RURAL LIF£ 
tfSSSj&t 
MOORE’S RURAL NEW-YORKER, 
AN ORIGINAL WEEKLY 
RURAL, LITERARY AND FAMILY NEWSPAPER. 
nothing about this. I soon found that mine would 
fill once in twenty-four hours. I found myself in 
a fine fix, and was obliged to go thirty rods, plug 
up my feed pipe and draw off the water in the air 
chamber every day. This was worse than any I 
had become acquainted with. It appears they 
generally run from a week to a month. My ram 
had run but a few days when the supply-pipe be¬ 
gan to burst—when the vent was very small, it 
would run without filling up, but would soon get 
so large that it would stop running. After burst¬ 
ing and being mended five or six times., with the 
same results, in about two years I was obliged to 
abandon it. 
After the ram had lain useless part of the last 
season, in the month of October, I went to an iron 
works, and there found a wrought iron pipe of the 
proper size, and got thirty feet; cost eight and one- 
lialf dollars, (the expense in the first place was 
about fifty dollars.) The iron pipe is what is called 
gas pipe, and is in pieces about twelve feet long, 
connected by a socket nut. I laid down this pipe 
immediately after getting it, and it has run now 
some four months. The filling up can be obviated 
by making a vent in the feed-pipe near the ram, 
but this is an impediment to the run of the ram, 
especially where the head i3 not more than two or 
three feet. Let us hear from all your correspon¬ 
dents, who can throw any light on the subject, 
their views, as to the best mode of preventing the 
filling up of the air chamber. —W. R., Moravia, 
Cayuga Co., N. Y., 1859. 
usually be in this section the latter part of April. 
Frost will not injure the onion. The cost of taking 
care of an acre of onions depends much upon the 
condition of the soil for cleanliness, and the gene¬ 
ral management, so that we will not even give a 
guess there at. The average product of an acre 
of onions is from 150 to 900 barrels, and we think 
they never sell for less than $1 per barrel in New 
York, and generally for more than double this 
price. They are now worth about $3. If well 
harvested, and kept in a very dry cellar, or in an 
upper room where they will not freeze hard, they 
will keep well until warm weather. 
CONDUCTED BY D. D. T. MOORE, 
With an Able Corps of Assistants and Contributors. 
The Rural New-Yorker is designed to be unsurpassed 
in Value, Purity, Usefulness and Variety of Contents, and 
unique and beautiful in Appearance. Its Conductor de¬ 
votes his personal attention to the supervision of its various 
departments, and earnestly labors to render the Rural an 
eminently Reliable Guide on all the important Practical, 
Scientific and other Subjects intimately connected with the 
business of those whose interests it zealously advocates. It 
embraces more Agricultural, Horticultural, Scientific, Edu¬ 
cational, Literary and News Matter, interspersed with 
appropriate and beautiful Engravings, than any other jour¬ 
nal,—rendering it the most complete Agricultural, Lit¬ 
erary and Family Newspaper in America. 
Ed. Rural New-Yorker —Dear Sir: As you 
have from the first taken a deep interest in this 
Experiment, and are well acquainted with all the 
parties, it is due to you to make a brief statement of 
the case and its result, as reported to the State 
Agricultural Society by the Committee. 
It is not an uncommon opinion among our 
farmers, that Wheat, sown in the fall, especially in 
wet situations, will be changed by being winter- 
killed, or by some unknown cause, into Chess.— 
Such an opinion is not known to exist, in the 
wheat-growing countries of England, France, Ger¬ 
many, Ac. 
In the hope of solving this problem, Col. Benj. 
Hodge, of Buffalo, offered to the State Agricultu¬ 
ral Society (through the Rural New-Yorker,) a 
premium of one hundred dollars for proof, satis¬ 
factory to a Committee appointed by its officers, of 
such transmutation of Wheat into Chess. 
An intelligent and successful Farmer, near 
Rochester, and of excellent character, (recently 
deceased,) proposed to the Society to make the 
proof, and demanded the appointment of the Com¬ 
mittee by whom the was to be given. In 
llic Summer <>f Springs, 
L. 1) -agricul¬ 
turists, and C. Diw>:f Xf the University of Roch¬ 
ester, were selected us the Committee. 
On account of the strong opposing views in the 
farming interest on this subject, the Committee de¬ 
termined to make the experiment as clear and de¬ 
cisive as possible. To prevent all mistake arising 
from the earth used, they made two conditions:— 
1st, That the earth should be boiled in water for 
two hours that any and all seeds in it might be de¬ 
stroyed ; and 2d, That the earth should be put into 
a box or pan of adequate depth and size, that the 
wheat sown might be isolated. The Farmer ac¬ 
cepted these conditions, and the Committee agreed 
to follow his directions. 
To make the trial more satisfactory, four pans of 
the prepared earth or soil were taken, one by each 
of the Committee, and the other by the Farmer 
himself. The experiments were thus made at a ! 
distance of several miles from each other. 
The wheat was sown or planted in September, 
part in the unshelled heads and part in the seed 
alone, both furnished by the Farmer. 
The course of vegetation had no peculiarity; but 
the wheat plants were crushed down to the earth 
several times in the autumn, according to the Far¬ 
mer’s directions, and in the spring again, by 
loosening the earth to break in at the roots, the 
whole being exposed to the action of all the ele¬ 
ments from the sowing of the seed to the maturity 
of the plants in July, 1858. 
One result appeared in each of the four experi¬ 
ments 
on this wall place sills of sound, hard wood, with a 
rabbit of an inch and a half depth, in order to ad¬ 
mit plank 1)4 inches thick. (The plank should be 
hard wood.) Over this may be used clapboards, 
or (what is more fashionable now days,) boards up 
and down, battening the cracks. The floor may be 
laid with good, sound hemlock boards, 1 inch thick, 
jointed and laid double. It should be ceiled with 
well-seasoned hemlock boards, matched and well 
put together. The height between lower and up¬ 
per floors 6)^ feet—the same above the second 
floor to the plates. The granary, A, may be cut 
up into bins, to suit the taste of the owner. The 
store-room, B, will be found very convenient for 
barrels and boxes, for keeping tall fruit, &c. A 
small box slovfc would b . of acir.c frsrvico in the 
specially, in damp weather. 
INQUIRIES AND NOTES, 
Sorglmm Growing. 
Will you inform me something about raising and 
cultivating the Chinese Sugar Cane ? I live on the line 
of 44 degrees north latitude. I wish to know whether 
it has been successfully grown ns far north ? Also, what 
kind of soil is best adapted, what quantity of seed to 
the acre, and where seed can be obtained, and at what 
price? How much seed in each hill, how far apart in 
the rows, the proper distance between the hills, and the 
proper way to cultivate?—A Subscriber, Hope, Dur¬ 
ham Co., C. W., 1859, V 
T would like to inquire through the Rural whether 
it would be advisable or i plont tl ... CUh , , ?lW 
Cane seed in new ground '( Is it best to'pinm it, ijins, 
or drill it?—J. S., Wells Co., Tnd., 1856. 
Cultivators differ as to the best distance to 
plant. Some plant in rows, six inches apart in the 
row, and the rows four feet. Others plant in hills, 
leaving three or four stalks in each hill, making 
the hills 1)4 feet apart one way, and four feet the 
other, so as to cultivate one way with a horse.— 
Still others plant in hills 3)4 feet apart, and culti¬ 
vate both ways. The Sorghum requires soil and 
culture similar to corn, and those who grow good 
corn, need not fail in growing Sugar Cane, either 
as regards soil, climate, or culture. Less than two 
pounds of seed will plant an acre, and the cost is 
about 25 cents per pound. It can be obtained of 
the seedsmen of this city, and we suppose of most 
persons who deal in seeds. 
ITuingavian G-rass. 
I wish to find out more concerning Hungarian 
Grass Seed. One subscriber to your paper says ii is a 
failure in this part of the country. Hut perhaps be did 
not have pure seed. The only fear the farmers have 
here is that the seed would not start soon enougli 
to get ahead of the weeds. What I wish to know is, 
how long will it be coming up ?—and will sprouting the 
seed do any good? F.very farmer ' n this section is 
oivuia to ,ui eii.iso i}Lcd,'«hd »oim; ctr.aoiun It as a hoax' 
Now, I sliauld like to sow one acre if I thought it could 
be relied upon. This acre is a clover sod, but very 
thin, somewhat rolling, fair to the sun, and has been 
manured. Which will pay the best, a crop of corn or a 
crop of Honey Blade Hungarian Grass seed?—W m. I 5 . 
C., Minisink, Orange Co., N. Y., 1S59. 
If the Hungarian Grass grows as rapidly and as 
rank here as at the West, it will smother the weeds. 
From what we know of it we are satisfied it re¬ 
quires a strong, rich, deep soil, and we have no 
doubt will prove much better adapted to the rich 
prairies of the West than to the lands of Orange 
county. Still, it is worthy of trial. Try a little 
and if it fails the loss will be small and the knowl¬ 
edge gained valuable. The Honey Blade, as it is 
called by those who have it to sell, is nothing more 
nor less than the common Hungarian Grass. So 
we have good reason to believe. 
a right-angled triangle, the base 1)4 inches deep, 
the hypothemise 5)4 inches long, the perpendicular 
parallel with. the faced."-He puuik, one itn.'.oGiately 
above the other, nailed on the sides with the back 
corners of the notches even with the face of the 
studs. Clapboards, G inches wide, are nailed on 
the notches, with the lower edge extending )4 inch 
below the notch, and the upper edge of the clap¬ 
board in the next notch below; thus leaving a 
space of one inch between the two clapboards 
which admits plenty of air, and at the same time 
prevents the rain from blowing in upon the corn. 
The bins are 3 feet wide, extending both sides of 
the building — the floor does not extend under the 
bins — the bottom of the bins are formed of strips 
one inch thick and three inches wide, set edgewise, 
one inch apart. The doors should be hung with 
strap hinges — so that they can be taken off in the 
fall, and doors made of slats hung in their places, so 
as to admit of a free circulation of air through the 
building. The floor overhead is 1)4 feet below the 
top of the plates, and the entrance to the upper 
story through the floor directly over the window, 
by means of a movable ladder. 
The granary is in the center of the building, and 
is 6 feet wide by 18 feet long, with two partitions 
dividing it into three bins. It rises 2 feet above 
the upper floor, and extends down to within 6 feet 
of the lower floor. The grain is drawn up with a 
tackle hitched directly over the entrance to the up¬ 
per story, emptied into the granary and is taken 
out by means of a slide at the bottom, wheYe you 
want a movable pair of steps, 4 feet high, with the 
board on the top one foot wide. The entrance steps 
should be made and hung so that the door cannot 
be shut when they are down, but must be turned 
up into the building in order to close it thus avoid¬ 
ing the possibility of leaving it down for mice to 
run up. There should be a tin fender, 6 inches in 
width, nailed around each post, close to the sill, 
projecting downwards. h. c. e. 
Clinton, N. Y., 1S59. 
drying process, es] 
SECOND PLAN. 
C, C, Corn-cribs; II, Hall. 
The plan of the second floor gives you a crib, C, 
the whole length of the building upon one side, and 
on the other, is a crib, C, part way, leaving suffi¬ 
cient room to go up and down stairs. At one end 
of the alley we have a door of sufficient size to ad¬ 
mit of large boxes of corn, which may be drawn 
up by means of a pulley in the ridge above. At 
the opposite end a large window for light, and also 
for a draught of air. At the figure 3, in the alley, 
should be a screen fixed in the floor coarse enough 
to let shelled corn through; over this may be placed 
the corn-sheller. The corn, after being shelled, 
passes through the screen into a conductor, (made 
tunnel-shape,) which empties it in a large bin be¬ 
low, leaving the cobs above. The front of the cribs 
should be made of slats in order to let in air. The 
Water Ilams. 
I am anxious to learn all I can about Water llama, 
as I have everything on hand to start one, but from 
some reported failures, from stoppages, I have not yet 
had courage to set it going. Air is said to get into the 
chamber, causing the bursting of the pipe, sometimes. 
—II. J., Oneida Co. N. Y., 1859. 
On* the matter inquired of by our correspondent, 
we have the following interesting communication 
from one who describes the difficulty and the 
remedy. Another subscriber in Genesee county, 
who has a ram now in successful operation, after 
having encountered and overcome several difficul¬ 
ties, promises us a detailed account of his opera¬ 
tions. We hope all who have had experience will 
give us facts that we may lay them before our 
readers: 
Messrs. Eds.: —Having observed in the Rural of 
the past year, several inquiries and articles on the 
subject of raising water, by the ram, I have con¬ 
cluded to present to the Rural, for publication, 
some of my experience in the premises. Some 
three years since, I built a house about thirty rods 
from a spring and sixty-six feet above it. I de¬ 
pended on raising the water by a ram. Had read 
a prize essay on the subject by J. J. Thomas, pub¬ 
lished in the Transactions of the New Y T ork State 
Agricultural Society. Supposed of course the au¬ 
thority to be good. Soon found the tormented 
thing to be more of a bore than a ram. The great 
failing of writers on agricultural implements gene¬ 
rally, appears to be to tell all their good qualities, 
and say nothing of their imperfections. At any 
rate, it proved to be so in this instance. There 
was an abundant supply of good water. I took five 
feet fall, and thirty-three feet of one and one-fourth 
inch lead pipe for supply pipe. Gave $16 for an 
instrument, and used 3-8 lead pipe to convey the 
water. Dug my ditches deep, and put all together 
in a workmanlike manner, as I supposed, and set 
Growing Onions. 
Wilt, you, or some of your readers, through the 
Rural, give me some information as to the culture of 
Onions ? What kind of soil will they flourish on, 
whether it should be rich or poor; and, if manure is 
required, what fertilizers are best? Is guano or hen 
manure good; and will either effect the destruction of 
weeds, as sometimes reported ? How should the ground 
be prepared ? Should it be laid out, or is it as well on 
dry soils for the surface to remain level? How early in 
the spring should the seed be put in the ground, and 
will the frosts of the last of April and of May affect the 
plants, if up ? How far apart should the drills be, and 
how thick should the seed be sown? What will it cost 
per acre to raise and harvest them where the wages of 
laborers are seventy cents per day ? What is the usual 
produce per acre, and how should they bo harvest¬ 
ed ? How long will they keep sound, if secure from the 
frost in good cellars ? Also, when are they ready for 
market, and what is the usual price per bushel?—A 
Young Farmer, Sparta, Liv. Co., W. Y., 1859. 
The onion requires a very rich soil aud thorough 
culture to secure a good crop, and a poor crop will 
not pay the cost of weeding, Ac. The best soil is 
a good, deep loam, though they will grow on a stiff 
clay, if it is well pulverized, or even ou a very 
sandy loam, if it is enriched. Hog manure is ex¬ 
cellent for growing onions, and in the absence of 
this, well rotted stable manure should be used.— 
Use no manure in which you have reason to believe 
there are many foul seeds. Guano is an admirable 
manure, nothing better, and hen manure is the 
next thing to it. These two manures will not de¬ 
stroy weeds, vuiless used in such quantities as to de- 
Wheat, and only Wheat, was grown. The 
Committee sent me their written result, and the 
Farmer, while viewing my twenty-five heads of 
wheat only, stated the complete failure of his own 
experiment to produce any Chess. 
The experiment seems to have been perfectly 
conducted ou the principles proposed by the Far¬ 
mer. The result will confirm those who believe 
that Chess always vegetates from its own seed in 
the earth, and from nothing else, on the principle 
declared of old, “ The earth brought- forth grass, 
and herb yielding fruit after his kind.” 
In a previous experiment, in 1856-7, the same 
Farmer, without any precautions to destroy all 
seeds in the earth used, sowed his wheat, and found 
Chess growing with his wheat. On tracing each 
Chess-plant into the earth by carefully removing 
the soil, he found each one growing distinctly by 
itself as if springing from separate seed, that is, 
Eds. Rural:— In your issue of January 15th, H. 
B. H. asks for a plan of a Corn House. We have 
a cheap and convenient corn crib here, which was 
first introduced in this vicinity by J. W. Stocking, 
of Barre. It is “ sure fire against rats and mice,” 
and gives general satisfaction. As I am not able 
to give any drawings, I will endeavor to describe 
the crib as plain as possible. 
A crib, to hold about 1,000 bushels of ears, should 
be 12 feet wide and 24 feet lorn 
It should stand 
on oak or cedar posts set 2 feet in the ground, and 
at least 2 feet above the surface at the highest part 
of the ground. The posts should be tapered to¬ 
wards the top so that a tin pan may be put on, bot¬ 
tom up, and fit snug. There should be eight posts 
— three under each side and" one under the middle 
of each end sill. Frame the sills as for any other 
building of the same size, with a sufficient number 
of sleepers to make the floor firm. The floor may 
be made of plank, or inch boards laid doable. The 
rest of the frame may be made of 3 by 4 scantling, 
will uot be a good harbor for rats and mice,) and ' A bent is made by framing the rafters on the top 
GROUND PLAN. 
A, Granary; B, Store-room. 
Messrs. Eds.: —Having noticed a call for a plan 
of a Corn House in the Rural of January 15th, I 
send the following, which, perhaps, may meet the 
Note.— It has been said that Winter Oats and Barley 
are also converted into Chess. One of the Committee, 
Mr. Langwortiiy, tried the same experiment in the 
same careful way on Oats and Barley, and with the 
same result. He raised only Oats and Barley, with no 
appearance of Chess or any other plant. Let the seed 
be pure, and the soil destitute of the seeds of Chess, 
then the farmer may not expect to find anv Chess in his 
crop. ' O. D. 
Rochester, March, 1S59. 
stones. Then sow with a drill or by hand, making 
the rows just wide enough to hoe conveniently, say 
twelve or fourteen inches, and the plants four or 
five inches apart in the rows. Of course the seed 
canuot be sown very precisely, but this can be 
regulated in thinning out. Sow the seed as soon 
as the ground is dry enough to work, which will 
TWO DOLLARS A YEAIt.] 
“PROGRESS JkJSHD INOPFlOWElYQLlSrT ” 
[SINGLE INTO. FOTTIi CHUNTS. 
YOL. X. NO. 12.} 
ROCHESTER, N. 
Y.-F0R THE WEEK ENDING SATURDAY, MARCH 19, 1859. 
(WHOLE NO. 480. 
