AMERICAN AGRICULTURIST. 
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AGRICULTURE IS THE MOST HEALTHFUL, THE MOST USEFUL, AND THE MOST NOBLE EMPLOYMENT OF MAN— Washington. 
OBAMCtE JVBD, A. M ., 
EDITOR AND PROPRIETOR. 
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$1.00 PER ANNUM, IN ADVANCE. 
SINGLE NUMBERS 10 CENTS. 
VOL. xv. —No. 6.] NEW-YORK, MARCH, 1856. [NEW series-No. no. 
®°Thc Office of 41ie American Agricul¬ 
turist is on tlie 2d floor of 189 Water-st. 
(near Fulton). Entrance at No. 191. 
IFiPAll Business and otlier letters should 
be addressed to ORANGE JUDD, 
No. 189 Water-st., 
Jfew-Tort City. 
WORK EOR THE MONTH. 
“As yet the trembling year is unconfirmed 
And Winter oft at eve resumes the breeze, 
Chills the pale morn, and bids his driving sleets 
Deform the day delightless.” 
Inconstancy is the striking characteristic 
of this month, even under English skies, if 
the poet sung truly of the coming in of 
spring; but it is still more fitful with us. 
It is the most unamiable and provoking of all 
the months. March is a coquette, now with 
sunny smiles and flashing eyes hardly wait¬ 
ing to be wooed, and again with icy look and 
scornful face chilling your heart. To-day 
she invites you into the wild wood, and 
points you to the swollen brook so lately 
bridged with ice, and assures you that the 
grass will soon fringe its margin and thrust 
up its green spires among the bronzed leaves. 
To-morrow the sun is veiled,the north-east 
wind comes freighted with driving sleet or 
snow, and the trees are sheeted with ice. 
The forest again puts on its winter livery, 
the team is again yoked to the sled, and the 
wood that was packed for its summer sea¬ 
soning in the forest is hauled home or to 
market. The sleigh that was carefully laid 
by for another winter, is again harnessed, 
and the merry bells once more enliven the 
air. The snow path is hardly broken and 
smoothed by travel before a thaw sets in, 
and the streets are hardly passable in any 
land conveyance. The water runs freely, 
wearing great gullies in the roads, the frost 
comes out of the ground, and the wheels 
sink down to the hub. It is hard times for 
teamsters, and still harder for their teams. 
There is a cheering warmth in the sun, 
the snow banks are all gone from the garden, 
and a daring crocus wakes up from its sleep 
and gives promise of a blossom. The young 
plants are already starting in the hot-bed, 
and there is a summer glotv beneath the 
glass. A cheerful sight it is to see the young 
cabbage and radishes breaking through the 
soft mold of the bed. Again the weatherre- 
lapses into frost and the thick matting over 
the glass shuts out light and cold from the 
tender vegetation. 
But still Nature has a plan in all these 
changes, and you c an see a steady advance 
toward more genial skies. She makes haste 
slowly, like all artificers engaged in a great 
work. And how great a work is this, which 
passes .before our eyes every returning 
spring ! What myriads of sleeping germs 
are to be quickened! What measureless 
space is to be overspread with a more deli¬ 
cate fabric than the loom ever wove! What 
countless , leaves are to thrust out their 
hungry mouths, to the summer air to feed the 
mighty growth of the forest! Already the 
work is begun. In every cheerless trunk 
the sap is slowly mounting. Every sunbeam 
that falls upon the seeming hopeless bud in the 
tree top is felt like an electric spark to the 
remotest rootlet in the dark soil beneath. 
The communication is established between 
root and branch through all the channels of 
the trunk. The vital forces of the tree are 
gathering strength, and preparing for a re¬ 
surrection as instinct with the divine power 
and glory as that which appeared at the 
grave of Lazarus. The fruit wrapt in the 
coarse grave clothes of the sere bud shall 
hear His voice a'nd come forth in the perfect 
beauty of harvest. 
But March, fitful as it is, brings its duties 
as well as its teachings and cheering pros¬ 
pects. But little can be done yet in the gar¬ 
den in the open ground, unless the season 
should be unusually forward. The winter 
has been remarkable for its steady cold all 
through the months of January and Februa¬ 
ry. Such hard winters we believe are rare¬ 
ly followed by early springs. In the spring 
of 1836, which followed a winter more like 
the past than any intervening season, Hud¬ 
son river did not open until April 4th, and of 
course the blossoming of the fruit trees and 
the spring work were later than usual. But 
if the frost should get out of the ground the 
latter part of the month, you can commence 
TRENCHING 
that part of the garden that you have deter¬ 
mined to subject to this operation. If you 
have not yet tried an experiment of this kind 
do not defer it longer. The work is not yet 
pressing, and you can afford to devote a day 
or two to an experiment that will make you 
a better gardener, and give you larger faith in 
the capabilities of the soil. Do it thorough¬ 
ly, and work in horse manure, if you have it, 
to the depth of two feet. You can sow 
ground thus thoroughly worked as soon as 
the process is completed. The temperature 
of the soil is raised by the fermenting ma¬ 
nure, and all excess of moisture passes down 
readily below the seeds. Trenching pre¬ 
pares the way for early crops, and for a sec¬ 
ond and even a third crop the same season. 
SEED SOWING, 
quite likely, will be possible the last of the 
month. Radishes, onions, parsnips, and let¬ 
tuce, can be put in as early as the ground is 
in a condition to be worked. Make the seed 
bed, and sow early. Peas may also be sown 
this month. The Early June, and Prince 
Albert are good varieties. 
ONIONS 
may be set out for rare ripes, and for seed. 
This is a good crop to grow with carrots— 
sowing the latter between the rows about the 
first of June. The onions can be marketed in 
June, and leave the ground to the succession 
crop. 
CARTING OUT MANURES 
should be attended to this month, especially 
if you are not able to command all the labor 
you will need later in the season. It is an 
advantage to cart out upon the frozen ground 
at least a part of the barn cellar stores. 
Make the heaps large, even if it costs more 
labor to spread them ; and cover them with 
loam, mixed with plaster of Paris if you 
have it, to prevent evaporation. To have the 
manure upon your ground will give you a 
much better command of your work in plant¬ 
ing, when there is much more to be done. 
Do not spread the manure until you are 
ready to plow it in. 
CELLARS AND OUT HOUSES 
should now be attended to. The filth and 
waste matter that has accumulated from the 
winter stores of vegetables should now be 
removed. Very likely it will be forgotten 
in the hurry of next month. The health of 
the family requires that there should be 
cleanliness in the cellar. Sort over the po¬ 
tatoes, reserving the middling size for seed. 
Sell what you have to dispose of now. Clear 
up the poultry house, putting the droppings 
into barrels in a dry place. Put clean fresh 
hay into the nests. Feed the poultry with 
cooked vegetables, mixed with meal while 
warm, and a little fresh meat occasionally. 
CLOVER SEED. 
Clover seed can be best sown this month, 
especially toward the latter part of it when 
the snow is gone, but before freezing nights 
are over. Some sow it upon the snow, so 
as to see when it is scattered evenly, and 
that it may be washed into the ground when 
the snow melts. But should the melting be 
rapid, the seeds maybe washed into furrows 
and low spots. We have always practised 
sowing clover (sometimes mixed with timo¬ 
thy) upon the slightly frozen ground, on a 
calm morning. The surface of the soil is 
then cracked into myriads of little crevices, 
