30 



THE LANCASTER FARMER. 



and we are of the same opinion to a larreat extent. So 

 then, parents, if you would bring up the best crops 

 here, that your p;round will allow, bring up stalwart 

 boys that are able to work and are not ashamed of 

 it, and bring: up good, buxom girls, that are able to 

 work in the kitchen and about the house, and are 

 not ashamed of it either. 



Hay Producing and Marketing. 



Hay producing as a marketable crop, at first looked 

 upon as exhausting to the soil, has demonstrated, by 

 experiment, that it does not reduce the condition of 

 land, even if the whole crop is marketed, pro%iding 

 the fall growth is not pastured too close. Indeed, 

 prominent farmers in the old hay-producing sections 

 claim that their land is steadily improving. We are 

 aware that most agricultural men, who have not had 

 the advantage of experience or observation, will dis- 

 agree with us on this point, but we will only refer 

 them to the old hay-producing districts near our large 

 city markets' or leave it to time and personal experi- 

 ment to convince them of the fact, that the sponta- 

 neous product, evidently designed *by nature as a 

 protection to the soil, draws less from it than it 

 returns. All, however, will agree with us that there 

 is no crop attended with 9o little care and expense as 

 the hay crop. Harvesting and marketing is all there 

 is to do, and even this is more rapid and less expen- 

 sive than with any other crop. In many sections it is 

 also considered the surest and most remunerative 

 crop, and in most active demand. 



Hat preesing or baling is comparatively a new 

 feature in most parts of the country, and, even in the 

 most flourishing hay sections, we have not far to 

 retrace the past to find our markets filled with loose 

 hay, and barges stowed with it in the same condition 

 for transportation. To supply our large cities thus 

 now, would be hardly practical, if possible; nor is it 

 diificult now to see the advantage of bailing hay pre- 

 paratory to marketing. Indeed, it has now become 

 necessary to bale hay to market it, even in towns and 

 villages, and a few years hence loose hay cannot be 

 found except on the farm. 



The Best Field Beans. 



The American Jim-al Home says that in western 

 New York the Medium and Marrow are most planted 

 and the White Kidney and Early Pea to a limited ex- 

 tent. The Medium is considered the most reliable, 

 as, from its early ripening, it is less aflfected by the 

 vicissitudes of the season. It sells for less, however, 

 than the other varieties named. The Marrow is 

 quite a popular variety, and on a strong soU is very 

 productive. It is quoted thirty-five cents a bushel 

 higher than Medium in the Kochester market, now, 

 and the same as Kidney. The White Kidney has large 

 stalks, requires a longer season to be matured in, and 

 is more liable to be six)iled in ripening. When everj'- 

 thing, however, is favorable it will produce large 

 crops. It will, of course, make a ditlerence in what 

 way the beans are planted as to the quantity of seed 

 required, but farmers generally use about a bushel of 

 the Marrows and Mediums to the acre, rather more 

 of the Kidneys, and about half as much of the Pea 

 bean. 



How to Apply Lime. 



We think lime should never be plowed under, as it 

 sinks rapidly in the soil when placed on top, and it 

 needs the action of the atmosphere to produce the 

 best result. Mr. .1. S. Goe, of this State, says he has 

 plowed up lime from the bottom of the furrows ten 

 to fifteen years after sowing it upon the surface on 

 grass. This showed a rapid sinking, and that, if 

 plowed under, it would go below the reach of the 

 plow . Mr. G . regards it as of great imjjortance in bring- 

 ing up a poor soil, and says that many of the fields 

 formerly the poorest upon his farm, are now the 

 most productive, and made so from top-dressing with 

 lime, at the rate of tilty to five hundred bushels to 

 the acre. We should recommend to slack the lime 

 with brine made of refuse salt before top-dressing. 



Raising Potatoes. 



J. R. Cooney, in the Prairie Fanner, gives the fol- 

 lowing, in brief, as his mode of raising potatoes : "I 

 break my ground as early in the spring as the season 

 will adnnt of, and rclireak it again after I have my 

 corn planted, which is about the i:'.th of May; I then 

 harrow my ground level and mark it ofi' both ways 

 with a marker three feet four inches, riding on the 

 marker to make it go in. I plough then three times 

 with the cultivator. My yield this year is about three 

 hundred bushels to the acre." 



Horse-Shoeing: In Holland, horse-shoeing is 

 done in a way very comfortable lor the horse and 

 convenient for the smith. The horse stands in a stall, 

 across the end of which is fastened a bar. The horse's 

 leg is bent at the knee, the foot tied to the bar, and 

 the smith having both hands at liberty the work is 

 speedily finished. 



HORTICULTURAL MISCELLANY. 



Evergreen Trees — The Arbor-Vitse. 



One of our most valuable evergreens, says the 

 Germantown Telegraph, is the native arbor-vit», but 

 we see it so common everywhere that we hardly stop 

 to think what we should do without it. Though 

 found in its native places in swamps and low grounds 

 it has learned to accommodate itself to most of our 

 wants, except that of growing under the shade of 

 trees. Indeed, in our garden culture, it seems to pre- 

 fer to grow in a high and dry place rather than in a 

 low or wet one. One of its best olHces is to serve as 

 a screen from unsightly buildings or objects. It 

 grows so well under these circumstances that one 

 could not possibly do without it. It occupies little 

 room, seldom extending more than two or three feet, 

 and though it grows up tolerably rapidly it keeps 

 itself clothed with branches close to the ground. 

 Then it is so very hardy — in this respect it is sur- 

 passed by no evergreen known. 



For hedges to mark boundaries we have nothing so 

 cheap or tractable. The hemlock is far more beauti- 

 ful but requires more skill to manage. If let alone 

 for a few years the idea of a hedge is gone, but 

 tliough an arbor-vitae hedge has nothing done to it for 

 a long time, it is some sortof ahedge still. Of course 

 the idea of having evergreen hedges about one is often 

 pushed to extremes. They are often made where it 

 would look better without one. But the cases where 

 they do look well are numerous, and arbor-vitfe is one 

 of the the best things to employ. 



Though there are many places where hedges are 

 used that would look better without them, there are 

 a large number of people who have none who would 

 find a great advantage in one. Most of our gardens 

 and grounds suffer terribly from winds in winter, and 

 tall screens or hedges of arbor-vitie would make such 

 places comparatively warm and comfortable. Vege- 

 table and fruit gardens would be especially benefitted 

 by tall arbor-vitie hedges around them, particularly 

 where early spring vegetables are among the good 

 things aimed at. Most of our gardens are very 

 much exposed ; sometimes nothing whatever, and at 

 best a mere pale fence around them. A good warm 

 arbor-vita; hedge would often be as good as two weeks 

 added to the earliness of the crops. 



And then as single specimens on a lawn there are 

 few things that will command more respect than a 

 well-grown arbor-vitte. To be well-grown means to 

 have a good ojjen place all to itself and to have only one 

 good leader allowed to grow. When several shoots 

 are permitted to grow up together the time will come 

 when rain, or snow, or wind will separate them, and 

 then the beauty of an arbor-vitae is gone forever. 

 The keeping of the plant to one main shoot or leader 

 guards against any contingency like this and tHfe 

 plant's beauty is not only maintained for years and 

 years, but is annually added to. 



Horticulturists are continually appealed to,to get out 

 something new. It is a laudable effort, but it is well 

 once in awhile to look on our olil and tried friends and 

 note what they are to us and what we should do 

 without them, and thus it comes about that we have 

 been led to look into the merits of the common arbor- 

 vitie and to say a good word for it. 



As having an important bearing on this subject, the 

 Scicidific Aiiicricaii calls attention to the value of 

 evergreen trees' when planted among fruit trees. It 

 says, a well grown evergreen tree gives oQ' continually 

 an exodium of warmth and moisture that reaches a 

 distance of its area in height ; and when the tree 

 planters 'advocate shelter belts, surrounding a tract 

 of orchard fifty or more acres, when the intiuence of 

 such belt can only reach a distance of the height of 

 the trees in said l)clt, they do that which will prove 

 of little value. To ameliorate climate, to assist in 

 prevention of injury against the extreme climate, cold 

 inwintcrand of thefrostingof thegerm bud offruitin 

 spring, all orchards should have planted in and 

 among them, indiscriminately, evergreen trees at dis- 

 tances each of not more than 1.50 feet apart. Such a 

 course pursued, we have no doubt will render greater 

 health to the trees, and be productive of more regular 

 and uniform ci-ops of fruit. At all events, it isw-orth 

 trial, and we shall be glad if our readers can inform 

 us of any practical experiments on the subject. 



The Culture of Flowers. 



James Vick's Floral Guide for 1S7.5, which as a 

 specimen of typogra])Iiy and artistic taste far sur- 

 passes any of his previous ertbrts, is also a st i »re -house 

 of lieautiful thoughts, as well as of useful facts .iliout 

 flowers and how to grow them. "The culture of 

 flowers," he says, "is one of the few pleasures that 

 improves alike the mind and the heart and makes 

 every true lover of these beautiful creations of Infinite 

 Love wiser and purer and nobler. It teaches indus- 

 try, patience, faith and hope. We plant and sow in 

 hope, and patiently wait with faith in the rainbow 

 promise that harvest shall never fail. It is a pleasure 

 that brings no pain, a sweet without a snare. True, 

 some fail to realize their hopes, but these failures are 

 usually partial, never embarrassing, and are only 

 such as teach us to study more carefully and obey 

 more strictly nature's beautiful laws. Thus we gain, 



first, wisdom, and then success as the results even 

 of our failures. I have endeavored in a plain and 

 pleasant way to give some suggestions on the phil- 

 osophy of vegetation that I think will prove valuable, 

 revealing the causes of past failures and insuring 

 future success. Indeed, I have hoped in this improved 

 number of the Guide to make the subject so plain as 

 to render failure next to impossible, and success 

 almost certain. Exiierience, however, is the great 

 teacher. The book of nature is open, but its wonder- 

 ful beauties and mysteries are revealed only to the 

 careful student. Every species of plants has pecu- 

 liarities which must be studied, and while we can 

 give a few general principles we can furnish nothing 

 that will compensate for the pleasure and profit tol)e 

 derived from work and study in the garden. Above 

 all things, we caution our readers against over-confi- 

 dence. There is no one with less confidence in his 

 own skill and knowledge than the experienced gar- 

 dener. Every season he seeks for new facts : every 

 year adds to his store of knowledge. Do not, for a 

 moment, think that the purchase of a few seeds and 

 the perusal of any work on flower culture will make 

 a florist. The purchase of a drug store and a medical 

 library will not make a physician, nor does the pos- 

 session of paints and canvas constitute an artist. To 

 become skillful in any art requires both study and 

 practice, and this is especially true where we have to 

 deal with nature's laws. The study of Agriculture 

 and Horticulture has engaged the attention of the 

 wisest from the earliest ages, and yet what wonderful 

 discoveries and improvements have we witnessed in 

 our own day ; and we are still learners." 



Perennials and Bedding Plants. 



We are pleased to see that the eminent horticultur- 

 ist, Mr. Hogg, in his new Ameriean Garden, has a 

 good word to say in favor of the too much neglected 

 perennial plants. The writer of this has sjient con- 

 siderable money and time in the purchase and grow- 

 ing of flowers, but the investment which gave us most 

 lasting pleasure was the purchase, a few years ago, 

 of Peter Henderson's collection of select hardy herba- 

 ceous plants, the set of one hundred varieties costing 

 us eighteen dollars, among which were a number 

 scarce and valuable, and all being in such good order 

 that not one was lost. We therefore heartily endorse 

 Mr. Hogg when he says: 



" A fter our long and dreary winters, lovers of flowers, 

 especially if they are residents of the country, long to 

 greet their eyes with something bright and cheerful in 

 the way of flowers. This thej' can do by making a pro- 

 per selection of hardy perennial plants. Commenc- 

 ing with Crocuses in March, they may, at little ex- 

 pense, have a hundred or more species bloom in suc- 

 cession before their bedding-out plants are fit to be 

 seen, which cannot be before the first of July. How 

 mucli more jileasure and interest is to be derived from 

 a [ilat a ciuarter of an acre in extent, planted with a 

 hundred species of such plants, lasting season after 

 season, and sulRcient to stock the whole ground, than 

 from a single bed costing twice as much, and contain- 

 ing fifty Amaranthus for an outside row, twenty- 

 five Centaureas for an inner row, and twenty-five 

 General Grant Zonales for the centre — the plants to 

 renew which trlie next season have, nine times oiit of 

 ten, to be again purchased. 



*' With our almost tropical summers, we can do 

 that which gardeners abroad cannot equal in sub- 

 tropical gardening. What the various species of Ri- 

 cinus, Cannas, Erythrina, Caladiums, and similar 

 plants, we can give a variety and uniqueness to our 

 gardens, at but little expense, which the wealthiest 

 nobleman abroad would envy. Such plants are as 

 easily kept as Dahlias, Gladioli and Tuberoses; and 

 these added to the former will, with good taste, give 

 us all necessary means to divest gardens of any appear- 

 ance of sameness or lack of distinctive features. If 

 we add a judicious mixture of plants of colored or 

 striking foliage among our perennials, our gardens 

 will never be wanting in that individuality which 

 should distinguish one gartlen from another; and thus 

 each would become a continued source of delight to 

 its owner from March until November or December." 



Blanching Celery. 



Some time since a correspondent of the German- 

 toii'ii Tektjraph gave aninterestiugaecountof the pre- 

 servation of celery during the winter season, by stand- 

 ing it in spring water under a shed. Few persons 

 will have the chance to preserve celery in this 

 way, nor is it perhaps desirable that they should, as 

 there are many ways of preserving it which answer 

 just as well, and which allow of the celery being just 

 to hand, which it is not likely to be by any plan such 

 as that proposed, as it is rare indeed that a spring 

 would be close to one's house or that one would be 

 willing to put a spring to that use if it was. But for 

 all this the hint of our correspondent is a good one, 

 not so much for what it teaches as for what it suggests. 

 We know of one whose celery did not grow very 

 ' well last season on account of the drought. At dig- 

 ging time it was what he termed " poor and small," 

 and hardly worth preserving; but taking the water 

 hint of our corresiX)ndent, he concluded that by pack- 



