1874 . ] 
AMERICAN AGRICULTURIST 
123 
manure is used it should be well rotted and fine, 
and the more thoroughly it is mixed and incorpor¬ 
ated with the soil, the less likely it is to injure the 
quality of the potatoes. Peruvian guano is one 
of the best auxiliary manures for potatoes—say 
200 pounds per acre sown broadcast, or a table¬ 
spoonful dropped in the hill and mixed with the 
soil before dropping the potatoes. The latter is 
the better way to apply it, provided the work is 
done carefully. Peruvian guano, if a good article, 
will burn the potatoes if they come in direct con¬ 
tact with it. 
On Sod Land it is far more convenient to plant 
potatoes in hills, three feet apart, than in drills. 
On mellow, rich land, where furrows can be opened 
with a plow, it is a good plan to make the furrows 
3 feet apart and drop the sets in the furrow every 
15 or 18 inches and cover with the plow. If the 
laud is rich enough a larger crop can be obtained 
in this way than by planting in hills. 
Harrowing the Potatoes with a light harrow, just 
as soon as they begin to break the ground, will 
kill millions of young weeds and favor the growth 
of the potatoes. On our own farm we use a 
Thomas harrow for this purpose, and go over the 
ground three or four times. We have frequently 
used an ordinary harrow. It pulls up a few hills, 
but not enough to do serious damage to the crop. 
Mangel Wurzel is a favorite crop with us. It re¬ 
quires rich land. Should be sown early in drills, 
21 feet apart, and thinned out in the rows, 12 to 15 
inches apart. If drilled in, 4 lbs. seed per acre; if 
dibbled in, 15 inches apart, 2 lbs. is sufficient. In 
the latter case soak the seed for 48 hours. 
Animals require special care at this season, 
weather is very changeable and horses and cows 
are shedding their coats and liable to catch cold. 
Sheep must be managed according to circum¬ 
stances. If the yards are large and dry and you 
have plenty of roots it is probably best to keep 
them out of the pastures until there is a good bite 
of grass. If the yards are 6mall and muddy it will 
be well to let them run out every fine day. A sod 
field that is to be plowed for com will make a good 
run for them and will save the regular pasture. Feed 
all the hay they will eat. It is a great mistake to 
stop feeding hay and grain as soon as the sheep 
are turned to pasture. They may not eat much 
hay, but they should have access to it and be 
allowed to eat at will. 
Ewes and Lambs need warm, dry, sunny quarters. 
Feed the ewes a plenty of bran, early cut clover or 
other hay and as many roots as can be spared. Un¬ 
less the ewes are very fat, a pound of oats each per 
day may be fed with great advantage. Be careful 
to avoid exposing the sheep and lambs to rain 
storms. If a lamb gets chilled, wrap it in a warm 
blanket; or, in extreme eases, put the lamb in a 
tub of warm water. Lambs apparently dead have 
been restored in this way. 
Horses. —Feed liberally and allow plenty of time 
to rest and digest their food. It is better to work 
them steadily for eight or nine hours than to keep 
them in the field ten or twelve hours, letting them 
stand still one third of the time. When a man 
needs to go home to lunch or supper the horses 
need food also. A pail of water with a pint of 
com or oat meal stirred in it is a capital thing for 
a tired horse. It will enable him to work an hour 
or two longer in an emergency. 
Cows should be carded every day. See Hints for 
last month in regard to calving. It is especially 
important to feed new milch cows liberally and 
with good judgment at this season. Do not be in 
a hurry to turn them out to grass. Give plenty of 
early cut hay and have enough to keep their 
bowels moderately loose. If thin, give a little corn- 
meal or oilcake meal in addition. Cut the hay, 
moisten it with water, and mix about two quarts 
of bran and a quart of com-meal with a bushel of 
the chaffed hay and let the cows have all they will 
eat up clean. When turned out into the yard, let 
them have a little long hay in the racks to pick at. 
A cow giving milk needs a great deal of water. 
Let her have access to it all day, or at any rate 
night and morning. If you can give each cow 
half a bushel of mangels, or beets, or parsnips, or 
carrots daily it will be of advantage. 
Swine. —It now looks as if pork would next 
fall and winter bring higher figures than for the 
last two or three years. Many farmers in the West 
say it does not pay to feed out “ fifty-cent corn.” 
We think they are wrong. At any rate one thing 
is certain, if pigs are kept at all it will pay to keep 
them in good growing condition. 
Last Fall Pigs should be fed very liberally at this 
season, in order that when they are turned out to 
grass or clover they may be strong and vigorous. 
If they are fat now they will keep fat all summer 
on good clover. With us this is the cheapest way 
to make pork. 
A Sow should be placed in a warm, comfortable 
pen some days before she is expected to farrow. 
The object is to let her get accustomed to the new 
pen. It is well to let her out every day for exer¬ 
cise before she pigs and occasionally afterwards. 
Give a little flax-seed tea or oil-meal slops and 
bran to keep the bowels Open. 
After Farrowing give her for a few days thin, 
warm bran slops three times a day. Gradually give 
richer food, such as oat, corn or pea meal, mixed 
with bran and mixed with slops from the house or 
with milk. If cooked and fed warm it will favor 
the production of milk. With well-bred sows the 
milk is often too rich, and we should aim to feed 
iu such a way as to ^ncrease its quantity, but not 
its quality. Perhaps there is nothing better for 
this purpose than brewers’ grains, or warm whey, 
or 6kim-milk and scalded bran. 
Work in the Horticultural Departments. 
The warm, sunny days of April will be the signal 
for the commencement of active out-door opera¬ 
tions. To him who has completed everything 
which could be done to advance the spring work, 
the coming labors will be comparatively easy ; but 
if these have been neglected there is great danger 
of falling behind with work. Gardening, to reach 
the greatest success, requires as much forethought 
as any mercantile business, and he who has the 
clearest head, combined with energy and skill, will 
be the most successful. Hurry up all the little 
jobs which can be done now, and then when the 
ground becomes warm and dry no delay need occur 
in plowing and putting in the various crops. Pro¬ 
vide some in-door work for the men for rainy 
days ; these will happen often during the season, 
and the men feel better when there is something 
to occupy their attention than if idle. Nothing is 
better for this purpose than a tool-house supplied 
with a good set of carpenter’s tools and other 
necessary implements in constant use in and around 
the garden and buildings. Provide duplicate handles 
for the forks, hoes, etc., so that if any accident 
should occur they can easily be repaired. See that 
all broken tools are mended or new ones put in 
their places. Nothing so discourages a workman 
as a broken or poor tool. Teams which have been 
idle during ' e winter must be put to hard work 
gradually; otherwise they are liable to give out. 
Orchard and Nursery. 
Ciotis. —If not yet cut, attend to it at once, as it 
will not do to cut after the buds have started. 
Preserve in sand or sawdust until needed. 
Hoot Grafts. —Plant in nursery rows as soon as 
the ground will allow. 
Seeds of fruit and ornamental trees should be 
sown as soon as the ground is in good condition. 
Peach-stones, nuts, etc., which were buried in 
boxes in the open ground last fall should be 
planted at once before they commence to grow. 
Grafting.— Do not commence until the buds swell. 
If left until too late the bark slips so readily that 
there is danger of injuring the tree by peeling. 
Tree Planting .—In planting, do not attempt to do 
it hastily ; one tree planted well is worth a dozen 
poorly 6et. Take pains to break all lumps which 
come in contact with the roots, and, besides, make 
the hole large enough to allow the roots to lie 
straight in their natural positions. 
Insects will still need looking after, as eternal 
vigilance is the price of healthy trees and good 
fruit. Wash the trunks and larger limbs with lye 
or soft soapsuds if not already done ; this, if done 
with a stiff brush after the old bark has been 
scraped off, will destroy most of the eggs of insects. 
Look out for the rings of tent-caterpillars’ eggs on 
the ends of the twigs; they can be easily seen 
and destroyed now. 
F 1*11 ft Garden. 
Currants. —Every garden should have an abun¬ 
dant supply of currant bushes, as with proper care 
they may be made to yield large crops of fruit, 
both for market and home use. Plant cuttings in 
rows two feet apart, and the plants six inches in 
the rows. In two or three years they will make 
bearing plants. Versailles and White Grape are 
the best varieties for general cultivation. 
Strawberries need to be 6et out as early as the 
ground can be worked. Give the newly-planted 
beds, as well as the bearing ones, a good mulch of 
cut hay or straw, or even leaves. Set the plants in 
hills 18 inches apart, with the rows two feet. Do 
not allow the newly-planted beds to bear before 
the second year, as the plants will then be stronger 
and better able to bear good crops afterwards. 
Paspberries and Blackberries must be set out early 
this month if the ground is dry. Four feet each 
way for raspberries and 6x8 feet for blackberries. 
Grapes.— Set out vines one year old in well- 
drained soil which has been enriched by ashes or 
ground bone. Do not use heating manures, as they 
cause a very rapid growth, which is so prolonged 
that the wood does not have time to ripen properly 
before cold weather commences ; hence the wood 
is readily injured by frosts. Select a proper pro¬ 
portion of early, medium, and late sorts, so that 
there will be a constant succession of fruit through¬ 
out the season. Cuttings preserved in the cellar 
since last fall should now be planted out in rows 
18 inches apart, setting the cuttings four inches 
apart in the rows, and pressing the earth very firmly 
down around the bases of the cuttings. 
Gooseberries.— Set out Houghton and other Am¬ 
erican varieties. Give thorough cultivation and 
plenty of manure. 
Quinces. —A handsome pyramidal quince-bu6h 
can be secured if properly trained and pruned ; as 
usually seen, they are not ornamental objects. 
Figs can not be grown profitably north of the 
latitude of Maryland, but a few trees are easily 
taken up and stored in the cellar in the fall, and 
when planted among other fruit trees they give a 
pleasing variety. 
Kitchen Garden. 
For directions for making hot-beds last month’s 
hints may be consulted, and also for many other 
operations which will be in season for the present 
month. Hot-beds must be carefully watched le6t 
the heat become strong enough to bum the young 
seedlings. Remove the sash when the weather 
will allow ; when too cool to remove admit air by 
raising the sash a few inches at the back. 
Asparagus. —Remove the coarse litter from the 
beds and fork in the manure as soon as the ground 
is dry. Apply a coat of salt to established beds. 
Beans. —In the Northern States the latter part of 
the present month is early enough for planting; 
however, it will be worth a trial to plant a few 
rows now, and if there is any danger of frosts pro¬ 
tect the young plants by placing two boards edge¬ 
wise, like an inverted trough, along the rows so 
that they will form a shelter for them. 
Beets. —Sow as early as the state of the ground 
will allow, as they will stand considerable frost. 
Cabbages and Cauliflowers. —Set out plants from 
the hot-bed and cold-frame in rows 18x24 inches, 
and plant lettuces between : the latter will be out 
