I 
made the inference, which analysis has | value one dollar—tho nett profits for an 
swept away. This is not strange. It is not acre of wheat would he about $12, or the 
many years since chemists found phosphate same as tho nett profits of a crop of corn, 
of lime in soils and in vegetables, still fewer Wheat straw is of some value for stock, hut 
since ammonia was detected in the atrnos- of little compared with corn fodder. There 
phcre and in soils, and later still since tho is one point in which the corn crop seems 
beautiful part which the silicates are per- to have the advantage over that of wheat— 
forming in tho earth and in vegetables was j that is, in occupying the land but one year, 
unfolded. Hence have come somo impor- while wheat occupies a part of two seasons 
taut changes in agriculture, and the advan- ! —yet in correct management, wheat need 
tage and reason of subsoil plowing been ap- j occupy but ono year, as a crop nearly as 
prehended, while the process of raising the valuable may precedo tho fall sowing with- 
phosphatcs and silicates from the subsoil out detriment to tho wheat which follows, 
towards the surface and about the roots of j The adaptation of our country to the 
vegetables, shows the simplicity and the j production of this great staple, and the 
riches of the design of Providence in this ! ready cash market which It always finds has 
THE PROSE AND POETRY OF FARMING. 
part ot nature. c. n. added very much to the value of our lands. 
---- Still, at present prices of all our products. 
WHEAT AND INDIAN CORN. 
„ ^ tnereis less profit m wheat growing than m 
EXPENSE OF CULTIVATION,— PROFITS, ETC. , , „ „ . ^ 
___ other branches ol farming. It is not to be ex- 
Messrs. Editors :—What is the cost of pocted that in this or any other country 
raising a bushel of corn, and what are the W °H adapted to the production of wheat— 
relative profits of wheat and corn crops in the most valuable of all grains—it will ever 
this country ? These aro questions which be abandoned while it produces well. But 
perhaps few farmers can answer correctly that corn growing, stock raising, pork rais- 
—from actual knowledge of tho cost and ; mg, and wool growing should be neglected, 
product of each crop. Yet certainly they while rightly pursued they are equally 
are answerable questions, and such as every profitable, and our soil pressed and exhaust- 
one who cultivates these crops should be od > n the production of this ono crop, needs 
able to answer. Though our soil and its bo corrected. F. P. Root. 
adaptation to the different crops is so varied, Sweden > N - Y -> April 10 > ,8: ’ 2 - 
that no rule or estimate can apply with RAISING POTATOES. ~ 
equal correctness to different sections, or - 
even to different farms near each other, Mr. Editor I have looked a long timo 
each cultivator may, and should know the I for some communication on raising potatoes 
profit of different crops on his own farm, which would correspond with the mode I 
f roin the first improvement of the Gene- adopted somo thirteen years since, and 
see country, wheat has been iho staple, and have found nono so near as that of C. Mar- 
al most tho only produc. n m v w boon rolied tin. in the Rural of April 1. About four- 
upon by the farmer for a cash income; and teen years ago I removed from old Dutchess 
it is hard lor us to disbelieve the settled no- to Wayne county, bringing with mo a few 
tion that it is by far the most profitable Mercer potatoes for seed, and prepared a 
crop for us to produce. And, tho time has spot much larger than they would plant af- 
j been when these views and practices were ter cutting them so as to have only about 
i ' n main correct, but times and things two or threo eyes in each hill. About this 
j have changed, and it is wise for us to look j timo much was said and written about the 
£350 
WHEAT AND INDIAN CORN. 
EXPENSE OF CULTIVATION,— PROFITS, ETC. 
MESSRS. WAIN WRIGHT ’ S PREMIUM DEVON BULL. 
The above engraving represents the ani¬ 
mal which took premium at the State Fair 
ot 1851, as the “ best Devon Bull over three 
years old.” It is owned by W. P. & C. S. 
AVainwright, of Rhinebeck, Duchess Co., 
and is esteemed a fine specimen of this 
breed. The color of the Devon cattlo is a 
bright blood-red, often with a clear white 
line on the brisket. The head of the ox is 
small, the forehead broad, the oyo prominent 
and bright, the limbs straight, smooth, and 
well-turned; tho skin thin and free, and 
body very smooth. The Devon has rather 
long legs, and is more active and sprightly 
than any other breed. It fattens with great 
facility. 
The Devons aro a favorite brood of ani¬ 
mals. Their beauty and uniformity of col¬ 
or. and other good points, universally attract j 
the attention of strangers,—and scarcely 
any class excites more admiration, or re- , 
coives closer scrutiny, at tho shows of our 
State and County Societies. We may repeat 
here what was said in tho Rural of Sept. 
18, last, relative to this class of animals then 
on exhibition at tho State Fair:—“There 
are many fine Devons on the Show Grounds, 
and they receivo the marked observation of 
breeders and othors. Among them wo no- 
- __ -?~ == 
POTASH IN VEGETABLES. 
BY rilOF. DEWEY. 
Messrs. Editors: —Somo weeks since 1 
told you that I had an article on this sub¬ 
ject for your paper. I then designed to 
hand it to you at once. Though late, I car¬ 
ry out that design. 
Potash in Vegetables ! What good house¬ 
wife that has made up her stock of soft 
soap for the year, is ignorant of this ?— 
True, hut there is said to be a mystery 
about it. This mystery is to be solved, if it 
can bo. 
It is said, that you can not detect tho 
potash till tho vegetable is burned; and 
henco tho inference, that tho potash is pro¬ 
duced by tho combustion. The statement 
I deny. To disprove it, a few months since j 
I took some sawdust of hard maple, and di¬ 
gested it in water for two days. In the clear 
solution formed, there was full proof of the 
existence of potash. Two experiments gavo 
the same result. Therefore, combustion is 
not necessary to produce or evolve the 
potash. 
Potash is essential to tho best growth of 
many vegetables, and especially of the co- 
reals. It is found in most parts of tho 
grasses, as wheat, maize, red-top, &c. It is 
indeed, only in small quantity, forming only 
a small per cent, of even the ashes of vege¬ 
tables. Even in good soils it does not often 
exceod three per cent. This is the reason 
that it is not easily detected in the sap of 
vegetables. 
In good soils silex and the silicates form 
from seventy to ninety parts in a hundred. 1 
Of these silicates an important one is tho sili- i 
cate of potash ; others are silicates of soda, 
of lime, of magnesia. In tho state of sili¬ 
cate, both potash and silex, (soluble only i 
in small quantity, for only in small quantity 
i tice fine representative animals from tho 
j herds of Wm. Garautt, Esq., of Wheatland, 
j Monroe county, — tho pioneer breeder of 
Devons in Western Now York—Mr. Geo. 
Siiaffer, of tho samo town; E. P. Beck, 
of Wyoming cqunty; and several other 
breeders whoso names have escaped us.— 
Tho show is most excellent,—alike credila- 
blc to owners and worthy of particular ex- 
1 animation.” 
For the information of such of our read- 
, ers as aro interested in, or wish to procure 
I Devon stock, and in answer to inquiries on 
; the subject, we will give hero the names and 
a<!4 ress of the most prominent exhibitors in 
this class,—in addition to those above men- 
: tioned,—at tho last State Fair, viz..—E. N. 
Thomas, Rose, Wayne county; M. C. Rem¬ 
ington, Sonnett, Cayuga; L. II. Colby. Scipio, 
Cayuga; Samul Baker, E Imeston, Otsego; 
j Albert Allen, Jordan ; Ambroso Stevens, 
New York ; Miles Vernon, Stafford, Gene¬ 
see ; E. G. Morris, Fordham, Westchester; 
R. H. Van Rensselaer, and II. N. Washburn, 
of Morris, Otsego. Messrs. Wm. Garbutt, 
of Wheatland, Monroe, and E. P. Beck, of 
Wyoming, aro, we believe, the principal 
breeders of Devons in this section of tho 
State. 
is this compound needed for the vegetable,) 
pass up in water into tho vegetable to form 
a part of tho sap, that it may form a part 
of tho plant. It is true, also, that silica 
passes up into plants, held in solution by wa¬ 
ter alone. 
In tho ashes of hard maple, potash forms 
only threo and a quarter per cent., while 
lime is 41.4 per cent., and carbonic acid 
3G per cent. In tho common chestnut, the 
potash is less than in tho maple, while in 
horso-chestnut it is much greater. In the 
elm, tho potash is considerable, and this 
tree flourishes on clayey soils arising from 
disintegrated shales, which yield much 
potash. 
If we burn tho charcoal mado from ma¬ 
ple or elm, tho white ashes givo to tho 
j tonguo tho taste of potash only slightly, be¬ 
cause this alkali is only in such small pro¬ 
portion, only a distinct trace of it. 
The mystery disappears, and it had no ex¬ 
istence except in tho imagination. Potash 
exists in fho soil, and forms with silex a j 
compound fitted to bo taken up in tho sap ; 
of tho vegetable and to circulate through 
the plant. Tho woody fibro is composed of 
carbon, hydrogen and oxygen, with so much 
of alkali and earthy ingredients as to make 
tho substanco what it is. In combustion, 
tho oxygen and hydrogen form water and 
pass off in vapor, while tho carbon is con¬ 
sumed by tho oxygen of tho atmosphere, 
and the carbonic acid is evolved; tho earthy 
and alkaline substances remain and form 
tho ashes, having seized upon so much of 
tho carbonic acid as they are ablo to take. 
I lie analysis of vegetable matter by means 
ot oxydo of copper accounts for tho whole 
matter analyzed and shows what aro tho 
various products of combustion. There is 
no obscurity resting on tho subject. Im¬ 
perfect experiments, or rather ignoranco 
Sweden, N. Y., April 16, 1852. 
RAISING POTATOES. 
around and see if we may, to somo degree, 
also change. 
Rohan potato; all agreed that two eyes 
wero enough for a bill. I purchased five 
To make a comparison between the two bushels of Pinkeyes for tablo use, and find- 
crops. I propose to givo you an extract from ing considerable spare ground after plant- 
my farm accounts, showing the profits of ing all the mercers, I cut off tho seed ends 
wheat and corn as cultivated by myself the of tho pinkeyes—then cut tho seed ends so 
last five years. I shall not enter into par- as to have as near as I could, two good look, 
ticulars of my modo of cultivation, but will i ng eyes to each hill, and planted them 
give the cost of raising a crop of corn, and about three feet apart each way, and when 
also of wheat, which I think about an aver- up of sufficient size, plowed oach way and 
age product and crop on my farm : 
hood. No extra labor was put upon them, 
1851. Lot 3. 15 acres in preparation for corn. Dr. and when the time came for digging, I found 
To cost of applying fight dressing of long the best potatoes that ever 1 raised. 
„ , l l re ' • * v ' *...:.$25,88 As for largo or small potatoes for seed, I 
lots days plowing and harrowing,_ 24,75 * . , , , . 
“2 “ planting with machine* .... JOO ‘ made some f ew experiments, but soon bo- 
“ 4 bushels of seed,. 2,50 . came satisfied. I therefore, in tho fall, when 
42 days work cultivating and hoeing,.. 31,50 digging my potatoes, sort out for seed the 
com. _ P " ,“ d r.“‘° g °° 5 ,„o largest and hondsomest-put them by them- 
“ 16 days harvesting corn,. 12,00 selves for safe keeping—and when I plant, 
“ husking and housing com, about. 45,00 never fail of cutting so as to get about two 
“ interest on land ono year,. 75 00 T , . 
“ g° od eyes to a lull. I then drop the cut 
$224,63 side down, then put about a table spoonful 
1851. Lot 3. 15 acres in com. Cr. of plaster on oach piece, then cover in the 
By 750 bush of corn at 50 cts. per bu... .$375,00 usual way. I am satisfied that I raise bet- 
" B ^ c ™ rti ” mparcd . w ! th .!“!:®!’°° 75,00 tcr P 0tot00s ,hlu of my neighbors, who 
.. use three or four times the seed. I have 
$450,00 thought they may get as many bushels 
Profits of 15 acres in com,.$225,37 sometimes from tho acre as I do, but very 
I charge tho corn crop nothing for ma- many of them are so small as to be fit for 
nure except the cost of applying it, as tho nothing but to feed to hogs, while, as a gen- 
benefit to after crops is equal to its first oral thing, I got none too small for table 
value. uso. 
The yield of this fiold was little above fif- As for tho different'kinds of potatoes, I 
ty bushels per acre, but I call fifty bushels prefer tho mercer; in tho first place, I pre- 
an average crop, and will call it that in my for them for tho table; next, they yield well, j 
estimate. and lastly, I can dig two acres of them to j 
This account make3 corn cost 20 cents ono of the pinkeyes. B. Genung. 
per bushel. There is always some Bhrink- Rose > N ' Y -> April, 1852. 
per bushel. There is always some Bhrink- Rosc > N - Y -> April, 1852. 
ago in corn and oftentimes leaks from tho , T 
crib-but tho pigs, horses and cattlo aro ' stables mod atilood, possess a farina- 
usually benefited by it, so tho crop is not substanc0 > “ “dmnably adapted 
tho less to bo valued. Aftot deducting t0 11,0 sa W ort f anlmal life \ H is in a 
shrinkage and waste in poor corn, I -all *5“*" or 1 , °“ do S rce a “■“‘■‘"ontof all 
25 cents per bushel tho first cost. P lants ’ a,ld 5 , eoms *° bo "^ary to their 
Fearing that I am making my article too f ow ‘ b ' has le f of an or 8“ ked 
lcngthy, I will abridge my statement of tho tu ™ than tbo membranous or fibrous parts, 
wheat crop-giving results only. My av- and "; h ? n dr - v ls , °»"fim»ay readily con¬ 
orage yield of wheat for several years, has ve f ted ,nt0 mcal or flour - b F a rubbi "* or 
not varied much from twenty-five bushels gnn ln S pros' 1 - j- _t^e. tv. 
per acre—and tho cost has been from 50 to The world is a workshop, and nono but 
52 cents per bushel. Calling tho market tho wiso know how to uso the tools. 
by a farmer’s wife. 
Mr. Moore: —Your paper being mainly 
devoted to matters pertaining to rural life, 
I presume your columns are open to tho 
discussion of all subjects that may prove in¬ 
teresting anil profitable to tho sisterhood of 
farmer’s wives and daughters. 
Is it not sometimes tho object of writers 
on tho subject of Agriculture, to make it 
attractive as posible, keeping out of sight, 
tho real labor and effort necessary to obtain 
a competence from a farm alono ? Many 
females especially, imbibe the idea from Ag¬ 
ricultural papers, that their own lives of 
unremitting exertion are exceptions to gen¬ 
eral facts, and that others in similar circum¬ 
stances, obtain better results, without much 
labor; but let us examine “ both sides of 
the shield.” 
Under the head of Prose Farming, I de¬ 
sign to portray a large class in every coun¬ 
try community, who will doubtless recognise 
the picturo, if tho “Rural” finds as large 
a circulation among them as I desire it may. 
Under the designation of Poetical Farm¬ 
ing , I will endeavor to describe that phase 
of tho subject, which every one loves to con¬ 
template, and to which I venture to say 
there are more aspirants, than to any other 
condition of life whatever. 
I will then show that it is perfectly prac¬ 
ticable to blend the Prose and Poetry in 
such a manner that no young lady need to 
entertain any prejudices against a country 
life. On you, young men ivho intend to be 
farmers, do wo depend, in a measure, for a 
consummation so devoutly to bo wished. I 
hope you will read, and sec to it. that a fa¬ 
miliar imago be not reflected in tho descrip¬ 
tion of 
Prose Farming. 
We will start from the beginning, and see 
if there is not frequently a lasting injury 
inflicted on the wives and daughters of 
common farmers—inadvertently, I admit— 
yet nevertheless an injury, whose effects will 
not end till succeeding generations have 
better learned the economy of life. 
Let us take a single family for a type of 
tho class. A sober, industrious, intelligent 
young man has accumulated means to pur¬ 
chase a farm. lie must go far enough into 
the interior to get land cheap, so as to mako 
his farm largo as possible,—leaving just 
enough to provide a shelter for himself and 
the worthy girl whoso wholo heart ho has 
already secured, and who is willing to devote 
her life to the advancement of his happi¬ 
ness and prosperity. 
Let mo here remark, that thero is too of¬ 
ten a great mistake committed in not confi¬ 
ding to tho young wife, tho actual stato of 
finances, and plans for the futuro. There 
is always an instinctivo delicacy in tho mind 
of a young lady or bride, about inquiring 
into money matters, and too generally an 
ambition on tho part of the young man, to 
make an impression on her mind, that sho 
will have no need to work, not hard, at any 
rate,—“just to seo that things aro done 
right.” I would advise all my young friends 
to como to a plain understanding of theso 
matters, beforo tho knot is tied. It would 
not abstract a single drop from the over¬ 
flowing cup of affection, and would save 
many a hoart-burning, occasioned by impu- 
tedjextravagance, wholly undoserved, besides 
a sad feeling of disappointment, that will 
steal on tho mind, in hours of toil to which 
all farmers’ wives must bo subjected. 
They commonco life on the farm—both 
are willing to work, both are ambitious._ 
Probably in his plans for improvement, ev¬ 
ery cent that can be earned is neodod to 
carry them out. Sho hoars him talk of tho 
failure of a crop, or tho loss of an animal, 
and her mind shrinks from asking for money 
to spend for her own comfort or conveni¬ 
ence, — frequently spending hours, when 
minutes would have sufficed with suitable 
means. Under such circumstances, doos 
the husband always consider her comfort As 
much as his own?—does ho not sometimes 
think her work is light, for it is not like 
chopping wood, mowing, or other hard work 
