388 
AMERICAN AGRICULTURIST. 
[October, 
even a day, with “ Uncle Peter ” and “ Aunt 
Rebecca,” who did not feel at home from the 
first moment that his foot touched the ample 
piazza. No one under that broad roof ever 
thought of “ boarding,” and when the time 
came for going, the thought was not so 
much of departure, as when we should come 
again. The engraving was made without 
reference to any persons, but merely to rep¬ 
resent the departure after a happy summers’ 
sojourn. Our experience, or rather observa¬ 
tion, in this matter of summer boarding, has 
been, that the right kind of city people will 
very soon discover the right kind of farmers. 
Contents of This Number. 
[Articles marked with a star (*) are illustrated; the fig¬ 
ure with the star indicates the number of illustrations. ] 
Animals, Blood Diseases in.393 
Ashes as a Fertilizer.391 
Barn, A Convenient Small.3*..400 
Bee Notes for October. 420 
Beef, A Method of Raising.*. .335 
Boarders, Summer, the Departure of .*. .387 
Bovs’ and Girls’ Columns:— Doctor's Talks .—Water 
Plants. Bur Grass. Animated or Sensitive Oat. 
European Feather Grass. The Keys of the Red 
Maple. Our Puzzle Bov. The Doctor's Coirespond- 
ence: “Locusts” or Harvest Fly. A Gioupof Os¬ 
trich Chicks .9*.. 412-414 
Celery Planting in Dry Weather. 390 
Cheese, American and its Export.397 
Children, Rearing and Training.420 
Closet, An Earth, with Automatic Arrangement. .4*. .403 
Constitution, Wanted a.408 
Fairs, Unbiased Judging at.398 
Farming, System in. . 402-103 
Fashion and Fabrics.420 
•Feeds, Mixed. 394 
Fence, A Valuable Flood.*..402 
Fences, A Method of Bracing Wire.*..401 
Flower Garden and Lawn.389 
Fruit Garden.389 
Fruits, European and American.*..400 
Gate, Another Lift.2*. .394 
Grain and Produce Speculation. 421 
Grasses and other Plants, Sending.421 
Greenhouse and Window Plants.390 
Grub, The White.392 
Hook, A Useful Root.*..401 
Household :—Fruit Dryers and Evaporators. House¬ 
hold Notes and Queries.4*. .410-411 
Humbugs, Sundry . 392 
Hyacinth, A, in Water.*..409 
Ice upon the Farm.401 
Kitchen and Market Garden.2*. .389 
Ijychilis, the Scarlet, or Maltese Cross.*..407 
Hanure Made Under Cover.391 
Mosquitoes and Flies—Prevention.390 
Nebraska, Agricultural Outlook, 1681. 420 
Nitrogen, or Nitric Acid. 390 
Notes from the Pines ... - 4( 8 
Notes on Orchard and Garden Work.3*.. 389-390 
Orchard and Nursery.*.. 389 
Plants, Forage in California.401 
Plows, Sulky—Their Kinds:.3*..405 
Kockwork, The Rights and Wrongs in.390 
Root Cellars.400 
Roots of Plants, Examining the.2*. .409 
Skunks, The Texan White-bodied.*..399 
Smut, Wheat, Oat, and Barley...4*. .404. 
Silo at “Houghton Farm”.393 
Society, Agricultural Science. 421 
Speedwells, or Veronicas—The Japanese.*..407 
Stanchion, A, for Cattle.. .3*. .400 
Suggestions of and for the Season.2*..388 
Swine Raising—A different System Desirable.390 
Xether, for a Horse. *.. 393 
Tim Bunker—Agin Changing Base . .395 
Wheat: Soil, Tillage, Varieties, and Harvesting... .400 
Insects by Hail. —Will our friends please observe 
that not more than half of the specimens said to have 
been sent us, ever reach their destination. We are 
always glad to give, so far as we may be able, the name 
and history of the insects Bent us. When a fat caterpil¬ 
lar or grub is sent in a frail paper bex, the chances are 
that the box will be crushed, and a post-master is war¬ 
ranted in throwing out the offensive parcel. It is seldom 
that a paste-board box, unless unusually strong, reaches 
us in good condition. Insects, especially in the cater¬ 
pillar state, should have a wooden or a tin box. 
AMERICAN AGRICULTURIST. 
NEW YORK, OCTOBER, 1881. 
Suggestions of and for the Season. 
The Late Crops. 
There is probably not much corn now 
standing in the districts where early frosts 
prevail, and the October days are largely 
spent in husking this important crop. If 
there is a market for husks the ears may be 
picked from the stalks and husked in the bam, 
otherwise it is more rapid and economical to 
husk in the field. The com fodder, after 
husking, should he bound in bundles and 
stood up in large shocks to protect it from 
the weather as much as possible. Fodder 
that is carefully set up and tightly bound 
Eig. 1. —AN EASERN CORN HOUSE. 
will keep well until needed to feed out, often 
being better cured and brighter than that 
which has been packed in a large mow before 
it was fully dried. The selection of the seed 
corn, though usually made this month, should 
have been done early in September, by going 
among the standing corn and marking the 
ears that possess most largely the desired 
qualities. There are several things to be ob¬ 
served in selecting seed com, prominent 
among which are, earliness of maturity, size 
of stalk, amount of leaf, size and number of 
cars, and the filling out of the grains upon the 
cob. A farmer who practises a rigid selection 
with certain desired points in view, will in 
a few years have a variety of corn that is his 
own—quite different from that of his neigh¬ 
bors—growing the same variety, but who 
may be selecting with some other ends in 
view—or perhaps making no selection at all. 
At husking time the selected ears may be 
easily known from the others by leaving 
some of the husks upon them, by which they 
can afterwards be braided together and hung 
in a dry loft, or the peak of the corn crib, out 
of the way of rats and mice. The manner of 
storing the husked corn will depend some¬ 
what upon the locality in which it is grown ; 
for small farms, where com is most valu¬ 
able, a corn-house should be provided, or 
else the loss from vermin will be considerable. 
A house or crib of moderate size can be built 
at small cost; it should be set well up from 
the ground,upon posts firmly put in the earth, 
and on the tops of which are placed inverted 
tin pans, to keep the mice from entering from 
below. Free ventilation is essential to the 
thorough curing of the corn, therefore the 
sides of the crib should be slatted. A com¬ 
mon type of the corn-house throughout the 
Eastern States in shown in figure 1. There 
are two bins, with movable boards upon the 
inside, which are put in as the bins are filled 
—the space between the bins being used for 
sorting the corn, shelling, etc., and when of 
sufficient size, for storing machinery in the 
rear. So far as curing com is concerned, 
there is nothing better than the old rail pen, 
narrower at the base than at the top, with 
stalks or boards for a cover, but it is not se¬ 
cure from vermin. 
The sooner potatoes are dug after they have 
finished growth the better. They may be 
kept in heaps for a little while to throw off 
moisture, and thus to secure them from heat- 
ing when put it deep bins or large pits. Po¬ 
tatoes should not be exposed to sunlight as 
they “green” and develop a principle, which 
not only gives them a disagreeable flavor, but 
which is really unwholesome. A cool and 
dark cellar, that never freezes, is the most 
suitable for keeping potatoes. The moderately 
warm days of this month are favorable to the 
growth of the late roots. So soon as the 
heavy frosts are expected, the mangels and 
sugar beets must be secured. The tops should 
be rubbed, not cut, off, as they keep longer. 
Secure the carrots next after the beets, and 
follow with the turnips, leaving the Swedes 
until the last. In pitting roots they should 
be put in when dry. The pit may extend to 
any desired length, a ventilator should be put 
in at intervals of six feet. 
Winter Wheat and Rye may still be sown, 
though so good a start cannot be expected as 
when the seed is put in earlier. A top-dress¬ 
ing of a quick-acting fertilizer may be applied 
to aid the young plants to make a growth 
before the cold of winter sets in. A similar 
dressing may be applied to grass lands with 
profit, though it should be given only in small 
doses, otherwise some will be lost by washing 
out of the soil by winter and early spring rains. 
Plowing for spring crops may be done now, 
and the soil left rough to be subjected to the 
fullest possible action of the weather. Should 
weeds come up in any quantity after the plow¬ 
ing, the ground may be harrowed, or if very 
bad, plowed again. Stiff clay land is greatly 
benefited by ridge plowing. This is done by 
turning two furrows against two others. Such 
lands must be plowed again in the spring, 
splitting these furrows, which will bring the 
soil into a much improved condition. 
Notes on Live Stock. 
Little extra feeding will be necessary now 
to bring the horses and cattle to the beginning 
of winter in good order. The season is too 
far advanced for turning horses out at night.. . , 
If horses are caught in a heavy cold rain, 
they should be rubbed dry and blanketed as 
soon as they reach home. The product of the 
dairy should be increased in every possible 
way ; this requires the best feed and plenty 
of pure water, and frequent carding of the 
animals to keep them neat and clean. Young 
stock should not suffer from the cold and wet. 
