practical, timely and Important snljeets, for the 
mutual improvement and benefit of members and 
the instruction and entertainment of community. 
This is eminently practical, and will prove benefi¬ 
cial, in almost every locality—for there are men 
in every town and village, who can, if they will, 
give instructive lectures, and elicit aud impart 
valuable information in discussions. Aed in many 
instances farmers can do all this, without sending 
for Btar lecturers, or depending upon ministers, 
lawyers, Ac. The truth is that farmers, as a class, 
do not think and isJk and i mite sufficiently for 
themselves and about their own interests, and 
herein are most derelict in duty—wielding far less 
influence, iu proportion to their numbers and 
wealth, than any other class in community. They 
are too prone to allow others to form their opin¬ 
ions, instead of thinking and investigating for 
themselves. The Press and the Pulpit, and per. 
haps also the political rostrum, are well enough In 
their way, but if the people were not quite so 
willing to be guided by their enunciations—“with 
out a why or a wherefore” in too many instances 
—.there would soon be a vaBt increase of wisdom 
in the world. 
Why is it that lawyers, ministers, editors and 
doctors are so generally called npon to deliver 
agricultural addresses, aud do like thinking and 
talking on subjects concerning which farmers 
themselves are or should be best informed? Sure¬ 
ly it cannot be for the want of brains among Ru 
rali9ts, for they certainly possess that essential; 
but is attributable raiher to the fact that they do 
not render them serviceable by practice in speak¬ 
ing and writing. We tell yon plainly, good friends 
that, jou will never occupy the position and wield' 
the influence which you ought, tiutil you perform 
more uua lew upon out 
Bidcra. And one ot the best and cheapest meats 
of qualifying yourselves to speak and write to and 
for tho public, is to organize and become active 
members of such Clubs and Lyceums as we have 
Indicated. There are otter cogent reasins why 
such associations should be sustained, but they 
will suggest themselves to the reader, and need 
not be enumerated in this connection. We trust 
that what little has been written will lead to 
thought on the subject, find that thought Induce 
such aotion during the coming Winter as shall re¬ 
sult in lasting benefit to mauy a Rural Community. 
genous to this country, sad we should like to go 
further and have a series of careful experi ments 
instituted to test their relative value. We hope 
yet to learn how to make two blades of grass grow 
with the same labor and expense with which one 
is now produced. But the question arises, is the 
growing of grass the only way. or the best way 
of increasing the quantity of food for stock, or of 
producing the greatest amount of food from the 
land. Allusion is made to the proportionately 
larger number of cattle kept by the farmers of 
England and France, and with evident advantage. 
This state of things is not, however, the result of 
the culture of better grasses, for the English farm¬ 
er aud his cattle would both be in a sad plight if 
they were compelled ta depend upon grass for 
sustenance, even for a single year. Ruta-bagas, 
Turnips, Carrots, Beets, A 5., of which large quan¬ 
tities are produced enable the English and French 
farmers to keep a mnch larger amount of stock 
than they could do, if confined to grass and grain. 
Two tuns of hay is a good crop, and he would be 
a benefactor of bia race, who, by any discovery, 
could bring up the crop of the United States to 
this average. If an animal consumes 20 pounds 
of hay per day, at this rate, it will take the product 
of two acres, or four tuns to keep him one year. 
Eight hundred bushels of Ruta bagas and Sugar 
Beets, and six hundred bushels of Carrots to the 
acre, at 60 lbs. to the bushel. Is not an extraordi¬ 
nary crop; indeed, no application for premiums 
are entertained or considered worthy of notice 
by our State Society unless the yield is as large as 
this. Now, 600 Ibi of Ruta-bagas ia more than 
equal to 100 lbs. of good hay, so that one acre in 
these roots, at 800 bushels to the acre, will produce 
about as mnch food as acres in grass, and yield¬ 
ing two tuns to the acre. Four hundred pouuda 
of Sugar Beew is cdnrirfhred equal to 100 2>». of 
hay. One acre, therefore, in beets, will support as 
much Btock as three acre* In hay, reckoning the 
beets at 800 bushels to the acre, and the hay two 
tuns. About 400 lbs. of carrots is worth as much 
for feed as 100 lbs. of hay, ao that one acre in car¬ 
rots and yielding 600 bushels will give as much 
food 83 41 tuns of hay. Bousstnoault. a French¬ 
man, when speaking of the advantage of keeping 
plenty of stock, in good condition, says:—"Hap¬ 
pily, with the progress of agriculture this con¬ 
dition of things is becoming every year more and 
more easy; the Introduction of roots and tubers 
into the routine of every farm that is respectably 
managed, supplies a fodder through the whole of 
the winter that is equivalent to the grass and 
other green meats of spring and summer.” The 
English Encyclopedia of Agriculture declares, 
“ the introduction of the turnips to field culture 
Is one of the most important events that has oc¬ 
curred in the history of British agrlcnltnre.— 
Without it Britain would have not occupied the 
high position she now enjoys among the nations 
of the earth, whether as regards agriculture or 
commerce. The production of meat would have 
depended on pasturage, and consequently the 
great mass of the people must still have been con¬ 
demned to a farinaceous diet or salted rational 
With such facts and figures before ns, the road 
to prosperity seems plaiD and direct. We have 
not to grope our way in a dark and untrodden 
path. We have not to send a botanist, crawling 
upon hla hands and knees, over our prairies and 
through our forests in search of luxuriant grass. 
It is too late in the day for us to ask the ques¬ 
tion, how a large number of cattle can be kept 
upon a small piece of land? This question has 
been asked and answered long ago—in England, 
France and Belgium. While looking onward for 
light and aa increase of knowledge, let us not for¬ 
get the light we already possess. 
AS ORIGINAL WXEKLY 
Agricultural, Literary and Family Newspaper. 
CONDUCTED BY D. D, T. MOORE, 
WITH -AN ABLE CORPS OF ASSISTANT EDITORS 
SPECIAL CONTRIBUTORS: 
Paor C. DEWEY, T. C. PE 1 ER«. 
Lt. M. F. MAURY, H. T. BROOKS, 
Dr. ASA FITCH, EVVD. WEBSTER, 
T. 8 . ARTHUR, Mrs. M. ,T. HOLMES, 
LYMAN B. LANGWORTHY. 
Tjtk Kuril Nbw-Yobk*r Is liMiOied to be nniiurpassnd Id 
Value, Purity, Usefulness uml Variety of Contents, oml unique 
slid bcunttrn 1 In Appearance. Its Conductor devotes bis per¬ 
sonal attention to the supervision of its vnrious departments, 
and earnestly labors to render the Rural an eminently Reliable* 
Guide on tbu Important Practical, -S'icutiflc and other Subjects 
intimately connected with the business ot thn-e whore Interests 
it sealoaily advocates, tt embraces more Agricultural, Horti¬ 
cultural, bolentUlc, Mechanical, Literary and News Matter, 
Internper-fil with appropriate and beautiful Emtravtaps, than 
any othor Journal,—rendering It the most complete Agricultu¬ 
ral Litxkjry a*cd Pa hilt Journal ta America. 
FABMEHS’ CLUBS AND LYCEUMS, 
Thb Summor is past, tho harvest garnered, and 
preparation having been made for Winter, the 
most laborious and Important physical operations 
of the husbandman are terminated for the season. 
The promise of seed time and harvest has again 
been richly fulfilled,—for, with rare exceptions, all 
sections of our wU'cly-ixt* n<lral ^ociutry lias produ¬ 
ced abundantly of the Ufe-KnstdiQiDg aud wealth¬ 
making fruits q( the earth. People ttud Press talk 
and print lugubriously about fhe “hard times,” 
panic and pressure, yet the farmers of the countiy 
are still on safe ground, though more or less affect¬ 
ed by the destructive slmo< in which has bo sud¬ 
denly swept over the land, blasting the hopes and 
obliterating the fortunes of thousands engaged ju 
trade, commerce and manufactures. Surely, if 
any class under heaven have caase ta rejoice that 
“their lines have fallen in pleasant places” it is 
the Rural Population of America—for, even in 
these troublous times among the commercial class¬ 
es, our farmers are, comparatively speaking, both 
wealthy and prosperous. True, the progress and 
interests of most Ruralista are temporarily affected 
to some extent by low prices and the general de¬ 
rangement—while some have been Bcuthed by 
endorsing for or trusting business men and specu¬ 
lators—yet the great majority are prepared to 
weather the financial storm, blow it ever so hardly^ 
And, In soch times, how manifest is the wisdom of 
those who have adhered to the peacef jl and relia¬ 
ble pursuit, of Agriculture, and what a lesson it 
teaches to those sons of the farm who are tempted 
to embark In other occupations! 
But, though the labors of the season are ended, 
with au abundance wherewith to be fed and cloth¬ 
ed, and no pressing debts requiring a sacrifice of 
property, farmers have some important duties to 
discharge during tho repose of Nature (the resting 
of their farms) in a state of hybernation. “There 
is a tirao for all things”—not only to plow and 
plant, cultivate and harvest, morket and couatthe 
increase, but to improve and discipline the Mind .— 
Physical labor is not all for which Time is vouch¬ 
safed. It is given for mkntai, a9 well as physical 
action and improvement. Man waa created An¬ 
other and wiser purposes than merely to make 
money aud put it in bank, or invest iu stocks and 
speculation—or in adding aero to acre in the ap¬ 
parent endeavor to own “all the land that joins 
him' - —though the recent crisis develops the fact 
that a large portion of mankind have made tho 
getting of money and acres the Alpha and Omega 
of their existence. Had more attention been giv¬ 
en during the last decade to the acquisition of 
mental wealth—to Investments iu intellectual 
knowledge and culture, and moro time devoted to 
tho enjoyment thereof among all classes—the an¬ 
ticipated or uetnal loss of property would not so 
often produce iusanity, or cause people to commit 
forgery or suicide or to flee the country, leaving 
helpless f amilies by desolate firesides. But enough 
of moralizing, and far more than we intended; 
now to more practical suggestions. 
Winter Is knocking at tlie door, the leisure sea¬ 
son of Raralists has arrived, and tho long evenings 
are coming on apace. Now is the accepted time 
to h/ejirove the M ud. Fanners and their families 
have now abundant leisure to think, study and 
discuss—to make sure and permanent in vest me ms 
in mental knowledge, culture and improvement — 
Good boohs and papers—those which sre instruct¬ 
ive nd u-:eful, its well as entertaining—aro great 
aids to improvement, but these aro not the only 
requisites. Thought and discussion are also lm- 
portuut aids to advancement. Every town, aye, 
every school district, should have Its Farmers’ 
Club, or Rural Lyceum, which should hold meet¬ 
ings as often as once a week, whereat discussions 
may bo had, essays read, aed lectures delivered on 
An Anti-Freezing Pump for cisterns and shallow 
wells has long been in demand over a wide extent 
of country, and hence we take pleasure in noticing 
an invention which seems well calculated to sup¬ 
ply the desideratum. The latest improvement in 
this line is “Holley’s Patent Anti-Freezing 
Vamp,” lepreaeiVoA iu the accompanying engrav¬ 
ings—the firat giving n view of ft wi ca complete 
and ready for oneration, aud the others showing 
its sectional parts. 
The manufacturers claim that this Pump is re¬ 
markable for its cheap aud durable construction, 
aud for the ease with which its parts may be made 
accessible for repairs and adjustment, without the 
necessity of taking it down after it is once setup. 
It is intended to serve aa an ordinary lifting or 
Suction Pump for domestic, manufacturing or ag¬ 
ricultural purposes, and adapted to take the place 
of the common cast iron cistern pump now in use 
“ Its advantages are, that it will not freeze, as 
there is a small drain-hole from the base of the 
cylinder C, directly into the suction-pipe, which 
drain may be left open in winter or cl wed in sum¬ 
mer, simply by inserting the hand into the cylin¬ 
der, (which is always open at the top,) and turning 
the valve F, to the right or le ft, so that the lip or 
valve shall close the drain or leave it open. The 
drain being left open, prevents the Pomp from 
freezing; as the same time is will prime itself, from 
the fact that it exhausts the air directly from the 
suction-pipe; (this has never been done in any 
Pump before.) Another ad van tage is, that there is 
no soldering of the suction-pipe to the tube of 
the Pump. You have only to put the end of the 
pipe through the follower E, and press it out to 
conform to the Bhape of the follower, and then 
screw it np against the base of the Pcunp. This 
makes a tight joint, and one that wiR not crack 
offi A small wrenoh is famished with each 
Pump, so as to enable every man to put np his own 
Pump, if he wishes. Full directions for setting 
up aud using are pasted upon each Pump” 
This Pump is manufactured by Silsby, Myn- 
dessb & Co., of the •' Ieland Works,” Seneca Falls, 
N. Y-, and we presume is, or soon will be, for sale 
by the principal hardware dealers in those sections 
where Jack Frost prevails. 
Wk have just received the Agricultural part of 
the Patent Office Report for 1856. It is a very 
fair looking volume, muck superior to many that 
have preceded If, aud, after examination, we may 
have something to say of its merits or demerits.— 
We now design only to allude to a proposition 
mads by the Commissioner for the employment of 
a botanist to examine the different, grasses, and 
ascertain what kinds are best adapted to the dif¬ 
ferent latitudes, soils and situations, the relative 
amount of nutriment they respectively contain, 
Ac. There is no subject, it is urged, very truly, of 
more Importance to the American farmer than 
the knowledge of the means which shall best en¬ 
able him to increase the number ai.d value of his 
live stock, of which grass furnishes the principal 
sustenance. We give the most important part of 
the Report ou tbla subject: 
“The jervlces of a botanist have been contemplated.— 
Though they mi^lit ue usefully employed la various ways, 
yet it wx* intended to direct them principally toward in- 
vestlgat.oiw relative to tbe different grns.w. There it* no 
subject of more importance to tho American former than 
the kuowledgo ot th* means which shall best enable him 
to Increase the number and value of bia live stock, of 
which grtirx furnishes the principal sustenance. It may 
safely be said that the great ileleat in our agriculture is 
the failure to rear the proper number and quality of ani- 
niala. The experience of England and Fiance autfufeullj 
demonstrates the Important truth that, on the same num¬ 
ber of acres which are now cu tlvat*din the Urdted Stales, 
if the quantity of l;vO tlock were doubled, tbe aggregate 
quauti'j of grain produced mig t also be greatly increased, 
and without any corresponding Increase tn exj ease. Tbe 
explanation of what teouia at lirnt ao paradoxical is found 
in the fact that, tn this manner, tbe land would be kept 
constantly in tetter heart. It ste.'.d of deteriorating from 
year to year, as in the ca.,e whore grain alone is the prin¬ 
cipal product, If a proper proportion of live stock were 
wared, tho land would retain its fertility for ce; tones, aud 
might, perhaps, be constantly improving. 
It becomes a subject of prime importance, therefore, to 
uncertain what granges are heat adapted to differer t hti- 
tud>-s, soils and situation*. the relative amount of nnti i- 
tnout they respectively contain, and various other facta 
falling chiefly within theproviuce of botou 1st aud chemist. 
Tn some portions of the country the grosses heretofore 
cultivated do not thrive, in consequence of heat and 
drouth. Our western plains produce grasses w. ich it is 
Mteved «ill, to a great extent, bid doflonco to thes** causes 
of failmo. In other regions, other difficulties prevent tho 
miccesetul cultivation of a»u C of the grasses. May not 
there ilifflc.ult.cn he ascertained, and the proper remedies 
applied, or, at leant, other grasses substituted, which will 
not be i.ifect d by tho same cause. ? These are some of 
the services which would be expected from a competent 
botani-t, and which cannot be pe:formed successfully by 
any one olse.” 
Wo certainly have no objection to the employ¬ 
ment of a botanist to examine the grasses ludi- 
phate of lime, which substances enter largely into 
the composition of the clover plant; they contain all 
the salts and inorganic substances which trees ex 
tract from the soil, and may be applied with good 
effect to almost every kind of crop. 100 parts of 
wood ashes afford 13.57 pirns soluble, and 86 43 
parts insoluble matter; the latter is that which, is 
left behind at the ash works, — when the - lnb!e 
parta are exported as potash. Leached as h es are 
nearly ia valuable for manure as unleached, and 
this fact is well deserving of attention. Wood 
ashes contain a large proportion of lime,—coal 
ashes a considerable amount of phosphoric acid 
and silica- Peat, or turf ashes are composed in a 
great part of silica, and the sulphate and carbonate 
of lime, but contain little, if any, phosphoric acid. 
A mixture of these ashes m.ikea a valnab'e manure, 
which can be applied to the wheat or clover crop, 
with the hand or a manure spreading machine. 
In the great forests of Nature, the mineral ingre¬ 
dients which have been taken up by the roots, in 
order to form the trunks, branches and leaves of 
trees, are returned to the soil according as tne 
trees decay. We ought to imitate this natural m- 
cess, and return to the soil a compensation for 
those substances which have been carried away by 
onr crops. 
I read the article on “Waste Manures” in the 
Rural of the 24th ult, and fully agree with the 
opinions of the writer. I know that a vast quan¬ 
tity of valuable manure is annually suffered to go 
to waste, and am fully convinced that if all the 
bones, ashes and liquid manure which are lost by 
neglect, were saved and applied to the crops, the 
good results of such appliances would be almost 
incalculable. Bones dissolved iu sulphuric acid 
are excellent manure for wh^at, clover or turnips, 
aud become doubly valuable when mixed with 
night-soil or guano. 
Tho time for sowing clover varies according to 
the condition of the soil ani the state of the crop 
with which it is put iu. It is sometimes sown 
with success on wheat in the tal; and also with 
the same kind of crop in the spring, aa well as with 
the usual spring crops. It has been frequently 
CULTIVATION OP CLOVES, 
Eds. Rural:—A s your paper circulates exten¬ 
sively through every part of the United States and 
British America, I consider it the best channel for 
conveying useful information to the agricultural 
millions. Havin g be-: n awarded several premiums 
by the Michigan State Agricultural Society, for 
essays on various subjects, I think it advisable to 
brlog some of the factB con'ained iu :he essays to 
the notice of your numerous readers, trusting that 
they may be found useful. 
As red clover, “ Tr if oleum Pralmse' 1 is so exten¬ 
sively cultivated in America, any facts connected 
with its management, must be ot the greatest im¬ 
portance to the farmer. According to analyses 
made by Professor Johnston, 100 lbs. of the hay 
ot the undermentioned plants contained the fol¬ 
lowing quantity of inorganic matter. 
Hye Bed White 
Gross. Clover. Clover. Lucerne. 
Pofa-h,.8.8 19.9 81.0 13.4 
Soda. 3.9 6.3 5,8 6.2 
Lime. 7.3 27.8 23.5 8-5 
Mag* esia,..._........... 09 8.3 3D S.5 
A', amino... 0.3 0.2 1.9 0.3 
Oxide of I ran,.OU 0.0 0.5 0.3 
Oxide ol'Manganese,. 0.0 0.0 00 0.0 
Silica,.27.7 3.6 14.7 3.3 
Sulphuric Acid. .. 3.5 4.5 3.5 4.0 
Phoephoiic Acid__ 0.3 6.6 5.0 3.1 
Carbonic Acid. 0.1 3.6 2.1 3,2 
It will be seen by this table, that the principal 
ingredients in red clover are potash, lime, salt, 
sulphnrio acid or gypsum, and silica, or sand, and 
fortunately these manures are easily proe ired in 
almost every parr, of tbe United States and Canada. 
Ashes of every description are a good manure 
for clover. In Belgium the farmers invariably ap¬ 
ply a top-dressing of prepared ashes to their grain 
and clover crops; tor thia purpose they make use 
of a mixture of the ashes of clay, wood and coal, 
saturated with liquid manure from tbe tank, and 
these dried by the addition of more ashes. Iu the 
United States, where wood ashes are so easily pro¬ 
cured, every farmer can readily provide an excel¬ 
lent manure f jr his clover, or wheat crop. Wood 
ashes contain the salts of potash, and the phoa- 
Does Hair turn to Snakes? —This subject ie 
being discussed by several correspondents of the 
A. E. Farmer, by both believers and nou-nelievers 
in the theory. In the last number a writer thus 
relates how a young lady’s hair turned to snakes: 
— “I was visiting a friend, and when we dressed 
our heads, we wound the loose hair round our fin¬ 
gers and threw it on*, of the wiudow; my friend's 
hair was light, mine black. Near tbe window 
there was a tub set for rain water; 1 went to it. one 
day and found several rolls of the hair in motion, 
and trying to separate themselves: three of them 
were ligh-, and four black. The boys iu this vicin¬ 
ity thia season have taken horses’ hairs and pro¬ 
duced the same result. Now if “L. W. M.” of 
North Dana, will set wafer iu the sun next July or 
August, and take a few spears of hair from some 
young lady’s bead aud put them in it, if they don't 
produce motion I will do it for him.” 
Anothbr Pka Story— is thus related by R. W., 
of Greenfield, Mich,, to follow the one told by A. 
H. B, in a late Rural:—"S owed four quarts of 
peas, ou low, clayey ground that had been under 
the plow for twenty-four years. Picked, while 
green, two and a half bushels of pods—gave two 
large forks full to the pigs after mowing—aud then, 
after threshing, realised six bushels of oleau peas! 
If any can beat that, Ut them make it manifest.” 
1 14 
v, 
1 ® 
1 
\ 1# J 
CJib i? 
TWO DOLLARS A YEAR] 
“PROGRESS AND IMPROVEMENT.” 
( SINGLE NO. FIVE CENTS. 
YOL. YIII. NO. U.\ 
ROCHESTER, N. Y.,-SATURDAY, NOVEMBER 28, 1857. 
WHOLE NO. m. 
