37S 
MOORE’S RURAL NEW-YORKER 
cxfjaijnt fikoiiomir. 
I PLOWING WITHOUT DEAD FUEEOWS. 
We copy the following from the Country 
Gentleman, which says that for the simple 
and easy mode here given ol' determining the 
centers, and for placing the sides of the ecu 
tral figures, it is indebted to Prof, Evans am! 
Dr. Potter of Cornell Univeivity : 
The common practice among farmers in 
laying out ground for plowing is often more 
or less defective. The crooked furrows so 
frequently seen occasion many inconvenien¬ 
ces, beside the uneven strips of land left in 
finishing the dead furrows. Crooked line; 
for sowing or drilling grain, for Bowing grass 
seed, and for every crop planted in rows, 
cause cont inued annoyance. To obviate some 
of these inconveniences, and to avoid deac 
furrows, some farmers do much of their 
plowing by going around the whole field, and 
by finishing at the middle. Tills practice still 
has some disadvantage*. A dead furrow, it 
made at the middle, and towards each corner, 
Fig. 1 FUtwul- Field /'irie .i ft at the Middle, 
leaving Iie.it i! I'ui'rau!>f. 
as shown in fig. 1, which represents a field in 
the form of a parallelogram plowed by begin¬ 
ning at the outside and going to the center. 
Another disadvantage is the banking up of 
the earth against the boundary Avails or 
fences by successive repititions. The dead 
furrows are avoided, and the fence-banking 
prevented, if the field Is plowed by beginning 
at the center, and plowing towards the out¬ 
side, giving tlie result shown in fig. 3. 
There Is but one difficulty in beginning 
thus at tire center, and that is, to know ex¬ 
actly where to strike the first furrow. If the 
field is a true parellelognun, as shown in the 
preceding figures, the process is comparative¬ 
ly simple. Measure across the ends, take 
half, anil drive a few stakes in a straight line 
through the middle of the field. Then meus- 
ure in from the two ends of thin lino a dis¬ 
tance equal to half the breadth of the field, 
and drive stakes. The plowman is now 
ready to begin, by plowing a perfectly 
straight furrow between these two stakes, 
and then going backwards and forward* 
around them, throwing the furrows inward, 
until the field is finished. If the work is 
accuratcly laid out, and the plowing well 
done, the last furrow will come out even and 
parallel with the boundary fence on every 
side. 
But it frequently happens that the field is 
more or less irregular in form. A little more 
care is required in such cases, but beside this 
additional care there is no difficulty what 
ever. Suppose, for example, that the field n 
in the form of a triangle, as shown in fig. 8. 
The first thing is to rletermiue the center, or 
a point equidistant from the three sides, l! 
may be done by the “cut and try” process, 
but this will be laborious and- tiresome, and 
many will give it up before they have done, 
and then pronounce this mode of plowing r 
Fia. 2. Flowed Field Begun at the Center. 
vexation, because they did not begin right. 
In order to determine the con tor, bisect two 
angles of the fiold in the following way : 
Measure with a tape line from the angle or 
corner, an equal distance along the two sides, 
say 30 feet, and put in a stake at each point 
thus measured. Then stretch the line from 
stake to stake (os shown by the dotted lines i 
and take ono-half or the middle. This wili 
divide the angles into equal parts. Then put 
in a few small stokes, until the lines thin 
staked shall meet at the intersection of the 
dotted lines. Tliis will be the center of the 
field. It is thus found in a very few minute*, 
but it will require a long t ime to do it by 
guess work. Around the center you must 
begin to plow. But it is important in begin¬ 
ning to go in the right direction, that is, 
exactly parallel with the three sides. To do 
this accuratelv, measure a few feet outwards, 
at equal distances from the center, and set 
stakes parallel with the boundaries. This 
will form the t riangle a b c, which is exactly 
similar in shape to the field, only smaller. 
Mark this triangle with the plow, and the 
j ’uj. .i —Laying out Triangular Field. 
work is begun ; or to plow the whole, begin 
at the center and go out towards the triangle, 
a king care to coincide with it when you 
reach it. 
As the plowing advances, measure the 
listance between the furrows and boundaries, 
to see if you are going right, if it is new work 
to you. 
There is a mode of drawing the central 
triangle, just described, with mathematical 
accuracy, but it is hardly necessary to resort 
to it in common cases; we therefore omit it. 
If the field is irregular and four-aided, as 
represented in fig. -4, a similar process may be 
employed for determining the center. First 
find the two centers a and b, by bisecting the 
angles, as shown by the dotted lines at the 
comers. Then measuring perpendicularly 
from b to the nearest side by the assistance 
ol' the square placed on that side, (which is 
moved along backward or forward till in the 
right place), measuring the same distanco 
from the other side at c, d and e, making 
these measurements perpendicular to the 
•rides by means of the square, Stakes driven 
in at the ends will form a t riangle, around 
which the plow is run till tire field is finished, 
Or, if this triangle is too large, as will be a;it 
to be the case, begin at, a and run the fur- ’ 
rows parallel to the throe sides of this tri¬ 
angle, and the work will come out right. 
Fig. 5 represents an irregular five-sided 
field. The same course is to be adopted as 
Fin. 4 Laying out T'ritpiioklal Field. 
before, the places for the two central stakes, 
a and b, being first found, and the sides of 
the central figure, |parallel respectively to 
the other sides, found as described under 
fig. 4, 
It will make the plowing easier, plainer, 
and more accurate, to plow light furrows 
from the corners In towards the centers; 
and also to plow light furrows to form the 
enter triangle. The corner furrows will 
show exactly where the team turns and the 
work will be kept in more accurate shape. 
To some all this work at measuring may 
seem troublesome and needless ; but it will 
be found a great saving of labor in the end. 
Any one can understand the rules given by a 
few minutes’ att ention ; and after some prac¬ 
tice a large field may bo laid out for plowing 
in an hour’s time. Without such measuring 
the plowman may finish on one side of a fifty 
acre field, when he has left an unplowed strip 
on the other two or three rods wide, which 
will cost him an additional day’s labor to 
plow, unless he finishes up in the irregular 
manner, with a dead furrow. 
-+++- 
EOAD MAKING. 
“ Good roads” are very desirable for social 
convenience, and exhibit the intelligence of 
any community. To form or preserve a 
Iici.5.— Five-sided, laid Laid Oat. 
good road, it was deemed indispensable to 
break up the ground to the full width of the 
road-bed and its side ditches. When suitably 
plowed, it required good judgment and no 
small amount of experience to arrange the 
earth. We scraped the earth each way from 
the extremes toward the centre so as, 
ulways, to give the road a regular form of au 
ellipse. Wc were very careful not to leave 
the road in such a manner that water would 
run lengthwise in the path. We were also 
very careful in forming the ditches, to coia- 
ilcicly dear them of loose earth, so that 
water flowing from the road-bed, would run 
,o the extreme outside of the ditch, before 
;t took a direction along the roadside. Wc 
were also careful to make places for the 
water to escape from the ditches, so that the 
ditches were not deeply worn in any places. 
By bo doing, we had, what 1 now, alas 1 
but rarely see in the country, good roads. 
In this connection, I wish to state that we 
have so many “ young gentlemen” who spend 
a largo amount of time in training “ fast 
horses” that we no longer have “mudsills” 
who delight to make “good roads.” Much 
time is also spent In smoking, in mutation of 
our “great men.” 
To unfold tho results of our present neg¬ 
lect, allow me to state that, not our “cross¬ 
roads” alone, arc extremely bad to travel, 
but our “ main road” between Ferry and 
Castile railroad station, and between Castile 
station and the village of Pike, is dangerous 
to travel both in spring and fall,- to say 
nothing of its dreadful condition during some 
winters. A true description of our roads 
ought to be indicted as a libel ! 
In this connection, allow me to state we 
have some of the fruit of the Brewers’ Na¬ 
tional Association. They c.rial- not live- with¬ 
out sufficient land to keep a cow. Our special 
(almost divine) road-law boars hard upon 
them. When wc, who raise hurley on a large 
scale, can spare them from the ale house, and 
want their labor, we hear from them bitter 
complaints against the farmers who will 
neither give or sell them pasture But they 
must not pasture the roads. We formers 
have a protective law. Are we not hard 
i ousters ? Do we not most severely beat our 
servants ? Rufus Feet. 
Castile N. Y. 
MAKING MONEY BY FAEMING. 
Prosperity attends one farmer, ruination 
another ; many get a good living, and some 
turn their hand to some other calling to save 
them from losing capital ; in short, agricul¬ 
ture results just about in the same propor¬ 
tion with regard to profit or loss, as mercan ¬ 
tile pursuits. Although there -are many 
mistakes. Although there any many misfor¬ 
tunes which foresight and good judgment 
cannot forestall, and the same run of com¬ 
mon accidents which attend every business, 
yet none need be timid in entering on a good, 
fair average farm ; for if all particulars have 
been weighed and allowance made in the 
purchase money, a few disadvantages can be 
readily overcome. Even a stock farm, badly 
watered, should not be discouraging, as this 
having been calculated on, there are plenty 
of ways to secure a supply from rain to last 
through the longest drouths ; and where the 
water Is kept clean, the writer lias seen it in 
standing ponds preferred to spring or other 
fresh water by horses, cattle and sheep. 
This is mentioned as one of the greatest 
drawbacks, because most people dread the 
trouble of keeping in order temporary drink¬ 
ing places and the losses sustained by neglect. 
Making money is as readily attained by at¬ 
tention in farming as in trade ; and it is a 
common error to suppose this is to be accom¬ 
plished only by the sweat of the brow. In¬ 
dustry is absolutely necessary, but tact in di¬ 
recting labor aright is bettor than merely 
leading a lot of men by working every bit of 
flesh and atom of fat oil' tho body. Then it 
is essential to be posted in the market value 
of every commodity, which can only be done 
by attending auction sales and rendezvous 
for buying and selling. A money making 
farmer will ascertain the prices of all varie¬ 
ties of livestock and calculate the compara¬ 
tive cost of raising so as to be certain which 
pays best ; ho will also find out how butter 
or cheese making andhow wool growing will 
pay. Doubtless in these times of highpriced 
and unreliable manual labor, a system of 
farming which will permit of a great deal of 
the land lying down in perpetual grass, would 
pay more for two reasonsFirst, less ex¬ 
penditure in wages would be required and 
2d, the fertility would not be extracted by 
selling oil' grain and corn. 
When a farm has to be bought to com¬ 
mence an agricultural career, the climate as 
well as the soil can be chosen and then a sys¬ 
tem of breeding and raising stock ran be con¬ 
trived to be adapted for the end of having a 
good deal to sell with very little to buy. How¬ 
ever, when a farmer has become well versed 
in the price of all kinds of live stock, it, is often 
| that opportunities can be taken to buy in a 
low market, and when there is temporary 
depression, and by feeding with any grain or 
other food Which is selling cheap, money cun 
be made arid tho manure from the consump¬ 
tion will increase the value of the farm, being 
in imitation of John .Johnson and a few oili¬ 
er high farmers, but which is very common 
among a class of tenant fanners in several 
districts in England and which the frequent 
great catt le, markets, taking place annually at 
certain dates, enables them to make a regular 
practice of ; for if one market should be too 
high to answer their purpose to buy they 
can try others. Working Farmer. 
♦ ♦>- 
THE SECEET OF SUCCESS. 
The great cry among farmers is that their 
farms are paying them no profits, and that 
they are losing rather than making money. 
Now this is true, perhaps, in part, but it. is due 
in a majority of cases more to mismanage¬ 
ment than to crops or prices. It is true, 
prices of produce are low, and labor com¬ 
mands a compensation far in advance of its 
real value, when compared with tho value 
of its productions. But while such is the 
ease, farmers must rely more on their brains, 
and make calculation, overcome the losses 
and augment the profits. One great trouble 
is that among our formes there is too much 
! changing about from one tiling to another ; 
that is, leaving some one branch of thy busi¬ 
ness w follow another branch, which is at 
present paying a larger profit than the one 
now engaged in, but which, when they be¬ 
come ready to reap the benefits from, tuny 
have fallen back to the same level as that 
which they followed before. For instance, 
one man who last year was raising and fat¬ 
tening cattle, this year is selling off his cattle 
and buying sheep because just at present trio 
profits on wool are greater than those on 
cattle ; but perhaps before ho fairly gets 
started and before ho has reaped any profits 
from his wool, the prices will have changed 
and tlie profit will be in cattle and not in 
sheep. At present, and for the last few 
years, farmers have been changing from 
grain raising, Ac., to dairying, until the 
country is now filled with butter and cheo.se- 
producing farms, breaking down the market 
and placing dairying on a level with grain in 
profits ; while those who have expended 
their money in stock and dairying utensils 
are making no more money than before and 
lose the interest in their investment. So 
with hops and grapes and all those produc¬ 
tions which have their ups and downs in the 
market. 
Now my advice to every man is, to adopt 
some one or more particular branch of farm¬ 
ing—as many as he can manage well and no 
more—and then stick to it. Don't get dis¬ 
couraged if there is no great profit the first 
year and rush off al something else ; for in 
the course of ten years it will pay a good legit¬ 
imate profit for the whole time. The prices 
of grapes, and other fruits, are so low now 
they are paying but little profit; but let 
those who have their vineyards only keep 
their temper and not get discouraged ; for 
there are plenty of men who are neglecting 
and plowing up their vineyards and the time 
is coming when grapes will again pay a good 
profit on tho investment. D. F. 
Burlington, Iowa. 
--»-»» ■ 
GOOD SUGGESTIONS TO C0NTEIBUT0ES. 
I have read your paper several months, 
and have found many things ’of practical 
benefit therein. I have also found many ar¬ 
ticles which would have been Of great value 
to me had the writers stated particulars ; us, 
for instance : one man raises big squashes, 
but gives us no particulars as to soil, manure, 
time of planting, season, manner of culture, 
etc.; another raises big hogB, but does not 
tell us how ; another, large eggs, but no par¬ 
ticular as to keep of hens, etc. 
I am a firm believer in cause and effect, 
and would like to know how such things are 
done. As I understand your correspondence 
department, it is a kind of mutual benefit 
society, to which all subscribers are mem¬ 
bers, and is not to be used to advertise 
either one’s self or productions; but if peo¬ 
ple having extra productions, are too selfish 
to wish for others to share their knowledge, 
by all means give them the cheap fame of 
getting their name in the newspapers. 
New Mexico. 
- 
We still have to ask the patience of our 
correspondents ■whose valued contributions 
properly belong in this department. 
