82 
AMERICAN AGRICULTURIST. 
[March, 
Contents for March, 1871. 
Alkaline Soils of Colorado 91 
Annual Meeting of the N. Y. State Ag'l Society 85 
Boys and Girls* Columrs.— About Donkeys— Aunt 
Sue's Puzzle Box— Castles in the Air— The Icicle 
Prize— Have a Solid Foundation.. 3 Illustrations .107-108 
Cheap Clod-Crusher Ullustrated. 97 
Farm Work for March 82 
Flower Garden and Lawn for March 83 
Frcit Garden for March 83 
Fowls Winning American Agriculturist Prizes 
i lustrations 99-100 
Grassing a Terrace 103 
Greenhouse and Window Plants for March 83 
Horses 1 Teeth 7 Illustrations.. 96 
Household Department.— Patching and Darning Ex- 
hibition — Cows 1 Milk for Infants— A Towel for 
Each— Mcreton Farm Cake... 7 Illustrations.. 105-106 
Eow to Catch an Owl 93 
How to have a Good Garden Illustrated. . 102 
Kitchen Garden in March 83 
Like begets Like '. 93 
Let us help France to Seed-Grain 35 
Market Reports 83 
New Japanese Euonymus Illustrated. .101 
Ogden Farm Papers— No. 15 91-92 
Orchard and Nursery in March 83 
Patriarch of the Herd Illustrated.. SI 
Perforate-lcaved Scindapsus Illustrated . .\§\ 
Plan No. 23.— A $2,000 to $3,000 House.... 7 -/&«.. 8S-89 
"Practical Poultry-Keeper." 90 
Premiums 84 
Question for Pig-Feeders 97 
Rock- Work and Alpine Plants 5 Illustrations . .103 
Shallow Drains belter than None 90 
Special ties of Eastern Farming 99 
Tall Meadow Oat-Grass '2 Illustrations . .104 
Three Crops in One Season 101 
Trapping the Muskrat Illustrated. . 93 
Trapping the Black Bear Illustrated.. 94 
Turning a Compost Heap Illustrated.. 97 
Vegetables, New and Old 91 
Walks and Talks on the Farm, No. S7— Chemistry 
"Applied"— Wheat bran as food for Cattle— How 
much seed-wheat to the Acre ? 94-95-96 
Water for Cattle in Winter 90 
When aud Where to Irrigate 98 
INDSX TO "BASKET," OK SHORTER ARTICLES. 
Agencies, Newspaper Club87'Madder 87 
Agriculturist, Bound Vols.S6|Maple Sngar 87 
Agriculturist, Postage 86 Oats, Plowing in ._. .87 
American Pom. Soc 86 
Best.Aid for Work 86 
Building and Thatching 
StackB 89 
Buflalo Beef. 86 
Clubs 86 
Crops that stand Drouth. .89 
"Doctors'," Do n>t write 
About 86 
Help Wanted 
HuniDugs, Sundry 86-87 
Lambs, Early for Butcher. 89 
Larch, From Seed 
Patching and Darning Ex- 
hibition 87 
Plaster, How much per 
Acre? 90 
Post-office Money Orders, S6 
Preparing Land for Gardeu89 
Preservation of Timber. ..89 
Registered Letters 86 
Seed Store, New 87 
Small Truck Farm 87 
Special Premiums 86 
Spring Seeds, Trees, etc.. 87 
Three Horses abreast 89 
Food for Cows and IS«-i fers before 
Calving. — If the cows are in very high condition, it is 
well, for a week or ten days before calving, to give them 
light food, such as bran-slops, with a moderate allowance 
of hay. The great point is to keep their bowels in a 
loose condition. If the bran does not accomplish the 
object, a drench of 4 oz. of Epsom salts should be given, 
every second or third day fur a week or ten days before 
calving. With cows in ordinary condition, however, it 
would be much better to give a quart of flax-seed per 
day, instead of the salts. It should be boiled in three 
or four quarts of water for an hour or more. This flax- 
Beed-tea is very nutritious, easily digested, and acts as a 
mild cathartic. Linseed oil-cake may be used for the 
same purpose, giving two quarts of meal per day, and 
boiling it in five quarts of water for two or three hours, 
until it is thoroughly cooked. It is said that if heifers arc 
liberally fed, for two or three months before calving, they 
are much more likely to prove good milkers. There is 
nothing better for this purpose than bran and oil-cake, 
say six quarts of bran and two quarts of oil-meal per day. 
U-iil within a week or ten days before calving, the oil- 
%Vsij and bran may be fed dry. 
Lime in a, lompowl-IIeap.— J. H. M., 
Shelby Co., Tenn., writes: " I have a small thirty-acre 
^arm of stiff clay, and am trying to make all the manure I 
can. I keep six cows, closely penned, and feed them on 
cotton-seed, corn and fodder. The manure is gathered 
and made into a compost-heap, using alternately a layer 
of air-Blaked Uine aud a layer of manure and each other 
materials as can be gathered. I turn the heap aud sprin- 
kle it thoroughly with water. Do I make the heap 
right?" No. You should leave out the lime. Better 
Use the lime in a separate compost of old sods, muck, etc. 
Calendar for March. 
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land, H. York 
Slate, tlichi 
gan. Wiscon- 
sin. Inien, mid 
Oregon. 
5 & 
II. M 
30 
6 35 
6 33 
6 31 
l> 30 
6 28 
6 26 
s ■: 
II .M 
5 51 
5 53 
6 2315 59 
6 21 6 
6 30 6 
6 13 6 
6 16 6 
6 14 6 
6 13 !6 
6 11 ui 
6 96 
6 10 
6 11 
6 12 
6 IS 
6 14 
15 
li 
i; is 
o m 
' 20 
5 50iG 21 
5 48 6 221 
5 46,1', 23 
5 45IG 24 1 
3 49 
4 ST 
5 23 
6 
ises 
6 40 
7 52 
9 5 
10 17 
11 31 
morn 
43 
1 S3 
2 55 
3 52 
1 10 
5 11 
5 45 
sets 
6 51 
7 52 
8 52 
9 43 
10 53 
11 52 
morn 
47 
1 41 
■> 31 
3 10 
jv. r.cuu. a. 
PHilatlelphia, 
New Jersey. 
Penn„ Ohio. 
Indiana, and 
Illinois. 
II. M 
i; 95 
6 34 
6 3J 
5 3, 
6 29 
6 27 
6 25 
6 24 
6 22 
6 20 6 
6 19 
U.M 
5 53 
5 53 
5 54 
5 55 
5 56 
6 IT 
6 16 
6 14 
5 12 
6 11 
9 
H 7 
6 6 
« 1 
6 1 
6 1 
5 59 
5 58 
5 S(j 
5 34 
5 53 
5 51 
5 10 
3 IT 
5 16 
fi 
6 
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6 
fi S 
6 9 
6 10 
6 II 
6 12 
6 13 
6 14 
6 15 
10 
6 1 
6 IS 
fi 19 
6 20 
6 21 
6 13 
6 23 
a. si. 
2 53 
3 43 
4 32 
5 IS 
5 57 
rises 
S 12 
7 52 
9 3 
10 15 
11 27 
morn 
39 
1 4T 
2 19 
3 4T 
4 35 
5 8 
5 42 
sets 
6 51 
7 51 
8 51 
9 40 
10 50 
11 47 
morn 
12 
1 36 
2 25 
3 11 
U ashington, 
Maryland, 
Virginia. Ken. 
Incki/. Missou- 
ri, and Cali- 
fornia. 
n.M n.M 
6 33,5 54 
6 32 5 55 
6 30|5 56 
6 29 5 
6 27[5 57 
6 26 5 58 
6 24,5 59 
6 23 6 
6 21 6 
6 20 6 
6 IS 6 
6 IT 6 
6 15 
6 13 6 
S 12 
10 
6 9 
6 10 
6 11 
G 12 s 
6 13 
6 14 
6 15 
6 16 
6 17 
,6 18 
5 536 19 morn 
5 5UG 19i 37 
5 50|6 20 1 30 
5 4816 21 2 20 
5 47'6 221 8 6 
8 46 
3 3S 
4 27 
5 12 
5 52 
rises 
6 43 
7 52 
9 1 
10 12 
11 23 
morn 
31 
1 42 
2 44 
3 42 
4 30 
5 4 
sets 
6 51 
7 51 
8 49 
9 37 
10 45 
11 42 
PHASES OF THE MOON. 
Full 
3d Quart... 
New Moon 
1st Quart. 
BOSTON.; N. TOKK. WASH'N. CHa'STONICOTOAGO 
It 16 ev. 
2 m. 
U. SI. 
II. M. 
10 43 ev. 10 31 ev. 
5 24 ev. 5 12 ev, 
11 4 ev. 10 52 ev 
1 18 nl.l 1 36 m. 
H. M. H. SI. 
10 19 ev. 9 49 ev. 
5 ev. 4 30 ev. 
10 40 ev. 10 10 ev. 
1 24 m. I 54 m. 
AMERICAN AGRICULTURIST. 
NEW YORK, MARCH, 1871. 
Iu this month we finish up winter work, lay out 
for spring operations, aud plan for the summer. 
The memorandum-hook is one of the farmer'6 
best frieuds, if he will only make it so. It is near- 
ly half any job to undertake it just at the right time, 
and a farmer whose work waits for him to see what 
his neighbors are goiug to do, may as well "lay down 
the shovel and the hoe." It requires but a modi- 
cum of experience, if a little thought be given to 
work, to be able to judge thus of the best time to 
do every common kind of farm-work. The hints 
which we give cannot, of course, have other than a 
general application, and are to be followed with 
commou sense. It is well to remember that the 
simplest forethought has a greater practical value 
than the profoundest afterthouglU. Onr best plans 
often escape our memories in the hurry of pressing 
farm-work, or are thought of wheu too late to car- 
ry them out, unless put upon paper and sys- 
tematically referred to. If the memorandum- 
book shows just what work to do, it will matter 
little if the farmer is drawn on a jury, or otherwise 
necessarily absent ; the oldest boy or the good wife 
will be able to see that the work goes on. 
Hints about Work. 
The Work-Bench. — A farm is as incomplete with- 
out a good work-bench as without a corn-house or 
granary. It should be a carpenter's bench, with a 
good wooden vise at the left-hand side, and ma- 
chinist's or blacksmith's vise, which may be re- 
moved aDd attached at pleasure. There should be 
carpenter's tools, cold chisels, and piiuches, an as- 
sortment of files, awls, thread and wax for sewing 
leather, copper rivets, and a rivet-set for leather- 
work, a soldering-iron, and shears for cutting tin, 
besides paint-pots aud brushes. 
Rainy-Day Work. — There are the potatoes to be 
looked over, those fit for seed selected, the de- 
cayed ones thrown out, and all "sprouted" — that 
is, have the sprouts removed. It may be well, also, 
to cut or rub the tops off from ruta-bagas and other 
roots. (These young turnip sprouts, by the way, 
make delicious greens.) Cellars may be cleaned 
out and whitewashed. Milk-cellars made ready for 
; use as soon as the weather is mild enough, and the 
j milk is at hand. Tools repaired and sharpened; 
beehives made and put in order for summer, and a 
. big heap of fodder cut, to save time. 
Manure that is intended for use in the field may 
j be hauled out while the snow lasts, or ever the 
; hard frozen ground of the early mornings ; if the 
! distance is not great, half-a-dozen loads may be 
j got out every morning, and the teams set at other 
j work during the rest of the day. That which can- 
| not be plowed in at once should be made into cora- 
I post for corn, or for grass, and got out at once for 
j this purpose. All manure and compo6t-heaps that 
j have lain for awhile should be worked over. 
Irrigation. — The melting of the snow will carry 
away much that is valuable, unless the streams of 
I water flowing from it be conducted over the land. 
Grass-land is most benofited. Snow-water is always 
rich in nitrogen, and often contains other fertiliz- 
ing material. The wash from roads aud highways 
ought always to be turned upon the land, and con- 
ducted iu rills over the grass. 
Fences.— "When the frost has come out of the 
ground, and before it is dry, fence-posts may be 
set with great ease. All the fences of the farm 
should be examined aud the posts straightened ; if 
need be, weak rails removed, aud new ones put in. 
Plowing must be delayed until the ground is 
crumbly. It would be hard to estimate the damage 
done to much land by plowing too early. 
Grass-Ixind. — All kinds of "hand manures" may 
be applied with profit in the 6pring. A mixture of 
plaster aud ashes is excellent. Guano aud plaster, 
guano aud superphosphate, bone-dust aud fine 
earth, half and half, after lyiug and heating, are all 
good combiuations, and better than either alone. 
It is much more profitable to save 6table manure 
intended for top-dressing grass uutil after mowing, 
and meanwhile compost it with muck or soil, so 
that it shall be fine and even at that time. 
Potatoes. — It is rarely worth while to plaut pota- 
toes iu March north of Washington. If we at- 
tempt to do so, we do not get the groutid well 
enough prepared. In the garden it may do. At 
the South the earlier the ground can be prepared 
and potatoes planted, the better, as the chances 
then favor higher prices and a better crop. 
Mares with foal should have roomy box-stalls ; 
they should be worked moderately only, fed 
good hay, with a few carrots, or other roots, and 
enough meal-braL or oil-meal ; or better, the three 
mingled on cut hay, to keep them in good order. 
Cows approaching calving should be placed in 
box-stalls, well littered, and not interfered with. 
They should have all the good hay they want, 
with a quart of oil-meal, or four quarts of bran 
daily, and a peck of roots at least. Cows at 
calving should be fat. Let them have all the 
water they will drink, and it is best, when the 
weather favors, that they should be allowed the 
range of a 6unny yard. If the new milk springs, 
and the udder becomes hard and feverish, draw the 
milk occasionally, and knead the bag a little. This 
never occurs until just before calving. When cows 
come iu at this time of the year, it is very impor- 
tant that they have plenty of roots to take the place 
of the succulent grass of June. 
Calves. — As a rule, we think it best never to let a 
calf suck. Let the cow lick it dry, and then re- 
move it to an adjacent stall or box. She will 6ee 
that it gets no harm, and will make no fuss about 
it, unless it is moved or roughly handled. The calf 
will soon learn to drink from a pail, and wheu the 
cows are turned to grass, such calves may be safely 
trusted with them — though it is well to prut on a 
muzzle, witt nails in it, for a few days, lest the cow 
may coax hor calf to 6uck. The calf should have the 
warm unlk of its dam pure, for a week, then half- 
skimmed milk for a week or less, always warmed; 
after this, skimmed milk, thickened with fine In- 
dian meal or wheat middlings. We add oil-meal, 
aud think it 6afer than Indian meal alone. Boiled 
miik, with fine flour, will check scours, and a little 
castor-oil will cure constipation. 
Svrine. — The sow approaching farrowing must 
