boon the past fall for young men to obt ain schools 
to teach this winter! I will not say to avoid 
lining drafted} oh, no, not they: but they so 
delighted to teach school, and. withal, it was so 
clover hay and no grain. They are doing finely. 
Within a few feet of one of the doors is a trough 
of water, and when it is stormy, water is pumped 
into the sheep house for them. There are double 
farmers. Remembei what Napoleon said to same amount for my neighbors, for eighteen 
his engineers on their return from exploring a pence per gallon, with a mill made by Wm. H. 
pass up which the Alps might be scaled:—-“ Sirs, Clark, of Cincinnati, and Cook's Evaporator, 
what is your report?” “We find, Sir, that the Last year I raised about the same, and made for 
much easier than out-of-door labor. Now, why doors on the north, east and south sides, so that passage, may be possible, but the circumstances myself and neighbors fifteen hundred gallons. 
not teach such young men that there was out¬ 
door employment for them, that was both neces¬ 
sary to be done, and profitable for them to do, 
and let the females teach the schools. They 
could not pay that there were not females enough 
for the work; neither dare they say they were 
not qualified and capable of teaching, for they 
knew full well that they were quite as well fitted, 
both by nature and education, as themselves, and 
would do as ample justice, to both parent and 
children, as they, and for leas pay. There it is 
again—less pay/ but why should a female teach 
for less pay than a male, if she teaches as well; 
and that she does, is an established fact. The 
cause is, simply, public opinion is not right on 
the subject. In any place where our daughters 
can perform the duties as well as our sons, they 
should get the same pay. It is an object worth 
laboring for, to correct abuses in all such mat¬ 
ters; so that whether male or female render their 
services, the scale of payment should be equal 
in all cases. 
American females can well employ a paid of 
their time out-of-doors in cultivating flowers, or 
vegetables and fruits, in the garden—such as 
grapes, currants, tie.,—if they choose; and it 
would doubtless be beneficial to health, and pro* 
mote vigor of constitution in those that engaged 
in such labors with moderation, or as a recrea¬ 
tion from their household cares and perplexities. 
In conclusion, Messrs. Editors, let one and all 
labor for the elevation of the females of this 
country, but not by sending them into the fields 
as plowmen, or info (he stables to perform the 
labors that are there required to be done; for in 
such labors, the world over, we have seen only 
degradation when it was performed by females, 
not only in savage, but in civilized and enlight¬ 
ened nations; also, the same results follow those 
that perform such labors for a livelihood. The 
writer lias been cognizant of a number of Amer¬ 
ican females that have performed farm w ork, 
such as taking and binding wheat in harvest 
time, and other harvest labors: but in every case 
where followed as a means of livelihood, they 
have sickened and died, or health lias failed, and 
they are now suffering from their folly. 
Borne, N, Y,, Jan., 1803, J. Talcott. 
SHEEP SHEDS, RACKS, &c. 
Eds. Rural Nkw-Youkek: —An inquiry was 
made in a recent number of your paper with re¬ 
gard to the best mode of coustructiug sheep 
sheds, racks, <fcc. As no reply has appeared, 
perhaps I might offer a few suggestions which 
will be of benefit. 
With regard to the size of sheep houses, 1 be¬ 
lieve it is a general rule that sheep require from 
8 to 10 square feet of space per head, depending 
upon the size of the sheep. This will allow [suf¬ 
ficient space for the racks. I have tried several 
kinds of racks and have at last found out 1 which 
appears to be complete, and is so simple iu con¬ 
struction that a farmer possessing the least me¬ 
chanical skill can make one. It consists of four 
posts three feet long, and if made of 3 by 3 scant- 
liug. will be heavy enough. Two bottom boards 
one inch thick and ten or twelve wide, and two 
for the top. one inch thick and five or six w ide. 
These boards are placed horizontally for the 
sides of the rack, and similar boards two feet 
long are nailed to the posts at the ends. The 
rack may be about twelve feet long, and two feet 
is a very suitable width. Upon these horizontal 
boards are nailed uprights, six inches wide, and 
placed six inches apart. This makes a cheap, 
portable rack which we like in every respect. 
We tried the common box rack, made similar • 
to this one, except the upright slats, which are \ 
•omitted, and the horizontal boards are placed , 
about eight inches apart, so as to permit the sheep i 
to pass their heads between them. To this rack | 
there are two objections. The sheep crowd each , 
other, and rub the wool off the tops of their necks, . 
by pushing into the rack as far as possible. f 
Stationary racks made with round's about an ( 
inch iu diameter, and placed about six inches t 
apart, are frequently to be seen, but they require v 
loo much labor in construction, and do not pre- ( 
vent crowding; and stationary racks we have ; 
discarded, for if you cannot move the racks you n 
must move the manure from the shed after it ac- q 
cumulates to the depth of six or eight inches. v 
Slats about three inches wide are sometimes used, 
but these do not prevent crowding. An ordinary 
full-grown Merino requires about a foot of space p 
at the rack to eat with comfort, and six inch p 
slats, with six inch spaces, we think about right, p 
one of the upper doors can generally be open. 
Very stormy, cold weather, we shut all up, as 
there is ample means of ventilation through a 
large funnel. 
I was glad to see another letter from Joirx 
Jou.vsrox in the last Rural. May he yet. live 
long and enjoy good health, and continue to tell 
us of the different lots of cattle and sheep he has 
fed, land he has drained, and heav y crops he has 
raised, lie teaches invaluable lessons, and lie 
deals with facts. We have all the letters Of his 
that we have seen in print for the past seven 
years, preserved hi our bound agricultural pa¬ 
pers, or in our agricultural scrap-book. He, as 
well as many others of the better class of farmers, one of which, to the farmer, there is no escape, 
sows a great deal of plaster. We tried it last V iz.:-Hc has’got to pay the high price, raise his 
spring, but it wouldn’t go where we wanted it to; flax, or let his family go naked. It is no longer 
it all appeared to get up and go nowhere. How an experiment, bat a tact-, that flax can be 
do you prevent the wind from carrying It away, worked on cotton machinery, and that it can bo 
even when there appears to be scarcely a breeze? mixed with cotton or wool in any desired pro- 
Will some one who knows, be so kind as to portion; and if I am not misinformed the straw 
answer, and oblige Ttro Lingo. of the flax can bo dressed with as little difficulty 
Columbiana Co., Oho, Feb., 1863. as cIovor ^ed can be threshed and hulled. But 
■*“*" no matter if it caunot—it can be worked the old 
IMPROVEMENT OF EXHAUSTED SOILS. way at a cost not exceeding 25 cents per yurd— 
- and who would not rejoice fo see the worthy 
Howland, of Cayuga Co., inquires if I will mothers of thirty yean ago now learning their 
tell how the large tract of poor land a few miles grand-daughters to handle the distaff and cards, 
from my residence was so greatly enriched. and hear the hum of little wheels again?—music 
It is my opinion — perhaps this opinion is at that has lulled many a little, imlucky wight to 
present only an hypothesis, not even entitled to sleep after having put his lingers into the smootli- 
the name oi theory — that this land was not looking yet remorselessly tearing flyers, 
originally very poor; nor was it, by the skill of If the testimony of those who have tried the 
man. greatly enriched. Developed, perhaps, business be correct, then there can be no better 
would be u good terra tor the improvement paying crop raised—especially when the seed is 
which has led to so great a change in the. appro- selling as it now is in this locality, at $2.60 per 
elation of its value. 1 think that if land is so bushel for the best. A yield often bushels of 
poor, or so worn out, that the farmer must first seed per acre at $2,50—$25—and 1* tuns of straw 
apply to the soil the elements of twenty bushels at $10 per fun—$15—which is $40 per acre; and 
o! wheat, or 50 bushels oi corn, or 200 bushels Of this being almost equal to summer-fallowing for 
potatoes, per acre, before he obtains these returns, a crop of winter wheat, ought to. at least, vindi- 
are against us.” “Circumstances! I make the 
circumstances. Let the army advance.” So let 
the farming hosts advance; trampling under 
their feet every circumstance that can oppose. 
Flax.—I t is astonishing to see the apathy 
charged twenty cents for making this year, or one 
half of the molasses, but the one half I did not, 
get, with the exception of one barrel; the rest 
paid for making and are well pleased with it. as 
it is as good as any Southern molasses which can 
umong farmers about raising flax. Raw cotton ho bought in this State for six shillings pot-gallon, 
has advanced to about nine times its common Hy mill, which is for two horses, cost seventy- 
value, with a corresponding advance iu its ntun- hvo dollars at the shop, and my evaporator, 
ufacture, and allowing the fabric to follow suit, "'hich is copper, forty-five inches wide and one 
we shall soon be paying from 90 cents to $1 per hundred and eight inches long, cost $81.00, I 
yard. However differently others can get along, hope that the readers of the Rural, who have 
one tiling is certain, and that is, farmers’families hai experience in molasses-making from the 
must have shirts and sheets, let them cost what canfl ' write it out and send it to you, so that 
they may. So, then, there are three things, from we can 8°* r ' ac h others' views, and help to induce 
that said farmer, and his wife and little ones, will 
starve before he can accomplish so great a task. 
What say the fow facts lately presented iu the 
Rural? A little guano, then plaster and clover, 
and skillful cultivation, with judicious rotation, 
raises the Virginia plantation from almost noth¬ 
ing to a fair average of productiveness. A single 
bushel of ttnleached ashes spread over a square 
rod of New Jerseys’ worn out sand, almost re¬ 
trieves the abstractions of a century. And Mr. 
Comstock's sandy purchase—“about a# barren 
as could well be imagined with the aid of 
plaster and clover, yields the first year 18 bushels 
of oats, second year about two tuns of hay, and 
the third year 20 bushels of wheat per acre, and 
that, too. before what he terms manure was ap¬ 
plied. Again, Loins Schade — vide Patent Of¬ 
fice Report for 1861, page 370 tells us on the 
authority of Russian agriculturists, that by the 
use of lupine, (a fertilizer said to be superior to 
clover,) “ large estates which, on account of light, 
Kandy or exhausted lands wore almost worth¬ 
ies, arc now, by the cultivation of the lupine, 
cate its profitableness. Flax-dressing mills will, 
so soon as there is a demand for them, become as 
plenty all over the country as Sorghum mills 
now are. Fanners, don’t flatter yourselves that 
the war is going to dose aud things become 
cheap again as they were. The war is not going 
to close at all until the rebels are most thor¬ 
oughly squelched, let it require one year, or lift v. 
Wc are now simply going in for war: but must 
prepare ourselves to go in for pestilence and 
famine also, if necessary, or for llm calamities 
attendant upon them. To say that 20,000,00(1 of 
white folks, beside some niggers, can't whip 550,- 
000 traitorous slaveholders, js to abuse “ Brother 
Jonathan” most shamefully. Now, farmers, 
let flax be the motto, and let. there lie seen from 
one to ten acres growing on every farm, and as 
much more as you have h mind to. 
Hoskins, Wood Co., O., Feb , 1863. W. L. Ctmia. 
-——- -*- 
RECLAIMING MARSHES. 
Ens. Rural New-Yorker: —The question is 
every man to think that it is for his Interest to 
raise his own sweetening as much as it is to raise 
his own pork. Almon Maltbt. 
Green Oak, Livingston Co., Micb., Feb., 1S63. 
* We should be glad to have Mr. M.’s assistance in ed¬ 
iting the lint At., but fear, from his remarks, that lie 
might prove a one idea man. If be had read the Rural 
a few yean, instead of weeks, his criticism might, possi¬ 
bly, have been omitted. The culture of Chinese Sugar 
Cano has often been urged In former volume*, and many 
practical article* given thereupon—and, like the Ledger’s 
stories, the subject is “to be continued.” 
ABOUT WASHING SHEEP. 
Friend Moore: —I notice in your issue of the 
14th inst., an article from Mr. Solomon Hitch¬ 
cock, of Concsiis, upon the subject of washing 
, wool on the sheep, alluding in particular to the 
proceedings of the Vermont Wool Growers’ Con¬ 
vention; and the gentleman wishes to know' 
wdial the difference is in expense in preparing 
for manufacturing wool that has been washed on 
the sheep and that which is unwashed. As I 
have had some experience in manufacturing, ] 
would answer lie- inquiry by saying that the 
manufacturer cleanses or washes his wool before 
working, whether it has been w'ashcd on the 
sheep or not. The difference, in expense is tri¬ 
fling, and I would as soon have unwashed wool 
as washed, at a deduction of 25 to 35 per cent. 
But there are one or two other points to be 
considered. One is, the most of our wool is sub¬ 
ject to shipment, and as freights are dear, dirt 
and grease make quite an item. Second—A good 
shearer will shear three w ashed sheep to two un¬ 
washed. But J will admit that thorn w ould, no 
doubt, 1 m* more uniformity with regard to the 
condition of wool if it was sheared without wash¬ 
ing, as some growers are very careful about keep¬ 
ing their Rlieep in the water long, say not over 
one minute, when one more minute would be 
sufficient to thoroughly wash (lie fleece. Buyers, 
of course, expect to take the wool.as the grower 
prepared it, and pay according to its condition. 
Hinsdale, N. Y., Fob., I860 N. Nouesb. 
-- 
PRESERVING POTATOES. 
producing in value as much as those of the best frequently asked by farmers in the West, “ llow 
soil!” Do not, these facra throw much light on a 
subject of deep interest to the farmer? I bog 
tjiat we have more facts. Facts to overturn 
- if such there are - as w ell as to establish the 
conclusions to w hich those 1 have instances lead. 
And now 1 will endeavor to answer How¬ 
land’s inquiry. The farmers of the tract in 
question,excepting plaster and clover sued, have 
had no aid but their own resources. Neither 
marl, muck, lime nor guano have been used by 
them. Drainage, clover, gypsum and cultiva¬ 
tion, with the manure of their barn yards have 
made these farms out of the wilderness. I may 
3,1 .1 1 1 I « A 
can we most effectively reclaim our marshes?” 
A very natural question this, and one of vast im¬ 
portance to him w ho has 75 or 100 acres nearly 
submerged by water, or if by chance when the 
season proves dry, he finds it grown up to flags, 
cane brakes nnd the very coarsest, poorest kind 
of marsh grass, and the surface so completely 
Covered with huge bogs as to render it unsafe to 
attempt, if not quite impossible to secure, the im¬ 
perfect herbage grown upon it. Such was the 
condition of about 50 acres of my farm thirteen 
years ago. A part of it was a complete quag¬ 
mire, unsafe at certain seasons for an individual 
to attempt to walk over it, Now 1 raise on it the 
add, what 1 have before stated in the Rural, to attempt to walk over it, Nova 1 raise on it t 
that this part ol Northern Ohio — which borders best red top and timothy. I use my reaper, hori 
on t he eastern limits ol the prairio region—before rake and w agons with ease and safety, and wi 
the advent of the white man was annually, every 
fall, burned over by the Indians. The effect of 
this annual burning was that the forest was 
almost without underbrush, and while the deep 
soil of the praties and intervales was fertile when 
rake and w agons with ease and safety, and what 
was then my greatest nuisance is now the most 
valuable land 1 own. 
My plan of reclaiming it was very simple;— 
First, I surrounded it with a ditch 3 feet in w idth, 
and about in depth, forming, on the inside, a 
first upturned by the plow, the light thin soil of mound from the excavated earth which answered 
the upland was at first nut very productive. It tor a fence. The springs and surface wafer being 
was burned out, instead of being worn out. With thus cut off the* quality of the grass began to ini¬ 
tial extinguishment of the indianjfires this land prove rapidly. The canes and flags ceased to 
began to improve, and this improvement pro- grow, the high bogs, formed by the routs of the 
grossed whether the land was in forest, in grass, latter, began to lessen as these roots decayed for 
or in a state of cultivation — most, of course, want of nourishment. The marsh became so im- 
wbevo the culti ration was skillful. proved in four or five years that I could pass over 
One more tact:—The farmer on the deep black it with my team. I then fitted up a large harrow* 81111 °i spring) that they can buy all such iu these 
prairie soil had nothing to do but plow, plant, with sharp tooth, lashed to it some 150 lbs., hitched P ai to tor about two cents per bushel, 
keep down the weeds, and gather in his luxuriant on two stout yoke of oxen, driving two or three Tl0ga ' N - Y > 1St5;J p - Ford. 
harvests: aud so continued to do. without being times in the same place. Alter thus going over 
fur years reminded that he w T as killing the goose half of my marsh I scattered on red top and lira* 
Eds. Rural New-Yorker :-In No. 5, cur- \’T’’ ! 
rent volume ot Rural, I find an article from the tion uf ^ Tim ,„ r 8 n t 
G erm an fOW’D Telegraph on preserving potatoes, thus, silk Worm, Farm 
Very much the same thing I read a short time Flour, Goal oil, Marble of 
ago in one of my New York papers, without its mors and their Wives, &c. 
making any very.great ifaipression on my mind; - 
but when I find it in my favorite Rural, I feel ° mcB of ova Wehtbrj 
like “speaking right out bold in mootin’." of muiL ' rs in the 
When a man says it is the thawing, and not the ° f °* UT 1°* 
freezing, of potatoes, that injures them, I think where he will be happy to. 
Ins it asomng about like the Irishman s when he it in mm emissary for u, jq 
fell in the river, who said “the drowningdid not ested hi ail that pertain* 
hurl him much, but it was the coming too again ;,n< l *w»iou»ly laboring to j 
thatkilthim entirely.” Now, 1 deny the assertion Culture, Horticulture am 
that potatoes can be buried so os to freeze and “4 familiar with its Karal 
thaw out again without injury. 1 admit that the 
trust may be draw n out in cold water, so that if peopk . , md counm , To , 
the potato is immediately cooked, it can be eaten; bo ueeessary, and other r. 
and also that apples, turnips, and many other doubt not, receive a con 
vegetables, may be lightly buried, and if allowed traveled «> n»wh •« the w. 
to remain until the frost is out iu the spring, w ill writteu s " "'dl about what 
come out all right; but I have seen too many no <0Inmc I "' kti ' j11 to lli0SL ' 
potatoes taken out in the spring, to believe the aZZn Z"' 
same is true of them. Mr. 7 digraph also gives t ho,e visiting Chicago to n 
instructions to keep them from sprouting. If he, a chat with our Western J 
or any one else, is troubled with frozen potatoes intelligent aud amiable— a 
sprouting, they must Lavo a kind that is not progressive principles and i 
known in this country, I would say, for the over, firmly believes in the 
benefit of Mr. Telegraph , and all others who like — ' Vo re publish the ah 
potatoes that have been frozen iu the holes, and the information of tho larg 
the frost drawn out gradually by the rains and wll ° have recently joined ti 
A Good Hand Ham. Wanted.—I wish to obtain a 
hand-drill, for sowing onion, turnip, carrot and licet seed. 
Can some of the readers of the It UK At. inform me where 
1 can buy one that will do the work perfectly and the ex- 
pense of It V—M. H. Kklset, South Butler, A: Y. 
Manufacturers and dealers are the men to answer above, 
and they wiU, by advertisement, if they understand their 
interest. 
Salt a.vd Water for Hogs and Cattlr. — For the 
encouragement of “Young Farmer, Elgin, Ill.,” toper- 
severe in well doing, I send the following:—In the fall of 
’62 we fattened eighteen hogs, old and young, the pigs av 
waging near 300, and the old ones (at a year and a-balf,) 
a little over 400 pounds each, dressed. We began by feed¬ 
ing potatoes and peas boiled together, (peas enough to take, 
np the potato water,) on which they thrived wonderfully. 
Wlwn they failed we changed to corn meal wet, and corn 
in the ear, with water handy, of which they could drink 
at convenience; lrut they soon became gaunt and ate but 
litUe. Somelhingmust bo done. I Cook everything away 
and put a little gruel in the troughs, and made it pretty 
salt. At the end of two days I added a little more, and 
then kept on till tlieir daily allowance was eighteen pails 
of water, about three good handfull* of salt, and about 
one hundred and twenty quarts of old com meal. So 
much for salt and water for hogs. 
Last fall wc had an animal that defied every attempt to 
fatten him He would take no hearty food except iu tho 
most moderate allowances, leaving soft corn for pumpkins, 
picking apples out of his meal when fed together, and ut¬ 
terly refusing to ('at any of it when 1 mashed the apples 
so that lie could not sort it. So 1 tried salt and water and 
soon had the satisfaction of seeing hint eat (with four 
pads of water and a handfull of salt,) fourteen quarts of 
meal, daily, with "lots 1 of hay. I gave him a peck one 
night, by way of experiment, but he did not want any 
breakfast next rooming; so I waited for him to come to 
his appetite again, which he did in thirty six hours.—F. 
Ewer, Jtlmdm Center, At F., Feb. 16, 1863. 
Rural Notes ant) Stems. 
Report of the Commissioner ok Agriculture.— Last 
week the President communicated to Congress the Report 
of the Commissioner of Agriculture, with the accompa¬ 
nying matter for the general Agricultural Report for 1862. 
A Washington letter soys that, “ from a cursory examina¬ 
tion of subjects and unrocs of contributors, it is believed 
to be a report, of great value to the agriculture of the coun¬ 
try, which valuable matter has been prepared in the De¬ 
partment. The chemical report of Prof. Wrttkll em¬ 
braces important analyses: A report of the Superintendent 
of the Propagating Garden gives a view of current exper¬ 
iments in practical botany. The statistical tables comprise 
an aggregate of the various agricultural productions; the 
aggregate productions of the loyal Staten; estimates from 
an original system of collecting trustworthy information 
of the acreage, average yield and borne value of the prin¬ 
cipal crops, and statements of the agricultural exports of 
the last six years, with those of the thirty years previous, 
it; periods of fo e rears each, arranged for comparison and 
analysis. Among the articles prepared in the Department 
are essays On the Culture of Cotton and Tobacco and Flax, 
and an exhaustive compendium of fact* illustrating the 
present, condition and future prospects of Sheep Husband¬ 
ry in the United States, embracing a brief statistical and 
historical View of our Woolen .Manufactures.” The con¬ 
tributors embrace several gcntlomeu of considerable prac¬ 
tical experience and scientific attainments, and we trust 
the volume will be n vast improvement upon the Patent 
Office Reports heretofore issued. A tnong the articles are: 
The International Exhibition of 11012, Agriculture of 
Maine, the Wheat 1‘luul, Wheat Growing in New Hamp¬ 
shire, Sorghum Culture, Shelter and Protection of Or¬ 
chard*, Frost, Entomology of Grapes, Wild Flowers, Sweet 
Potatoes, Maple Sugar, Poultry, production of Milk, Beef 
and Pork, Stall-Feeding of Cattle, Kerry Cattle, Preserva¬ 
tion of 1 e-ad, Timber on the Prairies, Flax Cotton, Ailan 
thus, Silk Worm, Farm Implements, Manufacture of 
Flour, Coal Oil, Mai Lie of Rutland County, Health of Far- 
Okitch of our Westehn Editor.— For the information 
of Rural readers in the West, and especially the many 
acquaintances of our Western Associate, we would state 
that Mr. B/cauoon’m office is at No. 69 State 8: , Chicago, 
Where he will he happy to see l.Lfriends from the country. 
It is unnecessary for us to add time Mr. B. i - deeply inter¬ 
ested in all that pertains to the progress of tho West, 
and zealously laboring to promote improvement In Its Ag¬ 
riculture, Horticulture and kindred pursuits. Identified 
and familiar with its Rural Affairs, he will he glad to meet 
the Fanner* and Horticulturists uf the West, and receive 
and impart information on topics of interest to the 
people and country. To his friends no introduction will 
he necessary, and other readers of the Redial, will, we 
doubt not, receive a cordial welcome. One who lias 
traveled so much in tin* West, aud observed so closely, and 
written s<> well about what he has seen and heard, requires 
no commendation to those desirous of elevating the posi¬ 
tion or enhancing the interests of the Agriculturists of 
that vast and productive region. We therefore invite 
those visiting Chicago to call at No. 69 State St., and have 
a chat with our Western Aid, who, wo may add, is both 
intelligent aud amiable—a man thoroughly imbued with 
progressiv e principles and right impulses, aud who, more¬ 
over, firmly believes in the West and its People. 
— We re-publish the above from our last volume for 
the information of the large number of Western people 
who have recently joined tho “ Rural Brigade,” and to 
refresh the memories of old subscriber-. 
ifUQMiMg Mia 
they tire too lnravyto move convenient,fy, require 
too much labor in construction, and they do not 
prevent crowding. Sheep appear to prefer a rack 
where they can thrust their heads into tiie bay, 
and we have noticed they choose to eat at our 
racks with slate rather than fit the Geddes’ racks, 
for at the latter, not being able to thrust the nose 
in very far. they must eat that which comes first, 
and we often find them half full of hay when the 
Other racks are entirely empty. 
With regard to the doors of sheep houses, wc 
prefer those which arc double—divided horizon¬ 
tally iu the middle, which will permit the upper 
part to be open in pleasant weather, for ventila¬ 
tion. Gatos or doors made of slats we do not 
like, as they do not exclude the storms. 
One of our sheep houses is built against the 
deuces of success. Peter Hathaway. hollows in the adjoining neighborhood. Tho 
Milan, Ene Co., Ohio, 1863. pleasure and ease I have experienced the past 
few years in securing my hay, to say nothing of 
CORN AND (FLAX. the profit, has doubly repaid me for all the ex- 
,, ' ~ pense and trouble. “ Go thou and do likewise.” 
h armers oi the Free States, this year is the F ox Lake, Dodge Co., Wis. C. B. Hawes 
one to plant corn and sow flax. The very light ____ 
corn crop of last year, together with the almost SUGAR CANE,-MAKING SIRUP. 
failure of the oat crop, created such a demand for _ 
corn that the country is now nearly exhausted of Eds. Rural New-Yorker:— In reading your 
it. It is now selling for a good round price, with paper the few weeks that I have been taking it I 
a fair probability of its fetching more before the find there is but a little said (aud that little is re- 
year is up than it has for tho last thirty years, ports of Conventions,) about Sugar Cane. This 
These considerations should be sufficient to I consider wrong.* We can have the experience 
arouse every tamer to vigilance'Jaud activity cm of men about raising oats, corn, and potatoes, 
the corn question to put in a large crop, and which we are well acquainted with, and scarcely 
sec that it is prat in Well. Let not the last three anything said about cane, a crop that is worth 
years of discouragement in corn-raising hinder 
them all the straw they would eat, aud from four 
to six sheaves of oats per day until the first of 
February. Since then have given them good 
polled a great many farmers to turn then atten¬ 
tion to something else. But hold! These are 
but circumstances which never should control 
two, three and four times as much as the common 
crops raised on the farm, aud one which we ought 
to raise as long us we use sweetening. I have 
raised the cane for several years, but not to any 
amount until the last two years. Year before 
last I raised two acres, from which 1 made three 
hundred and twenty gallons of molasses and the 
Iiipnisrt Cane Seed.—-W ill you please inform roc thro' 
the columns of the Rural where 1 can obtain the Imphee 
oane seed t By so doing you will oblige a subscriber.— 
Jab. Welch, Harlem , Ohio. 
See advertisements of Blymyers, Bates & Day, of 
Mansfield, O , in our issue of 21st ultimo. 
Sweet Potatoes for Bcrovting.— Can any one inform 
rue, through the Rural, where I can get sweet potatoes 
for sprouting purposes next spring t* I design up routing 
fifty bushels if they can lie had. Au answer would great 
ly oblige—M M., Verona, lit. 
Tiros? having tubers or plants ready for setting usually 
adrertls* ia the Rural at the proper season, and we pre 
suroe they will this spring. The best advice wo can give 
you ut present is to watch the advertising departments of 
the agricultural papers. 
How to SciiDfE Blue or Junk Grass.—S eeing that 
you permit your subscribers to inquire iu your cxet-llerr 
Rural about wliut i iterests them, 1 wish to askyrmor 
your readeis the best way to subdue Blue or June Grass— 
whether in summer fallowing to plow and then cultivate 
on the top, or to cross plow and lum the roots up to the 
sun —Isaac Bei.lks, Fayette, .S'cii«*< Co., A’. Y. 
A practical farmer at our elbow says tho best course is 
to plow as deep as you can and make a good job of it, and 
then summer fallow, using' the cultivator thoroughly 
through the dry season. It will then bo iu good condition 
for plowing for wheat, in case you wish to raise a crop 
the coining season, plow thoroughly, cultivate well, plant 
to corn, and give good after culture. You can follow with 
winter wheat or rye, and seed to clover or timothy. 
A Nmv Potato.—A member of the Belgian Central 
Society of Agriculture has recommended to the attention 
of the Society a new variety of the potato, which is re¬ 
markable in the triple pomt of view of ilavor, abundance, 
and facility of prcscivation It appears to he a variety of 
what is called chardoit iu Belgium. Its stalk grows to the 
height of 12 in . and throws out many branches. The 
blossom is of a pale violet color, and produces no fruit. 
A field of one acre of third-class quality, lightly manured, 
produced 22,000 kilogrammes of sound potatoes The 
neighboring farmers were astonished not only at the enor¬ 
mous produce, but at the absence of any unsound potato. 
The crop was dug out cm the 12th of October. 
A Safe Purchasing Auknt vs New York —We take 
pleasure in referring, without soHcitation, to the adver¬ 
tisement of Mr. Siberia Oit, who lux? recently establish¬ 
ed a Depot for the sale of the celebrated Boardman, Gray 
& Co. Piano Kories, in New York, and who also offers his 
services as a general Purchasing and Information Agent. 
Our business acquaintance with Mr. Ott is such that we 
can confidently commend him as eminently reliable—just 
the man to transact business for strangers with promptness 
and fidelity. We trust he will achieve marked success in 
an enterprise for the prosecution of which he possesses 
admirable qualifications. 
La Tourrettk’b Drain Tile Maciunk. —We have 
heretofore commended the Drain Tile Machine manufac¬ 
tured by A L a Tourkktte, Jr., of Waterloo, N. Y., and 
given the results of Us operations during trials which we 
have witnessed. It is a great labor saving invention, and 
probably the best machine for the purpose in the country. 
As will bo seen by* reference to advertisement in this pa¬ 
per, tho N, Y. State Agricultural Society indorses Air. La 
Tourrette’s machine in the strongest terms. 
