TERMS, $3.00 PER YEAR.] 
PROGRESS AND IMPROVEMENT.” 
[SINGLE NO. TEN CENTS. 
ESTABLISHED IN 1850. 
MOORE’S RURAL NEW-YORKER, 
AS ORiarKAX, WEEKLY 
AGRICULTURAL, LITERARY AND FAMILY NEWSPAPER. 
CONDUCTED BY D. D. T. MOORE, 
With an Able Corps of Assistants and Contributors. 
HENRY S. RANDALL, LL. D., 
Editor of the Department of Bheep Husbandry. 
HON. T. 0. PETERS, 
Late Prea't N. Y. State Ag. Boe’y. Southern Cor. Editor. 
GLE/.EN F. WILCOX, Associate Editor. 
Tub RtrBAi, NewYobkbb Is designed to bo nnsnr- 
paesed in Vnlne, Purity, and Variety of Contents. Its 
Conductor earnestly labors to render tlio Rural a Reli¬ 
able Guide on all the Important Practical, Scientific and 
other Subjects connected with the bnslnesa rf those 
whose Interests It zealously advocates. As a Family 
Jottuyal It is eminently Instructive and Entertaining— 
being *o conducted that It can be safely taken to the 
Romes of people of Intelligence, taste and discrimination. 
It embraces more Agricultural, Horlleultoral, Scientific, 
Educational, Literary and News Matter, Interspersed 
with appropriate engravings, than any other Journal,— 
rendering it by far the most complete Aoittoi’T/rr ral, 
Literary asd Family Newspaper In America. 
py Fob Terms and other particulars see last page. 
MMOTWiML 
MI880URI — SUGGESTIONS TO EMIGRANTS. 
There has never been a time In the history of 
this country when the tide of emigration from 
the old and thickly settled New England and 
Middle States equaled that of the present. 
Until the ending of the Rebellion emigration 
flowed almost entirely westward; now, the 
stream is divided and Northern farmers are 
widely seeking new homes in the genial clime 
of the South. The States of Delaware, Mary¬ 
land and Eastern Virginia are destined, at no 
remoted period, to be densely populated. Situ¬ 
ated contiguous to or within easy reach of the 
Capital and the great seaboard cities, their 
products will readily be conveyed to the best 
markets, and all the available power of their 
water eourees will be occupied and their rich 
stores of coal, iron, and other minerals will con¬ 
tribute to a stable and wide prosperity. 
Westward lies a still broader field before the 
industrious emigrant. Westward is the path of 
Empire; there are the wide prairie States whose 
capacity for producing all that contributes to 
satisfy the necessities or luxuries of man will be 
tested only when they shall be populated with 
two hundred millions of people. The cities of 
the West will one day rival in greatness those of 
the seaboard; machinery will hum along her 
watercourses; her beds of coal and mountains 
of iron, her mines of gold, aud silver, and cop¬ 
per, will give her vast power and wealth, and a 
diversified industry will render her prosperity 
stable and her people independent. 
While the advantages of the West are so pro- 
fuBe that the emigrant can hardly go amiss of 
prosperity in whatever part he may settle, yet 
there arc localities which possess an obvious 
present superiority aud a prospective future one 
of great importance. Towards such the far¬ 
sighted pioneer will direct his course, and as 
time rapidly brings their advantages and obvious 
destiny nearer to view, the faster will be the 
stride of their progress. 
Among the Western States taken as a whole 
we believe no one is destined to outstrip “ Free 
Missouri” ou the road to greatness. Geographi¬ 
cally she is the central State of the Union ; the 
Mississippi rolls by her eastern border and 
the Missouri divides her domain. Her lands 
are mainly rolling without being hilly; they ure 
well watered and timbered, and fertile. No 
where arc there more beautiful prairies. Her 
climate is that in which can be grown cotton, 
sugar-cane, tobacco, wheat, com, grapes, and all 
the hardy fruits of the North. To the purposes 
of the stock and wool grower no climate or land 
is more suitable. Through her territories pass 
the great central lines of railway that will 
stretch from ocean to ocean, and in a short time 
her products can reach the Pacific with a facility 
equal to that by which they now pass to the 
Atlantic and the Gulf of Mexico. Already there 
is a large tide of emigration coming, chiefly from 
the Middle States, pouring into Northern Mis¬ 
souri, and taking up the lands along the line of 
the Hannibal and St. Joseph Railroad. The 
lands bordering on this road are offered to actual 
settlers at prices ranging from $3.40 per acre 
upward; long credits are given if desired, at low 
rates of Interest, and the titles are unquestionable. 
So much we have written about Missouri in the 
belief that many will be benefited by having their 
attention directed thither, but lest we should be 
overwhelmed with inquiries for further informa¬ 
tion we will do a little free advertising and sug¬ 
gest that those of our readers interested address 
E. J. Crandall, Esq., an Agent-Friend of the 
Rural New-Yorker, at Brookfield, Linn Co., 
Missouri, a gentleman of reliability, formerly of 
Central New York, with whom we have long 
been acquainted, who is now In a position to 
advise those seeking homes in his adopted State 
or other portions of the West or Southwest. 
RURAL FARMERS’ CLUB. 
Advice to Farmers Moving: West. 
J. W. Hammond, Hcory Co., Iowa., writes this 
advice to farmers who are about to settle in the 
West. There will bo many unbelievers in hia 
doctrine:—“My advice to farmers who have 
lately moved to the West, is to always follow in 
farming the example of tho old settlers of the 
country. Whatever crops they cultivate you 
should cultivate. If they raise wheat extensive¬ 
ly, sow wheat; If they raise a great amount of 
corn, then raise corn; and if they do uot raise 
wheat or corn, or some other crop that you cul¬ 
tivated in the East, then let it alone also. If 
you moved from a country where one man could 
only cultivate from live to tea acres of corn, to 
a place wncre one man can raise tmny acres, 
then plant thirty acres for each able-bodied 
workman, knowing that thirty acres where 
corn can be produced without much la¬ 
bor will bring no more profit than ten acres 
where so much labor is required. The same 
mode of cultivation that old settlers practice 
should be adopted. If they do not hoe their 
com it is because it will not pay. More good 
can be done with the horse and plow than with 
the hoc. Any person moving to a place in the 
West, where people have no haras, should not 
be in too much hurry to build, for if barns would 
pay they would be built. No people will under¬ 
take anything that will pay, or drop anything 
that will not pay, any quicker than the people 
of the West. They have no money to lose, but 
have it all to make.” 
Alsike Clover. 
“B.,” Victor, N. Y., asks us to tell him 
through the columns of the Rural what Alsike 
clover is, and in what respect it differs from, or 
is superior to, the kinds of clover now generally 
cultivated. 
Alsike, or Swedish clover (trifoUum hybridum) 
is a pale red perennial species which obtains its 
name from Alsike, Sweden, where it was first 
discovered; it is also found wild in Norway and 
Finland. Originating in these northern coun¬ 
tries it iB consequently of a hardy and vigorous 
constitution. It has pale red flowers, a some¬ 
what lank stalk, and oval, obtuse leaves, which 
are less and of a lighter green than those of red 
clover. The flower head is globular and the 
blossoms are fragrant. This clover does not 
attain its full luxuriance until the second or 
third year after sowing, and the first year espe¬ 
cially does not make much growth. It is best 
adapted to mixing with other grasses for perma¬ 
nent grass land. It keeps green and succulent 
up to the period of ripening. It is adapted to 
clay soils, and moist or even marshy locations. 
It will not produce a second crop after mowing, 
as will red clover; the latter should be sown 
with the Alsike, if the soil is suitable where per¬ 
manent grass laud is desired, as it will produce 
one or two crops and then give way to the 
Swedish. 
The chief value of this new variety of clover is 
its hardiness, and adaptation to mixing with 
other grasses for permanent seeding. As a fer¬ 
tilizer or a transient crop, it is not likely to com¬ 
pete with Ted clover where the latter thrives 
well. It has attracted much attention from 
apiarians, as it furnishes excellent bee-pasture. 
For this purpose red clover is worthless ou ac¬ 
count of the inability of the bee to reach down 
to the 6weet in the flower. 
To Exterminate Lice on Stock. 
O. C. Ross, Penfield, N. Y., writes us that 
having tried brine, tobacco, water, snuff, kero¬ 
sene,”&c., for destroying lice on his stock with¬ 
out success, it occurred to him that “ if white 
hellebore will kill worms on currant bushes why 
not also lice oa stock?” Accordingly he ap¬ 
plied four large spoonfuls on each animal once 
a week in the following manner:—“The ani¬ 
mals were 0 rat. curried oil over, rubbing the hair 
towards the head, and the hellebore was then 
applied with a tin pepper box from ears to tail, 
dusting it carefully under the manes of the 
horses. Three applications, and the work was 
done. Snow and ruin falling on the stock prob¬ 
ably renders the remedy more effectual. It is a 
sure cure,” 
Cadweod. 
“A. S.,” Durham, N. Y,, asks us what is the 
quickest and best method of exterminating cud¬ 
weed, live-forever, or life-everlasting, as it is 
variously named—a weed which is common from 
Canada to Texas, bat rarely very troublesome. 
It is remarkable for its tenacity of life; for it 
will continue fresh and even grow for some 
weekB, when dug and hung up in a dry room. 
Probably the best way to rid a field of it is to 
plow so as to expose the roots as much as possi¬ 
ble, then gather them with the harrow or with 
a stiff toothed wire ruke. Unless considerable 
effort is made to gather the roots, simple plow¬ 
ing will uot be likely to destroy its vitality; 
thorough summer-fallowing might do it, how¬ 
ever. 
Muck on Sandy Soil. 
“ A Subscriber ” asks if it is profitable to 
draw muck on to sandy and gravelly soils. The 
best answer wo can give to this question is, try 
it and see if the result will warrant cost. Some 
bedB of muck are ftr more valuable than 
others as fifrtalisuw* -y w—• -■- u<oi- 
itably used in composting with barnyard ma¬ 
nure and dried, as bedding for stock, to ab- 
Borb tho liquids. Muck would change the 
consistency of light, sandy soils, bat whether this 
use would be profitable depends on tho value of 
tho land and its products, aud the cost of the 
work. 
STUDY YOUR SOIL. 
Much time and money are annually lost, and 
great disappointment experienced, by the prac¬ 
tical neglect of tliiB Common - sense maxim. 
Take, for example, the potato crop of I860. 
Thousands of bushels were lost by the rot, 
mainly from planting on unmttablt soils. For 
scientific men may speculate upon tho potato dis¬ 
ease as long as the world stands, and after all it 
will be found that the secret lies in soil, cultiva¬ 
tion or variety , or all of these combined. But I 
have no doubt that soil lias most to do with the 
health of the crop. Fanner A, whose farm is a 
well-drained sandy loam, last year raised a good 
crop of potatoes, and lost very few by disease, 
while B., perhaps, who planted on a clayey, re¬ 
tentive soil, lost most of his crop. Now, it does 
not follow that B. should think less of his land 
because his potatoes rotted. Had he put his 
farm iuto wheat, barley, grass or fruit, and 
bought his potatoes of A., he would probably 
have made more money than by trying to pro¬ 
duce a crop unsuited to his soil. 
It is one of the best features of our couutry 
that there is such a variety of climate and soil. 
It gives greater diversity to our industry, and 
thus suits the changing tdrtes of our people. 
While one man is engaged in growing cotton, 
another is growing wool — while a third is card¬ 
ing and spinning it, a fourth id raising the wheat, 
pork, potatoes, butter and cheese, with which to 
feed them all. Notwithstanding, I am an advo¬ 
cate for mixed husbandry, as! far as the crops arc 
suited to the soil, aud needed (or the wants of the 
family. But, certainly, In rising products for 
sale, the best course would s<um to be to o.onflnc 
ourselves to crops from which we receive the 
largest returns with the least cost, at the same 
time keeping up the fertility cf our soil. If far¬ 
mer A., by superior management or more con¬ 
genial soil, can raise wheat ten cents per bushel 
cheaper than B., why, in a lew-years he will be 
comparatively rich, while B. vlll be compara¬ 
tively poor, if both stiek to wheat growing,— 
while, perhaps, if B. turn his ateution to stock 
and dairying, he may make mori money than A. 
I have known men keep sowing wheat, wheat, 
on their light, sandy, exhausted lolls, until they 
could not raise ten bushels to ^ie acre; when, 
perhaps, had they planted beats or potatoes, 
they might have realized doubi-s the profits for 
their labor, and improved their luid at the same 
time. 
One thing should never be lost bight of, viz.:— 
Before sowing or planting any Held be certain 
that the soil is well adapted to tie crop, and is 
in proper condition to receive the seed. 
KnSTTZ’S ( I r.YTVIIMON POTA'I’O DIGGER,. 
The above cut represents a Potato Digger ]ust. 
patented by H. J. Kintz of Greece, Monroe Co,, 
N. Y. It Is claimed by the patentee that this 
machine will do tho work of potato digging in a 
style superior to any hitherto presented to the 
public. Ho avers that it has been tested and 
found ou trial to meet all the requirements of 
such a machiue, doing Its work effectually and 
with great rapidity—that first class farmers and 
good judges of agricultural implements pro¬ 
nounce It to be the best machine, for the pur¬ 
pose, ever brought before the public. A pretty 
good idea of the construction and operation of 
this digger is afforded by the engraving. It is 
light, the draft being about equal to that of a 
light plow, and will dig from five to seven acres 
per day. The expense Of the machine is so 
Small as to place it within the means of potato 
growers. For further particulars see advertise¬ 
ment on another page of this paper. 
SOD SC^VlilFT IBR. 
Scarifying the sod of permanent pasture and 
mowing lands is a cheap mode of increasing 
their products, of which farmers should more 
frequently avail themselves. If the roots in a 
tough old sward can be severed and the sod 
somewhat broken, tho grass acquires fresh power 
of vegetation. The air and moisture effect bet¬ 
ter results; the grass roots tiller, and new, 
vigorous shoots spring up. We illustrate an 
SORGHUM-CULTURE FOR FAMILY USE. 
During the high prices of sirup it has been 
a question whether it will pay to raise our own 
sweetening if it becomes cheaper. Although in 
many places last year the manufacture of domes¬ 
tic Bwoctening was almost a total failure; yet 
enough has been done heretofore to show what 
can bo accomplished. The necessity of growing 
cane for the manufacture of our own sweet, to 
those accustomed to Its use, is already estab. 
lished. A few words as to its cultivation. In 
the field where the corn is to be planted, select 
a place to plant the cane; rich, well drained, 
sandy, or porous subsoil will do. Land on 
which the water stands much of the time will 
not answer. Some people say that it is better to 
sprout the seed before planting, aa it will come 
up more even and get the start of the weeds. 
Seed that haa been grown in this latitude (43°) 
three or four years, should be renewed from the 
Booth or South-west, as it here deteriorates in 
value yearly. Among tho varieties of cane the 
most prominent are Regular Sorgo—an old va¬ 
riety; Liberian — new and popular — does not 
blow down ; Oomseeana—sometimes called Ota- 
heitan—best for sugar; Nee-a-za-nn, or White 
Iinpliee, two feet shorter than either of the 
above; stands up well. 
Although many plant in drillB, it i3 thought 
by others to bo more economical to plant in 
hills, so the crop can be cultivated both ways, 
the object being to have the cane as stocky and 
large as possible. The pith contains tho sweet¬ 
ening. The ground should at no time be worked 
very deep, and especially the last time through 
with the cultivator, as it would destroy the 
little fibrous roots. When the bulk of the seed 
becomes about ripe, or should there be a heavy 
frost, the cane should be stripped. For this 
purpose flatten a broom handle to a thin edge 
and with it fall the leaves to the ground; after 
they become dry they may be raked in plies for 
fodder. One man can strip an acre of standing 
cora in a day. In cutting up use the common 
corn knife. Gnwp the hill about midway from 
top to bottom, eat it off close to the ground, 
and while you have it in your hand cut off about 
two feet of the top end aud lay them down butts 
one way to bind. The wilted leaves may be 
twisted into bands, putting a Bhort band around 
the middle of the bundle, and another around * 
implement which Is intended to slice tho sod. 
The toeth should be formed like the coulter of a 
plow, and should be kept sharp and set about six 
Inches apart with a furrowed rake so as to cause 
them to hug the ground. By going both ways 
of a field tlio sod will be cut in small squares, 
and if further scarifying la deemed beneficial a 
barrow may then bo used. Fresh grass seed 
could be bowu in this way to advantage. 
the butts, evening them on the ground while 
binding. After being cut the canes should be 
kept out of tho hot sun. If stored awhile in a 
dry, airy place in the shade, before making up, 
all the bettor. There is a right way ami a wrong 
way of doing work, and sometimes many ways 
for doing a thing, all of which may be right; in 
this business it is essential the operator should 
not be Blovenly—should use his tact and skill to 
the best advantage. 
In regard to health of sorgo sirup I quote from 
the Sorgo Journal as follows: The per ccntage of 
cane and fruit sugar, contained in Sorghum sirup 
is much greater than that e.ontaiued in an equal 
volume of tropical molasses or sugar-house sirup, 
for tho latter Is alwuya deprived of all the crystal- 
izable sugar which can bo obtained by both ordi¬ 
nary aud extraordinary means before it is put 
In the market for sale. Moreover, tropleAl mo¬ 
lasses and sugar-house sirup, while they do not 
contain any crystal izable sugar that can by any 
means be withdrawn from them, do contain most 
of the soluble filth And impurities which per¬ 
tained to the original product of sugar and sirup. 
Aud not only this, but they also contain soluble 
matter resulting from all the agents used in 
defecating and refining.# This of itself, when wo 
remember that sneh an offensive substance us 
putrid blood, and such poisonous agents us sul¬ 
phate of zinc, diacetate of lead, and uitrate of sil¬ 
ver are sometimes used by sugar refiners, would 
make us look upon the residuum of these opera¬ 
tions with suspicion. Reference is frequently 
made to the utter disregard for cleanliness com¬ 
mon in sugar-houses, and many revolting details 
are given In illustration of the fact. Perhaps 
the filth which comes to ns in our molasses and 
sirajjs in this way, would not be particularly 
unhealthy, and a reference to it here may not bo 
exactly in place. But the exemptiou which wo 
enjoy from being Injuriously affected, results 
from tho absence of a knowledge of these facts. 
11 the cater ot common tropical molasses and 
Bugar-house sirup, could know at the time of 
eating, all the ingredients contained therein, 
all the dubious channels through which they 
have passed, and the filthy coutacts to which 
they have beeu exposed, wc feel certain that a 
very sick seusation would be experienced, and a 
couvulsivc movement of the dorsal and abdomi¬ 
nal muscles would be induced, much like that 
which follows a diet of tartar emetic. w. 
YOL. XYHI. NO. 13.} ROCHESTER, N. Y.-FOR THE WEEK ENDING SATURDAY, MARCH. 30,1367. i WHOLE NO. 897. 
