1874. 
AMERICAN AGRICULTURIST. 
403 
chalk and peppermint in water, should be given 
once a day. Costiveness is quickly remedied by a 
little linseed oil-cake meal. 
Swine. — Fat hogs should be finished up as fast as 
possible. Those intended for home use, should be 
finished upon dry shelled corn, with pure water 
only for drink. This will produce firm hard pork. 
Store hogs will do best upon cooked food, and in 
place of corn, boiled potatoes and bran will make 
excellent feed. Buckwheat is too heating food for 
pigs, and should be avoided. Brood sows may- 
have the company of the boar, if pigs are wanted 
in March. The increased value of the first litter 
of pigs, will pay for a pure bred boar. Nothiug is 
more certain than that it pays to breed only from 
pure blooded males, of whatever kind or breed 
they may be. But blood will not stand in place of 
feed. Blooded pigs are most profitable and thrive 
best where there is a full corn crib. 
Storing Boots.— Root crop6 and potatoes should 
be stored in dry pits, in preference to cellars 
beneath the house. Ventilation should not be neg- 
lected ; wisps of straw should be placed iu the tops 
of the pits every six feet apart, for this purpose. 
If any are still in the ground, they should be har- 
vested without delay. A good substantial and 
permanent root house iu a convenient place, will be 
found valuable. 
Boads. — Repairing roads should not be put off 
any later. Every farm should have a permanent 
road through the center, which skould be kept in 
good repair. Roadmasters should see that mud- 
holes and bad spots in the roads are filled with 
broken stone. Mending roads with earth at any 
season, is waste labor. There should be a Blake's 
Stone Crusher at every country mill where road 
material can be procured. One year's use would 
pay for it. In nothing are we so behind the times 
as in the condition of our country roads. 
Sundry Matters. — Upon stormy days there will 
be found plenty of occupation in repairing harness, 
cleaning and putting away tools, working in the 
carpenter's shop, repairing grain bags, etc. Such 
work is recreation. As this is the season for selling 
poultry, let there be a good supply kept for home 
use, and those which are kept for breeding, should 
be well cared for, so that they ma; lay early. The 
poultry house 6hould be kept clean and well white- 
washed, if it has not been already done. Keep 
the plow running in the com stubbles until the 
ground is frozen. The long winter evenings should 
be devoted to study and domestic entertainments ; 
in which the younger should be joined by the older 
ones. There are few things which will more 
readily make farm life agreeable to children, than 
the pleasant evenings which may be spent in a 
farm house, with books, papers, toys, aud games, in 
which the old folks renew their youth again. It is 
the want of this companionship, which makes 
country life so generally dull and uninviting to 
young people. 
Work in the Horticultural Departments. 
If advantage was taken of the pleasant October, 
gardening operations will be pretty well advanced 
by the first of this month. Do not delay any work 
which must be done before hard frosts set in, 
because November weather is very deceptive, aud 
a change from mild to freezing temperature, is 
often only a matter of a few hours. The gardener 
should have learned something new about his 
business if he has had his eyes open, as all intelli- 
gent men should have, and another year ought to find 
him advanced both in the science and art of garden- 
ing. No horticulturist should be content to plod 
on in the same path year after year, raising the 
^arnc crops, aud pursuing the same hum-drum sort 
of life ; on the contrary, he should strike out into 
new paths, try new varieties of seeds and plants 
as far as his means will allow, and so put the energy 
aud talent into his work that business men do into 
their's. We should then hear less of boys leaving 
their homes for the city, where 95 out of every 100 
fail iu business. Papers and books should be pro- 
vided for the long winter evenings. 
Orchard and Nursery. 
Planting may often be done this month where 
the weather is mild, but on no account set the trees 
iu partially frozen soil ; it is much better to heel-in 
the trees in a dry sandy spot until spring, when 
they can be set out properly. 
Stocks for root grafting should be taken up, 
assorted, and tied in bundles of convenient size, 
and stored in boxes of damp sawdust iu the cellar, 
where they can be easily reached during the winter. 
Ckms may be cut at any time when the wood is 
not frozen ; store iu saw-dust, and take care that 
they do not dry out during the winter. 
Seedlings. — Give protection, but not until the 
weather is quite cold ; if applied too early, growth 
sometimes occurs. 
Leaves.— Collect and store as large a supply of 
these as possible, for covering and bedding ; see 
article on gathering them, on page 410. 
Fruit should be kept iu rooms or cellars where 
the temperature is as even as possible, the nearer 
it is to 35" or 40° the better will the fruit keep. 
Plotting. — All plowing should be done early this 
month ; ground for new orchards will be in much 
better condition for planting, if plowed ia the fall. 
Fruit <*ardeu. 
Pears of choice varieties well preserved, will 
now bring good prices iu the markets. If packed 
in shallow boxes, containing one or two layers, and 
each pear wrapped in soft tissue paper, the extra 
price will more than repay the trouble. 
Covering. — Try to cover strawberries, etc., just as 
freezing weather sets in ; this is easily done if the 
covering material is at hand. Young grape vines 
are best covered with a few iuches of earth. 
Boot Cuttings. — Blackberries and raspberries are 
most readily propagated from root cuttings. The 
roots are cut into pieces two or three inches long, 
and packed closely in a box with earth ; there 
skould be holes in the bottom of the box to allow 
of drainage, then bury the box and contents in a 
dry spot, and leave until spring. 
Cuttings of currants aud gooseberries may be 
planted. The one thing necessary to insure suc- 
cess, is that the earth be packed firmly around the 
base of the cuttings. 
Grape Vines. — Prune at once before cold weather 
sets in, many persons do not prune until spring ; if 
left until then, the vines are liable to bleed. The 
various methods of pruning have been described, 
and it makes but little difference which is adopted. 
Grape Cuttings. — The wood from the pruning of 
the grape vines, may be used for propagation. Cut 
into pieces containing two buds, and tie into 
convenient bundles, aud bury in saud iu the cellar. 
Varieties hard to start, like the Delaware, should be 
rooted iu the greenhouse or hot-bed from one-eye 
cuttings, while others, like Norton's Virginia, can 
only be profitably multiplied by layers. 
Kitchen Garden. 
Iu the more Northern localities, but little can be 
done in the garden this month, except plowing and 
hauling out manure. All land not planted, should 
be plowed or spaded in the fall if possible, as it 
can be much sooner worked iu the spring. 
Asparagus. — Cover the beds with a good dressing 
of coarse manure, straw or litter. Burn the seeds 
if they are not wanted for new plantings. 
Boots. — Place in pits as rccoinmeuded for last 
month, but do not cover with earth until the 
weather renders it necessary. The hardier roots, 
such as parsnips, salsify, horseradish, etc., may be 
dug as long as the ground remains unfrozen. 
Manure is the basis of good crops iu the garden, 
and most farmers would be surprised at the quantity 
applied to an acre by our market gardeners. Every 
method should be used to increase the supply. 
Gather leaves, woods' earth, swamp muck, to be 
used as absorbents for the liquid manure of the 
stables or the house slops ; sods aud loam should 
be carted to the barn-yard, for use iu the stables. 
Bhicbarb.— Transplant now, rather than in the 
spring. Give an abundance of manure. 
Cold Frames should be ready for cabbages and 
other plants wintered over. Do* not cover until 
freezing weather comes, aud then only pat on the 
sashes at night. 
Celery.— Store in trenches a foot wide, and as 
deep as necessary to contain the plants. Pnt the 
roots close together and cover with straw, gradually 
increasing the thickness as the cold increases. 
Cabbages. — The best way to preserve these, is to 
invert the heads and cover with four to six iuches 
of earth ; this should be left as late as the earth can 
be worked. 
Spinach. — Give a slight covering of leaves or hay, 
just as the ground begins to freeze. 
Soil. — Prepare a quantity of this for use in the 
hot-beds next spring. It is usually difficult to get 
soil at that time, and it is much better to have a 
supply ready for use, stored under a 6hed or in the 
cellar. A light sandy loam is best, and if too heavy, 
mix a third part of saud with it, and add a little 
well rotted manure. The whole pile should be thor- 
oughly mixed, and placed iu a heap under cover. 
Flower Garden and Lawn. 
There is but little to add to our notes of last 
month, in this department. Everything should be 
done to help along the work of the coming spring. 
Planting of many things can be done this month 
as well as in the spring, as long as the ground 
remains open. Trees and shrubs may be moved 
readily now, and many kinds which start early, are 
better transplanted now than iu the spring. 
Bulbs. — If not planted last month, do not delay 
doing it at once. Take up Gladioluses and other 
tender bulbs. Cover all bulb beds with a coating 
of straw or leaves. 
Protection. — Give 6ome protection to all half- 
hardy plants, and even herbaceous plants that arc 
quite hardy, are greatly benefitted by a Blight 
protection. 
Laions. — If the grass shows signs of failing, 
apply a dressing of fine, well rotted manure. 
Where the grass hae died out, sow fresh seed, and 
rake it in smoothly and evenly. 
Perennials. — It is not yet too late to divide and 
replant old plants. 
Greenhouse and Window Plants. 
Bisects. — Look out that no plants are put into the 
greenhouse which are covered with insects ; the 
only way to keep the house free, is never to let 
them get in. 
Bulbs potted and placed in the cellar, may be 
brought out from time to time, if they have made 
good roots. 
Camellias. — Keep the plants in a cool room, 
where they can develop their buds properly. 
Syringe often to keep the foliage healthy. 
Propagate such plants as it is desirable to have for 
winter blooming, or for setting out, or for sale in 
the spring. 
Climbers arc necessary in a greenhouse to provide 
shade for the other plants. Passiftorae, Roses, 
Tropceolums, etc., are all valuable for this purpose. 
Annuals. — Sow seeds of a few free flowering ones 
for winter flowers. Sweet Alyssum and Mignonette 
are good bouquet plauts. 
Lobelias.— If the low growing sorts were" planted 
in the flower-garden during the summer, a portion 
should be taken up for planting in pots or pans for 
winter flowering. 
Ferns are liable to become infested with red-spider 
and scale, and if they are not watched closely they 
will soon perish, at least the more tender sorts. 
This month is a good time to divide such plants as 
are capable of division. 
Forcing. — Provide plants of Dicentra, Candytuft, 
Deutzia, and other plants desired for winter 
flowering, and 6tore in the cellar. 
