74 



THE LANCASTER FARMER. 



slow growth, poor laying qualities, and cfowers ? I 

 must admit that my stomach is not strong enough to 

 digest it. I have only one objection to this theory, and 

 that is, it is not true. It has been "tried and found 

 wanting." — J. Y. Bicknell, Westinordand, N. Y. 



We, of course, cannot answer our corre- 

 spondent's queries as to wliether our readers 

 believe Mr. Pyle's theory. We would hardly 

 be justified in' saying that we believe it ourself, 

 inasmucli as we have not tested its truth by 

 actual exjierinient. That is just what weasked 

 our readers to do, and if Mr. Bicknell has 

 tested it and found it wanting, there is so much 

 gained, though it would no doubt have been 

 gratifying to our readers if he had given them 

 some "of the details of his experiments. We 

 printed the actual results of Mr. Pyle's exper- 

 iments, (whom we know to be a reliable man,) 

 the experiences of a correspondent of the Lon- 

 don Journal of HorticuUure, and the declara- 

 tion of the editor of the Poiiftry Exchange^ who 

 said during the previous year he had brought 

 to his notice no less than three experiments 

 whichseenied to be entirely successfid in select- 

 ing eggs tliat would produce male or female as 

 desired. We expressed no opinion of our own, 

 contenting ourself with advising our readers 

 to try the experiment for themselves, as it 

 would cost them nothing, and giving them the 

 details of Mr. Pyle's plan of doing it. If, as 

 our correspondent and some others who have 

 given us theiropinonson the subject contend, 

 there is "nothing in it," The Farmer will 

 not hesitate to apprise its readers of the fact. 



"Jots and Tittles" from Dauphin County. 



When you go into the field to plow, have a few 

 nails, twine or straps in your pocket ; it will save 

 much time. 



Feed your cattle and horses, in the spring of the 

 year, flour of sulphur ; it acts on the skin and furthers 

 the shedding of liair. 



Haul out the manure as often as possible ; three 

 loads will rot down to one if left lay until fall; then 

 you will get all the substance where it belongs — on 

 the land. 



Plow your land when it is in order — and not too 

 wet — if you do you will have a rough field the whole 

 season. 



Make your own guano — hen manure, coal ashes 

 and chip ground — it will pay on any crop as a top 

 dressing. 



Never drive a horse fast for the first mile or two 

 on a full feed — it, does more harm than you may 

 imagine. 



Feed your stock some salt at every meal, a little 

 will do — half a teasimonful — you eat salt at every 

 meal, why should not the cattle have it? 



When short feed is prepared for horses, first wet 

 the chart', cut hay or wliatever it may be, stir it well 

 so that all the particles become saturated, then put 

 in "ship" and mix well. It will adhere more and 

 feed better. 



Lastly — subscribe for The Fahmeb, you will get 

 your money back the first numl->er. , 'j 



We have tried the above without exception, and 

 find them all correct as stated. — B., April 17, 1.S7.5. 



We cheerfully publi.sh the al)ove practical 

 suggestions of our (correspondent, because they 

 seem to have ;he "right ring, " and moreover 

 come from a most reliable and respectable 

 source. It is almost needless for us to say 

 that we "believe" in every one of tliem, and 

 especially in the hoit tiro. Such "jots and 

 tittles" make up the substance of the fanner's 

 experimental life, and he must be a shiftless 

 and improvident manager who cannot find 

 time to "scratch them down," at least once 

 every montli, for the benefit of his brother 

 agriculturists. 



We hope oiu- correspondent will continue 

 his contributions periodically, not so much 

 for the gratification of any selfish desire of 

 our own, as for the advancement of the "com- 

 mon weal." 



The Culture of Roses. 



To the Editor of Thi: Laiifnutt'r Farmer ; In the 

 article ujion " Rose Culture," which you copy from 

 the AiiierkUH Fanner, Mr. James JPentland, the 

 writer, has committed a mistake or forgot a part of 

 his practical lesson. " The proper soil is a stiff, strong 

 loamy soil." Now, the Tlua roses flourish best upon 

 light, sandy loams; the Bentjat and Bonrhon classes 

 also flourish well upon sandy loams, but the Hijhrld 

 Ferjietatd class lloiu'ishes best upon strong loams, 

 well enriched with fertilizers, rotten manures. In 

 growing the Thea, Bengal and Bourbon classes, skill- 



ed gardeners mix sharp sand with heavy loams and 

 clayey soils to make them more friable; by that the 

 plants grow more rapidly and bloom more profusely. 

 In growing roses upon sandy soils, muck, marl, or 

 cattle or hogs' dung are mixed with them. So fine 

 roses can be perfectly grown upon a great variety of 

 soils, and every lady can grow them. 



Mr. Pentland's other statements are valuable, and 

 he deserves praise for them. Rose culture will never 

 be confined to strong, stiff loams. The Tlica class 

 flourishes upon very light soils, and the Hylirid Per- 

 peliials flourish upon heavy loams; Bengals and Bour- 

 bons do better with sand mixed with heavy loams. 

 We see roses flourishing wherever we travel. Every 

 lady should grow roses. — Walter Eldek, JPhiladvl- 

 phia, Pa., April 26, 187.5. 



Fertilizers for Tobacco. 



Can you or any of your practical readers inform rac 

 whether bone dust and unleached ashes are good 

 fertilizers for tobacco? — B., ^Var trick, Lauc-co. 



In regard to the second division of the above 

 query, tlie liural New-Yorker, excellent au- 

 thority in such matters, says that "uuleached 

 ashes are more valutible than leached, but 

 either is good. Ashes contain essential com- 

 ponents of all crop.s. They should not be 

 mixed with compost — that is, there is no gain 

 in so mixing — but applied broadcast directly 

 to the soil, whether it is grass land or land 

 that is to be plowed. We never knew a 

 farmer who could get more ashes than is 

 profitable to apply to liis land. One hundred 

 bushels per acre is not too much to apply to old, 

 cultivated lands. Any man who asserts that 

 wood ashes applied to orchards is death to trees, 

 either does not know what he is talking about, 

 or has a selfish purpose in lying. Especially 

 are ashes excellent for orchards. They should 

 not be heaped right about the bodies of the 

 trees, but spread over the roots which extend 

 as far from the bodies of the trees as tlie 

 branches do. Ashes are esij,ecially valuable 

 as top dressing on old grass lands, or on lands 

 cropped with grain. For root crops they are 

 equally important ; indeed, as we say above, 

 there in no crop groim emd no land cultivated 

 that is not benefitted in a greater or less de- 

 gree by the application of leached or unleached 

 ashes— the latter being the more valuable." 



The able report of the Doncaster Agri- 

 cultural Association declares that one wagon 

 load of sm;ill drill bone dust is equal to 40 or 50 

 loads of fold manure, and is particularly effec- 

 tive upon thin sandy land, acting for several | 

 successive crops. Pasture and grass lands are 

 greatly benefited by it; white clover springs 

 up wherever it falls; and the turnip crop is 

 largely increased by its application. We see 

 no reason why it would not be a good fertilizer 

 for tobacco also. 



THE OLD HORSE'S LAMENT. 



BY 'MRS. F. M. VAN DYKE. 



What was I made for ? the old horse said, 

 Munching his feed in a wind-rifted shed ; 

 In all the wide world I have n't a friend ; 

 My life is a curse from beginning to end. 



It is nothing but drudgery every day. 



Toil without mercy, or profit or pay. 



And should I fall down with a mereUees load, 



I am made to get up with a merciless goad. 



With whippings and cursings, cold quarters, poor feed, 

 With scarce half enough for a work horse's need. 

 With seldom a good feed of oats or fresh grass, 

 My master's a villain — he's worse than an ass. 



Oh ! why should we suffer such anguish and pain ? 

 I fear, though, complaining will all be in vain ; 

 Adversity gives men relief when in heaven. 

 But no such solace for poor horses is given. 



When a eolt I was frolicsome, happy and gay, 

 In green fields I gamboled with mother in play. 

 Together we feasted and played with delight. 

 As happy as kittens from morning till night. 



Though fortune brings changes to horses and men, 

 The aged can never be youthful again. 

 But man has a future his hopes to supply. 

 The horse has no hope but to speedily die. 



Did I say I was " friendless?" A pardon I crave, 

 Mr. Bcrge has a heart that is noble and brave ; 

 I ho|)e that his efforts will prove a success. 

 And all who may aid him kind Heaven will bless. 

 CoxSACKiE, N. Y., November, 1874. 



Something About Grapes. 



How can we make it jiay if we raise more grapes 

 than we need for our own use? It has been said that 

 it is a profitable business. We can't see it in that light 

 although we know that many persons have made it 

 ]iay well by raising the stalks for sale (and doing 

 considerable blowing to keep the thing a going). 

 Now we would like to know how to make it pay 

 when we have the grapes. A great many persons 

 did not know what to do with their grapes last season. 

 Why is this the case? we need more light on the sub- 

 ject, or else we may be obliged to cut down our vines 

 and raise corn instead ; this we think would pay bet- 

 ter, although we mean to keep a good stock of 

 vines for family use. But perhaps some person can 

 give us better advice. If so, we shall try to profit by 

 it. — JouN B. EuB, Bearer Valey, Lancaster Co. 



Scabby-Legged Chickens. 



Some chickens get a hard crust of scabs on their 

 legs, which makes the legs sometitnes double as thick 

 as they ouglit to be, from the knee-joint to the toes. 

 Wluit causes it I can't tell, but I concluded to soften 

 them with coal oil as an experiment, so I soaked 

 them witli an old brush wherever there was any 

 scruft', and in a few weeks the scabs were all pealed 

 off and their legs smooth and clean. 



Try coal oil ; it will loosen more things besides the 

 scabs on cliicUens' legs. If you want to unscrew 

 tight Imrrs on bolts, ajiply a little coal oil, ami it is 

 good for loosening dirt on instruments, cleaning 

 paint brushes, and many otlier jmrposes. But don't 

 keep coal oil and butter very close to each other, if 

 you don't want the butter tainted. — JouN B. Erb. 



OUR LOCAL ORGANIZATIONS. 



Proceedings of the Lancaster County Agri- 

 cultural and Horticultural Society. 



The May meeting of this Society was held in the 

 Orphans' Court Room, Lancaster, on Monday, .May 

 'M, 187.5, atone o'clock, p. m., Johnson Miller, Presi- 

 dent, in the chair. Present, Messrs. Henry M. Engle, 

 Milton B. Eshleman, S. S. Rathvon, Levi S. Reist, J. 

 Stauffer, J. M. W. Geist, Jphn B. Erb, John Gross- 

 man, Tobias D. Martin, Peter S. Reist, Abm. Bollin- 

 ger, Simon A. Hershey, Alexander Harris, Henry 

 Erb, Jacob Buekwalter, D. G. Swartz, Wm. MeCom- 

 sey, Ephraim Hoover, Jacob B. Garber, Simon P. 

 Eby, Israel L. Landis, John Miller. Mr. Harris, Sec- 

 retary, being called away, Mr. Geist acted as Secre- 

 tary, pro tern. Under the head of reports of Standing 

 Committees, the following reports were made on the 



Condition and Prospects of the Crops. 



Johnson Miller, of Warwick, reported that he 

 might as well make the same report he presented a 

 mouth ago. With a good deal of snow, and the ther- 

 mometer below the freezing point during the greater 

 portion of the month of April, vegetation made very 

 little headway. Winter wheat looks unfavorable. On 

 his way to Lancaster, as well as over his ow'n town- 

 ship, he noticed that fields looked spotted. lu low 

 places the grain is entirely killed by the iee, and on 

 the whole is very much back. The indications are not 

 sufiiciently good to report an average crop at this 

 time. Oats has all been sown, but the ground being 

 cold and dry, will not come up for some time. Grass, 

 particularly new fields, looks very " blue," and with 

 the best weather the hay crop will be short. The far- 

 mers will now go to planting ctirn in a week or two, 

 and that question will be discussed to-day and be in 

 print in time for farmers to learn anything new which 

 may be of use to them. As to the fruit, no more can 

 be said than was reported at our last meeting. The 

 prospect is not very encouraging. We may look for 

 fruit and other things about a month late. Farmers 

 are generally busy "fixing up ;" whitewashing fences 

 and beautifying homes are novv in order and should 

 be attended to until the weather settles down to what 

 we used to call spring. As it is, the weather reminds 

 us more of winter than anything else. 



Mr. Eshleman said that he had a more favorable 

 opinion of the wheat through the Paradise region a 

 month ago than now . It was growing irregular and in 

 spots. No corn had yet been planted. A few potatoes 

 had been put in but they were evidently doing no good. 

 He thought the prospects for a fruit crop are good. 



Mr. Engle reported for the .Marietta district. 

 Wheat docs not look so favoralile as at last report. 

 The fields are uneven and growing in bunches, ;.nd 

 cannot possibly make a full crop. In coming towards 

 Lancaster he noticed that it looks still worse. The 

 general opinion of farmers over the county with whom 

 he had conversed is, that there will not be over 

 half acrop, uidess the remainderof the season shcmld 

 be unusually favorable, when it may reach three- 

 fourths of a crop. The prospects for a fruit crop are 

 aliout the same as a month ago — favorable, and pro- 

 mise well. The young clover does not seem to have 

 sutt'ered, and he anticipated a good grass crop. He 

 said it used to be remarked that the condition of the 

 crops in Lancaster and Cumberland were generally 

 about alike; but he understood from gentlemen from 



