ie/ U W t-J <Aj 
00 HE 
cattle are terribly hard on old, ricktey wagons 
and plows. 
G Use the oil of hickory freely whenever your 
oxen need strength; it is cheaper than hay or 
meal, keeps the air lively and pounds out all the 
gnibs. 
7 Select such calves for stock as the butchers 
shun—beauties of runt?, thin in the hams, and 
pot-bellied; but be sure and keep their blood thin 
by scanty herbage; animals are safest to breed 
from that haven't strength to herd. 
8. Be cautious about manufacturing manure; 
Its makes the fields look black and mournful about 
planting time; besides it is a deal of work to haul 
is sufficiently matured that it will not shrivel, so 
that the straw may be used for fodder, as a week's 
time after ripeness would make the fodder not 
half so good. Then there are the low, waste 
grounds which will yield quite an abundance of 
wild grasses, Ac, and the weeds and brakes, if 
cut while green and tender, or before being in 
blossom, will make a change of fodder quite pal¬ 
atable to the stock. All these little odds and 
ends, the stalks, vines, haulms, weed3, ferns, &c., 
should be carefully husbanded, and our word for 
it, next winter will prove the act to have been a 
wise one .—Maine Farmer. 
2. Fed, in this condition, as one would feed 
timothy hay, it is a dangerous food. It does in¬ 
jure stock in such cases. 
3. If cut when in bloom and cured as bay, it 
will not injure any kind of stock; it is exceeding¬ 
ly nutritious and valuable as a forage crop; it is 
also palatable. And if put on rich soil, it a pro¬ 
fitable late crop to put in. 
4. Experiments have demonstrated that the 
grass with the seed threshed out, does not injure 
stock, and that if fed lightly with the seed in, as 
one would feed grain, it is not injurious; but bad 
effects follow over-feeding, as in the case of oats, 
corn, or other grain- 
5 . For a forage crop it is found most profitable, 
and less dangerous to cut the grass when in blos¬ 
som. I know farmers who grow large crops ol 
it, cut it at this st age of maturity, and feed exclu¬ 
sively to team-horses. They feed no grain. 
Now, if any of your readers have any facte that 
conflict with the above, they should promptly 
furnish them, for I have never obtained any— c 
D. B. 
SHALL THE CLOVER BE PLOWED UNDER! 
In- the American Agriculturist for July. 1863, 
is au article under the above heading from the 
pen of “Connecticut}” which we think needs 
comment. The writer refers to a clover field 
which will yield three tuns of cured hay per 
acre, worth, as it stands in the field, ten dol- 
t of bis remarks are 
The Rural has no Traveling Agents —Though we 
have repeatedly publul c-i the fact that no traveling agents 
are employed by us, and cautioned the public against per¬ 
sons pretending to be authorized as such, we are in 
frequent receipt of letter? stating that money has been 
paid for the Rural to itinerating self sty ted agents.— 
During the past winter a large nuin'-erof persons in Can¬ 
ada West were swindled by a person who represented 
himself a? onr agent giving his name a? Edwin Ferson. 
In several Instances he promised the paper, including the 
American postage, for one dollar a year —and pocketed 
the money of many simple and hopeful people. Later, 
some sharper has been operating in Ohio, and probably 
the same person, as he there gives the name of Edwin 
McPherson. OS course it is nearly useless for us to cau¬ 
tion Rural readers against such graceless scamps, for the 
people swindled do not belong to our parish—and we 
must continue to receive the penalties of popularity in 
the shape of bitter complaints from those w ho have been 
defrauded, with occasional demands for the paper or the 
money paid Iberefor. 
— Under date of Salem, Col. Co., Ohio, 7tli mo. 29th, 
W H French tells us how a pretended agent of the 
Rural deceived the people of that locality. The un- 
authorized use of the names of prominent men is a sly 
dodge, but not very novel. Mr. F. writes:—“A man 
calling himself William Barret, of medium size, with a 
light complexion, bordering on the sandy, an open coun¬ 
tenance, find unassuming manners, called on some of the 
Inhabitants of this place and surroundings, having previ¬ 
ously secured the names of the most influential men as 
subscriber* fo the Rural New-Yorker and Peterson's 
Magazine. Many of these names he had taken without 
having fern the parties. The consequence of such a 
worth, as it stands in 
lars per tun: and the purpor 
to justify turning it under with the plow, to ope¬ 
rate as a manure to promote the growth ol sub¬ 
sequent crops. No doubt ‘ Connecticut” is sin¬ 
cere, but in the composition of such articles, he 
injures the course he would advocate. A great 
many, perhaps a majority, of the farmers in the 
United State?, are very much opposed to what 
they call “book farming.” and when they find 
the theories mid discoveries of agricultural writ¬ 
ers so widely differing from what their expe¬ 
rience has taught them to be true agricultural 
economy, it is not much to be wondered at. 
That they do find many such theories is true. 
And now let us see if “ Connecticut” is-not such 
a writer. 
Thirty dollars worth of clover per acre to be 
plowed under a? a green manure. That is at 
least equivalent to a crop of wheat yielding 
forty bushels per acre, at one dollar per bushel, 
or eighty bushels of corn worth fifty cents per 
bushel. It seems to us that “ fields of tasseled 
corn or golden wheat obtained at such an ex¬ 
pense, could hardly “make glad the heart of the 
husbandman.” As near as we can calculate bis 
debit and credit account with his wheat field 
would stand about thus: 
The Locusts Gone. 
The dismal music from field and wood that 
greeted the ears of the people throughout, a wide 
range of Eastern Ohio during the hot days of 
June and well into this month of July, is stilled, 
and “all is quiet” on the Tuscarawas and in the 
valley a of other famous sections in that region. 
The locusts have departed—retreated, fled, and 
not even the veriest scout can Bud the line of 
their retreat. But that they “fall back ” terribly 
« demoralized,'' so much so that they w ill Dot be 
able again to marshal their hosts for seventeen 
years, is not doilbted. The Canton Repository 
thus speculates upon their sudden “taking off: 
the ground from which they 
9. Never waste time by setting out fruit and 
shade trees; fruit and leaves rotting around a 
place make it unhealthy. 
To Curf. Sheep from Jumping. — A corres¬ 
pondent of the Ohio Farmer gives the following 
curious account of the method adopted by him to 
prevent his sheep from jumping the fences of 
bis pasture:—“ I want to tell you about myjump- 
ing sheep, and how I broke them. I got them in 
a pen built sufficiently high to hold them: I then 
caught the ringleaders one at a time, and made 
a small hole in each ear. I then took a cord or 
FARM ACCOUNTS 
Eds. Rural New-Yorker : — Having read 
with much interest the articles that have occa¬ 
sionally appeared in the Rural on the subject of 
“ Farm Accounts” has determined me to address 
you with a view r to ascertain your opinion on (be 
desirability of publishing a form of account by 
double-entry, showing the actual workings upon 
a farm for one year, embracing every transac¬ 
tion that can arise, thus rendering the form so 
practically simple, that any one enjoying the 
advantages of an ordinary education could not 
tail to understand it. True it is, that farmers are 
lamentably neglectful in recording their daily 
transactions, but this, mainly. I believe, arises 
“ The holes in 
emerged, are not all closed up vet, but it is not 
probable that they have departed by the same 
avenues through which they came; and it is 
equally improbable that they have been smitten 
with a suddeD disgust with the world and dug 
into the earth again, to wait for seventeen long 
years for ‘something to turn up,’ before they 
accept, naturalizaiion papers. Neither is it prob¬ 
able that they have concentrated as the birds do 
in the autumn, for a gTand flight southward to 
re-enforce that other pest which flaunts a uniform 
of their color; for one pestilence at a time will do 
in a couutry. especially If that evil takes the hid¬ 
eous shape of secession, and were there not valid 
reasons 
gttquiHfjs and ^n$m$ 
How Can I Keep Swkkt Potatoes? —Will some one 
inform me, through the Rural, howto keep sweet pota¬ 
toes through the winter, so that 1 can raise my own seed 
and prepare it for planting 't —W., Nebraska. 
To cost of manuring per acre 
“ cultivation “ 
“ seed 
“ harvesting “ 
<< thrashing “ 
“ marketing “ 
Agricultural Editors “Around.’’ —On Saturday 
last, during our temporary absence, Orange Judd, Esq., 
of the American Agriculturist, and Luther H. Tucker, 
Esq , of the Country Gentleman, called at the Rural’s 
sanctum. Glad to learn that these notable brethren can 
find time to rusticate at a season when leisure must prove 
very acceptable to weary and Overworked journalists, 
(judging from our vain longings for the same,) and admire 
their wisdom in sojourning, even briefly, in the Eden of 
America—Western New' York. We trust our friends had 
a plea-ant time hereabouts, finding some things worthy of 
commendation, and little that should be criticised or con¬ 
demned, in the practices or on the premises of our Agri- 
culturo-ts and Horticulturist*. They will pleaie bear in 
tnind that most of our farmers work for profit as well as 
pleasure. N'ot having been born with gold spoons in 
their mouth*, nor acquired fortunes in the Lirge cities- 
like many at the East and on the Hudsen who have retired 
to the country to spend their money—they cannot be 
expected to exhibit the elaborate style and ornamen¬ 
tation of premises, etc., uot uul'requently displayed in 
some localities near the homes of our contemporaries. 
Yet for solid worth and average wealth, intelligence and 
refinement w e think the Rural 1st* of Western New York 
(and certainly of large district* ol it,) will at least equal 
those of any other portion of America. 
How to Kill Canada Thistles. —I saw in a late num¬ 
ber of the Rural an inquiry how to kill Canada Thistles. 
Mow them In the old of the moon, in August, with sign 
m the heart, if you can. Try it.—S. W. M., Otoe Co, 
Nebraska. 
By forty bushels of wheat per acre.$40,00 
Again, thirty dollars per acre will bay, fence, 
and clear ofl' a new farm. This has been done 
within the last year on the farm on which I live. 
And, still again, it would seem that a field which 
has grown “eight or ten tuns of vegetable mate 
ter” in one season, would not require such a 
heavy manuring. We think we will have our 
“eyes and ears shut” when we set the plow at 
such work—our understanding also. 
In conclusion, let us remark that we concur in 
the opinions of thousands of the best agricultu¬ 
rists of our country, that the green tnanurial sys¬ 
tem, when properly applied, is one of the cheap¬ 
est and most efficient methods of renewing 
worn out soils, or for enriching soils generally, 
that can be adopted. e. w. 
Ida, Mich., 1863. 
against the theory of their southern mi¬ 
gration, there is still a potent one remaining, 
that is, the sun of the Cotton Confederacy has set 
in eternal darkness, and even locusts, stupid as 
they are, have a weakness for the sunshine.”— 
Ohio Farmer. 
Warts on Cows’ Udder—I have a cow which lias a 
wart on her hug, about two inches above the teats, which 
ha* increased in size fully one-half within the past year— 
being now nearly or quite as large a* a ben's egg. Will 
you or some one of your numerous readers Inform me 
throagh the Rural how 1 Can best remove the same with¬ 
out injury to the cow.—D. O. M., Plainfield, tVis. 
The Horse. 
The horse is a living machine, capable of 
more or less reasoning, and set in motion, not 
only at our will, but also on bis own account. 
The trainer must, therefore, before he begins to 
handle it, make himselt familiar with the capa¬ 
bilities and peculiarities of both body and mind. 
We hardly ever find this machine in perfect 
symmetry—it is not even wanted to have it so; 
for the English race-hor u is not symmetrical, 
but has intentionally, by careful breeding, un¬ 
dergone a change of figure deviating entirely 
from its ancestors, the Arabs. But any such 
deviation, although it may favor a certain qual¬ 
ity, for instance, speed, is tbe reason that the 
horse cannot perform other work with equal 
ease, Tbe body of the thorough-bred appears 
more symmetrical than it is, because by breed¬ 
ing for the turf the withers have become so high, 
ibat it looks as if the shoulders were as high as 
the hips; but the disproportion of tbe legs strikes 
any beholder, the fetlock and radius being too 
long, and the stankbone too short. If these 
horses perform great deeds apart from speed, we 
find the reason in their great muscular power, 
and their small bones, as well as in the lightness 
of the head and neck. But very seldom will 
the thorough-bred naturally be a good steeple¬ 
chaser, or an agreeable saddle-horse; if he is 
such, he will certainly resemble more or less the 
Arab, as does also the English hunter, except in 
size.—Cor. Wilke's Spirit of the Times. 
Wkrk thkt Twins f—A Singular Case .—I have a fine 
looking cow, seven year* old, which had a calf on Mon 
day, the 20ih of tbie month She appeared all right, and 
we milked her regularly, (but did not get a* much milk a* 
we expected. I Qn Sunday, the 26th, slip had another calf 
Both were males, and of large size I have had cow* vary 
twelve hour* in having twin*, but do not recollect of read 
ing or hearing of a cow going six davs apart This is for 
the querist and stockmen.—S C. Smith, llory lhads, 
Chemung Co ,N- 1", July 27, 16»S3 
Spanish Merinos Wanted —Can you or pome of your 
correspondent'- inform me where I can procure some 
pure blooded Spanish Merino bucks ? I desire to make a 
change of bucks In my (lock, *o as to combine size ot 
frame with the weight of wool.—J ohn Scott, Newfane. 
Niag. Co., N 1’ 
Can’t *ay where the desired animals can be obtained. 
Those who have such for sale should not hide their lights 
under a bushel, but let them shine—by advertising in tbe 
Rural, Ste. 
Winter Wheat and Other Chops in Ontario. —In a 
recent letter, Mr. F. G. Knowles of Cau&diee, Ontario 
Co , N. Y* , writes;—“Allow ine to give you a little infor¬ 
mation in regard to our crops in this and adjoining local¬ 
ities. and particularly in respect to winter wheat. There 
was a greater bieadth of wheat sowu last autumn than in 
any previous fall in many years, a* we have found a 
variety w hit'll appears to be midge proof. This wheat 
was introduced into our town by Mr. Winfield, and goes 
by the name of the Hopewell Wheat. Mr. Winfield's 
crop was about twenty eight bushels to the acre last year, 
tt is a beardless wheat, and could hardly- be called white 
wheat, as it has rather a reddish cast. Formers are very 
much encouraged about winter wheut raising, and there 
will be a stiU greater area sown the coming autumn than 
there was last. Spring crops, as a general tiling, look 
very promising for an ordinary yield The hay crop in 
many instances will exceed that of last year, which was 
very abundant. Seveial of my neighbors sowed flax last 
spring, which looks welL We shall have enough of most 
kinds of fruit, such as apples, plums and the like.” 
KEEPING SHEEP IN THE WEST PAYS 
Ena. Rural New-Yorker :—As your paper 
has a large circulation in Wisconsin and other 
Western States, and as the inquiry is frequently 
made whether farmers can make it profitable to 
keep sheep or to buy sheep at present prices to 
keep in Wisconsin. J send you a report of tbe 
success of one of our Dane county farmers, Mr. 
R. W. Salisbury, with a small flock of sheep 
that he purchased last September. As he could 
not find any sheep iu his neighborhood for sale, 
he started toward Illinois, inquiring, and the 
second day found a Uoek of four hundred, from 
which the owner would select twenty ewes and 
twenty lambs that he would sell for one hundred 
dollars. After making several propositions they 
bargained that tbe owner should select forty of 
his poorest ewes aud thirty of his poorest lambs, 
and Salisbury might take his choice of twenty 
ewes and twenty lambs from the seventy for one 
hundred dollars. The selection was made, and 
he started home with hit little flock of poor sheep 
and lambs, and you may think that the culls 
from a flock of 100. all running together in one 
pasture, were poor enough. On the way home 
one ewe became sick and died, and when he got 
home he turned fue flock into a pasture, and next 
morning found that dogs had been among them 
and killed t\\ o lambs. He now had thirty-seven 
left—19 ewes and 18 lambs. These he yarded 
every night thereafter, and by giving them good 
feed and care could perceive that they began to 
gain, and when winter set in they were looking 
as though they would live through till spring. 
They were fed hay once a day, and straw once a 
day, with about half a bushel of screenings of 
wheat, oats and buckwheat, equal to about a half 
bushel of oats daily. 
This season, from the niueteen ewes Mr. S* 
has raised twenty-five lambs, and from the whole 
flock sheared one hundred and eighty-four 
pounds of wool worth 62J cents per pound, and 
his sheep are now in as good condition as any 
flock in the county. The figures will stand thus: 
Paid for sheep and expenses in getting them 
home,...$104 50 
Received in wool, lS41bs., at 62J* cents,. 115 00 
Leaving eleven dollars and fifty cents and sixty- 
two sheep and lambs worth $2.50 each as pay for 
keeping the flock ten months—amounting to one 
hundred dollars and fifty cents. This will show 
that even a poor flock of sheep, with good care, 
will pay in Wisconsin. What farmer in New 
York would not take a flock of thirty-seven sheep 
and agree to keep them well for one year for 
sixty-two better sheep at the end of the year ? 
Fitchburg, Dane Co,, Wis., July, 1863. D. 
Roup in Fowls.— In the Rural of July 25 a Wisconsin 
correspondent attk* “ What Aits the Fowls ?"—The disease 
from winch his fowls are suffering is evidently “ Roup,” 
produced or caused by the want of a due portion of Iron 
iu the blood, in which state it generate* a small thread 
worm (fakria bronchia ,) in the windpipe. If the cases 
are not too far gone, the health of the fowls may he re¬ 
stored by administering 6 or 8 grains of wheat or barley 
well saturated with spirits of turpentine, daily during 
need—giving albO daily a pill composed of Sitlph. of Iron 
and meal,—say 2 drams of the Sutph. mixed with a suf¬ 
ficiency of meal to constitute a paste, which divide into 
sixty pills.— Hknht Pitt, V. S., New York. 
can by possibility arise*, whether under Expendi¬ 
ture or Income, upon, a farm in the course of 
twelve months; setting forth the way in which 
the daily entries are made in the journal—tbe 
means by which accuracy is insured in posting 
or carrying off all the entries in the journal to 
their proper respective heads of accounts in the 
ledger—the keeping and balancing of the cash 
book—and, dually, the preparation of the stock 
account and balance sheet—exhibiting, at one 
glance, the debit and credit result of the year's 
labor, whether for profit or loss. Perhaps it is 
proper to observe that one half-hour per day, or 
probably less, is all the time aud attention that 
the hooks would require, unless the breadth of 
land under cultivation is very large, like the 
“ large farms ” in the West. 
Did my humble position permit, I would, with¬ 
out hesitation, venture on the publication of the 
form of accounts at my own cost, but that I am 
not able to do, as the preparation of the work 
will involve much labor and care, and consider¬ 
able time. 1. therefore—should the publication 
be deemed desirable and likely to be appre¬ 
ciated,— must leave it in other aud more wealthy 
hands, whose influence with the great body of 
agriculturists is such as will be likely to insure 
its adoption. Whether you will consider this 
question as personally addressed to yourselves, 
or as subject matter for public consideration, I 
respectfully leave it with you to decide, assuring 
you that the practical experience of upwards of 
forty years, both as an accountant and as a 
farmer, enables me to approach the subject with 
confidence; and, in conclusion, I would observe 
that, should any of your numerous readers be 
desirous of pursuing the subject further, or, of 
initiating a form of accouuts in their own affairs, 
I beg that they will address me without hesita¬ 
tion thereon. Edward Pitt, 
New York, July, 1863. 
Hovy to Make Home-krkwki> Alk —In the Rural of 
June 27th I see a recipe called for to make Home Brewed 
Ale. How to make it:—Take 36 gallons of water, 4 1 , 
bushels of malt obtained at the malt house, and 0 pound* 
of hops. The malt being ground is mixed with the 36 
gallons of water at the temperature of 160 degrees aud 
covered up for tlirce hours, when 20 gallons are drawn 
off, into which the 6 lbs, of hops are put and left to infuse. 
Thirty gallons of water, at a temperature of 170 degrees, 
are then added to the inalt in the mash tub and well mixed, 
und after standing two hour* 30 gallons are drawn ofl 
The wort from these two mashes is boiled with the hops 
for two hours, and after being cooled down to 65 degrees 
Is strained through a flannel hag into a fermenting tub, 
where it is mixed with 3 quarts of yeast and left to work 
for 24 or 30 hours. It is then run into barrels to cleanse, 
a few gallons being reserved for fiUing up the cask as the 
yeast works over.— .James Bisdsall, Scipio, Mich. 
The Season and Crops in Minnesota. —Writing us 
under date of July 26, Mr. T. J. Bwatne, of Mankato, 
Minn,, says:—“As there is an evident desire in some of 
the newspapers in adjoining States to check emigration 
to Minnesota, 1 wish to correct a statement in the last 
Rural, that crops would prove almost a failure in this 
State. The fore part of the season was dry; hut timely 
showers have made all kinds of grain promise a good crop 
in tills portion, and an average taking the State at large 
Harvest has well commenced, and some fields near here 
are estimated at 30 bushels per acre. We have had t 
larger emigration this summer, than any year since ’56, 
especially to the beautiful lands recently occupied by the 
Wiuuebago Indians.” 
Pig Protectors. 
The following method of preventing sows 
from lying on their young is given in the Ohio 
Farmer: 
One of the troubles in a pig nursery is tbe 
over-laying of the juvenile swine by a careless 
maternal bog. 11 is no:, at all agreeable to the pro¬ 
prietor of such stock, when he has progressed so 
far as to count hiscbickena after they are hatched, 
on visiting his pigmirseryin the morning, where 
he had left, the night before, a dozen of the cun¬ 
ning little juveniles, to find half uf his pets flat 
and stiff os a cold johnny cake, from having been 
lain upon by their mother. To secure tbe little 
porkers in inalienable rights to life, liberty and 
the pursuit of happinness, we have seen a plan 
of this sorb Against the walls of the apartment 
devoted to the pig bedroom, fix a plank like a 
shelf, about a foot wide and some eight or ten 
inches from the floor, so that when the female 
swine lies down to rest, or give subsistence to 
her little folks, there will be a space between her 
and the sides of the pen. which she cannot oc¬ 
cupy, and into which the pigs can retreat in case 
of a pressure. Sows over-lay pigs from their 
backs, not from the side where the pigs get their 
dinner, aud by this contrivance the pigs are 
shelved away from barm and the mamma may 
roll about upon ber bed with impunity, whereas 
if she could press her brood to the wall, there 
would be a smart chance for a pig funeral, and 
many of the hopeful flock would never arrive to 
years of discretion. 
The Iowa State Fair— to be held at Dubuque, Sept 
15tb to 18th inclusive—promise* to be alike creditable to 
the Farmers and State. Iu a letter from J. M Shaffer, 
Esq , Secretary of the State Ag Society, containing * 
cordial invitation to attend the approaching Fair, we an? 
assured that the prospect* of a superior exhibition are 
verv flattering. Letters from aU parts of tbe State evince 
that the farmers have awakened to a new interest in tbe 
success of tbe Society, and the Secretary adds that we eaa 
guy to our friends that the Fair gives promise to be af uil 
representation of the agricultural condition of the Forth 
west. Would that we could be present, witness the ex¬ 
hibition, and meet and greet many friends and readers 
who have cast their lot in pleasant places in Iowa ’ But 
we must forego the pleasure. May the Fair fulfil! the 
most sanguine expectations of our friends, and greatly 
accelerate the cause of Rural Improvement. 
Lightning Rods. —O. T , Cayuga Co., N. Y. Our 
correspondent inquires our views on the construction and 
protection of the lightning rod. There can be no doubts 
indulged on the subject of their value, when properly 
constructed and well put up. We have always held that 
tlie electric spark does not traverse the atmosphere and 
descend without some motive—some powerful attraction, 
and that attraction must he an opposite state of the electric 
fluid iu the earth, which is generally the negative state, and 
w hen meeting neutralize each other and become harmless 
We suppose the great effect and virtue of the rod is to 
to send off and disperse from the region it is intended to 
protect, the electricity in the opposite state to the electri_ 
city of the cloud, thereby destroying the local attraction. 
It can lmrdiy be conceived that the thunderbolt, passing 
with the most inconceivable velocity and power to reach 
the earth, could turn fifty or 6ixty feet out of its track, to 
expend it-elf on so iusignificant an object as u single half- 
inch wire, unless it was the only and most prominent 
communication with the negative state in its immediate 
neighborhood, Lightning rods may be constructed of 
any of the hard metals, though copper is supposed to be 
the best conductor, and is now extensively used, made 
from a narrow slip of sheet copper twisted aud corrugated, 
until it form* a rod aud properly secured to the building 
through glass thimbles, the lower end set sufii 
Save the Fodder. 
The present indications are that the grass 
crop will be below the average, and therefore it 
follows that the considerate fanner must carefully 
save and preserve all the material possible that 
will go towards helping winter the stock. This 
is the season for practicing economy in the har¬ 
vesting line. Save every pound of hay—see that 
the grass is cut clean and the hay raked clean. 
A slack mower or a slovenly raker will usually 
leave as much grass or hay behind him. and lost, 
as bis daily wages will amount to. Such hands 
shouldn't be tolerated in the field this season at 
any rate. A careful map. even if he asks half a 
dollar more a day, is the cheapest in the end. 
Grain should be cut just as soon as the kernel 
The Road to Poor Faming. 
As the road to poor farming is not generally 
understood, though it is crowded with travelers, 
we throw up the following landmarks, from the 
Springfield Republican, for the common benefit: 
1. Invest all your capital iu land, and run in 
debt for more. 
2. Hire money to stock your farm. 
3. Have no faith in your own business, and be 
always ready to sell out. 
•L Buy mean cows, spavined horses, poor oxen 
and cheap tools. 
5. Feed bog hay and mouldy corn stalks ex¬ 
clusively, in order to keep your stock tame: fiery 
—passing 
ciently deep to reach the moist earth. A half or five- 
eighth inch iron rod makes a good conductor, and welding 
together is preferable to looping. The points should he 
plated with silver or well tinned. The higher they pro¬ 
ject above the roof, or chimney, the safer and more effica¬ 
cious they will prove. In remote districts, where glass 
thimbles cannot be conveniently obtained, the neck of 
junk bottles answer all purpose*, and even modern cleats 
soaked in melted beeswax and well coated over may he 
considered safe. It is held by good observ ers, that a rod 
only protects a circle of about 50 or 60 feet, and should he 
placed on the c-Uimney, or highest-part of the building, 
and project as much above as it is capable of sustaining 
itself against high winds. 
The Rural is Appreciated.—O f this we cave 
dant erideuce from various parts of the countrv m 
encouraging letters from farmers, mechanic*, merchants, 
professionals, and “ heaven's last best gift.' For exam¬ 
ple, in an epistle just received from a lady conesponden. 
in Mudisou county, weread this:— “Success to the 
[ am more and more delighted with it every week. Am g a 
vou were so patriotic as to spare so many of your men to 
help the - wicked little village of New York to restore 
.. __i_thn' it speaks in a 
HUNGARIAN GRASS FOR HORSES. 
4 I am looking at what you say of a cotnmunica- 
a tion read at the meeting of the Philadelphia So- 
j ciety for the promotion of Agriculture. On this 
^ subject, of the of Hungarian grass as a food for 
f animals. I have received a great many communi- 
•L cations from practical farmers, and talked with 
many others. The following are the results of 
my efforts to arrive at the truth : 
1. Hungarian grass, if allowed to mature the ( 
% seed before harvesting it, is a very heavy feed. 1 
