1879.] 



THE LANCASTER FARMER. 



61 



found too liglit for thorough work It can be weighted 

 enough to do It. I mention this kind first because it 

 is the one I have used, iind which hue served me 

 well ; second, the slo|)ing-toothcd harrows.' These 

 have been so widely rccomnieaded and advertised 

 for this special purpose as to need no words from 

 me. I have, however, seen grain llelds so crusted In 

 the spring that an ordinary snioothiug-harrow would 

 not thoroughly break up the surface, and it is just 

 ftt this time that a thorough harrowing is most 

 beneficial. 



" The fact I would like to impress is, that har- 

 rowing need not be omitted for lack of a certain kind 

 of harrow. Nine times in ten the same harrow used 

 to prepare the ground for sowing the grain will be 

 equally useful in cultivating the grain In the spring. 

 The proper time for this work is approaching, and 

 If every farmer could be Induced to harrow the land 

 across his wheat field and note the result carefully, 

 I think the practice would become universal In two 

 years." 



How to Grow Broom Corn. 

 Broom corn should be planted in the spring, about 

 the same time as Indian corn, ou good ground that 

 has been thoroughly pulverized with the barrow. 

 Mark out your rows three and one-half or four feet 

 apart. Sprinkle the seed as evenly as you can by the 

 hand ; or what is better, use a common garden drill. 

 This will sow It just thick enough. Cover by passing 

 over a light one-horse harrow, going twice on the 

 row if the ground is hard or cloddy. After it is up 

 about two inchts harrow with a two-horse harrow, 

 going twice to the row. Don't be afraid of tearing 

 It up, as the great fault with most people Is In plant- 

 ing too thick. This kills the weeds and gives the 

 corn a start. Alter this it requires the same cultiva- 

 tion as other corn. When it begins to shoot out in 

 head go over and bend down all that is fairly out, to 

 keep from getting' crooked. This operation will have 

 to be performed several times. When the seed is 

 nearly ripe begin to cut. First cut the brush I'rom 

 two rows : cut just above the last joint ; take off the 

 leaf, then cut the stalks from two rows ; lay them 

 crosswise, so as to make a bed that will keep off the 

 ground ; lay your brush on this bed, which will hold 

 the brush from eight or ten rows ; let it lie in the sun 

 two or three days, then tie it up in bundles and stuck 

 in round stacks, putting I en or twelve In a stack ; 

 cover this stack with stalks, tent fashion, mak- 

 ing It tight at the top, but so the air can pass through 

 the bottom. In this manner it should remain two 

 or three weeks, until thoroughly dry; then you 

 may haul to the barn and take off the seed, this 

 operation is best and quickest done by using a 

 common threshing machine. Take off the lop and 

 have a boy to hand you the brush, taking as much 

 as you can hold in one hand at once. One man and 

 a boy can clean several hundred pounds a day in this 

 way. There are several varieties of broom corn, but 

 the evergreen is much the best, as it yields more 

 both In seed and brush than any other, and is worth 

 twice as much in the market. From two to four 

 quarts of good seed will plant one acre, yielding on 

 good ground seven or eight hundred pounds of 

 brush and forty bushels of seed, which Is nearly 

 equal to corn for feeding purposes. Flat, loamy or 

 river-bottom land. Is the best for broom corn ; but 

 any good corn land will do, giving the preference to 

 corn stubble or clover sod. 



Salt; 



Fertilizer. 



For sometime much attention has been paid to the 

 subject of R)wing salt on grain. The effect of salt Is 

 to stiffen the straw and prevent the wheat from lodg- 

 ing. It sometimes has the additional effect of pro 

 ducing a clear light-colored grain. Some farmers 

 BOW as much as a barrel per acre ; one or two bushels 

 will generally be sufflclent. Au English experiment 

 made on the farm of the Koyal Agricultural Society 

 of England Is as follows : An acre of wheat dressed 

 with three hundred pounds of common salt yielded 

 thirty-nine bushels of grain, with a proportionate 

 amount of straw ; while an adjoining acre left un- 

 manured, produced only twenly-aine bushels per 

 acre, with the straw imperfectly developed. The 

 entire cost of the crop is not stated, but this experi- 

 ment shows that the additional ten bushels resulting 

 from the salt were produced at a cost of thirty cents 

 each. In another case a piece of ground intended 

 for wheat was plowed the preceding fall, and again 

 In May, when it was sowed with salt and afterwai-d 

 plowed before seeding. On the Ist and 2nd of Sep- 

 tember wheat was sown at the rate of two bushels 

 to the acre. The crop when harvested yielded, ac- 

 cording to the estimate of the owner, Mr. John 

 Parks, not less than forty bushels of grain to the 

 acre, with a luxuriant growth of straw. 



Rolling Grain in the Spring. 

 If farmers would look at the theory of rolling the 

 wheat and rye fields in the spring It would be resorted 

 to much more frequently than it is. Occasionally the 

 winter and spring have been so favorable to these 

 crops as not to render It. necessary. But In three 

 seasons out of four It.is necessary and doubtless adds 

 considerably to their productiveness. The thawings 



and freezings of the ground, throwing or spewing 

 out the roots and exposing them to the drying winds 

 of February and March, very seriously affect the 

 grain. I'atsing a roller over as soon as the soil is fit 

 to go upon, presses back the roots into their beds, 

 and gives them ii fair grip again upon the support on 

 which tlie crop must depend. This must be apparent 

 to every one who will look at its operation. We have 

 no doubt that rolling clover fields, that have been 

 badly thrown up by the frost, would also have a 

 most beneficial effect. — (Irruuiittown Telegraph. 



Use of Lime. 



Prof. Caldwell reasons In this way In the New 

 York Tribuue: 



" Hence the first and one of the most important 

 rules to be observed In the use of lime is that it 

 should be applied In these large doses only to soils 

 comparatively ricli in humus, or strong day soils 

 rich in finely divided silicate. It has been proved by 

 experiment that lime will convert plant food from 

 the insoluble to the soluble forms In either case. 

 Wc find the proverb current In France and Germany, 

 as well as in our own language, that ' Lime without 

 manure makes the father rlih but the children poor ;' 

 which means plainly enough that not only should 

 we start with good soil in using lime, but should 

 maintain its good condition by the liberal use of 

 manure ; and we find that whenever. In this country 

 or elsewhere, lime Is used Intelligently, manure is 

 used freely." 



Corn Culture. 

 "The suckers," says H. M. Enele, "should, 

 under all circumstances, be taken off before they 

 appropriate too much substance which the main 

 stalks should receive, but under no circumstances 

 allow suckers to tassel, for, whatever pains may be 

 taken to bring or keep corn at its greatest perfection 

 by the selection of seed, the pollen from the sucker 

 niay undo what has been gained by years of careful 

 selection. I would as soon think of breeding from a 

 scrub male to a thoroughbred animal as to have the 

 pollen from suckers cast upon uu excellent variety of 

 corn. It is also known that the pollen from a 

 neighboring field is ofttlmes carried to an almost In- 

 credible distance, and consequently may cause more 

 mixture than is desirable." 



Floriculture. 



Flower Garden Hints. 



So many people say that their flowers which once 

 did well do not thrive any more, and the reason is in- 

 comprehensible to them. In many cases the trouble 

 is from worn-out soil ; and If a little fresh earth be 

 added occasionally it is wonderful what an effect It 

 will have on the renewed growth of half worn out root 

 stocks. Some kinds of flowers especially soon grow 

 surly and bad-tempered unless they have a complete 

 change of earth once in awhile. The verbena is of 

 this character. In perfectly fresh soil, that Is earth 

 which has never grown a verbena before, it grows 

 like a weed; but the next year it Is not quite so well; 

 and in a few years it absolutely refuses to creep, run 

 or do anything, and we are forced to confess that the 

 verbena won't do for us as it used to years ago. 



Other flowers are not quite so stubbornly fastidious 

 as the verbena ; but still all more or less like to feel 

 rejuvenated by an addition of some kind occasion- 

 ally to the earth-blessings they have already been 

 treated to. 



Almost all our best hardy flowers are natives of 

 woods, or low, undisturbed lands, where the decaying 

 leaves from the trees oi the washings of higher sur- 

 face lands make a new annual entertainment for 

 them — and it has been found by experiment that 

 nothing is so good for these pretty little flowers as 

 well-decayed leaf-mold from the woods, spread round 

 the root-stocks just above the ground. But where 

 this cannot be had any other well-decayed vegetable 

 refuse, that may "be lying around loose," will do 

 very nearly as well. Strong, rich manure — barnyard 

 manure — has not been found very good for garden 

 flowers. It makes the herbage too strong, and the 

 flowers less in proportion. But If nothing more 

 natural can be got at to help the flowers along, and 

 the soil seems exhausted and poor, this will be found 

 much better than leaving the plants to struggle along 

 as best they can. — Germantoien Telegraph. 



How to Preserve Cut Flowers. 



The most natural as well as the most economical 

 mode of preserving cut flowers is to use any low, 

 shallow vessel, either of glass or china, of about the 

 size and dcptli of a soup plate. If this is filled with 

 nice, fresh wood-moss, made up in a slightly conical 

 or mould-like form, the flowers and foliage can be 

 arranged to great advantage and made to Uwk al- 

 most as natural as if growing in the positions in which 

 they are placed, instead of having that excessively 

 formal appearance they generally have when closely 

 packed in a vase. Not only do they look infinitely 

 better in this way, but they last fresh considerably 

 longer, owing to the much larger surface exposed 



immediately under them, and from whence a stream 

 of vapor Is continually arising from the moss sur- 

 rounding their stems. Besides the nice, fresh ap- 

 pearance this has, It is of great use both for the 

 above-named purpose and for keeping the flowers In 

 any ix)sitlon they may be placed In, so that they may 

 be quickly and easily arranged. One reason why 

 many flowers are so Hhorl-livcd when cut Is, that .to 

 get them in quickly they arc sometimes subjected to 

 more heat and confinement than is good for them, 

 and when to this there is loss of light, as occurs at 

 this season, the petals must inevitably iKicomc thin 

 and flimsy, in which state a dry air at once affects 

 them unfavorably. This being the case, any plants 

 that arc being grown for the pur|x>«e of supplying 

 cut blooms shouhl he stood as near the ^lass as can 

 be done without touching, and in such positions that 

 they may have full benefit of all the sunshine avail- 

 able. So favored, there will be little dilllculty In 

 keeping them fresh lor a eonsUlerable length of time, 

 provided the situation they occupy in the room when 

 cut Is far removed from the flre, and not where they 

 are subjected to draughts, as they would be If placed 

 between the door and the grate, as there is always 

 air passing from the one to the other, caused by the 

 combustion of the fuel. 



Sowing Garden Seeds. 



As seed-sowing lime is approaching, it will be in 

 order to say that a very great portion of seeds an- 

 nually sown are lost through deep sowing. Of 

 course large seeds like beans and peas may be cov- 

 ered with an inch or more of earth, and yet Ije able 

 to work their way easily through the surface ; but 

 with smaller things the merest covering Is sutllclent 

 provided the earth Is pressed firmly over the seed. 

 Peas and beans, as the season advances, can be 

 planted deeper and deeper. 



In flower seeds It is quite common to sow them on 

 the ground In a little patch, and then scatter a mere 

 dust of earth •ver, beating it a little with the back 

 of the trowel, and it Is found that the seed germi- 

 nates better than if put beneath the surface. There 

 Is not the tendency to rot. Again, we have known 

 some of the lighter kinds of garden vegetables to he- 

 scattered along the garden line, and merely trod in 

 with the feet, to grow so well that every seed seemed 

 to sprout. This, of course, implies that the ground 

 should be dry enough to powder under the feet, and 

 so it always should be when seeds are sown. To 

 sow deep, or when the earih is wet, are great mis- 

 takes. — OermaiUoicn Telegraph. 



Horticulture. 



Planting Grapevines. 



One would suppose that so simple a thing as plant- 

 ing a grapevine would not need writin" about ; and 

 yet the number of people inquiring, " How shall we 

 plant?" Is so great that a few words to these in- 

 quirers may well be pardoned by those who think 

 they already know enough about the matter. The 

 rule is to plant the roots shallow. If they are long 

 when we have to transplant them, instead of planting 

 them deep we lay them along about four or five 

 inches beneath the surface. It is, of course, very 

 necessary to press the soil very hard and firm over 

 the roots ; that is if the earth is tolerably dry, though 

 in truth no vine should be planted except the earth 

 is in this good condition. 



It Is very useful in planting a grapevine to cut It 

 chisely in. Unless the last year s growth be very 

 vigorous it may be almost all cut away ; and even 

 where the growth Is strong one-half may be cut 

 aw-ay. This is the way to get a good strong cane for 

 bearing next year, which is the most one ought to 

 expect a vine to do. " Immediate bearing" Is a de- 

 lusion and a snare. Many a person spends a dollar 

 or a half dollar extra on a vine which he is told by 

 the seller will "bear this year," when for that 

 amount of money he could buy treble the quantity of 

 grapes It will bear for him, even if it bears at all. 

 Still we like to plant good, strong, healthy grapes. 

 The little crow-quills, which comc^out as rare grapes 

 at high prices, seldom give much satisfaction. Indeed, 

 it Is more than likely that the Immense failures 

 which generally follow all these introductions are as 

 much owing to the way their propagation is forced 

 as to any inherent inability In the varieties to become 

 adapted to soils and climates. 



Spring Planting for Strawberries. 

 There are many writers on strawberry culture, 

 who advocate planting in Ilie fall, arguing that an 

 entire season Is saved, and that a moderate crop can 

 be secured the following season from the new plants. 

 This may be true where but a few hundred arc set 

 out for home consumption, and where the number 

 of plants or extent of the plantation admits of the 

 best of care. For a large market plantation of 

 strawberries, It does not pay, as a rule, to plant 

 them when they demand so much care and atten- 

 tion, for the profits are thereby seriously lessened. 

 Aside from this, several years' experience has proved 

 to us that It Is a very poor economy to fruit the 



