56 



THE LANCASTER FARMER. 



roiindinge, will be oneof the moet interesting features 

 of the Centennial Exposition in 1876. The structure 

 will look noble, chaste anil eletrant. All the other 

 buildings, except the Agricultural, will be filled with 

 the ingenuity and handiwork of man, and will show 

 the advanced prouress of art and science; the plants 

 in the Conseri'atory will show the gracious works of 

 God. Some will dazzlethe sight with the brilliancy and 

 splendor of their blossoms so lovely; others will be- 

 wilder the senses with the sizes, forms and singular 

 variegations of their leaves; some will tickle the fancy 

 with their curious habits and strange faculties in many 

 ways ; others will delight the scent with their sweet 

 perfumes. The grand combination of the whole, and 

 the amazing diversity of the various genera, will show 

 the illimitable greatnessof the omnipotence of an All- 

 wise and ever-gracious Creator. The building will be 

 well-vcntUated for the comfort of visitors. 



The great century plant (agavia Americana) will 

 be there, of many tons in weight. Beside it there will 

 be the grand screw pine (pandanusodoratissma); and 

 the famous fan-palm (coryphiaumbraculifera,) with 

 its broad fronds of fan form ; *the curious pitcher- 

 leaved plant (nepenthes phyllamphoraand distillato- 

 ria,) whose every leaf is a natural pint pitcher, and 

 always full of water distilled from the atmosphere ; 

 and the xpater-hohling pines, whose spine serated leaves 

 form a tube at the bottom which is always full of 

 water, also drawn from the air. Then the venus fly- 

 trap (dioncea muscipula,) with many natural Irapx, 

 like iron rat-traps, with teeth. When a fly goes into 

 one, it closes up until the fly is dead, and again opens; 

 the sensitive plant (mimosa sensitiva,) which curls 

 up its leaves and crooks its joints at the touch of the 

 human hand; the bottle-bru.sh plants (metrosideras 

 floribundus and beaufortia decussata.) whose flowers 

 are scarlet, and the form of bottle-brushes, and very 

 beautiful. There will be the famed yuccas, which 

 grew in the Garden of Eden; and of whose leaves 

 Adam and Eve made needles and thread to sew their 

 firstclothes; the needle wastaken from yncca gloriasa, 

 and the thread was from the yvccajilatnentosa. In the 

 water-tank there will be Victoria J'iji, the grand queen 

 of the aquatics, whose leaves measure ten feet in 

 diameter, and the double waxy blooms, two feet 

 across, all spread out upon the surface of the water, 

 with many gold and silver fishes playing beneath 

 them. So glorious will all be, that visitors will never 

 forget their amazement. 



The managers, Messrs. Mitchell , Ritchie and Hough- 

 ton, are gentlemen of skill, energy and fine taste. 

 They will endeavor to make the arrangements sur- 

 pass in perfection everything of the kind the world 

 has ever yet seen. We cordially invite all the people 

 from every part of the nation to visit our Centennial 

 Exposition of 1876. 



JOHN BULL AFTER THE COLORADO 

 BUGS. 



Denis Donohue, the British consul for the States of 

 Maryland, Virginia, West Virginia, Tennessee, Ken- 

 tucky and Missouri, whose consulate office is in Bal- 

 timore, yesterday issued the following circular : "In 

 order to avoid the introduction into Great Britain and 

 Ireland of the 'Colorado' or potato-destroying beetle, 

 I am instructed by her Majesty's Government to cau- 

 tion exporters against shipping with potatoes intend- 

 ed either for use during a voyage to or for importa- 

 tion into the United Kingdom, any potato haulms or 

 stalks, or adhering soil, from the place in which such 

 potatoes are grown. The otficers of customs at the 

 various ports of the United Kingdom have been in- 

 structed to examine carefully all potatoes coming 

 from the United States and from Canada, whether 

 brought as merchandise or ship's stores, and to take 

 care that all particles of haulm or stalk, or of loose 

 soil, which may be found with such potatoes, be de- 

 stroyed by fire." 



We are not sure that the action involved in 

 the above extract from a recent number of the 

 Baltimore Sun, will not eventually prove a 

 most stupendous "mountain in labor," which 

 may result in bringing "forth a mouse." In 

 our opinion, the non-importation of potatoes 

 from the United States and Canada will be 

 about as ineftcctual in diminishing the geo- 

 graphical limits of the Colorado potato-beetle 

 as the non-importation of corn-cobs. Although 

 it is not impossible that some of the pests may 

 be carried over to England and the continent 

 of Europe in cargoes of potatoes, yet that is 

 not the chief danger of their transmission. 

 They will be carried over (if they ever reach 

 foreign shores) in the same manner that the 

 oriental cockroaches were brought here, and 

 that the American cockroaches were carried 

 over to England ; and nothing short of abso- 

 lute and universal non-intercourse could prove 

 a certain bar to their progress. When they 

 reach the sealioard they will go into their 

 winter hybernation in the ground, if they can, 

 but in any convenient nook or comer, if they 

 cannot. Late in the autumn of 1874 thou- 



sands of them were scattered over the pave- 

 ments of Lancaster city, crawling under door- 

 steps and through cellar-grates, or anywhere 

 else, to get "out of the cold." In another 

 article in this ntmiber of our journal we have 

 given our theory of their sudden and unex- 

 pected advent in Lancaster county, at least 

 three years before they could have reached 

 the western base of the Allegheny Mountains, 

 according to their ordinary progress. Where- 

 ever they have appeared in Pennsylvania they 

 have always been first observed in the potato 

 fields along the railroads; and the plain in- 

 ference seems to he, that they were cairied 

 thither on the rolling stock of the road — per- 

 chance amongst the freight, whether it con- 

 sisted of potatoes or anything else. Ours is 

 not the function of an luinecessary alarmist, 

 but we would respectfully admonish John 

 Bull that before five years he may have the 

 CoJorado 2)otato-bcctle on his soil, anyhow; and 

 if it once becomes domicilated there, it is not 

 going to leave it in much of a hurry. No; we 

 do not think there is much danger of its being 

 exported in cargoes of potatoes; but tliere are 

 many other contingencies through which this 

 end may be effected. It was demonstrated 

 last year, both at Marietta and here in Lan- 

 caster city, that where they had eaten all the 

 potato leaves, they scraped the "epidermis" 

 off the ripened vines, leaving them white as 

 bleached skeletons; and, not content with 

 this, when the meagre crop was dug up, the 

 beetles attacked the tubers, almost burying 

 themselves in the cavities they had eaten out. 

 It is true that, should they happen to bury 

 themselves deep enough in the potato tuber, 

 and hybernate there, they mirjht thus be 

 transiwrted to other places; but these are 

 only exceptional cases. 



ALFALFA CLOVER, BARLEY, &c. 



Many of the agricultural journals which 

 come under our ol)sei'vatioii have something 

 to say about Alfalfa clover, and therefore we 

 conclude that it has been, or is about to be, 

 introduced into the middle region of our coun- 

 try as one of its grass or hay crops. 



Our attention has been incidentally called 

 to this subject by reading a published letter 

 from Rev. C. Dny Noble, fomierly of Chicago, 

 111., but who is now residing at Riverside, 

 San Bernardino county. Southern California. 

 Mr. N. says: "The Alfalfa clover will pro- 

 duce about eight crops a year, at a profit of 

 SlOO per acre;" and that if the land is proper- 

 ly irrigated (either natiually or artificially, we 

 presimie), the roots are good for an indefinite 

 period; and it is alleged that there is no bet- 

 ter food for all kinds of stock that are not 

 subjected to hard work. It is true, the tem- 

 perature in the winter is very seldom lower 

 than .3(P above zero; but still, in our Lancas- 

 ter county climate, we might manage to grow 

 four or five crops, if the roots were not ex- 

 posed to an open, boisterous, and hard-freez- 

 ing winter. Barley hay is, however, consid- 

 ered better for working horses, and brings 

 $12 a ton in winter. .$400 an acre have been 

 realized for barley liay in one year. When 

 barley has been sown and harvested, the year 

 following two and even tt rec crops of barley 

 hay can be realized without re-sowing. Corn 

 and wheat are not profitable, but oranges, 

 lemons, figs, grapes, iiomegranites, almonds, 

 English walnuts, peaches, plums, apples, apri- 

 cots, bananas and strawberries all do well. 

 The Muscat grape, and the raisins therefrom, 

 are the most profitable staples of the district. 



PLANTING POTATOES EARLY. 



E. S. Brownell, in the Country Gentleman, says: 

 " From the experience I have had,Iwould recommend 

 planting as early as the ground is in a suitable condi- 

 tion. Potatoes planted early will in most seasons 

 mature early, and will be less liable to be injured by 

 blight or disease. Planted early, they will be fit to 

 harvest early. I recommend harvesting as soon as 

 ripe, if in August. Let (hem dry and put them in 

 "the cellar ; be sure to exclude light and air, in order 

 to preserve the quality. I am of the ojiinion that po- 

 tatoes planted early are less liable to be false-hearted, 

 as tubers that grow quick are much more liable to 



show that defect. Cutting tubers to single eyes will 

 largely increase the yield from the amount of seed 

 used. It also has a tendency to produce large tubers, 

 but not so many in a hill as where more seed is used, 

 which will produce more in number but of smaller 

 size. Brownell's Beauty has excelled all varieties in 

 producing the greatest weight from a single pound, 

 but 1 think the Eureka, that originated with me in 

 1871, one year after the Beauty, will do better still." 



All of the foregoing, and much more, we 

 think, would accrue to the planting of pota- 

 toes early. Now, that the " Colorado beetle " 

 is likely to become a "fixed institution" in 

 Lancaster county, furnishes an additional 

 stimulant to plant early. It is well known, 

 from past experience, that the early crops 

 suffer less damage from the infestations of 

 this insect than the late crops; nor is this 

 a mere arbitrary result, and altogether with- 

 out a good reason. Only a little reflection 

 will illustrate that the reason is quite obvious. 

 The early spring brood are never so numerous 

 as the later broods. The vicissitudes of cold 

 winter and variable spring may subject the 

 insects to contingencies to which they are not 

 exposed in midsummer. However tenaceous 

 they may be there are nevertheless many that 

 perish, one way or other, between their autumn 

 hybernation and their spring resuscitation ; 

 moreover, if birds or domestic poultry will 

 feed upon them at all, they are more likely to 

 do it then, when food is scarce, after a long 

 winter fast, than they are at a later period, 

 when fruit or vegetable food becomes more 

 abundant. Their parasitic and carniverous 

 enemies are also more numerous as the season 

 advances than they are at its beginning. 

 These things, taken together, seem to suggest 

 early planting. 



WHAT 



FERTILIZERS ARE USED IN 

 YOUR COUNTY? 



To circulars sent to statistical correspondents 

 of the Agiicultural Department, in sixteen hun- 

 dred and twelve coimties in the United States, 

 propounding the above question, answers have 

 been received from ten hundred and ninety-six; 

 and the following tabulated report shows the 

 pereenteujeot the different kinds of manure and 

 fertilizers used. 



It will be observed from this table that the 

 manure from farm-animals is the main reli- 

 ance for sustaining the fertility of the soil. It 

 is also demonstrated from other statistical de- 

 tails of the office, that fully one-half of the 

 counties in the United States are cultivated 

 "literallj' without fertilizers of any kind," 

 and another fourth, with the incidental aid of 

 "green manuring," or a little lime, plaster, 

 cotton seed, &c., &c. On the whole, however, 

 the farmers of the country are becoming better 

 versed in the philosophy of fertilization, and 

 better able to adapt their practice to the pecu- 

 liarities of the soil. 



states. 



Maine 



N. Harapshire. 



Vermont 



MassactiusettB. 

 Rhofle Island.. 



Connecticut 



New York 



New -Jersey 



Pennsylvania. . 



Delaware 



Maryland 



VirRiuia 



N. Carolina 



.S. Carolina . , . . 



Georgia 



Florida 



Alabama 



MissisBippi../.. 



P.ct. 



30 

 35 

 20 

 23 



3 

 15 

 27 

 16 



5 

 10 



2 



A USEFUL TABLE. 



To aid farmers in arriring at accuracy in ascertain- 

 ing the amount of land in different fields under culti- 

 vation, the following table is given: 



5 yards wide by 9(iS yards long, contains one acre. 



10 yards wide by 4S-t yards long, contains one acre. 



20 yards wide by '^42 yards long, contains one acre . 



40 yards wide by 121 yards long, ctmtains one acre. 



fiO feet wide by 72fi feet long, contains one acre. 

 110 feet wide by 306 feet long, contains one acre. 

 220 feet wide by 198 feet long, contains one acre. 



