surface soil, that, the furrow will not be more than 
one or two inches deep, while the subsoiling is 
eighteen or twenty. Plant twelve inches apart; 
one piece with two eyes; first on one side and 
then on the other of the furrow; then turn two 
furrows on the potatoes. 
The planting being completed, if dry weather 
roll with a heavy rollei which will mate the sur¬ 
face nearly level. Keep a keen look-out, and a 
few days before they come up, with a sharp, light 
drs£ give the field a severe heteheling, so as to 
destroy every spear of grass and weed. After the 
potatoes come up, which will be with a Btrong, 
vigorous plant in a few days, put ft horse and cul¬ 
tivator (or the corn hoc, which is better) at work, 
and if dry weather, follow up with a common 
plow, turning the furrow towards the hill; in six 
or eight days follow with a shovel plow, made on 
purpose, with wings to raise the earth over the 
last plowing. If by this time I have sufficient sets, 
I stop cultivating—if not, I continue until I have, 
as every time the. soil is stirred it makes sets, so 
long as the tops and runners are kept growing. 
The foundation of the crop being laid, all that I 
know left for man to do is to leave the field in the 
best shape to stand flood or drouth. To do this, 
put the three horses with the subsoil plow as be¬ 
fore between the rowa Cultivate again, pulveri¬ 
zing the subsoil. Then with a large two-horse 
plow with a high mold-board, put on the finishing 
touch by turning a furrow to the hill, leaving the 
space on top fourteen or fifteen inches wide, one 
or two inches higher on each side than in the 
centre, so that if any rain falls the potato is sure 
to get it. If there he too much moisture, the 
drain first made under every potato carries it off 
This mode of cultivation is for dry weather. 
If the weather be wet, the planting should he done 
as before mentioned, and the cultivation entirely 
different, varying according to the season, as in 
wet seasons there is always plenty of sets, and 
therefore the least tillage to keep them clean the 
better the yield and more sizable the potato.— 
One plowing and hoeing is sufficient. To keep 
down the weeds, turn sheep in at evening, and let 
them run while the dew is on. A fine wool sheep 
will never touch a top. One of the secrets is to 
have sets sufficient, and not any more than you 
want He who watches his potatoes, and culti¬ 
vates consistently with the laws of nature, adapted 
to each and every season, varying to accommodate 
each and every phase, will never he witfiout pota¬ 
toes and a fair crop. From sixteen to twenty sets 
from two eyes, is the number that has yielded 
most with me, and 1 have never missed the mark. 
I learned to accommodate the season, instead 
of following some long established rule of hoe¬ 
ing once or twice. It may be said by some 
that the labor bestowed is more than the crop is 
worth. Bear in mind in the dry season there is 
no hoeing, and the suhsoiling, though indispensa¬ 
ble for .the potatoes, I get more than three times 
paid for in the second crop. If the potatoes come 
off in seasou, there is no summer fallow in as good 
condition for wheat.: if too late for winter wheat, 
it, is in the very best condition for spring wheat 
or barley; and if on a soft-water surface soil and 
lime subsoil, or one that, Ihe lime has leached to 
the subsoil, sufficient will be bronghtup and mixed 
by deep plowing crosswise to insure a good crop. 
The above tillage is for a tenacious clay soil. 
A few words for a sand}', gravelly, or porous 
warm soiL Of the utility of suhsoiling, the length 
of my paper already forbids that I should extend 
my remarks, as it depends on so many circumstan¬ 
ces, that T will only attempt to show how I have 
succeeded best on these soils. Plant in a furrow 
as above, in same way except the suhsoiling, as 
near the surface as possible. After the potatoes 
are dropped, I cover them all over in the furrows 
two or three inches with straw thoroughly wet 
with brine; then turn two furrows, covering the 
straw as well as the potatoes. The salt being of a 
cold nature as well as moist, and the straw being 
light, it goes very far to accomplish the object 
There should be as much as two or three bushels 
of salt to the acre. The salt and straw is good 
and pays well on a stiff clay soil, and does rnaeh 
to prevent the rot. The potatoes should he cut so 
as to have two eyes on each piece, as planting 
whole potatoes gives too much seed in one place 
for drill planting. It will not do to plant small 
potatoes, as many suppose, even for one crop, and 
he who picks out and plants small potatoes for 
five years in succession, will dig a very small crop. 
The potatoes should be cut six or eight, days be¬ 
fore planting, if time is deemed of importance, as 
the potato never grows while the wound is healing. 
The seed should never be permitted to sprout be¬ 
fore planting, which is easily prevented, if not 
planted until the 10th of July. It has the same 
injurious effect on potatoes that it has on wheat 
The oftener either sprouts, the more feeble and 
sickly the plants they bring forth. I plant a barrel 
of new potatoes every year — that is, of the same 
year’s growth—generally the Bermudas, for a por¬ 
tion of my seed the next year, to make sure of 
some that never fails to be sound, and at a less ex¬ 
pense than from two to five dollars per bushel, 
which the improved seed has cost, me for the last 
ten years. I have planted them as late as the 
thirteenth of July—they did not come up untilthe 
twenty-fourth of August, and were killed by the 
frost the second of November—that weighed four¬ 
teen ounces. I should not import potatoes for 
seed if the season was sufficiently long to enable 
me to grow two crops, taking the last for my seed. 
I am not a believer in the doctrine that the 
potato by a change of seed can be improved, how¬ 
ever far fetched or dear bought, on a soil in a cli¬ 
mate both of which are exactly adapted to its 
growth, either by nature or made so by cultivation, 
and I am quite sure that 1 have improved them 
both in quantity and quality for the last ten years. 
Mv reason is, that unlike almost everything else 
we cultivate, it does much better in other climates 
and different soil than in its native land. Found 
first growing wild inthe Tropics on this Continent, 
where they have never succeeded in cultivating 
them to any extent below a level of three or four 
thousand feet above the sea, unknown to the an¬ 
cients, and as late as 1684 they were cultivated by 
a very few in the gardens of the nobility of Eng¬ 
land. They were regarded as such ft great delica¬ 
cy, that it is mentioned in the manuscript account 
of the household expenses of Queen Annie, wife of 
James I, as costing at the rate of thirty dollars 
per bushel. So expensive or so scarce was the 
article, that she only purchased live pounds. It 
was introduced into Ireland by Sir Walter 
Raleigh, and planted in his garden in 1010, in 
the vicinity of Yonghal. The increase was so 
great that in 1880, previous to the blight, they 
constituted more tliau three-fourths of the entire 
food of that people, and had really become the 
staff of life. 
Believing, as I do, that potatoes will yield more 
food to tho acre than any other crop, I think them 
worthy of some attention, and, with proper care, I 
have no fears of their runniug out, or at least am not 
sufficiently alarmed to cultivate the yam, which is 
about as much of a substitute for the potato, as a 
string of June suckers would be for a barrel of 
good, corn-fed pork. 
Hornby, 6th January, 1857. 
TRANSMUTATION OF VEGETABLES; 
OK, WHEAT TURNING TO CHESS. 
Your correspondent, “Farmer D.,” calls upon 
scientific men “to reconcile the facts” given in 
his article in the Rural of February 7th, “with 
the theory that wheat cannot produce chess.” 
Although not a farmer, nor a “scientific man,” I 
will, nevertheless, with your permission, Mr. Edi¬ 
tor, make a few suggestions bearing upon the 
question at issue, viz., the transmutation of vegeta¬ 
bles by means of soil, climate, moisture, Ac. 
Supposing the instances stated by “Farmer D.” 
to have actually occurred, and to have beep cor¬ 
rectly reported, I would ask if they are sufficient 
to establish so important and anomalous a doc¬ 
trine as the oue which they involve — that wheat, 
barley aud other grains, are capable of deteriora¬ 
ting, or otherwise changing, into a new species of 
grain, which shall thereafter possess nnch&uga- 
ble characters, and which cannot bo reclaimed to 
the original state of wheat or barley by any kind 
of cultivation to which it may be subjected ? Such 
a conclusion is too important to be accepted with¬ 
out a thorough examination. 
Every one of course believes that, as a general 
rule, “like produces like.” Wheat produces wheat, 
and so of everything else; hut “Farmer D.” af¬ 
firms that the rule is subject to exceptions—that 
these specific distinctions of the vegetable world 
are subject to external conditions, so that circum¬ 
stances being changed the rale no longer obtains. 
But if the agencies which he enumerates are 
capable of modifying specific vegetable character¬ 
istics, so that wheat and barley may thereby be 
changed into chess, and oats into rye, as has else¬ 
where been maintained, the proof of such a modi¬ 
fying influence would undoubtedly be found in the 
possibility of re-converting chess to wheat again 
by proper cultivation, which, it is hardly necessary 
to say, no one has ever witnessed. 
A fault, theu, may be suspected in the reason¬ 
ing of your correspondent. We can admit the 
facts related in his article, without adopting his 
explanation or theory. We ask for direct, demon¬ 
strative proof of the transmutation of species. Let 
it be proved that the soil contains no foreign seed 
when chess follows the sowing of wheat, before 
ov.r assent is required to a hypothesis which is 
confessedly at variance with the established order 
of Nature. It cannot be denied that the most 
careful examination which scientific men have 
given to the subject, only confirms them in the 
belief that no new species, either animal or vegeta¬ 
ble, has ever come into being except by the direct 
act of a Creator. We do not therefore expect 
our apples to change, now and then, into pears, 
our plums into cherries, our ducks into geese, nor 
our men into monkeys. Yot all this might happen, 
if the fact of a transmutation of species can he 
established in ft few instances like those under 
consideration. 
The man who sowed good seed in his field, and 
found tares at the time of harvest, reasoned like a 
sound philosopher in declaring that they proceed¬ 
ed not from his pure seed wheat, hut from some 
other seed, which in an unknown way had obtained 
a lodgment iii the soil 
Let us then admit “Farmer D.’s” facts, and re¬ 
spect his concluding practical counsels, while we 
dissent from his theory and explanations. It 
would be easy to speculate as to the manner in 
which the seed chess got into his wheat and bar¬ 
ley fields; but this is not required. The proof of 
a transmutation of species devolves on him who 
makes the assertion; and it is right to demaud 
that the evidence shall be direct, demonstrative, 
and sufficient—that the soil shall \>c provedto have 
been clear of everything but the seed sown. Noth¬ 
ing short of this could establish the doctrine of 
the conversion of one kind of grain into another. 
BARN-YARD MANURE.- ROTATION. 
Eds. Rural:— There is, just now, much talk 
about manure, and a little about rotation of crops, 
(the real foundation of all successful farming,) but 
none of it quite agrees with my ideas on these im¬ 
portant subjects. Some say that horse manure 
is too hot, and that of cattle too cold. Some argue 
that both must be rotted, and some that it must be 
applied green. My mode is to put all together in 
the barn-yard, by dumping it from a wheel-barrow 
in different places about the yard, and covering it 
with straw, letting the cattle tread it and mix 
through the day. This, I think, cools the horse 
and warms the cattle manure, and makes all alike. 
The Bnow aud rain will prevent fermentation, and 
the straw will absorb the liquid, there will be no 
drainage from it, scarcely, being thawed out by 
the time it should be removed in the spring. 
My barns and sheds surround the yards, (except 
on the east side,) all furnished with cave-troughs, 
bo that none but falling water comes into the yard. 
All of this manure I take out in the spring and 
apply to green sward for corn, 20 or 26 loads per 
acre, (corn being a leading crop with me because 
it returns much back to the soil, by feeding both 
staikB and corn out on the farm,) plowing it with 
deep and strait furrows, — roll and harrow well, 
—mark out and plant the large eight-rowed yellow, 
3 $ by 4 feet, hoe three times—usually get from 60 
to 90 bushels per acre, once obtained 103 bushels 
by this procedure. Follow this crop with spring 
wheat, oats or barley, and close up the rotation 
with winter wheat and clover. Sow plaster on 
the clover, mow' or pasture as I have occasion three 
years, and take up as before. 
This rotation and management of manure, I 
know from my own knowledge, will bring a worn 
out. farm to a high state of cultivation and fertility, 
short of w hich no man ought to he satisfied. Some 
of my more easy neighbors say this is my hobby; 
perhaps so, but it is a sure-footed nag that has car¬ 
ried me through thus far, entirely safe, and raised 
me from poverty to comfortable circumstances, 
never having once stumbled or made a misstep; 
therefore, I feel that I can trust it, aud shall until 
some one shows me a better way. 1 would like to 
see all my brother farmers well mounted (whip in 
hand) upon this two-forty nag, then there w r ould be 
no more complaint about “ nubbins," “short oats” 
and “penny-royal wheat.” J. c. b. 
Sheridan, Jan., 1857. 
Iftfrinariait. 
STRETCHES IN SHEEP. 
In answer to the inquiry of a correspondent as 
to a remedy for this disease we have received, at 
least, quite a number of communications, a few of 
which wC subjoin for the benefit of those engaged 
in raising this valuable breed of animals; 
Stretches in Sheep. —In reference to this dis¬ 
ease and the remedy therefor, I think prevention 
better than cure. My observation has been that 
sheep scarcely ever have it where pure water is of 
easy access at all times, and very seldom when they 
have a daily feed of turnips or other green food.— 
Last winter, a flock fed with straw’, oats, and turnips 
without w T ater, were wholly exempt; Ibis winter, the 
same flock, iu the same place, fed with straw aud 
corn, hut neither turnips or water, are troubled a 
good deal with the disease, while in another flock 
fed with hay and corn close by a stream of water, 
there has not been a single case of it. Years ago 
I remember taking care of a flock of Merinos that 
were led daily a distance of 30 rods to a well. In 
very inclement weather they would not remain, or, 
if forced to do so would not drink, and the succeed¬ 
ing morning was very likely to show some of the 
flock attacked. I never knew a case in the summer 
or during a winter thaw, and hence conclude that 
water, in some form, is the great preventive. I 
have used various remedies, stretched them by the 
hind legs, given a tablespoonlul of picra, a quid 
of tobacco, a dose of melted lard, &c., but more 
generally have done nothiug at all. Though it 
may not be flattering to the medical skill of the 
writer, yet I think the do-nothing system lias been 
quite as efficacious as any. Usually they get well 
of themselves, but not always. Some die speedily 
—others stretch tw r o or three dai s and then linger 
out weeks, almost entirely refusing food, the case 
finally terminating in scours aud death.—w. n. r. 
Eds. Rural :—Seeing your comments on Stretch¬ 
es in Sheep and the inquiry of “E.,” and, as I have 
heretofore presented some of my experience to the 
readers of the Rural, I will tell you what I do for 
this disease. Your correspondent says that it is 
the best that are taken with it. I presume that it 
is those that are in the best condition formutton— 
it generally attacks such sheep. I have had eases 
of it this winter, but with my treatment they were 
restored to health. Give a tablespoonful of Epsom 
salts in a gill of water, “torn it in with a tunnel,” 
aud they will soon get over it, in most cases, and 
go to eating after a short time. Jf one dose should 
not effect a cure give another. I have no doubt, 
but that if the hogs attacked with what is called 
the hog cholera were treated in this way, they 
would get well as I thus saved a fat hog once.— 
Tt would not eat, and to all apperance was about 
dead; it seemed to breathe very hard, but recov¬ 
ered under this treatment.—J. P. Youlen, West 
Rupert, Vl., Feb., 1857. 
Eos. Rural: —I find inthe Rural an inquiryfor 
the cause and cure of Stretches in Sheep. The 
cause is constant use of dry feed, and may be pre¬ 
vented by feeding a few roots two or three times a 
week, or in case roots cannot be had apples will 
answer. I feed roots and am not often troubled 
with the disease, hut last winter I had a wether 
lamb that would not eat them attacked: I gave 
him three doses of physic, both salts and castor 
oil, without producing an operation; I then tried 
a tobacco injection by filling a pipe with tobacco 
—inserted the stem and drove the smoko in. This 
i bad the desired effect, the lamb soon recovered— 
has done well since.—Tnos. B. Lord, East Bethany 
JV. Y., 1857. 
Ens. Rural: —My remedy for Stretches in Sheep 
is a tablespoonful of tar put iu the moutb, holding 
it shut until it melts and runs down. It seldom 
fails of effecting a cure in a few minutes. Lard, 
castor oil and Epsom salts are frequently used, but 
their effect, is not as quick or sure as tar. My pre¬ 
ventive is a constant supply of salt aud pure water. 
—W. D. Dickinson, Victor, N. K, 1867. 
Eds. Rural:—I notice in the Rural, an inquiry 
in regard to the Stretches in Sheep, aud a remedy 
is requested. I have frequently had sheep trou¬ 
bled with this disease, and have melted a teacupful 
of lard and poured it down them, whereby a cure 
was soon effected. —A. Foot, Middtebury, 17., 1867 
Stretches in Sheep. —My remedy is very sim¬ 
ple, easily tried, and will do no hurt if it does no 
good. Take a penknife and bleed in the third 
wrinkle in the mouth. This remedy has a/umys 
cured when others failed.—S. D. H., Clrand Blanc, 
Mich. 
-»■». 
Winter Feeding of Colts. —A correspondent 
asks, “is there any danger of feeding a young colt 
too many oats the first winter?” I have had some 
experience in raising horses, and as far as it goes, 
I should say there is. 1 would rather have good, 
clean, sweet hay for my colts to eat the first win¬ 
ter, and no grain, than to let Ihern run to an oat 
bin. The object is to keep the colt growing and 
healthy, and if (his can be done without any grain, 
so much the better — at any rate I would not. give 
young colts more than two quarts in a day, one in 
the morning and one at night, as more would have 
a tendency to take their appetite from hay, which 
is the most natural food for them.—S. D. 11., Grand 
Blanc, Mich. 
-- 
A Large Hoc. — Mr. Amos Alcott, of this place, 
slaughtered on tho 9th inst a hog 21 months old, 
which, dressed aud ready for market, weighed 674 
pounds.—M. E. Merchant, Guilford, Chenango 
Co., N. Y. 
'Ilural Holes ant) Items. 
New York State Ao. Society.— The Buffalo 
Commercial says a movement is on foot to locate 
the next fair of the State Agricultural Society in 
that city. In order to secure it, it is necessary to 
subscribe liberally towards the payment, of the 
expenses. As it, would bring a large concourse of 
people to the city for the term of three days, the 
project recommends itself to those who will be 
benefited by such a crowd. A subscription paper 
is now in circulation. 
--—- 
California State Ag. Society.— We are in¬ 
debted to the Editors of the California Farmer — 
which, by the way, is a model paper—for the Offi¬ 
cial Report of the Third Annual Fair oi the Gol¬ 
den State. The Table of Contents exhibits a 
selection of valuable aud interesting matter, com¬ 
prising Reports of the various Committees; Ad¬ 
dress of Col. J. B. Crockett; Award of Pre¬ 
miums; Prize Essay on the I’otatoe; History of 
the Formation of the Society, Ac., Ac. We may, 
hereafter, make some extracts therefrom, that our 
readers can ascertain what the Agricultural com¬ 
munity on the Pacific side of our country are 
doing. 
Wool Growers’ Association.— A meeting of 
the Executive Committee of the Wool Growers' 
Association of Western New York, was held in 
Penn Y'an on the 23d ult. A resolution was adopt¬ 
ed constituting a committee composed of Wm. T. 
Remer of Penn Yau, Tdomas R. Peck of West 
Bloomfield, and Aaron Y. Baker of Urbana, to 
whom was referred the subject as to the time and 
place of holding tire next Annual Fair, reference 
being had to the amount of luuds that may he 
pledged to sustain the objects of the Association 
and report at the next meeting of the Executive 
Committee. The Association adjourned to meet 
at same place on the 19th inst, 
- - < 4 « - 
Delaware Co. Ac. Society. —The Annual Meet¬ 
ing was held at Delhi, Jan. 7, the President, lb B. 
Gibbs, Esq., in tho Chair. There was a handsome 
exhibition of grain and grass seeds, fruits and 
dressed meats. The Treasurer’s report showed a 
balance of $380 68 on hand. The President was 
re-elected, but having declined, the following offi¬ 
cers were chosen: — President — D. C. Thomas, 
Stamford. Vice-Presidents —S.F. Miller, Franklin; 
Daniel Andrews,Stamford; Geo. Wheeler,Deposit; 
W. B. Dowie, Andes; N. C. Marvine, Walton; Por¬ 
ter Frisbee,Delhi; M. L. Farrington, Delhi; Henry 
C. Hawley, Hamden; Norman Dart, Harpersfield. 
Secretary —T. B. Meigs, Delhi. Secretary of Ladies’ 
Department —A. S. Gibbs. Treasurer —Hiram Olm- 
stead, Walton. 
-.+*- 
Washington Co. Ag. Society. —This Society 
held its Annual Meeting on the 13th ult. and made 
choice of the following officers for 1857:— Presi¬ 
dent —Hon. Henry W. Beckwith, North Granville, 
Vice-Presidents —L. Lowry, Greenwich; Harvey 
Brown, South Hartford; Dr. James Rice, Ft. Ann; 
Daniel Rico, Easton: T. C. Whiteside, Centre 
Cambridge. Recording Secretary —R. K. Crocker, 
North White Creek. Assistant do. —Wm. L. Mow- 
ry, Greenwich. Corresponding Secretary —Rev. E. 
1L Newton, Jackson. Treasurer —S. W. Crosby, 
North Wbjte Creek. 
Onondaga Co. Ac. Society. —The Annual Meet¬ 
ing of this Society was held at Syracuse ou the 
20th ult. The following gentlemen were chosen 
officers for 1857: — President — P. II. HiNSDELL, 
Clay. First Vice-President • —John M. Strong, On¬ 
ondaga. SecondVice-President —Silas Cory, Otis- 
co. Secretary — H. D. Didama, Syracuse. Treas¬ 
urer — Charles Pope, Syracuse. Directors —For 
one year, J. G. Kendall, Charles A. Baker; for two 
years, Morris Beard, H. E. Van Vleet; three years, 
Thomas Danforth, L. B. Pitcher. 
- s- - 
Genesee Co. Ag. Society. — This Society held 
its Animal Meeting at Batavia on the 13tli ult, 
when the following officers were elected: — Presi¬ 
dent —Chester E. Orcutt. Vice-Presidents —Nel¬ 
son Parker, Leander Douglass. Secretary —Thos. 
Yates. Treasurer —Henry Cross. Managers —Ja¬ 
son W. Dnguid, B. Moulton. 
---- 
Wayne Co. Exhibitions.— The noise Show will 
take place at Lyons on the 3d, 4th and 5th days of 
June. Competition open to the State. The An¬ 
nual Fair will beheld on the 16th, 17th and 18th 
of September — competition open to surrounding 
counties. 
■-►f*--— 
Sale of Champion Black Hawk. —This noted 
Morgan horse, whose portrait and pedigree are 
given on ourtirstpage,—formerly owned by Messrs. 
Ladd, of Richmond, Ohio, and lately by Messrs. 
Mklkndy, of Mu Healthy, near Cincinnati—has 
recently been sold to Messrs. Rickekt, Brace A 
Co., of Green county, Illinois, for the handsome 
sum of $4,000. 
-■ - 
A Fine Hejfkk. —Messrs. Fuost A Schiller, 
Clinton Market, Main-st., this city, exhibited a fine 
Heven - eighths Durham heifer, four years old, 
known as the May Flower, bred aud fattened by 
Mr. Henry Turner, of Rush. She was a beautiful 
animal, presenting the marked and peculiar fea¬ 
tures of the Shorthorns. Mr .Turner Is entitled 
to no small credit for such excellent beef. Live 
weight 1,900 lbs., aud it was estimated by butchers 
that she would dress from 1,100 to 1,600 lbs. 
-- 
Corn and Wheat in Ohio.— The Auditor of 
State reports the grain statistics of Ohio for 1866 
in bis annual communication to the Legislature.— 
The number of acres sown with wheat was 1,407,- 
773; bushels gathered, 19,669,320; tho average 
yield, 13.81 bushels. The whole number of aoro* 
or corn planted was 2,205,282; bushels gathered, 
87,587,434; the average yield, 39.71 bushels. 
Pickaway county leads the column in tho 
amount of corn gathered, 3,609,765 bushels,'averag¬ 
ing 47.28 bushels to the acre. Gallia isHhe most 
fertile county growing the greatest average num¬ 
ber of bushels, 67 to the acre. Belmont aud Miami 
raised the woBt wheat, the latter showing the 
greatest average to the acre, 22.84 bushels. The 
average in Cuyahoga was only 12.64 bushels of 
wheat and 37 of com to the acre. 
AtTLtcATiuN of Manure. — To get the greatest 
benefit from manure, it must be intimately mixed 
with the soil. It makes a much greater ditlerence 
than most farmer's suppose, whether the manure is 
buried in lumps and clods, or whether it is care¬ 
fully spread and intermixed with the soil, as far as 
may be by plowing and harrowing. The richest 
fertilizer is of no use to a plant unless fitted for 
plant food — so intermixed with the soil as to in¬ 
vite the roots, and so porous to moisture as to be¬ 
come soluble, that the roots may take it up. Hun¬ 
dreds of experiments have shown that a small 
quantity of manure, thoroughly mixed with the 
soil—so as in fact to become a part of the soil it¬ 
self—will produce an immediate and astonishing 
effect. 
But this leads us to consider another fact—that 
barn-yard manure, as usually managed, is not readi¬ 
ly mixed with the soil. It is in great part coarse 
aud strawy, or if decomposed, full of clods and 
lumps. Will farmers consider this and give us 
their views on the management of manure 1 
(Tlir fjomuj ilunlist. 
YOUNGCEERKS vs. YOUNG PAKMBES 
Really, Mr. Editor, you must ailotv me to say 
a word for the clerks. All clerks are not conceited 
and foppish. Alt clerks do not think more of the 
curl of their hair, or the color of their whiskers, 
than they do of the cultivation of their heads and 
hearts. All useful labor is honorable, no matter 
whether in the store or on the farm. There 13 
no particular merit in having a softhaud or a hard 
one—neither is there uuy particular merit in wear¬ 
ing coarse or line clothes. There is merit in dress¬ 
ing in a manner suitable to our occupation. There 
is merit iu feeling that we are not above our busi¬ 
ness, but that we are Willing to pursue auy honora¬ 
ble occupation to gain a living. 
All young men are not farmers’ sons, and many 
farmers have more sonfe than can be profitably 
employed on the farm—at least it is thought so, 
though perhaps there is a question here worthy of 
some discussion. Perhaps our fathers need more 
light on this subject; and they are already getting 
wiser in this respect than they used to be. 
I also understand that, many of the best farmers 
in our country—acknowledged by all to be such— 
were men who in their younger days were engaged 
in commercial or mechanical business. They 
studied the subject until they became so much 
interested that they gave up everything else aud 
engaged head and hands, body and soul in (arm¬ 
ing, and consequently make the best fanners.— 
They had nothing to unlearn —110 old prejudice to 
conquer. Some of the present clerks, like your 
humble servant, may yet “put their hands to the 
plow,” and show to the world that they are not 
such conceited fops as some seem to imagine. 
Clerk. 
- • - - 
FARMING vs. A PROFESSION. 
Messrs. Eds.: —In the last No. of the Rural, I 
saw’ an invitation extended to farmers’ boys to con¬ 
tribute to the “Young Rural is t ” department of 
your paper. Now as I am one of that ela*?, I 
claim it as my privilege to agitate my pen for the 
especial benefit of my class. I cannot boast of 
belonging to the literati, otherwise than under¬ 
standing the art of feeding chickens, driv ing team, 
Ac.; but being a farmer's boy, I can boast of be¬ 
longing to the most respectable, honorable, and 
independent class of society. 
I have often heard it remarked that farmers’ 
hoys are a clumsy, uncouth, untutored set, fit only 
to drive team, saw wood, or hoe corn. Now you 
know, Mr. Editor, as w’ell as I, that it ia a base cal¬ 
umny. 1 know a great many that are as fit to have 
the respect of the community as yoar sott-hauded, 
soft-headed clerks; and in my opinion, much more 
so. Many of them are more refined, more cultiva¬ 
ted, and ean appear better in society. 
I have often been urged to seek alivingbysome 
other means than “ tilling the grouud”—to seek a 
more honorable (may he less honest) mode by means 
of a profession; but T remain a farmer. I deem it 
the best, the easiest, in short the most delightful 
way of spending one’s life. Y r ou may hear from 
me again. I. Fkatek. 
East Bloomfield, N. Y., 1857. 
-- 
HOME ON THE FARM. 
The farm preserves the family in it3 integrity. 
The home has in that charming word, and that 
more charming thing, the fireside; around which 
parents and children gather, and where the bright 
and cheerful blaze upon the hearth is but a true 
type of the flame of love that glows in every heart. 
The parents have been drawn together, not by the 
sordid motives of wealth, Or by the ambitions de¬ 
sire of social display,but for tlie personal qualities 
seen in each other. The glory of that fireside to 
the husband is that the wife is there, and to the 
wife that he ift there, who is head of the woman, 
aud tin} hand in that home circle. Here they 
gather at morning and evening, and at noon.— 
Their board is almost always surrounded with the 
same circle. Here they spend the long winter 
evenings together, enlivened with the school-books 
of children, the newspapers aud journals, and 
works of history and Bcience. A constant homo¬ 
geneous iullueuoe goon forth from this circle to 
tho young hearts that are molding there. Paren¬ 
tal vigilance guards the young against wicked 
companions. If the religious influences are right 
ill that home, they will all grow up to be good 
citizens, to be the pillars of society, wherever 
their lot may be cast. The sons follow the busi¬ 
ness of their father as soon as their labors are 
available. They are with him in the field, aud by 
the way, and at home. They form industrious 
habits, and are prepared for the responsibilities of 
life.— Rkv. W. Clift, in Am. Journal of Education. 
— « » > 
Tub whole tendency of farm life is to dovelop 
the body healthfully and symmetrically. Tho 
child iB not pent up in the narrow back-yard of a 
city dwelling, or turned into the thronged and 
filthy street, to pursue Ida sports. His eyes open 
first upon green fields and fragrant meadows, and 
his first footfall out of doors is upon the matted 
grass beneath the shadowy trees of his rural home. 
Ho drinks iu health from every breeze, aud all the 
scenes around him oall forth that playfulness 
which performs so important an office in our early 
training. 
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