350 
AMERICAN AGRICULTURIST. 
[October, 
Contents for October, 1868. 
American Hay in England 350 
Birds— Tin- Wild Turkey llluslrak d . . 349 
Boys' and Girls' Columns— The Philosopher's Stone- 
Pious Thieves — Robinson Crusoe's Land — An 
Honest Miner— The Monk Outwitted— The Disoblig- 
ing Clerk— Arithmetical Curiosity— The Pet Bird- 
Unexpected Answers— Answers to Problems and 
Puzzles— New Puzzles 3 Illustrations. .375—370 
Boxes for Protection 371 
Bulbs, Hardy 370 
Care of Tools 362 
Cellar— An Out Door 3Mi 
Cider Making 35tl 
Cold Grapery in October 333 
Corn Fodder— Curing and Use 363 
Corn-Grinding on the Cob 3117 
Corn— Implements for Cutting Up I Illustrations. .365 
Cow-Halter— Danish Illustrate J . . 364 
Cuttings— Callusing 369 
Duck Shooti ng 6 Illustrations . . 361 
Fairs in October 353 
Farm Work in October 350 
Flower Garden and Lawn in October 351 
Fruit Garden in October 351 
Fuchsias 2 Illustration*. . 369 
Green and Hot-Houses in October 352 
Hay— Loss in Stacking 364 
Horticultural Wonders 371 
Household Department — Sea-side Fare, The Quahog 
— The Cooking of Vegetables — A Handsome Flower- 
stand— Household Talks by Aunt Hattie— Pickles, 
Sweet, Sour, aud Spiced, Higdom— Neat and Durable 
Tidy— Herbs for Winter 1 1llustrations. . 374—375 
House Plants— Management of 370 
[nsects —An Enemy to the Wistaria 2 I/lustrations. .371 
Kitchen Garden in October 351 
Laurels and Hollies from the Woods 371 
Lawn Plant— A New 372 
Lawns and Grass Plots— Treatment of. . . . Illustrated. . 372 
Market Reports 352 
Movements of Plants Illustrated. .372 
Muck and Its Composts 360 
Orchard and Nursery in October 351 
Osage Orange and Silk Worms 363 
Plows — Left-hand and Three Horses Abreast . til. 8U5 
Poke, or Pigeon -berry, as a Garden Plant 367 
Potatoes— Storing for Winter 364 
Rose, with Single and Double Flowers 371 
Sheep— What to Do with the 360 
Strawberries— Forcing 2 Illustration* 370 
Squashes — Keeping 36S 
Thorough Draining and Deep Tillage 365 
Trotting Horse "Dexter" IBltttraltd .36s 
Vinegar .Making 367 
Virginia Way of Loading Logs 2 lllu. hat. 
Walks and Talks of the Farm. No. 5s -fishing and 
Farming— Weeds— Men Milking- Corn Fodder- 
Drought— High Fanning— A Run Down Farm- 
Barley— Clover tor Seed 362—863 
Water for Man and Beast by the Road-side 366 
Winter Bouquets Illustrated. .372 
Winter Fallows 359 
Winter Rye 367 
INDEX TO "BASKET" OR SHORTER ARTICLES. 
Advice to a Novice 357 Keeping Old Bay 357 
Am. Entomologist 354 Lima Beans aud Corn 35S 
Apple Trees Dying.. ..355 Mich. Wheat Premiums.. 357 
Arbor Vita; Seeds 356 Mole Traps /«..S56 
Arbor Vine, Troublewith 35M Muck Deposit 358 
Autumn Leaves 111. ..):<■'< Nebraska Lands .357 
Basket Worms 355 New England Fair 35S 
Black Pekin Egg Plant. SSI N. Y.UrapeGrowcrs'Ass'n355 
Board Measure :r.s Night-Blooming Cereus. . 355 
Bone Mill 353J Obstruction in Drains.. .357 
Buchanan's Sale 355 Onions and Rotation 357 
Caladium Seed 3511 Parasite on NurscryStock355 
Casabar Melon 351 Peach and Nectarine . . ..355 
Cheap Lands at the East. 357 Peach Fungus 354 
Clover Gone Crazy 355 Pears Cracking 355 
Coal Tar 355 Peas as a Field Crop S57 
Coloring Carpet Warp.. ..355 Plantain Pest 355 
Copperas in the Garden 355 Plants Named 353 
Cotton Seed Meal 357 Poultry Breeding 358 
Crab Apple Leaves 355 Prairie Ice-house 357 
Cutting Corn 35s Reid's Nursery 355 
Dept. of Agriculture . .3.59. Reilovut'gWor'n-oiitSoils.357 
Distributing Manure 358 Books S5S 
Early Rose Potato 356 Scuppernong Grape.. ::;, l 
Early Rose Potato-Prem.35s Selecting ( 'attle 359 
Elements of Agriculture. 355 Sorghum Culture 35s 
Eumelan Grape .351 Spent Tan-bark 357 
Fanners' Clubs 338 Splendid Premiums 354 
First Cast Iron Plow ... .837 Spots on Rose Leaves . 85:. 
Fitting for Nur-ery l:'ss.35s Spring Balances 354 
For All Children 355 Steamed food for ( 'ows. .355 
Foremen and Places 357 Strawberry Pies. Wilder. 35.5 
Gas Lime 358 Succotash 355 
Good Farm Help 337 Sundry Humbugs 354 
Grapes in Md 351 Supeit liberating 350 
Grape Test 351 Tanning Skins 857 
Greeley Strawhc'y Prize. 8.56 The Crack Shot. 
Horned Caterpillar 355 Tim Bunker Papi 
357 
Horse-hoe & Cultivator. .357 To Dealers 
Horseradish Grater 355 Tomato Question 
Horticultural Exhib's... .855 Transplant' g Pear Trees. 851 
"How Crops Grow' 
Humbugs, Sundry 
Hyyro-barometer 
b.e Houses 
Increase in Sugar 
Insect named 
Insect on Pear Trees. 
834 Turning in Clover *S5S 
351 Vine Borer 354 
355. What Missouri Wants.. .357 
357 Whitening Sheep skins. 355 
351 Whitlock's Grape Show. 351 
355 Worms in Pots 355 
853 Writing a Volume 354 
Take Notice. 
2 Mouths Subscrijjttion for $0.00. 
Every Hfew Subscriber to the American Agri- 
culturist for 1809, ivhose subscription comes to 
/land during October, will be presented with the pa- 
per the rest of this year without charge, 
If the name be marked new when sent in. 
Take Notice, that this offer extends to All 
mew Subscribers, whether coming singly, or in Pre- 
mium Chibs, or otherwise. (This will help those who 
now begin to make up lists for Premiums, for they 
can offer to each nem subscriber a bonus of two months 
free, and still count these names in Premium Lists.) 
AMERICAN AGRICULTURIST. 
NEW-YORK, OCTOBER, 1868. 
Somber yet happy Autumn is here; the land- 
scape wears the sere and yellow hues, blended with 
red and green, the more brilliant for the contrast. 
But for the sighing winds and the chill that is in 
the air, and the drifts of leaves that are swept 
across the view, one might take October for the 
gayest month of the twelve. Aud it is gay. Why 
should the falling of the leaf inspire sad thoughts ? 
All things grow old as do garments, and like them 
they are changed with the season, or in their ap- 
pointed time. If we change with them it should 
be as the buds mature on the trees, to burst into 
leaf in the spring, or as the fruits and seeds ripen 
for the Master's use, or as the bulbs wrap up the 
vital germ which will rise into a new and beautiful 
life when the spring-time comes. This is the season 
of abundance, when mau anil beast prepare for the 
coming winter. The days are growing shorter, and 
long evenings invite to reading, study, and medita- 
tion. The experiences of the summer, the results 
of the harvest, the memorandums and recollections 
of what was seen at the fairs, furnish topics of con- 
versation and induce visiting among farmers. 
Fruits and nuts and sweet cider may well add to 
the sociability. Such visits will, we hope, in many 
instances ripen into farmers' clubs, with their read- 
ing rooms or circulating libraries, and meeting's for 
discussion, for exchange of seeds, and for the ex- 
hibit inn of products of the soil, or of skillful hands. 
One of the most important things for farmers to 
think about and plan for this month is good win- 
ter schools. Do not say by your actions or uucon- 
cern, brother farmers, that " Half an education 
is good enough for farmers' children," or that 
"Lamin' spiles a farmer," as the writer was once 
told, but strike for a first rate public school, as the 
very foundation of local prosperity, and as the 
greatest security against lawlessness and vice ; in 
most neighborhoods, an extra expense of S'25 to 
$40 each on the principal families will secure rooms 
and teachers for the public school ; that will afford 
advantages to edl the children, which are usually 
obtained by only two or three children who are 
packed off to an "academy" at an expense of a 
hundred or more dollars each. Make the public 
school equal to an academy. This matter will 
bear talking, thinking, and figuring about. 
Hints al>«ut Work. 
Farm work at this time of the year is naturally 
classified in order of its importance; as 1st, 
Necessary Autumn work, that which must be 
done now, like the harvesting of the corn and root 
crops, gathering the fruits of the orchard, etc. 2d. 
Spring work which may be doue now, as preparing 
the ground for spring crops. 3d. Winter work, 
that which may appropriately be done at any time 
during the winter, siidi as getting out timber or 
cutting fire-wood, work in the muck beds, etc. 
It is well to bear this in mind, so as to make all 
work tell to the best advantage. One may easily 
fiud work for a few weeks for cheap labor if he can 
secure it at this season, and thus relieve himself of 
just so much cause for hurry or anxiety by and by. 
Animals. — Nature provides nuts for the squirrels, 
mast for the swine, the seeds of cereals (grasses 
and grains) lor the cattle, both small and large, aud 
innumerable insects for the feathered tribes. Thus 
they all fatten readily, aud prepare for severe 
weather not only by laying on a warm coat but by 
storing fuel for maintainiug internal warmth. The 
weather is not severe, yet shelter will be found to 
make quite a difference in the rapidity of fattening. 
Cook, if possible, all or most of the feed of fattening 
animals, except, perhaps, sheep, which it is claimed 
gain nearly as fast and are more likely to remain 
healthy on uncooked and even whole grain. Keep 
beeves and sheep at pasture as long as the feed is 
good, and give grain morning and night. Hogs 
must be kept growing aud gaining by well cooked 
food in more or less variety. Give them a few 
shovelfuls of wood ashes in which is a good deal of 
charcoal, and throw a few handfuls of corn into it. 
Milch Cows if well fed will give rich milk, if nota 
great deal of it ; and as rich aud beautiful butter 
may be made now as in any month. After sharp 
frosts the pasturage will be less nutritious. Feed 
pumpkins, (removing the seeds, which are excellent 
for hogs,) roots, turnip tops, cabbages that do not 
head, etc. Decaying leaves and rotten turnips will 
mike the milk taste. Cows must have all the pure 
water they will drink, aud salt is esseutial to thrift. 
Calves and Steers will " get along " on coarse fare; 
they will not starve on wheat straw, or bog hay 
with some corn stalks ; they will probably not die 
if they standout until next March on the north side 
of a barn ; but they will be stunted in their growth, 
and never have any thing like the form or size they 
should aud would have had. One of the highest 
pleasures of a good farmer is to see his young stock 
grow. They need shelter quite as much as the 
older cattle, and if a pet heifer or pair of nice steers 
get a few ears of corn more than their share, the 
farmer had better wink at it unless it is carried too 
far. That the liberal hand shall be made rich is 
constantly demonstrated in the barn-yards of this 
country. Don't attempt to carry over too much 
young stock; that kept should be well fed. 
Morses. — As pasturage begins to fail, commence reg- 
ular feeding and grooming in comfortable quarters. 
Purchase of Stork for Wintering. — The hay crop 
has been abundant, and many will buy sheep aud 
cattle to consume their surplus straw, hay, and 
grain, and to make manure. Buy so as to give them 
a good start on grass before winter sets in. 
Fall Plowing for Spring Crops. — There is great 
ecouomy in plowing in the autumn. It must only 
be attempted on land not exposed to wash badly. 
It is well also to regard the direction of prevalent 
winds, and if the lay of the land is such that the, 
hue particles which the wind will move a distance 
of several rods, will be blown off the farm, this 
will be an argument in favor of spring plowing. 
Plow deep, if there is richness et gh iu the soil 
or manure enough applied to warrant it. 
Roots usually make the best part of their growth 
after frost ; yet they will not stand severe freez- 
ing without harm, and it is risky to leave them un- 
dug after the ground begins to stiffen mornings, for 
some fine day you will find them all frozen and 
solid. A good, well-ventilated barn-cellar, which 
may be closed so as to keep the frost out, is the 
best place for storing roots ; but they keep perfect- 
ly well in pits, or out-door cellars. See page 366. 
Root-Pits may or may not be pits ; if actually in 
part below the surface, the drainage must be per- 
fect. If above the surface, first place the roots iu 
•uniform piles, say feet wide, 3 feet high, and as 
long as convenient; cover with a few inches of 
straw and a light covering of earth, and let tlrem .lie 
lightly covered for a few days. Provide ventilation 
by placing bundles of straw upright iu the ridge of 
the heap. As the cold increases, add to the thick- 
ness of earth until the roots are covered about a 
foot deep at all points. Remove the earth for cover- 
ing, so as to leave good ditches to carry off water. 
