ments—the same component simple materials 
and substances, which are well known to natural¬ 
ists to he materially changed and cease to exist 
at about the heat of two hundred degrees of the 
thermometer, which is twelve degrees below 
boiling point of water, while the beat of frying 
and baking exceeds three hundred degrees. 
Therefore there can be no jjossible cause for the 
fear indulged by those who do not consume it 
iu a raw state,—a practice which does not pre¬ 
vail among our people to any extent, except in 
some cases the dried lean of smoked hams, and 
among fishermen, hunters, and lumbermen, the 
fat portions of salted pork are often eaten raw 
as a sandwich. 
The examination by the compound microscope 
of a single drop of water, or of vinegar, of 
cheese and dried fruits and of hundreds of other 
articles of common consumption, exhibiting 
innumerable races of inl'usorials of the most 
horrid forms, would be to the uninitiated a 
more legitimate cause for alarm than the far¬ 
fetched discussion of the Trichina Spiralis. * 
then were. The causes which prevented it are 
too well understood to require comment. Facts 
arc better understood now, and Mr. Mokjull 
will be found foremost In urging the just claims 
of an industry in which his State, among others, 
is so deeply interested. 
I look also for efficient “aid and comfort” 
I from Messrs. Woodhridge, Baxter and others 
of the same State. I have mentioned the above 
gentlemen just as their names have chanced to 
occur to me, and I could continue the list to 
dozens—wlio I believe will prove themselves 
eqnally zealous friends of domestic industry— 
did my limits permit. I am too busy to spend 
much time in writing letters, hut will aim to 
keep you somewhat apprised of what is going 
on. Mr. Montgomery Is here, and I expect the 
rest ol our Committee the last of this or the be¬ 
ginning of next week 
Yours truly, 
SFA New Quarter of the Rural commences next 
week — April 7— and hence now is the time for tew 
subscriptions or renewals to date from that period. 
The euccess of the paper during the past quarter has 
far surpassed that of any preceding one since it was 
started, and we wish to keep the ball moviug rapidly 
until the Rural shall be known and read in every 
populated section of the whole country. Let its pre*. 
ent readers and friends iu all sections — East and 
West, North and South—say a good word for the 
Rural to their neighbors, soliciting their subscrip, 
tions. and the laudable object, and mnch good, win 
speedily be accomplished, See notice entitled “New 
Quarter —More Prizes," at the head of our News 
page, and then judge whether a little timely effoit 
will not be properly rewarded. 
LETTER FROM DR. RANDALL 
ON QUESTIONS NOW PENDING BEORE CONGRESS. 
Washington, March 22d. 
Mr Dear Moore :—Since my arrival here I 
have conversed with a large number of members 
of Congress in regard to the tariff on wool and 
woolens. All of them concurred In the idea 
that a tariff 1 was necessary for revenue purposes ; 
that reasonable discriminations were proper and 
expedient; and 1 have heard but one question 
the propriety of protecting wools. He enter¬ 
tained doubts, but had not arrived at fixed con¬ 
clusions. 
My impressions are that Congress as a body 
is favorable to the reasonable protection of 
home interests, and that in this particular the 
majority of the Committee of Ways and Means 
reflect the sentiment of the House. And reason¬ 
able protection is all we ask for—one that does 
not bear oppressively on the consumer. Wc 
want stability in tarilT legislation, and this can 
only be obtained by respecting all interests. So 
far as I have learned the views of our fricndB in 
Congress, I Infer that they sonslder the amount 
of duty asked for by the wool growers, In the 
St. Nicholas Hotel conferences with the manu¬ 
facturers, as about the correct one. At least no 
one has expressed the opinion to me that it was 
either too high or too low. If the duties on 
manufactures can be as satisfactorily ad lusted. 
i ne man who has more stock than hay, 
Should sell a cow without delay 
Unless hla profits will exceed 
The price he pays for hay and feed. 
Yet. 11 the ease is Just reversed. 
Don’t sell the best and keep the worst. 
There’s nothing grows upon the farm 
So good 'twill do the cattle harm. 
Stock should be fed three times a day, 
Just once with straw and twice with hay, 
Or fodder corn—''tls quite as good, 
Though not by all so understood. 
8et even' time to feed all stock. 
At six and twelve and five o’clock; 
Then let desserts come in between, 
Of roots, or apples neat and clean. 
Be systematic with yonr stock: 
Do all your chores by bell or clock • 
For cattle know the time of day, 
And are impatient of delay. j L 
Advertisers Astonished.— Many whoadvertise in 
I the Rural New-Yorker are astonished at the num¬ 
ber of responses they receive. We are in frequent 
receipt of letters expressing this astonishment, and 
were we not surfeited with advertisements, might 
possibly be inclined to follow the suit of our contem¬ 
poraries by giving extracts stating facte and figures. 
The truth simply is that, considering its low rates 
and large circulation, the Rural is the best advertis¬ 
ing medium of its class In America. And if our 
readers, wbeneverorderingorwriting about anything 
advertised herein, will more generally state the fact 
that they saw it advertised in the Rural, those ad¬ 
dressed will be more frequently and greatly astonished, 
ani our Advertising Department correspondingly ap¬ 
preciated. Please “ make n note of it." 
Henry 8. Randall. 
Condensed Correspondence, Items, &e 
BLACK SPANISH FOWLS. 
The Spanish or Black SjMnish is the most 
beautiful of all our domestic fowls. We quote 
the description of Richardson: “ The color of 
the Spanish fowl is a glossy black, and the 
feathers of the legs, thighs, and belly, are par- 
tlcularly decided In their hue, and of a velvety 
aspect. It is a stately bird, and of a grave and 
majestic deportment, and is, in either utility or 
beauty, to be surpassed by none of its congeners. 
One of the most striking characteristics of this 
fowl is a white cheek, and the comb and wattles 
are singularly large, simple, and of a very high 
color; the feet and legs are of a leaden color, 
except the soles of the feet, which arc of a dirty 
fleshy hne. A full grown cock will weigh about 
pounds; the hen about f%. This U a fowl 
well deserving the attention of the breeder, and 
present no peculiarities of constitution that 
would suggest difficulties in either batching or 
rearing. As table birds, they hold a place in 
the very first rank, their flesh being particularly 
white, tender, and juicy, and the skin possess¬ 
ing that beautifully clear white hue, so essen¬ 
tial a requisite lor birds designed for the con- 
sumptiou of the gourmand. The hens are 
likewise layers of the first order.” 
Sheep Dtinc.—Gbub in the Head.—Joel Brio- 
ham, Waueeon, Fulton Co., Ohio, writes that he and 
his neighbors are suffering heavy losses in their sheep 
— mostly those coming two years old - and by a mal¬ 
ady the symptom* of which he describes as follows: 
“ They fall away rapidly In flesh, become vary weak, 
discharge freely at the nose, scour considerably, and 
discharge bloody matter at the nose u few days before 
they die. They eat. well ntii.il a short time before 
death. 1 have examined the heads of two dead ones 
and found from three to five grubs In each. I have 
lost L% others have lost 60, and from the present pros¬ 
pect I think I shall lose 60 before the next spring.” 
Mr. IS. expresses the opinion that the grubs found in 
the head “ have had something to.do with the death 
of hiB sheep.” 
Wc consider this by no means improbable. A sheep 
Trial of Implements. — We have inadvertently 
neglected to notice the Implement Trial which will 
be held during the ensuing season,under theauapices 
of the State Agricultural Society, at such time and 
place as the Committee may hereafter select. The 
trial of Mowers aDd Reapers wilt be prominent and 
thorough. We have not space for the regulations 
under which the contest for superiorly wili take place. 
The circular coo tinning the requisite information 
may be obtained by addressing Col. B. P. Johnson, 
Secretary, Albany. 
It is likewise intended to try various other farming 
implements at the same time. A trial of plows and 
the various machines in use for working and cultiva¬ 
ting the soil is designed early In the season. These 
various trials which the Society proposes to under¬ 
take, will be of more Importance to the interest of 
agriculture than any hitherto made iu this country. 
The legislature bus appropriated $5,U00 toward the 
expenses and premiums, and It Is believed that the 
necessary arrangements, with lands suited for tho 
trial, will be offered to the Society. 
sinking under disease, may doubtless have it some¬ 
what aggravated and accelerated in its effects by 
these worms 
But we confess wc regard them as 
accessories, ratherthan causes of disease. More than 
the number mentioned by our correspondent are 
often found in the heads of perfectly healthy sheep, 
killed at the period of the development of the worms 
and heforc they have abandoned their natural breed¬ 
ing place. How is it assumed that they cause fatal 
maladies f Is It by the constant Irritation they may 
be supposed to produce 1 If so, we should expect to 
see the sheep attempting to relieve themselves from 
It, and we certainly should yjepect to see them giving 
Borne indications of that irritation by throwing about 
the bead, or moving or holding tu nome other than a 
perfectly natural way. Yet Mr. B. name# no such 
symptom. Do they produce their effects by depletion 
—by exhausting the blood of the animal ? Our im¬ 
pression is (hat they feed mainly on wuettsand not I 
on blood. But were the latter the case, the progress 
Salt as a Manure. 
“Salt acta in two ways:—First, as food for 
the plant; and secondly, by rendering other sub¬ 
stances, particularly phosphates, available for 
the purposes of nutrition. We have hud long 
experience in the use of salt as an auxiliary ma¬ 
nure, and in most eases have found it of much 
service. There arc parts of the country>here 
an application of sail will not produce any 
marked results, 6uch as districts exposed to 
heavy rains coming direct from the sea during 
a considerable part of the year. This we have 
noticed especially on certain parts of the west¬ 
ern coasts of the British Islands. Where much 
town manure is used salt Is also less efficacious, 
generally speaking, as such manure usually con¬ 
tains a certain amount of it. The quantities 
wc used arc as follows:—For green crops, 5 ewt 
to 6 cwt. per imperial acre; for cereals and 
young grass, 2 to 8 cwt. For roots it may be 
Tobacco, Onions, Hops.— < 0. D. M.) There is per- 
hnpB no Northern State in which tobacco cannot be 
successfully grown. In the Canadas it is plauted to 
a considerable extent. It requires rich, warm, dry 
soil and good culture. The best variety to grow ex¬ 
tensively, so far as we absolutely know at present, is 
the Connecticut Seed Leaf. If you are skillful enough 
to grow a large proportion of the crop Into first-class 
“wrappers” It will prove very remunerative; other¬ 
wise, perhaps not. If you can procure pure, imported 
Havana seed, it is worthy or trial. Some of the 
Eastern seedsmen who advertise In the Rural, 
doubtless have it to sell. 
The Largo Red Wethersfield Onion is one of the 
beet varieties lor market 
the one described by Mr. B.—in short, wc do not be¬ 
lieve it would produce it at nil, during the time in 
which the grub remains in the head after attaining 
sufficient size to require much tood. And if death 
was produced in this way, the symptoms, in our 
judgment, would be wholly different from those men¬ 
tioned by our correspondent. 
The truth la, there is no more similarity in the 
symptoms of the supposed “drub In tho Head” mal¬ 
ady, than there is between those of foot-rot and 
' scab. If a sheep dies towards spring without » 
known and recognized malady, and worms are found 
in its head, that is assumed to be tho cause. Nor is 
it wonderful that it should be, among those who do 
not know that the same kinds of worms are found in 
the heads of eound sheep. These grubs are ugly 
looking things, ami wc should regard it a* wonderful 
that they did not speedily produce death, were It not 
for the reuson just named, and foraualagous facts. 
Wo cannot form any decisive opinion from the 
description received, as to what is the specific malady 
in Mr. B.’s flock. It would seem too rapid in Ub 
effects for that wasting winter “distemper” which is 
so fatal an enemy to American sheep. A proper post 
mortem examination would probably disclose its 
Character at once. 
HEADS OF BLACK SPANISH COCK AND HEN. 
The only objection to this fowl is, that, the 
large, thin, ami beautiful comb, which is shown 
in the engraving, js very apt to become frozen, 
and thus this great ornament is lost. 
purposes. The Yellow Dan¬ 
vers is likewise excellent. From three hundred and 
fifty to four hundred bushels per acre are a good aver¬ 
age yield. About three pounds of seed are repuired 
for an acre. For average prices you had better con¬ 
sult the market reports In a reliable journal, for a 
few- years past. 
Hops should bo planted about eight feet apart each 
way. Sometimes the yield is as high as two thousand 
lbs. per acre, frequently much below half that amount. 
It is a very variable and uncertain crop. 
Wc advise H. D. M. to look over the list of Agri¬ 
cultural books for sate, published In the advertising 
columns of the Rural, and Bpeedlly become the 
owner of some of those treating on the above subjects. 
TO MAKE STAPLES FOR WIRE FENCE 
to cut off' the wire. Drive iu two or three staples 
near the rlght-haud edge, just close enough to 
admit the wire earily; to the left of the staples 
drive iu a small piece of hoop iron to regulate 
the length of the staples. Cut the wire into 
lengths of about four feet, to be convenient to 
handle. With the wire in the left hand insert 
it under the staples from the right towards the 
left till the end comes in contact with the piece 
of hoop iron; bend the wire over towards the 
left, and with a hammer in the right-hand pound 
on it to make it bend short. Lay the wire ucross 
the cutting tool at an angle of forty-five degrees, 
(which will make the staples sharp enough to 
drive easy,) aud cut off' by pounding ‘with the 
hammer. One inch is long enough for oak posts, 
and one and a half to two inches for cedar posts. 
Straining the Wires. — To strain the wire bore 
half-inch holes through the end posts, one iueh 
below the holes; bore two holes four inches 
apart and put in pins or railroad spikes — or cut 
a notch in the post horizontally. This is to 
keep the roller in place. Make the roller of 
hard timber, two inches iu diameter. Make one 
eud square to take on an iron wrench two feet 
long; bore a gimlet, hole through the middle to 
receive the wire, and two boles about four 
inches apart at right angles through the roller 
to put in railroad spikes or strong pins to hold 
the roller when tho wire is st rained. This sim¬ 
ple arrangement works better than any of the 
costly machinery I have ever seen for straining 
the wires. s. w. a. 
Cortland, HI. 
Fowls Eating off their Feathers,— (P, F.) This 
correspondent inquires what Is the cause of hiB 
fowls eating off their own feathers. He says:—“I 
have never noticed the habit in any but game fowls. 
Thu feather-eating is not wholly confined to the 
cocks yet they indulge tho most iu this unusual luxu¬ 
ry, and arc now nearly naked, but the hens are In 
fair feather. They only eat their feathers duriug the 
winter months, and are apparently in good health, 
as they are In high condition. They have daily access 
to lime, gravel and pure water. If any of the Rural 
readers can tell me the cause aud prevention of this 
feather-eating I should be greatly obliged.” 
This habit Is doubtless caused by lack of some 
element of food demanded by their appetite, but not 
supplied in their daily sustenance. We have been 
informed of cases in which the habit of rating their 
own feathers was cured by feeding them feathers 
from recently killed birds, which they ate greedily. 
first year of Cut jrresetit tariff. 
Duty. 
Cents. 
At 12 cents or less.. 
At 12 to 24 cents.". '.'.'.6 
At 24 to 32 cents. 
At 32 cents and over. 
Soon red.triple duty 
Shoddy.. 
Total dutiable. 
Canadian, (free). . . . . . 
Of this there was from the Argentine Re¬ 
public... 
Second grade, (12 to 24 cents).. 
Total, (of coarse) ... 
From Africa, (first grade). 
From Africa, (second grade). 
Total, (of fine). 
The duties, as may be set-u, amount to little mom 
than $2,000,000. or Jess than five cents per pound. If 
Invoiced at real value as compared with wool grown 
in the United States the duty would not be over two 
aud a half Cents per pound. From personal examina 
tion I am satisfied as to the false iu voices, and there 
is no friend of the wool interest who does not iidmit 
the protection sought a failure. 
Total woolens Imported in four years ending June 30 
1865. 
IS62... 
1868. .. 
1864 ...i.. 
1865 .. 
Grand total... 
Total woolens, as shown. 
Total wool in same time. 
Total wool and woolens, (in gold).$133,851,062 
Or say $226,000,000 in currency. 
Here are the tacts in round numbers for four years 
ending June #), 1&65; 
Wool, imported, pounds.251,000,000 
Shoddy, Imported, pounds.27,000,000 
Canadian, free, pounds. 10,000,560 
Being of the value of $-15,000,000. 
Mr. Grixnf.ll is one of tho most active and 
energetic men iu Congress and is indefetignbiy 
industrious in carrying out the wishes of his 
constituents. 
It would not be appropriate l'or the Chairman 
of the Committee of WftjB and Means specially 
to champion any one interest, at least to the 
neglect of other interests. His position binds 
him equally to care for them all, so far as they 
deserve care. But I believe the wool growers of 
the country have a firm friend in Hon. Justin S. 
Morrill. It has been said the Morrill Tariff 
Digging Wells. 
How to Determine where Water is.— 
At a recent meeting of the American Institute 
Farmar6’ Club, a member related his experience 
in this matter as follows:—“An Irishman in his 
employment, in order to ascertain where he 
ought to dig to obtain water soonest, got a stone 
and buried it over night in the ground, next to 
the hardpan. In the morning he found it quite 
moist, but not sufficiently eo to suit his fancy. 
Next night he tried it iu another spot, and it 
was found very wet on the following morning. 
‘There,’ said Patrick, ‘you will find water not 
many feet deep, and plenty of iff’ Sure enough, 
in a few days’ digging, Patrick confirmed his 
prediction, notwithstanding the jeers of the 
workmen, —finding a vem which filled the well 
to overflowing, and rendered it exceedingly dif¬ 
ficult to bail out the water so as to stone it. The 
philosophy of the operation seems to be that hs 
great evaporation takes place from the surface 
of the earth during the night, the water rises up 
from the depths below to supply the loss, and 
accumulates in the vicinity of the stone, often 
making quite a puddle.” 
Polishing Rusty Plows. 
Much labor and time now annually expend¬ 
ed in scouring plows might be saved by the sim¬ 
ple process which we append. It is certainly 
better to scour house implements of every kind, 
hut all farmers cannot do this, and even when it 
is done, plows will frequently become rusty. 
Those who wish to spare themselves the trouble 
of polishing a rusty mould-board in the ordinary 
way, should have recourse to muriatic acid, which 
will not touch the iron, hut will render the rust 
soluble and easily removed' A furrow or two 
should be turned with the plow in about live 
minutes after the application of the acid. 
Bounds. 
17,297,247 
TRICHINA SPIRALIS, 
The subject of the use of pork as an article of 
food seems to ho a topic of much discussion 
with the consumers of that kind of meat, on 
account of its being Infected by nnimalcube 
called Trichina Spiralis, which, when taken into 
the stomach, is fatal to bumuu life, aud many 
consumers of swine’s flesh are expressing great 
fears of its safety and abandoning its use. 
There are no well attested 
eases of its in¬ 
digenous production, or even existence, jn this 
country, and those persona who have supposed 
that they have discovered them, are probably 
not aware that the intestinal canal aud every 
cavity In all animate bodies are filled with inde¬ 
pendent living organisms, known as Entozoa, 
Protozoa , Hydutuls , &c. This disease is only 
known iu Europe, iu a very confined district, 
producing but sixty or seventy deaths, and 
those only of persons M ho used the flesh in a raw 
state—a practice which rarely prevails in this 
country. 
"When we consider that about one half of the 
inhabitants of the United States are farmers 
and depend almost entirely upon the article, 
pork, for their daily consumption—for which 
they have no reliable substitute—it becomes im¬ 
portant that the public 6hould be disabused of 
the fears entertained on this subject. 
Iu the first place the Trichina animalcule is 
not known to exist in this country, nor has it 
existed for hundreds of years past, and therefore 
its infliction may be anticipated as a very remote 
contingency. 
Secoudly, as a certain and infallible security 
against its ever prevailing as a disease in the 
human family, is the absolute and M r ell settled 
fact that the required heat to produce boiling, 
frying and baking is fatal to all exist ants , from 
the microscopic aniimileuke up to vertehrated 
animals. 
Every existant possessing motion and vitality 
is composed chemically of nearly the 6ame ele- 
Woodbcff’s Seed Planter.— In the notiee of this 
machine, on first page, we Inadvertently omitted to 
state that it was patented by I.um Woodruff of Ann 
Arbor, Mich., (Inventor of the widely known Wood¬ 
ruff Barometer,) and to refer persons wishing further 
information to his advertisement in this paper. 
Bonb Dust and Guano.— (S. M. D.) These fertil¬ 
izers arc advertised in the Rural, to which adver¬ 
tisement! we refer you for information. We do not 
know where a machine for sowing plaster and bone 
dust can be obtained. 
$14,814,394 
20,411,0)5 
89,189,336 
20,317,568 
$87,732,913 
Orleans Co. Ao. Society.— At the last meeting ol 
this Society, held in Albion, the following officers 
were elected for the present year : President— Clark 
Hall. Vice Brest.— Arad Thomas. Sec y-Geo. B 
Leonard. Treas— C.Farwell. Cor.Sec'y—A. B. Bailey. 
TO START A BALKY HORSE, 
Plan for a Horse Barn Wanted,—A plan for a 
horse barn is wanted—one that shall be cheap and 
durable, and sufficiently large for the stabling of four 
horses and for storing hay and grain to wftiier the 
same; also, to house one top buggy, two wagons, one 
sled and one sleigh. In looking over tho Rural for a 
plan of a horse barn. I find drawings for dwellings, 
for stock barns, for com houses, and for ice-houses: 
hut, for the comfort of the horse I find nothing. I 
would like, for one. (and perhaps it would Interest 
others.) to hourfrom those, through your paper, who 
have good horse barns.— A Subscriber, Portage Co., 
JJew Corn Harvester. —T. Lutterworth of 
Illinois, has invented a corn harvester that cuts 
two rows each through, dropping the stalks in 
bundles of any desired size. It is drawn by one 
horse, and requires only a driver, it being selt- 
operating in all its parts; is very simple in con¬ 
struction ; will cut from 12 to 15 acres per day. , 
Butter Making.— PleaBe give a Young House¬ 
keeper, through the Rural, the beet recipe for butter 
making, including the management of the milk, 
proper temperature for churning, and the amount of 
ealt per pound, if you, or some of your i umerous 
subscribers, will give’me the “modus operand! ” of 
butter making, such as sells for the first price in mar¬ 
ket, you wifi greatly oblige— A Subscriber, Ithaca. 
.-a:. 
