I 
S OTfrcRICULTURr 
ROCHESTER, N. Y.-FOR THE WEEK ENDING SATURDAY, FEBRUARY 7, 1863 
ducted by a few wooden troughs into the cistern 
and pumped from thence into the stable. It was 
a new-fangled notion to him, but after looking at 
the operation he had to call it “ mighty con¬ 
venient ” any way. 
“ Well, the manure was drawn on to the 
meadow by Dick, and when grass-cutting came 
there stood on it as good a crop of grass as need 
be asked for. Swizzle was delighted and con¬ 
founded. He forgave Dick his bo</k-farming 
from Unit time, lie also did as he agreed to do. 
And to-day as I came past his yards, he was busy 
with two men turning over his heaps and adding 
the material he gathered last summer to it, and 
ho got a heap of it from that old swamp of his. 
What a change there is in the appearance of that 
farm since that experiment of Dick’s. Swizzle 
was saved by that, and Dasuaway has been 
broken up by it and left town. Ho evidently 
was considerably more than half supported by 
Swizzle. 
If I had time, 1 would tell you about Sw izzle’s 
progress since, but 1 see an ewe yonder that needs 
looking after. I tell you these “ weak ones of Uie 
tiock ” need watching and nursing,-both 
sheep and fanners. 
an equilibrium of vigor in all the parts. The 
theory, then, is to trim with a wide base, and 
bring the lop of the hedge to a point The di¬ 
mensions of a finished hedge should be four feet 
wide at the base and five loot high. 
There are other important suggestions in the 
treatment of hedges that will be given hereafter. 
Your correspondent is answered. 
MOORE'S RURAL NEW-YORKER, 
AN ORIGINAL WKKKLY 
RURAL, LITERARY AND FAMILY NEWSPAPER. 
CONDUCTED BY D. D. T. MOORE, 
With a Corps of Able Assistants and Contributors, 
C. I>. IlliAl.IHIN', Western Corresponding Editor. 
Tire Rcrai. New-Yorkkr is designed to be unsurpassed 
in Value, Purity and Variety of Contents, and unique, and 
beautiful iu Awoantnoc. Its Conductor devotes his per¬ 
sonal attention to the supervision of its various depart 
ments, and earnestly labors to render the Rcrai. an 
eminently Keliahlo Guido on all the important Practical, 
Scientific and other Subjects intimately connected with 
the business of those whose interests it zealously advo¬ 
cates. As a Family Journal it is eminently Instructive 
and Entcrtaluinu—beiOB so conducted that it can he safely 
taken to the Homes of people of Intollitrenre. taste and 
discrimination. It embraces more Asricultural, Horticul¬ 
tural, Scientific, Educational, Literary and News Matter, 
interspersed with appropriate PngravinRS, than any other 
journal,— rendering it the most complete Aokicci.titkal, 
Literary and Family Newspaper in America. 
SWEET POTATO CULTURE. 
8. W. Arnold, of DelCalb Go., Ill., was a com¬ 
petitor,—the only one 1 am sorry to say,—for the 
premium ottered by the Stale Society for a Sweet 
Potato Crop. He got no award from the State 
Hoard, because bis statement was uOt quite spe¬ 
cific enough. Hut there are items in it Which 1 
think worth repeating. He planted an aero and 
a half, which was manured slightly last year, 
plowed very deep in the spring, harrowed, rolled, 
back-furrowed with two l/erses and plow throw¬ 
ing the land into ridges about three feet from cen¬ 
ter to center. The top of the ridge was smoothed 
off with a garden rake, and plants set, IS to 24 
inches apart, from the 20tli of May to the. 20th of 
J line. Those set about the 10th of .1 une « ere the 
most thrifty, and yielded the largest potatoes. 
The culture consisted in twice working between 
the rows with horse and shovel-plow; hoed by 
hand three times, and lifted the vines with a 
pitchfork once. 
The amount received for those marketed, was_loO.fi!) 
Right bushels consumed in the family, at $1,_ 8.00 
$08.89 
Labor bestowed equal to 18 <l,v s work at 75 cents 
per day,__ __..$18.00 
Four thousand plants purchased at $2 pr 1000, 8.00 21.00 
Net profit, .. .. .$37.39 
About half of this crop was sold at $1.25 per 
bushel: the other half,—except five bushels sold 
at 75 cents,—was sold at $1.00 per bushel. It 
should be remembered that this crop was grown 
in North Illinois, where many farmers are iu the 
habit of thinking that sweet potatoes are, at least, 
an uprotitable crop to grow. 
mulch tvo wrrn straw. 
In the discussion of sweet potato culture by 
the State Hoard, Dr. Kile, a member of the 
Hoard from tylgur county, said tliut the best way 
he bud ever seen adopted to grow sweet potatoes 
was to prepare the ground aud set out the plants 
In the usual manner, and then mulch the ground 
thickly with straw. They will need no culture. 
The straw will keep the weeds dowu, the land 
moist and light, and will prevent the vines taking 
root, thus rendering the labor of lifting them 
unnecessary. 
I may say hero that there were splendid 
specimens of English Flukes on exhibition in the 
Society's rooms, that had been grown under 
straw—the seed scattered on the surface of the 
ground and thickly covered with straw. No cul¬ 
ture was given them, and they produced a good 
crop of good large potatoes, of good quality. I 
did not learn Uie name of the party who grew 
them. 
lZv~ For Terms and other particulars, see last page 
WESTERN EDITORIAL NOTES 
FARMER GARRULOUS TALKS 
OSAGE ORANGE HEDGES. 
In reply to P. E. L. t page 7 current Vol. Rural. 
1 give him the practice of a “ Western man who 
knows whereof ho allirms.” 1 refer to 0. R. 
Overman, who has had a largo experience with 
the Osage In the West. He says it is found to be 
the true theory to thicken the row at first by 
close planting, and to cultivate well for two sea¬ 
sons before cutting at all, to get as strong l oots as 
possible without reference to the shape of the top. 
Then, at the proper time, the second spring after 
planting, just before the buds put forth, clear 
away the ridge of dirt (if any has been drawn to 
the plants) down level with the ground, and with 
a strong shmb scythe, cut off all smooth to the 
surface. He sure to cut below all the buds on 
the stems, and if into the yellow root no matter. 
Tho effect will lie to Rend up numerous forced 
shoots all around the stump, which being of more 
equal size and vigor, will all be equally durable. 
These numerous shoots, spreading iu all direc¬ 
tions, will completely till the row with substan¬ 
tial material; whereas, if iu the first cutting one 
or more buds are left, these buds put forth shoots 
stronger than those of forced growth, and the 
latter will finally dwindle and perish, and the 
bottom of the hedge instead of thickening will 
grow thinner, and the object sought in cutting 
back will fail. It is quite as necessary to lay 
the right kind of a foundation fora hedge as for 
a house. Without this the one will Lk: as likely 
to succeed as the other. If the growth is vigor¬ 
ous and rapid, the hedge should be cut the second 
time about the last of June (not later) from four 
to six inches above ground. Subsequent trim¬ 
ming must depend upon its growth and the sea¬ 
son. It should never be clipped over four or six 
inches above the last clipping, and should rarely 
or never be cut after the middle of July. A 
year from next the spring it should again be nit, 
back to within eighteen inches or two feet of the 
ground. It will, doubtless, make a fence against 
stock in time if uot ho clipped ; but this is the 
better way to insure it. Except along the high¬ 
way, after the hedge is made effective, it may be 
allowed to grow rampant, as a windbreak or 
protection, if desired. Hut it will rood shade 
the ground unless it is kept trimmed back ; and 
it looks much neater to trim it; and it is neater. 
Tho pyramidal form U the best for a hedge, and if 
P. K. E. proposes to make bis eighty rods orna¬ 
mental as well as useful, he should, at the clip¬ 
ping a year from next June, clip it in this form, 
shortening the side branches somewhat, but leav¬ 
ing a wide base, and tapering to the top. The 
satisfaction a regular wall ofgreon foliage of this 
shape will give him, will repay the cost of trim¬ 
ming. 
Mr. Overman gives the following reasons why 
u pyramidal form of hedge is preferred 1. The 
general direction of vegetation is known to be 
upward. 2. One of the principal requisites of a 
hedge is a thick base, a condition which depends 
entirely upon the number, strength and vitality 
of the side branches, near the ground. 3. It is 
plain that if the hedge is allowed to follow its 
natural tendency, and force numerous strong 
and gross shoots at the iop, the result will be a 
shaded, starved and sickly growth at tho bottom, 
consequently the lower branches will perish and 
fall off, and the hedge will grow thin. But if, on 
the other hand, we cut tho top more and the 
bottom less, we shall be more likely to promote 
It is astonishing how much money has to do 
with us, John. Take my neighbor Swizzle as 
a sample. lie used to spend more time aud 
money at Dick Oashaway’s saloon than l spent 
for newspapers and periodicals. Ilo was always 
ridiculing my “hifalutln notions'’ about farming; 
especially was he down on my Dick there, whose 
notiona are several pegs higher than mine. One 
day—it was a good deal such a day as this—wet, 
drizzly, nasty, and too unpleasant to be out of 
doors,— 1 was saying, one day he came along, 
and Dick and I were under the shed that we’ve 
built over the stable windows to protect the ma¬ 
nure. Dick had hauled up a half a dozen loads 
of leaves that he had raked up in the fall, and 
there was some old lime, and a few loads of 
muck, and the rakings aud cleanings of the gar¬ 
den and the yards in the fall. He had set about 
turning the manure over, cording it up solid, and 
mixing with it the muck, liruo, leaves, &c. 
Along came Swizzle. He looked in upon us. 
“Why,” said he, “you’ve a good, snug place to 
work of a rainy day. But what the deuce are 
you doing? Turning over and composting ma¬ 
nure? What for?” “ Because it pays,” answered 
Dick. “ Pudge; some of your book-farming non¬ 
sense,” paid Swizzle. 
“Nonsense or not, ‘it pays,’” persisted Dick. 
“ And I ean prove it to you.” 
“Well, now, I’d like to see you do it!” 
“Yonder, under that other shed, is a heap of 
manure composted last winter. We intended to 
have put it on the back meadow this fall past. 
But we were prevented from doing so. Now, 
I’ll tell yon what 1 will do. I was going to draw 
it on to that meadow this winter, but you have 
got a meadow that needs it more. How much 
hay did you cut from the old Brown meadow 
last season—per acre, I mean? ” 
Swizzle thought not more than a tun to the 
acre. Said it had all run out and did not pay the 
interest on tho money he had paid Old Brown 
for it. Dick asked what he did with the hay. 
He sold it at ten dollars per tan. “Well,’said 
Dick, “now, if I double the product on that old 
meadow, will you stop going down to Dick 
Dashaivay's saloon, and set about, making a 
little comfort for yourself?” Swizzle vowed 
that he would, but Dick could not do it. At any 
rate, he wanted to know how he’d set about it. 
Dick told him that the compost heap yonder 
contained animal manuie, lime enough to assist 
decomposition, a good large proportion uf leached 
ashes, muck, leaf mold, a little chip manure, aud 
sundry other items picked up wherever he found 
anything he could save in that way. lie would, 
as soon as the ground froze a little more, so that 
it would bear a team, draw a few loads on to the 
“Old Brown meadow,” and see whai would 
come of it. 
Swizzle was incredulous. He wanted to 
know why Dick did not wait till spring before 
drawing on the manure. “Because I’ve some¬ 
thing else to do then, and because it will cut up 
your meadows to travel over them then.” “ Ex¬ 
actly," said Swizzle, “but it is the first time I 
ever thought of hauling manure in winter. How 
much a man can do if he tries in winter on a 
farm! I declare, I did'nt know you had got such 
a shed here for manure before. But where does 
water go to from this roof? It don’t appear to 
drip any.” Dick showed him how it was con¬ 
In response to tho inquiry of a Canada sub¬ 
scriber who wishes the plan of a stock and grain 
barn, we present tho above, from Ai.i.kn’s 
“Rural Architecture.” It is partially on the 
plan of the famous Pennsylvania bams, with 
some changes which are thought, to be improve¬ 
ments. Though given in a former volume of the 
Rural, the plan will be new to thousands of our 
readers, and possesses sufficient merit to hear at 
least occasional re-pulilicallon. 
This barn is calculated for a grain and slock 
farm the “ mixed husbandry” most profitable in 
many sections of the country. It has under¬ 
ground stables and a stone-walled basement, 
with sheds on three sides of the yard. The body 
of the bam is 60 by 46 feet; the pouts 18 foot high 
above the sidos, tho roof spreading and gables 
hooded, butthc engraving is incorrect in repre¬ 
senting the roof as hipped, or gambrel fashion. 
The large doors are 14 feet high, aud double, 
each seven feet wide. A slatted blind window is 
in each gable, for ventilation, and a door 9 by 6 
feet on the yard side. 
also on the sides, for those who attend them. 
Tho main passage through the entire double line 
of shills is 8 feet wide, aud on each side are 
double stalls 6-i feet wide. From the two cud 
stalls the cattle passages ure five feet wide, the 
partition netweeu the wall running back in a 
slant, from live feet high at the maugers to the 
floor, at that distance from the walls. The man¬ 
gers, j j, are 2 feet wide, or may lie 21 feet by 
taking 6 inches from the back passage. Tho 
passage between the mangers is 3 feet wide, and 
communicates with the floor above by trap doors. 
In front of these stables is a line of posts, tho 
feet of which rest on large flat stones, aud sup¬ 
port the outer side of the barn, forming a recess 
of 12 feet in width, under which may be placed 
a line of racks or mangers for outside cattle, or tho 
manure may be housed under it, which is re¬ 
moved from the stables by wheelbarrows. The 
two lines of sheds may be occupied iu this way, 
or used for sheltering carts, Ac., or they may tie 
carried higher than shown in the plan, ho as to 
furnish storage room for hay and other fodder. 
It will be seen that a driving way is built up 
to the barn doors at the ends, as indeed there 
always should be. It is hardly necessary to 
remark, that this barn is designed to stand on a 
shelving piece of ground, or on a slope, which 
will admit of its cellar stables without much 
excavation of earth; and in such a position it 
may be economically built. Tho size rnuy be 
expanded or contracted to suit tho requirements 
of the farm, and the cost will depend upon this, 
the price of materials, and tho convenience of 
procuring stone on or near the farm. 
The interior arrangement may bo described as 
follows:— A, main floor, 12 feet wide, through the 
center of the barn. II II, are trap-doors, to let 
hay or straw down to the alloys of the stables 
underneath. B, principal bay, 16 feel w ide, runs 
up to the roof. 0, bay 16 by 26 feet, for the grain 
mow, if required. I), granary, 13 by 16 feet, 
and 8 feet high. K, storage room for fanning 
mill, cutting box. Ac., some size and height as 
the granary. F, Ls a passage 8 feet wide, to the 
yard door, through which to throw out litter. 
(I ff. are the large doors. A lino of moveable 
sleepers, or poles, may be laid across the floor, 
10 feet above it, so as to add to the capacity of 
the bam for storage of hay and grain, and the 
space over tho granary, store room, and passage, 
will of course be used for that purpose. 
The underground plan and yard may be 
arranged to suit tho convenience of tho owner— 
tho cut hero given divides it up into stalls for 
stock—though a root cellar, calf pens, Ac., might 
occupy a part of the space. At the ends, 11, are 
passages for the stock to go into their stalls; and 
DRAINING-No. II 
Second. The temperature of retentive soils is 
very much raised during that period of tho year 
in which vegetation is active by the removal of 
water by drainage. 
Many experiments havo shown that in reten¬ 
tive soils, the temperature at two to three feet 
below the surface of the water-table is, at no 
period of the year, higher than from 46 to 48 de¬ 
grees, t. e., in agricultural Britain. This temper¬ 
ature is little affected by summer heats for the 
following reasons. Water, in a quiescent state, 
is one of tho worst conductors of heat with which 
we are acquainted. Water warmed at the sur¬ 
face transmits little or no heat downwards. The 
small portion warmed expands, becomes lighter 
than that below, consequently retains its position 
on the surface and carries no heat downwards.* 
To ascertain the mean heat of tho air at the sur¬ 
face of the earth over any extended space, and 
for a period of eight or nine months, is no simple 
operation. More elements enter into such a cal¬ 
culation than we havo space or ability to enume¬ 
rate, hut we know certainly that, for seven 
months in tho year, air, at the surface of the 
ground, is seldom lower than 48 degrees, never 
much lower, and only for short periods; whereas 
* When water la heated from he low, the portion tirat nub- 
joe tod to the heut rise* to tho surface, aud every portion 1« 
successively subjected to the heat and rises, aud each, hav¬ 
ing lost some of its heat at the surface, is in turn displaced. 
Constant motion Ls kept op, and a constant approximation 
to an equal temperature in the whole body. The applica¬ 
tion of superficial heat has no tendency to disturb the 
quiescence of water 
at four feet from the surface, in the shade, from 
70 to 80 degrees Ls not an unusual temperature, 
and in a southern exposure in hot sunshine 
double that temperature is not unfroquontly 
obtained on the surface. Now let us consider 
the effect of drains placed at two or three feet 
below the water-table, and acting during tho 
seven months of which we have spoken. They 
draw out water of tho temperature of 48 degrees. 
Every particle of water wliicix they withdraw at 
this temperature is replaced by an equal bulk of 
air at a higher, and frequently at a much higher, 
temperature. The warmth of the air is carried 
down into the earth. The temperature of the 
soil, to tho depth to which the water is removed, 
is in a course of constant assimilation to the tem¬ 
perature of the air at the surface. From this it 
follows, necessarily, that during that period Of the 
year when the temperature of air at tho surface 
of the earth is generally below 48 degrees, reten¬ 
tive soils which have been drained arc: colder 
than those which have not. Perhaps this is no 
disadvantage. In still more artificial cultivation 
than tho usual run of agriculture, gardeners are 
not insensible to the advantage of a total suspen¬ 
sion of vegetation for a short period. In Britain 
jt'lfWi' i 
'Mm 
it 
ii 
111 
iff 
lit 
k 
i 
— 
IRVING Chant Co N Y 
