ROCHESTER, N. Y.- SATURDAY, AUGUST 12, 1854 
VOLUME V 
MISCELLANEOUS NOTES, 
thought on the moneyed future. Just across 
the river are the two enterprising cities of 
Newport and Covington, and from Mt. Adams 
we have a view of the dwellings, workshops, 
&c., of at least 225,000 people. 
We had only time to make a note of two or 
three of its many places of interest. Among 
these i3 the very fine gallery of paintings, be¬ 
longing to the American Art Union. Some of 
the pieces show the unskillfulness of the young 
beginner, but more are of rare excellence, and 
from the best artists in the land. When you 
visit Cincinnati, be sure and feast yourself with 
a view of this gallery, which you can do for the 
insignificant sum of a dime. Another place of 
interest is the Mercantile Library, supported by 
an annual tax of $3 each, on some one thou¬ 
sand thinking heads. Is this a 1 poll tax?’ If 
so, the poll gets the benefit, rather than the 
roads or the town. At present the Library 
contains some 13,000 vols. A Reading Room 
is also connected with it, where many resort 
for the news of the day. The Central High 
School is another place of interest The build¬ 
ing is a splendid one and a model of neatness 
throughout It is truly an ornament to the 
city. 
From Cincinnati to Lawrenceburg the Rail¬ 
road passes near the river, and presents to the 
traveler much beautiful scenery. In my more 
youthful days I have heard Abolition lecturers 
dwell on the vivid contrast which Slavery on 
the one hand and Freedom on the other, gave 
! to the appearance of the opposite shores of the , 
Ohio, and hence was not prepared to behold 
the bountiful fields, and luxuriant orchards and 
gardens that presented themselves on the Ken¬ 
tucky side. In contrast with the discolored 
waters of the river, the sight was truly pleas¬ 
ing. The sky was clear, and the sun shone 
upon the receding bluffs at an angle that added 
much to heighten the charms of the scene. 
Though still in April, the trees and shrubbery 
were nearly as thick with foliage as in mid¬ 
summer. Lawrenceburg is located on the Ohio, 
but a short distance from the State line, and 
gives promise of being a town of considerable 
note. 
We found the Railroad from this place to 
Indianapolis, some 88 miles, new and exceed¬ 
ingly rough. It passes through a heavily 
timbered country, and though now new and 
but sparsely settled, it will some day rank as 
farming lands of the first quality. Like every 
other Western town, Indianapolis is growing 
rapidly. The surrounding country is nearly 
level; yet for beautiful scenery and a ‘ happy ’ 
upland location, this city is rarely excelled. It 
is a great Railroad centre, and cars are daily, 
might almost say hourly, leaving for every 
point of the compass. This gives to it a busy 
air that was little dreamed of a few years ago. 
Our stay was very short, and we were preclud¬ 
ed from visiting the several State Institutions 
located here, except the Asylum for the Blind. 
At present there are some 40 pupils in at¬ 
tendance. 
Thence to Lafayette is 65 miles. This city, 
containing some 10,000 or 12,000 inhabitants, 
is situated on the Wabash, and we noticed 
much life and bustle as we passed through it 
Between L. and Michigan City, a distance of 
some 90 miles, are some fine rolling praties, 
yet there are many flat ones, that I should 
think were underlaid with an impervious sub¬ 
soil, as hundreds of acres of them were covered 
with water, in part owing to the heavy rains 
that had then recently fallen. From this lat¬ 
ter town to Chicago, our ride was in the night. 
But I find my sheet is full, and I must defer 
the rest till another time.” t. e. w. 
ter whether the root selected be ruta baga, 
turnip, carrot, beet, or mangold, it has to be 
gathered before winter and placed in a cellar. 
So that, even acknowledging that the mangold 
is more liable to injury from frost than other 
roots, we do not see that it is an objection to 
its cultivation in this country, for it certainly 
will keep as well in a cellar as ruta bagas or 
turnips, and be good in spring when they are 
musty and worthless. 
That Mangels are less injured by drouth, 
and therefore better suited to this climate, can¬ 
not be questioned. We have known a good 
crop of Mangels flourish here, when Ruta ba¬ 
gas were nearly destroyed. We are in the 
habit of manuring highly for our root crop, and 
therefore the fact that it requires a rich soil is 
not a material objection, since there is at least 
a corresponding increase of nutritious matter 
obtained in the crop. Every farmer knows 
that he can obtain a much larger crop of Man¬ 
gels than he can of Ruta bagas, but every far¬ 
mer does not know that the Mangels are far 
more nutritious than the Ruta Baga and still 
more than the common turnip. Thus accord¬ 
ing to analyses made by the writer in the 
Rothamsted laboratory, a ton of Mangels 
contains 254 lbs. dry substance, while Skirvings, 
Ruta baga (the variety usually grown in this 
country) coutains only 188 ft>s., while a ton 
of common turnips contains only 158 lbs.— 
In other words, one ton (2000 tbs.) of Mangels 
are equal in this respect to 2,700 lbs. of Ruta 
bagas, and to 3,200 of common turnips. 
Mr. E. S. Hayward, of Brighton, in this 
county, who has had much experience in the 
cultivation of roots, informed us recently that 
he has abandoned the cuf:!V.Uicfj ■ of ruta ba¬ 
gas, finding that he did not obtain a good crop 
oftener than every third year, while Mangels 
he considers a sure crop, never being injured 
by insects, and seldom by drought. He finds 
no difficulty in keeping the Mangels, and little 
the presence of free soda, which holds the curd 
in solution. If a little muriatic or acetic acid 
(vinegar) be added to milk, it instantaneously 
coagulates. The eause of this is readily per¬ 
ceived. The curd is held in solution by free 
soda, and on the addition of an acid the soda 
is neutralized, and the curd, being insoluble in 
water destitute of free alkali, is instantly pre¬ 
cipitated or coagulated. When fresh milk is 
kept at a warm temperature, it gradually loses 
its alkaline character, and in time coagulates 
and becomes sour. The change which takes 
place is simply this:—The sugar of milk, by 
the action of .the curd, is transformed into lac¬ 
tic acid. This acid unites with the soda, form¬ 
ing a neutral salt—lactate of soda. The milk 
or whey being thus deprived of its soda, no 
longer possesses the power of holding the curd 
in solution, and so it, coagulates, or, in other 
words, the curd is precipitated. 
Two drops of lactic acid will instantaneously 
coagulate a quarter of a pint of boiling milk, 
though a much larger quantity added to cold 
milk produces no change. Thus when milk is 
kept for several days at a low temperature, it 
frequently has a sour taste, but does not coag¬ 
ulate. If, however, the temperature be raised, 
the curd is immediately precipitated. So, too, 
milk often appears sweet and clear till poured 
into hot tea or coffee, when it immediately 
curdles. It is impossible to have milk too hot 
for coagulation, when the acid is to be added 
extraneously, or is already formed in the milk; 
but no sugar is converted into lactic acid, if 
the milk is kept at from 150° to the boiling 
point, and it proceeds very slowly at 60°, and, 
it is believed, not at all from 40° to the freez¬ 
ing point. Freezing, or boiling the milk, 
checks for a time the transforming power of 
the casein, but it does not destroy it, as is the 
case with brewer’s yeast and many other fer¬ 
ments, for when afterwards brought to the 
proper temperature, and kept for some time, 
the milk coagulates. 
Jtan’s $ral 3l*to-gffrfor: 
A QUARTO WEEKLY 
Agricultural, Literary, and Family Newspaper 
Wheat Culture; enthusiasm of Science—Watermelons— 
Nature’s mysteries; her kindness to eailv settlers— 
Crops of Seneca Co.—A good Pennsylvania farmer; the 
secret of his good crops in a bad season— Jos. Wright’s 
tobacco, corn and fat cattle. 
Eds. Rural: —Your articles on wheat cul¬ 
ture are in the life. Tis true, and pity ’tis, ’tis 
true, that agricultural chemists are too much 
in love with theory to give heed to that prac¬ 
tice which nature always requires of him -who 
would scan her mysteries. A great historian 
has said that “to doubt was the beginning of 
wisdom.” Faith in the result of a single ex¬ 
periment but too often increases that enthusi¬ 
asm ‘of mind, which is always at war with pa¬ 
tient investigation. The resulting evil is this: 
When a farmer follows the prescription of a 
Liebig, and it fails, he makes no allowance for 
the fallibility of the man, but vents his spleen 
at the whole written science of agricultural 
chemistry. Such is the weakness of our na¬ 
ture, that no mortal could compass the study 
necessary to make him a master, if it were not 
for hi3 soul-kindling enthusiasm for his great 
calling, as necessary to man as high steam is 
to great machinery—although the one may at 
times produce irregularity of mind, as an ex¬ 
cess of the other does of motion. 
To be sure of a few watermelons, I this 
spring dug a hole three feet deep by six across 
put in unfermented stable dung at the bottom, 
filling up with two feet of rich, virgin, sandy 
loam. The plants grew lazily, although there 
was that just equipoise of heat and moisture 
that would have given Indian corn a mammoth 
growth. Per contra, the largest watermelons 
are now growing larger, in a low, sandy situa¬ 
tion', heretofore grown up to weeds—being too 
wet for early planting. A ditch opened early 
this spring below this patch of melons, and a 
little hog manure spaded into the patch, was 
the only amendment to aid in this great result. 
Why is it, that in the high mountainous re¬ 
gions of this State, the only crop of winter 
wheat that can be grown, is the first sowing 
after the land is cleared and burned off. I 
well remember when the fat, plump, thin-skin¬ 
ned wheat of this county was pronounced by 
the miller as “ new land wheat.” In those 
days, wheat was put in with a slovenly hand ) 
but nature was kind to the poor, long-suffering 
pioneer. Now, in the plethora of his wealth, 
she is more exacting in her favors. The crops 
this season in Seneca county are very unequal, 
the odds altogether in favor of the enterprising 
farmer; hence some crops of oats, barley, flax 
and corn will be large, while others have been 
sadly pinched by drouth. Wheat was more 
injured by winter-killing than by the insect. 
Less wheat, but much more corn, will be grown 
this year than usual. Hay is a light crop, yet 
CONDUCTED BY D. B. T. KOORE, 
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 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. 
VW" For Terms, &c., see last page. j£i 
Progress and Improvement. 
CHEESE-MAKING. — NO. I, 
A variety of circumstances, such as distance ; 
from calving, breed, climate, food, &c., affect \ 
the quality as well as the quantity of milk; so ■ 
that it is impossible to state what is its average 
composition. Henry and Chevallier found 
in the first milk or beistings, 15 per cent, of 
casein or curd and only 2j percent, of butter. 
The same chemists give, as the composition of 
ordinary cows’ milk, casein or curd 4.48 per 
cent., butter 3.13, milk sugar 4.77, saline mat¬ 
ter 0.60, water 87.02. The average of five de¬ 
terminations made by Boussingault with milk 
from a French cow, fed each week on different 
food for five weeks, was : Casein 3.24 per cent., 
butter 4.06, sugar 5.38, salts 0.19, water 87.13. 
The average of four determinations of milk 
from a Swiss cow, fed each week on different 
food for four weeks, was: Casein 3.75 per 
cent., butter 3.75, sugar 4.75, salts 0.28, water 
87.47. The average of nine analyses of the 
milk of a Short-horn cow, made by I)r. Play¬ 
fair, for the purpose of ascertaining how far 
the quality of milk.was affected by different 
foods, was : Casein 4.17 per cent, butter 5.00, 
sugar 4.12, salts 0.54, water 86.17. We do 
not give the results obtained from the differ¬ 
ent foods, because, from the short period the 
cows were kept on any one food, we do not 
deem them trustworthy indications of the milk, 
butter and cheese capacities of the several ar¬ 
ticles of food used. But we may take the re¬ 
sults as indicating to some extent, the average 
composition of milk. 
In studying the principles of cheese-making, 
it is especially desirable to possess a clear con¬ 
ception of the nature of the sugar of milk 
and its transformation into lactic acid, &c.— 
Every cheese-maker should make some of this 
sugar of milk, and study its characteristics. It 
may readily be obtained by taking a quart or 
two of sweet whey and heating it slightly, add¬ 
ing at the same time some white of egg. This 
will precipitate the curd and butter, which 
must be removed by filtering through a fine 
cloth. The whey will then be clear, and free 
from all impurities. If it is now poured into 
an earthen vessel and placed in a cool place, in 
a few days small crystals will settle on the sides 
and bottom of the vessel. These are sugar of 
milk. The Swiss shepherds obtain large quan¬ 
tities of this sugar from milk, and it forms in 
their country quite an article of commerce. If 
pure, either dry or in solution, it undergoes no 
change; but if a 
MANGEL WURZELS vs. RUTA BAGAS 
In an article on the “ Cultivation of Turnips, 
Ruta Bagas, <fcc.,” in the Rural of June 24th, 
we incidentally said that “ Mangel Wurzels are 
better adapted to this climate than Ruta Bagas 
or Turnips, while they are much more nutri¬ 
tious, produce more to the acre, and are not 
injured by insects; but they require very rich 
land.’’ An anonymous correspondent of the 
Country Gentleman, who writes “for the gui¬ 
dance and benefit of the farming community, in 
the capacity of Judge or Juryman rather than 
of an advocate,” reads us a homily on the ne¬ 
cessity of “ candor and a due regard to the 
interests ” of our readers; on the evil of giving 
only “partial information,” and of not stating 
all the “ disadvantages as well as the advanta¬ 
ges of any particular article,” &c. The foun¬ 
dation for these remarks is thus stated: 
“ The points in which the beet or mangel has 
a superiority over the turnip or baga are stated, 
but nothing is stated as to those points in which 
this root is inferior, unless the information, that 
mangels require very rich land should be so 
considered. Perhaps the writer did not know 
of any other drawback to the superiority claim¬ 
ed for the mangels. But if he has ever cultiva¬ 
ted this root crop to any extent, he could scarce¬ 
ly fail to be aware that it is one, both trouble¬ 
some and expensive to grow, and that the roots 
of the inangel wurael are extremely liable to 
injury from frost, being in this respect about on 
a par with potatoes.” 
We have cultivated the Mangel Wurzel, 
Ruta Baga and common turnips to a consider¬ 
able extent, and our preference for the Man¬ 
gels in this country is formed after much de¬ 
liberation. On an English farm, where one- 
fourth of the arable land is sown to roots, the 
greater portion of which aje eaten in the field 
by sheep during the winter months—the fact 
that Mangels delight in very rich soil, and re¬ 
quire to be gathered and stored before winter 
is an objection to their extensive cultivation; 
but even with these drawbacks they are highly 
esteemed by the more enterprising farmers.— 
But let us examine the nature of root cul¬ 
ture in this country. The farmer takes, at 
most, an acre or two of land near his barn-yard 
and manures it highly to grow a few roots for 
the use of his stock in early spring. No mat- 
A friend writing from Rock Island, Ill., 
gives some interesting notes of his trip from 
Xeuia, Ohio, to the former place, and we quote 
them for the perusal of our readers. 
“We (speaking of himself and companion) 
left Xenia after having closed our school, in 
the latter part of April, with many sweet 
memories behiud us, and came to this city by 
the way of Cincinnati, Iudianapolis, &c., and if 
we are not already in the extreme West, we 
are certainly near its great centre, the ‘ Father 
of Waters.’ For beauty and grandeur old 
Niagara is ‘daddy’ to it, as a Yankee ex¬ 
pressed himself a few days ago. Still it is a 
grand ‘stream.’ Of Xenia I have heretofore 
spoken. Thence to the ‘ Queen City ’ is some 
55 miles. Having a few moments of leisure to 
spare, we ascended Mt Adams, from the sum¬ 
mit of which we have a good view of the whole 
city with its 200,000 souls. On a clear, dry 
day it is certainly a grand sight, over which 
some hours of profitable contemplation might 
be spent 
Forty years ago there was but a handful of 
‘dreamy adventurers’ located here—now be¬ 
hold what a mighty, bustling city is mapped 
out here, with all its active life. The Ohio is 
lined with steam craft, aud its banks for miles 
are alive with the busy stir of the merchant 
and ai’tizan. All is life; and strife with a busy 
small quantity of curd or 
rennet be added, a chemical action ensues, and 
the sugar i3 converted into lactic acid. The 
same acid is produced by the fermentation of 
brewers’ grains, cabbage (sauer kraut), and a 
number of other familiar instances. If the 
fermentation be allowed to proceed, carbonic 
acid is given off, aud alcohol is formed pre¬ 
cisely as in the fermentation of cane or grape 
sugar in the production of wine, whisky, beer, 
aud all intoxicating liquors. 
Casein, or curd, is insoluble in water, but 
readily soluble in water containing an alkali. 
When milk is drawn from the cow, it has a 
slightly alkaline reaction. This is owing to 
