VOLUME VI. NO, 49.} 
Horn's |Uritl ftcfo-f|flrkr. 
A QUARTO WEEKLY 
AGRICULTURAL- LITERARY, t FAMILY JOURNAL. 
ROCHESTER, N. Y-SATURDAY, DECEMBER 8. 1855. 
{WHOLE NO. -309. 
CONDUCTED BY D. D. X. MOORE 
ASSOCIATE EDITORS t 
J, H. BEXBY, T. C. PETERS, EDWARD WEBSTER. 
Special Contributors : 
T E. Wstmori, H. C. White, H. T. Brooks, Li Wininmi, 
Ladles’ Port-Folio by Azilj. 
Thh Rural Nsw-Yorxkr ta 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 whoso 
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. Lrcx- 
XABYand Family Newspapkr. 
Fop. Terms, and other particulars, see News page. 
ural 
PROGRESS AJNB IMPROVEMENT, 
ICE-HOUSES IN THE COUNTRY. 
There has grown tip in the Northern States 
within a few years, a gigantic trade in ice. 
Every city in the country is at the present 
time supplied throughout the year with this 
now almost necessary article, either by pro¬ 
duction or by purchase. New England ponds 
and lakes are the great manufactories of ice 
for exportation, and thousands of tons of the 
article are annually exported from the port of 
Boston to the Southern cities, the East and 
the West Indies, and to South America. Vast 
brick ice-houses are erected on the margin of 
the ponds, where the ice is cut up, elevated, 
dressed, and deposited by steam where it is 
to lie secure and solid until required for home 
consumption, or for exportation. At a distance 
of from twenty to fifty miles inland, ice is 
collected from the fresh waters of Massachu¬ 
setts, and sent to the seaboard on the cars. 
In most cities where the winter weather is 
sufficiently cold to admit of the formation of 
ice in the vicinity, it is furnished by dealers 
to private families daily at from three to six 
dollars for the season. At such a price, it 
would not he worth while for men generally 
to erect ice-houses for themselves, as the arti¬ 
cle would iu that case cost them more than 
to purchase of the dealer ; but in the country, 
where the trade cannot reach, the consumer 
must either secure his own supply in season, 
or forego its use through nine months of the 
year. 
Farmers are among this class of men, and 
they are the very class • most able to supply 
themselves, and at the cheapest possible rates. 
They have ample room for ice-houses, have 
the materials usually on hand for their con¬ 
struction, have the teams and tools necessary 
for securing the article, and abundant leisure 
at the proper season. There is’no mystery in 
constructing an ice-house, all that is required 
being to interpose some non-conducting sub¬ 
stance between the ice and the external at¬ 
mosphere. Two wooden walls and double 
roof, with spent tan or sawdust between 
them, answers a very good purpose. Confined 
air-spaces are excellent non-conductors, and 
if three partitions were used, so as to admit 
of an air-space in addition to the one filled 
with tan, the house will be all the better. 
The ice is usually put down in straw, and 
should be gathered in a perfectly solid state. 
The snow crust and porous portion of the ice, 
should be cut away, and only the clear rock- 
crystal part secured. Partial thawing has a 
tendency to overcome the solidity, and cause 
the structure to shoot into disjointed crystals, 
so loose as to admit the air within their pores. 
This is fatal to its preservation. 
Great advantage accrues by depositing con¬ 
siderable quantities, as the ice keeps much 
better in bulk than in separate masses.— 
There are many reasons for this, among 
which may bo mentioned the following. It 
is a principle well known to mathematicians, 
that solids increase as the cubes of homolo¬ 
gous dimensions, while surfaces increase only 
as the squares of those dimensions ; that is to 
say, if, of two similar bodies, one measures 
twice as far through as the other, (the cube of 
two being eight and the square of it being 
four,) it will contain eight times the quantity 
with but four times the surface ; if three times 
the measure, then it will contain twenty-seven ' 
times the solidity, with nine times the sur¬ 
face, and so on. Again, melting ice absorbs 
and renders latent 140° of heat; so that if an 
extra portion of ice is added on purpose to melt, 
it will in that very process cause the remain¬ 
der to continue solid. 
Most of our readers are familiar with the 
process of freezing cream. The vessel sur¬ 
rounding it is filled with salt and ice, and 
these liquifying, abstract the caloric from the 
enclosed cream, thus causing it to freeze.— 
The external ice in melting, will have this 
identical effect upon the remaining portion in 
the ice-house, and preserve it for the whole 
season. If three tons in a confined space 
would just melt during the summer, all the 
additional amount would of course be preserv¬ 
ed for use. Persons with very small ice¬ 
houses, who have seen their supply melt away 
before the warm season was half passed, 
would he surprised at the success of a build¬ 
ing exactly like it, with the exception of be¬ 
ing twice as large, and then being well filled. 
Every farmer is able to add to his comforts, 
and at a cheap rate, the luxury of ice ; and it 
is a matter of surprise that its preservation is 
not more generally adopted. The idea that 
it is a difficult matter, and requires a great 
amount of scientific skill and knowledge, is 
entirely erroneous, for it is really as easy as 
preserving corn in a granary. 
-—- 
WINTERING FARM STOCK-SHEEP, 
Those who make wool-growing a prominent 
part of their business, usually give their flocks 
a good share of attention in winter, hut these 
animals are often neglected to the great loss 
of their owners, especially by those who keep 
but small flocks, and make other branches of 
farming their dependence. Insufficient food 
and total lack of shelter, often decimate a 
flock, and a still greater loss is sustained in 
the reduced fleeces given at shearing, for that 
product depends much on the care previously 
given. 
Sheep should be kept in good condition at 
all seasons of the year. They should have 
the food and shelter necessary to their thrift 
and comfort—and they will prove profitable 
to their owners. It is a mistaken idea of 
economy, which treats these considerations 
with neglect. A sheep that is low in flesh at 
this season especially, will require extra care 
and feeding to bring it safely through the 
winter. ‘ ‘ Between hay and grass’ ’ is a try¬ 
ing time—both as to food and shelter. The 
feed is frost bitten and innutritious, and the 
weather often cold and stormy. Bring them 
to the yard—and feed them, even though 
they might pick up a scanty living in the pas¬ 
ture. A cold rain or damp snow should not 
be allowed to fall upon them, it fills their 
fleeces with water, and often lays the founda¬ 
tion of serious losses to the farmer. 
Having brought sheep to the winter in good 
ordfcr, we must, study to keep them so. In 
many places, the present will be a season of 
scanty fodder. To make the most of it, use 
corn and oats, also roots and apples, for sup¬ 
plying a portion of the nutriment demanded. 
These are generally plenty and cheap, espe¬ 
cially oats and apples. Potatoes are well rel¬ 
ished by sheep—also carrots and turnips.— 
Good water and a supply of salt should not be 
forgotten. The weaker should be separated 
from the strong, and the young from the old, 
and given especial care, and it has generally 
been found that small flocks, for a single en¬ 
closure, succeed the best, whether wool or 
mutton is the object. 
Sheep should not be yarded with other 
stock. Their sheds or shelters should be well 
littered and well ventilated. Racks should he 
providod for their fodder, and troughs for 
grain and salt. One of the most convenient 
racks yet contrived is shown in the figure be¬ 
low. With the dimensions added, the cut 
UUil&u- Imp 
explains itself. Width 26 inches; height 40 
inches, trough one foot from the ground; 
slats two inches wide, and three inches apart. 
They will pay for themselves in a mouth’s 
use, in the saving of fodder, as compared with 
feeding on the ground, besides “ the looks of 
the thing.” 1’his rack was originated by a 
correspondent of the Mich. Farmer. 
PREMIUM GRAIN CROPS, 
At the Winter meeting of the N. Y. State 
Agricultural Society in February last, pre¬ 
miums were awarded on the different Grain 
Crops. From the statements made by those 
who competed and published in the Transac¬ 
tions, we condense the following interesting 
items: 
Winter Wheat. —An award of $15 was made 
to J. M. Skinner, of Orleans Co., for the best 
winter wheat crop—40 bush, and 16 lbs. to 
the acre. Soil, loam ; previous crop, corn ; 
manured with coarse barn-yard manure, about 
12 loads per acre, plowed under 8 inches deep. 
For wheat, plowed in June, 8 inches .deep ; 
cultivated in July with wheel-cultivator and 
rolled ; plowed second time, somewhat deeper 
than at first, the middle of August; harrowed 
it well and manured it with leached ashes, a 
little over four loads to the acr.-, spread with 
a shovel and cultivated in. Sowed August 
30th, Soule’s wheat, 3 bushels per acre, with 
Seymour’s drill, and then rolled the ground. 
The lot contained four and four-fifth acres, 
nearly, and produced one hundred and ninety- 
one bushels and fifty-three pounds, by weight, 
as marketed. The expense of cultivation, 
harvesting and marketing, including cost of 
20 leads of ashes at 50 cents per load, wa 3 
$103.38. The wheat was sold for $2 per 
bushel, and gave a net profit of $280.38. We 
should like to know the product of the 17 
acres which Mr. S. stated he had sowed in the 
same way la3t fall. 
Winter Rye. — Mr. Converse, of Jefferson 
Co., was awarded $15 for the best crop of 
Rye—42 bushels 7A lbs. to the acre. Soil, 
clayey loam ; an old pasture, well manured 
wit* sxable manure and 100 bu-hels of lime 
per acre, for previous crop of spring wheat. 
Plowed in August, 7 inches deep, sowed early 
in Sept.; 2 bushels seed to the acre ; put in 
with harrow and wheel-cultivator. Harvest¬ 
ed July 15th. 
The field sowed contained 24 acres, very 
nearly, and gave a product of 94 bush.; worth 
$94. The straw was sold for $22, making a 
total of $116. The expense of cultivating, 
sowing and getting ready for market, was 
$28, leaving a balance of $88 in favor of the 
rye. 
Oats (Poland). —E. M. Bradley, of Ontario 
Co., raised the premium crop of oats — 85 
bushels and 1 lb. per acre. Soil gravelly 
loam, from 8 to 10 inches in depth, with red- 
clay subsoil. Previous crop corn, manured 
with 30 loads of barn-yard manure per acre, 
and yielding 60 bushels shelled corn per acre. 
In November the stubble was plowed with a 
single team, 8 inches deep, harrowed the 
second week in April, and sowed with 2j 
bushels white Poland oats per acre ; seed well 
harrowed in and roiled. Harvested last week 
in July — being ripe ten days earlier than 
common varieties. 
The ground sown measured two and four- 
tenths acres, and yielded 167i bushels of oats, 
weighing 39 lbs. per measured bushel, by 
standard weight, equal to 2G4§ bushels. The 
cultivation, harvesting, and interest on land 
at $75 per acre, amounts to $44.85. The crop 
is valued at $1 per bushel, which leaves a 
profit of $134.66. Estimating the cats at 50 
ots. per bushel, the profit would be reduced 
to $50.90. 
Mr. Bradley also raised of common oats, a 
crop yielding 82^ bushels per acre. Soil same 
as the other. Previous crop corn, manured 
with forty loads of barn-yard manure to the 
acre, and yielding 80 bushels of shelled corn 
per acre. Fall-plowed, in November, 8 inches 
deep. Harrowed the second week in April, 
and sowed with 3 bushels common mixed 
oats—and well harrowed in and rolled. Har¬ 
vested first week in August. 
The lot contained nearly acres, and gave 
a product of 280i bushels. The expenses (in¬ 
cluding interest as before) were $51.50. The 
crop was sold at 50 cents per bushel—the 
straw for $18, leaving a nett product of $106.- 
62. This shows fall-plowing to succeed well 
on gravelly land. This lot had ten apple 
trees upon it, or it might, perhaps, have went 
beyond the Poland oats. 
Broom Com. —Following this is a statement 
from Mr. Chessbro, of Albany Co., in regard 
to the cultivation of broom corn, from which 
we condense the following : Soil black allu¬ 
vial, commence plowing about the 10th of 
May, harrowing immediately after until the 
soil is fine, and then roll with light roller.— 
Mark rows 3 feet 2 inches apart, and follow 
with Gray’s broom corn drill, which plants two 
POULTRY HOUSE. 
[For Ground Plan and Description, sec next page.] 
to three quarts cf seed per acre, covering and 
packing the dirt upon the seed by means of 
a small roller, at the same time. When the 
com is from two to three inches above the 
surface, pass between the rows with a scrap¬ 
ing cultivator, a machine which removes all 
weeds and grass from near the corn, and 
greatly facilitates hoeing which immediately 
follows. Soon after this, pass through with 
the cultivator, using the half teeth with the 
mould-board inward. Pass through a second 
time after finishing the first, to keep the soil 
loose and mellow. No hoeing is necessary. 
The hilling is done soon after with the Ohio 
shovel plow, the best implement yet contriv¬ 
ed for the purpose, and one with which no 
hoeing is required on mellow soil. In favor¬ 
able weather the growth of the corn is now 
exceedingly rapid, and early in August the 
brush appears and in four weeks is fully devel¬ 
oped, though the seed may not be entirely 
filled. Harvest the brush green, commencing 
to cut as soon as the whisk is advanced be¬ 
yond the last leaf. If seed is desired let it 
remain until it turns slightly red. 
Before gathering, bend or break the whisk 
down to a convenient height for cutting, in 
the direction least exposed to the sun. Cut 
about six inches from the hurl, and place in 
convenient heaps for drawing immediately to 
the barn, where the brush is sorted over into 
handfuls of equal length. The seed is then 
taken off by a double cylinder scraper, driven 
by home-power, and the brush spread on poles 
from one to two inches thick for drying, 
which will he accomplished sufficiently for 
manufacturing in ten days, in dry and windy 
weather. By gathering the brush while 
green, Mr. C. crops the same land for success¬ 
ive years with no other manure than the 
stalks plowed in, as it is, in his opinion, the 
ripening of the seed and not the growing of 
the stalks that exhausts the land. His crop 
last season averaged 500 lbs. per acre — some 
went as high as 800 lb3. Brush sells readily 
at from 8 to 10 cents per lb., and is always in 
good demand. 
Sprial Coiimbutes. 
B0ADS. 
In the departments of business, and in hu¬ 
man life and conduct generally, we are guided 
by standards which time and custom have 
sanctioned, that limit our hopes and termi¬ 
nate our efforts. Once it was an honor and a 
distinction to come up to these standards, for 
they were held up by genius and strength in 
advance of mankind ; now, perhaps, they are 
the refuge of obese conservatism, and block 
up the way to some attainable good. Every 
attainment should he the stepping stone to some 
higher eminence. 
All this has a direct application to the roads 
of our country—the common “highways .”— 
They would do very well for the year 1600— 
they might honor Central Africa—they dis¬ 
grace the United States of North America. 
Our standard for roads is too low. What a 
good road is, a railroad (bating its casualties) 
might tell us. A good read is level, hard, and 
smooth. Paste that up on 6very lamp post, 
and in every bar-room and post-office in the 
country, as a guide and incentive to path- 
masters and road-commissioners. Apply it as 
a test to those long mortar beds, those myste¬ 
rious depths, those promiscuous sticks and 
stones, those ups and downs fenced off from 
useful purposes to imprison innocent travel¬ 
ers. A few weeks in the summer, when the 
growing crops and the harvests demand the 
attention of every man that can be spared 
from other useful employments, locomotion 
is possible and in some cases easy, but just 
when produce is ready for market, or leisure 
invites us to journey, “ the way is hedged up.” 
An embargo is laid upon us which no Legisla¬ 
ture see3 fit to remove. 
Why don’t the Yankees guess at the cost of 
bad roads ? Forty bushels of wheat is a usu¬ 
al load for common teams, but our roads 
might be improved so that the same teams 
could draw with equal facility one hundred 
bushels—this would cheapen transportation 
more than half ! The aggregate saving there¬ 
by would surpass belief. Indeed, two horses 
have drawn on smooth frozen ground two 
hundred bushels of wheat, and they did it 
with greater ease than they could draw thirty 
on—or rather in—some roads that have been 
established and worked agreeably to the ‘ ‘ con¬ 
stitution and the laws.” I shall have to try 
again before I can make up my mind to tell 
the whole truth about good roads as compared 
with had. I will let it out in instalments as 
my readers can bear it. One horse can draw 
on a “ smooth level, hard” surface (a railroad for 
instance) more than fifty horses can draw up 
a steep hill or through very deep mud ! 
Sometimes it happens that there are not 
more than one or two hills on public thor¬ 
oughfares for a great distance, but in conse¬ 
quence of those, people have to go half or a 
quarter leaded from generation to generation 
and from century to century. 
Every teamster that goes up loses a dollar, 
we will say, and if this happens to be near 
some great market, fifty loads will pass in a 
day, and that is fifty dollars—in a year it will 
be over $1,500 ! Now, would it not “pay” 
to dig those hills down, provided you could do 
it for one or two thousand dollars ? That old fogy 
notion that common wagons are adapted to all 
sorts of ‘ ‘ grades, ’ ’ high and low, hard and soft, 
should be exploded—we should strike out 
anew, determined, to make our common roads 
approximate to railroads in being “level, 
hard and smooth.” If we can’t dig down 
hills, we can go round them ; it will frequent¬ 
ly he necessary to locate our highways over 
again. 
A great many sections have mourned be¬ 
cause some expected railroad ha 3 “ passed by 
on the other side,”—go to work and get up 
roads just about as good on your own ac¬ 
count. The heavy jobs can be done in the 
winter—ditches can be dug to drain off the 
water—stones can be picked up ready to car¬ 
ry on sleighs and wagons to places that need 
to be Macadamized, and plows, scrapers and 
shovels can work at the hills. Thus we can 
make improvements that will change some¬ 
what the current of travel and bring it back 
again to buggies and family carriages. Rural 
life will have new attractions, and we shall 
not so often endanger our lives when we take 
an airing. Whatever we take off from the 
cost of getting produce to market will go to 
