ROCHESTER, N. Y.-SATURDAY, DECEMBER 23, 1854 
of the grain in the market above all others, 
is still recognized by dealers and consumers. 
The question then arises whether this inca¬ 
pacity to produce any given crop after a series 
of years is an irremediable concomitant of cnl' 
i tivation, or only a direct result of improvident 
management. That the latter is the case, no 
j reasonable man can doubt Both scientific 
investigation and common experience prove it 
to be so,—the former from the fact that vege¬ 
table organizations draw a large portion Of 
their nutriment from the air, instead of the 
soil; that if the whole amount of vegetable 
growth on a given area be returned to the 
soil on which it grew, that soil would continue 
to improve in quality and richness for an in¬ 
definite number of years, and afford nutriment 
to a still larger growth of vegetable organiza¬ 
tions. This is in fact the only theory on which 
the rich soils of the forest can be formed, the 
annual falling of the leaves, and the ultimate 
decay of the dead wood, giving successive in¬ 
crements to the available portion of the soil. 
It is in this way, aided perhaps in part by the 
excrements deposited by wild fowl, that barren 
rocks come in time to be covered with a j 
fuse vegetation. First, the lowest order 
plants, like the mosses, cling upon the cold u 
sterile stone, there decay, and by their decom 
position give nourishment to a higher order of 
vegetation, until the spot, after a succession o: 
ages, becomes overgrown with a gigantic forest 
Experience proves the above proposition, in 
aid of science, from the fact that the scicnt .: 
agriculturist crops his fields, and grows rich 
out of what he sells therefrom; and yet. b' 
judicious management in returning in the shape 
of manure, a modicum of that he takes away, 
his fields grow better and richer instead of 
worse and poorer. This could not be the case 
if all the nutriment his crops received, came 
out of the soil; for in that event, every pound 
carried away, whether in the shape of grain or 
cattle, would reduce the richness of his fields. 
The inevitable tendency would then be towt rd 
barrenness and desolation, and careful hu 
bandry would only delay—not avoid—the in¬ 
evitable doom. The period at which that un-. 
desirable end would be attained, would oim 
be one of time. Such, however, is not the 
fact, for as stated above, a well-managed farm 
continually improves. But the surplus which, 
is removed must notice too great. Continual 
cropping, even in rotation, will exhaust the 
A QUARTO WEEKLY 
Agricultural, Literary, and Family Kewspapsr. 
CONDUCTED BY D. D. T. MOORE, 
With an able corn's or Assistants and Contributors. 
The Rural Nbw-Yorxkr 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 en the important Practical 
Subject* connected with the business of those whose in¬ 
terests it advocate*. 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 eomplete Agricultural, Literary and 
Family Newbpavkr. 
FOWLER ’ S IMPROVED DRAINING PLOW, 
The above engraving represent! a valuable 
implement, first brought into nltice at the 
World’s Fair in London, in 185', and there 
granted an “ Honorable Mention. “ But for 
the American Reapers,” says the Report of 
the Jury, “Mr. Fowler’s Draiing Plow 
would have formed the most remrkable fea¬ 
ture in the Agricultural departinerj. You see 
two horses at work at the side of i field, on a 
capstan, which, by an invisible!wire rope, 
draws towards itself a low frame work, leaving 
but the trace of a narrow slit on the surface. 
Passing to the other side of the field, you 
perceive that it has been dragging after it a 
string of pipes (which follow the plow’s snout, 
that burrows ail the while four feet below 
ground,) twisting itself like a gigantic red worm 
in the bowels of the earth, so that in a few 
minutes, when the frame-work has reached the 
capstan, the string is withdrawn from the neck¬ 
lace, and a drain has been invisibly formed 
under your feet.” Drains forty rods long are 
oompieted at an operation. A short piece of 
ditch i3 first dug, to admit the plow, and 
strings of- pipe, each fifty feet long, are suc¬ 
cessively added, and when done the whole of 
the rope is withdrawn. There is also a con¬ 
trivance for making the bottom of the drain 
level on uneven ground. The machine is iD 
use and is said to save about half the expense. 
TERMS, IN ADVANCE: 
Subscription —52 a year—$1 for 6 months, in advance. 
For reduction to Agents, and those who form Clubs, see 
notice on last page. 
Advertisements, —If brief and appropriate, will be 
inserted at 15 cents a line, each insertion. £2?” No Patent 
Medicine, or deceptive adv’ts, published on any terms. 
MANUFACTURE OF FISH MjNURE. 
worth 12£ cts. per lb. Applying these figures to 
the fish manure, its value per 100 lbs. would be 
- - lbs. plica, of lime at 2 cts. per lb.$0 44 
4 lbs. of ammonia at 12 'A cts. per lb. 1 81 
Progress and Improvement. 
Island of Newfoundland. Last year the same $225 
gentleman, M. dp. Molo.v, in company with M. Gr, when Peruvian guano is worth $50 per 
Tiiur.nkyskn, formed a similar establishment ton, this fish manure is worth $45 per ton. It 
at Coucarneau, (Fiuistcrre,) between L’Orieut will be seen that we have allowed nothing for 
and Brest. The Imperial and Central Agri- ingredients of guano other than phosphate and 
cultural Society of France appointed Messrs, ammonia. The fish manure would contain as 
Pay ex and Pommiek to make an examination p mch of these as the guano, and, therefore, in 
of this establishment, and at the last sitting of *’■ a mating the comparative value of the two 
the Society these gentlemen presented a most :; > mres, we may leave them both out of the 
interesting report on the sublet. calculation without affecting its accuracy. If 
The apparatus used in the manufacture con- Peruvian S uan0 is worth S ’ 50 P er t() n, this fish 
sists of a steam engine of ten horse power mauure is worth $ 45 P er tou ’ and therefore is 
and a steam boiler of eighteen horse power; ™ uch tbe chea P er fertilizer, since it is sold at 
two double coppers, hung on gudgeons, for P er 
cooking the fish by heat; twenty-four lever Messrs. DeNolon andT hurneysen propose 
presses, to press the fish after cooking; a rasp J establish factories similar to that at Con- 
similar to those used in be^t-sugar manufao- caraeau on other P oints of the French coast ’ 
tories; a large stove, heated by one of Chaus- :iS weU as on tbe coast of Newfoundland, and 
senots’ c&lorifiers; and a conic mill, similar to on coa * ts in the North ^ which tbe >' esti ‘ 
a coffee or gypsum milL mate will furnish upwards of three hundred 
™ - . ' r. . ~ , ...... thousand tons per annum, or “at least equal 
The fish or refuse 13 first put into the inner -r, . 
_ , , P ., , , f, , . , to that which is extracted from the Peruvian 
receptacle of the boiler, which contains about . . , . ^ A 
1 nnA »v mu 1 ,. , -lands m the form of guano. lhe factory 
1,000 lbs. The change being completed, and „ . . . 6 J 
,i,_ __ ,-11 , , . , „ , 1 . A ewlouudland, in its present condition, can 
the copper hermetically closed, a jet of steam , . . . . , 
to ,, , , . make.it is said, 10,000 tons of fish manure 
is unreduced between tne outer and inner 
sides, heated to about atmospheres. The 1 aunum - 
steam circulates between the two sales of the lhe P roduce of tbe «*■***? of New ' 
boiler, which are only about two inches apart, :<ra “ dla,Ki ' reckoning the fresh fish, amounts 
ami into a tubes inches in diameter, placed unuan t' il is estimated ' ‘° M00,000 tons, 
upright in the inner boiler. An hour suflices lbout balf of " bich is thrown tat0 the 8611 or 
to complete the cooking; when, by an ease ' 11t0 rot 0,1 the shorR This ’00,000 tons of 
movement, the copper is made to turn upon reluEe “ would mak f 150 ' 00l) » ow ' 
the gudgeons, the steam escapes, mid by the D er nearl ? oqual m Yatae t0 the bost Perav,an 
^moval of the lid, the cooked fish fads on the. , , ,,, . 
_ t+ •, „ -i , n, , It this were mere theory we should be m- 
loor. It is then pressed; and afterwards , , , , . / , , 
. 0^4 « , , ,, , .'lined to look at it as the dreamy lucubra- 
Any one conversant with history or tradi¬ 
tion cannot fail to have observed the change 
of products iu different localities and countries 
which has occurred through a long succession 
of years. These products in the aggregate 
increase in variety and perfection proportion¬ 
ately to a nation’s advancement in knowledge 
and civilization, and vary according to soil 
and climate, the wants and necessities of the 
inhabitants, and their acquisition of the arts 
of civilized life. Thus, within the tropics, sav¬ 
age life is sustained upon the spontaneous 
fruits of the earth, such as the Banana, the 
Oocoa, aud the Bread Fruit; while iu more 
civilized communities within these regions, the 
bountiful soil is made, under the hand of even 
a moderately intelligent culture, to yield mil¬ 
lions of pounds of rice, sugar, coffee, and all 
the finer fruits and spices, sufficient not only 
to supply their own wants, but also to furnish 
through commercial channels a surplus to alj 
the rest of the world, in exchange for merchan¬ 
dise and manufactures. 
In the more temperate regions, man in a 
savage state sustains his physical nature on 
a mixed diet of the indigenous fruits, together 
with animal food obtained as spoils of the 
chase. As civilization advances, this mixed 
diet continues, it is true; but grain, cultivated 
roots and fruits, make up the vegetable por¬ 
tion, while the flesh of domestic animals and 
fowls supersedes that of wild game. In frigid 
climates, animal food is the principal diet, both 
of savage and civilized life, aud seems to be 
a necessity both from the demands of man’s 
physical organization, aud from the fact that 
the bleak climate and sterile soil can be made 
to furnish in any considerable quantity no 
other kind of food. 
As the population of a region increases 
men are driven from necessity, if not from 
choice, to cultivate the soil. Nature is not 
spontaneously generous, although ready to re¬ 
spond bountifully to the culture of an intelli¬ 
gent hand; hence a regiou that would natural¬ 
ly sustain a very sparse population, will, under 
careful cultivation, give ample sustenance to 
immense communities of men. The products 
required are not only increased in quantity, 
but the quality is rendered vastly superior._ 
This takes place only under an intelligent sys¬ 
tem of tillage, for sometime, crops diminish in 
quantity aud finally die out, or at the least 
yield such inadequate returns as to render 
their cultivation unprofitable. Thus many 
portions of Virginia, which only two hundred 
years ago were as prolific as Egypt in the 
palmy days of the Pharaohs, have become 
nearly as barren as the presen*- Egyptian 
sands. Many portions of New England pro¬ 
duced wheat at the time of their early settle¬ 
ment, and for many years thereafter, which 
now look to the W estern States for most of their 
supplies of this important staple. Even West¬ 
ern New York is leas profuse and bounteous in 
the growth ot wheat, although the superiority 
one of an ineh in width for brief remarks on 
the state of the weather, as fair, cloudy, hazy, 
rainy, drizzly, snow, high winds, <fcc., leaving 
the space between the right and left-hand 
columns for farm transactions, Ac., which will 
sometimes occupy several lines, thus leaving 
an opportunity of continuing your weather 
remarks, if necessary, as fair A. M., cloudy P. 
M., Ac., down the column; then draw a stroke 
across the weather column just below the 
lower line occupied by the day’s transactions. 
These transactions (as I call them) should 
comprise what you were doing—what each or 
all of your laborers were doing—(the laborers 
should be named iu connection with the labor 
they were performing; it may some time or 
oilier save trouble)—what bargain or sale you 
may have made—what cash you received or 
I paid out—from, or to whom—who were pres¬ 
ent, if any one — anything remarkable that 
you know of having transpired. In order to 
illustrate more fully the plan, I give you a 
sketch for the present month: 
DECEMBER, 1854. 
Days. Dates. 
Here write down your 
farm transactions and 
I otber.rrinark*. 
In the first place, however, you should have 
on a separate sheet an outline map or rough 
sketch of the farm, with all the fields and lots 
marked down and numbered thereon for the 
purpose of reference, till you get so well 
“ posted” that you can do without it 
In recording your “transactions ” set down 
for each day you may be hauling out manure, 
how many loads aud what kind or condition 
you put on—No. 1, 2, 3 and so on, as the 
case may be, and when you are done, the ag¬ 
gregate amount; in seeding, how much seed 
you sow each day, of what kind, and on which 
field—aggregate when done; in harvest, how 
many dozen you have cut each day—good or 
bad—when done, aggregate; in threshing, 
how many bushels off each field (if kept sepa¬ 
rate.) The product of each field should be 
credited on tbe account book (which should be 
Deport The manure is —not can be—made, 
outaius 14i per cent of ammonia, and can be 
afforded at $34 per ton. 
Science and industry present a force against 
■vliich it is dangerous for any government or 
company to contend, and we would call the 
attention of the agents of the Peruvian guano 
monopoly to the above facts. Guano can be 
-old cheaper than fish manure; for at best we 
must purchase an apparatus, buy coals to 
work it and pay men to catch the fiJi; while 
the penguins (guano birds) catch the fish for 
nothing, burn off the useless carbon, and leave 
the ammonia and phosphates in just that con¬ 
centrated state required for transportation.— 
If, therefore, the Peruvian Government acts 
wisely, it will speedily remove at least a por¬ 
tion of the enormous duty imposed on the 
exportation of guano. A small duty might 
be paid ou guano and still compete with fish 
manure, but with the present unreasonable 
import we hope fish manure can be made so 
low as to run guano out of the market. 
* The “ dried cod-fish’’ used in Mr. Lawks’ experiments 
in pig feeding, referred to in the RvRal of September 23. 
was some of this refuse matter; and the results lead ns to 
hope it may yet be used as food for hogs. Certainly, if it 
can be obtained cheap enough for manure, it can be for 
food, seeing that the excrements from the pigs eating it 
rid be nearly as valuable as though it were applied di- 
y to the soil. 
years ago, wotim produce it a Hundred years 
hence; and a farm that repaid the grandfather 
for the care bestowed upon its cultivation, 
would repay the descendant. 
There might be, as there have been, extra¬ 
neous causes that would make the raising of 
some other staple more desirable and profita¬ 
ble, but those causes would not make the soil 
any less competent to raise the original pro¬ 
duction. Railroads, for instance, have turned 
inland grazing, and even grain farms, into milk 
farms. Fresh provisions are now sent from 
localities which a few years ago were inacces¬ 
sible for such purposes. These changes in the 
production of a given region are legitimate 
and proper, and as such are a cause of con¬ 
gratulation; but when a change takes place 
simply because Nature refuses longer to honor 
drafts made upon her, it is the inevitable ami 
unmistakable token of improvident and ruinous 
husbandry. 
Weather. 
Mean 
u m. 
Thaer says whoever would obtain a large 
and vigorous race of Merino sheep should 
keep his ewes from the rams until they are 
three years old. The ram, too, should not be 
allowed to leap till he is three years old. Will 
some of our sheep breeders inform us how far 
this opinion accords with their experience? 
