1S7C.J 



THE LANCASTER FARMER. 



i25 



Bible without covering; tlip lipart , as the stem of tliese 

 plants is the lemlcr part. I liave sometimes IViuiid it 

 ailvisaljle, if these plants (.'few very nuieli before eolil 

 weather set in, to till up between the plants withsaml, 

 as far as the stem pushed out. of the trround. 



Any size of sash ean be used for enverin;,' : if the 

 regular hotbed sash, which are!! feet wide anil li feet 

 lonir, are used, eaeli sash will hold about 400 eabbuf;e 

 or eaulillo\M'r, or about 7(K) letluee. 



The eold-lrames are nuule in a sheltered situation, 

 faeinfr south or southeast, on the top of the ground, 

 the width to suit tlie sash, and look like hot-beds, 

 only there is no heutint;- material usetl. The baek 

 boanl of tin' frame should be from 12 u> 14 inebes 

 \vi<le, and the Iront 7 to.s inebes, so as to allow plenty 

 of slope to carry oil' the water. The bed of the frame 

 sliould be .so situated as to leave any water, that nuiy 

 accidentally come into, drain otV very reailily. After 

 the sash are jiul on the plants should be kept rather 

 dry, as the object is merely to preserve them and 

 have them grow as little as possible durhiir tin' winter. 



The sash are not [lut on until pretty hi'avy frosts, 

 say about the last of November, and slioulil be en- 

 tirely removed on tine ilays iiiuil aboiu the noddle of 

 December, when all the atlenliun that is necessary is 

 to see that on such days the sash are rai.sed on the 

 baek end, or if maile to slide, push up and down three 

 or four inches, at about nine t)'eloi'k in the morning 

 and closed again abc^ut three in the afternoon. The 

 sash are suihcienl covering for any weather, except 

 that im very cold nights a ]>icee of carpet, or a 

 ehutter may be put over the sash where the eauli- 

 llowers are, as these latter plants are uol quite as 

 hardy as cabbage of lettuce. 



I'lants treated in this manner, if they have not been 

 kept too warm, ("in be planted out any tinic|aftcr the 

 middle of .March without fear of injury, as the jiretty 

 severe freezing that may happen after that time will 

 not hurt them. This year 1 planted on the lltli of 

 JIarcb, and though the gniund was frozen very bard 

 after that, only about thrci- plants out of every hun- 

 dred died, and they may have died from some other 

 cause. 



When only a few plants are needed they can be 

 b(mght, at very reasonable rates, of men who make 

 the raising of plants a specially, and brought right 

 to your own door, through tin' postotfiee 



The following varieties have been found especially 

 valuable lor earliness and quality combined : 



C.\BiiACil5. — Jersey Wakefield, one of the very best, 

 lirst early, bard-heading varieties ; Early Summer, a 

 few days hater than the above and somewhat larger; 

 Early \ViiMiingladt, known ahso as Early Cone ; sec- 

 ond early, very hard conical head ; a great favorite 

 with many on account of its size and extreme hard- 

 ness, liut is not as tine a cabbaire as eitlier of the 

 others mentioned above. Early Dwarf York, earlier 

 than any of the above, but has a small and very loose 

 head. This kind should not h.: sown before tlie 20th 

 or 2.')th of September, or it might shooi into seed in- 

 stead of forming beads, which would also be the ease 

 with the others should they be sowed much earlier 

 than the time stated. 



CAtLULoWEK.— Early Dwarf Erfurt; one of the 

 earliest and best. Early Paris ; a good second early 

 variety. 



Lettuce. — Early Tennis Ball ; small hard head ; 

 fine yellow; very early. Early Simpson; a large 

 yellow curled lettuce ; does not form hard heads, but 

 is second to none in i|ualit.y. 



Flower seedliniis of hardy perennials, if seeds are 

 sown Auirust 20lh to :iOth, can be wintered very 

 nicely in the cold-frames, and will then bloom in the 

 spi'imr or summer; whereas, if the se<'d is not sr)wn 

 until in tlie spring, most of them will not tlower until 

 the following season. The kinds that are mostly 

 treated in this manner are Snajidragons, Hollyhocks, 

 Tansies, Pinks, Sweet Williams, A:c. As only limited 

 quantitii'S of these are wanted, it would ho well to 

 give them extra room, say three inches, so as to make 

 them very stocky. 



Those whose onion sets have failed, or who did not 

 get enough of them for next spring's planting, ean 

 raise them very cheaply and easily this fall, by the 

 following |ilan : 



About August LSth to S.'ith, take a piece of level 

 ground, two feet wide and of the desired length, and 

 raise border abottt two Indies. On tbi' enclosed shal- 

 low depression sow oni<tn seeds at tiie rate of about 

 twenty sei'ds to the square inch ; then cover thenj up 

 with clean santl to the depth of twt) inches, i. e., level 

 with the border. The sand should he such as is 

 washed by water, as river or nn-atlow sand, as that 

 dug from a bank is said to be sometimes injurious to 

 the vegetable growth. These sets do not need any 

 more attention until planting time, exeejit perhaps a 

 Blight covering of leatless brush, as the sand being 

 free of seeds of weeds, no weeding is necessary. This 

 method may also be use<l in the spring to raise dry 

 sets, and requires much less labor than the old 

 method. If it is used to raise dry sets only about 

 half the <iuantity of seed should he used. The fall 

 sowing is very nuieh favored by some, though the 

 green sets are harder to plant than the dry ones, but 

 it is i-laimed that the certainty of wintering, and the 

 trouble saved by not needing storing, more than com- 

 pensates for the extra trouble in planting. — A.Jt. K. 



Vol- ThK I.ASC.IMTER FaRMF.U. 



THE DAIRYING. 4. 

 (Continual ft'utti May innnlnr.) 



This brings us to the management of milk and 

 cream su))]illed to customers. A t^ottd herd of cows, 

 and an anipb- supply (d' proper fooil form the basis of 

 the dairyman's operations, but in order to deliver his 

 ndlk or cream into the hands of the eoiisunier in 

 proper condition, rciiulrcs labor, vigilance, care and 

 management that makes his oci'Upatlon rtfi-tinu'S 

 anything but a pleasant one, especially when after 

 devoting his best energies to his business he iscliargi-d 

 with the adulleratlon or want of neatness with the 

 milk or cream delivered to his euslomers. That there 

 is in too nuiny eases good reason for su<di eharu'cs Is 

 not denied, but the wholesale denunciation of dairy- 

 men which is quite common is entirely unfair and out 

 of place. 



It will he shown before the close of these articles 

 that consumers are in nniny <-ases not judgesof a grwul 

 article, or do not know how to lake care thiTCof after 

 receiving it. The great dillercnce in the quality of 

 nnlk from ilillerent cows is no doubt a leading cause 

 lor the general charges of its adulteration. All the 

 extra feeding that may increase the quantity of nnlk 

 \\\\\ not materially improve its fjuality. It is reason- 

 able that tbe dairymen sboulil endeavor to purchase 

 or raise cows that will [iroduce tbe Jargesl ((uantity 

 of nnlk, where the latter only is sold. 



Su)>pose a cow yielding six gallonsof milk perday, 

 and another yielding tln-ee gallons, but liotli produce 

 the same amount of cream, tbe ditferenee in tbe value 

 of their milk must be (pute apparent. In a dairy of 

 cows of both descriptions, say half and half, anil a 

 majtu'ity of the richer ndlkcrs coniing in ii-i-sh at on*- 

 time, themilk (ifotberwise properly managed) would 

 no doubt give entire satisfaction to the consumer, but 

 by and by these cows nuiy beeonu^ dry ami the more 

 copious milkers come in with milk only half as rich, 

 will not. the consumer at once conclude that his milk 

 contains a larger jtroportion of water than formerly i 

 Suppose the clieuust is called to analyze tbe lluid, ean 

 he positively ascertain whether the excess of watcris 

 natural or artificial ? If he cannot then there should 

 be a standanl of what shall be considered milk. That 

 such ditferenee may exist in the same heril is but fair 

 to conclude, and that dill'erent herds vary extremely 

 in the richness of their milk is established beyond 

 question. 



Where the dairyman has an established custom it 

 is very important that the sup])ly ol nulk should be 

 as regidar as possible, which makes it necessary to 

 provide an ample supi>ly of green crops in summer, 

 and good liay or fodder and roots in winter. The 

 sowing of corn for fodder, to resort to in case of grass 

 running short, is eonsiilered indispensable with many 

 of the mo.st successful dairymen. Hegular hours for 

 feeding and nnlking is all important. 



Rut now comes tbe most ini|H>rtant part of the bus- 

 iness, requiring great care and tbe most scrupulous 

 neatness in all its dei)artmcnrs, from the drawing of 

 the milk to its delivery to the consumer, because of 

 its power of absorbing impurities by which it may be 

 surrounded. Suthcieut bedding must, be providetl so 

 as to keep the animal as clean as possible, and 

 grooming is as important as for the horse. Before 

 milking always ha\c water ami a cloth to wash and 

 dry oti'again, not oidy tlie teats, but tliei-ntire udder, 

 whether we observe hith thereon or not , as there will 

 be, when milked dry, a continual scattering of a yel- 

 lowisli dust, ctl'ete matter from the skinof the udder, 

 which should never be allowed to enter the milk. 

 Always set the i>ail a little aside instead of under the 

 udder, so as to bi^ sure should any impurities drop 

 therefrom they will not fall into the milk. We need 

 only to look into the strainer after the milk has pass- 

 ed through, to learn whether cleanliness has been 

 obser\ed in nnlking, but even this is not an infallible, 

 test, lor we have seen both men and women while 

 nnlking, have the nnlk running along their hands 

 and wrists, thence drop into the pail. Such we con- 

 sider slovenly milkmg, even afier washing the udder. 

 But. the writer has also seen milking done where the 

 udder and teats, tilt by as they were, were eleansetl, 

 not with water, but with nnlk jiressed out and with 

 it washed a little, and then, with the pail directly 

 under tbe udiler, a greenish liquid would cover tbe 

 milker's hands and wi-ists. .Milk [lassing tbro\iirh 

 such a process would hardly make passable gilt-edg- 

 ed butter whatever may be the after management. 



All vessels usc'd for milk, cream, or butter, must 

 hi' kept perfectly sweet and clean, so as not to Impart 

 the least taint Tin vessels should be usi'd as far as 

 possible, and thi' joints should be filled with solder 

 so as not to allow any crevice in which anything 

 might lodge to become rancid, for "a little leaven 

 leavenetb the whole lump," holds as gooil now as it 

 tliil l.SdO years ago. 



In the summer sea.son, rapid cooling, whether for 

 butter or where the milk and cream ar*' sold, is essen- 

 tial. If in large cans, when cool it will keep sweet 

 longer than iu snnill ones, except under iec. When 

 milked in the cvi'iung and thoroughly ciKileil, it will 

 keep sweet twice as long as that nnlked twelve hours 

 later, when the latter is taken warm and both are 

 delivered to customers at the same time. I'nless 

 there is a good spring-house, an iee-liouse is now con- 

 sidered essential to dairying, even ou a small scale. 



The pro|>er construction of an Ice-house would seem 

 to come In here, but would n-ipdre an article by Itself 

 of consiilerahle length. Sulliee it to say that by 

 always having the milk .sit lower than the Ice, so 

 that the cfxil air which naturally descends will fall 

 ou the cans, the cream ean be kept sweet as long as 

 the ndlk. This hint Is given as the result of the 

 writer's exi>erieiiei'. In setting the cans on lop of 

 the lee the risult usually was, that the cream would 

 be sour while the milk in the bottom of the can was 

 sweet. In the suniiner season the best |M^issiblo 

 methoil should be adopted to keep thu milk f weet 

 until the cream has all risen, ami there Is seari'ely 

 any danger of kee|iing it sweet too long. In the 

 winter the rcversi' must generally be practiced, i. «., 

 to prevent thi ndlk from getiiuL' too cohl. 



The Ice cream business has Increased to such an 

 extent that nuiiiy duiriis are kept for cream ludy. 

 In order to havi' the <-ream as near pure as {Ntssilile, 

 deep cans are best, as it rei|ulri's a nnicli Hnntller sur- 

 face of milk to skim from to pnsluee a given quautl- 

 tily of cream, while In skiinndng from shallow jians 

 or crocks a larger proportion of ndlk must necessa- 

 rily lie taken up with tne cream. 



The writer has had several years ex|)erienee In the 

 retailing of milk from the wagon, and that the con- 

 sumer is very often at fault in the mainigenieni of 

 ndlk does not admit of a iloubt . (>ne lady would 

 say, " filon't want any this morning, mine from yes- 

 terilay Is still sweet." Another would say that her 

 milk was sour last evetiinL' already, while both re- 

 ceived theirs the previous morning, from tlii^ same 

 can at nearly the same time ; but of course uism the 

 dairynian rested the lilaine. Others would say, "why 

 other dairymen's sklnnued milk is as giHKl as your 

 new milk," while a new custone r would greet you 

 with the order to "call regularly, asyour milk seems 

 so much richer and better than that we have iH'en 

 getting from the other milkman." These facts prove 

 the milk trade to be a precarious one at ImisI. — //. M. 

 £., Marietta, Pa., Aug. 8, 1870. 



OUR PARIS LETTER. 



Corrcspondouco of The Lancastku FAnMF.n. 



Pahis, June 2It, 187(5. 



The decline in the exportation of cattle from this 

 coinitry to England, which In 1800, was as much as 

 MN.OOO head, and at present is under 2,1X10, has com- 

 pelled the French government to seriously revise its 

 legislation respecting its sanitary regulations In refer- 

 ence to live stock. Tbeprinci|)al laws bearluL' on this 

 subject are anterior to 1780, with special measures, 

 often eonfuscMl and contradictory, to meet such epi- 

 demics as those of 1844, 184!t, 18{i.5and 1871 . .\ Com- 

 mission has been at last named to consolidate and re- 

 vise all existing laws and regulations affeelingthe 

 sanitary condition of farm stock. The Commis- 

 sion is composed of practical and sclent ille men of the 

 highest standing, wliose olliee will he permanent, and 

 their services rcminierated. The domestic animals of 

 France represent a value of four niilltapls of francs, 

 being less by one nnlliard, than the war indemnity 

 paid to (icrmany. This slock is not only im|>ortant 

 as a food supply, but it forms the basis of farndng 

 operations. 'The last dislemiH'r destroyed 1(X),000 

 head of cattle iu France, hence, the importance ofthe 

 Commission that will secure a permanent staff of 

 veterinary inspectors, charged not only to oflicially 

 watch contagions plagues, but to insist on farmers 

 rearing their stock in accorilanee with hygienic con- 

 ditions. The " Vet." will henicforth be not only a 

 surgeon, but an oilieer of health. 



A race of cattle jKissessing rennirkable qualities, 

 and peculiarly suited for mountainous districts, is the 

 Snh'cys, so named, after an ancient town In theCaufal 

 Mountains — thelatter being olV shoot soft he ('evcnnes. 

 The animals are alike excellent for work, milk atid 

 fattening, and of late are in much request with fondgn 

 purchasers. Professor La mbl.f if Prague, asserts that 

 in proportion as the population of a country increases, 

 tbe number of cattle dindnishes, so that in time, the 

 animal finishes by disapiH'aring in those localities 

 where man draws his supjiorf principally from the 

 Sfiil. He cfincludes, that the i»eriod is not distant, 

 when Bohemia will be umibh? to supjiort farm st(X'k. 

 If the country, hfiwevcr, by its industry and com- 

 merce, ean purihase food for aninnils, the anticipated 

 evil can be obviated. 



Ticks ari" very prevalent this year In rows anil sheep. 

 These parasites iM'Iong to the same onler as spiders; 

 the uMiuth is ariii^d with a kind of bill or sucker, con- 

 sisting of three blades, the ec>ntral one po."sessing 

 several rows of teeth. The insects lay an enormous 

 inuuber of eggs, not ui>on the IwhIv of the animal 

 where they have liveil, but u|Kin tin" Miil; flu- youn^ 

 siibse^pn'iitly climb ui>on plants, where they patiently 

 await the passing by of the animal, and then nv\7ja 

 and iwuetraH; Its skin at the root of the hair. Several 

 of the Insects of coursi' dieof hunger, whilethns wait- 

 iuL'. but then like the spider, they ean exist for a lon^ 

 time without food. Tliere is nothing to be appre- 

 prehended whdi the parasites are but few in munlMT; 

 when otherwis*', the tieast ean die of exhaustion. In 

 addition to mercurial oinlnuMit, an applieafion of oil 

 and turpentine, rulibcd in with a paint brush, will soon 

 destroy the tmsiance. 



