314 
AMERICAN AGRICULTURIST. 
[July, 
Contents of This Number. 
[Articles marked with a star (*) are illustrated: the fig¬ 
ure with the star indicates the number of illustrations.] 
Apples, Do they Mix ?. 317 
Barn, Plan of a Large..7*..322 
Bee Notes for July. 319 
Blindness in Chickens.325 
Boys and Girls Columns.—A Gallant Boy ; The 
Doctor's Talks: The Tadpole and the Caterpillar; 
The Tug of War ; Round Robin ; A Peppery Face; 
Balloons; The Fourth of July.8*..338-340 
Bridges, Stone.*..330 
Bulbs, Cape, The Freesias.-..*..332 
Cane, Amber.330 
Capers, Home-Made.*. .334 
Cattle, Black Polled, in the South.320 
Cattle, Polled Norfolk.322 
Chrysanthemum, The.2*. 333 
Coop, A Cheap Chicken.*. .320 
Cow Tree, The. 321 
Cress, The Variegated Rock.325 
Crops, Green, for Manure. .321 
Dairy, The Farm..324 
Donkeys, French. 330 
Duck Raising.319 
Ensilage.321 
Evaporating Fruits and Vegetables.333 
Farm Work for the Month.314 
Ferns, Rock Bed for.328 
Fairs for the Sale of Stock.321 
Farm Mortgages. 327 
Feed, Best Kind for Butter.326 
Fence, A Pole. *..320 
Fence, A Cheap Temporary. *..324 
Fertilizers, Trade and Agricultural Value.320 
Fire, What is, Destroying?. 321 
Fowls, Commercial.331 
Carden, Kitchen and Market.315 
Gate, A Barbed Wire.*..326 
Gate Latch, A.4*..325 
Hay, Making. *. .329 
Horse, A Prize Clydesdale.*..319 
Horses, Money in Heavy. ... 328 
Horseradish, European.*..333 
House Costing $2,500.5*..316 
Household Hide and Horn Furniture; Children’s 
Diet; Flies and Mosquitoes; Easy Washing of 
Clothes; Home-Made Butter Worker• Walking for 
Health; Fancy Work; Combined Table and Book 
Rack; A Home-Made Tent.10*..336-337 
Kmmigrant’s, The, First Farm Investment.*..313 
Kerosene as an Insecticide.332 
Lavender, Its Cultivation.*..335 
Lime, Milk of Lime, Lime-Water.324 
Melon Vines, Insect Enemies.334 
Mildew on the Grape Vine.*..320 
Night Soil. 321 
Orchard and Nursery. 315 
S»eas for Pigs.325 
Persimmon, Possibilities of Japan.323 
Plant Food, Application of.317 
Potatoes, Do, Sport ?.324 
Potatoes, Experiments with. 332 
Poultry Raising as a Business.316 
Pussley or Parslaine.318 
Quince, How to prune.3*..325 
K ack Wagon.*.. 326 
Radishes, Winter, Chinese Rose-colored.*..334 
Roots, Raise and Pit them.326 
Sheep Scab.325 
Shorthorns, Scotch.328 
Sifter, A Sand. 327 
Soda, Is it Essential to Plant Growth?. 331 
Staying Newly Set Trees.*..324 
Stems of Plants. .2*..330 
Stump Puller, A..318 
State, A Growing.321 
Tent Caterpillar, The.318 
Thumb and Finger, The.320 
Trellis for Tomato.2*. .328 
Trough. A Substantial Hog.*..327 
Trout, Learn to Catch Your Own.318 
Turnips. Insects Injurious to.3*..331 
Water Lilies..335 
What may yet be Done.320 
Yuccas, The, or Adam's Needle .*..335 
Summer Fallows , once so common, are now con¬ 
sidered of questionable value as a means of bring¬ 
ing up the fertility of an over-cropped soil. It is 
cheaper either to apply some commercial fertilizer, 
or grow a scavenger crop, like buckwheat, and 
plow it under as green manure. There is consider¬ 
able loss of soluble plant food in a bare fallow, 
that growing plants will take up and hold. The 
mechanical improvement of a heavy soil by fallow¬ 
ing is not to be overlooked, and the killing of the 
weeds in foul land by the frequent stirring of the 
soil, is another important advantage gained by a 
summer fallow. Nearly all these good results are, 
however, obtained by a quick-growing crop, that is 
turned under before weeds have time to form seeds. 
Early Potatoes should be harvested as soon as 
ripe, lest wet weather cause them to sprout and 
rot. A second crop may be grown by planting the 
early and quick-growing kinds by the first of the 
month. The late crop should be kept free from 
weeds and the destructive Potato beetle. 
Foots.— Ruta-bagas or Swedish turnips may be 
sown until the middle of the month. The ground 
cleared of early potatoes is especially fitted for a 
crap of turnips. The soil must be rich, deep, and 
mellow, and the seed, three pounds to the acre, 
sown in drills thirty inches apart. 
Wheat .—To be of the best quality wheat should 
be cut when the grain, crushed between the finger 
VARIETY AMD VOLUME. 
No other paper of the kind presents such a great 
amount and variety of matter as the American Agricul¬ 
turist. Some of the most interesting features, like the 
Humbug Department, are to be found in the last form, 
which is the last to go to press, and embraces the 
Advertising pages. 
AN ELEVEN-SHEAF SHOCK. 
nails, breaks into flour and shows no signs of 
dough. If there is a heavy harvest, it is better to 
begin the work a little before this, than to have 
auy cut after it is “ dead ripe.” Improper shock¬ 
ing of the sheaves is a great source of loss. Each 
bundle should be set firmly upon the ground. The 
best way to do this is to take one in each hand, 
bringing the two down with their heads close to¬ 
gether. After three pairs have thus been placed in 
a row, two more are set on each side, making an 
oval shock as shown in the engraving. The heads 
of all the bundles are brought close together, and 
the cap-sheaf adjusted. A larger shock may be 
made of four pairs of bundles, with three sheaves 
on each side. The cap will consist of two sheaves, 
and the whole shock of eighteen bundles. 
Oats may be cut while the straw is somewhat 
green. If fully ripe, cut in early morning and rake 
and bind late the following afternoon, to avoid 
shelling. Shock carefully, as the straw must be 
well cured before being housed. When wheat fol¬ 
lows the oat crop, the stubble may be stirred with 
a cultivator, to give the scattered grain a chance 
to sprout before plowing. 
Fodder Crops .—Fodder corn may be sown from 
week to week through July to furnish an excellent 
supplement to the pastures, that are frequently 
short and dry in late summer. Golden millet is a 
productive fodder crop, and on rich soil is ready 
for cutting in a few weeks from the time of sow¬ 
ing. If there is any left from green feeding, it may 
be cured into excellent hay. Hungarian grass may 
be sown early this month, but the soil must first be 
made rich and mellow. 
Live Stock.—Hints and Helps. 
Horses need to be kept clean and frequently cur¬ 
ried. Washing the legs is advisable, especially if 
the animals are worked in mud and dust. Clean 
the stables daily, to prevent the accumulation of 
troublesome flies. A weak solution of carbolic 
acid or a decoction of smart weed will aid in keeping 
off the flies, while the team is in the field. Fly 
nets of light cloth are inexpensive, easily made, 
and should be worn by all workhorses when in the 
harness. Grass alone is insufficient feed; to it 
add a good supply of oats and corn, ground to¬ 
gether and mixed wet with cut hay. It is some¬ 
times best to feed the horses in the field, and for 
this a box shown in the engraving is convenient. 
It is fitted with notched side pieces, to fasten over 
fence boards, on which the box is hung. Feeding 
oats on the ground is wasteful and unpleasant. 
Cows .—If the flow of milk is once reduced, it is 
difficult to bring it up again, therefore use all the 
extra feed necessary to prevent the decrease. Green 
fodder alone is not enough to piece out the short 
pasture, and some ground feed should accompany 
it. A cool, dark stable is preferable for cows to a 
hot pasture in midday. Dry earth makes a better 
summer litter than straw. 
Sheep intended for the butcher need abundant 
feeding. Oil cake with the ground feed is excel¬ 
lent. Store sheep will thrive in a good pasture, 
well watered and shaded. The importance of a cool 
shelter from the hot noonday sun cannot be over¬ 
estimated. Sheep troubled with dysentery will 
retire from the flock, and unless looked after, may 
be lost. Remove the sick animal to a cool shed, and 
give oue ounce of castor oil, followed by bran or 
oat meal mash. Flies are often troublesome at this 
season. If maggots are found, apply tar and grease, 
and clip the wool closely about the affected part. 
Pigs .—If to meet the early demand, the young 
pigs may be pushed rapidly by good feeding. Sows 
need rich food in abundance, to produce a fullflow 
of milk. Young pigs should have a separate feed¬ 
ing place.- A run in clover stubble is relished by 
