TERMS, PER YEAR.] 
“ PROGRESS AND IMPROVEMENT.’ 
SINGLE NO. SIX CENTS. 
VOL. XV. NO. 28.1 
ROCHESTER, N. Y.-FOR THE WEEK ENDING SATURDAY, JULY 9, 1864. 
fWHOLE NO. 756. 
MOORE'S RURAL NEW-YORKER, 
AN ORIGINAL WEEKLY 
RURAL, LITERARY AND FAMILY NEWSPAPER. 
CONDUCTED BY D. D. T. MOORE. 
OIIAKI.ES ». ItltAGIMJX, Aftrtoctfitc Editor. 
HENBY S. BAND ALL, LL. D.. 
iditor Department or Sheep Husbandry. 
SPECIAL CONTBIBtrrOHS! 
P, BARRY, 
H. T. BROOKS, 
C. DEWEY, LL. D., 
L. B. LANG WORTHY. 
The 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 Ills personal attention to the supervision of Its 
various departments, and earnestly labors to render 
the llVRAL an eminently Reliable Guide ou 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 
I t la eminently Instinctive and Entertaining—being eo 
conducted that It can be safely taken to the Homes of 
people of intelligence, taste and diecrlmlnatloiL It 
embraces more Agricultural, Horticultural, Scientific, 
Educational, Literary and News Matter. Interspersed 
with appropriate Engravings, than uny other Journal,— 
rendering It the most complete Agricultural Lite¬ 
rary and Family Newspaper in America. 
CURRENT TOPICS DISCUSSED. 
Keep the Weeds Under. 
C. W. Turner, of Massachusetts, sends us 
an article under the above title. We know 
there arc many good farmers who are impatient 
under such advice; and yet the topic is timely 
and important. Labor may be scarce, but the 
horse-hoe and cultivator should be kept going. 
The importance of attacking the weeds early 
cannot be too strongly urged—the economy of 
doing so is a big item. But read what our cor¬ 
respondent says: 
"The farmer has an enemy, silent, yet creep¬ 
ing, spreading, working its way onward and 
upward,—hard to subdue, harder still to con¬ 
quer. and almost impossible to annihilate. This 
enemy is the army of weeds which infests our 
land, sucking up the very energy of the soil, and 
flourishing amidst the poverty it incurs. This 
enemy ought and must be kept under— humbled, 
laid prostrate with the ground. The surest way 
to effect tills, is to begin early, now, before it 
gets a sure and strong hold. Attacked in its 
tenderness, under a wilting sun, it soon dies. 
“ Come, farmers, one and all; come with plow 
and cultivator, with hoc and rake, bush or any¬ 
thing destructive to the common pest. Let us 
have a determined, inflexible purpose to keep 
under this foe to our improvement and pros¬ 
perity! Economy urges to commence now, 
whilo the weeds are tender and small. Experi¬ 
ence teaches, that one day's active labor now is 
worth three or four when the roots are strong 
anil stubborn. Take the garden, for an exam¬ 
ple, brush it over often, it is done with case,— 
the plants are thriving and refreshed. The 
garden is beautiful in its fertility. But let it 
become a mass of luxuriant weeds, and days 
must be spent to clean it. Some of the plants 
are slender and sickly, others uprooted and 
broken. It is, in a measure, so with lield crops. 
Then there is the aftercrop. Often is the grain 
backonod and choked by the powerful weeds. 
Frequently it might have boon bound and stored 
“in good order, M were it not for the growth of 
juicy weeds cut with it. It must necessarily 
remain unsheltered in the storm, or be put in to 
come out injured and smoky. The grass seed is 
often choked, and brings in poor returns. 
“ It is clear to my mind, that the future crops 
and the farmers’ protits, are equally aJleCtcd 
by allowing weeds to ripen and encumber the 
ground. To illustrate: — Take two fields of 
potatoes. One is hoed once or twice hurriedly, 
then springs up a thrifty yield of weeds. Before 
digging the potatoes the vines are overtopped. 
I have seen it necessary to mow the weeds be¬ 
fore digging. Then the slow, hard toil of secur¬ 
ing the crop, and the Inferior yield generally. 
If a grain crop follows, it will be, most likely, 
as above described. The other field is well 
planted, and thoroughly hoed, three times if 
accessary, even if it costs a few dollars extra. 
The money will lie amply refunded in digging, 
yield of potatoes, and subsequent crops, uven 
four-fold, unless 1 am greatly mistaken. If 
scattering weeds spring up before maturity, 
they are pulled and burned, or destroyed in 
some way. Tito men dig iu the mellow soil 
GLEANINGS IN READING. 
Salting Hay .—There is a good deal of testi¬ 
mony from farmers in circulation against the 
practice of salting hay as it goes into the mow, 
because it renders the hay moist, and is not a 
preservative. What do the practical Carmel's 
think about it? There is no doubt that there 
may be too much salt put on hay; but it by no 
means follows that a reasonable quantity will not 
be of benefit rather than damage. 
2DITED BY HENRY S. RANDALL. LL. O. 
- -- - To Correspondents. -Mr. Randall’s address is 
Curing Corn Fodder by Artificial Heat. — Cortland Village, Cortland Co.,N.Y. All communlca- 
lie Maine Farmer suggests that the difficulty Hons Intended for tills Department, and all Inquiries 
... ..._ _, t.., Kt- relating to sheep, should be addressed to him as above. 
S. S. HICKOK’S POTATO-PLOW OR DIGGER. 
with ease and comfort,—the vines are drawn oft' 
to swell the manure heap. When the rye t> 
sown, it ."prings up with a broad leaf — quickly 
covers the ground—resists the winter better— 
the grass seed "takes well’ iu spring — the rye 
is plump aud free from weeds,—a good yield of 
grass succeeds, and so on. I have seen just such 
instances. Possibly results are more marked 
here, on light soils, than on richer western 
lands. Although so evident, through careless¬ 
ness, or calculated economy, failing to hire nec¬ 
essary labor, we -ee many such farms growing 
poorer yearly, whereas they ought and might be 
improving. Improvement should be the farm¬ 
er’s watchword in everything. But this is a 
subject in itself. 
“ As has boon before observed, if we wish, or 
intend to master the weeds, we must begin now, 
and keep up a constant and persevering warfare 
of extermination, embracing every opportunity 
even into August, One used to the hoe wel I knows 
that he can hoe over four square rods of ground 
aslquickly and with much more case and com¬ 
fort when the weeds are just standing, than he 
can ten feet square, when their roots are well 
set. Then, too, it can be done in dull weather, 
at least to much better advantage. These things 
are so evident that they seem simple to mention; 
still, some men do not seem to appreciate them. 
“ I have often passed the fields of a neighbor 
who kept a large nursery of trees, plants, root 
crops, Ac. As he did not labor himself. uU the 
work was necessarily employed. Instead of 
hiring early, he possibly laid out more work 
than his help could do; at all events, when 
the seeds were thick, and going to seed, 
perhaps, he would bring in, of necessity, a 
number of extra hands. They soon get tired— 
the hoeing goes slow -the weeds revive, unless 
very sunny. In fact, the weeds gain a triumph. 
The land and the man are both subdued. 
I know it will cost labor and diligence. The 
garden mast be seen to, — the strawberries 
weeded, — the onions kept clean, Ac., Ac. 
However, will it not pay, iu return, and in the 
satisfaction of seeing things well done.' 1 Possi¬ 
bly it may be well to sit down iu winter, and, 
like a wise ‘master builder,’ make calculations 
bow much we can do, and do it well —allowing 
for rainy days, Ac., and then, with help divine, 
faithfully perform it.” 
Sow Buckwheat. 
Farmers, tho crops—the bread crops—of 
the country are seriously injured by the drouth. 
There is no doubt about it whatever. There 
has not been a season in many years when there 
was so little food material in the hands of farm¬ 
ers and in store in the hands of dealers the first 
day of July, as on the 1st of July, 18tH. We 
have seen, during the past week, oats heading 
out scarce six inches above the ground. Wheat 
has grown little for weeks, and the crop is 
without any doubt short. Grass in many local¬ 
ities is dying of thirst—timothy heads look as if 
the grub was at work at the roots, and yet we 
find no grubs at work. It is drouth that hfts 
famished the plant. From all parts of this 
Statu is there complaint. A letter from West¬ 
ern Pennsylvania says:—"The drouth is alarm¬ 
ing. We fear rain now will not save us a crop 
of spring grain.” From Wisconsin the tidings 
are disheartening, if one-tentli id true that is 
written us. A letter dated the 20tli of June 
asserted that corn which had been planted five 
weeks had not sprouted! 
Now. we are uo alarmist, anu have no fellow¬ 
ship with croakers. But knowing the extraor¬ 
dinary waste—to say nothing of legitimate eou- 
sumption—of this war, the decrease in produc¬ 
tion occasioned by the withdrawal of producers 
from the fields that feed to the fields of blood, 
we regard it as a matter of serious concern that 
our food crop is being shortened, and yet to run 
the gauntlet of three I months’ changes and 
vicissitudes of the season. 
There is time to mature substitutes for what 
is lost, to a certain extent. Buckwheat is one 
and an important substitute, as a bread crop. 1 
It is a healthful food, notwithstanding the pre¬ 
judices against it. It is growing more and more 
popular as a winter food. Sow it. It cannot be 
got in the ground too soon—nor too much of it. 
It will pay to sow it if it escapes early frost. It 
will pay as well a.s wheat. In most of the large 
markets its floor retailed last winter quite as 
high as wheat flour. I>o not fear that there 
will be uo demand for it. Sow it if you have 
an acre you can prepare for it. 
S. S. Hickok’s Potato-Plow or Digger. 
We give herewith an illustration affording a 
side view of this new digger. We have seen a 
model of it, which has impressed us favorably. 
It not only lifts tho potatoes out of the soil, but 
by its vibrating prongs sifts the earth out and 
leaves the potatoes on ; ie surface, and the soH 
in a finely pulverized condition. These vibrat¬ 
ing prongs are attached to an upright rod, which 
passes through the beam, connecting with the 
lever above the beam, the forward end of which 
Is attached to two small flat bars which pass 
down each side of the beam, connecting the 
upper with the under lever, which comes in 
contact with the cam, or notched wheel, which 
is keyed on to the axleiree of the side wheels 
directly under the beam, which, when in mo¬ 
tion, gives vibration to the the prongs. The 
prongs may be raised or lowered by changing 
tho pin to a different hole in the upright rod 
above the beam, where it connects with the 
lever. The depth of furrow is regulated by a 
>lot in each of the forward braces, by means of 
which the wheels may be raised or lowered to 
suit the depth of potatoes, so as not cut them. 
When any change is made in the wheels the 
under lever must be changed also, so that the 
cam will have its proper effect upon the vibrat¬ 
ing prongs, which is done by changing the bolt 
which connects the upper with the under lever. 
This engraving and the above description will 
furnish answers to sundry inquiries on this 
subject already received and published. For 
further particulars, see advertisement in another 
column. 
Soak Basswood or Linden. 
Edwin Ewer, of Macedon Center, came 
into our office the other day with long, strong 
strips of the inner hark of the basswood in his 
hand, and >aid ha thought it would be well to 
suggest to farmers who have plenty of this beau¬ 
tiful tree growing, that now is the time to put 
the bark a-soak, and thereby secure a strong, 
smooth, useful fiber for tying up grape \iues, 
tying bags and for use iu other places instead of 
twine or cord, which is now quite costly. The 
suggestion is a good one and timely, and we 
thanked our friend for reminding us of it. The 
way to do this is to peel the basswood of its bark, 
and put the bark into a pool or stream, putting 
weights ou it to keep it under water. In four 
to si x week.- the inner bark will be loosened and 
easily peeled from the outer. Then hang it up 
in the "tin and let it dry. The fiber thus obtain¬ 
ed is very useful, Mr. Ewer said his women¬ 
folk bail suggested using this fiber for filling for 
carpets—as a substitute for rags. We do uot 
kuow how it would wear, but should think it 
would make a pleasant summer covering for 
floors. X nw let us suggest that our readers will 
gratify us if they make other economical sug- 
gesiions, and thereby render each other service. 
Each one of our hundreds of thousands of read¬ 
ers can say something that will profit somebody 
else. Such interchange will benefit all. 
The Maine Farmer suggests that the difficulty 
of curing sowed com for forage be remedied by 
curing it in kilns as hops are cured. We do not 
think it would pay: and we think it unneces¬ 
sary. It is better to stack it out in small stacks, 
if that is the only way in which it can be pre¬ 
served. But we have seen it preserved in airy 
lofts in the barn, successfully. 
Covered Manures. — A late number of the 
Journal of Agriculture contain* a statement of 
the result of an experiment made to determine 
the relative value of manure made under cover, 
and that exposed in the barnyard. Both ma¬ 
nures were applied to potatoes in equal quanti¬ 
ties. The yield on e«flial portions of land was 
as follows:—Manure from barnyard, 252 bushels 
per acre; manure made under cover, 207 bushels 
per acre. 
SHEEP WORK IN JULY. 
The sheep are now shorn, registered, marked, 
etc. Before they are to be considered prepared 
for summering, the foHowing processes should 
be performed: 
Cutting the Hoofs. — All Merino flocks 
require to have their hoofs pared at least once a 
year, though their feet may be perfectly sound. 
Otherwise, their long, turned-up aud turned- 
under hoofs collect filth—give the sheep a 
hobbling gait —and present an unsightly and 
unt'armer-like appearance. The hoofs cut far 
easier after a period of rainy weather. The 
long tues should be shortened as much as is 
The Brahma Fowls.-The Maine Farmer practicable without drawing blood, andttm soles 
says:—"A fanner in Massachusetts who has tinned in the same proportion. The best 
_ S „ V_ _ _ instrument we have seen for the nrst named 
had experience in keeping poultry of different 
breeds, and upon a somewhat extensive scale, 
has derided in favor of the Brahmas. lie says, 
"they surpass in laying qualities, and for the 
market, any breed of fowls he has ever kept.’ 
This opinion also corresponds with that of many 
parties in this city and elsewhere who have 
given them a fair trial.” 
operation is the following: 
TOE-NIPPERS. 
parties m mis cut anu ewwnere «uo nave As these are sometimes necessarily used when 
given them a fail trial. the hoofs are dry and tough, they must be made 
Bedding Cotes xoith Sand .—At the State Alms j very strong. The handles should be about 
House, Mass., the manager of the farm beds his twenty inches long and the rivet half an inch in 
cows regularly with -and, which he considers | diameter. The cutting blade is made from two 
superior to auy other substance for that purpose. | to two and a half inches wide aud descends 
It is warm, easy to lie upon, prevents the cows 
from slipping when reaching for food, is an ex¬ 
cellent absorbent of liquids, easily shoveled in 
and out, a superior divisor of droppings, and is 
an excellent substance to supply to cold lands. 
For these reasons he likes sand for bedding. 
upon a strip of copper. These nippers have 
not found a place in commerce, but can be made 
to order by any blacksmith capable of temper¬ 
ing an edge-tool. With these, a sharp knife, 
and a little experience, the labor we are describ¬ 
ing is a brief one. Care should be taken to pre- 
Action of Plaster .—The editor of the Canada serve the natural bearing of the foot —not low- 
Farmer says:—-It furnishes two elements of ering the toe, or heel, or either side, so as to 
plant food, "lime and sulphur, anil also fixes the throw the weight on any part improperly. 
ammonia of the atmosphere, and husbands it for Shortening Horns, Etc.—I f the horns of 
the future use of the plants. It aets chiefly nuns press on any part of the head or neck their 
through the leaves of the plants to which it is inner sides should be removed by a saw. Ewes’ 
applied, and >houhl be scattered in the shape of horns which threaten to grow into the head 
fine powder while the dew of morning or even- should be sawed oil’, if small, close to the head— 
ing is on the plants, that it may stick. It should if large, as near the head as may be, without 
not, however, be applied in rainy weather.” We causing a large effusion of blood. A butchers’ 
should not hesitate to apply it at any time of flay bow-saw is the best one for these purposes. It 
in dry weather. Just previous to a rain is the is becoming customary to twist off the horns of 
best time to select. 
ewe lambs before they attain much size. Very 
Clover Hay.— The A'eic England Farmer says: little blood flows, and the operation appears to 
Clover hay is not generally considered so good cause far less pain thau docking, 
for horses as timothy and red top. Such, how- Preventing Maggots. — On the densely 
ever, is not our opinion. We believe that 1 coated Merino, when not sheared before hot 
clover, when properly managed, makes the best weather, it is uot uncommon to find, say, one 
hay for any stock, that we produce, and is less sheep in a hundred with maggots under the 
exhausting to the soil than the production of wool where it has been kept wet and foul — 
most grasses. It uot only makes up the variety generally about the vent or on the thighs. If 
necessary to keep cattle in health, but its yield they have not penetrated through the skin, care¬ 
ts large and profitable: it takes less from the soil fully scraping them off' and covering the part 
aud more from the atmosphere, than most other first with turpentine and subsequently with tar, 
green crops, and the portion remaining iu the is usually sufficient. But if they have burrowed 
soil contains material to improve its mechanical into the flesh, the sheep should again be looked 
condition, so as to progress the organic eoustitu- to within a couple of days at farthest— for the 
cuts which it elevates from the subsoil after sub- progress of these destroyers is signally rapid. 
soil plowing, and is almost sure of success on if rams fight (as they are apt to do irnme- 
any soil worthy of cultivation. diately after shearing) and break the skin on 
The Sex < f Eggs.— A correspondent of the their heads, maggots will soon be found about 
Aroostook Pioneer writes': — Perhaps some ot the roots of the horns—particularly when the 
your readers will be beuefitted by knowing that latter press on the head, or when the narrow 
an egg placed under a setting hen tor some two space between is left filled with wool. It is 
days and then exposed to a strong light by being very well to smear the head back of the horns, 
held to an aperture through some opaque sub- at shearing, with tar softened with turpentine, 
stance, so as to place the egg between the light 
and the eye, will exhibit lines of blood, if it is 
not addled. At e later period the egg becomes 
opaque, and, of course, can not be tested in this 
way. When 1 bad the care of hens 1 used to 
place simply a nest egg under a setting hen until 
I three hens were wishing to set at the same time. 
I Placing eggs under each at the same time, in 
in a strip say an inch in breadth. Those kinds 
of fish oil which repel the approach of flies 
would be still better. Rams, if kept together 
in uumbers iu July and August, require con¬ 
stant looking to in this particular. In the place 
of turpentine, some persons apply spirit, of tar 
where maggots have been generated — others 
corrosive sublimate. The latter is dissolved in 
due season I tested them as above described, and alcohol, and if the worms have penetrated deep 
took away the poov eggs, placing the good ones and produced a very foul ulcer, it is more effi- 
undcr one or two hens, thus securing a large oient than turpentine. 
number of chickens from each hen that was Separating Rams.—R ams ought not to run 
permitted to spend her time in setting and with ewes through the winter—but where this 
brooding chickens. has been permitted, they should at least be sepa- 
