2 
AMERICAN AGRICULTURIST. 
[January, 
Contents of This Number. 
[Articles marked with a star (*) are iliustrated; the fig¬ 
ure with the star indicates the number of illustrations.] 
Ash Branches, Malformation of..*..15 
Association, An Independent Aid. 7 
Beef, Curing Expeditiously.. ...] 0 
Birds, Winter. *..8 
Boat, A Log.2*. .17 
Bones, Gathering and Planting.20 
Books, New...39 
Boys and Girls Columns.— The Bird Fancier and his 
Pets; Teddy Schoolboy’s New Year’s Calls; An Inves¬ 
tigation—How it Came Out; Curiosities of the Ocean; 
New Year's Customs; The Soliloquy of a Tabby Cat; 
Mother Goose’s New Year’s Dinner; Bottle Imp; Win¬ 
ter Sports .7*..26-29 
Bread Sponge, The.7 
Catalogues Received. 36 
Chemistry of the Farm and Garden.—1.16 
Cows, Selecting, for the Farm.10 
Corn Higher than Wheat. 9 
Bog, The Irish Setter..*..19 
Drains, Making Board.2*.. 20 
Drains, Protecting Outlets of.2*..14 
“Empires,” Our Western.:. 31 
Experiments, Field, are Difficult. .. 9 
Farm, Opening, in the West.31 
Fruit, A Neglected.39 
Farming, Have a Plan in.20 
Farming, How, in Colorado Pays. 18 
Fences for Soil Liable to Heave. .3*. .20 
Fertilizers, Patentable.. 7 
Fish Food for Farmers.10 
Fork, A Brush. 7 
Fuel, Large Loss in Using. 15 
Gardens, Plowing in Winter. 23 
Gate, A Simple. *..18 
Gates, Farm. 14 
Glass, Is There a Substitute ?.23 
Gold Vein on Most Farms. 7 
Marness, Caring for. 14 
Honesty, What is?. *..22 
House, A Good Sheep. . 18 
House, The Old and the New.. *..18 
Household:— A Doll Panel; About Quinine; Pudding 
Recipes; Feathers and Fancy Articles; A Convenient 
Wood Box; Various Household Conveniences; Sore 
Throat; About the Fashions; Keep Out the Cold: 
Catch-All.7*.. 24-25 
Humbugs, Sundry.38 
Law for Farmers—Farm Deeds.4 
Law for the Protection of Orchards.21 
juentils and Their Uses. *..22 
Lime, Use of in Blasting.. 15 
Lumber Region, Life in. 31 
Manure, The Purpose of. 19 
Maxixe, What is?.. .*..12 
Murrains, For Each Section its Own. 14 
Mushroom, A Vigorous.36 
Fear, The Cultivation of.23 
Plant, A Valuable Room.*. .23 
Plant-food, Application of.. . ....5 
Plants for Northern W T indow. .22 
Plants, House, Need Fertilizers.10 
Poisons, Use as Insecticides. . 36 
Poultry Box for Shipping.*..17 
Poultry Cup, A Winter.2*..19 
Poultry, Full Rations for..8 
Stanges, Food and Shelter on.. 31 
Scenes, Mid-Winter, Rural.....7 
Select Seed Now . 12 
Sheep, “Jacob’s”.2*..4 
“ Shoe,” A Plow.....*..18 
Shows, Fat Stock, in America......10 
Soap-making, Primitive, in North Carolina.*..13 
Society, N. Y. Horticultural.36 
Sorrel, The Garden.*..23 
Squashes, How to Keep Through Winter.23 
Stables, Cow. 36 
Stalls, The Construction of. 9 
Stock, Pure Bred. 14 
Stool, An Easy Milking. *,.7 
Stone Boat, A Good.*..14 
Stump Puller.*..12 
Swine, Berkshire. *..16 
Tools, A Place for.12 
Turnips as a Farm Crop. *..17 
Tree-Mallow, The Variegated. ...*..21 
Vegetables, Two Good Garden, Little Grown.5 
"Waste Places Made Profitable. 39 
Water-cress; Its Cultivation................*..21 
Weeds, A Good Word for the Worst..................22 
Weeds at the West..... ....15 
Wheat, the World’s Crop. 9 
Wheels, Look After Wagon... ...16 
Wood-lot in Winter. 6 
Worm in the Eye of a Horee. ......6 
GOOD PAY 
For light, easy, highly useful work. 
46,000 MEN,™ 
Young Men, Middle-aged Men, Old 
Men, Boys of 9 and upward. But the 
work can also be done just as well by 
Ladies and Misses. 
There are 41®,831 Post Offices, each accom¬ 
modating from five families up to many hundreds. 
It is now easy, and inexpensive to deliver to any 
of these families, however distant, a great number of 
articles, useful, ornamental, and much desired. 
Near every one of these 46,231 Post Offices are 
many persons who would be greatly pleased and 
profited, by reading the pages of the American 
Agriculturist, which each year give many hundred 
most useful, practical bints and suggestions about 
Out-door, and In-door Worlc, a Thou¬ 
sand explanatory, original JEmg’rstvimg'S and 
beautiful Illustrations; safe, instructive, interesting 
reading for the yoianig-, with pleasing pictures; 
Exposures of Humbugs, useful to all, etc., etc. 
All these cost less than half a cent a day, yet no 
reader can fail to get many single items of infor¬ 
mation, each directly worth a whole year’s sub¬ 
scription, and indirectly by suggesting new ideas. 
Somebody Ought 
to tell these people all about the Paper, what it is, 
and what it will do for them. Such work is honor¬ 
able, useful, important—costs no outlay, and little 
time. The Editors and Publishers desire 46,®®® 
good people, young and old, of either sex—one 
near every Post Office—to do this pleasant work. 
Will Not You, leader, 
be one of them ? ' It will be to your advantage, 
and will benefit all you speak to.—The Publishers 
can not personally see you to arrange for 
The Pay, etc,, 
but they have provided a full supply of 387 Dif¬ 
ferent Articles, and many Good Books, which 
You Would Much Like. 
They can be sent to you anywhere, carriage pre¬ 
paid, except a few of the bulky ones. See Cata¬ 
logue elsewhere, and write for and read the Illus¬ 
trated 44-page sheet, which will be sent free if you 
have not one. And 
It is Easy to Get 
one or more of these g-oofi tilings. jpST* By 
showing this Journal, and enlisting one reader a day 
(or evening), in a single week you secure $5.®® or 
$6.®® wortli of these articles, just as good, if 
not better, than so much Money; in a month, 
$35.®® worth; and before July 1st, $15®.«© 
worth. You have the winter to work in. 
55,0®® others have secured these Premium 
Articles free, and you can do the same, just as well. 
Try It, 
Begin To-«la,y.—If you don’t get many 
names, there are good things offered for a few, 
and several for sending only one subscription. 
ST. B. —The magnificent Picture, 
described elsewhere, is offered to every subscriber 
(including those for whom you get premiums), 
and is worth to them all they pay for the paper. 
Prize Plans for Barns, etc. 
In answer to a number of inquiries regarding the? 
plans and specifications, in the nine classes of prizes - 
for barns and other farm buildings, offered in the 
December No., 1882, (page 527), it may be said that . 
we will accept for competition all plans that are 
mailed us on or before January first. This gives - 
those at a distance an equal chance with competi¬ 
tors near by, and makes full allowance for any de¬ 
tention of the mails that may occur from heavy 
snows in midwinter. Class IX includes all out¬ 
buildings that do not come under the other classes,, 
as for example a corn house, tobacco bam, smoke¬ 
house, sugar house, etc. 
Notes on Work for the Month. 
January opens a new year and each farmer 
should naturally look about to see where he may 
improve upon old methods, and increase his in¬ 
come. The important point is to make the begin¬ 
ning, after which the changes from the old to the 
new may go on as rapidly as it is seen to be safe. 
How do your Accounts Stand ?—The merchant 
finds it necessary to inventory his stock of goods 
at least once a year, and every farmer should do 
his work in the same business-like manner. Now, 
during the comparative leisure of winter at the 
opening of the year, is a most fitting time for tak¬ 
ing an account of stock. With this record as a. 
basis, the profits of the previous year may be de¬ 
termined with sufficient accuracy, especially if a 
cash book contains the money transactions of the 
farm. 
Fill the Ice House .—If there is no house it is an 
easy and inexpensive matter to erect one. A build¬ 
ing that will hold 40 tons ought not to cost over 
¥30 to ¥50, and will last for many years. When the ■ 
ice is six inches thick the harvest should begin ;. 
any delays are dangerous. 
ILive S4oek Notes. 
Horses .—This is not a busy time for farm horses,, 
but they should not therefore receive less care. 
Horses should come to the heavy spring work witb 
a good accumulation of stored-up force in the form 
of flesh, and not spring-poor as is too frequently- 
the case. The stable should be kept neat and 
clean, with an abundance of litter to absorb all 
the liquid excrement, so valuable as a quick fertil¬ 
izer. A plenty of wholesome food and pure water 
are essential to the profitable wintering of all farm 
animals. Horses often suffer much injury from 
exposure to cold winds after being driven briskly 
or otherwise overheated. Blankets should be used 
at such times; if the sweating horses are taken at 
once to a warm stable the blankets are not needed; 
in fact, frequently are of positive injury, making the 
animal more susceptible to chills and colds when, 
out of doors. 
Cattle .—The same neatness in the stable and 
abundant supply of food and water are necessary 
with cattle as horses. Milch cows and their stalls- 
should be kept specially clean, or otherwise the 
milk will be tainted, and only a second-rate pro¬ 
duct can result from it. The cows need brushing 
before being milked. Farmers who are neat in the 
dairy will have a quick market for their milk and 
butter at the highest prices. All farm stock should 
•be fed regularly; the quantity and quality of the 
ration may vary, but whether all hay or a mixture 
of cut straw and roots, it should be given at the 
same hours each day. 
Swine .—There have been many thorough experi¬ 
ments testing the value of shelter for swine with 
but one result; pigs, to winter well, must have a 
warm, clean bed, and as much wholesome food as 
they will eat. Store pigs are not to be fattened 
and need only enough food to keep them comfort¬ 
able. Sows coupled now bring pigs in May—an 
