.wz 
54 
0Oft3E’S HUIiJiL 
'a v i 
CXX1 
ization of the lung, and its difference from tuber¬ 
culosis, which was as well understood, no doubt, us 
the Indian dialect in the House, several years since, 
by the sarcastic Bonne. Poor Farmer, with scalpel, 
(alias butcher’s knife,) was busy in dissecting each 
limb from coffin to shoulder joint. On the larucside 
we found the appearance of the limb healthy until we 
got to the shoulder joint, where the whole of the 
tissues which compose the joint were thickened and 
highly vascular, showing a high degree of inflamma¬ 
tory action. 
Now, here was a valuable animal ordered from a 
warm stable into the open yard, and compelled to 
stand on an inflamed joint three weeks, (six being 
necessary to the cure./ through the ignorance of one 
of these self-styled V. 8.‘a. It must be evident to 
every reflecting mind that the horse, when the joint 
LONG- ISLAND LANDS-AGAIN. 
Eds. ItpKAi, Nkw-Yokker:— I notice in your issue 
of the 12th inst.. an anonymous article headed “Suf¬ 
folk County, Long Island," in which it is stated that 
the cost of clearing land in that County, between 
Thompson and Suffolk stations, is “ about fifty dol¬ 
lars jut acre.'' '1'he truthfulness of this statement is 
a fair specimen of the truthfulness of the whole article. 
It so happens that thirty acres of the land to which 
he alludes as having been cleared and cultivated the 
past summer, has been done by my sons, and as to the 
expense, I think myself pretty well “ posted up.” ft 
trill not exceed twenty dollars per acre. 1 speak of my 
own land—and that is a fair sample of the average 
between the stations named. 
Your correspondent says, “no returns can be ex- 
Twelve cents worth of uriguentuin will cure a dozen 
cattle, else they are worse than any I have seen. 
Will Mr. Ohafman please report after he has seen the 
effect of the unguentum 1 ' John Johnston. 
Near Geneva. N. V., ISfl. 
$tu Qcc-Qct\)tv. 
A Hive with Movable Frame*. 
became unendurable, would lie down until no doubt pected the first, and but little the second year.” Who 
he became thoroughly chilled, which was the excit¬ 
ing cause of the lung disease with which he died. 
Were this an Isolated ease, or an exception, and not 
the rule, it would bg of far less importance in this 
place. He this as it may, one thing is sure, viz.,— 
unless wc have a clear idea of what we have to deal 
would expect returns the first year, while the process 
of breaking np is going on? But, by the way of ex¬ 
periment only, small patches of corn, potatoes, tur¬ 
nips, and buckwheat were put In, with, fas my sons 
write,) ?nnsf satisfactory results. The cost of the 
manure used was less than one-fourth the value of 
with, we shall stand a good chance of being like the the crops. Where there was with others “but partial 
the blind leading the blind. What (lieu is Bweenie? 
Physiologists tell us that iti all organs of locomotion 
wo have two sets of antagonistic muclea. that are, or 
should be, nearly balanced in power, and that these 
muscles are supplied with nerves, upon which their 
power of action wholly depends. II was the vener¬ 
able John Hunter, 1 think, that laid down this 
law of the system, viz.,—“ If you destroy the nervous 
influence to an organ, you destroy in the same ratio 
the function of that organ.” Now, Bweenie, us it is 
called, is no more or less than an injury which the 
nerves that supply the muscles of the shoulder have 
received, either from over-exertion, as in running, 
or a direct blow,—or, what is more commonly the 
cause, nine times in ten, of too bard a draft iu a 
collar too large. 
Having seen a colt three months old sweonied in 
both shoulders, we concluded it could have been 
done in no other way than by running, or coming in 
contact with a foreign body when in motion, and this, 
for both shoulders, would have been a singular coin¬ 
cidence. What are the phenomena attending this. 
First—From five to eight, or ten days, seldom over 
eight, the muscles of the shoulder which has received 
the injury, is swollen, and painful 1,o pressure, and 
the animal is more or less lame, Generally about 
the fifth or sixth day the swelling and pain begins to 
subside, and with it the lameness disappears. After 
the tenth day have never, in an uncomplicated Swce- 
uic, seen the horse lame, nor do I believe he ever is. 
About this time the muscles begin to waste, and then 
an altered motion in the horse’s gait, analogous to 
what there is in old topers from paralysis of one side. 
You ask them if there is any pain in the limb which 
success,” as alluded to by your Correspondent, there 
were but partial and imperfect efforts made to en¬ 
sure it. 
With regard to the culture of cranberries on Long 
Island up-lands, the results already obtained are con¬ 
clusive and satisfactory. In Ih.Vj a silver medal was 
awarded by the American Institute, to Mr. Yovsa, of 
Lakeland, for “best twenty five bushels of cranber¬ 
ries.” These were grown upon less than one-third of 
an acre ,— the plants having been set in 1854, and cul¬ 
tivated vfithout manure of any kind. No one who ever 
made the experiment failed to get the plants to grow 
and to fruit after the first year. The profits of cran¬ 
berry culture on Long Island, as stated to me by Mr. 
Yotjno and Mr. l.M nois, the most extensive growers 
whom I met, “ arc very great indeed -greater than 
they over thought could be realized anywhere.” My 
own opinion in, that the growing of hay ami potatoes 
alone, to say nothing of the cultivation of small fi-nlls, 
can be made us remunerative, owing to market 
facilities, as the cultivation of wheat in Western New 
York or Canada West. Sufficient and reliable data have 
been obtained .which will warrant this conclusion. 
Your correspondent, had he wished to state facts 
from which his readers, if intelligent agriculturists, 
could form an opinion for themselves as to the capa¬ 
bilities of these lands, might have told you that al 
Deer Hark, only four miles west of Thompson Sta¬ 
tion, upon soil just like that between Thompsou and 
and Suffolk stations, clover and timothy have been and 
are successfully and extensively grown — and that clove) 
has hem very successfully used as a fertilizer, lie 
might have said too that on the same farm, from a 
hai acre field of clover sod three thousand bushels of 
Bus. Rural Nkw Y*Rkkr:—I n a late number of your 
valuable paper, yon have answered an inquiry about feeding 
bees, and in your remail* you Bpeak of a hive with framer. 
Now, I am trying to get l start in the “ bee line,” and want 
to get a right start, and m I have never seen a hive made as 
yon speak of, if it will nit be asking too much, I should like 
a description of the hive or a description of the best, hive in 
use that it is practicable for a farmer to have.— C. D. Tewkp 
BCRy, Lamoille., III., ISA 
Tnr. hive spoken if is one with movable frames, 
something like pictirc frames, inside of which the 
bees make the comb. These frames ean be taken out 
at arty time and examined, to ascertain the quantity 
of honey stored for winter, to extirminate the bee 
moth, or for any other purpose. This may be consider¬ 
ed a hazardous system by tlmse not acquainted with 
faces; but a little tobacco smoke will quiet the bees 
so that they may he ixainiticd with safety. The timid 
may use the bee-bat made of wire, and then there is 
not the least danger. This hive gives the keeper 
entire control of his hens; and he does not, therefore, 
work iu the dark or tepend upon good luck for suc¬ 
cess. This system of keeping bees was first practiced, 
wo think, by Dzikiwon, of Prussia, in 1845; but 
instead of a frame h( used only a cross-bar, so that 
the comb was attach'd to the hive on the sides, and 
in moving them it wts necessary to use the knife to 
detach them. This plan was improved upon, if eur 
memory serves us correctly, by Baron Herlei’sch, 
who invented tho square frames so that the combs 
could be removed without the least injury. About 
the same time, and without knowing what, was doing 
in Germany, an lnvilid minister, forced to seek out¬ 
door exercise, llev. L. L. Lanurtkotti, undertook 
for his amusement the study of the honey-bee, and 
invented and patented a hive very much like that of 
D/.ikrzon, as improved by Bbrlkphoh, with movable 
frames. The right to make any number of hives the 
purt-liaser may need is sold, we believe, for $5, and 
may be obtained lor any of the Western States, of 
K. 0. Otis, of Kenosha, Wisconsin, with till neces¬ 
sary descriptions. They arc simple, and can be made 
by any one handy with tools, at a small cost. We 
have not the least interest in this or any other bive, 
but this seems to be the only sensible way of keeping 
and caring for bees. We have used these hives for 
some yours, so we speak from experience. If the 
experience of other lee-keepers differs from ours, we 
will cheerfully publish the facts, as our only object is 
to elicit truth. 
they drag after them, and they will answer you in potatoes were grown, worth in the field at the time of 8lwj of , ( ; olonles . 
plain English, No. The horse gives you the sumo 
auswer by standing as well on thut limb us the other, 
by drawing as well as before; and when you ask him 
to trot, lie answers you in just as intelligent language 
as the toper, viz,,—by a want of his natural motion. 
The animal which was a square traveler before, now 
becomes what over-wise horsemen know as a paddler; 
not as sure footed, but otherwise uh well fitted for 
his duties as before. Having heard it stated times 
without number, that horses wore lame from Bweenie 
digging, over fifty cents per bushel. Are these some 
of the “stories manufactured by speculators and 
other interested persons” to which your correspon¬ 
dent alludes? 
There are other facts connected with the various 
articles which have from time to time appeared 
against Long Island lands, which it is well enough 
for all who have read them to know. Some years 
since, lengthy advertisements of these lands appeared 
in various journals, over the signature of Dr. Peck, 
for months and months, would here enter my feeble of the city of Brooklyn which advertisements, so 
protest against all such nonsense, and caution each far as the nature and capabilities of the soil are eon- 
•,,,•1 •,rury (in» t" rJVill y o ill Illt'llOOi lu ill, corner!, I liolio-o, upon j>ei sirnut emmmaiion, To be 
shoulder for a more serious complication with this i substantially correct, friiosc advertisements md not 
disease, where the lameness continues after a the tenth 
day, or where the horse fiivors one foot more than tho 
other. The distinguishing features between disease 
of the hoof and shoulder, may be taken up at another 
time. 
appear in the American Agriculturist, a paper owned 
and edited by one Orange Jniii, of New York. 
During the spring of 18C0| articles appeared in 
.Iron’s paper, evidently intended to counteract the 
effect of the advertisements just spoken of, and dam 
And now, Mr. Inquirer, I trust you have got two of aging to Long Island lands. Some owners of these 
the best remedies for your disease. You should now 
know it when you see it, and when you know it, should 
know that you have simple paralysis of the nerves 
which supply the muscles of the shoulder joint, Now 
let me ask you, for humanity's sake, to look around 
you, and inquire if the numberless patients o( paraly¬ 
sis which you meet in our large cities, have been 
blistered from one end of the limb to the other, or 
had their skin blowed up,—or a skoke or horse¬ 
radish root si x or eight inches long stuck under the 
skin and allowed to rot out, in a two-legged brute, 
for a similar pathological condition to what you 
have here in a four-footed oue. Remember the lan¬ 
guage of horses is not like Balaam’s Ass, but more 
intelligent than many of their masters, to those who 
appreciate them. 
Ask yourself the simple questions,—What do T 
lands have since brought an action against .) dud for 
$10,000 damages. It is said the issue of this suit 
will very much depend upon the value of the lands as 
it shall appear in evidence upon trial. It is just possi¬ 
ble that tlie article which lately appeared in your 
journal is the “cropping out” of ignorance and 
prejudice; but In view of the fact just stated, it is 
more natural to surmise that it was written either by 
Jr no himself, or by some one in his interest. At any 
rate it would have had greater weight than any 
anonymous article can have, had the author given his 
name to the public in connection with his statements, 
as a guarantee of his willingness and ability to sub¬ 
stantiate them. Yours respectfully, 
Ei.AM Btimson. 
St. George, Brant Co., C. W.. 20th January. 1801. 
Remarks. — Entertaining a favorable opinion of 
want to accomplish? And how am I to do it? Com- their value, we have no desire to depreciate Long 
mou sense will answer you by saying, that, you want 
to restore the nerve force to these wasted muscles, in 
the simplest way possible. If you are not too lazy, 
you can do it with simple friction by the hand. I 
know an old Dutchman that professes to cure this 
disease with a corn cob which grew on a stalk 
Island Lands,— but, having published several articles 
in their favor, could not refuse a rejoinder from one 
whom we supposed, and still suppose, to be uninflu¬ 
enced by any third party. Though the author’s name 
was not given in connection with the article alluded 
to, it is in our possession — in connection with a note, 
producing throe ears; but you must keep the butt Of saying the writer is responsible for his statements. 
the cob constantly up, or else “it won’t make the 
narres run right!” Any stimulating lianiment, with 
friction, persevered in, will accomplish the same 
thing. 
Were 1 a learned M. I)., would give you a formula 
something after this wise:—Oleium Tiglii, 1 ounce, 
Oleium Origanum, 2 ounces, Ac., Ac., Ac. But 
as I am simply Poor Farmer, will say in plain Eng¬ 
lish, that a compound of many of the essential oils 
will do. And one thut 1 have never known to fail in 
the last twenty years, is the following:—Oil of Spike, 
1 oz.; Oil Origanum, 2 oz.; Tar, 1 oz; Crude Oil 
Amber, 2; Hpirits Turpentine 2; pulverized Canthar- 
ides, ) oz. Mix, and shake well before using. Two 
tablespoonfuls to the shoulder, well rubbed in, is 
enough per day. 
The strength of the Cantharides depends much on 
the way they have been saved, Ac., and should you 
chance to get a pure article, your proportion of it 
may be too strong. Have never found it necessary 
to vesicate the skin. Perhaps it would be as well to 
mix the rest, and then add this until you find what 
the skin will bear. If your collar flits the horse, and 
you will apply this twice a day, unless the skin gets 
sore, and then omit for a few days, until the soreness 
subsides, you can work your animal every day, and 
restore him to a healthy condition. Should you trust 
it to the second person to do, and he gets careless 
and blisters the skin, have It well washed every day 
with castile soap, and then grease with fresh lard 
until the hair gets Out that bus been lost. 
South Avon. Jam, 1801. Door Farmer. 
In justice to Mr. Judd, we may add that wo do not 
believe he knew anything about the article until it 
appeared in the Rural, though we may be mis¬ 
taken.— Ed. 
ANSWERS TO INQUIRIES. 
A Good Red for Swine. — Warmth iB a great 
desideratum iu wintering swine. Ours sleep this 
winter iu the manure thrown from our horse stables, 
and a very comfortable place they find it. We 
believe it an advantage all around, as the horse 
manure will be better kept, and well mixed with 
swine manure and straw.— Jno. Sanfield, Feb., 1815L 
Eds. Rural Nkw-Yokkkk: — Seeing that the ox of 
W. I. S., of Gaines, works well, eats well, and runs 
well, all he has got to do is to feed him well, and I 
warrant him to get fat if not worked too much. 
The Foot-Rot in Sheer can bo cored by thorough 
paring, and a salve, made of lard and finely pulver¬ 
ized bine vitrol, applied every three or four days for 
three or four times, and then once in two weeks for 
two or three times. The sound ones must be dressed 
with the salve also, and the diseased must be separated 
from the sound at first dressing. No use for tobacco 
or anything but the vitriol and lard, or butter. If the 
weather is hot, a little tar mixed with the salve makes 
it stick better. 1 pulverize the vitriol by hanging up 
un iron pot or wash kettle, put in half a pound of 
vitriol and a cannon ball, and move the pot so that 
the ball will roll round on the vitriol and it will pul¬ 
verize it as fine as wheat Hour. 
Manure Heating.— H. T. B. need take no fear the 
dung or straw in sheep sheds will heat if kept dry, 
and all sheds should be water-tight. Whoever saw 
dung or straw heat without it got, water, and a good 
deal of it. See Rural New-Yorker, Jan. 5th, page 6. 
Scab on tub Eyes of Cattle.— If VV. W. Chat¬ 
man will rub a little unguentum on the eye lids of his 
cattle, it will cure the scab he mentions, but lie must 
be very careful to put on very little. I have known 
some very valuable cuttle killed by applying too 
much, and letting out in cold storms immediately 
afterwards. Put on a very little, rub all over the dis¬ 
eased part, and a little outside of the scabby place. 
The first application generally will effect a cure. 
1 . On the 16th of June, 1855, I prepared two 
hives, by inserting in each a set of sixteen frames 
furnished with guide cotnb. Roth sets were of exact¬ 
ly the same weight, ami were arranged in two tiers, 
in the same, manner in each hive. I then introduced 
in the one a swarm of bees weighing six pounds, and 
in the other a swarm weighing threo pounds, and 
gave them queens which, judging by the hives they 
were taken from, were equally fertile. On the 8th of 
October following when all the brood had emerged 
in each, 1 took out V^l -ames, and brushing off' the 
hCes carefully, «-acb net mqmrutolv. rtu 
delimiting thi^ frames and guide combs, 
I found that the combs built and filled by the six- 
pound colony weighed 40 pounds tij oz., and those 
built by the three-pound colony weighed 17 pounds. 
The product, in combs and honey, of the larger 
colony was thus ascertained to be 6 pounds Gj oz., 
or more than twice the product of the smaller colony; 
and this excess was the result, exclusively, of the 
greater working force which that colony had from 
the start. This experiment shows that three pounds 
of bees are insufficient to enable a colony to labor 
advantageously. 
2. I repeated the experiment in the same manner 
in 1856, excepting (hat I gave the weaker colony 
four pounds of bees. The season was unfavorable, 
and on the 15th of October, the stronger colony had 
produced only Ml pounds 2 oz. of combs and honey, 
and the small 10 pounds 0 oz. Ileuco the stronger 
had produced, proportionally, only 3 pounds 4j oz. 
more than the weaker, 
3. Simultaneously with this second experiment, I 
fitted up another hive in like manner, and introduced 
in it a swarm weighing five pounds. Weighing tho 
product of this colony at the same time in October, 
it proved to be 15 pounds 15 oz. I judged hence 
that six pounds of bees was probably about the 
weight which a swarm or colony should have when 
hived. 
4. In 1857, which was an unusually good honey 
year in my neighborhood, I again repeated these 
experiments, giving the stronger colony seven pounds 
of bees, and the weaker six pounds. The result, as 
ascertained in October, when all tho brood had 
emerged, was that the stronger colony had produced 
50 pounds, and the weaker 50 pounds 11 ounces. 
These experiments are certainly not to lie regarded 
as furnishing a rule applicable under all circum¬ 
stances and in all localities. Rut they show that in u 
comparatively poor honey district, such as mine is, 
a swarrn should contain about six pounds of bees, in 
order to be able to labor to most advantage. Some 
important particulars also require to be taken into 
consideration, when bees are to be weighed. Those 
with which 1 experimented were taken from clusters 
hanging outside of their respective hives, and may be 
supposed to have had comparatively little honey in 
their stomachs. One hundred and seventy-seven of 
them weighed half an ounce—being at the rate of five 
thousand to the pound. When about to swarm, bees 
naturally, or instinctively, gorge themselves witli 
honey; and at such times one hundred and twenty- 
five would probably weigh half an ounce, or four 
thousand to the pound.—B erlepscii, in American Bee 
Journal. 
Tlie Uce Annoyance in California. 
Since the extensive importation and production 
of bees in California, they have become, in many 
respects, a source of great annoyance. The house¬ 
keeper, in cooking, the grocer and frnit dealer, all 
have them swarming by hundreds, and perhaps 
thousands, around their premises, rivaling the house 
fly in troublesome propensities. A Sacramento coal 
dealer recently obtained a quantity of coal which had 
a cask of molasses broken over it. When the coal 
was brought into the yard, the bees collected in such 
quantities that lie spent half a day with a hose in 
washing off the coal in order to remove the tempta¬ 
tion. They have partially destroyed the produce of 
several vineyards near Sacramento; when the grapes 
were gathered it was found that the little thieves had 
extracted the juice. As a matter of course, a large 
number of bees are necessarily destroyed while poach¬ 
Spirit of the 
Fnwt Work Wanted. 
A IMen for the Birds. 
Hon. Samuel A. Law, of Meredith, in this State, 
and for the last three years Member of Assembly 
from Delaware County, has written a communication 
upon the Act of last winter, one section of which 
forbids the killing at any time of the nightingale, 
night-hawk, blue bird, yellow bird, Baltimore oriole, 
finch, thrush, lark, sparrow, martin, swallow, robin, 
or bobolink, between the first day of February and 
the first day of September, under a penalty of fifty 
cents for each bird killed. The reason for the pass¬ 
age of this law he states to be the agency of these 
birds in preventing the increase of noxious Insects. 
It lias been urged that the robin was so destructive 
to cherries and strawberries, as to Justify its destruc¬ 
tion. This opinion, Prof. J. W. P, Jknkk, of Mid- 
dleboro’, Massachusetts, has successfully refuted. 
The plan adopted fay him was, to obtain birds at day¬ 
break, mid-day, and sunset; to obtain them from 
village and country; and to preserve the contents of 
their gizzards. 11c demonstrated conclusively that 
insects injurious to vegetation constitute the haturul 
aud preferred food of the robin, and that during two- 
tbirds of the year the bird takes no vegetable food 
whatever. Whenever vegetable food was found in 
the body, it was only in limited quantities, and 
mixed with insect food. This was only iu the 
months of June, July, August and September, and 
then the vegetable products consisted mainly of 
elderberries and pokeberries. The edible fruits 
destroyed were in too minute quantities to warrant 
complaint. . 
Ex J» crime ills witli Potatoes. ^ 
The following statement of experiments in the 
cultivation of potatoes, made by George It. Under¬ 
hill, Queens Go., N. Y„ was communicated to the 
American Agriculturist, by the Secretary of the Glen 
Gove Farmers’ Club. 
Planted 4 1 acres of land with Mercer potatoes in 
furrows 2j feet apart. Harvested 1270 bushels. 
Average yield per acre 2G0 bushels. 
Crop sold for . __: $652.00 
Cost of Manure_ _ _$392,00 
Expense of Culture... 110,00 
Cost of Seed. .... 25,00 
Total Expenses . $527.00 
Net Profits (25.64 per acre)_ _$125,00 
Three plots were set off, and the potatoes carefully 
measured, for the purpose of testing the comparative 
profit from the use of different kinds and qualities 
of manure; the results of the experiments were as 
follows: 
Plot No. 1, containing one acre, was enriched with 
100 loads of New York stable manure, and 350 lbs. 
guano per acre. The manure was placed in the bot¬ 
tom of the furrows, the guano sowed on it, aud the 
potatoes dropped on both, and covered with a 
plow. Yield 250 bushels. 
Oil Plot No. 2, containing one acre, used 150 loads 
old New York stable manure, and 350 lbs. guano per 
acre. Yield 308 bushels. 
Plot No. 3, containing three quarters of an acre, 
on low damp ground, manured the same as No. 1— 
except four rows in which no guano was put—yielded 
at the rate per acre of 347 bushels. 
The crops from rows in which guano was used, 
exceeded in value that in which there was uone, at 
The rate per acre of.... . $54,00 
Coat per acre for guano .... ... 10,00 
Net gain by the addition of the guano. 44.00 
With the exception of three of four rows on the 
lower side of the damp ground, in which tbe potatoes 
were nearly all decayed, there was not a bushel of 
rotten oaes in the whole piece. The seed used, was 
about the size of hen’s eggs, with the chit cud taken 
off, and cut in two pieces. 
ami gtomris. 
DURABILITY OF ClIKSTNT'T Timber. — In renewing my sub¬ 
scription to the Rckai. New Yorker. 1 embrace the occasion 
to ask of any one who can furnish it (through the Rural,) 
some explanation, or confirmation, of an article in the 
Rckai. ol December 22d, taken from the Boston Cultivatm 
Rick Boots and Shoes. — Noticing in the Kukai. of the 
26tll alt. the complaint of C. W.. that hoot- and shoes were 
picked before folly ripe, I send you tho following recipe for 
maturing them, and also rendering them water-proof. One- 
half pint ncatsfoot oil; 2 oz. beeswax; 2 oz. spermaceti; 6 oz. 
mutton tallow; lj-j oz. gutta perclia,— mix over a slow fire, 
and apply while warm.— W. W. A., The Square , N. Y. 
Incombustible White Wash. — In the Rural of January 
12th, I noticed an inquiry for fire-proof paint, or wash. I 
send you the following:—Pass fine, freshly-slaked lime 
through a fine sieve, and to six quarts of the lime tlins 
obtained, add one quart of the purest suit and one gallon of 
water, boil the mixture and skim it clean. Then, to every 
five gallons of this mixture, add one pound of alum; half 
pound of copperas, and put in slowly three-fourths pound of 
potash and four quarts of fine sand. It adheres firmly to 
wood or brick.— Young Subscriber, Malone, A T . V 
FIB. IS, 
ing on forbidden ground. Jh there no remedy for 
these difficulties? asks the Sacramento News. Can 
hues he kept from annoying everybody but their own¬ 
ers, and at the same time preserve their own lives? 
or must the evils complained of continue to increase 
in magnitude? 
Rural Notes anb Stems. 
The editor of the Connecticut Homestead having 
attended a county fair where a new race track had 
jnst been completed, and fired into enthnsiasm by 
the spirit of tbe occasion, takes a prophetic glance at 
the results of the general adoption of race courses. 
He does not overlook foot races, as an efficient means 
of limbering the joints of stupid laborers.—proposes 
a race of wheelbarrows, loaded with 300 pounds of 
dirt, best two in three, half-mile heats, as a means of 
quickening the pace of Michael and Patrick,—thinks 
that cow races would be useful for animals that fre¬ 
quent poor pastures, as many now cannot travel far 
enough In a day to fill their stomachs on the scant 
herbage,—and does not forget that many cats miss 
their prey from a w ant of greater quickness, and he 
therefore proposes cat races, as a means of prevent¬ 
ing the heavy depredations now committed, and 
thinks if cats generally could he brought up to a 2,40 
speed, it would prove, the salvation of many a grain 
bin and root cellar. Ho even asserts that many a lien 
brings up a lean, half-starved brood of chickens, for 
want of higher activity in scratching, and thinks 
some means should be devised to bring them np 
to the scratch. He is of opinion that when horse 
racing becomes universally popular, that mothers 
will name their children after fast animals, “and the 
Riblcs will be lit up with blazonry of modern horse 
nomenclature, as for example, Flora Temple Smith, 
born Oct. 10, I 860 —J’atehen Smith, Nov. 1, 1861.” 
i HE \\ bather — Great and Sudden Changes .— In our last 
number brief mention w a* made of the weather—stating that 
for two months it had been remarkably pleasant for the sea 
son—that the temperature had been very uniform, with little 
snow, and fair sleighing almost continually during the 
winter, in this locality The paper containing this favorable 
report, had scarcely gone to press ere a great change occurred 
in the weather—a severe snow storm commencing on Wednos 
day night and continuing through the day following, (7th 
inst.,) tbe mercury being 6 below zero at 2 P M., and while 
the snow was falling rapidly. At 10 i* M the mercury 
reached Hi below. High winds prevailed during the storm. 
About one fool of snow fell in twenty-four hours. We find 
on examination that many peach buds are destroyed, and 
fear the crop will prove an entire failure tn this section, 
I Ate Saturday night the weather moderated materially; on 
Snnd&y and Monday the streets were flooded with water, and 
umv (Tuesday A M.) the sleighing hns disappeared 
Best Breed of Swine for tiik West. — u Agricula,” who 
professes to have had no little experience with the best 
breeds of swine known in the West, writes to the Valley 
Farmer that he places the Chester County White first on the 
list, without hesitation. He has found tho hogs of this 
breed ' perfectly hardy, prolific breeders, and good nurses; 
thriving well in our climate, nod under good management 
attaining a weight of 400 to 500 lbs. with good treatment, at 
tbe age of from 12 to 18 months—and being, in fact, all that 
could be desired of a hog.” It is also said they are quiet and 
peaceable, good graziers, and fatten readily at nny age desired. 
After speaking well of the Berkshire* and Suffolk*, the writer 
concludes:—" Rut, taking all things into consideration, it 
will be difficult, to find a breed possessing more good traits for 
Western men than the Chester White. And those who are 
raising hogs would find a cross of thi« breed of inestimable 
value It would increase their size, improve their form, 
hasten their maturity, and, what is more important than all 
el„o materially lessen the amount of food for a given number 
at pounds of pork This, too, would be the case with all the 
breeds mentioned—but none of tbe other breeds combine so 
many excellent qualities.' 1 
Unparalleled Fecundity.— A member of the Society of 
Friends, who resides in Cayuga county, sends us the follow¬ 
ing remarkable statement. He believes it to be perfectly 
reliable, as a relative knew something of tbe case, and had 
no doubt of the correctness of the account. Our friend 
writes:—“ The following well authenticated statement exhibits 
an instance of extraordinary fecundity in a how of the Chinese 
breed, w hich, it is believed, may challenge competition with 
any other upon record. She was in the possession of Joseph 
Tii.nky of Writtle Parish, in F.ssex, F.nglaud, The fact is 
made public with the view of demonstrating the superiority 
of that breed (for fecundity) over perhaps that of any other 
In six years (the time she lived, being killed by accident,) she 
had fifteen farrows of pigs, viz.—First, farrow. 18—brought up 
12; second. 16—brought up 10; third, 21—brought up 13; 
fourth, IK—brought up 12; fifth, 29—brought up 20; sixth, 24 
—bronght up 12; seventh, 25—brought up 12; eighth, IS— 
brought up 11; ninth, 26—brought up 19; tenth, 21—-brought 
up 9; eleventh, 26—brought up 11; twelfth, 21—brought up 
II; thirteenth, 27—brought up 10; fourteenth, 11—brought 
up 10; fifteenth. 5—brought 5. Farrowed 301—brought up 
177, so that, dividing 177 by 6, the years she lived, she brought 
up 29 each year aud 3 over, on an average. It may be 
remarked that it was the practice to allow but half the furrow 
to be with her at a time.” 
American Stock Journal. —This valuable monthly entered 
upon its third volume in January, and, judging from its 
improved appearance and interesting and varied contents, 
must be achieving merited success. It is the only journal 
of its class in this country, and worthy tbe support of all 
specially engaged in breeding and improving domestic animals, 
or rendering them profitable. I). O I.insi.ky Editor and 
Proprietor, No. 20 Park Row, New York, ft per annum. 
Clinton Co.—O fficers: President— F. l. C. Kailly, Platts¬ 
burgh Secretary —Wuv I l f liaily, Plattsburgh Trtjfsurer — 
Roswell O. Baker, Beckmantowrn. 
Soingsi of g^riotltura! 
New Jersey State Ac,. Society.— Thu annual meeting of 
this Society was held at Trenton, Jau. 10th. The report of 
the Executive <Vimmitt.ee show* that the operations of the 
Society were successful during the past year —and that of 
Mr. Treasurer Saxton confirms it, pecuniarily, by exhibiting 
a balance of $2,003.19 iu the treasury. Board of officers 
elected for isot: President — N. N. IIalsted, Esq., Hudson 
county. Fice Presidents — A. W. Mnrltlcy, Camden; N. S. 
Itue, Fillmore; A V Bound, Flcinington, Henry Hilliard, 
l’e&p&ck; Benjamin Haines, Klixubcth. Secretary —Win. M. 
Force, Trenton. Treasurer — C. M. Saxton, Orange Execu¬ 
tive Committee —K. A. Doughty, Atlantic Co.; John C. Deacon, 
Burlington; Cornelius Fernet, Bergen; John R. Graham, 
Camden; Hon. Downs Edmonds, Jr., Cape May; Benjamin F. 
Lee, Cumberland; John C. I.ittell, Essex; Col John B. Jes 
sup, Gloucester; C. Van Vorst Hudson; David Sanderson, 
Hunterdon; U. B. Titus, Mercer; I S. Buckalew, Middlesex; 
Dr A V Conover. .Monmouth; B. S. Condit, Morris; John S. 
Forman, Ocean; M. J. Ryerson, Passaic; Hon. Joseph K. 
Riley, Salem; Joseph Thompson, Somerset; Thomas Law¬ 
rence, Sussex; William Reid, Union; Philip F Brake))-, War 
ren. A General Committee was also appointed, consisting of 
as many members in each county as there are members in 
the House of Assembly. 
Illinois State Ag. Society — Officers for 1861-2: Presi¬ 
dent. —TV. H Van Errs, Dixon. Executive Committee —Lewis 
Ellsworth, Ex-President, Naperville, and the following Vice 
Presidents —0. B. Dealt, Galeua; A J. Mattson. Prophetatown 
R It. Holder, Bloomington; R. It. Whiting, Galesburg; J' 
W. Singleton, Quency: A. B. McConnell, Springfield; Win. 
Kilo, Paris; W. S. Wait, Greenville; IT. S. Ozburn, Pinekney- 
ville. Hoard of Councillors — Kx Presidents Jas. N. Brown, 
Berlin; IT. C. Johns, Decatur; C. W. Webster, Salem Treas¬ 
urer —J W. Bunn, Springfield, /fee. Secretary —John Cook, 
Springfield. Cor Secretary —Jobn P. Reynolds. The Fair 
for 1861 is to be held at Chicago, Sept. 9—14 The Society 
offers cash premiums amounting to $20,000. Citizens prizes, 
$2,000. The Illinois Society must be in a prosperous condi 
tion to announce such liberal prizes. 
NEW YORK LOCAL SOCIETIES. 
Ki rai. of December 22d, taken from the Boston Cultivator 
respecting -‘the durability of chestnut -iiiogles.” All my 
experience and observation with chestnut lumber, (confined, 
however to weather hoarding and fencing hoards,) condemns 
it for any purpose whore nails have to he used, on account of 
the nail hole, in a very few years, becoming large enough to 
slip over the nail head.— Geo. T. Pacll, Smith held, Fayette 
Co.. Fa.. 1801. 
Ontario Co. Ag- Society. —The annual meeting was held 
at Canandaigua, on the 6th iast Officers elected for 1861: 
President — Lindi.by W. Smith, Farmington. The other 
officers are the same as last year, viz.: Vice Presidents —W 
G. Donilson, C. Edward .Shepard, Theo. Sprague, John Rob- 
iusOD, John H. Bonham, Sandford G. Anguvine, Lester 
Sprague, David E. Hammond, Win. Johnson, Shotwoll Powell, 
Jared 11 Houghton, Hiram Taft, Joshua Swan, Cur Sucre 
lory —Gideon Granger, Canandaigua. Rec Secretary — John 
W. Holberton, Canandaigua, Treasurer — George Gorham, 
Canandaigua. 
Thk Seneca Falls Union Ag. Society last week elected 
the following officers for 1861: President — Geo. W. Randall. 
Vice-President — John Cuddeback. Secretary —Simeon Hoi 
tou. Treasurer —Fred. R. Mundy. Pircctors —Philo Cowing, 
Lyman F. Crowell, John G. Hoster, John Loutenshlager. 
Stepbeu G Armstrong, J. B. C. Vreeland. This Society held 
its first Fair last season. Its entire receipts were fl 405 07— 
expenditures, $1,032.28—leaving a balance of $373.44 in the 
treasury. TbiB is an excellent beginning. The Courier says: 
<• Efforts are to be made to have the Society incorporated by 
the Legislature, and we have no doubt that it will soon 
become one of the most prosperous Agricultural Societie g 
of the State.” 
Canaseraoa Ag’l and Mech’l Society —At the annual 
meeting, held at Dansville, on the 2d inst., tLe following 
officers were elected: President — Hugh McCartney. Vice 
Presidents- —Lester B. Faulkner, H. Dyer, W. W. Healey, W. 
T Cutis, Geo. Coe. Secretary —Geo. A. Sanders. Treasurer — 
T B. Grant, 
Drydk.V Ag. Society (Tompkins Co.) — Officers for 1861: 
President —Peter V. Snyder. Pice President — Charles 
Givens. Secretary — A. F. lloupt. Treasurer — Eli Spear. 
Directors — Jackson Jamison, Oliver Tyler. Fair to be held 
the last of September. 
