TWO DOLLARS A YEAR.] 
YOLUMEYII. NO. 30.} 
MOORE’S RURAL NEW-YORKER, 
AN ORIGINAL WEEKLY 
AGRICULTURAL, LITERARY AND FAMILY JOURNAL, 
CONDUCTED BY D. D. T. MOOEE, 
WITH AN ABLE COUPS OF ASSISTANT EDITORS. 
SPECIAL CONTRIBUTORS! 
H. T. BROOKS, Prof. C. DEWEY, 
T. C. PETERS, L. B. LANGWORTIIY, 
SrH. C. WHITE, 
The Rural New-Yorker is designed to bo unique and 
beautiful in appearance, and unsurpassed in Value, Purifv 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. 
t3~All communications, and business letters, should be 
addressed to D. D. T. MOORE, Rochester, N. Y. 
For Terms, and other particulars, see last page. 
“PROGRESS AND IMPROVEMENT.” 
ROCHESTER, N. Y.,-SATURDAY, JULY 26, 1856. 
[ SINGLE NO. FIVE CENTS. 
IWHOLE NO. Ul. 
THE FARMER’S ENEMIES. 
The pursuit of agriculture is proverbially 
one of peace, and. hence in those periods of the 
world’s history, and those countries in which 
brilliant military exploits have been regarded 
as the greatest glory of a people, the first named 
employment has ever been considered degra¬ 
ding, and left to the care of serfs and slaves. It 
is only when people become enlightened, and 
act upon the true Christian doctrine that peace 
and good will between individuals and nations 
is the normal condition, and strife and blood¬ 
shed the diseases and disturbances of society, 
that the agriculturist is advanced to the true 
position which the important part he acts in 
the dramaof human existence entitleshim to fill. 
Yet peaceful as are the pursuits of the hus¬ 
bandman theie is one warfare he is called upon 
continually to wage, viz., that against the 
swarms of enemies which night and day lie in 
wait to devastate his crops and ravage his fields. 
Weeds and noxious plants, tenacious of life and 
prolific of reproduction, are constantly en¬ 
croaching and. difficult to subdue; epidemics 
and blighting influences are ever at work, 
which, unchecked, would bring his labors to 
nought; insect life, in countless myriads and 
multifarious forms, swarniB and creeps, whose 
effects, if not guarded against, would bring on 
the whole world famine and desolation. 
It becomes the farmer, then, to be vigilant in 
guarding against the enemies to his crops in 
whatever shape they may come ; and he owes 
this vigilance not only to himself, but to the 
community at large. Every one knows the 
tendencies of insect life to multiply rapidly, a 
single female being competent, in many in¬ 
stances, if unchecked in the process of repro¬ 
duction, to increase her progeny to millions.— 
The seeds of a noxious plant become dissemi¬ 
nated and gradually spread over wider and 
wider areas, until it claims universal attention 
and excites universal alarm. A disease in 
plants, like an epidemic among men, sometimes 
originates at a given point, whence it goes 
abroad to the general injury and loss. 
In many instances these enemies may be 
held in check or exterminated if taken in sea¬ 
son, and not allowed to gather strength by im¬ 
munity from harm. The man who, from 
carelessness or neglect, disseminates, even 
through his own land, a noxious weed or a 
destructive insect, injures his neighbors adja¬ 
cent and through them the whole agricultural 
community. We have known a slovenly far¬ 
mer, whose fields lay side by side with those of 
a thorough-going and neat one, and whose 
negligence was a constant source of annoyance 
and loss to his neighbor. Canada thistles on 
the former land would run to seed and scatter 
the downy proceeds on the wings of the wind. 
Docks and tory burs, elder bushes and briars, 
grew up iu rank profusion along the fences, 
and their progeny and ofl-shoots would fake 
possession of both sides in spite of the hostility 
of one party. 
Stein krout would not limit itself absolutely 
to the fields of the sloveuly farmer, but had to 
be guarded against by the oilier with double 
care. The apple tree caterpillar, after devas¬ 
tating the orchard of the one, would migrate 
across the line, or at least send out swarms of 
moths whose winged powers could not be cir¬ 
cumscribed by the limits of the original local¬ 
ity. Marshes, and neglected stagnant pools. 
produced musquitos and pestiferous exhalations, 
and unremoved manure heaps gave out effluvia 
and swarms of flies. All these, and similar acts 
of omission, were wrongs committed against 
his neighbor, as well as himself; not such 
wrongs as the law could touch, hut none the 
less culpable for all that. 
It is not within the scope of this article to 
inquire why vegetation of a noxious nature was 
created, nor why the multitude of insect life 
is permitted to exist, whose office seems to be 
exclusively to ravage and destroy. It is not in 
our power to say whether or not the locust, the 
grasshopper, the wheat fly, the caterpillar, army 
worm, wire worm, and a countless host of others, 
are of any benefit whatever, except to make 
men active, vigilant, and tireless in watching 
their operations and counteracting their effects. 
If the earth produced spontaneously all her 
fruits for the use of man, without any effort on 
his part except to reach forth his hand and 
gather, our race would very soon subside from 
the high stand-point of intellectual pre-emi¬ 
nence it has attained. The necessity perpet¬ 
ually existing for study, aud the exercise of 
theintellectual as well as the physical pow¬ 
ers, in order to bring about desirable results, 
prepares men for higher actions. In this re¬ 
spect, the farmer is not one whit behind men 
in any other department of life. The lawyer, 
it is true, is obliged to study the reporls of 
Court decisions, which are ever presenting new 
features. The physician must watch the man¬ 
ifestations of disease, as it assumes new types 
in successive years, for that man cannot be 
trusted who rtdies on the remedies of half a 
century ago to cure the corresponding diseases 
of to-day. The manufacturer, in whatever de¬ 
partment of the arts he labors, must have new 
models, new designs, new combinations of form 
and color, to meet the tastes and demands of 
the community. How would the hatter, the 
furniture manufacturer, the coach maker, of a 
past generation, meet the requirements of to¬ 
day with the wares and merchandise of that 
period ? This perpetual advancement is a 
starting point for still higher excellence, and 
stimulates the ingenuity and energy of mankind. 
So with the farmer. If the modes of culture 
and the remedies against the enemies of various 
kinds which were sufficient for our ancestors 
would answer for us, there would then be no 
further need for study or improvement. But it 
is not so ; one enemy is scarcely conquered, one 
remedy is scarcely discovered, before a new 
enemy or a new form of disease springs up, to 
threaten destruction to the harvest and desola¬ 
tion to the field ; and farmers are called on to 
devise new modes of treatment and to commu¬ 
nicate the resultsof their experience for the ben¬ 
efit of their colaborers in the agricultural field. 
The potato rot has been only within few years 
past devastating the crops, and that enemy to 
wheat, the midge, never prevailed to an alarm¬ 
ing extent in the Genesee Valley until within 
the past five years. Canada West has been 
exempt from the scourge until the present sea¬ 
son, but its advancing foot-pi ints have been 
detected in the wheat fields now being gather¬ 
ed there and warn them what to expect. The 
West has thus far escaped, hut there isno surety 
of a continued exemption. A gentleman from 
Tennessee exhibited a few days since in our 
office a species of winged insect, preserved in a 
phial of spirits, which lie says has for several 
years past devastated the potato fields of that 
State, and which is extending its ravages. A 
note of warning always goes before a scourge 
as a notice to prepare to counteract its influence. 
In view of the fact that enemies to the pro¬ 
ducts of the farm and garden exist on all sides, 
against which perpetual safeguards must be 
sought out, aud that new phases or new forms 
appear from time to time, which require a cor¬ 
responding change of remedy, it becomes the 
duty of the farmer to exercise his ingenuity in 
overcoming and evading their ravages ; and 
when any successful method has been obtained, 
to publish it to the world for the benefit of his 
fellow agriculturists. The enemy to one man’s 
crops is a common enemy, and any effective 
means of destruction of right belongs to the 
public. Every man’s farm should be an exper¬ 
imental one, not only in the production of the 
necessaries of life, but also for the destruction 
of enemies to such production. It seems to be 
a cruel necessity, (but it exists notwithstand¬ 
ing,) that a war of extermination must be 
waged against myriad forms of animal life, 
whose existence is perpetuated only at the ex¬ 
pense of useful vegetation. 
PLANT ONE ACHE LESS! 
Strange advice for the Rural to give, says 
one. Is it ? We have heard and read a great 
deal on just the opposite of this proposition. 
Not along time since one of our journals—pos¬ 
sessing, it is said, almost, if not the largest cir¬ 
culation in the Union, advised farmers to plant 
one acre morel The injunction calls to mind 
the remark of one, well known for his practica¬ 
bility, in speaking of an individual that prided 
himself upon his political magnitude and im¬ 
portance, said “that he might cover the country 
from the Atlantic to the Pacific, but if he did, 
it would be very thin on the surface, sir, very thinl" 
Now this peculiar thinness we think may be 
observed throughout the entire operations of 
the cultivator who is continually laboring to 
plant one acre more. From the germination of 
the seed, to the return from marketing the pro¬ 
ducts thereof, aud the investigation of the con¬ 
tents of a certain wallet, there is a leanness awful 
to behold. 
How much land can I till ? has been a por¬ 
tion of the American farmer’s creed long 
enough. By what means it ever became en¬ 
grafted upon Agricultural doclrines, we cannot 
say, unless farmers have been getting a little 
light in an immense amount of darkness. We 
live in the troublous times foretold, when it is 
necessary for men to rely a little on common sense 
and beware of the teachings of false prophets. We 
must make au addition to the query, How much 
land can we till ? viz., and do it well; if we 
wish to succeed ; and if we desire to follow the 
true principles of our calling, we will be com¬ 
pelled to plant not only one, but many acres less. 
Farmers cannot affoul to cultivate as much 
land as has been their wont. If proof of this 
assertion is required, just hitch up some day, 
drive through your own neighborhood, and ex¬ 
amine the farms therein—you don’t want the 
trouble,—then just look at your own, and if not 
convinced, we will set you down as incorrigible. 
The preparation that wheat-field received before 
sowing the seed, is an exemplification of the 
“one acre more” dogma. Your plowing is like 
beauty, but skin deep. 
“ What is the matter with your potatoes ?” 
“ Oh, they want rain V” 
“ Is that all ? Indeed !” 
“Your corn-field looks as though it would 
need powerful tonics to be enabled to survive 
the season.” 
“Yes, it don’t look very healthy, but I have 
been so hurried, had so much to do and so liLtle 
to do it with, that I find it utterly impossible to 
give each and every crop the attention I sup¬ 
pose it ought to receive.” 
“ Then, my dear sir, pardon a little frankness, 
you have mistaken your vocation, and have no 
business upon a farm. You can no more afford 
to have such crops of wheat, potatoes and corn, 
than you can to keep a poor horse, cow or hog. 
You can’t afford to raise such luxuriant crops 
of weeds as you do. You can’t afford to use 
such poor tools. If your State and county 
should offer premiums for the poorest farm, you 
can’t afford to live upon them, even if you 
should win, which is not at all unlikely. Above 
all, you can’t afford to plant one acre more! Sell 
off a portion, and apply the funds therefrom to 
the benefit of the remainder. Have good im¬ 
plements, good stock, good help, and we will 
warrant good crops and good times. Plant one 
acre less, and do it well.” 
The cultivation of a large amount of land, as 
the process is performed by many agricultu¬ 
rists, is a waste of labor aud of fertility—im¬ 
poverishing both the tiller and the soil. Sound 
judgment, we think, will demonstrate that large 
crops per acre, as a general rule, are the most 
profitable, and experiment will verify it. It 
should be the aim of the farmer to sustain the 
richness of his land, and this can be done only 
by reducing the breadth under the plow, pro¬ 
portionately to his capacity for applying such 
fertilizing materials as will return the elements 
taken therefrom by the crop. “ A little farm 
well tilled,” gladdeneth the heart, but a great 
breadth of acres cultivated in a slovenly man¬ 
ner, is a blight upon the interests of its owner, 
and an evil in the sight of all men. 
—-- 
Single experiments should not be relied on 
too much. It is easy to forget some condition 
or fact essential to a sound conclusion. Repeat 
your experiments, therefore, observing and 
reflecting carefully at every step, and making 
note of every fact that will be likely to affect 
or vary the final result. 
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PLAN of ventilating stables. 
Stables have been in use for many hundred 
years, and though it might be supposed that in 
sodoDg a period such experience would be ob¬ 
tained as to render them perfect, it is a melan¬ 
choly fact that in no department of farm build¬ 
ings is there so little of “ progress and improve¬ 
ment” and so much old fogyism exemplified as 
here. The majority constructed have little 
regard to the health or comfort of the animals 
to be placed therein. They are either “cribbed, 
cabined and confined,” or so open that Boreas 
can efrive “four-in-hand” amid the cracks and 
crevices without danger of contact. From some 
the light is shut out, as though the owners chose 
their actions therein should be viewed through 
a twilight commonly termed Egyptian, others 
have laid an embargo upou the free circulation 
of the life-giving and life-sustaining air. Re¬ 
form is needed—it must be had—and if the 
home of the horse upon your farm is defective 
in any or all of the points mentioned, let hu¬ 
manity arise above carelessness or selfishness 
and move forward to perfection. 
The use of air in the economy of animal life 
is the purification of the blood. This fluid, as 
it passes through the body, is constantly chang¬ 
ing and is unfit for a second tour, unless it has 
been renovated by contact with the air, which 
operation is obtained through the agency of the 
lungs. Both the air and the blood are changed. 
The former loses a portion of its oxygen and 
acquires carbon, the latter parts with its dark 
purple hue turns to a bright scarlet, and is fit¬ 
ted for the performance designed it. If the air, 
by repeated inhalation, has lost this component 
(oxygen) the blood cannot, as a consequence, 
undergo such alteration as is requisite to main¬ 
tain life. Here is the fountain head of disease 
from which radiate seven-tenths of the ills to 
which the horse is subject. 
Many persons possessed of stables confound 
temperature with purity of atmosphere, and seem 
to have imbibed the idea that if the air be cool 
it must of necessity be pure. This is au error. 
The stable may be too cold for the comfort of 
the animals, aud yet the air be deficient in 
those properties which it should contain. 
The engraving above is taken from the Stable 
Book, a Treatise on the Management of Horses, 
by John Stewart, Veterinary Surgeon in the 
Andersonian University of Glasgow. In rela¬ 
tion to apertures, for the escape of the impure 
air, the author says : 
They ought to be at the highest part of the 
building, or as near to it as possible. There 
should be one for each stall, and when the stall 
is empty, the hole may, in winter time, be 
closed. It should be from eight to ten inches 
square, and placed midway between the tra- 
vises. When the stable is surrounded by other 
buildings in such a manner that the air-holes 
cannot be made in the head wall, they should 
run through the roof. When a loft is over the 
stable, the air may be let out by small chim¬ 
neys running up the walls; and if these have 
been neglected in the original construction, the 
air should be conducted through ceiling and 
roof by square wooden tubes, iu order that it 
may not mingle in the hay. In this case, in¬ 
stead of an aperture to each stall, one, two, or 
three, of larger size, may be sufficient for the 
whole number, and much less expensive and 
inconvenient than a separate tube to each horse; 
whether few or many, they should be of suffi¬ 
cient size : taken altogether, the whole should 
afford an opening equal to ten inches square for 
every horse; and when the stable is low-roofed 
this size may be too small. 
In addition to the usual ventilating apertures, 
there ought to be one or two others for airing 
the stables more completely upon certain occa¬ 
sions. After washing, fumigating,or other pu¬ 
rifying processes, or when the horses are all out, 
or when the weather is very hot, it may be 
convenient to produce a current through the 
stable capable of carrying off moisture and im¬ 
pure or noxious air, more perfectly than the 
ordinary ventilators will allow. 
Most people do not imagine that one set of 
apertures are required to carry away the foul, 
and another to admit the pure air. It is clear 
enough that while air is going out, some also 
must be coming in ; and that if none go in, 
little or none can go out. To make an outlet 
without an inlet, betrays ignorance of the cir¬ 
cumstances which produce motion in the air.— 
To leave the inlet to chance, is just as much as 
to say that it is of no conseqence in what di¬ 
rection the fresh air is admitted,or whether any 
should reach the inside of the stable. In the 
cut, as represented, there are no specific open¬ 
ings for the admission of air, the apertures at 
the top of the building being very large, act 
both as inlets and outlets. 
Commuituatioits. 
THE PROFITS OP FARMING. 
“ A screw loose in science,” by C. D., in the 
Rural of the 14th ult., is a most valuable arti¬ 
cle, and I would amend his well-timed motto 
by adding, “ Take heed what you write, and what 
you read and hear.” I have seen several articles 
in the Rural, by practical farmers, headed 
“Will Farming Pay,” “ Is Farming Profitable,” 
<fcc., followed h,y statements of the expense of 
producing, and the amount received from a 
bountiful crop, or a successful field, footing up a 
nett profit of $25, $30, and sometimes $50 per 
acre, after paying all expenses, together with 
the interest on the capital invested. If these 
statements are intended to convey an idea of 
the amount of profit that the farmers annually 
realize from their productions, it gives a very 
wrong view of things, and it too often awakens 
expectations in young and inexperienced be¬ 
ginners, which cannot be realized; hence a 
year or two of sad experience not unfrequently 
banishes the delusive hopes of making a fortune, 
and they quit farming with disgust. The truth 
is that farming is not the business to make a 
fortune at in a day, nor a year, but it is a pur¬ 
suit that there is not the risk of losing what 
you have got; it is the vocation whereby the 
industrious and economical man can be sure of 
having the comforts of life, and an independent 
home in old age, and that is all that wealth 
can give. 
The profit of farming cannot be estimated by 
the value of one bountiful crop, nor any partic¬ 
ular piece of ground, for there is but a small 
portion of any farm that produces annually 
such bountiful crops. The pasture, the summer 
fallow, and the frequent failure of crops adds 
little pei' acre to the farmer’s receipts, ajid there 
are various items of expense which are never 
charged to any particular crop or field. 
To make a correct estimate of the real profit 
of farming, nothing must be estimated as credit 
but that which is sold, together with the in- 
i./'i/v.o.e. 
