I&ural Jfotcs ani (BUteries 
the past year, have ecu renovating; and beauti¬ 
fying- their homes, < ilargiug' and repairing their 
barns and sheds, a d rebuilding their fences.- 
They have, brougl an increased area of land 
under cultivation, nd titled it tor improved ma¬ 
chinery. They little expended more money in 
the purchaseofnevjReapers and Mowers, Grain- 
Drills and improve l Farm Implements and Ma¬ 
chinery, than ever cforo in a single year. They 
have taken an incensed interest id t he improve¬ 
ment of their brctils of Sheep, Cattle, and, in 
fact, all kinds of Fain Stock. The productions 
of the Dairy have bifn largely increased, anti the 
cost, of manufactuing materially Lessened by 
associated and sysilmatic effort. Tlic culture 
of Tobacco, Cotton, Flax and Sorghum, in the 
more Northern States, has been considerably in¬ 
creased. Increased attention has been given 
to the cultivation t>f Frnit, particularly the 
Grape and the lVar Farmers are, in a small de¬ 
gree, losing their old time prejudice against 
•• Book-Farming "-agricultural books and pa¬ 
pers are more generally read, and they are find¬ 
ing that, after all, It is not all trash ; some of the 
suggestions, at least, are worth remembering. 
Perhaps in no one thing has more iinprove- 
becauso it meets the immediate wants of some 
subscriber, or possibly because it just tills our 
unappropriated space, &<■-, Ac. According j, 
more important communications may he, and 
often are, postponed for these. TV c have a num¬ 
ber of valuable ones which have been in our 
possession for months —awaiting a more fitting 
season for publication. 
Our friends will understand that we propose 
to publish, reply to, or take other fitting notice 
of, all sensibly written communications on the 
legitimate topics of sheep husbandry and none 
the less so when they are sent to us by plain, 
practical men, wholly unaccustomed to writing 
for the public, press. Therefore, he who finds 
ids article deferred will nut necessarily infei that 
it is rejected. 
We may be allowed, in this connection, to 
advert to those requests which we so often 
receive to reply to inquiries by letter rather 
than through the columns of this paper. The 
writers doubtless think that the topics they thus 
broach possess too little iuterest for publica¬ 
tion — or they are reluctant to have public atten¬ 
tion called to themselves or their affairs. They 
are generally mistaken in the first particular; 
and there is no occasion for their scruples in the 
last, so long as we do not refuse, w hen the real 
name and address of the writer is given to us (as 
Thanks ! —Patience i — Our thanks are cordially 
tendered to the thousands who are flooding us with 
subscriptions, communications, advertisements and 
good wishes. If we had time and space we would fain 
make suitable acknowledgment,—lmt can only bow, 
hastily and awkwardly, to hosts of Rubai friends, 
near and distant. And as it is hard work to even open, 
glance at and attend to the more pressing business re¬ 
quirements of letters, we must be excused for not 
replying—as requested, and wo desire—to scores of 
friends. Patience, please, until we can breathe freor ! 
—but don’t stop “clubbing" US while any in your 
vicinity arc without < he Rubai. ! 
trade at the stores, the inquirers being astonished 
at the low nmount in comparison to theirs. 
Ail this, my friends, is brought, about by hav¬ 
ing it understood that you Mg paying J't/r a farm. 
are other objects, my friends, besides 
farm that demands our at- 
idows and orphans of 
friends who have left their homes and have 
Here is a noble 
iigage in, that loudly calls for 
Mention, and that will probably absorb all | 
that can reasonably be spared from our resources. | 
This is a work that all can engage in, without 
any difference of opinion, since the objects on 
whom blessings are conferred, admit the giving 
of every shade of value or kind, from “ a cup of 
cold water,” or a kind look, to the gifts of those 
who are aide to give with a liberal hand. 
It seems to me necessary in these times, that 
the attention of the public should be called to 
this subject, and 1 have therefore adopted the 
above heading to arrest the attention, trusting 
that a hint is sufficient to arouse the community 
to activity, and thereby draw' their minds away 
from this ray for drees and amusements which is 
now eating us up like a eaueer. 8. t. 
Bradford Co,, Pa. 
Remarks. —There is substance In the above 
article, and it should be read again, and acted 
upon. There was never a better time to pay' lor 
a farm—never more need of the practice of econ 
oray—never such demands upon our hearts and 
purees for benevolent actions, and probably 
never a time when money was so wantonly 
| wasted. 
CONDENSED CORRESPONDENCE, ITEMS, &c 
Ralston's Combined Surer Rack and Trough — 
Wc are requested to give our opinion of this. For a 
movable in-door rack, it lias many good points. It 
prevents waste. Sheep do woL pull hay out of it. and 
drop it under foot, even as much as from the slatted 
box-rack. The leaves and seed arc caught in the bot¬ 
tom. and are mostly consumed, as in the Rich wall- 
rack. In respect to preventing the stronger from rob¬ 
bing the weaker sheep, it stands ou a par wilh both of 
tile above highly approved racks. Like the Rich rack 
it has a trough of its own—and it is highly convenient 
for feeding grain, roots and cut feed. For cut feed wc 
prefer it to any other. Wo have not tried it ont of 
doors in rainy or snowy weather; but indoors, and 
where, the sheep can tx shut away while hay is being put 
in it, the Ralston rack perhaps answers the combined 
purposes of a rack and trongh quite as well as any 
other movable one now In use, It cannot, howevei, be 
used either as a wall or partition rack. 
If all onr readers do not remember what IUt.eTON'.- 
raekis, we will mention that its prominent features 
are a broad trough of boards, with a horizontal slatted 
rack lying on it and hinged to one of its sides, so that 
it can be turned up to allow bay to be put in the 
trough. A railing runs along the middle of the rack 
lengthwise to prevent sheep jumping over or into it. 
There 
that of payiny for 
trillion. We have the 
our 
died in defence of our country, 
work for ail to 
our a 
Tun Weather — Has been decidedly wintry thus far 
in January. The temperature for the first half of the 
month was &)i degrees lower than the average for the 
past 38 years. The snow storm on the 10th and 11th 
was the heaviest for several years in this region;—but 
while it was snowing here, a heavy raiu fell at Dtica, 
130 miles east. Before the 10th we had -1 or 5 inches of 
enow, and since the heavy fall (ou 10th and 11th) other 
storms have occurred so that the depth of the “ white 
mantle" is probably now from 18 to 20 Inches. The 
eter marking 8* above Zero, 
door business lively. 
We promised that the numbers 
Promptly Mailed. 
of this volume or the Rural should lie more promptly 
issued and mailed than were those of the last, and we 
are fulfilling the promise. Thus far this year the paper 
has been pat to press one day earlier, and the edition 
mailed more speedily, than formerly. But agents and 
subscribers will remember that it is impossible for us 
package unless ordered at 
this subject, in my humble opinion, 11 Randall’s 
Practical Shepherd,” and, I may add, his valua¬ 
ble contributions to the columns of the Rcrai. 
New-Yorker, the past year, have done more to 
fix public attention upon this important branch 
of agriculture, than any other cause. It. is to be 
hoped that the Sheep-breeders and Wool-grow- 
‘ ' lions. If not 
amount of production, at least, in quality of 
staple, we are 
rank among the Wool-growers 
And why should not we occupy that position V I 
It is au accomplished fact that we have (all 
things considered) the best Merino stock in the 
world and the most, careful and intelligent breed¬ 
ers. Our whole country is, in some degree, 
favorable for Sheep husbandry, and our vast 
Prairies nt the West, and South-west, furnish a 
field fully equal to auy country in the world for 
large operations. 
Our greatest want now seems to me to be a 
discriminating market—not “middle-men” who 
buy by the pound, bat experienced manufacturers 
or their agents, who will discriminate in favor 
of clean wool and against grass and dirt. And 
let our State and Local Agricultural Societies 
give liberal premiums, not upon pampered ani¬ 
mals, kept under cover the year around for the 
purpose of retaining all the yolk and dirt in the 
fleece to give it great weight, but award them to 
the Sheep that excel in beauty of form, hardiness 
of constitution, WN% and quality <f washed 
„„„J, jprmlm-'.l •J.ipUiCr least cvpt ..A. I CfrvJ 
care. Were these conditions complied with, we 
should soon witness a marked improvement in 
our flocks. 
1 hope tills subject will be taken up by abler 
pens than mute, and pressed upon public atten- 
tention until a riform is brought about. There 
arc many other “signs of the times” that I would 
like to touch upon, but the length of this com- 
to mail all papers 
one time —at least until we gettho names in type of 
mailing machine. We are at present obliged to mail 
some by machine, and others (recent orders) from 
letters, by hand.—hence the reason of sending different 
packages to same post-office. As soon os we get all 
names in type, each dub Avill bo mailed ot one time, 
but until then we shall continue to mail late orders 
from letters un the day of receipt, instead of waiting to 
put names in type, for the reason that the additions to 
clubs are so numerous thnt we cannot put all in type 
immediately. 
- i 4 t — — — 
Monroe County Ag. Society. —At the annual 
meeting of this Society, held on the 11th inst., the 
Treasurer reported a balance of $908 24 iu the treasury. 
No formal report was made by the President or Board 
of Managers The following Board of Officers was 
elected for 1880 : President— Stepiirn Lkuoktt, Hen¬ 
rietta. Vibe PreslA, — Daniel Warner, Rochester; 
Lorenzo Babcock, Riga; I. 1L Siithcndond, Pittsford. 
j Secretary — John Talbot, Rochester. Treasurer— F. 
W. Lay, Greece, (unanimously rc-nlocled.) Directors 
bly harmless. But we should much prerer to try no 
experiments of this kiud on a flock or valuable ewes 
during gestation. Wheat screenings are apt to con¬ 
tain more or less smut (ergot) which would he hurtful 
to breeding ewes in any quantity, and very hurtful in 
large quantities.__ 
Alpacas.--O ur correspondent from Carlton. Orleans 
Co. N. Y., iaquiresabout "Alpaca Sheep." This ani¬ 
mal belongs to the geuus Uama, and is not therefore a 
sheep. It inhabits the mountains of Peru and subsists 
on coarBe and ecanty herbage. Its wool is nearly a 
foot long and the fleece is said to weigh from ten to 
twelve pounds. It has been several times introduced 
into the United States — with what precise results we 
are not informed, but we believe with not very suc¬ 
cessful oues. Wc should he happy to publish any facte 
in relation to these experiments which may be within 
the actual knowledge of any of our readers. 
Doing ut Taos in Fleeces.—J. N. Churchill, East 
Hubbardton, Vermont, inquires what is the custom 
and what is right, in this particular, It is both cus¬ 
tomary and right to put the tags into the fleece, pro¬ 
vided they are in the same condition with it in regard 
to cleanliness. That is. the tags should be washed 
before they are put iuto washed fleeces; but into un¬ 
washed fleeces, they may be put unwashed, if all 
adhering dung and filth are clipped away. 
ere of Uiis country may long have the benefit, of 
his Intelligent and practical suggest 
in t 
gttval spirit of the gvfS.s 
destined to take, the front 
of the world. 
BEST STOCK COUNTRY 
Winter Feeding Cows. 
We find the following in the AmetHcan Slock 
For winter feeding, good clover 
Editors Rural New-Yorker:—I n answer 
to your several questions relating to the differ* 
cut western localities for the breeding ot sheep, 
I will make a statement of the advantages of this 
part of our planet for stock raising. 
We are located near the line of Los Angeles, 
and Buenevista counties, in California, in a very 
mild and even climate, where stock, in good, 
common seasons, hold fat the year round. The 
rains set iu almost six weeks earlier here than 
they do as far north as Sacramento. Therefore, 
wc have the advantage of putting our sheep and 
cattle into the San Francisco market at a time 
when the least demand is made for the sham¬ 
bles. To the answers: 
1st. Free pasturage abounds all over this 
region bv the thousands of acres; all, excepting 
the old Mexican grants, which are now owned 
by American settlers. The stock pioneers have 
acnerallv secured the most favorable localities 
Journal 
hay and corn fodder, meal mixed with bran 
shorts, middlings, or canail, (the three latter 
names being given in different sections to nearly 
tlie same article, and varying in different mills 
from a very rich to a very poor feed.) Meal from 
a number of varieties Of grain will be found 
more healthy than from any one kind. That 
from Indian corn will usually give a large quan¬ 
tity of rich milk at first, but in most oases will 
soon induce an excess of flesh or fat, and a cor- 
Manv valuable 
responding decrease of milk 
cows have been rendered valueless for milkers 
by one season’s high feeding on Indian meal. 
Cotton seed and oil-meal will have much the 
same effect. Sometimes good cows will show 
an inclination to take ou fat and Increase in 
milk on the commencement of excessive feeding 
on rich feeds. 
For a cow not In calf, or the first six mouths 
she has gone with calf, four quarts per day of 
•jxxr, *a .«**1 oiiun^I. 
ties of corn, rye and outs, will be as much us the 
average of cows will bear and prove lasting and 
profitable; it should be given on cut fodder, or 
on eut hay, wet with hot water, so as to slightly 
steam, and fed in two feeds per day. Where 
roots can be raised with profit they will be fouud 
healthy, and will keep up u better flow of milk 
than most other kinds of feed, but they should 
be fed with other kinds. Wurzel and beets will 
Increase the quality, but will not improve the 
richness, though the IluYor will be benefited. 
Yellow carrots will give less increase iu the 
quantity of milk, but they will improve both 
the quantity and quality of the butter, making 
it finer flavored and higher colored. Roots fed 
in large quantities alone will induce too large 
flow of milk at expense of condition. One feed 
on roots and meal per day will prove better 
than cither alone. Middlings of bran should be 
omitted when feeding roots, as both are loosen¬ 
ing and may scour. Where there is a tendency to 
this, oatmeal is the best food, and it may be bet¬ 
ter to scald it. 
Regularity of feeding is of the greatest im¬ 
portance for all animals, and is never more so 
than in feeding cows; they should have constant 
access to salt —rock salt is the beat, and Turk’s 
Island the best substit ute; if they have it always 
The Rural at “the Front."—Wo verily believe 
no paper has more nrdeut friends in the Union Army 
than the Rural New Yorker. For months wo have 
been in almost daily receipt of subscriptions from 
" at Nashville, Chatta- 
rv.’w Orleans, Newborn, 
Buckwheat as Sheep Feed —R..R. Sackktt, Pyl 
mouth Chenango Co.. N. Y„ inquires whether buck¬ 
wheat is a good feed for sheep. Wc have never tried it. 
i iii-rciso ruim-wimi prevalent.intur«.-»ru>n Uiat.lt tmeses 
sheep to shed their wool, but wc do not giro much 
credit to it. We know that John Johnston of Geneva 
feeds it to fattening sharp and approves of it for that 
purpose; and a more experienced or more skillful 
feeder we have never had amongst ns. Have any of 
onr readers Ted buckwheat u> breeding ewes, find if so 
with what results ? _ 
Sore Eves.—T he cases of aore eyes described by 
Hiram Moulton or Cuba, N, Y„ are doubtless merely 
opthalmia—for treatment of which see Practical Shep¬ 
herd, or back numbers of this paper. Mr. M. may 
rest assured that the disease he describes is not "grub 
in the head.” ___ 
Sr aggers. —Mr. G. K. Shei.don of Perry Center, N. 
Y,, informs us that the ram teg purchased by himself 
and Mr. Oi.in at the last State Fair, for $800, Is dead. 
The symptoms he describes are those of staggers, or 
hydatid on the brain. 
Sale or Paular Lambs.— Messrs. Loan J. and 
Nairn Burgess, Jr., purchased 20 ewe tegs from the 
flock of Virtl-lan Rich of Richville, Vt., for $2,400. 
The purchase was made last fall. 
soldiers “ before Richmond, 
nooga. Memphis, »icKsnurg, 
&c.. and of late we arc having order from Snvnunah. 
Many order the paper to "the front," uud others to 
their families and friends at home. They speak favor¬ 
ably of the Rural’s position in regard to the war, and 
encouragingly as to the prospects of onr army in 
crushing the rebellion. Our last letter from Savannah 
Is so lively that we give it, ns follows: 
Friend Rural:— Hero we arc in the beautiful city 
of Savannah. We entered the place Dec. 21st. Wc 
have had a pleasant time on thin campaign ; no rain 
or 'Johnnies' to bother ue. We had plenty of sun¬ 
shine, and with flour, corn meal, chickens, fresh pork, 
sweet potatoes and honey, we lived ' right up to the 
handle’—in fact we drew nil our sanitarlea from the 
State of Georgia. On leaving Atlanta we had issued 
to ns three days’ rations ot bacon, and from there till 
wc arrived hero Jeff's people furnished the rest. At 
this place t found the Rural awaiting me with its 
clean bright pages: It was a rare treat, 1 can tell you. 
after getting out of the wilderness aud swamps of 
Georgia. 1 send you the Savannah Republican, and $2 
to apply on my subscription to the Rural. — Samuel 
Moore, Co. A, 31st Iowa, 3d Brig., 1st Dlv., 15th A. C. 
small streams of water. These locations can be 
held for one generation, no doubt. 
2d. But very few persons have settled upon 
the grazing lands. There are bauds of sheep 
around us numbering from two to six thousand 
head, and herds of cattle containing from one 
to three thousand head in this section. 
3d. The make of the land is usually rolling 
prairie; near the Sierras, it is more broken aud 
mountainous. There arc. some barren and some 
productive plains, producing alfilarca and other 
species of clover, which is the main dependence, 
PAYING FOR A FARM 
Eds. Rural New-Yorker:—! am led to the 
following reflections, by the every day’s obser¬ 
vation of men that I am mingling with. Who 
has not noticed in these exciting times, when we 
are in the midst of a terrible rebellion, when 
money is flush, and the prices of every thing has 
become exkortiitant, that men and women are 
per to ask ourselves rushing headlong after the luxuries of life, and 
If answered 6atisfac- are to be seen decorated, in silks and furs and 
jewelry of every description. These are trying 
times, and the times that “ try men’s souls,” yet 
we seem to forget ouselVOs and rush ou to ex¬ 
travagances that we hud no idea of indulging in, 
and had resolved, “as for me and my house,” 
we will “taste uot, handle not” those tliiugs 
which only rush me deeper and deeper In debt. 
I trust that much rich instruction and benefit 
might be obtained by observing things as they 
transpire, by noting them as they pass under our 
observation. How readily can we perceive the 
difference in those we mingle with, in their 
views of propriety—those who are for show, and 
The Agricultural Press.—A notice of changes— 
including births, resuscitations, consolidations, etc., 
—among our agricultural contemporaries is necessarily 
deferred. But we can’t wait even a week to groct the 
re appearance of the New England Fanner, nnd wel¬ 
come another udditiou to the Rural family— The 
Rural World and Valley Farmer, semi-monthty, by 
N. J. Colman, St. Louis. 
Communications, (Etc 
wild oats, barley and wheat straw, and corn 
fodder. 
9th. Man requires no shelter eight months in 
in the year, except a blanket and the blue sky 
and stock needs no more covering 
ARE WE MAKING PROGRESS 1 
over him 
than nature provides them. 
10th. None at lambing time; no very cold 
weather. 
11th. If the flocks were small, the per centage 
of lambs would be equal to 120 Iambs to every 
100 ewes, but in large bands the increase is about, 
eighty per cent. This depends upon the care of 
herders. 
12th. It is better to fold the sheep at night in 
corrals. The small wolf — “ cayote ” — kills 
lambs, but rarely old sheep. 
14th. Scab Is the only disease we know of that 
prevails among the flocks of this State. Sheep 
are remarkably healthy the year round. There 
arc many mineral springs that cures the scab; 
also, alkali dust kills it. 
15th. The nearest market towns arc Visalia on 
the north, ninety miles, and Los Angeles on the 
south, 130 miles. 
10th. No churches or schools yet in this back 
country. 
17th. No prevailing disease, except in the low 
savannah lands chills and fever, and other levers 
occasionally. The land is mostly rich enough 
for all small grains, but none grown, except in 
favorable seasons, without irrigation. 
18th. This country is more devoted to stock 
raising and mining. Corn and beans are raised 
Prof. J. P. Kirti.and.— In another plate in this 
issue we give a portrait and sketch of the life of the 
late Trof. Pknj. Silliman. The last Ohio Farmer 
announces the election ot Prof. J. P. Kirti.and of 
Cleveland, 0„ ns a member of the American Academy 
of Science, to till the vacancy occasioned by the death 
of Prof. Silliman It is an honor worthily bestowed. 
hire have wc made progress, what have been the 
principal agencies in producing this improve¬ 
ment, and what is required to further stimulate 
this advancement V These inquiries open so wide 
a field that I propose to touch but few topics at 
the present time. 
It will be remembered iu after agc6 as one of 
the most remarkable phases of the present cen¬ 
tury, thut, at a time when, apparently, the whole 
vast energies of the Loyal States were devoted 
to the suppression of a gigantic rebellion, our 
manufactures were never in a more prosperous 
condition, our mechanics and artizans were nev¬ 
er more busy, or obtained so good return for 
their labor—skilled labor in all departments of 
To Knee a Horse's Tongue in ms Head —What 
Khali l do to make my young horse keep hla tongue in 
hts head when the tilts arc in his mouth?—J. It. M., 
Lit'crtyvUtc, IU, 
We have known young horses so to carry their 
tongue because tt was sore. If this is the cause, 
the bits should be Kept out until the tongue is well. 
Washing the month with alum water, or dissolved 
saltpetre, will heal it. 
Galvanized Iron. - Where ran I get galvanized 
iron, in si rips 8-8 of an inch wide aud 1-10 of an inch 
thick. M. Baker, Ferry Center, 
Address J. C. Lkfkerts, Galvanizing Works, 100 
Beckman St., N. Y. City, aud you will probably obtain 
iv ls,—O ur correspondent who wrote ns 
fowls, a week or two since, is referred to 
i.l, Richville, Vt., for the information he 
Sorghum vs. Wheat. 
A writer in the Wisconsin State Journal tells 
of n Dune county farmer who kept an exact ac¬ 
count of all his fanning operations during the 
past year. He found his sorghum and wheat 
crops to compare os follows:—After paying 
labor, rent of ground, expense of marketing, &c., 
Cementing Iron Pipe.—C an you or sumo of your 
numerous readers give a recipe through the Rural for 
cementing; iron pipe bo thnt it will hold hotwutor? 
and oblige -A SuBSOKiliKit, Howard, N. Y. 
