1876.] 



THE LANCASTER FARMER 



57 



and then, to yiiUt milk wlia-li enn he cluinifil 

 in the shortest jiossiliU' time, aixl turn out hiit- 

 ler of a golOen color and otthe highest llavor. 

 All these rciiiiiremeiits are to he fonnil in 

 the Jersey cow, and in none other; and it tlio 

 farmer has a taste lor the heaiitifid in nature 

 or art, lor the line scenery and the f;reen fields, 

 dotted over with the usefid as well as the 

 ornamental, he would lind reseinhlinf; in a 

 herd of Jersey cows, a flock of tallow dei'r, and 

 for which at ii distant view they might readily 

 be taken. 



For Thk Lancartkh Fakuer. 

 A NUT FOR THE BOTANISTS TO 

 CRACK. 



So accustomed is the botanist to he con- 

 fronted with new and sinjiular forms in tlic 

 vetietahle world — witli unexpected develop- 

 ments and odd facts— that now-a-days it must 

 he something wonderful indeed that excites 

 more than a momentary suqirise. Already 

 acquainted with more tlian 12U,()0() dilferen't 

 forms of vegelahle life, the discovery of a new 

 S|iecies, although a very plea.sant and accejita- 

 lile result, sclent ilically considered, is never- 

 theless an achievement that does not call for 

 special remark. Sometimes, however, cir- 

 eiunstances give rise to fresh facts concerning 

 long and well-known mendjers of the vegeta- 

 ble kingdom, that bother him more than to 

 jn'operiy determine where to place a newly 

 iliscovered but doubtful specimen. 



It has been the fortune of the writer to be 

 brought face to face a score of times with a 

 singular fact (to him at least) in the economy 

 of that familiar friend, and we hope favorite, 

 of every ri'ader of this, the common suntlow- 

 er. (JlcUunilius (inimun.) As often as the 

 circumstance presented itself, it set us to puz- 

 zling over it, but inasnuich as we never 

 reached a conclusion concerning it that was 

 entirely satisfactory, we herewith present it 

 to the "readers of The Fau.-mkk, in the hope 

 that some one else may he able to oilier an ac- 

 cejitable solution of the problem. 



Across the broad plains of Kansas, Ne- 

 braska and Xew Mexico, are wide and well- 

 beaten highway.s. over which thousands of 

 wagons lailen with merchandise and drawn 

 by mules and oxen, are passing and rejiassing 

 during eight months of the year. In dry and 

 favorable seasons no Fenn.sylvania road is 

 firmer or harder, and under favorable circum- 

 stances, the well-defined, grey trail can be 

 traced for miles with the naked eye. During 

 the great part of the year the rain-fall is but 

 light, and the slow, white-shaded caravan 

 moves along with scarce an imjiedimeut. But 

 there are times when the windows of heaven 

 arc oiiened, and the Hoods descend, and then 

 what was once a road that might rival a paved 

 street in hardness, liecomes little I)cttcr than 

 a (piagmire. When this occurs it is custom- 

 ary for the wagon trains to leave the beaten 

 track and open a new road in the also soft hut 

 less-yielding prairie to the right or left of the 

 old highway. Each succeeding train for the 

 same reason follows in the newly laid-out path, 

 and the result is the entire abandonment of 

 the old road ibr pnrjioses of travel. 



No sooner is this done than is seen the re- 

 markable fact to which we wish to call atten- 

 tion. On each side of the deserted road at 

 once springs up a strong, den.se growth of sun- 

 flowers, and these fringe the once traveled 

 route, sometimes for miles, but more gciiierally 

 until, the soil becoming harder, the new road 

 again leads into the old one. I will not as- 

 sert that this is the case in every instance, hut 

 I believe it to be so nine times out of ten ; it 

 is the rule, which a few exceptions, if there 

 be any, would only conlirm. These sun- 

 flower plants are from one inch to ten or more 

 feet high, and at the i)roper .season laden 

 with flowers. Although not a dwarf variety, 

 as the tallest stalks prove, even the most di- 

 minutive ones generally rejoice in small but 

 well-develoi)ed discs, tm-ned sunward ; times 

 without number have I measured a iilant only 

 four inches high with a beautiful crown of 

 golden glory, and as oftcu as I did so, I could 



not liut marvel whence and how this iihaner- 

 ogannan came to take its phu'e in such an odd 

 and seemingly out of the way locality. It 

 must be renumbered that this occurrence is 

 seen far from any settlement, often hundreds 

 of ndles from any human habitation, and 

 therefore very unlikely to be the result of hu- 

 man agency. Naturally birds suggest them- 

 selves as the involuntary disseminators of the 

 seed, and thus furnish a clue to the mystery; 

 hut in that dry and treeless region birds arc 

 far from being iilentifnl, aTid even if they were 

 so, would he much more likely to be attra<'lod 

 to the new roads in search of the droppingsof 

 passing animals, and thus convert them into 

 long avenues bordered with a spontaneous 

 growth of sun-llowers. Neither can we at- 

 tribute the result to cayotes ; these, it is very 

 true, will eat anything from a seed to a buf- 

 falo steak when hungry, ;ind are constaidly 

 ])rowling along the beaten highways with thi^ 

 same ]iurpose that the birdsdo, and thend'orc, 

 like them, would be more likely to seek a new 

 road than an aliandoned one ; therel'ori^ we 

 must ae(|nit Iheni also of any instrumentality 

 in the matter. Winds cannot do it, for they 

 would scatter the seed broadcast over the 

 prairie where the plants are not found ; the 

 l>elt of snn-llowers is always well-delined along 

 the roadside, and varies in width from ten to 

 thirty feet or even more ; straggling stalks are 

 occasionally seen at some distanci! from the 

 main body, but such cases are exceptional. 



I feel assured that some other potent agency 

 is at work in the (iroduction of this singular 

 circumstance. The ditliculty I lind in accmfid- 

 ing for it is, that every hypothesis that sug- 

 gests itself ai)i)lies with even more force and 

 cogency to a like condition of things along re- 

 cently made roads, hut where, as we have 

 seen, it is fVumd w^anting. Some one, iicrhaiis, 

 better versed in the mysterious workings of 

 the countless forms of vegetable lifi; that sur- 

 round us, may be able to penetrate the secrecy 

 that enshrouds the subject, and make clear 

 what is now obscure. Perhajis if the secret 

 were laid open, it would, from its very sini- 

 l)licity, teach us how little we really know con- 

 cerning the mysterious workings of natural 

 kiws.-^i^. R. D., Lancaster. 



For The Lancaster Farmer. 



THE COST OF PLANTING AN 

 ORCHARD. 



Any intelligent farmer can reckon up the 

 cost of making an tn-chard of apple-trees. 

 This way : Flow the land deejily, an<l manure 

 it as fully as for a crop of corn ; harrow well 

 along and .acrross, and roll, to break all hard 

 and large clods. Fair sized apiile-treescan be 

 got for twenty-live cents each. If planted 

 thirty feet ajiart both ways, forty-eight trees 

 will plant an acre; cost, twelve dollars. If 

 set forty feet ajjart l)oth way.s, thirty-six trees 

 will plant an acre; cost, nine dollars. To an 

 orchard of ten acres the cost for trees will he 

 from ninety to a hundred and twenty dollars, 

 hut such a uundier could be got for a hundred 

 dollars at the greater nundier of trees. It is 

 generally now supposed that Indian corn is 

 the best crop the first year upon a newly- 

 l)lanted orchard, as it shades the trees 

 in the hottest months, and when cut up in 

 fall the trees get the benefit of sunshine and 

 air, which harden them to withstand the 

 winter's cold. A hill of corn is left out for 

 every tree ; so the loss is very small. The corn 

 cro)) should be taken off and shocked in an- 

 other lot, so that the whole land of the orchard 

 will be plowed and .seeded down with wheat 

 and grass. The gra.ss cro)), .after the wheat, 

 may remain three or four years ; then plow 

 and croi) with grain. Give heavy manuring 

 in the course of rotating crops ; the orchard 

 will be again seeded down to gra.ss, to lie for 

 live years, giving a top dressing of manin-e or 

 concentrated fertilizers (if they are good). 

 During these year.s the orchard will yield 

 nearly as good crops as are on other open 

 fields, the soil will be well stiiTed for (-rops of 

 corn and jiotatoes, the trees will make largo 

 growths after the second year, and when large 



enoiigli the orchard may 1«' jiastured. The 

 cattle and sheep will eatiip the fallen fruits, 

 and the grubs within them, and that will de- 

 stroy many hundreds of noxious insects yearly. 

 In time the orchard will yiidd double crops; 

 say grass or grains and fruits also. Some of 

 the trees may nei'd setting straight and staked 

 u|> ; some may need slight pruning to balanc.o 

 their heads. The best varieties that thrive in 

 tlu^ locality should be got, and all purcha.sed 

 from responsible iiur.servmen, who advertise 

 in The Faumek.— 0/(J iltuilMndman. 



K<ir 'I'lIK I-AS<'AMTKn Karmkb. 



.THE CULTURE OF VEGETABLES. 



Many gardeners and others skilled in the 

 culture <if vegetables, lost their crops of latu 

 Ix-ets, carrots, |)arsiiips, .salsify, pansley, celery, 

 and onions, from seeds of last year, by sowing 

 them too late. The long-continued dry 

 weather so dried the soil that the seeds did 

 not germinate. The seeds of those crops have 

 hard shells, and it reipiires much moisture In 

 the soil to soften the shells mid let the geriiui 

 push through to grow. 



As soon as the soil is fit to dig or plough, 

 sow the seeds at once of carrots, parsiii|)H, 

 salsify, parsley, celery and onion.s, and plant 

 onion sets. Sow early beets plentifully, in 

 case of failures of late varieties. tJeiierally, 

 late beets and carrots are sown a month later 

 than the early varieties, but last year they 

 failed. Parsnips, salsify and celery need all 

 the .season. 



The best parsnip is the Sugar parsnip. I,«ng 

 Orange carrot is the Ik'.sI. While solid celery 

 is best. The Curled Jiarsley is best. The Vel- 

 low Strasburg onion is. best. TIk; U-.st two 

 l>cas are Extra Karly, for first crop; Eugene, 

 for .Second croii, sown two weeks lalerthan the 

 Extra Early. Stowell's evergreen sugar corn 

 is the best. Dwarf wax Iwan is the Itesl bush 

 bean. I/inia pole bean is the U'st shelling 

 bean. The (ieriiian wax jiole bean is the l>e.st 

 pole bean whose hulls arc eaten, as string 

 beans are. It needs no stringing, and neither 

 does the dwarf wax bean. They have no 

 strings; are both very rich and buttery. The 

 Long l$loodbeet is the best for late crop. The 

 Early Hose potato is the best. There are many 

 new varieties highly commended by seedsmen, 

 such as Extra Early Vermont, Urownell's 

 Heauty. They are most excellent. There are 

 several others, all sold by pound, jieck, bushel, 

 and barrel. The Colossal asparagus is best. 

 The dark Egyptian beet is in high repute for 

 early croji. The Hanson lettuce is the Ix'st. 

 For cabbages, get Large York for early, and 

 Flat Dutch for hxtc.—Old (hdikaUjr. 



Kit Thk I...\NCA'^T»:it K.\nMKR. 

 RICH AND POOR GROW A GRAPEVINE. 

 Every householder should grow one or more 

 hardy grapevines. When trained upon .irlHirs 

 or fences they do not take up any surface 

 space in the way of other crop.s. A neat arlnir 

 over the back kitchen door is a comely appentl- 

 agc to it, and furui.slies a grateful shade when 

 clothed with vines. It also serves as a nick, 

 on which to hang small towels in daily use in 

 the kitchen. The Cmrord ijriijip. is the ln'.st 

 for general culture; is of thrifty growth, and 

 yields plentifully. The fruit is black, and 

 rijiens early and keeps .sound long. The l.sa- 

 bella is alsoa good variety. The Catawba ihie.s 

 well in sunny situations anil in dry sea.sons, 

 but in shady |)laees and wet .seasons it does 

 not color and rii>eii its fruit well. The ]y<dler 

 is a superior variety: yields large cmps. The 

 fruit keejis long, and is the only native gnipc 

 fit for making raisins of. If raisin-making 

 ever becomes a business in our country, the 

 Walter grape will be the one for the purpose. 

 There are many other choice varieties for 

 wealthy amateurs to cultivate with ])leasurc 

 to themselves. All the varieties tlourlsh lie.st 

 and yield largest cro] IS when the shoots are K'Ut 

 from the periM-ndieular; a half horizontal jiosi- 

 tionisliest, after risim,' some feet from the 

 ground. So an arbor with sloping roof is the 

 Ix'st. It is said that grapevines grown (do.se to 

 the house imiiart a lively feeling to its inmates. 

 Plant now. — Old Jlusinndmun. 



