|TURE 
MM 
AGRICULTURE 
As I have advocated a machine for mashing the 
fiber of hay and straw, it gives me pleasure to state 
that a machine is now nearly completed, by a well- 
known manufacturer, to be attached to his power 
cutters, at a moderate expense, to mash and grind 
the fodder. If this is successful, it will be a long 
step in advance.— e. w. 3 . 
Tub hot days of Jnly and the beginning of “ fly 
time” suggest that stock may derive a great deal of 
comfort from an abuudance of shade in their pas¬ 
tures—at least such is our faith, although we are 
aware that many practical fanners hold to the oppo¬ 
site belief. Lewis F. Allen, in his work on Amer¬ 
ican Cattle, discourses thus on the subject: 
M We have heard from experienced and successful 
graziers and dairymen, different opinions, of both 
the advantages and disadvantages of shade in pas¬ 
tures. One advocates the presence of trees, either 
singly or in groups, under which the cattle can lie 
or stand when at rest, thus screening them from 
the heat of the sun, besides adding to their thrift 
and enjoyment, aB where shade abounds, there the 
cattle gather and enjoy it. The other would Btrip 
every tree from his pasture grounds, contending 
that in the heat of the day, when the grass is dryest 
and most nutritions, they can feed heartily and 
more to their benefit, and rest at night—the proper 
time for it. Ab to Hies, they trouble the cattle less 
in sunshine than shade; the cattle, when shade is 
in the field, lie there all day, and feed only at night 
and morning, when the grass is wet with dew; it is 
then “ washy,” and less nutritious than when dry, 
and only moistened by its own sap. 
“Whether this last be a real or only a fanciful 
theory, we do not decide. The cattle themselves 
being jndges, we should call it only a fancy, for it 
is certain they love the shade during excessive 
heats, as they do the sun in excessive cold. There 
is another question concerning the land, however, 
worthy of consideration, In stripping it altogether 
of shade trees. They add much to the pastoral 
beauty of the landscape, and, in the estimation of 
most men, to its value. Who of any taste in the 
attractions of a fine landed estate, wonld permit a 
farm to be denuded of its majestic trees, or woody 
clumps of shade, for the mere fancy that his herds 
would gain a few more pounds of flesh in their 
summer naBturage ? Scarce one in a hundred. No; 
let the trees, singly and apart, or gracefully grouped 
in their om freb luxuriance, Stand a shelter to the 
herds, and a pleasant spectacle to their possessor—a 
* most living landscape’ in its summer repose.” 
MOORE’S RURAL NEW YORKER 
AN ORIGINAL WEEKLY 
Agricultural, Literary and Family Newspaper. 
CONDUCTED BY D. D. T. MOORE, 
(publisher and proprietor,) 
With a Corps of Able Associates and Contributors 
CROP AND WEATHER, REPORTS.” 
G. F. WILCOX and A. A. HOPKINS. Associate Editors. 
HON. HENKY S. RANDALL, LL. D., 
Editor of the Department of 8Ueep Husbandry. 
Dr. DANIEL LEE, Southern Corresponding Editor. 
Terms, In Advance — Three Dollars a Yeap. Five 
copies for $11; Seven, and one free to Club Agent, for $19; 
Ten, and one Tree, for $25 — only $2.50 per copy. As we pre¬ 
pay American postage, $2.70 Is the lowest Club rate to Canada 
and $3,50 to Europe. The beet way to remit is by Draft or 
Post-Office Money Order,—and at) Drafts and Orders made 
payable to the Publisher mat be mailed at uis rise. 
J3P-All business Letters, Contributions, &c., should be 
addressed to Koc.hester until otherwise announced. 
f}~f£pfnFL 
old fields and cover them with nutritious herbage, 
sleek horses, mules, cattle and sheep, and add to the 
music of every waterfall the hum of manufacturing 
machinery, so that all may live within “ the sound 
of the church-going bell,” will make the Southern 
heart love and ding to its benefactors. 
Any Northern man, whether farmer or mechanic, 
who has Borne faith in the New Testament idea of 
“ beating spears into prnning hooks and swords into 
plowshares,” will be welcomed as a brother any¬ 
where in the South. It has more than six hundred 
million acres of land, and an exceedingly sparse 
population. Hence, human brain and muscle are 
needed more than anything else. If the immigrant 
is dissatisfied with the pure trout streams, mountain 
air and fresh pastures for cattle, horses and sheep, 
In East Tennessee, he can put his plunder into a flat 
boat on the Tennessee River, and float with the cur¬ 
rent down to Louisiana, where be may raise sweet 
oranges and make sugar at a liberal profit. 
I wish I could tell the reader in a few words at 
what price fair land may be purchased in this region; 
but there is so much difference in location as to 
roadB, markets and other advantages, to say nothing 
of improvements, that the price varies exceedingly. 
Farms that cost from ten to twenty-five do liars an acre 
present the best bargains, In my judgment. Such 
farms often have timber near a railroad or river that 
may be sold for more money than the sum paid for 
the property, leaving euough standing to support 
the farm. East Tennessee contains a great deal of 
valuable timber — oak, walnut, pine, hemlock, pop¬ 
lar and cherry. Lumber is generally sold at 815 
per 1,000 feet at the mills. Hence, lumber, (in¬ 
cluding staves, hoop poles, and many other articles 
from the forest,) pays for land, fencing and setting 
in grass. The soil, however, varies greatly in fertil¬ 
ity — the richest limestone land being cheaper than 
to take poor sandstone soil as a free gift, to make a 
living on and pay taxes. D. Lee. 
Gap Creek, Knox Co., Tenn., 1868. 
The longer I reside in East Tennessee and travel 
over its numerous hills, ridges and mountains, and 
view its magnificent timber, fertile valleys and coves, 
and numerous springs, brooks, creeks and rivers of 
the purest water, and witness the wheat, corn, grass 
and clover grown by even poor farming, the deeper 
is my conviction that this is the land for Northern 
agricultural enterprise. Cattle may be raised here 
cheaper than one can drive them from Westem Texas 
here, (if obtained there for nothing,) on their way to a 
Northern market. Why then go a thousand miles 
over the best grazing lauds ou the Continent to raise, 
neat cattle for two f ree dollars a head, where 
Camanche savagf t >. rdly less savage white men 
contend fiercely I essiou of the soil V East 
Tennessee itseif 1 r from Baltimore, Philadel- 
pnia and New Y . i n place of going rtu'Mier 
west, 1 should gi ft - >3 east or northeast into 
West Virginia for Big - t ick to save cost in put¬ 
ting it into the best i. .:. But our milder winters 
and cheaper lands com: :<■ Tor the additional ex¬ 
pense of transportation; While our warmer climate 
is more favorable to fruit, longevity and general 
health. The writer has studied and compared the 
local advantages of different sections and districts 
Eonth of Mason and Dixon’s line for twenty years, 
with no bias for or against any Biate or community. 
All have some defects; but those of East Tennessee 
are more political than agricultural. Of politics I 
shall say uothing except to remark that politicians 
have Bhed so much innocent blood, and destroyed so 
much property, that 1 can never view them other¬ 
wise than with abhorrence. - 
It is so surprising to me that the Tennessee mind 
has not given more attention to grass culture that I 
must devote a paragraph to the subject. The primi¬ 
tive idea is, that all stock must subsist on the natu¬ 
ral products of the country. This idea still rules the 
conduct of the masses. The “sweat of the brow ” 
must be given for grain and bread; not for meat or 
wool. This assumption having maintained its force 
two centuries south of the Potomac, indicates very 
clearly how cheaply stock for meat of all kinds, and 
for wool as a speciality, can he raised. Northern 
and European farmers, reared in a colder climate, 
will have notions and experiences going beyond this 
natural subsistence theory and practice. They will 
deaden a part of the timber, cut oat all underbrush, 
so w the seeds of the best European grasses and clo¬ 
vers, for the luxuriant grazing of the best European 
farm stock. It iB but a few lnileB north of me that 
■one may sec, near Lexington, Ky,, the practical re¬ 
sults that follow this advanced idea of raising blue 
grass and orchard grass, herdsgrass, timothy and 
clover, in connection with the most profitable stock 
husbandry. To the grasses which I have named 
should he added, in this climate, the fescues and oat 
grasses of England. 
In the country where grass culture is so generally 
and sadly neglected, and where the raising of wheat, 
corn, oats rye and tobacco, forever, without seeding, 
impoverishes the soil, it is natural that war taxes 
and calamities shuukl drive a great deal of land into 
market at low prices. The manure of cattle, hogs 
and sheep being dropped and scattered in the 
woods, there iB none to apply to worn grain fields: 
and the discouraged owner seeB no better way for 
him than to sell his property for what it will fetch, buy 
freBhlandanddoashis father or grandfather did when 
he sold the old plantation in Va. or North Carolina, 
and came to settle west ol the mountains and fight 
Indians under Gen. JAUK30N or some other chief. 
The bravest and most clanniah of the 8 cotch and 
Irish have not a few descendants in East Tennessee. 
The time has come when their Southern agricultural 
habits and education must change. Their country 
is in the throes of being bom again. Its transition 
from negro slavery policy to a system of universal 
free schools, a denser population, with a tenfold 
greater productive power, must be the work of 
years. Let no zealous reader suppose that it is 
practical to drive Northern ideas on any subject into 
Southern brains, and make them grow there by force 
of gunpowder. The ideas that invented and used 
thumb-ecrews in some of the darkest inquisitions of 
the dark ages of Europe, were not more mistaken 
in their policy than is the notion that the South can 
be won, except as a thorn in the Bide of the North, 
by any other than kind and Christian treatment. 
Agricultural wisdom must be taught by example on 
Southern soil. To recuperate their thrown out 
With the aid of good implements and fair weather 
the harvesting of grain i3 not the hardest nor most 
unpleasant work that falls to the farmer’s lot. Most 
of our readers are now in the midst of this labor, 
though many in the South and Southwest are closing 
it up. There are some subjects connected with the 
harvest which suggest themselves to fanners very 
often and forcibly at this time of the year. One of 
these is harvesting machinery. 
We are ofteD asked what we consider the best 
reaper, and we reply that it is a question we cannot 
undertake to answer, and, further, we don’t think a 
committee of the best judges in the country could 
decide. There are many good ones, and, perhaps, 
none that me/;! the appellation of bed. But there is 
one thing which would govern us to a great extent, 
in choosing, and that is the quality of the work and 
material. Manufacturers can afford to furnish far 
better machines to farmers for the prices they receive 
than they do. Compare them, in material and work¬ 
manship, with the machinery in their shops, and see 
what a vast difference there is in durability, finish 
and capability for work. 
Nothing is more vexatious or costly to the farmer 
than to have his machine frequently breaking down. 
And this need not be. No harvesting machine is 
worth the farmer’s money, at the present day, which 
needs an hour spent in repairs during the entire sea¬ 
son. We know this is a high standard, bnt it is easy 
to bo reached if manufacturers will do their duty. 
But while the plan of the machines may be without 
fault, the general make-up is often miserably poor. 
Farmers should demand and insist on having better 
work and material, and patronize those who comply 
to the greatest extent. 
If fair weather prevails, harvesting may be carried 
on easily and speedily. To gnard against injury 
from rain, it is sometimes best to bestow more 
labor In capping the shocks of grain than would 
he necessary if one conld be assured of sunshine. 
As a rule, American farmers suffer little loss from 
wet harvests. They have but a tithe of the trouble 
of English farmers in this respect, and they are 60 
accustomed to the free-and-easy way of doing their 
work, that if caught by a wet time they are unpre¬ 
pared and suffer accordingly. Labor is sometimes 
saved by planning as though fair weather were cer¬ 
tain, bnt in the long run it pays best to be prudent 
and keep snug. Wheat may be stacked and capped 
so that it will stand the weather unharmed for sev¬ 
eral weeks, and in the large western grain fields it 
might be as cheap and safe to store it thus and draw 
directly to the threshing machine, as to stack. Oats 
should be securely capped, in order to be safe, as 
they require considerable time to cure enough to 
k- ep in the mow or stack. Barley should be thrown 
off the reaper in winrows, and if it is ripe and the 
weather good, draw aud ?tore it without cocking. 
It is safe to say that more grain is damaged in the 
stack than in the field, and this loss may he avoided. 
It is a serious one, some years, to Western grain 
growers. Grain in stacks may be made as secure 
against the weather as in barns. Plenty of help on 
the stack is the first requisite, and some skill and 
care the next. After the stack has settled, it should 
be re-topped with half-cured grass, put on in layers, 
and fastened with hay ropes attached to pins. If 
the 6lope of the stack i6 sufficiently steep the grass 
There is also loss 
are not realized. Still these reports, although calcu¬ 
lated if not intended to place the agricultural pro¬ 
duction of the country in a favorable light, are far 
better for the farmer than the usual crop reports in 
the political and commercial journals; and wonld 
be a great benefit if rerteived iu season. But being 
some two months or more in reaching the farmer, 
in most cases the information is too late to be of 
much use. 
That reliable reports, direct from the people, and 
published in leading agricultural papers, would best 
answer the end sought, there can he little doubt. 
But it is difficult to get such reports. Farmers 
show great indifference to such enterprises, and 
take but little pains to help themselves in this way. 
Consequently some one must go ahead—some paper 
must take the lead, and from all available sources 
furnish the best information that can be obtained. 
Every leading agricultural journal has a large num¬ 
ber of correspondents that axe practically observing 
farmers, who furnish more or less of the ioforma¬ 
tion required. The Prairie Farmer, for example, 
has some ten to twenty letters a week relating more 
or less to the weather and crops. Political and 
commercial papers also frequently have something 
that will help in comiDg to correct conclusions. 
True, this is second-hand and not as prompt as 
conld be wished, but still greatly ahead of the De¬ 
partment reports. But a few direct correspondents 
in different sections, to bring reports down to the 
latest practical dates, may so far verify or correct 
previous accounts as to auswer a good purpose. 
Not that the exact amount grown will be given; 
bnt if there is any considerable excess or deficiency 
of crops, the fact can be ascertained and pointed 
out. Or if, with only average yields, there is, as is 
so frequently the case, reports in other papers of 
“immense crops ” and “enormous products,” these 
misrepresentations may be pointed out aud cor¬ 
rected. 
True, the mass of facts thus collected from ex¬ 
changes and correspondents cannot, all be printed, 
or, if printed, wonld not be generally read, and cor¬ 
rect deductions and conclusions worked out of the 
large amount of information thus presented. To 
do this well requires some ability, and more thought 
and consideration than most fanners are accus¬ 
tomed to apply to what they read in the papers. 
Hence, they need some clear, comprehensive mind 
to read and think for them—some one that ha3 the 
best facilities for obtaining information in relation 
' to whatever, at home or abroad, in the present or 
future, may affect their interests. 
In many sections there are clear-minded men, 
having sufficient intelligence and judgment to sell 
farm products to much better advantage than aver¬ 
age fanners. Not that by penuriousness they are 
able to squeeze more money out of an article, but, 
while dealing honorably, they so arrange their busi¬ 
ness and calculate the chances as to obtain much 
better prices. Such a man is needed to read and 
think for, and counsel with farmers. For if, with 
limited time and opportuuitiee, he is able to sell to 
much better advantage, then, if placed where the 
latest and most important intelligence in relation 
to whatever will affect the markets, and having the 
ability to sift out, arrange and prepare a compre¬ 
hensive summary of this Information, and present 
it in plain, pointed, but simple language, that can 
be soon read and easily understood by all—I say 
with these advantages, managed in this way, such a 
man may be a help to the masB of farmera beyond 
anything that can be effected iu any oxher way. 
A farmer can prepare thiB summary to the best 
advantage. It should be one who, from long ex¬ 
perience, knows how to consider himself in the 
place of the common fanner, and can furnish the 
best information adapted to the different circum¬ 
stances as they occur. Not to tell when to sell, or 
when not to sell; hut to furnish the best attainable 
information to enable every one to decide these 
HAY TEDDERS — VENTILATING STACKS. 
Hay tedding machines have been in use in Great 
Britain for more than a century, and their merits 
aud faults are pretty well understood. The Irish 
Farmers’ Gazette, in commenting on them, says 
that intelligent fanners complain that the hay 
making machines break the culms, and when that 
takes place, the valuable saccharine juices ran 
out, and if wet comes on, washeB it off, and the 
nutritive property of the provender is reduced. 
This, it is true, take9 place; but it only does so 
when the machine is used when the grass is fresh 
and brittle; but when allowed sufficient time after 
being cut to get flaccid, it is too tough to break, 
and then the hay tedder can he used with safety, 
and with gieat profit; it is, therefore, necessary to 
let the newly cut grass remain in the swatli, ex 
posed to the sun and air; and if the crop be so 
heavy as to demand it, to be turned over in the 
swath as soon as the upper portion has lost some 
of its superfluous water, and expose the under part 
to the action of the air, after which it may be ted¬ 
ded out by the machine, and buck-stirred at inter¬ 
vals till fit for gathering into windrows by the horse 
hay rakes. 
The same journal also suggests that hay stackB 
that are in danger of overheating may be ventilated 
by using an apparatus which consists of an iron per¬ 
forated tube, but solid at the point, to facilitate 
driving it in ; and to which is attached another up- 
rignt tube by way of chimney, which, when driven 
into the heated rick or stack, allows the heated air 
to escape as it is generated, and saves the 3 tack from 
firing; thus saving loss and an immensity of trouble 
in pulling down the rick and rebuilding it. 
HOW SHORT SHALL FODDER BE CUT? 
My amiable friend, S. E. Todd, has the rare facil¬ 
ity of getting rid of an argument that troubles him, 
by assuming that the position has been abandoned! 
Seeing no easy way of answering my reasons for cut¬ 
ting fodder short, he coolly shuts his eyes, and de¬ 
clares that I have abandoned it! The readers of 
this discussion can determine this point. But his 
last article shows evident signs of improvement, 
and that good sense is makiBg rapid progress with 
him. He thinks if we advocate cutting fodder too 
fine, we shall frighten beginners so they will not 
cut at all,—“ that if we can get fanners to cut their 
coarse feed two inches loDg, in a few years they will 
try cutting one inch long.” To this, I answer that 
there is no good straw cutter, with four knives on a 
cylinder, to be ran by one 01 two horse power, that 
cuts two inches long. The large machines used in 
straw paper mills cut that length. My fneud is be¬ 
hind the times; the farmers have already abandoned 
the two inch cut, and are now purchasing machines 
that cut, mostly, from three-eighths to five-eighths 
long, and Mr. T. certainly cannot wish to dissuade 
them from well doing. 
It is said that everything has, at least, two sides, 
and plowing does not offer an exception. One party 
says, “ Plow deep, or reap a poor harvest,” and an¬ 
other says, “Do it, and get no harvest at all.” 
These parties seem to be antipodes, on the plowing 
question; but, in reality, mean about the same 
thing. The first, by deep plowing, simply intends 
to say, not that scarifying ihe soil a few inches deep 
will not produce a tolerable crop, when the process 
first commences; but that following this up will 
ultimate in little more than the seed, even by the 
aid of manure. The second, in objecting to deep 
plowing, because it throws to the surface for the 
seed bed cold, stiff' and inert matter, does not really 
imply that at some time, not remote, this may be 
a beneficial proceeding. Present results are looked 
at by one party, and future ones by the other. 
If laud, plowed shallow for a series of years, is 
deeply broken up iu the spring time, making the 
8eed bed a subsoil one, it is pretty 6afe to assume 
that the summer crop, whatever it may be, will not 
show any improvement over the previous one pro¬ 
duced by shallow plowing. But suppose the deep 
breaking up is done in the fall, allowing the frosts 
of winter and spring to act upon this sub-stratum, 
mollifying and pulverizing it, does any experienced 
farmer doubt that an added lease of fertility has 
been secured by the process ? This is a fair state¬ 
ment of the question of shallow and deep plowing, 
and, properly understood, there is little or no an¬ 
tagonism between those who are regarded by some 
as occupying antagonistic positions. 
My object is to convince 
them that for corn stalks the cut should be still 
shorter, even down to one-eighth, for the purpose 
of breaking the hard outside rind into shreds, and 
thus enabling the animal to use all the nutriment. 
Farmers must not suppose this to be too ex [tensive, 
even for a Bmall stock. Thirty dollars will buy an 
excellent machine to run by one horse power, and 
cut for a stock of thirty cows and horses. A larger 
stock requires a larger machine. Mr. YVxnans of 
Baltimore no doubt finds that crashing, grinding 
and steaming hay and other fodder pays in feeding 
hia three hundred cows. 82,000 may he a moderate 
investment for an apparatus to prepare food on so 
large a scale. 1 am happy to see that Mr. Todd is 
becoming so far converted to the true faith in feed¬ 
ing as to say that “ Very coarse, second quality of 
hay I would cut aud steam also, if I could devise 
an apparatus that would not cost more than all the 
profit of feeding.” For his benefit, and all others 
who are inquiring on this subject, I will state that 
a wrought iron boiler set in a brick arch, with steam 
box and all complete, can be had for 8125, large 
enough to cook for fifty head of cattle and horses, 
aud that the profits of the operation will more 
than pay the cost in three months. If hay is to 
be cooked soft, it is not necessary to cut it shorter 
than one inch. 
will protect the grain effectively, 
of grain at the bottom as well as top of stacks, and 
good foundations arc likewise essential. English 
farmers, who invariably stack their grain, never suf¬ 
fer loss in a climate far worse than ours. The reason 
why is, that, they have plenty of skilled help, the 
grain is protected by thatch, and the foundations 
are often of iron framework and will endure for 
generations. 
The harvest teaches many valuable lessons; 
whether we have sown too much or too little 
seed, what varieties are best, how well underdrain¬ 
ing, manuring and good culture have repaid the 
cost. The loss which results from the growth of 
weeds, is also apparent. Often it is evident to the 
eye that the soil is tasked more to support the 
weeds than the grain. At this time the advant¬ 
ages to he derived from horse hoeing grain are 
very forcibly presented. These lessons should be 
studied by all farmers. 
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