AMERICAN AGRICULTURIST. 
[November, 
390 
Contents for November, 1867. 
A-riculturiBt Building-The New. .3 Ulustratiom 
Allan thus—Horticulturally and Economically.410 
Anyric.an Pomolop^ical Society. 
Apples for Vinegar. 
Barn-room-More Wanted.' V ‘‘ 1 ‘f'' 
3 ats—The Little Brown. Illustrated..^! 
Bees—Apiary in November.. 391 
Blackberry and Raspberry—Propagation of.411 
Boys—How to Get them to Stay on the Fairni.405 
Boys’ and Girls’ Columns-Which Premium Will you 
Take ?—A Faithful Sentinel—Our Old Boys and Girls 
—A Boy with his Eyes Open—New Puzzles to be 
Answered — Answers to Problems and Puzzles— 
Waiting but not Watching—About Bells—Danger 
of Hasty Words—A Lesson in Politeness.415-416 
Canada Thistles and Railroads.403 
Cattle-Short-horn Bull “Conjurer”. Illustrated. 
Corn—Cultivation of.. Illustrated. .405 
Crape Myrtle. Illustrated. .Utl 
Dog Law—A National.403 
Do you Want Something Valuable?.393 
Draining Facilitated and Cheapened. Illustrated. .A!)! 
Fair—Kentucky State. .. 398 
Fair—Michigan State. 398 
Fair—New Jersey State... 397 
Fair—New York State.397 
Fair—Nijni-Novgorod, Russia...398 
Fair—Ohio State. 398 
Fair—Wisconsin State. .398 
Farm Hooks—Convenient.3 Illustrations. .404 
Farm Work in November.. '. 390 
Fences across Streams. Illustrated. AQA 
Fish Oil and Guano—Manufacture of. Illustrated.. A(X) 
Flower Garden and Lawn in November..391 
Fruit Garden in November.391 
Garden—Kitchen, in November. 391 
Gates—A Double Entrance. Illustrated. .405 
Grafting—A Curious E.vperiment in.413 
Grape Cuttings in the Open Air. 499 
Grapes and Grape Culture—Notes on. 411 
Grapery—Cold, in November. 391 
Green and Hot-houses in November. 391 
Green-house Shrubs in Common Culture. .413 
Horticultural Society—A Live. 400 
Household Department—Household Ornaments—Pa- 
? er Card Baskets—Mosaic Straw Work—Diary of a 
oung Housekeeper, No. XI—Sewing Machines— 
Stoves and Open Fires—Thanksgiving—House¬ 
keeping Proverbs—Results—Leaves from My Jour¬ 
nal—The Garden — Graham Bread—Composition 
Cake—^Raised Cake—Thanksgiving.2 i«ws. .413-414 
Manure—What Shall the South Do for It ?.403 
Market Reports. 393 
Missouri—A Raid into. 410 
Narcissus—The Hoop-petticoat. Illustrated. 
Orchard and Nursery in November. 391 
Otter—The American. Illustrated. .401 
Oxen—How to Yoke.402 
Peach and its Varieties. 411 
Pear—Clapp’s Favorite. Illustrated. .A!0 
Plaster—Use of on New Land. 399 
Plow—Side-hill or Swivel. 400 
Poultry—Fattening for the Table or Market.403 
Premiums for Obtaining Subscribers. 393 
Recipes—Graham Bread—Ginger Drops—Poor Man’s 
Cake—Old Housekeeper’s Advice. 414 
Ricinus Sanguineus.. . .413 
Russia—Notes on from Mr. Judd. , \ 1^399 
Thirteen Months in a Year. .’ ’ '393 
Three Members of the Temperance Society..389 
Trees—What to Plant by the Roadside.M09 
Violet—A “New” Old. Illustrated..AX! 
Walks and Talks on the Farm—No. 47—Sheep Rais- 
. ing — Raising Grain—Object in Working Land— 
Selling and Buying Farms—The “Stump Lot”— 
Paring and Burning—Value of a good View—Large 
and Smali Farms—Treatment of Meadows.406-407 
Wheat and Chess. 403 
INDEX TO “basket” 
OB shoktbb articles. 
Am. Poultiy Society.395 
Bones, Value of.394 
Briars, To Get Rid of_394 
Broom-corn Seed, Vaiue .394 
Bulbs, Fine.395 
Chicken Cholera.394 
Churning, Cold'Weather.394 
Coal Ashes. .895 
Coal and Gas Tar_.. .394 
Coal Tar for Posts___ .393 
Compost of Leaves...... 395 
Com, When to Plow for. 394 
Ditching Plows.395 
Dogs.394 
Drouth at the West.397 
Fairs, State and Other.. .393 
Pair, Staten Island.397 
Fleeces, Weight of.397 
Garden Manure. 395 
Gypsum... 395 
Hop Culture... 395 
Horses, Destruction of ...394 
Horse, Foot in Month.. .394 
House Drains. 395 
How to Remit.].' 393 
Humbugs, Sundry..,.! i 393 
Ica llouse, Cheap.'. .393 
Ice -House in Ceilar. 395 
Lime, About. ...393 
Lobelias, Beautiftri.385 
OsaTge Orange Seed... ,T 
Partridge, Jiistice to.... 
Penn’a. Ag’l. Coliege... 
Personal Inquiries. 
Pipe, A Safe Water. 
Plants Named. 
Pond Lilies. 
Postage. 
Post Office Money Orders 
Questions to Readers.... 
Rats... 
Registered Letters..'!..'.’. 
Renew Now. 
Request Repeated. 
Rook for Insects. 
Rye for Spring Peed. 
Sandy Land, Bringing up 
Shade in Pastures____ 
Sheep in Oregon.___[ 
Short-horns.”' 
Soap Suds on 'Vines_ , 
Specimen Numbers. 
Stumps, to Rot. 
Subscription Letters.... 
Toads and Rain. 
Trapper’s Guide. 
Well in Quicksand. 
Wheat on Wet Land,... 
Where to Locate. 
,395 
,397 
.397 
,394 
394 
395 
395 
393 
393 
394 
395 
393 
393 
395 
394 
397 
394 
394 
397 
394 
,395 
393 
394 
.393 
395 
395 
394 
.397 
395 
AMERICAN AGRICCLTCRIS T. 
NEW-YORK, NOVEMBER, 1867. 
There is a chilly sound in the word November, 
yet to Americans it is a cheerful month. We read 
Hood’s lines, “ No sun, no moon, no dawn, no 
noon,” and so on, through his description of an 
English fog, to his conclusion. No vemher, while "w^e 
rejoice in the bland noons of onr “ Indian Summer,” 
and in the mellow sunlight, dusky and softened by 
the thin smoke which veils the distant hills. The 
brown leaves are in windrows by the fences; the 
mornings are frosty, but bright and bracing, and the 
sunsets have that ruddy glow which promises other 
days as perfect as the one just passing. So the early 
part of the month goes by, giving time for all nec¬ 
essary labors before the days and nights are colder, 
and the plastic and crumbly soil becomes stone, 
and the storm clouds give us snow instead of show¬ 
ers, and the ringing of the skates, and the shouts 
of the skaters, come up from the ponds. 
The labors and pleasures of the month are va¬ 
rious, being in part a continuation of those of the 
past month, hut chiefly those of that preparation 
for winter, which it is dangerous to postpone. 
The harvests are gathered and secured. In part, 
no doubt, they are already marketed, and paid for. 
The country has been doing, of late years, much 
more a “cash business” than used to be the case, 
and it especially behooves producers promptly to 
check the tendency to any other course. “Short 
credits make long friends,” and the payment on 
the spof value received is better still. 
The brings with it pleasures to those pre¬ 
pared for it, hut suffering to the improvident, and 
to those who, from sickness or no fault of their own, 
are not provided to meet its rigors. If our hearts 
rise in thankfulness to the All-Father for His mercies 
to us, let our hands and hearts go out to His chil¬ 
dren, our brethren, who are likely to suffer. He 
trusts us with good things this year, and we should 
be the almoners of His bounty, good stewards, kind, 
tender, and judicious in sharing our surplus, if we 
would enter into the joy of our Lord, be more wide¬ 
ly useful, and more trusted by Him in the futui-e. 
Hints Al>ont Work, 
Buildings. —It is of prime importance that the fair 
weather of the early part of this month should he 
employed to put the farm buildings and their sur¬ 
roundings in good order for winter, and it is well 
to be a little ahead with such work. Go carefully 
over old buildings, tightening weather boards, re¬ 
newing eaves-troughs and spouts. Clear surface 
ditches, to keep water out of the harn-yards, and 
away from the foundations. Roofs may be tem¬ 
porarily patched without much, if any, nailing, by 
simply driving shingles here and there between the 
courses to carry water over actual holes. Old roofs 
are often more damaged than benefited by mend¬ 
ing, unless it is very thoroughly done. A little care¬ 
less hammering and nail driving will split shingles 
and start nails, and open more holes than it closes. 
Hoads that are to be used during the winter must 
he put in order before frost; the stones picked off, 
gravel or earth put on where they have washed, 
good side drainage made,—on both sides, if pos¬ 
sible,—the surface well rounded to turn water, 
and to make easy turn-offs for the wash that fol¬ 
lows the wheel tracks down the hills. 
Bridges. —If the rains and freshets have moved 
stones in the brooks and runs, and deposited an un¬ 
usual amount of gravel anywhere, it will most like¬ 
ly he where they are contracted to pass through 
bridges or culverts. These should be carefully ex¬ 
amined and cleaned out, for when ice forms, and an 
unusual flow of water comes, serious damage may 
result. It is more important that there should be 
a chance for water to flow off rapidly in passing and 
after passing a bridge, than that it should have easy 
access; a single stone will dam up a stream greatly. 
Fiowing.—?\oyf lands that Avill not he subject to 
wash. The more plowing is done in the fall, the 
more w’ill the hurry of spring work be relieved, 
and, as a general rule, the better will the land be 
prepared for the crops. Fall plowing kills weeds; 
it kills grubs ; it exposes the soil to the action of 
the frost, and if manure be plowed in, which is best 
if the land is prepared for root crops or corn, it be¬ 
comes better incorporated with the soil. Cla)’’ lands 
and heavy loams are especially benefited by fall 
plowing; the action of the frost, or rather thaiving 
and freezing, benefits such land as much as many 
loads of manure. PIoaj such land in ridges, turning 
two furrows together. Good loamy soils may be 
plowed with flat or lap furroAVS. We prefer the 
former, and sandy or light land, or rich and dark 
mould, should be plowed flat 
Grain Fields. —In plowing furrows to carry off 
surface water, where this may be necessary, take 
care that their direction is such that they will not 
collect too much, wash deep gullies, and thus do 
more harm than good. 
Braining. —So long as we do not have real winter 
weather, the W'ork of underdraining may be pushed 
forward. It is more important to keep well up 
with the tile laying, for we may he caught by heavy 
freezing rains and snow-storms, and so all Avork be 
stopped suddenly 
Manure. —Bring in all muck sods, surface parings, 
forest soil, and leaves, that you can, to he used in 
composts, and lay up good even heaps of these ma¬ 
terials, alternated with stable manure,in layers,nsing 
at least tAA’ice as much vegetable mould in whatever 
form yon have it, as of the stable manure. The 
compost heaps should he of assorted materials, all, 
of course, vegetable matter, like potato tops and 
swamp grass, or other long litter, put together 
with a sufflciency of manure to make the whole fer¬ 
ment, or leaving the nitrogenous stable manure out, 
and adding instead freshly dry-slaked lime, or wood 
ashes, at the rate of about one bushel to the cart¬ 
load. Composts of coarse, porous, materials, not 
made Avith lime or ashes, should stand over a sunk¬ 
en hogshead or other vat for containing liquid. 
This should be pumped every few days over the 
heap, and allowed to run back again to the A"at, 
Avhich should be supplied with Avater if there is any 
lack. In all composts, hog manure goes further 
than that of the horse, which is much more pow¬ 
erful in starting aiid maintaining fenneutation than 
that of milch coavs and jmung cattle, but hardly 
equal to that of fattening cattle or well fed oxen. 
Fences. —^^Ve cannot too strongly present the evils 
of bad fences. The freezing and thaAving of winter 
will almost surely develop the weak spots in old 
lines of fences, and breachy cattle will be sure to 
find them, if they are allowed either in the highway 
or in the fields. Grain fields are a strong attraction. 
The fences, therefore, should he looked to, weak 
posts staked up or renewed, sound rails or boards 
put in place of failing ones, and all secured against 
cattle, wind, and frost. 
Horses, if well fed, enjoy cold weather. Although 
they show a natural preference for the sheltered 
side of the barn-yard, they seldom manifest any dis¬ 
like tp exposure to severe cold, unless they have 
been Llanketed, and habituated to warm stables. 
When horses are warm, always blanket them, either 
in stables or in the open air; take care that they 
are exposed to no draughts. When cooled off, re¬ 
move the blanket. Carriage horses, Avhich it is de¬ 
sirable should have a shiny coat, may wear linen 
covers buttoning round the breast, and having a 
crooper attached. Give good daily grooming, 
plenty to eat, Avater regularly, provide good ventila¬ 
tion, and let the sunlight into the stable. 
Beeves. —^Feed freely, but uniformly, all they will 
eat Avith a relish, changing character of the feed 
according to your judgment, if there be an}’’ failure 
of appetite. Keep salt always before them or ac¬ 
cessible. Prepare the feed in another apartment 
from the one in which the cattle stand, and be punc¬ 
tual to the minute in feeding. In increasing the 
amount of grain or oil-meal, do it gradually, Avatch- 
ing the effect. Use the card and brush frequently, 
and litter freely. Beeves need pure air and clean 
stables as much as horses; Avarmth is more im¬ 
portant than light to them, as to all fattening stock. 
