766 HOW TO MAKE THE FARM PAY. 



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Select such breeding sows as are wanted for furnishing a sup 

 ply of pigs for next spring, and keep them in good growing orde& 

 but not fat. "^ 



The Rams may be put with the ewes for early market lambs 

 Select good long wool or Southdown rams, for the lambs of such 

 will reward best the care which early lambs demand. It is not 

 best to rear many February lambs. 



Corn. — Cut up and put in stooks, if not already done, and as 

 soon as ripe, husk, selecting seed ears. Take medium-sized ones, 

 of perfect shape, close rowed, well tipped out and uniform, from 

 stalks producing two or more ears. Sort out all soft ears and put 

 tlie rest in well ventilated bins. Bind the stalks in small bundles 

 for curing. 



Root Crops. — Dig potatoes when they have done growing, and 

 preserve in cellars or pits, covering lightly at first. 



Pumpkins. — Gather in open sheds, or cover with litter before 

 hard frofets ; feed to cows after removing the seeds — the green ones 

 first. The seeds are said to check the milk secretion, but do no 

 harm to other stock. 



Winter Grain. — Rye may usually be sown during this month, 

 but north of lat. 41°, it is risky to delay sowing to the close. It is 

 a good plan to top dress winter grains where they are thin, with 

 some fine rich compost or hand manure, as this causes them to 

 tiller freely. 



Manure. — The barn3'ards and manure pits should be thoroughly 

 cleared out, and the manure either applied to the land and 

 plowed under for spring crops, or laid up with muck in compost 

 heaps, making alternate layers of muck and manure. Lay in a 

 good stock of swamp muck for composting with manure. If fiue, 

 it may be used by itself as a top dressing for grass. 



Plowing. — Plow heavy soils, and those which cannot be plowed 

 early in the spring, especially those which are very weedy or wet, 

 so as to expose them to the action of frost during winter. Lay 

 sod land over flat ; the destruction of weeds and insects is more 

 thorough. Land not in grass may be plowed rough, or in 

 ridges back and forth, laying two furrows together. The press 

 of other work should not cause fall plowing to be neglected. 

 Extra hands should be hired and the work pushed on. It saves 

 so much time and labor in the spring. Potato ground should 

 be thus prepared, and on very stitf soil corn does better on fall- 

 plowed land. All land on which spring grains are to be sowed 

 should be plowed in the fall. Fall plowing makes most lands a 

 week or two earlier in the spring. 



Im2Jlements. — Clean thoroughly all implements not needed again 

 this season ; coat the steel and iron parts with boiled linseed oil, 

 and put away. 



