the buyer told me they were only surpassed by 
one lot in the market—which was Philadelphia— 
and that he did well on them. We kept a lot of 
over one hundred wethers on hay alone, with 
good grass timing the fore part of the winter; 
but there were only a few of them fat enough 
for market at shearing time; the balance have 
been sold since. I consider a small arnouut of 
grain necessary, say half a bushel to the hun¬ 
dred per day, and that only between grass and 
grass. 
I should like to see in the columns of the 
Rural the experience of some of the numerous 
feeders who regularly read its valuable pages. 
Yours, &c., G. Binns. 
Red Stone, Pa., Aug. 18UL 
Uural Notes an5 (ffituerics 
AGRICULTURAL EXHIBITIONS FOR 1864, 
NATIONAL, STATE AND PROVINCIAL. 
tir.nn Pnmological, Rochester,.Sept 13 , in 
- .sept, at, aa; 
Sept. 26, so. 
Sept. 12, 16 . 
Oct 3, g, 
Sept. 27, so 
Sept. 0,ifi 
Sept, so, 2.3 
Oct. 4, 7. 
.Sept 13,16. 
Sept. 27, Sfl. 
Sept. 13,16. 
Sept. 20, 30. 
Killing Canada Thistles. 
The Utica Herald says:—A member of the 
Farmers' Club of Little Falls some few years 
siuce gave an interesting account of his experi¬ 
ence in killing this species of thistle, which 
would seem to prove that to kill them by cut- 
ting is due to a peculiar state of the atmosphere. 
The facts were briefly as follows:—While hoe¬ 
ing corn he observed that the thistles cut with 
the hoe, during the early part of the day, bled 
profusely, so much so as to saturate the ground 
in the immediate vicinity of the stalk; while 
those cut at a later period of the day (the 
weather meantime having changed) did not 
bleed; the former were destroyed, while the lat¬ 
ter sprung up agaiu and grew vigorously. The 
theory advanced at the time was that the at¬ 
mosphere being light and highly rarified (for it 
was extremely oppressive) and the accustomed 
pressure being removed, caused the sap to ooze 
from the wound and the plant literally bled to 
death; while those cut later in the day, the air 
having changed and become more dense, were 
not so affected. Whatever may be said of the 
theory, the facts are beyond dispute, oud we 
have been assured more recently from experi¬ 
ments made in cutting the thistles at times 
when there was a similar condition of the at¬ 
mosphere, that it invariably destroyed them. 
AUih. AULUWlUr...., 
Canada, West. Hamilton, 
Illinois, Decatur,.. 
Indians, Indianapolis,_ 
Iowa. Burlington,_ 
Kentucky, Lonfovlllc,_ 
Michigan, Kalamazoo, ... 
Now Brunswick, Fredericklon,. 
Ohio, Columbus,. 
Pennsylvania, Knston,. 
Vermont. White River Junction,. 
Wisconsin, Janesville,. 
COUNTY AND TOWN. 
MAINE. 
Cumberland, Portland,. 
VERMONT. 
Addison. Middlehury,.... 
Chittenden. Burlington,. 
Connecticut Valley, Bradford,. 
MASSACHUSETTS. 
Barnstable, Barnstable,. 
Bristol, Taunton. 
Berkshire, Pittsfield,... 
Essex, Lawrence. 
Franklin. Greenfield... 
Hniiautunit:. Groat Barrington,.. 
Hampshire Union, Northampton,. 
Hampshire, Amherst,... 
Hampden, Springfield,.. 
(Jomrn imitations, <£tc 
OUGHT FARMERS TO LABOR? 
The Rural’9 Course Approved.— Two weeks ago 
we stated that three subscribers at Cniou Corners had 
stopped the Rural on account of the sentiments ex- 
pressed in the leading article (entitled “The Dutyoi 
the Hour in our issue of Aug 13th. Since then w.* 
have received quite a number or subscriptions on the 
credit side—because, as ouu of the new recruits says, 
we had “ the manliness, pluck and patriotism to write 
and publish such sentiments ’’—and many subscribers 
lave thanked ns for the same. But more than that, our 
brethren of the Press, who know full well tnat we have 
ever kept strictly aloof from preaching politics or fa¬ 
voring parly in conducting the Rural, approve and 
commend our course. For Instance, the Attica Mias, a 
strong Democratic paper, saysA trioat Union Cor- 
Comers call Moore of the Uural Act v-lorfo-r an 
Abolitionist,’ and stop his paper. Mooive proposes 
that Unde Samuel change the name of that post-office 
to Sscesh Comers' Though others have called the 
Rural 'worse names —‘copperhead,’ for instance,’— 
Moore has our profound commiseration in this case, 
and we second his petition. If any man has sheered 
ch ar of partisan squabbles and made a good paper at 
the same time, that man is D. D. T. Moore, and that 
paper is the Rural New JVfer.” 
We are no advocates of idleness. That all 
men should be usefully employed, we cannot 
doubt. But we do not believe that it is necessa¬ 
ry or wise for the owners of farms to engage in 
hard manual labor the year round. Farmers 
have brains ns well as muscles, and the exercise 
of the former is quite as necessary to success in 
their profession, as the latter. Many, perhaps 
the mass of our farmers, exert their muscles at 
the expense of their brains. The whole nervous 
energies of their system are thrown into their 
muscles, to be expended in the hard physical 
[ labor of the farm. Their brains become inac¬ 
tive, and they become mere laboring machines, 
that toil early and late. If they pick up a paper 
or a book, they fall to sleep, as their overtasked 
system demands rest and repose. If they attend 
a lecture or a meeting, they return home about 
as wise as they went, as the exhausting physi¬ 
cal labors they have undergone, nearly incapaci¬ 
tate them for listening, appreciating and digest¬ 
ing the mental food set before them. Their 
brains are of no consequence unless they can 
use them. If they use up the whole energy of 
their physical system in plowing, and sewing, 
and hoeing, and haying, and harvesting, and the 
other labors of the farm, their brains are de¬ 
prived of support, and their minds dull and in¬ 
capable of exercise. True, there is now and 
then a man of iron constitution, who possesses 
a suflicient amount of nervous and physical 
stamina to undergo great physical and mental 
labor; bat they are exceptional cases, and are 
not to be regarded as samples of the majority of 
farmers. Now who is the most successful ? Is 
it the intelligent, wide-awake man, who keeps 
posted and up with the times, or Is it the hard 
working manual labor man, who takes the brunt 
of his own work, and so exhausts his brain of its 
nervous energy that he can scarcely reckon up 
the price of a few pounds of pork, or a few 
bushels of grain or potatoes, he may have to 
We believe in brains and their exercise. 
Hatnrxlen East, Palmer,. 
HI all I ami, Miiltfleflcld,. 
Hoodie Valiev, North Adams. ... 
Middlesex, Concord. ... 
Middlesex, South, Framingham,... 
Middlesex. North. Lowell,.. 
Martha's Vineyard, West Tisbury, 
Nani ticket. Nantucket,. 
Norfolk, Dedham,. 
Plymouth, Bridgewater,.. 
Worcester, Worcester,. 
Worcester, West, Bim\.. 
Worcester. North, Fitchburg. 
Worcester, South, Starbrldge,.. .. 
Worcester, South-east, Milford,... 
CONNECTICUT. 
Connecticut Horpe Show, Hartford, 
Fairfield, Norwalk.1 
New Loudon, Norwich. 
NEW TORE 
Broome, Binghamton,.... 
nrookflcld. Brookfield,. 
t'amden, Camden.. 
Cattaraugus, Little Valley,. 
Chautauqua, Westfield. 
Chaulatiqnn. F. A M., Fredouiu, ... 
Chenango, Norwich,.. 
Cortland, Homer,. 
Constantta, Cleveland. 
Dutches. Washington Hollow,_ 
Erie, Buffalo, .... 
Franklin. Malone,. 
Greene, Cairo,. 
Jefferson, Watertown,. 
Lewis, Turin. 
Livingston, Geneseo,. 
Montgomery, Fonda,. 
Importance of Gravel Stones for Fowls. 
Reaper, did you ever dissect the gizzard 
of a hen, turkey, goose or’duck? The gizzard 
and gravel stones in it. serve the purpose of 
teeth, in reducing the food to small particles, in 
order to facilitate digestion. The feed is swal¬ 
lowed in chunks, or the grain is received into 
the crop unbroken. Here all such substances 
arc softened, and passed, a little at a time, 
through the gizzard, which is surrounded by 
strong muscles: and when food is passing through 
it, it dilates and contracts similar to the motion 
of a bellows, and the food, kernels of grain, 
coming in contact with the gravel stones, is 
separated and torn to pieces. After the process 
is completed, the food is digested. These little 
mill stones, as it were, do not remain long in 
the gizzard; they are carried out with the food, 
and a new set is brought along from the crop, 
to he thus ground. Now if the fowls are con¬ 
fined, as they often are. where they cannot have 
access to all the sharp gravel they need, their 
digestion must be imperfect, and they can not 
do well, especially if fed on whole grain.— 
Fowls need sharp gravel stones within their 
reach to swallow every day, and if they do not 
have a range, gravel should be kept by them, in 
their inclosures .—Boston Cultivator . 
Niagara, Loekport, 
Orleans, Albion..... 
Oswego Falls, Oswego Falls,. 
Otsego, Coop it* town,... 
Ontario, Canandaigua,. 
Oneida, Utica,.-.. . 
Putnam, Carmel,... 
Queens, Jamaica... 
st Lawrence, t'ntuon. 
Susquehanna Valley, Unadilla,. 
Totmwanda Valley, Attica.. 
Trenton Union. Trenton Fails,. 
Ulster, Kingston,. 
Union, Palmyra. 
Vienna. Norm Bay,_ • ... 
Wyoming Co., Warsaw,. 
NEW JERSEY. 
Burlington, ML Holley. 
PENNSYLVANIA. 
Bucks, Newtown,. 
Susquehanna, Montrose,. 
Union Ac. A-soelatloii, Burgettstown 
Wyoming, Wyoming,.' 
omo. 
Ashtabula, Jefferson,.... 
Blnuchwter, Clinton,.. 
Butler, Hamilton... 
Clark, Springfield,. 
Clermont, Boston,. 
Clermont, Bantam.. 
Columbiana, New Lisbon,. 
Cuyahoga. Cleveland. 
Favetic, Washington,.... 
Fulton, Ottokoe,.. 
Geauga, Burton,.... 
Geauga, Claridon,... 
Greene, Xenia,. 
Hancock. Fioutey,. 
Huron, Norwalk,.,.. 
Jamestown, Jamestown,.. 
Lake, Pulnesrilli*,—.. 
Loralne, Elyria,.... 
Madison, Londou. 
Mahoning, Youngstown,.. 
Medina, Medina. 
Morrow, Mt Gtlend,. 
Muskingum, Zanesville,. 
Orwell, AshUbula,. .. 
Portage, Ravenna. 
Kieliland, Maustk-ld,.. 
Stark, Canton,.. . 
Sun ■ Mcroi . 
Trumbull, Warren._ 
Tw1n=burgh, Twtneburgh,. M _ 
Union, Marysville. 
Warren, Lebanon,._ 
Wayne, Wooster. 
Wellington, Wellington,. 
INDIANA. 
Fayette, Connersvtlle,.. 
La Porte, La Porte,. 
ILLINOIS. 
Bureau, Princeton,.. 
Carroll, Mt. Carroll. 
Cumberland, Majority Point,.. 
DcKalb, DuRalh,. 
UuPage Wheaton... 
DeWitt. Clinton,. 
Ford, Paxton,. 
Fulton, Lewiston.;. 
Hancock, Carthage,.. 
Kane, Geneva,.. 
Kankakee, Kankakee,. 
KendalJ, Bristol,.. 
Marlon, Salem.... 
McLean, Bloomington,. 
Monroe, Waterloo. 
Morgan, Jacksonville,. 
Macoupin, Curlinvllle,. 
Ogle, Oregon,.. 
Pike. Pittsfield,.. 
Randolph. Sparta... 
Schuyler, Ruahviile. 
St. Clair, B«U«vill«. 
Vermillion, Catiin. 
Warren, Monmouth. 
Washington. Nashville,... 
Whiteside, Sterling,.... 
W inno bago, Rocklord,.. 
PRICE OF LONG WOOLED SHEEP IN ENG¬ 
LAND. 
Our friend, William Beebe, Esq., of 
Beacon Farm, Eaton's Neck, Long Island (his 
post-oflice address is Northport, Suffolk Co., 
N. Y.,) recently wrote to us in a private letter 
the following, which he will please excuse us 
for publishing without waiting to procure his 
permission:—“I send you an extract from a 
letter received from my friends in England, 
from a great sheep county, Nottingham, ad¬ 
joining Leicester and Lincoln. The extract is 
based on statements made by practical farmers, 
not those who spend their time in fitting up 
sheep for show, and I therefore think it wiil not 
be uninteresting to you." 
Nottingham, England, April, lSttt. 
I have been into the country and ascertained 
the facts you wished for. which I hope you will 
understand; if not, I will try again. 
Leicester ewes are from three pounds to fonr 
pounds each. Leicester rams from 12 pounds 
to 16 pounds each. Shear hogs * of this breed 
clip on good land 0 pounds, and rams about f- 
pounds—and at lj year old weigh SO to 100 
spare 
One of the shrewdest of American philosophers 
has said, that “the eye of the master was worth 
both his bauds." We believe the owner of a 
farm can find profitable use for all hut time, in 
the intelligent supervision and study of the 
various matters pertaining to his farm, family 
and business, without daily performing as much 
or more physical labor than any of his hired 
help. The mnn who makes it his business to be 
constantly delving, from early in the morning 
till late at night on his farm, is likely to lose 
much more than he will gain. A gentleman of 
over three score years, stated to us that he had 
done a great deal of hard labor during his life, 
and had succeeded in accumulating enough to 
carry him comfortably through the remainder 
of his days, had he not used himself up by hard 
labor so that his health was so poor he could not 
enjoy it. He said, “if he were to live his life 
over again, be should exercise his muscles less 
and his brain more.-’ Said he could sec now 
where he bad missed it. That he might have 
been much better off, both pecuuiarly and physi¬ 
cally, if ke had done less manual labor and moie 
mental Said he was well aware that they were 
not the most successful farmers that had per¬ 
formed the most hard labor. He said that there 
could be no question that an intelligent study 
and supervision of one’s business, would lead to 
more profitable results, than any amount of hard 
labor that could be performed with the hands. 
L. l. f. 
pounds, 
Lincoln ewes are about £4 each. Rams about 
£30. Shear hogs clip 14 to IS pounds, and at 1J 
years old weigh about 150 pounds. A ram will 
occasionally clip 22 pounds of wool. 
Ootswold ewes are £3 to £4 each. Cots wold 
lams £14 each. Clip about 14 pounds of wool, 
and weigh 110 to 140 pounds. 
The cross sheep from Lincoln and Cotswold 
are the heaviest sheep known, clip the most 
wool, get fat quick and breed well together for 
many generations. 
Of course, sheep for killing of all the above 
norts would be bought for less; but for breeding 
some w r ould fetch considerably more. 
My friends think you would get i/oocl bred 
sheep at the above prices, but for your (breed¬ 
ing) purpose they would sooner give more 
'nan less. 
* A "shear hog -1 is a sheep that has been once 
sheared—a yearling. 
PERNICIOUS SEED, 
MAKING MUTTON FOR SPRING MARKET. 
Eds. Rural New-Yorker:—B eing unable 
to labor, I seated myself in the flax field, and 
counting the bolls and seeds on severable stalks 
of yellow weed, I fountl that they would average 
rising of 1,200 seeds to a single stalk, but 
flax will not average quite 100 seeds to a stalk. 
And now, Mr. Flax grower, if you don’t 
want twelve times as many yellow seeds as flax 
seeds, then do not sow the pernicious seed. 
Steuben Co., N. V. J. R, Wai.xer. 
Col. Randall: —I gave you, last spring, 
our method of making mutton for the spring 
market, without having to feed so much grain 
as is commonly done. Having sold the wool 
lately, I can now give you the result of one 
hundred fed according to that system. 
The sheep were bought about the middle of 
November, and turned on good Blue grass and 
Timoihy pasture: weight 03 pounds. They 
received some hay, but no grain, till the 20th of 
January, when the pasture being about ex¬ 
hausted, we commenced feeding half a bushel 
of corn per day, which was continued with hay 
till the 10th of April, when they were turned 
on grass and half a bushel of bran substituted 
for the com, and continual till they were sheared 
and sold about the 20tb of May. 
First cost of sheep. $400 oo 
Foui'tuns of hay at $20 .. 80 00 
Forty bushels and a half of < ">rn at $i 40 r,n 
Twenty bushels Of-bran at 30c. per bit..31. 4 00 
Three months and a half pasture at J2e, 42 on 
washing aba shetiris 
Salt as a Manure. 
The importance of salt as a manure is a mat¬ 
ter of practical interest to the cultivators of the 
soil, and the Liverpool Chamber of Commerce 
having recently employed l>r. Puipson to re¬ 
port upon the question, we print the conclusion 
to which he comes. They arc:—“1, That with¬ 
out a due proportion of salt plants cannot attain 
their proper degree of perfe tion; and this- ap¬ 
plies especially to eolze, turnips swedes, beet, 
spinach, wheat, oats, maize and other grasses. 
2. That salt is an essential constituent of plants 
as well as animals. 3. That the soil is losing by 
cultivation a great amount o{ salt, taken away 
by the crops. 4. That noue of the manures at 
present used (except, a very few of the best 
superphosphates) contain any salt—even guauo 
containing only four-tenths pur tent. ft. That 
it is necessary to uikl salt at regular intervals to 
the soil, in some shape or other, if we wish to 
derive the greatest possible benefit from our 
crops." 
Humia.— What is humus j I see the word used fre¬ 
quently in agricultural publications, and I know what 
Webster defines it to be, but cannot yon define It more 
Clearlyf— Plowbeam, Madison Co., N 1'. 
Webster gives the correct chemical definition of the 
word. It Is a term applied to the vegetable mold which 
Soils contain—the organic matter In them. Borne Bolls 
contain it In a mnch greater proportion than others; 
but it Is regarded as essential u> prodtictivenesajn all 
Bolls— not, however, as we have seen it frequently 
asserted, because it is taken up by the plant in the /cam 
in which it exists in the soil, but because it furnishes 
to the plant, carbonic acid and other Ingredients necea 
eary to Us growth. 
IOWA 
Clinton, Lyons,. 
Floyd, Rockford,. 
Muscatine, Muscatine, 
Scott. Davenport,. 
Van Bureu, Keosauqaa, 
MICHIGAN 
Berrien, Niles, 
Burry, Hasting 
A Novel Plowing Contjot Proposed —a Niagara 
Co. correspondent suggest* that the State Ag. Society 
oflor a premium of $100, for the best pin wing by women 
at the State Fair. He thinks such a premium would 
Induce considerable competition, a.* he knows several 
girls In his locality IFn would enter the arena. It is 
argued that, the contest would prove an attractive 
novelty, and pay the Society; and, moreover, that the 
large premium wcultl make the feature respectable, and 
obviate objections which might be otherwise) made 
We hardly thick the suggestion worthy of adoption, 
this year at h i«i, as U is (Oo late to properly advertise 
the premium, and besidestho Steam Plow exhibition- 
noticed elsewhere—Will bo a enfilcient novelty in the 
plowing lino fot the occasion. We have, however, 
shown our correspondent's letter to the Secretary. 
Cass, Cassopoll#,..... 
Calhoun, Marshall,.....J.’ 
Clinton, St. Johns,. 
Eaton, Charlotte,. 
F., M. A S. B. A , Jonesvflle,. 
JacksOn, Jackson,. 
Kalamazoo, Kalamazoo,.” 
Lapeer, Lapeer,.. 
Monroe, Monroe,. 
Macomb, Romeo, 
Oakland, Pontiac,.!". 
St. Joseph, Centrcvlllc,. 
Washtenaw, Ann Arbor,... 
LOWER CANADA 
Compton, Eaton Corner.. 
Missisquoi, Bedford,. 
Montcalm, Sr Esprit,. . 
Shcfford, Waterloo,. ’ 
St. Johns, St.. Johns, . '.'.I'.'... 
W York, Riding, Yorkville, 
it 7c. per head . 7 00 
$573 00 
f i ve hundred and twenty four lbs. wool at 95 ' , c. 500 42 
Gnd hundred sheep at $5.45. 545 00 
Pami-hlets, die , Received.— 1. From flon E 11. 
Wkiout, the Hoad nud School Laws of Iowa. a. Pub¬ 
lic Documents front Hon. Freeman Clarke, M. O. 3. 
Catalogue ol the Maplewood Young Ladles Institute, 
Pittsfield, Mass., for 1804-05. 4. List of Premium -of 
the 2]at Annual Fair of the Indiana State Board of Ag¬ 
riculture. 5. Wm. R. Prince’s Treatise on Nature '3 
Sovereign Remedials. 6 . Willson’s Large Speiler, 
from Harder Brothers, N. Y. City, per Steele & 
Avert, Rochester. 
