RURAL LIFf 
^CSRIClji TLJflf 
derod otherwise by repeated washing. With great 
care, however, very good cakes, and tolerable 
pelage, have been mudo in my house; hut their 
preparation was quite a serious affair, in conse¬ 
quence of the bitterness, which must be got rid 
of, and of the long boiling which the seeds 
require.” 
1 culture,—that is, by hoys following the hoers.— 
1 Some recommend that the seed be sown in a bed, 
and when the plants are lit for transplanting— 
which will be when about five inches high—they 
arc to be set out in rows nine inches apart, and at 
six-inch intervals from plant to plant in the rows. 
Tn either case, the land must bo kept clean, and 
well hoed, particularly in the first season; ordi¬ 
nary attention will afterwards suffice, and the 
crop will continue luxuriant and prolitable for 
live years at least, and frequently from eight to 
ten. When the plunts begin to exhibit symptoms 
of failure, the ground should be cleared of the 
roots, unother course of cropping pursued for a 
few years, and it may then be again sown or 
planted with chicory. 
Chicory is of far more value to mow than to 
graze. It has been much used as a pasturage for 
shejp, and found to be very useful in this respect, 
for a small extent of chicory ground will fatten a 
large namber of sheep; but then it is only the 
radical leaves shooting up close to the ground 
which are continually cropped by the sheep, the 
stalks not affording them proper nourishment— 
The best way is, to let the plant reach its full 
growth, the full succulence being retained until 
the flower-buds appear, in which state (not being 
permitted tn flower) it has attained its greatest 
perfection; it may then be cut off near the ground, 
and will be eaten by all kinds of stock with the 
greatest relish and benefit. 
As it is a plant of such speedy growth, and in 
all seasons, wet or dry, it cannot he too strongly 
recommended for general use, and more particu¬ 
larly for the smaller occupiers. Cow-keepers 
would do well to cultivate it, and cottagerB ought 
by all means to employ it in a double manner. 
Chicory ia now grown in many parts of Eng¬ 
land, chiefly for the sake of preparing a “substi¬ 
tute for coffee” from the rootA-a practice which 
has existed on the Continent for nearly seventy 
years; “and of all plants,” says Vos Tuakk, 
“which have been proposed us substitutes for 
coffee, and which, when roasted and steeped in 
boiling water, yielded an infusion resembling 
coll'ee, chicory is the only one which has main¬ 
tained Us ground.” 
Croat quantities of chicory are imported into 
this country, and used in the adulteration of 
colfee, or as a substitute for this article, ft is this 
that is now so largely advertised as dandelion 
coffee. Much of it must be used at the West, for 
iu the autumn of 1850 we saw very largo quanti¬ 
ties in the warehouses at Chicago. 
QUINO A. 
The Qninoa ( Ghenopodinm qninoa y is a Peru¬ 
vian annual, inhabiting the high table land of the 
Cordilleras, where it was, at the conquest by the 
Spaniards, the only farinaceous grain employed 
as food. It is largely cultivated in those coun¬ 
tries still; its nutritious seeds are made into soup, 
bread, and ail such purposes as are served by rice 
in other countries. The plant grows from four to 
six feet high, with many angular branches; the 
leaves stand on long, narrow stalks, are dull, glau¬ 
cous, of a somewhat jagged triangular outline; 
the lowermost on the stem have sometimes a 
small auricle or two at the base. The flowers ap- 
[ pear in large, compact, branched heads, and are 
succeeded by minute shining flat seeds, which are 
either black, white, or red; for there are several 
varieties of color, both iu seeds and leaves. 
The plant was first introduced to Europe by the 
late A. B. Lambert, and much interest has been 
taken in its cultivation. It proves to be a plant 
perfectly suited to the climate of England, and, 
in cultivation, merely requires to be sown broad¬ 
cast in April, in gooi 1 subsoil, and to be thinned 
out to eighteen inches apart The crop soon fills 
the ground, and the seeds arc ripe in September. 
Very large quantities of seed liave been obtained 
in France in this way; but the grain has an un¬ 
pleasant taste, to which few persons are likely to 
reconcile themselves. 
The only account of cooking this grain is the 
following, by SI. Vilmorin:— “ Whether it is that 
it does not acquire in France the same quality as 
in America, or, which is more likely, that our 
taste is not accustomed to it, few people have 
found it palatable. It has the great fault of being 
distinctly bitter and acrid, and it can only he ren- 
INTERESTING AND USEFUL PLANTS, 
Occasionally we have called the attention of 
our readers to plants not generally cultivated, or 
even well known, in this country. 
We have done 
this in the hope that our seedsmen would be in¬ 
duced to import the seed of those varieties not 
yet grown here, that our farmers might have au 
opportunity of testing, In our climate, plants that 
prove of value in Europe. Home of them, no 
doubt, would prove worthless, while others may 
succeed better than In foreign countries. T5y 
pursuing this course, and testing new things, 
much good way routlt, ',k”e the experiment 
would cost little, even if a failure. In either 
case, there Ys a satis, otic n in knowing the truth 
for ourselves—in proving all things, and holding 
fast to that which is good. Wc now introduce 
two plants, the Chicory and the Quinoa, the 
former of which is very extensively grown in 
Europe, and large quantities are imported into 
this country. 
CHICOET. 
Chicory is a perennial plant, which is found 
wild in many parts of England, and in various 
countries of Europe possessing a similar temper¬ 
ature. It has a root similar iu shape to the pars¬ 
nip, or white carrot, bnt smaller, growing from 
one to two feet in the ground, and in some 
instances sending its fibres downward for four or 
five feet. The plant grows iu the form of a let¬ 
tuce; hearing, after the first year, blue flowers 
upon a rough, leafy stem, which shoots up from 
one to six feet high. Chicory has long been ex¬ 
tensively cultivated on the continent of Europe 
as au herbage and pasturage plant, and is much 
used as a salad; while in Flanders and Germany, 
the roots are in great request, as a substitute for 
coffee is prepared from them. Morton says it 
was introduced into field culture in Europe, by 
Arthur Young, in 1780, and was grown princi* 
pally for sheep-feed, and found to he very profit¬ 
able, as it will flourish upon almost any kind of 
land, and probably keep more sheep per acre, 
during the early summer months, than any other 
kind of herbage plant. Lucerne requires a rich 
soil, or its cultivation will not he accompanied by 
much advantage; but chicory has been found to 
be abundantly profitable upon poor sandy lands, 
and soils which 
made, and the posts set firmly in the ground, and 
occasionally seen to afterwards, for a poor gate, 
such as we sometimes see, is a good deal worse 
than any pair of bars we could conceive of. 
FENCES AND OTHER MATTERS. 
PROSPECTIVE STERILITY 
T HAVE scon yonng men, in conscious health 
and strength, wuste improvidently their mental 
and physical resources. The more richly endowed 
by their Creator, the more profligate their con¬ 
duct. Encouraged by past impunity, they despise 
caution. Too confident to be advised in time, 
they wait the inexorable teachings of premature 
stanccB of his own case, depending somewhat 
whether his farm'is most suitable for dairy or for 
grain, or both. The size of the lots will depend 
upon the size of ufae farm—a large farm requiring 
few, if any, mor«‘than a smaller one, an advan¬ 
tage in saving fthees not generally noted. From 
six to ten lota, exclusive of the wood lot, are 
ordinarily sufficient for any farm from fifty to 
three hundred acres, and they should be perma¬ 
nently arranged, as may seem most convenient,— 
carefully making all the corners right-angles, and 
avoiding all irregular and awkward shapes so far 
as possible. There is also another advantage, in 
these days of mowing and reaping machines, in 
having your fields large and in regular shape— 
they are so much more convenient to cutover, 
and in a lew years, with steam plows, they will be 
so much better to plow over. 
When, as will sometimes be the case,’you hap¬ 
pen to have a crop of wheat, oats, barley, or a 
meadow, in parts of the same field with a coru or 
potato crop, do not he unnecessarily troubled 
about the fall pasture of the land. In nine cases 
out of ten, it will not pay to build a temporary 
fence to save it. It will generally pay better to 
leave it on the ground, even if you coold turn 
into it as well as not, especially if next year it is 
to remain as meadow, the increased growth pill 
generally pay for it. It is an evil in our farming 
that so many think they must have their grass 
eaten down to thirtoots before winter, or at least 
by spring. It will be all there next year, even if 
you leave it uneaten to sink on the ground, and 
it will do more good to the roots of the grass 
than it could to your stock, especially in an open, 
freezing and thawing wiuter. We might, perhaps, 
make an exception, for last year and this winter, 
when hay is so dear and scarce, but, on the whole, 
we conclude we won't, for there are enough others 
who will. If you make a temporary fence, there 
are also the rails, boards, or other material to be 
removed, or else he in the way of the next year’s 
work, and it rarely pays to fence ground for so 
short a time. 
But your fences, he they never so few, must be 
good, and a sufficient bar to any kind of stock on 
yUINOA PLANT. 
At the best, we must regard qninoa as a vege¬ 
table upon which man will feed only if be can 
got nothing better. It is, however, a capital grain 
for poultry, a good green food for cattle, and the 
leaves may bo served at tabid as a palatable sub¬ 
stitute for spinach. 
FARM HOUSE AND BARN, 
Eds. Rural New-Yorker :—Having noticed 
several designs for buildings iu your admired 
sheet, and being, as the majority of mankind is, 
rather self-conceited, I thought that I would scud 
you sorno plans which I have labored hard and 
long in mind, and not a little in drafting and 
revising, to arrive at. if the inclosed plans 
should fall to suit others as well as they do me, 
they will at least help make up a variety, and 
perhaps may be just what some one may desire, 
as there is a great variety of taste in the human 
family. If yon see lit to give them a place in 
some future issue of the Rural, you will very 
much oblige a subscriber; and if you, or some 
of your many correspondents, will give au eleva¬ 
tion that will be suited to this design for a house, 
that shall combine taste and beauty, keeping in 
mind cheapness, (should prefer siding to board 
and battening,) you may consider one humble 
subscriber very much pleased. 
were weak and wanted rest, as 
well as on richer and more productive soils. It 
also thrives on fen uud peat soils; and will last 
fur seven or eight years, yielding several cuttings 
during each year, though the full crop is not 
obtained until the second year. 
GROUND PLAN. 
A, Front Room, or Parlor—13x10 feet; R , R, Bed-Rooms 
—9 feet; C, Family Bed-Room—13jjxl5 foot; D, 
Clothes-Room—3x8 feet; (C, Stairways—3x8 font; F, 
Hall— 8x11?; feet; G, Kitchen—14x13 feel; //, Pantry 
—7Xxl2ftet, less jog; /, Stairways—3x0 feet;Wood- 
House, or Summer Kitchen—12x12)4 feet; /»’, Passage 
from Pantry to Cellar and Wood-House, or out-doui*— 
3x4 feet, leaving room for 3 feet outside door and 
casings. 
Description of House. — You will, at first 
glance, notice three rooms of about the same 
size„contaiuing, respectively, as follows:—Front 
room, or parlor, 208 square feet; family bedroom, 
or room for sick, with outside door, 200; and 
kitchen, 210. The upright is 24 by 28 feet, the 
tences adjoining some coveted grain-field. If a 
good fence even can he considered only as a 
necessary evil, then surely a poor fence is an un¬ 
necessary evil, utterly loathsome and abominable. 
hat you build with is also a matter of com¬ 
paratively little consequence, whether stone, 
board and post, or rails. You can make a very 
good fence out of either, and you can make a 
miserably poor fence from any one of them. We 
oave seen it tried with each, with most admirable 
success. If stone are plenty, you can make an 
excellent fence from them, and at the same time I 
CHICORY plant. 
When it is intended to grow chicory for graz¬ 
ing purposes, the seed is usually sown broadcast, 
in April, upon land that has been dug or deeply 
plowed, from seven to twelve pounds per acre; 
and growing in this manner, it forms a considera- 
IRVING, N Y 
