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TWO DOLLARS A YEAR,] 
[SINGLE NO. FIVE CENTS 
MOORE’S RURAL NEW-YORKER, 
AX ORIGINAL WEEKLY 
Agricultural, Literary and Family Newspaper, 
CONDUCTED BY D. D. T. MOORE, 
WITH AN ABLE CORPS OF ASSISTANT EDITORS. 
stm-flowcrs to take from the air its ague poisoD, 
because they might catch “the ball at the first 
hop.' 1 Over-spreading the marshes they would 
absorb the miasma as it rises, and so prevent the 
seeds of disease from being disseminated through 
the air and over the city. 
The prevailing winds here are from the We6t.— 
They come across the Potomac; yet the people 
who live on the other side of the river are also 
subject to ague and fever, though not so much as 
we are who live on the East side. Such facts as 
this, suggest the idea that the pestilence is dif¬ 
fused through the air by permeation, as well as by 
transportation on the wings of the wind. 
Dr. Cordon, of Ohio, is making, at the instance 
of the American Medical Association, a series of 
investigations concerning cholera. I had the 
pleasure of a visit from him last winter,—and he 
suggested that the position of dwellings with re¬ 
gard to water might, irrespective of the winds, 
have an influence upon their healthiness. Let us 
take the situation of the Observatory to illustrate 
the character of “the destruction that walketh at 
noon-day.” It i3 so situated with regard to the 
Potomac—being on a promontory—that the snn is 
reflected from the water upon it all day from about 
10 A. M. 'till near sunset; so that, in the summer 
time especially, we hare the rays of two suns play¬ 
ing upon ns with terrific force—one from the sky, 
the other from the water. Sun-flowers could not 
counteract the influence of this sun in the water 
1 _A _ . ... A . 1 . 
of being one of the representatives of Great 
Britain at the Maritime Conference at Brussels, 
whi. h was held for the purpose of establishing an 
uniform system of Meteorological Observations at 
sea for all Nations; this Conference was attended 
by representatives from the principal nations in 
Enrope.and at which the United States of America 
was so ably represented by Lieutenant Maukt, the 
National Astronomer at Washington. Since that 
time war unhappily for a period as prevented any 
combination amongst tbe leading Meteorologists 
fur the purpose of extending the system of co¬ 
operation to the Land which has been adopted For 
the Sea, and which M. Quetelet, the distinguished 
President of the Brussels Conference, Lieutenant 
Maury, and the most able Meteorologists in all 
parts of the world, are so desirous of seeing 
established. 
“ The period has now arrived when we may hope 
to see this co-operative system extended over the 
greater part of the world, when atmospheric phe¬ 
nomena may he traced from their origin and 
throughout their whole progress to their termina¬ 
tion, and the physical laws which govern them be 
understood and explained, but this information 
can never be arrived a% except by combination 
amongst Nations; and knowing as we do, that it 
is not the want of instruments, or the want of ob¬ 
servers that is required, or what is perhaps still 
more important, it is not a want of larger grants 
for this special object than are already given by 
almost every government, but simply a mutual in- 
terebange of the results of the observations taken 
in each country, on an uniform system to be agreed 
on at a Conference;—knowing this, and that so 
many distinguished scientific men iu all parts of 
the world have the establishment of such a system 
so strongly at heart, 1 r - at the next contribution 
of the Ordnance Survey to the science of Meteo¬ 
rology will be as a part of the contribution of this 
country, in the great combined system which I 
advocate.” 
But in urging such extension of the present 
system of Meteorological Research npon your 
readers, I hope you will not forget to ask them to 
give you, in the fall, the results of their sun-flower 
experiments. Yours, Ac, 
SPECIAL CONTItlltCTOKB s 
PROP. C. DEWEY. T. C- PETERS, 
Dr. M. F. MAURY. H T. BROOKS. 
Db. ASA FITCH, EWD. WEBSTER, 
T. 3. ARTHUR, Mas. M. J. HOLMES, 
LYMAN B, LAJ?UWORTHY. 
Tns Rural New-Yorker is to bo unsurpassed in 
YsJno, Purity, Usrfulnuss find Variety of Contents, and unique 
and beautifnl In Appearance, Its Conductor devotes hie per¬ 
sonal attention to the snpervifdou of its various departments, 
and earnestly luliors to render the Rurai. an eminently Reliable 
Guido on the important Practical, Scientific and other Subjects 
intimately connected with the business of lliose whose interests 
it Jealously advocates. It embraces more Agricultural, Horti¬ 
cultural, Scientific, Mechanical, Literary and Nows Matter, 
Interspersed with appropriate anil henntiftil Knprnving*, than 
any other Journal,— rendering it the most comploto Agricul- 
tvbai,, Literary jsd Familt Jochsai. tn America. 
tic All communications, and business letters, should be 
addressed to 1). D. T. MOORE, Rochester, N. Y 
For Terms, and other particulars, see last page. 
SUK-FLOWER CULTURE 
Observatory, Washington, March 30,1867. 
To THE Editor:— The time for the Spring at¬ 
tack upon those who had to “ battle the watch” 
with Ague and Fever last fall, is drawingnigh—so 
also is the time for planting Sun-Flowers, as a bar¬ 
ricade to the pestilence. A hedge of sun-flowers 
about the house, if they would keep the fevers and 
doctors away, is surely entitled to be considered 
as a sign of good husbandry, as well as a very 
profitable crop. For the purpose of satisfying 
those who are disposed to try the experiment as to 
the reasons lor supposing an Anti-Agne and Fever 
virtue to reside in sun-llowera, perhaps you will 
allow me to state, in addition to what has already 
been said, other facts and circumstances that bear 
npon the subject. 
About three years ago a party of officers, under 
command of Tbos. J. Pack, in the U. S. Steamer 
“Water-Witch,” was dispatched to South America 
to explore the Bio de la Plata and its tributaries. 
The waters of that river flow south, and the coun¬ 
try drained by it lies between the parallels of 15° 
and 3fi° 30' South Latitude, which you observe 
include a region that, between tha corresponding 
parallels of North Latitude, would be liable to 
yellow fever and intenuitteuts of all sorts. Ac¬ 
cordingly, when the officers got up into the coun¬ 
try and saw the ponds aud marshes there, they 
thought of ague and fever and began to anticipate 
“ shakes” among the party,—for several of them 
were from corresponding latitudes in this country, 
and knew well what to expect from such looking 
places at home. They observed, however, that many 
of these ponds were covered with a thick growth 
of water lilies—aud when they came to inquire of 
those, living in the neighborhood of such ponds, 
they were told that no such tbiug as ague aud 
fever was known there; where this growth was 
absent there intermitteuts were common. 
I was relating this circumstance a short time 
ago to a gentleman from the South, when he told 
me of the following fact in confirmation:_His 
slaves were subject to ague and fever. He built a 
mill-dam, aud put the miller ar.d the miller’s wife 
and children—slaves all—to live at the mill. The 
neighbors said—“You will ruin this family of 
slaves; they will be of no use to you, for they will 
be all the time sick with chills and fever.” But he 
observed that hie mill-pond was soon made green 
with water lilies, and the miller and his family 
are the only slaves on the plantation that regular¬ 
ly escape ague aud fever. This was several years 
ago, and no case has been known to occur at the 
mill. 
Now, hero these water plants, with their broad, 
thick leaves, probably performed the office which 
is proposed for the sun flowers. They are both 
great absorbents, and they appear equally fond of 
this miasmatic food, which seems to breed inter- 
mittents. 
It is said that, the President intends to abandon 
the “White House” next summer, on account of 
the liability of its occupants to chills and fevers, 
and to take up his residence iu some part of the 
District beyond the Influence of the marshes of 
the 1 otomac. Indeed, you often hear the opinion 
and wish expressed by residents that Congress 
should provide a summer residence for the Presi¬ 
dent iu some more healthy spot—within the limits 
of “ the ten miles square”—than that in which his 
mansion stauds. 
Can water lilies be uultivatod? If so, would it 
not be w ell to plant the Potomac marshes with 
them? They would, I suppose, answer better than 
Now that the season has arrived when fine road 
and carriage horses are in demand, and the merits 
of the various breeds are being tested and dis¬ 
cussed, we present uur readers with a portrait and 
pedigree of another superior Morgan stallion. The 
portrait is certainly a very expressive one—indi¬ 
cating unusual spirit, action, symmetry and com¬ 
pactness, even for the Morgans, celebrated as they 
are for comprising more of these essentials, in a 
small compass, than any other breed of horses in 
this country. 
This spirited illustration is one of the best in 
Linslky’s work on “Morgan Horses,” recently 
published by Saxton & Co.,—a volume heretofore 
commended to those of onr readers interested in 
the subject. We annex the Pedigree, &c., of the 
horse represented, as follows: 
Gifford Morgan Jr., was foaled May 23d, 1S50, 
the prop rty of Elijah Jcdson, of Woodbury, 
Conn. Sired by Gifford, g. sire, Woodbury, g. g. 
sire, Justin Morgan. Dam, Ribbon Back, by 
Young Blacit Hawk: g. dam was taken from Ver¬ 
mont to Conn., ia 1 S2.5. an«.i was said ;o have been 
sired by the Justin Morgan. Gifford Morgan, Jr., 
is a jet black color, a little under 15 hands high, 
and weighs about 1,100 tt-s. Is a free, pleasant trav 
eler, and moves in good, bold style. Is very pleas¬ 
ant in his temper, perfectly tractable, and ia a 
fine horse. He is now owned by Mr. H. B. Munson, 
and is kept at Keokuk, Lee County, Iowa. 
M. F. Maury. 
rotted and incorporated with the earth. Getting 
the land in readiness ia the farmer's own work, and 
it is well to remember that according to the com¬ 
pleteness with which the task is performed will be 
the returns. 
The common mode of seeding has been in drills, 
from 12 to 16 Inches apart, and the after culture 
generally depended upon the hoe, Tn this manner 
a greater yield can be obtained per acre than 
where ridging is followed, but a large increase of 
labor is demanded. Ridging is performed by 
turning two furrows together, about two feet apart 
from top to top: tbe cultivator can then be freely 
used, and, compared with the former mode, the toil 
is light. The use of a drill expedites the work, 
but, as many soak the seed, it is a troublesome op¬ 
eration. Plaster, poudrette, ashes, or any dry fer¬ 
tilizing material, will assist in overcoming this 
difficulty. Warm water is used, and the length of 
time adopted by different cultivators for this ope¬ 
ration varies from one to two days. If the weather 
proves unfavorable for planting when the seed is 
thus prepared, coat it with any of the materials 
before mentioned, set it in a cool place, and it will 
not receive iqjury for eight or ten days. Should 
it become sprouted, no damage will ensue. Tbe 
advantage derived from thus preparing the ;®ed 
is, the young plants grow more rapidly and get 
the start of weeds—which may, of all other things, 
be considered the bane of thi3 crop. In level cul¬ 
ture, owing lo the slow growth of the carrot and 
the speedy production of weeds, it is difficult to 
recognize the young plants, and in hoeing they 
are liable to destruction—while, if early attention 
is not given them, the weeds will almost ruin the 
entire crop. Where this mode is pursued, many 
drop a few radish seed occasionally in order to 
designate the rows. Two pounds of seed peraeie 
is the quantity generally nsed. Should the weath¬ 
er be dry immediately after planting, rolling will 
bo found advantageous—if in drills, a light pres¬ 
sure should be given by treading, and then cover 
with earth. 
Early in the season the farmer should be confi¬ 
dent that the seed is of first quality. This can be 
tested by trying a few in a hot-bed. As soon as 
possible after all danger from frost is over, ia the 
time usually chosen for sowing, though many do 
not plant until the latter part of May. The after 
culrure consists in keeping the ground free from 
weeds and loose. In harvesting, run the plow at 
the side of the drills, ami the roots can then be 
easily taken up by hand. Let the surface dry, and 
store in the same manner as potatoes. 
As regards varieties, the Long Orange is most 
generally raised. It grows to a great length— 
sometimes, in favorable soils, being two feet long. 
about as large as the Mangold Wurtzel—with from 
four to six inches of its upper portion out of the 
ground. It ia coarser than the Orange and not as 
valuable for stock. The Long Red, except in color, 
resembles the Orange. 
The chemical composition of the common car¬ 
rot, as given by Hermbstadt, is as follows: 
Water__.___._ 30.00 
Gum_ 1,75 
Starch and fibre. 9.00 
Albumen.. 1.01 
Salts. 
Sugar 
100.00 
The analysis of Johnston differs somewhat from 
the preceding. 
Water.. ..S5.00 
Husker woody fibre. 3.00 
Starch, Gam and Sugar...„10.00 
Gluten, Albumen, Legumin, &c..2.00 
Fatty matter......_0.04 
Saline matter_................ LOO 
As regards their fattening properties, the analy- 
ses given exhibit but a small supply of the ingre¬ 
dients requisite tor such purposes, hut the expe¬ 
rience of those who have thoroughly tested them 
as a food for horses, cows, and neat cattle, demon¬ 
strates their value, while many consider them 
superior to any other root for feeding these an¬ 
imals. 
TOBACCO AND ITS CUBTUBE 
Thb culture of Tobacco is a subject on which 
we have said but little. Having no especial liking 
for the 14 weed,” perhaps we have not given it that 
attention which its importance as a market crop 
demands. A number of unanswered inquiries now 
iiiTite our attention particularly to the subject— 
The tobacco grown at the north ia most valuable 
when fit for cigar wrappers, and for this purpose 
a large broad leaf, with small veins, thin, and of a 
silky texture, is desirable. The smaller leaves, and 
those that are torn and discolored are used for 
other purposes, such as filling the commonest 
cigars, cutting for smoking, Ac., and sell at a 
much lower price. 
Good dry corn land raises the best tobacco. To 
grow a good crop of a tun to the acre requires 
very rich land. Well rotted stable, or hog manure 
should be used in abundance, and the ground be 
well prepared by plowing and dragging. The 
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