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TWO DOLLARS A YEAR.] 
PROGRESS AND IV11 EOVEMEN 
[SINGLE NO. FIVE CENTS, 
SATURDAY, SKPTKMRER ?J, R5fi 
MOORE’S RURAL NEW-YORKER, 
suit the fancy. Smaller ones cure quickly, and 
aie for that reason preferable. If a good hill is 
taken to stand the stalks of corn about it will 
help much to support the shock. When it is 
desired to remove the shock from the field, the 
standing hill is quickly cut by pushing the 
shock partly over with the left hand, while a 
long knife in the right hand is thrust under the 
bottom and the stalks severed:” 
After the corn is husked a good crib becomes 
a matter of necessity. The only requirements 
AN ORIGINAL WEEKLY 
AGRICULTURAL, LITERARY AND FAMILY JOURNAL 
CONDUCTED BY D. D. T. MOORE, 
WITH AN ABLE COBPS OP ASSISTANT EDITORS. 
SPECIAL CONTRIBUTORS j 
; OOKS, Prof. C. DEWEY, 
ETERS, L. B. LANGWORTHY 
H. C. WHITE. 
hr Rural New-Yorker is designed to be unique and 
beautiful in appearance, and unsurpassed in Value, Purify and 
t arioty of Contents. Its conductors earnestly labor to make it 
a Reliable Guide on the important Practical Subjects connected 
with the business ot those whose interests it advocates. It 
•mbracos more Agricultural, Horticultural, Scientific, Mechan¬ 
ical, Literary and News Matter, interspersed with many appro¬ 
priate and beautiful Engravings, than any other paperpublished 
in this Country,—rendering it a complete Agricultural, Lit¬ 
erary and Family Newspaper. 
AU communications, and business letters, should be 
addressed to I). D. T. MOORE, Rochester, N. Y. 
For Terms, and other particulars, see last page. 
THE CORN CROF-HARVESTIWG. 
The corn crop is one of the most imnort 
INFLUENCE OF CLIMATE ON STOCK. 
In estimating the value to American ugricul- 
ture of animals imported from European coun¬ 
tries we should take into account the fact that the 
climate which prevails in this country is quite 
different from theirs, even in the same latitude, 
not so particularly in regard to mean tempera¬ 
ture as to extremes of heat and cold, and sud¬ 
den changes from one to the other. We have 
warm sunny days in midwinter, and cold chilly 
rains ill spring and autumn, while the heat and 
drouth of summer are often excessive, and a 
change from mild to severe in eight colder 
months of the year, often takes place in a single 
night. 
Our climate has a strong stimulating effect on 
the system of the foreign-bred animal, which 
greatly accelerates the action of the heart, and 
through that the whole animal economy. The 
change to man coming here from Great Britain, 
mg ot the products, is intensely watched by 
both producer and consumer. Both parties 
have a vital interest in its success. During the 
present season farmers have been somewhat 
fearful as to the result. The seed failed to 
grow, and in some instances, two and three 
subsequent plantings gave not birth to the 
shoot that promised a bountiful harvest. Ow¬ 
ing to this disastrous start, the coldness of our 
summer—August, commonly called the “corn 
month,” reaching a degree of coolness almost 
unprecedented—and early frosts in many por¬ 
tions of the country, all of which have tended 
to retard the growth of this crop, the aggregate 
yield will undoubtedly be reduced very ma¬ 
terially,—to what extent we have no definite 
mode of ascertaining. Whether the loss to the 
MU. THOKNE’S SHORT-HORN COW “FREDERICA, 
“ Frederica ’ is one ot the best cows in Mr. 
Thorne’s superior held of Short-horns. In 
se\ ei al points she is represented by good judges 
to be very perfect. She was imported in 1853, 
as a two year old—having previously won sev- 
eial fiist prizes of £10 and £5, and a gold and 
silver medal, at Shows of the Royal As. So- 
wiutered in the same careless way. Taken 
when young and properly fed and sheltered they 
will gradually become accustomed to the 
change, so at least as to bear it without injury. 
These suggestions and considerations will apply 
to sheep, swine and poultry as well. The cli¬ 
mate must affect them,—it has transformed 
stui dy, portly John Bull, into thin, active, wiry 
Brother Jonathan. We are getting animals 
suited to our uses; the infusion of the best 
blood of other countries assists in their produc- 
*i°n. Eaimers should understand, however, all 
the influences which can help, or hinder this 
result, and this is why we gather for them these 
scattered hints on the subject. 
near Cork ; and, says a writer, “ was cberishec 
and cultivated for food” in that country befori 
its value was known in England, though thei 
were soon carried over from Ireland into Lan 
cashire. Gerarde, who had this plant in his 
den in 1597, under the name of “ Battata 
iana, 
icate dish, not as common food, 
mentions that the tubers 
the ialue of any article of food, it is necessary 
that we should not give too much importance 
to a single element which it may contain.— 
Starch, as is well known,abounds in the potato, 
and its nutrient value is supposed by many to 
depend principally on its presence. This opin¬ 
ion, however, is not well sustained by expe¬ 
rience, inasmuch as its sustaining powers are 
gar- 
virgin- 
recommends the roots to be eaten as a del- 
Parkinson 
were sometimes roast¬ 
ed and steeped in sack and sugar, or baked 
with marrow and spices, and even preserved 
and candied by the comfit-makers. The use of 
potatoes gradually spread, as thfeir excellent 
qualities became better understood. It was 
near the middle of the 18th century, however, 
before, they were generally known over the 
country. Since that time they have been most 
extensively cultivated. 
It is within the recollection of the writer, 
when a few rows round the cornfield, or a small 
patch of a fourth or half an a 
considered quite a large qua 
to grow. Two varieties we 
that time, the “hog” and the 
former 
Indian corn. For years the question of “Top¬ 
ping vs. Cutting” has agitated the minds of 
Agriculturists. The former mode, where the 
weather is mild aud frosts set in late, it is con¬ 
tended is the best method of securing — that 
there is not sufficient benefit to be derived from 
cutting to compensate for the risk of its injury 
by mould and from storm, and that it requires 
extra labor to husk corn thus secured. Fur¬ 
thermore, the practice of “ topping” has stamped 
upon it an air of antiquity—" it is the path in 
which our fathers trod,” and their success will 
satisfy those who adopt as the principle of action 
the dogma of “ let well enough alone.” Though 
this doctrine may bear the external aspect of 
truth, and though it may be easily proven that 
there are many who would have been benefited 
by rigidly observing its tenets, still there is 
nothing of “ Progress and Improvement” in its 
teachings. Practical tests have demonstrated 
that the objections noted are groundless, and 
experience upholds the practicability of cutting 
corn in the harvesting process. 
The period at which corn should be harvested 
is the item of paramount import in securing._ 
Corn should be cut neither too early nor too 
late. If too early, shrinkage is increased, it 
loses weight and consequently nutrition—if too 
late, i. e., after frost, it is rendered almost worth¬ 
less, the sap has become vitiated and it is next 
to impossible to save either the grain or the 
stalks. The losses in the cultivation of this 
crop have arisen more from this latter cause 
thau any other. Fitness for the operation has 
been the rule adopted by many, but it is one 
that will not always work advantageously.— 
Whether it has matured sufficiently to warrant 
the application of the harvester is not the guide, 
—the weather and its tendency must control. 
If indications exhibit approaching severity, 
harvesting should commence forthwith whether 
the crop has ripened or not. Corn, though but 
slightly glazed, if cut and laid even at the butts, 
firmly bound and set up in small stooks, will , 
ripen and make valuable grain. 
The following method, heretofore published . 
in the Rural, has the merit of economy in labor: i 
“ Take five rows of corn for one of shocks or < 
stooks, setting the shock on the middle row.— < 
The shocks can thus be made large or small to 1 
depend. Hence, in the analysis of the potato, 
when it is designed to determine its value as 
food, it is quite esseutial that its albumen and 
casein, etc., should be determined, as well as its 
starch and sugar. This will appear in a clear 
light when it is known that albumen is one of 
the constituents of the blood, and one of the 
materials which supply the wastes of the sys¬ 
tem of animals. Albumen and casein abound 
in those fluids and solids which appear to be 
designed to build up the original structures.— 
Milk, the white of eggs, and other albuminous 
matters, are furnished to the young of all ani¬ 
mals, and though in some instances they appear 
to be of animal origin, yet when traced back to 
their sources, they are found to be derived from 
the vegetable kingdom. 
“ In addition, then, to starch, the potato con¬ 
tains several other important materials, which 
are capable of supplying the wastes which a 
living being is continually undergoing. 
“It is not the purpose of this brief essay to 
show that different varieties differ in composi¬ 
tion, and that some are better calculated to 
periorm the part of a nutriment than others, 
but rather to exhibit the general composition of 
this vegetable. It is, however, undoubtedly true 
that the nutrient properties of some varieties 
are superior to others, and it is also probably 
true that those which are inferior in their 
amount of starch may be the best for supplying 
the wastes of the body.” 
The following organic analysis of the Mercer 
potato by Mr. I. Salisbury, shows that it is 
composed of the following elements : 
Starch..... 9.710 
Fibre. 6 779 
Oaten. 0.205 
Fatty matter... 9 0 g 4 
Albumen.... 0 249 
Casein. 0.506 
Dextrin. 0.074 
Sugar and extract... 3 931 
THE POTATO.—ITS ORIGIN AND USES. 
J. his valuable esculent is ascertained to be a 
native of South America, having been found in 
a wild state both in Beunos Ayres and in Chili. 
Sir Joseph Banks considers that the potato was 
first introduced into Europe from the moun¬ 
tainous parts ot South America, in the neigh¬ 
borhood of Quito, where they were called 
“papas,” to Spain, in the early part of the 16th 
century. From Spain, where they were called 
“ battatas,” they appear to have found their way 
first to Italy, where they received the same 
name with the trufile, “ taratoufli.” The pota¬ 
to was received by Clusins, at Vienna in 1588, 
from the Governor of Mons, in Hainault, who 
had procured it the year before from one of the 
attendants of the Pope’s legate, under the name 
of “ taratoufli,” and learned from him that it 
was in use in Italy. In Germany it received 
the name of “ cartoffel,” and spread rapidly in 
the time of Clausius. 
It is supposed that the potato was first intro¬ 
duced into England by the colonists sent out by 
Sii Walter Raleigh, who returned from Vir¬ 
ginia in 1586. Thomas Herriot, in a report of 
the country, describes a plant called “ openank,” 
with “ roots as large as a walnut, and others 
much larger; they grow in damp soil, many 
hanging together, as if ou ropes ; they are good 
food, either boiled or roasted.” Gerarde. in his 
first imported were very soon found to be smal¬ 
ler than their dams.” Arabian horses imported 
into England, give birth to a progeny inferior 
to themselves. Sheep lose their distinctive 
value, in part, when taken to a warmer climate. 
It is only after a series of years that any ani¬ 
mal becomes perfectly acclimated. 
The characteristics of the cattle of warm and 
cold climates have been contrasted as follows : 
Cattle of a warm climate have a thin, supple 
and oily skin, those of a colder region have their 
skin thicker, harder, and dryer; the hair of the 
one is scanty and fine, of the other longer, 
coarser, and more bushy; the limbs of the one 
are long, and the tendinous parts distinct, the 
other is less marked in this ; the hams in warm 
climates are hard, brittle, and drv 
coarse-meated, 
only fit lor the animal whose 
the latter was finer and closer- 
meated, of good flavor, not mealy, but an ex¬ 
cellent late potato, and not very prolific. It is 
about sixty years since the variety called 
“ English Whites” were first introduced into 
this country. They were of good size, white 
skin, eyes large and deeply indented; form 
roundish ; flesh white, fine grained, mealy, far¬ 
inaceous, and of good flavor—a great improve¬ 
ment on the former kinds. After the introduc¬ 
tion of the “ English Whites,” the consumption 
inci eased until they have become a necessary 
Water, 
100.69S 
Composition of the “ Scotch Grays,” as an. 
