118 



THE LANCASTER FARMER. 



[August, 



at the depth of a quarter of an iiicli, as the 

 first ; ten days after half full of comb, a fe.w 

 more deposits of eggs, but not more than half 

 the number as the first twenty days bees 

 hatching. This brood was all, the (jueen laying 

 no more eggs; although she had good healthy 

 drones she became non-fertile. I then freed 

 them by moving the wire, the drones all 

 coming out, but soon returned again. They 

 have since dwindled down to a very few 

 workers and half the drones ; the (jueen ap- 

 parently strong and all right. I shall kill 

 them, as it is now too late to give them 

 another queen. 



This manner ofexperimenting is the only way 

 to thoroughly nnderstand their nature and 

 habits. I have also tried other projects with 

 them. Bee-keepers generally approve of ad- 

 mitting air to the hive in dilferent parts ; I have 

 proven tliat they need no more than what will 

 enter the passage-way, and if half of that was 

 closed for a few days after the swarm was put in 

 they will build comb twice as fast ; tlie hive 

 being empty it contains too much air until it 

 is pretty near full. I have hives made on my 

 own plan with frames for tlie surplus honey, 

 and in front of those divisions I have a one- 

 inch hole covered with fine wire. When 

 working on the frames the combs were cov- 

 ered with bees. I concluded it was to keep 

 them warm or soft, as the new and fresh 

 brought in would not adhere, being too hard ; 

 must be a certain temperature, the same as 

 two pieces of iron to weld them ; I plugged 

 up the holes. The bees left the combs soon 

 after and went out to work, and their labor 

 increased two-fold ; and I believe by this 

 means I have twice tlie amount of surplus 

 honey, having taken already as much as sixty 

 pounds from some of them. I have a number 

 of hives made on my own plan. I have made 

 some improvements on the first, and I think 

 they are now as near riglit as can be made, 

 having frame room suflicient for seventy-five 

 pounds of surplus honey. They can be ar- 

 ranged so that the bees will swarm from them, 

 or they will stay at home, and you can get 

 their labor on the frames in surplus honey 

 from the entire summer's hatching. Tliis is 

 what I want — lioney — not bees. 



N. B. — If any one of the members of the 

 Lancaster Bee-keepers' Association would like 

 to have one I would gladly make one and send 

 it to him ; it w^oidd be a model hive, and from 

 the same he can make others, as there is no 

 patent on it. — Tours respectfully. Win. J. 

 Pyle, West Chester, Pa. 



For The Lancaster Farmer. 

 WHEN IS THE BEST TIME TO SOW 

 WHEAT AND HOW TO PREPARE 

 THE SOIL. 



These propositions are of great importance. 

 The preparation of the soil comes first. 

 First, haul the manure on the land, and 

 then plow it under as soon as possible ; 

 for if it hes long before it is plowed under, 

 much of the ammonia will escape and there 

 will be a loss of strength. But when is the 

 best time to plow ? Most agricultural writers 

 say early plowing is the best, but I say, plow 

 when the soil is in good condition for plowing 

 and not too early. If I could choose the time 

 and have the soil in good condition I would 

 choose the middle of 'August. Koll it as fast 

 as you plow, if the soil is not too wet. I think 

 there is not much difference between late and 

 early plowing if the soil is otherwise in a good 

 plowing condition. But if a farmer has much 

 to plow he had better begin early. If a field 

 is infested with weeds it is best to plow it 

 before they get too rank and mature their 

 seeds. I have sometimes commenced early to 

 plow in a field that was in good condition at 

 first, but which afterwards became dry and 

 hard, and then I discontiiuied the plowing 

 until it rained , and have not been able to re- 

 sume it until seed time, and then I plowed the 

 remainder of the field and drilled the whole 

 crosswise, and had a good harvest all over the 

 field, no difference appearing between the late 

 and early plowing. Another point I might 

 jDentiou, and that is, a clayey soil should be 



plowed in the rising of the moon ; it will not 

 get so hard and compact as when plowed in 

 the setting of the moon. I know the majority 

 of people have no faith in the moon, and per- 

 haps would not make a trial of it, and if they 

 did make a trial they might find little or no 

 diflerence at all the first year, and in such a 

 case they would be apt to give it up and say, 

 it makes no diflerence. But keep on and fol- 

 low this rule every time you plow, and the 

 difference will finally be apparent. Some 

 people say they get just as nice potatoes when 

 they i)lant small seed as they do when they 

 lilant large seed, and this is often true in the 

 first year, but let them continue for several 

 years in succession and they will certainly find 

 a vast difference. It is the same in plowing. 

 A soil that is too loose should be plowed in the 

 setting of the moon. But whether the plow- 

 ing be late or early, or in the rising or setting 

 of the moon, jn-eparc the soU well. If hard 

 use the shovel-harrow, if lumpy use the roller 

 freely ; in short, make the soil loose and fine, 

 and to a good depth, in order that the roots 

 of the plants can strike down deep nito the 

 soil. Roll before drilling. Never work the 

 soil when too wet. Put the seed in very shal- 

 low, just enough of soil upon it to cover all 

 the seed, even if an occasional seed here and 

 there is uncovered. The quantity of seed to 

 an acre is from one and a half to two bush- 

 els. The poorer the soil the thicker it should 

 be sowed, and I consider the best time to sow 

 is from the 2Uth to the 2.5th of September, one 

 year with another. If sowed too early it is more 

 apt to become infested by the '• Hessian fiy " 

 than if sowed later. If sowed too late, and 

 winter sets in early, the young plants will not 

 be sufliciently rooted to bear the winter's cold 

 without injury. 



Another point : In a hilly field run the 

 drill along the side of the hill, that the water 

 from heavy rains may not run off so freely as 

 to wash out the drill rows ; but on a level 

 field run the drills from east to west, so that 

 the sun will not shine lengthwise in the rows 

 at mid-day. 



It woidd be well enough to have the drill 

 rows run from north to south during the sum- 

 mer, but not during the winter. Constant 

 thawing and freezing is injurious to the young 

 plants ; therefore, drill from east to west. lii 

 the winter the sun is low, and if drilled in the 

 direction I have mentioned, it will not thaw 

 in the bottom of the rows when it is once 

 frozen hard, excei)t the weather becomes very 

 warm ; and if a little snow is on the ground 

 it will not melt away so soon as it will when 

 the drill rows run from north to south. — /, G., 

 Warivick, August, 1878. 



For The Lancaster Farmer. 

 RANDOM THOUGHTS— No. 3. 



Wheat Culture. 



The experiment of Mr. Groff, of this county, 

 is being watched and connneuted on by a 

 great many agricultural papers, and the re- 

 port of the yield is looked forward to with a 

 great deal of interest. 



Some few pajiers have articles showing that 

 it is not a new thing. It is not claimed to be 

 new, as it is very well known to all readers of 

 agricultural papers that it has been iiracticed 

 for many years to some extent in European 

 countries, notably that of England. 



I believe the only claims laid are that it has 

 never been tried on the same .scale in this 

 country, and that the working of four drills — 

 the width of a grain drill — with implements 

 made specially for that purpose that can be 

 attached to the grain drill, is a step far in 

 advance of anything heretofore known. 



The experiments l)y working with a hoe, or 

 by using a harrow-shovel plow, like that men- 

 tioned in the New Era, as being used by a 

 gentleman in North Cai'olina, were not d suc- 

 cess ; for though there may have been a large 

 mcrease in the yield, the costly maimer of 

 working would more than eat the profit de- 

 rived from the increased quantity. As all 

 operations must be measured by the amount 

 of profit, it must be seen to that as large an 



increase must bo made as jjossibly can be with 

 the least possible amount of labor. 



I have no doubt that the culture of wheat 

 will become pretty general, in the course of 

 some years, in the Eastern and Middle States, 

 where the price of land rules high, and the 

 wheat bruigs high prices because it is right at 

 market i but in the Western States the culture 

 will never become general until their lands 

 approach somewhat in price that paid in the 

 East. On the easily-worked, cheap Western 

 lands, the object is to get the largest natural 

 yield with the least labor ; with us, to get the 

 largest mcrease over a natural yield with the 

 smallest amount of labor. 



A few members of the Fulton Farmers' 

 Club had no success in cultivating wheat, but 

 that may have arisen from several causes, and 

 which it may jierhaps be profitable to discuss. 



1st. Dr. Sturtevant, in the Scientific Farmer, 

 advances the idea that in corn, wheat and 

 other crops of this nature, the ninning of a 

 cultivator or harrow between the rows cuts 

 olf (prunes) the roots, and that when a root 

 is so cut it throws out a great many rootlets 

 and the plant thus gets the benefit of a larger 

 amount of plant-food from the same space of 

 soil. This no doubt is correct, but should the 

 pruning be too severe the plant would un- 

 doubtedly get a check from which it would 

 never fully recover. Now, may not these 

 members have had their wheat drilled too 

 close, and by running a harrow through cut 

 the roots too close to the plant ? 



2nd. Root-pruning is only recommended 

 and only advisalile when the growth is rank; 

 this pruning, which gives a temporary check 

 to the plant, seeming to change the growth 

 from leaf forming to fruit (or seed) forming. 

 On poor land, or any soil only in medium con- 

 dition, the growth is never vei-y rampant, and 

 I have no douljt the plant in such soils spends 

 as much of its vitality towards fruit forming 

 as it can, and at the same time have left suffi- 

 cient for the needs of the leaf and stalk. It is 

 very apparent tliat on soils of this kind cul- 

 ture would not be of any benefit, and most 

 likely would only injure the plant by weaken- 

 ing its vitality. 



As far as experiments have been made it 

 has been made pretty clearly manifest that the 

 cultivation of wheat will pay in our part of 

 the country where the soil is in high condi- 

 tion ; on poor soil it will pay neither with nor 

 without cultivation. 



Fox and Tobacco. 



This is generally reckoned as a disease, and 

 is more dreaded by the tobacco farmers than 

 any other of the mishaps to which tobacco is 

 subject. 



As the appearance of fox is familar to all 

 who farm tobacco it is not necessary to give 

 a description of it, but we will endeavor to 

 discuss the cause and the cure, only remark- 

 ing that what is known as "lion's tongue" 

 is proliably only an aggravated form of fox. 



As to the time of its appearance there is no 

 question. I believe the disease invariably 

 manifests itself after a rain, when we have 

 had a long spell of hot weather, particularly 

 when very dry. The ground now becomes 

 very hot, and when tliis is followed by a smart 

 rain the roots imtjibe so much liquid from the 

 now moist and warm soil as to start the plant 

 into an unnatural growth; unnatural because 

 tlie liquids taken up by the plant are in excess, 

 relative proportions usually existing between 

 the vegetable fibre and the sap. 



Tliat this is probably the case will be ap- 

 p.u'eiit on an examination of the growth 

 itself, the ap]iearance being watery and the 

 leaf very weak and tender, because there is 

 not solid matter enough for the amount of 

 fluid. There are certain soils that are more 

 suliject to it than others, and the condition of 

 the soil has also much bearing on it. 



Of all soils, in a normal state, black slate 

 soil is the surest to produce fox, and next in 

 order comes black limestone soil. Both these 

 become very hot and to a considerable depth, 

 and the first smart dash of rain brings the 

 dreaded disease. Next after these two soils 

 is the light sandy soil, when it lies high, so as 



