187^.] 



THE LANCASTER FARMER. 



73 



tlie eveninff before, and do not caplnre, them 

 after a long chase over tlie farm witli boys and 

 dogs after them. Tlieir roo.stin;j; place slioiild 

 be dry all the year round, cool and airy in the 

 summer, and closed up and warm in winter. 

 I do not believe in glass houses for cliiekens 

 any more than for human beings to live in. 

 If fowls can be allowed to roost in the stables 

 the warmth of the cattle will be benelicial 

 and the yield of eggs increased during the 

 winter months. This will be a question of 

 expediency with the owner, as the i)resence of 

 poultry in the stables is in some respects ob- 

 jectionable. 



When they are kept overnight in a separate 

 chicken house the floor under the roosts 

 should be covered with dry earth or sifted 

 coal ashes, and be cleaned out and renewed once 

 a week, or not less than once in two weeks, 

 according to the number of fowk it accommo- 

 dates, if you keep the roost poles and inside 

 of the hen house dusty your fowls will not be 

 troubled with lice, and the dropjiings mixed 

 with the earth or ashes form an excellent ma- 

 nure, a source of profit generally neglected. 



There ought also be kept a dusting box, 

 containing several bushels of dry earth, to ac- 

 commodate the fowls with a dust-bath during 

 the winter season. A few cart loads of dust 

 gathered off the road in the summer time and 

 lioused away, is the best that can be used for 

 both jmrposes. 



Do not keep your poultry confined in small 

 pens ; give them the run of the farmyard and 

 orchard whenever the crops allow. 



As to diseases of fowls, time will not allow 

 me to say much on the subject. If you have 

 observed the rules already given, the chances 

 are your poultry willjiot be much troubled by 

 disease. If, however, sickness shows itself, 

 notwithstanding, separate the sick ones imme- 

 diately from the rest ; and, unless a valuable 

 fowl, the cheapest remedy will be to take off 

 its head and bury both the fowl and the malady 

 deep enough under the ground to prevent the 

 others from catchiug it. I will say this, that 

 most of the diseases to which fowls are sub- 

 ject can be successfully treated if taken in 

 time ; sucli is my experience, and this includes 

 both cholera and rouj). 



Breeds. 



I will not undertake to discuss the relative 

 merits of the different breeds of fowls — all of 

 them have their admirers^morc than to say, 

 as a general rule, that the qwility of the meat 

 and eggs should be considered as well as size ; 

 that the meat and eggs of the large breeds 

 afe coarser and less nutritious than that of 

 the smaller or medium-sized l)reeds ; and 

 that any unnecessary appendage to a fowl 

 should be discouraged; and enormous combs or 

 crests, feathers on the legs and extra toes on 

 the feet should be bred out. A clean-headed, 

 clean-limbed, compactly built fowl will neces- 

 sarily have the advantage over others in all 

 respects while living, and will sell more readily 

 when dead. 



It may be thought that as poultry is often- 

 times sold by weight, the larger and heavier 

 breeds will be the most profitable. As far as 

 my observation goes respecting the sale of 

 dressed poultry in the Lancaster market, this 

 does not hold true ; the medium-sized fowls 

 are the first selected by purchasers for home 

 use. 



If I am mistaken in this, I hope I may be 

 corrected by some of those present who have 

 experience in the selling of poultry in our 

 market. 



For The Lancaster Faumer. 

 THE IMPROVING OF VARIETIES OF 

 FARM CROPS. 



The improvement of farm crops is a subject 

 which has often been pressed upon the atten- 

 tion of farmers, and if a little care and thought 

 would be bestowed upon it I have no doubt 

 but what many farmers would increase their 

 crops as much in this way as in trying to im- 

 prove their soils. 



■ The soil must, of course, be kept in the 

 best condition possible to raise large crops, 

 for it is the very foundation of all successful 



agriculture, but this alone will not insure suc- 

 cess if inferior varieties are planted. 



There are two methods that can be adopted 

 in trying to improve the different varieties 

 under cultivation : 



1st. Uy originating new varieties until one 

 has been luoduced better than any previous 

 ones ; and, Und. IJy selection of the more 

 vigorous individuals of varieties already in 

 exisfence. 



The latter mode is the best suited to the 

 situation of the regular farmer, and is one 

 which is entirely practicable to every one who 

 keeps his eyes open and lets nothing escape 

 his attention while at the regular routine of 

 farm work. 



Corn is one of the crops in which this is 

 most easily done, for in i)a88ing through the 

 field when ripe, or in cutting oft, or in husk- 

 ing, if any stalks are found witli extra sized 

 ears, and well filled, or if a stalk is found 

 with two good sized ears, that is the kind to 

 keep for seed, for, as like ])roduees like, it is 

 very probable that the offspring of such seed 

 will be like its parent. Calves from the best 

 cows are thus saved, with the expectation 

 that they will inherit the good qualities of the 

 mothers, and it is not unreasonable to expect 

 that vegetables will deviate from this gener- 

 ally accepted theory. The American Aijricul- 

 turist gives some good hints on the .selection of 

 corn, and goes to the root of the matter by 

 recommending that all stalks that show no 

 signs of ears should have their tassels removed, 

 so that the ears of good stalks would be fertil- 

 ized only by pollen from productive stalks. I 

 have no doubt at all but that this view is cor- 

 rect as in this, like in animals, the male (the 

 tassel) should be of as good and prolific an 

 origin as the female (ear) part of the stalk. 



In wheat, rye, oats, &c., the selection is 

 somewhat more difficult and requires more 

 judgment, but when any part of the field is 

 better than the remainder that, of course, 

 should be saved for seed. It does not matter 

 that such part may have received a little 

 more manure, or the soil may be naturally 

 lietter adapted for that crop, that the yield is 

 better is apparent, and we have more" reason 

 to believe that the seed from such part would 

 be likely to have a good bearing on the next 

 crop than if we selected the seed from the 

 poorest part of the field. We would not say 

 that a very great, or even a very perceptible 

 difference would be seen the very first year, 

 but let this course be followed for five or ten 

 years, aud the difference will then be plain 

 enough. 



Root crops that are raised from seed can be 

 changed very easily as regards .shape, and in 

 many cases the yield greatly increased ; but 

 root croi>s that arc raised from ciitlinys, such 

 as potatoes and sweet potatoes, are by many 

 supposed to yield equally well from large or 

 small tubers, and that neither quality nor 

 quantity will be unfavorably affected l)y using 

 the smaller specimens for seed. This is, I be- 

 lieve, on the theory, that as the cuttings are 

 parts of the plants the new plants will, of 

 cour.se, be like the parent plant, aud that the 

 small sized tubers have not deteriorated, liut 

 are simply not matured or fully grown. In 

 England an immature (not fully grown) (lotato 

 is generally preferred for seed to one that has 

 thoroughly ripened, as the former is thought 

 to make cuttings that are more certain to 

 grow. 



The question of using large potatoes, or 

 small ones, for planting is an old one, and 

 has never been settled, and for this reason I 

 would infer that it makes very little difference 

 which kind is used, for if any dillereuce existed 

 in favor of the larger tubers it would have 

 long ago been settled to the satisfaction of all 

 intelligent agriculturists. 



We now come to the other part of the sub- 

 ject — the raising of new varieties. 



In order to understand and practice this 

 mode intelligently, it must be distinctly under- 

 stood that there are two sexes in plants as 

 well as in animals, sometimes on different 

 plants, sometimes on the same plant, in most 

 cases in the same flower, la order that seed 



I may be produced, pollen, a yellowish du.st, 

 from the anther nl' the stamen (the male part 

 of the i>laut) must fall on the pistil (the female 

 jiart of the plant,) aiul this is called fertilizing 

 the llower. There are three dilVerent phases 

 of ferlili/ing : 



1st. When the plants arc only distantly re- 

 lated to each other, as wheat an<l rye ; this 

 has been accomiilished, but in tliis case, as in 

 all similar cases, the result was a imilc, or a 

 l)liint that was incapable of reproducing itself 

 from seed. The natural law by which mules 

 from hor.sos are produced, holds in jilants and 

 l)irds as well as in animals. These crosses 

 are successful only in a limited number of 

 ca,scs, and very rarely in the vegetable king- 

 dom. 



'Jd. When the plants are more nearly re- 

 lated. This has occurred naturally in the 

 oak, and is much employed by fiori.sts to pro- 

 duce new varieties of flowers ; among the 

 most familiar examples are begonias, fuchsias 

 and roses of diffcrrnt sprries, many of these 

 having now become so mixed as to make it 

 dillicult to determine from what species they 

 have sprung. 



The crossing of siiecigs is more common 

 than that of the first case, but is not always 

 successful, aud would, in the latter case, 

 l)robably only produce a nmle. When suc- 

 cessful the cross constitutes the true hijhrid. 



The best known hybrids in fruit are the 

 grapes, many of our best table grajies being 

 supposed, aud claimed to be, cresses between 

 the European wine grape and the American 

 (fox aud other) wild grapes. 



.'id. When tlie plants are varieties of the 

 same species and results from the fertilizing 

 of a variety of one species by that of another 

 variety of the .sin/ic species. This is what is 

 technically known as "across," and is the 

 only one that is of account to the farmer. 



VVhen two varieties, or two species, are 

 cros.sed, it looks very reasonable to supjiose 

 that the offspring would partake of the quali- 

 ties of both parents in about an equal degree, 

 but this is not always the case, sometimes the 

 cross taking after one and -sometimes after the 

 other of the parents in a greater or less de- 

 gree. When two varieties are crossed, other 

 things being equal, the one selected as the 

 mother should be the more robust of the two. 



The crossing of corn is the easiest and 

 surest of any of the farm crops. All that is 

 necessary is to jilant a row (or even only a 

 few grains,) of the kind selected as the mother 

 and cut off the tassels as soon as they appear 

 and hcfiire they shed any iiolleii. This makes 

 a sure cross for the pistils, (the silk of the 

 ear) can only be fertilized by the pollen of the 

 other variety of corn. If the two varieties 

 bloom at dilTerent times, as in yellow Canada 

 and large white, i>lautiiigs nnist be made at 

 different jieriods, so that some of the Stalks 

 will bloom at the .same time. 



New varieties of potatoes and fruits are 

 easily raised !)y merely planting the seeds 

 produced, for all these have been so often 

 crossed that to .spirt (change from the parent) 

 seems to have become a s»'cond nature. No 

 sanguine expectations, however, must be in- 

 dulged ill over any seedling until it has per- 

 fected fruit, for probably not one in a hun- 

 dred, wlieu the seed is from a good variety, 

 will be as good as the parent, and to surpass 

 a really good parent variety may take thou- 

 sands of seedlings. It is very ofi;eu the case 

 that a good seedling may be raised which will 

 surpass the parent in one or two points, but 

 fall far short in others. 



The crossing of varieties has teen made a 

 business or .a pleasure by some, the most noted 

 among which are in strawberries, Scth Boy- 

 den ; in eherrie»s. Dr. Kirtland ; in grapes, 

 Mr. Rogers ; in potatoe.s, Mr. Pringle, who 

 has now turned his attention to spring wheat. 

 These men have all been successful, and no 

 doubt awe their success to giving their undi- 

 vided attention to ))roducing a certain result 

 and not scattering their efforts. 



The producing of new varieties by crosses 

 is exceedingly ditficult in wheat, oats and 

 similar grains, as also in turuip, carrot, beet 



