/JcRICULTURf 
ROCHESTER, N.Y.-FOR THE AYEEK ENDING SATURDAY, APRIL 26, 1862, 
1 WHOLE NO. 641 
a proper system, with the drains not too closely 
connected; always keeping one consideration in 
mind — not to study an artificial position, hut to 
take nature’s surface; and as nature makes the fall 
of the land, let the workmen take the cut. 
tages of tillage, to the methods by Which tillage is to 
be obtained. Among the earliest suggestions of 
cultivation by steam power was that of reducing by 
its means the soil to tilth at once. The land was to 
bo torn down a3 the deal is torn down at the saw¬ 
mill; though before the machine it may have been 
as hard and firm as wood, behind the tool, as it 
advanced at, work, it was to lie as light and fine as 
sawdust. But it has at length been found that it is 
better because cheaper, and more perfect, too, to 
leave this last refinement of the tillage process to 
the weather, which does it without cost. The land 
is now torn — smashed up — or moved and thrown 
about by plow* or grubber in great clods and lumps. 
This is best done in dry autumn weather, and thus 
it lies till spring. Certainly no climate is better 
adapted for cheap tillage than the English: the 
rains and frosts of winter following a dry Septem¬ 
ber and October, must penetrate and thrust asunder 
the clung and hardened masses of the soil. No two 
particles shall remain adhering to each other, if you 
only give room and opportunity to the cheapest and 
most natural disintegrator in the world. No rasp, 
or saw. or mill will reduce the indurated land to 
soft and wholesome tilth so perfectly as a winter’s 
frost. And all that you need to attain its perfect 
operation is, first to provide an outlet for the water 
when it comes, by an efficient drainage of the sub¬ 
soil; and then to move the land while dry, and 
break it up into clods and fragments, no matter how 
large they be, and leave them tor alternate rain and 
droutb and frost and thaw to do their utmost. 
four ounces; tincture of matico, two ounces; water, 
one pint. Divide into four parts, and give one por¬ 
tion every four hours. The same may he used for 
calve-', only in smaller quantity. 
Having devoted so much space to such of our 
correspondent's queries as need immediate attention, 
we will leave the carrot question open for Rural 
correspondents, and hope they will give their views 
and experiences thereupon. 
MOORE’S RURAL NEW-YORKER 
THE LEADING AMERICAN WEEKLY 
RURAL. LITERARY AND FAMILY NEWSPAPER. 
lime. Half an ounce of the powder in a gallon of 
water will give a solution of sufficient strength. 
Tonics should on no account’be neglected, but be 
administered simply to rouse to action the languid 
or almost lifeless powers of the animal. Preven¬ 
tion of this malady is the only cure worth notice. 
A piece of short or inferior keep, should be reserved 
as a digesting place in which the cattle may be 
occasionally turned to empty and exercise them¬ 
selves. Those observed to advance very fast, may 
be bled monthly, for several months; but occasional 
purges of alterative medicines would prevent those 
diseases which take their rise in over-repletion and 
accumulation, and are far better than bleeding. 
The other system, whose great exponent in our 
countryis Dr. Dadd, is deserving of extreme scrutiny 
at the hands of breeders. In the opinion ol Dr. D., 
this is an epizootic affection, and, like most diseases 
of that character, its pathology is obscure. Indeed, 
Dr. D. thinks that wo know as little concerning its 
causes as we do about those promotive of cholera, 
influenza potato rot. etc. The only way to prevent 
its appearance is to keep cattle in a physiological 
condition by proper attention to breeding, feeding, 
rearing, and housing. Animals in a perfectly 
healthy slate are certain to enjoy immunity from it 
and other diseases. Dr. Dadd considers it unfortu¬ 
nate that Black Leg should ever have been classed 
as an inflammatory affection, “lor the error has led 
to a system of practice as disastrous as the cattle 
plague." He quotes from Youatt, (whose mode of 
treatment we have already given,) and wonders 
“how any creature can survive such barbarous 
treatment” Blood-letting and purging have no 
good effect in a disease so prostrating as this, and 
which runs its course to mortification so rapidly. 
The proper mode is to furnish, life-sustaining agents ; 
not deplete and weaken the animal economy. 
The course of treatment pursued by Dr. D. is thus 
commenced 
CONDUCTED BY D. D. T. MOORE, 
With an Able Corps of Assistants and Contributors. 
CHURCH SPIRES vs. TREES. 
I have been amused, puzzled and vexed, several 
times during my short life, at the vandalous talk of 
thoughtless, though good-hearted men—intelligent, 
though having uneducated eyesight. One or two 
such instances, of more recent occurrence, have 
determined me to say something about it, lor I deem 
it a matter of general importance. 
I remember that I once read, in an English work 
(Gilpin's, I think.) on landscape gardening, an 
amusing illustration of the manner in which “joys 
forever " are abandoned or are sacrificed in order to 
secure to their possessor “ an extended view." The 
owner of a fine place, beautifully elevated and 
wooded, with desirable openings here and’ there, 
affording pictures of much beauty, was informed by 
a visitor that he might, if he chose, from ht3 lawn 
see seven churches, by removing the trees that hid 
them. The trees were sacrificed, the lawn laid bare, 
and the writer says lie afterwards found the propri¬ 
etor seated on a Imre lawn, contemplating through a 
telescope the seven churches! It is not 3ix months 
since t stood on an elevated prairie, skirted by a 
beautiful grove. An extended landscape lay before 
The P.vral New-Yorker is designed to be unsurpassed in 
Value, Purity. Usefulness and Variety of Contents, and unique 
and beautiful in Appearance. Its Conductor devotes hia per¬ 
sonal attention to the supervision of its various departments, 
and earnestly labors to render the Rural an eminently Reliable 
Guide on all the important Practical. Scientific and other 
Subjects intimately connected wit h the business of those whose 
interests it zealously advocates. As a Family Journal it is 
eminently Instructive and Entertaining—being so conducted 
that it can 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. _ 
ty For Terms and other particulars, see last page. 
NOTES AND INQUIRIES 
Uinta ou the Potato Disease. 
From an elaborate article in a recent number 
of the Journal of the IFesf of England Society, on 
the potato culture, from the pen of Dr. Lang, in 
which many curious and important truths are dis¬ 
cussed, the following may be regarded as conclu¬ 
sions deduced from Ids treatment of the whole 
subject: 
1. The desirability of early planting in dry, clean, 
and well-prepared ground. 
2. That white potatoes are least liable to the 
disease, and therefore to be preferred to the colored 
sorts. 
3. That the soil in no case produces or influences 
the disease. 
4. Tbat the disease is of a fungoid character, 
investing many varieties of plants and increased in 
activity by atmospheric causes. 
5. That all heterogeneous manures are injurious. 
6. That lime and salt, raised in the proportion of 
eight tuns of lime with three hundred weight of 
common salt, is the best manure; and this is the 
proportion used to the acre. 
7. That potatoes that ripen earliest should be 
exclusively grown. 
5- That as soon as the disease appears, earthing 
up the stalks repeatedly with line earth from the 
center of the trench, is the only effectual preventive 
to its ravages. To this operation the author conse¬ 
quently attaches the greatest importance. 
9. That when exhumed, sunlight appears to arrest 
the progress of the murrain, and prevents the fur¬ 
ther decomposition of the tuber. 
Without committing ourselves to all the above 
statements and suggestions, some of which are, we 
think, doubtful or open to well-founded objections, 
the attentive reader will find much useful material 
for thought, which, if carefully considered, cannot 
fail to impart valuable aid in coming to sound 
conclusions, as far as our confessedly limited aud 
imperfect knowledge will as yet permit, on this 
very important and equally difficult subject 
pints of hartshorn, four drachms; 
tar water, one quart; tincture of bloodroot, one 
ounce. Mix the hartshorn and tar water first, then 
add the bloodroot. Drench. (No. 1.) The object in 
giving the hartshorn is to decarbonize the blood, and 
impart healthy stimulus to the nutrient system of 
blood vessels and nerves. Should the animal exhibit 
any lameness in the back or hind quarters, apply oil 
of cedar, two ounces; sulphuric ether, two ounces: 
tincture of capsicum, one ounce; cod liver oil, six 
ounces. First mix the two oils, then add the ether, 
and shake thoroughly: lastly, add the tincture. 
The object in applying this preparation is to arouse 
capillary action, and thus prevent the engorgements, 
which, according to the best authorities, are every¬ 
where found. 
Four hours after giving dose. No. 1, drench the 
patient with the following:—Liquid tar, one ounce: 
glycerine, four ounces; thin gruel, one quart. This 
dose may be repeated, if the urgency of the case 
demands it, at intervals of four hours, until symp¬ 
toms of improvement are observable. The tar is a 
powerful antiseptic, preventing decomposition. em¬ 
physema, and mortitf*B.tiori. All sores and ulcers 
must be dressed with pyroligneous acid, and kept 
constantly sprinkled with powdered bioodrooL All 
abscesses must be punctured with a thumb lancet, 
their contents evacuated by pressure, and syringed 
with soap suds, and their cavities crammed with fine 
salt Should any sores or ulcers be observed about 
the muzzle, mouth, or throat, tincture of matico is 
the remedy, or liquid tar: one ounce of the same 
may be introduced into the mouth of the patient ; it 
will surely do good. If the patient is weak and 
debilitated, tonics are indicated; goldenseal, in two 
drachm doses, may be incorporated in the food, in 
direct ratio to the urgency of the case. 
Scorns in Calves is attended with much acidity 
of the stomach, and a corrective of this peculiarity 
is first needed, by the administration of a mild pur¬ 
gative, and afterwards by the use of chaik. We have 
heretofore given a mode of treatment which has. we 
believe, given satisfaction where tried, and now 
republish the same. Two ounces of castor oil, or 
three ounces of Epsom salts, may be given. Opium, 
• THE HOW AND WHEREFORE.’ 
“In a horticultural article in Yol. XII, No. 40, you are 
rather hard upon farmers, yet perhaps no more so than the 
case warrants. Yet farmers as a class are uot so destitute of 
• common seuse' as to not tell the difference between good 
and poor farming; but what they do wish to know, is the how 
and wherefore. For instance, in thu article referred to, speak¬ 
ing of a certain orchard, j ou say it was only half cared for! 
I believe t speak within bounds, when I say that one-half of 
the farmers do not know what even this is. Will you not give 
them tiie moduli operand! in successful practice? ' 
The above is an extract from a letter from Colum¬ 
bia county, N. Y., just received. It purports to 
have been written by a young farmer, whose avowed 
object is to add to his fund of knowledge. 
Inasmuch as I briefly gave, in the very article 
referred to, the main features in the successful prac¬ 
tice of orchardists in the West; and inasmuch as 
the whole practice in detail has been given, again 
and again, in papers, reports and fruit-books, it 
seems to me a work of supererogation to attempt to 
give even the outlines of good Orchard Culture. 
But l will do it, because it is timely to do so, and 
because it may benefii somebody. 1 shall speak in 
general terms: with no reference to any particular 
locality, and condense as much as may be: 
1. The site of an orchard should be as high as 
possible, the ground thoroughly drained, aud in 
good tilth—that is. clean, lich, and well and deeply 
pulverized. 
2. Good trees, of varieties suited to the climate 
and market, should be planted carefully; and as a 
rule, the directions of the nurseryman of whom the 
trees am purchased, in regard to plrfntiug, should 
be followed to the letter: intelligent nurserymen 
usually give such directions. 
3. Good culture is clean thorough culture; it is 
stirring the soil: it is planting in beans, potatoes, 
corn, or other hoed crops, and thoroughly attending 
Benefits of Autumn Plowing. 
The English farmers have been discussing, like 
our own, the advantages presented by the different 
seasons for performing this peculiar labor of the 
farm, and we extract the arguments presentedlin 
the London Agricultural Gazette, in favor of autumn 
plowing. That journal says: 
The tillage and drainage of the soil are very 
closely related to each other. So, indeed, are the 
tillage uud manuring the Soil. And these, not 
merely as cause and effect are related — though 
drainage does enable tillage, and tillage does alter 
composition — but as being operations of the same 
class and kind. Aud thus Mr. Bailey Denton, 
though engaged in a lecture upon land drainage, 
could not help referring to the steam plow a the 
great tillage implement of the future. And we had 
from him. too, the striking fact bearing on the com¬ 
position of a fertile soil, that in a state of perfect 
tilth, one-quarter ot its bulk is air. 
Mr. Smith, of Luis-Weedon, says that in all clay 
soils containing the mineral elements of grain, 
perfect tilth dispenses with the need of manuring: 
and there cannot be a doubt that a deep and thor¬ 
ough tillage enables soil to draw immensely on the 
stores of vegetable food contained in air and rain. 
The. Messrs. Hardy say that perfect tilth dis- 
I penses with the need of drainage, and there can be 
but little doubt that deep and thorough tillage 
facilitates the operation of whatever drainage may 
exist, whether it be natural or artificial. 
In both these ca^es the useful lesson is well 
taught, that it is true economy rather to put the 
cheap and copious storehouse of Nature’s agencies 
to its full use, than by laborious and costly artificial 
Entering upon an explanation of his plan of drain¬ 
age, he avowed himself to be a deep drainer, and to 
have been so for the lust thirty years. He remem¬ 
bered to have been laughed at for placing a main 
drain thirteen feet deep, lu the place where he had 
carried on his operations, the surface drainage had 
been attempted by one after another most unsuc¬ 
cessfully, but the needs still remained just the same, 
and could not be cured, lie, however, having 
plenty of energy, and the owner placing at his dis¬ 
posal plenty of money, he had succeeded in restor¬ 
ing an estate which bad been represented as irre¬ 
claimable. He fell pleased that he had succeeded, 
because the old men of the day gone by were unable 
to find out the secret. He found it out thus: that 
while others were content with mere surface-drains, 
ho dug deeper and deeper until he came down to 
the spring?. He made a deep main drain, while his 
general drainage was about four feat, though on 
coming into die farm he found his neighbors drain¬ 
age about two leet. He felt that the land he had 
drained was drained efficiently. H© advised that 
land should not be drained in small portions, aud 
with furrows; but oven in a clay soil, to allow the 
moisture to pass quickly through, as if through a 
colander, without leaving any of it to adhere to the 
surtace. If the water was required to be carried off 
the surface, it must be dune by plowing on a fiat 
surface, and whatever draining was done on stiff 
land was required to be done deep. On meadow 
land it was necessary to be careful, and to drain on 
the stomach: the mouths of the vessels that are 
pouring out all this mucus and blood must be stop¬ 
ped; and we have not a more po werful or useful 
medicine than this. It acts by removing the irrita¬ 
tion about the orifices of the ©xhalent vessels, and 
when this is effected, they will cease to pour out so 
much fluid. Other astringents may be added, and 
carminative mingled with the whole, to recall the 
appetite and rouse the bowels io bcalihy action. The 
following medicine will present the best combina¬ 
tions of all these things: Take prepared chalk, two 
drachms; powdered opium, ten grains; powdered 
catechu, half a drachm; ginger, half a drachm; 
essence of peppermint, five drops. Mix, and give 
twice every day in hall a pint of gruel. This will 
be the proper dose for a call from a fortnight to two 
months old. If the animal is older the dose may be 
increased one-half 
Dr. Dadd, in his Diseases of Cattle , says that when 
sucking calves are under treatment, the mother 
should have a lew doses of the following compound: 
Finely-powdered charcoal, eight ounces; lime water. 
