TWO DOLLARS AA YEAR.] 
“PROGRESS AA7STO INir'ROVKNIEaSTXV’ 
LiK NO. jF'I'VE CENTS. 
MOORE’S RURAL NEW-YORKER, 
AN ORIGINAL WEEKLY 
RURAL, LITERARY AND FAMILY NEWSPAPER. 
CONDUCTED BY D. D. T. MOORE, 
With a Corps or Able Assistants and Contributors.. 
CHA3. D. BRAG-DON, Western Corresponding Editor. 
The Re It a t. Xkw-Yorker ia designee! to be unsurpassed 
in Value, Purity and Variety of Contents, and unique 
and beautiful iu Appearance. It* Conductor Uevotea liis 
personal attention to the supervision of its various 
departments, and earnestly labors to render the Kcral an 
eminently Reliable Guide on all the important Practical. 
Scientific and other Subjects intimately connected with the 
business of those whose Interests it zealously advocates. 
As a Family JOURNAL it is eminently Instructive and 
Entertaining —being so conducted that it can be safely 
taken to the Homes of people of intelligence, taste and 
discrimination. It embraces more Agricultural, Horticul¬ 
tural, Scientific, Educational, Literary and News Mutter, 
interspersed with appropriate Engravings, than any other 
journal,—rendering it the most complete Aoricpi.ti kal, 
Literary and Family Nkwupa ricit in America 
I'sT’ For Terms and other particulars, see last page, 
WESTERN EDITORIAL NOTES. 
LARGE FARMS. 
[Concluded from first page of last number.] 
SYSTEM, 
Aa bofovo intimated, is oco of the features which 
impress the visitor here. Here is a large hoard¬ 
ing house, with a dining hall and a cook — a 
“ French cook,” if you please,—whose duty it is 
to provide food for the men. It must be ready, 
promptly, at the hour stipulated—an abundance 
of it, too. And judging from some things I saw 
and what I heard, the wishes of the men govern, 
to a great extent, the kind of food served up to 
them. A certain amount is necessary to supply 
the demands of appetite. It requires less in the 
aggregate, if the appetite is not starved into 
craving something it cannot obtain. Mr. S. has 
learned that men work well where they eat well; 
and that they eat well when they have what 
they want to eat. lie finds also that a generous 
providence in the kitchen has much to do in 
determining the stability of his help. Well-fed 
hands stay longer where the work is not oppres¬ 
sive. If they go away, they are glad to come 
hack again; and they do Como back. 
Near the dining hall is a blacksmith shop, 
where the teams are shod, the plows sharpened 
and repaired, clevises and chains mended, took 
putin order —indeed, where all the repairing be¬ 
longing to a blacksmith is provided for. Near 
by is the carpenter shop, where plows are now 
wooded, parts of machines replaced, or new 
ones constructed, adapted to the peculiar work 
to be done. 
A large shed covers the drills, reapers, mow¬ 
ers, threshers, headers—an endless confusion of 
farm machinery—some of it in order for work, 
some in parts to bo put together at the proper 
season, others sent hither for trial and waiting 
the test, still others that have been tested and 
condemned—a historical museum, monumental 
to the various geniuses who have aspired to 
revolutionize some branch of husbandry. It 
would be interesting to many, not very compli¬ 
mentary to some, and really unjust to others, 
were I to give the comments upon the different 
machines, made by Mr. if., as we passed the mass 
in review. I say “ really unjust,” because, while 
Mr. S.’s remarks may have been valid, so far as 
these machines related to himself and his needs, 
they could by no means apply to the small 
farmer with his needs, lienee I shall not report 
hLs opinions. Iu harvesting grain, headers are 
used exclusively almost. 
M e visited •• the store,” where are kept the 
supplies for the farm, boarding-house and family, 
including coarse articles of clothing, such as 
heavy boots, shoes, over-alls, felt hats, Ac.. Ac., 
adapted to the needs of working men. From 
this “ store" the stores. Ac., are distributed to 
*he different parts of ihe farm and charged 
thereto, and the daily transactions reported at 
the office to the book-keeper, who makes the 
proper entries thereof. 
1 -ach department of labor is directly super* 
' hy a foreman. The thirty or forty plows 
limning at the time of our visit, were under the 
‘ uvetion oi a superintendent, who, constantly in 
e saddle, saw that each team bad its proper 
place in the field, and did the work apportioned 
to it. Another man directs the harrowing; still 
another the planters; another the fence-makers; 
and there is a head-gardener. To supervise the 
whole, is a head-farmer, whose directions arc 
law, unless modified by the proprietor. Thus 
there is a military system of responsibility; and 
the commanders of departments are required to 
report the transactions of the day in their re¬ 
spective departments, at headquarters, to the 
comraander-in-chief, whoso adjutant makes a 
record of all these reports. 
FARM ACCOUNTS. 
There is no guess work about the conduct of 
this farm. Its operations are not slip-shod ad¬ 
ventures. There is a substantial business base 
to all transactions. And the success or other¬ 
wise of all enterprises is a matter of record; the 
degree ot success is exhibited at a glance. Tho 
examination of tho books of this farm was one 
of the prominent compensating features of our 
visit. And I am sorry to be compelled to say 
that it is the first time I have had tho pleasure of 
examining the books of a farmer which gave an 
intelligent exhibit of the character, extent and 
results of farm transactions, embracing Iho opera¬ 
tions, in detail, of each department of husbandry. 
An account is kept with each crop, working 
horse, ox, mule, man or woman on the farm. 
Each crop is charged with tho preparation of tho 
soil, seed, planting, culture, harvesting, thrash¬ 
ing, cleaning and marketing; and it is audited 
with the return. There Is a farm improvement 
account with the farm and with each division of' 
it. Each working ox and horse on the farm has 
an individuality—has a name by which he is 
known; and the foreman in the department in 
which he works is required to report his name 
and tho time he has worked, at headquarters, 
each night. 1 f ho has not worked, a reason must 
be given. At tho close of tho year the farmer 
can tell which ox or horse has been of the most 
service to him. And charging him with his 
board, and the interest on his cost, and it is 
quickly determined whether he is worth keeping 
or not. 
So with the daily, which is under the supervi¬ 
sion of a daughter of the farmer. Tho dairy- 
house is us cool and sweet a place as can be 
desired. The milk received at tho dairy-house 
is credited the cows at each milking; then what¬ 
ever goes tfom it is charged to the department 
which makes^ho requisition. A few quarts or 
gallons go to *ne or tho other of the boarding 
houses: or a certain number of gallons are made 
into butter and distributed in that form to the 
family of the proprietor, or to tho head-farmer's 
family, or to the workmen's dining rooms. 
Every pint of milk and pound or fraction of a 
pound of butter is accounted for and reported to 
the office. The labor expended in tho manage¬ 
ment of the dairy is charged it. and the profit 
derived from it determined. As indicating 
where the milk goes, I noticed that during one 
of the summer months of 1862, there were 
charged to hands in the field, twelve hundred 
gallons of milk! Does any one suppose this to 
have been an unprofitable disposition of milk in 
the hot harvest season? No, sir, it was as pro¬ 
fitable as it was refreshing and nourishing to the 
workmen. 
An account is kept with the garden. Each 
day's work or fraction of a day's work is charged 
to it. Last year over four hundred days' work 
were done in the garden. The books proved the 
assertion. “Did it pay?” “Yes, sir,” the proprie¬ 
tor promptly answered. And yet the rule is, the 
larger the farm, the smaller the garden. One 
single item credited to the garden will indicate 
what comes of it; for, credited to it, and charged 
to the boarding house, were tho aggregate num¬ 
ber of one hundred arid sixty bushels of snap 
beans. 
And I might continue to enumerate items; but 
space would fail me. The books are kept by 
double-entry, as concisely, and yet elaborately, 
as those of any business firm in the land. 
At the dose of each month an exhibit is made, 
showing the departments in which labor has 
been employed, the kind of work done, the num¬ 
ber of oxen, horses and hands employed, and 
the number of days' works done, in detail, and 
in the aggregate. Here is a sample of the head¬ 
ings of this monthly exhibit of labor accounts 
with the farm for a single month,—for Novem¬ 
ber, 1862,—giving the number of days’ works 
performed each day of iho month, under the 
following heads:—Wheat—thrashing, cleaning, 
hauling; Timothy seed — thrashing, cleaning; 
Wheat—sowing; Stock—herding and feeding; 
Fences and fireguards; Oats—thrashing; Fuel- 
hauling ; Permanent improvements; Stables— 
grooms and hay; Harden; Butcher shop—Curing 
meat; Implements and machinery; Store; Ilo- 
mer; Boardinghouse; M. L. S. House; Dairy; 
Smithy; Hauling lumber; Corn—Sec. 13. husk¬ 
ing and cribbiDg; Number of men boarded; 
Herdsmen boarded. Whole number of days’ 
labor performed that month, 8884 . 
It will bo seen that these headings, with the 
columns of figures indicating the number of 
days’ works done each day, under each head, 
afford a comprehensive record of the trans¬ 
actions of the month. At a glance the farmer 
can tell, not only how many days’ works were 
consumed in trips to Homer (R. R. station) 
during the month, but on what days the trips 
wen: made: and by reference to the farm jour¬ 
nal of that date, the object of those trips may be 
learned. So the number of days devoted to 
repairing and constructing farm implements, and 
the time in the month when the work was done, 
may be learned. 
This system of accounts is carried out in the 
minutest detail, so that the farmer knows accu¬ 
rately what each product costs him, where the 
labor applied pays best, what proportion of pro- 
ills he can afford to invest in permanent im¬ 
provements, what his improvements cost him, 
and how to go to work, if it is desirable, to 
diminish the cost of the same. The past is not 
all lost to him. The pages of his books give 
him ihe data upon which to determine ids future 
course. 
Will such a man succeed? Here are all the 
elements of success exhibited—great agricultural 
resources, requiring only capital, labor, system 
aud skill to develop th^o. If farming may be 
made to payat all on tf. se prairies, It seems that, 
Mr. S. will succeed. For he is doing it. in a busi¬ 
ness way. He knows when he is able to sell his 
products; and ho is able to hold them until he 
nan realize more than they cost—or at least all 
that they cost. lie can tell you to a fraction 
THE COST OF AN ACRE OF CORN. 
And a striking illustration of the intelligence 
and accuracy of guess-work farmers occurred on 
the day of our visit. We had been talking about 
corn culture and the various modes adopted of 
cultivating corn, Ac., when 1 asked Mr. S. for 
the average cost of producing a bushel of corn. 
“Ah,” said he, “that is a pertinent question. 
And yet it is Bad; it is strange that so lew men 
who have been growing corn all their lives 
know what it costs them to put iu and cultivate 
a hundred acres of corn. Now,” said he. tam¬ 
ing to a gentleman who had but just come in, 
“here is an intelligent farmer—really a sensible 
man, 1'idly equal to the average of farmers. He 
has been growing corn all his life: is somewhat 
noted hereabouts for growing a good crop; if 
anybody has corn, he has. Now tell us, if you 
please, how many days’ works It costs you to 
plow, prepare the ground, plant and “lay by” 
(which includes all the culture.) a hundred acres 
of corn?” 
The neighbor did not know—“had never reck¬ 
oned up to fee.” Thought he could tell after a 
little. 
“Well, now, to get at it quickly, how many 
days’ works will it C 06 t to put in and cultivate an 
acre of com. Give us your best judgment,” 
The man hesitated, when Mr. S. asked if four 
days’ works would do if. The neighbor shook 
his head. “Five? Six? Eight?” asked Mr. S. 
successively. The man finally concluded it 
would take from six to eight days* 
Mr. 8 . said it would require just 371 days’ 
works to “lay by” (including preparation, plant¬ 
ing and cutting,) fifty acres of corn—or seventy- 
five days’ works to “ lay by” liJO acres. 
“ Impossible to do it,” said tho neighbor. 
“ But I have tried it and know," said the figure 
farmer. “ Now, G., take your pencil aud a piece 
of paper and put down the items as this man 
gives them, and let us see where he puts the six 
or eight days' works on an acre.” 
Mr. S. proceeded to ask him how many acres 
of corn ground ho would plow in a day on an 
average; ditto, harrow; ditto, plant; ditto, har¬ 
row again; ditto, cultivate, say. three times. 
Here was a getting at it direct. The items ob¬ 
tained, Mr. G. announced that, according to the 
gentleman’s figures, it only cost ebjhirUnlhs of a 
day's work to prepare the ground, plant, culti¬ 
vate and “lay by” an acre of corn in the man¬ 
ner in which it is usually done! The neighbor 
did not. even then, believe his own figures. He 
thought it could not be done. 
But giving a day to the work and putting in 
and cultivating an acre of corn—allowing that it 
requires that time, see how my neighbor would 
wrong me if I paid for six or eight hundred days’ 
works in a contract with him for putting in and 
cultivating 100 acres of <jprn; see how he would 
JiliACK StP-AJSTISH L’OWLS. 
wrong himself if he paid another man at the 
same rate; see how easy it would be for them to 
make four or five dollars per day out of me by 
such a contract, if I did not know better; see 
how easy I could have made that amount per 
day out of him, if lie had been governed, iu 
making the contract, by his own loose estimate. 
And that is the way business is done by very 
many farmers. They know nothing about their 
business until their debts and empty purses 
impress them with tho fact that it has been “a 
bad year.” 
There is much more that might be written, 
suggested by our visit, but I add but an item or 
two. 
AN ACHE OF HORSE-RADISH. 
“ What in the world do you do with so much 
horse-radish?” I asked, as we came upon a large 
patch of it. 
“ 0, wo out a great deal in spring. It requires 
a good deal for so many men, and it is healthful. 
And this spring I found a new use for it. We 
dug up a good many barrels of it and sent it to 
the boys in the army, through tho agency of the 
Sanitary Commission. I assure you it was a 
capital relish for them.” Here is a hint worthy 
of general attention. 
HOW TO SET POSTS. 
Talking about the amount of fencing required 
on a large farm, the kind-of posts, Ac., Mr. I). 
asked, “Do you reverse the posts and set the 
top end in the ground, instead of the butt end?” 
Ann .—“ Oh, no.” 
Ques.—“Don’t you think it would make a dif¬ 
ference in their durability?” 
Ans.— U Well, It might make as much as it did 
with the fellow’s shoes. He greased one and 
didn't the other, in order to see which would last 
the longest; and he said the one that he greased 
lasted ten minutes loiu/er! So with the posts, 
there may be that difference — probably not 
much more.” 
GROVES 
Of peach, poplar, and other rapid-growing tim¬ 
ber trees, are planted at various points on the 
farm. Mr. S. prefers groves to belts; and if lie 
persists in this preference and continues to plant, 
ho will soon render his beautiful prairie domain 
a pastoral picture of surpassing loveliness. 
OSAGE ORAXOK 
Hedges I 10 believes in. Their early history in 
this State discouraged him; but he is convinced 
these later years, that it is the fence material for 
the prairies. He proposes to plant it largely as 
soon as seed can be obtained. It Is true, the 
hedge is liable to be burned; but no more so 
than a board fence; and it renews itself, while 
the board fence does not. That, the Osage will 
succeed in his neighborhood l saw evidence in 
several very good hedges belonging to liis neigh¬ 
bors. And I believe these live fences along the 
road sides i*nd on farm boundaries, are likely to 
be the only practical solution of “the fence ques¬ 
tion ” for some generations to come. 
MOLF. DRAINS. 
While looking at some of the defunct machi¬ 
nery stored in the sheds, something suggested 
the question whether he had used the mole 
drainers. Whether he had or not, 1 do not re- ^ 
member, but he did say he wished he had five 
hundred miles of mole drain. He had seen 
them in operation, and learned their value, not 
only as a means of ridding the soil of surplus 
water, but as a source of supply of pure running 
water for stock. 
It would give me pleasure to write of the 
flower garden, the (lower niL^he flower par¬ 
terres, the evidences of hiafcfy cultivated taste 
everywhere seen in the surroundings and inter¬ 
nal arrangements of this farmer's home; but I 
have not tho space. There arc evidences enough 
of refinement, without ostentation of acquaint¬ 
anceship with the outside world, without cold 
conventionalities—of the practicability of being 
a farmer’s wife and daughter without “slaving 
one's self to death.” And there is no evidence 
that any one lives hero without a place to till in 
tho machinery of this large farm establishment. 
1 saw no one idle, and yet no one bustling. 
There is something to bo learned by such a 
visit, even though a man does not believe in 
“big farms.” 
QUERIES ABOUT FOWLS. 
Eds. Rcral:—W ill you please Mate in jour paper what 
breeds of domestic fowls you would especially recom¬ 
mend to a person wishing a small, fancy and profitable 
poultry yard; where tho eggs of such fowl* can boob, 
talned; whether transportation by railroad n considerable 
distance would injure the hatching finalities of (aid eggs, 
and any other item* of information that would be valua¬ 
ble to a new beginner iu the poultry business ?—W. F. D., 
So. Dover, Dutcloess Co., JV. Y. 
The above, with several other inquiries on 
fowl subjects were handed to our chicken editor 
some time since, but he has been so industriously 
engaged in bringing hi3 young flocks safely 
through the critical period of chiekenhood, that 
he has only recently found time to furnish the 
required information, which we hasten to lay 
before our readers. 
If we were to select a breed of fowls combining 
beauty and profit, it would be tho Black Spanish. 
We would not make this selection, however, 
unless we had a good warm house, where, in the 
winter, they would not be likely to freeze their 
long, thin, beautiful combs. The Black Spanish 
fowl is very graceful In form, its color jet, glossy 
black, the feathers of the thighs and under part 
of the body being of a beautiful velvety appear¬ 
ance. The comb of both cock and hen is single, 
thin, very large, of a beautiful red, and contrasts 
most beautifully with the white fleshy check, 
which is a peculiar and charming mark of this 
breed. They are of fair size, a full grown male 
bird weighing from seven to eight pounds, and 
the hen only a pound or so less. A flock of 
these fowls in fine condition is a pretty sight, but 
when tho combs are frozen down to the head, aud 
other signs of hard usage are evinced, they are 
anything but beautiful. For rough usage there 
is nothing like a mixture of the Shawjhv; with 
our common barnyard fowls. The large Chi¬ 
nese fowls were, doubtless, wonderfully over¬ 
praised. The people of almost the whole civi¬ 
lized world became affected by the Shanghai 
excitement, nnd, therefore, it wua not strange 
that the people of America, who are exceedingly 
susceptible to influence of this kind, should feel 
its effects rather severely. Now that this has 
VOL. XIV. NO. 30. J 
ROCHESTER, N. Y.-FOR THE WEEK ENDING SATURDAY, JULY 25,186-3. 
{WHOLE NO. 706. 
