I Smithfield club 
Ca ttle sho w. 
Silver cup £<2o 
Prize £15 
SlLYER M EDAL 
To 
Exhibitor And 
BREEDER, 
theEarl Radnor 
PROGRESS AND IMPROVEMENT.” 
MOORE’S RURAL NEW-YORKER, 
AN ORIGINAL WEEKLY 
AGRICULTURAL, LITERARY AND FAMILY NEWSPAPER, 
CONDUCTED BY D. D. T. MOORE, 
With a Corps of Able Associates and Contributors. 
Hon. HENRY S. RANDALL, LL. D., 
Editor of the Department of Sheep Hnsbandry. 
G. P. WILCOX and A. A. HOPKINS. Associate Editors. 
Da. DANIEL LEE and Hon.THEO. C. PETERS, 
Southern Carrespoutlllfg Editors. 
HIRAM HUMPHREY and REUBEN D. JONES, 
Assistant and Commercial Editors. 
WANT OF SYSTEM IN FARMING. 
TELE LOUISIANA STATE FAIR. 
Speclnl Contributors. 
P. BARRY, P. R. ELLIOTT, E. W. STEWART, 
H. T. BROOKS, JOHN E. SWEET, JAMES VICK, 
MRS. MARY J. HOLMES, MRS. L. E. LYMAN. 
One of the prominent defects in American farm¬ 
ing is the constant tendency to change. As a body, 
farm ore do not develop any fixedness Of purpose, 
nor labor through a series of years to accomplish 
any definite result. Their marked predilection is 
rather for the rushing torrent, than the little rill, 
which, though slow and constant, always keeps the 
fountain filled. We grant this is not true of all, 
but we speak of the majority, who are amenable to 
thiB charge. 
In this respect there is a marked contrast in com- 
parison to the routine and course system of our 
trims-Atlantic cousins, who have, after years of 
practice, adopted a system of rotation, to which 
they adhere with true English tenacity. That they 
cannot he largely at. fault is evidenced in the high 
rents paid for land, the large annual outlay for ma¬ 
nure, and the usually remunerative result. These 
things may not be, probably are not every way 
suited to Young America; hut they may serve as a 
chart when we are at sea, as we fear is too often the 
case, running wild. 
The late Gen. Wadsworth, in the management 
of his immense landed estate, a large share of which 
was annually rented for fanning purposes, estab¬ 
lished and maintained such a system, in providing 
for a succession of different crops, as well as plowed 
and grass laud; and in arranging for such a general 
seeding with clover to lie plowed in as a fertilizer, 
as maintained the value and fertility of the soil at a 
point hardly to be credited in lands that were con¬ 
stantly leased. Other individual instances might be 
cited, but they would only serve to render the 
opposite course of the majority the more marked. 
The fertile wheat producing belt in our own West¬ 
ern New York was continually sown and re-sown 
with that grain, to the almost entire exclusion of 
other crops, until the original virgin richness of the 
soil was well nigh exhausted of the elements re¬ 
quired to perfect a remunerative crop, aud still the 
plowing, seeding and harvesting went on until 
nature entered her earnest and effective protest, in 
the shape of the weevil, and compelled a change of 
base. It required a partial loss of two or three 
years before the wheat producing farmers could 
adopt any other crop, and in the interim they 
looked chop fallen and complained of hard times. 
Instead of adopting a mixed and rotative system, 
their pent up energies found vent in beans, and 
almost as by magic the length and breadth of the 
wheat district was planted with this crop. 
An additional illustration of this tendency to 
change is to be found in the very large outlay for 
sheep, line wool and coarse, which has been prac¬ 
ticed for a few years past. In the nsual acceptation 
of the term, sheep paid, and wool producing be¬ 
came general over a large part of Western New 
York and elsewhere. We would not be understood 
as objecting to sheep farming when judiciously con¬ 
ducted, but the very indiscriminate purchase of 
large flocks, whether prepared to do them justice 
or not, leads to results not always satisfactory. 
With the present winter we find a very general de¬ 
sire to sell out, and large numbers of sheep are 
forced on the market at any price that will effect a 
sale. That this is unwise will be fully understood 
at no distant day. Along with other branches of 
farming, sheep will be found remunerative. It is 
the practice of rushing into a business, and as un¬ 
advisedly rushing out again, against which we desire 
to enter protest. Flocks may be judiciously pruned 
of inferior animals, and be profitably brought to a 
high standard. 
The manufacture of cheese, and the mania for 
cheese factories, are additional evidence of the 
correctness of our charge. Cheese making on a 
scale commensurate with a healthy demand for the 
article is to be commended. It is the very general 
forsaking of other business and entering largely 
into cheese factories in districts where suitable 
soil and circumstances do not warrant the un¬ 
dertaking, that must result in loss. Not only in 
what are known and acknowledged as good dairy 
districts, is capital invested in the business, but in 
the grain districts, and upon the broad prairieB of 
the almost boundless West, to an extent the mar¬ 
ket does not warrant. If the experienced dairymen 
of such counties as Herkimer and Oneida demon¬ 
strate by figures that cheese making, at present 
prices of cows, labor and cheese, eventuates in loss 
to them, what result may be expected by those who 
have not only far less experience, but a less favor¬ 
able soil and location. Already the first notes of 
PRIZE PIGS AT THE SMITHFIELD CLUB CATTLE SHOW. 
Our engraving portrays the Pigs which won the highest prize at the recent Show of the Smithfield Club, London, England. They are owned by 
Earl Radnor, are of the White Coleshill sort, and were fifteen months and nine dayB old when exhibited. Their closest competitors were animals of 
the famous large Yorkshire breed, only one month younger. This is the third time that Earl Radnor has won the highest prize for the best pen of 
pigs at the Smithfield Club. For genuine fatness these pigs are apparently in advance of anyswiue in the States or Canada,— including Forkopolis. 
alarm have been sounded, and it is but reasonable 
to anticipate, within a brief period, a reaction, aud 
other changes. 
The same state of facts has been true in regard 
to some, branches of fruit culture. A not very 
small number of cultivators have made a success in 
growing dwarf pears and other fruit, and excited by 
their figures, farmers and others have hi respectable 
numbers followed in their footsteps, and, as might 
have been expected, have in the main harvested only 
disappointment. The same is too true of many cul¬ 
tivators of what are known as small fruits. It is not 
every location that may be profitably planted with 
these. Neither is every farmer prepared to culti¬ 
vate them In a manner that will euable him to com¬ 
pete with the best cultivators in favorable localities. 
It behoves them to consider well the entire subject 
before embarking in an untried, and an imperfectly 
understood pursuit. The methods of culture pur¬ 
sued by a large share of farmers are not sufficiently 
thorough and minute to ensure remuneration in a 
branch of business where these are among the essen¬ 
tials of success. 
We do not desire to have our position misunder- 
stood. We enter into no contest with either of the 
branches of farming named ; they are all essential, 
and desirable to a certain extent, and in the proper 
place. It is against the tendency to adopt any one 
of these for a period, to the almost entire exclusion 
of others, to be in tuvu discarded for some different 
scheme, that we desire to speak, as the Rural New- 
Yorker has often before spoken. 
We desire to educe t'rom the recital of the fore¬ 
going truthful illustrations a strong argument in 
favor of a well-diversified system of farm husbandry, 
as the ouly safe rule for general cultivators. When 
auy farmer for a series of years places his chance of 
success upon one crop, to the exclusion of a more 
general cultivation of others, the day is not fur dis¬ 
tant when he must sutler a loss. It is always more 
pleasant to commend than to condemn, but there 
are occasions where plain words are demanded. 
about half an inch wide of sufficient length to reach 
around the horse’s throat; take another strap, three 
inches long and one inch wide, drive it full of tacks, 
and sew a piece of leather on the back of it to pre¬ 
vent the tacks from coming out; buckle the strap 
around the throat sufficiently tight that when he 
“cribs” he will distend the throat and the tacks 
will jog him. You will readily perceive that the 
pricking of the tacks will be sufficient punishment 
to make him quit “ cribbing.” Take a solution of 
strong sage tea, and alum dissolved, and bathe the 
gurus with it to allay the Inflammation; and then 
nail a piece of sheep skiu, with the woolly side out, 
on the trough or any place accessible to the horse, 
or where he would be likely to take hold. This is 
all that can be done, as to eradicate the habit en¬ 
tirely Is beyond the skill of any horse veterinarian 
ever I met with. I think this prescription if circu¬ 
lated would be beneficial’ 1 
known. These omnlvorously gross feeders are gen¬ 
erally regarded as a table luxury, and, according to 
our taste, justly so. Why are the latter, concedcdly 
gross in their food instincts and subject to many 
diseases, passed over and the hog alone selected as 
a proper target at which to launch the anathema of 
excommunication ? On Bccond thought, we think 
our correspondent owes the hogs an apology, for 
these poor, banned creatures did not seek an alliance 
with devils, but gave them asylum on compulsion. 
But so distasteful to the hogs was the association, 
in which they became passive participants, that, 
rather than endure it, they Bought relief in the des¬ 
perate remedy of suicide ! 
About Heed C«rn. 
RURAL FARMERS’ CLUB, 
A few weeks ago we noticed some fine seed corn 
sent to us by Mr. M. Stebbins, Deerfield, Mass. 
Mr. S. has since written us aud we extract the fol¬ 
lowing from his letter: 
“ I wish to correct one error in your article in rela¬ 
tion to the kind of corn. Yon say “ it resembles the 
Dutton corn, but probably it is a hybrid.” But 1 
assure you that it is neither. I raised the Dutton 
corn two years before ^procured this seed, and threw 
it aside because of the enormous great cob. It would 
not cure in any ordinary crib, and further, two bushels 
of ears would not give one bushel of shelled corn. 
Some of our fanners said, and say now, even, they 
don’t care how big the cob is, if it is covered with 
corn. But 1 think otherwise. This corn was brought 
from Canada in 1838. It was a very small kind of 
coni, so much so that few farmers would raise it. I 
have continued to raise it, and keep it as pure and 
distinct from any and alt other kinds as possible. 
In shelling my seed, I am careful to select the long, 
deep-set kernels, and consequently get a very small 
cob. There is a less quantity of stalks, also, in pro¬ 
portion to the com than in other sorts.” 
Sow Eutiua her Plars. 
“A.,” Sinclearville, N. Y., writes:—“Aneighbor 
of mine saved a fine litter of pigs from a ravenous 
sow by the following plan, which is worth remem¬ 
bering : — He took the pigs away and gave the 
mother about oue pint of whisky, which made her 
drunk, and while in that condition he carefully re¬ 
placed the pigs, and she was as good a mother after 
uo was necessary. Queer remedy, if not doubtful. 
OribbiuK Horses. 
Abram Kline, Canfield, Ohio, writes us that he 
“ t hink s cribbing proceeds from the Bhedding of 
teeth, which makes the gums sore, which causes 
them to take hold with their teeth of any object 
withiu reach, and by a continuation of this practice 
they will eventually begin to suck wiud. My 
method of treating a horse that’s a “cribber” (a- 
far as it is curable,) is to have a strap of leather 
Uok Cholera—Pork. 
C. M. B., Petroleum Center, referring to a preven¬ 
tive of hog cholera proposed by a western paper, 
takes occasion, among other things adverse to the 
hog, to write that “ people would become healthy 
if they would stop eating pork,” and u .:ks:—"Is 
that fit to eat which requires cleansing out evc-ry 
day or two with salt, lime, ashes and soft soap?” 
Further than this, in disparagement of the hog, he 
adds“ I once knew a physician who made the re¬ 
mark that the reason people were so full of the 
devil was because they ate so much pork. What he 
bused his belief upou I cannot say, but one thing 
we know, devils were suffered to go into the swme, 
aud we are not told that they ever came out.” 
It is conceded that the hog is gross in form, and 
equally so in the indulgence of his appetite, but not 
more so than barn yard fowls, whose penchant for 
garbage and reptiles of no inviting aspect is well 
Experiments with Hen Manure on Corn. 
Seymour Joyner, North Egremont, Mass.:—“ I 
read the articles of your Pennsylvania correspond¬ 
ents, last spring, on the manuring of com with hen 
droppings. One advocated patting the manure In 
the hill, and the other on the top after planting. 
I tried some experiments. I put coarse barn-yard 
manure on my corn land, and plowed it under to 
the depth of seven inches. At planting time select¬ 
ed twelve rows through the lot, as near alike »3 I 
could; four were planted without the hen manure, 
four with it in the hill, and four with it on the top. 
The four rows without any manure In the hill gave 
a fair crop; the four with the manure on top yie Id 
ed fifteen per cent, better, and the four with the 
manure in the hill twenty per cent, more, or five 
per cent, better than those which received the sur¬ 
face application. The estimates were made by weigh¬ 
ing the produce. 
“ Now for shrinkage on com. I selected one rod 
of corn, as near the average of four acres as possible, 
husked and weighed the ears on the 34th of Septem¬ 
ber—weight 55^s pounds. The first day of January, 
1868, the same corn weighed only 35pounds, and 
gave of shelled com 2834 ' pounds—one pint less than 
one-half bushel by measure. Weight of cob and 
shrinkage amounted to 27 pounds. Loss pound, 
This will explain In part the great corn crops, as re¬ 
ported by Agricultural Societies iu this and other 
States, measured by weight of corn on the cob, and 
deducting from 15 to 20 per cent., iustead of 40 to 50 
per cent, us the true shrinkage. My corn was sound, 
and I had gathered my seed for the next year before 
selecting the quantity experimented with.” 
Ringbone. 
M. A. D. French, veterinary surgeon, alluding 
to ringbone, in the American Stock Journal, says:— 
“A notion has long prevailed that ’ringbone is fed 
by a bladder at the back part of the pastern,’ and 
this notion has led to a cruel operation in the treat¬ 
ment of this disease.” He adds :—“ There is indeed 
a bladder there, called a ‘ bursal sac,' the design of 
which is to secrete a joint-oil to lubricate the ten¬ 
dons, and to prevent the friction of surfaces; how 
! barbarous, then to destroy it. We should here eau- 
1 tion our horse-breeders against using stallions that 
have the least tendency to this, or any similar dis- 
1 ease of the joints, bones or tendons.” 
New Orleans, Jan. 18th, 1868. 
Mr. Moore:—I write you once more from this 
land of birds aud flowere, sunny skies and per¬ 
petual verdure. To this date there has been but 
one frost, and that only slight, —Its traces being 
most visible ou the banana tree, a part of the leaves 
of which seem seared and scorched. 
I he Agricultural and Mccbanical Fair, now closed, 
continued fourteen days. The preparations made by 
the committee of arrangements were ample and the 
space commodious, equal to anything either North 
or South. The exhibition in all the different depart¬ 
ments was all that could be reasonably expected_ 
but the attendance by the agricultural community, 
or the planters, was very meager in numbers—not 
more than equal to that of the couuty fairs of Mon¬ 
roe or Orleans Co., N. Y., and generally regarded by 
Northern men as a failure. 
Nearly all the States were represented on the fair 
grounds by some iugonious labor-saving machine. 
Here is the famous Steam Flow (of which much has 
been written,) iu actual operation on the grounds, 
plowing for several days. It claims to have had its 
birth in an Englishman’s brain, and threatens'a 
revolution in agriculture. But from the demonstra¬ 
tions made it looked to us like a hnge failure, alto¬ 
gether impracticable. The plow itself, or rather 
gang of plows, is propelled from one side of the 
field to the other by stationary engines and a wire 
rope extending across the field, which winds up on 
a drum, and thus ts drawn back and forth. The two 
engines could not cost less than ten thousand dol¬ 
lars. Some Yankee hoadi must eventnullylook into 
this steam plow arrangement aud bring It out, if 
circumstances require it. My own opinion is that 
all the great landed estates of America have “played 
out, ” and the Agricultural business of the South 
will lie conducted mainly on the same principle as it 
is in the North. 
Here, too, ou the grounds, you see the Levee 
Builder, all the way from Quincy, Ill. It has come 
to help reclaim those vast tracts over which the 
Mississippi has so peacefully reposed since the war. 
It claims to do, as I understand, the work of a hun¬ 
dred men in lifting aud loading the earth into carts. 
It certainly seemed to handle and move the earth at 
a very rapid rate. The Gov't should examine care¬ 
fully this Levee Builder, for nothing is more needed 
than this article to reclaim the rich alluvial lauds 
along the river, and help pay our huge National debt. 
Here, also, we see a great array of plows, some mow¬ 
ing machines and reapers, horse rakes, cotton chop¬ 
pers, scrapers and cotton planters, harrows &c., the 
mere beginning of that great system of labor-saving 
machinery which is to take the place of that time- 
honored institution bo recently passed away. 
Mechanics’ HaU is also largely filled with Yankee 
Inventions, none of which hold a more conspicuous 
place or more indispensable in tbe South than the 
cotton gins. Some very valuable improvements 
have recently been made in this class of implements, 
and none seemed to attract more attention for real 
merit than the Steel-Brush Cotton Gin, manufac¬ 
tured at Mystic River, Conn. Where would the 
South now be, but for the cotton gin ? It was truly 
one of the great triumphs of art. This, with negro 
slavery systematized, was the great foundation of 
the wealth and aristocracy of the South, before the 
war. The cotton gin was imperiously demanded at 
the time it came. A demand equally imperious 
now, after the emancipation of the slaves, exists for 
machinery to cultivate and produce cotton —for it 
seems to be the conclusion of all practical men that 
the present system of labor in the South can never 
produce cotton and make it remunerative. Cotton 
used to lie King, but, like Dagon, he now lies on his 
face, and the great question of the American people 
is whether this great staple product, which was such 
a source of revenue to this country, shall go down 
or whether it shall maintain its original position in 
the markets of the world. My own opinion is that 
with the climate and soil of the Cotton States un¬ 
surpassed in natural fertility by any ou the globe 
and the great demand for the article, machinery 
will soon be adapted which will produce cotton at 
one-half the cost of the present system. 
The Southern men are generally keen and far- 
seeing, and can calculate as shrewdly on the cost 
of a bale of cotton, or the probable state of the 
market, as any men In the world,— but in reference 
to labor-saving machinery they know little or noth¬ 
ing, for the old system was wholly against it. The 
whole South is now ready to hail the advent of any¬ 
thing that will save labor. 
We are under many obligations for the hospitali¬ 
ties aud courtesies extended to us by the Press of 
New Orleans, —especially mast we mention the 
favors bestowed upon us by tbe Picayune. Mr. 
Holbrook, the proprietor, and Messrs. Bacon and 
Baker are gentlemen of high merit, and must com¬ 
mand respect—at least we judge so from their care¬ 
ful consideration of strangers iti their midst. 
Oue thing we noticed particularly, and that was a 
universal desire for agricultural Information or any¬ 
thing that would promote the interests of planters, 
and no journal awahened a livelier interest than the 
mention of .Moore’s Rural Nkw-Yorrbk, There 
was hardly a place where it had not been once a 
household word, “ \Y hy, l used to take that paper 
before the war,” was not unfrequently heard. 
It is a fact that cannot be concealed that the con 
ditiou of the South is sad indeed. They have had 
two years of failure in the cotton crop. Last year 
many staked their all upon it, by drawing all they 
could from the merchants and factors, and even 
mortgaging land and stock in many cases, (for an 
yrnu q 1 $3.00 PEB YEAR. 
I b K mo, -| Single Copy, Six Cents. 
ROCHESTER, N. Y., ANN NEW YORK CITY. 
OFFICES i ?? S u< T a l 9 Rochester. 
urMLt »,^ 41 Park Row, New York. 
YOU. XIX, NO. SJ 
FOR THE WEEK ENDING SATURDAY, FEBRUARY 8, 1888. 
{WHOLE NO. 942. 
