AMERICAN AGRICULTURIST, 
Farm, Grarden, and Household. 
"AGRICULTURE IS THE MOST HEALTHFUL, MOST USEFUL, AND MOST NOBLE EMPLOYMENT OP MAN.o-W.sni.o-ro.. 
ORANGE JtDD, A.M., 
EDITOR AND PROPRIETOR. 
Offiro, 41 Parlt Row, (Times Buildings.) 
ESTABLISHED IN 1842. 
Published both in English, and German. 
$1.00 PER ANNUM, IN ADVANCE 
SINGLE NUMBER, 10 CENTS. 
For Contents, Terms, etc., see page 6*. 
VOLUME XXII— No. 2. 
NEW-YORK, FEBRUARY, 1863. 
NEW SERIES— No. 193. 
Entered according to net of Congress in the year 1SG3, by 
Ohasor Jur>D, in the Clerk's Oflice of the District Court of 
the United States fur the Southern District of New- York. 
63^" Other Journals are Invited to copy desirable articles 
freely, i/ench article be credited to American Agriculturist. 
Suggestions and Notes for the Month. 
In England, where the influence of the sur- 
rounding sea water modifies the temperature of 
the atmosphere, plowing and even sowing of 
seed are frequently hegun as early as February. 
Here, except at the far South, all field opera- 
tions are suspended, though the continuance of 
such warm weather as has prevailed through- 
out the first half of the Winter season proper, 
would admit of plowing the lighter sandy soils, 
or all such as will not pack and bake if worked 
in a wet condition. Other field work, gathering 
stones and roots, draining, fence building, etc., 
could also be carried on with facility. But we 
can scarcely look for such weather in February. 
Maple sugar making, and cutting and hauling 
fuel, timber, and fencing materials, are the 
chief out-door employments, aside from the care 
of domestic animals, and the important work of 
increasing the manure heap as much as possible. 
This is the season for " manuring with brains," 
as our friend Tim Bunker would term it. West- 
ern farmers tell us they do not need, so many 
Chapters on farm manure ; that they are about 
as much troubled to get rid of the stuff, as East- 
ern farmers are to procure it. But Tim Bunk- 
er's manure will certainly pay, even on their 
itch virgin soils. We can not too often enforce 
the fact, that " it is the mind that makes the 
man." It needs no argument to prove that of 
two farmers having equal health, equal physi- 
cal strength, and placed in similar circumstances, 
the one having the most brains, the one who 
thinks most, and plans best, will achieve the 
greatest success, with the least wear and tear 
of muscle. Abundant examples in proof of this 
are to be found everywhere. We would im- 
press upon farmers the fact that thinking and 
intelligence pay quite as well in soil culture, as 
in any other pursuit. Reading is an aid to think- 
ing. That man is to be pitied who is so opin- 
ionated, so self-sufficient, as to say in earnest, 
"I want none of your book farming." What is 
this "book farming" but the effort to collect the 
opinions and experiences of a great number of 
men, and convey them in printed, instead of 
spoken words. No one can read a sentence re- 
lating what some one else thinks of a particular 
crop or mode of culture, or describing another's 
practice, without being led into a new train of 
thought, and in the end his own practice will 
be improved thereby. Then, again, how much 
it lightens one's labors, how many weary hours 
of work pass away more pleasantly, if he have 
new subjects of thought to occupy the mind. 
How long the day is, when following the har- 
row, or swinging the ax from sunrise to sunset, 
if one have not a store of ideas to draw upon. 
Take as a single illustration, the article on page 
52 of this number of the Agriculturist. Will it 
not relieve the tediousness of " sprouting pota- 
toes " all day, to see in each tuber a beautiful 
arrangement of the stem and eyes ? There are 
ten thousand such things to be observed and 
learned in connection with every department of 
farm life— more here than in any other business 
pursuit, because a greater variety of objects are 
constantly presented to the eye. Not only the 
trees and plants, but even the sticks and stones 
speak a language to him who learns to read 
that language. And this passing month of Feb- 
ruary is just the time to be reading, thinking, and 
planning ; the time to be laying in a store of 
thoughts to be worked over in the mind next 
Summer while the hands and eyes are occupied 
with work. It may " please the flesh " to lazily 
while away the stormy days and- the evening 
hours at the store, in trashy gossip, and in story 
telling; but the gathering of information from 
books and papers treating of field and garden 
crops, of animals, of improved implements, of 
the structure of soils and of plants, of the laws 
of vegetable growth, etc., will not only furnish 
food for thought while at hard labor, but will 
also lead to new plans that will put money in 
the purse. — As usual, we place together here 
sundry hints which are designed, in the main, 
to be merely suggestive. 
Work for the Farm, Household, etc. 
Animals. — Have the hints thrown out last 
month been acted upon ? They will bear look- 
ing over again. A full grown horse, or working 
ox, or milch cow, may remain about stationary, 
if already in good flesh ; but with these excep- 
tions, every animal should be improving in con- 
dition from week to week. It is a mistake to 
suppose that animals must make their growth 
and lay on fat during the Summer, and merely 
be a bill of expense during Winter. If a calf, 
steer, heifer, sheep, or hog, be not plainly in- 
creasing in weight, there is some defect in the 
feeding, sheltering, watering, or salting, and the 
defect should be looked into and remedied at 
once.— The colt, calf, or lamb, to be dropped in 
Spring, will be of greater value if the dam be 
well cared for now. It is well at this season to 
inquire whether the breeds of animals now kept, 
are the most profitable, and how improved blood 
may be introduced. If a colt from one stallion 
be worth $20 more at birth than one from anoth- 
er, will it not pay to give $10 more for the use 
of the former ? The breeding and raising of 
a horse worth $150 costs no more than for one 
worth only $75 when grown. The same hints ap- 
ply to other animals. "A word to the wise," etc. 
Buildings. — For those already constructed, the 
directions of last month will nearly suffice. If 
the weather admit, painting may be clone now, 
and during March or early in April ; it is more 
lasting if dried and hardened during cool weath- 
er, than If applied when the sun shines brightly 
upon it. A coat of paint on weather beater, 
clapboards will add several years to their durs . 
bility. — If new buildings are planned for, y. 
sooner the lumber can be procured an(l> t 
seasoning, the better. Study convenient^ 6 ■ , baR 
internal arrangement of dwellings. A siiji 1 " 1 * 
change in the location of rooms and stairs may 
save hundreds of steps daily, for a life time. A 
cellar under the whole house costs only a little 
extra digging and two pieces of end or sido 
walls, more than for half a cellar. A two-story 
house requires no more roofing and flooring, 
and but a little more siding up, and wall plas- 
tering, than does a story-and-a-half house. 
Corn, in the crib, bin, or still in the shock 
needs special care ; it is one of the most diffi- 
cult crops to keep in good condition, owing to 
the moisture in the cob and chit. A large 
amount of that brought to this market is sold as 
" unsound " at considerably less than the mar- 
ket price for sound corn. A yery little extra 
care in the farm storage will often, add ten to 
thirty per cent, or more, to the market value, 
which is all clear profit, as the cost of handling 
and transportation is not increased. There 
should be no dampness or heating in the prib, 
or wherever it is kept. Narrow cribs, with free 
ventilation, are essential. In preparing corn for 
market, it is advisable to break off the tips of the 
ears before shelling, and feed the small and im- 
perfect kernels. These fill In the chinks in meas- 
uring, so as not to increase the bulk materially, 
and do not add their feeding worth to the weight, 
while the plump grain kept by itself, will sell 
more readily and for a higher price. Let seed 
corn for next year be selected from the largest, 
soundest ears, and be kept dry. 
Corn Stalks, contain much more nutriment 
than is generally supposed, judging from the 
little care used to preserve them in goocl order. 
Cattle can not be blamed for refusing them when 
weather beaten by exposure t.p rains, and 
injured by heating in unprotected shocks. We 
know of an instance where a man kept a 
horse and cow all through Winter, from grass to 
grass, mainly on the stalks from 1J acres of well 
