VOl4. XIV. NO. 7. 



AND GARDENER'S JOURNAL 



51 



CROPS IN tANCASTKR COUNTY, PA. 

 L.V\IE AS A DIANUUE:. 



Extract from a letter from a respectable agriculturist of 

 Pennsylvania, dated, Piquea, Lanraster county, Juno 

 29, 183r). 



Mr E. p. Roberts, 



Dear Sir — In answer to your note wliioli I re- 

 ceived a liny or two a<:o, 1 am happy to say, that 

 in tills section .of Pennsylvania, wc have never 

 had a more flattering prospect of a jrood crop of 

 wheat than wo have at present. In my immedi- 

 ate neigliliorhood I luive never seen a greater like- 

 lihood of an abundant harvest, and as far as I 

 have been, the appearance is equally good : in- 

 deed, it seems to be admitted by all, that Lancas- 

 ter county, this year, will produce far above an 

 average crop. 



As to the average (pntntity produced to the acre, 

 I hardly feel willing to express an opinion, as I 

 think I should make it under what it is generally 

 supposed to be ; had you asked the amount pro- 

 duced on a tolerably well managed farm of 200 

 acres for the last ten years, I could have answered 

 your question, with some degree of accuracy. 

 However, I should uot hesitate to say that there 

 are many fields this year that will average forty 

 bushels to the acre ; but this is no more than 

 double what I consider an average crop. Our 

 prospect of a corn crop is very unfavorable ; from 

 present appearances, I don't think we shall Iiave 

 half the usual quantity ; the worms, this S|)ring, 

 have been very destructive, and have continued 

 their depredations longer than they generally do ; 

 we, however, have not been discouraged from 

 replanting, and in some instances whole fields 

 have been gone over as late as the 10th of the 

 present month — our success depends very much 

 iin a favorable season. Sixty bushels to the acre 

 (if corn, when it is properly managed, is not un- 

 usual, and I have known some few fields that 

 have produced seventyfive and over — but I should 

 liall forty bushels, or fortyfive, an average cro]). 



Lime and Plaster of Paris with what ourbarn- 

 vards afford, are the manures used — lime, how- 

 ever, is not used as generally as it should be : to 

 poor lands I think it indispensable ; and on our 

 best soil, / have never seen it used but with decided 

 henefits. I consider it almost an error to attempt 

 In farm without the aid of lime, even here when 

 the land is good, when it can be had at the price 

 we pay for it, which is from ten to twelve dollars 

 per hundred bushels. 



The quantity of lime used to the acre is from 

 sixty to one hundred bushels. Barley and oate 

 promise a good crop. Grass unusually heavy, 

 but the weather for three or four days has been 

 unfavorable for hay-making. 



I am, very respectfully, yours. 



Mr Chandler: — 1 believn it will be admitted, 

 on nil sides, that Lancaster county, in some things 

 is not easily beaten. I have been spending a few 

 d»y8 with my friend T. G. Henderson of Pequa, 

 gud last evening assisted him in taking and 

 weighing, from a single hive of bees, one hun- 

 dred and thirtysix poimds of the whitest and most 

 delicious honey I ever laid my eyes on. 



This may appear incredible to many, as a box 

 of the common size would not contain more than 

 balf the quantity; what I have stated, however, is 

 a fact ; but instead of the common box, a flour 



cask was prepared for thein, by sawing off about 

 six inches, and put^iig cross sticks in the usual 

 way, and in this they were hived in the early part 

 (if .Imie last. Mr H. says, he thinks he has in 

 this way, more than once, taken over a hundred 

 pounds from a single hive, but never saw any so 

 well filled as the present. — U. S. Oaz. 



Cure for the phrenzy, or inflammation 

 OF THE Brain in Cattle. — First lessen the quan- 

 tity of blood by frequent bleeding, which may be 

 repeated daily if required, and by which the.great 

 efflux of blood upon the temporal arteries will be 

 lessened and much retarded. The following pur- 

 gative drink will be found suitable for this disease, 

 and likewise for most fevers of an inflammatory 

 nature. 



Take of Glauber Salts, 1 lb. ; Tartarized Anti- 

 mony, 1 drachm; Camphor, 2 drachms ; Treacle, 

 4 oz. Mix and jnit the whole into a jiitcher, and 

 pour 3 pints of boiling water upon them. When 

 about milk-warm add half an ounce of laudanum 

 and give it all at a dose. 



This drink will in general operate briskly in 

 the space of twenty or twentyfour hours ; if not, 

 let one half of the quantity be given to the beast 

 every night and morning till the desired effect. 



On the Influence of the Moon. — That the 

 different phases of the moon have some connex- 

 ion with changes in the atmosphere, is an opinion 

 so universal and popular, as to be on that account 

 alone, entitled to attention. No observation is 

 more general, and on no occasion, perhaps, is the 

 almanac so frequently consulted, as in forming 

 conjectures upon the state of the weather. The 

 common remark goes no farther than the fact, 

 that changes froin wet to dry, and from dry to 

 wet, generally happen at the changes of the moon. 

 When to this result of universal experience, we 

 add the philosophical reasons for the existence of 

 tides in the aerial ocean, (or atmosphere,) we can- 

 not doubt that such a connexion exists, and that 

 the moon exerts a considerable influence upon 

 the currents of air, according to her position. 

 The subject, however, is involved in great obscu- 

 rity; and is one which can only be elucidated by 

 long and careful observation. — English Year Book. 



The Season. — The Worcester Spy says, the 

 dry weather of July and the fore part of the pre- 

 sent month enabled our farmers to secure their 

 hay in fine ordei', and the favorable rains which 

 have since fallen, have had a decidedly favorable 

 effect on the second cro)) and the after feed. Po- 

 tatoes, also, will be greatly augmented in quantity 

 from the same cause. The crop now bids fair to 

 be abundant, and, judging from those which come 

 to mJkiket, of an excellent quality. The warm 

 weather of the past wepk has brought corn i;3pid- 

 ly forward, and we see no reason to think that the 

 crop may not be a/air one ; though the effects of 

 the cold spring probably forbid the expectation 

 that it will be much more. A good deal, how- 

 ever, yet depends on the state of the weather for 

 a ttionth to come. Oats have been quite back- 

 ward. The new crop, however, begins to come 

 to market, and is of good quality, and brings a 

 great price. Some have been sold as high as 

 sixty five cents a bushel, but they will not now 

 command that price. The crop, we believe, is 

 abundant. 



Crossing Veretables Vegetables, like ani- 

 mals, will sometimes breed buck, or, in other 

 words, some of the progeny will inherit some of 

 tho characteristics of their ancestors two or three 

 generations back. This was exem|)lificd by Mr 

 Knight, of England, when he began to manufac- 

 ture ne^v varieties of Peas, and although many of 

 you may know the story, you will excuse us for 

 telling it to those who do not. 



When he first began his experiments on the 

 crossing of vegetables, he selected out a dwarfish 

 stunted kind of grey pea, that could not bo mucli 

 improved by good ci\lture, or good soil. Previ- 

 ous to its o]>ening its blossoms, he cut off all but 

 half a dozen. These he opened carefully, and 

 cut from them tjie part called the stamens, leaving 

 the pistil, or thread-like column which rises from 

 the seed vessel, untouched. He then left them. 

 They afterwards opened, like other blossoms, as 

 if nothing had happened to them. He then took 

 some of the pollen, or yellow dust, from the flow- 

 ers of a tall luxuriant pea, and put it upon three 

 of the flowers which had been robbed of their sta- 

 mens. The half dozen flowers then ])Ut out their 

 pods as usual, but the peas in the three that had 

 not been dusted with the pollen perished, wither- 

 ing away, and produced nothing ; while those that 

 had received a sprinkling of pollen produced full 

 grown peas. They were of a grey color, and very 

 much like those of the stock experimented upon. 

 The next spring he planted these peas, and tlien 

 the good effects of tlie crossing were exhibited. 

 They grew up large ; the peas were neither like 

 the grey pea, or the other, but intermediate — and 

 of an excellent kind. Hence we see that if we 

 have a plant or animal from crossings of two dis- 

 tinct breeds, and they do not exhibit or possess 

 the qualities of the parents which we desire, their 

 progeny may, and it is best to waii patiently until 

 we see the results in more than one generation. 

 — Maine Farmer. 



Largest Fleece. — Little cry and great wool. 

 — We are informed by Luther E. Stevens, of this 

 place, that he recently took 1130 lbs. of wool from 

 301 sheep, mostly Merino. This is allowed to be 

 remarkable by wool growers. A gentleman in 

 New York this spring, stated in one* of the papers 

 that lie bad taken a fleece weighing 7 lbs. and 3 

 quarters from one sheep. Anothei farmer in Ver- 

 mont, mentioned through a paper that he had 

 taken a fleece weighing 9 lbs. 10 oz. — whether 

 washed and tagged he does not say — and calls 

 upon his brother farmers tc beat it, if they can. 

 Mr Stevens took a fleece last week from a full 

 blood Merino buck, three years old, which, when 

 washed and tagged, ready for the market, weighed 

 9 lbs. and 12 oz. ! This is the largest ever known 

 in this country, and he challenges any farmer any 

 where to produce a larger one. — Claremont Eagle. 



Otster Shells — Are frequently burnt into 

 lime, to lay upon land. They are better manure 

 when grountl without burning, owing to the re- 

 mains of animal matter in them. A good lime 

 compost is the following : Spread on any platform 

 under cover 6 inches of mould, then 3 inches of 

 well burnt lime ; slack it with water in which com- 

 mon salt has been dissolved, to the amount of! 1-2 

 lbs. of salt to each bushel of lime ; cover it witli 6 

 inches more of m'ould. Before laying it on the 

 laud, turn and mix this compost heap, and lay 300 

 bushels of it on each acre. — Dr Hooper. 



