178 



THE LANCASTER FARMER. 



[December, 



Propagation," which we offer at 30 cents 

 each ; regular jirice 50 cents. Also, ten copies 

 of " Scribner's Lumber and Log BooIj," a 

 new and revised edition ; price, 20 cents. 

 Half a million copies of this useful little book 

 have been sold since ils first introduction to 

 the world. 



OUR AGGREGATE. 

 By referring to our index to the present 

 volume of The Faumek, it will be perceived 

 that during the year we furnished each of our 

 readers with seren hundred distinct articles 

 and thii ty illustmiions — all for one hundred 

 cents — that is, seven for one cent. Some of 

 these articles are three oi' four columns in 

 length, and contain several subjects. Many 

 of them wrilten out by the editor and his con- 

 tributors. Will our patrons and the public 

 reflect upon the labor required to write. Select, 

 arrange, print and send these articles to the 

 people ? It takes almost as much labor to 

 read an article as it does to write one — in- 

 deed, the almost universal testimony is that 

 reading up and selecting is more laborious, 

 and requires as much skill, as writing. When 

 we have furnished seven articles, and earned 

 the penny, what can we get for it '? Not a 

 decent cigar ; not a good apple ; not an egg ; 

 perhaps half a dozen peanuts. It does not 

 cover the ground to respond that each sub- 

 scriber pays his peimy ; for every duplication of 

 the first sheet costs pap'jr, and ink, and labor, 

 to say nothing ahout the waste of material 

 and labor in proof-sheets and corrections. 

 Fellow-mortals, think of these things. 



AS OTHERS SEE US. 



Now that the long evenings have set in, 

 ever farmer should invest a dollar in that most 

 excellent agricultural journal — The Laxcas- 

 TEK Farmer — and thus oblain the views and 

 experiences of our best and most successful 

 farmers. It will prove an interesting and also 

 a very profitable investment. Linnfeus Kath- 

 von, publisher, Lancaster, Pa. — New Holland 

 Clarion. 



A good idea — a most capital idea — the New 

 Holland Clarion is ' ' given to no uncertain 

 sound," and never has hesitated to let its 

 sound be heard where it can do good. The 

 Messrs. Ranck & Sands, tlie enterprising edi- 

 tors and proprietors, publish a live paper, and 

 have an appreciation of what is going on in 

 the world around them, and it is a satisfaction 

 to us to know that .their paper is a deserved 

 success. 



Through this number of The Farmer they 

 will learn that it h.as changed publishers, if 

 they had not been aware of that fact before, 

 and we assure them that the change is a step 

 in advance. Although our function as re- 

 sponsible publisher will cease, our best ener- 

 gies will bedevnt(Ml to its material "make-up," 

 and so long as ink and paper and nimble fin- 

 gers are available, we will see that The 

 Farmer does not retrogress. One Clarion 

 blast from home is more grateful to ns than a 

 thousand echoes wafted from a foreign shore, 

 because they knoiv whereof they sound. We 

 reciprocate the compliment in their kindly 

 notice, and although we are not much given 

 to " that sort of thing," yet we raise our hat 

 high above our cranium, and make our very 

 best bow. 



MONTHLY REMINDERS. 



The care of the hot-beds, &c., is nearly all 

 that demands attention ; true, other things 

 may be done, but quite as well at a future 

 day, imless the season be open. The annexed 

 hints may, however, prove useful : Compost 

 prepare. Dung prepare for hot-beds. Hot- 

 beds attend to. Radish and salad sow in 

 frames. Trench and drain vacant ground. 

 Transjjlanting trees may still be done. 



The family which has taken time by the 

 forelock, and during the season of vegetation 

 secured a supiily of succulent food for the live 

 stock, may now tliat the winter's storms are 

 upon us, congratulate itself. So little labor in 

 comparison with the result attaches to root 



crops, one may well wonder that any rural 

 family should fail to secure a supply. 



Another year draws to a close. As hus- 

 handnieu, it becomes us to look closely at 

 what has been accomplished, and what we 

 have omitted to do. He who is content to 

 jog along indifferent to the past, will be care- 

 less in the future, and in brief space of time 

 will have fallen far behind in every quality 

 and condition necessary to constitute a suc- 

 cessful farmer. 



With Americans progress is the watchword. 

 It enters into every avocation of life — at the 

 mechanic's bench, in the mill, at the work- 

 shop, on the rivers and the lakes. The great 

 aim of all imbued with our national spirit is 

 to go ahead and get onward. It is that im- 

 pulse which has made us, as a people, what 

 we are, and marked out our future destiny as 

 the ruling power of the world. The American 

 artisan has eclipsed all others in many depart- 

 ments of handicraft, and the mechanical 

 genius of our people is the admiration of man- 

 kind. Shall the fiirmer lag behind V He is 

 here the lord of the soil. No tithe-master 

 measures his grain or counts his herds ; the 

 tree which he plants yields fruit for himself 

 and his posterity. Why, then, should he not 

 be the most prosperous of men, advancing his 

 possessions and prospects — each year adding 

 to the productive fertility of his lands, and 

 filling his store and basket to overflowing. 



To farm successfully, however, requires as 

 many quali'Jes as the conduct of an intricate 

 commercial business; untiring industry. 

 promptness, thoughtfulness of the future, 

 capacity to retrieve an error of judgment — 

 these are all brought into action in the man- 

 auement of a well-ordered farm. Let them be 

 inculcated and taught, as far as possible, by 

 every farmer who i>roposes to train his son in 

 his own pursuit. It is well enough, indeed it 

 is a laudable ambition, to excel in all the 

 manipulations pertaining to husbandry, but it 

 is indispensable that the mind be so trained 

 as to be able judiciousl}' to direct others. 

 Simply to ploiigh, to haul, to fell, is not farm- 

 ing in its highest sense. Skillful, intelligent 

 agriculture embraces all which enters . into 

 rural life. It enlarges the view, expands the 

 mind, and m.akes the accomplished farmer the 

 courted companion of the educated and re- 

 fined. A man thus trained has visions not 

 seen by the mere candidate f(n- wealth. The 

 great book of nature is unfolded to his view — 

 he has enjoyments higher tlinu those which 

 follow the vulgar disjilays of pampered pride, 

 engendered by sudtlen, perhajis doubtful, ac- 

 quisitions. His are the quiet pleasures which 

 spring from time devoted to useful efforts, 

 whicii while advancing hisown and his family's 

 comforts, have subtracted nothing from the 

 rights of others. — LundreVVs Uur. Rtg. 



CULTIVATION OF GRAIN OF ALL 

 KINDS.* 



Mr. President and Gentlemen : In discussing 

 the cultivation of wheat and other small 

 grain, I shall not attempt it in a scientific 

 manner, but do the best I can in taking a 

 practical, common-sense view of the subject. 

 I presume we nearly all agree that cultivation 

 is advantageous to nearly, if not entirely, all 

 vegetation, even from a strawberry plant up 

 to a fruit tree ; and from the beautiful little 

 pansy, that so beautifies our gardens and at- 

 tracts so much admiration, even to the great, 

 stalwart sunflower. 



Then it is but fair to suppose that in grow- 

 ing grain, of whatever variety, which is really 

 the life of humanity and the wealth of the 

 country, it ought also to be cidtivated. And in 

 this, our own country, which is so admirably 

 adapted to the growth of all kinds of grain, it 

 is not so much our privilege as it is our duty 

 to make the most of this beneficent gift be- 

 stowed upon ns by our Great Creator. 



To raise good and profitable crops o{ corn, 

 besides the proper fertility of the soil, it is 

 necessary to observe certain laws in nature to 

 insure a good crop. It is highly important to 



"Read before the LancaBtei- County Agricultural aud 

 Horticultural Society, ly F. Sutton, 



have the proper depth of soil, and that thor- 

 oughly pulverized, and then to have the rows ' 

 of corn of sufficient width apart to admit of 

 plenty of air and sun, and this is a matter of 

 so much importance that I feel like doubly ' 

 im))ressing it upon the mind of every farmer. 

 If we plant for fodder then we may disregard 

 this rule, but if we want corn then we cannot 

 afford to do it. And in my judgment the 

 observance of these rules are just as important 

 in raising fruit and other grain as it is in the 

 case of coru. And I imagine I hear some of 

 you saying, " Yes, that is very true, but how 

 much space do you want for air and sun in 

 the raising of corn r"' In answer, I will only 

 give you my own observation and the practi- 

 cal results or demonstrations of the different 

 sections of the country, where I have been ; 

 and it may be that certain qualities of soil 

 and localities will have to be taken into con- 

 sideration, and even then to determine these 

 questions so as to meet the approval of all, 

 will be impossible. Taking it for granted, 

 however, that in every case the crop shall be 

 well and thoroughly cultivated with the 

 present improved appliances suited to each 

 locality and condition of soil. 



On the eastern shore of Virginia, where the 

 soil is a sandy loam, corn is planted four 

 feet apart each way with one and two stalks 

 in the hill, and the very large ears attracted 

 my attention. It w-as a beautiful white vari- 

 ety, not flint, but much resembling the yellow 

 variety with ns. Upon inquiry as to why they 

 did not plant more corn in the hill, they told 

 me it burned, whicli I concluded meant the 

 deadening of the blades at an early period. I 

 did not learn the amount produced per acre. 

 In Jersey a yellow variety is raised chiefly, 

 and they plant their corn from four to four 

 and a half feet apart each way, with from two 

 to three stalks to the hill, and as a rule, have 

 good corn. Their soil is generally light. 



A gentleman in Baltimore county, Md.,Mr. 

 Gorsuch, has raised three crops, which yielded 

 him each over 100 bushels per acre. One 

 yielded something over 100 bushels, one 125 

 bushels, and the other 138 bushels, per acre. 

 He planted three and a half feet one way with 

 two stalks to the hill, every two feet apart, 

 and thoroughly cultivated it, and showed me 

 his awards of diplomas, in each case, by one 

 of their agricultural societies, together with a 

 silver snuff box properly inscribed. 



S. S. Spencer, esq., of this city, who is a very 

 practical man in all his undertakings, is, and 

 luis been experimenting with corn — his crop 

 last year, so far as quality is concerned, was 

 not surpassed in the county, if equaled, so 

 I learned from a good judge. This year his 

 crop is estimated (as i)oor as the season was,) 

 at one hundred bushels per acre, a sample of 

 which can be seen in this room. He planted 

 his four feet apart, each way, with three stalks 

 in the hill ; and, in conversation with him re- 

 cently, he told me that he was not sure that 

 if he had left but two stalks to the hill, that 

 he might have had more corn. And from the 

 foregoing statements I will allow each one to 

 make his own deductions, with the caution 

 not to plant too thick, nor have the rovvs too 

 close together. 



And now a few words on the subject of 

 wheat culture, and in discussing this branch 

 of husbandry, I intend my remarks to apply 

 to rye, barley and oats, with such slight 

 chnncres as shall be obvious to every mind, 

 without going into a minute detail in every 

 particular ease. The cultivation of wheat is 

 in a large measure new to the people of this 

 country^ while it has been practised in Eng- 

 land for many years with good results ; and 

 not new witih us because our progressive 

 farmers did not know that wheat ought to be 

 cultivated, but because we did not have any 

 proper and practical implement with which 

 to do the work, and hand labor was too ex- 

 pensive. And just here, a word directing our 

 minds to the great need of cultivating wheat, 

 may not be out of place. In the first place, 

 we plow our ground in August and September, 

 and our seeding is done chiefly in the latter 

 month. The soil has been properly fertilized 



