DEVOTED TO AGRICULTURE AND ITS KINDRED ARTS AND SOIENOES. 



VOL. VIII. 



BOSTON, AUGUST, 1856. 



NO. 8. 



JOEL NOURSE, Proprietor, 

 Office.. ..QtJiNcv Hall. 



SIMON BROWN, EDITOR. 



FRED'K HOLBROOK 

 HENRY F. FRENCH 



, ? Ass 

 ,5 Ed 



SOCIATB 



Editors. 



SEASONABLE SUGGESTIONS. 



UGL'ST, an observing wri- 

 ter says, "is that de- 

 bateable ground of 

 the year, which is 

 situated exactly up- 

 on the confines of 

 Summer and Au- 

 tumn ; and it is dif- 

 ficult to say which 

 has the better claim 

 to it. It is dressed 

 in half the flowers 

 "^ of the one, and half 

 the fruits of the oth- 

 er ; and it has a sky 

 and temj^erature all its own, 

 and which vie in beauty with 

 those of the Spring." Aug- 

 ust is the old age of Summer — but 

 beautiful in its age, and unlike any 

 other month. Along >Yith it comes new tones of 

 the insect world, both by night and day. New hues 

 invest the plants, as the almost unvarying green 

 has changed to a still richer and more conspicuous 

 gold color, contrasted with the leaves of green with 

 which it everywere lies in contact. The sickle has 

 been, or now is, busy with many of the plants 

 which have come to perfection, and the golden 

 sheaves have been borne away. Summer is rapid- 

 ly waning, as every sight and sound declares. The 

 pressure of the hay harvest is over, though mea- 

 dows and second-crops are still behind to swell the 

 value of this important product. 



If July has been a dry month, August will pre- 

 sent a good time to construct water-cisterns, with 

 which every farm establishment should be provided 

 in a conveniently located place. If the farm build- 

 ings are numerous and compactly situated, a small 

 expenditure will suffice for the construction of all 

 the apparatus necessary for conducting the water 

 from the roofs into the reservoir, which, for great- 



er convenience, should be located in some place 

 where it may subserve the wants of the animals oc- 

 cupying the yards in winter, as well as the house- 

 hold. The convenience and value of such an arrange- 

 ment will be particularly obvious during seasons 

 of protracted drougth, or accidents from fire. 



Good and substantial reservoirs — perfectly wa- 

 ter tight, have been formed of sj^lit stone, brick, 

 and even plank, the interior surface, as well as the 

 bottom, being coated with cement. But they may 

 be made without the use of either of these materi- 

 als, by laying the cement dh-ectly on the surround- 

 ing earth. These cisterns should be "decked over," 

 and made perfectly tight, and furnished with eflfi- 

 cient pumps. The expense, contrasted with the ad- 

 vantage, is small, and as they last for many years, 

 no one who studies his own convenience and the 

 comfort of his stock — to say nothing of the securi- 

 ty of his property and his family — will be disposed 

 to consider capital invested in this waj', otherwise 

 than judiciously and profitably laid out. 



During this month, the strawberry beds will re- 

 quire some care, if we wish to find them in a con- 

 dition next spring to produce a liberal crop. It is 

 not only necessary to keep them free from weeds 

 and the ground in a well cultivated condition, but 

 if the month be a dry one, they should be liberally 

 watered once or twice a week, and the runners 

 carefully cut away. If the runners are allowed to 

 spread as they please, they will cover the ground, 

 and in the spring your bed will probably present 

 such a mass of weeds and plants as to defy all 

 your patience to set them right again. Many a 

 patch has been abandoned in despair when found 

 in this condition. 



Young trees that were budded last year must be 

 attended to, and kept clean and well cultivated, 

 and the numerous shoots that spring out from the 

 main stem carefully cut away, allowing the vigor of 

 the tree to go to the young scion. This, however, 

 must be attended to at an earlier date, as well as 

 in August. 



