TERMS, S3.00 PER YEAR.] 
PROCRESS AND IMPROVEMENT 
SINGLE NO. TEN CENTS 
iWHOLE NO. 920 
ESTABLISHED IN 1850, 
trough, hurdled off so that the mother eaonoi 
get at it, must he jwovided for their use. Skim- 
milk with a small quantity of flour in it will be 
most readily taken to, and they will soon begin 
ta feed freely. In the case of pigs which are to 
be forced for exhibition, they may be induced to 
drink n little milk wheu ft few days old; after 
tumbling into the trough a few times, they will 
soon learn to driuk. In the ease of ordinary 
rearing, however, it will hardly pay to feed them 
go young. It must be remembered that more 
than half the breed of a pig goes in at its mouth. 
<>u no account should young pigs he allowed to 
depend entirely on their mother’s milk until 
weaning time. If they have been freely fed — 
and it"will pay to feed young animals well—they 
will not go back when weaned — a great desider¬ 
atum, as every one must know how long it takes 
for any animal to overcome the effects of being 
pinched when young. He would urge upon all 
pig breeders very strongly tbe advantages of 
having their pigs castrated before being weaned, 
care being taken that they have nothing given 
them for twcgrneob beforehand. There will be 
fewer losses by adopting this plan than by al¬ 
lowing them to get a greater age. Pigs may he 
weaned from seven to ten weeks old; this will 
depend upon the season and their general condi¬ 
tion. The better they have been done, the 
sooner may they be weaned; and for some time 
after they should be fed liberally. No reason 
has yet been assigned why in some case* llt th- 
lose tueir tans,, and lii ot hers do nut. The 
blame cannot be laid on the weather, as they fall 
off at all seasons; indeed, it is still a complete 
mystery to ; :g breeders. No animal will take 
so kindly to the young of another as a sow, and 
In some eases it will be found very convenient 
to give one sow the whole two litters to bring 
op. The only danger incurred is, that the sow 
from Whom the pigs are taken may sutler from 
hei milk ; blit with care ami proper attention, 
no bad results need follow. 
The writer strongly advocates the use of cook¬ 
ed food for all pigs; and in ease the farmer have 
not accommodation for cooking, that all meal 
be thoroughly soaked before being given. For 
this purpose tbe food should be mixed oue day 
before another. When roots are plentiful, they 
will prove capital food lor fattening pigs, mixed 
with meal, aud boiled to a pulp. The use of 
roots should not be continued to the end of the 
feeding time, or tbe meat will not be as lirm as 
it should be. 
present season tbe latter appeared unusually 
thick again, so that I considered it a profitable 
operation to reap the second growth for seed. I 
can account for this iu no other way but that it 
must have been self-sown last year, that season 
having been very favorable to the development 
of clover Heed, and the aftermath was not fed 
off until the few straggling clover stools liad 
ripened their seed; this being pressed to thu 
ground by the trampling of stock and the snows 
of winter, found favorable circumstances for 
growth. Now is there not a practical lesson 
here ? More or less seed ripens on all clover 
meadows, and wout it pay to harrow this down 
in the fall and give It the bust chance possible 
for germinating and thus thickening next year’s 
growth ? Ciiiel. 
AX ORIGINAL WEEKLY 
AGF.ICULTCRAL, LITERARY AND FAMILY NEWSPAPER 
CONDUCTED BY D. D. T. MOORE, 
With an Able Corps of Assistants and Contributors 
Hox. IJEXRY S. RANDALL. LL. D,. Editor of the De¬ 
partment of Sheep Husbandry. 
Hox. T. C. PETERS, late President N. Y. State AjrT 
Society, Southern Corresponding Editor. 
GLEZEN F. WILCOX, Associate Editor. 
Trip. Rcf.al Nkw-Yorkkr Is designed to be unsur¬ 
passed in Value, Purity, and Variety of Contents. Its 
Conductor earnestly labor- to render the Rural a Reli¬ 
able Guide on All the Important Practical, Scientific and 
other Subiecl* connected with the business of thcee 
whose intercsss It. zealously advocates. As a Family 
Journal it is eminently Instructive and Entertaining — 
helng go conducted that It can be safely tafceu to the 
Homes of people ofintelUgence. taste aud discrimination. 
It embraces more Agricultural, Horticultural, Scientific, 
Educational, Literary and Kewa Matter, Interspersed 
with appropriate cngiavlngs, than any other Journal 
rendering it by tar thu most complete AgR lCCLTcJtAL. 
Literary and Family Nkwspapkr Id America. 
FLOUR OF BORE 
Some weeks since a correspondent of the Mass¬ 
achusetts Ploiighmau called in question the fer¬ 
tilizing properties of tho Flour of Bone, and 
gave his reasons for doubting its value as a ma¬ 
nure. It appears that, for the purpose of test¬ 
ing the matter, he selected three sections of 
land, lying alongside of each other, possessing 
a common natural fertility and identity of soil. 
Oue of these was liberally supplied with the 
flour of bone, and another less so, while the 
third wus cropped without tho application of 
any of the fertilizing material. The result 
A cove wo portray a two-year-old Kerry Bull 
which was awarded ‘lit' tir-t iv ; ie, -is tho best 
bull in his section, at the itreat National 
Cattle and Horse Show of ■ I. ■ vul Agricultural 
Society of Ireland. ) 
As Kerry cattle are Inu lit;', tin own in this 
country, the following It i lotion of them 
(given iu a late number of iff** ada Farmer,) 
tviJI t>« matt iTitll iut . -V.) [, rtluu „1VH 
our portrait of a noted -pccm A i e; me breed: 
“The natural habitat of tins i .uimal is, us its 
name denotes, to be found .mmig tbe fastnesses 
of the county of Kerry, in i’ue Urthwest corner 
of Ireland, and the most westerly land in Europe. 
The climate is excessively humid, and the-slopes 
of its mountains produce but a oar.-md scanty 
vegetation. The valleys, aowe ir, are often high¬ 
ly productive, affording sw vt ..ml excellent pas¬ 
ture. This district is minor r adapted to the 
raising of a small and hardy rj> t of cattle, as well 
as a useful breed of sheep. 
“The. Kerry cattle were formerly black, with 
a white streak along tin spine, but of late 
years they have been of carious colors — black, 
brown aud of intermediate shades. Tin. ir horns 
are due and long, generally urning upwards. 
They have a suit, unction- skin, of an orange 
tinge, whirl) is very apparent about the nose and 
ears. The expression of the tye is bold, and 
their general form and symmetry often exceed- | much increased in size for fattening, and equally 
ingly graceful. These cattle nreextreausiy hardy, improved in milkiDg properties.” 
and maintain themselves on scanty food in much 
better conditi'm than could be expected; but 
when they are put on better pasture they in¬ 
crease considerably In size, and produce beauti¬ 
fully marked beef, which, being of the best 
quality, command* the highest price. 
“Tho principal value of this breed consists in 
the adaptation of tho cow to the domestic Ua’ry. 
V ..r n A.,.. --.<»■ I riUAtily J [ milk. COmpOTCd "kj til 
the size ol the animal tied tho amount'Of IJOd 
consumed, the Kerry is, perhaps, not excelled 
by any other breed of cattle. For this reason 
the cow is highly valued by the cottagers and 
small farmers of Ireland, and is also used to im¬ 
prove the domestic dairies of gentlemen living 
in tbe vicinity of large towns iu England. In 
many parts of Ireland this breed has been cross¬ 
ed witu the Longhorn*, producing results that 
are by no my an- always favorable. The Kerry 
cows make admirable first crosses with the Short- 
Horns or H Tcfords, and produce animals gene¬ 
rally well adapted to the dairy, and very excel¬ 
lent for fattening purposes. It If, however, de¬ 
sirable to keep The breed distinct, as being spe¬ 
cially adapted to hilly districts, w here pasturage 
is scant and coarse. Recently more attention 
has been paid to the improvement of the breed, 
which, with a judicious selection of parents, 
and more attention to feeding arid shelter, iB 
For Terms and oilier particulars see last page, 
mmwsmmh 
PIGS-BREEDS AND MANAGEMENT 
A FOREIGN VIEW’ OF THE SUBJECT. 
of products, hence an opinion was formed ad¬ 
verse to the claims of bone flour as a fertilizer. 
This conclusion may have been just, owing to 
peculiar circumstances, as to that particular 
crop, but the experiment would have been more 
satisfactory bad the cropping been continued 
for another year. It is possible, and even prob¬ 
able, that the ground experimented upon was suf¬ 
ficiently rich alreudy in the ingredients embraced 
in the fertilizer, hence the addition waft super¬ 
erogatory and without beneficial results, aud 
would necessarily remain to till this superabund¬ 
ance was measurably reduced by continuous crop¬ 
ping. As a general thing, the observant farmer 
can determine with reasonable certainty what 
particular stimulant his soil lacks by consider¬ 
ing the character of tbe crops be lias taken from 
it, lor a series of years, and the quantity per acre 
produced. If careful in this respect he will rare¬ 
ly make a mistake in the application of fertilizers, 
and thus avoid doing injustice to a really valua¬ 
ble article. 
It is probable — in fact we may say certain— 
that there is cheating in commercial fertilizers, 
and that what is vended sometimes as flour of 
bone is a bogus affair, and hence of no value to 
the fanner. But it does not follow, from this, 
that the pure article is not valuable when ap¬ 
plied to soils wanting in the ingredients com¬ 
posing it and essential to the growth of many 
agricultural products. 
A writer in the London Field 6ays that the 
small and large whites, the Berkshire*, the Es¬ 
sex, aud thaSuffollc pigs arc the most, important. 
When it is intended to sell pigs as stores at an 
early age, the large white breed will be found to 
answer the best; these grow very rapidly, and 
are ready for sale at a much earlier age than 
their smaller brethren. For pork feeding he 
recommends cither the small white Essex or 
Suffolk, and these kinds get fat very readily, 
and, when fed upon good food at an early age 
do not grow, n» a large pig would, instead of 
layingon flesh. The black Berkshire is perhaps 
the hardiest, aud tbe Essex pig, the most deli¬ 
cate. For bacon and general purposes no pig 
can be more desirable than the Berkshire, and 
between them aud a medium-sized white pig 
will the choice rest. 
Neither boars nor sows should be fed too 
highly; they will never be so successful as 
breeders if they are. Good store condition 
should be aimed at; and wbat that is, every pig- 
keeper either knows or ought to know. Before 
farrowing, tbe sows should be fed better Than 
they have been, in order to stimulate the secre¬ 
tion of milk; indeed, during the whole sixteen 
weeks they should, if possible, be kept gradu¬ 
ally improving in condition. They should have 
exercise; this they will take themselves if they 
have plenty of range. Poor sows will often pro¬ 
duce the most healthy, and sometimes the 
largest pigs, but in uine cases out of ten tut 
milk supply runs short, and then many deaths 
maybe expected. Fat sows are equally objec¬ 
tionable ; their pigs are generally weakly, and 
they are certain to destroy some by lying on 
them. At the time of farrowing, the sow mast 
be separated from her companions, aud placed 
in a proper house for the purpose fitted up with 
a rail round, to prevent her from crushing her 
young ones against the walls. A small quantity 
of cut straw chaff should only be allowed as 
bedding; long straw is particularly objection¬ 
able for ibis purpose, as the little pigs become 
entangled in it before they are strong, and then 
the sow, if she moves about much, is ulmost 
certain to kill some by treading or lying on 
them. Some people recommeud the removal of 
the little pigs as they are bom, and have a hamp¬ 
er placed in one corner of the house to hold 
them until the sow has done farrowing, when 
they are all returned to her. This plau is, Low- 
',;only to be recommended in the case of 
AEOUT FUEL, 
NOTES FROM THE FARM 
“ Bury tii el urge 6tone in the middle lot“ Get 
some whltewood trees to mill for making garden 
fence pickets;” “ Plant shade trees along the 
road side;’’ “Dig the alders out of the fence 
corners and look after the wild mustard that 
came up where the thrashing machine stood In 
the field last year.’’ In this way his slate was 
filled, and if a leisure half day occurred his men 
nil had plenty of work; and if the master hap¬ 
pened to be absent the slate told the workmen 
what to do. Altera time it wus his custom to 
lay out. the day’s work on the slate each evening 
previous, and when a job was finished the record 
was erased. To get the slate clean was the am¬ 
bition of the workmen. 
The season is at hand when the fuel question 
will be of importance to the farmer. Those 
who with forethought and labor provided at 
the proper season lor such work a sufficiency 
which is now well seasoned and under cover, 
are in good condition to look white winter in 
the lace; but ii' your fuel for tbe ensuing six 
months is yet standing in the forest, hi.-, grim 
countenance may be suggestive of snowy work 
and sputtering tires that go out on a road which 
Is hard for yon to travel. 
Some dry wood can be gleaned by gathering 
the dead poles and trees before deep snows fall, 
and there is one comfort in doing this work, 
which is that you are thereby effecting a saving 
of more valuable timber and bringing your for¬ 
est into a better state of culture. After this you 
can select the best kinds of wood for burning 
green; probably hickory stands forenu-nr, theu 
maple and beech; oak F perhaps the worst of 
all common wood for burning in an unseasoned 
state, yet when well seasoned under cover is one 
of the very best, r,tuning next to hickory. If the 
time is short in which to season the fuel, split ir. 
fine and pile it out of door- in a situation wall 
exposed to suu and wind. It is best to put only 
oue or at most two tiers in a place, us this gives 
the wind better action ou the wood. By timely 
and efficient action in this matter, with some 
aid from the stove oven to dry the morning sup¬ 
ply, one can get along and not suffer seriously 
from lack of dry wood. Often there is a partial 
supply ol the latter on hand, in which ease it is 
best to eke it out by mixing green with it, but 
in any case make and keep one good resolution, 
namely, to provide this winter plenty of cut fuel 
to last a year. 
Heeding your practical and oft repeated ad¬ 
vice, dear Rural, to gather the autumn crops 
in good season, fine weather and some extra 
help have nearly put me to the end of the har¬ 
vest, I shall have now a line time for improve¬ 
ments, I think* before winter closes in. Allttle 
of this leisure I shall occupy with your permis¬ 
sion, iu endeavoring to fulfill what is every 
individual firmer’* duty who takes an agricul¬ 
tural journal, namely, to furnish for its columns 
some practical hints and knowledge, which may 
be of benefit to Lis fellow-workers. This is the 
kind of book farming that is valuable; it is 
practical, useful experience, told not only to my 
neighbor-, but to your thousands of readers 
also, and I want my neighbors to reciprocate 
the favor, aud give liberally imn their stores of 
JUrm knowledge. L> i a* make the “ Rural 
Farmers 1 Club 1 ' what it. is cap ton- of being—the 
best medium in the o’Ui.try lor the exchange of 
larmiiig ideas. 
THE COTTON GROWING SOUTH, 
A planter writes to a Southern paper thus: 
“We will make a large cotton crop this season, 
as there are so many more planters now induced 
to labor than before the war.” What a blessed 
inducement grows out of the necessities of the 
transition from slave to GOil-endowed free labor. 
Another planter writes to the. Southern Culti¬ 
vator that with the “ Buckeye Cultivator attach¬ 
ed to hie buggy; he 1 barred off’ and cleaned out 
the weeds from ten acres of corn and c >ttou in 
a day;” aud Dr. Lee writes from Tennessee to 
tho same paper that Stafford’s Sulky Cultivator 
performs to the admiration of the froedmen, 
giving them “both cheerfulness and energy.” 
But the planters of the South just now need en¬ 
couragement; many' of them are “laud poor,” 
aud the cotton tax is a soro discouragement to 
the grower of that great staple of export, which 
has done so much to enrich these TTuitcd States. 
Many of the planter correspondents of the 
Southern Cultivator have a useful knowledge of 
agricultural chemistry, but one of them demurs 
to specific technicalities, and asks for “plain ev¬ 
ery-day country terms.” Would he like the Ger¬ 
man plan, which call* carbon, cOal stuff, oxygen, 
sour stuff, and hydrogen, water stuli', or wonld 
he understand the chemist better if he called 
nitrogen and its compounds, stinking stuff? 
Every farmer ought to know that these four 
simple elements, in the form of woody liber, 
water, Ac., form the bulk of his growing crop, 
while the thirteen mineral elements, called inor¬ 
ganic, are found in the ashes or debris of the 
crop, and also that nitrogen and Its compounds 
THE PORK PROSPECT. 
The prospect of profit being derived by fat¬ 
tening pork this fall is very dubious. Good 
feeders who have fattened their pork all summer 
and up to the present time, turning sour milk, 
clover, wind-fall apples, small potatoes and 
pumpkins, by the aid of a little meal into pork, 
have by far the best margins. They can hardly 
lose anything; but feeders that are preparing 
their Logs lor market with good corn, stand a 
great chance to get, a very small price lor their 
labor, -Miyiug nothing about that of the grain. 
It may be worth while for some to remember 
that lat nigs are very much desired by butchers 
during the months of February, March, and 
April, aud that winter feeding for the spring 
market pays well if one has warm pens and uses 
cooked food. September pigs can tie made more 
profitable 5f led Vf-P " , ii they are six months 
old tea,, ii dropped ; e month of April and 
killed in tie uuitm 
AN OLD FARMER Vi PLATE. 
• 
Writ ing .ibont improvements reminds me that 
u farmer dues not always xJo.uk- of what is need¬ 
ful a no may b • done h1.ch P-i-ufo times occur, 
and it recalls to ray mind the practice of a large 
and fruocc-.sfui Dinner, who at Lis death left his 
affairs iu a prosperous condition, unci hi* prem¬ 
ises in. Complete order. His neighbors often 
wondered ut the ease with which he conducted 
his operations; he never hurried, but the right 
thing was always clone ut ihe right time und his 
work never lagg. 1. Much of the improveme nt 
he made was in odd spells wheu the routine of 
regular farm work was broken by rainy weather, 
or after finishing the work on a crop, and while 
waiting for another to get to the proper stage. 
He kept a large slate hanging in the kitchen 
where all his workmen! could see it, and when¬ 
ever a job occurred to iiim it was noted on the 
slate. For instance seme of his entries ran 
thus,—“ Make a gate for the brook lot;” “ Clean 
out the open ditch iu die wheat field“ Lay a 
new floor on the scaffold over the barn floor;” 
ever, 
very fat sows, when they are a long time in far¬ 
rowing. As a rule, the less the attendant inter¬ 
feres the better. He would not, however, have 
a all sows left to themselves; in cases of mal-pre- 
0 mentation, a little help may bo judiciously given, 
i# For a few days after pigging Ihe sow should not 
have forcing food; if she appears to be quite 
A right at the end of that time, she can ih -n bo 
treated well. Nothing will produce more milk 
ji than a little skim-milk] given warm. A great 
deal of the after success ol the pigs depends up- 
5 a on how they are treated at this stage. 
At about a fortnight old the little pigs should 
si begin to eat on their own account, and a small 
Ai'D v:,.. • • F CLOVER. 
I have amt:. 1 "., c - : d nine years ago with 
red clover . : l ’ionDT , and mown every year 
star . The a’.'u g -■ ,-th haft always beeu pas¬ 
tured Iut .• .iiiu juju, and no manure has 1 o ut 
ap; :... ‘i d ii iiiL T. K i. . ,, . The timothy, together 
wi;f. .nr. . 11 top, has gradually taken 
po«> •. siou ijI ti lii-ii,', until I had thought the 
red clover Hugh; . counted out.” But the 
m 
Z4 
ip? 
/ 
/ 
SRUAOl j[ It 
