1877.J 



THE LANCASTER FARMER. 



d69 



country nearly equal to the tropics for nearly 

 six uioutlis ill the year. It i.s well enough to 

 liilk aljout the " sunny land of France'' and 

 " tliu blue skies of Italy," and they may have 

 more of them in a whole year Ihau we liave, 

 but in si.t or .seven niontlis we have about as 

 nuieh as is desirable, and the rest of the year 

 is not so bad as to make liviui; a burden. 



Improving the varieties already in eultiva- 

 tion has pnt millions of dollars into the pockets 

 of farmers, and Ihe l)riiii;ing out of new ones 

 that are belter than the old ones improved, has 

 been of incaleulable benelit to the fanning' 

 eonununity. Even young farmers can re- 

 member the time when wheal was eonlined to 

 two or three varieties, sueh as blue stem and 

 orange stem white, but liiese turned out so 



i)oorly at last on aeeount of the ravages of the 

 rles.sian tly and the red (tield) weevil that far- 

 mers were almost in despair of making wheat 

 pay. There came a new variety, the red 

 (bearded) Mediterranean, which though of in- 

 ferior quality, was nearly weevil-proot', and so 

 strong in the growth that the tly could not 

 hurt it much. In rapid succession came other 

 varieties, of better (piality, nulil now we raise 

 red amber and white wheats of the highest 

 grade, both in quality, yield and growth. In 

 potatoes W'e possessed only a few standard 

 varieties — the iiink-eye, yellow-tleshed, a fair 

 yielder, but oidy medium (piality ; Mercer, 

 (Neshanoek,) white-tleshed, good quality, 

 but poor yielder. The greater part of the 

 other varieties known were of inferior <iuality ; 

 all the better kinds at last became so liable to 

 rot that it was quite a venture to plant a large 

 piece of land to potatoes. Now we have 

 Varieties by the score to suit all parts of the 

 country, and of a (luality that throws the old 

 standard Mercer far into the shade ; not only 

 has the quality been improved, but also the 

 size, shape, color and yield. As with wheat 

 and potatoes, so have all other grain and root 

 crops been improved, with, perhaps, the ex- 

 ceptiou of rye. Improved varieties of this 

 grain have been advertised, but I believe as 

 far as tried there has been little, if any, im- 

 provement noticed over the old variety. 



In fruits the progress has been rather better 

 than in the farm crops proper. 



The greatest improvement in any one kind 

 of fmit is probably in that of the grape. Of 

 course very good grapes have been raised in 

 this country for many years, but were raised 

 under glass, and could be afforded onlj by the 

 wealthy. IJefore ls:i0 poor peoyile and those 

 of moderate income had to do without grapes, 

 or be satisfied with fox, summer and frost 

 grapes, these being about the only hardy 

 kinds generally known up to that time. 

 About the year mentioned the Catawba be- 

 came known, and this, with the Diana, a 

 seedling of the former, Clinton and Isabella 

 w&re for a long time the only kinils known by 

 the public is general. Since the introduction 

 of the above sorts new and superior varieties 

 have been brought out, and we have now all 

 qualities in all the shades of black, purple, 

 red and white, the Concord and Hartford 

 Prolific, although of only medium quality, 

 being the most widely disseminated. Some 

 few kiudSj'as the Delaware, a few of the Rogers' 

 hybrids and others, being ac:kuowledged by 

 jugdes of acknowledced experience as nearly 

 equal to the better foreign varieties. 



In the strawberry the improvenient has 

 been scarcely behind the grape, though in 

 tlie.se the size and yield are the points that 

 have lieen most brought out ; as to size, for 

 instance, we have Great American, Durand, 

 Crescent, Ac, some of the larger berries 

 being in size that of a mediiun sized peach; 

 and as to productiveness we have the Wilson, 

 wliicli has been known to produce as many 

 bushels to the acre as would be considered a 

 fair crop of potatoes. The first improvement 

 of note was in the production of Ilovey's 

 seedling (a pistillate variety), forty-three years 

 ago, and though there have since that time 

 many varieties been brought out that are more 

 promising and more to be desired, because 

 they have perfect blossoms, yet this old va- 

 riety took the (irst prize at the strawterry 



show of the Massachusetts Horticultural So- 

 ciety, held in Boston in 1875. Mr. Ilovey, 

 probably, spent a great deal of time on the 

 production of his prize berries, and did not 

 spare inaumc or other fertilizers. In llavm' 

 there has been little or no improvement, some 

 of the larger varieties being more acid than 

 many of the wild ones, and losing some of 

 that distinct fragrance which many of the 

 wild berries liave. 



In peaches there has been little or no im- 

 provement made in size and (lavor, but 

 we have both later and earlier kinds and more 

 variety. Nearly the same remarks apply to 

 cherries. 



Apples and pears have been raised in varie- 

 ties distinct from old kinds, but little improve- 

 ment made; but the best old and new varie- 

 ties have been more disseminated to the ex- 

 clusion of inferior kinds heretofore raised. 



The attention of fruit raisers has been par- 

 ticularly turned, fm- the last few years, to im- 

 proving blackberries, raspberries, currants and 

 gooseberries, and some good results have been 

 obtaint'd. Tlie first desideratum in all these 

 cases must be hardiness, then size ; next, for 

 lilackberries and raspberrios, is carrying or 

 sliipping; for ennants less acidity, and for 

 gooseberries freedom from mildew. 



The farmer certainly has no cause for com- 

 plaint that there is no improvenient, lint he 

 must have his eyes wide open to see that he 

 only takes hold of the best and rejects all that 

 is poor or only mediocre. I believe that if 

 farmers would only put their eyes, their wits 

 and their experience to more use, we would 

 be further advauced than we now are ; 

 but I believe that the laborious life that some 

 larnuas lead has a great deal to do with their 

 not being more ob.servant, as when the body 

 is worn down with the fatigue of straining 

 labor, the mind is in no state to take note of 

 anything that is only a little removed from 

 the ordinary, it must be very striking before 

 any impression is made. This seems to be 

 borne out by the fact that jn'obably more than 

 three-fourtlis of the improvements made are 

 brought al)out by men of means and leisure. 

 Having the means and leisure, of course, does 

 not detract from the praise and honor that 

 should bc^ accorded, in many cases neither re- 

 ceiving nor seeking any benefits therefrom ; 

 but certainly more honor should be accorded 

 to the man who in spite of lassitude produced 

 by following his calling, yet keeps his mind 

 alert enough to note the little things from 

 which great ones may spring ; nor would he 

 do wrong nor lessen the lionor by turning the 

 results of his observation to liis own advan- 

 tage, for I have no doubt that many a fanner 

 could have bettered his lot in life by bringing 

 out improved varieties of whatever he was 

 raising. — A. B. K. 



AUTUMNAL 



For The Lancasteb Fabmeh. 

 COLORATION OF THE 

 LEAVES. 



BY J. STATTFFER. 



In answer to the question, "The reason 

 whv there was le.ss variety and less brilliancy 

 in the leaf coloration in the present season " 

 than usually V 



Vegetation, the link, or so to say, the uni- 

 versal laboratory that manufactures food and 

 raiment, and purifies the air, and, in short, 

 prepares the mineral world to sustain the 

 lives of men and animals, performs some 

 wonderful chemical operations. 



The soil, made up of decomposed feldspar, 

 quartz, porphyry, bay-salt, etc., are all clas.sed 

 among the minerals reduced by the action of 

 heat, frost, air and water. For instance, 

 feldspar contains from six to fifteen per cent, 

 of potas.sa. Plants absorb this potassa— 

 Liebig found that every root secretes a fluid, a 

 sort of acid, by which, as he says, "the 

 plants a»arit the soil with their roots." We 

 all know that potassii, like soda, is one of the 

 commonest chemical substances and exten- 

 sively employed in the arts and domestic 

 economy. The modest in-oduct is lodged 

 within "the plant, as all our potass, under 



whatever name, its a ba.se is wholly derived 

 from the residum or ashes of wood biu'ned, or 

 vegetati'iu ol)tained by li.\iviation, as every 

 housewife knows in making lye for soap. 

 Chemists have tried to abstract the |>ota.s.ta 

 from the soil, but find it so tenaciously com- 

 bined, and only of late years did auy one suc- 

 ceed, and that only with costly anil complex 

 apparatus, diMicuIt and tedious manipulation, 

 abel to separate it from the clay-like or(iuartz- 

 like earth ; this the [ilanls do, however, silent- 

 ly and elfectually, and make it easy for man 

 to get at this valuable product, as we do, also, 

 much of our soda from sea phuits; these also 

 have revealed iodine and bromine as constitu- 

 ents to their make-up. No one will deny the 

 chemical yirocess. (Jreeii leaves, aided by sun- 

 light, decompose the carbonic acid, as well as 

 nitrogen. Collect the ammonia from the soil 

 or water; this ammonia, a combiualion of 

 nitrogen and oxygen, as an leriform product 

 of decomposition of animal or vegetable mat- 

 ter, is found everywhere in small quantities; 

 from the air it lindsa lodgment in every soil, 

 as Well as in water. Here allow me to make 

 a remark, to call attention to wliat often hap- 

 pens, a certain .scalding of the leaves. After 

 a rain fall, during strong sunshine, this has 

 been iiotice<l, and it is supposed that a clieini- 

 cal change results in the water having become 

 a mixture of nitric acid, strong enough to 

 scald or sear tlu^ leaves. One thing we know, 

 gardeners do not water their tlower-beds dur- 

 ing a glowing sunshine, ex])erience has taught 

 them that some bad result follows. In the ex- 

 .tensive and varied chemical operations the 

 color of (lower.s, leaves, iVic, demands our at- 

 tention, these run through a gamut of shades 

 and lints innumerable. But what produces 

 color V Science teaches there is no color, 

 merely a condition which allects our eye in a 

 certain way. For instance, I look through a 

 glass prism; I notice the most lieauliful rain- 

 bow lints to embroider every object, this I 

 know to result by decom|iosing the rays of 

 light of different refrangibility. Nevertheless, 

 unless we are color blind, we all behold the 

 fixed fact of the color in the flower or foliage 

 of the autumnal leaves in all their brilliancy. 



Science goes as far as it can in the field of 

 matter, and ignores in man an inner nature, 

 as well as in all nature itself, an underlying 

 spiritual element, and one that, like faith in 

 the Gospel, must be "si)iritually discerned," 

 as it does not respond to the scaliiel-scales, 

 ini(;roscope, or any device of man"s art or 

 geniu.s, however great. Nevertheless science 

 iias wonderfully tested the wonders of nature 

 and discovered many of lier secrets; we truly 

 liud nature to be more strange than liction. 

 The chemical transformations in the bodies of 

 living plants producing the most brilliant 

 colors ; a flower pa.sses through the entire 

 scale of red, from softest pink to the darkest 

 jiurple-brown, from the action of the acids in 

 the air, and elements in its juices. Infusion 

 of sulphate of iron into the soil in the culture 

 of hortensia has darkened their hue, no doubt 

 by affecting the tan in the plant. Tliere are 

 other dodges and arts among fancy florists by 

 which they do not change law, but the chemi- 

 cal relations in the elements brought in con- 

 tact. This subject is so vast, and touched at 

 .so many iioinls by other considerations, that 

 I find it impossible to stick to my text, 

 "What causes the change in autumnal foli- 

 age ?" 



Tlie green coloring matter of lejives, no 

 miittd- how formed, whether altered starch, 

 mucous matter, protoplasm, or what not, re- 

 quires the influence of solar light for the 

 plant to fabricate it. The so-called chloro- 

 phyll, which is on plants in a dark cellar, or 

 celery-blanched, is absent, 



Our savans have given this green coloring 

 matter consider.able attention, and made 

 known its comp<umds by names so long as to 

 be utterly out of the (luestion to rememlier ; 

 in short, a certain blue;c nring matter as a 

 comi)ound is found ; this vegetable blue, mixed 

 in the juices, is what, with the alkaline mat- 

 ters in the sap brought up from the earth, 

 jointly and variously modified and mixed in 



