/iGRICULtURjf 
TERMS, $3.00 PER YEAR.] 
PROGRESS AND IMPROVEMENT 
[SINCLE NO. TEN CENTS 
! cool. Delay harvesting them as long as it is 
safe to do so. 
Pumpkins. — Store a good supply of these 
under cover for the months of November and 
December. 
Poultry. —It is more profitable for the farmer 
to fatten his poultry for market than to sell it 
otherwise. Shut the fowls in proper coops and 
feed three weeks before selling. 
AGRICULTURAL EDUCATION. —No. IV, 
AN ORIGINAL WEEKLY 
AGRICULTURAL, LITERARY AND FAMILY NEWSPAPER 
CONDUCTED BY D. D. T. MOORE, 
With an Able Corps of Assistants and Contributors 
Hon. HENRY 8 . RANDALL, LL. D., Editor of the De 
parunent of Sheep Husbandry. 
Hon. T. C, PETERS, late President N. Y. State Aq'l 
Society, Southern Corresponding Editor. 
GLEZEN F. WILCOX, Associate Editor. 
CANADA THISTLES AND QUACK GRASS, 
A correspondent asks us how to kill Canada 
thistles, observing that he has cut them re¬ 
peatedly, and that for every one so treated two 
grew in its place. Canada thistles and quack or 
couch grass are two of the worst weeds the 
farmer has to contend with, and when once 
fairly in possession of a large area of 2 
J O 
The Rural New-Yorker Is designed to be nnsur- 
passed In Valne, Porlty, and Variety Of Contents. Its 
Conductor earnestly labors to render the Rural a Reli¬ 
able Guide on all the. Important Practical, Scientific and 
other Subjects connected with the business of those 
whose interests It zealoudy advocates. A* a Family 
Journal It >s eminently Instructive and Entertaining- 
being *o conducted that it can be safely taken to the 
Homes of people orintelligence, taate and discrimination. 
U embraces more Agricultural, Horticultural, Scientific, 
Edncatlona], Literary and News Matter, interspersed 
with appropriate engravings, than any other journal,— 
rendering It by far the most complete. Ageicultur^i,. 
Literary and Family Nkw«paper in America, 
jround 
there is serious work to do if they are extermi¬ 
nated. The vitality and power of propagation 
they possess, in their underground stems, render 
them so formidtMe. Their stronghold is in the 
earth, and modern warfare has demonstrated 
that earthworks are the most difficult of all 
barriers to demolish. 
It seems clear that the farmer who sets about 
exterminating them must work on the principle 
of destroying the top or overground growth 60 
persistently and comnletelv that the nutriment 
and vitality of theuiulergound stems will be used 
up — exhausted —and when this is accomplished 
the plants die. If two thistles spring up where 
one is cut, it proves that the growth of the plant 
is divided and directed to more members, and if 
these are likewise destroyed, so much tlm more 
is the vitality diminished, and if the work is re¬ 
peated it brings nearer the end desired. Repeated 
and persistent cutting of the tops will surely 
destroy thistles or quack grass in the end, but 
sometimes this task is so great that lew are bold 
enough to carry it through to completion. It 
occur.-, to us that much might be done in this 
way on a large scale. Take a field that is thor¬ 
oughly in the possession of the weeds, aud plow 
01 an its motto cdsiQ/\ u The newspaper in 
this country, like the caloric of nature, over¬ 
spreads aud circulates throughout the whole 
social system. In no country docs the news¬ 
paper circulate so universally as in the United 
States, and in no other country are ihc people 
bo universally intelligent. 
The newspaper is not aucicnt, dating back 
hardly two hundred yea is iu any country. The 
first in the United States was established in 
Boston in 1690, but was soon suppressed by the 
Oovoiwm'iit, In im, the Boston News 
Letter was established, edited by John Camp- 
bell. 1 he Boston Gazette was commenced in 
1719 by James Franklin, and some of the earli¬ 
est articles of his brother Brkjamin were pub¬ 
lished In this paper. The Agricultural Journal 
is hardly forty years old in this country, aud 
yet some now count readers from the liuudrcd 
thousand upwards. It is the universal channel 
through which the people communicate with 
each other. All experiments may here be re¬ 
ported, compared and discussed. Some wi-iter 
says:—“ lie who makes the songs of a people 
need not care who makes its laws.” We can 
say that with the newspaper free, rightly con¬ 
ducted and generally circulated, no Legislature 
will dare to make bad laws. A democratic gov¬ 
ernment without a free press cannot exist—with 
it despotism Ift impossible. It is the dally, tri¬ 
weekly or weekly telegraph of thought for the 
people. And i u uo other country has the news¬ 
paper developed itself to such colossal propor¬ 
tions us in the United States. It enables the 
people rapidly to combine their strength for 
defense or to vindicate their honor. It creates 
a medium through which the people may at 
their firesides discuss the great questions of 
public interest and determine their duty. Aud 
most peculiarly Is it adapted to educating farm¬ 
ers in.all Improvements lu agriculture. The 
want of social intercourse, us we have seen, is 
the great obstacle with farmers ini adopting 
new improvements, but the newpaper presents 
the same facts to a hundred thousand fanners, 
at once, and ‘turning their minds to the 
J 3 V For Terms and other particulars see last page 
HINTS FOR THE MONTH 
rich fruits to the picker. Let the farmer devote 
all his energies ttys monjh to the harvest, making 
a complete finish of it if possible, and the next 
will afford time for plowing and works of im¬ 
provement. 
Animals .— Work horses should be stabled. 
Keep the stables clean and use plaster and ab¬ 
sorbents finely; no foul smells should be tole¬ 
rated in them even when the weather is warmest. 
Harness should not hang in stables; the gases 
destroy the leather. Fatttng hogs should he 
pushed rapidly. Sheep destined for the butcher 
should receive grain on the grass ; so with cattle. 
Clover iked should be cut. The reaper is 
much the best implement to cut this crop with. 
Throw off the gavels so that win rows will he 
formed, and gather it on to the wagon with bar¬ 
ley forks. It should be so dry as not to ferment 
or heat much when stored in the barn. Avoid 
handling as much as possible, as the 6eed shells 
easily from the head and is wasted. Mowing 
with a machine and raking with a horse-rake is 
very wasteful if the clover is dry and ripe. A 
crop ot clover seed Is more exhaustive to land 
than one of grass. 
Com.— Take pains to secure the stalks in 
good order. Shock them well, binding the tops 
tight, and when in good order draw to the stack 
or ham. It is a good plan to fill up some shed 
or out-building, or the barn floor if it can be 
spared from other uses, with com, to be husked 
in rainy weather. Fallen shocks in the field 
should be husked first to save the fodder from 
damage. 
Grain.— October is usually a good month to 
market grain, especially barley. We should not 
advise farmers to hold grain at present prices. 
Storage costs something, insurance also, and the 
use of the money is to be considered. . 
Grass Seed .—Sow timothy seed on the wheat 
fields if not already done. Land seeded in the 
sping, but on which the grass is a failure, may 
be cultivated and sown with timothy if it is de¬ 
sirable not to plow and crop again. It will make 
good pasture next year. 
Implements .— Have you any rotting or rusting 
out in the weather ? 
Iiye may be sown in October. On good soil it 
"Will get growth enough before winter. 
Manure .—A great deal can be saved and made 
in the hog-pens by throwing in plenty of straw, 
sods, weeds, or potato tops. Fill up the mud- 
holes in that way in the pens if yon are so unfor¬ 
tunate as to have any. 
Straw should be well saved. Bright straw', cut 
fine and well sprinkled with mill feed, will win¬ 
ter horses and young cattle equal to hay, and is 
much cheaper. So ihe stacks are worth looking 
after. 
loots grow well through this month when 
their tops are large aud the weather moist and 
verting the top. Do this in the autumn. Then 
with a stiff wlr6-tooth rake gather all the roots 
within six inches of the surface, cart them off 
and bum them. During the following spring 
and summer, harrow, rake, plow and cultivate 
so thoroughly that nothing green can be found 
or seen on the surface of that field. In the fall 
sow grain and seed. If this course would not 
destroy the pests we are quite certain that if one 
would follow the same for two years in succes¬ 
sion they would completely disappear. But the 
question is, can we aflord it ? * 
RURAL FARMERS’ CLUB 
if you think of anything better than either, I 
shall be obliged for a suggestion. commenced 
farming last spring, ani want to fill up the bum- 
yard—there is a hollow in the middle of it where 
the water stands—and start even.” 
The first plan mentioned is not objectionable, 
if it is desirable in ycur case to fall plow, in 
order to head off the grub. If the manure is 
half rotted, however, we should prefer top- 
dressing the field with it after plowing, and 
then cultivating it ia next spring. Another 
way we think well of is to spread the manure 
on the sward this fall and defer plowing until 
just preceding planting time. Manure lyiug on 
the surface during the V'lntcr and spring months 
-j; water in case the groand 
The mins and snows withdraw 
a small rearing box, which was close at hand. 
About the time I expected the cell to hatch, 1 
examined and fouud she had emerged. About 
three days afterwards, I searched thoroughly for 
her, but was unable to find her, and thinking 
she had been lost, I put the old queen back, and 
left her in for about four days, so as to get a lit¬ 
tle brood, from which to prepare to introduce 
another queen. I then let It stand ten days, 
and opened it expecting to cut off queen cells, 
preparatory to Introducing a queen, when in¬ 
stead 1 found a handsome laying Italian queen. 
So I infer from the above that there were two 
queens in one hive for about four days, and that 
the young queen was not fertilized within that 
time, and it is probable she was not distin¬ 
guished from a common worker.” 
same 
subject, causes a discussion when they meet, 
leading, frequently, to simultaneous advance iu 
’ the same directlou. This is of the highest im¬ 
portance, and in a large degree makes up for 
the want of more frequent assemblies of farm¬ 
ers. Through this channel, all the readers of a 
newspaper are put In communication with each 
other, as if in one immense assembly. Although 
lt„«#n hardly create that enthusiasm which is 
the result of magnetic contact iu personal inter¬ 
course, yet it has the advantage of appealing 
more to the reason aud reflection, leaving the 
mind at liberty to work out the problem pre¬ 
sented, uulnfluenced by external pressure, and 
arriving, perhaps, at more correct conclusions. 
But the natural tendency of the newspaper is 
to increase sociality, and cause frequent assem¬ 
blages of farmers to discuss subjects pertaining 
to their interests. It incites to the formation of 
Agricultural Clubs—furnishes themes for their 
discussion, reports the discussions when held_ 
makes a fact discovered by an individual the 
common property of the whole agricultural pub¬ 
lic. More than a Bhiarecs— it hasten thousand 
hands reaching out to help the people—has the 
faculty of being everywhere present—sees every¬ 
thing, report* everything—discovers the appear¬ 
ance of a new bug In some far-off corner, de¬ 
scribes him, his doings and how to combat him 
— Informs the cattle breeder of some new and 
fatal disease aud of the discovered remedies— 
gives an-estimate of the coining wheat, corn, 
cotton, wool and all other crops, the probable 
demand and price for them, so the fanner may 
determine when to sell or hold his surplus. 
It also serves the important purpose iu the 
well, but apples poorly. The small fruits were | will not waste unless b; 
excellent On the whole, our correspondent is very uneven 
says,:—“We have had a plentiful season, so from it the soluble elements and give them to 
lar ' _ tbe soil, the grass stalls early aud vigorous in 
Preparing Corn Ground in Autumn. the spring, and that Is pf some consequence. If 
J. A. Corbett writes us from Wooster, 0„ as gn ?® * tC ! u 4 knd there D0 bettcr 
follows:-”I have a field on which there Las to . feed th * m 
been nothing but timothy for two or three , ,. p U1 ^ u grass rj owed nmler just before 
years. It is upland. I want to-plant corn in it “ T ,? mOT * the 
next spring, I also have quite a lot of manure I ““ ™ p U * Sm tbl9 Ml 8 P read it on 
which is not sufficiently rotted to use on land 13 * rolliu S that beav y 
sown this fall, and which I want to remove * ^ _______ 
from the barnyard before turning stock in. I Two Queens in One Hive, 
hud thought of two plans which I will mention. Jacob H. Nellis, Cmajoharie, N. Y., writes 
Fhm. Spreading it on the field and plowing it ns as follows“ I have seen, in a recent issue 
under late this tall, and working with cultivator of the Rural, a note on ‘ Two Queens in One 
m the spring before planting. Second. Haul- Hive,’ writteu by Mrs. E. S. T upper, and hav¬ 
ing it out aud putting it in one or more large ing had a similar experience I now write this 
heaps, and covering till spring. Please inform 1 had a large swarming hive from which I re¬ 
nte through the Rural what you think of the moved the old black queen, and introduced an 
above plans, particularly the first named? and Italian queen ceil, and retained the old queen in 
Hen I.ice Amoute the Horses. 
‘‘A Subscriber,” Dunsville, N. Y., states his 
case thus: — “Having been foolish enough to 
buikl my hen house against my horse barn, I 
have got the latter filled with hen live , vcr_y much 
to the annoyance of my horses; and lu fact 1 
dare not keep them in the burn, or go in my¬ 
self. Now, how can I get rid of said ‘small 
fry?’ nave tried several things, but of no 
avail. Have bad the hens hlmt out for weeks. 
By answering the above, you will greatly oblige 
a reader of your valuable paper,” 
Give the bam and hen house a complete 
cleansing, and sprinkle every part that harbors 
the lice with strong lye. Bolling water might 
i 
