TWO DOLLARS A YEAR.] 
PROGRESS AND IMPROVEMENT 
[SINGLE NO. FIVE CENTS, 
MOORE’S RURAL HW-YORKER, 
AN ORIGINAL WKF.K1.T 
Agricultural, Literary and Family Newspaper, 
to contract for the next crop at fifty cents, to be 
delivered in the fall, but growers think they will 
be worth at least seventy-five cents. The Blue and 
While Mercer bring the highest prices in our 
market for exportation, but the Blue Mercer is 
more generally cultivated, and is altogether the 
best. Its color, however, by 3ome is considered an 
objection. There seems to be a prejudice in favor 
of long white potatoes. 
The larger growers keep their crop until spring, 
and it is generally preserved by burying in the 
ground. On the farm where these notes were 
taken is an extensive potato cellar, some thirty 
feet square, titted up with large bins, and with an 
opening atthe top, and amovable slide so arranged 
as to connect with any of the bins. Into this slide 
the potatoes are thrown from the wagon and are 
conducted to the place designed for their storage. 
This cellar is stoned up, mostly with rough stones 
from the land, laid in mortar, and the bodies of 
small trees, upheld by posts, form the rafters that, 
support the plank roof. The roof boards are cov¬ 
ered with about two feet of earth, ou which 
crops grow. Thi3 cellar being made in a small 
sand hill, is very dry, and beiDg entirely under 
ground, except the entrance, frost never enters it. 
It is the most complete root cellar we have seen 
for many years, and the owner informs us that the 
-cost, over the labor of himself and the common 
help on the farm, was very trifling. Over a thou¬ 
sand bushels of potatoes have been kept in it for 
the three last winters, and in excellent condition. 
In warm days in winter air is given by opening 
the door or the ventilator at the lop, or both, as 
may be deemed advisable. If our farmers would 
| build such cellars we should hear less about the 
I dtsrcttay 
In the “leafy,*’ this year, the rainy month of 
June, business called me away in the direction of 
the home of your prolific Special Contributor, H. 
T. B. Albeit the road had not been traveled by 
me for nearly eight years, yet I found that there 
had been little change among the farmers along 
the route. What little there had been, however, 
was decidedly progressive. The fences were in 
better order, the out buildings and houses looked 
in good repair, and everything betokened a thrifty 
people. Many farmers are doing more or less at 
draining, and the practice is becoming general, as 
farmers procure the means to carry on the im¬ 
provements without incurring debt The present 
high price of drain pipes is one drawback, hut 
competition will soon overcome that difficulty.— 
There is no good reason why they should not be 
furnished at the kiln inside of six dollars per 
thousand, instead of twelve, the^ now common 
price. The improvemerts in the machinery for 
making tiles have been ‘nch as to greatly cheapen 
them, so that it is within the reach of every town 
to have a factory, and it is to he hoped that town 
dubs will offer such premiums as will insure the 
multiplictaion of tile works in every county. 
We got over to the Dr's in time for a very ample 
though late dinner. We were now within the 
Major’s precint, in his neighborhood, though I am 
not quite sure he is a patron of any of the church¬ 
es which adorn the village where we stopped,— 
nearly one for every inhabitant. Perhaps that 
may be elongating truth a trifle. There are four 
churches and but Mte-store and one tavern, and I 
would not like to^wear *4 but one blacksmith shop 
though there mat \>* tnwe. Churchward, it's de¬ 
cidedly a ruo djJ \ iii rc. 
In iv.v aft i Aim i fC . T> 'Vi/u i— 
CONDUCTED BY D. D. T. MOORE, 
WITH AN ABLE CORES OF ASSISTANT EDITORS. 
SPECIAL CONTHUH TORS: 
PROr. C. DEWEY, T. C. PETERS, 
Lt. M, P. -M a i H. T. BROOKS, 
Mu. Asa FITCH. KWH. WEBSTER, 
T. a ARTHUR. Mrs. M. J. UOLMEa 
LYMAN B LANGWORTHY. 
The Rural Nkw-Yobkeii is lieiiimed to lie nn»nri>*ss«tl in 
Value, Purity, Usefulness and Variety of Contents, ami nnliiuc 
and Beautiful in Appearance. Its Conductor devote* his per¬ 
sonal attention to tho supervision of Its various departments 
and earnestly labors to render the Rural an eminently Reliable 
Guide on the important Practical, Seiontlflo and other Subjects 
intimately connected with the business of those whose interests 
it zealously advocates. It omhrnccs more Agricultural, Horti¬ 
cultural, Fcieulillc, Mechanical, Literary and News Matter, 
interspersed with appropriate nnd beautiful Engravings, than 
any other Journal,— rvurinriny it the moat complete AgwcULTC- 
ral, Litkuaut and Fakily Journal in America. 
I3?“A11 communications, and business letters, should l>o 
addressed to D. D. T. MOORE, Rochester, N. Y. 
Fob Terms, and other particulars, see last page. 
POTATO CULTURE. 
We intend, duriDg the season, to spend an honr 
or two with the farmers, as often as we can find 
the time ivnri shall talra am* of smih !««♦" •".wo. 
think will be of interest to our readers. Oar flrst 
trip was north of the city, to the light lands be¬ 
tween Rochester and Lake Ontario. These lands 
are finely adapted to the growing of potatoes, and 
this crop is quite largely cultivated. No crop pays 
better than potatoes, and this fact our farmers have 
not been slow to discover. The land on the shore 
of the lake was once considered the poorest and 
most unprofitable—now none pays better. Since 
the wheat crop has failed, for which the strong 
Boil of the Genesee Valley is so celebrated, the 
light lands liavo been more prized by our farmers, 
particularly for potato culture. Rochester is per¬ 
haps the greatest potato market in the country.— 
We have no means of ascertaining the precise 
quantity, but have no doubt millions of bushels 
are shipped from this city every spring. Many of 
our farmers raise from one to three thousand bush¬ 
els each, and some much more than this. They 
are sent to New York city, Canada and the West. 
Potatoes were selling this spring at Uamiltou, and 
other places In Canada, and in the West, at two 
dollars per bushel. There seems to be no excuse 
for this extravagantly high price, and farmers in 
those section, we have no doubr, before long will 
give more attention to this crop, so as to keep the 
price within bounds. The pricea obtained here 
will average more than seventy-five cents per 
bushel. This spring the best sorts sold at one 
time at SI 25. We need not tell farmers that at 
such prices growing potatoes is an exceedingly 
profitable business. . 
We have made several excursions among the 
more extensive potato growers of this section, and 
we will give their system of culture, selecting one 
as the representative of the whole. If auy pursue 
a better course of practice than the one we de¬ 
scribe, we hope they will not be backward in com¬ 
municating tho facts to the Rural. The soil, as 
we before stated, is very light, being oak opening 
and chesinnt land, and as ageneralthlng, the only 
manure used is clover. Clover is plowed under in 
the spring, and the potatoes planted three feet 
apart each way. They are cultivated both ways 
several times, and finally hilled up with the shovel 
plow, the hoe being only used in finishing off, and 
many good crops are raised without being touched 
with the hoe. The next spring potatoes are plant¬ 
ed again, treated in the same way, and good crops 
are produced. The third crop cannot he raised; 
but the third spring oats or barley and clover are 
sown, and the clover is cut for hay or^pastured 
the foHowlngsummer, 
thus elevating the machine for transit or allowing 
it to rest on the the ground when in use. Having 
stationed the machine properly over the stump, 
the nearer the centre :Lo better, and lastened to 
the stump by means of the hooks and chain, the 
oDciadcn raising is performed as follows:— 
One end of the lever is pressed down, the other 
being lifted at the same time, the bolt passing 
through the vetticle bar nearest the descending 
end of the lever becomes the fulcrum, and the 
bar, b, will be raised with a force in proportion to 
the length of lever employed. This arrangement 
makes both ends of the lever effective at the same 
time, giving the greatest leverage to the most ef¬ 
fective force, viz., the lifting power. As will be 
readily perceived, by this motion the bar, a, will 
have been raised through the beam, B, so as to 
bring a lower hole above said beam, into which a 
pin is put by a boy stationed on a ladder conve¬ 
nient for this work. 
The Stump Machine represented above is the I 
invention of Mr. Peter Traxler, of Scottsburgh, 
Livingston Co, N. Y., to whom a patent therefor 
was recently granted. From an examination and 
trial of a model of this machine, we have formed 
a very favoratue opinion m rega.r .1 «*» i-„ pin la iv 
biiity and value. It is simple, easily and cheaply 
operated, and apparently possesses all the strength 
anjj power required for exIraelimg the most tena¬ 
cious stumps and fangs which mar the beauty and 
occupy so much valuable room upon the face of 
mother earth. The “face of nature” when una¬ 
dorned with such protuberances is adorned the 
most, and Mr. Traxler is entitled to credit for his 
apparently successful effort in producing the means 
of its easy improvement. The inventor describes 
this machine as follows: 
It will be observed that this machine, as rep¬ 
resented in the drawing, consists primarily of a 
stout frame across the top of which is a heavy 
beam or beams, A. These beams contain boxes 
in which the beam B rests, and in which it is free 
to revolve. Through this beam a long and narrow 
slot is cat, through which pass the three bars a, 
b, c. The bars a and c are pierced with holes, as 
seen in the drawing, and are supported by the 
pine, P, passing through them and resting on the 
beam, B. The bar, b, is supported at its lower 
end by a bolt passing through it and the lever, 1— 
said lever being in turn supported by the bolts 
passing through it and the bars, a and c, at their 
junction. This lever may be of any desired length 
and is designed to be made in pieces and bound 
together as shown in the engraving. The ma¬ 
chine moves on the wheels, W, which are so ar¬ 
ranged as to he raised or lowered at pleasure, 
« roots in our severe climate. 
FILTRATION vs. EVAPORATION 
Every farmer having undrained, retentive soils 
which he would sow or plant in good season, is 
often reminded that evaporation is a tedious process, 
and thatsome quicker way of getting rid of the 
surplus water would bo both convenient and 
agreeable. That it would be profitable — that in 
nearly every instance the expense of draining 
would be repaid by longer seasons and better crops, 
let us attempt, briefly, to show the wherefore. 
Look at a retentive soil in early spring time — 
in May, we may say, this year. It is a stiff clay or 
has a subsoil of that character. The water, now 
abundant on the surface and saturating the upper 
soil, must pass off*, either by drainage or evapora¬ 
tion. It cannot sink or filtrate away, tho impervi¬ 
ous subsoil prevents, and must remain stagnant 
until disposed of by the warmth of the sun aud 
air. And evaporation is always a cooling process 
—’the heat passing off with the vapor—and in pro¬ 
portion to the quantity of water thus passing, will 
he the loss of heat from the soil. 
by-gone years to talk abou:. More than thirty 
years ago he and I were students at the old Acade¬ 
my, just above us, and much of the time fellow 
boarders. His genial good nature and love of fun 
made him a favorite aruoDg the students, and I had 
always retained for him a friendly regard. It was 
pleasant to bring up the incidents of our youth, 
and giving age his crutch to go back to youth's 
frolicsome scenes and live over again, if only in 
memory, those hours which passed away so pleas¬ 
antly in the bright anticipations of a glorious fu¬ 
ture—anticipations, alas! how rarely realized!— 
Thus occupied, the time seemed unconsciously 
short, when we brought up before a very queer 
looking gate opening into a magnificent grove. 
11 As you and the Major both write for the same 
paper, yon can probably explain to me the phi¬ 
losophy of that gate,” quoth the l>r. 
I suggested that, though the coruscations of our 
united intellect might enlighten a wide surface of 
human mind, yet it might by no means follow that 
the light would be any more intense in each others 
minds for that reason. I could not, therefore, ex¬ 
plain, though I was satisfied no ordinary man 
would put such a gate in such a place without 
some good reason. This being the entrance into 
the domain of the Major, the Dr. insisted on my 
opening the gate, because if I did not understand 
ita peculiarities it was my duty to do so. After 
going through a practical illustration of two or 
three of the mechanical powers, the gate was safe¬ 
ly opened, the Dr. passed through and the portal 
as securely closed. The gate has a moral, but we 
shall leave its explanation to its owner. A drive 
through one of the finest groves we ever saw 
brought us to the house, and the farm buildings 
nestling cosily under the protection of the ample 
grove. 
We found on inquiry, that, fortunately, the Major 
was at home, but back in one of his fields. On 
asking an Irishman at the gate where he was, he 
informed us that we would find him among the 
men on the distant side hill; and to the Dr.’s in¬ 
quiry of how we should know that he was there, 
be replied, “yer can’t mistake him, for sure he’s 
the only Paddy as got a white shirt ou." We 
drove out to the field and met the Major among 
his men ou the side hill. Our short drive was not 
without ita use, because thereby we were enabled 
The leverage is then applied 
to the bar, c, with the same effect, and continued 
alternately until the stnmp is extracted. P;cb 
are preferred to a pawl and ratchet, as they give 
greater freedom of motion on the part of the bam, 
a and c, which is a very essential point in this 
machine. In moving the machine over a stamp 
the cross-bar, r, is raised and let down after the 
machine is in place, serving to hold the machine 
firm. It may be readily moved from place to plat 9 
by a horse, when desired.” 
The subjoined sectional views, (figures 2 and 3,) 
in connection with the large engraving and above 
description, will enable the reader to understand 
the construction and operation of the machine. 
l lb„ 
Filtration dis¬ 
poses of the same quantity without any ebauge in 
the temperature, save to increase that of the under 
soil,equalizing it with that of the surface—inspring 
always warmer than the subsoil. Filtration not 
provided for—the time required for evaporation 
shortens tho season, leaving the farmer, like Noah, 
waiting, patiently “ the subsiding of the waters." 
Could the water now making mortar of many an 
undrained cloy bed, find an outlet or passage, as it 
sunk into and saturated the soil, the character of 
that soil would be changed at once. • Who has not 
observed how dry and friable, even stiff clays be¬ 
come, when so situated that the water can freely 
flow from them, and so situated, they are ready for 
the plow weeks before that of an opposite charac¬ 
ter. Want of drainage, or tho necessity of wait¬ 
ing for evaporation, is what shortens, so often, the 
season of preparation for planting and sowing as 
well as hinders the growth of the crop afterward. 
This is why so many fields of barley, oats, corn- 
Ac., are got in very late, or so imperfectly as to al¬ 
most ensure their failure. It is this want of drain¬ 
age which heaves out tho wheat and clover, and 
fills the meadows with wild grass instead of whole¬ 
some herbage. 
In ease of working, in hastening the season of 
commencing operations, in the efi'oet of the ma¬ 
nures applied, and in the ultimato product — the 
difference between a porouB and well-drained soil, 
as compared with a compact aud retentive one, 
can scarcely be overrated. And this difference is 
simply " Filtratiou vs. Evaporation.” In the one, 
Figure 2, 
The next spring the clover 
is plowed uuder for potatoes, and the same coarse 
pursued as before. This is the rotation pursued, 
with such variations as convenience, amount of 
pasturage required, Ac., may render necessary.— 
The clover is well plastered. 
The land Is very clean, aud scarcely a weed can 
he seen. Indeed, with this course weeds are not 
troublesome, as no seeds are carried on the land 
with the manure, l’otatoes succeed best in these 
soils in dry, warm seasons, such as the last In the 
season of 1855, which was very wet, the crop was 
much injured by the rot. Drill culture for pota¬ 
toes is not successful, aud the almost universal 
practice is to plant in hills three feet apart. Small 
or medium sized potatoes arc preferred for seed, 
and the small ones are selected from the salable 
potatoes at the time of digging. The produce is 
from one hundred to one hundred and fifty bush¬ 
els an acre, which, at fifty cents per bushel, would 
be profitable farming. Dealers are now offering 
the benefits of irrigation upon a meadow. At a 
small expense he has been enabled to flow several 
acres, and the product of hay is very greatly in¬ 
creased. We had a delightful waitable chat, and, 
though short, a most pleasant and instructive visits 
which we hope ere long to repeat. Truth, howev¬ 
er, compels us to admit that, not only at the 
Major’s, but even at this Special Contributor’s, 
much of the success of both depends upon the 
good judgment, aud practical good sense of the 
female departments—and that the pleasure of a 
visit depends ffuite as much upon the wives as the 
husbands, though they may not write quite so 
many readable agricultural articles for the press. 
Yet it certainly betokens no ordinary capacity to 
have made such capital selections. Dont you 
think so. Major?—r. . . 
[Peihaps the Major will ere long return the visit 
of Gen. P., and reciprocate as to discoveries, Ac., 
ft,. banpiu of Rural readers. En.j 
«? good condition as the great majority of farms. 
There :T p re signs of now and then an experiment 
—some successful, others, so so, and some failures; 
but a wise man is able to learn from a failure. The 
plowing was good—deep and thorough: the stock 
highly improved, and from some of the noted herds 
of the country. We saw, while out in this direc¬ 
tion, one experiment that did not strike us favora¬ 
bly, and that was making a crooked rail fence upon 
tho bank of a crooked ditch—a zig-zag ditch. We 
remember to have read the Major's graphic de¬ 
scription of this kind of fence, and he therein 
assured the public that it would stop the venera¬ 
ble Nicholas himself. After seeing the fence I 
am prepared to believe the assertion, I doubt 
whether he would ever approach it after once 
having a good view. If he should do so he is not 
as shrewd as many people believe. 
Retaining to the house the Miyor pointed out a 
new orchard which he had been planting; also 
