TWO DOLLARS A. YEAR.] 
<e PROGRESS AND IMPROVEMENT.” 
[SINGLE NO. FOUB CENTS. 
TOL xm. NO. 13.1 
ROCHESTER, N.Y.-FOR THE WEEK ENDING SATURDAY, MARCH 29, 1862. 
S WHOLE NO. 637. 
MOORE’S RURAL NEW-YORKER, 
THE LEADING AMERICAN WEEKLY 
RURAL, LITERARY AND FAMILY NEWSPAPER. 
CONDUCTED BY D. D. T. MOORE, 
With an Able Corps of Assistants and Contributors. 
CHAS. D. B.RAGDON. Western Corresponding Editor. 
The Rural New-Yorker is designed to be unsurpassed in 
Value. Purity, Usefulness and Variety of Contents, and unique 
and beautiful in Appearance. Its Conductor devotes bis per¬ 
sonal attention to the supervision of its various departments, 
and earnestly labors to render the Rcbal an eminently Reliable 
Guide on all the important Practical. Scientific and other 
Subjects intimately connected with the bUBtne-s of those whose 
interests It zealously advocates. As a, Family JblTWf.iL it is 
eminently Instructive and Entertaining — being so conducted 
that it cun be safely taken to the Hearts and Homes of people of 
intelligence, taste and discrimination. It embraces more Agri¬ 
cultural, Horticultural. Scientific. Educational, Literary and 
News Matter, interspersed with appropriate and beautiful 
Engravings, than any other journal,—rendering it the most 
complete Agricultural. Literary and Family Newspaper 
in America. 
For Terms and other particulars, see last page. 
VALUE OF MANURES. 
No question is of more importance to farmers 
than the comparative value of manures. Without 
some knowledge on this question, he acts blindly, 
and may use his labor and means for naught.. The 
manufacturer who should buy bis stock recklessly? 
without regard to the use to which it could be ap¬ 
plied. Hs adaptation to his wants, or its real value, 
would be considered very far from being a wise man, 
and it would not require a prophet to predict his 
speedy ruin. The farmer, if he would work to the 
best advantage, must possess some knowledge of 
the value of the manure which he makes or pur¬ 
chases, know a little of its effects upon soils and 
crops, and at what price he can afford to buy or sell. 
If the soil in its natural state, without manure, will 
produce twenty bushels of oats, or seventy of pota¬ 
toes, the iucrease effected by manure will show its 
value. Thus, if twenty-five loads of good stable 
manure to the acre increased the yield of potatoes 
fifty bushels, and the market price was fifty cents a 
bushel, the value of the manure would be shown to 
be one dollar a load, or, making deduction for cost 
of application, profit on the work, Jcc., full seventy- 
five cents. If the experiment is repeated so as to 
make this result certain ia all ordinary cases, the 
farmer may set this down as the real value of good 
stable manure. Of course the price of produce 
affects its value, for should potatoes only bring in 
the market twenty-five cents a bushel, this would 
reduce the value of the manure one-half. 
A few weeks since we gave the results of our own 
experiments with guano, and we are now indebted 
to John Johnston, of Geneva, for a copy of the 
North . British Agriculturist , containing a valuable 
paper on 41 The Extent to which Artificial Manures 
can be. Profitably* Employed.” in which we find 
several passages marked for our special consideration. 
The first thing that strikes us, on reading this paper, 
is the large quantity of manure used per acre, and 
its great cost, ranging from five to fifteen dollars 
an acre. The following table shows the manure 
used per acre by Joun Hi bson, of Castleacre. in 
Norfolk, who has 8uo acres of arable land, and 200 
in meadow and pasture: 
FOR WURZEL. 
10 3-horse cartloads of farmyard manure.£ s. d. 
3 cwt. of Peruvian guano, at 13s. 1 19 0 
3 cwt. of common salt, at Is. . 0 3 0 
~li cwt of superphosphate of lime, at 6s. 8d.0 16 8 
2 18 8 
FOR WHITE TURNIPS. 
10 3-horse cart-loads of farm-yard manure.. 
1 cwt of superphosphate of*lime. 1 0 0 
FOR SWEDES. 
10 3-horse cart-loads of tarm-yard manure_ 
3 cwt. of superphosphate Of'lime. 1 0 0 
FOR WHEAT. 
8 loads of farm-yard manure as soon as the hay is off, 
and in February or March a top-dressing of.. 
l/s cwt. of Peruvian guano.£1 0 0 
I 2 cwt of nitvate of soda____ 0 7 6 
2 cwt. of common salt____ 0 2 0 
£19 6 
FOR BARLEY AFTER WHEAT. 
23s cwt. of Peruvian guano.....£1 12 6 
2 cwt. of common salt....... 0 2 0 
£1 14 6 
In addition to this, oil-cake, producing manure to 
the value of $5 per acre, is used, making the average 
cost of manure over $13 dollars per acre. 
Various experiments are given in the use of 
special manures for top-dressing grass laud, and 
James Porter, EJsq.^to whom was awarded the 
Highland Society's gold medal, for the most success¬ 
ful experiments in top-dressing, says he has come 
to the conclusion that guano, sulphate of ammonia, 
nitrate of soda, and soot, are the best light-dress¬ 
ings for new grass, and either of these, to the value 
ol $7.50, a fair dressing for an acre of land. 
A very interesting discussion followed the reading 
ol the paper of Mr. Johnson, on the use of lime 
as manure. Mr. TuoMAssaid “ among the fertilizers 
there was one, the value of which was sadly over¬ 
looked in a considerable part of England; he meant 
lime. A few years ago, while farming in Bedford¬ 
shire, he entered into the occupation of a small tract 
of land, in conjunction with the farm of Lidlington. 
He applied to it 20 quarters of limestone per acre, 
and, to his astonishment, after a summer's fallow, he 
got something like 55 bushels of wheat per acre, on 
land which was scarcely supposed to be worth cul¬ 
tivation. He was surprised that Mr. Johnson had 
not mentioned lime amoug the fertilizers to which 
he alluded. The proper mode of applying lime was 
a vexed question: and it would take a very long 
time fur him to enter into it throughly. And he 
wished to call the attention of gentlemen who were 
farming lands which had recently been reclaimed, 
or who occupied very strong and heavy clay soils, 
to the extreme value of lime as a manure. The 
value of lime was not half so much recognized in 
England as it ought to be: and he was sure that, if 
all those who had never tried it were to try it on a 
small scale, its use would soon become much more 
extensive. In Scotland, its value was thoroughly 
recognized. Scotch farmers did not think much of 
sending their teams 20 miles to bring lime to the 
land; and it was evident, from the success in their 
calling, that it answered extremely well.” 
Mr. Coussmvker thought much evil might be 
done by the Iree use of lime. “The soil might, 
easily be stimulated to do a great deal which it 
would not do otherwise. A man might be stimulated 
to perform almost any extraordinary feat by means 
of two or three glasses of brandy, but then las con¬ 
stitution would suffer in proportion; and in like 
manner they might stimulate the soil to an extraor¬ 
dinary extent by artificial manures, and leave it 
afterward more barren than it was before. With 
respect to lime, he recollected the old saying — 
1 Lime makes rich fathers and poor sons.' It cer¬ 
tainly stimulated the soil, so as to bring out of it 
everything that was in it; but unless they supplied 
the land with good 1’arm-yard dung afterward, it 
would suffer from the stimulus.” 
Mr. Tret he wy said “his own experience of lime 
was, that it was extremely beneficial in virgin soils, 
soils which had just been reclaimed from a state of 
Nature. He could mention many instances in 
which lime had been applied to such soils with the 
greatest, benefit. So highly was it appreciated in 
that respect that he knew many districts where land 
having been drained by the landlord, and the 
tenants charged 5 per cent, on the outlay, it was 
afterward limed, and the tenants paid 6 per cent on 
the cost of liming. Ho had, in fact, seen greater 
results from the application of lime to recently 
reclaimed lands than he ever saw from any other 
kind of manuring. He knew one instance in par¬ 
ticular in which land was almost worthless, being 
let at 5s. per acre, was drained and limed, and 
within three years after, it was let at £2 per acre, 
and after being broken up prodneed some of the 
finest crops he ever saw. lie considered lime a 
very valuable manure. Of course liming might be 
overdone* If they went on doing it for years, it 
would certainly produce bad effects, but then that 
arose not from the use, but the abuse of lime.” 
FIRE WOOD. 
Speculators —not army “contractors,” but theo¬ 
rists—hold that we are all rushing pell-mell after 
“happiness.” LVhat roundabout ways to get at it! 
Cruising for it among the icebergs, digging for it in 
the mines, higgling for it in the markets, fighting lor 
it on the field. About the last place to find the 
prize is at fashionable assemblies, in tight clothes, 
amid unmitigated cake, and coffee, and wine, and 
nonsense, and noise. 
A simple, direct, unquestionable, unequivocal 
mode of attaining happiness, is to get plenty of first- 
rate Jire wood! Here is no circumlocution; you put 
the wood into the stove—I beg pardon, unless you 
are green, and the wood too , you will by no moans 
put the wood into a stove, (unlessills a cook-stove,) 
but into a jire-plaoe, where a bright and cheerful 
blaze will pay back, right on the spot, all your out¬ 
lays. 
Yes, good wood is a good paymaster, and pays 
down. Invest in Minnesota lands, Mississippi bonds, 
'banks, railroads and factories, ami though your 
friends will “wish you much joy ” over your invest¬ 
ments, you will frequently be bothered to get much 
“happiness" out of them. Not so with good wood. 
You may wade through mud to office, only to find 
that “happiness’ is still further on. Not so with 
good wood—you have only to apply a locofoco 
match, and enter upon your joys! 
Your wife may put extra llounces on her dress, 
extra bows on her bonnet, extra tails on her victo- 
rine, extra lard in her crust, extra lies in her com¬ 
pliments, extra yards in her skirt, and get no nearer 
the haven of happiness than before. Good wood 
never disappoints you. 
Almost all the things we chase after in this world 
are circumlocutory;—the good there i3 in them, if 
any. is so far off. and is reached by such a circuitous 
path, that we bait the time tail to find it. There is 
no indirection to good wood. 
One soggy stick puls out the fire, spoils the bread, 
delays the dinner, and tarns mirth to madness. 
Novelists delight, apparently, to ventilate and 
fumigate human sorrows; but so far as I know, the 
peculiar miseries of miserable wood defy their de¬ 
scriptive powers. They freeze a poor woman and 
her babes to death for pastime; but they do it by 
taking away the supply; they seem to judge that 
I lie long drawn out agonies of “ soggy ” loood belong 
to that department of human woes and human 
wickedness where slow tortures are applied, where 
victims are killed by inches, and which the delicate 
nerves of modern civilization should not be required 
to contemplate. 
•• A tew practical observations, and 1 close.” 
The common practice of cutting wood and letting it 
remain in the woods to season, is highly reprehen¬ 
sible. Wood should season in a dry and airy place. 
If there is not room in the wood-house, draw it 
where the air circulates aud cover it with boards. 
Every round stick over two inches through should 
be split while green, as it. splits easier while green, 
and seasons better after it la split. 
Wood, if .seasoned and preserved in the best pos¬ 
sible manner, will burn well, give more heat, and 
last much longer, if the sticks are good size, than if 
they are made small. Where you reduce wood to a 
very small size, the heat passes off in a blaze, a 
strong current, of hot air carries it up the chimney, 
and the inass of splinters or small wood is soon 
reduced to ashes; whereas larger wood creates a 
less current, and makes more coals, which remain a 
long time to radiate heat. But, round wood rots in 
seasoning, unless it is very small, and should be 
split on that account 
It is necessary to have some small wood to start 
fires with; and in the summer, when you wish afire 
for a little while, you may use small wood. When 
you want a hot, continuous fire, use large wood, and 
select stoves and tire-place* that will receive such; 
if you follow' ray directions in preparing the wood, 
it will burn if it is large. It is, however, very 
important to observe that very groat injury often 
occurs from putting a large mass of green wood into 
a tight wood-house.. It is 1 . nice business to season 
wood exactly righr. It is as difficult and delicate a 
task as to get the best temper on the “ Damascus 
blade," the real aromatic flavor to a cup of coffee, 
the nice balance between “the sublime and the 
ridiculous” in oratory, the exact line that divides 
courage from rashness in battle, or prudence from 
parsimony in every-day life. 
Seasoning wood belongs to “the fine arts." You 
want to avoid all fermentation of the sap, or incip¬ 
ient decay, and this can be secured only by the free 
circulation ot the air in a dry place. Wood-houses 
are frequently too tight, and then the wood in them 
loses materially in weight and quality without 
notice being taken of it. If much wood is to be put 
in a tight woud-house, it should be partially sea¬ 
soned before putting it in; or a space should be left 
between the piles, and window's or doors constructed 
so as to bo opened when necessary, and secure a 
tree circulation of air through the wood. My friend. 
Mr. Seymour Sherman, of Warsaw, constructed a 
house to season wood, after the plan of a corn- 
house—a very excellent arrangement for seasoning. 
I tell you, gentlemen, seasoning wood is like pre¬ 
paring tea or curing herbs—there should be no 
must or mold, but a perfect state of preservation. 
But there is a Charybdis as well as a Scylla —wood 
may be too dry. If exposed too long in a very dry 
place, it will burn too rapidly, and so lose in quality. 
A dry cellar is thought by some to be the best place 
to keep wood in: it may be so after it has been par¬ 
tially seasoned. There can be no doubt that you 
w ill get the most heat from wood that is not thor¬ 
oughly seasoned—it spends better. Bass wood, and 
other soft woods, if burned before they are entirely 
seasoned, are much improved, if wood-houses are 
constructed with proper ventilation, and could be 
made quite tight after the wood is sufficiently sea¬ 
soned, 1 think that much would he gained thereby. 
Wood should be cut in the summer, fall, or early 
winter—never in the spring. If you have wood of 
different qualities, it should be assorted so that you 
can get the quality suited to your immediate neces¬ 
sities. It may happen, that in spite of all, you may 
have lo burn some poor w T ood; any wood that is 
dry will burn, but it is horrible to “bake” with light 
wood, and it should never be attempted, but yon 
may boil a tea-kettle with a piece of an old “ rail.” 
A chip room, in a dry place above the ground, 
where splinters, chips, aud broken fragments can be 
deposited for starting tires, may save you from an 
unsightly wood-shed and yard, and supply you with 
much valuable material. It is a “crime against 
civilization ” to burn green or w'et wood, or to suffer 
wood to deteriorate, when care aud calculation can 
keep it good.— h. t. b. 
WESTERN EDITORIAL NOTES. 
TO CAISO AND RETURN.--NO. H. 
SPRING WHEAT 
Will soon be put in tho ground here. The ear¬ 
lier the better, is the rule. And this Sufi surface and 
frozen bottom invites the farmer to do this work 
now. Tho subject is being agitated, seed being 
selected, aud tools prepared. Western farmers who 
have had any experience here need no .prompting 
in this matter ol early seeding. 
GRASS SEED 
May be sown just now, either on the winter wheat 
ground, or with the spring seeding of wheat or oats. 
Some of the most successful grass growers in North 
Illinois aver—and practice what they preach —that 
oats put in as early as the farmer can get on the 
ground to do it, is the best crop to sow grass seed 
with. But on this point there is a great diversity of 
opinion. I will not stop to discuss this question, 
but, since it is pertinent here, will transcribe notes 
furnished me last tall, by one of the best grass 
farmers I know of in the State, in answer to the 
question, 
“WHAT KIND OF GRASS SEED SHALL THE FARMER 
sow?” 
The author is II. B. Patrick, Esq., whose name 
has appeared in the Rural before. lie says: “For 
reclaimed sloughs and other low lands, covered 
some part of the year with water, red top, with a 
small quantity of timothy and red clover, is the 
best adapted of any grass I am acquainted with. 
Red clover will not live in water, but is perfectly at 
home very near it. The red top will not make 
much of a show on such land fill the second year. 
It gradually displaces other grasses, and by the 
fourth year will have almost entire possession, 
yielding from one to two tuns of hay per acre. 
“On lands that can be plowed, timothy and clo¬ 
ver grow equally well. On such lands, some farmers 
sow timothy, aud some clover; and some both 
together, mixed in different proportions. These 
three practices are adopted, undoubtedly, because 
they are most profitable — having in view what will 
be best for the land, and put most dollars iu the 
pocket. 
“ The farmer who grows clover, claims—1st, That 
it is the best fertilizer. 2d, That it produces more 
feed both in pasture and meadow. 3d, More econ¬ 
omy in seeding; for when once seeded, always 
seeded. Cropping two or three years does not 
exterminate clover. 4th, More profit when grown 
for seed; for ho takes off a crop of hay the first of 
July, aud a second crop the same year for seed. 
“The farmer who raises timothy alone, lakes 
Issue on the very first und strongest point, lie de¬ 
nies that clover is the best fertilizer. He admits that 
the first crop on a clover sod will tie better than 
that on a timothy sod; for the reason that there is 
less of it, aud what there is, decomposes sooner. 
But he claims that all following crops are best after 
timot hy , because of more sod and move manure.” 
The second point ho replies to in this way. •• It 
is true you get more bulk in bay and pasture, but 
not more feed. For I read somewhere that it takes 
500 cubic feet of timothy in a large mow to make a 
tun of hay; and 800 cubic feet of clover to weigh a 
tun—a greater disproportion in weight than in bulk.” 
And further. The timothy-man would a*soon feed 
pea straw as clover hay. For pasture, clover fails 
with frosts; and in fields where corn is planted, the 
second growth of clover cannot be got until corn is 
out, when it is worthless in consequence of frost, 
while timothy is good for pasture till covered with 
snow. 
The third point—“When once seeded with clo¬ 
ver. always seeded.” Mr. Timotby-mau does not 
know about, that — something new. He believes it 
when he knows it. 4th, lie believes timothy straw 
alter thrashing is worth nearly as much as eloyer 
hay; and timothy seed quite as much as clover 
seed, when taking into account the extra expense in 
securing, thrashing, and fitting for market 
Mr. Patrick avers that he believes in compro¬ 
mises when no principle is sacrificed thereby, and 
he has therefore adopted the third practice, to wit, 
seeding with timothy and clover mixed, claiming 
therefor most of the benefits accruing to the other 
two parties, with none of the objections. 
QUANTITY OF SEED. 
With Mr. P. this depends upon the strength of the 
land, and the use which is to be made of it. If for 
pasture, he uses a liberal quantity of seed, say ten 
quarts of timothy with two or three pounds of clover 
per acre. lie would cover thu ground all over, 
having no regard to strength of land. 
If designed for meadow, or for the production of 
timothy seed, the quantity should be regulated*by 
the strength of the land. About eight quarts of 
timothy and two pounds of clover for good land, 
and a less quantity in the same proportion for 
poorer land; because when sown thick, but a small 
portion matures, growing but a few inches high, and 
only a fraction of it heading out. 
Clover sown with timothy reduces the yield a 
trifle only, which is more than made up by the feed 
of clover which is protected from frosts by the high 
timothy stubble. 
LAND SHOULD NOT BE PASTURED 
The first year after seeding, Mr. Patrick says, 
because the sod is not perfected, aud the ground is 
too mellow, and v ill not bear up heavy stock in wet 
weather. Stock should not bo turned on timothy 
pastures-and meadows when the frost is coming out 
in the spring. The ground is then soft and is liable 
to be trodden up. At this season stock is better off 
in well littered yards, till they can get a full feed of 
grass. 
GRASS SEED AS A CROP. 
On this subject Mr. P. talks intelligently also, for 
he has had a pretty largo experience. He says the 
yield of grass seed, like most grains, is in propor¬ 
tion to the amount of straw, with tew exceptions to 
the contrary. Land producing one tun of hay to 
the acre will yield about three bushels of seed; two 
tuns, six bushels, and so on — the more straw the 
more seed. 
In 1857 Harrison Hancock received from the 
Illinois State Ag. Society ten dollars as a first pre¬ 
mium for fifteen bushels of clean timothy seed grown 
on one acre. Mr. P. reasons concerning it thus: 
Timothy seed will not mature well unless the straw 
stands up. He believes three tuns of straw all that 
can stand up on an acre. Hence, ii his premises 
are correct, Hancock did not. raise that amount of 
seed; for practical, intelligent farmers do not believe 
that five tuns of timothy on one acre can stand and 
mature seed. 
TIMOTHY VERSUS CLOVER. 
There is one more item occurs to me here. It is a 
fact that on most western soils red clover is a ram¬ 
pant weed—that once in the ground it. stays and 
thrives and spreads there to the exclusion of other 
grasses—“running out” the timothy in a short time. 
This is not the case In the Eastern States where I 
am acquainted. After a few years the timothy only 
remains. About the third season, especially on day 
soils, the timothy predominates, no matter how much 
clover may have been sown at the seeding. Talk¬ 
ing with Mr. Patrick on this subject, he said I 
would find by inquiry and observation in tho prairie 
country that the clover runs out the timothy when 
the subsoil is clay; but when it is gravel or sand, tho 
timothy predominates after a year or two. 
But I have failed to become convinced that such 
is the case, and give the statement here that experi¬ 
ence may be elicited. 
It is my impression that only in such soils as 
heave badly is the clover destroyed. But let the 
reader tell us what he knows about it. 
SHADING YOUNG EVERGREENS. 
I notice as I travel through the nursery here, at 
my friend Dunlap’s, the young evergreens are 
planted between (lie thickets of peach trees, where 
they are completely protected from the sun ami are 
acclimated without unusual care. The hail storm 
of last season, which destroyed thousands of dollars 
worth of stock for Mr. D., did not injure these ever¬ 
greens at. all. I have found that there is little diffi¬ 
culty iu acclimating any evergreen here, it properly 
shaded, and the soil is thoroughly drained. Unless 
shaded, they burn up; and if the soil is not drained, 
they damp off’. Even the Hemlock, (Abies Cana¬ 
densis,) so hard to make live, becomes acclimated 
nearly 200 miles south of Chicago after two years 
protection in this manner. 
BRICK OR STONE PAVEMENTS. 
The character of our prairie soils is such as to 
annoy greatly any but a thoroughly prairie-bred or 
prairie-acclimated housewife. As before said, the 
condition of the soil as 1 traveled over the Cham¬ 
paign Nursery and Farm, was anything but com¬ 
fortable. This discomfort was not, confined to the 
fields. About the house and out-buildings, where 
teams arc arriving and departing, aud the tread of 
many feet is constant, the surface does not become 
swarded, and no gravel has yet covered the mud, 
I refer to this matter here, that I may commend 
what I have found to add much to tho cleanliness 
and comfort of prairie homes, at the same time pre¬ 
venting tell-tale lines in the face of the housewife. 
Brick or stone paved areas at the back door, w here 
the workmen most congregate, with a paved trench 
leading to a compost heap to receive the Monday’s 
suds; also paved walks from house to gates and 
out-buildings. Whether brick or stone, these pave¬ 
ments can be washed or swept clean. They are 
better than wood because wood decays. With such- 
walks a man will not need a balancing pole and a 
Blondin’s senseless brain in order to keep out of 
the mud. How many gray hairs, wrinkles, scrub¬ 
bings and sighs just a little, time and money will 
save the mothers of our children ! 
SUNKEN WALKS. 
Ditches of discomfort! I noticed that my friend 
Dunlap condemned them tacitly and silently, yet 
emphatically, for he shunned them and preferred 
the elevated flower border, notwithstanding his 
heavy boots. I, too, followed in his footsteps, leav¬ 
ing the water-filled ditches called “ walks " to the 
enjoyment of amphibious animals. 
I do not know' what my editor-friend thought, as 
he stalked meditatively across his flower borders — 
do not know whether he was mentally molding an 
article on the folly of such walks in a prairie coun¬ 
try, where the soil, when wet, is as adhesive as 
gudgeon grease—do not know- whether he was chid¬ 
ing himself for neglecting to til 1 them up, or whether 
he was wondering if B. wouldn’t make a text of it 
and “give him Jessie.” But I do know that I was 
resolving to cry out against it by the loudest scratch¬ 
ing of my sharpest pen. Elevate the w r alks above 
the border, all ye Suckers, and Iloosiers, and Badg¬ 
ers, and llawkeyos! 
FAWKES’ STEAM PLOW, LANCASTER, 
Stands here in the field where he left it Novem¬ 
ber 22d, 1859, after plowing 2 9-16 acres of tough 
prairie sward in eighty minutes. It is a monument 
to his genius, perseverance, and failure, for the time 
being. The last time I saw Fawkes, he was at 
work with one of his machines, drawing mole- 
ditchers—he said, with considerable success. If he 
can profitably apply Bteam to this work it will be 
the best kind of steam plowing he can possibly do. 
CAIRO. 
A ride of 12 hours from Champaign, and we wake 
up in Cairo—365 miles from Chicago. The salient 
feature of this place is mud —almost fathomless 
