166 
AMERICAN AGRICULTURIST. 
[May, 
Contents for May, 1868. 
Animals—Giraffe, Mending a Broken Jaw.. .3 lllustr. .175 
Annuals, About.187 
Beans—Culture of Field.1S2 
Bell-Flowers—Campanulas. Illustrated.. 185 
Boys’ and Girls’ Columns—The Bestless Blue-bottle 
Fly—Tommy’s Troubles—The Chin Fever—Potatoes 
a Great Luxury—Answers to Problems and Puzzles— 
New Puzzles to be Answered—A Great Noise in the 
Barn—Only a Little Sunbeam—Poor Taste—What 
it Cost.4 Illustrations. ADI —192 
Cabbages as a Field Crop.1S2 
Cattle—Native.181 
Clover West of the Mississippi.181 
Corn—the Crop.17G 
Crotched Trees—Treatment of. Illustrated. .187 
Currants and their Enemies .1S5 
Eggs—Packing and Keeping.183 
Evergreens—What Shall We Plant?.187 
Farm and Family Gardens.186 
Farm Work for May.166 
Fish—Facts in Shad Hatching.180 
Flower Garden and Lawn in May. 16S 
Grape Vine—How it Grows and What to Do with 
It.3 Illustrations. .186 
Grapes—Bipe for Wine-Making.1S7 
Green and Hot-houses in May.168 
Herbaceous Plant—Tricyrtis. Illustrated. .18S 
Household Department—Moths, Moths, Moths—The 
Big Pickerel, and How it Was Cooked—Keeping a 
Boarding House—Home-made Photograph Frames— 
Household Talks by Aunt nattie — Larger Yards 
about the House—How to Put Out Clothes on Fire— 
Dressing for Salads.3 Illustrations. .1S9—190 
Italian Farm-Yard Scene. Illustrated. .165 
Kitchen Garden in May.167 
Market Bcports.170 
Meadows—Kenovating Old. 183 
Orchard and Nursery in May.167 
Potatoes—One more Acre of. 183 
Poultry—A Summer Fowl-House and Yard_ lllustr.. 1S1 
Poultry—Pure Water for. Illustrated. .176 
Premiums.16S—169 
Boot Crops for Feeding.182 
Sheep—Imaginary Diseases and Grub in the Head... .179 
Tarragon.1S7 
Thatching with Straw.2 Illustrations. .180 
“ The Last Shot ”. Illustrated. .184 
Tools—Home-made.4 Illustrations. .180 
Tree—A Variety of Sweet Gum. Illustrated. .188 
Truss Beams over Wide Barn Floors.. .4 Illustrations. .182 
Varieties and Variations.8 Illustrations. .176—177 
Walks and Talks on the Farm—No. 53.—Beef and 
Milk—Cheese and Beef Compared—Grass Culture- 
High Farming—Selling Straw—Value of Straw for 
Feeding and Manure—Clover—Botation of Crops— 
Barley Stubble.17S—179 
Weeding and Thinning.188 
Willows and their Uses...183 
INDEX TO “BASKET” OR SHORTER ARTICLES. 
Agricultural Colleges... .173 
Applying Manures.172 
Barns—Tight,.172 
Bee-feeder—Excellent.. .173 
Bees in May.173 
Best Machines.171 
Capons, Largest Size_171 
Cheap Homestead in Mo.172 
Chimney Tops.172 
Corn at the East. 171 
Cows at Calving.171 
Croquet Arena.170 
Darwin’s Great Work... .173 
False Pretences.172 
Farming, Co-operative...171 
Flowers, Lady’s Exp’ce..l73 
Fowls, Dagobert.171 
Fowls, Disease among.. .171 
Grass, When to Cut......173 
Gypsum or Plaster.171 
Handy Garden Trellis... .172 
How to Bemit.170 
Humbug Notice.173 
Ice Profitable.171 
Ice, 1,260,000.000 Pounds.171 
Lime in Stables.173 
Logs, Loading. . .171 
Manure from Cellars.172 
Manuring in the Hill_173 
Manure Sheds vs. Cellarsl72 
Manure, Stable, Hauling. 174 
Milch Cows, Corn for.... 174 
Mohr on the Grape Vine.172 
Mulching Apple Trees... 172 
Plaster iii Stables.171 
Plaster or Gypsum.171 
Olive Culture.171 
Peas, Field.174 
Pig Feeding Experiment.171 
Pigeons Destr’ng Grain. .172 
Postage 3 Cts.per Quart’r.170 
Post Gftice Money Orders.170 
Premiums for Everybody.170 
Begistered Letters.170 
Salmon Hatching inN.H.172 
Saw-dust as Manure.171 
Saw-dust & Tan-bark_173 
Shenandoah Valley.173 
Sundry Humbugs.172 
To Subscribers.170 
Tree Invigorators.174 
Tree Belts.174 
Useful Articles.173 
Why Use Muck.172 
Whitlock’s Hort’l Advert.172 
Worms oil Trees.172 
AMERICAN AGRICULTURIST. 
NEW-YORK, MAY, 186S. 
The average temperature grows warmer, and our 
cold storms are less cold in May than in April, 
yet they are cold enough. Seeds will rot in the 
ground; the plows will be dragged through the 
pasty soil, and mold it into clods, which will stand 
as mementos of indiscreet haste ; sheep will shiver 
and snuffle, and lambs will die for lack of protec¬ 
tion. We judge these and other things will hap¬ 
pen, because it always is so. There is no need of 
of their occurring, or very little, at any rate. May 
is always unreliable, except for storms and showers 
of rain. Sometimes we have many days of fine, 
clear, dry weather, but usually everybody is tired 
of seeing it rain. Proper efforts having been made, 
there need be little delay in the more important la¬ 
bors. Year by year, one’s practices should improve ; 
yearbyyear, the farmer’s reasonings should be more 
accurate, and liis judgment better. This month, 
the great bulk of the corn crop and more than half 
the potato crop is planted, much wheat is 
sown, as also roots of all sorts, except those 
of the turnip family. There must be hands and 
teams enough to do the work. No more must 
be included in tlie plan for the summer’s cam¬ 
paign than can be carried out. The plans for daily 
labor must be sufficient to keep the men employed 
all the time. It is very desirable to have men about 
you, who you know will set themselves at work, 
but it is a poor plan to give them a chance. Always 
keep men informed as to what work they are ex¬ 
pected to do. With the commencement of steady 
hard work, it is most important to start right with 
men and teams in the field, and scarcely less with 
household arrangements. The meals must he 
promptly ready, if the hands are boarded at the 
house; if they “ find themselves,” accuracy of hours 
must be exacted as for as possible. If one man be¬ 
gins to take liberties, “loafing,” coming late, or 
knocking off early, it is well to get rid of him at 
once. Such examples are contagious. In all your 
relations with hired men, “ do justly and love 
mercy,” be the best employer they ever had, and 
so, attach them to yourself and to your service. 
Ilisuts about Work. 
Last Tear's Mistakes are to be avoided. Take 
time, do all kinds of work thoroughly and well. If 
not present, let everything ordered to be done pass 
under your inspection soon after it is finished. 
A Watch on the Markets. —We have almost always 
either something to sell or something to buy; hence 
it is always well to watch the fluctuation of prices, 
and take advantage of them, if possible. 
Labor will pay. —Hire more labor—take risks of 
this kind. If work is well planned, and judiciously 
carried out, the more there is done, the better off 
you will be. If money at interest pays, that 
spent for labor ought to pay fifty per cent better. 
Working Stock. —Groom horses daily and thor¬ 
oughly ; rub them dry if they come wet to the 
stable, either from perspiration or rain. Feed reg¬ 
ularly, and, -when cool, give water. It is well to let 
a pail of water stand where the horse can drink dur¬ 
ing the night if he wishes to. Oxen should be well 
brushed off every day likewise. They are healthier 
for it, and endure more fatigue. If hard worked 
eight hours a day, it is all that should be expected 
of oxen. Give long noonings and good fodder. 
Back Volumes Supplied.— Tlie back volumes 
of the Agriculturist are very valuable. They contain 
information upon every topic connected with rural life, 
out-door and in-door, and the last ten volumes make up 
a very complete library. Each volume has a full index 
for ready reference to any desired topic. We have on 
hand, and print from electrotype plates as wanted, all the 
numbers and volumes for ten years past, beginning with 
1857—that is, Vol. 1C to Vol. 26, inclusive. Any of these 
volumes sent complete (in numbers) at $1.75 each, post¬ 
paid, (or $1.50 if taken at the office). The volumes, 
neatly bound, are supplied for $2 each, or $2.50 if to be 
sent by mail. Any single numbers of the past ten 
years will be supplied, post-paid, for 15 cents each. 
Cows. —When there is a good strong growth of 
grass, turn the cows to pasture, but not before. 
Calves, wearing muzzles set with nails which are 
well sharpened, but not slender pointed, may run 
with their dams without danger of their sucking. 
Cows “coming in” on full feed, often make more 
milk than their udders have capacity to retain, if 
milked but twice a day. Neglect to milk oftener 
causes not only the loss of a pint or two which 
leaks out daily, but induces a tendency in the cow 
to secrete less, entailing a loss through the year. 
Lulls. —There are hardly enough good full-blood 
bulls of all kinds for formers in every part of the 
country to be able to secure their services ; but if 
any State would impose a tax of $50 a year on every 
scrub or grade bull kept within its limits, the im¬ 
provement in stock would be most rapid and re¬ 
markable. Never, never send a cow to a grade bull. 
See “Basket” item on keeping good bulls. 
Sheep. —Shearing festivals and matches, and meet¬ 
ings at which prizes are offered for heaviest and best 
fleeces, are the order of the day, and very useful. 
Sheep breeders should plan to attend some of 
them. It is best for the sheep to shear them un¬ 
washed, and early in the present month, if the 
weather seems settled. If you arc obliged to wash 
in order to get a fair price for the wool, do so, hut 
expose the sheep as little as possible. Farmers 
ought to tub-wasli their wool, and save the rich, 
fertilizing liquid. Shelter shorn sheep for a few days, 
both from scorching sun and from cold. In turning 
sheep to pasture, if the grass is well grown, exercise 
caution with valuable animals, for fresh grass is pur¬ 
gative, and the sheep often fall off in flesh for a 
few days, if changed suddenly from hay to grass. 
Spring Grains. —As a rule, it is best to let at least 
oats and barley go, unless they are sowed by or 
before the first week in May. Wheat may be put 
in a little later, on soil very well prepared, but do 
not neglect the preparation, except on rich land; 
apply fine manure, plowed under lightly; harrow 
thoroughly, adding a dressing of guano, super¬ 
phosphate, fish guano, or bone dust, with the seed. 
The Corn Crop. —Be sure of your seed. It should 
he early, uniform, and adapted to your land. Ma¬ 
nure heavily; plant all, except very large kinds, in 
drills, rather than in hills with rows running both 
ways. A heavier' stand is thus gained, and the 
ground well filled with roots. Be careful to have 
the rows very straight, and, to this end, use a 
marker. North of hit. 40% be in no hurry about 
planting—if the crop is in by the 20th or 25th, il is 
early enough, and replanting will not be necessary. 
Broom-corn. —Plant a little earlier than maize, to 
give it the benefit of a long season, should the warm 
weather chance to come early. Plant in drills three 
feet apart, using plenty of seed, and thin out at the 
second hoeing. Lime and salt, applied to the soil 
before or at the time of planting, will check the 
wire-worms, if the crop be put upon a fresh-turned 
sod. There should be at least twice the number of 
stalks to the acre that there would be of corn. The 
culture is very similar, hut it requires more care. 
Boot crops. —For beets, parsnips, carrots, or man¬ 
gels, the ground must be deep, rich, and mellow. 
See hints in recent numbers on this subject, and do 
not fail to put in a good “patch” on as well pre¬ 
pared soil as you have. All the above-named roots 
may be sown in May almost as well as earlier ; car¬ 
rots and parsnips, particularly, bear late sowing. 
Botatoes. —Finish planting before the middle of 
the month; it is unsafe to delay longer, though, if 
the season be a wet one, like the last, June-planted 
potatoes may do tolerably well. Manure at the first 
or second hoeing with ashes and plaster, lime, or 
some concentrated manure, cast in small handfuls 
upon the plants, if backward, or the soil not rich. 
Flax and Hemp. —Like the spring grains, it is 
hardly worth while to sow flax in May—it should 
be up and high enough to weed. This weednig i3 
done by barefooted or stocking-footed weeders, 
children being preferred, who go through in pla¬ 
toons, regularly pulling all foreign plants. See Flax 
Culture in our book list. Hemp may be sown, 
either broadcast or in drills, the latter method being- 
preferable. Put hemp always upon good clean land. 
Tobacco. —For minute directions for culture and 
treatment of this plant, see Tobacco Culture of our 
book list. During the month of May, give the seed¬ 
bed great care, weeding, watering, etc. 
Soiling Crops. —Sow corn for soiling, using prefer¬ 
ably some large-stalked, sweet variety—Stowell’s 
Evergreen or R. I. Asylum. Sow 12 kernels to the 
foot, in drills about 2)£ feet apart. Continue to 
sow at intervals of about two weeks. No crop is 
so good for cows in summer, and no other is needed 
if there is enough of thickly sown com provided. 
Grass and Clover may he sown upon winter and 
