AM SE1 i IC AN AGrKIC UJLT UK1ST. 
ers have called into existence a class of 
journals that then had no representatives. 
The agricultural paper is a very recent idea 
not yet fully developed. The best of its 
class only foreshadows what is coming 
when the whole farming population appre¬ 
ciate their position as well as the pioneers, 
and when the farm journal becomes a ne¬ 
cessity in every farmer’s home. This day 
is hastening, and when it comes, may we be 
there to see the journal that shall fully rep¬ 
resent the intelligence, thrift, wisdom and 
wealth of the American farm. Such are our 
meditations, by the new fireside on this first 
day of the year of grace 1857. But other 
duties are pressing, and we must think of 
the comfort of those dumb creatures who 
are dependant upon us, as well as of our 
own. 
THE CATTLE 
demand our constant care, during this in¬ 
clement season, and their appearance is no 
bad index of the character of their owner. 
Does not a lean, half-starved, unsheltered 
cow convict her owner of inhumanity as 
clearly as ever stolen goods in possession, 
convicted a thief? An enlightened public 
now holds the farmer responsible for every 
starting rib and bristling hair. It is well fed 
stock alone that are profitable. 
“ Now farmers to your helpless charge be kind, 
Baffle the raging year and fill their pens 
With food at will; lodge them below the storm, 
But watch them strict; for from the bellowing East, 
In this dire season, oft the whirl-wind’s wing 
Sweeps up the burden of whole wintry plains 
At one wide waft, and o’er the hapless flock, 
Hid in the hollow of two neighboring hills, 
The billowy tempest whelms; till upward urged 
The valley to a shining mountain swells, 
Tipt with a wreath high curling m the sky.” 
Keep the cattle stabled, and there will be 
no danger from tempests and snow banks. 
Cattle buried alive should only be known in 
poetry. 
FUEL. 
Now is the time to lay in your stock of 
this indispensible article. You have not as 
extensive woodlands as your fathers, to cull 
from, and you have not an open fire place 
eight feet wide to fill. But the small stock, 
that is needed for cooking and for the parlor 
fire, should be well seasoned. There is great 
waste in burning greenwood, as well as sore 
trials to the patience of the whole family. The 
swamps are now frozen and the maple can 
be cut and drawn home. See that the wood- 
house is well stored, while the weather fa¬ 
vors sledding and carting. 
TOOLS. 
Look over the tool room and see what is 
broken, and what new tool is wanting. It 
will be a loss of time to have to send for it 
in the hurry of spring work. You must have 
some new tools, or fall behind your neigh¬ 
bors. There is a mowing machine able and 
ready to do the work of ten men. Is it econ¬ 
omy for you to do without it ? There is a 
horse hoeing machine, that supercedes the 
hand hoe. Why not get it ? There is a 
horse potato digger, that will turn out pota¬ 
toes as fast as ten tnen can pick them up. 
Why should you dig with the hoe ? There 
is a corn husker that will do the work of 
four men- Have you got it The farm 
moves on a brisk jog, and if you do not keep 
a sharp look out on the tool room, you will 
be left in the rear. 
TRIMMING ORCHARDS. 
This may be done in mild weather, if it was 
omitted in November. Thin out the cross 
limbs, and cut out the dead wood. If the 
trees are mossy wash with strong soap suds. 
If they are not thrifty, put manure under 
them now, and give them a fresh start, Well 
fed trees alone are profitable. 
TRIM GRAPE VINES. 
This is too apt to be neglected until Feb¬ 
ruary or M^irch, when the sap has begun to 
start. If the vines are cut now, the wound 
will sere over, and no sap will be lost. 
CUT BEAN POLES AND PEA BRUSH. 
Both will keep much better if cut now, 
than when the sap is starting in the spring. 
The cedar swamps are now accessible, and 
a good stock may be laid in. Cedar poles 
are much more durable, than birch and alder. 
All the articles, that will be needed for the 
garden in the spring, should be provided 
now. 
PLANS FOR 1857. 
It is a matter of great importance to the 
farmer, that he should lay out the work of 
the season beforehand, and now is the time 
to do it. We need much more thorough 
system in our farming operations. Deter¬ 
mine upon the fields you will cultivate, and 
what shall be allotted to oats, corn, rye, 
wheat, buckwheat, potatoes, and other root 
crops; what walls shall be reset, and what 
ditches shall be dug; and how much labor 
will be needed to accomplish the work. Leave 
nothing to be decided upon in haste. A 
great deal of time and mental labor will be 
saved, by making your plans deliberately at 
the beginning of the year. If there are 
doubtful matters, consult the best farmer in 
your neighborhood, and give his opinion due 
weight in your decision. A neighbor’s ex¬ 
perience will often save a useless expendi¬ 
ture of money and labor. 
When your plans are laid, carry them out, 
month by month, and week by week, until 
the year is completed. If you need capital 
for your legitimate business, hire it. You 
can as well afford to pay interest for this 
purpose as any other business man. Turn 
not aside to speculation in anything that yor 
do not understand. Glory in the farm, and 
live by it. With these suggestions, we wish 
all our readers a Happy New Year. 
ASHES AS MANURE. 
For certain kinds of soil no manurial ap¬ 
plication is more valuable than wood ashes. 
Theoretical chemists tell us that ashes fur¬ 
nish elements essential to the constitution 
of plants, and that they are most effective on 
soils deficient in the particular elements 
usually contained in ashes. Without dis¬ 
cussing this theory , or attempting to settle 
the mooted question whether any minera] 
elements are necessary to be supplied as 
specific nutriment to plants on soils gene¬ 
rally, we may refer to one point on which 
there is little or no dispute. All agree that 
decaying organic substances (animal or veg¬ 
etable) when undergoing decomposition, fur¬ 
nish valuable food or stimulant to growing 
plants. Now most soils, especially those 
subject to standing water, contain more or 
less vegetable matter, such as roots of 
grasses, &c., which have acquired a kind of 
asphatic or carbonaceous condition, and de 
composition has been arrested. An alkali— 
caustic potash, lime, or magnesia—added to 
such a soil acts upon the vegetable matter, 
hastening its decay, and fitting it to nourish 
plants. Too much alkali added in a single 
season may decompose the organic matter 
faster than it is needed, and much of it wiR 
be lost, and thus needlessly impoverish the 
soil. This is the frequent result of over 
liming land. 
In very many cases soils are acid, (sour,) 
and on these the alkalies are valuable to 
neutralize the acids and sweeten them. 
Lime is much used, on account of its 
cheapness, but it is far less soluable than 
potash. Indeed, the carbonate of lime ii 
scarcely soluble at all, while carbonate of 
potash is very readily soluble. Lime acts 
more to harden a soil. For these reasons 
alone potash is much more valuable than 
lime to the farmer. 
The only cheap available source of pot¬ 
ash is unleached wood ashes. The ashes of 
oak wood have often yielded six, eight and 
ten per cent of potash, and those of beech 
wood nearly twice as much. In leaching 
ashes, it is principally this potash that is 
washed out, and on this account leached 
ashes are of small value to cold, damp, sour 
land. 
For dry, warm, sandy soils, the ashes are 
not, as a general thing, beneficial ; but on 
peat, or muck swamps, or clay lands, and on 
wet loams, they are almost invaluable. No 
farmer should sell his ashes at anything like 
the usual price obtained for them. Good 
ashes are cheaper to use upon the soil af 
twenty-five cents per bushel, than slaked 
lime at half the price. 
Coal ashes have also a higher value than 
is usually attached to them. Several care¬ 
ful analyses of the bituminous coal ashes 
have shown H to 3 per cent of potash : 
while all hard coals yield a small per cent- 
age. Besides this, most families burning 
hard coal use more or less wood, or wood- 
( coal, in kindling fires, which furnish addi¬ 
tional potash. From several analyses of 
hard-coal ashes and cinders, as well as from 
many experiments upon soils, we think no 
one having the smallest plot of land should 
throw away coal ashes. Let them be saved 
carefully, and added to the soil, putting them 
especially upon the coldest, wettest portions 
—Ed. 
TWO WAYS TQ~M0KTHE OYSTER PLANT. 
1st. Scrape the surface of the roots as 
you would parsnips ; boil till done ; then 
mash them, and add an egg and some rolled 
soda cracker. Make up into cakes, and fry 
in butter. Serve up while hot.— Edit-t-css. 
2nd. Scrape the roots well, and cut them 
into thin slices; boil in one part milk ana 
two parts water, until soft, and mash welt; 
stir in flour enough to make them as thick 
as dough, and fry in butter.— EmT-or. 
