290 
AMERICAN AGRICULTURIST. 
the purpose. To save labor and bruising, 
they should be assorted and packed under 
the tree, as fast as they are picked. There 
should be a little straw or leaves in the 
bottom of the barrel, and each apple should 
be handled as carefully as if it were an egg. 
The skin is a more perfect “ self sealed can ” 
for the preservation of the fruit than man 
can construct, and if this be kept unbroken 
m a suitable temperature there will be no 
decay. A bruise not only mars the skin 
and gives the atmosphere access to the 
flesh but it crushes the little cells under the 
skin, and the process of fermentation and 
decay, at once begins. The largest, fairest 
apples should be put in separate barrels and 
sold for an extra price. Another grade 
should be selected for cooking and for im¬ 
mediate use, and the remainder should go to 
the press. 
MAKING CIDER. 
The stiffest of teetotalers can not object to 
cider boiled down for the good old dish of 
apple butter, or to cider carried through the 
acetous fermentation for vinegar. Ten 
gallons of dirty stuff compounded of villain¬ 
ous drugs, are used to one gallon of vinegar 
made from pure cider. We have tried va¬ 
rious substitutes, but have never found any 
thing so cheap and so good as the juice of 
the apple. Farmers, with apple orchards, 
have no apology for using any thing else for 
this purpose. The demand for vinegar is 
very large. 
COMPOST HEAPS. 
These should be attended to industriously. 
Those made in the summer months may 
now be forked over. Much of their value 
depends upon this overhauling and the fine¬ 
ness of the materials. 
SAVE THE LEAVES. 
The frosts have begun to do their work 
upon the foliage, and long wind-rows of 
leaves are piled under the shade trees by the 
wall. Let all these be carefully saved. 
They are excellent for hot beds in the 
spring, mixed with stable manure ; they are 
a good mulch for fruit trees, during the win¬ 
ter. Leaves also may be profitably gather¬ 
ed in the forest in large heaps to be brought 
home in winter upon the sled. They are 
good bedding for the cattle, and for the 
pigs. 
SEA WEED. 
The shore farmer will watch diligently 
for the fall storms and with every tide will 
gather the floating wreck of the sea. Much 
of it is swept back into the sea again, with¬ 
out this constant care. It is a very valuable 
addition to the fertilizers of the soil, and no 
cultivator who has the opportunity to gather 
these w r eeds should neglect to do so. 
TRANSPLANT TREES. 
Pears and apples, we think, do better 
when put out in the fall than in the spring. 
This month is the time to plant that long de¬ 
ferred orchard. Make thorough work with 
the holes or borders where you set the trees. 
Dig holes four or five feet in diameter, and 
at least two deep. Fill in with bones and 
compost so that the tree shall have a stock 
of food for years to come. Now is a good 
time to plant deciduous ornamental trees by 
the roadside. They greatly improve the ap¬ 
pearance of a farm house, and add to the 
market value of a farm. [See articles on 
those subjects in this number.] 
PRUINING TREES AND VINES 
may be attended to the latter part of the 
month. Young trees may be trained to al¬ 
most any shape by timely trimming. It is 
just as easy to form broad symmetrical 
heads, that will give ample room for the fruit, 
as to have narrow ill shaped ones, with inter 
lacing branches. In the fall the farmer has 
leisure to attend to these small things and 
to examine the condition of every tree. 
MANURE YOUR FRUIT TREES. 
Do this especially, if they are not vigor¬ 
ous and healthy. Stunted pear trees are 
often started by a generous mulch of stable 
manure in the fall. It keeps the roots warm 
during the winter, and a large amount of 
plant food leaches down to the roots. We 
have found nothing better than this for dwarf 
pear trees. They want an abundance of 
rich food in the fall. These trees fail more 
frequently from neglect than from any 
other cause. The quince roots are short 
and the food must be brought to them if you 
would see them vigorous and fruitful.— Ed. 
CALENDAR OF OPERATIONS. 
OCTOBER, 1856 . 
[We give from month to month, besides our leading 
article, “Work for the Month,” a Calendar of some of the 
more important operations in the field, garden, &c. 
These are adapted to the latitudes of 41® to 42a. a little 
allowance must be made for each degree 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 first, middle, and last of the 
month. 
Doubling the letters thus: ff., mm., or 11., gives emphasis 
to the particular period indicated.] 
FARM. 
Barn-yards—Keep a good supply of muck 
spread over them. If the manure is washed 
by the rains, see that the liquid is absorbed 
by straw, weeds, loam and muck, instead of 
running away by the road side. It is well 
to conduct it into a tank or cistern. 
Barns—Repair if needful, making them 
proof against the cold winds and drifting 
snows of next winter. 
Beets—Harvest those for stock before 
frosts, as they will not keep well after 
freezing. 
Beeves—Fatten early as it will require 
less food now than in cold weather. 
Buildings—Keep in good repair and well 
covered with white-wash or paint. The lat¬ 
ter part of this month is a better time for 
painting than during the warm weather of 
spring. 
Cellars—Keep clean and sweet, with 
plenty of ventilation during dry weather. 
Admit cool air freely, only keeping from 
freezing. 
Compost—Continue to collect leaves, 
peat, sea-weed,potato tops, fish, weeds &c., 
ff. mm. 11. 
Corn—Cut up and shock early, or before 
heavy frosts have injured the stalks for 
fodder. Gather the soundest for seed if not 
already done. See directions for last month 
and an article elsewhere in this number. 
Husk dry, house the “ butts ” as soon as 
may be, before the severe storms of autumn 
have deprived them of their sweetness. 
Harvesting his crop is one of the chief oper¬ 
ations of October. See that the cribs are 
well ventilated, rats and mice excluded. 
Cows—Supply those giving milk with ex¬ 
tra feed as the grass fails. Soiling crops, 
turnip tops, pumpkins, tomatoes &c., should 
be fed to them now. 
Draining wet soils—Continue f. m. 1., or 
until they are all reclaimed, and rendered! 
profitable for culture. 
Economy of the Farm—Fatten cattle early,- 
it will take less food. Have stock of all 
kinds in good flesh before cold weather; 
they will winter better at less cost and be 
more valuable in the spring. Feed out tur¬ 
nip and cabbage leaves rather than allow 
them to molder in heaps. Thresh grain and 
remove it from the reach of rats and mice. 
Make manures and compost upon the farm 
instead of paying a large amount for an im¬ 
ported article. Repair buildings, tools, 
wagons, harnesses &c., as needed, remem¬ 
bering that a “ stitch in time saves nine.” 
Fences—Keep an eye to, both around your 
corn fields and winter grain. 
Fruit—See Orchard. 
Grain Stacks—Cart in and thresh if not 
already done ; save all the straw for feeding 
and bedding next winter, 
Hogs—See swine. 
Manures—Continue manufacturing both 
in the barn-yard and hog pen, ff. mm. 11. 
Muck—Get out a good supply for fall and 
winter use leaving large heaps near the hog¬ 
pens and stables, each load of which if prop¬ 
erly used will give the same amount of good 
manure in the spring. 
Night Soil—Manufacture No. 1 Poudrette, 
by mixing muck, or the bottoms of charcoal 
pits with the contents of the privy. 
Potatoes—Dig in dry weather and store 
them in the cellar with as little exposure to 
the sun as possible. 
Pumpkins for late keeping—Expose to air 
and wind in a dry place, but not so late as to 
freeze them. 
Swine—Fatten early with cooked food,, 
using corn, pumpkins, tomatoes, apples, &c. 
Hogs will make the most and the best ma¬ 
nure while fattening. Keep their yards and 
pens well supplied with muck, straw, turf, 
loam, leaves, &c. It has been well remarked 
that hogs should pay for their trouble and 
much of their food while fattening by the 
manure they make during the time. 
Tools—Put away those not in use in their 
appropriate places under cover, repairing 
them if needed, as opportunity offers. 
Turnips—will increase in size during the 
whole of this month. They need not be 
harvested in this latitude before November. 
Keep free from weeds and the ground well 
stirred. 
Weeds—Continue to gather late ones and 
carry to the hog pen and manure heaps. 
Let no seeds fall upon the fields. 
Wheat and Rye—Keep cattle and especi¬ 
ally sheep from feeding it down, thus expos¬ 
ing the roots to the action of sun and frost. 
