86 
MOORE’S RURAL NEW-YORKER: AN AGRICULTURAL AND FAMILY NEWSPAPER. 
MARCH 15. 
that it will decompose air and water to procure 
it. The hydrogen (water being composed of 8 
oxygen and 1 hydrogen ) combines with the nitro¬ 
gen of the atmosphere (air being composed of 4 
nitrogen and 1 oxygen ) and forms ammonia, which, 
with carbonic acid, forms the two most impor¬ 
tant adjuncts in vegetable life and production. 
The dark color observable in all good soils to 
the depth the plow has worked, is solely attrib¬ 
utable to humus , or decayed vegetable matter, 
whether in the virgin soil of the forest, the de¬ 
cayed matter of sward land, or manure from the 
barn-yard. 
At the Convention of the Fruit Growers of 
Western New York, held in this city in Janua¬ 
ry last, among other topics agitated was the 
subject—of what is the best top-dressing for 
young fruit trees?—when a gentleman who 
stands high, and deservedly so, as a vegetable 
physiologist and fruit culturist, asserted that 
saw-dust possessed no valuable properties—that 
it was inert and of no more worth than dry 
sand—an assertion that we cannot subscribe to, 
by a very wide margin. Let the inquiry be 
instituted, what composes the great bulk of all 
animal manure ? Crush a single horse drop¬ 
ping that has laid in the open field through the 
winter, what is it but a mass of commiuuted 
vegetable, woody fibre, without taste or smell, 
and in no way different from saw-dust. All the 
other properties that it ever possessed were a 
few soluble salts and gases, that passed off with 
the first leaching, and nine-tenths of its virtue 
in any stage is due to the simple woody fibre 
decomposing in the earth and forming humus. 
Saw-dust, in our opinion, with the exception 
of that of resinous woods, is worth as much af- 
• ter the first year as the same weight of stable 
manure, particularly if from green wood, filled 
with saccharine juices, and consequently in the 
primary stage for fermentation and decomposi¬ 
tion. Wherein does saw-dust differ from the 
leaves, twigs and decayed trees that constitute 
the richest and most prolific soil in the world ? 
In no way that we can perceive. 
All vegetable matter, in whatever condition, 
if in a proper state of division, when mixed 
with the soil, acts as food for plants not as quick 
as the ready formed stimulants of animal ma¬ 
nures, which are the ardent spirits, while de¬ 
cayed vegetable matter is the bread and meat. 
Comiiuuurations. 
EXPERIMENT IN THIN SEEDING. 
Ma. Rural :—In No. 276 you recommended 
«light seeding,” and gave reasons for it and re¬ 
sults of experiments in proof of its policy.— 
Being previously somewhat inclined to the doc¬ 
trine, and, indeed, practicing lighter seeding 
than most farmers, I was quite easily convinced 
of its truth and resolved to know it practically. 
The field on which I wished to grow oats 
measures full fifteen acres, consisting of a cob¬ 
ble-stone ridge, which spreads into a gravelly, 
sandy plain, comparatively stoneless; into these 
two kinds of soil the field is about equally di¬ 
vided-seven acres were oat stubble, three corn 
stubble, “and five clover sod three years from 
the seed. On one half-acre of the latter was 
an orchard, where we gathered not more than 
ten bushels of oats, they being lodged and im¬ 
mature from rank and shaded growth. 
On this lot, after plowing at an average of 
nine inches and leveling the furrows with a 
brush, I sowed broadcast the first week in May 
2334 bushels of oats. They were measured out 
of a bin containing 500 bushels, which had been 
run through a fanning mill—hence there could 
have been but little chaff or mice chewings.— 
On the clover sod there was as handsome a 
growth as I ever saw. Here we could often 
find five thrifty stalks from a single kernel, 
from one of which it was not unusual to shell 
100 berries. On the corn stubble they were 
good, and on the remaining part rather light.— 
We harvested 600 bushels, by measure from the 
separator, giving 550 bushels by weight, full as 
much as our neighbors would have expected if 
I had only sown enough seed. 
Now, I do not pretend to say that this is a 
heavy crop for the ground occupied, for my farm 
is not in the highest state of cultivation ; but I 
do say, that for the seed used, it was a good 
yield—the best in my knowledge ; and that 
there was enough I confidently believe, for it 
furnished roots for the whole surface. What 
more would one want ? Again, while cutting 
them our cradles were not choked by straws, 
nearly as thick, and not much larger, than the 
hairs on a dog, loaded only with false kernels 
and a little chaff; but each straw was of re¬ 
spectable size and bore a fair quantity of as solid 
grain as one could expect during a fortnight’s 
almost steady ram. 
Thinking that a statement of this experiment 
might, to some little extent, answer your inte- 
rogatory, I give it in acknowledgment not only 
of the pleasures afforded by, but also of the 
profits of, our weekly visitor. R. 
Soutli Sodus, Wayne Co., N. Y. 
BARN-YARD MANURE. 
None of your correspondents have so com¬ 
pletely presented my views upon the subject of 
barn-yard manure as Mr. J. C. Bates, of Sheri¬ 
dan, in the Rural of Feb. 16th. I would pre¬ 
fer that all the stable maiWe were dumped, 
distributed and equally mixed with the straw, 
in addition to the droppings of the cattle run¬ 
ning in the yard. The quality would be 
enough improved to pay for the labor. But 
manure thrown into heaps from the stables, and 
having but little or no straw amongst it, should 
by all means be under cover ; because, from its 
condition and soluble properties, it is liable to 
deteriorate and waste by evaporation under the 
influences and action of the elements. 
Some complain of the injurious effects upon j 
the straw manure in the barn-yard by the j 
“washing of rains and drenching of snow.”— i 
From this idea 1 beg leave to dissent. We are 
taught that some of the properties of rain water 
are the elements of fertilizing influence, and 
that snow has the manurial property still more 
abundant. Straw manure is loose,—rain and 
dissolved snow readily settle into it and are ab¬ 
sorbed by it. I have no question but those 
properties are retained in the manure until it 
should be drawn out in spring for corn, and if 
covered with sod, as Mr. Bates recommends, all 
is so far safe. If allowed to lie in yard through 
warm weather, the fertilizing gases would es¬ 
cape by evaporation. This, I think, may be 
remedied by pitching into heaps, and then give 
it occasionally a heavy dusting of ground gyp¬ 
sum. Manure should never be spread faster 
than it is turned under with the plow. 
Near Geneva, N. Y., Feb., 1856. G. W. P. 
BOARD FENCES. 
A writer in the Rural of March 1st says, 
“ that a board fence without battenings over the 
joints is not worth the nails with which it is 
constructed.” This is not in accordance with 
my observation and experience. Water gets 
under the battenings, causes the boards to rot, 
and renders the fence less durable than it would 
be if no battenings were used. A post and 
board fence is valuable when well constructed 
of good materials, and nearly valueless when 
the materials are poor or the construction de¬ 
fective. 
Yellow or white cedar pasts, nptless than six 
inches in diameter at the small end, (twelve 
inches is far better,) set in the ground two and 
a half to three feet, well secured by stones 
thoroughly rammed around the posts, makes a 
good beginning. A bottom board twelve inches 
wide, and three others eight inches wide, all 
one inch and a quarter thick, and fourteen feet 
long, well nailed on with twenty penny nails, 
driven slightly slanting through the boards, 
which renders the boards far less liable to be 
knocked off, complete the side of the fence. A 
long pole spiked on the top of the posts forms 
the best cap, but a board one and a half inches 
thick and six inches wide, spiked on the top of 
the posts after they have been sawed even in a 
slightly slanting direction, so that the cap shall 
turn off water, forms a good substitute for a 
pole. The back of the post at the top should 
be hewn down to one inch less thickness than 
the width of the cap, that the cap may cover 
the top of the post and the top board. If the 
posts are set at equal distances, that the joints 
may not all come on the same post, the fence 
will be stronger. 
A fence thus thoroughly constructed, will 
need little or no repairs for twelve years. If 
made of poor materials and slightly constructed 
it never answers the purpose of a fence, and is 
really a waste of materials. E. Marks. 
PLOWING SANDY SOILS. 
There has been some discussion in the 
Rural recently, in regard to deep plowing on 
sandy land. I propose to give my experience 
in this matter. I have a piece of land which is a 
sandy loam, rather low, but with a little fall. I 
have raised several crops of different kinds of 
grain on this piece of land, but never raised 
what I call a good crop until the last year. The 
ground has always been very loose, easy to till. 
I have usually plowed in the fall, and in the 
spring before sowing—plowed from six to eight 
inches in depth. The blade would look very 
promising at first, but when dry weather came, 
lost a great share of its vitality. It did not 
seem to be fairly rooted, and when full grown 
the blades all broke down, and did not fill with 
grain nor get ripe. 
This fully convinced me that the ground was 
too loose, and I tried a new plan. I plowed 
the ground late in the fall, and in the spring as 
soon as the ground was dry enough sowed the 
grain and harrowed it in. The result was I 
harvested a good crop. This proves to me that 
it is possible to plow sandy land too deep—the 
ground becomes too loose and light for the grain 
to take firm root, and consequently cannot de¬ 
rive that nourishment from the earth to make 
the blade stand erect^and^ fill with good ripe 
grain. I should like to iiave more light on this 
subject. a. o. 
COWS EATING HORSE-DUNG. 
Messrs. Eds. :—If it is manure that is eaten 
by your correspondent’s cows, of which he com¬ 
plains, and for which he seeks a remedy, to me 
it is something new; but if it is the strawy 
portion that comes from the horse-stable, of 
which cows and other stock are very fond, per¬ 
mit me to say that I have never even suspected 
that it was at all injurious, and my experience 
on that point will justify me in the above con¬ 
clusion. My horse-stable is situated on the 
ground floor of my barn, and my cattle-stables 
in the basement adjoining. I have for three 
winters past, passed the manure from the horse- 
stable through an opening into the stable be¬ 
low ; the strawy portion is then thrown a to the 
cattle-stable, where it is mostly consumed by 
the cattle, the finer part ‘with the imanure is 
scattered over the stable floor, where it becomes 
incorporated with the droppings from the cattle 
which is removed every morning with a wheel¬ 
barrow to the manure heaps in the'^yard. I 
think no one would suspect by the looks of my 
stock that it had been injured by^the above 
treatment, and I am well satisfied that the sav¬ 
ing of fodder is no inconsiderable item in my 
farm account. J. w. c. 
Sodus, N. Y., 1856. 
CONDENSED CORRESPONDENCE. 
MANURE CELLARS—MUCK. 
Under my horse-barn is a manure cellar, 
wherein I deposited the dung of four horses and 
a yoke of oxen, besides the manure from my 
hogs while fattening ; but since I killed my 
hogs the manure from my horses has made me 
much trouble by heating. I have used plaster, 
and have dug it open and used salt quite freely. 
In a late number of the Rural I noticed a sug¬ 
gestion about the application of water or snow, 
which latter I used abundantly, but all to no 
purpose. I have a bed of muck some 20 or 30 
rods from my barn, which I have tided before 
partially, and as a last resort I went to the muck 
bed and removed two or three feet of snow, and 
drew up four loads aud spread over the whole 
surface of the manure heap, making it probably 
three inches thick. This effected an entire cure 
—not the least scent could be perceived, nor can 
we discover the least escape of the gases. We 
have |R load or two of muck in reserve if the 
heat shows itself. In this way we hope to use 
up all foul seeds and find our manure better de¬ 
composed and ready for use in the spring.— 
Abram W right, Elbridge, N. Y. 
FROZEN FEET.—STABLING CATTLE. 
In regard to the ergot of June grass aud its 
effects on cattle, my father says he has seen 40 
cattle out of 65 head lost in winter by feeding 
hay in which it abounded. Their feet appeared 
to be frozen, and they either died or had to be 
killed “to put them out of their misery.” He 
warned the owner against feeding it, and told 
him what would be its effect, but he would not 
believe until he had tried it thus expensively. 
Perhaps if such hay were run through a thresh¬ 
ing machine it would take out the ergot, so that 
it would be as good as any other. 
In regard to stabling cattle, I do not let mine 
out until 2 P. M., and if pleasant, let them re¬ 
main two or three hours. I think the best plan 
is to keep them as still as possible, and in a 
warm stable. They require much less food, and 
are in better order in the spring—not having 
been so drawn up by the cold.—O. H. South 
Brookfield, N. Y. 
WENS ON CATTLE, ETC. 
In the Rural of the 9th ult., I saw an inquiry 
for a cure of wens on cattle. I have oxen and 
cows which had what was called by the “ know¬ 
ing ones ” wens, but I found by opening them 
with the point of my jack knife, that it was 
nothing but matter that had formed, and could 
not find its way through the skin. I once 
opened four or five on one of my cows legs, and 
found they all contained thick matter. 
The writer in the Maine Farmer may well 
think his colt has got the heaves, if he eats 
sorrel out of a rack. My opinion is that he has 
inhaled the seed into his lungs. Horses and 
colts should never be fed out of a rack.—S. 
Pettit, Northeast, Pa. 
KING PHILIP CORN. 
I was favored by ay friend with a small sack 
of corn of the above variety Irorn the Latent 
Office in 1854. It was planted in a field with 
our common eight-rowed yellow corn. It was 
so much earlier that it did not mix with it in 
the least, and the result was a good yield, ripen¬ 
ing two weeks earlier than the other variety 
planted the same time, which was also sound. 
In 1855 I planted an acre of it in a field of 
seven acres ; the balance of the eight-rowed 
yellow. The result was a good yield, entirely 
out of the reach of the frost of the morning of 
the 20th Sept,, which injured materially the 
remainder of the field, kept back by the cold, 
wet weather beyond the usual time of ripening. 
I shall plant no other corn for a field crop the 
coming season.—J. W. C., Sodus, March 3,1856. 
THE ONE POTATO CROP BEATEN. 
In several of the last numbers of the Rural, 
I have seen an account of the one potato crop, 
but have not seen any that beats me yet.— 
About the first of June I planted one potato— 
a Blue Mercer, which weighed 2 lbs. 6 oz. I 
cut it and put two pieces in a hill, making 33 
hills. Soil, a rich sand, well manured. Hoed 
them twice ; dug them about the middle of Oc¬ 
tober. Yield three bushels and four quarts. I 
did not weigh them.—P. E. Demaray, Ridge¬ 
way, Orleans Co., N. Y. 
STABLES FOR STOCK. 
As to the best stables for cattle, I prefer un¬ 
derground, and without floors, but well littered. 
The stalls should be made from 3 ft. 4 in. to 3 ft. 
8 in., according to the size of the cattle to occu¬ 
py them, the partitions tight, with doors well 
hung in the rear of the stall, and shut and fas¬ 
tened when the animal is in, so as to keep them 
secure and warm.—J. D., The Square, Cayuga 
Co., N. Y. _ 
INQUIRY-BLACK-LEG. 
What is the cause of the Black-Leg in calves ? 
What will cure it ? My neighbors tell me that 
it is caused by feeding too heavy, and keeping 
them too fleshy. If so, what is the best feed to 
keep them growing through the winter and 
keep them free from that disease ? Any one of 
experience, please give me an answer.—E. II. 
N., Chenango Co., N. Y. 
Fistulous Withers. —I have a horse in rather 
poor condition affected with “ fistulous withers 
the swelling has broken and is discharging 
freely. If any “posted” correspondent will 
give a remedy and information of the character 
and origin of the above-named disease they 
will oblige—A Subscriber, Forest Hill, Md. 
Inquiry. — Hop Culture. —Can any reader 
give information as to the best method to get up 
a hop yard, and the kind of soil best adapted 
for such—the cost and way of culture ?—A., 
Charlotte, N. Y. 
|iittal litotes atttr Items. 
Editing Farmers’ Papers. —Referring to the 
idea somewhat prevalent in the country, that 
“ a paper got up in the city cannot instruct 
farmers,” the Prairie Farmer says :—“ A large 
town is the place to publish a large paper—it 
cannot be done in the country. And should 
the Editor happen not to be a practical farmer, 
he is very like to be none the worse Editor for 
that. He is usually well read, and capable of 
giving good practical advice, as well as the ra¬ 
tionale of the thing. And then, he seldom has 
any strong prejudices in the way, to prevent 
his taking a just and reasonable view of the 
whole circle of system and practice.” 
Very true, in the main ; and we would add, 
that the value of a farmer’s, or indeed any pa¬ 
per, does not depend so much on what the Ed¬ 
itor writes for it, as upon his possessing that 
tact, judgment and discrimination in selecting 
and arranging its contents, which will convey 
the greatest amount of practical information to 
its readers. He should write, and write well; 
still, he may be able to do this, and make a poor 
paper. And yet, no man can make a good Ag¬ 
ricultural paper unless he understands the prac¬ 
tical details of farming, and the wants of those 
for whom he labors. Observation and reading 
may do much toward qualifying an Editor to 
write on practical and theoretical subjects, yet 
these must be combined with personal knowl¬ 
edge of the various manipulations and opera¬ 
tions of culture and husbandry to render his 
journal reliable, and hence successful. This 
personal experience is all-important, and he 
who undertakes to conduct an agricultural jour¬ 
nal without having acquired it, first or last, is 
constantly liable to mistakes and deception, and 
will inevitably fail, as have so many mere ob¬ 
servers and theorists within the past decade. 
Farming in Maine. —At a Farmers’ Meeting 
held at the State House in Augusta, some dis¬ 
cussion was had on the question of the profits 
of farming. Many interesting facts were related. 
We select the following“ Mr. Parlin stated 
that he was a mechanic, but farmed it on a small 
scale; he had to hire his labor ; he kept a strict 
account with his farm, and finds that this year, 
after paying all expenses, he has $450 for over¬ 
seeing the business. Mr. Crane had been left 
an orphan, without property, and when twenty- 
one years of age he had not $5 worth of prop¬ 
erty. He had done nothing but farming, and 
was now out of debt, and the assessors rated 
him $5,000, the whole made by farming and 
nothing else. Mr. French said, twenty-five 
years ago he went into the woods with a wife 
and two children, and had but two hundred dol¬ 
lars in the world, bought a farm on mortgage, 
family increased to nine children, when his son 
was sixteen and began to be help to him, he 
died ; his buildings were soon after all burnt, 
the weevil took his wheat and the rot his pota- 
t<-oo ,- new hired help excepting in Haying.— 
He now had a farm, free from debt, had a com¬ 
fortable home, had educated nine children with a 
common school educat ion, had plenty to eat and 
to set before his friends, and he left it to the 
meeting to say whether farming was profitable 
or not.” 
Stock Breeding Co. for Iowa. —A number of 
prominent farmers and stock breeders in Ohio, 
having formed a company for the purpose, have 
selected some 8,000 acres of land in Butler Co., 
Iowa, (125 miles west of Dubuque, and within 
a few miles of the proposed route of the Du¬ 
buque and Pacific Railroad,) and will com¬ 
mence operations in the spring under the super¬ 
intendence of Dr. Sprague, Sec’y of the Ohio 
State Board of Ag. They propose to send out 
in a year from this spring, which will be as 
early as the farm can be prepared for them, 50 
or 60 select brood mares, previously bred to 
some of the best Morgan stock horses in the 
country, and a like number of Short-horn cows 
and heifers. The tract selected is one of the 
finest in that fine county of rolling prairie and 
timber land, and is well watered and has quar¬ 
ries of building stone upon it. The farm proper 
will contain 5,000 acres, and Osage Orange 
hedges are proposed for fences. 
“Swbeney” in Horses. —A recent number of 
the Veterinary Journal contains an article from 
Wm. Someville, of Buffalo, on the above named 
disease. Dr. S. takes the ground that the idea 
of the disease being seated in the hollo w part of 
the shoulder is a fallacious one. He says, in 
regard to it:—“1st. I have never been able to 
see any notice of such disease in the best works 
written by the most eminent authors of the past 
and present. 2d. I have generally found the 
cause to be often occasioned by disease of the 
feet. 3d. If action will develope muscle, a want 
of action must cause a disease or atrophy of 
muscle, and as the shoulder blade has a broad 
and flat surface, it is to be expected that such 
disease will sooner be detected at this part than 
any other.” 
The '■ )xen for Snow Drifts. —An Agricultu¬ 
ral Society in New Brunswick having imported 
some of the West Highland Cattle from Scot¬ 
land, thus speak of them in a recent report:— 
“Though disliked by the farmers at first, they 
are now much in favor. Our farmers are con¬ 
vinced by experience that they are the best 
adapted to our climate and pasture, crossing ad¬ 
vantageously with our best milkers, producing 
profitable dairy cows and superior working 
oxen, that are unequalled for wading through 
deep snow.” We shall need this breed here if 
we have many such winters as the past has 
been, and still is, though it is spring according 
to the almanac. 
The Wool Grower and Stock Register, for 
March, (due the middle of the month,) has been 
promptly issued, and is altogether a readable 
and valuable number. Though it may not be¬ 
come us to commend this journal, we are confi¬ 
dent that thousands of our readers would find it 
for their interest to subscribe therefor. We 
subjoin the Table of Contents of the March No. 
WOOL GROWERS' DEPARTMENT. 
Rearing Lambs.69 
Best Breed of Sheep.71 
Sore Noses in Sheep...72 
Anstralian and Cape Wool; Improved Breeds of Sheep.73 
Feeding Sheep on Daisies.74 
Foot-Rot in Sheep; Weaning of Lambs.75 
Sheep Rack (Illustrated).76 
The Atwood Merinos—Crossing.76 
Nursing Lambs ; Look out for your Sheep.77 
French and Spanish Sheep; Foot-Rot—Inquiry.77 
Wool in California; Water for Sheep.77 
Sheep Growing and Wheat; Profits of Sheep, &c .78 
The Wool Markets; Shortening the Homs.78 
Why do Sheep Pull their Wool.78 
THE STOCK GROWERS’ DEPARTMENT. 
Raising Beef for Market.79 
Death of Horses from Eating Rotten Carrots.80 
Care of Young Cattle; Cattle Swallowing Nails.80 
Frozen Feet in Cattle; Training Colts; A Knowing Horse....81 
Horse Testimony; Rival this.82 
Farm Accounts ; Ground Oats.82 
Our Farm and Stock; Absence of Homs.83 
Cure of Bloody Murrain; Change of Feed for Horses.83 
An Octagon House (three illustrations).84 
Mr. Mark’s Short-horn Cow Ringlet (Illustrated).85 
Fattening Animals.86 
Blue-Grass—Wood Pastures; Pork Making.87 
Horse Provender; Horses Tongues.88 
A Farmer's Ice House; Apples for Cows.88 
Suffolk Hogs; Quick Growth.89 
Coarse Grains and Oil Cake Meal; Mange in Cattle.95 
The Farmer ; A Country Home.96 
Col. Clairboume's Story; For Kicking Cows.96 
Cattle. Produce and Provision MarKets.>..98 
THE DAIRY-HOUSE. 
Some Facts about Butter.90 
Parsnips for Milch Cows.99 
New Experiments in Churning Butter.91 
Potted Cheese; Two Good Cows; A Good Milker.91 
THE HOUSEWIFE. 
Girls should Learn to Keep House; How to Cut a Shirt; To 
Cure Hams and Shoulders; To Poach Eggs; Our way of 
Making Bread; Bird's Nest Pie; A nice dish for Breakfast.92 
Canvass Bags for Hams ; Potato Yeast; To make Oyster 
Broth of Codfish; To Clean Paint, &c.93 
THE POULTRY-YARD. 
About Poultry—Feed, Vermin, Disease.93 
The Pairing of Poultry; The Ducking Business.94 
Management of Poultry—Profits of Poultry: Lice on.94 
Meat for Poultry; Hens in Winterj.Wild Turkies.95 
INQUIRIES AND' ANSWERS 
Exterminating the Garden Mole; Coal Tar for preserving Tim¬ 
ber; Best Book on the Horse; Preparing Fish or Flesh as Ma¬ 
nure; Sheep in Orchards; Cows Eating Horse Dung.96 
THE EDITOR’S TABLE. 
French Tariff on Wool; Premium Dairy; Wool Trade; Agricul¬ 
tural College; Effect of Climate on Wool; Iowa Pork Trade.97 
California Statistics; Match between an, English Mare and an 
Arabian Horse; Conn. State Ag. Society; Wealth of Atlantic 
Cities; Farmers’ High School Pennsylvania; Change of Food; 
Lard making in the United States. <£c.98 
The W. G. & S. R. is issued monthly — 32 
large octavo pages, printed and illustrated in 
superior style—at 50 cents a volume, or $1 a 
year ; to Rural subscribers at half its regular 
subscription rates—25 cts. a volume or 50 cts. a 
year. Address D. D. T. Moore, Rochester, N. Y. 
Fish for Manure. —In reply to an inquiry on 
this subject, the N. E. Lnrmcr says :—“It adds 
great value to the compost heaps of the barn¬ 
yard, and when mingled with them in mode¬ 
rate quantities, will decompose and not become 
particularly disagreeable during the process of 
decay. It is sai‘l that by making an excava¬ 
tion in the earth — according to the amount of 
fish it is desired to work over — filling it with 
fish and covering it with peat muck or loam, 
that in a few days it would become soft. It 
should then be wet with diluted sulphuric acid, 
and the muck, sand or loam, stirred in with it. 
Then the whole may be removed, and the same 
process gone through with afresh supply. They 
are excellent composted in alternate layers of 
leaves, peat muck, loam, pulverized charcoal, or 
even saw-dust. Excellent plowed under in a 
crude state. Excellent when four are laid 
around the hill and covered up when the corn 
is planted, and excellent dug in, in moderate 
quantities around fruit trees, say three to ten 
feet from the tree, according to the size.” 
Improving Sandy Soils. —In England, many 
thousands of acres of sandy soils, which were 
comparatively valueless, have been reclaimed 
by hauling on clay and thoroughly incorporat¬ 
ing it with the soil. Men are employed in ap¬ 
plying this clay in winter, when there is not 
much else to do. Clay is usually found con¬ 
venient for this purpose, and it only requires to 
be once done. Wherever sandy land is contig¬ 
uous to market, and thereby becomes valuable, 
this means of making it productive ought to be 
adopted. There is very often sandy soils on 
our farms, which would be doubtless benefited 
more by the application of clay than by the 
same amount of any kind of manure.— Western 
Agriculturist. 
Tiie Entire Horse. —Our correspondents in¬ 
form us that, from the age of 4 years up to 30, 
an entire horse is used for the purpose of get¬ 
ting stock. On this question some very curious 
facts have been furnished us as to the advanced 
age at which horses will procreate their species. 
Mr. Gibbon speaks of a horse that got several 
foals when 33 years old. Many well authenti¬ 
cated instances can be found of horses getting 
stock quite as late in life as Mr. Gibbon’s ; and 
we have heard, on reliable authority, of horses 
procreating at a much later period of life.— Lon¬ 
don Veterinarian. 
Agriculture is the appropriate employment 
of declining years; lor it may be pursued to 
the very end of life. Not so with the occupa¬ 
tion of professional men, for they will find that 
when the strength of their days is gone by, that 
younger and stouter rivals will hasten their de¬ 
scent, as they are traveling the downward slope 
of hostile rivalry.— Valley Farmer. 
The golden rule in agriculture is to apply 
such manures and tillage as will make heavy 
land lighter, and light land heavier, cold land 
hotter and hot land cooler. He only is a farmer 
who knows and follows this rule. 
