88 



THE LANCASTER FARMER. 



[ June, 



compaiatively f<-'W who know llie value of 

 fruit as food, but esjiecially tlie strawberry, 

 wbicli is the first of the season, and conies at 

 a time when the system requires food of a 

 more succulent and cooliiii; nature, than that 

 which may be ]iartakcn of with imimnity du- 

 ring cold weather. The nutritive value of 

 fruits as food will be made part of another 

 essay, as the strawberry is made the topic for 

 tins paper. 



It seems strange that many families in 

 towns and cities are fiir better supplied with 

 berries, in tlieir season, than the majority of 

 farmers' families are. Some farmers' wives 

 will, in season, buy a few quarts from the 

 market gardener for preserving, while at the 

 same time a full supply for home consumption 

 could be grown on a few rods (jf ground as 

 easily, and more certain, than j)otatoe,s are 

 grown now-a-days. If tliis assertion is sus- 

 tained, is it not criminal neglect on the part 

 of heads of families, wlio have plenty of land, 

 and fail to supply their children with this 

 health-giving enjoyment ? 



The farmer wlio declined purchasing straw- 

 lierry i)laiits, for the reason that llie children 

 would eat the berries anyhow, deserves not 

 only censure, but contempt also. The law of 

 demand and supply, as a rule, governs all 

 trade, but in many cases the demand must be 

 created, when the supply will be sure to follow. 

 !More has been realized per acre for straw- 

 berries than for tobacco, and yet only the few 

 raise the former, while the best methods are 

 employed to produce the latter in large quan- 

 tities ; and still the demand seems to keep 

 pace with the supiily, simply because the con- 

 sumer of tobacco is a certain customer, while 

 the consumer of berries is not ; hence there is 

 not that reliable inducement to produce the 

 latter as there is for tlie former. 



"Were the value of berries (and fruits gene- 

 rally) better understood, their consumption 

 would necessarily increase. On the other 

 hand, if the owners of land knew how cheaply 

 they could grow them, they would produce 

 such a supply as would induce greater eon- 

 sumption. If, by the agitation of this subject, 

 such a result can be produced, we may have 

 the satisfaction that our community will be 

 benefited, and that the time and labors oi 

 this society are sjient to some good purpose. 

 If he who causes two blades of grass to grow 

 where but one grew before, is a benefactor to 

 his race ; how much more then is he who 

 causes bushels of berries to grow where none 

 grew before. Iluriug the heated season of 

 summer wc often hear resolves to have a sup- 

 ply of ice next winter, but during tlie cold 

 weather this anxious desire for ice lies dor- 

 mant until the warm season revives the former 

 feelings, and so these annual spasms bee(nue 

 hal)itual. We often see similar attacks of 

 strawVierry fever during their season. At 

 this time there is generally a great demand 

 I'or strawberry jdants, while there are none to 

 1)0 had ; Imt this demand ceases generally 

 about the middle of .lune, and i.s only revived 

 again about the last of May, the following 

 year ; in short, the strawberry plant fever 

 lasts only from two to three weeks, while the 

 ice fever lasts as many months. 



The (juickest way to prevent a recurrence 

 of the plant fever, will be to ])rocure good 

 young plants in August or early in September, 

 plant in well prepared ground, "about one by 

 two feet for garden cuHure, and further apart 

 for field culture, esi)e(;ially where left to 

 siiread all they will. The former distance is 

 sullicient for hill culture, where the runners 

 are kept down, which will produce the finest 

 berries, but requires more labor than the run- 

 ning system. Cultivate well, and as they 

 will make few runners the same season, they 

 should be kept off, which will allow the main 

 stock to spread more. ISIidch with straw 

 manure or fodder, not too heavy, before hard 

 freezing weather. This plan will generally 

 bring a good half crop of the finest berries the 

 next season, liy planting in the spring we 

 cannot expect a crop before next season, but 

 which should be a, fall one. The fall plant- 

 ing will require special care, unless wc have 



rainy weather. In order to get the best re- 

 sults, not too many runners should be allowed 

 to grow, as each runner will make a bearing 

 plant which should have amjile room to be- 

 come strong. The value of the coming crop 

 will depend very much upon the vigor of 

 stocks of the previous season. The straw- 

 berry is no doubt the most certain of all fruit 

 crops. Who has ever heard of a total failure 

 of this fruit ? The ^\■riter has not had a total 

 failure since his first jilanting, which is over 

 twenty years, and hardly a day during this 

 period, in strawberry sea.son, that his family 

 had not berries as part of their meals from 

 one to three times. 



The question has often recurred to my mind, 

 what would be the proper method to bring 

 about a change that would supply all, lioth 

 rich and poor, with a sufliciency of strawl>er- 

 ries in their season V Could wo bring aliout 

 such a .state of things we might claim the 

 honor of being benefactors to our race. 



For The Lancaster Fahmer. 

 FENCING AND SOILING. 



The subject of farm fences is being discuss- 

 ed more and more by agricultural journals 

 and agricultural societies, and it is indeed be- 

 coming a subject which the farmer can no 

 longer pass liy, on account of its heavy drain 

 on the profits of the farm. This is the m(.)re 

 severely felt in the northern and eastern 

 States, where there are no etiicient cattle laws; 

 as here, outside as well as inside fences are 

 required, and fencing materials very high in 

 price. 



For this part of the country the cost of a 

 panel of good five-rail post fence varies from 

 .$1.50 to .fl.tlO, viz : rails, 10 to 12 cents each; 

 best loenst posts, 7.5 to 80 cents each; setting, 

 1.5 to 18 cents per pannel; hauling, according 

 to distance. A panel measures froiu lOiV to 

 11 feet. 



The cost of fencing farms is as follows, al- 

 lowing $1.. 50 to set a panel that measures 11 

 feet: 



The above calculations are for pretty level 

 farms, lying in a square, and not fronting 

 more on the road than indicated. Where 

 the country is hilly, or where the farm is 

 longer than wide, or where there is more than 

 the above proportion offences along the pub- 

 lic highway, eitherof these will increase the 

 amount offences that must be made and kept 

 up on such farms. 



Now supposing that the fence lasts 20 yeai's, 

 and that we have the old wood as an offset 

 against repairs, &c., wc have as the cost per 

 year the interest on money invested, (5 per 

 cent., and wear .5 per cent., or 11 per cent, on 

 investment in fences. As the law stands now 

 we are required to keep up boundary fences, 

 and we could therefore dispense with the in- 

 side fences only. These in the case of the 100 

 acre farm divided into 7 fields would cost 

 about §1,0(1(1, which at 11 per cent, would 

 amount to fllO per year — a nice little pile to 

 deposit in bank or invest in improved ma- 

 chinery. 



But how could we get along without inside 

 fences ? How are we to pa.sture our cattle ? 

 The answer is— do not pasture the cattle at 

 all, but "soil" them. 



How the term ".soiling" came to be ai)plied 

 to feeding cattle with green food, fed in the 

 stalls, [ do not know, .'is it seems a very inap- 

 projiriate term. 



It ni.ay Vie urged as an objection to soiling, 

 that it would take one hand more on the 

 farm and that this would cost too much. As 

 one offset against the cost of the additional 

 hand we have .IfllO.OO saved in fences;' we 

 have also the benefit of the ground that had 

 before been taken up with fences — and which 



in the form supposed would not fall far short 

 of one acre; we have also the extra labor that 

 could bo done, as it would not take the whole 

 time of a man to attend to the herd of cows 

 usually kept on a farm of the above size. In 

 the smaller farms there is usually not work 

 enough to keep the owner employed all the 

 time, and in this case the soiling would ju.st 

 fill the gap of unemjiloyed time. 



Among the advantages claimed for soiliii'T 

 are : It disjienses with fences and their re- 

 pairs; it saves land; more cattle can be kept; 

 the cattle can be kept in better condition and 

 produce more milk. 



The manure is saved for the places where it 

 is most needed, and there is more of it made. 



To carry on soiling pro))erly requires some 

 jilanning to keeji up the supply of green feed 

 from early sining till late in autumn, and a 

 good book on the subject would be a great 

 iielj). Such a book is published liy (Jrange 

 .)udd & Co., under the title of "Soiling of 

 Cattle," by Josiah (^hiincy, and it will give 

 good hints, though the book is not quite so full 

 of detail as it might be. A book is not neces- 

 sarily improved liy a mass of detail, and, in 

 fact, sometimes is really hurt by it ; what is 

 wanted are the iirinciiiles governing a thing 

 of this kind, and the smaller items can be 

 studied out and fitted to the wants of the 

 person interested. Such, I believe the book 

 mentioned to be. 



Mr. (iuiiicy, after some trials, settled on 

 grass, oats, corn (sowed), and cabbage, as 

 being the four best crops to raise for soiling. 

 He tried rye, but it did not turn out very 

 satisfactory. But why, he iloes not state. I 

 thuik he did not commence cutting until it 

 was too tough. 



(There is one thing to be borne in mind, in 

 soiling, and that is that manure must be used 

 to force the crops, particularly those intended 

 for early in the' season. This can be very 

 well done, for the num tha.t soils properly will 

 have plenty of manure for all purposes.) 



He depended on grass from the 20th of May 

 until the 1st of July. Had he got along with 

 his rye, I think he could have commenced 

 soiling on the 1st of May. 



Ill April he sowed oats for cutting through 

 July, though in the latter j)art of tliis month 

 he sometimes commenced on earn-stalk.s. The 

 oats he cut uj) to the time it began ripening 

 until it was beyond the milky state. 



Corn he sowed in latter part of April, in 

 drill three feet apart, using from two to three 

 busb.els to the acre. He found that by cutting 

 the corn pretty early the stubbles would sprout 

 out and grow very fast, so that he could cut 

 another tiinc^ before frost. This htyilso found 

 to be the case with oafs. 



Besides the early sowing, he also put out 

 corn in the mitldle of May, beginning and 

 middle of June, and even as late as the 1st of 

 August, aiul thus prolonged the corn season 

 to the middle of October. His reason for 

 continuing corn so long was, that it produced 

 so large an amount of fodder to the acre. 



In fore part of October he sometimes cut 

 .second growth of grass cut in May and June, 

 and second growth of oats and corn cut in 

 July. 



After the middle of October he depended on 

 cabbage to see him out, until the time to put 

 cattle in winter quarters. Sometimes he 

 raised crops of roots, such as carrots, beets 

 and turnips, and then he fed the tops of these 

 in place of cabbage. 



For late feeding, I suppose, cabbage is better 

 than nearly anything else, because it will stand 

 a frost that' would make other things unfit to 

 give to cattle. It can also be pulled and put 

 under cover so that it will remain fre.sh and 

 palatable to the cattle for a long time. Rye 

 •sowed very early and thick makes good fall 

 pasture, and in rich soil I have no doubt 

 could lie cut for soiling. 



Of course, the above plan would n<it suit in 

 every case, but the farmer would soon see how 

 to manage it. If there is rough land to a 

 farm, of course, it is economy to pasture that, 

 and a fence would have to be made to enclose 

 such rough land ; in case there is pasturing 



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