282 
AMERICAN AGRICULTURIST. 
[August, 
Contents for August, 1877. 
Agricultural Machinery, Economy of.398 
Among the Farmers, No 19.—Insects—Moth Trap— 
High Manuring for Peas—The City’s Filth—The 
Storrs Farm—Reclaiming a Swamp—Wild Onions 
and Milk—A Lesson From Bees.294-295 
Axe for Fence Posts. Illustrated. . 29T 
Bee Notes for August. . 290 
Boys and Girls’ Columns—Doctor’s Correspondence, 
Insect, with Stone House, Crawfish, Sowbngs, House 
Fly, Killing Snakes—Aunt Sue’s Chats—Aunt Sue’s 
Puzzle Box—Doctor's Talks, About the Japanese, 
How Gyp was Deceived—Puzzle Picture... .9Illus¬ 
trations . 305-308 
Catalogues Received.289 
Cattle, Ayrshire Cow, “Ruby.”. Illustrated. .281 
Ca'tle, Echo Farm Herd of Jerseys_2 Illustrations. .US'S 
Cellar Walls, Draining.2 Illustrations . .297 
Cement, How to Mix It.. . 5 Illustrations. . 296-297 
Clover, The Ornamental Species. Illustrated.. 301 
Commissioner of Agriculture.299 
Corn-Sheller, Home-Made.4 Illustrations. .296 
Dairy at Echo Farm.4 Illustrations.. 299-300 
Farm Work in August.282 
Fashions in Bouquets—The Fan ...2 Illustrations _300 
Flower Garden and Lawn in August. 284 
Fruit Garden in August.284 
Glazed Flower-Pots for House Plants.302 
Greenhouse and Window Plants in August.2S4 
House, Plan for.. 4 Illustrations . .292 
Household Department—Vegetable Washing Machine 
—Water Filter—Home Topics, Husbands and House- 
Work ; Bread-Making : Repairing Comforters ; Old 
Bed-Quilts; Washing Blankets.. 2 Ulus' 
Humbugs, Sundry. 
Insects—Cutworms-.-Climbers. 
Insects—Potato Bug in Germany. 
Insects—The Walking-Stick Again. 
Insurance of Farm Buildings. 
Kitchen and Market Garden in August.284 
Logs, A Method of Blasting.2 Illustrations .. 298 
Loss to Farmers, $20,000,000 in One Year.289 
Market Reports for August.285 
Notes from the Pines—The Smoke Tree—Deutzias— 
Cultivation of Native Plants—Bird-foot Violet—Cut¬ 
worms .2 Illustrations .. 302 
. . ouo-ovw 
MOON. | BOSTON. 
N. YORK. 
WASU’N. 
ciia’ston 
CHICAGO. 
.299 
.299 
.302 
.298 
ID. It. M. 
Sd Quart. 2 5 37 mo. 
New M’n 9 0 33 mo. 
1st Quart 15 5 44 ev. 
Full M’d| 23| G 2G ev. 
5 25 mo. 
0 21 mo. 
5 32 ev. 
6 14 ev. 
IT. Mi 
5 13 mo 
0 9 mo 
5 20 ev. 
6 2ev. 
FI. M. 
5 1 mo. 
11 57 8th. 
5 8 ev. 
5 50 ev. 
h. jr. 
4 31 mo. 
11 27 8th. 
4 33 ev. 
5 20 ev. 
Calendar for August. 
lioston.NIing 
land. JV. York- 
State. Michi 
10 16 
10 44 
11 22 
0 12 
1 16 
2 32 
sets 
9 37 
10 11 
0| 10 49 
If. Y.Ctty. Gf., 
Philadelphia. 
JVetc Jersey. 
Penn.. Ohio. 
Indiana, and 
Illinois. ■ 
5 11 
5 1216 53 
5 13 6 54 
5 14 0 52 
5 16 G 51 
5 17 6 49 
5 18 G 4S 
5 19 G 46 
5 19 6 45 
5 20 6 44 
5 21 6 42 
5 22 6 41 
5 23 6 39 
5 24 0 31 
5 25 6 30 
5 26 0 34 
Washington, 
Maryland, 
Virginia. Ken¬ 
tucky, Missou¬ 
ri, and Cali¬ 
fornia. 
~ —,6 53 
5 16 6 52 
5 17 G 51 
5 17 6 49 
8 24 
8 50 
9 17 
9 49 
10 25 
11 5 
PHASES OF THE MOON. 
AMERICAN AGRICULTURIST. 
NEW YORK, AUGUST, 1877. 
Ogden Farm Papers, No. 90.—Irrigation—Windmills— 
Deep Setting of Milk—Prickly Comfrey.290-291 
Orchard and Nursery in August. ..5 Illustrations. .283-284 
Peacties, Picking and Packing.2 Illustrations . 303 
Pig Pen, Portable.2 Illustrations. . 290 
Poultry—The Narragansett Turkey. . .296 
Poultry—Treatment of Scabby Legs.299 
Sea-Weed, The Use of.297 
Science Applied to Farming, No. XXXIII—More about 
Seeds—Testing Their Purity and Vitality—Sprouting 
Apparatus—Experiments with Fertilizers.2 111. .291-292 
Seed-grain and Cold.298 
Shrubs— 1 The Tartarian Honeysuckle. Illustrated. . 301 
Silk Manufacture in America.298 
Talk on Farm. Crops, No. 6.—The Corn Crop—Fall 
Plowing—Preparing Land for Barley.295-290 
INDEX TO “BASKET,” OK SHORTER ARTICLES. 
Alfalfa Pasture.289 
Am. Poinoiogical Soc’ty.314 
Am. Veterinary Review. .287 
An Example.315 
Beardless Barley.289 
Big Head.315 
Blackberries in N. C — 288 
Blind Pigs..287 
Blue Grass, No Curse-314 
Boats, Smooth-sided.314 
Bone with Acid or Soda.314 
Butter, Coloring.288 
Butter in Hot Climates..315 
Butter, Packing.. .286 
Cancer in Bull.315 
Care with Fertilizers — 315 
Castor Pomace. 287 
.Cement Concrete.315 
Cement Tiles.313 
Charcoal,Burned Bones..315 
Cisterns.289 
Clovers.314 
Clover Seed. 
Cotton-seed as Fertilizer.315 
Crevecoeur Fowls.315 
Cucumbers Fried. 
Djatli of Clias. O. Judd. 
Death ofC. H. Walton.. 
Disease of Blood.315 
Ditching Plow. 
Dog-Power Churns.313 
Drawing Studies.287 
Egg-Plant, to Cook.289 
Egg Preserving..287' 
Fall Fallowing.289 1 
Farm Engines.314 
Feeding Chickens .237 : 
Food for Milk.313 
Fretting for Farm.315 
Fruit in England.290 
“Gardener” and others.314 
German Millet to Cows..315 
Goats and Hair . 315 
Green Corn Pudding... .289 
Harvesting Beans.313 
Hay and Grain Caps ... .314 
Home for Sale.287 
Honor well Bestowed...286 
Horse Distemper.314 
Horse not Backing.313 
Irrigation.289,314 
Liniments.315 
Lobos Guano.287 
Mignonette and Bees... .314 
Milking Tubes.:....314 
Muck, Value of.2S9 
Nebraska Matters.286 
N. Y. Hort. Society.286 
Nit. Soda on Potatoes.. .314 
Not a Clover.314 
Oleo-margarine.289 
Onions and Oranges.315 
Orchard Grass Seed.315 
Parrafin and Seeds.290 
Peach Crop.290 
Plague of Insects.287 
Pleasure and Business.. .314 
Pleurisy in Pigs.289 
Polled Angus Cattle... .314 
Potato-bugs and Flax... .313 
Potato Fertilizer.31f 
Prizes for Tree Plunting.287 
Purslane on the Table.. .290 
Quidding Horse. 313 
Rural New Yorker.286 
Sacrifice of Seeep.315 
Saddler's Wax.314 
Scientifics.314 
Screws vs. Sticks.286 
Sheep for Profit.314 
Shepherd Dogs.313 
Short-horn Convention...287 
Slow Breeders.289 
Smut in Wheat.313 
Spavin Cure.315 
Swine Husbandry.286 
Texas Fair.314 
Thumps in Hogs.;289 
Time to Cut Timber... .314 
Tobacco Culture.315 
Trow’s N. Y. Directory..314 
Varieties of Wheat.288 
Windmills for Corn.315 
Wis. Hort. Society.314 
It is some years since farmers could afford to be 
as complacent as they can be now. Generally this 
season there has been, and is now, little to com¬ 
plain of. Wheat and rye, and oats, where cut, 
have done well; if not very well, hay has turned 
out better than it promised in the spring; potatoes 
are a good crop iu spite of the beetle ; fodder crops, 
corn, and roots, are doing well, and outside of the 
farm, business is looking up. We have got over the 
flurry of artificial values ; we have come down to 
“hard pan,” and those who are out of debt feel as 
well as ever. Confidence is returning; it is a 
wonder that it was ever lost; and if any man in the 
world should he confident, it is the farmer who is 
out of -debt, and who knows how to use his farm 
well. Unfortunately there are comparatively few 
such; but the experience of the past few years 
ought to add greatly to the number of this class. 
The great study of the farmer now should be, to add 
to the capacity of his soil by every appliance known 
to science. How we have changed during the past 
few years ! No men are now more eager for scien¬ 
tific knowledge than farmers; and years ago the 
idea that science could do anything for the farm, 
was scouted by the great majority of them. But 
what has been done is too plainly seen, and it is too 
clearly understood now, how much remains to be 
done before the farmer can say that he is satisfied. 
We are just beginning to know how to learn. This 
is the first step in all education, and it is pretty 
certain that, in the next few years, we shall see a 
great advance in our system of agriculture and in 
its profitable operation. Now is the time of our 
necessity, and necessity being the mother of inven¬ 
tion, a way to arrive at the needed end will be soon 
reached. And the end we need to reach, is simply 
to bring the productive capacity of the farm to an 
equality with that of other industries which have, 
for years past, shot ahead of agriculture. 
Hints for Work. 
Preparations for Sowing Wheat should be made at 
once. There was formerly more difference of 
opinion as to the time of sowing wheat than there 
is now. The majority of farmers favor early sow¬ 
ing, and if the seed is well in the ground late iu 
August, the chances are more favorable than if it 
is sown later. Where wheat follows oats, the oat 
stubble should he plowed immediately after the 
crop is taken from the field. If the weather is dry, 
the greater will he the necessity for repeated plow¬ 
ing and rolling, to prevent the soil from baking. 
A Mellow Soil, well rolled and packed, is what 
the seed requires to germinate in. If the soil is 
cloddy, the young roots are exposed to the action 
of air in the open spaces, and dried and killed. 
This is the secret of many failures of what were at 
first promising seedings. Repeated harrowings and 
rollings are needed to produce the proper condition 
of the soil. No matter if the surface is somewhat 
rough, if the soil beneath is mellow and fine. In¬ 
deed, we would rather have the top a little rough. 
Prilling is by far the best method of seeding. It 
costs 50 cents an acre if the drill is hired, and less 
if it is purchased. Five pecks of seed per acre, or 
six at the most, is enough, so that at least half a 
bushel of seed per acre is saved, and here is the 
cost returned at once. But the difference in the 
harvest is, many times its cost, in favor of the drill. 
Every winter we hear and read, on every hand, 
“ drill sown wheat looks well, but broadcast wheat 
is injured and looks badly.” There is much in 
placing the seed exactly right in the ground. If 
the plant has no depth of root, it is weak, and can 
not stand the rigors of winter or spring, and it will 
not tiller out as will that more deeply sown. 
Seed and Seeding.— It hardly need he said that, if 
the seed is not good, no good crop can be hoped 
for. The necessity for selecting seed with care has 
been a maxim of agriculture for thousands of years. 
The oldest books tell of it. And yet the success of 
persons, who make a business of doing this, is now 
made a “nine days wonder.” Unfortunately it is 
forgotten again in nine days, and we go on sowing 
the seed just as it comes from the sheaf. It is a 
good plan to sow, at least a small strip in the field, 
with the best seed to be procured, upon ground 
prepared in the best way, and cut this by itself at 
harvest, and thrash it at once for seed. But if this 
pays, why not grow the whole crop in the same 
way ? A good farmer should have uo grain that he 
cannot use for seed ; none that is poor, light, 
shrunken, or mixed with cockle and garlic. 
Rye. —A very general opinion is held in some 
places, that wheat can no longer he grown ; that 
the climate has changed, or something else has oc¬ 
curred that makes it hopeless, and that rye needs 
to be sown in place of it. Nothing could be more 
erroneous. If the ground is well fitted, the seed 
well selected, and sown in a proper manner, wheat 
can be grown as easily as ever. We have seen so 
many examples of this, in different places, that we 
advise every farmer who has this mistaken opinion, 
to try at least an acre or two in the manner pro¬ 
posed, in place of rye, which is a much less valua¬ 
ble grain than wheat. When rye is sown, it is 
worth while to put it in with as much care as 
wheat; but it is time enough to sow it next month. 
Fertilizers. —Some experiments we have made the 
past season in using artificial fertilizers, have large¬ 
ly increased our confidence in them. Used in place 
of stable manure upon potatoes, corn, and grass, 
the crops are quite equal to those grown with the 
manure. The complete manure, prepared by Chas. 
Y. Mapes, from Prof. Ville’s formula, has been re¬ 
markably effective with the writer the past season 
upon all these crops. Where manure is scarce, a 
dressing of this upon fall sown crops would he 
beneficial. The use of artificial fertilizers must be 
increased if we would enlarge our crops. 
The Potato Beetle. —It is a short-sighted business 
to leave the last broods to breed and increase, be¬ 
cause the potatoes are past harm. This is seeding 
for a crop next year, which will perpetuate the ver¬ 
min and make work for another season. If the 
late arrivals are destroyed, there will be very few 
another year. If a thorough work were made of 
this pest for one season by every one who grows 
potatoes, a very quick end could he made of it. 
Potatoes. —Early potatoes should he harvested as 
soon as ripe. Else, if wet weather occurs, the 
tubers may sprout and -be injured. Rue’s Potato 
Digger is an effective implement, designed express¬ 
ly for this work, and where the crop is a large 
