1 
*CQLTURE»E£ 
*URAL 
EXCELSIOR 
5 Hoeliinnii St., IVevv York. 
S3 Buffalo Si., Rochester. 
NEW YORK CITY AND ROCHESTER, N. Y 
83.50 t'EH YEAR. 
Single .Vo., Eight Cent*, 
FOR THE WEEK ENDING SATURDAY, DECEMBER 9 1871 
[Entered according to Act of Congress, in the year 1371, by D. 1). T. Moore, in the ottioo of the Librarian of Congroan, at Washington.]_ 
as it does, sulphuric acid, 
and is an absorbent of 
ammonia, whether de- 
. scending from the atmos- 
phere with the rain or 
escaping from decaying 
■jpp^ organic matter. Our cor- 
respondent says it is plns- 
ter (sulphate of lime), but 
I bow does he know? Ho 
;|H|! Bbould bo more specific. 
^g &S&lar’l Sulphate of lime loses no 
,; good quality as a nift- 
uurial agent by age or ex- 
,i ■ J posure to the atmosphere. 
On llie contrary, it im- 
proves. It never has a 
very pungent smell, 
though one who has once 
1 smelled of freshly ground 
SEMMr plaster will be apt to reo- 
^^225 bIPIP^ ognize it whenever lie 
comes in contact with it. 
One thing we should say, 
perhaps—that plaster which is to be kept 
for any length of time should be kept dry— 
that is, under cover. At least our own ex 
perieucc indicates that it should. 
tbool Srdjittfhtr* 
necessary for a stock of 
thirty or forty head of 
cattle ? 
2d. Would it not be a 
good plan to have the 
whole basement floor pav- 
ed and grouted, to secure 
the liquids of the stable ? — J|jff “! it 
for fertilizing? !fi II 
3d. IIow long does it II 1 
car of four hundred bush- K'! 1 - j ( 
els of wheat straw, and 
how may we know when , . 1 ‘Vrt 
it is cooked enough ? - - 
4th. If a quantity suf- 
fleient to feed a stock of . 
cattle three and one-half ’ 
days is cooked at one 
time, will it not have to t - 
be warmed up daily in 
severe cold weather, to 
prevent its freezing? 
5 t h. Will not stock learn 
to like their feed better when slightly 
warm ? 
6 th. Is it not found necessary to feed con¬ 
siderable bran or meal while feeding stalks 
and straw, in order to keep the stock up 
well ?—W. II. Wilcox. 
arm trcoiurmn 
SOHOOL HOUSE DESIGHS. 
Having received many inquiries lately for 
designs and plans of school houses for the 
country, wc have selected the two accom¬ 
panying elevations with the same interior 
arrangement from an excellent work on 
school houses published by J. W. Schick- 
merhorn & Co., New York city, and to 
whose courtesy wc are indebted for the 
illustrations. In the plan given sixty scats 
nro provided. The room is thirty-four by 
thirly-eighL feet and by slight changes may 
be enlarged or diminished. Ily adding threo 
feet to the length, space is given for ten ad¬ 
ditional seals ; and by making the building 
four feet narrower there would still be room 
for lour rows of desks accommodating forty 
eight pupils. 
In this design two entrances arc provided 
in front, each of which opens into a room 
which is both entry-way and lobby for 
clothes. The space between the two entry- 
ways can be used for recitations, and a 
room may be finished iii the basement or in 
the rear for the storing of fuel. 
This design is well adapted to districts in 
which the ullendanco is Inrge during one 
portion of the year and small at other Limes. 
The recitation room gives an opportunity 
for the employment, of an extra teacher in 
case of need. The front and back walls ot 
the school room, between the two doors, 
LIME EOK SOILS, 
We have a fertilizer in this county of the 
following analysis: 
Moisture. LOO 
Peroxide or iron and aluinitm. 1.57 
Garhnnntc oT lime.80.62 
Cartionnte of magnesia.12.22 
Sulphate of lime and magnesia.traces. 
Silica and earthy silicates. 110 
99.00 
In what amount ought it to be applied per 
acre to clover, timothy, land seeding to 
wheat or in preparation for corn. Instruc¬ 
tions as to its general use and what is its 
value as compared with plaster are desired? 
—Wm. B. Kelly, Abingdon, V<i. 
Oon correspondent probably knows that 
this limestone should be burned and slaked 
before it is used. The per cent, ot carbonate 
of magnesia in it deprechues its value ma¬ 
il fertilizer, a chemist who hap- 
■r£/NJt/S(WMlf?ANf 
SCHOOL HOUSE-ELEVATION No, 1. 
Quality of Plaster. 
J. II. Bennett writes:—“ Could you give 
some information as to how to judge of the 
quality of plaster? I have some that has 
neither taste nor smell, and will not dissolve 
in water. Island plaslc - of this nature?” 
Gypsum, or sulphate of Sa» vvry little 
tcrially as 
pened to he present when we opened the 
letter said, at least twenty-live per cent. 
This fertilizer should be applied to the soil 
and not to growing crops. If our correspond¬ 
ent bad stated the character anil condition 
ot the soil to which It is to bo upplied, we 
could have been more specific. Its value, 
compared with plaster, also depends upon 
the soil. Its action is wholly different from 
that of piaster (sulphate of lime), which may 
be applied profitably to a growing crop of 
corn, clover, timothy or wheat, as a top¬ 
dressing, on dry soils, at the rate of three 
bushels per acre. Lime should be incorpo¬ 
rated with the soil, to sweeten and disinte¬ 
grate it ami decompose the organic matter 
In the soil. One ton of pure carbonate of 
lime contains 8% cwts. of carbonic acid and 
11 '4 cwts. of lime. When burned, the car¬ 
bonic acid is driven off in the form of gas, 
leaving the pure lime behind. This lime, if 
slaked with water, is most valuable for ap¬ 
plication to land—more valuable than if air- 
slaked. But if it does not happen to be pure 
carbonate of lime, and contains magnesia, 
then it is safer that it should he air-slaked 
than water-slaked. 
If our correspondent will tell us something 
about His soil, wo can better advise as to 
quantity and mode of application. 
V ill ill) of Animal Uvinc. 
B. P. Carver writes the Rural New- 
Yorker :—" I have found great profit from 
saving the urine of my animals with the 
greatest care; not only that, but I take pains 
to save the chamber ley as well. Judging 
by effects alone (for I know nothing about 
its chemicnl value,) It is the most valuable 
manure 1 can get; and it astonishes me that 
more attention is not paid to securing and 
using it. 1 litter my stables with muck or 
earth and plaster every night. I have abed 
of the same on which all house vessels arc 
emptied. My privy vaults are kept supplied 
with the same and 1 find it pays largely for 
the trouble.” 
We should think so; for most of the saline 
matter contained in the food of men and 
animals escapes in the urine ; and it contains 
the nitrogen of the food and tissues of the 
animal which is one of the most essential 
elements of plants. Of course it ought to be 
saved; and no farmer is a good economist 
who neglects to adopt the means of saving 
and utilizing it. We thank our correspond¬ 
ent for calling attention to the subject, and 
hope it will be further discussed. 
A I’nieiit ftlnmire. 
A Patent manure, called Kapnopbite, is 
creating some sensation hern. It consists 
of straw, or any combustible material 
covered with earth and burned slowly, so as 
to make the earth that covers it absorb all 
the smoke. Now, sir, is there any manure 
in smoke? Will it pay one who has an 
abundance of swamp muck and fine straw, 
to pay $5 for the right to make and use 
it? Please answer through the columns of 
your paper, aud very much oblige—A Sub¬ 
scriber. 
It will not pay to give $5 for the right to 
use the “ patent.” There is manure in 
“ smoke”—such as results from the rapid or 
slow decomposition of vegetable matter; 
and if the soil or muck absorbs the gases 
liberated by burning, it is so much the 
richer in the elements of plant food. But if 
you mix your pine straw or muck in alter¬ 
nate layers—say pine straw first, and a 
sprinkling of caustic lime, a thick layer of 
muck, pine straw, lime, muck again, you 
will speedily have a far more valuable fer¬ 
tilizer Ilian by burning the pine straw as 
proposed, Beside we do not believe such a 
process as you describe patentable, even if 
it is patented, which we doubt. It has been 
used, substantially, ever since we can re¬ 
member, in one form or another. Beware 
of such “ patents.” 
PLAN OP SCHOOL IIOUSE. 
flavor or perfume. It is a mineral, and does 
not dissolves readily. Our correspondent 
docs not state whether it is ground or un¬ 
ground—burned or imbqrned. Pure sul¬ 
phate of lime is always valuable on dry soils 
as a top dressing for green crops. It fur¬ 
nishes the plants with sulphur, containing, 
ECONOMICAL NOTES, 
Doom DruiiiiiiK Pay f 
The Farmers’ Advocate says; — “Wc 
know a young farmer in Canada who sold 
one half his farm to raise money to under¬ 
drain the other, and now sells twice as much 
crops as he did before.” 
Does Plaster Lose Its Properties by 
Keeping f 
The Rural New-Yorker lias already 
expressed the opinion that it does not; and 
here we find that opinion confirmed by a 
clipping from some scientific paper, the 
name of which wo neglected to note, much 
to our regret: 
“ There is an opinion among farmers that 
this is the case. We do not see that any 
change can take place that will lessen the 
value of the plaster gypsum as manure, and 
wc should have no hesitation in drawing the 
plaster, during good sleighing, in the winter, 
rather than wait until spring, when the roads 
are bad. We know farmers who draw all 
their plaster in the winter, and find great 
advantage in so doing. Keep it dry, and it 
will be just as good as if obtained fresh 
from the mill.” 
(fucattous About Cookiuu Food Cor Stock. 
I nAVE been much interested in all that 
has been said in your valuable paper about 
cooking food for stock. I believe it is the 
only true way of feeding in the cold winter 
season. The plan and statements of Air. 
John H. O’Hara in the Rural New- 
Y’orker of Oct. 28th have attracted my at¬ 
tention and created a desire to make some 
inquires. If Mr. O’Hara will please answer 
the following questions, I am sure he will 
oblige one, and 1 presume many, of the 
readers of the Rural New-Yorker: 
1st. What size engine (in horse-power) is 
a rniCJSOHAlBAMY 
SCHOOL HOUSE - ELEVATION No. 2 
fAuj 
IS 
if 
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