Agriculture is the most healthy , the most useful , and the most noble employment of man .— Washington. 
VOL. Vill. _NEW YORK, MARCH, 1849._NO. ill. 
Messrs. Allen, Editors. C. M. Saxton, Publisher, 121 Fulton Street- 
THE 
AMERICAN AGRICULTURIST 
AND 
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WORK FOR MARCH, NORTH AND WEST. 
Maple Sugar. —Maple sugar should now be 
made by all who have trees suitable for it. No 
tree should be tapped before it is from 50 to 60 
years of age, say 12 to 15 inches in diameter; and 
even then, if the annual drawing of the sap is too 
profuse, the trees will become sickly and die from 
premature decay. The amount of sugar obtained 
from each tree varies from different causes. A cold 
and dry winter renders them more productive than, 
a changeable and humid one. Let it be remenv* 
bered that when a frosty night is followed by a 
dry and sunny day, the sap flows abundantly; and 
that in cold, frosty weather, or in rainy weather, 
or when the nights are mild, with little or no frost, 
it almost ceases to run. Trees which grow in low, 
moist places afford a greater quantity of sap, but 
less sugar, than those which occupy rising grounds. 
The sap, also, from isolated trees, left standing in 
the middle of pastures or fields, or by the sides of 
fences, is regarded as best, and will produce more 
sugar than that from trees growing in a forest. 
For directions for tapping the trees and making 
the sugar, see p. 89, of our third volume. 
Fences .*—These should undergo a thorough ex¬ 
amination and repair, new ones built, and all super¬ 
fluous ones torn away, as soon as the frost is out 
of the ground. 
Meadows and Old Fields. —If you have any 
meadows or old fields that are sward-bound, oi 
which bore but indifferent crops of hay last season, 
give them a thorough harrowing as soon as the. 
frost is out of the surface, while the ground is soft ; 
then sow to each acre 4 quarts of Timothy seed, 
10 lbs. of clover seed, 1 bushel of plaster of Paris, 
5 bushels of wood ashes, and 5 bushels of newly- 
slacked lime, all well mixed, and finish off by 
rolling. 
