1876.] 



THE LANCASTER FARMER. 



79 



Advantages of Drainage. 



Wliat ai'f tlie t'llVcts of ilniinairc ! Tlioroiii;'! drain- 

 age (leopens the soil. Of wliat use is it to plow deep 

 anJ manure heavily, while the soil is full of water? 

 The roots of plants will not iro down into stagnant 

 water ; tlie elements of plant food are not all on the 

 surfaee, many of them have heen washed down hy the 

 rains, some of tliem are fotind in the decomposing 

 roeks themselves. Take away tlie water and t he roots 

 will find them. 



Drainasre lenirthens the seasons. In our elimate 

 this is an important point to tie irained. If by drain- 

 age, one or two weeks eoiild lie i;ained, it woidd he 

 quite a relief in our liaekward spriniis, when there is 

 BO much to he di>ne in ,so short a spai'e of time. 



Drainage inereases the cll'eet of the applieation of 

 manure ; the soil heins dryiT, is more easily worked 

 line ; the manure is also more evenly distritmted. The 

 water also passinir throuu'h the soil, earrii's ferlilizin); 

 matter down to the roots of the plants. When there 

 is stagnant water, manure must decompose slowly, if 

 at all ; hut let tlu' water pass otf, the air is admitted, 

 and deeomiKtsition takes place. 



What ohscrvini;- num is there who does not know 

 that his crojjs are improved in quality hy drainage? 

 Sweet Knglish grass and clover take the place of sedge 

 and rushes. — Maxs. I'lomnan. 



-^ 



Don't Use the Hatchet or Saw. 



Of all the blunders, says the (tariJoifr'x Monthly, 

 that the common farmer and some others make with 

 trees, none is so common or so hurtful, anil whii'h he 

 is so long finding out, and of which he might know 

 so certainly, as the practice of the cutting of lower 

 limbs. All over the country nothing is more com- 

 mon than to see tlie mutilated trees on almost every 

 farm. Kig limbs cut otl' near the lioily of the tree, 

 and of course rotting to the heart. This is a heart 

 sin against nature. The very limlis necessary to pro- 

 tect the tree against wind and sun, and just where 

 the limlis are needed most, they are cut away. But 

 the greatest injury is the rotting that always takes 

 place ; when a big limb is sawed oft", too big to heal 

 over, it must rot, and being on the body, the rotting 

 goes to the heart and hurts the whole tree. It is 

 common all over the country to see large orchards 

 mutilated in this way. We often see holes in the 

 trees where big limbs have been cut away, where 

 squirrels and even raccoons could crawl in. Perhaps 

 the only reason these trimmers would give is that the 

 lower limbs were easiest got at, and some would say 

 they wanted to raise a crop under the tree. 



L 



Our Nut-Bearing Trees. 



The Cultivator and Country Gentleman gives the 

 following sensible hints on a subject which all farmer.s 

 ought to take into serious consideration : " While 

 much attention is properly given to the improvement 

 of varieties of apples, pears, grapes, and other fruits, 

 new and improved hickory nuts and chestnuts have 

 scarcely received attention. Some nut-bearing trees 

 are much more productive than others. This is a 

 quality which should be sought in producing new 

 varieties. We have seen hickory nuts twice as large 

 as the average and with shells almost as thin as the 

 thin shelled "almond. These characters should be 

 specially aimed for, while the tlavor is all important. 

 Some years ago Dr. Long, of Alton, exhibited chest- 

 nut burrs, from a tree of his own raising, each con- 

 taining seven perfect nuts. One reason why raising 

 nuts has not been profitable is, doubtless, taking the 

 trees at random, without any attempt to secure the 

 very best. If such men as Win Mons or Knight 

 should take hold of this matter they might possibly 

 give us some entirely new sorts of nut-bearing trees 

 of great value." 



How to Pour Tea. 



There is more to be learned about pouring out tea 

 and coflee than most ladies are willing to believe. If 

 those decoctions are made at the table, which is by 

 far the best way, they require experience, judgment 

 and exactness ; if tliev are brought on the table ready 

 made, it still requires good judgment so to apportion 

 them that they shall prove sufficient in quantity for 

 the family party, and that the elder members shall 

 have the stronger cups. Often persons pour out tea 

 who, not being at all aware that the first cup is the 

 weakest, and tea grows stronger as you proceed, be- 

 stow the poorest cup upon the greatest stranger and 

 give the strongest to a very young member of the 

 family, who would have lieen better without any. 

 Where several cups of equal strength are wanted 

 you should pour a little into each, and then go back, 

 inverting the order as you fill them up, and then the 

 strength will be apportioned properly. This is so 

 well understood in England that an experienced 

 pourer of tea waits till all the cups of the company 

 are returned to her before slie fills any a second time, 

 that all may share alike. — 1 louaekecper . 

 ^ 



Dky buckwheat flour, if repeatedly applied, will 

 remove entirely the worst grease spots on carpets or 

 woolen cloth, and will answer as well as French 

 chalk for grease spots on silk. 



White and Red Wheat. 



It is said that the hard wheats arc natives of warm 

 climates — such as Italy, Sicily and liarliary. The 

 soft wheats from northern cliinales — such as Eng- 

 laiiil, Kiissia, Belgium, Denmark, and .Sweden. There 

 is, however, one except ion to this general rule, as the 

 celebrated Polish wheat is hard, and from this reason 

 it is contended that it is not a native of Pnbiiid, but 

 was introduced here from some miliier cliniiite. The 

 Kiurlish atmosphere is so humid that it is impossible 

 to ripen wheat hard, but in many cases it rciiuires 

 artilieial heat to lianlcii it before it can be ground 

 into Hour. Dilh'rcnt soils and climates nuiterbilly 

 chauirc the nature and variety of wheat. The dltl'er- 

 enee between red and white wheat is not in variety, 

 but is owing chielly t(i the variety of soil on which it 

 is grown. .\ generous dressing of wood ashes applied 

 to the growing wheat in the former part of the grow- 

 ing season will exert an excellent inllueiice in render- 

 ing wheat of a lighter <-olor than it would be without 

 jiotash. Lime is excellent, also for the same pur- 

 pose. — X. Y. Tritiinii . 



Cutting and Curing Tobacco. 



The Vnitnt Statca Tolntrco Jotirunl makes the fol- 

 lowing statement of some experiments which have 

 been made in some of the tobacco producing districts 

 of (ierinany (Scheoien and Pflatz) with decided suc- 

 cess. .\t the time the plant is ready for cutting, 

 judgment should be used in determining the body 

 and texture the leaves possess at such time. If the 

 leaf should be of a flimsy, weak character, the whole 

 stock, including the root, should be extracted and 

 nailed or hung up in the barns, with tlie tips of the 

 leaves hanging downward. This will irreatly beuctit 

 the leaves, as the sap contained in the root will 

 gradually dift'iise itself into the leaves, and add con- 

 siderable to their strength and the coming successful 

 sweating jirocess. If, on the other hand, the leaves 

 shouhl be of a heavy character, then only the leaves 

 should be cut and hung up. This will reduce the 

 surplus of sap, deprive the leaf of any accumulation 

 of strength, turn out to be of a thinner and more de- 

 sirable texture after sweating. 



Sunlight. 



Any lady who keeps house-plants knows enough 

 to keep them where they will get the benefit of the 

 sunlight. You may look at the lilies, roses, pinks, 

 and dahlias, of your flower-garden, and you will 

 notice they all have beautiful colors. You may rear 

 those same flowers in jilaces where the sunlight is 

 entirely excluded, and keep them in the dark, or sup- 

 ply them with artificial light only, such as candles, 

 lamps, and gaslight, and you will find they will not 

 have that pure, brilliant color which iiatnre designed 

 they should have. The same is true of men, women, 

 and children, if they are deprived of sunlight. 

 Demonstrations of this fact may he seen in your 

 fashionable parlors, where women and children 

 spend most of their time, and the windows are kept 

 blinded to keep out the sunlight for fear it might 

 injure the carpet. — /fall's Journal of Health. 



Boxwood Edgings. 



In the spring move back the soil and gravel, roll 

 the walks nicely, and they look as dean and fresh as 

 if new. Before finishing the walks, clip the edgings 

 so as to have them only six or eight inches high. 

 Treated in this way, the top of the edging is some- 

 times slightly frosted, but no more is injured than is 

 desirable to cut off in cliiiiiing. I have practiced this 

 method, says a correspondent in the I'ractieal Far- 

 mer, and have seen others do the same for two score 

 years, and have never seen a failure with it. For di- 

 viding walks from beds, both in the kitchen and 

 flower garden, no other edging is as good or as last- 

 ing as this. It should never be allowed to grow more 

 than ten inches high, and .six inches high and thick 

 is better. When over a foot high and thick, it looks 

 clum.sy, injures the crops near it, and injures the ap- 

 pearance of both walks and beds. 



Calla Lilies. 



Jfrs. Rollin Smith, of Swanton, Vt., writes to the 

 Burlington /■>«■ I'resix as follows : "Since the notice 

 in the Free I'ress recently of my possessing a con- 

 tinual blooming calla, I have received several letters 

 from ditrereiit parts of the State, asking me for the 

 treatment which produces such favorabte results. I 

 use a four gallon jar, and give an eastern exposure. 

 In the summer I keep it wet enough so tin' water may 

 stand on the top, and at all times very wet. Once a 

 year 1 take the plant, shake the earth fromllie roots, 

 and fill the jar with earth taken from under old sod. 

 .\s soon as a blossom commences to wither I cut it 

 down, never allowing a flower to die on the plant. 

 The result is, in sixteen months 1 have had eighteen 

 blossoms on the same plant . and at the present time 

 it has two very large full lilossoms." 



Early Tomatoes. 



To get early toniatoi'S, says a writer on the subjeil, 

 you must, as siKin as your tomato plant lias niaile 

 four leaves, pinch the top Initl IVoiii the stem, then 

 take up the plant and transplant it In a common Imix 

 frame, where the ground is rich and loamy. The 

 Ikix will keep aXX the wind, and plants sown and 

 LCrowii there eiirhlecn iiiehch apart will produce fruit 

 two weeks earlier than the same plaiitctl In the o|M-n 

 irround. A mat or a few iMiards spreail over thi^ 

 frame at night will keep them froin frost, and in far 

 easier and quicker than L'oing over a flild nightly and 

 setting Ixixes over ea<-h hill. .\s soiui as the plants 

 set fruit on two blosHoniH of each brain h, and the 

 top lias grown two or four leaves, the pinching off of 

 the top of each braiieli should Ih> again put in 

 jiractice. 



Death of a Famous Horse. 

 The death of the celebrated horse llainbletonlnn 

 will be regretted almost as if the brute hud been a 

 human being. The sire of some of the \w»l horses In 

 the land, his name has been familiar to all lovers of 

 animals for a quarter of a century. Other horses 

 have trotted fasti-r than he did, but It is doubtful 

 wbethe;' this would be true If he hail been given to 

 the turf as other animals have la-en. While yet a 

 mere colt he trotleil a mile in 3;W5 ; hut he wa» 

 never trained to his best sjieed. His owners have 

 preferred to maki' lilin useful In improving the breed 

 of horses in this country, and his deseendanls consti- 

 tute to-day the very best stock we have. lie hasdle<I 

 at thi' age of tW4'nty-seven yt'ars, and his skin is to 

 be stuffed for houorable exhibition in Central Park. 



New Potatoes. 

 This season is redolent of new varieties of tlie po- 

 tato, all of which arc erai ked up by the crackers-up 

 to supersede aiiytliini.' Iiitherto known. .lust so. 

 Faruu'is, who will not Miiishlheir planting for some 

 days to come yet, arc t<x> shrewd to be taken in by 

 new sorts at exhorbitant prices, without |x>ssesHing 

 some accurate kiatwledge of their qualify and pro- 

 iluelivcncss. It would hi' rather inoiiolonons for us 

 to reccMuinend again the cultivation of the White 

 Peachblow — ^just as niuih so as the Springfield 

 Hepnhliean nominating Charles Francis Adams for 

 every important political [xist that looms up — but we 

 shall engage no other for our next winter s supply, 

 even though we pay twenty-Hvc per cent, advance on 

 all others in its market. — Oermanloicn Telegraph. 



Fakm laborers in ^^■rmont arecngagingthemselves 

 at S1.5 per mouth and board, where last year *25wa« 

 paid. 



Planting Gardens Early. 

 .\ great many people |)lanl their gardens too early. 

 A few warm days always cause [K'ople to think they 

 had better plant many vegetables that would do U-t- 

 ter if planted two or three weeks later. .\t the .South 

 gardens may be planted in .March and April, liut at 

 the North but few things should be planted before 

 May. Lettuce, onions, beets, and peas arc the first 

 to go in, to be followed in two or three weekr'with 

 sweet corn, beans, melons, iVre. In the .States extend- 

 ing from Delaware to .Maine, not a hill of corn, Iwans 

 or melons should be planted before May 1.51 h, and in 

 cold springs it would be better to plant such things 

 about .May 2.5. 



Whitewash. 



The following reci|K" for whitewash Is recom- 

 mended bv the Scientific American. It answers for 

 wood, brick or stone : Slake about one-half bushel 

 unslaked lime with boiling water, keeping it covere<l 

 during the process. Strain it and add a peck of salt 

 dissolved in warm water, three pounds of ground rice 

 put in lioiling water and boiled to a thin paste, one- 

 half pound powdered Spanish whiting and one |)Ound 

 clear glue dissolved in warm water. .Mix these well 

 together, and let thi' niix'ure stand for several days. 

 Keep the wash thus prepared In a kettle or |>ortable 

 furnace, and when used put it on as hot as possible 

 with either painters' or whitewash brushes. 



Poultry Manure. 

 Fifty fowls will make in the roosting house alone, 

 10 cwt. per annum of the licst manure in the world. 

 Hence fiftv fowls make more than enough manure for 

 an acre of land, 7 cwt . of guano being the usual quan- 

 tity applied lH>r acre, and poultry manure being even 

 richer than guano in ammonia and fertilizing salt*. 

 No other stink will give an equal return in this way, 

 and the Hi.'urcs will demand careful attention from 

 the large farmer. The manure, before using, should 

 be mixed with twice ifsbiilk of earth and then allowetl 

 to stand in a heap covered with a few inches of earth, 

 till decomposed throughout, » hi-u it makes tlie very 

 best of manure that can be had. 



A SIMPLE and ingenious microBeojic Is succcbIcmI 

 by a writer in the Scienliflc .Ihici-iciii. Two metallic 

 strips form a sort of foreep, In which two holes arc 

 bored op|>oslte each other ; a di-op of glycerine is put 

 in each of these holes, and t he drops act as convex 

 lenses, which can be adjusted at will by pressing the 

 strips together. 



