194 
AMERICAN AGRICULTURIST. 
seed in this thin coat of sand, and have it 
take well. Swamps too soft for plowing 
may in this way be reclaimed. The gravel 
can be carted on in Winter, if at no other 
time, or, if the distance is not great, it may 
be wheeled on in barrows. The quantity of 
ground that a man will cover with a light 
dressing of sand in a day, is much greater 
than is generally supposed, and the results 
are frequently astonishing. 
W'e tried an experiment of this kind last 
Winter, taking the soil from a bank and 
wheeling it a few rods, and spreading it 
upon the adjacent swamp, which had been 
previously drained. In the month of March 
last, we sowed Herd’sgrass seed and clover 
upon the snow ; both took well, and we 
have now at this writing, in August, a fine 
crop of Herd'sgrass three feet high, appa¬ 
rently as stout and healthy as the same kind 
of grass upon upland. 
The change upon the knolls where muck 
is carted on and incorporated with the soil, 
is equally surprising. The grass no longer 
withers with the first drouth, but holds on 
green and luxuriant till it has attained its 
full growth. The yield is, in many cases, 
more than quadrupled. These exchanges of 
soil, we are fully persuaded, will pay on all 
farms where swamps and poor land abound. 
We shall greatly enlarge our own operations 
in this direction. 
BOASTING AND SINKING ROCKS. 
Much very rough land is now needed for 
tillage in the vicinity of our cities and vil¬ 
lages, that would not pay for clearing up 20 
or 30 years ago. The boulders that lie in 
the soil obstruct the plow and the mowing 
machine, and they must be removed. The 
smaller ones can sometimes be sunk more 
economically than they can be blown. Dig 
a deep hole at the side, large enough to hold 
the rock, and so deep that when the boulder 
is turned over the top of it will lie two or 
three feet below the surface. The digging 
loosens the soil, and answers the purpose of 
subsoiling very well. 
But if blasting is necessary, the process is 
not so difficult as to deter any intelligent la¬ 
borer from undertaking it. It is now, with 
the manufactured fuze, no more dangerous 
than many other operations upon the farm. 
It requires very little skill to bore a hole 
with a churn drill, and little knowledge of 
powder to confine it in the bottom of the 
hole, and to fire by means of the fuze. The 
boulder should be well dug around, two feet 
or more below the surface of the soil; so 
that the powder may exert all its force upon 
the rock, and throw open the seams. For 
large rocks, five or six feet through, the hole 
should be bored two or three feet. Holes 
of this depth should be rilled half or two- 
thirds full of powder Smaller rocks should 
have holes ten, twelve, fourteen, or more 
inches, deep, according to size., These 
should not have more than one-third 
of their depth filled with powder. Cut the 
fuze long enough to reach an inch into the 
powder in the hole, and to come out at the 
top two or three inches. Then put in a bit 
of paper or tow over the powder, pressing 
it down gently with the tamping bar. Fol¬ 
low this with pounded brick, driving it home 
with bar and hammer until the hole is full. 
Cover the rock with plank or timbers to 
keep the stones from flying, and set fire to 
the luze. Some use sand for confining the 
powder, but we have never yet found any¬ 
thing quite equal to brick, well driven in. 
Of course, if a farmer has capital, and 
men who make a business of blasting rocks 
are to be had, he will prefer to employ them. 
But no farmer should feel himself depend¬ 
ant upon a rock blower to get his rough 
boulders out of the way. He can do it him¬ 
self if he has sufficient intelligence to load 
and fire a common fowling-piece. Consider 
if it be not high time that some of the rocks 
you have plowed and mowed around for a 
score of years, had leave of absence. 
THE MANURE HEAPS 
must not be neglected at this season. Con¬ 
sider how you may preserve and increase 
them. Draw in the muck from the banks of 
your ditches, and coat your yards and sta¬ 
bles with it. Bring in the green weeds and 
swamp flags, and grass, to enlarge the stock 
of fertilizers. Remember that all decaying 
vegetable and animal matter makes manure. 
Gather up the fragments, that nothing be 
lost. 
NOT TOO LATE EOR TURNIPS. 
Let it be noted that the seed of several 
varieties of turnips may be sown after the 
1st of September, with a fair prospect for a 
good crop almost anywhere in the Dnited 
States, and in many parts of Canada. They 
will, of course, grow but small in the most 
northern sections, where early frosts are 
experienced in September. In this latitude, 
they may even be sown up to September 5th 
to 15th, while in Virginia, Kentucky, South¬ 
ern Illinois and Missouri, and in all places 
farther south than these States, they may 
be sown up to the 1st of October, and even 
later still in the extreme South. They will 
continue to grow until the ground freezes 
solid. In England, where the winters are 
milder than with us in this latitude, it is a 
very common practice to sow late, and leave 
the crop in the fields all winter to be eaten 
off by sheep and other stock. 
The varieties best adapted to late sowing 
here are the Strap-Leaf Red Top, the White 
Flat, and the Yellow Aberdeen, though the 
last named will be less likely to do well 
than the Red Top. 
Every one can find some vacant spots of 
tilled land at this season, which may as well 
be covered with turnips as weeds. A few 
I pennies or shillings worth of seed, hoed or 
harrowed, bushed, or better, drilled in, will, 
without farther trouble, be likely to produce 
a nice lot of succulent food to be fed with 
hay to milch cows, lambing ewes, and 
other stock during Winter and Spring. 
Those who look after such matters are the 
ones who make money in cultivating the 
soil. The above remarks apply not only to 
farmers, but also to every villager or citizen 
who keeps a cow, and has a garden. 
The thoughtless and impatient shut their 
eyes to danger, rather than labor to avert it. 
CALENDAR Of OPERATIONS. 
SEPTEMBER, 1857. 
[We note down a summary of various operations, 
many of them very common ones, it is true, but a simple 
catalogue like this will often suggest a piece of work that 
would otherwise be forgotten. The Calendar is adapted 
to the latitudes of 40° to 44°. A little allowance must be 
made for each degree of latitude—earlier north—later 
south. This table will be made out anew every month, 
and adapted to the season of each year. 
Explanations,— The letters, f. m. 1., refer to Jirst, mid¬ 
dle , and last of. the month. 
Doubling the letters thus : it., mm., or 11., gives emphasis 
to the particular period indicated."! 
FARM. 
Barn Yards—Absorb all liquids with a coating of muck 
spread over the whole. Renew it frequently, depositing 
the scrapings and cattle droppings in a heap under cover 
Buckwheat—Cut if. m. If left too long, much grain will 
be lost in harvesting. Cradle and bind, rather than mow 
it, and thresh as soon as it is carted in saving the straw 
for bedding. 
Bushes—Continue to “ grub ” or “ whip ” if. m. Clean 
out hedge rows and till the soil now worse than wasted. 
Cattle—Supply with the soiling crops, turnip and beet 
tops, cabbage trimmings, &c., as the pastures fail. A lit¬ 
tle sugar cane or corn stalks fed to milch cofvs will 
show good results in the quantity and quality of milk. 
Give full feed of grass and other green crops to fattening 
cattle, as flesh can be made much more rapidly now than 
during cold weather. Pumpkins and sugar beets may also 
be fed to good advantage. 
Cellars—Keep well ventilated and put them in Winter 
condition, m. 11., constructing potato and root bins, fruit 
shelves, &c. 
Clearing lands from stumps, stones and bushes, may 
properly pertain to the work of this month. Prepare as 
many acres as possible for using the mowing machine and 
horse rake upon. 
Corn—Select the earliest, most prolific, and best for seed, 
tracing up by a few husks and hanging in the loft or grana¬ 
ries. Cut and shock as soon as ripe, or upon the first se¬ 
vere frost. The grain will be heavier, and the fodder 
much better than when exposed uncut in the field to alter¬ 
nate storm and sun, frost and heat. 
Draining—Delay not this longer, but bring those swampy 
grounds.under cultivation, and make the best portion of 
the farm where only-flags and rushes now grow. Read 
the series of articles on this topic. 
Fences should now be in good repair both to save the 
corn and other crops, and to bring up young stock in cor¬ 
rect, quiet habits. 
Forests designed for tillage may be cutoff ff. Remove 
the large wood and burn as soon as fire will run among 
the brush, if a crop of Winter grain is to be put in the 
present season. 
F^owls—Keep their roosts dusted with plaster, and bar¬ 
rel the home-made guano for another season. Read di¬ 
rections for putting down eggs on another page. 
Grain—Look to stacks and thresh early, securing the 
grain from crows, rats and mice, &c. 
Granaries—Cleanse thoroughly and make vermin proof. 
Hogs—Commence early to fatten, and keep yards and 
pens well supplied with manure materials. 
Manure—Collect weeds, turf, loam, pond mud, sea¬ 
weed, fish, and all the muck it is possible to obtain, and 
make cattle, horses and hogs, convert them into a rich 
compost. One dollar’s worth of time or labor in collect¬ 
ing and making manures now, is better than spending 
double or four times the amount in purchasing a much 
less quantity next Spring. Give a good coaling to lands 
not yet sown to Winter grain. 
Muck—Dig and cart or pile up if. m. until the rains 
drive you from your. “ claim.” Store a large quantity 
under cover to use in the stables next winter. It will 
PAY. 
Pastures are now getting short, feed all the garden re¬ 
fuse and green crops to make good Ihe failing grass. 
Plow grounds for Wheat and Rye if., turning the soil 
a little deeper than formerly. Subsoil for these crops if 
possible. 
Potatoes—Dig as wanted for use; but the winter crop 
is generally better in the ground until cool weather. 
They may as well decay in the ground as out of it. 
Root crops are growing rapidly this month. Keep the 
ground well stirred with the cultivator, horse or hand 
hoe, and suffer no weeds to grow in the rows. 
Rye—Sow ff. m. if not done last month. 
Soiling Crops—Cut and feed as wanted if. m. Any re¬ 
maining should be harvested and cured while the v\ eather 
is still favorable for doing so. 
Stone Fences or Walls—Build these during the leisure 
of this month, to use up the stones and make a substantial 
fence at the same time. 
Sugar Cane—Continue to cut and feed ff. m. The main 
or sugar crop should be harvested as soon as the foliage is 
killctl by frost. See directions elsewhere. 
