VOLUME IV. 
ROCHESTER, 
SATURDAY, DECEMBER 17, 1853. 
WHOLE NO. 
MOORE’S RURAL NEW-YOItHER : 
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 with many appropriate and handsome engrav¬ 
ings— than any other paper published in this Country. 
or For Terms, &c., see last page. ^£3 
auuai ^ciD-gffriixr. 
Progress and Improvement. 
COMMUNICATE YOUR EXPERIENCE. 
The vignette heading of the Prairie Far¬ 
mer — a capital paper, by tho way — is 
labeled with “ Farmers, write for your 
paper !” This sentiment we endorse in re¬ 
gard to tho Rural; although wo must ac¬ 
knowledge a lack of proper attention to 
many correspondents during the past season, 
through want of time and the illness and 
absence of assistants—all which we propose 
to amend, now that our new corps are be¬ 
coming initiated. We want tho experience 
and observation of practical and scientific 
men on all subjets that concorn and affect 
the every-day walk and business of life. 
Next to brief, practical articles from experi¬ 
enced and observing men on timely and 
important topics, wo like to see the point of 
interrogation. We like to bo asked ques¬ 
tions—for we know a littlo (very little, per¬ 
haps,) on about all subjects connected with 
the battlo array of tho farmers and me¬ 
chanics’ fight of life — and for what we 
don’t know wo have plenty of documents 
for reference, and kind and learned friends 
for consultation. We started tho Rural 
with a determination of accomplishing some 
good on this mundane sphere; trust we 
have made no little progress, and intend to 
make considerable more, with tho aid of 
thinking and intelligent friends disposed to 
second our efforts. 
Our aim has been, and still is, to combine 
in ono, tho gist of what is usually obtained 
in several journals, each mainly devoted to 
ono subject. To accomplish this object wo 
have several departments, to properly fill 
each of which requires as much labor as is 
often bestowed upon a whole newspaper de¬ 
voted to a single interest. The labor of 
writing;, revising, condensing and selecting 
for each and all those, every week, is too 
much for anyone man — though we were 
obligod to try to perform it for months the 
past season — and hence a strong force is 
necessary. With our present and pros¬ 
pective working corps of Homo and Corres¬ 
ponding editors—seven in number—we can 
readily fill tho paper, and ought to do it 
creditably. But wo wish to givo the results 
of the experience, and the hints and obser¬ 
vations, of hundreds of enterprising men in 
tho various bronchos of industry. We 
wish to mako overy lino and paragraph — 
especially in tho pages devoted to practical 
subjects — toll to the best advantage.— 
Therefore wo ask every man and woman 
who has a now idea, or a good second-hand 
one, on any practical useful subject, to com¬ 
municate it for tho general benefit. No 
matter about tho style or grammar — facts 
and figures aro of far more importance than 
tersenoss. Wo speak now to practical, sen¬ 
sible men, who are unaccustomed to writing 
for the press — but who can, if they will, 
teach many things not dreamed of in tho 
philosophy of supposod wiseacres. Wo will 
make all necossary corrections in style, &c., 
if tho facts aro concisely furnished. 
— In conclusion, we enlarge upon tho toxt 
with which wo started by saying—Farmers, 
Horticulturists, Mechanics, Mon of Science, 
Teachers, and Clergymen, writo for your 
paper — tho Rural New-Yorker. Wo fool 
justly proud of our prosont large corps of 
correspondents, yet have ample room for 
others to “ teach ono another.” 
IMPROVED SUPERPH03PHATE OF LIME. 
Our readers have doubtless heard of Su¬ 
perphosphate of Lime, an artificial fertilizer 
which has been used in England for the last 
ten years most extensively as a spocial ma- 
nuro for turnips. They have also probably 
heard that J. J. Mates, editor of tho Work¬ 
ing Farmer, claims to have made very impor¬ 
tant improvements in its manufacture, 
whereby it is rendered not only a good ma¬ 
nure for turnips, but also a most valuble 
fertilizer for the wheat crop—tho English 
superphosphate having failed to benefit 
wheat, barley, oats arid the cereal grasses. 
Mr. Mapes manufactures this article on his 
farm in New Jersey, and thousands of tons 
have been sold at $50 per ton. The Pro¬ 
fessor makes no secret of his discovery, but 
tolls precisely of what his superphosphate 
is composed. Purchasers, however, are not 
in tho habit of placing implicit confidence 
in tho assertions of the seller, and in this 
instance it wa3 thought desirable to ascer¬ 
tain the composition of the fertilizer—not 
from what tho maker said of it, but from 
chemical analysis. Accordingly, Mr. S. W. 
Johnson, of Yale College, made such an 
analysis of tho article as would show to 
practical farmers its fertilizing value. This 
analysis was published in the Country Gen¬ 
tleman of March 3d. Previous to this, Mr. 
Mapes had declared that, 
“ Long experience has now taught the Eng¬ 
lish fanners that superphosphate of lime and sul¬ 
phate of ammonia, when properly prepared, is 
worth nearly twice its weight of Peruvian guano; 
and attempts have been made to manufacture an 
article containing these requisites in proper pro¬ 
portions, and in a dry form, at £20 per ton, at 
which price it could readily be sold, but the high 
price of phosphate of lime and of sulphate of am¬ 
monia, has rendered this impossible. The im¬ 
proved superphosphate of lime, used by us for the 
last five years, and now made for sale at $50 per 
ton at New York, cannot be duplicated in Eng¬ 
land for double that sum, and if it could, to our 
certain knowledge it would bo done, and would 
soon take the precedence of Peruvian guano at 
the present prices.” 
On the appoaranco of Mr. Johnson’s 
analysis, wo quoted tho above remarks of 
Mr. Mapes, and assorted (in the Genesee 
Farmer,) that if such was the composition 
of his manure, a much better super phosphate 
was, and had been for several years, sold 
in London for $28,22 per ton. Tho validi¬ 
ty of Mr. Mapes’ statement was at stake. 
He must needs show that the analysis was 
inaccurate. To do this ho called to his 
aid Dr. Enderlin, a learned Gorman chem¬ 
ist, who endeavored to prove tho worth¬ 
lessness of the analysis by showing that 
Mr. Johnson had made several absurd 
chemical blunders. First he had called the 
phosphate of lime as found in bones, animal 
charcoal, apatite, coprolites, guano, &c., 
neutral phosphato, instead of basic phos¬ 
phate. Second.—Ho found froo sulphuric 
acid and insolublo phosphate of limo. This 
was declared to bo “ against all chemical 
possibility.” Wo answered these charges at 
the time, as also did Professor John A. Por¬ 
ter, of Yale College. Wo admitted that tho 
first was a nominal error, justifiable on tho 
ground of rondoring tho chemical explana¬ 
tion of the manufacturer of the manure 
more intelligible to practical farmers. The 
lattor wo showed from our own experience, 
to bo not only possible but common in a su¬ 
perphosphate mixture. At this stage the 
matter rested till the issuo of tho Docember 
number of tho WPricing Fanner which con¬ 
tains an articlo from Dr. Enderlin, of ten 
closely printod columns in length, ushered 
in by a four column introduction from Mr. 
Mapes. 
Nearly the whole of Dr. Enderlin’s arti¬ 
clo is occupied in proving what wo had 
admitted, to wit, that in strict chemical 
nomenclature, Mr. Johnson, the writer, and 
many others, had made a nominal error. Wo 
must still contend that while they aro not 
strictly correct, tho terms givo a bettor and 
moro correct idea to tho unscientific reader 
than the chemically correct torms of Dr. 
Enderlin. Tho moro serious charge re¬ 
specting tho presence of free sulphuric acid 
and undecomposed phosphate of lime in the 
samo mixture, Dr. E. has abandoned. We 
admited that were tho mixture in solution, 
or in direct chemical contact, it would be 
against all chemical possibility to find free 
sulphuric acid and undecomposcd phos¬ 
phato of limo. But as superphosphate of 
lime is usually made by the be3t manufac¬ 
turers it is not only possible, but probable 
that these two ingredients will bo found. 
Wo said that from our own experience 
wo knew that when unground animal char¬ 
coal was used, it was impossible to decom¬ 
pose the whole of it. Dr. E. now admits 
that ho was “ speaking of tho chemical action 
under the supposition of due proportion and 
contact of the ingredients.” In another 
place he parries our remarks b^ r asking, 
“ Did I fix any time, did I speak of hours 
days, weeks or months of contact, &c ?” 
And again, “any ono could suppose it not 
against, but with all chemical possibility for 
froo sulphuric acid and undocomposed lime 
to exist, Sic.” With this admission, Mr. 
Johnson stands acquitted —his enemies 
themselves being judges. Dr. Enderlin' s 
long and learned papers do not show tho 
slightest error, except an unimportant one 
in regard to a name. 
Dr. Enderlin will admit, in fact he has 
substantially admitted, that it is essential 
that the phosphate of lime, previous to its 
mixture with sulphuric acid, fehould be re¬ 
duced to a fine powder, and made semi¬ 
fluid with water. Such being the case, 
what will Dr. Enderlin say, Viren we tell 
him, that on a recent visit to Mapes’ facto¬ 
ry wo found that the animal charcoal was 
used in its natural stato, tliat the only 
means employed to obtain the “due pro¬ 
portion” were those of an “elevator” to 
convey tho charcoal from tho floor to the 
mixing vessel, and an auger hole bored into 
the vessel containing the acid, to let it run 
at a given rate ? Tho elevator might go 
slower or faster, (even steam engines do 
not run at an invariable speed,) and tho 
acid would run faster when the vessel was 
nearly full, than whon nearly empty, unless 
some impurities should got across the hole. 
Tho mixing vessel appeared to bo an old 
cast-iron boiler, placed in an aparture in the 
floor, with a rude hole about 9 inches in 
diameter knocked in the bottom. Tho only 
“ mixing ” the acid and charcoal got, was a 
rapid “ stirring ” as they fell through this 
vessel from tho elevator and tho acid recep¬ 
tacle. Tho workmen called this the “ burn¬ 
ing, apparatus—a most appropriate name, 
as may readily he conceived. After this 
“ burning ” process, the mixture is ground, 
in order, the men said, to “dress it up for 
market.” Had the animal charcoal been 
ground previous to its mixture with acid, 
tho manure would have been much “im¬ 
proved as it was, we could not see its use, 
except to “dress it up for market.” Will 
it bo considered an “ impertinence” to ask 
Dr. Enderlin, “ for the sake of science and 
truth,” to visit tho factory, and then tell us 
whether he thinks it a “ chemical impossi¬ 
bility” for Mr. Johnson to find undecom¬ 
posed phosphate and free sulphuric acid in 
Mapes’ improved superphosphate of lime ? 
Wo wish to keep this subject as free from 
side issues as possible, or wo might mention 
somo exceedingly interesting data in regard 
to Mr. Mapes’ discovery of tho “ improve¬ 
ment,” and of his “numerous experiments.” 
When ho has shown Mr. Johnson’s analysis 
erroneous, whon ho has proved that the im¬ 
proved superphosphate of lime cannot bo 
mado in England for $100 per ton, and that 
our statement that it is mado for $28,22 
per ton is false, all of which he is constant¬ 
ly reiterating, wo will bring theso data to 
boar on somo of his other statements. 
j. ir. 
Save everything in the shape of refuse 
or offal; it is all good to mako the crops 
grow. Let your oyes, your mind, your 
heart, and your hands bo all directed to tho 
accumulation and preservation of the mate¬ 
rials to make manure. Follow this advice, 
and your lands will grow rich, and your 
pockots heavy. 
i: 
THB NORWEGIAN HARROW AND CLOD CRUSHER. 
This is an English Implement, though, 
as tho name seems to imply, the leading 
idea of its construction was obtained from 
Norway. As now used in England, it is 
mado of a strong iron frame six feet long, 
and threo wide, with three iron shafts or 
spindles running through lengthwise, on 
which aro fixed cast-iron bosses or rowels, 
having four or six sharp teeth about nine 
inches long, and so placed on the spindles 
that tho teeth of the middle spindle shall 
pass between those of tho other two whon 
revolving; in this way tho teeth of one rol- 
STBAY NOTES.-BY S. W. 
Josiaii Keene, of North Providence, R. I., 
gives in the Now England Farmer, of March 
1st, 1851, an account of his several succes¬ 
sive annual experiments in the relative fer¬ 
tilizing value of Peruvian Guano, 320 lb 3 . 
to the acre, cost seven dollars ; and sixteen 
loads of manure to a like conditioned acre, 
| half peat and half cow’s dung, composted in 
the stable, value $24, as a top-dressing for 
grass, ryo, &c. The seven dollars worth of 
guano goes ahead of tho compost worth 
twonty-four dollars, more than fifty per 
cent, tho season it is appliod. Strange that 
tho writer does not tell us the effect of both i 
kinds of manures on crops tho year after 
tho application; as experiment has shown 
that tho kind of compost ho used has a bet¬ 
ter effect on crops the second and third year 
after its application than the first. The gu¬ 
ano had probably given off'all its ammonia 
to the first crop, whereas tho compound 
of dung and peat being less diffusible, was 
retained in the soil for the benefit of future 
crops. Strange as it may seem, tho Patent 
Office Report of 1851 has copied this super- | 
ficial, one-sided experiment without a word ! 
of comment. We are told by Mr. Keene I 
that tho victorious guano was from * Peter j 
Harmony, Nephews, the Peruvian Govern¬ 
ment agents in New York.” But I take it 
if these experiments were published for an 
advertisement of this monopolized guano, j 
they prove too much for the guano, or too 
little for the compost. Methinks Peruvian 
guano, like good wine, needs no bush; 
neither need well composted animal manure 
fear any comparison with guano as an econ¬ 
omical and permanent amendment to a 
needy soil. 
An Agricultural College.—A plan for 
an Industrial University is presented to the 
Legislature of Illinois, by Professor Turner, 
of Jacksonville. Shade of the lamented 
Delafield, can it be that'tho great, enlight¬ 
ened Empire State is to bo distanced in 
such an institution by a young and compar¬ 
atively poor western State ? The Professor 
well say3 that tho “ most natural effect of 
mental discipline possible for any man ari¬ 
ses from sotting him to earnest and con¬ 
stant thought about tho things he daily does, 
sees and handles, and all their connected 
relation and intorests;” that the final object 
to bo attained with the industrial class, is to 
make them “ thinking laborers.” Ho sots it 
down as a fact that the prosont ago “has ar¬ 
rived at that crisis in progress, when it can 
no longer feed on the offals of procoding 
ages !” Ho also contends that “ a Farmer’s 
Industrial College is tho only remedy for 
caste education, legislation and literature.” 
Top Dressing. —In tho Rural of tho 26th 
ult, John Johnston says he has been in the 
habit of top-dressing grass land with stable 
manure for the last eighteen year3, with 
ior or spindle clean the- others from ob¬ 
structions, and prevent clogging; at the 
same time, the most thorough pulverization 
j the sod is effected. The apparatus be¬ 
hind is for regulating tho depth of the teeth 
and for lifting them from the ground when 
traveling. It is considered an admirable 
implement for pulverizing heavy clays, 
though in our opinion not equal for this 
purpose, to Crosskill’s clod crusher, a cut 
oi. which wo will give in a future number, 
r or tearing light-soil sod to pieces, whon not 
dry enough for other rollers, it has no equal. 
| tho best results. Such practice is undoubt- 
j edlv good under the circumstances, but 1 
I know a friend who bought at a livery stablo 
| a large heap of mouldy dung that had evi- 
j dently lost its nitrogen by combustion. Ho 
j says he was at a loss to account for the very 
j trifling benefit his meadow received from a 
; top-dressing with this manure, and that tho 
| secret cause never got “ through his wool,” 
j until ho took the hint from an agricultural 
| paper. Perhaps the Monroo Co. farmer 
! who avers that top-dressing is little better 
! than manure and labor wasted, might have 
| tried his experiments with the samo sort of 
I a carbonaceous mass, in which all the azo- 
tised matter has been washed or burned 
out. But that which is an economical 
mode of manuring tho rich calcarious soils 
of Western New York, might bo a wasteful 
manner of applying stable dung to the hun¬ 
gry, silieiou3 soils of Now England. There 
such manure must bo made the most of by 
composting it with peat or swamp muck, 
j in order that its nitrogen may not only be 
| saved, but increased; as the soil itself lias no 
inherent aluminous compounds like ours, 
to fix and retain the carbonate of ammonia 
until it is assimilated by the growing crops, 
j and it would seem as though Providence 
had kindly provided almost every New Eng¬ 
land farm with a swamp, the direct means 
thu3 to overcome its natural sterility by 
making tho most of its animal manures in a 
compost with the peat or swamp muck. On 
the other bund, the lack of swamps is pro¬ 
verbial in Western New York, particularly 
here in Mr. Johnston’s Seneca Co., where 
tho rich landscape is tame, only from the 
absence of the alternate hills and swamps 
of Yankee land. 
COMPLIMENTARY. 
A correspondent of the Germantowi 
Telegraph, “the long evenings affording 
him leisure,” gives “ a short article on foot 
for stock.” It is seldom that an honest far 
mer is guilty of a plagiarism; in this in 
stance however, the writer, instead of ern 
ploying his “long evenings” in giving ui 
seme Oi his experience, merely re-ivrites on 
of our i Id articles, sticking very close to th< 
copy, but still leaving out some of tho mos 
important sentences. Thi3 reminds us tha 
the samo article has had similar honors bo 
fore. A correspondent of the Ohio Farme. 
took ono half this article and put it in thi 
shape of an inquiry, while tho editor tool 
the other hair and answered tho questioi 
with it! It was altogether tho most ingen 
ions device for purloining the thoughts o 
others we havo yet seen. Wo commend i 
to the profession. 
Baron Humboldt proclaims himself th< 
first introducer of guano to the world as : 
manure. He explained its advantages, pub 
lished an analysis of it, and tried in vain t< 
introduce it extensively, for forty years. 
