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ROCHESTER, N. Y.-SATURDAY, MARCH 24, 1855, 
to agree with the pitch of the roof, and nail 
them to the plate, placing the end ones inside 
the studs, which may be left to run up pro¬ 
miscuously, to be cut off by the rafter. Then 
lay the garret floor, before putting on the 
roof; this completes the second story. 
The rafters, properly supported, will be 
strong enough if made of the 2 by 4 stuff.— 
Bevel the ends and nail fast the joists. Then 
put on the roof boards and shingles. Put up 
the petitions of 1 by 4 stuff, unless support is 
needed for upper joists, in that case use 2 by 
4, with strips nailed on top for the joists to 
rest upon, fastening all together by nails wher¬ 
ever timbers touch. 
Here you have a simple building, as strong 
and durable as if made of large timber, with 
all the skill of a master mechanic, but requir¬ 
ing little more “ science ” in its construction 
than to build a board fence. It is in this way 
that the rapidly built cities of the West and of 
California have gone up, a few months sufficing 
to furnish homes for a population of thousands. 
The outside/mts/i of a balloon frame can be as 
neat and handsome as that of any other wood¬ 
en building, if the proper skill is employed in 
their construction. It should be remarked, 
perhaps, that composition or cement roofs are 
generally employed in covering this character 
of buildings, but they possess no advantages 
in this case more than in others. 
A QUARTO WEEKLY 
AGRICULTURAL, LITERARY, & FAMILY JOURNAL. 
CONDUCTED BY D, D. T. MOORE. 
associate editors : 
J. H. BIXBY, T. C. PETERS, EDWARD WEBSTER. 
Special Contributors : 
T. E. Wktmors), H. C. Wiiitb, H. T. Brooks, L. Wetherkll. 
LadiG3’ Port-Folio by Azim 
The Rural New-Yorker is designed to be unique and 
beautiful in appearance, and unsurpassed in Value, Purity 
and Variety of Contents. Its conductors earnestly labor 
to make it a Reliable Guide on the important Practical 
Subjects connected with the business of those whose 
interests it advocates. It embraces more Agricultural, 
Horticultural, Scientific, Mechanical, Literary and News 
Mattor, interspersed with many appropriate and beautiful 
Engravings, than any other paper published in this 
Country,—rendering it a comploto Agricultural, Literary 
and Family Newspaper. 
For Terms, and other particulars, see last page. 
REPRESENTATION OF A FULL GROWN CSAGE ORANGE HEDGE. 
In addition to the pruning in spring the 
second year, a second trimming should be giv¬ 
en when the plants are growing vigorously— 
from the middle to the last of June, cutting off 
the tops smooth and nearly down to the spring 
pruning. The next spring cut down to within 
four or six inches of the preceding cutting, 
which follow with another June pruning as be¬ 
fore. These spring and June primings should 
be continued, increasing the distance an inch 
every time until the hedge reaches the desired 
height. By pruning the side and lateral 
branches the hedge may be so thickened as to 
be impervious even to birds and other small 
animals. The thickening and shape are en¬ 
tirely within control of the grower, and can 
be regulated by his industry, faithfulness and 
taste. A hedge three feet wide at the base and 
about as high as a man's shoulders, or little 
short of six feet, gradually narrowed up so as 
to render the top like the ridge of a house, 
wouid be our model. 
After attaining this height the growth is 
quite slow, with very fine shoots, which will 
require not more than an annual pruning.— 
This, as does all the preliminary cutting, calls 
for but^little comparative labor, as an active 
man with a good pair of hedge shears can trim 
from sixty to one hundred rods in a day. 
Hedges should not be planted close to fences, 
as shade prevents their thickening, though 
they will require protection from stock for the 
first two or three years. Though many will 
fail and more be discouraged and retreat, we 
have unabated confidence in the utility, cheap¬ 
ness and value of Osage Orange for fences. It 
can be made highly ornamental, and will be 
found a good protection for ornamental 
grounds, orchards, gardens, church-yards and 
cemeteries, as well as the most durable and 
profitable farm fence. h. c. w. 
Buffalo, Feb., 1855. 
them up in the fall, cut off the top to within 
an inch of the roots, and pack them in a dry 
cellar with a covering of sand. They are then 
ready for transportation or transplanting in 
early spring. 
The Hedge Row should be prepared by 
trenching or otherwise preparing a deep soil, 
which should be well pulverized and thorough¬ 
ly drained. Unless the soil is deep and rich, 
a trench some three feet wide, and nearly as 
deep, should be dug on the line where the 
hedge is to stand, and filled with well rotted 
manure, or compost and rich earth. This will 
involve some labor ; but what is worth doing 
at all is certainly worth doing well ; and if 
the cultivator has not commenced with the 
design of doing everything in the best manner, 
now is a good time to abandon all hope and 
labor, for any other course will only end in 
disappointment. 
Planting the Hedge.— This may be done 
any time after the warm weather commences 
in the spring. The plants should be prepared 
for setting, by shortening the roots to within 
eight or nine inches, and the top to within one 
inch of the root. Select those of a uniform 
size as the best to be planted together; stretch 
a line where the row is to stand, and set out 
the plants not more than ten inches apart, in 
a single line, thus, ***** 0 r diag¬ 
onally, thus ***** making them 
a foot apart in each row. To prevent moles 
from burrowing under the hedge, set the plants 
three or four inches lower than the sides, so as 
to leave the ground a little “ dishing” towards 
the row. This is found effectual. The ground 
should be well cultivated during the season, 
or if mulched deeply with cut straw, leaves, 
saw-dust, or tan-bark, they will require no 
further attention till the following spring.— 
Should any fail to grow, their places should 
be supplied at once. 
THE OSAGE ORANGE FOR HEDGES, 
In consequence of the large annual expense 
of keeping up farm fences, even where timber 
is easily obtained, and the still larger expen¬ 
diture required upon the great prairies of the 
Western States, 'where neither timber or stone 
abound, much attention has been devoted to 
growing hedges for permanent fence. To the 
enlightened labors of Prof. Turner, of Illi¬ 
nois, the public have been indebted for a large 
amount of practical and experimental know¬ 
ledge upon the subject of hedges and hedge 
plants. He made successive experiments with 
every plant or shrub used in Europe, and found 
none of them would answer in this country, 
so different were the effects o' season and cli¬ 
mate. Hid final and odcceostal experiment 
was made with the Osage Orange, ( Macluru 
Aurantiaca ,) an American deciduous tree grow¬ 
ing in the forests of Louisiana, Texas and j 
Arkansas, "where it attains the size of a second 
class tree. In the Middle and Northern States 
it does not often grow more than ten or fifteen 
feet high. 
Repeated trials under a variety of circum¬ 
stances and location have demonstrated it to 
be hardy enough for nearly if not quite all 
parts of the United States, and being a very 
free, thrifty grower, cannot fail of being ex¬ 
tensively adopted by all who study economy 
as well as the useful and ornamental combined. 
We are often enquired of concerning the best 
method of cultivating and preparing the hedge, 
and purpose to give the best information that 
can be obtained in the briefest possible space. 
Sowing the Seed.— The seed germ is en¬ 
cased in a very tough skin, more so than the 
apple, which makes it slow to germinate.— 
Covered in the fall with moist sand and allow¬ 
ed to stand in an exposed situation, it gene¬ 
rally comes up in the spring if sown in a well 
prepared bed. In Ohio, Illinois, etc., the prac¬ 
tice prevails of putting boiling water on the 
seed, which is repeated at intervals of twenty- 
four hours, the seed remaining in the water 
until it shows signs of germination by swell¬ 
ing, as would peas, corn, &c. It may then be 
sown in a warm, moist bed in the garden, as 
peas are sown, where its first year's growth 
should be had. Many complain that the seed 
does not grow. Unless it should be warm 
and dry after sowing so as to malt it, as brew¬ 
ers do barley, there can be little difficulty. A 
portion only may come up, but the bed should 
be allowed to remain undisturbed, as seeds 
continue to come up even to the third year. 
Those best acquainted with its growth prefer 
seed one or two years old, as being likely to 
produce more healthy plants. The young 
plants should be hoed and wed the first season. 
To ensure their freedom from weeds, sow some 
radish seed along the rows, which, coming up 
early, will enable you to distinguish their 
places before the orange plants. get large 
enough to weed. If the weather is dry the 
bed should be plentifully watered, as success 
depends upon keeping the seed constantly 
moist after germination has commenced. 
Continue cultivation through the season.— 
Toward fall it would be well to cut off the 
branches to secure a belter ripening of the 
growing wood. They may be protected the 
first winter by covering the lower part with a 
bank of earth, or protecting the plants by a 
covering of evergreen boughs. Many take 
BALLOON FRAMES, 
CHEAP BUILDING 
There is a style of building very prevalent 
on the Western prairies, where lumber is 
scarce, called “ balloon frames,” which is said 
to be equally useful with our more costly style 
of erecting houses with complicated frames of 
large timber. A correspondent, at Bennetts- 
burgh, requests us to describe the mode of 
procedure, and for his benefit and that of 
others about to build, and who find economy 
jn material and labor an object, we condense 
from the Prairie Farmer and other papers, an 
account of their construction. 
The timber for a frame house or ordinary 
out-building, should be sawed of the following 
dimensions:—Two inches by eight, two by 
four, and two by one ; though these frames can 
be built of nearly all split stuff, when distant 
from saw-mills. First, level the foundation, 
and lay down two of the 2 by 8 pieces flat¬ 
wise for side walls. Upon them set the floor- 
sleepers, on edge, 32 inches apart. Fasten 
one at each end, and, if the building is large, 
one or two in the middle, with wooden pins. 
These out-side sleepers are the end sills. Next 
the floor, unless it is likely to be injured by 
the weather before the roof can be put on, is 
to be laid down. It saves a great deal of 
labor, however, to begin at the bottom of a 
balloon house, and finish it as one proceeds. 
In laying the floor first, there are no studs to 
cut and fit around,—the boards may run out 
over the ends, and afterwards be cut off even 
with the sills. 
The next thing is to set up the corner posts, 
one side at a time, which are nothing but 2 by 
4 studs, fastened at the bottom with nails, and 
stayed perpendicularly. The places for the 
doors and windows are then marked off, the 
studs set up, and the frames put in. The 
vacant spaces between should next be studded, 
about 16 inches apart, and then that side is 
ready for the rough sheathing of inch boards, 
over which, when the building is finished, the 
clap-boards are to be nailed. When boarded 
up as high as can be reached from the ground, 
then set up and board another side, until the 
lower rooms are enclosed. Meanwhile other 
w orkmcn can be lathing the inside. The studs 
can be used of any length, as they can be 
readily pieced out, by butting the ends togeth¬ 
er and nailing a strip of board upon each side. 
When the sides are up to the height desired 
for the second floor, strike a line upon the 
studs for the upper side of the joist. Cut out 
a joist 4 inches wide, half an inch deep, and 
nail one of the inch strips on very firmly, as 
upon these strips the chamber floor joists rest. 
Cut out a joist one inch deep on the lower 
edge, and lock it on the strip, and nail each 
joist to each stud. This brings all up to the 
foundation of the second story. 
The second floor should next be laid, and 
then the second story can be built in the same 
manner as the lower on, seplicing on and 
lengthening out studs wherever needed, until the 
walls are high enough for the plate. For this, 
strike a line and saw off the top of the studs 
even on each side,—leaving the ends for the 
gables,—and then nail on one of the inch strips 
for the plate. Cut the ends of the upper joists 
STATE AGRICULTURAL SOCIETIES, 
In looking through the Carolina Cultivator, 
a very creditable monthly just commenced at 
Raleigh, N. C., we were much interested in 
the proceedings of the State Agricultural So¬ 
ciety at their annual meeting. The spirit is 
moving and in the right direction, for we no¬ 
tice among the persons present, and taking an 
active interest in the meeting, men who have 
been eminent in the political field, and beyond 
the borders of their good old State. It shows 
that agriculture is everwhere gradually taking 
that position that of right belongs to her—the 
very front and lead of all other professions 
and pursuits. But what is still more cheering 
the Legislature readily voted a liberal bonus 
to help sustain the Society; and that small 
sum, $1,1)00, so promptly and liberally grant¬ 
ed, will add untold thousands, nay millions to 
the productive capital of the State. In our 
own State we can count the benefits which 
the farmers have derived from their Agricul¬ 
tural Associations in the last ten years by 
millions of dollars, and they are annually in¬ 
creasing in their usefulness. 
Every new State Society that is formed, 
and carried on successfully, gives us a joyful 
sensation, for we know that in that State the 
farmer will become more intelligent, more 
prosperous, and that the intelligence and 
wealth will help to aggrandize our common 
country. This improvement in agriculture— 
this waking up and calling out the latent en¬ 
ergies of the farmer, is gradually working an 
entire revolution in legislation, both State and 
National. The effect is but slowly visible, 
but to one who has watched its progress for 
years, with most anxious care, the good begins 
to show itself. In those States where these 
Associations have been the longest established, 
the effect is marked and its results cannot be 
mistaken. The time is not distant when not 
only the Executive departments, from the 
President to the Governor, but the Legisla¬ 
ture will be in the hands of the tillers of the 
soil. It is their right, and the sooner they as¬ 
sert that right, the better for them and the 
whole country. 
It is especially pleasant to see the Southern 
States take this interest in general agriculture, 
for it is a pledge that they will take pains to 
develop the vast agricultural resources which 
they possess, and which are at this time so 
largely dormant. This very State of North 
Carolina has within her borders all the ele¬ 
ments of great wealth and a dense population, 
and we shall be much mistaken if her Agri¬ 
cultural Society does not in a few years make 
a great change for the better among her farm¬ 
ers ; and if they wish to prosper, they must 
sustain their agricultural papers.— p. 
Cffmnnuufdijns 
LAND-MARKS: 
OH, MECHANICAL AND CHEMICAL HINTS IN 
SELECTING A FARM. 
BY JAMBS II. SALISBURY, M. I). 
Mechanical or Local Considerations. 
1. Exposure .—In selecting a farm, the first, 
and one of the most important considerations, 
is its exposure. No matter how good a soil 
may be, if it is deprived in a great measure of 
the beneficial influences of the direct rays of 
the sun, the farm may be regarded as a com¬ 
paratively poor one, and by no means a desi¬ 
rable field of labor for an enterprising agricul¬ 
turist ; for here art fails to alter or overcome 
a seeming defect in nature. The influence of 
sunlight in promoting chemical action in a 
soil,— which is necessary to the growth of 
plants,—is far greater than is ordinarily sup¬ 
posed. It matters not how rich a soil may be, 
if shadowed by the dense foliage of trees, or 
located on the northerly slope of an abrupt 
hill, it produces much less than the neighbor¬ 
ing soil,— perhaps less rich,— yet exposed 
freely to the sun. This is in accordance with 
the experience of every intelligent and observ¬ 
ing farmer, and should teach him in selecting a 
farm, to obtain one exposed as directly to sun¬ 
light as possible. 
2. The dip of the rods .—This is another 
important consideration, which should not be 
overlooked. Every one who would be successful 
in making judicious selections of land, should 
be versed in this part of geology. The land 
The Second Year.— With this year com¬ 
mences the labor of making the hedge. The 
grow'th of the first year should be cut. off to 
within at least four inches of the ground. On 
this point many fail. Nothing but this severe 
cutting down will answer the purpose, and the 
ground must patiently await the perfect result. 
The first pruning at the time of transplanting 
causes three or four shoots. These cut off in 
turn the second year multiply to six or eight, 
nearly filling up the space between the plants. 
In no instance should the hedge be allowed to 
grow to any height, until pruning and growth 
has secured a base of the desired width and 
well thickened up. If the lateral shoots are 
not forced out at the bottom, thus making the 
hedge thick and tight down to the ground, it 
will be the fault of the grower in not pruning 
close enough. For this reason plants of more 
than one year's growth should never be set, 
unless previously pruned so as to make a good 
i bottom growth. 
No time should be lost in preparing at least 
a year’s supply of fuel. Let it be cut, split, 
and piled under shelter. 
