1878.] 



THE LANCASTER FARMER. 



41 



ble in making tliem grow. I make my graft- 

 ing wax luoportioned in this way : Finir parts 

 of ro.sin, two of liccswax, one of tallow. It 

 stands tlic sini wt'U witlionl melting. 



I will now give my opinion of setting out a 

 yonng oruhard. I think it is best to not go 

 "below the top soil, in onr clay, to set, but 

 rather raise the ground a little, to keep the 

 water from settling around the tree. I have 

 seen more trees spoiled by being too wet than 

 too dry. I hear of a great many complaints 

 in regard to the grub destroying trees. I 

 mean what .some call Ihe borer. About nine 

 times out of ten, I think, the trouble is in 

 setting and shading the trees on the south- 

 west side. Th(^ trees should be set to lean to 

 the southwest, as the strongest winds come 

 from that coiu'se in the spring while the 

 ground is soft, and foice the trees to the 

 northeast ; that gives the sun full jiower in 

 the hottest time in summer, about 1 or 2 

 o'clock in the day. It cooks the bark on the 

 southwest side of the trees, and bugs soon 

 smell tlie sap, and deposit the eggs, and in a 

 short time you will notice small, dark spots in 

 the bark. Examine, and you will fmd a small 

 worm, with a head as big as the whole body. 

 You can cut them out, or wash with strong 

 lye and kill tliem, but put up something to 

 sliade the tree. If you take notice, you will 

 find the majority lean to the northeast, and 

 that is where the trouble lies. — John Heard, 

 I'ractieal Farmer. 



and assure him that we shall always l)e pleased 

 to hear from him on any subject he may desire 

 to ventilate, within the scope of our journal. 



— ElJITt)U. I 



For The Lanoasteh Farmeh. 

 MORE ABOUT HORNED OWLS. 



I noticed in a late luunber of a horned owl 

 having boon presented to the Editor, and am 

 not surprised at its being appreciated. This 

 variety was scarce in the vicinity of Lancas- 

 ter forty years ago. The first, and only one 

 I had seen up to my sixteenth year, was on 

 the Pecpiea creek, sLx miles southeast of the 

 city of Lancaster. 



On moving to Cumberland county, iu 1837, 

 we found them so numerous as to be a severe 

 tax on the poultry ; mauy a large one did my 

 rifle bring down. 



But to find this bird in its glory one must 

 be along the Missouri river ; along these high 

 bluffs and extensive bottoms of cotton-wood 

 and sycamore. Here they hold high carnival 

 nightly, and to any one unacquainted with 

 their various noises, and who might be a little 

 superstitious, would sujipose that he was 

 within hearing of the infernal regions. I 

 have .shot them by dozens ; have caught some 

 Tiirds with Ijare hands, and am therefore not 

 afraid of them ; but must confess that when 

 passing through the forest on a dark night, 

 these birds disturb my nerves. One trait 

 about this bird naturalists have not mention- 

 ed, and that is, they are ventriloquists. One 

 not knowing tliis might think he had half a 

 mile to walk to where the sound proceeded 

 from. When in fact it is not one hundred 

 yards. At other times they may be two miles 

 oft" and be supposed to be quite near. When 

 two or three are about to pounce upon a hen 

 roost, is the time when they seem to bo pos- 

 sessed with the vcnj devil. Many a night have 

 I been awakened by their fiendish hoots and 

 screams, so that I had to go out and tire a 

 gun to silence tliem. We liave some other 

 rare birds here, a slight sketch of which I can 

 give if you think tliey will be wortli their 

 room. Eagles and falcons, also ravens, are 

 not uncommon here, while the wild geese are 

 here all winter and are seen daily. — Samitel 

 MiUer, lilnfflim^ Mo., Fehruar;r>f<.' X^TiK 



P. vS. — I was living in the I'equea Valley, 

 six miles from I^ancaster, and one-half mile 

 west of Musselman's Mill, and lived there until 

 1837. 



[We have never had the pleasure of meet- 

 ing our correspondent personally, but through 

 the mediumship of our venerable mutual 

 friend Mr. J. B. (iarljer, we have known him 

 from reputation these many years : and have 

 published a number of his contributions iu 

 former issues of Tni-; FAioiEts. We thank 

 him for this renewal of his literary favors, 



For TuE Lancaster Fabmeii. 

 BLACK HELLEBORE. 

 t llrtlrhvrttH yij/f-r.) 

 Gcnniin Schwarze Neiswurtz, Laueasler county Dutch — 

 Griblltwurtzel — i'CThai.8 from "CllrbtmuS'" — root iustcad of 

 *'roKo." 



We iiresent our readers with a wood cut of 

 tlie black hellebore, llower and root. This 

 hardy foreigner is remarkable and highly de- 

 sirable both for its oiiiauienlal appearance, 

 and the fact of imiducing its large while 

 flowers from the '_'.">th of December to. lanuary 

 — often in bloom about Christmas, whence it 

 has obtained the name of " Christmas Hose." 

 It has, liowever, no relation with the rose 

 family, its acrid character, and deep green 

 and pedately divided leaves, shows its atliiiity 



with the "crow-foot family," the liiDnotcu- 

 Jarrir, The root is externally very dark, hence 

 called black — the word hellebiu'c has reference 

 toitsacrid, poisonous (jualities. Dioscoroides, 

 who flourished in the reign of Nero, and was 

 the author of five books on tlie "Materia 

 Mcdica, " extols the medicinal properties of 

 this plant. It is a native of mountain woods, 

 in many parts of Europe. Gerard introduced 

 it into England in l.'j'.lU, therefore it is nothing 

 new in ifiself. This I have met with in 

 numerous gardens, wliei-e it was cultivated 

 for ornament as well as for domestic use. It 

 is remarkable that after a long search in my 

 medical botany, and other works, I can find 

 no notice taken of the great eflicacy of the 

 long, round fibres of the root when eni)>loyed 

 as a seaton in cattle and hogs, affecteil with 

 serious ailments of inflammation. While 

 residing at Mount .Toy, I had a very fine hog. 

 that staggered about like a drunken man. I 

 called the attention of a neighboring farmer 

 to it ; he said the best remedy lie knew was 

 the black helleliore. I showed him a jilant 

 growing in my garden, no doubt planted by 

 the former owner, an experienced gardener, 

 Jlr. Frederic Eckert. My friend got two 

 fibres of the root, ]iiinctured each ear of tlie 

 hog with a jien knife, in.serted a fibre in each 

 ear, and interlaced the ends. That was all 

 that was done ; the setons formed a running 

 sore, and in a few weeks the hog was lively 

 and as healthy as ever, leaving a large hole in 

 each ear, but all healed up. This may be a 

 very common experience, and not new to 

 maiiy, but if so, I am not aware of it. Wliy 



might it not prove of the greatest eflicacy in 

 "hog cholera?" I throw out this hint — lam 

 not now in the liog line — to make the experi- 

 ment. 



This ))lant was highly extolled by all the 

 early writers as a hydragoguc purgative and 

 enimeiiagogne, i. e., for the cure of dropsy 

 ami female complaints, mania, cutaneous 

 atfections, worms, &c. It was one of the 

 leading ingredients of Bachler's pills, ho cele- 

 brated in the treatment of dropsy, which 

 induced the Frencli (iovernment to i>urcha.se 

 the receipt at a high price. But like other 

 nostrums once in vogue, it has lost caste and 

 is forgotten by later nostrums tluit annually 

 rise and make a s|)lurge, just to be buried with 

 other medical debris — in oblivion — let them 

 rest in peace. 



But facts are facts, nevertheless, and what 

 ex|)erience has demonstrated it may Ixr well to 

 mention — for the benefit of those wlio may 

 fancy to cultivate the plant for its beauty — 

 tor its flower in winter out in the open ground 

 where all else is flowerless — except in tlie hot 

 house, and for its use, if so be that it pro- 

 duces the curative powers, if only on hogs, 

 those that raise them may test it on them if 

 not on themselves. — J. Stauffer. 



For The Lancasteb Farmer. 

 TIMES AND SEASONS. 



"Coming events cast their .sliailows before." 



Spring is approaching, and will bring on 

 lilenty of work for the farmer. Everywliere, 

 where we cast our eyes, there are .stones to be 

 jiicked, fences to be made, jilowing to be done, 

 trees to be ]iriined, gardens to be planted, 

 roads to be made, ditches to be cleaned out, 

 niauure to be hauled, and a good many other 

 jobs to be done. I'ick stones from gra.ss and 

 grain fields as early as possible. Then roll as 

 soon as the frost is out of the ground. A 

 good time to roll grass fields is immediately 

 after a rain, when the ground is soft, so that 

 the i-oller may press down the high places, 

 anil make the surface smooth and even for 

 the mower. To roll grain fields we must wait 

 a little longer, and until the surface gets 

 nicely dry, so that the soil will not stick to 

 the roller ; and when i^ice dry enough, do not 

 delay the matter, but go at it at once, or else 

 you might miss it. If a rain comes before 

 you have done the work, it will take .several 

 (lays to dry again. Then another rain may 

 come, and at length the grain may get too 

 large to roll it without injury. Boll it length- 

 wise along the drill rows. It makes the 

 nicest job, and the roller does not press the 

 grain jilants. 



A still clayey soil is best if jilowed in the 

 "rising" — it will not get so hard as when 

 plowed iu the "setting ;" and a light soil that 

 is too loo.se, is best if plowed in the "setting," 

 because, then it will settle a little more than 

 it otherwi.se would ; and in spading a garden 

 it is the same. Oats if sown iu the rising 

 will not lodge as readily as when .sown in the 

 settiiKj. I'ole-beans ought to bi' idanted in the 

 risinij — they will wind up the poles 1 letter 

 than wlieirplanted iu the sdtinij, and bunch- 

 beans are most successfully iilanted in the 

 «»,ui(/. If thev are planted in the risimj, they 

 will throw out shoots and wind more or less, 

 and this is also the case with peas. I liavc no 

 doiilit but some of the readers of TllE Fak- 

 51KU will lauijh at me for writing such non- 

 .sense— even those who may be jiracting these 

 ndes more or less, "on the sly" — because, 

 they may know a great many peojile who 

 have no f^aitli in these things, aiul therefore 

 entirely disregard them. But let them laugh ; 

 it is much lietter to laugh than to cry. 



Nevertheless, some .seed may fall on good 

 soil, take root and grow. Eveiy one can try 

 for himself; and it is good sometimes to try 

 other modes than those we have been accus- 

 tomed to, even if we have no faith iu them. 



When we make what we call a "worm- 

 fence," we Hud a difference between that 

 which was made iu the ri'.si'ny and that in the 

 setlimj. The latter soon sinks down on, or into 

 the ground, whilst the former remains intact 

 for a much longer time. It is about the same 



