1868.] 
AMERICAN AGRICULTURIST. 
3 
Fencing Material should be got out, aud hauled 
to the lines where it is to be used, for fences are 
usually best built when it is very heavy wheeling. 
Fire- Wood. —“ In peace prepare for war.” Though 
the whole year is before us, trust that no future time 
will be better to cut fire-wood than the present— 
that is, the winter. Have cord wood piled to shed 
water to the east. 
Clearing Land. —This is a very good season in 
which to blast rocks, cut alders and willows, and 
often those tussocks of coarse grass, called “ bogs.” 
Ditches may be dug in swamps, and such work done. 
Thaws. —Those of the Northern States where the 
land is often covered with great masses of snow, arc 
liable to thaws, coming in consequence of heavy 
and warm rains. See that no damage occurs from 
a great rush of water over the frozen surface, or 
from its being dammed up behind drifts, and enter¬ 
ing cellar walls ; and stand ready to take advantage 
of even a temporary breaking- up. 
Ice-Houses. —It rarely happens that ice does not 
form, during January, sufficiently to pack. Cat as 
soon as six inches of clear ice can be got. 
Ice-houses fail to keep ice for one of three reasons: 
either there is not perfect drainage, in which ease 
the ice goes very rapidly; or there is access of air to 
the ice through the foundation or under the sills; 
or the ice was not well packed. There should be a 
great abundance of straw or chaff on the floor, and 
the ice on all sides should be packed with sawdust, 
chaff, or straw, while plenty of straw should be 
used to cover the surface. 
Work in tlie Horticultural Depart- 
incut. 
It is well that out-of-door work sometimes ceases, 
or at least becomes so little pressing, that we 
have time to plan and think. While the general 
aspect of these notes is such as might : lead one to 
suppose that they were reprinted from year to year, 
there is really no more pains-taking work put into 
tlie paper than just here. Certain things, it is true, 
have to be repeated, and it is not easy to give di¬ 
rections to transplant cabbages in any great variety 
of language. In making up these notes we are 
obliged to have several distinct classes of readers 
in mind: those who cultivate entirely for profit, and 
those who grow plants for the love of it, and with¬ 
out regard to gain; those who are familiar with the 
ordinary operations of horticulture aud only need 
to be reminded of the season in which to do them, 
and those who essay the simplest operation for the 
first time. Besides the routine directions it will be 
found that we each month incorporate much that 
is new under the different divisions, and answer in 
general terms many letters of inquiry. Horticul¬ 
turists have always been iu advance of farmers in 
availing themselves of the recorded experience of 
others, and we now have not only general treatises, 
but many excellent works wpon special subjects, in 
which the various processes are treated more in 
detail than-they can be by general writers. The past 
year has brought out works of great value in air 
departments of horticulture, and no one whose 
operations are upon any other than a very small 
6cale can afford to be ignorant of the current liter¬ 
ature of his favorite branch. 
Orchard arid IVursery. 
Order Trees early; if one lives near a nursery it 
will sometimes pay him to give an extra price 
for the privilege of digging his owu trees. 
1labbits are troublesome, especially when the 
snow is on the ground. Among the various pre¬ 
ventives blood has been fouud the most easy of 
application and as efficacious as any. One sprink¬ 
ling will last all winter. If blood cannot be ob¬ 
tained readily, rub the- trunks of the trees with 
liver or bloody meat, but this is more troublesome. 
Mice work under cover; keep all rubbish away 
from the trees, and tramp down light snows. When 
there are not many trees it will pay to clasp the base 
of the trunks with a girdle of old tin, or sheet iron. 
The Tent Caterpillar is one of the most destruct¬ 
ive insects in the orchard, and one of the most 
readily controlled. Tlie eggs may now be seen 
glued on as a band around the twigs near their 
ends. Get them off at auy expense of time and labor. 
Cions. —The sooner these are cut, tlie better, as 
experience has shown that a much larger propor¬ 
tion of early cut grafts will live than of those taken 
after they have been exposed to the severity of the 
winter; this is especially the case when tlie autumn 
has been unfavorable to the ripening of the wood. 
Label correctly, and pack in boxes of fresh sawdust. 
Foot Grafting may be done; graft at tlie- “collar” 
and never on tips of roots. Waxed cotton twine 
is the most convenient tying material. 
Map the Orchard. —We often advise this, and can¬ 
not do so too frequently; the best label will get 
lost or become obliterated in time, and memory is 
not to be trusted. If a place is to be sold, a named 
orchard will add much to its value. 
Nursery Stock may be headed back and shaped 
any time during winter when the weather is mild. 
Fraait Garden, 
Whoever contents himself with a single variety 
of strawberry, currant, or other fruit, gets only half 
the satisfaction his garden is capable of affording, 
or, if he cultivates for market, only a portion of 
the profit he might otherwise receive. 
With proper forethought in selecting early and 
late varieties to supplement the main crops at both 
cuds, the season of most fruits may be much extend¬ 
ed. Now is the time to think up such matters, and 
to arrange for a succession of fresh fruit, from 
tlie time the earliest strawberry ripens, until the 
last winter pear and long-keeping grape is gone. 
At the South, preparing the soil and even plant¬ 
ing may go on, but in our colder climate but little 
can be done save preventing injury to trees by 
animals and horsemen, and in mild spells to 
Prune such grape vines and currant bushes as 
have been neglected until now. 
Geyieral Work , such as protecting trees, remov¬ 
ing the eggs of insects, is hinted at under Orchard. 
Kitchen Garden, 
The amount of out-of-door work will be govern¬ 
ed by the season aud the locality; wherever any¬ 
thing can be done to tacilitatc next spring’s oper¬ 
ations it should be attended to while work is not 
pressing. At least the one important article of 
Manure —the key to success—can be accumulated. 
There are but few crops that will not pay for liberal 
manuring, and where early hot-beds are to be 
started, the manure may be placed where it will 
be needed. The heaps should be so large that they 
will not become chilled through, and if ferment¬ 
ation goes on too actively they must be turned over. 
Hot-hed Sashes and Frames are to be in readiness. 
The usual size of sashes is 6x3 feet. In small 
operations a frame of convenient size is placed on 
a thick bed of fermenting manure, but it is quite as 
well to excavate 2% feet deep, and board it up with 
rough boards and place the heating material in this. 
Straw Mats will be needed, and a good stock of 
them may be made iu a short time, according to the 
directions given on page 23. 
Cold Frames generally need more attention to 
keep them cold than to prevent injury from freez¬ 
ing. Cabbages, especially, should have air, except 
in very severe weather, and in a mild time the 
sashes may be entirely removed during the day. 
Tools are to be overhauled and repaired, and 
those needed made or purchased. A home-made 
roller, marker, reel for a garden-line and the like, 
are great helps, even in a small garden. 
At the South, in favorable localities, liot-beds may 
be started, and Lettuce, Radishes and Cabbages 
sown in them, and the half hardy vegetables, such 
as Beets, Carrots, Turnips, etc., sown in the open 
ground, and the early sorts of Potatoes planted. 
Flower Garden and Lawn. 
Evergreens are now appreciated, and tlie present 
is the season to discover where they may be intro¬ 
duced into the grounds to the best advantage. 
Fhododcndrons , Hollies , and other of the broad¬ 
leaved evergreens maybe made to contribute large¬ 
ly to the cheerful winter aspect of the grounds, aud 
some of them, such as the Kalmias and Rhododen¬ 
drons, serve the double purpose of making them 
gay with their llowers in spring and summer. 
Shrubs and Trees of all kinds must not be broken 
or beut out of shape by heavy loads of snow. 
Hedges may have their winter pruning in mild 
weather and in southern localities, 
Box Edgings may be laid, using rooted plants only. 
Green and Mot-Mouses. 
An average temperature of 50° in the green-house, 
with a rise and fall of some 15° for the extremes of 
mid-day and night, will do for general collections. 
Camellias and Azaleas now in bloom need liberal 
watering; those done flowering prune into shape. 
Hyacmths and other bulbs may be brought into 
a warm place to keep up a bloom, and as soon as 
the flower fades, cut away the stalk. 
Propagation of Verbenas, Heliotropes and other 
summer bedding stuff, may be carried on. 
Seeds of Pansies, Stocks, Petunias, etc., are to be 
sown to furnish plants for spring flowering. 
Oranges and Lemons arc to be kept in a cool part 
of the house and only sparingly watered. 
Frozen Plants in dwellings are often killed bj' 
kindness. Thaw them always in a cool room. 
Insects need to be kept under from the start. To¬ 
bacco smoke, and the use of the thumb and finger, 
are generally sufficient remedies in small collections. 
Apiary in Jain .—Prepared by M. Quinby. 
There are some people who are totally indifferent 
to the comfort of stock of all kinds; others who 
give every care to provide comfortable shelter for 
their cattle, but nevertheless leave their bees ex¬ 
posed all winter. We judge this comes from ignor¬ 
ance of what to do rather than from willful neglect. 
If bees are allowed to remain on their summer 
stands, shelter from prevailing winds. Where few 
bees are kept, when swarms are hived, they should 
be placed in the lee of the buildings, or tight fences, 
or of an evergreen hedge. If iu a Southern expos¬ 
ure, keep the sun off their hives, that the bees may 
not be too much excited by its deceptive warmth. 
It is better they should only fly when the tempera¬ 
ture in the shade tempts them out. In the com¬ 
mon box hive, a tln-ee-quarter inch hole, one third 
of the bight of the hive, from the top in front, if the 
combs run from front to rear, if not, at the side, is 
an advantage. If the entrance at the bottom is 
stopped by dead bees or snow, they have the upper 
hole free. They use this, and give themselves no 
concern about cleaning house in cold days, but fly 
in and out at this upper entrance. They enter at 
once in the cluster, for yon can always see them 
clustered close to this entrance, and below it, except 
in extreme cold. This is preferable to having to 
crawl up a loug cold side, and saves many lives. 
Covering hives with straw answers well. Further 
south, where the winters are open, and bees can fly 
occasionally this month aud next, it may be as well 
to leave them out, but a decided advantage is found 
further north, by wintering in a dry cellar, or a 
properly constructed pit. A uniform and dry at¬ 
mosphere, a few degrees above freezing, is the end 
desired for safety, and for economy of stores. 
Although bees lose less in numbers when win¬ 
tered in a cellar, they begin to breed earlier when 
left out, which makes tlie latter course preferable 
for latitudes not subject to extreme and long con¬ 
tinued cold. As this paper is read from Canada to 
Florida, we can best serve the interests of its read¬ 
ers by advising them to experiment cautiously, and 
find out what is best for their locality, not incurring 
risk by putting all their eggs into one basket. 
