368 
[October, 
AMERICAN AGRICULTURIST. 
Contents of this Number. 
Among the Farmers, No. 45.—Through Western Penn¬ 
sylvania—Ohio to Kentucky—Famous Blue-Grass 
Region—Kentucky as a Dairy State—“ Alphea ” 
Family of Jerseys—Stanchions for Cows.380-381 
Bee Notes for October.7 Illustrations. .375 
Black Leg in Calves.382 
Boxes, Wooden for Machinery.2 Illustrations.. 383 
Boys’ and Girls’ Columns.— The Doctor’s Talks: 
Weight—Absolute Weight—Specific Gravity—How 
to Take Sp. Gr of Solids. The Doctor’s Corre¬ 
spondence : Apple on a Grapevine—Galls—Fossils — 
A Trilobite. Our Puzzle Box. A Lesson in Draw¬ 
ing. Dogs and Their Ways. “Should Owl’d Ac¬ 
quaintance be Forgot ”.16 Illustrations.. 391-39-1 
Brush Cutter.. Illustrated.. 385 
Buildings, Cheap Method of Moving. .2 Illustrations.. 383 
Cabbages. Stowing in Pits. Illustrated.. 384 
Catalogues, Nurserymen’s, etc., Acknowledged.403 
“ Census Man ” is Coming.383 
Cherry, The Dyehouse.389 
Cone Flower, The Larger. Illustrated. .387 
Correspondence, Editorial.376 
Covers, Paper, for Hot Beds. 2 Illustrations.. 386 
Crops, Late Sown. 381 
Currant Culture—The Victoria. Illustrated.. 386 
Diseases, Cattle.379 
Drains, Piping Stone .385 
Eagle, The Golden. Illustrated.. 367 
Elevator, A House, Barn, or Shop_4 Illustrations.. 389 
Ergot, or Spurred Rye.8 Illustrations.. 388 
Fairs, October List.401 
Fallowing. Fall... . 382 
Fence, Another Flood. Illustrated.. 385 
Fence, A Portable Folding.3 Illustrations. .385 
Figures That Make Glad.372 
Garden, Kitchen and Market.370 
Garden, The Fruit. 369 
Gatherer, A Water, for Upland Farms. ...Illustrated. .381 
Grasses, Ornamental, for Winter. Illustrated.. 389 
Hints and Helps for Farmers and Mechanics: Fasten¬ 
ing for Stanchion—A Convenient Ladder—Plow- 
Boats .4 Illustrations.. 383 
Hints for October Farm Work.3 Illustrations. .368 
Household Home Topics: Entertaining Company 
—Will Our Children Support Themselves’—Some 
Tested Recipes. A Hanging Card-Basket. Impure 
Syrups. Clothes-Line Holder. Autumn Leaves. 
A Work-Stand for the Lawn. Household Notes and 
Queries. Pattern of Tatting. Recipes..9 tils.. 389-391 
Humbugs, Sundry.3 Illustrations.. 372 
Items of Interest.402 
Kerosene and Mosquitoes. Illustrated. .401 
Lime and Lime Kilns.2 Illustrations. .382 
Markets for October. 370 
Milk, The Cost of.385 
Muck, Digging Swamp . Illustrated.. 384 
Orchard and Garden Notes for October.369 
Orchard and Nursery. 369 
Pears, Summer .386 
Pier and River Wall, How to Build.. .5 Illustrations.. 381 
Pig-Pen and Tool-House.2 Illustrations. .385 
Plank, Rolling, for Machines. Illustrated.. .381 
Plowing from Inside of Field.2 Illustrations.. 383 
Pot, An Improved Flower. Illustrated ..386 
Raspberries—Old and New Varieties.388 
Shelves, Milk.. .2 Illustrations.. 384 
Shorthorn, A Fat Heifer.. Illustrated. .379 
Success in Hard Times.381 
Swine, Suffolk.... .-. .Illustrated.. 379 
Turkeys, Fattening.384 
INDEX TO “BASKET,’’ AND OTHER SHOUT ARTICLES. 
Agriculture, Australian..401 Mangers, Horses Gnaw- 
Aphides'on Peach Leaves.373 ing.373 
Asparagus. — Smalley’s Manure, Spreading.373 
Early Defiance.375 Markets, Watching the.,401 
Barns, Octaion.375 Meadow', Seeding for a. .400 
Book: What Grocers Sell Meadow, Treatment of 
Us.402 Worn out.400 
Books, How' to get easily.371 Night-Soil, To Use.374 
Bread from Flour.402 Orchard-Grass.374 
Chestnuts.400 Pasture. Winter. 375 
Cider, Preserving.402 Peach.A New,“Parnell ”.400 
Cinchona, or Peruvian Pipe. To Ciear an Ob- 
Bark.402 structed.400 
Climate, Change of.374 Plant, The Century.401 
Clover-Seed Crop.402 Plows, Gang .375 
Club-Root in Cabbages. .373 Plowing up Grass Land.400 
Corn on Prairie Sod. _402 Plowing, Deep, Shallow..401 
Crops. Diversified. 400 Poisoning by Ivy.402 
Diagram Representation.402 Powders, Fruit Preserv- 
Dominique— Leghorn. ..374 ing . 375 
Drains, Fall in Tile.374 Roots. Preparing for_374 
Eaves-TroughsforBarns.402 Rotation, An Advisable.401 
Exhibition, Dairy,Intern.375 Salt for Hogs.374 
Fairs, The.373 Seed, Change of.375 
Feet, Cleansing the.400 Sheep, Purchasing on 
Feet, Horse with Bad.. .400 the Plains.375 
Fences, Patent.374 Society, N. T. Hort.402 
Fertilizers, Home Made.401 Soils, Loose and Com- 
Figs in Michigan.401 pact, and Evaporation.375 
Foods, Mixed.400 Southdown or Cotswold 
Food for Lifetime.401 Lambs.374 
Founder or Laminitis... .374 Strawberry, Crescent 
Free-Martins.374 Seedling.402 
Freezing and Thawing. .373 Stumps. Blasting.373 
Garget, Treatment for...374 Stump-Puller, A Simple.374 
Grape, The “ Welcome”.375 Swamp, Draining a.400 
Grasses & Forage Plants.402,Threshing Day.400 
Hay, Weight of.374 Tiles, Draining.401 
Heels, Cracked.400 Toadstools, Poisoned by.373 
Horse-Shoe, Billings’_375 (Tuberculosis in Cow_374 
IceeWagon Come Nexlee402! Washers and Washing 
InquiryJSTot Answerable.400 Machines.374 
Investigation, Agric’l_400,Water-Carrier, “The 
Kainit.373 Telegraph”.374 
Kilburn. Loss at.402 Water from a Syphon_374 
Laws, Bird...401 Weed, What is a?.400 
Leaves,Turnips and Beet.400 Weil, a Nebraska.374 
Lime for Black Muck_374 Wheat-Hoe, Travis .402 
Lime for Land.373 Wheat, Stubbling in_374 
Lime and Superphos- Wool, A Heavy Fleece of.400 
phates.374 Wool, Felted.400 
Litter, Sawdust.400 Wool-Growing, etc.375 
Calendar for October, 1879. 
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AMERICAN AGRICULTURIST. 
NEW YORK, OCTOBER, 1879. 
Hints for the Work of the Month. 
[The Hints and Suggestions in these columns are 
never copied from previous years, but are freshly pre¬ 
pared for every month, from the latest experience and 
observations, by practical men in each department.] 
Corn. —Standing-corn is injured by every day’s de¬ 
lay in cutting. The fodder loses value by rain and 
frost, and the grain is apt to become damaged. 
One of the marks of a poor farmer—poor in both 
meanings of the word—is that his work is always 
behind ; this means always loss of material, and 
therefore of money. 
Corn Husking. —Corn is a crop that needs to be 
finally disposed of in the field. It cannot well be 
stored in stacks or barns as other grain, because 
the ears and husks cannot be dried perfectly. As 
delay in the field will not dry the ears thoroughly, 
there is no need to wait for the husking. Two 
weeks’ exposure is sufficient to prepare the crop for 
husking, and in the pleasant October days, it 
may be husked with less inconvenience than later. 
A Saving of Labor may be effected by taking the 
wagon to the field, and as a basket of corn is husked, 
throwing it into the box. Where the crop of corn 
is large, two wagons may be used, one to be loaded 
while the other is unloaded. This saves the labor 
of handling the corn a second time. A sufficient 
number of baskets should be provided for gather¬ 
ing the corn. Two wagons and a pair of horses, 
will keep 20 ordinary huskers employed, and two or 
three binders will be kept busy in following them. 
A good day's Husking. —The quantity of corn that 
can be husked in a day, depends upon the yield of 
the crop. With 20 bushels per acre, and many bar¬ 
ren stalks to go over, a man may husk 40 bushels in 
a day, or even more. With a yield of 60 to 80 
bushels, a man can husk one acre in a day. An ear 
can be husked in four seconds. This is equal to 900 
ears an hour, with good com, equal to 60 or more 
bushels in 10 hours. In the West where large ears 
and good crops are grown, 100 bushels a day can 
sometimes be busked. This exemplifies the saving 
made in working quickly and steadily, and also one 
of the ways in which it pays to grow good crops. 
Comfort in Husking .—To squat upon the ground 
while husking, is neither comfortable nor healthful. 
To carry about a seat, is a loss of time. A good 
plan is to have seats made of a piece of board, to 
which a short prop or leg is fastened, and which 
may be tied around the body of the huskers, as 
shown in the engraving. 
A great number of Husking Appliances are in use, 
or may be used. An excellent husking machine is 
made, which will husk as much as ten men. The 
HUSKING PIN. 
husking gloves made by Hall & Co., save the hands 
and wrists ; and there are husking pins in great va¬ 
riety. One is made by a party in Decatur, Ill., and 
a home-made one is also shown, which is simply a. 
large nail, or a hickory pin with a leather band. 
Corn Cribs. —The loss caused by damage to com 
by rats and mice, is very great.. It is doubtless one 
per cent of the crop, and possibly four or five times, 
as much. If but one per cent, it equals 121 million 
bushels, or about 4 million dollars’ worth each year. 
If every farm of 20 acres or over has a corn crib, 
there are about three million. To make every crib 
permanently rat proof, would not cost more than 
the amount of the annual loss, and enough money 
HOME-MADE HUSKING PIN. 
would he saved, to give every farmer in the whole 
country a copy of a good agricultural paper, through 
which he could learn how many times the above 
sum of money could be saved each year. 
Saving Corn Stalks.— There is no necessity to 
make large stacks of stalks, as they keep better in 
small ones. Many farmers in the Eastern and Mid¬ 
dle States, put them up in large shocks in the 
field, or a lot near the barn, binding them well, es¬ 
pecially at the top, and the fodder keeps bright and 
green in this way. This is little trouble, and the 
plan might be followed elsewhere with profit. 
Corn Smut. —There is no doubt of the hurtful 
character of corn smut, and cattle should be pre¬ 
vented from devouring stalks affected with it. 
Where the cattle are worth more than the labor of 
saving them, this may be done by throwing out, 
smutty stalks by themselves, and burning them. 
Fertilizers for Wheat. —Any fertilizers to be used, 
for wheat, should be applied without delay. As- 
good a growth as possible ought to be made before 
winter. Superphosphate of Lime ; Nitrate of Soda,, 
(in small quantities however at this season on ac¬ 
count of its solubility), fine Bone-flour; Peruvian 
Guano ; Salt and Plaster can each be used with 
benefit, according to circumstances. 
A Farmer should know his own Farm. —A farmer 
cannot work his farm safely, without knowing all 
about his soil. Every field should be studied as to 
the effects of certain methods with fertilizers upon 
it. Then the owner can act with reasonable cer- 
