1871 .] 
AMERICAN AGRICULTURIST. 
403 
bred sows. Get a good-sized, healthy, vigorous 
common sow, that is well formed, and likely to be 
a quiet mother and a good milker, and put her to 
a thorough-bred boar. Keep her in a thriving, 
half-fat condition, aud you are pretty sure of a litter 
of healthy, handsome, fat pigs, that will give a good 
account of their feed next spring and summer. 
Fattening Hogs should be pushed forward rapidly, 
aud sold early. We shall probably be obliged to 
accept low prices this season. In our section we 
are feeding at a decided loss. With good pigs, it 
requires from seven to eight bushels of corn, judi¬ 
ciously fed, to make 100 lbs. of pork. If a fat hog 
is worth one cent per lb. more than a lean or half¬ 
fat one, it will pay us better to make him fat than 
to sell him lean. We shall probably lose money in 
either case, but less by making the hogs fat than by 
selling them lean. This is emphatically true in the 
cheap corn sections of the West. Besides, meat is 
very high in Europe, and wages are advancing, and 
there may yet be sufficient foreign demand to give 
us fair prices for our pork. 
Milch Cows should on no account be suffered to 
decline in flesh at this season. A little bran and 
corn-meal will keep them wonderfully, both in flesh 
and milk. Guard against cold storms on the one 
hand, and hot, close stables on the other. We 
hardly know which is more injurious. If confined 
at night, let the stable be thoroughly ventilated 
aud kept cool and cleau. Give the cows all the 
corn-stalks or hay they will eat at night, and let 
them run on the pastures as long as they can get a 
good bite and do not poach the soft ground. 
Potatoes should now be dug as rapidly as possible. 
If the ground is hard and weedy, plow a light fur¬ 
row away from each side the row, as close as you 
can run without disturbing the potatoes ; then run 
the plow under the row of potatoes, aud follow 
with hooks. In our experience, by actual test, this 
saves one third the labor. Where potatoes are 
worth 50 cents a bushel, we think it better to go 
over the ground with hooks, as above recommended, 
than to try to get out the potatoes by harrowing. 
The potatoes left in the ground will more than pay 
the difference in the expense. See hints last month 
in regard to selling, storing, etc. 
Small potatoes , cabbage leaves, etc., are usually 
fed out at this season. It is a great mistake. They 
are of far more value as a tonic than as food ; aud 
by and by, when the animals can not get a bite of 
grass, they will be worth double what they are 
now. The small jmtatoes will pay well to pit and 
keep until spring. 
Mangel-wurzel and other Beets should be secured at 
once. Be careful not to bleed them. They keep 
better in pits than in a close cellar. But they keep 
well in the latter if properly corded, with spaces 
left for the air to circulate through, and the cellar 
is kept well ventilated, and seldom allowed to get 
warmer than 50°. The mangels should be kept 
until all other roots are gone. They improve by 
keeping. Fed at this season, they are apt to cause 
scours. This effect is usually attributed to their 
containing salts, but is probably due to the fact 
that the roots are not ripe. Their proper season is 
from February to May. 
Ruta-bagas are not so liable to be injured by frost 
as mangels and beets, and if other work is pressing 
may be left out until December, 
Beet and Turnip Leaves , if put into pits when the 
temperature is near the freezing point, and beat 
down very firm, aud then lightly covered with earth, 
will keep through the winter, and be more valuable 
next March (because more needed) than if fed out 
now. Select a dry, sandy knoll, and be careful to 
pack them solid, and not until steady cold weather 
is about to set in. 
Carrots wither up if kept in a loose heap in the 
cellar. A good plan is to put them in barrels or in 
a box or bin in the cellar, and put a layer of sand 
between each layer of carrots, and an inch or so of 
sand between the carrots and the sides of the bin. 
Put two or three inches of sand on top to prevent 
evaporation. Let the cellar be kept cool and well 
ventilated, and the carrots, if earth enough has 
been mixed with them, will neither mold nor 
shrivel up. Carrots can also be kept in pits, cord¬ 
ing them up, and placing a vertical layer of soil 
between each pile of carrots. 
Parsnips keep best in the ground, and only those 
needed during the winter should now be dug. 
Cabbages are easily kept by placing them tight 
together in a furrow, with the roots sticking up, 
and then covering them with four or five inches of 
earth. Select a dry, light soil. This operation is 
best performed immediately before winter sets in. 
If done too early, and during warm weather, they 
may commence to decay, and when decomposi¬ 
tion has once commenced, in this as in all other 
vegetable matter it is very difficult to stop it. 
Common White or Soft Turnips are not worth much 
labor in housing. Better sell them or feed them 
out before Christmas. 
Corn-Stalks should be secured without delay. If 
possible, let them be free from snow, rain, aud all 
external moisture. If this can not be done, better 
let them stay out until they freeze dry. See hints 
for last month. 
Fall Flowing should be pushed forward rapidly 
every day that the teams can be spared from the 
labor of gathering in the crops. 
Surface Drainage is a very important matter, not 
only on winter wheat, but on all the land intended 
for spring crops. Those who have paid little atten¬ 
tion to this matter will be surprised how much 
water can be let off their laud by means of furrows 
made with a plow aud the occasional use of a spade 
aud hoe. We would urge attention to this matter 
at once, or at least after the first heavy rain. 
Manure may be drawn out and spread on grass 
or other land whenever convenient. Except on 
steep hill-sides and on very sandy land, there is 
little danger of the manure leaching away. The 
ground will absorb it. 
« i —--- 
Work in the Horticultural Departments. 
A favorable November will give the gardener an 
opportunity to prepare himself properly for the 
winter, by clearing up his grounds, plowing, carting 
manure, and doing many little jobs for which he 
can not spare the time in early spring. Many hints 
for October are applicable whenever the ground 
does not freeze so hard that it can not be worked. 
Orchard and Nursery. 
Planting .—Continue the operations of planting as 
long as the ground remains unfrozen, and prepare 
for spring planting by plowing and manuring. 
Heeling in .—When nursery stock is received too 
late for planting this fall, heel in, taking care to 
select a light soil where water will not stand during 
the winter. Care must be used iu filling the soil 
around the roots so as to leave no space for air. 
Trees thus treated will pass the winter in perfect 
safety, and be handy for early planting iu the spring. 
Apples .—These will all be harvested by this time, 
and if stored iu bins just as they were picked, they 
ought to be sorted, put in barrels, and stored iu a 
cool place where there is uo dauger from frost. 
Cider is best when made after cold weather has 
commenced, as fermentation is not so active then 
as during the warm weather of last month. 
Cellars .—See that there are conveniences for 
ventilating cellars where fruit aud vegetables are 
stored. The best way is to open a ventilator into 
the chimney flue. Do not close the cellar entirely 
until there is danger of freezing. 
Grafting. — Seedling stocks for root grafting 
should be lifted and heeled-iu in the cellar, where 
they can be easily reached during the winter. Cut 
cions after the trees have stopped growing, and bury 
in sandy soil in the cellar, or pack in sawdust. 
Insects .—If not too cold, give the trees a thorough 
washing with strong soapsuds or lye, applied with 
a stiff brush ; this will destroy many eggs, which 
would produce insects. Examine the trunks of 
the trees near the ground, and if there are any 
signs of borers at work, probe out with a stiff wire. 
Labels .—Before freezing weather has set in, see 
that all labels are properly renewed, and set so 
firmly that the frost wiil not displace them. Labels 
for nursery rows, made ®f clear pine or cedar, 18 
inches long, 3 inches wide, and % of an inch thick, 
are very convenient. Paint with white-lead, and 
write the names with a soft, black lead-pencil. The 
part which is placed in the ground will last much 
longer if thoroughly saturated with petroleum. 
Manuring .—Give orchards a good dressing of 
manure, applied and plowed in this fall. No profit¬ 
able returns can bo expected from an orchard 
where the ground is exhausted by grass or grain 
crops, and where nothing is returned in the way of 
fertilizers to compensate for the crops of fruit 
which are annually taken from the trees. 
Nursery Rows .—Give the rows of young trees in 
the nursery a final plowing before winter sets in, 
turning the furrows toward the rows. 
Seedlings .—Seedling forest trees are covered with 
evergreen boughs, aud see that there is sufficient 
drainage to prevent the water from standing and 
freezing about the roots. 
JFrsait Garden, 
Planting .—Make preparations for planting hardy 
shrubs aud trees, and see that the tender ones are 
properly protected from the frosts. 
Blackberries .—Plant as directed last month as long 
as the weather is suitable. Iu most localities, it 
will not pay to lay down and cover with earth. 
Grape- Vines .—Set out good one or two year old 
plants with well-ripened wood, and cut back to 
within a foot of the ground. The best manure for 
grape-vines is ashes or bones which are not ground 
very fine, so that their action will continue for 
several years. If stimulating manure is applied, 
the wood fails to ripen properly. Any system of 
training can be adopted which seems best adapted 
to the wants of the cultivator. 
Strawberries .—Sorer the beds with a layer of 
leaves or straw as freezing weather approaches. 
Manure .—In the fruit garden, as well as in the 
other divisions of the garden, manure is essential 
to the proper growth and ripening of the wood, 
and now is the best time to apply it. 
Raspberries .—Plant ®ut new rows of these, and 
1-ay down the tender sorts. Set in rows four feet 
apart, with plants in the rows three feet apart. 
Kitchen Garden, 
As long as the ground remains open, there is 
always plenty to do i:«i preparing for the coming 
spring. If there are any crops left in the ground over 
winter, make suitable preparations to carry off all 
water. Plow or trench the soil as long as it re¬ 
mains open. Clear off all weeds which have been 
allowed to grow during the busy time of harvest¬ 
ing. If there are any which have been allowed to 
go to seed they must be collected and burned, 
together with any other rubbish which has been 
accumulating during the summer. 
Asparagus .—Make new beds as before directed, 
and apply a coat of littery manure to insure an 
early and rapid growth next spring. Never allow 
a bed to be loft full ®f weeds iu the fall, but dig 
out all weeds, and in the spring apply a dressing 
of salt, which is a valuable fertilizer for asparagus. 
Beets and Carrots .—Severe frosts injure these, 
and they must be harvested and stored in a dry cellar 
in sand if possible. The tops make valuable food 
for milch cows. If one has a considerable quantity 
of tops to feed out, it would be well to try to pre¬ 
serve them by the “sour-keep,” mentioned on page 
369 in October. See notes on farm work. 
Cabbages .—If any of the crop is still in the ground, 
remove and store as recommended last month. 
Savoys are not, injured by moderate freezing. 
Celery .—Store in trenches, or in earth in the cellar. 
Cold-Frames .—Allow these to remain open as long 
as the weather is mild, taking care, however, to 
close before nightfall. Provide shutters and mats 
for increased protection during very cold weather. 
