906 
AMERICAN AGRICULTURIST. 
[JtTLT, 
on the 30th of April. Dr. Pngh's studies were 
pursued under the most distinguished chemists 
and agriculturists of Germany and Great Brit- 
ain. As a chemist, his attainments were high, 
and bis investigations of great value. When 
he returned to this country he heartily espoused 
the cause of agricultural education, and was 
soon burdened with the responsibilities of Pres- 
ident of the newly projected Agricultural Col- 
lege, and they could not have rested on better 
shoulders. In spite of persistent opposition, of 
discouragements and perplexities, not single 
handed, but bearing the brunt of the labor, he 
was successful, finally, in placing the institution 
upon a permanent and liberal basis, and in a 
most excellent position before the public, seeing 
it numerously attended, and daily growing in 
favor and influence. He is taken away just as 
a full fruition seemed ready to crown his labors. 
Woman's Labor in the Field. 
In this country it has been a rare sight to see 
women engaged in field labor, except at the 
South, where woman's labor has been highly 
appreciated, especially for certain kinds of 
work. The present scarcity of laborers leads 
many to employ women in field labors. Dur- 
ing the month of June thousands have found 
profitable employment in weeding carrots and 
mangels, setting out cabbages, tobacco, etc., 
lending a hand in the hay field, and perhaps in 
the corn and potato fields too. They are paid 
50 to 80 cents a day, and we have no doubt 
they earn it well. At least their employers are 
entirely satisfied. We should be very sorry to 
see the women of America subjected to the 
cruel drudgery of the women of Europe, yet no 
one can look upon this out-of-door labor, if not 
of a character to overtax their strength, as like- 
ly to work any thing but good to those who 
participate in it. 
Hundreds of farmers boys, ambitious to do 
" the work of a man," and encouraged in it by 
their parents long before they have man's 
strength and endurance, have been stunted for 
life, dwarfed, or drawn out of shape, and still 
remained healthy and strong, while others 
have contracted disease, lessening their ability, 
and shortening their lives. Of course females 
are quite as likely as males to injure themselves 
in the same way. American women, and women 
folks of the farm not less than others, are pro- 
verbially " delicate," nervous and weak. Could 
the ruddy and brown complexions gained in the 
field, become fashionable, and the " interesting" 
pale-faces of. the darkened parlor find them- 
selves decidedly in the shade, the next gener- 
ation would have an additional reason to be 
grateful to this, and to these cruel war times. 
-•-» —| C wm- ► o 
Turnips. 
a 
We have never paid the attention to different 
varieties of this root which it deserves and re- 
ceives abroad. The reason may be that in the 
northern States where their culture has been 
most extended, and where we find the most 
careful culture in all respects, we can not feed 
them off upon the ground, as is the custom in 
England, where most varieties are allowed to 
occupy the ground until thus consumed. The 
varieties most generally cultivated, and perhaps 
the best, all things considered, are the Purple- 
top Strap-leaf, which is flat, and the Cow-horn, 
(Vertus' Long-white.) which is a long root, stand- 
ing a good deal out of the ground; both are 
favorite field varieties, the latter seldom seen in 
New- York market. The Yellow-stone and 
Golden-ball are each excellent and haudsome, 
and the Swedes (rutabagas) are all valuable, 
even if sowed rather late, though, of course, 
these ought to have a long season. For table 
use in winter and spring, yellow^or white ruta- 
bagas sowed in July are preferable to those put 
in in June, if they grow quickly, for they are 
less rank, and more marrowy. 
The last week in July is usually the time 
chosen for sowing turnips. (Swedish turnips 
may be sowed any time after the middle of 
June.) The best rule in regard to quantity of 
seed is to sow as little as you can, a pound and 
a half to the acre is an abundance. Drilled 18 
inches apart they do better than if sowed broad- 
cast, though this is the usual method with com- 
mon turnips. If the sowing be delayed until 
August, even late in the month, and severe 
weather holds off until the 25th of November, 
— " Thanksgiving time " in New England — a 
good return may be expected. Turnips do 
their growing and filling out, in cool weather 
after frost, and are only injured by such freezing 
as entirely cuts down their leaves and freezes 
the ground hard. The best returns are gained 
from rutabagas sowed about the middle of June, 
the drills being put far enough apart to give 
the cultivator room to go between the rows. 
Sowed late there are fewer weeds, the roots do 
not grow so large nor require so much room, 
and so the drills may be much nearer. 
Keep up the Flow of Milk in Drouths. 
A drouth in summer, scorching the pastures, 
drying the streams, parching the land far and 
near, is a great calamity, and none feels it quick- 
er than the dairyman. The provident farmers 
have made provision for any such occurrence, 
by putting in corn or sorghum, or other green 
fodder crops, which will afford an abundance of 
excellent forage for a long time, and if not thus 
used, will furnish dry fodder for winter feed- 
ing. Corn, if only well cured, is second in value 
only to good meadow hay of mixed grasses. 
Whereever it is possible, the practice of " tak- 
ing up" the cows every night, stalling or yard- 
ing them and feeding green fodder, or an equiva- 
lent, is advisable. A little oil cake meal, or 
cotton-seed-cake meal, or Indian meal fed daily 
at this time makes itself very profitably felt in 
the milk pail, or in the butter, tub. 
As soon, at any rate, as the least undue dimi- 
nution in the quantity of milk is noticed, and 
accurate observations ought to be made daily, 
measures ought at once to be taken to keep up 
the flow. Farmers are so much in the habit 
of letting cows fall off in milk during the sum- 
mer's drouth, that unless they almost dry up, 
many would regard it as only the natural course 
of things. If, however, they have constantly 
full feed during the first 4 or 5 months after 
calving, the falling off should be very small. 
If the cows can not well be stalled, nor put into 
loose boxes in sheds or barns, they may, at least, 
very easily be yarded. It is best to put a large 
herd in several small, sheltered, dry yards, 
those agreeing best or of about equal strength 
being put together. When the one or two 
fighters or " bullies" of a herd are taken out 
for a night, the rest will be quiet enough, and a 
decidedly better return for the feed may be ex- 
pected. The yards ought to have fodder racks, 
so that the feed will not be wasted. The amount 
of feed to be provided for the cows, and the 
time to take them up will depend very much 
upon the condition of the pastures. They 
ought to be turned out, very early so that they 
may fill themselves, if they can, before the heat 
of the day, or else they should have a feed be- 
fore they leave the yard. With the return of 
rains and a good growth of grass, if it is desir- 
able, the feeding at home may be discontinued. 
By this practice a much better flow of milk will 
be secured for the autumn and winter. 
Grass— How to Avoid Sowing Foul Seed. 
It will never do for us to complain of thistles, 
docks and daisies, so long as we persist in sow- 
ing foul seed. Not a few of the grass-fields of 
our acquaintance were made by sowing them 
from the deposits of the hay-mow. In this there 
are two errors. First, such seed is much of it 
only half ripe, the grass being cut when in 
bloom, and being therefore unfit for seed. And 
secondly, the hay of a majority of our meadows 
has such a mixture of weeds, that those seeds 
which are ripe are too foul to spread again on 
our lands. "For whatsoever a man soweth, that 
shall he also reap." Then, again, many of our 
meadows are injured by sowing them with poor 
seed bought at the stores. It is of great import- 
ance to buy seed only of responsible dealers, 
and to know that they purchased it of responsi- 
ble farmers. In purchasing seed it is well to 
examine it carefully with a magnifying glass, 
no matter of whom it is bought. A better se- 
curity than any other is for each farmer to raise 
his own seed, and see to it that it is perfectly 
clean. This is easily done as respects Timothy, 
Red top, June Grass, Orchard Grass, Red and 
White clover. Sow carefully selected seed, and 
keep the ground clean, let it ripen the second 
year. Then cradle and bind in small bundles 
as soon as wilted. Set them on end for a few 
days, and thresh as soon as they are dry enough 
to avoid waste by shelling. As soon as one gets 
a reputation for the purity of his grass seed, his 
neighbors or the dealers will gladly buy all he 
has to spare, at a very remunerative rate. 
Buckwheat— Cultivation for the Grain. 
The cultivation of this crop has, perhaps, 
been too extensive in some parts of this country, 
leading as it does to carelessness of keeping up 
the soil to a good state of fertility. Buckwheat 
does not require a rich soil, and fresh manure 
makes the crop so run to foliage that the grain 
does not fill well. The production of plump, 
heavy seed is attained when the ripening takes 
place late-in the season ; the cool nights and 
warm short days of autumn seem particularly 
favorable. It is therefore a question for farm- 
ers to settle experimentally, how late they can 
sow and not have the crops caught by early 
frosts. From the middle to the last of July, is 
the favorite period, farmers preferring to run a 
little risk of September frosts rather than not 
get plump grain. 
It grows well on light soils and a small dres- 
sing of good superphosphate, or bone dust, will 
secure a crop without serious exhaustion of the 
land. Leached ashes and bone dust, any quan- 
tity of the former, and 3 to 5 bushels of the 
bones to the acre is a good application ; a light 
dressing of Peruvian guano or Castor Pomace, 
tells wonderfully. The quantity of seed to the . 
acre varies with the character of the soil. Two 
pecks, small as the quantity may appear, will 
cover the acre with a dense growth, even to the 
shading and overpowering of most rampant 
weeds, if the soil be tolerably strong, and 4 to 
6 pecks are often used on poor soils. The quick 
