1875.] 



THE LANCASTER FARMER 



119 



blue vitriol. A full cif)]) of wlioiil laii;ely de- 

 pends upon a liberal luiii-fall ; a iiKidiratcerop 

 is nearly always ci'rtain throui;li irrigalion, in 

 spite of the drawbacks just enumerated, but a 

 heavy crop requires nioistiU'O in the shape of 

 rain. The younfr wheat !.;ro\vs rapidly and 

 requires no further attention until harvest 

 time, save irrigation every eight or ten (Lays. 



The farmer's most serious troubles begin 

 when his grain is ready to harvest. Help at 

 this season is always scarce ; fruit is then abun- 

 dant and laborers manage to get along with 

 very little work ; the sickle is the oidy imple- 

 ment used to cut the crop, anil Ihi; [irogress is 

 correspondingly slow. As but a small portion 

 of the straw is'utilized, ns will be seen I'urtliur 

 on, the heads are cut off at aliont half their 

 height above the ground, witii just about 

 enough of the straw still attached to not ren- 

 der them ditlicult to handle. If not nady to 

 thresh his grain at once, it is loaded on carts 

 and liauU'd t« some large room or building 

 where it is carefully housed until such time as 

 tlicownerlinds convenient to market it. Most 

 geiK rally, however, the grain is at once threshed 

 on the Held, and this is by no means an insig- 

 nificant matter. 



A threshing floor is prepared — the same one 

 is generally used for many years — on the high- 

 est available ground, by carefully removhig the 

 surface earth,together with all the grass, weeds, 

 stones or other objectionable materials ; the ex- 

 posed surface is then trodden and pounded un- 

 til an even, hard floor has been made ; this 

 threshing floor is circular in form and from 

 fifteen to fifty feet in diameter ; arf)und the 

 circumference, at intei-vals of eight or ten feet, 

 stout upright poles or posts are firmly sunk into 

 the ground ; a strong rope is fastened to these 

 posts, passing entirely around the enclosure 

 several timas and making a very efTective tem- 

 porary fence. On the threshing floor thus pre- 

 pared" and so enclosed, the unthreshed wheat 

 is now placed, generally forming a high circular 

 mound. The animals whose laborious task it 

 is to tread out the gi-ain are now admitted. 

 Ilorses and mules are commonly used, but even 

 horned cattle and goats are sometimes em- 

 ployed. There are always pei-sons who go 

 alMHit from ranch to ranch with a herd of horses 

 and tramp out the fanners grain for a stipula- 

 ted price, generally one-tenth of the amount of 

 grain threshed, but often the services of these 

 men are not to be obtained when needed and 

 the farmer is consequently thrown on his own 

 resources, hence the em])loymeut of the inferior 

 domestic animids for this purpose ; neighbors 

 freciuently lend each other mutual aid on these 

 Occasions and thus save the professional thresh- 

 ers' percentage. 



Tramping out the grain is no light task, 

 .either for man or beast ; the animals are not 

 ridden around the ring, as with us, but turned 

 in loose ; a man then entere, armetl with a 

 lieavy whip, and begins to drive them over 

 the grain, slowly at first, but faster as the 

 straw is gradually broken up. A stranger or 

 more picturesque sight than this cannot easily 

 be imagined. Because of the great heat dur- 

 ing the day, this work is princij)ally carried 

 on at night, when several lamps are hung 

 around at convenient distances, to aflbrd the 

 necessary light. Horses soon tire of this kind 

 of work, and the lash and the voice are in con- 

 stant reqiusition ; they are not allowed to walk, 

 but are urged over the yielding material at a 

 rapid trot, or even a gallop. To follow the 

 horses in their wi^ary tramp is equally tire- 

 some to men, and these therefore relieve each 

 other at sliort mten'als in the fiitiguing tiisk 

 of driving. A ride at night, during the har- 

 vest season, will usually discover a pmiilKa- of 

 phices where this work is going on ; long be- 

 fore a glimpse of the lights is obtained, the 

 cracking of the thong, interspersed with shouts 

 and objurgations, fall ui)on the ear. 



This toilsome work Ixnng at last accom- 

 plished, the equally ditiicult task of separatmg 

 the straw and chaff from the grain l)egius. 

 Forks, extemporized out of mezquit or toniillo 

 wood, are most commonly used; the coaracr 

 straw, or jxyVt, is first removed ; and this is a 

 matter of no little trouble, as it is broken quite 



fine. The chaff presents even greater difficul- 

 ties ; tlie fanning mill is as unknown as the 

 reaper, and the fret: winds of heaven are relied 

 on by the Mexican to complete the wimiowing 

 juocess, even as they were live thonsiuid years 

 ago in Asia. But winds and breezes come not 

 at man's will, and sometimes when he most 

 needs them they are absent and most ])erslst- 

 ently remain so. I have known a tanner's 

 crop to remain on the thre.shing floor two 

 weeks, simply because tln^re was not wind 

 stirring to permit winnowingoperations. Ail 

 this wliile, night antl day, some one mu.st re- 

 main by the grain i)ile, to prevent theft, as, 

 unfortunately, many of these jx'ople are not 

 given to draw such close distinctions between 

 mcitm ft hum as are desiral)lc. 



Wlien the anxiously awaited winds do come, 

 the grain pile liecomes a scene of nmch ac- 

 tivity ; the iiP yet unseparated mass is tos.sed 

 high in the air and against the wind, which 

 quickly drives off the chaff; the lighter the 

 breeze the more laborious tlu' process and the 

 more freciuently it uiusl be rei)eated, while a 

 stiff wind .soon completes the operation. The 

 rainy season follows close upon harvest, and 

 if the latter is much delayed, rains often fall 

 while the threshed graiii still remains unwin- 

 nowed ; this is a critical time for the farmer ; 

 wagon-covers, blankets, and every avaiUiblc 

 piece of canvas that can be borrowed is 

 brought mto requisitiim to shield the exi)osed 

 grain, and often those who cannot command 

 these necessary coverings garner their crop in 

 a damaged condition, sprouted and musty. 

 [to be continued.] 



GOSSIP ON FRUIT CULTURE. 



" Plant fruit ; yes, fruit ! in no niggard hole, to rival 

 ttic sluir worm's toil ; 



But wide as tlic patriot's unbought soul, and deep tu 

 the cream of soil ! 



Fruit to temper tlic winter's ruth, to soften the sum- 

 mer's rage ; 



Fruit to Iirigliten the morn of youth, and mellow the 

 eve of age." 



Yes, plant fruit, they bloom in early spring 

 and make your surroundings fragrant with 

 pert'ume, and as ornamental as choicest flow- 

 ers, while the l)ud of promise is cheering to 

 behold and calculated to draw out our grateful 

 hearts in love and adoration to Him who dis- 

 penses so many blessings. 



God bless those who cultivate and bring to 

 our doors, at a trifling cost, these delicious 

 berries and refreshing fruit, so luscious and con- 

 ducive to health. I can say with Burns, away 

 "Wi sauce ragouts, an' sic like trashtrie, 

 That's little short o' downright wastrie." 



Nevertheless, we find horticulturists, like 

 other folk, have diflSculties to meet, and often 

 find their labor and vigilance will not protect 

 them from frost, blight or insect foe, or fungiLS 

 spoliation. Thus it is, force in natm-e is two- 

 fold attraction and repulsion — growth and de- 

 cay — antagonism seems to l)e one of the fixed 

 principles to propel — the kite rises only when 

 held by the string and acted upon by the wind. 

 This suggests a puzzling question, hut hi the 

 sweat of the brow we shall cam our bread, 

 and there is certainly the best reason for it, to 

 stimulate our otherwse indolent habits. Did 

 the fruit grow, as in the tropics, that we had 

 nothing to do but recline in the shade and eat, 

 and vegetate as the savages do, we would lie 

 no more advanced than they ; but stimulated 

 to exertion, we profit by experience, and if 

 duly exercised in our tribulations we shall l)e 

 the wiser and the happier for patiently sub- 

 mitting — provided we do not wilfully and 

 knowingly violate fundamental laws that must 

 necessarily govern its and all our surroundings 

 for time and eternity. Well, although I can 

 not say with the thrifty "old school" husband- 

 man, 



" I oat my own lamb, 



My chickens and ham, 



I shear my own fleece and I wear it," 



I can sympathize with those who are so blessed. 

 Wlien 1 commenced my gossi|i I intended 

 to answer, or rather gossip, on the blacklKirry 

 qu&stion. The worthy editor of this Journal 

 places in my hands specimens of leaves, stem 



and fniit, from the green beny, through vari- 

 (uis grades, to fully ripe, given him for inspec- 

 tion liy our worthy friend.]. B. Krb, who s:i}-s 

 that all the blackberry bushes on the whole "of 

 his patch were so .aftectcd — partially so hist 

 Bunnner. I think, also, on microscopic insi)ec- 

 tion of a dry leaf, 1 noticed the incipient stage 

 of a fungus, and also detected a minute, red- 

 ish larva. But to neither of these do 1 at- 

 tribute the di.scivsc of the l^rry. I notice, even 

 in the green berry, all the terminal achenia, 

 or pips, or seed envelopes, which constitute 

 the fruit when rijie, were cracked or shriveled. 

 Thus the conic outer tips, rather a little one- 

 sided, were all affected in like manner, and 

 from one and the same cause; it gave the ripe 

 berries an unsightly ap|)earance ; while plum|i, 

 full and juicy as usual below and upward, ex- 

 cei)t the conic top, which w;w of a shriveled 

 or rotten, gangrenous, diseased a.si)ect, making 

 tlu! berries objectionable. Now comes the 

 question, Why are they thus 'i* llcmember, I 

 am gossiping, and if 



" Words are lilie leaves, and where they most af>»und 

 iMuch fruit of sense beneath is scliloui found," 



I'll own the " corn." You are invited to the 

 "shade" of the leaves, if fruitless. As a 

 gossip I do not feel under obligations to "keep 

 shady," but say my say. 



First, there was a marked uniformity in all 

 the decayed tips of the fruit, iis nither one- 

 sided. I should like to know whether this was 

 facing tlie east, since, when the pistils, like 

 minute bristles, form upon the rachi.'r of the 

 fruit-ljearing central column, and the ova just 

 formuig to a.ssume fructification — the lower 

 |)art of the same l)cing shielded by the calyx 

 and filaments of the young anthers, also de- 

 veloiiing — moisture lodged among the terminal 

 pistilla involving the tender ova, a cold night, 

 a slight frost, might expand the delicate tex- 

 ture of the ova and produce a .slight rupture 

 even from its own juices thus exposed, while 

 those lower down on the rachis are protected, 

 it would only affect the terminal or exposed 

 ones. Then again, in this condition, a bright 

 morning sun striking this benumbed or frosted 

 portion, may cause such a change in the ten- 

 der tissues as to prevent subsequent develop- 

 ment of that portion of the fruit, which would 

 not prevent the enlargement of the rachis and 

 the further development of the rest of the 

 berry. Such seems to me to I* the only ra- 

 tional ground upon which to form an opinion 

 that would meet the case. Whether my con- 

 jecture is correct in fact, I shall not declare, as 

 "no one has a better right to know the jn-rplex- 

 ing theories in vogue as regards the action of 

 cold, frost and freezing on vegetation, than 

 myself, having carefully studied the published 

 accounts to be met with in our various month- 

 lies, as well as the older experimentalists. See 

 Gardeners'' MotUhbi. p. 177, .Tune, 1872 : "How 

 Hardy Trees are Killed by Frost," which also 

 refers to i/orcj/'s Magazine, the great Ijiittle- 

 field in which the conflict of ideas with estab- 

 lished opinions first took place. It was held 

 to te heretical that moisture in the atmo.s- 

 phere, or moisture in any way, had aught to 

 do wth (mr winter losses. Sul)sequently Dr. 

 Lindley, that notiid liotanist, in The Gardin- 

 er's Chronicle, took up the subject of the dis- 

 ruption of ceils by frost. I'he Gardener's 

 Monthly undertakes to show that it was "evap- 

 oration and not the mere degree of frost which 

 destroyed usually hardy things," and throws 

 a rting at "those who choose rather to borrow 

 lights from the tajiers bimiing in the vaults of 

 dead but honored names, than open their eyes 

 in the daylight of facts which surround them. " 

 "Even men," ho continues, "or at leiist one 

 man Ix-aring tlie usually rcsiK'cted title of 

 ' I'rofessor,' descended to low .scurrility and 

 abuse of the editor i>ersonally for the views 

 advanced in this magazine (The Montldy). 

 But the day of justice hiis come," he adds tri- 

 umi)hantly. 



While I agree with the author so far as his 

 remarks apply to the severe winter of 1S71, in 

 coimection with the drought, l>oth in the 

 ground and in the atmosphere of the preced- 

 ing summer, as the cause of the severe losses 

 by frost ; besides, the communications of Mr. 



