508 
AMERICAN AGRICULTURIST. 
[December, 
Contents of this Number. 
[Articles marked with a star (*) are illustrated: the fig¬ 
ure with the star indicates the number of illustrations.] 
Agriculture, Southwestern.515 
Agriculture, The Literature of.517 
Arbor Vitae, The Japan, A New One..2*. .520 
Bee-Keeping Successful.540 
Bee Notes for December. 512 
AMERICAN AGRICULTURIST. 
NEW YORK, DECEMBER, 1881. 
Suggestions of and for the Season. 
Beeves, A Device for Raising.*.. 523 
Birds, Some of Our Winter .*..519 
Boys and Girls’ Columns \—Tlie Doctor's Talks: 
The Fall of the Leaf—Buds—Cabbage Head. Our 
Puzzle Box. Boys and Thimbles. “Nem. Con.— 
Sine Die.” Those Two Boys. Indian Tribes Puzzle 
Picture. A Problem. The Icy Regions of the 
North.0*.. 532-534 
Bug, The Chinch.4*..515 
Burns and Scalds. 512 
This month brings the farmer to the close of 
the year, and while he naturally takes a sur¬ 
vey of the season that is past, he also looks 
forward to the coming one. The year now 
closing, has been an eventful one in many 
respects, and a review of it should show some 
valuable lessons. Over a wide extent of 
Carbolic Acid, versus Insects.:523 
Cellar, The, for Plants.509 
Chestnut, Grafting the. 527 
Cold, Catching—Remedies.513 
Bahlias, The Single.527 
Diseases, The Nature of Contagious.3*. .520 
Durra, Experience with.518 
Farming as an Occupation—1.517 
Fish as Food, The Value of.511 
Foods, What are most Economical ?.....513 
Fowl Holder for Farmers.*. .525 
Frost, Let the, Help You .541 
Frost—Posts—Stone Walls. 540 
Fruit in the House Cellar ., — 525 
date, A Cheap Flood.*..524 
Geraniums in the Window Garden.2*. .528 
“Grown by Electric Light”. 521 
Hints for Work in the Woods.4*.. 525 
Home, The Return for the Holidays......*..507 
Honor, A Merited.524 
Horses, Influenza or “Pink Eye ” in.524 
Hot-Beds with Fire Heat.*.. 528 
Household :—Salmon, Good and Economical. Com¬ 
fort from Newspapers. The Shepherdess’ Work 
Basket. Raising Healthy Women. Shears, SciB- 
sors, Knives, etc. A Saving of Soap. Baby’s 
Clothes and Mamma’s Health. A Great Boon to 
Women. Lime Water. Don’t Spoil the Meats. 
About Christmas Decoration.5*. .529-531 
Humbugs, Sundry. .. .512 
Implements 20 to 50 per cent Loss. .540 
Jumper, A Hamper.*..522 
Key, A Leather.*.. 521 
“Kicking Agin Nothin.”.541 
I.aw for Farmers ; Implied Warranty in the Sale of 
country the farmer was never more fully 
impressed with his dependence upon a full 
supply of water for a profitable crop. The 
drouth of 1881 will turn the thoughts of 
many to the subject of irrigation, with a 
view of controlling the supply of water for 
the fields and gardens. The dairyman who 
was cut off from an abundance of green food 
in the bight of the season, will bestir him¬ 
self to find means of securing a supply of 
nutritious food in times of need. The ques¬ 
tion of fodder crops will probably be dis¬ 
cussed more thoroughly this winter than ever 
before, and the next dry season will be more- 
fully provided against than the last. There 
has been an unparalleled excitement in the 
produce market, and never before have the 
farmers been more thoroughly impressed 
with the importance of knowing when to 
sell. It may be said in short, that the lesson 
of the season is that the farmer who is to be 
the most successful in the future, is the one 
who mingles the largest amount of brains 
with the labor of his hands. Thoughtless 
farming—if such a thing has been possible in 
the past—will not prove successful in the 
future. With this in mind the farmer has 
Seeds..521 
machine, Safety at the...*. 523 
Matches, Friction, How to Light .541 
Measure. A Handy Feed. .*..520 
Mice this Winter.540 
Milk, A Food Ration for.516 
Notes on Orchard and Garden Work.508 
Ox Bows, A Device for Bending.*. .521 
“ JPearl Tree ”.540 
Persons, To Several Unknown ..541 
Pincers, Home-made.*..541 
Pipe, End of the. .*.. 541 
Plans, Farm House, Wanted. 514 
Plants, Frozen. .. 516 
Plants, Improvement in Raising Vegetable.528 
Plowing, Deep, Dangerous—Crops Saved, etc.514 
Pork, Hams and Bacon.540 
Potatoes, About.. .540 
notation of Crops.510 
Science, The Farmer’s Relation to..522 
Sheep, The Hampshire-Down.*..510 
Shelter Saves Food. .520 
Skullcap. The Short-leaved.*..527 
Sole and Turbot. .514 
Squash, Bake the.514 
Suggestions of and for the Season.508 
Texas, A Cheerful Note from . 522 
Tooth, A Two Thousand Dollar. .. . 541 
Trifles, Fighting—Three Short Stories.541 
Vice, A, with a Crank.....*. .524 
W hitlew-wort. The Forked.*..526 
Wire, A Device for Tightening .*.'.518 
Work, A Day's in Pounds of Force .509 
Yoke, A Sliding for Oxen.. .2*..516 
food for much valuable thought before the 
opening days of the busy spring. Each one, 
as he enjoys the warm evening fire, will re¬ 
view the season that has closed, and looking 
the failures straight in the face, plan some 
way to shun them in the future ; while thank¬ 
ful for the successes, he will consider wherein 
they might be improved or increased in 
number. In the peace of the quiet winter 
we must prepare for the war of activity and 
growth that opens with the spring. The 
practice of “ taking an account of stock ” as 
it is termed by the shopkeepers and other 
business men, is especially a good one for the 
farmer. It will not consume much time, and 
when done will be more than a source of 
satisfaction ; it will serve as a basis for many 
calculations, and possibly induce important 
changes in the system of farm management. 
To know the results of the season in dollars 
and cents is the aim and end of the taking of 
account of stock. The losses and gains are 
here brought to view, and opportunity is 
given for a careful inspection of every de¬ 
partment of the farm. It may show that, in 
the way the work has been done, it is much 
more profitable to raise potatoes than corn, 
or sheep than hogs. It may be that the 
profits from an acre of currants are more 
Several Important Announcements, 
and Business Notices, incident to the 
close of the Volume, also matters of in¬ 
than from the ten acres of wheat. All such 
questions as these are best settled by a system 
of farm bookkeeping, which includes the 
yearly balancing or settlement of accounts. 
terest in regard to Premiums, etc., etc., 
will be found on pages 542, 543, to which 
our readers are specially invited to refer. 
Notes on Live Stock, 
The farm animals at this season are directly 
dependent upon the care and attention of the 
farmer. To pass the winter with profit they 
must be well kept. Animals are very com¬ 
plicated engines, and must be run by careful 
engineers. The food they receive is the fuel, 
and the daily rubbing, cleaning, etc., maybe 
likened to the inspection, cleaning and oiling 
of the engine. The fuel must be equal to 
the demands made of the animal engine, else 
the machinery will be run at a disadvantage, 
and therefore with diminished profit. When 
the water is low and the fire almost out, the 
engine is a source of loss to the owner. On 
the other hand the fire may be brisk, and the 
boiler well supplied, but some screw is loose, 
or a part rubs another too closely and the 
friction thus produced neutralizes much of 
the force. So in the animal machine, all the 
parts must work harmoniously together, or 
in other words there must be perfect health 
to obtain the best results. An animal may 
have the best of food in sufficient quantity, 
and still pass a hard winter, and without 
profit to its owner. Food of the best kinds 
without shelter, is in the animal economy 
like fuel in an engine that is rusty and loose 
and out of order. Both are expensive meth¬ 
ods of arriving at desired results. It takes 
too much force to run the machine in both 
cases. As it is cheaper to have a good engine 
kept in good order, so it is to have an animal 
in health and comfort: The thoughtful far¬ 
mer will see many other points of likeness 
between the animal machine and the one 
constructed by human hands, but this iB 
enough to suggest the importance of keeping 
farm animals in a healthful and comfortable 
condition by means of warm stables with 
clean floors and pure air. 
Notes on Orchard and Garden Work, 
One who depends upon the garden and 
orchard for his living, will be very apt to 
know which products bring him the best re¬ 
turns. With the farmer the orchard and the 
garden are often looked upon as of little im¬ 
portance, if not regarded as necessary evils. 
Both manure and labor are grudgingly sup¬ 
plied, and then at a time too late for the best 
results. In the general summing up of the 
business of the year, let the farmer take into 
account the return from the garden and 
orchard or fruit garden. We do not refer to 
the supplies of vegetables and fruit consumed 
at home, for health and comfort c»n not be 
expressed in dollars and cents, but the actual 
money returns throughout the year. Much 
of course will depend upon the location in 
reference to market, but we are sure that in 
the majority of cases, a carefully kept ac¬ 
count in which all the odd quarters and dol¬ 
lars are presented, will result in a determina¬ 
tion to enlarge and improve the ground 
devoted to fruits, vegetables, and flowers. 
The time has passed when choice fruits were 
regarded as a luxury ; and the farmer who 
cannot afford to provide his table with a large 
variety of garden vegetables, is living behind 
the age. The man who sees only the market 
value of any product of the soil may not 
care for a handsome lawn and a flower gar¬ 
den filled with choice plants ; but he only 
half lives who is blind to the beauty of these 
things. We would have the American far¬ 
mer appreciate what the surroundings of his 
home may be—we would see him grow rich 
in more ways than one. To this end he must 
love the beauty of a well-kept lawn and flower 
garden, take necessary means to possess it. 
