'/>r' 
[SINGLE NO. JTQTJ14 CENTS, 
ROCHESTER, N. Y.,-F0R THE WEEK ENDING SATURDAY, JUNE 8, 1861 
1 WHOLE NO. 595, 
MOORE’S RURAL NEW-YORKER, 
AN ORIGINAL WEEKLY 
AGRICULTURAL, LITERARY AND FAMILY JOURNAL, 
trouble is that if planted on very rich ground, it will 
grow too large, and the quality Will be inferior, 
although the crop will be enormous. 
The Clinton, we believe, is similar to the Prince 
Albert, which is of the same form as the Fluke, but 
has a rough, brownish, russety skin; while the Fluke 
is smooth, white and glossy. The haulm of the 
Prince is of longer growth, drooping, and of a very 
light green color, while the Fluke is dark green, and 
generally pretty erect. For several years we pur¬ 
chased Prince Alberts for seed, and could obtain 
nothing but Flukes, and we concluded they must he 
the same. At the East, however, we found they 
were different, and finally succeeded in obtaining 
the genuine Prince Albert. They are grown exten¬ 
sively about Albany, while the Fluke at the East 
seems almost unknown. It is much the best potato. 
The Clinton we have grown, proved to be the Prince 
Albert. 
Culture of Hops. 
Eds. Rural New-Yorker: —Living in Wisconsin, and 
being a subscriber to your paper, I would be pleased to hare 
you post me up in regard to the raising of hops, and how to 
cultivate them by using poles and a wire, similar to telegruph 
wire, with cords running from the hill to the wire, and 
attached by a hook. Is th* plan feasible ? Give your experi¬ 
ence in this matter, and oblige— Avprkw Lawto.v, Wiscon¬ 
sin, May, 1861. 
Eds. Rural New-Yorker: —Do hops require a rich soil? 
Please give me and others the best mode of planting, culture, 
and all other information necessary for successful practice. 
Ia the growing of hops profitable?— 
Tiik above are two of quite a number of inquiries 
we have received within a month or so, and having 
but little knowledge on the subject, compared with 
that possessed by the experinoed growers of Otsego 
and other counties in this State where the Hop is 
extensively cultivated, wc must ask some of our 
readers in these sections to give the desired informa¬ 
tion, making only a few general remarks. The hop 
requires a good soil, and if not naturally so, it must 
bv 'ii,, a wltli nmnmou, i&u«l Itiudu of a ROOil 
depth by >pi-soiling. The surface -.oil should not be 
buried. Where the ground is only plowed the ordi¬ 
nary depth, it is usual to dig large holes for the hills, 
and add manure. This Is thought by some as good 
as snbsoiling the whole surface. In Kent, and other 
hop counties of England, whore we have visited the 
hop gardens, the usual practice is to raise plants, in a 
kind of nnrsery, from cuttings, allowing them to. 
grow one year before setting oat; but in this country 
the usual practice is, wc believe, to obtain plants from 
division of the roots, and put them in thp hills at 
once. After the ground is prepared, it should be 
marked oil' and a stake set for each hill, the hills 
being from six to seven feet apart. Three strong 
plants are enough for each hill, and they should bo 
within about a foot of each other. They must receive 
good clean culture the first season, and it is a good 
plan to crop the ground with potatoes, or some 
other low crop. If a liberal dressing of well rotted 
manure, urtilieial manure, or manure water be given 
each hill once or twice in the season, say the first and 
the last of June, it will produce a decided efl’ect on 
the growth of the vines, and cause them to come into 
full bearing the second season, and perhaps give 
enough to pay for the trouble of culture the first. 
The English practice is to place a stake about four 
feet long to each hill, to which the plants are fas 
tened as they grow. They must not be cut back in 
the autumn until the stalks are fully ripe. The 
second spring, manure well and keep the ground well 
cultivated and clean. Each hill will require two or 
tLreo poles twenty feet and over in length, which 
must be well set in the ground so as not to blow 
down in storms. These poles must not be fastened 
together at the top, as one of our correspondents 
supposes, as this would shade both plant and root too 
much. Each pole should be set straight in a bole 
made by an iron bar, and at equal distances from 
each other, in such a manner that all parts of the 
plant can have the benefit of light and air. They 
will require at first to be traiued to these poles by 
hand, and may be fastened by matting or woolen 
yarn, when three or four feet in height 
the only way to eradicate it, that we know of. As it 
likes a moist soil, good draiuage would doubtless be 
of much advantage. 
important transactions involving pecuniary gain 
or loss. 
Once a year an account of stock should he made 
out and entered in this book, which should be a 
summary or condensed view of the farmer’s affairs, 
and include all that belongs to the debt and credit 
sides of iiis standing with the world. A yearly com¬ 
parison of these annual accounts of stock will he very 
valuable and interesting, and may incite to that 
economy and thrift which are the foundations of 
success. Petbr Hathaway. 
Milan, Erie Co., Ohio, 1861. 
18 inch wall 8 feet high, with sloping roof, stuffed 
with straw beneath. It will hold 50 loads of roots; 
H, outside hatch for filling. 
Straw on Old Meadows. 
Please give me, th.rough,your paper, the views of your¬ 
self or correspondents on the application of straw to old 
meadows. What time ought it to he put on, and how deep? 
Ought they to be rolled before or after putting on?—C. L. H., 
Spring Mills , Alley. Co., V. Y. 
Tun practice, we believe, is growing into favor. A 
correspondent, of Manlius, Onondaga County, writes 
us that he has found the practice very beneficial on 
sandy land, where the soil is thin and the grass light. 
“ The straw should he spread evenly ou the land, in 
the fall, or early in llie spring. It protects the grass 
roots from the scorching heat of the sun. and keeps 
the ground moist. In this way the surplus straw 
may he used up, and the hay efiop largely increased. 
I am well satisfied with the result of this practice.” 
CONDUCTED BY D. D. T. MOORE, 
With an Able .Corps of Assistants and Contributors, 
Tuk-UcrAL New-Yorker is designed to be unsurpassed in 
Value, Purity, Usefulness and Variety of Contents, and unique 
and beautiful in Appearance. Its Conductor devotes his per¬ 
gonal attention to the supervision of its various departments, 
and earnestly labors to render the Rural an eminently 
Reliable Guide On all the important Practical, Scientific and 
other Subjects intimately connected with the business of 
those whoso Interests it zealously advocates As a Family 
Journal It is eminently Instructive and Entertaining—being 
go conducted that It enn be safely taken to the Hearts and 
Homes of people of intelligence, taste and discrimination. It 
embraces more Agricultural, Horticultural, Scientific, Educa¬ 
tional, Literary and News Matter, interspersed with appropriate 
ami beautiful Engravings, than any other journal,—rendering 
it the most complete Agricultural, Literary and Family 
Newspaper In America. 
A FARM HOUSE 
Ens. Rural New-Yorker:— I have long been try¬ 
ing to get the plan of a house to suit my ideas of 
convenience and elegance. There have been several 
admirable plans published in your columns, but none 
which 1 quite wished to adopt for myself. I have 
lived in large houses, with dismal parlors to shut up 
and take care of, and cold, empty, cheerless halls. 
These may rlo for some people and situations, hut I 
wish to dispense with them, and to occupy, in my 
own family, nearly all of the room—all on the ground 
lloor. T he form of a private house may depend on 
locality and circumstances. 
I have not, studied architecture, and have my views 
directed more to convenience and utility than orna¬ 
ment and beauty, though where elegance and utility 
may be combined, would prefer to have them. I 
submit it plan for your publication, and solicit sug¬ 
gestions from those of your readers who may be 
interested, hoping many may bo profited thereby. 
How the roof maybe best placed on this plan, I am 
undecided wishing to have a lineplaco in sitting 
room and largo hod room, and to havo the chimney 
go out the top of the roof, as experience teaches mo 
that chimneys going out on the side of a roof are apt 
to cause damp walls, by the roof leaking around 
them. The rruiia building i* iU-oignoil 82 by feet 
square, with side wings 10 foot. If it is out. of all 
imirwirt inr\ "•-M Home* 
put the rooms where and as I want them, without 
reference to other arrangements, except partially. 
It is designed for a two story house, and may he a 
rude draft. Doors and windows left to be placed ns 
may be suggested. 
UPPER FLOOR. 
Upper story, 116 by 45. F, main lloor; B, B, bays; 
D, doors; G, granary; S, stairway coming up under 
the girt, without cutting the floor; H, hatch for put¬ 
ting down straw. • J. A. Smith. 
Paris, C. W., 1861. 
BOOK-KEEPING FOR FARMERS 
JlvTs:nrr> according to act of Congress, in tbe year Ififit, bv 
I> D. T. Moore, in the Office of the Clerk of the District 
Court for the North fru District of New York. 
Ly Our only object in copyrighting this paper Is to secure 
what every honorable joumalirt will freely grant,— proper 
credit for articles selected from its pages. Any and every 
j oar cid D at liberty, and invited, (a copy freely, hy crediting 
each original article or illustration to Rural New- Yorker. 
In early life, before I became a farmer, I served an 
apprenticeship of six years as an accountant in a 
commercial house in one of our Atlantic cities. 
Into the vocation of a farmer I brought my habits as 
an accountant, and devised a simple form of book¬ 
keeping, adapted to that occupation, which, finding 
it to answer the purpose well, I nave ever since used. 
As I have often been applied to by young and inex¬ 
perienced farmers for an outline of aeoouuts suited 
to their business, and as the present is a time calling 
loudly for economy, I have thought that perhaps an 
essay 8 b brief as the subject may admit might be 
acceptable. 
With the aid of accounts, a farmer can at any time 
call into intelligent array all the facta of his business, 
which otherwise no memory, however tenacious, can 
treasure up; and thus the important fact whether he 
Is successful or Vnt, io’ "tcasure of Mint, 
success, may at any time ’ •.{•lined. 
A funner rcquiVes ouly t>^s7ooks: a Ledger and 
Memorandum Book. One book may be conveniently 
used for both. In that caso commence at each end 
of the book and write towards its middle. 
In the Ledger the first page should he reserved for 
an index, which need not be alphabetical. The first 
account may be an accountof Promissory notes given 
and received, opened on a double page, thus: 
MORE ABOUT ABSES 
There is no accounting for tastes —W. N. E. is 
opposed to asses! Plato, and Socrates, and — and 
—and—Gen. Washington never railed against asses. 
W. N. E. does, and deliberately. School masters and 
moralists have been pestered a great deal with the 
“irreverence of the age,” and here is W. N. E. 
making tho matter a great sight worse! 
Amid the rivalries of faction, the rise and fall of 
dynasties, the growth and decay of empires, and all 
the panoramic changes of onr mortal life, the «*•*■ has 
held the even tenor of his way. The most consera- 
tive element in modern society, le has lived to be 
spoken against. To intensify the horror, it is W. N. 
E. that does it! Had I, an avowed agrarian, an inno¬ 
vator, who dare put all nature into a jumble, believ¬ 
ing It would COniC out right—had I railed against 
asses, it, would at least, have been consistent; but for 
a man who gets un at <*i/rbt, and goes to bed nt twelve, 
who pays over six and sixpence for his carpets, who 
holds his fork as though lie was going to spear a fish, 
who buys fresh meat, every day, and shaves and shirts 
himself nearly as often, who is found on 'change, and 
don’t saw his own wood,—for such a man to rail 
against asses is to make me fear that the ballast is 
overboard, and the ship of state adrift. Who, if not 
such, are to sound the alarm when radicalism and 
reform run riot with customs, creeds, and constitu¬ 
tions? 'I he Supreme Court, the ancient families, the 
easily frightened, the men of leisure, Edward Ever¬ 
ett, the admirers of Daniel Webster, who said he 
was “ opposed at all times to all new schemes and pro¬ 
jects,”— all these should eschew steam and electricity, 
and ride in solemn state upon asses, out of respect 
for “ immemorial usage." 
Conscious that our best productions come from 
grafts upon old stocks, I look round now and then 
for something to build upon —I found the ass, pic¬ 
turesque, powerful, with many stable virtues. I was 
delighted; —all hearts could center on him—all 
interests harmonize in his progeny, the mule — a 
“compromise” between radical and conservative 
interests. W. N. E. “ protests.” With great adroit¬ 
ness he demands, “would II. T. II., clothed in all the 
‘ panoply of war,’ issue from his gates, mounted on 
his friend, the jackass, and jog along to the camp of 
tho army?” W. N. E. knows very well that, there is 
a prejudice against asses among military men, and 
the ladies, lor whoso edification military evolutions 
have chiefly taken place of late years, and now that 
the spirit of war is abroad in tho land, he strives to 
enlist it in the crusade against asses. I beg to assure 
my friend that the ass would answer my military 
notions; for though 1 would be content to go very 
moderately into battle, I nevertheless protest against 
any intention to run away, and so do not see tbe 
need of a specially fleet charger. I fear, my dear 
INQUIRIES AND NOTES 
Fertilizing Plante. 
Editors Rural:—I p Vol.lO, No. 39, of the Rural, there 
is an article on "Forage and Fertilizing Plants in which 
sparry is very highly spoken of for mammal purposes, and as 
especially adapted to reclaiming noils which are too poor to 
produce clover. Now, If yon can assure me that it will prove 
tic vainnhlo as it is represented to ho in the article to which I 
refer, I shall he ghui t« try u, «* « ««.. . , pi MMC i, 
land, and my menus are too limited to permit, a direct outlay 
of an hundred dollars or more iu tho purchase of manure, 
I suppose that some kinds of soil are hotter adapted to the 
growth of spurry than others. Mine ia a sandy loam, rather 
light, restiug ou retentive subsoil, and well adapted, if suffi¬ 
ciently rich and properly managed, to growing nearly all 
kinds of grain. Please to inform me, through tho Rural, 
where tho seed can be obtained, the price, and the quantity 
required per acre? I shall also be thankful for any other 
information concerning this or any other fertilizing plant 
which you may think proper to give.—A Subscriber, Hope- 
well, N. Y., 1881. 
In the number of the Rural referred to by our 
correspondent, wc gave from the best foreign author¬ 
ities the best information wc could obtain respecting 
the value and uses of Spurry. It is grown in Franee, 
but more extensively in Russia, for green fodder and 
hay. In England it is used principally for enriching 
lands too poor to grow clover. It is said by those 
who are acquainted with it, that there arc no soils so 
poor that sparry will not grow on them well, and as 
it is ready to turn under in eight weeks, and for pas¬ 
ture in six weeks, the most barren soils can be very 
rapidly improved. It is usual to sow it the middle 
of April, commence pasturing the latter end of May, 
and if eaten off in June, the land is turned flat and 
another crop sown, which affords fine pasture in 
August and September. Van Voght says this oper¬ 
ation is of as much benefit to tbe land as ten loads of 
stable manure to the acre; and that it is the clover of 
sandy lands, the blessing of which 19 incredible when 
rightly employed. We do not know that spurry has 
ever been grown in this country, but of its success 
we have little doubt. When looking at the half-bare 
hills and sandy knolls, where clover refused to 
“catch,” we have often wished that spurry could be 
tried. The seed, we think, has never beeu brought 
to this country, but we have reason to know that 
farmers will have an opportunity to test its value 
another season. 
Varieties of Potatoes. 
Eds. Rural New-Yorkbk: — You will confer a favor on 
one. if not many, of your subscribers, by giving us a descrip¬ 
tion, and also the character of the Mavis Seedling Potato. 
1 have just received a barrel of this kind from your section, 
which are said to be unlike other* exhibited by this name. 
J. R, 1’., Wilkesburre, Pa., May, 1861. 
Eds. Rural New Yorker: — Are the Clinton Potatoes 
worthy of culture, and how near do they resemble the Fluke? 
Please give a description of the Prime Albert. Some say it 
i6 the name as the Fluke. Whafdo you think of Davis ! Seed¬ 
ling as a market potato.— V. £. K. 
The DavU Seedling is a red potato, a peculiar 
bright red when taken from the ground, but be¬ 
coming duller by keeping. In the summer, when 
dug before being entirely ripe, the color is quite 
attractive, being a beantiful combination of bright 
pink and purple. They are then, as was remarked 
to ua by a celebrated Pomologist of Boston, when 
we firs t obtained specimens, as beantiful as a peach. 
M hen the outside skin j« scraped off, the coloring 
matter remains and looks the brighter for the opera¬ 
tion. The form is round, hnt rritnflrillv Satlnnu/I at.A 
Account of Promissory .Votes. 
1881. 
Jan. I, John Brown note for 
$BO,payable 8 inns af ter date, 
with iiit., duo July 1. 
Arrount (f (he payment thereof: 
IWI 
July l, Rec'd principal..$60.00 
Do. interest,... 1.80 
Jan. 10. My note in favor Jog. 
Smith for $4D, payable 3 nios. 
from date, with Interest, due 
April 10. 
April 10. Paid principal .$40.00 
Do. interest... (R) 
The next account may he an account of all cash 
paid or received, and may be kept ou double or 
single pages, at the accountants option. I give a 
specimen on double pages: 
Dr. Cash Received. 
1801 . 
Jan. 1, To ain’t of cash on 
band,.$160.00 
Feb. 2. “ Jas. Steele for 
100 bn. wheat 116.00 
July 1. “ John Brown. 
as per prom'y 
note account, 
page 1. G1.80 
Ca 4 Paid. 
1801. 
Mar. 1, f y Kohl. Merry, as 
per account on 
file.,. _$ 1 : 
Ap'l 10. ‘ Jos. Smith, ua 
per prom’y 
note account. 
, , _ I I^ffel,........ < 
July 7. r step. Janies, 
for wmrea, on 
account._i 
FIRST FLOOR. 
The dots indicate porches, through which are entrances to 
the sitting and dining rooms. 3, Sitting Room—15xl8fcet; 
D , Dining Room—10x18; It, It, Family Room—17x14; //, 
Hall; K, Kiteben—15x14; P, Pantry—9x10; It, Bed Room 
—10x10; }V, Woodhouse—15x20; C, Clothes Room; R, Bath 
Room; It, Bed Room—10.xl4. 
Thirty feet may possibly be sufficient for the 
front, hut if it be a brick house, the walls would he 
included, and if of wood, the rooms would not be 
more than 14£ feet. Query. 
Cash is regarded as a person, ami is charged with 
all moneys received and credited with all moneys 
paid. Every three or six months tills account should 
be balanced, and if correctly keptj the balance of 
the account will exactly agree with the money on 
band. This account is often evidence of the pay- 
ment of small debts of which there ismo other record; 
and if one’s expenses are to > nearly approximating, 
or going beyond one’s income, the place of retrench¬ 
ment may here be sought out 
Next in order are accounts with persons with 
whom we have dealings. They may be kept on sin¬ 
gle ledger pages, with a dJuble ruled column for 
debt and credit, thus: 
Jorr.v Brown. 
Jan. 1.—To 60 lambs at $1 each 
Jan. 1.—By his note, payable in earns, as per 
prom’y note acc., page 1.$60 00 
A farmer may, if he choose to do so, open an ac¬ 
count with each crop, or field, or with his farm in 
general, or with any special Investment in stock, or 
all of these. In that case, such accounts, as with 
persons, should be charged with all cost anil expen¬ 
ses, and credited with nil receipts. 
The memorandum book is for records of every 
kind which do not appropriately belong to the 
ledger. Charges against transient persons, with a 
margin for record of settlement; spaces sufficient for 
one year for the birth and fecundation of stock; a 
record of all contracts; the time, earned and lost, of 
domestics and laborers; details of harvests of all 
kinds; of planting trees; diary of farm work; notes 
of the weather; spaces for valuable recipes; the 
arrival and departure of vidtors; records of some 
deaths and marriages; of sheep shearing; of mailing 
valuable letters; the purchase of stock, with the age 
of the animals; about line fences; the yearly assess¬ 
ment of taxes; maps of fields and farm; when fodder¬ 
ing begins, and when it ends; when winter sets in; 
when the hogs were shut up to fat. In short, any¬ 
thing and everything of which the farmer desires to 
preserve a record. This book has often refreshed 
my own memory, and that of others, relative to 
BANK BARN FOR A FIFTY-ACRE FARM, 
Ens. Rural New-Yorker: — Inclosed you will 
find a rude draft of a barn I am about building 
for grain and stock, which I think is well adapted to 
the wunts of a small farmer. I havo made no allow¬ 
ance for sheep, having already a wagon house, with 
stone basement for sheep standing at right angles 
with the bam, but part of the open shed might he 
divided off for a small number of sheep. Basement, 
3.‘J by 41 inside, stone wall on three sides 20 inches 
thick, 8 feet high. Wooden wall around stables, on 
stone foundation. Floor of stables paved with cob¬ 
ble stone. Partitions between stables breast high. 
Two stout bents in passage to support middle sill of 
Credit. 
Debtor. 
$60 00 
A Sweet-Scented, Troublesome Grass. 
Eds. Rural Nkvy-Yorker:— Inclosed I send a sample of 
a kind of grass which I find scattered in small patches, here 
and there, over about twenty acres of a farm that I purchased 
a year ago. It seems to spread very rapidly by the roots, 
some of which are one and a half to two feet long. You 
will notice that it is very fragrant. It U something entirely 
new to me, and 1 will thank you to inform me in the Rural 
its name, nature, and the ben method of exterminating it._ 
I. S. Lkktb, Money Creek, Mitt., 1801. 
The grass sent us with the above is Hierochloa 
borealis, or Holy grass, from the fact that it was 
customary to strew it before the doors of churches 
on festivals and holy days, iu the North of Europe. 
It is aisp called Vanilla grass, on account of its line 
fragrance, very similar to that of the vanilla bean. 
It is found on wet ground in all the Eastern, Western, 
and Northern States, and as far South as Virginia. 
It is also a native of Europe, and its fragrance causes 
it to be sown sometimes in gardens. While it is 
among the earliest of the spring grasses, it is of little 
value, on account of the sparsenesa of its foliage, 
while its powerful creeping roots, like those of the 
couch grass, makes its eradication very diflieult, and 
it becomes a troublesome weed to the farmer. 
Thorough and persevering cultivation, raking out 
the roots, and drying them in heaps, as must be done 
when ground is badly infested with couch grass, is 
basement. 
barn. H, horse Btable; C, cow stable; P, passage; 
S, stairway to upper floor; O, oat bin; W, windows; 
D, doors; S, shed; P, P, stone pillars; R, root house, 
IS 
c 
B 
_ 
1 1— 
a 
2) 
i 
