82 
AMERICAN AGRICULTURIST. 
[March, 
Contents for March, 1873, 
Calendar for March. 
Apple, Hurlbutt. . 2 Illustrations . .102 
Boys and Girls’ Columns—About Skates—Letters from 
Young People—Doctor’s Talk about a Candle—Aunt 
Sue’s Puzzle-Box—Locked Out. .7 Illustrations . .107,108 
Bedding Plants, Two New. 2 Illustrations. .101 
Cattle, Hoveu in. 07 
Celery and Cabbage Plants, How to Raise.103 
Cockscomb, New Variegated. Illustrated. .104 
Corn-Marker, A Simple. .Illustrated.. 08 
Dog Laws, Tim Bunker on?.... 08 
Door for Pig-Pen, Self closing. Illustrated.. 07 
Farm-Cart. Illustrated .. 97 
Farmer’s Savings-Bank. 99 
Farming, Disgusted with.-.. 89 
Fence, Movable Wire. Illustrated.. 90 
Fish-Cultnrists’ Convention. 88 
Flower-Garden and Lawn in March. 84 
Fruit-Drier, American. Illustrated.. 89 
Fruit Garden in March. 84 
Fruit Trees, Inducing to Bear.103 
Greenhouse and Window Plants in March. 84 
Guano as Sold in New York. 90 
Hints about Work. 82 
Horse, The Morgan. Illustrated. . 92 
Horseshoeing, Pernicious Teaching in. 99 
Household Department — Home - made Extension 
Lonnge—Feather Fan—Home Topics—Recipes. 
3 Illustrations. .105, 106 
Ice. Accidents on . Illustrated. . 109 
Kitchen Garden in March. 84 
Market-Farming, Localities for.102 
Market Report. 84 
Mink, Trapping the. 2 Illustrations .. 93 
Notes from the Pines—The Icy Sunday—Shellac Var¬ 
nish—Implements—Excelsior Weeding-IIook—Sid¬ 
ney Seed-Sower—House Plants—Hanging-Basket. 
3 Illustrations. .102, 103 
Obituary Notice—Luther Tucker. 89 
Ogden Farm Papers, No. 37—Dr. Voelcker—Sewage 
in England—Fertilizers . 91,92 
Orchard and Nursery in March. 83 
Ox, Smithfield Christmas Prize. Illustrated.. 94 
Peas for Texas.104 
Potatoes, Two New. 92 
Scow, How to Make a.2 Illustrations .. 96 
Stanchions, Catch for. Illustrated.. 97 
Stock in Texas, Improved. 98 
Stone Fruits, Propagating. 103 
Timber Land, Clearing.4 Illustrations.. 95 
Tomato, Canada Victor. Illustrated. . 101 
Walks and Talks on the Farm, No. Ill—High Farm¬ 
ing—Mannre—Agricultural Papers—Farm Labor- 
Stirring the Soil—Wheat—Wheat in California.. .94, 95 
Wheel, Hoisting.... Illustrated. . 97 
INDEX TO “BASKET,” OB SHORTER ARTICLES. 
Apples. Long-Keeping.. .80 !Locate, Where to.87 
Apple-Trees, Fungus on..8S [Magazine, The Practical. .86 
Barn Plan That.88 Manure for One Acre 
Breeding In-and-in.S7 
Butter-Making.8S 
Calked Foot.S8 
Can lias.87 
Catalogues Received.S8 
Cattle‘in Western Pa.88 
Cement for Drain-Tiles... 87 
Chromos.85 
Churning, Quick. ...87 
Clay with Sandy Soils, 
Mixing.88 
Clover, Plowing Under...87 
Colts, Working Young.. .88 
Corn, Fodder.87 
Corn-Planters.88 
Corn-Stalks.88 
Cow-Milker.87 
Cows, Cost of Keeping.. .83 
Cranberries and Onions. .S8 
Earth-Worms in Pots-SS 
Elk.88 
Garget, Cure for.87 
Good Advice. .86 
Good Words from New 
Subscribers.S5 
Grass, Bermuda.88 
Grubs.88 
Holstein Cattle, Value of.S7 
Horses, Cost of Feeding. ,S7 
Horses, How Much do 
they Sleep ?. 88 
Labor Question.. .87 
83 
Milk-Coolers. 
Oats for Butter. 86 
Pereheron Horses in Pa. .88 
Pigs, Black Berkshire... 87 
Pisciculturists, Hints for..87 
Potash.88 
Potash, Weight of a Bar¬ 
rel of.'.86 
Proud Flesh.88 
Replies by Mail.85 
Roots, English.87 
Sawdust in the Garden.. .88 
Scratches.86 
Seeds from Agricultural 
Department.88 
Sheep, Scours in.86 
Sows, Feeding Breeding.86 
Sows, Keeping too Fat.. .87 
Stock-Farm, Managing a..87 
Sugar-Beets for Pigs.87 
Sugar from Melons.8S 
Sundry Humbugs.85 
Tan-Bark for Manure.87 
Timber, Kyanizing..... ..87 
Tools for Boys.86 
Vegetables, Analysis of. .88 
West Point.8S 
Wheat, Pasturing in Win¬ 
ter .87 
Wheat, Spring.86 
Whitefish.,...S7 
White Mustard.87 
Early IPIowiMg' iTor WSaoat.—“ A. S.,” 
Tipton, Center Co., Pa., writes us that last season he 
plowed a strip of land in May, for “ fallow,” but, on a 
neighbor saying that the sun would burn the substance 
out of the soil, he stopped plowing until it was time to 
get the ground ready for the fall sowing, when the 
rest of the field was plowed and sown. When the wheat 
was reaped, the early-plowed ground yielded a good 
crop, equal to 20 bushels per acre, while the rest yielded 
only 5 bushels. He believes now in “fallows.” 
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AMERICAN AGRICULTURIST. 
NEW YORK, MARCH, 1873. 
Spring is nominally here. The field labors of 
the year will soon commence, and we should see 
that everything is ready for energetic, systematic 
work. How to make money by farming is the great 
question. There are two ways of getting rich. 
One is to spend less than you earn ; and the other 
is to earn more than you spend. It may be thought 
that this is a distinction without a difference; but 
such is not the case. The farmer who aims to save 
50 cents out of every dollar he gets is a very differ¬ 
ent man from the farmer who aims to get $1.50 in¬ 
stead of $1.00. One saves just as much money as 
the other. But the latter has just twice as much 
to spend as the former. And it will make quite a 
difference to a farmer and to his family, aud to the 
community in which he lives, whether he spends 
$500 or $1,000 a year; or still more whether he 
spends $2,000 instead of $1,000. The distinction 
we make, therefore, is one worth considering. We 
believe in economy; but we believe still more in 
work. When John Johnston was plowing one hot 
day in his summer-fallow, a butcher came to buy 
some cattle. Mr. J. told liitn his price and then 
started the horses, and the butcher walked by his 
side. He was very fat, and the land was soft 
and mellow, and the perspiration soon burst from 
every pore. By the time lie got to the end of the 
field, he was willing to “ split the difference.” Mr. 
J. turned in again, aud the butcher still walked by 
liis side. When they got back to the starting point, 
Mr. J. put in the plow again and started the horses. 
“ Hold on, Johnston,” exclaimed the butcher, “ I’ll 
take um ; I would not walk up and down that field 
again for double the money.” Here is a man who 
knew his own mind—knew what his cattle were 
worth; and above all he knew the value of time. He 
knew that a man and team were worth 30 cents an 
hour. He knew that if he stopped and went home 
with the butcher the men working in the field 
would be likely to do less work while he was gone. 
An hour’s idle talk would probably have cost him 
50 cents. He was determined to save this 50 cents 
and run the risk of the butcher not giving what the 
cattle were worth. And this affords one reason 
why Mr. Johnston has lived in great comfort, 
brought up a large family, and made over one hun¬ 
dred thousand dollars by farming. 
Mrnts a.1>OH£ 
Make up your mind what you intend to do. Sit 
down and count the cost. Do not undertake more 
than you can perform. It is unwise to commence 
work that you are not able to finish in due season. 
Many a farmer loses more by getting behindhand 
with his spring work than would buy another team, 
and pay the wages of a man for a year. This has, 
at any rate, been true more than once in our own 
experience. Have you not found it so ? 
What then shall we do ? —Shall we buy more horses 
and hire more men? Not if we can help it. It 
would probably be better to plow less land. This 
is a point each farmer must decide for himself. All 
we can say is, do not get behindhand with your 
work. Almost anything is better than this. 
The Seasons do not Change. —We arc quite apt to 
blame the weather. And yet it is a matter of fact 
that there i s no change in our climate. There have 
always been wet years and cold years and years of 
great drouth. We should be prepared for them. 
Underdraining on all wet soils is indispensable 
to real success ia farming. A well-drained and well- 
worked heavy soil is rarely affected by drouth. 
Every enterprising farmer will do more or less 
draining every spring. If lie once commences to 
underdrain, and does the work well, he will not be 
likely to stop until he has made all his land dry. 
Top-dressing Grass-Land is a grand means <sf ame¬ 
liorating the effect of drouth. Spread the manure 
as early as possible in the spring, and if you have 
a Thomas harrow use it freely to break up the 
manure. 
Go over the Farm as soon as the snow melts in the 
spring. You will see many things that need to be 
done. Make a note of them, and prepare to do them 
at the right time. 
Let off Surface Water. —This is always in order. j 
Farmers will let it off wheat, but very few ever 
think of letting it off a bare stubble. If there is no 
crop to kill, they think it can do no harm. A few 
hours’ judicious labor will often let off more water 
in a day than the sun at this season can e vaporate 
in a month. 
Make your Walks Dry. —Put down planks or 
boards if necessary ; but it is far better to get the 
water off. You can do this if you attend to the 
matter before the water soaks into the ground. 
Irrigating Grass-Land at this season is a capital 
thing, provided the laud rests on a dry porous sub¬ 
soil or is uuderdrained. But irrigating low, wet 
land will do no good. Better get off all the water 
you can, instead of getting more on to it. 
Drain first, and then Irrigate. —This will double or 
treble your grass crop and not injure the quality. 
There are many streams that might be easily 
dammed up and the water diverted over acres of 
grass-land at a small cost. It is a mistake to sup¬ 
pose that irrigation is only necessary in dry wea¬ 
ther. It does great good on grass-land early in the 
spring. Try it. 
Sow Grass and Clover Seed on Wheat early in the 
spring, unless you propose to harrow the wheat. | 
It is seldom that the seed is injured by the frost. 
Do not spare the seed, and be careful not to miss 
any land. 
Plaster may be sown at any time when most con¬ 
venient—from one to two bushels per acre is 
enough. It will do no good on low, wet land. 
Repair the Fences. —This can be clone at times j 
when other work is not pressing—say after a rain, 
when the ground is too wet to plow. 
Piling Manure should be done, if done at all, early 
in the spring. Many farmers prefer to draw their 
manure out of the yards directly on to the land. 
We will not argue the question here. Ail we sny 
is, do something with the manure. Either use it 
