t 
r A GR1CULT U 
One family here, from reading n popular Hydro¬ 
pathic journal, learned that salt given to cattle 
was worse than thrown away. Their cattle be¬ 
came a nuisance to the neighborhood—would 
eat great holes in the ground where other cattle 
had been salted—and in one instance broke into 
a neighbor’s shanty (we had nothing but shan¬ 
ties and no fencies hero then, some dozen years 
since,) and ate all he had, a bushel or more. 
Cattle appear t.o require more salt In summer 
than in winter. I have fed a good many beef 
cattle here through the wiutcr, and they will not 
eat well all the time unless salted regularly. 
And there Is a dllllculty In getting butter from 
the milk of cows that are not salted. Is It not 
such places as along the. Wabash, (Ind.,) where 
cattle do not require to be fed salt, that causes 
Borne people to think it an “unnecessary habit ? ” 
And do not cattle in such places obtain wlmt salt 
nature requires in someway?—perhaps In the 
water they drink, if not in their food." 
ESTABLISHED IN 1850 
will generally terminate in a good understand¬ 
ing. This once established, there will be little 
chance of trouble thereafter. If severity, at any 
time, becomes indispensable, let it be of a char¬ 
acter so decisive as to carry conviction and 
reformation with it. These attained, let the 
treatment be such as to convince the animal that 
nothing is remembered to his detriment in con¬ 
sequence of past disagreements. 
In glooming a horse men sometimes use a 
heavy curry-comb and a heavier hand, not be¬ 
cause they are necessary to the cleaning pro¬ 
cess, but simply to see how tho animal will 
“ cut up.” This is all wrong, and It. is a pity 
that a groom thus abusing his power, could not 
bo made to change places with the horse as 
often as the wrong is perpetrated. Many horses, 
and good ones too, are tliin-6kinncd and pecu¬ 
liarly sensitive to the touch of the curry-comb. 
Such might well be spared the in diction, since a 
wisp of hay and a card with line teexh will be 
found ample for the purposes of cleaning and 
diction. A heavy and rough instrument, used 
with an unsparing hand, makes tho horse suspi¬ 
cious, sours hia temper and sometimes induces 
disagreeable retaliation. A horse well and prop¬ 
erly groomed twice a day, will appear better, 
feci better, work more vigorously and bo less 
likely to become ill, than if neglected or left to 
Bach groomlDg only as a fence corner or a 
friendly rack may supply. 
MOORE’S RURAL NEW-YORKER, 
AN ORIGINAL WEEKLY 
SURAL, LITERARY AND FAMILY NEWSPAPER. 
CONDUCTED BY D. D. T. MOORE, 
With a Corps of Able AMhtuitA and Contributors, 
HENRY 8. RANDALL, LL, D., 
Editor of tho Department of Sheep Husbandry, 
HON. T. C. PETERS, 
Late Pres't N. Y. State Ag. Soo’y, Southern Cor. Editor, 
tr Fob Tkkms and other particulara see last page. 
FARM IMPLEMENTS. 
REMEDY FOR CUT-WORMS. 
pulverizing clay lands when in preparation for 
the wheat crop. It would bo not less valuable 
on light sands to compact them for the same, 
object. The maker claims that, by its weight 
and shape it will crush and destroy cut-worms 
and grubs in the soil over which It passes. 
Hence Its use on meadowB infested with worms 
would be beneficial; and on the corn fields of 
this country its value would be inestimable if 
it would destroy the cut-worm. We believe a 
heavy clod-crusher would certainly be one of 
tho most cillcieut remedies that could be ap¬ 
plied to destroy this pestiferous worm; and this 
one has a shape peculiarly adapted to this pur¬ 
pose. Ml implements designed to Improve the 
condition of the land to receive seed should bo 
looked upon with favor by American farmers. 
We illustrate a very useful Implement which 
has but recently been brought out In England, 
namely, Spencer’s Excelsior Roll and Clod 
Crasher. There are some useful ideas embod¬ 
ied In this elod-cruBher, of which we hope our 
manufacturers will hasteu to avail themselves. 
As tho discs work independently the pressure 
is equalized, and they will consolidate tho soil 
to the roots of plants in a very perfect manlier. 
In case this implement is used after wheat, is 
sown in the fall It leaves the ground in a boiuo- 
what rough state, at the eamo time compacting 
the soil around the roots of tho wheat plants, 
and this rough Btato enables the wheat to endure 
tho winter better than if the surface were made 
fiat as with a common roller. 
Such a clod-crasher would be a great help in 
It is the boast of American Agriculture that 
it is better supplied with suitable, labor-Baving 
implem ents than that of any other nation- High 
priced labor has stimulated the Invention and 
assisted the introduction of improved farm ma¬ 
chinery, and the most meritorious labor-saving 
farm implements have originated in the United 
States. But while inventors have done well the 
manufacturers of farm machinery very frequently 
fail in coming up to the proper standard. Ameri¬ 
can farmers justly charge them with shoving off 
a large amount of poor work. There is a great 
demand for the machinery; one or two firms 
often control an Implement of extensive ubc, and 
if farmers will only take them, the sellers are not 
particular if a poor quality of timber is used, or 
it is unseasoned, or the iron poor, or the whole 
finish and workmanship shabby. 
To remedy this we advise farmers to insitt on 
having good work and material in a new tool. 
Patronize the firms that put the best material 
and workmanship In their wares, and therefore 
deal honestly. It makes great difference in the 
wear and work of a maehiuc, as every raachanlc 
knowB, whether the p>arts are well fitted and 
adjusted, the bolts tight in the holes, proper 
material used everywhere, and a high finish given 
to all parts. We have seen plows so put together 
that the whole weight of the holder could not 
prevent them from “running on the point;” 
and reaping machines whose unseasoned timber 
the sun had so shrank and warped and altered 
in shape that the patentee himself could hardly 
swear they were his own invention. 
Let farmers scrutinize closely every imple¬ 
ment they buy; a thick coat of paint sometimes 
covers miserable work and material. If an im¬ 
portant and costly tool Is not in all respects 
what it ehould be in point of material and work¬ 
manship, it is more economical to spend time In 
procuring one that is right, than to ran the risk 
of vexatious breakages in harrying seasons, aud 
an untimely wearing out of the Implement and 
consequent loss of capital. 
We hear much complaint from farmers of the 
abundance of cut-worms that, have appeared in 
their fields, it is time now tor them to commit, 
their ravages, and any efficient remedy would bo 
valuable. A correspondent from this State sends 
the Rural the following hints : 
“Several of my neighbors have spoken of tho 
multitude of grubs or cut-worms they found in 
their fields when planting their corn. They 
also expressed much apprehension that injury 
might be done to the crop. I have somewhere 
seen directions for making holes in the ground 
near the hills uud in tho murks made for plant¬ 
ing, into which the worms (It was said) would 
fall and die. 
My nearest, neighbor, J. J. Cornell, Baid the 
other day that several years ago he had partly 
prepared a piece for coru, when a very heavy 
rain storm came on. Ho finished marking tho 
ground in the afternoon alter the rain, and, as it 
was very wet, tho horse made deep holes with 
his feet. In the morning they found five, ten, 
fifteen, and as many as filly grubs, in these 
holes, dead. He supposed that the wet drove 
them out of the ground on to the top, and in 
crawling about they fell Into these holes, and 
being unable to get out, died. It would Boom 
as though if four holes were made with a stick 
an inch or two in diameter on opposite sides of 
the hills and in the furrows made by the markers, 
perhaps the worms might be to some extent 
destroyed.” 
BEET SUGAR 
A Western exchange, referring to the cul¬ 
tivation of 8orghum, or the so-called Chinese 
sugar cane, says “ it is not all that was antici¬ 
pated by those who were most active in pro¬ 
moting its introduction a few years ago. The 
crop, it is true, Is what may be called a reliable 
one, and theyicld sufficiently abundunt; but the 
product is not a sugar that promises to assume 
a very high rank In commerce. Thus far the 
greatest success that can be claimed for Sor¬ 
ghum Is the production of a cheap sirup that, 
for olTensiveness of taste, is without a rival. So 
far as any experiments yet made, either in at¬ 
tempts to manufacture sirup or sugar from Sor¬ 
ghum, have demonstrated, there is not much 
prospect that Sorghum will ever become the 
rival of our Southern sugar cane. To find that 
rival which will prove its adaptation to a more 
northern climate, our agriculturists will proba¬ 
bly be compelled to turn their attention to some 
other sugar-producing plant.” 
This Northern rival to tho Southern cane is 
supposed to be found in the sugar beet, and the 
prairies of the West just the place to grow it to 
the greatest advantage. The rapid increase, in 
tho production of beet sugar in Europe is seen 
by the followingIn 1827, the product In France 
wns only 1,000 tons. In 1837, it had reached 
39,000 tons; in 1857, 300,000 tons, and by a late 
arrival, the estimated product is 250,000 tons. 
In Belgium and Austria, the increase has been 
equally rapid, the former having trebled her 
yield in the last fifteen years, and the latter 
having increased in twenty years from 8,000 to 
85,000 tons. The increase in all the countries of 
Europe since 1828 bus been from the Bmall ag¬ 
gregate of 7,000 tons to a total in 1850 of 508,500 
VARIOUS TOPICS DISCUSSED, 
got in 1828, which will grow and ripen in 90 or 
100 days. Wheat, oats and potatoes will degen¬ 
erate and wear oat (with ordinary culture.) * * 
We do not harvest our grain and cut our hay 
early enough in this country. When I com¬ 
menced farming I was closely watched by my 
neighbors, who said I plowed too deep, cut my 
hay too early, and cut my gram too green. I 
have farmed on twelve different farms, aud the 
result has been, I have tripled the crops on an 
average.” 
A New Agricultural Theory. 
M. Vilui, an eminent chemist, recently an¬ 
nounced at the Sorbonne, that all vegetables are 
to bo found in the same elements, which are 
fourteen in number, some organic, and others 
mineral. M. Vili.e asserted that he had at¬ 
tempted to manufacture vegetables, just as he 
would proceed to make a chemical compound. 
“ In order that his operations should be placed 
beyond suspicion, he took for his soil calcined 
sand; that is to say, an inert matter possessing 
no element of fertility. Alter several experi¬ 
ments, M. Vili.e discovered that fertility could 
be produced by the employment of fou r agents— 
ozone, phosphate of lime, lime and potash, and 
that these agents applied to any soil, no matter 
bow barren, would render It capable of pro¬ 
ducing plentiful crops.” He exhibited, iu the 
course of one of Ids lectures, samples of corn 
and sugar cane produced on the principles of his 
theory. Tho latter was raised in Egypt. The 
result of the experiments went to prove that 
only four of the fourteen elements mentioned 
were necessary for fertilization — the air and 
ground supplying the remainder. “ These four 
agents must be used in different proportions, 
according to tho crop which is placed in the 
ground. The principal agent for wheatis ozone; 
whilst, for turnips, It is phosphate of lime. 
M. Ville recommended alternate crops; say, 
the first year, turnips, with a manure of phos¬ 
phate of lime; the next year, wheat, with ozone; 
and the third year, clover, with a mixture of 
lime and potash ; and in the fourth year, wheat, 
which would need no manure, the four fertilizing 
agents being sufficiently Btrong in the ground.” 
Early Haying, 
Wk notice that some practical farmers, 
whose experience covers tho experiments of 
many years, give it as their opinion that much 
id lost annnally by not commencing tho haying 
season early enough. It Is asserted, too, that 
customarily a largo portion of the nutritive 
properties of the grass Is lost by over drying tho 
hay in tho meadow before putting it into the 
mow or stack. They are doubtlesa right In both 
of these assumptions. The natural juice of tho 
grass should be retained as far as practicable, but 
this cannot be done if the grass is allowed to be¬ 
come dead ripe beloro being cut, or la suffered 
to be scorched to death iu tho process of curing. 
If no rain Intervenes between the time of cut¬ 
ting and taking the hay to shelter, very little ex¬ 
posure to the sun will be necessary. Placed in 
cocks, soon alter cutting, and left to stand a day 
or two, will be ample as a process of curing. 
The hay will be much more nutritive than dried 
to a crisp. _ 
What will Pay Best! 
This is a natural question for a farmer to 
ask, but an answer is not alwayB readily given. 
A man, with two or three years experience on a 
farm, can determine pretty nearly what crop is 
best suited to each section of it, so far as quan¬ 
tity or yield is concerned, but it Ib not bo easy 
to decide what particular product will pay best 
in any particular year. Sometimes the potato 
crop is short and the price of that product 
reaches a very high figure. The next season 
ouch farmer doubles his quantity of potato 
ground, and the result is a redundant market 
and low prices. Then follows diminished pro¬ 
duction again, and so on, year in and year out 
This is one of the annoyances of trade, and per- 
laiua to all callings, to a certain extent. That 
farmer will probably succeed best who pursues 
a generally uniform system— diversifying his 
crops regularly, so that he rimy have something 
to seli ol each clues of profil e -, whatever the 
ruling price of them in the market may be. 
ASHES AND PLASTER ON CORN 
J. C. M., Scottsville, N. Y., thinks plaster 
and ashes should not be mixed and applied 
together to com. He says: — “Many farmers 
arc in tho practice of mixing plaster and ashes 
to apply to their corn on tho hill after it has 
come up. But were they familiar with the 
composition of the two substances they would 
soon quit iL Plaster, (or more properly, 
sulphate of lime,) indicates by Its name of wliat 
it is composed, sulphuric add and lime. Be¬ 
tween the add and the potash contained In the 
wood ashes, there is a strong affinity. Conse¬ 
quently as soon aa they are brought together, 
the acid, having a greater affinity for the potash 
than it has for the lime, it leaves the lime and 
unites with the potash, and both are neutralized, 
thereby destroying the effect of each. The plas¬ 
ter is now nothing more than ground limestone, 
which may be easily proved by putting the 
hands into ground plaster, and then attempting 
to wash it off with BOap. In this case the acid 
leaves the lime aud the potash leaves the grease, 
as the acid and plaster have a greater affinity 
for each other thau they have for the lime and 
grease,— therefore, the hands are covered with 
grease.” 
TREATMENT OF HORSES, 
Many valuable horses are yearly spoiled, or 
nearly so, by the improper management of those 
having them Lu charge. Cureless or Ill-tempered 
grooms do much mischief to horses. The first 
do their work in a slovenly manner, while the 
last, though thorough enough as regards labor, 
perform their operations in so rough a manner 
as to excite the animal to resistance, rendering 
him suspicious and intractable. The first thing 
to be done, In taking 
SALT FOR STOCK. 
in hand a strange horse, 
is to come to a pleasant understanding with him. 
On approaching the animal for the first time, if 
of the right stamp, the horse will examine the 
party making his acquaintance with great in- 
tentnese. The scrutiny should be mutual—eye 
meeting eye steadily, and, on the part of the 
If the result of tho exam- 
As this subject is one of importance to farm¬ 
ers, we have endeavored to present the views of 
practical and experienced men regarding it. 
Hence its frequent discussion, recently, in these 
columns. We will give the opinions of a “Sub¬ 
scriber” from Winona Co., Minn., and then 
“rest the case” for the present: 
“I have noticed what has been said of late in 
the Rural about feeding Balt to cattle. The 
article entitled “Sait Eating an Unnecessary 
Habit,” causes me to give you my experience 
and observation on the subject. 
My father, in Western New York, always 
thought it necessary to salt all his stock (horses, 
cattle and sheep,) once a week. They seemed 
to relish it, and were always eager to obtain It 
about so often. On the Wabash, Ind., cattle 
cared nothing about salt,— would scarcely ever 
taste it But those same cattle brought to 
Southern Minnesota are ravenous for salt—more 
so than I ever saw cattle in New York State. 
Sow Buckwheat. —If there is any truth in the 
prevalent representation that the wheat corp of 
the present year will be far below the customary 
average It is important that farmers should seek 
to make good the expected deficiency by devot¬ 
ing a liberal portion of their land to the grow¬ 
ing of buckwheat. There ia plenty of time yet 
to prepare the ground for this product, which, 
for winter ubc, is an excellent substitute for 
wheaten bread. In any event it cannot fail to 
pay liberally, should the season prove ordinarily 
favorable to the maturing of the crop. Those 
who have the land for the purpose can readily 
prepare a few acres, thereby supplying for their 
families a considerable portion of their winter 
bread, besides having a surplus for the market. 
groom, pleasantly, 
fixation on the part ot the horse be favorable, a 
deep and long drawn respiration will succeed, 
followed by a return to the food upon which he 
had been solacing himself when first interrupted, 
Forty-Six Yoara’ Experience. 
A Fakmuk who has had exjterience as a 
fanner for forty-six years, gives to the American 
Agriculturist some notes on his farming prac¬ 
tice. Among other things ho remarks “ Some 
men say that corn will degenerate and ran out. 
My father got a kind of yellow 13-rowed corn In 
the year of the great eclipse, In 1806, which I re¬ 
member very well. 1 took it from him in the 
spring of 1820 and have It now. It is an early, 
sound com, very easy to busk. I can raise 80 
bushels of shelled corn to the acre with no extra 
labor, planting 3}4 feet apart each way. I have 
another kind of 8-rowod yellow eom, which I 
Scratches in Horses. 
Mr. J. Ingram, alluding to the subject of 
scratches on horses in a late number of the Ver¬ 
mont Farmer, and the cures recommended, some 
of which he pronounces cruel, says: — “ If the 
issues on the legs of a horse are kept open and 
clean, lie will never be troubled with scratches, 
aud If through neglect he may have contracted 
this complaint, all that is necessary to effect a 
speedy and complete cure is to cleanse their 
issues and rub them well with lard. The worst 
cases will readily yield to this simple remedy.” 
implying thereby that he is ready to be dealt 
with in such a way as may be deemed best for 
the interests of all concerned. On the contrary, 
it the interview has not been agreeable, the 
horse will throw up his head, look angry, and 
move restlessly about, indicating that a contin¬ 
uance of the acquaintance is not desirable. In 
this case, soothing words with corresponding 
manipulations; the exercise of patience, a virtue 
as effective with horses as with the genus homo, 
\ 
i 
A ■* 
