RURAL LJF£ 
ffERAT_UR£,^il 
r mm: 
MOORE’S RURAL NEW-YORKER, 
of care in 
securing corn-fodder—if self-preserva¬ 
tion will not compel the grower to give all the 
required preparation, we are not aware of any 
“higher law” that will furnish essential aid in 
enforcing the claims of those interested. 
Th o potatoes are to be dug and housed the present 
month. After all the care and labor devoted to this 
crop during the months of development, it is to 
be hoped that in the last duties connected there¬ 
with, a laxity of watchfulness will not be permitted 
to creep in. If the “rot” does not make its ap¬ 
pearance, and opportunity is offered forgathering 
under favorable circumstances, 
much reduced. Ordinarily, it is probably 
best to perform the operation early-in the 
day, when the animal is in cool blood, and 
in seasons of the year when flies are not 
over-abundant. The cruelty of the thing 
is too trifling to mention. Still, if no 
good follows the practice, it were better to 
omit it. But upon this point, something 
more will be needed to satisfy my mind 
than the dogmatic declaration of any one 
writer, however distinguished. I have al¬ 
ways supposed that it was a preventive of 
horn-ail; and as a remedy for the disease 
I "'hen it was already seated, it has seemed 
evident and marked. But according to Dr. 
Dadd, it was all an illusion ! 
I have seen cattle in neighbors’ fields 
with a hard, round roll or twist of hair in 
the centre of the brush,— their tails having 
never been cut,— and have ached to apply 
the knife, so sure was I that it would afford 
to the system a needed relief, and give 
to the outer coat of the animals a gloss 
that it probably lacked. I once purchased 
a pair of oxen in the month of August.— 
At the first glance, I saw that they were 
not thriving very well, though they were 
in good pasture. The eye was a little 
heavy, and the hair was rough and dull, 
and lacked that gloss and appearance of 
life which it ought to have. I. 
thought I did, the diflicub v; and 
( AN ORIGINAL WKEKLT 
RURAL, LITERARY AND FAMILY NEWSPAPER 
CONDUCTED BY D. D. T. MOORE, 
"With an Able Corps of Assistants and Contributors. 
If ' "f 
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 devotes 
his personal attention to the supervision of its various de¬ 
partments, 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, 
Educational, Literary and News Matter, interspersed with 
appropriate and beautiful Engravings, than any other jour- 
ntd. rendering it the most complete Agricultural, Lit¬ 
erary and Family Newspaper in America. 
, all things over 
which the farmer lias control should be properly 
prepared. Every opening likely to admit frost 
must be closed. Jack is well known to be a “great 1 
insinuator,” and if the most minute avenue is left 
unguarded, the cellar will soon give ample proof 
of his visits. 
I ear after year the caution against standing 
water upon the wheat fields is issued by the Agri¬ 
cultural Press. “ Hope deferred maketh the heart 
sickbut we earnestly desire to see the day when 
the thousands of miles of tile and other drains will 
render unnecessary any such word of counsel, in 
our own State, at least. A special attention to 
this matter will pay large dividends, and winter- 
killed wheat would become almost a myth if drain- 
iDg ieceived a tithe of what the system merits. 
Amid all the calls that are made upon your time 
and exertions, don’t let us hear any emanating 
from the domicil of the porkers. There is neither 
music nor poetry in such sounds, and, viewed in,- 
more practical light, very li^*~ *•*“— ( 1S 
nn V>~—*;«-» 10 ‘atnooc. nnf j ^ho ever noted a sin¬ 
gle instance of passivity in a half-starved speci¬ 
men of the genus under consideration ? We have 
heard and read of “educated hogs”—and we have 
seen a few—but not one was so thoroughly im¬ 
bued with a disciplinary spirit as to resist the 
clamorings of an empty stomach. 
When all the peculiar demands of the season are 
attended to and completed,— when the “painted 
month,” is numbered with the past,— when the 
“bright colors in which everything green loves 
to die,” have disappeared,— when a new year is 
hidden along the boughs, and another summer is 
nestled amid the falling leaves and faded flowers, 
what a glorious field of observation is opened to 
the gaze of the ardent cultivator. Wait not for 
the “ days of great things,”— the least of Nature’s 
children are deserving notice from the most tower¬ 
ing intellect, and worthy theintensest study. ’Tis 
the “vaulting ambition that o’er leaps itself,” and 
he who waits for brilliant opportunities is the 
drone in the great hive of humanity. The follow¬ 
ing, which we extract from the London Gardener's 
Chronicle, is to the point:—“Mr. Nockolds, at the 
late meeting of the Farmers’ Club, said that the 
power of observing and recording facts and phe¬ 
nomena was a most valuable portion of a farmer’s 
education. He remembered that when he quitted 
school, and was placed to learn his business, his 
master would, as opportunities occurred, point out 
particular trees, explain their distinctive charac¬ 
teristics, the purposes to which the timber might 
be applied, and make other observations, relative 
to familiar objects, which he could not fail to 
treasure up in his mind; and he believed that he 
had acquired more information by these practical 
means than he could have done by any amount of 
mere theoretical teaching. He had two sisters, 
who exerted a sort of double Queen Victoria power 
over him. They were very clever, and were well 
versed in chronology, from the days of Adam down 
to the present time. In short, they knew every¬ 
thing. On one occasion, the conversation happen¬ 
ing to turn upon Henry the Eighth’s wives, he had 
forgotten what was their number, and could only 
recollect that he was brute enough to cut off the 
heads of one or two of them. ‘Don’t you know 
how many wives he had ?’ was the question. ‘ No, 
I don’t,’ he replied, ‘ but do you see that little 
bird?’ ‘Y r es.’ ‘Do you kuow what it is?’ The 
young ladies confessed they did not. ‘ That,’ he 
rejoined, in triumph, ‘ that is a hen chaffinch; and, 
I think, my dears, you had better make the ac¬ 
quaintance of the common things by which you 
are surrounded, than trouble yourselves about 
Henry the Eighth and his wives.’ ” 
TEN EYCK N. Y. 
Qiubstem 
JOTTINGS FOR THE SEASON. 
When the labors appropriate to the present 
month are concluded, it may be said that the active 
( pcrtion of the farmer’s year has passed away, and 
he can now’enjoy a oriel period ot leisure. There 
is to be no “folding of hands,” certainly; but, the 
hurry and bustle incident to all the months be¬ 
tween seed-time and harvest will give place to 
comparative ease and quiet. These latter condi¬ 
tions of both mind and body, however, will very 
much depend upon the proper accomplishment of 
the tasks yet on hand, and though we may not 
add anything to the general stock of knowledge by 
our present writing, we purpose giving a few 
hints, just jogging the mentalities of our readers 
to the merits and necessity of completeness. The 
sluggard, and he who procrastinates, will be 
caught, not only napping, but badly frost-bitten, 
should the former indulge “ in a little more sleep,” 
and the latter put off for a “ more convenient 
season” the duties of to-day. “ Now is the con¬ 
stant syllable ticking upon the clock of Time,” we 
are told, and he who marks these conditions, and 
fulfills the requirements of the moment, will 
always be found among the Men of the age. 
The Corn Crop , judging from the quotations 
now obtainable, and the recent advance taken in 
rates, is to be one of our paying institutions, for 
several months, at least. The early part of the 
year was very unfavorable,—in fact, during the 
entire summer we have had but little “ old-fash¬ 
ioned corn weather,”—and the development of the 
crop has been a succession of difficulties. Proba¬ 
bilities seem to favor the idea that considerable 
quantities will not be well matured, and the 
aggregate value considerably diminished thereby. 
Every advantage which can be taken, ought to be 
seized with promptitude by the cultivator, so that 
not only himself but the country at large may be 
benefited. “Topping” and “cutting up,” are 
the two recognized modes of securing, and the 
favorites of each have pressed their claims upon 
the public ear through the columns of the Rural 
in days past. The main arguments for the former 
course were, that it cures the better portion of the 
stalk before it is injured by frost—allows free 
access of sun and air to the crop, thus hastening 
its ripening—and requires less labor. Our fodder 
is very short, however, and if there were no other 
reason for adopting the practice of “cutting up,” 
this, under the circumstances, would be deemed 
sufficient by a goodly number of cultivators.— 
When corn is fairly glazed it is fit to cut up at the 
root, and thi3 mode will materially assist in keep¬ 
ing up the condition of fodder-rack and cattle. 
If not hurried by fear of frost, we should allow 
corn to stand until the husks begin to loosen, to 
facilitate their removal in securing the crops.— 
After cutting and binding, the best method is to 
place in stooks of from six to ten bundles. It can 
stand in this condition for a considerable period 
without injury. After huskiDg place the bundles 
in larger stooks until the corn is entirely beyond 
the reach of damage. On a dry day draw and 
stack near the barn-yard, in small stacks—of not 
more than two loads each—and it is well to place 
a P°l e in the centre of each stack, with two others 
leaning against it, so as to furnish an air passage, 
should there be any tendency to heating. Stalks 
Dad better remain well stooked in the field, until 
wanted for feeding out, than to be stored in large 
stacks or close mows, where they are certain to 
suffer from heating or mould, or both combined. 
It is useless to urge upon farmers the importance 
as the catjle were delivered, the k 
nseu Kinair, auu / , . 
out. A few hours after ^ 
one of them was “Dleedin/ to death!” 
whereat the writer was \iot particu¬ 
larly alarmed. It proved to be the one 
that most needed the operation, and there 
were evidences that a good deal of blood had 
spilled. Nothing, however, was done to stop the 
flow. In a few days there was a second sheddiDg 
of coat, the eye brightened, they grew and thrived 
exceedingly, and in a few weeks the lively, well- 
laid hair fairly glistened, and there was, and con¬ 
tinued to be, all the evidences of perfect, vigorous, 
abounding health. Nothing else was done for 
them, no other sufficient cause could be assigned 
for the change, and it will need more than the 
dictum of the learned veterinarian to satisfy me 
that the cutting was not called for and advanta¬ 
geous. And this case, in its results, accords with 
my almost uniform experience. w. b. p. 
Prattsburgh, N. Y., 1S59. 
The above engraving represents an improved 
Hoisting Crane recently patented by Mr. J. Y. 
Farce, of this county. Messrs. D. B. DeLand & 
Co., proprietors of the Fairport Chemical Worns, 
have one of these cranes in use in their extensive 
establishment; it operates on any place inside of 
a circle of forty feet in diameter, by which two 
men can raise or lower and place in any position 
required any weight not exceeding 4,000 lbs., and 
by the addition of another man or two, (or with 
steam power,) five tuns can be handled in like 
manner. It will pass- a post or any obstruction 
within ten feet of the centre, and can be thrust 
through a doorway or window for the purpose of 
loading or unloading freight from a cart, &c. The 
gentlemen above alluded to assure us that it can 
perform more labor than eight men by any other 
means known to them; and they consider it in¬ 
valuable for iron foundries, ship yards, docks, 
marble works, stone quarries, raBroad freight 
houses, etc. 
The Crane is thus noticed by the Scientific 
American: —“The device for bracing the arm 
against the twist, or torsion strain, will attract 
the attention of such of our readers as take an 
interest in mechanical contrivances. To the post, 
A, which turns on pivots, the main arm, E, is 
firmly fastened. By means of a hinged joint, the 
outer arm, F, is connected with the main arm, E; 
the pin of this hinge is oval in form, and is firmly 
fastened into the main arm, E, so that it cannot 
turn, with its largest axis perpendicular to the 
line of the arm. The jointed arm, F, turns about 
this pin; the holes in F, through which the pin 
passes, being round, and fitting the pin loosely. 
The object of this arrangement is to hold the end 
CORN SYRUP. 
syrup-loving boys and girls flattered themselves 
there would be no more famine in the bread and 
molasses department; and the good dames of the 
north were jubilant with gratulations, expecting 
to see no more wry faces in response to the sweet 
hint that so often accompanies the morning cdp 
of coffee, “ My dear, ive are nearly out of sugar.” 
Sorghum was the hobby, and its riders promised 
us an abundant supply through this novel agency. 
But, alas! in 1859 we have to take our papers 
without sweetening. Still they relish very well, 
being full of the “ staff of life,” with which we 
are so amply supplied the present season. But 
the boys want a little molasses with the bread, and 
the good wife scrapes the sugar-bowl, hoping to 
give a hint without a word, and avoid having the 
cream’ curdle in the coffee beneath the vinegar 
scowl of the embarrassed husband. Under this 
pressure of the times W. B. P. asks, “ Sorghum, 
where is it ?” 
I do not propose to answer this inquiry, as I am 
not one of the persons to whom it is addressed. 
I can only say of my Sorghum, it has gone to the 
worms, the frost, and the drouth. 
This failure revived in my mind the memory of 
the “ Corn Molasses ” excitement of 1843, which 
constituted the sweetning of all the country papers 
of that year, and then took its leave, without 
imparting an item of its deliciousness to the buck¬ 
wheat cakes. Hence, in the absence of Sorghum, 
I determined to test the value of corn as a substi¬ 
tute. I give your readers the result of my experi¬ 
ments, which have been much more satisfactory 
than I had anticipated. 
My corn is about three-fourths the usual growth, 
hfcving been much retarded by drouth. When my 
first experiment was made, one-half of the corn 
was ripe enough for the crib. I then obtained, of 
syrup, in the proportion of eighteen gallons per 
acre, and of corn eighty bushels of ears, including 
the soft or unripe portion. The leaves, husks and 
tops were carefully saved for fodder. I continued 
my experiments weekly, and found, as I supposed 
I should, the saccharine substance in the corn- 
since, recommended his readers, in substance, 
“ never to employ others to do that which could 
as well be done by their own hands.” To many 
this suggestion has been worth, annually, three 
times the cost of that excellent paper. Would 
not the adoption of the motto of some of our 
worthy fathers be equally happy in its effect, viz : 
“Never import or buy that which can as well be 
produced or manufactured at home.” Let us test 
Sorghum and corn, side by side, for a series of 
years,—develop the merits of each, and manufac¬ 
ture our own sugar, from one, the other, or both. 
Menesha, Wis., 1859. 0. P. C. 
stalk continually decreased as the corn ripened. 
My last experiment was made after the corn was 
fully ripe, and the yield of syrup was in the pro¬ 
portion of eight gallons per acre. The mode of 
cleansing, evaporation, &c., was the same as that 
of the Sorghum, and those who have eaten of the 
corn syrup pronounce it superior to the former. 
The balance of my corn is now cut and in the 
stook, and upon this I shall experiment still fur¬ 
ther, in order to learn how long it may stand in 
this situation without spoiling it for syrup. The 
yield will, of course, be less than before. To grow 
corn exclusively for sugar, the sets should be re¬ 
moved when they appear. But it is a question 
whether it will not pay better to connect the grain 
and syrup product together. 
These experiments prove that every rural dis¬ 
trict can supply itself with sugar from the corn¬ 
stalk, which is next to worthless for fodder, and is 
usually trodden under foot. The expense of con¬ 
verting it into syrup is but a trifle more than that 
of fitting it for feed, by cutting, &c. True, the 
I yield per acre is not large, but sure. 
[ The Editor of the Rural, three or four years 
CRUELTY TO ANIMALS. 
Messrs. Eds. :—In a late Rural you quote from 
a prominent veterinary surgeon, am#ng other 
things, that “all cutting of their tails” is “cruel 
and unnecessary” in the case of horned cattle. If 
this is so, the conceived opinions of very many 
farmers need to be reconsidered and revised. My 
practice uniformly is to start the blood from the 
tip of the tails of all my cattle every spring, and 
oftener during the summer with such as show 
rough hair, or other evidences of a want of thrift. 
This is done by a square dock, or by slitting, 
when otherwise; the brush of the tail will be too 
WHEAT OR WINTER BARLEY—WHICH ? 
Eds. Rural :—On this question you gave, a few ( 
weeks since, the diverse opinions of two Presidents / 
of Agricultural Societies, and without presuming 1 
to “ decide when high officials disagree,” permit 
me to suggest that perhaps loth were right (a con- * 
elusion certainly most satisfactory to lovers of 
official dignity). Winter barley proves with us a 1 
very tender plant, extremely liable to winter-kill— 4! 
much more so than wheat. But when once thro' 
