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PROGRESS AND IMPROVEMENT 
[ SINGLE NO. FIVE CENTS. 
TWO DOLLARS A TEAR.] 
MOORE’S RURAL NEW-YORKER 
AN ORIGINAL WEEKLY 
AGRICULTURAL, LITERARY AND FAMILY JOURNAL, 
SPECIAL CONTRIBUTORS i 
H. T. BROOKS, Prof. C. DEWEY, 
T. C. PETERS, L. B LANGWORTIIY. 
HIRAM C. WHITE. 
The Rural New-Yorker is designed to be unique and 
beautiful in appearance, and unsurpassed in Value, Purity and 
Variety of Contents. Its conductors earnestly laborto make it 
a Reliable GuideonthelmportantPractical Subjects connected 
with the business of those whoso interests it advocates. It 
embraces more Agricultural, Horticultural, Scientific, Me¬ 
chanical, Literary and News Matter, interspersed with many 
appropriate and beautiful Engravings, than any other paper 
published in this Country,—rendering i a complete Agricul¬ 
tural, Literary and Family Newspaper. 
All communications, and business letters, should be 
addressed to D. D. T. MOORE, Rochester, N. Y 
For Terms, and other particulars, see last page. 
are organic. Chemical forces here, assisted by 
air and water, warmth and cold,plants and an¬ 
imals, effect at length the formation of pulver¬ 
ulent soils from solid rocks, and the generation 
of soluble salts from insoluble mineral combi¬ 
nations, which salts may in that state become 
the food of plants. This weathering of rocks 
also takes place below the soil, and wherever 
air and water can penetrate into the mass of 
rock, and its effects are seen in spring and river 
water, which often supply inorganic matter to 
plants. 
Another source supplying inorganic matter 
to plants is the air, which receives such sub¬ 
stances from evaporation, especially from the 
ocean, thence by the force of the winds diffused 
over the whole earth, and falling in rain, dew, 
snow, etc., to fertilize the soil. 
We have in this and the preceding articles 
given a brief summary of the constituents of 
plants, and the means of nourishment by which 
they are provided. Stockhardt sums up the 
whole in the following table : 
NUTRITION AND GROWTH OF PLANTS. 
In considering whence plants obtain their con¬ 
stituent elements, we would next remark that 
nitrogen is received by plants chiefly through 
the ammonia which 
is generated during the 
putrefaction and decay of vegetable, and, more 
particularly, animal substances. Though the 
air consists mainly of nitrogen, and it is ne¬ 
cessary to plants, they do not take it from the 
atmosphere, hence we infer their inability to do 
so. Pure nitrogen is to them au indigestible 
food. One of the distinctive chemical proper¬ 
ties of this gas is its disinclination to combine 
with other bodies ; the plant cannot compel it 
to give up its natural freedom. The chemist 
has to apply compulsory measures, and fre¬ 
quently in a very circuitous method. 
Except in the atmosphere, we find azotized 
combinations only in the organisms of plants 
and animals 
SHORT-HORN BULL “ BON,” (12707.) 
Acomb by Belvedere (1706) «fcc., <fcc. Don is 
also described in Yol. II. of American Herd 
Book, as bred by Noel J. Beoar, and purchased 
by Hon. John Wentworth for the Illinois 
Breeding Association, at Summit, Cook Co,, 
Illinois. 
England. His dam was Apricot, described in 
Yol. 11 of English Herd Book as roan in color ? 
and bred by T. Bell, of Kirkleavington, in 
England, and got by Third Duke of York 
(10166.) Annie by the Fourth Duke of North¬ 
umberland (3649.) Annaby Short Tail (2621.) 
Don (12707) is described in Yol. 11 of the 
English Herd Book as calved 31st July, 1852, 
The Lord of 
Electricity. 
and white in color. 
Eryholme” (12205) whose portrait is in Vol 10 
of the English Herd Book ; roan in color ; bred 
by A. L. Maynard, Marton-le-Moor, Ripon, in 
are the principal features of this system—that 
wheat, rye and beans (or peas) are introduced 
because they afford better facilities for stocking 
to clover and the grasses, though at the same 
time they afford a fair profit, if successful. And 
we propose this course, not in the light of any 
bygone system, but from the experience of the 
farmers of to-day—taking into consideration 
the crops they can produce and the uses they 
can make of them. Corn may be sold in the 
form of pork and beef—and yields, in the con¬ 
sumption of grain and fodder, a good supply of 
manure. Barley will be marketed in the grain, 
as will any surplus of wheat and the bean crop. 
Rye may be profitably consumed on the farm, 
and he who sells hay is draining away the life¬ 
blood of his land—for no hay, no stock, no ma¬ 
nure —and . without manure we soon rotate all 
fertility from our farms. 
and this is the nitrogen which 
benefits plants, when, after the death of the 
organic matter, it has undergone an alteration 
These 
in case wheat is to be sown)—and plow it un¬ 
der deeply and well. Harrow thoroughly and 
plant in good season to corn and potatoes.— 
These, well cultivated and kept free from 
weeds, fill up the first year of the course, and 
leave the soil clean and in good heart for the 
crop which follows. 
The second year sow the ground to barley. 
If the land is of such a character that it does 
not dry off at once on the opening of spring, it 
should be plowed late in the fall, and^ thrown 
up into beds, with clear, open drains to carry 
off all surface water. A little care in this re¬ 
spect will make many of our fields equal to the 
best on our farms—that they are a little too 
retentive of moisture - (and consequently not fit 
to work early in spring) being their greatest 
fault. Thorough draining would be the most 
effectual remedy for this—yet if we cannot 
apply that, let us take the next best within our 
reach. To succeed, barley should be sown 
early—in April, at any rate — the ground first 
put in fine tilth, and after sowing, well harrow¬ 
ed and carefully rolled, that the seed may come 
ily and yet form root at ODce. If the 
at the varying prices of the market you are ob¬ 
taining as much per bushel for these commodi¬ 
ties as you would receive for their equivalent in 
pounds of mutton, beef or pork ? The differ¬ 
ence between feeding these cooked and raw is 
worthy of attention, and have you settled any 
of the mooted points in regard (.hereto ? 
The soil is an open book to those who will 
search for knowledge—have you endeavored to 
ascertain which variety is best adapted to the 
wants of certain crops—the course of rotation 
most advisable—when and in what manner me¬ 
chanical labors connected therewith should be 
performed ? But the examination has already 
been extended to sufficient length—though a 
thousand points remain untouched that will 
suggest themselvi s to the thinking farmer.— 
Each can, for himself, answer the queries and 
settle in his own mind whether it is necessary 
to turn over a new leaf. 
by putrefaction and decay. 
processes 
perform the same important service to the nour¬ 
ishment of plants that cookery renders to the 
The nitrogen is 
con- 
nourishment used by 
thereby carried over from those proximate 
stituents of animal and vegetable matter, which 
are composed of four elements (as before stated) 
into a simpler combination. Withdrawing it¬ 
self from two of these elements—carbon and 
oxygen—it remains in combination with the 
third—hydrogen—and now furnishes the most 
important and valuable nutrient of plants, am¬ 
monia. Ib its pure form this substance pos¬ 
sesses a very pungent odor and exceeding vol¬ 
atility ; for it is a kind of air or gas. Hence if 
the process of putrefaction does not take place 
in the ground, it escapes into the atmosphere. 
By combination with acids, or with humus, 
ammonia may be deprived of its volatility, and 
such combinations are called ammoniacalgas. 
There is another combination of nitrogen 
which affords nourishment to plants. This is 
produced when substances containing nitrogen 
putrefy in connection with bases or alkalies, 
(lime, potash, etc.) By their agency, the nitro¬ 
gen, instead of uniting with hydrogen, com¬ 
bines with oxygen ; and in this way nitric acid 
salts — or nitrates—are formed, from which 
plants have the power of abstracting nitrogen. 
In this manner nitrate of lime is often genera¬ 
ted from the plaster in the walls of stables, and 
other like situations. 
Nitrogen is found—generally in small quan¬ 
tities—in soils and in water,—sometimes in the 
humus, sometimes in the form of ammoniacal 
or nitric acid salts, Hut invariably derived from 
animal and vegetable substances which have 
putrefied or decayed in the earth. Hence the 
more such decaying matter is introduced into 
the ground, the richer will it become in nitro¬ 
gen ; and the water absorbed by plants will be 
proportionably suited to furnish this nutritive 
element. Dew. rain, and snow always contain 
ammonia—that which has become volatile du¬ 
ring the processes of putrefaction, they condense 
and bring down again to the earth. 
The organic matter decomposing in the soil, 
it is more than probable, is in a condition to 
enable it to convert a part of the nitrogen ab¬ 
sorbed from the air directlv into ammonia.— 
This fact renders the presence and retention of 
humus in arable land of still greater impor¬ 
tance. 
We must next refer to the sources supplving 
the inorganic or mineral substances requisite to 
the growth of plants, and which are conducted 
Silica. Alumina. Lime. Salts. Humus. 
This gives a retrospective view of the essen¬ 
tial elements and nutritive materials of plants, 
and will render still clearer what has been 
communicated in relation to these topics. 
TURN OVER A NEW LEAP, 
The closing year is considered by many as 
an appropriate period to drop bad habits, to re¬ 
cord promises of amendment, to plan changes 
for the future, and the reformatory course com¬ 
mences with the advent of a new era in the re¬ 
volving circle of time. We would hope—were 
it not to hope against faith — that there was no 
necessity for any of our readers taking unto 
themselves the injunction and making an appli¬ 
cation thereof, but we will invite each and all 
to the witness-box and let their own mouths 
utter commendation or censure. 
Have you adopted any system in the man¬ 
agement of the affairs of the farm? Is there 
an air of business neatness in your transactions 
—or is the hap-hazard style the law of your do¬ 
main ? Do you know what has been the in¬ 
come and expenditure of the farm during the 
past year—whether you are upon the surface 
and likely so to remain, or to go to the bottom— 
another wreck on the strands of time—the re¬ 
sult of sheer carelessness ? Have you the items 
of outlay for the purpose of reference and to 
aid you in stopping any “ leakages" should such 
a course be desired ? If not you are the indi¬ 
vidual earnestly requested to turn over a new leaf. 
In the cultivation of the various products of 
the farm, which, with the cost and amount of la¬ 
bor given, yields the best returns ? Have you 
improved in the modes of culture or in their gen¬ 
eral results ? Have you labored for the light so 
necessary to the successful pursuit of your pro¬ 
fession and been enabled to note any “progress 
and improvement ?” Can you, to-day, tell with 
any more certainty than a year ngo, which ma¬ 
nure is the best for a specified crop and the 
proper mode of its application ? Can you form 
au estimate, even approaching correctness, of the 
value on different soils, of gypsum, lime, ashes, 
guano, or any of the special fertilizers, and their 
cost as compared with the manures of the barn 
and cattle yards ? Has your knowledge of the 
action of green manures been increased in the 
season now gone ? Are you aware whether by 
disposing of the corn and potato crop, as such, 
Few farmers, now-a-days, grow the same 
crop year after year on the same lot or field. 
Their tilled land is managed on some system 
of Rotation—some three or four different pro¬ 
ducts following each other regularly on differ¬ 
ent portions of the farm. That this is the 
proper course to pursue we need not stop to 
argue; it is evident to every thoughtful tiller 
of the soil. 
In a wheat-growing country—such as West¬ 
ern New York has been—the four course sys¬ 
tem has generally prevailed, though some have 
made wheat the third crop; growing corn or 
other spring crop one, and clover two years. If 
wheat may not be depended upon—and it has 
sadly failed us for several years—we must take 
some other crop or crops in its place, still keep¬ 
ing up the rotation. Barley is becoming one of 
our most prominent products—and certainly 
our most profitable one if grown successfully. 
Beans are taking rank among our field crops, 
though they have long filled only here and 
there a corner. Roots, other than potatoes, are 
not extensively grown — their culture might 
well be increased by every one who has stock 
to winter. Rye is sown to a small extent. No 
one crop takes the place which wheat lately 
occupied, though barley fills it most nearly. 
Taking into consideration the management of 
a farm particularly devoted to stock, with a 
varying soil and good market facilities, let us 
mark out a four course rotation. 
Commencing with sward ground, either a 
clover ley or mixed-grass meadow or pasture, 
put upon it most of the manure made for the 
year upon the farm—(only reserving a portion 
up even 
season be a medium one a fair crop will be the 
result. Late-sown barley generally suffers 
most materially from the mid-summer.drouth, 
which occurs at the time of its maturing— 
when every condition should be favorable to 
ensure perfection and success. 
The third crop may be wheat, rye and beans. 
If we wished to sow a few acres of wheat, we 
would as soon sow after barley, with a dressing 
of well-rotted manure, as any other crop. Rye 
may be sown without additional manure.— 
Where a choice of soils can be had, wheat 
might occupy the clayey loam, rye the sandy, 
and should one choose to leave a few acres for 
beans, it may be the least fertile part of the 
barley stubble. We do not like the plan of 
growing several crops in a field at once, unless 
they mature near the same time, and many 
farms are so fenced that it will not be necessary. 
Both wheat and rye should be sown early and 
on well-worked land — and barley ripens so as 
to give ample time for this. These crops are 
among the best for seeding to clover in the 
spring, and the success of the grass-seed sown 
will be much more certain if a top-dressing of 
one bushel of plaster per acre is applied. The 
land left for beans may be fitted and planted 
after other spring crops are finished, and will 
ripen in time to admit of fall seeding to mixed 
grass or to clover alone. 
Clover, for two, or even three years, may oc¬ 
cupy the last place in the four course rotation. 
Then manure, plow up, and proceed as before. 
It'will be seen that corn, barley and clover 
i 
