■J 
AMERICAN AGRICULTURIST. 
4,31 
straw. Tbe roots have cost quite too much labor 
to be mined by frost. A well protected cellar 
makes the whole house waruierand saves fuel. Pro- 
tect water pipes and pumps, and if the pipes 
chance to get frozen, wrap them in flaunel and pour 
hot water upon them to thaw them ont. Save 
plumbers' bills by timely attention. 
Fodder. — This has cost money to raise and should 
be carefully used. Feed regularly, and only so 
much as an animal eats up clean. There is waste 
in irregular, or over-feeding. If you fodder in the 
yard let it be under a shed, with racks to put the hay 
in. Stocks should be brought to the barn and fod- 
dered there. It is wasteful to scatter hay upon 
the ground. Much df it is trampled and lost. 
Live Stock of all kinds should have the owners' 
daily supervision. If others do the work, his eyes 
should see that it is well done. Few hired men can 
be trusted to do things constantly according to di- 
rections. In the very cold weather there is a con- 
stant temptation to consult his own ease rather 
thin the comfort of the animals entrusted to his 
care. Feed and water regularly, and shelter all cat- 
1 le in barns or sheds. Pine boards are cheaper than 
hay and grain.* Keep salt within reach of horses, 
cattle, and sheep. A large lump of rock salt is best 
for this purpose. If they can lick when they 
please, they will not take it in excess. Attend to 
ventilation in barns and stables, and give the ani- 
mals the benefit of the sun for a while on clear 
days. Keep all animals in a thriving condition. 
Colls and Steers. — Improve the leisure of the sea- 
son to break them in to work. The smooth snow 
path makes light loads, and their strength should 
not be much taxed at first. 
Horses. — The horse above all animals wants care- 
ful handling. See that the shoes are well put on, 
and the caulks sharpened as icy weather approach- 
es. "Warm blankets save fodder and promote 
health. If the young folks go on a sleigh ride, in- 
sist upon the horse blanket to keep company witli 
the. robes for Tom and his sweetheart. There will 
be bills enough to settle without a sick horse in the 
stable to be doctored. 
Working Oxen should be kept shod and caulked, 
if used. Keep up the flesh by generous feeding. A 
lean working ox is poor property. 
C'oies. — Keep the stables clean and well bedded at 
night. Sprinkle plaster or dried peat upon the 
floors when cleaned out, to save the ammonia and 
to avoid injury to the eyes of the cows. Ventilate 
thoroughly, and from the top of the barn if possi- 
ble. Give them an opportunity to exercise an hour 
or two in the warmest part of the day. Keep the 
horns ornamented with balls, if they are inclined 
to be quarrelsome. Plan to have one or more far- 
row, or new milch cows for winter. There is no 
substitute for a plenty of good milk in the family. 
Hogs ought to be well fattened by Christmas. 
Pork is made much more economically in warm 
than in freezing weather. Pay great attention to 
the quarters of the animals. Good sties with plen- 
ty of straw are cheaper than meal to keep up the 
animal heat. The pig is cleanly in his habits, and 
will keep himself clean if you give him a dry lodg- 
ing place and straw. Corn meal is high this year, 
and the. root crop is short, and pork will probably- 
cost the Eastern fanner about all it eomes to. 
Cooked food pays best. 
Poultry \< one of the most attractive features of 
the barn-yard, and when well cared for nothing 
pays better. In fattening geese and ducks, give 
them a pen for two weeks before killing. Hens and 
turkeys we have thought fattened quite as well at 
large. But they should be fed frequently with a va- 
riety of food, and have all they can cat. Arrange 
to have eggs in winter. A room on the south side 
of a hill, with plenty of glass, is almost indispen- 
sable. The birds must have animal food in some 
form, broken shells, and dust to roll in. F.ggs in 
winter always bring a high price in city markets. 
Select for layers the early pullets of last spring. 
For plans of poultry houses see back numbers. 
Manure. — Attend to its manufacture early and 
late, in summer and winter. Tour success In hus- 
bandry depends mainly upon this article. It pays 
even upon good lands by making them better, and 
securing larger and more economical crops. Be 
avaricious of fertilizers. It is often convenient to 
draw muck and peat from the banks of ditches that 
have been dug in the summer. "We have found it 
quite practicable to dig muck in winter after the 
surface is frozen hard enough to bear teams. Some 
swamps are accessible at this time that cannot be 
approached in summer. A farmer can never have 
too much muck on baud, if he has an acre of 
meadow that does not produce thr.ee tons of hay. 
Wood-cutting and Lumber. — Now is the time to lay 
in a stock of wood for the year. Well-seasoned 
wood saves fuel, time, money, aud the temper of 
the housewife. Much of the comfort of a family 
depends upon the kitchen fire. Rails have also to 
be provided upon many farms. Posts are wanted, 
and joists, planks, and boards. Saw-mill logs are 
much more easily carried upon sleds than upon 
carts. Improve the first good snow to move them. 
T/ie Ice Harvest. — Secure this as soon as the ice is 
six inches thick. This sometimes eomes in Decem- 
ber, and does not come again. If an ice-house is 
wanting, build one. See plans of inexpensive ice- 
houses, in back volumes. Ice is at once a luxury 
and a necessary in summer. The dairy is better 
managed with it, and many perishable articles can 
be preserved that would otherwise be lost. 
Tools. — Now that the season is ended, overhaul 
all implements and vehicles. Repair damages, and 
if new tools are wanted, secure them, to be ready 
for next year's operations. If these have no abid- 
ing place, build a tool-house without delay, and il- 
lustrate that motto : " A place for every thing, and 
every thing in its place." 
Seeds. — Get a complete assortment for next year. 
Much of the success of farming depends upon this 
item. For corn select sound ears, and those grow- 
ing two ears upou a stalk. Keep the ears in a dry, 
warm room, until thoroughly cured. Much poor 
seed corn is planted every year, and people wonder 
why it does not come up. Early seed potatoes 
should be secured now. It often makes a difference 
of half inprice whether a crop is marketed in July or 
October. Burn up the old garden seeds and get a 
new stock from some reliable seedsman. Our pres- 
ent postage law brings a seed store to every man's 
door, and he has no excuse for planting seed that 
are most too good to throw away, hut not quite 
good enough to some up. Doubtful seeds will not 
pay when good ones can had for love or money. 
Work in tl«e Horticultural Depart- 
ment. 
Now that cold weather has well-nigh put a stop 
to out-of-door work, it is well to take a look ahead 
and, before the present year has expired, give 
thought to the labors of the one that is so soon to 
open. It is a pleasant thing about horticulture 
that it is always progressive, aud that perfection is 
never attained in any department. That which we 
now consider the perfect fruit or flower will, in 
ten years, be looked upon as unworthy of cultiva- 
tion. It is this succession of novelties, this striv- 
ing after improvement, that lends such a charm to 
horticultural pursuits. Each year's experience 
teaches better ways of cultivation, and gives us 
new knowledge of the things we cultivate. For- 
tunate is he who makes use of each year's teach- 
ings, and still more fortunate if he has the means 
and the will to add to them the experience of oth- 
ers. Now at this season, when one can be a student 
without feeling that he is neglecting other matters, 
it i- well to gather up the scattered hints that are 
hidden in papers that were laid aside iu the busy 
season, and to look at the recent books that have 
been written in his particular department. It is 
nut possible that men like Warder, Thomas, Ful- 
ler, Henderson, and others, can write a book upon 
matters to which their lives have been devoted. 
without giving some information that maybe turn- 
ed to practical account. Commending the horti- 
culturist to his books and journals, wc give the few 
items of out-door work that belong to the month. 
Orchard and rVursery. 
In the Southern States, and in favorable seasons 
at the North, much of the work of plowing and 
subsoiling, and making ready for spring planting, 
may be done. Every favorable opportunity of this 
kind should be seized upon. Planting an orchard 
implies a promise to take care of it ; trees set last 
fall should be occasionally looked to, to see that 
they are safe from domestic animals. 
Fences must be iu a condition to keep out horses, 
cattle, and sheep, as well as those thoughtless 
people who, when snow covers the ground, strike 
a straight line for their destination w-ithout regard 
to the damage they mav do. 
Jiabbits are often destructive to young orchards, 
and various preventives have been from time to 
time proposed. The simplest of these, and the 
one largely followed at the West, is to sprinkle the 
trunks of the trees with blood, or, what answers the 
same purpose, rub them with a piece of fresh liver. 
Mice like to work under cover, and if dead weeds 
or other litter lie close to the trees, they will be 
very apt to hark them. Clear away all rubbish, and 
after a snow fall, go around and press the snow 
firmly arouud the trunks. Surrounding the base 
of the trunk with a cylinder of tin or sheet iron may 
be practised where there are not many trees. A 
solid, smooth mound of earth, about a foot high 
will protect them ; but when snow covers this, the 
mice will work under it if it is not trampled hard. 
Standing Water in the orchard must be prevented 
by opening surface drains where they are needed. 
Cions may he cut any time, provided the twigs 
be not frozen. Choose good, well ripened shoots, 
of last season's growth ; tie in bundles and label 
with the greatest care. To insure against the loss 
of the tag, it is well to mark one of the cions in 
each bundle also. Whittle a flat place at the large 
end of the twig, and then cut a number in Roman 
numerals, which shall serve as a reference to a 
memorandum. Saw-dust is better than sand for 
preserving the cions ; keep in a cool place. 
Catalogues shotild be consulted, and the list of 
trees for spring planting made out. Our advice i* 
to always buy of the nearest reliable nurseryman. 
Manure may be applied to the orchard — not a lit- 
tle near the tree, but over the whole surface. 
Fruit iu store is to be kept at as low and even a 
temperature as practicable, without freeziug. 
Choice pears that have been well kept bring a good 
price, especially as the holidays approach. 
Nursery stock can now be propagated by root- 
grafting. This work is done in-doors, in unpleasant 
weather ; while the mild days are employed in 
heading back and shaping the last season's growth 
of young trees. Look to trees that were 
Heeled-in for the winter, and see that no water 
stands around them and that the banking of earth 
is not washed away by heavy rams. 
Fruit Garden. 
The general directions for the orchard are for the 
most part applicable here. 
Protection of those plants that need it is usually 
done, too soon ; when the ground becomes crusted 
is time enough. Tender raspberries may be bent 
down and covered with earth, and a mulch put over 
the strawberry beds, as noted on page 450. 
Snow, if it accumulates in the heads of dwarf 
trees, should lie shaken out while it i- yet light 
Grape Fines, if yet unpruned, may be attended : i 
on mild days. Even the hardiest do all the better 
if laid down and covered with earth. Make cnt- 
tings and linry them, or callus them by the process 
recommended last month on page 409, 
Priming of dwarf trees may be done, provided no 
large wounds are made. 
Kitchen Garden. 
Wherever the condition of the ground will allow 
of tbe use of the plow and spade, a great deal may 
be done to save valuable time in the spring. To 
