that this system of pasturing is wasteful. For it 
is undeniable that it requires at least one-eighth 
more to keep an animal in cold than warm 
weather; and yet they take more-than two acres 
to summer their animals to one to winter them. 
As to all the modus opwandi of soiling, a detail 
of them is not within the limits of one article. 
In your paper of the 19th ult., I find an article 
on the “ Value of Straw for Fodder,” in which you 
refer to some remarks I made upon this subject 
at the State Fair discussion. I am glad that the 
papers have begun to call attention to this subject, 
and mention it here as it naturally belongs to 
soiling. Millions of dollars are wasted every 
year for want of a proper knowledge of the value 
of straw. It is hardly extravagant to say, that 
one-half of all the horses, cattle and sheep kept 
in the State of New York might be wintered upon 
the straw raised, with proper cutting and steam¬ 
ing. There were in this State at the last census, 
(1859,) 1,877,689 cattle, 447,014 horses, 8,453,241 
sheep. Now, if the straw would winter this num¬ 
ber of animals, it would keep half of them through 
the year. "VYe will suppose that the keeping of 
each one of the cattle would represent $15, each 
horse $20, and each sheep $2. This would give a 
total gain from straw, per year, in this State, of 
$11,002,825. And we will suppose that from 
straw as now used, one-fifth of that sum is realized. 
This would leave a balance, in favor of cutting 
and steaming, of $8,802,2 80. In this estimate I 
make the straw take the place of hay merely. 
Working animals must have grain. Are not these 
figures worth looking at? I have found, that by 
selling all the hay which it would take to winter 
my stock, and taking one-fourth of the avails and 
purchasing meal to dust upon the straw before 
steaming, that my stock were better wintered 
than if fed upon the hay, and I had thus turned 
my straw into three-fourths of the avails of my 
hay. And the manure from the straw is worth 
more for immediate use than if the straw had 
been thrown into the yard for litter. 
It would take about thirty tuns of hay to winter 
my stock this year. Three-fourths of this is 
twenty-two and one-half tuns; this is worth in 
the barn $18 per tun, or $405. I will suppose 
that the extra labor of cutting and steaming costs 
me $50, (and with my facilities it does not exceed 
that sum.) Here is a net gain of $355. This 
gain is larger this year than if hay were cheap, 
but the saving is in the same proportion. I have 
practiced upon this method for three years; and 
experimented quite extensively to determine 
upon some formula which would show the rela¬ 
tive value of straw to hay. I first used two quarts 
of Indian meal per bushel of straw, and fed cattle 
upon this and hay, side by side. The straw and 
meal fattened the animals, while the hay did not. 
Further experiment satisfied me that a bushel of 
straw, with from one to one and a half pints of 
Indian meal dusted upon it and well steamed, was 
equal to the best Timothy hay. This may appear 
extravagant, but let not a matter of this import¬ 
ance be condemned without a trial. It will stand 
the test. But in the allowance of one quarter of 
the value of the hay which it would take to winter 
a stock, for purchasing meal or bran to be used 
with the straw, much more than 1)^ pints may be 
used. One thing is evident; straw is worth 
saving and using with more care and economy. 
And it is with a view of exciting the attention of 
farmers to their own interests in this regard, that 
I write this article. I trust that it may fall into 
the hands of some who are not afraid to step out 
of the beaten track of their fathers. Farmers are 
behind, in intelligent calculations of means to 
ends, almost every other class of industry. But 
from the improvements made in the last twenty 
years we have reason to hope that a better future 
is before us. E. TV. Stewart. 
Glen Erie, near North Evans, Erie Co., N. Y. 
-- 
LESSONS OF THE SEASON. 
The experience .of each succeeding year fur¬ 
nishes many lessons by which the observing 
farmer may profit. The end of the season, and of 
the year, is an appropriate time to review the 
experience and observations of the past, with a 
view of profiting by their teachings. 
A prominent lesson of this kind, and one that 
brings itself home to the attention of farmers at 
this time, more particularly, is the damage on 
corn and potatoes in consequence of not having 
been harvested in season. But few potatoes were 
dug in this vicinity before the cold, freezing 
weather in the latter part of October. The conse¬ 
quence was that many were frozen in the ground; 
so that probably while there was not a single 
piece that escaped without losing more than 
enough, at a low price per bushel, to have paid for 
digging, in many fields, such as Mercers, and 
other kinds that lie near the top of the ground, 
were from a quarter to half frozen. Besides, the 
cold bad weather, and the presence of so many 
frozen potatoes, made digging, sorting and taking 
care of the crop a much more laborious, difficult 
and disagreeable operation than it would have 
been if attended to early in the season. 
So too in relation to corn. On the first of 
November nearly all the corn in this section was 
still in the field. At a time when farmers should 
be finishing up their corn harvest, a large portion 
of them were just beginning their husking—while 
now (Dec. 6,) there are many acres of corn out in ' 
the snow. The consequence is that the grain and 
fodder are both more or less damaged, and the 
loss will amount to much more than enough to 
have paid for doing the work in season. 
One reason why farmers let their work run 
along so late in the fall is, that some seasons, say 
once in four or five years, we have a warm, dry 
November, when crops can be gathered with little 
trouble or damage. But such seasons are the 
exception and not the rule; consequently, as a 
general thing, it will not do to depend on them. 
Another, and the principal reason is, the reluc¬ 
tance of farmers to employ sufficient help to 
secure their crops in good season, and in the best 
manner, without damage. But few farmers seem 
to be aware of the loss they sustain by not having 
their work done in good season, and in the best 
manner. 
This brings us to another lesson of the season, 
which is, that farmers, as a general thing, do not 
employ sufficient force to do the work on their 
farms to good advantage. The remark is often 
heard, that this or that crop has not been attended 
to as it ought to have been for want of time; or, 
that this or that job had been neglected for want 
of help; when probably the cost of sufficient help 
to attend to the crop, or to do the job, would have 
been less than half the loss or damage caused by 
their neglect. 
Another way in which farmers often miss it, is 
in undertaking jobs of work that might be done 
much better and cheaper by mechanics. This was 
forcibly illustrated a few years ago in the case of 
a farmer with whom the writer was well acquaint¬ 
ed. This farmer was asked how his corn crop 
came in; he answered that it was poor, not over 
two-thirds of a crop—that he had not done any 
thing in his corn after he planted it, so the weeds 
and grass had got the start of the crop. He said 
that when he ought to have been to work in his 
corn, he raised up and new silled his barn, and 
put on new siding—that he and his hired man had 
done it alone, without employing a carpenter a 
single day—but that it took him longer than he 
expected; so that, instead of having any time to 
work in his corn, it was late before he could begin 
haying. Now, as this may be considered as a rep¬ 
resentative case, it may be well to look a little into 
the economy of the operation. First, an average 
crop of corn may be put down at $25 an acre, one- 
third of which would be over $8. Second, the 
cost of a carpenter to do the job could not have 
been more and probably would have been less 
than $25—which, with $10 for labor to make up 
for the time spent by the owner in assisting the 
carpenter, would make $35—so that the actual 
loss by this operation, which was intended to be 
saving, was nearly $50. It should have been 
stated that there was ten acres of corn and that 
the estimated loss on the whole was over $80. 
There are many other ways in which farmers 
lose more or less by not hiring sufficient help, 
which we have not room for in this article, some 
of which may be brought to mind by reading 
these crude remarks. Perhaps some other lessons 
of the season may be considered in another 
paper. f. 
Orleans Co., N. Y., 1S59. 
CROPS, &c., IN FOND DU LAC, WISCONSIN. 
Eds. Rural New-Yorker: — I thought a few 
lines might not come amiss to my fellow Young 
Euralists, relating to our crops, prospects, and 
experiments this year in Fond du Lac. This por¬ 
tion of the county was settled by New York 
people (principally from Dutchess Co.,) about the 
year 1846, but a3 the greater portion were quite 
poor, financially, our progress was pretty slow 
until within the last five or six years; but they 
are now getting somewhat forehanded. Our soil 
is of the first quality of wheat land; heavy lime¬ 
stone clay. But, as Horace Greeley says, they 
don’t think that they own to the centre of the 
earth, and consequently many only plow to the 
small depth of three or four inches, and are anxious 
to obtain a broader breadth of land, which is 
but poor policy-in my way of thinking. Face of 
our country, rolling — not hilly or mountainous, 
but gently undulating. Wet seasons do not im¬ 
pede our farm work as much as on the low, wet 
prairies. Plenty of limestone for building purpo¬ 
ses, Ac., and occasionally a hard-head, a regular 
“ down easter” in form and color, but far ahead 
in weight according to size. Our timber is oak, 
white, black, red, pin, burr. The county is 
divided into three classes of land—timber, prairie, 
and openings. We belong to the latter species. 
We have no huge rocks, soft water, speckled trout, 
chestnuts, black walnuts, huckleberries, black- 
snakes, rattlesnakes, and other such trifles of small 
value to contend with. We are generally pretty 
sure of a good crop of spring wheat—(failed last 
year on account of rust) — average this season 
about twenty-one bushels per acre; some as high 
as forty and fifty. The farmer’s prospects are 
brightening considerably, as we obtain fair prices 
for our surplus grain, which is no small amount. 
We tried the experiment, to our satisfaction, this 
season of brining, liming, and vitrioling our seed 
wheat before sowing. We brined it to get out the 
oats and light grains of wheat and smut, and limed 
it to dry it, in order to sow and to promote its 
growth, and vitrioled it to kill the vitality of the 
smut that would stick to the sound grains. The 
result was, not a particle of smut among that 
which was brined, &c., but lacking a couple of 
bushels of seed, left a land through the middle of 
the lot, took the seed out of the same bin, unlimed, 
Ac., and sowed it. Result, one-third smut, and it 
proved nearly the same with our neighbors who 
neglected or failed to prepare their seed in the 
above way. We are busy hauling muck from the 
marsh, as an experiment on grass land. Gave it 
an imperfect trial last spring, but withal proved 
highly beneficial to our stiff, heavy clay lands. 
Fond du Lac, Wis , 1859. Oscar Berry. 
SAVING FODDER. 
HINTS FOR A SEASON OF SCARCITY.' 
Irregular and excessive feeding of animals is | 
not as good, and will not result as favorably as 
feeding a less amount so frequently that the ani¬ 
mal never gets very hungry. We believe an 
animal fed more at one time than it should or will 
readily eat, wastes not only what it leaves, but 
frequently by over-eating. However careless and 
slothful we may be in seasons of plenty, such win¬ 
ters as this should call for care and economy. 
The philosophy we wish to inculcate in regard 
to fodder-saving is this:—That frequent feeding 
will save, to a considerable extent, the quantity 
generally given. We have seen this demon¬ 
strated, but usually by parties who knew little 
of the secret of their own success, and cared less 
for imparting it, and they are such as we are slow 
to follow the practice of. A small amount of food 
satisfies hnnger—much less than we think for. If 
a man were to eat twelve crackers in the morning^ 
he would be hungry at noon —while, by eating a 
cracker every hour, he will be comfortably free 
from the gnawings of appetite, if not laboring, for 
a whole day. The stomach is not emphatic in its 
demands so loDg as food remains in it. So, if we 
wish to save fodder, we should feed often, spar¬ 
ingly. Especially should coarse fodder be given 
frequently, and little at a time, when all will be 
eaten; whereas, if we give liberally, it is picked 
over, and appetite becoming satisfied by the time 
the poorest is reached, it is refused and wasted. 
We saw an evidence of this in the practice of a 
poor widow whom necessity compelled to the 
closest economy. She wintered for several winters 
two cows on the smallest possible allowance of 
hay, and they uniformly came out in fair condition. 
She fed them regularly a little, some half dozen 
times daily, and none was wasted. A few miles 
from her lived a farmer keeping a fine stock of 
young cattle whose practice was a by-word and 
reproach in the neighborhood. We often heard it 
said that Old M. took a whole foddering of hay for 
twenty steers under his arm at once. However 
this may be, we became intimately acquainted 
with his practice and its results, and found his 
stock as well or better cared for than his neigh¬ 
bors, but in a very different manner — none was 
wasted—not any—and we doubt not his saving 
each winter amply paid him for the extra care he 
took in foddering. His cattle were certainly in 
better condition than those whose yards were 
littered with the refused remnants of frequent 
feeding. 
This rule is good not only in saving fodder but 
also in producing rapid growth. Peter Rhoda, 
of Hornby, N. Y., produced two 400-pound net 
hogs, killed when about ten months old, four suc¬ 
cessive years. They were fed five or six times 
daily. He also found the same success in growing 
calves—producing them fully equaling those that 
had run with the cowr 
We suggest making a virtue of necessity at the 
present time, by using extra economy and pru¬ 
dence in feeding this winter. Not A. Tubbs. 
Monterey, N. Y., 1859. 
ENDURANCE OF DROUTH BY SANDY SOILS. 
Eds. Rural New-Yorker : — Will you, or some of 
our correspondents, give the reason why a gravel and 
indy soil will bear drouth better than clay or other 
iff soil, and oblige—A Rural Subscriber, Seneca, 
r. Y., 1859. 
Our correspondent takes for granted that a 
indy soil will bear drouth better than a stiff soil, 
n this, we have no doubt, he is correct, in the 
lain, though many would be found to demur, and 
ome think it would not be difficult to find authority 
i the books against this position. We cannot give 
le reason for which our correspondent asks in a 
iw brief lines, but will endeavor to be as plain 
nd bi-ief as possible. 
A sandy soil will hold only about half as much 
■ater as a clay soil. If one hundred pounds of 
lay loam be dried thoroughly, and water is poured 
pon it, it will absorb from fifty to sixty pounds, 
icordiug to the proportion of clay, before it begins 
i drop. One hundred pounds of sandy soil, dried 
i the same manner, will only absorb from twenty- 
ve to thirty pounds. This shows very plainly 
lat during rains much more water i3 held by a 
lay than sandy soiJ^Jjbject^ to the. demands of 
rowing crop3. From this fact it is very natural 
> argue that, in a dry time, vegetation would suf- 
;r most in sandy ground. It is this power of 
olding water that makes clay colder than sandy 
ails, as a greater quantity of heat is expended in 
banging the water into vapor. 
Soils absorb moisture from the atmosphere, and 
; has been found by experiment that a heavy soil 
bsorbs much more than a light one, other things 
eing equal. The moisture in the atmosphere is 
ondensed by any cold substance, as a pitcher con- 
xining cold water, or by the surface of the ground, 
r growing plants, in the form of dew. The cold, 
lay soil, will therefore condense much more than 
warm sandy soil. This would also seem to imply 
bat heavy soils are the most favorable in a drouth. 
L nd yet facts do not appear to justify such conclu- 
ions. We have closely watched the effects of ex- 
essive drouth and its opposite on different soils, 
be past four seasons. The summer of 1854 and 
56 were extremely dry, so that crops suffered in 
lost localities. Nowhere did we see such fine 
rops, especially of corn and potatoes, during 
bese dry seasons, as on the light lands, and so 
ittle apparent injury from drouth. Heavy soils 
re found, in many cases in 1856,' to be dry as 
lowder ten or twelve inches below the surface, 
rhile on the sandy soil the ground w r ould be 
uite moist three or four inches down. On heavy 
oils the injury from drouth was far more serious, 
’he farmers on the light lands in this section say, 
;ive us good, hot, dry summers. 
Now, let us look at the philosophy of this a 
ittle. Heavy soils have great power of absorbing 
,nd retaining water, yet they are adhesive and 
mpenetrable, and a great portion of the water 
ailing upon them runs off the surface, by surface 
[rains, into creeks and rivers, while in the sandy 
oil it passess rapidly through to the subsoil, 
vhere it is held, if the under soil is at all retentive 
n its nature. A heavy soil, under ordinary cul 
ure, is never finely pulverized a sufficient depth, 
io that in a dry time it is almost impossible for 
he moisture to be drawn from below by capillary 
ittraction, while in the light lands everything is 
’avorable to the process. The light soil is also 
more open to the effects of the atmosphere which 
ran permeate through it, leaving a portion of its 
moisture, as it would of course do, in coming in 
contact with the colder earth. Although more 
dew is condensed on the surface of clay soils, we 
think the effect is not as beneficial as the less 
quantity on the lighter, as from its impervious¬ 
ness the moisture may remain on the surface to be 
dissipated by the first rays of the morning sun. 
To Correspondents.— As tbis volume of the Rural 
is near its close, we are constrained to offer an expres¬ 
sion of thanks to the hundreds of persons who have 
favored us with articles during the past year. Our 
thanks are due and tendered to all who have in any 
manner contributed to the value and interest of these 
pages. We hope to continue the acquaintance of many 
who have Imparted freely the results of their observa¬ 
tion and experience for the benefit of the large number 
who seek the pages of the Rural for advice and infor¬ 
mation. With such aid as we have had from contribu¬ 
tors and correspondents, the volume will comprise a 
vast amount of practical and scientific information on a 
great variety of subjects. But, much as we have given, 
we have received far more than we could publish,— 
and now find scores of excellent articles, necessarily 
deferred from time to time, or awaiting insertion at the 
proper season, while others must be omitted altogether. 
Many of these were received just too late for publication 
at the proper time, others were deferred for want of 
space, while not a few were inadmissible because the 
subject had been discussed before their reception. Our 
aim has been to give the most timely and useful articles 
from week to week, yet as most of the matter of each 
number is put in type from a week to ten days in 
advance of date, we have frequently received capital 
articles a few days too late— while, in many instances, 
we have been favored with several articles, of similar 
import, on the same subject, and of course the publica¬ 
tion of all would be superfluous. On looking over the 
hosts of communications, on all sorts of subjects, still on 
hand, we can only regret that tho Rural is so%mall, 
and that many of them can never be published. 
Among them we find some inquiries still Unanswered ; 
though we have endeavored to keep “ up to time” in 
this important department, it has been impossible. 
This explanation is due correspondents,—and we are 
sure that, if those whose articles have not appeared, or 
whose inquiries yet await attention, could only know 
how faithfully we have labored, they would acquit us 
most cheerfully. As to anonymous articles and 
inquiries, we do not consider ourselves under any 
obligation to give them the least attention; hence they 
are not reckoned in this account 
During the year we have probably written hun¬ 
dreds of letters in answer to inquiries, yet could not 
attend to all who asked such attention—for want of 
time or proper information. 
'iie Young Ladies who know the Rural appreciate 
ind usually when they become wives, or move into 
lew country, continue its acquaintance and also 
roduce it to others. Miss M. H. B., of Shelby Co., Ill. 
tes us: —“As there appears to be none of your papers 
en here, I think I can get up a club, and as I like 
ir Rural I wish to do all I can to get it circulated, 
iase send me a few copies to distribute, for they will 
ommend themselves better than I can recommend 
m.” We are frequently indebted to ladies for lists 
subscribers from all parts of the country — the best 
donee of their appreciation of the Rural. 
TAgrintltard JHiscellang. 
Small Farms in Western New'York.— In a notice 
two or three weeks ago, we spoke of the demand for 
small farms, well located, in this section of the Union, 
and quoted from two recent letters of inquiry. The 
object of this paragraph is to say that—if the letters 
received during the past two weeks are reliable—there 
are quite a number of very excellent farms for sale in 
various desirable localities of Western New York. In¬ 
deed, we believe we could now suit the most fastidious 
applicant, and have excellent material for opening an 
agency for the sale of tip-top, well-located farms. But 
such is not our desire; and our principal object, now, 
is to say to those who have written us relative to the 
inquiry of the gentleman whose address was not giveB, 
that their letters will be forwarded to him during the 
present week (at our expense,) and that those who wish 
to communicate with the other inquirer should address 
him direct. We cannot undertake to publish what has 
been sent us, as that would vastly exceed our ideas of 
the limits of propriety in the way of free advertising. 
As we cannot consistently answer all, we will allude to 
none particularly. Those who wish, to advertise can do 
so, but we solicit nothing in that line. 
— Since the above was written we have received 
several advertisements of farms. 
THE RURAL NEW-YORKER FOR 1880. 
Advertising in tiie Rural New-Yorker.— We are 
in frequent receipt of letters speaking of the advantages 
of advertising in the Rural, but rarely allude to or 
quote from them for the reason that we have no occa¬ 
sion to solicit patronage in that line. A letter just 
received from Messrs. Hedges, Free, & Co., of Cincin¬ 
nati, says“ We meet with such prompt and gratify¬ 
ing responses through your journal that we are induced 
to try our Farm Bells. Yours is one of the papers in 
which we are sure to have a liberal return, especially 
when advertisements are of a character to prove inter¬ 
esting to the better class of farmers.” Yes, “ the better 
class of farmers” and horticulturists, as well as thou¬ 
sands of the better class of business and professional 
men in villages and cities, take and read the Rural 
New-Yorker. 
Cotton in Illinois.— According to the Prairie 
Farmer, Illinois is getting to be a cotton State. The 
ed itor remarks:—“ McLean county grows. The Illinois 
Central Railroad are doing a heavy freighting business 
with it, and now old Sangamon asserts her belief in 
cotton.” A Springfield paper {The Independent ) says: 
“Mr. Allen, the jailor of this county, received a cotton 
seed from Washington last spring, which he planted, 
and from the stock grown raised four very large and 
fully developed bolls of cotton! The boil presented to 
us has four very long lobes, which, when blown out, 
form a circumference of about six inches. Indeed, we 
never saw a finer boll grown of Edisto or Sea Island. 
This result justifies our opinion as to the process of 
acclimation. The seed came from as far north as 
Washington, was planted here in the middle of May, 
and yet matured before the average season of frost. 
How to File the Rural.— Those of our subscribers 
who wish to file the Rural easily, and keep it for con¬ 
venient reference, before binding, are advised that 
H. II. Palmer, of Worcester, Mass., is the patentee 
and manufacturer of a capital Portfolio Paper File. 
It is just the thing for those who wish to preserve the 
Rural in good shape and safely. We have had one in 
use for several months, for our office file, and find it a 
great convenience. The manufacturer furnishes all 
sizes, from octavo to the largest folio. For sale in 
Rochester by Adams & Dabney, and, we presume, by 
booksellers in the principal cities and villages through¬ 
out the country. 
Agricultural Department of tiie Patent-Office. 
—The Prairie Farmer says Ciias. B. Calvert, Presi¬ 
dent of the Maryland State Agricultural Society, has 
been appointed Chief Clerk of the Agricultural De¬ 
partment of the Patent-Office. We know not but that 
this statement is correct, we had supposed, however, 
that tho agricultural clerkship was to be abandoned 
for the present. 
Corn Husking. —We learn fromE. N. Thomas, Esq., 
of Rose, N. Y., that Mr. Almon Harper of that town, 
lately husked G0% bushels of corn from the stook, and 
bound and set up the stalks, in 8 hours. There are 
various prices paid for husking—from 8 to 4 cts. per 
bushel. _ 
To Water Door-Yard Fowls, fill a bottle with 
water and place it bottom up through a hole in a board, 
so that its nose shall be inserted into a saucer, or any 
shallow, open vessel. As the ducks exhaust the water 
from the shallow vessel, the bottle will pay out new 
supplies. So salth the Tribune. 
It affords us great pleasure to announce to its earnest 
and influential friends all over the land, that the Rural 
New-Yorker never closed a year and volume under 
more favorable auspices than the present is termina¬ 
ting,—and that we never had such substantial encour¬ 
agement for the future. This, we are confident, must 
prove most gratifying to the ardent friends and sup¬ 
porters of the Rural and its objects, for they will 
naturally rejoice in the success and prospects of a jour¬ 
nal whose usefulness and vitality depend, in a great 
degree, upon the prosperity and progress of the Rural 
Population. In the future as in the past, our aim will 
be to appreciate and merit the large measure of confi¬ 
dence and support accorded to this journal, by rendering 
it “ an eminently Reliable Guide on all the important 
Practical, Scientific and other Subjects intimately con¬ 
nected with the business of those whoso interests it 
zealously advocates.” 
— Within the past week we have received many very 
complimentary and encouraging letters from near and 
distant parts of the Union and the Canadas, Nova 
Scotia and New Brunswick—from the East, the South, 
the West, and the North—letters assuring us that the 
Rural is a welcome and highly prized visitor in homes 
thousands of miles separated, and with people in varied 
climates, living under different governments, and hold¬ 
ing antagonistic religious and political tenets. We 
might fill a page with extracts from these friendly and 
most appreciative epistles, but will only quote from a 
few, as indicative of the general sentiments expressed. 
In a recent letter, asking for specimens, show-bill, 
<fcc., a former subscriber writes— 1 * I stopped the Rural 
last Dec., and subscribed for the Ledger. I am dis¬ 
gusted with that paper, and can’t do withouttho Rural 
hereafter. I have resolved not only to subscribe again, 
but to get as many of my neighbors to join me in taking 
the Rural as I can induce to do a good thing.” 
Under date of “ Nashville, Tenn., Dec. 7,” a gentle¬ 
man to whom we recently forwarded a quarter’s num¬ 
bers of the Rural, writes:—“ Your specimen copies 
came duly to hand, and to say that I am highly pleased 
would but ill express my admiration of your paper. I 
will subscribe for the next volume, and hope to have 
the pleasure of sending you other names also. It is 
the best paper, taken in every sense, I have ever seen.” 
The People's Paper.— One of our best correspon¬ 
dents—a lady of Cayuga Co., N. Y.—says in a letter 
just received—“I wish you could hear tho praises of 
the Rural as sung in this part of the country. Ask 
people what they think of it, and the answer always is, 
‘It is the best Agricultural paper published.’ And 
what is the reason? Siihply this: it has something 
about everything. There is nothing you wish to know 
but may be found in it; and if you have a question to 
ask, you do not receive for an answer that * no more 
correspondence or inquiries are desired.’ It is the 
People's Paper, and long may it flourish, as now, in 
this our ‘ Empire State.’ ” 
The Rural in the West.— la most of the Western 
States and Territories the Rural has a large and in¬ 
creasing circulation. Hundreds of New-Yorkers who 
have settled in the West of late years have introduced 
the paper to notice and support among their now friends 
and neighbors—and in this way the Rural has become 
known and loved by thousands of families throughout 
the rich valleys and prairies of tho truly great.and 
growing West. As a sample of letters recently received 
from some of these long-time and ardent friends, we 
copy the following from a correspondent and influen¬ 
tial voluntary agent in Illinois: 
“ Friend Moore :—Twelve years ago while you was 
scattering the Genesee Farmer, I became one of your 
readers and a learner from you. Since that time I have 
for ten years been the weekly recipient of your labor 
and thought. Twelve years ago I was a boy—I got 40 
subscribers for the Genesee Farmer one year, before I 
was 20 years of age. Eight years ago I commenced for 
you. I felt to do what I did do, and did what I felt, 
and I have worked ever since. I have got you sub¬ 
scribers in N. York, Ohio, Michigan, Wisconsin, Illinois 
and Iowa. I am glad. I feel that the Rural is such 
an Educator as the people, the agricultural population 
of our country, needs. They need a paper to teach 
them or impart taste in regard to reading; they gener¬ 
ally read little-are tired, and should read what they 
ought to think. Such reading you furnish. A farmer 
said to me yesterday. * I guess I will take the Rural. I 
have taken the Ledger a couple of years, and can tell 
when I begin a piece just about what it will amount to 
—there is such a sameness ’ Their cheapness throws 
thousands of copies of the * Dollar Paper’ and * Dollar 
Times’ into the very families where they ought not to 
go—families where but one paper is taken, and they 
have neither judgment or discrimination in regard to 
the paper they should have. For this reason I have 
wished the Rural could be furnished for one dollar a 
year to be even with them;—but the same reasons, fol¬ 
lowed out, would lead to wishing it was published for 
no'hiDg and circulated grat s; and, by the way, what 
would it cost to send it for nothing?” 
“Rural” Progress in Canada.— We are daily receiv¬ 
ing the most gratifying indications of large accessions to 
our subscription list in Canada. In several places the 
names already received for next volume are double 
those now on our books. A letter just received from an 
active and earnest friend of the Rural residing in a 
prominent town of Canada West, reports decided pro¬ 
gress. As the result of two days canvassiDg he reports 
the signatures of seventy subscribers—including 17 who 
never took the Rural, and 14 who were formerly sub 
scribcrs but felt “ too poor ” last fall to invest for 1859. 
Our friend adds: 
“ It is quite amusing to me, and I doubt not would be 
equally gratifying and peihaps flattering to you, to hear 
the opinions, all uniform in sentiment but various in 
form and humor, concerning the Rural. I say flatter¬ 
ing, because it might well be so to hear your name, as 
I have heard it within the last week, used in connection 
with the greatest in modem times among the literary 
and scientific benefactors of the world. One who was 
too poor to take the Rural for 1859, says—* I want it 
for 1S60, and never mean to do without it again, for I 
believe there is not a man in Canada too poor to take 
it if he or his child,en can read, and none so wealthy 
or intelligent that they can afford to do without it.’ 
Another says—‘Of course I will renew; one recipe 
alone in it has been worth $50 to me.’ Another, who 
tried to economize this last year, says—‘Don’t forget to 
put me in for the Rural for 1860. I will try to econo¬ 
mize in some other shape, and besides that I want it to 
keep peace in the family, for they have kept me in a 
sweat ever since I dropped it last year.’ Another 
« would not do without it for $10.’ Another, ‘ the best 
investment I ever made.’ Another says—‘ 1 es, you 
may always count on me as one of the Rural club. 
The only mystery about it that I want solved is how m 
creation he (Moore) or any other man can afford such 
a paper for that price; and you may assure Mr. Moore 
that I only regret I am unable to send him $10 for it, 
instead of the paltry club price, $1,88.’ Another 
< couldn’t keep house without it.’ Others will drop all 
other papers to keep or take the Rural, and I might 
continue to the bot'om of my page with similar expres¬ 
sions of appreciation and good will towards you and 
the Rural; but these and the like I suppose are every 
dav or too common to be of much interest to you ; but 
here is one with which I will close, which I am sure 
you are not wholly proof against.” [We must omit 
that, friend B , for though the editor of the Rural may 
be “ a remarkable man” and “accomplishing a great 
|jO u , u W ,. IV . 
work,” wc don’t think he is quite equal to Humboldt, 
Prescott, Irving, and the other worthies. As you 
suggest, however, we make a very lengthy bow,] In 
proof of tho gentleman’s sincerity he not only subscribed 
himself, but told me to put down the name of another 
nerson present who had no knowledge of the paper, 
and declined joining the club. ‘ Put down his name, 
said he, ‘ and when you want the funds call on me, tor 
I want him to try it one year, and every other decent 
man in the County.’ ” 
A Georgia subscriber says he can’t get his neighbors 
to subscribe for the Rural, as they think it must be an 
abolition paper because it is published at the North, 
but adds that, in reading it live years, he “has been 
unable to discover any favoritism toward any party or 
section of the Union.” 
I 
