AMERICAN AGRICULTURIST. 
[November, 
-404 
commercial fertilizer should be applied, except 
on very fertile or previously manured ground. 
Braining .—There is no better season for this than 
She present. It may be many years before the work 
can be done as cheaply as now. It is a most 
profitable way of investing money to drain where 
it is needed, as it is on very many soils. 
Leaves from the Hoods furnish excellent litter. 
It is the safest bedding for brood sows, and for the 
lambing pens, as the weak young animals are not 
entangled in it as in straw. Leaves should be raked 
up in heaps in the woods, or stacked, for drawing 
home at leisure. 
Swamps that have been cleared may be burned 
over now, where necessary. The fire should be be¬ 
gun on the side away from the wind, that it may 
be kept under control and safe. When setting fire 
J,o a clearing, notify the neighbors, else you may 
he liable for damages to their property. 
Rubbish of AU Kinds, not adapted to the compost 
heap, should be burned. No weeds in seed should 
go into a compost. Few seeds are killed by any 
heat that can be produced by fermenting manure. 
Repairing of Buildings is to be attended to : win¬ 
dows glazed, doors tightened, roofs made whole, 
and ventilators put where needed. It is a good 
time for painting out-buildings. A mixture of 
boiled and raw linseed oil, and mineral paint of a 
dark red color, is cheap, serviceable, and attractive. 
The Barn-yard should be cleaned up, and a heap 
made of all the manure in it. This will ferment, 
and be the nucleus for a large pile of well decom¬ 
posed material in spring. A quantity of warm, 
moist dung will soon start a heat in a new pile, and 
will act as a leaven to spread the fermentation, 
which may be kept up through the coldest weather. 
Live Stock needs special care just now. The 
weather is changeable, and protection from sudden 
■storms is imperative. Good food, plenty of pure 
water, cleanliness, dry bedding, and abundance of 
pure air, will promote comfort and health. 
Working Horses. —New grain is not wholesome 
for horses, especially new corn. Let horses that 
are still at pasture have some dry food at least once 
a day to prepare them for the regular winter feeding. 
Weaned Colts should have a pint of bruised oats 
(daily, and if the coat is rough, a little linseed meal. 
It is time to begin handling, and training them 
to wear a halter, to lead, and be groomed. 
Feeding. —Grain is cheap, and it will pay to feed 
all kinds of stock liberally. With corn at $13 to 
$16 a ton, and oats at $20, hay is dear at half these 
prices. By feeding straw, with increased rations 
of ground corn and oats mixed with bran, an ex¬ 
cellent substitute may be made for hay, which may, 
perhaps, then be sold at a profit. 
Milking Cows are now taken up from grass, well 
fed, and permitted to take on some fat, which will 
enable them to stand the coming cold weather with 
•comfort. A cow in full milk ought to eat, at each 
meal, half a bushel of moistened cut clover, hay, 
or com-fodder, and 3 quarts of mixed corn and 
oat-meal, and middlings or bran, besides a picking 
of dry hay at noon. A safe rule is to feed a cow 
all she will eat up clean. 
Calves should be comfortably housed at night, and 
receive regular rations of feed. One-third of a 
-cow’s allowance is not too much for a growing calf. 
Sheep. —As soon as the teeth begin to fail, the 
■animal—whatever it may be—is past a profitable age. 
Sheep go down hill fast. Weed out the flocks, and 
keep only thrifty sheep over the winter. 
The Lambs should be protected from cold storms, 
if older sheep have to rough it. As long as the 
skin is dry, a sheep can stand a good deal of ex¬ 
posure, but lambs can not. These should now be 
(Separated and penned by themselves. 
Bams, for service, are kept up in the day-time 
and admitted to the flock at night. The ewes 
should be marked and numbered. If the ram’s 
hreast is smeared with a mixture of Venetian red 
and oil, the ewes that are served will be marked. 
No careful shepherd will let this matter go at hap¬ 
hazard, as it is necessary to know when lambs are 
expected in the spring. A large, full-grown ram 
needs a quart of grain a day, and can serve 50 ewes. 
Fattening Pigs ought to be pushed rapidly now r . 
The profit is in selling pork early, thus saving a 
month of the most expensive feeding, when half 
the food goes to keeping up - warmth in the body 
instead of into fat. With corn at present rates, 
pork, though low, is still profitable. 
Young Pigs. —Leaves are the best bedding. A 
stove in the piggery, and a warm blanket for the 
sow, may save a litter in cold weather. In arrang¬ 
ing a piggery this should be considered. 
Sundry Matters. —Wood cut and split now will be 
dry in a month. Dry wood, neatly piled under 
shelter, is a family peace preserver.... Clean up and 
burn all rubbish ; bones, old barrel hoops, boots, 
etc., should be thus disposed of_Put empty bar¬ 
rels and boxes, etc., that are of value, in neat piles, 
and cover them....Get ready for winter and the 
snow by leaving nothing “lying about loose.”_ 
Clean out the cellars, drains, and gutters... .Get 
up timber for making posts and rails in stormy 
weather_Be careful of lights. The safest oil is 
a kerosene which will not take fire and explode if 
the lamp is upset. Avoid low-priced oils, and use 
only the best, which give the most light for the 
money, and are cheapest as well as safest. Keep 
insured, and then be careful. 
Notes for the Orchard and Garden. 
While our spring is so brief—there being but a 
leap, as it were, from winter to summer—this is 
more than compensated for iu the character of our 
autumn, which allows us to do much of what is re¬ 
garded as spring, or preparatory work, well in ad¬ 
vance. So gradual is usually the approach of win- . 
ter, so even for the most part is the weather, that 
our Notes at this time must cover several weeks, 
if not months, as it is not rare that the tasks suited 
to October may be carried well into December. 
Orchard and Nursery, 
It would seem to go without saying, that in a sea¬ 
son of abundance, poor fruit has a poor chance in 
the market—and it seems to many needless repeti¬ 
tion to insist that it will pay to assort the fruit. We 
usually advise making three grades, first and second 
for market, and a third to be used up at home. 
This year, two grades are enough : the very best for 
market, and all the rest to be left at home, as this 
year “ seconds ” will not pay expenses. 
Make aU Snug for Wintei -.—Fences and gates, es¬ 
pecially of a young orchard, need to be cattle- 
proof. Surface drains are to be made to let off 
standing water. If the orchard needs under-drain¬ 
ing, there will be no better time to do it than now. 
A Mound of Earth around the base of the trunk 
will be of great service to young trees, especially 
those planted last spring or this fall; this may be 
13 to 30 inches high, made steep and smooth ; re¬ 
ject all sods and rubbish, and lay it up solid. This 
will support the tree better than stakes as Usually 
put in, and be of great service in keeping off mice. 
Babbits may be trapped; where they are abun¬ 
dant, blood is found the best application to keep 
them off, a sprinkling with a swab being all that is 
needed. Where blood is not available, liver, or 
bloody meat, may be rubbed on the trunks ; rab¬ 
bits have a great distaste for animal substances, and 
whatever will smear the tree with blood or meat 
will answer. A few trees may be protected by 
binding pieces of lath, cornstalks, or tarred paper 
around the tree, using wire to keep them in place. 
Cider and Vinegar. —The best cider is made in 
cool weather, as fermentation goes on slowly ; for 
vinegar it makes no difference. See page 418. 
To Keep Fruit, the lowest temperature short of 
freezing, and unchanged, is required. In mild 
weather, open the fruit cellar at night, and close it 
very early in the morning. Fruit gives off, in ripen¬ 
ing, a large amount of carbonic acid, which helps 
retard the ripening; but in fruit cellars under 
dwellings, this should be carried off by a ventila¬ 
tor, as it is detrimental to the health of the family. | 
Planting may be done whenever the weather 
suits, but not when the air is freezing cold, or the 
soil is full of icy clods. In former Notes, directions 
for late planting and for heeling-in, are given 
Cions may be cut as soon as the leaves are off; 
label and preserve in sand, or, what is better, fresh 
saw-dust. Keep in a cool cellar or pit. 
Stocks for Boot-grafting should be taken up before 
the ground freezes, assorted, tied in convenient 
bundles and placed in the cellar or in a pit, with 
their roots well covered with earth, or set in boxes 
with an abundance of soil among the roots. 
Seeds for those who raise their own stocks should 
be secured. Apple seed is separated from p»mace; 
small lots may be managed by pounding the pomace 
in a barrel with water, and washing off the pulp ; 
dry the seed well before putting it away. Stones 
of peaches and cherries need to be exposed to 
freezing and thawing in boxes of sand or soil. 
Various Matters. —Clear up rubbish in the orchard. 
... .Commence the war on insects by removing the 
clusters of eggs found near the ends of the twigs. 
... .Pick up all refuse fruit and give to the pigs, to 
dispose of what insects may be within. 
l-'riait Garden. 
Dwarf Pear and other fruit trees in the gardeu 
need the same general care as trees in the orchard ; 
the trees being mostly low, they can receive more 
close attention than large ones. 
Late Pears. —Winter varieties need the same treat¬ 
ment as apples: keep as cool as possible until 
wanted for use or for market, when a few days in a 
warm room will bring them into eating condition. 
Earlier sorts should be on shelves in a fruit-room 
where their progress may be watched. 
Protection often defeats its object, and becomes 
smothering when done too soon. The covering 
need not be put upon strawberries until the surface 
of the ground has frozen; the covering of tender 
raspberries with earth should be delayed until 
there is a prospect of freezing weather. 
Blackberries and Raspberries may be planted if the 
weather allows. If it is desired to propagate these, 
make cuttings of the roots, taking those the size of 
a quill or larger; cut these into pieces one to three 
inches long; place them in a box with an abun¬ 
dance of sand or sandy earth, nnd keep them in a 
cool cellar. In large quantities they are buried; 
having nearly filled the box with root-cuttings and 
sand, put some straw on top, and nail on some strips 
for a cover. Bury the box upside down where wa¬ 
ter will not stand, with earth enough over it to pre¬ 
vent freezing. In spring the roots will be found 
callused and with buds, and may be set out in nur¬ 
sery rows. Plants may be had from suckers, but 
they are not so good as those raised from root-cut- 
tings....The sooner, after the leaves are off that 
Crape Vines are pruned, the better. Young vines 
set last spring should bear next year one or two 
shoots, according to their strength ; if the present 
growth is half an inch thick, two shoots may grow 
next year; if smaller, have but one shoot. Cut the 
present cane back, leaving a few more buds than 
shoots are to grow; this is to guard against acci¬ 
dents. Older vines are to be pruned according to 
the method of training adopted for the vineyard. 
It is difficult to tell how to treat 
Old and Neglected Vines, as no two are alike, and 
each must be pruned according to its present con¬ 
dition. All the growth of next year will come from 
the buds now on the vine. Each bud—if condi¬ 
tions are favorable—will push out a shoot, and on 
that, and not on the canes now present, will the 
fruit be borne. By keeping this in mind, and with 
some idea of what is wanted of the vine, leave buds 
enough to produce the desired shoots, and cut all 
the rest away. The novice is far more likely to 
leave too much than to cut away too much. 
Propagating the Or ape is a very easy matter with 
most varieties, and can be done by any one, while 
a few, like the Delaware and Norton’s Virginia, re¬ 
quire a propagating house, though, in a small way, 
they may be multiplied by layers in spring. Make 
cuttings from the prunings, using only the canes 
of the past summer’s growth, cut them into pieces 
