’iSfioSJtS 
ROCHESTER, N, Y.-FOR THE WEEK ENDING SATURDAY, OCTOBER 13 , I 860 ' 
formed in the season of it. His fences are not 
dilapidated and comparatively useless; his farm 
lands are not infected with noxious plants to 
the detriment of his crops; hushes and berries 
are not allowed to encroach on meadow or cul¬ 
tivated Held, but each is kept clean with its 
productive power unabridged. No crops are 
allowed to sutler for the want of seasoablu care, 
but each is attended to at the proper time and 
in such a manner as to produce the best possible 
results. Thu, live farmer is tip early in the 
morning; knows precisely what Is to be done 
during the day, hence loses no time by hesitancy 
or indecision—an important consideration whero 
several hands are employed. His household 
affairs go forward with the regularity of clock¬ 
work. Set hours for breakfast, dinner and Bnp- 
per aro observed, and the supply of food is varied 
in character and always equal to the want9 of 
those who are to partake of it. There is nothing 
niggardly about this, and the consequence 1 b 
that the laborers are cheerful, and able and wil¬ 
ling to do what is justly expeeted of them. 
NOTES FROM CHENANGO COUNTY 
FOREST LEAVES AS A MANURE 
shallow pits, without exposure to the sun; 
cover thickly with bright straw and three or 
four inches of dirt. Bring the top of the pit to 
a sharp ridge and spat down the earth hard 
with the shovel. It will then turn water. It is 
a good plan to ventilate the pit by inserting 
bunches of straw in the ends, low down, and an¬ 
other in the center on top. In this condition the 
skin sets tight after a few weeks, and the pota¬ 
toes may then be handled safely. It is also better 
to pit potatoes until after the approach of win¬ 
ter, than to transfer them to the cellar directly 
from the ground. 
In keeping potatoes through the winter avoid 
burying them in the ground if possible. They 
aro very apt to be covered too warm and heat 
and rot, or too shallow and freeze One grow¬ 
ing this crop largely for market should have 
ample cellar room—an outdoor cellar, or vegeta¬ 
ble house, is preferable, on the score of health 
and utility, to one under the dwelling. Store 
them in bins three or four feet deep and exclude 
the light. The temperature of such a cellar 
may bo regulated to the proper degree. It is 
bcnclicial to use some lime. Whitewash freely, 
and dust dry lime on the bottom of the bin and 
slightly among the potatoes. If the crop should 
decay to any extent it should be overhauled in 
the winter time and the bad tubers taken out. 
ESTAULISHED IN 1S50 
Eds. Rural New-Yorker I have thought 
a few notes from the Chenango Valley woidd 
not be uninteresting to your numerous readers 
hereabouts. Chenango County is noted through¬ 
out the Statu for its splendid dairy farms. It is 
said to be second to uone in the State for Us 
largo Cheese Factories, four of which are located 
within a short distance of this place, (Oxford,) 
to which farmers of the surrounding country 
send their milk to have it manufactured into 
the celebrated Chenango county cheese. 
We attended the Annual Fair of “Oxford and 
other Towns,” held at this place, yesterday, and 
was favorably impressed with the interest mani¬ 
fested on tho part of the farmers of Chenango, 
and tho large gathering of farmers’ sons and 
daughters, who seemed to vie with each other 
In the fine display made of stock, dairy and 
other farm products. 
In the stock department wo saw some very 
line Short-born and Native cattle, which would 
bo no discredit to any Fair which we have wit¬ 
nessed iu old Monroe. Tho Bhow of horses was 
good and fully up to the standard. A premium 
horae was sold on tho ground to a gentleman 
from New York for *050. Iu the sheep depart¬ 
ment several fine Merinos—'bucks and ewes— 
were shown by J. D. Reed, a Rural patron, 
I who carried off three or four of the first pre¬ 
miums on sheep. 
Every farmer knows that the leaves of trees 
contain elements of fertilization of a richness 
which renders them highly valuable as a farm 
manure. Few of this class, however, avail 
themselves of this aid to farm production to any 
considerable extent . If the leaves chance to fall 
In tbo way of the plow they are turned under, 
but, If lodged in the corners or angles of the 
fence, or rest against a wall, like a wlnrow of 
bay, they are suffered to remain there and decay, 
furnishing sustenance to thistles, elders and 
other brambles which usually infest the nooks 
and selvedges of cropping fields. 
The grounds, too, in the patches of forest 
which pertain to most farms, are tblckly strewn 
In autumn, with tho summer garniture of decid- 
ious trees, affording rich material for the com¬ 
post heap which should be accumulated in every 
barn yard,—yet bow few, comparatively, deem 
It un object to avail themselves of this source of 
agricultural wealth. There is one class of the 
farming population, howuvor, who do not ignore 
this species of garden aud farm fertility—viz., 
the Germans. Hcncc it is that we notice tho 
women and children of this class active in gath¬ 
ering the leaves from all available sources and 
transporting them in bags and baskets to the 
grounds around their tenements, preparatory t.o 
the planting operations of the ensuing spring. 
It is to this article, thus gathered, that much of 
the thrift and productiveness ol tho small sec¬ 
tions of ground in and around tho city, owned 
by Germans, are to be ascribed. It takes time 
and makes considerable draftB on the patience to 
do this, but the results sire an ample compensa¬ 
tion for both. • ( 
As this is the Beason when most of the trees, 
composing an American forest, disrobe them¬ 
selves, let their cast-off clothing be gathered 
and made available for mulching the soil of the 
garden and the field. 
MOORE’S RURAL NEW-YORKER, 
AN ORIGINAL WEEKLY 
RURAL, LITERARY AND FAMILY NEWSPAPER, 
CONDUCTED BY D. D. T. MOORE, 
With a Corps of Able Assistants and Contributors. 
HENRY 8. RANDALL, LL, D., 
Editor of the Department of Sheep Husbandry. 
HON. T. C. PETERS, 
Late Pres’t N. Y. State Ag. Soo’y. Southern Cor. Editor, 
Tub Rural Nkw-Yorker Is designed to b^unBur- 
passed la Value, Purity, and Variety ol Contents. Its 
Conductor earnestly labors to render the Rural h Reli¬ 
able Guide on all the Important Practical, Scientific and 
other Snhjccla connected with the business ol those 
whose Interests It zealously advocates. As a Family 
Journal It Is eminently Instructive and Entertaining— 
being so conducted that It can be solely taken to the 
Homes ol people ol Intelligence, taste and discrimination. 
It embraces more Agricultural, Horticultural, Sclcntlflo, 
Educational, Literary and News Mnttcr, Interspersed 
with appropriate engravings, than any other Journal,— 
rendering it by far the most complete Agricultural, 
Litkrauy anu Family Xbwspapkr In America. 
CLEANING ROOTS, 
It is very desirable to have the dirt removed 
from rootB before feeding them to stock. Much 
dirt is carried into the cellar, both on roots de¬ 
signed for stock and garden vegetables. Boots 
of all kinds may be rapidly cleaned of dirt by 
(JfFcm Tekmb and other particulars see last page, 
FATTENING FOWLS, 
C. C. Haynes, another of the 
ItuuAils friends, took the first premium ($5,; 
for the best Cheese Dairy— thus showing the 
beneficial effects of the Re iul in this section of 
the State, which wc hear highly spoken of by 
many of the best fanners of the county. Some 
good Butter Dairies were on exhibition. But 
few implements were shown. The usual num¬ 
ber of patent form-gates and bars were on exhi¬ 
bition. Among the mass of patent churns 
shown we failed to observe the celebrated 8eneca 
Falla churn among them. Tbo exhibition of 
fruits was small and not very creditable. The 
floral department did not show off to that ad¬ 
vantage we could have wished to have soen it. 
The show in this department was meager Indeed, 
and reflects no credit on the fair daughters of 
Chenango for the love of the beautiful. We 
would advise them to send at once to Mr, Jas. 
Vick, of your city, for his catalogue, and pro¬ 
cure and plant bulbs and seeds, bo that they 
may, next year, make a more creditable show. 
Tho receipts of the Fair were large for the unfovor- 
ableness of the weather. The premiums award¬ 
ed, amounted to $050; receipts from $800 to 
$000. The address, by the Hon. J. O. Lord of 
Madison Co., was a plain matter-of-fact speech, 
and many of the points presented by the speaker 
will undoubtedly have the desired effect upon 
the farmers of Chenango. 
The frost, which was a hard one in this sec¬ 
tion, on Saturday night last, has had an injuri¬ 
ous effect upon com. Tho crop in the Valley, 
ten miles south of this place, has been entirely 
ruined. Much of the corn in that vicinity being 
very late—hardly in tho milk. A gentleman with 
whom I conversed, informed me he had one 
piece of corn, of some twenty or more acres, 
which was entirely frozen down to the roots of 
the stalks. I am confident, from what I have 
already seen, the crop in this section will be at 
least a third less than in former years. 
Tho yield of potatoes in this county will un 
doubtedly be very large. Still many varieties on 
heavy clayey soils commence rotting badly. Wc 
saw a smull plat of Chili potatoes harvested, 
(from a sandy soil,) which yielded thirty-Jim 
bushels of good sound potatoes. One bushel of 
seed potatoes were planted, (whole; from which 
this was the product. A single potato from this 
crop weighed 3 lbs. 5 ozs. The Chill Is a hardy, 
good grower and yields largely in this regiou, 
especially on sandy soils, aud for cooking pur 
poses It lias few superiors. 
Apples seem to be more plentiful here than in 
the Genesee Valley. We passed 6ome large 
orchards In our route through this Valley, the 
trees of which wore perfectly loaded down with 
apples, and made me think of the good old 
times when we of the Genesee Valley had plenty, 
and to spare, for the greater portion of the 
State. Senex. 
Oxford, N. Y., SopL 27, 1866. 
FATTENING STOCK IN AUTUMN 
It ought to be au axiom with the farmer, that 
the greatest praflt from his produce is derived 
by bringing it to a state of perfection before 
disposing of it. ne should not give a second 
person the opportunity of handling his stock or 
grain, improving it, and making money thereby. 
Ho should not sell dirty or mixed grain cheap to 
save labor, nor dispose of thrifty young stock 
or that which is lean for 3ome one else to fatten, 
or fowls that have cost trouble and work to 
rear, just as they arc fully grown and in a condi¬ 
tion to be made profitable. 
All summer long the farmer and his family 
have Hissed with the poultry; the young chick¬ 
ens and turkeys need care in the long rain 
storms, and protection againBt nocturnal depre¬ 
dators. Just as they are fully grown and out 
of danger the shrewd huckster makes his ap¬ 
pearance, buys, fattens, and prepares them for 
market, and pockets the profits for his smartness. 
Obviously the farmer had better fatten his 
fowls and send them to market himself. He 
can do It with less trouble, perhaps, than he 
imagines. 
Sheep or cattle that are intended for the 
butcher, either late in tho fall or during the win¬ 
ter, should be pushed with grain while they are 
eating grass in the months of October and No¬ 
vember. It Is economy to do this. And more 
flesh and fat can be laid on with one bushel of 
com during these months than in cold winter 
weather with dry hay, Instead of grass, for the 
balance of the food. What is gained at this 
time of year can be cheaply kept until the period 
of marketing arrives. 
Fattening stock frequently suffers and declines 
in weight and condition for lack of sufficient 
food during the seven or eight weeks preced¬ 
ing the time of yarding or stabling for the win¬ 
ter. Grass is neither so nutrldous nor plentiful 
as it should he for their good; pastures get bare 
very quick because there is no growth to replace 
what is eaten. The cold weather, constantly 
increasing in severity as winter approaches, 
sharpens the appetite of the animals, which on 
the fro6t-bitten grass they are scarcely able to 
satisfy. They are consequently restless; they 
take much exercJse, and their coats lose their 
smooth, glossy appearance. They want richer 
food. If it is not given they will shrink a great 
deal when changed on to hay, and it will take a 
month or two of winter feeding to bring them 
to the same weight they had on fuff grass. 
No matter how abundant the grass may be at 
the period in the autumn we have indicated, it 
will pay richly to feed grains. Sheep will lay 
on fat wonderfully fast with Borne grain at this 
time, and they will go into the yards without 
shrinking, and be far in advance by the first of 
January of those that have had the same amount 
of grain, but have eaten it wholly in the yards 
and with dry fodder. 
A flock of wethers might hardly hold their own 
during the last 6ixty days of pasturing on ordi¬ 
nary grass without other feed, with a certainty 
of shrinking and remaining stationary for some 
weeks when yarded and put on dry food; but if 
a half bushel of corn per head were given them 
during this time and under these conditions they 
would each gain, at least, fifteen pounds on it. 
Every feeder can figure the cost of the grain 
and the price of the mutton and satisfy himself 
whether such feeding would be a paying ope¬ 
ration. 
RINGBONE IN HORSES, 
using the simple machine here illustrated. It Ib 
not patented nor is it a new thing,for in a Blightly 
different shape, It has been used for this purpose 
a long time. But it will be new to many/and 
some of our readers will take a hint therefrom. 
The construction of the clcuner is sufficiently 
explained by tho engraving. The slits between 
the boards should be about one inch wide. One 
slat should be movable to admit the roots. In 
making a large one more slats than are hero 
represented should be used. Roots may be 
completely washed by revoiving the lower part 
of the machine in water. 
This, in technical phrase, is called anchylosis , 
and implies the complete integration of the 
superior and interior bones constituting the 
pastern joint, causing it to become stiff and im¬ 
movable instead of flexible as in the natural 
state. This growing together of the bones in 
the foot of a horse is generally caused by inju¬ 
ries received on the part affected, hence, if not 
attended to before ossification takes place and 
the part becomes solid, a cure is impossible. 
Such i9 the opinion of the most experienced and 
candid of tho veterinary fraternity with whom 
we are acquainted, or whose opinions on the 
subject have been communicated to the public. 
One of this class, A. T. W., in the Northern 
Farmer, assumes that “Ringbone” is trans- 
missable, aud hence dissuades farmers from 
breeding from animals affected by this ailment. 
Whether the assumption is correct or not, 
nothing can be lost by conceding its truth and 
acting upon it, since it is manifest that perfec¬ 
tion in animals as well as in seeds designed for 
propagating a species is alike desirable in both. 
Young hor6eB sometimes get lame by scouring 
over fields uneven in surface in the wantonness 
of exhuberant health, by which an enlargement 
of the link between the fetlock and the hoof is 
produced. If not promptly attended to a per¬ 
manent ringbone will most likely result from 
the injury thus received. Meaus should be 
used to allay the irritation of the affected part* 
reducing the swelling, thereby preventing the 
integration of the bones constituting the per¬ 
manent ringbone. Horses with conspicuously 
developed defects of this character will still be 
able to perform a great amount of drudgery, but 
the 6prightl]ue&s and elasticity of the animal is 
destroyed and their marketable value much Im¬ 
paired. Every owner or breeder of horses 
should remember that seasonable attention may 
prevent, ringbones, but allowed once to form no 
subsequent efforts will suffice to work a cure. 
Feed liberally at all times, eo as to 
keep them growing thriftily, but about twenty 
dayB before being slaughtered feed them in this 
way:—Make a coop for one dozen fowls; more 
should not be put together. The coop should 
be three feet long, two wide and two and a half 
high. Make the sides and ends of bars about 
three inches apart, the bottom of round poles 
two inches apart, the top of a board. Place 
this in a comfortable room, elevated two feet 
from the floor, In the bam or poultry bouse, 
where the cold and winds will be kept away, and 
where the light will be dim. Attach feeding- 
troughs all round the outside. Commence feed¬ 
ing very light, giving little but water the first 
day. Then feed regular three or four times per 
day with the richest food, as oat-meal mixed 
with milk, boiled barley or com. Observe the 
utmost cleanliness, and give a supply of fresh 
water. In twenty days the poultry should be 
killed, and for such the farmer would find 
plenty of greedy buyers, willing to pay the high¬ 
est price. 
POTATOES IN KANSAS, 
W. Beckwith, in the Kansas Farmer, gives 
his experience in potato raising in that State, 
and comes to the conclusion that but few of the 
more popular varieties of the potato, adapted 
to the soil and climate of New York and the 
Eastern States, will succeed in Kansas. Ills ex¬ 
periments resulted In favor of the Blue Mercer, 
or Black Meahanuock, anil the Peach Blow. 
But even these, owing to the Kansas climate, 
will not succeed well, planted at the time com¬ 
mon with formers in this section of the Union. 
The writer recommends planting a portion oi 
the ground set apart for potatoes, very early in 
the spriDg, and the remainder the latter part of 
June or the first of July. In this way, it is said, 
the crop escapes the extreme warm and wet 
weather, so fatal to the potato In Kansas if 
planted at the time customary with farmers In 
ihe more eastern States. It is too late, of 
course, to profit by these hints the present year, 
but they may prove useful the coming one, if 
remembered and acted upon. 
IMPROVED FARMING IMPLEMENTS, 
The New York Evening Post, remarking on 
the great improvement recently made in farming 
implements and machinery, gives some observa¬ 
tions made in the West by way of illustration. 
A corn field containing one hundred aud sixty 
acres was plowed, planted and cultivated with¬ 
out subjecting the former to the trouble of going 
on foot at all. The ground was prepared by the 
use of a rotary spader on which the operator 
rode; was planted by a two-horse machine, the 
driver seated upon a box; when hoeing time came 
a cultivator performed the operation without 
involving the necessity of predestrlan exercise. 
When the corn is ripe it 1- cut and laid in rows 
by a two-horse machine—thus completing the 
the cycle of machine corn-raising. On the farm 
of which this corn field formed a part there was 
a field of timothy comprising seven hundred 
acres. It is the improved farm machinery which 
has rendered such extensive farming operations 
possible and profitable at the same time. 
HARVESTING POTATOES, 
Husking time is the best opportunity to select 
the seed com if the husker is a competent judge. 
He handles each stalk and ear separately. Leave 
the husks on the selected cars to trace them up 
with. The corn should not be exposed to the 
wet at all, but hung tip in a dry, tight room. 
The rows on the seed corn should be straight 
and regular, with no spaces between them; the 
kernels large, firm, closely set and ripe, the cob 
small and well filled out at the but and tip. 
There should be no mixture of seed. Choose 
that which is the most perfect type of the vari¬ 
ety. The earliest ears aregenerally also the best, 
and though one is tempted to endeavor to prop¬ 
agate the kind that grows two ears on a stalk, 
yet the best seed is usually found where there is 
but one. 
The former can caff but little machinery to 
his aid in havesting this important cropi. Inven¬ 
tors are sanguine over their potato diggers, but 
the farmers are yet to be convinced of their suc¬ 
cessful working. There is a fortune awaiting 
somebody—the man who builds a machine that, 
with the aid of horses, will do the work satisfac¬ 
torily of a dozen men ia digging potatoes. 
This crop should be taken from tbe ground as 
soon as ripe, which state is easily ascertained by 
rubbing the skin of the tuber with, the thumb; 
if it peels readily It is not fully ripe; if it is fast 
dig as soon as possible. If the vines are killed 
by disease or frost the crop) should be dug 
whether fully ripe or not. If the skin is tender 
handle as carefully as possible, and put them in 
A LIVE FARMER, 
There is a great deal of difference between 
farmers in the matter of management. Some 
are wide awake and up with the times, while 
others, equally favored as to situation and 
quality of soil, are &Iow, inefficient and untidy 
iu all their farming opera lions. The live farmer 
has comfortable buildings and in good repair; 
has all the modern improvements about the 
house and the out-buildings. His farming im¬ 
plements are of the mo3t approved character 
and are always in order for the work to be per- 
Gkound Bones.— The London Agricultural 
Gazette says that Mr. Brown of Wellington, by 
the use of five hundred dollars’ worth of ground 
bone per year, has Increased bis herd of cows, 
on a 90-acre farm, from 8, in 1851, to 30; and his 
sales of buttter from 3350, in 1851, to $3,355 of 
butter and cheese in 1857. 
