1883.] 
AMERICAN AGRICULTURIST. 
excellent time, when the weather is warm. Porkers 
should be slaughtered early in the winter, as later 
keeping is expensive, besides it gives greater room 
for the store p%s reserved for breeding. 
Sheep suffer greatly from exposure and need to 
be well housed, especially during storms. Throw¬ 
ing fodder on the ground is a wasteful practice. 
Racks can be made at small costand they will more 
than pay for themselves in a single winter. Lambs 
A GOOD SHEEP RACK. 
that come this month need special care, and may 
be very profitable when ready for the early market. 
Ewes that are to drop lambs need separate and 
warm pens. In very cold weather it may be neces¬ 
sary to place a blanket on the young lamb or even 
remove it to a heated room and feed with hot 
ginger or some other warming liquid with its milk. 
Odds and Ends.— See that good insurance is on 
the farm buildings. Keep out the cold from all the 
barns, stables, and the house, by banking with 
earth, manure, or even snow; double windows are 
a great saving in food and fuel. It is a mistake to 
think that severe exposure makes animals hardy ; 
they are far better off under cover during storms. 
Plaster sprinkled on the stable floor will aid in 
keeping the air free from bad odors, and save valu¬ 
able materials that would otherwise escape. Use 
the curry-comb and brush freely; they will help 
to keep horses and cattle in a healthy condition. 
Growing animals need comparatively more food 
than those fully grown ; their future size and 
health depends largely upou present care. Water 
at the freezing point is not so healthful as warmer 
water, and requires extra food consumed to heat it 
in the animal system. A shivering calf appeals to 
the pocket as well as the sympathy of its owner. 
The hen with warm feed and a comfortable house 
will pay for her keeping, while one with no home 
and little to eat will be wintered—if she lives 
through—at a loss. Small matters make up the 
sum of all comforts, and constant attention to them 
brings a great reward. Every farmer should be con¬ 
firmed in the habit of looking after the little things. 
Mow are your Slieep Faring ? 
That was a merciful provision, which gave to 
6heep the warmest natural covering of all our do¬ 
mestic animals. In the system of promiscuous 
herding of live stock, which prevails on nine out of 
ten farms throughout the country,—or lack cf sys¬ 
tem would be nearer the mark,—the mild mannered 
6heep fares the worst of all the occupants of the 
yard. The horse is given the best place—some 
kind of a stall, with partial protection, at least. 
The neat cattle, by reason of their strength and 
belligerency, select and hold the best positions at the 
fodder ricks, and on the lee side of anything that 
wards off chilling winds and driving storms. The 
swine nestle in the warmest corners—in the straw 
or manure heaps, perhaps. The timid sheep have 
to take up with whatever place is left unoccupied 
by others. But they feel and suffer from cold in 
common with all warm-blooded animals, and, out¬ 
side of the tropics, need and will pay for artificial 
protection. The spring and summer catarrhs, and 
running at the nose, are sure indications that they 
have not been properly kept. If no warmer quar¬ 
ters can be secured, it will pay well to provide for 
them a tight boarded fence, with boards or battens 
over the cracks, and let it extend down into the 
ground, to shut out all drafts below. Fence this 
off with an entrance small enough to keep out the 
larger animals. Let the ground be dry enough, 
naturally or by draining, to give them always a 
comfortable place for the feet. Provide some kind 
3 
of a covering against rains, even if but slanting 
boards or poles overlaid with straw. Everything 
that saves sheep from cold and wet pays well for 
the doing, in the better growth, better future 
health, stronger lambs, and in the saving of extra 
feed always required to counteract unnecessary 
cold. A false idea is still prevalent, among many 
farmers, that because sheep left to feed at an ex¬ 
posed stack eat more, they are doing better. The 
extra fodder consumed is used up in resisting cold, 
and not in adding to their weight of flesh. 
Tlie f>rch:u-d an<l NtirsSiry. 
Nothing is more discouraging thau to set an 
orchard, cultivate it for a term of years, and find 
when it comes into bearing, that the sorts are 
not true to name. If trees are to be set in the 
spring it is best to select the varieties now, order 
early, and only of nurserymen that are noted for 
their honesty. It may cost a few dollars more per 
hundred to get the best sorts of the best men, but 
it pays a larger interest on the additional invest¬ 
ment. Any mistake made in the setting of an 
orchard is hard to remedy, and is one that may be 
felt for a lifetime. Of apples, a dozen varieties are 
ample: two early, four autumn, and six winter 
kinds. It is difficult to name a list that will suit 
all taste6 and localities ; the following are among 
the best. Early Harvest, Red Astrachan, Maiden’s 
Blush, Gravensteiu, Porter, R. I. Greening, Red 
Canada, Golden Russett, and Northern Spy. Of 
pears: Doyenne d’ete, Bartlett, BeurreGiffard, Doy¬ 
enne Boussoek, Seckel, Duchess D’Angouleme, 
Lawrence, Winter Nellis, and Vicar of Wakefield. 
Peaches : Early York, Early Crawford, Old Mixon, 
and Smock. Other things being equal, it is best to 
buy as near home as possible, as there will be less 
change of conditions, climate, soil, etc., and not so 
much danger in transportation of the trees. 
Old orchards may be renovated; but when the 
trees are badly decayed it is not profitable to spend 
much time on them ; not more than enough to get 
them into fire wood. If the trees are merely bad 
shaped, and unfruitful, they may be made prof¬ 
itable. A few rows of drain tile, with thorough 
pruning, may be all that is needed to bring the trees 
into health and full bearing. Many orchards are 
unprofitable because lacking food. Such starving 
trees are usually in grass land where the leading- 
crop is ha}'. A heavy coat of manure may be 
spread on the whole orchard, during the winter 
months, when it is most convenient to get among 
the trees with a sled, and the whole turned under 
with the plow in the spring. After the sods have 
partly decayed, the ground may be plowed again 
and given a dressing of lime or ashes. The trunk 
and large branches of old neglected trees arc usu¬ 
ally covered with loose bark and moss beneath, 
where the eggs and pupa of various kinds of in¬ 
jurious insects are passing the winter. All such parts 
of the tree should be scraped with a dull hoe, after 
which they may be washed with a strong home¬ 
made soft soap, thin enough to apply with a dust 
or w'hite-wash brush. The amount of pruning will 
depend upon the condition of the tree. The aim 
should be to get a broad and open top to admit the 
sunlight freely. Cut away some of the larger 
branches, if necessary, covering the wounds with 
paint. If the tree is good in every way excepting 
its variety, this may be changed and improved in 
the spring by grafting a good sort upon it. 
'Flie Biitelien. <biai-<leis. 
A good kitchen garden well stocked with differ¬ 
ent vegetables means a bountiful supply of health¬ 
ful food for the table. If the farmer lives near a 
village, especially one with large factories, he may 
dispose of cabbage, green corn, peas, roots, etc., 
with profit. It will pay to look closely to this mat¬ 
ter and see if a small plot of ground in garden veg¬ 
etables may not yield larger returns than a whole 
field in farm crops. There is but little out-of-door 
work in the garden in mid-winter. Whenever the 
soil will permit it may be worked in mild weather, 
and thus facilitate the spring operations. Imple¬ 
ments should be put in order, and new ones sought 
out and procured for spring operations ; even a 
plow point or cultivator tooth put in stock now, 
may save a half day in the busy season. Now is 
the time for overhauling the seeds, testing them as 
to their vitality, that there may be no serious 
losses, later on. Any stakes or labels that may be 
l needed should be provided beforehand. 
Tine Fruit harden. 
The fruit garden ought to be a reality on every 
farm. Farmer, have you upon your table, from 
the ripening of the earliest strawberries to the 
time of the latest grapes, all the fruit, three times 
a day, that the family would like to eat? If not, 
it is time that something more was done in the 
fruit garden, as you are not living up to the privi¬ 
leges that your profession grants. The teachings 
of the American Agriculturist on this point have 
brought good results in a much more extended 
culture of small fruits, but there is room for im¬ 
provement. If the fruit garden does not exist, 
now is the time to resolve to have one, and set 
about making it. The soil should be rich, and well 
drained. Select the ground now, and cover it with 
well-rotted manure. The chief reason why small 
fruits are scarce on many farms, is that the pre¬ 
paratory work is left until spring, when the farmer 
is overwhelmed with other work. A good fruit 
garden, well filled with strawberries, raspberries, 
gooseberries, blackberries, currants, and grapes, 
may be made a source of income, as well as com¬ 
fort. If one needs special help in starting, or im¬ 
proving a fruit garden, there are several excellent 
books made as guides in just such work. 
Grccii>!ioii^e and Window Plants 
ought now to be looking at their best, repaying 
well the care that has been bestowed upon them. 
The bulbs and other plants that were potted and 
placed in the cellar, should now be brought to the 
light and watered. Chrysanthemums, as they pass 
out of flower, need to be cut back and placed in 
the cellar. When cold nights come, draw the plants 
away from the windows, and if freezing is feared, 
cover with sheets of cloth or paper. House plants 
need fresh air, but it should be admitted without 
causing a draught upon them. 
Insects are an almost constant source of injury 
unless closely watched. The red spider may be 
kept off by drenchings of pure water, once a week 
or so. If possible the plants should be taken into 
a bath or other room, where the syringing may 
be thorough. The mealy and scale bugs are best 
removed by hand-picking or by using a brush. 
A wash of tobacco water is effectual with the 
green fly and lice ; fumigating, though answering 
for a greenhouse, is not practicable in a living- 
room. Worms in the pots are best removed by 
turning the ball of earth, w'hen the worms, usually 
found on the surface, may be caught. 
The engravings show' a wire-holder for a flower 
pot. A brass wire, about an eighth of an inch in 
diameter, is stout enough for ordinary use. A 
ring is made by bending the wire as shown in fig. 1. 
This may be done around an empty pot to get the 
loop of the desired size. The arm of the loop is 
bound securely with fine wire. The upper end is 
continued into a loop by which the holder is hung 
to the side of the window (fig. 2). The lower end 
is bent into another loop, that may pass over a nail 
to securely hold the wire and pot. 
