tcdmg J $3.00 PER YEAR. 
I fcKIVlo, Copy, Six Cents. 
ROCHESTER, N. Y, AND NEW YORK CITY. 
nt-notrc 182 Buffalo St., Rochester. 
OrFICtOjj-^i Park Row, New York. 
YOU. XIX, 
25.} 
FOR THE WEEK ENDING SATURDAY, JUNE 20, 1868. 
{WHOLE NO. 861. 
“progress and improvement.” 
MOOEE’S RURAL NEW-YORKER, 
AN ORIGINAL WEEKLY 
AGRICULTURAL, LITERARY AND FAMILY NEWSPAPER. 
CONDUCTED BY D. D. T. MOORE, 
With & Corps of Able Associates and Contributors. 
Terms, In Advance — Thkbk Dollabs a Yxab:— Five 
copies for $14; 8even, and one free to Club Agent, for $19; 
Ten, and one free, for $25 —only $2.50 per copy. As we pre¬ 
pay American postage, $3.70 Is the lowest Club rate to Canada 
and $3.50 to Europe. The best way to remit Is by Draft or 
Post-Office Money Order,— and all Drafts and Orders made 
payable to the Publisher may bb mailed at ms bjbk. 
IV All Business Letters, Contributions, Ac., should be 
addressed to Rochester until otherwise announced. 
GRASS AS A RENOVATING CROP. 
This crop grows more or lees in all countries and 
climates, sustains more animal life than any other, 
and contributes most towards supplying the com¬ 
forts and luxuries mankind enjoy. Wherever grass 
flourishes man gains an easy liviDg and acquires 
wealth; where it grows not deserts spread their in¬ 
hospitable wastes, and man is a nomad aud a barba¬ 
rian. It gives to man, civilized or savage, meat, 
wool and milk and its products; it is the great 
renovator of soil worn by tillage and cropping; 
thus lying at the very foundation of all other useful 
vegetable growth, and in the landscape it appeals to 
onr sense of beauty with greater force than any other 
feature. It grows spontaneously, yet yields easily 
to culture. 
As a renovator of the soil, grass is of greater ag¬ 
gregate value with us than stable or barn yard 
manure, and it is a question worthy of a good deal 
of thought how to use it with the most profit in 
enriching onr lands. It seems, indeed, to enrich 
sou, at least for the production of other crops, by 
merely occupying it. If we mow, or pasture, or let 
it decay where it grows, although \le see greater 
benefit from some methods than others, yet all seem 
to add somewhat to the productive power of the 
soil for cereals. Grass acts as a soil renovator, both 
by what it conveys to it, and also by a certain me¬ 
chanical action. Of course it can add nothing to 
what was in the 60 il previous to its growth from it, 
except what it derives from the atmosphere; hut 
this is considerable, and besides, it changes, by its 
growth and decay, the crude elements of soil into a 
state better adapted to nourish plants of a higher 
character, and bearing food directly for the use of 
man. But the dense bottom growth and surface 
roots of grass, which formwbat we call turf, protect 
the eoil from hot sunshine and drying winds, and 
under this shelter it rapidly accumulates nitrogen, 
and to this cause, probably, as much as to any other, 
do we owe the increase of fertility in our lands laid 
down with grass. 
It is the popular notion that pasturing enriches 
land laid with grass more than mowing. Perhaps it 
does, as a general rule, but a great deal depends on 
how the land is treated under either practice. If the 
pasture is kept short the grass roots will not extend 
as deep nor grow as large—t here will not he as great 
a weight of them—as though the grass grew tail. 
Hence the meadow would get the advantage over 
the short pasture in weight of roots wherewith to 
enrich the soil. If the hay cut from a meadow be 
fed in such manner that all the manure it makes can 
he eaved, aud this returned to the field, it is proba¬ 
ble the soil would keep in better condition than 
if pastured. For this reason: the manure from 
the hay would be applied in better shape and with 
less waste, than that which stock leave on the fields 
where they graze. Bnt if the manure, or its equiva¬ 
lent, from the hay, be not returned to the field, then 
pastured land would improve in fertility faster than 
meadow. 
But grass is extensively used as a 60 il renovator 
by plowing it in when it has attained large growth. 
All things considered it is the cheapest fertilizer 
that can be used. An amount of turf and grass 
will grow on one square rod equal in weight to a 
two-horse load of stable manure, and if the turf aud 
grass were removed from the square rod the stable 
manure would hardly more than make good the de¬ 
ficiency. The fanner who can get a thick turf and 
good growth of grass can grow other large crops; 
his eoil is fertile enough. In man 3 ' cases the result 
is equally beneficial to let the growth go down on 
the ground without plowing until desirable to till 
the soil for a crop. It is probable, indeed, that little 
but water is lost from the grass when it dries, and 
the advantages of having tae soil shaded and kept 
moist through the summer, instead of turning the 
hare earth to the sun, are great. 
-- 
RURAL FARMERS’ CLUB. 
Working Ronds. 
“Pathmaster" gives these hints, as he terms 
them, respecting the working of highways:—“ In 
the first place throw up a broad, even turnpike, 
with deep ditches on either side, grade it smooth, 
remove the stone, and then, if possible, never again 
plow up the road bed. Frequent plowing of the 
road bed spoils it. The water courses are next in 
importance. If the water is kept in the ditches and 
conducted aproperly, half or two-thirds of the 
work will be saved which otherwise would have to 
be expended on the highway. The trouble is, we 
work our road tax out at one time or season, and 
THE MESSENGER STALLION “ERRICKSON.” 
We present this week a portrait of the Messenger 
Stallion JErrick 60 n. He was bred by Mr. Enoch R. 
Lewis of Clark Co., Kentucky, being foaled In the 
spring of 1856, and Is the produce of Mr. Clay’s 
famous Mambrino Chief and the noted road mare, 
Mrs. Caudle. Among the many descendants of 
Mambrino Chief we might name along with the 
subject ®f this article, Mambrino Pilot, Kentucky 
Chief, Lady Thorne, Brignoli, Idol, that were large, 
then neglect the roads until another year. Now, 
some work should be reserved, so that once or 
twice a month, at least, the highway may be look¬ 
ed over a little and repairs made. You know the 
adage, * A stitch in time.’ Loose cobble stone, as 
they come from the fields, should not he thrown 
into mud holes or other low places in the road bed 
and then covered slightly with dirt. In muddy 
weather the wheels cut down, the 6tones are dis¬ 
placed and work to the surface, and when the soil 
dries you have the roughest kind of a road, viz., 
stone and dirt mixed. Break the stone fine before 
filling in, as you see them in cities, and then cover 
slightly with gravel. 
“If there is a bed of gravel near the ‘beat,’ it 
should be a point to turnpike and grave] a portion 
of the road each year. That plan makes the best 
country roads of any that American farmers can 
afford to carry out on ordinary highways. When 
well established it takes but little labor each year 
to keep them in repair. Sandy roads can often be 
improved by putting clay on them after being turn- 
piked ; clay is often found in the subsoil under sand. 
A layer five or six inches in depth of clay will make 
a tine, hard road, on the lightest sand, in the dryest 
weather. Only one Bide of the turnpike should be 
clayed, reserving the other for use in wet weather. 
All steep bills should have frequent “turnouts” 
for the water to flow from the center into the 
ditches. These also form good resting places for 
loaded teams going up. Common sense of course 
will teach any one that dirt should not be thrown 
into the road bed on the snmmit of a hill, to turn¬ 
pike it, hut rather the ditches dug out; turnpike 
by drawing dirt in at the bottom,—thus the height 
of the hill will be somewhat diminished. 
“ The country ueeds a better system of road man¬ 
agement. The improvements ought to he made 
more permanent. If it were the duty of each dis¬ 
trict to construct a small portion only, each year, 
under the direction of competent engineers, so that 
it would ho durable and efficient, the result would 
he that the next generation would traverse good 
roads, and the present one would he taxed no 
heavier to make them than they are to work under 
the present system.” 
Improving the Herd. 
A correspondent writes us as follows, on the 
above subject:—“ Your recent article urging farmers 
to take measures to improve their herds of cattle is 
not only timely hut the advice contained is of mare 
importance than many would appreciate at a glance. 
It is just as easy, aud as cheap, to raise a cow worth 
one hundred dollars, estimating her value from the 
basis of her products, as to raise one worth only 
fifty; or it costs but a trifle more to raise a steer 
that, from his superior qualities for making beef, 
will bring one-third larger price than an ordinary 
one, when three years old. The most obvious means 
fine looking horses and fast trotters. As a four- 
year old performer Errickson distanced them all on 
the turf, and at a private trial he trotted in 2:30 to 
a wagon. He was then withdrawn from the turf, 
and has since been kept for breeding purposes alone, 
being now the property of R. C. Barker, Esq., De¬ 
troit, Mich. He is thus described“ His form shows 
the characteristic marks of the family. Fully 
hands high, with a length of body proportioned to 
of improving the herd are the using of the best 
thorough-bred bulls at hand, and the selection of 
cows, so far as possible, from families of stock that 
have shown good qualities a long way back on their 
ancestral line. Another quality is very needful to 
effect a permanent and real improvement, and that 
is perseverance. It will not do to swerve from the 
object in view; the breed should not he changed, 
especially if a right start is made, but better blood 
from other herds of the same breed or family sought. 
VYe should constantly breed up to higher standards. 
This subject needs to be brought forcibly and often 
to the attention of farmers. Think of the vast in¬ 
crease of food which would be the result of infusing 
the blood of the best milking stock with all the claries 
in the land; or if all the beef cattle henceforth 
raised sprung from the Short-Horn race. This 
blood, mixed in the vast herds which roam Texas, 
and the southwest alone, would soon add millions 
of dollars yearly to the value of the meat produced 
in those regions." _ 
The Opium Poppy. 
G. G. P., Brooklyn, California, asks information 
about the opium poppy. The opium of commerce 
is made from the White Poppy, {I’apaver Somniferum .) 
So named because the seed Is white. It is grown 
chiefly in Eastern countries, being a native of Asia. 
The flowers are usually red of various tints. Opium 
is the thickened juice of the poppy head, incisions 
are made in it when in a green state, from which a 
milky juice exudes. This juice dries and hardens in 
the sun, changing to a dark color, and becomes 
opium. It is necessarily collected by hand-labor, by 
scraping the heads, hence the business demands 
cheap labor to be at all profitable. Chemistry mighi 
possibly teach some more expeditious and cheaper 
method of extracting the opium in a pure state. 
Varieties of the poppy yielding black seed are culti¬ 
vated in Europe to a considerable extent, for the 
sake of the oil extracted from the seed. This is very 
sweet and wholesome and is used as a salad oil. But 
if seed is gathered, opium cannot he made. It is 
hardly probable that opium growing in this country 
would be profitable. 
Will ^absullioK Pay ? 
J. S., Noble Co., Ind., asks:—“Will it pay to 
subsoil ? My ground is a dry loam; soil from five 
to ten inches deep, with hardpan underneath.” We 
cannot say whether it “will pay" as a business 
operation to subsoil our correspondent's land. That 
depends on the conditions surrounding him—on 
the price of labor, products and other things. It 
may not always “pay," in the strictest sense of the 
term, to make improvements, but we have no doubt 
that subsoiling would be a great improvement on 
his land, and enable him to grow better crops. The 
soil described is jmt the kind that is benefited by 
this subsoiling. The surface plow pulverizes the 
his height, there is yet a symmetry scarcely ever 
found in so large an animal. His limbs are first-rate, 
and they are placed in such a position that the mo¬ 
tive force of the muscles is used to the best advant¬ 
age. His color is a deep mahogany hay, a shade 
which 6eems to be the prevailing one in the family, 
as many of his brothers and sisters are of the same 
hue. His eye is full and bright, and his style lofty 
and grand." 
ground and turn3 it to the ordinary depth of seven 
or eight inches; then follows the subsoil plow, 
breaking the hardpan and stirring it to the depth of 
seven or ten more. Isn’t that an improved tHlage V 
The surface water drains down, and the top soil 
dries sooner, and you can work earlier in the spring 
or after a wet time. Then air goes down with the 
water, and roots of plants follow. There is a new 
field and fresh food for them, and they grow from it 
dark and rank as though a new field had been put 
under the old one, and both were helping push 
along the crop. _ 
Facts About Chess anti Wheat. 
A. G. P., Potter Co., Pa,, writes:—“In your issue 
of May 9th, under head of ' Rural Brief-Mention- 
ings,’ 1 read:— 1 A Farmers’ Club in Ohio have de¬ 
cided by a majority vote that wheat changes to 
chess and the latter to timothy.’ Here are some 
facts. In this town a piece of new cleared land was 
sowed to oats, and, after heading out, some spots 
where had been log heaps, lodged or fell fiat down; 
from some of the stools came up a second growth, 
which were about a foot high when the crop was 
harvested. The next spring the piece was sowed 
again to oats, without plowing (which we some¬ 
times do when the ground is clean,) when the same 
stools that came up a second time the year before 
now sprung up again, and the crop this time was a 
rank, heavy growth of well filled chest. These are 
facts which I saw myself. I also heard one of my 
neighbors say that when the country was new in 
Cortland and Tompkins counties, his father sowed 
a small piece of oats on new land, fenced it, and 
kept it fed down with calves all summer. The next 
year it was covered with chess; what it was after 
that I do not know.” 
Blindness in Yearlinar Cattle. 
T. R. Cross, Homellsville, N. Y., asks informa¬ 
tion concerning the blindness of some of his year¬ 
ling cattle. He writes: — “One of them became 
blind in March, The eyes began to run and a film 
grew over them. Thinking that something was In 
them, I used salt, lard and burnt alum, bnt blind he 
was, and is, and eats but little. The eyes seem to 
be swollen, and run. Nose dry, with considerable 
discharges from the nostrils. Last week another 
was taken in the same way, and is now totally 
blind; eats nothing, and will probably die within a 
day or two. My neighbors have never heard of 
any thing of the kind. Any information in regard 
to the cause and remedy will be thankfully received 
by the farmers of this locality, as well as by myself.” 
It is barely possible that the ailment in this case 
is owing to the presence of a hair-llke, white worm 
in the aqueous humor or fluid immediately behind 
the cornea. It is recommended, in such cases, to 
puncture the covering of the eye-ball and let out 
he worms. A cure in this way is possible, but the 
ch ances of success are not very flattering. If any 
of our readere can give information on this subject 
we hope they will avail themselves of the opportu¬ 
nity through the Rural. 
AGRICULTURAL LIFE IN ABYSSINIA. 
NUMBER two. 
Honey, one of the articles to be found in every 
Abyssinian market, is a favorite article of food or 
relish, and bees are plentiful. One correspondent 
noticed as many as twenty hives hanging from the 
branches of a single tree. These are cylinder pots, 
made of earth, being closed at the bottom by straw 
matting. They are about two feet in length, and 
fourteen inches in diameter. Game of every descrip¬ 
tion is abundant. Hares,— which the Abyssinian 
will not eat, together with the swine,— can be shot 
just outside the camp. Snipes, wild ducks aud 
geese, grouse and guinea fowls are considered 
just as good eating here as in England. Of the 
“nobler" game, there are lions in the deeper 
ravines, hyenas, —a eeml sacred animal which is 
found everywhere, — the leopard, which prowls in 
dangerous proximity to towns and villages, wolves, 
the hippopotamus, the buffalo, the elephant, the 
antelope, and, finally, monkeys, which are so nu¬ 
merous that a panic was once caused among tho 
Abyssinian Boldiers by their compact appearance. 
Aud now let us look at the natives themselves. 
But what a contrast do we find between the natural 
beauties of the country and the demoralization of 
the inhabitants. Yet what can we expect where a 
feudal aristocracy levies its contributions at will, 
and where the priesthood take what is left behind. 
The peasants of Abyssinia, say6 Dr. Blanc, one of 
the English captives of King Theodore, are a hard¬ 
working class; bnt they are constantly plundered 
by every one; they just mauage to keep themselves 
alive; hut with all their labor, after years of semi- 
starvation, clad in rags, they often in the end perish 
from utter starvation. It is difficult to see why a 
few should labor and so many live by exaction and 
plunder. Every province has its army to feed, and 
when supplies are scarce the last piece of bread is 
snatched from the peasant’s mouth; and to punish 
him for having withheld it, his poor hut ia set on 
fire, and the rising harvest in his fields wantonly 
destroyed. This is not an exaggerated picture of 
the land which Theodore has tried In vain for so 
many years to regenerate, first in sagacious meas¬ 
ures, and latterly throagh blood and rapine. That 
the land needs a moral regeneration is evident, and 
we may perhaps be pardoned for introducing the 
following paragraph from the pen of a correspond¬ 
ent, in proof. He refers to a market where the Brit¬ 
ish army were purchasing:—“A ‘traffic’ was car¬ 
ried on so openly as to show that morality had sunk 
to a fearfuUy low ebb among the women of Abys¬ 
sinia, and that the vinculum matrimonii is in this 
country a thread which may be tied or snapped 
asunder at the will of either party. Abyssinians 
are ready at any time to bargain for the charms of 
their wives or of other female members of their 
household I" 
What the future of the Abyssinian may be cannot 
now be premised. European methods are well ex¬ 
plained by Theodore himself:— “1 know the tac¬ 
tics of European governments when they wish to 
annex an Eastern kingdom. They send mission¬ 
aries first, then consuls to support the missionaries, 
and then battalions to support the consuls. Iam 
not a Rajah of Hindoostan, to be treated thus ; I 
would rather deal with battalions at once.” This 
passage shows Theodore’s foresight. The Euro¬ 
peans are already making reports upon the gold 
regions of the country, the coal, which exists in 
considerable quantity, the iron, which the natives 
scrape out of the ravines, aud also the possibilities 
of the commercial capacity of the country. “ Ex 
cept a few hides of cattle, 1 have seen nothing which 
they could exchange," says a correspondent, “but," 
adds he, characteristically, “ I am sure the natives 
would soon acquire a taste for English goodB, many 
of which they are anxious to obtain!’’ This shows 
which way the English mind is looking. I must 
add another quotation from the same hand“ The 
country is well suited for colonization. It would 
be impossible, however, to tolerate the petty prin¬ 
ces, * * and if ever tiffs country supports, as it 
is eminently adapted to do, a European population, 
| the rifle will have to be used as freely as it was once 
In the backwoods of America.” This is the army 
of civilization of the nineteenth century, forsooth! 
Sneh is the working of the European mind—ruled 
by the single idea of expansion of territory. Yet, 
the fact is, there can be found more poverty and 
degradation among the populations of Europe,— 
taking into consideration the civilization that they 
have undergone,— especially ameng the lowest class, 
than exists to-dav in Abyssinia. They need a guhl- 
; ing hand, but not an exterminating one. Let us 
glance at the homes of these Abyssinian peasants : 
, “The houses are generally grouped together, but 
■ are not crowded close, and, for peasants’ houses, 
. are considered large and commodious. The walla 
are built of stone, and the roofs are made of the 
r branches of trees. They have wooden doors. Ven¬ 
tilation is sometimes provided for by some holes 
near tho top of the wall. If they were furnished 
with windows, their external appearance would he 
. one of great comfort, and even at present they are 
infinitely supt' i ir to an ordinary Irish cabin!” 
Such is an imperfect account of the agricultural 
i portion of the inhabitants of that unfortunate coun- 
■ try which has been brought to notice by the mad 
: acts of Theodore. For centuries it has lain hid- 
