VOLUME VI. NO. 17.} 
Htcro’s Tutra! fltfo-§m:kr. 
A QUARTO WEEKLY 
AGRICULTURAL, LIT ERARY, & FAMILY JOURNAL, 
CONDUCTED BY D. D. T. MOORE. 
ASSOCIATK EDITORS : 
J. H. SIX BY, T. C. PETERS, EDWARD WEBSTER. 
Special Contributors : 
T. E. Wktmork, H. C. Winns, H. T. Brooks, 3.. W>.thkrwa. 
Indies’ Port-Folio by Aznji. 
This Rural New-Yorker is designed to be unique and 
beautiful in appearance, and unsurpassed in Value, Purity 
and Variety of Contents. Its eondustors earnestly labor 
to make it a Reliable Guide on tho important Practical 
Subjects connected with the business of those whose 
interests it advocates. It embraces more Agricultural, 
Horticultural, Scientific, Mechanical, Literary and News 
Matter, interspersed with many appropriate and beautiful 
Engravings, than any other paper published in this 
Country,—rendering it a complete Agricultural, Literary 
and Family Newspaper. 
For Terms, and other particulars, soe New.-; page. 
ROCHESTER, N. Y.—SATURDAY, APRIL 28, \m. 
HVHOLE NO. 277, 
PROGRESS AND IMPROVEMENT. 
INDIAN COM-ITS CULTURE. 
Iff those sections of our country adapted to 
its production, (and they cover almost its 
whole area,) Indian corn is one of the most re¬ 
munerating crops which can be grown, and 
each year adds to its importance in the eyes of 
farmers. The large use which may be made 
of this product in feeding and fattening ani¬ 
mals, and also for human food renders it an ar¬ 
ticle of much value for consumption on the 
farm, and the demands of both foreign and 
home markets are such that any surplus may 
always be disposed of at remunerating prices 
As a uniform rule, the product per acre is 
more in proportion with the care used in the 
preparation of the soil, the planting, and cul¬ 
ture, than most other grains—the crop being 
less liable to blights or diseases, and the at¬ 
tacks of insects. 
No plant repays more richly an abundant 
supply of manure. On a suitable soil—with 
climate to match,—its growth is large, rapid, 
and healthy, and it is a gross feeder, seldom 
injuriously affected by the quality or quantity 
of the fertilizers applied. Though corn, like 
other plants, has its favorite aliment—yet it 
possesses a greater power than most of assimi¬ 
lating the different manures to its use. Hence 
ia a series of crops to which it is desirable to 
apply large quantities of the coarser manures* 
it is the best which can be chosen to receive 
them. To restore worn out lands to a high 
Btate of fertility by this means, and yet to 
produce constant returns, give a large applica¬ 
tion of fertilizing material, plant to corn, and 
follow with the lesser grains and clover,—a 
course often taken by our most enterprising 
and intelligent farmers. 
It is impossible to mark out a plan of pro¬ 
cedure adapted to the wants and circumstan¬ 
ces of all who will plant corn,—but from the 
course which one pursues successfully many 
others can gather hints which they can adapt 
to their own use with profit. Sward ground 
or clover leys are almost universally employed 
for raising corn ; — let us speak of their pre¬ 
paration for that purpose, and the after man¬ 
agement of the crop. 
Apply during the present month, from thir¬ 
ty to fifty two-horse loads of barn-yard ma¬ 
nure to the sward land intended for corn, and 
plow it under as soon as may be, as neatly 
and perfectly as possible, and at least eight or 
nine inches deep. If the manure is rather 
coarse it is more important that the plowing 
be well done, so as to cover it well, and thus 
ensure its speedy decay. Then, with a good 
harrow or cvltivator, or better—a gang plow 
—reduce the surface to as fine tilth as it can be 
without disturbing the sod. Mark out the 
rows about three and one half feet apart, if it 
is to be planted by hand — which, unless one 
has a machine which will give rows both ways, 
is the best for small fields. 
Plant according to the weather—the first 
half of May used to be the time—and when 
the corn is up so that it can be seen readily, 
pass through with a one-horse cultivator, and 
then dress with a mixture of ashes, plaster, and 
salt—a handful to each hill. In a few days 
cultivate again and dress carefully with the 
hoe, leaving four or five plants to each hill; 
and keep the soil, by frequent harrowing and 
hoeing, light and clear as long as the size of 
the corn will admit of the passage of the horse 
and cultivator between the rows. And, 
throughout the season, allow no weeds to steal 
the fertility of the land and rob the present 
and future crops of the nutriment properly 
their due. It is astonishing how much effect 
can be produced by mere culture even with a 
small application of manure. A fine deep 
oft-stirred soil seems to have resources in it¬ 
self, or to gather them from the air and rain 
which a hard, half-tilled soil knows nothing 
about. 
All experience and experiment go to show 
that a rich, deep soil (naturally or artificially 
so) and thorough culture, are, more than any- j 
thing else, the great requisites for raising a j 
great crop of Indian Corn. The variety must • 
be suited to the locality—our short summers ! 
needing a kind that grows rapidly and ma- J 
tures early, while South arid West the larger, 
coarser kinds are more productive. (And, we 
may add, that this article will scarcely apply 
to other than Northern localities.) A well 
drained loam is perhaps the most congenial 
soil for the corn crop. It will not flourish up¬ 
on sour, wet land, nor will the manures it re¬ 
quires there produce the effect desired. If, 
also, the soil be deep and frequently worked, 
drouth and its opposite have much less effect 
on the corn crop. In short, thorough farm¬ 
ing—every thing well and seasonably perform¬ 
ed—is appreciated and repaid as well by this, 
as by any product to which the iarmer can 
turn his attention. 
BAR LET —ITS HISTORY AND USES- 
Baulky, like most of the other cereals, has 
been known and cultivated from the earliest 
times, and is at the present day extensively rais¬ 
ed both in localities favorable for the produc¬ 
tion of wheat and rye, as also in others where, 
from the nature of the soil or influences of cli¬ 
mate, those grains cannot be made profitable. 
It is a less hardy grain, however, than either 
of them, requiring a warm season of active veg¬ 
etation for early maturity. The soil should 
be y^ell pulverized, light and moist, but it fails 
in many porous and loose soils that will pro¬ 
duce tolerable crops of rye. On the other 
hand, the stiff, tenacious clays, that yield good 
wheat, are not well adapted to the grain under 
consideration. 
There are different ways of fitting the ground, 
but all look to one result, viz.—a fine tilth pre¬ 
paratory to the reception of the seed. The 
wheel cultivator, after the plow, is an excellent 
instrument in the preparation of the field. If 
an old mowing field or other grass lands be 
turned over with a deep furrow in the fall, and 
then enriched in the spring with well-rotted 
barn-yard manure, and put in fine mellow tilth 
by means of the harrow and cultivator, an ex¬ 
cellent crop of barley can be taken off, and the 
field left in good condition, with one thorough 
plowing, for the reception of wheat in the fall. 
Barley is one of the best crops a!tSo for the pro¬ 
tection of young clover, the seeding of which is 
perhaps the surest sown with this than with 
any other grain. If the ground be rich, two 
bushels of seed grain to the acre will be suffi¬ 
cient, but not unfrequently two and a half 
or even three bushels will be advantageous. 
There are several varieties of barley, such 
as the two-rowed ( Hordeum distich on), the i 
four-rowed ( tetastrichon ), aud the six-rowed 
(hexastichon) —the former being the best, but i 
the least hardy of them all. The six-rowed is i 
grown chiefly in the North of Europe, and is < 
said to flourish where other varieties fail from 1 
the rigors of the climate. Barley is the most ' 
productive in warm, dry seasons, (if the drouth i 
be not too severe,) and is much less subject to J 
diseases than the wheat crop, which not unfre- : 
quently blasts the hopes of the farmer, even at ' 
the very threshold of the harvest. The worst 1 
disease to which this grain is subject, is known 1 
by the name of the Barley Brand ( Uredo hor - - 
dei,) and resembles the smut on oats. It is a 1 
fungus parasite, and has its seat in the ear.— < 
It does not obliterate the grain like the disease 1 
in wheat and oats, but develops a sort of woody 1 
tissue between the layers of the fungus plant. * 
The outside covering of the grain remains 1 
*LHE JAPANESE FRIZZLED FOWLS. 
I or description, or remarks concerning the characteristics of this singular variety of fowls, see next page. 
sound, but the internal structure is blackened 
and destroyed. The disease is worse in cold, 
wet seasons and heavy soils, than in those of 
opposite character. 
Barley is an excellent grain for feeding, es¬ 
pecially when ground or soaked, and mixed 
with cut feed or other coarse provender. It is 
valuable for culinary purposes in soups and 
puddings, after it has undergone the process of 
pearling. This is performed by machinery, 
which removes the husk and a portion of the 
outside of the kernel itself, leaving the re¬ 
mainder smooth and round like shot. In the 
north of England, in Scotland, and in some 
other countries, barley-meal is used extensively 
in making bread. But above all other uses to 
which the grain is put, that of malting for the 
brewer and distiller is the most extensive. The 
grain is soaked for several days in large vats 
of water, and then heaped upon floors to sprout, 
in which process it undergoes saccharine fer¬ 
mentation. After the germination has con¬ 
tinued sufficiently to convert the starch of the 
grain into saccharine matter, the malt is placed 
upon brick floors, over a furnace pierced w r ith 
small holes, so as to permit the heated air from 
below’ to permeate the mass, chock the germi¬ 
nation, and drive off the moisture. The malt 
is then thoroughly dried, which finishes the 
process, after wffiich it is packed for the market, 
either in the grain or crushed in the roller mill. 
In the latter form it is used by the distiller, and 
in the former by the brewer. 
It is sincerely to be hoped, that less demand 
will exist henceforth for this form of manufac¬ 
tured barley ; but still, alcohol performs an 
important part in medicinal and chemical op¬ 
erations, and is of indispensable necessity in 
many mechanical processes. For such purpo¬ 
ses it must be manufactured, and barley, as a 
necessary ingredient in its preparation, must 
continue in demand. In the manufacture of 
fermented liquors, such as ale, porter, &c., the 
malt is steeped w’hole, aud the portion desired 
is dissolved away by maceration. The re¬ 
mainder, under the name of grains or draff, is 
sold, and fed to milch cows and other stock. 
There are various opinions as to the value of 
these grains, and it has been a mooted question 
whether it pays the farmer for the outlay.— 
Mr. Girdwood, of Edinburgh, ia Scotland^ 
took the refuse malt or grains to a skillful 
chemist, and had it carefully analyzed, for the 
purpose of settling the question, the result of 
which was as follows :—In every 100 part of 
the grains in a wet state, 75.85 were water, 
1.03 gum, 21.28 other organic matter (chiefly 
husk,) 0.62 organic matter containing nitro- 
! gen, 1.19 inorganic matter or ash. Thus the ! 
nitrogenous portion, or that which goes to the 
production of curd in milk, and muscle in the 
animal, is but little over one-half of one per cent. 
while the innutritious woody fibre of the husk 
is over twenty-one per cent., and water more 
than seventy-five per cent. These grains are 
most economically fed mixed with oilcake or 
other highly-concentrated food for stock, but 
even then they are little better than first-class 
sawdust, as an article of food for animals. 
Barley in our market has ranged for the 
past year from ninety cents to one dollar and 
a quarter ; and the experience of most farmers 
whose soil is adapted to its production is, that 
it is a paying crop, both as an article of com¬ 
merce and as food for domestic animals. 
REMEDY EOR THE WIRE WORM. 
Mr. D. Thomson, of Adams’ Basin, in this 
county, informs us that he sowed a field to 
oats upon his farm soon after it was purchased 
by him, and that the crop was entirely cut oft’ 
by the wire worm. He has since found by 
unmistakable experiments, that hog manure is 
an entire preventive against their depreda¬ 
tions. He has tested it repeatedly and in a 
variety of w’ays, aud always with success.— 
One time he distributed the manure broadcast 
over a portion of a field of corn, and plowed 
it in previous to planting, leaving another 
portion uiimanured. In that part where the 
manure was distributed he had a good yield 
while on the other the ravages of the worm 
was such as to destroy the crop. 
At another time he placed the manure in 
Uie hills of corn in certain rows, leaving adja¬ 
cent rows unmanured and the result was the 
former were untouched,'while the latter were 
entirely cut off. If this remedy is as effica¬ 
cious as Mr. Thomson assures us it is, the 
fact is invaluable for some localities. At all 
events the application will be of great advan¬ 
tage to the crop in other respects, if it fail in 
the one claimed for it. 
A correspondent in Peterboro’ writes us 
that ashes mixed with the barn-yard manure 
applied in the hill to corn, seems to act as a 
specific with him. preserving the crop from 
their ravages; while that to which it was not 
so applied, suffered severely. 
The average wheat crop of Scotland last 
year, was 28 to 36 bushels per acre in the best 
districts, and in the worst even less than 
21 bushels per acre. 
Commitnif atiuns. 
ROOT CULTURE-BEETS, OABBOTS, fa. 
The iron-handed grasp of winter appears to 
be loosened, though it has been a very severe 
grip to all who were scant of forage. Spring 
will come creeping slowly on, but the time to 
sow and plant will surely be here, and before 
that day arrives, it is the imperious duty of 
every farmer to conclude how much he intends 
to culth ate, and of Tvhat kinds and varieties 
his productions shall consist the coming sea¬ 
son. As to the quantity, or rather number of 
acres, that must depend upon the quantity of 
; ground that he has in tillage, and the kind of 
! crop must depend much cn the amount of 
! labor that he has to apply to its cultivation. 
, I think that many farmers do not realize 
the importance of the root crop, not only for 
the large amount of nutritious food that it 
j affords for wintering stock, but more especially 
j for the enriching of the soil, and preparing it 
to produce more bountiful crops of grain, by 
increasing the quantity and quality of the 
barn-yard manure. I consider that the in¬ 
creased value of tho manure by feeding roots 
in winter, amply compensates for the expense 
of raising them, independent of the succulent 
food, and the preparation of the soil for the 
coming crop. 
There are differences of opinion as to the 
relative value of the different varieties of roots 
for feeding, and it will continue to exist until 
feeders take the trouble to test the fact by 
more accurate experiments than has as yet- 
been done. The most valuable varieties to 
cultivate in this section, are the Mangel 
Wvrtzel, White Sugar Beet, the loDg Yellow 
and large White Carrots, and the Swedish 
Turnip. I consider the Wurtzel and Sugar 
Beet the most valuable for all milking ani¬ 
mals ; the Carrot is more nutritious, and is 
preferable to the Beet for working horses or 
fattening stock. The fattening properties of 
the Turnip are similar to the Beet, but much 
inferior to it for milk, or for feeding horses, or 
swine, unless they are boiled. In favorable 
seasons the Wurtzel produces more bountifully 
than the Sugar Beet, it grows more out of the 
ground, is more free from roots, is easier 
gathered, and free from earth when secured for 
winter. Any good corn ground will produce 
roots, but the Wurtzel, Sugar Beet and the 
white Carrot will produce more bountiful crops 
on a stiffer soil, providing that it is highly 
manured and thoroughly pulverized. The 
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