BPnHI 
TWO DOLLARS A YEAR.] 
PROGRESS AND IMPROVEMENT.’ 
LSINQLE NO. FIVE CENTS. 
YOL IX. NO. 20. i 
MOORE’S RURAL NEW-YORKER, 
AN ORIGINAL WEEKLY 
Agricultural, lilterary and Family Newspaper. 
CONDUCTED BY D. D. T. MOORE, 
WITH AH ABLE CORPS OP ASSISTANT EDITORS. 
The Rural New-Yorker is designed to bo unsurpassed in 
Value, Purity, Usefulness and Variety of Contents, and unique and 
beautiful in Appearance. Its Conductor devotes his personal atten¬ 
tion to tile supervision of its various departments, and earnestly labors 
to render the Rural an eminently Reliable Guide on the important 
Practical, Scientific and other Subjects intimately connected with the 
business of those whose interests it zealously advocates. It embraces 
more Agricultural, Horticultural, Scientific, Educational, Literary and 
News Matter, interspersod with appropriate and beautiful Engravings, 
than any other journal,— rendering it the most complete Agricultu¬ 
ral Literary and Family Journal in America 
-AH communications, and business letters, should be addressed 
to D. D. T. MOORE, Rochester, N. Y. 
For Terms and other particulars, sec last page. 
ROCHESTER, X. Y.-SATURDAY, MAY 15, 1858. 
{WHOLE NO. m, 
NOTEWORTHY AGRICULTURAL TOPICS. 
Government should Aid Agriculture. 
This is the general voice. It is uttered by the 
People, and the politicians—especially ifi the 
“Rural Districts,” while seeking seats in Congress. 
There is much talk, but very little action on the 
subject—for session after session passes and next 
to nothing is really accomplished. When securely 
ensconced in their places, the honorable members 
generally find something more important to do 
than attending to the wishes and interests of the 
great mass of their constituents. Many of them 
discover that they are pillars of “the Universal 
Yankee Nation,” and set about saving the Union, 
by aiding party men and measures—with th» 
ulterior object of making this or that aspirant 
President, meantime keeping an eye on future 
spoils and emoluments. They vote millions for 
printing documents and books, from which the 
people, who pay the bills, derive little or no bene¬ 
fit. The treasure thus expended, enriches a few 
party hacks, and enables Congressmen to secure 
the aid of working politicians. Half the amount 
thus foolishly and wickedly wasted, would sustain 
an Agricultural Bureau or Department, which, 
properly conducted, could not fail of immensely 
promoting the advancement of Rural and kindred 
Pursuits. Surely, the most important interest of 
the Nation ought to occupy more elevated head¬ 
quarters than the cellar of the Patent Office. And 
yet from session to session, and one administration 
to another, no progress is reported. At one time 
the Currency is to he tinkered, or the Tariff re¬ 
modeled—then the Compromise Measures absorb 
attention—and more recently the salvation of the 
country has depended upon the ninety-ninth “ final 
settlement” of the “vexed question,” by the ad¬ 
justment of Kansas affairs according to the notion 
of “ Lecompton” or “ Anti-Lecompton.” This last 
has finally received a temporary quietus, hut may 
speedily he followed by some equally absorbing 
party or political imbroglio. But there is a ray of 
light and hope at last. Mr. Morrill’s hill, which 
appropriates 5,920,000 acres of land to the several 
States, for the establishment of Colleges, the lead¬ 
ing object of which shall be to teach such branches 
as relate to Agriculture and the Mechanic Arts, has 
passed the House, and is under consideration, with 
a prospect of passing, in the Senate. If it becomes 
a law, our Government will, for once, render effi¬ 
cient aid to Agriculture, as it has often to Com¬ 
merce and Manufactures. The adoption of the 
measure will place a practical and superior educa¬ 
tion within the reach and means of the children of 
the industrial and productive classes of the whole 
Union, and thereby immensely promote the great 
interests of the Nation. Speed the glad day ! 
Postage upon Seeds, Grafts, &c. 
The P. O. Department is a very useful and 
convenient institution. It has been vastly improv¬ 
ed within the past decade, yet is still far short of 
perfection. Reform and improvement are needed 
in many respects, hut we will refer only to an item 
of special interest to the Rural Public—the rates of 
postage on Seeds, Grafts, Ac. A reform should he 
instituted in this matter—a law enacted whereby 
small packages of seeds and grafts, and perhaps 
small shrubs, plants, Ac., (say of from 1 to 3 or 5 
Its. weight,) may be transported by mail at some¬ 
thing like reasonable rates. It costs $1 to send a 
pound of seeds or grafts by mail,—far more than it 
does to forward 50 to 100 lbs. by express or railroad. 
Indeed, in many cases the postage costs more than 
the article — amounting to a prohibition — and 
hence is a most onerous tax upon the Rural Popu¬ 
lation. It must he consoling to people located at 
a distance from an express office or railroad, to 
reflect that, while their servants (?) in Congress 
have and me the privilege of franking tune of docu¬ 
ments, (many of which are as useless as waste 
paper,) they cannot receive a package of seeds by 
mail without paying a heavy tax to the Govern¬ 
ment! This tax is not only unjust to individuals, 
but a great bar to the progress and improvement 
of the country. It is not a local or sectional mat¬ 
ter. The people of all parts of the Union are 
interested, and should insist upon a radical reform 
—say a reduction from the present charge of six 
cents an ounce to two or even one. The people 
should petition for—aye, demand—a great reduc¬ 
tion from the exorbitant rates now charged. 
The Farmer should Think as well as Work. 
Yes, why not? No one has more time, or bet¬ 
ter opportunities, to study, investigate and reflect. 
Then why ignore thought? The most perfect man 
is he who exercises all his faculties—and every one 
should work .with both brains and hands. The 
farmer must not only be an industrious, but a read¬ 
ing, thinking, wide awake man—fully posted in re¬ 
gard to improvements in his business, and the pro¬ 
gress of the age. The exercise of his mental facul¬ 
ties will not only he of vast benefit individually, 
but tend to elevate his profession—for the true po¬ 
sition of any calling depends upon the intelligence, 
enterprise and general action of its members. If 
farmers act as though they were only created to 
fulfill the purposes of senseless and soulless human 
machines—if they train the physical and neglect 
the intellectual capacities and gifts of tlieir chil¬ 
dren—they, and their calling, will occupy a low 
standard in public estimation. Why not do more 
of your own thinking, Cultivators of America, and 
depend less upon the brains of outsiders, especial¬ 
ly in regard to matters with which you ought to he 
both practically and theoretically familiar ? Think, 
write and speak more for yourselves—especially 
about your own interests and profession. Is it 
really necessary that lawyers, doctors, divines and 
editors should so generally be called upon to de¬ 
liver Agricultural Addresses, Ac. ? Think out the 
answer to that, and perhaps it will induce you to 
do more Thinking, Writing and Speaking. 
Experimenting with New Things. 
The intelligent, progressive cultivator first 
investigates carefully before adopting any new im¬ 
provement in implements, tillage or farm man¬ 
agement. Cautious in regard to new things and 
systems of practice—always exercising his judg¬ 
ment relative to the recommendations of Ag. books 
and journals, and their applicability to his soil and 
circumstances—he critically examines all reasona¬ 
ble propositions, and, after separating the wheat 
from the chaff, acts upon such as seem likely to 
prove beneficial. In testing any new thing, theory, 
or mode of culture, he experiments on a limited 
scale at first, and ascertains the advantages or dis¬ 
advantages of this oi that article or process, with¬ 
out expending much labor or means at hap-hazard. 
Consequently, he is rarely “sold” by any of the 
hums frequently in market—the capital stock in 
trade of those who are constantly prying into the 
pockets of such unsuspecting victims as do not 
read, think and act for themselves, and who there¬ 
fore occasionally find that a little knowledge is not 
only a dangerous, hut an expensive commodity.— 
Having seen, heard or read somewhat concerning 
China Tree Corn, MorusMulticaulis, Rohans, Shang¬ 
hais, and similar temporarily-taking and conta¬ 
gious fevers of by-gone years, our friend is not 
likely to be prostrated by any disease of like type, 
and therefore avoids the bleeding and blistering to 
which less intelligent farmers are subjected. 
BARLEY-SOIL, MODES OF CULTURE, &c. 
Among the earliest cultivated cereals we find 
barley. As sustenance for man, and also for the 
domestic animals, it is spoken of by various ancient 
agricultural writers, and the Sacred Writings men¬ 
tion its constant use as an article of food among 
the earliest nations of antiquity. Our object at 
present, however, is not to enter into any detail as 
regards the history of this plant, hut to give a few 
plain, practical directions as to its manner of 
growth, Ac.—and, hereafter, to briefly allude to the 
several varieties under cultivation. 
First, as regards the Soil. Barley flourishes most 
upon such soils as are dry, —either naturally or 
made so by artificial means, — and can be reduced 
to a fine tilth. In Europe, previous to the intro¬ 
duction of draining, the culture of this crop was 
confined to dry, light soils; at present, however, 
thousands of acres upon which at one time it was 
considered impossible to grow barley, have, by a 
thorough system of drainage, been pressed into the 
service. The different varieties of loam have pro¬ 
duced excellent crops, hut if these possess suffi¬ 
cient tenacity for wheat, they are, throughout 
Great Britain, more generally selected for the latter 
crop. Clay soils cannot he profitably used for bar¬ 
ley, as they require a vast amount of labor to 
obtain proper comminution — upon which, to a 
greater or less extent, the success of the crop de¬ 
pends. Thaer and Einhoff found the best barley 
soils to he composed of 20 per cent clay, G7 per 
cent, sand, 3 per cent lime or chalk, and lo per 
cent humus. 
Thaer, in his Rational Principles of Agriculture, 
speaking of an argillaceous or clayey soil, says it 
generally contains about 40 per cent of sand.— 
If the quantity of sand be less than this, the crop 
will be more or less precarious, and the tenacity 
will be such that considerable difficulty will be ex¬ 
perienced, and necessary expense incurred, in 
working it; and such a soil when it contains a 
sufficient quantity of humus and is properly treated, 
may be regarded as favorable for wheat Barley 
succeeds better than wheat whqn the quantity is as 
low as 30 per cent Wheat may be advantageously 
cultivated upon lands that contain from 40 to 60 
per cent of sand; beyond this, when 50 to 00 per 
cent, of the soil is sand, it is more profitable to 
grow barley. In soils which yield from 60 to 80 
per cent of sand, wheat is uncertain—at 70 the soil 
is no longer suitable for wheat, except with special 
precaution, hut is still well adapted to barley. 
Schwertz, in judging of soils by their produce, 
takes barley and wheat as extreme terms—the first 
growing in had argillaceous (clayey) soils, the 
second growiug in sandy soils of the purest descrip¬ 
tion. 
Johnston, in his Agricultural Chemistry, remarks: 
“The effect of the soil upon the barley crop is 
known to all practical farmers — so that the terms 
barley-land and wheat-land are the usual designa¬ 
tions for light and heavy soils adapted especially 
to the growth of these several crops. On clay 
lands the produce of barley is greater, but it is of a 
coarse quality, and does not malt so well —on low 
lands it is plump and full of meal—and on light 
chalk or lime soils the crop is light, hut the grain 
is thin, the skin of a rich color, and well adapted 
to malting.” Such difference does the soil make 
in the crop of barley, that the produce of the light 
lands of Norfolk, in the North of England, is eagerly 
sought for by brewers, and, as long’ as it can be ob¬ 
tained, barley from other sections will not be pur¬ 
chased, even at lower (Vices. 
Culture. The condition of tbj?, soil should he t/ie 
principal object before the barley grower. The 
requisites are cleanliness, dryness and thorough 
pulverization. Where these are to he had, the 
farmer may depend upon good returns — where a 
different state exists the yield will be uncertain.— 
The custom in Norfolk, — the produce of which is 
mentioned in preceding paragraph,—is to follow a 
turnip crop with barley, and is thus described: — 
“ Plow or scarify the land after the turnips are eaten 
off by sheep, in which state it remains till spring, 
when it is again scarified, then rolled and harrowed 
properly, and afterwards plowed or scarified. The 
seed is then drilled in and the land lightly harrowed 
and rolled. Upon clay soils the practice is to plow 
only once, and allow the laud to lie all winter 
exposed to the action of frost; after which it is 
easily reduced to fine tilth in the spring by the scar¬ 
ifying, when it is either plowed and sown broad¬ 
cast, or the seed drilled, without the latter plowing, 
if the land he sufficiently fine.” With American 
farmers, barley should he sown after some hoed 
crop, corn, for instance, as such crop will leave a 
better condition of soil than any other. 
As regards the use of manures,—with the excep¬ 
tion of some special application,— it is probably 
better that they should come with the preceding 
crop. When such course is pursued the foul seeds 
that germinate are generally hoed out and killed, 
and there is, consequently, little danger of the bar¬ 
ley being affected by them. Guano has often been 
applied to the barley crop with good resultp, but 
as a general thing it has been found too forcing, 
encouraging the growth of ettraw at the expense of 
the head. The only soil on which it may he used 
advantageously, is that known as “good, hard 
land,”—land where a bulky crop can be grown 
without danger of its being laid. The following 
compound is often effectually used by English 
farmers:—Peruvian guano, 112 lbs., 50 lbs. nitrate 
of soda; 56 lbs. sulphate of magnesia, (epsom salts,) 
common salt, 224 lbs.; the whole to be applied to 
a statute acre. Before artificial manures and sheep 
folding came in vogue, the accretions of the barn¬ 
yard were held in high repute for their peculiar 
adaptation to the wants of this crop. The mode of 
applying wa3 to draw out and plow in the fall pre¬ 
vious, letting the land remain thus until spring; 
then cross-plowing and harrowing, thoroughly 
intermixing soil and manure. 
The time of sowing is early the present month. 
The quantity of seed varies from two to three and 
one half bushels per acre—if drilled in, the former 
quantity is probably sufficient, though many would 
prefer two and one-half bushels. About thirteen 
weeks is required for its ripening. 
In harvesting it is important to cut just at the 
right time—when neither too green nor too ripe. 
If too green the grain shrinks, is light in weight, 
and its malting properties are injured,—if too ripe 
it shells easily and this stage is productive of loss. 
Ihe mode is to cut when the head assumes a red¬ 
dish cast and falls over upon the straw,— after this 
period it matures rapidly. Evenness in ripening 
is an important feature and should he sought for, 
but here no rules can be giveD,—the precise period 
for entering the field with the harvester must he 
left to the judgment of the cultivator. 
HCHOOLEY’tt PATENT PRESERVATORY. 
Above wc give an engraving showing one-half 
of a building prepared by Schooley’s process for 
preserving fresh meat, fruit, and everything of a 
perishable nature. The building is represented as 
divided in the middle, from the ridge pole to the 
ground, in order to show the interior arrangements. 
The side walls, w, w, and the lower and upper 
floors, / and u, are made double, being filled in 
with saw-dust. The upper floor, however, consists 
of a single layer of boards, nailed upon the under 
side of the joists, with the saw-dust piled on loosely, 
a foot or more in thickness. Above this is an open 
space or garret, under the rafters or roof, with 
holes in each gable tmd, to admit a free circulation 
of air. The main room is divided into two com¬ 
partments—the fruit-room and ice-room—by the 
partition d. The partition d, unites with the walls 
on both front and rear, but a small opening of a 
few inches is left both above and below it—that is 
between the whole length of the lower and upper 
edges, and the floor and the ceiling. The ice, as 
represented, is piled up in a compact mass in the 
right division, and covered in the usual manner 
with straw. A small vacant space, v, is left between 
the ice and the division wall, though is not neces¬ 
sary unless the entire body of ice is so compact 
and frozen together, as to prevent the air from 
circulating through it. The floor under the ice 
descends to the right from f so as to carry any 
waste water out at o. 
The air in the ice department being cooled by 
contact with this cold substance, of course, be¬ 
comes heavy, and passes down under the open¬ 
ing at the bottom of the partition, d, into the fruit- 
room. Here, as it becomes warmed, it arises 
gradually, as shown by the arrows, until it passes 
through an opening at the top of the same par¬ 
tition, into the ice department again. There it 
ESSAY ON THE POTATO ROT: 
ITS CAUSE, AND BEST MEANS OE PREVENTION. 
BY EDWARD MASON. 
[Concluded.] 
THE NATURE OF THE DESTRUCTIVE AGENT. 
Having now proved by the strongest evidence 
that the disease is atmospheric, and is caused by 
electricity, I will proceed to explain the manner 
in which the injury is conveyed to the plants, and 
in doing so, I will produce the testimony of dis¬ 
tinguished chemists to show that rain and dew j 
at certain times, contain a deleterious ingredient, 
known as nitric acid, and when in combination 
with ammonia, as nitrate of ammonia. 
Doctor Uke, in his “ Dictionary of Chemistry," 
says that the two principal gases of the atmosphere, 
when in certain conditions and proportions, are 
capable of combining chemically, and forming 
nitric acid. 
Professor Johnston, in his “ Lectures on Agricul¬ 
tural Chemistry,' 1 ' states that when a succession of 
electric sparks is passed through common air, 
nitric acid is slowly but certainly formed. 
Liebig found nitric acid always present in seven¬ 
teen examinations of different rain which fell during 
thunder storms, and could only detect it twice in 
sixty examinations of rain which fell without thunder. 
He states that the rain which fell during a thunder 
storm which visited Nismes, in France, in 1842, 
was actually sour with nitric acid. 
Mr. Richard Lloyd, in a letter to the Irish Farm¬ 
er's Gazette, says that the droppings from a Syca¬ 
more tree, the leaves of which had been discolored 
by blight, were blown by the wind on some clothes 
and where the drops fell on a woman who was at¬ 
tending them, there was a sensation of pain, with 
red spots, which continued for several days. This 
shows very clearly that some poisonous acid exists 
in rain and dew, at the time when blight or rot is 
prevalent. That rain water contains a considera¬ 
ble portion of ammonia, is a fact known to all, and 
becomes cooled, and passes on its round. Thns, 
it will be seen, a constant circulation is kept up, 
while there is any difference in temperature be¬ 
tween the air in the fruit-room and that in the ice- 
room. It is well known that moisture is condensed 
from the atmosphere by coming in contact with 
any cold Buhstance, as ice or a pitcher of cold 
water, or by becoming cooled in any way. The 
cool air when it enters the fruit-room, therefore, 
contains but little moisture, but as it becomes 
warmer it takes up moisture from the fruit, vege¬ 
tables, Ac. As it passes over to the ice and be¬ 
comes cooled, it gives up a portion of the moisture, 
and returns to the fruit-room in a drier condition. 
The air of the fruit-room is thns kept dry, all 
superabundant moisture being carried off, and noth¬ 
ing like dampness or mould is seen about the fruit- 
room or the articles contained in it. A change of 
air will ho necessary occasionally, and this is 
effected by means of the ventilator, shown in the 
engraving. A slide can be drawn at the top of the 
room, and kept open for a few minutes every day. 
The air in the preserving-room is kept at a tem¬ 
perature of about 40, (above or below as desired,) 
and can he maintained at this the entire year. The 
atmosphere being thus low, dry and uniform, veg¬ 
etables, fruits, meats, milk, and all perishable 
aricles, can he kept uninjured a great length of 
time. We have seen in one of these houses, milk 
perfectly sweet that had been kept two weeks, 
while the air outside wa3 so warm that it could not 
be preserved thirty hours. The advantages of 
such a building to farmers, fruit-growers, hotel¬ 
keepers, Ac., will be at once conceded. J. L. 
Albergeh, of Buffalo, has already erected many 
houses in different parts of the State, and will give 
any further information on the subject that may he 
desired by any of our readers. 
the particular time when it contains the greatest 
quantity is when ammoniacal exhalations are evolv¬ 
ed from putrid animal and vegetable substances. 
Nitric acid and ammonia have an affinity for each 
other, and when they are in combination, they form 
nitrate of ammonia, which is very powerful and 
destructive. 
That the atmosphere has of late years been grad¬ 
ually undergoing a change, is a fact well known to 
naturalists. Doctor Bindley Kemp, in his Natural 
History of Creation, makes the following remarks 
on this subject:—“At a very early period the 
atmosphere was charged with carbonic acid, the 
carbon of which now forms part of animal and 
vegetable substances. At first it contained no am¬ 
monia, hut since vegetation and decomposition 
began, the nitrogen that existed in the nitrates of 
the earth, and some of the nitrogen of the atmos¬ 
phere have been gradually entering into new com¬ 
binations, and forming ammonia, a substance at 
first non-existent, but gradually increasing, and as 
[ it is volatile, the atmosphere now always contains 
some of it. The quantity has lately become so 
great that it can always be detected by chemical 
analysis, and there is an evident tendency to 
increase in the atmosphere. Now suppose it to 
go on increasing to a certain point; it forms 
with air, a mixture which is violently explosive; 
an atmosphere charged with ammonia, is liable to 
explode whenever a flash of lightning passes 
through it, and such an explosion would doubtless 
destroy, perhaps without leaving traces of the 
present order of things.” 
Having now shown that the atmosphere contains 
an ingredient which is calculated to destroy ani¬ 
mal or vegetable life, I will proceed to explain the 
reason why the potato plant is more susceptible of 
injury than most other vegetables. 
Doctor G. II. Adams, of Berkley street, London, 
made experiments with nitric acid on the leaves 
and stems of various plants. He found that the 
potato leaf, from its peculiar, spongy and unprotected 
character, readily imbibed the liquid, whilst other 
