1872 .] 
AMERICAN AGRICULTURIST. 
3 
per day, Merino sheep can be kept in good, thriving 
condition, and with a pound of corn per day the 
right kind of sheep will get fat. Towards spring the 
sheep should have a little hay—say one foddering 
a day. Merino ewes in lamb to a large long-wooled 
or South Down ram, should have good keep, in order 
that they may have nourishment enough for the 
large lamb. Nothing is better for them than bran 
and clover hay. Corn is a cheaper food, and half a 
pound per day will not hurt them, unless the ewes 
are unusually fat. Where roots are scarce it is bet¬ 
ter to reserve them until March and April than to 
feed them now. Bran is the best substitute for 
them. Cattle, horses, and pigs should be fed in the 
morning, the first thing before breakfast, but sheep 
need not be fed uutil after breakfast. It is better 
to let them lie undisturbed uutil sunrise. 
Littering the Sheep-yards is a point of great import¬ 
ance, and requires good judgment and experience. 
They will lie down and rest as soon as they have a 
little fresh straw spread in the yard or under the 
shed, and this should be attended to every day ;Jmt 
it is exceedingly important not to get so much 
straw and manure under the sheep as to eause fer¬ 
mentation. Avoid the mud and dirty straw on the 
one hand, and fermenting manure on the other. 
Both are injurious. A little straw and often is the 
rule. Be careful to throw the straw pulled out 
from the racks, about the yards every day and not 
let it accumulate. A little attention to this matter 
will be amply rewarded. 
Pigs .—Young growing pigs should have abun¬ 
dance of nutritious food, and warm, dry, comfort¬ 
able quarters, Eped three times a day, and as much 
as, and no more than, they will eat up clean. Our 
own plan is to cook the food, half corn-meal and 
half bran, and feed warm. Our breeding sows, at 
this season, get nothing but bran, soaked in water, 
and we do not give them quite all they will eat, fed 
twice a day. We soak the bran in warm r^aier 
about twelve hours, and get some of the milky wa¬ 
ter out of the bran to mix with the cooked food for 
the little pigs. The bran is still nutritious enough 
for old 60 WS that have nothing to do but live, 
while the young, growing pigs need as much easily 
digested, nutritious food as they can assimilate. 
Pigs well littered make a great quantity of ma¬ 
nure. We clean out the wet and soiled part of the 
bed every day, and put in a little fresh straw. The 
butts of corn-stalks, left by the sheep and cattle, 
we put into the pig-pens at the bottom of the pen 
and cover them with straw. They serve to keep 
the pen dry and save much straw. When pigs are 
shut up it is exceedingly important to have the 
pens well ventilated. 
Manure. —Either draw manure out to the field as 
it is made and spread it, or make it into a large 
heap in the barn-yard. On the whole, we prefer 
the latter course. If properly attended to, and the 
heap is turned in February, the manure will be in 
good condition for spring crops. It is not uncom¬ 
mon to see a heap of smoking horse manure by the 
stable-door, another heap near the cow-house, 
while that from the pigs lies frozen by itself, half 
mud and half corn-*obs. The whole should be 
wheeled or drawn in a cart to a central heap and 
mixed together. They will improve each other. 
The warm horse manure will induce fermentation 
in the cold cow-dung and the still colder and more 
sluggish pig manure. Let the whole be carefully 
shaken to pieces and thrown into a loose heap. 
During our cold winters there is no danger of the 
heap fermenting too rapidly. In fact, where there 
is an abundance of straw it would be desirable to 
sprinkle a little dried blood, bone-dust, hen manure, 
etc., over the heap occasionally, to induce a more 
active fermentation. A heap so managed, and 
turned once or twice, will he in admirable condi¬ 
tion for root crops in the spring. Any that is too 
raw for this purpose can be used for corn, or kept 
over for wheat, or top-dressing grass, next fall. 
Swamp-Muck —Our swamps never were so dry as 
at the present time, and we can not have a more 
favorable opportunity for getting out muck. It 
may be drawn directly to the field and spread on 
grass land ; or draw it to the barn-yard and use it 
for absorbing the liquid, or for mixing with the 
manure in the heap. There are thousands of farms 
where men and teams could not be more profitably 
employed this mouth than in getting out muck. 
Bo not Waste the Straw .—Farmers often throw 
large quantities of straw about the yards during 
winter, for no other purpose except to get rid of 
it. Better let it be in the stack, and use it next 
summer for littering the yards where the cows are 
milked and the pigs run. A much larger amount of 
manure will be made in this way. Where straw is 
abundant, use it freely to litter the stable, cow¬ 
house, and pig-pens. Cleanout all that is soiled 
or wet and put in fresh litter every day. 
Cellars should be ventilated at every opportunity. 
The vegetables will keep far better and it would 
prevent much sickness in the family. We can not 
too often call attention to this matter. Never al¬ 
low any decaying vegetables or fruit to remain in 
the cellar. Hang a thermometer ill the cellar and 
keep the temperature down to 40°. If it gets above 
this open the door or window uutil the tempera¬ 
ture gets down to near the freezing point. White¬ 
wash the cellar at least once during the winter. 
Shoeing Horses .—Many a good horse is spoiled by 
not being rough-shod in winter. It is a painful 
sight to see a horse traveling on an icy road with 
slippery shoes on—and dangerous withal. 
Ice .—Fill the ice-house as soon as the ice is 
thick enough. The colder the weather at the 
time the better. Last year when we had ice we 
had no sleighing—and many farmers who waited 
for sleighing had empty ice-houses the next sum¬ 
mer. Better draw on wagons than go without ice. 
Where ice is near, if a large heap is drawn together 
and covered with five or six feet of straw, or stalks, 
and thatched so as to shed rain, the ice will keep. 
Work in the Horticultural Departments. 
The beginning of a new year is the proper time 
to lay work-plans for the coming season, as with¬ 
out a plan of operations the gardeuer will never ac¬ 
complish much. It is only by careful forethought 
and working with a definite end in view, that men 
engaged in other branches of industry become suc¬ 
cessful, and our best horticulturists are those who 
plan for the future, in a thorough, business-like way. 
No other business requires a knowledge of a great¬ 
er number of different subjects, and to master these 
a good library of standard works is essential. A 
gardener should keep a journal in which the princi¬ 
pal operations of each day are recorded, and he 
can afterwards examine the journal and learn where 
to avoid mistakes and where to do better. The di¬ 
rections given in these departments each month, 
contain much that will be useful to the commercial 
as well as to the amateur gardener. 
©rcliard. and. Nursery. 
The most that can be done in this department is 
to put everything in order for early spring use. In 
Southern latitudes trees and nursery stock should 
be secured in the fall, if they are ordered from 
Northern dealers, as the ground will be ready for 
early planting in a few weeks. If a nursery is near 
it is well to give an extra price for the privilege of 
digging your own trees, as they will be in better 
condition than when dug by the nursery hands. 
Rabbits .—Directions were given last month for 
preventing rabbits from injuring fruit-trees. 
Mice .—See that all rubbish is removed from around 
the trunks of trees, for where there is any chance 
for mice to harbor they are sure to injure the trees 
by gnawing away the bark. Tramp down the light 
snows around the trees. 
Scraping .—During the milder days in thawing 
weather, the trunks and larger limbs may be scraped. 
Tent Caterpillar .—The eggs of the Tent caterpillar 
are easily seen at this season of the year, and are 
much easier destroyed now than when they have 
hatched. A pair of long-handled pruning-shears 
are the best for large trees, as the higher branches 
can be easily reached with them, cut off, and then 
burned. If there are wild cherry-trees in the vicin¬ 
ity of the orchards, they ought to be cut down, 
as they only serve to harbor the caterpillars. 
Cions , if not already cut, should be attended ta 
at once, as grafts cut early are better than those 
which have been left exposed to the severity of the 
winter; this is especially the case when the au¬ 
tumn has been unfavorable for ripening the wood. 
Fences .—See that the fences and gates around the 
orchard and nursery are properly secured, so that 
stray cattle can not enter and break the trees. 
Labels .—The present month is a good time to re¬ 
new the labels of the different varieties. This is 
very easily performed if one has a correct plan 
drawn of his orchard, and the sorts marked or num¬ 
bered. Prepare a stock of labels for use during the 
coming spring, so that no delay may occur during 
the busy season. See that the labels upon trees 
set out in the fall are not fastened so tight that they 
will girdle the trees when growth commences. 
3Ianure .—Use plenty of stable-manure upon the 
orchard; cart during mild weather and lay in heaps. 
Fruit tiarden. 
A person who is satisfied with only one variety of 
grapes, strawberries, or currants, receives only a 
small share of the enjoyment he would if he had 
several sorts of each kind of fruit. In selecting 
varieties for the fruit garden, due regard should be 
had to early and late sorts, so that a succession can 
be had from earliest to latest. A plenty of fruit 
will afford a family a good part of their living. 
Grape Vines that were not pruned in the fall 
should be attended to during the mild weather, and 
not left until the sap has commenced to flow, for 
then the vine is injured-by excessive bleeding. 
Dwarf Trees .—See that no snow is allowed to ac¬ 
cumulate on the branches so as to break them 
down, as when broken it is very difficult to restore 
the form »f the tree. 
Kitchen <«ai'd on. 
The work here now is mainly that of preparation, 
especially in the North. Farther south, planting in 
the open ground can be done now. 
Manure .—In the former directions a great deal 
has been said about this subject, but as success is 
in a great measure dependent upon manure, the 
matter can not be referred to too often. See that 
nothing that can be converted into manure is 
wasted. Plenty of absorbents for use in the stable 
and compost heap should have been prepared last 
fall. Dried earth is as good as anything that can 
be used in the stable arid in the cesspool. 
Hot-Bed Sashes and Frames .—Put these in readi¬ 
ness to use when wanted. They ought to be paint¬ 
ed with lead-paint or given a coat of crude petro¬ 
leum, and the broken glass re-set. 
Straw Mats.'—A good supply of these will be 
needed if one has many frames to cover; make 
them during the stormy weather, when it is impos¬ 
sible to work out of doors. 
Cold Frames .—These need more attention to keep 
them cold than to prevent injury from freezing. 
Open whenever the weather is mild; and during 
warm days the sashes may be entirely removed, 
only taking care to close in time. 
Tools.— See that everything in the way of tools 
that will be wanted during the next season is re¬ 
paired, or else new tools purchased. In selecting 
those having handles or other parts of wood, take 
care that the grain of the wood is straight, and that 
there are no knots in it, as they are then very likely 
to break. Oil the wood parts of the plows, 
cultivators, harrows, etc., with petroleum, and see 
that they are stored where they will he free from 
moisture. Every gardener should have a roller, 
marker, and line and reel. Directions for making 
these have been given in the former numbers. 
Seed .—Procure a supply early, for if the ordering 
is left until the seeds are wanted, delays may occur. 
Use only the best seeds, as much depends upon the 
quality of these. Do not depend too largely upon 
