[SINGLE NO. TEN CENTS 
PROGRESS AND IMPROVEMENT 
TERMS, $3.00 PER YEAR.] 
YOL XYffl. NO, U.\ ROCHESTER, N. Y.-FOR THE WEEK ENDING SATURDAY, APRIL f>, 1807 
•WHOLE NO. 898 
not met in the long polo system. The fact that 
over 400,000 hop poles have been contracted for 
in Canada, to he used in this section next season, 
is evidence that the old way Is considered prefer* 
able.” 
first year and snpply themselves from thi6 source 
with fruit while waiting for the apples and pears 
to come on. Plant screens for shelter around 
your buildings, and trees for shade along the 
road-6tde. 
MOORE’S RURAL NEW-YORKER, 
AN ORIGINAL, WEEKLY 
agricultural, literary and family newspaper 
PROFITABLE POULTRY KEEPING, 
CONDUCTED BY D. D. T. MOORE, 
With an Able Corps of Assistants and Contributors 
FIRE BLAST OR SMUT ON CORN 
Eds. Rural : —Llaving had good success for the 
past four years, and unusually good, as I think, 
in tho last year with a small flock of chickens, 
I give you the result. I commenced the year 
with one dozen hens and one cock. Breed, 
mixture of Shanghai and Brahma. Raised daring 
the season eighty-two chickens. The roosters, 
large, nice fcllowB and fine eating, were sacri¬ 
ficed for the table during the fall and early win¬ 
ter, and the flock reduced to thirty liens undone 
cock, all of last summer’s raising. A few eggs 
were gathered dally during September. For the 
live succeeding months .the result, as to the 
uumber of eggs, was as follows: October, 140; 
November, 390; December, 376; January, 304; 
February, 898; making In all, for five months, 
104 dozens. Though the number of egg pro¬ 
ducers has been since the close ol’ February re¬ 
duced to fifteen, on account of six dotting and 
others killed, the production of eggs so far 
during March is fully up to the average of tho 
live preceding months. Seventy - live dozctiB 
eggs have been sold at an average of 34 cents 
per dozen, making 
For the 101 dozens gathered in five months.... $35 36 
Kighty-two chickens raised, worth 50c each_ 41 00 
Total.$76 36 
Cost of feed not to exceed... .. 20 00 
Leaving.balanco of..$56 86 
The feed used until chickens were grown was 
principally mill screenings, which were rich, as 
our wheat was poor and shrunken. Have, during 
the winter, fed on corn; in addition fed occa¬ 
sionally during coldest weather, when the 
ground was covered with snow, crackings. 
Used in all hut 25 pounds. Have no hen 
house, Chickens arc locked in my burn at night 
during winter and summer. And during the 
day in summer the grdwn ones are confined to 
tho barn and cow-yard, 18 feet square, the safety 
of the garden making this necessary.' 1 attrib¬ 
ute my success to tho fact of having the young 
chickens brought out early ,—say in March and 
early in April. They mature before the cold of 
wiuter. Then being well protected aud well 
fed, good returns may be expected. 
, „ , , ,, Citizen. 
Indianapolis, Ind., March lGlh, 1867. 
This curious vegetable growth—plant it can 
be hardly termed—familiar to farmers and some¬ 
times destructive to their com crop, is of the 
order Crgptogamia or ThaJXogcns , as termed by 
recent botanists. The smut on other cultivated 
grains, truffles, mushrooms, puff- balls, lichens, 
and those curious spongy excrescences found on 
trees and decaying wood, familiar to all observ¬ 
ers, belong to the same order. They constitute 
the lowest order of vegetable life, aud are sup¬ 
posed by some to have been the source of all 
vegetation, and to have produced vegetable 
mould by their decay, which afforded nutriment 
for a higher ordcrof plants. Their reproductive 
organs can generally only bn distinguished by 
the aid of a microscope; they are simple cells 
without pistil or stamen, no ovary or flower in 
the ordinary sense of the word. Yet they mul¬ 
tiply themselves to infinity and with prodigious 
rapidity. There are some mashrooms that pro¬ 
duce sixty thousand ceils per minute. Probably 
various mildews and blights which are so perni¬ 
cious to the interests of the cultivator are but 
forms of this vegetable growth. 
Son. HENRY S. RANDALL, LL. D., Editor of the De¬ 
partment of Sheep Husbandry. 
Hoy. T. C. I’ETKRS. late President N. Y. State Ag’l 
Society, Southern Corresponding Editor. 
GLEZEN F WILCOX. Associate Editor. 
Tar, Rural Kew-Yobkrr Is designed to be unsur¬ 
passed In Value, Purity, and Variety of Contends. Its 
Conductor earnestly labors to render tho Rural a Reli¬ 
able Guide on all the Important Practical, SclcntlBc and 
other Subjccte connected with the business of thoac 
whose interests )t zealously advocates. As a Family 
Journal It Is eminently Instructive and Entertaining — 
being st> conducted that It can he safely taken to the 
Homesof people of Intelligence, taste anddlserlmlnatlon. 
It embraces more Agricultural. Horticultural,Scientific, 
Educational, Literary and News Mutter, Interspersed 
with appropriate engravings, than any other Journal,- 
rendering It by far the most complete Agricultural, 
Literary and Faiult NBWSV.udtn In America, 
will supply the necessary information on the sub¬ 
ject:—A, Neck hackle; B, Saddle hackle; 0, 
Tail; D, Breast; E, Upper wing coverts; F, Low¬ 
er wing coverts; G, Primary quills; J |, thighs; I, 
Legs; K, Comb; L, Wattles; M, Ear lobe. 
The technical terms used by poultry fanciers, 
in describing the points of a fowl, are. not always 
understood by tho uninitiated. For the benefit 
of such we give an illustration, taken from the 
Canada Farmer, with a lettered reference, which 
£ETFob Terms and other particulars see last page 
than eavnu foot from Ui'j ground.” It is inferred 
that the training can then be done “ on loot.” 
In the complaint of our correspondent that he 
could not make the vines run ou the strings, 
Mr. C. replies that probably he did not train 
them round the twine the right way. It is a 
well-known fact that the hop vine will only run 
“ with the sun,” or from left to right, and it is 
inferred that tho operator "half the time at¬ 
tempted to force than} over the wrong way.” 
To the complaint of too much shade from the 
vines on twine, the reply is that “ only four 
vines should lie allowed to run up one stake, 
and the remainder should be buried in the 
ground. One vine from the top of the stakes 
to each Btring will not shade the ground too 
much.” To the assertion that only 600 lbs. 
per acre were gathered from the yard the re¬ 
joinder is that “500 was an average yield last, 
year from pole yards.” Mr. C. argues Unit 
picking can be done more easily and expedi¬ 
tiously from the twines than from poles. Per¬ 
haps the best argument lie uses in l'uvor of his 
Bystem is that the vines need not he cut when 
tho crop is gathered, and thus the copious bleed¬ 
ing which follows this operation is avoided. 
This bleeding, lie thinks, is u prolific cause of 
the degeneracy and total failure of so many 
poled yards. Wc will further state that the 
horizontal system has received high common 
dation iu this country, and has been looked 
upon with favor by some English hop-growere. 
Bearing upon tho other side of the question is 
tho following communication from >8. F. Toolly, 
Oneida Co. He writes“ There is no section, 
perhaps, in the State where hops are grown with 
better success, or where there is more interest 
manifested in the culture of the crop, than here 
in southern Oneida; and poles are almost uni¬ 
versally used. The Collins patent has been 
thoroughly tried, and while it has not been pro¬ 
nounced a failure, It has been generally discon¬ 
tinued; because it will not produce as large a 
yield of bops as poles. Nor is this the only 
reason; hops trained on tho horizontal plan 
seem to be more easily affected with vermin, and 
an entire failure of the crop is often the result. 
The argument used, that tho horizontal plan is 
cheaper, Is in my opinion a wrong one. Of 
course this plan does not cost so much in tho 
beginning; bnt take a term of years—the ave¬ 
rage length of time a pole lasts, which is twenty 
years for a Canada cedar—and compare the rela¬ 
tive expense of producing hops c,n these two 
plans. It will cost to pole an aero of hops with 
cedar, at sixteen dollars per hundred, two hun¬ 
dred and twenty-five dollars. It costs fifteen 
dollars each year to string an acre of hops. Tho 
cost for; twenty years is three hundred dollars. 
Add to this the patent fee, seventeen dollars, 
and the short poles which must he mod, and one 
can readily determine which plan is the cheaper, 
I cannot admit that the Collins patent aff'ords 
greater facilities for eultivatin 
ness. Home very well ’■■red imfc l which l,ad 
been condemned as barren, were f aced upon 
poor, hilly pasture, to bring them down in con¬ 
dition, and immediately alter this they bred 
without difficulty. The fat condition of the 
male animal, and his want of constitutional 
vigor, are frequently tho chief causes of diffi¬ 
culty.” Prof. Tanner states that sugar or mo¬ 
lasses fed to the female in considerable quanti¬ 
ties and at regular periods, will totally prevent 
breeding, and if this feed is continued any 
length of time, it is doubtful if the stock will 
regain its breeding power. Molasses is recom¬ 
mended as food for fattening animals, hut its use 
should be avoided in those kept for breeding. 
Food of any kind, rich in saccharine matter, 
should not be given to the breeding stock. The 
moderate use of salt is stated to have a powerful 
effect favorable to the breeding powers of ani¬ 
mals. Bulls show a greater inclination to cover 
whcn.fcd largely with salt, aud females are ren¬ 
dered less productive by want of salt. Rich, 
juicy, succulent vegetation is very generally fa¬ 
vorable to breeding. Food containing a large 
large amount of albuminous matter L favorable, 
and that rich in phosphorus, as peas, beaus, 
vetches, (fee., is also especially valuable. 
HINTS FOR THE MONTH, 
Throughout the Northern States the sowing 
of spring grains is chiefly done in the month of 
April. This is the most important work of the 
mouth. Every effort should be rnude by the far¬ 
mer to sow his grain early, am! have tho land in 
good condition and do the work well. All spring 
grahiB need a well pulverized seed-bed; their 
growth is necessarily rapid, aud the soil should 
be fine and well worked In order to furnish its 
elements to the plants freely. Every practical 
farmer knows that it wont answer to work land 
when it is y?ry wet; yet sometimes one waits 
too long for it to become dry. The oat crop 
may be sown on land worked in a moistcr condi¬ 
tion than would answer for any other spring 
grain. Barley ground should be dry and warm. 
All spring grains should be rolled immediately 
after sowing. This operation compacts the soil 
around the seed, and smooths the surface for the 
reaper in harvest time. 
Stock . — In all localities where foddering must 
be continued through April, it is one of the 
most perilous months of the year for stock. It is 
poor economy to Btinl in feed or e^re; on the 
other hand, both should be increased. The cows 
have calves and the sheep lumbs by their side, 
and they need rich and abundant food and good 
shelter from storms. The horses are hard at 
work aud they need judicious feeding and thor¬ 
ough grooming. There is no better feed for 
teams than fine-cut liay, wet and sprinkled with 
ground corn and oats. A feed of carrots occa¬ 
sionally is highly relished by horses, and is ben¬ 
eficial to their health. 
Meadows — Should he cleaned up early—the 
stone picked off and roller applied. Stock 
should nbt be allowed on meadows or pastures 
when the ground is filled with water. Their 
treading injures the laud, and their roaming 
does them no good. 
The Wood Pile.— This should be finished and a 
year’s supply cut and piled under cover to sea¬ 
son. At any rate don’t quit this work until you 
have enough fuel prepared to last until the leis¬ 
ure days of early winter. Use the soft, light 
wood and all old rails, Ac., for summer luel. 
The corn cobs are handy iu warm weather to 
build light fires with. 
Ditches and Drains, —If you have neglected to 
act upon our hint of last month in respect to 
these, read it again and see if you cannot work 
out some profit by heeding it. 
Haul Out Manure,— Improve every opportu¬ 
nity to put manure on the planting ground. It 
forwards the work and will be better for the crop. 
Depairs, — There will be some time in this 
month for repairs, aud there will be great need 
of them. Gates, fences and buildings need look¬ 
ing to. Oil the harness; be sure the tools are in 
working order. 
Plant Trees. — First some choice fruit for fam¬ 
ily use. Prepare to grow a full supply of ber¬ 
ries; you can have them fresh on your table 
every day for three mouths In the summer, and 
BEES-HOW SHALL THEY BE FED l 
TRAINING HOPS-POLES vs. STRINGS, 
Eds. Rural: — YVhut are we to do in this 
section of the State with our bees ? It is a fact 
not us well understood now as it will be next 
May, that bees are very short of feed and a share 
of them will be lost unless they are fed. This 
Is the otwe in all the high lands In Oneida, Madi¬ 
son, aud Herkimer counties. The last summer 
aud spring were thc.burdest for bees that has 
been since 1842. They were in very good condi¬ 
tion when the spring opened; If they had not 
been we should have lost the most of them in 
June. As it was, all my best stocks of bees 
killed off their drones and regularly went into 
winter quarters from the 15th to tho 25th of 
Juno. In J lily I had some fifteen swarms, hut 
none of them were from the first class of hives, 
and not one of them has honey to carry them 
through April, 1 think. AJI through the honey 
season the weather was cold, with high winds, 
so muck so that when the honey season is usu¬ 
ally at, its best here from the middle of July and 
after,—when the has-wood am! a bite clover are 
both in blossom 
Hop culture, in this country, luu. received a 
great impetus, from the high prices aud increas¬ 
ing demand for the product, during the past few 
years. The interest manifested in it amounts 
almost to a “ fever,” aud we believe more acres 
will be planted with hops during the present 
spring by American farmers than ever before in 
a single season. And while the demand for the 
hop crop is likely to prove n, large and increasing 
one in the future, yet the growere should not 
forget that in the most extensive hop growing 
districts of Europe, the profits of Ibis culture 
have been so fluctuating as to cause it to he 
compared bo the stock gamblers’ occupation— 
one employment being about as certain of bring¬ 
ing ultimate wealth or competence r« the other. 
It will be wise in those beginning the business 
to figure on the basis ol'average print J only, ami 
of a total failure of the crop one year in three. 
There are now' two systems Of training bops 
prominently before the public—one the Collins 
patent of training to low pole ? and strings, aud 
the other the time-honored method of using 
long poles. A communication having appeared 
in our columns in which the writer took ground 
agaitfet the horizontal method and iu favor of 
the long pole system, Mr. Collins sends us a 
rejoinder, which we are compelled to abbrevi¬ 
ate, giving, however, the chief points of his 
argument. And wo remark here that we set 
otir rules aside in allowing & patentee free space 
in onr columns to advance the interests of his 
monopoly. After asserting that the horizontal 
or Btring system of training hops is the cheapest 
now in use, Mr. C. answers the objection of our 
correspondent “ that he had to ride on horse¬ 
back through his yard to trim the vines,” by 
stating that poles of too great length were used 
(ten feet bciug the length.) He says:—* The 
stakes should be cut eight feet in length, aud set 
in the ground one foot; the twine is theu less 
FIRE BLAST OR SMUT ON CORN. 
The cause of this blight or fungus appearing 
on corn is not dearly known. . Doubtless the 
plant must be In favorable condition or the 
spores of the smut which float invisible in the 
air are harmless. This condition may be a dis¬ 
eased state, consequent on bruises made by 
careless cultivation, or it mav be a want of 
vitality and health of the plaut, dne to a poor or 
uncongenial soil, but oftener, perhaps, the 
exciting cause exists iu the atmosphere and 
unfavorable weather. Various remedies or pre¬ 
ventives have been recommended for smut ou 
grain. Most farmers are familiar with them; 
washing the seed grain iu brine, chamber ley, or 
mixing it with brine, ashes, &e., have all been 
extensively tried,— sometimes with apparent 
success, oftentimes without. The use of sulphur 
on the vine fungus is probably the most uni¬ 
formly successful application of a destructive 
agent to this vegetation. 
1 found by weighing that, 
good, fair hives were only making about one 
pound a day, and the best Live 1 weighed only 
made two pounds. If you have noticed the 
Utica market you have seen honey noted at 
“80 to 85 cents, and none on the market.” 
Notv, if the Rural t an help us out of this fix, 
if we don’t Like off our hat to it wc certainly 
will make our best bow with it on. What' can 
we feed with, and how V Harvey Hall. 
Paris, Oneida Co., March 12th, 1867. 
Remark. — Let us hear from sonic experi¬ 
enced bee keepers on this subject. 
HINTS TO 8T0CK BREEDERS, 
ig aud harvesting 
tho crop. It is more expensive and troublesome 
to tie vinos horizontally. In spile of precaution 
strings will break from the weight of vines. 
They stretch and settle also, and are in the way 
of the horse and cultivator, it is more expen¬ 
sive harvesting the crop, and you find the whole 
method surrounded with difficulties which are 
Comstock’s Rotary Spader, from which 
much was expected, as a substitute for the plow, 
docs not seem to be adapted to small farms, nor 
to those in which there arc any stumps or stones. 
It is liable to choke with weeds or grass, and 
docs not prove to be sufficiently substantial. 
