years 18G3 and '64 will witness a great increase of 
summer fallowed land/’ 
Wo should think so 1—especially if tire crop is 
doubled thereby, and made to average 100 bush¬ 
els per acre! Now, brother, the Colonel, can 
not you discount a little from those doubled-up 
figures? Wish you’d try 1 
New Grasses for California.— The fol¬ 
lowing grasses are said to be particularly wanted 
in California!—Creeping Rent Grass, or Dog’s 
Bent Grass (agrosiia canina) for meadows or 
peaty land. Wood Hair Grass, ((tint Jkxuosa,) 
admirable for our rocky hills and road sides. 
Reed Canary Grass (phalaris urundinaceaj is a 
tine grass for the levee at Sacramento and else¬ 
where. Upright Sea Lyme G rass, (elymus area- 
mrius,) a kind of bench grass suitable for the 
coast, grows from two to live feet high; Sinclair 
calls this the sugar cane of Great Britain. 
MOORE’S RFRAL NEW-YORKER, 
AN ORIGINAL WEEKLY 
RURAL, LITERARY AND FAMILY NEWSPAPER. 
hand. Clover, in particular, depastured in this 
manner, is an excellent preparation for wheat, 
perhaps the best, on the whole, that can be 
made. The crop grows more evenly on land 
thus prepared, and I was told was much less 
likely to blast, mildew or rust. 
How many rough, stony hills do we see in our 
country under the plow, which do not produce 
on the average more than seven to ten bushels 
of rye per acre, twelve to fifteen of corn, fifty to 
seventy-five of potatoes, or when in grass, not 
over three-fourths to one tun of hay. Such crops 
scarcely pay fifty cents per day for the labor be¬ 
stowed on their cultivation, or two to three per 
cent, on the capital invested in land, fences, 
buildings, stock and implements. It is more¬ 
over exceedingly hard work for man and beast, 
and the scanty returns very disheartening. If 
parties owning these rough, unprofitable tracts 
could agree to abolish their fences, appropriate 
them to sheep walks, and cultivate the interme¬ 
diate valleys in the best manner, their products 
and profits would be greatly increased, and they 
lead a much easier and pleasanter life of it. 
Poor, thin soils may be thus managed and 
greatly improved by devoting such part to cul¬ 
tivation as can be highly manured, leaving the 
remainder for pasture. No more profitable hus¬ 
bandry than this could be followed all along 
our sea coast, from Maine to North Carolina, 
except in the immediate vicinity of large towns, 
where it may pay still better to devote the land 
to market gardens. 
I close by again soliciting the attention of my 
countrymen to thi3 beautiful and economical 
of sbeep husbandry, for a more perfect 
one I know not for the lands I so earnestly 
recommend it. A. B. Allen, 
New York, Dec. 28 1863. 
this seems to be leaving the paths of pure agri¬ 
culture, it is only because we aim to develop 
both agriculture as a profession, and the agricul¬ 
turist as a man of influence, to the highest 
degree. 
CONDUCTED BY D. D. T. MOORE. 
CHARLES D. BKAGDON, Aiwoclatc Editor. 
Sheep husbandry 
PLEURO-PNEUMONIA CONTAGIOUS, 
HENRY S. RANDALL, LL. D., 
Editor Department of Sheep Husbandry. 
In a very earnest letter addressed to Governor 
Andrew, of Massachusetts, C harlesS. Flint, 
Secretary of the Board of Agriculture, urging 
the importance of legislative action, says con¬ 
cerning this disease:—“ Wo know it is conta¬ 
gious. We knew it on its first introduction, four 
or five years ago. The evidence, then, as now, 
was so conclusive and overwhelming that it 
would seem that any one, who could doubt, with 
only a limited knowledge of the facts, would 
doubt all human testimony, even that of his 
own senses.” 
He quotes Prof. GRANGER, an eminent Veter¬ 
inarian in Great Britain, who has the confi¬ 
dence of the English Government, and has been 
in a position to secure the opinions of the best 
veterinarians of Europe. Prof. G. says:—"I 
find that all the best veterinary surgeons in this 
country, whose opportunities are most favorable 
to arrive at a sound conclusion, attributed these 
diseases (foot-and-mouth, and pleuro-pneumonia.) 
to contagion and infection.” 
“ Whatever county 1 select as an illustra¬ 
tion, it will furnish you with the most unmis¬ 
takable evidence that our cattle , our soil, our 
food and cihnate Imre nothing to do with the gen¬ 
eration oj pleurO-pnetwwnia ; but traveling, buy¬ 
ing and selling, transporting by steamers and 
railways, are the causes which lead to riie Ap¬ 
proximation of diseased and healthy, and thus 
tend to the decimation of our stock.” 
Remarking upon the foregoing quotation 
Flint says:—“ The Italics are mine, and 1 wish 
to call especial attention to this point, because 
some have attempted to lull the public mind into 
a false and dangerous security, by trying to 
have it believed that local causes, as want of 
ventilation, Ac., have generated the disease 
here among us. It is a most dangerous fallacy. 
There is not the slightest ground for belief that 
a single case ever arose in this country from any 
such causes. It is clearly and unquestionably 
an imported disease.” 
Now, It will be wise if the breeders in those 
States where this,disease has not yet appeared, 
adopt the necessary measures to prevent its im¬ 
portation there. Some States did act in this 
matter a few years ago, promptly and effectually. 
Let the preventive forces be put in operation 
again. ” A word to the wise is sufficient." 
SPECIAL CONTRIBUTORS: 
P. BARRY, C. DEWEY, LL. D., 
H. T. BROOKS, L. B. LANGWORTHY. 
SOUTH DOWN SHEEP HUSBANDRY IN 
ENGLAND. 
W. T. KENNEDY, Jr.. Assistant Office Editor. 
Profitable Adaptation of it to the Hills and 
Light Soils of America. 
Tine Rural New-Yorker Is designed to be unsur¬ 
passed In Value. Purity, and Variety of Contents, and 
unique and beautiful lu Appearance. Its Conductor 
devotes Ills personal attention to the supervision of Us 
various departments and earnestly labors to render 
the Rural an eminently Reliable Guide on all the 
Important. Praen. al, Scientific and other Subjects Inti¬ 
mately connected with the imnhicss of those whose 
Interests It zealously advocates. As a K \ m u,v Journal 
it Is eminently Instructive and Entertaining—being so 
conducted that It can he safely taken to the Homes of 
people of Intelligence, taste and discrimination. It 
embraces more Ar rleultural, Hort1r.nlt.nral, Scientific, 
Educational, Literary and News Matter, interspersed 
with appropriate Engravings, than any other journal,— 
rendering It the most complete Agricultural Lite¬ 
rary ani> Family Newspaper in America. 
[The following letter, from the former Editor 
of the American Agriculturist, was intended for 
our first number in 1864. It was lost, and has 
been kindly re-written for us by Mr. Allen.] 
I Have often wondered that the beautiful and 
economical system of Sheep Husbandry prac¬ 
ticed on the Downs in the south of England, and, 
in fact, throughout most of the hill country of 
Great Britain, ha3 not long since been intro¬ 
duced into our country. I call it beau t >fu l: for it 
is not only this, but even more—absolutely en¬ 
chanting to the lover of pastoral life. 
The Downs embrace a considerable portion 
of the south of England, and are large, mound- 
like hills, rising gracefully to a height of from 
one to four hundred feet, from their pictu¬ 
resquely winding valleys. They are almost 
entirely destitute of shrubs and trees, and are 
covered with light turf, producing a short, thin, 
but sweet and nutritions herbage. No build¬ 
ings are erected on these hills, and fences are 
not permitted; they consequently present an 
unincumbered sweep; and so gradual is their 
that a horse 
THE TIME TO CUT TIMBER. 
This is an important subject, and merits dis¬ 
cussion: indeed it is attracting the attention of 
careful agricultural students. It is not yet a 
settled question when the best time is to cut 
timber and secure the most of its good qualities 
for the longest use. Those of our readers who 
have had long experience and observation, and 
have arrived at conclusions, are respectfully re¬ 
quested to report the same through the Rural. 
Meantime, we find the following on this subject, 
from the pen of a New Englander, named Amos 
Kimball, in the Boston Recorder : — “ I wish to 
give my own experience and observation for 
oyer 55 years, cgustan* y working and- using, 
almost all kinds of timber, more especially oak, 
ash. and walnut. I have learned by dear expe¬ 
rience, for I have lost much by the effects of 
worms in my timber, and have found when tim¬ 
ber may be cut and have no worms, or powder- 
post, as it is called. Cut timber from the mid- 
iy For Terms ami other particulars, see last pane. 
NO DIFFICULTY. 
rise, and so smooth their surfac 
may career over them with tolerable ease at a 
full gallop. It is famous ground for courting the 
bare; and the fox also occasionally makes a 
burst there, followed by the musical baying of a 
pack of a hundred chosen hounds, cheered on 
by gay troops of huntsmen in white top-boots, 
scarlet coats ami jockey caps, splendidly mounted 
on nearly thorough-bred horses. 
The soil of the valleys is much deeper and 
richer than that of the hills; it is, therefore, set 
apart for high cultivation in green crops and 
graiu. Here stand the farm houses—quaint old 
brick structures with tiled roofs, flanked by 
large, out-buildings, with their lofty thatched 
peaks, taking their spring often not over three or 
All these are sur- 
CONDENSED CORRESPONDENCE. 
“It is undoubtedly necessary in times like 
these, that the loyalty of your representatives in 
Congress should be above suspicion and beyond 
reproach. But there is no difficulty when you 
are making your nominations, by the exercise of 
a little vigilance, to secure candidates who arc 
not ouly loval, hut who have too much intelli¬ 
gence to be humbugged, and too much integrity 
to be bought by interests hostile and antagonistic 
to your own.” 
So said Hon. Bknj. Stanton in a speech 
before the Wool Growers’ Association, at Colum¬ 
bus, Ohio. “No difficulty 1” We take issue 
with the gentleman. There are several difficul¬ 
ties. Let us enumerate some of them! 
1— A little vigilance will not do in any case. 
There must be a good deal of it. The men with 
whom this little vigilance must conflict, are 
sharp, vigilant, active. Their vigilance is of the 
extreme sort. They work early mornings and 
late o’ nights. No sir, that adjective of com¬ 
parison does not answer there. 
2— With much vigilance it is not easy to 
secure candidates “who have too much intelli¬ 
gence to be humbugged.” This work of prepa¬ 
ration for the duties of a legislator is no slight 
one. It requires a man of great practical busi¬ 
ness experience. It requires men who can 
think beyond the promotion of their own politi¬ 
cal plans, and who have really souls in them, 
and brains in their heads. Such men are not 
easily found; once found, they are not easily set 
up as targets for political virulence. They have 
too much self-respect to consent to run the 
gauntlet of a political canvass. They will not 
consent to suffer by contact with the class of 
men with whom they must compete. They 
can not lie induced to resort to the vile means 
used by professional politicians to promote their 
elevation to office. They can ouly be forced 
into such a position by the all-powerful mill und 
voice, of the people, who have at last discovered 
how little the mere politician knows and cares 
for the great industrial and practical interests of 
the country. 
6—It is equally difficult to secure men of in¬ 
tegrity. Polities bus become a profession. 
The politician lives, not by the honors and 
emoluments of office, but by peculation, corrup¬ 
tion, venality. These are hard things to say- 
strong words to write. But they have got to be 
written before the industrial interests ol' the 
country will be rescued from the thraldom of 
abstractions in which they have been hidden by 
the plottings of brainless, selfish, unprincipled 
men. 
The farmers —the husbandmen of the coun¬ 
try- should know theso truths the length and 
breadth of the work before them, lienee we 
have written what we have written. And if 
Plan op Sheep Barn Wanted. —Will some reader 
of the Rural sjve a plan for a cheap bat convenient 
sheep barn large enough to accommodate two hundred 
sheep ?—O. D. 
A Cross por Cotswold Sheep. — W. W. E., of 
Wayne, Steuben Co., New York, asks what is the best 
cross for full blood Cotswold sheep to give size and 
wool—the best time for ewes to lamb, and whether they 
should come in when a year old? 
Full blood Cotswolds need no cross for the 
objects stated, unless the owner purposes an 
entire change In the character of his wool—and 
this is generally inexpedient. Lambs intended 
to be kept to increase the. flock should come from 
the first to the last of April, according to climate 
and facilities for protection. No breed of sheep 
should be allowed to have lambs at a year old. 
four feet from the ground 
rounded by high brick walls, inside of which are 
gardens, lawns and clumps of shrubs and trees. 
As one looks down from the hills on these solid, 
snug old farmeries, they appear like small forti¬ 
fications, into which indeed they may be easily 
and quickly changed on an emergency, as was 
done with the celebrated La Hayc Salute at the 
famous battle of Waterloo. 
From eight to nine o’clock in the morning the 
sheep—mostly pure South Downs—are taken in 
large flocks from their valley folds, ami led to 
these hills by the shepherd and his dogs. All 
seem to know their bounds there, and usually 
keep quietly within them; but if a frolicsome 
youngster, or an erratic old one, now and then 
takes the liberty of erossiug there, he is instantly 
brought back to liis range by the ever watch¬ 
ful dog. About five to six o’clock in the 
afternoon the sheep are returned to their 
homes and folded on vetches, clover, or whatever 
green crop may be growing for them. This is 
hurdled off as wanted, into acre lots, and about 
one hundred sheep placed within each division. 
The lot lasts the hundred sheep from live to 
seven days, giviug them as much food as they 
desire to eat. Thus they are full fed on rich, 
succulent grass in the evening, have the whole 
night for repose and digestion, get a good bite in 
the morning, and are again led out to the hills 
for a ehaugo of palatable, nutritious food, with 
pleutv of exercise in a healthy, bracing atmos¬ 
phere. By this alternate folding by night and 
pasturing by day, the ewes keep in good condi¬ 
tion. have an abundant flow of milk all the 
season for their numerous lambs—the common 
South Downs being prolific breeders, generally 
bringing twins, and not unf requetilly t rios. Lean 
sheep are also fattened rapidly under this sys¬ 
tem,—in fact, are often prepared in a few weeks 
for the butcher. 
In hurdling sheep, much less of the grass is 
trampled under foot than one would suppose, 
and when it is fed oil', the ground is as evenly 
covered with their manure as if dropped by 
CALIFORNIA GOSSIP. 
Sore Mouth. —I. L. P. of Fainesville, Ohio, states 
that the mouths of his sheep are sore, “ some very 
bndly so, the whole of the lips being covered with scabs 
and nearly raw.” 
Tar, butter and turpentine, mixed together 
and made soft enough not to stiffen in cold 
weather, and slightly mixed with sulphur, is a 
prompt and effective remedy when smeared over 
the sores. This disease is quite common among 
lambs at the opening of winter, and unless im¬ 
mediately attended to, rapidly reduces their 
condition. 
In reply to a New York correspondent, who 
asks questions concerning the Golden State as a 
place for settlement, the editor of the California 
Farmer , at San Francisco, writes as follows:— 
There are valuable Government lands iu this 
State—tuillious of acres—located iu every section 
of It; there is laud by the sea shore and land in 
the valleys, laud ou our river banks, along our 
golden rivets, the soil richer than gold, land on 
our hill sides and mountains. We have land 
Whose soil will produce unsurpassed in the 
world, and we venture to assert that there Is no 
market in the known world that can show such 
vegetables and fruits as the markets of Cali¬ 
fornia; and as our friend asks if we can grow 
grains wheat in particular-we >av to him that 
he can read in the horoscope of the future the 
following words :—Californio the jranary of the 
world. We need only say that California can 
load one hundred clipper ships with the surplus 
grams of 1863. 
The climate of California, for health and en¬ 
joyment, rivals the l'ar-famed Italy; our moon¬ 
lights are fairer, our stars more brilliant, the air 
is more balmy, and here can “homesteads” be 
built, and “happy homes” be established, il 
those that come will but recognize the “Giver 
of all good," and bring with them “great, 
loving hearts,” without which homes and 
homesteads are of little value. 
SIMM Kit 
What Ails his Sheep?— M. \V. T.. of North Iowa, 
asks above question. He says the symptoms are that 
they will neither eat nor drink—generally stand bracing 
and all humped up—and look as if the wool waa all 
loose on their hips and backs." 
This is too imperfect a description to enable 
any answer, beyond a mere guess, to be given. 
W e are not told how the sheep are first attacked, 
the progress and duration of the disease, wheth¬ 
er they exhibit fever, the condition of their 
stools, their degree of emaciation, their internal 
appearance alter death, Arc., Ac. We notice 
the above communication merely to say that it 
is time thrown away either to make or answer 
such vague interrogatories. 
DEPTH OF PLANTING SORGHUM SEED, 
The Wisconsin Sorghum growers have beeu 
discussing this question. They adopted a reso¬ 
lution asserting it as the safest way. under all 
circumstances, to plant the seed dry and very 
lightly—not to exceed one-fourth of an inch in 
depth—and us early in spring as the ground 
becomes sufficiently warm to warrant the hope 
of an early germination. 
We are told that this resolution was not 
adopted with great unanimity. We don’t think 
Sorghum growers generally will adopt that part 
of it which recommends planting the seed dry. 
unsoaked. The shallow planting Is well, if the 
earth is packed about the seed. But we know, 
where the seed is carefully sprouted, as hereto¬ 
fore directed iu the Rural, it is a great gain, 
bringing the young plant up iu advance of the 
weeds, and maturing the crop before early frosts. 
Mode op Marking Sircar.—Win. A- Green of Union 
Comers, Livingston Co., N. Y., wishes a further expla¬ 
nation ot Yon Timer's system of marking sheep, by 
notches, etc., on the ear, than is given iu the Practical 
Shi i !‘rrd. He does not understand the proper notches 
between No. 3 and No. 9, and between No. tO and No. 
Fallowing in California.— 
Writing of line farms in Chico and the crops 
grown on them, tho editor, after mentioning 
several ou which the average yield of wheat 
and barley is put at 50 bushels per acre, says: 
“ Mr. Kkkfkr has a large and line farm. Ills 
crop was also a noble one. lie has 300 acres of 
wheat and barley, and the average yield is 
fifty bushels an acre. On one hundred acres of 
summer fallow, this crop was doubled. The 
One notch over left ear stands for No. 1: one 
notch under same ear stands for No. 3. Both 
of these notches stand for No. 4. Two notches 
over the ear and one under stand for No. 5. 
Two notches under stand for No. 6. Two under 
and one over stand for No. T. Two under 
TWO DOLLARS A. YKAR.1 
“ PROGRESS AND IMPROVEMENT.” 
[SUNG-IHcC ISTO. FIVE CRUSTS. 
VOL. XV. NO. 8.S 
ROCHESTER, N. Y.-F0R THE WEEK'ENDING SATURDAY, FEBRUARY 20, 1864. 
{WHOLE NO. 736. 
n 
