DEVOTED TO AGRICULTURE AND ITS KINDRED ARTS AND SCIENCES. 



VOL. III. 



SATURDAY, OCTOBER 11, 1851, 



NO. 21. 



RAYNOLDS & NOURSE, 

 Proprietors. 



OFFICE, QUINCY HALL, BOSTON. 



S. W. COLE, Editor. 



FARM WORK FOR OCTOBER. 



Witli the farmer, each season, each month and 

 week, has its special duties, — duties which, if post- 

 poned, cause him a loss, and derange that order and 

 system which distinguish the thrifty husbandman. 

 In New England, and particularly in Massachu- 

 setts, the best apples are probably produced that 

 are to be found in the world, and everything rela- 

 ting to their growth and preservation becomes a 

 mutter of importance. It is not unusual among: "s 

 to see apples, in small quantities, eighteen months, 

 and some few two years old, nearly as sound and 

 fair as when first taken from the tree. The Amer- 

 ican Golden Russet may be found in quantity in 

 this vicinity in midsummer, in perfect condition. 

 No better rules can possibly be given for their pre- 

 servation than those laid down in Downing's 

 "Fruits and Fruit Trees of America." He says: 



"In order to secure soundness and preservation, 

 it is indisperisal)ly necessary that the fruit should 

 be gatliered by liand. For winter fruit the gather- 

 ing is delayed as long as possible, avoidintr severe 

 frosts, and the most successful practice of our ex- 

 tensive orchardists is to place the fruit directly, in 

 a careful manner, in new, tight flour barrels, as 

 soon as o.ithered from the tree. These barrels 

 should be gently shaken while filling, and the head 

 closely pressed in; they are then placed in a cool, 

 shady exposure, under a shed open to the air, or 

 on the north side of a building, protected by a cov- 

 ering of boards over the top, where they remain for 

 a fortnight, or until the cold becomes too severe, 

 when they are transferred to a cool, dry cellar, in 

 which air can be admitted occasionally, in brisk 

 weather. A cellar for this purpose should be dug 

 in dry, gravelly or sandy soil, with, if possible, a 

 slope to the north; or at any rate with openings on 

 the north side for the admission of air, in weather 

 not excessively cold. Here the barrels should be 

 placed on tiers on their sides, and the cellar should 

 be kept as dark as possible." 



Corn that is cut up near the ground should not 

 be suffered to remain long in large heaps on the 

 barn floor, as the heating process which soon takes 

 place is very injurious to the kernel : geneiatino 



mould and extracting the saccharine juices of the 

 grain. 



Now is the favorable time to collect all the weeds 

 that have escaped the hoe. By placing them in 

 heaps and sprinkling then with lime, the seeds are 

 destroyed, and valuable accumulations may be made 

 to the manure heap. All the potato and other vines, 

 with all the rubbish that may be found along the 

 fence sides, in the garden, or that has been collec- 

 ted about the the buildings during the hurry of 

 summer business, may also go to swell the heap. 

 The lime will hasten decomposition, and will not 

 be unfavorable to the plaats, as there is little or no 

 nitrogen in vegetable heaps to be set free by its 

 action. 



Cut down the Balks which have been made by 

 unskilful ploughing, and cart the rich deposits 

 into the barn cellar, or by the barn window to be 

 mixed with the droppings of the cattle through the 

 winter, every load of this, saturated with the gases 

 of your animal manures,becomes about equal in value 

 to the pure droppings of the stall. If the balks are 

 extensive, and lie u})on the borders of mowing 

 grounds, a better course is to plough, level, and 

 manure them in August and sow down to grass — 

 they then come in to your grass fields the succeed- 

 ing summer. 



Seeds. — October is the month for saving and se- 

 curing most of the seeds that are to be used in the 

 next year. No pains should be spared in preserv- 

 ing the best i>f every kind. Success in all the 

 crops depends in a great measure upon this. The 

 fairest and best shaped roots should be laid aside 

 from which to gather a crop of seeds next year; so 

 of the earliest and handsomest ears of corn. At- 

 tention to this matter now saves all trouble in the 

 busy hours of planting, and ensures a better (juali- 

 ty than could be selected from the remnants of your 

 crop in the spring. 



Sugar Beets and Mangold-wuhzel should be 

 collected before severe frosts occur. But as they 

 contiiuie to grow so loii" as the leaves remain 



