tm 
ite 
■ ' iflb'i 
TERMS, $3.00 PER YEAR.] 
‘PROGRESS AND niPROYEMENT.” 
[SINGLE NTO. TEN CENTS. 
VOL. XVI. NO. 19.5 
ROCHESTER N. Y.-FOR THE WEEK ENDING SATURDAY, MAY 13. 186-5. 
[WHOLE NO. 799 
MOOBE'8 BUBAL NEW-YOEEEB, 
AN OBIQINAX "WEEKLY 
RURAL, LITERARY AND FAMILY NEWSPAPER. 
CONDUCTED BY D. D. T. MOOSE, 
HENRY 8. RANDALL, LL. D., 
Editor of the Department of Sheep Huabandry. 
SPECIAL CONTRIBUTORS; 
P. BARKY, c. DEWEY, LL. D., 
H. T. BROOKS, L. B. LANGWORTHT, 
T. C. PETERS, EDWARD WEBSTER. 
Tin Rthul Nsw-Yorkkr in aeeiened to be ansor- 
passed In Value, Purity, aud Variety of Contents, and 
unique and beautiful in Appearance. Its Conductor 
devotes his personal attention to the sopervlalon of its 
various departments, and earnestly labors to render Use 
Rural an eminently Reliable Guide on all the Important 
Practical, Scientific and oilier Subjects Intimately 
connected with the tmstneis of those whose interests It 
zealously advocates. As a Family Journal It la emi¬ 
nently Instructive and Entertatnlng—belne so conducted 
that it can be safely taken to the Homes of people of 
Intelligence, taste and 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 
Aokioultubal, Literaby and Family NzwbpapekIh 
America. 
POTATO CULTURE IN THE WEST. 
C'- W Turner's comm unlcation in a late 
‘Rural about planting potatoes, suggested to 
me that m.v last years’ experience in raising 
potatoes might not be without interest to your 
readers. Western farmers, who cultivate so 
much land, sometimes have to make short cuts, 
“cross lots,” to accomplish a large amount of 
labor in a given time. 
Last, year I planted three acres of Peach Blow 
potatoes. The land was plowed in the fall, and 
again in the spring ; no manure ever applied to 
it. Dragged and rolled after plowing; marked 
with a sled marker, making four rows three and 
- a half feet apart, and to make a deep mark I 
nailod a triangular piece of board on to the hack 
end of each runner— lotting one angle fall 
several inches below the bottom of the runner. 
The driver rode on the machine, and in this way 
(the ground being very mellow,) I was enabled 
to make furrows about four inches deep below 
the general level. The potatoes were then drop¬ 
ped across the marks, about Iwo feet apart, 
which made them in rows each way. Potatoes 
the size of bens’ eggs were cut into two pieces, 
the size of turkeys’ eggs into three pieces, and 
larger ones into four pieces — one piece to each 
hill; then, with two horses attached to a railroad 
tie by a spike drove into each end and a rope, I 
drove across the furrows, completely covering 
the potatoes and smoothing the ground, leaving 
it in the best possible order. 
The potatoes were worked once with a culti¬ 
vator and crossed with a shovel plow. In the 
fall they were turned out with the plow, the 
furrows slightly scratched with a garden rake, 
and the potatoes picked up. The yield was about 
four hundred and tiifty bushels. Five hands and 
one team were occupied one day in planting, one 
man and a horse one and a half days lu working, 
and five hands and team three days in digging, 
picking up and storing. What crop can a farm¬ 
er raise that will pay better than potatoes ? The 
prices for the last ten years have ranged, in 
Western markets, nearly equal to wheat. 
Cortland, Ill., 1865. S. w. Abnold. 
THE ROLLER —ITS USE ON MEADOWS. 
Eds. Rural New-Yorker: —My wife has 
been a subscriber, and 1 a reader of your valua¬ 
ble paper for a number of years, and I have often 
remarked that sometimes the hints and sugges¬ 
tions contained iii one number were worth to 
mo the price of subscription. And I should be 
ungenerous if I should fall to beuelit others 
through your columns, beleiving I hud the pow¬ 
er to do so. How much wo learn from each 
other! The highest ever learn from the most 
lowly, and the most lowly learn from the high¬ 
est, save when a false and narrow pride forbids. 
I was going to speak of the roller, and its use 
iu “putting down” meadows. 
Iu the first place, the surface of the ground 
must be made smooth by the nse of the plow, 
drag, aud cultivator. Where there are sharp 
cradle knolls and deep furrows, the use of the 
latter is indispensable. It should be used, how¬ 
ever, only when the ground is quite dry, when 
the teeth will keep clean and bright. 
After this process, and the grain and grass 
seed is sown, if there are yet remaining any large 
6tones which the drag and cultivator have 
brought to the surface, remove them. Remove 
them, and let the small stone remain — remain 
until the roller, that much needed, highly im¬ 
portant fanning implement, comes along and 
crowds them down into the mellow earth. I 
can dispose of more stone in this way in five 
hours than oue man could pick up and draw off 
in so many weeks. Besides, the ground is bet¬ 
ter for the stones remaining. 
It is true, and strange, that there are many 
farmers in this vicinity who do not own or use 
a roller. The roller not only disposes of the 
small stone, and smooths the ground, ami thus 
increases the quantity of grass that can be cut, 
but it also, by crowding down the roots of tim¬ 
othy and clover, which the action of the frost 
has raised out of the earth, prevents their dry¬ 
ing and dying in a scorching sun, and thus in¬ 
creases the quantity of grass to be cut. 
I repeat, that to me it is one of the greatest of 
great wonders that every farmer does not pro¬ 
cure a roller. Let the roller be small, and as 
heavy as a good team can manage. Of course, 
by making the circumference of a roller of the 
same weight, larger, you diminish the draft. 
But it is to be remembered that yon diminish 
the utility in about the same ratio. This prin¬ 
ciple is too well known to need elucidation. 
In conclusion, I say to all farmers, dem't let 
your stock roam over your meadows when they 
“ r “ hut do let the roller roll over them at 
the proper time aud you wlli save steel, save lu.y, 
and save money. C. G. Palmer. 
Centerville, N. Y. 
ADVICE WANTED-CATTLE IN HIGHWAYS. 
Eds. Rcbal New-Yorker: — I turn to you 
for advice, as the client turns to his legal coun¬ 
sel, believing that all wrongs can be made right. 
Although I am aware of your being elected to 
one of the most honorable offices, as well as one 
of great responsibility, I must say, without flat¬ 
tery to yourself (for I mean no such thing, that 
the electors of that beautiful and flourishing 
city (admitting it to be a little damp at times,) 
have shown good judgment iu their choice of 
Mayor. Please excuse me for leaving the in¬ 
quiries I wish to make, for it was more the fault 
of the pen than it was mine. 
Seeing in the Rural a little more than a year 
ago the propriety of setting trees along the fences 
of the public highway, the plan struck me to be 
a good one as well as a right of land owners, and 
I therefore adopted the suggestion. I did not 
set them so much for proiit as I did for beauty ; 
for I have a beautiful young orchard, eight years 
old from the Setting, which is coming into bear¬ 
ing. The fruit proves to be as represented; for 
I bought the trees of a nurseryman who adver¬ 
tised in the Rural more than eight years ago. 
My neighbors aud self last spring bonght sev¬ 
eral hundred apple and cherry trees, and as some 
meu say, had the meanness to set them along the 
fence in the public highway. They lived finely 
and made a good growth for the first season. I 
set one hundred and fifty; they are all alive, ex¬ 
cept four, which were destroyed by cattle run¬ 
ning upon the highway. And now the question 
is, how am I to keep my neighbors’ cattle 
from destroying these trees ? For I have some 
neighbors that insist upon letting their cows run 
at large, without regard to the wishes of those 
getting trees or owning laud adjoining the public 
highway. What course or plan would you adopt 
to prevent such damage to your trees ? I have 
offered to the owners of said cows all the grass 
to mow that grows in the highway if they will 
keep their cows from running at large. The 
grass makes a good growth and yields a good 
swath when the cows are kept from eating 
it down. Pasture can be obtained at reason¬ 
able rates by being paid lor, but that’s no 
object Romulus. 
Ovid, Soneea Co., N. Y., April, 1865. 
Remarks.— The Mayor is not accustomed to 
giving legal advice iu matters pertaining to the 
rural districts, yet in the case above mentioned 
— bis counsel beiug sought—would respectfully 
advise the enforcement of the statute law in aud 
for “such cases made and provided.” If that 
cannot be done so as to prove a sufficient reme¬ 
dy, we should next advise the purchase of the 
Come (with bond or agreement that their places 
should not be tilled,) c.r the adoption or some 
other sure means of abating the nuisauce — for 
the riuiuiug of cattle at large in the public high¬ 
way is a nuisauce iu both city and country. 
DRILLING vs. BROADCASTING. 
In the Rural of April 20th, I notice an article 
about Grain Drills and their worthlessnes, by 8. 
W. Arnold of Cortland, Ill., in which he says 
that he never owned a drill, never found a man 
who thought he got more grain from drilling 
than he did from broadcasting — that it takes 
more labor to put in seed with the drill—the 
drill clogs, and w hen it does not clog it does not 
cover half the giain — never saw any grain put 
in evenly, seen spaces two feet without any 
grain, then hundreds of grains within one foot. 
In reply, I would say that Mr. A. has never 
seen a good drill. 1 can find men that grow 
drilled crops who know their yields have been 
double those ot their broadcast neighbors, the 
land being equal. In favor of the drill I main¬ 
tain it takes less labor to put in a crop. Once 
over with a harrow, across the plowing, is 
enough with the drill, while broadcast requires 
three or four tin a over. I have put in one and 
a fourth acres in one hour. “ If in a hurry the 
drill dogs: when it does not clog it does not 
cover half the grain,” &c. Now, I have no 
hesitation in saying that Mr. A. knows nothing 
about grain drills, for the grain is well covered 
except when it is clogged. I have never seen 
grain sown with the drill which was not evenly 
sown and well covered. I have no experience 
with clogging. I have used the drill, and it 
always has worked with me as soon as the 
ground \£ dr, ■fcugh to harrow. 
One more jH| nt oj Mr. A He says a 
man sowing duT of a bag or basket will sow 
nearly twice the breadth of the - drill. My drill 
.sows six feet wide, so that yon see every 
bout would be about thirteen feet, the horses 
being six inches apart. According to Mr. A.'s 
statement the drill would be beating him badly. 
He says nothing whether he has his broadcast 
sowing harrowed in or not, but exultlngly says 
“thus doing more work than the horses, drill 
aud driver.” It seems to me the ne }tlus ultra 
of sowing to be to have each grain equidistant 
from its neighbor, which the drill certainly does 
accomplish. It is good economy to pay from 
*75 to $150 for a machine of so great usefulness. 
Which is the best Grain Drill? The one I 
have is the Buckeye Grain Drill and Grass- 
seed Sower, which I have used four seasons and 
have had no difficulty in its use. It is free from 
the objections made by Mr. A. It is manufac¬ 
tured at Springfield, Ohio. This is an answer in 
part to A. G. M. Which is the very best drill, I 
of course am t nable to say, but the one above 
referred to performs to my entire satisfaction. 
Huntley Station, HI., 1865. J. F. 
OUR TREATMENT OF MILK FEVER. 
Cows exposed to cold and dampness or fed on 
dry, beating or astringent food, often have fever 
of some kind. To prevent this keep the cow 
from exposure to cold aud dampness near calv¬ 
ing time, and for some time afterwards; give 
warm messes of wheat bran—after calving, made 
thin—three tin es a day, and some water to drink 
from which th-j chill has been taken, if drawn 
| Irom a well or cold spring. Four years since we 
had a good cow which came in the first of May; 
she seemed sm rt, and the third day was given a 
cold mess of bran and water at noon. The next 
morning she w s in great distress, would rise up, 
tremble and fail down, aud bad not eaten the hay 
placed iu her manger over night. The stable 
floor was littered with straw a foot thick to pre¬ 
vent her from injuring herself in falliug, A 
piece of saltpetre the size of a large pea was dis¬ 
solved in a pint of water, put in a long-necked 
bottle aud poured down her; then she was vig¬ 
orously rubbed all over with wisps of straw, and 
covered with a thick woolen bedquilt to draw the 
internal warmth to the surface — her limbs often 
well rubbed. Some warm gruel (made of bran 
and flour, mixed) was poured down her, as she 
could eat nothing herself her calf permitted to 
run with her, md having a good appetite, took 
every opportnaity to get what milk it could. 
The rubbing and external warmth were kept up; 
the second dose of dissolved saltpetre was given 
twenty-four hours after the first; repeated doses 
of wheat bran aud flour gruel .given, und some 
young, tender grass picked aud placed in her 
mouth. The second day she did not tremble so 
much, and could stand longer; the third day was 
much better, and the fourth being pleasant she 
was let out to feed on tender gross near, and 
return to the stable when tired. She soon be¬ 
came as well as ever. h 
mr. newell’s ewe teg “princess.” 
EDITED BY HENRY S. RANDALL, LL. D. 
STATE SHEEP FAIR. 
Our paper went to press too early this week 
to get any of the proceedings of the State Sheep 
Fair at Canr.- .flalgua. Wo I? ope to puldioh a full 
account of it next week. 
EWE TEG “PRINCESS.” 
P. Nelson Newell of Shelburne, Vermont, 
writes ns: —I keep about forty Infantado ewes. 
My first purchase of them was of Henry W. 
Hammond of Middlebury, Vt. I bought five of 
his old ewes in the fall of 18€0. In the fall fol¬ 
lowing, I bought eight more of him, and ten 
which were from Edwin Hammond’s flock. 
Since then my purchases have been exclusively 
| of Hammond stock. I have principally used 
I Mr. Hammond and Victor Weight's rams. 
The ewe teg “Princess” (a cut of which is 
I given above) was about ten months old when 
j drawn by Mr. Page. She was got by Mr. H.’s 
j Gold Drop, her dam by the Thousand Dollar 
Ram, (now owned by A. F. Wilcox, Fayette¬ 
ville, N. Y.,) out of a ewe purchased ot Mr. Ham¬ 
mond in I860. 
SURGICAL OPERATION FOR GOITRE. 
It will be remembered that some months since 
we published a letter from Dr. E. H. Sprague, 
of Middlebury, Vt., describing the mode in 
which he hud removed one of the affected glands 
from the necks of lambs, in cases of goitre. Dr. 
Sprague, who has removed to Lincoln, Vt., has, 
very properly in our judgment, consented to 
employ liis surgical skill in the same useful way 
this spring. We have just received from him 
one of these extracted glands, preserved in ether, 
and prepared to show the places where the arte¬ 
ries outer and leave it. The following is the ac¬ 
companying description: 
“Thogland I send you is perhaps a little larger than 
those I have eommunly extracted. [It is about an 
inch and three-eighths long, abom eleven-sixteenths of 
an Inch wide at the middle aud widest place and a 
trifle over half an inch thick. It is of oval forin, with 
rounded cuds and edges, and one side flattened or 
semi-concave. It is Shaped like the cocoon of a large 
insect which baa been depressed ou ono side by its 
attachment to the limb of a tree.] This is the left 
thyroid. The flat or semi-concave surface rested upon 
the trachea or wind-pipe. Both glands acting together 
in respiration, press down on the trachea so as 
almost to close U, and they thus oftentimes mechani¬ 
cally produce suffocation. The removal of ono is suf- 
ciant. The remaining one, not being opposed by its 
fellow gland, the trachea aiu no longer be compressed 
between them, and there is no further obstruction to 
the breathing. The white thread is attached to the 
lower extremity of the gland (that nearest the breast 
of the lamb) at the place where the larges: or thyroid 
artery is to be tied. Its being severed would other, 
wise cause the Iamb to bleed to death in a quarter of a 
minute. The hlack thread near the ripper end, and on 
the upper or outside s nrface of gland, is a smaller branch 
of the main artery and must be tied—or it would bleed 
the subject to death In less Uxan a minute. The red 
string at tho middle of the inner or tracheal edge of the 
gland indicates the small recurrent artery, and it does 
not need tteing. I took this gland from a large, strong 
ram iamb three days old, regarded as valuable by his 
owner, Mr, P-, who Informs me that many uf the 
lambs in his neighborhood are thus affected this year.” 
We think that a careful examination of the 
above described and prepared gland, would en¬ 
able any skillful surgeon to extract one with 
safety, and we are by no means sure that we 
have not neat-handed farmers who could do the 
same thing, on being instructed a little by a 
surgeon in the mode of dissecting away the en¬ 
veloping tissues, (heretofore described by Dr. 
Sprague in these columns,) and of preparing 
ligatures and tieing up arteries. If goitre is 
hereditary — if the la.rube wliieh arc thus saved 
will transmit it to their posterity—they had bet¬ 
ter be allowed to die at birth; for, if saved, 
ignorance or rascality might some day or other 
palm them off as sound sheep on purchasers. 
We would not, with our present want of definite 
knowledge on the subject, advise any man to 
breed from a ram which had exhibited goitre at 
birth and which had been saved from its effects 
by Dr. Sprague’s operation. We should regard 
it as morally a fraud, to sell ewes which had thus 
been operated upon, without notifying the pur¬ 
chaser of the fact. Yet we think the strong tide 
of testimony, thus far, is that the disease is not 
hereditary. It often appears congenitally (at 
birth) in the offspring of ewes which never ex¬ 
hibited a trace of the disease. 
While, in our present state of knowledge, it 
would be wrong to sell sheep cured of goitre 
without notice, it is not wrong to save their 
lives. It is not wrong to put the ewes to breed¬ 
ing, and by experiment to clearly ascertain 
whether the disease is hereditary or not. Oue 
or two experiments in any given locality will 
not settle this question, for in places where 
sound ewes would have goitred lambs, it could 
not be expected that the progeny of those which 
once exhibited goitre would he exempt from it. 
But if it were a settled point that goitre was 
strictly hereditary, the Sprague process would 
yet be of great utility. If the goltered iamb 
comes strong, it could thus be converted into 
a valuable animal to treat as we now treat weth¬ 
ers — that is, feed it and shear it until ready for 
the butcher. Twenty or thirty lambs thus saved 
annually on a sheep farm, would constitute an 
important item in the profit and loss account. 
Dr. Spragts is not, we believe, permanently 
settled at Lincoln. Wc wish much that he could 
be prevailed upon to move into the sheep grow¬ 
ing region of Western New York, where he could 
obtain a good practice, (ho is a regular and ex¬ 
perienced physician, und is considered a skillful 
one,' perform that process of which he is the 
author, on sheep, and each spring instruct a 
class of farmers in the mode of practically per¬ 
forming that operation. 
BROWN SPOTS ON THE NOSE, &c. - RED 
SPOTS ON LAMBS, 
Darwin E. Robinson, Shoreham, Vt., writes 
us : — “ I would like, to know if the Paular and 
IntanUdo sheep originally imported into the 
United States had brown spots on their noses, 
ears and about iheir eyes. There is, once in a 
while, one thus marked in my flock. I used to 
ask my father what it meant, and he used to tell 
me it was a sign of good blood. Do you con¬ 
sider a valuable sheep worth any the less for 
ha sung these spots ?” 
From our own recollections on the subject, 
running back pretty distinctly for thirty years, 
aud from our investigations of earlier traditions, 
we are confident that the early Merinos of our 
country were thus marked much more than they 
are at the present time. Many of them, too, 
had bnff faces. We owned, twenty years ago, a 
