3878 .] 
AMERICAN AGrRIO ULT U RTST. 
43 
aDd the rest of the ground does not get its share. We 
see many fields now dotted over with heaps, hauled 
cut in December. Leaving them until spring, is one 
of the small leaks which help to make greater ones. 
Watering Stock is a very important part of the 
care needed for them at this season. Empty and 
dear the troughs of ice every afternoon, so that 
when filled in the morning there is no ice to chill 
the water. In cold weather water should not be 
drawn from the well until it is needed for the stock. 
Covers should be provided for all outside water 
troughs to keep out snow. 
Clear awaij the Ice from watering places, gates, 
and all places where cows would be in danger of 
slipping ; many a calf is lost by reason of cows fall¬ 
ing upon icy places. If nothing else can be -done, 
scatter upon the ice some coal-ashes, or sand, which 
will thaw in during sunshine and will freeze on 
to the surface at night, and make it rough. 
A Smoke House may be prepared and set up ready 
for use next month, when bacon and hams may be 
taken from the pickle. A store of com cobs may 
now be saved for the smoking. A smoke house, 6 
feet square, and 8feet high, made of double boards, 
will be sufficient to cure a large quantity of meat 
by beginning early. Finish this work, and have the 
meat packed away safely before the flies appear. 
Stone Boats. —A very seasonable work now is to 
procure some heavy plank, and make a stone boat 
for every team. One does not know how useful 
these implements are on a farm, until they are tried. 
To haul stone is only one of their many uses. 
Harness will be greatly improved by taking it 
apart, washing with soap and water, and dressing 
it with some good water-proof preservative. We 
have used the “ Tunyoap Water-tight,” made by 
the Tunyoap Manufacturing Co., of Boston, for 
harness as well as for the soles and upper 
leathers of boots. It renders the leather soft and 
impenetrable by water. 
Draining in wet swamps can be done all through 
the wintermonths with ease and comfort. We pro¬ 
vide a plank about 12 feet long, either at the side of 
the ditch or in the bottom of it, to stand upon while 
working. This keeps the feet dry. But little frost 
penetrates swampy ground, even in the coldest 
weather, and if the surface that is partly dug is left 
loose at night, it can be broken up with ease. Con¬ 
tracts for ditching 2 feet deep, and 2 feet wide at 
Ihe top, have been made for 25 cents a rod. 
Grinding Feed is profitable. Ground feed goes 
farther in use than whole grain. Where the money 
can be afforded to purchase a mill, this can he done 
with profit where 10 head of stock are kept. A 
mill that will grind 4,000 bushels before it needs re¬ 
pair, can be bought for $50, or less. There is a 
saving of 400 bushels in the shape of toll, and the 
time of going to mill besides. This latter will be 
about equal to the time taken up iu grinding at 
home, and there will be left the value of the 400 
bushels of grain for the $50 spent, and the mill 
can be made as good as new at a small cost. 
Young Stock. —To keep young stock growing 
through the winter, will hasten their maturity by 
half the time. A good thrifty 2-year-old that has. 
had no set-back, will be equal in weight to a 4-year- 
old that has not grown during the winters. The 
cost of two years feed is saved by the expenditure 
of the little extra feed and care for two winters. 
This principle applies to all live stock. 
Over-Feeding is a waste of food, and causes a loss 
of flesh. Indigestion from repletion, stops growth, 
and gives trouble to restore health and thrift. The 
art of feeding is au important part of a farmer’s 
knowledge, and should be studied with care, and 
practised with patience and close observation. The 
use of weights and measures is not a waste of time 
and labor. There is much to he learned and saved 
by them. Every feed-box should have a one-quart 
and a two-quart scoop, and a feed measure holding 
a known quantity. A half-peck measure (4 quarts) 
is a handy size to have. 
Feed Troughs and Backs should be provided for 
yard feeding, both for grain and fodder, so that 
nothing may be trampled under foot, and wasted, 
and strong animals may not drive off or annoy the 
weaker ones. We can easily contrive go that the 
animals of all kinds must do precisely as we wish. 
Separate Yards for feeding may be made by putting 
up a few panels of portable, or other fence, across 
the main yards, A few strands of fence wire, 
stretched from one side to the other, make a good 
division, and the snow does not drift against it. 
Smutty Corn —The' wet weather of the past sum¬ 
mer has caused much smut to grow in the corn. 
This fungus is poisonous to animals, and doubtless 
is the cause of much unexplained trouble. The 
smutty stalks should have been laid on one side in 
the field ; hut if not done, throw out now and 
burn. The dust of the smut is its seed, and, if 
permitted to escape, will perpetuate the pest. 
Cows. —Preserve strict cleanliness in the cows’ 
stables. Dry cows may be fed moderately to keep 
them in fair coudition only. Heavy milkers, when 
near the time of coming in, need judicious treat¬ 
ment, so as not to unduly stimulate the secretion 
of milk. Milking cows should be kept warm. If 
the udders, or teats, become foul, they should be 
washed with warm—but not hot—water, and wiped 
perfectly dry at onee. To wash the teats, and leave 
them to dry, will cause cracks ; the same effect will 
occur if the teats are wetted with milk and left to 
dry. The teats should be kept dry while milking, 
if one would avoid cracks and sores. 
Fives and Lambs. —Light feeding of grain is pref¬ 
erable for ewes at this season. Too much corn 
meal will be positively injurious. Half a pint of 
corn a day will be sufficient, alternated with a pint 
of wheat, bran, or whole rye. A mixture of one 
quart of salt, and one ounce of 6ulphur, placed iu a 
box where the sheep can always reach it, will be 
beneficial. Early lambs with their dams should 
have warm pens in sheltered parts of the stables 
during the coldest weather. Such pens are very 
useful for ewes that reject their lambs. 
Young Lambs are troubled with few complaints ; 
the chief 'of these is costiveness, which may easily 
be remedied by giving a teaspoonful of castor oil. 
New-born lambs should have a little of the oil ap¬ 
plied to their hind parts to prevent the glutinous 
duugfrom ciosingthe bowel. This should be looked 
for aud guarded against, or remedied without delay. 
Young Pigs that arrive this month need the best 
of care, or they 'will be lost. They are hardy ani¬ 
mals after the first dangers are over, and they arc 
able to help themselves. A stove in the piggery 
would he found very useful; or if a separate build¬ 
ing, well warmed with a stove, could be provided 
for occasional use in the cold weather, many young 
animals might be saved that are now lost. 
Poultry. —We find that it pays well to warm the 
feed for hens. It is a very easy matter to putapan 
of com in the oven over night, and have it warm 
for the morning feed. For the afternoon feed we 
put in the oven about noon a pan of cracked com 
covered with water. When this has swollen, and 
soaked up the water, it makes excellent feed. 
Some of the Imperial Egg Food may he given 
twice a week at this season. 
A Clean Poultry House is iudispeusable, if the fowls 
are expected to be healthy. It is a small job to 
scrape, sweep, and dust the floor, and remove the 
droppings twice or three times a week during feed¬ 
ing time. The droppings should not he stored in 
| the poultry-house, but in a dry place, packed in 
barrels, and kept for use iu the spring. 
Sundry Matters. —It will he well to turn out pota¬ 
toes that have been kept in barrels, or bins, to pre¬ 
vent sprouting. Potatoes have a tendency to sprout 
this season, and should be closely looked to.... 
Air the cellar thoroughly on a cool dry day to lower 
the temperature ; 35 degrees is warm enough for d, 
vegetable cellar... .Clean machines, washing the 
gummy parts with kerosene oil, and wiping them 
off with a bundle of rags dipped in sperm oil.... 
Watch root pits closely, and see that the ventilation 
is ample and perfect. Roots are growing very much 
in the pits this winter in consequence of the mild 
weather. To prevent this, we have opened the pits 
at the bottom by thrusting in a sharp-pointed bar 
every two feet, and letting in cold air to reduce the 
temperature... .Ice should be gathered as early as 
possible. Late ice is not so solid as that gathered 
during the short days when the sun has little power 
to soften and make it porous_To preserve health, 
keep the feet warm and dry, the throat and chest 
well protected, and when warm with exercise avoid 
standing still, or cooling off suddenly. The last 
named precaution relates as much to working ani¬ 
mals as to their owners. 
Notes on Orchard and Garden Work. 
If one near the end of a letter begins to talk about 
the weather, it is regarded as indicating that the 
writer is running short of ideas. To avoid any such 
suspicion, we put the weather at the beginning. 
What a winter this has been, thus far ! W T e write 
on January 15th, and there have not been, we should 
judge, 15 days (12 miles N. and W. from New York 
City) in which late fall or early spring work could 
not go on in the open ground. The gardener or 
farmer who had not bis fall work thoroughly done 
up this New Year’s day, is not likely to ever have 
it so. Gossip about the weather is of but little use 
unless we can draw some lesson from it. Cultiva¬ 
tors in this vicinity have paid dearly for one lesson 
—which is, that routine work will not always an¬ 
swer. Those who have followed their usual custom 
of covering up their pits of roots aud their trenches 
of celery for the winter, on a given date, have 
learned that this is a not a safe practice. The losses 
from decay are Said to he very general, where the 
full covering has been placed on stored vegetables, 
while those who postponed the covering until it 
should he found to be needed, escaped damage.... 
In protecting living plants, we notice that the prac¬ 
tice has been much modified of late years. It is 
quite easy to kill a half hardy plant with too much 
covering ; indeed it is not unlikely that many plants 
have the reputation of being “very tender,” instead 
of “half hardy,” because in the trials that have 
been made of them they have been covered too 
much. A clump of Osmanthus, Skimmia, and other 
plants heretofore regarded as unsafe iu the open 
ground in our climate, we have now in their third 
winter out. Pea brush is stuck around them, and 
enough salt-hay thrown in among it to shade the 
plants, but not sufficient to prevent circulation of 
air. They came through the last winter, which was 
a very severe one, unharmed. It is likely that with 
similar treatment, other plants which we feel 
obliged to house might be left out of door t s. Straw¬ 
berry plants arc often killed by too thick a cover¬ 
ing, under which they do not get fairly dormant. 
What, the effect of this unusual weather will be 
upon peaches, and other easily excitable trees and 
plants, remains to be seen. 
-■> 
Oi-clESirtl andl Purser}'. 
Were we to devote the whole paper to it, we could 
uot say all that might be said in any one depart¬ 
ment ; hence we point out each month the important 
matters on which a novice is most likely to need 
a reminder. This month one may find occupation 
in earing for the old trees he already has, or in pre¬ 
paring to plant new orchards, and it may happen, 
that he must attend to both. 
Renovating Old Trees.— There is a popular notion 
that trees get into an unproductive condition 
through a neglect of pruning, and that a thorough 
pruning is all that is needed to restore them to a 
healthful and fruitful state. This is a mistake. 
While pruning is usually needed, this is not the 
chief want of the trees. They have been brought 
to their poverty by starvation, and their great need 
is food. This being supplied, pruning, scraping, 
and other treatment may come in to aid. 
Manure being the first thing needed, the fertility 
of the orchard may be brought up by a generous 
application of barn-yard manure, spread upon the 
surface, and turned under by a shallow plowing. 
In the absence of sufficient manure, then green 
crops, buckwheat, or clover, may be sown, to he 
turned under, with application of lime, or ashes. 
Having provided for the soil, then 
Pruning may be considered, if the variety is 
known to be a desirable one. In pruning an old,, 
