4=4r2 
AMERICAN AGRICULTURIST. 
[December, 
Contents for December, 1871. 
Balsam Apples and Pears Illustrated . .402 
Barn—Mr. Sargent's . . 3 Illustrations. .455, 456 
Birds— The Cow-Bunting Ill tut ratal.. 451 
Bones— Utilizing them 457 
Boys and Girls 1 Columns— The Doctor Makes a Prop- 
osition—About Christmas Presents — The Doctor 
Talks about Indians— A Trick of the Gulls— Aunt 
Sue's Puzzle-Bos — Answers to Correspondents. 
7 Must rations.. 405, 406 
Cactuses in Winter 4G1 
Care of Implements 457 
Chinese Quince Illustrated.. 45to 
Country Roads and Bridges 4 111 'nut 'rations. .440, 450 
Crimson and White "Mignonette 459 
Don't Cover tco Early 459 
Drying up Cows 436 
Early Shipping Tomato 460 
Egg Farm 2 Illustrations. .448, 449 
European Larch 460 
Experience with Egg-plant, 400 
Farm Work in December 442 
Flower Garden and Lawn in December 443 
Folding Chicken Coop lUwtrated. 455 
Fruit Garden in December 442 
Grease for Galls on Horses . . . 455 
Greenhouse and Window Plants in December 443 
Home-made Sleds Illustrated . .454 
Hoodwinking the Crows Illustrated. .451, 453 
Household Department — Some Novel Chairs— nigh- 
Chairs— Hints for Santa Clans— Children's Books — 
Feminine Underwear — Sauces and Garnishes — 
Christmas Goose — Making Shirts — Buttons — How to 
Cook Sturgeon— Dried Apple Parings — Scalloped 
Oysters 2 Illustrations. 463, 464 
How I make a Hedge 461 
How to Strip a Hide 456 
Insects— Great White Leopard-Moth... 3 Illustrations. .459 
Japan Pear Illustrated.. 482, 
Kitchen Garden in December 443 
Market Reports 444 
Milk— How Much docs a Quart Weigh 456 
Milk-Mirror in Jersey Cows... 456 
Movable Feed-Rack Illustrated. . 454 
Notes from the Pines— Sheldon Pear— Moore's Con- 
cord Corn — Peerless Potato— The Late Roses— Light- 
ning as a Landscape Gardener — Christmas Rose — 
Winter State of Plants — Winter Pears — Keep- 
ing Geraniums — Parsnips — Judson's Branching 
Corn 460, 461 
Ogien Farm Papers, No. 23— Selling Stock— Pigs- 
Selling Butter at a High Price 447,443 
Oiling Axles , 457 
Orchard and Nursery in December , 443 
Ox- Yokes ,.2 Illustrations.. 455 
Plowing and Cultivating by Steam. . .Illustrated. .457, 458 
Belling Fruit and Vegetables by Weight 461 
Sheep Pens and Racks Illustrated.. 453 
Slaughtering Pigs Illustrated. .454 
Smoke-house and Oven Illustrated. .455 
Snow- Plows Illustrated.. 454 
Sorrel 462 
Trial of Working Oxen Illustrated. . 441 
Useful Hand Cultivator Illustrated . .461 
Walks and Talks on the Farm, No. 96— Success of 
a German Farmer — Seeing a Point — Manure from a 
Ton of Bran— White Mustard — Grade Cotswolds — 
Winter Work— Pride of Labor 452, 453 
Winter Care of Sheep 457 
INDEX TO "BASKET," OR SHORTER. ARTICLES. 
Artesian Wells 447 
Aucuba— Akebia 446 
Bee Notes 447 
Best Stock for a Farmer. 446 
BicknelPs Village Build- 
er 445 
Bricks and Leather 446 
Cedars 446 
Chesapeake and Ohio 
Railroad 445 
Crops and Prices 446 
Curing Cats 447 
Dogs Killing Sheep 446 
Double Geraniums 446 
Farming in Mexico 447 
Forest Trees, Bryant's.. .446 
Fowls for Exhibition 445' 
German Edition 446 
Good Pig 446 
Good Returns from Sheep447 
Grease from Bones ..446 
Hearth and Home— Fic- 
tion 445j 
How Much Land for a 
Cow 447 
now much Oil-Mcal 147 
Hydraulic Rams . 
It Will Pay 440 
.Mortar^-Linje and Sand. 447 
New Pump 445 
Northern Pacific Bail- 
road 447 
Number of Feet in an 
Acre 446 
One Hundred Pounds of 
Pork 446 
One of Many 446 
Osage Orange 446 
Peat 446 
Plowing Sod Land 447 
Pulling Stumps .446 
Rolling Land for Corn. . .447 
Rolling Spring Grain 446 
Sniffles in Hogs 446 
Sows Losing Appetite. ..446 
Special Premium 444 
Sprain of Sinews 447 
Sundry Humbugs 446 
Thomas' Harrow 444 
Time to naul Lime 446 
[Transplanting Hickories.447 
Trophy Tomato Premium445 
Union is Strength 444 
Violets 446 
What Books to Read. . . .447 
When to Apply Lime, etc.447 
Woolly Taste of Miftton.440 
Young Pigs 440 
Calendar for December. 
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7 11 
7 12 
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PHARER OF THE MOON. 
MOON. 
BOSTON. 
N'. YORK. 
WASH'N. 
CHA'STON 
CHICAGO. 
ID. 
II. M. 
rt. M. 
n. m. 
It. M. 
H. M. 
3d Quart.. 5 
2 2 m. 
1 50 m. 
1 38 m. 
1 26 m. 
56 m. 
New Moon 11 
11 18 cv. 
11 6 cv. 
10 54 ev. 
10 42 ev. 
10 12 cv. 
1st Quart.. 181 3 57 cv. 
3 45 ev. 
3 S3 ev. 
3 21 ev. 
2 51 cv. 
Full '26 
4 51 cv. 
4 39 ev. 
4 27 ev. 
4 15 ev. 
3 45 cv. 
AMERICAN AGRICULTURIST. 
NEW YORK, DECEMBER, 1871. 
This month closes the thirtieth volume of the 
American Agriculturist. During these thirty years 
it has labored earnestly, and in a good degree, we 
trust, effectively, for the advancement of American 
agriculture and the improvement and interest of 
American farmers. We can not complain of a want 
of appreciation. No agricultural paper ever before 
attained half the circulation of that enjoyed by the 
American Agriculturist for 1871. We have reason to 
expect a still greater number of subscribers for 
1873. No editors ever had more liberal publishers, 
no publishers ever had more willing editors. What 
we have done in the past is nothing in comparison 
with our hopes and intentions for the future. We 
believe in ourselves and in our readers. We have 
faith in good farming ; and we are endeavoring to 
show our faith by our works. The agricultural 
editors of the Agriculturist are practical farmers. 
We live on the farm, and our monthly "Hints 
<ibout Work" are the result of our own experi- 
ence and observation. The year now drawing to a 
close has been, in many respects, a discouraging 
one to farmers. Butter, cheese, pork, and beef are 
low. Wool has done a little better and the pros- 
pects are encouraging. Those farmers who Eold 
their sheep and bought eows, will probably now 
sell their cows for half what they cost, and buy 
sheep at double what they got for them. We urged 
our readers not to sell their sheep, and cautioned 
them against rushing into the dairy business. We 
would say now : If you have sheep, keep them ; if 
you have cows, do not sell them. It is a good time 
for any one to buy cows who proposes to establish a 
permanent dairy. Select the best, get a good hull, 
and aim to improve the herd. There is still money 
iu the dairy business. Pork-packers lost heavily 
last winter. They will try to get hack their money 
the present season, and the probabilities are that 
we shall be obliged to sell our pork below the cost 
of production. In a year or two it will be our 
turn. The low price of pork will increasl! con- 
sumption at home and abroad. American hams, 
bacon, and barreled pork will be introduced into 
new markets and to thousands of new consumers 
in different parts of the world. We lose money 
by the transaction, but we shall get it buck iu the 
end. Those farmers will make a mistake who sac- 
rifice good breeding stock. 
It is never so dark as just before dawn ; an<A dark 
as have been our prospects the past season, we mis- 
take the signs of the times if a bright day is not 
rapidly approaching. We shall get better prices 
for all our products. 
But good prices alone do not make good times. 
We need good crops, good stock, and a less cost of 
production. Now is a good time to think and talk 
about these matters and lay plans for the future. 
" We need more capital." Certainly we do — and 
the same is true of all occupations, in trade, com- 
merce, or manufactures. But what is capital? It 
is simplj 7 labor, or the means of procuring labor. 
We have heard farmers bemoan their lack of 
capital while they spent several hours a day, in 
winter, smoking and talking around the stove at a 
village grocery. Many farmers need enterprise 
and pluck much more than they need capital. 
Hints :ilxni( Work. 
Hake the House Comfortable. — We have no patience 
with a man who allows the windows to rattle in 
the casements, while with a hammer, a few nails, a 
lath or two, and a little putty, he could, in an hour 
or two, make the house snug and comfortable. 
We believe in thorough ventilation, but it should 
be under our control. There are thousands of 
homes where the inmates spend a wretched winter 
simply for want of a little attention to such mat- 
ters. See that the outside doors fit snug. A storm 
house inclosing the door most exposed, or where 
the family are going in and out frequently, is a great 
comfort. A damper iu the stove-pipe prevents the 
heat from going up the chimney, and saves fuel- 
See that the wood-house is well supplied with dry- 
wood ready for the stove, and that there is 6ome 
kindling always prepared ready for use. Where 
coal is used, and in the absence of charcoal, have 
a barrel of dry corn-cobs ready for starting fires. 
Let the family room be well lighted, and make 
home attractive to the young people. Let there be 
no lack of good books and useful papers. Pleasaut 
winter evenings at home constitute oue of the great 
charms of country life. It is here that character is 
formed, and the future usefulness of our children 
in a good degree determined. 
A comfortable family room, warm beds, nutri- 
tious food, and plenty of sleep, will enable a farmer 
and his family to spend the winter pleasantly and 
profitably. There is plenty of work to be done, 
and the eold, instead of benumbing the faculties, 
will stimulate exertion. Do not spend your winter 
days hy the stove, or in complaining of hard times. 
Attend to the Animals.— 'Next to the family the 
most important duty is to make our domestic ani- 
mals comfortable. There is great profit in it- 
Warmth is, to a certain extent, equivalent to food. 
And, what is of far greater importance, it saves 
digestion. It is sometimes said, when speaking on 
this subject, that corn or hay is a costly fuel, but 
this does not tell half the story. When an animal 
is exposed to storms and loses an excessive amount 
of heat, this heat has to be supplied from the 
blood or from flesh and fat. And good meat, fat, 
or butter is certainly a very expensive fuel to burn 
in the animal stove. Many farmers who think it a 
great waste to burn "body maple" iu the house, 
allow their cows to burn butter in the barn-yard. 
This is precisely what thousands and tens of thou- 
sands of farmers do every winter. We implore 
every reader of the Agriculturist to provide some 
shelter for his animals — if it is nothing more than 
a shed of evergreen branches or corn-stalks. 
Give the Animals Enough to Eat. — Next to ex- 
posure, oue of the most serious drawbacks to 
profitable stock feeding is the want of a liberal 
and regular supply of nutritious food. Many far- 
mers eau not be made to understand that an animal 
eats a large amount of food merely to keep it alive, 
and that all the profit the owner derives from keep- 
ing the animal, comes from the food eaten in ex- 
cess of this amount. If straw will keep an animal 
alive, all the profit of keeping the animal is derived 
from hay or grain fed in addition to the straw. 
Feeding Cattle and Sheep on the bare ground may be 
