31-4 
AMERICAN AGRICULTURIST. 
[Seftembek, 
Contents for August, 1868. 
Abattoirs at Communipaw Musi ratal. . 3-2!)— 330 
Agricultural Colleges- A FirUl for 328 
Arrange to Sow more Clover 823—326 
Barn Building at the West 2 Illustrations. .320 
Barnyards . 2 Illustrations 328 
Boy's and Girls 1 Columns— Sunstroke— Curious Gam- 
bling— A Private Picture Gallery— Ways of Getting 
a Living—" Little by Little," — A Great Structure — 
The Orphans— Snake Story— "Rich as Croesus," — 
"The Old Oaken Buctet,"— Quite a difference— The 
Invention of Envelopes— Problems and Puzzles— 
5 Illustrations.. 331— 33S 
Canker "Worms— Remedy for , Illustrated. 3ST 
Cleaning np the Garden ... 333 
Climber— Akebia Quinata Illustrated.. 334 
Cold Grapery in Sept 316 
Crop Prospects and Prices 318 
Education for Farming .325 
Fairsinl868 317 
Farm Work in September. 314 
Flower Garden and Lawn In Sept 316' 
Flowers The Amaranth Family 3 Illustration - 331 
Foul Water in Wells 320 
Fruit Garden in Sept 315 
Garden-seeds— Saving 332 
Grape Vine— How it Grows and What to flo With It 
3 must rations.. 333 
Green and Hot-houses in Sept 310 
Greens in Summer 332 
Hogs in the Orchard 333 
Holland Mole Trap Illustrated.. 333 
Hop Picking Illustrated. .313 
Household Department-Seaside Fare— The (lam- 
Tomatoes next Winter Soap Cups— The ('""king 
of Vegetables— Household Talks . Liral II v: 
Ice Cream— Drying Fruit— Dish for Tea— Tomato 
Pickles— A Good Word for the Cabbage— Ladies at 
Fall Fairs— Sunshine in Sleeping Rooms— Preserv- 
ing Crab Apples 6 Illustrations. 335—336 
Kitchen Garden in Sept 315 
Lance-head Hoes Illustrated. 326 
Lawns — Seeding down in Autumn 833 
Lilies 332 
Market Reports 310 
Manure the Test of Good Farming 329 
Orchard and Nursery in Sept 315 
Picking Fruit fu- Market 339 
Peas- Some New SH 
Should Com ■- have l-'ood during the Night ?.. .. 
Stone-fence— A Durable Illustrate I 32! 
Tethering Cattle in Grazing Ulustrat, ,1. 327 
Texas Murrain on Spanish Fever 322 
Flower Gardening— The Fault of 331 
Walks and Talks on the Farm No. 87— Fattening 
Sheep— Peas— Wheat on Nursery Laud— Renovat- 
ing a Run-down Farm— Farm Help 321 .325 
Wheat- What Kind la Sim r 322 
Wilson's Blackberry and Small Fruits 333 
INDEX TO "BASKET" OR SHOr.TEn AKTK'I.ES. 
Ailanthus Trees 
Apples in lllinoi 
Bone Mill 
Bone Phosphate. 
Canada Thii-lles 
320 Naomi Raspberry.... 
.319 N. J. State Fair." 
321 Notes from Colonel" 
.;>2 Patented Walks 
eh Tr. 
Conn. State Board 321 'Plants Named. 
Cost of Rools .... 
Cream Skimmer. . 
Dairying al the South . 322 Pruning Blackberries. . . .3211 
Deep Planting of Trees 819 Raspberry; Odd 820 
Do Locusts Sting?... . 31!i K.u-tailcd liadish 31!) 
Double Peaches 32a Reclaiming Swamp 321 
Dried Sweet Corn 319 Rei Ro D ■ big. ...321 
Farmers Club on Botany 320 Steaming Food 322 
Fish Compost 321 Strawberries . . 320 
Fish Guano ';:; Sundry Humbugs 318 
Forsyth's Composition il I fexas Murrain 3is 
Fruit Ladder . . - - *• .v.- 320 
Gardening for the Soulii.31 : T..tn:ilo Ibn-iion 320 
Gladioluses 32o oil. - in a Log 31!) 
Grapes and Pears 31!) Turnip IV i V- ■ :!.-.. .31!) 
Grape (trailing 31!)|T\vn Wonil. r- ol'lhe Age 310 
Grape Vine Beetle 3211 Use Black Ink. . ::ri 
Harvesting Beans 820 Wheat on the Seaboard 322 
Hedge Trimmer 3HI, Wheat Weevil and Ch.ver321 
Hnrtirult. Exhibitions. .818|While Huckleberries ...31!) 
Ice House 
Let Bugs B 
Lima Bean 
Lime for Wheat 
Merh. Tu 
Merch. T 
.Recorder320 
1 Whitlock'sHi 
319 Wild Mustard 321 
820 Winter Radishes 319 
321 Work of I nsts 320 
Farmer. .321 Worms on Arbor Vim-. 31!l 
Farmer. 31S Yield of Pear Trees .... 31!) 
Back Volumes Supplied*— The back volumes 
of the Agriculturist aie very valuable. They contain 
information upon every topic connected with rural life, 
out-door and in-door, ami the last ten volumes make up 
a very .complete library. Each volume has a full index 
for ready reference to any desired topic. We have on 
hand, and print fioin electrotype plates as wanted, all the 
numbers and volumes for ten years past, beginning with 
1857— thai is. Vol. 16 to Vol. 20. inclusive. Any of these 
volumes sent complete (in numbers) at SI. 75 each, post- 
paid, (oi $1.50 if taken lit the office). "The volumes, 
neatly bound, are supplied for ?2 each, or $2.50 if to be 
sent by mail. Any single numbers of the past ten 
years will be supplied, post-paid, for 15 cents each. 
AMERICAN AGRICULTURIST. 
NEW-YORK, SEPTEMBER, 1868. 
We approach the autumn harvests with great 
hope unci no little solicitude. Early frosts may cut 
short our most important cereal crop, and greatly 
injure the quality of corn fodder, which is annually 
becoming more and more a dependence, as it is 
better economized. September will settle the fate 
of the great corn crop, and if the hopes and prayers 
are answered, the harvest will be abundant for 
home needs at any rate. The great abundance of 
hay, and the excellent condition in 'which it was 
gotten in over a large portion of the Atlantic 
States, may lead to a neglect of the corn fodder. 
This should not be, for the drouth in England is re- 
ported as having been severe, and the hay crop so 
short that large orders have been filled for shipment 
of this article. The powerful presses, now not un- 
common, make it possible to load a ship heavily 
with hay, which, until recently, we have never been 
able to do. So prices may yet rule high, and farm- 
ers may lie very willing to supplement their bay 
with good corn fodder. Make it a rule, if hay be 
sold, to spend all the money for manure. 
Many agricultural fairs occur this month. Too 
many important ones interfere witli one another, 
being held upon the same days. Cannot this be 
obviated? Every fair ought to be patronized and 
visited, and it should be a matter of conscience 
with every farmer, horticulturist, and producer of 
anything of value, to show his best products some- 
where, al the State and County fairs if possible, 
and with wife and children have one pleasant holi- 
day, at least, in visiting the fair and cattle show. 
Hints iihoiit Work. 
September work is ordinarily not of a very press- 
ing kind. It requires good judgment to know 
wbii should be Qrst done oi several things, all re- 
quiring attention, but, unlike the labors of the 
spring and summer, a few days' delay will not be 
certainly disastrous, or entail additional labor. 
Buckwheat ought to be in full blossom over the 
northern half of the Union; a frost of moderate 
severity is destructive to all but the well-grown 
kernels, and may cut off half or two-thirds of the 
crop. The succulent stalks and leaves will furnish 
sap to mature a great part of the grain which has 
passed the bloom. If a change of weather threatens 
frost, it is best to cut buckwheat at any rate, and 
after partial drying, it should belaid up in small 
eneks, or gavels, bound at the top sous to shed 
rain, ami so left until all the kernels have filled 
and ripened that will do so. 
Corn.— The corn crop over a large portion of the 
Union is backward. It is folly to top it, to promote 
its ripening. It is not the sun on the ears that 
ripens corn, but the effects of light and air upon 
the leaves and entire plant. After the kernels are. 
well glazed at the tips of the ears, it may pay to top 
the large, coarse kinds, in order to secure a better 
quality of fodder. We prefer, however, to cut at 
the ground, and stook up as soon as thoroughly 
glazed. The grain will ripen, the stalks make bet- 
ter fodder, and the heavy buts, if not used lot- 
fodder, are easily made available in the compost 
heap, and worth more than if left in the field. 
Com for Seed should be selected personally be- 
fore the stalks are cut up. Go through the best 
part of the field, marking the ears on the most 
prolific stalks, and choosing the cars which please 
you best on the stalks which are of medium size 
and not given to suckering. Mark by a string tied 
around the middle of the ear. At husking time all 
these ears will be saved by themselves, and out of 
them, when the husks are stripped back, one can 
select the most perfect. Mark two or three times 
as many as you will need. 
Tobacco is hopelessly damaged by a light frost. 
That which Still stands should be cut early in the 
month. In lKinging avoid crowding, as much as in 
hot weather; though as soon as the plants have 
partially dried, Uiey may be moved quite near to- 
gether. That cut in August maybe crowded np 
to make more room for the rest of the crop. 
Potatoes. — The death of the tops indicates the 
maturity of Hie tubers. If the. rot be amongst 
them, we hold it better to lei them rot in the 
ground than in the cellar or pit. Many, however, 
dig and market at once. If consumed before the 
disease makes progress, a larger portion of the crop 
may be thus utilized. When other work does not 
press, early potatoes should be dug and put in cool 
cellars, or in pits in perfectly dry soil. 
Boot Crops. — After cool weather sets in, roots 
make their chief growth. Weeds should be pulled 
or hoed up, so as not to disturb the roots. Thin- 
ning may also be done effectively. The plants re- 
moved will be relished by the stock. Carrots re- 
quire that the ground between the rows should be 
kept loose aud open, more than other roots. 
Grass — Aftermath. — If a rowen crop is taken, by 
all means manure well after it. It often pays to 
cut the aftermath for the sake of removing a crop 
of weeil seeds, like wild carrots, for instance, even 
though it would hardly pay to cut for hay alone. 
Pasturing the Aftermath. — Nearly or quite half 
the feed is destroyed by the trampling of the stock. 
This is all avoided by tethering in the way described 
onpage327. If the tether is fastened to an hind 
leg, and the stakes moved forward six feet at a time, 
the droppings will be left on the fed off portion. 
Seeding Down to Gross may be done any time 
during Ibis month. Put tbesurfaee in good order ; 
spread a tine compost or some guano; harrow 
mellow and even; pick off all the stones; sow 
grass seed, witli clover, if you please, and roll. 
Clover sowing may be delayed until spring. Three 
peeks to a bushel of oats may be sown as a mulch. 
See article on Seeding Lawns in Autumn, page 333. 
.Vi»i Grass Land and seeded stubble should not 
be pastured too soon, if at all. Calve-, yearlings, 
and weaned colts, do Utile harm, for they neither 
poach it up in rainy weather, nor pull much up by 
the roots, as heavier cattle are apt to do. Go over 
such land and cut the rag-weed, carrots, and other 
weeds, before the seeds are ripe. Ouco mowing is 
usually sufficient, and it is light, ca.-y work for boys. 
Wheat. — The earlier sowed, the better, as a 
general rule. It makes a lj[ tie differonceal harvest, 
time, and but a little, but iL is so much clear gain. 
The better tilth the land is in, the better will the 
wheat be. An excellent cqinposl for wheat and 
substitute for Peruvian guano is bone-dust and flsh 
guano, equal parts, with two or three limes as 
much fine muck or rotted sods. • Another is bone- 
dusl two parls, castor pomace one part, composted 
with muck in like manner, spread after it has 
undergone one good heating, and harrowed in with 
the grain. All manure applied directly for a grain 
crop should be put on as a top-dressing. 
Tickles for Seed 'Wheat. — Smut in wheat is to a 
very great degree prevented by soaking the seed in 
a strong brine previous to sowing. The smut is a 
parasitic plant, which attacks and entirely destroy s 
the bead of the wheat. It propagates itself by in- 
visible spores, which attach themselves to the 
grain, remain upon it, and arc sown with it if not 
destroyed. This is proved by the fact that pickling 
the seed is a remedy for the disease. A strong- 
brine is efficient; many suppose they improve its 
efficacy by adding blue vitriol, and others that it is 
essential to dry off with dry-slaked lime. In the 
absence of proof that the blue vitriol and lime do 
no good, and as the former is but a slight expense, 
and the use of the lime a great convenience, wc 
advise to make a brine that will float an egg; add 
two pounds blue vitriol to the half barrel of brine ; 
wet a bushel of wheat at a time, stirring it thor- 
oughly, and skimming off the light stuff as the 
wheat Is poured into the brine; after ten minutes, 
dip out the wheat, and letting it drain thoroughly, 
throw it into a pile on a floor, and when all is done, 
sprinkle with dry, powdery lime, shoveling it over 
until dry enough to sow. This may be done 24 to 
3(5 hours before sowing. 
Bay and Groin Stacks. — Brace them up if they 
settle unevenly and incline much. If need be, re- 
