148 



THE LANCASTER FARMER. 



[ October, 



but so it is that common things are too .often 

 neglected, when if some attention were be- 

 stowed upon them would prove them to have 

 uncommon hidden properties to be developed. 

 To analyze these flowers, the usual calyx in 

 them is like in the Anemone (only much 

 closer to the flower), an involucre resembling a 

 three-sepalous calyx ; so that it really has no 

 petals, but the sepals are petaloid, from 6 to 9 

 in two or three rows. The involucre one- 

 flowered, leaves radical, entire or three- 

 lobed. They belong to the cow-foot family, 

 order Rammculacece. To cultivate them they 

 should be grown in a light, sandy soil and a 

 shady situation ; and, as they have a pro- 

 pensity to raise themselves out of the soil, 

 they should be taken up every two or three 

 years, in autumn, and replanted. If this be 

 not done the earth should be raked or hoed 

 up around them, so as to cover the roots ; if 

 these are left exposed they will wither and 

 the plants may die out. The flowers of the 

 Hepatica, unlike those of most other plants, 

 possess their full color from the first formation 

 in the bud. Another remarkable fact is, the 

 flower lies a year complete in all its parts 

 within the bud ; the seeds are oblong-ovate, 

 involved in a silky substance, and many of 

 them abortive. The plant is a mild astringent 

 and corroborant, and formerly used with these 

 intentions in an infusion like tea, or in a 

 powder, given to the quantity of half a spoon- 

 ful at a time. It is found wild in Sweden, 

 abundantly in Denmark, Switzerland, France, 

 Spain, Italy, and other parts of Europe ; in 

 woods and among bushes, with blue, red and 

 white flowers, single. Cultivated in England 

 in 1596, by Gerard. In the language of flowers 

 the Liverwort, as it is often called, or Hejxdica, 

 signifies confidence. When the gardeners see 

 the pretty flowers of the Hepatica they say : 

 " The earth is in love, we may sow with con- 

 fidence." — J. Stauffer. 



Selections. 



LANCASTER COUNTY CATTLE. 



Chief among the many attractions at the 

 York Co. Agricultural Fair were the splen- 

 did herd of Jersey cattle shown by Colin 

 Cameron, of Brickerville, Lancaster county. 

 Pa. They are a part of the well known and 

 justly celebrated herd the property of the late 

 G. Dawson Coleman — a gentleman of large 

 means and fine culture, and who was second 

 to none in his effort to further the cause of 

 agriculture, having especial pride, in his well- 

 cultivated lands and in the increase of his fine 

 and pure bred stock. 



He chose the Jerseys on account of their 

 graceful beauty as ornaments for his lawn, 

 and again for the rich lusciousness of their 

 cream, and the peculiarly gratifying nutty 

 flavor of their golden butter. He bought the 

 very best specimens from the best importers, 

 and as it was his pride to improve on 

 the original animals he was signally fortu- 

 nate in getting Colin Cameron to dh-ect that 

 improvement. 



Mr. Cameron has gone into the best herds 

 of this breed of cattle in America, and bought 

 some of their choicest animals to keep up, 

 and if possible raise the high standard of the 

 herd in his charge. How successful he has 

 been the cattle on exhibition will testify. All 

 are registered in the herd book of the Ameri- 

 can Jersey Cattle Club, and of the thirteen 

 animals on exhibition not one is an imported 

 animal — all are home bred. 



The bull at the head is Vespers Eoyalson, 

 No. 2,946. The editor of the York Daily 

 says, in shape and general outside appearance 

 he is the finest Jersey bull it has ever been his 

 pleasure to see — his extremely yellow horns 

 and fairly yellow skin, and his rudimentary 

 teats— almost the size of a yearling heifer's 

 — indicate him to be — as his get proves — a 

 sire of unusual worth. 



To follow him in his herd, Mr. Cameron 

 has purchased of Mr. Mackie, who is one of 

 the oldest and best known breeders in the 

 country, a young bull, called Coxcomb of 



Pine Cliff, No. 3,507. He is from the famous 

 Hebe family of Jersey cows, being so thorough- 

 ly inbred that there can be no doubt of his 

 being able to stamp his worth on any herd. 

 He is prized very highly. The last of the 

 bulls is Kilgore, No. 3,909. He was bought 

 of T. J. Hand, and is of aristocratic extrac- 

 tion, as far as the records at the pail are 

 concerned, and being of very fine appearance, 

 straight of back and fine of limb, mellow of 

 skin, we judge, with his owner, that he is a 

 coming treasure. 



The cows are LaBride, No. 2,617 ; Mount 

 Lebanon, No. 4,557 : Lebanon Girl, No. 6,- 

 104 ; Lebanon Mother, No. 6,107. The heifers 

 over one year old are Lady Seelock, No. 6,932; 

 Wilson Dawson, No. 7,581 , Emmie Dawson, 

 No. 7,582 ; Alice Dawson, No. 7,583 ; those 

 under one year being Belle Dawson, No. 

 8,270, and Lewis Baron, yet a calf. 



The cows upon examination prove to be an 

 even lot of very high excellence. They are 

 typical representatives of the Jersey cow that 

 is famous for thick cream and rich butter, and 

 in every particular that points to the produc- 

 tion of those articles they show the hands of 

 the skilled breeder. 



The fine, clean cut heads, small crumpled, 

 waxy horns, light necks, wedge-shaped bodies, 

 thin thighs, large, square and well propor- 

 tioned udders, fed through large, prominent 

 and knotted milk veins, indicate these ani- 

 mals to be large producers of milk, and to 

 have undoubtedly descended trom a race of 

 great performers at the pail. 



Standing almost side by side are three gen- 

 erations in one family, being mother, daugh- 

 ter and granddaughter, in the order named : 

 LaBride, Lebanon Mother and Alice Dawson. 

 Mount. Lebanon reproduces herself in Belle 

 Dawson. 



Another noticeable feature is that five of 

 the animals shown— Lady Seelock and all the 

 Dawsons— are sired by that famous old bull, 

 Commodore Eoxbury, No. 1,586, that won 

 the First Prize and highest commendations 

 wherever he has been shown, as being not 

 only the finest, but having the thinnest, mel- 

 lowest and richest skin, and the best escutcheon 

 of any Jersey Bull in the United States ; and 

 a careful examination of these heifers would 

 endorse the sound judgment of the men who 

 eulogized the old bull. Lady Seelock is a 

 marvel in development of her mammary 

 structure, while none of the rest are far be- 

 hind her. 



The Daily adds that taking the herd, as a 

 whole or singly, it is one of the very best ex- 

 hibits that has graced the grounds of the York 

 County Fair for a long time ; and he only 

 hopes for the manager of the herd the success 

 he deserves, and that each year may fiud him 

 there to record his advancement in the study 

 of the science and the practice of the art of 

 breeding. 



REVISED FRUIT LIST. 



Since the last publication of our fruit li.st 

 we have, for satisfactory reasons, changed our 

 opinion with respect to a few of the fruits 

 which it contained. But in regard to the list 

 as a whole we can see no just grounds for dis- 

 turbingit. Indeed, we do not see how it can 

 be improved for this section of country, or a 

 general list for all the Middle States. Some 

 of each of the separate selections may not do 

 well upon one premises that will succeed ad- 

 mirably on another. Each grower must find 

 out for himself the particular apples, pears, 

 &c., especially adapted to his soil and location. 



According to our present preference we 

 should select the following for our own plant- 

 ing : 



Standaid Pears.— 1, Giffard ; 2, Doyenne 

 d'Ete ; 3, Early Catharine ; 4, Kirtland ; 5, 

 Bloodgood ; 6, Summer Julienne ; 7, Tyson ; 

 8, Brandywine ; 9, Bartlett ; 10, Belle Lucra- 

 tive ; 11, Manning's Elizabeth ; 12, Seckel ; 

 13, Howell ; 14, Anjou ; 15, Shelden ; 16, St. 

 Ghislan ; 17, Lawrence ; 18, Reading. 



For those who may desire a smaller num- 

 ber we should select : 1, Giffard ; 2, Early 

 Catharine ; 3, Bloodgood ; 4, Tyson ; 5, Bart- 



lett ; 6, Belle Lucrative ; 7, Seckel ; 8, Law- 

 rence ; 9, Reading. They ripen in about the 

 order they are arranged. 



In the above list, from No. 1 to 8 are sum- 

 mer varieties ; from 9 to 16 autnmn (early 

 and late ;) and 17 and 18 winter, thus attbrd- 

 ing a sufficient number for each of the periods 

 of the best known sorts for this region. 



Dwarf Pears.— 1, St. Michael d'Archange ; 



2, Bartlett ; 3, Comice ; 4, Rostiezer ; 5, Diel ; 

 6. Tyson ; 7, Belle Lucrative ; 8, Lawrence ; 

 9, Ott ; 10, Louise Bonne; 11, Bose; 12, Bous- 

 sock ; 12, Glout Morceau. 



Apples.— I, Maiden's Blush ; 2, Baldwin ; 



3, Smokehouse; 4, Jeffries; 5, Smith's Cider; 

 6, Fallawater; 7, Cornell's Fancy; 11, Graven- 

 stein ; 12, Tompkin's King ; 13, Roxbury 



We add to the foregoing list Tompkins' 

 King and Roxbury Russet, both most excel- 

 lent varieties ; indeed the King is regarded 

 by some as unsurpassed. 



Peaches. — 1, Crawford's Early ; 2, Hale's 

 Early ; 3, York Early ; 4, Old Mixon ; 5, 

 Crawford's Late ; 6, Ward's Late ; 7, Smock's 

 Late ; 8, Susquehanna. 



There is no solid reason to change this list 

 so far as it goes. We suggested to peach 

 growers to favor us with a list of their own, 

 and a few did, but where they differed from 

 ours we did not deem it an improvement. 



Grapes. — 1, Telegraph ; 2, Concord ; 3, 

 Hartford ; 4, Clinton ; 5, Slem ; 6, Rogers' 

 No. 32. 



We have added to the list Rogers' No. 32, 

 which, should it maintain its present charac- 

 ter, will be the best out-door variety culti- 

 vated. It is a beautiful pink, or rather ma- 

 roon colored grape, at times is transparent. 

 It bears regular crops yearly with us. Clinton, 

 in the foregoing list, is only for wine, and is 

 probably the very best for that purpose in that 

 section. 



Cherries. — I, May Bigarreau ; 2, Belle de 

 Choisy ; 3, Black Tartarian ; 4, Black Eagle ; 

 5, Black Hawk ; 6, Eton ; 7, Downer's Lane ; 

 8, Early Richmond ; 9, Early Purple Guigne; 

 10, Del. Bleeding Heart. 



The ripening of the list will range from the 

 earliest to the latest, thus carrying one 

 through the whole cherry season. No one 

 can go amiss in adopting this list. 



Baspherries. — 1, Hornet ; 2, Herstine ; 3, 

 Philadelphia ; 4, Brandywine. 



Straiobcrries.—l, Captain Jack ; 2, Seth 

 Boynden ; 3, Monarch of the West ; 4, Tri- 

 omphe de Gand. 



Currants.— 1, Black Naples ; 2, Red Dutch: 

 3, White Grape. 



These three varieties are the best among 

 the different colors. The Red Dutch is a 

 regular bearer and is of better quality than 

 any other. There are others larger, but they 

 are more acid. The white grape is trans- 

 parent, of good quality, and ought to be more 

 generally grown, but it is not a great bearer. 



Oooseberriea. — 1, Houghton, 2, Downing. 



These are the two best gooseberries grown 

 in this country. They bear every year heavy 

 crops, are free from mildew, and are of excel- 

 lent quality. They are large enough for all 

 practical purposes. Keep clear of the giants 

 and their big prices. 



Blackberries.— 1, New-Rochelle ; 2, Mis- 

 souri Cluster ; 3, Wilson's Early ; 4, Snyder. 



The Snyder, a new Western blackberry, is 

 highly spoken of at distant points, but we 

 prefer to wait another year before recommend- 

 ing it, but in the meantime we give it a trial. 



It is better for those who intend to cultivate 

 fruit and have to make purchases, to take 

 this list with them to the nursey and adhere 

 to it as far as possible. 



In selecting fruit trees, or any others, be 

 careful to choose those with smooth, healthy 

 looking bark, and have entirely shed their 

 leaves, with plenty of small fibrous roots. 

 Trees on which the leaves remain after frost 

 sets in, and stick to the branches in the spring, 

 may be regarded as not healthy and in some 

 way lackingstamina.— CrcrmajitoMwi Telegraph. 



Please send in your back subscriptions. 



