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—1881—Ensilage
#84A Lovely Old SiloWe have all heard, for the last year or two, a great deal about ensilage, or the packing of green fodder crops in silos, for preservation and use for the winter feeding of cattle....
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—1871—Farmer's Plans
#86Haying in the Agrarian Nation(click the picture to see enlarged view)A live farmer, always awake to the spirit of improvement, will have his farm, at the end of ten years, in a vastly better...
View ArticleAgrarian Nation Changes...
Dateline: 10 February 2012There will be no regularly-scheduled excerpt from the old agrarian writings today. I have decided to make a change from posting here twice a week (Friday and Monday) to once a...
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—1872—Cabbage As A Field Crop
#89Most farmers have been accustomed to cultivate cabbages in a small way in the garden and for family use. The methods of raising them are, therefore, well known. Now the great want of New England,...
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—1825—Sugar Maple Trees
#91Collecting Maple Sap in 1906 (photo link for historical information)If the farmer wish to save his sugar-maple trees he ought not to tap them in the common way; but, instead of this, bore a hole...
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Hogs1853, 1877, 1880 & 1883
#93-1853-Parsnips for HogsParsnips appear to be nearly the only root good for swine in an uncooked state. Put beets, ruta-bagas, carrots and parsnips, before them, and the question will be soon settled...
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Home Economy Tidbits1879, 1882, 1887, 1897, 1900
#95Woman Churning Butter in 1893(photo link)-1879-Oatmeal For ChildrenOatmeal is one of the best articles of food known for growing children. The custom, so long in use in England, is yearly becoming...
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—1888—Market Gardening
#98(photo link) (click the picture to see an enlarged view)—The market garden is a specialty which many a young man thinks he can master, but in which he often fails for want of knowing the conditions...
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—1868—Hints On Fattening Stock
# 100. As to rapid fattening, study the habits and requirements of fattening stock. All animals, when at liberty, take considerable exercise. Hence it is evident that a box stall, or “pen," is better...
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Home Economy Excerpts1830, 1833, 1834, 1849, 1852 & 1859
#103I took this is a picture of a kitchen at Hancock Shaker Village in Pittsfield, Massachusetts -1830-Easy and Safe PukeTake two tea-spoons full of mustard from the mustard pot, or the seed, mix it...
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—1859, 1862 & 1874—Cow Excerpts
#105-1859-A Valuable CowA gentleman of Dorchester, Mass., who has an excellent cow, has, at our request, furnished the following description of her, together with a statement of her yield of milk,...
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—1864—Urine, Muck & Other Matters
#108On most farms there can be found located somewhere upon the premises a muck hole which for ages has been filling up with decomposed vegetable matter. Shovel this muck into piles, to remain until...
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—1889—Guernsey and Jersey Cows
#109This picture comes from the August 19, 1875 Cultivator & Country Gentleman magazine. I own several years of this magazine and would like to someday make a collection of notecards with with the...
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—1876 & 1883—Clover For Manure
#110Clover in Full Blossom-1876-Ploughing Under Clover For Manure.The venerable John Johnston, of Geneva, who is now eighty-four years old, and who says he thinks the average of all his wheat crops...
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—1748—Molasses From Sweet Apples
#111Today’s Agrarian Nation excerpt is a real gem. It comes from the February 25, 1875 edition of “The Cultivator & Country Gentleman” a popular weekly agricultural newspaper of the 1800’s. I own...
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—1871—Sunflower As A Field Crop
#113Isaac Leuty of Sanilac Co., Michigan, states in the Western Rural that he has cultivated the “Mammoth Russian Sunflower,” as a field crop, with great success. He plants in drills 4 feet apart, and...
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—1877—"Cherry Bounce"
#114Wild Black CherriesProcure wild black cherries; pound them, in order to break the pits. Then mix them with sugar [and] good whiskey or rum, in the proportion of a gallon of spirits and two pounds...
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—1871—How To Use Your Currants
#115Black, red, and white currants. (photo link) The following article, titled "How To Use Your Currants," comes from the 1871 Cultivator & Country Gentleman newspaperCurrant JellyFor currant...
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—1876—Comb Protectors
#117(photo link)From the Cultivator & Country Gentleman magazine January 13, 1876.A correspondent gives the Fancier's Journal the following description of a hood for protecting the large combs of...
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—1869—A Remedy ForCanada Thistle
#118A young Canada thistleFrom the Cultivator & Country Gentleman magazine May 20, 1869.The large fields covered with thistles on many farms, and the small amount of labor that can be spared for...
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—1876—Patents onFruits & Plants
#119From the Cultivator & Country Gentleman magazine January 27, 1876A correspondent lately sent us the printed copy of a bill introduced in Congress last month by a member from this State,...
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—1873—The Kerry Cattle
#120This installment of Agrarian Nation comes from the April 3, 1873 issue of The Cultivator & Country Gentleman newspaper. I am posting it for my friend, Richard Grossman, who raises this fine old...
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—1874—Flax Culture
#121Flax in flower (photo link)Flax was a common crop in the Agrarian Nation, especially in the northern states. Flax produced seeds for oil and fiber for cloth.Cloth made with flax has a remarkable...
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—1869—Earth Ovens
#122Photo Link###The following excerpt comes from The Cultivator & Country Gentleman magazine of January 7, 1869###EDITORS, COUNTRY GENTLEMAN—In answer to an inquiry as to whether bake ovens could...
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Agrarian Nation Update 2015
Dateline: 5 March 2015By: Herrick KimballApple picking into the ox cartThis 1880 photograph is one of my favorites from the archives of this web site.(click for a larger view)I have ceased publishing...
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