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ROCHESTER, N. Y.-FOR THE WEEK ENDING SATURDAY, APRIL 23, 1859, 
MOORE’S RURAL NEW-YORKER, 
compensates for the inferiority of the straw. — 
Their earliness renders them very suitable for late 
districts ; but the liability of some to shed their 
seeds in high winds, renders their cultivation in 
high-lying and exposed situations extremely haz¬ 
ardous. 
Late, or common oats, as they are more gene¬ 
rally termed in Scotland, are distinguished from 
the early variety by late ripening, thicker husk, 
and less meal; the latter being of better quality, 
lighter per bushel, not usually so prolific ; the for¬ 
mer, however, have a more vigorous constitution, 
and arc better able to resist the effects of atmo¬ 
spheric changes, such as rains or drougths, and 
when ripe they are less liable to shed their seed in 
high winds; the straw is greatly superior ns fod¬ 
der; and lastly, they can be cultivated with great¬ 
er success than the earlier varieties on inferior 
soils, and those of a strong clayey nature. 
Black oats are of two kinds, the one the Tarta¬ 
rian, having the ear only on one side of the straw, 
and the other the old or common black, with 
black seeds, but having a spreading ear, similar to 
the white varieties. Dun oats are to all appear¬ 
ance hybrids between the last mentioned variety 
and oue or other of the white sorts, most probably 
the late or common white oat, as they have more 
AN ORIGINAL, WEEKLY 
RURAL, literary and family newspaper. 
CONDUCTED BY D. D. T. MOORE, 
With an Able Corps of Assistants and Contributors. 
TERMS, IN ADVANCE: 
Two Dollars a Year —SI for six months. To Clubs and 
Agents as follows: — Three Copies one year, for $5; Six, and 
one free to club agent, for *10: Ten, and one free, for *15; 
Sixteen, and one free, for *22; Twenty, and one free, for 
*26; Thirty-two, and two free, for *10, (or Thirty for *37,50,) 
and any greater number at same rate —only *1,25 per copy 
— with an extra copy for every Ten Subscribers over Thirty. 
Club papers sent to different I'ost-oflices, if desired. As we 
Pre-pay American postage on papers sent to the British Prov¬ 
inces, our Canadian agents’ and friends must add 12M cents 
per copy to the club rates of the Rural. The lowest price 
of copies sent to Europe, &c„ is *2,50 — including postage. 
Tub Postage on the Rural is ocly3M cents per quarter 
to any part of this State, and 6 'A cts. to any other State, if paid 
quarterly in advance at the post-office where received. 
All communications, and business letters, should be 
addressed to D. D. T. MOORE, Rochester, N. Y. 
cold-bottomed soils, and by the superior quality of 
the meal and straw.” In another number we will 
give descriptions, and perhaps engravings, of some 
of tlie best varieties. 
Oats are sown any time during May, and even as 
late as June, but it is usually found that the earli¬ 
est sown yield the best. A change of seed is of 
great benefit, as oats will deteriorate if sown for a 
scries of years on the same soil. Morton says “ the 
best and soundest oats for seed are produced 
by land of a firm clayey nature, situated in an 
early climate; and in changing seed from one lo¬ 
cality to another that from which the seed is ob¬ 
tained should be earlier than the one where it is to be 
sown. Experiments show a loss of four bushels to 
the acre, solely from taking seed-oats from a later 
to an earlier soil. The heaviest oats are not always 
the best for seed, because great weight per bushel 
is generally indicative of a thin hnsk; and hence 
the germ being unprotected is very apt to receive 
injury from any excess or deficiency of moisture in 
the soil at, the period of germination.” Many of 
the best Scotch farmers invariably sow seed two 
years old, and contend that thereby tlie plants arc 
more healthy and vigorous, and the yield much 
greater than if the seed of the last year was used. 
It is also a custom to mix two varieties in sowing, 
botli ripening about the same time—one that is apt 
to grow weak-strawed and thin upon the ground, 
but productive, with another that is strong-strawed, 
grows thickly on the ground, but less prolific. — 
This course is said to yield a better crop than 
though either was sown separately. Farmers dif- 
OATS, THEIR USE, PRICE, AND CULTURE. 
FACTS ARE FALSE, AND FIGURES LIE. 
Of all the cereals, the oat is, perhaps, the most 
generally cultivated, and the least liable to dis¬ 
ease or injury from insects. It is successfully 
grown throughout a wide range of latitude, endur¬ 
ing almost Siberean cold and tropical heat, — nnd 
on the poorest sandy soil, the stiffest clay, or the 
more genial loam. Though used in this country 
principally for food for the horse and other work¬ 
ing animals, in some parts of the world, as in 
Scotland and in Ireland, it is one of chief articles 
of human food. Scotland is called the “land o’ 
cakes,’ from the fact that cakes of oaten meal 
forms the principal support of her laboring popu¬ 
lation, while the stirabout, which is a thick musli; 
made of this meal, is an every-day dish, both in 
Scotland and Ireland. In various parts of Canada, 
oat-meal is largely manufactured, and is freely 
used by settlers from Europe, and a portion of this 
Canadian meal finds a market in the United States, 
and can be purchased in most of our cities. By 
many, and generally by Europeans, it is preferred 
to the meal from Indian Corn. The principal de¬ 
mand for oats, however, in this country, is to sup¬ 
ply our cities with a nourishing food for horses, 
that will enable them to endure the external hard 
work with which many of the poor animals are 
Tnic r^ni-out fnlsphoflds%ii^; tho v> :idoa<, ci¬ 
ties come to us hacked by the most formidable 
array of “facts and figures.” Statistical people 
are the greatest blunderers. Beware of the man 
who approaches you with a demonstration. Math¬ 
ematics is the parent of moonshine. It comes in 
this wise: Truths are related — they are members 
of a family—stones in an edifice—parts of a whole; 
they should be considered in their relations, con¬ 
nections, and dependencies if you would use them 
for purposes of argument, illustration, or influ¬ 
ence. A fact is a phase of being. It is what you 
find in a particular place at a particular time. If 
you will let it alone, it is a fact—a truth—but you 
harness it to some creed or theory, you consider it 
in its relations to other facts, and you are liable to 
misjudge those relations as a necessary conse¬ 
quence of human ignorance and imperfection. 
This statement has a wide application. 
In politics, if the Currency is the topic, there is 
nothing but Currency —the world’s axis turns upon 
“ Lard money” or soft. History reveals that a na¬ 
tion prospered in the use of paper money—“ don’t 
you see,” says the bank man “ the great fact that 
paper money is the source of national prosperity.” 
The other side hunts up a nation that has pros¬ 
pered on hard money—that settles the question the 
other way. It don’t occur to the contestants that 
the country may have prospered in spite of their 
favorite panacea, just as the man got well not¬ 
withstanding the doctor. Many a balsam has the 
credit of curing, simply because it didn’t kill. 
Among the myriad influences that modify re¬ 
sults, how difficult to assign to each the share 
which belongs to it. I have a profound regard for 
my mother— I think she was right in saying that, 
AMTVR.TCA-n HARVESTER, AS A MOWER 
We take pleasure in giving an illustration and 
description of this valuable machine, which is gain¬ 
ing wide celebrity. It was extensively used in va¬ 
rious parts of the country last season, and so far as 
we are aware, gave very general satisfaction. The 
manufacturers affirm that the marked success of 
this machine at the celebrated Syracuse Trial, in 
1857, was followed by greater successes at various 
trials last season. At the Indiana State Trial, last 
year, the 1st premium for Combined Machine was 
awarded to Kirby’s American Harvester, the 
Judges remarking, in their report, that it was 
beyond all question the lightest draft machine on 
exhibition, the actual draft for mowing being only 
170 lbs. We believe it also received the 1st pre¬ 
mium as a Combined Machine at the Indiana State 
Fair, and as a Reaper at the last New York State 
EYiir—and the same rank at many County Fairs 
and Trials. The above cut represents the American 
Harvester as a Mower, hut we shall hereafter illus- 
strate the machine as a Reaper. 
The following description of the machine, by the 
manufacturers, will give our readers an idea of its 
construction and operation: 
“ It is made entirely of iron, except seat and 
pole, and is consequently very durable. The cast¬ 
ings are made of Salisbury iron, the finger-bars of 
refined wrought scrap, and the bolts of the best 
Norway iron with forged nuts. The linger-bar, 
frame and driving-wheel arc so jointed as to act 
entirely independently, each following the inequali¬ 
ties of the ground, and enabling the machine to do 
good work on very rough ground. It also permits 
the cutters to he set at any desired height, both in 
mowing and reaping,—thus adapting it to all kinds 
of ground and every variety of work. By means of 
a lever the driver can at pleasure elevate either end 
or both ends of the finger-board to pass over ob¬ 
structions, carry his swath, or move from field to 
field. By another lever he can throw the cutters 
out and in gear while the machine is in motion.— 
The driver’s seat is so pivoted over the driving- 
wheel as to take all pressure off the horses’ necks 
and throw the weight upon the wheel. The dri¬ 
ver’s position is both easy and convenient, being 
hack of the cutter-bar where he can keep the work¬ 
ing of the machine constantly under his eye, and 
control its action by means of tho levers within his 
reach,—while the gentle motion of his seat relieves 
him of the weariness of constantly sitting in one 
position. The driving head acts as a balance- 
wheel, does away with the necessity of constantly 
renewing boxes, and enables the operator to chano-e 
THE RURAL SKIES BRIGHTENING! 
thought I saw other reasons than sulphur bearing 
on the case. 
A farmer tries plaster, ashes, guano, or some 
other well known fertilizer, and pronounces it a 
humbug another tries it with very gratifying re¬ 
sults. What makes the difference ? Perhaps one 
tries it a wet season, and the other in a dry one— 
one on clay, and the other on sand—one early and 
the other late—one on corn, and the other on 
wheat—one with the right quantity, and the other 
with the wrong. Gentlemen, you should notice all 
the qualifying circumstances, and in every experi¬ 
ment strive to ascertain the real causes of the re¬ 
sults obtained. 
One man is in love with a particular breed of 
cattle, sheep, or hogs; another condemns it en¬ 
tirely. Their opinons are not to he accepted with¬ 
out their reasons. One markets early, and of 
course requires what will mature early. One feeds 
high, and will be suited with high bred animals; 
another deems it essential that an animal should 
bear grief well. So of variety of grains, fruits, 
and vegetables;—each has its place, and there are 
circumstances in which it will do better than any 
other, and perhaps uses, which it will subserve 
better than any other. 
Moral. —Be careful that your facts are not infer¬ 
ences, and wrong ones at that. Be careful that 
you trace results to their true sources, effects to 
their real causes. Be observing and inquiring 
WHEAT GROWING,-THE MIDGE. &c. 
Eds. Rural :—We are glad to see the wheat 
question occasionally agitated in the Rural, as it 
not only involves a deep interest to the farmers of 
the Middle, but of the Western States, especially 
in the wheat growing sections. The earliest and 
hardiest varieties should be procured, and after we 
are satisfied by experience that we have those 
kinds, the question arises how we shall get rid 
of that pest, the midge. It has been suggested 
(we think in the Rural) whether slaked lime would 
not have a beneficial effect, if sown broadcast on 
the fields when wheat is in the right state for the 
midge. This we think might prove beneficial, but 
the idea is new to us. Will some one who is ex¬ 
perienced, respond through the Rural? —stating 
whether it will injure the crop if sown on when the 
grain is damp or wet, and the quantity of lime per 
acre ? We have a beautiful field of wheat that we 
would like to try the experiment upon, if it will not 
injure tho crop, and then report the result. Al¬ 
though we have escaped tho midge, even the last 
season, whilst others near us met with entire failure, 
we don’t say we farm any better than our neigh¬ 
bors, but we think there is something in farming, 
as well as in the kind of seed we sow. 
We have a variety of Winter wheat which we 
consider better than any kind we have formerly 
grown. We obtained it of a farmer in Schuyler 
county, this State, who called it the “ Favorite.” 
In 1857 we sowed it the 7th of September, and 
harvested the 10th of July last; but as a general 
rule we think it will mature about the 15th of July 
in this section. We would recommend sowing be¬ 
tween the 25th of August and the 8th of Septern- 
tended to.” But when my father justified his 
neglect of the garden, by saying that “ cucumbers 
and cabbage are unhealthy,” she ought not to have 
shut him up by replying—“ the Dutch eat such 
things, are not the Dutch healthy ?” The Dutch 
woman with her ruddy checks, and a bushel of 
potatoes on her head, owes more to her freedom 
from fashionable hours and fashionable food — to 
air and exercise, and uncompressed lungs—than to 
sour krout and boiled cabbage. 
Happily, a spirit of investigation is abroad — it 
pervades even the domain of agriculture — may it 
be thorough and exact. One of my neighbors is 
particular to sow his onions in the old of the moon 
in April. He bears down on all opposition to the 
“ old of the moon,” by showing his onions, which 
are uniformly excellent. Perhaps I may be per¬ 
mitted to add, his ground is excellent, (a sandy 
loam, which has the wash of the barn-yard,) and 
his cultivation is unsurpassed. 
I was looking at a friend’s sheep; they were 
good blood, well formed, and very fat. I praised 
them—he was pleased, and said he would tell me 
“the secret /” ho lowered his voice almost to a 
whisper, (no body was within a half a mile of us,) 
“I feed a little sulphur in their salt,” he said._ 
Now, I guess sulphur is good —I mean bad — for 
the ticks, and for cutaneous diseases, (nobody 
ought to take medicine in health;) but I could not 
help observing, that the pasture was remarkably 
fine, and as the sheep were of good age, and had 
good constitutions, well adapted to laying on fat, I 
rangements for Spring crops, &c.,—the facts and 
logic presented are worthy of special consideration, 
and such action as may be consistent on the part 
of cultivators. After stating that Winter Grain 
generally looks well throughout the country — 
much better than could he expected, considering 
the open winter—and confidently hoping for heavy 
crops of both Wheat and Rye, the Tribune says: 
“ But it must he considered that the general yield 
of Grain last year was a very light one throughout 
the Free States. Wheat did well in the South, as 
did Indian Corn in the North; but the Great West 
—the granary of America, and to some extent of 
Europe also—had a lighter yield per cultivated acre 
than ever before. We estimate the Wheat crop of 
the entire Union at less tliau ten bushels per acre, 
and that of the Free States at less that eight 
bushels. Michigan, Wisconsin and Minnesota had 
the best of it; but even they did not average a 
middling crop of Oats. Hardly a third of a crop 
was realized throughout the country—in the West, 
hardly more than was sown. Indian Corn did bet¬ 
ter—in the North, very well; in the South, mid¬ 
dling well; in the West, there was rather more 
than half a crop, hut not much moro. Iowa had 
probably less; Illinois and Indiana, not much more; 
Ohio, at best, u light yield. Tho aggregate defi- 
Bee Cclturists are referred to an article entitled 
The Apiarians in Convention,” given on page 137 
- fifth page of this number. 
