MOORE’S RURAL NEW-YORKER: AN AGRICULTURAL AND FAMILY NEWSPAPER. 
APRIL 26 . 
wires, No. 13, between each of the posts, wound 
round the horizontal wires, and fastened to the 
rail and bottom board. The horizontal wires 
should be fastened to each post by staples made 
of No. 9 wire. By anchoring every fifteen rods, 
the wires do not contract enough to injure the 
fence, for I have seen it tested. Another great 
advantage in this fence is, it gathers no wind to 
rack or loosen the posts. Let others think as 
they may, I am well pleased with what I have 
built, and intend to construct 150 rods more the 
coming summer. E. H. Gifford. 
Phelps, N. Y., 1856. 
MOWERS, HARVESTERS, ETC. 
As the season is approaching for preparations 
for the summer, farmers will be urged by agents 
to purchase a variety of larm machinery. It 
would save a great deal of money if we could 
know the really useful and valuable. For as 
we are now situated, we pay high prices for 
machines which may or may not be profitable 
in the use. Hundreds of thousands of dollars 
have been thrown away in the past few years 
upon Harvesters, Mowers, Ac. One reason is, 
there has not been any concert of action among 
the farmers. They have not had any convenient 
point to send information regarding the working 
of a bad machine, by which others could be 
warned. Another fruitful source has been in 
judging that an article must be right because it 
obtained a premium, or a medal at some fair.— 
My own experience has been rather unpleasant 
in this respect, and I have no faith in silver 
medals. I have had a self-raking harvester for 
two years past, that I would not take as a gift 
under any consideration, and yet the patentee 
has been thus complimented. With me it has 
been no better than a failure. I propose to 
discuss its merits in a future number. 
My object now is to propose a method by 
which to obviate the general difficulty. Let us 
get up a Committee of Grievances, and if no¬ 
body else will serve upon it, I will. 
Let any man who uses any farm machinery 
and is or is not satisfied, send me a statement of 
its good or bad qualities, its defects, how it 
works, what kind, whether for cutting grain or 
grass, for sowing or preparing the ground, giv¬ 
ing the machine’s name, the place where made, 
and the agent selling the same. Let the per¬ 
son making the statiment give his own name in 
full, with his post-office address. I pledge my¬ 
self to make out a careful statement, and publish 
it in the Rural New-Yorker and also the Wool 
Grower and Stock Register, as often as may be 
deemed necessary during the year — perhaps 
once in four months. The report will contain 
the names of those for and against each and 
every machine or implement, and if the farmers 
will generally give me their aid, we will soon 
know who has the most reliable machinery and 
implements, better than by all the premiums 
and medals that can be given. T. C. Peters. 
Darien, N. Y., April, 1856. 
A.MERICAN THORN FOR HEDGES. 
Eds. Rural : —A good hedge fence is fast be¬ 
coming one of the necessities of the age. Hav¬ 
ing had considerable experience in the plant¬ 
ing, raising and general cultivation of hedges 
in England, I purpose throwing out a few hints 
on the subject. I am aware there are divers 
opinions in regard to which is the best hedge 
plant—some say the hawthorn, others the buck¬ 
thorn, and others still the Osage Orange—but 
we hear of faults and failures in them all. Per¬ 
mit me to add, if you wait till you find a hedge 
plant that is everything you could desire, not 
subject to deficiency in any form, you will have 
the privilege of waiting and watching for your 
pains. I find the native or American Cockspur 
Thorn the best hedge plant I have seen. It is 
a dense grower, very hardy, strong and thrifty. 
In the spring of 1851 I gathered enough to plant 
about thirty rods. My land was plowed in the 
fall, and in the spring I dug it over with the 
spade about fifteen inches deep, raising it up a 
little where I intended setting my plants. Be¬ 
fore planting, I cut them all off about three 
inches above the ground line, and planted them 
one foot apart. The consequence was, every 
root grew finely, throwing out several shoots 
from each stool, And attained the height of from 
three to five feet the first season. In the fall it 
looked very much like a hedge. The only 
trouble in adopting this thorn for hedges, is its 
scarcity, and the difficulty of making the seeds 
vegetate. I tried a quantity of them three 
years ago, but could not make them grow. If 
any of your numerous readers can give in¬ 
formation relative to this point, they will confer ■ 
a favor on the community. The great secret in 
raising hedges is the cave that is taken of them 
while young. Hoe them well, keep all weeds 
down, and in a few years the old, unsightly 
rails will disappear, and living fences spring up 
in their place, that will add 20 per cent, to the ' 
value of the farm, as well as improve and beau¬ 
tify the country. Thomas Plumtree. 
Clyde, January 30, 1856. 
KING PHILIP, OR BROWN CORN. ' 
Friend Moore :—In the Rural of March 1st, ; 
I gave a brief account of my experience with ; 
this corn the past two seasons. I wrote the ar- ■ 
tide without having consulted any other person 
'P'ho had grown it, but since the appearance of ; 
of that communication, several individuals in ; 
this vicinity who tried it last year have spoken < 
with me on the subject, and every one of them 
fully corroborates my statements; some even 
think I did not go far enough in commending 
it to public favor. One gentleman of much ex¬ 
perience, J. R. Sanford, Esq., long and favora- i 
bly known in this vicinity, says he received 
some of the seed one year earlier than I did, 
and that, in the extreme dry season of 1854, it 
escaped mostly the effects of the dry weather, 
and matured a good crop, while his other corn 
was not over half a yield. He regards it as the 
best and safest corn to plant in this latitude, and 
has especially noticed its strong tendency to 
produce two or more good ears (not nubbins) 
on the same stalk, and thinks it more sure to 
produce a good crop than any other variety 
which we can plant. 
Permit me to say that I have none for sale 
myself, and can have no personal interest in 
recommending it to others. I know of no one 
having the seed for sale at this time, except that 
I see Mr. Briggs of Macedon, advertises it in 
the Rural. I intend to plant it so long as it 
does as well as heretofore. 
One advantage not referred to in ray first 
communication is, that for orchards where it is 
desirable to get the crops off before gathering 
fruit, it is just the thing. T. G. Yeomans. 
Walworth, N. Y., 1856. 
THE FARMER’S CALLING. 
American farmers have long suffered reproach 
from the loose and inefficient manner in which 
they have performed the labors of the farm. 
There are exceptions, but too few. It is true 
that as a class they seem unwilling to profit by 
their own or other’s experience in Agricultural 
or Domestic Economy, and in many instances 
have felt that their occupation and business was 
entailed upon them by a species of slavish fa¬ 
tality, and they were necessarily less profitably 
and honorably employed than those who fol¬ 
lowed mechanical or mercantile pursuits. This 
I believe to be one of the clogs to the pursuit of 
agriculture in many districts of our country. 
When our practical farmers and their sons 
shall have overcome their own prejudices in 
reference to their occupation, fin'd shall feel that 
a well regulated farm and an intelligent mind 
is a fortress set for the safety and preservation 
of the nobler virtues and domestic relations, and 
that there a man may be independent and free 
above comparison with the mechanical or other 
interests of the country, then the farmer shall 
have taken a step to the fulfillment of his des¬ 
tiny. Success in his calling is but a volition of 
the will, and “who wills has half done the 
deed.” 
If our farmers would but give a history of the 
usual routine of operations in their respective lo¬ 
cations; if they would give a history of the 
ordinary course pursued by a majority of the 
farmers in planting their various crops and the 
manner and time of harvest, with any sugges¬ 
tions of their own, it might be of interest to 
many, and perhaps stimulate some to improve. 
April, 1855. I. F. G. 
FENCES —AGAIN. 
Eds. Rural :—I have noticed several articles 
in your paper on this subject. The writer of 
one says that rail fences are “ quite onsartin,” at 
least without staking and ridering. I think a 
great share of the fences that are staked and 
ridered are also very “ onsartin” about keeping 
mischief out, while they are just as “ sartin” to 
let it in. In my view a fence made of good 
rails, built up a sufficient height, straight and 
true, on a good foundation, and the corners well 
locked with heavy poles, is the best kind of 
farm fence made of wood, that I am acquainted 
with. But the scarcity of timber in this coun¬ 
try, will soon compel most farmers to resort to 
some other material for the purpose. Board 
fence I think the best substitute, if substantially 
built. The boards should not be more than 
fourteen feet long, (twelve feet is better;) the 
posts should be set firmly in the ground, at 
least two and a half feet deep ; make the fence 
four feet high, raising the bottom board one foot 
from the ground, which should be twelve inches 
wide, second eight, top six; well battened, 
capped and nailed firmly together. Then with 
a plow turn two or three deep furrows toward 
the fence on each side, and finish up to the 
lower edge of the bottom board with a shovel, 
forming an angle of about forty-five degrees to 
the bottom of the ditch. Thus you will have a 
fence as cheap and more durable than one built 
in the ordinary manner, and no “ decent man’s” 
cattle will ever attempt to get over it. In ad¬ 
dition, it would be rather a poor harbor for the 
“deacons” in a hot summer’s day, although the 
Maine Law may be repealed. 
I believe that a fence built in the manner I 
have described, well finished up, and kept in 
good order, will last longer than the old kinds 
for the reason that the bank of earth prevents 
the water from running in around the posts, and 
the ditch carries it off. D. Young. 
Groveland, Livingston Co., N. Y. 
BUILDING CISTERNS. 
Eight years ago, while building my house, I 
dug a hole seven feet deep, six feet in diameter 
at top, three feet at centre, sloping the bottom 
like the large end of an egg. The soil where 
made, mostly clay in composition. Used equal 
parts of water-lime and coarse, clean sand for 
covering. After it had dried, coated thoroughly 
with a white-wash made from cement to fill 
any cracks occasioned by the drying process.— 
Laid three pieces of white-oak scantling across 
the top with a covering of two-inch plank 
matched together, and a trap door to admit 
ingress for the purpose of cleaning it out 
as occasion required. Where cisterns are thus 
constructed, the first filling of water should be 
pumped out. After that it will be as soft as 
though caught in a barrel. It matters not what 
the soil is, if it but holds its shape till the mor¬ 
tar sets. I have seen them dug in a bed of 
sand with good success. It must not be allow¬ 
ed to freeze. 
My cellar bottom is composed of the same 
material, with this difference : one part cement 
with'two of very coarse gravel. I think five 
barrels of water-lime sufficient for a cellar 24 
by 40 feet, one and a half inches thick of mortar. 
Make the bottom of the cellar a little convex. 
Put the cement on with a trowel. In a few 
weeks you have a bottom as hard as a rock. In 
hot weather throw on cold water and scrub off 
with a broom ; the water will run off the edges 
into the drain, and you will have a sweet, cool 
cellar in the hottest weather. Observe the 
same caution as with the cistern, viz. : keep out 
the frost. j. m. 
April 15,1856. 
CONDENSED CORRESPONDENCE. 
A COMPOST.—INQUIRY. 
Eds. Rural :—I wish to make a fertilizer for 
corn by mixing hen manure, night soil, coal 
dust and gypsum; want the whole dried and 
pulverized. How shall I do it, and what part 
of each must be used ? Would ashes be a ben¬ 
efit ? An early answer to the above is desira¬ 
ble.—W. H. Jennings, Milton, Conn., 1856. 
Remarks. —In a composition like the above, 
hen manure, from its heating properties, would 
be likely to expel the ammonia, and unless 
fresh charcoal were freely used, the benefits to 
be derived might be lost. Charcoal is a power¬ 
ful absorbent,—will take up this component, 
and in addition would render the night-soil in¬ 
odorous. We liaveheardof farmers pulverizing 
manures, such as specified, by the use of the 
flail. This must be accomplished, however, af¬ 
ter they become thoroughly dry. We are not 
aware of any rule by which the material of 
such compost can be graded. Ashes would be 
of benefit to the corn crop, provided the soil is 
deficient of potash, one of the functions of which 
is to form the glazing of the stalk. Gypsum is 
of more benefit to leguminous plants than to 
corn or any of the cereals, its principal office 
being to retain moisture against drouth. Were 
it not for the solubility of ashes—a heavy rain 
being sufficient to carry the silicates out of the 
reach of the growing plant—we would say put 
them in the place of gypsum. Will some of our 
correspondents reply through the Rural ?— 
Eds. 
BROOM CORN-INQUIRIES. 
Eds. Rural : —I wish information regarding 
broom corn—the manner of culture ; soil best 
adapted to its successful cultivation ; whether it 
will prove a profitable crop on a damp soil.— 
If any of your readers-can give information re¬ 
specting the above, they much oblige a— Sub¬ 
scriber, Marcellus, N. Y. 
Remarks. —This crop is usually raised in 
hills about two feet apart, and in rows distant 
about three feet. Five or six thrifty plants 
are sufficient to the hill. Sow as early as pos¬ 
sible, yet late enough to insure against frosts. 
Thick planting gives the best brush. Seed sown 
about two inches deep. As soon as the plants 
start, run cultivator between rows, followed 
with the hoe. Clean culture is an essential to 
perfect bearing. Soil best adapted to its growth 
is similar to that required for Indian corn; 
should be rich, warm and loamy. We do not 
think it can be raised to advantage on damp 
soils, or those that are very retentive of mois¬ 
ture. Shall be pleased to hear from correspon¬ 
dents who are possessed of experience on this 
subject.— Eds. 
OSIERS EOR HEDGES. 
The question has come before me, whether or 
not the osier may be successfully used for a 
fencing hedge. It is so rapidly propagated- 
and so easily cultivated, in soils which are not 
too dry, that if adopted, will thus offer several 
advantages above the more slowly growing va¬ 
rieties of woods used for hedge. With any or¬ 
dinary culture, the osier wilt produce from two 
to five feet of growth during the season in 
which the cuttings are planted, and after that, 
of course, a much greater; and if inarched— 
that is, intertwined and tied at the juncture— 
cutting each at this point, that they may grow 
together, and at the same time severely pruned, 
I do not see why it will not make a cheap and 
perfect hedge. It is very ornamental. It is 
also very bitter, and cattle do not readily browse 
it. I propose trying it, and in the meantime 
would like to hear through the Rural from any 
who may have given it a trial.—W. B., West 
Bloomfield, N. Y. 
MAPLE SUGAR MAKING. 
A few words to “Young Farmer” on sugar 
making. As our process differs a little from 
yours, I will sketch the way of making it. We 
use common buckets not painted inside; tapping 
trees with a half inch bit. The sap is gathered 
in a large tub with a team, which is driven on to 
a mound raised for the purpose, when the sap 
is allowed to run from the tub into a vat which 
feeds a pan twelve feet long. It is syruped off 
at night and strained into a deep tub. The next 
day it is drawn off and sugared in a five-pail 
kettle, without milk or eggs. I have long since 
abandoned their use, being satisfied I can make 
purer and whiter sugar without them. When 
done the sugar is turned foaming into a tray five 
or six feet long and two feet wide, where it is 
stirred with a new hoe, mortar-fashion, until 
dry and free from lumps. If your syrup is good, 
sugared without milk and stirred in this way, I 
will warrant you nicer sugar than you can buy. 
—N. M. L., Copenhagen, April, 1856. 
Butter and Cheese — Inquiries. —Will you or 
some of your correspondents inform me of the 
mode of making and curing butter and cheese 
after the Herkimer county mode of manufac¬ 
ture—cheese especially, the temperature of the 
milk preparatory for the rennet, Ac ? and also 
the best manner of preparing the rennets for 
use ? — A Subscriber. 
plural ftote ant! Items. 
The Wheat Crop has apparently beeiAinin- 
jured by the severe winter — the fields looking 
remarkably fine in this region. It is of course 
too early in the season to say much as to the 
prospects of the crop in Western New York, 
though appearances are exceedingly favorable. 
We observe favorable notices of the growing 
crop in the West and South-west. Texas and 
Georgia papers state that the Wheat Midge, 
(miscalled weevil,) has been entirely destroyed 
in those sections by the severity of the past 
winter — and we trust the same is true in other 
regions where that destructive insect has pre¬ 
vailed. 
State Fairs for 1856.—Several of the State 
and County Agricultural Societies have desig¬ 
nated time and place of holding next Annual 
Fairs, and issued Premium Lists, Ac. The fol¬ 
lowing State and National Shows are already 
announced : 
New York, Watertown, Sept. 30 & Oct. 1, 2, 3. 
Ohio, Cleveland, Sept. 23, 24, 25, 26. 
Am. Pom. Society, Rochester, Sept. 24—30. 
Michigan, Detroit, Sept. 30 & Oct. 1, 2, 3. 
Illinois, Alton, Sept. 30 & Oct. 1, 2, 3. 
New York, Watertown, Sept. 30 & Oc 
Ohio, Cleveland, Sept. 23, 24, 2 
Am. Pom. Society, Rochester, Sept. 24—30. 
Michigan, Detroit, Sept. 30 & Oc 
Illinois, Alton, Sept. 30 & Oc 
National Ag. Show, Philadelphia, Oct. 7. 
Wisconsin, Milwaukee, Oct. 8, 9, 10. 
New Hampshire, Oct. 8, 9,10. 
Indiana, Indianapolis, Oct. 20—25. 
The Monroe Co. Ag. Society held another 
well attended and animated meeting on the 
16th inst., whereat further action was had upon 
permanent location of Annual Fairs, Ac.— 
Though no little feeling was manifested, most 
of those present apparently realized the impor¬ 
tance of efficient and harmonious action, and 
seemed inclined to forego individual preferences 
in favor of this or that particular locality for the 
welfare of the Society and County. The mat¬ 
ter of permanent location was finally referred to 
the Board of Managers, with instructions to select, 
in their discretion, the most eligible, pleasant 
and accessible grounds as near the centre of the 
city of Rochester as possible—being guided in 
their decision (in case more than one suitable 
tract is presented,) by nearness to Court House 
and lowness of price, without considering the 
geographical question, whether East or West, 
North or South, of the city. The Society ad¬ 
journed to meet at the Court House on Wednes¬ 
day, April 30, at 10 o’clock A. M., when it is 
expected that the matter of location, and other 
important questions, will be definitely settled. 
Suffolk Swine —Are apparently in greater 
demand, at present, than ever before. We have 
several letters inquiring where pure bred Suf- 
folks can be obtained, the price, Ac.,—and a 
number of persons have recently made appli¬ 
cation in person for similar information, the 
latter usually asking who have such animals for 
sale in this region. As we are unable to answer 
definitely, can only refer those interested to 
Col. Morris, of Mt. Fordbam, N. Y., Messrs. 
Stickney, of Boston, and other eastern breeders 
—or advise them to note the announcements in 
our advertising department, wherein Suffolks 
are frequently offered for sale. 
South-Down sheep are also in demand. Sev¬ 
eral persons in this vicinity have recently in¬ 
quired where and of whom they can be obtain¬ 
ed in Western New York, or without going a 
great distance. 
— If Western New York breeders who have 
either of the above kinds of stock for sale, will 
either advertise or advise us personally, inqui¬ 
rers will soon have the desired information. 
“New and Rare Seeds.” —The Ohio Cidtiva- 
tor gives its “private opinion” on this subject 
as follows :—“ We have had some experience in 
the introduction of ‘New and Rare Seeds;’ 
but the conclusion we came to after a trial of 
some years, is that it does not pay, for where we 
have succeeded with one kind, we have made a 
dead failure with twenty others. The truth is, 
if we only thought so, we do not need to go 
abroad for scarcely anything. If we will pro¬ 
pagate carefully the varieties we have, we can 
make them better for our own use than any¬ 
thing we can get in foreign parts. There is a 
deal of gas and flummery about these importa¬ 
tions, from live stock to posey seeds. Let us 
bestow the same pains and half the expense 
upon our present stock of animals and seeds, 
and we can beat the world on the quality and 
profit of our produce, as we do now in many 
things, even with our confessed slovenliness and 
ill matching.” This is very true and well put 
in the main ; we ought to give better attention 
to home products, still if “one in twenty” of 
foreign importation proves a good thing, it will 
go far to reward the failure of the nineteen in¬ 
different ones. 
Steuben Co. Ag’l Union. —A meeting of the 
Executive Committee of this Union was held 
on the 10th inst., when it was decided to hold 
the Annual Fair and Cattle Show at Bath on 
Wednesday and Thursday, 8th and 9tli days of 
October next. A Premium List was prepared, 
which those specially interested will doubtless 
find worthy of attention. Amid the rules, as 
amended, we find that competitors for premi¬ 
ums must be citizens of the county, that farm¬ 
ing implements must be manufactured within 
its limits, and that no premiums will be award¬ 
ed to live stock not raised in the county, unless 
the owner be a citizen thereof, and that the 
stock shall have been brought for the express 
purpose of improvement of the animals of said 
county. The Premium List for Winter Meet¬ 
ing was also made out and the time for holding 
the same fixed on 14th day of January 1857. 
AGRICULTURE AND THE PRESS. 
We have no hesitation in saying that the 
Press has been mainly instrumental in the dis¬ 
semination of information upon every depart¬ 
ment of science and art, and especially in our 
own province upon agriculture itself. As pub¬ 
lic journalists, therefore, we claim for ourselves 
a privilege in that respect, not ostentatiously, 
but, as we trust, for the advancement of that 
interest upon which, as the mainstay, the pros¬ 
perity of the nation really depends. 
When agriculture came to be acknowledged 
as a science, and the necessity of invention had 
widened the channel for its advancement, the 
press undoubtedly supplied the current upon 
which it was borne onward ; and by such aid it 
became advanced to a degree of perfection never 
before attained, and even now advances at an 
accelerated force, with increased speed and 
more powerful impetus. As we proceed, one 
fact becomes the stepping-stone to another, 
which is disseminated by the press throughout 
the breadth and extent of the land, so that 
where formerly but one mind investigated a 
question, thousands are now brought to bear 
upon it, and by the reflux of the same tide that 
had carried it forward, it becomes returned 
again to be investigated -with accumulated 
power, throughout districts situated many 
hundreds of miles from the original point of 
introduction, and into recesses as dark as they 
had hitherto been remote. 
We thus perceive that the extension of infor¬ 
mation has consummated the maxim of the great 
philosopher Bacon, that “Knowledge is power;” 
and as it becomes advanced, the pure rays of 
science so dispel prejudice and error, that, 
combined with practice, it inevitably attains a 
position that even the most sanguine scarcely 
contemplate. Whoever, therefore, asserts that 
agriculture is but in its infancy, even compara¬ 
tively, cannot be right; whilst, on the other 
hand, he who places it at perfection may, too, 
be wrong—like the tidal current of the ocean, it 
is ever flowing onward, yet never appearing to 
reach its destination.— Mark Lane Express. 
Work vs. Beef, — English Cattle. —Many agri¬ 
culturists look upon the work which they get 
from their cattle as so much clear gain ; as 
making no difference in the product or profit 
when fattened for beef. But not so, argues the 
English farmer. He believes that habitual labor 
causes animals to become hardy, vigorous and 
slow—to eat much and fatten little—to increase 
in bony structure, and make little available 
flesh and that slowly ; that habitual inaction, 
on the contrary, produces a soft, lazy race, which 
fatten early — assume rotundity of form and 
fleshiness—and on an equal amount of food, 
give a better product of butcher’s meat. He 
argues further, that where labor is the first con¬ 
sideration, the animal is not killed until it has 
finished its office ; but on the other hand, where 
meat only is sought, it is slaughtered at the peri¬ 
od when it gives most, and that when the breed 
is precocious, this period comes early,—and that 
thus by raising cattle for slaughter he gets the 
best return for what they consume.” So states 
a correspondent of the N. E. Farmer, writing 
on English Rural Economy, adding that Eng¬ 
land possesses such precocious breeds of cattle 
in her Short-horns and Hcrefords, and that “ the 
results of British agriculture in feeding cattle, 
are that Great Britain feeds eight millions of 
horned cattle, and slaughters two millions an¬ 
nually, from which she realizes a hundred mil¬ 
lions of dollars for meat alone.” 
Sunflower Oil. —We frequently see revived, 
the idea that the sunflower will be a very 
profitable crop to grow for the purpose of feed¬ 
ing poultry and stock, and especially for mak¬ 
ing an oil, valuable for many purposes. In 1848 
Dr. S. A. Barker, of Southern Ohio, wrote to 
the Morgan Co. Chronicle as follows :—“ Some 
years since several barrels of sunflower oil were 
made in this county, and those who remember 
it, never wish to see any more. Some of it was 
said to have found its way into barrels marked 
‘ Linseed Oil,’ and was used for painting. The 
paint would not dry, and unless some better 
drier than any now known can be found, it is 
useless for that purpose. Some was burned in 
lamps, in Zanesville, we know. While burn¬ 
ing, it gave out a large quantity of gas similar 
to that of charcoal, deleterious to life and health. 
It is totally unfit for burning in a close apart¬ 
ment. Some was used for oiling machinery ; 
but it was condemned even for that purpose. 
The seeds afford a large quantity of oil, but so 
inferior for all purposes, that its manufacture 
should not be encouraged. This experiment 
would seem to be conclusive on the value of 
sunflower seed for oil-making.” 
Livonia Town Ag. Society.— Officers for 1856: 
President —Dr. Andrew Sill. Vice Pres’t — E. 
D. Clark. Sec’y — David Gray. Treasurer — 
Benj. Coy. Directors —Norton Gibbs, N. H. 
Fowler, Benj. Archer, Lewis Coe, Edward Be- 
man, Lewis J. Chamberlain, A. H. Williams, C. 
C. Chapin, Wm. Dixon. Livonia is one of the 
richest farming towns in Western New York, 
and unless we mistake the character of its 
farmers, the association will prove unusually 
beneficial in promoting the mutual interests of 
of members and community. 
Farm Stock in Ireland. —It is stated that 
within the last fourteen years, the value of farm 
stock in Ireland has increased from £26,000,000 
to £35,000,000 sterling, and that the number of 
horned cattle has risen from 2,000,000 to 3,250,- 
000, while the quality has correspondingly im¬ 
proved. Still, however, of the 20,000,000 of 
acres which Ireland comprises, only about one- 
fourth is under direct tillage, and fully one- 
third in pasture. 
