gSLMns gumu ®um-f0rna\ 
A QUARTO WEEKLY 
AGRICULTURAL, LIT ERARY, & FAMILY JOURNAL. 
CONDUCTED BY D. D. T. MOOSE. 
ASSOCIATE LDITORS : 
J. H. BJXBY, T. C. PETERS, EDWARD WEBSTER. 
Special Contributors : 
T. E. Wetmore, H. C. White, H. T. Brooks, T.. Wetherkll. 
Ladies’ Port-Folio by Azile. 
The Rural Nkw-Yobkik ii 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 Reliab'e Guide on the important Practical 
Subjects connected with the business of those whose 
interests it advocates. It embraces more Agricultural, 
Horticultural, Scientific, Mechanical Liteiary and News 
Matter interspersed with many appropriate and I oautiful 
Engravings, thin any other paper published in this 
Country,—rendering it a complete agricultural, Ijte- 
RARYand Family Newspaper. 
For Terms, and other particu'ars, see News page. 
PROGRESS AND IMPROVEMENT. 
FENCING THE FARM. 
One of the most expensive as well as labo¬ 
rious duties connected with the farm is the 
necessary fencing. The aggregate cost of all 
the fences in the country is absolutely start¬ 
ling ; and unless a person could see the data 
on which the estimates are fjunded, he would 
be very likely to reject the statement as in¬ 
credible. But if he is a farmer, and has had 
the opportunity, or rather, we should say, has 
been placed under the necessity of cutting 
trees and splitting rails in his own l'oiest—cr 
if, being short of fencing material, he has pur¬ 
chased the stuff for two or three miles of 
board fence, with here and there a hundred 
rods or so of stone wall, and then he should 
multiply the amount by the million ar.d a half 
of farms and plantations existing in the 
United States—then add to this the cost of 
the division and street fences ene’esirg village 
lots, and small freeholds not dignified by the 
names of farms or plantations—he can, if he 
possesses a tolerable comprehension of large 
figures, judge something of the long row it 
would take to express in dollars the value of 
the fences in this country. 
There are many forms of fence, varying in 
economy, durability, and elegance, according 
to the circumstances under which they are 
built. Thus in a new and densely wooded re¬ 
gion, where the forest is an encumbrance, and 
the manner of disposirg of it in the easiest 
manner a vital question, it is not unfrequent- 
ly much the best way to construct the fences 
of logs, rolled upon each other, and held in 
place at the joinings by saddles formed of 
sections of smaller trees. It requires an im¬ 
mense amount of timber to build a log fence, 
it is true, aud the whole tree, by retaining the 
water falling upon it and absorbed by its 
pore3, decays much fasier than it would if 
split into rails ; but if it is not disposed of in 
a log fence, the noble tree must otherwise be 
consumed at once in a log heap by fire. It 
therefore makes very little difference in theory 
whether a quarter of the timber for such a 
fence be split into rails, and the other three 
quarters burned in a log heap, or whether the 
whole be made up into a log fence; but it 
makes a great difference in practice whether 
or not the time necessary for the pioneer to 
put in corn and potatoes for the support of 
the family be drawn off from that imperative 
employment aud devoted to the purpose of 
splitting rails. Besides, the difference of time 
between the laying up of logs in a"place, and 
rolling and burning them, is not very great. 
But iu the second phase of a settlement, 
where more time can be allowed for fencing, 
and where timber begins to assume at least a 
prospective value, the farmer adopts another 
method of enclosing his fields, viz., the rail.— 
This is not by any means the most economi¬ 
cal mode under more advanced stages of a 
country’s agriculture, for it takes up conside¬ 
rable ground, and, by i's zig zag direction, re¬ 
quires a large amount of timber ; but in the 
transition state of a farming regiou, especial¬ 
ly if it was originally a forest section, it is 
unquestionably by far the best kind of fenc¬ 
ing known. If properly laid up and occa¬ 
sionally overhauled, so as to present new faces 
to the i) ore exposed directions, and to keep 
the bottom rails above the ground, such a 
fence will last ordinarily thirty years, and a 
portion of the material be still fin for further 
use. In such a country as Western New 
York was thirty years 3go, the rail fence is 
ihe one above all others which the interests 
of the farmers require them to build ; but at 
the present time in that region, or even in ihe 
newer but sparsely w r ooded States of the 
West, it is an unwarrantab'e waste of mate¬ 
rial to surround the fields wiih rail. It would 
be pronounced, and indeed found to be, ruin¬ 
ous policy for an Illinois prairie farmer to 
import rails from Michigan or Northern In¬ 
diana ; and it -would be equally bad policy far 
one of our Monroe county farmers to submit 
the few noble oaks he can yet spare from his 
forest to the action of the maul and wedge, in 
order to convert them into rails. A post and 
board fence is much to be preferred under such 
circumstances. The amount of white oak 
timber required to enclose a tolerable sized 
field with a six rail feoce would, if sawed or 
split, furnish posts sufficient for ten times as 
much board fence ; and the amount of land 
saved alorg its line would at least partially 
aid in paying for the other necessary materials. 
Fence boards carefully looked after will last 
for an indefinite period, and they can be pur¬ 
chased, under the present high price of pro¬ 
duce, by every farmer whose fences are goiDg 
to decay. It is not necessary to renew all the 
partially dilapidated fences at once, for the 
sound materials remaining iu one, superseded 
by a new structure, will make up the deficien¬ 
cies of another. 
In many sections of the country abundance 
of cobble stones are found in the fields.— 
These are often regarded as a nuisance, and 
the whole force of boys and men are employ¬ 
ed for weeks in clearing them from the mow¬ 
ing fields. We have known more than odc, 
and probably many of our readers can call to 
mind similar instances, where a farmer tipped 
the cobbles into a slough, in order to get, rid 
of them ; thus not only losing a valuable 
fencing material, but also ruining what, if 
properly reclaimed and cultivated, would be 
the richest mowing ground of his farm. Thes.e 
same stone, as every one knows, skillfully laid 
with posts and rails, make a durable and ex¬ 
cellent fence, and the time is not far distant, if 
indeed it is not to-day, when their presence on 
a farm will materially enhance its value.— 
Quarries iu many places throw out large quan¬ 
tities of refuse stone which make excellent 
fence, and we have in our mind long lines of 
wall made from these stone in one of the 
towns of this county. There are other farms 
in that vicinity where the layers of limestone 
crop out above the ground, and only need 
prying up with bars and wedges and breaking 
with a sledge, in order to reduce them into 
one of the best and most durable fencing ma¬ 
terials known. 
In some of the States, as, for instance, Illi¬ 
nois, immense sections of the richest land 
exist where neither forest, cobb'e stones, nor 
quarries, can be found to furnish the necessa¬ 
ry materials for fence. Here, resort is had to 
the railroads, which bring in from the adjoin¬ 
ing States vast quantities of lumber designed 
for board fence. Some attention has also been 
given to the rearing of hedges, but as yet this 
can only be regarded as an experiment. It 
will perhaps succeed for the purpose of enclos¬ 
ing large fields, but will not do for cross 
fences and minor enclosures. A few other 
considerations, on the economies of fencing, 
will be presented iu a future paper. 
THE RUTA BAGA. 
Tiie Ruta Baga or Swedish Turnip lur. 
ui hes one of the most available sources of 
supplying green food for cattle aud sheep du¬ 
ring the season of foddering, and their culture 
has annually been commented upon and com¬ 
mended to the readers of the Rural. The 
importance of root culture, both as a means 
of supporting a greater stock of animals, and 
in the increase of manure thus supplied, is 
well understood iu European husbandry, but 
no very general attention has been paid to it 
in this country. It is tiue that many farmers 
“Aunt Ciiloe." 
2 d. Topsey.” 
“Fisher Hobbs.” 
IMPROVED ESSEX SWINE. 
The Improved Essex, one of ihe most val¬ 
uable breeds of swine, was originated by the 
late Lord Western, and has latterly been ex¬ 
tensively known in the hands of Mr. Fisher 
Hobbs, who had great facilities fur obtaining 
the best stock, and made great improvements 
in the breed. It has probably carried more 
prizes at the shows of the Smithfie’d Club, 
within the last ten years, than any other.— 
The Essex were derived frem a cross with the 
Neapolitan, and inherits ihe black color of 
that race, with more size, finer symmetry, and 
much better constitution. Stephens, author 
of the •• Book of the Farm” and the “Farrn- 
grow them occasionally, but it is not made a 
part of their regular rotation or accounted a 
matter of that importance which it really de¬ 
serves to be. 
The Ruta Baga may be sow-n any time du¬ 
ring the mouth of July, but the earlier part 
of the mouth is iu medium seasons to be pre¬ 
ferred. Many recommended sowing them as 
early as the 20th of Juue, but this year we 
think later sowing will do as well if not bet¬ 
ter. The best turnips are those that grow 
rapidly from the commencement,—if back¬ 
ward weather occurs iu the earlier stages of 
their growth, its influence seems to mark the 
root for life. 
A rich and mellow soil is required for tur¬ 
nips—they delight in deep, sandy molds—and 
new ground, grass swards, or clover leys are 
well suited to their production. Liberally 
manured and carefully and cleanly cultivated, 
such soils will produce heavy crops—from 
eight hundred to one thousand bushels per 
acre have ofteu been raised in favorable sea¬ 
sons. Speaking of turnips, reminds us of an 
anecdote of the late Daniel Webster very 
much to the point. One of his neighbors, 
whose farm was pretty much run out, having 
been cropptd without system and without 
manure, asked him what he should do to im¬ 
prove his farm. Mr. W. answered, “ Grow 
turnips.” This answer rather surprised the 
neighbor, and he naturally asked what grow¬ 
ing turnips had to do with making his farm 
more productive. The gist of the answer was! 
this : to grow turnips, the land must be well! 
plowed, highly manured, and kept free from 
weeds. It was a crop, which in a proper ro¬ 
tation prepared the land in the best manner 
for those which follow it; more than this, it 
would do well on his light loams, although 
perhaps better adapted lur a heavier soil. Its 
yield was large ar.d bulky, and to dispose of 
it to the best advantage, it ought to be fed off 
the farm to the cattle during the winter ; to 
do this, he would be forced to increase his 
stock, and in this way he would augmeut his 
baru-yard manure, which iu its turn would 
add to the fertility of his soil. 
The value of the crop and its ease of cul¬ 
ture is much increased by careful and thor¬ 
ough preparation of the soil. The ground 
should be plowed very deeply, aud, if it be 
sward ground, then thoroughly harrowed, or 
better if worked with the wheel cultivator' 
er’s Guide,” describes their characteristics as 
follov/3 :—“As to the breed which shows the 
greatest disposition to fatten, together with a 
due proportion of lean, l never saw' one equal 
to that which was originated by Lord West¬ 
ern, in Essex. They were exceedingly gentle; 
indisposed to travel far; could attain, if kept 
od, to a great weight; and so compact in 
form, and small of bone and offal, that they 
invariably y ielded a greater weight of pork 
than was judged of before being slaughtered, 
aud more delicious ham was never cured than 
they afforded.” 
In regard to color, it may be observed iu 
until it is in fine tilth, with at least four inch¬ 
es of surface mold above the undisturbed soil. 
Fifteen or twenty loads of well-rotted manure 
should be applied to an acre, either during 
the harrowing and working, so as to have it 
well intermixid with the soil,— or after it is 
performed, furrow the ground about twenty 
inches apart., and place two thirds of the 
quantity of manure in the furrows, then cover 
with the plow, harrow lengthwise, aud drill in 
your seed, with some drill machine, on the 
ridges thus formed. If you have no drill, a 
line can be traced about an inch deep on the 
top of the furrow, aud the seed sown from the 
hand, or a horn or cap with a small hole to 
permit it to escape iu proper quantities. It 
should then be carefully covered with earth. 
If the manure is spread broadcast, it is not 
necessary to ridge the ground, though it is 
often practiced. About one pound of seed is 
sufficient for an acre. 
When the plants come up they should be 
dusted with lime, ashes or soot, which not 
only assists their growth, but serves as a par¬ 
tial protection from insects. If the fly is like¬ 
ly to be injurious, a sprinkling of fish oil is 
said to be a perfect protection. The cultiva- i 
tion should be careful and thorough, to the 
utter destruction of all weeds and grass, aud 
keeping the soil mellow and open to the influ¬ 
ence of air, rain and sunshine. The plants 
should be thinned in the rows to about, eight 
inches apart, so that they may have full room 
(if they will,) to attain that diameter. If the 
seed fails to come up in some places, the 
plants may be transplanted from the thicker ' 
portions; and if done with care in damp j 
weather, they will make an equal growth with j 
the others. 
The Ruta Bagas should be harvested before 
freezing weather, though slight frosts will uot 
injure them. They may De kept iu cellars, 
buried iu pits, or covered with straw and 
earth in heaps in the field ; aud if properly 
secured and ventilation allowed, will keep 
without difficulty through the winter. 
The progressive farmer is generally well j 
supplied with good tools and implements, and 
expect illy with such as are required during 
haying aud harvesting. Those who have not 
sufficient tools of the best kinds, always labor 
under disadvantages at this season. Obtain 
enough, aud give the boys the best. 
this case it is not even “ skin deep,” heirg 
confined to the outer or scarf skin ; and the 
carcasses, dressed by the ordinary mode of 
scalding, are quite white. The meat is of su¬ 
perior quality—the fat being firm, and the 
lean white, fine grained, and rich flavored.— 
The animals are not subject to cutaneous dis¬ 
eases. Their skins are almost always smooth 
and healthy, even when exposed to the sun. 
Few of the breed have as yet been slaugh¬ 
tered ia this country. Their dressed weight 
in England is stated to be from two hundred 
and fifty to four hundred pounds, at twelve to 
eighteen months old. 
Cjmmnniraliatis. 
0HDEKDRH8ING. 
There are but few farms which might not 
be perceptibly improved, by a thorough and 
careful system of underdraining. Even fields 
which the owners suppose to be sufficiently 
dry, for all the common purposes of farmiDg, 
might be benefited by thorough drainage, to 
an extent which would be surprising. Are 
there spots which are cold and wet, and how¬ 
ever careful may be the tillage, will not pro¬ 
duce abundant harvests ? Dees the whole sur¬ 
face of the field appear to be cold and barren, 
either from the subsoil's coflaming too much 
water, or being impregnated with noxious in¬ 
gredients ? If so, science and experience have 
pointed out an efficient remedy in a careful 
and thorough system of underdrainiDg. 
The advantages which result from this 
method of improving the soil are various, and 
differ in degree and extent on different soils. 
One of the most important, is that it makes 
the soil warmer, and that crops may be sown 
earlier, will advance more rapidly, and arrive 
at maturity much quicker than they other¬ 
wise would. Every one has observed that 
when a floor is sprinkled with water in hot 
weather, as the moisture evaporates the floor 
gradually becomes cooler. This is because 
the vapor which arises carries off with it a 
portion of heat. Now the sun’s rays, striking 
on to the soil convert a portion of the moisture 
which it holds into vapor ; this as it rises, car¬ 
ries off an amount of heat commensurate with 
the quantity of vapor; consequently if there 
is a superfluous amount of water in the 
ground, there will be a greater quantity of 
vapor formed, and this will deprive the soil of 
that warmth which is necessary to the quick 
and luxuriant growth of vegetation. 
But when we provide means for the escape 
of the superfluous water, at the same time we 
improve our land by enriching and deepening 
| the soil: for Ihe muddy wa*er which has hith- 
| erto rau off from the surface of the ground, 
carrying with it much that was valuable to 
promote the growth of plants, now filters 
down through the soil, leaving whatever or¬ 
ganic matter it may contain, ard gradually 
washing out the various ingredients which 
may be incorporated with the subsoil. Still, 
