AMERICAN AGRICULTURIST. 
219 
Dress Pots—giving fresh earth to those 
in which plants languish. 
Fumigate—often if insects appear, and use 
sulphur to prevent mildew. 
Grapes—air in morning and keep the at¬ 
mosphere moist by syringing; thin out 
and shoulder the bunches. 
Insects—destroy by fumigations inside, 
and by syringing with whale-oil soap those 
plants which have been carried out. 
Layer—CarnaTtons, Pinks, Pansies, Ver¬ 
benas, &c., ff. to m. 
Orange and Lemon trees—bud ; water 
freely keeping larger plants mulched ; thin 
out fruit and remove blossoms when suffi¬ 
cient fruit has set. 
Orchidacious Plants—Keep in a cool part 
of the house giving but little water if wanted 
to bloom well next spring. 
Potting Plants—may. still be continued : 
Pots which have been carried to the open 
ground, water often, and dress or repot oc¬ 
casionally. 
Prune—Geraniums, Roses and other plants 
and shrubs after they have flowered ; re¬ 
move old exhausted wood ; also cut back 
winter flowering plants. 
Repot—Fuchsias, Cinerarias, Gloxinias, 
Ac. heading in plants for next years blooming. 
Seed—gather as ripe. 
Stake—neatly plants which require sup¬ 
port. 
Syringe—and Water freely both in and 
out of the house. 
ORCHARD AND NURSERY. 
Budding—Apples, and Pears may be bud¬ 
ded mm. to 1. Stone fruit will be ready to 
bud 11. to next month, the state of the stock 
and the maturitv of the bud must regulate 
the time, which must be later than usual this 
season. 
Caterpillars—destroy ff.; see last month. 
Hoe—among young trees in the nursery, 
and keep grass from growing about the 
trunks of trees in the orchard. 
Inarch and layer choice varieties ff tom. 
Manure—trees which are producing full 
crops f. to 1. 
Mulch—trees set out in the Spring ff 
Prune—both nursery and orchard ft*, to 
m.; paring smooth ; cut off stocks of trees 
budded last season ff., if not already done. 
Supporting weak buds by tying to a stake to 
prevent being blown off by the wind. 
Thin fruit ff. 
Advantage ofKeepingManure Covered.— 
An experiment conducted by the President 
of an Agricultural Society, in England,shows 
that manure which was kept covered by 
nine inches in depth with earth, so that no 
evaporation escaped, produced four bushels 
more of grain per acre, than the same quan¬ 
tity and kind of manure applied to the same 
extent and quality of land, but which manure 
bad lain from the 13th of January, to the 
4th of April, exposed to the weather. 
When a man stops his newspaper on ac- 
• count of pecuniary foreboding, he may be 
considered about as far gone as if he should 
conclude to stop his daily bread for fear he 
should come to poverty. 
RUTA-BAGAS-NOT TOO LATE TO SOW— 
THEIR PROFITABLENESS AND THE MODE 
OF CULTHRE. _ 
It is usually recommended to put in this 
valuable crop during June. We think, how¬ 
ever, from what we can gather from the 
general experience for several years past, 
that as soon after the first of July as may 
be, is the best season for sowing this kind 
of turnip in this latitude, especially when 
they are designed for long keeping. Much 
farther North, earlier would be preferable ; 
while say South of Pennsylvania, it is better 
to delay sowing until the latter part of July, 
and even until some time in August, in the 
states still farther South. But in no place 
is if too late to sow them, where the work 
has been neglected. No crop pays better if 
we take into consideration the small cost of 
production, and the valuable feeding quali¬ 
ties. On good ground, with only such a de¬ 
gree of attention as should be given to any 
hoed field crop, from 500 to 800 bushels per 
acre may be pretty safely calculated upon. 
The cost of cultivating an acre, including 
manure, seed, interest of land, and labor, 
could scarely exceed $40 per acre in any 
case, and taking the low yield of 500 bush¬ 
els per acre—they would cost but 8 cents 
per bushel. We think no skillful farmer 
having stock on hand, whether cattle, hogs, 
or sheep, would part with a crop for double 
this price. The average cost of production 
will seldom exceed 5 to 7 cents per bushel, 
and they have frequently been raised for 3 
to 4 cents per bushel. 
To state this matter in a different form : 
We think an active man could in one day’s 
time do all the work of sowing and cultiva¬ 
ting a plot 4 rods square. This would yield 
on the average say 00 bushels, taking one 
season with another. The yield may in 
some years fall below this amount, but it 
will oftener go beyond. The account with 
such a plot would then stand thus : 
Use of land, 
O 
00 
& 
Manure and plowing, 
1.10 
Seed, 
.10 
Labor, 
1.00 
Sixty bushels at 5 cents, 
$3.00 
Or to put everything at the 
■0 ; 
highest fig- 
Use of land, 
$1.00 
Manure, 
1.50 
Plowing, 
.50 
Seed, 
.25 
Two day’s work at $1,«87, 
2.75 
Sixty bushels at 10 cents, 
$6.00 
The same comparative figures will hold 
good on a larger scale. The use of one- 
tenth of an acre of land is seldom worth 
$1.00, and since ordinary workmen can at¬ 
tend to this crop, the estimate of $2.75 for 
the labor is also quite liberal. We have al¬ 
lowed $1.50 for 50 pounds of guano, (500 lbs 
to the acre,) at 3 cents per lb. ; or 60 lbs. of 
superphosphate, (600 lbs to the acre,) at ,2ic 
per lb; or for H to two loads of good well rot¬ 
ted, stable manure, that is, fifteen to twenty 
loads per acre. All these estimates are 
high for ordinarily good land to be made to 
produce only 600 bushels per acre. 
Ruta-Bagas leave the land in good condi¬ 
tion for any crop to follow, and they may 
be planted as a second crop after an early 
one. Sheep are very fond of them, and in 
spring they are excellent for ewes having 
lambs. Horses eat them readily after a lit¬ 
tle training, and thrive well upon them. 
They are highly valuable for making beef 
and pork, as well as for milch cows. Some 
object to them on account of the taste 
communicated to milk and butter. This 
is mostly avoided by feeding cows but once 
a day at the time of, or just after milk¬ 
ing. 
MODE OF CULTIVATION. 
The soil best suited to their growth is a 
strong sandy loam, though good crops can 
be raised on any but a stiff clay or wet soil, 
by plowing deeply and thoroughly pulveri¬ 
zing it. Clover, or grass sod of any kind, 
well turned under, will produce a good crop. 
If other ground is used, it should be well sup¬ 
plied with manure, unless this has been ap¬ 
plied to the previous crop. 
To prepare the ground, it should have, if 
in sod, but one plowing, and that just before 
planting—if without sod, it may be plowed 
twice to advantage. 
Less than a pound of seed per acre would 
suffice, but there had better be double the 
needed quantity of plants, than to have a de¬ 
ficiency on any spot of ground. The roots 
seldom do as well transplanted, yet even 
this may be profitably resorted to. Some 
prefer sowing broadcast, but this must in¬ 
volve more hand labor and expense. Sown 
in drills, two feet or more apart, a cul¬ 
tivator or horse hoe may do most of the 
weeding. 
The ground should be kept free from weeds, 
more especially when the plants first come 
up; for if left to be choked by them the first 
week or two, no care in after culture can rem¬ 
edy the neglect. The plants should be 
thinned out from 9 to 12 inches apart in the 
drill, to give them ample room to expand. 
On good ground, it will be found that the 
room thus given, will be well taken up. 
Plaster sown broadcast, or on the drill, 
in the first stages of growth, will, on many 
soils, more than repay the cost and trouble. 
It is as indispensable that the ground 
Should be kept well stirred and pulverized 
with the cultivator or hoe, during the time 
that the weeds strive for the mastery, as 
that the weeds themselves should be kept 
down. Even after the growth of weeds is 
checked, the more the ground is stirred and 
loosened, the better for the crop. 
They can stand in the ground till other 
fall work is out of the way, as a moderate 
freezing will not hurt them, and is even said 
by some to be beneficial. The leaves, with 
the exception of a few of the largest and best, 
may be taken from the roots for some weeks 
before harvesting, and fed to' advantage, as 
they are nutritious, and stock are fond of 
them. 
For topping and pulling the crop, an in¬ 
strument like a hoe, with prongs, fork shap¬ 
ed, running back from the blade, is the best 
