1878.] 
AMERICAN AGRICULTURIST. 
163 
Cows and Calves. —Caution should be exercised in 
turning cattle on to the fresh grass. Young stock 
are especially subject to disease from over-feeding 
with succulent herbage. Black leg, black-quarter, 
or carbuncular erysipelas, frequent at this season, 
is so caused. Where there is danger, a seton in the 
dewlap has been found effective to prevent it, To 
change the feed gradually, however, is the best 
preservative of the health. In-coming cows that 
have been well fed should be watched to prevent 
garget. To reduce the feed before calving, and to 
guard the cows against lying out during cold rains, 
wiil be safe. Every owner of a cow should possess 
a good book on the care of cattle. Dadd’s “ Cattle 
Doctor ” will be found useful in this way. 
Swine. —Pigs given a run at grass will do best. The 
orchard, sown to clover, might well be appropriated 
to them in part. The effect will be beneficial in two 
ways ; the pigs will have good grazing, and many 
vermin will be destroyed. If the pigs gnaw the 
hark, wash the lower part of the trees with some 
thin mud mixed with cow-duug. A feeding coop, 
such as is described elsewhere, is useful for young 
pigs. In this, some milk in a shallow pan may be 
given them without disturbance from older ones. 
Poultry. —Young chicks should now be coming 
torward. As a rule, those hatched this month, if 
of good breeds, will begin to lay early in the fall, 
and continuing through the winter will brood early 
next spring. The profit of feeding laying hens, 
when eggs are scarce, is obvious. The loss in feed¬ 
ing “dead heads ” through the winter, to lay only 
when eggs arc plenty and cheap, is apparent. 
Feed Little and Often to young chicks. Cracked 
wheat, swollen with hot water, and fed warm, 
and occasionally mixed with some of the animal 
meal prepared by Bowker & Co., of Boston, will 
push them on very fast. One heaped teaspoonful 
is sufficient at one meal for a brood of a dozen 
chicks. We find a good place for a coop is beneath 
a plum or cherry tree. A curculio has no chance 
to : ;cape their sharp eyes. If properly cared for, 
poultry ought to pay more profit than anything 
else on the farm—the garden excepted, perhaps. 
Fodder Crops for early use are to be put in as soon 
as possible. Make a succession of sowings, that 
the crops may follow each othei every ten days. 
Oats and Peas, sown together, give a large yield 
of nutritious green fodder. If the ground is rich 
and clean, 2)^ bushels of oats and 1% bushel of 
peas may be sown on a well harrowed field, and 
covered with a small, shovel-toothed cultivator. A 
broad, leafy oat and large-growing pea are the 
best. We have found the “ Side ” or “ Horse- 
mane ” oats and the “ Black Marrowfat Pea,” best 
for abundant fodder. For early cutting, the small 
“ Gray Canada ” pea, sown with barley, may be 
substituted.— Tares or Vetches, and the “ Mammoth 
Clover” are good fodder crops. 
The main Planting for fodder should be com. The 
Evergreen Sweet corn; the early Canada Dutton, 
King Phillip and other small-growing varietes are 
best. Plant with the Albany, or other planter, 
in rows 30 in. apart and close together in the 
row, using about 3 bush, of seed per acre. A fine 
fertilizer, such as guano, or one of the special corn 
manures, may be dropped along with the seed with 
the planter mentioned. If barn-yard manure is to 
be used, the drills may be opened with a plow, the 
manure scattered in the furrow and covered with 
the plow and the seed planted with the planter, or 
be sown by hand on the manure and covered by 
the plow. A grain-drill with only three spouts open 
may be used for sowing fodder-corn. 
Poultry Manure—This is a valuable fertilizer, and 
may be used with most benefit on corn. It may be 
scattered in the hill at planting or afterwards 
spread about the hill upon the surface. It is well 
to mix it with an equal bulk of plaster. 
Notes on Orchard and Garden Work. 
It is a common saying among cultivators that, no 
matter whether the spring is early or late, vegeta¬ 
tion will be found the first of June to be about the 
same, taking one year with another. Still, near New 
York, as we look from the windows of our country 
sanctum on April 15th, we feel very sure that we 
never saw the grass on the lawn so dark a green 
and needing cutting so much ; we have never seen 
the pear-trees so nearly in full bloom, or the flower¬ 
ing-shrubs so far advanced as now, at any previous 
writing of the May Notes. This unusual season has 
made it necessary for us to look further ahead in 
preparing these Notes, and our often repeated sug¬ 
gestion to consult those of the previous two months, 
is enjoined with especial emphasis. 
aiasl Nsii'sery. 
Planting is generally finished before this time. 
Trees that have been properly heeled-in will be suf¬ 
ficiently retarded to allow them to be sent from the 
nurseries. Trees in transit in warm weather are 
liable to injuries ; the methods of treating these 
were given last month. 
Grafting is one of the operations that had better 
be done too late than too early. The proper time 
is when the swelling of the buds shows vegetation 
to be active, and it is risky to do it earlier. The 
most successful grafting of an orchard we ever saw, 
was done while the trees were in full bloom. At 
this season the bark slips readily, and care is re¬ 
quired in sawing off the limbs, not to strip it and 
make a bad wound. It is better now, to quite cut 
through the bark with a strong knife all round 
where the 6aw is to work. Grafting-wax for use 
now should have more rosin in it, to make it harder, 
than that applied in cooler weather. 
Buds below the Graft. —A gentleman about to graft 
informed us that he was advised by “a profes¬ 
sional,” to “ scrape the branches,” in order to re¬ 
move every bud below the graft, and called to in¬ 
quire as to the propriety of this. Whenever a bud 
starts into growth, the sap flows towards that bud. 
The buds on the cion are dormant, and will remain 
so until a union is formed with the stock, sufficient 
for that to supply the cion with sap to allow its 
buds to commence growth. If the stock or its 
branch is entirely deprived of buds, the sap has 
little inducement to ascend, but if the buds,are left 
nearly up to the point where the grafts are inserted, 
their starting will cause an abundaut supply of nu¬ 
triment to flow to them, and the chances of the suc¬ 
cess of the grafts greatly increased. When the buds 
on the cions have commenced to grow—and not 
until then—the young shoots below are to be bro¬ 
ken or rubbed off. 
Insects will increase as the supply of food becomes 
abundant. Eggs of the Tent Caterpillar that have 
escaped observation, will now hatch, and the small 
caterpillars will commence to feed, making their 
webs, or “tents” while yet small; these are best 
seen while the dew is on them, in early morning. 
Lye, whitewash, petroleum, and other things have 
been advised, to be applied with a swab. The quick¬ 
est, easiest, and surest way is to remove the web, 
morning or evening, when all are at home, by the 
hand—gloved or not—and throw it upon the ground 
and stamp it. borers in the apple and quince are 
detected by their saw-dust, and by a depression in 
the smooth bark, those in the peach and other 
stone-fruits by an exudation of gum. They must 
be cut out, or be probed and punched to death by 
means of a wire. Curculio , on stone-fruits gener¬ 
ally, but on the plum particularly, begins work as 
soon as the fruit is set; jarring the tree, catching 
the insects on a cloth, and then killing them, is the 
only remedy. Plant Lice often cover the young 
shoots ; strong soap-suds or tobacco-water will kill 
them ; on low trees the branches may be bent 
down and dipped ; on others the liquid must be 
freely applied by a syringe or garden-pump. 
Young Trees should have the soil kept clean and 
mellow among them, and, especially if set this 
spring, should have a mulch before dry weather 
sets in. A tree properly planted rarely needs stakes, 
but if any are disposed to grow crooked, it is best 
to remedy this while they are young,and stake them. 
Thinning of Fruit.—' Those who practice this, 
should begin as soon as the crop is fairly set. 
Others may doubt its value, but no one who grows 
choice fruit for market can afford to neglect it. 
The experience of a single season with two trees, 
side by side, will decide the matter. Let one tree 
ripen all the fruit that sets, and from the other re¬ 
move three-fourths of the crop. Keep an account 
of the cost of thinning, and of the returns from the 
fruit from each tree. 
The Black Pot is not confined to plum trees, but 
attacks cherries, and we have seen the same or 
something very similar on Nectarines. At its worst 
it is in the form of large black, ragged excrescences; 
it begins by a small swelling and breaking away of 
the bark. Cutting off and burning all affected 
branches is the proper remedy. When the excres¬ 
cences are not large and few, cutting them out 
down to sound 'wood, and washing the wound with 
a solution of chloride of lime has been found usefuL 
The Blight comes without warning; we only know 
of it by the death of a branch, several branches, or 
sometimes of the w-hole tree. Cutting back to 
sound wood, if it takes the whole tree, and burning 
the prunings, is ail that can be done. 
Seed Beds of fruit and forest trees should be kept 
free of weeds, the soil loosened, and where the 
seedlings stand too close, thin them. Forest-tree 
seedlings, especially evergreens, must have shelter 
from the hot sun ; a lattice of laths, or a screen of 
brush may be put over them, but supported in such 
a manner as to allow a free circulation of air. 
I’Ve a It C3a,v«teM. 
Mulching is of great benefit to a large share of 
the small fruits. A mulch, -while it prevents evap¬ 
oration and overheating the soil, allows the rains 
to pass through, and by preventing the beating of 
storms, keeps the soil mellow and porous. Because 
those who live near the coast often write of the 
benefits from using salt hay, many have an idea 
that this is the necessary material for a mulch. 
Whatever mechanically protects the soil, and meets 
the above-named conditions, may be used. Bog- 
hay, straw (always abundant in grain districts), 
corn-stalks, chips (sawdust is not advisable, as it 
breeds fungi,) spent tan-bark, litter from stables, 
and even small stones, have all been successfully 
used for the purpose. 
Insects will be troublesome here. See Notes on 
Orchard, for insects attacking trees. Those peculiar 
to special fruits are treated under the proper head. 
Strawberries. —The sooner the mulch is applied, 
the better; aside from its other uses, it is import¬ 
ant in keeping the fruit clean. In some States, the 
harvest is over ; in others, it is now at its hight, 
■while it is still anticipated elsewhere. Too much 
care can not be given to picking and pickers. We 
saw (April 15) a fine lot of South Carolina berries 
with their value diminished one-half because an 
over-ripe berry or two was in each basket. The 
further the distance the fruit is to be sent, the less 
ripe it should be. For near markets, the fruit is 
best picked into the baskets, and not again handled; 
but if to be en route for 24 hours or more, it should be 
picked in flat baskets, taken to a shady place to cool 
oil, and then carefully assorted and put into the 
baskets or cups, taking care to put in not a single 
berry so ripe that it will soften and crush on the 
passage. The precise degree of ripeness can only 
be learned by experience, but it is safe to say, in 
general terms, that for a trip of 24 hours, no fulU 
colored fruit should be packed. 
The White Grub often makes sad work with straw¬ 
berries, and their presence is not known until the 
mischief is done. ■ When a strawberry plant wilts, 
take it up and search for the grub before it gets to 
and eats the roots from another plant. 
Blackberries and Baspberries will now be making 
their growth of canes for next year’s fruiting. 
Three or four canes are usually enough for each 
stool, all others are to be cut away. As soon as 
tall enough, tie them to the stake or trellis, and 
when they reach the desired hight, stop them by 
pinching out the top. Three to four feet is enough 
for raspberries, and six or seven for blackberries, 
If rust appears, cut and burn the diseased stems. 
Currants and Gooseberries.— No plants are more 
benefited by a mirlch than these ; very littery ma¬ 
nure is excellent for them; it tends to prevent mL- 
dew, and greatly prolongs their season. The cur- 
