162 
AMERICAN AGRICULTURIST. 
[Mat, 
Contents for May, 1876. 
Agricultural Hall at the Centennial Exhibition. Il¬ 
lustrated .161 
Among the Farmers—No. 4.174 
Asparagus Bunches aiul Bunching_ 6 Illustrations. .172 
Barefoot or Shod. 179 
Bee Notes for May.3 Illustrations. .170 
Boys and Girls’ Columns—Dog Story Prize—Old and 
New Puzzle Pictures—What is Done with Goose 
Quills—Doctor’s Talks About Raising Plants—Aunt 
Sue’s Chats — Aunt Sue’s Puzzle Box — Robbie’s 
Dream—May Day.14 Illustrations.. 185-1S8 
Butter Package, Convenient.3 Illustrations. 176 
Catalogues Received. 194 
Coral Plant, Our Native. Illustrated.. 180 
Cow Peas, Southern. 172 
Evergreens, Transplanting.179 
Farmers’ Prospects. 179 
Forest-tree Planting—Fourth Article.171 
Flower Garden and Lawn for May.163 
Fruit Dealers.179 
Fruit Garden for May.163 
Gardening as a Business.182 
Greenhouse and Window Plants.for May.164 
Hay Spout for Horse Stables. Illustrated.. 176 
Hints and Helps for Farmers.12 Illustrations. .176 
Household Department—Apportioning our Time— 
How to Make a Mud Mat—Flour and Bread Closet- 
Pure Drinking Water—Horse-Radish Sauce—Fly 
Specks—Varnish for Books, etc.3 Illustrations. .1SS-1S5 
House Plan.. 5 Illustrations.. 168 
How Flowers are Fertilized .7 Illustrations. ASH 
Kitchen Garden for May.163 
Market Report for May.164 
New York Horticultural Association.167 
Ogden Farm Papers, No. 75.16S 
Orchard and Nursery for May. 163 
Packing Eggs. Illustrated.. 178 
Perennial Candytufts. Illustrated .. 1S1 
Rape Seed in Wisconsin.179 
Roads, Country.6 Illustrations.. 175 
Rysdyk’s Hambletonian.17S 
Science Applied to Farming.170 
Seeds, New and Wonderful .167 
Sheep Shearing in California... Illustrated.. 180 
Sheep Washing .2 Illustrations. .173 
Timber Splice, Japanese.2 Illustrations.. 178 
Transportation of Cattle by Sea.5 Illustrations .177 
Tree Planting in the Older States.183 
Work, Hints About.162 
INDEX TO “BASKET,” 
Artificial Fertilizers.171 
Botany at Harvard Uni¬ 
versity ... .195 
Brown Leghorns forEggsl(12 
Catarrh in Sheep...195 
Cattle Foods.166 
Cattle, How often to Feedl94 
Cattle Troughs. Hight of.162 
Corn in Virginia, Cost of 
Growing.195 
Corn, Manuring.195 
Cows, Family . ...195 
Cranberry Growers’ Asso¬ 
ciation, N. J.194 
Crude Petroleum for 
Paint.195 
Farm Property, Insur¬ 
ance of.195 
Fish Guano with Super¬ 
phosphate, Mixing... .195 
Good Help. How to Get..193 
Grape, Main.193 
Hen Stops Laying, Why..193 
Hog Cholera, Cure for.. .195, 
“Hooks” in a Cow’s j 
Eyes.194 j 
Jersey Cows in Iowa.195, 
Kerosene for Lice.195 
“ League ” of Land,What I 
OR SHORTER ARTICLES. 
is a.193 
Lily of the Valley...195 
Lime, Oyster Shell.166 
Manure, to Get the Most 
Out of..194 
Manure, Value of Livery 
Stable.193 
Milk, Cause of Bitter... .195 
Milk, Watering.195 
Night Soil for a Fertil¬ 
izer.195 
Night Soil, Value of.193 
Periods of Gestation and 
Incubation.195 
Potato Fertilizer.195 
Potatoes and the Moon. .166 
Poultry Houses, White¬ 
wash for.195 
Rye, How to Feed.195 
Salt, Value of Refuse.... 195 
Self-Sucking Cow, to 
Cure.194 
Sundry Humbugs.166 
Sweet Potatoes.195 
The Doctor to the Young¬ 
sters.165 
Trees, Mutilating.195 
Wood Ashes, Use for.... 193 
Yellow Fat in a Hog.193 
Higdht of Caltle Trosag'Iis. —“J. A. B.,” 
Mitchell, Ind. When cattle are kept in stanchions they 
do not need raised troughs. A board fixed upon the 
floor, about eighteen inches from the stanchion, to pre¬ 
vent the feed from being scattered, is all that is necessary. 
When kept in this way four feet is enough room for each 
animal, and the feed-way should be about six 'feet wide, 
including the spaces occupied by the feed floors or troughs. 
Brown BiCgSiorns for ESg'g’*.—Evan 
Lewis, Scarlet’s Mill, Pa., sends a statement of the pro¬ 
duction of eggs by six B. Leghorn pullets, as follows: 
January, 102; February, 102 ; March, 132. This accords 
with the general testimony as to the prolificacy of this 
popular breed of fowls. 
The Wavy ISeam.—“ T.M.,” Edisto Island, 
S. C. (?). The so called navy bean is a small variety of 
the white field bean grown in the northern states. To 
succeed as a field crop in the south, it should be sown 
early, or as soon as the frosts arc over. 
Calendar for May. 
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MOON. 
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11 5S 29th 
AMERICAN AGRICULTURIST. 
NEW YORK, MAY, 1876. 
The most important work of the present month 
in the northern part of the country from east to 
west is the planting of the corn crop. This work 
generally occupies nearly the whole of the month, 
and not only is the labor involved therein of the 
greatest interest, but the crop, being the most valu¬ 
able of any one we produce, is worthy the greatest 
consideration. How to increase the yield of our 
great staple may well be the study of every farmer 
in the country. There is little danger of growing 
too large a crop. Corn not only furnishes bread to 
a large portion of the population, but other ac¬ 
ceptable and useful articles of food to many more ; 
it is the basis of our pork, lard, and bacon produc¬ 
tion ; it helps to grow and fatten much of our 
beef; it aids in producing a large portion of our 
mutton and wool; it is the material for most of the 
starch that is made ; it supplies most of the alcohol 
that is used in the arts, as well as a large share of 
that which is wasted—or worse than that—as a 
beverage ; it is made to yield a fair syrup and much 
gum that is used in various art processes, and ail of 
the uses to which it is or may be put are increasing 
year by year in extent and number. The more we 
can raise per acre, the cheaper it can he produced, 
the more extended will be its uses. To raise larger 
crops then, upon less ground and at less expense 
than heretofore, will add to the profit, and to this 
end the skill and energy of the farmer should be 
closely devoted. 
Mints altout Work. 
Plowing for Com—There is no better ground for 
corn than a well top-dressed sod. The nearer the 
plowing of this can be brought to the time of plant¬ 
ing the better. The seed quickly germinates in 
the moist fresh soil; the cut worms are busy upon 
the grass roots and let the corn alone, and the 
weeds do not start until the corn has had time to 
get a good growth and shoot ahead of them. The 
quick growth is greatly helped by some active fer¬ 
tilizer sown on the surface and harrowed in lightly. 
Selection of Seed .—It is important that good seed 
be used. If the best ears have not been selected 
at husking, or at harvest time from stalks bearing 
two ears, it would be better to pay a high price for 
good seed to those who have been more careful, 
than to take the seed from the corn crib. It is only 
by carefully selecting the seed for years in suc¬ 
cession, that we can improve our preseut varieties. 
Planting Corn .—With the excellent implements 
we now have for cultivating this crop, there is no 
need to plant in squares or hills and so waste 
ground. Witli rows from 3 to 4 feet apart, the seed 
may be dropped singly 6 inches to a foot apart. We 
can have then in the first case 29,000 plants of the 
small kinds, and nearly 15,000 of the large kinds to 
an acre. With one good ear to a stalk, the crop 
would he equal to from 140 to 150 bushels of shelled 
corn per acre. Why cannot every stalk in a com 
field be made to produce a single ear as well as a 
portion only, when room enough is given ? This is 
what we have yet to learn in the way of growing 
corn. 
“A good Start" is a great help in doing anything, 
but most especially in growing crops. To thor¬ 
oughly harrow the ground before sowiug, to sow 
the seed while the soil is fresh, and to use some ac¬ 
tive fertilizer near the seed, but not in contact with 
it, will give any crop a good start. The common 
mixture of poultry droppings, wood ashes, and 
plaster, in equal parts, makes an excellent fertili¬ 
zer. If mixed while dry, or immediately before 
using it, no ammonia from the droppings is lost. 
Live Stock .—To keep the farm animals in good 
condition just now when the fresh feed is coming 
in, requires judgment and watchfulness. A sud¬ 
den change of feed is generally hurtful. When an 
animal is found to be ailing, it may be taken for 
granted that something is wrong with its food or 
management, and these should be at once looked 
to for the cause, and the mischief averted. It will 
be well not to turn the stock out until they have 
been fed upon their usual fodder, and accustom, 
them to green food gradually. 
Horses .—The use of three-horse teams is often a 
great saving of labor. Three horses with a double 
furrow plow, or a wide harrow, will ofteu do as 
much as two two-horse teams separately, and save 
the wages of one man. 
Double Furrow Plows are great labor savers, and 
are now made with seats for riding, so that “ fol¬ 
lowing the plow 75 from morn to night maybe a- 
voided. They may be used upon any smooth ground 
that is free from large stones, and no good farmer 
should have his fields so encumbered with stoues 
that he can not use such a plow. 
Young Stock should be kept growing from their 
birth. The science of feediug is becoming much 
better understood than it has been, and the mixing 
of different kinds to make the food more palatable 
and nutritious should he a matter of close study. 
Food is the raw material from which we make flesh,, 
milk, and wool, and much may be saved by using 
this material in the most profitable manner. The 
mother’s milk is the best food for young animals, 
but to this some additional food may be added by¬ 
degrees, so soon as the digestive powers are capable 
of assimilating it. 
Sheep Shearing .—The value of the fleece is in¬ 
creased by care in shearing. All filthy tag locks 
should be taken off before the sheep is shorn and 
thrown into a basket by themselves. Never roll 
these up in the fleece. If any cuts are made upon 
the skin of the sheep, rub a little pine tar upon 
them. After shearing, guard against cold rain 
storms. Much trouble in tagging the sheep will be 
saved if they are kept from the fresh grass or clo¬ 
ver after they are washed, and fed hay until sheared. 
Milch Cows .—There is often disappointment caused 
by a falling off in milk when cows are turned upon 
the new grass and other feed stoppecl. The young 
grass is deficient in nutriment and too watery. A 
good feed of cut hay and mixed bran and meal 
given once a day vvil l avoid this. 
Foots .—Mangels are undoubtedly the best root, 
crop for our climate. Upon good soil, aud when 
well cultivated, thirty tons per acre may be grown 
easily. The earlier this month the seed is sown the 
better, but it is not worth while to grow a poor 
crop upon poor land. Sown in drills 3 feet apart, 4 
lbs. of seed are required for an acre. When well 
up, tliiu out to 13 inches apart iu the rows. Lane's. 
