1879.] 



THE LANCASTER FARMER. 



125 



curing hay was diecussed, in which there was a 

 great diversity of opinion. Some were for early cut- 

 ting, some for late cutting, and some when the clover 

 heads were just in bloom, and timothy. when the 

 blossoms fell. In curing, some thought that hay 

 eenerallv was damaged by overmaking and m having 

 too much sun-heat. Others thought that grass 

 should be merely wilted; others again who had 

 some experience in this said the hay became mouldy 

 and rotten and no animal would eat it. Some 

 housed their clover the day it was cut, by keeping 

 the tedder at work all the time; another preferred 

 cutting one day and housing the next. Some thought 

 that there was not raking enough done, frequently 

 there was none until the wagons came along to take 

 the hay away. One declared that timothy hay was 

 worthless for dairy cattle; others said that their cat- 

 tle preferred timothy to clover. 



Notwithstanding these adverse opinions, these dis- 

 cussions must prove proHtable by inducing exper - 

 mcnts of the various modes proposed, so that eacn 

 one can decide for himself which will best meet his 

 views and Inure to his profit. Sometimes on 3 6 cstab- 

 lishcd modcof conducting farm operations will favor 

 one course better than any other, and of course lie 

 will pursue that. Sometimes the lay of the laijd 

 favors one mode better than another. 



Utilizing Night Soil. 

 On nearly every farm there is more or less of this 

 highly fertilizing matter to be disposed of, and in 

 some sections it is customary for farmers to haul it 

 to their farms from neighboring cities and towus. 

 How to treat it in the latter ease often becomes a 

 question with the inexperienced, who would gladly 

 avail themselves of the opportunity. In my own ex- 

 perience I have found the following as good a way as 

 any, and it proved generally satisfactory : Prepare 

 in advance a bed or basin of seasoned muck, or soil 

 and sods, making the bottom six to ten inclies thick 

 and raising the outer edges one to three feet high, 

 according to the amount of night soil to be compost- 

 ed. As most of the contents of city vaults are m a 

 fluid state, a watertight box or cask on wheels is 

 needed for carrying. This is backed up to one side 

 and emptied over the embankment into the bed pre- 

 pared for it, filled as desired. It is then allowed to 

 stand, settle and dry away, so that the whole 

 may be shoveled over aud well mixed, after which it 

 commences to warm, when it should be used at once, 

 or overhauled and plaster mixed with it. This over- 

 hauling is only a little less unpleasant than the 

 forking over of common yard manure, and often 

 much more exciting, and almost everything is found, 

 from gold watches down to hoop skirts, &c., among 

 the contents. According to our best chemists, this 

 manure should not be allowed to lie long before 

 using after being thus prepared, as oxidation sets in 

 and goes on rapidly, and its virtues as a fertilizer 

 deteriorate. I have found that this fertilizer thus 

 prepared should not be applied to the same soil in 

 successive seasons unless mixed largely with other 

 farm manure. Used in rotation alone, or mixed 

 with other animal manure, benefit results; but 

 where used alone successive seasons, results are 

 unsatisfactory.— W- H. White. 



• 



A New Wheat. 

 I send you a few sample stalks, not selected, of 

 ray new white wheat which I call "Centennial Black 

 Bearded" white wheat. I have only a small country 

 place, and am onlv an amateur. What I grow is 

 for my owu satisfaction and pleasure, and not '^"- 

 profit. I had in ISTfl two gills of th' 



took it. The lessee gave it a coat of ashes and a 

 good sprinkling of clover seed. The rye yielded six 

 bushels per acre ; it was so thin that the clover had 

 suflicient room to grow. The next season the clover 

 covered the ground completely aud was allowed to 

 remain on the ground the entire season. In the 

 spring of the second year the whole was plowed In 

 and the field planted with corn, which yielded forty- 

 seven bushels per acre, and it has remained a fertile 

 field to the present time and is very valuable land. 



About Corn. 

 Peter Cooper, In a recent conversation with a re- 

 porter, said: "About thirty years ago a man came 

 Into my offlce and olfered to sell me a great secret for 

 tliO. ilc was so persistent and his condition so piti- 

 ful that I concluded to buy It. I paid him the money 

 and he told me the secret." Mr. Cooper said It was 

 a process of treating seed corn which would double 

 Its productive power. The corn should be covered 

 with glue and rolled successively In lime, guano etc., 

 and planted with the accumulation thus gathered 

 around It. "I gave the receipt," continued he, "to 

 a man in New York State, and he reported the yield 

 of corn so treated was double that of corn planted 

 In the usual way. I have a barrel of glue with me 

 and Intend to try the experiment." 



Tub best time to cut wheat is when the straw is 

 yellow two or three joints from the ground. Every 

 day the wheat stands after the grain can be mashed 

 without producing any milk, the gluten decreases in 

 quality aud the bran increases in thickness. 



the hills both ways ; though we know how nice it is 

 to have carrots with corn, corn alone has to do the 

 work. 



Here Is the same trouble with the turnip, though 

 in a less degree to be sure. Every single turnip has 

 to be handled In pulling; and then aaer pulling 

 every one has to be gone over again and handled tp 

 take the top off. If we could manage to do this by 

 machinery, as we do so many other things, so as to 

 get rid of this hand-labor liuslness, no doubt the pro- 

 duction would soon be doubled, and use be found 

 for an Immense number more than Is now dreamed 

 of. This may come In time, for Yankee genius ll 

 equal to any achievement in this direction.— 0«rman- 

 lown Telegraph. 



Horticulture. 



heat which 

 I'sowcdon'a plat of well fertilized soil about 12 yards 

 square, harvesting one full peck of grain. In 187( 1 

 sowed the peck of seed broadcast on one quarter of 

 an acre of light rotten rock soil (earth not more 

 than 12 to 14 inches deep), with 100 pounds of fertil- 

 izer. I obtained I5].i bushels of seed, weighing 68 

 pounds per bushel, in 1878 I was very late (owing 

 to drouth) in getting the land ready for seeding, and 

 sowed, on the 1st of November, on about 3;^ acres; 

 5 bushels of seed. I have not threshed it out, but 

 am told by good judges that they will be about 200 

 bushels, the seed was originally from a foreign land. 

 I will be glad if you can say in your paper what you 

 think of it. I might add that the land on which I 

 sowed the past year, was mostly in corn in 1878, and 

 I did not give it any special preparation. 



Baltimore, Md. , , „ - 



The heads of wheat sent were large and full, of 

 goodshape, bearded. The beards heingblack, while 

 the chaff is white, with an occasional tinge gives 

 the head a striking appearance . The kernel Is white 

 or nearly so, except when shrunken, and has a dark, 

 smoky spot on the germ, or eye, rendering It very 

 distinct from any other sort. It is apparently a pro- 

 mising variety.— CoMnd'j^ Gcutlanan. 



Is Clover a Fertilizer. 

 The following may throw some light on the 

 subject. About twenty years since a man obtained 

 by lease a large tract of land for a term of years, 

 most of which was worn out and exhausted rye land. 

 One field often acres was sown with rye when he 



Bags for Protecting Grapes. 

 Below we give an extract from an essay read before 

 the Kentucky State Horticultural Society by Thomas 

 S. Kennedy, a well-known grape-grower near 

 Louisville. Mr. Charics Downing used these bags 

 years ago to protect his grapes from birds and 

 "yellow jackets," and with success. We have used 

 them also, and indorse all that Mr. Kennedy says. 

 The protection afforded by the netting is probably 

 fully as complete as can be attained without impair- 

 In" the ripening of the fruit. The netting should 

 hang rather loosely about the fruit. The extract 

 here follows : 



"But a better protection from insects and disease 

 I have found in covering each bunch of grapes with 

 a close-fitting bag made of cheap cross-bar mosquito 

 netting, costing last season only forty-five cents per 

 piece of eight yards long by two wide— one square 

 foot being sufflcient for a bag. It is slipped over the 

 bunch and tied closely around the stem with a string. 

 This simple contrivance is a simple protection against 

 all kinds of insects, but only a partial preventive of 

 rot. I have used this covering for more than fifteen 

 years, and am satisfied that without this safeguard I 

 would not be able to save any considerable portion of 

 my annual crops from destruction by insects. Under 

 this covering the grapes have fully ripened and hung 

 long afterwards on the vines until wanted. 



"About seven years ago, Mr. Younglove, of 

 Bowling Green, exhibited at the Louisville fair a 

 very large collection of grapes that had been pro- 

 tected with paper bags. These grapes were very 

 clear and translucent, and only slightly colored. 

 The darkest kinds of red grapes had only a light 

 pink tinge, and no person could tell what kinds any 

 of them were by their appearance. The paper bags 

 had evidently excluded the sunlight and caused the 

 o-rapes to mature without attaining their natural 

 color. The flavor, too, was insipid and watery. The 

 contrast between these and the rich colors of th: 

 grapes exhibited from my vineyards caused the 

 judges who awarded premiums to decide that the 

 netting was a better covering than paper bags."— 

 Rural Life. 



Cultivate More Turnips. 



We all know the value of the turnip crop to 

 England. It has been asserted that the interest of 

 their immense debt is annually paid by the product 

 of this crop. As to the United States, we do not 

 make half the use of the turnip we might do, by 

 increasing the consumption of the root and improve- 

 ment in the manner of its cultivation. The great 

 w ant of our winter- feed for cattle is succulence . We 

 somewhat obviate this want by using cut feed 

 moistened, but as a general thing hay and oats and 

 corn and water form the bulk of catMe-food. Car- 

 rots, potatoes, rutabagas and turnips are used at 

 times, but to a very limited extent to what they 

 might be. 



One reason for this limited use may be In our old 

 enemy, dear labor. In the culture of the carrot, for 

 Instance, there Is a great amount of hand-work. As 

 soon as the seeds are up the plants must be tliinned; 

 and after every hoe-harrowing between the rows, 

 hands must go over again to keep the rank weeds 

 from smothering out the carrot plants. Carrots are 

 excellent horse-feed; but few of us have this hand- 

 labor to spare. It is so much easier to hoe corn iu 



Fertilizers and Fiuit Trees. 

 I find that lime, wood ashes and old Iron, put 

 around the roots of declining fruit trees, have a very 

 bcncflcial effect. These fertilizers restore the trees 

 to a healthy condition, and also greatly improve the 

 fruit In quality and quantity. I made the applica- 

 tion on a WIncsap and Never Fall, about half a 

 bushel of mixed lime and ashes to each, and dug It 

 in with a hoe some six feet around the trunk, and 

 put old Iron immediately around the base of each. 



The trees put forth with renewed vigor, bloomed 

 abundantly, and yielded a good crop of fruit. An 

 excellent wash for trees may be made thus : Heat an 

 once of sal-soda to redness in an iron pot, and 

 dissolve it In one gallon of water, and while warm 

 apply it to the trunk. After one application the 

 moss and old bark will drop off, and the trunk will 

 be quite smooth. The wash has highly recupera- 

 tive properties, making old trees bear anew. 



1 have tried soft soap as a wash with good results, 

 and also a coating of lime In the spring season, 

 which is a fine specific for old trees. The question 

 is often asked. Is it best to manure trees in the fall or 

 spring? I have found the summer season to be a 

 good time ; have much faith In mulching, especially 

 voung trees, for several seasons after they am 

 planted. Apple trees are said to have two growths 

 during the season; the secondary growth takes 

 place after midsummer, hence It is that a top dress- 

 ing of good manure, and also coarse litter, facilitates 

 the late growth, and often produces very marked 

 results in the habit and formation of the tree. The 

 good effect that mulching has on young trees Is, that 

 it wards off the intense heat of the sun from the 

 tender roots, and also has a tendency to hold 

 moisture. A good top dressing of stable manure In 

 the fall, around young trees, with a good many com 

 cobs cast over the surface of the soil, gives satisfac- 

 tory ve&\x\ii.— Correspondence Rural Messenger. 



Setting Out Strawberries. 

 In reply to some inquiries, principally from new 

 subscribers, as to the best time to plant out a bed of 

 strawberries, we would say September by all means. 

 And we would add that setting the plants some 

 fifteen inches apart and allowing them to form a 

 complete bed, more fruit and of larger size can be 

 obtained than if set in rows and the hill system pur- 

 sued. When this mode Is adopted the plant should 

 be set about two feet apart each way. It Is well to 

 change the variety after cultivating a bed for three 

 or lour years, to fresh ground. Generally a new 

 variety will do better altogether after cultivating It 

 for a series of years. We have raised more Hovey s 

 Seedling than any other ; but after running from six 

 to eight years it gradually diminished in yield. We 

 have In the same way done well with the Monarch of 

 the West, Triumph, Ja.-unda, and latteriy with Seth 

 Boyden, and Captain Jack. The Sharplessjust now 

 is the general favorite, but the cost of the plants Is 

 still pretty well up. All the foregoing are choice 

 varieties and will well repay any one either for the 

 market or for domestic use. In setting out the plant, 

 it should not be done too deeply, but firmly. Ihe 

 soil selected should not be low, or cold, or liable to 

 retain water.— (?o'mnn<own Telegraph. 



Growing the Crab Apple. 



In Pennsylvania there are very few crab apples 

 raised, though they would no doubt always com- 

 mand a goodprlce in our markets for "preserving, 

 as there is no fruit that Is so valuable and would 

 become so popular for this purpose. The Siberian 

 crab is the best for marketing. It is a beautiful 

 fruit, good tasted, and produces full crops where It 

 is grown in central parts of New York, as we wit- 

 nessed It several years ago. It also produces 

 abundantly all over the North and West, and we 

 cannot see why It should not be grown in Pennsylva- 

 nia There are a number of varieties of the Siberian 

 crai), some being better than others, and we are In- 

 formed on credible authority, that the variety known 

 as No 20 Is a superior kind, and we know it to be 

 highly commended in the West, where it can be pur- 

 chased at some of the vast nurseries In that section 

 of the country. We are also aware that it can be 

 obtained of Mr. Samuel Edwards, whose address Is 

 Mendota, LaSalle county, Illinois. We have read 

 the certificates of a number of leading men ol tne 



