MOORE’S RURAL NEW-YORKER: AN AGRICULTURAL AND FAMILY NEWSPAPER. 
Comnutiucaticms. 
COST OF RAISING CORN, PARSNIPS, &C. 
Mr. Editor :— I was surprised at reading a 
statement relating to a crop of Indian corn 
raised by C. K. W. at the very low cost of 9| 
cents per bushel of cars. I have raised a first 
rate crop the past year, but it cost me more 
than double this sum. He says the crop was 
manured with 20 double loads of manure from 
stables, &c. Now, friend C. K. W., was it 20 
per acre, or on the 18 acres? Did the manure 
cost anything, and if so, how much? and how 
much was the hauling worth? What is the 
use of land worth in Le Roy? What is it 
worth to market the crop? If you will answer 
the above and add the cost to (he crop, it may 
increase the cost per bushel. I hope you will 
not accuse me of fault-finding. I deem it of 
great importance when statements are made 
public, that they should be as exact as possible. 
I have no.t the least doubt that your crop was 
good and paid well for the labor expended. I 
should be pleased if every farmer would keep 
an exact account of the cost of all his crops, 
and make it known to the public. There can 
be no better way to improve than by compar¬ 
ing our crops with those of others, raised un¬ 
der like circumstances. You say corn requires 
no stimulants for its growth, except what 
amounts to a thorough manuring. There I 
agree with you exactly. The corn crop pre¬ 
pares the ground for wheat, if the land is rich 
and the corn be well cultivated. The only 
objection is that much labor is required to re¬ 
move the corn in time for the succeeding crop. 
I always sow wheat after other crops, and gen¬ 
erally have a good crop. I cannot afford to 
summer fallow. Some may think strange of 
that, but I believe it to be cheaper to keep 
the land in good condition by manuring. I 
think our friend right in regard to planting 
corn on sod. If the soil is infested with the 
wire worm, the corn will most certainly be de¬ 
stroyed on any except sod land. I think that 
the corn crops under ordinary culture will pay 
as well as any other farm crop. The stalks 
are worth from 8 to 10 dollars per acre. 
I think every farmer might raise a good 
supply of roots of the various kinds, and feed 
them with stalks and keep the farm stock in 
first rate condition. I have had some experi¬ 
ence in raising all kinds of roots. I. W. 
Briggs says, he never had but one good crop 
of parsnips, and those he sowed in the fall. 1 
have invariably had good crops, sowing them 
in the spring, and think it preferable to fall 
sowing for this reason; if sown early in the 
fall, they will run to seed, and if late they will 
be small, the ground will be very hard, and 
the plants appear stunted in the spring. Sow 
as early as possible in the spring, say 1st of 
April, if the ground and weather will permit. 
If the ground is light and dry, tread in the 
seed, or roll after sowing. I think friend 
Briggs mistaken in regard to sowing black 
radishes. They should be sown early in July 
to be sure of a good crop. My experience is, 
they will not produce a good crop if sown la¬ 
ter than turnipsT They do not mature as quick, 
but they will stand the winter as well as the 
parsnips. They make good feed for horses and 
cattla 
I think the most profitable root crop a far¬ 
mer can raise is carrots. A good yield is 8 
or 90d bushels per acre, and they are univer¬ 
sally admitted to be excellent food for cattle, 
horses and hogs. The latter may be wintered 
entirely on them, and thrive well. The cost of 
cultivating depends much on the condition of 
the soil, the time the work is done and the 
price of labor. My crops usually cost from 8 
to 15 cents per bushel, counting all expense, 
including use of land, manure, &c. 
The great secret in raising good crops is, 
good seed, good soil and careful cultivation.— 
The mangel-wurtzel and sugar beets are first 
rate crops to raise for stock. They are good 
to feed fat cattle with meal, and also milch 
cows. They may be raised at a little le.ss ex¬ 
pense than carrots, and are less valuable. I 
think ruta-bagas the best for fattening pur¬ 
poses, and they can be raised cheaper than any 
other roots except round turnips. I once 
raised a crop of 600 bushels at a cost of less 
than 4 cents per bushel. Beef that is fed en¬ 
tirely on rutarbagas, will taste of them, and so 
with some other things, onions in particular.— 
I had some cattle running in a field where they 
had access to a lot of onions where I had 
raised seed and left the stalks and onions in 
the ground. The cattle ate them freely. I 
noticed them daily, without thinking they were 
doing any harm. A few days after they were 
sold to the butcher. The beef was so strongly 
scented with onions as to make it unsaleable.— 
The first onion a milch cow gets will taste in 
the milk. Carrots are the favorite root for 
cows. I think root culture as a branch of 
fanning is generally too much neglected. On¬ 
ions are a remunerative crop to the farmer.— 
The high price they have sustained for the last 
few years has paid for bending the back and 
pulling weeds. The best kind is the English 
potato onion which may be found at Seed 
Stores. The greatest trouble is to keep them 
till spring. If they sprout from the tops, two 
inches, they are worthless. My method of 
keeping them, for the last ten years, has been to 
have them perfectly dry, sort them over late in 
the fall, and put them in a bin in the barn and 
cover them with straw. A layer of onions, 
then dry straw, and so on until all are packed, 
or put them in boxes or barrels and cover them 
well on top. Seed onions may be kept in the 
same way. Freezing will not hurt them if they 
keep froze and are not exposed to the air. I 
saw a statement some time since which said 
pack them in dry sand. I should think it im¬ 
possible to keep them in that manner ; besides 
it would be quite tedious to put up 75 or 100 
bushels in this way, at the least it is entirely 
unnecessary. 
This article is too long, but if what I have 
written will be the means of saving brother 
farmers trouble or of stimulating them to do 
what they have not done before, I shall be well 
paid. e. s. n. 
Rochester, Jan. 10th, 1854. 
REMEDY FOR SNOW-DRIFTS, &C. 
Mr. Moore: —I noticed in the Rural of the 
17th of December last, that you ask every one 
that has a new idea on practical subjects con¬ 
nected with farming, to communicate it for 
publication. Now it may not be known to all 
your numerous readers, that a very cheap, du¬ 
rable and neat looking board fence may be 
built, which will prevent the snow from drift¬ 
ing beside it—being a very desirable object for 
any one situated as I am, where the snow drifts 
into the road even with the tops of all common 
fences. Knowing that wire fences were good 
against snow-drifts, but disliking them on 
many other accounts, I concluded to try a 
cheap board fence with very narrow boards. 
I built about 20 rods one year ago last 
April, which works admirably; not a sign of a 
snow-drift beside it, while other fences in close 
proximity, have been entirely covered. 
My method of procedure was this:—I drew 
some oak, elm and hickory logs to mill and had 
them sawed into boards one inch thick, four 
inches wide and twelve feet long; and used five 
such boards to the length, leaving a space of 
2J inches under the first or bottom board, 4 
inches between the first and second, :3l inches 
between the second and third, 7 inches between 
the third and fourth, and 9 inches between the 
fourth and fifth boards; making my fence four 
feet high; high enough for anything that runs 
in the road about here; while geese even, do 
not get through it without yokes on. 
I used butternut posts, having plenty on my 
own land, and knowing, from experience, that 
they would last 12 years at least. The posts 
were set 3 feet deep, and the boards nailed ou 
with twelvepenny nails, 5 to each board. Now 
the cost of such a fence, reckoning the price I 
should have had to pay for each item would 
be: 
For 20 feet of boards to each length at $6 
per M feet, 12 cts; 2 butternut posts to each 
length at 6 cts. each, 12 cts; 30 twelvepenny 
nails (about £ lb.) at 4 cts. per lb., 2 cts; cost 
of putting up fence at 10 cts. per length. 10 
cts.;—making the whole cost of fence, 36 cts. 
per length of 12 feet, or 49 £ cts. per rod.— 
The advantages of such a fence, when compar¬ 
ed with a crooked rail fence, arc very great; 
for the extra amount of timber required for 
rails would sell standing in the woods, for 
enough to pay the expense of such a board 
fence. Then the neat appearance of the fence, 
with no snowdrifts beside it in winter, gives the 
owner the satisfaction of knowing that he is 
not entirely excluded from the rest of mankind. 
Let us now compare the cost and durability 
of such a fence, with that of good stone wall. 
If a man has a good stone quarry on his own 
farm, digs down for a foundation and builds a 
good substantial wall, it will cost him, at least, 
two dollars per rod; besides it should be 2^ 
feet thick at the bottom, which will take up 
considerable more land in fencing the farm 
than a board fence. But say nothing about 
the land, allow the board fence to last only 12 
years, and we shall then have something left in 
favor of the board fence. Let us see:—One 
rod of my board fence cost 49 £ cents, or in 
round numbers 50 cents; the simple interest on 
50 cents for the twelve years, which the fence 
is supposed only to last, would be 42 cents; 
making the whole cost of board fence for 12 
years, with simple interest 92 cents. 
The cost of stono wall, 2 dollars, and simple 
interest on it only for 12 years, would be S3,68; 
but say nothing about the 2 dollars, excepting 
the interest on it for 12 years, which is Si,68, 
from which we deduct the cost and interest of 
board fence, 92 cents, will leave us 76 cents; 
with which we can build a new board fence 
for 50 cents, and have 26 cents left to add to 
oui two dollars principal ou which to receive 
interest for the next 12 years, &c.; thus, in 
course of time amounting to a considerable 
sum in favor of the board fence, even at a 12 
years term of simple interest. 
Lincoln S. Cummings. 
Knox’s Corners., Oneida Co., N. Y., Jan., 1854. 
A correspondent of the Michi. Farmer 
raised thirty bushels of onions from two ounces 
of seed ou a piece of oak opening land one rod 
wide by five long. 
Agricultural UlisccllanjT. 
CARBON II VEGETABLES, ETC. 
Prof. Mapes, in a recent lecture before the 
Mechanics’ Institute in New York, is reported 
in the Tribune, to have said “ ninety-eight per 
cent of the dry material of every vegetable is 
carbon.” According to many determinations 
made at Rothamstcad, and which agree well 
with Boussingault, the dry matter of turnips 
contains in one hundred pounds: 
Carbon, 42 ; Oxygen, 42 ; Hydrogen, 6 ; 
Nitrogen, 2 ; Ash, 8. That is to say, instead 
of 98 per cent, of carbon, we found only 42 per 
cent Boussingault found in the dry matter 
of the grain of rye 46 per cent, of carbon; in 
oats 50 per cent.; in wheat 46 per cent.; in 
wheat straw 48 per cent,; in potatoes 44 per 
cent.; in clover 47 per cent.; in dried beets 42 
per cent. 
There are many other statements in the 
lecture equally at variance with truth, for 
instance, he says “in the Genesee Valley where 
thirty bushels of wheat were reaped per acre 
thirty years ago, there are now only twelve and 
a half.” It is the opinion of farmers who have 
cultivated land in the Genesee Valley, for 
upwards of thirty years, that their farms yield 
more wheat per acre now than they ever did. 
We do not like to speak of men’s motives, but 
‘it does look suspicious, when such a statement 
is made, and superphosphate of lime, of which 
Mr. Mapes is a manufacturer, is recommended 
in the same lecture, to restore these exhausted 
soils to their original fertility. 
NEW YORK STATE POULTRY SHOW. 
THE JAPAN PEA. 
Some description of this Japanese produc¬ 
tion was given in the last Vol. of the Rural. 
It is not yet tested sufficiently in this country 
to speak definitely of its merits. It requires a 
long season to arrive at full maturity. I re¬ 
ceived last spring a few seeds for trial—planted 
them as early as the lfature of the ground 
would admit. They came up well and made a 
stout growth. Being of an upright, bushy 
growth, in my ignorance of them, I planted 
and permitted them to grow too thickly.— 
They have large, bean-like leaves, small, axilla¬ 
ry, inconspicuous flowers—which appeared so 
late that but a very small portion matured seed 
sufficiently to plant again. The plants were 
crowded with the short, downy pods — one 
plant, standing somewhat apart, having over 
200 well formed pods, whilst the least in the 
thickest part of the drill had 65. I see in the 
journal of the N. Y. S. Ag. Soc., those who 
have reported their success to the Secretary, 
speak of its great prolificness. From this fact, 
if it can be sufficiently acclimated, it would 
seem to bid fair to be an important addition to 
our leguminous crops. But there is another 
drawback which would debar its general culti¬ 
vation as a field crop. Its stems are quite 
large and hard as wood, almost, so that to har¬ 
vest a field of Japan Reas would be about as 
easy as to harvest a field of brush, t. e. w. 
MONROE CO. AG. SOCIETY. 
Tiie annual meeting of the Monroe Co. Ag¬ 
ricultural Society, was held in the Court House, 
in Rochester, Jan. 11th, 1854. when the fol¬ 
lowing officers were elected for the ensuing 
year: 
President. —F. P. Root, Sweden. 
1st Vice President—S. L. Sheldon, Swe¬ 
den; 2d L. D. Mitchell, Pittsford; 3d. Daniel 
Lee, Rochester. 
Corresponding Secretary —A. E. Harmon, 
Wheatland. 
Recording Secretary — Joseph Harris, 
Rochester. 
Treasurer —E. S. Hayward, Brighton. 
Town Committees. —Greece—F. W. Lay, J. 
S. Brown. Parma—J. C. Austin, J. Service. 
Clarkson—Dr. A. Baldwin, II. P. Norton. 
Sweden — J. P. Young, S. L. Sheldon. Riga 
—Dennis Church, Harvey Sprague. Ogden— 
J. V. Ross, Jesse Dewey. Wheatland—George 
Shelter, E. A. Harmon. Chili—J. K. Balen- 
tine, Win. Colt. Gates—W. R. Booth, Cal¬ 
vin Sperry. Irondequoit—C. K. Hobbic, 
Benj. Wing. Brighton—S. H. Gould, Wil¬ 
lard Hodges. Pittsford—L. D. Mitchell, W. 
M. Huntington. Mendon—G. W. Allen, W. 
S. Clark. Henrietta—Stephen Leggett, D. L. 
Bailey. Rush—1). S.McI lardy, H. Barber.— 
Periuton—J. S. Ramsdell, Geo. Ayrault.— 
Penfield — W. C. Tracy, Charles Wisner. 
Webster—A. S. Melvin, Joel Sherman. 
F. P. Root, E. S. Hayward and John 
Rapalje were appointed delegates to the an¬ 
nual meeting of the State Society. 
A meeting of the Executive Committee was 
appointed to be held at the Court House, in 
Rochester, on Tuesday, January 31st, at 10 
A. M., for the purpose of reviewing the pre¬ 
mium list. The Society will hold two plowing 
matches, one in the eastern and one in the west¬ 
ern district of the county, to be located in the 
towns that will respectively furnish the largest 
number of members of the Society, previous 
to the meeting to be held the first Wednesday 
in June. 
Feeding red pepper to hogs with their 
food is said to be good for the kidney worm. 
The experiment is worth trying. 
The first fair of the New York State Society 
for the improvement of domestic poultry, will 
be held, simultaneously with the annual meeting, 
at Albany, on the 7th, 8th & 9th of February, 
1854. The following is a list of the premiums 
to be awarded :— 
Class 1. Gallinaceous Fowls. — For the 
best and largest variety of pure bred fowls, 
bred by the exhibitor, a Silver Cup, valued at 
$ 25 . 
For the second best do., $10. 
Best and largest variety of pure bred fowls 
owned by the exhibitor, a Silver Cup, valued 
at $25. 
For the second best do., $10. 
Asiatic Fowls. —For the best pair of Asi¬ 
atic Fowls of whatever sub-variety, $10. 
There will be two premiums or more, be¬ 
stowed upon all of the following breeds of 
Fowls, the most of which will be, for the 1st 
Premium, $5; 2d, $3. ’The Premium List em¬ 
braces Red or Buff) Black, White, and Domi¬ 
nique colored Shanghais, Cochin Chinas, Brah¬ 
ma Pootras, Chittagong's, White Calcuttas, 
Black Javas, Hong Kongs, Black Spanish, 
Dorkings, Hamburghs, Games of different 
kinds, Dominique, Guelderlands, Polish, all col¬ 
ors, and Bantams, all kinds. 
Class II. Turkeys.—Wild and domestic. 
Class III. Guinea Fowls. 
Class IV. Pea Fowls. 
Class V. Ducks. — Aylesbury, Cayuga 
Black, Muscovy, Top Knot, and Common. 
Class VI. Geese.—Bremen Chinese, Afri¬ 
can and Wild. 
Class VII. Swans. 
Class IX. Rabbits.—Lop eared, for the 
best pair, $3. 
Second best do., $2. 
Common, For the best pair, $2. 
Second best do., $1. 
Class X. Rat Terrier Dogs.—For the best 
specimen, $3. 
Second do., $3. 
Exhibitors must be members of the society. 
Admission, to others than members of the 
society, 25 cents. Any person can become a 
member of the society, by paying one dollar. 
David Taggart, Esq., of Penn., will deliver 
an appropriate address, on Wednesday evening, 
at the close of which the officers will be elected 
for the ensuing year. 
Arrangements have been made with the 
New York Central Railroad, by which all coops 
of fowls, destined for the exhibition, will be con- j 
veyed over the road, free of charge. It is ex¬ 
pected that similar arrangements will be made 
with all the other principal roads in the State. 
NATIONAL EXHIBITION OF POULTRY. 
A number of prominent gentlemen, interest¬ 
ed in the improvement of domestic poultry, met 
at the Astor House, in the city of New York, 
on the 5th inst., and organized a National 
Poultry Society. Several hundred dollars were 
subscribed, which will be offered in premiums, 
for the best specimens of fowls that can be 
produced from any part of the United States. 
The first show will take place at New York, 
on the thirteenth day of February next, and 
will continue several days. It will include an 
exhibition of all kinds of fowls—pea-fowls, 
ducks, geese, swans, fancy pigeons, gold and 
silver pheasants, &c. Premiums will also be 
awarded for the best specimens of rabbits, rat- 
terrier dogs, and deer. Exhibitors will be ad¬ 
mitted free at all times during the exhibition. 
Food and water will be provided by the 
Society for all fowls on exhibition, and proper 
persons will be appointed to regularly feed and 
provide for them, without inconvenience to 
the owner. Fowls intended for exhibition may 
be sent in advance of the time to the Managers, 
at Adams’ Express Office, New York. 
P. T. Barnum, Bridgeport, Conn., is ap¬ 
pointed President; A. B. Allen, Secretary, 
and R. B. Coleman, of the Astor House, 
Treasurer of the Societv. 
Superphosphate of Lime. —A correspond¬ 
ent of the JYew England Farmer, says that 
last year (1852), he used guano on young 
trees with good result. This year he was in¬ 
duced to try superphosphate of lime, but in¬ 
stead of making the “vegetables jump, it hardly 
kept them awake.” He tried it “in corn and 
around corn,” and also on potatoes, cucumbers, 
squashes, tomatoes, &e., but did not perceive 
any benefit. The potatoes and tomatoes looked 
fair, but were not so good as where ordinary 
manure was used. The corn cucumbers and 
beans were a little below respectability; and 
the “poor squashes were not able to keep 
alive upon it.” 
Gates. —Reader, have you a set of bars in 
any place through which you have to pass fre¬ 
quently? If you have, you ought to feel 
ashamed of yourself. I)o repent, and no long¬ 
er forego the pleasure and advantage of having 
a good gate, well hung, that swings both ways 
and that will open easily, and close of itself, by 
means of a spring. These leisure winter days 
are just the time, not only to think of how it 
should be done, but also to do it! You can 
make a gate just as well as not; and we know 
that if you once make one that hangs well, 
you will never stop till every set of bars on 
the farm is replaced by a gate. 
Inquiries mtb gnsiw. 
MILLET. 
Hornblende is the grandpri/ruin/ source of 
lime. 
With this crop I have not had a great deal 
of experience, but such as I have, and with 
what observation I have had in the cultivation 
of it by others, I will communicate, in answer 
to the inquiry in a late number of the Rural. 
My own experience with it has been on light 
soil, where the yield was rather light, and some¬ 
what uneven; nevertheless, it was a remunera¬ 
ting crop—-yielding a ton and a half, or more, 
to the acre. I have seen crops of it on river 
bottoms oralluvinm that would yield as high as 
4 tons per acre. When itgrowsstout and heavy 
there is more wastage in proportion, as the ' 
large coarse straws are not so well relished by 
stock. To obviate this, a thicker seeding is 
necessary, as then the product is closer and con¬ 
sequently finer. 
When grown thus, and well cured, it is rel¬ 
ished much by stock of all kinds and is quite 
as good as hay. For milch cows it is equal to 
the best corn fodder. The seed grown is equal 
if not superior to the same weight of wheat 
bran or shorts, including, as it does, a greater 
flow of milk. For working cattle it is in my 
opinion equal to the same weight of corn. As 
feed for young chickens, it is superior to any¬ 
thing else, and saves all the trouble of wetting 
up meal—for hens it is also the best of feed. 
For soiling, millet must be a first rate crop, 
on strong rich land. It is a quick growing crop, 
and can therefore be sown at intervals to in¬ 
sure a succession. 
For winter forage it is well to sow sufficient¬ 
ly early to insure good weather at the harvest 
For this purpose I prefer the first of Juue— 
though it will answer as late as July. Late 
sowings, however, bring the period of its matu¬ 
rity so near the autumnal frosts, that there is 
liability of damage from them, for like corn it 
is a tender plant in this respect, and like corn, 
too, in another respect, its straw or stein is te¬ 
nacious of moisture, and therefore requires much 
care, and some time in curing. 
1 prefer to let it remain until the seeds are 
out of the milk, and then cut while they are 
doughy. The herbage will be still green and 
succulent at this point, whilst the seeds will be 
better for feeding, &c. The better method is to 
cut with a cradle, letting it lie in swath till well 
wilted, then bind in small sheaves, setting the 
sheaves in small stooks well capped against rain. 
In this manner they may remain securely in the 
field till thoroughly cured, when, if removed to 
the mow in a dry state, there will be no fear of 
injurious heating. It is cheaper harvesting with 
a cradle, whilst there is less after loss in seed 
shelling, and time in hauling and thrashing, It 
should by all means be thrashed before feeding, 
unless it has been cut whilst in blow or just 
after, which some prefer, as stock will eat the 
fodder closer, whilst the seed ground into meal 
will be worth twice as much for feeding as un- 
ground. The amount of seed used to the acre 
varies. I have seen fields sown at four and six 
quarts to the acre. 1 have sown from ten and 
twelve to sixteen quarts. On rich land I think 
the latter amount none too much. The more 
seed used to the acre, the finer will be the growth 
and the more valuable the fodder. I would 
therefore vary the amount ofseed to the strength 
of tie soil. Millet is one of the crops that will 
tell a generous soil to the passer by. t. e. w. 
Sweet French Turnips vs. Ruta Bac.as. —Will 
you please inform me through the Rural, 
whether the sweet French turnip (or, as I have 
seen it marked from some gardens, sweet Rus¬ 
sian,) is as good for cattle for laying on of fat, 
as the Ruta Baga? If so I think they would be 
more profitable, as on my land, (a light sand,) I 
can raise about a third more, and I have raised 
at the rate of over five hundred bushels to the 
acre.—J. D. B., Dcerfeld, Lcn. Co., Mich. 
We are not sure that we understand exactly 
what our correspondent means by the “sweet 
French turnip.” Has it a long yellow root?— 
if so it is not so nutritious as the Skirvings purple 
top ruta baga. If, as we suspect, it is a varie¬ 
ty of ruta baga, we should be inclined to think 
it more nutritious than the Skirving’s, inasmuch 
as we have found the Skirving’s to contain more 
water than any other variety of ruta bagas. 
Sweet Potatoes. —Can you give me any in¬ 
formation respecting the cultivation of sweet po¬ 
tatoes? I should think it might be a profitable 
branch of farming near large cities.— B. S., 
North Chili, N. Y. 
No doubt about it We can raise as good 
sweet potatoes here, at the North, as at the 
South, at least as good as those wo generally 
get from the South. Will some of our readers 
who have experience in this matter answer the 
inquiry of our correspondent. 
Hydraulic Rams. —I wish to make an inquiry 
through the Rural, respecting hydraulic rams, 
where they can be obtained, and what amount 
of fall of water is necessary to make them 
work well.—C. S. Phelps, Rattle Creek, Mich. 
Hydraulic rams can be obtained at almost 
any implement or seed store; their price varies, 
according to size, from $12 to $20. Th >y work 
well with from four to t in feet fall of water. 
