ATURE 
PROGRESS AMD IMPROVEMENT 
[SINGLE NO. TEN CENTS 
ROCHESTER, N. Y.-FOR THE WEEK ENDING SATURDAY, OGT. ID, 1867 
ESTABLISHED IN 1850, 
lated by the size of the cavities anil the speed nt 
which the rollers revolve. The tubes which 
convey the 6eeil to the teeth are also of gum, and 
the springs which hold the teeth in their places 
are of the same material 
is not policy to select the best potatoes, as well 
as the best grains for seed. 
Pumpkins with Potatoes .—The resnlt of this 
experiment satisfies me the first time, being per- 
fcelly convinced that potatoes do not need the 
shade of pumpkin vines to insure large tubers. 
The pumpkins however were good, taking the 
premium at the late county fair. 
Turnips and Potatoes —Will do much better. 
After securing a fair crop, as good as any.on the 
farm, we have a fine crop of turnips growing, 
which will seemingly cost mere expense oi‘pull¬ 
ing and a trifle for seed. If any other Rural 
readers have experimented with potatoes, it is 
to be hoped that they will putdish the rcBultB. 
Let us compare notes that we may teach as well 
as learn.” 
Sowing Plaster on Wheat. 
“G.,” Ontario Co., N. Y., writes for our 
Farmers’ Club as followsMy experience for 
the last fifteen years, or more, in Bowing plaster 
on wheat in the fall, has been decidedly in favor 
of the operation. My method Is to sow wheat 
between the 10th and 20th of September, (too 
early sowing invites the Insect,) put on all the 
manure I can get ns a top-dressing, and then sow 
plaster ns soon after seeding ns convenient. I 
have sometimes left strips in the field three or 
four rods in width unplastered, und watched the 
result. In a wet fall and spring the effect of tlic 
piaster was not so apparent as when the seasons 
were dry, hut nlways paying. When dry the 
crop would often appear nearly doubled whore 
the plaster was sown. I have often been asked 
by people traveling the road the cause of the 
poor streak (unplastered) of grain in the field; 
lately I don’t leave any such streaks. 
Many of my neighbors also use it with good 
results, but the subject, like polities, has two 
sides. People sometimes say that dust oan’t do 
any good, It drawB from the land, hence the poor 
streak where there Is no plaster; or they remark 
the wheat gets too tender n growth and wUl 
winter-kilL Now these arguments remind me 
of a Western lawyer defending his client from 
the charge of breaking a kettle. In Ills opening 
to the jury he said, in the first place he should 
prove the kettle was cracked when borrowed, 
next it was whole when returned, and third that 
his client never had the kettle. If the plaster is 
but dust and can do no good, how can It draw 
from the land and make the poor streak ? If the 
wheat grows too luxuriant and becomes tender, 
will you then sow your poorest land and keep 
all top-dressings from it? Now, rny dear Rural, 
if you tell all this to your many thousand read¬ 
ers some of them may cry “fudge; it is mere 
hook-farming but if I should chut to them the 
same thing across the top rail of a fence, ten to 
one bat they would go home and try it. But is 
not the ‘Farmers’ Club’ uBd the ‘book-farm¬ 
ing’ that speaks to their thousands, just as 
practical T' 
A Cribbing Colt. 
[The following answer to an inquiry respect¬ 
ing a “cribbing” colt should have appeared 
bo me time since, but in the Editor’s absence the 
paper was mislaid, and has but just come to 
light. The author is Mr. E. Mink, V. 8., Lyons, 
N. Y.] 
“ I have heard of colts crib-biting at a year 
old, while standing in the Btablo. It would be 
interesting to know if the colt referred to in the 
inquiry cribs while running in the field at pas¬ 
ture, or whether it is only observed while in the 
stable, as it is contended by some authors that 
cribbing is an acquired habit— the result of idle¬ 
ness while standing in the stable. By others it 
is regarded as the result of chronic indigestion. 
Dunn, Mathew, Dodd and others favor the lat¬ 
ter theory. To me the cause of cribbing Is still 
involved in obscurity. If the theory of its re¬ 
sulting from indigestion is correct, then it 
AX ORIGINAL WEEKLY 
AGRICULTURAL, LITERARY AND FAMILY NEWSPAPER. 
CONDUCTED BY D. D. T. MOORE, 
With an Able Corps of Assistants and Contributors. 
Hox. HENRY s. P.ANDALL, LL. p.. Editor of the De¬ 
partment of Sheep Husbandry. 
Hon. T. C. PETERS, late President N. Y. State Ag’l 
Society, Southern Corresponding Editor. 
GLEZEN F. WILCOX, Associate Editor. 
Tub Rvbal Nkw-S'okkkr Is designed to be unsur- 
passed in Value, Purity, 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 zealously advocates. As a Famtcv 
Journal It Is eminently Instructive and Entertaining — 
being so eondneted that it can be sarely 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 the most complete Aouicultckal, 
Literary and Family Nbwspa rsit In America. 
If the tooth strikes a 
fast stone there are no pins to break and be 
replaced, the rubber spring gives and the ma¬ 
chine passes on. Palmer's Universal Plaster- 
and Grain Sown' is a new tiling. It U designed 
to be attached to the rear end of any lumber 
wagon, and derives its power from friction rol¬ 
lers brought in contact with the hind wheels. 
It is not costly, and 1 CTOks as if it might be a good 
contrivance for sowing plaster. 
Perry's American Horse Power was exhibited 
with some recent important improvements, the 
chief of which is on the cog-wheel, which takes 
the power from the chain. This is now made 
for movable cogs, aud any irregular link chain 
can be used on it without trouble. We think well 
of this power, and if its controllers do not try to 
make too much money out of it farmers will 
use it extensively. 
Chute's Dumping Dor is an attempt to furnish 
what fanners very ranch need — a wagon box 
that may readily be dumped. This is made to run 
back by turning a crank until its center passes 
the rear axle when it dumps. When it is in 
position one pin fastens it securely. 
Heath's Ditching Machine was at work in one 
part of the grounds and dug a clean, smooth 
ditch in the dry, compact clay soil, suitable for 
laying tile. A large crowd witnessed its work 
with evident satisfaction. Our readers will re¬ 
member an illustration of it in the Rural during 
the current volume. 
The clear ringing of an anvil as it resounded 
to the frequent strokes of a hammer, called the 
crowd to look at Hunckley's iC B'allintine's Power 
Hammer, an invention which in most eases saves 
the services of one man to wield the sledge. It 
Is operated with tho foot.. 
But we cannot undertake to enumerate all the 
valuable farm machinery on the grouuil. There 
were hay rakes and hay tedders, farm gates and 
fences, machines for cutting and baling hay, 
wood sawing implements, corn hankers, cider 
mills, steamers for cooking food, roUers, thrash¬ 
ing machines, in short, a large array which we 
wish all the farmers in the State could have seen 
and studied. 
FARM IMPLEMENTS AT THE STATE FAIR. 
Some of the most valuable lessons which we 
learn at our Fairs are taken among the imple¬ 
ments. Here, if anywhere, the dull farmer is 
set to thluking about the possibility and the 
feasibility of improving his ancient methods of 
culture, and the wide-awake, progressive one 
scans with intense interest the latest additions 
to labor-saving machinery and the best improve¬ 
ments in its mnnufactnre. The greatest want in 
the line of farming implements is the lack of 
good material put together with good workman¬ 
ship. Inventors, as a general thing, have done 
well; machinery is well conceived for its in¬ 
tended purpose, hut too often the manufacturer 
embodies the idea with dishonest material and 
inadequate labor. Implements at our Fairs 
generally look well; they hnve a fair finish, and 
the chances are they are the best that are made; 
so it is a very good place for one to purchase, 
atleastitisa good time for one to fixinthemind 
the requirements to be made when effecting pur¬ 
chases in the future. 
This department was a leading one, we think, 
of the Fair at Buffalo. Reaping and mowing 
machines were out in force; of these the one 
manufactured by Dodge, Stevenson & Co., 
Auburn, attracted considerable attention on ac¬ 
count of the new automatic self-rake which has 
recently been attached. The World's mower 
and reaper, manufactured at Canton, Ohio, was 
worthy of notice on acconnt of the excellent 
workmanship and finish of its gearing. This is 
inclosed in a cast-iron ease, which shuts out dirt, 
but which is readily accessible for oiling and 
cleaning purposes. Jones' Seed Gathering Af- 
tachrnent for mowers is a new thing, and seems 
to be essentially adapted to gathering timothy 
seed. It can be attached to any mower, and the 
invention consists in using a second cutting bar 
and knife wjth reel and box attached, placed 
high enough above the usual cutting bar to clip 
the heads. 
There were several potato diggers exhibited, 
and it was unfortunate that there was no trial of 
the respective machines. The Marcellas and 
Champion diggers—familiar to Rural readers— 
were prominent. Schancu’s machine, made at 
Holmdel, N. J., claimed to be an ctTective ami 
reliable one. 
In the line of machinery for cultivating the 
soil we observed nothing new. Alden & Co., 
Auburn, N. Y., showed a set of implements for 
cultivating the soil which were creditable. The 
thill attachment to their horse-hoe is adapted 
also to a corn-marker, a rake for gathering quack 
grass, roots, and to a furrower and coverer for 
planting potatoes. The idea of making the 
same draft attachment answer for several imple¬ 
ments is a good one. Their cultivator is com¬ 
mendable. Gibson & Inglis, N. Y. Mills, 
exhibited a fine, flexible harrow. RandaVs 
Riding Attachment for harrows, an arrangement 
whereby the driver is relieved from the labor of 
walking, was also on the ground. 
There were several different kinds of drills for 
sowing grain, on the grounds. The Willoughby 
Gum Spring and Roller Drill, made at Carlisle, 
Penn., secm3 to be very simpde and effective in 
arrangement, and well adapted to drilling grain 
in stumpy and rocky fields. Its feed attachment 
consists of rubber rollers between which the 
grain passes to the tubes, the flow being regu- 
^lIJL^ANTI-XTJS silk-worm. 
3. Worm in different stagcB from the egg. 5. Cocoons. 
4. Chrysalis as found in cocoon. fi. Eggs nat’l size. 6a. Egg magnified. 
CUT-WORM-FALL AND SPRING PLOWING. 
1. Worm of fall size 
2. Young worm. 
Eds. Rural New-Yorker :—Uuder the above 
caption you publish the gist of an article appear¬ 
ing in the Germantown. Telegraph of Sept. 4th, 
over the signature of “Agricola.” You say 
the subject has been very lucidly treated—on 
which point I beg to differ, and to assert that it 
is very vague. “Agricola” who is quite ob¬ 
serving, has honestly elaborated a theory, but 
he made the signal mistake of not being quite 
observing enough. He tells us that he collected 
numbers of cut-worms in early spring, and, plac¬ 
ing them in a glass jar, watched them until they 
inclosed themselves in their cocoohb of earth, 
interwoven with silk. Now tills operation is but 
one of the many which go to make np the his¬ 
tory of the cut-worm; notwithstanding which 
“Agricola,” while confessing that be knows 
nothing of the deposition of their eggs, assumes 
them to be deposited in the fall, and builds his 
theory accordingly. If a foundation be weak 
the building topples, and as this assumption is 
radically wrong, the theory falls to the ground. 
By further observation “Agricola” would 
have learnt that those worms which inclosed 
themselves in the earth, as described, would, 
after changing to pupa*, have produced, during 
the months of June and July, moths belonging 
(not to the “Linnseun. genus Phaleena," but) to 
either of the genera Agrotis or Jladeua. He 
would have found that these moths deposit eggs 
soon after emerging from the ground, and that 
the eggs soon hatch under the influence of a J uly 
sun and by fall become plump worms about three 
parts grown; that these burrow into tbeground 
and there hybernate, and that the following 
spring, with appetites sharpened by their long 
fast, they play havoc with the first appearing 
vegetation. Thus neither early nor late fall, 
nor early or late spr'rag plowing, will have any 
effect ou cut-worm eggs , since they are deposited 
during summer; though very late fall plowing 
might kill some worms. 
How often are doubts dissipated and theories 
dissolved by some little fact in Nature — insiu-- 
nificantas it may at first appear! Such slight 
errors are expected iu the Telegraph, but we 
cannot let them pass iu the Rural. 
Chicago, Sept. 27,18*17. C. V. Riley. 
ALLANTHUS SILK-WORM, 
RURAL FARMERS’ CLUB 
Ouu engraving represents the Ailanthns Silk- 
Worm in its different stages, from the egg to the 
full grown worm feeding on the leaf. Our read¬ 
ers will remember that the moth was represented 
in the Rural of Sept. 21st. The eggs arc de¬ 
posited on the leaves in clusters, and under 
favorable circumstances, hatch iu about eight 
days alter being laid, and tho peiiod between its 
exclusiou from the egg and the spinning of the 
cocoon is about forty days. The caterpillar, in 
forming its cocoon, crawls in between two 
leaves—sometimes using only a single broad 
one—and gums a thread to the owe side of the 
leaf, and then towards the other for a few times, 
just sufficiently to hold the leaf in place anil 
supply u sort of covering around its body; it 
then carries the thread along the pedicel of the 
leaf to its origin with the peduncle, and after 
drawing it over carries it back to tho leaf to 
which it is again attached. This process is con¬ 
tinued until the side of the pedicel is entirely 
covered with silk, and the whole interior of the 
leaf is thickly coated. As it progresses tile leaf 
is drawn more closely to the body of the cater¬ 
pillar, 60 as to leave finally u neat fitting apart 
meut in which it can lie. 
The Ailanthiifl supplies good food for the 
worms—is a rapid grower, furnishing plants 
from the seed, in a few months after sowing, 
suitable for the worms to feed upon. The cli¬ 
mate of the Central States is thought to be quite 
equal to that of China for the production and 
use of the silk worm. It is a labor well adapted 
to those without capital—to the comparatively 
aged and feeble and the very young,—but owing 
to the recollection of the silk fever in morns 
multicaulis days, the subject is looked upon with , 
suspicion by most people. The time is not dis¬ 
tant, perhaps, when this prejudice will be meas¬ 
urably dispelled, and the silk business assume 
greater prominence in the circle of our industries. 
Care of Machinery. 
Asa Foote, Sherburne, N. Y., differs some¬ 
what from our recent correspondent, Peter 
WYckoff, respecting the grinding of the knives 
of reapers and mowers. He thinks the stone 
should turn from the person holding the knife. 
Instead ol a trough of water under the stone, a 
bucket should be suspended over it, perforated 
with a small hole, from which the water drops 
on the stone*. This does not wash the grit from 
tho stone, and therefore it eats away the knife 
faster and does not wear itself sb rapidly as if 
turning in a trough of water that washes off the 
grit. When the boxes of the machine wear he 
advises refilling with Habbit metal, which cun 
be done by taking out all that the box contains, 
adding more and melting the whole and pour¬ 
ing into the box again. Lay the shaft in the 
boxes and close the ends with putty before 
pouring in the metal. This work may be done 
in the leisure time of winter. 
Experiments with Potatoes. 
“ Yorick. ” sends us the following:—“ Having 
often been told that anything would do for seed, 
I have taken tho liberty to try some experiments 
on a small scale, but lu Lite proper way to obtain 
satisfactory results, aud that the readers of the 
Rural may profit thereby, offer the following 
statement. It so happened that the rows across 
my patch would allow of twenty-five hills, and 
selecting a piece near the center, I planted ionr 
rows, with tho following results: 
Largo seed, 1 in a hill, 01 — 67 marketable, 24 small. 
seems 
to me that some of the remedies usual ly resorted 
to for this disease ought at least to succeed in 
palliating or mitigating the disagreeable phe¬ 
nomenon. I must confess that I Iiuvb never yet 
seen any benefit from a medical course of treat¬ 
ment. All the subjects I have experimented 
upon were adults. I think a colt sLx months 
old the best possible subject for experiment 
with medicine. I would recommend the fol¬ 
lowing remedies,—Golden seal, 2 oz.; ginger, 4 
oz.; calcined magnesia, 8 oz.; mix. Dose—two 
teaspoonsful three times a day, to be given mixed 
with a small feed of oat meal each time. I think 
it would bo wen to add to each dose of this a 
teaspoonful of common table salt. The treat¬ 
ment ought to be continued for two or three 
weeks. If this conrae should fail, I have noth¬ 
ing more to offer.” 
Small, ’ 4 
Cut 4 
Eyes only 8 
All the seed was perfectly sound and as near 
a- practicable of the same weight in each of the 
first three rows, and all received the same cul¬ 
ture. Those *rom the large seed were of befit 
form and more uniform in size. Proposing to 
continue the experiment I hav e selected some of 
the large from the large, and some of the small 
from tho small to plant another reason, hoping 
eventually to satisfy myself at least whether It 
As Winter approaches it behooves every far¬ 
mer to secure his late crops, make provision lor 
stock, and attend to the fuel question. 
smiA'.t 51 H * ,V K 
