4r2 
[February, 
AMERICAN AGRICULTURIST. 
Contents for February, 1875. 
Barnyard, The. Illustrated.. 
Bee Hive, Voices from. 4 Illustrations.. 
Blackberries in Indiana. . 
Boys and Girls Columns—How we Grow—Puzzle Pic¬ 
ture-Green Boys—Magic and Magicians—Aunt 
Sue’s Puzzle Box—Doctor’s Talks — A Boy Asks 
Questions—Valentine’s Morning — Nelly's Christmas 
Morning—Winter Birds.11 Illustrations.. 63- 
Carts, Tumbler.2 Illustrations.. 
Cotton Seed as a Fertilizer . 
Emasculation by Torsion.2 Illustrations.. 
Evergreen Trees from Cuttings. 
Experiment Stations . 
Farmers’ Convention, Conn. 
Farming Without Manure. 
Flower Garden and Lawn in February. 
Fruit Garden in February. 
Greenhouse and Window Plants in February. 
Horse’s Foot. —4 Illustrations.. 
Household Department —Home Topics — Flying Goose 
Patchwork—Kindling Fires—Daisy 3I.it—How to 
Cook and Eat Cabbage. S Illustrations.. 03- 
Ice in Shallow Ponds, Cutting.2 Illustrations.. 
Kitchen Garden in February. 
Lime Kilns. 5 Illustrations.. 
Live Stock Trade for 1S74. . 
Manures for Market Gardens, Cheap. 
Marketing Box. ... Illustrated.. 
Market Report. 
Mill, Primitive Plumping.. Illustrated.. 
Mutton, Tim Bunker on. 
“ Mystery ” Explained. 
Ogden Farm Papers, No. GO. 
Orchard and Nursery in February. 
Plants, Fumigation of. 
Plants, Restoration and Growth of. 
Postage Complaints. 
Roads in the Snow, Breaking. Illustrated.. 
Salt Marshes on the Pacific Coast. 
Science Applied to Farming. 
Sheep-Raising in Virginia. .*. . 
Sheep Soiling. .5 Illustrations.. 
Sparrows and Fruit-Growers. 
Squash, Butman. Illustrated. . 
Stock and Cion. 
Walks and Talks on the Farm, No. 13-1—Farming in 
Mass.—Pigs—Early Rising—Artificial Fertilizers. 54- 
“ White Sage ”... . Illustrated.. 
Window Gardening. Illustrated.. 
Wood Sorrels.4 Illustrations.. 
Work, Hints About. 
INDEX TO “BASKET,” OK SnORTER ARTICLES. 
41 
59 
Aid for Kansas. 
Angora Fleeces . 
Asparagus, Varieties of.. 
Bargains and Sales. 
Botanist, John Ellis not 
an American. 
Breeding Mule,s, Profit of 
Briars, to Destroy. 
Butter, Foreign Trade in 
Cattle, Heavy Weights in 
Changes and Improve-- 
ments. 
Chicken Raising, Exten¬ 
sive .-. .. 
Cleanliness next to God¬ 
liness. 
Cotton Crop, Estimate of 
Day’s Work. What is a.. 
Draftsmen, Mechanical.. 
Drugs, Where they come 
from.. 
Feeding in Confinement. 
Fowls, Catarrh in. 
Fruit Changed by For¬ 
eign Pollen. 
Going West. 
Grain Exchange, Interna¬ 
tional... 
Grand Bazaar. 
Grass and Clover in the 
South . 
Hams, Virginia. 
Hill Sides, Planting. 
Hogs, Mortality among.. 
Horse, For a Kicking..,. 
Horses, Barley for. 
Hotel Bills, What they 
Pay for. 
45 
45 
74 
How a Student became a 
Gardener. 
Humbugs, Sundry. 
Lime for Canada Thistles 
Milk, Weight of. 
Mill for Grinding Bones 
New Year’s Day in Ga.. 
Once More. 
Peanut Straw. 
Pigeon Show. 
Plow, Injury to.. 
Potash in Wood Ashes.. 
Potatoes, Good Yield of. 
Potato Prizes. 
Poultry for Texas. 
Pumpkin Seed, Effect of. 
Ram for Early Lambs.... 
Salt, Foreign'and Domes¬ 
tic. 
Sawing Wood by Hand- 
Power. 
Sewing Machines. 
Sheep on Shares, Keeping 
Sheep Raising in the 
West.. . 
Sower, Seymour’s Broad¬ 
cast. 
Stock in the South, Care 
of. . 
Stump Puller.. 
Tim Bunker, Esq. 
Vines for France, Ameri¬ 
can . 
Wagon-Jack. 
Water Pipes.. . 
Will it Pay. 
Wisconsin Agricultural 
Convention. 
45 
Calendar for February. 
A C.ooil — W. H. Fry, of Ontario, 
writes: “ I bought a pig on the 16th of last March for $3, 
he being then 2 months old, and the smallest of a litter 
of thirteen. I killed him Nov. 18, when ten months old. 
He weighed, dressed, 331 lbs. ne was a cross between 
the Essex and Chester White.’’—We believe this cross is 
giving general satisfaction. A large sow, bred to a fine 
boned, highly refined, thoroughbred boar, makes a capi¬ 
tal cross. It does not matter what breed the sow is, so 
that she is of good size, strong, healthy, and vigorous. 
lioston.NEng- 
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PHASES OF THE MOON. 
MOON. 
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N. YORK. 
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3 5 ev. 
2 58 mo 2 41 mo. 
2 11 mo. 
3d Quart. 
28 
5 7 mo. 
4’55 mo. 
4 43 mo| 4 31 mo. 
4 Into. 
Mimts alt>oos6. Work. 
While the northern farmer is carefully husband¬ 
ing his resources, to support his stock during the 
long winter, and while his fields are either covered 
with snow, or bound by frost, the southern farmer 
is already busy in preparing for his crops. The 
time is nearly passed, when he can repair his fences, 
gather manure, hire labor, and clear and break up 
his new lands. All this ought to have been done 
AMERICAN AG It I CULT CRIST. 
NEW YORK, FEBRUARY, 1875. 
The active work of the farm, if it has not already 
begun, is near at hand ; indeed in the Southern 
States, where the weather is unusually open, win¬ 
ter is scarcely a season of rest, and the planter who 
has permitted the last month to pass, without pro¬ 
curing materials for compost, without breaking up 
his land, or who has not hired his hands for the 
coming season, must now lose no time, if he would 
not be behindhand. Though in the Northern States 
the ground is covered with snow, or frozen solidly, 
there is much preparatory labor to be done, if the 
farmer would not be driven by his work through¬ 
out the whole season. There is much planning and 
thinking to do, for it no longer pays to farm in a 
hap-hazard manner, and to secure success, a well- 
digested method must be adopted and adhered to, 
in spite of all obstacles. There are still in the 
newer States some places, in which the soil permits 
grain-crops to be raised year after year without ma¬ 
nure, but even in those localities the experiences 
of the last two years have taught farmers, that they 
can not depend on grain alone for profit. The rich 
farmers are those who raise grass and roots, and 
produce stock, or butter and cheese, and make 
enough manure to raise occasional big crops of 
grain. The poor farmers are those who depend 
on corn and wheat alone. Even the greedy locusts 
of the plains spare the grass, and in the devastated 
districts those who have stock, have little reason to 
complain. In the South it is very similar. Cotton 
planters are poor, and find all the money their cot¬ 
ton crop produces, goes to buy food and feed. On 
the other hand, those who are raising corn and fod¬ 
der along with their cotton, not only produce their 
own supplies, and save this outgo, but they make a 
good deal of manure, and have less of fertilizers to 
purchase. It is now a seasonable time to think 
over and discuss this subject. 
already, or must be done forthwith. Early in April 
planting will commence, and there is but little time 
now to spare. Contracts should be made with the 
help at ouce ; the best are always early taken, and 
the last who hires gets the refuse. 
Manure .—This is a chief consideration almost 
everywhere. The gathering is not the only thing to 
be studied. To prepare it for use.is equallj’ import¬ 
ant. Where there is little frost, composts of muck 
or woods’ earth with lime, should be made 
without delay. Decomposition of the vegetable 
matter soon takes place, and the result is a very 
useful fertilizer for corn, grass, or cotton ; if cot¬ 
ton-seed, or some stable manure is composted with 
it, it is so much more valuable. Where the winter 
is still severe, the manure pile should be turned 
over at least once, and twice turning will pay, as 
the manure will decay more rapidly ; by mixing the 
different kinds together, the danger of dry rot, or 
“ fire-fanging,” will be avoided. Manure is of little 
use, until it is decomposed and plant-food de¬ 
veloped ; and as turning helps to hasten this pro¬ 
cess, the labor is well spent. What is hauled to 
the field should he spread as rapidly as possible. 
The more evenly applied, the better is its effect. If 
left in heaps, a rain will dissolve the soluble parts, 
and carry them into the soil, making the place 
where the pile stood too rich, and robbing the rest 
of the field, and a portion is worse than wasted. 
Buildings and Fences. —Fine weather in this month 
may be chosen for out-door painting and repairing. 
The absence of flies and dust, and the slower dry¬ 
ing of the paint, will go far to balance the incon¬ 
venience of cold fingers. Painting is a job that 
may he done in mittens. Fences should he made 
secure, before more pressing work causes this to 
be forgotten. No smaller nail than a “tenpenny” 
should be used for a board fence. A few pounds 
of No. 9 wire are useful in securing the top-rails, 
i or the riders, if cut into lengths of 18 inches, and 
twisted around them, or the stakes where they cross. 
The Workshop. —Abundante of work may be 
found in repairing baskets, boxes, crates, bags, 
tools, and implements, and for making new ones 
for use iu the coming season. Every little thing 
made at home prevents the outlay of money. In 
the workshop a farmer’s boy, when not at school, 
will find recreation, mid occupation that will de¬ 
velop whatever talon! he has, and make him “ stick 
to the farm.” 
Farmers' Clubs may be made of great service, 
if properly conducted. To the usual discussions 
at this time should be added, the consideration of 
plans for making experiments with artificial ma¬ 
nures, feeding stuffs, and new seeds, during the 
coming season, and the work of the next summer 
should be made the subjects for this winter’s 
discussions. If farmers would read some works on 
political economy, such as Smith’s Wealth of Na¬ 
tions, and Mill’s or Carey’s Political Economy, they 
would be better prepared to discuss the subjects of 
trade, and the laws of supply and demand, a 
knowledge of which is necessary for every business 
man. Late experiences go to show that a better 
knowledge of these_subjects, and of human nature 
generally, would be valuable to those who exert in¬ 
fluence through the Clubs and Granges. 
Horses need extra care, as the damp, changeable 
spring-weather approaches. An increase in the 
feed may be gradually given, and close attention to 
the health exercised. The majority of the ailments 
of a horse are due to neglect of some simple needs, 
and the most prolific cause of these is indigestion, 
by which all parts of the animal may be seriously 
affected ; the next prolific cause is exposure to 
damp, cold, and foul air. Sound, nutritious food, 
given in moderation, and at proper periods, pure 
water, and pure air, will keep a horse in health 
and good working condition. Colts need special 
care now, with kind, friendly management. 
Cows that are coming iu should be kept quiet, 
and fed with moderation. If the calf is taken away 
as soon as dropped, out of sight and hearing, and 
kept there, it will avoid much uneasiness with 
nervous cows, and often prevent withholding the 
milk, and consequent garget. Obstinate cases of 
