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THE LANCASTER FARMER. 



[May, 



ceptionable one, aud the crop was a failure oyer a 

 large extent of country. But this contingency should 

 have been provided for from the previous year's crop. 

 Some farmers always keep a supply of seed, of all 

 kinds they cultivate, a year ahead. The practice is 

 to be commended. It provides against the accidents 

 of the seasons, and gives a sense of security which 

 alone is worth more than the money represented by 

 the small amount of seed lying idle. 



The advantage of having seed does not consist in 

 saving the purchase money, simply, though that is no 

 smalf item now. A greater advantage is that it is 

 sown with a more liberal hand where there is plenty 

 of it to be had without buying. We have no doubt 

 that a great deal of land that ought to be sown in 

 clover this spring will go without oi get but a scanty 

 supply. This should not be the case. It will pay bet- 

 ter to buy seed than to miss the clover crop. But 

 whatever you do, sow enough on land you do seed, if 

 you have to let some go without. We would rather 

 have one acre well seeded than two half seeded. It 

 is not too late yet to do this work. Scratch the field 

 with a light harrow, first. It will not hurt the wheat. 

 When the clover appears, give it a dressing of plaster, 

 and it will come out all right. It is not advisable to 

 buy seed for oats ground, as the chances of failure 

 are too great. 



Understanding, as most farmers do, the great 

 value of the clover crop, they should require no urging 

 to provide plentyofseed for the future . The farmers 

 of Nebraska and Kansas have learned this lesson of 

 providing for the future out of the abundance of the 

 present. We are told that it is a rare thing to find a 

 farmer there without a year's supply of corn ahead, 

 if he is able to hold it ; and thus they are prepared 

 for another grasshopper raid. It would be well for 

 us to imitate their example as far as seed for another 

 year is concerned. — Practical Farmer. 



Farming in Continental Europe. 



Before a recent meeting of tlie Colora (Md.) 

 Grange, Mr. Adam R. Magraw, well known in this 

 city, delivered an address on his observations of ru- 

 ral life on the European continent, from which we 

 extract the following : 



While at school in Switzerland a companion and I 

 one day learned to our cost the summary manner 

 with which trespassers are dealt. We had been 

 playing in the meadow attached to our school. The 

 grass was of course worn short by the running to aud 

 fro of nearly a hundred boys. In an adjacent field 

 the grass grew high, thick and fragrant, and as we 

 were much fatigued, the temptation to lie down and 

 rest In the nice long grass was more than we could 

 resist, and in a moment we Were over the fence and 

 stretched at full length in the dense grass, which al- 

 most covered us. We rested undisturbed, and re- 

 turned to our own meadow quite refreshed, never 

 dreaming we had done any damage. The next 

 morning we were sent for to meet our principal in 

 his ofHc'e. As such a message always meant business, 

 we started with our hearts in our mouths, wonder- 

 ing what was up, and our forebodings were not a lit- 

 tle intensified, on entering the office, to behold a con- 

 stable. Our teacher sternly asked us if we had been 

 in Mr. 's field and damaged his grass. We as- 

 sented to having been in the field, but demurred to 

 the damage. We were informed, however, that 

 damage had been done, and we were each obliged to 

 pay about one dollar or one dollar and a half. Since 

 owning a farm in Cecil, I have many times wished for 

 a law like the one I broke when a boy in Switzerland. 

 Here a dozen cows may graze on you a whole night, 

 and do great damage, but it will take you weeks, if 

 not months, to recover a cent, and maybe in the end, 

 after having paid lawyers' fees and traveling expen- 

 ses, you will find tliat your expenditures equal the 

 sum claimed for damages. 



In France my stay was in Louraine, one of the 

 most fertile districts of that country, where fruits of 

 all kinds grow luxuriantly, especially plums and 

 pears. Here it was I saw the most primitive of 

 plows, and one, too, that was in constant use. It 

 was nothing more than a round piece of rough wood, 

 about four feet long and three or four inches thick. 

 One end was sharpened and shod with iron a few 

 inches from the butt, and two narrow pieces of wood 

 ■ arose and formed the handles, and not far from the 

 pointed end a ring was fastened, to which the team 

 was hitched. I did not see it at work, but I have no 

 doubt it answered its purpose very well, viz : of turn- 

 ing over a thin white soil. I came across it whilst 

 gunning, and could hardly believe so rude an imple- 

 ment could exist and (what is more) be used in this 



progressive age. 



^ 



Hints for the Season. 



Chicken coops should be kept dry and wholesome. 

 It is not necessary to clean them often if they are kept 

 well littered with dry earth, ashes or dry sawdust. 

 Give the fowls liberty to roam at large, if possible ; 

 if not, supply them with animal food in some shape, 

 also lime, ground boue and green vegetables. A box 

 containing pulverized charcoal should always be with- 

 in reach of the fowls, as it is a great preventive of 

 disease. Do not be afraid of snow water. Fowls will 

 always drink it whenever it is convenient, and I have 

 never seen any ill effects from it. 



Tour supply of eggs will depend very much on the 

 quantity and quality of food furnished. Never over- 

 feed. More fowls are ruined by being over-fed than 

 by being fed too sparingly. I have often heard people 

 complain after this style : " My hensdo not lay worth 

 a cent, aud they have all the corn they can eat." 

 Some fowls that have a large range and exercise much 

 may lay well if they are stuffed day after day with 

 corn ; but it is very poor policy and economy to feed 

 in that way. Give fowls light food and not all they 

 can eat. A variety of hard food (corn, barley, wheat, 

 buckwheat, &e.;) the principal supply should be soft 

 food, thoroughly scalded. 



Corn and oats ground together, such as is com- 

 monly used for horse feed, and wheat bran (the 

 coarsest), mixed in equal portions by measure, well 

 scalded, is the best and most economical food that can 

 be used. Give this in the morning, and grain sparingly 

 at night. Never feed old fowls oftener than twice a 

 day, and, if they have fields to roam over, feed no 

 more than half what they would naturally eat. Oc- 

 casionally give them a little ground mustard, ginger 

 or pepper in their food, but do not always be doctor- 

 ing them. Follow these rules, and if your fowls do 

 not lay, you may reasonably expect they never will. 

 The food recommended above is also suitable for 

 youug chicks, young ducks and old ducks, and, in 

 short, all kindsof poultry. Neverfeed raw mush, do 

 not confine your young chicks to a steady diet of raw 

 meal and cold water. On a farm, where they have 

 unlimited range, they may do well ; but cracked corn 

 is far belter, and should be alternated with the soft 

 food. Boiled eggs for young chicks can be dispensed 

 with ; they are too expensive, and the scalded food an- 

 swers every purpose. Remember that much depends 

 on the proper manner of feeding. — /. 1'. Bicknell, 

 Westmoreland, N. Y. 



Neatness in Making Butter. 



The Practical Farmer says it is admitted by butter 

 makers of extensive experience that impurities and 

 noxious odors in the atmosphere where cream is 

 rising will injure the flavor of the butter. We recol- 

 lect that a neighbor killed a skunk more than a hun- 

 dred rods distant, and the offensive and pungent odor 

 from the dead animal was wafted during the entire 

 day toward the pantry, in which there were several 

 pans of milk. The butter made of that cream tasted 

 so offensively of the odor of that skunk that it could 

 not be used for culinary purposes. X. A. Williard 

 writes on this subject, that " when milkers are al- 

 lowed to come directly from the stable to the milk- 

 room, it will be impossible to keep the latter sweet 

 and clean for the time being." 



There are hundreds of butter makers, we are 

 aware, on whom the importance of this Single point 

 cannot be too strongly urged, since they often con- 

 sider many little things of this kind in regard to 

 dairy management too insignificant to merit atten- 

 tion. But in butter making the observance of little 

 things is often the great secret of success. 



There is no doubt that immense quantities of poor 

 butter are made from the milk set in improper places. 

 The kitchen pantry, the living room and cellar used 

 to store vegetables and 'other family supplies, will 

 impart peculiar taints to the milk and cream, in such 

 a degree as to be destructive to fiavor, even though 

 the butter in other respects be skillfully handled. 

 Dairy rooms so situate as to catch the odor from the 

 pig-stye, the cess-pool, or other decomposing filth, 

 cannot be used for making good butter. There 

 should be a freedom from filth and impurities of 

 every description about the milk-house, and the milk 

 should be delivered by the milkers in au ante-room, 

 or some point outside the milk-room, and from 

 thence conveyed to the place where it is to be set for 

 cream. In this way the fumes and the litter from 

 the stable may be kept from the milk-room. 



The causes of poor butter are various, the most 

 important of which are lack of cleanliness, the want 

 of proper dairy utensils, the need of a good dairy- 

 room or place for settingthe milk,neglectin manipu- 

 lating the cream at the right time, unskillful work- 

 ing, packing, and storing the butter, and finally, 

 lack of knowledge in part or whole of the process re- 

 quired for making a prime article. 



Destroying Weeds. 



July and August, says the Sural New Yorker, are 

 probably the best months in the year for destroying 

 weeds. The summer heats are at their fiercest, and 

 all annual weeds cut down at the root speedily 

 wither aud die. The tougher perennials have made 

 their growth for the season, and have nearly perfect- 

 ed their seed. The root then has least vitality, and 

 if the top be cut off a feebler effort is made to repro- 

 duce it, especially if the weeds grow in a tough sod 

 of grass. We have known frequent mowing of this- 

 tles in sod to reduce the vitality of the patch so much 

 that it would produce only here and there a stalk, 

 until the field was plowed again. 



In the growing corn, August is, of all months, 

 the time to destroy Canadian thistles and quack. 

 Keep the plant down as much as possible early in the 

 season ; then, as the corn begins to tassel out, go 

 through with a light hoe and cut every spear of 

 thistle and pull up every blade of quack, with all the 



root that can be got attached. The quack should be 

 put in heaps and burned, but the thistle root will sel- 

 dom if every start again, and pulling up at this sea- 

 son of the year, or even cutting off, is final and cer- 

 tain destruction. The cost of doing this is not large, 

 varying with prices of labor and abundance of 

 weeds ; but we are satisfied that it is always a profit- 

 able operation on all land foul with thistles. We 

 have repeatedly had the cost more than repaid, not 

 only in the corn crop, but in the succeeding oats and 

 barley, besides leaving the land cleaner for years 

 thereafter. 



Worms in Fowls. 



Some year* ago I had several fowls drooping .about 

 with all the symptoms of cholera, except that they 

 lingered for a longer period. After experimenting 

 with almost every known remedy, I at length deter- 

 mined to make a poxt mortem examination, and, if 

 possible, determine the cause. Accordingly I pro- 

 ceeded carefully, that nothing should escape my 

 notice. Arriving at the intestines, I found that the 

 entire lining was apparently removed, and they con- 

 tained no less than fifty worms, about two inches in 

 length and as thick as an ordinary knitting needle, 

 both ends coming to a point like a pin. They were 

 white in color and .as tough as sinews. I then gave the 

 remaining fowls close attention, and frequently saw 

 that as soon as they passed from one fowl another 

 would hastily swallow them, and, I doubt not, would 

 soon become affected. At length I hit on the follow- 

 ing remedy : After they had gone to roost I made a 

 strong tea of common worm seed, and gave each one 

 about three tablespoonfuls. Early next morning, 

 before they had left the perches, I removed the drop- 

 ping from beneath them and found it literally alive 

 with worms. I again dosed them on the following 

 evening ; this time they did not expel so large a 

 quantity. I then began feeding them wheat shorts 

 and bran, adding a little stimulant, and carefully 

 avoiding anything that had a tendency to irritate the 

 intestines. In the course of a week they were seem- 

 ingly as lively as ever. Since then I have found, on 

 several occasions, small, conical worms in turkeys in 

 great numbers, and am of the opinion that thousands 

 die from this cause, while it is attributed to cholera. 

 The symptoms from which I detect it are from their 

 slow, stiff, crampish movements, and disorderly, sor- 

 rowful appearance. — Ex. 



Manure for Grass. 



No crop gets less attention than grass. If manured 

 at all, it is only incidentally with some other crop — 

 rarely for itself alone. Corn, wheat and barley get 

 the liianure, and when seeded the young clover takes 

 what is left. After this, if the field be pastured, the 

 droppings of animals left in lumps over the field are 

 all that the lands get till they are plowed again. This 

 is considered improving the soil ; and it is. No mat- 

 ter how mismanaged, clover is a benefit, and what- 

 ever else he may do, the farmer who sows and grows 

 clover is making his farm better. What, then, might 

 not the result be if the same care were taken of the 

 clover'field as of other crops ? It does not need cul- 

 tivation ; the long deep reaching roots mellow and 

 pulverize the soil as nothing else can. If the clover 

 grows thriftily, the top acts as a mulch, shading the 

 ground and keeping it moist. A crop of two tons or 

 more of clover, whether plowed under or cut for hay, 

 can hardly fail to leave the soil better than it was be- 

 fore. It should be the farmer's aim to grow the largest 

 possible crops of clover. A slight dressing of gypsum 

 —one hundred pounds per acre in early spring — often 

 produces wonderful results. But if a farmer has a 

 little well-rotted manure, in scrapings of barn yards, 

 fall is the time to apply it. Clover is often injured by 

 freezing and thawing winters, and a very slight cover- 

 ing of manure will afford a great deal of protection. 

 Riih earth from the corner of fences is well worth 

 drawing a short distance on young clover, provided 

 that the ground is hard and firm. If the field is not 

 to be mowed next season, coarse manure can be used. 

 — Prairie Farmer. 



To Fix or to Lift a Gate-post. 



The following is an excellent plan of setting a post 

 for a gate or fence firmly in the ground i When the 

 post-hole is dug, a flat stone is laid in the bottom, 

 against the side upon which the strain upon the post 

 causes it to press. The stone receives the pressure, 

 and having a larger surface than the post, is not so 

 apt to work into Ihe earth at times when it may be 

 wet and soft. When the post has been placed, and 

 the post-hole nearly filled with earth, another stone is 

 laid against it upon the side towards which it is drawn 

 by the weight of the gate or fence. The use of the stone 

 distributes the pressure over a greater space, and there 

 is much less tendency for the post to work loose. 

 When a post is to be moved, it may be readily drawn 

 out of the earth by fastening a chain or rope around 

 the bottom of it, and carrying it over a stake or a 

 piece of plank if nothing better is to be procured, and 

 then hitching the team to it. A large portion of the 

 force of the team is changed in its direction to an up- 

 ward one, and this is generally sufficient to lift the 

 post. Small stumps, or partly decayed large ones, 

 may be lifted out of the ground in the same manner. 



