sumi 
S& mmM 
^ I 'liFST : 
TWO DOLLARS A YEAR.] 
PROGRESS AND IMPROVEMENT.” 
[single no. five cents. 
VOL. IX. NO. 45.1 
ROCHESTER, N. Y.-SATURDAY, NOVEMBER 0, 1858. 
{WHOLE NO. 481. 
MOORE’S RURAL NEW-YORKER, *«“«• *”? to *“*"«•»>’" ,icu! ”j“; 
7 quirv on this point we will say the autumn is the 
AN ORIGINAL WEEKLY A . .. ^ ,, . 
. . j w -i best t,me for gathering. 
Agricultural, Literary and Family Newspaper, 
- Manure Affected by the Feed. 
CONDUCTED BY D. D. T. MOORE. It is not the kindot anima', so ranch as the 
WITH AH ABLE CORPS OE assistaht editors. kiad of food ib coa8aiaea that affects the value of 
_ the manure. Not many years since, white attend- 
Thb Rural New-Yorker is designed to be nnsnirpassed in jng the Annual Meeting of the N. Y. State Agri- 
Value, Purity, Usefulness and Variety of Contents and unique and cu it U ral Society at Albany, a gentleman of intelli- 
beantiful in Appearance. Its Conductor devotes his personal atten- {nFnrm0f1 llfl *w wi on m men eel lre ft n- 
a good manure, 8nd in answer to a particular ia- worth about half as much when drained a a medium 
quiry on this point we will say the autumn ia the Livingston County lands, which can now be bought 
at from fifty to sixty dollars per acre. 
Is will take a bold man, up in Steuben or Catta- 
It is not the kind of anima', 80 much as the ™» 8 n8 > ten “ Ue » tVom th « County Heat, a mile from 
hind of food it consumes that affects the value of the co / aer8 >” miles from the store, 
blacksmith shop, saw mill, grist mill, shoe shop, 
some ways to rneeeting, and farther to market,—it 
will take a bold man up there, half way from some¬ 
where to nowhere, to ask seventy-five dollars per 
acre for his drained hard-pan land, and it will take 
X /- 
-\v 
; 11 
I BN 
DeauUluJ in Appearance. US uouaucior aevoies uh iwreunw nuw _. _. ., . . „ , „ p oori tvueic iu uvwuvw, iu usn. mkuij-uio 1 
«od to the supervision ofits various departments, and earnestly labors 8 ' J . .. , acre fur his drained hard-pan land, and it will take 
to render the Roral an eminently Reliable Guide on the important mg and breeding Durham stock, OU SCCOlint of the , than Tit. rr-ti f;rnAW. to hriv it nt that 
Practical, Scientific and other Subjects intimately eonneeted with the value of their manure over that produced by na- ’ ( ' ’ 
business of those whose interests it zealously advocates. It embraces tive stock. The difference in the manure, with the fi g“ re - Farms of that qua ity, manage ycom- 
more Agricultaral, Horticultural, Scientific, Educational, Literary and . .... mon COHUtry brains, haven’t pard, 88 a matter Of 
News Matter, interspersed with appropriate and beautiful Engravings, ««ie feed WOuJd hardly.be perceptible. The ma- C “ /" ’ ^ ^ $?5 a „ re 
than any other Journal,—rendering it tlie most complete Agricdlto- nure Of fowls is of the highest value, because they J’ J ^ . . , '* .. „ , 
ral, Literary and Family Journal in America. Iive on grain> in8ec ts, &C , all the richest kind of aad 1here * 8 Probability that they Will for the 
food. The manure of the horse ia more valuable acxb dve yeaie. 
tn^^^otplThll b N r 16116 "’ than that of the cow, as usually kept, because the Ib would cost at this rate, Five Hundred Millions 
to D. D. T. MOORE, Rochester, N. Y. ( . n r, HnlT1 pa m0 re irrain than ihe cow The me- of Dollars to drain one-half of the improved lands 
for Terms and other particulars, see last page. horse consumes moie grain than meicow. ine me J p „ vania- the interest on 
. chanical condition of the manure affects the result m New York an,J l eunsj ivania, tne inter at on 
•<w 
/ / w \ 
pi 4 I 
\ / 
If- 
It would cost at this rate, Five Hundred Millions 
of Dollars to drain one-half of the improved lands 
toil 
NOTES ON MANURES, &c. 
somewhat Cow dung, for instance does not crum- that snm woald be thirlyflve millions of dollars 
ble down like horse dung, and therefore is not so annually. How is this to bo paid? By the in- 
easily or evenly distributed over the land. The creased production of the land, if at alt But if 
quantity as well as the quality of food affects the y®« should raise additional products sufficient to 
value of the manure. If an animal receives only P a ? tbis iatere8t > aad the of growing and 
sufficient food barely to sustain life, this food is marketing the same, you would glut every market 
-nn in (he nnirnnl nr- ^ Christendom-then the products Would bring 
the following brief notes are written in answer much more thoroughly used up in the animal op 
to inquiries received from correspondent?. This gamsm, aDd the manure will be less in quantity The si mule fact i« a aeneral system of drain- 
will account for their miscellaneous and somewhat and poorer in quality than though enough was ^ uni ’ w ^ bankruptcy. Agri- 
disconnected character. We have selected inqui- given to produce flesh and fat i or this reason as dacfcJ don , t brjug enough in the back 
ries mainly on the subject of Manures, and in the well as others, the manure from fattening is richer co £ warrant the otU lay, and farmers gener- 
next number may give similar notes in answer to in- than that from store an mals The age of the am- ha ^ e the genge to £ee it ' To drain aU tbe im . 
quiries on other subjects. If in any case the experi- mal too, affects the quality of the manure. Food J ve<j . q th(J Unioil| would C08t moro thau 
ence of any of our readers is such as to cause them given to young animals that are producing bones ^ Unhed States _ includiDg every man . womaD> 
to differ from opinions expressed in these or other and muscle is more completely consumed than child_is worth 
articles, they can do the community of farmers no that given to those of mature age, and conse- 1 . ... T t. . ,, 
better service than by giving the facts publicity quently the manure is poorer. One thousand I am not opposed to draining—I have repeatedly 
through the columns of the Rural. pounds of the urine of a calf fed on milk was found spoken well of it, and I mean now to do what its 
Linuid Manure to contain but one pound of solid matter, and only n ^ tra advocates have never done, to my knowledge, 
r-T iore™twtwreater nation of onrlinni.l a trace of ammonia; the same quantity of urine point out the circumstances under which draining 
It is true, tha. the greater poition of om liquid _ _..._. _will uav. and the circumsiances under which it 
Tm 2 
•^nl 1 A i lr^N 
\6\ 
wi'im o 
\)&y 
INSECTS INJURIOUS TO TIIE POTATO. 
better service than by giving the facts publicity quently the manure is poorer. One thousand I am not opposed to draining I have repeatedly 
through the columns of the Rural. pounds of the urine of a calf fed on milk was found spoken well of it, and I mean now to do what its 
Linuid Manure to contain but one pound of solid matter, and only n ^ tra advocates have never done, to my knowledge, 
1 It iotrnethai fhp rtreater nmtinn nf nnr linniri a trace of ammonia; the same quantity of urine point out the circumstances under which draining 
manirJ'waited mi Sso tone ttiat this he of a ™ S^wn cow contained 80 pounds of solid will pay, and the circumstances under which it 
moat valaare uart of the excrement of animl “ ab ter and eight pounds of nitrogen. This will will not. Let me premise that ,n settling any 
^hewo^acls^tffimitteDhe^ecMsit^for a^hanee plainly how much the condition of the ani- ° oaatr y> the ^ lands are takea fi J 8 ~ tliasa that 
these two tacts admitted, the necessity tor a change A. _will yield the largest returns with the least labor— 
is at once apparent. In Holland not only ia the mal _ ™ advantages of location, however, sometimes coun¬ 
liquid manure carefully preserved, but the solid Soiling, Will it Pay? terbalance advantages of soil. That mistakes are 
manure is mixed with water, and applied to the This is a question which it is difficult to madg in selection8j there can be no doubt; but 
land in a liquid form. Those who have experi- answer, without a knowledge of the circumstances mankind have alway8 8onght aDxiou8ly for the 
mented with liquid manure in growing fine vege- in which the inquirer is placed. Did we wish to ^ landg within theif reach> With the increa88 
tables, &c., know its value. It is a power in the keep a large amount of stock on a small piece of of ulatioD) agri cnlture must improve, or en- 
hands of the skillful gardener. We have planted ground we should cut their feed, by all means.- , itB area b the additi oa of inferior lands.- 
fruit trees in full flower, and by the frequent and The reason the system has not been generally p racticaUy) it w m be found that some branches of 
persevering application of liquid manure to furnish adopted in this country is, that land has been husbandry wHl bear transplanting to inferior soils 
the constant demand upon the trees, which the in- cheap, and labor scarce and dear, and it was a(i f nr Tr, 
the constant demand upon the trees, which the in- cheap, and labor scarce and dear, and it was Booner than other8j ^ for instance) gra , ing , j n 
jured roots could not supply unless it was given in thought best to allow animals to cut their own sg Qf ti howeve r, the increase of popnla- 
this convenient form, have succeeded iu perfect- feed. This idea was sometimes carried to extremes tion and the con8eqnent demaud for agricultural 
ing a large crop of frnit, (more than enough to in the West, as the hogs and cattle were turned ductg) will force a more extended cultivation 
pay for the tree,) the first year, and without doing into corn fields to pick their own corn. This we Qf inferior land8> and then it ifl that under drainiDg 
it any injury. The President of the Fruit Growers’ have never seen, hat we have some farmers whose m be profitab]y introduced. England and France, 
Society of Western New York, often tells his usual mode of feeding the cattle in the fall was to and most flf theif continenta i neighbors, have 
friends that the finest, highest-colored and best go to the field and cut a few arms full of corn and donbtles3 arrived at thia 8ta ge. They not only sell 
flavored Dnchesse de Angonleme pears he ever saw throw them to the cattle By such a course the ^ duce hjgh) but they buy their labor cheap . 
or tasted was a few given him by us a few years largest half was wasted, but labor was saved.- Tfae improveme nts by which they augment their 
since. These were raised on trees the first year Whether such a course was ever the right one we c g are made with a comparatively small outlay, 
planted, which it is not likely would have grown a very much question. It certainly is not now, when while their increased productions sell for a high 
perfect frnit without the use of liquid manure.— land and crops and animals are valuable. 
It would he very lame logic to infer that 
Then we have grown Celery and other vegetables rule now is to make the most of everything, and because it wou i d pay t0 ditch a f ar m in the county 
of almost fabulous size in the same manner. grinding and cooking, feed, and soiling are mat- Qf Cork> ifc wou , d t0 ditch one in Wisconsin, 
Now, if this manure is so useful in the hands of ters not only talked of but practiced to some ex- where the yield * would not bring half aa mucb per 
the gardener, may it not be of value to the farmer tent by the most intelligent farmers. In Europe acre> and tbe CQSt of ditcbing would be twice a8 
m specific cases, in forwarding a tardy crop, in giv- Vetches and Red Clover are grown for soiling hut gre&f j ag8ume) what will hardly be deniedi that 
ing strength and vigor to the sickly or feeble in this country nothing that we know of is likely we haye ]andg iQ the United Statea which wiU 
plants, just at the time when the soccess or failure to supercede corn. At the discussions at Syracuse Mng good and remunerative crops without ditch- 
of the crop seems to he hanging in the balance, daring the State Fair T. C. Peters, stated that he ing _ we bave sacb i ands j n Western New York, 
A hogshead may be rigged on a cart or wagon, for had grown Western corn for fodder and obtained and tbey abouud j u the Western States. They are 
applying the manure. For saving it, the floors of at the rate of twenty tuns to the acre when cured. the landj} that diecreet men 8elect fo ^ settlement 
the stalls may be made to incline to a drain or gut- This would give a large amount of feed if cut green. - At the 8am e time, it must be conceded that 
ter back of the animals, with which a pipe must Perhaps in no other way could as much be raised there flre inferior lands that make ap by their 
he connected to convey the liquid to a tank in the on an acre. A gentleman inquired of the dairy- imit t0 ood markets, what they lack in 
cellar, or some ont building lower than the stable men present if they found it profitable to grow flf soiL The landg near New Yo rk and 
floor. Liquid manure is very strong when collect- corn in that way for foddering or for soiling milk ^ be cnltivated> thongh poor) and in re . 
ed in this way and will need to he diluted with cows. To this there was a most hearty and unani- tQ tbe lic of drainillg then)| they are in 
about four times its hulk with water. It should be mous response in the affimative. In fact no qnes- (j ork or Kerry I assume: 
first tested by watering a few plants. tion asked that evening received such a decided It no% Anno Domini 1858> do to nn . 
first tested by watering a few plants. tion asked that evening received such a decided It will now> Anno Domini 1858> do to nn . 
Manure Cellars. answer * Thia shows the °P inioaB of Practical men derdrain the landa contiguous to our large towns 
These are of advantage to the manure, but we on bke ( l ues tion. and begt marke t 8 . 
have often thought they were of no benefit to the Second. It will do to underdrain, anywhere on the 
animals living and breathing over them. They are DOES UNDERDRAINING PAY? face of the earth, all gardens and fruit orchards on 
very convenient too, nothing can be more so. To , ~ 7 _ wet or heavy soils. The expense of drainage is a 
have a hatch in the stable floor through which all ilY answer IS > sometimes it does—sometimes it 8mall item compared w i t h the continued expense 
manure may be thrown and all refuse swept is very doea n0 -* 1 fis ure out m y reasons thus:—Take an Qf tbeir cu i t ivatioD, and compared with the value 
convenient, and insures a clean stable. The liquid average specimen of hard-pan land, or that which of tbeif produc t 8 under good management, 
manure, too, is more likely to be saved in this way, is cold and wet, w-ith an average location, and Third. It will do to drain some of our best grain 
and the whole loses but little of its valuable pants, where average prices prevail; read an essay on so u $ _ to i €ra bl y well located —troubled with excess 
The question is whether those who have not such ditching, work yourself up to fever heat, summon of water> ( a8> f or instance, Mr. John Johnston’s 
a cellar cannot secure nearly the same results, by your cash, drive ditches through your whole farm farnq uear Q eneva .) Good, well managed grain 
composting with materials that will prevent the two rods apart, three feet deep—if more than two farma 0cca8 j 0 nally yield crops worth fifty, sixty, 
escape of ammonia. rods apart, some of your land won’t be drained, and even eighty dollars the acre—they are entitled 
Fixers of Ammonia and P™bably not even at that distance-this will to a few tUe if they want them. 
We say nothing about the acids or salts used give eighty rods of ditch to the acre, which will Fourth. It will do to run occasional drains, which, 
for this purpose, because they are not such as most C08 L generally, over fifty cents to the rod, whether by cu t t jng off springs or surface water, dry muck 
farmers will be likely to use. The end desired they J on use or stone — don b Indulge ia any nn- j and at btt j e expense. 
can accomplish better by the use of material al- P leasant conjectures as to the possible failure of Fifth. It will do to use any time and means that 
ways on hand and that costs little or nothing. tke d i tcb e3 in time to come—and the account will cafl be s ^ are ^ t0 dra j n a f ew aC res, more or less 
ni,orA/iol Root +1.;~ AnmnMf Stand: -aa. mtiovo the Tn«TinT«in tn BTinlipfl tn 
escape of ammonia. 
Fixers of Ammonia 
We say nothing about the acid3 or salts used 
answer. This shows the opinions of practical men derdrain the lands contiguous to our large towns 
on the qu estion. ^ ^ and begt markets< 
Second. It will do to underdrain, anywhere on the 
DOES UNDERDRAINING PAY? face of the earth, all gardens and fruit orchards on 
. ~ 7 , . wet or heavy soils. The expense of drainage is a 
My answer is, sometimes it does-sometimes it 8mall item compared with the continued expense 
does nob I figure out my reasons thus:-Take an of their cultivatioD) and compared with the value 
average specimen of hard-pan land, or that which of their products under good management, 
is cold and wet, with aa average location, and TIM It will do to drain 80me of our best grain 
where average prices prevail; read an essay on soUs -tolerably well W^-troubled with excess 
can accomplish better by the use of material al¬ 
ways on hand and that costs little or nothing. 
Charcoal dust is the very best thing for compost¬ 
ing with manure. At least next to this in value is 
swamp muck. All refuse porous stuff, weeds, the 
scraping of roads, &c., are valuable. Leaves make 
Coat of land, cleared and improved, per acre_-$30 
Cost of draining, per acre.45 
Cost of drained farm, per acre.$75, 
Fifth. It will do to use any time and means that 
can be spared, to drain a few acres, more or less 
near the barn where the manure is to be applied to 
the growth of com, potatoes, &c. 
Let it be remarked, however, that it will never do 
to incur the expense of ditching unless the subsequent 
1. Red Acarus. 
2. Acarus Farinoe. 
3. Ixodes, (Wood Tick.) 
4. Acarus Scabii, (the Itch Insect.) 
5. Potato Weevil, (a, b, c.) 
tillage is Ip be good—w bad tillage, even on drained 
land, will not pay for the expenses'incurred. 
There is one thing that the ultra advocates of 
ditching should bear in mind. We have a large 
porLon"'of sponty, hard-pan land, which, when 
thoroughly drained, at the expense of fifty dollars 
an acre, will then he second, third, fourth and fifth- 
rate land, and will not bring the cost of drainage, 
though exposed for sale in every market in Chris¬ 
tendom! I am not willing that the owners should 
be decoyed by the eloquence of onr modern lec¬ 
turers and essayists into the expense of draining 
it. I have observed that whenever the editors of 
the Tribune, Country Gentleman, Rural, Boston 
Cultivator, Ac., &c., make speeches or write arti¬ 
cles, and have nothing to say, they at once hinge 
upon ditching, and each time they run the thing 
further into the ground! While I admit that some 
lands will yield more and better grass after behig 
ditched, I hold that at present it is not profitable to 
drain our grass lands, as a general rule,—properly 
stocked and managed they will supply our neces¬ 
sities and the necessities of the country without. 
In reference to “ the West" it may be remarked, 
that back from its large towus, there can be little 
land that it will pay to ditch— there is so much land 
“ Out West." I may judge, from what I have seen 
and heard, that a man had better take up a new 
and dry farm than to undertake to drain a wet 
one. He can buy two dry ones for what it will cost 
to underdrain one wet one—in short, the “ progress 
of population” doea not yet require the culture of 
inferior lands. 
Finally, I concede that in the indefinite future, it 
will happen that, all tenacious soils will be profita¬ 
bly under drained.—n. t. b. 
POTATO INSECT-HENDERSON’S THEORY. 
[see illustrations above.) 
Eds. Rural: —While I admire the zeal of Mr. 
Henderson and would by no means join in with 
the “wholesale denouncement” of which he com¬ 
plains, I cannot avoid noticing his communication 
in the Rural of the 9th insb He therein refers to 
Mr. Rathvon’s letter, sent with my communica¬ 
tion, and found in the Rural of August 21st, as a 
“ complete answer”—because Mr. R. says that the 
“ Phytoconis lineolaris, of Say, approaches nearly 
to the P. pratensis, a foreign species, which also 
has the V mark on the scutellum.” 
This certainly has no bearing whatever on the 
question at issue. Mr. R. distinctly dissents from 
Mr. H.’s theory of their early propagation, because 
he says “it is impossible that they should cohabit 
in ten days after their expulsion from the egg, un¬ 
less they should have, within that time, passed 
through all iheir transformations, and have attained 
their mature or perfect state.” Mr. Henderson 
asserts that he has “again and again seen the 
young insects cohabiting, but never the full grown.” 
So stands the case between those parties. I do say 
that I have seen the winged male Aphid in connec¬ 
tion with a wingless female one—so late in the 
season as Nov. 20tb. This is also contrary to Mr. 
Harris’ belief—as to the Phytocorus I neither as¬ 
sert nor deny. 
Mr. Rathvon also says of those insects in the 
6 . Phytocorus. 
7. Aphids, (a, b, c ) 
8. Striped Cucumber Bug. 
9. Potato Bug, (Lema Solani.) 
10. Pasalus Comatus. 
“ larva: state,” that “ their habits then are similar to 
tfie mature insert”—by th’s he simply means as 
regards their feeding and form, excepting the 
wings and propagation only, and to he otherwise 
construed would be to make him flatly contradict 
himself. Mr. Henderson, however, quotes it as 
bearing him ont in his statement. 
What induces me to receive Mr. Henderson’s 
statement doubtfallyisthe fact that he quotes part 
of Mr. Smee’s paragraph 245, where he says “a 
very small insect which is constantly to be seen 
upon tubers, is a small Acarus &c.” This insect 
is figured by Mr. In o all, who also remarks, as quo¬ 
ted in the same paragraph—“that this little fellow 
when viewed under the microscope traveling 
among the dense growth of fungi, put him in 
mind of a great rhinoceros trotting about in a 
jangle.” Mr. Henderson says of this same Acarus, 
“Now, this is precisely the young Phytocoris! 
such as you (Mr. Editor) said looked like an ani¬ 
mated dew drop,” and declares that he has watched 
this insect from the time it first made its appear¬ 
ance until it got its wings! Fig. 1 is a copy from 
Smee’s red Acarus, which preys upon aphids, and 
is therefore a friend to the horticulturist. Fig. 2, 
the Acarus farinen of Smee, which he found abun¬ 
dantly on the diseased potatoes, and is the one fig¬ 
ured by Mr. Ingall. These yon observe, are eight 
footed creatures and are classed among the 
Arachnidans or spider family. Under the name of 
Mites they are universally known, and when some 
j of our most essential articles of food, as cheese 
I or flour, get old or musty, they soon swarm with 
these minute microscopic animals; and when once 
established multiply beyond conception. They 
not only attack decaying matter hut also living 
creatures. 
The immediate cause of the itch, is now ascer¬ 
tained beyond a cavil to he the presence of an in¬ 
sect called the Acarus Scabii found, not in the 
vesicle, (as Btated by Gale,) but at the end of a 
small redish furrow, which beginB with the vesicle 
and ends with white, corpuscle-like acarus. Fig, 4 
shows the npper and lower side of the Acarus 
Scabii Various species of beetles and other in¬ 
sects and animals in the air and water and on land 
are infested by one or another species of this ex¬ 
tensive group of parasitic creatures. 
The red spider of our hot houses, is the Acarus 
telarius. Under the name of Ticks (Ixodes) they at¬ 
tack dogs or persons, and are annoying to those col¬ 
lecting blackberries in the woods. Doctor Morbn- 
zsy of Mount Joy, brought me a species of wood 
tick (Fig. 3,) taken from the arm of a small girl, 
half imbedded in the flesh while sleeping under a 
shade tree near a wood. These figures are ell more 
or less enlarged. 
Certainly, Mr. Henderson doea not mean what 
he says. That the acarus gets wrags and becomes 
transformed into a Phytocoris. This leads me to 
receive his testimony with doubt as to the accura¬ 
cy of his judgment, and of course would not wil¬ 
fully misrepresent him, and hope that he will be 
more definite if his article has misled me. 
It may be well to remark that there are quite a 
number of insects accused of injuring the potato 
vines. What is commonly called the Potato-fly, 
