234 
than treble the nnmber of live stock is kept, 
so that a farmer has more to see to, especially 
as Bheep are in great numbers on every farm. 
Now from what has been said in the correspon¬ 
dence. there is little change of habits among 
farmers since 1850. Vet during the 2(5 interven¬ 
ing years, wagGH have risen from CO to 70 per 
cent, so that with the heavy taxation, and the 
rents which run to about $10 per acre, exclusive 
of taxes, it is astonishing how they moot pay¬ 
ments and yet keep np very respectable homes. 
For tbo smallest fanners keep at least one ser¬ 
vant girl apiece to help thoir wives, and a riding 
horse for each of themselves. 
The explanation of this seeming superiority in 
management is, first: the greater quantity of 
cattle and sheep to he gold as well as of the wool, 
butter, pigB and wheat; and second: the much 
heavier crops of every variety resulting from the 
amazing quantity of manure dropped by so many 
animals; and third : all the best fanners use so 
much oilcake, etc., to fatten to the best quality 
of meat, that the beof and mutton make top 
prices, and the rich manure forces extra yields 
of grain as well as extraordinarily heavy root 
crops; so that it is not exaggerating to say the 
yield of grain is at least four times (?) more than 
on American farms. 
Then the grass land is no expense to the Eng¬ 
lish farmers, for it never needs renewing in any 
way, and the pastured portion of every farm is 
never manured otherwise than by the cattlo 
which graze it, for the dairy fields do not become 
in the slightest degree exhausted, excepting it 
may be in some parts of Cheshire, where it is 
not customary to put sheep on iu winter In all 
other parts of England it is usual to put breed¬ 
ing ewes iu the dairy fields directly the cows arc 
taken to the yards. There they are foddered 
with hay placed in racks, thus giving a good 
dressing of sheep dung. Nor is tin ir cropping 
the grass injurious to its growth the following 
season, so far as tho quantity of rnilk yielded by 
the cows is a criterion, because the ewes are re¬ 
moved by the first of March lo give ample time 
for snflioient grass to grow for the cows by 
May. 
No English farmer delays preparation for 
seeding till April, The manure is hauled in tho 
wiuter as fast as made, or whenever the weather 
permits. The fanner then has it turned over 
once or twice, or a third time, if not well mel¬ 
lowed, after which it is applied, so that it is in a 
condition to feed tho crops from the start. 
Commercial fertilizers arc used for the turnip 
croj), but the favorite way is to feed the laud 
with food for the plants by feeding the cattle 
and sheep with rich food: oilcake being the 
chief and most general, because the dung from 
tho animals fed on it, enriches the soil more 
than that from any other kind of fattening 
food. 
Now, if American farmers who own their 
farms were to Keep lots of live stock, and use 
quantities of oilcake, meal, bran, Ac., they 
would have rich land, and grow three-fold the 
crops they now do. As they have no rents to pay, 
they would become as wealthy as the English 
landowners; for they wonld have the same sup¬ 
port for thou- housekeeping and families as the 
English farmers, and the rent these pay to their 
landlords us well. This winter then is a good 
time to begin, hut. it is of no use to buy the stock 
unless there is courage enough to feed without 
stint, for there is no such pitiable sight as to 
see a man with a quantity of cattle, sheep, &0., 
afraid to give them a sufficiency of good feed. Of 
course the animals will have to be fed according 
to what it is intended to do with them, aud any¬ 
one who has not judgement to do this, is not a 
genuine farmer, and has to suffer loss at first, 
till experience gives him practical knowledge. 
FALL PLOWING AND OTHER TOPICS. 
BY S. RUFUS MASON. 
FALL PLOWING. 
This operation, so important in heavy soil, is 
too frequently put off till the last work of the 
season. The advantages to he gained by early 
plowing, (as soon as possible after harvest), are 
many, and should drive every one to get the 
plow iu eveu by extra hired help, as soon as 
stacking is over. Weeds are turned under, 
weed seeds have a good chance to sprout and 
grow before frost, thus equaling a fallow, and 
tho land itself has so much the longer time to 
aerate itself, which is mere important than 
many suppose. After an exhaustive crop, if 
the surface remains hide-bound, or nearly im¬ 
pervious to air and water, the growth of moss is 
very rapid, and the land lies like a sick man 
after a fever, demanding stimulants. The 
question of early or late fall plowing is to tho 
farmer merely a matter of a few’ dollars, but to 
the land it is often a matter of life or death. 
This kind of work should always he done by a 
narrow, high mold-hoard tool, so as to ridge tho 
surface, as that shape exposes more earth to the 
atmosphere thau one that leaves the soil spread 
out flat. Harrowing cross-wise in the spring 
THE BUBAL MEW-YOBKEB. 
fits it for seed at onoe. This seems a trifling 
matter, but it is really all important. 
FERTILIZERS. 
A man is sick, the M. D. looks at his tongue, 
feels his pulse, and finds certain simples de¬ 
manded ; this is the diagnosis of his case. The 
result is a cure. Bat when land is sick or 
exhausted by cropping, the owner has no means 
of telling what is lacking, but knowing that 
something is required, he buys an article which 
has cured another piece of land, and at oner) 
givos his soil a dose. Unfortunately it costs 
money, and ought to bring a money return, but 
seldom brings enough to pay. Now, every man 
must be the doctor for his own land, but in the 
present lack of knowledge, how is ho to ad¬ 
minister the proper remedy at a minimum cost 
in dollars, and insure a maximum prodnet in 
tho same currency ? When the farmer is taught 
that part of his profession, farming will pay. 
Who can teach us so that after every crop we 
can tell exactly what quantity and what kind of 
fertilizer we must apply to mako up the de¬ 
ficiency needed for any desired future crop? 
GRAIN HEADERS. 
All good fanners have discarded this “un¬ 
fortunate improvement.’’ Independently of the 
universally had stacking, aud damage to tbo 
grain consequent upon its use. there probably 
has never been any machine which allowed 
weeds to flourish so splendidly. Iu fact, the 
header is rightly named ; it heads the grain, it 
heads off the farmer, it heads off all possible 
improvement of the soil, but it doesn’t head off 
the weeds. The grain is cut so high that the 
weeds go to seed in two weeks’ time, and by the 
time t he land is plowed, the weed seeds are in 
prime order for next year’s crop, and nicely 
put out of reach of the birds. Tho self-binder 
is the tool for economy aud improvement. Cut 
low and plow early are the watch-words now. 
-♦ - 
MANDRING CORN IN THE HILL. 
In your issue of September 29, under head of 
Agricultural Rural Grounds, you state that corn 
manured in the hill with barn aud stable manure, 
yielded only a quarter of a crop, although phos¬ 
phate of lime was in addition sown broadcast. 
Tho reason, in my opinion, was that the 
manure used was of a very drying character, aud 
if used liberally would, if it once became dry, 
never get thoroughly wet again durlug the 
growing season. In this county, it is con¬ 
sidered bad practice to use such manure lb the 
hill for corn, it being apt to produco the effect 
which was experienced iu the Rural Grounds. 
It is only exceptionally that corn is manured in 
the bill hero, and then the manure must be of a 
very flue character, like compost, and used very 
sparingly. I think if a hill of the corn in ques¬ 
tion had been pnlled up during the growing 
season, the roots would have been found em¬ 
bedded in a dry, powdery mass. 
Monmouth Co., N. J. 1. S. H. Barti.ett, 
#mit ®oj)us. 
JOTTINGS AT KIRBY HOMESTEAD. 
BY COL. F. D. CURTIS. 
Our Grandmothers had notions and we laugh 
at them, but we shall have to go back to their 
ideas. We want more white-wash—not for pub¬ 
lic men or governmental administration, but for 
our dwellings aud fruit trees. Fashion has cov¬ 
ered our walls with paper aDd paint, both un¬ 
wholesome and more or loss poisonous; while 
the white wash brush being disowned, the cel¬ 
lars are not sweetened, and cobwebs, mold and 
taint accumulate the summer long, and lice and 
moths make their homes on the fruit trees un¬ 
molested. Some wiseacre has said that white¬ 
washing the trees will stop up the pores and in¬ 
jure them. Nonsense! White-wash will kill 
lice, drive away the moths, and do the trees 
good, while in the cellar aud on the kitchen walls 
it is health. 
Agents are now buying up butter at dairies at 
25 cents a pound. The immense refrigerators 
which were constructed ou foreign steamers for 
shipping fresh meat, many of which are now not 
used for that purpose, as beef is too high and 
Bcarce in this country, afford facilities for ship¬ 
ping butter in prime condition, and will tend to 
promote foreign shipments. This will give but¬ 
ter a steady market, much more so than would 
be the case if the metropolitan demand 
regulated the market which is so liable to 
be glutted. Now no glut is likely to take place, 
as wo have such an extended outlet in the old 
world. Dairymen can take courage aud reason¬ 
ably look forward to substantial prices. 
Thirteen little pigs—by the way, pigs are 
pets of ours; there is no prettier sight than a 
nest of young pigs—well, they go out in the 
sun; they might Btay uuder cover, but they 
don’t, and they have got sunburnt. We have 
greased them all over thoroughly, and now they 
are all right, and will not get sore. 
This fall, just when and what to feed the fat¬ 
tening hogs, has been a serious question. Y\ ith 
]>ork starting in the market at only $7 per hun¬ 
dred, it would not pay to buy corn to feed them. 
We had none left; we nover have. The pigs 
run in the orchard, and in an ordinary time, 
when apples are plentiful, by the last of Sep¬ 
tember they would have been filled up—and It. 
takes a good deal to fill up store hogs and get 
them well started to growing—but this year 
there are no apples. Deacon Kirby, when ho 
set out the old orchard more than seventy-five 
years ago, put out a number of trees of early 
sweet apples on purpose for tho bogs to feed 
upon. Pumpkins do very well, but we could not 
get at them till the corn was cut, and waiting till 
then would mako it too late in the season. A 
logical idea struck us. If you can winter hogs 
on raw beets and have them thrive, you can sum¬ 
mer hogs on raw beets and have them fatten. 
So, vritb the help of logic and beets pulled up 
and thrown into tho field to the pigs, we are be¬ 
ginning our pork making in a most satisfactory 
manner. Mr. Fred Curtis always raises a few 
acres of peas, which he gets in early, and they 
make most excellent pig feed, almost equal to 
corn, Tbo route are the cheapest and surest 
crop, ouo year with another. If we could bo 
certain of a good yield of peas, it would be best 
to raise them; but tbo crop is exceedingly varia¬ 
ble. Sowing “ in the old of the moon” in June, 
dues not always succood, any more thau “ as early 
as possible in April.” 
While we are talking about pigs, wo must not 
forgot to mention that wo met Mr. David Smith 
of Glenville, aud he was discouraged. Four sows, 
one after the other, had aborted, and he could 
nut tell the cause. They had not been hurt- 
rail out to grass, and had water and all the 
pumpkins they could eat. Mr. Sjhth did not 
know until wo told him that pumpkin needs were 
a powerful dittretic, and that they undoubtedly 
caused the premature births. Another how was 
in the meadow, and had had no pumpkins, and 
she had done well, bringing him ten fine pigs. 
A friend settled in Kansas in the town of 
Enterprise—a suggestive name that—writes to 
us to know where he can get some of the famous 
wild-goose wheat found in the Humboldt Valley, 
etc. Wo suppose ho refers to a kind of rye 
which was introduced iuto the Eastern States, a 
few years ago, under tho name of Mouutain 
rye. It was a failure here, but the seed sent to 
us was very large aud plump, and almost as 
white as wheat. Wild geese get a good deal of 
credit. They have given us tho wild-goose 
plum, and now comes the wild-goose wheat. 
Wo shall have to write our enterprising friend 
that he is on a wild-goose chase. 
We were converted to tho frozen sap theory 
of pear blight, as we found that on the small 
trees the first indications were at the base of tho 
branches aud at the crooks in tho bodies. Here 
the frozen sap might become stagnant, and stop¬ 
ping up tho pores of the bark, might cause it to 
turn black and dry up, and, iu time, kill the 
leaves and twigs. This form of blight would 
show itself in spring. Wo have carefully watch¬ 
ed the young trees, and ivhenever there was any 
blackness or dead look to the bark, we have im¬ 
mediately cut a slit clear through the diseased 
part, above aud below, to let the poisonous sap 
out and, if possible, atart a healthy growth un¬ 
derneath. In some instances this has taken 
place, and the disease haa been checked, with a 
prospect of reuewed life to the tree. Now, iu 
the autumn, this dreaded scourgo comes steal¬ 
ing over the trees of a dozen years' growth, in a 
different form. For no apparent reason, tho 
bark appearing perfectly healthy, the leaves 
turn black, and a shrinking of tho bark speedily 
follows, just as if a lire had passed over thorn. 
These trees were set iu sod and have remained 
so ever since. There are undoubtedly different 
forms of blight. This blight attacks the outside 
branches. We shall cut them off as fast as the 
leaves turn black, cutting down to the green 
portions, aud by doing so hope to save them. 
The old trees of thirty years’ growth, standing 
iu grass, have not yet been afflicted, and never 
have been. 
SUB-EARTH VENTILATION. 
BY PROFESSOR J. WILKINSON. 
This system of ventilation, after a test of three 
years, has proved to he adapted to ventilating and 
tempering the air in buildings for a great variety 
of useful and luxurious purposes. It was mainly, 
until recently, used for warming or cooling and 
ventilating milk-houses, for which it is unex¬ 
OCT.43 
celled. In fact, it has proved to be very econom¬ 
ical and satisfactory wherever it is UBed, if prop¬ 
erly arranged. It was first used some twelve 
years ago for warming and ventilating a winter 
stable. 
THE DETAIL OF THE SYSTEM 
consists in laying a duct for conducting air in the 
earth at a depth, and of a length, that will give 
to the conducted air the temperature of the 
stratum of earth in which the duct lies ; and in 
making its cross sections commensurate with the 
volume of air to be tempered, purified and cir¬ 
culated. Large audience rooms in which there 
is a large consumption of air, require a duct of 
greater dimensions than whore Uie object is 
simply to change the air moderately, and to 
purify and temper t. In the early application 
of tho system. It was operated solely by gravita¬ 
tion, two ducts being used, one having a descent 
in it toward the building to be ventilated, tho 
other haring a fall from it. 
When the temperature of the duct was lower 
than that of tho external air, it coolod tho air 
that passed through it, and its increased density 
caused it to flow downward through tho duct 
abovo tho building, and. after ventilating the 
latter, the lower duct exhausted the air from it 
by the influence of tho same natural law. But 
when the relative temperatures of the earth and 
the atmosphere wero reversed, and the air was 
colder I ban the earth, the air in the duct would 
absorb heat from the earth, aud becoming Tari¬ 
ffed, would circulate upward through the lower 
duct to tho building and thence escape through 
tLe upper duct into tho open air. This mode of 
circulating tho air by gravitation, involved a ne¬ 
cessity for a rolling topography in tho site of 
tho building and tho ducts. This topographic 
peculiarity iu a site being unattainable in a level 
country, like the vast prairies, where a great and 
growing" demand for tho system has obtained, tho 
use of tho principle of gravitation for tho circu¬ 
lation of air was abandoned, and the vacuum 
system substituted. 
THE VACUUM SYSTEM. 
This consists in the use of but one sub-earth 
duct, which may bo level, or may have a fall in 
it to or from tho building to bo ventilated; as 
either is found to operate with equal efficiency 
aud usefulness. A vacuum is produced and 
maintained in the building by means or a heated 
chimney, or exhaust shaft. The kitchen chim¬ 
ney of a farm-house is found to answer a good 
purpose, aud a flue having a cross section of 
12 x12 inches, is ample as an exhaust shaft for 
ventilating and tempering a milk-room, for set¬ 
ting the milk of three to four hundred cows, iu 
addition to a good-sized farm-house , which may 
be supplied with tempered air at all seasons, 
in all parts of the building ; aud all by means of 
the same supply duct, aud the same exhaust 
shaft. 
ADJUNCTIVE USE OF A COOKING-STOVE. 
By using the Hmoko-flue of a kitchen Btovo as 
the exhaust, the waste heat in it is utilized, aud 
it is found to be a valuable adjunct, iu operating 
an exhaust shaft; in fact, it is so efficient that, 
at t im es, no other heat is required. For venti¬ 
lating dwellings on this system, the kitchen flue 
is all that is needed as an exhaust; and the moat 
remote rooms, and the deepest cellars may be 
perfectly tempered and vent ilated. The hygienic 
influence, and the saving of fuel in ft dwelling, 
derivable from the use of the S. E. V. system, 
property arranged, render it peerless among all 
the systems of ventilation yet discovered. 
Tho experience of the inventor of the S. E. \. 
system, has established the conviction that by the 
use of a sub-earth duct of proper length, depth 
and cross section, a given volume of air may be 
perpetually tempered to precisely the same de¬ 
gree, by passing it through the duct, whether 
the air is admitted at. 40 2 below, or at 100° above 
zero, aud thousands of the most reliable persons 
in the country, will now attest that the sub¬ 
earth duct does condense the vapor iu air, and 
pass it to the building to he ventilated, as dry 
as is desirable fur health ; that it removes all 
dust and odors from the air, and at times when 
the electrical condition of the air is such that 
precipitate souring of milk prevails, iu every 
neighboring milk-house, no perceptible influence 
of this peculiar condition of the air is experi¬ 
enced in a building or an apartment eubterrane- 
ously ventilated. 
Sub-earth ventilation has recently been intro¬ 
duced at tho Capitol for tempering tho air of, 
and ventilating the House of Representatives. 
Its use for ventilating several State Houses, Nor¬ 
mal and Public School Buildings, etc., is now 
under consideration, and it is the opinion of the 
most intelligent experts in ventilation, that the 
superiority of this system will bring it into gen¬ 
eral use in the early future. 
The economy, usefulness, healthfulness, and 
luxuriou&ness of the system, when once under¬ 
stood, are everywhere appreciated aud admired. 
A branch pipe may he extended from the 
earth duct to the most remote room of a dwelling, 
and terminate in a light canvas hose of suffi¬ 
cient length to be availed of in any part of a 
