VOLUME IV. 
ROCHESTER, N. Y.- SATURDAY, AUGUST 13, 1853 
1 WHOLE 
MOORE’S RURAL NEW-YORKER: 
A QUARTO WEEKLY 
AffiieiiltiU’al, Literary and .Family Newspaper* 
CONDUCTED BY D. D. T. M00K5, 
WITH AX ABLE CORPS OF ASSISTANT EDITORS. 
The Rural New-Yorkkr 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— 
iutcrspersed with many appropriate and handsome engrav¬ 
ings than any other paper published in this Country. 
83^° Pon Terms, &c., see last page. 
Progress and Improvement, 
OBJECTS OF FALLOWING. 
The Summer Fallow has among its ob¬ 
jects the destruction of woet^iYid the mel¬ 
lowing ot tho soil, and these must bo con¬ 
sidered and attended to, in ordor to reap 
the full benefits of tho operation. The 
final objects—the reception and growth of 
tho seod—are closely interwoven, and the 
result will bo more or less satisfactory as 
these are more or less efficient and complete. 
Clean cul ture is always desirable. Woeds 
and corn, or other cultivated crops, cannot 
be produced in this full perfection at tho 
samo time on the same soil. Tho useless 
plants tako up tho elements which should 
go to perfect tho useful—and hence deprive 
them of a portion of nutriment necessary 
) ) to their full productiveness. This state- 
) ment is so simple and evident that few, per- 
) ) haps, will admit any need of its repetition, 
yet everywhere, year after year, much of 
tho power of the soil is wasted on weeds, 
which might readily bo given to the growth 
ot those cultivated for tho sustenance of 
man and beast. Hence in summer fallow¬ 
ing the plowing should bo so performed as 
to free the soil from tho seeds as well as ac¬ 
tual growth of such vegetation. This may 
in part bo done by early and careful plow¬ 
ing, and frequent and thorough working 
with the wheel cultivator, so as to destroy 
tlio weeds as fast as they appear, and also 
excite tho germination of thoso which lie 
dormant in 1 tho soil. A true fallow is bare 
of all vegetable growth — it rests from the 
production of plants of any kind. This 
character should bo given as far as possible 
to our summer fallows. 
The reduction of the soil to a fine state of 
tilth is also necessary to its full productive¬ 
ness. Tho roots must bo enabled to pone- 
trate at will in search of food, and tho 
ground should be opon to the influences of 
air and moisture. Tho ameliorating effects 
of fallowing arc in part due to the thorough 
disintegration of the soil by mechanical 
working and long exposure to atmosphoric 
influences. No actual addition may bo 
made of fertilizing elements, but those ly¬ 
ing inactive in tho soil, concealed in the de¬ 
bris of rock, &c., are reduced and dissolved 
in some degree, and thus add to tho power 
ot the soil. The air has greater facility of 
penetrating and bringing into activity tho 
mould, thus frequently presented to its in¬ 
fluence. 
Deep tillage is as beneficial as fine tillago. 
A soil never stirred below a depth of six 
inches, has scarcely half tho productiveness 
of ono mellowed to double that dopth. The 
roots of tho crops grown have but a partial 
freedom of expansion in search of nutri¬ 
ment, and that nutriment is supplied and 
available but in part. A deep, free soil will 
bo found full of lino roots penetrating eve¬ 
ry part of it, and every ono has observed 
tho vigor with which crops grow over a por¬ 
tion of tho field which has its soil by any 
means thoroughly deepened and mellowed. 
Much has been written upon the subject of 
doep plowing— and no ono who has prac¬ 
ticed it on a well drained soil, but has found 
it of tho highest benefit. 
Manuro is now ofton applied to fallows 
propared for the wlioat crop. It is gone- 
rally composted through tho summor, drawn 
out before the last plowing, piled in heaps, 
and only spread as fast as plowed in. No 
composting which will not burn up tho ma¬ 
nuro, will havo any effect upon tho life of 
most of tho seeds it contains. Hence wo 
cannot rely upon such treatment for tho ex¬ 
termination of tho weeds which are thus 
sown upon the soil. If applied earlier, 
perhaps, the seeds might germinate, and bo 
destroyed by subsequent cultivation in pre¬ 
paring for or harrowing in tho seed. 
To bo in a proper state for sowing, tho 
soil should be freshly plowed or cultivated 
in addition to tho preparation already indi¬ 
cated,—freedom from weeds, deep and fino 
tilth, and the addition of suitable manures. 
Thon, if evenly sown and covered to the 
proper dopth, nothing will be lacking to its 
immediate and constant growth, and the 
production of a valuablo crop in return.— 
But when weeds monopolize tho room, and 
steal away the vigor of the plants—where 
the soil is hard, shallow and full of clods 
and stones, giving small room for the full 
deyfi’^pment of tho roots—and whore the 
richness of tho soil has been exhausted by 
long continued cropping without tho appli¬ 
cation of manuro—then ono can hope for 
but small crops and less profits, and will find 
their farms continually deteriorating and 
wearing out, under such a shiftless system 
of operations. If profit is the end dosired 
let tho work bo thoroughly performed. 
WHEAT-RUST AND WINTER-KILLING. 
Eds. Rural :—On pagQ$30, present vol¬ 
ume, I notice your request (accompanying 
an inquiry over the signature of “ Cultiva¬ 
tor,”) respecting rust and winter-killing of 
wheat, and why our light sandy and gravel¬ 
ly soils escape them so much better than 
heavy clayey soils do. This is a subject that 
every wheat grower should investigate and 
understand. Every observing farmer is 
forced to tho conclusion that our sandy and 
gravolly soils, uniformly produce tho best 
quality of wheat, while that land which is 
underlaid with a closo or hard subsoil, if the 
wheat escapes winter-killing will uniformly 
produco tho groatost burden of straw,—and 
if tho season is favorable will far outdo the 
gravelly or sandy land in tho yield of grain, 
which shows the soil is not destitute of the 
right kind of nutrimont to form tho wheat 
kernel. 
Now, thoso kinds of land may exist on tho 
samo farm, or in tho same neighborhood. 
The two are fitted and sown with the samo 
care, they receive the same sunshino and 
showers, yet whon tho grain is roady for 
market thoro is a great difference in tho 
quality. Hence arises tho question, Why 
this difference ? I contend that it is in con- 
scquonco of too great an amount of surface 
water, at certain seasons of tho year, on tho 
land with a tenacious subsoil. And it is 
this surface wator that is the cause of so 
much wheat boing destroyed in winter. But 
how, and whon, is it done ? In our latitude 
it suffers tho most in tho month of March, 
when we have warm days and freezing- 
nights. What wator has accumulated on 
the surface through the day, by falling rain 
or molting snow, has filled every uneven 
place ovor tho wheat field; at night it 
treezes; tho first thing a sheet of ice, and 
frozen soil forms on the surface, and makes 
last to tho wheat plant. 
Now, in what form does tho frost pene¬ 
trate tho soil ? Did you ever watch tho 
formation ot ice on tho window, when there 
was a decrease of heat from tho stove ? If 
so, you got tho idea how ice forms in the 
soil; as it penetrates it lifts the surface with 
the wheat plant. Tho next day it thaws all 
it froze tho previous night; the water and 
soil settle down, and the wheat plant re¬ 
mains whore it was lifted to; tho next night 
it freezes again, when the wheat plant gets 
another lift, &c. And when freezing nights 
are past, tho wheat plant, roots and all, lies 
on tho surface of tho ground. This is also 
the manner in which clover is hoisted out 
in freozing woather. Sufficiently and thor¬ 
oughly drain such land, so that all tho wator 
that is not needed in tho soil settles directly 
into tho subsoil, and through that into un¬ 
derdrains and passes off. Then tho wheat 
plant and clover have a better soil to pro¬ 
tect their roots from the bleak winds of win¬ 
ter, and the freezings and thawings that 
they are subject to, than they would havo in 
a sandy or gravolly soil. 
But why is wheat more subject to rust on 
heavy soils ? Tho causo is the samo that 
winter kills wheat, (surfaco water.) though 
its effect is different. As soon as we begin 
to get April sunshine and showers, tho cold 
snow-water on the sandy and gravelly soils, 
settles below tho roots of the wheat plant, 
and it begins to make a healthy growth in 
tho cool part of tho season. But how is it 
with the whoat on the land with a hard sub¬ 
soil ? The cold snow water is compelled to 
work its way through tho soil, and pass off 
on tho surface, which holds the growth of 
the wheat in check, perhaps a fortnight.— 
When tho soil becomes sufficiently dry and 
warm tho growth of tho wheat is erowded 
too much into tho heat of summor; its 
growth is too rapid, like a plant ih a hot¬ 
bed,—an unnatural growth,—yet, notwith¬ 
standing the check it received in tho start, 
it ripens but a few days later than that on 
tho sandy or gravelly soil, (letting in tho 
warm air among tho roots.) 
Now, thorough drain this land with a closo 
subsoil. It will become warm early and 
give the whoat an even start with that on 
the sandy soil; it has more time to make its 
growth, and in tho cooler par* of the sea¬ 
son, which gives a stronger , t ^healthier 
straw. Need i ask the farmer to look be¬ 
yond his own fields for the proof of mv 
views ? Where is tho wheat in your fields 
tho most affected with rust ? Is it not where 
it was nearly all destroyed in the winter 
with surface water ? And where in the field 
was the brightest straw and the best berry? 
Was it not on tho south side of tho dryest 
knoll in the field ? If so, remove tho cause 
of rust by thorough draining, and the effect 
will cease,—except in those wet, warm, sul¬ 
try, hot seasons which give too groat a 
growth of straw on all soils. Low lands 
that, border creeks and rivers are tho 
strongest soils, and will bo tho most affected 
in such seasons. If farmers will only try a 
few experiments by thorough draining some 
small patches of their heavy soils—making 
tho drains not over two rods apart, nor less 
than three feet deep—it will soon convince 
any ono that tho heavy soils are tho most 
productive wheat soils. Alvin Wilcox. 
West Bloomfield, N. Y., 1853. 
probability. Whether wheat and chess bo 
varieties of the same original, it is hardly 
doubtful that many of tho modern varieties 
of wheat are from tho same original stock. 
Taking all these facts into consideration, it 
seems not difficult to account for most of 
the phenomena of “’IIiel’s Experience.” 
BINGHAM’S SHEEP SHEARING- 
would look to the soil ©r tho climate, and 
perhaps to tho season, for the chief part of 
the explanation. 
As an evidence, and at the same time an 
illustration, of the influence of climate, soil, 
&c., on vegetation, it may bo remarked, that 
some kinds of fruit, when brought from the 
Eastern to the Western States, become so 
changed in character and quality as to bo 
no longer recognized as the same variety. 
This is true of several varieties of apples, 
pears, &c. Corn, under some circumstances, 
suffers a like change. The Eastern Flint 
corn, both white and yellow, if brought to \ 
tho West, is said to prove a failure. There | 
The following table gives the weight of Mr. A. L 
Bingham’s sheep after being shorn, and the weight 
of the fleece. It was furnished by one who took 
down at the time the weight of both. It must be 
borne in mind that the wool would shrink at 
I | least GO per cent.—that the age of the wool was 
not uniform, some being at least a year and a-half, 
and that none of the sheep, shorn just a year from 
the day they were shorn, will produce as heavy 
a fleece as the one now taken off, unless well sat¬ 
urated with oiL I do not mean to say that the 
sheep had been oiled often before shearing. But 
unless they had been oiled I cannot account for 
tue fishy smell of the wool, except by supposing 
that the sheep had been fed pretty profusely ou 
fish. If Mr. Bingham will adopt the rule of the 
Isev 1 ork &tate Agricultural Society, as to his 
sheep and wool, there will then be something 
tangible and reliable. Send his fleeces to the sanm 
manufactuier that the Society has selected, and 
let him sort and scour, and then we can tell some¬ 
thing about it. Till then all talk about heavy 
is no doubt that if cultivated for a time, it 
would run down, and when cultivated would 
rise again in anew character,and tho result 
would be a different variety. ii. 
Out West, May, 1853. 
BRUSH FENCE. 
fleeces by him or anybody else, conveys little idea 
j °f the sheep for wool growing purposes. i>. 
Live weight of 81 French Merino Sheep belonging to A. L 
Bingham, of Vermont, shorn on the 1st and 2nd days of 
June, 1853, at Hyde’s, in Sudbury-together with the 
weight of th. r eece, being unwashed, each in pounds and 
ounces : 
‘TRANSMUTATIONS, &c.”-NO. 1. 
As tho subject of vegetable changes, or 
“transmutations,” continues still to excite 
interest, everything that may throw light 
upon it, may have its value. ’Hiei/s ex¬ 
perience is highly interesting, and appears 
to me not to havo been explained to entire 
satisfaction. (See Rural No. 10, “ Pota¬ 
toes,”— No. 11, “Corn,”—No. 12, “Wheat,” 
—No. 19, “ Wheat and Chess,” &c.) His 
own suggestions appear as rational as any 
explanation that has boon given, except the 
case of wheat and chess. 
When varieties of vegetables intermix, the ' 
result is generally the formation of a now 
variety. This is well known to tho produ¬ 
cers of now varieties of corn, beans, &c.,— 
and it is also well known, that these new 
varieties, under certain circumstances, man¬ 
ifest a disposition to return to one or the 
other of their originals. It is, moreover, 
true, that the nature, or qualities, of the 
soil will often effect remarkablo changes in 
some vegetables ; (iron in a soil will deepen 
the color of a rose;) and that the seed of 
the same plant will often yield products 
very unlike oach other; e. g., the seed of 
the potatoo and of the apple, &c. The 
bones, and oven the flesh, of animals, (to 
say nothing of other, qualities,) may bo 
changed in color, or, to some extent, in 
composition, by their food. If, thon, the 
circumstances that contribute to a change 
in a variety of vegetables, bo reversed, a re¬ 
turn to the original is by no means an im- 
Discourses having been given on all the 
different fences in tho catalogue, save that 
ot brush, I havo resolved to communicate 
my experience—expecting, if I do not ben¬ 
efit tho seniors, to amuse tho juniors of 
those districts where brush fence is a relic lst 
of antiquity, not now discoverable. i'if> 
My first practical lesson, was as follows : • *92 
The cattlo of a pasture contiguous to an oat ■ 
field, learned how, by night, to make their I }}•* 
way into the oats. To prevent their dep¬ 
redations, I fenced with brush, a yard in 
which to shut them nights. My fence was 
constructed by falling trees one upon 
another, until of height sufficient, continu¬ 
ing to overlap tho last tree upon those first 
foiled,— tho boughs and leaves, and in this 
instanco the fruit, being uppermost, (tho 
variety of tree being fire cherry,) made, to 
look at, a formidable fence. My fence 
completed, I viewed it with tho pride of one 
who, having undertaken an important labor, 
feels that he has done his task, and won a 
victory. 
Tho sun was creeping down toward the 
western hills, when I hastened to yard my 
cattle, anxious to behold their chagrin at 
being deprived of their usual feast of oats 
After driving them in and barricading tho 
entranco, I turned to observe tho result. 
What was my suprise to see them greedily 
devouring my fence! Having got a taste 
of the cherries, they wero filling themselves 
finely. Rapidly did the foliago and fruit 
disappear before tho groedy jaws of theso 
voracious quadrupeds. Eating the leaves 
and fruit nearest them, they would push on 
for more, until, the next morning, I found 
them on the wrong side of the fenco, com¬ 
pletely gorged with their evening’s meal. 
The next day I gave my fence an addi¬ 
tion of cherry trees —at night the cattle 
eating through. Thus it was day after day, 
with my brush fence — and yet it answered 
a good purpose, for they lost their appetite 
for oats, and after eating up their fence, 
would lie quietly till morning. 
Four rods wide and ten feet high, is said 
to,.be,a lawful brush fence. I conclude you 
wil'F’be ready to vote with mo that ’tis an 
awful fence, and if built of firo cherries 
would supply considerable forage. 
John Sanfield. 
Steuben County, N. Y., 1853. 
Sheep, 
lbs. oz. 
88 8 . . 
102 . , 
82 4 . 
90 . 
90 12. 
89 8 . 
93 12. 
102 . . 
89 4 . 
86 8 . 
Sheep, 
lbs. oz. 
102 4 . 
90 . 
91 12. 
75 . 
164 12. 
1112 . 
93 8 . 
113 . 
89 12. 
110 . . 
87 . . 
1168 
136 . . 
What if your neighbor has bought a new 
carriage, and his farm is no larger than 
yours, and you can’t afford it; you need’nt 
say he cheated poor folks ’till ho acquired 
tho means to purchase it, or prophesy that 
he’ll lose his property because he’s so ex¬ 
travagant. Look out for your own affairs. 
See that your hay don’t get wet, and your 
potatoes are dug in season, and tho cattle 
don’t break into your cornfield; in fact, my 
friend, mind your oivn business, and you’ll 
have enough to do, without troubling your¬ 
self with your neighbor’s. a. h. 
THE SHEPHERD’S CROOK. 
Tms implement is a convenient one for catch¬ 
ing sheep. It is made in the form exhibited in 
the cut, of % inch round iron, drawn smaller 
toward the point—and the point made by a knob. 
The other end is furnished with a socket, which re¬ 
ceives a handle six to eight feet long. The manner 
ot using it is thus described in Mr. Stephens’ ad¬ 
mirable “Book of the Farm ” : 
“ The hind-leg is hooked in at a, from behind 
; the siieep, and it fills up the narrow part beyond 
- a, while passing along it until it 
reaches the loop, when the animal 
is caught by the hock, and when 
secured, its foot easily slips through 
the loop. Some caution is required 
in using the crook, for should the 
sheep give a sudden start forward to 
get away, the moment it feeLs the 
crook the leg will be drawn forcibly 
through the narrow part, and strike 
the bone with such violence against 
the bend of the loop as to cause th j 
animal considerable pain, and even 
occasion lameness for some days. 
On first embracing the leg, the crook 
should be drawn quickly toward 
vou, so as to bring the be'nd of the 
loop against tho leg as high up as 
the hock, before the sheep has time 
U even to break off, and being secure, 
its struggles will cease the moment 
your hand seizes the leg.” 
No flock-master should be without this imple¬ 
ment, as it saves a vast deal of yarding, nmuing, 
Ac., and leads to a prompt examination of every 
improper or suspicious appearance, and a timely 
application of remedy or preventive — which 
would often be deferred if the whole flock had to 
be driven to a distant yard, to enable the shep¬ 
herd to catch a particular sheep. 
Dexterity in the use of the crook is speedily 
acquired by any one ; and if a flock are properly 
tame, any one of its numbor can be readily caught 
by & at salting-time—or, generally, at other times, 
by a person with whom, the flock are familiar! 
But it is at the lambing-time, when sheep and 
lambs require to be so repeatedly caught, that the 
crook is more particularly serviceable. For this 
purpose, at this time alone, it will pay for itself 
ten times over in a single season, in saving time, 
to say nothing of the advantage of the sheeD_ 
Randall. 
Shepherd Dogs. —In answer to inquiries for 
sheep dogs, we would state that Mr. Jas. W. Eked, 
of Lockport, N. Y., informs us that he has a very 
good one, a little over one year old, which he will 
sell for $25. Also, a few pups which he will sell 
at $10 to $12 each. 
