Hural Jfotes anb (Ehtcrie 
0 (7 R Spring Campaign.—T he second quarter of this 
volume of the Rural commences th\9 week—a good 
time to renew or subscribe. Single subscriptions, new 
clubs, or additions to present ones, arc now in order. 
See notice at head of first column of News page—over 
the flag which eklnoB so brightly this week. 
The Country. —A recent ride among the farms 
hereabouts, causes us to believe that the ground has 
buc-n left by tho snow in very good condition indeed 
for early seeding, and the winter grain little injured- 
nowhere Injured except where the water stands on the 
surface. And this occurs too often to be profitable. 
A spade In the hands of a good man would save much 
wheat in such places. We notice a terrific lopping off 
of the limbs in the old orchards—saws and axes have 
been used with little regard to consequences, and the 
mangled trees wait the stirring of the juices of life 
with bared and scarred heads sad to look at.. ' We 
don't like to see Ihc rich, dark colored juice of the 
barnyard wasting away In rivulets that ripple on un¬ 
conscious that they are bearing away grain from the 
granary of the farmer, and gold from his purse. And 
it is not kind of you, O, farmer, to permit your kine 
to poach up your meadows and destroy their appetites, 
as we see some of you do. Nor is it just (he tiling to 
leave yotir sledB on the ground, now that you have no 
further use for them, and allow the shoes to rust, and 
the tenons to rot. We did not see many hot-beds— 
hardly any. It is time those who like a good garden, 
and fresh vegetables, attended to that Item. We 
noticed one man, who bad been changing his fence 
line, was drawing the broken rails and bottoms of his 
fence to the woodyard, and setting them up in such 
shape as that they would dry. That was sensible. 
One house had been painted white; whiling instead 
of, or mixed with a mile, lead had been used, The 
houBe looked very bud, Wo would whitewash such a 
house—at any rate It should have some other covering. 
We saw no plows going, nor much field work being 
done, but great opportunities were apparent. 
Manlius. 
Venice Center. 
Poplar Ridge. 
Canandaigua. 
Hopewell. 
.Geneva. 
. Honeoye. 
Richmond, 
MISTRESS GrWY 1ST’ S SON OF 1 2D GRAND DUKE (12961.) 
[LOYAL DUKE (4973) AT TWO YEARS OF AGE.] 
.Naples. 
Rushville. 
Northport. 
North Hoosick 
Committes at Statk Sheep Faie,— The Commit¬ 
tees appointed by the N. Y. State Sheep Brerders’ 
and Wool Growers' Association, to act at the Fair at 
Canandaigua, 9th, 10th and 11thof May, areas follows: 
American Merinos—On Rams : —A. F. Wilcox, Fay¬ 
etteville; W, A, Cook, Lima. On Ewes :—Charles W. 
Per Lee, North Norwich: I). W. Percey, Hoosic; 
Hiram Taft, West Bloomfield. 
fine Merinos—On Bams:—3. M. Ellis, Syracuse; R. 
L. Rose, Geneva; W. D. Dickinson, Victory. On 
Ewes :—T. S. Faxton, Utica; Thos. Underhill, Genoa; 
William Stnart. York. 
Delaine Merinos—On Rams :—Grattan H. Wheeler. 
Hammondsport; Perez Pitts, noneoye; James Roy. 
West Troy. On Ewes Chester Moses, Marcellus; 
Alexander Arnold, Avoca. 
Long I Vooled Sheep:— Richard Peck. Lima; John R. 
Page, Bennett: William Beebe, Northport. 
Middle Mooted Sheep :—Samuel Thorne, Washing¬ 
ton Hollow; J. McD McIntyre. Albany; A. T. Par¬ 
sons, Chili. 
The Plow Makers and Prices.— We have before 
us a circular signed by seventeen firms engaged in 
manufacturing plows in Western New York, agreeing 
to abide by the following prices fur plowe and their 
respective parte this season:—Common two-hOrse 
plows, (without wheel or extra point,) $11.60: wheel 
and standard, 1.50, coulter and gripe, 2.50; pointers, 
(without extra point,) 2.50: plain points, 85 cts; toul- 
terpoiuts, 1.00; pointer points, 50 cts.; landsides, 85 
cts.; moldboards, 3.50; beams, 4,00; handles, com¬ 
plete, 2,00; single handle, 1.00; Rounds, 10 cts.; cast 
Clevis, 50 cts.; wrought clevis, 50 cts. 
E. E. Brown's Sheep.—Justus N. Knapp of Spar- 
ford, N Y., writes ns a pleasing account of a visit by 
himself aud some of his neighbors to the Merino flock 
of Elijah E, Bhown. Esq., of New Hope. Cayuga Co., 
N. Y. They discovered that he had an excellent flock, 
excellent barn arrangements, and practiced all the de¬ 
tails of sheep husbandry remarkably well. Mr. Brown 
has long occupied a high rank among the breeders of 
New York. 
3k' feet between rows, leaving the plants from 
to 3 inches apart; if left standing thicker, 
the brush will be too short. I find no difficulty 
in raising an excellent quality of brush by this 
method. 
The dwarf variety is the nicest brush, but has 
always proved two weeks later with me than the 
other kinds. I raise but a small proportion of 
this variety. 
It is a very important point to know that your 
seed will germinate quickly. To test this, I take 
a thickly matted green sod, large enough to fill 
the bottom of a tin pun, leaving the grass upper¬ 
most. I then place a quantity of seed on the 
Cutting Lamb's Teeth.— 8 . W. Merwin, Palmyra, 
Otoe Co., Nebraska, eays“Lambs often corac with 
their teeth not cut through their gums, in which case 
they will not suck, but soon die.” He remarks that 
every lamb should be c-xumined at birth, and if the 
teeth are not through, the gums should he cut with the 
thnmb nail or otherwise. (See Practical Shepherd, 
page 150.) 
Cassel's Illustrated Family Blble.—G. W. Chase, 
Faribault, Minn., wants to know “whether the pro¬ 
ject of completing ‘Cassel’s Illustrated Family Bible’ 
and * Natural History ’ has proved a failure ?” It has 
now been two years since he has received a number, 
and he fails to get answers to inquiries as to reasons 
of delay. We cannot answer our correspondent’s 
questions. 
Pboduce ok a Flock.—Seymour Joyner, North 
-Egremont, Mass., gives the following statement of the 
profi ts of Ids flock. Whole u umber 4 j], aud 27 of them 
ewes. liaised 27 lambs. Sold 250 lbs. of wool for 
8250. Sold ram lambs, old crones and others not 
wanted to keep, 27 for $200 Premium on lambs $3. 
Premium on yearling ram, $2. Total $401. Profits 
on original flock. $10.02 per head. Mr. J. would like 
to hear from other contributors, who state the profits 
of their flocks, whether they include their whole 
stocks i He eays some of them li«nc given the proQlo 
on ewes alone, not making il to appear that they had 
any rams, or that the rams they used cost them any¬ 
thing—whereas he declares that a good stock ram 
cannot be hired in the region where he resides for less 
than $50 or $100 a year 
SiiEEr Fair tn Washington County.— The Sheep 
Breeders’ and Wool Growers’ Association of Washing¬ 
ton Co., holds its Spring Show and Public Shearing on 
tbc 4th and 6th days of May, at North Granville. A 
line exhibition of sheep is expected. B. J. Lawrence. 
President; Isaac V. Baker, Jr., of Comstock's 
Landing, Secretary. 
Charcoal. —I have in one pile at least 1,000 wagon 
loads ol fine charcoal which lias lain in this heap for 
the last 40 years. I wish to know how to best make 
this immediately available as a fertilizer. Would 
growing crops receive benefit from a top dressing of it t 
—A. Cole, Athlon, E. V, 
Yes, it is Valuable to Incorporate with the soil at 
any imi. ; nut it yon arc making mneu manure n is 
more valnable to mix with that ana apply it to the 
soil in such combination. 
under a stove, gee that it is kept moist aud 
warm; 3G hours will prove the value of your 
Beed by this method. 
I plant directly after planting Indian com. 
Cultivate and thin to proper distance between 
plants us soon ns tuc rows can ne lollowcd, 
drawing the soil , lightly from the plants with 
one of Doyle’3 improved Cultivator Plows, 
which can be done with less than one-half the 
labor than with any other cultivator that I have 
ever seen work. After the first dressing I 
reverse the shovels as will best suit the growing 
plants. D. Edwards. 
East Waterloo, Iowa, March, 1805. 
Merinos in Warren Co.. N. Y.—JosxrH Havtland, 
Jr., of Glen’s Falls, we arc requsted by a friend to say, 
lias recently purchased gome valuable Inl’autado breed¬ 
ing ewes of C. N. Hayward of Bridport, and E. S. 
Stowell, Corwall, Vt.. and it Is thought they will 
make a very valuable addition to the Merino sheep of 
Warren county. 
Anotrr Stone Pumps,—I would like to inquire of 
any one who has used a stone pump in a well for a 
year or more, whether the water remains as good as 
before using the pump? I suppose the stone itself 
would not affect water Injuriously, luu somo contend 
that the water is not anflleieiitly agitated by pumping 
to prevent its becoming In a measure stugnanL antt 
impure* iti cousednxmcG. Will some* one who haft lest- 
ed the matter tell us the result ? We have a very nice 
well of water, twenty-six feet deep, and hesitate to 
exchange the windlass and bucket fur a stone pump on 
this account.—B., Sherbume, N. Y. 
Is Clover Good for Breeding Ewes?—P. M. G., 
West Windsor, Rock Co., Wia., asks the question 
which eommences this paragraph. A few years ago 
we should not have been more surprised had we been 
asked if corn was good for pigs, or bread and milk for 
children! There are, however, we have since ascer¬ 
tained. highly intelligent flock-masters in Vermont, 
who do actually entertain the opinion that clover hay 
causes ewes to bring forth feeble lambs. Some of our 
N. Y. flock-masters believe that it causeB them to 
bring forth goitered lambs. We do not subscribe to 
either opinion, We do not believe that lambs are 
anywhere stronger or healthier than in those regions 
of New York, where clover is the almost exclusive 
summer and winter feed of sheep. 
STOCK AND GRAIN FARMING, 
SitEDDDia Teeth.— A Subscriber, Caldwells Prairie, 
Wis„ asks at what age tegs attain their two first broad 
teeth. Usually, we thiuk, when they are from 12 to 
1G months old. There are great, variations in this par¬ 
ticular. naturally, and these are much increased by 
difference in feed. High kept young sheep attain 
their broad teeth more rapidly. 
Editors Rural New - Yorker : — As the 
subject of stock and grain farming has been 
introduced again, I have concluded to give in 
my experience of the past season. If I under¬ 
stand the subject aright, it is to know how 
much stock can bq kept on a farm, and yet not 
diminish the amouat of grain raised, nor even the 
amount sold but to a small extent. Now, I will 
give the amount of grain raised, sheep wintered, 
aud grain sold from 15 acres; also, the lime of 
sowing, as it may benefit some that are in the 
practice of 60 wing(late in dry seasons: 
1st — sowed April t. 3.M bu. oats, yield GObush. 
A SAMPLE OF MAPLE SUGAR 
Eds. Rural New- Yorker :—Please find en¬ 
closed a sample of sugar made by myself. It 
was taken from a large batch, and is no better 
than uu average. I find no difficulty in making 
an article as good as this every time, if there is 
no storm to affect the sap. The only requisite 
i9 cleanness, for making white sugar; black 
sugar always has dirt in it. 
I beg leave to differ from some of your corres¬ 
pondents with regard to the modus operandi of 
manufacturing it. For instance, 1 prefer a half- 
diamoml gouge for tapping, to be driven from 
both ways by a mallet, thus cutting out a chip. 
This mode has the advantage of admitting of 
being tapped over whenever the box or incision 
becomes dry, by merely taking a thin shaving 
from the sides. A sheet iron spoilt is driven 
immediately under the box. An eight-penny 
fence nail is used for hanging the bucket. 
I further claim sirup should be well settled 
before sugared off. It is the custom with some 
to add white loaf sugar to samples sent for exhi 
bition; also flour, &c. This is perfectly pure. 
If competent I would give my entire method 
for publication. Martin A Hoadlkt. 
Avoca, N. Y., March 30, 1805. 
Remarks. —You are competent enough, write 
it Just as you would talk it, aud our readers will 
understand it. The sample received is very 
good indeed—taste8 very like a sugar bush in 
which we used to gather and boll 6ft]>! 
Insects in Hat.—W ill you inform your readers 
whnt insect It Is that destroys clover hay in the mow 
or stack ? My clover is stored under cover, and now, 
at time of feeding It out, 1 find the leaves destroyed in 
the mow near the ground, the bay being lull of little 
black motes, apparently the excrements of some in¬ 
sect ; but no Insects are to be seen. Will you also in¬ 
form us how to prevent this destruction'?—N. W„ 
Westviite, Bis. 
Oil Meal. —An excellent old friend asks us if we 
ever fed oil meal to breeding ewes. We did so on a 
limited scale some years ago, and do not. remember 
much about it. It is, we believe, held to be excellent 
feed for them, as well as for sheep of every other 
description. 
Apparatus roR Raisino Water.— Can you or some 
of your readers, having experience with deep wells, 
inform me throngh your columns whnt Is the best 
mode or apparatus for raising water out of a 40 foot 
well — If pumps are recommended what description 
works easiest and Is most durable, also where to lie 
purchased?—C. P. F., Gaines, Kent Co., Mich. 
Catarrh.—Ezra Cole, Fairfield, Mich., describes a 
severe case of chronic catarrh in a yearling ram. He 
ought not to have bought a ram in that situation for 
full service. He would seem, from Mr. C.’e account, 
to be too ranch reduced for the sale administration of 
cathartics, We cannot recommend much besides 
good regular feeding, a dry, well strewed down, and 
well ventilated apartment, and non-exposure to cold 
winds, currents ol' air or sudden changes of tempera¬ 
ture. Borne good farmers daub tur on the nose and 
between the eyes, aud administer a table spoonful of 
it internally a few times once In three or four days. 
Internally, genuine tar is stimulant, diuretic, and in 
large doses laxative. Extornally it is a stimulant. 
Much of the tar now sold is saiu to be adulterated. 
Sale ok Ram Teg.— Wm. L. Archer, S. S. Camp¬ 
bell mid N. Cowen of West Va„ bought a few- weeks 
since an Infantado ram lamb, called “Fortune," of 
Edwin Hammond of Middlebury, Vt., for which they 
paid him $5,000. 
Number bushels sowfi 41J.( “ Yield 553 “ 
They were sown at the rate of three bushels 
per acre. To the first of March I have fed the 
straw of No. 1, 3 an4 4 to 84 sheep, (all large and 
strong.) It will tale about half the straw of 
No. 2 to keep them the remainder of the winter. 
I have fed them a pock of corn per day, 
which, for 150 days, will give 37‘j-bushels, or 
the corn of one u«rc. Then for L5 acres, we 
have 84 sheep wintered, 658 bushels of oats at 
85 cents per bushel $470.05, besides the. acre of 
stalks and a part of the straw. Now, If the 15 
acres had been in trass, how mtieli could have 
been sold after wintering the same number of 
sheep? Fifteen aeics grass, 1 y x tuus per acre, 
19% tuns; less 10 tuns for feeding sheep, 9% 
tuns at $35 per tun, $343.75, which leaves a bal¬ 
ance of $220.30. I think if the same straw had 
been cut and fed with about three times as much 
corn, it would have kept twice the number of 
sheep, or as many as could he kept on the whole 
number acres ol buy. 
lu conclusion, 1 sbe no reason why the same 
number of sheep, or other stock, cannot he 
kept on a grain farm as on a stock farm, and yet 
as much grain sold as ever ought to be sold off a 
farm. W. T. Belmont, 
Allegany, N. Y.. March, 1805. 
Worms at Bottom ok Bay.— On examining my 
hay I tlnda great many worms lu the bay at the hot 
tom of the buy. They are about v; or inches in 
length, of a dark color, some resembling our cut worms 
in appearance, but not eo large. 1 would like to in¬ 
quire what, they are. if any others have them, and if 
they do any harm ?—L. M. B„ Saline, Mich. 
Scab.— The cases described by E. B. Carrier of 
Marshall, Michigan, are doubtless scab, if the symp¬ 
toms are correctly stated. Let him keep an account 
of the cuses and treatment and report the results to ns. 
Guhnor’s Work.—W ill the experienced men, who 
read the Buka i., tell us whether the directions given 
in this work for selecting milch cows, are reliable? 
Can tho milking qualities of« cow be determined, 
without a doubt, by the signs there laid down, or by 
any other reliable indications ?—l. l. k. 
Cholic. — “ Muxon,” Wisconsin, says that one 
spoonful of pain-killer, given in milk and water, will 
cure the worst case of cholic in sheep in 30 minutes. 
Potatoes and Meal for Bukedino Ewes.— Sey'- 
siour Joyner, N. Egremont, Mass., asks our opinion 
of feediug potatoes and meal to breeding ewes—the 
meal consisting of corn, rye and oats in equal portions. 
We have fed turnips with or without meal to breeding 
Gwes for twenty years , and we have fed some beets, 
but never potatoes, regarding them as a much less 
profitable crop for that purpose. Bui we have no 
doubt whatever they would form a good feed for ewes. 
We have fed corn aud oat meal separately and mixed 
with roots—always with good effect. Rye is rarely 
raised in Central New York. Wc never led It to sheep, 
but see no reason why it should not form a good feed, 
mixed a# Mr. J. proposes. 
Communications, (£tc 
To Horsemen.—W ill some (Rural reader tell me 
what to do for a young horse that once had a large 
collar botl which healed, and since then small swell¬ 
ings appear occasionally on the spot and suppurate. 
The top of hie nock ai that, place teems sensitive all 
the time? A You.no Farmer. 
WESTERN PROGRESS. 
The writer came to Wisconsin eight years 
since, and then found the impression quite gen¬ 
eral that the fertility of the prairies was un¬ 
bounded. Some declared that manure was nn 
injury and not. a benefit to the, land. No pains 
were taken to make or save manure, because Hie 
necessity was not felt. Straw fires lit, up the 
prairies in all directions. The virgin prairie soils 
yielded twenty-five or thirty bushels of wheat, 
and sixty or eighty of corn. Talk to a farmer of 
husbanding his manure, and he would tell you 
that was all very well for the cast; but that sort 
of talk was not applicable to the black deep soil 
of the prairies. They would triumphantly point 
you to their corn cribs and wheat granaries. 
“Just look at that field! It has been sowed to 
wheat every year for twelve years. Lust year 
it gave twenty-five bushels to the acre, and 
it bids fair to yield as much or more this year.” 
It was in vain for us to say that they were 
drawing not only the interest, but the principal 
invested in their farms. That ail draw and no 
deposits would sooner or later drain the bank. 
Again they would tell you your philosophy was 
all right for the east, where tbc “ hard panh 
Quack Grass.- Can you, or some of your correspon¬ 
dents, inform me through your paper the best method 
of destroying switch grass, or n* it is commonly called 
quack grass? 1 wish to get t he experience of some 
one that, ha* been troubled with this pest among far¬ 
mers.— Henry Bailkv, 
DRILLING GRAIN ON FALL PLOWED LAND 
I saw an inquiry in the Rural on this subject. 
I have used a drill the past throe years on fall 
and spring plowing. It is my experience that I 
can get a better crop of wheat, ou spring plow 
ing, with the drill, t linn 1 ettu get on lull plow¬ 
ing by sowing broadcast in the usual way. 1 
got 17 bushels of wheat per acre by sowing with 
u drill on full plowed land last season, while my 
neighbors’ crops did not average eight bushels 
to the acre. Lust spring I sowed on eight acres 
To Cover a Band Bank.—1 have a bank flouting 
the lake that is very sandy. What Is the best thing to 
sow or plant on It to cover it? 1'crimps some of tho 
Rural readers can inform me.— W. 11. L., Repin, Ha. 
The Bust »ixeec Countht.— Mrs. J. B. Colt, Cha¬ 
pin, Franklin Go,, Iowa, gives us a number of exam¬ 
ples to show the remarkable success attained by those 
who have introduced sheep into that region of country 
Her husband and herself moved there from Niagara 
Co., N. Y. She declares that land in Iowa “Is worth 
just as much for wool growing as it is in the east,” 
and that It is foolish for people of small means to 
work little farms here and be poor, when by going to 
the west they can soon become independent We 
honor her judgment. 
Toe Most Piiokitablk Chop.- Will some of the 
readers of the Rural tell me what is the most profita¬ 
ble crop that 1 can raise on a small farm ulterior 
twenty acres?—u. T. w. 
Brook Trout.— P. C. O,, MoaflcviUe, Pa.: Oil page 
133, \ ol. XIV Rural, Mr. B. 11. Ainsworth, West 
Bloomfield, N. Y., gave the information you require. 
Ho Is engaged in trout culture. 
BROOM CORN CULTURE 
Eds. Rural New-Yorker : —I notice in the 
Rubai, of Marcl 11th, a request for some inform¬ 
ation in regard to broom corn raising. As I 
have been engaged in raising the brush und 
manufacturing brooms, more or less, for the 
past twenty yctrs, I will give what I consider 
the best method of raising brush. 1 have planted 
both in hills uld in drills. I have invariably 
obtained the best quality, and the most in quan¬ 
tity per acre, wlcn planted in drills. I planted 
Tucker's Register ok Rural Affairs. W. p. 
Strong: Address Luther Tucker & Son, Albany, 
N. Y., Inclosing thirty cents, for this publication. 
Sheer Fair in Cayuga Co.—’ The Cayuga County 
Wool Growers’ Association will hold its Anuual Sheep 
Shearing and Festival on the Fail Grounds in Auburn 
on the 24th day of May. The Wool Growers of the 
State are invited to attend and bring tbeir sheep. P. 
L. Atwood, President; Horace Allen of Venice 
Centre, Secretary, 
Flax Wheels.- M. M. F., Oreenbusli, Mich.: S. 
Hawley, Jr., South Warsaw, N. Y., can furuish you 
with Flax Wholds. 
Wind-Mill.—W ill some of your correspondents toll 
me how to make a wind-mill that will pump water?— 
w. w. l*. 
