162 
AMERICAN AGRICULTURIST. 
[May, 
Contents for May, 1873. 
Animals, High-feeding Thorough-bred.179 
Bee Notes for May.109 
Boys and Girls’ Columns—The Menagerie Prizes— 
Aunt Sue’s Puzzle-Box—About Aunt Sue’s Prizes— 
Our Menagerie . Illustrated.. 1S7, 1S8 
Boys and Girls, To.. 1G9 
Broom-Corn Culture.4 Illustrations. .170 
Butter, What is Said of . 179 
Castor-Beans. 17G 
Codling-Moth —Wier’S Trap . 2 Illustrations. .181 
Cow at Home, Jersey . .171 
Farmers and Railroads.169 
Farm Work for Slay.162 
Feed, Nutritive Value of... . *.173 
Fence, A New Flood . Illustrated. .172 
Flax, Cultivating. . .178 
Flowers for Cutting. 1S3 
Flower-Garden and Lawn for May.164 
Fruit Garden for May. . 103 
Gardeners, Hint for Young. Illustrated.. 169 
Grape-Vines. 1S3 
Greenhouse and Window Plants for May.164 
Horse-Fork, Use of... Illustrated.. 178 
Horse’s Broken Leg. How to Set a.173 
Household Department—A Boiled Knife—What to Do 
with Bleeding Wounds--Rag-Bags- Home Topics— 
Steamed Corn-Bread.4 Illustrations. .185,186 
Jersey Cattle for Beef.. 178 
Kitchen Garden for May.163 
Lettuce in Greenhouses, Forcing. 183 
Market Reports.164- 
Marketing Produce.181 
Mocking-Bird. Illustrated.. 173 
Moving-Bee. Illustrated. 161 
Ogden Farm Papers, No. 39—Manure on Clay Soil- 
Abortion in Cattle—Deep-Can System.170, ' 71 
Orchard and Nursery for May. 163 
Pearl-Fishing in Vermont.3 Illustrations. .179 
Pear, Winter Nelis.2 Illustrations. .183 
Plants—Calls, A Native. Illustrated.. 181 
Plants, Ginseng . .. Illustrated. .181 
Quicksands, Draining. 173 
Roots as Manure .175 
Roses, A Lady’s Experience with. 182 
Sheep, Dipping. Illustrated. .175 
Steam-Motor, Parvin’s. Musirated. .172 
Steam on the Farm. Illustrated . .173 
Trout, Feeding Young.178 
Walks and Talks on the Farm, No. 113—Curing Corn 
Fodder—Manuring Land—Weeds—Wages.174, 175 
Water-Wheel for Irrigation . . Illustrated.. 176 
Water-Cress Cultivation.183 
INDEX TO “BASKET,” OR SHORTER ARTICLES. 
Advertisements,Read thel67 
Arithmetical.167 
Ashes from Spent, Tan- 
Bitrk. 168 
Basket.The Paragon.2 777.168 
Bermuda Coffee and 
other Products.168 
Boring.167 
\ treed i ng. Pro per Age for. 16S 
Bureau of Statistics.167 
Bushel, Standard.166 
Calf. Weak Eyes in a... .167 
Catalogues Received.... 108 
Chopped Oats aud Corn..168 
Clover. Alsike.160 
Colt, Feeding a Yearling.107 
Colts. Management.16S 
Common’s Surprise Po¬ 
tato, etc. 1GS 1 
Con irote Walls. . 167 
Corn for Fodder, Sowed.16S 
Corn. 120 Bushels to the 
Acre.166 
Contemporary's Opinion. 165 
Cow, A Gocd Jersey.167 
Cow-Peas. Culture of_166 
Cows for Draft Purposes.166 
Cribbing.166 
Editor, An Enraged.163 
Encouraging from Texas.167 
Envine for Thrashing- 
Machine .160 
Epizootic. 167 
Estimate Wanted.1GH 
Feed Roots after Milking 107 
Fence-Wire.167 
Garget.166 
Gophers, How to Kill...167 
Green Manuring.167 
Guano, Peruvian.167 
Harrowing 
Hay, Red-Top for.165 
Hay without Barn-Yard 
Manure.166 
Homoeopathic Veterinary 
Practice.1G8 
House, Plan for a.167 
Humbugs, Sundry.165 
Indian Tan.167 
Iron-Pipe, Galvanized.. .168 
Letters, No Anonymous.165 
Lime and Manure.168 
Manure, Animal.167 
Manure-Eating Cows... .168 
Milk-Pails.166 
Mortar, Materials for_167 
No Name.165 
Petroleum, Crude.166 
Plaster on Spring Crops. 167 
Plows, Swivel....*... 160 
Potash as a Fertilizer .. .167 
Potatoes—Early Peas_168 
Poultry Profits.167 
Powder and Caterpillars.167 
“Put it in tlie April No.”105 
Rubber Paint, American.168 
Russian Crabs.167 
St. Vitus Dance.16S 
Seeding Grass in Spring.166 
Snakes, Do they Swallow 
their Young?.165 
Society, National Colum- 
barian.165 
Spavin, Bog.167 
Stable Manure, Baling.. .166 
Sulphuric Acid, Diluted. 108 
Taylor’s Cattle Food_168 
Tobacco Culture as to its 
Morality.168 
Variegated Leaves.168 
Wells, Artesian.167 
Wound, Unhealed.167 
166 
ttitidl I*Jaster for — 
“II. P. M..” Walworth, Wis., asks if it will pay to use 
salt and plaster for grass. The salt cost him 1 54 cent per 
pound, and the plaster >4 cent.—Use the plaster alone, 
100 pounds per acre. Try the salt on a few rods, at, the 
rate of one pound to the square rod. As a rule, it will 
not pay to use salt for manure at $30 per ton. 
Calendar for May. 
Boston,EEna- 
N. 
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l Washington, 
land , N. 
York 
Philadelphia , 
Man,/ land. 
State. 
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Ohio. 
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n.M 
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n.M 
II. M. 
n.M 
n.M 
M. M. 
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PHASES OF THE MOON. 
MOON. 
BOSTON. 
N. 
YORK. 
WASH 
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30 ni. 
AMERICAN AGRICULTURIST. 
NEW YORK, MAY, 1873. 
We are sometimes asked, “How early will it do 
to sow this or that crop ? ” A more important 
question with many of us is, “ How late will it do 
to sow or plant? ” On our own farm, we aim to 
get in our crops as early as possible. If the land 
is in good working order, we have never sustained 
any injury from too early sowing or planting. But 
it is a rare season when we are able to sow as early 
as we wish. As a rule, do what we will, it is not 
an easy matter to get in the seed at what we consi¬ 
der the best time. And we have to run more or 
less risk from late sowing and planting. In look¬ 
ing over our diary, we find that we commenced 
sowing barley in I860 011 the 12th of April, the 
land being, according to the record, “ in prime 
order.” But after this, owing to rainy weather, 
the work dragged ; and we did not finish sowing 
until May 1st. We sowed field peas May 1st and 
2d ; planted potatoes May 5tli to llt-h ; corn, May 
17th to 22d. 
In 1867.—Commenced plowing April 12th. Drill¬ 
ed in barley April 18th. Planted field potatoes 
May 17th-25th. Commenced to plant corn June 
5th, and finished June 12tli. Planted potatoes (in 
another field) June 16tli—and had a good yield. 
Planted beans June 15th. Commenced cutting 
clover June 28th; wheat, July 16th. 
I 11 1868.—Commenced plowing on corn-stubble 
for barley March 26th. Finished the field of 15 
aeres March 29th. Commenced sowing March 31st. 
This was a remarkably early season ; hut we did 
not get through sowing our spring grains (barley, 
oats, and peas) until April 25th. “ May 3d, aspara¬ 
gus just coming through the ground.” Com¬ 
menced planting potatoes May 6th—finished June 
4th. Set out tomato plants from pots May 23d. 
Commenced planting corn May 28th; finished 
June 2d. “ First green-peas from garden, Carter's 
First Crop , June 19th.” Planting field beans 
June 11th. Commenced cutting clover June 24th; 
wheat, July 16th. 
1869.—April 15th, sowed three bushels Arnautka 
spring wheat from Department of Agriculture—a 
miserable crop. April 16th, plowing for aud sow¬ 
ing oats. April 17th, four teams plowing in fall- j 
fallow for barley. April 22d, drilled in the barley. 
This was quite as good a crop as that sown in 
March, 1863—over 50 bushels per acre. April 27th. 
harrowing winter wheat and sowing clover seed. 
May 1st, drilling in oats. May 10th, planting po¬ 
tatoes. May 12th, plowing for corn. May lotli. 
commenced drilling in corn, close up to the plows. 
Finished planting corn June 2d. June 22d, first 
green-peas from garden. July 5th, commenced 
cutting clover. July 191 h, gathered the turnip seed. 
July 29th, commenced cutting wheat with two 
reaping-machines. July 31, cutting six-rowed 
barley. August 3d, thrashing wheat as it was 
drawn in from the field. 
1870. —Commenced plowing April 14tli, but the 
frost was not fairly out of the ground, and had to 
stop. May 18th, planting corn. May 20th, plant¬ 
ing potatoes, and finished May 28th. 
1871. —April lOtll, drilled in ten acres of oats and 
peas—three bushels of peas and one bushel of oats 
per acre. April 12th, two teams plowing on fallow 
for mustard and rape. April 22d, weighed five 
grade Cotswold-Merino lambs, nine weeks old— 
average 49 lbs. each. April 25th, cultivating fall- 
plowed corn-stubble land for mangel-wurzel. 
April 25th, sowed Montana spring wheat, also 
Rocky Mountain spring wheat, received from De¬ 
partment of Agriculture (both a failure). April 
26th, began plowing for corn. May 8tli, ridging 
for mangels ; finished sowing mangels May 12th. 
May 19th, a few mangel plants, the first sown, just 
1 commenced to break the ground. May 22d, plant¬ 
ing potatoes and corn. May 29th, sowed plaster 
and ashes on the corn, which is just up. June 1st, 
commenced to hoe mangels; owing to the dry 
weather, they came up very irregularly. June 6th, 
planted corn on low land. June 9ih, plowing fal¬ 
low second time. July 3d, commenced cutting 
clover. July 15th, commenced cutting wheat 
with one machine; cut and hound 12 acres the 
first day. July 20th, plowing fallow third time, 
and sowing rape. July 26th, sowed white mustard. 
July 528th, commenced cutting oats and peas—at 
first with sliort-bladed scythes, but found it slow 
work; tried a Johnston reaper, and found that the 
machine cut the crop, which was a very heavy one, 
quite as well as we could cut it with scythes. 
Last year the spring was about two weeks later 
than the year before. We did not sow mangels 
until about the first of June, but we soaked the 
6eed, and the plants were ready to single out quite 
as early as the crop of 1871, sown three weeks 
earlier. 
We will not trouble our readers with further de¬ 
tails. We give these brief extracts from our diary 
to show the usual range of the sowing aud plant¬ 
ing season on our own farm. 
Hiuts. about Work. 
These monthly Hints are written on the farm 
alluded to above, but we aim to make them gene¬ 
rally useful. If some of our readers are harvesting 
wheat when we are talking about planting coru, 
they must bear in mind the difference iu climate. 
How to Flow and Fant admits of greater diversity 
and a far greater chance for improvement than 
when to plant. The seasons are, to a great extent, 
beyond our control, but the chemical and mechan¬ 
ical principles of agriculture are everywhere the 
same, and we should study to adapt them to the 
character of the soil and climate. Much of our 
success will depend on our ability to economize 
our own strength and energy and the strength of 
our men and teams. The more thoroughly we 
study scientific and mechanical principles the 
greater will be our ability to save labor. 
“Much TForifc with Little Labor" should lie the 
motto of every intelligent American farmer. 
Hir/h Wages are a great blessing, provided the 
men can earn them. Temporary high prices, whe¬ 
ther of wages or of commodities, obtained by 
strikes or combinations which check production, 
are a curse to individuals and communities. 
The Best Men are the Cheapest .—Every experienced 
farmer knows this to he the case; and yet it is rare 
