The Lancaster Farmer. 



Prof. S. S. RATHVON, Editor. 



LANCASTER, PA., APRIL, 1877. 



Vol. IX. No. i. 



APRIL. 



Had the lot fallen to us — in the nineteenth 

 century, and in tin- niiiklle of tlio noitli-tora- 

 perute zone — to anauRi' the festivals, the sec- 

 ular periods, the nionths and the seasons, 

 doubtless we would have oiiened the year witli 

 its vernal period, on or about the first of 

 April; for, really, as a general tiling, there is 

 no openini'; Unit ^can be much depended on 

 before thai jieriod; and even then we often 

 realize, intervals of "winter HnKering in llu; 

 lap of spriiiL;. " March — "in like a lion and 

 out like a lanili"-- is always more litful, and 

 often meteorologically more unfriendly, than 

 February; and, under the most favorable cir- 

 cumstances, is lint a snow-heavcu' and an ice- 

 breaker for the month of April- a sort of pre- 

 cursor to s])rini;, without exhibiting any of 

 the nncpialilied elements of spring. 



And yet the month of March, when divest- 

 ed of its lickleness, and its oi^posite extremes, 

 js charged with very essential functions in the 

 economy of the season's su<'Cessions. It 

 "breaks the back bone" of winter, and "lets 

 down" more easily the thrall of Kebruary upon 

 the plane of April. Its furious, moist-absorb- 

 ing winds dry up the long and excessively 

 satmated soil of winter, and jirepares it foi' 

 the ploughshare of the thrifty husbandman; 

 and if it rested here, its benign ollice would 

 tic universally acknowledged and extolled; but 

 not content with tliis, it is ever changing to 

 and from all the climatic points of midwinter 

 and advanced spring. One day a blustering 

 "borean railer," the next an Oriental zephyi', 

 if not sandwiched by a day or two of cold, 

 drivinu rain between, anon indulging in a 

 succession of "blows, " with a violence that 

 not only divests the soil of its superabun<hint 

 moisture, but blows away the soil itself and 

 all it ciiiiiaiiis. 



But, this untowardncss of March is eventu- 

 ally succeeded by "showery, flowery, bowery" 

 April; and although we are always pri-tty 

 sure of the sJiOwcr;/, yet it often occurs that 

 the flnu-er>i, and especially the hntceri/ do not 

 come until after the first of May. The name 

 of AriuL is derived from the Latin njiTilis 

 which itself is a contraction of Aperilis, from 

 uperinr, which means to open, as the month 

 in which the earth opens foi' new fruit; when 

 the trees and plants generally unfold their 

 foliage, and the womb of nature opens with 

 yoimg life; and, as it is physicnlly and often 

 nieteorologi.ially the opening of the .year, in 

 our latitude of the temperate zone, it easily 

 could be made so civilly and conventionally, 

 if it were not for a great nonconlorniity in the 

 climate, and that makes all the difference. 

 We could not expect much of an opening up 

 about Beliring's Straits on the first of April, 

 and down in Central America it woidd be 

 quite too late, in a physical point of view. 



The first of ^Vpri! has been long and very 

 widely considered "All Fools Day" — longer 

 and wider, perhaps, than we "in our philoso- 

 phy dream of." The allusion is to the cus- 

 toin of making fools of each other on the 1st 

 of April; and among some peojile "J/;/ April 

 mnrii was eiiuivalcnt to my tccddhuj day, for 

 on that d.ay I w^as made a fool of." In Ilin- 

 dustan similar tricks were played at the Ilnli 

 festival, which occurred on the .'ilst of March, 

 or on "April eve." From this it would ap- 

 pear that ",\pril fool" cannot refer to the un- 

 certainly of the weather, nor yet to the mock 

 trial of oin- Saviour, in one of which events 

 the custom is said to have had its origin. 

 Rev. Cobham Brewer says : "I am inclined 

 to think it refers to traditions about the flood, 

 when the fcifilifh were left to the jiitiless pelt- 

 ing of the forty days rain," a eonclMsiouqiute 

 as abstu-d, and fully as irrational as either of 

 the other two. in fact we cannot tell 

 from what or from whence this custom origi- 



nated; and, it is a matter of no importance to 

 us now, from whence it sprung or what its 

 object was. 



Still, with few or no contingencies, April is 

 the genial season of the year — taking it all 

 tlu-ougii, from beginning to cn<l — and among 

 that contingent few is the general "Hitting 

 day — a day in the liurri/skurry of wliich, sn- 

 per-ollicions 'helps' often carry out a i)illow 

 and gently lay it down, and perhaps the next 

 moment toss a looking-glass out of the win- 

 dow, from a mere love of making themselves 

 usrful. Meteorologically as well as domesti- 

 cally our 1st of April, in Lancaster county at 

 least, corres])ond8 to New York "May day," 

 on which occasion every family in Gothain 

 seems to be "on the move," and Franklin's 

 maxim that "three removes arc as bad as a 

 burn," has no appreciation whatever. Indeed 

 with us, there are .some-people who are just 

 "ninnies" enough to believe that they inusi, 

 and of right iiuijhl to "move" on the 1st of 

 A|n'il — would be unhappy if they did not 

 move, and who would coniiilain and grumble 

 half tlie year if they had not moved. Well, 

 if that kind of variety constitutes their "spice 

 of life," it is their concern alone, and perhaps 

 they ought to be let "alone in tliidr glory." 



April bc'ing then, practically, the upcning of 

 the New Year, in all that relates to human 

 husbandry ; the farmer, the gardener, the 

 orchardist or the nurseryman will find enough 

 for his toiling hands to do. Then he will be 

 engaged in a multitude of occupations that 

 will have no end until he nuu'kets his crops, 

 and gathers with his I'aniilyaround his Christ- 

 mas fire. Then the country s(Miool-liouse is 

 closed for the season, and his children eschew 

 their nursery rhymes of 



" Rain, rain, go away, 

 Come attain, 

 April ilay, 

 Little Jolniuy wants to play." 



for, uidikc the pinched and idle denizens of 

 the town, big and little, old and young, al- 

 ways find something for willing hands to do, 

 and consequently can eat freely, sleep soundly 

 and be happy. 



An old and well-informed cotemiwrary, in 

 his calendar of the months, writes in regard 

 to this month, as follows : 



"There is no period of the year of greater 

 activil-y, nidess it be high harvest, than the 

 month of April. Every farmer knows the 

 importance of being well np with the season, 

 and he who lags behilid at this important 

 juncture, may as well withdraw from the 

 "strife of life " — he has mistaken his profes- 

 sion. The farmer is now busy breaking up 

 his corn ground, if he has not broken it up 

 before." 



In our latitude, now is the time to plant 

 and sow, if we would expect to reap. But 

 the exact time when these things should be 

 done, nmst be left to the judgment of the 

 farmer and gardener, for they are more or less 

 inider the influences of the nature of the soil, 

 the temiicratme of the weather, and the al- 

 titude of the particular locality — its protec- 

 tions and exjiosures, as soon as practicable. 

 The roots and seeds that should be planted 

 and sown, during this month, are artichoke, 

 asparagus, beans, beets, broccoli, cabbage, 

 carrots, cauliflower, celery, cress, horse- 

 radish; hot beds may be made; and leeks, 

 lettuce, majorum, mustard, nasturtions, 

 onions, parsley, jiarsnips, peas, jiotatoes, rad- 

 ishes, sage, salsify, spinnaeh, thyme, toma- 

 toes, turnips, &c. , put in the ground, because 

 this is the season for the main planting and 

 sowing. 



The particidar variety of pljints and seeds 

 selected must be left to the discretion of the 

 farmer or gardeuer, for soil and situation 

 have much to do in their success, So, also, 



in relation to the times and modes of culture. 

 In fact, cultivating the soil is analogous to cul- 

 tivating the mind; tlu; results of eillier or 

 both are niadi' manifest through tiie products 

 of rultuie. When these do not become visi- 

 ble to rational recognition, we may infer that 

 there has been no real culture, but only the 

 semblance of it. Tln^ powers and functions 

 of nature as nltimated through the ollices of 

 April have not been iixcd, but a6u,«d. 



FINE TEST POTATOES. 



After the adjournment of the February 

 meeting of our local Agricidlural Society, the 

 potatoes which Mr. II. M. Engle had on ex- 

 hibition, he kindly donated to us, and desired 

 us to test thiir relative (jualities. Without 

 laying any special claim to sujierior judgment 

 in such a matter, we nevertheless cheerfully 

 assented ; for, if nothing else resulted, we 

 could sec at least three " square meals" of 

 good potatoes in it, which promised a teni- 

 IHirary relief from the inferior articles we 

 iiad been consuming all winter, with only a 

 few e.xceptions, and those were foreign to the 

 County. Three varieties were submitted to 

 us, namely : the Pccrltss, the Imperial Beauty 

 and the Snoirflake. AVe venture no opinion 

 vipon their modes of culture, or their iirolific 

 qualities, but simply upon their culinary ii.se, 

 and their alhliations with the human palate. 

 The first we had preiiared was the " Peerless," 

 (three fine solid tubers, aggregating three and 

 a half pounds) and compared with the general 

 " run" of jicitatoes of last season, their quality 

 was very sujierior. From their large size and 

 lateness of the season, we had supposc-d they 

 might have been strong and hollow in the 

 centre, liiit the residt was quite otherwise ; 

 they wert^ finely flavored all through, and 

 reasonably dry and mealy. We consider the.se, 

 in comiiarison, VEUV good. The next in 

 ([uality — Init not in trial — w.as the " Imperial 

 Beauty," (three tubers weighing two pounds.) 

 These in color and flavor were very similar to 

 the Peerless, but more yielding and easier re- 

 duced to a "mash," and perhaps somewhat 

 drier and more granular. These we voted 

 HETTEI!. After tliese, in point of excellence 

 — to our mind — was the " Snowflake," (four 

 tubers weighing two pounds.) Tliese were 

 very white, very mellow, aixl very mild, 

 faintly recalling our remembrance of the "old 

 fiercer," before its degeneracy. These, with- 

 out qualification, we deemed Bkst, notwith- 

 standing we have«named them last. The 

 difference in size may jio.ssibly have had .some 

 influence uiion the quality — the Snowflakcs 

 being the smallest, the Peerless the largest, 

 and the Imperial Beauty, intermediate. Per- 

 haps the fairest test would be to take tubers 

 all of the same size. 



Whatever may be the personal opinions of 

 others in regard to these three varieties of po- 

 tatoes, like the Irishman and "Mrs. Mull- 



rooney's pig. 



' we ate thiin and Shot's the 



ind of it ;" and we would further suggest that 

 we have no objection to be considered a com- 

 mittee of one to test potatoes for the balance 

 of the season, and we will make no charges 

 for our services, only suggesting that the 

 ijiinntnm itiffirit, of each variety, to reach an 

 intelligent verdict, is about two poimds. 



If we arc correct in our impressions, these 

 three varieties of the jiotato originated in 

 New York State, and if so, they are an im- 

 mense improvement on the potatoes brought 

 down the Su.sfpiehamia from that State some 

 twetity-five years .ago, and also at a later date. 

 We can pretty distinctly recall some varieties 

 brought down from that State, in our Ixiyhood, 

 tliat were almost as black as charcoal, as 

 strong as cotlfish, and as rough as sandstone, 

 but of very large size, and externally smooth 



