162 
AMERICAN AGRICULTURIST. 
[April, 
Contents of This Number. 
(Articles marked with a star (*) are illustrated; the fig¬ 
ure with the star indicates the number of illustrations.] 
Barn. A Large Farm. .7*.. 172 
Bean, The Scarlet Runner.*..182 
Bee Notes for April.167 
Bird House, A Revolving.*..192 
Box, A Convenient Grain.2*.. 178 
Boys and Gibls Columns.— The Doctor's Talks:— 
The Largest Flower; The Round Robin ; In-door 
Games of Marbles ; Postage Stamps ; Boj’S Exercise ; 
Paper Hunt; Arithmetical Curiosity; How Nellie 
Won the Day. 11*. .189-191 
Brooms, How to Make yourOwn. .5*..168 
Cattle, Are Shorthorns Hardy.179 
Chemistry of the Farm and Garden.—IV.181 
Chestnut Trees, Plant More.192 
Chufa, or Earth Almond.*.. 182 
Closet, A Harness. 178 
Coal as Farm Fuel.192 
Coffee Planting in Ceylon.2*. .166 
Coop, A Cheap Chicken . *.173 
Corn, Indian at South and North.172 
Corn — To Drill or Not to Drill .179 
Dogs. A Group for Farm Use.3*. .178 
Farm Barn, Large. . .7*.. 172 
Farm, How to get from Uncle Sam.175 
Farm Notes for the Month. 162 
Feed Trough, Sheep.2*. .165 
Fowls, Games as Practical...169 
Glass, Oiled Paper as Substitute. 184 
Grain Fields, Winter.192 
Grape Industry in California. 165 
Grape Vine, Grafting the . 173 
Horses, Larger and More Powerful .176 
House, A Good Dog..* ISO 
Hungarian Grass. 176 
Household : — Screen for Lamps ; Farm-House Hat 
Racks ; Inexpensive Decorations ; Improved Work 
Bench; Picture Frames ; Window Trellis ; Corn Cob 
Crates ; Use of Benzine ; Dish Sink; Store Boxes : 
Clothes Line Posts; Household Hurly-Burly ; The 
Back Stoop ; Shield for Door Knobs ; Sunflower Fans 
for Walls. .12*..186-188 
Incubators, Home-made.168 
Kale -Its Varieties.4*.. 185 
Lambs. Artificial Feeding of.175 
Live Stock Notes. 162 
Leaves for Bedding. 179 
Marker, A Corn.*.. 171 
Milk Fever.173 
Mistletoe, Cultivating the. 165 
Morning Glories and Sweet Peas.1S4 
Moth, Clothes Ways of.164 
Mule Farming in North Carolina.*..170 
Oats, Imporiant Experiments with.176 
Orchard and Garden.163 
Paper, Oiled, a Substitute for Glass.181 
Peanut, Culture of the.164 
Pear Orchard, Preparation of Ground.183 
Pig Pen, A New Form of.*..175 
Plant Food, Application of.166 
Plants for Wild Garden ....2*..184 
Plowing Deep Useful and Injurious.167 
Poles, Driving Hop and other.*..173 
Potato “Rot,” The.*..181 
Quince Culture, Soil and Cultivation.169 
Road-Scraper, A.'..*..181 
Revolving Bird House .*..192 
Sausages, Bags for, Pork, etc. .165 
Shrubs, Ornamental Flowering.4*..183 
Smoke House, Improved.5*.. 179 
Spring Has Come... *..161 
Squashes, How to Raise Winter.192 
Stall Fronts, Swinging. *180 
Starch, Concerning..4* 180 
Stock, The Feeding of.169 
Sweet Potato Culture. 171 
Times and Seasons. 164 
Tobacco Culture in Virginia.107 
Tomato Pots, Tin.165 
Trap for Rabbits. *..164 
Tree Planting, An Aid.*..182 
Truck Farming in the South.171 
Wagons, Oiling.168 
Winter Grain Fields.192 
For Sundry Humbugs, Lists of reliable Seedsmen, 
Nurserymen, etc., etc., see last pages of the paper. 
See another page for 
NEW PREMIUMS for 
New Subscribers. 
APRIL SHOWERS. 
It is not the showers of rain peculiar to the month 
of April, and which are so plentifully bestowed 
upon the farmer’s fields, to which we refer. We 
have in mind the showers of subscribers 
April will bring to the farmer’s favorite journal, if 
our readers will undertake the work of commend¬ 
ing the American Agriculturist to their friends and 
neighbors, and so introduce them to the same pleas- 
aut companionship they enjoy, and by which they 
have profited. So many of our correspondents 
bear gratifying testimony to the excellence and 
value of this paper, that we are warranted in the 
claim that the American Agriculturist stands at the 
head of the Agricultural and Rural press of the 
country. 
We may safely say that whatever it has been and 
is, its future will be such as to challenge all the 
more the good opinion of its hosts of readers. 
Our subscribers bear witness to the fact that the 
conduct of the American Agriculturist has been fully 
up to the proclamations of improvement that we 
have made. Performance lias kept 
pace wltli promise. With the cooperation 
of our readers and their personal advocacy, the 
American Agriculturist will shower its blessings 
upon wider fields of influence, and carry instruc¬ 
tion and profit into many pleasant homes in all 
parts of the world. 
Premiums for New 
Subscribers. 
We have hitherto offered any one of the follow¬ 
ing elegant works as an inducement for procuring 
1 wo new subscribers for the American Agricul¬ 
turist. 
As an inducement to our friends to work for the 
paper during the months of March and April, we 
now offer any one of these elegant volumes, post¬ 
paid, to any person who will forward us only 
one new *aibKcription to the American 
Agriculturist before the 30th day of April. 
Pilgrim’s Progress, Ohaucer, 
Edgar A. Poe, Macaulay, 
Owen Meredith, Spenser. 
Birmans, Byron, 
Milton, Coleridge, 
Wordsworth, Scott, 
Mrs. Browning, Goethe’s Faust, 
Lucille, Pope, 
Seliiller, Goethe’s Poems, 
Shakespeare, Hood, 
Cowper, Campbell, 
Goldsmith, Moore, 
Tennyson, Burns. 
These volumes are beautifully illustrated, printed 
from new type, new plates, upon gilt-edged tinted 
paper. They are elegantly bound in cloth and 
gold, with the name of the author upon the back. 
Every one of the volumes sells in the book stores 
here in New York and elsewhere at $1.50 each. 
This is the most liberal offer we have ever made 
for new subscriptions to the American Agriculturist. 
It affords such an opportunity as has never before 
been presented for securing elegant standard works. 
Just look at it for a moment! By spending a 
comparatively few hours among your neighbors 
and friends, and securing twenty five new sub¬ 
scribers for the American Agriculturist , you can 
secure for yourself tweuty-five handsome volumes, 
or a library in itself, delivered to you post-paid. If 
you wish but one volume, you have but to send 
one new subscriber; two volumes two new sub¬ 
scribers, and so on. 
No Time Like the Present. 
When the spring work on the farm is commenc¬ 
ing, and nature is waking from the repose of 
winter, a good agricultural journal is of special, 
interest and value. It is the farmer’s best friend. 
a 
April Farm Notes. 
A well started crop is usually profitable, and one 
put in late or under unfavorable conditions is sel¬ 
dom satisfactory. 
Harrowing Winter Grain is a practice that is uow 
quite generally adopted by the better farmers. This 
should be done with implements that have the teeth 
turned backward. Peruvian guano, bone-dust, 
wood-ashes, or other fertilizer may be applied be¬ 
fore the harrowing. 
Spring Wheat should be sown as soon as the 1 
ground can be properly prepared. A top-dressing 
of manure may be added after sowing. The good 
effect of a soluble fertilizer can sometimes be seen 
in a few hours, especially if the application is soon 
followed by a gentle shower that takes the sub¬ 
stance down to the roots. Any start given to young 
plants is felt for good throughout their whole life. 
In using any concentrated fertilizer, care must be 
taken that it does not come in contact with seeds. 
If scattered thoroughly and thinly on the surface 
after sowing there is no danger, otherwise it should 
be mixed with the soil. 
Fodder Crops.— There should be ample provision 
of food for farm animals during the summer 
months, when the pastures are short from drouth. 
A leafy sort of oats may be sown with peas and 
thus obtain a double crop of green fodder. The 
value of Hungarian grass as a supply of good green 
food, times, etc., of sowing, are given elsewhere. 
Beets , including maugels, may be sown the last of 
the month. Quick starting of the seeds may be in¬ 
sured by soaking them. They should be sown so 
soon as germination begins. After the plants are 
up they will need weeding and thinning. 
Grass is a leading farm crop, and is much neg¬ 
lected. Our farmers have given very little atten¬ 
tion to the study of grass and the soils and culture 
best adapted to the various sorts. A permanent 
meadow or pasture needs to be kept up by a yearly 
top-dressing of manure or commercial fertilizer. It 
is hoped that the American farmer will come to a 
better understanding of the importance of grass 
growing, and that our grass land will be treated 
with due consideration. 
Potatoes.—' The Potato-beetle is well under control, 
and potatoes are now a certain crop, and a profit¬ 
able one when given clean culture on a rich mellow 
soil. It is well to plant early sorts and harvest the 
tubers before the “ rot’’ has time to reach them. 
Sundry Matters. —Put all farm implements in good 
order during rainy days. Clear up the rubbish that 
has accumulated. Look well to fences before cattle 
are turned out. 
-«>■ 
JLive Slock Kotes. 
Cattle need special care this month. Having been 
kept all winter on dry food, they are apt to lose 
both flesh and vigor, unless grain is given them. 
This is particularly true of cows that are soon to 
calve. Discretion must be exercised in recruiting 
at such a time, however. If the cow is liberally 
fed on grain just previous to parturition, her udder 
may become feverish and hard, thus obstructing 
the flow of milk ; give oatmeal and shorts, if any¬ 
thing. After all feverish symptoms have disap¬ 
peared subsequent to parturition, cows may he 
more liberally fed on grain. When the flow of milk 
is fully established, corn meal and a little cotton¬ 
seed meal may be given in connection with mangels. 
Calves should be allowed to suck the dam for three 
or four meals even though they are to be raised by 
hand. Yeals should have milk direct from the cow 
until they are five or six weeks old; they will fatten 
on nothing else so rapidly. 
Horses will be called upon for hard work 
this month. Most farm teams do not have much 
grain during the winter, unless specially worked. 
