4,42 
AMERICAN AGRICULTURIST. 
[December, 
Contents for December 1874. 
Beef from Colorado.;..453 
Bee Notes.448 
Boys and Girls’ Columns—About the Dog Carlos— 
Aunt Sue’s Puzzle-Bos—Aunt Sue’s Chats—Making 
Himself at Home. Illustrated. .465, 466 
Cattle, Heavy Shorthorn Grade. Illustrated.. 449 
Cucumber, Russian Netted. Illustrated . .462 
Dogs, Legislation in Reference to.457 
Farm Tools, Hungarian.. .3 Illustrations . .454 
Farm Work for December...442 
Feed Box, Self-supplying..2 Illustrations. AM 
Ferns, Moomvort. Illustrated. .401 
Flower Garden and Lawn in December.444 
Flowers, Preserving.460 
Fruit Garden in December.:—443 
Grapes, More New.. .460 
Grapes, Mr. Ricketts’ Hybrid.461 
Greenhouse and Window Plants in December.444 
norse Clothing. Illustrated. .454 
Horticulture at the International Exhibition—2 111. .458 
Hound, Badger. Illustrated. .451 
Household Department—“Always Handy”—Con¬ 
densed Milk—Folding Rural Chair—Home Topics— 
Homes, and How to Make Them. .2 Illustrations . 463, 464 
Houses, Concrete...15 Illustrations . .455 
Kitchen Garden in December.443 
Market Reports for December.444 
Ogden Farm Papers, No. 58—St. Louis Fair—Illinois 
Butter Dairy—Transplanting Beets—Fine Herds at 
the West.448, 449 
Orchard and Nursery in December.443 
Pansy, New White. Illustrated.. 459 
Pea, Everlasting. Illustrated . .459 
Plants Received by Mail, How to Treat.459 
Plants, Unhealthy...460 
Rail, Yellow-Breasted.. Illustrated. .451 
Rustic Porch. Illustrated. .462 
Stock Sales, Foreign. 457 
Wagon Spring, an Easy. 2 Illustrations . .450 
Walks and Talks on the Farm, No. 132—Hard Times 
—Cooking Food for Stock—Cooking Food for Hogs 
—Fall Work—Manure..’.452, 453 
Weed in California, a Dangerous. .. Illustrated . .450 
INDEX TO “BASKET,” OR SHORTER ARTICLES. 
Apple Pomace.446 
Barn Plan.446 
Bushes, How to Kill.447 
Carpet, a Faded.447 
Christian Advocate.447 
Crop Prospects.448 
Exhibition at New South 
Wales.448 
Fair in Indian Ter. 447 
Fair, Nevada.447 
Farming in N. C__446 
Filing the Agriculturist. .447 
Good Books Pay.446 
Gov. Lands in Iowa.447 
Grass Seed, Sowing.447 
Hog Crop. .44S 
Home-Made Fertilizers. .446 
Horticulturist, Death of a 
Venerable.447 
Hurdles for Sheep.447. 
Invaluable Help.446 
Jersey Cattle, Informa¬ 
tion as to.447 
Many for One.447 
Mass. Horticultural So¬ 
ciety .447 
No Farewell Words.445 
Paris Green, Use of..447 
Plant Named.447 
Poultry and Market Gar¬ 
dener.448 
Poultry for New York 
Markets..447 
Poultry, Lice on.447 
Premature Blooming... .447 
Reading Advertisements 
Pays.415 
Rolling Horse .446 
Rust on Wheat or Oats..447 
Sick Fowls...447 
Small Steam Engines... .447 
Sowing Down New Land 
for Pasture...446 
Sundry Humbugs.445 
Timber, Time to Cut... .447 
Timber, to Make Durable447 
Sufferers toy the Grasshoppers or 
Locusts.—Though the accounts as to the extent of the 
damage by the insect'visitation to some of our Western 
States are very conflicting, yet there is no doubt much 
suffering, and apparently more than can be relieved by 
local aid. It will be well in this holiday month for the 
prosperous to remember those who are suddenly depriv¬ 
ed of food, or the means of procuring it. If all who have 
friends in Kansas, Nebraska, or other devastated States, 
would remember and help relieve their necessities, much 
suffering would he avoided. 
Cheat all Around. —Some one sent to a 
wise man of Philadelphia a head of wheat, on which 
grew some cheat, or chess. Wise man sent an account 
of this wonderful freak of nature to the Tribune, which 
that paper was innocent enough to publish. Then some 
one did—what most persons would have done at first— 
give the specimen a careful examination. It was found 
to he a cheat in every sense of the word, made up, bogus. 
—Moral: Don’t be in a hurry to announce discoveries. 
As to Onions. —“ G.,” Savona, N. V. Onions 
could doubtless he made profitable as a field crop, but 
the cultivation would necessarily he simply enlarged 
gardening. It is useless to try to raise onions by the use 
of swamp muck, lime, or any such partial fertilizers. 
Plenty of good well-rotted barn yard manure will bring 
a crop on good loamy soil every year upon the same 
ground. No rotation is needed for onions. 
Calendar for December. 
1 
Boston.NEng¬ 
land,<N. York 
StateMichi¬ 
gan , • Wiscon¬ 
sin,, Tow a. and 
Oregon. 
TV. Y. City. Ct., 
Philadelphia , 
New Jersey , 
Penn., Ohio. 
Indiana, a?id 
Illinois. 
Washington, 
Maryland, 
Virginia .Ken¬ 
tucky, Missou¬ 
ri , and Cali¬ 
fornia. 
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1 
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7 
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4 
28 
morn 
7 
5 
4 
34 
morn 
7 
0 
4 
39 
morn 
2 
vv 
7 
11 
4 
28 
0 
52 
6 
4 
34 
0 52 
7 
1 
4 
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0 
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3 
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7 
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4 
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1 
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7 
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34 
1 52 
7 
2 
4 
39 
1 
51 
4 
F 
7 
13 
4 
28 
2 
7 
8 
4 
33 
2 50 
7 
3 
4 
39 
2 
48 
5 
S 
7 
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4 
28 
3 
53 
7 
9 
4 
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7 
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4 
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3 
47 
6 
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7 
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4 
56 
7 
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4 52 
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4 
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7 
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5 
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8 
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6 51 
7 57 
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0 
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0 38 
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18 
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1 50 
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1 
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5 37 
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5 
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31 
rises 
7 
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rises 
7 
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23 
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morn 
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morn 
31 
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7 
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0 
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4 
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0 40 
7 
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0 
39 
PHASES OF THE MOON. 
MOON. 
BOSTON. 
D. 
IT. 
M. 
New M’n 
8 
7 
22 ev. 
1st Quart 
16 
7 
40 mo 
Full M’n 
22 
0 
12 23(1 
3d Quart. 
30 
9 
52 ev. 
[N. 
YORK. 
WASn’N. 
cha’ston 
CHICAGO. 
IT. 
M. 
TT. M. 
n. 
M. 
IT. 
M. 
7 
10 ev. 
6 58 ev. 
(» 
46 ev. 
6 
16 ev. 
' 7 
28 mo. 
7 16 mo 
7 
4 mo. 
G 
34 mo. 
.12 
0 ev. 
11 48 ev. 
11 
36 ev. 
11 
6 ev. 
1 9 
40 mo. 
9 28 mo 
9 
16 mo. 
8 
46 mo. 
AMERICAN AGRICULTURIST. 
NEW YORK, DECEMBER, 1874. 
With this number close both the volume and the 
year. December is especially a month for retro¬ 
spection. As the days shorten, we return in mind 
to those longer and busier days which have passed. 
The farmer lives greatly in the future. His 
life is one of anticipation. He sows his seed and 
waits patiently for the harvest. He “learns to la¬ 
bor and to wait.” But now that his land, with 
what crop it may be bearing, rests for a season, he 
naturally looks back over the closing year. There 
is profit in it if he does this wisely. We love to 
remember our victories, but it is more profitable to 
remember our mistakes and defeats. Even those 
of the greatest knowledge and experience are ever 
making mistakes. To wisely consider the mistakes 
of the year gone by, their causes and results, will 
help us to avoid similar errors in the future. 
Many a farmer now sees where his short crop, cut 
down by drouth, ravaged by insects, overpowered 
by weeds, might have been made a full one. This 
has been a year of disaster in portions of the west, 
and ruin—if a true man can ever be ruined—has 
come to some. Here too is matter for considera¬ 
tion. How shall the ravages of insects he repress¬ 
ed or mitigated ? For no intelligent man is con¬ 
tent to succumb to disaster, and to say it can not 
be avoided. There is a cure for every evil, and 
doubtless, many who have suffered have seen a 
way by which they may help themselves in the fu¬ 
ture. But, as a whole, the agricultural interest has 
no cause for complaint. If prices are low there is 
more to sell, and low prices tend to stimulate better 
methods of production. What we need more than 
anything else is not so much great crops, as crops 
cheaply raised. Cheapness of production is equi¬ 
valent to a high selling price. It does not matter 
at which end the gain is made, so that a gain re¬ 
sults. Cheap food is a great stimulus to general 
prosperity, and if by close observation or careful 
study, the farmer can profitably reduce the cost of 
his crops, the whole industry of the country is 
benefited. We can not avoid competition with 
other countries where laborers work for a bare sub¬ 
sistence, hut we can by the use of machinery and 
improved processes, make one of our laborers do 
the work of three, live well, and lay up something 
towards .buying a farm of his own. In looking over 
our agricultural products, we must not forget to 
consider what kind of men we are raising, and 
when we look upon the general condition of the 
agricultural community; and find that the large 
farmer has not made large profits, it will be well to 
remember that every man in his employ is well 
housed, well clothed, and well fed ; that his chil¬ 
dren go to school, and have any career open to 
them that they are fitted for, and that the man him¬ 
self reads the papers, chooses his “ rulers,” and is 
looking for the not far-off time, when he himself 
shall he a land-owner. There is no reason for 
despondency, and the year closes upon a generally 
prosperous and always improving people. 
Hints a too i it Work, 
Farm machinery now represents a large portion 
of the farmer’s capital. Next to his land and live 
stock, his machinery costs the most money. Fre¬ 
quently it costs more than the live stock. It ought 
to be carefully used and kept. Whatever imple¬ 
ment has not been thoroughly cleaned, oiled, and 
put away, should now be attended to. Machinery 
will be used more and more, and a man of intelli¬ 
gence can use it most profitably. Farmers should 
therefore study mechanics, not only that they may 
know how to use and care for their machines, hut 
how to improve them and invent new ones. Many 
new agricultural machines are brought out, that 
are useless from the first, because the inventors 
knew nothing about agriculture. An inventor of a 
new plowing machine, acknowledged to ns that he 
did not know that sod should he turned over when 
plowed. He had a machine that tore it into frag¬ 
ments and left it upon the surface. Farmers should 
be their own inventors, and in course of time 
they will be, if the young men study. 
The Stables .—If our earlier hints have been regard¬ 
ed, the stables will now only need daily cleaning. 
Manure should not he left to freeze in hard lumps 
beneath the stock. The stables should he warm 
enough to prevent freezing in them, or the cattle 
will suffer loss, or more feed must he given. By 
wheeling out the manure the first thing each, 
morning to the heap in the yard, and piling it up 
neatly and compactly, the whole maybe kept from 
freezing during the winter, and it will be in fine 
condition for use in the spring. 
Cellars .—Root cellars should how he made safe 
against frost. Protect the house cellar, but pro¬ 
vide for ventilation. 
The Dwelling Rouse .—Porches for protection to 
the front and hack doors will cost but a few dol¬ 
lars. They should be made so as to be fastened to 
the house by a hook and staple upon each side, 
and removed in spring. Weather strips are rarely 
seen in country houses, but they save much fuel, 
and add to the comfort. A good substitute may 
he made by cutting sheet rubber into strips, and 
nailing them around the doors and windows. Let 
an ample supply of dry wood be kept in the kitchen. 
The Stock .—Liberal feeding is now needed. No 
stock should be allowed to lose now what they 
have made in the summer. On the contrary, they 
should be kept growing. And they may be by 
proper feeding. “ He becometh poor that deaieth 
with a slack hand,” is very true in this respect. 
There must be close attention to this matter, or 
money is lost in feed and in weight of stock. 
Don’t trust too much to hired, men or hoys. Have 
exact measurements for the feed. A box to hold 
three quarts, should be in every feed bin. This 
makes a fair allowance for one ox or horse, or for 
two cows or four calves at each feed. A bushel 
basket of fine cut hay is an average for one horse or 
cow, or two calves at each feed. There should be 
no waste, hut as much feed given as will be eaten 
up clean. Give salt regularly in umall quantities, or 
have it accessible to the animals. 
Milk cows will suffer from chapped teats, if they 
are not wiped dry after milking. Some warm 
water, a. piece of soap, and a dry cloth, should be 
taken to the stable at every milking time. The 
teats and udder should be washed and wiped dry, 
previous to and after milking. If the teats are 
Chapped, some fresh lard will soften and heal them. 
