AMERICAN AG-RICUETURIST. 
[February, 
4s2 
Contents for February, 1870. 
Bee Notes.50 
Boys’ and Girls’ Columns.—Rambles in China.—The 
” Doctor's Talks — About Ice. — Home Games. — 
Throwing Light.—The Prize Poodle.—The Pioneer 
of the Train.—Picture Conundrum.—Answers to 
Problems and Puzzles.4 Illustrations. .07, fid 
Buffalo Cane. 03 
Can the United States Raise its Own Wool ?.58 
Caro of Young Pigs in Winter.58 
Clod Crushers..... .4 Illustrations.. 56 
Do Pigs Pay ?. 5S 
Egyptian Beet. Illustrated. .61 
Farm Work in February. 42 
Flower Garden and Lawn in February.43 
Fruit Garden in February.43 
Gigantic Water-bug. Illustrated, .til 
Green Fly and Red Spider. Illustrated.. 63 
Green-house and Window Plants in February.43 
Hedges, or Live Fences for the West.62 
Horse Papers for Farmers—No. 2.53 
Household Department.—A Shoe Blacking Stand.— 
Soothing Syrup, or Poisoning Made Easy.—Wash¬ 
ing Fluids Again.—Scouring Knives.—Household 
Talks, by Aunt Hattie.—Economical Cooking— 
Something out of Nothing.—10 Recipes... 111. .05, 06 
Killing Beeves on the Farm.3 Illustrations. .57 
Kitchon Garden in February.43 
Laying Out a Flower Garden.3 Illustrations.. G4 
Market Reports.45 
Maple Sugar Making.8 Illustrations. .5S,- 00 
Mexican Cobata—Variegation. Illustrated.. 61 
New Apples—Monte Bello and Irish Pippin_2 Ulus. St?, 
Ogden Farm Papers—No. 2.—Manures.—Jersey Cows 
—Steaming Food.50, 52 
Orchard and Nursery in February.43 
Poultry—Crested Turkey... . Illustrated.. 53 
Poultry—Glass-covered Run for Early Chickens.2 lllus.. 55 
Poultry—Ornamental Pheasants. Illustrated. .41 
Salt Muck—Will it Pay to Dig It?.56 
Sheep Require W T ater in Winter. 53 
Tomatoes—Experiment with 25 Varieties.61 
Walks and Talks on the Farm—No. 54.—Farmer’s 
Pluck—Farmers and Mental Culture—Management 
of Poor Land—Using up Old Timber—Snow and 
Manures—Essex Pigs and Grades—Varieties of 
Oats. 54, 55 
Wet Hog-yards a Nuisance. Illustrated. .57 
Window Plants and Frost. 63 
INDEX TO “BASKET” 
Arbor Vitre. . .48 
Apples for Minn.40 
A Ton of Manure.47 
Best Tiling in the World.43 
Black Knot.48 
Boiled Beans.40 
Boiled Wheat for Cows. 48 
Brewer’s Grains for Poul¬ 
try .48 
Buckthorn and Gophers..48 
Butter Making Prize.50 
Cedar Apples.48 
Color of Sefton Pigs.48 
Corn and Potatoes.40 
Cost of Keeping a Cow. .48 
Cow “ Fancy.”.40 
Cranberries..47 
Creaky Boots.43 
Enormous Cattle.46 
Enmelan Grape. 43 
Exhibition at Cordova.. .40 
Facts about Butter.50 
Farm Wages.46, 40 
Farrow Cows.48 
Feeding Fowls.40 
Ferrets. .47 
Flower Quest ions.47 
Freezing Seeds.48 
Fresh Manure for Corn. .47 
Fruit Garden. 48 
Geological Report.47 
Grape Cnlturist.48 
Grapes.47 
Geese Without Pond.40 
Green-leaf in Trouble_47 
Harrowing Manure.48 
Hay and Straw Culture. ..49 
Hogs Feed on Cattle 
Droppings.50 
How to Import Stock_46 
How to Make it Pay.40 
Ice House.40 
Kerosene.47 
Labor per Acre.48 
OR SHORTER ARTICLES. 
Letters and Letters..40 
Lilacs...47 
Mangy Pigs.40 
Many Apples.48 
Nest Eggs..47 
N. Y. State Poultry Soc..46 
Nutriment in Beans.40 
Oats.47 
Oil-Cake—Oil-Meal.50 
Opium.4S 
Papasicultour.48 
Pears .48 
Peas and Strawberries.. .48 
Penn. State Poultry Soc.46 
Plaster at $10 per Ton.. ,4S 
Plowing Under Clover.. .48 
Roc. Ain. Pom. Soc.47 
Ryle’s Seedling.48 
Root Pruning.48 
Rotary Harrows.40 
Sanford Corn.48 
Seedling with Barley_48 
G!4 Subscribers a Minute.46 
Shall we Sow Barley ?... 48 
Shares’ Harrow.40 
Steaming Corn.48 
Strawberries Mixing.48 
Soil with Manure... . .40 
Sore Month in Cattle....49 
Special Premiums.47 
Substitutes for Muck... .40 
Sundry Humbugs.46 
Tan-bark Ashes.40 
Taste of Turnips in But¬ 
ter.4S 
Time to Sow Plaster.48 
Value of Yardfid of Ma¬ 
nure.47 
Veterinary Instruction.. .40 
Weeds.47 
West and South.40 
White Birches.40 
White Grass.4.8 
Worms in Horses .40 
Back Volumes Supplied.—The back volumes 
of tlie Agriculturist are very valuable. They contain 
information upon every topic connected with rural life, 
out-door and in-door, and the last thirteen volumes make 
up a very complete library. Eaeli volume has a full Index 
for ready reference to any desired topic. We have on 
hand, and print from electrotype plates as wanted, all the 
numbers and volumes for thirteen years past, beginning 
witli 18,57—that is, Vol. 16 to Vol. 28, inclusive. Any of 
tlie.se volume's sent complete (in numbers) at $1.75 each, 
post-paid, (or $1.50 if laicen at the office). The volumes, 
neatly hound, are supplied for $2 each, or $2.50 if to be 
sent by mail. Any single numbers of the past thirteen 
years will be supplied, post-paid, for 15 cents each. 
Calendar for February. 
Poston. XEn 0 - 
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City. Ct., 
Washington, 
Land, jv 
1 ork 
Philadelphia, 
Maryland , 
Stale, 
Michi- 
JS 7 ew Jersey, 
Virginia , Ken- 
gan, Wiscon- 
Penn., 
01 no. 
lucky, Missou - 
sin, Iowa , and 
Indiana, and 
ri. 
anil 
Cali - 
Oregon. 
Illinois. 
fornia. 
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5m 
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£ 
£ ec 
£ CO 
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PHASES OF THE MOON 
MOON". 
BOSTON. 
N. YORK. 
wash’n. 
CHA’STON 
CHICAGO. 
1st Quart.. 
Full. 
3d Quart... 
D. 
8 
15 
22 
h. sr. 
1 35 ev. 
10 43 ev. 
2 2 ev. 
II. SI. 
1 23 ev. 
10 31 ev. 
1 50 ev. 
II. SI. 
1 11 ev. 
10 19 ev. 
1 38 ev. 
H. M. 
0 59 ev. 
10 7 ev. 
1 2G ev. 
II. 31. 
0 29 ev. 
0 37 ev. 
0 56 ev. 
AMERICAN AGRICULTURIST, 
NEW YORK, FEBRUARY, 1870. 
Wc approach the time, with the passage of this 
month, when farmers must have their plans made, 
and know pretty well just what they purpose, and 
how they will carry it out. The lengthening days 
make farmers impatient for Held work. It is high 
time that good farm hands were engaged for the 
summer. The best make the earliest engagements. 
As there lias been quite a dearth of employment 
for laboring men, both in town and country, we 
anticipate engagements at lower rates than ruled 
last- year. Money is “ tight,” in commercial phrase, 
and farmers have not been so well paid for their 
products as in the past few years. This should 
not influence us to decrease our operations ; to ex¬ 
tend them with discretion, and to employ still 
more labor, would be better polici'. The prosperi¬ 
ty of the country depends directly upon large, 
good crops, of our staple productions. Labor 
well employed, and manure well applied, will 
surely pay in the long run. The price of produce 
is influenced greatly by the European markets, and, 
of course, by the harvests of the rest of the world. 
We are at peace, and the irregularities consequent 
upon a state of war have nearly passed away. Our 
population is rapidly increasing, land is growing- 
in value, and the prosperity of our country and of 
the farming interest was never more certain. 
Blii&ts Alsoi&C 'Wox-lc. 
Wintering Stock too often means feeding animals 
just enough to bring them through to spring, or 
to “ grass,” with life enough to recover in a few 
Aveeks from their run down, “spring-poor” condi¬ 
tion. No class of stock can he thus treated with¬ 
out loss. They are liable to take diseases, they 
become the prey to all sorts of vermin, and if the 
treatment goes a little too far, the crows and dogs 
piclc the bones. Any kind of stock may be winter¬ 
ed well oil good upland liny and corn-stalks, or bet¬ 
ter, corn fodder,which is agood variation or mixture 
for beef cattle and horses. They eat bright wheat 
and oat straw, and salt or marsh hay with a relish 
occasionally. Most horses will keep fat as seals on 
hay alone, if not worked. They should be fed 
moderately, three times a day. Cows and young 
cattle cannot eat too much, and should have all 
they will eat of coarse fodder. They ought not to 
be made very fat, and will not become so without 
grain. Sheep will do well on straw, eorn fodder, 
and hay, swine on clover hay, corn fodder, and a 
little bran or slops daily, if they have warm quarters. 
Beef Stock .—As beeves increase in flesh, their 
feed should be improved iu quality, and varied, so- 
as to tempt the appetite, especially if they are to 
be marketed soon. If they are to be kept for graz- 
ing, they need rot be fed highly, but kept gaining. 
Cows .—Should any “ come in ” thus early, give 
them warm quarters and abundant feed, which 
may well consist of four or five quarts of bran or 
middlings, two quarts of oil-meal or corn-meal, 
and half a bushel of roots for each one, with ail 
the hay she will cat. This will keep up the flow 
of milk until grass comes. Grain fed to cows with 
calf is of great service, and it is perfectly safe to 
let a cow get almost beef fat; if she is a good 
milker, all will come hack in milk and cream. 
Horses in steady use need only good feed and 
grooming, with care that tlieir shoeing is suitable 
for the season. Those having little work should 
he exercised, that their legs do not become stiff 
and “stocky.” If they do, hand rubbing is an ex¬ 
cellent thing to reduce them. They get exercise 
enough usually by having an hour’s run daily. 
Brood Marcs should have regular exercise also, 
and their feed may be increased in quantity or 
quality as their time approaches. Be careful abcut 
their slipping upon the ice, and see that they have 
feed and water regularly, and salt, either always ac¬ 
cessible,or given frequently—the former plan is best. 
Sheep .—Separate the weakly from those that 
crowd them, so that each shall get its full share of 
feed. Feed roots if you have them to all, but 
especially to fattening sheep, and ewes near yean¬ 
ing. Remove vermin and scab by carbolic soap. 
Early Lambs should he yeaned in very warm 
quarters, carefully attended during the critical 
period of the first few days. Should they become 
chilled aud set hack, much of the profit is lost. 
Breeding Sows require a variety of nourishing 
feed. Clover hay, milk, boiled potatoes, bran, etc. 
Do not expose to cold winds or to drifting snow. 
Sick and Disabled Animals, of all sorts, should be 
separated from others of their kind, and placed 
where they can have extra care, better feed, warm, 
cloan stalls, with plenty of bedding, and where they 
can be watched and groomed. Never “doctor” 
by guess work; if you do not know what is the 
matter, or what to do, do nothing but give good 
nursing, and trust to nature. If it is inconvenient 
to provide other accommodations, a sick horse 
may be placed in a loose box in the cow stables, 
and a sick cow may be placed among the horses. 
Poultry .—It is time for all kinds of poultry io 
prepare for laying; this they do by accumulating 
flesh in the first instance, and by the time the hens, 
ducks, geese and turkeys are in good condition, 
they will, if good for anything, begin to lay. If 
we wait until they lay before we begin to feed them 
well, they will give us few eggs before they want 
to sit. The arrangements for a large clutch of eggs 
are made early, probably long before a single one 
is laid. Give fowls some meat or pounded bones, 
and oyster shells, and gravel if the ground is cov¬ 
ered with snow. Ducks need similar food. Geese 
should have green feed—cabbage leaves, and turnip 
sprouts are good for them, and for all poultry. 
They will eat hay, which is best cut small, and 
pounded on a block after having been soaked. 
Qrain Fields, if bare, should be looked to, to see 
that the water furrows are free, and that- the soil is 
not liable to be washed by spring rains. If the 
grain is much heaved by the frost, it should be 
rolled as soon ns the frost is out and the ground is 
settled enough. If clover seeding is intended, the 
seed may be sowed before rolling. It will probably 
not start before settled warm weather. Top-dress¬ 
ings of bone-dust, ashes, fish guano, fine, rich com¬ 
post, Peruvian guano, or good superphosphate, will 
do much towards resuscitating grain which the win¬ 
ter lias used roughly, and may be put on poor spots. 
The Wood Lot will still furnish work. Fire-wood 
cut during the winter should he hauled in and piled 
under cover of a roof, so that air shall circulate 
freely through it, if it is desired to have it in per- 
