2oa 
AMERICAN AGRICULTURIST. 
[July, 
"When it is to be threshed soon after it is cut, staclc 
it close to the barn doors, and run the straw into the 
bam. By this means a large amount of fodder cau 
be saved in good order. 
Orass and Bay.— Read the su^gestious about 
making hay on another page. Where grass grows 
very large in moist places, and falls down, let it be 
cut and made into hay at once. When a farmer has 
a large quantity of grass to mow, if he waits until 
it is all fit to make into hay, unless he has an abun- 
dance of help, some of it will become too ripe. 
This will suggest the importance of sowing different 
kiuds of seed, in some meadows, so that part will 
be fit to cut a few days in advance of the rest. 
Hay Jl/oros.— Store the hay as evenly as possible, 
60 that it will come out easily. Let a boy, or weak 
man manage the hay fork, and let a strong man 
mow away the h.ay, as that is much the hardest work. 
Hoeing.— The object of hoeing corn and root 
crops is not simply to keep down the weeds, and 
to dr.aw a little fresh earth about the roots, but it 
is primarily to stir and loosen the surface, that the 
air and rains may have free access to the soil in 
which the roots are. The frequent passage of a 
light cultivator or horse-hoe is of great benefit to 
crops on land suffering from drouth. 
Hedge and Fence Jiom.—Fly the bush-hook, and 
keep down the brush; let no weeds go to seed. 
Manure. — If care be taken, an immense quantity 
of weed growth may be converted into good ma- 
nure, either by throwing it in the hog pens, or by 
making a regular compost of it, putting it in alter- 
nate layers with any fermenting manure ; or piling 
it up and pumping liquid manure over it. Cows 
brought to the yard nights, and fed an armful 
of grass each, cut in the morning, and thus well 
wilted, will drop manure enough to pay for the 
labor over and over again, if it be only well col- 
lected and composted. 
Oats. — Send careful men through the fields, and 
pull up dock, mustard, or other weeds. Where 
oats fall down before the panicles are formed, they 
had better be cut at once, and cured like hay, as 
they make excellent fodder. Grain does not fructify 
■well, after the straw has fallen down. 
Pastures. — Do not feed off pastures too closely, as 
the grass will be a long time starting again, espe- 
cially in hot and dry weather. It is bad policy to 
keep so much stock that pastures are always very 
short. The leaves of grass perform the office of 
lungs. Therefore, let plants have top enough, 
that the breathing may not be obstructed. 
Jbta(o«s.— Finish cultivating and hoeing potatoes 
as soon as practicable, as the roots should not be 
disturbed after tubers have begun to form. If 
weeds appear among them, they should be pulled 
i-ather than hoed up. 
Ibullry. — Keep a good dust bath for the fowls, and 
add unleached wood ashes to it occasionally; watch 
any appearance of vermin, and clear them out with 
an application of kerosene, which may be rubbed 
under the wings, and on the backs and brfr.sts of 
the birds. Whitewash occasionally and thorough- 
ly houses, perches, nests, and all. 
iS^ecp.— The best attention for sheep this month 
is to allow them an abundance of good grass and 
salt. Dry ewes and yearlings are very liable to be 
in heat this month. See that bucks do not run in 
the same flock with them, unless they are shackled 
as directed on page 213. If there are any old ewes 
in the flock, separate them at once, where they may 
be fed one pound of corn meal daily. If confined 
in a small enclosure, they may be fed mowed grass 
and meal. Managed in this way, they will make 
good mutton in two months. Old ewes will fatten 
much sooner in hot, than in cold weather. 
SacAs.— Where hay or grain is put in stacks, 
make a foundation at least half a foot from the 
ground. The best way to build a stack is, long and 
narrow, and to cover it with good boards, placed di- 
rectly on the top, forming a roof like the covering 
of a lean-to, sloping only in one direction. 
Same. — As soon as green peas are fit to feed, let 
the Bwine have a good supply. Keep shoats in a 
thriving condition. When they are confined in 
close quarters, mow an armful of red clover for 
them, once or twice a day. Where whey is fed, it 
will make much better swill to mingle meal, or 
shorts with it, and allow fermentation to commence 
before feeding. Swine of all kiuds like clean and 
pure water, as well as any other animals ; and if 
ihey could always have access to it, they would 
not probably " wallow in the mire." 
Soiling. — Millet, Hungarian grass, oats, sorghum, 
and corn may be sowed for soiling. 
Turnips. — There is no kind which gives better 
satisfaction on the whole than the purple top strap- 
leaf. It is the turnip for the million, both for the 
table, for market, and for feed. Swedish turnips 
(Rutabagas), sowed during this month, make ex- 
cellent table vegetables, better than if sowed 
earlier, because tenderer. Sow in drills, and give 
some cultivation. Sow broadcast only among other 
crops in open corners, or by-places, and where you 
cannot use the seed-drill well. 
Tanbark. — When teams have little to do, and 
laborers are at leisure, haul spent tanbark and 
deposit it in some dry place, for littering stables 
next winter. Dry tanbark is an excellent absorbent 
of liquid manure, and it will pay to haul it, as 
well as saw dust, one or two miles. In summer it 
can usually be obtained readily. In autumn it is 
sometimes scarce. 
Tooh. — Keep all implements under cover, or in 
the shade during hot weather. The sun warps and 
cracks the wood work of scythe snaths, rakes, and 
forks, and when they are covered with dew, a thin 
scale of rust is soon formed on bright surfaces of 
iron and steel, all of which injure them more than 
ordinary use ; alternate rain and sunshine will often 
straighten bent pieces of wood. 
Tedders. — When a farmer has much hay to make, 
it will pay to procure a tedder, and keep it in con- 
stant operation, until the hay is fit to rake. Grass 
will cure much faster when it is flying through the 
air, than when it rem.iins on the ground. 
Ventilators. — Make one or two near the middle of 
every stack, and mow, by tacking four boards about 
one foot wide together, making a trunk ; set these 
on the end, and draw them upwards, as the mow, 
or stack is carried up. Some holes should be bored 
through the floor where the ventilator stands, to 
let in the air. A bag stuffed with hay answers a 
similar purpose to the trunk of boards, but, of 
course, may not be left in the top of the hole, as 
the trunk may, when the mow is full. 
Wheat. — In localities where winter wheat will be 
fit to harvest the last of the month, see that every 
thing is in readiness before the grain is fully ripe. 
Wheat makes more and better flour, if it is cut be- 
fore the heads droop ; before the kernels have pas- 
sed the " dough state." Leave an acre, or more of 
the earliest and best to ripen fully for seed. Wheat 
makes better flour to put it in shock, as soon as 
cut, rather than to sun it in the swath, as is some- 
times practised. In lowery weather, cover the 
shocks with hay-caps. 
Weeds. — Write the words, Mow Weeds, in large 
letters, where all hands will be sure to see them ; 
and let every laborer understand, that if it is too 
wet to work at hay, grain, or hoed crops, weeds 
may be mowed, close to the ground. In many 
pastures, large bull thistles cover nearly one half 
the ground. They should be mowed not only to 
allow the grass to grow, but to prevent the seed 
blowing over the country. 
Wood. — For use next winter, fire-wood should 
have the benefit of the hot weather in July and 
August, if not already cut and piled under shelter. 
Work. — Drive your work in the cooLparts of the 
day. From four o'clock to seven in the morning— 
the very time when most farmers do the least 
work — is the pleasantest time to labor. Rest from 
11 to 1 o'clock. Then work will go much easier, 
than to rest during the cool part of the day. 
Yards. — Grade and drain barn and stable yards 
for winter. Level up low places by hauling in hard 
and heavy earth in time to allow it to settle before 
heavy rains in autumn. Where the surface is un- 
even, plow down the knolls .and ridges, and make 
the surface quite level and smooth in the summer. 
'Work in llie Orchard aii<I IVurscry. 
Although the orchards in the vicinity of New- 
Tork City flowered profusely, they, at the present 
time, show but a very moderate promise of fruit, 
and as far as we have observed, only a medium crop 
is likely to be realized. Great complaint is made 
of ravages of the tent caterpillar, which has in 
some sections quite stripped the foliage from the 
trees. If this were .an evil beyond our powers of 
control we should feel more sympathy for the suf- 
ferers than we do, but,of all the insect pests, this 
is the most easily managed. The eggs are placed 
in large bunches, and cous]iicnously upon the twigs, 
as if for the very purpose of being readily destroy- 
ed, and as soon as the caterpillar begins work he 
puts up his sign in the shape of a tent, which can 
be seen long before much damage is done, and 
hundreds captured at a swoop. It is some work 
to clear a large tree of the nests, but it is a labor 
which will pay, and two or three times going over 
the orchard will save many bushels of fruit. It is 
likely that those who have suffered from the cater- 
pillar this year, will heed our frequent and timely 
warnings concerning their destruction. Trees 
which were set out this spring should be making a 
good gi-owth, but if, as is often the ease, the buds 
show a few leaves and push no shoots, it is an in- 
dication that they need a severe cutting back. 
Budding. — The time for performing this opera- 
tion will vary with the season, location .and kind. 
Whenever well formed buds can be had, and the 
bark " runs," or parts freely from the wood of the 
stock, the buds may be put in. Work as close to 
the ground as possible, and exercise the greatest 
care in procuring buds true to name, and in keep- 
ing the varieties so marked that there will be no 
mistakes. Plums are usually the first to be work- 
ed. Stocks budded last year may now be cut ofl 
smoothly, close to the shoot from the bud. 
Cherries. — Exercise care in picking, and allow no 
limbs to be broken or the bark to be injured. 
Grafts. — Remove all suckers that stand near the 
graft, and keep the cut surface of the stock covered 
with wax or clay. 
Insects. — Kill moths as directed last month. Late 
crops of the tent caterpillar will be found here and 
there, and must be removed. The slug appears on 
the pear tree this month, and may be treated to a 
dusting of lime shaken from a bag tied to a pole. 
Layering. — Shoots of this year's growth may be 
layered as soon as the wood is somewh.at hardened. 
The process is described on page 187, last month. 
Manure and Mulch. — Newly planted trees espe- 
cially, will need mulching, and bearing trees will be 
benefitted by it, especially if coarse manure is 
used. The crop in established orchards will be 
much finer if the grass is removed from over their 
roots and a coating of long manure spread there. 
Thinning. — Should be attended to, especially on 
young trees. The overbearing of a tree when 
young, seriously checks its future growth. Where 
fine specimens are desired, thin very freely. 
Pruning. — Where large limbs must be removed, 
it is best done this month. In cutting off a limb, 
do it with a clear notion of the object to be gained. 
If the head of a tree is too crowded, if it has been 
allowed to grow one-sided fi*om neglect, if some 
limbs are too near the ground, or if there is chafing 
by the crossing of two branches, it may be benefi- 
cial to cut. Use a rather wide set saw and be 
careful not to strip the bark. Cover the wound 
with melted grafting wax. Remove all suckers 
and useless " water shoots." 
Seeds and Seedlings. — Collect seeds as fast as they 
ripen. Shade seedlings as directed last month. 
Keep the ground free of weeds. 
Transplajiting.—By using proper care to prevent 
the roots from drying, evergreens may be removed 
to a moderate distance, but they must not be kept 
out of the ground many hours. We recently saw 
some locusts transplanted last year late in Jane, 
