34 
AMERIoAN AGRICULTURIST. 
favorite food in r< adiness. Tlie intelligence of 
man circumvents his instinct, by changing the 
crop, and cutting iff the supplies of the young 
grub. 
The light lands of England are commonly cul¬ 
tivated under a four • r five course syst*em. The 
four course begins v\ th fallow ground, manured 
1st year, tiSftiips fed *ff; 2d, oats or barley; 3d, 
grass seed; 4lh, wi eat. The five course is : 
turnips; oats or barley clover; peas; wheat. 
On he-avy clays the r tat ion is usually fallow, 
wiili manure; wheat; Deans; wheat manured; 
clover ; oats or wheat. 
While rotation is rigidly adhered to, the varia¬ 
tions are considerable, to meet the varieties of 
soil, and the conditions of the market. 
There is, perhaps, no point in good husbandry 
that calls for the examination of American farmers 
more urgently than this. It has wrought wonders 
in England,and there can be little doubt that it would 
work quite as favorable a change in our own ag¬ 
riculture. It is a common fault with us, to keep 
our land too long in one crop. Grass, not unfre- 
quently, occupies the same field for eight or ten 
years, until less than half a ton of hay is cut to 
the acre. 
We have seen large ttacts of excellent light 
land made barren, by cropping with rye in alter¬ 
nate years. The same result follows with wheat 
and buckwheat. Now is the time for farmers to 
matu-e their plans for the coming season, and to 
enter upon a judicious rotation of crops. 
Calendar of Work for the Month. 
FARM. 
February has been called a month of leisure. 
There is nothing especially driving, but for the 
provident farmer, anxious to relieve a more busy 
season from every possible care, there is plenty 
of work that may appropriately be done now. 
The chief employment will be the daily care of 
stock of all kinds, to see that they are regularly 
and properly fed, and that nothing is suffered to 
waste about the buildings. Too many farmers 
look upon the Winter season as a time when lit¬ 
tle can be earned, without sufficiently bearing in 
mind that to husband is to earn. The barn, the 
workshop, the woodshed, the cellar, the forest or 
wood pile will admit of a variety of labor in clear 
or stoimy weather. The Southern planter will 
now be actively at work manuring, plowing and 
putting in early crops 
Cattle require a large amount of care during 
this month, both on their own, and their owners’ 
account. They should not fall away in flesh as 
Spring approaches, nor should a lavish, wasteful 
method of feeding be pursued, thus exhausting the 
fodder before grazing time. Use the straw cut¬ 
ter daily, and if there is much coarse feed, a 
steaming apparatus will he found very valuable. 
Give extra feed to cows about calving, and allow 
them plenty of room at night. 
Cellars—Watch against frost, keep sweet and 
clean, sort over fruit and expel ot catch rats and 
mice. 
Corn—Note the spoiling bins and shocks at the 
West, and as far as may be apply a remedy in fu¬ 
ture. Procure seed early and test its vegetating 
powers by sprouting samples in the house. The 
planting season will commence at the far South 
during the latter part of the month. 
Fences—Continue to get out materials, as 
directed last month. Repair and build new ones 
where the frost will admit. 
Flax and Hemp—Complete dressing any yet 
unfinished. 
Fodder—Cut and steam as much of the coarse 
as possible, feeding with Indian meal, bran, and 
cut roots. Use racks in the yard, as figured on 
page 43, rather than scatter the fodder where 
it wilj be trampled by stock. We trust the prac¬ 
tice of i'eed'in'g at distant stack yards has been 
discarded. 
Fowls—See directions of last month, and give 
cooked potatoes or other vegetables in addition to 
their grain feed. Select and set eggs during the 
latter part of the month for early chickens. Read 
articles on “ Poultry raising ” page 47. 
Grain—If any remains unthreshed, leave it no 
longer a prey to rats and mice. See that vermin 
are kept from the granaries, and cattle and sheep 
from the growing fields. Eating off at this season 
will be very injurious. Look out early for Spring 
seed. 
Hogs—With a full supply of warm cooked food, 
give charcoal and salt occasionally, especially to 
breeding sows. Keep their pens well supplied 
with manurial agents, and a good bed of straw or 
leaves. 
Horses and Mules—Give grain or carrots with 
cut feed. See that working horses are well shod, 
during icy weather. Keep blanketed when not in 
use, and well bedded ai night. 
Ice Houses—Watch for the first opportunity to 
fill with thick clear ice, if not already done. Pack 
close, filling crevices with broken pieces. All 
this, if you get any ice this Winter. We have 
seen none to this date (Jan. 23). 
Manures—Continue to manufacture and cart to 
the fields as directed last month. Leave it in 
large heaps until wanted for use, covering them 
with muck, loam or soil. Save all the liquids of 
the yards and stalls by absorbing them with the 
muck or leawes stored for the purpose. It is to 
be hoped that the manure is all kept under cover, 
if it is only a roof of poles thatched with straw or 
corn buts. 
Plowing for the Spring crops of cotton, tobacco, 
corn and grain will now be going on at the South 
Guage the furrows a little deeper than last year, 
or follow with a subsoil plow. 
Potatoes—Sort over for seed. Planting may 
be done at the South during the latter part of the 
month. 
Sheep—Keep them sheltered from storms and 
separate from cattle and horses. Feed grain and 
cut roots with coarse fodder- Let them have free 
access to a trough of salt, with pure water in the 
yard. 
Sugar Maples—Will require tapping during the 
middle or latter part of the month in mild latitudes. 
The particular period must be governed by the 
season. Provide the necessary troughs or buck¬ 
ets and spouts. Have the boilers arranged and 
everything in readiness for operation. Read the 
articles on pages 5 of last number, and 37 and 38 
of the present issue. 
Tools—Employ the stormy days in putting them 
in order and making any new ones wanted in the 
Spring or Summer. Waggons, carts, harnesses 
and farm gear of all kinds should be looked to. 
Read the article on “ Boys’ Tool Chests.” page 
42. 
Tirnips and other Roots—Feed daily, giving 
after, rather than before milking. Use the root 
cutter to reduce them fine enough for sheep even. 
See “ Carrots for Stock ” on page 42. 
Wood—If the supply of last year is now ex¬ 
hausted, get np a larger pile this Winter. Im¬ 
prove the sledding at the north, and good wheeling 
elsewhere to the best advantage while they last. 
Cut, split and store under cover enough to last till 
April, at least of next year. There will be econo¬ 
my in it, in more ways than one. Read “ Green 
Wood vs. Dry ” on page 42 of the present number. 
ORCHARD AND NURSERY. 
Where grounds are frozen or covered with 
snow, little can now be done among the trees, save 
scraping off moss and rough 1111 , 115 ,, pruning and 
clearing the snow from the branches of small 
trees. In some localities the ground is open and 
transplanting may be done, lands manured and 
plowed, nursery trees taken up, packed and seDt 
away. 
The comparative leisure of this month will af¬ 
ford a good opportunity to go through both Or¬ 
chard and Nursery and cleanse old and young 
trees from moss, rough bark and insects, using 
soap suds freely, as recommended in the Decem¬ 
ber number of last volume, for the bark louse, and 
in the present on pages 49 and 51. Themosscan 
readily be washed from the branches of large trees 
immediately after a rain, by a brush broom tied to 
a pole. If a little potash or soap be added to the 
water, so much the better. 
Evergreens—Watch closely after damp snows, 
and shake off what might otherwise break down 
the branches. 
Fruit—Look over that upon shelves removing 
the decayed. 
Grafting the roots of seedlings put in the cellar 
last Fall may now be done, if you still pursue this 
questionable method. Read the second Chapter 
on ‘‘Orchard Culture,” page 49. 
Imported Trees frequently arrive during the 
present month, and are often badly frozen in mov¬ 
ing them from the vessel to their destination. For 
the treatment of such see page 258, volume xvi. 
Insects—Examine for and destroy scale, borers, 
moth cocoons, and the caterpillars eggs which are 
now found near the ends of the branches of apple 
trees. 
Manures—Manufacture and collect as recom¬ 
mended under the “Farm.” Muck, ashes and 
lime are valuable for both orchard and nursery. 
Pruning—We advise not to prune during (his 
month, notwithstanding it is the time formerly 
chosen by old farmers. The wounds do not be¬ 
come sufficiently seared over before the sap as 
cends in the Spring. The tree suffers from the 
loss of sap, which, from a vital element w*'* 
is changed to a poisonous fluid as it ru"? .own 
the outside of the tree. June and July are pref¬ 
erable months. 
Scions—If a full supply is not already secured 
cut them during the early part of this month. Be 
sure of the kinds, and having labeled them, bury 
in dry earth or sand in the cellar. 
Snow banks often do much damage as they settle 
in the nursery. Shovel out the trees which would 
otherwise be stripped of their branches by the set¬ 
tling drifts. 
Stakes and Labels—Make a good stock for a 
more busy season. A large number of labels will 
be wanted during the Spring planting, or sales of 
nursery trees, and they shoulu be made, painted 
and strung now. 
Transplanting may be done at any time during 
this month where ground is in working order, pro¬ 
vided it is not freezing weather. Large trees can 
be moved where the ground is frozen, by digging 
up with a large ball of earth adhering to the 
roots. 
KITCHEN AND FRUIT GARDEN. 
While the Southern Gardener is now busy pre¬ 
paring his grou nds and sow ing the early vegetables, 
setting out fruit trees, or planting from the hot-bed 
or cold frame, the grounds of the Northerner are 
frozen or buried beneath the snow banks. In such 
situations, little can be done save mapping off the 
garden, collecting manures, procuring bean poles 
and pea brush, repairing tools, arranging for hot 
beds, &c. 
