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MOORE’S RURAL NEW-YORKER; AN AGRICULTURAL, LITERARY AND FAMILY NEWSPAPER. 
leached ashes four miles to spread over my 
nursery at the rate of four loads of 30 bushels 
each an acre. I keep my team and two or three 
hired men at work on my little farm all winter. 
Should you say this will not pay ? I answer, 
that I have paid for the twenty acres of land I 
bought in the fall of 1852, which cost me, prin¬ 
cipal and interest, $2,230, $300 for a barn, 
$155 for a horse, $298 for two wagons and har¬ 
ness, and a cutter and sleigh ; paid my hired 
men and girl, all mechanic bills, store bills, fam¬ 
ily expenses, &c.—all, every dollar of which, 
has been raised from my little farm of 26 acres 
since the spring of 1852, besides having a little 
left for a rainy day. S. H. Ainsworth. 
-—»- 
WHO SHOULD COME WEST ? 
As the season is at hand in which large 
numbers annually emigrate to the AY est, it 
may benefit many to know what classes of 
people are most needed, and who can do best 
there. Many people flock into new countries 
who come merely as adventurers and for the 
purpose of speculating on the wants aud ne¬ 
cessities of the laboring class, to take advan¬ 
tage of all chances to make money, without 
doing anything to benefit the country. Peo¬ 
ple most needed in all new countries are pro¬ 
ducers—actual settlers—those who come here 
to make it their home, and consequently feel 
an interest in its improvement. Mechanics, 
farmers and laborers of nearly all kinds who 
are industrious, can always do well and are 
always needed in new countries. 
Thousands of farm laborers are now wanted 
in Iowa, but cannot be obtained. Farmers 
are now offering aud paying $15 a month and 
board for the whole year, and cannot be sup¬ 
plied at that price. Any number of indus¬ 
trious men who are accustomed to farm labor, 
can readily obtain from $16 to $20 a month 
for eight or nine months of the year. The 
principle reason why laborers are so scarce is 
not because they do not come here, but because 
they can obtain farms so easily that they will 
not labor for wages longer than is necessary 
to earn enough to buy a piece of land, when 
they at once become employers—thus contin¬ 
ually increasing the demand and decreasing the 
supply of laborers ; and the supply, if obtain¬ 
ed at all, must be by emigration. The thou¬ 
sands who are now unemployed and suffering 
in Eastern cities, could obtain steady work 
and wages in accordance with tneir experience 
and ability. It is very likely that many of 
them have not the means to bring them here 
at present, but most of them can save enough 
the coming season, and when once here they 
need never suffer for want of food or remain 
unemployed. 
To young men who have been brought up 
farmers, and who have but a few hundred dol¬ 
lars to start with, no part of the Union can 
offer greater inducements than Iowa. They 
can come here aud buy land, and all their time, 
money and labor can be expended to advan¬ 
tage in making it a pleasant home, while if 
they remain where they are, the best years of 
their lives must be spent in working for 
others. 
We also need hundreds aud thousands of 
carpenters, blacksmiths, masons, shoemakers, 
&c., who can always command high wages and 
steady employment. The demand for all 
kinds of mechanics is continually increasing. 
In short all who are willing to labor can do 
well at the West. Capitalists are also much 
needed here. Flouring mills and saw mills 
are the best kind of property, and the demand 
for them is not half supplied. There is a 
great demand for reapers, threshing machines, 
corn shelters, fanning mills, and all kinds of 
farming implements, which sell at high prices 
and would sustain and give constant employ¬ 
ment to hundreds of factories, and capital 
only is wanting to set them in operation. 
Money-lenders are here in their element, as 
almost any amount can be let on short time 
with good security at from 15 to 25, and even 
30 per cent interest. Twenty-five per cent is 
the common rate charged by land agents and 
brokers for advancing money to enter land 
with, and at the rate land has been rising in 
value for the last three years, these rates can be 
afforded, and a large profit made at that. 
While most kinds of business are better 
here than at the east — there are some profes¬ 
sions that must be excepted. A limited num¬ 
ber of physicians could make a fair living in 
some parts—but we have enough here now to 
supply the country for an ordinary life time— 
I should judge there are about as many Dr.’s 
as patients, generally. As for lawyers, minis¬ 
ters, and office-seekers, all parts of the country 
as far as I am acquainted is entirely over¬ 
stocked with them. There seems to be an 
idea quite prevalent at the east among young 
hopefuls of this class—that western people are 
not judges of these matters—that a young, 
green and inexperienced lawyer or minister, 
whose business would not keep him from 
starving at the east, can come west and rise 
to distinction at once, and astonish us by his 
display of talent and learning. But very 
many upon arriving here find the astonish¬ 
ment on the other side; he is astonished to 
find the people so intelligent, well informed, 
and free to express their opinion of his abili¬ 
ties, and they are astonished to learn that he I 
thinks himself capable of expounding law or 
gospel, when he is to all appearance but just 
qualified to declaim before a juvenile debating 
society, and would probably with a little 
practice do very well at hoeing corn and dig¬ 
ging potatoes. If professional men can not 
do well east it is useless to come west. 
One of the oldest inhabitants of'this state 
who has followed surveying ever since the 
country was settled, and knows all about the 
west and its people, observed to me not long 
since :—“ The western country contains as 
many rascals as any other place, but very few 
fools." The fools generally stay east, while 
the most intelligent and enterprising, whether 
rascals or honest men, are the ones who gene¬ 
rally come west. AVe finally conclude that 
all laborers ( editors included, of course) and 
capitalists can do well at the west, while law¬ 
yers, doctors, ministers, and office-seekers, who 
wish to rise in the world by displaying their 
various acquirements, and gain a position in 
society by climbing over the heads of honest 
laborers, had better stay at the east where 
their services are better appreciated. 
Spring Rock, Iowa, March 19, 1855. B. F. G. 
PREPARATION 0E MANURE. 
Eds. Rural :—I have read with interest 
the various opinions expressed as to the mode 
of making and applying manure, but differ 
from some of your correspondents as to the 
loss sustained by fermenting, and to the 
amount of dirt necessary to prevent the es¬ 
cape of ammonia. It is the habit of most of 
our farmers in this section to leave the manure 
in the yard without fermenting till wanted on 
their fallows. It is then drawn out and left 
in heaps over the field. Say it is left in this 
condition for three days, and those days are 
dry, two-thirds of each heap will be as dry as 
the straw was in the stack, and before it is 
plowed under the whole will be in that condi¬ 
tion. But the fermented manure, from the 
solidity with which it lies in the heaps, will 
dry but little, even when spread a day. It is 
my opinion that the extra loss in green ma¬ 
nure by evaporation is equal to that of fer¬ 
menting. 
As to covering manure heaps with two feet 
of muck or mould, I think it would be an in¬ 
jury rather than a benefit. Manure, to heat 
and rot well, needs occasional showers to keep 
it in a proper condition to that end. But the 
amount of dirt as recommended by some of 
your correspondents, would absorb a great 
amount of rain. I once turned about sixty 
loads of good heavy manure into a heap, to 
ferment—it was very wet at the time—and to 
prevent the escape of steam covered it in this 
way with dirt — a part of the heap a foot 
thick, the remainder three inches. The heat 
of the manure, combined with sun and wind, 
dried the dirt as though it had been subject 
to a furnace, so that not a drop of rain reached 
to the manure, it being all absorbed by the 
dirt where it was a foot thick. The manure 
was as dry as chaff that had been stored in a 
barn all summer. That part of the heap cov¬ 
ered with three inches, was in fine condition, 
and the quantity of dirt seemed quite sufficient 
for the purpose intended. d. l. 
Caledonia, Ijvingston Co., N. Y. 
CONDENSED CORRESPONDENCE. 
DONG AND SHORT MANURE. 
Eds. Rural :—It seems to me that we should 
always apply manure with the expectation of 
of having a favorable season, not look for a 
very dry one or a very wet one. I have tried 
manure almost every way, plowed it in, har¬ 
rowed it in, and spread it on the surface ; but 
I have uniformly found the best result from 
plowing it under, either for corn or potatoes ; 
but I am entirely opposed to manuring in the 
hill. I have seen more crops destroyed by 
manuring in the hill than benefited, besides 
being a slow and tedious way of applying it. 
AVhen manure is spread on top, it is seldom 
that more than two-thirds of it gets covered 
either by the cultivator or harrow, and the 
wind and sun I believe dissipates the valuable 
parts of all that remains on the surface. I 
have several times witnessed very valuable 
manure spread on meadow land rather late in 
the spring, and the only effect it had was to 
be in the way of the scythe in mowing,—it was 
well rotted manure. I have seen the same 
kind of manure spread on the same field, or a 
part of it, late in the fall and in the winter, 
which increased the crops a hundred fold. The 
reason why the latter mode proved so beneficial 
is simply this: all the valuable parts were 
dissolved and washed into the soil by the frost, 
snow aud rain, before the dry season set it in, 
but all the foul seeds were also washed in, 
ready to germinate as soon as the grass was 
ready to start, and appropriate a portion of 
the manure to themselves. If plowed in, in corn 
or potato ground, and the crop well tilled, the 
weeds will mostly be destroyed.—H. C., Thorn¬ 
hill, Onondaga Co., N. Y. 
BROOM CORN.-YIELD PER ACRE. 
Eds. Rural :—I noticed recently in your 
paper an article on broom corn. Your instruc¬ 
tions relative to the land and culture are cor¬ 
rect. But in regard to the quantity per acre. 
So far as I have had any experience, the esti¬ 
mate is far below the average. For the last 
ten years I have either made for myself or 
others, more or less, broom3 every year ; and 
I think that 600 pounds of brush is no more 
than a fair average, or about 400 brooms per 
acre. The past winter I made 475 brooms 
from brush raised on less than an acre of ground 
—probably about three-fourths. From the 
brush grown on an acre and a half, I made 621 
brooms. 
AYith myself, on two-thirds of an acre, the 
following is the result: 
By 250 brooms, sold for 18s. per dozen . . . $45 00 
“ 75 brushes, !t 8s. “ ... 6 00 
“ seed, 40 bushels, 3s. 6d. 17 20 
Amount received..$68 20 
To cash, for handles at 12s. per hund.$ 3 75 
“ “ brush, “ 8s. “ . 75 
“ “ twine, staples and wire. 2 26 
‘- “ making at 3d. apiece. 9 50 
Labor—Plowing, 8s. ; 2 days’ hoeing, 16s. ; 
1 do. cutting, 8s., 32s. 4 00 
day for two hands hatcheling. 1 00 
Leaving a profit of.$46 95 
The said broom corn was planted on the 3d 
of June, and the weather continued very dry, 
from the time it was planted until it was cut, 
which was early in September. Had the sea¬ 
son been favorable, I have no doubt that I 
should have realized at least 500 or 7 00 brooms, 
which is not an unusual yield. I have raised 
it in the Mohawk valley as high as 800 per 
acre. The seed when ripe is equal to oil-cake 
for feed, and very similar in its nature. Broom 
corn, as you say, should be planted on rich in¬ 
tervals, or on deep muck, or rich sandy land is 
preferable.—J. Rivers, Centrcfield, Ontario 
Co., N. Y. 
CULTIVATION OF MII.I.KT. 
Eds. Rural: —In your paper of April 7th, 
1 have read an article under the head of 
“ Cultivation of Millet," which, without an 
explanation, might lead some of your readers 
to embark in the cultivation of a crop in 
which they may be disappointed. There are 
the three species of Panicum cultivated as 
millet, besides two or three species of the Sorg¬ 
hum under the same common name. 
Two of those species, Panicum Germani- 
cum and Panicum Italicum, have round heads 
much resembling w’hat the farmers know r as 
pigeon grass. I have cultivated these two 
varieties in AYestern New York, but did not 
fiud them profitable. The common, or Ger¬ 
man millet, grows with a stalk four or five 
feet high, as large as a wheat straw and coarser 
as feed for stock. The Panicum miliaccu m 
grows about three feet high, with a broad leaf 
at each joint, the stalk terminating in a pan¬ 
icle, somewhat like a loose panicle of Poland 
oats. There are two varieties of this species, 
one having brown and the other yellow buds. 
This species is found to be more profitable for 
cultivation than the two first named. From 
the small size of the stalk and the great pro¬ 
portion of leaves, cattle and horses seem more 
fond of the straw of this species than they are 
of best timothy hay. 
An acquaintance of mine, summer before 
last, raised one acre from w’hich he harvested 
and threshed thirty bushels of seed, and the 
straw he considered equal to three tons of 
timothy hay. I conversed with a farmer the 
past week w r ho raised it the last summer, who 
said “ his crop was considerably injured by the 
drouth, yet he considered it the most profita¬ 
ble crop he raised upon his farm, as both his 
cattle and horses were more fond of it than 
they were of his best hay.” From the above 
you perceive that the profit of the cultivation 
of this crop depends upon the species culti¬ 
vated.—G., New Haven, April 8th, 1855. 
OATS AND RYE FOR FEED. 
It is well known by those who keep horses, 
that rye is an excellent food for this animal; 
and, when mixed with other grain and ground, 
it is even better than when fed alone. I had a 
conversation with a man lately, who was an 
experienced farmer, having farmed it extensive¬ 
ly both in this State and Ohio, and his man¬ 
ner of raising horse feed was this:—“ I take 
about 2% bushels of oats, and mk with them 
one bushel of rye, and sow this amount to the 
acre. The rye will support the oats in case of 
a heavy growth, and prevent lodging. In this 
manner I have raised sixty, seventy, and even 
eighty bushels per acre.”—AY. AY. B., Wilson, 
Seeding Low, AVet Land. —Please inform 
me of the best method to grow clover and 
grass seed on low, wet land ? I have made 
two unsuccessful attempts seeding with oats 
which grew finely but the grass never made 
its appearance. The land is black muck, with 
light clay bottom. — A Subscriber, Chili. 
Remarks. —If the land were drained we 
think the difficulty would cease. Perhaps the 
oats grew so thick as to smother the grass— 
we have always found such land could be seed¬ 
ed best when nothing but the grass seed was 
sown in the spring.— Eds. 
Cobs vs. AYire AYorms. —Some correspond¬ 
ent last year recommended sticking cob3 in the 
hills of corn to catch wire worms. I tried it 
last year on ground much infested, but with¬ 
out the least success. — A. H. Van Buren, 
Wyoming Co. 
^riniltural JRktllaitjr. 
The AYheat Crop.— For weeks, and even 
months, our exchanges have been giving pub¬ 
licity to various profound guesses and sur¬ 
mises relative to the appearance and prospects 
of the wheat crop. Some of them have pub¬ 
lished so many foolish and contradictory ru¬ 
mors, that they have “boxed the compass” 
several times on the subject! The truth is 
that little could be known, until quite recent- 
ly, as to the condition and prospect of the 
crop in this and other frigid sections of the 
country, and hence we have refrained from 
either copying the statements of others, or 
offering any of our own predicated upon equal¬ 
ly good authority. Indeed, we are heartily 
tired of the annual clap-trap on this subject— 
originating with those who judge of the crop 
of a County or State, from the appearance of 
a field, or a few fields in one township, or with 
commercial journals that look to the interests 
of dealers in breadstuff’s rather than the wel¬ 
fare of producers. Hence, so much gammon 
is published on the subject, every Spring, that 
it is next to impossible to separate the wheat 
from the chaff, or recognize reliable statements 
from those based upon guess-work and fiction. 
— But the season is now so far advanced 
that something positive may be known as to 
the appearance aud prospects of the growing 
crop. And we are happy to learn from farm¬ 
ers and other reliable parties, that the wheat 
fields of AYestern New York are generally in 
a better condition than usual at this period of 
the year. Indeed, bating the anticipated visi¬ 
tation of the weevil aud other contingencies to 
which it may be subjected, the prospects are 
fair for a full average crop. From the best 
and most recent information from other and 
distant sections, we are inclined to believe the 
crop also promises well in the wheat-growing 
regions of the AYest and Canada. 
Great Race against Time.— The sporting 
papers are in ecstacie3 over what they vari¬ 
ously term “ the most brilliant event in the 
annals of the American turf,”—“ the most re¬ 
markable racing event of modern times,” &c. 
The simple fact is that the race horse Lexing¬ 
ton, a son of the celebrated Boston, ran a four 
mile heat in New Orleans on the 2d inst., 
against Time, for a purse of $20,000, and won 
ihe same in 7 minutes 19% seconds! — the 
fastest four mile heat ever run in America. — 
This is a most extraordinary and astounding 
result, and the more apparent when compared 
with the best time ever made by other horses 
of renown, in the day of their supremacy upon 
turf. Among these may be named Henry, 7: 
37; Grey Medoc and Altorf, dead heat; 7:35; 
Boston, the fastest heat he ever ran and won, 
7:40; Fashion, 7:32% ; Miss Foote, second 
heat, 7:35; Geo. Martin, 7:33 ; Free Trade, 
7:33; Lecompte, last year, 7:26. 
How Prize Cattle are Fed.— 'The Lon¬ 
don Agricultural Gazette says that Mr. J. P. 
Phillips of Broomborough, near Totness, in 
Devonshire, had a fine animal which we much 
admired for its size and symmetry. On the 
19th of June last, it weighed 13 cwt. 1 qr. 14 
lbs., and was fed on grass till the 18th of 
September, when it weighed 15 cwt. 1 qr. 18 
lbs.; it was then put on common turnips till 
the 30th of October, when it weighed 16 cwt. 
1 qr. 8 lbs.; from that time it was fed with 
Mangold, meal, and hay till December 18th, 
when it weighed 17 cwt. 3 qrs. 18 lbs. The 
general results were these : — AVhen on grass, 
it gained in 13 weeks 228 lbs., being rather 
more than 17 lbs. per week ; on turnips and 
meal, in six weeks it gained 102 lbs., being 
about 17 lbs. per week ; and on Mangold and 
meal, in seven weeks 178 lbs., being about 25 
lbs. per week. 
Sheep in Ohio.— A late number of the 
Ohio Farmer copies from the State Auditor’s 
books the number of Sheep in Ohio, in May, 
1854. It foots up 4,845,189—pretty near five 
million. The editor remarks that “ the hard 
winter, not yet closed, must have reduced the 
number very much by starvation, and cold, 
while the knife has done its share. The clip 
of 1855, will be far less than that of 1854 on 
this account. AVhat effect this decrease will 
have on the price of wool, remains to be seen. 
It is said that ‘ grub ’ in the head is now 
killing many sheep, in this State, but we 
rather guess that want of ‘ grub ’ in the belly, 
is the cause of so great mortality among both 
cattle and sheep.” 
Short-horns for Canada.— Mr. Geo. Rob¬ 
son, of London, C. AY., has recently purchased 
of S. P. Chapman, Esq., of Clockville, Madi¬ 
son county, N. Y., two fine heifers,—“ Fash¬ 
ion 2d,” 2 years old, and “ Fashion 3d,” a last 
spring calf. These two heifers are descended 
from Mr. Tail’s celebrated milking family 
(AVilley,) and were selected by Mr. Robson 
with special reference to the milking qualities. 
Mr. Robson -anticipates procuring a pair of 
full Bates calves of Mr. Chapman, the comiDg 
season. Such fine animals cannot fail to prove 
an acquisition to the stock of our Canadian 
neighbors. 
Animal Portraits, Engravings, &c. —Our 
article on this subject, in the Rural of March 
24, requires some amendment. In speaking of 
Mr. O. H. Moore, of Schoolcraft, Mich., as a 
good delineator of animals, we remarked that 
he was only an amateur artist, and perhaps 
would not engage in the business profession¬ 
ally. AVe are happy to learn that we were 
mistaken in mentioning him as an amateur.— 
In a letter relative to our notice, and uninten¬ 
tional error, a friend writes us that Mr M. is 
a professional artist, and adds :— “ Altho’ his 
attention has been principally engaged in por¬ 
trait painting, we are induced to believe that 
he is eminently qualified for animal painting 
—having been raised upon a farm, and being 
naturally very fond of stock, and a fine horse¬ 
man. The first portrait of a horse from his 
pencil drew the first premium at our last State 
Fair, as an animal painting. The one you 
mention is the second from his pencil, the 
merits of which you can judge for yourself.— 
He seems ambitious to excel as a horse paint- 
ter, and would no doubt be grateful to be 
known as such, so far as merits extend.” The 
portrait of “ Green Mountain Black Hawk,” 
on our first page, was drawn by Mr. Moore, 
and is the one alluded to above as his second 
effort in that line. It is a creditable produc¬ 
tion, aud we have no doubt Mr. M. will ere 
long become a proficient in animal painting. 
Mr. R. D. Palmer, of Brooklyn, Jack-on 
Co., Mich., is also a good delineator of ani¬ 
mals,—and would have been mentioned as 
such in our former article had we remembered 
his post office address. AA r e have heretofore 
given several engravings from drawings taken 
by Mr. P., which were regarded as excellent 
likenesses by the owners of the animals por¬ 
trayed. He is, we believe a portrait painter 
by profession, but now a farmer and stock 
breeder, and consequently conversant with the 
points and beauties of domestic animals. 
— As to the cost of engravings of animals, 
we would remark in this connection, that it 
depends upon the style, amount of work, and, 
sometimes, the celebrity of the artist employ¬ 
ed. The price for a single animal, in good 
style, varies from $12 to $15 in this city, 
though perhaps the best engravers in New 
York city would charge from $15 to $25.— 
Groups are of course more expensive. Our 
engravers—Messrs. Leadley, Miller & Mix, 
of this city—generally give good satisfaction 
when furnished with proper drawings. The 
portrait of “ Green Mouutain Black Hawk ” 
is a fair sample of their work, and prices.— 
They charge $12 for the engraving. For 
similar work, prices are in accordance with 
size, style, &c. 
The National Sheep Show. —Over the 
signature of “Fair Play” a correspondent is 
after this proposed exhibition, and its origina¬ 
tors. Inasmuch as our notice of the matter 
was only given as an item of intelligence, aud 
without the solicitation or knowledge of any 
party interested, we should not consider our¬ 
selves justifiable in publishing an anonymous 
communication charging the originators or 
officers of the Association with wrong. If 
“ Fair Play” will allow us to append his name 
to the article received, however, it shall be 
forthcoming. 
Eggs-traordinary. —Master M. D. Rose, 
of Penfield, (one of the many boys who takes 
the Rural, and reads and preserves it careful¬ 
ly,) recently “ laid upon our table ” a goose 
egg of such weight and dimensions that we 
hardly dare give the figures, lest our credibility 
should be questioned. Suffice it, that it fur¬ 
nished the principal ingredient of a custard pie, 
sufficient for a respectable, if not numerous, 
family—the junior egg\s-emplifying early pie -ty 
to an unusual extent! 
Farm Implements. —To use that old plow 
longer is bad economy ; repairs have already 
come to more than the original cost, and still, 
it is an old, ricketty plow. It always did 
“ run to land” too much, and always will, per¬ 
plexing the plowman and fretting the team.— 
It has a radical defect, past all cure of inven¬ 
tor or mechanic. Do not work with heavy, 
uncouth implements—they drag down the 
body like a perpetual sorrow upon the mind. 
Boys often acquire a disgust for farming, 
merely from the use of the miserable imple¬ 
ments placed in their hands. The lighter the 
tool, the better, if strong enough for the work 
for which it was intended. The workman 
who uses his shovel to pry up a stone, and 
breaks it, should be required to pay for it, and 
the next time, if not incorrigibly lazy, he will 
probably use the bar. Use light rakes, made 
of good material, and so of hoes, spades, 
scufflers, and all other implements. YYe have 
beaten the English in the construction of our 
agricultural implements, in their adaptation to 
the work required of them.— N. E. Farmer. 
Soap vs. Hens and Crows.— Air. Levi D. 
Cowles, of this place, informs us that he and 
his brother Chester Cowles, have thoroughly 
tried the soaking of seed-corn in soap over 
night and rolling in plaster before planting, 
as a means of securing quick and vigorous 
growth, and as a remedy against crows and 
hens; and he says that nothing will give the 
corn a better start, and that neither hens nor 
crows will touch the corn when so treated.— 
AA r e have often heard of this before. The 
Messrs. Cowles say it is positively so.— Nash's 
Farmer. 
