TERMS, $3.00 PER YEAR.] 
“PROGRESS AND IMPROYHMENT.” 
[SINGLE NO. TEN CENTS 
VOL. XVII. NO. 40.} 
ROCHESTER, N. Y.-FOR TIIE WEEK ENDING SATURDAY, OCTOBER O', 1866. 
{WHOLE NO. 872. 
ESTABLISHED IN 1S50. 
MOORE’S RURAL NEW-YORKER, 
AS ORIGINAL WEEKLY 
RURAL, LITERARY AND FAMILY NEWSPAPER. 
CONDUCTED BY D. D. T. MOORE, 
With a Corps of Able Assistants and Contributors, 
HENRY S. RANDALL, LL, D., 
Editor of the Department of Sheep Husbandry, 
HON. T. C. PETERS, 
Late Pres’t N. Y. State Ag. Soc’y, Southern Cor. Editor. 
Thu Rural New-Yorker Is designed to be unsur¬ 
passed In Value. Purity, and Variety of Contents. It* 
Conductor earnestly labor# to render the Rural a Reli¬ 
able Guide on *11 the Important Practical. Scientific and 
other Subjects connected with the business of those 
whose Interests tt zealously advocates. As a Family 
JouEXALltls eminently Instructive and Entertaining— 
being so conducted that. tt. can be ealely taken to the 
Homes of people of Intelligence, taste and discrimination. 
It embraces mope Agricultural, Horticultural, Scientific, 
Educational, Literary and News Matter, interspersed 
with appropriate engravings, than any other journal,— 
rendering It by tar the moat complete Agricultural, 
Literary ani> Family Newspaper In America. 
££“For Tkk>is and other particulars see last page. 
PERMANENT PASTURES. 
V 
It is often asserted that the older a pasture 
becomes the more valuable It is ; that land may 
be pastured for an Indefinite period and the 
grasses constantly increase in richness and abun¬ 
dance. Mr. Willard, in his letters from Eng¬ 
land, states that such is the opinion entertained 
by the farmers of some localities lu that country, 
and pastures that have been grazed a hundred 
years without deteriorating are the evidence with 
which they support their assertions. We regret 
having no more definite information about these 
pastures, the yield, quality, and variety of grass¬ 
es as compared with that of half a century ago; 
the kind of soil, and the amount of top-dressing 
they receive. If it is a fact that land may be laid 
down to grass, constantly pastured without any 
manure except the droppings of the stock, and 
the quality of the feed, improved and its yield 
maintained or increased for an indefinite time, 
then some of the soundest theories of the best 
Agricultural writers are upset, and the stock 
grower and dairy farmer may deem theirs the 
only species of husbandry which takes from the 
land without impoverishing it. 
But we are not prepared to believe that such 
is the fact. If it he, why so much talk about 
renovating, top-dressing, and fertilizing the old 
pastures of Eastern dairy regions of this coun¬ 
try? Why should the Western prairies, that 
have been grazed for centuries, be benefited by 
plowing and seeding? Their grasses, if this 
theory be correct, should be the thriftsst and 
most aromatic of any pastures on the continent. 
Which fats cattle best, gives the most delicious 
butter and cheese, blue-grass, red-top, white- 
clover, or the wild, coarse prairie grasses ? The 
product oi a pasture is grass; cattle consume 
it; out of it milk and meat are produced, and 
these are removed from the lar.d; the excre¬ 
ments of the stock replace but a part, and this 
part is usually half wasted in the air. In pastur¬ 
ing, then, there is a constant drain on the soil, 
and how can this fail, In the course of time, to 
impoverish it if the elements necessary to the 
thrift of the fine, rich grasses, causes them to 
give place to those ranker and grosser ? It is 
obvions that without more fertilizing material is 
furnished the land than the stock supplies while 
on the grass, pastures, after a limited period, 
will deteriorate. 
Wheu land is newly seeded large crops of 
grass are obtained if it be in good condition. 
After two or three years the yield diminishes. 
TLe “own grow? have reached their highest per¬ 
fection, and henceforward gradually give place 
to the na'ural grasses, the germs of which are in 
the soil. Frequently the first grasses die out 
faster than the succeeding oue come In, lienee 
the pasture rapidly becomes poor; numerous 
Bpots art, left almost bare of herbage. At this 
period grain farmers usually plow, sow grain, 
and reseed. They say the grass has “runout.” 
Bat if the field is not disturbed it presently be¬ 
gins to improve; the natural grasses spread and 
occupy the whole ground, and the pastareyields 
as much feed as when newly seeded, and that of 
a better quality. This may continue for a loug 
time, the limit depending on the richness of the 
soil, hut the highest point will at last be cached 
—sooner in grain lands than in those more natu¬ 
ral to grass — when the sweet, nutritive grasses 
will begin to give place to those coarser in qual¬ 
ity, less relished by stock, and of quicker growth 
and decay. Meantime the soil has accumulated 
rich supplies of food from the decaying grass 
roots and other sources, for a crop demanding 
different elements. Grass has not impoverished 
the soil, only exhausted its own peculiar food, 
and the land is In condition to grow large crops 
of grain or roots. 
DISCUSSIONS AT THE STATE EAIE. 
Thursday Evening —Worn Out Farms. 
It was expected that Solon Robinson would 
address the meeting on the subject of woru out 
farms; how to renovate them, and how to keep 
land from wearing out. Illness, we understand, 
prevented him from attending the Fair. Some 
discussion took place, after the audience had lis¬ 
tened to the able address of Anson 8. Miller, 
Rockford, Ill., on the above subjects, of which 
we give a brief synopsis. 
Harris, Mouroe, said he wa3 trying to reno¬ 
vate a worn out farm. Frorn the term “worn 
out ” he took it for granted that land thus desig¬ 
nated had once been fertile. Did not think there 
were many worn out farms, but many run down. 
Land that once abounded in the elements of 
fertility, Is seldom exhausted of them. The 
original supply of plant food is not exhausted. 
The first thing to be done In renovating a run 
down farm is to underdrain; the roots of trees, 
decaying In the land, once formed conduits for 
the water; these are now destroyed. The next 
step is to get rid of weed?, then grow clover; 
wheu ft good crop of clover is got, one is sure of 
a good crop of grain. The gTeat thing is to cul¬ 
tivate the land; sometimes cultivated corn eleven 
times. Another method of renovating land is to 
purchase manures that will grow large crops 
immediately. 
Mr. Cvrtis, Saratoga.—In this county we have 
had a great deal of grass seed fail this spring on 
account of drouth; would like 6orne informa¬ 
tion. Which is advisable, spring or fall seed¬ 
ing ? Can we renovate our farms with timothy ? 
We depend more on timothy than any other 
grass. Clover kUl3 out here in ten years, some¬ 
times in one. Is it best to manure on the sur¬ 
face or plow it in for the benefit of the grass 
seed ? We are exhausting our farms by growing 
potatoes. 
Mr. Crocker, Broome, said timothy seed does 
best sown in the fall; sow clover in the spring. 
Had sown grass seed in the fall and thought it 
Injured the wheat; probably sowed too much. 
Was fully satisfied that fall seeding was the best. 
Never had and never wanted a worn out farm. 
To prevent one from wearing out keep as much 
stock as you can well provide for summer and 
winter. Himself is in the dairy business, and 
keeps as many cows aa the farm will carry; with 
a stock of 30 or 40 cows can manure from 12 to 
15 acres well :n a year. Then a proper rotation 
is essential, Never takes more than ihrec crops 
from the land without seeding. His rotation is 
corn, oat?, wheat and gras?. Most farmers in 
his section are taking the same course. 
Mr. Thomas, Herkimer.—One way to keep 
sheep is 10 yard them at night so as to manure 
the ground ; sow that land to turnips; they make 
good feed and rich manure. In dairying keep 
more cows than the pasture will feed, and make 
up by soiling. Have rye for early spring, then 
clover, next oats. Raise roots also. By good 
management in this way we can restore worn out 
laud quicker than by the clover method. Soil¬ 
ing is of the greatest advantage. Would seed in i 
the fall and harrow in manure. On rich bottom 
land would sow grass seed alone in the spriDg at 
the rate of half a bushel per acre. Can get a 
crop of hay the first season. Would not take 
more than three crops before seeding. The best 
plan is to keep stock; dairying docs not exhaust 
the lend as fast as grain farming. 
Mr. Campbell said we could renovate land by 
taking care of it. Had grown and sold off many 
successive crops from one piece of land, but 
kept it up by applying manure. Where there 
are sandy loams there are beds of clay and muck. 
The latter is a valuable fertilizer; by usiog it, a 
little manure gives good crops. Have used It 
various ways; probably the best is to put it in 
the yard and mix it with the droppings of the 
cattle. Never bad much trouble with weeds; 
they make manure—that is the best use to put 
them to. A capital substitute for clover is to 
sow corn in drills, roll it down and plow it 
under. You can get clover afterwards. Buck- 
A. CONA'ENIENT CORJST CRIB. 
It is the exception and not the rule for a farm 
to be provided with a roomy corn-house with 
a hog-pen attached. The old fashioned rail crib 
is yet the great storehouse of the farmer’s corn. 
Two-thirds of all the corn grown in the United 
States is probably stored in cribs. And for the 
purpose of curing the grain well, and keeping it 
in good condition while 6n the cob, there can 
be no valid objection raised against a well made 
corn crib. . • 
We illustrate a very convenient style of corn- 
crib, which, while costing but a mere trifle more 
than the ordinary crib, possesses some of the 
main advantages of a corn-house, namely: a 
space protected from the weather sufficient to 
accommodate a team with a load of com; at 
the proper season the grain may be shelled 
therein, and it is an excellent place to shelter a 
lumber wagon. The plan needs but little expla¬ 
nation. It is simply two cribs placed about ten 
wheat is also valuable for this purpose; bad 
seen good results from using it. But the great 
sources of fertility on sand are the beds of clay 
and muck. 
Mr. Crocker, Herkimer, remarked that farm 
er3 pay too little attention to saving manures. 
A great deal is lost. The solid manures should 
be housed and the liquid manures saved and 
sprinkled on the ground. Wet spots should 
always he drained before sowing grain. Fen¬ 
cing is another staggering question to the farm¬ 
ers of this country. Had good success with the 
common English thorn. 
Ezra Cornell, Ithaca, Eaid that the farmers 
of England were eradicating their hedges. He 
went to England with strong impressions in 
favor of hedges, but returned with the contrary. 
It is our habit here as well ns there to build too 
much fence. He once made a computation, and 
arrived at the conclusion that the farmers of 
New Y'ork pay out yearly one million of dollars 
for unnecessary fences, 
Mr. Carroll of Saratoga, had once tried a 
large experiment with salt as a manure on sandy 
land in that county. He found no benefit from 
Its use whatever, except that it killed the snap¬ 
dragon—a weed which much abounded with him. 
SOUTHERN EDITORIAL CORRESPONDENCE. 
Experience in the Seasons — Coni Crop — Chopped 
Stalks for Litter — Crops Centrally—Land can 
be Improved by Plaster anil Clover — “ Fertili¬ 
zers ” not Profitable—Profits tf Farming Larger 
Litre — Grapes — A Grape Region — Fruits — 
Good Fruit Region — Ch&ttp Lands. 
Having been here now from seed-time to har¬ 
vest, from spring to fall, I can speak with some 
degree of knowledge of the general operations 
of the farm, as affected by climate. The “old¬ 
est inhabitant,” however, says the season has 
more nearly resembled the memorable one of 
1816 than any which has occurred since. 
The early planted corn is now ripe, and the 
farmers are generally gettiug it ready for shuck¬ 
ing — i. e., topping, or cutting up at the root. 
Both, practices have their advocates, though I 
am still In favor of the cutting up plan. Some 
merely top and pull the blades, as they say t hose 
are all of the fodder that is reully useful, or that 
the animals will eat. Lnles- the stalk below 
the ear be chopped or run through a straw or 
stalk cutter, that is undoubtedly tine. But if 
left standing in the field the stalks are very 
troublesome to get plowed under the next 
spring, and If carried to theyards they are equally 
a trouble in the manure pile. They make such 
a capital absorbent wheu cut and used for litter 
that I think one is fully paid for the labor, espe¬ 
cially when manure pays so well as it does here. 
feet apart facing each other. The cribs and 
space between them ore covered by one roof. 
The cribs should he about four feet wide at the 
bottom and grow broader as they rise, the taper 
being on the outside; the projecting roof throws 
the water clear of the crib. The height should 
be sufficient to allow easy shoveling of the corn 
from the wagon into the top of t he crib. If one 
wishes to rnako it rat-proof it may be elevated 
on posts capped with inverted tin pans; but in 
that case it would hardly do to store tools In it. 
Some would suggest, a floor and doors, which 
can easily be added to the plan if desired. The 
best material is sawed scantling for a frame and 
three or four inch wide strips for siding. The 
roof may be made of matched board*. In case 
it should be determined to floor and hung 
doors it would be well Jo board up the mslde 
of the crib with matched stuff to the height of 
the eaves. 
Corn will be a full crop, and as a large breadth 
was planted, it will be a large if not the largest 
crop ever made In the State. Potatoes are doing 
well, and are si profitable crop. Wheat was not 
an average; the same with oats and rye. Still a 
large breadth of both wheat and rye arc being 
sown this fall. The weather has been very pro¬ 
pitious for fall seediug. The bay crop was only 
tolerable, but the com crop is so abundant that 
a poor hay crop Is not so calamitous is in some 
other sections. 
I am satisfied that over all this region the land 
can bo recuperated and the soil increased in 
fertility simply by the judielons use of plaster 
and clover. Those who use fertilizers do so at 
the expense of the future profits of their land. 
Those who use tlem say it Is necessary to insure 
a good catch of timothy in the (all and clover in 
the spring. I think If the land were properly 
handled there would be no trouble on thatscore, 
though it may be ft help to the young plant. 1 
have sown a good stand of clover when the land 
Had not been “ fertilized .” 
I am satisfied that, all things being equal, the 
profits of a farmer here are 50 per cent more 
thau at the North. 
Grapes are uow selling in Baltimore for 14cts. 
per lb. The market is supplied, to soma extent, 
from the Valley of Virginia. It seems singular 
so little attention la paid to the culture of 
grapes, when the soil and climate are so genial. 
There is a section of the State lying between the 
Potapaco and Potomac rivers, and embracing 
the counties of Howard and Montgomery, 
which conld be made very profitable for vine¬ 
yards. The advantages for markets for the 
grapes, or for wines and brandy, are so great 
that they must In a measure supercede all other 
business in farming. * 
* The peaches have been remarkably fine, and 
have shown that the uppi r portion* of Maryland 
are quite as well adapted to the peach as the 
tide-water counties. Apples are very fine, and 
when the orchards are properly cared for they 
have good crops generally. There is then no 
doubt but it is as good a region for fruit as the 
most favored in New York and better adapted 
to the cultivation of the grape. Instead, then, 
of paying such high prices for land along the 
grape zone of that State, why do not some of 
those who haifc experience in the business come 
this way and start vineyards on better but 
cheaper lands ? Small fruits, or berries, can he 
very profitably cultivated in the vineyard till it 
begins to pay. . t. c. p. 
W. Friendship, Md., Sept., 1866. 
The Kansas Farmer thinks the wheat crop of 
Kausas this year has never been excelled. The 
seed is plump and heavy, and the yield unpre 
cedentedly large. 
NOTES FROM THE FARM. 
BALL PIGS. 
I don’t believe that fall pigs — especially lato 
ones—are profitable to the majority of farmers. 
In the first place they are in the way of the fat¬ 
ting hogs, for the pigs must have warm quarters, 
or they certainly will disgrace their owner. So, 
either the fnttlog hogs or tho pigs must suffer, 
unless the farmer has very ample pens. Next, it 
costs a great deal to winter them, and they make 
but little growth. When a year old they gene¬ 
rally weigh but a mere trifle more than good 
spring pigs—sometimes not as much. I do not 
assert hut. that they might be made to do hotter 
than 1 have represented, hut with the majority 
of farmers they don't. Take early spring pigs 
and give them the food tho fall pigs will con¬ 
sume through the winter, and in the same time 
they will make a great deal the most meat. Fall 
pigs are apt to get stunted from cold and insuffi¬ 
cient food, amj it takes half the summer to get 
them wcllBtarted again. Perhaps tho most prof¬ 
itable use to make of fall pigs would be to feed 
high through the winter, and fit. them for the 
butcher in the spring, when fat porkers ar 
scarce. But for the most profit take early spring 
pigs, feed plenty of milk, meal, and red clover, 
and If they are a good breed you cun have from 
250 to 300 lbs. of pork from each in eight months 
time,which is about as much as fall pigs will give 
when twelve or thirteen months old. 
MV POTATO CROP. 
1 have nearly lost, my potato crop this year by 
following other people’s advice. The profit, at 
least, is gone. I made two mistakes—first plant¬ 
ing too deep. In some of tho Agricultural pa¬ 
pers aWcBtorn farmer explained his method, 
the main point of which was to furrow deeply— 
on stubble ground—plant In drill# one piece in a 
place, and cover with a drag. Some work In 
planting was saved by this system; the cover¬ 
ing, especially, was expeditions. The farmer, 
aforesaid obtained a large yield, which, In the 
spring, 1 attributed to his way of cultivation, 
but which I now think was owing to a favorable 
soil and season, and to the same causes which, 
in former times, gave the farmers of the East 
two or three hundred bushels per acre. Heavy 
ruins tell soon after I finished planting, and much 
of my seed rotted in the ground, and the re¬ 
mainder made a spindling growth, all the result 
of too deep covering, and being in a furrow. What, 
hills are left will not yield more than four or live 
merchantable potatoes eaeb. I know whereof 
I. write, because Bome.of the ground was planned 
in hills three feet apart each way, two pieces in 
a hill, on the top of the ground and c overed with 
a hoe. Those potatoes arc very thrifty, and yield 
ten to twelve merchantable potatoes to a hill. 
The yield will be double per new that of the deep 
planted ones, and is much larger than the other 
would have been even had none of the seed rot- 
ed. Besides the deep planted potatoes grow deep 
in the ground, and it takes more work to dig 
them. 
’fihe other mistake was planting too late. The 
variety Is the Dyckmau, an early potato, and 
liable to suffer from summer drouth. “Plant 
late” said some, “and the fall raius will make 
them set well.” 1 believe early potato# should 
be planted early; it is not natural for them to 
mature late in the season, any more than it is 
natural that, winter wheat should he sown in the 
spring and mature a good crop. As a general 
rule I believe that remunerative late planted po¬ 
tatoes, are mere lucky crops, and a good farmer 
should not. tauo any credit to his skill if they do 
happen to yield largely. 
ROLLING WHEAT FIELDS. 
Some farmers, I notice, roll their wheat fields 
in the autumn. Where wheat is drilled I think 
this is not a good practice. Wheat fields should 
be left rough for the shelter which is thn« afford¬ 
ed the grain through the winter and spring. If 
the field has been traversed by the drill north 
I and smith, and tho teeth of the drill were in a 
single row,1he wheat stands in the bottom of a 
little furrow with a ridge of earth on the west. 
This affords a great deal of protection,both from 
the west wffids and from the effects of frost in 
heaving it out. Snow also lodges in these little 
farrows, whieh is good for the wheat. But in 
the spring, roll., Do It as soon as the horses can 
be driven on the field. Also roll spring grains, 
and the meadows. Chiel. 
In the Wyoming Valley, Penn , and in Central 
Ohio, apples are said to be plenty, while in 
nearly all other parts ot the country the crop 
is ‘reported to be light. 
