446 



NEW ENGLAND FARMER. 



Oct. 



So, early October is the time to travel, when 

 boughs are bending with fruit and apples drop 

 in the stillest hours. Leaves begin to let go 

 when no wind is out, and swing in long waver- 

 ings to the earth, which they touch without 

 sound, and lie looking up, till winds rake 

 them, and heap them in fence corners. When 

 the gales come through the trees, the yellow 

 leaves trail, like sparks at night behind the 

 flying engine. The woods are thinner. The 

 days are Cilm. The nights are tranquil. The 

 Year's work is done, and walking in gorgeous 

 apparel, she looks upon her long labor, and her 

 serene eye saith, "It is good." 



So the October days entice us into the open 



air. There is health in it, if we will but 



exercise and freely drink it in. The woods 



are full of beauty. The brooks sing in the 



valleys, and all nature invites the invalid, the 



pleasure-seeker and the man of business, out 



into the elastic and invigorating air. 



"Thare pours a glory on the land, 



Flash'd down from heaven's wide portals, 

 As Labor's hand grasps Beauty's palm, 



To vow good will to mortals ; 

 The golden year brings Beauty down, 

 To blees her with a marriage crown, 

 While Labor rises gleaning 

 Her blessings and her meaning," 



October, however, is not only a pleasant 

 month for sight-seeing and visiting, but for 

 performing many duties of the farm, which 

 ought not to be postponed to any other day. 



Poultry. — When Thanksgiving comes, it is 

 pleasant to go to the poultry-house and find 

 something there to grace the dinner-table, 

 around which our kindred and friends are to 

 assemble and help us enjoy the bounties of 

 the year, and to be grateful for them. This 

 cannot be done in a week or a month before 

 that time comes, but must be attended to now. 

 See, therefore, at once, that the poultry is 

 well fed on a variety of food, has convenient 

 roosting-places, clear water always near, and 

 that the stronger ones do not torment the 

 weaker. 



Pork. — A hog will probably grow much 

 more in October than in December, on the 

 same amount of food, as hogs are frequently 

 kept. No animal enjoys more a clean, dry, 

 and warm bed. If flies molest him, he will 

 roll in the mire to keep them off, because he 

 has no hands to brush them away. If the sun 

 pours its burning rays upon him, he will do the 

 same, in order to get cool. If his apartments 

 are consistent with his nature, and he has ac- 



cess to light at will, a dark place to sleep in, 

 and a dry bed to lie upon when he prefers 

 them, he will usually appear with a clean dress 

 on, and have the appearance of a very orderly 

 and tidy animal. His growth will be profit- 

 able, and his flesh as sweet and wholesome as 

 any that we use, and indispensable in one 

 form or another in the culinary department. 



To secure this, swine must be properly 

 tended in October. The small potatoes, early 

 pumpkins, and windfall sweet apples should 

 be boiled, salted a little, mixed with meal or 

 boiled grain of some kind, and fed to them 

 regularly twice or three times in twenty-four 

 hours. They should have also cool, clean wa- 

 ter once each day. The only danger with 

 pork made in this way is, that it is so excel- 

 lent that persons are apt to eat too much 

 of it. 



Draining and the Muck heap must not be 

 forgotten. With regard to the first, it is im- 

 portant that something of it should be done 

 every year wherever it is needed. It is better 

 to do it in rather a small way, because it can 

 be better managed in case of storms, or any- 

 thing that occurs to call attention away from 

 it. Find first the outlet for the surplus water, 

 then the amount of fall, and the best course for 

 the ditches. A little study of engineering, if 

 one is not accustomed to the work, will gener- 

 ally enable the operator to go on correctly. 



With regard to the miick, it is always well 

 to collect it when water is low on meadows 

 and swamps. It does not hurt by keeping, 

 and is really a valuable manure in itself. Lay 

 up stores of it, then, whether it be October or 

 July, if you can consistently with your other 

 work. 



PlouffMng. — No better time can be found 

 for reclaiming swamp lands — the best lands we 

 have in New England when thoroughly re- 

 claimed, especially if we can control the water 

 which flows through them. On those where 

 the peat is quite coarse and the whole very 

 porous, if the water is taken away too far be- 

 low the surface, the soil wiil soon become too 

 light and dry, so that in a hot, dry season, the 

 crops upon it will fail. In such a case, the 

 ditches should be so arranged as to be closed 

 by a dam and a gate, and the water kept back 

 to within twelve or eighteen inches of the sur- 

 face, or near enough to keep it always moist. 



So on uplands. The cool and invigorating 



