25*5 
AMERICAN AGRICULTURIST. 
[September, 
Fences and Gales.— Cut fimbcr for new ones need- 
ed. Replace all unsound posts and stakes before 
the high winds of Fall and Winter have prostrated 
them. Char the bottom of gate posts before set- 
ting, or give them a good coating of gas tar. 
Flax should be pulled as soon as the stalk is of 
a yellowish tinge, the leaves having mostly fallen, 
aud the center seed boll become of a brown color. 
Read articles on pages 70, 110, (March and April.) 
Orain. — Thresh as soon as practicable, and store 
in secure bins, or market if prices are satisfactory. 
Carefully cleanse from weed seeds etc. Some dealers 
re-screen much of the grain received, aud make a 
good profit by the improvement in quality. If good 
seed has not already been secured, select from the 
best growth before threshing, or procure it from 
reliable parties, and keep secure from vermin. 
Hogs. — Commence feeding early, with refuse 
grain, bran, and unsound corn, and finish off with 
old corn if there be any on hand. Early made 
pork costs less and usually commauds the best 
price. Keep the pens clean aud well supplied 
with muck, weeds or straw, to absorb manure. 
Manure-making and money-making are almost 
synonymous on old farms. Provide an abundant 
supply of muck for use in the stables and yards 
the coming winter. Secure the weeds, wild grass 
etc., from waste places, for the same purpose. 
Plow at once for winter grain, if it be not already 
completed. Deepen the soil by going an inch be- 
low the last plowing. This cau be done with less 
risk for winter grain, than with spring crops. 
Potatoes not wanted for immediate marketing are 
better left in the ground as late as can be safely 
done without danger from frost. When dug they 
should be housed as soon as practicable, and uot 
left-exposed to the sun. A potato digger (see de- 
scription of one in August Agriculturist) is well 
worth its cost to those who raise this crop on a large 
scale. After digging, plow under tops and weeds, 
unless the latter have ripened seed, iu which case 
they should be gathered and burned. 
Poultry that have had the range of grain fields, 
are in good condition for early fattening for market. 
Confine and feed them liberally, aud allow plenty 
of water, with dust or ashes to wallow in. Pro- 
mote the laying of hens that are shut up, by feed- 
ing with scraps of refuse meat. 
Boot Crops.— Keep the soil well stirred, and allow 
no weeds to interfere with their growth. If stand- 
iug too thickly, thin, aud feed the surplus to cattle. 
Rye. — Sow after oats, or a second crop may be 
taken from the same ground, if the land is in good 
heart. Sow a little later than wheat. The white 
variety has proved excellent in this vicinity. 
Sheep. — A small allowance of grain occasionally 
will bring them into good eondit ion to wiuter well. 
Salt regularly and allow plenty of water. Examine 
to discover any signs of foot-rot, and if it appears, 
apply remedies promptly, and separate diseased 
sheep from the rest of the flock. 
Soiling Crops.— Feed to stock as needed, or cure 
for winter fodder if pasture be abundant. 
1 Sorghum. — Cut as soon as the seed is ripened, aud 
press and boil immediately. Improved apparatus 
will pay in convenience, aud iu quality of the 
syrup. Experiment iu making sugar with a small 
portion, by manufacturing before the seed has 
ripened. Remove the seed from all before grinding. 
Timothy. — Sow with winter grain for meadow, 
or it may be sowed alone ; in the latter case in- 
crease the quantity of seed. A top-dressing of fine 
manure, after covering the seed, will be beneficial. 
Weeds. — Allow none to scatter their seed for 
next year's crop. Cut and burn— or add to the 
compost heap such as are not nearly ripe. 
Wlieat.—The earlier sowed has uniformly suc- 
ceeded best in standing the exposure of Winter, 
and in escaping injury from the midge. Drilling, 
where practicable, is every way preferable to sow- 
ing broadcast. Wheat growers should notice the 
International Wheat Exhibition to be held at 
Rochester, September 8th, 0th, and 10th. Full par- 
ticulars were given last month, page 236. 
Orchard and Nursery- 
The prospects are that the crop of fruit will be 
at best a moderate one, and the greater care should 
be taken iu picking and marketing, and in drying 
and preserving auy not otherwise disposed of. 
Those who send fruit to city markets, ought to 
know that it is sold almost entirely by its appear- 
ance. A lot of apples of indifferent quality, care- 
fully picked and packed, will sell for more than a 
greatly superior fruit which has been beaten from 
the trees, aud comes to market bearing evidence of 
carelessness in its preparation. Where the fruit 
ruus unevenly, it is better to assort it, and make two 
qualities ; a higher price for the whole will be rea- 
lized. Let the quality of the fruit be uniform 
throughout the barrels or baskets. Those who 
practice the deception off topping off their pack- 
ages with a few selected specimens, soon establish 
a bad reputation, and they get a lower price in the 
market. Barrels are now mostly examined through. 
It requires some judgement to know just when 
to pick the early fruits, as there is but a short pe- 
riod between maturity and decay. Peaches and 
Fall pears especially, must be picked while still 
hard and able to bear carriage without bruising. 
Pick carefully, and avoid bruising in handling. 
Pudding is still in season with peach aud other 
late growing trees. Look to those budded last 
month and loosen the bandages, if the growth of 
the stock has rendered them too tight. Where the 
buds have failed, the stock may be rebudded, if the 
bark still peels. Use well matured buds. 
Prying Apples. — Well dried apples and peaches 
are likely to be in demand next season. Commence 
with the Autumu fruit ; pare carefully and remove 
all the core ; dry as rapidly as possible in order to 
get a bright light colored, saleable article. 
Hoeing will still be required in the nursery rows. 
In running the plow or cultivator between the 
rows be careful uot to injure the trees or roots. 
Insects. — Those which are forming their cocoons 
and preparing their winter lodgings should be re- 
moved. If saw-dust is seen around a tree, search 
for the borer aud follow him to the end of his 
hole with a wire or slender piece of whalebone. 
Labels will be needed to mark trees sent out this 
Fall. Prepare a stock of these and of stakes dur- 
ing the season of comparative leisure. 
Lands intended for Fall plantiug may be cleared 
up aud prepared now by mannriug aud plowiug. 
Pits of peaches and plums may be buried iu a hole, 
or placed in boxes of earth, for plautiug next 
Spring. Save from the fruit of healthy trees only. 
Preserve a good supply of peaches, pears, plums, 
etc., in bottles or cans. See our previous volumes. 
Pruning, if not finished last month, may be done 
now upou young trees, to form good, low heads. 
Seeds of ornamental trees and shrubs should be 
gathered as fast as they ripen, and rightly labeled. 
Seed Beds will need thorough weeding and copi- 
ous watering, if the weather be dry. 
Kitchen Garden. 
The unusually hot weather, with frequent and 
copious rains have, in this vicinity at least, made a 
great "growing time." The crops not only grow 
with unusual vigor, but the weeds are forwarded 
with a rapidity almost appalling. The garden should 
at all times be kept free of weeds, aud where the 
plants get too large to hoe conveniently, hand pul- 
ling must be resorted to. Now that the products 
of the garden are rapidly perfecting and crowding 
on iu such profusion, care should be taken that 
nothing goes to waste. The surplus must be taken 
care of, and what can uot be used should be either 
stored, marketed, or otherwise disposed of. Noth- 
ing 6hould be left to decay, merely because there 
is an abundance. Every thing should be cleared 
up, and all refuse find its way to the hog pen, cat- 
tle yard, or compost heap. 
Beans. — Pick the late string beans before they be- 
come tough, and salt or pickle as directed last 
month. Save the earliest Limas ripe for seed, and 
shell and dry the green ones for winter use. 
Cabbages and Cauliflowers.— The late plantings 
will need frequent hoeings. Where it is desired to 
winter plants over in cold frames for planting in 
early spring, the seed may be sown this month. 
Celery. — After the plants are 8 or 10 inches high, 
the earthing up should commence, and it will have 
to be repeated every ten days or two weeks accord- 
ing to the rapidity of the growth. It is an opera- 
tion which should be carefully performed, a bun- 
gler by breaking the leaves aud getting earth into 
the crowns of the plants, may tliU6 spoil half the 
crop. Where the leaves spread much, it may be 
necessary to briug them together and tie them at 
the first earthing. If tied, it should be done with a 
slender piece of bass matting, or a string so weak 
that it will break away as the plant grows. The 
earthing up should be done when both plants and 
earth are quite dry. 
Corn. — As soon as the early crops are gathered, 
cut up the stalks and cure them for the cattle or 
feed them out green. Save always the largest and 
finest for seed. Dry an abundance for winter use. 
Cucumbers. — Select for seed as directed last 
month. If the weather is dry, water in order to 
prolong the fruiting season. Go over the vines 
every day and gather for pickles. Cucumbers that 
are ripe or nearly so, may be made into sweet pick- 
les, according to note on page 247 (last mouth). 
Endive. — Forward by hoeing aud liquid manure. 
Tie up for blanching when the plants are dry. 
Kale for wintering over maybe sown this month. 
Manures.- — The snpply for next year's use should 
now be accumulating. The compost heap should 
grow rapidly at this season. 
Melons. — Pick as soon as ripe, which may be 
known by the stem readily parting from the melon 
by a well defined line, and coming off with a very 
gentle pull. Keep them from contact with the 
ground as directed iu last mouth's Calendar. Secure 
seeds from the earliest aud best flavored specimens. 
Onions. — Pull as soon as the falling off the tops 
indicates that they are ripe. Seeds for sets may be 
planted early in the month. 
Parsley sown early this month will form plants 
for next Spring. They may be kept over by means 
of a covering of straw or litter. 
Pickles. — The garden now supplies an abundance 
of material for the pickles ; cucumbers, tomatoes, 
peppers, beans, green melons, cauliflowers, nastur- 
tiums, etc., should be gathered before toughening. 
Seeds. — Much of the success of next year's garden 
will depend upon the careful and judicious saving 
of seeds this month. We have in former numbers 
spoken at length on this subject. Of biennials— like 
beet, parsnip, salsify, etc. — preserve the finest speci- 
mens for setting out to produce seed next Spring. 
Spinach. — Make preparation for early greens next 
Spring, by sowing early this month. Thin out as 
soon as large enough, keeping the bed clear of weeds. 
Squashes. — Clear off the vines after the crop of 
summer varieties is taken. The Marrow will soon 
be tit for use. The Hubbard may be used, and 
will be found good, even when quite green. 
Tomatoes. — These are now in the greatest plenty. 
Bottle a full supply for wiuter use and make catsup. 
Turnips should now be growing finely. Keep 
well hoed and thinned. 
Weeds. — See that no seeds of these are saved for 
another crop. One plant pulled green, or burned 
if ripe, may save the labor of destroying thousands 
of weeds hereafter. 
Winter Cherries. — Gather as they ripen and pre- 
