38 
MOORE’S RURAL NEW-YORKER: AN AGRICULTURAL AND FAMILY NEWSPAPER, 
JAN. 30 
cleaned and littered, and about five they get theii 
supper. It is their invariable practice to visit the 
stables at nine in the evening, to Bee that all is safe, 
and feed for the last time. By so doing they have 
sometimes saved the lives of valuable animals 
which some accident had befallen. 
By foddering cattle often, and giving but little at 
a time, they consume all that is eatable, and nothing 
is wasted. Having large quantities of coarse fod¬ 
der to dispose of, they feed alternately with good 
and poor hay, or both, mixed in equal proportions. 
AH their straw, corn-fodder, and swale hay, is cut, 
as is the greater part of the good hay, and they 
think a change and variety of food as essential and 
acceptable to dumb beasts as to the human family. 
The young stock receive more roots and good hay 
than the older cattle, it being an object to feed 
them so as to keep them groining through the winter. 
This is important J* n. b. 
Niagara Co., N. Y., Jan., 1858. 
ARE WE PROGRESSING 1 
Our mutual friend W. B. P. considers, in an inter¬ 
esting article of a few months back, the probabilities 
on the side of “no progress”—or progress in a 
contrary direction from that which is desirable if 
at all. We thought when reading his article that 
they were just in the main, and could but feel with 
him anxious about the result. 
To the readers of the Rural, as farmers, the 
question is an important one. That stage of the 
world’s history is now reached when it is not a mat¬ 
ter of choice with the farmer “to go on or stand 
still”—he must go on! He cannot shirk the re- 
sponsibilitiesof Imposition; he has aided in calling 
into life and being a government which he must 
now uphold and support. He has aided in produc¬ 
ing in his children the desire of knowledge, and he 
must now satisfy that desire—he has established a 
system of improvements in agricultural labor, and 
he must now adopt them. He has put off the con¬ 
servative boots of the non-progressive, and he must 
not put them on. His children read of great im¬ 
provements in the mechanical world and desire 
that their profession should keep pace with those 
of their fellows. The sciences are studied in our 
schools, and we must apply and illustrate them at 
home. We must progress in our farm labor — we 
have no alternative but to face the music and go on. 
We did not understand our friend P. to deny but 
we were progressing in the creation of useful ma¬ 
chinery and farm implements. He seemed only to 
consider our progress as men and women not equal 
to our day and age. This is certainly an uncom¬ 
mon view of affairs and worthy of investigation.— 
That we arc progressing in every kind of crime is 
evident from the new and unheard of means and 
frequency of its commission. That we are progres¬ 
sing in morals is not so evident. In this exigency 
we hold it the duty of the farmer to look out for 
himself first. If as a class they continue straight 
forward, the world of mankind cannot get far from 
the right way without being brought to a stand 
still. The farmer—not the politician as some have 
supposed—holds the keys of government, owns the 
great bulk of the property of the nation, and can 
manage the whole concern if he w ill. His progress 
is intimately connected with the state of the gov¬ 
ernment; hence without being a politician he 
should see that our progress is in the right direc¬ 
tion, and that our men employed to do our bidding 
in our capitols are of the right sort. 
That the farmer may make true and full progress 
he must cultivate his manly faculties—his intellect. 
That he is progressing in this direction we must 
believe from the fact of his reading more and think¬ 
ing more. He not only has books but thoughts, 
and is as frequently correct in his opinions as other 
men. From this fact we argue that he is progres¬ 
sing, let the balance of mankind be going where 
they will. 
In speaking of progress it is a common error to 
only mention man—his great helper and supporter 
is left out of the question, and we never stop to con¬ 
sider her relative position, but while we converse in 
a consequential manner of our business and of saving 
the Union, she is forced whether from choice or not 
to listen, or with her own sex, talk of what con¬ 
cerns her more nearly. We doubt whether the 
machines invented by woman, or the labors now 
performed by them, are calculated to elevate them 
very much above the position occupied years ago. 
We should be pleased to read an article from some 
of the fair ones upon the relative improvement or 
progress of her sex. 
If we would progress as men and women, we 
must educate ourselves in the great truths of our 
occupation. We must not, as farmers’ daughters, 
cherish a universal desire to wed the followers of 
other occupations than those of our fathers, and as 
farmers’ sons we must not look upon our occupa¬ 
tion as degrading or more laborious than any other, 
but resolve to follow it, and elevate ourselves in 
the scale of manhood. We shall do this if we 
study our occupation, and it will no longer be a 
doubtful question whether or no we are progres¬ 
sing. It is manifestly the duty of all at the present 
day to progress in the improvement of their own 
minds. Jno. Sanfield. 
I.ee Centre, Lee Co., 111., 1858. 
FUTURE PLANS.-HIGH FARMING, &c. 
Now is the period of the year when it behooves 
us to mature our plans for the coming time of la‘ 
bor. And how much relief it is to have them fully 
and definitely settled, so that when we come to engage 
in our spring planting or sowing, there shall be 
none of that undecidedness which is so harassing 
when we have so much on hand that needs imme¬ 
diate attention. 
First estimate the probable amount of fertilizing 
matter on hand, and then study where and how it 
may be most profitably applied. Consider whether 
that old meadow', lying near the barn, and from 
which you have been content, for a long series of 
years, to take annually a ton of hay per acre, 
though naturally a good strong soil, has had an 
opportunity of showing you what it could do.— 
Would it not bo practicable to disturb its long re¬ 
pose with the plow, and just spread a few loads of 
well decayed manure on its inverted surface, and In¬ 
judicious tillage, take from it a crop of corn; where 
the fodder, aside from the grain would be worth just 
as much as was the tun of hay—or perchance amoie- 
ty'of it could be profitably devoted to the cultiva¬ 
tion of roots, millet, corn fodder, or something oi 
a similar nature. Suppose now you just try a lit¬ 
tle high farming, not enough to ruin you, however 
on the first trial. Don’t be frightened if you 
should happen to discover that you are expending, 
in fertilizing material, labor, Ac., some twenty or 
thirty dollars per acre instead of the usual skin¬ 
ning process. 
And then, again, is there not some implement 
which you could use advantageously in your busi¬ 
ness? That wheat field—could it be better prepar¬ 
ed for the seed by the use of a good two-horse cul¬ 
tivator, and the seed better and more economically 
sown with a drill than by the usual course? And 
your hoed crops—are you supplied with a proper 
hoeing or cultivating machine, one that will mate¬ 
rially lessen the amount of hand-labor? Your 
plows and harrows, are these of that pattern which 
will most effectually invert and pulverize the soil? 
Do not goto the expense of a harvesting or mowing 
machine until your fields are fitted for them—nor 
look upon every invention brought to your notice 
by interested parties as an improvement; but in 
everything pertaining to your vocation, make a 
wise use of the faculties your Maker has endowed 
you with—or, to use the somewhat novel expres¬ 
sion of a late English agriculturist, make large use 
of “brain manure.” w - J- r. 
Salisbury, Conn., 1858. 
RAISING CANE-REJOINDER. 
Eds. Rural: —Your Indiana correspondent at¬ 
tacks my article on the Chinese Sugar Cane, and 
the facts it contains, in a very savage manner. He 
seems to think that I am troubled with “ hydropho¬ 
bia;” but 1 can assure him that the only mad. speci¬ 
men of animal life I have seen or heard of lately, 
is a biped who signs himself “Sorg Hum,” and 
hails fromBloomingdale, Iloosierdom. As regards 
my “abhorrence of anything green,” which seems 
so much to trouble him, this present rejoinder to 
his special pleadings is sufficient evidence to dis¬ 
prove that statement—should he desire that this 
point be made more manifest, let him visit Sheri¬ 
dan, and the friendly shake of the hand / will there 
give him will settle all doubts forever. As regards 
“taste,” we arc often told “there is no accounting 
for it,” some have perverted and others vitiated 
theirs, but would it look well for “Sorg Hum” 
to charge the syrup with “ greenness ?” We have 
heard of certain culinary utensils hurling black 
epithets at one another, but such a course on the 
part of our Indiana friend would eclipse all nurse¬ 
ry tales. I have tried soda, as he recommends, and 
all the other alkaA'cs—the only ones that have 
done any good were those put in the public jour¬ 
nals recounting the wonderful properties of this 
Sugar Cane, and they harmed everybody but the 
originators. 
Our friend invites “ all your city poor who are 
suffering for the necessaries of life and are letting 
their little ones die of starvation,” to “emigrate to 
the West and aid in raising Chinese Sugar Cane.” 
If “Sorg Hum” is serious, andveally intends to de¬ 
vote himself to raising this “werry pecoolar” 
plant, he will not only want all the poor, but all the 
rich, and when these have settled themselves down 
in the “Great West,” he will need “ the rest of man¬ 
kind” to help make the syrup. 
We hope that the expectations of our friend may 
be realized; that “next season he will reap large 
profits” from the culture of Sorghum. Should 
disappointment, however, only show him that “ it’s 
all in my eye,” he can lay the soothing unction to 
his uneasy mind that we live in the troublous times 
long since foretold—the times when false prophets 
are very plenty, and the other profits “ take unto 
themselves wings and fly away.” I bid my Indiana 
friend good-bye, anxiously awaiting his report of 
loss mid gain in cultivating not only saccharine 
sweetness, but also that better sweet known and read 
as “good natur.” J. c. b. 
Sheridan, N. Y., 185S. 
LETTER FROM MINNESOTA. 
Eds. Rural: —When I first contemplated coming 
West my attention was particularly attracted toward 
every scrip or letter that happened to bear any com¬ 
munication from this Territory, and my curiosity 
was often gratified as now and then I could find in 
your valuable paper a letter from Minnesota. I 
read with interest the glowing and healthful de¬ 
scriptions of the climate—of the great and bounti¬ 
ful productions of the soil— of the beautiful lakes 
and groves interspersed with prairie and forests, 
till I fancied in my own mind an Eden. And now 
that I am realizing those delightful fancies, I can 
truly say I am not disappointed. There is a pe¬ 
culiar majesty in the old forest trees, as they wave 
to us a welcome, and the surrounding scenery un¬ 
folds new beauties as the eye travels onward.— 
Here we find a country peculiarly adapted to every 
taste—prairie, forest, lake, stream or river, 
“ And there are lovelier flowers I ween 
Than e’er in Eastern land were seen 
In varied colors bright.” 
The climate is every way agreeable, yet I am 
aware that a “Minnesota winter” chills the hearts 
of a vast number of our Eastern friends, and they 
shudder as they fancy us all covered with snow and 
in a freezing condition from the first of October to 
sometime in May, but this is far from being the case, 
and to me a Minnesota winter is far preferable to 
one in Western New York. Last winter was unu¬ 
sually cold but very pleasant This winter so far is 
extremely mild and warmer than any I ever knew 
at the East. Winter generally sets in about the 
middle or last of November, and takes “French 
leave” early in March, and by the first of April the 
soil is ready for the plow. 
Now I would like to persuade all who wish to 
emigrate to the West, to come to Minnesota, and I 
hope some of those “loved ones” I have left be¬ 
hind may recognize their old friend in the writer 
of this letter, and be influenced to come, and with 
us enjoy this delightful country. 
Princeton, Benton Co., M. T., 1858. Mrs. I). C. Paynk. 
Third Volume of Devon Herd Book. —Will you 
please state through the Rural, whether the third 
edition of the Devon Herd Book is published, and 
if so, where it may be found? By so doing you will 
oblige me and many of your subscribers.—C has. 
Miles, Amboy, N. Y., Jan., 1858. 
Remarks. —The third volume, it was announced 
last spring would be ready about July, but we have 
not received a copy, and presume, therefore, it is 
I not yet ready. 
CONDENSED CORRESPONDENCE. 
Green Food for Cattle.— I am glad to find 
that root crops have been ably discussed in the 
Rural, hoping it will stimulate the farmers to a 
more general cultivation of that valuable crop. 1 
would like to know through your paper whether 
rape and -winter and spring vetches, have been 
raised to any extent in this country, as green food 
for sheep and cattle, and the result of the experi¬ 
ment If winter vetches will answer this climate, 
they would be valuable for feeding to cattle in the 
early part of summer, before the green corn has 
attained a sufficient growth; and, like clover, they 
are improvers of the soil, and will be cut off in time 
for a crop of buckwheat or turnips. In England, 
green food, or soiling, as it is called, in some parts, 
is carried on with good success, as it not only 
furnishes plenty of food at a time when the pasture 
is low, but also increases the manure pile. They 
keep the cattle in their stalls, with plenty of peat, 
leaves, weeds, or straw to soak up the liquids. I 
think greed food would answer well in this country, 
as the cattle would be under cover during the hot 
weather. Farmers try it.—J. C., Troy, N. Y., 1858. 
Cure for Ringbone.— Having noticed an inquiry 
in the Rural for a cure for Ringbone, I thought I 
would send one, which I know to be sure, it having 
cured a valuable horse for me, after lameness of 
two years, during which time the horse was not 
harnessed. I have used her on road and farm for 
nine years since the cure. Take 1 oz. of camphor 
gum; 1 oz. oil of spike; 1 oz. hartshorn; 1 oz. spirits 
of turpentine. Shake well together, and it is fit for 
use, put it on above the ring, and rub it in with the 
finger, use twice a day.—L. II. H., Mentor, Lake 
County, Ohio, Jan., 1858. 
Another Remedy. —Noticing in a late number 
the Rural an assertion that there was no cure for 
the Ringbone, I beg leave to disagree with that 
opinion. I cured one the past summer by the use 
of Balsam of Fir rubbed on until it penetrated the 
skin, then thoroughly heated in with a hot iron, 
and continued until a slight soreness was discov¬ 
ered. This is but one of several cases in which I 
have known the Balsam to be successful—J. P. 8., 
Geneva, N. Y., 1858. 
Barn-Yards, Again. —In answer to the inquiry 
of Mr. E. B. R. Sackett, of Meadville, Pa., I will 
give him my mode for preparing a barn-yard; but 
his gate I will leave for some one else. Draw out 
the manure in the spring and make a good use of 
it, and as soon as the yard is dry enough, plow and 
level it off to your liking. Get the round stones 
that are about your fields—they are just the thing 
for such purposes and perhaps have been wished 
out of the way many a time—and place them close 
together as in a city pavement. You can use some 
that are one foot through, and if some are too large 
for the rest, dig down and let them drop below.— 
If you have not got round stone, get flat ones at 
the quarry, and set them up edge-ways, driving the 
larger ones down with a maul to make all level; 
then draw gravel and fill up all the crevices with 
it. Brother farmers try tips, and I will warrant that 
you will have a dry barn-yard, one that will save 
the manure, and be convenient—H. I.., New York. 
TnE Largest Hoa of iiis Age.—Geo. R. Babbit, 
of this town, killed a liog on Monday last, sixteen 
months old, that weighed 740 pounds alive, and 
642 pounds when dressed; and I hereby give thanks 
for the large piece I received of the enormous yet 
very savory spare ribs. At seven months old this 
hog weighed 200 pounds, gaining 540 pounds since 
1st April. It had the run of the cow-yard only, and 
was fed on house swill including sour milk, and 
Indian meal, with all the new corn meal it would 
eat since the 1st of October. Mr. B. is one of 
"those farmers who believes in feeding animals to 
enable them to feed the land with the richest plant 
food; lienee he buys lean kine and store sheep, 
feeds them corn and oil meal, and sells them only 
when well fatted. He also contributed a sample of 
Sorghum syrup of his own making at our last 
County Fair.—S. W., Waterloo, N. K, Jan. 8, 1858. 
The Way I caught the Rats. —In a late Rural 
I noticed a communication from L. B. Pettengii.l, 
describing his mode of catching rats. Having had 
some experience in the business, as he says, with 
your permission J will relate the process by which 
I caught a few. I made a hole into our granary 
with a two-inch auger and placed a board for them 
to run on. I scattered some grain on the board 
near the hole. In the evening I went down and 
plugged up the hole and then killed them at my 
leisure. 1 killed 17 the first night and 56 in the 
course of a week, when the rest took leg-bail and 1 
have not seen one since.—J. E. Sweetland, Little 
Valley, Jan., 1858. 
Forty Days Maize. —“Mais Quarantine .''—The 
readers of the Rural are referred to the Patent 
Office Report for 1854, for a description of 40 days 
maize. I have raised this kind of corn received 
from the Patent Office in 1856, and have acclimated 
it It is a variety of yellow corn, sweeter than the 
common yellow, and I presume that it would pro¬ 
duce well in any section of the Northern States. I 
will give to the readers of the Rural, what can be 
sent under the three cent rate, if they will send me 
stamped envelopes for that purpose.— John P. 
Youlen, West Rupert, Ft., Jan., 1858. 
Heavy Pigs. —I killed on the 23d of December 
five •‘Blue Rigs," ten months and twenty-three 
days old, the total weight of which was 1,525 lbs.; 
average weight, 305 lbs.; and the heaviest one ot 
the litter weighed 357! These pigs had decent 
care, but not extraordinary attention. In the sum¬ 
mer they had milk and grass only. I pledge my 
word that these are the heaviest pigs of their age, 
that have been raised in this vicinity. If there are 
any larger or heavier, weight for age, I would be 
glad to learn of their whereabouts.— Simon Rouse, 
Baldwinsville, N. Y., Dec., 1857. 
Cuke for Dry Murrain.—O n the first discov¬ 
ery of it give from 1 to 2 lbs. of salts, according to 
the age and size of the creature, say an ox, 2 lbs. 
I never knew it to fail. I am not a cattle doctor, 
but a farmer, and have kept considerable stock and 
merely give my experience and observation.— 
Hiram II. Allen, Kent Co., Mich., 1858. 
AGRICULTURAL SOCIETIES. 
United States Ag. Society.— The Sixth An¬ 
nual Meeting of the U. S. Agricultural Society was 
commenced at the Smithsonian Institution on the 
13th inst Delegates were in attendance from 
twenty-one States, two Territories and the District 
of Columbia, besides a large number of the mem¬ 
bers of the Society. President Wilder delivered 
the annual address, in which he alluded to the 
present financial embarrassment, and gave as his 
belief that we must look to the products of the 
soil, to abundant harvests and well filled granaries 
for the speedy restoration of individual and na¬ 
tional prosperity. He suggested that no exhibition 
should be had the present year, but that the Secre¬ 
tary should devote his entire time to the corres¬ 
pondence of the office, and the preparation of ma¬ 
terial to make the Annual Volume of the Transac¬ 
tions of the Society, of more than ordinary value. 
He also alluded very feelingly to the death of two 
of the Vice-Presidents of the Society, Senator 
Rusk, of Texas, and George Washington Parke 
Custjs. Mr. Wilder, having been President of 
the Society for six successive years, and having 
the last two years tendered his resignation, but 
finally yielded at the urgent solicitation of the 
friends of the Society, who considered that his 
services were important to the establishment and 
success of the Society, now that these objects have 
been accomplished and the United States Agricul¬ 
tural Society is a recognized national institution, 
and his resignation could not be prejudicial to its 
interests, peremptorily declined to be a candidate 
for re-election. 
A series of resolutions w'ere unanimously adopt¬ 
ed expressive of the thanks of the Society of its 
President for his eminently efficient labors in be¬ 
half of the Society, and placing his name on the 
roll of honorary members. The Executive Com¬ 
mittee were also instructed to present him with a 
suitable testimonial, as a mark of appreciation of 
the Society for the energy, time and money w'liich 
he had expended in advancing its interests, and 
raising it to the position w’hicli it now occupies.— 
The following officers were unanimously elected: 
President —Gen. Tknch Txlgiiman, of Maryland. Vice- 
Presidents—J. It. Lang, Me.; II. F. French, N. H.; Fred. 
Holbrook, Vt.; John Brooks, Mass.; B. B. Thurston, B. I.; 
S. II. Huntington, Conn.; B. P. Johnson, N. Y.; W. P. 
Robeson, N. J.; David Landreth, Penn.; John Jones, Del.; 
Odin Bowie, Md.; Philip St. George Cocko, Va.; H. K. 
Burgwyn, N. C.; F. IV. Alston, S. C.; Richard Peters, Ga.; 
C. C. Clay, Jr., Ala.; M. VV. Phillips, Miss.; J. B. D. De 
Bow, La.; Lucien Buttles, O.; W. L. Underwood, Ky.; T. 
Fanning, Tenn.; D. P. Holloway, Ind.; H. C. Johns, Ill.; 
T. R. Barnett, Mo.; A. B. Greenwood, Ark.; Michael Shoe¬ 
maker, Mich.; D. L. Yulee, Fla.; Guy M. Bryan, Texas; 
Le Grand Byington, Iowa; B. F. Kdgerton, Wis.; A. C. 
Bradford, Cal.; H. M. Rice, Min.; J. H. Lane, Oregon; 
Win. W. Corcoran, D. C.; M. A. Otero, New Mexico; D. 
Anderson, Washington Ter.; J. M. Rernhisel, Utah- B. B. 
Chapman, Nebraska; W. F. M. Arny, Kansas. Executive 
Committee —Henry Wager, N. Y.; J. McGowan, Penn.; 
Josiah Ware, Va.; Frederick Smyth, N. IL; Henry Wil¬ 
son, O.; John Merryman, Md.; James W. Brown, Ill.— 
Treasurer— B. B. French, Washington, I). O. Secretary 
_Ben. I’erley Poore, Newburyport, Mass. 
Hon. Henry V. French, Vice-President of the 
Society, gave an account of his travels in Europe, 
particularly of steam plows, which he had seen in 
operation. B. P. Johnson followed, and gave some 
reminiscences of experiments made with plows at 
the Crystal Palace Exhibition. Dr. Antisel, of 
the Patent Office, spoke from his own experience 
of the inaccuracy of analyses of soils, and endeav¬ 
ored to show the necessity of developing the min¬ 
eral necessities of our crops. Col. C. B. Calvert 
expressed his hearty approbation of the positions 
assumed by Dr. Antisel, and moved resolutions 
requesting a copy of his address for publication, and 
appointing a committee from the Society to urge 
Congress to carry out the views which itembodied. 
The President of the Society was requested to 
consult with the Committee on Agriculture in the 
House of Representatives, with the view to obtain 
aid in carrying out the objects of its organization. 
The “ Maryland Institute for the Promotion of 
the Mechanic Arts,” invited the Society to hold its 
next exhibition at Baltimore. 
Joseph S. Lovering, of Philadelphia, presented 
a paper containing his observations upon the su¬ 
gar producing qualities of the Sorghum Sacchara- 
tum, accompanied by specimens of sugar that he 
had made. The statement and specimens were re¬ 
ferred to a committee, who reported that a silver 
medal be presented to Mr. L. for the care with 
which his experiments had been made. 
Hon. D. Jay Browne (of the Patent Office) pre¬ 
sented a report from a committee appointed last 
year to investigate and experiment on the Chinese 
Sugar Cane. It embodied results of experiments 
made in ninety localities—between New Brunswick, 
in the British dominions, and Mexico, on the one 
hand, and between Florida and Washington Terri¬ 
tory, on the other—summing up, as the opinion of 
the committee, “that the sorgo sucre possesses 
qualities which commend it to the especial atten¬ 
tion of the agriculturists of all parts of the coun¬ 
try, as the preceding facts have demonstrated that 
it is suited to our national economy, and supplies 
what has been long a great desideratum.” A long 
debate followed this report* which was accepted. 
Hon. B. P. Johnson, from a special committee 
to whom was referred the “ land bill” now before 
Congress, proposing to give public land to the 
different States and Territories for the support of 
State Agricultural Colleges, reported favorable to 
the same, and recommended its passage. 
Albany Co. Ag. Society. —The Annual Meeting 
of this Society was held on the 13th inst., and the 
following officers were elected for the ensuing 
year:— President — Wm. Hurst, Albany. Vice-Presi¬ 
dents —j. Winne, D. V. S. Raynsford, Wm. Bullock, 
H. I. Devoe, Dr. P. B. Noxon, G. Gallup, J. Aley, 
Dr. Fredenburgh, Dr. R. S. Lay, P. Vedder. Secre¬ 
tary —A. F. Cliatfield. Treasurer —H. L. Emery.— 
Directors —Wm. Tuttle, John Waggoner. fi he time 
for holding the next Fair is the 21st, 22d, 23d and 
24th days of September next. 
Brookfield Ag. Society. —At the Annual Meet¬ 
ing of the Brookfield Ag. Society, held on the 12th 
inst., the following persons were elected officers 
for 1858:— President — Stephen Hoxie. Vice-Presi- 
i dents—A. L. Saunders, M. L. Brown, J. Cheesebro. 
j L. I). Maxon. Secretary —J. T. G. Bailey. Treasurer 
\ —0. Whitford. Directors — Oliver T. Brown, O. B. 
* Ilinkley. 
Convention of Chinese Sugar Cane Growers. 
—A Convention of North-Western Growers of the 
Chinese Sugar Cane, assembled at Springfield, Ill., 
on the 7th inst, Judge Capron presided. Letters 
were received from cultivators of the Chinese cane 
in Kentucky, Ohio, Indiana, and other States; all 
expressing satisfaction at the results of the culture. 
One cultivator gives, as the result of his experi¬ 
ments, accounts of a yield of 1,221 Rs. of brown 
sugar and 74 gallons of molasses for a single acre. 
Another states that the poorest ground produced 
the richest cane, and vice versa. A third dwells up¬ 
on the value of the seed as an article of food; the 
average yield being 25 bushels per acre. It is said 
the seed produces a flour equal to the best Penn¬ 
sylvania buckwheat, both in quality and quantity. 
A mechanical committee, appointed to report upon 
the best method of expressing the juice of the 
cane, reported in favor of a machine consisting of 
three smooth cast-iron rollers, placed vertically or 
horizontally; but declined to decide upon the rela¬ 
tive virtues <^f steam or liorse-power. The conven¬ 
tion adjourned, after empowering the President to 
appoint a committee of nine to collect facts and 
statistics in relation to the growth of sugar. 
Superior Sheep and Cattle. —On the 21st inst 
a flock of forty very superior Cotswold sheep were 
shipped in this city for the eastern market They 
averaged 200 fi>s. each in weight, and were so uni¬ 
form in size, fatness and general appearance as to 
attract much attention. These sheep were bred 
and fed by Mr. Wm. IIallock, of Rush, one of the 
most successful stock growers in this county. 
They were purchased by Messrs. Hobbs & Hil¬ 
dreth, of Phelps, who will probably realize a hand¬ 
some dividend from the investment 
On the 22d, a splendid pair of Short-horn cattle 
raised and fattened by Mr. E. Terry, of Henrietta, 
passed through our streets, attracting marked and 
merited attention. They were six years old, and 
weighed 6,000 tt>s. These fine beeves were sent to 
the eastern market. 
_Since the prevalence of the wheat midge our 
Monroe Co. farmers are devoting considerable at¬ 
tention to stock breeding, grazing, &c., and suc¬ 
cessfully as the above facts demonstrate. 
“To Arms! They Cry!” —We are likely to have 
a paper war, one of the parties thereto residing 
hereabouts, the other on the banks of the Hudson. 
It would seem that publisher A. glories in the num¬ 
ber of moons his periodical has waxed—we came 
very near adding waned —and congratulates him¬ 
self that upon this account his journal stands pre¬ 
eminent. Publisher IL steps in and contends such 
a claim is “exactly of the same merits as if a son, 
because he bore his father’s name, should add his 
father's age to his own and speak of ‘celebrating 
his hundredth birth-day.’ ” This may be a family 
quarrel and we intruders; still we would just re¬ 
mark that age is a good thing in many respects, 
and that grey hairs are honorable, but we do not 
believe it necessary to wait for one or wear the 
other before commencing earnest labor. Keep 
cool, gentlemen; don't be counting the wrinkles or 
threateningly showing molars and incisors about 
so trivial a thing as the number of summers and 
winters you have blessed and enlightened this 
dark and wicked world; there are some things for 
you to arrive at yet, and, provided father Time deals 
gently, we doubt not you will attain at least one of 
these— years of discretion. 
The Proper Time to Cut Grass. —At a late 
meeting of the New York Farmers’ Club, Hon. Geo. 
Geddes, of Onondaga Co., being present was called 
upon for his opinion. Mr. G. said:—“The question 
has many difficulties, because we don’t understand 
terms. One man calls his grass ripe when he cuts 
it, which another man would call green. I want 
one-tliird or one-half of my clover heads brown, so 
that about the seed would grow. I cannot cure my 
clover to suit me if I cut it when it is more unripe 
than that. The kind I grow is the medium size, 
that always yields two crops, the last for seed.— 
Timothy we cut when part of the seed will grow. 
That is, when it is just as ripe as I would have 
wheat when cut. Timothy is the universal grass 
where I live, in Onondaga county. Some farmers 
cut grass in the blossom state, but the mass of peo¬ 
ple are satisfied that the ripened grass makes the 
most nutritious hay, and it is much less labor to 
save it in a sweet condition.” 
The Potato Rot an Old Disease. —The N. Y. 
Tribune of the 15th inst., says:—“A friend sends us 
the following ‘extract from a German paper,’ 
which states that ‘potatoes were first introduced in 
Europe in 1583; 59 years after the rot commenced; 
80 years after its introduction no good seed was to 
be had. In 1696 new seed was imported from 
Peru; 45 years after this the rot again commenced t 
and in 1779 no good seed -was to be had. In 1797 
new seed was again imported, and it did not get 
into general use till 1802 or 1803.’ If this is a fact, 
we should have it fully proved, and that would 
prove the necessity of frequently renewing the 
seed from the original locality.” 
Potato vs. Wheat as Food. —Mr. J. W. Rogers 
recently read a paper before the British Associa¬ 
tion for the Advancement of Science, going to 
show that the potato contained about the same 
amount of nutritive matter as wheat. He analyz¬ 
ed equal weights of each, with the following re¬ 
sults: 
Starch. Gluten. Oil. 
Potato contained 84.077 parts, 14.818 parts, 1.104 parts. 
Wheat “ 78.199 “ 17.536 « 4.265 “ 
He stated that about four times as much food 
could he obtained on an acre of land-from the 
potato as from wheat 
French and German Prunes.— The Country 
Gentleman, in a notice of the scions of these fruits, 
distributed by the Patent Office, says one of them 
“ only two years’ growth of scion, blossomed and 
ripened over two dozen prunes, of a violet color, 
the size of a pullet’s egg; pear shaped; and, as the 
man and his wife (who grew them) expressed it, 
‘most delicious plums, and sweet as sugar.’”— 
Other grafts blossomed freely, but the fruit was de¬ 
stroyed by the curculio; these were saved by a hen 
and brood of chickens kept near the tree. 
