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RURAL LIFE 
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ROCHESTER, N. Y.-FOR THE WEEK ENDING SATURDAY, JUNE 0, 18G0, 
JIOORE’S RURAL NEW-YORKER 
name in this country, rather than at the great in¬ 
stitutions. The result is said to justi Fy the wisdom 
of this course. 
There is scarcely a week but we receive letters 
from youths, asking at what institutions they can 
learn Practical and Scientific Agriculture, ami we 
are at a loss for a reply. For the benefit of such, 
we make these remarks. Our advice, which we 
have ofteu privately given, is to obtain as good 
an English education as possible; improve every 
moment in the study of Chemistry and Geology, 
until a knowledge of the rudiments of these 
sciences is obtained. Itead Bo usai nqault and 
Johnston, and any other works you may Jind 
profitable, and the Agricultural papers; converse 
with the best farmers and carefully observe their 
practice; obtain the use of a little land and try 
a few experiments, such as arc suggested to the 
mind by reading, or such as may be discussed in 
the Agricultural press; always keep a watchful 
eye, and determine to know the why and the 
wherefore, if possible, of every result, and you 
cannot tail to maku a good farmer. If you arc in 
circumstances to do. so, place yourself uudertho 
instruction of a-farmer you know to be good, and 
serve him and yourself faithfully. At present 
we know of no better way for a young man to 
learn to be a farmer. If others can give better 
advice, wo will most cheerfully publish it for the 
benefit or those who are in the pursuit of knowl¬ 
edge under difficulty. 
sow well secured under a barn. They did well, 
but if they come in very cold weather, they will 
freeze, if not protected. It is quite a convenience 
to have the pigs large enough when grass comes, 
to be stopped by a fal r fence. n. t. b. 
AX ORIGINAL WEEKLT 
RITUAL, LITERARY AND FAMILY NEWSPAPER. 
CONDUCTED BY D. D. T. MOORE, 
With an Able Corps of Assistants and Contributors. 
GRAIN AND ROOTS FOR EXHIBITION. 
The It coal New Yorker in (U-rijmed to be unsurpassed 
in Value, Purity, Usel'ulnesa and Variety of Contents, and 
unique and beautiful In Appearance. Its Conductor devotes 
his personal attention to the supervision of itn various de¬ 
partments, and earnestly labors to render the Rural an 
eminently Reliable ("Inidn on all the important Practical, 
Scientific ami other Subject. Inttofltely connected with tin. 
business of those whose intercuts it eeuloutdy advocates. 
As a Family Journal it is eminently Instructive and Kn» 
tertalninc - beitnr so conducted that it can bu unfitly taken 
to tho Hearts and Homes of people of Intelligence, tasto 
and discrimination. It embraces more Agricultural, Horti¬ 
cultural, Scientific, Educational, literary and News Matter, 
interspersed with appropriate and beautiful Engravings, 
than any other journal, —rendering it the most complete 
Agricultural, Literary and Family Newspaper in 
America. 
For Terms and other particulars, see last page. 
Si 
HOG PENS - PROFIT OF RAISING PORK. 
AGRICULTURAL EDUCATION. 
It is quite common to lament that so little at¬ 
tention is paid to the education of Agriculturists 
in thiB country, and to consider that in this re¬ 
spect we are far behind almost all tbs other civil¬ 
ized nations of the world. With this sentiment 
we have no sympathy. We believe the farmers of 
America, as a class, are as intelligent and as 
enterprising as any similar class, in any country 
in the world. In England there ere a few able, 
enterprising, wealthy men, and a few men of 
science, who are devoting their time, talents and 
wealth, to the improvement of the agriculture of 
the country,—to expensive draining, high manur¬ 
ing, and costly and valuable experiments —and 
these men are prominent at all meetings, and their 
sayings and doings, in the main, fill the Agricul¬ 
tural Journals. They are au honor to the coun¬ 
try. But Mkchi and Lawks, and a few others, 
are not fair representatives of the farmers of 
England, and we do not believe that one hnndrud 
farmers taken promiscuously from any district in 
Western New York, would be found inferior, in 
any respect, to the same number of English far¬ 
mers, selected in the same manner, from any dis¬ 
trict in England, or any other portion of Europe. 
The celebrated Agricultural Chemist, Joun- 
ston, thus deplored the condition of Agricultural 
Education in England:—“The agricultural inter¬ 
est in England ha3 hitherto expended its main 
strength in attempung to secure or maintain im¬ 
portant political advantages iu the State, The 
encouragement of experimental agriculture has 
been in general neglected, while the diffusion of 
practical knowledge has been either wholly over¬ 
looked or considered subordinate to other objects. 
No national efforts have been made for the gene¬ 
ral improvement of the methods of culture. While 
for the other important classes of the community 
special schools have been established, In which 
the elements of all the branches of knowledge 
most necessary for each class have beeu more or 
less completely taught, and a more enligbted, be- 
race of men 
The Rural of March 21th, gives a plan of a 
“ Piggery,”— hogpen, as old fashioned folks say. 
The plan appears to be a good one, but 1 would 
suggest that the spirit of the age requires that 
every bog pen should have an arrangement for 
steaming or boiling food. Uncooked food for 
hogs is inadmissible, and it is absolutely neces¬ 
sary to make the conking easy, and cheap withal. 
1 have seen an out-door potash kettle concern 
cost, in a wet, cold time, more than it comes to. 
Hogs are not exactly indigenous to this country 
(Western New York;) they belong to Egypt, in 
Illinois, six pounds of corn can be sent to the 
sea board, from the Wabash, cheaper by putting 
it into one pound of pork, 
11 AY-WEED. 
OX-EYE DAISY. 
I have inclosed three specimens. No. 1 is of 
the plant in question when growing rank; No. 2 
when growing in thick wheat; each of which, I 
snppose, iB tho product of one seed. The sample 
of May-Weed is not a good one, as I have seen it 
more closely resemble No. 2, especially when in 
blossom. j. ij> ( D< 
May Flower Mills, Cayuga Co,, N\ V. 
The weeds accompanying the above were ex¬ 
hibited to a number of farmers and others, and 
several pronounced Nos. I and 2 to he the com¬ 
mon May-Weed, only having made a luxurious 
growth iu a warm and favorable location; others, 
from the dissimilarity shown, were disposed to 
name it the O r- Eye Dai tty , but both aro incorrect. 
To aid In making this matter plain, wo givo 
drawings of both of these,— the May Weed, 
reduced in size, and the White-Weed, or Ox-Eye 
Daisy, of tho natural size, from Darlington's 
Weeds and Useful Plants. 
1 lie troublesome weed which our correspond¬ 
ent names Subtile May- Weed, is Anthem is ar- 
vensis, or Corn Chamomile. The flower resembles 
the May- Weed, but Is much larger, while If, Is 
only about half the size of the Ox-Eye Daisy. 
The botanist will observe that tho rays are pistil- 
ate and generally fertile, while in the May-Weed 
they are sterile. Tho leaves of tho May-Weed 
are brighter green, larger, and more finely cut, 
than those of t.he Corn Chamomile . The stems 
of the Chamomile, and even the leaves, are gray, 
from a hairy down, while those of the May-Weed 
are clean. Gray says this plant is found In the 
fields in New England and New York, but is only 
sparingly introduced. Turkey, in State Natural 
History, published about 1843, says it is rare, 
but found In Westchester and Washington coun¬ 
ties. Since that time it must have increased 
very rapidly. 
Morton says that “in England this weed 
inhabits light, gravelly soils, and is apt to 
be troublesome unless carefully extirpated. If 
means are taken to extirpate it before it gets into 
flower, it, like all annuals, must in time disappear. 
In the absence of that precaution, ifs eradication 
is Impossible.” 
name of May- Weed. Now, I protest against this 
applying of soft names to hard characters, and 
am inclined to think, that had that important 
actor in the Garden of Eden been known to 
Mother Eve as the very Devil, our old mother 
had been more on the look out. 
However, like the honest Dutchman, who, sit¬ 
ting in inquest over a subject of drunkenness, 
being opposed to the other jurors calling it 
“death from water on the brain,” said, “Schcutle- 
meu,I vill scbpl.it the dilferance mityou, und call 
um viskey and water on do brain,” so I will com¬ 
promise if you will call it Devilish May-Weed. 
This weed possesses all tho self-appropriating, 
gluttonish characteristics chargeable to Pigeon 
Weed, and, in addition, the subtilty of the “old 
one we read of.” Concerning the last-named 
characteristic, T remember the earnest admoni¬ 
tions of an esteemed friend (now deceased) to 
his neighbor farmers, to guard against it as not 
being tho same with May-Weed, for he had known 
it in the State of Pennsylvania. I romember, too, 
how, like the dwellers in Sodom, they disregarded 
his warning, and how lie, LoT-liko, looked ahead 
for himself. The consequence was, (heir farms 
sunk in value, at least $1(1 per acre, while his 
(Lot's) was free from the pest. 
1 am not confident that I could describe it so 
that it could invariably be distinguished from 
May- Weed, yet, on account of rny antipathy to 
and familiarity with it, I can distinguish these 
weeds as readily as we can detect an attempted 
copy of our handwriting. And here I would say, 
that repeated and arduous contests with it and 
Pigeon Weed have engendered u spirit of exter¬ 
mination, insomuch that often, when crossing a 
neighbor’s field where they grow, I instinctively 
stoop over to pull them up. The principal points 
of difference are:—The Subtile May- Weed, (as we 
Hence, pork-raising is 
suited to grain districts distant from markets, 
and, I may add, to mild olimates. My friend, 
John Jounston, (who seldom makes mistakes; I 
always remind him when he does,) remarked in¬ 
cidentally that he raised only enough pork for his 
own use. If any one does raise pork in this coun¬ 
try they must work dose to the mark. There is no 
margin for waste, lienee, we must have cooking 
utensils, and have them well arranged. We can 
meet Western competition iu no other way. 
If a hog pen can be built on descending ground 
so as to have a cellar for small potatoes and ap¬ 
ples at one end, and adjoining the cook room, it 
will be well. There should be eonveuientstorage 
for meal and all materials used. My friend, Wm. 
Dickey, of Livingston Co., has bis hog pen of 
wood, but he is careful to lay the floor where the 
hogs go on timbers seperate and below the sills 
of the building, so that they can be easily sup¬ 
plied when they decay. 
Not many bogs should be wintered here, but 
what are, should be put in a warm, dry place to 
sleep. Their winter quarters should be of stone, 
or donble-boarded. with a space between filled 
with tan-bark or saw-dust- Feed them enousb so 
IMPORTED WEEDS. 
In our issue of the 2<)th alt- we gave descrip¬ 
tions of several of the most troublesome of 
imported weeds, with sncli remarks as we thought 
would be interesting and profitable to our read¬ 
ers. The fact that foreign weeds are 
increasing 
very rapidly, is susceptible of the cleared proof. 
Many that ten or twenty years ago were known 
only to botanists, and described in the books as 
'‘very rare,'’ and as only " sparingly introduced," 
aro become troublesome pests. That wc have 
succeeded in arousing attention to this question, 
is very evident from the number of communica¬ 
tions and inquiries we have received, as well as 
by several packages of weeds, scut us for exami¬ 
nation and name. The following, accompanying 
three packages of weeds, supposed to be varie¬ 
ties of the May- Weed, is from a correspondent 
in Cayuga county: 
.Hav-Weeds. 
Eds. Rural New-Yorker: — Having read, 
with interest, an article in the Rural of May 
20tb, oil “ Imported Weeds and Insects," I marked 
the omission to notice one which 1 think deserv¬ 
ing of a harder name than is there given to any 
treated of, the “ Cursed Thistle," or the “ Wheat 
Thief" not excepted; for, while the former, with 
its deep-penetrating root, loosens and enriches 
the soil, and the latter does, or may, yield some 
return for its gluttony, (its seed producing oil 
for painting purposes, as good ub flax seed,) this 
has no redeeming properties that I know of. 
As 1 am not botanist enough to give it a class¬ 
ified name, 1 herewith send a specimen, hoping 
you will classify it and make it public, for it has 
long enough passed under the common, harmless 
Instead of a room iu the main building for ma¬ 
nure, I would attach a small yard to the hog pen 
with a thorough fence, and that part of the yard 
nearest to the pen should be covered, so as to 
keep the manure dry. Of course the manure will 
be mixed with leaf-mould, muck, leaves, weeds 
and other litter. This leaching manure before yon 
use it is in the last degree objectionable. When¬ 
ever it is to be thrown out of the stables, there 
should be a cover to keep it dry. These covers 
may be made very cheap of boards or Blabs. 
Connected with every hog-pen Bhould be a 
yard where bogs can root, “for ’tis their nature, 
too.” l came near losing a valuable sow last 
winter from close confinement. Charcoal and 
rotten wood will perhaps supply the place of 
the earth, but I decidedly prefer that pigs and 
store hogs should come to the ground. Good 
sanitary arrangements for hogs conduce to the 
health of man. Whatever earth is rooted over 
and mixed with the manure, should be carted 
out, and its place supplied with more earth. 
If we have a place sutliciently warm to render 
it safe, 1 think it good policy to raise winter pigs. 
While young they eat comparatively little, and 
when the clover is ready in the spring they are 
ready to eat it, and may be killed before cold 
weather comes. I bad a litter in January from a 
cause better instructed, race of men gradually 
trained up. no such schools have been instituted 
for the benefit of the agriculturist. Iu our Uni¬ 
versities, in which the holders of land, those most 
interested in its improvement, are nearly all edu¬ 
cated, a lesson upon agriculture, the right arm of 
the State, has hitherto scarcely ever been given. 
With the practice of the art, the theory has also 
been neglected. Scientific men have had no in¬ 
ducement to devote their time and talents to a 
subject which held out no promise of reward, 
either in the shape of actual emolument or of 
honorary distinction. And thus has arisen the 
second of those circumstances, by which I con¬ 
sider the approach of a better state of things to 
have been retarded, namely, the want of an Agri¬ 
cultural Literature." 
The remedy proposed by most writers is the 
establishment of Agricultural Schools and Col¬ 
leges _n every State iu the Union, but we think 
Die experiment, where tried, ha3 not been as satis¬ 
factory as could be desired. Indeed, many of the 
host practical farmers in Europe consider such in- 
rinutions of much leas utility than they are sup¬ 
posed to be, and many gentlemen of rank prefer 
tu have their sous learn farming, as the pupils of 
we 1-kriown good farmers, like some we could 
FACTS FOR CULTIVATORS, 
I take this seasonable opportunity of commu¬ 
nicating the result of a few experiments. Let it 
be remembered that climate, soil, and tillage, have 
a material influence upon tho success of all farm¬ 
ing operations; and to the diversity of this trio- 
potent agency may we ascribe all the varied and 
conflicting experiences of the great mass of hus¬ 
bandmen. AVith this explanation, we will simply 
state what was observed under given circumstan¬ 
ces, and leave your readers to draw their own j 
conclusions respecting the utility of the facts 
enumerated. 
I was much pleased with the Crystal-flint, or 
Hominy corn. Planted about a dozen hills in 
the garden; left three to four stalks iu tho hill— ( 
the latter about two and a half feet apart. Owing u, 
to the coldness of the season, and the stiff, clayey 1 
soil, little increase was expected. I found, how- ^ 
ever, that this variety was well adapted to the J 
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