1876.J 



THE LANCASTER FARMER. 



71 



ample, a bed of verbenas, a bed of petunias, 

 etc. Sweet-scented beds will be made witli 

 misiiionette, sweet alyssuiii, lieliotropiiini, 

 etc., all witli frasmiit hlooins. Beds nf sweet- 

 sei'iited leaved i;ei'aiuiinis, lemon Naimleon, 

 etc., are made I'or divi rsily. Every style lias 

 its adnurers and iiractilioners. 



Upon htr^e lands, maintained with much 

 wealth, tliere is room to have all the .styles, 

 but we have often seen as nnich real beauty 

 around a well-kei)t farmer's urarden as in ex- 

 tensive i)arks. Wealth is not always accom- 

 panied with line taste and lirudence. 



For a piod show of blooms in the autumn, 

 plant out dahlia, ehrysantbenunii, scarlet sage, 

 aeeralum, Mexieana, ever-blooming ro.ses, 

 geraniums, and plenty of tuberoses, for .sweet 

 scent. — Flora. 



For Thk Lancaster Faumku. 

 FRUITCULTURE IN LANCASTER CITY. 



The very general ojiinion that little fruit is 

 grown in cities, is as mistaken as it is jireva- 

 lent. This delusion exists not only among our 

 country friends but is quite as common with 

 city residents, who ouglil to know better. If 

 we take our own city as an instance, we may 

 safely say that not one-fourth of its adult male 

 inhabilautsc(iuld give any thing like an approx- 

 imatively correct estimate of the small and 

 other fruits annually raised in the yards and 

 gardens embraced within the city limits. 



The fewsquare miles whereon the city stands 

 is certainly not a very extended area, but this 

 space, limited as it is, is cut up into lumdreils 

 of lots of greater or less dimensions, each with 

 its individual owner, and these owners have of 

 late years taken good care to make the most of 

 the limited domain that belongs to them. A 

 full lot being '2.")0 feet long, allows considerable 

 room if judiciously used, to such as choose to 

 avail themselves of it for fruit-growing pur- 

 jioses ; and as two or more lots are fre([uently 

 in possession of a singe proprietor, a still greater 

 op])ortunity is afforded to set out trees or pre- 

 pare strawberry beds. It has often been a mat- 

 ter of surprise to us to see the variety of choice 

 fruit trees that many owners contrive to rear 

 on such circumscribed limits ; indeed, the dan- 

 ger is that in his efforts to make the most of his 

 few square yards, he will so crowd his trees 

 that they interfere with each other, thereby re- 

 tarding their lU'oper growth and development 

 and ciiusingthe production of inferior fruit. 



It would be worse than idle to attempt to 

 grow all the various kinds of fruits in a city 

 that the farmer does in the country. The ab- 

 surdity of planting many aiiple trees for in- 

 stance, is manifest to every one, and conse- 

 quently not much attention is given to that 

 fruit. It is those fruits whose trees require 

 least room, that are most in favor. Dwarfs are 

 especial favorites but not exclusive ones, and 

 we know of standard (lears, the growth of half 

 a century, whose thrifty, towering limbs would 

 do no discredit to the amplest country yard or 

 orchard. Pears, peaches, apricots, plnms and 

 cherries are most abundant, and the country 

 visitor who is not aware of the fact, never sus- 

 pects as he jiasses through our principal thor- 

 oughfares, tiiat behind the rows of tall an<l im- 

 posing houses are am)ile green yards filled with 

 all manner of choice fruits that would perhaps 

 throw into the shade those that adorn the yard 

 of his rural home. 



It is only by making an extended ramble 

 through the alleys and by-ways of Lancaster, 

 as I did on this bright, crisp May moniing, that 

 a trae idea can be formed of the extent to which 

 fruit-growing is here (lursued. The liloom of 

 the apricots had already fallen, lint the pear, 

 chen-y and peach trees were exceedingly beau- 

 tiful with their wealth of flowers, giving prom- 

 ise of an abundant harvest. Even the city air 

 was made redolent with the far-reaching" fra- 

 grance. 



The exact extent to which fruit culture is 

 carried within this city i.s. of course, difticult 

 to determine, but we are .satisfied that aside 

 from the single item of apples, it is equal to 

 that of any miited dozen of townshi])s in the 

 county. The quantity of grapes growni is 

 enorruous ; nearly every yard, large and small, 



has from one to half a dozen vines, from which 

 large croi>s of most excellent friutare obtained. 

 So little care and nxmi does this latter fruit 

 r<'qnire. that it is a universal favorite ; trained 

 along walls, balconies and fences, it leaves the 

 open ground available for stone fruits or garden 

 purposes. 



It is ail open question, whether a city, in 

 some particulars, does not possess superior ad- 

 vantages over the open country in the matter 

 of fruit culture. In cities of considerable size, 

 the temperature is always from three to live 

 or more degrees higher "than it is outside of 

 them ; no one needs to be, told what an ad- 

 vantage this is ; that dilference is often enough 

 to preserve a fruit crop from destruction ; par- 

 ticularly is this the case in the spring, when 

 unseasonable frosts ofttimes (tome to mar the 

 fruit-growers' hoi>is ; the .shclt(U- aflbnled by 

 the closely suridunding bouses, stables and 

 other buildings, has [ireserved many a promis- 

 ing yield from the destructive ravages of vio- 

 lent storms; at the same time the interiors of 

 most of our blocks or scpiares are sufUciciitly 

 oiien to admit all the sunlight, rains and 

 breezes essential to the fullgrowlh and perfec- 

 tion of all fruits adapted to this latitude. So 

 far as we have oli.served the ravages of the 

 eurculio and other noxious insects are not 

 greater within the city limits than beyond 

 them. Neither is the fruit raised in any de- 

 gree inferior to that grown in more oi)en dis- 

 tricts ; on the contrary, much of it is unexcep- 

 tionally tine, both in appearance and (luality, 

 in jiroof of which we need only call attention 

 to the many jtrizes in this department, that fell 

 to the share of Lancasterians at the last State 

 Agricultural Fair. Many readers will remcm- 

 lier the very large and very excellent display 

 of fmits placed on exhibition at that time by 

 Cha.s. E. Long, esq., and which bore away the 

 palm from cv(in i)rofessional fruit-growers ; 

 there are many other amateurs in this line 

 among us, who could, in the jiroper season, 

 make such a showing of FiW. fruits as woulil 

 literally, as well as metaphorically open the 

 eyes of trained jjomologists. 



The number of factories and manufacturing 

 establishments in this city that might Ije re- 

 garded as producing vapors and gases hurtful 

 to fruit of any kind, is extremely limited, and 

 it is even doubtful whether there are any such 

 at all ; at all events no deleterious effects have 

 become noticeable from this cause. The pro- 

 tection now so generally accorded to the Eng- 

 lish sparrows have made them astonishinglv 

 abimdaut throughout the city, and they and 

 other small insectiverous birds render valuable 

 services in ridding our fruit trees from the in- 

 sect hordes that are continually deiiredatiug 

 upon them. If some of the owners of hundreds 

 of broad acres throughout the county could by 

 some means get a glimjise of the large variety 

 of fine and thrifty fruit trees that rii)en their 

 luscious, bough-laden products in the rear- 

 yards and gardens of many houses in this city, 

 they would begin to believe we are not so en- 

 tirely dependent upon outside sources for our 

 fruit sujiplies as they supposed. — F. R. D., 

 Lancaster, May 1, 1876. 



« 



For The T.ANrABXEn Farmer. 

 SEASONABLE HINTS. 



All hot-beds should now be made, and sown 

 when fit. All vegetable seeds needed for 

 spring and summer sowing should be pur- 

 chased ,at once, and when the busy season 

 comes on they will be in readiness to sow and 

 plant. It is foolish and hungry-like to buy 

 seeds in small quantities when needed, as valu- 

 able time is often lost. Seedsmen's catalogues 

 for this year are all published, and can be had 

 for the price of mailing. They give accounts 

 of all the well-known varieties and many new 

 species, as well as of flowers, both annuals 

 and others. 



Every farmer can produce plenty of wliole- 

 some vegetables for his household cheaply by 

 cultivating with horses : Beans, peas, sugar- 

 corn, cabbages, asparagus, potatoes, celery, 

 cucumbers, melons, .squa.shes, etc., until they 

 sju-ead and cover the ground ; tomatoes, egg- 

 plants, peppers, late cabbages, etc., are often 



planted between the rows of peas, and some- 

 times celery and corn, making two croi>8 u|Km 

 the Siime ground with one plowing. Spinach 

 and radishes are often sown broadcast, ruta- 

 baga turnips are cultivated with hor.se in late 

 summer and fall, and whilc-llesh turni|)s are 

 sown broadcast iu August. Beets, carrots, 

 l>arsiiips, salsify, onions, (of sorts) pot herbs, 

 etc., should be planti'il iu narrow rows, for 

 economy of lanil. The soil can be kept free 

 of weeds by fi'e(pieut hoeing. The root crops 

 have oflen to be thimud by hand; and the 

 best time for this work is ju.st after a niin, 

 when it is too wet to do other work, when the 

 thiniiiiig of beets, carrots, par.snip.s, salsify, 

 etc., can be accomplished more quickly, and 

 at the .sjiiue time the onions can also be 

 weeded, and rhubarb can be kept (Oear of weeds 

 with hand hoes. At this time the L'round for 

 these small crops can be plowed, bariowi-d and 

 rolled ; then drills should be made, and the 

 .sowing and planting accomplished, thus pro- 

 ducing ebiap vigitaliles. It is culinary vege- 

 tables, in judicious cpiautilies, along with sul)- 

 stantiai food, that gives the bloom of ro.sy 

 health to the face, and whitens the skin ; im- 

 parts nevr to the lads and liranty to the la.sses. 



Where flower seeds are needed, they should 

 also be ludciired now, in order to iKi ready to 

 sow when the ])ro|)ertime arrives. Soniesiie- 

 cies should be sown as .soon as the fro.sts are 

 over in the spring and the .soil fit todig ; other 

 species should not be sown until May, in the 

 Mi<ldle States. They are naturally more ten- 

 der than others. 



[The ably conducted I,.^xo,vsTEU FARMER 

 .should be more than a " local ])aper ;" it must 

 go over all the northern half of the nation.] — 

 Old CuUivator. 



For Tmk r,\N('At«T»:li Farmer. 



CHOICE EVER-BLOOMING ROSES. 



From the establishment of the Garden of 

 Eden up to theja-esent time, the ros<' has been 

 admired aboveall other flowers, especially those 

 si>ecies wiiose blocmis were beautiful and fra- 

 grant. From our own earliest remembrance 

 they have been c;illed the "Queensof all Flow- 

 ers," and the "Sunny (Jarden's Pride. " Be- 

 fore the l)reseut centiirv all the sixties only 

 bkumied once a year. Now, we have thousands 

 of varieties of constant bloom, and the flowers 

 delightly fragrant. So diversified are they that 

 they are now divided into several classes, such 

 asC'hiuese P.-iily and Thea. Noisette, Bourbons 

 and Hybrid Per|)etuals ; the last cla.ss is the 

 most hardy for the northern halfof the nation 

 for out-door culture. Thiir lilooms are a.s large 

 and fragrant as the old Cal ibage and Moss roses. 

 They bloom profusely in May in Peiinsylvani.a 

 and if the fading blooms are constantly cut off 

 t hey cont inue blooming all the growing sea.son. 

 They make strong and stately plants, with- 

 standing winter's cold well. 



The following varieties make a choice dozen: 

 General Washington, bright, scarlet crim.son, 

 full flower; General Jacqueminot, shining vel- 

 vety scarlet crim.son ; TriomjOie de I'Exposi- 

 tion, rich velvety crimson, very full ; Duke of 

 Edinburgh, brilliant maroon crimson ; .Jeanne 

 Gross, blush, very large double blooms ; La 

 France, bright satiny rose color, large, splen- 

 did ; Princess Christiana, blush, white, large 

 cupped flowers ; Mad'lle Bomiaire, pure white, 

 large and full ; Peaiiede Blanches, jiure white, 

 large flowers, thrifty growth ; Giant of Battle-s, 

 shining.scarlet crimson, free bloomer ; Baronno 

 Adoljih de Roth.schild, bright rose, very su- 

 lierb ; Louis Van Houtte, brilliant crimson, 

 maroon shaded. 



For nicely kept gardens, where much care 

 is given to flowers, the following cla-sses art^ 

 admirably suited, of constant bloom, and very 

 fragr.mt : The Bengals or Dailys. Bourl)ons 

 and the Teas. They need covering with straw 

 during winter and bloom well in glass houses 

 all winter ; all are well worth crowing. 



We often see accounts of ever-blooming 

 Dama.sk ami Moss roses, but we have never 

 seen them bloom more than once in the year. 

 So the original species of them are the best. 

 The old Bed Moss is the king of all. Roses 

 are bought, growing in flower-pots, and ])Iant- 

 ed at all seasons. — Bosacec. 



