V.Mj,/r r /' 
IjjAGRICULTDRf 
ROCHESTER, N. Y.-FOR THE WEEK ENDING SATURDAY, JUNE 4,1864 
with my corn planting, and hope to finish in 
good season—much earlier than usual. 
“ I trust you will make your contemplated 
visit to the West during the summer, and hope 
you will find it convenient to give me a call. I 
will ho enabled to show you the results of the 
two methods of preparing the soil, as I intend 
to lay off one field into lands of equal size, 
spading and plowing them alternately, and 
giving both the same after cultivation. This, I 
think, will enable me to know if the favorable 
opinion I have formed of spading is correct. 7 
report are devoted to a Meteorological Report 
from the Smithsonian Institution. This report 
is elaborate and valuable to the meteorologist, 
and interesting to the general and curious reader. 
And it is a model after which Commissioner 
Newton may safely copy, in its elaborate de¬ 
tail of facts, and in the absence from it of all 
speculation. 
As a wiiole, this bi-monthly report is an im¬ 
provement over the last. 
uary, 1864. This estimate cannot of course be 
considered correct; but the Commissioner says 
“ we have much confidence in the general cor¬ 
rectness of the table, and hence publish it.” 
AYe give herewith the aggregate comparative 
figures for the following States:—Maine, New 
Hampshire, Vermont, Massachusetts, Rhode 
Island, Connecticut, Delaware, New York, 
New Jersey, Pennsylvania, Maryland, Ken¬ 
tucky, Ohio, Michigan, Indiana, ILlinois, Mis¬ 
souri, Wisconsin, Iowa, Minnesota, Kansas, 
Nebraska, Ilor-es in 1869, 4,199,141; in 1864, 
4,049,142. Mules in 1839, 301,609; in 1864, 280,- 
847. Cattle and oxcu in 1859, 7,941,148; in 1864, 
7,965,439. Cows in 1S59, 5,726,904; in 1864, 
0,066,748. Sheep in 1859, 15,104,272; in 1864, 
24.340.891. Hogs in 1859, 17,060,035; in 1S64, 
ltk 148,712. 
The Commissioner’s remarks following the 
table from which the above figures have been 
taken, are probably as nearly correct in their 
deductions as are the figures of the table. They 
embrace facts which will aid the thinking man 
in forming his own opinions concerning pros¬ 
pective supply and demand. 
The remarks and tables of the Cincinnati 
Price Current on -‘Pork-Packing in the West,” 
are re-rublished and commented upon. Of the 
progress of the country in the production of hogs, 
the Price Current says:—“Previous to 1861. 
the hog crop did not vary over four or five hun¬ 
dred thousand hogs, being sometimes one or 
two hundred thousand above, and then the 
same amount below 2,000,000. But in 1802 the 
packing run up to nearly 3,000.000; in 1863 to 
over 4.000,000; and this season it has fallen off 
over three-quarters of a million. 7 The Com¬ 
missioner, however, thinks the aggregate in¬ 
crease of production of hogs is not as great as 
the above figures indicate—that the difference 
in the number packed is due. rather to the win¬ 
tering over of stock in 1861, and to the fact that 
the Kentucky crop was turned north and packed 
instead of being sent south. 
But we have not space to follow the Commis¬ 
sioner through his meandering among the fig¬ 
ures in relation to swine, “ English Imports oi 
Wheat. “ Imports and Exports at New York,” 
a comparison of “European and American 
Markets.” If we were inclined to he captious, 
we might possibly find something to talk about. 
But we are not. AVe eommeud all legitimate 
effort to furnish the country with valuable 
facts, and enligliteu producers in regard to their 
relations to the great markets. 
On page 34 is a table of averages showing 
“the condition of stock, ifcc., on the first of 
April, 1864, in the different States; and on page 
35 another “showing tho condition of bees and 
general features of the weather during Febru¬ 
ary and March. These averages are made up 
from the returns of the correspondents of the 
Department in each State, by adding said re¬ 
turns in tenths from each State respectively, and 
dividing the aggregate by the number of coun¬ 
ties In the same furnishing the same, giving the 
general average for each State in tenths and 
fractions of a tenth. Thus in the table “the 
average amount of maple sugar made this sea- 
sou” in New York is 121 tenths; in Pennsylva¬ 
nia, 134 tenths; in Michigan, 12 tenths; in Illi¬ 
nois, 1l{ tenths; in Western Virginia, 15tenths. 
Again “ the average amount of acres sown in 
clover this spring” in New Y ork, is 104 tenths: 
in Ohio, 9j tenths, Ac., Ac. The average num¬ 
ber of bee stands killed in New York is 14 
tenths; in Indiana and Illinois, 4 tenths each; 
in Vermont, 2 1-7 tenths, Ac. The average 
‘-■“Mitlon of living stands in New York, is put 
down at tenths; in Illinois, at 7 tenths; in 
Wisconsin, at * tenths; in Minnesota, at 10 
tenths: In Vermont, n 3-10 tenths, Ac., Ac. 
This mode of furnishing information possesses 
some interest, and in so fur as ft approaches 
correctness, is of some practical value. But it 
would be gratifying to know tho localities in 
each State from which returns have been made, 
and their uumbor 
MOOSE'S RUSAL NEW-YORKER, 
AN ORIGINAL WEEKLY 
RURAL, LITERARY AND FAMILY NEWSPAPER. 
CONDUCTED BY D. D. T. MOORE. 
CHARLES I>. BRAGHON, AMoclate Editor. 
USBANDRY 
HENRY 8. ELAND ALL, LL. D- 
Editor Department of Sheep Husbandry, 
SPECIAL CONTRIBUTORSI 
P. BARRY, C. DEWEY, LL. D., 
H. T. BROOKS, L. B. LANGWORTHY, 
TO CORRESPONDENTS. — Mr. Randall'S address Is 
Cortland Village, Cortland Co., N. Y. All communica¬ 
tions Intended for this Department, anti all Inquiries 
relating to sheep, should be addressed to him as above. 
Tint Rural New-Yorker is designed to be unsur¬ 
passed in Value, Purity, and Variety of Contents, and 
unique and beautiful in Appearance. Its Conductor 
devotes Uls personal attention to the supervision of its 
various departments, and earnestly labors to render 
the Rural an eminently Reliable Guide o* all the 
Important Practical, Scientific and other Subjects Inti¬ 
mately connected with the business of those whose 
Interests It zealously advocates. As a Family Journal 
It Is eminently Instructive and Entertaining—helng so 
conducted that it can be safely taken to the Homes oi 
people of Intelligence, taste and discrimination. It 
embraces more Agricultural, Horticultural, Scientific, 
Educational, Literary and News Matter, Interspersed 
■with appropriate Engravings, Gian any other journal,— 
rendering It the most complete AGRICULTURAL Lltk- 
bary and Family Newspaper hi America. 
SHEEP WORK IN JUNE. 
bered that we have repeatedly named “ Com¬ 
stock’s Spader. 7 We named it in an article on 
corn planting in Rural current volume, page 
149. Since writing that article, learning that 
Hon. M. L. Sullivant, of “ Broadlands," 
Champaign Co., IU.,—of whose extensive farm 
operations we gave our readers some account 
on pages 229 and 237 last volume of Rural— 
had this machine in operation preparing his 
corn ground for the crop, we wrote him, asking 
him to give us his impressions of it, and of its 
value as a farm implement. We have from 
him. in reply, a very interesting letter, which 
we publish entire, with the introductory re¬ 
mark that we know no man whose opinions in 
practical matters connected with agricultural 
economy would have greater weight with us. 
For, beside being a practical farmer, he is a 
figure farmer—a man who thoroughly analyzes, 
and systematizes his husb:<miry—-who cultivates 
soil, as a man sells goo< -, for the purpose of 
making money out of tne labor and capital 
invested. Here is what he says: 
“ I am in receipt of your favor of the 12th 
inst., and take great pleasure in replying to 
your inquiries about, and giving you my expe¬ 
rience with, Comstock's Rotary Spader. 
•• I commenced working one of them on the 
19th of April, preparing ground for corn, and 
have worked it constantly since, when the 
ground was in condition for working. It has 
spaded, up to this time, about seventy-five acres. 
A few days later I started two more, and a 
fourth some ten days since; they have all been 
running constantly wheu it was not too wet. I 
am working two of them with four horses and 
one man each; the other two we work in a 
gang, with a team of six pairs of oxen, driven 
and managed by oue man. 
“These machines work three feet in width 
and eight inches deep, pulverizing the soil 
more thoroughly and preparing a better seed¬ 
bed than I have been enabled to do with the 
plow ami harrow. The horse machines do oue 
acre each per hour, with a speed of two and 
three-quarter miles; the gang will do one acre 
per hour, with a speed of »ne and three-eighth 
miles; but these calculations you can readily 
make for yourself. 
“ I expect, iu a day or two, to have a machine 
the full width of a corn row, ;three feet, eight 
inches,) at work, with a self-acting corn-planter 
attached. This machine will be capable of pre- 
Toe lowest Subsciition Price of the Rural* is 
Two Dollars a Year. For particulars see last page. 
CURRENT TOPICS DISCUSSED, 
The Bi-Monthly Report, 
YYe have before us the Bi-Monthly Report 
of the Agricultural Department for March and 
April, 1861. We are indebted to Isaac New¬ 
ton for it. It may interest our readers if we 
tell them what it contains: 
1. The first four pages are devoted to a state¬ 
ment of “ the purpose and necessity of these 
reports.” Judging by the arguments of this 
introduction to his report by the ( ommissioner, 
he is impressed with the conviction that the 
criticisms of his reports, which a portion of the 
Agrioultural Press has thought proper to be¬ 
stow upon them, originated in a jealousy lest 
his fulmiuutions should supplant said Agricul¬ 
tural periodicals. He pours oil on the troubled 
waters very gracefully. In order, however, 
that the Government may be saved the expense 
of printing such arguments in future, we dis¬ 
tinctly state that so far as the Rural New- 
Youkew. is concerned, it has not been green- 
eyed at all—not lor a moment! On tho con¬ 
trary, it expects these reports. It would Use its 
goad upon the Department if they were not 
furnished. But It does not believe it the office 
of the Commissioner to make the Government 
pay for printing ids puerile speculations and 
opinions upon topics which it is manifest he 
knows nothing about. Tho Agricultural press 
want him to furnish facts, fujures, data. And 
if he doeo his du\y, he will rind ample employ¬ 
ment iu collecting ami "ompilLng tho same with¬ 
out wading into water beyo*q depth. It is 
Yery evident, from this and puvious reports, 
that Commissioner Newton likes to look upon 
himself iu print -and he is “great on „ n argu¬ 
ment. 7 But we trust he will manage so to re¬ 
move all obstacles soon, that the time given to 
elaborate discourses on “the duty of the u r .. 
partiueut” may be devoted to the perfecting 
system of collecting information that shall prove 
valuable to all the people. 
2. Eleven pages arc devoted to the compari¬ 
son of the British, Prussian and American 
modes of estimating their annual productions, 
closing with a paragraph upon “ the utility of 
these statistics." We find nothing in these 
eleven pages of especial general interest. It 
consists mainly in magnifying the duties and 
responsibilities of tho Department. We do not 
suppose there is an intelligent farmer in the 
land who does not fully appreciate the utility 
of such statistics as far as they approach cor¬ 
rectness 
AGRICULTURAL GLEANINGS. 
one acre per hour, with a speed of two and a 
quarter miles; we think four horses, or six 
oxen, and oue man, will work and manage it 
readily. 
•* As to my opinion of it, I have no hesitation 
in saying that I think it the greatest step for¬ 
ward that has been made in agricultural ma¬ 
chinery. I believe they will supersede the 
plow on our prairies, aud similar soils, and 
cause a great revolution in Agriculture, So far. 
the wear seems slight; and 1 do not believe the 
cost of keeping them in repair wiU be greater, 
relatively, than plows. 
“ I can, by the use of these Spaders, prepare 
the soil and plant it to corn for fifty cents per 
acre, estimating the wages of men at one dollar 
and a half per day, and horses fifty cents each. 
Aside from the reduced cost of doing the work, 
as compared with tho plow, 1 shall expect, 
from its deeper and more thorough comminu¬ 
tion of the soil, to get a yield of from twenty- 
five to fifty per cent, more with the same culti¬ 
vation than with ordinary plowing, which does 
not average move than four inches in depth in 
this State. 
“ Our spring has been backward and wet, the 
weather is now fine, and plowing and planting 
are going on as rapidly as is consistent with the 
j scarcity of labor throughout the State. By the 
aid of the Spaders, 1 am getting well forward 
so that there may be an 
approximate estimate of the value of these 
averages. For if returns are received from 
only ten counties in a State containing one hun¬ 
dred counties, the average would in no wise 
indicate tho character or condition intended. 
Let us have tables c6ntuining the returns from 
each county (returned) in each State, Mr. Com¬ 
missioner, Thus you will uot ouly add mate¬ 
rially to the interest of these averages, but far 
more to their value to all classes of meu who 
are likely to base any calculations and transac¬ 
tions upon them. 
4. Fifty-nine pages—more thau half—of this 
certainly no commercial 
undervalue them. 
3. The succeeding twenty pages, from tho 18th 
to the 37th, inclusive, are devoted to legitimate 
work. Page 18 contains a table exhibiting the 
number of horses, mules, cattle and oxen, cows, 
sheep, and hogs iu the several loyal States as 
returned by the census report of 1869, and the 
estimated number in the same Statts iu J un¬ 
man 
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