162 



THE FARMER'S MAGAZINE. 



CALENDAR OF AGRICULTURE. 



This is the general harvest month, as all kinds 

 of seed-crops will be cut and carried, except in 

 high situations and in northern latitudes. Wheat 

 is best cut by hand-sickle, and tied in sheaves : 

 barley and oats are mown, and may lie some days 

 in swathes before being tied into sheaves. When 

 dry, carry the grains quickly. Turn over the 

 heaps of peas very often, that no mouldiness may 

 happen on the under-side : build the crop with a 

 light pressure in the ricks, and have plenty of 

 thatch always ready. 



In late climates, the sheaves of grain must be 

 made small in size, and may be very beneficially 

 built into small ricks of three or four shocks in 

 the field, to stand there till sufficiently dry to be 

 carried. 



Cut all grain-crops before dead-ripeness hap- 

 pens : the straw makes better fodder, the sample 

 of grain is finer, and the meal is more farinaceous. 

 The husks being thoroughly filled, the grain will 

 soon become hardened. 



Finish the cleaning of all grain-crops ; and 

 earth-up potatoes with two furrows of the double- 

 mouldboard plough, drawn by two horses walking 

 in distant furrows, with a main-tree of five feet 

 stretching between them. A week may elapse be- 

 tween the two furrows of earthing-up. Pull by 

 hand all tall weeds that may afterwards arise. 



Lay pulverized lime on clay fallows : harrow and 

 plough it into the land lightly ; or lay the cinders 

 on the land, and plough them under. The burst- 

 ing by the moisture in the soil will emit much 

 caloric and damp exhalations, which will very 

 greatly benefit the land. The subsequent plough- 

 ings and harrowings will mix the lime and the 

 soil. This mode requires an earlier application 

 than when the lime is pulverized. Lay dung on 

 the wheat-fallows. Spread it over the surface of 

 the ground very evenly, and plough it under; or 

 drill the land with one furrow of the common 

 plough, spread the dung in the hollows, and re- 

 verse the drills with a single furrow, which will 

 completely cover the dung. A cross-harrowing 

 will level the drills before the land is seed- 

 furrowed. When wet clay-lands are ploughed, 

 the cuts across the headlands must be very care- 

 fully opened, to convey the water into the ditches. 



Supply to horses and cattle in the feeding-yards 

 ample store of vetches, which, being now seeded, 

 will form a very good provender. Provide litter 

 in abundance : the manure produced will pay 

 almost any cost. 



Fold sheep on bare spots of poor lands, arable 

 or in pasture. Proceed with draining. Turn 



over earthy composts. Burn peaty and vegetable 

 substances, for ashes as manure in the drills. 

 Keep the liquid-tank filled with earthy substances, 

 to be saturated. Carry to the pit refuse matters of 

 every kind. 



Keep the draught-ewes on good pastures, in 

 order to get them fattened. Put ewes to the ram, 

 for early lambs. The lambs of last year must 

 have good keep. Some farmers, who have not 

 winter-food nor the means of fattening, now sell 

 the lambs and draught-ewes. 



Sow on beds of rich and well-prepared ground 

 the seeds of drumhead cabbages, kohl-rabi, savoys, 

 and broccoli, for plants to be used in May. Sow, 

 about the end of the month, rye and tares for early 

 spring use. 



THE GARDENER'S ASSISTANT, PRACTICAL AND 



SCIENTIFIC : a Guide to theFormatiou and Management 



of the Kitchen, Fruit, and Flower Garden, &c. Parts I. 



and II. 

 By R. Thompson, Corresponding Member of the Massa- 

 chusetts Horticultural Society, &c., &c. 

 (Blackie and Son, Glasgow, South Colleye, Edinburgh, and 

 Wancick-square, London.) 



This is an elementary work on the sciencejand practice of gar 

 dening in all its branches, conducted by a person whose name, 

 wherever it is known, is a guarantee of the merit of his book. 

 It commences with a complete calendar, condensed in a small 

 compass, of the operations necessary in each mouth ; and 

 without going into the minutiae of processes which swell the 

 pages of most books on the subject, but which every man who 

 undertakes a garden must be supposed to be acquainted with, 

 it is a reminder of the most essential work to be performed, 

 and the most direct method of performing it. We take at 

 random the section on "Pits and Frf.mes" cf the floial depart- 

 ment in February as follows : 



Auriculas. — Top dress with rich soil. Young plants in small 

 pots should be shifted into larger. An increased supply of 

 water will be required as the plants start into active vegetation . 

 Protect from frost, but give always plenty of air when the 

 weather is favourable. 



Azaleas must be kept from damp by a free circulation of air. 



Calceolarias. — Shift, and keep in a general moist atmos- 

 phere. 



And 80 on through the alphabetical list, every part of the 

 calendar being couched in the same concise and direct style, 

 conveying the largest amount of information in the fewest 

 words our language will admit. 



The scientific part of the work is equally comprehensive, and 

 conveys the greatest amount of information in a condensed 

 form, of any work of the kind we have met with. There 

 are seven chapters in the two numbers or parts before us, which 

 respectively treat of, Ist, The principal organs of plants; 2nd, 

 Germination; 3rd, The food of plants; 4th, Assimilation of 

 food; 5th, Soils; 6th. ^Manures; 7th, Tools, instruments, 

 machines, &c. used in gardening. On all these subjects the 

 latest and best information is afforded in this work, wtiich will 

 be found both valuable and interesting to the practical gar- 

 dener who is desirous of basing his operations on scientific 

 principles. 



The work will be completed in about ten parts. The plates 

 and illustrations are in the first style of engraving, and the 

 whole will form a valuable addition to the liorticultitral class of 

 publications. 



