AMERICAN AGRICULTURIST. 
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AGRICULTURE IS THE MOST HEALTHFUL, THE MOST USEFUL, AND THE MOST NOBLE EMPLOYMENT OF MAN,— Washington. 
ORANGE JUDO, A. M., 
EDITOR AND PROPRIETOR. 
VOL. XV.—No. 10.] 
NEW-YORK, JULY, 1856. 
$1.00 PER ANNUM, IN ADVANCE. 
SINGLE NUMBERS 10 CBNTS. 
[NEW SERIES—No. 114. 
J^Thc Office of tlie American Agricul¬ 
turist is on tlie 2d floor at 101 Water-st. 
(near Fulton). 
I3PA11 Business and otlicr letters should 
be addressed to ORANGE JUDD, 
No. 191 Water-st., 
NewYorh City. 
Personal Letters, or those for the Editor only should bo 
marked Private, 
WORK FOR THE MONTH. 
“ Now comes July and with his fervid noon 
Unsinews labor. The swinkt mower sleeps ; 
The weary maid rakes feebly ; the warm swain 
Pitches his load reluctant; the faint steer, 
Lashing his sides, draws sulkly along 
The slow encumbered wain in midday heat.” 
The hay month has at length come. A 
new sound breaks upon the ear, at early 
morning, in the meadow. The farmer has 
gone out in the cool of the day to begin his 
haying. Listen now, and you will hear the 
sound of the whet stone upon the ringing 
steel, as he sets the edge of his scythe be¬ 
fore he thrusts it into the thick grass. It 
has grown so rapidly, that it is already 
lodged, and must be immediately cut. It is 
a pleasant sound to hear, mingling with the 
morning song of the robins and the bobo¬ 
links. Let us draw near, and look at this 
meadow where the mower is at work. 
Hark! the murmur of bees comes up from 
the blooming clover, and a fragrance is 
wafted upon the dewy air, sweeter than all 
the odors Lubin ever compounded for the 
toilet of the Parisian belle. See how the 
nodding’grass falls before the sharp steel, 
and hear that peculiar sound which follows 
every clip of the scythe ; neither a buzz nor 
a whirr, a squeak nor a squeal, a creak nor 
a click, but a sound unlike all others with 
which we are familiar. It is music to the 
mower’s ear, and the whole gang of work¬ 
men keep stroke to the sound. Here is a 
field of three acres of heavy grass, and it will 
take six men all the forenoon to cut it down. 
But this music of thp mower’s is destined 
soon to pass away. It is a slow laborious 
process to gather the hay harvest by this 
method, and already the supplanter of the 
scythe is in the field, and you hear the sharp 
rattle of the horse mower from the adjacent 
fields. A six acre field is cut in a single 
morning, and farmer Ready has nothing to 
do but hold the reins. It is cut smooth, and 
admirably spread for drying at one process. 
The men of the scythe look over the fence 
with mingled astonishment, and skepticism. 
They do not yet believe in the new fangled 
machine, and yet it works so easily, that 
they can not help wishing, that farmer 
Ready’s horses were at work on their side 
of the fence. They are expecting to see 
the machine break down at every round,but 
to their surprize it sweeps on, and the stand¬ 
ing plot of grass “grows small by degrees 
and beautifully less.” He stops to breathe 
his horses a little, and to tighten a screw, 
and they think his career is ended. “They 
knew it would be so. Them new things are 
always giving out.” But now he is upon 
his seat again, and away goes the team until 
the whole is finished, the work of six men 
done up in as many hours with no back¬ 
aches, and over taxing of the muscles. No 
new implement has more befriended the 
farmer than the mowing machine. It re¬ 
lieves him of the most exhausting labor, at a 
period of the year, when it is most difficult 
to procure extra help. It substitutes brute 
muscle, for that of man, and is a great tri¬ 
umph of mind over matter. Therefore we 
say to all who can afford it, buy a good ma¬ 
chine, and try it this season. Farmers of 
smaller means might easily combine, and 
own one in common. One machine would 
easily do the mowing upon a dozen ordina¬ 
ry farms. But 
HAYING 
is not yet generally carried on with these 
machines, and we have to adapt our remarks 
to the scythe and the human mower. Judg¬ 
ment is necessary in selecting the proper 
time for cutting grass. It is often neglected 
too long. Fields b^dly lodged are not cut 
until the bottom is badly lodged or even rot¬ 
ten. This is very poor economy. What¬ 
ever extra help is needed to cut the grass 
seasonably, let it be engaged as early as 
possible, and when the grass comes into full 
bloom cut it at once. It should not be dried 
too much. In a bright July sun, red top and 
herd’s grass spread early in the morning, and 
frequently stirred, will make enough in one 
day to go into the barn. It greatly injures 
the quality of the fodder to have the juices 
fairly burnt out of it, as is often the case, by 
excessive curing. A little salt may be ad 
ded to the hay with advantage, as it is put 
away in the mow. 
THE GRAIN HARVEST. 
This is begun this month. The cutting of 
wheat, barley, rye, and oats, is often delayed 
until the grain is over ripe. All these grains 
should be cut before the seed is perfectly dry 
and hard. When the stalks are dry imme¬ 
diately beneath the head, and the starch of 
the grain is in the form of a thick paste, it 
is ready to cut. If left beyond this, the 
grain is apt to fall out of the husk, and 
much of it is lost. The early cut grain too 
will make more bread, and of a better quali¬ 
ty. The straw will be better, especially if 
you wish to use it for fodder. 
THRESHING GRAIN. 
If you wish it for seed, it should be done 
with the flail. In all the threshing machines 
with which we are acquainted many of the 
kernels are broken, or cracked, so that they 
will not sprout. Any reasonable man will 
be glad to pay an extra price for seed thresh¬ 
ed with the flail. Seed grain too should be 
religiously kept free from all foul seed. It 
is not only a great nuisance, but a fraud to 
sell chess among wheat, cockles among 
barley, Canada thistles among oats and 
daises among clover. The buyer purchases 
only pure seed. The seller has no right to 
put upon him a foul article. 
HOEING. 
We trust the hoes are not hung up for 
the season. They were never more needed 
than now, amid the parching heats of July. 
The corn greatly needs rain. Hoe it, and 
you can raise moisture thereby from the 
earth to meet its necessities. Thorough 
tillage will do what Elijah’s prayers did, 
bring rain—from the clods, if it do not bring 
it from the clouds. There will be some 
days, when the grass will not make hay, if 
you cut it. Keep the cultivator and hoes 
moving, and increase the corn and potato 
crops. 
TURNIPS. 
With the last hoeing in July, some have 
found it a good plan, to sow turnip seed 
among their corn. They claim ; that it will 
not materially diminish the yield of grain, 
and will give a good yield of turnips merely 
for the labor of gathering them. It may be 
worth while to try the experiment, on a 
small scale, and note the results. 
RUTA BAGAS 
should be sown early this month, in w r ell 
prepared drills. We have found home-made 
superphosphate of lime as well as that of 
De Burg's make, an excellent manure for 
this crop. These roots usually command a 
good price in the market, for table use. If 
there is a surplus, it is profitably fed to cattle. 
LATE CABBAGES. 
It is now time to set these. They may 
follow early peas, or rare ripe onions, let¬ 
tuce, or radishes. They may be set be¬ 
tween rows of potatoes, that are to be dug 
this month. They are a good succession 
crop, and may occupy any waste spot, in the 
field or garden. A table spoonful of super- 
phosphare of lime around each plant will 
push them forward vigorously. 
