*URAL 
EXCELSIOR 
83.00 per yeah. 
‘'ingle [\o., Eight Cents, 
AND ROCHESTER. N. Y 
41 Pnrk How, New Vorlt, 
82 UuiTalo St,, Hochester. 
FOR TOE WEEK ENDING SATURDAY, MARCH 18,1871 
IKntcred nt-oonlirig to Act of Congress, in the ye:ir 1871, by D. D. T. Moore, in the office of the Librarian of Congress, at Washington.! 
rdntcctiirf 
A FARM HOUSE AND BARN. 
The Resilience of Mr. John II. Crook, 
Pittsfield, I>Ia 88t 
The city and country are intimately tie- 
pendent upon each other; and what affects 
one usually affects both. Business men of 
the city have dotted the country with nu¬ 
merous and beautiful homos, or healthful 
breathing places, for themselves and their 
families. 
Some of them choose a favorite occupa¬ 
tion, which they carry on in the country 
with the surplus of their city earnings in 
order to gratify a laudable taste in some 
particular direction. A mong these are many 
who instinctively incline to farming, and 
pursue some farm specialty. 8uch an one 
is Air. John' II. Crook, formerly of this city, 
when after a series of years of hard work 
and close, attention to business, he deter¬ 
mine to fulfill a long-cherished desire to 
have a home in the country. Born among 
the rugged hills of New Hampshire, it was 
hut natural that, in his selection, he should 
incline towards New England. According¬ 
ly, in 1865, he chose a farm of two hundred 
acres in Pittsfield, Berkshire Co., Mass., a 
locality long famous for its healthfulness, 
and as a favorite summer resort for many a 
denizen of the crowded city. The farm is 
situated a mile west of the village, on an 
eminence overlooking a vast expanse of hill 
and dale, with stately old Qrevloclc a few 
miles to the north, the Laconic range of the 
Green mountains to the Avest, while the ver¬ 
dant valley of the Housatonic stretches 
away to the south. Shortly after the pur- 
TWITOH OR QUAOK GRASS. 
(Tritlcum rvpcn*.) 
The curse of agriculture is twitch, says 
Mr. Meciii, and all good farmers will agree 
Avith him. Whether the cost is so great as 
is indicated by Mr. Mucin in the follow¬ 
ing paragraph, our readers can judge, and, 
for the good of the country, contradict if 
possible. There cannot he any doubt Hint 
the sooner, as he suggests, it is forked out of 
the land where it is, the better: 
The curse of agriculture in many districts, 
especially in umlrained and heavy lands, is 
twitch. It defies the hoe and the plow—the 
more you cut it into pieces and harrow, the 
wider and more thickly you spread it atul 
plant it. The only cure is to fork it out and 
carry it off the land, be Lite cost Avliat it may. 
1 have seen fields with the appearance of 
pastures from twitch alone, and 1 remember 
a farmer saying, K What should I have as 
food on my stubbles after harvest without 
this grass ?” If avg are to multiply and ex¬ 
tend onr grain crops, it becomes imperative 
to fork out this pest. Now is the time, after 
harvest, and before scarifying the stubbles. 
We arc now removing it from a recently 
planted field of cabbage after tares, so that 
none shall remain. 
In very dry summers it may he killed by 
frequent, plowings, but that is uncertain, for 
the least moisture in a clod preserves its vi¬ 
tality. A good corn crop is almost impossi¬ 
ble with twitch companionship, and yet 
Iioav abundant and general is iis existence. 
1 remember, many years ago, getting into 
“ hot water” because 1 ventured to suggest 
that, it was a mistake to hold the prize sIioav 
in a field almost a bed of twitch. This Avas 
not 100 miles from Watford. In Lincoln¬ 
shire, 1 once saw great stacks of it, intended 
for paper making. The weediness of British 
agriculture costs the country millions an¬ 
nually—la. per acre on 45,000,000 amounts 
to £2,250,000. This is but a small part of 
the loss; for how seldom are our pastures 
and clovers cleared of obnoxious weeds ? 
RESIDENCE AND BARN OF JOHN H. CROOK, AT PITTSFIELD, MASS, 
RattliiiK Window Snake*. first Step will 1)0 to V 
A writer in the Technologist says;— straighten the faefc of I 
The sashes in very many costly and ole- be done more eonvc 
gant. dwellings, are frequently so loose that, rabbet plane and a sin 
though winds blow even gently, they Incase the sa 3 ho 3 
Avill rattle and hang from stop to stop, like narrow for the frame 
the shrunken and decayed portions of some off true, and a thin s 
forsaken and dilapidated castle. In some in- glued and nailed to 
stances the sashes arc fitted with too much See that the outside e< 
play, both in the direction from one jamb tapering, even by the 
casing to the other, and also from the outer shaving. When the s 
to the inner stops. Besides this, the shrink- a trifle, the sashes can 
age of the stiles of the sashes and the con- down easily. Now pi 
traction of the half seasoned timber of which place, and fasten the c 
the stops were made, have contributed to in- or three long, slendt 
crease the defect alluded to, so that the an- which remove the on 
noying rattle and clatter during the night them so closely to the 
will frequently drive sleep from every eyelid, the Aviudoiv will not 
ROTES TOR BUILDERS, 
A Cheap Tee House Wanted. 
If J. B. D., Thorn Grove, Tenn., will 
turn to page 27, of this volume, (Jan. 14, ’71,) 
he will find the information asked for. 
Experience wil.li Tin Hoof* Asked For. 
J. Lour, Frederick Co., Aid., asks those 
Avho have experience, to say Iioav long a tin 
FIELD NOTES. 
The Beat Uootn lor Sheep nnd Cattle, 
J. S. Grundy asks our readers, having 
experience, to name the best kinds of roots 
to raise for cattle and sheep—whether ruta 
bagas are not best for sheep and carrots for 
cattle. If carrots arc best for cattle, he wants 
to know Avhat kinds are the best, and where 
the seed can be obtained. There are plenty of 
recorded experiments which show the great 
value of SAvede turnips for sheep. But, 
considering the cost of culture, it is doubt¬ 
ful whether carrots are as profitable to grow 
for cattle as the sugar beet. Let those who 
know by experience answer. 
BARN AARO 
2- FI OOR F/.A/V 
Sanlord Corn. 
G. AY. Wilson of Ohio Avrites:—“ Late in 
Alay I planted two quarts of seed on about 
a quarter of an acre of ground, on Avhich 
com was raised the previous year. We 
gave it only ordinary cultivation. There 
was a vigorous growth of stalks and the avcII 
filled ears are admired by all who see them. 
We obtained a yield of thirty-five bushels, 
which is at the rate of one hundred and 
forty bushels per acre. We are acquainted 
Avith a gentleman avJio raised about thirty- 
eight bushels from tAvo quarts of seed. Some 
of the ears measured over twelve inches in 
length. The col) is exceedingly small, so 
that a bushel of ears will produce a large 
yield of shelled corn. We know of no other 
variety in tills sectiou that has yielded so 
much per acre as the Sanford. Taking all 
things into consideration, we believe it is 
superior to all other varieties now in culti¬ 
vation.” 
22XJ8.0. 
JJSflOOR RIAN 
stops be secured on the inside so closely to 
the stiles of the sash that it will move up 
and doAvn easily, without having so much 
play that the wind will rattle it. When the 
sashes have been fitted as directed, there will 
be no more need of “ weather strips” of any 
kind to exclude dust and cold air, and the 
expense of re-fitting a Avindow as directed 
will be much Jess than the cost of Aveatker 
strips. 
Tile unwelcome music of rattling windows 
will often arouse and electrify nervous and 
timorous persons quite as effectually as if a 
hand of burglars were making an entrance 
into the dAvelling. 
The remedy is by no means difficult or ex¬ 
pensive. Let the sashes be taken out of the 
Avindow frames, and every part of the Avin- 
dow examined. If Die jamb-casings have 
been sprung, or are Avarped and twisted, the 
roof will last, and whether it should be paint¬ 
ed or not; if so, with what kind of paint. 
Plan of Bara Wauled, 
Will Mr. Stewakt please give a plan of 
the barn he speaks of in the Rural New- 
Yorker of Feb. 18th, in his letter about 
John T. Alexander and his great farm ? 
Please furnish the same through the excel¬ 
lent columns of the Rural.—O mo. 
