1884.J 
AMEElOAJf A GETO ULTU E 1ST. 
47 
of uncertain ago or without labels and of doubtful 
source, should be burned and afresh stock ordered. 
Selecting <md Ordering Seeds. —The catalogues are 
out this month, and dealers will gladly send to 
those who ask for them, while the mail, as has 
been well said, gives every one, no matter where 
he may live, “ a seed-store just around the eorner.” 
Novelties are offered every year. Order the.se 
for experiment, but for the main crop rely only on 
tested and well-established varieties. Order early. 
Has are of two classes, the round and the wrin¬ 
kled. The latter kind, if sown in cold, wet soil, 
will rot; the round peas are hardy and may be 
sown as soon as the ground thaws. Make a drill 
three or four inches wide, with the hoe, and scat¬ 
ter the seed peas in it, so that they.will be about half 
an inch apart, and cover with two inches of soil. 
Plants in Cold Frames. —Remove the sashes 
whenever the thermometer is not below thirty-two 
degrees. If the soil in the frames is not frozen 
when the snow falls, clear it from the sashes. Other¬ 
wise the snow may remain a week without injury. 
Be all Beady for Work. —As soon as the ground 
thaws there will be no time for odd jobs. Finish 
up all the work of preparation at once. Repair 
implements; provide duplicate breakable parts. 
See to the work harness. Provide stakes and la¬ 
bels. Cut pea-brush ; lay it on level ground and 
weight it with rails or logs, to flatten it. Procure 
bean poles ; a set of red cedar poles will, if cared 
for, last many years. In a thaw dig the parsnips 
and salsify left in the ground and take out all the 
horseradish, whether wanted for use or not, to 
prevent its becoming established, when it will be 
difficult to remove, and prove an annoying weed. 
Orcliard. and I\nrsory. 
A Few Orchard. —One about to plant trees can 
hardly give too much thought to the selection of 
varieties. Procure catalogues and study them. 
An orchard for home-use should yield fruit for 
every season. ’ For a near market, early fruit is 
usually the most profitable. In selecting later va¬ 
rieties have but few sorts, and those of kinds gen¬ 
erally in demand. Order all fruit trees early. 
Old Orchards in the older States are more nu¬ 
merous than young productive ones. The land is 
exhausted by bearing two crops these many j^ears, 
a crop of fruit and one of grain, hay or some 
other. If the trees are still sound they may be 
renovated, but not unless the soil is also renovated.. 
Providing food for the trees is the first step. Ma¬ 
nure may be hauled out while snow is on the 
ground. A liberal dressing turned under by a shal¬ 
low plowing, and keeping off all crops, unless it 
be clover to be pastured by swine, are essential. 
The Trees. —In a damp time cover the trunks and 
large branches with soft soap, made thin enough to 
apply with a brush. Prune away all crowded 
and superfluous branches, to form an open head. 
Crafting Old Trees. —If the fruit is poor and the 
trees sound and healthy make a new head by 
grafting with desirable sorts. In renewing an old 
tree it is better to extend the work over three years, 
grafting the lower third first and the uppe’’ third last. 
Xlie Fruit ISartleji. 
PrvMing. —If ani pruning was left unfinished 
last fall, complete it in the first mild spell. 
Dwarf Pears. —With the exception of Duehesse 
d’Angouleme, and perhaps Louise Bonne de Jer¬ 
sey, standard pear-trees are preferable to dwarfs as 
a matter of profit. If one wishes to raise many 
varieties in a little space dwarfs will do this. 
Supports for Vines, including trellises for grapes, 
should be made ready. The woodwork may be 
painted, or treated with several coats of petroleum. 
New Plantings. —If it is intended to set out 
shrubs, etc., the coming spring, the selections, 
whether for home supply or for market, should be 
made while the matter can be properly considered. 
Grape Fines.—Occupy all the available places 
-with vines, planting them wherever there is a barn 
or other surface again,st which they can be trained. 
But little out-door work can be done in the orna¬ 
mental grounds this month. It is important to 
guard against injury to shrubs and trees by ani¬ 
mals. If pruning is needed, do it on mild days. 
Hardy Annuals. —To have early flowers sow seeds 
in the window boxes described elsewhere. Candy¬ 
tuft, Ten Weeks’ Stocks, Pansy, and other hardy 
kinds may be sown and the plants thinned or trans¬ 
planted to other boxes. The Pansy, which fails to 
give fine flowers in hot weather, if sown in this 
manner may be had in bloom early, ar.d at its best. 
Manure for the Lawn. —Reserve enough of the 
most thoroughly decomposed and fine manure for 
top-dressing the lavvn. In the absence of this, ap¬ 
ply ashes, nitrate of soda or some other fertilizer. 
Plants from Cuttings may be propagated now for 
planting out in the garden. Verbenas and other 
plants which form root readily, may be propagated 
in window-boxes, described elsewhere for sowing. 
<iii*eeii-liouse aii4l Winilow Plants. 
As the sun becomes more powerful, bloom will 
be abundant and plants will start into growth, 
and need more water.... Ventilation can now be 
given more freely, especially to window plants.... 
Insects will increase more rapidly and will demand 
attention. Those who give their w'indow plants 
daily care, are able to stop the first attacks of in¬ 
sects, and save much future trouble. Fumigation 
with tobacco smoke, is best for the greenhouse, 
but is not easily practicable with house plants. 
For these showering with tobacco water is best. 
Tobacco Tea. —Pour boiling water over tobacco 
stems, or other cheap form of “the weed,’’ and 
when cool dilute it to the color of strong tea, 
sprinkle the plants with it, or what is better, hav¬ 
ing the liquid i7i a pail or tub, dip the plants in it. 
The Bed Spider, because so small and not always 
“ red,” and living mostly on the under side of the 
leaves, is often an unsuspected cause of much in¬ 
jury to window plants. Moisture is the best rem¬ 
edy ; go over the leaves, especially the under side, 
with a soft sponge, using very weak soap suds. 
The Mealy Bug, so-called because it is covered 
v/ith a mealy powder, is often a great pest. It is 
usually in the forks of the stems, and may be 
picked off with a small sharp-pointed stick. 
Faded Flowers. —Flowering is very exhausting to a 
plant, and seed-bearing is still more so ; as soon as 
flowers begin to lose their beauty they should be 
cutaway before the formation of the seeds begins. 
.ffu.se.s.—The stems that have borne flowers should 
be cutback to a strong bud, which will soon push. 
Camellias, when flowering is over, will make 
their yearly growth rapidly. The plants may be 
given a warmer place and will require more water. 
A Convenient Ground Marker. 
Now is the time to get up things needed when the 
busy spring comes. Mr. L. T). Snook sends us a 
sketch and description, from which we condense 
the following: A simple implement for marking 
out rows at various distances apart, can be made by 
any one at hope. A piece of pine or other timber, 
two to three inches square, and two to four feet 
long, is bored through with holes on all sides, at 
various distances apart, those on each side being 
all of the same distance from each other. A large 
hole in the center in two directions, receives the 
handle. The other holes and marking pins to fit 
them, may be of any size desired, and the pins be 
quickly changed from hole to hole, as required by 
different plants. With the handle removed, or fas¬ 
tened in, this can be stored away in small space. 
Feeding and Care of Farm Animals. 
1‘i'izcs OHVji'ed. 
Plain and practical directions for the keeping of 
all kinds of Farm Animals arc always valuable and 
welcome, and with tliis in view the Publishers of 
the American Agriculturist offer prizes for Essays 
ngon thQ F'eediruj and Care of Farm Animals. Horses, 
cattle, sheep, swine and poultry are the leading 
kinds of live stock on a farm, where a system of 
mixed husbandry is successfully irractised, and 
each Essay must treat of at least three of these, 
as to their feed, its storage, kinds, cost, etc., 
followed by the pi-oper care of the animals 
both in the pasture and under cover. In short the 
essay should include all the important points in the 
keeping of the farm animals treated. The order of 
treatment should be as given above, and if other 
kinds of live stock are included, they should follow 
the poultry. The cash prizes for these essays are : 
For the Best Essay.$50.00 
For the Second Best Essay.40.00 
For the Third Best Essay. 30.00 
The essays are to be plainly written in black ink, 
on one side of plain white paper, and should not 
exceed eight thousand words. Sketches may be 
made whenever they will add clearness and force 
to the text. The essays are to be sent to the Edi¬ 
tors of the American Agriculturist on or before 
May 1, 1884, in a sealed parcel (not rolled) and 
with an assumed name. Place the real name in a 
small sealed envelop accompanying the essay, and 
bearing the assumed name upon its outside. All 
essays submitted for the prizes become the prop¬ 
erty of the American Agriculturist. 
We wish the experience of the practical farmer, 
and therefore this offer is open to any one who has 
attained success in the keeping of farm animals. 
The field is abroad one, and it is therefore all the 
more essential that each part be concisely treated. 
Diseases, and the care of young stock are not the 
least important topics to be considered in the essay. 
A Ladder Quickly and Cheaply Made. 
A good eti’ong but light ladder on every farm is 
almost indispensable, and two or three of different 
sizes are generally desirable. Where a better one ' 
is not available, one can be im¬ 
provised in an hour or so that 
will answer many purposes. 
For the main support use a 
scantling of any desired or avail¬ 
able length, and three by four 
inches thick—the size depends 
upon the kind of timber and its 
strength, and the length of lad¬ 
der required. Across this nail 
at the desired intervals, strips 
ten or twelve inches long, two 
to three inches wide, and an 
inch thick. Three or four strong 
nails should be driven in each 
one of the several steps, to give 
strength and safety. A cross 
piece on the upper end and two 
side braces (as shown in the 
illustration) will prevent such 
a ladder from turning on its axis. If not needed 
longer the steps and braces can be quickly knocked 
off, and the timber turned to account otherwise. 
A “Cat” Scare-crow. 
Mr. Charles Lauppe, Urbana, Ohio, keeps the 
birds from his grapes with a scare-crow “eat.” 
This “animal” is made of Canton flannel, of the 
color of a maltese cat, stuffed with curled hair. 
Hair is better than wool or cotton, as it soon dries 
out after a rain. A “ cat ” of this kind will effec¬ 
tually protect the grapes from birds for twenty 
feet on all sides. Mr. Lauppe sets his “cats” 
upon the grape trellises, where they may be secure 
and in full sight of birds wishing to plunder. 
