1S75.] 



THE LANCASTER FARMER. 



121 



low. It forms a niassy, ck'saiit busli by nip- 

 pinfT ort tlie pnints ot tlio .sliools occasionally 

 to make it branch more iJPofiisely. 



Cohus lia.s three classes : a very dark class 

 without varief;ations; aclass witli ilarkleaves, 

 edsed with green; and the !,'olden class has 

 brown and crimson leaves, edged and blotched 

 with yellow. When this latter class is used iu 

 ribbon beds, alon;; with the dark leaved classes, 

 the contrast is beautiful. Arlii/ranilius has 

 but four varieties : two with dceii crimson 

 leaves, one with very dark leaves, and one 

 whose leaves arc varie};ated with green, yel- 

 low, white and deep crimson. The Acliyran- 

 thus seldom produce blossoms, but Coleus arc 

 often disfigured by producing l)looms. Alter- 

 »ia)it/i(i-a.s arc all of dark foliage. Don't let 

 tlieiu bloom. reristroiihe cvxjnslifolia is a 

 dwarf creeping plant, with leaves yellow and 

 green, very .showy ; its blooms are purple, and 

 contrast beautifully with the leaves. It should 

 be allowed to bloom, to render it more orna- 

 nyntal. — Walter ELDER,P/tt7at?c?p/i»a, July^ 

 1875. 



LETTERS, QUERIES AND ANSWERS. 



Seasonable Hints. 



Dear Editor of The Farmer: It is with pleasure 

 Hi.it I oiu'C iiirain flnil so much time as to write a few 

 lines for your journal. I liave been too t)u.sy to write 

 any sooner, for I like time to write, just as well as I 

 do to work ; and it is Iiaril work for nie, sometimes, 

 to Ret on paper that whieh I eoulJeoninumieatc with 

 case, and in a short time, in convcrsatiou. 



Lilies. 



Wliat is the matter with the Wliite lilies, that they 

 do not bloom ? Does the I'oot refjuire ilei'p ort^hallow 

 plantins; !. Tlicy push tip buds, and llie buds dry up 

 before they expand. Do 1 not keep them wet enouaph, 

 or too wet, or what else is the cause ? Will some ex- 

 perienced lily grower please inform me through The 

 Farmek i 



Rose Slugs. 



If the " Rose Slug " eats up your rose bushes, get 

 Paris green, mix it with Hour ami dust it all over 

 them. It is sure death to the slugs, and will not in- 

 jure the bush any. Mine, so treated, are fresh, greeu 

 and healthy, and free from slugs. 



Flower Slips. 



Now is the time to plant (lower-slips for the long 

 winter — Hoses, Verbenas, Cierauiunis, ite. Set them 

 in a shady place until well rooted. Of course every- 

 body knows this, but tliey do not always think of it 

 in time. 



Wine Making. 



I will try to give you my method of wine making, 

 and see if you do not agree with me : 



In the first place pick your fruit (whatever it may 

 be) on a dry day, rejeetingall that is green, deeayeil, 

 or damaged, crush it (the sound fruit 1 mean) by the 

 aid of a eider or hand-press, or any other means you 

 have at hand, so that it is thoroughly crushed. Put 

 it into a elean salt sack ; tie tightly sliut and put it 

 iu tlie jiress. Now press out the juiee and have ready 

 your cask, well cleansed ; or a large stone jar, which- 

 ever is most convenient, and put ill the juiee. The 

 containing vessels must be perfectly elean, or you are 

 likely to have sour wine. Afterthc juiee is expressed, 

 having lieen [ireviously measured, to each gallon adil 

 from fii'e to semn pounds of good white sugar. As 

 some fruit has more acid than others, the quantity of 

 sugar will ditlVr. Dissolve the sugar in the juiee be- 

 fore put ting it into the keg. The quicker you can do 

 this the better. Fill the vessel entirely uj) with good 

 juiee; I never use water when I can help it. Now, 

 place it in a cool, dry cellar. When it is done I'er- 

 meuting you can "rack it otf"— if you wish to do 

 BO — but I never do, for that whieh falls to the bottom 

 of the keg is what keeps it good ; it is practically, 

 " wine on the lees." 



To Make Jellies. 



To make good jellies use a brass kettle and good 

 white sugar. I'ut in a piiitof juiieat a time, and one 

 pound of sugar. When it begins to boil, look at the 

 clock, and let it boil just fifteen mimites ; pourit out, 

 and you will have beautiful jelly. Boil only a [jiiit at 

 a time if it is a little more trouble. 



Tin Fruit Cans. 



I do not agree with tlio.se who diseard tin cans, after 

 one year's use. I have tin cans whieh I have hail in 

 use for ten years, and only lost one in .all that time. 

 I use tliem only for poaches, pears and tomatoes, as 

 those fruits keep better iu tin than they do iu earthen 

 or glass jars. 



bill tin cans are nice to plant (lowers in. Punch 

 holes ill the bottom to let out the sur[ilus water ; paint 

 the outside ; plant in your (lowers and set them in a 

 saucer, and they arc ready for the window. 



Butter-Milk Cakes. 



Ohc quart of wheat Hour; om tea.'ipoonfulof soda; 

 .fK^f to taste ; ^/ici>, eggs well beaten ; and stir inenough 

 ofbutler-milk to make a batter as for " (hiniiel eaken." 

 Put two tablcsi«ionsful of lard in a pan, and bake 

 yourcakCB, replenishing the lard as needed. 

 Strawberries. 



As I read everything in The Faumeh of interest, I 

 of course read the Strawberry artielcK. 



What is good to prevent the ants from getting at 

 the roots of strawberries, esiiceially youii^' [plants! 



I always have trouble witli theiii when 1 set out a 

 new bed. Is tlie soil too heavy? I would not know 

 what else. LeoLinb. 



A'tiMlKthtown, July 2S, 1875. 



We do not think the soil has anything to do 

 with it, for this in.sect is foiuid in almost all 

 kinds of.soil, light or heavy, rich or poor, hard 

 or mellow, and even where there is no soil at 

 all, if they can fnid anything to eat there. In 

 regard to them, therefore, wc call the atten- 

 tion of our fair correspondent to the following 

 '• seasoii.dile hints," .some of which we have 

 tested years ago, and among which is one on 

 the suliject of ants. The best trap, perhaps, 

 for ants, is to lay old ropes saturated with 

 sweetened water, between the rows of straw- 

 berries and other iilants, and when they lie- 

 corae covered with anls — which they soon will 

 be if there arc any about — rai.se them carefully 

 lip and immerse them in hot water, and "set 

 them again." 



As to the lily query, we commend it to some 

 of our lloriculturists. Of course .something 

 depends upon the variety of lily meant in the 

 query. 



Seasonable IIiXTS.-The Scie7iti fie American say s : 

 If mosquitoes or other blood suekersinfest our sleeping 

 rooms at ni;;ht, we uncork a bottle of the oil of pen- 

 nyroyal, and these animals leave iu great haste, nor 

 will they return so long as the air in the room is 

 loaded with the fumes of that aromatic herb. If rats 

 enter the cellar, a little powdered potash, thrown into 

 their holes or mixed with meal and scattered iu their 

 runways, never fails to drive them away. Cayenne 

 pepper w ill keep the buttery and store-room free from 

 ants and eoekroaehes. If a mouse makes an entrance 

 into any part of your dwelling, saturate a rag with 

 cayenne in solution, and stutf it into the hole, which 

 can then be rejiaired with either wood or mortar. No 

 rat or mouse will eat that rag for the purptise of 

 opening communication with a depot of supplies. 



Destroying Cut-Worms. 



Editor Laneaster Farmer: — Deau Siu : — The .July 

 number of The Fak.meh states Mr. Ileiland destroyed 

 cut-worms by feeding them with wheat bran. I also 

 made experiments, but I took leaves of the common 

 Plantain {I'luitlugo major,) moistened them and then 

 thoroughly mixed witli them a ])reparatiou of Paris 

 green and flour. In the evening, the leaves so pre- 

 jiared, were laid on tlie ridges where we intended to 

 plant tobacco, and the next morning we found from 

 one up to tweuty-three dead worms. I afterwards 

 found out that the leaves of the common " poplar"' or 

 tulip-tree, {Leriodeudroti. TuKpifcra) served the piu- 

 pose better, as the worms are very fond of them, and 

 Ihey do not wilt as soon as the ]ilantaiu leaves. Now, 

 why not combine the two plans and mix Paris green 

 with the bran and put it on a (ield known to be in- 

 fested before eommiiicing to plant '. Mr. lleiland's 

 lilan may kill some, but mixing the poison among the 

 iiian would kill all the worms and wouhl save the 

 time and trouble of hunting up ami killing sueh as 

 would uot die of the regular " (irahani diet." In both 

 plans, in order to tie entirely sueeessful, there should 

 be no weeds iu the Held, as many of the worms will 

 eat of them instead of " going" for the " put up" 

 article. 



I have found the striped potato-beetle (Lt/tta filata) 

 in large uunibers on our early cabbage, but as they 

 keep to the lower and outside leaves, and the cab- 

 bage has nearly perfected its heads, they eaniiot do 

 much harm. Should they attack recently planted late 

 cabbage, I think they would entirely destroy it in a 

 few days. — A. li. A'., Safe Harbor, Lancaster county, 

 July 17, I>>7.'5. 



— ^ 



Jots and Tittles from Dauphin County. 



Let the boys and girls lie the sole proprietors of 

 something — a calf, jiig, slieep, or several rows of po- 

 tatoes, to raise as their own. You will lose nothing 

 by it. The boys will whistle and tlie girls sing more, 

 consciiuenlly the work will be done easier anil better. 



liaise plenty of turkeys. Send tlieni into the wheat 

 fields — they will dcslioy the army \Miini and many 

 other noxious insects, ami not injure the grain. 



It is not everyone who knows how to climb a fence. 

 Nine out of every ten will go over in the middle of the 

 panel. If there is a weak rail, down it will go. Get 

 over near the post. 



When following the plow think out a few items ; 

 when you get home commit lUera to paper ; send 



tlieni totlie editorof Tin; Fakmeii (I believe he wtl' 

 cheerfully receive them) for imblication — practical 

 hints, founded on experience. It will please you to 

 see your own writing in print, and some one will he 

 liencfited. It may be the means of producing many 

 blailes of grass where but one grew before. 



We believe in learning sometliing every day. 



Hay crop very short; wheat good; oats, ecru, po- 

 tatoes, Ilungarlau grass, quite promising. 



July Zi, ima. Yours, &c., B. 



Nothing gives us more pleasure than to re- 

 ceive and print these brief but practical "Jots 

 and Tittles" from our correspondent 15., and 

 especially his kind words for TiiK I'MtMicit. 

 They constitute many green spots in the desert 

 of our editorial life, ;ind also beiiclil others. 

 Who will be kind enough to furnish us regu- 

 larly similar contributions from Lancaster 

 comity V — Ed. 



Letter from North Carolina. 



It is very strange iu this day and time that so few 

 of the young men of our country take the projicr view 

 (aswe tiiink) of (arming. But few, comparatively, en- 

 gage iu it, while the many try to be lawyers, doctors, 

 merchants, and other professional characters, none 

 of whom are [iroducers, but consumers, and none so 

 inde])endeiit as the intelligent and industrious tiller 

 of the soil, the noblest calling in whieh man can bo 

 employed. It is a great mistake to suppose because 

 lawyers, doctors, merchants and others dress fine, 

 that they, and they alone, are making all the money, 

 and having all the comforts, luxuries and pleasures 

 this life atl'ords. I say, and without fear of reasona- 

 ble eontiadietion, thata farmer's life, if properly car- 

 ried out, is the only truly independent one (in the 

 true sense of the word) that a man can live on terra 

 firnia. To prove this, look around, and you can 

 readily see who are the head, body and life of our 

 country. Farmers and mechanics, beyond a doubt ; 

 and the cause is jilainly seen by those who will see. 

 Cats with gloves on catch no mice, much less rats. 



New flour in this market sells at S:i i>er sack of 98 

 lbs.; new oats at 40 cents per bushel. Frequent fine 

 seasonable rains, good for upland cotton, but not so 

 good for cotton or corn iilanted in low lands ; yet all 

 uiir planters seem to be iu good spirits, looking for- 

 ward to reap good erojis. .Martin Kichwine, of this 

 place, planted one Early Peerless jmtato, cut into nine 

 pieces, on the l.'Sth of April, and dug up on the l:ith 

 of .July Mi lbs. nett weiirht — ''0 to I, and no extra 

 culture at that. Jo.scph Ilarrah sowed last fall ij^" 

 bushels Fultz wheal, (m three-fourths of an acre of 

 ground, which yielded 30;^ bushelsof clean and good 

 wheat ; a good yield we think, and that without what 

 we call good farming — showing what the lands here 

 would produce if worked as your I.ancaster county 

 farmers work their lauds. Here we believe is a line 

 (ield open for all good and working jieople, farmers, 

 mechanics, manufacturers and laborers. Then I say 

 again, why do the people from yfnir and adjoining 

 counties go to the far West ? Here is a tine climate 

 all the year round, not surpassed in this I'nion, good 

 natural soil, an abumtanee of timber for building and 

 manufacturing purixises, minerals of dill'erent kinds, 

 granite of various finalities; a tine country to raise 

 fruits of all kinds, and fine for grape culture. AH 

 grains and grasses grow here, and of good quality. 

 At the World's Fair held in Loudon some years ago, 

 the bread which took the first premium was made 

 out of Hour, the wheat of which grew in North Caro- 

 lina. At a fair held in New "i'ork city, not many 

 years since, theaiiples whieh took the premium were 

 raised by Mendenhall i^: WestbrcMiks, in tinir nursery, 

 five miles west of Greensboro', Guilford county, North 

 Carolina. 



All this speaks well for this State, and nature has 

 favored her above and lieyomi others in dill'erent re- 

 spects. .\ll she needs is to have the right workers 

 within her borders to show what she can and will do. 

 I should like to see persons emiirrate here, and es- 

 iiceially fniin Lancaster county, and develoiie her re- 

 sources. No one need fear to come here. Life and 

 piopi'rty are just as safe hi-re as iu any other State, 

 and more so than in many other places. I iK'loiig to 

 no ring, but sjieak of what I know, without any other 

 motive but that which I tielicve is to the interest of 

 my fellow beings who wish to migrate to lielter their 

 condition.— Jtf. Ji., Nalitbury, -V. C, July 15, 1875. 



The Ant Pest. 



Can you or any of your readers inform me of an 

 efleetive remedy for ants infcbting a pantry? I liavo 

 been "worried" almost out of patience this summer 

 with the liepredations of these in-sts — iKith re<i ante 

 and the large black ants. The pantry is kept as clean 

 as I know how. I have tried all the cures of hooks 

 and newspapiTS, including " chalking," borax, car- 

 bolic acid, (lour, camphor, cayenne pepixT, penny- 

 royal, etc., but '■ the cry is, still they come ! " I have 

 had some success in fighting the little red fellows, 

 but the big blackics seem to have neither palate» nor 

 olfactories — they walk right over all, and seem to 

 enjoy the fun. The pautry is on tin' first HtKir, ad- 

 joining the yard, and over the cellar. — Houfektcper, 

 Lancantcr, Aug. 9, 1875. 



