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WOV. <0 
THE RURAL 
NEW-YORKER 
Island, yet we must constantly seek to renew the 
blood from the fountain head. There is some¬ 
thing in tho peculiar habits of the people, their 
mode of feeding, their stone stables, the care 
which the cattle receive, tho bland, delight¬ 
ful climate, and no doubt also the methods of 
breeding, which have given and still impress 
those peculiar characteristics upon the breed 
which makes it what it is. 
“Litchfield,” who is tho property of Mr. 
E. Ratchfoud Stark of Echo Farm, Litch¬ 
field, Conn., is hy *• Hopewell 136," a rich 
fawn bull, imported by C. N <V. W. H. Mttjr- 
heid, in 18G9. His dam, “ La Belle Helene, 
457,” imported by the same parties at the same 
time, is described as < f a rich fawn color. Both 
these animals were bred by Nicholas Hobman 
of St. Peters ; but beyond this, there is no ped¬ 
igree. 
-» o ♦- 
GRADE CATTLE AND THOROUGHBREDS. 
BY GEO. GARDNER. 
Thinking over tho difference of keeping com¬ 
mon grade cattle and pos*c sring a herd of pnre- 
breds, suggested a little calculation : thus, say a 
man has fifty beeves, including heifer calves. 
Suppose there are ten heifer calves raised every 
year, there would bo also ton yearlings, ten two- 
years old and ten throe years old, which would 
leave ten cows lour years old, making fifty alto¬ 
gether. Now, Recording to the best English 
system of dairy husbandry, these oldest cows 
which are j nsl In their prime, would bo kept 
barren this last year and, when dry from milk, 
be fattened and sold for beef. Well, if these 
wero good Orange County grade cows and man¬ 
aged on this English system, tlioy would prob¬ 
ably make very fine beef, and now. as the best 
meat bus a ready sale for exportation, these ten 
cows would make $80 each, thus bringing in $300 
per year, over and above what would arise from 
the milk or tho butter. 
Now, wo will suppose that instead of grade 
cattle, another man with a similar farm, has 
pure-hreds of a moderate fancy breed, or, in other 
words, has a thorough-bred herd, but not any of 
the extravagant Short-Horns. Hay they are all 
fine and useful with a fair pedigree of whatever 
breed they may bo, and that they are worth 
about $200 each on an average. As they thus cost 
a groat deal more than tho grades there would 
bo a much heavier capital ou which to pay inter¬ 
est, and as round numbers will ho near enough 
for onr purpose, we may put extra interest at 
$500 per yoar. Our Calculation would then be: 
ten cows sold in calf Instead of for beef, and the 
price §200 each, which would he §2,000 per year 
instead of $800: but tho $500 interest miufc be 
deducted from tho larger sum, then leaving 
$1500 instead of $800. 
This argumeut could he carried farther, by 
reckoning the keeping of these animals worth sev¬ 
eral hundred dollars more each, but when these 
very costly catt le are bred, there is a deal of extra 
expense inclined in pampering them, and more¬ 
over, the high feeding and close breeding of rel¬ 
atives causes many barren cows and many other 
kinds of disappointments, which, when every¬ 
thing had been sccounted for, would not improve 
the returns from the more moderate strain of 
pure-breds. 
There should he a well regulated system in 
breeding, but with those who will sell animals of 
any ago, from a calf to a cow, there appears to he 
no method at all; whereas, on tho other hand, 
if there were only the annual draft there would 
be a positively decided system. 
(famt Copies. 
JOTTINGS AT KIRBY HOMESTEAD. 
BY COL. F. D. CURTIS. 
A Rough and unprofitable side-hill may be 
made ornamental and valuable by a little labor. 
If tho soil is loam, or gravel, or sand, and it is 
dry, it is adapted to chestnuts, and a grove may 
be started by planting the nuts before they get 
dry. The best way is to dig holes where it is de¬ 
sirable to have the trees grow, and plant the 
nuts as soon as gathered. Cover them an inch 
deep. If the ground is slaty and hard to dig, 
take a pick-axe and pick up enough soil to cover 
the nuts, aud w hen they oome to grow, the roots 
will make their own way down between the 
rocks. If the land is very sterile, carry manure, 
even if it has to he done in baskets, aud put 
Bonio of it into tho holes to give the trees a start; 
after they get started they will take care of 
themselves. The nuts may be buried in the 
gronud and dug up in the spring and planted, 
or they may bo kept in a box of sand out-of- 
doors. Butter-nuts, black-walnuts, or hickory- 
nuts may be planted or preserved in the same 
manner, but the bestw’ay is to put them in the 
ground iu the fall where they are designed to 
grow. 
Six years ago a slaty side-hill on Kirby Home¬ 
stead, was planted with chestnuts, the holes being 
dug with a pick, and this year—a Spanish chest¬ 
nut—boro five bars. A pretty and thrifty little 
grove is the result of this effort. The side-hill 
could not bo plowed, and it produces just as 
much grass with the trees growing as without 
them. Fifteen years ago another side-hill of 
clay was planted with locust trees, aud new one 
of them—it wa6 as large as a man's wrist when 
set out—will make ten fence posts. Another 
rocky spot was sowed with locust seeds in part, 
and the rest planted with butter-nuts and black- 
walnuts. They aro growing fluely. A locust 
grove is a perpetual legacy ; for when a tree is 
cut down a dozen more will come up iu its place. 
They will spread, and on this recount ought to 
be planted in some out-of-the-way place where 
their spreading will do no harm, and where the 
more they spread the hotter. Onr locust grove 
on the rocky bill-side, we esteem highly for our 
own use, and as a valuable legacy to our chil¬ 
dren. It is a life insurance with no percentage of 
Iobs. 
Locust seeds may ho planted in fall, or kept in 
the house and planted in tho Bpring. If put 
into the ground in the spring, they must be 
scalded before planting, to soften the shells 
which are so hard that but few would grow, un¬ 
less hot water is poured on them. The frost 
cracks them if left in tho ground all winter. 
All trees of tho kinds we have mentioned, may 
bo grown in beds in the garden, but as they 
throw out such strong tap-roots and so few lat¬ 
eral rootlets, it is best to plant tho seeds where 
they are wanted to grow. If sowed in a bed, 
they should be dug up when one yoar old aud re¬ 
set, tho tap root being cut off to cause them to 
throw out roots nearer the surface. The locust 
seeds require but a thin covering. The yellow 
locust is the best variety ; as they grow up they 
may bo thiuucd out for fence stakes. A set of 
locust fence stakes will last a life-time, and so 
will the posts. A nut grove on the farm will go 
a long way towards making home more attract¬ 
ive to the boys and girls, and around it will clus¬ 
ter endearing associations and memories which 
will attach them to the homestead ; “for ye auld 
laug syne.” Give us more of the sentiment, 
•" there is no place like home.” 
It pays for farmers to go visiting once in a 
while. Not to gossip about their neighbors, but 
to look around and to cultivate social qualities. 
We always learn a great deal. “ Plenty of room,” 
Rural readers may say. Wo think so too. 
During a day spent with Mr. Cuozieu, we saw 
fiat turnips growing in close rows with winter 
wheat sowed between them, and both crops 
looking well. A crop of spring grain had pre¬ 
ceded the turnips. Here were two crops in one 
year on the same lurid and a third well on the 
way. The turnips promised a large yield, and 
the ground was so rich that we have no doubt 
the wheat will tiller out enough to cover all of 
the ground, Mr. Crozirr’h favorite adage is, 
that “manure is the mother of everything,” 
aud his heavy crops show that his theory is also 
his practice. 
There is one objection to Jersey cattle. Their 
horns are so very tender that it is almost impos¬ 
sible to raise a cow without her breaking one or 
both. The shells arc exceedingly thin and any 
severe knock is sure to start them loose or to 
break the horu clear off. The shell of a horn is 
not so important aftur all, but one does not like 
to see a beautiful bead mutilated in this way, 
and its original beauty so much impaired. A 
heifer calf to-day has broken ono horn entirely 
off close to her head. How she did it no one 
knows, but probably she struck it against the 
Btable door. A stub-horned cow is not a pleas¬ 
ant anticipation, 
At a husking bee the other night Mr. Packer 
said our “ horses would get wormy, eating corn¬ 
stalks.” All the other neighbors agreed with 
him. They could not tell the why and where¬ 
fore, but they were all certain corn-stalks had 
this effect on horses. Is this a uotiou handed 
down from father to son, or is it so P We have 
so much respect for their opinions that we shall 
heed tho neighbors’ advice, except with Jim who 
is beavey ; tlieie is nothing better to feed a 
Loavcy horso with than corn-stalks. Give old 
Jim hay one day and ho is used up for work. 
Let him pick over a stock of corn-stalks with his 
regular feed of corn, ground in the ear aud wet 
up, aud he will plow or go on the road as well as 
his mate. It is the corn meal which gives him 
the strength, but the other fodder is equally as 
essential to feed the intestinal canals and keep 
them healthy. Neither a horse nor any other 
animal will keep well if fed any length of time 
on concentrated food—enough waste material 
must be taken into the stomach to produce a dis¬ 
tention of the bowels and natural action, to 
insure health, 
Three broods of chickens, one after the other, 
died before they were two weeks old. At first 
we thought it must be the coop—a pretty little 
cottage standing on the grass. This could not 
be, as it was moved every few days to a new spot. 
The chickens icould die; so. in a moment of des¬ 
peration, we let ono of the hens out just before 
8un-down. She had half of her brood left alive, 
but regardless of them, she started directly for 
tho h nncry, and climbing up on a perch, cooly 
tuckod her head under her wing ami prepared 
to go to sloop, unmindful of her little peeping 
family which were scattered all over the barn¬ 
yard, in the cow stable, in the horse stable, un¬ 
der tho barn and out in the coop. It took a 
half-hour for all bands to bunt up and catch the 
poor chicks and get the hen and put them all 
back in the coop. In two or three days the chicks 
wero all dead, and another hen with a large 
clutch occupied the same coop. The indiffer¬ 
ence of the former occupant to her family had 
given us a hint, aud so, by watching this hen, we 
found out tho cauao of the mortality among tho 
chicks. It was not roup or gapes, but hen 
“ cusscdnesB.” This last one spends her time 
trying to get out of the coop or poking her head 
out Rod staring arouud, or tearing away at the 
ground ; in short, doing everything she ought 
not to do, and leaving undone tho very thing 
she ought to do; namely, hovering her chickR. 
Those uu-mother-like hens are all half gamo- 
There will bo fewer half games another ye&r. 
They are good layers, but too active to raise 
chickens. 
Wo have wondered, and it seems that some¬ 
body else has wondered too, why cheeses should 
always be mode round. Wo liavo seeu a square 
oheoso one foot long aud four inches high and 
wide, weighing ten pounds. This is just the 
cheese for family uso. It weighs just about 
enough, and then the consumer can begin at one 
end and cut off a slice as tLick as required. No 
fresh surface is exposed except the end where 
the cutting has begun, and this can easily bo cov¬ 
ered so that Hies can not get at it, and meanwhile 
tho cheese will not dry up. 
Now is the timo of year when carriago tops 
need to be softened with oil to prevent their 
crackiDg, as thoy surely will unless made pliable. 
Wc have found fresh butter—that is butter be¬ 
fore it has been salted—to be excellent for this 
purpose. It is also good for harness. If put on 
warm and well rubbed in, it will improve both 
the looks and condition of a leather top wonder¬ 
fully. It is also much cheaper than neats-foot 
oil, and can always he had by speaking to the 
housewife in time. Castor oil is a much cheaper 
and better lubricator for wagon axles than the 
machine oils, it will wear longer. A little pot- 
grease free from salt, or fresh lard, rubbed on 
the polished surfaces of plows and cultivators 
after they have been washed clean, will save a 
good deal of time iu the spring ; aud, moreover, 
they will work and last louger, as rust on iron is 
just so much decay. We can grease all of our 
tools of this kind iu less than an hour, and ex¬ 
perience has taught us it is timo profitably 
spent. 
Our vinegar barrel is kept as full as possible. 
Every week or two a little old cider is poured in, 
which is ao rapidly transformed iuto vinegar 
that the old stock is not perceptibly weakened. 
Our old way was to use up all of the vinegar 
first, and then resort to the barrel of old cider, 
which very often would not be vinegar but sim¬ 
ply cider. Waiting foi it to "make" was tedi¬ 
ous and inconvenient. Au old vinegar manufact¬ 
urer told us his secret, and this was the way he 
always had a good stock ou hand. If the old 
cider is all drank up, thou what-? 
-- 
HOW TO INTEREST BOYS IN FARMING. 
The great trouble with farmers’ sous is, that 
wheu one shows more than ordinary ability, 
especially if he is fond of study, it is at once de¬ 
cided that he Las too muoh talent for a farmer 
aud he is either put to a trade or educated for 
one of tho learned professions, already ovor- 
crowded, Or if a boy is energetic and ambitious, 
he is not satisfied to live as his father and 
grandfather have lived for the last half century, 
each year a copy of the last except tho occur¬ 
rence now aud then of a poorer crop than usual 
—hard work, small pay, little improvement. 
But no boy or man, whatever his talents or edu¬ 
cation may be, need leave the farm in order to 
find abundant opportunity for the nse of both. 
Few kinds of business require so much study 
and thought as farming, aud few kinds of busi¬ 
ness will pay so well for the study aud thought 
bestowed on it. Farming weli done pays. It is 
poor farming that is a failure. 
One man sows a crop of beets. He doesn’t 
know much about raising them, but thinks he 
will try it. He gets barely enough to pay for 
hiB labor, and concludes it doesn't pay to raise 
beets. Another man knows all about raising 
them. He has not himself tried every variety, 
nor every kind of manure and culture, but he 
knows what others have done, and how they 
have succeeded best. He adds their experience 
to his own, and selects the best seed, sows it at 
the proper season, the right distance apart, and 
covers it the proper depth in soil manured and 
prepared in the beat manner. He does not stop 
here. Ho begins early to cultivate, weeds 
thoroughly, hoes often—and harvests seventy 
tons to the acre. Does this pay for knowing 
how and doing his work in the best manner ? 
The man who sows onions without learning the 
best way, gets the wrong seed, puts it in 
ground that is not suitable for it, sows it at the 
wrong season, doesn't sow it. thick enough be¬ 
cause the seed costs too much, doesn't sow it 
evenly because he cannot afford to buy a seed 
drill, covers it unevenly-and his crop is a 
failuro. Tho man who haR taken tho trouble to 
find out how to raise onions and what kind to 
sow, raises one thousand bushels per aero. So 
it pays in farming to know what to do and how 
to do it, and to make tho best me of the experi¬ 
ence of others. And what is true of onions or 
beets, is true, in a greater or less degree, of all 
other kinds of farm produce. 
It is not the man who raises seventy tons of 
beets, or one thousand bushels of onions per 
acre, that wants to leave tho farm. He has 
learned how to make money on the farm, and 
has no desire to leave it. It i« the man who 
fails, and whose crops fail, because he has 
not learned to avail himself of the experience of 
others, that wants to quit the farm ; that finds 
farming hard work and poor pay. Makegood 
farmers of your eons, make them progressive 
intelligent farmers, and they will find abundant 
use for all their energy, talent and learning, and 
will find farming both pleasant aud profitable. 
Toach them to nse their brains and other men's 
experience. Stimulate them to excel. Nothing 
interests like success and excelling others in the 
same business. Give each hoy a plot of good, 
rich laud, not too laige, and give him all lie can 
raise on it. Give him plenty of mannro so that 
ho can raise a good crop. Give him tho help of 
your advice and of good agricultural hooks and 
papers, and teach him how to nmlio the host use 
of the experience of others. Have him plant 
some crop that will pay largely per acre—onions, 
early potatoes followed by turnips—or if near a 
good market, cabbages, celery, carrots, beets, 
tomatoes, or any crop that will find good market 
and pay well. Let him try different varieties of 
the same vegetables, aud study their difference. 
It will both educate and interest him. 
Do not require him to do all tho work ou his 
plot, Unless he is old enough and interested 
e-nough in it to do his work thoroughly; for 
good seed may be sown iu good ground but with¬ 
out proper culture it will prove a failuro; and 
nothing disheartens a hoy liko failure. A man 
counts tho possibilities of failure, but a boy 
counts only on success. Help him to do his 
work and do it well, so that he may have a good 
crop. Interest him in what farmers aro doing 
outside of his immediate neighborhood, and 
teach him that he is to take & first rank among 
farmers, that he must not only learn what 
others aro doing but that ho must profit by it. 
Let him experiment, not in a blind way hut 
using the best knowledge ho can gain from 
what other men have done. Let him try with 
the same crop different kinds and quantities of 
manure, different kinds and amounts of culture, 
keeping a careful record of each, so that he will 
kuow not only which produces tho best crop, but 
which is most profitable. 
What the country wants is educated and intel¬ 
ligent farmers; men who will bring farming up 
to a higher standard. The country honors 
such men and tho Boil pays them richly for all 
their labor. And in theso days when judges, 
senators, governors, and even cabinet officers 
aro being convicted of high crimes, when 
merchants, manufacturers and bankers all over 
the country aro failing, there is no business 
which affords so sure a home and income, that is 
so free from temptation und danger as that of 
the farmer. His house may not be so Cue, nor 
his furniture bo elegant as that of the merchant 
or banker; but no unlucky speculation, no 
financial crisis, can rob him in his old age of his 
home and means of support, and bring him 
from wealth aud luxury to want and misery. 
An Old Farmer. 
THOUGHTS FROM A FARM. 
LET THE FARM REMAIN UNKNOWN FOR THE PRESENT AND 
THE WRITER REMAIN INCOGNITO. 
WINTERING HORSES. 
This heading is so general that it is necessary 
to divide it, or treat of tho animals under 
different circumstances. 
First—As regards the gentleman’s saddle and 
carriage horses, which almost everybody knows 
something about. Good, well-harvested hay 
and oats, with au occasional bran mash, after 
