446 
DEC. 2® 
THE RURAL NEW-YORKER. 
the retention of gas©B, together with the ele¬ 
ments of the mnck itself, will render the whole 
mass as good as an equal bulk of uncomposted 
manure. The moat expeditious way to prepare 
muck for use, is to mix with it a quantity of 
lime, in the proportion of from three to five 
bushels of the latter to a cord of the former. 
The limo to be used for this purpose should al¬ 
ways be fresh slaked, and if it is thoroughly 
blended with the mass, its effect is invariably 
more powerful and rapid than if spread In al¬ 
ternate layers, as some advise. Work the heap 
over in about ten days, and it will be ready for 
application to the land in three or four weeks, 
or it may be used as au absorbent of animal 
manure after three months, for this interval 
at least should always be allowed to intervene 
between the application of lime to muck, and 
the U66 of the mixture in the stable. 
Muck may be advantageously composted with 
barn-yard manure in any proportions, from one 
load of each, to five of the former with one ol' the 
latter, but the nearer the compost approaches to 
equal proportions of both, the more satisfactory 
the results. The heap should he built in alter¬ 
nate layers of from six to eight inches, and care 
should be taken that the muck is wot, when com¬ 
posted to promote fermentation and the diffusion 
of alkaline ingredients. It should be worked 
over occasionally and if the heap is so constructed 
as to permit this to be done with the plow, it 
will insure a considerable saving of labor. 
Under certain conditions after partial decay 
has taken place, further decomposition ceases 
unless promoted by alkaline applications. The 
decaying vegetable matter contains several 
acids, as gallic and tannic, which are developed 
by fermentation, aud the fibers in the muck be¬ 
come coated with a species of asphaltum or 
pitchy matter, which prevents the necessary 
access of ah' to the inner portions, and so pre¬ 
vents decomposition. Under these circum¬ 
stances, the contents of the heap should he 
freely exposed to air and warmth and an alkali 
—lime, potash, or soda—should be applied to 
neutralize the acids aud dissolve the asphaltic 
coating. 
In this connection the application of ashes is 
generally very effective, for although there is 
considerably more alkali to a bushel of lime 
freshly slaked, than In one of ashes, yet the pot ¬ 
ash in the former is much more soluble, and 
consequently more readily diffused throughout 
the Leap. Marl, shell-sand and soap-suds, thor¬ 
oughly mixed with the compost, are also pro- 
motive of fermentation, as they also are rich in 
alk. line properties. 
Finally the best use of muck is as au absor¬ 
bent in the stable, pig-pen, sheep-fold and 
barn-yard. In these its own fertilizing properties 
are best developed, while it collects and retains 
much of the urine and ammonia which would 
otherwise be wasted, l’roperly decomposed, its 
effects are good on all soils, even on reclaimed 
swamp land, but it is most beneficial on light, 
sandy ground. 
$;um &o}MS. 
COOKING FOOD. 
S. RUFUS MASON. 
Economy is a great idea 5 we waut to make our 
stock grow fast, grow healthy aud make money 
for us, so we go to great expense for a Feed 
Steamer, buy corn, grind it, cut up our hay, 
mix it with cut straw, steam it, feed it out, and 
at once look around for the dollars. We get 
one of them in each eye and over after go it 
blind; after such a feed, we shut up our stock in 
a stable made after the fashion of our old grand¬ 
mother’s open-work stockings. If the lumber 
had knot-holes enough for thorough ventilation, 
we took care to have it greeu enough to shrink 
so as to lot the poor animals see out, and to let 
“ rude Boreas" whistle through the cracks, “ the 
tune the old cow died on." That's economy, of 
the moat popular variety. Now let us reverse 
the matter : suppose we throw away our steam¬ 
ers, feed our stock as if they had teeth and the 
strength to use them, keep them in warm stables, 
and let their natural nuimal heat do its work as 
nature meant it should. 
My friend, how would you like mince pie for 
dinner every day, and to be staked fast by a 
brush heap every night, all winter. Who ever 
heard of a sensible man buying a cooking stove 
tor his cow ? 
CATTLE. 
Cattle are, to all intents, “ humanity on four 
legs.” Their wants, needs, constitutions, and 
treatment must be attended to as you would at¬ 
tend to your own family. The man who hag a 
sleek, comfortable, profitable herd, will, if he has 
a family, show a well-knit, sturdy, healthy lot of 
boys and girls, full of life aud of the milk of hu¬ 
man kindness. English farmers have their 
dwellings aud cow-stables under one roof, and 
both are models of comfort and cleanliness. No 
dogs to worry, no blows, naught but kindness 
and good care, plenty of food and water, but not 
too much, nor at improper times. All these are 
the foundation of good milk, cream and butter. 
Dodge Co., Neb. 
IS IT WISE TO RUN INTO DEBT FOB A 
FARM 1 
NELSON RITTER. 
“ Where shall that land, that spot of earth be found f 
Art thou a man ?—a patriot ? look around: 
O, thou shalt find, howe’er thy footstep* roam, 
That land thy country, that spot thy home.” 
Montgomery. 
“ The only way a man with a family, hut with¬ 
out cash, who means to buy a farm, can succeed 
in the business is by “ going West," where the 
virgin soil produces luxuriant crops for many 
years without manure. Here in his log cabin, he 
can look out upon eighty or one hundred and 
sixty acres of as good land as “lies out of doors, 
mdsay “this is mine—and paid for;" and no 
matter how little he may know about farming, 
he will not starve.” 
The above extract, over the well-known signa¬ 
ture of T. B. Miner, is copied from the “Ru¬ 
ral" of Dec. 28th. 
I cannot accept these conclusions, even though 
they emanate from a writer of such acknowledged 
experience aud ability. How a man “ without 
cash" is to remove his family West, pay for 
eighty or one hundred and sixty acres of land, 
aud build a log cabin thorcon, does not clearly 
appear. Hundreds of families in this vicinity 
would be happy to learn how all this is to bo ac¬ 
complished. How a man going West with no 
means could procure teams, tools, seed, and food 
for his family until his crops are harvested, is a 
“conundrum" that I am unable to solve. 
ITis article conveys the idea that a man has 
little chance of success East, unless blessed with 
sufficient moans to pay for his farm. The fact 
is, ft man without cash has just as good an oppor¬ 
tunity to become the possessor of .h farm at the 
East as at the West. I can name hundreds—nay, 
thousands of wealthy farmers, who commenced 
with little, or nothing. They first worked out 
by the month; or perhaps worked land “on 
shares" until they had accumulated a few hun¬ 
dred dollars and then bought farms giving a 
“mortgage” on one-half, two-thirds, three- 
fourths, and even in many instances on the full 
amount of their lands, reserving their money o 
buy stock, tools, etc. Of course, some failed, 
but failure was the exception and not the rule. 
Giving a mortgage to erect fancy buildings, to 
buy line clothing and the like, cannot be too 
strongly condemned, but when one has produc¬ 
tive property to show for it, the case is different. 
A mortgage given on a good farm to secure the 
purchase money, is often—if not always—an in¬ 
centive to extra exertion, aud to the exercise of 
greater economy. A person may as well econ- 
> omize closely at the East until that mort¬ 
gage is paid off, as to go West where the first 
cost of land will be less, hut where he will be de¬ 
prived of many of the comforts of life, while his 
refined wife “pines her life away, sighing for 
the dear ones she has left behind her." Many 
wives who are not considered very refined have 
strong attachments for family aud friends. 
These ties should not be rudely sundered without 
strong and practical reasons. 
No, young man, it is not so much where you 
are, or whero you go, as it is what you are, and 
what you do, that will determine your future 
success. 
My advice is, “ pitch in" somewhere; run into 
debt if necessary,—taking care that the property 
is worth what you are to pay for it—aud nine¬ 
teen chances out of every twenty you will suc¬ 
ceed. Should failure come, you will, at least, 
feel happier than if you had waited. Micawbeb- 
like. for something to “ turn up." 
For every man who has run into debt for a 
farm and failed, at least two can be found who 
have been given property that they have run 
through. What people need is words of encour¬ 
agement, not discouragement. Something to 
increase their faith, not lessen it. As a well- 
known writer says: “If you have words of 
cheer, of faith aud encouragement, give them 
to me; but keep your doubts to yourself. I 
have enough doubts cf my own.” 
Syracuse, N. Y., Dec. 10 th 1877. 
-- 
BRIEFLET. 
The escape of Ammonia— the most volatile 
but the best part of the manures about the 
homestead—is, in a great measure, the cause of 
the Btrong odor from stalls, barnyards, sinks, 
and privies. In the stable a bedding of dry 
muck, a couple of feet thick, will arrest aud im¬ 
prison the fugitive, while a slight covering of 
leaves or straw will keep the animals uusoiled 
on lying down at night. The foulest stable 
floor will lose its pungent odor in a few minuteB 
if overlaid with fine muck or pulverized peat. 
Dry, and especially burnt, clay broken fine, com¬ 
mon ground plaster, and sawdust, are also 
excellent absorbents. The excrements should 
he removed daily, and the litter, say once a fort¬ 
night, or so soon as it is saturated with urine. 
“ Riches have wings," is an old saying applica¬ 
ble to manorial wealth, .-and from every barn¬ 
yard many a dollar flies off into the air every 
year unnoticed save by the nose, and unfortun¬ 
ately the nasal warnings are seldom impressive 
enough to induce the farmer to take ordinary 
precautions to detain the fleeting treasure. 
glisttilititcoits. 
RURAL TOPICS. 
T. B. MINER. 
It is singular that no variety of foreign grape 
has ever been successfully grown in this country 
excepting in California, and perhaps in some 
parts of Florida. Thirty years ago Mr. Long- 
worth, the noted wine-maker of Cincinnati, Ohio, 
(now dead) imported several thousand vines from 
France and Germany on different occasions, and 
not one of them bore fruit profitably, after the 
first three or fonr years ; and that result has at¬ 
tended all importations of foreign vines up to 
1877. To the question, "why will not such 
vines succeed in this country ?" nobody has been 
able to gain a satisfactory answer. I refer to 
out door culture. Nor can wo depend on any 
of tho crosses (called “hybrids") of our native 
vines with those of foreign origin. For instance, 
take Rogers’ hybrids that have been in existence 
some twenty-five years,over fifty varieties,being a 
cross of a native grape w ith the black Hamburg; 
it seems to be impossible to get them into gen¬ 
eral cultivation, although some of them are of 
excellent quality. Here in Linden, N. J. I grow 
them quite successfully, owing to the proximity 
of tho ocefth, and the soil containing considera¬ 
ble lime naturally; but at New Brunswick, four¬ 
teen miles Bonth-west of Linden, not a ripe grape 
of these hybrids can be produced in the open 
air, the loaves all falling off in August. 
Now, among all the hybrid grapes that have 
been introduced within twenty-five years, whore 
do we find a really popular variety—a kind that 
grows anywhere like the Concord? No such 
grape exists; and I think that grape-growers 
make a mistake when they spend time in cross¬ 
ing our varieties on foreigu sorts, in view of the 
fact that a general impression prevails that such 
crosses are unreliable; and the impression is 
not visionary. I think that the common grapes, 
that can be relied on in all sections of the coun¬ 
try, must be of native origin; and we need bet¬ 
ter varieties than new exist, to take the place of 
tho many inferior kinds that are being exten¬ 
sively cultivated. 
THE TWO FARMS. 
Twentv yearR ago two young farmers bought 
one hundred acre farms adjoining, that were 
alike ns regards soil and improvements, or nearly 
bo. Both were paid for, and each farmer had 
about the same cash capital. These men were 
named A aud B.; and I will now show how they 
conducted their business, aud the conditions of 
the two farms in 1S77. A, was energetic, took 
several agricultural papers, worked early and 
late, always said “ come boys" to his hired help, 
he taking the lead, spent no time in needless 
talking while at work, provided in advance work 
for rainy days, bought the best farm implements 
that could be obtained, secured first-class live 
stock of all kinds, built commodious out-build¬ 
ings as the profit of his farm admitted, set fruit 
and ornamental trees around his dwelling, made 
good gravel walks, built fine substantial fences 
around his house, kept them well paintod, and 
also his house and out-buildings; and to-day he 
has one of the most beautiful and productive 
farms in the State, with some 410,000 at inter¬ 
est. 
Now, B was a different man. He had no ener¬ 
gy of character, took things easy, subscribed for 
no agricultural papers, was opposed to “book 
farmers," said to his help, “go boys, I'll be 
along by-and-by,” was constantly on the watch 
fo? somebody to talk to, while his work was de¬ 
layed, never had any work ready for rainy 
weather, considered the “new-fangled” farm 
implements a humbug, was opposed to “blooded 
stock," set out no trees around his dwelling, con¬ 
sidered the old out buildings and fences "good 
enough," didn't think that paint was of any ben¬ 
efit on anything, and spent a good share of his 
time in the village talking polities; aad now his 
farm is worn out, the fences are out of repair, 
his house is so leaky that it is dangerous to live 
in it, his barn and sheds are tumbling down, and 
the saddest of all is, the sheriff'has advertised (he 
place for sale. Farmers, it pays well to attend 
to your business energetically aud thoroughly. 
BLAHKETINO HORSES. 
lu warm stables it is doubtful whether horses 
ought to be blanketed; but in cold ones they 
should be, also in all cases when stopped in cold 
weather on the road. Horses in their constitu¬ 
tions are a good deal like human beings ; they 
take a cold by exposure the same as a man will, 
and they should be carefnlly treated, and never 
be allowed to stand long in the winter season in 
a sweaty condition without being blanketed. 
CARROTS FOR HORSES. 
Farmers are slow to learn the value of car¬ 
rots for horses. They are so nutritious that 
livery stable men feed out large quantities to 
tbeir horses instead of grain. Four quarts of 
oats, and the same of carrots, are considered as 
good for a horse as eight quarts of oats; and 
horses that are not worked much will keep in 
good condition on hay and carrots only. A few 
small potatoes are also very good for a horse, 
especially to give a smooth glossy coat. 
ROOT CROPS IN GENERAL. 
Tho farmer who has no carrots, beets, or 
turnips for his stock when winter approaches 
has made a serious mistake. In England, where 
land is dear, the farmers grow immense crops of 
“mangolds” (beets) to feed out in winter; and if 
profitable there, why not here ? Probably the 
most easily raised, most productive, and most 
profitable root crop in this country, is some of 
the varieties of beets, some of which grow 
eighteen to twenty-four inches long, and yield a 
thousand bushels to the acre, if the land be 
highly manured ; but the best way to grow them 
is to grow a crop of potatoes the previous year 
on the laud, with a heavy application of manure, 
and with no manure the year the beets are 
grown, and there will bo but few weeds, if the 
land was kept clean the year before, 
-- 
BUY THE CHILDREN SOME TOOLS. 
PROF. W. .T BEAL. 
This will help to amuse them, keep them busy, 
and will be a great source of instruction. Buy 
tools for your boys, and if you have no boys, buy 
tools for your girls. It will not harm any girl 
to learn to drive a nail or saw a board and do it 
wbII, and if she knows how, she will, without any 
doubt, many times find it convenient, no matter 
what may be her fortune in life. For every one, 
it will be a great advantage to cultivate mechan¬ 
ical skill—no one has too much of it. Nothing 
will bo handier or be acceptable on more oc¬ 
casions than to know how to use a few com¬ 
mon tools. Some persons have a greater natural 
gift than others in tin's direction, yet all can be¬ 
come somewhat proficient if they begin soon 
enough aud give enough attention to the sub¬ 
ject. Such knowledge makes one independent 
He is master of the situation on a hundred occa¬ 
sions, in fixing a window, a door, a table, a cas¬ 
tor, a hand-sled, a plow, a hoe, wagon-rack, 
harness, whifile-trees. 
If parents have not tho skill themselves, there 
is the more need of it in their children. It will 
not bo difficult to find some time and opportuni¬ 
ty for them to learn uodcr tho instruction of 
some competent man. We do not advocate the 
idea that every man should do Ail his mechanical 
work, for then he would bo “Jack at all trades 
and good at none,” but he may be able to do 
odd jobs of repairing which will often save 
time and money and be a great convenience. 
A man may think he is unable to buy tools for 
his children to lose, break, or misuse. There is 
no better way to teach children to keep everything 
m place than in the care of tools. It can he 
done and it will pay to do it. What are parents 
working for ? To gain a fair living which alone 
does not require all tho energies of most per 
sons. Besides this, many are striving to lay up 
something for a rainy day and to leave to their 
children. The history of numberless examples 
in tho past has shown that, as a general rule, a 
fortune in property is the worst legacy parents 
can leave their children, especially a large for¬ 
tune. It is better by far to leave them a good 
education, to leave them with minds and hands 
well trained. 
To begin with, the outfit need not cost over 
ten dollars, but we will say twenty-five dollars. 
For this he may buy a square, a jack plane, a 
smoothing plane, a hand ax, a hammer, a draw 
shave, some dividers, a bit-stock and half a dozen 
bits, a half dozen chisels, a bench screw, a small 
bench he can make; a lew piles, a whet-stone, a 
band-saw, a rip-saw, a screw-driver. Then with 
the rest of the twenty-five dollars ho can buy a 
little wire, an assortment of screws, a few of a 
kind, au assortment of nails, and a small quan¬ 
tity of pieces of boards of various dimensions. 
The tools should be of good quality, Iu a little 
time some of those will be lost or broken, but 
what of it ? So is money iost and thrown away. 
It is a profitable training for every one to learn 
how to use money properly. To learn, they need 
to begin early under good instruction. Twenty- 
five dollars in money may be spent in a thousand 
wavs for things which will do less good than the 
tools. Although this may seem to Borne a largo 
amount to pay for tools, twenty-five dollars 
would be considered a small item as an inheri¬ 
tance for a young man. Then buy the children 
some tools and they will learn to make many 
