1875.] 
AMERICAN AGRICULTURIST. 
43 
garget may often be cured by injecting a strong so¬ 
lution of bi-carbonate of sock, into the teats with a 
syringe, and milking it out, repeating this several 
times a day ; and bathing the udder with cold wa¬ 
ter, with a little tincture of arnica in it. If garget 
is feared, give a pound of Epsom salts at once as 
a preventive, and milk the teats frequently. 
Sheep .—Feed as directed last month, and watch 
the newly dropped iambs, so that weak ones may 
be helped to suck. Lambs for early market may 
be forced by teaching them to suck warm milk 
from a long-spouted can, with a cloth teat at the 
end of the spout. They will quickly learn to suck, 
and relish the milk if new and good. When two or 
three weeks old, they may be taught to nibble a lit¬ 
tle fine rye-meal or wheat-shorts. But whatever is 
given should be little and often. 
Maple Sugar .—The maple-sugar crop is a very im¬ 
portant one, amounting in value to several million 
dollars annually. In 1870 there were nearly 30,000,000 
pounds of maple sugar, and 1,000,000 gallons of 
molasses made in the United States. The general 
quality of the sugar, however, is poor. It is not 
made with cleanliness or care, and the rough 
method of tapping the trees with an ax, injures 
them. The trees should be bored with an auger, 
not over one inch in diameter, if wooden spouts are 
used. The best sap-spout is a metal one that needs 
only a half-inch hole, and has a hook attached to it j 
to hang the pail upon. It is made by C. C. Post, 
Burlington, Vt. When the sap is gathered free 
from impurities, and boiled carefully, the value of 
the sugar is doubled. 
Poultry.— Eggs and early chickens may be had 
now, if the fowls are fed with warm feed, and a 
warm nesting place is provided. Boiled potatoes, 
mixed with cracked wheat, given warm, is the best 
stimulating food. A warm corner of the barn 
should be provided for a few early brooding hens. 
Swine .—Breeding sows should be given a few 
roots, or extra succulent feed, before farrowing. 
Young pigs maybe forced, as mentioned for lambs ; 
they will learn to drink milk from a shallow pan, if 
their heads are put down to it a few times. Gentle 
treatment of stock will be found an immense ad¬ 
vantage, when one wants to feed them in this way. 
Every animal about the farm should be a pet, and 
should love, and not fear, its owner. It will save 
much work and trouble, if this is the rule. 
Work in the Horticultural Departments. 
In view of the fact that the Agriculturist is taken 
in nearly every country of the world, it would be 
impossible to lay out work for every one every¬ 
where. Indeed, in view of the difficulty of doing 
this for a limited portion of our own country, we 
long ago ceased ta call these notes a “ Calendar,” 
and our new readers will find the title, Hints About 
Work, to describe their contents. We gather here 
such matters as the non-professional gardener aud 
novice in farming is likely to need, and though 
these “hints” have in a general way reference to 
the season, they are not to be regarded as 1 ‘ sailing 
directions. ” If one must work by written formula, 
he will find the record of the work of one year, in 
which his failures, as well as his good hits, are 
noted, of far more value to him in his locality than 
the most elaborate calendar made by another. 
Orchard anti Nursery. 
Care and attention are constantly required. The 
careless leaving of a gate open or a fence down 
may result in great damage to the young trees from 
the depredations of cattle. While shutting out the 
stock of others, properly shut in your own. 
Mice ancl Rabbits need to be looked to after light 
snows. Tramp down the snow around the trees, 
to head off the mice, and sprinkle blood upon the 
trunks to keep rabbits away. 
Pruning.—It pruning is to be done, attend to it 
before the buds swell in the least. Never cutout a 
branch without having a reason for doing it, and al¬ 
so strive to give the trees a low, open head to enable 
them better to withstand the strong winds, to 
shade the trunks, and to allow the sun and air to 
reach all parts of the tree. When the orchard is 
cultivated, the heads will have to be kept higher 
to allow the teams to pass under them. 
Suckers should be cut off, and as soon as the 
weather will allow, the ground directly around the 
trees should be broken up, and the moss and dead 
bark removed by soft-soap wash. 
Manure may be carted to the orchard at this sea¬ 
son and spread or placed in heaps. It can be 
hauled at this season of the year on sleds. 
Labels will be needed for newly set trees, and 
should be prepared beforehand. Large nursery 
labels are best made out of red cedar ; if this wood 
is not convenient, pine or chestnut will last a 
few years, but cedar is the cheapest in the end. 
Map the Orchard .—Show the boys how to make a 
correct plan of the orchards and nursery ; on this 
should be indicated the correct position and name 
of every tree; this will be found the only way to 
preserve the names where an orchard is planted 
with several varieties. 
Fruit Garden. 
Selections of various kinds of fruits for planting 
out the coming spring should be made early, and 
ordered in time to set out as soon as the ground 
will permit. In planting a fruit garden for family 
use, select to embrace both early and late sorts 
of each kind. With care in selecting, the season 
of each fruit may be greatly extended. 
Blackberries and Raspberries .—If new settings are 
to be made in the spring, and plants are not at 
hand, order at once, as they start so early that they 
cannot be planted too soon after the ground is open. 
Strawberries .—There is now a great variety of 
strawberries, the plants are' remarkably cheap, and 
every one, rich and poor, should have an abundance. 
A bed of a few rods in extent will supply a large 
family, if cultivated properly. 
Currants coming soon after the strawberries and 
raspberries, supply a place held by no other 
fruit; provide enough bushes to freely supply the 
table during the season, and for jellies and other 
uses. New plants are easily raised from cuttings 
made either in the fall or early spring, and in two 
or three years these plants will be in abundant 
bearing, and with proper pruning and manuring 
may be made to produce fruit of extra size. Dur¬ 
ing mild weather, when the wood is not frozen, 
prune the bushes and preserve the cuttings in sand 
in the cellar. The Versailles (red) and White Grape 
are the most profitable. Every spring a dressing 
of well-rotted manure should be given, and a thick 
mulch applied to keep down all weeds. 
Gooseberries require the same general cultivation 
as currants, but need more pruning to give the 
plants an open head to admit light and air. The 
American varieties are best, among these, Hough¬ 
ton’s and Downing’s Seedlings are favorites. 
Grapes .—The garden culture of the grape is so 
simple that it is strange that no more vines are 
planted. The number of varieties is now large 
and the experience of others in the neighborhood 
is the safest guide in selecting. We have given 
from time to time the various methods of pruning 
and training the vine. The matter is not difficult, 
the one thing to bear in mind is that the fruit is 
produced on the new growth, which will start this 
year from the buds now on the canes. In pruning, 
all the buds are cut away, save those needed to 
form new canes. 
Stakes and Trellises may be prepared; locust or 
red oedur stakes are most durable, while chestnut 
for horizontal strips is cheap and fairly lasting. 
If locust is too dear to be used for the whole stake, 
a strip two and a half or three feet long may be set 
in the ground, and the rest of the post, made of 
other wood, be spiked to it. All wood used for 
the above purposes should be got out of the proper 
size and shape, stored under cover, and so piled up 
that the ah' will have free circulation through and 
around it. If the parts which are to be placed in 
the ground are given a thorough soaking in petro¬ 
leum, they would last much longer, except, per¬ 
haps, in the case of locust. 
Garden. 
Whether one has his garden in Georgia or in 
Canada, he needs a hot-bed, one only will do for 
a private garden, while the “trucker” needs 
rows of these and frames. Most plants require 
about six weeks from the sowing of the seed until 
the time they are large enough to set in the open 
ground, and this will serve as a general rule, 
though not an absolute one. If one wishes very 
early tomatoes, he takes his plants from the hot¬ 
bed, where they were sown, and transplants them to 
another hot-bed ; and so with some others. A posi¬ 
tion for liot-beds should be selected where there is 
ample shelter on the north and west sides; also see 
that they are not placed near buildings which 
harbor mice, as these pests often destroy an en¬ 
tire sowing of seeds. The frames should be 18 
inches high at the back, and 12 inches in front, and 
wide enough to hold the sash, which is usually 6 
x 3 feet; the length of the frame must be governed 
by the quantity of seeds to be sown. Frames made 
of inch and a half chestnut plank put together 
with hooks at the comers, are more durable, and 
can be stored in a small space when not in use. 
Where early liot-beds are made, they often require, 
what is called, “lining,” or the application of fresh 
manure to the outside to keep up the heat. 
Cold frames in which cabbage and lettuce plants 
are kept over winter, require air every day when 
the weather is no( freezing. During storms the snow 
may be left on the sashes a few days without in¬ 
jury to the plants. In very cold nights the sashes 
must be covered with mats or shutters. 
Seeds .—Whatever seeds are not grown at home, 
should be ordered from some reliable seed-house, 
and the sooner this selection is made, the more 
likely the desired varieties can be had. When left 
until just before sowing time, there is a liability of 
not getting what is ordered, as the rarer sorts are 
usually the ones first sought. The postal laws 
allow seeds to be sent by mail at very cheap rates, 
and there is no necessity for planting an inferior 
kind. Never rely for the main crop upon any nov¬ 
elty, no matter how glowing the catalogue descrip¬ 
tion may be, success may attend such a course, but 
in nine cases out of ten, it will be otherwise. When 
seeds are raised at home they ought to be kept in a 
cool, dry room, where mice will not get at them. 
Such seeds as beet, carrot, parsnip, and others, 
may be readily raised in the garden, if care is taken 
to select only the earliest and finest formed roots 
as seed bearers. Seeds of cucumbers, squashes, 
and melons of all sorts arc so liable to mix that 
home-raised seed cannot often be relied upon. 
Manure .■—Turn the heap when too hot, to pre¬ 
vent burning, and to fine the manure. Sods, muck, 
and whatever other material is at hand, should be 
composted in the heap. Save all house-slops and 
whatever can be turned into manure. For garden 
purposes manure that has lain a year is best, but 
as this can seldom be had, every means must be 
taken to get it into a fine state so that its adtion may 
be quick and effective. The refuse of many kinds 
of factories and mills can be utilized. 
Tools must be .put in proper order, so that the 
men will not be. delayed when work begins. Du¬ 
plicates of all the smaller tools should be provided 
in case of breakage, and also for extra hands which 
may be employed occasionally. Have all steel 
points free from rust, and the wood thoroughly 
coated with crude petroleum. Mark all yoer tools. 
Vegetables stored in the cellar must be looked 
after, and if the weather is mild, the doors and 
windows opened during the middle of the day. A 
ventilator ought to be provided for every root- 
cellar; it may be six to ten inches square, made of 
pine or hemlock boards ; place in one corner of the 
building, having the exit tinder the eaves where 
snow and rain will not enter ; this ventilator will take 
away th« disagreeable exhalations. A wooden slide 
may be provided to shut and open the ventilator. 
