1 
1 WHOLE NO. §15 
ItOCHESTElt, N. Y. —SATURDAY, FEBRUARY 18, 1854 
VOLUME V. NO. 7.! 
ever, does not accord with oar observation. 
We think plaster has seldom any beneficial 
effect on low land, whether applied to clover, 
corn, potatoes, or permanent meadows. It ap¬ 
pears to be best suited to light, sandy soils, and 
dry seasons, and has the greatest effect on red 
clover and Indian corn. When in Massachu¬ 
setts last fall, several farmers in Berkshire Co. 
informed us that they found plaster on dry up¬ 
land a very good and profitable manure for 
potatoes. The experiments of Mr. Eastman, 
published in the Transactions of the N. Y. 
State Ag. Society for 1852, do not sustain this 
opinion. He found that the unmanured plot 
gave 166 bushels per acre, and that a table¬ 
spoonful of gypsum applied in the hill, gave 
162 bushels, and a table-spoonful applied when 
the plants were up, gave still less, or 156 bush¬ 
els per acre; while hog manure, applied in the ! 
hill, gave 271 bushels, or 105 more than the 
unmanured acre. We regret to say that these 
experiments are on too small a scale to render 
them entirely satisfactory. The results, how¬ 
ever, are in accordance with general experience. 
And we are inclined to think that plaster will 
not be found of much benefit to the potato 
crop. 
On wheat, barley, oats and timothy, we have 
usually observed little benefit derived from 
plaster, but should be glad to hear from vari¬ 
ous parts of the country of any experiments 
that have been made on these crops. Under 
certain circumstances it has a marked effect on 
Indian corn, and where it can be obtained for 
less than $5 per ton, its application, at the rate 
of one to two bushels per acre, is generally 
profitable. On clover, in Western New York, 
it has frequently a magical effect, and as any¬ 
thing in the hands of a judicious farmer which 
increases the clover crop uv-.rcaAy th following 
wheat crop, plaster, though of little direct ben¬ 
efit to the wheat plant, thus becomes of great 
indirect value. By the use of plaster on red 
clover many farms have been made to produce 
at least a third more wheat than before their 
introduction. 
where it should be, and just as it should be.— 
The credits here are not small ones. 
In the household the same presiding genius 
holds sway, and all moves on harmoniously.— 
Not a jar, not a grating of a cog, but the whole 
machinery moving and turning like one great 
whole. 
The man of order is moreover a thorough 
going “Book Farmer.” Not one that is whol¬ 
ly made up of theory—but one that reads, 
thinks, digests, and acts accordingly. His 
powers of observation are great, and he makes 
the best use of them. However plausible a 
theory may be woven, he scans it through and 
through, sifts it of its crudities and appropriates 
the truth to his every day practice. His libra¬ 
ry is well stowed with good and sound books 
that serve to enlarge the mind and make it bet¬ 
ter. His children are trained up in the good 
paths, and the world calls him and them blessed. 
In fact, he undertakes nothing but is con¬ 
ceived, planned, carried forward and fully exe¬ 
cuted in order. Like the building of Solomon’s 
temple; the several parts of his business have 
been so accurately and timely performed, that 
the great structure rises in its grandeur, without 
noise or jar, to a glorious consummation. 
But how few, alas! how few of us are proper¬ 
ly imbued with the spirit of order in our works. 
How few of us can point to our farms and say, 
Behold how order reigns within their borders. 
See how every thing is properly performed— 
at the time it should be, and in the manner it 
should be. Mark how the fields laugh with 
their fatness, and the herds and flocks speak 
their gratitude. Let us lay these things more 
to heart, and work and think more to some ef¬ 
fort, than the great mass of us have done here¬ 
tofore. Let us cry one to another, in the words 
of our Rural, “ Excklsior!” t. e. w. 
A QUARTO WEEKLY 
Agricultural, Literary, and Family Newspaper. 
CONDUCTED BY D. D. T. MOORE, 
ASSISTED BY 
JOSEPH HARRIS, in the Practical Departments: 
EDWARD WEBSTER, in the Literary and News Dip’ts. 
Corresponding Editors: 
J. II. Bxxby, — H. C. White, — T. E. Wktmore. 
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 in¬ 
terests it advocates. It embraces more Agricultural, Horti¬ 
cultural, Scientific, Mechanical, Literary and News Matter, 
interspersed with many appropriate and handsome engrav¬ 
ings, than any other paper published in this Country,— 
rendering it a complete Agricultural, Literary and 
Family Newspaper. 
For Terms, &c., see last page. 
FRENCH MERINO BUCK, “OLD TIGER. 
Progress and Improvement. 
Besides, John can see just as far into the stone 
as he who picks it. Take things in their time, 
do them up when they should be, and do all 
thoroughly; but do not undertake to do as 
much work with your “ hired man ” as would 
be consistent for a third one to perform—and 
yon will have no occasion to fret and rattle 
ahead. And then you will find plenty of time 
to give John quite a “nooning” in the warm 
days, to rest his wearied limbs, and recruit his 
mind with good reading. You will find it no 
loss either, but a gain. All these things, and 
many other little ones that may often occur, 
may be looked to, not from mercenary motives, 
but from a goodness of heart, and they will so 
impress John with a better spirit, that you 
will find him leaving off many of his little foi¬ 
bles, becoming a better man, your steadfast 
friend that will make from choice your interest 
his interest, and so remain with you as long as 
you like, or until he has gained enough to set 
up for himself, and become truly an independ¬ 
ent and most worthy citizen. The law of kind¬ 
ness is of universal application, and will work 
wonders on the farm as well as elsewhere.— 
Give it a faithful trial, all ye who would argue 
against it, and see how well you will be charm¬ 
ed in the result 
But if John is really a vicious, bad tempered 
fellow, and all your kiudness is wasted, do not 
harbor him for any consideration, however oth¬ 
erwise valuable his labor may be. Not ouly 
will he be a thorn in the flesh, but a plague 
spot to all that is pure and innocent in youth 
within his contact Such ought not therefore 
to be permitted to remain, unless they show 
unmistakable signs of penitence in character. 
But a course of love may win back even the 
really bad, and thus save many a gem to adorn 
the brow of manhood. t. e. w. 
The above engraving is taken from a daguer¬ 
reotype of a French Merino buck owned by 
A. Y. Stockwell, Brattleboro, Yt. “Old 
Tiger” is five years old, and weighs 175 lbs.— 
His fleece, one year’s growth, well washed on 
the back when four years old, and without the 
“ Cornwall finish,” weighed 11 lbs. 8 oz.; and 
cleansed for the card and well dried, 6 lbs. He 
sheared when five years old, 16 lbs. 11 oz. 
Mr. Stockwell is apparently a most enter¬ 
prising and judicious breeder, not merely of the 
French but also of the Silesian and Spanish 
Merino. Any of our friends who wish to pur¬ 
chase good sheep to improve their flocks, 
would do well to give Mr. Stockwei.l’s sheep 
an examination. 
command of his means. He is sure, however, 
to keep himself so well posted, that he rarely 
runs into a humbug—or if he does, it is with 
such cautious steps that it turns out more a 
blessing than a curse. His animals show that 
they are well cared for at regular hours—and 
are well sheltered from all the inclemencies of 
the weather. His stables are airy, warm and 
convenient Their food is prepared with care, 
so that it shall not only be in the best order, 
but, that the greatest amount of nutriment 
sludl be obtained from it at the least expense 
to the animal economy. Their sleek, soft hides 
show better than words can tell the profits 
they bear to the side of order. For with this 
man the native or grade will rank higher aud 
command more profit than the best of the 
Improved Breeds with the unskilled, unsyste¬ 
matic Farmer, so much does care and system 
have to do with this branch of Farm Hus¬ 
bandry. 
So with his grains and seeds; when lie finds 
a new variety that promises to be more product¬ 
ive under given circumstances, he loses no 
time in procuring it, knowing full well that 
the greater the yield from a given area and with 
a given amount of labor, so correspondingly 
greater is the profit. But he does not make 
haste to discard well tried varieties and em¬ 
brace something new because it is new, and 
has acquired a great name. He discards nov¬ 
elty entirely, but tests carefully and fully be¬ 
fore he decides upon a change. His motto is 
to hold fast that which is good until a better 
is secured. Under his rigid discipline, his seeds 
do not deteriorate and run out They are con¬ 
stantly improving under his judicious culling 
and selecting. The very best—that which is 
the most matured and the most fully developed 
—which comes to maturity soonest ig>d exhib¬ 
its a tendency to increase in a greater fold, he 
is sure to save for his own use. This is the 
great secret why his crops always are the 
plumpest—the freest from blight and rust, and 
readily command a premium price in market. 
Not unfrequently does his practiced eye 
detect some strongly marked head of grain in 
his field—which preserved and fostered shows 
a new variety of great productiveness, or pos¬ 
sessing some other quality that renders it a 
great acquisition to the agricultural communi¬ 
ty. In this department, the man of order may 
credit himself large gains. 
His implements are of the best pattern and 
make—and, so far as his meaus will permit, 
those which will save the greatest amount of 
human toil. Hence it is, he lifts by all practi¬ 
cable means, labor from the human muscle and 
transfers it to the insensible thews of metaland 
wood. By these means the manipulations are 
done in less time, and a still greater advantage 
than ever taken of circumstances; more leisure 
is gained, the mind enlarged and plans laid for 
greater triumphs of order. With much care 
these tools are preserved and housed at all 
times when not in use. Order reigns para¬ 
mount here also, and whatever it be, it is found 
SULPHATE OF LIME AS A FERTILIZER 
THE EMPLOYER AND THE EMPLOYED, 
NUMBER I. 
EXPERIMENTS ON MILCH COWS, 
Plaster of Paris. In this state, when made into 
a paste with water, and allowed to dry, it be¬ 
comes as hard as stone, and is therefore admi¬ 
rably adapted for moulding, stereotyping, etc. 
Plaster of Paris is of course more expensive 
than unburnt gypsum. And, moreover, from 
its setting or hardening property, it would be 
likely to have less effect What is common¬ 
ly known by fanners as plaster, is the unburnt 
gypsum, and when we speak of plaster we refer 
to the sulphate of lime as it is taken from the 
bed or quarry and ground for use. 
That plaster is eminently fertilizing on some 
soils, and for certain crops, is beyond question. 
That it is good on all soils, or for all crops,'is 
contrary to all experience. On what soils, or 
for what crops it is profitable to use it, we 
have no theoretical means of judging The 
cause of the beneficial effect of plaster is at 
present enveloped in great uncertainty. There 
are many different theories, eacli of which, in 
some particulars, conflicts with well observed 
facts. One learned Professor thinks the value 
of plaster consists in its converting the volatile 
salt, carbonate of ammonia, existing in rain 
water and the atmosphere, into a sulphate of 
ammonia which is not volatile, thus preventing 
its evaporation and retaining it for the use of 
plants. If this were true, it should do more 
good on wheat than on any other crop. But 
is such the case ? Another able Chemist 
ascribes the value of plaster to the sulphuric 
acid it contains, saying that it is found that 
meadows near Paris, sprinkled with dilute sul¬ 
phuric acid, are as much benefited as when 
dressed with plaster. Another is quite posi¬ 
tive that the lime is the principal constituent 
of plaster that is of use. Others, again, ascribe 
the value of plaster not to its supplying plants 
with any of their constituents, but simply in 
drawing moisture from the air and supplying it 
to plants. 
It were a useless task to examine each of 
these theories; probably there is some truth in 
all of them. While the Doctors are disputing, 
it will be more profitable for us to examine 
some of the effects of plaster. Liebig in some 
of his voluminous writings has said that plaster 
does most good on low meadows. Such, how- 
Wm. F. Portf.r furnishes the Essex County 
(Mass.) Agricultural Society, au interesting re¬ 
port of some experiments he has made on the 
comparative value of carrots, shorts, oil-cake, 
Indian corn and rye as food for milch cows.— 
The first experiment was on new milch cows, 
and commenced iu January, 1851. He gave 
to 12 cows, iu addition to good English hay, 
five bushels of carrots per day, and the whole 
increase of milk during this week teas not two 
gallons. He made several other trials with 
carrots, and became “fully satisfied it would 
not pay to raise carrots for milch cotvs.” 
In Dec., 1852, he selected three new milch 
cows for the purpose of testing the comparative 
value of shorts, corn, oil-cake and rye. 350 lbs. 
of English hay, and 70 lbs. of salt hay were 
weighed and given to the three cows each 
week. The quantity of the additional foods 
given, was regulated by their cost. 
The first week each cow was allowed 42 lbs. 
of shorts per day, scalded and fed night and 
morning. During this week the three cows 
gave a total of 239$ quarts. 
Second week, 35 lbs. oil-cake meal, fed in the 
same way, gave 251 1 quarts. 
Third week, 32$ lbs. of Indian corn meal, 
fed in the same way, gave 253^ quarts. 
Fourth week, 26£ lbs. rye meal, fed the same 
way, gave 243'j quarts. 
The weeks on which the cows had shorts 
and rye meal, they eat up all their hay; but the 
weeks on which they had oil-cake and corn 
meal, they left 58 tbs. of hay per week. Mr. 
Porter concludes from these and other similar 
experiments, which our space prevents us from 
giving, that Indian corn meal possesses the 
highest value for producing milk, differing, 
however, but little from oil-cake meal. 
We are not surprised at the result obtained 
with feeding carrots, under the circumstances. 
We are inclined to think, moreover, that they 
arc better calculated to form fat than milk.— 
We should have expected somewhat better re¬ 
sults from the oil-cake than from the Indian 
corn meal. And we believe that had the test 
been butter, rather than the quantity of milk, 
the oil-cake would have come out best 
CHURNING IN WINTER, 
I had supposed that long churnings in the 
winter were, like stage traveling, among the 
things that are past until late numbers of the 
Rural showed to the contrary. I think I have 
done with them entirely, for the butter which 
is made from my two cows in weekly churn¬ 
ings, is usually produced in five minutes—never 
exceeding eight. One of the cows is so old 
that she eats hay with difficulty, and therefore 
receives daily, in two messes, a pailful of boil¬ 
ed potatoes, turnips, or apples, mixed with cut 
hay,—she is farrow. The other is a heifer, 
which will come in next spring, for the second 
time. She being in good order, receives no 
extra care; but they are both kept well shel¬ 
tered, and with dry beddings. 
The milk, when brought into the house, is 
warmed in the morning at least, upon the 
kitchen stove, and put away where it seldom 
freezes. Before churning, the cream is warmed 
on or near the stove, is stirred occasionally, 
having received of saleratus or soda, sufficient 
to make the cream sweet, which is usually 
about a table-spoonful for cream sufficient to 
make four or five pounds of butter. The but¬ 
ter has a good taste and a good appearance. 
Whether it is the treatment which the cows, 
the milk, or the cream receives, or all together, 
which effects the object, let others judge, w. d. 
Orangeville, Wyoming Co., N. Y., 1854. 
the hang of it,” as he says,—and then you will 
find him all the more efficient 
Nor should Farmer A. be all the while in a 
bustle or hurry. Things don’t move any faster 
for it—nor is order one whit better secured.-— 
