298 
AMERICAN AGRICULTURIST. 
(OcronE* 
A few Fall “Chores.” 
Spring work is hardly more important than 
Fall work. The latter should he done in its ap¬ 
propriate season, and done well. Some jobs 
can not be deferred until Spring, and others can 
be done now better than then. 
One item, for many farmers, is the draining of 
swamp or bottom lands. They are rich in peat, 
or marl, or muck, which, if rightly used with 
manure, almost doubles the value of pure stable 
dung. Now is a good time to drain those lands, 
while the low grounds are comparatively dry, 
and before the heavy Fall rains set in. Cut 
good broad ditches straight through them, lead¬ 
ing into some natural outlet, where the water 
will have a free channel and a good fall. Cut 
the sides of each ditch sloping, so that the soft 
dirt will not crumble and cave in and obstruct 
the channel. In a short time, this drained land 
will bear up teams, and so allow the farmer to 
haul out many a load of fertilizing material for 
his hungry uplands. Or, if the hauling can not 
be done now, let the muck be thrown up in heaps 
to dry, so that it can easily be loaded up and 
drawn out in Winter. Let every unemployed 
team bring forth the rich deposits, and draw 
them into the barn yard for composting, or take 
them out to the hilly lands, where they can be 
exposed to the air and frost, and perhaps mixed 
with lime, and so be got ready for next year. 
Another item relates to shelter for stock. We 
are no advocates for fancy architecture in the 
barn-yard. Our rich neighbor, who paints his 
commonest barns and cattle sheds a pure white, 
does it on his own responsibility. He seems to 
like to see his Short Horns and Berksliires rub 
their dirty •hides against his snow-white lead. 
This is not to our taste. Yet we advocate com¬ 
fort for cattle, from the most brutish grunter up 
to the noble horse. Keep them comfortable, 
both in Winter and Summer. Keep them grow¬ 
ing, or at least improving their condition, so as 
to be always ready for market, ready for use, or 
at any rate, in such a condition that it will be 
a satisfaction to look at them. 
To this end, let the farm buildings undergo a 
thorough examination this month, and let ma¬ 
terial be provided for repairing them. This 
leaky roof must be shingled, or at least patched. 
Those loose boards mist be nailed on, or if 
old and rotten, new ones must supply their 
place. Yonder, the seams have opened too wide 
between the half-seasoned boards; they should 
be battened up. The floors in those stalls are 
beginning to give way; they are worn and half- 
rotten. Now, right oil', before those oxen and 
valuable horses have broken through and sprain¬ 
ed their legs, we must put in some new planks; 
may be, some new joists beneath to support 
them. And these sheds around the yard and 
that lean-to, need righting up. That wide open¬ 
ing at the northwest corner, between the long 
barn and the corn-house, should be boarded up; 
the wind and snow drive in there unmercifully 
during the Winter. 
Along with this work, let there go a thorough 
cleaning up. The manure so apt to accumulate 
under the barn floor, must be got out and wheel¬ 
ed into the corner for composting. The heaps 
In the corners of the sheds, and around the barn 
doors, the drinking troughs, and gates, should be 
scraped up and deposited where they will not 
waste. This will make the buildings sweeter 
and pleastantcr, and the yards will be cleaner 
to the feet all through the rainy months. 
The stock need looking to before they are 
taken into their permanent winter quarters. 
Not a few farmers keep them lying out too late, 
and on too short commons. Between this time 
and December, there will doubtless be much 
good pasturage, but after the frosts have be¬ 
come severe, grass is not very nutritious. It 
may be abundant, but after it has been several 
times frozen, it is little better than so much 
straw. Cattle often grow poor while standing 
knee-deep in such fodder. Probably, the cold 
rains, and sleeping on the cold ground, have 
something to do with their leanness. 
Let it be repeated here, that stock should sel¬ 
dom be allowed to stand still in their condition; 
they should be kept growing if they are young, 
and improving if already grown. If under-fed 
or poorly fed, they recover but slowly—if at all. 
Let them have good food all through the Fall; 
give them shelter by night and in long storms, 
if they desire Tt. Bring them into their winter 
quarters strong and healthy. So shall it be well 
with thee, and with thy flocks and thy herds. 
About Millet. 
“ Stray Millet ”—A valuable variety from Wisconsin 
—The Utility of Millet as a profitable Field Crop 
—Millet a Substitute for Rice and other Grain as 
Human Food. 
On the 16th of January last, “ a subscriber,” 
who did not give his name, sent us from Hud¬ 
son, St. Croix Co., Wis., a sample of millet seed, 
which he said was known there only by the 
name of “ stray millet.” We sowed it May 8th 
in drills, on moderately good soil, naturally dry, 
and this year badly parched by the prevailing 
drouth. Aug. 8, just three months after the time 
of sowing, it ripened its seed, and we deem it 
worthy of special notice. The average liight 
is about 3 feet, and the stalks nearly 1 inch in 
diameter. The leaves are 12 to 18 inches long, 
and many of them are 11 inches broad. The 
heads are enormous, ranging from 8 to 13 inches 
in length, and measuring 21 to 3 inches in cir¬ 
cumference. The yield of seed on an acre of 
such millet must be very large. We have re¬ 
ceived and tried many samples of millet seed 
from various parts of the country, but this ex¬ 
cels them all. Will the unknown subscriber, 
who forwarded this, please send us his name, 
and inform us whether he can obtain a quanti¬ 
ty of pure seed for us, to be placed in our free 
seed distribution for the coming Winter. Our 
own seed we shall sow next year, to multiply it 
for after distribution, as there is hardly enough 
to send out this year. We say “pare seed,” for 
we notice some stray heads of a different and 
much smaller variety growing in our plot. 
There is no doubt that several varieties of mil¬ 
let, and especially such a variety as the above, 
may be grown with great advantage by the far¬ 
mers of this country. The seed is nutritious 
and valuable for feeding ground to stock, and 
unground to poultry. The yield per acre is 
larger than that of most other grains, while the 
stalks and leaves furnish a large amount of fod¬ 
der. It does not require a strong soil, and the 
time of growth is so short that it is secure 
against the casualties of frost and drouth, and 
probably of insects. Several Western subscrib¬ 
ers, especially among our German friends, who 
have sent specimens of millet, speak of this 
grain as a very good substitute for rice and 
other grain, as human food. Some assert that 
if rightly cooked, it is superior to rice. 
The botanical name of millet is Panicum, of 
which there are many varieties. Several of these 
grow wild in this country, but the cultivated 
kinds have been introduced from Europe. T o 
leading varieties are the “ Club Millet, ” (Pani¬ 
cum Italicum and Gerrnanicum ). and Lie “ Pan- 
icled Millet” (Panicum Miliaceum); and sub-va¬ 
rieties of these are distinguished by the color of 
the seeds. Panicle millet has larger seeds, while 
the seeds of the Club variety do not fall out so 
readily when ripe. The “ Stray Millet ” is a 
Club variety, seeds white, and its long, heavy, 
curving heads, with the long broad leaves, ren¬ 
der it quite ornamental in the garden, as well 
as useful in the field. The seeds are a good 
substitute for the bird seed of the seed stores. 
--o <——■ »- 
Save th<?Corn Stalks. 
An American farmer, traveling in Europe, is 
struck by nothing more than the carefulness with 
which everything is saved. Poor Richard must 
have got his proverb about the “ penny saved,” 
from across the sea. There, all corn stalks, every 
wisp of straw or hay that can be converted into 
fodder or manure, is assiduously gleaned up and 
put to some good account. Americans throw 
away; Europeans economize. If we wasted 
less annually, we could feed more stock, and so 
manure more land. Some time or other, per¬ 
haps we shall find this out. 
Let us now consider economy as it relates to 
corn stalks. For honied cattle especially, this is 
first rate feed. Our horses will claim the best of 
hay, or cut straw, or both. Yet, if stalks are 
well cured, then cut fine and mixed with meal, 
they make a good relish for horses, a food on 
which they seldom suffer from heaves. Sheep 
will get along with oat and pea-straw, with a 
few turnips and a little grain sandwiched be¬ 
tween. Cows and oxen will take kindly to 
stalks, and waste little, if properly managed. 
The cutting and harvesting is a matter of 
considerable importance. Cut them as soon as 
the ears are well glazed, and before hard frosts 
have wilted and dried up the leaves like chips. 
After being cut and stooked, they may remain 
in the field until the corn can be husked. And 
when the husking is done, care should be taken 
not to scatter the stalks upon the ground. 
On some dry day in the latter part of this 
month (October), let the stooks be carried to the 
side of the barn-yard, where, on a low platform 
of loose poles or rails a foot or so from the 
ground, they can be stacked. A strong pole is 
to be set up in the center of the staging. Around 
this, lay up the stack, alternating the butts and 
the tops, and leaving a small aperture around 
the pole for ventilation. If a layer of bright 
straw is put in the stack, once in two or three 
feet, it will help to prevent mustiness, and the 
straw, absorbing the flavor of the stalks, will be 
quite palatable to the stock. Nor will it be la¬ 
bor lost, if a peck or so of salt is scattered in 
each stack as it goes up. When raised to the 
proper higlit, it is good economy to cover the 
stack with straw laid sloping so as to shed rain. 
Now, does some tyro ask how to feed out 
stalks so as to avoid waste ? We reply: no rack 
that we have ever seen, will prevent stalks from 
getting out and under the animal’s feet. If they 
are fed in stanch.ons or stalls, it takes a great 
deal of time daily to clean out the refuse stalks. 
If they are fed out in scattered heaps around the 
barn yard, they will soon be trampled upon, and 
soiled, and when they have once been saturated 
with liquid manure, cattle will not touch 
them.' We say, then, do not feed stalks in mild 
weather. Wait until the ground is frozen: the 
cattle will have keener appetites, and the ground 
