[ SINGLE NO. FIVE CENTS, 
TWO DOLLARS A YEAR.] 
The snow has all disappeared, except now and 
years, to three hundred rods of land, and he 
never saw any benefit from it. He thought it 
much better to put the manure into the soil at 
a proper depth than to compost it, as the labor 
and expense of composting is thus saved. 
Mr. Fay did not wish to dispute the experi¬ 
ence of the chairman, as to the effect of long 
manure on sandy soils, but he still considered 
it best to cart out such manure in the fall and 
to plow it in, for it would be retained until it 
was taken up by plants. [The winter made 
manure, we think, if properly managed, would 
be equally ready and valuable for applying to 
corn, oats, or root crops.] 
Mr. Cooley, of Conway, gave the result of his 
experience in the application of long manure to 
a sandy soil. His farm was upon a river bottom, 
haviDg a sandy loam two feet in depth upon a 
substratum of gravel. When he went upon the 
farm, much of it was toe poor to produce half a 
ton of hay per acre. For the purpose of fair 
experiment be plowed up a hundred rods, and 
got from it, without manure, three bushels of 
buckwheat. The next year he put on eight 
loads of long manure, and planted to potatoes, 
and got forty bushels. The next year nine 
loads of long manure' were applied and potatoes 
again planted, and the crop was eighty bushels. 
The third year ten loads of manure were used, 
and one hundred and fifty bushels of potatoes 
were harvested. On corn land, his practice was 
to put twenty-five loads of long manure to the 
acre, and plow it in, and then ten loads more 
per acre are put in the hill ; his uniform crop 
rows two feet apart, and from eight to twelve 
inches between the plants is the usual distance. 
From four to six pounds of seed per acre. Sow 
about the depth of one inch, as early as ground 
can be in readiness. As soon as the young 
shoots appear they should be weeded carefully, 
and one plant only, the most thrifty, be allowed 
to remain. Vacancies may be filled by trans¬ 
planting. The cultivator should be run between 
the rows several times during the season.— 
Stored same as carrots. 
MOORE’S RURAL NEW-YORKER, 
AN ORIGINAL WEEKLY 
AGRICULTURAL, LITERARY AND FAMILY JOURNAL, 
then vestige of some large “bank.” The 
vernal songs are heard in gladsome notes, the 
peepers in the marshes are vocal, and the spires 
of grass begin to spring out in freshness. In 
our light soils the plow will be started the 
ensuing week, and we all feel to take encour¬ 
agement that Spring is with us in earnest. We 
expect chilly winds yet to sweep over us from 
the’North and East, and perhaps our Spring will 
be slow and tardy in its consummation. But we 
have the promise of seed time and harvest from 
One greater than all of us, and we have the 
abiding faith in its fulfilment. 
For the main part, we had but a little of 
high winds. The first half of January and the 
first eight or ten days of March, were decidedly 
blustering—the rest of the winter gave us light 
winds or none at all. On exposed situations— 
the snow lying so light—the winds laid the 
earth nearly or quite bare. On such spots the 
wheat looks brown, but where the crop was 
protected by the snow, it comes out looking 
lively and green. But owing to late sowing 
generally, to avoid the ravages of the Hessian 
Fly, it is mostly small. 
With our tender fruits, such as Peaches, 
Apricots, Ac., the winter we fear has played 
considerable mischief. Young Peach trees 
generally, as far as my observation has extended, 
appear killed to the snow line, and large trees 
seem much affected, especially in warm soils. 
Cherries have suffered considerably, and Plums 
to some extent, and perhaps Pears somewhat. 
When we read accounts from other parts of the 
country, of the great severity of the winter, 
coupled with the tremendous storms of snow 
and wind, we congratulate ourselves that we 
have been especially favored with a winter, 
| except for its cold, that has been unrivaled for 
! favoring business transactions. 
It may not be amiss to remark, that the 
searching fingers of Jack Frost have crept into 
many a cellar and potato pit, heretofore consid¬ 
ered proof against his insinuations, and trans¬ 
formed many a bushel of roots into useless 
rocks. We hear a good deal complaint of loss 
of potatoes from this cause, especially is it the 
case with those buried on the surface of the 
ground. Those w r ell pitted in the ground, have 
generally escaped, or at least with but a few 
frozen. Instead of potatoes being two shillings 
a bushel, as was anticipated, they are up to four 
shillings, with a prospect of higher prices. 
North Cannon, Mich., April 12, ’56. T. E. W. 
CONDUCTED BY D. D. T. MOOEE, 
WITH AN ABLE CORPS OF ASSISTANT EDITORS. 
SPECIAL CONTRIBUTORS« 
H. T. BROOKS, Prof. C. DEWEY, 
T. C. PETERS, L. B. LANGWORTHY, 
H. C. WHITE, T. E. WETMORE. 
plant suffers;—when if there was several feet of 
open, porous soil, the moisture would in a great 
measure be supplied from below where the 
roots could reach. No one will pretend that 
eight, or even twelve inches of soil on a cast 
iron plate, or smooth, solid rock, would in ordi¬ 
nary seasons be able to perfect any kind ot crop. 
The most careful irrigation would be necessary 
to produce the root or grain plant. They would 
need the salubrious breathings of the vapor and 
gases from the substratum. 
There can be no question, but that the opera¬ 
tion of the subsoil plow is eminently beneficial 
in all retentive soils, as it does not bring up any 
of the crude and raw earth to the surface, but 
only breaks and trenches those parts beyond 
the reach of the turning plow. In gardening, 
the most astonishing results are produced when 
the earth is worked two spits deep, especially 
when manure is thoroughly mixed to the base 
of the digging. 
In very loose, sandy soils, this principle will 
not probably apply as a general rule to a great¬ 
er depth than the manure can be worked in, or 
the roots penetrate. They do not require ma¬ 
nuring below that point, when they are so open 
that the falling rain descends too fast and too 
low in the earth, and passes off to the low 
grounds before the moisture can produce any 
very permanent effect, through evaporation 
from beneath. 
In all cases, in heavy clays and underlying 
hard-pans, there cannot be indulged a doubt 
but what a loose, porous soil of three feet in 
depth would be a great advantage to any crop 
grown on the farm. It would be dejure a thor¬ 
ough underdraining, and could not fail of bene¬ 
fiting any crop cultivated. 
The Rural New-Yorker 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 interests it advocates. It 
embraces more Agricultural, Horticultural, Scientific, Mechan¬ 
ical, Literary and News Matter, interspersed with many appro¬ 
priate and beautiful Engravings, than any other paper published 
in this Country,—rendering it a complete Agricultural, Lit¬ 
erary and Family Newspaper. 
•,» The postage on the Rural is but 3 % cents per quarter, to 
any part of the State (except Monroe County, where it goes free,) 
and cents to any other section of the United States—payable 
quarterly in advance at the office where received. 
All communications, and business letters, should be ad¬ 
dressed to D. D. T. MOORE, Rochester, N. Y. 
For Terms, and other particulars, see last page. 
HOW AND WHEN SHOULD IT BE APPLIED TO THE SOIL 
One chief conclusion arrived at in our recent 
series on this general subject, was that the dung 
of atiimals possesses its greatest manurial value in 
a fresh or undecomposed state. Hence, to secure 
the greatest value of the contents of our barn¬ 
yards—to prevent the least loss of the fertiliz¬ 
ing elements there stored away — the best 
method is to plow it under the soil as soon as so 
far decomposed that this can readily be done. 
One of the most profitable courses to pursue 
this Spring, will be to clear the barn-yard, 
sheds, Ac., and apply their contents to land 
intended for corn or roots, which are to be fol¬ 
lowed by winter or spring grains the next 
season, and then stocked to grass or clover— 
making this, or something near it, a regular 
system of rotation. 
The process, we think, would secure to the 
soil the greatest value of the manure. But all 
crops do not always succeed well with a direct 
application of long manure. Hence, as above 
hinted, we would have such products follow 
crops which had been heavily dressed with 
long manure, or would use for them that which 
circumstances may make it necessary or advis¬ 
able to retain longer in the yard. The manure 
not drawn out in the spring, and that added 
after clearing the yard, should be heaped in a 
pile, with plenty of dry muck or other good 
absorbents, and sheltered from too much rain. 
Some degree of moisture is necessary to keep 
at the right stage of fermentation, and to pre¬ 
vent waste by drying or burning. Such sum¬ 
mer manure may be applied to land intended 
for winter grains, or as a top-dressing to 
meadows and pastures later in the fall, or to 
fall-plowed sward-land. 
We recur to this subject again, principally in 
order to present our readers with some interest¬ 
ing views and statements, gleaned from a late 
discussion on the preparation and application 
It is but a few years since the attention of 
the American farmer was turned to the growth 
of roots for the purpose of feeding to stock, and 
to render stiff, tenacious soils more open and 
friable. On land properly prepared, their cul¬ 
ture is as easy as the generality ot crops, and 
as a source of revenue to the producer they rank 
among the most profitable. Every farmer who 
is possessed of stock ot any description, and 
who desires not only the well-being of bis ani¬ 
mals, but also to practice true Agricultural 
economy—by manufacturing the life of the farm 
upon liis own soil— will devote a portion of his 
estate to the cultivation of those vegetables clas¬ 
sified under the appellation of roots, consisting 
of Carrots, Parsnips, Beets, Ac. 
The Carrot is one of the most valuable, is 
hardy, easily grown, and in nutritive properties 
nearly equals the potato. A light, loamy soil 
is best adapted to its cultivation ; but on more 
tenacious lands, provided they are deeply plow¬ 
ed, well drained and manured, large crops may 
be gathered. After thoroughly pulverizing the 
earth, sow in drills about eighteen or twenty 
inches apart. It will be found advantageous 
to dampen the seed and then coat it with pou- 
drette or any fine, dry fertilizing material, as 
this process will hasten germination, causing 
the young plants to make an early appearance, 
and thus obtain a start of weeds. Tliin out so 
that each may have six or eight inches room.— 
Use the cultivator frequently, and keep the 
ground free and clean. Two pounds of good, 
clean seed is requisite to sow an acre. The 
seed may be sown in May or early in June, but 
we opine that the best time is when the soil is 
warm and moist just after being harrowed. In 
harvesting, run the plow deeply at the side of 
KENT COUNTY, MICHIGAN; 
WINTER, BUSINESS, GYPSUM, ETC. THEREIN. 
The winter in this part of Michigan has been 
remarkable, for the unusual low degrees marked 
by the thermometer, reaching 23° and 26° be¬ 
low zero, and in one or two localities in the 
country going down to 32°. The cold, too, 
has been unusually steady. From about the 
middle of December to quite the last days of 
March, there was not warmth enough to make 
the snow give at all. Our depth of snow has 
WIRE FENCES vs. SNOW-DRIFTS, 
Eds. Rural :—In your issue of April 5th, I 
noticed a sketch entitled “ Novelties of Farm¬ 
ing.” Among the things spoken of were Wire 
Fences, which the writer utterly condemns.— 
Differing in opinion, I have some remarks to 
make. 
Judging from my own experience, I am ready 
to speak a few words in favor of wire fences, 
both in regard to their appearance and durabil¬ 
ity, if properly built. I do not hesitate to recom¬ 
mend them for lane and road fences, as they are 
a sure preventive of snow drifts. There would 
be no necessity of widening the roads or mak¬ 
ing the road tracks near the “ east fence,” as a 
correspondent in the same number of the Rural 
recommends, were these fences in use. I have 
a lane that is only 20 feet in width, running 
north and south, that was of little or no use to 
me during the winter, until I built a wire fence, 
and when all the roads have been drifted “ to 
the full,” this narrow lane has been entirely free. 
My manner of building wire fence I will de¬ 
scribe, and think if they were generally con¬ 
structed in this way they would be something 
more than “just no fence at all. Set the posts 
eight feet apart, and strong anchor posts every 
fifteen rods. Set them two and a half to three 
feet deep, then put a brace two by four inches 
from the top of the anchor posts to the foot of 
the second post beyond, and spike it fast. Place 
a rail on the top of the posts two by four inch¬ 
es, spiking it, and put a board one foot wide at 
the bottom. There should-be five horizontal 
freshets. A very brisk and prosperous time is 
anticipated iu this branch of trade. The long 
and excellent run of sleighing, gave the farmers 
of Southern Michigan and of Northern Indiana 
a fine opportunity to exchange their pork, corn 
and oats for the unrivaled Grand River Plaster. 
The lumber business of the Grand River and 
Muskegon valleys consume large quantities of 
the former products, of the trade in which 
Grand Rapids is a large and thriving center.— 
Usually these products command larger prices 
here than elsewhere, and the exchange from the 
South for the plaster and gypsum of this oounty 
makes it profitable, when the going is such as 
to make transportation by teams feasible. It 
was estimated that a daily amount of 300 tons 
of gypsum were sold in Grand Rapids for several 
w r eeks—until the large surplus was exhausted, 
and the supply limited to the capacity of some 
r 
New plaster beds are being opened 
and additional mills put in operation, which, for 
the coming season, will greatly increase the 
manufactured yield. The supply is inexhaust¬ 
ible for long generations to come; and the 
contemplated Rail-road South, connecting with 
Indiana Roads, will open a wide market and 
greatly cheapen its cost to the farmers of South¬ 
ern Michigan and Northern Indiana. 
With the last days of March, our snow began 
gradually to waste away under clear and mild 
weather, and so gradual has been its disappear¬ 
ance, that our usual spring freshets are light. 
The time is at hand, when the Plow can no 
longer turn up its nose in sloth and idleness, 
but must prepare for ribbing the firm set earth 
in ceaseless furrows—aud a good servant will it 
prove if it does it deftly and deep. 
No one will demur to the position, that the 
soil in plowing should be stirred and broken up 
to as great a depth as the roots of the crop 
growu will penetrate, not only to admit air and 
water, but to introduce manures aud vegetable 
matter for their sustenance. And we hold, in 
addition to this admission, that when the soil is 
impermeable and retentive in 
•eatly improved by loosening to any 
the least, that it 
would be gr 
depth—even two or six feet, if it were possible. 
It would not only dispose of a redundancy of _ 
surface water iu great falls of rain, but it would four or five mills that were kept running day 
lay up a store of moisture, to be raised by ca- and night, 
pillary attraction and evaporation, and sent to 
the surface ip the liot and droutky months, 
charged with the solids and gases held in solu¬ 
tion. All the waters in alluvial and secondary 
formations, called hard water, are more or less 
charged with carbonic acid, sulphurous acid, 
and sulphuretted hydrogen, all of which exer¬ 
cise important functions in the vitality of vege- 
portance, and referred to the practice of the 
Belgian farmers. They cover their manure at 
the time of its being put upon the ground.— 
That made in summer is put in the ground in 
autumn. It then assimilates with the soil, and 
is ready for the use of the crop in spring. So 
the manure made in the winter, should be com¬ 
posted in the barn-cellar, in order to make it 
fit for use in the spring. With these two simple 
principles, he thought farmers could not go far 
wrong in applying manure. 
B. Y. French, of Braintree, preferred apply¬ 
ing the manure to the soil and plowing it in, 
to composting. He once applied six cords of 
fine manure, which had been composted for two 
