1879.] 



THE LANCASTER FARMER. 



Professor of Enlomoloyij.—S. S. Kathvon, 

 Lancaster. 



Professor of Jlorticultiiral CkemlMrt/.—b. B. 

 Ileiges, York. 



LETTER FROM IOWA. 

 Holland, Iowh, Dec. luili, 1878. 

 Editok Faioieu : Tlio WLiUlur, Hint ever 

 fruitful topic of conversation, has been cx- 

 tremclv fine iluriii!,' tlic present fall. On Sun- 

 day we had a liijlit fall of snow, the first 

 of the sca.son, which soon bid farewell, and 

 now we arc again favored with the best of 

 weather. 



Farm ]r'//A-.— TIic fnrmcr.s of this county 

 are through pickiiit; corn, the croj) having' 

 yielded lar^'ely, even bcvdud Iheir cxpcct.a- 

 tion ; the (lualitv is excclicnl, boins fully ma- 

 tured, no soft corn lu-in;,' found. For all that 

 the crop was ^0(ul it seems thou;,'li it ini.iilil 

 be vastly iniprovfd bv plantiiii;- butter varie- 

 ties. The essay of Mr. Kn.nle, on corn culti- 

 vation, before t lie I.aiieasler County Aiirieul- 

 tural Society, was published in tlie l.M'al paper 

 here, and we hope that some may Ije benelited 

 by it. The varieties planted here arc a small 

 grained, thick cob variety. A large acreage 

 of ground has been ploughed during this fall, 

 so that farmers are in good shape for the 

 spring campaign. 



Live Sto(k:--TUe. hog crop in this county is 

 very large, and but a comparatively small 

 amount are being sold, on account of the low 

 prices, yet a liancaster county farmer would 

 think the market brisk if he saw the amount 

 shipped from tliis place alone. We saw a 

 drove of seventy-two brought in yesterday, 

 weighing :>."), .")(iG 'pounds, averaging a fraction 

 over :!.■).") pounds. They were splcndiil ho;;s, 

 for the greater part were Berkshire breed. 

 Cattle— But few have been offered as yet, 

 though there arc large herds that will be ready 

 for market early in 1879. 



rotacco.— This county bids fair to become 

 a tobacco growing county. The cxiierimeut 

 has been tried the past summer, and we ;ire 

 informed with very satisfactory result, (^uite 

 a number of farmers intend going into the 

 business next spring. That veteran tobacco- 

 nist, John S. (Jable, of your city, who, by the 

 way, owns lart,'e tracts of land in this county, 

 isof o)iinion tliat tlie soil of this county "is 

 well adapted to llie growth of the weed, and 

 says, that from the samples which he saw and 

 examined, he is free to say that tobacco culture 

 in Grundy county will form one of tlie main 

 features of her agriculture. All that is wanted 

 are men who understand how to gro\v and 

 cure the crop, and success will bo certain, lie 

 told US some montlis ago, that ''somebody 

 will come here and m.ike a fortune in raising 

 tobacco in this county." 



Game.— This section of county abounds 

 with feathered game. Prairie hens arc abun- 

 dant, as are also quail, the latter however are 

 not molested, as there is better game on the 

 wing. Wild geese come hero in large liocks, 

 as also ducks and brants. We are told that 

 at Wall Lake, Storm Lake, and some others 

 northwest from here, game is more than 

 plenty. 



The Markets.— Corn is being brought here 

 in large quantities. The grain men are driving 

 a bri.sk trade ; immense corn cribs are being 

 erected, (the corn lieing all in the ear,) hold- 

 ing thousands of bushels. ()u<' crib was fin- 

 ished to-day, being four hun.lred feel long. 

 fourteen wide ami fourteen feet Ingli ; there 

 is fair prospects of many nuire being built. 

 Grain is also coming in lively ; the two eleva- 

 tors, mill and three grain w-arehouses are 

 running two sets of hands, night and day in 

 handling grain. Though that the grain crop 

 was a failure there are large quantities of 

 grain in the county, and firmers are not as 

 particular as they should be in the manner 

 their grain coincs'iuto market. Large quanti- 

 ties of barley arc raised here. Butter is plenty 

 here at present. Mr. Anthony Traser, in the 

 grocery business here, (formerly from Lin- 

 coln, Lancaster county,) took in on .Saturday 

 last five barrels of butter ; this is good for 



one store. There are three others in town. 

 Eggs are not very plenty ; the farmers do 

 not give their chickens the necessary atten- 

 tion. Live iwultry is being brought in, though 

 not in large numbers.— H'. JI. Spera. 



N. B. Fi;()|-. Batiiton: Please send me a 

 copy of TliK Fai!Mi;u. Of whom can I procure 

 the'J-arge ( lounl ( 'oru.aud Small < lounl Seed- 

 only small (piantities for trial in this county. 



The al)ove corn can be obtained at the reli- 

 able agricultural, implement and seed store of 

 Wji. 1). Si'ifEciiER, of this city. — Ed. 



For Till! Lanoarteu Fabmeb. 

 THOROUGH WORT. 

 This i.lant is dedicated to Enpator Mithri- 

 dates, who lirsl brought it into notice. Dio- 

 scorides mentions this jilant in his work on 

 botany. Mithridates, King of Poiitus, sur- 

 nami'd 'Fuiiator"' and "the Great" was the 

 son of Mithridates VI., the lir.st king of that 

 country who entered into an alliance with the 

 Romans. At the death of his father, 1-2:5 

 B. C, he succeeded to the crown when he 

 was only about twelve years of age. But I 

 am not giving the biography of Mithridates, 

 which i find quite lengthy and interesting, 

 but subject matter in connection with our 

 most common plants. The scientific name is 



Eupalorhini perfoliulum, the specific name 

 refers to the stem apparently growing through 

 the united leaves. Hence we find the many 

 common names— such as Tiiorough AVort, 

 Thorough Stem, Thorough Wax, (,'ross Wort, 

 besides that of Indian S.age and Bone-Set. 

 This latter name is ipiitc common. Who has 

 not been recoiniiniiilcil to drink "Bone-Set 

 tea?" Tliis (1.1(1 n:iinc iiiines from an early 

 belief that it aided in joining or knitting 

 broken bones. Plants have their history, as 

 well as uses. I shall not give a description 

 how to recognize the plant, because the cut 

 sliows it. and it is found in fiower from niid- 

 suuiiner to Septduber from Xoya .'scotia to 



boguy .soils. Il" belongs, of course, to the ex- 

 tensive order of Composila-, or what arc 

 termed compound llowers, that is a number 

 of tubular or strap-shaped fiowers on a com- 

 mon receptacle surrounded by a common in- 

 volucre. 



Every part of tlic Eupatoritmi has an in- 

 ten.sely bitter taste, combined with a fiavor 

 peculiar to the jdant, but without astringency 

 or acrimony. This bitter principle is alike 

 .soluble in water and in alcohol, imparting its 

 sensible cpi.alitics to both, and neither .solution 

 being rendered turbid, at leiist for some time, 

 by the addition of the other solvent. Tannin 



exists very sparingly in this plant. Dr. An- 

 derson, of >'ew York, wlio details numerous 

 experiments, concludes that a single decoction 

 forms the best tonic stiiuulanl. i;iycn in inod- 

 eratequ;u)tities. Tliesubstaru c, cold infusion 

 or decoction, promote digestion, streugtiiens 

 the viscera and restores lone to tlie .system. 

 Like other vegetabl.> bitters, however, if 

 given in large quantities, especially in warm 

 infusion or decoction, il proves emetic, sudori- 

 fic and appericnl. Even in cold infusion it 

 tends to bring on diaphoresis, (promotes pers- 

 piration). 



It may be luescribed in the low stages of 

 fever to support strength, jironiote a moisture 

 of the skin, without materially increasing the 

 heat of the body. And as a tonic in loss of 

 aiipetite and other symptoms of dyspepsia, a.s 

 well as in general debility of the system.—/. 

 Stavlfir. 



MOONLIGHT. 

 I have not written anything for The 

 Faumeu for some time, but as there appcans 

 to be a little more "moonlight" desired at 

 Dobbs' Ferry, N. Y., I thought I would 

 "rise" again.' I ha\c no cxpei-ieiice in potato 



planting with rcln-i nee lo the i m. Hut 1 



may sav, potatoes u;inl lo'.sc soil. 'I'hci-cfore, 

 plcnv in" the risill^' of the moon, if the .soil is 

 heavy or clayey. It tlu' soil is naturally loose 

 I doi"rt lookto" the moon. Should Ihe soil lie 

 too li-ht and hm.se, plow in the .selling of the 

 moon. Haul the, manure on the ground you 

 intend tor potatoes in the fall, even if it is 

 washy. Then ^yail until you want lo plow; 

 spread it evenly ; plow early in the spring ; 

 any time between now and spring, so that it 

 will freeze after it is plowed. As to the 

 proper time to plant, that will depend some- 

 what on the character of the weather. Ac- 

 cording to my (xperience the best time is 

 about the miildle of April. When 1 com- 

 menced fanning I planted three times every 

 season. The hist tinif as early as I could— 

 sometimes in March the secoiul time in the 

 middle of Aiuil, and the third time on or 

 about the 1st of .May, This I did for .several 

 years, and nearly always the middle planting 

 turned out the be>t. On .stilT soil it would be 

 well if \ye could work tlie soil always in the 

 rising of the moon. But there might he too 

 long an interval belweeii ; the weeds would 

 get too far ahead. A farmer told me one of 

 his neighbors runs a subsoil ploiii;li through 

 the rows just liet'oic he lays Ihe potatoes in ; 

 that is. hehaiidws it out as UMial and then 

 runs the subsoil plow thnuigh, and he beat all 

 his neighbors in raising potatoes. 1 intend to 

 try that plan the present year. — /. (I., War- 

 wk-k\ JiUiiMrn 1, 1870. 



RANDOM THOUGHTS— No. 7. 



Fodder Crops. 



For some years past there has been much 

 seeking after new plants for fodder crops that 

 would'answer better the ends than any of the 

 old s]ieeies. .\s far as (luantity is concerned 

 there isiiodoul't but that at leasl two plants 

 have been lirought forward that far outstrip 

 all the old species. 



Among tlie most prominent of the old 

 species may be enumerated the following : 



IhoKlitriiiii Grilse, a millet, was introduced 

 probably more than twenty years ago, but it 

 did not" come into g^aieral favor over the 

 country until considerably later, and it is 

 even now condemned by many, they thinking 

 it injurious to horses, that it lessens the flow 

 of milk in cows, &c. Tlu'ic may be some 

 weight in the latter claim, and I have no 

 doubt but that it has lessened the flow of 

 milk, but not from any inherent fault in the 

 grass but from the fact that in many ca.ses it 

 lias been allowed to over-ripen and thus be- 

 come worth little more than straw for feeding 

 purjioscs. I have never heard any complaint 

 when the grass was cut early enough so as to 

 have a nice green color when dry. Its quick 

 growth and heavy yield should certainly make 



