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ROCHESTER, N. Y.,~ FOR THE WEEK ENDING SATURDAY, DECEMBER 
WHOLE NO. 517 
MOORE'S RURAL NEW-YORKER, 
AS ORIGINAL WEEKLY 
RURAL, LITERARY AND FAMILY NEWSPAPER. 
Herewith we gire the plan 
of pruning and training the 
Grape Vine, practiced at 
Thomeiy, near Fontainbleau, “ 
France, a locality famed for 
the excellence of its grapes, 
which Mclxi. ?h says are so 
fine that they are sent as 
presents over ost of the Eu- * 
ropean contine t. It is called 7j 
the “ Thomery ^tern ,” and I! 
wi hsome modii^^'on is well -1 
ad, t >ted to the th of the |i 
grape in cities, tjhe vine I 
can be made t^ fi -er the \ 
entire fronts of t^Eigbest 1 
houses, entirely ou.bf the j 
reach of passers-by, t) ■ ‘runks ~ 
being pi ‘ccted by a liable:"* 
box or casing, for ten > iore_i 
fee ' oia the si dewalk. - ns v? 
m r '■ be co ■■ ed in tlL ,,ine| 
way, the being l . . , a 
out of reai i c the catth : ffl 
At one en ' ~ the trea, 1 
seen a strung post, any -.j 
which wires vr . istened. 
keep the post i ,• ight it rv v t 
CONDUCTED BY D. D. T. WIOORE, 
W itii an Able Corps of Assistants and Contributors, 
t3T All communications, and business letters, sbould be 
addressed to D. D. T. MOORE, Rochester, N. Y. 
For Terms and other particulars, see last page. 
■■XCTRctroarswwcocKmaaK JTwaaa^iwc^ii.wCT yj -a ism a tZ4rrBKra&.vur*P32 
THE GREAT CRGPS OF THE COUNTRY. 
The Census Returns reveal strange and impor¬ 
tant facts, and we occasionally look over these 
large volumes of apparently dry figures with 
interest and profit. They teach us facts —some¬ 
times facts which at first we can hardly credit, 
but which must be so, for figures tell the truth. 
Should we ask which are the three greatest crops 
of the country, the answer in most cases would 
unhesitatingly be, wheat, corn and cotton, and 
yet figures show the hay crop to be more impor¬ 
tant than either wheat or cotton. The prcoU / of 
corn at the time the last census was i Vm. ■ • 
501,610,902 bushels, which at 60 ceuts per b isbel 
would be $295,805,406. The hay crop 13 stated at 
13,828,760 tuns, which at $10 per tun is $138,287,- 
600. The wheat raised was 100,001,902 bushels, 
which at the estimate price of $1 per bushel 
would give the same number of dollars. Ohio 
is the greatest producer of corn, but Kentucky, 
Illinois, Indiana and Tennessee are neaily equal. 
New York, Pennsylvania and Ohio are the great¬ 
est producers of hay. New York, Pennsylvania, 
Ohio, Virginia, Illinois and Indiana are first on 
the list as producers of wheat. 
Fourth in order, we have the cottoD, of which 
2,445,779 bales are reported, which at $30 per bale 
gives a value of $73,373,370. Oats, 146,473,170 
bushels worth, at 40 cents, $58,589,339. Potatoes, 
103,8S0,590, at 38 cents, $39,474,623. The cotton, 
of course, is grown exclusively in the Southern 
States, Alabama being the greatest producer, and 
Georgia and Mississippi and South Carolina fol¬ 
lowing in order. New York and Pennsylvania 
each produce more oats ihan any other two States. 
Illinois and Virginia are about equal. New York 
produces nearly as many potatoes as any other 
three States; and Georgia and Pennsylvania next. 
We have now given the statement, furnished us 
by the Census, of the products of our six largest 
crops and their estimated value. The sugar crop 
is far less than we supposed, being only sixteen 
millions. We have often felt disposed to quarrel 
with these figures, considering that sugar has 
ceased to be a luxury, and is now a necessity in 
almost every family, but, of course, this we are 
not prepared to do, and must wait patiently for 
the next Census. The tobacco crop exceeds that 
of sugar by more than three millions of dollars. 
Tobacco to the value of about a million and a half 
is grown in Northern States. Sugar to the value 
of twenty to forty millions is annually imported. 
But, in all the curious facts shown by figures, 
there is nothing more curious or interesting than 
the average products of the great crops per acre, 
as shown by the following table: 
ACTUAL CROPS PER ACRE ON THE AVERAGE. 
own game, growing Indian corn; and the farmers 
of Massachusetts and Vermont producing 170 
bushels of potatoes to the acre, and those of 
rocky New Hampshire over 200, while we of New 
A ork obtain only 100, and Pennsylvania only 75 
bushels, while Texas carries off the palm, and 
averages 250. This difference, we think, is not 
to be accounted for by soil or climate. There 
must be ditference in the men, in the system of 
cultivation ; for in some cases where nature seem 3 
to be the most propitious, the product is the least. 
We leave these figures, without further remark, 
to the contemplation of our friends, hoping that 
all will feel a noble pride in having their State 
give a report of which they will have no reason 
to be ashamed, when the next Census shall be 
taken, in 1860. 
early and cured carefully for his sheep. He fed 
rather abundantly, and made the big colts and 
steers eat the “orts” or leavings; he claimed that 
he could keep his sheep in good order in this way, 
and he did it. It was not uncommon for his half 
blood Merino wethers to have twenty-five pounds 
tallow the fall after they were three years old, 
fattened, on grass. He insisted that “ good pas¬ 
tures are indispensable to good farming”—that 
whoever neglected to get their stock in good 
order on pasture, had missed a golden oppor¬ 
tunity. I have known cattle gain in winter on 
hay; but, in general, if stock is poor in the fall, 
particularly sheep, it requires grain to keep them 
along and make any improvement. I admit—I 
assert—I insist—nay, 1 insist with emphasis, that 
stock of any kind pays letter if kept well than if 
kept poor j but there is one thing which Mr. 
Johnston did not say in his excellent communica¬ 
tion above referred'to, which should never be 
lost sight of:— Every art and every science should 
be exhausted in getting animals up in good con- 
fresh, sweet, nutritious grass and hay, with the 
the addition of apples, roots, &c., with little or no 
grain, it seems better for their subsequent health 
and longevity than if they are early accustomed to 
the “stimulus” of grain. It often, very often 
happens, that stock is left through neglect, in the 
hurrying season of having and harvesting, in 
pastures so short that they go back irreparably, 
and the same thing or worse is suffered to occur 
when animals remain in fields covered with frosts 
and early snows, but utterly stripped of vegetation, 
just before “foddering begins.” In this way they 
frequently go back in three weeks more than they 
can be made to gain in six weeks by the largest 
amount of grain that could be given to them. 
The moral of all this is, that stock should be kept 
up, without grain if you can, with grain if you 
must! 
It is proper that I should add, that whatever 
objections may be made to feeding store animals, 
and particularly young animals, largely on grain, 
the objection does not apply to stock intended for 
slaughter within a year. Sheep or cattle to he 
butchered the coming summer will produce more 
and better meat if they are liberally fed on meal 
the coming winter, and very likely they may be 
sold in an early market, where they will bring a 
third more than if kept till fall to fatten on grass. 
The subject is so large, every way, that I will con¬ 
tinue it in a subsequent number.— h. t. b. 
more meal to fatten them. We fed, last winter, a 
flock of sheep, after the plan pursued by John 
Johnston, Esq., of Geneva. We gave them all the 
good, bright, wheat straw they would eat, three 
times a day, and one bushel of corn to the 100 
sheep daily. Lambs cannot be kept in this way 
as so much grain will be apt to make them scour; 
at least, such is our experience in the matter. 
With the exception of sheep, all stock can be 
wintered more economically on meal, than on 
whole grain, fed in connection with hay or straw. 
According to the experiments of Cassius M. Clay, 
and others, cooked meal is worth, for hogs, three 
times as much as whole grain. In all the experi¬ 
ments that I have seen, meal is worth double that 
of ungrouud grain for cattle or hogs, and, per¬ 
haps, horses. In case a farmer has fodder and 
grain to buy, or even if he has the needed quantity 
of graiD, the fact that by grinding it he can save 
one-half, should not be lost sight of, for an instant. 
Any man who feeds fifty bushels, or more, annu¬ 
ally, can illy afford to do without a farm mill, or a 
cooking apparatus,— but the mill being the most 
convenient of the two, is the one most to be recom¬ 
mended. I have a Leavitt’s “Young America” 
will, but would like to exchange it for one, that is 
not a cob mill. It does not pay, for me at least, to 
grind and feed cobs when I can get bran for $16 
per ton at our mills. There was a mill at the 
American Institute Fair, New York, and at our 
State Fair, at Albany, which I have seen tried else¬ 
where, that would suit me far better than any 
other I have seen. It does not grind the graiD, 
but breaks it —fine too, an important requisite.— 
I believe it was called “Sanford’s” mill, made by 
R. L. Howard, of Buffalo. I have forgotten the 
price, hut as it is a simple mil), I presume it is 
cheap. After any farmer has used a mill one year, 
he would not care to be without. The saving in 
grain soon pays for it, and a good mill will last a 
life time, except the grinders, and they can be re¬ 
placed in “Young America” for three dollars; 
and I presume the “Sanford mill,” can be re¬ 
juvenated equally cheap. 
If sheep are the principal stock, I do not believe 
it would pay to grind the corn for them, as they 
never void corn undigested. An acquaintance 
tried feeding two flocks of wethers one winter, and 
the flock fed on whole corn gained as fast, appa¬ 
rently, as those fed on meal—the same number of 
bushels being fed to each flock. To feed sheep 
profitably, and to winter them cheaply, the best 
JOHN JOHNSTON ON WINTERING SHEEP. 
SAVING FODDER. 
Eds. Rural New-Yorker: —I would like to say 
a few words to my brother farmers who read your 
paper, as their name is “legion,” in regard to the 
necessity of using every means in their power, in 
order to keep their stock in good condition the 
coming winter, as cheaply as possible. There is a 
real scarcity of hay and fodder in nearly all parts 
of the Empire State, and the question,—“ what 
shall we feed, and how V”—has to be met full in 
the face, and any facts throwing light on the mat¬ 
ter are seasonable. 
There is a great deal of coarse fodder saved this 
year, and by a judicious manner of feeding, stock 
may be wintered as well as upon good hay.— 
When a boy, the writer had a pair of steers, two 
years old, that he wanted to fatten and sell for 
beef. As we were short of hay, we experimented 
until we ascertained the following facts. Cows, 
two-year-olds, and three-year-olds, will keep in 
the same condition, neither gaining nor losing, if 
fed two quarts of corn meal, or its equivalent, per 
day, with cut straw. I fattened my steers, and my 
father fattened some also, giving them all the cut 
straw they would eat, and three quarts of meal 
each, per diem. The cut straw was wet, and the 
meal was thoroughly mixed with it before feeding. 
Oxen, and heavier steers, would probably need 
SrATES. 
Connecticut.... 
Illinois. 
Indiana. 
Iowa . 
Maine. 
Massachusetts.. 
Michigan. 
New Hampshire 
New Jersey. 
New York.. 
Onio. 
Pennsylvania.... 
Rhode Island.... 
Vermont . 
'Wisconsin. 
Alabama. 
Arkansas. 
Delaware. 
Florida. 
Georgia. 
Kentucky. 
Louisiana. 
Maryland. 
Mississippi . 
Missouri. 
North Carolina.. 
South Carolina .. 
Tennessee. 
Texas. 
Virginia. 
Only think of the farmers of sterile Connecticut 
beating those of the fat prairies of Illinois at their 
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