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MOORE’S RURAL NEW-YORKER: AN AGRICULTURAL ANT) FAMILY NEWSPAPER 
acre. Unimproved land, in the same locali¬ 
ties, from $4 to $10 per acre. 
These prices may seem high for land in this 
far, o!f country, out, the immense rush of emi¬ 
grants into this Stale for the past season fully 
warrants these prices, and they are still going 
upwards so fast that we hardly know what to 
ask for farms. 1 know many instances where 
land has doubled in value every year for the 
past three years, and there is hardly a farmer 
in the country but whose farm is worth double 
what he would have gladly sold it for two 
years ago. It is estimated that in the past 
season no less than 100,000 people have been 
added,to the population of this State, and they 
are still coming faster than ever. A friend 
who came in on the Rock Island railroad told 
me it was needless to inquire of travelers 
where they were going to; “all are bound for 
Iowa.” 
No doubt many who come here will be dis¬ 
appointed in their expectations; some have no 
idea of the many inducements and peculiar 
advantages that are here presented to young- 
men of energy, while others come with the 
expectation that the country is little short of 
a paradise, where the inhabitants are too ig¬ 
norant and indolent to improve the great ad¬ 
vantages their country possesses, and that it 
only needs a few leading spirits, men of educa¬ 
tion and talent, like themselves, to develop its 
resources and reap a rich reward of wealth 
and lame, lloth classes are disappointed on 
arriving here, to find every thing so different 
rom their expectations, and while one will 
paint every advantage in the most glovviugeol- 
ors and overlook all the disadvantages, the 
other eannot find a single inducement, and lan¬ 
guage is not sufficient to express his dislike and 
disappointment. 
Most letters descriptive of the West, which 
find their way into the public journals are 
written by travelers, who judge of the country 
as it appears to them at the particular lime 
they happen to see it, and who pick up 
their inlormation second hand from land 
lords, stage drivers, and hotel loungers, and 
after they have properly digested and averaged 
these contradictory accounts, they retail them 
out to the public through some largely circu¬ 
lated journal as reliable information. Is it 
strange that so many are disappointed? What¬ 
ever 1 may send to you in future communica¬ 
tions will be plain unvarnished facts; such as 
1 have found of the advantages aud disadvan¬ 
tages of farming aud living in a prairie coun¬ 
try after a three years’ residence among the 
“ Hawk Eyes.” r, p, q. 
Spring Kock, Iowa, Oct. 23. 1854. 
Communications 
Inquiries anif SUstomi 
! Tub Transactions of the JYcw Hampshire 
i State Agricultural Society for 1853, contains 
I an interesting report on Grasses. After speak¬ 
ing of Redtop (Poa Pralensis) as an invalu¬ 
able, pasture grass, continuing longer in the 
j soil than most other grass; and Herds Grass 
: or Timothy (Phleam Pratense) asholdingthe 
first rank as a hay making grass; and of lied 
Clover (Trifolium Pratense) “as a coarse, 
sweet grass, readily raised but not. easily cur¬ 
ed, and if not properly cured it is little better 
than “mulch and litter” for ihe stable and 
yard;” it favors is with the following disserta¬ 
tion on Couch, Quack or Witch grass. Those 
of our readers who have had as much trouble 
as the writer in eradicating from their farms 
what one of our correspondents calls Mons. 
Quacickry, will not be over anxious to procure 
Quack seed to stock their meadows with.— 
However we give the article and let it speak 
for itself. We observe that, a little farther on, 
the sued scented Vernal grass (anlhoxan- 
thum odoratum) is extravagantly lauded, and, 
it is said, “the person who shall introduce it into 
our State will confer a lasting favor on our 
community.” Farther “there can be no doubt 
that the peculiar excellence of the Philadel¬ 
phia butter is owing to the presence of this 
grass in the pastures of that regiun,” &e.— 
There are those, however, who do doubt it; 
and those even who think the grass very infe¬ 
rior to redtop and timothy. But we will not 
discuss that point. Head what is said of 
Couch Grass: 
In addition to these grasses, (Redtop, Herds 
and Clover,) there are others that are gradu¬ 
ally coining into cultivation for pasture aud 
hay making purposes, that need only to be 
better known to lie generally cultivated. In 
the first rank of these we place Couch grass, 
(Triticum repens.) a grass that is beginning 
to lie appreciated upon the Merrimack, but 
which has usually been condemned as a curse 
upon a farm. It is often called Witch grass, 
and in the upper Merrimack Valley is known 
as “Fins grass” or Fingrass, from “Phineas 
Virgin,” we believe, upon whose land, in Con¬ 
cord, it was firsi cultivated. Its proper name, 
however, is Couch grass. It is a stocky, hear¬ 
ty, dean, sweet, grass, and if properly cut and 
cured, will command a higher price in the ma r¬ 
ket where it is known.lhau Herd's grass In 
addition to this it has other peculiar qualities 
It will propagate from the root as well as the 
seed, will accommodate itself to poor as well 
as rich land, dry as well as moist land, grow¬ 
ing most luxuriantly upon meadows and in 
valleys, and still not. refusing a fair growth 
upon a pine plain, a gravel bank, or a sand 
knowl. Such a grass is invaluable. But it 
has its drawback. Once in the soil it is there 
for a lifetime. It cares little for plow, harrow 
or hoe. Cutting it only multiplies it. For 
this rea-on it is considered a curse in a field 
for tillage. It. is a grass that will not be kept 
under by cultivation. For this very reason it 
is invaluable. It will grow upon light soils, 
and produce well. But tlie true secret is to 
sow it upon our lands and cultivate it by top 
dressing. Once sown, apply top dressing, and 
the soil need not be touched with plow or hoe 
for a quarter of a century. If the crop fails 
in spots, noon kuowls and other places, apply 
a heavy harrow, an extra sprinkling of manure, 
a liberal quantity ot Couch seed, harrow 
again and i oil, and the work is done. A field 
kept in Couch grass in this way will produce 
a greater profit in bay than if kept in any oth¬ 
er grass in the usual method. 
it may appear singular that we should rec¬ 
ommend the cultivation of a grass that botan¬ 
ists pronounce a “ noxious weed in garden or 
fields,” but experience shows that the botanists 
know little of its value. Fifty years since up¬ 
on the intervales of the Merrimack this grass 
was considered as a curse by the farmers gen¬ 
erally; but within tlie lust twenty-five years it 
has become to be considered of equal if not 
of greater value than Herd’s grass. 1'lie more 
its qualities are considered, and its adaptation 
to soils, and appropriate cultivation aie stu¬ 
died, the more reliable it will become. 
GENERAL APPEARANCE OF PRAIRIE 
Water Lime. —Plea«e inform me, through the 
oral, where hydraulic or water lime can be 
•rained, and what is the price per barrel ?— 
, McN amy, JDccrsville, Harrison Co., Ohio. 
Tub next Biennial Meeting of the American 
Pomological Society will be held at Roches¬ 
ter, N. Y., Sept., 1856. 
1 Surface of Prairie in Iowa — IJca'th on the Prai¬ 
rie—Prices of Land—"Timber and Prairie — 
Emigration to this State — Disappointments. 
Therk is perhaps a no more sublime sight 
in Nature, for a person who has never seen one 
of the mighty prairies of the West, than to 
stand on one of the high dividing ridges that 
overlook miles of the surrounding country, and 
for the first time in his life cast his eye over 
the almost boundless expanse spread out be¬ 
fore him—not a tree, bush, stump or stone 
can be seen—not a living thing to arrest the 
• sight—but the low waving grass as it moves 
to aud fro in the cooling breeze, like the never 
ceasing w’aves of the ocean. He looks in vain 
for some object for the eye to rest upon—lis¬ 
tens for some sound of life—but all is silent as 
the grave; the immense natural meadow which 
for centuries has been trod only by the Indian 
aud wild buffalo, stands alone in its solitary 
grandeur. ’1 he thought arises, how is it that 
this rich, fertile, and well watered plain produ¬ 
ces no timber, while a few miles farther in any 
direction, trees and bushes are growing in the 
greatest luxuriance; it cannot be a fault in the 
soil, for when planted with trees, they grow 
with the greatest rapidity, and if burned off 
by fires how is it that the dense foiests of 
Michigan, Ohio and Indiana escaped? These 
are quest.ous which are often asked. Who 
can answer? 
In the spring, when the prairies are covered 
with green grass and flowers of every color, 
nothing can be more beautiful; but in autumn, 
when every living thing is withered by frost, 
and the howling winds and storms of sleet and 
rain sweep over them in wild chilling blasts, 
with not a tree or' grove for miles to cheek 
their fury or shelter an unlucky traveller, noth¬ 
ing can be more fearfully dismal, and many 
are the stories of danger and death to the ear¬ 
ly settlers who have been overtaken by these 
merciless storms when the friendly cabins were 
far between. 
Before describing the peculiar agricultural 
advantages and disadvantages of Iowa, i wish 
to correct a few false impressions, ideas and 
prejudices, which the great mass of people en¬ 
tertain who have never seeu a prairie country. 
It is a very common opinion among Eastern 
people, that prairies are as level as a barn-floor, 
covered wiih grass growing about as high as a 
man’s head. There are some such prairies m 
Illinois, but they are not common, generally 
being low, wet land, or river bottoms, which 
are liable to overflow, and are of little value 
excepting for grass. The general surface of 
Iowa is about as uneven as the laud in Onta¬ 
rio aud Monroe counties in your State, with 
this difference : the rises are more regular and 
gradual, so as hardly to be considered hills, 
the surface being more properly rolling or un¬ 
dulating than hilly. There are great dividing 
ridges running through the whole State, and 
the land descends from these in gradual undu- 
lat’ons towards the large streams and rivers, 
intersected in all conceivable directions by 
sloughs, which widen out until near the stream, 
where they form what are called “river bot¬ 
toms,” which are either covered with tall, 
coarse, rank grass, or a heavy body of timber. 
The prairies are generally well watered with i 
pure creeks coming from springs, and vliere 
these are not plenty, water of the best quality, 
cold aud pure, can be found by digging. 
An impression prevails in some parts, that 
prairies are unhealthy, and a more erroneous 
one never existed. River bottoms which are 
subject to overflow, and low wet grounds, 
which are full of pond holes containing stag¬ 
nant water, about which vegetation is rank 
and left to decay, are unhealthy here as in all 
countries, but people of common sense will 
avoid these and settle on high, dry land, away 
from the malaria arising from stagnant water 
and decaying vegetation. As far as my obser¬ 
vation extends, no country is more generally 
healthy than the rolling prairie of Iowa. The 
cool breeze sweeps over them throughout the 
whole warm season with almost as much regu- j 
larity as the sea breezes fan the 
Cobocro has been fixed upon as the place 
for holding the next Provincial Fair of Upper 
Canada. 
Ashes and Lime for Wheat. —I would like to 
have you, or some of your subscribers, inform 
me through the Rural, whether lime or ashes 
sown on wheat .are beneficial, and which is the 
twstof t Be two ; and also, the quantity per acre ; 
and the best season of the year for sowing them? 
—A Subscriber, Lysandcr. Co., A. Y. 
Butter. —In churning cream, add a lumn 
of butter to the cream before commencing, and 
the butter will come in two-thirds the time it 
would without.— Ex. 
V ill some of our readers try this and report 
the result in the Rural? 
Feeding Down Winter Wheat. —As this fall 
lias been an unusual one for the rapid and 
heavy growth of winter sown grain, will some 
of your “ practical farmer ” correspondents, that 
are “ posted up,” give their experience as to the 
practicability of “feeding down ” winter wheat. 
Since the winters in this latitude are very open, 
why should a heavy growth smother the root, 
as is generally supposed, where it is necessary 
for the good of the plant that there be a proper 
depth of snow to prevent its “ freezing out?”— 
In this section last winter were many fields of 
wheat almost entirely destroyed that looked 
fine the fall previous. The wheat was sown 
with a drill, on well-prepared, gravelly loam 
soil, with a loose subsoil. Some of it was fed 
down; was that the cause of its winter killing, 
or what was it?— Wm. D. Rice, Elbridge, Onon¬ 
daga Co., N. Y. 
A good Carrot Crop. —A correspondent 
of the Country Gentleman, C. Smith, East 
Hamburgh, Erie Co., N. Y., cultivated a crop 
of carrots this year as follows:—About the 
20th of May be gave it a generous dressing of 
hen manure and plowed it in a foot deep .— 
He then spread on a top dressing of the same 
fertilizer; after which it was reduced to a per¬ 
fect tilth by the harrow and garden rake._ 
Carrot seed—the orange, which Mr. S. consid¬ 
ers the best—was then drilled in, in rows from 
10 to 12 inches apart, and the weeding after¬ 
wards faithfully attended to. The product 
was thirteen hundred and seventy five bushels 
per acre. Mr. 8. attributes this good crop to 
abundant manuring, deep tillage and “com¬ 
pactness of the rows, there being nearly two 
rows where cultivators usually make but one.” 
The dry weather did not affect the crop in the 
least. 
Door Yard Fences. —In answer to B. G. 
S., in Rural of Nov. 11th, we have received 
the following: 
The cheapest neat and durable “ door-yard 
fence” 1 have ever seen is Briggs’ patent 
round picket fence. Its cost is from five to 
eight dollars, complete, per rod. The best 
posts are of red cedar. Whatever timber is 
used, should be charred at the end inserted in 
the ground three and a half to four and a half 
feet, and buried—the top end of the tree down 
—the small posts three feet, and the gate and 
corner posts four feet deep. In clayey soil, a 
short cross, framed and firmly pinned on the 
lower end before charring, will effectually pte- 
vent their heaving by the frost, e. s. h. 
may pour upon a small quantity of it,- vinegar 
or diluted muriatic acid. If lime is present 
the mixture will froth up or effervesce.— Dr. 
Kent. 
V\ e little thought, when we extracted Ihe 
above from Dr. Kent’s book for the purpose 
of showing its error, that it would be cut out 
of our article by some poor editor in search 
of five lines to “fill out” with, and thus be 
thrown on the sea of newspaper literature 
without one word of dissent We hazard not h- 
ingin saying that in this form it will find its 
way into the columns of 500 papers in less than 
a year. So true it is that “ a lie will travel 
from Maine to Georgia while truth is putting 
on its boots.” 
PLASTER OF PARIS AND GREEN MANURE 
lx conversation not long since with Mr. Ben¬ 
jamin Chandler, an industrious and observing 
farmer in Starks, Somerset County, he observ¬ 
ed that he had, by experiment, ascertained 
how he could use green or unfermented manure 
in the hills of corn. Formerly, whenever he 
put unfermented manure in the hills of corn, 
the corn would, instead of growing thriftily, us 
is the case when well rotted manure is used in 
this way, become yellow' in color, and seems 
to be injured rather that benefitted by it.— 
This he attributed to too great a supply of 
ammonia, or other substance liberated when 
the manure began to ferment. 
Having read that Plaster of Paris would ab¬ 
sorb and change the action or nature of am¬ 
monia, he tried it in this way. 
After placing a shovel full of green manure 
in the hill, he covered it over with soil, and on 
this threw a large spoonful or more of Plaster 
of Paris, then dropped his corn and covered it. 
When thus planted, the corn invariably grew 
rank, and filled the ears as well as if the ma¬ 
nure had been thoroughly composted and de¬ 
composed. 
One spring, when planting his corn in this 
way, he had not plaster enough to go over the 
whole field, and accordingly, was under the ne¬ 
cessity of planting a portion of it with green 
manure in the holes and no plaster over it. 
The result was an excellent crop as far as 
the plaster was used, while in the temainderof 
the field, the corn was yellow and sickly during 
the whole season, arid yielded comparatively 
little. '1 hese are important facts in the corn 
culture.— .Maine Farmer. 
Sand Your Stalls —Let fresh clean sand 
be sprinkled every day over the floors of your 
tie-ups. This will keep the animals clean*and 
prevent their being attacked by vermin. Eve¬ 
ry morning, remove all the excrement, to the 
manure shed, ami throw over it, a few handfuls 
of gypsum or pulverized charcoal. 
Charcoal for Hogs. —Provide a trough, or 
Otlar suitable receptacle, fill it with charcoai, 
and place it in your hog-pen. Few' articles 
that can bo administered to swine, will prove 
more beneficial than this. 
Salt for Horses. —Deposit a lump of rock 
salt in your horse’s manger, and allow him to 
have free access to it. 
Fence Posts. —Char your fence posts 1o a 
coal before setting, and set them top down.— 
You will find these to be excellent preventive 
against rot. Posts, thus treated, will last 
much longer than if set in the ordinary way. 
Gates are much handier, and far more eco 
nomieal in the long run, than bars. At every 
entrance, set a good stone post firmly in the 
soil, and append thereto a light but strong 
gate. With the proper materials and tools, 
almost any pei-son can construct a good and 
efficient gate, and hang it. It should also be 
protected from the weather by a coat of paint. 
Stone Steps will be found much more eco¬ 
nomical than wooden ones. Place a set at. ev¬ 
ery door, where you are not. particularly anx¬ 
ious about the “ornamental.” They may cost 
you a trifle more at first, but they will be the 
cheapest in the end. Let a good scraper be 
firmly inserted at one end. 
Sink Wash. — Arrange so that all the water 
from the sink and wash-room may be convey¬ 
ed to the compost heap; also the urine made 
on the premises, and the rich liquid from the 
privy. From twenty to twenty-five loads of 
excellent manure may be made in this way, an¬ 
nually.— Germantown Telegraph. 
WINTERING STOCK, 
Much of the profit of rearing cattle de¬ 
pends upon the manner of keeping them thro' 
the w inter. If they are suffered to lose flesh 
during the cold season, and turned out to pas¬ 
ture “spring poor,” it takes a long time to re¬ 
gain what they have lost. With the best qual¬ 
ity of early cut, and well made English hay, 
with regular and judicious feeding, and com¬ 
fortable quarters, a stock of cattle, from the 
oldest to the youngest, may be made to thrive 
all winter, to gain size and flesh; with a small 
allowance of meal, potatoes, turnips, or other 
roots, they would do still better. 
Our horses, cattle, and sheep, were originally 
constituted to subsist the year round, on green 
and succulent food. 
By domestication, they have been gradually 
introduced from a warm, to the cold climate of 
the north, where, as with us, they generally 
have to be fed on dry forage for six months or 
more, every year. This, in some degree, is 
placing them in an unnatural condition, and it 
seems to us, it is a strong argument in favor of 
a more extensive root culture among us, for 
feeding purposes. 
Most farmers have more or less coarse fod¬ 
der, such as poor hay, corn fodder, straw', &c. 
And many commence feeding their cattle exclu¬ 
sively on these the first part of the winter, or 
till it is used up, and seem to think it is a 
“good riddance of bad rubbish ” Cattle and 
sheep, doubtless, like a change of food as well 
as man, and when kept in good condition they 
seem to relish a foddering of meadow hay. 
corn-fodder, or straw occasionally; but if fed 
entirely ori such fodder the first half of the win¬ 
ter, they lose flesh, and will be apt to come 
out in the spring in poor condition, in spite of 
English hay. 
Corn-fodder is as nutritious as common stack 
hay, when fed in connection with it, but lo 
compel cattle to live on such fare for weeks 
together, is, as some one has said, “ absolutely 
cruel, as it makes their teeth sore when fed for 
a length of time.” A better way is, to give 
cattle one foddering a day of corn butts, and 
that at the last feeding at night, and if they 
have a pretty stout allowance given them, they 
will eat it nearly clean before morning—at 
least, what they reject, will hardly pay for pass¬ 
ing through the straw-cutter. Cattle, to do 
well, must have drink as well as food; and a 
free use of card and brush adds to their good 
looks.— Granite Farmer. 
PRESERVATION OF TURNIPS, 
The Germantown Telegarvh says:—Mr. 
Blight, of Devon, Da, whose success in pre¬ 
serving the ruta baga turnip, is well-known, 
adopts the following mode:—He selects a 
dry part of his field, excavates the ground to 
the depth of about six inches, three feet wide, 
and as long as may be needed. In this the 
turnips are placed, as high as the wHth of the 
shallow trench will admit, the pile being about 
two feet in the middle. Over the mass a good 
layer of cornstalks, straw or haulm, is placed, 
wheu the earth is carefully and compactly 
heaped up to a sharp pitch and well spanked. 
At the di tance of every fifteen or twenty 
feet a vent hole is left, the size of a common 
stove-pipe, in which a roll of straw is firmly 
t wisted. 'I his has the effect of exhausting the 
{•it of the heated, impure atmosphere by which 
they naturally become filled, producing decom¬ 
position. By this simple, easy mode of pitting 
Mr. B. has usually preserved his English tur¬ 
nips throughout the winter in good condition 
aud sold them at remunerating prices. 
CLEAN OUT YOUR STABLES DAILY, 
A correspondent of the Germantown Tele¬ 
graph purchased at a high price a young horse 
which he knew to he perfectly sound. In six 
months he became quite lame, so lame that it 
became painful to drive him, and he was sold. 
He then bought another one, young, strong 
aud quite sound. He, too, in less than six 
months was lame in his feet, and so lame 
that his owner was forced to desist from using 
him. The cause and euro of the evil we give 
in his own words: 
1 now began to reflect seriously on the mat¬ 
ter, and to hunt for the cause. Both these 
horses had stood on the same soft floor. It 
was my practice to allow the manure to accu¬ 
mulate under (be animal to the depth of twen¬ 
ty inches, fresh straw being sprinkled under him 
daily to keep him clean—and then cleur it out. 
This manure, from its fermentable nature, acted 
like a hot-bed, sending forth great heat, at 
times, and copious exhalations of ammonia .— 
But on this, the animal was compelled to 
stand; there was no escape. A thought sug¬ 
gested itself. The manure was removed, the 
horse's feel and legs curefuUy wa-hed in co d 
water three or four times a da , and he com¬ 
pelled to stand on the hard plank floor instead 
of on the manure. He was cured! I have 
not, since this change in my practice, had a 
lame horse. If others who have horses with 
tender feet, have managed as 1 did, they will 
do well to change their practice at once. 
ocean. Chill 
fevers and ague sometimes attack new settlers, 
but they are a3 often brought on by impru¬ 
dence and carelessness, as from any fault in the 
climate. If emigrants will come in the coun¬ 
try in the fall, settle on high ground, use pure 
water and avoid exposure to night air, there is 
little danger of sickness. 
People need not come here now with the 
expectation of finding timber and prairie at 
government prices any where near the Missis¬ 
sippi. All of the best timber in the State is 
now entered and held at pretty high prices, 
ranging from five to thirty dollars an acre, but 
none need stay away for lack of timber, for 
fire-wood, building and fencing material, can 
always be obtained with ten times less labor 
and cost than will clear up a farm in Michigan 
or Ohio. Plenty of good prairie can be had 
at $1,25 per acre, from fifty to one hundred 
miles back from the river. Improved farms 
near markets are worth from $10 to $30 per 
Depth and Mellowness of Soil. —Depth 
and mellowness of soil may be considered the 
principal characteristics of successful garden¬ 
ing. In onr school-boy days, we have all read 
of the dying husbandman, who told his son 
never to part with the vineyard, as there was 
a valuable treasure lying within a few inches 
of the surface. The young man, in t he expec¬ 
tation of finding a bag of money, carefully 
turned over the soil, but found nothing. In 
the subsequent harvest, however, lie was aston¬ 
ished at the extraordinary luxuriance of his 
crops, and then understood for the first time 
the enigmatical meaning of his father’s words. 
—Boston Cultivator. 
To kill Lice on Cattle. —II. Mndgelt, in 
the Prairie Farmer, says that a small quantity 
of dry slacked lime rubbed into the hair of 
cattle, will destroy all lice. If a remedy, it is 
a cheap and easy one. 
Cure for the Pii>.— Undoubtedly about 
these days some of your chickens will have 
this common chicken complaint. Cure it, sim¬ 
ply by mixing a tablespoonful of sulphur with 
about three pounds of meal for a feed every 
other day, perhaps for a fortnight. 
The Chinese Yam has been introduced in 
Paris, from China, which the chemists and ex- 
perimentists say possesses all the requirements 
of the potato, and may take the place of that 
plant as a culinary vegetable. 
No barn can be kept warm where the un¬ 
derpinning is loose, and the wind sweeps under 
the .floors. Roofs should be made tight, and 
the barn close, where the animals stand. 
New use for Beet Root. —Among the 
many uses to which beet, root can be applied, 
is that of malting pasteboard. A manufacto¬ 
ry has just been established at Foulain in 
France. 
The Boston Courier says that during the 
w ec ending on Friday last, there arrived in 
th u c't , by rai roads alone, three hundred and 
fifty-six tons of butter. 
The Connecticut papers say that potatoes 
are the best crop in that State this year, yield¬ 
ing three times the usual amount. 
Soot contains 50 per cent of potash. 
