1878.] 



THE LANCASTER FARMER. 



181 



the Adiuitic States, or at least in tlieir more 

 eastern parts, now only found in certain situ- 

 ations— oftea few and far apart. — J. Utaiiffir. 



I'or Thk I,\NrASTi:ii Faioikh. 

 A FEW WORDS ON BEES AND 

 GRAPES. 

 Jifr. Edltnr:— So it appears tin: bee men, in 

 " eouueil met," have nniininiously eonu', to the 

 conclusion that bees don't stin;; grapes, and so 

 that question is settled. Of course il will be 

 labor lost for me to ditTer with such an august 

 assembly of judges, for 'tis known, 



"To convince men n^ain.st, tlicir will, 

 They'll be of the samu opinion slill." 



AVe know as well as the bee man, that l)eps 

 don't sting the grapes, but we too consider the 

 "(piestion settled," that these Italian bees 

 v<tn and ihi rut the grapes, and suck the berries 

 dry. When men like ,1. F. II. can show a 

 clear prolit of iS tIK), and iiiue-tenths of this 

 prolit is collected olf his neighbor's property, 

 lie at least will not agree to have the question 

 settled contrary to his interest. But when 

 other people's stock trespass, and rob me of 

 my property, I, as a matter of course, try to 

 avail myself of the only remedy at hand, in 

 the same manner as w"e try to save potato 

 crops. So if they liud their swarms growing 

 small and beautifully less, tliey may know the 

 reason why. — J. ]>. G. 



For The Lancaster Farmeu. 

 STRAWBERRIES. 



Such a largo number of new strawberries 

 are yearly offered that if each one were to in- 

 vest in all that are said to be superior to any- 

 thing we ever had belore, he would need to 

 have a long purse, and would have to enlarge 

 his fruit gardens. I thought it would jier- 

 liaps be interesting to the readers of The 

 F.MiMKR to have some description of s<jmc of 

 the most prominent varieties now before the 

 public : 



(yictrks Downing. — A variety that has made 

 itself a name — a rival to Wilson in productive- 

 ness, aii<l of better quality. 



('umhirkmil Trlinnph. — A grand berry for 

 home use and tor near market — fruit large, 

 productive, with remarkable healthy foliage. 



MdnuTfli (if the West. — A good grower, large 

 berry, bears the hot sun better than Wilson, 

 productive and very good. 



Cnsrenl i^cedliuij. — Another year's exi)eri- 

 ence has shown its superior productiveness. 

 Has yielded l.J.OUb (piarts per acre on its 

 original place. In size and llavor it does not 

 compare with some others, but as (piantity is 

 more essential than quality, it is destined to 

 become very po|iular. 



Prouti/'s Sinllitiij. — A line, sliowy, conical 

 berry, from medium to large size, good quality, 

 and enormously productive. 



Captain JkcL — As i>roductive as the Wil- 

 son, and of better quality, but docs not 

 average as large. 



Durlirss. — The reputation of this for earli- 

 ness stands very high. 



Fiirrst Ruse. — A large, showy berry, from 

 Lancaster, Ohio. Sc^veral years' trial in vari- 

 ous parts of the eotmlry would indicate that 

 it will jirove a really valuable acquisition. 



Cindei-illa and Continental Faviirite. — Two 

 varieties originated by Mr. Felton, of Xew 

 Jersey, have been highly sixiken of last season, 

 said to be ;is productive ;is C'lesceut Seedling 

 and of better size and quality. 



Sluu-jiitss. — Originated by J. K. Sharpless, 

 of Catawissa. Pa. Ilasbeeii tested by noted 

 frtiit-giMwers in different localit ies— is an 

 enormous grower and very ])roilnctive. Said 

 to have been grown twelve inches in circum- 

 ference. Think of it! Strawberries as large 

 as the largest peaches ! 



Gi-eat American. — Said to be a match in 

 size to Sharpless. 



President Lincoln. — A strong, healthy plant, 

 berries of the largest size aiid of very good 

 quality. 



Durand\t Beauty emd Mincr''s Great Fro- 

 lifir. — Both large, showy berries ; are also 

 highly spoken of where tried. To grow these 



large varieties in iierfection re<itiin'S high 

 manuring, deeii anil thorough cultivation, 

 and plenty of water in a dry setison — care by 

 day and care by lught— and then, even then, 

 we will, perha))s, as we have often done belore 

 witli new varietiis, gradually drop tle'ni out 

 of the list, anil the sour despised Wil.son may 

 again become the favorite berry on our ground. 

 One thing is ceilain. if we want to ascertain 

 the value of these strawberries, we must test 

 them on oiu- own grounds. — C'H.sper lliUer. 



i'on flTK IjANCASTEn FARMER. 



OUR CORN CROP. 



In this section of the country, the present 

 season was the most unfavorable for the corn 

 cro|) that has been known for some years. 

 The spring opened warm and favorable, so 

 that corn was planted much earlier than 

 usual, but was haidly jilatited until cold, wet 

 weather set in that stunted the just sprouted 

 corn, so that it came up yellow and feeble, 

 and in some cases had to be replanted. Then 

 when warm weather did come, it was accom- 

 panied by drouths such as arc rarely experi- 

 enced. The result of all this is seen- in less 

 than a half crop, and in some cases a total 

 failure. 



I will try to give the history of our ell'ort at 

 raising corn and the result : 



The Held, facing directly north, was a two- 

 year old clover and timothy sod, which was 

 very tough. Early in the spring a modi;rately 

 heavy coiiting of lime was given, and the 

 ploughing and preparing done just before it 

 was to be planted. 



It is generally supposed that corn should 

 not be ])lanled deeper tlian two inches, cer- 

 tainly not deeper than three inches. When 

 we commenced drilling, about one-half the 

 corn was not covered at all, and without close 

 inspection we thought the plow to the drill 

 did not run deci> enough. We then had a 

 long point put to the drill-plow, and we had 

 no further trouble about not covering. 



We got the corn jtlaiited, and waited eight 

 days and saw no si;;n of it coming up yet. 

 Then we examined to see the cause of this, 

 and we found that we had planted our corn 

 from fire to six inches deep; it was oidy on the 

 ninth and tenth days that it commenced to 

 show above the surface, and then very irregu- 

 larly. About the time the corn was coming 

 up one of those cold, wet spells set in and it 

 was too late, we thought, to replant when the 

 soil was in condition again. 



If we would have examined the corn-drill a 

 little closer we would have found the difflculty 

 to exist in the spout that drops the grains in 

 the furrow ; this sjniut rtiust always be made 

 to drop as close up to the plow as possible or 

 the work will be imperfeetly done. 



At the lirst harrowing the plants had a 

 miserable appearance, being yellow and 

 striped, and without that full heart for which 

 healthy young corn is noted. At the second 

 harrowing it had grown some, but was still 

 yellow and striped, and much behind the corn 

 of surrouitding neighbors. On examining the 

 roots of the stalks that wer(> strilied we were 

 surprised to .see them full of plaiit-lice (aphis,) 

 and we were now pretty certain we woulil 

 have a comi)lete failure. But we kei>t on 

 liarrowing the corn, kee])ing the surface loase, 

 until .at last the corn commenced to grow and 

 wc only (piit working it when it got to be 

 pretty large and a storm laid it over so we 

 could not quite finish the Held, so that a part 

 of the corn was not thinned out. In the 

 finishing we used the hoe only to remove the 

 grass in the row, using nothing but the har- 

 row between the rows and not hilling any, 

 having adopted the llat .system of cultivation. 



We have just linislied husking, and the re- 

 sult was a sm-iiiise to all, the yield being ll.'i 

 bushels of ears to the acre and' very little soft 

 corn, even the smtdler ears being fully ma- 

 tured. Though it was not one of the "over a 

 liundred bushels shelled " crops of corn, it is 

 satisfactory, considering the season. Let us 

 see whether we etimiot glean something worth 

 remembering from the results given above. 



The liming we will not discuss at present, 



but I merely state tiiat my father considers 

 sod that is to be ploughed under for corn the 

 best place to put lime. Some practice plough- 

 ing soil in the fall because the soil will be 

 more completely rotteil. I have no doubt but 

 tluit this is the case, but is there any advan- 

 tage in it. Corn when young does not need 

 so much nourishment as when older, and even 

 if it did, if the sod was completely inverted, 

 the youngcorn would derive very little benefit, 

 liecause the roots do not extend to where the 

 bulk of the sod lies. 



If we iilougli just before planting time the 

 soil will, in most cases, be just in that moist 

 state that will facilitate germination ; if it 

 has been ))loughe(l longer, llien it may be 

 either too dry or loo wet. And :is the young 

 corn can find ;i snllicient supply of nourish- 

 ment the sod will be lotting below it, and by 

 the time the plant needs additional nourish- 

 ment the sod will be just about rotted, and 

 this is the lime when all manures are at their 

 best. Before that time they will not .so readily 

 give up the elements necessary to plant 

 growth, and after il ihey do not seem to have 

 the same slrenuth, probably because this 

 strength h;isl)een seattcrid into the surround- 

 ing soil. 



In the next place we must consider the 

 seasons we now have. According to the 

 "oldest inhabitant," long years . ago our 

 seasons were iiuite moist, the very dry season 

 being the exception. Now dry seasons are the 

 rule, and moist or wet seasons very excep- 

 tional. Should not this have some bearing on 

 the dei>th at which we plant and also the 

 method of cultivation 'i' 



IMost of the readers of this will probably 

 recollect a short artiele published to the effect 

 that a certain tribe of Indians in one of the 

 western territories planted corn fifteen inches 

 deep, if I recollect aright. This deep plant- 

 ing is practiced by them on account of the 

 drouths to which they are accustomed. Why 

 should we not imitate them, not by iilantinc; 

 fifteen inches dee]), because that would rarely 

 be possible, except in .lersey sands and a few 

 other favorable places, but by planting, say 

 six incljes deep on all loose or sandy .soils that 

 are well drained. I believe that in five years 

 out of six we would be gainers by this prac- 

 tice, as there are very few years when our 

 corn crops would not be benefited by the roots 

 having more moisture. 



In the cultivation, also, something can be 

 done to keej) more moisture at the roots. If 

 we ridge or hill the corn as has been usual, we 

 take .several inches of soil from the top and 

 bring the bulk of the small fibrous roots 

 that much nearer the dry surface. This is 

 avoided by liat ctdtivation, and wiien the corn 

 is iilaiited dee]) there is veiy little danger of 

 the rootlets being cut or mutilated by the 

 harrow being run through as late as possible. 

 In a moist season, or at any time when there 

 is a danger of the corn running to stalk too 

 much, the harrow may be run deeper, so as to 

 purimsely cut the roots, it being now almost 

 iniiversally acknowledged that root-prnniug 

 will cause an increased yield where growth is 

 excessive. Let it not be supposed that we 

 iittribnte our success this year to any fore- 

 sight, as we must give all the credit to acci- 

 dents and necessities. The deeii-iilanting was 

 an accident; the repeated cultivation was 

 necessary to keep weeds down while the corn 

 was small ; the fiat cultivation was only done 

 because the field, all but two acres, is a pretty 

 stce]) hillside. We can attribute the crop, 

 however, to liming, late iiloughing, deep 

 planting and thorough cultivation. — A. B. K. 



For The Lancaster Farmer. 

 CHOCOLATE SORGHUM. 



If sugar may be made out of watermelons, 

 sweet iiotatoes and cornstalks, as well as out 

 of sugar cane and sorghum, why not choco- 

 late out of other plants as well as out of the 

 chocolate nut ? 



When a lad of some ten or twelve years I 

 was sent on an errand to .limmy Low'.s, a 

 colored family, on Walnut .street, ^larietta. 

 It was early morning, ;ind the family was 



