PROGRESS AND IMPROVEMENT 
and most experienced Corps of Editors and 
Contributors, and the assistance of numerous 
Correspondents all over the laud — together 
with superior Artists (designers and engravers), 
and a new and beautiful dross of Copper-Faced 
Type —the Rural ought to present evidences 
of " Progress and Improvement,” In both Con¬ 
tents and Style. and such its readers may 
confidently anticipate. 
Renewing the assurance of earnest and con¬ 
tinuous efforts to render the Rural R ew- 
Yorkjer the best combined Rural, Literary, 
Family and Business Newspaper in the World, 
and cordially extending to all Its readers the 
Compliments of this Holiday Season, we add 
Finis to Yol. XV'., and close our labors lor 1873. 
ter-Genoral is pressed to send instructions at 
once to the postmasters of the country direct¬ 
ing its enforcement; for postmasters cannot 
act without instructions, and the issue of these 
is Often delayed monthsalleran act of Congress 
goes into effect, such is the red tape machinery 
of the Department. 
A NATIONAL ILLUSTRATED 
RICH HOLIDAY PRESENTS 
POE OUE AGENTS AND STJBSOEIBEES! 
The Title Page and lade*, given in this num¬ 
ber, occupy so much space that we are obliged 
to omit various Departments, Illustrations, &c. 
But to all who save the Rural the very com¬ 
plete and copious Index must prove Invaluable, 
and we think will be appreciated. It points to 
a vast amount of valuable and Interesting mat- 
tor—-practical, scientific-and literary—and such, 
in quantity and quality, as cannot be obtained 
elsewhere for the meager cost of the volume. 
WORE AND WIN! 
Ail Actunl find Intending Agents of MOORE'S 
Rural who wish to make themselves or their 
friends Handsome and Useful HOLIDAY PRESENTS 
should send in Clubs (or parts or large Clubs) soon 
as possible, and select the Presents from our Pre¬ 
mium List on preceding page. Most articles can 
bo sent promptly—by first return Mail or Express 
We desire to aid in making a host or people happy 
during the Holiday Season—so. Agents, please hurry 
up your Clubs in order to secure Premiums for 
yourselves, and also copies of " Birth-Day Morn¬ 
ing ” for all Subscribers who pay $2.50. We are 
already sending our Christmas and New Year 
Gifts. An Indiana Lady to-day (Dec. 9,) sends a 
Club, selects a pair of Gold Sleeve Buttons (with the 
initial of a friend) and requests her Premium “ by 
the 20th of Dec., without fail.” And it will be 
forwarded at once—ahead o( time. 
CKAB. D. BRAGDON, ANDREW 8. FULLER, 
Aasoolate Editors. 
HENRY S. RANDALL, LL. D., Cortland Village, N. Y., 
(Esnroit or rat DimnnsT or Bucr Huubaxuuy. 
X. A. WILLARD, A. M., Little Falls, N. Y., 
Editor or riot Ptn-iKTux^r or D-mv Hcsbandbv. ’ 
Col. S. D. HARRIS, Cleveland, Ohio, 
Cobbiuo-ohdixo Epitou, 
TO WHOM IT MAY CONCERN 
Wheat, Abroad, continues firm. The English 
papero do not encourage their readers to hope 
that prices are to be lower. The Continental 
sources of supply arc canvassed with a good 
deal of core, and tho conclusion is not tavorablc 
to tho British consumers. Doubtless there would 
have beeu more activity and a greater specu¬ 
lative demand but for tho financial disl urban- 
cos which the increase in the rate of discount, 
on the part ol the Bank of England caused. 
The Editor and Foundcrof this Journal here¬ 
by announces his retirement, as speedily as pos¬ 
sible, from a)) business enterprises, offices, etc., 
not connected with Its management. Having, 
during the past twenty years, permanently In¬ 
vented for the ostensible benefit of individ¬ 
uals and the public, through the persuneion ol 
friends, various small and large amounts—and 
meantime held sundry tinift-ubsorbing and 
otherwise expensive offices of trust and honor, 
(but not one sinecure,) our ambition is amply 
satisfied, and tho decision now made and re- 
oorded "means business.” Therefore all per¬ 
sons wanting to borrow money, place us in 
olli do, or make us rich by the use of “only a 
trifle” of our currency, time or inllucnee, are 
advised that we arc " not at home " to, or per¬ 
suadable by, any such applicants. In fact we 
cheerfully forego all such chance* for fame and 
fabulous wealth as seductive speculators and 
systematic swindlers have aforetime beguiled 
us with, and notify each and ail of like procliv¬ 
ities that we shall in future not only believe in 
but be guided by the wise Proverb which suith, 
“All Labor fe Ibo/itolilc, hut the Talk of the Lip * 
tewlclh only to Penury.” And, moreover, all 
who have designs upon us will find said Prov¬ 
erb posted, in plain print, upon the walls of 
our office and sanctum. 
— Meantime all persons specially interested 
in our welfare will please observe Subscription 
aud Advertising Rales and govern themselves 
accordingly. 
TERMS, IN ADVANCE: 
(Subscription. - Single Copy, t’.’.M) per Year. To 
Clubs:—Five Copied, and one copy free to Agent or 
getter up of C lub, for < 13.50; .Seven Copies, and one 
free, for $16; Ten Fopies, and one free. $20—only $2 
per copy. Ar- w earn obliged to pre-pay tho American 
pontage on papers mailed to foreign countries,Twenty 
Ceiita should be udded to above rates for each yearly 
copy mailed to Canada, and One Dollar per copy to 
Europe. Drafts, Post-Office Money Orders and Regis¬ 
tered Letters may bn mailed at our risk. CWLiberal 
Premiums to all Club Agents who do not take free 
copies, bpccimcn Numbers,Show-Utils,&c.,8entfree. 
To Correspondents,—Yes, we arc always glad 
to recoi ve correspondence on practical subjects, 
provided it contains personal experience or ob¬ 
servation in relation to any branch of husband¬ 
ry. Wo try to give all such articles space—not 
always in detail, hut the gist of them if not the 
whole. We invite such contributions. Wo did 
not suppose it was necessary wo should say so 
until the receipt of several inquiries of late. 
RElVhfi IV©W !—All who wiih the iininter- 
rupled continuance of the Rural (n* we trust 
all subscribers do) should renew their subscrip¬ 
tions! at once, cither by handing their money 
to the nearest Club Agent or remitting it to 
us direct. Prompt attention to this request 
will prevent the delay which often necessarily 
occurs on and after Jnn. 1st. Renew at Once! 
ADVERTISING RATES: 
Inside, 14th and loth pages (Agate space).SKIc. per line 
" 6th, 7th and lath puges .. 1.00 “ 
Oui side or last page. . 1.50 “ 
Fifty per cent, extra for unusual display. 
Special Notices, loaded, by count. 2.00 “ 
Business “ 2.60 “ 
Heading " .,.,...,,..,,,.,,3.00 “ 
£No advertisement inserted for less than $3. 
Encouragiug Vermont Agriculture. —The 
State Board of Agriculture has received the 
usual appropriation from the Legislature, ami 
tho Slate Dairymen’s Association an appropri¬ 
ation of $ 500 . Prof, Collier is re-elected Sec¬ 
retary of the Board, which has voted to hold 
fourteen meetings (for discussion, and in vari¬ 
ous parts of the Slate, we suppose,) during the 
next two years. 
PUBLICATION OFFICES: 
Ko. 5 Beekman Street, New York City, and No. 82 
Buffalo Street, Rochester, N. Y. 
t WESTERN BRANCH OFFICE: 
No. 75 North Side of Park, Cleveland’ Ohio. 
The Rural NEW-YORCEU'8 new Colored Show- 
Bill, Prospectus for Names, Specimen Numbers, &c., 
aro now ready for delivery to actual and Intending 
Club Agents, Et eaeh of the above Offices. 
HINTS, REQUESTS, SUGGESTIONS, ETC. 
All Our It rariri'H will Plrnae Note that this 
week’s Rural closes the year, when most subscrip¬ 
tions expire,—and ul«o that a prompt renewal is 
necessary t» secure its uninterrupted visits. More¬ 
over. remember that the Rural i* not a re-print of 
a daily or other Journal, but that Its reading matter, 
illustrations, eto., are prepared, at great expenso, ex- 
pre«Bly lor its readers. Furthermore, "don’t forget 
to remember” that in addition to furnishing the best 
paper of its class, we give the best premium, as every 
subscriber paying $2.60 receive* a peat-paid copy or 
IUrtii-D.iy Morning,'' a Superb Steel Engraving— 
reuty for framing, without extra charge. 
AI1 persons whose subscriptions expire this week 
will find cither the figure* 11!W, or no figure at all, af¬ 
ter name on address label. 
American I’omo logical Society.—We learn 
from Hon. Marshall P. Wilder, the vener¬ 
able President of tho organization, that the 
Quarter Centennial meeting of tho Society will 
meet in Boston, September 10, 11 aud 13, 1873. 
Tho notice is given thus early that other horti¬ 
cultural societies may so fix the date of their 
exhibitions as to avoid the necessity of staying 
away from this. 
CAN I AFFORD IT ?” 
A CORRESPONDENT Of tho RURAL NeW-Y()RK- 
er renews his subscription, and sends the fol¬ 
lowing reasons therefor, which we commend to 
tho attention of our readers. We know the 
tom* arc bard, that produco does not soli, that 
t axes are exacted and the family demands upon 
the purses of the farmer exhaust his resources. 
But here is the argument of a wife to her hus¬ 
band ; and tho husband found it conclusive; 
“My wife said, ‘ Aren't you going to seud for 
the Rural New-Yorker, dear?’ 
“I replied, ‘Can I afford it?’ and I was about 
to detail tho ways in which the money must go, 
when she said: 
“ Can yon afford it ? That is not the question. 
Can you afford to do without it? How much 
richer are you to-day for tho $3.60 invested in 
ii last January ? I.d m* count up Therewas 
that cow, worth $40; got choked with a potato, 
and the Rural told vou how to save her and 
you did. Then the Chickens were sick, and we 
cured them. There were fifteen out of fifty iff 
and the disease spreading', and tho Rural told 
you how to treat lhem mid saved you H of the 
15 ill, beside preventing sickness among the 
rest. The chickens were worth at least 36 cents 
each, to you sav ed there $.3.50, to which add the 
$40 oow and we have $411.60. Then you told me 
that the faot that the Rural had urged the use 
of rye and sowed corn for soiling the cows in 
the dry weather hud saved you at least $50 to 
$100 in butter; if we put ft at $50, we have 
$93.50 So fur. Then you know that the market 
quotations at one ©me. when Joseph Means 
came hero to buy your butter, saved you $20; 
for you would have accepted his oiler if I hud 
not looked in the Rural and found that you 
could do better; bo there is $113.50saved. Then, 
when the horse disease appeared, you were 
going to take your horses oui that stormy day . 
although they had begun to be sick, i had 
seen that the Rural said give them rest, and 
keep dry and warm. Yon si aid at borne, and 
neighbor Brown took his out. He lost one 
Acceptable, — Mary E. D., of La Harp©, Ill., 
remits us $2.50 and writes: — “ Please seud me 
the good old Rural, the best of all papers. J 
cannot live any longer without it. Also send 
me a premium list; I will makeup a club. 1 can 
also contribute a few Western items, occasion¬ 
ally. 1 will look for Premium Engraving." All 
right, Madame; both club and items will be 
acceptable. 
How to Renew.— Hand your subscription to the 
merest flab Agent* or remit direct tons by Vost- 
OttieH Moucy Order, or send the money in a liegiH- 
icicit Letter, mi our risk. By sending $2.£U vou will 
scour© the Bt mal for 1 $ 73 and a copy or our buperb 
Premium Engraving, "Birth-Day Morning,’’ which 
Is alone worth twice tho price of the paper. Or, U 
you don't wain the Engraving, you can Join or form 
n club ol tea at $2 per copy. For Club Prumium List 
SATURDAY, DEC. 28, 1872. 
LAST WORDS FOR 1872 
MuHKuehusctts Ag„ College.—The number of 
students who have attended this College dur¬ 
ing 1872 la 171. The total appropriation and 
gifts, including receipts from stiles and tuitions, 
to the college have amounted to $530,000. And 
yet this is found inadequate to meet the wants 
and develop the plans of it ■ management. 
“ The Best Paper.”—A venerable New Hamp¬ 
shire subscriber, Mr. Leonard W ^.kkr, in re¬ 
mitting for 1873 writes;—“I have passed my 
three score and fifteen years, have taken a 
good many Agricultural papers, but I like the 
Rural New-Yorker better than any other I 
ever had." 
Clubs Coming !-Our first Club for 1373 came just 
a month earlier in the season than tho first for IS?2 
unci eight of its ten members paid $2.50 with in order 
to secure the Premium Engraving. Others are com¬ 
ing, and the Campaign is fairly opened. "Push on 
the column,” good recruiting frieDds of the Rural 
Hkiqadk! Now is the Time to Work and Win! 
INDUSTRIAL SOCIETIES, 
i ne rreunum Picture 1« sent to AH who 
pay £2.50 for a copy ol the Rural one year, and 
not lo those who only pwy the cluh rate. Club subscrib¬ 
ers can decure the Engraving, however, by adding 60 
ctd. to the usual club price ($2.) Don’t forget tbia. 
Kcnd for the Documents ! — Our new Show- 
BjU, Supplement, Prospectus, Ac., are now read;/ and 
wifi be sent free and post-paid to all applicants dis¬ 
posed to form clubs. Send for and use tho documents! 
Agents and others will please note that tills is 
the best of all seasons to form or add to Ciubs_ 
and Subscribers that renewing is now in order. 
i tie western tori. Hurt. hoe. meets at 
Geneva, January 8 and 9. 
The Nobrnskn State lion. Son. holds its Win¬ 
ter moetiJg at Omshu, Friday, Jan. 3. 
The Ohio state Board of \g, meets at Colum¬ 
bus, O., the find Tuesday in January, 1873. 
Tlie Indiana Stair Hoard ©t Ag. meets at In¬ 
dianapolis the that Tuesday in January, 1873. 
The National Grange of the Patrons of Him. 
bandry meets at Washington, D. C., Jan. 8,1873. 
The Illinois State Board ol Agriculture meets 
at Springfield, 111., the first Tuesday in January, 
1873. J ’ 
Western New York Hort. Soc,— The 18th An¬ 
nual Meeting is to be heid at Linden Hail, Gen- 
evu, commencing Jan. 8. It promises to be an 
interesting and profitable meeting. 
The Pennsylvania Fruit Growers' Society 
holds its Fifteenth Annual Meeting at Reading’, 
Pa., commencing Jan. 15, at o'clock, P. M. 
The programme includes the discussion of live 
horticultural topics, and the meeting will doubt¬ 
less be both interesting and profitable. 
Milk Producers’ A«soclation of Mussacliu- 
sein. and New Hampshire. The following ate 
the officers elect of this organuatiun for the 
ensuing year : Pres - Dr. George B. Luring of 
Salem. Vie-c-Ptad'e. — J. W. Robertson of 
Quincy, Mass.. Henry F. French of Concord, 
Mass., and R If. Hutchinson of Milford, N. H. 
BUSINESS NOTICES 
AGENTS 
Muy learn something greatly to their advantage and 
Obtain specimens and full particulars free by ad 
dressing WOOD’S LITERARY AND ART AGENCY 
Newburgh. N. Y. 
HORSE EPIDEMIC, 
RURAL NOTES AND QUERIES 
a PHyHiciA-N in a comnionJcation to a Buffalo 
f-'< 3er aoout the Horse Apldemic, says“ Bxter- 
nafiy 1 used and would recommend Dr. Trask’s Mag¬ 
netic Ointment to the throat, around the eara and cn 
the forehead. This ointment oontaius tobacco and 
lobelia, and operates upon the mucous glands of the 
head and throat by causing an increased flow of secre¬ 
tion from them, at the same time by i ts relaxing effect 
removing the stricture and giving almost instant re¬ 
lief to the cough and breathing.” it i a x CP b by all 
Druggist*. 
Postage on Seeds, Bulbs, Hoots, Etc. — Our 
readers will be glad to learn that both the Sen¬ 
ate and House of Representatives have passed 
a bill reinstating the old rates of postage on 
seeds, bulbs, roots, plants, etc., for which there 
has been so much clamor of latoin consequence 
of the rulings of the Postmaster-General. The 
amendment passed permits the passage of four- 
pound packages through the mails, as former¬ 
ly, at the postal rate of two cents for four 
ounces. The act is to take effect immediately; 
but it will not take effect unless the Postmas- 
THJS WAKEFIELD EARTH CLOSET, 
D**cripUv* Pamphlet at 36 Day 8L, New York 
