136 



THE LANCASTER FARMER. 



[September, 



well be imagined. Fancv .1 car-load of grain, 

 raised in California and shipped to New York, 

 to be obliged to stop on the frontier of every 

 Stiite through which the railroad passes, to be 

 inspected and pay certain duties ; yet sucli is 

 the law in Mexico. And in the matter of 

 grain there exist regulations within the same 

 State equally oppressive and vexatious. Every 

 precinct or township levies what is called au 

 extraction duty of 14 cents on each fanega of 

 corn or wheat taken out of tliat precinct, and 

 the same grain again pays an introduiiion 

 duty to the precinct into which it is sent. A 

 more effectual drawback ui)ou tlie industry of 

 a people can hardly be conceived. It leads to 

 smuggling, seizures and confiscations, and in 

 the end the farmer is the principal sufferer. 



Tlie soil is well adapted to nearly all the 

 productions of the temperate zone, and par- 

 ticularly to fruits. Vegetables do well, with 

 the exception of Irish potatoes, which it has 

 been found impossible to grow in the neigh- 

 borhood of El Paso. Several hundred miles 

 to the north, aroiind Santa Fe, they do well, 

 and also among the mountains two hundred 

 miles to the southwest. Believing they could 

 be grown if the proper care and method were 

 adopted, I tried tlie experiment myself. I 

 planted them in ditferent kinds of soils, with 

 and without manure, covered them with earth, 

 straw and sand, but got no tubers. Major B. 

 W. Brice, since Paymaster General of the 

 United States, one year raised a fine lot in a 

 garden attached to his quarters at Fort Bliss, 

 but he never again succeeded in doing so, al- 

 though he tried to do so again and again on 

 the same spot and by the same method. 



Corn teing -almost exclusively used as food 

 for hoi-ses, no oats are grown in the vicinity of 

 El Paso. What might be done with oats may 

 be seen from the following : About IStJi) the 

 papers were filled with accounts of the great 

 productiveness and weight of Norway oats, 

 and an American neighbor of mine sent to the 

 States for some, with the intention of trying 

 what could be done with it. The first year it 

 grew tall and thrifty, making large, well-filled 

 heads. The next year (1871) a patch of about 

 one-quarter of an acre was planted with the 

 seed raised the previous year. Lest what I 

 shall state may be discredited in consequence 

 of defective memory or the length of time that 

 has elapsed since then, I will quote several 

 paragraphs from my diary of that date: '' In 

 going oyer to Fort Bliss this morning I pulled 

 a dozen heads of oats out of Mr. Florez's 

 patch. At Bliss I measured them ; they ran 

 from lit to 24 inches each ! I never saw any- 

 thing to equal them ; and the stalks ivere 

 taller, many of them, than I." That was on 

 June 27th ; on .luly lath, the following addi- 

 tional memorandum occurs : "Cut two stalks 

 of oats out of Mr. Florez's patch measuring six 

 feet four inches each. " I do not know that 

 any but the usual plan of planting was 

 adopted, but this shows what the soil will do. 

 With careful farming, such as the formers of 

 Lancaster county l)estow upon their crops, I 

 have no doubt that the present production 

 would lie increased on"} hundred per cent. 

 This, however, will never be aecomiilished 

 while the present race tills the soil. So wed 

 ded are they to the husbandry of their fathei-s 

 that they will not forgo it until a race of men 

 with newer ideas and more modem methods 

 steps in to revolutionize theirold timecustoms. 



Such are some of the )>eculiarities that ob- 

 tain among this race of primitive farmers. 

 The facts we have related are but a fair sam- 

 ple of the whole, and will convey to the reader 

 a truthful picture of agricul'ural life on our 

 own borders, such as few can have imagined. 

 A bountiful Providence has cast their lives 

 in a place where the necessaries of life can be 

 obtained in defiance of their antiquated ideas 

 and thriftlessness. Their wants are few and 

 simple, and these their inditierent system of 

 farming secures to them. Knowing little and 

 caring less about what they might accomiilish, 

 tln^ir lives glide away more happily perhaps — 

 certainly more contentedly — than our own, 

 who live surrounded by all the comforts and 

 appliances of the most advanced civilization. 



For The Lancaster Farmer. 

 ORNAMENTAL HORTICULTURE. 



Having got through the "burning, flery 

 furnace " of summer, we may now turn our 

 attention to the improvements of ornamental 

 gardening. As the arboral embellishments are 

 to be stable standards, their selection and 

 arrangement are important. The services of 

 a skillful gardener will be a saving of present 

 expenses and futiu'e disappointments. Bloonis- 

 dfxle Park, of the Landreths, is a graceful 

 model of an ornamental park. It is thirty 

 acres in extent, and was planned by David 

 Landreth, a muster gardener. He selected all 

 the plants and directed their arrangement, and 

 all other work. The species of trees and shrubs 

 are numerous, and now, with thirty years 

 growth, they are large and hands(jme, and the 

 following specimens are worthy of special 

 notice : Talus betecnta, Aurea and Betinospora 

 aurea, are richly gilded with golden foliage. 

 Biota Kiirea and Thuja aurea, are also slightly 

 gilded with golden yellow. A Pkea cephaJo- 

 nica tree is the largest and handsomest in the 

 nation. The following species are hardly 

 equaled in the coimtry : Pinus cemhra, Pkea 

 nohli.i and grandis; Cedrus lihani, Cryptome- 

 riajapionka, Libocesedrus,decurrens and Chili- 

 ensis, Cupressus, Laicsoniana; and the hand- 

 somest Scfjuoia ijigantm that we have seen in 

 cultui-e. Two Enyliah yews, fifteen feet high, 

 and as much in the diameter of their spread 

 branches and class, massy shrubs. They were 

 imported from England in 1810 by the origiiial 

 Mr. Landreth, who founded the great seed 

 firm of " Landreth & Sons," and now they are 

 great favorites of the grandsons. 



The above are all evergreens. The follow- 

 ing are deciduous : A darlcpw-ple Beech tree, 

 is fifty feet high, and fifty feet in the diameter 

 spread of its branch, and is a mass of branches 

 and foliage from the ground to its top; another 

 tree is the common Beech, in the lower eigh- 

 teen feet, and above that the purple- Beech is 

 grafted; the tree is forty feet high, and thirty- 

 five feet in the diameter of its branches; a 

 dense mass from base to summit. A SaJis- 

 fmrki adkintifoUa tree, fifty feet high, very 

 straight, finely branched; and all the branches 

 of each tier are of the same length, which is 

 uncommon in the species. The Larches, Lin- 

 dens, white Birches, Decichious Cypress. Ken- 

 tricky Coffee tree, &c., are admirable specimens 

 of their several species. The matchless splen- 

 dor of the numerous varieties of the Belgian 

 Azaleas and Bliododeiulrons, have been noticed 

 elsewhere, and liy many writers. 



David Landreth, esq., who planned and 

 directed the making of the whole out of a 

 bare field, is still an active business man, and 

 highly enjoys the fruits of his labors. Blooms- 

 dale Park is near to Bristol, Bucks county. Pa. 



(The Landreths are not nurserymen, and do 

 not deal in the sale of trees, or otherwise we 

 would not have noticed Bloomsdale Park.) — 

 Walter Elder, Landscape Gardener, Phila- 

 elelphia, September, 187.5. 



For The Lancaster Farmer. 

 EARTHING UP CELERY. 



Celery is botanically named Apiuni grareo- 

 lens; Loudon claims it a native of Great Bri- 

 tain. There it grows spontaneously and abund- 

 antly in salt marshes along the sea coast which 

 are often deeply inundated by the sea waters 

 during high tides ; hence, it is a marine and 

 half acpiatic plant. 



In our culture, far inland, it makes but lit- 

 tle growth during the months of .luly and 

 August, but after the middle of September, 

 in the northern half of the nation, its growth 

 is rapid. In earthing it up the .soil between 

 the rows should be deeply stirred and finely 

 broken in the forenoons of dry days, and put 

 about the plants in the afternoons; it will be 

 well warmed by the sunshine, and will excite 

 a lively growth in the plants. Each jilant 

 should be clasped by one hand while the soil 

 is put up about it, .so that none will get about 

 the hearts of the jilants, as in wet weather 

 they might rot. The soil is put uj) .as high as 

 the leaves, and as the crops increase in growth 



more soil is put up about them, say once a 

 fortnight, and always in dry weather. The 

 last earthing up, late in November, the plants 

 are all covered, except the top leaves. In 

 that form the cro])s keep sound all winter, 

 providing the ridges are covered with corn- 

 stalks, or straw, or long, strawy manure. 

 Some cover with tree leaves, and with brush- 

 wood upon them, to keep them from being 

 blown off. From November to April celery is 

 in use, and brings a good price. Truckmen 

 cultivate in long rows with horses. — An Old 

 Husbandman, Philadelphia, September, 1875. 

 ^ . 



KINDLY GREETINGS. 



The Lancaster Farmer : This new help to the 

 agriculturist, and by the way an almost indispensa- 

 ble one at tliis early day in its journalistic career, ap- 

 pears for August improved to a marked degree, bear- 

 ing on its [lages unmistakalile evidence of patientcare 

 in selection and deep thought in its original articles. 

 It is a /Ji-arficn/ publication, and all its aims are t6 

 that end. Its original articles by the editor. Prof. S. 

 S. Rathvon, are above the common run of original 

 articles, hiiving stamped on their every line the pecu- 

 liar characteristic of that worthy man, viz : elabo- 

 rateness, plainness and sound logical reasoning, and 

 hence cannot fail of their purpose, which is not only 

 to entertain, but to instruct and lead to good practi- 

 cal results. Besides, The Farmer contains this 

 month an article on " Primitive Farming," by F. K. 

 Ditfenderfer, who, on this occasion, has yielded to the 

 persuasion of his friends by permitting his name to 

 appear. Mr. Diifenderfer, we have no hesitation in 

 saying, has written more lor new spapers and periodi- 

 cals than any man of his years in this city, yet from 

 an innate modesty would never before allow his name 

 to appear in print. We are happy to greet him be- 

 fore the light of the literary world, and certainly re- 

 joice at the thought that at least he will receive that 

 credit for his brain-productions to which he has been 

 for many years so eminently entitled. With such an 

 editor, and with one such contributor, The Lancas- 

 ter Farmer must continue to grow in public favor. 

 — Lancaster Weekly Jieview. 



The Lancaster Farmer for August is an excel- 

 lent number, and its varied contents cannot fail to be 

 of great interest and immense value to everyone who 

 will give it a fair perusal. As Tue Farmer is a 

 home organ, every tiller of the soil in this county 

 should be a regular reader, as we know that if such 

 would be the case, a great deal of advancement 

 would be made in various directious in agriculture in 

 our midst. Yet while The Farmer specially com- 

 mends itself to the favor of our county, it is con- 

 ducted in such a manner as to make it of great value 

 to the farmer, fruit grower, gardener and household 

 everywhere, and should receive an extensive circula- 

 tion throughout every portion of the Union. — Clarion. 



The Lancaster Farmer : If our subscribers wish 

 to see a copy of tliis very excellent periodical they can 

 do so by calling at the Century office. It is a valua- 

 ble agricultural monthly, published at Lancaster by 

 Pearsol iSi (ieist, under the editorial charge of Prof. 

 S. S. Uathvon, at the exceedingly low rate of §1.25 

 per aniuim. The August number contains the 

 usual variety of interesting and valuable articles, the 

 ones on the Drop Worm, and the Codling Moth, being 

 noticeably so. We will notice more at length here- 

 after. — Gettysburg (I'a.) Century. 



We certainly ought to feel grateful — and we 

 think we do — for the favorable notices of our 

 journal, and our efforts to make it acceptable 

 to the reading public, not only from the local 

 press, l)ut also from the agricultural press of 

 our widely extended country; and if we at any 

 time indulge in a passing regret, it is that the 

 number who have this appreciation of our la- 

 bors in the county of Lancaster is yet so lim- 

 ited. It is true, that the subscription list of 

 The Farmer is gradually recruiting from the 

 ranks of the solid men of our grand old county, 

 but still it is not nearly what it ought to be. 



But, whatever may be accorded to us per- 

 sonally, we do not claim the sole merit of the 

 present excellence of The Farmer. Much is 

 due to its contributors, its corresiiondents, and 

 its enterprising and liberal publishers ; and in 

 its mechanical get-up it reflects credit upon 

 the "chief" of the job department. 



The centennied year is' just approaching, 

 when we hope to be able still further to im- 

 prove The Farmer, and to present many 

 new attractions ; and we fail to see — on its 

 intrinsic merits so generally conceded^why 

 the journal should not be able to double its 

 subscription list next year. We suggest that 

 our subscription iirice is so low, that the way to 

 secure a copy of The Farmer is merely to 

 entertain the will to do so. 



