. smwm 
mrnmm 
-jv 
MR. ADAMS’ COCHIN CHINAS. 
ROAD MAKING 
> Good roads, I put down among “tho car- 
■ dinal virtues.” Honest men aro always in 
> favor of thorn, and so aro politicians as a 
1 genoral thing. Why then don’t >0 havo 
> good roads ? That is tho question. It is 
1 because tho scionco and practice of road¬ 
making is not generally understood, and 
because there is no efficient, thorough and 
uniform systom adopted throughout tho 
country. A lazy and dishonost practico ob¬ 
tains of shrinking as much as possible whon 
working on tho road : as a general thing, 
men do not do moro than half a day’s work 
in a day. That littlo is more than half 
thrown away by want of skill in the over¬ 
seer. Muck and turf aro frequently depos¬ 
ited in tho road, in a very rough state, so 
that holos and horrible chasms immediately 
follow. 
I understand that in somo of tho old coun¬ 
tries a different practice prevails. Tho sur¬ 
face soil is removed and a layer of stones is 
deposited, then smaller stones aro applied, 
and still smaller, well packed, and perhaps 
somo of tho surface stones broken,—tho 
whole covered with gravel, tho coarser tho 
bettei-. A few years ago, whon it happened 
to bo my turn to servo tho public as path- 
mastor, a part of tho labor ot tho district 
was not expended till tho rains of autumn 
were sotting in, and one of tho road com¬ 
missioners of tho town, advised that it was 
now too lato to work with profit: I thought 
otherwise; selected tho worst part of the 
district, callod out men and teams, and 
commenced depositing cobble stones in tho 
road, putting the largest at tho bottom and 
smoothing off with tho smaller 0110 s; these 
wero covorod with gravel, making the whole 
deposit about a foot in thickness. For moro 
than ton years the road so administered to, 
has required no repair and is hard and dry 
at tho worst soason of tho year. A neigh¬ 
bor gavo tho stonos cheerfully and was glad 
to get rid of them. Wo havo exponded la¬ 
bor enough in our district to fix all our roads 
in this manner twice over, but a great part 
of it has been thrown away. I will sum up 
briefly: 
1st. Mako it a point to do a good day’s I 
work on the road, and as many of thorn 
as you are taxod, and moro if necessary. 
2d. A good foundation is indispensablo. 
Get stones, or at loast good coarse gravel, 
ovon though you havo to draw a great dis¬ 
tance and pay a good prico. There is gen¬ 
erally a supply of stonos on somebody’s 
farm in ovory district, or at loast a gravel 
hill, which it is or ought to bo lawful to seizo 
for tho public use. 
3d. Finish thoroughly, whatovor is begun. 
The abovo engraving is a correct repre¬ 
sentation of a pair of Chochin China Folws 
owned by Rodney L. Adams, of Lyons, N. 
Y., who has in addition ono cock and five 
hens, so nearly like the engraving that an 
alteration to show tho difference would bo 
a matter of unnecessary nicety. Two of 
tho number have feathers on tho logs. Tho 
cock, now twelve months old, whon erect is 
27 inches high, and the hon 23 inches.— 
Their color is a deep golden-yellow. Tho 
pair woighod, whon ton months old, 17^ lbs. 
As thoy will not attain their full sizo until 
20 to 24 months old, it is not unreasonable 
to expect them to gain threo to five pounds, 
a weight fully oqual to tho avorago of any 
variety of domestic fowls in the country. 
Mr. Adams informs us that ho has taken 
groat pains to obtain the finest specimens, 
and that ho is not awaro that his Cochins 
aro excelled. If not tho best, the Cochin 
I Chinas, in tho estimation of many, have no 
I superiors, while a considerable number of 
fanciers prefer thorn to all others. Their ex¬ 
cellencies, as enumerated by thoso partial to 
thorn, as aro follows :—Great size, elegance 
of foim, beauty ot plumage, dolicacy of flesh, 
superiority as layers, hardiness, tender nur¬ 
ses, quietness, &c. They do not require as 
much food as somo other largo varieties. 
Mr. G. P. Burnham, of Boston, the original 
importer, thus expresses his estimate of 
thorn:—"For all the purposes of a really good 
Domestic I owl—whether I speak of produc¬ 
tiveness, easy keeping, laying qualities, size, 
disposition, beauty of form and plumage, or 
hardiness, (in this climate,) after a careful 
trial, I deem tho Cochin China the best .— 
This is saying much in thoir favor, I know; 
but you ask my real opinion and I give it 
honestly. To my fancy thoy havo no equals 
among the variotios now known in America.” 
Leave tho road smooth and well rounded 
up in tho centre, so that tho water can run 
off. 
4th. Watch a now road closely and fill up 
the holos boforo they get large, so that it 
will settlo evenly. 
5^1. Don’t patch up for tho present when 
it can bo avoided, but do conclusively every 
year as much as possible. 
6th. Mako it a Christian duty to strivo 
for good roads, and many a weary and worn 
traveler will bless you on his dying bed. 
Before closing, I would recommend tho 
scraper for smoothing oft roads in tho spring. 
It is a*very useful instrument. 
N. T. Brooks. 
Pearl Creek, Wyoming Co., N. Y. 
MY EXPERIENCE - NO.; 4. 
Wheat and Chess. 
In my former numbers I havo givon a se¬ 
ries of facts in regard to tho changes of va¬ 
rieties in corn, potatoes and wheat, which 
aro, to my mind, conclusive proof that grains 
and vegetables do frequently change from 
ono variety to another, without any appa¬ 
rent, or as yet. discovorablo cause. Now, 
if wheat changos from one variety to an¬ 
other, totally distinct, different in color, and 
form of straw and head, why not suppose 
that it may bo possible for it to advance ono 
stop further, and turn into chess, which it 
is admitted is a species, or variety of tho 
same genus ? 
I confess it appeared to mo that naturo 
turned a very short cornor in effecting tho 
change of my Hutchinson white chaff beard¬ 
ed, and white grained variety, into Red chaff 
bald, and Red chaff bearded wheat, of much 
darkor hue, as was tho caso with at least 
nineteen-twontieths of tho produco of tho 
field mentioned in my third number. But 
if she turns a short cornor in ono caso, why 
not in another, somewhat analogous, at the 
loast ? 
lor many years, (like other theorizers,) I 
was entirely skeptical in regard to this mat¬ 
ter—believing that “ like would produce 
like:” that “ as wo sowed, so wo should reap,” 
&c. And I am still reluctant to give up my 
proconceivod opinion. But a long course 
of observations has convinced mo that wo 
nav 0 no r *ghfe to deny tho actual existence 
of a thing, because wo cannot penetrate tho 
mystery of its conception and progression. 
It wo do so, wo shall soon doubt tho exist¬ 
ence of matter, in any form. It is, how¬ 
ever, moro my present business to give facts 
and let others judgo for thomselves. 
About fifty-five years [ago my father, as 
usual, during the winter soason, had the 
timber [chiefly basswood and maple,] “chop¬ 
ped off ” of about four acres of land. The 
logs and brush wero left on tho ground un¬ 
til tho following month of September, when 
two of my brothers and myself, burnod the 
brush, and pilod and burned tho logs. We 
then, without any previous tillage, or other 
preparation, sowed it with first rate clean 
seed wheat, of tho “ Rod chaff bald” variety, 
and thoroughly “ draggod it in.” 
Wo had a very good crop of as clean and 
excellent wheat as any ono need wish to see. 
Tho uso of tho grain cradle boing then al¬ 
most impossible because of tho stumps, tho 
wheat was cut with tho sickle. As usual, 
in tho early settlement of tho country, the 
stubblo was burnod. Tho land boing vory 
rich, and in fine ordor, my father concluded 
to sow it again with wheat. Thoro was up¬ 
on tho ground sufficient grain, which was 
“ sholled out” in harvesting, to have served 
