mon yellow corn, while a few insist that the sweet 
corn makes far sweeter and more nourishing food. 
It is rather late for ruta-bagas, as the 15th of June 
is as late as it is desirable to sow, hut in well pre¬ 
pared ground, no doubt a good crop could be 
obtained if planted immediately. If the weather 
should prove showery for a week or two. as is likely 
to be the case, after so long a drouth, the late sown 
seed would germinate rapidly and make a full crop 
certain. In the turnip family a speedy growth in 
its early stages, to get it out of the way of insects, 
and give it a healthy, vigorous start., is essential to 
success, and therefore seed sown a “little too 
late" often succeeds best. The roots, too, grown 
from late sown seed, if not quite as large as they 
would have been if sown earlier, are usually more 
sound and keep better. 
Any time during July will answer for sowing 
white turnips, and those who will now go to work in 
earnest to repair the loss occasioned by the unusual 
lack of rain during the past six weeks, will not 
labor in vain, and may find, in the autumn, that 
they are even better prepared for the winter than 
ever before. That which we look upon as an evil 
often proves a blessing in disguise, and it is the part 
ot the wise man to make good come out of evil, and 
not to Submit to adverse circumstances without, a 
struggle. The local press in the various districts 
afflicted with drouth, in which we find such doleful 
accounts of injured crops, ruined hay fields, and 
starving cattle, will do well to call the attention of 
their readers to this subject as the best possible way 
of averting the evil. 
— Since writing the above, we are pleased to an¬ 
nounce that the spell has been broken, and during 
the past twenty-four hours (2 P. M., June 19th,) we 
have been blessed with copious showers. 
MOORE’S RURAX NEW-YORKER 
not benefited when it rains porridge, notwithstand¬ 
ing he may certify — as H. T. B. once did of a cer¬ 
tain piece of land — that said dish had lain out 
doors all the time. 
1 will state a fact:—Twenty-seven years ago I 
cleared from the forest a piece of oak-timbered land, 
sandy clay, light-colored soil. From that time to 
the present writing no artificial fertilizer has been 
applied to it, except plaster and clover. Three 
times it has yielded thirty and once thirty-six 
bushels of wheat to the acre. Last year—a very 
unfavorable year for corn —I obtained from it. 100 
bushels Of eats per acre. At the last cultivation I 
seeded it bountifully with timothy and clover, and 
last spring dressed it with plaster, and although 
since early spring it has been pastured with one 
horse, three head of cattle and two pigs to four 
acres, the grass now stands over a considerable part 
of it knee high: so that I have thought of making a 
pair of stilts, to enable me in the early moruing to 
catch my mare without getting disagreeably wet. I 
have no doubt that this piece of land will honor my 
draft upon it, once in three years, for 100 bushels of 
ears ot corn to the acre, and more, without impair¬ 
ing its future ability to do the same, and without 
other fertilizers than have been heretofore applied. 
Much is written about, barn-yard manure —and 
none too much. 1 use. all I have. But what I have 
obtained from Nature’s stores has been infinitely 
more remunerative. Petkr Hathaway. 
Milan, Erie Co., Ohio, 1862. 
THE LEADING AMERICAN WEEKLY 
RURAL, LITERARY AND FAMILY NEWSPAPER. 
Those who have traveled along the Hudson are provided in connection with the dining room, 
River will never forget the beautiful residences that and a lobby is shut off at the head of the basement 
dot its banks, and we know of noway in which a few stairs; in this is a wash stand, etc. Up stairs are 
days can be spent more pleasantly than in a ramble four bedrooms. There is a large garret of good 
around Ftehklll aod Newburgh^ ^ __ _^ ^ 
.... ^ ....^ 
and all the circumstances sug¬ 
gested an unpretending but real rural house. height overhead. The kitchen accommodation, etc., 
As the accommodation required was not exten- is in the basement, 
sive, there was no necessity for attic bedrooms, and In the chamber plan a projecting dormer window 
the cottage is, therefore, planned a story and a half is introduced in the upper hall at the head of the 
high, as it is called, the roof corning down a foot or stairs. This supplies a pleasant recess for a chair 
two below the ceiling line, not, however, so as to in- and table at a window that looks out on a cheerful 
terfere with the occupation of the rooms in any way. view,* and as it stands out. from the mam ball some 
little distance, being supported on heavy brackets, 
as may he seen on the upper illustration, it casts a 
deep shadow, even when the sun is high, and gives 
some additional individuality to the design. 
The house is constructed of wood, filled in with 
brick, and the carpenter's and mason’s contracts 
were taken at $2,900; the architect’s commission 
for drawings and details, without superintendence* 
being 3.1 per cent, on that amount, viz., $101.50. 
One advantage that is offered by wooden con- 
that picturesque breaks in the plan 
CONDUCTED BY D. D. T. MOORE, 
With an Able Corps of Assistants and Contributors, 
CHAS. X>. BRAG DON. Western Corsesponding Editor, 
Tins 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 hiB 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 with 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 nud discrimination. It embraces more 
Agricultural, 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. 
VJ7~ For Terms and other particulars, see last page. 
THE DROUTH AND THE REMEDY. 
The crop of hay will be extremely light in this 
vicinity and in many sections of the country, on 
account of the very unusual drouth of May and 
part of June, and the same cause will materially 
affect Ihe yield of oats, and some other crops. We 
have no disposition to create unnecessary alarm, 
nor do we wish to unite with the large army who 
are always ready to find fault with the seasons with 
or without cause, and who never feel so happy as 
when they can foretell impending ruin, and obtain 
a respectful hearing for their gloomy prophesies. 
But the facts are before us. Fur the past forty-six 
days we have had but one shower sufficient to lay 
the dust in the neighborhood of Rochester, and the 
same is true, we believe, of Orleans arid Niagara 
counties, and a large portion of Canada West. From 
Maine and other sections at the East we have 
similar reports. The result, to many of our readers, 
will be a short crop of feed, which, to say the least, 
will be very likely to cause inconvenience, and per¬ 
haps somewhat serious loss, unless the necessary 
steps are taken at once to provide a remedy. For¬ 
tunately we have plants that mature in a short 
season, and therefore can be sown after it, is ascer¬ 
tained that there is a deficiency in either grass, 
clover, or the feeding grains, while they furnish no 
mean substitute for either, with proper manage¬ 
ment. Even should fears prove worse than the 
reality, and the harvest furnish an agreeable disap¬ 
pointment, there is no loss in having on hand a 
little more feed for stock than may he thought 
actually necessary, as it insures against scarcity 
from the length or severity of the winter, allows of 
liberal feeding, which is always good economy, and 
may perhaps permit the sale of oats or corn that are, 
usually needed to carry stock through the winter 
and spring. 
As a substitute for hay there is nothing we are 
aware ot that can be grown in this country as well 
as Indian corn. It makes a rapid growth, is ready 
for cutting so early that it has the advantage of the 
warm, dry weather for curing, and yields an im¬ 
mense amount, of Ihe very best kind of fodder. We 
have seen corn planted the latter part ot J une yield a 
fine crop, and the ground then prepared, for the white 
turnip in season for a moderate yield of this root. 
If this course is adopted our readers will have little 
reason to complain, even should the hay crop prove 
unusually short. There is only one difficulty in 
curing corn fodder. The growth is so large and the 
young corn plant contains so much water, that it is 
almost impossible to cure it oil the ground on which 
it is grown, without the greatest care; and the con¬ 
sequence is that- very much becomes heated, and 
materially injured, while we have seen many lots 
entirely ruined from this cause. It requires to be 
spread out quite thin and frequently turned. It is 
a good plan to cart a portion to some meadow near 
i'J for curing, while the barns and out-houses may, 
for the time, he pressed into the service. This will 
cause some trouble, but the farmer must always 
remember that the more profitable labor he can 
bestow on growing and saving crops the better. 
The great object with him is not to get along with a 
little labor, but to make as much paying labor as 
possible. If he gives a day’s labor worth a dollar, 
and by this means obtains t wo dollars’ worth of corn, 
°r meat, or butter, of course the investment is a 
profitable one. And yet we see a good deal of that 
kind of economy which saves labor and loses profits. 
The best plan to plant corn for fodder, we think, is 
to sow in wide drills, about six or eight inches in 
width, allowing space between the rows for the cul¬ 
tivator. Some sow broadcast, and we have known 
good crops to he obtained in this manner. If the 
ground is tolerably clean, and the corn is not sown 
until we have a good growing time, the weeds will 
very soon be outgrown and smothered. Perhaps 
the best variety of corn for the purpose is the large 
estern variety, and this is much preferred by 
some ’ as ^ makes a grand growth duriDg the hot 
" ea ^ er °t July and August. Some plant our com¬ 
WESTERN EDITORIAL NOTES 
VERANDAH 
90 feet wid » 
CORN YET UNHUSKED. 
A recent trip over the Chicago branch of the 
Illinois Central R. R. disclosed the fact that the 
husking of the Illinois corn crop of 1861 is not yet 
completed. We saw husking and planting in pro¬ 
gress at the same time in adjoining fields. The 
bright color of the corn, and the erect position of 
the stocks, led to the belief — which was afterward 
confirmed by direct testimony — that it had been 
quite as secure and as well wintered as that cribbed 
in the fall. There are plenty of men, however, who 
would call it shiftless farming. 
CORN GROWING - SOIL, MANURES, &c 
PARLOR 
DINING R 0 CM 
lx the State of Ohio large districts of dark colored 
soil — river bottom and prairie—are known by the 
name of corn land, and still larger districts of light- 
colored upland sandy clay soil receive the appella¬ 
tion of wheat land —corn, spring wheat, and oats, 
being the special crop of the one, and wheat of the 
other. The occupants of the wheat farms find it 
necessary to grow annually a field of that indispens¬ 
able necessity, Indian corn. It this wheat, land, 
since it was acquired from the forest, has been well 
managed by judicious rest and rotation with clover 
and plaster, it will yield, with skillful cultivation, 
more corn per acre than is averaged where corn is 
made a specialty. Without barn-yard manure, such 
land — the previous crop being clover — with or¬ 
dinary clean and good cultivation, will yield 75 or 
80 bushel of ears of corn to the acre. With plenty 
of barn manure, 100 bushels and upwards; yet, as 
this crop often is grown, the yield falls to 40 and 50 
bushel per acre. What 1 wish to mark emphatically 
is, that lands which for a term of years have yielded 
these small crops are obviously somewhat ex¬ 
hausted, while those lands which have made the 
larger returns are not, where no barn-yard manure 
has been used in either case — thus proving to my 
mind conclusively, the very important fact, that the 
farmer may by skillful rotation, rest, and cultivation 
ot his soil, draw from the great store-house of nature 
supplies of fertility. Where all other conditions are 
observed, the clean and thorough — say extra—cul¬ 
tivation of the, growing corn will, on good wheat 
land, add 20 or 25 bushels of ears to the acre. 
I will describe a method of cultivation which I 
have for years practiced with success. As soon as 
tho corn is large enough, with a light, three-toothed 
cultivator, pass through the corn two furrows in a 
row; then cross cultivate two furrows to each row; 
then commence, as at first, cultivate, two furrows in 
a row, each day, as much and no more than is 
wanted for the hoe. With a bright hoe remove the 
surface soil away from each hill of corn, and supply 
its place with the fresh, cleau, mellow soil, left by 
the cultivator. After this, at intervals go through 
the corn three times more, two furrows in a row 
each time. If a light hand aiul a horse can be 
spared in the urgent season of wheat harvest, let the 
last cultivation he at that time. If no barn manure 
is used, one good hoeing will suffice; otherwise two 
may be needed. Now if we say of this cultivation 
that three times is extra, and that a man, horse and 
cultivator is worth $1,50 per day, and that four 
acres is a days work, it is obvious that 20 bushels of 
ears of corn added to the crop will cost ready for 
harvest less than six cents per bushel; certainly 
cheap corn—certainly cheaper than the lesser crop- 
fences, taxes, plowing, interest ot laud, all belong¬ 
ing to that. The labor ot hoeing too is diminished— 
changed from toil to recreation on a balmy June 
day; and $1.50 per day in June is desirable, wages 
—itself a means of living. 
By this thorough stirring and mellowing of the 
soil, it is opened to the creative influences of rain, 
dew, sunbeams and atmosphere,-of which practi¬ 
cally the experienced and observing lamer knows 
SO much, and theoretically so little. Influences is 
the word we use. But 1 more than suspect that the 
rain, dew, sunbeams and atmosphere enter and leave 
behind matter—really and truly matter—or the ele¬ 
ments of corn. It is to the farmer who observes and 
supplies all the required conditions, that nature is 
prodigal of her bounties; toothers not; on the princi¬ 
ple that the man whose dish is bottom upward is 
16 QX)t. o. 
struction is, 
may be made for less money than they will cost in 
brick work, because it requires considerable time 
and care to make a brick corner plumb and true, 
while a wooden angle can be easily worked. 
The exieriov is painted in quiet, nemral tints, the 
main body of the work being of a rather warm gray, 
while the corner boards, verge boards, window dress¬ 
ings, veranda, and porch, are also of a grayish 
Although, by this arrangement, the ceilings of the tint, but considerably darker than the other, and 
bedrooms are less elegant than they would be if with some brown added to it for the sake of contrast, 
finished off square, as usual, there is one decided The stiles of the Yenitian blinds are rather lighter 
advantage attending it, which was fairly illustrated than the window dressings, while the slats and the 
in the case under consideration. The ground in the panels of the verge boards are of a cool dark brown, 
immediate vicinity of the building site was, as is The chimney is painted in two tints, to correspond; 
often the case, somewhat hare of 
trees, and the proprietor, with 
great care and pains, moved a 
number of healthy specimens, ot 
larger size than usual, from the ^ 
neighboring woods. Fortunately 
these have thriven well for the !■ 
most part, and the consequence //% 
is, that although they are small, 
and have had only a year or , 
two’s growth in their present ^i 
situation, they have quite an 'q&kffi&Y 
important effect in connection <1 
with the house, because it is kept — 
low, aud with overhanging eaves, 
that still further take away the 
effect of height. 
This design was built in a bol- 
low, but the earth taken out for 
foundations was so arranged that 
the house, as now finished, stands 
on a gentle eminence, and the natural impression of 
a stranger to the facts would be that Nature kindly 
provided a little bluff for the specific purpose of 
building the doctor's cottage on. The general effect 
was materially assisted by sodding the surface in the 
vicinity of the house, instead of trusting to grass 
seed. This process is, of course, the more expen¬ 
sive of the two, but it well done, it yields, what is 
really of importance in a new house, an immediate 
reward. 
The entrance is through a wooden porch, that 
serves for a veranda on that side. The ball is of 
liberal size, and is almost as useful as another room, 
having a window in it commanding a pretty view. 
HALL 
S7AIBCASE HAL1 
■ll.OJ’If.'O. 
TWO DAYS ON THE CONFINES OF EGYPT. 
A long ride of 250 miles and we —the “Old 
Doctor ” and the writer — were set down at Odin, 
the junction of the Illinois Central and Ohio and 
Mississippi railroads, where we were met by my 
former editorial associate, Charles Kenxicot, 
now proprietor of the Egyptian Nurseries at San¬ 
doval, Illinois. Ho was bearded like a pard, and 
habited in “butternut-brown,” like any other 
Egyptian. We were soon transferred to the home 
anil “ Hope ” of our friend, which we found sur¬ 
rounded and embalmed in Egyptian roses, with a 
back ground of evergreen and nursery stock, and a 
drapery of grape, ivy, and wistarias. Four years 
ago an unbroken prairie; now a quiet, cozy nook, 
where is built a homestead altar, sacred to all that 
is good aud beautiful. The season of roses is nearly 
over. There are thousands of blossoms yet that 
load the air with their fragrance, aud attract the 
attention of the human freight of the passing trains. 
Many varieties which can only be grown in green¬ 
houses iu our lake-bound city are hardy here, and 
grow to a perfection scarce realized in doors. 
Egypt is certainly a Persia l'or roses. Its soil and 
climate are equally adapted to their production in 
perfection. And the growth of taste for and love 
of this chief of flowers and other floral relatives 
here is rapid and gratiiying to all who can appre¬ 
ciate the results which follow such development 
J ames Price, a neighbor, glorifies Flora also, and 
grants her reign supreme over his place. The 
goddess evidently appreciates the opportunity, and 
her servitors run rampant all over the premises, 
and revel with a freedom delightful to their ad¬ 
mirers. 
rORCR 
PLAN OF PRINCIPAL FLOOR, 
THE SOIL OF MARION COUNTY. 
1 refer here more particularly to the soil of the 
prairie portion of this county. It is very peculiar; 
and its peculiarity is remarked by all who visit it— 
especially during the dry season. When dry, it 
filters through the closest crevice, filling the atmos¬ 
phere about and in rail cars with its particles, to the 
great disgust and discomfort of neat folk. Wander¬ 
ing through the nursery with father and sou, and 
listening to the paternal commendations and counsel 
of the one aud the filial responses and explanations 
of the other, I had opportunity to examine with some 
care this soil, which matures at least double the 
amount of wood on young stock that is matured in 
the lake region two hundred and fifty miles north, 
in the same season, on stocks of the same age. But 
no satisfactory definition resulted to me from my 
study. u Doctor,” I asked. “ define this soil for me.” 
He replied, “It, is South Illinois soil —that is 
about as much as can be said about it. It is unlike 
any other soil 1 ever saw. It is as tine as levigated 
paint. It is not a drift. It is apparently the sub¬ 
sidence of still water. There is no soil I know of 
more thoroughly disintegrated. It is a clay, con¬ 
taining some lime, perhaps some magnesia.” 
it is plain that there is lime in it; indeed, the 
Egyptian nurseryman says there is so much in it 
that it affects seriously the handsof those who work 
in it. It does not answer to work it Avhen wet, nor 
wbtn it is very dry. It bakes and packs hard; yet 
it is so yielding that it gnttersout wherever water runs- 
There is no gravel iu it whatever. The prairie at 
this point is so nearly level as to require drainage in 
order to get rid of the surface water in some other 
way than by evaporation. An early ramble around 
the grounds of Mr. Price, before alluded to, in 
company with the “old Doctor,” discovered so 
much water, after the recent heavy rains, that the 
Doctor urged the importance of drainage, saying 
that it was his opinion the mole plow would operate 
well here, and be both economical and efficient 
“Can't doit. Doc.,” said Price; “it won’t work; 
the soil is too stiff." 
“ But a stiff soil is what is Wanted.” 
“ Yes. But if you have to use a pick after you 
get down two feet, and cannot penetrate over two 
inches at a time Avith it, what will a mole do?” 
“ Do?—why it will work well when it is wet—put 
it in when it is wet.” 
“ But it never is wet. Doc., and has not been since 
Adam was a little boy!” 
I quote this conversation, not for the purpose of 
indorsing the last assertion, but in order the better 
to indicate the character of the soil, and to give the 
Rural reader on those prairies a remedy for the 
mechanical defects indicated by it. 
FLOW UNDER GREEN CROPS. 
Splendid fields of wheal—hundreds of acres of it 
— did we ride past during my two days’ ramble 
with the Kenniootts. The best wheat was found 
where the deepest plowing had been done. This 
prairie is unlike some of our Northern prairies in 
this respect. Deep trench plowing does not seem 
to injure the first crop put on it. And I could dis- 
TWO 
DOLLARS 
.A. YEAR.] 
“ PROGRESS A.1STJD IMPROVEMENT.” 
* 
[SUNTGEL.E NTO. FOUR CENTS. 
Y0L 
XIII. NO. 
26.} 
ROCHESTER, N. Y.-FOR THE WEEK ENDING SATURDAY, JUNE 28, 1862. 
rWHOLE NO. 650. 
[RVING Chaut Co N Y 
