1877.] 



THE LANCASTER FARMER. 



45 



Harrowing Wheat in Spring. 



The advantafreof harrowinj wheat laii'ls thorouffli- 

 ly in the spi- n;r, as the srroiind Ix-conics dry eiioueh 

 to preven' the horses 'roin sinkiiv.;' into it, is known 

 to many farmers wlio have praclieed it, liut is un- 

 known to tlie majority. Wheat is usually -sown in 

 September, upon well prepared land. This land is 

 left there snlijeet to all the slornis of rain ami snow, 

 and the weather in sueecedinLr spring, until after the 

 wheat is harvested. In eonsequenee, the land be- 

 comes in .May and June nearly as hard as a meadow. 

 At a sca^on of the year, svben the plants are in the 

 greatest vicor of irrowtli. the land is so hard as not 

 to give one half the nour sliment it would if kept 

 mellow by any process. Suppose for inslanee, eorn 

 should he planted intlie fall, undersiniilareondilions 

 with wheal, and that the winter did not injure it : 

 and that it were left without eultivalion of any sort 

 uniil harvesting' ; it is evident that the yield would 

 be diminished over one-half ; n fact the yield would 

 probably be so light and poor as to be almost worth- 

 less. 



Now, wheat, from many experiments in itecultiva- 

 tion by hand in Enirland, shows as irreat sensitive- 

 ness as eorn ; the yield, by. careful hand cultivation, 

 beina; increased to fiO, and in some instances, SO 

 bushels per acre. Now, a thorough liarrowinGf of 

 wheat in the spring, in a very inexpensive manner, 

 performs the cultivation nearl}' as well as when done 

 by hand. If the crust formed by the winter snows 

 and sprin? rains is thorouuhly broken, and eround 

 to the depth of two or more inches well pulverized, 

 the effect upou the wheat is almost like inagie. It 

 starts in!o the most vigorous srrowth, and in a few- 

 weeks lias nearly or quite doubled in size the wheat 

 not harrowed. In pieces of wheat which have come 

 under the writer's observation, which was harrowed 

 in strips, that is, one strip not harrowed at all, and 

 the other strips on each side I hoi-oni;hly harrowed, 

 in the early part of June, tlie harrowed wheat stood 

 fully one foot higher than the unharrowed at each 

 side, and in every way was strikingly ranker aud more 

 vigorous. 



Mr. Robert J. Swan, of Ilose Hill Farm, Geneva, 

 N. Y., who has heavy clod land, says he has harrow- 

 ed his wheat for four years with the Thomas harrow 

 and finds the yield to be increased fully ten bushels 

 per acre. Byram Moulton, of Alexander, Genesee 

 county, N. Y., haivested from fifty acres 1,000 

 bushels of wheat. His neighhors only obtained about 

 ten bushels per acre. The only difference in land or 

 treatment was that Moulton's wheat was thoroughly 

 harrowed with the same implement in the spring, and 

 his neighbor's was not. 



The efteet produced by harrowing barley and oats, 

 after they have obtained a growth of four or five 

 inches is equally as marked. 1 have observed many 

 instances where fully twenty bushels per acre increase 

 in consequence of thorough harrowing was obtained. 



These facts and many others of similar character 

 show clearly the great profit which farmers may de- 

 rive from a thorough cultivation by harrowing of 

 wheat, oats, barley and other sown crops. 



Corn Fodder. 



A correspondent of the Chiciign Tribune, in a letter 

 on steam-feeding, gives the- following directions in 

 regard to raisin^:: — 



Last winter, owing to the failure of the hay-crop, I 

 kept over my entire stock, consisting of twenty 

 horses, about twenty head of cattle, and between 

 •1,600 and 1,700 sheep, without a pound of hay, and 

 they came into spring in better condition tbau they 

 have ever done on dry feed. 



The sheet anchor of steam-feeding is the fodder of 

 Bowed corn or, in short, fodder-eorn. Perhaps your 

 readers will be interested in the plans followed here 

 in sowiuL', harvesting, and curing this crop, as they 

 differ in some respects Irom Ihose pursued and re- 

 commended by other practical farmers. 



The ground is prepared the last week in May by 

 ploushing, and a sufficient number of harrowings 

 and rollings to brim it into good tilth. The corn is 

 sowed the first week in June with a Bilckeye wheat 

 drill all the hoes down and working — at the rate of 

 two bushels per acre. Nothing more can be done to 

 the crop till the latter part of August o'r first of Sep- 

 tember, when it is ready for harvesting. 



This is done with a Champion table-rake reaper, 

 riffged as lor cutting wheat. The reaper is driven 

 around the field as in cutting wheat, and delivers the 

 fodder in gavels at the side. Eight mtn follow the 

 machine, arranged in four pairs, each pair havin.r, of 

 course, onc-lburlh of the circuit of the field for a 

 " station," and a light two-legged corn " horse," like 

 those in common use lor shocking corn. Each pair 

 after taking its station, carries its "horse" past two 

 gavels, sets down the "horse," stands four gavels 

 into the four angles formed by the "horse" and its 

 cross-pin, brings the tops ofthe shock neatly together, 

 and ties them with wool twine, draws out the cross- 

 pin, and is ready for another shock. For the eight 

 followers, the team, driver, and machine, eight acres 

 Is a fair day's work. The stalks themselves may be 

 used for tying the tops, but twine is lound to be suf- 

 ficiently mure expeditious to compensate lor the cost. 



.^fter standin? ten to fifteen days, till the fodder is 

 nearly cured, and is in a lough stale, the shocks are 

 taken down, and each tied into four or five sheavcsor 

 bundles, the stalks them.'elves, in this condilion, 

 making excellent bands, and twelve or more bundles 

 made into a largo shock, the topsbelngsecured either 

 with fodder bands, or with the twine used In the first 

 instance. The shocks stand in the Held till they are 

 wanted for use. 



Just here comes the most serious objection to the 

 feeding of fodder corn. There arefimesin the winter 

 when both weather and roads are bad ; when a 

 deeply-ploughed cornfield is anything l)ut an agree- 

 able road beil f)r the hauling of heavy loads ; when 

 the fodder itself is wet, or covered with sleet, ice, or 

 snow, or its lower end perhaps tiirhtly glued to the 

 ground by frost. But the fodder is so cliartred with 

 rich saccharine matter that howeverdry itmayseem, 

 and however cold the weather may be, there is 

 danger that if stored in bulk in a mow. or even In 

 stacks, it will ferment, heat and spoil. Atsuch times 

 it is well to have other feed under cover to depend 

 upon. 



An experience covering three years, and the growth 

 of over 700 tons of fodder, seems to warrant the fol- 

 lowing conclusions : 



1. The fodder grows from five to twelve feet In 

 heiffht, and averages from seven to Dine feet, de- 

 pendinir on soils and seasons. 



2. Fodder grown on land of good average fertility 

 stands better feed than on soil too rich, "where the 

 growth is too fall, rank and coarse. 



o. The pi'oper time for cutting is before frost, of 

 course, and when the lower six or eight inches of the 

 stalk assumes a yellow tinire. It is then ripe. If cut 

 sooner, there is danger of its moulding in the shock : 

 if later, the fibre is more woody, and there is risk of 

 frost. 



4. It is vastly less dependent upon the weather for 

 its curing than hay. The idea that fine weather is 

 absolutely necessary for its curing, and the fear that 

 a little rain would spoil all, was expressed by others, 

 and felt by myself at first, hut turned out to be a 

 "bugaboo." During the cutting and curing of the 

 two largest crops, very rainy weather was encoun- 

 tered; yet not one-fif, h of 1 per cent, of the fodder 

 that slood in the shock, and was kept from lying on 

 the ground, moulded. After it is well secured in the 

 small shocks, neither rain nor frost seems to damage 

 if; as indeed they do not usually do the large fodder 

 that has matured corn. 



5. A ton of bright fodder-eorn is worth more than 

 ihree Ions o( corn fodder that has matured grain, 

 and as much as an equal weight of good hay 



fi. An average crop of fodder-corn on good land is 

 stifoii.S' per acre. 



7. It may be grown at a cost — not including Inter- 

 est on price of land, nor expense of carrying from 

 the Held to the barn — including expense of prepar- 

 ing the ground, seed, sowing, cutting, binding and 

 shocking, of about §1.30 per Ion. 



HORTICULTURAL 



Saving Manure. 



In speaking ofthe above subject, an exchange says: 

 Probably but few farmers exist who have not read 

 articles in the papers advising them to keep their 

 stable manure under cover in a cellar under the 

 stalls, or under a shed; but in both places dung is 

 liable to become too dry, and the straw among it 

 will not decompose as rapidly as it will when it is 

 exposed to rains; or if it be all horse dung, it will 

 "fire fang," and will be greatly injured. A cellar 

 under the stable stalls, into which all the manure 

 and urine of the stocK is received, is a good thing, 

 but it would be a good deal better if the manure 

 could be thoroughly wet once a month from a pump 

 adjoining or near the cellar. The same can be said 

 of manure under a shed when piled in deep, it must 

 be kept moist or it had better be kept in the open 

 barnyard. Indeed, we are of the opinion that when 

 a barnyard is made concave, with no drain to it, 

 manure can be kept in it from fall to spring: without 

 anv loss. Some farmers think that much of the 

 virtue of manure in open yards pass down into the 

 soil and are lost; but such is not the case, and it 

 will be found on removing it in the spring that the 

 soil under it has become colored but two or three 

 inches deep. Now we claim that if an abundance of 

 litter be used upon the surface of the manure to re- 

 fain moisture and to prevent evaporation, all that a 

 farmer makes i-au be as well preserved in his open 

 barnyard as under cover; and we would prefer to 

 have our manu'c spread over the yard occasionally, 

 and covered with straw, than to have it thrown into 

 heaps by the stable door and through windows back 

 of the stalls, and to remain all winter, with much of 

 its virtue washed away and lost. 



^ 



Valuable Cows. 

 The history ofthe Shorthorn cow, Duchess (56th, 

 which sold in IS.^S, at Earl Ducie's sale, in England, 

 to Col. Morris, of Fordham, for 700 guineas, or $!,- 

 67.5, is remarkable as showing the actual value of a 

 good breeding animal. Fiom this cow, which was 

 calved in November, 18.50, there may be traced, in 

 direct descent, a number of animals which have sold 

 lor about $500,000. 



Early Spring Salads. 

 As a nation we do not utilize the great resources 

 or the small blesslnte that are spread so lavishly 

 around us. And while spring is some months away, 

 and we feel no nee.l of appetizers in the luxury of 

 fruits and veeetables around us, still providence 

 would suggest that we prepare for the days when 

 we shall wish for soniethintr fresh and green. The 

 autumn days are the ones in which to prepare some 

 fine and choice salads, such as our neighbors over 

 the water never fail to have. When dandelions ap- 

 Dcar in the spring, and before they arc a half linger 

 long, these tiny leaves — carefully picked or the 

 crown cut just below the surface of the ground — 

 washed and cut up sll.'htly, and dressed with a 

 dressing of vinegar, half a cup; butter, tablespoon- 

 ful; cream, lablespounlul, or more if wlshuil; salt, 

 pepper, and a bit of mustard, heated and poured over 

 the salad as it is sent to the table. This will be 

 found a S|ilendid and healthy appetizer. To do this 

 you must co to the pastures In the fall, before frost, 

 and take up the rcots and make a bed of t-ood rich 

 loam and leaf mould. Your dandelions will tie finer 

 and earlier than in the pastures, and you can gather 

 them without wandering a mile or two in the early 

 spring mud. The only caution is, do not let the bed 

 be neglected and no to seed; this is easily attended 

 to, when the blossoms only come In the lime when 

 you will be often in your earden, and the briu'ht yel- 

 low blossom can be easily picked off. And there ore 

 the oUtcabbai;estumi)K usually throw tothejiiirs. Ah! 

 how many a L'arnish for a dinner of early spring rests 

 in their undeveloped eyes. In the fall put a barrel of 

 good garden earth in the corner of the vegetable cel- 

 lar, and in March spread it against the cellar wall, 

 set the cabbage stunii»s in this, cover the roots only, 

 and, no matter aliout the liiiht, in a few days the 

 pale yellow or white shoots will come out, and are as 

 tender and as crisp as any celery or salad you ever 

 saw. And to tho.se fond of "greens" a little care in 

 the autumn will insure that very healthful potagc, 

 while yet the snow lingers by the fences, and tlie gar- 

 dens are yet brown and icy. Take a box two feet 

 deep and cover eight or ten Inches with horse manure, 

 over this put six or eight inches of good earth, and 

 plant the box full of beets, place It where some light 

 comes ill at the cellar window, and you can have beet 

 greens while your neighbors look In vain for the first 

 "eowsli|)s as large as a half dollar." There are 

 many other cheap and easy ways of having spring 

 salads which ingenuity may suggest, but perhaps 

 here are enough to try experiments on, and success 

 will come without severe labor, in either of these 

 suggestions. — WcKteni titock Journal. 



Bottle Grafting. 



This modification of inarchinj or grafting by ap- 

 proach may often be successfully employed when 

 other methods fail. In inarching, properly socalled, 

 two branches or stems on their own roots are spliced 

 together and kept in contact uniil a union is efiectcd, 

 and if the plants be in pots, or otherwise [lortable, 

 this method is practicable enough. It often happens, 

 however, that subjects to be grafted are planted out, 

 and that the scion must be severed from the parent 

 plant. It is in cases like this that bottle grafting be- 

 comes useful. The scion with two-shoots Is cut from 

 tne plant and splice-grafted on to the stock, where 

 it is bound firmly in the usual manner. The base of 

 the scion is then inserted in a bottle of rain water, 

 which is ke|)t at the required height by a forked sup- 

 port, but sometimes, when the stick is stout enough, 

 the bottle is supported by it. The stock headed back 

 to a shoot, which is left to draw the sap up past the 

 point of union between stock and scion. 



Oleanders, camellias, myrtles, and many other 

 plants may be grafted successfully in this way, and 

 iu some cases the scion not only unites with the stock, 

 but also pushes out roots into the water ; in that ease 

 the part below the union may be removed and planted 

 as a cutting. 



There are one or two modifications of this method 

 grafting ; the Japanese, for instance, who employ it 

 of largely, use a bag of wet earth or earth and moss, 

 instead of the water bottle, and propagators often 

 obtain the same results by pushing the base of the 

 scion into a potato or turnip. 



The Thurber Peach. 



This is a new variety, to which the attention of 

 cultivators is directed by F. J. Berckmans, of Augus- 

 ta, (ia., by an article to the Xovemhcr AgricullurM. 

 The Thuiber peach is the result of an attempt to 

 improve the Chinese cling, and is a seedling of that 

 variety, the result of a series of experiments by Dr. 

 L. E. Berckmans. It is described as follows : 



Fruit large to very large, often measuringtcn Inch- 

 es In circumference: round or slightly oblong. Skin 

 creamy white, beautifully mottled or marked with 

 carmine on a faint cheek. Flesh white, extremely 

 juicy, dissolving, sweet and highly perfumed; quality 

 exquisite. Unlike the Persian strain of cllng-stono 

 peaches, the flesh ofthe Chinese type is of a (wcullar 

 tine-grained texture, which dissolves without leav- 

 ing any sediment, and the Tliurbcr peach possesses 



