44 AMERICAN AGRICULTURIST. [February, 
Contents of this Number. 
[Articles marked with a star (*) are illustrated; the fig¬ 
ure with the star indicates the number of illustrations.] 
Apple, What is An ?. .3*. .65 
Arboretum, Arnold. 80 
Bee Notes for February.48 
Boys and Girls’ Columns : — Bears in a School 
Room. —The Doctor's Talks.— Our Puzzle Box—What 
is the Use of it.—About Specific Gravity.—The Chil¬ 
dren in the Garret. 4*. .68-70 
Broom, The Butcher’s. *..63 
Catarrh and Bronchitis—Simple Remedies.. 50 
Chrysanthemums for the Window.50 
Cow, Jersey, “Leda” and her kindred.*..55 
Burra, Dhurra, or Rice Corn, etc.15 
Earth Worms—On the Farm and Elsewhere. 59 
Editorial Ramblings at the West.3*. .47 
Eggs and “Shortening,” How they Lighten Cake.54 
Fence Question Again—Use one kind only.*..57 
Fertilizers, Artificial Useful.80 
Fertilizers for House Plants.63 
Foods, Amount Lost through Non-Assimilation.51 
Household :—A Coal Bin. Heating Water. A Japan 
Batb. Water of Ammonia. A Chimney Sweeper. 
Variety of Dishes from Potatoes. Recent House¬ 
hold Appliances. Corn Bread and Cakes, 11 Recipes. 
Pies that Stew over.7*,.66-67 
Horses—Rein Holder.*..60 
Humbugs. Sundry.48 
Ice, Harvesting...59 
Ivy and Moss .62 
Jumper, How to Make.2*..56 
Funds, Western Farm.7*..71-75 
Latch, A Spring.* . .59 
Lilies, Japan and Other.2*. .64 
Live Stock Trade, of 1881, with Lessons.49 
Logs, Binding Loaded.*..54 
Mill Stones, Burr or Buhr.80 
Nitrogen, Loss of in Purchased Manure, by Dr. Lawes.60 
Notes from the Pines, Sundry.65 
Orchard and Garden Work.44 
Onions, Sowing Broadcast.80 
Osage Orange from Cuttings.50 
Ozone, What is?.50 
Fails for Butter.* . .59 
Peach Stones, Preparing.62 
Petroleum, Our Exports of.56 
Pine, The Chili—Araucaria..2*..63 
Plants, American, at Home in England.*..62 
Population of the United States, 1880—Table.40 
Poultry House Conveniences.*..51 
Poultry—Nest Boxes, or a Laying Coop.*. 54 
P. O. Money Orders to Australia and New Zealand_80 
Rabbits or Hares.51 
Readers, Talk with.81 
Rhode Island Profitable Farming.80 
Rhubarb, Forcing.46 
Sheep, Cotswold—“Gillett’s Beauty”.*..55 
Sheep-Skins, Removing Wool.45 
Sheep Troughs, Self-Cleaning..4*..53 
Silk Culture in this Country.54 
Sod, Clearing a Field of.2*..61 
Stable Forks, Wooden.75 
Stock, Live, Winter Exposure of.53 
Sugar Making, Maple, Economy in. 80 
Suggestions of and for the Season.44^45 
Swine, House for Breeding and Slaughtering.4*..5S 
Terms of Subscription.75, 90 
Tether. Another.*.. 57 
Tim Bunker on Learning from Mistakes.56 
Trees, Moving Soft Maple.SO 
Turke- , A Pair of Bronze.*. .43 
Walnut Planting, Profitin. 49 
Water for Live Stock, by Dr. M. Miles .52 
Weather, A Talk with Farmers,by Prof. Chickeriug . .61 
Wells, Make-shift Curbing.*..54 
Western Homes.7*..71-75 
Wheat Moth, and its Work, by Prof. Cook.2*. .52 
Whip Holder, A... *.. 56 
Going; West.—Valuable Information.— 
All contemplating going west, or having friends 
thinking of doing so, will greatly value the large 
amount of general and particular information given 
on pages 71, 72, 73, 74, 75. The information thus 
given will answer thousands of inquiries constantly 
coming from our readers, both here and in Europe. 
It covers a wide field, presenting impartially the 
location, prices, etc., of the leading tracts of land 
now in market, and tells where further particulars, 
if desired, can be readily obtained. Extra copies 
of this, as of other numbers, in English or German, 
can always be obtained of the news-dealers, or di¬ 
rectly from the office, at the usual rates. 
Please read through the Notes to 
“ Every Reader ” on page 81, and, if ap¬ 
proved, act upon the hints, this month. 
AMERICAN AGRICULTURIST. 
NEW YORK, FEBRUARY, 1882. 
Suggestions of and for the Season. 
The winter thus far (January 1) has been an ex¬ 
ceptionally mild one, and farm work may be done 
on New Year’s Day in many localities. This is a 
great help, as it allows the farmer to get abreast 
with his work. It also lightens the labor of caring 
for farm stock, as less food will be needed and 
greater freedom can be safely given to the animals. 
February is the last month of winter, and the 
spring, with its hurry and rush of work, is almost 
here. It is important that the farmer work now as 
much as possible to anticipate the operations of 
spring. Let this be specially a month of planning 
—and of execution also, as far as may be. There 
is a lack of forethought on many farms, and to this 
is due much of the dissatisfaction that occasionally 
outcrops in the expression, “Farming does not 
pay.” Thoughtful farming is one of the surest 
roads to success. A farmer who is doing justice to 
his profession should know in February just 
what crop each field on his farm is to bear during 
the coming season. He should plan further than 
this, and by following a well selected system of 
rotation of crops, know what this and that field is 
to be devoted to for a half a dozen years to come. 
There is a relation which one crop bears to another 
that all should understand. A field of corn does 
not grow to itself alone; and the cost of producing 
the crop should not all be charged against it. 
Some crops in themselves may not yield an income, 
but are indispensable in the cycle, on account of 
their influence for good on other crops. One 
of the leading errors in American farming is a lack 
of system, but as the country grows older this 
must pass away. The hap-hazard farmer will give 
place to the one who runs the farm with the method 
and thoughtfulness that is the basis of successful 
factory operations. A farm,instead of being avast 
and inexhaustible storehouse of food, must sooner 
or later be looked upon as a factory that requires 
careful running, to be made to pay. There is no 
better time to think of these things than now. 
The whole world depends upon the soil for its 
daily food; and so long as the human race lasts, 
farming must be a leading form of productive 
labor. Good fanning pays; and the good farmer 
is contented with his work, and pushes it forward 
intelligently. The farm must be studied to see 
what it is best fitted for—the farmer becoming year 
by year more a master of the situation, and there¬ 
fore more successful. 
The making of manure is one of the most im¬ 
portant labors of the winter season, or perhaps it 
should have been said the saving of it. The value 
of a manure depends on several things, the leading 
of which are : the food given the animal; the kind, 
age, and condition of the animal fed ; and, last but 
not least, the care which the manure receives after 
it has been dropped. Rich manure can only be 
made from rich food; if straw alone is fed, the 
manure must be poor, as the animal adds nothing 
to, but instead extracts from, the store of plant 
food in the fodder. When oil-cake and grain are 
fed much of the Nitrogen and Phosphoric Acid 
they contain pass through the animals and appear 
iu the manure. The European farmers appreciate 
the importance of rich foods in their influence 
upon the manure much more fully than we, as is 
shown by the larger exportations of our cottou- 
seed cake, where it is fed to fattening animals for 
the sake of the mauure. It would be wise economy 
for us to retain every ton of this rich food, and 
feed it home. The less the animal has to do the 
richer will be the manure. Thus a growing ani¬ 
mal, or one that is giving milk, or exerting muscu¬ 
lar power, as working oxen or horses, will, other 
things being equal, use up a larger per cent of 
the fertilizing elements than one that is at ease. 
It should be remembered that the valuable ingredi¬ 
ents of a manure are soluble, and may be easily 
washed away. Therefore the manure heap should 
not be exposed to rains that will leach out and 
carry away the fertilizing elements. The best 
manure is made under cover. It is also essential 
that the litter that is mixed should become well 
rotted, and this will suggest that the heap be kept 
in such a state that decay will be rapid but not 
wasteful. Well rotted manure may be drawn out 
upon the land at any time during the winter, and 
spread evenly over the ground. If put in heaps 
the covered spots will get more than their share, 
and sometimes be too rich. This is a good illus¬ 
tration of the leaching which takes place when 
manure is exposed to rains. We may not have 
come to that perfection in our agriculture when we 
need to feed for manure ; but there is no sanction 
—even if the soil is rich with fertility, for letting 
the manure go to waste. 
The watering of stock is a very important part 
of the care of all farm animals at this season. The 
reader’s attention is called to an article upon this 
subject (page 52) by Dr. Miles. The water should 
not be ice cold, and to prevent this the troughs 
should be kept clear of ice, and the water drawn 
as it is needed. All farm animals should be kept 
from severe exposure in every way. 
Notes on Orchard and Garden Work. 
Weather predictions, as a general thing, have 
little value, but we feel quite safe in predicting that 
however severe the winter may be, trees, shrubs, 
and woody vines will not suffer to any great ex¬ 
tent. The most disastrous winter in all our experi¬ 
ence was that of 1873-74, when not only exotics, 
heretofore regarded as perfeetly hardy, were killed 
outright, but the common Red Cedar, standing 
where it had grown for a century, was converted 
into fuel. The winter was not one of unusual 
severity, and in looking for a cause for this wide¬ 
spread destruction, it was found that there had 
been no fall rains in the previous autumn. The 
ground was so dry that it could not supply the 
demand of the trees for moisture, and these dried, 
rather than froze, to death. Probably the soil has 
not been, within the memory of any now living, so 
thoroughly deprived of moisture, as it was by the 
drouth of last summer. When the rains came, they 
only wet the surface, but down below there was an 
ominous dryness. When autumn set in, the usual 
autumn rains did not come, and those who had 
choice collections of trees were justly apprehensive 
of a winter as destructive as the one referred to. 
But early winter set all right; the cold held off, 
but the rains came, and copiously, and whatever 
else may happen the trees will not die from the 
winter drouth. These unusual seasons have their 
compensations, and there has hardly been a year 
within our recollection in which 60 much spring 
work could be anticipated by doing it in autumn 
or early winter. As we write at the beginning of 
the year, the land is in better condition to plow or 
spade, than it is likely to be in early spring, and he 
is wise who makes use of every favorable day. 
Orchard and Nursery. 
This is a good season to renovate old orchards. 
The cause of the melancholy look of many old 
fruit trees is partly neglect, but mainly starvation. 
An ill-shaped tree is proof that the pruning knife 
has not been used properly, or that some other mat¬ 
ter of attention has been overlooked. It is now 
too late to make the best shaped trees, but much 
may be still done in this direction. The leading 
thing that is usually needed in an old orchard is 
feeding. It is poor economy to ask a heavy crop 
of grain and another of fruit from the same piece 
of ground ; and the man who plants an orchard 
ought to feel that he has pledged himself to grow 
fruit as the leading crop on the land devoted to the 
orchard, and keep off every other crop that would 
injure the growth and productiveness of the trees. 
There are many old orchards that are not worth 
renovating. There are no fixed rules by which one 
may decide that an orchard bad better be renovated 
or destroyed. When the trees are old, and badly 
decayed in both the trunk and branches it is not 
profitable to spend much labor upon them. If the 
