AGRICULTURE 
ROCHESTER, N. Y. -FOR THE WEEK ENDING SATURDAY, SEPTEMBER 20, 1862 
{WHOLE NO. 662. 
became necessary to connect with those made a year 
previous. In digging down to and boxing up these 
connections, we found the original drain sound and 
perfect in every instance. I have no fears of my 
drains crumbling in. caving in, or filling up, at least 
for many years to come. Most of the defective 
mole drains that I have scon or heard of, cave in 
from the top of the ground to the bottom of the 
drain, or they fill up. This is owing to two causes: 
First, too much fall has been given to the drain, and 
the seam or aperture made by the cutter bar is not 
permanently closed at the top of the drain, either 
of which is fatal to a mole drain; second, the grade 
of the drain should be regular, and not run so as 
to matte a siphon. Lead pipes or tile may answer 
in such drains. Without either the one or the other, 
the drains will till up. A mole drain, with a regu¬ 
lar, gradual fall of one inch to a thousand feet, is 
abundantly better than one with irregular falls and 
rises, as the inequalities of the ground happen to 
be, with a fall of three feet in a thousand.” 
The Irish Farmer's Gazette of the last of August 
publishes reports from all sections of the Island, 
nearly all of which show (he grain crops to be light, 
but potatoes wo judge to be more than an average 
crop, and thus far appear to be suffering but little 
from disease, as compaved with most other seasons. 
The editor makes the following remarks: — “ From 
these reports we learn that the. wheat crop is gen¬ 
erally under an average; in some cases it is repre¬ 
sented as good, but ‘ thin,' white many complain of 
rust. The state of the potato crop is always a mat¬ 
ter of great importance, and wo think that, cm the 
whole, present prospects are good. The tops have 
been affected in many cases, but the tubers appear 
to bo sound as yet, and the instances where the 
tubers are seriously diseased are comparatively few 
in number." 
Our crops are above the average, we judge, from 
the best information to be obtained; and though we 
have been unusually short of labor, all thus Tar have 
been harvested in fair condition. For this result, 
under present circumstances, we are indebted to the 
very general use of reapers and other labor-saving 
implements. That the foreign demand will be good 
for our surplus products, at paying prices, we can¬ 
not doubt. Notwithstanding our national troubles, 
we are blessed with another year of agricultural 
prosperity, but we are a little anxious for the future. 
The draft upon our patriotic laboring force is very 
great, and it will be difficult, the present fall, to get 
in the usual quantity o! winter wheat: but interest 
and patriotism alike require us to do all wo can to 
prevent a diminution of our great staple crop; and 
if we have to work earlier and later and harder than 
usual, lot those at homo remember that their hard¬ 
ships are nothing compared with those endured by 
the young men now so gallantly fighting the battles 
of our country. 
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. BRAGDON, Western Corresponding Editor. 
The Rural New-Yorker is designed to be nnsurpsssed in 
Value, Purity, tlseftilness nn'l Vtuiety of Contents, nnd 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 RcK.it, am eminently Reliable 
Guide on alt the important Practical, Scientific and other 
Subjects intimately connected with the business of those whoso 
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 ami Homes of people 
of intelligence, taste and discrimination. It embraces more 
Agricultural, Horticultural. Scientilio. Educational. Literary 
and News Matter, interspersed with appropriate aud beautiful 
Engravings, than any other journal,—rendering it the most 
complete Agricultural, Ljtkraky and Family Newspaper 
in America. 
Draining a Swamp, 
Eds. Rural New-Yorker:—I am making one hundred 
rods of drain through a stvamp. through and from which 
there is hut little fall. Considerable water flows over this 
ground, from say first of November until the first of June ; 
iu the summer it is dry. Muck or decayed vegetable sub¬ 
stance is deeper than I can make the drain, and in places 
quite soft. I wish to inquire, through your excellent paper, 
if I can make an uuderdraiu of it; if so, what size of tile must 
I use '! Will three or three and u half inch tile do, and can 
the tile be placed on boards or narrow plank ? Perhaps more 
than the writer will ho benefited by an answer from some one 
who knows.— Alwia, Salford, (’. IK, Sept, 3,1862. 
FLyd our correspondent ascertained and informed 
us the amount of fall ho could obtain for every 
hundred feet of distance, we should have been in a 
better position to give advice, la many cases, when 
farmers think they have no fall or very little, on 
examination we find they have quite sufficient for 
all practical purposes. Water will run down hill 
very easily, and one inch in the hundred feet is 
sufficient for thorough drainage, and even one inch 
in one hundred and fifty feet will answer, indeed, 
it is almost impossible to find a farm that cannot be 
drained, and we could give accounts of very good 
drainage where only one inch of fall was obtained 
in three hundred and sixty feet. Smith, the cele¬ 
brated drainer, says that with six inches of fall to 
the mile a stream thirty feet wide and six deep will 
travel one mile in an hour. 
Another mistake usually made by fanners, is in 
regard to the size of tile. For everything but main 
drains into which the laterals discharge, two inch 
pipe is quite large enough, and even one inch would 
answer where two and three inch tile are now used. 
Where pipe tile are used, there is no necessity for a 
board at the bottom in ordinary soils; but with the 
horse-shoe tile, either a sole of the same material 
as the tile, or boards, may he employed for the 
purpose. 
rjs For Terms and other particulars, see last page. 
•• Commence by laving a good stone wall in lime 
mortar, (which will not. be a good harbor for rats 
and mice,) and on this wall place sills of sound, 
hard wood, with a rabbet of an inch and a half 
Severe inquiries are before ns, asking for a good 
plan for a Corn-House, safe against rats and mice, 
and so constructed as to cure com newly husked. M e 
don't know that we can furnish our correspondents 
with any thing particularly now or striking, and 
therefore present a plan and design furnished us 
some time since l»y a subscriber of Oneida county. 
If any of our readers can give us n plan better 
suited to the wants of farmers, or one more cheaply 
constructed, we tv ill most cheerfully publish it for 
the benefit of all. We say, with Horace, 
- If a better system's thine, 
Impart it frankly, or make use of mine. 
“ Inclosed I send you a sketch of the ; Elevation ’ 
of Corn-House, with a granary, that suits me. It 
will admit of almost any required reduction or ex¬ 
tension in size. It is 21 by IS feet, posts 14 feet, 
which extend 2 feet below the tloor, and rest on 
stone supports 8 inches high, and sunk into the 
ground 11 feet. The studs, 2 feet apart, are set 1J 
inches inside of face of the sills and posts, with strips 
of plonk 2 by 4, notches cut in them in the form of a 
right-angled triangle, the base 14 inches deep, the 
hypothenuse 51 inches long, 'he perpendicular par¬ 
allel with the face of tho plank, one immediately 
above the other, nailed on the sides with the back 
corners of the notches even with the face of the studs. 
Clapboards. G inches wide, are nailed on the notches, 
with the lower edge extending i inch below the 
notch, and the upper edge of the clapboard in the 
next notch below; thus leaving a space of 1 inch be¬ 
tween tho 2 clapboards, which admits plenty of air, 
and at the same time prevents the rain from blow¬ 
ing in upon the corn. The bins are 3 feet wide, ex¬ 
tending both aides ot the building —the floor does 
not extend under the bins— the bottom of the bins 
are formed of strips 1 inch thick and 3 inches wide, 
set edgewise, 1 inch apart. The doors should be 
hung with strap hinges—so that, they can be taken 
off in the fall, and doors made of slats hung in their 
places, so as to* admit of a free circulation of air 
through the building. The floor overhead is It feet 
below the top of the plates, and the entrance to the 
upper story through the floor directly over the win¬ 
dow. by means of a movable ladder. 
The granary is iu the center of the building, and 
is G feet wide by 18 feet long, with two partitions 
dividing ir into three bins. It rises 2 feet above the 
upper tloor, and extends down to within G feet of the 
lower floor. The grain is drawn up with a tackle 
hitched directly over the entr lice to the upper story, 
emptied into the granary, and is taken out by means 
of a slide at the bottom, where you want a movable 
pair of steps. 4 feet high, with the board on the top 1 
foot wide. The entrance steps should lie made and 
hung so that, the door cannot be shut when they are 
down, but must be turned up into the building in 
order to close it, thus advoiding the possibility of 
leaving it down tor mice to run up. There should be 
a tin fender, G inches in ftidtb, nailed around each 
post, close to the sill, projecting downwards." 
As “ in the multitude of counsellors there is wis¬ 
dom,” we give another plan, from a friend in Catta¬ 
raugus county: 
ENGLISH HARVEST-AMERICAN PRICES. 
It has become a common saying that Cotton is 
King,” but why we cannot say; perhaps because, 
kings are of comparatively little value in the world, 
aud are dependent tor their existence upon the hard 
earnings of the poor and industrious, if this mark 
of distinction were to be awarded according to real 
value, all would agree in bestowing it upon the 
great staple which gives us bread, the very staff of 
life, which is alike needed in the cottage and the 
palace, and is essential to human existence. Men 
arc only children ot a larger growth, and perhaps 
cotton is declared king on the same principle that 
the boy looks upon his bread and butter with con¬ 
tempt, and as ol little consequence compared with 
Oranges and peanuts; yet the same urchin, when 
hungry, can appreciate a good, substantial dinner. 
Our English friends have talked of cotton, the past 
summer, as though there was nothing else worth a 
thought: but now that it is evident the harvest just 
gathered is short of the average, aud there is little 
old grain left in the country, and things begin to 
have a hungry look, the people and press are awak¬ 
ing to a realizing sense of the fact that bread is the 
most important product of the soil. 
The London Ayrhvdlural Gazette has received its 
usual harvest reports from 200 correspondents in 
different sections of the country, und from them 
draws tin*following conclusions:—“The wheat crop 
is very inferior, barley is barely an average crop, 
oats are a fair average, beans are generally good, 
and peas on the whole a fair crop. There can be no 
doubt, if the gentlemen who have favored us with 
their opinions have taken only ordinary care in 
lorming them, that the wheat harvest crop of 1862 is 
one of the worst we have had for many years. 
There has always hitherto, on the occasion of these 
annual returns, been, among two hundred corres¬ 
pondents, a considerable proportion who have de¬ 
clared the crop to be over average, even where the 
preponderance of opinion and the ultimate experi¬ 
ence lay all the other Yvay. We have never before 
had to report that of 188 reporters there is only one 
who speaks ot the crop in his neighborhood as being 
* very good." ” 
The Mark Lane Express believes England must 
be a large importer of grain, but hopes that France 
will not compete in the purchase of grain, as in that 
country the crop is about an average. “With all 
our extended breadth, this sea.son.it seems doubtful 
whether we shall reap an average gathering. But 
as our popular increase is not so stationary, and we 
begin with nearly empty granaries, and, as regards 
old corn, with almost clean barns and rick-yards, so 
we must again be in the condition oflarge importers 
all the year through.” 
The North, British Agriculturist apprehends a 
short crop of potatoes, as well as graiu, as will be 
seen by the following:—“Tho recent heavy rains 
have caused increased apprehension as to tho ulti¬ 
mate fate of the potato crop. In several of the Eng¬ 
lish counties the blight has appeared, and in more 
southern counties the haulms and tuburs are rapidly 
decaying. In Scotland the potato fields show a de¬ 
ficiency Of plants, and these are generally weak and 
stunted in appearance. In Ireland the potato crop 
is reported to be very inferior. Taking the United 
Kingdom as a whole, the half of an ordinary crop is 
ail that can be calculated upon, even w ith the occur¬ 
rence of dry weather for the maturing of the tubers.” 
“There can be no question now that unusually 
large imports of grain will be required, and that an 
advance in prices, particularly of wheat, will rule 
for some months. The accounts from the United 
States are not very favorable, some apprehending 
that the raising of such a stupendous army during 
the present mouth, when the wheat harvest is just 
completed, but the maize and other crops yet remain¬ 
ing unharvested, will prevent extensive shipments 
of grain to this country; we will, therefore, require 
probably to draw the greater portion of our supplies 
from the Black Sea provinces of Russia and other 
Continental States.” 
INQUIRIES AND NOTES 
ground PLAN. 
A, Granary ; B, Stone-room. 
depth, in order to admit plank 11 inches thick. (The 
plank should be hard wood.) Over this maybe 
used clapboards, or (what is more fashionable now 
days,) boards up and down, battening the cracks. 
The floor may tie laid with good, sound hemlock 
boards, 1 inch thick, jointed and laid double. It 
should be ceiled with well-seasoned hemlock boards, 
matched and well put together. The height between 
lower and upper floors O f feet — the same above the 
second floor to the plates. The granary, A, may be 
cut up into bins, to suit the taste of the owner. The 
store-room, B, will be found very convenient for 
barrels and boxes, for keeping fall fruit, &c. A 
small box stove would be of some service in the dry¬ 
ing process, especially in damp weather. 
Hole Drain and Ditching Plow. 
Eds. Rural New-Yorker: —Having noticed in the Rural 
notices of inventions for draining land by the use of the mole 
drain and the ditching plow. I wish to know the cost per rod 
for draining with the mole drain plow at two and three feet 
deep Also, at what price cun ditching he done fertile with 
the ditching plow two or three feet deep— A S. Hutchins, 
Hudson- Michigan , 1862. 
So many circumstances affect the cost of making 
drains and ditches, and, indeed, almost all kinds of 
farm labor in this country, that it is difficult to say 
precisely what may or may not he a fair price. 
Our farm labor is not systematized as it is in 
England, for there wo find men who do little 01 
nothing but ditch and drain, while others are known 
as plowmen,herdsmen, Sec.] and under this arrange¬ 
ment, the men get to be experts in their business, 
and the farmer and laborer both know whut is a 
fair day's work, and what will be the cost of any 
specified job. On the contrary, our labor is diversi¬ 
fied. and ho who plows to-day, mows to-morrow, 
drains when necessary, does chores evenings, and 
saws wood lor exercise and amusement. The cost 
depends, too, somewhat upon the nature of the soil; 
and when this is tolerably free from stones, the mole 
plow and ditcher may be used with advantage, and 
the cost of draining is comparatively light Tho 
mole plow forms its own drain, by compressing the 
soil together—a cutter and ball called moles, or 
something that will answer tho same purpose, being 
attached to an arm connected with the beam of the 
tuckering Sorghum. 
Eds. Rural New-Yorker:—M y sugar cane (sorghum) 
tms a great many side shoots or suckers, and some of my 
neighbors say let them grow and I shall have more stalks ; 
others say cut them off, as they will not get ripe and they will 
hurt the main stalk. As this is my first season in farming, I 
shall he very glad to have your opinion.—S ubscriber, Shiloh, 
Cum. Co., X. 1362. 
There is a good deal of difference of opinion 
among growers on the question proposed by our 
correspondent. On the whole, we think it best to 
allow them to remain, not that they arc of any par¬ 
ticular value, but when removed the plant makes 
an effort to produce others, and often will succeed 
in throwing them out. even from some of the upper 
joints. This, of course, exhausts the energies of 
the plant oven more than allowing the original 
suckers to grow. The plan wo have pursued is to 
cut or pinch out the heart of the sucker, allowing 
the outside leaves to remain. After this is done, 
there will be no more suckering—the leaves of the 
sucker that are left will only increase in size. M. 
Hartkr, of Independence, Iowa, gives his experi¬ 
ence on this point as follows:—“ About the first 
week in July, I commenced some experiments in 
suckering the cane. After two weeks’ diligent 
attention in removing tho suckers, I found the adja¬ 
cent rows, which had been allowed to grow unin¬ 
terruptedly, were twelve Inches taller than those 
from which the suckers were kept removed. Many 
stulk3 which were kept free from suckers at the 
ground, would produce them at the upper joints, 
presenting the appearance ot a small shrub or tree. 
I have counted as many as eight bunches to one 
stalk. The lice or insects which gave me such 
concern about the middle of the season, suddenly 
disappeared, leaving no mark of material injury to 
my crop.” 
SECOND PLAN. 
C. C, Corn-cribs; H, Hall, 
The plan of the second floor gives you a crib, C, 
the whole length of the building upon one side, and 
on the other, is a crib, C, part way, leaving sufficient 
room to go up and down stairs. At one eud of "the 
alley we have a door of sufficient size to admit of 
large boxes of corn, which may be drawn up by 
means of a pulley in the ridge above. At the oppo¬ 
site end a large window for light, and also for a 
draught of air. At the figure 3, in the alley, should 
be a screen fixed in the floor coarse enough to let 
shelled com through; over this maybe placed the 
corn-slieller. The corn, after being shelled, passes 
through the screen into a conductor, (made lunnel- 
siiape,) which empties it in a large bin below, leav¬ 
ing the cobs above. The front of the cribs should be 
made of slats in order to let in air. Tbe corn may 
be taken from small doors, near the bottom of the 
cribs.” 
.... . " SI 
plow. The. engraving shows the operation, E being 
the arm attached to the beam, and F, G and II the 
moles which form the drain. The principle is the 
same in all mole plows, though different somewhat 
in construction. 
In our issue of April 10th, we gave an engraving 
and description of a Drain or Mole Flow invented 
by J. Carrington, of Steuben county, which we 
know to oe highly prized by many farmers in that 
section, and particularly so jy Hon. A. B. Dickin¬ 
son. who has often urged upon fanners of tho State 
the value of this system of drainage. It cannot, oi 
course, be supposed that a drain made by simple 
com pressure ol the soil can be as durable as well- 
burned tile, yet when properly made in a day 
subsoil, it will doubtless endure for many years; 
and, lor cheapness at first, no drains can compare 
with the mole. James M. Thimble, of Hillsboro. 
Ohio, states that he made 4.500 rods of mole drains, 
from three feel to three feet six inches deep, at a 
cost, of 8190, which is only about, four cents per rod. 
On the durability of mole drains. Mr. T. writes as 
folloYvs:—•• As to the question of durability of mole 
drains (a very important item in their economy). I 
can only say. from present indications, my better 
impression is that they may last ten or more years, 
and that they will Inst Jive, years. I have no doubt. 
The fall rains have started the most of my under- 
draining. They are throwing off small streams of 
water as freely as they did last spring. If there is 
a single defective drain on the farm, I am not aware 
of it. Last spring, in constructing new drains, it 
what I give you credit for doing -•>well, and though 
I started to talk of Agriculture. I have thus far writ¬ 
ten only of war. Well, it is on my mind and heart, 
aud I am not yet schooled to subdue my feelings. 
What I wanted to bring before the people is the fact 
that more than a million of our producers now 
not only produce nothing, but are consumers, and 
must be led and clothed. We may have four mil¬ 
lion of working men at the North, aud this takes 
one-fourth of our industrious population, and even 
a greater proportion of some sections, and particu¬ 
larly in the country. In times of war, too, there is 
great waste and destruction of provisions, and I 
have no doubt twice as much will be needed to feed 
this million as though they were at home with their 
families. Then, thousands of horses and teamsters, 
Ac., are employed by our Government, all of which 
produce nothing. Now, I am not alarmed, nor do I 
wish to frighten anybody; but I do think that unless 
we are careful to save everything produced this sea¬ 
son that can feed man op beast.,and unless tve do 
our very best in preparing for another season, 
rushing to arms by hundreds of thousands,—our 
friends, our sons—those wc love, are«going.—and 
though an old man’s body may not go, his heart goes 
with them, and his prayers follow after, every night 
and morniug. Truly I can say, “ the spirit is willing 
hut the flesh is weak." A million of men in the 
field, perhaps by this time, and more getting ready, 
and our best men, too. in most cases, hard working, 
sober, industrious men, the very bone and sinew of 
the laud, and the producers of all our wealth. And 
not only men of strength physically, but men of 
large intellect aud strong purpose have gone, and 
may the God of battles preserve them and bring 
them to their families and friends again. May our 
rulers learn what a wealth of noble men they hare 
at their command, ready to serve their country even 
at the cost of their lives, and not sacrifice them to 
save the reputation of political, weak-minded, or 
traitor Generals—nor even to save an institution 
Yvhlch has been a curse to our land and all lands j 
where it has existed. 
You see, Messrs. Editors, that I am unable to do 
WHEAT AND SPUING CHOPS 
Eds. Rural New-Yorker. —It is a great mys¬ 
tery to me how you can write about growing corn 
and wheat and grapes in these stirring times of war, 
and yet the Rural makes its visits as promptly as 
ever, and cotnes loaded wilh valuable thoughts and 
timely suggestions, increasing in wisdom and dig¬ 
nity as it increases iu ago. and becoming every year 
more prized by those who know the true gold from 
tho tinsel and gilding. The drums are heating, the 
fifes playing, aud these fill my ears and give direc¬ 
tion to, thought, even against the will. Men are 
IRVING Chaut Co N Y 
