®tMt 
p- ~flGRICULTURC 
iDOTJK. CENTS, 
“PROGRESS AND IMI 
FOR TIIE WEEK ENDING SATURDAY, AUGUST 24, 1861 
ia the moist manure, the decomposition oi toe 
earthy phosphate. This substance is sulphate 
of ammonia, which is always present in Peru¬ 
vian guano. In fact, on adding a little sulphato 
of ammonia to a mixture In water of oxalate of 
ammonia and of freshly precipitated phosphate 
of lime, mutual decomposition of the last two 
salts took place in a few hours. The sulphate 
of ammonia renders the phosphate ot lime some¬ 
what soluble, and thus promote;) its decompo¬ 
sition by the oxalate of ammonia. 
The action of guano is therefore two-fold, de¬ 
pending, in the first place, on Its soluble nitro- 
j gen compounds, and in the second, on its soluble 
In this last respect its effect is 
MOORE’S RURAL NEW-YORKER, 
AN ORIGINAL WEEKLY 
agricultural, literary and family journal 
CONDUCTED BY D. D. T. MOORE, 
With an Able Corps of Assistants and Contributors. 
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Tint RCJUL Nkw-Yorkkr is designed to be unsurpassed in 
Valun, Purity. Usefulness and Variety of Contents,and unitpie 
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and earnestly labors to render the Ri-uai. an eminently 
Reliable Guide on all the Important Practical, Scientific and 
other Subjects intimately connected with the business of those 
whose interest* it zealously advocates. Ax a Family JOURNAL 
it ig eminently Instructive and Entertaining - being so con¬ 
ducted that it can be safely taken to the Hearts and Home) Of 
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more Agricultural, Hortlcnltural, Scientilic, Educational, 
Literary aud News Matter, Interspersed with appropriate and 
beautiful Engravings, than any other journal.—rendering 
it the most complete Agricultural, Literary ant> Family 
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phosphates, 
similar to that of a superphos’lutte. jj| 
The foregoing decomposition in guano do- | 
pends evidently to a greater or less extent on | 
i lie weather. Conti nuad moderate moist weather | 
promotes the conversion of the insoluble phos- | 
phoric acid into a soluble form, while heavy || 
falls of rain retard it, by washing out the oxa- g 
late of ammonia. Hence, from this depeudaneo 1 
on lime and moisture, we are not always certain V 
of this transformation taking place in this ma- . 
mire in the soil. 
1 have discovered a very simple method of 
rendering the action of guano constant in con¬ 
nection with the conversion of the phosphoric 
acid into a soluble form. It consists in moisten¬ 
ing it a day or two before its application with a 
little water, to which a small quantity of oil of vitriol 
has been added, so as to render it distinctly acid. 
Under these circumstances decomposition takes place 
rapidly, and is completed In a few hours. The whole 
of the phosphoric acid. n|tTe»pondlng to the quan¬ 
tity <>r oxalic acid presell ' s separated from the 
lime, and rendered solulf' by union with ammonia; 
and the oxalic acid disa’/rears entirely as an insolu¬ 
ble oxalate of lime. 
I am very anxious t'. 
duced t^xnake compass 
alone, ai;d after beiujj 
phnric acid. • _ 
drops in England. 1 
ing Ingredients. I have never gone higher than 
new milk, which they always take without sweeten¬ 
ing. Iu the first place, 1 must aay that I exhibit at a 
few of the leading agricultural meetings, and am 
generally, if not at the top of the ladder, not many 
spokes off. 1 keep iny breeding stock different to 
my show stock, as I do not like breeding animals to 
be over-fat; but show animals are obliged to be fat, 
or the judges will pass them over. The over-feeding 
of prise animals is a very great evil, but one that 
cannot be very well remedied. A show of lean 
breeding animals would be a very lean show indeed 
in many respects. An exhibitor must always sacri¬ 
fice some of his best animals to please the public 
fancy, i think these is less risk n fat breeding pigs 
than any other animal. I have had several very fat 
sows pig, and never Yost any. I gave them nothing 
but a very little bran and water a week before pig- 
| ging, and but little atter for a week, while I put a 
at if they failed to attract attention, not only on the I little castor oil in their food directly after pigging, 
part of those who are already acquainted with the 
breed, bat also of those persons who were strangers 
to it. And the Shropshire men are doing it every 
justice. They are justly prond of the breed which 
takes its distinctive name from their own shire, and 
they are, therefore, quite right in neither hiding its 
light under a bushel nor permitting it to retrograde, 
and thus become less worthy of public favor. It is 
improving, in fact, every year; and a retrospect of 
the last dozen years will satisfy any one who knows 
it that such is the fact. 
Widening their circle, as they are annually doing 
in England, the Shropsliirea have crossed to this side 
of the channel, and we believe that there is not a 
dissenting voice among those who have had expe¬ 
rience of them in Ireland as to their merit, whether 
the breed has been kept pure, or the rams used for 
crossing. In the latter point of view, us we have 
repeatedly shown by reference to facts, the Shrop¬ 
shire occupies a foremost place. Very inferior ewes, 
whether black-faced Scotch, or the smaller descrip¬ 
tion of Irish sheep, when put to pure-bred Shrop 
rams, produce stock which, either as butcher's lambs, 
or to be kept on for a year longer, are most remuner¬ 
ative to the breeder, profitable to the butcher, and 
liked by the consumer. This is the class of stock 
we want; for the day has gone by when filling the 
cook's grease-pot—her perquisite by prescriptive 
right—was the first thing to be considered in the 
selection of a joint. A Shrop lays equally oil just 
EUROPEAN AGRICULTURE 
Ob’ ANT A YUSIIlit*! KTJ 
its, should quently that “ lat-tailed sheep,” so entirely given 
lly deepen over to the responsibilities of maternity, must not be 
Id be deep, allowed to interfere at the present. At some future 
tie breadth period we will turn our attention to the hearer of the 
oleaginous nari’iitive.” 
between the hocks. The quiirters with the pelvis 
Hhould be roomy—the buttocks square, and somewhat 
fioshy—the distance between the tup of the tail and 
the hock joints should lie extreme. Thtt hock joints 
should he broad, as well us the legs above and beneath 
these joints. The legs short, somewhat delicately 
formed at the joints us well as at the fetlocks, und 
the animal should appear short legged. The feet 
should be round, somewhat large, and strong. The 
tail should be set ».m rather at n i;n:, vo than «t. right 
augles. It should be long, tapering towards the 
point, and the quantity of hair at the point should be 
moderate. 
The form of the milk vessel is of paramount impor¬ 
tance. It can scarcely be too capacious. It should 
be placed well forward on the belly, and appear 
behind the line of the thighs, it should have a some¬ 
what square form, but. not low, heavy, nor loose, nor 
tleshy. The color of tho udder is by some alBo 
deemed of great importance. It should be rather 
white than brown, except tho color of the skin bo 
wholly brown or black. The milk veins ahould be 
large and prominent. The teats should he placed 
wide apart, rather small, and pointing outwards. 
Next in importance to the form of the udder, is the 
touch. The skin should be thin, having the soft feel 
of a fine kid glove. The hair should be soft, and some¬ 
what woolly. The color should be distinct; dark red, 
WAR AND AGRICULTURE 
their effect upon agrieiiltm^, to say a few words to 
my brother farmers in this time of alarm and excite¬ 
ment. EVcry one seems to be carried away with the 
excitement,— every uno seems to take It for granted 
that war must necessarily bring hard times and em¬ 
barrassment, and ruin, to all onr commercial inter¬ 
ests. Now, if wo continue this course, want of con¬ 
fidence, and general embarrassment will assuredly 
follow. If we keep up this mad dog cry against our 
own prosperity, we shall of course suiter. Tho dog 
against which the cry is raised, though perfectly 
well, suffers just as much as though rabid. Hut is 
tills necessary! is this commercial ruin the neces¬ 
sary result, of the war, or is it tho result of our own 
unreasonable fear and alarm? It is the first time in 
the history of the world that 1 have known war to 
cause hard times. Jn Europe war Is always oonsid 
ered the sure percursor of commercial activity and 
general prosperity, and particularly so to the farmer 
and those engaged in the work of producing. Tho 
English farmer, though he may moralize a little upon 
the evils of lighting, receives the declaration of war 
with a good deal of ill-concealed pleasure, knowing 
as lie does that while many may suffer he will gain 
in wealth. Produce, manufactures, almost every¬ 
thing, advances iu value, In fact puts on what is 
called “ war priceH,” money is circulated freely, 
agriculturists may be in- 
^(•xpw iments with guano 
.stemM will! diluted nul 
Wet, ungonial weat'K Jor the week or ten days 
previous to the leaving Wt no last steamer, has cast 
a gloom over English farmers. The potato disease 
has appeared earlier than common and with unusual 
energy. Wheat is affected with rust and mildew to 
a great extent, and the former is particularly inju¬ 
rious, and affects most seriously the white varieties, 
particularly the Russian White. The Mangel Wnrzel, 
particularly In tho Sonth of England, is affected with 
a blight of tho leaves, from which a great injury to 
the crop is anticipated; but, a greater evil than this 
is found in the swarms of aphis, wlileh cover toe 
leaves in very many fields. For thiB, I>r. Ltndi.ky 
remarks, there is no certain cure, except snch as 
would involve a greater expense than the worth of 
the plants. 
IMPROVED CATTLE — AYRSHIRES, 
Coulu the Rural not give ns a cat of an A 
and cow? We, of the Pennsylvania backwoods, 
after this breed of cattle with much interest. . 
(or Bat) tailed China sheep, which are stud to 
times per year, and bring frem one to Bve iamb 
Is this a true I rill, or ia there some “cotton” al 
Crawford Co., Pit,, 1861. 
Our Keystone friend 
the “ 
pa a white ground. The very light colors, approach¬ 
ing to white, are objectionable." 
’J’he chief object in breeding Ayrsblres is to sup¬ 
ply the dairy with good, profitable milkers, and for 
this specialty they are highly esteemed. Upon this 
point Youatt remarks:—“The excellency of a dairy 
cow is estimated by the quantity and quality of her 
will please bear witness that 
spirit of accommodation” reigns hereabout, for 
we give him portraits of two fine representations of 
the breed which has made the county of Ayr cele¬ 
brated in the dairy annals of the “Land 0 Cokes,” 
The modern Ayrshires rank among stock growers 
as a “made-up-breed,” for they are generally con¬ 
ceded t@ be a union of the Holstein, or Teeswater 
Short-horns, aud the Alderney’s, with the ancient 
stock of Ayr. Their introduction is of compara¬ 
tively recent date, as Aiton, who wrote in 1815, 
remarks “that one century ago there was no such 
breed in Scotland.” 
To the volume of the Rukai, for 1869 we gave 
descriptions of the varions unproved breeds of cattle, 
aud we republish the pen sketch of the Ayrshires then 
used, as we believe it fills all the requirements. “The 
head of both male and female should be small, rather 
long, and tapering towards the muzzle, which should 
be darker than the color of the skin. The eye large, 
lively, but not too prominent. In both hull and cow 
the jawbone should bo strong, and opeu behind to 
admit of the throat being fully developed where it 
passes from the head into the neck. ’1 he horns 
should be small, clean, croaked, and placed at con¬ 
siderable distance from one another at the setting 
on. The ears rather large, and orange tipped in the 
inside. The neck long, slender, tapering towards 
the head, and having the appearance of hollowness; 
the Bkin and throat loosely attached to the lower part 
of the neck. The point of the wither or shoulder 
should he thin. The shoulder blades should be close 
Baron Liebig on the Action of Peruvian Guano. 
Baron von Liebig, in a letter, dated June 14, to 
Dr. Bi.vrn, of Queen’s College, Cork, Ireland, makes 
the following important statements in regard to the 
action of Peruvian guano: 
There is a very prevalent opinion among agricul¬ 
turists that guano produces a greater effect than an 
artificial mixture containing the same quantity of 
bone phosphate (3 Ca O, POs), and of nitrogen in 
the form of salts of ammonia, 
I have myself ob¬ 
served In experimenting on a piece of meadow laud, 
that those portions on which guano was strewed 
became very soon conspicuous by darker green grass, 
while an artificial mixture, as above stated, appeared 
to exert scarcely any action. 
This hitherto unexplained rapidity of action is due 
to the presence of oxalic acid in Peruvian guano. 
When guano is extracted with water, a solution ia 
obtained which Contains about 2 per cent, of phos¬ 
phoric acid, and fi to 8 per cent, of oxalate of am¬ 
monia. If, however, guano be mixed with water, 
and the moistened mass be left standing for some 
days (just the state in which it would be in the soil), 
it ia found on extracting with water from time to 
time a portion of the moistened mass that the amount 
of phosphoric acid has increased, and that of oxalic 
acid diminished. This reaction continues many days, 
the quantity of soluble phosphoric acid daily increas¬ 
ing in proportion to the diminution of oxalic acid, 
until at last the oxalic aud almost entirely disap¬ 
pears from the solution, and in ita place is now 
found a corresponding amount of phosphoric acid. 
The idea immediately occurs, that from the long 
contact with water the phosphate of lime and oxalate 
of ammonia decompose each other into oxalate of 
lime aud phosphate of ammonia. 
But in a neutral solution of oxalate of ammonia, 
phosphate of lime is not decomposed, or at least 
only very Blowly. There must, therefore, be in guano 
some other substance which is the means of causing, 
AN AYRSHIRE COW. 
milk. The quantity yielded by the Ayrshire cow is, 
considering her size, very great. Five gallons daily, 
for two or three months after calving, may be con¬ 
sidered as not more than an average quantity. Three 
gallons daily will be given for the next three months, 
anil one gallon and a half for the succeeding four 
months. This would amount to more than 850 gal¬ 
lons; but allowing for some unproductive cows, (500 
gallons per year may be tho average quantity annually 
from each cow.” The writer just quoted, estimates 
the quality of the milk, for butter or cheese making, 
much lower than any other author, calculating one 
and one-hulf pounds of batter to three anil one-hulf 
gallons of milk—an average of 257 pounds to each 
cow, per annum — aud to twenty-eight gallons of 
milk, with the cream, a yield 24 pounds of cheese, or 
514 pounds yearly. 
Thus much for the Ayrshires. Th« lover of fine 
stock certainly has enough to “fill his eye” while 
glancing at their peculiarities and beautieB, conse- 
Breeding and Feeding Figs. 
George Mangles, Esq., of Yorkshire, who has 
given much attention to the breeding and feeding of 
pigs, generally carrying off most of the best prizes 
at the leading Shows, and who has, by careful breed¬ 
ing, originated what is called the “ Improved Cum¬ 
berland and Yorkshire Hogs,” gives in the London 
Farmers' Magazine an interesting paper on the 
breeding and feeding of pigs, from which we make 
a few extracts: 
Milk and fat must go in at the mouth before it 
makes its appearance in the animal. I do not be¬ 
lieve those who say their pigs get fat on nothing. 
I know from experience that one pig would live 
where another would starve, and what would take to 
