

DEVOTED TO AGRICULTURE AND ALL ITS VARIOUS KINDRED ARTS AND SCIENCES. 



Honor waits, o'er all the earth, The art that calls her harvests forth.— Bryant. 



VOL. I, 



SATURDAY, NOVEMBER 10, 1849. 



NO. 24. 



8. W. COLE, Editoh. 



QUINCY HALL, BOSTON. 



J. NOURSE, Proprietoh. 



PREPARE FOR WINTER. 



The hoarse winds are already sighing a requiem 

 to the gay season, and the surly blast of Winter will 

 soon be here, with his reign of terror to those who 

 are unprepared. Farmers have a great deal to do to 

 get ready for his approach, and no opportunity should 

 be neglected to have every thing in readiness. As 

 the days are short, early rising is important to suc- 

 cess, that animals may be fed in season, and CA'ery 

 thing ready to commence labor as soon as it is light 

 enough to see to work ; and a brisker action may be 

 borne than in the hot days, for if it produce a little 

 fatigue, the long nights of rest will recruit and in- 

 vigorate the system. 



Trees that have been newly set should be pro- 

 tected by heaping up the earth around them, to 

 keep the roots warm, and support the tree against 

 the winds ; for if left swinging in the winds, when 

 the ground is soft, it will be loosened in the roots, 

 and the water will run down around them, which, 

 with the frost, may destroy them. Those who object 

 to fall transplanting, probably do not set their trees 

 well. We have set many trees from the last of Sep- 

 tember to December, and never lost one set at this 

 season. Carefully protect trees from cattle, or they 

 will destroy them when feed is scarce. 



Fences should be kept up to keep animals from 

 grass lands, for soft lands are much injured by being 

 poached by them, to say nothmg of the injury from 

 close feeding. 



Manure should be removed from the barn-yard, 

 hogpen, and other depositories, to a convenient place 

 for using in the spring ; and such places of deposit 

 should be abundantly replenished with peat, mud, 

 muck, loam, sand or gravel, to absorb the liquid 

 manure, and to combine with the solid parts to save 

 them from waste. Dig mud and peat, and if con- 

 venient, haul them to where they will be wanted, 

 that they may be exposed to the influence of the 

 ftost, in order to decompose and mollify them, and 

 render them better prepared as a good mellow ma- 

 nure. To this purpose, they should not lie in very 

 large or thick heaps, as, in that case, the frost would 

 not act on the middle or bottom of the heap. 



Ploughing. — Many soils are improved by fall 

 ploughing, as they become more mellow by freezing 

 and thawing. Witch-grass and weeds are often 

 destroyed by fall ploughing ; and it often destroys 

 insects, particularly in very changeable or open win- 

 ters, as those are called that are occasionally mild, 

 and the grovmd bare. But were there no advantage 

 in fall ploughing, as to the soil, it is well to attend 

 to as a matter of convenience, when the teams are 

 strong, and in order to do all that is possible to for- 

 ward the work for the busy season of spring. When 

 ploughed lands are liable to be washed, drains should 

 be made to direct the water from them. 



Slock of every description should be protected 

 against inclement weather, and kept in good condi- 

 tion by feeding from the barn, as the feed fails in 

 the pasture or field. An animal in good flesh can 

 be wintered much cheaper than a poor one, and it 

 will be far more productive in labor, milk, or as a 

 mother ; and when it becomes poor late in fall, it 

 can be put in good condition, in the cold season, 

 only by extra keeping. Animals in good flesh en- 

 dure the cold much better than lean ones, and they 

 are less liable to diseases. 



Fuel. — Farmers should prepare sufficient fuel in 

 the fall and winter to last them through the season, 

 as it is very unpleasant, and a serious disadvantage, 

 to leave other work in the busy seasons of spring or 

 summer to prepare fuel. Green or damp wood sjilit 

 in November, and exposed to sun and air, will be- 

 come very much imj^roved for Avinter use. There is 

 a great loss, both of fuel and time, in using green 

 wood. 



Vegetables of every description should be secured 

 against frost. Cabbages and turnips may remain 

 out late, as they keep better in the field than in the 

 cellar. If gathered early, they shrivel and lose their 

 good qualities. They will endure severe frosts 

 without injury. But be cautious and secure them 

 in season, lest the ground freeze, and then storms 

 and perhaps snow succeed, and winter sets in with- 

 out an opportunity to secure them. In the northern 

 parts of New England, these vegetables should be 

 secured early in November, in this latitude by the 

 middle or 20th of this month. 



