TERMS, $3.00 TER YEAR.] 
1 PROGRESS AND IMPROVEMENT.’ 
[SINGLE NO. TENT CENTS 
VOL. XVII. NO. 11. I 
ROCHESTER, N. Y.-FOR THE WEEK ENDING SATURDAY, MARCH 17. 1866. 
! WHOLE NO. 843. 
ESTABLISHED IN 1S50. 
MOORE’S RURAL NEW- YORKER, 
AN ORIGINAl[tWEEKLY 
RURAL, LITERARY AND FAMILY NEWSPAPER. 
CONDUCTED BY D. D. T. MOORE, 
With a Corp* of Able A»»l»tont» and Contributor*. 
HENRY S. RANDALL, LL, D., 
Editor of the Department of Sheep Husbandry. 
jy Fob Tbbms anti other particulars see last page. 
SEASONABLE SUGGESTIONS. 
The Farmers’ Thins. — By this time every ^ 
fanner should have hla plana for the ensuing (j 
season’s operations well matured. “ Take Time ^ 
by the forelock; ” have your tools in readiness, If 
new ones are needed procure them; engage your 
help; look to your seed, see that it ia sound, 0 
clean, and that yon have enough of it. It is a 1 
bad job, when your ground Is all ready to sow or 0 
plant, to take a team from the work and spend a " 
day’s time iu getting your seed. That day’s 8 
work maybe worth a great tunny dollars to you, ^ 
for a heavy storm might occur and preclude 
your iiuishiug the work in season, besides put* v 
tinglthe soil in bad order again. ii 
The Wood Tile .—Finish making this during the 
present month. You should have a year’s sup- c ' 
ply^stored np; that intended for next fall and 
winter ought to be piled to season under cover; * 
it can, however, remain in cord-wood over the r 
summer, although it Is much less labor to saw 
and split It when green. At any rate, be sure to 1 
cut and split into stovo length enough to last 1 
until next fall’s work Is done. If green, pile it 
out of. doors, so that the wind and sun can sea¬ 
son it quickly. The summer wood should be of 
the soft and quick burniug kinds, reserving the 
hard wood until cold weather. Use all the old 1 
rails and the unsightly rnhbish that will burn, * 
lying around the premises, lor summer wood. 1 
Fences.— When the snow is off the grouud 1 
repair the fences. They can be laid anew, or 
straightened up when the frost is yet in the ! 
earth, and the stakes can bo sharpened and ' 
driven '.as soon as the ground is sufllcieutly 
thawed. Wire is the cheapest and handiest 
material to bind the stakes together. In making 
new lines of fence do not mix promiscuously 
rails of various kinds of timber. As some varie¬ 
ties decay sooner than others mixing them makes 
bad work with the fence. Look over your farm 
and see ifit would not he just as convenient and 
more profitable to dispense entirely with some 
of your .interior fences. Perhaps by using one 
hundred rodB of movable fence, you could do 
withont thrce’or four times the quantity of that 
which is now permanent, If so, you can readily 
see the advantages to he gained. 
Meadows. — Those newly seeded and having 
6toneon the surface should be picked over early. 
This work can be done frequently before the 
ground breaks up. If there is no snow, but the 
earth is frozeD, a blow with pickax or crowbar 
will loosen the surface stone and they can he 
taken away. If this work Is not done thus 
early it must generally be delayed, on account 
of the softness of the grouud, until late in the 
spriug —tben other jobs are pressing, and the 
grass grows and covers the stone. Roll the 
meadows and make them smooth for the mow¬ 
ing machine. A box roller is a convenient 
vehicle to carry off the stone. 
Feep^the Cattle from the Fields. —Any Held is 
more or less injured by cattle tramping on it In 
the spring when the ground is soft and wet. An 
old/.thick swarded pasture suffers the least, and 
in such the injurious effects are not very per¬ 
ceptible, But the tramping certainly does the 
pasture no good, nor does daily roaming help 
the cattle. The proper places for the latter are 
the stables and yards, until they are turned to 
grass. We have an inquiry before ns asking 
how land is injured by tramping it iu wet 
I weather. In the fall the injury is but little 
compared with that done in the spring. Land 
\ may also be plowed withont injury to It, much 
r wetter in the autumn than in the spring, for the 
L winter frosts lighten and ameliorate it. But if 
p tramped or worked wet in the spring, there is 
4 no power in the elements to lighten the eom- 
i pressed earth, and it remains hard and lumpy 
& through the season. 
If a herd of cattle arc well fed and watered 
and kept in dry yards, they will thrive as well, at 
least, as though permitted to roam ever all the 
fields and the wood lot besides. If turned out 
once or twice they grow discontented, so the 
best way is to confine them in their winter quar 
ters strictly, until grass comes. By all means, 
keep them off the fields when the gronnd is soft, 
whiehjyou wish to sow or plant,. If ont at all 
let them roam on an old pasture, but we believe 
it better economy to keep them in the yards. 
Pitch™ and Prains .—As early as possible all 
open ditches should bo cleaned, so as to carry 
off the surplus water readily. Permanent, open 
ditches are a great impediment in cultivated 
fields, but If they are absolutely necessary let 
them be dug with sloping banks, so that a team 
can cross them readily at any place. Look to 
the outlets of nnderdrains, and see that the 
water discharges freely. If a spring riisc» along 
the course of any underdraln, It is a sign that the 
drain la choked thereabouts. Dig down and put 
things to rights. 
Jlcml out Manure.— The sooner it is hauled 
out and spread on planting ground now, the 
better it will he for the crop. Improve every 
opportunity to get It out when the ground is 
hard. It pnts the work forward greatly in the 
spring to have the yards pretty well cleaned out 
before commencing to plow. 
Mowing Clover Meed. — A good time for this 
work—perhaps the best, all things considered— 
is after a light snow falls in the latter part of 
March or early in April. Generally there Is a 
calm 'after the snow storm, which is favorable 
for, scattering the seed evenly, and the sower’s 
tracks in the snow guide him readily and accu¬ 
rately. As the snow melts, the seed sinks into 
the soft earth, where it Is in a favorable condi¬ 
tion for sprouting. Sow liberally; it is poor 
farming to have a thinly seeded clover lot. 
the climate for the seasons. That the winter is 
some three months shorter than ou the other 
side of the mountains, T can see; that while it 
does last it is less rigorous, 1 have felt. I am 
quite prepared to find spring uncomfortable, and 
a long, warm season—hotter than elsewhere, 1 
doubt—but the summer longer, and thus per¬ 
haps more enervating. 1 presume wc shall have 
dry months, and the farmer will experience 
ranch of the discomforts and annoyances which 
the larraer meets everywhere; but still I hope to 
escape the cold, searching winds of autumn, 
winter and spring, which makes age instinctively 
turn to a more genial, if in the end, a more 
pleasant climate. 
The town is gay to-day with flags, hut they 
arc the Star Spangled Flag of a common coun¬ 
try—not New York, uot Maryland. It’s the flag 
under which Washington and his fellow patri¬ 
ots fought. It ia the flag which symbolizes a 
mighty Nation—a great union of States. May 
it proudly float over and protect in all their 
rights a united people. t. c. p. 
Baltimore, Feb. 23,18G6. 
VARIOUS TOPICS DISCUSSED. 
\ 
nu >1.'■ yj 
, dYj 
VI 
J.l.v - .‘Aw 
S' 
MSB 
8|Sf 
‘MY MARYLAND” ITS RESOURCES, &c. 
It may seem strange to old friends—friends of 
more than haff a century—that at this lute clay 1 
should leave my curly home and its associations, 
and seek a new one among strangers. It does 
seem so to me, now that I begin to realize that I 
am no longer a New-Yorker—that I am to live 
among strangers, and literally upon or in a 
strange land. And yet, after having become 
familiar with the varied soils and cllmatcB of rny 
old State, I do not feel so very much iu a st range 
land, upon a farm that compares favorably with 
many of the best I have left behind me. Taking 
climate, markets, and capacity of soil to support 
a dense population, Maryland compares favora¬ 
bly with any State of the same area in the Union. 
With unbounded mineral resources, in coal, Iron, 
copper, and other and valuable ores, a motive 
power practically exhaustions, a climate which is 
a happy medium between the rigors of the 
North and the enervating heat of the Sooth—it 
will become the great manufaetiiribg center of 
the Union. To the farmer it affords great. In¬ 
ducements because of its unrivalled markets and 
marketing facilities. 
It was this consideration, as well as a declining 
health, which made a change to a more congenial 
winter climate desirable for myself and family, 
that I “pulled up stakes’* in one of the fairest 
regions of the North—Western New York—and 
east my lot among a new people, who have thus 
far welcomed me with their old-time provincial 
cordiality. The war has left no bitterness of 
feeling here towards Northern men who come 
here to settle. They will be as kindly received 
as though the war had never existed. 
Of the density of population, and t he immense 
demand and consequent profits of the products 
of the farm, the garden, and the vineyard and 
orchard, some idea may be formed from the fact 
that between the Potomac river on the one side, 
and the Harlem on the other—a distance of less 
than ‘250 miles, traversed by railroads, a constant, 
river and Ocean navigation from nearly all points 
along the route—there is a population of nearly 
four millions of people. The cities of New 
York, Philadelphia, Baltimore, Washington, and 
numerous dependencies, all lay upon this route. 
And when it is considered that in no portion of 
the Union of the same area will population so 
steadily and rapidly Increase, it may not be a 
wonder that one who has learned to consider the 
i value of land in its market advantages should 
naturally seek for a home in such a region. 
Machinery for Women —Again. 
Ocr correspondent’s article ou this subject f 
has brought out other communications, of which 
we give below one from Mr e. G. H. A., Dodge , 
Co., Wla. We will repeat our advice to the | 
ladies to “agitate the question.” Whenever 
you discover a really labor-saving machine for ( 
the household work,, there is no more reason for 
notprocurlngltth.iV- there Is that the “Joshua’s” 
should forego their labor-saving Implements. 
And the making easy the household work may 
have more iulluence on your future prosperty 
and happiness, friend Joshua, than you are 
sometimes apt to Imagine ? 
“This is a subject in which all farmers’ wives 
and housekeepers are Interested, and in which 
all husbands and brothers should be. We should 
therefore be glad to see more attention paid to 
it by papers devoted to Agriculture. Your cor¬ 
respondent from Elkhorn, Wis., attributes the 
lack of machines among housekeepers to “ the 
negligence of fathers and brothers.” This is 
undoubtedly true In part, still I think the men, 
at least in this vicinity, arc opening their eyes 
to the economy of procuring machines for light¬ 
ening in-door labor. 
The low wages paid for women’s help, and | 
the high prices of machines, have been one ! 
means of keeping those cver-ready servants 
from the women who need them most. Many 
farmers, besides Mr. Jones, think “that the 
interest on the money it, would take to buy a 
machine, would hire the knitting done,” which 
is quite true could their wives take the knitting 
to a machine and have It done for a sixpence per 
yard, as I have for the past three years. One 
knitting machine Is enough for a large neigh¬ 
borhood, or township, and is a profitable invest¬ 
ment for the possessor, besides being a blessing 
to all the women for miles aronnd; although my 
observations have led rnc to believe that all who 
are thus favored do notknow how to appreciate 
their privileges. Also in regard to the high 
priced sewiug machines, many farmers think the 
Interest on the money required to purchase one 
will hire a part at least of the sewing done. I 
can scarcely believe any sane man could In real 
earnest, think his own wife too stupid to run a 
; sewing machine. Rachel! Joshua was only 
. quizzing you. lie knows you could run the 
machine, it wns the sevcnty-tlve or eighty dol¬ 
lars he was thinking about. 
. As for the chum, washing machine, and wring- 
, er, I have used them all long enough to know 
[ that any farmer who cau get them for his wife 
- and fails to do so through negligence or penuri- 
ousnexs, onght to be condemned to sow his wheat 
; from a bag strung around his neck, and to cut 
t, his grain with a cradle all the days of bis life.” 
KNOLU I, PRIZE HITKKP— OXFORD! 
Herewith wc present Kijkal readers illustra¬ 
tions of animals that have recently been awarded 
prizes in F.njjland for superiority in their re¬ 
spective classes, 
Onr first engraving represents 'a gronp of 
wether sheep of the somewhat eelebreted breed 
known us the Oxfordshire J)owus, belonging to 
the Duke of Marlborough. They arc twenty- 
one months old, and it is said they surpass every 
thing in the sheep line ever shown in England. 
The Oxfordshire Downs (heretofore described in 
the Rural) are becoming a favorite breed with 
many in this country, especially in Canada. 
Fine specimens are always shown at. the Pro¬ 
vincial Fairs. 
PRIZE HITKKP — OXFORDSHIRE DOWNS— 21 MONTHS OLD. 
Rural readers illustra- | The engraving below portrays a group of 
j recently been awarded Prize Pigs only seventeen mouths old when the 
uperiority in their re- drawing was taken,— bred by Karl Radnor. 
iThey were raised upon whey, beans and roots, 
represents a group of and carried off the highest English prizes during 
ewhat eelebreted breed the put- t. season. These pigs are enormously fat, 
e J)owns, belonging to and the picture will be admired by lovers of 
gh. They arc twenty- superior specimens of the genus Sus — the talk 
suid they surpass every about the dreaded trichinosis to the contrary 
ver shown in F.ngland. notwithstanding. 
[heretofore described in These animals demonstrate what, can he done 
r a favorite breed with by careful breeding and high foediug—improve- 
cspccially in Canada, rnents and luxuries that English Lords and 
tys shown at, the Pro- | wealthy fanners indulge in, and probably make 
I profitable, iu reputation at least.. 
ENGLISH PRIZE PIGS — AGED 17 MONTHS. 
The Clover Worm. 
M. C. R., Sennett, this State, furnishes us 
the following information about this pest: — 
“In the proceedings of the American Institute 
Farmers’ Club, some weeks since, there was an 
account given of a new pest to farmers in the 
form of a small* worm which feeds npon clover 
In the stack, during the winter. It was there 
stated that it was known only at the west, hut 
was aparently working eastward. Late observa- 
Eden, probably, waa never located at the head of tiou has satisfied me that it has already reached 
the (fiheaapcakc Bay, but some of its “ out lets ” this vicinity. 
may have been. Having occasion a few days since to move a 
I have been here too short a time to judge of stack of clover hay, I found the bottom of It, for 
two feet from the gronnd, full of small, brown 
worms, about five-eighths of an Inch long, taper¬ 
ing each way, ridged, with the extremities some¬ 
what darker than the center. The hay was mixed 
through with their excrement, and in spots was 
white with their cocoons, having the appearance 
of a white mold, which I took it to be, until on 
unloading the hay 1 found the wagon alive with 
these agents of destruction. Their habits, as 
yet seem to he little known, but xny own obser¬ 
vation iu connection with previous accounts of 
them, leads me to fear that they are to add one 
more to the many troublesome and destructive 
peats of farmers.” 
Will Straw Mulching Lighten Clay Land 1 
“ Young Farmer” writes from Ripon, Wis., 
that he has a piece of high, clay land which re¬ 
quires something to lighten up the soil more 
than to enrich it,—and he proposes to sow it 
with wheat this spring, and immedifttcy cover 
it with a thick coat of straw to ho plowed under 
after harvest. He reasons that the mulching, 
by retaining moisture on the surface of the soil, 
will prevent it from baking, and queries whether 
the straw would be a benefit or injury to the 
wheat crop. 
Doubtless a proper amount of mulching would 
be beneficial to the wheat,— not applying enough 
to retard the sprouting of the grain. It would 
likewise benefit the land when plowed under, 
but hereabouts we should consider It an expen¬ 
sive method of cultivation. “ Young Farmer ” 
should make his clay land dry, and then practice 
fall plowing, leaving it as rough as possible for 
the beneficial action of the frost. Unfermented 
barn-yard manure is excellent for such land, or 
a coating of sand if easily accessible. 
Another Use for Corn Cobs. 
Mr. II. B. Hart of Monroe Co., writes us 
endorsing our recommendation of cob3 lor fuel, 
and add, that he has for many years made special 
use of them to litter to the depth of three or 
four inches his yards and floors on which lie con¬ 
fined IiiB sheep at shearing time. He says:—“ I 
have never found anything half equal to corn¬ 
cobs for keeping the hoofs dean; they really 
(having the effect t-o cleanse them from dirt or 
Droppings. My opinion is that whoever will try 
the experiment will be abundantly rewarded for 
the Jittlc trouble lie may have taken to save the 
corn-cobs.” _ 
Scratches. 
A correspondent writes:—“Scratches are 
caused by the issues on the horses’ legs drying 
up or becoming hard. Keep them soft by often 
nibbing and the application of a little oil if need 
! be. By so doing the horse will never have them, 
and the horse that has got them through neglect 
can be cured iu this way.” 
Best Variety of Corn for Fodder. 
L. I*. N., asserts that the Dent variety pro¬ 
duces the BWCetest stalks, and hence is most val¬ 
uable for soiling or fodder purports. Have any 
of our readers any facts about this subject? 
