8ki 
AMERICAN AGRICULTURIST. 
[Makch, 
Contents for March, 1873. 
Apple, Hurlbutt 2 lllutlraltons. . 102 
Boys and Gills' Columns— About Skates— Letters from 
Young People— Doctor's Talk about a Caudle— Aunt 
Sue's Puazle-Box— Locked Out. 1 Illustrations. . 107, 103 
Bedding Plants, Two New 2 Illustrations . .101 
Cattle, Hoven in 97 
Celery and Cabbage Plants, How to Eaise 103 
Cockscomb, New Variegated Illustrated . . 104 
Corn-Marker, A Simple Illustrated. . 98 
Dog Laws, Tim Bunker on 98 
Door for Pig-Pen, Self-closing Illustrated.. 97 
Farm-Cart Illustrated. . 97 
Farmer's Savings-Bank 99 
Farming, Disgusted with 89 
Fence, Movable Wire Illustrated. . 90 
Fish-Culturists' Convention 88 
Flower-Garden and Lawn in March S4 
Fruit-Drier, American Illustrated . . S9 
Fruit Garden in March 84 
Fruit Trees, Inducing to Bear 103 
Greenhouse and Window Plants in March 84 
Guano as Sold in New York 90 
Hints about Work.. 82 
Horse, The Morgan Illustrated. . 92 
Horseshoeing, Pernicious Teaching in 99 
Household Department — Home - made Extension 
Lounge— Feather Fan— Home Topics— Recipes. 
3 Illustrations.. 105, 106 
Ice, Accidents on Illustrated. . 100 
Kitchen Garden in March 84 
Market-Farming, Localities for 102 
Market Report 84 
Mink, Trapping the 2 Illustrations. . 93 
Notes from the Pines— The Icy Sunday— Shellac Var- 
nish— Implements— Excelsior Weeding-IIook— Sid- 
ney Seed-Sower— House Plants— Hanging-Basket. 
3 Illustrations.. 102, 103 
Obituary Notice— Luther Tucker 89 
Ogden Farm Papers, No. 37— Dr. Voclcker— Sewage 
In England— Fertilizers 91, 92 
Orchard and Nursery in March 83 
Ox, Smithfleld ChriBtmas Prize Illustrated.. 94 
Peas for Texas 104 
Potatoes, Two New 92 
Scow, How to Make a 2 Illustrations.. 96 
Stanchions, Catch for Illustrated.. 97 
Stock in Texas, Improved 98 
Stone Fruits, Propagating 103 
Timber Land, Clearing 4 Illustrations. . 95 
Tomato, Canada Victor Illustrated. .101 
Walks and Talks on the Farm, No. Ill— High Farm- 
ing— Mannre— Agricultural Papers— Farm Labor- 
Stirring the Soil— Wheat— Wheat in California. . .94, 95 
Wheel, Hoisting Illustrated. 97 
INDEX TO "BASKET," OB SHOBTER ARTICLES. 
Apples. Long-Keeping.. .86 
Apple-Trees, Fungus on. .88 
Barn Plan. That 88 
Breeding Iu-and-In 87 
Butter-Making 83 
Calked Foot 88 
Cannas 87 
Catalogues Received S8 
Cattle In Western Pa 88 
Cement for Drain-Tiles.. .87 
Chromos 83 
Churning, Quick 87 
Clay with Sandy Soils, 
Mixing 88 
Clover, Plowing Under... 87 
Colts, Working Young. . .88 
Corn, Fodder 87 
Corn-Planters 88 
Corn-SUlks 88 
Cow-Milker 87 
Cows, Cost of Keeping. . .S8 
Cranberries and Onions. .88 
Earth-Worms in Pots 88 
Elk 88 
Garget, Cure for 87 
Good Advice 86 
Good Words from New 
Subscribers 85 
Grass, Bermuda S3 
Grubs ■ S8 
Holstein Cattle, Value ot'.87 
Horses, Costof Feeding. .87 
Horses, How Much do 
they Sleep? S3 
Labor Question 87 
Locate, Where to 87 
Magazine, The Practical. .86 
Manure for One Acre 88 
Milk-Coolers S8 
Oats for Butter 86 
Percheron Horses in Pa.. 88 
Pigs, Black Berkshire... 87 
Pisciculturists, Hints for. .87 
Potash 88 
Potash, Weight of a Bar- 
rel of 86 
Proud Flesh S3 
Replies by Mail S5 
Roots, English 87 
Sawdust in the Garden. ..S8 
Scratches 86 
Seeds from Agricultural 
Department 88 
Sheep, Scours in 86 
Sows, Feeding Breeding. 86 
Sows, Keeping too Fat. ..87 
Stock-Farm, Managing a. .87 
Sugar-Beets for Pigs 87 
Sugar from Melons SS 
Sundry Humbugs 85 
Tan-Bark for Mannre 87 
Timber, Kvanizing 87 
Tools for Boys 86 
Vegetables, Analysis of. .8S 
West Point SS 
Wheat, Pasturing in Win- 
ter S7 
Wheat, Spring SS 
Whiteflsh S7 
White Mustard 87 
Early Pic-wins' for Wheat.-" A. S.," 
Tipton, Center Co., Pa., writes as that last season he 
plowed a strip of land in May, for " fallow," but, on a 
neighbor saying that the sun would burn the substance 
out of the soil, he stopped plowing until it was time to 
get the ground ready for the fall sowing, when the 
rest of the field was plowed and sown. When the wheat 
was reaped, the early-plowed gronnd yielded a good 
crop, equal to 20 bushels per acre, while the rest yielded 
only 5 bushels. He believes now in "fallows." 
Calendar for March. 
Boston, XEng- 
laud, A. York 
State, Michi- 
gan, Wiscon- 
sin, Iowa, and 
"reoon. 
"^ OB 
M ri.31 n. 31. 
" 5 r,0 9 9 
1 5 51 10 23 
. 5 52 11 83 
315 54,moni 
2!l 3 65 43 
28 5 56 1 47 
2G 5 58 2 49 
33 5 59 3 44 
236 
216 
19 6 
.17 6 
lii >; 
14 6 
12 6 
10 6 
9 
~i G 10 
56 11 
3:6 12 
2 6 14 
6 15 
59 •; 10 
5; 6 IT 
55 6 19 
53 6 80 
52 6 21 
50 22 
486 23 
4M 1 6 24 
41 6 2.-1 
4 27 
5 3 
5 37 
6 4 
rises 
6 34 
? 36 
8 40 
9 41 
10 52 
morn 
1 
1 11 
2 18 
3 15 
4 4 
4 43 
5 16 
sets 
6 43 
7 57 
9 10 
10 21 
x. r.cuv. ci., 
Piaiadetpliia, 
New Jersey, 
Peuii., Otuo. 
Indiana, and 
Illinois, 
PIS SS 
IT.il h.-M U- ii. 
G 31 '. EH 9 3 
ti 32 5 53 10 20 
C 31 5 r>4| U 29 
(i 29 5 55 mom 
6 SB 3 56] 38 
c 27 -, 5? 1 41 
38 
Washington, 
Maryland, 
Virginia % Kai- 
tucki/, Missou- 
ri, and Cali- 
fornia. 
in =| b 
25 5 
G 24 r, 
G 22 G 
20 6 
G 18 G 
6 10 r, 
6 15 
IS 6 
6 12 6 
10 6 
6 9,6 
9 
o io 
6 5 11 
C 3 12 
6 2|6 13 
6 1 G 11 
6 15 
5 51 6 10; 
5 56 (li 
5 51 G is 
5 53 19 
5 5; -jo 
5 50,0 21 
5 4SG 22 
5 40 iO 23 
2 4: 
3 37 
4 20 
5 
5 33 
6 
rises 
6 SI 
7 30 
8 33 
9 41 
10 48 
11 50 
morn 
1 5 
2 12 
3 8 
3 58 
4 33 
5 13 
8CtS 
6 42 
7 53 
9 7 
10 19 
II.M 
6 33 
10 SI 
6 30 
6 2? 
X 
20 
21 
i: 2: 
2i 
12 
6 If 
r, 16 
6 13 
6 13 
12 
10 
6 9 
u. jr. 
9 7 
10 17 
11 25 
morn 
II 32 
1 35 
2 36 
3 30 
4 14 
4 54 
5 2S 
5 57 
rist'B 
35 
7 35 
R 30 
9 38 
10 44 
111 11 51 
12 moin 
1S| 59 
5 59 
5 5G G 
3 55 
5 54 
5 53 
5 51 
5 19 
5 47 6 
2 5 
3 2 
3 52 
4 31 
5 9 
19isets 
211 1. ., ; 
5 
9 3 
10 15 
PHASES OF THE MOON. 
MOON. [BOSTON. 
N.YOF.K. 
Iwash'n. 
CHA'STON 
CHICAGO. 
]D. H. M. 
R. 31. 
n. 31. 
H. 31. 
n. 31. 
1st Quart 5 8 41 ev. 
3 59 ev. 
1 8 17 ev. 
8 5 ev. 
7 35 ev. 
Full M'n 14 1 m. 
48 m. 
3G m. 
24 m. 
11 51 13lh 
3d Quart. 21 5 36 ev. 
5 24 ev. 
5 12 ev. 
5 ev. 
4 30 ev. 
New M'n'lS, 8 10 m. 
7 5S m. 
1 7 46 m. 
7 34 m. 
7 4^m. 
AMERICAN AGRICULTURIST. 
NEW YORK, MARCH, 1S73. 
Spring is nominally here. The field labors of 
the year will soon commence, and we should see 
that everything is ready for energetic, systematic 
work. How to make money by farming is the great 
question. There are t3VO ways of getting rich. 
One is to spend less than you earn ; and the other 
is to earn more than you spend. It may be thought 
that this is a distinction without a difference ; but 
such is not the case. The farmer who aims to save 
50 cents out of every dollar he gets is a very differ- 
ent man from the farmer who aims to get $1.50 in- 
stead of $1.00. One saves just as much money as 
the other. But the latter has just twice as much 
to spend as the former. And it will make quite a 
difference to a farmer and to his family, and to the 
community in which he lives, whether he spends 
$500 or $1,000 a year; or still more whether he 
spends $3,000 instead of $1,000. The distinction 
we make, therefore, is one worth considering. We 
believe in economy ; but we believe still more in 
work. When John Johnston was plowing one hot 
day in his summer-fallow, a butcher came to buy 
some cattle. Mr. J. told him his price and then 
started the horses, and the butcher walked by his 
side. He was very fat, and the land was soft 
and mellow, and the perspiration 60011 burst from 
every pore. By the time he got to the end of the 
field, he was willing to " split the difference." Mr. 
J. turned in again, and the butcher still walked by 
his side. When they got back to the starting point, 
Mr. J. put in the plow again and started the horses. 
" Hold on, Johnston," exclaimed the butcher, " I'll 
take urn ; I would not walk up and down that field 
again for double the money." Here is a man who 
knew his own mind — knew what bis cattle were 
■worth ; and above all be knew the value of time. He 
knew that a man and team were worth 30 cents an 
hour. He knew that if he stopped and went home 
with the butcher the men working in the field 
■would be likely to do less work -while he was gone. 
An hour's idle talk would probably have cost him 
50 cents. He was determined to save this 50 cents 
I and run the risk of the butcher not giving what the 
cattle were worth. And this affords one reason 
why Mr. Johnston has lived in great comfort, 
brought up a large family, and made over one hun- 
dred thousand dollars by farming. 
Hints about Work. 
Make up your mind what you iutcud to do. Sit 
down and count the cost. Do not undertake more 
than you can perform. It is unwise to commence 
work that you arc not able to finish in due season. 
Many a farmer loses more by getting behindhand 
with his spring work than would buy another team, 
and pay the wages of a man for a year. This has, 
at any rate, been true more than once in our own 
experience. Have you not found it so? 
What then shall we do? — Shall we buy more horses 
and hire more men? Not if we can help it. It 
would probably be better to plow less laud. This 
is a point each fanner must decide for himself. All 
we can say is, do not get behindhand with your 
work. Almost anything is better than this. 
The Seasons do not Change. — We are quite apt to 
blame the weather. And yet it is a matter of fact 
that there is no change in our climate. There have 
always been wet years and cold years and years of 
great drouth. We should be prepared for them. 
Underdrainlng on all wet soils is indispensable 
to real success in farming. A well-drained and well- 
worked heavy soil is rarely affected by drouth. 
Every enterprising farmer will do more or less 
draining every spring. If be once commences to 
underdrain, and does the work well, he will not be 
likely to stop until he has made all his land dry. 
Top-dressing Grass-Land is a grand means of ame- 
liorating the effect of drouth. Spread the manure 
as early as possible in the spring, and if you have 
a Thomas harrow use it freely to break up the 
manure. 
Go over the Farm as soon as the snow melts in the 
spring. You will see many things that need to be 
done. Make a note of them aud prepare to do them 
at the right time. 
Let off Surface Water.— This is always in order. 
Farmers will let it off wheat, but very few ever 
think of letting it off a bare stubble. If there is no 
crop to kill, they think it can do no harm. A few 
hours' judicious labor will often let off more water 
in a day than the sun at this season can evaporate 
in a month. 
Hake your Walks Dry. — Put down planks or 
boards if necessary ; but it is far better to get the 
water off. You can do this if you attend to the 
matter before the water soaks into the ground. 
Irrigating Grass-Land at this season is a capital 
thing, provided the laud rests on a dry porous sub- 
soil or is underdrained. But irrigating low, wet 
land will do no good. Better get off all the water 
you can, instead of getting more on to it. 
Drain first, and then Irrigate. — This will double or 
treble your grass crop and not injure the quality. 
There are many streams that might be easily 
dammed up and the water diverted over acres of 
grass-land at a small cost. It is a mistake to sup- 
pose that irrigation is only necessary in dry wea- 
ther. It does great good on grass-land early in the 
spring. Try it. 
Sow Grass atid Clover Seed on Wheat early in the 
spring, unless you propose to harrow the wheat. 
It is seldom that the seed is injured by the frost. 
Do not spare the seed, and be careful not to miss 
any land. 
Plaster may be sown at any time when most con- 
venient — from one to two bushels per acre is 
enough.. It will do no good on low, wet land. 
Repair the .Fences.— This can be done at times 
when other work is not pressing— say after a rain, 
when the ground is too wet to plow. 
Piling Manure should be done, if done at all, early 
in the spring. Many farmers prefer to draw their 
manure out of the yards directly on to the land. 
We will not argue the question here. All we say 
is, do something with the manure. Either use it 
