88 



THE LANCASTER FARMER. 



[June, 



lie had lieen reading ; and, lastlj^ many times 

 a single hint or idea, not occupying one-fourtli 

 of a column, or perhaps only a few lines, may 

 be worth the subscription price for years to 

 come. 



How It Must be Done. 



But to resume, the farmer must make each 

 stroke count, do his work thoroughly, and 

 raise the largest crops with the least expense 

 possilile. In lessening the expense it must not 

 be done V)y cultivating crops less than ))efore, 

 but to make an increased amnuut oi culti\'ation 

 bring a two-fold increase in the cro]JS. Let 

 no land lie idle (or fallow), but make it work 

 like his horses or himself, continuously. 



It is also advisable that as great a variety 

 as possible be the ainv. This is not only be- 

 cause if one product may be below the paying 

 point another may be produced with profit, 

 but most soils seem to improve under a variety 

 in cultivation that would run out under the 

 system that produces only one or two leading 

 varieties. This is explaiued on the ground 

 that crops take up the materials in the soil in 

 ditlcrent in-oportions, that which is not needed 

 very much by one crop is perhaps the very 

 thing wanted by the succeeding crops. 



The want of rotation is shown in the west. 

 "We read in the papers of the great fertility of 

 the soil and the immense production. As I 

 have never been " out west " to judge, the 

 fertility of its soil will be admitted, but I 

 say that their average production does not 

 show it. 



Crops in Brag States. 



Ib 187.5 Illinois raised the enormous quan- 

 tity of 280 million bushels of corn and yet the 

 average was only 34.3 bushels per acre ; Iowa 

 followed next in quantity with an average of 

 .35 bushels ; in 1876 Illinois fell to 223 million 

 bushels, with an average of only 25 bushels 

 per acre; Iowa, though like in Illinois, more 

 acres were put out, had also a marked decrease, 

 and an average of but 30 bushels per acre. 



So it is with all other crops of these much 

 vaunted States. It is not the enormous crops 

 per acre that make the quantities, but the 

 large extent of land under these crops. It 

 may be that the virgin soil will bring 80 to 85 

 bushels of corn with little cultivation, and .'SO 

 to 40 bushels of wheat, but tlie farmers there 

 certainly have a knack of bringing them to 

 below the average in a short time. And this 

 crop, which ot all others delights in a fertile 

 soil andplenty of sunshine, yields in the soutli 

 only from 10 "to 17 bushels per acre, which a 

 northern man would declare a total failure. 

 Cotton and Profit. 



That all is not gold that glitters can lie seen 

 in looking up the statistics of the once power- 

 ful " king cotton." 1 thought still, and I sup- 

 pose most northern people did the same, that 

 cotton was one of the paying crops in the south, 

 and for that reason in some sections did not 

 engage in general agriculture; but the puli- 

 lislied statistics knocked it all into "pie." 

 The average yield in 1876 was only 190 pounds 

 per acre ; that of 1875, the largest yield since 

 the war to that time, was only 108 pounds ; 

 while the yield of 1874 was less than 160 

 poimds. The money value. In 1875 the 

 amount of money realized per acre was an 

 average of .$25.26 ; in 1870, 1 think it was 

 somewhat less than SIO.OO per acre. As long 

 as cotton ranged from 20 to 40 cents per jiound 

 there was of course some money in it, Init 

 when it sunk below 12 and 14 cents per pound 

 the profit w'ould not have satisfied a Lancas- 

 ter county farmer, the average profit being 

 but little over one dollar per acre in 1876. 



Probably our thoroughgoing farmers of the 

 north here would make a better showing than 

 this, for this crop has been known to produce 

 over 900 pounds to the acre, and I have no 

 doubt if the right class take hold of it the 

 yield will be in the neighborhood of 500 to 

 COO potmds per acre. This would no doubt 

 leave a hanclsome profit. 



New Productions. 



The raising of a greater variety of crops 

 must be accomplished in many instances by 

 raising such as lifive not usually been raised 



before, at least in the neighborhood, and 

 sometimes not in that part of the world. In 

 no case should any extensive o]ierations be 

 commenced liy a novice, as the result in nine 

 cases out of ten would be a failure, and per- 

 haps financially ruin the individual. 



The raising of sugar beets for making sugar 

 has often been recommended as a sure and 

 paying business, and I thought myself that it 

 was an industry that was unaccountably ne- 

 glected. The cost of the machinery stands in 

 the way of general inti'oduction, being as high 

 as one hundred and si.xty thousand dollars, 

 (■'ffl60,000) and the process very intricate. 

 The amount of beets raised from an acre, 

 when intended for sugar is also comparatively 

 small, being given by the Amermm Agricul- 

 turist at only eight tons per acre, the 40 ton 

 crops being worthless for sugar, and good only 

 for feeding stock. 



Not understanding all the details is in 

 nearly all cases the direct cause of failure, and 

 this was one of the causes for the decline in 

 raising sorghum. Where the parties have 

 become initiated into the process, the raising 

 of this crop has become profitable, and I have 

 no doubt it may, in time, be raised again in 

 considerable quantities in these parts. 



There are many other products which can 

 be raised in diflerent parts of the United 

 States, and most probably will be, among 

 which are the following : 



The tea plant, olive and fig plant for lower 

 part of Virginia and south. Jute for moist 

 Southern States ; vanilla in Florida ; rape 

 seed (for oil) in the north. The castor bean 

 is considerably cultivated in Missouri, and is 

 probably profitable. These are comparatively 

 new industries, and it remains to be seen as 

 to their profitableness. 



The conservative farmer will, of course, not 

 need advice, for if he makes any experiments 

 it will be on crops that have been raised more 

 or less ; and this is the best course, for all 

 new manias ruin more people than they bene- 

 fit, and it is only after the mania has passed 

 away that solid profit comes in. — A. B. K. 



For The Lancaster Farmer, 

 AROUND THE FARM.— No. 9. 



There was once a Turk who on his death- 

 bed provided for the construction of a fountain, 

 on the sides of which was carved a request for 

 the prayers of all that should drink of it. 

 This was a good idea ; if it did not benefit 

 him it benefited posterity. We are, as a ride, 

 not fully alive to the importance of having a 

 plentiful sup))ly of good water. Every farm- 

 yard should have its penstock of running 

 water, accesibleat all times to man and beast. 

 By the hj'draulic ram water can be raised to 

 places on hills. Cisterns can also be con- 

 structed to take the water ofl' the roofs of 

 farm buildings. According to an authority, a 

 roof 10 feet square will give 70 barrels a year; 

 one 30 by 40 gives 864 barrels a year, or more 

 than two barrels a day, allowing the rainfiiU 

 in this latitude to be 36 inches. 



Where springs are not in reach water may 

 ))e raised by windmills, but whatever the 

 means used, water should be supplied to the 

 farm, and that abundantly. 



While driving through the country, a few 

 days ago, in passing the residence of Mr. 

 Fred. Frey, near C'reswell, I noticed that he 

 has provided a drinking trougli along the 

 roadside for horses, and judging by the 

 numerous tracks iu the road it is liberally 

 patronized, and many a poor, thirsty horse, 

 through the kindness and liberality of Mr. 

 Frey, gets a drink there who would otherwise 

 have to suffer thirst. Could we not have 

 more such ptdjlic-spirited citizens that would 

 erect drinking troughs along the road.side 

 where there is running water ? 



Potato Beetles. , 



"What is the reason you have no potato 

 bugs, while I have so many ?" asked a neigh- 

 bor the other day. "It is a mystery to me as 

 well as you," I replied. "We expected a 

 plentiful supply, because we had potatoes in 

 the same lot last year, and we inferred that 



sufficient beetles hibernated to produce a 

 numerous progeny this spring." 



But the fact is, we had less bugs this year 

 than any previous one since thej' are among 

 us. Our potatoes are nearly a foot high and 

 are yet clean. I cannot account for it, unless 

 fall plowing did the business. I put manure 

 on and plowed down in November, and left 

 lay until planting time, when I plowed again. 

 Perhaps the beetles were frozen during the 

 winter. Can not our excellent editor and 

 scientist give us some light on the suljject 

 from the above facts V — Buralist, Creswcll, 

 Pa.,. Tune -2, 1878. 



LANCASTER COUNTY TOBACCO. 



The Crop of Last Year — Its Extent and Value- 

 Prospects of the 1878 Plant. 



At the close of the iiurchasing season and 

 the opening of the yearly plant the statistician 

 posts his books and reviews the extent and 

 value of the last year's croj) of tobacco in this 

 covmty with a view to calculate ujion the 

 future imjiortance of this element of our agri- 

 cultural industry. Prophets of evil never tire 

 of telling the farmers hereabouts that, in the 

 long run, tobacco raising is certain to be an 

 injury, and that its deleterious effects upon 

 the land will eventually far exceed the tempo- 

 rary profits from its cultivation. 



Victor E. Piollet, the great Bradford 

 farmer and a leading memljcr of the order of 

 Grangers, pours this into the ears of Lancas- 

 ter county farmers whenever he meets or ad- 

 dresses them, and even a small number 

 of our home farmers are influenced by such 

 considerations, and one of our most intelli- 

 gent and progressive agricidturists positively 

 refuses to allow a stalk of toljacco to be grown 

 on his premises. They point to the desolate J 

 and waste plantations of "ole Virginny" in I 

 demonstration of their theory ; but they for- 

 get the marked difference between the thrifty 

 system of farming in vogue here and the 

 thriftlessuess which marked the operations in 

 the Old Dominion years ago. With the farm- 

 ers in Lancaster county tlie rule is to put as 

 much back on the soil as is taken off, and for 

 this return they have found Jiothing so good 

 as barnyard manure. Accoi-dingly the feed- 

 ing of stock cattle has been greatly increased 

 in this section of late years, and in considera- 

 tion of the more highly appreciated services 

 of the barnyard manure farmers have been 

 satisfied with less direct returns from tlieir 

 stock-feeding operations. By the liberal use 

 of this fertilizer the exhaustion of the soil 

 caused by the culture of tobacco has been 

 effectually counteracted, and by its profuse 

 application lands planted year after year in 

 tobacco show the same steady improvement 

 as other jiarts of the farm. Occasionally, 

 when a field is seen to have had an overdose 

 of the "weed," there is a rotation of crops, 

 and a year in wheat followed by a crop in 

 clover restores it to its original condition. So 

 far as this apprehension of exhausted lands 

 goes it will be many days before the Lancaster 

 county farmers abancjon the cultivation of 

 tobacco. 



With regard to the value of the crop of 

 last year and its relation to that of succeeding 

 years, it is estimated that the total amount 

 was about 40,000 cases of 400 pounds each — 

 16.000,000 pounds — which, at an average of 

 fifteen cents, would represent »2,400,000, a 

 very material interest. Of these 40,000 cases 

 at least 34,000 cases have already been bought 

 up, and, with the exception of proliably 1,000 

 cases shipped by jobbers, are now lying in the 

 various warehouses in this city. There are 

 lirobably 5,000 or 6,000 cases of the crop of 

 1877 in the hands of the growers, by whom it 

 has been cased, and most of which will be 

 held over by them. 



Of the crojis of former years there are not 

 more than 100 cases in the hands of parties 

 here, and probably 5,000 cases iu the hands of 

 the buyers. In quality the crop of 1877 was 

 of lighter weight to the acre than usual, 

 .averaging about 1,500 pounds, but in quality, 

 though decried at first, is conceded to be al- 



