138 
WORK FOR MAY, NORTH AND WEST. 
Felling Resinous Timber. —Any time during this 
month, or the next three months following, all 
kinds of pine, larch, and other resinous trees may 
be cut, as the pores of their wood will be filled 
with resin, which serves to increase the strength 
and durability of their timber. (See p. 23, of the 
current volume.) 
Hauling and Securing Fuel. —As soon as your 
crops are all sown, and other business will allow 
you to attend to it, your fuel may be drawn, while 
dry, and stored in your wood sheds, or it may be 
neatly piled up, and covered over at the top with 
boards, in order to prevent future injury from wet. 
Sowing Indian Corn for Soiling. —We cannot 
too often remind our readers of the great advan¬ 
tage of sowing corn for green fodder, where it is 
valuable, which is always the case in the vicinity 
of cities and the larger class of towns. By com¬ 
mencing the sowing the latter part of this month, 
and continuing the operation each successive week 
or ten days till August, a constant supply of choice 
food will be secured during the remainder of the 
season, when it will be most wanted. The natural 
grasses of the pastures, when closely fed, begin to 
give out in July ; and if the season prove dry, 
they frequently continue short for several months. 
A comparatively small quantity of land, richly 
supplied with manure, finely prepared and cultivat¬ 
ed, will yield an immense quantity of sweet, nutri¬ 
tious fodder during this time of drought. From the 
experience of our best dairymen, an acre of corn, 
thus cultivated, will supply ample food for four 
cows during three months. It may be fed from 
racks or mangers in the yard, or in the stables, if 
they are not too warm; or, it may be scattered 
from a cart upon the ground, after which the cattle 
may be admitted, where they will devour the 
whole—stalks as well as the blades. If the fodder 
be v/ilted a few hours in the sun, previous to giv¬ 
ing it to the animals, it is believed to be more 
wholesome and less likely to produce hoven, or 
wind in the bowels. 
Planting Corn as a General Crop. —This, if not 
attended to last month, may be done this, according 
to the directions given at p. 153 of our third 
volume; or at p. 82, vol. vi. 
Sowing Broom Corn. —The best soil for this 
plant is similar to that required for maize. It 
should be rich, warm, and not subject to early 
frcr&'ts, like the “intervals,” or “bottoms,” of the Con¬ 
necticut, the Mohawk, the Sciota, &c. The best 
crops are usually raised on a green sward, turned 
over as late as possible in the fall to kill the worms. 
But if the land be poor, it must be enriched by a 
liberal supply of well-decomposed farmyard dung, 
with additions of guano, plaster, oyster-shell lime, 
or poudrette. It should be planted as early as the 
15th of this month, in hills, about two by three 
feet apart. If the seed be good, drop 15 or 20 of 
them into each hill, and cover them from an inch 
to an inch and a half deep. 
When properly cultivated, and brought in good 
condition to the New-York market, broom corn, of 
the best quality, will sell for $160 to $250 per 
ton. 
Planting Potatoes as a General Crop .—The 
sooner this is done the better, as early-planted 
potatoes are considered more secure against the 
rot. For full and complete directions for planting 
and securing this crop, see pp. 155 and 156 of our 
seventh, and p. 55 of the current volume. 
Sheep-shearing and Sacking Wool. —This should 
not be done sooner than the season will admit, as 
the sheep would be in danger of taking cold. 
Wool, intended to be sent to a distant market, may 
be put up and pressed in bales after the manner of 
cotton, or it may be crowded into sacks holding 
from 200 to 250 lbs. If designed to be shipped on 
a long voyage, it would be more economical to press 
it into square bales, as it would then occupy less 
bulk, and consequently effect a saving of freight. 
But in the interior of a country where conveni¬ 
ences for baling are not always at hand, sacks may 
be employed, made of 40-inch “burlaps,” or 45-inch 
“ gunny cloth,” 7£ feet long. Each of these sacks 
may be made of a piece of cloth 5 yards in length, 
by doubling the ends until they meet, and sewing 
up the sides with twine. 
The mouth of a sack may be next sewed to a 
strong hoop of wood or iron (diameter 25 inches 
for the burlaps, and 28 inches for the gunny cloth); 
then let down its body through a circular hole, two 
inches less in diameter than the hoop, cut in an up¬ 
per floor of a building, or of a temporary scaffold 
erected for the purpose, where it can swing clear 
beneath. One man may then get into the sack, 
while another hands him the fleeces, which he 
should place in regular layers, pressing them down 
in the meantime, with his feet, until it is filled. 
After this, the sack may be slightly raised, the 
hoop disengaged, the mouth of the sack sewed up 
with twine, and the operation is complete. 
Milking Cows. —Let care be taken that your 
cows are milked clean; the last milk is much the 
best; and besides, cows are often spoiled by care¬ 
less neglect. 
Kitchen Garden. —In the fore part of this month, 
all the early cucumbers, melons, cabbages, cauli- 
ftewers, lettuce, radishes, &c., which have not been 
taken out of the hot beds, should be removed, and 
planted in open ground. The seeds of all kinds of 
table vegetables, such as peas, beans, beets, car¬ 
rots, onions, parsnips, and esculent herbs should 
be sown early. Tomatoes, egg plants, peppers, 
&c., can also be planted out. 
Fruit Garden and Orchard. —All kinds of north¬ 
ern fruit trees that have not leaved out, may be 
transplanted, and spring innoculation may still be 
performed in the early part of this month. Straw¬ 
berry beds may be planted, and last month’s sug¬ 
gestions for pruning observed. 
Flower Garden and Ornamental Grounds. —The 
borders of the flower garden should now be finish¬ 
ed, and herbaceous perennials transplanted. Plant 
annual, biennial, and perennial flower seeds ; also, 
bulbs and tubers. Transplant ornamental trees and 
shrubs and box edging early this month. Trim 
hedges and shrubs. Top-dress lawns. Put in order 
gravel walks. 
Care of Implements and Tools. —An item of 
great importance to the husbandman, is to adopt, 
as early as possible, the best and most highly-ap¬ 
proved farming tools and labor-saving machines, as 
much is lost by employing poor ones. Every im- 
