AMERICAN 
Dtsipth to imfroljo all Classes iutmsteir ia Soil Cttlhin. 
AGRICULTURE IS THE MOST HEALTHFUL, THE MOST USEFUL, AND THE MOST NOBLE EMPLOYMENT OF MAN —WASHINGTON 
ORANGE JUDD, A. M•, 
EDITOR AND PROPRIETOR. 
( $1.00 PER ANNUM, IN ADVANCE. 
1 SINGLE NUMBERS 10 CENTS. 
VOL. XVI.—No. 4.] 
NEW-YORK, APRIL, 1857. • [NEW series-No. 123. 
l^lr’Busiiiess OSfice at No. 191 Watcr-*st. 
jgpFor Contents, Terms, <fcc. see page 96. 
igpNotes to Correspondents, pages 90-2. 
dPFor Business Notices, see page 92. 
I'TijpFor Advertisements, see pages 93-5. 
WORK EOR THE MONTH. 
‘ I am resolved, this charming day, 
In the open field to stray, 
And have no roof above my head 
But that whereon the gods do tread. 
Before the yellow barn I see 
A beautiful variety 
Of strutting cocks, advancing stout, 
And flirting empty chaff about; 
Hens, ducks, and geese, and all their brood, 
And turkeys gobbling for their food, 
While rustics thresh the wealthy floor, 
And tempt them all to crowd the door.” 
Dyer’s Granger Hill. 
The poet has drawn a vivid picture of he 
scenes about the farm house, as this month 
opens upon it. It is in this month, that the 
advancing season begins to be in earnest, 
and to give unmistakable indications of 
growth. In March, there were fitful gleams 
of sunshine and warmth, followed by wintry 
winds, and cold storms. Then the russet- 
brown of the autumn fields were disclosed, 
and again they were robed in snow. But 
now the sunshine is in the ascendant, and 
there is a warmth in the April showers to 
q«*cken vegetation. The icicles no longer 
form from the dripping eaves, and the frosts 
hat occasionally whiten the springing grass 
do not stiffen the sod. Seeds put in the 
earth no longer lie dormant. All the veget¬ 
able tribes are preparing to reproduce their 
kind. It is also yearning time among all 
domestic animals, that are under the super¬ 
vision of the wise husbandman. Their re¬ 
production is more immediately under his 
control, and he so forestalls the event, that 
the young of his flocks shall come forth 
when the tender grass is first ready for their 
cropping. Now he reaps the reward for all 
bis care during the long and dreary winter. 
The cows are in good flesh, their glossy 
well combed hair shines in the morning sun, 
and their calves are strong and healthy. 
They furnish abundant milk, and the veal is 
both heavier, and of better quality. The 
butcher pays an extra price for such calves, 
and it is with difficulty the farmer can keep 
his best heifers for raising. The flock of 
sheep is now suddenly augmented by a 
large increase. It is sometimes doubled 
during this month, and the young lambs, 
scattered over the meadow with their moth¬ 
ers, form one of the most beautiful scenes in 
the country, Childhood is delighted with 
theii’ gambols; with their bleatings, and 
above all with the maternal solicitude and 
running, and calling of the old sheep—It is 
so like home. 
The plans of the farmer are now all made, 
and his in-door work finished. There is no 
longer time for fireside musing. The weath¬ 
er invites him forth to the care of his flocks 
and herds, to the plowing, and planting of 
his fields. He enjoys the sunlight even 
more than the fireside, and partakes of that 
life and activity which marks the opening 
Spring, No spot, about the farm house, is 
more bustling than the 
POULTRY YARD. 
It is a goodly sight to see the proud gait 
of the cocks, and their obsequious coquet- 
ings with the pullets blushing to their comb 
tips, with the attentions of chanticleer. The 
ducks multiply their obstreperous qwacking, 
and go prying into all sly corners for places 
to deposit their eggs. Their plumage is 
never more beautiful and glossy than in the 
laying season. The geese are finishing 
their litters early in the month, and will soon 
be forth upon the pond with their miniature 
flocks. What hissing then of ganders, and 
shaking of ruffled feathers and wings, as if 
ten tigers were concentrated in the person 
of the protector of that little group of web- 
feet. There is something charming in the 
ferocious dignity of a goose, when he ar¬ 
rives at paternal honors. Thoughtless pood¬ 
les, and presuming roosters must stand aside, 
or take the consequences. The turkeys de¬ 
mand wider range, and you will find them 
remote from the farm house, on some sun¬ 
ny hill side, or under the lee of the woods. 
Here the gobblers strut in lordly plumage, 
every feather doing its utmost to express 
their dignity. For a whole morning you 
will see them expanding their fan feathers 
to their fullest dimensions, and thrusting 
their wings hard upon the ground, and run¬ 
ning back and forth among their companions. 
No department of farming is more care¬ 
lessly conducted, than the management of 
poultry. Because they are small in com¬ 
parison with neat stock, and require but 
small capital, and little time to care for 
them, their importance is too generally over¬ 
looked. Farmers are so accustomed to 
have too little labor for the work to be done 
in the field, that they grudge every moment 
of time devoted to the small business of 
caring for the feathered tribes. But from 
our experience of many years, we are per¬ 
suaded that nothing, if we except bees, pays 
a larger interest upon the capital invested 
than poultry raising. We kept strict ac¬ 
count of flocks of hens for several years 
varying from thirty to fifty, charging all 
they ate, and crediting all they yielded in 
chickens and eggs. The annual cost of 
keeping never varied much from a dollar for 
each fowl, and the annual profit was a dol¬ 
lar and upwards. We have never kept ac¬ 
counts with our water fowls, but from the 
fact that geese and ducks wilt draw much 
of their food from muddy streams, and 
creeks, for a large part of the year, without 
cost, we think they will pay about as well 
as hens. Turkeys, where they can have 
woodlands and pastures to range in, also 
pay largely. We know of many farmers, 
who sell their turkey crop for two hundred 
dollars annually. This bird is in such great 
demand now, that it is quite impossible to 
overstock the market, with a prime article. 
Farmers in Connecticut have in many in¬ 
stances disposed of their whole flocks at 
sixteen cents a pound to speculators, who 
have carried them to the Providence and 
Boston markets, and realized a handsome 
profit upon them. Were the raising of poul¬ 
try to receive that attention Which its im¬ 
portance demands, it would become a very 
considerable item in our national wealth. If 
there are three millions of families in the 
country that keep hens and each flock 
averages ten, we have thirty millions of 
fowls. Reckoning twelve dozen eggs to 
each bird we have three hundred and sixty 
millions of dozens ofeggs. The eggs, at six 
teen and two-thirds cents a dozen, are worth 
sixty millions of dollars. As most families 
are situated in the country, and even in the 
villages, a few fowls may be kept without 
much expense or labor. They occupy those 
leisure moments of our time, and appropri¬ 
ate those wastes of the kitchen, that would 
otherwise be lost. More of this sixty mil¬ 
lions is clear profit, than almost any other 
product of the farm. It is not yet too late 
to increase the stock of hens. The tenth 
of April is the orthodox time in New-Eng- 
land for setting hens, that they may come 
off the first week in May, when the weathi i 
is mild enough for the chickens to live. 
SPARE THE CALVES. 
The demand of the butcher upon the veals 
is altogether too indiscriminate. So few of 
them escape the knife, that all kinds of cat¬ 
tle are extravagantly high. First rate cows 
are selling readily for sixty dollars and up¬ 
wards, and oxen for more than twice that 
sum. Beeves are very high and are drawn 
from a long distance, to supply the de¬ 
mands of our city markets. There can 
