TERMS, 53.00 PER YEAR.] 
PROGRESS AND IMPROVEMENT.” 
[SINGLE NO. TEN CENTS. 
YOL. XVIII. NO. 12.f ROCHESTER, N. Y-FOR THE WEEK ENDING SATURDAY, MARCH. 23,18C7. JWHOLE NO. ROD. 
ESTABLISHED IN 1850. 
MOORE’S RURAL NEW-YORKER, 
AS ORIGINAL WEEKLY 
AGRICULTURAL, LITERARY AND FAMILY NEWSPAPER. 
CONDUCTED BY D. D. T. MOORE, 
With an Able Corps of Assistants and Contributors. 
HENRY S. RANDALL, IX. D., 
Editor of the Department or Shoep Husbandry. 
HON. T. O. PETERS, 
Late Preat N. Y. State Ag. Soe'y. Southorn Cor. Editor. 
GL.EZEN P. WILCOX, Associate Editor. 
Tint Rural Nkw-Yorkru is designed to be unsur¬ 
passed In Value, Parity, and Variety of Contents. Its 
Conductor earnestly labors to render tli« Rural a Reli¬ 
able Gnitle on all the Important Practical, Scleutlflc and 
other Subjects connected with the business o. those 
whose. Interests It zealously adyoentes. As ft Family 
Journal It Is eminently Instructive and F.ntertuInluK — 
being so conducted that It can be safely taken to the 
names of people of Intelligence, taste and discrimination. 
It embraces more Agricultural, Hortlaulturnl, Selentifle, 
Educational, Literary and News Matter, Interspersed 
with appropriate engravings, than any other journal,— 
rendering It by far the most complete Agricultural, 
Lttkraby and Family Newspaper In America. 
tar Fob Trbmb and other particulars see last page. 
A«IOTOT!Mk 
HO FOE THE SPRING CAMPAIGN! 
Farmers are you ready ? Are your plans ma¬ 
tured, your forces marshaled, your implements 
in order ? Is the seed clean, the plow-point 
sharpened, the team strong and well trained? 
The winter has been long and severe—it “ lin¬ 
gers in the lap of Spring”—but the sun is shin¬ 
ing longer and hotter as each day goes by, and, 
some line morning not lar distant the dreamy 
farmer will rub his eyes open in astonishment 
when he He.es his wide-awake neighbor turning 
the first furrow for the spring crops. Are you 
sure, then, that you are ready to Improve the 
earliest opportunity for plowing and sowing 
that the soil and weather will furnish? Will 
there he no fence or gate to repair to keep the 
stock in their proper bounds, or odd jobs you 
have not thought of, to occupy the first day 
when you should be plowing? 
Often much depends on this early start. How 
many Instances can you call to mind, of crops 
grown by different farmers on soils equally well 
prepared and equally fertile, that have yielded 
w idely varying quantities of grain, the difference 
being in favor of the earliest sown! With the 
oat crop this iB often the ease; it eaunot be 
sown too early. It requires the rain and cool 
weather of the spring months to develop vigor 
and strength to push it through the heat and 
drouth of the summer to a bountiful harvest. 
Favorable weather must be improved; for if the 
“nick of time” be passed, long storms may 
occasion a week’s delay. This confuses the 
work. When you should be preparing the 
planting ground, you are but finishing the sow¬ 
ing, urnl unless you make extraordinary efforts 
your operations will follow this order through 
the entire season. 
Are you ready to improve your method of 
farming—to cultivate better—adopt a more sci¬ 
entific rotation of crops—use the best machine¬ 
ry—expend more capital in carrying on your 
operations ? Of all men the fanner should pos¬ 
sess the strongest faith, and make the broad 
fields of bis farm his bank of deposit, consider¬ 
ing manures, nnderdrains and good stock the 
best representatives of his accumulated capital. 
— ■ »> + 
ABOUT SUBSOIL PLOWS AND PLOWING. 
Seventeen years ago I bought a subsoil plow, 
and first commenced subsoiling in a sixteen acre 
lot in the spring, using two yoke of oxen, which 
I consider the best kind of a team to subsoil 
with. After this field was subsoiled, it was 
planted to corn, which turned out a good crop. 
The next grain crop I think was wheat, which 
also turned out a line crop, with nice, bright 
straw, which had not been seen on the field for 
ten years previous. I concluded that I had been 
well paid lor the expense of subsoiling. The 
subsoil of this field was generally a stifflsh clay, 
underlaid with gravel; the clay was from one to 
two feet deep. The subsoillng seemed to loosen 
up this clay sufficiently to let the water down 
after heavy rains, which it did not do previous 
to this treatment. 
A few yeare after I subsoiled part of another 
field where the subsoil was also clay and several 
feet deep. In this field I was not able to see 
that any benefit had been derived from the sub- 
soiling, and I have come to the conclusion that it 
will hardly pay, unless it is to loosen up a light 
subsoil, as in the first mentioned field. I have 
subsoiled parts of other fields where I thought I 
was well paid. Suhsoilmg cannot be properly 
done, except in spring and fall, when the ground 
is soil, so that the plow can run down deep. 
I never saw a subsoil plow which was properly 
constructed. It should be wedge-shaped, grow¬ 
ing larger towards the heel, or It will not keep 
clean, which makes It draw more than us heavy 
again as though it scoured—it is like a common, 
or surface plow, which will not scour; It will 
not half do Its work. The mould-board should be 
made in a circular form so as not to have any 
sharp angles about the plow. Mine never would 
clean itself until I had a new mould-board made 
in the form I have described. The standard 
Bhould be one and one-half inches thicker at the 
heel than at the front, which is exactly the re¬ 
verse lu all that I have ever seen. 
I have found the subsoil plow very useful in 
underdraining. I first open the furrow with a 
common plow; then follow with the subsoil, 
going up and back in the same furrow, which 
loosens the soil down quite deep, and it can then 
be Bhoveled out rapidly in comparison to what 
it could without using it. J. c. mo v. 
A CONVENIENT FEEDING TROUGH. 
O. L. Williams, Meadville, Pa., sends us the 
accompanying plan of a convenient trough for 
feeding hogs or sheep. It is especially well de¬ 
signed for feeding hogs, and may be placed in 
the pen, the swlug door above the trough form¬ 
ing one side. If desirable to nse It out of doors 
it niay form part of a fence. The construction 
Is simple. Two upright board standards about 
four feet high are nailed to the ends of the 
trough to support a swing door or partition, 
GKEESE AND DUCKS. 
AFRICAN GOOSE. 
Which is adjusted so that the lower edge plays 
back and forth just over the top of the trough. 
The view given is of the rear side of the trough, 
and the partition is swung forward to shut the 
animals away while their food is being prepared. 
When ready the slide is withdrawn, the partition 
swings over to the rear side and the hogs can “ go 
in.” Sluts of wood should be placed across the 
trough to keep the animals from atauding in it. 
By swinging the partition high enough the hogs 
may pass under it as through a door. 
ABOUT BEE CULTURE. 
We have two modes of increasing an apiary— 
one by natural and the other by artificial swarm¬ 
ing. Many bee-keepers let their bees do as they 
incline,—swarm when they please or let it alone, 
and as often as they deem best. Our best bee¬ 
keepers, however, prefer to divide them, or, in 
other words, make them swarm. 
A writer on bees in No. 51 of the Rural for 
last year, stated that “natural swarming is gen¬ 
erally regarded mj safest and best.” It is not my 
desire to provoke a controversy orr this subject, 
but I deem it due to your bee-keeping readers 
that Mr. Hazen, the author of the statement, 
should give some pro<tf iu support of it. If his 
statement is true it is important that they should 
have the facts before the next swarming season, 
for a multitude of bee-keepers will then be di¬ 
viding their bees. For my part I should be 
pleased to have him give the name and address 
of even one bee-keeper, qualified to manage bees 
with any degree of success, who has tried arti¬ 
ficial swarming, as now practiced by our best 
bee-raisers, and has abandoned the process as 
being unsafe and less advantageous than the 
natural mode of increase. 
Mr. IIazln callB the attention of your readers 
to a method of dividing bees which be denomi¬ 
nates as an “untried experiment,” and is de¬ 
sirous that they should make a trial of it. Why 
not, Mr. ILazen, try “experiments” first in 
I your own apiary ? Then, if you suffer no loss, 
We have just received a letter from “ An Old 
Subscriber,” Dundas, Canada West, asking for 
information about the African Goose and the 
Aylesbury and Black Cayuga Ducks. As these 
are valuable, varieties of fowls, and the subject 
is a timely one, we reply by giving illustrations 
of the birds, and brief descriptions. 
The Airman is the largest of all the goose 
family, ft gander in good condition often weigh¬ 
ing from twenty to twenty-five pounds. They 
arc noble looking birds, and on account of their 
majestic appearance aud dignified movements 
on the water, have been called by some swan 
goose. Their voice Is peculiarly coarse and 
deep, and unlike that of any other variety, 
gome time ago, Mr. Eden W ioht of Boston, 
who is good authority iu these matters, wrote 
as follows: —“The African goose proves much 
more prolific than the Bremen, or any common 
goose seen about the country; it Is a stately 
looking goose, of gray upper plumage, with 
white under the body, and any one not having u 
large dew-lap or pouch, should be rejected, as 
less likely of attaining to the largest size.” 
Mr. Wight considers a cross of the African aud 
Bremen superior to the. pnre bred as prolific 
layers, and equally good for the tabic. 
The Aylesbury is the best of the white ducks; 
its plumage is snowy white, Its legs and feet yel¬ 
low, and its bill Hush-colored. It is also largo 
in size, and oxeaHent forth® table. When properly 
led the adult ducks should average ten to twelve 
pounds per pair. They are prolific layers, and 
are said to be less noisy than the common 
breed. The Aylesbury duck originated in Eng¬ 
land and derives Its name from the town near 
which they are raised in lurge numbers for the 
London market. 
The Black Cayuga is the best of the dark 
ducks, and is scarcely Inferior in size to the 
Aylesbury. It originated on Cayuga Lake, and 
has been extensively bred aud brought to no¬ 
tice by J. K. Page, Esq., of Bennett, N, Y. It 
is a very superior bird for the table, its llcsh 
having the juiciness, richness, and game flavor 
of the best of wild ducks. 
The duck possesses many excellent qualities, 
its manner and action on land and water are 
curious and pleasant, and its character is harm- 
; less aud inoffensive. Tbeyarevery prolific layers. 
AYLESBURY DOCK. 
and the plan is successful, it will bo time enough 
to induce others, less experienced than yourself, 
to give them a trial. There are modes of’divld- 
ing bees that are safe aud successful, and none 
that are “untried” and questionable should he 
given to the public. It Is my belief that there 
ure modes of increasing an apiary more simple 
aud practical than Hie one you mention. 
St. Charles, Kane Co., Ill. M. M. Baldrige. 
SHEEP FOLDS -MANURE. 
In some sections it is the practice to spread a 
coating of earth oyer the area of the sheep fold, 
and when a considerable quantity of droppings 
have accumulated the whole is removed aud 
spread upon the soil if seasonable for the dis¬ 
tribution. It not, the mass is placed in a com¬ 
pact heap for future use, and another coating of 
earth supplied to the fold, and so on during the 
sheltering season. In this way every portion ol 1 
BLACK CAYUOA DUCK. 
the manure is saved in a most effective state—a 
matter of grave importance to the farming popu¬ 
lation. 
There is another method of treating manure 
of all descriptions, somewhat expensive, hut 
perhaps the most remunerative of all, and that 
is by furnishing a shelter especially for it where 
it, is packed away as it accumulates in the sta- 
blcB. Hero it is luff iu a pure state, or com¬ 
posted with the Utter about the barn and sta¬ 
bles to undergo such fermentation as will natu¬ 
rally result from such an accumulation, till the 
proper season for applying it to the soU arrives. 
Tills compost heap should not be. In close prox¬ 
imity to the stables, aa the effluvia escaping from 
it Is believed to bo not only offensive to stock 
but detrimental to their health and proper de¬ 
velopment. 
Domestic 1 Animals should have special care 
and attention during the ensuing few weeks. 
EDITED BY HENRY 8. RANDALL, LL. D. 
HOW TO RAISE LAMBS AND TEGS. 
NUMBER THREE. 
DISOWNING LAMBS. 
Baker, when a ewe disowns her lamb, places 
them in a pen, two and a half feet by three; or 
if the ewe is very refractory, fastens her by a 
ring and staple to an upright stake—the strap 
being so short that she cannot, turn round to 
butt her lamb. She is held lor it to suck fre¬ 
quently, and if she continues refractory after it 
is able and trios to help itself, she is switched 
over the lace and ears till she submits. Brown, 
Elitrarp, Pitts and Sanford use the pen, and 
the Bwitcli “persuasive” if necessary, — Eli- 
tharp turning the ewe’s head so she can seethe 
lamb as it sucks. E. O. Clapp uses the pen, the 
stanchions, the switch, and sometimes frightens 
her by tying a dog lu her sight, to arouse her ma¬ 
ternal instincts. A. H. Clapp confines her head 
iu stanchions, and prevents her stepping about 
with her hind feet, to get away from the lamb, 
by uarrrow bare—placed close on each side—but 
releases her and puts her alone with her lamb a 
short time each (lay; and lie sometimes frightens 
her witli a dog or some unusual object. Greg¬ 
ory uses a pen so narrow that the ewe cannot 
turn round, aud places the lamb under her. 
Hammond uses u pen, supar&ting the lamb from 
the ewe about half the time, and placing it 
where she can hear it bleat; Hkyne, a pen about 
live fleet square; Pottle, a small box or pen, 
preferring a dark one; Rich, Saxton and Wil¬ 
cox, a tKiuill pen; Wright, a small box-stall, 
tying the ewe so gbo cannot turn round. It will 
be understood, of course, that all assist the lamb 
to %wc\i frequently. Pitts thinks that early suc¬ 
cess depends upon this frequency. 
We do not remember ever to have found the 
Hioitch necessary; and not being very strong ad¬ 
vocates of “corporal punishment” have never 
recommended its application, according to time- 
honored custom, to the recusant dam; but the 
above testimony in Us favor is certainly very 
strong. The small pen, made dark if It, can con¬ 
veniently be done, and placed out of hearing of 
the flock, with kind treatment, lias always suf¬ 
ficed in our experience. 
Some of our correspondent* have mentioned 
their arrangements tor conveniently feeding the 
confined ewe, but there is uothing peculiar in 
them. She must be well fed to prevent a drying 
up of the milk—her uneasiness, &e., producing 
a strong teudency in that direction. 
FEEDING LAMBS GRAIN, ROOTS, *0., BEFORE 
WEANING. 
This is not necessary when the lambs are 
dropped after the ewes are turned to grass, or 
within three or four weeks of that period; and 
accordingly, some of our correspondents who 
have their lambs yeaned thus lute, do not feed 
them at all, except what they obtain from the 
racks and troughs of their dams. In the case of 
earlier- lambs, Brown feeds them, until they are 
turned to grass, fine cut potatoes and shorts— 
some of the latter being kept in the trough all 
the time, to be eaten at will. He fences off a 
separate apartment for them In the sheep stable 
by means of a rack, the perpendicular slats of 
which are five inches apart. These permit the 
freejngress and egress of the lambs, but exclude 
the ewes. In this apartment is placed a lamb 
rack, in which Is put the finest and best hay, and 
a shallow feeding trough so combined with the 
rack aa to prevent the lambs from getting into 
it. All our other correspondents who have 
early lambs prepare a separate apartment for 
them, and generally on essentially the same plan. 
E. O. Clapp feeds them oats and short*; A. H. 
Clapp, bran; Hammond, oats, giving Icsb at 
first, and twelve quarts a day, (divided into two 
feeds,) to a hundred, after they become about 
a month old and have got to eating well; if they 
arc January and February lambs, Increases the 
feed, so that between the first of April and their 
being turned out to grass they receive about half 
a bushel a day; feeds the ewes and lambs their 
grain at the sumo time, and if all the latter do 
not immediately enter their separate enclosure, 
drives them in “ with a long whip having a little 
brush on the end of It; ” after they have euten 
their grain, turns the ewes and lambs out of the 
stable into the yard while their racks are being 
filled with hay, and on letting them in, again 
