ImruR? 
FTflGRlCULTURF 
{WHOLE NO. 582. 
ROCHESTER, N. Y.-FOR THE WEEK ENDING SATURDAY, MARCH 9, 1861 
imagined, gave him some uneasiness, and taxed Ins 
energies to the utmost. Nig " theory" of farming 
was now to he put to a severe test. Others might 
indulge their fancy— he must make farming pay. He 
had been forewarned by a prominent citizen that 
"nobody can make money by farming in these parts 
— the only to do that, is by the "rise, of land,"— 
a theory unfortunately pervading many new countries. . 
Mr. Johnston was now fairly in the field. The 
success which attended his efforts — his prominent 
position before the agricultural public, as the advo¬ 
cate of “ high fanning,” justify some personal details. 
His history throws light upon a problem of vital 
importance to thousands who wish to know how a 
farmer in moderate circumstances, can pay off his 
debts, rise to competence, and if such a thing 
should scent to be necessary—to affluence. 
First—he was industrious. When he went to see a 
Oencva banker, lie found him in bed. However, he 
gives, it as his mature anil deliberate opinion, 
that those who would do the most work, should work 
ten hours a day, take their rest regularly, and plenty 
of it—• an opinion in which I most heartily concur. 
Impaired energy, incurable disease, premature death, 
follow attempts to do too much. 
Second — Ho did bis work well — plowed deep for 
those times, and tamed the sod well over, 
Third—Ho saved his manure, and applied it — 
which all farmers did not do iu those days, if indeed 
they do now. Observing that one of his acquaint¬ 
ance* neglected to cart out his manure for several 
years, Mr. Johnston told him one day, that for a 
moderate sum he would t&i^e his manure off out of 
his way, and clean up his ; urds handsomely. The 
owner of the manure considered it, said he thought 
the price asked was reasonable, and he would be glad 
to give it, but was afraid hts neighbors would laugh 
at him. Mr. JonNS'roN waited a little longer, and so 
did Ihc man art; he then Raid to his acquaintance, 
'‘Really, that manure is a very great annoyance 
t- »•*». ’ w!” not ‘ ,,it of your way, 
but will pay you >‘o ” Tb<* owner now ■' 
' began to think that it o? cornu ait.ird to 
pay fifty dollars for it, and draw it, it must have some 
positive value, and he could afford to cart it out on 
his own land. ... Accordingly lie commenced drawing 
it at once. 
Fourth—Mr. Johnston pulled his stumps. At the 
cost of about 18 cents apiece, lie removed some two 
thousand stumps, believing that it would cost more 
to work round them and lose the laud they occupied, 
than to remove them. He employed a mdteliine for 
that purpose. 
Fifth- We now come to what makes Mr. John¬ 
ston’s experience particularly valuable to American 
farmers. While he was st.ll under the necessity of 
husbanding his resources, and could not afford to 
misapply a dollar, he commenced tile draining, and 
continued it from year to year, till he expended more 
than /iio- thousand dollars, and laid more than fifty 
miles of drains. No soonir had ho purchased ft farm 
than he sent to Scotland for model tile; these lie 
took to sundry brick makers, who were unable to 
copy; he then applied to a manufacturer of earthen 
ware at Waterloo, N. Y. who said ho could make 
the tile, if Mr. Johnston could afford to pay his 
price. Three thousand tie were engaged, at $2-1 per 
thousand, which was clump enough, as they had to 
be molded by band, Mr. Johnston used these with 
satisfactory results. Ho then told the manufacturer 
that he would pay him $16 per thousand for ton 
thousand. The manufacturer took time to consider, 
and subsequently inforineJ Mr. Johnston that he 
would furnish the tile, as le had invented a machine 
for molding them. Mr, Johnston afterwards agreed 
to take all the tile he could make, at (I think,) $12 
per thousand. This was tin origin of tilo making in 
America,— there arc now five establishments in full 
blust in Mr. J.’a vicinity, Mr. Johnston’s services 
as the pioneer tile druintr of America are highly 
appreciated. It is not ioig since several eminent 
agricultural gentlemen of .his State,—including Col. 
I I.. G. Morris, Ekastcs Co knino, James S. Wads¬ 
worth, HoilACK GrKKLKY, Li.THKII Tctckkk, I). D, 
T. Moore, —presented Mr. Iounston with a magnifi¬ 
cent service of plate as a tfken of their appreciation. 
I will not say Mr. JonNSTOf is proud of it, but 1 will 
say, he has a right to be! 
Sixth — Mr. Johnston, bf a liberal application of 
lime, salt, and plaster to hit land, has done much to 
demonstrate their value. Ie first applied lime to a 
half acre of wheat, — thouiht ho could discover a 
difference in the fall, but » the spring, soon after 
the snow left, he could see where the lime was put 
very distinctly; took mane friends to see it during 
the season, and when he harvested it, found that his 
limed land gave him twite as much wheat as the 
other. Encouraged by thil experiment, he borrowed 
money of a friend and purchased a whole lime kiln 
at nine cents per bushel, aid applied it at the rate of 
eighty bushels per acre, hfieh a liming will last, he 
thinks, live or six years. Tis soil is clay loarn, and 
is not benefited by ashes; hit he is a decided advo¬ 
cate of salt, which ho apples at the rate of 300 or 
•100 pounds per acre. He also makes a free use of 
plaster upon his grass grouid. 
Seventh—Mr. Johnston’s advocacy of high feeding 
is well known. He feeds Urge quantities of oil meat 
' — sometimes as many as fifty tuns in a winter — buys 
coarse grain, but never ^lls any. Tii this way lie 
makes abundance of good manure for the farm, and 
has the best animals for mirket. 
Mr. Johnston claims to 
about fertilizers which are long, short, green, or 
partially decayed, and bnt very little concerning 
those which are well rotted, and finely pulverized. 
Now, this latter state is just what the producer should 
desire. He cannot afford to wait for the profits of an 
investments any better than those pursuing other 
callings, and yet were we to judge from the deposits 
made by many tillers of the soil, we would readily 
conclude they were sowing for their posterity to 
reap. When the materials for enriching land are 
comminuted, a less quantity is needed, this can be 
directly applied, and the results are speedily apparent 
to both eye and pocket. 
Let the crop be what it may, the necessary pabulum 
ought to be found in the soil just as soon as growing 
vegetation requires it, ami it should be in proper 
condition for absorption by the roots. In every 
stage of growth organic food is an essential to the 
development of the plant, and, therefore, it must be 
present at the date of planting. Mineral elements 
are more vigorously drawn upon at certain periods 
than at others, and as many of these fertilizers 
undergo Important changes ill the soil before they 
are fitted for plant-food, it is best they should be 
incorporated with the soil previous to the deposit of 
the seed. For example, bone dust, when given to 
wheat lauds, oftentimes exhibits greater proof of its 
virtue two or three years following its application 
than during other periods. Unfermenteil manures 
are frequently put upon corn with the idea, of bene¬ 
fiting the crop on the ground, but this method is, 
probably, as often a failure as a success, after crops 
receiving the more decided effects. 
As regards the peculiar mechanical operations con¬ 
nected with the application of fertilizers, tlio Ritual 
has already published the views of practical and expe¬ 
rienced agriculturists. There is the same diversity of 
opinion upon this topic that marks all other subjects, 
and the various modes,— Hurface-tnaouring, plowing 
under, thorough incorporation with the soil, etc.,— 
Uuv-S < 1*, f au'ia. saxavl -yopfi. *V*> ryf Opinion 
t^'Lt ft rulti •: >0 irifftOHf * iri'Jn 
given for this portion of farm operations. 0 amp* 
bei. i.’rt Agriculture contains a paragraph or two upon 
this branch of our subject which we cannot refrain 
from condensing and giving to our readers. All 
kinds of manure, according to Prof. C., should bo as 
thoroughly incorporated with the soil as possible. 
Heavy manures, as lime or plaster, he would apply to 
the surface after breaking up, then stir the soil, and 
tlicir weight gradually sinks them duriug cultivation. 
Soluble Ingredients, such ns the alkaline salts in 
ashes, arc soon carried down by rains. Fermented 
manures should be speedily Covered, or mingled with 
the soil, because their ammonia is iu a volatile form, 
and unless composted soon escapes. The tendency 
of volatile matters is to the surface, and when thus 
passing through the soil they are arrested and 
absorbed. This fact is especially distinguishable 
upon porous soils. 
As regards top-dressing, Prof. C. considers it 
favorable to grass and clover crops in the winter and 
spring. Organic manures have tlicir soluble ingre¬ 
dients caniod down into the soil by rain, and the 
roots find their food at tho very beginning of their 
spring growth. The unrotted portions of the manure 
remaining upon the surface arc soon covered by the 
leaves, and decaying, form a rich, warm mold about 
the roots. Top-dressed corn will do well if newly 
gathered manure he used, containing urine, and 
other matters readily soluble. During Autumn and 
Winter, manures may always be applied to the surface 
without serious loss, and often with decided advan¬ 
tage. At all events, if they are to be exposed to the 
washings of rain, it is better it should bo done upon 
the field than uround the barn. 
The subject we have thus somewhat hastily treated, 
Is one of vital import to ail those whose interests are 
connected with the soil, and we hope that the labors 
and experiments of the busy period so soon to open 
will be conducive to “progress and improvement” 
in our system of agriculture. 
MOORE’S RURAL NEW-YORKER, 
AN OIUG1NAT. WX1TKLY 
AGRICULTURAL, LITERARY AND FAMILY JOURNAL. 
CONDUCTED BY D. D. T. MOORE, 
With an Able Corps of Assistants and Contributors, 
The Rural Nkw-Yokkkr ia designed to be unsurpassed in 
Value, Purity, Usefnlnes* and Variety of Contents, and unique 
and beaatiful In Appearance. Its Conductor devotes his per¬ 
sonal attention to the supervision of its various departments, 
and earnestly labors to render the RURAL an eminently 
Reliable Ouide on all the important Practical, Scientific and 
ether Subj« cts intimately connected with the business of 
those whose interests it zealon -i y advocates. As n Family 
Journal it is eminently Instructive and Entertaining—beiny 
so conducted that It can bo safely taken to the Hearts and 
Homes of people of intelligence, t.i -te and discrimination. It 
embraces more Agricultural, Horticultural, Scientific, Educa¬ 
tional, Literary and News Matter, interspersed with appropriate 
and beautiful EngTaviiijr*, than any other journal, - rendering 
It the most complete Agricultural. Lit in art and Family 
NEWSrAPEK in America. 
For Tkhsis and other particulars, see last pape. 
tobacco uousk without noons, k.\o hoarding, ao., to show •run hammer of minium: tiik tobacco 
and to secure this, cover over with boards. Tho 
next thing ia the removal of tin- loaves from the 
stalks, taking this time to separate the broken leaves 
from the unbroken ones. They are then made into 
parcels of Hi or 18, called “ hands,” and are fastened 
by winding a leaf around them. File those hands 
tips on tips, the squaro ends out. This preserves tho 
moisture. The pUc should be kept, covered with 
boards, and the sides also covered, leaving the wound 
ends of the hands exposed to the air. If everything 
up to this point has been skillfully done, in four or 
five days the tobacco will be fit to pack in cases, and 
taka to market. The cases should be of pine, two 
feet six inches square, by three feet eight inches, and 
Of inch lumber. Place the hands tips on tips, and 
the wound ends against the ends of the box, press with 
a lever or screw until 400 ponnds is in, then fasten on 
the top. The tobacco now goes through tho sweating 
process, and will lose about ten per cent, in weight 
before lit for use. 
This tobacco is known in the market as “seed 
leaf,” and is principally used for wrftpp* rn for cigars; 
the refuse is exported. A crop handled in* the man¬ 
ner described, and with skill, will mdi ii New York 
city at from twelve to fifteen cents a pound; hut 
from want of proper care and skill, the crop of this 
county does not bring an average price of over eight 
cents. 
Cost of drop. 
Tho planlB are worth per aero . $ 2 60 
Manure, 10 cords, my._ . . . 20 00 
Fitting ground and marking .. 4 60 
Planting and setting .... ... 6 00 
Cultivating and flrxt hoeing . . 2 00 
Cultivating and Mecond hoeing . 1 60 
Topping, mid killing worms, nay._ ... 1 00 
puckering, first and second times .. 2 00 
•Suckeiing, third time__ .... 4 00 
Harvestiog and hanging (four men and team one day,) 6 00 
Stripping one tun. .. 10 00 
Five packing boxes. 6 00 
Labor of packing ... _ __ 1 60 
Twine, for hanging___ . 1 00 
*00 00 
A tun, at 13] cents, is worth $270; deduct 10 per 
cent, for shrinkage, and 1] cents per pound for trans¬ 
portation and commission, in all $52, leaves $218 as 
net proceeds. Tho cost being taken from this, $00, 
and we have $152 for use of land and buildings. 
This is the best statement that can fairly be made 
for this crop. If the price be put at the average onr 
growers get, viz., eight cents per pound, wo have for 
the crop, 1,800 pounds, after shrinking, $144. De¬ 
duct $00 for cost, and $22.60 for commissions and 
transportation, in all $88.50, which deducted from 
the amount received, leaves $65.50, as the ordinary 
profit per acre. 
mends what he has tried, tells what he knows, prhc 
tipes what lie tenches. It maybe proper to observe 
that he not. only made his farm support itself, tint 
pay for the improvements, mid for several additions 
to it, which from time to time he made. 
I may mention here, that Mr. Johnston sat up a 
threshing machine about 1822, believed to be the 
first threshing machine in America. 
I cannot, injustice to Agriculture, second to no 
earthly interest, close this notice of one of its most 
enlightened, enthusiastic and efficient promoters, 
without claiming for him the respect dim to eminent 
services. Whether judged by his zeal in a good 
courts his energy of character and force of will, or 
by the results of his labors, lie is entitled to rank 
among the distinguished of mankind. Not claiming 
the discovery of new principles or processes, ho has 
seized with a vigorous understanding, and a deter¬ 
mined purpose, upon cardinal points in hushbandry, 
and while American farmers denied, donhted, or 
delayed, ho pushed boldly on. reducing theory to 
practice, and forcing in . liesenco by the logic of 
fm to. His Cviebrity h» llVipo.-e i .tpun him a large 
correspondence »’;•< „n every seel ion of our Con¬ 
federacy, (the South included,) which he conducts 
with admirable promptness and patience. He gives 
advice, and answers questions, in all departments of 
practical life. Active and healthy, we trust he may 
long be spared to his family, his friends and his 
country.— H. T. n. 
Entered accordiiur to act of Couprewi, in the rear 1861, by 
D. D. T. Moons. in the Office of the Clerk of the District 
Court for tho Northern District of New York. 
V.iT Onr only object in copyiiifbting this jmper is to secure 
what every honorable joomallpt will frool-y grant —proper 
uredit for articles selected bom Its pap's. Any and every 
journal is at liberty, and invited, to copy freely, by crediting 
each original article or il!munition to Rural New-Yorker. 
MANURES. AND THE MANNER OF APPLICATION 
The warm, sunshiny hours with which we have 
recently been favored, are only the advent harbingers 
of blessings in store for the sons and daughters of 
earth. All greet them with joy, aud to none cm 
Uii'.j prove more welcome th in to the farmer, who, 
after a season of repose and comparative inactivity, 
holds himself in readiness for the campaign which is 
so soon to open. These glorious Spring days teem 
with prophesies the realization of which sober 
tutumn may witness,-—they bud with promise, but 
whether we partake of the fruit Is, in great measure, 
the result of our own endeavor. He who presides 
over all, and in whose hands are our destinies, lias 
said that seed time and harvest should not fail, yet 
there are conditions to which man mnst not only 
subscribe, but he must bring heart and soul to the 
work if he would enjoy tho bounties with which 
l’rovidence rewards the earnest laborer. 
In successful farming we may consider it an axiom 
Jliat to be fed by tin sod, the agriculturist must feed it 
in return. Iu many portions of our country, young 
as it is, wo can already perceive the baneful effects of 
constant cropping without giving hack to the land 
any of the elements of fertility removed. Tt was 
thought by cur fathers that a soil naturally so ricli aa 
marked various Staffs In the Confederacy, was inex¬ 
haustible, - indeed, it is so argued with reference to 
Certain tracts of our Western prairies at the present 
day,—and yet a generation has hardly disappeared 
befure these Edens have given place to sterility, and 
“worn out lands” have became the patrimony of 
their children. This condition of affairs will inev 
itably result where the rule is from the farm , and 
those who would avoid such disastrous consequences 
will be obliged to reverse the order, putting prom¬ 
inently into their creed and their action the better 
guiding principle, to the soil. We must collect and 
prepare every material calculated to renew the ener¬ 
gies and preserve the constituents of our heritage, 
and as we “would freely receive, freely give.” 
The use of special fertilizers for keeping up the 
condition of our estate, may he well enough when 
every source to which we can turn for plant-food 
upon onr own domain has been invaded, its supplies 
devoted to their legitimate purposes, and that in the 
manner beat calculated to yield the greatest profit 
from the materials used and the labor expended. 
This latter is the point to which we wish now to 
direct the attention of our readers. Very many have 
large quantities of manure, but the mode of applica¬ 
tion is such that not a tithe of the benefit is obtained 
therefrom which might bo received, and what is 
gained seldom comes just when wanted. 
Manures may be divided into two general clauses, 
liquid and solid. In one or the other of these Conns 
they are given to the soil. Rut few experiments with 
liquid fertilizers have been made by American 
farmers. The population of our country is not suffi¬ 
ciently dense, and land is too plenty and too cheap 
to make it pay, except in gardens near large cities, 
where a ready market and good prices can be 
obtained Tor vegetable productions. In a liquid 
state we have u more speedy exhibit of its properties, 
and where it can be used with pecuniary advantage, 
the profits are quickly transferred to the credit of 
the producer. 
The Bolid form is the one in which our farmers 
feed their lands. The principal reasons for this 
mode of application, in addition to those already 
advanced, are the ease with which it may be handled, 
and the high rates of labor. In eertuin portions of 
Europe, where help can be obtained for a meagre 
outlay of capital, liquid manures are held in very 
great estimation, aud with justness. Hut the condi¬ 
tion of the manure when applied by the majority of 
our farmers, is not proper. We hear a great deal 
CULTURE OP TOBACCO.-CURING 
According to promise we conclude the article 
commenced last week on tire Culture of Tohacco, 
aud its value as a farm crop. 
After wilting, draw to the house, which should be 
twenty-four feet wide, fifteen feet high, so as to have 
three tiers, one above the other. A building of this 
width and height, thirty-five feet long, will store an 
acre, or one tun of tobacco. The girts on the side of 
the building should he live feet apart; a row of posts 
through the middle is necessary to put girts in, to 
hold the poles that the plants are tied to. The best 
poles are made of basswood sawed one and one-half 
by four inches, and twelve feet long. 
EDUCATION FOR THE FARMER 
This subject has commanded the attention of 
many minds; it has occupied the columns of news¬ 
papers, the pages of hooks, and the valuable time of 
clubs, conversational meetings, and audiences at 
Fairs; yet it la a question still open for solution. I 
do not know thatl can add anything to what has 
been said, but shall we maintain silence on a subject 
of such momentous importance, so vital to the inter¬ 
est of farmers, and of our country? lie cause the truths 
of Christianity were once set forth by oar Savior, 
elucidated by tho ApoBtles, and frequently preached 
to the people since that time, shall they ho neglected 
now? The voice of tho whole Christian world an¬ 
swers, “No,—let them be held up to our view con¬ 
tinually,—let them be set forth distinctly,—let them 
be applied practically,—or we shall 
L b. forget them. The tongue of man 
was given him to speak, his ears 
to hear, and iris mind to perceive 
Let these faculties he 
HANGING TOBACCO ON THU POLES. 
The plants are handed to a man who, standing on 
a movable platform made by a light plank, receives 
them, and beginning at the top tier he winds a piece 
of prepared twino around the stalk, fastening the 
first plant to the pole; the second plant ia placed on the 
otherside of the pole, and a single turn is made around 
the stalk; then again the third stalk is put on the 
same side of tho first, the twine passed around, aud 
the next on the other side, and so on to the end of 
the pole, where the twine is made fast. About thirty 
or thirty-six are hung on a pole, one-half on each 
side. If tin’s twine gives way, it is manifest that they 
will all be let loose. The poles are put on the girts 
H. T. B. VISITS JOHN JOHNSTON 
On the shore of a beautiful lake—you’re badly mis¬ 
taken if you think I am going to write a romance — 
lives John Johnston, the Farmer. He was born 
seventy years ago, iu the south of Scotland. 
“Blood will tell,” undoubtedly, for Mr. Johnston 
reproduces the remarkable zeal of his grandfather 
and his father, in behalf of Agriculture and Agricul¬ 
tural Improvement. Several years of his early life 
were spent with his grandfather, who routed a large 
farm, and conducted it with marked ability; here he 
took liis first lessons in draining land, high feeding, 
and progressive farming generally — lessons he has 
shown no disposition to forget. 
After renting and managing a farm on his own 
account for a few years, Mr. Johnston removed with 
hjs family to America, in 1820. lie came near pur¬ 
chasing a farm at Rochester, N. Y., bnt missed that 
chance, as many others, to their subsequent regret, 
have done, and purchased three miles from Geneva, 
N. Y., on the eastern shore of Seneca Lake, where 
he bus ever since resided. 
Mr. Johnston’s “ worldly goods" now consisted of 
$1,200, which he paid out for one hundred and twelve 
acres of hind, partly cleared, nearly destitute of 
buildings, and no way implicated m fancy farming. 
He was now forced to run in debt for his outfit to the 
amount of some twelve hundred dollars. This, with 
the cost of his improvements, it may he well 
H't bo of vitul importance that 
truths so well known should he fre- 
quently enunciated to make them 
valuable to us, is it, not also irapor- 
jjj'pi SgtSsSsliS" taut that a subject affecting so 
’ directly the welfare of tho farmer 
aa much as education does, should 
be constantly talked about? We 
may be ready to acknowledge truth, hut unless 
it be kept before our minds, other truth b are im¬ 
pressed thereon, and we become occupied with them. 
If a just idea bo set forth plainly, and urged upon 
onr attention, wo not only acknowledge its truth, 
bnt we are made ready to carry it into execution. 
From a want of interchange of thought, men become 
TOBACCO STACK Kl> APTKU STRIPPING, 
about fourteen inches apart. In this way tho whole 
building is filled. Skill is now demanded to regulate 
the ventilation until the crop is cured, which is 
determined by examining the stem in the leaf, which 
should he hard, up to the main stalk. Then in damp 
weather the tobacco can be taken down and laid in 
piles, with the tips together to keep it from drying, 
je no theorist; he recom 
