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PROGRESS AND IMPROVEMENT 
[ SINGLE NO. FIVE CENTS. 
MOORE’S RURAL NEW-YORKER, 
AN ORIGINAL WEEKLY 
AGRICULTURAL, LITERARY AND FAMILY JOURNAL, 
The soils upon which plaster operates most 
beneficially are those that are light and porous 
and of a sandy or loamy character. “ Excess of 
moisture and poverty of the soil,” says Johnson, 
“ are the chief hindrances to the action of gyp¬ 
sum.” The better the cultivation, and the 
greater the fertility of the soil, the more benefit 
will be derived fr 
CONDUCTED BY D, D. T. MOORE, 
WITH AH ABLE CORPS OP ASSISTANT EDITORS. 
SPECIAL CONTRIBUTORS: 
H. T. BROOKS, Prop. C. DEWEY, 
T. C. PETERS, L. B. LANGWORTHY, 
H. C. WHITE, T. E. WETMORE. 
'om the application of plaster. 
It should be remembered, however, that sul- 
phate of lime exists in greater or less degree in 
most soils already, and in some to that extent 
that no further application will be of any use. 
This can readily be determined by experiment. 
On this question of soil, one of our most expe¬ 
rienced farmers says :—“ On wet land and on 
alluvial soils, or on ground that is plentifullv 
supplied with vegetable mold, plaster has lit; <jp 
or no effect,—but on dry, sandy, and gravelly, 
or even clay soils, that are deficient in vegeta¬ 
ble mold, its effects are astonishing.” Mucky 
soils usually contain already an abundance of 
sulphuric acid, hence need no further supply 
from plaster. 
The climate and weather have a large influ¬ 
ence upon the action of gypsum. In a warm, 
moist season, it proves most beneficial,—in a 
cold, dry one, scarcely any effect seems to fol¬ 
low its application. This may be explained as 
follows In a wet season more of the plaster 
is dissolved and made available for the use of 
plants ; the heat also assists the chemical action 
of the leaves, which decompose the sulphate of 
lime and allow it to act upon the silicates in 
the soil. However, the rationale of its action is 
yet to be agreed upon by scientific agricultu¬ 
rists. It will be found, we would incidentally 
remark, that plaster is of little benefit upon a 
clover field closely pastured, while a portion of 
the same field uncroppe* 1 . will show a large in¬ 
crease from the application. This seems to 
show that the good effects of this stimulant are 
elaborated through the leaves of the plants, and 
the additional moisture drawn from the air by 
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 
Subjects connected with the business of those whose inter¬ 
ests it advocates. It embraces more Agricultural, Horticul¬ 
tural, Scientific, Mechanical, Literary and News .Matter, 
interspersed with many appropriate and beautiful Engrav¬ 
ings, than any other paper published in this Country,— 
rendering it a complete Agricultural, Literary and 
Family Newspaper. 
For Terms, and other particulars, see last page. 
SKELETON OF THE SHEEP. 
GYPSUM.—ITS AGRICULTURAL VALUE, 
The skeleton figured above, will give our 
readers a fair idea of the anatomy of this ani¬ 
mal, a subject with which all who have the care 
and management of sheep should be acquaint¬ 
ed. The skeleton is that of a New Leicester 
sheep. The parts are thus named and de¬ 
scribed : 
The Head. —1. The intermaxillary bone. 2. 
The nasal bones. 3. The upper jaw. 4. The 
union of the nasal and upper jaw bones. 5. 
I’be union of the molar and lachrymal bones. 
6. The orbits of the eye. 7. T^e frontal bone 
9. The lower jaw. 10. The incisor-teeth or 
nippers. 11 . The molars or grinders. 
The Trunk. —1, 1. T^* ligament of the neck 
ribs, with their cartilages. 9-13. The five false 
ribs, or those that are not attached to the breast 
bone. 14. The breast bone. 
The Fore-Ley. —1. The scapular, or shoulder 
blade. 2. The humerus, bone of the arm, or 
lower part of the shoulder. 3. The radius, or 
hone of the fore-arm. 4. The ulna, or elbow. 
5. The knee, with its different bones. 6. The 
metacarpal, or shank bones—the larger bones of 
the leg. 7. A rudiment of the smaller meta¬ 
carpal. 8. One of the sessamoid bones. 9. The 
.first two bones of the foot—the pasterns, 10. 
The proper bones of the foot. 
The Hind-Ley.—I. The thigh bone. 2. The 
stifle joint and its bone—the patella. 3. The 
fibia, or bone of the upper part of the leg. 4. 
Ihe point of the hock. 5. The other bones of 
the hock. 6. The metatarsal hones, or bone of 
the hind-leg. 7. Rudiment of the small meta¬ 
tarsal. 8. A sessamoid bone. 9. The first two 
bones of the foot—the pasterns. 10. The proper 
bone of the foot. 
Gypsum, or sulphate of lime, is a- well-known 
mineral compound, found in large deposits in 
numerous parts of the globe. It is also present 
in many soils, particularly in peat, and is de¬ 
tected in sensible proportions in several of the 
leguminous plants—red clover among them—as 
well as in the dung of animals subsisting on 
grass. The native plaster or gypsum of com¬ 
merce, contains accoming to Browne’s Field- 
Book. of Manures, in 100 pounds— 
Water. 21 lbs. 
Lime. 33 .. 
Sulphuric Acid.36 “ 
The water is in chemical combination with 
the sulphate of lime. When calcined or burn¬ 
ed, the water is driven off, and then 100 lbs. 
would be composed of 4lj^ lbs. of lime, and 
58jK lbs. of sulphuric acid. So, 79 lbs. burned, 
equals 100 lbs. of unburned plaster. 
These statements refer to pure gypsum, but 
plaster, as usually found, often contains several 
per cent, of other substances, such as clay, car¬ 
bonate of lime, &c. The latter, if the quantity 
he considerable, will destroy its usefulness as a 
material for fixiny the ammonia of dung heaps, 
as quick lime has a very active tendency to 
liberate or expel the same. As a dressing for 
the soil, such plaster is as valuable as though 
pure, and more so where lime is wanting.. 
It is generally conceded that the agricultural 
effect of plaster is the same, whether burned or 
unburned, if equally pulverized. In a raw state 
\when reduced to powder, it does not swell in 
water, but remains like sand. If burned at a 
proper temperature and then exposed to the air, 
rain, and dew, it regains its 21 per cent, of 
water, but after that, has no more attraction for 
moisture than so much soil. We are unable to 
find any ground for the opinion sometimes ad¬ 
vanced, that plaster benefits a crop by helping 
vegetation to a greater supply of moisture, 
through its direct action, than it would other¬ 
wise receive. There is danger in burning plas¬ 
ter of destroying, by excess of heat, its power 
of attracting water, in a great degree, lienee 
ground plaster is most generally preferred and 
of fence, exclusive of material, is about 25 to 30 
cents per rod, for splitting, drawing and lay- 
ing up. Rails equivalent to a cord of wood will 
lay about 5 rods of fence. 
We well remember visiting the scenes of the 
joyous days of our boyhood, after forty years 
absence, and particularly recognizing an old 
rail fence yet in tolerable repair, and we found 
the same stepping rail, and the same smooth, 
round topped one, (for there is a choice of places 
for getting over rail fences as there is for jump¬ 
ing a wide ditch,) where, in spite of the knowl¬ 
edge of the rights of meum and tuum, we are 
afraid we used to get over to hook the apples of 
a crabbed old Jerseyman. 
A good stone fence, two or two and a half feet 
at the base, one foot at the top, four to four and 
a half feet high, and capped with a heavy stone, 
—if trenched, in heavy land, one foot in depth 
and filled with cobbles, and laid up by an ex¬ 
perienced farm mason,—we hold to be the best 
and most durable fence that can be constructed. 
Few farmers, if they have not seen, will be able 
to oqnceive with what small and contemptible 
sized stones, when properly bound together by 
the use of split strips of wood, a good,.safe, and 
durable fence can be made. 
The great security of these fences consists in 
using a good cap stone. It does not matter 
much of what shape, if they have one fiat side, 
and are about one foot wide, or long, to conform 
to thickness of the wall. A farm thus fenced, 
with good gates, shows the very acme of good 
husbandry; but they would not suit one class 
of farmers that we wot of, for they could not 
throw down two lengths of fence and disturb a 
half dozen more, when they want to pass a team 
into the field. Stone fences would never an¬ 
swer their contract. 
good season, and for this reason:—When a heavy 
body of snow lies upon the ground, and ice of 
extraordinary thickness covers the waters, a 
vast amount of caloric must be absorbed and 
rendered latent in transforming them from a 
solid to a fluid state. The very operation of 
melting snow produces cold, and thus counter¬ 
acts any tendency to rapid liquifaction. Every 
one must have observed how chill and freezing 
a night usually succeeds a thawing day. It is 
impossible to melt off suddenly a large body of 
snow, and freezing nights must in the very 
nature of things frequently intervene ere the 
fleecy mantle of the field, and the Icy fetters of 
the river, have been cast aside under the genial 
influences of the vernal sun. Melting days and 
frosty nights are what we want for tlie success¬ 
ful manufacture of maple sugar, and existing 
circumstances prognosticate such a state of 
things next month. It may turn out otherwise, 
but if it.does, the event will violate both pre¬ 
cedent and philosophy. 
We shall consider the subject of manufacture 
next week. 
RAIL AND STONE FENCES, 
The original brush and log fences that are 
used in new countries have disappeared, and the 
Virginia or worm fence has taken their places, 
and now generally prevails through the Northern 
and Western States, except in the older settle¬ 
ments, where stone, when sufficiently plenty, is 
often employed. But the days of rail fences .are 
numbered, and when decay and breakage have 
used up those now constructed, they cannot be 
replaced for want of material. Any one would 
be astonished, who had not given the subject a 
thought, at the thousands of miles of fence in 
the State of New York. No farm of ordinary 
size but avbat has its three to ten miles of fence. 
All the gold that lia*M>een dug in California, 
would not be equal to me cost of farm fences in 
the United States. 
The worm fence prevails because it is much 
cheaper than any other, and is constructed by 
the labor of common field bands, and will last, 
when made of good materials, from thirty to 
fifty years, with occasional repairs. Eleven rails 
laid end to end will make a seven rail fence, 
which is a rule worth remembering in drawing 
rails for a new fence. The cost of this variety 
It is a good time to secure additional fencing 
material. When rails are used, let them be cut 
and split, and drawn as near the spot as may 
be. Stone may be quarried and drawn, and 
logs taken to mill to be sawed for posts and 
boards. Stakes and caps may also be prepared 
in the leisure of winter. 
Cows and sheep should receive particular at¬ 
tention at this season. The vigor and value of 
their offspring will depend upon the health of 
the mothers, in a large degree. Give them nu¬ 
tritious food and proper care. 
