IllMUfll 
TWO DOLLARS 
YEAR.] 
PROGRESS AND IMPROVEMENT.’ 
[SINGLE NO. FIVE CENTS. 
VOL. IX. NO. 30.1 
ROCHESTER, N. Y.-SATURDAY, SEPTEMRER 4, 1858. 
i WHOLE NO. m. 
MOORE’S RURAL NEW-YORKER, 
AX ORIGINAL WEEKLY 
Agricultural, Literary and Family Newspaper. 
CONDUCTED BY D. D. T. MOORE, 
WITH AN ABLE COUPS OP ASSISTANT EDITORS. 
Th* Rural New-Yorker is designed to be unsurpassed in 
Value, Purity, Usefulness and Variety of Contents, and unique and 
beautiful in Appearance Its Condnctor devotes his personal atten¬ 
tion to the 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, interspersed with appropriate and beautiful Engravings, 
than any other journal— rendering it the most complete Agricultu¬ 
ral, Literary and Family Journal in America. 
STEAM ON THE NEW YORK CANALS. 
In our columns we have given a pretty full 
acoount of the experiments instituted to test the 
practicability of using steam on the Erie and other 
Canals of the State, for propelling boata We re¬ 
joice greatly that the results of these trials were 
such as to convince the State officers—the Gover¬ 
nor, Canal Commissioners, &c.,—as well as all 
practical men, that steam can be used as a 
motive power, at a great saving of expense, and 
without injury to the hanks of the canaL In this 
movement we see a prospect of good that seems 
to have been overlooked by those who have writ¬ 
ten on the subject, and was not once alluded to, 
we believe, in the many congratulatory speeches 
made on the occasion. We are not insensible to 
the fact that the substitution of steam for horse¬ 
power will lessen the cost of carriage, and there¬ 
fore increase the amount of business, to the 
advantage of the State and all those engaged in 
canal business, and to the farmers of Western New 
York and the Great West, whose grain will find 
access through this channel to the New York 
market, and the markets of Europe; but we rejoice 
more especially at the humanizing influence of 
steam on the internal navigation of the State. 
Who that has traveled on the Erie Canal, or be¬ 
come conversant with its operations, has not been 
pained at the treatment of horses engaged in the 
lifeless drudgery of towing? Given over to the 
care of ignorant, and often cruel drivers, exposed 
to all weather, seven days and nights in the week, 
their haggard appearance, and galls and bruises, 
appeal to the sympathies of every humane heart. 
The Erie Canal, from its origin, has been a school 
of vice. Many a bright boy, tempted by stories of 
the independence of a driver’s life, has left his 
father’s house, to return, if ever, a wreck in mind 
and body. Lured by the hopes of earning a live¬ 
lihood, many a widowed nother has permitted her 
only son—her last hope in this world—to “ drive 
on the canal,” to see him return after a season 
steeped in vice, grown old in sin—a curse, instead 
of a blessing—her grey hairs soon brought down 
with sorrow to the grave. And is it strange 
that this should he so? Look at the hosts of low 
drinking-houses that almost line the banks of the 
Canal—the character of the men with which these 
boys are compelled to associate—sleeping in boats 
or barns—working nights and days, and Sundays, 
and we see an array of evil influences brought to 
bear that few boys—may we not say few men?— 
could resist The Erie Canal may have enriched 
business men, but it has impoverished families, 
robbed many a mother of her richest jewel—it 
may have filled the State Treasury, but it has also 
filled the State Prisons and Penitentiaries. We 
hope the time is not far distant when no more 
boys shall be employed on our canals. Let them 
receive their education, not on the canal, hut in 
the common school, or at work on the farm, 
where they can read evenings, and have the benefit 
of family influence and wholesome example. We 
look upon the application of steam on the canal 
as a great moral reform movement. 
Scores of cattle and hogs die every summer in 
their transit through this State in Railroad cars 
It is truly painful to see these animals, packed as 
closely as they can stand, in hot summer weather 
their tongues protruding from their mouths, and 
showing other signs of suffering. Here they suffer 
not only from the heat and close packing, but for 
want of water, and it is not strange that many die, 
and are thrown out at the stopping places. Indeed, 
we have sometimes thought it strange that any 
survive. Those that live after such a journey, and 
so much suffering, are unfit for human food, and on 
reaching their destination, are no dohbt much 
depreciated in value. For humanity’s sake, at 
least, we have long hoped that an end would be 
put to this mode of transporting stock. It is 
calculated that with steam, boats will reach New 
York in four days from Buffalo, without tranship 
ment Boat builders and cattle dealers are now 
engaged in designing the best form of a boat to be 
used for transporting stock on the Canal, and the 
great end aimed at is cheapness of carriage, and 
such arrangements for the comfort of the animals 
that they will suffer no diminution of weight on 
the voyage. These boats will be constructed for 
the purpose of carrying stock alone, and will he 
arranged with every convenience for watering and 
feeding. It is estimated that the cost of transpor¬ 
tation will he about one-half the price now charged 
by the Railroads. Interest, if not humanity, there¬ 
fore, we hope will induce all engaged in forward¬ 
ing cattle to the Eastern markets, to give the canal 
boats a trial. 
DOES TJNDERDRAINING PAY? 
Rather a strange query for the editors of the 
Rural to propound to all their readers, when they 
have labored long and earnestly to prove that it 
was one of the best investments which could be 
made by the agriculturist Strange, truly, when 
they have iterated and reiterated that a thorough 
system of underdraining would prove of incalcula¬ 
ble benefit to almost every foot of land possessed 
by the farmer. Stranger still, that, after all this 
labor of word and argument, we are ready to go 
back to the starting point—to unsettle a principle 
supposed to be fixed—and put forth anew the 
query,— Does Underdraining Pay? We have a 
reason for this, however, as will be seen by the an¬ 
nexed sentence:—“ Under draining is a popular pro¬ 
cess by which any quantity of money can be hidden 
under ground past finding again.” This valuable 
piece of information we first saw in a political 
paper published in our State Capital, and if we ever 
had a particle of unbelief in the aphorisms—“ False¬ 
hood travels faster than Truthor “ Truth has but 
legs while Falsehood wears wings,” such doublings 
are effectually scattered to the winds, because of the 
avidity with which the “ Union-Saving” portion of 
the press has seized so precious a morsel. Why 
assertions of this character should he given to the 
public through the agency of the printer, we are at 
a loss to discover. Common sense will never found 
an argument upon such premises — facts will not 
warrant such declarations. Theory brands the 
statement with falsity — practical experience will 
nail it as a base coin to the counter. Let us exam¬ 
ine a few of the facts recorded upon this subject 
From the article on the “Progress of English 
Agriculture,” we learn that lands where, to use the 
words of Mr. Coke, “two rabbits might be found 
quarreling over a blade of grass,” were given by a 
thorough introduction of drains to profitable agri¬ 
culture. “Hundreds of thousands of acres,” says 
the Review, “ formerly condemned to remain poor 
pasture, or to grow at long intervals uncertain 
crops of grain and beans, have been laid dry, ren¬ 
dered friable, and brought into regular rotation. 
Sheep stock thrive where previously a few cows 
starved; the produce has been trebled, the ren¬ 
tal raised, and the demand for labor increased in 
proportion. In the neighborhood of Yorkshire 
manufactories, moorland, not worth a shilling an 
acre (rental) has been converted into dairy farms 
worth two pounds.” 
In 1846, Sir Robert Peel passed the act loaning 
twenty millions of dollars for the purpose of assist¬ 
ing land owners to drain their farms. The various 
systems of husbandry which had wrought such 
wonders upon light soils, those who possessed 
heavy, retentive clays desired to adopt, and to grow 
such crops as afforded a certain reward. For cen¬ 
turies the farmers had been engaged in the trial of 
multifarious expedients to relieve the soil of water. 
The means called into use were upon the surface, as 
laying np in “ lands,” “ backs,” or “ steches,” that the 
rain might flow off into drains a few inches 
deep. Not nnfrequently, it is said, farmers would 
traverse their fields after heavy rains, attempting to 
lead the stagnant little pools to the neighboring 
ditches. Favorable seasons rewarded the husband¬ 
man for his toil, but a wet season destroyed his 
hopes. The soils were valued for their strength, 
and for their returns under bright auspices, and the 
questions were, in what manner can the uncertainty 
attached to them he removed?—how can we plant 
and be sure that we may also reap? These were 
the aspirations of the cultivators, and deep draining 
gave to expectancy glad fruition. 
What are the details of experience in our own 
country? In the Report by Mr. Nourse, of Orr- 
ington, Me., to the Bangor Horticultural Society, 
we find some interesting facts in regard to the 
effects of draining upon “ cold, springy land.” 
The drains were constructed partly with tile and 
partly with stone—depth three and one-half and 
four feet He describes his farm “ as lying on the 
north east side of a hill, naturally wet, and hence 
unfit for working until late in the season.” Size 
of lot drained one and one-half acres—designed 
for a pear orchard; drains laid in 1852. “Thirteen 
drains,” says the Report, “fifteen rods in length, 
and twenty feet apart, were opened down the hilL” 
The effects of draining are thus described:— 
“Upon this piece of land the frost comes out 
some days earlier, is later in the fall, and of less 
depth in winter than contiguous land undrained. 
The whole is dry enough for spading or plowing 
as soon as the frost is out in the spring, or within 
ten hours after a heavy rain. During the drouth 
of 1854, there was at all times sufficient dampness 
apparent on scraping the surface of the ground, 
(with the foot, in passing,) and a crop of beans 
was planted, grown, and gathered therefrom, with¬ 
out so much rain as will usually fall in a shower of 
fifteen minutes’ duration, while vegetation on the 
next field was parching for the lack of moisture. 
Undrained land of similar character was hard and 
lumpy in dry weather, and cohesive and miry 
when wet, while this was light, porous, arable and 
free from water.” The one had been drained, the 
other drowned. 
A correspondent of the Rural, in our issue of 
August 15th, 1857, remarks:—“It has been demon¬ 
strated over and over again, that the increased 
product from a well-drained field for a series of 
years, will not only provide for the interest on the 
outlay, but extinguish the principal in a little time, 
after the first year; and yet many farmers cling 
to the ‘penny-wise and pound-foolish’ policy of 
allowing a superabundance of water to remain in 
the cultivated lots, and hear with all patience the 
frequent loss of one-half or two-thirds what their 
lands would readily have produced. When, 0, 
when, will they practically understand that there 
is no safer, or better yielding investment of their 
money, than to bury it from 30 inches to three 
feet under the surface? When will they come to 
know that for hardly any purpose can they so well 
afford to submit to exorbitant rates of interest, as 
to provide themselves with the wherewithal to 
change their swamps and swales, and cold, damp 
fields into warm and reliable soil for the production 
of crops? * * * * of some thirty acres of 
spring grain on the writer’s farm, all of which 
looks pleasant in his eye, one-half would have been 
nearly or quite rained Cut for zome 1,100 rods of 
drainage in the same; and the present appearance 
is that the enhanced product this year will be 
nearly equal to the total coBt of the drains, albeit 
said cost has been fully and amply compensated 
by former crops.” 
The spring of ’57, it will be remembered, was 
late, on account of excessive and long-continued 
rains, and the opportunities for testing the benefi¬ 
cial effects of a system of drainage were excellent. 
An experienced agriculturist, residing within a 
few miles of this city, speaking of the advantages 
of draining, remarked that “he had sown his 
barley and it was up, while his neighbors had not 
yet got their grounds prepared. All those whose 
land was not thoroughly drained had almost begun 
to despair—that for the crops on portions of his 
own farm, on which he had not created any means 
by which to relieve it of surplus water, he had 
little hope. That where drains were erected he 
could put on his horses and plow twenty-four 
hours after the most severe rain, and find the soil 
in better condition than where it was undrained 
three days subsequent.” 
There are hundreds who can furnish experience 
corroborating the statements already given, but to 
the thinking farmer they are not necessary; other 
reasons might also he furnished and arguments 
put forth claiming more attention in this particular 
branch of husbandry, but our space forbids. All 
around us are fads so demonstrative that the 
advantages to be derived from thorough draining 
cannot but be apparent Those who have not 
witnessed what a revolution well-constructed 
drains can work upon a retentive, cold, heavy soil, 
will find a visit to lands provided with these 
artificial outlets of redundant moisture a profitable 
one, fully convincing them that drainage is an 
exceedingly effective agent in Progressive Agri¬ 
culture. 
HOG PASTURES. 
It being generally understood that hogs live by 
“special providendtej’ until it is time to “fat” 
them, there is little attention paid to the most 
economical way of growing them up. Certain it 
is, that a good, easy-keeping variety will make 
commendable progress on grass, and it is worthy 
of investigation whether hog-raising may not be 
profitably carried on to a larger extent in Western 
New York by the aid of good pastures and other 
appliances. It may he safe to calculate that a 
good-sized, thrifty pig will gain in six months on 
grass, a hundred pounds or more. If an acre of 
grass would keep three hogs, and add a hundred 
pounds to the weight of each, that would be $12 
for the acre of pasture, reckoning the 300 pounds 
gain at 4 cents a pound, live weight The particular 
point which this pastoral letter is ambitious to in¬ 
culcate is this: grass being a good thing and 
profitable to swine, attention should be paid to the 
furnishing of an abundance of it, and of the best 
quality, to these animals. Instead of being forced 
to bite twice at a short, dirty, dried and battered 
spear of June grass by the roadside before getting 
any off, imagine a clean and comely Suffolk in 
a fresh, green pasture just four inches high, 
filling himself with evident relish. That looks 
like gaifl. 
The Atlantic Telegraph scheme having suc¬ 
ceeded, all other visionary and impossible enter¬ 
prises will of course raise their heads and step 
forward; so I venture forth with mine. It is no 
less than this. Make a hog pasture big enough for 
all your hogs, and divide it into two or three 
parts, letting the animals remain only a week in 
one division before moving them into another. I 
deem that idea every way original, but I won’t 
take out a patent right or copyright, provided you 
give credit to the Rural for the suggestion. We 
have often heard that a change of pastures makes 
fat calves —horses and sheep, too, have not been 
forgotten in this connection; but hogs, alas! are 
not counted in. I propose to count them in. I 
don’t know but they pay as much for their board 
as anybody, its cost and quality being considered; 
and I don’t know but they have as good right to 
find fault when it don’t suit. You “ didn’t know 
they had fastidious appetites.” Well, you ought to 
know it Just judge them by yourself. The 
likeness is closer than you are aware of. 
I am not well enough informed to express an 
opinion as to the best kind of grass for pigs, hut I 
have heard a man in a fat office, a boy in a peach 
orchard, a young fellow going to the Fourth of 
July between two girls with white dresses on, com¬ 
pared to “ pigs in clover,” from which I conclude 
that somebody has found out that a clover-field is 
a delectable place for hogs. I ask for information, 
and would be glad to know of Rural readers, 
which are the best grasses for swine? 
I think hogs should not pasture in the same 
field with other stock, as there is an objectionable 
flavor where they go; so let them have a place by 
themselves, and have it well fenced and plenty of 
water. I have an excessive dislike of jewelry, hut 
I sometimes think that hogs are better for rings in 
their noses.— h. t. b. 
A FEW HOURS IN THE GENESEE VALLEY. 
One day last week we were at Avon, with a few 
unemployed hours before us. As we had some 
farming friends in the neighborhood, we thought 
a part of the time spent with them would be use¬ 
ful, especially as we had never been upon the 
farms in that region, though often in sight 
A good half-hours’ walk brought us to a friend’s 
house. He is the occupant of a “ flat” and an up¬ 
land farm of about seven hundred acres, which he 
rents from some heirs of the Wadsworth Estate. 
Nearly or quite five hundred acres belong to the 
flats, and are more or less subject to the overflow 
of the river. He had no wheat upon the flats, his 
cultivated crops being corn, broom-corn, barley 
and oats. The barley was nearly a failure, oats 
tolerable, and the corn promising a good crop. 
The meadows were very productive, yielding a 
large burthen of grass, and generally of first qual¬ 
ity. The pastures were very fine, equal to any of 
the famous Blue Grass pastures of Kentucky. 
Upon these, for some years to come, the farms 
along this region will be compelled to depend for 
their main support 
The grazing of cattle or the dairy must take the 
place of wheat growing, and these “flats” will 
furnish the material for capital dairy farms. As 
much butter and cheese can he made to the acre 
here as in any region of the State. And when the 
farms embrace a portion of upland, as well as 
“ flats,” there will be no diffiulty in raising wheat 
to a moderate extent by using manure freely, and 
underdraining when required. Still, for the time 
being, the value of the land must depreciate very 
sensibly, until a more diversified system of farming 
is adopted. 
The midge will not he got rid of. It has been 
more or less prevalent for the last twenty years. 
Its ravages have only become serious, when, by 
too severe a system of cropping, some of the ele¬ 
ments of fertility have been so exhausted that the 
wheat plant does not grow with its accustomed 
vigor. Some other element must be returned to 
the earth, besides what clover and plaster furnishes, 
before the farmer can defy the midge. That will 
be found in barn-yard manure. 
The rich pasturage of the flats, and the great 
yield of hay which they will furnish, render them 
very valuable, and if the landlords confine them 
to those two branches, the permanent wealth of 
that region will not be materially diminished. No 
country can he really independent that depends 
mainly upon grain-growing for the support of its 
farms. It will be found that the dairy regions of 
this State are really more independent than the 
wheat region, although the wheat lands have been 
commanding much the highest price per acre. 
Many think that more capital is invested in wheat 
farms than dairy farms. It is a mistake — for, 
though the w.heat farms are valued at a higher 
price, the stock upon a dairy farm will balance the 
difference. 
The entire failure of the wheat crop in this re¬ 
gion is but exemplified by the fact that at a point 
on the Valley Canal, just west of Avon, where a 
few years ago from 250,000 to 300,000 bushels of 
wheat were taken in yearly, they do not expect to 
bay 3,000 bushels this year, and for two years 
past flour has been imported to supply the inhabi¬ 
tants of one of the finest wheat regions of the Union. 
The midge, one of the frailest of insects, is in 
its ravages the most destructive enemy the farmer 
has to contend with, and its power will soon he 
felt over a whole Continent. In this State alone, 
its ravages have cost the farmers not less than ten 
millions of dollars for this jear. When they reach 
the black lands of the prairies in the Western 
States, as they will in some three or four years, for 
they are now in Michigan, it will become a pretty 
grave question as to where we shall obtain our 
wheat bread. 
But not much has been said about our friend’s 
farming. We will defer that till another visit—p. 
8ELF-OPERATING WELL BUCKET. 
Eds. Rural: —Although we have, in this progres¬ 
sive age, almost every expedient for drawing water 
in the shape of pumps and elevators that could ho 
conceived of; and many of them are very valua¬ 
ble in rendering the labor of drawing water from 
wells and cisterns comparatively easy; yet there 
are hundreds of your readers, and others, who will 
agree with me, that not by any of these means does 
water taste as pure and wholsesome as when drawn 
from the well in a bucket. 
Those, then, who wish to drink water pure—free 
from the taint of decaying wooden pipes or rusty 
iron—will, with me, choose to let “ The Old Oaken 
Bucket” hang in the well. 
Though “ dear to the hearts” of all “ cold water 
men,” there is an inconvenience attending it, as it 
is commonly used, in filling and emptying. With 
your permission, I will tell yonr readers how I over¬ 
came the difficulty. Here, then, is a correct draw¬ 
ing of my well curb, a board being left off in front 
to show the manner of emptying the bucket. Like 
its owner, it is plain looking, hut I find it answers 
the purpose for which it was designed, admirably. 
I cut a hole three inches square in the bottom of 
the bucket, then, on a thin piece of board, four 
inches square, or a half inch larger each way than 
the hole in the bucket, I tacked a soft piece of leather, 
letting it extend far enough on one side to tack to 
the bottom of the backet—forming a hinge to the 
valve. I then had a blacksmith move the ears from 
the top, to a little above the middle of the bucket, 
or to that point, where the bucket when filled, 
would balance nicely without tipping over. I then 
had the bail cut in two pieces, making each piece 
a foot long, after being straightened, and an eye 
turned on each end, as seen in the drawing. 
A thin piece of iron 1.J inches long, one edge 
bent over, for the hook, fastened to the spout, to 
catch into, was riveted to the top of the bucket, in¬ 
side. I procured a well twisted g inch cord, twice 
as long as my well is deep, found the centre and 
fastened it, in two places, by driving a staple two 
inches each side of the centre of the axle, then 
wound the cord evenly on the axle,— always wind¬ 
ing towards the ends,—and fastened the ends of the 
cord to the bucket. The axle was turned evenly, 
and not made of a large sapling as is often the case. 
