66 
AMERICAN AGRICULTURIST 
[M.ihcir, 
Calendar of Operations for March, 1860 
[We note down sundry kinds of work to be done during 
the month, not so much to afford instruction to practical 
men, as to call to mind the various operations to be at¬ 
tended to. A glance over a table like this will often sug- 
gsst some piece of work that might otherwise be forgotten 
or neglected. Our remarks are more especially adapted 
to the latitudes of 38° to 45° ; but will be equally applica¬ 
ble to points further North and South, by making due 
allowance for each degree of latitude, that is, earlier for 
the South, later for the North. 
This table will be much fuller, and more important 
during the planting season when there is a greater variety 
of work to be done. 
Explanations.—/ indicates the first ; m the middle ; 
and l the last of the month.—Doubling the letters thus:/; 
or mm, or ll, gives particular emphasis lo the period indi- 
cated.—T wo letters placed together, as fmorml, signify 
that the work may be done in either or in both periods in¬ 
dicated : thus, work marked/m. indicates that it is to be 
attended to rom the Jirst to the middle of the month.] 
Farm. 
March is here, with its rude winds, like a busy bluster¬ 
er clearing the way for the advancing season. Unpleas¬ 
ant as the sweeping blasts are, they perform important 
service, rapidly freeing the surface of the earth from moist¬ 
ure and enabling the awakening vegetation to push its 
w ay up to light. Already at the South the fields are green 
and the gardens planted. Cultivators in this latitude 
often wish for the advantages of such an early season. 
Though we can not control the sunshine, we may do 
much to make it more effective, A properly sheltered 
and thoroughly drained farm may be worked many days 
earlier than one where the winds are unchecked, and the 
soil saturated with moisture, with no way of escape but 
by surface evaporation. Much, too, may be gained by 
system and full preparation. Let the season's work be fully 
planned, all necessary implements prepared and seed 
procured now, that there be no hindrance when the time 
arrives for active operations. 
Buildings need careful inspection to secure weak tim¬ 
bers, loose boards, and open joints from the driving winds 
of March. 
Cattle—This is perhaps the worst month of the season 
for animals. Keep up their appetite by change of food, 
alternating cut coarse fodder with grain and roots. Look 
well to breeding cows; give them separate roomy stalls 
at night. Working cattle should be gradually introduced 
to heavy work after their long inactivity. Keep them 
well carded and in good trim. 
Cellars-Open for thorough ventilation as early as pos¬ 
sible. Remove all refuse and decaying vegetables. Sort 
potatoes, apples, etc. Preserve beets, carrots, cabbages, 
eln , for seed. Whitewash the walls and posts at an 
early day. 
Clover—Sow, m, 1, upon light snow, or when the ground 
is well opened by a morning frost. Use plenty of seed. 
Draining—Lay tile drain as early as frost will allow. 
If these can not be procured, subsoil wet lands intended 
for grain. Clear out open ditches, adding the muck to 
the manure heap. 
Fences—Put in repair, ff, or as soon as frost is out of 
the ground. See particularly to line fences. Plant 
hedges, m, 1, in localities not too cold. Prepare posts, 
rails and gates in stormy weather. 
Forests—Devote waste rocky spots to locust, black 
walnut, maple or other quick growing trees. 
flBrain —Examine bins to exclude vermin. Keep from 
Holding. Shell and market corn. Select or procure 
jeed if neglected until now. 
Hedge row s near fences, and scrubby bushes in mead¬ 
ows and pastures, or by the road side, should be rooted 
out. Tidiness adds to the market value of the farm, and 
improves the taste and pleasure of the occupants. 
Hogs—Breeding sows need attention. Give a little an¬ 
imal food and charcoal or cinders occasionally. Give 
•iquor enough to intoxicate to those inclined to destroy 
.heir young. Litter the pens freely to make manure. 
Keep all tidy. 
Horses- Commonee working gradually and increase 
feed with the labor. Give carrots with oats. Avoid ex¬ 
posure lo winds when heated 
Ice-House—Complete filling if not done, and keep 
properly secured. Examine drainage and ventilation. 
Manures—Work over compost heaps. Cart that already 
prepared to the fields; and cover the heaps with muck or 
soil and plaster if accessible. Remove contents of privies 
before warm weather makes it more offensive. Cleanse 
hog pens, hen roosts, kitchen drains, etc., to increase the 
stock of feitilizers. 
Meadows—Remove rocks, roots, brush, otc., as llto 
weather permits. Keep drains open. Allow no stock to 
graze upon or trample them up—or down. 
Plow ing done too early is a detriment. Wait until the 
gtound w ill not pack. Deepen the soil gradually, one to 
two inches a year. Cross plow lightly, lands deeply turn¬ 
ed last Fall. Subsoil when practicable. 
Potatoes—Secure early, for home use at least, as de¬ 
scribed on page 73. Secure seed of best varieties. Try 
new kinds sparingly. 
Poultry—Give chopped meat and green food with grain. 
Supply with water, gravel and ashes, or chip dirt. Re¬ 
move accumulations of droppings. Save eggs for setting, 
m, 1. For earliest chickens set, 1. Allow one male to 
ten or twelve hens. Read article on Turkey raising, 
page 76. 
Seed—Secure full supply from reliable sources. Change 
occasionally for that raised in a distant locality. Test 
small parcels of corn and other grain before using largely. 
Sheep—Keep breeding ewes by themselves, where they 
may be comfortable and quiet. Allow them roots and 
grain. Watch for early lambs. Read article on Protec¬ 
tion from Dogs, page 75. 
Sugar Maples—Tap, f, to m. Use shallow evaporators. 
Keep all sufficiently clean to prevent the necessity for 
clarifying. 
Sorghum—It may be well to plan for trying a small 
plot this year for soiling, for fodder, or if practicable for 
making syrup. Secure seed early. 
Tools—Provide all necessary, repair and repaint those 
needing it. Return, borrowed tools your neighbor may 
be looking his up, and not know where they are. 
Wood—Have enough for the year cut and piled to 
season now—under cover if practicable. 
©rclaard asad Nursery* 
In the Orchard much may be done to promote thrift, 
protect from insects, and replace decayed trees. Prop¬ 
er attention year by year will make this department 
more remunerative than, the grain, field. 
The nurseryman will find plenty of business in attend¬ 
ing to orders for Spring planting, and in providing for 
increase of stock. The earliest favorable time for plant¬ 
ing should be improved, both to forward the work and 
for the benefit of the trees. 
Apple Trees—Scrape the trunks and larger limbs clean. 
Remove small suckers—pruning is better done in August. 
Replace poor fruit with select varieties by grafting. 
Plant standards in favorable locations by the roadside, 
along lanes, etc. 
Cherries, Peaches and Plums—Set a full supply for 
home use near the house. Plant Cherries as early as 
frost permits. Straighten trees bent down by prevailing 
winds. 
Cions may be cut, ff, if not done before. Label each 
sort distinctly. Keep those already provided where they 
will preserve their natural moisture. 
Drain with tiles all heavy soils. Fruit trees will not 
thrive with wet feet. 
Evergreen Trees—Do not remove unless absolutely 
necessary. May is much more favorable. If it be done, 
take up plenty of earth with them and keep the roots 
from exposure to sunshine or wind-. 
Grafting—Begin, 11, with cherry and trees that start 
earliest. Next month is usually best for apples, pears 
and most fruits. Read article on page 82. 
Insects—Examine all trees purchased or sent out from 
the nursery for scale insects, and reject them; they can 
not thrive until freed. Apply alkaline wash. See “ Wash 
for fruit Trees,” page 81. 
Manures—Top dress orchards liberally with compost 
containing plenty of leaf mold. Lime and ashes are good. 
Miee-girdled Trees or those injured by rabbits may 
sometimes be saved by coaling with grafting cement. 
Shellac dissolved in alcohol" is also recommended. For 
preventive see page 82. 
Pear Trees—Choose standards rather than dwarfs for 
main supply. A few of the latter will do for the garden. 
Plant, m, 1. In grafting on wild stocks, be particular to 
procure seedlings, and not suckers thrown up .from Hie 
roots of old trees. Secure full supply of young stocks 
early. Read article, page 82. 
Plums—Plant, 11. Examine branches for indications 
of “black knot” and remove with the knife, paring 
smoothly. 
Pruning—Leave it until late Summer, except to remove 
small shoots or decaying branches.. 
Seeds or Pits—Plant, ff, m, apple, pear, quince, cherry, 
peach, plum, walnut and chestnut, which w ere sloied for 
use last Fall. Sow, m, 1, seeds of evergreen and of de¬ 
ciduous trees, as locust, maple, birch, etc. 
Stocks budded last year—Remove the natural growth, 
two or three inches above where the bud has taken. 
Transplant trees with as much earth as possible at¬ 
tached. Keep the roots shaded from the sun ; remove all 
that are injured paring the ends smooth. 
Mitcluena iiiid Fruit Garden. 
In this latitude, properiy drained, deeply worked soils 
will be ready for some of the earlier vegetables this month, 
most, varieties however, must wait until the air is more 
genial; except w ith the aid of the hot-bed. Some of the 
most successful gardeners wait until their impatient neigh¬ 
bors have finished before planting a seed, and in the end 
find their account in so doing. The situation, exposure, 
etc., will determine the best season for a commencement. 
Meantime let an ample stock of manure, seeds, imple¬ 
ments, etc., be prepared, and the garden fully planned. 
Artichokes—Top dress old b.odsiw;ithj stable mamneand 
plant new, m, 11, 
Asparagus-Remove covering and fork in manure, 11, 
as soon as danger from frost is past. Make new beds 
from seed or roots, 11. See article page 83. 
Blackberries—A patch of New-Rochelle or other culti¬ 
vated variety near the house is preferable to dependenoo 
on the “ bush lots ” at a distance. The flavor is also su¬ 
perior. Plant roots, m, 1. 
Borecole and Kale—Sow, 11, where the ground will 
permit. 
Cabbage and Cauliflowers—So.w, ff, m, in hot-beds. 
Give constant heat and little air till weH started, then 
harden gradually. Sow in open ground, 11. Set stumps 
and heads for seed, 11. 
Caraway—Sow seed, 11. 
Celery—Sow in hot-beds, m, 1. 
Cold Frames —Give plenty of air as the temperature in¬ 
creases, removing the sashes daily except in freezing 
weather. Sow cabbages, lettuce, radishes, etc., to suc¬ 
ceed plants ready for transplanting. 
Cress—Sow, 11, in open ground. 
Currants and Gooseberries—Make cuttings, ft', if not 
already done, Secure improved varieties. Put in cut¬ 
tings and rooted plants, m, 11 Read artice on Gooseber¬ 
ries page 83. 
Drain, f, in, clay, or otliei moist lands. Examine drains 
already laid and keep water courses clear. 
Egg Plants—Sow in hot-beds, 11. 
Fences and Gates —Put in thorough repair. Protect 
the garden from poultry with pickets or lines of twine 
stretched around the inclosure a few inches above the 
fence. 
Fruit Trees—Dwarf pears, peaches, cherries, etc., may 
be planted along borders, U. 
Grapes—Plant roots or cuttings, 11. Uncover protected 
vines when mild weather is established. Fasten proper¬ 
ly to trellises ; lead wire is best for this purpose. Fork in 
a good dressing of chip manure and bone dust. Be shy 
of flaming descriptions of new varieties. See “ Grape 
Mania ” on page 63. 
Herbs—Divide and reset roots, m, 11, sowing seed at the 
same time. 
Hops—Plant roots, 11, providing poles for, ff, m. 
Horseradish—Divide and replant mJH. 
Hot beds—Make, ff. m. Where glass sashes are not 
easily obtained, thin muslin oiled and stretched on frames 
is a good substitute. Like beds for sleeping they should 
be in every family. Give air on mild days to those pre¬ 
viously planted. 
Leeks—Sow, 11. 
Lettuce—Sow, f, m, in hot-beds, and, 11, in open ground. 
Fill vacancies in cold frames, 11. 
Manures should be thoroughly intermingled with the 
soil. Composting with muck and lime renders them val¬ 
uable for this. Bone sawings are excellent plant food and 
easily applied near the plants w here they are most wanted. 
Bo liberal in feeding plants if you would be fed by them. 
Mustard—Sow, rn, 1. 
Onions—Sow on well prepared ground, 11. 
Parsley—Sow, 11. 
l’arsneps—Dig for market or for home use; Leave suf¬ 
ficient for seed, Or set out, 11. 
Peas—Sow on warm borders, 11. Place the seed a few 
minutes in water raised to about 193° lo d istroy the w ee¬ 
vil. Prepare brush, ff, m. 
Plow, subsoil, and trench, 11, if sufficiently dry. 
Potatoes—Plant early varieties for first supply, 11. They 
may be hastened in grow th as described on page 7.3. 
Radishes—Sow at intervals ia hot beds, ff, in, I. and 11, 
in the open ground. 
Raspberries— Uncover buried canes, 11, if sufficiently 
warm. Stake up, and cut back to four or five feet high. 
Rhubarb—For earliest use force as described o.rt page 
83. Uncover protected roots, II, and fork in plenty of 
manure. Set out new plants, 1. 
Seeds—Secure a full supply. Test all kinds before 
purchasing largely. Those sown this month may be for¬ 
warded by enclosing in a cloth, covering lightly until 
sprouted and then sowing. 
Spinach—Uncover Fall plants and sow seed, 11. Thin 
out for use. 
Strawberries—Rake off the Winter covering, 11, and 
top-dress with fine, w ell rotted manure, hoeing it in. 
Sw eet Potatoes—Plant in hot-beds, in, 1, to obtain sets 
for planting out. 
Tools_Repair old and procure new and improved that 
have been tested. 
Tomatoes -Sow in* hot-beds or in pots in the house, 
f, m, and in open ground, 11. 
Trellises and Arbors—Put in good repair, and erect 
new where needed 
