242 
AMERICAN AGRICULTURIST. 
enriched, and limed. Make the soil very 
mellow. An acre of good wheat will sup¬ 
ply an ordinary farmer’s family. The win¬ 
ter blue-stem, and the Mediterranean are 
good varieties. 
SAVING GRASS SEED. 
A farmer should pay special attention to 
this matter. If it grows under his own eye 
he can assure himself that it is free from 
white weed, daisy, and other foul seeds. 
Seeds of weeds, invisible to the eye, are often 
purchased from the distant city, and a curse 
is entailed upon the soil for generations. 
Grow your own seed, and keep your fields 
clean. It is not a difficult matter to save all 
the clover seed wanted upon a common 
sized farm, even without a machine. It 
may be taken from the second growth of 
clover, cleaned and threshed like other grass 
seed. Herds grass also is easily saved. 
Every dollar, saved in this way, will tell 
upon the right side of his balance sheet at 
the close of the year. 
SAVE THE GARDEN SEEDS. 
These are often overlooked in the hurry 
of field duties. Carrots, parsnips, turnips, 
ruta bagas, cabbage, &c., mature early and 
need attention as soon as they are ripe. 
•Attend to them at the right time, and as 
soon as they are sufficiently dry, shell, pack, 
and label them for use, in the spring of 
1857. The gardener must take time by the 
fore-lock. 
RUTA BAGAS 
need frequent hoeing and a little top dres¬ 
sing of ashes or superphosphate of lime. 
They will pay forthe extra attention. 
BUDDING 
is attended to this month. It is a very sim¬ 
ple operation and a few buds put in every 
year will soon change the aspect of the fruit 
•yard. Remember a few of the good resolu¬ 
tions made last fall at the Fair, when those 
splendid prize fruits were before you, visit 
your neighbor’s for buds, and do up the 
work. Immediately after a rain when the 
sap flows freely is the best time for budding. 
DITCHING AND SWAMP MUD. 
Now is the time to kill two birds with 
one stone, reclaim a piece of waste land, and 
lay in a good stock of absorbents for the ma¬ 
nure yard and stables. The sun has been 
doing a great work for you in pumping out 
the water. The work can be done to ad¬ 
vantage. There is scarcely a farm that 
has not its swamp or low land that needs 
drainage, and with drainage it may be made 
the best of land. It is now covered with 
brush and weeds perhaps, and not worth five 
dollars an acre. If by expending fifty dol¬ 
lars an acre you can make it worth a hundred 
for cultivation, it will prove a better invest¬ 
ment, than any bank stock. We have before 
us as we write a peat swamp, now covered 
with a heavy growth of Indian corn and po¬ 
tatoes. Last April, it was covered with brush 
and weeds, and not worth for pasturage, five 
dollars an acre. It was purchased with an 
adjoining lot of upland for less than fifty 
dollars an acre as the average price of the 
two lots. The brush was immediately cut, 
a ditch run through the middle, and plowed, 
harrowed, and planted. The clearing was 
a laborious job but the crop from present 
appearances will pay the expenses of re¬ 
claiming, and a piece of waste land will be 
converted into a beautiful meadow, yielding 
for years, two or three tons of hay to the 
acre. That peat land now probably could 
not be bought for one hundred dollars an 
acre. By all means dig the muck, whether 
you reclaim the land or not. All your 
gravelly and sandy loams are hungering for 
this carbonaceous matter.— [Ed. 
CALENDAR OF OPERATIONS. 
AUGUST 1856. 
[We give from month to month, besides our leading 
article, “Work forthe Month,” a Calendar of some of the 
more important operations in the field, garden, &c. 
These are adapted to the latitudes of 41® to 42°. A little 
allowance must be made for eachdegree of latitude—later 
north, earlier south. An early season, or a late one 
advances or retards operations, so that we shall 
need to revise and adapt these tables to each year. 
The letters f. m. 1. refer to Jirst, middle, and last of the 
month. 
Doubling the letters thus: ff., mm., or 11., gives emphasis 
to the particular period indicated.] 
THE FIELD. 
Cabbages—as a field crop may still be 
planted out IT. among potatoes and elsewhere. 
Draining wet soils may be done during 
the leisure of the latter part of this month. 
Manure—attend to f. m. 1., see that the 
hogs are well supplied with peat, mold, turf, 
weeds, &c., throwing in a littte corn to in¬ 
duce rooting. Clean out their yards occa¬ 
sionally, adding a little refuse salt to 
improve the manure. One bushel salt 
to the cord may safely be applied. Do not 
permit the contents of the barn yard to be 
washed into the street. Manure should all 
be kept covered, but if it is in the yard and 
washed by the rain, conduct the liquid to a 
pit filled with peat, weeds, leaves, &c., to 
absorb it. 
Potatoes—dig early ones ff., and if the 
ground is. not already set out to cabbages, it 
may still be done or turnips may be planted 
on it. 
Thistles—may be partially destroyed by 
cutting off an inch or two above the ground, 
the rains will fill the hollow stalks inducing 
decay. 
Timber—cut during this month. Posts, 
house timber, rails, &c„ cut this month, 
will last much longer than cut in the winter. 
A correspondent says, he has sound oak 
rails cut and split in August, 1808, while 
those cut in winter only last 10 or 12 years. 
Turnips—sow ff. to m. if not already done. 
Ground which has produced a crop of early 
potatoes, may now be used for turnips. 
Weeds—gather and' carry to the hog pen. 
Those which have gone to seed should be 
burned. 
KITCHEN AND FRUIT GARDEN. 
Artichokes—dig as wanted, breaking down 
the stems to encourage offsets. 
Asparagus—keep free from weeds. 
Borage—for winter use and to stand out, 
sow m. to 1. 
Brocoli—plant out ff. 
Cabbage—plant out ff. using vacant spots, 
and ground cleared from early vegetables. 
Sow f. to m. foruollards and for cold frames 
to be kept for early spring planting. 
Cardoons—earth up f. m. 1. 
Cauliflower—plant out ff. for late. 
Celery—earth up the early; plant out 
for late. 
Corn—salad or Feticus sow 11. 
Cucumbers—plant ff. for pickles if not 
done. 
Currant Bushes—Cut out old wood after 
the fruit is gathered. 
Endive—transplant and blanch early. 
Fruit—thin where necessary, and sup¬ 
port weak branches. 
Herbs—balm, mint, sage, &c., gather and 
dry. 
HOE OFTEN—especially in dry weather 
both to destroy weeds and induce moisture. 
Hops—gather in dry weather. 
Insects—look after, hang up bottles to 
trap moths, wasps, beetles, &c. See arti¬ 
cle on Codling moth. 
Lettuce—sow f. m. 1. for succession and 
for autumn. 
Mushrooms—make beds, f. to m. 
Onions—gather and dry early plantings ; 
sow for seed onions in the spring, ff. 
Peas—may still be sown ff; early plant¬ 
ings which are now ripe may be re-sown 
producing two crops. 
Potatoes—dig early ones ff., using the 
ground for late crops. 
Radishes—sow f. m. 1. among other crops. 
Raspberries—Cut out old canes which 
have now ripened their crop. 
Seeds—gather as ripe. 
Spinach—sow 11. to stand out. 
Strawberry beds—make and plant f. to m. 
See article elsewhere. 
Tomatoes may still be planted out ff. for 
late use. Stake up former plantings or 
spread brush to run on. See article else¬ 
where. 
Turnips—sow ff. on vacant ground, and 
among early crops. 
Vines, climbers, &c., train a requisite 
number of well situated shoots for next 
year’s bearing. 
Weeding and watering, attend to ff. mm. 11. 
FLOWER GARDEN AND LAWN. 
Anemones—sow f. to m. 
Annuals—Mignionette and a few other 
quick growing kinds may still be sown ; thin 
and transplant others, watering freely. 
Borders—prepare and sow clarkia, core¬ 
opsis, escholtzia, &c., m. to 1. for planting 
out in the spring. 
Box edgings and hedges may still be clip¬ 
ped ff. m., cloudy or damp weather. 
Carnations, Pinks, Picotees and Pansies, 
may still be layered, f.: former layers which 
have become established may be removed 
and planted out. 
Chrysanthemums—Layer f. to m. 
Dahlias—cut away weak shoots, and sup¬ 
port by stakes; mulch and water, if fine 
flowers are wanted. 
Daisies—propagate f. to m. 
Evergreens—may be transplanted m. to 11. 
in damp weather. 
Flower stalks—cut away as they finish 
blooming. 
Gladiolas—stake up as they require. 
Grass—mow and roll often, seed may be 
sown on bare spots 1. 
