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RURAL Ur £ 
the disease. In Ireland the greatest fears are 
entertained, lest the Bad scenes of former years 
should be repeated, in view of the almost total 
destruction of the potato crop, which seems ine¬ 
vitable. In England, too, there is much com 
plaint. The Dhytocorrs, which some have supposed 
caused the rot, have been very numerous the pres¬ 
ent season, and we have counted twenty and 
thirty on a single plant. In our grounds the tops 
are entirely dead or dying. The tubers arc not 
rottOD, but they are heavy and wet, and hardly 
lit to be eaten. All varieties seem to be affected. 
The only kinds which are not seriously injured 
out of forty sorts, arc the York Regent and the 
Lapstone Kidney, two varieties imported from 
England. 
MOORE'S RURAL NEW-YORKER, 
AS ORIGINAL WKEKLV 
RURAL, LITERARY AND FAMILY NEWSPAPER 
that originally the Dorkings were pure white, 
while others contend that they always showed a 
diversity of colors. They are now white, spotted 
with black, these colors sometimes merging into 
a grizzly grey. The Dorking lays well, and 
makes a good mother, though we prefer lighter 
fowls for this purpose. 
A correspondent of Andes, N. Y., wishes to 
know where good Dorking fowls can be obtained. 
To this we cannot at present respond, though we 
have no doubt plenty can he had. They have 
been exhibited at our State Fair for several years 
i^ast, and at many of the County Fairs. 
CONDUCTED BY D, D. T. MOORE, 
With an Able Corps of Assistants and Contributors, 
Tub Rcrai, Nkw-Yohkkr is designed to be unsurpassed 
in Value, Purity, Usefulness Bud Variety of Contents, and 
caique J»ud bmtutiiul in Appearance. Its Conductor devotes 
his personal attention to the supervision of its various de¬ 
partments, and earuottly labors to render the RURAL an 
eminently Reliable Guide on all the important Practical, 
Scientific ami other Subjects intimately connected with the 
business of those whole intercuts it zealously advocates. 
As a Family Journal it ie eminently In'.tractive and En¬ 
tertaining-being so conducted that it can be safely taken 
to the Hearts and Homes of people oi Intelligence, taste 
and discrimination. It embraces more Agricultural, Horti¬ 
cultural, Scientific, Educational, I.ltcrnry and Nows Matter, 
interspersed with appropriate nnd beautiful Engravings, 
than any other journal, — rendering it the most complete 
Agricultural, Litbrarv and Family Newspaper in 
America. 
For Terms and other particulars, see last page. 
DESTROY THE SEEDS, 
the plow, on oh portion of underground stem 
containing a bud proves a new plant. The roots 
of such plants should be entirely removed from 
the soil, as far as possible. 
It is important for tho farmer to observe the 
manner in which weeds become propagated. 
This is done in the first place by self sown seeds 
from growing plants, or from plants whtch have 
been c.ut down when tho plant was sufficiently 
advanced to mature its seed on the ground, By 
division of the sorts, as in conch grass ami other 
perennial plants. Many seeds of weeds arc 
.spread on the land with manure. It is ft great mis¬ 
take to throw weeds with ripened seeds on the 
manure heap. Many seeds no doubt, become 
destroyed by the decomposition of the manure, 
but many more live and grow at tbe first oppor¬ 
tunity. Everything that is supposed to contain 
seeds of foul weeds, should bo burned. Weeds 
are .mu u with almost all our crops. If an exami¬ 
nation is made, it will bo found that; almost all 
our small seeds contain a great number of weeds. 
Every farmer should make an effort to obtain 
clean seed, and reject everything foul. Some 
seeds, liko the Dandelion and Thistles, are winged, 
ready to be wafted on the first breeze. They are 
thus can ied from the road side, the waste land, 
or the grounds of the careless farmer, infesting 
every field for miles around. 
We bring this subject briefly to the notice of 
our readers, hoping that the few suggestions will 
not be in vain. 
Tens of thousands and millions of seeds are 
now ripening upon almost every farm to produce 
a crop of weeds and trouble another season. 
With the mo&t careful culture, a few weeds 
manage to elude detection, and when hoeing is 
carelessly done, a large number Is left. These 
are now ripening their teeda, and may be seen in 
almost every field of ijorn and potatoes. They 
should have been pulled by hand long ago, for 
they are living and growing at the expense of 
the soil, and t.h“ farmer, and the growing crop. 
No ouo can afford to grow useless plants. The 
soil that will grow weeds will grow something 
better; the space that is occupied by a plant 
that iB melons, should be occupied with some¬ 
thing that tho farmer can eat, or sell, or feed to 
his Htoek. But the present evil, though great, is 
nothing compared to the store of mischief that 
is ripening for another season, seeding the 
ground with a crop that it will take much hard 
labor to destroy. 
Few who have not given particular attention 
to this subject, are aware how abundant are the 
seeds in almost all our common plants. Many 
of them ripen from one thousand to fifteen hun¬ 
dred seeds, so that but a few plants are needed 
to seed aa acre. On another point, too, we are 
OLACK SPANISH FOWLS. 
The Spanish or Black Spanish is the most beau¬ 
tiful of all our domestic fowls. We qnote the 
description of Richardson. “The color of the 
Spanish foM is a glossy black, and the feathers of 
the legs, thighs, and belly, arc particularly de¬ 
cided in their hue, and of a velvety aspect. It, la 
a stately bird, and of a grave and inajc-stic deport¬ 
ment, and is, iu either utility or beauty, to be sur¬ 
passed by none of its congeners. One of the most 
striking characteristics of this fowl is a white 
cheek, and the comb and wattles are singularly 
largo, simple, and of a very high color; tho feet 
and legs are of a leaden color, except the Holes of 
ihe feet, which are of a dirty fleshy hue. A full 
grown cock will weigh about T.j pounds; the hen 
about 6$. This is a fowl well deserving the 
attention of the breeder, and present no peculiari¬ 
ties of constitution that would suggest difficulties 
in either hatching or rearing- As tabic birds, 
they hold a place iu the very first rank, their flesh 
being particularly whiu-, toncler, and juicy, and 
the skin possessing that beautifully clear white 
hue, so essential a requisite for birds designed 
for the consumption of the gourmand. The hens 
are likewise layers of the first order.” 
INQUIRIES AND NOTES 
Dorklug ami Black iSpaut^Ii Fowls. 
It in pretty generally believed, I think, that tbe 
large fowls,—the Shanghai's, and Cochin Chinas, and 
Bramah Pootm, that were bo much lauded a few years 
ago,—are not as profitable as they were supposed to be, 
that they do not lay in proportion to the food consumed, 
03 compared with other fowla, being inferior, in this 
respect, to onr old common sort. The Dorking is coming 
into favor again, as I have no doubt it well deserves to 
do, but there is great dilliculty iu knowing when we 
get the true breed, as they have become badly mixed by 
the carelessness of those who have raised them. Will 
you please give us their characteristics, so that we may 
know when we get the genuine? The Black Spanish, I 
have seen stated, la a beautiful and productive breed. 
Please tel! ns some something about these also.— Lover 
of Fowls, Septtntbsr , 1860. 
Tub large Chinese fowls were no doubt won¬ 
derfully over-praised. The people of almost the 
whole civilized world became affected by tbe 
Shanghai excitement; and therefore it was not 
strange that the people of America, who are pro¬ 
verbially susceptible to influences of this kind, 
should feel its effects rather severely. Now that 
the excitement has passed away, there is danger 
of going to tbe other extreme. These large fowls 
accomplished a great deal of good for the poultry 
of the country. We had bred our old stock until 
it had become sadly degenerated, and the ordi¬ 
nary fowls of the bam-yard were not much larger 
than pigeons. By the infusion of the blood of 
this new race, our fowls have generally doubled 
in size; and whatever may be said of the Cochin 
Chinas, &c., as a pare breed, we think there can 
be no doubt as to the advantages of the cross, 
evidences of which we see in almost every flock 
of fowls. 
A COUNTRYMAN IN THE CITY, 
Eds. Rural New-Yorker:—I have read in the 
Rural, with much interest, many articles from 
vnm' nen of what vou have witnessed in vour 
BUTTER MAKING. 
Eds. Rural New-Yorker: — Below you will 
find a report of the Committee on Butter, sub¬ 
mitted at the Broome County Fair, 1859. Butter 
being the leading Agricultural product through- 
out an extensive portion or section of New York, 
the Committee, (after fully canvassing the subject,) 
came t.o the conclusion that the public needed a 
more minutely detailed statement of tbe process 
of making a good article, so that a novice iu the 
art, by closely following out the rule, would not 
fail to make a tine or prime dairy. And as a 
proof of the correctness of the position here 
taken, I would stale that I have not manufactured 
my home dairy in twelve years,—anil every dairy¬ 
man and woman who has been engaged in tbe 
said dairy daring that time, were inexperinced at 
the commencement,—yet r have never failed to 
send to market a prime dairy, and my prices have 
averaged over twenty-five cents per pound for the 
entire period. I have but one year sold under 
twenty-five cents, and that year at twenty-four 
cents; one year I sold for thirty emits. 
The report wus first published by request of the 
Farmer's Club in East Maine, Broome county, and 
has appeared in the Broome Gazette and Bing- 
Hampton Democrat. It will no doubt be perused 
with interest by thousands of Rural readers. 
Binghampton, N, Y., I860. 0. C. C. 
REPOBT ON BUTTER MAKING. 
The Committee on Butter, having taken great 
pleasure in examining a number of vary fine sam¬ 
ples, presented at the Fair in Broome Co., Sept 
30th, 1859, and after having awarded premiums, 
deem this a proper occasion for a few plain and 
practical remarks. 
The butter interest is considered the leading 
one in our county, and if so, the process of man¬ 
ufacturing a superior quality of butter should be 
thoroughly understood by the masses. Accord¬ 
ing to the best information this Committee has 
been able to obtain, by an interchange of opinion 
ware-houses, all contributing more or less to 
gratify fancy or use. I also find that Mother 
Barth has been lavish with her good things, both 
for food and luxury for the inner man. The dis¬ 
play of choice fruits and vegetables, quite unsur¬ 
passed for the season, is very creditable to the 
farmers, horticulturists and gardeners of the sur¬ 
rounding country. 
Rochester has been, and is destined still more 
to be, the Garner of Western New York. Her 
mighty water power and location, as it regard* 
Canals and Railroads, must eoulinue to make her 
a large manufacturing and commercial town, so 
long as water runs and grass grows,— to which 
will centralize not only a large portion of the ag¬ 
ricultural productions of Western New York, but 
some portions of Canada and the Western States. 
The season has not advanced enough to bring in 
much of the present year’s produce, although it is 
beginuing to make its way there. I learn that 
over one million pounds of wool have been taken 
by your enterprising men in the trade, a patt of 
which is retained in your market for sale, tbe bal¬ 
ance being sent forward to Eastern markets. 
As sheep raising is more my hobby than any 
other branch of farming, I felt a little interest to 
look after his fleece. There is nothing raised 
from the earth that is pat to bo many uses, and 
manufactured into so great a variety of fabrics, as 
the fleece of the sheep. We walk on it iu our 
parlors, we wipe our leer upon it at our doors, 
we sleep on it, and under it in our beds, we ride 
on it and under it in our carriages, we hang it 
about our windows, we wear it on our heads and 
our bodies, our hands and our feet. It is worn 
alike by the Prince and the Peasant, not even for¬ 
getting honest Old Dobbin in the stable, and is 
converted into the most costly as well as the 
HEADS OF BLACK SPANISH COCK AND HEN. 
The only objection to this fowl is, that the 
large, thin, and beautiful comb, which is shown 
in the engraving, is very apt to become frozen, 
and thus this great ornament is lost. 
To lieep Potatoes from Holling. 
Being desirous of some information, and knowing 
that the Rural is the best medium by which it can be 
obtained, I therefore inquire of you, or your readers, 
about the beet mode of keeping Irish Potatoes. We 
have had a very dry summer in this section, which has 
caused the potatoes to shrivel, aDd many have dug and 
put aivay, and they have rotted. They are totting in the 
ground also. Tbe reason why people are digging so 
early, is from the fact that they are doing no good iu 
the ground, and it is said that they will take the second 
growth whenever we have rain to make the ground wet. 
The pototo bug has become very annoying in this coun¬ 
try.—C. W., Futr<.itv>, Kij,, 1860. 
Various plans have been recommended to keep 
potatoes from rotting, such as dustiag with pow¬ 
dered lime, &c. A thorough drying in the sun 
and air and then storing in a cool but dry cellar, 
is the beat means we know of. If disposed to rot, 
and buried in the ground when damp, their loss 
is almost certain, as the moisture of the soil 
favors rotting, and there is no opportunity to 
watch them and select out those that are decaying, 
and the whole lot soon becomes a rotten mass. 
We were the first, we think, to Bpeak of the potato 
rot tbe present season, and had watched its insidi¬ 
ous attack and progress for sometime previous to 
making the announcement, lesc we might arouse 
unnecessary alarm. Now, the papers in all parts 
of the country are complaining of the ravages of 
LEO OP TnK DORKING. 
The Dorkings are a valuable breed of fowls, 
or they would not have retained their popu¬ 
larity so long. They are said to have existed as 
a distinct breed more than two thousand years; 
and whether this is true or not, we have abundant 
evidence of a breed with two hind toes. Their 
most pominent characteristic is Jive toes instead 
of four, as in other breeds. Our engraving of a 
Dorking’s foot shows this point so that it cannot 
be mistaken. 
They are square and compact in form, with 
short legs, short neck, and heavy breast, giving 
a greater proportion of desirable flesh to the 
anaouut of ofifil than almost any other fowl. They 
fatten easily, and this, with the other desirable 
qualities mentioned, makes them favorites with 
those who deal in dressed poultry. Borne contend 
TWO DOLLARS A YEAR.] 
"PROGRESS AND IMPROVEMENT.” 
[SINGLE NO. yOTJR CENTS. 
YOL. XI. NO. 3G.1 
ROCHESTER, N. Y.-F0R THE WEEK ENDING SATURDAY, SEPTEMBER 8, 1860. 
1 WHOLE NO. 556. 
1 
IRVING, N Y 
