THE LANCASTER FARMER. 



53 



phosphates. They may be rich in cverythinjj; 

 else, but a (lelicieiicy in phospliates will be 

 fiital. You may be able to urow line wheat, 

 straw or corn stalks, but the ijrain will lie 

 wanting. One close of a pood super-phosiihate 

 will supi)ly the needed aliment, and you have 

 an excellent prain crop. 



We believe almost any land, which has been 

 hmp eropi>ed, will be ijreatly benelited by a 

 proper applieation of tliis manure. Many new 

 soils are delieient in phosphates, and you are 

 unable to raise a crop of cereals until you fur- 

 nish thisneeded product. VuiW the peopleof 

 tliis (•ountry contrive some plan for preservini; 

 those useful jiroducts, carried to our (titles in 

 the shape of fruit, grain, etc., etc., which are 

 u.sed us food, and waslu'd into tlie sewers and 

 rivers, we shall never be able to keep up the 

 fertility of our virgin soil. We may carry 

 puano from Lobos islands, husband our straw, 

 manufacture bones into s\iper-pliospliate, and 

 the cry will be, Rive ! pive ! pivit! We nuist 

 leani to return to the soil tlie ))liosphates and 

 other valuable products snatclied from it by 

 the wondrous growth of vegetables. 



ABOUT GROUND HOGS. 



The past winter having been an extraordi- 

 narily long one, and an intensely cold one, 

 a more than ordinary interest has attached 

 to this animal, on account of a traditionary 

 belief in its prognostications of the weather. 

 The Dii/th is to the elt'ect, that if the ground- 

 hog comes out from his winter cpiarters on 

 "Candlemas day" (Fell. ,2d,) and if there is 

 sutfieient sunshine to make his shadow visible to 

 him, he inunediately returns to his lair, 

 which will be followed liy si.c weeks of severe 

 whiter weather. ]5ut i^ it is cloudy, and he 

 cannot see his shadow, the event will be fol- 

 owed by an early spring. The '2d of February 

 of the present year, happened to be a cold but 

 bright sunny daj', and this, it is said, ac- 

 counts for tlie severe winter weather which 

 has followed. 



To show that the ground-hog has no possi- 

 ble cimuection with this meteorological phe- 

 nomenon, his nature is such that he would not 

 come forth on a such a cold day as we had on 

 the id of February, 1S7.5. Now this auiuud, 

 otherwise called the "marmot," (Aniomiis 

 monax) is a hybernatiug rodent, and the length 

 of his dormant period isaltogther governed by 

 the temperature of the weatlier ; therefore, his 

 animation is not revived until the warm spring 

 temperature is sutfieient to produce that 

 effect. He is a most inveterate feeder, and 

 consumes an enormous (puintity of green and 

 succulent vegetation, especially young clover, 

 and nothing would arouse him from his win- 

 ter sleep but luuiger, induced by the genial 

 'return of spring. When there is from tln-ec 

 to live feet of hard frost in the earth, as there 

 was on the 'ind of Feliruary of the present 

 year, it would l.'e impossible for the gronnd 

 liog to come out of his burrow, down deep in 

 the bowels of the earth, lielow the line of frost. 

 When he retires in the fall he closes the mouth 

 of his burrow with earth fnim the inside, 

 and does not open it again until he is instinc- 

 tively admonished that winter is over and 

 siiring has assumed her reign. Although we 

 believe him to be too stupid to make any re- 

 liable prediction in regard to the weather, yet 

 he is not stupid enough to come forth when 

 the thermometer is down to or below zero. 

 Again, as to candlemas day, it is not likely 

 that he would regard it much ; if there should 

 hajipen to be a week or ten days of warm 

 weather in the mf)nths of l^ecember or Janu- 

 ary, warm enough to excite his hunger, for 

 instance, it would make very little differenc'e 

 whether the time wasChrisl»ii(.s,s, Candleiua.s.s-, 

 or Easter?H'/.ss : he would be apt — like any 

 ' ' other body ' '—to make diligent inquiry about 

 something to eat. 



There must, of course, be a cmcse for every 

 outward effect, and even when that cause is 

 discovered it may tran.spire that it is itself 

 only the effect of some anterior cause, no^w 

 of which, however, have any special' relation 

 to the ground hog, or any other animal alreiwly 

 "tabernacled " in the realm of nature. 



Whatever faith "wiseacres" mny profcxH to 

 have in the predictions of a visionary ground 

 hog, we think there are but few who would 

 hazard the success of an important enler- 

 lirise upon the weather prophecies involved in 

 his candlemas adviut. It is, therefore, not 

 very likely that any "jirudent body" will 

 sutler uuich through the "thin faith" which 

 is jirofessed in the gniund hog. 



Independent of wealhiT prognostic's, there 

 is. however, an interest atlaeheil t<i this ani- 

 mal ; for it is such a gro,ss feeder that, where 

 it exists in large numliers, it makes sad havoc 

 in the clover fields of the farmer, and on this 

 account is "hunti'd <lown " as an evil of more 

 or less magnitude. Under t\u'. cmnnion names 

 of woodchucks, ground hogs, marmots, go- 

 phers, prairie dogs,*' siiermoiihiles, and ground 

 stpiirrels, we have about twenty spei'ies of 

 rodents in the United States, wliich form a 

 distinctive grouii, and all of which possess, 

 more or less, the cpialities of tlie Lancaster 

 county ground-hog, on whose habits the 

 weather is often prognosticated. 



ROSE CULTURE. 



We extract the following from the columns 

 of the Amcrimn Farmer, jiulilislied at Haiti- 

 more, Md. It is part of an address read before 

 the "Maryland Horticultural Soeiety " at its 

 February meeting, by Mr. James I'entland, 

 who is distinguished in his profession as a rose- 

 grower, and the originator of numerous va- 

 rieties of that beautiful and fragrant flower. 

 We have seen many roses, "good, bad and 

 indifferent, "the lattercpiality perhaps predom- 

 inating, and we have thought that much of this 

 indiffiTcnce w.as the result of a lack of that cul- 

 ture which seems so practically detailed in Mr. 

 Pentland's address. There are many other 

 jioints in this address, referring to varieties, 

 &c., which may only be of local significance, 

 but our (luotation, we think, will be applicable 

 to any locality. Under any circumstances, 

 we cannot reasonably expect fine roses with- 

 out the necessary culture, any more than we 

 can any other subject of the vegetalile king- 

 dom, and possibly even with culture we may 

 sometimes fail. 



" Very few iicrsons linow liow to cultivate a rose In 

 order to' liriii"- I'nrtli all the latent lieaiily coiilaiiieil in 

 the Hower. Many ai-e eoiiteiit wlieii't hey buy a rose 

 from those who have them to sell, to take it home, 

 dig a small hole in the sroiind in their garden, and 

 put it therein, (I eannot eall it planline:) leaving it 

 take eare of itself, and when they come to look for 

 flowers they find none. Ami no wonder ! It will not 

 stand sueh'treatment, but will wither and die, and 

 then the poor gardener who sold it eomcs in for the 

 blame. 



Now, this is all wrong. There is not a (lower that 

 grows that requires kinder treatment than the rose, 

 and there is none more deserving, or that will better 

 repay good cultivation, cither in a coniniereial point 

 of view or for the gratitieation of two of theJine senses, 

 namely, sight and smell. 



To grow a rose to perfection you must in the first 

 place lind the jiroper soil in wliicli it delights, which 

 is a stiff, loamy, strong virgiu soil ; yes, even a clay 

 soil, provided it is well drained and deep and cool, so 

 that the roots can tind their way down into a cool 

 place, in order to get away from tlie inlluenee of our 

 burning summer suns. In the next place you must 

 sec to it that the soil is pniperly enriclied ; for, depend 

 upon it, you will not see a rose in [icrfcetion in a poor 

 soil ; for', like the grape vine, it is a very gross feeder. 

 Therefore make; your rose ground very rich and deep. 

 Use any well-rotted niamire for your plants, and 

 plenty of it ; and as your roses gain strengtli, you can 

 give tliem almost any kind of manure, even to fresh 



*Somc years ago we received a fine specimen of one 

 of these species by mail from Western Missouri. It 

 had been obtained in its winter hybernation and in- 

 closed in a tin box, and after having liecn thus con- 

 veyed aboiU thirteen hundred miles or more, when 

 the box was opened in a warm room, tlic animal re- 

 vived and became very active, ami also very jiug- 

 naeions, which is a characteristic of the genus. After 

 a confinement of a week or more it made its escape, 

 by pressing apart the wires of its cage, and from 

 thence passed through an aperture in the cellar, and 

 never was recovered. It, probably, I'ilher starved to 

 death or became food for rats. Tliis species Is, per- 

 haps, the smallest of the genus, and now Is scien- 

 tifically known as Sperniopholix trithceiiilincdliif, and 

 various common names, as the " striped gopher," 

 "striped marmot," Jcc. 



night soil. Watering with liquid manure occasion- 

 ally yfiu will Unci a gi'cat help. 



Ill orilcr Id have fine fliiwers you will find pruning 

 a very important |K)int in the cultivation, and this 

 part, 1 am *iirry to say, is but poorly understoixl by 

 most cultivators, for how often do you see a rare 

 plant smiblieil olf at Its extremity. In order to give the 

 liiish a nice round lica<l of vi'ry slender shoots, U|Km 

 which yim see a small weak flower, not worthy of 

 being called a flower, looking as If It was ashamed of 

 itself, (and I don't wonder that is Is) insteail of bring- 

 ing out all the bi'auly of which It is capable. 



To have fine, large and beautiful flowi'rs, you must 

 have plenty of good, healthy riMit-powcr, and not so 

 much wood, anil to obtain this you must have the 

 ediidition previously mentliined. If y<iur rose plant 

 lias had those conditions you will have giHid, strong, 

 hi-allhy ltowIIi from the ground, and In the Knll, or 

 very early in the Spring, when danger of severe frost 

 is over, (I jirelcr fall pruning, for by pruning then 

 you make the plant more capable of withstanding 

 our severe frosts, because the late growths made t)y 

 the rose are too tender and sappy to withstand our 

 cold climate) commence jiruning by cutting out all 

 the old wood of the previous year, or at least all the 

 wood of that year until you reach the new and strong 

 Wdod of this, if the growth has been made uiKin any 

 of it, as it very frci|uently will be, unless care has 

 been used w hilc growing. .Vfter you have cut out 

 all of the old growth, then commence and reduce the 

 new growth to tliree or four or more buds, according 

 to the strength of the growth. Strong growing va- 

 rieties may have more wood left upon them than the 

 weaker growing varieties. If you f(dlow out these 

 instructions, my word for it, you need not be ashamed 

 of your rose llowers. 



The remark has often been made to me In the 

 mimth of June, when the rose Is In its best estate, by 

 persons visiting my place: How is it that lec don't 

 have as fine llowers u|ion our nise bushe^i as youi* 

 arc; mine arc larger bushes than yours, and of the 

 same kinds? and the only answer that I could give 

 lliemwas, "they are not jiropcrly pruned." Why, 

 they would rejily, a gardener pruned them, and he 

 ought to know. What a comment uixui ganleners! 

 Yes, he oiir;ht to know, and a good gardener doef 

 know, but the fact is, he is not always allowed to do 

 as he knows it should tie done, for many persons are 

 so afraid of seeing their pets cut down tmi close, sup- 

 posing that it will kill them ; and, again, many want 

 large liiishcs, which they can easily obtain, tint It 

 must always be at the expense of the llowers; whilst 

 others again desire (pianlity and not quality. To all 

 siicb I must say, don't blame your roses for not dis- 

 plaving tlu; full beauty of which they are capalilc. I 

 sha'U close this iwrtioii of my subject by saying, in 

 brief, if you want fine flowers give your plants jilenty 

 of roots, and short tO|is ; you can get the former by a 

 rich soil and good cultivation, and the knife and good 

 judgment will do the rest." 



Spe.aking of desirable varieties, Mr. P. says: 

 "But if you want a rose in which you can feel 

 a re;il enioynieiit, in beholding its delicately 

 mifolding petals, in inhiiling its most extpii.site 

 fragrance, peculiar to itself alone, observing 

 its delicate habit of growth, and its constant 

 bloom ; whose colors, so delicate, look ius if 

 the breath of man would soil them ; then you 

 must grow the tJueensT)f them all— the Tkas 

 —so called, from their flowers having the rich 

 aroma of fresh tea." These are general favor- 

 ites with the ladies. 



ANOTHER REMEDY FOR THE POTATO 

 BEETLE. 

 Mr. W. F. M assey, who seems to be a practi- 

 cal man, and one of intelUgeut oUservation. 

 comnumicates to the Amcriean Farmer (Md.) 

 that a strong decoction of the green rof)ts of 

 the "Mav-apple," or " Mandrake "— Pwio- 

 phiiUumpiltdtum — ellectually killed the "Colo- 

 rado i)otiito-beetles," in a case, or cases, where 

 he him.seir tried it. He does not claim to lie 

 the discoverer of the remedy. He found it in 

 the pages of an agricultural journal, ami at 

 once proceeded to submit it to a test, with a 

 favorable result. AVe give it here for whiit it 

 is worth, and commeiul it to our readers i\n 

 worthy of a trial. The potato-b<-etlc is such 

 an arch-enemy to the farmer that he might 

 afford to be moderately "humbugged" a few 

 times, if it only faintly promised to lead to the 

 discovery of aii antidiite against this increas- 

 ing scourge. AVe a.sk oiu- ftirmers to try it next 

 summer and to send to us the result. 



The illustrations in this issue of The 

 F ARM KU constitute. an interesting and instruc- 

 tive feature, which will be maintained iu the 

 future. 



