Except in the immediate vicinity of cities 
and the large villages, farmers generally pay 
little regard to the ashes produced from the 
is to plow in the manure at the last time.” 
To all of which we eay that If Mr. 8. had sown 
part of his field, equal in condition and richness 
to the other, late—say finishing about the 20th 
of September—aod noted the ditlierence in yield, 
quality, &c., between the early and late sown 
gralnB, the experiment would have been of value. 
As the case now stands how does he know but 
that later sowing might have added live or ten 
bushels per acre to the yield ? We have seen a 
considerable larger yield of white wheat, this 
year, than Mr. S. gives, from what he would 
term late sowing. But 6ome soils will push the 
plant more rapidly than others in the autumn, 
A GOOD AND CHEAP PIGGERY. 
If sheep are to be wintered at stacks in the 
open field, provide some shelter. Two or three 
posts will support a pole seven or eight feet 
from the ground. Rest the ends of rads on the 
pole and on tho ground, on both sides; cover 
with old straw, and bind them down with more 
rails. This shelter will keep out the wind, 
enow, and most of the rain. 
Look over the wheat field, before the ground 
freezes, for spots on which surface water will 
stagnate. A few feet of ditching will sometimes 
save several bushels of grain. 
A dry barn-yard is indispensable to the thrift 
and comfort of stock. It is equally so to the 
good nature of persons who frequent it. A few 
days work will greatly improve a badly shaped 
one. Make a basin near it to catch all that flows 
from it, and fill that with some absorbent—sods 
or muck are excellent. 
Tub admirable plan for a Swine House, given 
in the Rural of the Stb rJt., being on too large 
a seale for some farmers, we are asked for a 
smaller and less costly one. To meet this 
demand we present the following plan and de¬ 
scription furnished ns in 1*00 by Mr. E. W. 
Bateman of Venice, N. Y.: 
TERMS, 83.00 PER YEAR.] 
“PROGRESS AND IMPROVEMENT.” 
[SINGJLE NO. TEN CENTS 
VOL. XVII, NO. 434 
ROCHESTER, N. Y.-FOR THE WEEK ENDING SATURDAY, OCTOBER 27,1866. 
! WHOLE NO. 875. 
TALKS WITH OUR CORRESPONDENTS. 
Sowine Wheat —Late v«. Early. 
Mu. J. n. Simmons, Ontario Co., this Btate, 
writes ns in favor of sowing winter wheat early. 
He says: — “ I began fanning eight years ago, 
and having a good wheat farm thought I would 
try to get ahead of the midge. For the first 
crop 1 sowed three kinds of wheat, commenc¬ 
ing on the last day of August and finishing on 
the fourth of September. Of the three varie¬ 
ties the Witter yielded twenty-nine bushels, the 
Soules eighteen, and the Mediterranean fourteen 
per acre. SlDce then I have made the first, 
named the main crop, sowing each year one or 
two bushels of other varieties on trial. I found 
nothing that would stand the test until this year 
some of the Boydon white wheat yielded thirty 
bushels per acre, a little more than the Witter. 
I have never begun sowing later than the fourth 
of September, and in but one instance have been 
later than the eleventh of the same month in 
finishing. Last season I sowed twenty-three 
aer<i6 in August; two years ago I sowed eleven 
acres, and this year I had twenty acres up in 
August. For summer following I invariably 
plow three times and that kills the Canada this¬ 
tles. 1 have tried various ways of manuring— 
on the sod in the spring, plowing la the last 
time, top-dressing after plowing but before seed¬ 
ing, and also top-dreBsing after the wheat wa3 
up and the ground frozen. I am decidedly in 
favor of the fltet method, and the next best way 
of sowing. 
Sub-Soil Plows. 
H. A. Coe, Jefferson Co., N. Y., writes that 
he has just begun farming, and wants the best 
sub-soil, under - draining, and ditching plow 
combined there is in market. We do not know 
of such a plow, and furthermore we don’t think 
it advisable to attempt such a combination of 
implements. “One thing at a time” is a very 
good maxim yet, even for “Young America.” 
There is a tendency towards making farm ini , 
plementa to be used for a variety of purposes. 
Farm tools require tobowelland strongly made, 
and when adapted to changes they are commonly 
weakened thereby, and the tool is not as good as 
it might be for any single purpose. Mowers and 
reapers illustrate this principle; no combined 
machine is equal to one built expressly for one 
kind of work. 
A sub-soil plow may be ordered from any re- 
Aliout Churn*. 
J. W. Reynolds, West Walworth, N. Y., 
wants information about churns; whether the 
“old dasher” has been superseded? He has 
“ seen a model that wound up like a clock, and 
would run of its own accord for three-fourths of 
an hour” and wants to know if it is a practical 
method. 
Thu “old dasher” has never been superceded 
among the best butter makers, we believe, but 
it has been improved as any may see in back 
numbers of the Rural containing the illustra¬ 
tions of “ Westcott’s Adjustable Dash Churn.” 
There have been a great many models construct¬ 
ed of churns, washing machines, and the like, 
intended to be propelled by clock work; but 
the labor of winding up the machinery is exactly 
equal to the power derived and the friction of 
the machinery added. There is nothing gained 
by this arrangement. 
A Motherly Uobbler. 
Edward Buck, Lucas Co., Ohio, tells the fol¬ 
lowing story about a male turkey: — “I have a 
gobbler, one year old, that took a notion to sit 
last Buinmer. My boy put six hens eggs under 
him, and he covered them as faithfully as any 
hen turkey, and at the end of three weeks every 
egg was hatched, and afterward he was just as 
motherly to those chickens as any hen could be. 
All the trouble he seemed to have with them was 
in making them understand kis iaBguage. He 
hovered them carefully and took care of them 
until they grew to be large chickens.” 
FAST HORSES NOT FOR FARMERS. 
It is to the credit of the mass of farmers that, 
they rarely give way to the fascination of rearing 
and training fast horses for the purpose of com¬ 
petition with ihe stock of professional turfmen. 
Sometimes, however, a farmer, finding himself 
the possessor of a horse of more than common 
speed, is fired with an ambition to acquire noto¬ 
riety and profit by matching his animal with 
some celebrity of the race course. He may win 
and acquire the fame and money to which he 
aspires, but the chances are ninety-nine In a 
hundred against him. This may result from no 
fault in the animal he has reared, and upon 
which be has staked his money, but simply from 
the want of the peculiar knowledge necessary to 
properly lit a horse for the course and to manage 
him well when on it. This preparation and man¬ 
agement he may depute to another, profession¬ 
ally competent to the task, but how can the 
tanner te.ll whether he is being honorably dealt 
with or not ? Ignorant himself of all the “tricks 
of the trade ” — of the details pertaining to the 
training of animals for the race course—he is at 
the mercy of any unscrupulous trainer who may 
deem it for Ms interest to sell him to a competitor. 
A well-to-do farmer of our acquaintance had 
the misfortune to rear a really fine and last 
horse. The action of the auiinal gave him great 
delight, and nothing would do but an exhibition 
of him among the professionals. He put up his 
money and wou. This gave a higher (light to 
i his ambition and indaeed a bolder operation. 
Success again rewarded his venture. He neg- 
There were some swine on exhibition at the 
recent Monroe County Fall-which naturally sug¬ 
gested a comparison between this species of 
farm stock, as now grown, snd samples of it 
reared by western farmers forty years since. 
The contrast between tho two, could they bo 
placed side by side, would go for to persuade the 
beholders that they belonged to different species. 
At the period referred to there was no lack of 
swine In the backwoods country. In fact, during 
the mast season, tho forests were alive with 
them—some of the more affluent of the settlers 
boasting of their fifty or a hundred of these nut¬ 
crackers. What wild, uncouth lookiug sam¬ 
ples they were — fac similes, probably, of those 
which the devils hurried down to the sea for a 
salt-water bath. Such facial projections as they 
carried, wonld make a friend of the modern 
Cheshire#, Cheater-Whites or Berkshires, go off 
in a spasm of hog-cholt-ra. Their snouts were 
some two feet long, more or less, and as sharp 
and threatening as the protuberance of a mole. 
How wild they were, toe! Lying, perdue, 
among the debris of some riven and prostrate 
tree, they would watch the stealthy advance of 
their owner or perhaps a deer stalker, when up 
the whole drove would start with a menacing 
mheuf/h / and bound away—noses at right angles 
with the horizon —with the speed of a startled 
deer. 
Such were the hogs in vogue in the days to 
which we refer—so wild and untamable that the 
rifle was frequently the only medium by which 
they could be indacted to the pickling tubs 
when the mast season was over. Such hog 
frames as these, suitably severed, formed the 
Christmas adornment of many a capacious 
stick-chimney till the smoking process was 
completed and the bacon ready for the market 
or the “loft,” where it wus stored for home con- 
sunifition. But this is all changed now, Thelong 
snouts have disappeared, and their places arc 
filled with rotund, chuckle-headed, slow moving 
gentlemen of Cheshire, Chester-White and Berk¬ 
shire derivation, whose powers of locomotion, 
as compared with their predecessors, arc as the 
flight of an arrow to the inertia of the snail. The 
first, were rough, hog frames, from the hands of 
apprentices; the last are the finished products 
of a perfected master- workman.— b. 
A FEW HINTS. 
I-s water convenient to your yards and stables 
for winter use? If not, in remembrance of the 
miles of snowy travel you and your stock have 
done, Btipply it now— briDg down the spring 
from the bill-side, dig a well, or force up part of 
thc stream below with the hydraulic ram. 
Hog pen manure is exceedingly concentrated; 
a great deal is wasted in the pens and yards. 
To remedy this, and Increase the quantity, sup¬ 
ply the hogs with a quantity of straw, forest 
leaves, potato vines, or some similar bedding 
and absorbent Fill the outside yards with 
these; it don’t pay to let fatting hogs lie in the 
mud. 
Sawdust for bedding and a box stall, ten or 
twelve feet square, are nice things for a single 
' horse, or a mare and colt, in the wiuter time. 
MOORE’S RURAL NEW-YORKER, 
AN ORIGINAL WEHKLT 
RURAL, LITERARY AND FAMILY NEWSPAPER. 
CONDUCTED BY D. D. T. 3MOORE, 
With a Corps of Able Assistants and Contributors. 
HENRY S. RANDALL, LL, D., 
Editor of the Department of Sheep Husbandry, 
HON. T. C. PETERS, 
Lata Pros't N. Y. State Ag. Soo’y. Southern Cor. Editor. 
Tme Rural Nkw-Yoreer Is deal trued to be unsur¬ 
passed In VsJne, Purity, and Variety ol Contents. Its 
Conductor earnestly Inborn w render the Rural a Reli¬ 
able Guide on all the Important Practical, ScleotlCc and 
other Subjects connected with the brudnosa ol' those 
whose interests it rtiUoiuiy advocates. As a Family 
Jouenal It ts eminently liuorncUve and EntertaliUntt — 
being so conducted that It can be solely taken to the 
Homes of people ol Intelligence, taste and discrimination. 
It embrace* more Agricultural. Horticultural, Scientific, 
Educational, Literary and News Mutter, Interspersed 
with appropriate engravings, than any other Journal,— 
rendering It by far the most complete Agricultural, 
Litkraey and Family Nkwspatkr in America. 
g3f Fob Tbkms and other particulars see last page. 
spectable dealer In agricultural Implements. 
We are not very well posted in regard to ditch¬ 
ing plows; there are BOmc machines, but they 
are cumbersome and costly, and not too success¬ 
ful in their working. In stiff land the mole- 
plow i9 used with success to form temporary 
drains — a channel being opened in the soil for 
the passage of water. The m09t successful un¬ 
der-drainers in tho country havo placed their 
reliance on the spade and tile. 
Uses of HtickwhctU. 
Ortn McManus, Lima, ind., asks “What use 
shall be made of buckwheat? Is it good for 
anything else than domestic purposes? Can it 
be fed with profit to horses and cattle; if ao, 
what quantities should be fed, and whether 
ground or whole ?” 
Buckwheat is very nutritious feed for stock. 
The bran, after the flour i3 removed for domestic 
uses, is an excellent feed in itself. The most 
profitable U6e to make of this grain would be 
to manufacture a very high grade of flour for 
market, and feed the remainder to stock. It in 
excellent for horses if fed on cut hay or straw. 
It is good also for cattle and hogs. The whole 
grain ground fine would make rich food for the 
stock above mentions*. In all cases it will pay to 
grind it. If no flour is removed it may be fed 
as one would corn meal. 
leeted his farm. Imperceptibly acquired habits 
to which he had before been a stranger, and, 
spurred on by past success and the machinations 
of the crafty whoso aim it was to fleece the green 
and unwary, placed his farm in jeopardy for the 
purpose of raising money to stake on the result 
of a race in which bis pet horse was to contend 
for the prize and the mastery. The professionals 
had now got the over confident farmer in the 
precise position desired, and the result was, 
what they intended it should be, tho defeat of 
the farmer’s horse and the ruin of his owner. 
The animal changed bands, and so did the farm. 
It was all down-hill with the farmer after this. 
His family was broken up and dispersed, while 
he, reckless and maddened by disappointment 
and remorse, found oblivion in a premature 
grave. 
This may be called an extreme case—one of 
rare occurrence—but Is it 80 ? There are but too 
many cases in the world that parallel it, though 
not heeded as they should be. Let farmers, 
then, who chance to rear horses of the fast 
kind, dispose Of them to professionals and not 
attempt to win profit and notoriety by matching 
them against others, lest t.t.e result prove as 
unfortunate to them os to him whose case is 
cited by way of illustration. 
HOGS-IMPROVED BREEDS. 
ESTABLISHED IN 1850. 
SAVE YOUR ASHES. 
instances ashes are saved only for the purpose 
of soap-making, and when the necessary amount 
is secured — au insignificant portion of the 
quantity produced during the year—the balance 
is thrown out into some slough or mud-hole, 
without a thought of the wastefulness of such a 
proceeding. This is very poor farm manage¬ 
ment, and should be reformed wherever it pre¬ 
vails. Ashes are especially valuable for decayed 
meadows, and when properly upplied, will obvi¬ 
ate tho necessity ol‘ breaking np and re-seeding, 
when, as sometimes happens, such a process is 
not desirable, If fertility can be restored without 
it Ashes are also the favorite food of corn and 
the various root cropB, and will euppiy the 
wants of these when and where the barn-yurd 
falls to meet the fertilizing demands made upou 
it by an exhausted or falling soil. 
Every farmer whose fuel for his dwelling Is 
wood, should have a place to store his ashes for 
nee on the farm, and not cast them forth into 
the streets or elsewhere as though a nuisance to 
bo got rid ol' in the readiest manner possible. 
This, to some, may be deemed a trivial matter, 
but really it is not so, as those who pursue a 
different policy can testify by what may may be 
termed a happy experience. Thirty or forty 
bushels of ashes applied to an acre of land will 
equal in productive power an equivalent number 
of loads of the coarser barn-yard manures. 
Hence, we repeat, save your wood ashes, and 
enrich your land at the least possible cost for 
fertilizing agencies. 
FALL PLOWING 
CORN. 
It is advised by some of our most eminent 
Entomologists to plow com ground late in the 
antnmn as a remedy against the depredations of 
the grub, which in many instances proves so de¬ 
structive to this important crop. The experi¬ 
ence of some of our best farmers is also in favor 
of this practice. But the plowing should be 
done only just before the ground freezes; the 
grub at this period is buried in the earth for Its 
winter quarters. If he is turned on to tho sur¬ 
face and remains there the cold weather kills 
him, but when the plowing is done too early, 
and a spell of warm weather follows and con 
llnues some time, ho arouses from his dormant 
state and again burrows in the earth 
If coarse manure is at hand spread it on the 
sod before plowing. The harrow rhould not be 
put on the land before spring. The inverted sod 
forms drain*, and the surface soon becomes dry 
after tho winter has passed. Then harrow and 
use the gang-plow. If at that time a coat of 
fine manure can be applied to the field, a large 
crop is a certain result. 
The Poetry of Farming.— An exchange says 
there is poetry in fanning besides thut found in 
pastoral Thus:—“Tho fields of green; the 
golden cereals riponiug in the sun; the fruit 
trees and the vines loaded with their stores; the 
garners filled to overflowing, are full of poetry.” 
To some these may suggest poetical images, 
but, to the mass of mankind, they are interest¬ 
ing eimply because they are solid facts. There 
is very little poetry in sweltering in a meadow 
ora grain field; in cleaning a cow stable ora 
pig- stye. I n fact the poetry of farming is rather 
imaginary than real —a plain prose business — 
and its rewards are of a kindred character. 
GROUND I'LAN. 
A, Feed-Room ; B, Sleeping-Room • C, Pigs’ Sleep¬ 
ing-Room; D, Manure Heap; H, Shed for sundries; 
JP, Trap-Door; a. Flagging; 6, Paving. 
The body of the pen. Hi by 24 feet, is of field 
stone laid in solid masonry; the end walls raised 
7 feet in height; reur and half the front side walls 
are -Itf feet; the balance of the front wall about 
H feet, with a board fitted firmly in the wall at 
the ends, and aslant, so as to form the spout over 
which tho swill is poured, under which is a shal¬ 
low trough extending from the end of the pen to 
the partition for the bedding. The corners of tho 
wall are turned, to strengthen the top of end 
walls. Six feet of the back end of the pen is 
partitioned off,—by a sleeper and joist laid in the 
wall, studded aud boarded,—for the bedding- 
room, with door near the rear wall. Floor of 
bedding-room, plank; floor of feeding-room, 
stone. The rear half is large flagging stone; 
'Wio front half Is paved with large field stone, so 
laid and wedged that the hogs cannot root them 
out The flagged part is a trifle lower than the 
paved, aud all four to six inches lower than the 
plank bedding. A a the whole slightly descends 
to the rear, idl the litter tends there, and the 
flagged bottom makes it convenient shoveling. 
To perfect the inclosure, over the swill spout is 
placed a plank set in the wall at the ends, the 
upper edge raised as high as the side walls, leav¬ 
ing a space UDder for passage of swill to the 
trough, along the entire length of which are 
slats 6 inches wide, about 10 to 13 inches apart, 
to prevent swine getting their feet in. 
A frame 24 feet square, made of three beams, 
with plates framed to their ends, is laid uponthi3 
foundation, so that the end or outer beams bear 
upon the end walls,—themiddle beam supported 
by two short posts, standing on the center of the 
side walls; the rafters set quite steep, and a small 
glass window in the south gable end, makes a 
convenient room above to store corn for feed, as 
well as a convenient room for many small imple¬ 
ments and lumber for most of the year. By plan¬ 
ing this frame with 7 feet projection in front, 1 
have an admirable shed for my grindstones, as 
well as shelter for other matters. In rear the 
cave projection Ib 5 feet, under which, by half 
wall and boarding, I have an inelosure 13 feet 
in length for a bedding for the store pigs, while 
; the porkers are shut in for fattening. The rest 
of the rear is used to shovel out the refuse, &c. 
: The space over that part of the back wall is 
! closed by a flap door, bung to swing up when 
opened. By this arrangement every step in the 
raising and fattening of hogs Is carried on at 
any time of the year with nearly the same suc¬ 
cess. It Is cool iu summer, and nearly as warm 
* as a cellar in winter, hence extremes are not 
hurtful. It ia light and airy, the two moat im¬ 
portant points in a pen for hogs. My trough 
is approached without any hindrance from gates 
or doors, and never receives any rain-water when 
stormy. The work inside needs no crouching 
or bumping. I 6hovcl my corn from the cart or 
wagon, through a trap-door over tho front pro¬ 
jection, and it is fed through the floor upon the 
paved port of the feeding room. 
This pen I Lave used about nine years,—have 
fattened from 3 to 10 large hogs at a time,—once 
more than twenty shoats, only adding a tempo¬ 
rary enclosure outside. I lose no pigs by ex¬ 
cessive heat, or by freezing when young. The 
whole cost, including hauling stone, materials, 
labor, and board, was a trifle over fifty dollars. 
