1870.] 
AMERICAN AGRICULTURIST. 
403 
for winter use. These are the cheapest roots to 
keep for spring feeding, though the market price 
is usually so high that few cau afford to use them 
for that purpose. They are the best milk-producing 
feed we know of, especially if fed with a few quarts 
of oil-cake or corn-meal. 
Carrots must be where no frost will touch them. 
Beets and Mangels keep best in pits well protect¬ 
ed. They are apt to both grow and wilt iu cellars. 
Ruta-bagas will bear freezing, but not repeated 
freezing and thawing without sustaining damage. 
Soft Turnips will bear even less than Ruta-bagas. 
They should be fed out before they grow pithy. 
Poulti-y. —It is not worth while to try to get ducks 
to lay in autumn. In England it will do very well, 
and they are the only poultry besides hens that 
will give eggs for the fall or winter. Hens may be 
provided with warm quarters very easily in this way: 
Enclose some big shed into which the manure from 
cattle and horses may be thrown daily ; place large 
windows ou the south side and make it as tight as 
possible on all sides, leaving shutters to be opened 
for ventilation where the drafts will not draw across 
the roosts. With such quarters and plenty to eat, 
eggs will be abundant, for sale or for omelets. 
Turkey hens ought to roost in the fowl-house, but 
keep the gobblers on the apple-tree, or somewhere 
where they will not molest other fowls on the roosts. 
Swine —Sows with late farrows need especially 
warm quarters and good care for several days. 
Newly dropped pigs are exceedingly sensitive to 
cold. Half a dozen jugs of water, a little more 
than blood-warm, renewed once or twice during the 
first night, will be of great benefit to them. Some¬ 
body should stay iu the pen unt il the pigs have taken 
a good meal, and sow and farrow have gone to sleep 
well covered with dry, warm litter. Then the at¬ 
tendant may go to sleep near by, where any noise of 
the pigs will waken him, as they may need attention 
at any hour. It may be set down as certain that 
the lives of two or three will thus bo saved, and 
they are worth 2 or 3 dollars at least.— Fattening 
Hogs gain now very rapidly on good feed. Experi¬ 
ments made with boiled or soaked and steamed 
corn, indicate a decided gain over grinding and not 
cooking, and a probable gain over grinding and 
cooking. The gain comes from the fact that mill¬ 
ers’ tolls are at least 10 per cent. Charcoal is an 
excellent addition to the feed of swine. 
Cows. —Feed the sound leaves of cabbages and 
plauts that fail to head, and also the tops of any of 
the root crops. Those calving at this time should 
have succulent food, pumpkins and roots, with oil¬ 
cake. This will give them plenty of milk, and the 
flow may easily be maintained. They should have 
warm stables and a sunny yard. Cows in full milk 
can not eat too much of proper food. If they grow 
fat upon it, it is pretty sure evidence that they are 
better fit for the shambles than for the dairy. 
Young Cattle ought to have a warm, dry, suuny 
shed and yard to lie in by day, and to be put in an 
inner, closed stable by night. A very little grain 
or cut and soaked corn fodder will keep them 
growing well, sleek, and healthy; and thus kept, 
they maybe wintered much cheaper than in a bleak 
stock yard, ou uucut corn-stalks. 
Beeves will bear crowding to any extent within 
reason. No festival was ever more accommodating¬ 
ly placed than Christmas, if the intention had been 
to make feasts of fat things easy to procure. For 
then the granaries are full, and the air is bracing 
and gives the tonic to whet the appetite. So long 
as steers gain enough to cover the cost of what 
they eat, it is well, for their manure will pay costs 
of attendance twice over Be sure the air of stables 
is pure,and that no6olid nor liquid manure is wasted. 
Horses.— Groom once a day. Stable nights; if 
not in use, let them have the run of a brush pas¬ 
ture by day. When there is a great variety of 
weeds and grass and bushes, never give more than 
half a bucket of water, or three quarts of oats if 
the horse is soon to be used. Feed well half an 
hour to an hour after he comes in warm. Never 
let a horse cool off in the wind. Throw a big 
woollen blanket over him; throwback half at a 
time to rub him down ; replace it and let him stand 
until cool and dry ; then cover with a linen duster, 
to keep his coat clean. A horse is better off during 
the severest nights with a duster on him, than 
warmly blanketed. 
Work in the Horticultural Departments. 
The notes for November are written in the middle 
of October, up to which time we have had the 
finest autumn that could be wished for. Should 
the present promise be kept, this will be a grand 
season for all fall work. It is so much better in 
every department to do all that can be done in the 
way of preparing the soil, and planting most things 
that we repeat the injunction to do every thing 
now that will save a day’s work in spring. Should 
November prove an open month, the hints given 
for October will prove timely now. 
©rcli»r«l and Wursery. 
Planting. — In advising fall planting, we have 
reference to the season. Do not put trees into 
half-frozen ground. If the weather is still mild and 
rains have not made the soil too wet, planting may 
continue ; but it is only iu very favorable seasons 
that this condition of things lasts into the present 
month. Where planting cannot be done properly, 
the trees should be 
Heelecl-in. —So many trees are lost by improper 
heeliug-in, that some writers denounce the thing 
altogether. There is no doubt that it is better to 
procure trees in the fall and heel them in properly, 
than to run the risks of the injury they are likely 
to receive by hurriedly taking them up in spring and 
by a long transportation, at a time when the trees 
are excitable. In autumn a tree is thoroughly at 
rest, and if taken up and heeled-in, it starts much 
later in spring than if allowed to remain where it 
grew. Proper heeling-in require*; that the roots shall 
be thoroughly covered with earth, leaving no holes 
for either air or water to work their destruction. 
Picking and Packing .— Enough has been said up¬ 
on these. What late fruits remain to be gathered, 
should, if thej r are intended to keep well, be treat¬ 
ed with the care already prescribed. It is likely 
that this will be a poor year for keeping winter 
fruits, if we are to judge from the rapidity with 
which fail varieties have ripened up. The fruit 
which is usually depended upon for keeping late, 
will require to be retarded by as low a temperature 
as can be maintained without freezing. 
Cider. —The best is made this month. The apples 
should be thoroughly ripened, and every care taken 
to keep out impurities. The cellar where fermen¬ 
tation goes on should be kept as cool as possible. 
When this ceases, fill up the barrels and bung up. 
Fruit Gnrden. 
Grape-Vines , as soon as the leaves have fallen, 
may be trimmed. Cut young vines back to their 
buds and draw earth up to them, or give them a 
covering of leaves. Old vines that have been al¬ 
lowed to run wild, are very difficult to prescribe 
for. The best general direction we can give is to 
cut all the past season’s growth back to two buds; 
recollecting that every bud will make a shoot; 
-if this is likely to produce too much wood, thin 
out some of the canes altogether. Even hardy va¬ 
rieties will do better if laid down and covered with 
a little earth. This may not be practicable with 
old vines, but it is with young ones, and as long as 
it can be done it will be found to pay. 
Cuttings of grape wood should be prepared now. 
For out door propagation, cuttings of two buds are 
best. Prepare them at pruning time, and tie them 
in bundles of 25, or of convenient size, and bury, 
the lower end up, in some dry place. We say lower 
end up, because it is desirable to keep the upper 
bud dormant, and allow the lower part of the 
cutting to be more forward. 
Strawberries. —Established beds should be cover¬ 
ed as soou as the ground freezes. It is a mistake 
to cover too soon. Use whatever is available—straw, 
bog or salt hay, corn-stalks, etc. Do not use saw¬ 
dust ; though a serviceable winter protection, it is 
a nuisance in the spring, as it soils the berries. 
Kitchen. Garden. 
Any one who has seen the advantage of prepar¬ 
ing the soil by turning with the plow or spade at 
this season, will not be slow to adopt it. 
Manure may be spread now and turned under, or 
the plowing may be left until spring. Stiff lands 
may have coarse manure and be plowed and left 
rough. If thrown into ridges without manure, frosts 
will have a most beneficial influence upon them. 
Winter protection is in most localities necessary 
for spinach, sprouts, and the like. This is not to 
be applied until freezing weather. The object is 
to prevent frequent freezing and thawing, and if put 
on too soon it may injure the crop. 
Cabbages. —After trying various plans for winter¬ 
ing cabbages, we think that followed by our mar¬ 
ket gardeners is the best. The cabbages, after 
freezing weather has set in and before the ground 
is so frozen that they are difficult to pull, are taken 
up aud inverted, and three or four inches of 
earth thrown over the heads. If many are to be 
treated the earth is plowed to them, but with small 
crops the spade will do the work. Plants sown for 
the purpose are to be put in cold frames. Set them 
down to the leaves and do not put the glass on un¬ 
til cold weather. The object to be attained is to 
keep the plant dormant aud quiet, but still alive. 
Root Crops. —Roots in cellars are apt to deterio¬ 
rate if not surrounded by sandy earth. They can 
be best kept in trenches or pits. Make pits in a 
dry place three or four feet wide and six feet deep, 
aud stack the roots, beets, carrots, parsnips, salsify, 
etc., in sections; when a section of two feet in 
length is packed, leave a space of six inches and 
make another section, and so on. Fill the six-inch 
spaces with soil, and when cold weather comes on 
cover the tops with litter and put boards over that. 
This keeps the roots in contact with earth, and, 
while it prevents freezing, avoids the drying which 
so injures roots kept in cellars. If the supply is 
small, pack in boxes in the cellar, with sandy earth. 
Celery. —The best results come from stacking the 
roots, which have been properly earthed up, in sim¬ 
ilar pits to those directed for root crops. The pit 
is to be made as deep as the celery is high, and 
about a foot wide. Pack iu the roots closely to¬ 
gether after cold weather comes on. It often 
happens that celery will make considerable growth 
this month. The storing should not take place 
until cold weather has checked the growth. 
Lettuce. —Put into cold frames the same as cab¬ 
bages. In the warmer parts of the country it will 
pass the winter iu safety with a covering of litter. 
Rhubarb. —It is much better to make new plan¬ 
tations in fall as the plants start very early in spring. 
Old roots may be divided. See article on forcing- 
last month. Old roots force very well. We 
have had good success by placing them in a large 
cask in which a quantity of manure had been 
placed for bottom heat. Light is not necessary. 
Sweet Potatoes should be harvested before any 
blackening frost touches the vines. Dig on a pleas¬ 
ant day, and let the potatoes dry in the sun. Pack 
in boxes or barrels with thoroughly dry straw, and 
put in a place where they will not cool below 60°. 
Flower Garden and Lawn. 
Lawns. —To judge from our own case, the sum¬ 
mer has been particularly severe upon both old 
and new lawns. Bare spots occur where the new 
grass was actually killed by the heat, and there 
will be other places where weeds have obtained a 
foothold aud must be uprooted. All bare spots 
should be attended to this fall. Pull up all weeds, 
and, if needed, put on some rich soil to restore the 
level, and sow an abundance of grass seed. Bone 
aud ashes make an excellent top dressing. Use 
no compost that is likely to bring in weed seeds. 
Winter Protection — It is a mistake to cover half- 
hardy plants too early. Evergreen boughs are most 
serviceable at this season. They are to be stuck 
