60 



THE LANCASTER FARMER. 



Mr. Rind — the only authority on foreign bo- 

 tauy_ to which we have access — could not have 

 known anything about Biotipyrus Japonica, or 

 that he got the Kaki strangely mixed up with 

 it in his brief description, all of which may 

 be interesting to the readers of the Fabmer. 



We have such confidence in the experimental 

 knowledge of our venerable friend, that we are 

 willing to concede that he is in the right, even 

 if he were not backed up by such authorities 

 as Downing and Hogg ; for we happen to know 

 that, in many instances, two or more subjects 

 of the mineral, vegetable, or animal kingdoms 

 may be confounded, even by writers of ac- 

 knowledged general merit. His remarks on 

 the Chinese persimmon and the scuppeniong 

 grape, are of undoubted value to those who 

 may have been hankering after foreign varie- 

 ties, or those not locally adapted to our soil. 

 Nevertheless, we must still insist that "big as 

 an apple," or "big as fi fist" even, are not 

 very definite illustrations of size. They might 

 answer if a particular kind of apple, or a par- 

 ticular person'' s fist were mentioned, but other- 

 wise, they approach the category involved in 

 — "big as a piece of chalk." 



In conclusion, we thank our correspondent 

 for his interesting strictures, and we can assure 

 him that nothing emanating from his pen will 

 be consigned to tlie waste basket, only because 

 it seems to run "athwart" the statement of 

 the Editor. 



of sulphur would give the airculios their quie- 

 tus, if it should reach them, but can we be 

 quite sure that this would be the case with this 

 remedy ? We see that the remedy alluded to 

 by C. 11. has been questioned in a Western 

 journal, by a writer who has tried it, but he 

 may also disapprove of the sulphur remedy, 

 on the ground we have mentioned. 



Remedy for the Curculio. 



Dear Editor : It is with the greatest of pleasure 

 that I affain resume my pen to write a few lines for 

 The Fakmek, which is growing dearer to me with 

 every number. 



I can hardly wait till it gets printed, so eager am I 

 to read its contents. 



I think T. M., of Mereersburg, " flings " his com- 

 pliments too high. I don't deserve them. But if he 

 comes to our neighborhood this summer, and deems 

 it worth while to come to see me, I shall cook him a 

 good dinner. I thought he had lost sight of me en- 

 tirely. 



I have read C. H.'s letter on the "Plum Turk," 

 and I can give you a better way to clear him out, and 

 not quite so offensive or expensive. 



It is simply this : Take a wire, about 34 inches long, 

 bend it in half moon shape, or a little closer. Insert 

 them into dry corn cobs. Now sprinkle theiu with 

 flour of sulphur, then set them on Are in the grass, 

 around under your trees — see that the smoke gets to 

 every part of the tree. 



Do this from the time that the buds begin to bloom 

 till the danger is over, twice a week. Take fresh cobs 

 every time,"and I tell you you will have more plums 

 than you know what to do with. 



MISCELLANEOUS MATTERS. 



I am not quite ready yet to satisfy T. M. as to my 

 housekeeping, but will do so in time. "Duty before 

 pleasure." 



Already Spring is here, and the farmers have done 

 very little out of doors ; and when they get at work 

 they must work all the harder and faster, to make up 

 for lost time. Why should they not have a good word 

 every month through the P'ahmer? It gives them 

 food to study, as they follow the plough or harrow 

 day by day — 



" A little kinduess every day, 

 To help your neighbors on the way." 



A little about seed and then I will close for the 

 present. 



Peas should be planted as soon as you can get the 

 ground in order, 3 inches deep, the rows 6 inches 

 apart. 



Sugar peas should be planted 8 inches apart, as 

 they grow taller and need more room. 



Onion seed ought to be sown \y, inches deep, and 

 not too thick, and covered lightly. 



Sweet marjoram should just be sown on the surface 

 of the ground, and then pressed down. It is a very 

 fine seed, and planted like tol>acco seed. — Leoline, 

 ElizabethtoH'n, Pa., March '»1, 187.5. 



We think, with Leoline, the corn cob and 

 sulphur fumes far preferable to whale oil soaji, 

 for anything that can stand ' • biu-nt brimstone ' ' 

 with impunity must belong to "goblins 

 d d," but we confess that her communica- 

 tion is not quite clear to our comprehension. 

 Is any special virtue claimed for the corn cobs, 

 other than that their rough surface may hold 

 the particles of sulphur better than anything 

 else? Wliat use of the bent wires V Are 

 they hooked on the brandies of the trees ? 



Wovdd not a windy day defeat the effects of 

 the remedy y We are satisfied that the fumes 



The Potato Beetle and Early and Late Potato 

 Planting. 



To the Editor of The Lancaster Farmer: 



In the discussion following the report of the com- 

 mittee on the Colorado Potato Beetle, at the last 

 meeting of the Horticultural Society, the speakers 

 were all in favor of planting potatoes early, and rec- 

 ommended the Early Rose as the variety to plant. I 

 fully agree with them as to the variety, but my ob- 

 servation of the habits of the beetles the past season, 

 and experience in planting, have led me to believe 

 that a late planting for the main crop would be advis- 

 able. 



No matter how early in the season you may plant, 

 the over-year beetles will be waiting for the potatoes 

 to come up to make the attack. In the early spring 

 the ground will be cold, and the vines will grow 

 slowly, and the potatoes will not mature in time to 

 escape the second crop of beetles, and you will have 

 to contend with these and their brood to raise your 

 crop. If you leave planting till later, say the 20th of 

 May, or near the time when the over-year beetles 

 cease flying and laying eggs, the ground will then 

 be warm, the vines will grow rapidly, and will be in 

 bloom before the first brood of the season make their 

 appearance as perfect beetles in search of new fields, 

 and you will only have to contend with these and 

 their brood to raise your crop of potatoes. — L. P., 

 Ohrititiana, ith mo. oth, 187.5. 



We place the above on record, upon the 

 principle that "In a multitude of counsellors 

 there issiifety," and because every new fact 

 in regard to the habits of this loathsome pest 

 is of interest to the potato grower and con- 

 sumer. Perhaps the proper mode of circinn- 

 venting it, inider all circumstances, is yet to 

 be discovered. — Ed. 



OUR PARIS LETTER. 



Peonies and the Rosebug. 



Prof. S. S. Katuvon — Dear Sir: Please inform 

 us through The Farmer whether the White Peonies 

 ( Chinicse doubly) are a benefit in grape gardens, on 

 account of the rose bug. As I have one large double 

 plant close to my grape vines, which is very full of them, 

 in their season, and not many on the grape vine, might 

 the peonies attract rose bug or slug from the vine, or 

 is it merely a breeding place? A Subscriber. 



Aiiril 8., 187.5. 



What is commonly called the " Rosebug " 

 (Macrod<i.ctijlu:i suh^ipdnosus) is a coleopterous 

 insect, and belongs to the family Mklolon- 

 TiiiD^, all of which arc partial to sweet- 

 scented flowers — the higher the fragnince, the 

 more is that partiality manifested. The peony 

 is l)y no means the " breeding place " of the 

 rosebug (a Slug is a different insect) but, by 

 ifsfragriince, its nectar, and its pollen, attracts 

 the insect to a sumptiieus feast. The grape 

 itself is fragrant when in bloom, and if the 

 peony, or any other llower, can draw the rose- 

 bug from the grape, that fact is suggestive. 

 This insect (more properly Rose beetle) de- 

 posits its eggs in fissures in the ground, and 

 the larva, or "grub," feeds on the roots of 

 vegetation. 



Appreciation of The Lancaster Farmer. 



Office of the State Extomolooist, 

 St. Lovis, Mo., March 2-:d, 187.5. 

 Dear Sir : I found the' March number of The Lan- 

 caster Far.mer you sent me quite interesting, and 

 am glad you are doing such good editorial work. 

 Shall be pleased to receive the paper regularly. — C. 

 V.R. 



Rochester, N. Y., March atth, 187.5. 



Prof.S.S. Rathvon — Dear Sir: I have to acknow- 

 ledge the receipt of a copy of The Lancaster Far- 

 Mi)H sent by you, or some other kind friend, and for 

 which I return thanks. I also desire to congi-atulate 

 you an<l the publishers on the su]3eriority of its eon- 

 tents and genei-al appearance. A piililieatiou of its 

 impress is certainly deserving of a wide circulation. 

 — Yours, &e., William Weilster, Garden Artixt. 



Such testimonials from leading men are very'en- 

 couraging to both editors and publishers. Our aim 

 shall be to continue to deserve them, by making each 

 number of The Farmer better than its predecessor. 



Farming on the Continent of Europe. 



Correspondence of The Lancaster Farmeb, 



Paris, March 30, 1875. 

 preparation of food for cattle. 

 Closely connected with the production of meat is 

 the selection and preparation of food for cattle. At 

 Berlin " loaves " for live stock are sold, and are com- 

 po.sed of different species of grain, according to the do- 

 mestic animal to be nourished or fattened. The 

 " bread " for horses is a compound of oats, rye, 

 maize and beans ; and besides analysis, experience 

 attests the value of this food. The same bread is 

 manufactured for pigs, less the oats, and all is sub- 

 ject to oilicial supervision. Since several years dogs 

 have had biscuits specially fabricated for their use. 

 It is a true adage, " that it is not what one eats that 

 nourishes, but what one digests ;" hence the value of 

 those processes which aid in the digestion of aliments. 

 Professor Colin, of the Alfert Veterinary College, has 

 stated as the result of his experiments, that he did 

 not find that chopped hay or bruised oats digested 

 better than these substances in their natural state. 

 But a horse does not utilize so perfectly its food as an 

 ox or a ruminant animal. Some agriculturists de- 

 mand that since pigs thrive so rapidly on a cooked 

 dietary, the same care ought to be bestowed on the 

 preparation of food for cattle. In the latter case fer- 

 menting can take the place of cooking. By mixing 

 cut hay, straw, roots, etc., in a vat, and pouring 

 thereon l:)Oiling water, the mass, after some hours, 

 will emit an odor like sour-kraut, and be highly rel- 

 ished by the animals. The mass is warm, and this 

 economizes the natural heat of the body in the work 

 of digestion, and the woody tissue of the aliments is 

 softened in advance — equal to a residence of some 

 hours in the digestive tube, while exacting less of the 

 juices of the stomach. At the end of the winter sea- 

 son horses, it is well known, are liable to deranged 

 stomachs, owing to the prolonged and large demand 

 of a continued dry regimen on the digestive juices. 



PHOSPHORUS AND NITROGEN IN OIL CAKE. 



Prof. Sansen, of the Grignon Agricultural College, 

 assures French farmers that the surest, cheapest and 

 most economical plan to secure a supply ' of phos- 

 phoric acid and nitrogen for their fields is, not to pur- 

 chase these valuable fertilizers in* the form of com- 

 mercial manures, but in that of the various kinds of 

 oil cake. He has already shown that, except in the 

 case of horses, wheat, barley and oats ought not to 

 be employed in the formation of wool, -eiilk and melt. 

 In the ease of adult animals, where the skeleton is 

 formed, analysis of their excretions proves that phos- 

 phoric acid is not retained in the system, and in the 

 case of growing animals, according to H. Weiske, 

 only 05 per cent, of the phosphoric acid in the food is 

 appropriated by the economy ; consequently, in both 

 cases the phosphate of potash, so assimilable by 

 plants, passes into the manure, and by purchasing 

 oil cakes the nitrogen and phosphoric acid they con- 

 tain are secured almost for nothing, while the animal 

 appropriates their fattening ingredients. An estab- 

 lishment in the vicinity of Paris, which manufactures 

 yeast from barley, rye and maize, sells the malt resi- 

 due to cattle rearers, at the rate of fr\ per 33 gal- 

 lons. M. Grandeau has analyzed the mash, and as- 

 serts three gallons of it to be equal to one pound of 

 meadow hay. 



FERMENTATION IN AIR-TIGHT TRENCHES. 



The same gentleman has also analyzed maize, cut 

 green and preserved in trenches for winter feeding. 

 This operation now becoming so general in dry maize 

 growing regions, concentrates the elements of nu- 

 trition by the fermentation and diminution of the 

 mass, and it seems this fermentation takes place, first 

 at the expense of the sugar in the plant, which sugar 

 itself ultimately aids in converting the starch and cel- 

 lular substance into sugar, and later, into alcohol, 

 while increasing the fatty and nitrogenous elements. 

 In the progressing plan of preserving green maize in 

 air-tight trenches, there is nothing newto record, save 

 that the trenches are now made in masonry instead 

 of being excavated in a field ; that the maize is 

 chopped along with straw — one part of the latter to 

 five of the former, and well trodden down. The 

 giant, or Caragua, maize is that generally preferred. 

 An ox consumes about one-tenth of its weight of 

 this preserve daily. It is essential to have the 

 trench about two yards wide, the same in depth ; 

 the sides to be vertical, according^nome, a^^d- 

 mitting of a more equal pressure ; tn^whgth iwfrle- 

 pend on the quantity of fodder to be stored—, JjiPlude 

 air and water ; and after transporting for consumption 

 the quantity necessary for the day, hermetically close 

 the opening. Maize being considered an exhausting 

 crop, the land receives 25 tons of farm yard manure 

 per acre in autumn, and a top dressing of 3 cwts. of a 

 mixture of supcr-pliosphate and sulphate of ammo- 

 nia in spring; the maize succeeding winter rye. In 

 parts of Bavaria a mixture of tares, peas and maize is 

 also preserved in trenches, and where maize alone is 

 cultivated, the cattle receive two or four pounds of J 

 oil cake daily with their rations, maize being regardj^ 

 ed as poor in nitrogen. 



