AGR1CULTU 
\OT> bw, 
y a ,-. 
[SINGLE ISTO. ITOUI-t CJECNTS. 
MOORE’S RURAL NEW-YORKER, 
AN ORIGINAL WEKKLT 
agricultural, literary and family journal 
under ordinary culture, is seldom finely pulverized 
even on the surface, and less frequently to a proper 
depth, so that in a dry time it is almost impossible 
for the water to be drawn from below by capillary 
attraction, while in light lands everything as favor¬ 
able to the process. The light soil is thus more 
open to the atmosphere, which can permeate through 
it, leaving a portion of its moisture, as It would of 
course do, in coming in contact with the colder 
earth. Although more dew is condensed on the 
surface of olay soils, we think the elJifct is not as 
beneficial as the less quaulity on the lighter, as it 
remains on the surface, to be dissipated bv the first 
Eds. Rural Nkw-Yorkkr:—T here is nothing more impor 
tant than that the fanner should know just what the tenni 
used to designate different soils mean, for if he does not thm 
understand, much that is writteo will not he understood. 
Will you inform us, then, jnst what wc are to understand by 
Clay, Sandy, Loamy soils, Ac.? Also, 1 would like to know 
why it ia that a sandy soil will endure drouth better than a 
clay soil, (for I believe this to be a fact,) while the clay will 
retain and hold more moistnre than a Boil where sand pre¬ 
dominates? Any other iacts in regard to the interesting 
subject of soils, their nature, comparative value, and the 
best mode of treating different varieties of soils, will be very 
thankfully received by at least one reader of the Rural, and 
l doubt not by many others.-M W. P., Crestline , Ohio. 
Tins is a subject too extensive to bo fully discussed 
in an ordinary article, much less in the few lines 
usually allotted to answering Inquiries. Nothing 
can be more important than a knowledge of the soils 
we cultivate, and it ia also 
CONDUCTED BY D. D, T. MOOBE, 
With an Able Corps of Assistants and Contributors, 
Thb Rckai. New-Yorker is designed to be unsurpassed in 
'Alue, Purity. Usefulness and Variety of Contents, and unique 
and beautiful In Appearance Its Conductor devotes his per- 
«onal attention to the enpervision of it« yanous departments, 
and earnestly labors to render the Rural an eminently 
Reliable Onide on all the important Practical, Scientific and 
other Subjects Intimately connected with the business of 
those Whore -o tv rests it jealously advocates. As a Family 
Jopwa. ,t is eminently Instructive and Entertaining-being 
so conducted that it can be safely taken to the Hearts and 
Homes of people of intelligence, taste and discrimination. It 
embraces inure Agricultural. Harticwltural, Scientific, Educa- 
tion»l, literary and News Matter, interspersed with appropriate 
And beautiful Engravings, than any other journal, - rendering 
it the most complete Agricultural, Literary and Family 
.NzwflPAPlfR In .America. 
ueceasary to know tho 
terms used to denote the different classes into which 
they have been arranged, for without this, much that 
we read will give but an uncertain sound. It ia 
somewhat, difficult to arrange the various soils into 
a few classes, from the fact that while they range 
from clay to almost pure sand, and the difference 
between these extremes is very great, it is made by 
such short steps that no distinct line of demarkation 
is to be found. 
Soils are classified according to the preponderance 
of one of their principal constituents. For instance, 
soils arc composed of a mixture of sand, gravel! 
clay, lime, and vegetable and animal remains (humus). 
Most soils contain all of these, but In different pro¬ 
portions, and a natural division is therefore founded 
on the preponderance of one of these four constitu¬ 
ents, A soil is called sandy when it contains a large 
proportion of sand, about eighty per cent.; Clayey 
when containing more than fifty per cent, of clay; 
fa/rareuur when having more than twenty per cent. 
01 lime; vegetable mold when containing more than 
bix per cent, of organic matter; foam when there is 
supposed to be a desirable combination of sand, 
clay and vegetable mold, fhese uro the mincim-' 
siTonons, mn mere are otner minor ones In common 
use among agriculturists and agricultural writers. 
Loam is called ciau loam. whAn ninu 
rHN 03iKi INAI 
Horses in the last volume (I860) of the Agriculture 
of Massachusetts: 
“ The famous stallion, Black Hawk, is thought, hy 
some, to have been got by Sherman Morgan out of a 
hall-bred English mare, said to have been raised lu 
New Brunswick, and to have been of a black color, 
a last trotter, and a very line animal. 'Phis horse was 
foaled in 1833, in Greenland, New Hampshire, and 
when four years old, wus purchased for $W5(), and 
used as a roadster hy Bkn.i. Thurston, of Lowell, 
nrUil 1844.. As he was a beautiful, spirited horse, 
able to trot bis mile in two minutes and forty 
seconds, and us the few colts lie had got proved 
remarkably promising, he was then bought bv Major 
I>a vir> Hill, of llridport, Vermont, who kept him 
until his death in 1850. Black Hawk was about 
fifteen hands high, and weighed nine hundred and 
(itty pounds. His skeleton is preserved in the 
Museum of Natural History, at the State House in 
Boston. He was a horse of almost perfect form for a 
roadster, compact, symmetrical and muscular, and 
possessed of most beautiful head, neck, and limbs. 
He was active, elegant, spirited, aud pleasant, and 
marked his offspring with his own peculiar excel¬ 
lencies and characteristics, even to color, more 
brated horse “Black Hawk” we are indebted to 
the courtesy of Chas. L. Flint, Esq., Secretary of 
the Mass. Board of Agriculture. It is said to be 
the most accurate representation of that beautiful 
aud far-famed animal ever given to the public, and 
we are Confident it will be admired by the large 
number of our readers who have had the pleasure 
of seeing the original a horse remarkublc for his 
Intelligence, beauty, style and other excellent quab 
I ties- Of the American horses which became cele¬ 
brated in his day, Black Hawk was "the noblest 
Homan of them all.’’ In the language of a eontem 
porary “We fear it will be long before wo shall 
look npon his like again. Home of his descendants 
are of rare beauty and action, but it would be 
wonderful If they possess that combination of 
beauty, grace, courage, speed and endurance which 
the old hero bore so proudly.” 
Black Hawk is generally snuDosed to have heart 
No, VIII 
.new-xokkeii, his services in that capacity to com¬ 
mence with the first issue of its new half volume 
(July 6). 
To the large number of our readers who are aware 
of the ability of Mr. Bragdon as a writer, the above 
br/cf aruiuuncemeot gives sufficbm* assurance \b«* 
mis arrangement must add largely to the strength of 
the Mural, and prove highly advantageous to its 
patrons. For the Information of others, however, 
ffe “ a Y state that Mr. B. is peculiarly and eminently 
qualified for the position of Western Editor of a 
journal circulating throughout the Eastern, Northern 
and Western States. Added to the fact that he is a 
native and until some five years ago a resident of 
this State, and familiar with the practices and views 
Of ate farmers, Mr. B, has had superior opportunities 
to become thoroughly informed in regard to the 
People and Agriculture of the West. During his 
connection with The Prairie Fanner he has traveled 
much, observed closely, and written well concerning 
the Agriculture of the West, and is therefore quali- 
: ‘ e ' Bpea,$ advisedly to our numerous readers 
throughout that region, as well as to impart informa- 
bon of iuterest and value to those residing in New 
lork, Pennsylvania and the more eastern States, 
udeed, perhaps there is no man of our acquaintance 
better qualified for the position named than Mr 
Bkaodon— for his antecedents, experience,and ability 
to obtain and impart the kind of information we 
desire to furnish, are such that his contributions to 
de Rural muBt possess peculiar value and materi- 
Wy enhance the pleasure and profit which its tens of 1 
toeusands of readers derive from its pages, 
ib. Bragdon proposesto travel extensively through 1 
,® Ve8t dnrijl « the summer and autumn - visiting 1 
, 6 , 8t farmers, farms, and farming regions, and < 
describing such noteworthy matters (pertaining to » 
gncnlture, Horticulture, Ac.,) as will be likely to 1 
1 ove interesting and useful to our readers. Assured ' 
inat ^ WJ]] prove wort hy the utmost C0lllid we 
orally commend Mr. B. to our Western readers, i 
' indeed to all who favor and would aid in promo- 1, 
fe Lural Progress and Improvement. j, 
- It may be proper to state that the above arrange- * 
ent, increasing our force and expenses at a time P 
had uo Morgan blood in him. Linsley’s “Morgan 
Horses,” (published some years ago’) says he was 
aired by Sherman, g. sire, Justin Morgan; dam, a 
half bred English mare, raised in New Brunswick,— 
“ a very fine animal, black, and a fast trotter.” The 
same authority says—“A few years since a rumor 
was circulated that he was not sired by Sherman, but 
by a French horse called Paddy. The only founda¬ 
tion for such a report seems to have been the 
resemblance between tho two homes in color, both 
being black.” It ia added that the affidavit of the 
owner of Sherman, testifying that Sherman was 
coupled with the dam of Black Hawk in 1832, has 
been published, and also the sworn testimony of 
others who had every opportunity of knowing the 
facts thus pretty effectually settling the question. 
But the question of pedigree is not yet satisfac¬ 
torily settled, as will be seen by reference to the note 
at the conclusion of the following description of 
Black Hawk, which we quote from the Report on 
ter produced—for there are hundreds of families 
with one or two cows who make for their own use, 
aud are not counted with the aggregate. 
Df all the butter which goes to market from this 
Btatc, not oae-fifth is strictly a prime article, and of 
that fifth probably a half may be deducted for a not 
perfectly pure article. Indeed so limited is the sec¬ 
tion where the very best butter can be produced, that 
1 doubt whether the estimate is not even now too 
up two feet higher, and connecting with the wall 
to form the foundation. Upon this foundation 
was erected a balloon frame with eight feet posts, 
boarded outside and in, and the wall made a» tight as 
possible. Upon the ledge created by the offset a 
wall about four inches high and wide is made on the 
front, by which, being well plastered with the 
cement, a gutter or vat is made some three inches 
deep, with a slight descent to the corner opposite to 
that where the water ia introduced. Into this 
vat the fresh milk is set while warm, and cold water 
conducted into it from the well. The milk cools 
rapidly, and a low temperature iB maintained through 
the day or night. At each milking the pans are 
removed to the shelves to make room for the fresh 
milk. Some very nice dairy houses are rigged up 
entirely above ground, and one I saw last summer in 
the town ot Bolon, Cortland county, was so arranged 
that it seemed almost as good as a snrincr-houHe. In 
quality, 
Where water power cannot be had, sheep 
power ia preferable to dog power, for small dairies; 
horse or steam for large ones. 
1 he condition of the cream or milk when churned 
is of tho highest importance, for upon that depends 
the value of the butter. If tainted in the slightest 
degree, no good butter can be obtained. Every 
thing about the dairy must be sweet and pure. I’ure 
air is as essential as pure water, und as much butter 
is spoiled by foul air where the milk is set as by any 
other cause. Many a dairy woman has wondered 
why her batter wus not as good as her neighbor’s; 
she bad juBtas good cows, and was quite sure she 
took as much pains and knew how to make good 
butter. Her mother always had good butter, ob¬ 
taining the highest market price, and why she did 
not also get the best price was a wonder. Her 
father probably was a very neat man, and did not 
have his hog pen just under the win ow of the milk 
room, the privy on one side aud the sink hole on the 
other. Hundreds of farmers lose from live to ten 
cents per pound upon all their butter by a neglect of 
the most obvious rules of neatness, and then blame 
their wiveB fox the faults of their own shiftlessness. 
Then agaiu there arc great numbers of farmers that 
water their cattle at some slough hole of stagnant 
water, and then wonder thut their hotter is not of the 
best. Let no man look for good butter who has not 
pure water, and Hweet, good herbage for his cows, aud 
pure air in and around his milk room.— 1 \ 
nothing. 
3 he dairy woman cannot do her part well if she do 
not have the advantage of proper fixtures and imple¬ 
ments. A good, cool place for setting the milk in 
summer is absolutely indispensable, and there is no 
farm where cows can be kept profitably, that such a 
place cannot be provided at small expense. The use 
of spring houses is one of the causes for the good 
butter of the hilly regions. But a good spring house 
can be made near a well, and oftener much more 
convenient, as being nearer the bouse than the spring. 
saw a very nice one, which answered an admirable 
purpose, and is a model of its kind. The ground 
was excavated about four feet by some twelve feet 
Bquare, and a solid stone wall two feet thick, laid in 
cement, four feet high. The floor inside was also 
laid in cement, slightly inclining to one corner. The 
wall was carried up full width four feet, and then an 
offset of 18 inches was made to the rear 
•uiiis’iiff 
