THE LANCASTER FARMER. 



45 



pliiupntary to us, and both evince a literary 

 and (lonii'slicaiiiiri'i-iation nfaninre tlian ordi- 

 nary character. We I'cel sincerely tliai\kfid to 

 both of tlieni lortlie interest tliey seem loinani- 

 fest in our helialf, and hope to hear from them, 

 on tojiics familiar to them, "many a time and 

 often." 



Our chief ambition is to make our jour- 

 nal a reflex of the Illegal sentiment and domes- 

 tic experience of the (leople, and especially that 

 class anionic the peojile not too proud to "eat 

 tlieir bread by the sweat of their brows;" and 

 we liail every manifestation of interest in thi' 

 labor we are enija^ed in, as so many "sreeii 

 spots in the dcstrt of our days." In tliiscoTi- 

 nection we desire to make two suggestions. 1. 

 No pcr.son can ever learn to write without 

 wriiimj. 2. Nomatterhow imperfectly an article 

 is written, if it contains a trutli worth know- 

 ing it will always be welcome to the drawer of 

 the_ editor. If tlie readers of The FAltsiElt 

 act on these suggestions, their efforts will be 

 " twice blest " without a peradventure. 



Something About Blackberries. 



" WImt kind of blaikberrios should we plant?" 



This question has not been satisfactorily answered 

 yet, and 1 ean only answer for my own locality ; for, 

 I think much depends on loealily and the natuiv of 

 the soil, iV:e. But after a trial of more than half a 

 dozen kinds, I would say plant the Lawtons and 

 Kittitinys in the same pateh, but not in the same 

 row, (unless you only plant one row.) This will make 

 the Kitlitiny fruit do mueli better than it sometimes 

 does by itself, and 1 don't think there is a tietter berry to 

 be found than it is when £;rown to perfection. I don't 

 mean to say that these liave no faults. But they have 

 also flood qualities. The Lawtou is a jjreat bearer of 

 largre jjlump berries, the stalks are strong growers 

 and should be innehed off when three or four feet 

 hiirh, so as to form trees or bushes that need no "fix- 

 ing up," and it also Ibrms more fruit buds. But the 

 stalks will sometimes freeze — the wood or buds — in a 

 very eold winter. I have not notieed the yellow fun- 

 gus on them ; but a few stalks were attacked with a 

 roughness in the leaf and blossoms that looked like 

 " foxy " tobaeeo stalks, and of course it atfeeted the 

 fruit some. But there were some Ijerrieson the same 

 stalks (I don't know what the disease is called); the 

 blossoms have a very unnatural and bloated appear- 

 ance. I should like to know something about it. 



The Kittitinvs are large, long berries, sweet and 

 very palatable. The busli is large and a fast grower, 

 endures the eold a trille better than the Lawtons; it 

 is sometimes a sliy bearer when planted by itself. It 

 gets the yellow fungus tionietimes, and all such stalks 

 should be destroyed as soon as notieed. They are also 

 troubled with the Ijorer at the roots, and tlie bushes 

 die out sooner than Lawtons, and need replanting 

 ofteucr. And there is something else the mutter with 

 about half of my Kittitiny patch that I can't under- 

 stand. It goes ahead of my knowledge box. 



The one-half of the rows, that is, the cast end of 

 each row, is all that ean be desired for bearing good, 

 perfect ripe fruit in abundance ; while the west end 

 .of each row hioks as well, or rather better, and blos- 

 soms well and sets fruit well, grows well until about 

 the time the first tierries commence to turn red, then 

 the point or outer end of the berries seems as though 

 something sueked the juiee out, and it dries up while 

 the hut end mostly ripens a few seeds, or sometimes 

 more than half the length of the boi-ries, and some- 

 times a few are good enough to pick. Now, I would 

 like to kuow what is the causcof the entire loss of the 

 fruit on one end of my pateh. They are not quite as 

 close to the Lawtons as I would wish to have them, 

 but I don't think that causes all the trouble. I have 

 watched for insects and seen some, but dcm't think 

 they did it, for the green berries showed the shrink- 

 ing, dried appearance at the out ends, as well as the 

 ripe ones. But where they do well they are hard to 

 beat, and I mean to try them at another place ; lor I 

 think this dilfieulty can be overcome. J am not as 

 Diueli concerned about the yellow fungus, tor I oidy 

 lost a few stalks by it so fur, while the other takes 

 half of my patch. I have seen the yellow fungus on 

 the wild blackberries ui a thicket along the roadside 

 in Lampeter Square, very bad for several seasons past 

 —it seems to be spreading. 1 have tried the Wilson, 

 it didn't pay ; I tried Missouri Mammoth, (all mam- 

 moth but the berries ;) I tried White Blackberries, 

 (a nuisance) " good for nix ;" I tried two varieties 

 called Thornless — they may have less thorns, but they 

 have plenty of jaggcrs, and the fruit oidy middling 

 and not worth cultivating, tiive me the good old 

 Lawton and the Kittitiny in perfection, and I think it 

 is all that could be desired, (except the jaggers.)— 

 J. B. E., LUne VulU'y, Laii. county^ I'a. 



There is a beautiful little pea-green motlL,* 

 the hii-m of which attacks the ripe fruit of the 

 raspberry, excavating galleries through it in 



'Aptodis rubivora. 



various directions, and, of course, destroying 

 it, partially or totally ; and |iossibly this insect 

 may also infest the" fruit of tlie lilackberry : 

 altliough from our contributor's dcscripticin, 

 we should think sonietliing else was the mat- 

 ter. We hope some |)ractical blackberry grower 

 will give him some light upon this subjecit. It 

 can haidly have a climatic cause, or bilth ends 

 of the rows would be alike all'ected. It may 

 be in the nature of the soil, dilleri'nce in eleva- 

 tion, or a rankiu'.ss of growth. Will J. B. K. 

 institute a series of close observations the com- 

 ing season, and, as soon as the rot appears, 

 send us .some of the berries. 



The Horse's Foot. 



I see notices from dill'ercnt eorresjxmdents of agrl- 

 enltural journals, in reference to the horse's foot — as 

 it is the support of that noble animal — how it should 

 be treated ; Jiow he should be fe<i, Ac. Now I do not 

 propose to get up a discussion on tfds point, but will 

 try to give my reasons for differing with some other 

 people. 



One correspondent informs us that too much strong 

 feed has a tendency to create fever, and hence the 

 foot will become brittle. If this be so, my impression 

 is, that the feed, providing it has a tendency to injure 

 the foot, would have the same tendency to cause the 

 liorse 1(1 lose his eyesight. Again : they recommend 

 plenty of hay. Now, as for hay alone, I think it a poor 

 substitute; for, according to some of our best veter- 

 inary authorities, it is not very highly reeommended. 

 But to go back to the frmt, and lookat the subject a 

 little, it is apparent, that to have a good foot, have a 

 good, first-rate No. 1 mechanic to shoe him, and you 

 need never fear of your horse having bad feet. 



About two-thirds of the smiths know nothing atiout 

 shoeing the horse. They think that burning the shoe 

 on to make it level, and driving in the nails, leaving 

 the elim'hes half an inch long, cutting great chunks 

 from the sides and toe of the foot— (/lis I say, they 

 call shueinij, and this is the way they are learning to 

 be good horseshoers. 



In order for a smith to become a good horseshoer 

 he must give the subject close attention, and this too 

 from the very first start in the business, and then 

 success will erown his efforts. I have known men to 

 go ten miles to have their horses prupcrly shod. 



But this article is rather of a negative character, 

 and as such, may be too much of a trespasser upon 

 your time and space. I will therefore close tiy prom- 

 ising in my next to describe as to how horses" sliouM 

 be shod, and the kind of shoes that should he used 

 in order to insure good feet to those noble animals. — 

 J. Q. T., Vet. Surg., .Varietia, .Uarah 1, lHr.5. 



We know next to notliing about "horse- 

 flesh,'.' and perhaps less about "horse feet," 

 but we have no doubt our correspondent will 

 be able to ventilate the subject to the satis- 

 faction of our readers, who may be "horse 

 fanciers." 



The Persimmon. 

 I see the almve fruit noticed in the February num- 

 ber and deservedly reeommended as a desirabli' fruit, 

 by our friend C. lliller. There is, however, unolhcr 

 short article in the same number, jirobably by the edi- 

 tor, which is not correct. He says, "The JHoxpijriu 

 Icald, or Chinese Persimmon, is represented as being 

 as large as an apple. This is a mistake. I had the 

 Kaki in bearing years ago; it is smaller than our 

 native varieties, but deliciously sweet. The bark of 

 this variety is yellow, and the leaves imrtake of the 

 same color, while the Japan rersimmon is said to be 

 as large as a good sized apple. It is eaten with a 

 spoon. The bark of the Japan variety is dark brown, 

 the [ilant far more robust, thick shoots, leaves large 

 and thick, of a dark green color. Hon. J. llogg, of 

 Brooklyn, N. Y., who first introduced the Japan vari- 

 ety, he truvelin;,' in Japan, suei'ccded in fruiting it in 

 the open air i]i 1S71 or bSTli, but the cold winter of 

 IST.i killed all his trees. Ilesent me four small plants. 

 These all froze to the irround; two of them sprouted 

 up from the roots. These I took up ami planted in 

 lioxes, whiTi' I now have them in the green house. 

 South of liallimore they will he perfectly hanlv. In 

 ordinary winters they will he hardy he're, especially 

 if planted on elevated grounds, but an occasional col j 

 winter will assuredly cut them down. So, however 

 desirable, we cannot depeud on their being a fruit that 

 we ean grow out in the open air. — J. B. (lAitnEK. 



We confess thtit "large as an apple," is 

 almost as indctinite as a iigure of comparison 

 as to say " large as a piece of chalk ; " still we 

 cannot see that our statement "is not correct,^' 

 if our mUhnriUj is correct. 



Rind, on i)age .'(71, s:iys, "the Kaki, or 

 Cliinese Date-Plum {Dios]iiimx A-oAi) is a tree 

 of middle size, bearing a fruit about the size 

 of an apple, of a reddish orange color, a 

 very luscious fruit, with a brownish semi-trans- 



[larent jiulp. Tlic fruit of one species is dried 

 with sugar like ligs,"and another author says 

 they are "superior to ligs. " 



All depends now upon what kind of an 

 api)le Rind had in his mind when he wrotf the 

 above vagiiede.scription— whether a "Siberian 

 crab," or a "pound-apple." 



The (luestion seems to be one of a purely 

 .scientilic character— whether William Kind, 

 or oin- friend .1. (i. 15., was wrong in his 

 idtmtilicationof Dliisjii/rax kaki; as for ourself 

 we "kick out" of all individual responsibility 

 — p.\cei)t the— "it is represented." 



That our venerable friend did not succeed 

 in growing tht^ fruit of the kaki a.s large as it 

 is said to grow in (Jhinti, is not at all surprising. 

 Neither did he grow the Scup|iernong grape 

 as hirge ;is they grow it in the South— Georgia 

 for instance. Tiiere are ('limatic or soil con- 

 ditions that may cause these adverse results. 

 ^ Some years ago we rcc^eived, through the U. 

 S. Agricidtural Seed Department, about twen- 

 ty seeds.of a "Japanese Kadi.sh" (Raplutnus 

 candatii.'') represented to grow bimches of crisp 

 and tender radishes on thi^ tops, from 12 to 18 

 inches in length. By the way, these to]) rad- 

 ishes were nothing more than the .seed-pods, 

 but they were said to be far superior to any 

 variety of that cruciferous plant grown uiid((r 

 ground, and made a most cai)ital salad. We 

 distributed these seeds' among some of our 

 horticultural friends, but, except in one in- 

 stance, wi^ believe they all came to naught; in 

 that instance tliey were iilantcdin in apotand 

 forced forward in agreenhonse. They were sub- 

 sequently exhibited at a Strawberry fair of our 

 local society, at the Court Iloase, i"n the month 

 of June, and a more puuv, wiry, spongy 

 bunch of little distorted "tails," "could not 

 well be conceived of; the very largest Ix'ing le.ss 

 than six inches long. They were almost 

 ta.steless, and yet they might lie quite a dilli-r- 

 ent thing in .Japan ; and i>crhai)s, under differ- 

 ent circumstances, a different result might 

 have been obtained, even here. 



Clover and Cut-Worms. 



Clovek is generally esteemed a valuable crop for 

 increasing fertility of "soil ; but is supiKised to aid in 

 generating the "lut-worm." Is this theory correct? 

 If so, it would be ot)jeetionable to follow it with 

 tobacco.- An iNQtiiur.ii, Feb. '21, 187.5. 



There are various sjiecies of noxious insects 

 under the name of "cut-worm." (Afjroti.s) that 

 depredate ui>on young c;ibbage, In^an, aster, 

 corn, buckwheat, lettuce, and other kinds of 

 succulent vegetation, but we do not know thtit 

 clover, in a very piirticnhir mannei-, "aids in 

 generating" any of them. The insects most 

 destructive to the tobacco cro]) are the Jan-tp, 

 of the large gray " Ilawk-moths " (MacroKi/Ua 

 caralina and 't-maru\ala), but these only attack 

 the iilants when they are pretty well forward 

 in the leaf, anil are not generally found in 

 clover fields. 



Cut-worms are subterranean in their habits, 

 feeding entirely upon the roots of vegetati<in; 

 hatched from eggs deposited by the "owlet 

 moths" in the ground the previous sea.son; 

 burying themselves beneath the frost line and 

 becoming torpid during the winter; conniig 

 up ;ibout half-grown in the spring. 



During Mtiy and .liine they come up out of 

 the groinidal night, or in very cloudy weather, 

 cut off young vegetation near or just below 

 the surface of the ground, devour a part of it, 

 and then retire and renuiin hidden in the .soil 

 near the scene of deva.station, during the day, 

 where they may be found if properly looked 

 for. When full grown they are from an inch 

 to an inch and-a-li;ilf in length and of an 

 ashen, or dark gray color. 



They change to a smooth brown chrysalis 

 in the ground, from which is.sues a niotli, in 

 June, Jidy and August, the body and fore- 

 wings of which are various shades of gray, 

 or blackish-grey, striped or vari<'gated— ac- 

 cording to species — and the hind wings silvery, 

 of various shades. The body of these moths 

 are about \ of an inch long, and the wings ex- 

 pand from an inch-and-a-half to two inches. 

 They are night-fliers, and are attracted by 

 luminous bodies. 



