Work for the Month.

This is the month of increase, and as it is the farmer's especial care to make such things grow as ought to grow, so he must be sure to keep down such as ought not to grow. If he allow the grass to get possession of grounds devoted to corn or tobacco, or any other crop, his season's operations may be a failure. And this may very readily happen, if a long spell of rain comes in June, unless he take care to check the first movements of the enemy. Let the ground be kept thoroughly worked from the beginning.

CORN CROP.

This remark is particularly applicable to the corn crop, for more than the reason given. Should the field get grassy, extra work with the plough will be required to get it again in order, and by considerable increase in the cost of cultivation, a reduced crop may be made; but besides this, there is the further reasonthe necessity, in order to insure a full crop, of working thoroughly in the early stage of growth, and so to avoid cutting, and tearing up the roots after harvest, when the crop has the utmost need of every source of supply.

Vol. II.-No. 12.

For the ordinary purposes of corn cultivation, destroying very young grass, and keeping the surface loose, shallow cultivation only is needed, and the work is most expeditiously done by a cultivator which does not run deeply. Let the crop be thinned as soon as it is safe from worms and birds.

TOBACCO CROP.

It is very desirable to have this crop planted before the middle of the month. Planting seasons become then very precarious, and the ground has become so hot that they are of very short duration. Let the utmost energy be used therefore in getting ground in readiness, and if there is any doubt of the sufficiency of your own force, engage assistance in advance, that the crop may be set at the earliest planting season.

Of course the ground must be put into the finest possible tilth to make sure of the plants taking regularly. Careful hands only must be entrusted with the work of planting; it is necessarily done in haste, and only experienced and careful hands will plant well. They should be required to open the earth with two or more fingers, that the root may be inserted without doubling, and the loose soil should then be pressed closely back to the full depth of the hole made.

It is advisable to give the first working with the hoe very soon after planting, scraping carefully the whole surface crust from around the plant, and picking away with the fingers the smallest sprig of crab-grass or purslane. One of these left behind will soon throttle the young plant. The work of hoeing must be

done with great care, especially if the ground be quite dry, as a touch of the hoe may loosen the plant from its hold, and destroy it. With the greatest precaution many plants die out in weeding. If the weather become very hot and dry, it may become necessary to stop the work till a shower come.

If the tobacco field has not been manured, a supply of superphosphate or prepared guano should be at once procured, and strewn broadcast on the ground, at the last harrowing. When the plough is used to checker for the hills, the fertilizer will be put in position to be drawn into the hills where it will be most effective.

Plaster is used on the plant in small quantity, immediately after weeding, and some have followed the practice of plastering a second time broadcast, at a later period of growth. This is, however, not to be advised. The effect of plaster is to injure the quality of the tobacco, and in the heavier class of soils it is objectionable on this account, except in very small quantities to stimulate the early growth.

POTATOES.

It is during this month, that the main crop of potatoes should be planted, and not before the middle of it. We have repeatedly given the result of our own experience, and that of others, in this particular. A crop planted earlier begins forming its tubers in the midst of the excessive summer heat and drought, and is forced to maturity before they can be fully developed. It is thus almost sure to be cut short. Planted later, the process of development goes on during the moister and cooler weather of September.

There is some caution to be observed in planting at the time suggested, lest the germination of the seed be affected by exposure to the hot sun. The cutting of the seed may be done some weeks in advance of planting, that the sets may heal. They should be spread carefully in a cool place, where the sun will not reach them. On taking them to the field do not allow them to be exposed to the hot sun. Let the furrow be opened immediately in advance of the planting, and the earth be thrown back again before it can dry. Such precautions will ensure the regular coming up of the seed, which is liable to be destroyed without them.

HAY HARVESTS.

The harvest of the earlier grasses will soon

be on hand. As to time of cutting clover, we have thought, for some years past, that the common practice delays it too long, and that the consequence of such delay is the very bad quality of the article; the black stems, the burnt leaves and the impalpable dust that unfits it especially for horses. The common indication of fitness for the scythe is the turning brown of two-thirds of the bloom. We dare to suggest that a better rule would be to cut where the bloom is well developed, and before it is browned at all. Cut at this stage of progress, and cured quickly, without such exposure to the sun as will scorch and crisp the leaves, it will make a winter provender for cows, superior to any other, and for horses, hardly inferior to the best.

Professor Horsford determined by experiment that the clover cut when the heads first begin to appear, produces only 0.80 per cent. of sugar; but when fully developed 1.15 per cent. of sugar-very near fifty per cent. more than that cut first. "If clover," he says, "is not cut when sugar is most prevalent, it goes to perfect the seed, and the same loss of nutriment is the result."

Orchard grass should be cut when in bloom. It makes very poor hay if allowed to stand longer.

WHEAT HARVEST.

Have every thing in readiness for the harvest, at whatever time it may come on.Engage, at once, such extra help as may be needed. Provide necessary implements and get others in proper order. When this important crop is fit for the scythe, there should not be an hour's delay, in securing it against the vicissitudes of the season.

As to the precise condition in which it may be advisable to harvest the wheat, it is difficult to determine it by any rule. There are the strongest reasons why the crop should be cut at the earliest time allowable. The quality of the grain is injured by too long delay, and it is most unwise to have the crop exposed to the changes of weather a day longer than necessary. Yet it is not safe to follow the advice, so vague in its character, of cutting a certain number of days before the grain is ripe. The best advice we can offer is to watch carefully the progress of the ripening, and begin the first hour the grain may be safe from shrinking. This will be when it is passing out of the milky state. Let the risk of loss be rather on the early than the late side

chasing six plants. Subsequently one plant was sent to us by Col. Paxton, of Catawissa, who originally discovered the raspberry, growing in the old Friends' burying-ground at that place, and we found it to be identical with the others. Our own rule has been to cut the canes down even with the ground the last of November, cover with manure and let alone. The manure answers as an excellent mulching the following year. By this means the whole strength of the stool or roots is thrown into the new wood, and a far more productive crop is obtained. It begins to ripen about the 20th of August and continues to furnish a supply far into October, if the season is favorable. We have had them upon our table on the 11th of November. The poor crop which the foot of the previous year's wood will afford is not needed when there are plenty of other berries for early summer use, and it detracts just about in the same proportion from the fall crop. We think highly of this fruit and have a profuse supply from about twenty-five stools every year without any signs of the stools running out.-Germantown Telegraph.

The Flower Garden.

This is the season of especial beauty in the Flower Garden, and of enjoyment to the cultivator. The flush and glow of the summer bloom of flowers

"The trees, and the blue sky, and sunshine bright”—

these are the rewards of the faithful and loving tender of the Flower Garden. Let us not be too busy to enjoy them. There are some things to be looked after however.

Seedling Plants.-There will be many of these now large enough to go into the borders. Stock Gillyflowers, Wall Flowers, Sweet Williams, Canterbury Bells and many others.Water well when planted, unless the ground be wet, and, if practicable, shade them till rooted.

Bulbous Roots-When thoroughly ripe, should be taken up, dried several weeks, and then packed in dried sand or wrapped separately in paper till time to plant again.

Perennial Plants.-Cut off the flowering stems of such perennial plants as have finished their bloom, except when wanted to save seeds from.

stakes, and kept tied up as they advance in growth.

Flowering Shrubs-Newly planted out, should be mulched before the summer drought begins.

LAWN.

Keep the grass cut and the walks firm and well rolled; pulling out weeds from the latter by hand. The gravel should have clay enough with it to make it pack firm and smooth, and should not be chopped or otherwise disturbed. Gas tar, coal ashes, and gravel, make a good walk, if the smell of the tar is not objectionable. The walks should be made firm and smooth by rolling when wet, and kept so.

Fall Flowers.

To produce an elegant effect in the flower garden in October and November, sow now seeds of the double white wall-flower-leaved stock. As soon as the plants are large enough to be transplanted, put each one separately into a seven-inch pot and plunge the pots to the rims in any out-of-the-way place. They will need no care until September, when they will commence to bloom. Reject those with single flowers as soon as they are discovered. If the seed is good, nearly all the plants will prove double. Early frosts, which destroy many other bedding plants, do not have the slightest effect upon this stock. In October they may be turned out into any of the beds where the plants have been killed, and their masses of double white flowers will attract attention from every one. In our own garden we had a fine show until the 10th of December, last year, long after every other bedding plant was destroyed. This stock grows to the height of but nine inches and the same in diameter across the plant.-The Horticulturist.

Forty thousand barrels of cranberries, it is estimated, will be the crop of New Jersey. Ocean County furnishes 16,000 barrels. New England, Michigan, New-York, North Carolina and other localities will produce probably 50,000 barrels additional. It is thought that the value of the crop will be not less than $1,200,000. In this State (New Jersey) once valueless swamp lands are now worth $1,000 per acre for cranberry culture.

There are 22,693,427 acres of unimproved