cream of profit away from the producers. 
Manufacturers of adulterated articles have 
seriously interfered with legitimate business, 
and every new and profitable enterprise is 
quickly entered and pushed to it3 utmost limit 
of profitable production. The farmer, then, 
of all men, should attempt to plan work for 
the entire year, yet there are by far too many 
who spend the Winter doing '‘chores,” and re¬ 
ly entirely upon the profits of the Summer’s 
work to carry them through. The disastrous 
effects of this system are seen most plainly in 
the cotton-growing regions of the South. 
After the cotton is sold, there is absolutely 
nothing to do until the time comes for again 
planting the crop. There is no mouey coming 
in, while the cost of living remains the same. 
Not only is this Bystem ruinonsly expensive, 
but the ability of the laborer to work is dimin¬ 
ished. After three or four months of idleness, 
he finds that he cannot take up his work with 
his old-time vigor. These long, idle, winter 
mouths breed many a discontented farmer. 
In many parts of New England this plan can 
not be profitably followed. The hay can be 
secured, but other crops can be grown 
at a profit that will enable the farmer 
to buy the cheaper Western corn. The ordi¬ 
nary corn fodder has a higher feeding value 
than msny farmers will admit. Sown in 
drills, it gives a greater weight of fodder per 
acre than any other crop. This fodder, well 
cured at the end of the season, in light bun¬ 
dles, will be handy to feed and, considering 
the extra yield, will be as profitable a ration 
as hay. I have seen cattle prepared in good 
condition for market on a ration of corn fod¬ 
der and grain. Silage has not given as good 
results with beef cattle as with milch cows. It 
is still a question whether the silo pay 3 . Many 
farmers will not believe that there is any pro¬ 
fit in hauling the large amount of water con¬ 
tained in green corn fodder and going to the 
expense of cutting and packing. Many good 
feeders have decided that the well cured 
stalks, supplemented by roots, will make just 
THORBURX POTATO. Prom Nature Fig. 501. (See page 804.) 
farm (Topics. 
MEADOWS AND SHEEP. 
GEN. CASIUS M. CLAY. 
In every gras3-growing region where the 
soil and climate are favorable, one fourth, at 
least, of the farm should be in meadows. The 
wide differences in soil and climate iu an ex¬ 
tensive country like the United States, make 
it necessary that the latitude of the 
agricultural writer, as well as the nature of 
his soil, should be known. In my region 
THE BEST MEADOW IS RED CLOVER, 
which should be cut when the bloom begins 
to fade. It should be dried a few hours in the 
sun to wither the stems so they will not pack 
in the barn and consequently heat, and then 
be at once moved from the windrow under 
cover. There is no use in cocking or stacking 
clover hay, as it will not turn off the rain, ex¬ 
cept in the stack, or, what is always better, 
the rick, it is covered with wheat straw or 
some such close, rain proof material. The 
advantage of clover hay is that mules, cattle, 
horses and sheep all love clover; while the 
crop is heavy and the roots, running deeply 
into the grouud, manure aud restore the fer¬ 
tility more than any other known crop; and 
especially does clover become more and more 
useful as the destruction of forests renders 
the climate more dry, and the deeply set 
roots of the clover draw moisture from the 
depths, and live where Blue Grass, Timothy, 
and other vegetation perish. 
TIMOTHY IS THE NEXT BEST MEADOW GRASS 
here. It, like clover, makes a heavy crop, and 
should be cut as all hay, before the seeds are 
ripe, after the bloom is on. Timothy cut here 
with the mowing machine requires—as it is 
well scattered over the surface—but a few 
hours of suu, when it should be thrown into 
windrows and cocked up, before the dew 
falls, the same day it is cut. It should then 
be put into cocks and pressed down well with 
the fork. The workfhian should stand with 
his face to the center of the cock, and strike 
down the whole surface so that it will staud 
a severe rain without damage. This I always 
do—as a cock once dried and wet, is half-lost. 
Ricks are, of course, better than rouud stacks. 
They are more readily put up, more stable 
against winds,and more easily cut with the hay- 
knife. And as but one-half as much surface 
is exposed as iu the stack, much hay is thus 
secured against the waste if rains and moist¬ 
ure. Ricks are very good shelter for sheep in 
pasturing winter grass, where they can eat 
aud be secure against winds and rains. What 
is trodden under foot, is rich in excrement, 
and may be profitably spread in early Spriug 
on the worn parts of the meadow. There has 
been much discussion whether the 
AFTERMATH OF MEADOWS 
should be eaten off by live stock, or not. I 
have had largo experience here. In the first 
place, meadows should not be cut close to the 
ground; at least, four inches of stubble should 
be left. This holds the light rains of our Fall 
and secures a vigorous growth, which is most 
profitably c-ateu off by sheep. The manure of 
this grass is much more valuable than the 
light deposit of decayed fiber, which is gener¬ 
ally much blown or washed away. .But the 
graziug should be stopped in time to allow 
ample eovenug for the roots in Winter: as he 
who allows any grass to be too short kills the 
golden goose, most surely! The longer I live 
the more and more 1 am convinced that hay 
aud sheep are prime objects of culture on all 
suitable lauds: for sheep, of all animals, most 
cheaply turn vegetation into meat, manure 
the land, and destroy the weeds—while hay is 
the cheapest of feed for stock. 
White Hall, Kentucky. 
iium Ccommuj. 
MAKE BEEF WHILE THE SNOW FALLS. 
Need of work the year round,' increase, in 
Winter dairying; fattening cattle in Win¬ 
ter; requisite conditions; corn fodder; cot¬ 
ton seed; need of personal experience. 
In manufacturing establishments where 
there is a close competition, an idleness of 
several months means death to profit. As 
business is generally conducted now, manu¬ 
facturers find that a small profit on work that 
is continuous throughout the year pays best in 
the end. Nine mouths of work at a large 
profit, followed by three months of idleness 
may do in lines of work where one has a par¬ 
tial monopoly; but in most modern business 
large profits are seldom found; aud ho succeeds 
best who eau plan work for the entire year. 
Of late years, no business has suffered so keen¬ 
ly from competition as that of farming. The 
handlers of goods have generally taken the 
The best farmers study their work as a 
manufacturer would study the details of his 
business. Throughout the New England 
States and New York, whiter dairying has 
become quite popular. By means of comfort¬ 
able barns and pleuty of feed the cows are 
kept to a good flow of milk. Steady work at 
feeding and milking is provided, the manure 
is secured in the best condition, and with 
warm quarters pig feeding can be profitably 
followed. There are many farmers so situ¬ 
ated that they cannot conduct a winter dairy 
with success, aud who still see the need of 
providing work for Wiuter. These find a 
good profit at feeding beef cattle. There is 
not so much competition at the business as 
one might suppose. Fat cattle late in the 
Winter always command a paying price. 
The cattle from the Western Plains are as 
poor as crows by the end of Winter. In most 
localities local buyers are glad to pay fair 
prices, aud in many country districts the 
farmer who fattens three or four head can do 
his own slaughtering aud dispose of the meat 
among his neighbors. Perhaps the smaller 
farmer will find as much profit tu the latter 
method-as iu any other. 
Certain conditions are abso’ucely necessary 
before a single animal can be successfully fed. 
There must be pleuty of food and good, warm 
quarters. To buy cattle for fattening without 
tilling these wants is the worst bind of folly. 
It makes no difference whether a barn is 
painted or not so long as it keeps out the wind 
nud shelters a good supply of fodder and 
graiu. A year, or the length of the life of a 
crop, is necessary to prepare for the business. 
In the West both hay aud graiu will be raised 
on the farm where the cattle are fattened. 
as much beef at a cheaper cost. The raising 
of drilled corn fodder will be most valuable 
on small farms where the meadows must of 
necessity be small, and the greatest weight 
per acre is required. By its successful culture 
fruit growers may be able to feed a few head 
of stock through the Winter, thus providing 
wiuter work and a good supply of much 
needed manure. On many light hill side 
farms it will prove more valuable than hay. 
The corn plant is destined to be to New Eng¬ 
land what clover is to the West or the cow- 
peato the South. Even when fed in connec¬ 
tion with hay, it provides a much desired 
change of ration. 
Another article of cattle food little known 
at the North is cotton seed. It is used to a 
certain extent in the form of cake or meal, 
but seldom in its cheapest form. For years, 
this product has been sent away from the 
South to fatten English or Northern cattle. It 
is only of late years that efforts have been 
made to discover its real feeding value. It has 
beeu customary to throw a quantity into a 
box or barrel, and let cattle eat it as they de¬ 
sired. Systematic feediug of the seed in com¬ 
bination with straw or silage produced 
remarkable results. It was found to be very 
much cheaper than corn, when boiled before 
being fed. It was found uecessary to feed for 
the last few weeks upon corn alone, in order 
to produce the best beef. The seeds, as fed at 
the South, are covered with a small quantity 
of lint, which does not seem to digest iu the 
animal The seed is valued at 30 cents per hun¬ 
dred pounds at the cotton gins. There is little 
doubt but that it would prove exceediugly 
valuable as a stock food even in New England, 
and the wonder isXhat its use is not more ex¬ 
tended. The observing feeder will soon 
discover the approximate feeding values of 
our common grains, bub nothing but experi¬ 
ment will determine the most profitable ration 
for cattle. There is a peculiar “knack” about 
cattle feeding that can only be learned by 
observation. Text books may serve to direct 
or suggest, but each farmer must study the 
business and watch his cattle carefully. I 
hope to speak of selecting cattle for fattening 
and winter care in another article. 
“A FEEDER.” 
^orticwllwral. 
THL8 AND THAT. 
WILLIAM FALCONER. 
Professional Tree-trimmers. — “Keep 
the professional trimmers out of your pear 
orchard. Pear trees despise him, and a tree 
lover hates him.” Sound advice; that's a 
fact, Mr. Powell. In my earlier years I was 
instructed in and practiced the most rigid and 
formal methods of tree pruning and training; 
but to day the sight of a European profession¬ 
al tree-man “fixing” a tree, almost “gives me 
a fit.” 
Pears. —Among those mentioned by Mr. 
Powell, p. 737, Tyson and Rostiezer do very 
well with me in sandy land; the pears are 
clean, handsome and of fine flavor. Among 
the earlier pears, Giffard is a beauty and of 
good quality, and the trees bear copiously. 
On the trees, Clairgeau is the prettiest pear we 
have, but Souvenir du Congres may super¬ 
sede it in that respect some day. The Souve¬ 
nir is a most generous bearer, so much so that 
if allowed to mature all the fruit (and it would 
if left to itself) the pears would not be half 
their full size, but even then they would be 
large and handsome. 
Grapes. —A ton of grapes is a big measure, 
Mr. Hovey (p. 736), and $30 a ton a sadly dis¬ 
couraging price, especially to small growers. 
We get at the village stores here four cents a 
pound for our Concords; the storekeepers re¬ 
tail them at flve cents. Our village will take 
at least 100 pounds a day. We are within 30 
miles of New York City, and in easy commu¬ 
nication by railroad or steamboat. At the 
same time Concords are selling in New York 
for three to five cents. Let not small growers 
be discouraged, but take the best care of their 
vines, grow grapes of superior quality and 
seek a home market rather than a metropoli¬ 
tan one. 
Concord Grapes —For market purposes 
we find the Concord the best of all. Our vine- 
yard slopes slightly to the south and west; is 
in an open, sunny situation, and the vines are 
trained horizontally to six-feet-high wire 
trellises; the land is very sandy, but annually 
richly manured. For quality we prefer Sa¬ 
lem ; but Salems at 25 cents a pound would 
not pay us as well as Concords at four. 
White Plume Celery. —I have beeu 
using this since the first of September. The 
early crop was miserable. Daring its whole 
life it rusted badly, and after I had banked it, 
a deal of it rotted. I banked it in order to 
lengthen the white, or heart leaves, which, 
without being banked, were too short. The 
celery was planted in rich, moist, level ground, 
and in single rows in shallow trenches. 
The dry Summer was very adverse to its good 
growth, but I gave it several soaking water¬ 
ings. No matter how white it may be, the 
quality is not as good as is that of Golden 
Heart. My later crops of White Plume, 
which are growing in well enriched but very 
sandy land, are perfect aud beautiful, and, 
now, without any trace of rust, but the heart 
leaves are short. They are “handled” but not 
banked. A gardener near Boston writes me 
that White Plume has been a great success 
with him this year, and the people ask for it 
in preference to any other sort. 
Henderson's New Rose Celery.— I set 
out, on trial, 200 plants for early and 250 for 
late. While in the seed beds, and after being 
pricked out and planted out, it seemed stur¬ 
dier and more vigorous thau any of the other 
dwarfs I grow, aud it had a more pronounced 
flavor than any of them. After being planted 
out it rusted a little. After being fully 
earthed up it rotted a little. But, so unfavor¬ 
able was the season for early celery of any 
sort. I can form no definite opinion of the 
New Rose. The late crop is clean, thrifty and 
nice. As I never bank up my late celery till 
I lay it past in the trenches to keep there 
through the Wiuter, the late crop of New 
Rose is uot yet in using condition, but it 
promises well. 
Turnip-rooted Celery or Celeriac has 
its advocates, but I am not one of them. I 
cannot get the “turnips” to grow big enough 
to be worth while using, and when I do use 
them, it’s for old acquaintance sake more thau 
■ fondness for them. French cooks ask for it, 
EARLY FLOWER POTATO. From Nature. Fig. 503. (See page 804.) 
