364 
AMERICAN AGRICULTURIST. 
[October, 
Green Fodder for Spring .—Rye may be sown any 
time this month; the sooner the better for early 
Spring feed. Sow thickly, 4 bushels per acre, and 
fertilize well. Where the winters are open, as in the 
border and Southern States, this will make excel¬ 
lent winter pasture and give a crop of grain or 
green fodder besides. 
Mangels and Beets are injured by frost. These 
should be gathered and secured in pits this month, 
where frost is prevalent. The fresh leaves have an 
injurious effect upon cattle if fed in excess. A day 
or two after cutting, they may be fed safely—a 
pressed bushel-basketful at a time, sprinkled over 
With a handful of salt. 
Turnips will resist considerable frost and grow 
rapidly in cool weather. If standing too thickly in 
the rows, thin out, using those removed as fodder. 
If fed to cows, they should be given at milking- 
time. The flavor will disappear before 12 hours 
have expired, and will not materially affect the milk. 
Horses that have been on pasture, should now be 
taken up at night, and have some dry feed. 
The Change of Feed, from green to dry, should be 
gradual with all stock ; otherwise, the appetite 
may fail, and the animals lose thereby. 
Milking Coves can not be kept in full flow without 
ample rations of fresh fodder. As the pastures 
become bare, newly cured corn-stalks, cut and 
mixed with chopped roots and sprinkled with mid¬ 
dlings, and ground corn and oats, may be given. 
Liberal feed always pays with the right kind of cows. 
The Aim in Feeding, now, should be to get the 
stock into good condition before cold weather, re¬ 
membering that an animal beginning the winter 
well, is as good as half through it already. 
Sheep, if fed liberally, and managed carefully, 
are most profitable stock. The better we do for 
them, the better they will do for us; badly man¬ 
aged, they are likely to prove a failure. 
For March Lambs, the ewes should be coupled 
this month. The best ewe is a common grade 
Merino, or native sheep. For the earliest, those 
which come from Ohio, or Western Pennsylvania, 
weighing about 90 to 100 pounds, are excellent for 
this purpose. A pure South-Down ram; and next, a 
Hampshire-Down, and next, a Cotswold, is the best 
animal to cross upon these. A plump, fat lamb of 
moderate size, will bring more than a “ scrawney ” 
one half as big again. The black face and legs of 
the “Down ” breeds are desirable in market lambs. 
Feeding Sheep for Market, is a profitable business 
for those who have judgment to buy well, to feed 
well, and to sell well. Two profits can easily be 
made: A big manure heap, and good pay for feed 
and care will be returned to the skillful feeder. 
For more detailed information, “ Stewart’s Shep¬ 
herds’ Manual ” may be consulted. 
Winter Rape, for winter and spring feeding for 
sheep in the South, may be sown early this month. 
Five pounds of seed per acre, if planted in drills ; 
or if broadcast, 8 pounds will be needed. It may 
be fed off by penning the sheep upon the crop as 
soon as it has sufficient growth. The surplus may 
be plowed under in the spring as an excellent pre¬ 
paration for oats or corn. This has been grown ad¬ 
vantageously for this purpose as far north as Roch¬ 
ester, N. Y., the sheep even leaving a warm shelter 
and pawing away the snow to find it. 
Swine .—Brood sows should be well fed now, so 
that they will be in good condition for coupling 
next month for March pigs. Grades or lialf-breds 
of any good breed are more profitable than full- 
bloods for the farmer. Keep no pig over a year 
old for fattening, if the most profit is looked for. 
Feeding for Pork, may best be begun at once, 
using up the soft and poor corn first. Some feed 
green stalks, cut fine, and mixed with meal; this 
will bring the pigs into a thrifty condition, to be 
finished very rapidly in November. 
Fall Pigs, may be carried over on skita milk, a 
few cut corn-stalks, potatoes or roots, with a little 
bran, and plenty of fresh water. 
Water .—It is a great mistake to stint animals in 
water ; 75 per cent of their weight is water. Diges¬ 
tion cannot go on without it. Water is therefore 
food in one sense, and an ample supply should be 
provided for every animal to drink when inclined. 
Poultry .—If eggs are expected during the winter, 
they must be provided for now. Dispose of the old 
hens ; select as many of the best young pullets and 
feed them well. Give wheat soaked in hot water, 
once a day. Barley, buckwheat, and corn, in equal 
proportions, may make the rest of the food; 
chopped cabbages will help. Provide clean quar¬ 
ters, plenty of water, gravel, old mortar, and char¬ 
coal. Make the house warm; do not crowd too 
many into it, and a good supply of eggs will result. 
Notes for the Orchard and Garden. 
In many portions of the country, there has been 
such an excess of rain, that artificial watering has 
not suggested itself. The summer of last year, 
as well as the one just past, having been uuusually 
moist, there is the greater probability that the com¬ 
ing one will be dry. There are few localities that 
do not have their years of drouth, and when the 
facilities are at hand, there should always be pro¬ 
vision for irrigation. It may be that watering will 
be really needed but once in three or five years; 
it is this uncertainty that makes it all the more 
necessary to be prepared for drouth when it does 
come. Every experienced fruit grower has known 
seasons when an abundance of water would have 
given him a yield of strawberries, the profits on 
which would have paid for a much larger outlay 
thau is ordinarily required to provide means to 
irrigate the whole garden; and so with other crops. 
In our uncertain climate, the control of water in 
both directions is necessary to the best success. 
Ability to remove excess by drainage, and to sup¬ 
ply the deficiency by irrigation, give the enterpris¬ 
ing cultivator a great advantage over the one who 
“ takes things as they come.” This is a most fa¬ 
vorable mouth for all work requiring the removal 
of earth, and such improvements as road mak¬ 
ing, grading, etc., are not only more sure of being 
made, but they will be better done now than in the 
busy, but often cold and cheerless days of spring. 
Orchard and Nursery. 
Last month’s Notes on fall planting, are timely 
now. With some fruits this is a year of abund¬ 
ance, and as usual in such seasons, only the best 
fruit sent to market in the best shape will pay 
Freight and Charges, which are likely to be as 
much on a barrel of poor fruit, as on one of the 
choicest. While the poor fruit may be turned to 
account at home, if only fed to the pigs, when 
sent to market, it may bring the shipper in debt. 
Apples are generally barreled in the orchard as 
they are picked, but the long keepers are consid¬ 
ered to keep better, if allowed to lie in heaps two 
or three weeks before barreling; the skin tough¬ 
ens, and they lose some moisture. We generally 
advise making two sorts for market, and a third to 
be kept at home. When fruit is so abundant as 
now, the “ seconds ” will hardly sell at all. 
Firm Packing is essential; when the barrel is 
half full shake gently, just enough to settle the 
fruit; do the same when the barrel is nearly full, 
and put on enough by hand to form a level layer 
—projecting sufficiently to require strong pressure 
to bring the head to its place. 
Barrel Pi-esses, working with a screw, are sold at 
the agricultural ware-houses, or a lever may be 
rigged to answer the purpose. The fruit must be 
pressed so firmly that it will not move in handling. 
Mark the opposite head, as the one to be opened. 
Winter Pears are similarly treated; choice table 
kinds are generally packed in half barrels, and 
very select specimens, in shallow boxes, holding 
a single layer, each pear wrapped in tissue paper. 
Quinces are packed iu barrels or crates ; handle 
carefully to avoid rubbing off the bloom, and mark 
on the package the number of quinces, as in most 
markets they are sold by the hundred. 
The Fruit Cellar should be in readiness, but the 
fruit may be kept under a shed or elsewhere until 
there is danger of freezing. In storing, put the 
barrels of earlier ripening sorts nearest the door. 
Provide ample ventilation under control, and tight, 
easily managed windows shutters ; in mild weather, 
open at night and close during the day_In seasons 
of abundance, much fruit will be made into 
Cider, especially as a step towards vinegar. As 
the richest juice makes the best cider, so the better 
the cider the finer the vinegar, though poor fruit 
will make a better article than is usually sold. 
Those who make vinegar only occasionally will 
hardly be at the expense of a special building for it. 
Patent Vinegar Processes are advertised, some of 
v/hich are merely well known directions sold at a 
high price, and come very close to being frauds— 
we have no confidence in any of them. On the 
other hand, some of the vinegar-making devices 
we have known are useful. To make good vinegar 
The Essentials are : good cider, a temperature of 
about 70°, and as complete exposure to the air as 
possible. The devices offered act upon the princi¬ 
ple of exposing cider to the air in shallow trays. A 
cask half filled with cider, with bung out, in a warm 
room, will become vinegar much sooner than a 
full cask, bunged up, in a cool cellar. 
Vinegar-making is a sort of fermentation greatly 
facilitated by a kind of low microscopic plant, 
popularly known as the “mother” of vinegar. 
Placing cider in old casks containing this, and mix¬ 
ing cider with old vinegar, hasten the process. 
Pomace is usually thrown in a heap where it re¬ 
mains a nuisance for a long time. Cattle and pigs 
will consume a little of it, but there is not much 
nutriment in it, and it is better to break it small 
and put it in the manure heap. 
Heeling-In may be done in such a manner as to 
greatly injure young trees, but if properly done the 
objections often made to the practice have no 
weight. As a general rule, if one is at a distance 
from nurseries, and intends to plant in spring, it is 
better to procure his trees in autumn, heel them in, 
and have them at hand ready to plant in spring. 
The trees are likely to be taken up with better 
roots, and the risks of injury in transportation are 
less. Heeling-in consists merely in burying the 
roots and parts of the stems of the trees in a dry 
mellow soil. If set upright they are more exposed 
to the weather, but there is less danger from mice 
than if slanting. The usual method is to open a 
trench, lay in the trees in a sloping position, and 
fill in with earth. See that no unfilled spaces are 
left around and among the roots, and that the 
labels are all right, and finish off with several 
inches of soil patted well with the spade. 
Various Matters. — Top-dress the Orchard with fine 
manure this month, or later... .Leave no dead 
weeds, grass, or other rubbish near young trees to 
harbor mice... .Recently planted trees should have 
a conical mound of earth, about a foot high, around 
them. 
Fruit Garden. 
Last month’s Notes are mainly seasonable now. 
It is often well to protect plants that are really 
hardy, the protection being not so much against 
the severity of the cold as the sudden alterna¬ 
tions. This being the case, the protecting material 
must not be applied too early, it being quite soon 
enough when the ground begins to freeze. 
Strawberries are sometimes injured by too much 
covering; the straw, marsh hay, or other material, 
should be placed freely upon the soil, but only an 
inch or two thick over the plants themselves. 
Raspberries of tender sorts are laid down and 
covered with a few inches of earth. This is quick¬ 
ly done by two men—one to bend over the plants 
and the other to put on the soil. 
Grapes.—See directions for picking already given. 
We are often asked how to keep this fruit. Many 
tons are sent to market for the holidays, preserved 
by boxing them, as described last month, and keep¬ 
ing in an even temperature just above freezing. It 
must be borne in mind that there are good and bad 
keepers among grapes, as there are among apples 
and pears. The Concord, for example, will keep 
but a short time under any conditions ; Delaware 
is somewhat better; Diana is one of the longest 
