1878.J 



THE LANCASTER FARMER. 



THE RELIANCE RASPBERRY. 



This rasi)beny lias never been known to 

 "winter-kill," and we place this statement 

 here in the foreground, lieeaiise, with all 

 imaginable exeellenec in all other respects, of 

 wliat value is it if held by .such an unstable 

 tenure as winter-killing '? 



In the opinion of the (\'ntennial .ludges, 

 who awarded it one of the prize medals, it 

 approaches the "Philadelphia" in general 

 appearance, but is a mueli finer berry, and 

 the judges were also impressed with the be- 

 lief "that it would 

 ]n-ove a valuable va- 

 riety. 



Tlie Reliance is of 

 a stalky habit, very 

 short jointed, with 

 lironiinent buds and 

 dark, heavy foli- 

 age, great vigor of 

 growtii, and perfect- 

 ly hardy, showing 

 perfectly heal thy, 

 uninjured buds on 

 tlie very tips of the 

 canes. 



Fruit large, many 

 of them two and a 

 half inches in cir- 

 cumference, round- 

 ish, with large, 

 fleshy seed-beds.'ad- 

 liering slightly to 

 the germ. Color, 

 dark re<l, with rich, 

 sprightly acid llavor; 

 entirely free from 

 the insipid sweet, 

 characteristic of so 

 many varieties ; and 

 will remain in good 

 condition tluee or 

 four days on the 

 bushes after they 

 are rijic, and can be 

 shipped in perfect 

 order hundreds of 

 miles to market. 



The introduction 

 of Feltou's new *■ 

 seedling rasplieiiics 

 —"Early Prolihc' ^^ 

 and "Reliance — 

 will doubtless mark 

 an epoch in the his- 

 tory of raspbeiiy 

 'culture in our coun- 

 try. 



Th e s e hemes 

 ought to find a con- 

 genial soil in Lan- 

 caster county, est n 

 in those localities 

 which have been 

 considered the least 

 fertile, cspeciallj ni 

 those that mak( an 

 appro.ximat i on to 

 the sandy loam of 

 New .Jersey. 



Our illustra t i o n 

 represents two clus- 

 ters as they usually 

 oecair, although it 

 may not represeu t 

 the general average, 

 but as the variety is 

 always re li a b 1 e — 

 hence its name — it 

 will be found so on a fair trial. 



" The Early Prolific and Reliance, 



To all others bid defiance, 

 And we aslc the wise compliance 

 Of Columbia's every son. 



" For we often shall repeat, 



With the two your list's complete, 

 Both for iiKuket and to eat, 

 Till the pleasant work is done." 



For circulars and prices, address Gibson & 

 Bennett, Xurserymen, Woodbury, IST. J. 



ESSAY ON MANURE. 



The term manure coiniirehends any particle 

 of matter tliat enriches land. In all ages and 

 in almost all countries the cultivators of the 

 earth have found it expedient to use the ex- 

 crement of animals ami minerals to force the 

 growth of vegi'tables. 



In our country, it is true, tlieve is an exten- 

 sive region which has been and is fat enough 

 in its virgin state to yield abundant crops for 

 a generation or two, without the application 

 of any fertilizer ; but it eciually true that 



f\\ . 4 



large areas of land of a good iiuality, under a 

 favorable sky, need constant manurial food to 

 keep it in heart. Manure is the farmer's 

 wealth to a great extent : but it must not be 

 entirely depended upon. There are considera- 

 tions besides, to be heeded. Thorough culti- 

 vation and rotation of crops must give assist- 

 ance to the manure pile. 



It is, besides, a matter worthy of the study 

 of every farmer to acquire a better knowl- 

 edge of the land he cultivates and the dill'er- 

 ent manures be judiciously used. If the land 

 was all alilce in quality, the vatious modes of 



applying fertilizers and cultivation would not 

 be deemed necessary ; but as land varies very 

 much in quality, even within th» limits of a 

 county, different systems of farming are prac- 

 ticable or expedient. 



A better knowledge of agricultural chemis- 

 try would greatly facilitate our labor in ap- 

 plying the the necessary (luantity of fertili- 

 zers to the soil, (.'ertain plants grow best in 

 a particular soil, and consetpiently a manure 

 which lias the most a.stonishing ell'ect upon 

 one kind of land may be comparatively use- 

 less ui)on another, 

 and so on indefinite- 

 Ij'. It is not enough 

 to liavo good land, 

 but is indispensablo 

 to have a knowledge 

 of the capacity of it, 

 and the proper ma- 

 nure to be applied 

 has enriched many a 

 farmer, and the 

 want of that know- 

 ledge has impover- 

 ished many more. 



Rich fields are 

 well fed, and, as 

 there is an abun- 

 dance of material for 

 making and apply- 

 ing manure, it is the 

 fanner's mistake not 

 to use them. It is 

 the useless waste of 

 materials that im- 

 poverishes fhe dung 

 pile. If the weedH 

 and other matter 

 aboiil our farms that 

 rare unsightly and 

 out of place were 

 removed to the ma- 

 nure heap, they 

 could be made avail- 

 able as manure, and 

 tell on the crops. 

 It is not the farmer 

 possessing the rich- 

 est lands who al- 

 ways shows the best 

 conditioned fields. 

 Fields originally 

 yielding meagre 

 crops to their own- 

 ers, by untiring and 

 ceaseless diligence 

 and .skillful husban- 

 dry, have increased 

 more than double 

 the yield per acre. 

 Instead of exhaust- 

 ing, he etuiches his 

 fields, and what may 

 be wanting in fer- 

 tility is more than 

 supiilied by judici- 

 ous manuring and 

 management. I n 

 different quartet's of 

 the globe labor and 

 cultivation have 

 produced effects ob- 

 viously different. In 

 Xew England the 

 harsh climate, the 

 rocky soil, and the 

 rugged topograpliy 

 present nothing en- 

 couraging to the 

 agriculturist, but by cultivation and incessant 

 toil of two hundred yeai-s many acres have 

 teen made highly productive. 



Here in Pennsylvania the farmer is favored 

 by nature with a better soil, a more congenial 

 climate and a more even topography ; and by 

 his labor and skill has improved his acres into 

 a real paradise. The bulk of all fertility, it ij 

 said, consists of three earths — silica, alumiila 

 and lime ; and as lime enters into the compo- 

 sition of all plants, it necessarily occupies a 

 large place in nature's lalwratory. The earth 

 is full of seeds, and well-showered earth is 



