AMERICAN AG-RICULTURIST. 
168 
18 ? 0 .j 
the ground Is prepared and is warm and mellow. 
The two former should be sowed on deep rich soil 
not less than 2 feet apart in field culture and SO 
inches to 3 feet is often better, as the same amount 
of labor will be better rewarded than if the rows 
were nearer, though perhaps the crop of a given 
piece of ground might not be so large. We would 
never 60 W parsnips with less than 20 inches between 
the rows, nor field carrots less than 16. Have the 
ground very mellow, well marked out and sow with 
a hand-drill, as in garden culture, unless the crop 
is on a more extensive scale than is common. 
Com. —Before the pastures are ready, cows are 
very apt to fall off in milk. Rye or wheat sown for 
feed will be fit to cut this month, and may be mow¬ 
ed as soon as it will give a swath ; a small quantity 
daily will be of great benefit, coloring the butter, 
and increasing the flow of milk. The stools will 
start again if not too far advanced when cut. 
Calves reared by hand must be watched, lest they 
become either constipated or loose in the bowels. 
Skimmed milk may be thickened with scalded In¬ 
dian meal and rye flour, linseed oilcake, or wheat 
middlings. The quantity of the mixed meal must 
be small at first, and may be increased until the 
calves are turned to grass. A gill of linseed meal 
with half a pint of fine corn-meal or a little more 
of middlings a day is enough for a good-sized calf. 
Sheep and lambs. —We are advocates of early shear¬ 
ing without washing. This necessitates giving 
the sheep shelter from cold storms—and this should 
always be done. Wool which starts when there is 
real necessity for covering, is stronger than that 
begining its growth in hot weather and often when 
a diseased condition of the skin is caused by sun- 
scalding. Besides, early' shorn sheep are well pro¬ 
tected when hot weather comes, and if not washed 
are not almost prostrated by r colds which come after 
this great exposure. A little extra grain or oil-meal 
tells advantageously after shearing. 
Poultry. —Protect young of all kinds both from 
sun and rain—Turkeys especially need shelter. A 
simple roof 4 feet wide on the south side of a fence, 
raised just so high above the ground, that there 
shall be a shadow of a foot in width at noon, makes 
a nice warm place for hens and chickens. Provide 
dusting boxes which shall contain road dust, ashes 
and sulphur. Thu dust-bath affords hens and tur¬ 
keys their only means of washing themselves. 
Pumpkins. —If the corn is to be only a moderate 
crop — that is if the land is not heavily manured, 
and a good sward has not been turned under be¬ 
sides, pumpkins may do very well and will pay. If a 
very heavy crop of corn is expected, they are likely 
to be so shaded as not to do well. They do best 
when placed by themselves on very well manured 
land. Plant in hills 6 or 8 feet apart. The Cheese 
Pumpkin is marketable and good, the common yel¬ 
low best for cattle and hogs. 
Ponds. —The earlier the roads can be worked after 
settled weather the better. Where practicable the 
carriage way should be made and kept hard and 
smooth by top-dressings of sharp gravel packed 
hard. Any clay coming to the surface between 
ruts should be thrown off, and gravel or broken 
stones should be used to fill holes and soft places. 
When this cannot be done, employ any means at 
hand to secure a hard roadway. Frequent scraping 
and rolling with a heavy roller, obliterating the 
old wheel tracks will in time make a good road of 
pretty soft materials, provided it has sunshine. 
Work in the Horticultural Departments. 
There is so much to be done this month that the 
horticulturist finds but little time for reading, and 
our notes must be brief; April and May lap over upon 
one another so much, so far as work is concerned, 
that last month’s may be referred to with advantage. 
©rehard. and I^fstrsery. 
Planting is to be pushed forward as fast as con¬ 
sistent with good work. Trees may be kept back 
by heeling them in and shading them. 
Grafting. —The more advanced the stock, the 
greater risk there is of injury to the bark. Several 
have asked for a recipe for 
Grafting Wax. —Take four parts of rosin and one 
part each of beeswax and tallow and melt together. 
If too hard, add more tallow, and if too soft, more 
rosin. Lard may be substituted for the tallow or 
raw linseed oil, a pint being used in the place of a 
pound of tallow. The wax is poured into water 
when melted, and gathered in the hands and work¬ 
ed like candy, after which it is made into conven¬ 
ient rolls. A handy way to use it is to tear up old 
cotton, old sheets or dresses, into strips about 2 
inches wide. Roll them up and put them into the 
melted wax, and let them remain until thoroughly 
saturated. Remove, and let them drain. This can 
be unrolled and torn into convenient bits as wanted. 
Toting Orchards may have root crops between the 
rows. When these crops are hoed, cut up the 
weeds and mellow the surface around the trees. 
Corn shades the trees too much late in the season, 
and prevents thorough ripening of the wood. 
Mulch. —Covering the surface around the trees 
with bog hay, coarse manure, or other available lit¬ 
ter, will help the trees greatly to resist the drought. 
Nursery Trees. —Budded stocks need to have all 
buds removed, except the inserted one. Rub them 
off as soon as they start. 
Seed-beds. —Success in raising evergreen and most 
other forest'-trees from seed, depends upon shading, 
proper moisture, and a free circulation of air. A 
lattice of lath makes a convenient shade. 
Insects. —The annual fight must be kept up. 
Wherever a tent-caterpillar’s nest is to be seen, 
there is a challenge to combat. The insect will get 
the best of it if it is allowed time. Make it some¬ 
body’s business to destroy every nest, and let that 
somebody be j’ourself, if 3 'ou wish it done faith¬ 
fully. Jarring the trees and catching the insects 
upon a sheet or other convenient receptacle, is the 
only certain mode of warfare with the curculio yet 
known. Begin early in the season, and early in the 
morning. All washes and “ invigorators ” plague 
the inventor more than they do the curculio. 
Fruit Garden. 
Strawberries. —It does not seem to be generally 
understood that strawberry plants must have a sea¬ 
son’s growth before they will bear. Plants are best 
set in the spring, the earlier the better, unless one 
strikes layers in pots, in which case they may be 
set at any time. Where the beds have been cover¬ 
ed with straw, this is parted over the plants and 
left on until after fruiting. What weeds make 
their way through the straw may be pulled. Beds 
that have not been mulched should be thoroughly 
hoed over and a mulch put on before the fruit at¬ 
tains much size. Liquid manure and wash from 
the house will increase the size of the fruit. 
Grape-vines. —Upon young vines set this spring 
but one bud should be allowed to grow. Rub out 
all but the most vigorous one. Two buds may be 
allowed to grow upon vines planted last year. 
Established vines will push buds where they are 
not wanted; rub off these, and save pruning. 
When the young shoots are large enough to show 
the little clusters, which are only buds, and not, as 
many suppose, grapes, the end of the shoot is 
pinched off. Some pinch at the leaf above the last 
or uppermost bunch, and others leave two or even 
three leaves. This, when done thus early, avoids 
the check which is given to the vine by the old 
method of summer pruning after the fruit is set. 
Layers may be made as directed last month. 
Currants. —No fruit is more neglected than this, 
and none will respond more readily to good treat¬ 
ment. A good dressing of manure and mulching 
before hot weather comes on, will increase the size 
and quality of the fruit. The Currant worms, so 
destructive to the foliage in some localities, are 
best treated by dusting the leaves with powdered 
white hellebore. 
Insects. —Rose-bugs eften destroy the blossoms of 
the grape-vine. We know of no effective remedy 
save shaking them from the vine, and catching and 
killing them. Hand-picking, thoroughly persisted 
in, will do much to keep in cheek other insects that 
prqy upon the vine. 
Blackberries and Basjiberries are to be tied to stakes 
or other supports. A strong wire stretched between 
posts answers well in garden culture. 
Marketing. —Those who send fruit to market 
should decide in season upon the kind of baskets, 
crates, or other packages they will need, and pro¬ 
cure them in advance. Have them distinctly mark¬ 
ed. Berries sent from Southern to Northern mark¬ 
ets should not be too ripe when picked. 
Mitcliest CSm-dojB. 
A list of the leading varieties as well as some of 
the promising novelties, was given in last month’3 
notes. In most places the hardy vegetables for the 
first crop were sown last mouth. 
Succession Crops of these should be put in at in¬ 
tervals if it is desired to prolong the season of 
peas, salad plants, radishes, etc. 
Asparagus is to bG cut with a sharp lsnife, and 
when marketed it is to be made up into bunches 9 
inches long and 4 or 5 inches in diameter. An en¬ 
graving of a bunching frame was given last May. 
Beds only two years set should be cut sparingly. 
Beans. —Plant bush sorts, and when the soil is 
well warmed, Limas. If a cold rain comes on, the 
Limas are apt to rot in the ground. If Limas have 
been started under glass, put them out when the 
weather becomes settled. 
Beets and Carrots. —Run a weeding hoe of some 
kind between the rows as soon as they can be dis¬ 
tinguished. As soon as large enough, weed and 
thin. A few days’ neglect will often be of great in¬ 
jury to carrots. 
Cabbages and Cauliflowers. —Frequent hoeing is 
very beneficial to these. If cut-worms attack the 
plants they must be dug out. Sow seeds for later 
crops in open ground in a well-prepared seed-bed. 
Celery. —Sow seeds in a well prepared seed-bed. 
They are slow in germinating. 
Corn. —Plant as soon as the season will allow. 
See list of varieties on page 179. 
Cucumbers. —If there are cold-frames or hot-beds 
from which other plants have been removed, they 
may be profitably devoted to cucumbers. Plants 
which have been started in?doors or under glass, 
may be put out when cold nights are over; they 
will need sheltering for a while at night; two boards 
nailed together roof-shape will answer. Sow seed 
in the open ground as soon as it is warm enough. 
Use plenty of seed to allow for losses. See vine- 
shield figured last month. 
JSgg-Plants. —Nothing is gained by putting these 
out before the weather has become warm and set¬ 
tled. Give them a rich warm spot. 
Herbs. —These may be sown in a seed-bed and 
transplanted, or sown where they are to grow and 
thinned. In market gardens they are transplanted 
to the ground from which early cabbages, etc., have 
been taken. Sage, Thyme, Sweet-Marjoram, and 
Summer Savory, are the kinds generally grown. 
Lettuce. —Transplant as soon as large enough, and 
sow seed for succession. See article on page 181. 
Martynia. —The tender pods are much esteemed 
for pickles. Sow where they are to grow, or trans¬ 
plant to 3 feet apart each way. 
Melons.—' Treat the same as directed for cucumbers. 
Onions. —Seed in cold localities may yet be sown. 
When the plants are up sufficiently to allow the 
rows to be distinguished, run a weeder or hoe 
through them. Weed as soon as the rows show 
that it is needed. A moderate dressing of salt is 
beneficial. Onions from sets and potato-onions 
are to be kept well cultivated. 
larsley. —Sow in soil as free from weeds as possi 
ble, as it is long iu starting. 
Parsnips. — Hoe and weed as soon as large 
enough, and thin to about 10 inches. 
Potatoes. —Keep the weeds under. A little ashes 
and plaster at hoeing will help them. 
Peas. —Put brush to tall growing sorts after hoe* 
