354 
AMERICAN AGRICULTURIST. [September, 
Contents of this Number. 
[Articles marked with a star (*) are illustrated: the fig¬ 
ure with the star indicates the number of illustrations.] 
Ailanthus Tree, The... 361 
Angora Goats. *..364 
Apples for Export.356 
Apples, Keeping—An Experiment. .372 
Ashes, Value of. 366 
Barn, A Medium Sized.4*. .363 
Bee Notes for September. 362 
Blue-Grass, the Origin of. 371 
Boys’ and Girls’ Columns : — The. Doctor's Tallcs; 
Hail and Hail-storms; A Vegetable Dish Cloth; 
Our Puzzle Box ; Old Sights with New Eyes ; The 
Picnic on Bear Hill.18*. .378-380 
Broom-Corn, Cutting.... 367 
Butter, Why Does the, Come?.364 
Cellar, The Uses of the.372 
Celery, The Care of the. 356 
Chain, A Non-Slipping, for Boulders.....*..369 
Chrysanthemums for the Window.358 
Clover, The Plant.367 
Coffee-Tree as a Fly Poison.364 
Corn Crop, Harvesting the.5*..355 
Corn, Selecting Seed.355 
Corn Shocking “ Horse.”.*. .337 
Cottage, Prairie, Costing $800 to $1,000.5*..360 
Crate, Folding Poultry Shipping.2*. .367 
Bevices, Japanese Horticultural. *..375 
Door Fastener, Self-Acting Barn.*..371 
Ensilage and Silos .370 
Fairs, The, are Schools.367 
Fairs, List of Annual.386-387 
Feeding, Economic, in Winter.368 
Fence, a Portable Texas.2*..371 
Ferns for the Dwellings.374 
Fowls, Rearing Pure Bred.369 
Gate for a Foot Path.371 
Grapes, Keeping.362 
Grasses for Winter Decoration.874 
Holder, A Pitchfork..2*. .339 
Hops, High Prices for.360 
Household;— A Well-arranged Pantry; Over-work 
at School; That Gem Recipe; A Simple Wood-Box ; 
Hint to Fruit Canners ; Wheelbarrow Needle-book; 
Frame for Cooling Pies; Hints about Pickles ; 
“ Chair” Made from a Packing Box.5*..376-377 
Inserts Within the Potato Stalk.*..362 
Larkspurs, Annual. 372 
Melon-Worm and Pickle-Worm, The.*..356 
Muck—What is Muck ?. .. 
Mutton Sheep, More. 
Notes from the Pines. 
Orchard. Time for Planting an. 
Fen for a Sheep. 
Pigs for Profit. 
Plants for Cold-Frames. 
Plants, Living, by Mail. 
Potatoes, New, from Old. 
Quail, “Bob White,” or the American 
Raspberry Canes, Disfiguring. 
Roofs, Making Straw. . 
Root House, A Log. 
Rotation of Crops. 
Soil, Feeding to Enrich the. 
Soil Stirrer, A Cedar Stem. 
“ Sprouts,” What are? . 
Strawberry Bed, The. 
Succotash, Living. 
Tomato, Canning. 
Trap for Rats. 
Weeds Going to Seed. 
Whitewash the Out-Buildings. 
.369 
.355 
4 s ..373-374 
.359 
.*..371 
.366 
.356 
.*..372 
.*..375 
.*..363 
.4*..357 
.*. 366 
.*..366 
. ...368 
.355 
. ....*..371 
.372 
.357 
.375 
.361 
.2*..370 
.362 
. ..355 
SEir 3 Free! Free! Free! 
Great Improvements begin with the next (October) 
issue of the American Agriculturist , changes which will 
make the paper more attractive and valuable than ever. 
Send us the names of any of your neighbors or friends 
living anywhere in the United States, whom you think 
would like to see the paper, with a view to subscribing, 
and we will mail them copies post-free. The October 
issue will be a grand double autumn number, worth far 
more than an entire year’s subscription price. 
Sec, at once, Special September 
Notice on Page 388, and Please 
make tbc proposition known to 
Friends and Neighbors in time for 
them to take advantage of it. 
AMERICAN AGRICULTURIST. 
NEW YORK, SEPTEMBER, 1882. 
Suggestions for the Season. 
Trouble tbc Clover Stacks. 
In some localities, in the older Southern States 
especially, farmers who put up their clover hay in 
good condition, are surprised to find, when they 
come to feed it from the stack or mow, that it is 
apparently very mouldy, and hesitate to use it. A 
close examination shows that the appearance of 
mould is very deceptive, and that the whiteness is 
really due to great multiludes of silken threads, 
spun by the clover worm, (Asopia costalis ,) an insect 
that has been brought here from the old world, 
but which makes itself quite at home. The insects 
are usually found in the greatest numbers at the 
bottom of the stack, and after it has once estab¬ 
lished itself, nothing can be done for the hay. 
The farmer who finds his clover hay in this condi¬ 
tion, should not, another season, stack or store his 
crop in the same place. It has been suggested 
that placing the stack upon a foundation, that will 
allow ventilation from below, will be of service. 
Work witli tbc Stoots. 
It will usually pay to go through even broadcast 
turnips, and thin them, and pull or cut out the 
strongest weeds—smart-weed, rag-weed, etc., and 
when roots are in drills, it is absolutely necessary. 
Even when roots are very backward, and the out¬ 
look is discouraging on the first of September, thin¬ 
ning, weeding, and hoeing will make a crop. All 
kinds of turnips do their best growing after cold 
nights are, so to speak, the order of the day. 
Loose earth, and full possession of the ground, are 
prime requisites to their doing their best. 
18 uclc wheat. 
This plant is extremely sensitive to frost. The 
grain which is already matured, or nearly so, is not 
hurt, and the straw is not used for feed. The rea¬ 
son why frost is so injurious, may therefore not be 
apparent, until we think, or notice, that upon al¬ 
most every plant, we have the seed in every stage 
of development, from the blossom, to the ripe grain. 
When cut before frost, a great proportion of the 
unripe seed will develop perfectly, and the process 
of ripening does not seem to be hindered by the 
frost after the Buckwheat is cut. 
4j5o to tlie Fairs! 
The term “Fair” may not always be the most 
appropriate one for the autumn Shows. Exhibition 
is a better word, but far less frequently used. Not 
only should the farmer go to the Fair, but he ought 
to take his family with him. The going, simply, is 
not enough. All members of the household should 
make it a point to take something to exhibit. Oue 
of the boys may take a fine colt, and if it is his 
own, there will be all the more pride in obtaining a 
prize. Another son may have a yoke of steers 
that he has trained for the exhibition. As for the 
girls, there are a thousand different things that 
can be made with the needle that will grace the 
walls of the “ Woman’s Pavillion,” or the rooms 
of the Household Department. Even so common 
a thing as bread may be baked with special care, 
and will attract much attention. Then there are 
the garden vegetables, potatoes—a new kind, per¬ 
haps—pumpkins, squashes, etc., and the products 
of the farm and orchard. It is not wise to leave 
all these things at home, and then criticise the 
Exhibition because you can say, “ We have better 
things at home.” To go and take things to the 
Fair is not enough. The Exhibition should be¬ 
come a school at which all exhibitors and visitors 
make a study of the implements, cattle, poultry, 
fruit, grain, etc., that are there. A farmer may 
owe his success in growing some crop to the 
knowledge gained at a town Fair. The farmer that 
has a real pride in the farm will take great interest 
in the local Fair, and will exhibit the best products 
of farm life in the boys and girls, who are inter¬ 
ested exhibitors at the Fairs. The day at the Fair 
should be a social one, every one making it a point 
to meet many neighbors and others with a pleasant 
word. It is a place for asking and answering ques¬ 
tions, and the person who goes through the Exhi¬ 
bition without opening his mouth, is certainly not 
getting all the good that is within his reach. It is 
our advice that all go to the Fair—all take some¬ 
thing to show, and all find out as much as possible 
about all the various exhibits that are made by 
others. In this way the day at the Fair will be a 
most profitable oue. It may be that a premium 
will not be taken by every one, but the prize ■money- 
is only a small part of the value that an exhibi¬ 
tor may receive from a Fair, that has been used 
as a means for a better understanding of the 
products of the farm, garden, and households 
K B a« d a img- Away Tools. 
The wearing out of farm implements is, as a rule,, 
due more to neglect than to use. If tools can be 
well taken care of, it will pay to buy those made of 
the best steel, and finished in the best manner; but 
in common hands, and with common care, such are 
of little advantage. Iron and steel parts should be 
cleaned with dry sand and a cob, or scraped with a 
piece of soft iron, washed and oiled if necessary,, 
and in a day or two cleaned ofE with the corn-cob 
and dry sand. Finally paint the iron part with rosin 
and beeswax, in the proportion of 4 of rosin, to 1 of 
wax, melted together and applied hot. This isgood 
fortheiron or steel parts of every sort of tool. Wood 
work should be painted with good, boiled, linseed 
oil, white lead and turpentine, colored of any 
desired tint; red is probably the best color. Keep 
the cattle away until the paint is dry and hard, or 
they will lick, with death as the result. If it is not 
desired to use paint on hand tools, the boiled oil 
with turpentine and “liquid drier,” does just as 
well. Many prefer to saturate the wood-work of 
farm implements with crude Petroleum. This can 
not be used with color, but is applied by itself, so 
long as any is absorbed by the pores of the wood. 
Eai-ly Fattening of Animals. 
It is quite as important to fatten and market 
economically, the animal products of the farm, as 
it is to raise them. A pound of beef, pork, or 
poultry, can be made much cheaper in September 
and October, than later in the season, when a larger 
part of the rations must go to keep up animal 
heat. There is no sleight of hand in laying fat upon 
an animal’s carcass. It must come out of good 
honest food in the rations fed. The temperature in 
the latter part of summer and early autumn, is in 
favor of the best use of all the fattening articles of 
food, while there is enough of green food to sharp¬ 
en the appetite, and keep up good digestion. We- 
have found green corn stalks, especially sweet 
corn, an excellent article in the stye, to be fed in 
connection with corn on the cob, and com meal,, 
and other rations. We have never seen pork made 
more rapidly than with this kind of feeding. It 
will be safe to feed all that the swine will eat up 
clean, and no more. Slack up the feed a little 
when anything is left in the trough. This will re¬ 
quire a little attention, but the pigs will grow so 
fast, that one can afford to linger by the stye a few 
minutes, once in a day, to see the fat accumulate. 
Com is high this season, and we want to make the 
best use of it. The best poultrymen we know, be¬ 
gin to give extra feed in September, when they 
mean to kill in November. The Thanksgiving mar¬ 
ket is pretty sure to be a good one, and brings 
ready cash. The small potatoes boiled, and mixed 
with Indian meal and hot water, make an excellent 
feed for turkeys and other poultry. This favors 
growth, as well as fattening. The rations of corn 
and other grain, unground, may be reserved to the 
last few weeks of life. Turkeys should have their 
liberty all through the extra feeding. Some poultry- 
men shut up their geese and ducks, but we doubt- 
tlie economy of this method. With a good run,. 
