TERMS, §3.00 PER YEAR.] 
[SINGLE NO. TEN CENTS 
YOL XYIII. NO. 6.1 
ESTABLISHED IN 1850. 
MOORE’S RURAL NEW-YORKER, 
AX ORIGINAL WEEKLY 
AGRICULTURAL, LITERARY AND FAMILY NEWSPAPER. 
CONDUCTED BY D. D. T. JttOOBE, 
With an Able Corps or Assistants and Contributors. 
HENRY S. RANDALL, LL. D., 
Editor of the Department of Sheep Husbandry. 
HON. T. C. PETERS, 
Late Pres’t N. Y. State Ag. Soo'y. Southern Cor. Editor. 
GLE/.EN F. WILCOX, Associate Editor. 
The Rural New-Yorkke Is designed to be unsur¬ 
passed In V'alne, Parity, and Variety of Contents. Its 
Conductor earnestly labors to render the Bubal a Reli¬ 
able Cl aide on nil the Important Practical. Scientific and 
other 8abject* connected with the. tm-lnes-s o. those 
whoso Interest* It zealously advocate*. As a Family 
Journal It Is eminently Instruct!vand Entertaining- 
being so conducted that It can bn safely taken to the 
Homes of people of intelligence, taste and discrimination. 
It embraces more Agricultural, Horticultural, Scientific, 
Educational, Literary and News Matter, Interspersed 
with appropriate engravings, than any other journal,— 
rendering It by far Hie most complete Agricultural, 
Literaiit axu Family NKWsrArxR In America. 
No Traveling Agents are employed by us, and we 
give no certificates of agency. Any person so disposed 
can act as Local Ulob Agent, on Ills or her own author¬ 
ity, and compete for premiums, etc. 
jjr For Terms and oilier particulars see last page. 
WHEAT GROWING IN WESTERN N. Y. 
We should like to have the subject of wheat 
culture in Western N. Y. discussed somewhat 
freely In our columns by farmers of wide experi¬ 
ence and accurate observation No more appro¬ 
priate or vital question for our Farmers’ Club 
could be found, and it would have an interest 
extending ms widely ms the culture of the plant 
itself,—for it is likely that circumstances which 
have modified its prosperity in this section may 
operate sooner or later in other localities as well. 
We take it for granted that none will dispute 
the assertion that wheat culture in Western N. 
Y. is far less successful now, and has been for 
some years past, than it was formerly. Once a 
farmer could safely rely on the success of his 
wheat crop; yields of thirty-five and forty bush¬ 
els per acre were common,—now wheat growing 
is a sort of risky venture, which high prices only 
stimulate many to take, and we would travel 
some distance to look on the standing field, of 
wheat that would “shell out” the forty InishelB 
per acre. And not only has the product dimin¬ 
ished, but the quality has likewise deteriorated. 
Genesee Hour is not a brand as celebrated as in 
the days of the past. Wliat are the causes of 
this state, of wheat culture, and what are the 
forces v. e must employ to remove them ? These 
are questions of present and future importance 
to the farmers, not only of Western and Central 
New York, but of the whole wheat growing re¬ 
gion of the L nited States and Canada. 
Some will answer that the (train elements in 
the soil have been diminished to such an extent 
by overcropping, that a proper supply of them 
is lacking, hut that the straw elements have been 
returned in the manure, and, therefore, we get a 
good growth of straw but a light yield of grain. 
But others will refute this argument by pointing 
to virgin fields but recently cleared of forest, 
showing by their yield that the theory eaunot be 
correct. Some will ascribe the failure to the 
ravages of the midge and the consequent dete¬ 
rioration of the wheat plant; but the results 
from the best imported seed in seasons and lo¬ 
calities free from the ravages of the midge, will 
not sustain this assertion. Others may attrib¬ 
ute it to the increased severity of the climate 
consequent upon the removal of the forests, but 
the heavy growth of straw in numerous instances 
shows that the \ Igor ol' the plant is not dimin¬ 
ished by the severity of the winter. Even high 
manuring and perfect protection, with good 
seed, fail to produce such crops as once made 
the valley of the Genesee famous for their quan¬ 
tity and quality. 
Some specific cause, doubtless there is, which 
operates to deteriorate the wheat crop. It we 
can understand it, skillful culture most probably 
can control it; let us discuss the subject, com¬ 
pare notes, make experiments, until the golden 
grain fields shall wave as richly as of yore in the 
Valley of the Genesee and other wheat growing 
sections of the Empire State. 
PROGRESS AND IMPROVEMENT.” 
ROCHESTER, N, Y-FOR THE WEEK ENDING SATURDAY, FEB. 0,1807. 
THE CAUltOld, MANSION, OAKROLI/rON, MD. 
The Doughoregan Manor of Charles (Jak- 
uoll of Carrollton was among the last, if not 
the last, of those Baronial estates whicii came 
down from Colonial times. It contained nearly 
13,000 acres, and until quite recently was en¬ 
tailed. The entail, however, has been broken 
and the lands divided among the heirs, and in a 
few years it will have passed Into the hands of 
strangers, and exhibit a more attractive appear¬ 
ance than at present, occupied by teuauts. 
The mausion, of which the above cut is a 
representation, stands on a gentle eminence 
some half a mile from the Frederick Pike, and 
near the 15tU milestone from Baltimore. It is 
approached from the highway by wliat would 
have been a magnificent avenue, if, instead Of 
the scraggy yellow locust, the original pro¬ 
prietor, some fifty Or sixty years ago, had 
planted the native trees of the adjoining forest 
—oaks, chestnuts, &c. The yellow locust makes 
RURAL FARMERS’ CLUB. 
The Hilver Pheasant Fowls. 
Mr. G. VV. Cone, Stanley Corners, N. Y., 
commended this variety of fowls some weeks 
since in the Rural, lie now writes us again in 
this wise:—“ Having received letters of inquiry 
from Rural readers, in various parts of the 
country, in regard to my fowls, 1 wish, with 
your permission, to reply briefly through the 
columns of your paper. 
“ First, I have no fowls for sale. If I conclude 
to ship my eggs this spring for setting I shall 
advertise lu the Rural, otherwise no one need 
write for them. 
“ The Silver Pheasants are medium size, haud- 
some, easy keepers, and very peaceable and 
orderly. For the last two years my garden 
has been on one side of my barn, and cornfield 
on the other, with no fences. I have never kept 
my fowls confined, nor lost a bill of corn. I 
usually have a little corn lying around loose 
where the hens can get it without scratching for 
it. They are s ery hardy. Dr. Burnett speaks 
of, them as being valuable only as ornaments. 
Last year my hens averaged over two hundred 
(200) eggs each, and every pullet that I raised 
last summer paid me more than a dollar in eggs 
before Christmas, if the Doctor, or “any other 
man,” has a better paying breed 1 would like to 
see them advertised for sale. 1 will undertake 
with my Pheasants, this year, to make more 
clear money, in proportionate the number, than 
any other person with other varieties. Wo will 
report honestly at the end of the year, and the 
one who shows the smallest figures shall send 
to the proprietor of the Rural one gallon of 
oysters, (charges prepaid.) Here is u challenge 
for the whole world. Who accepts ?” 
Sovriu sj Plaster Early. 
J. Healy, South Dansvillc, writes :—“ In 
answer to the question of C. E. lloon, ' whether 
it will do as well to sow plaster in February or 
March as in April or May, If the grouud is clear 
from snow?’ I would say that for the last five 
or six years I have sown my plaster in March 
with good results, and have more than once 
sown it on snow three or four inches deep. I 
believe the beneficial effects of plaster are more 
apparent when sown in March than when sown 
valuable fence posts, but a very unsightly shade 
tree. 
The architectural appearance of the mansion 
has nothing particularly inspiring or attractive, 
and hut for its historic associations would hardly 
challenge a second look by the casual passer. 
The center or main building must have been 
built nearly or quite a hum-mil years ago, as 
the chapel <m the right-hand side Is the second 
Roman Catholic chapel ever built in Maryland. 
The chapel was originally built of hewn logs, 
but during the lifetime and occupancy of the 
late Cot. CnAs. Carroll whs weather-boarded, 
painted and put in complete repair, both inside 
and out, and is now a very pretty little private 
chapel. The services of the church arc held 
there every Sabbath. During his life the man¬ 
sion was repaired and enlarged to its present 
dimensions. 
in the days of its prosperity, the Carroll 
in May or June. Some four or five years ago I 
prepared a field of barley by plowing in the fall. 
In March, while the grouud was yet, frozen, i 
sowed It with plaster, three peeks to the acre, 
omitting one lane, fourteen puces wide through 
the center of the field. In May I sowed it with 
barley, and seeded it with clover and timothy, 
mixed half and half. At harvest time there was 
at least one-third less barley on the land not 
plastered than on either of the. adjoining lands, 
and the difference was still more apparent In the 
clover next year, and the effect was perceptible 
still the third year, In that the clover on the 
omitted land was nearly all killed out, while on 
the rest of the field It was not. On land that I 
Intend to seed down 1 always sow plaster, as it 
gives the young clover a much hotter start than it 
Otherwise would have. In answer to the second 
question, it is my opinion, formed more from 
observation than my own experience, that sand 
and gravel soils fed the effects of plaster more 
sensibly than the heavier soils, and clover more 
than timothy.” _ 
A Counle of Good Iloifx. 
A correspondent writing from Vernon, N. 
Y., informs us that Mr. JOHN Betts ol that 
place, killed a pig nine months old which 
weighed, dressed, just four hundred and sevguty- 
seven pounds. He adds the query; who can 
beat it? Another correspondent lrum Allegany 
Co., says that Mr. M. 8. I>.WJ9 of that place, 
slaughtered a pig, recently, sixteen months old, 
that weighed, dressed, six hundred uud Ibrty- 
eight pounds. We leave it to our readers to say 
which beat. 
Marl ns a Fertilizer. 
J. C. Burroughs, Hudson, Ohio, asks for in¬ 
formation, through our Farmers’ Club, respect¬ 
ing the value of marl as a fertilizer, as compared 
with plaster, especially for grapes, and its rela¬ 
tive vuluc burned or unburned. The bed which 
he possesses is nearly pure, being ninety per 
cent, rnarl; the soil to which’ he proposes to 
apply it is a gravelly or sandy loam. Who will 
furnish us with experience in die use of marl ? 
Rotation of Crops Named. 
John R. Volck, Angela, hid., names this 
rotation of crops for his section of country: 
Divide that part of the farm designed for tillage 
iuto six equal fields; plow sod in the spring for 
Mansion was one of the noted places for Us 
elegant hospitality—and I have heard many a 
sigh at the remembrance of the good times 
which were had there during the holidays. My 
informant has often been there when it was not 
unusual for a hundred or more guests to be at 
one time participating in the festivities of the 
occasion. The large retinue of servants, (nearly 
one thousand,) the, gay equipages, the cavalcades 
of horsemen, and women with their servants, 
trooping up the broad avenue, must have made 
it Indeed a pleasant time to remember. But the. 
scene has changed—aud if it were a proper time 
ami place to moralize, a very entertaining chap¬ 
ter could be written upon the changes which 
have come over the country since the last of 
the signers of the Declaration of Independence 
(“Charles Carroll of Carrollton,”) stood in 
the front door or worshipped In the adjoining 
cliapel. t. o. f. 
corn, next spring sow to oats, the autumn fol¬ 
lowing to wheat, seeding with clover and timo¬ 
thy. Mow one year, and pasture two, then plow 
for corn again. There can be enough barnyard 
manure made to manure one-sixth of the farm 
each year; put this on the field for oats. By 
all means keep something constantly growing 
on the. grouud. 
COMPARATIVE VALUE OF FERTILIZERS. 
Experiments on Worn-out, Moil with “ Boston Flour yf 
[ton/ f Hen, Hog amt. Privy manures, Unleaehed 
Ashes. Plaster, Halt a/ul JJme. 
Being forced by the ravages of the white grub 
in my plantation of small fruits, to depend upon 
something else for a livelihood, last spring I 
leased a twenty-acre field that had been cropped 
for at least eighteen years without rest, pastur¬ 
ing or the return of anything in the shape of 
manure to the soil. On seven acres, by twice 
plowing and applying thirty bushels of unleaehed 
ashes to the poorest part, I harvested 145 bush¬ 
els (of 50 lbs.,) of best quality buckwheat. Five 
acres were occupied with oats for fodder, peas, 
sweet corn and potatoes. The remaining eight 
acres, being very level and of even quality—or, 
as the first experiment will show, without any 
quality, 1 planted to corn. The soil is of a black 
and loamy nature, with a limestone rock for bot¬ 
tom. Its natural products were quack Canada 
thistles, June grass and a perfect torrent of 
quick-growing, low-creeping, climbing, choking 
weed that I call wild buckwheat. Yield 100 
bushels sound ears and 100 bushels unsound. 
Two acres in the center were devoted to ex¬ 
periments; five rows, of thirty-two rods In 
length, containing one-fifth of an acre were oc¬ 
cupied with guch experiment. First—five rows 
were without manure or top-dressing; yield, 
three bushels very doubtful good corn and three 
bushels very poor corn. Cost per acre —just as 
much plowing, cultivating and harvesting as a 
good crop. Y ield per acre—fifteen bushels good 
and fifteen bushels poor corn. This is, of course, 
the standard for comparison iu what follows. 
Second — five rows, immediately after the 
corn was covered, were top-dressed with a mix¬ 
ture ol' one peck of salt and one peck of uir- 
slakcd lime. Yield—eight bushels good and 
three bushels poor. Cost of mixture for one 
aero $1.50; extra labor, fifty cents; total, $2. 
Gain per acre, fifteen bushels good corn. 
1 WHOLE NO. 800. 
Third —five rows were dressed with one peck 
of Boston flour of bone, dropped in the bill and 
covered with the corn. Yield—six and a half 
bushels sound and four bushels poor. Cost per 
acre, $4.10; add fifty cents for dropping; total, 
$4.06. Gain, seventeen and a half bushels good 
and five bushels poor. 
Fourth five rows were top-dressed immedi- 
ly alter planting with a mixture of one peck of 
plaster and one bushel of uideaehedashes. Yield, 
seven and a half bushels sound and three bushels 
poor. Cost of mixture for an acre $1.25; extra 
labor, fifty cents; total, $1.75. Increase, twenty- 
two and a half bushels sound corn and no increase 
of poor. 
Fifth—five rows were dressed with a mixture 
(dropped in the hill and covered with the corn,) of 
one-fifth of a bushel of Boston Hour of bone, one- 
ill'th of a bushel of plaster and two bushels of 
unleaehed ashes. Yield — ten bushels good and 
three of poor corn. Cost of mixture per acre, 
$5.(Hi; extra labor, fifty cents; total, $0.16. In¬ 
crease of yield per aero, thirty-live bushels sound 
com. The six acres not devoted to experiments 
were planted with this mixture with the same 
uniform results. 
Sixth — five rows were manured with the con¬ 
tents of the privy vault, composted with a black, 
gravelly soil and one bushel of plaster, dropped 
in a shallow furrow and covered before planting 
the com. Yield—thirteen bushels good and 
three, of poor. 1 estimate the cost of manuring 
an acre at $8. Gain, fifty bushels good corn. 
Seventh — live rows with hog manure, and 
eighth, live rows with hen-droppings. Treated 
the same way as the last and at the same esti¬ 
mated cost, and gave the same results. 
Ninth—live rows were, top-dressed immediate¬ 
ly after planting with a mixture of one bushel 
of unleaehed as ties and onc-fil'th of a bushel each 
of plaster, air-slaked lime and salt. Yield — fif¬ 
teen bushels of good and two and a half of poor 
coni. Cost of mixture for one acre, $2.58; extra 
labor, fifty cents; total, $8.08; making a gain of 
sixty bushels good and two and a hull' bushels 
less of poor com than the. first experiment., where 
no manure was used and at a cost of only about 
five cents per bushel. What is very noticeable 
is that the yield of these five rows is much more 
than those of the second and fourth combined, 
where the salt and Hmo w ere applied to live rows 
and the ashes and plaster to the other five. 
The hen and hog manure made a very rank 
growth of stalks aud leaves and one bushel extra 
of poor com. 'Hie five rows with night soil 
growing between these lacked one foot in height. 
The five rows with ashes, plaster, suit and lime, 
growing next the bog manure, showed full eight¬ 
een inches less in height., though exceeding it in 
yield. The growth of stalks in the other exper¬ 
iments, including the five with flour of bone, 
was about the same as this last; but in No. 5 and 
the field of six acres, where the flour of bone 
was mixed with ashcr and plaster, the growth of 
stalks was quite rank. IT. H. Doolittle. 
Oaks Comers, N. Y., .Jan., 1807. 
ABOUT LOWER DELAWARE. 
R. B. U. writes us from Milford, Del., giving 
some information of interest to those meditating 
a “ change of base ” to a milder climate. “The 
climate,” he writes, “is mild and healthy; we 
are strangers to extremes of heat or cold. The 
farmer can work all the year; i have not seen a 
dozen days In two years in which I could not 
work in perfect comfort out of doors. The sea 
breeze modifies the beat of summer, and the 
nights are pleasant in the hottest season. Stock 
does not require feeding more than half as long 
as in Northern New York. The soil, although 
much run, under an exhaustive and shiftless 
system, Is very generous, and easily brought 
back to a condition of fertility. Fruit and veg¬ 
etables grow luxuriantly, and the transportation 
being good their culture Is profitable. The laud 
Is slightly rolling and easily tilled. There is 
great variety of surface soil, but the subsoil is 
wholly clay- Delaware must become the great 
source of supply of peaches; single crops have, 
in some instances, paid for the farms on which 
they were grown. Sweet potatoes flourish, and 
so do all berries. Timber Is plenty. Schools, 
churches, &c., convenient. You may bring your 
religion and your politics, or any of your whole¬ 
some Northern ideas here and find not*>nly tole¬ 
ration but appreciation." 
— We have lately received several communica¬ 
tions speaking of the Climate, soil, topography, 
etc., of various Southern localities —especially 
Virginia, Missouri and Tennessee—extracts from 
which we purpose giving in future numbers. 
