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THE LANCASTER FARMER. 



[August, 



Fur The J>ancaster Farmee. 

 STRAWBERRY CULTURE. 

 The strawberry season is over, and as the 

 time for making new jilantings is coming on 

 it may not be unprofitable to compare notes 

 as to varieties, productiveness, time to plant, 

 &c. Strawberries will grow in a variety of 

 soils, but do best in a rich, porous soil that 

 does not become baked in dry weather. My 

 soil becomes extremely hard, and owing to 

 dry June weather, for five or six years past, 

 the crop was somewhat of a failure. I have 

 been cultivating the strawberry for a quarter 

 of a century, and have in that time tested 

 many varieties. I commenced with Early 

 Scarlet, Crimson Cone, Buist's Prize, and 

 Hovey's Seedling. About that time the Som- 

 Wilson came in, and which we have been 

 trying ever since to supersede, by the intro- 

 duction, from time to time, of the following 

 varieties : 



Boston Pine, Black Prince, Burr's New 

 Pine, Troliope's Victoria, Longworth's Pro- 

 lific, Seedling Eliza, Ida, Ladies' Pinre, Rus- 

 sel's Prolific, French's Seedling, McAvoy's 

 Superior, Green Prolific, Downer, Nicanor, 

 Jucunda, Kentucky, Triumph de Gand, Agri- 

 culturist, Star of the West, Green Prolific, 

 Seth Boyden, Charles Downing, and a host of 

 others, the names of wh ich I cannot now recall. 

 These were gathered in at a price ranging 

 from 25 cents to S5.00 a dozen. But the 

 Sour Wilson, like Bantpio's Ghost, will not be 

 put down. Among the whole of the above 

 list there is Ijut one that makes a show in 

 competing with it in productiveness and profit 

 to the raiser, and that one is the Charles 

 Dowiiing. This is a better colored and better 

 flavored berry, and in productiveness is nearly 

 or quite a match for the Wilson. Another 

 year or two will decide which is entitled to 

 the "belt." This contest has been one prin- 

 cipally of profit to the market gardener. The 

 amateur's growing desire is quality first, 

 and then as much productiveness as can be 

 crowded in. This desire, or want, is very 

 well understood by pei'sons engaged in pro- 

 ducing new varieties, and especially well by 

 those sharpers known as " tree agents," who 

 annually flood the county with new varieties 

 that are large, productive, good. (V) The 

 favorable notice that Monarch of the West, 

 Cumberland Triumph, Crescent, Great Ameri- 

 can and several others have received, would 

 show that the new ones are not quite all 

 humbugs. 



In selecting a piece of ground for a straw- 

 berry patch let it be nearly level. The amount 

 of hoeing required, and the frequent heavy 

 rains we have will tell you the reason for the 

 above advice. Manure and cultivate your 

 ground same as if you were making a good 

 garden. For amateur patches I prefer to 

 plant three rows about fifteen inches apart in 

 a bed, and the plants the same distance apart 

 in the rows, with a space of from 2i to 3 feet 

 between the beds. This gives room for the 

 plants to develop and also standing room for 

 working. The time to plant is any time in 

 the growing season that you have good plants. 

 This is usually early in the spring, and is, 

 under the usual circumstances, about the only 

 good time to plant. If you raise your own 

 plants you can, when they become strong, lift 

 them out with a trowel, w^ith the earth adhering 

 to tliem, and plant at any time, with a pros- 

 pect of having a good crop next season. Or, 

 if you have your plants to buy, it will pay to 

 contract with your nurseiyman to layer in 

 pots the number of plants you want. 



Plants grown in this way have so many ad- 

 vantages that they are well worth the addi- 

 tional cost. Plants thus ]int up can be had 

 from $1.50 to S3.00 per hundred, price ranging 

 according to variety and season. When the 

 planting is properly done the work is by no 

 means finished. Tlien cultivation is in order. 

 The best rule I ever saw practiced wiis to 

 hoe once a week during the entire season, 

 weeds or no weeds, and at the same time 

 keeping off all the runners. Late in the foil, 

 when no more weeds will grow, it is well to 

 give them a light mulching with coarse stable 



manure. In the spring this mulch may be 

 taken from the crown of the plants, but may 

 remain between the plants to keep the fruit 

 clean. Weeds at this season should be pidled. 

 As soon as the fruit is over, the once a week 

 hoeing can be resumed. It rarely pays to 

 keep a bed longer than three years. By ])lant- 

 ing a new bed every year a rotation of thrifty 

 beds can be ket up. — C. H., Conestoija. Awi.. 

 1878. 



LETTER FROM NORTH CAROLINA. 



Salisbury, N. C, July 27, 1878. 

 Editor L.\nc aster Farmer : The wheat 

 and oats crop has been gathered, and much of 

 both threshed out. The wheat crop is about 

 a half one in this (Rowan) county, and some 

 inferior in the grain. Oats sown last fall 

 turned out well, but that sown the past spring 

 is short in quantity and quality. Early Irish 

 potatoes turned out well in quantity and 

 quality. Corn, so for as I can learn, bids 

 tolerably fair ; so does cotton and tobacco. 

 Apples are a short crop ; peaches, pears, 

 plums and prunes are plentiful. Apples, 

 peaches and pears are defective ; I attribute 

 this to the cold weather when fruit trees were 

 in bloom. Grajjes at this time promise a 

 good cro]), both in quantity and quality. The 

 hay crop is good and plentiful. Our garden 

 crops, generally speaking, turned out well. 

 In the month of June the weather was cool, 

 and the latter part of June and first part of 

 July very dry weather, and part of the time 

 very warm, but within a fortnight past we 

 had fine and seasonable rains here. I see in 

 newsi)apers published in your county that 

 politics there as well as here seem to be the 

 leading topic of the day. I say, more bread 

 and meat and less "fuss and feathers. " I could 

 say more but do not wish to occupy the space 

 of more able writers. — M. R. 



LETTER FROM IOWA. 



Holland, Grundy county, Iowa, ) 

 August 10th, 1878. J 



Editor Farmer : Our farmers are about 

 through with their harvest work, and thresh- 

 ing has commenced in good earnest. During 

 the cutting of the wheat crop great fears were 

 entertained of a very light crop, some farmers 

 becoming quite despondent ; many were on 

 the verge of starvation with full granaries 

 and a reasonable crop in prospect. It must be 

 remembered that we, with the rest of man- 

 kind, are blessed with chronic grumblers — 

 those "never will be satisfied" sort of fellows. 

 The wheat suffered some from the hot wave 

 that passed over the United States, though in 

 reality this State has suft'ered less than some 

 others. A variety of wheat, the "Lost 

 Nation," tested for the first time this spring, 

 proved almost worthless. The old standard 

 varieties, especially the bearded, yield from 

 three-fourths to a full crop. Yesterday we 

 saw wheat brought into market which 

 weighed 58 lbs. per bushel, 21 bushels per 

 acre, the berry being fine and plump. There 

 are some fields that do not average this, pos- 

 sibly not over 12 to 15 bushels, though taking 

 it all in all our farmers certainly have no 

 cause to complain. The oats crop yields 

 enormous, and corn from present appearance, 

 promises over a full crop, the weather being 

 very favorable to its early maturity. The hay 

 crop is very fine, both in quality and quantity. 



Insect depredations thus far have amounted 

 to nothing whatever. Potato bugs have been 

 very few ; I do not believe that a pound of 

 Paris green has been sold to farmers in this 

 section of country. The fruit crop has done 

 well thus far, and is in the market at low 

 rates. Of hogs there has been rather a falling 

 off, the low lu-ices of last fall having caused 

 farmers to sell ofE many of their breeding 

 sows ; thus there will possibly not be as much 

 pork raised in this county as there waa last 

 fall, though I understand some of our farmers 

 have from 500 to 2,000 head, which a Lancas- 

 ter county farmer would think was sufficient 

 to all "intents and purposes." 



This county (Grundy) is as fine a farming 

 county as there is in the State, as good a 



one as there is out of doors, though it labors 

 under the want of a better system of farm- 

 ing ; too much of the lands are yet farmed 

 under the primitive western system — sort of 

 robbery. If some of your Lancaster county 

 farmers would have this land they would raise 

 magnificent crops. If you, Mr. Editor, would 

 see how some of the land is farmed you would 

 not be surprised at a "practical" failure of 

 crops, but rather would query how it was that 

 anything grew worth mentioning. That there 

 are some good farmers here caimot be denied, 

 but they are like angels' visits ; they get 

 along well, are making money and liave things 

 in good shape ; while, on the other baud, 

 there are a large number here who are land 

 poor ; came here, saw the beautiful lands 

 spread out before them, and could not with- 

 stand the temptation of putting all their 

 money in land, even purchasing on "tick" 

 and paying a heavy interest, thus giving 

 themselves and their properties over to that 

 hideous monster, "debt," and are now in ex- 

 tremely straitened circumstances. For in- 

 stance, I know of a farmer near this place 

 owning 1,250 acres of fair land ; he has his 

 land farmed, receiving the one-third as his 

 share ; keeps one cow and three horses ; a few 

 hogs, which he sells when fattened, and pur- 

 chases hams at 14 cents per pound and lard at 

 12 cents. Is it a wonder that he is poor ? He 

 may be seen from early morning till late in 

 the evening loafing at the grocery, talking 

 politics, while his farm is going to sticks as 

 rapidly as possible. What Ljtncaster county 

 farmer, with the same amount of energy and 

 perseverance, would last long ? Is it much 

 wonder times are hard with him ? Would that 

 some Lancaster county farmer had hold of 

 this place. AVe have had an extremely favor- 

 able season for growing crops ; plenty of rain 

 and warm weather, which put tilings ahead 

 with astonishing rapidity. I do wish some of 

 your county folks would visit this section of 

 Iowa and see the beautiful farming lands. — 

 Yours, W. H. S. 



^ 



SOWING TURNIP SEED. 

 We know how much depends on our cotton, 

 wheat and corn crops, and just about as much 

 depends in England on the turnip crop. It is 

 the great crop of aU on which the prosperity 

 of English agriculture chiefly turns. To show 

 how carefully it is managed, we give an ex- 

 tract from a recent prize essay in regard to 

 sowing the seed. It might be added that it 

 refers to the Swede, a turnip which is sown 

 there about the end of May : "As drilling on 

 the flat is the most general mode of cultiva- 

 tion we shall therefore consider that if the 

 weather is very dry it may be bad policy to 

 plow the land just before drilling, but to 

 scarify instead, which will destroy the weeds 

 without losing the moisture so essential 

 towards vegetating the seed. The manure to 

 be applied must to some extent depend upon 

 the state of the land previously, because if the 

 ground is full of manure from former cultiva- 

 tion, 3 cwt. of superphosphate per acre with 

 a few ashes, or line chalk, will prove an ample 

 dressing. On the other hand if the land is 

 poor, 2 cwt. of Peruvian guano may be applied 

 per acre, but not with the drill, as we have 

 known it to kill the seed, and therefore prefer 

 to sow it broadcast after tlie plants are strong, 

 and horse-hoe immediately afterwards. If it 

 is sown broadcast when the seed is drilled it 

 encourages the weeds without benefiting the 

 young i)lants iu tlie same proportion. It de- 

 cided upon the distance at which the seed 

 should be drilled. After many years of ex- 

 periments upon this i)oint we prefer twenty 

 inches between the rows, and leaving the 

 plants at fifteen or eighteen inches apart in 

 the lines, according to the nature of the soil, 

 the only exception being on liind more than 

 usually subject to annual weeds. It is best 

 then to drill the seed at twenty-four to twenty- 

 seven inches between the lines in order to 

 facilitate horse-hoeing, and at this distance 

 the plants may be left closer in the lines so as 

 to obtain not less than 120 plants to the rod. 

 We like to drill about two and a half to three 



