SHOCKING COEN, 
and better than to have a hill of green corn 
bound up irj the center. 
This way of harvesting maybe a little awkward 
nt first, to any one not accustomed to it, but a 
little practice will enable one to get along with 
it much faster than any other way that I ever 
tried. There is another advantage in shocking 
in this way, especially when the wind blow*; the 
hills standing bracing out at the roots on each 
side, makes the boodle in a flat shape instead of 
round, and then by standing the loose corn up 
on each side, brings it into a round shape, ready 
to hind. A. B. Benham. 
Dryden, N. Y., I860. 
failed of their usual crop; such is not the fact in 
this neighborhood, where I never before saw 
these wild fr s so abundant. 
The drout. on the prairies is much more disas¬ 
trous than in the woodlands, (there is no prairie 
w ithin len mileB of Qnindaro,) but even here you 
will, at long distances, see fields side by Bide, pre¬ 
senting very different aspects—one with half a 
crop, the other without any. The reason I was 
assured was ibis. The ground in the one field 
had been plowed deep, the other merely skimmed 
over,— which is the usuul way of cultivating 
newpraiiic lands in Kansas, and has heretofore 
done very well; but in a dry season the error is 
sadly apparent. I believe, from what J have seen 
and heard, that had all our farmers plowed eight 
or ten inches deep, the crops of tno Territory 
would have been equal to the consumption,—that 
we should have heard nothing of scarcity or dis¬ 
tress, nor have lost a single family of this year’s 
immigration. This large loss to the interests of 
the Territory may then all he set down 1,o the 
account of had fanning,—and this loss, all things 
considered, cannot be leas than a million of dol¬ 
lars, which, to a new country, already drained of 
its money, and struggling under many difiicullies, 
is serious indeed. 
But I roust add, that I have now lived in the 
Territory sixteen years, and this is the first drouth 
I have known seriously to affect our agricultural 
interests. In the year LS63, we bad a drouth that 
cut the com crop short, particularly that which 
was planted late. The last good min we had that 
year was on the 10th of June. With these excep¬ 
tions I have not known crops to be injured by 
dry weather. 
Kansas I regard as having the finest climate of 
any State in the Union. From the middle of De¬ 
cember to the middle of February, we have rain; 
winter then breaks off and we have a week or two 
of rough, changeable weather. From about the 
first of March to the middle ol April, we seldom 
have any rain; about the first of May the rainy 
season sets in and lasts for about six weeks, dur¬ 
ing which farmers must look close to their crops 
and improve every hour of dry weather, else the 
weeds will soon become unmanageable. The 
summer is generally favored with alternate rain 
and sunshine, as favorably distributed as man 
could wish. We rarely have frost from the first 
of May to the first of October, giving live months 
for the growth and perfection of crops. Twenty- 
five years ago cotton was extensively cultivated 
in those counties of Missouri bordering on Kansas, 
hut about that time a sudden change in the cli¬ 
mate compelled the abandonment of this branch 
of agriculture; but it is now believed the climate 
has so far recovered its former mildness os 
to justify a renewal of the attempt to cultivate 
this great staple. We have now had three months 
breeeby. When this is the case, the be 3 t way is 
to ebaoge the entire flock. Sheep require 
about one acre each. Many of the farmers on 
the Connecticut now feed all tbe corn they 
can raise to their sheep. They buy wethers, and 
put them up about, the 1st of December, and give 
them cob meal and oats, all they will eat. In 
March they shear them, and Bend them to market 
in the cars alive. They will weigh from 150 to 170 
lbs., live weight, and bring from five and a half to 
seven cents per pound. The manure from sheep 
is better than that from cows. From twenty-one 
sheep he made ten loads of the best manure he 
ever saw. Leaves, 
Agricultural Jtliecellann 
The method of shocking the corn in the field 
is perhaps the most economical—taking five rows 
of corn for one of shocks or stocks, setting the 
shocks on tbe middle row. The shocks can thus 
be made large or small, to suit the fancy. Smaller 
oneB cure quicker, and arc for that reason prefer¬ 
able. If a good bill is taken to stand the stalks 
of com about, it will help much to support tbe 
shock. When it is desired to move the shock 
from the field, tbe standing hill is quickly cut by 
pushing the shock partly over with the left hand, 
while a long knife in the right band is thrust 
under the bottom, and tbe stalks severed. 
This method saves laying the corn on the 
ground, binding it iu bundles, and then lugging 
together to shock, — consequently saves much 
lifting and hard labor. Sometimes, especially if 
it be windy weather, one may be bothered to 
make the stalks stand about the hill till there is 
enough for a shock. To obvate this difficulty, 
an apparatus, or horse for shocking corn, is 
used. It consists of a round stick, about two 
inches in diameter, and long enough to reach 
Just above the ears of corn as they stand on the 
hill. In the lower end is inserted an iron point 
some eight inches iu length, shaped somewhat 
like a large butcher knife, only much thicker. 
This is for the purpose of sticking it readily into 
the ground when in use. Close at the top end 
two one-inch holes are bored at right angles. 
Through these are thrust two rods about four 
feet in length. These rods must be so they will 
readily slip in and out. With this instrument 
and your corn knife, you are ready for the field. 
Select your row and stick your horse where you 
want a shock. Then cut your corn and set it in 
the angles of the cross sticks, which readily hold 
it till you have enough for your shock. Then 
with your wisp of straw or whatever you use for 
a baud, bind the tops firmly together. Now to 
remove tbe horse, grasp the upper end of the 
standard with one hand, and with the other with¬ 
draw the rode, when the standard is taken out 
with no further trouble. 
There is this advantage in using such an appa¬ 
ratus,—one can place the stalks more readily 
and as firmly in their places, is not troubled with 
their falling down before securing them with a 
band, while, if one wishes, lie cau make the 
shock away from any hill, without any oentral 
sup poll, and in so doing save all the trouble of 
binding into separate bundles. So there muBt be 
a saving of time and labor enough, even in one 
day’s use of it to pay its cost. 
New York Statb Fair, at Elmira, Oct. 2-5. 
New York Covstt axd Local Fatrb are to be held 
during the enduing three weeks, as follow*; 
Delaware. TTobort...,___Sept, 2fi 27 
F.ne, Buffalo . __ _........Sept 25'- 27 
El.***, Elizabethtown__Sept, 28. 27 
Lfwis. Turin .. 8>-pt. 25—27 
Livingston. Geoeseo_ ..Sept, 28—28 
rineid*, ptic*___.........S**pt 25_27 
riti'srio, Cuoandaigtia___Sept, 28-28 
Otseiin, Cooper-down_Sept 28. 27 
Putnsm, I3iew*ters....gept, 25-27 
Spokca, Waterloo_Sept 2fi, 27 
Tioga. Owe go. Sept. 28 -28 
Westoheeli-r, Mt Kiwn_..Sept. 25-27 
OnttjumuMis. I.ltlle Valley_Nepi 25-27 
Madison. Brookfield _ Sept, 28,27 
Otsego, Oswego Falls. ..Sept 25-27 
Steuben, fierii _ .Sept 2«_28 
St. Lawrence, Canton.Sept 28—28 
r’Is’er tcimrylon........Sept 28—28 
Niagara Bocknort...Sept 27—29 
Y«'U“. Penn Yhd . Sept. 28—28 
( o) n m Ma Ag A Hort. Ass’n Hudson_Oct 2—4 
S'. Bnwretice International, OgriensburghSept. 28—29 
Wayne, Bvone...Oct in, u 
“ Horse Show, Byone,_Sept. 28, 29 
union AVI) town fairs. 
Columbus, Columbus_Oct. 2—4 
Oxford, Oxford...Oct 2—4 
Sherburne. Sherburne.Sept, 26—28 
Sioit|tielittDnn Valley. Unadilla.Sept. 25. 28 
TonawuOda Valley, Attica.Sept, 26, 27 
Union, Brock port___Oct 2.3 
Wayne. Palmira____.Oct 2—4 
Onm*’en. Camden...Oct 3. 4 
Ear and Much. As*. Cnnaxtota.Sept. 28, 29 
Coventry, Coventry_____..._Oct 3. 4 
Winfield. West Winfield __Oct 9, 10 
Union. Marathon...Sept. 26—28 
Chautauqua Uuion, Fredonia._Sept 2fi— 28 
Palmyra Union, Palmyra...Oct 2—4 
Slianeatelrj, SkanpnleleB__Sept. 25 
Blvouia, Bivonfa Center .. .. ___Out. 4 
Union, Hemlock Bake__*”""Oct. 10,11 
or some proper absorbent* 
should be placed upon the bottom of the yard, 
and litter used as required. This manure is excel¬ 
lent to mix with muck. It coats about forty 
cen's, iu New Hampshire, to pasture a. sheep from 
the 10th of Apiil till the 20th of November, or 
till they are “snowed tip,” and about, $1 10 in the 
winter. A sheep requires about two pounds of 
hay daily, lie feeds with bay twice a day, and 
once with roots. Sheep require plenty of fresh 
air, and running water. Some keep them without 
wuter, bat it is not so well. Sheep will destroy 
almost every kind of hushes, except pines and 
alders. Some sheep are easily kept within ordi¬ 
nary fences; others will learn to jump over almost 
every fence. He related an anecdote of one man 
who bad kept a flock of sheep 29 years, and never 
knew but one to get out of the pasture. Mr. 
E. thought small mutton quite as good as large, 
but as most farmers in this section would keep 
only small flocks, the long-wooled sheep might be 
the most profitable here. The Cotswolds and 
South Down* would yield from five to six pounds 
of wool. This wool, although it does not fetch 
quite as ranch as fine wool, is in demand for oer- 
tain kinds of manufacture. He said that a man 
of his acquaintance in Vermont realizes $1,000 
per year from 200 sheep. 
Don’t Abuse the Oxen. 
The Massachusetts Ploughman puts in a plea 
for the ox, as follows:—“The patient ox submits 
to the most barbarous treatment by a thoughtless 
class, who are not the owners, but are hired to 
drive the animals for others. We find it a diffi¬ 
cult task to keep the lash from the tame and 
obedient ox. Thoughtless men will whip, whip, 
whip. They do it from habit — a very bad habit; 
and we find it difficult to correct that habit. We 
are trying to teach our hired men better manners 
than to put on the whip before giving an invita¬ 
tion to the brute animals 'to go.’ We have oxen 
that will ‘ go’ as Boon as they are invited, without 
the endorsement of the whip. Yet wo find it a 
difficult matter to coutrol the whip. It is surely 
a savage practice to apply the lash before invit¬ 
ing tbe animals to move by the proper words. 
Yet we see that this is a very common practice of 
those who are not owners of the cattle. When 
the common whip lash is not thought to be hard 
enough for the backs und noses of cattle, the wal¬ 
nut handle, one inch in diameter, is used on the 
noses of oxen, to make them back a load up hill, 
before the cattle have ever been taught to back 
an empty cart down hilL 
Cattle must be made to obey—and the common 
lash, or a switch stick, will be sufficient for break¬ 
ing in. But we ask for mercy on all cattle that 
are willing to do right as soon as the light is 
peiuted out. Many drivers of oxen put the lash 
on first, before asking their patient teams to 
move. This is a species of barbarism which all 
owners of cattle ought to prohibit. It is so na¬ 
tural for people whom wc hire from the interior, 
to use force in the first instance, and gentleness 
afterward, if at all, that particular care should be 
exerted in regard to the treatment of their cattle. 
Proper driving is an important item in linsbandry. 
So many farmers now depend upon their hired 
help to do the main work, it is important for them 
to see that the work is properly done. The mer¬ 
ciful man is merciful to his beast” 
SYSTEM IN LABOR, 
Ena. Rural New Yorker: — Farmers, as a 
general thing, have the least Bystem in labor of 
any class of men. They work without any fixed 
hours, from daylight till dark,—never take time 
for reading or recreation, and if they undertake 
to read before going to bed, they are so exhausted 
that they do not enjoy it, and often fall asleep 
over tlieir book or paper. They virtually wear 
themselves out, so they become old men when 
they should be in their prime. Nature did not 
intend that man should woik incessantly, without 
rest or recreation. Why cannot farmers have 
some fixed time for labor, as well as mechanics 
or professional men—say from C or 7 o’clock in 
the morning till G or 7 at night, which will give 
them twelve or thirteen hours a day for work. 
This is as long as a man can labor without inju¬ 
ring his health sooner or later. Mechanics in 
the citiia work only ten hours a day, and you 
cannot get them to work any longer, and a man 
will accomplish more in that time than if he 
worked from day light till dark every day, because 
be will have more strength, will work with a will, 
and when his day’s work is done he can read ami 
inform himself. Man was not placed here on 
earth by his Creator to wear himself out by 
work, but to prepare himself to dwell with Him 
iu Heaven. Then adopt some kind of system for 
labor, and improve the mind. James L. 
Cayuga, N. Y., 1860. 
Tim SrRixoFiRLB Horse Snow.—The “ Fourth Na¬ 
tional Exhibition of Horses," at Springfield. Mass, week 
before I««*, is pronounced a decided success, pecuniarily, 
if not otberwix! — the net profits amountirg to $4,000. 
The editor Of the Boston Cultivator, who was present, 
nays:—■" The number or people in attendance, for two or 
ihree days, was 10,000 to 15,000 a day. Tbe whole Dum¬ 
ber of horses entered for premiums is reported at 433, 
and the number for exhibition or sale, 184—making an 
aggregate on the ground of 617. Among them were 
many good ones, but comparing this with the first na¬ 
tional exhibition here—which, by the way, is claimed 
by the United States Agricnltural Society as their first 
exhibition—onr impression is that the average standard 
of excellence would lie in favor of thn first Show. The 
principal benefit of the Show to the public has been the 
opportunity afforded for purchasing and felling, and the 
means of comparing different horses, or different stocks 
and varieties,” 
Boiled Corn for flogs and other Slock. 
"VVm. Van Loom, writing to the Prairie l'armer, 
says that he has practiced feeding boiled corn to 
his stock and hogs, and is satisfied that he saves 
one-half his graiu, and gains as much more in 
time; that one bushel of com on the cob, boiled, 
will produce as much pork as two fed raw, and in 
one-half the time. In one experiment ho fed three 
bushels of boiled corn, per day, to 27 hogs, for ten 
days. The average gain whs two pounds per day. 
He then fed the same lot of hogs on three bushels 
of raw corn per day for twenty days—they gained 
a mere trifle over one pound per day. These were 
small young hogs—larger ones would have fatten¬ 
ed better. 
Corn—SAtinll it be topped, or ent tip < 
Tub New Hampshire Journal of Agriculture 
says:—“To cut, or not to cut up cornstalks, is a 
question about which farmers dilfer in opinion: 
and so they do about whether it is the better way 
to cut up aud shock the comas soon as the graiu 
is well glazed, or to let it ripen on the hill. Not 
being authorized to settle these disputed points, 
all I can say in the matter is, “Let each one be 
fully persuaded in his own mind,’’ and practice 
accordingly. I have practiced a great variety of 
wayB in this matter, and after due consideration 
have fallen back upon the old method of cutting 
stalks, and when the crop was fit to harvest, cut¬ 
ting it up near the surface and carting to the barn, 
and busking it at my leisure. Some may think 
me a little old fogyish in this matter, but it’s all 
very natural, for I was born prior to the advent 
of the present century. But it seems to me, there 
can be no difference of opinion among farmers in 
regard to the good policy of going into the corn¬ 
field and selecting the earliest, most prolific, aud 
best ears for seed; these should be traced by the 
husks, and hung up beyond the reach and teeth of 
rats and mice, 
Fncts ubour Sheep. 
Simon Bkown, editor of the New England 
Farmer, stated the following interesting facts at a 
meeting of the Concord Farmers’ Club: 
He remarked that he was familiar with the care 
of sheep in his youth. He had been obliged to 
sit up night after night, in cold weather, to take 
care of lambs, because they were dropped too 
early. The first broadcloth he ever wore was 
made from the wool of sheep which he had 
uBsisted to raise. Sheep raising was formerly 
profitable, but it had been discontinued among us 
cliieliy on account of the losses occasioned by 
dogs. He had been informed that in the adjoin¬ 
ing county of Essex there were only 590 sheep, 
but there were 3,500 dogs! A good many persons 
were now entering upon the business. A new 
spirit has been awakened upon the subject. 
Sheep have been improved in size and produc¬ 
tiveness, as much as cattle, and perhaps more. 
Fifty years ago a quarter of mutton, in Eng¬ 
land, that weighed fifteen or twenty pounds, was 
thought large. Now a quarter of mutton is fre¬ 
quently seen weighing 50 or CO pounds. One 
weighing CO pounds was recently exhibited in 
Boston market If there is a demand for mutton, 
sheep raising must be profitable. He had no 
doubt that there would be a demand for all the 
good mutton that might be raised. He spoke of 
tbe effect of keeping sheep iu reclaiming pastures. 
He knew a tract of land iu Plymouth county, that 
was formerly so covered with briars and rose 
bushes, that it was almost impossible to walk 
through it. He saw it last fall, and it was a beau¬ 
tiful green pasture, with a smooth surface, and 
not.a bush or brier upon it. Ithad been reclaimed 
hy the use of sheep alone. 
The following additional statements were made 
by Jas. B. Elliott, of Keene, New Hampshire: 
He is engaged in sheep husbandry, and has 
been for five years. His sheep had become 
Tub Potato Rot seems to prevail extensively and 
over a wide region. We learn that tbo crop is badly 
affected iu many eastern counties, on the Hudson In 
Columbia county, whole holds of six to ten acre* are said 
to be entirely destroyed, or nearly so, and in other eases 
they are so far gone that it will not pay to dig them. In 
Sullivan county, also, the crop ia nearly all destroyed. 
Tbe rot also prevails In New England, as The Homestead, 
(Hartford, Conn ,) says it exist* in almost exery field to 
some extent, in that region, “ though there in little fear 
entertained of a failure of the crop” After mentioning 
lacta familiar to our reader*, it adds:-*-If the tops are 
cut off at first, the tnbere stop growing, hut are often 
secured free from disease. Thua, if the disease appears 
late iu tbe season, the crop Li sound, ir early in the 
seASOu, they had better be left to their fate,” 
CORN HORSE. 
For a corn horse, or jack, we know of nothing 
bet’er than one we figured and described several 
years since, and tbe enpraviDg of which we now 
re-publisb for the benefit of those who may de¬ 
sire to construct such an implement. It has been 
used by hundreds, and is declared by many to 
save one-third the time annually employed in cut¬ 
ting up and stocking corn. Iu its construction is 
nsed a pole about 12 feet in length, being 4 inches 
in diameter at the large end, in which is placed 
two legs, wide enough apart at the bottom to be 
admitted between tbe rows of corn, and iu length 
according to the height of the corn, say three or 
four feet, while the other end rests on the ground. 
About three feet back of tbe legs is a lj inch 
hole, through which is placed a rod four or live 
feet long, that is easily admitted and removed, 
and is horizontal when the horse is standing, as 
shown in the illustration. The horse is placed in 
the center of the numberof rows desired to be 
cut, the corn is placed in the four corners around 
the rod, the shock is then tied, the horizontal rod 
removed, and the horse drawn ahead. The rod is 
then replaced, when it is ready for forming an¬ 
other Bhock. 
Illinois Harvest Prospects.— A Chicago correspon¬ 
dent of the N. Y. Tribuue, (“C. D. B.," who, wn reckon, 
ia one of tbe editors of the Prairie Farmer, and hence 
good authority ) who is familiar with the daily grain 
traffic of the city, nays he “ bee recently had all bi8 ideas 
— Western ideas, too. wind you—of the extent of our 
resources aud amouut of our products the current rea¬ 
son extravagantly magnified. He has visited moat of the 
northern, eastern, and central counties of ihe State 
since harvest commenced, has talked with farmers, seen 
the grain standing, falling before the reaper, alter it had 
been bound and shocked, when it was being thrashed, 
and alter it had been cleaned and gathered to the garner 
—aud he assures your readers that they may safely 
believe the stories of large yields of wheat, oats, or 
other grains, that are being circulated. They are in no 
wise magnified beyond the fact, Even the producer is 
astonished when bo measures bis grain, and measures 
the ground from which it was harvested. The Dumber 
ot measured bushels ataggeis one’s credulity. Thought¬ 
ful men here boast little of the West in consequence of 
this harvest. It is too apparent they have no right to. 
They receive it as they have received affliction the past 
three years—as a necessity-, and they are thankful. The 
truth ia, notwithstanding all effort during prior years, 
crops failed. The present year no new modes of culture 
were adopted. The early Spring promised a good seed- 
iug-tirae, and it was improved to the utmost. The 
entire season has been favorable. Everything has gone 
smoothly, and sunlight, soil, and season, have combined 
to relieve the debt-oppressed people of the West.” 
THE SEASONS AND THE CROPS IN N. H. 
Friend Moore:— noping the time is not far 
distant when you Bhall feel disposed to visit your 
humble correspondent, and behold the majesty 
and sublimity of these stately mountains, upon a 
warm summer’s day, I send you these lines greet¬ 
ing: 
The beautiful spring time, the season of the 
singing of birds, the peeping of frogs, the resur¬ 
rection to a newness of life of the Vegetable King¬ 
dom, the waking up of the beautiful daughters of 
Flora, whose cheeks are red with the blush of 
the bow iu the cloud—the violet, the crocus, the 
peony and the rose, the beauties of the beautiful— 
the lily, the modest, lovely lily, so sacred fy 
reference; yes, May, sweet, balmy, lovely May; 
June, warm, smiling, genial June, have come and 
gone. The hay season, the season of mirth and 
joy, has followed on, and again we are in the midst 
of another harvest. Never before did these hill¬ 
sides and valleys smile in the gift of such a 
bountiful harvest. The farmer who has tilled 
well is rich in his hay crop— richer iu his ahund 
ance of his oats, barley aud rye—richest in his 
golden fields of luxuriant wheat, which is tbe 
heaviest and best we have had for twenty years. 
Tbe breadth of land planted to potatoes is great, 
and the yield good, but they are rotting badly. 
Most of the early varieties are nearly worthless. 
Some cultivators hold that digging before the 
blast upon the tops reaches the tuber, will save 
them. If this philosophy he sound, why do pota¬ 
toes exposed to the air in the hills rot, where tbe 
vines died long before the blast strnck them?— 
Many false theories are afloat in regard to the 
cause and cure of this disease. The corn crop is 
a fair one. The yield of all kinds of small fruits 
and berries has been remarkable. The apple crop 
is abundant, the fruit smooth and fair. We have 
had less of the curculio than for many years, and 
the canker worm and caterpillar have favored us 
with their abscenee. The Baldwin seems to be the 
leading apple here in New England by general 
consent; the Hubbardston Nonsuch next. The 
fact that New Eugland apples excel in keeping 
qualities, ia the only advantage wc can claim in 
their cultivation. We have neither the rich lime 
bottoms nor the humid climate of Western New 
York, to assist us in this great and noble work. 
You certainly ought to feel grateful to Ontario 
for the protecting arm she folds about your fruit 
trees in the extreme cold parts of winter. I have 
noticed that your great distance from the eastern 
markets, has led you into the practice of picking 
fruit from the trees while green, for the purpose 
of getting it into market by the time of its matu¬ 
rity. Most of cur experienced fruit growers hold 
that this picking fruit from the trees when green, 
will inevitably kill the trees in a few years. How- 
far your picking pears and plums before ripe, will 
correspond with this opinion, I am unprepared 
to say. What has been your experience? and 
what is your opinion?' L. L. Pierce. 
East Joffrey, N, H , Sept. 1860. 
Inquiries ani) ^tusuiers, 
Preventing a Cow Sucking Herself —Will gome of 
the reader* of the Rural give the best method of pre¬ 
venting a cow sucking herself. auil oblige—A Constant 
Reader. Jamestown. A. 1'., 1860, 
HARVESTING CORN. 
Lung Fever in noiiSKs —Will you, or some one of 
the Rural's readers, please iut'urm roe of the cure, if 
nny, for lung fever iu horses? Several horses of this 
vicinity, among whom were u few due stallions, died of 
this terrible aud seemingly incurable disease within the 
last year.— J. M. COCHRAN, Glendale , O., I860. 
[ \s this is the season fur harvesting corn, we repub¬ 
lish the following remarks on the subject from an article 
given in an early number of our present volume.— Ed ] 
I am aware that there has been much said and 
written on this subject, but we are at liberty to 
learn all the different ways, and then choose the 
way that we think best answers our purpose. 
My way is this:—In the first place, I take some 
rye straw to bind the shocks with. I commence 
on four rows, and cut up enough at the roots to 
make a good sized bundle, and then carry it for¬ 
ward between the two middle rows, to where I 
want the shock to stand; then stand it up as near 
perpendicular as possible, between two hills of 
the standing corn; then reaching with one hand, 
while holdiDg the bundle with the other, and 
taking generally about two stalks from each hill 
of the standing or uncut hills, form a band by 
crossing them on the opposite side of the bundle 
from where I stand, bringing them around, and 
giving them but one twist, as they are apt to 
break if twisted too much, I then lift up some 
of the stalks next to me, and simply tuck the 
twisted tops under them; and the bundle, by 
being bound to the standing hills, is very firm, 
as the hills stand bracing on each side. I then 
go on and cm enough, and set up on each side of 
the bundle, to mike it as large as desired, and 
then take a band of straw, and bind the shock as 
tightly as possible. This is very essential, in 
order that it may stand up until husking time. 
I prefer cutting the rows north and south, as our 
hardest winds and storms generally come from 
the west, and by the shock being braced in that 
direction, it seldom gtts blown down. Some 
might object to leaving two hills to he cut up on 
removing the Bhock, but it is easier to cut the 
two hills on the outside of the shock, than to cut 
one ou the inside. Then there is an advantage, 
by having two hills mostly on the outside of the 
shock, »b the corn and stalks will dry out sooner 
QrEEs Victoria’s Stahles and IIorsrs —In a recent 
letter describing his visit to Windsor Castle, Dr. Ley- 
jrpRN says:—“ Before going into the interior of the 
CastIo,wa were shown the Queen's stables— 1 Mewg,’as 
they call them hers, These, as may be imagined, are on 
u scale correspnadiag with tbe extravagance of royalty. 
She keeps 300 horses, part of which were now id BondoD, 
as she was sojourning for the present at Buckingham 
Palace. All of those here were grays, except the fancy 
ponies. One of the latter is a beautiful little milk white 
animal, as clean and nice as soap water and currying can 
make him. He is a pet of the Queen’s, and she has a 
snull chair tn which she drives him herself around tbe 
gardens. Tbere were also four of the tiniest bay ponies, 
which the Princess Alice herself drives, four-in-hand, in 
a small carriage. These, with six others, were a present 
from the king of Sardinia. The came of each is inscribed 
on a marble plate in his stall, on one of which is * Victor,’ 
and on another ‘Emanuel,’ in honor of the illustrious 
donor.” 
Drying off Milch Cows.—In answer to J. IB, of 
Cowlesville, I would say, rub soft soap on the udder once 
a day, after milking, for a few days, and milk but par¬ 
tially, I sometimes rub soap across the loins, with 
good success.—H. Covey, Jamcbtown, N. Y. 
Scales in Buttermilk. — In answer to “Young 
Fanner," I would say I have been a farmer's wife for ten 
years, have made more or less butter every year, and 
my experience teaches me that the scales in the butter¬ 
milk are caused hy tbe cream drying in the summer 
season. The thicker the cream the more scales in the 
buttermilk, (1 should think more from a new milch cow 
than a farrow cow.) I always beat up my cream with a 
large spoon every time I put any in the crock or churn, 
and let it stand a few hours after skimming in the last, 
that it may soak the dried cream before churning, and 
there will he but few scales in the butter or buttermilk; 
and instead of throwing away that much cream, I have 
it in butter.—A Rural Reader, Weyannega , Sept., 1860. 
Promoted, —AmoDg the references appended to an 
advertisement in one of our exchanges, we lately read 
“B. P. Johnson, Esq,,Sec'yN.Y.State Ag Society ,D D." 
As the Secretary is proverbially as modest as meritorious, 
we have been looking for a declination of the honor, 
having no doubt he would do it as gracefully as did 
brother Beecher, recently. Meantime—and especially 
if he don’t decline—the Colonel has our profound sym¬ 
pathies, for it's a great bore to have so many D’s in one s 
signature ! 
American Mowing Machines are becoming celebrated 
the world over. At a recent trial at the Hague, in Hol¬ 
land, four of the six machines entered were of American 
invention, and the first, second, and third premiums, 
were taken by Allen's, Manny'S, and Wood's machines 
—all American. 
The Union Fair at Medina, last week, was a great 
success in all respects, we uuderstand. The receipts were 
about $1,700. The Military Encampment on the lair 
Grounds was an attractive feature. 
Keeping Potatoes —C. W,, of Fairview, Ky,, wishes 
to know what to do to keep potatoes from rotting. I 
will give my experience, and the way I saved them in 
1S54. When Oiggicg, I discovered occasionally a potato 
that was uffecled, and had them all picked out carefully. 
I had about 100 bushels, Tuey were all dried in the 
sun, and put in the cellar in one bin. Borne few days 
after, I examined them, and found them warm and emit¬ 
ting an offensive smell. 1 considered them lost, when it 
occurred to ine that I would try one thing before giving 
them Up. I got two bushels of plaster, threw it on 
them (after taking them out of tbe bio.) shoveled them 
all over, and left them on the cellar bottom about one 
foot deep. They cooled off, and stopped rotting. Those 
that were not affected, which was about three-fourths, 
kept as well as any I ever had. This was merely an 
experiment,—I never tried it before nor since.—but I 
shall xry it again if I have occasion.—H. Payne, Lock- 
port , N. Y., 1860. 
