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Ifoejffom and^fursitU.
AGRICULTURAL.
V; LATABTE, Editor.
SATURDAY, JANUARY 10, 1863.
We would be pleased to hear from our arti
sans, with some accounts of their inventions,
so far as they tend to facilitate the operations
of agriculture.
——
BOOK FARMING.
A farmer is not made by books; but books
may assist a farmer, in giving him information
of successful practices by other farmers in other
countries or places, which he cannot but by
books know, limited in his enquiries to the
little occurrences of his neighbors. Books will
entertain a farmer with conversations on the
practices of other farmers, and will inform him
how far such practices have proved successful
and advantageous, or how far they failed, and
why th«v failed. One man may profit by the
failure, or mistake of another, and often does.
The design has bdbn good, promising, and the
cause of the failure may thereafter be avoided
and the design rendered successful.
BEES.
This is the mouth for removing bees. Choose
the best hives—those that are quite full of
comb and have some weight are the best; those
half full and light are not worth having. Tie
a cloth over the mouth of the hive,'and let it be
conveyed, if carried any distauce, on a carriage
with springs, and always upside down. Place
your hives in the dryest place you can find, but
never under trees. As these are the hives
from which you are to obtain your permanent
stock, they will require no further care than to
protect them from bad weather. In the spring)
after swarming, the bees must be driven into
a new hive and the old one burnt. This we
recommend as the only safe protection against
tiie introduction of the worm into your new
hives. The most economical hive, and at the
same time the one best suited for general use,
is the common box hive, with its super. This
hive is made of piue boards one inch thick.—
The lower section is entirely separate fro’m the
upper one. Its dimensions are twelve inches
square in the clear. The top board or cover
should project about one inch, to render it
easier to carry when filled. Let a couple of
sticks, about half an inch squure, be crossed
in the hive from one »o the opposite corner to
serve as a support for the combs. In the top
of this section, bore five inch and a quarter
holes: one in the centre, and one half way from
the centre to each corner—these are to admit
the passing of the bees from the lower to the
upper section, or super. This super is to be of
the same dimensions as the main hive, but only
eight or nine inches deep. We will speak
more fully on all matters connected with the
hive when the season for swarmiDg shall have
arrived. Iu the mean time, procure your beeß
aud have your hives made; but be sure that
you have them well constructed—let them be
rabitted and nailed both ways, that there may
be no warping, aud you will have a hivo that
will last you a long time—fifty years if you
takf the precaution to give them an occasional
[Minting.
THE ORCHARD.
We commend to the attention of our readers
the following extract from the notes of an
American farmer. With a few exceptions, it
is a lamentable fact that the orchard is sadly
neglected. When will men learn that it is not
enough to plant an orchard of good trees, at
the proper season, and in a proper way, but
they need a great deal of attention afterwards?
Trusting that the hints below will have some
influence in their way, we again solicit for
them an attentive perusal:
Os all the discoveries made public by Mr.
Forsyth, the heading-down, training and prun
ing, in his very judicious methods, are the
most important and satisfactory, including the
application of his composition, washes and
powder. Upon these communications, Mr. For
syth has a great deal to value himself; look to
the neighboring nnheaded, unpruned or injudi
ciously trained fruit-trees and brehards—hew
inferior, scrubby and mean the trees and fruit.
Heading-down, training and pruning are
practiced by many people in their own, some
how way, which together may bo denominated
the common method; but how inferior, and how [
"V - .
THE SOUTHERN FIELD AND FIRESIDE.
void of proofs of its having any extraordinary
good effect. Yet, it may be of some advantage
generally, more than if no attempt was made
to improve the trees and fruit, by the few
country people who show some endeavor to im
prove. So by chance the editor succeeded in
heading-down and trimming a number of peach
trees, without having then heard the expression
of heading-dewn. He had been told it was
advantageous to trim and tbin youqg trees
when planted out; these trees grew aDd pro
duced fruit to admiration. But what is all the
random pruning in America compared to Mr.
Forsyth’s now well-known method, so superior
to all dver before practiced ?
In general, the American air and climate ap
pear well adapted for yielding the best of fruits
—orchard as well as garden kinds. Strawber
ries, currants, and raspberries, are very sure
and perfect crops. Goosberries are not such
perfect or certain productions, unless it may be
in the cooler, more northern parts; but yet
they answer culinary purposes, and bottle well
—this is with scarcely any attention to their
cultivation.
Teaches are in some variety, and ripen to
1 great perfection in the Middle and Southern
States, as with but a little attention they
would in the more Northern States of America.
It is a fruit that is so natural to the country of
these States, that it is applied as food to hogs,
also in making brandy and for culinary pur
poses. They are in succession, one sort com
ing after another, from July until November.
In some of the States, kilns are erected for
drying and curing apples, pears, peaches and
other fruits in great qualities; where pies are
made into mountains of crust, thick, essential
and cheap, and given to hirelings, as an agree
able food for all laboring people in the country,
’ and which needs but little or no sugar. The
dried fruit is packed in casks for family use,
i and is sometimes exported as merchandize.
It is a common fault, after having planted an
orchard of peach trees, to leave the trees to
* shift for themselves and travel down with old
’ time, with scarcely any culture or attention;
i and the trees are taken from the nursery when
they hod become full grown, crowded and
stunted, so as to be now unfit for giving good
fruit when transplanted; and they are left to
' themselves, without any training or pruning;
1 heading-down is scarcely thought of, if known
—in consequence, the fruit they yield is mean,
, and the orchard in the end is given up.
Every American farm has some sort of an
apple orchard; the fruit is of various sortß of
apples, and formerly gave much cider, and stone
apples abounded. Now, the trees and entire
orchards become daily more mean, and there is
a great scarcity of cider; but few keeping ap
ples, and those knotty, dry and insipid. There
is not the attention to orchards that has been.
West India spirit and French brandy abound iu
the shops; aud we wear out the strength of
our land in scuffling for corn, of all sorts, to be
sold to the shop-keepers, who furnish us very
readily with exotic spirit and brandy. The or
chard is no longer manured; instead of it, va
rious corns—oats, barley, rye and even Indian*
corn and wheat are sown and reaped in the
orchard, on ground not half dressed or cultiva
ted. Moreover, the orchards are now left open
to powerful storms, to which they are exposed
from the general clearing of the country; and
particularly from clearing away the neighbor
ing woods which had sheltered the orchards.
Further, pruning and training fruit-trees are
less understood and less attempted than for
merly. Mighty rum and mighty br.mdy divert
better attentions.
Little attention is had to Duts: the walnut of
Europe, and the Spanish chesnut, would be
worth cultivating, as well for the timber as the
nuts. Although the chesuut is bad for fuel,
yet staves of chesnut for wiue casks are equal
if not superior to oak. In Italy it is much used
for wine casks. The chesnut is also excellent
house timber in beams, Ac. The liquor of
pickled walnuts is greatly used in sauces.
Formerly, the early settled plantations of the
more wealthy emigrants Irom England abound
ed in large-spreading walnut trees of the Euro
pean kind. Iu some places were entire rows
of them. At this time, scarcely any such rows
of walnut trees, indeed even of solitary, strag
gling bearing trees, are to be seen, in the States
where they had abounded. There is a fashion
in these as in other matters. The early,
wealthy planters from England introduced wal
nut trees about their houses—their descendants
have given them up. Cabinet makers have
rooted and sawed up all the noble blocks of
curled, veiny remains of fine walnut trees —and
the trees are no longer renewed: it is no longer
a tree noticed. In a word, very generally, fruit
is shamefully neglected by the American far
mers. They plant—and they neglect! Yet
we sow wheat —it buys us rum, brandy, and
spirits, at the expense of an entire impoverish
ment of our lands.
[From the American Stock Journal.]
SOIL ANALYSIS, OR VALUE OF SCIENCE
IN EXPERIMENTING.
Thousands are trying experiments in various
ways, and with varied success. It is from years
of such experience that most methods of culture
at present adopted have been formed. The
methods that succeed in one district, fail in
another. The reason for the difference is, to
such, incomprehensible. What an immense
amonnt of capital and labor is lost in such ex
periments I Science leads us in a much more
certain path. It ever gives us the beat security
of success. The causes of failure, or causes of
sterility of a soil for a few plants being known,
the means of obviating it at the least expense
becomes apparent. Certain plants will not
grow on some soils where certain constituents
are absent. Now science reveals to us those
necessary constituents, which, if absent in a
soil, its sterility and the cause of such sterility
is obvious. .Such knowledge is what the
farmer wants. It would often save him much
capital and labor, and would enable him to em
ploy them in the most advantageous manner.
It is well known that the cereals will not flour
ish in a soil deficient in silica in a soluble state,
in addition to the other substances requisite.
Virgin soils coutain vegetable matter in large
proportions, and those have beeu found emi
nently adapted to the cultivation of most
plants; the organic matter contained in them
has naturally been recognized as the cause of
fertility. At the same time, even in the most
fertile soils, when the weight of the soluble
parts of this vegetable matter is composed w ith
that of the plants growing upon it, it is found
but a part of their substance could have been
procured through its agency, but a large por
tion of it is received from the atmosphere.—
This vegetable mould or humus, plays such an
important part in the phenomena of vegetation,
that physiologists have been -induced to ascribe
the fertility of the soil to its presence. Hence
manure, supplying this ingredient, is chiefly
resorted to. This humus is a product of the
putrefaction and decay of vegetable matter. —
This receives different names according to the
chemical properties that it possesses—as ulmin,
humic acid, coal humus, and humin. It is well
known with scientific men, that the grains and
grasses will not thrive to any extent without
the presence of humus.
It is impossible to stock old or exhausted
lands with timothy, clover, and other grasses,
without a generous coat of manure, or wood
soil, and if stocked, is liable to freeze out dur
ing the succeeding winter. To restore humus
to the soil, green manuring, Or plowing in
growing crops of clover, rve, .tc., is one of the
more economical modes, thus gathering an in
crease of fertilizing matter from the atmos
phere. This mode of treatment was strongly
recommended by our nfueh lamented B.iel, and
in my opinion is one of the very best and
cheapest means to ajply to exhausted or worn
out soils to bring them to a sta eof fertility.
Camden , V. F. Geo. Thowbridoe.
COMFORT TO BRUTES.
An animal may be well fed, lodged and pro
perly cleanedj without being comfortable; and
in men as well as brutes, want of comfort oper
ates ou the digestive powers. If the surface of
a stall, in which an ox or horse stands, deviates
much from a level, he will be continually un
easy; and he will be particularly so at night, if
ita surface is rough, or if a proper bed of litter
im not prepared every evening for it to repose
on. The form of racks and mangers is often
less commodious than might be, and may be
come a source of uneasiness and disquiet
amounting to absolute suffering. A hayrack
that projects forward is bad ; because the ani
mal, in drawing out the hay, is teased with the
bay aeeds falling into his eyes or ears ; and
this form, it may be added, is apt to cause the
breath of the animal to ascend through its
food, which must, after a time render it nause
ous. For this reason, hay should lie as short
a time as possible in lofts above the animals,
and when practicable, should be fed to them
direct from the rick or stack, standing outside
the bui’ding in a pure atmosphere.
Southern Homestead .
Staying Cows. —"VVe learn, says the New
England Farmer, that a geutleman at Newbury -
port, had two cows spayed la-t spring. They
have done so well, and giveu him such satis
faction, that he has recently had the operation
performed on auother. They are all fine milk
ers. One of the cows spayed last spring, a
fine young Durham, gives as much milk now,
in October, as she did last May, a few weeks
after calving. The other an old cow, is now
in rather low flesh and has fallen off somewhat
in her milk. Their milk has varied in quan
tity, according to the keeping they have had.
But they have neither of them fallen off as
much as cows in the ordinary condition. This
gentleman keeps four cows, and he intends to
have a fourth spayed soon, so that he may
have his whole set in this condition.
—■
A SUBSTITUTE FOR SHOES.
An old and experienced citizen has called
our attention, says the Montgomery Advertiser
& Register, to the subject of the use of low
hide moccasins as a substitute for shoes. He
states that when he moved to the Mississippi.
Aft; two years ago, no shoes were to be had
for'the negrees, and they made their own out
of this material, which answered.the purpose
as well as the more elaborately made article,
and in some respects better. The process is
simple: take green cowhide, or one well soak
ed, with hair on—which is to go next to the
foot—“put the foot down firmly ’ upon it, cut
out the pattern desired; make the necessary
holes along the edges, and lace it with a thong
of the same material at the heel and up to the
instep. Let it dry upon the foot, and it accom
modates itself perfectly to the shape of the
latter, while it is sufficiently substantial for all
kinds of travelling, and its elasticity is pre
•
served by use. Socks should be put on when 1
it is made, though it can be worn without and
such allowanced shrinking as to’ avoid too tight
a fit. The moccasm, it is scarcely necessary
to observe, adapts itself to the shape of the
foot, and the fit is perfect. It out-wears leath*
er, and is not hard, as some might suppose, but
quite the reverse. If desired, it can be half
soled with the same material. The hair lining
gives the advantage of warmth, so that socks,
when not to be had, can be better dispensed
with when moccasins are used than if shoes
were worn.
The gentleman .to whom we are indebted for
this suggestion says that he has mentioned the
subject to soldiers, who are very much pleased
with it, and s.»y there is no reason why sol
diers should go barefoot while so many hides
are thrown away in camps.
We think the idea a valuable one, and would
be glad that every newspaper in the Confeder
acy would lend its aid in giviug it circula
tion.
—•Mfr- .
[From the Southern Cultivator.!
BUTTER MAKING IN WINTER.
“Winter butter” has no enviable reputation
and compared with that made in Judo, seems
an entirely different article. Os course there
are reasons for this—let us enumerate some of
them.
1. The character of the food is changed from
green and succulent herbage, to dry hay, or
more generally cornstalks and straw. There is
really very little butter in the latter.
2. The season is changed from mild and
warm, to cold, bleak, and uncomfortable.—
There is a constant demand for fuel to keep up
the animal heat; this is partly at the expense
of the butter product.
3. The management of the milk becomes dif
ficult If kept in a cellar, and a little above
freezing, the milk becomes bitter before the
cream rises: if allowed to freeze, the cream
rises at once, but is injured in quality, and will
produce very white butter; if kept in the
kitchen pantry, when very warm during the
day and cold at night, it does not rfse well, and
is apt to be bitter and acid.
Other reasons might be mentioned, but they
will readily auggest themselves to the reader.
Let us see what can be proposed to remedy the
difficulties.
1. Feed well—not dry food alone—but grain
and roots as a substitute for grass. Carrots,
turnips, beets, cabbages, etc., are all useful in
keeping up the quality of the milk. Let their
fodder be cut, and some nutritious slops be pro
vided, if roots are not to be had, and it is well
to cut the fodder in any case.
2. The comfort of cows should be carefully
attended to. While they suffer from cold and
filth, or foul air, they cannot yield as good milk
# as when in warm, clean stables, or in well lit
tered and sheltered yards. Water should also
be provided —it is more Deeded when dry for
are is consumed —and it should be so arranged
that every animal should drink at will. A sup
ply of salt is also necessary.
3. It is difficult to get a proper temperature
lor raising cream perfectly in winter. Some
butter-makers scald their milk when first
drawn from the cow—others let it stand twelve
hours, and then place the pan containing the
milk in a larger one filled with boiling water—
and allowing it to stand twelve hours longer,
find the cream raised perfectly. It is said that
more and better butter can be made in this
way than iu any other.
Churning in winter, as usually mauaged, is
often a serious operation. The cream stands
too long generally—becoming very sour and
bitter. Or, it is too cold and froths up, tilling
the churn but producing no butter though
churned for hours. .Let the cream-pot sit uear
the fire for a few hours before churning—stir
ring it occasionally, that all may get warm
alike, and when it is at a proper temperature,
55 deg.—feeling a little warm to the finger—
the churning will be an easy half-hour’s job,
and the butter as yellow and hard as the sea
son will admit of.
We have found that cows generally gave
better milk, when fed on well cured corn fod
der, than on second-rate hay, and with "a
mess” of roots, apples, or pumpkins, would
yield milk of very fair quality. Attention to
securing a supply of proper food for cows, and
better care of them, would go far to redeem
the namo of winter butter from its present
! character. . J. H. B.
<■ i» i ’Hm—— ———
Broth tor the Sick.—Put two pounds o f '
lean beef, one pound of scrag of veal, one pound
of scrag of mutton, sweet herbs, and ten pep
percorns, into a saucepan, witn five quarts of
water; simmer to three quarts, and clear off
the fat when cold. Add one onion, if ap
proved.
Soup or broth made of different meats is
more supporting, as well as better flavored.
To remove the fat, take it off when cold, as
i clean as possible; and if there be still any re
maining, lay a bit of clean blotting paper an
the broth when in the basin, and it will take
up every particle. Or, if the broth is wanted
before there is time to let it get cold, put a
piece of cork up the narrow end of a funnel,
pour the broth into it, let it stand for a few
minutes, and the fat will rise to the top; re
move the cork, and draw off into a basin as
much of the broth as is wanted, which will be
perfectly free from fat. t
i
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