Port Tobacco times, and Charles County advertiser. (Port Tobacco, Md.) 1845-1898, 1875-11-19


for fuel is of imperative necessity. A
closed porch around the kitchen door
will be found of great comfort to those
whose domain is bounded thereby. A
well house should not be forgotten,
and close board fence across the yard
to cut off the north winds from the
rear of the house viii be grateful ad-
dition.
In the garden, the strawberry bed
and the rhubarb roots should be we'll
protected by a thick coating of litter
or leaves, and a frame prepared for a
hot-bed in the spring. An ice-house
should by all means be prepared, and
a stack of sawdust or tanbark be col
lected and in a dry place for use as
packing. The luxury of a plentiful
supply of ice during the summer
months, not to speak of its advantage
in the dairy, can hardly be computed
in comparison with the very trifing
labor needed to secure it.
After the homestead, necessarily
follow the stables, cow-sheds, pig-pens
and poultry-roost. What are wanted
here are dryness, warmth, cleanliness
and ventilation. Each and all are alb
solutely necessary to the health of the
stock and their economical keeping.
Warmth saves feed. A few boards,
closing up spaces in sheds through
which the bitter winds would blow,
and the sun and rain penetrates, might
a Of P,,4
warmth should not be gained at the
expense of fresh air or ample ventila-
ton. Cold drafts are to be avoided,
and abrupt changes of temperature.
A much larger proportion of sick and
ailing animals owe their diseases to
want of shelter on the one hand, OF
want of fresh air and clean quarters
upon the other, than to want of feed.
Animals in clean, dry, airy, well-pro-
tected sheds and stalls, are rarely
troubled with ailments or vermin, and
thrifty repay the cost of their care
and keep. Neither should light be
shut out from the stables.
Cattle do not thrive so well in either
very dark or very light stables as in
those in which there is subdued
light an few cheering, health giving
rays of sunshine. Disorders of the eye
are often caused by bringing horses
suddenly out of dark stable into the
glazing sunlight when the ground is
covered with snow. The windows of
stables should be at the sides and not
in full face of the animals. 1t will
be found also of great advantage to
make an open shed upon the north
side Of the barn yard, and facing the
south, in which the stock may air
themselves in stormy weather. Pre-
partitions for all these necessities or
conEeniences will occupy much of the
time of the next two months.
But there is also much to do in the
field during these two months. Pro-
badly the most important work is the
collection of materials to add to the
manure pile. The most valuable of
these materials are swamp muck and
leaf-mould; leaves and hard wood
saw-dust, for bedding stock; waste
from tanneries, wooden mills, brew
cries, and slaughter houses. Sea-weed
is valuable fertilizer; wood ashes,
waste lime, plaster from old buildings,
lether scraps, bones, and almost every
refuse article add value to the compost
heap, and should be gathered from
every source. Money and labor
thus spent is the most profitable in
vestment that can be made. The far
mer who hesitates thus to invest his
money makes costly mistake, and he
who boards the price of his crops and
either invests in bonds or loans for
the sake of the interest, is very poor
business man. No investment is so
safe or profitable to the farmer as that
of the improvement of his own farm.
After these matters are satisfactorily
attended to, every other day should be
devoted to preparing for spring. The
ground for oats and potatoes should
by all means be ploughed. All stub
BILE should be ploughed under. But
this season is particularly fitted for
the work of draining. In the limits
of this article we can only point out
what may be done, leaving the methods
Of doing it for future occasions.
Wherever spring breaks out in the
field, or spot is overgrown with sedges,
horse-tails or tussocks, there should
be staked out line in the nearest di-
rection to the nearest ditch, drain,
creek, plateau.
It would be better if furrow could
be run with plough over the course,
by which a more permanent mark
would be made and one that is not
easily obliterated.
In the same way, the lines where
bitches may hereafter be dug for car
rying off the water that accumulates
in the spring may be marked out.
Every wet spot upon the farm should
be thus marked, and drain therefrem
to an established water-course or pond
laid out. The stone to fill these drains
should be gathered into piles SO that
they may be hauled on sleds during
the winter. By such preparations as
these the work of draining may be
carried on long after the surface is
frost-bound, and when the farmer is
forced to suspend altogether outdoor
labor.
We have been able but to hint at
the multifarious opportunities there
are to improve the condition of farm
at this season; but sufficient has been
here pointed out to find work outside
for all the fair days, and inside for all
the stormy ones, for the remainder Of
this year. In addition to these we