362 
AMERICAN AGRICULTURIST. 
[October, 
Contents for October, 1877. 
Among the Farmers, No. 21.—Green Fodder, French 
Silo, Golden Millet, Prickly Comfrey, Cow Jockey¬ 
ing..374-375 
Barns—Echo Farm Barns .2 Illustrations .. 373-378 
Bee Notes for October. 395 
Boat, A Cradle for. Illustrated. .377 
Boys and Girls’ Columns—Aunt Sue’s Chats—The Ad¬ 
ventures of a Dog, a Basket and two Naughty Boys 
—Doctor’s Correspondence—Bumble-Bees—Rhino¬ 
ceros Beetle—To mend Broken Glass—Puzzle Box- 
How People Travel.19 Illustrations. .385-388 
Cats and Moles. 378 
Cattle Market at 60th Street, N. Y_ Illustrated.. 361-371 
Cisterns for Storing Water.3 Illustrations . .379 
Corn Fodder, How to Cure.3 Illustrations.. 369 
Corn Fodder, Storing.... .. 378 
Dairy, Cooley System of Setting Milk..3 Illustrations.. 376 
Dairy, The Shorthorn Cow for...!.378 
Farm Work in October.362 
Flower Garden and Lawn in October. 364 
Fruit Garden in October.363 
Greenhouse and Window Plants in October. .364 
Grist Mills, Useful Farm. 368 
Guns, Something About.369 
Hints and Helps for Farmers, Cattle Stanchions, Teth¬ 
ering Animals, Post Hole Digger, The Value of 
Leaves.6 Illustrations.. 376 
Household Department—Home Topics—Buying of 
Peddlers, Getting Things Mended, Simplicity and 
Health in Dress, Washing Black and White Goods, 
Comfortable Chairs for the Sick or Well. .4 111. .383-385 
House, Planfov Cottage.4 Illustrations.. 372 
Insects, Exporting the Potato Beetle.377 
Kitchen and Market Garden in October... .,.364 
Lawn Mowers for Horses. Illustrated.. 383 
Market Report for October.365 
Notes Rom the Pines—Cambridge Botanic Garden— 
Arnold Arboretum—Prizes for Tree Planting—Mr. 
Sargent’s Grounds..382-383 
Ogden Farm Papers No. 92.—The disposal of House 
Waste. . ..2 Illustrations. 371 
Orchard and Nursery in October.363 
Plants, The Japan Creeper.383 
Poultry-Houses, F» H. Kinney’s.. .2 Illustrations. .373-374 
Poultry-Houses, W. C. Tracy’s_3 Illustrations.. 373-394 
Raspberries, Some New Hardy. Illustrated. .381 
Science Applied to Farming.—XXXIV.—About Ashes 
as Fertilizers.369 
Silver-Ware Cheap. . 369 
Steam Engines for the Farm. 6 Illustrations.. 380 
Storm Glasses.378 
Sumach, Preparing for Market.2 Illustrations.. 377 
Talks on Farm Crops, No. 8—Seasons and Climates375-376 
Trees for Small Places—The Japan Maples. .4 111. .381-382 
What Farmers Must Do. 369 
INDEX TO “BASKET,” OH SHORTER ARTICLES. 
Air Compressors.394 
Bean Harvester.... 
Bean Meal. 
Bean Named.367 
Bloody Milk. 
Business Reviving.366 
Canning Tomatoes.367 
Caraway.395 
Centennial Awards.394 
Clean Barn-yards.395 
Copper-Strip Cutter.367 
Corn Husker. 111 ..368 
Cutting Corn .394 
Diseased Kidneys.395 
Draft Horses..365 
Drainage of Cellar.394 
English Laborer’s Day.. .395 
Export, Beef and Mutton.394 
Farmers Swindled in 
Seeds.366 
Flies on Cows... 
Fractures in Animals....394 
Fruit Humbugs.394 
Garget in Cows. .. 394 
Good Cow.395 
Grain Drills.394 
Grain for Pigs.395 
Hog Cholera... 395 
Hogs in Manure Cellar. 394 
How to Feed All Hay, etc.395 
Impacted Rumen.395 
Improving Stony Land.. 395 
Iron Dish-Cloth .394 
Keeping Butter.394 
Lime on Cloddy Soils... .394 
Loss of Sheep.393 
Manure Pit.367 
Mold in Milk-house.395 
Names of Fruits.367 
North Carolina.394 
Owner Wanted.367 
Pigs for England. 365 
Pocket Watering Pot.... 368 
Poison Ear-rings.395 
Poland Chinas East.393 
Pomological Society.... 367 
Potash bn Wheat.367 
Poultry Manure.367 
Prickly Comfrey.367 
Salt on Wheat.393 
Sanitary Drainage.367 
Scrap Books.367 
Self-sucking Cow_367-394 
Sheep Barn.393 
Sheep Disease. 394 
395fShepherds Dog.393 
" Size’of Corn Sheller.395 
Sowing Red-top.395 
Special Notes.366 
Sundry Humbugs_367 
Temperature in Chnrning394 
Tinkering Tinware.367 
Ventilating Ice-House.. .394 
Veterinary College .393 
Washing and Washers...368 
Weight o? Manure.395 
Wheat Fertilizers.393 
Woman Farmer.394 
I®rcsei*vsiti<m of Water Fronts.— 
“A. B. It.,” Talbot Co., Md. Methods of preventing the 
waste of land by washing, both upon river banks and sea 
shores, were given in the American Agriculturist of Feb., 
1872. Further useful information on this subject, and al¬ 
so upon reclaiming lands that have been thus damaged, 
will be found in a work upon irrigation and reclamation 
of lands, entitled “Irrigation for the Farm,” etc., which 
can be had at this office for $1.50, post-paid. 
Calendar for October. 
MOON. 
BOSTON. 
N. YORK. 
WASH’N. 
cha’ston 
CHICAGO. 
New M’n 
1st Quart 
Full M’n 
8(1 Quart. 
D. 
6 
13 
22 
29 
B. M. 
5 14 ev. 
10 58 ev. 
2 47 mo. 
9 37 mo. 
(I. M. 
5 8 ev. 
10 46 ev. 
2 85 mo. 
9 25 mo. 
H. M. 
4 50 ev. 
10 34 ev. 
2 23 mo 
H. M. 
4 38 ev. 
10 22 ev. 
2 11 mo. 
9 1 mo. 
4 Vev. 
9 52 ev. 
1 41 mo. 
8 31 mo. 
AMERICAN AGRICULTURIST. 
NEW TORE, OCTOBER, 1877. 
There have been few seasons at the close of which 
farmers have been better satisfied with the general 
result of their year’s labor than the present one. 
The harvest, with few exceptions, has been all that 
could be reasonably desired. Crops of wheat of 
40 to 50 bushels per acre are not unfrequently re¬ 
ported, and that great bugbear, the potato-beetle, 
has been easily vanquished. The season has certain¬ 
ly been favorable; but we have the best reason to 
know that better fanning has greatly helped to 
produce the excellent crops which now overflow 
the barns and granaries. Had it not been that the 
markets have been aided by the occurrence of war 
in Eastern Europe, there would still have been 
handsome returns for the year’s work. It is evident 
on every hand that our system of agriculture is 
improving year by year, and this improvement has 
been, of late, more rapid than ever. The hints 
and helps in the way of information, both prac¬ 
tical and scientific, which for thirty-five years 
past have been furnished by the American Agricul¬ 
turist, have not been without their results. During 
this period many millions of copies have been 
spread far and wide, to every corner of this coun¬ 
try, and many have gone to other countries, and 
thousands upon thousands of farmers have learned 
something new and valuable from them every 
month. The effect of this, not to speak of a simi¬ 
lar influence for good that has been exerted by many 
of our excellent agricultural cotemporaries, can¬ 
not possibly have failed to help the practice of 
agriculture towards a much higher standard. 
“ Line upon line, precept upon precept,” like the 
continual dropping of water which wears the 
stone, has undoubtedly encouraged the use of bet¬ 
ter methods of work, greater economy of manage¬ 
ment, the employment of labor-saving implements 
and machines, the use of better seed, more fertil¬ 
izers, both home made and artificial ones, the 
breeding of better stock and improved modes of 
feeding them, the building of better barns and 
6tables, and better sanitary regulations in these Mid 
the yards about them, and last, but not least, better 
arangements of domestic affairs. All these, and 
more that might be mentioned, which have been 
in our columns continually kept before the atten¬ 
tion of farmers, have helped to bring about the re¬ 
sults referred to. But the limits of improvement 
have by no means been reached. In fact, we have; 
but as yet only begun to improve, and nntil we can. 
see no place for any better work or methods off 
work, our efforts must continue. Every year the- 
field widens and lengthens. The past year more- 
than 25,000 new farms have been opened, and this 
has not been a good year for such enterprise. We 
are, also, every year finding new foreign markets, 
and new industries at home are making more cus¬ 
tomers for our produce. The farmer’s vocation is- 
a sure one, it is his business to make it a profit¬ 
able one, by bringing to it all the skill, intelligence,, 
and industry, that may be possible. 
Hints for Work. 
Fall Wheat .—Where the soil aud season admit, 
of it, wheat may still be sown the early part of this 
month. This may be done upon rich, well-drained’ 
6oil, in the Middle and Southern States. Late 
sowing helps us to escape the fly, but brings- 
danger of the midge and rust. These'latter may be 
avoided (while we escape the first) by stimulating- 
the crop to a quick growth by selecting midge- 
proof varieties, and by pickling the seed. For all. 
such late sowings, a generous dressing of some ac¬ 
tive ammoniacal fertilizer should be given. Am¬ 
monia is needed now, and pure guano conveys 
this to the roots ; 150 lbs. per acre may be applied.. 
A Pickle for Late-sown Wheat is made by dissolv¬ 
ing 4 ounces of sulphate of copper (blue vitriol), 
to every gallon of water needed. Put 2 bushels off 
wheat in a tub or barrel, and pour the above named 
solution over it so that it shall be evenly distributed, 
through the grains. Stir the wheat thoroughly and 
turn it out on a clean barn floor. Then stir im 
enough dry newly-slaked lime to cover every grain.. 
Rge may be sown all this month; but the later- 
the sowing, the more seed should be used. For a 
soiling crop in early spring, sow 3 bushels per acre. 
Water Furrows should be made in all grain fields; 
as soon as the sowing is finished. If left later, the 
growing plants will be injured by the trampling and 
the passage of the plow. We would do this even 
on underdrained land if the surface needs it. Im 
this case the furrows should start from between, 
the drains to low places over them. 
Fall Fallowing .—Weedy meadows may be turned 
over in this month; plow corn stubbles and culti¬ 
vate two or three times before winter. 
Fall Plowing .—Ground for oats should be fall- 
plowed and left ridged so that the cultivator or har¬ 
row may fit it for seeding in early spring. The; 
land for early potatoes should also be plowed and' 
manured. Spread the manure upon the plowed 
ground and leave until spring, then plow it under.. 
Sod Ground for Corn may be liberally top dressed 
with coarse manure now, but not plowed until; 
near the time for planting in the spring, when a. 
dressing of artificial com fertilizer will be sufficient 
for a good crop. Better employ an extra team in 
spring to plow for com, than turn a sod now. There 
is other and much more pressing work at this season. 
Cutting Corn should not be delayed. Every day’s- 
delay after corn is fit to cut, greatly damages the: 
fodder, the value of which is no small item. 
Husking may begin at once, then the fodder 
can be taken care of as it should be. When well 
cribbed, the com will dry as quickly or better than 
in the stook exposed to storms. Use Hall’s husk¬ 
ing gloves, which will spare the hands, unless a 
husking machine can be hired. The Philips’ husk¬ 
ing machine will make short work of this business. 
Stacking Corn-Fodder .—We prefer to stack our 
fodder rather than put it under cover. It is too 
bulky for the barn, and if well stacked will keep in 
good condition. We mg,ke 6mall stacks holding 
five or six loads, and one of these may be brought 
into the bam as it may be wanted during the win¬ 
ter. These stacks may be made in the field. See 
further Kemarks on this subject at page 369. 
Roots .—Mangels and sugar beets should be har¬ 
vested early. Frost injures them. Frozen beet- 
leaves are not wholesome food for stock, but if they 
are gathered before frost, they make excellent fod¬ 
der. These may be pitted and kept for some weeks 
yet, if sprinkled with salt and lightly covered with 
