122 
AMERICAN AGRICULTURIST. 
[April, 
Contents for April, 1878. 
Agriculture in Kansas.137 
Among the Farmers, No. 27.—Corn and Cob Meal; Bag 
Holder; Stealing Poultry ; Blood and Breeding; Pigs 
in California Drouth ; Irish Butter ; An Irish Dairy¬ 
maid.134-135 
Artificial Fertilizers—How to Use.139 
Bee Notes for April.130 
Black Dorset Swine. Illustrated. .121 
Boys and Girls’Department.—Aunt Sue’s Chats.—An 
Interesting Game, Word Making; Log Cabin Patch- 
work. — Young Microscopists’ Club; Optical Illu¬ 
sion, Sugar Louse, Fish Scales, Brook Silk, Dip¬ 
ping Tube, Revolving Globe, Aquarium, Eel Pot.— 
Aunt Sue’s Puzzle Box—A Spring Day in the Coun¬ 
try. .15 Illustrations .. 145-14S 
Carriage and Tool House Combined. .4 Illustrations. .140 
Catalpa Tree anil Its Uses.142 
Catalogues Received.153-154 
Cattle, Covered Yards for.2 Illustrations .137 
Cattle—Feeding for Milk. 139 
Cattle—Popularity of Ayrshires.139 
Cattle—Shorthorn Heifer, Duchess of Ilillliurst 3d. 
Illustrated . .133 
Corn Used Tor Fuel. 140 
Dangerous Pet.142 
Drain, Making a Cheap. Illustrated . .136 
Exports of Agricultural Produce.129 
Farm Experiments, More About. 129 
Farm Work in April.122 
Fence Building, Aids in. Illustrated. .137 
Flower Garden and Lawn in April. 124 
Fodder Crops—Which to Select.138 
Fruit Garden in April. 123 
Gardens, Irrigating Our.143 
Goat Keeping for Profit. 136 
Grape Vine.2 Illustrations . . 142-143 
Horses, Exportation of.133 
House—A Cottage Costing $S00 to $1,050.4 111 .. 132 
Household Department,—Home Topics.—After the 
Kindergarten; Education at Home; Mental Strain; 
Unbleached Window Shades; Rice and Tapioca 
Pudding; Tapioca Pudding with Eggs.—Another 
Wood Box; A Strawberry Huller; Washing and 
Washing Machines ; Sensible Advice About Eggs; 
The Tin Pan Nuisance.3 Illustrations. . 143-145 
Humbugs, Sundry.126 
Irrigating Our Gardens. 143 
Kitchen and Market Garden in April.123 
Lettuce, A New Way to Forward. 142 
Liquid Manure Cistern. Illustrated.. 137 
Livery Stable Plans.3 Illustrations.. 140 
Machinery, Is it Profitable ?.139 
Mangel, Webb’s “New Kinver.”. Illustrated. .137 
Market Reports...124 
Orchard and Nursery in April. 123 
Plants May Thrive on a Meat Diet.131 
Plants—Propagating by Leaves... Illustrated.. 142 
Plants, The Common Reed. Illustrated . .141 
Poultry House.4 Illustrations. .136 
Road Leveller. Illustrated . .136 
Root Crops for Stock.138 
Science Applied to Farming, No. 40.—Plans for Ex¬ 
periments with Fertilizers.130 
Scoop for Measuring Feed. Illustrated . .138 
Scoops for Sowing.2 Illustrations . .136 
Shrubs, The Stuartias. Illustrated. .141 
Stock—Gain of Weight. 135 
Swine, The Black Dorset. Illustrated .. 121 
Talks on Farm Crops, No. 14.—Indian Corn Culture. .135 
Those Important Farm Experiments.131 
Window and Greenhouse Plants in April.124 
INDKX TO “BASKET,” OB SIIOI1TE1I ARTICLES. 
Ailanthns and Its Uses. .127 
Agl. Journal in Japan... 128 
Asbestos Paints.126 
Bean Culture.129 
Bean Planting.153 
Belted Cattle.129 
Boys and Girls.128 
Buckeye Mower.128 
Calcicake. 12(1 
Calibre of Guns.128 
Catalogues of Dealers. ..129 
Colorado Stock Men.153 
Cows Leaking.153 
Diuresis in Heifer.129 
Exports of Meat, etc_128 
Facts About Florida.129 
Fish Interest.125 
Flax for Seed.126 
Fresh Manure on Pota¬ 
toes.129 
Grass for Montana.126 
Ground Nuts.129 
Heebner's Horse Powers.127 
Horticultural Societies.. 128 
Hybridizing Plants.126 
Just a Mention.127 
Land in Grass.129 
Lice on Hogs.129 
Little Washer.126 
Lumps on Horse .126 
Microscope for Every 
Subscriber.125 
Mixed Feed.153 
Much Delay.126 
N. Y. Hort. Society.128 
Our World’s Fair.125 
Oyster-Shell Lime.153 
Percheron and Normans..128 
Percheron Horses.129 
Pip in Poultry.129 
Poland-China" Record_128 
Poplars & Cottonwoods..125 
Potato Culture.129 
Pressure at Paris.127 
Protecting Seed.128 
Sale of Jerseys.126 
Schedules of Prizes.128 
Scurvy in Poultry.129 
Sending Papers.126 
Special Crops.128 
Stock for Dairy.129 
Sundry Humbugs.126 
Supplying Fertilizers... .126 
The Flower Garden.128 
Tonic for Pigs.153 
Vegetable Plants.____127 
Calendar for April. 
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A ill EIIIC A N AG RI € II L T U RIS T. 
NEW YORK, APRIL, 1878. 
The active work of the year is now about to be¬ 
gin,over a large extent of country,and it may be well 
to consider a few plain and practical statements, and 
their bearing. Labor is the only source of wealth. 
Labor creates nothing ; it only adds to already ex¬ 
isting matter that quality of usefulness by which it 
is made to increase the general wealth. Wealth is 
simply the accumulation of the products of 
nature, and of our own industry—stored up for 
future use. Labor is set in operation by energy, 
and is guided by intelligence. An energetic man is 
industrious, and is tenacious of purpose. It is in¬ 
telligence which enables us to make the most of 
our resources and to apply our labor most effective¬ 
ly. Unless energy is eontroled by intelligence, 
physical or bodily labor is wasted uselessly. Mental 
labor plans, invents, arranges, and directs bodily 
labor, and makes it productive in proportion to the 
accuracy’ of the reasoning which incites it. The 
bodily labor of one man, or that of thousands of 
men, may be set in operation or guided by the mental 
labor of one man. Mental labor is therefore more 
effective and more valuable than bodily labor, and 
its value is to be measured by the value it adds to 
bodily labor. The mental labor which invents a 
plow, a mowing machine, or produces a book, may 
be of immense benefit to a whole country, or even 
to the whole world, for it may serve to increase 
many times the results of the labor of millions of 
men. So the mental labor or intelligence of the 
man who uses a plow, or a harvester in the best 
manner, or wbo reads the book to the most profit, 
becomes worth to him many times more than his 
muscular force, because these may enable him to 
do many days’ labor in one, without any physical 
weariness, and so add to his actual wealth and his 
comfort. Tlius it is seen that the mind and the 
hand must unite together, to make the labor of 
each effective ; and that the mind may enable the 
hand to very greatly increase its usefulness. Work 
on the farm deals with things that are hidden to the 
sight, and need to he clearly understood; and there 
is no other physical labor performed in the world 
that needs more to be guided by the labor of the 
mind, than the cultivation of the soil, the rearing 
of stock, and the conversion of field products into 
finished articles for sale, such, for instance, as 
meat, butter, cheese, milk, etc. The result of all 
this is, that a farmer should be a studious, thought¬ 
ful man, as well as an energetic industrious worker. 
He must also learn to stick to one thing ; to persist 
in his chosen course ; to be patient and persever¬ 
ing, and to strive to make his labor skillful apd 
effective. With these qualities, there is no man 
surer of a reward for bis labor, nor of better pay 
for the best quality of work. 
Hints for Work. 
[The Hints and Suggestions in these columns are- 
novel- copied from previous years, but are freshly pre¬ 
pared for every paper , from the latest experience and' 
observations , by practical men in each department .] 
The Plow is already at work in thousands of fields,, 
while a few are yet kept idle by a sodden soil. Cau¬ 
tion should be used lest, the plow be put to use too 
soon. No furrow should be turned while the soil 
is wet. When the mould-hoard is smeared, and does, 
not brighten in the soil, or when the furrow is pasty 
and does not crack open and fall apart loosely, as 
it is turned over, the soil is too wet, and will be in¬ 
jured by plowing. Make haste slowly in plowing.. 
Make a Note of It. —A little note-book for the vest 
pocket may be made by folding a sheet of paper 
until it is about 2 inches long and 1 inch wide. 
Stitch this into a pasteboard cover, cut the edges, 
and keep the book in the vest pocket with a piece 
of lead pencil. Note down in this every thing that 
needs attention as it occurs, and in the evening, 
either dispose of it, or make a more permanent 
memorandum. Having practised this method for 
years, we can commend it as very useful. 
Spring Wheat. —In spring wheat sections this is 
the first crop to be put into the ground. Where it 
will grow, it will succeed all the better for the best 
culture. Unless more than 10 bushels of grain per 
acre can he harvested, it is labor lost to grow this 
crop. It would be better to raise 
Oats. —Last fall we sowed half an acre of Ten¬ 
nessee winter oats. At the present time they are 
alive, and although the leaves are yellow, the hearts 
are green. The greatest danger is now over, and 
as they have been exposed to a severe drouth, con¬ 
stant freezing and thawing, and a temperature of 6 
degrees below zero,-they may be considered as a 
safe crop in ordinary seasons. If they can be ac¬ 
climated to stand our most severe winters, they 
will be very valuable, and will be widely sown here¬ 
after. Spring oats should be sown rather thicker 
than has been usual. Three bushels per acre is 
better than 2s if the ground is made rich enough,and 
The Ground Should be Made Rich Enough to grow 
the largest possible crops ; else we are laboring- 
with our hands and not with our heads, and un- 
profitably. Now that we have the most useful arti¬ 
ficial fertilizers, specially prepared for all crops, by 
honest and responsible dealers, there is no excuse 
for poor crops, unless the farmer is too poor to 
procure these fertilizers. In that case he should 
cultivate less land, and learn to grow the largest 
crops, by better work and more liberal fertilizing. 
High Farming is simply making the most of our 
resources. It is simply putting our work where it 
will do the most good, and suffering n® wastes to 
exist. It requires skill more than money, and good 
management rather than costly tools, fine stock, 
and showy buildings. It is not altogether in bury¬ 
ing miles of tiles in the ground, hut in bring¬ 
ing our fields under such a degree of cultivation, 
according to our means, as will produce crops with 
the greatest profit. The farmer who gains the 
most from the least outlay, is a “ high farmer.” 
Roots. —No other crop is more profitable than a 
good root crop. Mangels and sugar-beets are the 
most valuable of these crops. For these the ground 
should he prepared this month. Full directions for 
their cultivation are given in an article elsewhere. 
An Improved Yellow Globe Mangel, and Lane’s 
Imperial Sugar-beet, are the best kinds in cultiva¬ 
tion. One of the most recent, and best ap¬ 
proved Globe Mangels, is figured on page 137. 
A mixture of guano, superphosphate of lime, and 
potash salts, will make an excellent fertilizer for 
these crops. The 6eed should be procured now, 
