VOLUME III. NO. G. }■ 
ROCHESTER, N. Y-THURSDAY, FEBRUARY 5, 1 
WHOLE NO. 11 
•%'tndturnl Department. 
PROGRESS AND IMPROVEMENT. 
MANURES ON DRAINED AND UNDRAINED 
LAND. 
Every practical farmer has noticed the 
difference in the effects of manures applied 
to even a single field, but few have been 
able satisfactorily to account for tho same. 
This difference has been more especially ob¬ 
servable upon heavy lands with a clayey 
subsoil, where there were low spots occa¬ 
sionally swamped with water. In such wet 
| places however highly manured, it has been 
found impossible to produce good crops. 
In England, draining has come to be con¬ 
sidered tho ground work and foundation of 
all productive farming. Sterile and worth- j 
loss lands have in this way been brought in¬ 
to use, becoming the most fertile and valu¬ 
able. Draining renders the land penetrable 
to water, says Dr. Buck land, “enabling the 
rain to descend freely through it, carrying 
to the roots these fertilizing elements of 
carbonic acid and ammonia, with which rain 
water is always charged. ' These may be 
supplied by the manure, but they must float 
upon tho surface of undrained land, for the 
wet, clayey subsoil will not allow them to 
penetrate so that they may be taken up by 
tho roots of the plants. Yet let these lands 
bo thoroughly drained, and no soils will bet¬ 
ter repay the application of manures. In¬ 
stead of late and imperfect crops, we shall 
then get early and abundant ones, for well- 
drained land can be worked much earlier 
than the wet, and will sooner bring the crops 
to pefcction. 
The elements of manure act only when in 
a state of solution, hence it is of the great¬ 
est importance that they be so applied, and 
that tho sod bo so prepared, that they may, 
not only bo readily dissolved by the rain, ( 
but that the rain may freely pass through * 
the soil, and the soil acting as a filter, arrest 
them and hold thorn where they will best 
solve as food for vegetation. An ill-drained 
field is poorly prepared for this. The rain 
must either run off on the surface, or pass 
by evaporation—in either case carrying with 1 
it the greater portion of the manurial ele- 1 
monts it may contain. And rain-water is ,£ 
always charged with these. Carbonic acid s 
is continually supplied to the air from the s 
lungs of animals, from the consumption of I 
fuel, from putrefying animal and vegetable ^ 
matter, and numerous other sources—it is c 
ever floating in the atmosphere in a gaseous I 
form, and is brought down again by every 
fall of snow and every shower of rain._ 0 
Both are “ the poor man’s manure.” n 
It is tho truo policy of the farmer to uso a 
every means in his power of rendering his ' 
manures efficient uhd his fields productive, Sl 
ind in no way can this better be accomplish- t: 
od than by draining and deepening the soil. c 
I he immediate effects of such an improve- ^ 
ment, in increasing the value of tlie crops ^ 
are generally such as will repay the outlay h 
required in two or three years at least, and S1 
all after that for untold years to come, may 0 
be set down as clear profit—as a result which ir 
would not have been obtained but for this 81 
simple but effectual change in the character ** 
of the soil, as regards its retentiveness of :i 
water. ci 
number of cows on good hay for a fortnight, 
measuring the milk they gave in that time. 
The next fortnight, in addition to tho hay, 
ho has given the same cows, carrots, from a 
peck to a bushel per day, for each cow, and 
was ye^; unable to “make a note of” any in¬ 
crease of milk in consequence, llis exper¬ 
iments have led also to the conclusion, that 
carrots when fed out “ in ordinary doses,” do 
not diminish in the least the quantity of hay 
necessary for his cows. 
Mr. Farmer, of Concord, tokl tho Editor 
of the paper above referred to, that his ex¬ 
perience had shown the same results, yet he 
thinks the carrot one of the best roots for 
cows which can be grown. They add great¬ 
ly to (he quality of the milk and consider¬ 
ably to the quantity of the butter. Mr. 
Holbrook concurs in this opinion. Mr. F. 
adds that, “if fed to cows that are suckling 
calves, the calf will be much fatter, while 
the cow will gam flesh.” The most immedi¬ 
ate benefit of carrots, and one well worth all 
their cost, is their influence on the appetite 
and digestion of the animal,—keeping the 
latter in perfect health, and thus increasing 
the former. A cow fed liberally on carrots 
is found to last much longer for tho dairy, 
than one fed on meal, or other more stimu¬ 
lating food. 
The influence of the different roots and 
grains is also made tho subject of comment 
by the Farmer. Tho effect of beets and po¬ 
tatoes is to increase the quantity of milk at 
first, but at ^Jie expense of the quality, and 
to the injury of the health of the cow/ Oil¬ 
cake and corn meal, as stated in a previous 
number of the Rural, are too stimulating to 
bo used as a permanent article of food— 
though their occasional use will not be injuri¬ 
ous. Scalded shorts is an excellent article 
of food for cows, and will induce and keep 
up a flow of milk, as freely as almost any 
thing to be procured at this season. Yet 
good hay must bo supplied, and of this they 
will continue to consume about the same 
amount as though no other food was given. 
AT* 
MR. BURNET’S THOROUGH BRED HORSE “CONSTERNATION.’ 
FENCES WITHOUT RAILS. 
CARROTS FOR MILCH COY/3, 
Though our scientific friend, Dr. Lee, 
says that “ one hundred pounds of carrots 
ought to yield at least fifty of milk, in good 
cows, yet it appears from experiments 
lately made in Massachusetts, and detailed 
in the New England Farmer, that carrots, as 
an article of food, do not materially increase 
the quantity of milk, though they add to its 
quality, and also to the amount of butter. 
Mr. Hoyt, of Exeter, N. II., tells a pleas¬ 
ant story of a milk farmer in Bradford, 
Mass., “ whose fifty cow^ ‘givedown’some 
$2,000 worth of milk per year to tho Hav¬ 
erhill people on the other side of tho river, 
who thinks that carrots do not contribute in 
the slightest degroo to increase tho amount 
of milk in a cow. He has fed a certain 
How shall wo build fences, after all the 
rail timber is gone ? Many of our farms 
have sufficient stone upon them, if carefully 
gathered, for the road fences, and the neces¬ 
sary inside fences may be built of wire, or 
some less costly material than rails. At the 
present price of wood in Monroe county, a 
Virginia rail fenco is the most costly a man 
can build, and certainly tho most unsightly. 
I have little faith in hedges in this country, 
for I believe, if our winters do not kill them 
or the mice girdlo them, they require so 
much care and training as to be unprofit¬ 
able where labor is as high as with us. A 
very good fence is made in any- adhesive 
soil by banking the dirt from a ditch somo 
three feet high, and covering with sods; 
cross stakes with two rails complete the 
fonce. A neighbor lias ono of this descrip¬ 
tion on tho roadside, which for two years 
has answered well its purpose. I think 
such a fenco, with two or three wires instead 
of the rails, would bo quite desirable for an 
inside fence, and all that is required. Much 
such a fenco is used on tho Westfern prai¬ 
ries, where herds of cattle run at large,_ 
and it is found ample protection for the 
crops. y*. w. jj 
Greece, N. Y., Jan., 1831. 
BALKY HORSES. 
The practico of an English friend, who 
has cured numbers of them, is to hitch a 
steady horse or team behind them and pull 
them backwards. It should bo done on 
smooth fair ground. The refractory beast 
will not relish such treatment, and will soon 
be glad to go forward at tho word of com¬ 
mand. Tho most stubborn will yield and 
be perfectly truo and tractable after three or 
tour such tutorings. Tho aforementioned 
Inend, tells mo ho never failed to conquer 
in a single instance, and that too without 
the stroko ot a whip or otherwise maltreat¬ 
ing the animal. T _ E w 
Time is gold; throw not ono minute away, 
but place each ono to account. 
“ Consternation,” tho property of J. B. 
Burnet, Syracuse, has for several years 
1 anked among the best blood horses in this 
country. lie was awarded tho highest pre¬ 
mium ot the New York State Agricultural 
Society on Blood Horses, in 1845, and has 
received several certificates as the best 
thorough bred horse at mort recent exhibi¬ 
tions—including the Fair oF-Wol. 
A late edition of “ Youatt on tho Horse” 
states that “ Oonstcrnation was bred hv 
Matthew Hornsey, Esq., of Stiltenham, 
near York, Yorkshire, England, in 1841._ 
“ He is a brown horse, dappled with bay— 
an unusual, but a rich and pleasing color, 
lie is full fifteen hands and three inches 
high without his shoes, and weighs about 
twelvo hundred pounds. IIo is compact, 
and, for a thorough bred, very long horse, 
like his immediate ancestors Confederate, 
Curiosity, Figaro, &c. IiTdecd his sire Con¬ 
federate, after being withdrawn from the 
turt, was kept by his breeder Earl Fitzwil- 
liam, to breed hunters and carriage horses 
horn, owing to his size, bone and symmetry 
—properties which eminently marked his 
progeny.- llis dam Curiosity was a large, 
stiong marc, and her sire, Figaro, possessed 
the same characteristics. 
Consternation is beautifully symmetri¬ 
cal in all his proportions, with a plumpness 
and soundness ot outline unusual in the 
thoiough-bred; more like a perfect hunter 
01 exceedingly stylish carriage horse, bat 
without a particle of coarseness, cloddish¬ 
ness or deviation from a true blood-like look. 
He is a horse of extraordinary mettle and 
activity, rapid in all his {tacos, singularly 
elastic and graceful in his movements. lie 
walks nearly five miles an hour, and is a 
beautiful and rapid trotter.” He is the siro 
of much good stock in Central New York. 
LARGE AND SMALL POTATOES FOR SEED. 
Messrs. Editors :—In the Rural of Jan. 
1st., there is a call for more light on the 
subject ot •• large and small potatoes for 
seed,” with a view to settling the relative 
merits of each, so that we may “ be able to 
use small ones in planting with confidence 
in the result. Although I have never made 
any very critical experiments on this point, 
yet I have had experience enough in the 
premises, to give me as perfect confidence 
in the result as one can have when deposit¬ 
ing the seeds of any plant ho Cultivates.— 
The past season, for instance, I planted none 
but small potatoes, and a fairer, better yield 
in every respect I never dug on a soil of the 
same fertility, (at the rate of over 160 bush¬ 
els per acre of sound potatoes and as.nearly 
as I could judge, one fourth of the whole 
produce were spoiled by the rot, making 
over 200 bushels per acre—tho total product 
of sound and unsound potatoes.) On the 
other hand a friend planted none but fair, 
medium-sized potatoes; tho result was about 
30 bushels per acre of small potatoes, most¬ 
ly too small for cooking; his soil was richer 
than mine in tho elements of fertility, yet 
some circumstances not well ascertained 
produced this unlocked for result. It was 
not tho difference in seed, of course, that 
producod it, nor would I turn my hand for 
a choice, at least on ground thoroughly fit¬ 
ted by manure and tillage. 
During the season of 1850 I occupied a 
pieco of ground in company with a friend 
who furnished very fine marketable potatoes 
as his share of the seed. I had previously 
disposed of all my marketable potatoes ex¬ 
cept a rather scanty supply for family uso ; 
so when I brought out my basket of small 
potatoes, though they planted considerably 
more ground then his, I felt a good deal 
crestfallen, for they were small potatoes in¬ 
deed, and I had not then the confidence I 
now have in “small beginnings.” Remind¬ 
ing him, however, of his own diminutive 
size and great mental and bodily powers (ho 
1 o:ng a small “ smart’ man) I suggested that 
" o might perhaps expect similar manifesta¬ 
tions in this case. I will not say that lie 
crowed over me, but certainly he was more 
than half an inch taller than lie would have 
been, could he have looked forward a few 
months and seen the harvest ot really beauti¬ 
ful and large potatoes that were dug from 
that part ot the field planted by me,_not 
a whit behind the yield from the large ones 
in any particular, though the soil where they 
were planted was if anything, inferior. The 
whole field, however, was a very rich and 
productive soil. 
One reason given for using large tubers is 
that they furnish a large amount of ma¬ 
nure to the young plarut. To such, I would 
say, better sell your large potatoes and buy 
as many bushels of ashes as you save of 
potatoes by planting small ones, and, my 
word for it, you will by a judicious applica¬ 
tion of these ashes either in the hill or to 
the young plants, find yourself largely bene¬ 
fited in “ the result. ’ No, no, my friend, it 
will never do to talk of manuring your 
fields with potatoes at 50 cts. a bushel— be¬ 
sides it is not quite certain that when ap¬ 
plied in this way, they furnish much susten¬ 
ance to tho growing crop. Instance the 
case of the clippings, in the article alluded 
to at the beginning; also the fact that in 
hills where the tuber planted remains near¬ 
ly sound at the harvest, the yield is quito 
equal to those where it is completely de¬ 
composed. On a question that is so easily 
settled by experiment wo ought not to re¬ 
main long in doubt; but it is to be feared that 
in agriculture as well as on other subjects, 
there are many who are always learning but 
who never come to a knowledge of tho truth. 
True, wo need more accurate experiments 
to determine the matter to a nicety, and in 
this light, tho aid of the State Society might 
bo very profitable, if tho premium offered 
was sufficiently liberal to pay, or at least 
1 • » 
| it perfectly competent men were to engage 
i in the investigation. 
I have produced the above examples of 
j experience, not as being particularly con- 
I elusive on the main question, but merely to 
j show that many other causes than large or 
I small seed, have an influence on tho crop 
j produced,—indeed, I have never seen an ex¬ 
periment detailed where the result favored 
either way, in which that difference might 
not have been traced to other causes than 
the once adduced —-such as quantity of seed, 
or the like. I might goon and relate many 
other experiments but I prefer to reason the 
matter on other grounds. 
It is well understood that the tuber is an 
underground stem; that the eyes are germs 
j or buds, embracing the complete plant in 
embryo. Now this bud, completely and not 
| over-ripened, is alone needed to propagate 
the plant and may after the roots are formed 
he transferred (o a perfectly congenial soil 
| without detriment to tho product. If it 
were not intended that the plant should de¬ 
rive its nourishment from the earth, and not 
from the potato, why are roots immediately 
j formed even before there is any considerable 
j development of leaves ? I conceive that 
J this is tho sole necessity in the case, and 
that when these roots are formed and a cir¬ 
culation established from the soil through 
the roots and leaves so that the plant may 
elaborate its own food, the tuber may 
bo separated with impunity; and, that, long- 
before the elaborated sap in the tuber is ex¬ 
hausted, or which is tho same thing or bet¬ 
tor, the potato may be of much less than 
the medium size and still supply the nour¬ 
ishment needed. 
This being admitted, it only remains to 
inquire i elativc to the size and perfection of 
the 'bud in large and small potatoes. A 
very moderate share of observation will have 
satisfied any one that the- size of tho potato 
makes no difference in the size of the bud, 
in its normal state, although tho indentation 
surrounding it is frequently enlarged ac¬ 
cording to the size of the potato. A strong 
healthy sprout is, I believe, as often found 
on a small, as on a large tuber. With re¬ 
gard to the ripeness of such potatoes as I 
speak of, I should have perfect confidence 
when they are the product of seed season¬ 
ably planted. Who when selecting scions 
for grafting would think of preferring those 
from very large trees nil her than from small¬ 
ish ones, provided the latter were good bear¬ 
ers ? Nor is that part of the scion nearest 
the tree any better than the other extroinity, 
provided it be fully ripened. Any one may 
know that the size does not determine its 
perfection in this particular, by a very slight 
attention to the facts in the case. Indeed 
it is a l ii 1 o to select tho scions of a medium 
sizo. 
In conclusion, then; for seed, uso fair 
healthy potatoes, below the size for cooking- 
down to that of a patridge’s egg; plant on a 
rich soil; one with which the manure has been 
thoroughly incorporated, and, bating the 
vicissitude and maladies to which this crop 
is liable, you may “ have confidence” in a 
bountiful harvest. S. Lutiier. 
Clayinount Farm, Jan., 1852. 
RURAL ARCHITECTURE. 
Messrs. Editors :—Permit me to say that 
your paper is useful, no less in its-devotion 
to the interests of community with respect 
to this subject, than its advocacy of those 
more directly connected with agriculture. 
I have for a long time had a “ beau ideal ” 
of a house which I consider tho right kind 
for a farmer, and tho remarks of ono of 
your correspondents on “Rural Architec¬ 
ture,” has called it out at last. llis views 
concerning tho shape proper for a domicil, 
are somewhat similar to those of O. S. Fow¬ 
ler. Both are in favor of the octagonal 
form, which is oxcellent as far as outside ap¬ 
pearance is concerned. But when you come 
to either the appearance or convonionco of 
the rooms inside, “thero you are down.”_ 
Tho form is a good ono for a school-houso 
or any building requiring but ono room, but 
when-it has to bo cut up into numerous 
rooms, all are either ill-shapon or inconven- 
