TEXiMS, $3.00 PER YEAR.] 
“ PROGRESS AND IMPIiOVKMENT.” 
VOL. XVI. NO. 16. S 
ROCHESTER, N. Y.-FOR THE WEEK ENDING SATURDAY. APRIL 22, 1865, 
[SINGLE TNTO. TENT CENTS. 
I WHOLE NO. 796. 
MOOEE'S EUKAL NEW-YOEKEE, 
AN ORIGINAL WKBKLY 
RURAL, LITERARY AND FAMILY NEWSPAPER. 
CONDUCTED BY D. D. T. MOORE, 
HENRY S. RANDALL, LL. D., 
Editor of the Department of Sheep Husbandry. 
SPECIAL CONTRIBUTOES: 
P. BARRY, 
H. T. BROOKS, 
T. C. PETERS, 
0. DEWEY, LL. D., 
L. B. LANG WORTHY, 
EDWARD WEBSTER. 
The Bubal Naw-Y orkhr is designed to be unsur¬ 
passed la Value, Purity, and Variety of Contents, and 
unique snd beautiful In Appearance. Its Coudnotor 
devotes his personal attention to the supervision of Its 
various departments, and earnestly labors to render the 
Bubal an eminently Reliable Guide on all the Important 
Practical, Scientific and other Subjects Intimately 
connected with tho business of those whoso interests it 
zealously advocate*. As a Family Jowknal it ts emi¬ 
nently Instructive and Entertaining—being so conducted 
that It can Ijo safely taken to the Homes of people of 
Intelligence, taste anil discrimination It embraces more 
Horticultural, Scientific, Educational, Literary and News 
Matter, Interspersed with appropriate Engravings, than 
any other Journal,—rendering It far the most complete 
Aokioclttjeal, Litmaky and Family Niwm'apkr in 
America. 
ir For Terms and other particulars, see last page. 
S&JUle 
PLANTING POTATOES. 
In this scarce time of labor, I thought my ex¬ 
perience in planting potatoes might be of in¬ 
terest to some one. In the spring of 1SG2,1 had 
between one and two acres of land to plant to 
potatoes. The previous crop was corn. The 
ground was free from weeds and all impedi¬ 
ments,—the corn roots having been plowed out, 
and removed the fall before to u hollow by the 
roadside aud covered with muck for future use 
in the hog pen. The ground had been plowed 
twice, and was in tine tilth. The soil is a sandy 
loam with gravel subsoil—with few stones of 
mnch size—producing potatoes of superior qual¬ 
ity, though not abundant in quantity. 
It was Friday afternoon when the ground was 
prepared for planting. 1 wanted to plant all I 
could by Saturday night—the soil was so mel¬ 
low—and I had no help but a boy eleven years 
old. How could it be done? I thought of 
coveriug them with the plow. Would it do? 
I had never seen it tried. The furrows were 
made three and one-third feet apart, and I wish¬ 
ed to plant twenty inches in the drill 
I had previonly made a roller for garden pur¬ 
poses and roots—a white-oak log, fourteen in¬ 
ches long and eight In diameter,—also an instru¬ 
ment to guide in planting various seeds. This 
was simply a board wheel forty Inches in circum¬ 
ference, with an axle and two handles. In the 
outer edge of this wheel, twenty Inches apart, 1 
inserted two wooden pegs, shaped somewhat 
like a boy’s top, the nock in the wheel—the 
small end out 
All was now ready. The boy could mark and 
assist in dropping. We also put plaster on each 
potato. When a few rows had been thus pre¬ 
pared, wo took the horse aud light plow, run¬ 
ning it about six inches to the left of the fur¬ 
row, and covering the potatoes a few inches. 
IVhen at the end of the furrow, turn the horse 
to the right, and lay the plow Hat on the mold- 
board, drawing the dirt from the other side of 
the furrow. This covers the potatoes about four 
Inches, leaving a slight elevation from one to 
oue loot and a halt wide. Apply the roller at 
leisure, and all is done. 
I lie experiment, succeeded beyond my expec¬ 
tation. It will not do, of course, on all soils or 
sward, unless very loose and friable. 1 do not 
think there were to exceed a dozen missing hills. 
II °y dhl not "come up” quite as even as those 
covorecl with the lioo, but nearly a* soou. I 
tried it again last spring with equal success, it 
aas saved me a number oi dollars in hiring help, 
the thoughtful farmer will noteend the “ boys" 
°r an unskillful hired man to hold the plow ; if 
80 he may wish I had kept my experience to my 
self - It' any oue Uub abetter or more expedi- 
th'Us way of planting potatoes, I wish lie would 
make it known through the Rural. 
Time of Pluming nml Digging. 
"c plant early—lrom middle to end of April 
s °me plant later, but early planting generally is 
safest. My experience is to dig from 80th of 
Yigust to 20th Of September, before heavy ruins 
" L '> in; dig in dry weather, and put in cellar dry' 
A few years ago, when potatoes rotted badly, 1 
watched them carefully, and found, when small 
dark spots appeared, that to dig them in a sunny 
day, and let them lie a few hours, wholly ar¬ 
rested the disease. In brief I would say, pre¬ 
pare the ground well; plant early; keep free 
from weeds; dig early and in a fair day. 
Experiment wlili I.amn and Small Potatoes, 
also, Cut aud Uncut. 
The varieties tried were “Jackson Whites” 
and " Davis Seedlings.” Ten hills each, aud 
weighed when dry. I have inquired of some ex¬ 
perienced farmers, whether there was much dif¬ 
ference in yield from planting large or small po¬ 
tatoes. They have told me they could see but 
little difference. One looking at these, referred 
to below, would have thought there was little 
variance, but when weighed , the favor for the 
large one is manifest: 
-1862.- 
J. Whites, large, nnent, 10 hills, weighed It# lbs. 
“ “ halves 10 44 " 13 " 
“ medium, nncut 10 ** “ 133£ “ 
41 small, 44 10 44 41 12 44 
D. Seedling,large, uncut,10 hills, 28J£ lbs., small 2 
41 44 halves, 10 44 22 •• 44 
44 small, uncut, 10 44 20M " 44 l\ 
44 large,—handful of hen manure mixed with 
loam,—10 hills weighed, 32 lbs., small 2M 
—1863.— 
D. Seedling,largo, uncut, 10 bills, weighed 16ki lbs. 
44 small, 10 44 44 is!* “ 
44 medium, uncut, hen manured, 19 44 
Calculating number of bushels of large J. 
Whites over small ones, on an acre, by calcula¬ 
ting number hills, fifty to square rod, S3 bushels. 
D. Seedling, large over small, SO bushels; those 
manured, 133 bushels, 1868, large over small, 
1G.:£ bushels per acre; those manured over small 
ones, 50 bushels. These results, I think, clearly 
show—so far as they go—the profit of planting 
large potatoes. C. W. Turner. 
Dighton, Mass. 
MINERAL COAL-CAUSES OF PRODUCTION. 
Tub origin aud formation of coal, is the 
subject of various conjectures and theories 
among the learned inquirers into the secret 
arcana ot nature. 
The most prominent hypothesis and the one 
now received as the mo6t rational and best sup¬ 
ported is, that it is of vegetable origin entirely, 
and that the peats are au illustration of its 
incipient condition, now going on as in the 
eternity of the beginning. 
It is found that from the best Irish peat, all 
the mineral hydro-carbon, petroleum, paraffine 
aud benzole, &e., can be produced in small quan¬ 
tities. 
It is presumed that the earth at ono period 
enjoyed a tropical climate, with all the elements 
to produce the most rapid and luxuriant vegeta¬ 
tion-that after long periods of the fall of the 
leaves of deciduous vegetation, protected by 
water from decomposition, immense peat beds 
were formed, when great waves of w'ater passed 
ovorand deposited strataof sands and clays, form¬ 
ing slates aud sand stones, when another period of 
quiet aud vegetable growth commenced and was 
again covered, aud so ou for a great number of 
times. 
The deposited sands and clays in the process 
of time, hardened into roeks, when from inter¬ 
nal heat the vegetable materials were carbonized 
and elaborated into their present state, while 
those occupying a different position, receiving a 
greater heat, went through a destructive distilla¬ 
tion all the volatile aud bituminous parts «f 
its composition were thrown off and condensed, 
forming the petroleum of the present day, leav¬ 
ing the residuum, the hard, rocky, uubituinin- 
ous anthracite. 
That the coal formation covered a much larger 
urea then than now, is accounted for by the 
great disturbance of the sedimentary rocks; by 
their depression aud upheaval, the coal deposits 
have been destroyed aud driven off. 
It is a fair presumption to suppose that all the 
sedimentary rocks, occupying more than forty 
thousand feet in thickness, were deposited on a 
perfect level, uniformly, or nearly so, ou the 
whole surface of the globe, in which position 
they arc now rarely found; aud as the rocky 
strataof the Genesee River arc found to bo more 
tliau ten thousand foot below the coal measure 
of Pomiaylvania, it is evident that a great dis¬ 
turbance has taken place, and that no coal can 
possibly exist In any part of the State of New 
\ ork, and the rocks all dipping to the south, 
at about 50 feet to the mile, is unfavorable to the 
discovery of petroleum. 
Others have supposed coal to bo the result of 
iluuicuBc quantities of forest trees, gigantic firs 
:vml other vegetable matter, brought together by 
great floods and rivers, and deposited in their 
estuaries, where they went through the process 
of carbonizing by the great heat of the center, 
after being covered by deep stratas of sand and 
clays, which precluded cumbustion and pro¬ 
duced the present coal regions. 
It has been estimated by one of our best 
Geologists, that if every particle of vegetable 
matter uow growing upon the globe, was all col¬ 
lected together, it would not produce the coal 
fields of the south-w'est alone, so that there may 
be some doubts Indulged, whether either of the 
above theories is the true solution. Other spec¬ 
ulations wifi follow this number.— l. b. l. 
FARM ECONOMY AND NEATNESS. 
In the County of Dodge, State of Wisconsin, 
there lives a well-to-do farmer who owns a fine 
farm of over three hundred acres. Upon that 
farm are numerous fields and lots that can only 
be entered by the slow process of taking down 
a pair of bars. The entrance to the barn yard, 
most used, is also through a cumbrous pair of 
bars, which have to be passed a score or more of 
times daily by the different members of the 
family. The owner cannot afl'ord the time and 
expense necessary to furnish a gate that would, 
without exaggeration, Live saved him months 
of time during the pas tf lift ecu years. This same 
man counts all the coopers, and even the half 
cents, and aspires to be a man of some conse¬ 
quence. Yet it is easy to be seen how "pound 
foolish and penny wist ” his management is in 
many respects. 
He has somewhere read that farm implements 
should be housed and not left out in the sun and 
rain. In goes the reaper, the seed sower, the 
plows, the harrows, the rakes, the wagons, &c,, 
&c., into the cow-shed, hog-pen and hen-house, 
in defiance of all order and neatness. When he 
wants his tools he find • they have been broken 
by the animals, or arc covered up and rotted by 
their filth, and In altogether au unserviceable 
condition, to say nothing of their disgusting 
appearance. This same farmer (?) has old broken 
rails, boards, odds and ends of broken down 
wagons and sleds, and other farm utensils 
enough in the back-yard to supply the family 
fire for months, to say nothiug about the liberal 
amount of trush to be l’ouud in his front-yard 
and in the manure piles. To get to the barn, or 
circumnavigate tho yards iu thawing or wet 
weather, is well nigh perilous. 
A uarrow lane—designated by the name of 
front-yard—runs from the house to the street, 
fenced ou each side with an upright high board 
fence painted white, ami reminds one of a weazu- 
laeed individual with an old fashioned collar 
supporting each ear. On one side, leading to 
the kitchen door, an open yard invites the street 
cattle to rendezvous, aud forms an appropriate 
place for the old sow that does the matronly 
offices of the farm. Wo trust we have not 
offended, for reformation comes of seeing our¬ 
selves us others see us. l. l. f. 
--1 
“MIXING DIFFERENT KINDS OF FEED.” 
Mu. Editor:— I notice an article under the 
above head, in a late number of the Rural, 
which seems to have been suggested by a state¬ 
ment lu the Irish Farmer's Gazette, "That 
while it required eight pounds of beans, or six 
pounds of linseed to produce ono pound of flesh 
where the beans or linseed were used separately, 
yet only three and a half pounds of mixed beans 
and linseed produced one pound of flesh.” This, 
the editor thinks very important, if true, or even 
partly true. 
lhat the principle is true, there can bo no 
doubt. The grain may be as much or less than 
stated. The body is composed of a variety of 
Simple elements. Now, if wo wish to build up 
and keep in health and growth, all parts of the 
body, we must supply the necessary food for 
that purpose. Iu tho case mentioned, the beans 
contain very little oil, but a large proportion of 
gluten. The linseed contains a largo proportion 
of oil, and the two mixed together, contained 
more nearly a universal food, or ono tit to snp 
ply alt the wants of the system, while ueither 
the beans nor tho linseed, alone, were adequate 
to this. Let us look for a moment to the com¬ 
position of some of the principal dishes of hu¬ 
man food. The pork aud beaus fore, has be¬ 
come nu established institution for the laborer. 
Why not beaus alone? Simply, because they 
possess nothiug to lubricate tho joluts and to 
deposit the necessary fat in the system. Tho 
pork supplies this admirably, and thus, founded 
in philosophy, is this long established mixed 
food of man. Then the Irish have a dish which 
they call kot cannon, which is made of cabbage, 
potatoes and milk, or sometimes butter. Here, 
long custom is, also, founded In chemistry. The 
cabbage is rich in gluten but poor in starch and 
oil. The potato is rich in starch and poor in 
gluten and oil. Milk rich in oil, and also in 
other ingredients. Thus, we find in these sim¬ 
ple articles, uninviting to the epicure, but rel¬ 
ished by the laborer, a food adequate to supply 
all the wants of the human system. This shows 
us clearly, why food for animals should be 
mixed. Hot food, which, chemically, represents 
nearest all the wauts of the animal system is 
best. This is, certainly, a most important sub¬ 
ject of inquiry to agriculturists. 
It is to be hoped, that In future the farmer of 
the United States will not regard his calling as 
one belonging merely to tradition, in which he 
is to follow scrupulously in the footsteps of his 
forefathers; hut that he will see that his Is a 
business requiring the deepest insight Into the 
laws of nature, and that he will be rewarded 
only in proportion as he lulfills his stewardship. 
I shall, perhaps, with the permission of the 
editor, take up this subject more in detail at 
some future time. E. W. Stewart. 
Glen Erie, near North Evans, N. Y., 1865. 
- —--- 
INFLUENCE OF FORESTS ON CLIMATE 
AND SOIL. 
• __ 
From an able address by Prof. A. Winciiell, 
on “‘The Soils and Subsoils of Michigan,” we 
extract the following which ought to be read by 
every farmer, and, if necessary to keep it in 
memory, framed and hung np in his house. Its 
truths apply not only to that State, but far be¬ 
yond it, and are of great importance: 
“ Tho earliest and most pervading agency ex¬ 
erted by man iu the modification of the soils of 
tbe Peninsula, is the destruction of the forests. 
Forests are the garments of the soil. They pro¬ 
tect it equally from excessive cold and excessive 
heat. They shelter the snows from the drifting 
power of the wind, and are thus enabled to 
await the lapse of the rigorous winter, with 
their feet wrapped in a fleecy blanket. Every 
autumn they pay back to tho soil, with inter¬ 
est, all that the soil has expended upon them. 
They fend off the burning rays of the summer 
sun, and restrain the fervor of the atmosphere. 
They shield the soil from evaporative influences, 
and maintain an equable degree of humidity. 
On sloping surfaces they bind together the soil, 
and resist the denudations of torrents. 
"All these conditions and results are changed 
when the forest is removed. The sweeping blast 
of winter strikes the cartel with the fury of an 
invisible demon—drives oil' tho natural covering 
of the soil, and exposes the roots and stems of 
vegetables to an unwonted and often insufferable 
trial. The circumstances of spring-time are 
changed. The soil feels every slight fluctuation 
of temperature—freezing by night and thawing 
by day—instead of reposing in peaceful shelter 
under its coat of suow till the unchanging sea¬ 
son is able to guarantee a vegetative degree of 
warmth. And then, when summer comes, the 
burning sun rapidly drinks up the moisture of 
the soil, aud the whole air becomes torrid and 
dry. Instead of a regular humidity and gentle 
rains, tho agency of man has substituted alter¬ 
nating thirst and floods. And, ou hill-slopes, 
where the natural ligatures of the soil have been 
removed, sudden torrents wash it away, and 
score tho earth with ugly gorges and ravines. 
"A most striking example of the effects of 
clearing a fine and incoherent soil, is seen in the 
rear ot \ icksburg, where recurring torrents 
have guawed the hillsides into most unsightly 
shapes; and whole plantations have boon borne 
into the Dig Black and the Mississippi, to find 
their way to the Balizc, 
44 Similar iu kind are the effects ou our gravelly 
hillsides. It is not cropping that deteriorates 
their soils, so much as the action of torrents in 
transporting the alluvial particles to lower lev¬ 
els, * * * Such results should be forseeu 
and provided against. It should at least be re¬ 
quired that all abandoned soils, subject to wash, 
should bo planted with trees, which will eventu¬ 
ally restore the surface to its primitive con¬ 
dition, and compensate, to some extent, for the 
fearful destruction of the primitive forest. If 
this matter is overlooked we shall reach the con 
dltlon of some of the older countries of Europe 
—fields washed away, villages destroyed, popu¬ 
lation ou the wane, and aut horities anxious about 
the diminishing revenues.” 
EDITED BY HENRY S. RANDALL, LL. D. 
THE STATE SHEEP FAIR. 
The Fair of the New York State Sheep 
Breeders’ and Wool Growers’ Association takes 
place at Canandaigua on the 9tb, 10th and 11th 
of May — bnt a little over a fortnight from this 
time. The superior accommodations offered by 
Canandaigua in respect to show grounds and 
structures, and in all other particulars — the 
ample preparations to be made for the sheep, 
etc., etc.— have been already described by us. 
The aggregate amount offered In prizes falls 
but little short of ? 1,500. When it is taken into 
consideration that the total liabilities incurred 
by the officers for Fair disbursements largely 
exceed this eum, and that this is the first exhibi¬ 
tion of a new Association, the prize list will, we 
think, be regarded as a liberal one. 
The Classification of sheep adopted is the 
usual one, except that Merinos are sub-divided 
into three classes. This sub-division was made 
to encourage those different grades and styles of 
fine wool which are necessary to meet the 
demands of American manufacturers and con¬ 
sumers, and thus render our country independ¬ 
ent of foreign ones for its supply of raw 
materials. And it was a liberal recognition of 
the different interests embarked in, and the 
different ideas entertained, by breeders concern¬ 
ing fine wool Sheep Husbandry in the United 
States. 
The Viewing Committees have been selected, 
with a rigid regard to competency and impar¬ 
tiality. The regulations prevent any person 
from acting on a committee who has any direct 
or indirect pecuniary interest in the sheep which 
would be submitted to his inspection. The 
members are widely scattered in respect to 
locality, so that no local partialities or influences 
can, either consciously or uncouseiously to them¬ 
selves, affect tho action of the majority. In no 
single instance are they composed of the friends 
or advocates of any one family of a breed, or of 
any one man’s or set of men’s stock. And all 
candid persons acquainted with them or with 
their reputation, will cheerfully bear witness that 
a more capable and disinterested body of judges 
could not be found iu the State. The names of 
four well known woolen manufacturers will be 
found iu the list. 
It is hoped that the sheep of the whole country 
will be represented on the show ground. Ver¬ 
mont, with her established fame iu Merinos— 
Ohio and other Western States struggling pow¬ 
erfully for equal excellence—Canada, portions 
of New England, Pcnnsyvania, New Jersey, etc., 
which have carried the breeding of English 
sheep to such perfection — are all cordially 
invited to come, and if they can, to beat New 
York on her owu soiL They shall have fair 
play, and if they carry off our prizes, why, the 
worst thing we will do or say will be to dare 
them to try it over again next year! 
And uow a few words of advice to New York 
sheep breeders aud wool growers. If nobody 
exhibits but those who confidently expect to 
win prizes, the show will be a lean oue, and the 
greatest object of tbe Fair will be defeated — 
viz., the opportunity of instituting a comparison 
between the sheep of the different regions of the 
State and other States, to enable the people of 
each locality to determine the comparative 
value of their owu sheep, and when they are 
deficient, to learn wberu better ones are to be 
found. Nor do the immediate pecuniary profits 
of such a Fair go aiouc to prize winners. We 
knew eight or ten instances at the last Fair of 
the New York State Agricultural Society where 
individuals sold hoop, which received no prizes, 
at high prices — in several instances at from two 
to four hundred per cent, more than they ever 
would have got for them at home. There were 
considerable sales of the most ordinary sheep on 
the gnmnd, if not at high prices, at a proportion¬ 
able advance on homo prices. And there would 
havo been ten times as many such sales had there 
been ten timed as many such sheep. There are, 
it is true, "fancy” buyers, who look only for 
premium animals of great price —but a very 
large majority of purchasers prefer sheep of 
somewhat less pretensions, aud which cm be 
obtained at "lower figures.” YVc hope and 
expect to see a great collection of sheep 
from Ontario, Seneca, Yates, Steuben, Living¬ 
ston, Monroe, Genesee, Wyoming and other 
counties; and if so, we dare predict that line 
