2 
AMEBIGA.'N AGEIOULTUEIST. [Januakt, 
Contents of This Number 
[Articles taarked with a star (*) are iilustrated; tlio fig¬ 
ure with the star indicates the raimher of illustrations.] 
Abiitilon, The Snowball. 23 
Apples, Keeping in Winter. 23 
Barn Floorings.5*.. 13 
Barn, Plan of a Small. 8 *.. 4 
Barrow for Drying Bedding.12 
Beef, Elevating a Slaughtered.5 
Blackberries, TwoNew.2*.. 22 
Boots, Mending Rubber, and Shoes. 8 
Boys’ and Girls’ Columns ; 
A Western Boy’s Adventure.. 26 
Games for Winter Evenings. 27 
The Mangrove Tree.*.. 27 
DoDeerShed their Horns Annually ?.28 
How Our Eyes Sometimes Deceive TJ?.28 
Going! Going! Gone!.28 
Hunger tlie Best Cook. 23 
About Scorpions.23 
Head, Bodies and Legs.28 
Butchering, Home. 16 
Cattle, Preventing from Browsing.. 11 
"Cattle Pull,” The. 8 
Carp as a Food Fish. 11 
Cellars. Above Ground. 11 
Chat with Readers.!.'> 
Chrysanthemums, Why Not More?.23 
Crop, The Chief of the Country. 10 
Crops, Talking Over the.. 9 
Bcmain, The Public. 5 
Editorial Notes. 14 
Enemy, The Farmers’ Most Active. 13 
Eacts, Horticultural. 7 
Feeding-Box for Cattle.2*.. 13 
Pence, Building a Stone.18 
Fence, Good Cheap Slat.S*.. 19 
Pence Posts, Bracing End.2*. 8 
Gambrel or Gammon, Wiiich ?. 16 
Garden, Tiie Fruit. 3 
Garden, Tlie Kitchen and Market. 3 
Garden, Flower and Lawn. 3 
Greenhouse and Window Garden. 3 
Hares, The Sylvan and Northern. *. 16 
Home-Made Incubator. 4 
Hook, A Weeding. ...2*.. 6 
Hoose in Calves. 21 
Horn-Beam andiron W'^ood.2*.. 23 
Household : 
A Neat Book Covering.2*.. 21 
A Hanging Medicine Cabinet.24 
How to Starch and Iron. 24 
Good Apple Pudding. 24 
A Match Strike.24 
Home-Made Boot Scraper. 24 
Chickens Fried with Rice. 24 
Wooden Fruit-Knives. 25 , 
A Glove Case.23 
Sally Lunn.25 
Satin Panels.2*.. 25 
Hints for Dress .23 
Hurdle, A Rack.13 
“Kill-Cair’.22 
liime for Blasting. . 16 
Marking Tilings—Home Made Stencils.10 
Mountain Ash Berries. 23 
Orchard and Nursery. 3 
Pear, The Keififer. 10 
Pen, A Convenient Corn. 19 
Pigeons and Pigeon Houses. . 2*.. 7 
Pigs, Summer vs. Winter Feeding of. .. 19 
Pork, Putting Down. 16 
Rainfall, Do Trees Secure ?. .. 12 
Refrigerator, A Creamery.*.. 19 
Rendering Lard. 16 
Requirements in Modern Farming. 13 
Roots, The Power of.. ..16 
Sausage Making. 16 
Saw-horse, A Cheap.*.. 6 
Snow Storm, The First..*.. 1 
Support for Sliding Bars.7 
Tobacco, Ferment in Hookertown. 6 
Tramps and the Farmers. 8 *.. 20 
Trees, Young, on the Prairie. 6 
Troughs, Water—Stone and Plank.IS 
Wheat in New England'.. IS 
Wiio Owns a Boy’s Wages. 8 
Wood-House and Wash-Room.2*.. 12 
Work, Farm, for the Month. 2 
Work in Horticultural Department. ... 3 
For laiiiMfesisj exposures, l>ool4; reo 
Tiews, lutsiuess aiinoiiiicements, 
etc., sec tlie last pages ofthe paper. 
Wanted. 
men, women and children to can¬ 
vass for thz American AgricuUurikt. Special induce¬ 
ments are offered in the way of valuable Premiums. 
Furthermore, those who wish to make a business of 
canvassino; will please immediately address us for 
particulars regarding special offers. 
N’e’W' Features for the New Year. 
We have completed arrangements for new de¬ 
partments, and new writers, which will make the 
American Agriculturist in the future more valuable 
and interesting, if possible, than ever before. Dur¬ 
ing the coming year, agriculturel inventions, plans 
for farm buildings, and the best regions to migrate 
to in the West, will leceive special attention. The 
Household and Children’s Departments are to be 
rendered more interesting with fresh contributors, 
while the schemes for duping and defrauding un¬ 
suspecting farmers and others, are to be thoroughly 
exposed. 
Why Given? 
A subscriber in Kansas wishes to know why old 
subscribers do not receive Premiums the same as 
new ones. If he will study our offers more closely, 
he will discover that premiums are given to old 
subscribers, as a reward for their efforts in behalf 
of the American Agriculturist. Ourobject in giving 
Special Premiums, is to increase the circulation of 
the paper. We do not give any premiums because 
the journal is not worth far more than the subscrip¬ 
tion price. Every year we expect to, and are wil¬ 
ling to expend tens of thousands of dollars in this 
manner, in making known, and extending the cir¬ 
culation of the paper. We were, if we mistake not, 
the first publishers in the United States, to sys¬ 
tematically reward the friends and workers of a 
paper, by means of Premiums. The policy so 
successfully carried out in the past, we propose to 
adhere to in the future. 
Our Premium Picture. 
The warmest encomiums are everywhere pro¬ 
nounced upon the elegant Engraving, “ Eoes or 
Friends ? ” Eemember it is furnished free at this 
office to every subscriber, new and old, or mailed 
to any address on receipt of ten cents to pay for 
packing, postage, etc. 
The Premium Dictionary. 
Our Premium Dictionary, given to every sender 
of a new subscriber, has proved so satisfactory that 
we have completed arrangements for furnishing 
50,000 more of them, as called for. The offer of this 
Dictionary stands alone by itself. Every sender of 
a new subscriber at the regular rate of $1.50 a year 
will receive the Dictionary free at this office, or it 
will he mailed to such sender on the receipt of ten 
cents for postage. 
Special Premiums. 
See page 43 for descriptions of new and special 
Premiums which we present to those who procure 
and forward us Subscriptions. They are in every 
way most desirable. 
Premium List. 
We have now printed 50,000 more copies of 
the beautiful 32-page Premium List for the benefit, 
among others, of those subscribers who may have 
lost or mislaid the one received in October. If 
every such subscriber will forward his name on a 
postal card, he will receive a second copy. 
What is thought of the American 
Agriculturist. 
See page 42 for expressions of opinion from old 
and new subscribers, regarding the American Agri- 
culturist. 
Ijive Stock I^otes. 
Horses. —Keguiarity in feeding is more important 
than is usually appreciated, with horses as well as 
with milk-producing cows. Wholesome food and 
sufficient quantity at stated times is essential to 
healthful growth and efficient service. The 
amount of rations is governed by the age of the 
animal and whether at work or idle. No rule in 
pounds and ounces of hay and grain can be laid 
down for any horse, and the one in charge needs 
good judgment to keep the horses in a strong and 
healthy condition. A knowledge of the require¬ 
ments of a locomotive would help many horse 
owners to a better understanding of the laws of 
feeding. The amount of coal, water, etc., depend 
upon the easy movement of every part of the en¬ 
gine, and upon the work being done. The horse is 
an engine, and, more than that, because it is a living- 
creature and has additional-wants. Plenty of food 
and water are only a part of the needs of a horse. 
There should be a comfortable stable and all those 
little attentions winch add .so much to the health 
of the animal. Good grooming is essential to good 
digestion. Cleanliness of the skin is as necessary 
for the health of a horse as for that of a man. 
The irritation of the brushing stimulates the 
healthful functions of the skin ; but the brushing 
may be too severe. There is strong objection to 
the use of a harsh curry comb. If a good stiff 
brash is used daily there will be no use for a wire¬ 
toothed comb or other harsh implement. The 
rubbing of the “running gear” of a horse is as 
essential as that of an engine. 
Cows .—Milch cows are generally doing double 
work at this season, and should be fed and cared 
for accordingly. It is folly to milk a cow up to 
within a few days of calving; it is running the 
animal machine at a reckless speed, and a break 
will come somewhere. Highly fed cows require a 
reduction of the rations as the period of calving]- 
approaches. This is especially true of high bred 
animals which are more or less pampered. The 
young stock, when infested with lice, should have 
a mixture of equal parts of sweet oil and kerosene 
rubbed thoroughly upon the surface of the skin. 
Sheep. —When lambs are dropped this month al¬ 
most constant care will be required for a few days, 
especially if the weather is very cold. It is often 
best to wrap a chilled lamb in a woollen blanket,, 
and even to remove it to the house for artificial 
warmth by the fire, and to stimulate it with a little 
hot ginger tea. A few extra early lambs bring 
more in the spring market than several times the 
number of late ones. The breeding ewes should 
be by themselves in warm quarters. The rest of 
the flock need comfortable sheds and j'ards, with 
good hay, straw and grain, fed regularly with 
enough litter to keep the floors dry, especially the 
part which the flock uses for sleeping. 
Swine intended for pork are now mainly disposed 
of, or should be. The store pigs need only moder¬ 
ate feeding and clean warm pens. Provide now 
for young pigs in May, the most favorable time for- 
them, as the weather is warm and green foodi 
