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VOLUME V. NO. 14.1 
ROCHESTER, N. Y. — SATURDAY, APRIL 8, 1854 
{WHOLE NO. 222 
opment of muscle, rather than the accumula¬ 
tion of fat, are desired, and more light and ex¬ 
ercise should be allowed. If fed by hand, after 
the first two or three weeks, a little skim milk 
and linseed tea might be economically substi¬ 
tuted for a portion of the fresh milk. But, 
whatever you do, let them have abundant 
nourishment. If starved when young, they 
will never make good animals. 
After, as before parturition, the main diffi¬ 
culty with cows is costiveness. A feed of 
mangel wurtzel, or two pounds of oil-cake meal 
made into a warm mash, will be found the best 
preventive. The increase of milk will pay for 
the oil-cake, while the increased health and 
strength of the cow will be pure gain, and will 
tell well in the milk pail during the summer. 
It is absolutely essential that cows be milked, 
clean at all times, but especially is it necessary 
immediately after calving. Stephens, in the 
Book of the Farm, says:—“For my part, I 
never see a man milking a cow, without being 
impressed with the idea that he is usurping an 
office which docs not belong to 11101.” Cer¬ 
tainly, there are but few “hired men,” crusty 
bachelors, or husbands of strong-minded, but 
weak-WJdsted women, that are fit to milk, or 
have anything to do with a coy.. We have 
known cows that would not sulier a man V 
milk them without their legs v,-re tied; y,M 
they would be as quiet as a lamb, while a wo¬ 
man, with her soft hands, kind words and paci 
fying manners, performed the operation. 
ley; and frequently very good crops of wheat 
are obtained in this way; but very strong, fer¬ 
tile soil is required, or such a ’bourse of crop¬ 
ping will soon impoverish it, and, on the whole, 
we canuot recommend’ the practice. The land 
should always be rolled after the barley is 
sown. If not in good condition before, it may 
be rolled when the barley is an inch or two 
out of the ground. In this care, be particu¬ 
larly careful not to turn too short, or the roller 
will tear up the young grain. 
Remember in the cultivation of barley, that 
it is advisable not to sow it unless the land can 
be got ready, in fine mellow condition, early in 
the season, say by the middle of April in this 
latitude. On cold, wet. lumpy, heavy soil, you 
cannot raise a good crop of barley; and it had 
better be summer fallowed for wheat, or sown 
with oats, which do much better on heavy soil 
than barley. 
fton's gral Jto-gorlur: 
A QUARTO WEEKLY 
Agricultural, Literary, and Family Newspaper. 
CONDUCTED EY D. D. T. MOOEE, 
ASSISTED BY 
JOSEPH HARRIS, in the Practical Departments: 
EDWARD WEBSTER, in the Literary and News Dep’ts. 
Corresponding Editors : 
J. H. Bixby,— H. C. White,— T. E. Wetmore. 
The Rcral 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 Guido 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. 
jy For Terms, &c., see last page. 
COTTAGE IN THE RURAL POINTED STYLE, 
CULTIVATION OF POTATOES, 
Progress and Improvement. 
Some time since we gave in the Rcral, a 
plan of a cottage in the Swiss style, which we 
believe was very generally admired. We now 
give one by the same architect in the Rural 
Pointed Style, which we think in most situa¬ 
tions to be far more beautiful. The following 
is Mr. Austin’s description in the Horticultu¬ 
rist-. 
This cottage is suitable for a moderate sized 
farm house, or a residence in the suburbs of 
a city. Roof projects 3 feet, finished witfoor- 
namental verge boards of l:. in •!. plank, and 
MILCH COWS AND CALVES, 
It is impossible to choose a subject of more 
general interest to the agricultural community 
than that of milch cows; for, though there is 
only a portion of American farmers who de¬ 
vote their farms principally to the dairy busi¬ 
ness, yet every rural homestead has its cows, and 
every resident in the country should be interest¬ 
ed in their management. This is our excuse 
for so soon, again, referring to milch cows in 
the Rurat- 
The best time for cows to “come in,” de¬ 
pends much on circumstances. Usually, where 
cows are kept for the dairy, in the North East¬ 
ern and Western States, about the middle of 
April, is considered best. Though, where the 
calves are raised for the butcher, in the neigh¬ 
borhood of cities, where early veal commands 
a high price, it will be profitable to have them 
come in earlier. 
Of the treatment of cows previous to calv¬ 
ing, we have previously written. If the cow 
is in a healthy condition, little trouble will be 
experienced in calving. After the cow has 
calved she should have some warm bran slops, 
and be carefully attended to. The first milk 
ought to be drawn out of the bag before the 
calf is allowed to suck; and afterwards, if the 
bag should become hard, as very frequently 
happens, it is advisable to draw out as much 
of the milk from the bag as possible, previous 
to letting the calf suck. In this way, from 
the calf butting the udder and drawing the 
milk out clean, a cure is speedily effected.— 
If, however, the udder should be much inflamed, 
it should, in addition to drawing out the milk, 
be ivell rubbed with buttermilk and castile 
soap. 
In some districts it may be the best economy 
to sell off the calves when a week or ten days old, 
or even to cut their throats as soon as they are 
born—the milk proving more valuable when 
converted into cheese and butter, than into 
veal. Such, however, is not the case when 
good veal sells, as it does here, at from six to 
ten cents per pound, unless the butter should 
command an unusually high and exorbitant 
price. t 
In fattening calves for the butcher, they 
should be suckled regularly; be tied up in a 
dark, clean stable, and have a little fresh, clean 
straw thrown under them every day. Much 
depends on their being kept clean, dry and 
quiet In suckling them, let the strap remain 
round their necks, so that you can manage them 
more e:isily. Take them away as soon as they 
have had their fill, and do not let them run 
about the cow stable or yard. If they are 
kept clean, they will not be troubled with lice. 
If they should, give them a little sulphur; it 
will both purify the blood and rid them of the 
parasite. The rate of increase in growth, de¬ 
pends much on the breed, and on the food of 
the cow. When six weeks old, unless the cow 
be very well kept, the calf seldom gets as much 
milk as it could assimilate. As a general 
thing, therefore, it does not pay to keep fatting 
calves till they are two months old. 
For rearing calves, of course a different 
treatment is necessary. Health and the devel- 
nate. where a necessity exists forrais- ! velopment < 
>■" hints up out of superabundant gives a lfoh 
But, in a cii nato ike cars, where aid in the°dt 
fcbg cont drouths parch up the earth, as The pract 
frequently do in many Sections, the flat ing his pota 
culture, with planting on or below the surface,.* and smootlu 
is the better plan. Where the soil is wd. 1 ' tatoes. in r 
underdrained and subaoiledj potatoes planted dir? ./ upo 
below the surface, without hilling, succeed aurface and 
the best. In such situ- Tie ^4 . . * :u ; . 
ance of rain passes down through the ear. a, j the o TUlin ,; 
leaving its ammonia and other fertilizing priii- j this met!, > 
ciples for the benefit of the growing plants, | Ticu'ar 
while in the dryest weather the roots of the j the result hi 
plants search their food so deeply in the gener- j the soil is nc 
ous soil that they keep in a vigorous condition. ; this method 
We find in the last volume of the Transac- | with anothe: 
tions of the New York State Agricultural 1 deep soil, de 
CULTIVATION OF BARLEY 
' :: ' ■ " " : ■ a 
ets. The frame is of light timber, Icow-wed 
with planed and matched boards, : 9 to ii 
inches wide, put on vertically a. xttened 
over the joints with inch boa; i inches 
wide. The windows are ornamented with hood 
mouldings. 
several months before thrashing, in order that 
it may be dry and in good condition for grind¬ 
ing. Good English farmers, too, are very par¬ 
ticular as to when they thrash, dry frosty 
weather being preferred. If thrashed in wet 
weather, the grain is damp and in bad condi¬ 
tion, and it is amusing (to an American,) to 
witness the fluctuations in the price of wheat, 
in the British market, caused solely by wet or 
dry weather, and this even, in the winter 
months. W ith barley, however, the case is re¬ 
versed. The long growing season and the cool 
humid climate of the British Isles, are admirably 
adapted to the production and elaboration of 
barley. There is no comparison between the 
Chevalier barley of this country, one of our 
best varieties though it be, and the Chevalier 
barley of England. Usually the barley of 
England weighs ofi lbs. per bushel; and we 
may safely say, that it always weighs one-fourth 
more than the barley of this country. This 
we attribute to the dry, hot weather, and to 
the shortness of our growing season. Never 
thelcss, of late, the cultivation of barley has 
been considerably on the increase, owing to 
the large quantity which is used for malting 
and beer-making, and the comparatively high 
price paid for it for these purposes. As food 
for stock, it can never successfully compete 
with Indian corn, and we should never grow it 
for that purpose. Oats are a far better crop 
for our climate, and we believe, contrary to the 
opinion of many good farmers, that for the 
quantity raised, they are no more exhausting to 
the soil. 
Barley is usually sown after corn. It seldom 
does well on a receutly inverted sod. It de¬ 
lights in a gravelly, light, warm, sandy loam.— 
It should be sown as early as possible. The 
land should be plowed and worked well. It 
requires very fine tilth. From two to three 
bushels of seed are usually sown. We think 
two and a half bushels little enough, and should 
in most cases prefer three bushels. Many will 
consider this thick seeding, but it always pays 
to sow too much, rather than too little seed.— 
If the soil has been well cultivated with corn 
the previous year, aud is free from weeds, we 
should seed it down with clover. Instead of 
this, some good farmers sow wheat after bar- 
length of time. The method given in the 
Southern Cultivator, and copied in the last 
volume of the Rural, of placing the eggs, 
small ends downwards, in holes bored in a 
board, large enough to hold the eggs—is a very 
good one where the object is not to keep them 
a great while. By this meaus the egg is kept 
on its small end, and the yolk cannot so readily 
sink to the shell. 
The Farmer's Companion gives a recipe by 
which eggs may be kept in good condition for 
a twelve-month. The eggs are packed care¬ 
fully away in a water-tight barrel, or in a large 
earthen-ware jar—earthen-ware being better 
than wood. They are then covered with lime 
water, made of fresh lime, with sufficient wa¬ 
ter to make a thin liquid, which should be cold 
when put to the eggs, and the barrel or jar 
kept in a cool place. Packing in ashes has 
been recommended in some quarters, but eggs 
will soon spoil in ashes—are changed to a thick 
mucous-like substance, that soon looks as tho’ 
it was badly cooked in smoke. There prob¬ 
ably is no better mode than keeping them im¬ 
mersed in lime water. It is cheap and sure. 
GROUND PLAN. 
The floor plans are arranged as follows;— 
A, living-room, 13 ft. 6 in. by 17 ft. 6 in.; B, 
bed-room, 12 by 15: E, dining-room, 14 by 
14; R, library, 14 by 15; 0, Parlor, 15 by 18, 
connected with library by sliding doors; D, 
hall, 8 by 18; G, kitchen, 14 by 15; A\ r , wash 
room, 9 by 9 ft, 6 in.; P, pantry, 5 by 9 ft. 6 
in. Principal story, 9 ft. 6 in. between joists; 
chamber story, 8 ft. 
The cost of this design, with cellar under the 
whole, will not exceed thirteen hundred dollars 
when completed. 
first growth of weeds, and keeping the surface 
mellow. After the plants are up, run a culti¬ 
vator through once in ten days, until they are 
in blossom, when, after that, they should not be 
disturbed. With such culture I have had 
great success, aud the cost has not exceeded 
£6 per acre, exclusive of seed.” 
The hilling of potatoes, at the time of hoe¬ 
ing, is not only useless, but positively injurious. 
Injurious in warding off the moisture, but move 
so in disarranging the economy of the plant. 
All who have harvested potatoes will have no¬ 
ticed, that different varieties set their tubers 
differently. While some kinds are huddled to¬ 
gether and near the surface, others are deeper 
in the soil and more scattered in and around 
the hill. If left to itself, iu good and gener¬ 
ous soil, the plant sets its tubers at their na¬ 
tural distance from the surface, and in that po¬ 
sition where they will receive the elements 
necessary for their growth to the best advan¬ 
tage. So it is with the roots of the plant that 
ramble about the soil for sustenance for the 
whole plant Hence, when we hill up the 
plants at hoeing time, we cover the roots and 
Plaster on Peas. —In a recent conversa¬ 
tion with Mr. A. Bean, of Cates, Monroe Go., 
N. Y., he informed ns that he had repeatedly 
used plaster on peas, with decidedly good re¬ 
sults. lie sows about 100 lbs. per acre, when 
the peas are an inch or two out of the ground. 
He thinks it is nearly or quite as beneficial on 
peas as on clover. It does no good on wheat 
on his land, but for oats, and especially for 
buckwheat, he esteems it a valuable manure. 
We shall be pleased to hear the experience of 
any of our readers with plaster on these crops. 
Rolling Clover Seed in Plaster. —An in¬ 
telligent friend informs us that he is in the 
habit of mixing plaster with his clover seed 
previous to sowing, and that the effect is de¬ 
cidedly beneficial. He wets the seed with 
water and then drys it with plaster. It is not 
much trouble and is worth a trial. 
Ur. Upjohn has recently examined the fish 
known as haddock and whiting, in reference to 
their value as manure. They contain when 
fresh 3Jj per cent of nitrogen, when dry 14. 
