4,2 
AMERICAN AGRICULTURIST. 
(February, 
Contents for February, 1873. 
Calendar for February. 
Apple, Shockley.— lMuslrated.. 62 
Bee Notea for February....49 
Boys and Girls’ Columns—Prizes for 1873—Doctor’s 
Talk about a Candle—Something to Try at—Aunt 
Sue’s Puzzle-Box—Tying Grandpa’s Shoes. 
7 Illustrations.. 67, 68 
Canker-Worms and Printer’s Ink.63 
Capsicums, Ornamental .. Illustrated . .61 
Carbolic Acid, Using Crude .51 
Cattle, Chillingham . Illustrated . .51 
Cattle Market for 1S72.59 
Cattle, Winter Management at a Prize Farm.59 
Cottcn, New Variety of.50 
Cows, Profit from Dairy.58 
Crawfish and Cranberries.62 
Crops that require Rich Land.59 
Farming, How to Learn.58 
Ferns, Some Evergreen Native.3 Illustrations. 63 
Flax, New Zealand.. Illustrated . .61 
Flower Garden and Lawn for February. .44 
Fruit Garden for February.43 
Fruit in Nebraska.—62 
Greenhouse and Window Plants for February... 44 
Hints about Work.42 
Horses’ Feet and Legs, Diseases in. Illustrated . .53 
Horse, The Percheron. 58 
Household Department—Coal and Wood Boxes—Shel¬ 
lac Varnish—Scuttle for Base-burning Stoves—Home 
Topics—Neighborly Kindness—Sausage-Making and 
Keeping.5 Illustrations . .65, 60 
Ice Houses, Company. 59 
Kitchen Garden for February.44 
Libel Case, English Agricultural.50 
Manures, Artificial.50 
Market Reports. 44 
Mulberries. 63 
Ogden Farm Papers, No. 36—European Agriculture- 
Economy—Value of Laud—Cattle in Europe—Irriga¬ 
tion in Italy. ..52 
Orchard and Nursery for February.44 
Ox-Yoke, How to Make.3 Illustrations.. 56 
Pea-Straw, Is it Good for Fodder?.51 
Pigs, Importing Prize.58 
Pot-Plants, Supports for. 63 
Roses—The Class to Plant.62 
Salmon Spawn on the Penobscot. .50 
Seeds and Plants by Mail. 63 
Sheep on the Plains.. 4 Illustrations.. 57 
Squash, Marblehead. Illustrated. .Si 
Stock Ponds. .3 Illustrations . .50 
Stock, Watering, in Winter. Illustrated. .53 
Sugar-Beets, Culture of— .50 
Trotting Stallion, Fearful... 60 
Turkeys for Breeders, Selection of... .58 
Vegetables—A Few Select Kinds.62 
Walks and Talks on the Farm, No. 110—Farming and 
Farmers—Principles in Agriculture—Farming in 
Iowa—Farm Work—Essex Pigs.54, 55 
INDEX TO “BASKET, 
Apple-Trees, Flowcrless. .45 
Artichoke, Jerusalem.47 
Australian Blue Gum.47 
Bacon, English Breakfast.47 
Barn Plan.46 
Beans and Pod for Name..48 
Bee Journal, American—49 
Bee-Keepers’ Association, 
North-eastern.49 
Bee-Keepers’ Soc., North 
American.49 
Book on Market-Garden 
ing.46 
Brood-Mare, Feed for.46 
Broom-Sedge.47 
Carbon-Paper.47 
Cattle, Rape for. 49 
Cheese Factory.47 
Colorado. . .48 
Complimentary.47 
Condensed Milk.49 
Cones of Spruce Pine.46 
Contributor.47 
Corn, Drilling in Straight 
Rows . .49 
Cranberries.49 
Dairy Matters.49 
Devon Herd-Book, Am—48 
Dog Laws in Ohio.49 
Draining .. ..47 
Drive-Well.47 
Drones and Swarming... .50 
Eye-Stones.48 
Farmers’ Club..45 
Farming without Hard 
Work .'. .49 
Fish-Culture.49 
Goats, Cashmere.47 
Grape-Vines, Injured.47 
Greenhouse Construction.49 
Hay-Press, Hand.46 
Hogs, Weight of Thorough¬ 
bred . 46 
on suokteu articles. 
Lime and Manure.47 
Liver, Enlarged.47 
Lolling of the Tongue... .47 
Magnolia.49 
Mummy-Wheat.. ..48 
Night-Soil, Utilizing. 47 
6il-Cake.45 
Orchard.48 
Painting in Winter.46 
Parsnips, Stringy.47 
Peach-Orchard.49 
Pigs Losing their Tails.,..48 
Pigs, Smal 1 Breed Wanted.48 
Pigs, Weight of Essex... .46 
Pipe for a Ram, Proper... .47 
Plowing in Whiter.46 
Potash, Weight of a Barrel 
of. 45 
Potatoes, Mixing.47 
Potatoes, Questions about.47 
Rape for. Sheep.48 
Sawdust for Bedding.48 
Sheep and Where to Raise 
Them.48 
Sheep, Sickness among.. .47 
Sheep, Treatment of..48 
Snakes, Do they Swallow 
their Young?.48 
Stable Fittings, Dimen¬ 
sions of .. ...46 
Staggers.47 
Stock for the South.48 
Stock for Mountain Pas¬ 
tures, Best.47 
Strawberries... ...48 
Sundry Humbugs.45 
Tanner’s Waste, Value of.47 
Tiles, Hints about Laying.47 
To Nurserymen, Florists, 
etc.48 
Trophy Tomato.49 
Washing Machine.4S 
Water-Wheels.46 
Horses. Catarrh in.47 Wells or Springs.47 
Horses, Doctoring.46; Will Plaster Fix Ammo- 
Ice-Ilousc.i.47 nia?.......48 
Labor. . . 49 Yachts and Scows.48 
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PHASES OF THE MOON. 
MOON. 
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N. YORK. 
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G 15 m. 
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New M’u 
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10 33 ev. 
10 20 ev. 
10 14 ev. 
10 2 ev. 
9 32 ev. 
A M EIIIC A N A Cl R IC If L T II It IS T. 
NEW YORK, FEBRUARY, 1878. 
This is the last month of winter. Spring will 
soon be here, and it is well to think about and pre¬ 
pare for its labors. Wo do not mean by this that 
our winter’s work will soon be ended. We, at the 
North at least, shall be obliged to feed our stock 
for at least three months longer. There will also 
be many days and weeks in which nothing can be 
done except what we call winter’s work. It is 
nevertheless true that spring is approaching. The 
fact is that the seasons run into or overlap each 
other, and if we are wise we shall be fully prepared 
at any time to do spring work in winter and winter 
work in spring. We know not when one ends and 
the other commences. It is this uncertainty in 
regard to the season that forms one of the marked 
peculiarities of farm work. Some people tell us 
that farm life is made up of a dull round of mono¬ 
tonous duties. They know nothing about it. Our 
labors are not half so monotonous as those of the 
factory, the shop, the store, or the office. There 
are certain things that must be done every day, but 
is not this true of all occupations ? The philosopher 
who figured up how many times he would have to 
dress and undress himself if lie lived to be three¬ 
score years and ten, and was so overwhelmed at 
the thought of having to do such au enormous task 
that lie committed suicide, was a philosopher only 
iu name. We have heard a farmer complain of 
how many times he had to carry a pailful of feed 
to his pig. He said lie did not think it paid. We 
have not much sympathy with the men who are 
forever asking, “Does forming pay?” or “Does 
life pay?” Such men will find little pleasure or 
profit in any occupation. Farm life is dull only to 
the dullard. Tlic fault is in the man, not in the 
work. We find that the duties and labors of modern 
agriculture require, the exercise of all the talents 
that we possess—and more, too. Lonely form life 
may be—though we do uot find it so—dull and 
monotonous it never need be. If you find it so, 
wake up, stir yourself, think, study, work. What¬ 
ever your hands find to do, do it with your might. 
Wc never knew a day ou a farm when there was 
not something to do. We have rarely known a 
night set in when there was not something left 
undone that ought to be done. Again we say, Wake 
up, arouse your faculties, see how quick and how 
well you can do your this or that particular work, 
and with the least expenditure of force. Then, 
when it is done, go at something else. Try and get 
the work done—everything—and then, when you 
can not think of another single thing that ought to 
be done, take a good rest, enjoy' yourself, visit your 
friends and neighbors, and have a good time gene¬ 
rally. One who does thus will never find farm life 
dull. 
If you find that you have more energy than your 
present forming operations call into exercise, en¬ 
large them. We do not mean by this, necessarily, 
that you had better get a larger farm. This may or 
may not be wise. But there are many other ways 
of increasing the demand on your time, thought, 
and energy, such as adopting a higher system of 
farming, raising thorough-bred stock to sell for 
breeding purposes; or you may go more exten¬ 
sively into fruit culture, seed-growing, or market¬ 
gardening. Iu this country there is no lack of 
profitable work for any man capable of doing it. 
IBia&ts jdSmmhiS Worlt. 
We have said there is no lack of profitable work 
for any man capable of doing it. But there are 
different degrees of capacity. We have to compete 
with each other, and the man that can accomplish 
a given amount of work at the least cost makes the 
most money. 
Farmers must Study Economy .—We do not mean 
by this that they must live cheaply. Farmers are 
not often extravagant in their style of dress and 
manner of living. It is the very best of economy 
to dress warm, and comfortable, and appropriately 
to the work. It is good economy to make the 
house as pleasant as possible. It is good economy 
to eat well, sleep well, and work hard. 
Working Hard is not always working to the best 
advantage. A man may work very hard chopping 
wood with a dull axe, or pumping water with a 
pump that “ sucks air,” but he is not working with 
economy. A man gets pay, or ought to get it, uot 
for “working,” but for what lie accomplishes. This 
is as true of the former as of his hired men, though 
we do not feel its force so fully in the one case as 
in the other. We do not like to pay a man for 
carrying one pail of water when he might just as 
well carry two, or for plowing or harrowing with 
one horse when he might just as well drive three. 
But formers themselves often do things equally 
wasteful of time and labor. Do we never take a 
load to the city and come back empty, and then go 
empty to the city to bring back a load, and thus 
lose half our own time and that of the team, and 
pay double toll into the bargain ? 
True Scientific Farming consists largely of the ex¬ 
ercise of common-sense. No amount of mere , 
knowledge will enable us to dispense with system, 
order, judicious planning, and economical work. 
Live-Stock .—Much of the success of a former de¬ 
pends on the proper and economical management 
of his live-stock. We should never forget that it ! 
is live stock. We can paint an implement and 
stow it away until required, but our animals must 
have food to eat every day. They must have food 
enough to keep them warm aud sustain the vital 
functions. If you do not give them enough they 
must live ou their own flit and flesh. 
Turning Animals to a Straw-Stack, and letting 
them help themselves, seems au economical way 
of wintering stock, but it is fearfully extravagant. 
Wc do not mean merely that they waste the straw, 
but it is compelling them to eat their own bodies 
—it is feeding them on beef, mutton, butter, ami 
fat! Can you afford to do so ? 
Horses .—With us, timothy hay sells for as much 
per ton as we can buy corn-meal for. Iu such cir¬ 
cumstances, where a farmer has plenty’ of good 
bright oat or wheat straw, it is poor economy to 
feed timothy hay to farm horses. Cut up the straw 
into chaff. A bushel of it will weigh about 8 lbs. 
If the horses are not workiug, mix tw'o quarts of 
corn-meal with a bushel of the chaff, aud let them I 
