350 



XEW ENGLAND FARMER. 



Aug. 



if it is properly prepared. This should be 

 done by mixing it with moist loam or good 

 garden soil, and shoveling it over once a week, 

 for a month before it is used. Do not allow 

 the plants to stand too thick in the rows. We 

 are apt to err in this respect. 



The garden will still require attention. Do 

 not allow weeds to run to seed. They will 

 make you pay for it next year. Trim the 

 squash vines that are growing too rampant. 

 Put a shingle or piece of board under the 

 squashes or melons, especially if the ground 

 is moist. It will often save them from rot- 

 ting. Look after the trees that were trimmed 

 last winter, or budded last year, and cut off 

 the shoots that have been thrown out. 



Look sharply around the young apple trees 

 and peach trees for the borers. They are 

 now in the bark, and may be easily reached 

 with the point of a knife. 



The early potatoes are now getting ready 

 for market. The price often depends very 

 much upon the manner of preparing them for 

 the market. Wash them thoroughly and dry 

 them, and put into the boxes or barrels only 

 those of suitable size. A few small potatoes 

 put in to fill up will often spoil the sale of a 

 whole package. 



Labor and care expended in preparing all 

 articles for market are well repaid. Some 

 men get from ten to twenty per cent, more 

 for their vegetables, fruit and butter than 

 others do, merely because they are put up in 

 better shape. This is especially true with 

 regard to small fruits and early vegetables, 

 which are perishable in their nature, and sub- 

 ject to rapid decay. It always pays to have 

 nice clean boxes and barrels, free from dust 

 and all bad smells. There is quite an art in 

 packing for the market, and it can only be ac- 

 quired by pains-taking and observation. No 

 expense is better incurred than that woich is 

 put into the best means of packing articles for 

 the market. The manufacturers of fancy 

 goods understand this matter. The boxes 

 and their ornaments often cost more than the 

 articles they contain ; but people readily pay 

 the difference between an article neatly and 

 tastefully put up, and one put up in a cheaper 

 style. We recollect that many years ago a 

 produce dealer in South Market Street, a na- 

 tive of New Hampshire, issued a circular to 

 the people of his native State, in which he 



estimated that the farmers of that State lost 

 at least fifty thousand dollars annually by not 

 packing their -butter properly for market. 

 Many of the people in our cities regard the 

 quality and style of an article much more than 

 the price, and those who consult their tastes 

 and wishes will always secure the best class 

 of customers. 



August is the time for reseeding grass land. 

 The earlier in the month the sod is turned 

 over, the better. Let it lie a couple of weeks, 

 and then top dress with compost, and sow the 

 seed, and apply the harrow vigorously, and 

 follow with the roller, and you will be sure of 

 a good catch, if the seed is good. We think 

 the last week in August or the first week in 

 September is the best time to sow the seed. 

 It will then get well rooted before the frost 

 comes, and will be less liable to be winter 

 killed than if sowed later. We are satisfied 

 that since the adoption of this style of seeding 

 grass lands, and at this season, our hay crop 

 has much increased. 



Now is the time to put in a patch of winter 

 wheat. A piece of land from which the early 

 potatoes have been taken should be ploughed 

 and levelled with the harrow. Then top dress 

 with fine compost and sow the wheat, and put 

 it in with the cultivator and roller. The last 

 week in this month is as good a time as any. 

 Thus a good stand will be secured for winter. 

 Winter wheat often fails from being sowed 

 too late, and not being put in sufficiently 

 deep. Whedt i,hould he planted, not sowed. 

 When we learn to put it in with the drill or 

 the plough, our crop will be more sure and 

 the grain of a better quality. 



Thus, much of the work of August has ref- 

 erence to next year. So it always is with 

 respect to the present. We are reaping the 

 fruit of the past, or sowing for a future har- 

 vest. Then let us not forget the responsi- 

 bility which attaches to the present time. It 

 is the only time we can call our own. 



Efficacy of Onions. — A writer says : — 

 "We are troubled often with severe coughs, 

 the result of colds of long standing, wtiich 

 may turn to consumption or premature death. 

 Hard coughs cause sleepless nights by con- 

 stant irritation of the throat, and a strong ef- 

 fort to throw off offensive matter fom the 

 lungs. The remedy proposed has often been 

 tried, and is simply to take into the stomach 

 before retiring for the night a piece of raw 



