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TWO DOLLARS A YEAR.] 
progress and improvement. 
[SINGLE NO. FIVE CENTS. 
MOORE’S RURAL NEW-YORKER, 
AN ORIGINAL WEEKLY 
AGRICULTURAL, LITERARY AND FAMILY JOURNAL 
gain, for by it the productiveness of the farm 
may be nearly or quite doubled. Besides, after 
being to the expense of rearing a good crop we 
lack good economy if we do not make it do all 
it can for us. 
We need light on this subject, and the State 
Society should take the steps necessary to give 
us knowledge. Who can prove to us that the 
cultivation of roots is profitable ?—p. 
be seen in some fruit trees—the plum for in¬ 
stance—in which an excessive quantity of fruit 
causes a premature fall of the leaves, after 
which, owing to the loss of the organs of aera¬ 
tion, the fruit never ripens but remains imma¬ 
ture and worthless.” This shows, also, the rea¬ 
son why the growth of the plant is so instantly 
checked by any material loss of leaves, and 
that noxious weeds may be readily destroyed 
by cutting frequently, suffering no leaves to form. 
The term aeration is not so generally used in 
this latter sense,as in the former—especially in 
agricultural literature of the present day. Un¬ 
less specifically defined, it may be taken to 
mean the effects on the soil of free exposure to 
atmospheric influences. 
CONDUCTED BY D. D. T. MOORE, 
WITH AN ABLE CORPS OP ASSISTANT EDITORS 
SPECIAL CONTItllJCTOnS I 
H. T. BROOKS, Prop. C. DEWEY, 
T. C. PETERS, L. B. LANGWORTHY, 
H. C. WHITE, T. E. WETMORE. 
TerruSP-jwKiaiccuA 
AERATION. 
The Rural New-Yorker is designed to bo unique and 
beautiful in appearance, and unsurpassed in Value, Purity and 
Variety of Contents. Its conductors earnestly labor to make it 
a Reliable Guido 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 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, Bhonld be ad¬ 
dressed to D. D. T. MOORE, Rochester, N. Y. 
For Terms, and other particulars, see last page. 
“ Aeration in agriculture,” as defined bv 
V ebster, “ is the exposure of the soil to the free 
action of air, as essential to the growth of 
plants.” In chemistry it is the act of combiniug 
with carbonic acid, and is essentially the same 
process in all cases. The atmosphere consists 
of 76 nitrogen and 23 oxygen, with about one 
part in 500 of carbonic acid gas, and a very 
small portion of aqueous vapor. The air not 
only acts a very important part in the process 
of germination, but furnishes the oxygen re¬ 
quired to decompose the carbonic gas consumed 
by the living plant, and a large portion of the 
gas itself. “It is of consequence, therefore,” 
says Johnson, “that this oxygen of the air 
should gain access to every part of the soil, and 
thus to all the roots of the plant,” This access 
can be facilitated by any culture or working 
which will render the soil more porous. “ A 
square foot of earth in a solid form exposes but 
a small surface to the action of the air, and 
hence absorbs from the atmosphere but little; 
pulverize this mass, and the surface aerated, or 
exposed to the action of the air is increased a 
million fold, and its powers of absorption from 
the atmosphere in the same proportion.” 
Some soils, however, without regard to their 
PRATT’S DITCH DIGGER 
Underdraining has justly come to be regard¬ 
ed as an important auxiliary of successful and 
profitable husbandry—being, in many locali¬ 
ties, reckoned among the most desirable and 
necessary items of farm improvement. Expe¬ 
rience having demonstrated its utility and 
advantage in permanently improving the soil, 
increasing numbers of farmers are annually 
commencing and adopting a thorough system of 
drainage. Hence, anything which will facili¬ 
tate its introduction, by lessening the labor and 
expense, must prove largely beneficial 
to the farming community. Every im¬ 
provement in tile, and draining tools and 
machinery—every invention which tends 
to diminish the cost and facilitate the op- _ 
eration of draining—is therefore worthy of 
notice and encouragement. Thus think¬ 
ing and believing, we offer no apology for 
noticing, as we do voluntarily and without 
the solicitation of any party interested, gsjjjS; 
the machine represented by the accompa- 
nying engravings. 
Pratt’s Ditoh Digger, invented by Mr. R. C. 
Pratt, and manufactured by Pratt & Brother, 
a small wheel is placed at the top of the ma¬ 
chine which clears the shovels of the earth.— 
It will cut from eight inches to one foot wide, 
and fully two and a half feet deep, and may be 
made to cut three feet deep if desired. It is 
mostly of iron, and is strong, and not liable to 
become injured by use. The price, we believe, 
is $150. 
From all the experiments we have witnessed, 
we have made the following estimate of its 
power of performing work In soil of medium 
GUANO AND ITS USES. 
Guano, as it is now generally known, is the 
excrements of au aquatic bird, that feeds on 
fish. It is found upon the Islands of the Pacific, 
off the coast of South America, in immense de¬ 
posits, to the depth in some places of sixty or 
seventy feet; whence it i3 exported as a fertil¬ 
izer to nearly every country of the civilized 
world. No natural, or manufactured manure 
contains the essential food for plants in so highly 
concentrated a state, and consequently none can 
be transported to great distances so advantage¬ 
ously. Its principal fertilizing properties con¬ 
sist of ammonia and the phosphates, of which 
in a first rate article near sixty per cent, exist. 
Being so powerful in its nature, some care 
must he exercised in its application, in order 
not to kill the plants, or seeds to which it is ap¬ 
plied ; and on this account it ought never to be 
sown or deposited in immediate contact with 
ungerminated seed. The best way to apply it 
in a solid state is to mix it with some neutral, 
gas-absorbing substance, such as charcoal dust, 
dry and pulverized muck, leached ashes, <fcc.— 
Caustic lime should never be used, for the chemi¬ 
cal action, which occurs when the two sub¬ 
stances are brought into contact, sets free the 
guano, causing it to escape in a 
It can be applied to land broad - 
KOOT CROPS; 
IS THEIR CULTURE PROFITABLE IN AMERICA ? 
ANOTHER VIEW OP THE DIGGER. 
hardness, and which is nearly or entirely free 
from stone, a good team without undue exertion, 
driven by one man, will cut from seventy-five 
to one hundred rods of ditch, two feet and a 
half deep, in a day. Where the ground is 
stony, the length will be reduced to fifty or 
even to thirty rods per day ; and a very hard 
and dry soil will also lessen the speed of its 
work. In mucky or peaty land, free from large 
roots, and at a season of the year when dry 
enough to bear horses, one hundred and fifty 
rods a day would he of easy accomplishment. 
In an actual experiment in such soil, the ditch 
was cut by passing only seven times, after the 
first furrow was made with the common plow, 
or about four or five inches at each passage of the 
machine. 
On the whole, we regard Pratt’s Ditcher as 
now made, as standing high in the list of mod¬ 
ern agricultural inventions; and at a time 
when labor is becoming scarce and high priced, 
likely to prove of immense advantage to im¬ 
proved farming.” 
has.proved very satisfactory. In the Rural of 
Sept. 15, 1855, we noticed a very successful 
trial of this machine, on the farm of the late 
Col. Bates, near Canandaigua. Among other 
things, we then stated that “ the machine ope¬ 
rated well in all respects, and apparently to the 
entire satisfaction of the several experienced 
gentlemen who were present—among whom 
were Messrs. John Johnston and R. J. Swan, of 
Seneca, (both celebrated for the “ progress and 
improvement” they have achieved by draining,) 
Hugh T. Brooks of Wyoming, J. J. Thomas of 
Wayne, C. N. Bement, formerly of Albany, 
Hon. Geo. C. Bates of California,—and Messrs. 
Hildreth, Granger, Munson, and other officers 
of the Ontario Co. Ag. Society. Mr. Johnston, 
whose experience in ditching and draining en¬ 
titles his opinion to great weight, remarked 
that he saw no reason why the machine should 
not succeed as now perfected, an opinion in 
which we believe all present concurred.” 
J. J. Thomas, of The Cultivator, subsequently 
gave an account of the same trial, and his own 
experience with the Digger, the main portion of 
whieh we quote, as follows : 
“ When we reached the ground, at half past 
eleven in the morning, a ditcli44 rods in length 
had just been commenced, and after suspend¬ 
ing operations an hour or two for dinner, we 
found the depth at half past three to be 21 to 
23 inches, admitting of its easy completion be¬ 
fore night. The two horses which drew the 
machine worked very moderately ; the soil was 
a hard and stiff brick clay. A portion was 
stony, and on tbis part a man was employed 
with a crow-bar to loosen and throw out the 
stones as they were successively laid bare. 
We have also tried this machine on our own 
land, where the ground was quite stony, and 
have found it to succeed well, although the 
speed of its work was greatly impeded by the 
stones. In such ground two or three hands are 
needed to loosen stones, and to throw out those 
which are loosened by the plow share. The 
principle on which the machine operates is a 
simple one. A small plow share runs along the 
bottom of the ditch and loosens up from one 
to three inches of the earth; the revolving 
shovels carry up the loosened earth, until it 
reaches the top of their revolution, when it falls 
by its weight on an inclined platform on each 
side, down which it rolls, and drops on each 
side of the ditch. Motion is given to the wheel 
of revolving shovels, simply by its running 
over the earth, and its motion is precisely sim¬ 
ilar to that of a carriage wheel over the surface 
of a road. When the soil is wet and adhesive, 
ammonia of the 
gaseous form, 
cast, at the rate of three or four hundred weight 
to the acre, or the same amount can be mix¬ 
ed with stable manure and spread upon the 
land, then plowed or cultivated in. It is fre¬ 
quently sown upon grass lands as a top dressing 
with remarkable effects. In the application as 
a top dressing, care should be taken to sow it 
before a rain, as the water absorbs the free am¬ 
monia and carries it down in the proper state 
to the roots of the plants. 
For gardens and small plats, an excellent way 
of applying the manure is in a state of solution, 
which may bo effected by throwing the guano 
into a cask of water, and, when thoroughly dis¬ 
solved, poured upon the plants with a ladle, or 
applied by means of a garden engine. In 
planting seeds, a good way of applying the ma¬ 
nure is to dig the holes deeper than required 
for the hill, then sprinkle the guano in the bot¬ 
tom, and cover with a few inches of light garden 
soil. Drop the seeds above, covering them with 
earth as usual, taking care as stated heretofore, 
never to let the fertilizer come in immediate 
contact. 
Several enquiries have been received of late, 
as to the amount to be used, and the best man¬ 
ner of application. Three or four hundred 
pounds per acre is the best and most economi¬ 
cal quantity ; for horticultural purposes the last 
two ways mentioned are the best, while for ag¬ 
riculture, so much pains cannot be taken ; hence 
for that, broadcast as a top dressing, or which 
is better, plowed under, is to be preferred.— 
Any absorbing or neutral substance is better 
than one containing active properties, to be 
used as a disintegrator ; and therefore charcoal 
dust, peat, leached ashes, &c., as above stated, are 
to be preferred to unleacbed, or to gypsum. 
There is no conceivable crop raised, which 
guano will not benefit; there is no necessity for 
au analysis to determine the constituents of 
plants in order to settle the question, for it is 
already settled. Four hundred pounds of guano 
is equivalent in fertilizing properties to twenty 
or twenty-five tons of first quality stable 
manure, and hence, those islands which contain 
the deposits are of incalculable value to the 
civilized world. Large tracts of worn out, and 
heretofore worthless lauds, in Virginia and other 
States, are now being reclaimed, and brought 
back to their original fertility by the use of 
guano; and regions, which, without its applica¬ 
tion, must remain desolate, are made to bud and 
blossom like the rose. 
SALT, PLASTER AND ASHES ON CORN. 
I take the liberty to notice a communication 
in the Ru ral of May 17, from J. G. S. on the sub¬ 
ject of “ Indian corn.” I have only time to re¬ 
fer particularly to what is said relative to the 
application of the above mixture to corn. 
It is amusing to see with what dictatorial au¬ 
thority some people will proclaim the result of 
“ ojie" experiment, as sufficient to determine the 
course to be pursued by all farmers, as well as 
the “rest of mankind;” and I cannot with¬ 
hold the re mark, that apparently J. G. S. is in¬ 
nocent of having “ experimented” or observed 
very extensively in any direction, or he would 
not have been so verdant as to apply salt to the 
foliage of any except salt water plants, unless 
he wished to kill them. J. G. S., after narrating 
his one experiment, says:—“ This lesson taught 
me hereafter to use salt for preserving meats 
and seasoning food, and to rely upon otherferti- 
lizers for raising corn, or any other product.— 
It also taught me what, probably most of your 
readers knew before, that no inconsiderable 
amount of humbug is mingled with the valua¬ 
ble instruction, even in the Rural New'-Yorker; 
for it was in it that salt was highly recom¬ 
mended without qualification as a fertilizer for 
corn. * * And if any of my brother farmers 
are not satified with my [one] experience, let 
them try for themselves, and my word for it, 
they will never renew the experiment.” 
Now, dear Rural, I will be brief, for I know 
you like short articles ; but I think I have a 
right to be heard, not only in self-defence, but 
for your sake. And, so far as you are concern- 
1 
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