1880. J 
AME1UCAJN AGrKlOULTURIST. 
is a brisk demand for good work horses, and a large 
export business is growing up, so that the keeping 
of mares will become a source of income. But not 
only must the right kind be kept, and the right 
kind of colts be raised, but the mares must have 
proper stable accommodations. When a mare is 
idle a large portion of the time, exercise is needed, 
and this she can get in a loose box. 
Colts .—Young colts should be well fed and cared 
for the first winter; provide a warm stall for them, 
with plenty of litter, and give them a good brush¬ 
ing down once every day. A quart of oats, daily, 
will be needed, and some bright, clean, sweet hay. 
Cut-feed is not suitable for young colts, whose di¬ 
gestion should not be overtaxed by food packed 
solidly in the stomach ; feed light and frequently. 
Work Oxen .—Oxen that work on frozen roads, 
although there is no ice, should be shod. The 
rough, hard surface wears down the hoofs very fast, 
and causes inflammation of the interior; the trouble 
may not become apparent until later, when the 
mischief is difficult to repair. If the feet are ten¬ 
der and hot, and slight lameness is perceived, ex¬ 
amine the hoofs between the claws, cleanse the 
feet, and apply remedies if needed. 
Cows .—Milking cows will be benefited by mixing 
their feed with warm water, if this can be done 
without too much trouble. A family cow may be 
treated to a warm mess in the mornings without 
difficulty, and it will increase the milk perceptibly. 
Cut the hay and pour a pailful of hot water over it; 
mix the mess so that the hay is all wetted, and add 
the meal; mix again, and feed while warm. In a 
dairy of 20 cows, the extra milk will pay for the 
labor needed. If the food can be made more di¬ 
gestible, and by giving it warm, the waste of animal 
heat will be avoided, and the same effect will re¬ 
sult as from an increase of food. Thus the study 
of the principles of feeding may be made a source 
of profit by the economy which may be practised 
through it. The card and brash should be in fre¬ 
quent use during the winter, and if necessary a 
coarse cloth and warm water may be used to pre¬ 
serve cleanliness. If filth is permitted to gather on 
the skin it is difficult to remove at this season. 
Young Calves will thrive well if kept in a shed to¬ 
gether and well fed. The shed may be littered 
liberally, and need not be cleaned out until the 
spring, or until the manure has become a foot or 
more deep. Calves may thus become good manure- 
makers, but it will be necessary to feed them well. 
Bran and oats, with a little com, will be the best 
food for them. Give one pint a day for those under 
a year, and a quart or two daily for yearlings. 
Costiveness in cold weather should he carefully 
guarded against, and, if necessary, half a pint of 
raw linseed-oil, or a pint of linseed-meal, should be 
given with the food as a remedy. 
Sheep .—A flock of sheep may be made the most 
profitable of farm stock, both in return of money 
and of manure. By feeding a small flock well, 
through the winter, their value may be easily 
doubled. But the feeding should be liberal and 
the care unremitting. The chief requisites for suc¬ 
cess with sheep are, to provide abundant good 
food and pure well water; to feed and water regu¬ 
larly ; to provide fresh pure air, and to avoid damp¬ 
ness. When feeding sheep for market, it is well 
to try the weights every second week, and note the 
increase. (For a method of weighing, see Ameri¬ 
can Agriculturist for Dec., 1879, page 500.) The 
effects of the feeding can thus be readily ascer¬ 
tained and changes made if it is thought necessary. 
Breeding Ewes that are expected to drop lambs 
early, should be closely watched. The springing 
of the udder is an unfailing sign of approaching 
parturition. The ewe should then be removed to 
a separate pen and kept quiet, but visited at least 
every three hours and the last thing at night. It is 
rarely that any help is needed, except, in very cold 
weather, to wrap a piece of soft blanket about the 
lamb and to help it to suck as soon as possible. As 
soon as the lamb gets a meal it will be all right, and 
the ewe may be left to herself for a few hours. 
Tameness and Gentleness are qualities to be en¬ 
couraged in all domestic animals. Their value is 
discovered when it is necessary to handle the ani¬ 
mals at critical periods. When confidence, if not 
affection, exists, one can do much with a suffering 
animal, when otherwise interference might make 
matters worse. It would be well to make friends 
with cows, and sheep, especially, by petting them, 
giving them salt and palatable things, and ming¬ 
ling with them in the yards. Every animal should 
be trained to be handled when loose in the yard. 
Lambs .—Lambs dropped this month should be 
well fed through the ewe. Give little heating food, 
such as corn, in any shape; but bran, oil-cake meal, 
and oatmeal in gruel, will be healthful and nour¬ 
ishing for the ewe and the lamb. In stormy weather 
the ewe and lamb may be kept under cover, but in 
fine, sunny days, they may run in a dry yard ; but 
not with other sheep. Early lambs for market 
should be pushed ahead as fast as may be safe. 
Pigs .—Store pigs will thrive well on roots with a 
slop of bran, sour milk and water. A supply of 
roots on hand will greatly reduce the cost of feed¬ 
ing store pigs. Turnips that can not well be fed to 
cows may be given to the pigs. Give young pigs a 
warm dry bed. 
Lice .—The irritation of lice keeps young animals 
poor and miserable. To rid them of these pests, 
brush the skin all over thoroughly with a brush 
dipped in a mixture of linseed-oil and kerosene, 
shaking the excess of oil out before using the 
brush. Work the grease down to the skin; if this 
is persevered in the lice will soon disappear. 
Poultry .—Hens and early pullets will now be lay¬ 
ing freely. They should be encouraged by giving 
them warm food. Baked small potatoes taken 
direct from the oven, and hot, are much relished by 
the fowls ; scalded corn-meal, corn or wheat parched 
in the oven, crusts of bread, or oatmeal, steeped in 
hot milk ; and meat scraps, with some stimulating 
condiment, like Cayenne pepper, will he found to 
add greatly to the store of eggs all through the 
stormiest weather ; but the fowls must have a dry, 
warm, clean, sheltered place to roost and lay in. 
Ice .—Get in a supply of ice as early as possible. 
A stock in the house is worth two in the pond. A 
supply has often been missed by waiting one day 
too long. When ice is 6 or 8 inches thick, it should 
be cut and stored without delay. See article on 
Ice-houses in American Agriculturist for Dec., 1879. 
Notes on Orchard and Garden Work. 
The opening of a new year brings many new 
readers, and a word to these is here in place. It 
should be understood that these Notes are not 
written for the professional horticulturist, or com¬ 
mercial nurseryman; though they may contain valu¬ 
able information for these, still it is taken for 
granted that they already possess the necessary 
knowledge to their business, or can find it in the 
works belonging to their profession. It is for the 
amateur that these Notes are written, and by 
“amateur,” we mean every one who does not fol¬ 
low orcharding, or gardening in any of its forms, as 
an occupation. Farmers as well as others are to he 
classed as amateurs in these matters, and these 
Notes are made largely with the view of encourag¬ 
ing farmers in these branches of land culture, and 
to aid them when they undertake any kind of crops 
outside of those belonging to the farm proper. 
Whoever undertakes an orchard, or fruit growing 
of any kind, or who has a vegetable garden, or 
would decorate his grounds with shrubs and flow¬ 
ers, should have at hand a work for reference. To 
be able to learn a fact, or to remedy a difficulty at 
once is of great value, and a book will often more 
than pay for itself in a single reference We give 
in the Basket some hints as to the contents of the 
leading works. 
No time is so proper for useful reading as the 
comparatively leisure days and evenings of winter ! 
It is a foregone conclusion that success cannot be 
attained in any department of human life without 
work , and the conclusion is equally clear that the 
work of the muscles, to be most efficient, must be 
guided by intelligence ; the mind and the hand must 
labor together to bring about the greatest good. 
Q 
Orchard and Nursery. 
An Old Orchard is as unproductive as it is un¬ 
sightly, and to one who really loves a tree, many of 
the orchards one sees in going about the older 
portions of the country, present melancholy exam¬ 
ples of “cruelty to trees.” The cause of the present 
condition of these trees is, partially neglect; main¬ 
ly robbery. The trees could hardly been brought 
to their present condition had not the land for 
these many years been made to bear two crops. 
The act of planting an orchard is a promise that the 
trees should be fed. From the very first year these 
trees have had a yearly crop of grain or hay taken 
away from their land, except on those where the 
grass has been taken away by the animals pastured 
in the orchard. No question is more frequently 
asked us than 
How to Renovate an Old Orchard ?—There is a 
“previous question” in this case—“is the orchard 
worth renovating?” should be first considered. 
This can not be properly decided by one who has 
not seen the trees. When trees are very old and 
badly decayed, with tranks and larger branches 
more or less hollow, it is not worth while to ex¬ 
pend labor upon them ; the wood-pile needs them. 
But if merely badly shaped, and, though sound, are 
unfruitful, it will generally be a profitable invest¬ 
ment to restore them. The 
What to Bo , will vary with circumstances. Often 
putting down a few rows of drain tiles, with the 
necessary pruning, will be all that is needed to over¬ 
come the original mistake of the planter, who set 
his trees on land not good enough for the usual 
farm crops. Many of the bad orchards never could 
have been good with any above-ground care. If 
the soil was good, the now suffering trees have been 
starved. The great want is food ; supply it by 
Manuring the Soil .—Such orchards generally are 
in grass. Spread a heavy coat of manure over the 
whole surface, and turn over the sod in the spring. 
When the sod has decayed, then give a deep plow¬ 
ing, and spread ashes if they can be obtained, or a 
good dressing of lime, and harrow. Thus far we 
have attended to the roots. The above-ground 
portions need care. The trunk and larger branches 
are usually covered by scales of old bark, growing 
upon which are mosses and lichens, and hidden 
beneath them the eggs and chrysalids of insects. 
Scraping the Bark with a short-handled hoe will 
remove a portion, but to make a complete job, use 
strong home-made soft soap, made from ley or 
potash. Thin this with enough water to apply read¬ 
ily to the bark, and leave the rain to do the rest. 
Do this work of scraping, etc., early in the spring. 
Pnming will generally, if not always, be needed. 
How, and how much, will depend upon the state of 
each tree. Endeavor to open the tree to let in light 
and air all through it, and also to bring the head to 
a well balanced shape. It may require the removal 
of some large branches and the shortening back of 
others. This may be done at the end of winter; 
cover all large wounds with some dark-colored 
paint. If large ragged wounds have been made by 
the breaking down of branches, dress the cut by the 
use of a drawing knife or stout chisel, to make a 
clean, smooth wound and paint it. We have as¬ 
sumed that the variety of fruit is good. If the tree 
is sound, but of a worthless variety, renew it by 
Grafting .—The manner of renewing an old tree 
by grafting it over to make a new head, must be 
left until next month’s Notes. 
Planting Orchards.— One contemplating planting 
an orchard, should first determine to do well by the 
trees, by giving them the first and sole right to the 
ground. An orchard poorly kept is'a bad invest¬ 
ment. Next, use great care in selecting the va¬ 
rieties of fruit. Do not make too long a list. 
Varieties of Apples .—A dozen varieties is ample, 
and may be thus divided ; two early, four autumn, 
and six winter kinds. Of course the number in 
each division will be governed somewhat by indi¬ 
vidual taste, and whether the fruit is solely for 
home use or for market. It is difficult to give a 
list of varieties that will suit all persons and all lo¬ 
calities. The following may be of some aid t© 
