232 
AMERICAN AGRICULTURIST. 
|_J UKE, 
Contents of this Number. 
[Articles marked with a star (*) are illustrated; the fig¬ 
ure with the star indicates the number of illustrations.] 
Acre, Crowd in Another.. .232 
Asparagus Bed, Injuring the.235 
Association, American, of Nurserymen. 263 
Bamboos, The, and their Uses, .2*..251 
Barley, The Varieties of.*..244 
Bear, A Remarkable. 265 
Bee Notes for June.239 
Boys’ and Girls’ Columns : — The Doctor's Talks; 
Riding Horse to Plow Corn . How Large is Alaska ; 
Our Puzzle Box; Long Days—How to Shorten 
"Clinr. T irwie • T^hn Wflhormnn’a 
IULIU > OULLIO Y Cl Y J- 1UC JJiuuo ^ a. Lie j- i ouoi 
Daughter.10*.. 256-258 
Cardoon, What is ?.* ■ • 252 
Cheese, Cottage, Profitable.245 
City People in the Country.232 
Consumption—Important Discoveries.265 
Coop, A Chicken.—2*..245 
Corn, Raise Your Own Seed.237 
Corn, The Late Planting of..236 
Cucumbers—Melons— Squashes.5*.. 234 
Barwin, Death of Charles. 264 
Drinking in the Hay-Field.236 
Eating for Working.233 
JEarms, Value of—Wonderful Increase in 20 Years. ..250 
Farmers, Most Important to. 232 
Flannel, Red.263 
Forestry, Recent Meeting.264 
Forests, State Bounties for. ..237 
Fuel Question, The. .266 
tJoats as Milk Producers.266 
Grape-Vine, The, in Summer. .4*..253 
Grape-Vines, A New Class of Tuberous-Rooted.251 
“ Greenbacks,” Covering Land with. 265 
Harness for a Bull.2*..249 
Hay, A Method of Curing.2*..248 
Hay, Feeding Experiments with.236 
Hay or Wood? Will You Feed. 232 
Hay, Some Facts About Cutting.249 
Hens, Eg’-Eating.234 
Horses, Clydesdale.*.. 243 
Horses, Feeding Whole Corn to.266 
Horses, Grooming.250 
Horses, Lameness in.214 
House, Country, Costing $600 to $800. 6*..238-239 
Household The Wastes of Country Houses ; Cook¬ 
ing Beefsteak ; Our Daily Bread ; Reading for the 
People; Barrel Frame ” Easy Chairs.”.5*. .254-255 
Improvements in the Harvest Field. 2*..247 
Insect Powder, The Uses of.;.252 
Insects on Garden Vegetables. 235 
Insects Some Apple.3*..237 
Insecticides and Fertilizers. 266 
Label, Which is the Best?.235 
Lambs. The Pet.231 
Law for Farmers—Cattle in the Highway.248 
Lawn in Summer.235 
Lunches, Are, Bad ?. 233 
Hanure, What a Pint Did .233 
Mats, Inexpensive Home-Made.*..236 
Milk the Year Round.247 
“ No Shoe, No Horse,”.265 
Pickles, Plants for. 236 
Pig-House Furniture.7*.. 246 
Plants. Are House Injurious to Health ?.251 
Post, Staying a Vineyard. ..*. .253 
Potatoes. Imported.266 . 
Poultry Houses, Summer, and Yards.218 
Preserving Eggs.248 
Prices, How to get High, for Fruit .234 
Pruning in June.234 
Quinces, the Best Soil for.252 
Sashes, Take Care of the.235 
Scarecrows.246 
Scraper, A “ Fork ” Stable.*..245 
Silk Worms and Mulberries.266 
Sparrows. Those Bad. 265 
Spinach, New Zealand.*..252 
Sugar from Sorghum.265 
Sugar of the Maple. Where Stored. 265 
Sweet Herbs, Provide .236 
Table Cover. An Economical.*..236 
Tethering and Picketing Animals.*..247 
Thinning.247 
Tool-Boat. A Farm.*.. 233 
Transplanting.235 
Trough, Self-acting Chicken. . *..233 
Turkey, Wild, The Wooing of.3*..242 
Weeds, Worse and Worse.239 
Important Announcements will be 
found on Page 264. Subscription Terms 
and some Postal Matters, etc., are given 
in detail on Pages 272 and 263. 
The full exposures ®f humbugs and frauds 
in this number of the American Agricul¬ 
turist make it worth far more than a 
whole year’s subscription to any farmer in 
the country. Show it to your neighbors. 
AMERICAN AGRICULTURIST. 
NEW YORK, JUNE, 1882. 
Suggestions for the Season. 
Most Important to Farmers. 
No matter how well one’s plans are laid, how 
good the soil, how fully are provided implements, 
teams, seed, and fertilizers, if a man is laid on his 
back, or confined to his house by ill health, or if he 
feels so poorly that he can scarcely drag through 
the day, the best success can hardly be hoped for. 
If so situated, as few farmers are, that one can 
command abundant help, and if able to be with the 
workmen, directing and encouraging them, still, if 
the physical organization is not in order, the mind 
and the judgment will be more or less affected, and 
the most successful plans are not certain to be 
made and carried out,—Out-door exercise, in coun¬ 
try air, contributes so much to health and vigor, 
that farmers are, as a rule, the most careless class 
in regard to keeping their own bodies in the best 
condition. Some are even more careful of their 
animals than of themselves. Mechanics, both em¬ 
ployers, journeymen, and apprentices, usually have 
limited hours of labor, nine or ten in the twenty- 
four, with part of Saturday off, and these hours 
are in the best part of the day, when the sun is up, 
and the miasmatic vapors arising from the ground 
always and everywhere, are lifted up and dissipa¬ 
ted. From the nature of their occupation, farm¬ 
ers necessarily work or “chore” early and late 
during the busy season. They are out in the morn¬ 
ing while fogs, dews, and organic exhalations hug 
the earth before the sun’s rays have started a brisk 
circulation, and ascending currents carry upward 
and dissipate the unhealthful stratum of atmos¬ 
phere which the colder night temperature brings 
down. (For this reason, sleeping in the second 
story, as high up from the ground as practicable, is 
always better than to occupy a first-floor bed-room, 
especially during spring, summer, and autumn.)— 
Then, as night comes on, the falling temperature 
and dews have a stronger effect upon the system, 
wearied and depressed by the long day’s hard 
labor, and the night choring is the most risky por¬ 
tion of the day. Though the early morning air is 
most loaded with unhealthful exhalations, the body 
is then invigorated by rest, and the temperature is 
rising instead of falling. Health and vigor are so 
important, that we offer some suggestions else¬ 
where for increasing and conserving them. 
Will You Feed Hay OS* Wood ? 
A great deal has been said and written about the 
proper time of cutting hay. Prof. Jordan dis¬ 
cusses the subject from an experimental and sci¬ 
entific standpoint, on page 249 of this number, and 
another item elsewhere refers to Mr. Sanborn’s ex¬ 
periments.—The outcome of the discussion and 
experiments, thus far, seems to be that the best 
time, all things considered, is to cut the grass just 
after it has come into full bloom, though many 
think the preferable time is just when it is coming 
into full blossom. As it is impossible to always mow 
every field just at the right moment, the general 
safe rule is, we think, to be all ready to begin at 
full bloom, and finish before it is entirely past. 
There is this important fact to be kept in mind, 
viz., that as soon as grass of any kind has attained 
its growth, and is full of juices, it begins to change 
more and more into woody fiber, and that when 
fully ripe, a large part of the stems or stalks differ 
very little in composition from dry wood. And 
every one knows that dry wood is neither easily 
digested nor nutritious. It stands to reason that a 
stalk of grass cut when it is full of juice contain¬ 
ing sugar, gum, and protein compounds, and cured 
thus, must be more nutritious than if left standing 
until a part of these constituents have changed 
into woody fiber. Feeding hay not cut until it is 
thoroughly ripe, is giving the animals that which 
is in part only so much wood.—The practical les¬ 
son is, make a good ready well in advance, now,, 
and have the barns, mows, stacking arrangements, 
mowers, scythes, horse and other rakes, forks, 
wagon racks, in short, all things, in perfect order 
—and the work planned, so as not to let any hay- 
field get into the fully ripe condition. Head work 
beforehand, will save hard work and worry, and 
secure better hay. 
Crowd in Another Acre, 
Except under a certain condition. It is too soon 
to predict good or poor crops. The gauntlet of 
storms, cool weather, rust, and insect ravages, has 
yet to be run by every farmer everywhere, before 
he knows how much hay, wheat, oats, corn, or 
any other crop will be safely gathered in good 
condition. It therefore behooves every one to 
now get seed into every possible acre, and half 
acre. If the crops are poor, every additional acre 
will help out. If they are good, every such acre 
will increase the surplus .—It is not too late to plant 
corn. We have seen good com from seed planted 
after the middle of June. In multitudes of in¬ 
stances we have known cold, wet weather to rot 
the seed planted in May; iu many others, the 
plants got a poor start for the same reason, and 
made slow growth all the season, when seed 
planted in the warm soil of the first half of June, 
starte*?! at once, made vigorous growth, and at the 
gathering showed much better per acre in the 
crib than the May planting. So, cast about, and 
see if it be not possible to add a little to the sur¬ 
face of growing corn, or of something else. 
“ Except Under a. Certain i'ondi« 
tioi*„” 
“ Crowd in another acre, except under a certain 
condition,” is urged upon our readers above.— 
What is the exception ?—Bad weather and insect 
ravages, especially the latter, can not always be 
guarded against. But weeds lessen the corn yield, 
one year with another, taking the country together,, 
far more than grasshoppers, cut-worms, birds, 
and all other pests. Indeed, is it rash to say that 
weeds exert, on the whole, more influence upon a 
corn or potato crop than the weather, in average 
years ? A mass of weeds around the roots of 
crops, not only shut out the vivifying sun’s rays, 
so necessary to vigorous growth, but every weed- 
stalk and leaf allowed to grow, steals some nutri¬ 
ment that the crop roots ought to have. Will any 
one contend that, on a weedy soil, a planted hill or 
drill crop, left to grow with no cultivation, will be 
likely to yield half as much as one kept clean of 
weeds ? We emphasize the fact that every single 
weed left to grow takes something from the crop. 
—The “eertain condition” referred to above is, 
that if a farm has already more hoed crops planted 
than there is any certainty or probability of keep¬ 
ing under fair subjectiou, as to being smothered by 
weeds, by home help or hired extra force, then it 
may not be advisable to add the “ extra acre,” so- 
strongly commended ; but rather turn the whole 
attention to securing the best results from that 
already planted. 
City I*eopIe in tlte Country. 
City people go to the country for health. Most 
who do so gain somewhat in vigor, but mainly be¬ 
cause of the change in one’s current of thought, 
relief from mental strain, simpler diet, and more 
physical exercise. But they often lose much they 
might gain, and, if not prostrated by sickness, very 
many carry home the seeds of disease, that earlier 
or later develop into suffering if not ultimating in 
death. And this because of ignorance or neglect 
on a single point. The pavements ®r hard surfaces 
of city streets, the brick walls and even the wooden 
ones of the compact dwellings, absorb heat during 
the day and retain it up to midnight, partially until 
morning. This heat radiates slowly from such sur¬ 
faces, and air currents, obstructed by the buildings, 
do not circulate freely to carry heat away. For 
this reason city people can sit on the porches or 
