-jrrv, ////. h/ul mot 
j/r/M/mMMimnb 
iwmi/f/ui/nu HlllWMwnnt ..... ' M*. ,..t... v.L . ., . - ’-... ..... 
.•«*v**i* ssc „j&n 
LS^CMliWMM^I 11 ''~ ~ .' '■> 
, ,v}n 
v/wm/mumum » wmv»m\\\\\m\~s,^.v 
jULiSWSH 
MOORE’S RURAL NEW-YORKER, 
AN ORIGINAL WEEKLY 
J RURAL, LITERARY AND FAMILY NEWSPAPER. 
i 
CONDUCTED BY D. D. T. MOORE, 
j With an Able Corps of Assistants and Contributors. 
TERMS, IiST ADVANCE : 
Two Dollars a Year —tl for six months. To Clubs 
I and Agents as follows:—Three Copies one year, for $5; Six, 
j and one free to club agent, for $10; Ten, and one free, for 
; $15; Sixteen, and one free, for $22; Twenty, and one free, 
I for $26; Thirty-two, and two free, for $10, (or Thirty for 
j $37,50,) and any greater number at same rate —only $1,25 
I per copy —with an extra copy for every Ten Subscribers 
I over Thirty. Club papers sent to different Post-offices, if de- 
j sired. As we pre-pay American postage on papers sent to 
! ‘*he Ilritish Provinces, our Canadian agents and friends must 
add 12K cents per copy to the club rates of the Rural.— 
The lowest price of copies sent to Europe, 4c., is only $2,- 
50—including postage. 
— 
83?" All communications, and business letters, should be 
addressed to D. D. T. MOORE, Rochester, N. Y. 
HARVESTING CORN, &c. 
Corn, Beans and Potatoes are the principal 
. •$**'-*►*'-4*"I 
c R|ps that now remain to be harvested. A tew 
> Decks since we .crave the best methods of harvest- 
mg beans, so jfar as we have learned it from 
■oservation and experience, for 'we have spoiled 
* great many by bad weather and bad manage¬ 
ment at harvest. As this is a matter of a good 
deal of importance, now that this crop is being 
pretty largely cultivated, and is not very well 
understood, we ask any of our readers who may 
have been successful, or who may know of a better 
plan than that recommended, to give us the benefit 
of their experience. 
The large potato growers we know are looking 
anxiously for a machine that will dig potatoes by 
horse power, but though we have seen several, 
and have endeavored to use some of them, we 
know of none that we can now recommend for 
this purpose. We saw half-a-dozen, perhaps, at 
the last State Fair, but of the working of most of 
them we have seen nothing, nor have we received 
any lavorable reports. Digging forty or fifty 
acres of potatoes with the hoe, fork, or potato- 
hook, is a slow, tedious, and expensive operation, 
and there is a great necessity for a cheaper and 
more speedy way. Improvements have been made 
on some of the patent “potato diggers,” during 
the past season, and they will be exhibited, no 
doubt, in largo numbers at our State Fair at 
Albany, and at other Fairs. Committees, before 
awarding a premium to any, we hope will de¬ 
mand a trial in the field, the same as with reapers 
and mowers. 
In this climate, and in fact in all the Northern 
States, the whole of a fair season is required to 
ripen corn, and it is often injured by the late 
frosts of Spring and the early frosts of Autumn. 
The ripening of corn may be hastened by cutting 
oil' the tops above the ears, but we have no doubt 
this earlier ripening is obtained at the expense of 
the crop. Many of the leaves that prepare the 
crude sap that passes up the stalk for making 
corn, are above the ears, and the removal of any 
large portion of these before the ears are perfectly 
formed, deprives them of their nourishment and 
detracts from their value. Sometimes, however, 
where corn is late and frost almost certain before 
ripening, it may be good economy. Removing 
the tassel only might hasten ripening a little, 
without any injury. 
When the season will permit, there is no better 
way for the grain than allowing the corn to grow 
unmolested until fully ripe. The stalks by this 
method are of less value than if cut earlier at the 
root and placed in stooks, but no doubt more is 
gained in grain than is lost in value of stalks. As 
a general rule, however, we think the best way is 
to cut the corn at the surface of the ground when 
the grain has become glazed, or hard upon the 
outside, and put it immediately into stooks, where 
the grain will ripen off well and the stalks will 
cure finely. By this plan the grain is in a great 
measure protected from early frosts, and it no 
doubt appropriates to its use a portion of the 
sap already in the plapj, and some even contend 
that the plant absorbs nutriment from the atmos¬ 
phere to aid in the perfection of the grain. 
The time of cutting corn is a matter of great 
importance. If cut too early shrinkage is the 
consequence, and it loses weight and nutrition, 
and if allowed to remain in the ground until after 
frost, unless fully ripe, the sap becomes vitiated, 
and great loss of both grain and stalks is the 
effect. It is better to cut too early than to run 
too great a risk; and where appearances indicate 
severe weather, harvesting should commence. Wo 
allude to this subject only to give a few practical 
hints, and our correspondents can write on no 
more useful subjects at this time than the best 
means of securing the crops that remain to be 
harvested. 
YOU’RE GOING, OF COURSE. 
“ Going where ? ” Why, to the Fair. Septem¬ 
ber is with us once again, and the season of Agri¬ 
cultural Exhibitions has fully set in. Years ago 
we asked if you were ready — if the stock was in 
condition to be looked at and admired— if you 
were not possessed of the best samples of grain and 
roots in the country, and intended to take “First 
Premiums” for the same—if the “better-half” had 
not completed such specimens of her handiwork 
as would make the hungry crowd look with long¬ 
ing eyes, and such “comfortables ” as would com¬ 
pel bachelordom to envy your happy possession, 
and drive them to—matrimony. But the day for 
such a query is over; you acknowledge the utility 
of these annual gatherings, and we take it for 
granted that you will be there—the toys expect it, 
and you’re going, of course. 
“What’s the use? I’ve been there time and 
again, and all is hurly-burly. I could never get 
any good, and don’t believe I ever benefited any 
one by my presence,” remarks my left-hand neigh¬ 
bor. Then you are the very individual that needs 
io go once more, and whe^ you do, just alter your 
usual mode of procedure ton such occasions. .We 
write if your mode, for if your statement be not at 
variance with fact, the evil} lies at your own door. 
If there is one place more than another at which 
the farmer may drink from the fount of agricultural 
knowledge, and one period possessing superior 
advantages, that place is at your County Fair, and 
that time during any of these Farmers’ Holidays. 
It is the duty of the farmer to create a desire for 
investing his nome Exhibition with those features 
that will aid in the promotion of its interests, and 
will redound to the welfare of the section which 
claims him as a resident, and he cannot perform 
this duty acceptably as long as he deprives the 
Society of the influence exerted by his presence. 
In addition to being there himself, the family 
have “ rights” which should be recognized. The 
household need relaxation from every-day cares, 
and such opportunity for recreation as the occa¬ 
sion affords. If the “head” never received any 
valuable information, who can say but the per¬ 
ceptive organs of the wife are better developed, 
and that her bump of acquisitiveness will appro¬ 
priate an idea worth many dollars to the domestic 
circle in coming time. A nice roll of butter, a 
loaf of excellent bread, or any of the et ceteras so 
dexterously produced by female fingers, are 
wonderfully promotive of a healthy ambition, and 
your wife and daughters will soon be rivaling 
those who bore away the prize. 
Having made a special plea for the “ last best 
gift,” we can’t pass over the boys. That would 
never answer, as we have a good deal of youthful 
blood in our veins, though somo ill-disposed per¬ 
sons contend that the indications of age are plainly 
observable. No, we will not forget those who are 
to be the farmers of the future, and if the father 
overlooks their title to recognition on these partic¬ 
ular occasions, we hold ourselves iu readiness to 
get up a revolution. What has your son to bring 
forward as the result of his toil and care? Has 
he had a spot of ground on which to expend his 
energies in the development of any product ? Did 
you give him a colt or a yoke of steers to train 
and “ educate for good?” If there is something 
on the farm known as “ his,” then we say ’tis well; 
but if not, you are behind the times, and the 
sooner you get steam up and propel, the better. 
Where boys are thus led to take an interest in 
things around them, we seldom, very seldom,- hear 
of’their forsaking the “homestead” and seeking 
a livelihood amid the artificialities of city life. 
Boys that are rightly used, will, nine times out of 
ten, stick to the farm; it is those who are abused 
that leave the spot which to them was a home 
only in name. The agriculturist whose lads per¬ 
form any of the labors of the farm, and who does 
not give to them something as a return therefor, 
something to call forth energies that would other¬ 
wise remain latent—bands that unite the young 
heart to the interests of the hearthstone—commits 
not only a grievous error but wrongs his children. 
As the propriety and utility of attending our 
Agricultural Exhibitions have been admitted, a few 
words relative to a course of action upon the 
grounds may prove practical, at least to that class 
who “have never been benefited.” With the 
majority of our shows, it is utterly futile to at¬ 
tempt obtaining a view of all there is to be seen. 
He who makes this experiment, sees nothing, 
hears nothing, and knows nothing, compared with 
what be might see, hear, and learn, if he devoted 
the greater portion of his time to some specialty. 
Passing through the varied departments with a 
rush, the glance can be but superficial, and the 
information acquired imperfect. Before setting 
out, just look over the farm and find out in what 
particular branch a change for the better is most 
needed. If defects are mos*. apparent among the 
stock, scrutinize very closely the animals upen 
exhibition, and find out all that is possible in 
regard to blood, rearing and keeping; if in grain, 
look well at the samples'~offered in competition 
and ascertain varieties, modes of culture, yield, 
period of ripening, hardiness, enemies, etc. Thus 
passing away the time, ami interchanging expe¬ 
riences frankly and fully, a thousand-fold of good 
may be acquired, and the County Fairs will attain 
the position they ought to occupy, becoming ave¬ 
nues of intelligence for those whose interests they 
were intended to protected advance. 
ICE-HOUSES. 
In previous years we have given directions 
for building Ice-Houses and keeping ice, but 
there is still a great demand for information 
on the subject from the thousands who have be¬ 
come readers of the Rural, within the past year 
or two. We are therefore constrained to give full 
information on this subject, and in doing so we 
shall give some things that have heretofore ap¬ 
peared in our columns. t 
, It would b e use le-sfc to talk of ice as 
luxury, < - i JCCOI ,, c . 
worth moreJBpHd^^^}o;the table, than two 
pounds of w y/ „ ^ sr'-ch as those have to 
content themselves w th whoj cannot procure ice. 
Then there is nothing more refreshing of a warm 
day than a glass of ice water. It also enables us 
to preserve meats, &c., from becoming injured in 
the warmest weather, giving us iu the ice-house 
the temperature of the frozen regions, while with¬ 
out we are enduring aa almost tropical heat. This 
catching and imprisoning Jack Frost, and com¬ 
pelling him to do us good service in hot weather, 
is a grand idea. If left in freedom he would leave 
us at the time his services were needed, and the 
only time when his company is particularly agreea¬ 
ble. To answer some inquiries as to the surest and 
cheapest method of keeping him with us all the 
summer, is our present object. Those who live in 
cities or large villages ctu generally procure ice 
from the dea'ers who savp it in large quantities, 
in supply every day silicieut for family use, at 
from $3 to $10 the seasiq, according to the quan¬ 
tity used. This is of coirse the cheapest way of 
obtaining ice, but farmed are compelled to save 
their own or do withoutit. As a store-room for 
meat and other perish.ble provisions, the ice¬ 
house i3 of great value i>|the farmer. 
BuildiDg a house forpreserving ice is a very 
simple work, and yet thre are a few important 
facts that all should lean before commencing, or 
their labor may be in van. We shall endeavor 
briefly and plainly to poi t out the most important 
of these. Damp and eat are the two great 
agents of thawing, and .he first endeavor must 
be to counteract theseby every means in our 
power. For the first, vetilation is necessary, and 
for the latter, the mostion-conducting material 
available must be usedfor the house. The old 
plan of building ice-hoses under ground was 
bad, as it was almost impossible to secure good 
drainage and sufficient entilation to arrest the 
dampness which is sun to exist in all under¬ 
ground rooms or houJes Then the ground is too 
good a conductor olhoit, and communicates its 
heat very readily to filer bodies, much more so 
than even the air. i 
The best PLACEjor an ice-house is above 
ground, on a gravelljsubsoil, where good, natural 
drainage can be hacko that the water that forms 
as the ice melts w pass off freely. The best 
material is wood, Ough brick is good enough 
where it can be obtaed more readily than wood. 
The walls should made double, by boarding 
both on the outsid-ind inside of the frame tim¬ 
bers. The space hween the inside and outside 
boards should be fiid with some non-conducting 
material. Charcoilust is an excellent non-con¬ 
ductor; dry tan-bs, or sawdust, will do very 
well, and if neith of these can be procured, 
straw will answer very good purpose. Where 
the natural draina is not first-rate, drains must 
be dug and filled iwith stones. If left open the 
cold air will pass trough them very freely, and 
its place be supped by warm air from above. 
Ice keeps best barge masses, and for several 
reasons. In a lai> body there is much less sur¬ 
face exposed in pportion to the whole. Melting 
ICF-UOUSIU— ELEVATION. 
ice absorbs and renders latent a large amount of 
heat, so that the thawing of a part helps preserve 
that which remains. Those who have built ice¬ 
houses that failed to furnish a supply all the 
summer, will find that by simply enlarging the 
house say one-third, the additional quantity of ice 
will be preserved, unless there is some radical 
defect in its construction, of which they can judge 
on reading the principles we have presented. A 
house twelve feet each way on the g round, and 
, eiRht oi ten feet high,.is largeienough for any 
family, and even ror twpi or thtjeo families, and 
yet it is as small as we would recommend any one 
to build, as the cost and trouble i ,4 but little more 
than for a house just large enough, and the supply 
is certain. 
Where the drainage is good a board floor is not 
necessary, and we think they are not used in any 
of our large ice-houses, though in most cases it 
would be best to lay down a loose floor a few 
inches from the surface of the ground. If a 
quantity of brush was first laid down and covered 
with straw, and the floor put over this, it would 
make the work complete. If a board floor is not 
used, there should be at least a foot or eighteen 
inches of straw, but a few inches on the boards 
will be sufficient. The ice made in the early part 
of the winter, and that which has been subjected 
to no change from freezeing to thawing, is the best. 
It should be sawed out in square cakes as uniform 
in size and thickness as possible. All snow, and 
ice formed from half-melted snow, should be re¬ 
jected, as ii will not keep. After one layer is put 
down, the crevices should be filled with pounded 
ice, and this should be continued until the house 
is filled, when the whole will freeze into a solid 
mass. A few inches of straw should be placed 
between the walls of the house and the ice, and 
this should be done while the house is being filled. 
Then cover the whole with a foot or so of straw, 
and the work is done. An opening must be made 
in the roof for ventilation. 
For the sake of convenience, the ice-house should 
be near the dwelling, and where desirable it .may 
be made quite ornamental at a very little expense. 
In this connection we give a plan of a very pretty 
house built by Lewis F. Allen, of Buffalo. The 
posts of this house, it will be seen by the plan, are 
on the outside. This makes a very strong build¬ 
ing. When the boards are nailed outside of the 
posts, they sometimes burst off, particularly when 
filled with any fine material, like charcoal or tan- 
bark. The following is Mr. A.’s description of the 
manner of building his house: 
“Mark out your ground the size you require for 
the house; then, commencing at the one corner, 
dig, opposite each other, a double set of holes, one 
foot deep, and two and a half feet apart, on each 
side of the intended building, say three feet equi¬ 
distant, so that when the posts stand up they will 
present a double set, one and a half feet apart.— 
Then set in your posts, which should be of oak, 
chestnut, or some lasting wood, and pack the earth 
firmly around them. If the posts are sawed, they 
may be 4 by 6 inches in size, set edgeways towards 
each other. If not sawed, they may be round 
sticks cut from the woods, or split from the body 
of a tree, quartered — but sizable, so as to appear 
decent—and the insides facing each other as they 
stand up, lined to a surface to receive the plank¬ 
ing. Of course, when the posts are set in the 
ground, they are to show a square form, or skele¬ 
ton of what the building is to be when completed. 
When this is done, square off the top of each post 
to a level, all around; then frame, or spike on to 
each line of posts a plate, say six inches wide, and 
stay the two plates together strongly, so as to form 
a double frame. Now plank, or board up closely, 
the inside of each line of posts, that the space be¬ 
tween them shall be a fair surface. Cut out, or 
leave out a space for a door in the centre of the 
side where you want it, two and a half or three 
feet wide, and six and a half feet high, and board 
up the inner partition sides of this opening, so as 
to form a door-casing on each side, that the space 
between the two lines of posts maybe a continuous 
box all around. Then fill up this space between 
the posts with moist tan-bark, or saw-dust, well 
packed from the ground up to the plates; and the 
body of the hou.;e is inc' ^seci, "ur-pvoof and Yrr- 
proo'f, to guard the ice. ( 
Now lay down, inside the building, seme sticks 
— not much matter what, so that they be levdj_ 
and on them lay loose planks or boards, for a floor. 
Cover this floor with a coating of straw, a foot 
thick, and it is ready to receive the ice. 
For the roof, take common 3 by 4 joists, as raf¬ 
ters ; or in place of them, poles from the woods, 
long enough, in a pitch of 35° from a horizontal 
line, to carry the roof at least four feet over the 
outsides of the plates, and secure the rafters well, 
by pins or spikes, to them. Then board over and 
shingle it, leaving a small aperture at the top, 
through which run a small pipe, say eight inches 
in diameter—a stove crock will do—for a ventila¬ 
tor. Then set in four posts, say two feet high—as 
in the design—throw a little four-sided, pointed 
cap on to the top of these posts, and the roof is 
done. If you want to ornament the under side of 
the roof, in a rude way—and we would advise it— 
take some pieces of 3 by 4 scantling, such as were 
used for the roof, if the posts are sawed stud'— if 
not, rough limbs of trees from the woods, to match 
the rough posts of the same kind, and fasten them 
to the posts and the under side of the roof, by way 
of brackets, as in the design.” 
Very Cheap Ice-House. —A subscriber of Rock- 
ffird, Illinois, sends us the following plan for a 
cheap Ice-House:—“ For the benefit of those who 
wish to enjoy a little cool luxury during loDg, hot 
summer days, I send you the plan of a cheap Ice- 
Ilouse in which I kept ice from February to Octo¬ 
ber, using from it every day after warm weather 
commenced. Nailed up a pen, 10 by 12 feet, four 
feet on the ends, seven feet on the sides, leaving 
the gable ends open—the ground descended about 
one foot in twelve—filled in saw-dust about six or 
eight inches deep—sawed the ice as square as pos¬ 
sible with a cross-cut saw, and packed it in, leav¬ 
ing a space of a foot on the sides all around. 
Pounded the cracks between the ice full of fine 
ice; filled the space around with saw-dust, stamp¬ 
ing it down so as to make it close as possible; then , 
covered the whole 12 or 15 inches deep with saw¬ 
dust and put on the roof. After warm weather 
commenced I generally went over it once a week 
to see if there was any melting; if there was I 
pounded the place full of saw-dust. This house 
will hold from 2j.£ to 3 % cords. If it is allowed to 
freeze solid, more will he wasted than used. I 
have tried that plan, but if left as it is packed you 
can roll out a block and saw oft' with a hand saw 
as much as is wished.” 
A friend in Seneca Falls writes—“We have kept 
ice for two seasons past in our wagon-house, taking 
up the floor in one corner and making what you , 
might call a large bin, about nine feet square, 
extending from the ground up to near the chamber 
floor, but not quite, leaving room for a free circu¬ 
lation of air above the covering of the ice and the 
floor overhead. 
There was slope enough to the bottom for thor- 1 
ough drainage, which is an important matter, in < 
my opinion, as well as the open space above. We 
placed in the bottom about a foot thick of saw-dus 4 
and turner’s shavings, then some loose boards for J 
[SINGLE ISTO. FOUR CENTS. 
TWO DOLLARS YY YEAR.] 
Y0L. X. X0. 36. f 
ROCHESTER, N. Y.-F0R THE WEEK ENDING SATURDAY, SEPTEMBER 3, 1859. 
i WHOLE NO. 504. 
