AMERICAN AGRICULTURIST, 
FOR THE 
ITai-iii, GrarcLen, and. X: I onsellold. 
“AGRICULTURE IS THE MOST HEALTHFUL, MOST USEFUL, AXI) MOST NOBLE EMPLOYMENT OF MAN.”—W*«n,Naxos.’ 
OKAMCE .8 9; f» B>, A.M., ) 
EDITOR AND PROPRIETOR. >■ 
Office, 41 Park Row, (Times Buildings.) ) 
ESTABLISHED IN 1842. 
Published both in English and German. 
$1.00 PER ANNUM, IN ADVANCE 
SINGLE NUMBER, 10 CENTS. 
Fox- Contents, Terms, etc., see page 384. 
VOLUME XXII—No. 12. 
NEW-YORK, DECEMBER, 1863. 
NEW SERIES—No. 203. 
Entered according to act of Congress in the year 1863, by 
Orange Judd, in the Clerk’s Office of the District Court of 
the United States for the Southern District of New-York. 
Other Journals are invited to copy desirable articles 
freely, if each article be credited to American Agriculturist. 
American Agriculturist in German. 
The AMERICAN AGRICULTURISTS published in 
both the English and German Languages. Both Editions 
are of the same size, and contain, as nearly as possible, 
the same Articles and Illustrations. The German Edition 
is furnished at the same rates as the English, singly or in 
clubs. A club may be part English, and part German. 
Suggestions and Notes for the Month, 
The clock strikes Twelve! The hands have 
moved steadily around earth’s broad dial-plate, 
marking off the mouths and the seasons, the 
snows and frosts of Winter, the flowers and new 
vegetable life of Spring, the glowing beauties 
of Summer, the fruits of Autumn, and the chill 
blasts that warn man and beast to again seek 
shelter and protection while the frost king 
feigns. The year is an epitome of life—its bud¬ 
ding infancy, its joyous youth, its vigorous man¬ 
hood, and age shorn of its strength. There is 
this difference, however: a life of failures can 
never be remedied; the errors and deficien¬ 
cies of one year may be corrected in the next, 
if it be allotted to us. It is well, therefore, to 
carefully scan the immediate past, and gather 
lessons of wisdom for future guidance. Let, 
then, this closing month of the year be devoted 
to a careful examination, not alone of our busi¬ 
ness plans, our successes, and our failures, but 
of our motives and aims, as well. He is not 
living wisely nor well, who does not earnestly 
aim to malm each coming year better than the 
past one, better for himself and for others. No 
one lives alone; no one is so bumble that liis 
daily life, bis acts, his words, and even bis coun¬ 
tenance, do not exert some influence upon the 
thoughts, feelings, aims, and actions of another. 
Mere regrets for the past, or simply wishing and 
intending for the future, are not sufficient. It 
is truly said that “ good wishes and good inten¬ 
tions pave the entire pathway of the lost.” 
Earnestness and promptness are talismanic 
words. In all plans for moral improvement, 
“ to-morrow, or on such a day,” is too often the 
fatal error in our calculations. To-morrow al¬ 
ways has its to-morrow. To-day is the word. 
To make next next year’s efforts most success¬ 
ful, begin the work of improvement to-day.... 
This paper closes our editorial labors for 1863. 
While we have earnestly striven to make this 
volume not merely acceptable but profitable to 
our grand circle of readers, we can see where 
still more might have been done. Strong in the 
purpose to remedy past defects, and to do more 
than ever before to promote the prosperity and 
happiness of our readers, we now begin the la¬ 
bors of volume 23. Expecting to enjoy the 
company of all our present readers, we will not 
stop to say any farewells, but on to our work. 
The artist’s vignette for this month tells of 
children on their way to the school room. There 
is food for thought here. We who have passed 
the meridian of life, have lost much time that 
can never be regained. Errors of the head and 
heart may, and must be rectified, though it re¬ 
quires strong effort to turn out of the ruts and 
channels already deeply worn. But the gener¬ 
ation to follow us is yet in the plastic period. 
The boys and girls of to-day can he molded in 
thought, feeling, and purpose, much as we 
will. If we guide and train the young wisely, 
the error and wrongs of the present generation 
will be remedied in the next.—With farmers, 
especially, this is the school season of the year. 
Even those children whose labors have been in¬ 
dispensable during the busy Summer, can now 
be spared to devote some time to mental im¬ 
provement. An especial glory of American 
Institutions is the Common School, open to the 
common people without distinction. Let them 
not be common in quality. Nine-tenths of the 
great men and women of our country received 
only a common school education. 
Let evefry parent remember that beneath the 
exterior of the dullest child is concealed a gem 
that needs but to be polished, to make it shine 
with brilliant lustre. Let every American citi¬ 
zen do his best to foster and cherish the public 
school. Go to the school meetings, leaving be¬ 
hind every vestige of a political, sectarian, or 
personal feeling. Talk, vote, and act, as public 
spirited citizens. Spare no labor or expense to 
make your school building attractive within and 
without. A few dollars extra tax to secure 
good, well warmed, and well ventilated rooms 
with pleasant surroundings, and especially a 
competent instructor, are far better expended 
than if devoted to securing a little finer clothing, 
or to paying doctors’ bills, and the costs of pro¬ 
tecting society against the depredations of the 
badly trained. Visit the school room very often 
to show your interest in what is going on there; 
it will encourage and stimulate both teacher 
and scholar to higher purposes and greater 
efforts. Who does not remembaj the good ef¬ 
fect of a visit to the school from even the poor¬ 
est man or woman in the neighborhood. Let 
the visits be systematic as well as frequent. It 
often makes us sad to see a man constantly at¬ 
tentive to the wants, the comforts, and the pro¬ 
gress of his dumb animals, while he never 
goes near the place where his children are daily 
trained for weal or woe. 
Work for tlie Farm, Household, etc. 
Accounts .—The present is of all times in the 
year the best to establish a thorough method of 
farm accounts. Mature a simple, easy and accu¬ 
rate plan, and between this and the first of Jan¬ 
uary, old accounts may be at least got out of 
the way, so that their settlement need not inter¬ 
fere with taking a new start with the New Year. 
Well kept farm memorandums and accounts 
will be a source of no small actual profit, be¬ 
sides settling facts, proving dates, preventing 
prosecutions and lawsuits, and oiling the ma¬ 
chinery of social lifie. Book-keeping is a 
simple art, though generally made a mystery. 
Animals .—Shelter and food, cleanliness and 
ventilation.—The better the shelter for horses, 
neat stock and swine, tlie less food will they 
consume; if ventilation be provided, and they 
be kept clean, they will be healthier and more 
profitable. Pigs as well as horses show the 
good of clean bedding and dry pens in Winter. 
Buildings .—Tidiness about farm buildings 
marks the thrifty farmer, and it is a virtue which 
grows by practice. The comfort of the family 
and tlie herd are alike promoted, and in this as 
in many other things, there is as strong an ap¬ 
peal to the pocket and to the conscience as to 
the principles of good taste. He who neglects 
little matters and can only “ slick-up ” now and 
then when he makes a regular business of it, is 
an untidy and probably a thriftless farmer. If 
you propose building, be satisfied with no plan 
until it is most thoroughly studied. Alterations 
and frequent repairs are costly luxuries. 
Cows in our climate and in tlie system of farm¬ 
ing usually followed, are during the Winter in 
a delicate condition: early preparation should 
be made so that an injured or sick cow may he 
removed from the rest to tlie hospital (a box-stall 
in an adjacent apartment). This is best even 
for slight injuries, for a cow may unexpectedly 
slink her calf and others “follow suit.” Throw 
earth on slippery paths about the water-trough 
in freezing weather. Milk young cows to with¬ 
in 5 weeks of calving, to fix a long milking ha¬ 
bit. Feed generously, for not only tlie size and 
character of the calf is affected, but the amount 
of the milk during ( the entire season following. 
Corn-Fodder .—Well cured corn-fodder is worth 
just as much as good liay. It needs a greater 
expenditure of labor to prepare it so that cattle 
will eat it clean, but cut up and torn or crushed 
as is done by some feed-cutting machines, wet- 
