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.#^F^i.tiMEi 



DJBVOTfiD TO AQRECULTUKE, HOKTICULTUKE, AWD KI]MDKED AKTS. 



NEW SERIES. 



Boston, August, 18^ 



VOL. III.— NO. 8. 



K. r. EATON & CO., PuBLisnEKS, 

 Office, 34 Merchants' How. 



MONTHLY. 



SIMON BROWN, 



S. FLETCHER, \ 



{ Editors. 



HINTS FOR AUGUST. 



the grain is har- 

 \ested; the hay 

 crop is secured, 

 except perhaps a 

 little low ground 

 hay, which is be- 



. ing got in as 

 rapidly as pos- 

 sible, and the 

 hoeing of the 

 corn and pota- 

 toes is complet- 



^ Lil. What shall 



-^^^ 



\^ 



v.e occupy our- 

 Ives about during the 

 month of August? 

 The meadow hay has 

 to be cut mostly with a scythe, 

 as the ground is too soft, for the 

 horse and mowing machine. Many of our 

 meadows may be fitted for the mowing ma- 

 chine, and indeed the work of preparation is 

 already begun. The high price of labor, and 

 the facility which the use of the machine offers 

 for the rapid gathering of meadow hay, are 

 leading enterprising farmers to render their 

 meadow soils firm enough for the machine by 

 ditching and by surface dressing with sand or 

 gravel. By these means they not only pre- 

 pare it for the machine, but greatly improve 

 the quality of the hay. 

 Now is the very time to attend to this mat- 



ter of ditching. As soon as the hay is taken 

 off, have a proper survey made, so that the 

 ditches may be led in the proper direclion, 

 and made cf suitable depth, and go right about 

 it. As the muck from the ditches is wanted 

 for the barn yard and cellar, two birds may 

 thus be killed with one stone. The price paid 

 for labor, and the difficulty in obtaining la- 

 borers at any price, must surely impress us 

 all with the importance and economy of fitting 

 every acre possible for the mowing machine. 

 Let past experience induce us to make a be- 

 ginning, and prepare a few acres for next sea- 

 son. Let the ditches be of suitable depth, 

 and run in parallel lines ; then the machine 

 will make clean work between them. A wise 

 economy will lead those whose meadow lands 

 are capable of this improvement to give atten- 

 tion to this subject. 



The turnips and beets will now require care- 

 ful attention. The cultivator should be put 

 through the rows as often as once a week. 

 They must be carefully thinned and weeded. 

 Clean culture is absolutely necessary to suc- 

 cess. We think that ashes and superphosphate 

 are the best manures for these crops, because 

 they do not contain the seeds of weeds. A 

 field that is well manured with barn manure, 

 and well cultivated with corn or potatoes, is 

 in a good state for turnips or beets, with only 

 a dressing of superphosphate and ashes, or 

 superphosphate, plaster and salt. Pure ground 

 bone is probably the best dressing for turnips, 



