1878.] 
AMERICAN AGRICULTURIST. 
123 
ready lor sowing late this month, if the season is 
well forward, or early next month. 
Potatoes .—While the potato beetle is about, most 
farmers will plant early potatoes. They are out of 
the way before the great army arrives. Byt we 
look for a great diminution of this pest if potato 
growers will fight them at all times for a year or 
two. The open winter may have destroyed a great 
many, but enough will remain. Yet we would 
plant potatoes. There is no more profitable crop 
when planted on good soil, and well cultivated. 
The Early Rose is still the best for the general crop ; 
Early Vermont is very good, and yields well; Snow¬ 
flake is an excellent variety ; Early Ohio yields well, 
and Burbank promises to beat its parent, Early 
Rose. This is variety enough for early sorts. Read 
the account of True’s planter given last month. 
Cultivation of Wheat .—The Travis horse-hoe, in¬ 
vented by a Michigan farmer, has been found very 
serviceable in cultivating wheat sown in drills. In 
time, we shall cultivate wheat as we do corn, with 
surprising benefit, and Mr. Travis is the pioneer in 
this modern, but much needed improvement. 
Top-dressing Sod for Corn .—We doubt if any bet¬ 
ter disposal of manure could be made at this season 
than to top-dress at once the sod to be plowed by 
and by for corn. It is easy to grow 100 bushels of 
corn to the acre if we set about it. Many fanners 
are doing it. It only needs 2 good ears to each 
hill 3 feet apart each way; that is all. Having a 
com that yields four or five ears to a stalk, it is as 
easy to grow 100 bushels per acre of corn as 25 bush¬ 
els of wheat, with the manure and cultivation. 
There is no Danger in Crowing Too Much .—Great 
Britain imports eight hundred million of dollars 
worth of food every year for her 30 millions of peo¬ 
ple. Her farmers only raise -10 per cent of the food 
consumed in the country ; the rest is purchased 
from abroad. We can have the bulk of this trade 
if we want it. And besides this, our working popu¬ 
lation is increasing very fast. There is no danger 
of over production, if products are properly assort¬ 
ed. Farmers, miners, and artisans, in due proportion 
together, will not flood a country with unsalable 
products. Plentiful food is the basis of prosperity. 
Meadow >■ and Pastures need a little stimulating 
fertilizer. A dressing of 200 pounds per acre of 
bone-flour, superphosphate, or guauo, often doubles 
the yield. Nitrate of soda (150 pounds per acre) 
gives a rank growth, but the hay is not so nu¬ 
tritious as that from the phosphatic manures. 
Improved meadows mean more milk, cheese, butter, 
and beef. Along with the fertilizer, a scattering of 
fresh seed, timothy, blue-grass, red-top, and clover, 
mixed; and a good harrowing will be beneficial. 
All this may bo done this month. 
Horses .—A regular allowance of grain will now be 
needed by working teams. It is economical to 
feed ground grain. Ten quarts a day is a full allow¬ 
ance for a hard-worked horse. A pailful of moist¬ 
ened cut hay, with 3y quarts of ground feed 
mixed with it, is the usual quantity fed to each of 
our horses. This feed is not too bulky, and when 
given nearly dry, has not the injurious effect on the 
wind of wet soft feed. The best feed is equal parts 
of corn, rye, or oats, and wheat-bran. 
Cows. —In-eoming cows should be treated with 
caution. Good hay is sufficient food for the mouth 
previous to calving. Watch the udder closely, and 
on the first appearance of heat and hardness, bathe 
it with cold water to reduce the inflammation, and 
insert a silver milking tube into each teat to draw 
off the milk as it may be secreted. In case garget 
has occurred previously, give 20 grams of iodide of 
potassium in a drink of water, and rub the udder 
with a mixture of 7 drams of glycerine and 1 dram 
of iodide of potassium. It is well to let the calf 
suck the cow if there is any trouble with the udder. 
Calves .—By raising the heifers of our best cows, 
the stock will be improved. Every farmer should 
aim to keep only the best. A cow yielding only 8 
quarts of milk a day does not pay for the feed, and 
should be replaced with a better one. We must 
look upon our live-stock as machines, kept for a 
purpose, and discard unprofitable animals. 
Sheep. —As the days become warmer, ticks will 
increase, and sheep will appear restless under their 
winter blankets. Give them shade on the cool side 
of a building, or put up a temporary shed in the 
field where they may escape the hot sun of noon¬ 
day. As the sheep begin to nibble the new grass, 
look out for scours in the lambs. If this appears, 
give a tablespoonful of a mixture of peppermint 
water with prepared chalk, and a little ginger. For 
the ticks, see hints last month. 
Pigs need clean dry pens, and supply breeding 
sows with cut straw, chaff, or sawdust, for litter. 
Oxen, when at work under a hot spring sun, will 
suffer from the heat. Give them frequent resting 
spells, and water, with some bran stirred into it. 
Manure should be turned over early in the month, 
so as to have it rotted as much as possible for use 
in hill or drill crops. Those who have heeded our 
advice, to cut all the straw and stalks, either for 
fodder or litter, will find the handling of the manure 
heap an easy task. Those who have not, will prob¬ 
ably regret the failure, and resolve to do better. 
Poxdiry. —Man}- hens will now have laid out their 
litter, and become broody. Give sitting-hens clean 
nests of soft hay, and do not set a hen that is in¬ 
fested with vermin. Put such a one in a close 
coop lined with tarred rooflng-felt, and apply 
grease to her legs and under the wings. Houses 
may be kept free from vermin by cleanliness, and 
using grease and kerosene oil on the perches. 
Sundry Matters .—Haul out a liberal allowance of 
the best manure to the garden, with a load of good 
cow-manure for the flower beds. The satisfac¬ 
tion will come when the effects are seen. Raise 
the earth around the well, or cistern, to turn off 
surface water. Observe the strictest cleanliness in 
the stables and yards. Make channels for waste 
water. Raise the centers of roads and foot paths, 
to keep them dry, before the hurry comes on. If 
seeds of all kinds have not been procured, do this 
without delay. Be cautious in tryiug new kinds, 
and never risk the main crop in uncertainties. 
Motes on Orchard and Garden Work. 
There is rarely a season that is not regarded, for 
one reason or another, as “ remarkable,” yet a con¬ 
sultation of the records for a few years back, will 
show that the same “ remarkable ” seasons are not 
of so rare occurrence. Still we can not recollect 
when we have before had, near New York, blue¬ 
birds abundant at the end of February, followed in 
early March by other birds, in such numbers as to 
indicate that, in their opinion at least, we have an 
early spring. If the present indications (March 
13th) continue, there will be a rushing time with all 
spring work. Those who act upon the principle of 
doing work whenever it can be done, are less likely 
to be crowded, than those who put off spring work, 
because it is not spring by the Almanac. The Notes 
for the past two months should be consulted, and 
all preparatory work hurried up. 
— —. 
OrcBaavd. and Ntirscry. 
The Planting Season, if this weather continues, 
will be short, and the work must be pressed. 
There is little to add to last month’s Notes. 
Trees from the Nursery, if transported a long dis¬ 
tance, may be injured in warm weather, in two 
ways. 1st. They may be dried out. This will be 
shown by the shrivelling of the bark on the twigs. 
For trees in this condition, open a trench in light, 
mellow soil, large enough to contain them, root 
and branch. Then, first seeing that the labels are 
all right, bury them entirely in moist, but not wet, 
soil, putting a stake at the roots as a guide in tak¬ 
ing them out. Let them remain buried five days or 
a week, and, when taken out, they will be found 
perfectly restored. Another danger is, 2d, from 
Overheating in Box or Bundle, causing the buds to 
push. We have received trees, long on the journey, 
the shoots of which had pushed two or three inch¬ 
es. It will be found that it is always the upper 
buds on the branches which start first, and the only 
remedy is to cut every branch back to a dormant 
bud—one that has not started—no matter if it leaves 
the tree a mere stick with stubs upon it. This is 
severe treatment, but is the safest. 
What Varieties to Plant , is a question often asked 
of us, and is one of the most difficult to answer. If 
the fruit is for home use, a succession from tho 
earliest to the latest, will be needed. If fruit is to 
be grown for market, then it is necessary to know 
w-hat the market requires. In all these eases, the 
fruit-growers in the neighborhood can give better 
advice than any one else, and we have never yet 
met a successful fruit-grower who was not willing 
to tel! what he knew for the benefit of others. It 
is only quacks who have secrets. A recent request 
came from Central Massachusetts for us to name 
Six Pear Trees that he could plant for profit. We 
named several, the fruit of which he might profita¬ 
bly dispose of in Boston at a good price, which 
could only be sold in New York as “cooking- 
fruit.” This merety shows that one should consult 
the tastes of his market in selecting varieties. 
The Home Nursery .—Those who propose, in a year 
or two, to set out orchards, can well prepare for it 
now. They can buy from the nurseries root-grafts, 
or nursery stocks “in bud,” i. c., stocks budded 
last year, on which the buds have “taken,” and 
which will start into growth this year, from which 
the stock above the bud, must, of course, be cut 
back. These, the very beginnings of trees, can be 
bought very cheaply, and if set 18 to 24 inches 
apart in rows wide enough apart to be well culti¬ 
vated, will, at the end of two years, give excellent 
young trees to set in the orchard, at a small cost. 
Crafting Old Trees, to convert valueless kinds into 
better ones, should be done just when the buds 
swell. We can not repeat the directions for this 
every year. Grafting was described in full, with en¬ 
gravings, and made so simple that any intelligent 
boy can do it, iu the American Agriculturist for 
April, 1877, which may be had, by mail, for-15 cents. 
Books on Fruit Culture .—Every one who has an 
orchard, should have at least one book on fruit cul¬ 
ture. A list of the leading works was given in 
these Notes in January last. 
Insects .—Where the “Canker-worm” is trouble¬ 
some, look to the barriers to prevent its ascent, and 
renew the tar or printer’s ink upon the bands. 
Dead insects will often make a bridge over which 
the living may cross; a daily inspection is needed. 
Fruit Garden. 
Last Month’s Notes, in a great measure, indi¬ 
cate the principal work for this month, and as that 
will be planting, it can not be pushed forward too 
early. Early planting is desirable for every kind of 
fruit. In northern localities the 
Winter Covering of strawberries and the tender 
kinds of raspberries will remain until the present 
month. Lift the raspberries, and tie them to the 
stakes or trellis, when all danger of severe frost is 
over, and open the straw, or hay, on the strawber¬ 
ry beds, over each plant, to expose it freely. 
Gooseberries and Currants should have been pro¬ 
cured last fall, or early this spring, but it may be 
done now if the plants have not started into growth. 
Grapes .—The Notes of last month, together with 
the article on page 144, should induce those who 
have no vines to plant them, and will serve as a 
guide as to what, where, and how to plant. 
Jfiiaeixem :m<il Market ©-srdeB*. 
In all, except the most northern localities, the 
cold-frame plants will be set out, and the sashes 
which have covered them during the winter, will 
be doing service on other frames, in forwarding 
lettuce, radishes, etc. 
Hot-Beds and Cold-Frames, in which seeds have 
been sown, will need increased care, as the sun 
gets warm or. Last month we indicated what this 
care is—abundant ventilation during the day, early 
closing of the frames, and covering in cool nights. 
Parly Sowing does not mean the same thing in 
Canada that it does in Georgia, yet there are in 
both localities certain things that may be sown first. 
The Earliest Sowings, everywhere, are of Beet, 
