‘24r2 
AMERICAN AGEIGIJLTURIST. 
[ J ULY, 
Contents for July, 1874. 
Alkali Lands, Cure of.258 
Apple-Tree Borer.261 
Binders for Sheaves.4 Illustrations . .852 
Books, Herd.259 
Boys and Girls’ Columns—Key of the Bastile—Mr. 
Crandall’s Acrobats — Sunrise — Bas-relief — Bad 
Writers—Aunt Sue’s Puzzle-Box—Gulliver in Brob- 
dignag.2 Illustrations.. 267, 268 
Bee Notes—Advice to Beginners.249 
Cabbages as a Field Crop.250 
Carriage-arid Pigeon House.3 Illustrations. 251 
Cattle, Dutch or Holstein.2 Illustrations . .253 
Chimney, How to Build a. Illustrated. .257 
Combat, The. .... . Illustrated . .241 
Daisy, European.262 
Farm Work for July.242 
Ferns and Fern Collecting. 263 
Flower Garden and Lawn in July.244 
Fruit Garden in July.243 
Grain, Grading in New York.258 
Greenhouse and Window Plants in July.244 
Household Department—Clothes-Line Reel—French 
Cream Cake — Atrocity of Feather Beds — Home 
Topics—What Shull we have for Breakfast—Pud¬ 
ding Sauce—Lemon Custard_2 Illustrations. . 265, 266 
Kitchen Garden in July. 243 
Lolling of the Tongue.2 Illustrations . .252 
Long Moss. Illustrated. .261 
Market Reports..244 
Milkweed, Four-leaved. Illustrated. .264 
Muck, Getting out Swamp.3 Illustrations. .255 
Natural Pastures. .252 
Ogden Farm Papers, No. 53—Draining—Jersey Cat¬ 
tle—Haying. .250, 251 
Orchard and Nursery in July. 243 
Ox-Yoke, An Improved.2 Illustrations.. 256 
Pickles. 262 
Plows, Draft Irons for.2 Illustrations. 
Roads and Road Making.3 Illustrations . .259 
Roses, How to Propagate from Cuttings.202 
Sheep as a Cleansing Crop.258 
Shorthorns, Sale of.249, 259 
Stable, Prairie.4 Illustrations. .256 
Swindling by Mail.249 
Walks and Talks on the Farm, No. 127—Crops—Fruit 
—Pigs—Wheat straw—Sheep—Steamer..254, 255 
Steel Bars for Bells. Illustrated. .255 
Yellow-root, Shrub. Illustrated. .204 
INDEX TO “BASKET,” OR SHORTER ARTICLES. 
“Alfalfa”.247 
B. K. Bliss & Sons’ Re¬ 
moval .216 
Bees.248 
Blood Diseases in Stock.273 
Borers, Peach.218 
Buckwheat for Cows . 247 
Butter from Sweet Cream 247 
Butter, Packing.273 
Cheat or Chess .273 
Clover and Timothy, Sow- j 
ing.247 
Colt, Diarrhoea in a . 273 
Corn, Shelled or in Ear. .247 
Corn, Value in Nebraska248 
Crops, Curtailing.273 
Crops for Green Manure.247 
Crops. Soiling.247 
Cud, Loss of.273 
Dairy in the North West.248 
Dairy Items .248] 
Disease of the Lungs. . . .273] 
Draining “ Sticky” Land 218! 
Eggs, Double-Yolked_247 
“Esquire ”.273] 
Exportation of Live Cat¬ 
tle. ..273 
Farmers, Bankrupt.273 
Fanners’ Conventions.. .247 
Feed for Early Spring_247 
Forest Fires.273 
Grape Scissors. 111 ..248 
Guano, Recent Discov 
ery of.248 
Health of Farmers.249 
Hearth and Home.Sale of245 
Hedge Rows, Breaking 
for..24S 
Hogs, Poland China.247 
Hogs, Time to Market.. .247 
Calendar for July. 
Holding On.247 
Horn Ail.247 
Horses, Sale of Thorough 
Bred. .246 
Horticultural W’ks, Hib- i 
herds’ .246 | 
Horticulturists, Death of.273 
Humbugs, Sundry.245 
Imports and Exports... .273 
Lambs, Disease Amongst 248 
Lock-Out,” English_246 
Manure for Clay Soil_247 
Mares, Old Brood. 248 
Meats, Shipping Dressed 240 
Mennonites.273 
Milk Cellars, Under¬ 
ground..247 
Mushrooms, Fine.218 
Patrons of Husbandry.. .246 
Peaches, Delaware.246 
Pickles.248 
Poultry for Eggs.247 
R ipe and Vetches, Tares.273 
Reports, Valuable.246 
Root-house, How to make 248 
Sal-Soda for Manure. .. .247 
Sand for Cranberry Marsh273 
Scraps, Chandler’s.273 
Sheep Net-.247 
Sow-Bugs—Wood-Lice ..247 
“ Split Hoofs ”.247 
Steam oil the Canals.216 
Summer-falIowingPrairie248 
Thorough Pin.247 
Tobacco Leaf.246 
Twins.273 
Wiiat is “ Pi ? ”. 248 
Wheat, Clean Seed.248 
White Leghorn Pullets. .247 
Wine, Rhubarb&Tomato.248 
Rlilking Machines.—“ J. E. S.,” Rich¬ 
mond Co., N. C. There are various machines invented 
for drawing milk from the cow, but none are in use prac¬ 
tically that we know or have hoard of. There are two 
principles involved in these machines, one to open the 
duct by inserting a tube and allowing the milk to flow 
out by its own weight, and the other to draw the milk 
from the teat by a pump, or by creating a vacuum into 
which the milk flows. We see so many practical objec¬ 
tions to the use of these machines, that we can hardly 
advise A u y .one to waste time in trying them. 
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PHASES OF THE MOON. 
BOSTON. 
N. YORK. 
WASn’N. 
ciia’ston 
CHICAGO 
D. 
H. M2 
II. M. 
n. m. 
II. M. 
IT. M. 
6 
1 18 ev. 
1 6 ev. 
0 54 ev. 
0 42 ev. 
0 12 ev. 
13 
11 44 m. 
11 32 in. 
11 20 m. 
11 8 m. 
10 38 m. 
31 
8 47 m. 
8 35 m. 
8 23 m. 
8 11 ill. 
7 41 m. 
2S 
11 59 ev. 
11 47 ev. 
11 35 ev. 
11 23 ev. 
10 53 ev. 
A M K It I € A IV A G RIC If L T IIR I S T. 
NEW YORK, JULY, 1874. 
July is a hot and busy month. We are in the 
midst of haying and harvesting, with corn, pota¬ 
toes, beans, and roots to cultivate, hoe, and keep 
free from weeds. We have to think also of the 
next wheat crop, and not neglect our summer fal¬ 
lows. Then there are the cows, the sheep, the 
horses, the swine, and the poultry to be looked 
after. There is, perhaps, fruit to be picked and 
marketed. Altogether, the farmer has his hands 
full. He needs an active brain in an active body. 
If he has good health, the work should not dis¬ 
courage him. He will pull through. He should 
not get excited ; he should not worry- He should 
keep cool; and the best way to do this, in more 
senses than one, is to keep steadily at work. Work 
will clear the mind and cool the body. But it 
should he energetic, spirited work, not slow, plod¬ 
ding drudgery. Every stroke should he directed 
by the mind and be given with a will. It is such 
work that tells. Few of us realize how much the 
character of farm work has changed. It is better 
to run a mowing machine than to swing a scythe 
all day, hut there are men who are not happy un¬ 
less they-are engaged in some hard, steady work. 
They have not patience enough to manage a ma¬ 
chine. They are mental sluggards. They want a 
machine to put itself together, to tighten its own 
bolts, to be self-sharpening and self-oiling. Such 
men are born hewers of wood and drawers of 
water. They will not make successful modern 
farmers. The farmer who has his mower, tedder, 
unloading-fork, self-raking, and self-binding reaper ; 
who cuts feed, turns the grindstone, and pumps 
water by wind or horse power ; who plants his com 
with a drill, hoes it with a harrow, cultivates within 
an inch of the rows, cuts up the crop, and husks it 
with a machine, is a very different man from Hodge, 
the farmer, as he exists in the mind of the novelist 
or poet. We believe in farmers and in farming. 
There is not as much isolation on a good farm as in 
a large city. There is no lack of excitement or of 
mental stimulus. We have not time to be dull. 
The seasons are too short and the work too press¬ 
ing. We are in a hurry to harvest our crop, that 
we may sow the next. We live in the future ; and 
if we aim to improve our farms and our stock, we 
can yearly see sufficient evidences of real progress 
to feed our hopes and encourage us to continue our 
labors. Farming is slow work, but we are building 
on a solid foundation, and are reasonably certain of 
our reward. Let us brace our minds with hope, 
and continue the good work. The prospects for 
good farmers in this country were never more en¬ 
couraging than at the present time. 
Mimts Work. 
The Most Important Work on a farm is not plow¬ 
ing and sowing, haying or harvesting. These are 
big jobs that force themselves on our attention. 
They are rarely neglected. 
Little Things, which we are apt to overlook and 
neglect, are the most important. We need to look 
more to the little rivets that fasten the sections on 
the eutter-bar of a reaper than to the main driving- 
wheel. Dipping lambs to kill ticks is more im¬ 
portant than shearing the sheep, because more 
likely to he postponed and forgotten. 
Farmers often Work too Hard. —Some of the most 
successful farmers we have ever known were men 
who kept others at work, hut did little so-called 
work themselves. They knew how everything 
should he done, and saw that it was done promptly 
and well. They lent a hand when it was necessary, 
but took hold of no steady work that an ordinary 
laborer could perform. 
Tour own Health and that of your Family should 
he the first consideration. See that the cellar is 
clean, and the sink and out-houses are not giving 
off poisonous gases. 
Dry Earth is a cheap disinfectant. Use it freely, 
and be not sparing of water, soap, and lime. 
Personal Cleanliness would he less rare among 
hard-working men and boys if bathing conveniences 
were more common. A good swim is a good thing, 
but a man can he dean without having a river to 
bathe in. A tub of soft water, in the barn, if need 
he, with soap and sponge and towels, should not 
be lacking on any farm. We should think little 
of the man or boy who will not use them. 
In Malarious Regions do not get up too early in a 
morning; and in our changeable climate no house 
should be without the means of making a fire at a 
moment’s notice. If the evenings are damp or 
chilly, make a fire, if necessary for comfort, and 
keep the doors and window's open. Many people 
seem to think if they make a fire they must shut 
the doors. 
Nutritious Food and plenty of it is essential to 
good health. A man who does not eat can not 
work. Meat soup is better than beer, and a cup of 
good coffee is more invigorating than a pitcher of 
hard eider. For a hard-working man, good bread 
and firm, fat pork, are better than cakes or cookies. 
Work Lively. —It is less fatiguing to milk ten 
cows in an hour, than in an hour and a half, and 
you have the half hour to give them a little extra 
food, which is certainly good for the cows. Horses 
should rest in the pasture or the stable, and not 
when in harness. Heavy hoots and slow motions 
belong to a species of farming which is fast be¬ 
coming extinct. Do not carry one pail of water 
when you can carry two. Study the economy of 
labor. Do not waste your time or your energy. 
Make every stroke count, and let the strokes be 
given with a will. 
Haying should be pushed forward rapidly. In 
our experience, it is not wise to wait for the wea¬ 
ther. While the grass is green, a little rain or dew 
does not hurt it. We like to cut in the afternoon 
and evening, and let it lie all night. The next 
morning, when the dew is off, turn it or ted it with 
a machine. In the afternoon rake into windrows, 
and if timothy, draw it in ; or if clover, put it in a 
cock and draw in as soon as ready—say the next 
afternoon, turning or opening the cocks in the 
meantime, if necessary. Clover makes capital hay 
if cut early and well-cured. 
Wheat should be cut as soon as there is no milk! 
in the kernels. If the field is square, and there are 
five men to bind, each man will have a side, and 
