YOL. I. NO. 39. f 
ROCHESTER, N. Y.- FOR TIE WEEK ENDING SATURDAY, SEPTEMBER 24, 1859. 
) WHOLE NO. 507. 
MOORE’S RURAL NEW-YORKER, 
AN ORIGINAL WEEKLY 
RURAL, LITERARY AND FAMILY NEWSPAPER. 
CONDUCTED BY D. D. T. MOORE, 
With an Able Corps of Assistants and Contributors. 
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the British Provinces, our Canadian agents and friends must 
add 12)4 cents per copy to the club rates of the Rural.— 
The lowest price of copies sent to Europe, <fcc., is only $2,- 
50—including postage. 
Z$7~ All communications, and business letters, should be 
addressed to D. I). T. MOORE, Rochester, N. Y. 
BBSS; 
59® 
IvAoaii 
INQUIRIES AND NOTES. 
Tlie Siplion. 
Havino been a subscriber to your valuaoio paper, 
and never asked any questions, I beg leave now to ask 
a few. Will a siphon work on the following condi¬ 
tionsSuppose a cistern eight feet deep, with a pipe 
from its bottom to within a foot of the surface, of suffi¬ 
cient depth to be safe from frost, and carried a distance 
of eighty feet, in a descent to an outlet six or eight 
inches lower than the bottom of the cistern, will it work 
well? Can it be gauged at its outlet to run a largo or 
small stream, at pleasure ? Will it bo likely to freeze ? 
What kind and size of pipe will be most suitable for 
watering twelve or fifteen head of cattle ?—J. P. Muir, 
Grimsby, G. IF., 1S50. 
The Siphon would work under the circumstan 
ces described. Make the long arm as long as pos¬ 
sible. The only difficulty with the siphon is that 
water contains air, and where the pipe is small 
and long, and the current through it slow, air is 
apt to collect at the highest part of the pipe and 
stop the force of water. We would not use pipe 
with less than one inch bore, and then reduce the 
orifice at the end where it discharges, leaving it 
only as large as required for the wants of the 
cattle. Reducing the pipe at this point causes a 
steady flow of water. Running water will resist 
a good degree of frost, but in extreme weather it 
■would freeze, no doubt, unless well protected. 
Bones fbr Manure. 
Can you, or some of the Rural correspondents, 
inform farmers who have no convenience for grinding 
old bones, how they can render them an available ma¬ 
nure by using sulphuric or some other acid ?—E. W. B., 
Borodino, N. Y., 1859. 
It is difficult to make boues available as manure 
without being pulverized, for sulphuric acid will 
not act efi'ectually on the bones unless they are first 
reduced to almost a powder. Bones can be easily 
reduced to this state by burning, but by this pro¬ 
cess their value is lessened, for nearly one-third of 
the bone is composed of gelatine or glue, which 
decays quickly in the soil, forming ammonia.— 
Before many years we shall doubtless have ma¬ 
chinery for grinding bones in most towns, and 
then farmers will begin to learn the value of bones 
as manure. Perhaps the best way at present is to 
burn the bones and convert the ashes into super¬ 
phosphate of lime, by placing 100 pounds in a 
hogshead, then adding 5)4 gallons of water and 
mixing well, and then 88 pounds of sulphuric acid. 
Stir quickly with a stick, so as to thoroughly mix, 
and it will froth and foam, and soon become too 
thick too move. After a few days it will become 
dry enough to handle. Bones soften by being 
boiled in lye, and boiling in water makes them soft 
while hot, and brittle when cold, when they may 
be broken up with a heavy sledge hammer, and 
used in small pieces. It should be remembered 
that the finer the bone is broken the more rapid 
the decay, and the more immediate the effect. 
I'll at <;li in g. 
Will you, or some of your many correspondents, 
P , P lea8 e give through your columns a minute description 
or directions of the mode of thatching stacks of hay 
and grain, out-buildings, &c., and oblige—A Rural 
P Reader, Crawford Co., Pa., 1859. 
Some of our friends will please give us their 
i ex perience in thatching. The following is the 
1 method recommended by a Western correspondent 
i of the Gardener's Monthly for thatching out-build- 
ings:—“ I have used rye-straw and also what we 
call here ‘slough grass. ’ This latter material is 
very abundant in low prairie lands, and forms a 
cheap, substantial and durable roof for out-build- 
ings, and as timber is scarce, is found to be quite 
an ‘ item ’ in economy. 
In thatching, I nail or spike slats or laths to the 
rafters about one foot apart, allowing the thatch to 
be about three feet long from the band, more or 
less, according to the length of the straw. I then 
prepare the thatch by binding the thatching mate¬ 
rial (the band near the butt) rather loosely in 
bundles about six inches in diameter, and then 
dividing it in the middle with the hands, twisting 
the band, bringing one-half clear over, (see figs. 
Fig. 1. 
Fig. 2. 
Fig. 3. 
1, 2, 3,) so as to form two bundles bound together 
with one band. This plan binds the thatch so 
tightly, that there is no danger of its drawing out, 
and also makes it of a flat shape, so as to lay bet¬ 
ter. In putting it on, lay the thatch on the lath, 
WGT.- j uvv but 
lath or slat, and taking enough straw on one side, 
say the left, for a convenient band, twist it, bring 
it down under and around the lath, and then over 
the thatch, drawing it tight, and adding from the 
right side another portion of straw, twisting as 
before, to make a continuous band; bring it 
under the lath and over the thatch, as before, and 
still adding from each side a portion of the bundle, 
(see fig. 4,) and thus continue until the course is 
ended. There fasten the band as in binding grain. 
Figure 4. 
The first course turn butt downwards, to make the 
eave. For the ridge,—having a lath spiked on 
4op,—separate the thatch in the middle, and stride 
it across, and with a continuous band bind it fast, 
taking care to keep it compact as you proceed. 
Finish by raking well and cutting off the ends at 
the eave.” 
FORAGE AND FERTILIZING PLANTS. 
Perhaps we could not do our readers a better 
service at this time than to call their attention to 
a few forage plants not generally cultivated in this 
country, but which are found valuable in other 
parts of the world, and are at least worthy of a 
trial here. That the man is a great benefactor, 
who can make two blades of grass grow where 
before only one was produced, is become an axiom. 
To accomplish the same result by the introduction 
or dissemination of a new plant, is, of course, 
equally beneficial. 
Lucerne— Medicago Sativa. 
Lucerne has been grown to some extent in this 
country, though not extensively, and cultivators 
differ much in opinion in regard to its value, prob¬ 
ably from difference of treatment, soil, &c. Allen 
says “it is one of the most productive .plants for 
forage ever cultivated,” and we know some who 
would fully endorse this opinion, but it requires a 
rich soil, a dry subsoil, and careful cultivation. 
It is a perennial plant, and may be cut several 
times during the season, and is, therefore, very 
valuable for green fodder, and cases are reported 
in this country where it has produced over six 
tuns of dry feed. Flint says there are fields near 
Boston, in which it is now growing with great 
luxuriance, and giving good crops, the seed of 
which was sown in 1824. From the same author 
we quote the following paragraphs: 
It does not endure a climate as severe as red 
clover, requiring greater heat and sunlight; but 
in a latitude equally suited to both plants it would 
be somewhat difficult to say which should have the 
preference. In some respects it is decidedly supe¬ 
rior, as in being perennial, and consequently 
remaining long in the soil. Lucerne sends down 
its tap roots in mellow soils, to enormous depths, 
having been found in sandy soils thirteen feet in 
length. The leaflets are in threes, obovate, ob¬ 
long, toothed, the flowers pale blue, violet, or 
purple, the fruit in downy pods, having tiro or 
three twirls. 
The cultivation of lucerne is somewhat more 
difficult than that of clover for the first year, re¬ 
quiring a soil thoroughly mellowed and prepared 
by clean and careful tillage; and the want of 
proper attention to this point has led to partial 
failures in the attempts to raise it in this country. 
It suffers and languishes in compact clay soils, 
and does not flourish iu ligiit soils lying over an 
impermeable subsoil, which prevents the water 
from running off. It will never succeed well on 
thin soils. But in a permeable subsoil, consisting 
of loam, or sand or gravel, its roots can penetrate 
to great depths, and being nearly destitute of 
lateral shoots, provided with numerous fibrous 
rootlets, or radical off-shoots, imbibe their moist¬ 
ure and nutriment in layers of soil far below the 
average of other plants. In this respect it difiers 
materially from clover, t or lucerne, a suitable 
subsoil is of the utmost consequence. For the 
short lived red clover, a suitable surface soil is 
more important; a want of care and deep tillage, 
especially a neglect to break through and loosen 
up the hard-pan wherever it exists, will inevitably 
lead to failure with lucerne. But when the soil is 
suitable, it will produce good and very profitable 
crops for from five to ten or twelve years, and, of 
course, it does not belong in the system of short 
rotations. 
But notwithstanding tbr^| ,rge quantity of suc¬ 
culent forage it produces, to ameliorate 
“"d to ex hau 8 l U. 
Ihis apparent anoma^T. is e^Tlauicu vy me iaci 
that all leguminous, broad leaved plants derive a 
large proportion of their nutritive materials from 
the atmosphere, and that a vast quantity of roots 
are left to decay in the soil when it is at last broken 
up, varying, of course, with the length of time 
the plant continues in the soil, while the luxuriant 
foliage serves to shade the soil and thus to in¬ 
crease its fertility. Much of this rich foliage is 
scattered and left to decay, as is the case with all 
similar plants at the time of harvesting, and the 
growth of the aftermath is also usually very con¬ 
siderable. The fact that it actually increases the 
fertility of the soil for other plants, has often been 
proved and may be regarded as fully established. 
A soil which would bear only a medium crop of 
wheat at first, produced a greatly increased quan¬ 
tity after being laid down to lucerne a few years 
till its roots had enriched the soil. 
Lucerne is cultivated in Chili and grows wild in 
the utmost luxuriance in the pampas of Buenos 
Ayres, where it is called Alfalfa, which is simply 
the common lucerne, slightly modified by climate, 
and may be regarded as a variety. 
The seed of lucerne, when fresh and good, is 
yellow, glossy and heavy. If the seeds are white, 
it is an indication that they are not ripe. If they 
are brown, we may infer that they have been sub¬ 
jected to too strong a heat to separate them from 
their husks. In either of these cases, it is not safe 
to purchase or to rely upon them. The same may 
be said of clover, and it is desirable to try them by 
a simple method which will be indicated hereafter 
in speaking of the selection of seed. As the seeds 
of lucerne are somewhat larger than clover seed 
and the plant tillers less, it is necessary to sow a 
larger quantity per acre. It may be sown in the 
spring along with grain crops, as clover often is, 
and not a very large crop should be expected the 
first year. 
When properly managed, the number of cattle 
which can be kept in good condition on an acre of 
lucerne, during the whole season, exceeds belief. 
It is no sooner mown than it pushes out fresh 
shoots; and wonderful as the growth of clover 
sometimes is, in a field that has been lately mown, 
that of lucerne is far more rapid. Lucerne will 
last for many years, shooting its roots—tough and 
fibrous almost as those of liquorice — downwards 
for nourishment, till they are altogether out of the 
reach of drouth. In the dryest and most sultry 
weather, when every blade of grass droops for 
want of moisture, lucerne holds up its stem, fresh 
and green, as in the genial spring. 
I am convinced, also, that the failures of attempts 
to cultivate lucerne with us may be ascribed, in 
nearly every instance, to an improper selectiqn of 
soils, and am inclined to think that a more accu¬ 
rate knowledge of the plant and a more careful 
observation of its habits of growth would lead to 
its more general adoption as an economical forage 
plant. 
I have procured fine specimens of lucerne in 
various parts of this State, where it is very suc¬ 
cessfully cultivated, but on too limited a scale to 
determine its comparative value as a farm crop. 
Spurry — Spergula Arvensis. 
Spurry is an annual plant, and its character is 
so well shown in the engraving that it will need no 
description. This plant is somewhat grown in 
France, but more so in Russia, where it is exten¬ 
sively grown for green fodder and hay. Its prin¬ 
cipal use in England is in enriching soils too poor 
to produce clover. There are no soils so poor as 
not to grow spurry well, and as it is ready to turn 
under in eight weeks, or for pasture in six weeks, 
the most barren soils can be very rapidly improved 
SPURRY in flower. 
by its use. Van Voght says, “it is better than 
red or white clover, the cows give more and better 
milk when fed on it, and it improves the land in an 
extraordinary degree. If the land is to lie several 
years in pasture, white clover should be sown with 
it. When sown in the middle of April it is ripe 
for pasture by the end of May. If eaten oft' in 
June the land is turned flat and another crop is 
sown which affords fine pasture in August and 
September. This operation is equivalent to a 
dressing of ten loads of manure per acre. The 
blessing of Spurry, the clover of sandy lands, is 
incredible when rightly employed. By alternat¬ 
ing these crops with rye, it will reclaim the worst 
lands, and yield nearly the same benefits if pas¬ 
tured off by cattle, while it adds materially to the 
advantages of other manures applied at the same 
time.” When we have seen clover fields, half 
bare, particularly on the more sandy knolls, be¬ 
cause the clover would not “ catch" on account of 
the poverty of the soil, we have often wished that 
Spurry might be tried as a fertilizer. For the 
worn-out lands of the South, we think it would be 
valuable. 
White Lupine. 
The White Lupine is not grown in this country 
as a field crop, that we are aware of, but like the 
Spurry, we think it might be introduced to advan¬ 
tage. It is much grown in the South of Europe, 
on fallows, to be plowed in when in flower and 
green. It derives its name from lupus, a wolf, in 
allusion to its voracious qualities; that is to say, 
it exhausts land rapidly of its alkaline constitu¬ 
ents. This very circumstance, however, renders 
it peculiarly useful for the agricultural purpose to 
which it is applied. Its long tap-roots strike deep 
into the ground, take up whatever they find there, 
and hence, when the plant is restored to the 
ground, the alkaline matters absorbed are left near 
the surface, instead of being buried where shallow 
rooting crops cannot find them. It, moreover, 
produces a very considerable quantity of mere 
vegetable matter, the decay of which adds to the 
fertility of the soil. The bitter seeds are of little 
value. Near Paris this crop is not sown earlier 
than the middle of April; it is, in fact, incapable 
of bearing frost; the periods of sowing must there¬ 
fore he necessarily regulated by the climate of the 
country. According to M. Yilmorin, the green 
manure yielded by the plant is excellent. The 
seeds, soaked in water, form a good cattle food; 
and the young plant is readily eaten hy sheep. 
One of the chief advantages of its cultivation con¬ 
sists in its thriving upon very bad land, such as 
sandy gravels, and thin clays, upon which it pro¬ 
duces a very profitable effect. 
“WHAT KILLS THE BEES V’ 
BY PROF. KIRTLAND. 
Messrs. Editors. —This question is an important 
one tojjthe practical "apiarian. During the winter 
season he is liable to heavy losses through the 
operation of several causes. The answer furnished 
by J. J., in the Rural of the 2d inst., is satisfac¬ 
tory, so far as it goes, but as he has substituted an 
effect for the cause, he leaves unexplained the re¬ 
mote, or antecedent cause. 
What insidiously reduces the numbers of a rich 
and previously numerous colony of bees and 
brings them, at the approach of winter, into a 
condition in which they will perish from cold and 
starvation, in the manner explained in the com¬ 
munication of J. J.? In some instances this may 
be effected by the loss of a queen. Late and small 
swarms are liable to die of starvation, and the im¬ 
pression of cold, but they are not surrounded with 
an abundance of stores as was the case with the 
stocks of R. S., of Wes'eysville. 
During the early days of bee-culture in Ohio, 
before the intrusion of the moth, a German re¬ 
marked to me, that in autumn he killed, not only 
his weak and superannuated colonies, but likewise 
all those which abounded with an excess of honey. 
Surprised at the latter clause of his assertion, I 
oa motive for thus doinar. re¬ 
plied that, ‘(Fat sheep and fat nee colonies of 
autumn are certain to die before spring.” Ex¬ 
perience and observation have convinced me of the 
truth of his assertion, but the rationale of it, was, 
for a long time, not as clear, till it was subse¬ 
quently explained hy Mr. R. C. Otis of Wisconsin. 
To many it may still seem a paradox, after his ex¬ 
planation is given, yet, there is no doubt of its 
correctness. 
Many a colony of bees perishes from an excess of 
prosperity. This insect is one of the most avari¬ 
cious of animated beiDgs, and never fails to im¬ 
prove an occasion to collect the largest quantity of 
honey possible. During seasons peculiarly favor¬ 
able, its avidity to accumulate prompts it to fill 
every cell of the combs with honey and bee-bread, 
and under such circumstances it frequently occu¬ 
pies all of the workers’ cells, and leaves none for 
breeding purposes. Of course, few eggs are laid 
by the queen, and the necessary recruits of young 
brood are not produced to supply the rapid 
diminution of that variety, which takes place at 
the close of the season. The approach of winter 
finds the colony reduced in numbers, exhausted in 
strength, and in a condition to perish in the man¬ 
ner explained by J. J. 
Your readers will no doubt request the sugges¬ 
tion of a remedy to counteract, in its approach, 
such an unfavorable result. Permit me to antici¬ 
pate their request, and point out the only available 
method of saving such degenerating colonies.— 
In the first place, to insure complete success in 
managing bees, it becomes necessary to employ 
some plan of a hive which will give entire com¬ 
mand over its internal structure and its contents, 
and bring them under the inspection of the eye, 
and within reach of our fingers. Any hive which 
affords these facilities is well advanced towards 
perfection in its model. All others, which lack 
in these particulars, should be rejected as incom¬ 
plete, however favorable they may appear, in 
other points of view. Langstroth’s I prefer to all 
others. Having our bees thus arranged we are 
able at any time to ascertain their exact condition. 
The attentive apiarian will ever keep himself ap¬ 
prized of it. If, during the period of honey 
gathering, he finds the cells too much infringed 
upon by deposition of honey, he should at once 
transfer two or more of the cards of comb thus 
filled, into the upper story of the hive — an act 
which, of course, requires those cards to be mov¬ 
able, and that he should have perfect control over 
the bee-hives and comb. The places thus vacated 
must be supplied with empty frames, in which the 
tenants of the hive will at once commence build¬ 
ing new comb, some portions of which the queen 
will occupy with her eggs. But so great will be 
the avidity of the workers for accumulating stores, 
that they will sometimes destroy those eggs and 
persist in filling their places with honey, in the 
newly formed combs. 
This avaricious tendency may be entirely cor¬ 
rected by commencing early in the spring and 
taking away all supplies of surplus honey, and 
supplying boxes or frames in the upper story for 
receiving the surplus which shall be collected du¬ 
ring the progress of the season. This course will 
leave the combs in the lower story vacant for the 
I 
