RURAL LI Ff; 
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MOORE’S RURAL NEW-YORKER, 
AN original wkeklt 
RURAL, LITERARY AND F AMIL Y NEWSPAPER. 
ten feet high, is large enough for any family, and 
even for two or three families, and yet it is as 
small as we would recommend any one to build, 
as the cost and trouble is but little more than for 
a house just large enough, and the supply Is 
certain. A room, us suggested by our correspon¬ 
dent, attached to the ice-house, Is not objectiona¬ 
ble, and is a great convenience for pieserving 
milk, meat, Ac., during the warm weather. The 
ice made in the early part of the winter, and that 
which has been subjected to no change from 
freezing to thawing, is the best. It, should be 
sawed out in square cakes as unifotm in size and 
thickness as possible. All enow, and ice formed 
from half-melted snow, should be rejected, as it 
will not keep. After one layer is put down, the 
crevices should be filled with pounded ice, and 
this should be continued until the house iB filled, 
when the whole will freeze into a solid mans. A 
few inches of straw should bo placed between the 
walls of the house and the ice, and this should he 
done while the house is being tilled. Then cover 
the whole with a foot or so of straw, and the work 
is done. An opening must be made in the roof 
for ventilation. 
“THE HOUSE THAT JACK BUILT;” 
OK, “LOOKING AHEAD”IN FARMING, 
We have Iona maintained the opinion that 
of all the books for children with which our 
bookstores abound, there is none which in 
real usefulness can at all compare with that 
old nursery tale of the “ llonBe that Jack > 
Built.” There is nothing belter calculated | 
to awaken the reasoning powers of the child, * 
and initiate it into the art of tracing elfectB 
back to their causes, than this same story, 
in'which all the various events are so natu¬ 
rally and clearly shown to be dependent on 
each othor, from 
“ The priest, all shaven and shorn, 
Who married the maiden all forlorn,” 
down to the famous "dog which worried the 
cat, which killed the rat, that ate the malt 
that lay in the house that Jack built,” All 
those reasoning faculties which enable a man 
to take into the account a long series of 
years, and which are so essential to every 
grown man, are nowhere else so fully called 
out as here. 
Now what we want to say is:—If there ia 
any man who, more than another, needs to 
look far ahead for ultimate results, it is the 
farmer. It is not the value of this year’s 
crop, or even the profit which the funner 
maKcs upon it, wmch determines his suc¬ 
cess, but he must take into account the 
effect upon future crops, and upon the value 
of the farm, before he can decide whether 
he is making money or not. If the farm is 
gradually growing poorer and poorer, and 
producing less each year than the year prece¬ 
ding, it is evident that no ainonrt of tempo¬ 
rary success can make it a paying operation— 
for, whatever may be the apparent profits upon 
the capital invested, the capital Itself is grad¬ 
ually but surely wasting away. As it is prac¬ 
tically impossible to keep the farm in pre- 
state of fertility from year 
to year, the farmer ought to pursue such a 
system us not only to perpetuate, but even 
to enhance the fertility of the soil, and no 
good farmer will ever be satisfied with let-sthan 
this. To do this most effectually and certainly, 
it is essential that the farmer should uniformly 
raise good crops, for the large amount of fodder 
and the courser grains which he will thus obtain 
will enable him to so largely increase his manure 
heap, that he can easily restore more of the ele¬ 
ments of fertility than he has taken from the 
soil; while, on the other hand, if the produce is 
small, no matter how carefully every portion of 
it may be saved, this cannot well be done. For, 
though a poor crop may not exhaust the Hoil as 
much as a good one (about which we are not 
exactly sure,) it certainly does exhaust it much 
more in proportion to its bulk. A good crop al¬ 
ways derives a great portion of Its food from the 
atmosphere. Its large, broad leaves are constant¬ 
ly absorbing those elements of growth which the 
plant requires. Every summer breeze or passing 
shower, or drop of dew, brings with them some¬ 
thing that the plant needs. Now, the trouble is, 
that iu a poor soil the plant never gets large 
enough to fully take advantage of these opportu¬ 
nities. In fact, one great advantage of applying 
manure is, to give the plant a good stait at first, 
so that it can better take care of itself. 
Nothing is, therefore, more evident than that 
no farmer can really a/ford to raise a poor crop. 
Even looking at the result of a single year’s ope- 
1 rations, we can readily prove that It is always 
the good crop, and not the poor one, that pays; 
for a good crop will almost always, of itself repay 
any extra care and attention necessary to produce 
it, but it is still more apparent when we consider 
the one good crop as merely the first in an indefi¬ 
nite series of good crops, and as the beginning of 
a system which is making the farm constantly 
better and better. So, if a farmer cannot other¬ 
wise secure good crops, let him, if need be, even 
purchase the manures necessary to restore the 
fertility of his farm. If he will only take proper 
care of the produce, and make it increase his 
manure heap as much as possible, (as he should,) 
ho will find the effects, not merely in next year’s 
crop, and on the land where the manure was ap¬ 
plied, but for all coming time, and on every portion 
of his farm. On lands already moderately fertile, 
it might not be absolutely necessary to purchase 
manures, (except gypsum or plaster.) Even here, 
however, a broad, comprehensive view might 
show that it would pay, but on exhausted soils It 
ia absolutely essential for profitable farming that 
the owner should purchase some kind of fertilizers 
to put on the land. Without this, long years of 
fruitless toil would be required to place the land 
where it would begin to pay, while the applica¬ 
tion of two, three or live hundred dollars at the 
CONDUCTED BY D. D. T. MOORE. 
With an Able Corps of Assistants and Contributors, 
Thh Rural Nkw-Yorkk* ts designed to be unsurpassed 
in Vein*, Purity, UsefiiluMss and Variety of Content*, and 
union" and tx.fuit.lln) in Appearance. It*Conductor devotes 
hi* pit mo na) attention to tint supervision of its T&rioun de¬ 
partment*, aad earnenUy labor* to rentier the Rural an 
eminently Reliable Goitie on all the Important Practical, 
Scientific and other Subject* Intimately connected with the 
busines* of tho*u whone intercut* it zealously advocate*. 
A* » Family Journal it I* eminently Instructive and |<; u - 
tertaimng —being *u conducted that it can be safely taken 
to the Heart* and Home* ot peopled intelligence, t**t« 
and discrimination It embrace* more Agricultural, Rorti 
cultural. Scientific, Kducatioual, Literary and New* Matter, 
interspersed with appropriate and beautiful Engravings, 
than any other journal,—rendering it the mo*t complete 
Agkioultcral, Litxrart and Family Nkwspapkr in 
America. 
For Tkrms and other particulars, gee last page. 
Cementing Cellar Bottoms. 
I wish gome information through yonr paper about 
a wet cellar bottom, whether it will be adviBabie to 
cement it for all purposes—that is, for keeping vegeta¬ 
bles iu winter, and setting milk in summer? If it is best 
to he cemented—what proportion of sand, and what 
thickness on the bottom? What time in the year is it 
best to do it?—8. if. L., Seymour, N. ¥., 1860. 
Cement makes a good cellar bottom, for all 
purposes, we believe; but alt who have had wet 
cellars, and have attempted to make them dry by 
cementing either sides or bottom, have failed. 
This must be done by drains. Where the cellar Is 
wet because it is a little deeper than it is possible 
to drain, then filling np the extra depth and 
cementing the bottom will answer. The object 
of cementing is to obtain a clean, hard, smooth 
bottom, and not to keep out the water. The usual 
way of cementing Is to till iu with coarse gravel 
or broken stones from three to six inches. Then 
mix water lime until about a little thinner than 
cream, add clean sand until so thick that it will 
just run, and pour upon the gravel all that it will 
take. Smooth off the surface and allow sufficient 
time to harden before using. The work may be 
done at any time. 
INQUIRIES AND NOTES 
Fluti for an Ice-House. 
I wish to make an ice-honse, and have not seen any, 
or read of any, on the plan I would like to adopt, and 
would like to have adyice before beginning. The plan is 
this:—An oblong pit, (say 10 feet deep and 12 by 18 feet,) 
with a partilioo, making one room 12 feet, and the other 
6 feet, the latter to be a little deeper, or rather for the 
whole bottom to slope gently from the extreme end of 
the 12 feet room to that of the other, so that the drip¬ 
ping* from the ico in the large room would run down 
into the *mull room, which I would want for a dairy, Ac. 
Bat the question i», would such a contrivance answer 
the purpose? Would the ice keep as well as if the whole 
pit wax tilled; and would the drippings flowing into the 
dairy be the right thing for the purpose? The partition 
might bn made double, and filled in with some suitable 
material. What advantage would a straw-thatched roof 
have over shingles? Wbat effect would a stone wall 
coating the ice-room have? These questions I ask, but 
if there are any other items of importance connected 
with the subject, please give them—J. G. R. Kall, Mitt- 
brook, Fa., 1881?. 
I think I have seen in your valuable paper a descrip¬ 
tion of a simple, cheap, and good-keeping ice-house. 1 
wish to build such a house, and as cheaply as possible, 
consistent with a good article. If you bavn a Dumber 
of your paper containing such description, I wish you 
would send it to me, and 1 will remit price by return 
mail, and be under many obligations to you In addition. 
I give my copy of the Rural to any wbo will read it— 
this accounts for not having it.—J oshua Douglass, 
Meads ill, Penn., 1860, 
Tins best place for an ice-house is above ground 
and on a gravelly subsoil, where good natural 
drainage can be had, so that the water formed by 
the melting ico will pass off freely. Formerly it 
was thought almost essential to dig deep pits for 
preserving ice, but this plan has been abandoned 
by all who keep ice in largo quantities for sale, as 
it is preserved better above. Damp and bout are 
the two groat agents of thawing, and the first 
endeavor must be to counteract these by every 
means in our power. For the (Inst ventilation is 
necessary, and for the latter the most non-con¬ 
ducting material available mast be used for the 
house. The old plan of building ice-houses under 
ground was bad, as it was almost impossible to 
secure good drainage and sufficient ventilation to 
arrest the dampness which is sure to exist in all 
underground rooms or houses. Then the ground 
is too good a conductor of beat, and communi¬ 
cates its heat very r "lily to other bodies, much 
more so than even tn> air. The best material for 
an ice-house is wood, next brick, and then stone. 
The wooden walla should be made double by 
boarding both on the outside and inside of the 
frame timbers, the space between being filled with 
some non conducting material. Charcoal dust ia 
an excellent non-conductor; dry tan-bark or saw¬ 
dust will do very well, and if neither of these cun 
he procured, straw will answer a very good par. 
pose. 
Where the natural drainage is not first rate, 
drains must be dug and filled up with stoneB. If 
left open, the cold air will pass through them very 
freely, and its place be supplied by warm air from 
above, ice keeps best in large masses, and for 
several reasons. In a large body there ia much 
SEWAKD’S IMPORTED AKA1UAN 
SENATOI 
Tiik celebrities at our recent State Fair inclu 
ded several ex and present Governors, Senators, 
etc., and many candidates for high official posi¬ 
tions, but no specimen of the genus homo, how¬ 
ever distinguished, attracted so much attention 
and observation as did a dumb animal — Senator 
Sk ward's imported Arabian horse. As this 
animal has become somewhat celebrated, and 
was the “cynosure of all eyes” that could get 
within eight of him at Elmira, we thought Rural 
readers would like to behold a representation of 
him on paper. We therefore engaged Mr. J. R. 
Page to sketch the steed “to the life,” and take 
pleasure in presenting the above portrait us the 
result of his and our engraver’s artistic en¬ 
deavors. The picture is not handsome by any 
means, yet we assure the reader that the portrait 
Is quite accurate — albeit the horse looked so 
"awful” that it’s barely possible the artist.flut¬ 
tered the sketch a trifle in order to maintain (or 
not lose all of) his reputation for handsome 
protraiture! 
As most of our readers are aware, “the subject 
of this notice” was presented to Gov. Seward 
during his sojourn in Syria last year. lie is a 
stallion, six years old, and certainly uot wbat our 
people roganl as beautiful, though judges say he 
possesses many good points. lie was not, how¬ 
ever, in proper condition to exhibit at Elmira— 
for, ns wc remarked last week, he has lately un¬ 
dergone the privations and hardships of a long 
sea voyage, and we must make allowance theic- 
for, but wc believe that nineteen out of twenty 
who saw him, when asked for an opinion, would 
express disappointment, If nothing couched in 
stronger terms, lie is, wc think, considerably 
under fifteen bands, dark bay, blaek mane and 
tail, the latter line, long and thin; small head; 
large bright eyes; a medium nostril; and is badly 
marked with white, especially upon the back. 
same 
The Potato Disease. 
Wk are sorely troubled this year with the potato 
rot. Have you any light upon this subject that will be 
of benefit to farmcrii? Have yon decided whether an 
insect is the cause of the trouble? Many farmers who 
usually sell a good many, will not save enough for their 
own use.—G. M., Sotlus, A. I'., 1860. 
We have given some attention to this Bubject, 
and the present season have expended thrice more 
in experimenting than our crop is worth. Never¬ 
theless, we have settled nothing, and it would be 
useless to give crude notions or surmises. There 
has been far too much of this already. In July 
and August insects attacked the tops of our pota¬ 
toes, and they drooped and died during the month 
of August. All varieties suffered about alike, 
except a few fine seed obtained from England, 
which we received and planted very late. We 
examined for signs of rot, but up to this time have 
not found a rotten tuber. The potatoes are smal¬ 
ler than usual, and the crop not more than half as 
much as last year. The land was a light loam. 
On heavy land near, where the haulms kept green 
until late In the season, we observe the rot is very 
bad. On a similar soil, with a heavy growth of 
clover turued under, the crop is abandoned. On 
a lot adjoining our own, and with a light soil 
well manured, and planted with Mercers, the whole 
are gone. It seems to ua the Mercer must be 
abandoned, us they are generally rotting in this 
section more than any other variety, and this has 
long been their character. It iB singular that 
after years of almost entire exemption, the rot 
should be so general the present season in almost 
all parts of the world. In Ireluud and England it 
is no doubt worse than here. We have received 
a circular from a gentleman in Maryland, who 
thinks he has discovered the cause of the rot, and 
the remedy. The latter he has patented, lie 
thinks the cause is an Aphis, that the eggs are 
planted with the potato, the insects hatch in the 
soil and feed upon the uuder-ground shoots, roots, 
and tubers. We are not prepared to believe the 
rot is caused in this way. Thero are several 
objections to this theory which we may present at 
some futnre time. By the application of large 
quantities of manure we are satisfied we have In¬ 
creased the rot, or caused It, for in rows adjoin¬ 
ing, withoutthe manure, not a single rotten tuber 
was found. Balt, lime, sulphur and ashes, applied 
to the soil or the leaves, produced no effect, so 
far as we could ascertain. 
outset, in a judicious purchase of manures, (or 
perhaps in draining,) would make it pay from the 
first We remember urging these views on a 
neighbor whose farm had been a good deal re¬ 
duced in fertility, who replied that he intended 
to improve his farm gradually, and from the farm 
itself. He might raise poor crops at first, but 
after a few years, or as soon as he “got things 
straightened around again,” lie would have as 
good crops as anybody. He said that it was 
“almost impossible to take a poor tarrn and raise 
largo crops from the first” There is much truth 
in this, hut we question very much whether, iu 
this case, as in multitudes of others, it would not 
pay better to expend something extra to make 
the farm right a little sooner. w. J. F. 
oats when it was seeded with clover and timothy’ 
and remained iu that situation for twenty years,— 
it was pastured with sheep. It received (annual¬ 
ly) about one tun of piaster,— beyond this there 
was no fertilizing material used. After having 
been exhausted of more than $ 1,800 worth of its 
soil in hone aud woo), it produced over fifty bush¬ 
els of corn to the acre, and more than fifty of oats 
the year following. Was this increased crop due 
to the small amount of plaster imd salt used 
during the twenty years it was pastured? I think 
not.” “The dews and rains are constantly send¬ 
ing down fertilizing materials,” Ac. 
Such “ facts ” are not very “stubborn things,” 
Mr. Pkrcky. I had a field produce, after a heavy 
manuring, eighty bushelB of corn to the acre,— 
the next year it produced less than forty bushels 
per acre, and yet I hereby certify that the afore¬ 
said field lay out doors during the whole time, 
unsheltered from “the dews and rains that are 
constantly sending down fertilizing materials,” 
There may have been a difference in the seasons, 
—there may have been a difference In the culture, 
—I know there was a difference in the mu mire, as 
it got none the second year, “the dews and rains’’ 
excepted. 
It does not appear from Mr. Pekcev’s state¬ 
ment what the peculiarities of seasons and culture 
were in the case be mentions,--theonly inference 
I can draw from it is in favor ot rotation of crops, 
I think it more than probable if the same laud 
had been put to corn instead of oats the next 
year, the yield would have been only tweutyfive 
bushels instead of fifty. The corn required, to 
some extent, different materials from the grass 
grown on the land for twenty years. Important 
ingredients were accumulating all that time wait 
ing for the corn crop,—certainly the rains and the 
dews, as well as the planter, made their contribu¬ 
tions; but it will lie borne in mind that the drop¬ 
pings of the sheep, and a twenty year old sod, 
must have furnished very grateful Bupport to tho 
corn. 
STERILITY — OBJECTIONS ANSWERED. 
A man who chalked his accounts on the pantry 
doorgotthem washed oil in one of those epidemic 
cleanings tin.* periodically disturb the portion of 
Christendom that wears breeches, and history 
records that the accountant quietly remarked, “ 1 
don’t care, I’ll make the accounts out again, and 
make them against better men.” Having mislaid 
an article on “sterility” intended for the Rural, In 
which I brought railing accusations against T. G. 
Pktkkh, A. B. Dickinson, Mr. Gkppeh, J. W,, anil 
others, I do not well sec how I can write it 
over and abuse better men. The substance of 
their offence is that Messrs. Dickinson, Gbouks, 
and Deters all acquiesced in the statement that 
“ farmers now raise more than their fathers did.” 
You may rest assured that 1 denied this very per¬ 
tinaciously in the last document, and held the 
aforesaid gentlemen to a rigid accountability for 
administering anodynes when blisters were too 
mild. 
Mr. Pekcey, in Rural, Aug. 18tb, says a field 
of some twenty acres produced, over thirty years 
ago, “ less than thirty bushels of corn per acre, 
and the year following less than thirty bushels of 
TWO DOLLARS A. YEAR.] 
“ IPROG-RJCSS 7ANI3 IMPROVEMENT.” 
[SINGIJil NO. POTTTt CENTS. 
VOL. XI. NO. 42.1 
ROCHESTER, N. Y.-FOR THE WEEK ENDING SAJT'RfUY. OCTOBER 20, I860. 
S WHOLE NO. 562. 
IRVIN5, N Y 
