MOORE’S RURAL NEW-YORKER, 
AN ORIGINAL WKEKLT 
RURAL, LITERARY AND FAMILY NEWSPAPER. 
CONDUCTED BY D. D. T. MOORE, 
W ith an Able Corps of Assistants and Contributors. 
Thk Rural Nxvt-Yoiikkr m ilesiKtisd to b« unsurpansed 
in Value, Purity, Usofulneiw and Variety of Contents, and 
unique and beautiiul In Appearance. Its Conductor devotes 
his petaoual attention to the supervision of its various de¬ 
partment*, aad earnestly labor* to render the Rural an 
eminently Reliable Guide on all tbe important Practical, 
Scientific and other Subjects intimately connected with the 
business of those whose interests it ttoalnnsiy advocates. 
As a Family Jocrnal it is eminently Instructive and En¬ 
tertaining— being so conducted that it can bn safely taken 
to the Hearts and Homes of people 01 intellignnne, taste 
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, Litkkaky anp Family Nkwhuaukr in 
America. 
For Txuwii nnd other particulars, see last pane. 
INQUIRIES AND NOTES. 
9Ioou JtliiuluesK—Specific Opthnlmin. 
Will the editors of the Rural, or some of its know¬ 
ing readers, give a remedy for “Moon Eyes” in horses, 
and oblige—A SUBSCRIBRR, Hebron, Ohio . 1880. 
This disease is considered one of tbe most 
stubborn with which the veterinarian has to 
combat, and it generally vanquishes him in his 
efforts for its removal. Its fluctuations are very 
annoying,—one day it disappears almost alto¬ 
gether, and the next returns with a violence 
which would seem to mark renewod power from 
its brief stage of inactivity. Again it will pass 
away, the eye begins to endure the light, tbe 
redness and inflammation of the membrane of 
the lid are gone, or barely perceptible, the cornea 
clears up, and a slight thickening of the lids, and 
a little uneasiness on the part of tbe animal 
when exposed to very strong light, are the only 
remaining vestiges. But we cannot always bid 
it farewell, much as we may desire,—in a few 
weeks the same eye, or the other, is similarly 
attacked, and from frequent repetitions blindness 
results. 
The exciting causes in specific opthalmia are 
various. Hereditary influences are supposed by 
some veterinarians to be the most prolific; others 
are in doubt as to whether the disease itself, or 
only the predisposition, is transmitted. With 
Pbkcivall, the hereditary influence is “ predia- 
posent only.” Skeavinoton considers it a con¬ 
stitutional defect. Prof. Coleman states in hia 
Lectures that “the disease is never seen prior to 
the domestication of the animal; never occurs 
on a common, or in the open air, but is the pro¬ 
duct of the poison generated from the effluvia of 
the breath, dung and nrine of horses standing 
together; in proof of which, the disease is found 
to be more or leas prevalent, according as the 
stables in which horses stand are ventilated. In 
stables that have the most cases of inflamed 
lungs, grease (scratches,) and glanders, there we 
find the most blindness; where these diseases are 
rarest, opthalmia is least known.” Coincident 
with the opinions given above, and with rnauy 
other writers in the Old World, is the experience 
of veterinarians in this country. Dr. Dadd states 
that “wherever a case of simple or specific op- 
thalmja occurs, we generally find the subject 
located in a filthy stable, or on low marshy 
ground, or else he has been shut up for mauy 
hours in a railroad car, there respiring over and 
0Ve r again the foul products of combustion and 
excretion.” 
There are several modes of treatment adopted 
by the various practitioners. We give these, and 
the inquirer may follow out such as seem to best 
meet the requirements of the patient Spooner 
bljs that inflammation is the leading feature in 
all, and therefore should be met by active anti¬ 
phlogistic treatment An active dose of physic 
should be given, as soon as the horse is prepared, 
by mashes, and, in the meantime, three or four 
fiuarts of blood should he taken from the neck, 
on the same side as the affected eye. The eyelids 
should also be scarified, then well fomented with 
warm water; after which we have derived great 
assistance from putting linseed poultices, in linen 
bags, ou the eyes, by means of leather blinds. 
These should be continued during the day, and 
may serve as the vehicle tor the application of 
opiate or Goulard lotions, which, applied in the 
usual way, are but of little service. By this 
prompt and active treatment a great deal of good 
can be accomplished, and the loss of sight may 
be greatly postponed. It is useless to attempt 
half measures; we should either treat actively or 
not at all. After the violence of the inflamma¬ 
tion lias subsided, much benefit may be obtained 
by putting a few drops of the wine of opium into 
the eye twice a day. 
Dr. Dado objects to the blood-letting treat¬ 
ment, considering it worse than useless. Having 
removed the patient to a healthy location, make 
such a change in the diet as will produce an al¬ 
ternative effect. If the horse has been kept up for 
Some time, and fed upon stable provender, any de¬ 
scription of green, succulent fodder, will prodace 
certain sanatory effect. The medicine best calcu¬ 
lated to co-operate with hygienic means is:— 
Sassafras, skunk cabbage, and gentian, each three 
ounces ; sulphur, two ounces; elm bark, eight 
ounces; ginger, two onnees; salt, three ounces. 
All the ingredients must bo powdered. Mix the 
whole, divide into twelve parts, and give oue 
every night in the food. As a preparation for the 
eye, put one ounce of tbe tincture of Indian hemp 
into a pint of rain water, and apply two or three 
times a day. 
We have thus given our friend the manner of 
treatment, medicinally, for this malady. When 
worBt comes to worst, this is the only means of 
refuge, but it will he observed that veterinarians, 
very generally, agree upon this one point,—prop¬ 
er care, and well ventilated stables, will restrain, 
if not totally cheek its appearance. Admitting 
the correctness of their views, those whose ani¬ 
mals may he afflicted, or are in danger of becom¬ 
ing so, will readily perceive the advantages to be 
derived from the use of the “ounce of pre¬ 
vention.” 
Liquid Manure. 
I would like to learn, through your paper, the best 
manner of producing and saving manure in a liquid form, 
aod the mode and time of applying to the various crops? 
Also, its value to the first aud aftercrops as compared 
with the same manure used in the bulk.—L,, Fulton, 
Once go Co., N. K., 1880. 
Liquid manure may be saved by the proper 
construction of stables, so as to preserve in tanks 
or cisterns, the leakage which usually in a great 
measure runs to waste. We need not describe 
any particular method of doing this, as any plan 
will answer that will accomplish tbe end, and 
there is nothing difficult in the operation. Good 
gutters, with the necessary descent, will carry off 
all the liquid that will run from the stables, into 
any water-tight vessel, where it can be preserved 
for use. Barrels will answer for an experiment. 
Another way is to provide for Baving the liquid 
which ruri3 from the manure piles. The plan 
adopted in some places, is to throw the liquid 
maunre upon the compoBt heap, and in this way 
diied swamp muck, and all refuse from the farm, 
is converted into a valuable manure, and in a 
condition to be easily applied to tbe soil. In 
other places, and more particularly in Flanders, 
and parts of Holland, not only is the liquid ma¬ 
nure applied to the soil aud growiug crops, but 
fresh, eolid manure is taken directly from the 
stables, and thrown into tanks, where it is mixed 
with water or liquid manure, or both. Here it is 
allowed to ferment, and the solid parts become 
purtially dissolved, or so softened and separated 
as to remain suspended in the water. This is 
doubtless the very best way of applying manure 
to grass lands, and to all green crops, and should 
the system of soiling of which we spoke last 
week, become general, the application of manure 
in a liquid form would soon follow. 
The best way to apply liquid manure is to the 
growing crops, and if applied several times 
during the season, all the better. The food of 
the tree or plant is taken up by the roots in a 
liquid state; solid manure must therefore remain 
in the soil until it is gradually dissolved by rains, 
and in this way a constant supply of food in 
small quantities is furnished the growing plant, 
while a portion remains unused until the next 
season. Liquid rnannre is in the proper condi¬ 
tion for immediate use, aud its effects are almost 
instantaneous, but not lasting, as the whole is 
consumed in a short time. This makes caution 
necessary, or the plant becomes surfeited, and 
afterward starved. Or, if the liquid is too strong, 
the roots are "burned.” We have destroyed a 
great many things in experimenting with liquid 
manure. When the soil is wet, as after a hard 
rain, plants will bear liquid manure much strong¬ 
er than in hot, dry weather. We will not recom¬ 
mend the use of manure in a liquid form, in this 
country, as a general practice, but we do advise 
our readers to try a few experiments, and see the 
effects for themselves. And we urge all to save 
the waste from the stables, and apply to the com¬ 
post heaps. Of the propriety of this course 
there cau be no qnestion. 
Cutting the Tops of DitM-nsed Potatoes. 
My potatoes are badly diseased, the tope are djing, 
commencing at the lower leaves and extending upward 
until the whole ]n deatroyed Will cutting off the tops 
lave them? I have heaul that mowing is beneficial. 
Will you advise ua in our trouble, or 1 fear our whole 
crop will tic lost?- T. 11,, Irondequoil , JV. K, 1860. 
Wk are sorely troubled with the potato disease 
the present year, and hardly know what iidvice to 
give our correspondent. We have recommended 
the course suggested by our coirespondent to 
some parties, and it will be fairly tried. The 
blight in the haulm has progressed so far in our 
own field that we hardly think cutting the tops 
will produce any material effect- We planted 
much thicker than is customary with farmers, 
encouraged by our auoc* as lust, year—1 foot apart 
in the rows, and the rows 2 feet apart. A small 
plot the usual distance, in hills .‘i feet each way, 
shows far less disease. In investigating the sub¬ 
ject, we find that thick planting has usually 
favored the development of the disease. In the 
report of a series of careful experiments made 
by the Government of Prussia, we find the follow¬ 
ing facts stated:—“In making an experiment in 
two adjoining fields, homogeneous in tho eharac- 
actor of their soil, manured and treated alike in 
every respect, both were planted at the game time 
with a variety of red potatoes, with only this dif¬ 
ference:—One was plan led almost twice as densely 
as the oilier. The bills in one field were 1J by 2 
feet apart, and those in the other a foot apart 
each way. At harvest, it appeared that those of 
the more open culture were quite healthy, while 
the others, lor the most part, were diseased.” 
llow general this blighting of the vines is, we 
cannot state, ns we have not heard much on the 
subject from our correspondents, but we see Bad 
evidences of it in our short journeys in this sec¬ 
tion. The present destruction of the haulms, it 
seems to us Is different from anything we have 
before seen, and its effect upon the tubers in all 
eases we cannot state. The report to which we 
have before referred, gives a large number of 
cases in which the vines were blighted, but the 
tubers were perfectly sound. Wo copy further on 
this point.:—“According to an opinion generally 
adopted, the blight of the vines and the rot of the 
tubers are the symptoms of one and the same dis¬ 
ease. Furthermore, it is supposed that In most 
instances the disease of tho vine is the precursor 
of that of tho tuber. From observations, how¬ 
ever, in the experiments of the last two years, 
some doubts may be thrown upon this theory. 
The vines of nearly all of the varieties were 
blighted; nevertheless, most of them remained 
unaffected by the disease of the tuber. In 1853, a 
land owner In the vicinity harvested 1,030 bushels 
of potatoes, and notwithstanding the vines were 
totally destroyed by the blight, the tubers were 
healthy. Furthermore, among the few varieties 
which did not suffer from the blight of tbe vines 
in 1853, cultivated ou the trial fitld, two of them 
had diseased tubers.” 
The difficulty with us is, that the vines blighted 
so badly early in the season, that in many cases 
the plants aro destroyed, while the tubers are bo 
small as to be worthless, even if sound. We dug 
half a dozen hills lately, without getting a quart 
of potatoes, in addition to this, we liud they are 
watery’, with evident signs of decay. In some 
lots where the owners thought the crop had 
ripened, the tops being entirely dead, we found 
the tubers to be mere sacks of water, having a 
very tiupleasant smell. What appears singular in 
our own lot is, that the highest and dryest part 
shows the most disease. 
Several weeks since a correspondent in Orleans 
county stated that a "greenish white louse” was 
doing a good deal of mischief to the potatoes in 
that section, “almost completely destroying whole 
fields.” At that time we had not observed this 
enemy, although we had watched the progress of 
the blight. Since then, we have received speci¬ 
mens of leaves and insects from other sections, 
and have examined their depredations here. 
They are usually most numerous on sandy soils, 
eating the leaves of the plants so as to destroy 
them entirely. They seem to commence work on 
a few plants, and to extend their operations in a 
circle, so that in a field, one or more patches, 
from a few rods to a quarter of an acre or more, 
will be found completely dead. Many fine lots 
we have seen almost ruined by this insect, and 
those fields that have best escaped the blight pre¬ 
sent a spotted, unsightly appearance front this 
cause. No varieties, so far as we can ascertain, 
are exempt. 
TWO DOLLARS A YEAR.] 
Y0L. XI. NO. 34.} 
ROCHESTER, N. Y.- FOR THE WEEK ENDING SATURDAY, AUGUST 25, 1860. 
! WHOLE NO. 554. 
“PROGRESS AND IMPROVEMENT.” 
LABOR-SAVING MACHINERY IN FARMING. 
Wk hold as a self-evident truth, that work is 
not iti itself meritorious. It is good only in its 
results, and good for nothing except as something 
useful is thereby accomplished. In saying this, 
we are fully aware that we are opposed by the 
venerable adage about that personage who, ac¬ 
cording to the couplet, is said to be ever finding 
— “ Some mischief still 
For idle hands to do," 
and which was all doubtless very true when it was 
written; but that was a long time ago, when, if a 
man wag not working, bo could have nothing else 
to do but to get into mischief. But with all the 
means for mental improvement which now exist, 
tho saying no longer holds good; and If any one, 
with a Rural, or some other newspaper or book, 
cannot now keep out of mischief without inces¬ 
sant work, why — well ihe Evil One will and ought 
to get him, any how! 
We are, therefore, not in tho leasf alarmed lest 
tho rapid improvements in farm implements, and 
the almost universal substitution of horse or 
steam power for human labor, should leave our 
farmers unduly exposed to the temptation to lazi¬ 
ness, from n superabundance of leisure. Of this 
there is little enough danger, as most of our 
readers can testify. Indeed, farmers, as a class, 
have always been tbe hardest workers in tho 
world. Most farm operations aro, of necessity, 
extremely laborious, aud where, as in this Coun¬ 
try, land is plenty and cheap, the temptation is 
always strong to buy and cultivate more than the 
number of laborers can really perform. In the 
great harry of haying and harvesting, thousands 
of constitutions are annually ruined simply by 
over work; and while tills is extremely unwise, it 
has really been almost necessitated by the dispro¬ 
portion of work to the number of laborers. If, 
therefore, any machinery can bo introduced by 
which these toils can be lightened, every farmer 
should avail himself of them ns fully as possible, 
not only as a matter of policy, but from conside¬ 
rations of hnmanity. It is only within a few 
years that the greatest improvements in farm 
machinery have been made, and their extended 
introduction is the best evidence of their neces¬ 
sity. 
But it is not alone in making farm work easier 
that these new implements, (the reaper, and hinder, 
and mower,) are of great practical value to tho 
country. They enlarge the bouuds of civilization 
hy opening to cultivation large tracts of land in 
the extreme west, which must otherwise, for many 
years, remain an unproductive waste. It is, of 
course, impossible to tell how much more grain 
is raised than farmers would have attempted to 
produce without the improved machinery for har¬ 
vesting it. Even in Western New York we know 
the gain from this source is considerable, while 
in the West, where farms of thousands of acres 
are found, it must bo immense. Now, when the 
reported scarcity in Europe gives us a prospect 
of remunerative prices for all sorts of grain, the 
increased production, fur this year alone, from tho 
use of reaping machines, may very possibly be 
sufficient to repay their entire cost 
It is a curious fact and worthy of notice, how 
improved implements In one department of farm 
industry make room for, and even necessitate 
them in others. Years ago, before the introduc¬ 
tion of the reaper, there was little if any necessity 
for the use of any other power than horse or ox 
in plowing. Farmers could easily plow as much 
or more land than lliey could cut over with the 
reaping hook, the scythe, or even the cradle. But 
now, with improved means for harvesting, tbe 
necessity of using steam power Is beginning to be 
felt, and inventir'* genius is already turned in 
that direction, and will, we doubt not, produce 
just tbe implements needed as soon as tbe neces¬ 
sity becomes urgent; for there is always a most 
remarkable and providential timing of all these 
inventions, which makes It almost impossible that 
they should be produced before they are needed. 
The effect will probably be to place tho farming 
land of the country in fewer hands, not only 
because tlu-se machines enable an individual to 
accomplish so much more than before, but also 
because they can be most advantageously ope¬ 
rated ou large farms. We think the census, now 
being taken, if it does not show au absolute de¬ 
crease in the number of landholders, (which ia 
scarcely possible, on account of the vust tracts of 
new territory which have been opened,) will yet 
show that the number of farmers lias not increased 
in proportion to the growth of the country. Every 
year more of our population will find their homes 
in cities or villages, and this proportion will prob¬ 
ably increase for some time. This tendency to 
desert farming, over which Borne mourn, as the 
effect of laziness or other wrong ideas, is really a 
necessity, — for, if the same proportion of our pop¬ 
ulation as forty years ago, were farmers, the mar¬ 
ket for grain would speedily be overstocked. 
Supply aud demand will, and must, regulate these 
matters, and, we doubt not, will do it wisely. 
-- 
AX-GRINDING AT AGRICULTURAL FAIRS. 
[The following article was written at the time of the 
first publication of the letter of Plowiundlk relative to 
the State Fair, but was niissent or mislaid, and did not 
appear in Hie Rural. The writer came across a copy 
thereof the Other day, and avails himself of the re-ap¬ 
pearance of pLOWtt aXULK*S excellent letter to request 
Us publication.] 
Eus. Rural New-Yokkkk:—I was very much 
interested in tho communication of I’lowuandlh 
on the subject of the late State Fair, and have 
been anxiously looking for further communica¬ 
tions from his knowing pen. Ho is up to a thing 
or two, it appears to me, in regard to un-katu 
matters at Agricultural Fairs, and if lie had 
given us liis reo.l name, 1 should have liked to 
coiumuuicato to him privately some further par¬ 
ticulars ou the same subject, which, with all hia 
penetration, ho did not. see, or from some cause 
does not see fit to oommunioute. 
All good citizens, and especially all sincere 
friends of the most important of all sciences, 
professions and employments, are interested, 
deeply interested, in the fair, honest and impartial 
management of our various Agricultural Exhibit 
lions . Let it once be seen that these Institutions 
(for auoh they now are and will ever bo, if right 
ly conducted,) can be used by designing men to 
further their own private ends, interests, and 
hobbies, and what are now a sonree of National 
advancement, individual improvement and inno¬ 
cent amusement, will dwindle into deserved in¬ 
significance. This consummation, so devoutly 
to be deprecuted, may perhitps better than any 
other way bo prevented by such exposures as 
those of Flowuaxdlk. 
Let such despicable offenders know that they 
are watched and marked, and, if they heed not tho 
friendly warning, shall he exposed, and they 
may stop their mean tricks, while others may he 
deterred from entering upon a course so con¬ 
temptible as to endeavor to wrest our valuable 
exhibitions to their own aggrandizement. 
I, too, was at the late State Fair, and hope 
Plowhantilk will give mo credit for knowing a 
thing or two in regard to the doings there. I 
may here say that I was no way interested, except 
as a spectator. 1 never was at, a State Fair be¬ 
fore. I had nothing to exhibit, had no hobbies 
or prejudices to advocate, and know not one of 
the officers, and had never seen the parly whom 
I may implicate, until the day in question. 
I was on the ground at the time the various 
Committees were organizing, and happened to be 
near the rendezvous of the Judges on *****, 
when it was ascertained that one of their number 
wasmlBsiug. The Superintendent being applied 
to fur a substitute, said, “ We want a good Judge,” 
and inquired of Mr. A., who of course happened 
to be there, whether he know of oue on tho 
grounds, lie mentioned Mr. 15., whom the Su¬ 
perintendent, appointed, and asked him to send 
for, hut told the Judges, C. and D., to proceed 
with their duties, and If Mr. B. should not be 
found, and they disagreed, ho would find another 
substitute. 
Mr. A. then said to tho Judges, “There is a man 
down there,” pointing to him, “whose animals 
on exhibition arc honestly what they appear to 
be, and are not fixed up and prepared for tbe 
occasion, and if / were on the committee I should 
award him the premium in preference to any of those 
along here, which / mould not allow to walk across 
my farm."* 
The Superintendent here interfered and said, 
“These gentlemen were appointed to decide that 
matter, and I cannot allow them to be influenced 
by others.” 
Tbe Judges C. and D. were commencing to act 
when Mr. A. again appeared and introduced Mr. 
E., a neighbor of his, to act in the place of Mr. B. 
who had just been appointed, and C., D. and E. 
proceeded with their duties as Judges. 
I thought all this quite too had, and went and 
told Mr. F., who complained to the Superintend¬ 
ent that this Committee had been packed, and 
its action interfered with hy a person having no 
authority in the matter. Tho Superintendent 
soon came to the Committee, and said he could 
allow of no interference In tho appointment of 
Judges, and told Mr. E. he must cease to act— 
that Air. A. had no power in tbe matter—that C. 
and 1>. were to act alone, as Mr. B, could not bo 
found, and if they could not agree, he (the Super¬ 
intendent) would seo to the appointment of a 
third Judge. 
[SINGLE NO. EOT7R CENTS. 
