174 



THE LANCASTER FARMER. 



t November, 



Horticulture. 



Care of Potatoes, Beets, Turnips, Carrots and 

 Parsnips. 

 Much has been said and written about the cultiva- 

 tion, care and quality of the potato. I wish to add 

 my testimony also. Beina: out from home a few 

 days ago to dinner, and amone; other things on the 

 table was some fried potatoes; it was about as much 

 as I could do to eat them— so strong. The question 

 came to my mind, what is the cause of so many 

 strong potatoes ? I find it is a general complaint. A 

 friend writing me from an Eastern city, says : "The 

 potatoes are so poor and strong." Now for the ques- 

 tion. Does not light injure potatoes? They are ama- 

 tive of darkness — that is, they grow under ground — 

 and if by chance any of them come to the surface 

 they turn green by being expo.«ed to the light. I 

 have frequently seen in an Eastern city potatoes lay- 

 ing in the market from day to day and fiom week to 

 week, exposed to the light ; is not this one cause ? 

 And, furthermore, I sold a person once a load of 

 potatoes for planting, and as his ground was not 

 quite ready he left them exposed to the light, and 

 also, I presume, to the sun for a period of time. I 

 met him a few months after. He says to me, "Those 

 potatoes I bought of .you I planted and they never 

 came up." I replied, that is very strange, for I 

 planted out of the same lot and every one of mine 

 grew. On inquiry I found the fact as above stated, 

 that they had remained for two weeks exposed to 

 the light and sun. A second case, a neighbor of 

 mine carried out a number of bushels for planting. 



the potatoes remained for one v.-eek exposed to the 

 light and sun, and then he planted them, but they 

 did not grow in those two cases ; they were not only 

 injured but killed . The way I do it, in this latitude, 

 I never let them remain in the ground longer than 

 the first week in October. If I have a large quantity 

 I put a sufficient force to dig them at once, after let- 

 ting them remain a very short time to dry. I remove 

 at once to my da-k cellar or root house, there to re- 

 main till called for. The result is I always have 

 good potatoes. 



I wish to say now something about the care of 

 beets, carrots and parsnips : After digging them I 

 remove to my cellar or root-house and pack them 

 away in barrels or boxes, and cover them .with dry 

 sawdust and sand to the depth of six inches ; as they 

 are used the remainder is kept covered. In this way 

 I keep carrots and beets till they come again. In 

 this latitude parsnips are very liable to rot if they 

 remain in the ground through the winter, and in 

 order to make sure of them I dig them late in the 

 fall and pack them the same as the beets and car- 

 rots, and then I put them in my wood-house or 

 granary and let them freeze up and remain frozen 

 through the winter and use them in a frozen state — 

 they may not be quite as good, j'et eatable, as left in 

 the ground through the winter. It in early spring 

 the beets and carrots should sprout I take them out 

 and remove the sprouts and repack them. 



Grafting Grape-vines. 



Those who wish to graft their vines over with other 

 vines shi.uld remember that winter and not spring is 

 the time for it — and in this the grape is diflferent 

 from most other trees. It is different in this; that in 

 the spring of the year there is such a tremendous 

 pressure upwards by the ascending sap that the 

 parts of the scion and stock, which to unite must of 

 course touch one another, are forced by the sap apart. 

 When the grafts are put in at this season there is 

 little of this. The several cells granulate and heal, 

 and when the sap is ready to flow upward strongly, 

 it goes up through its regular channels in the graft 

 without any tendency to breakout through the junc- 

 tion. 



How to graft grape-vines admits of many various 

 replies. The best is probably that described years 

 ago in our pages by Samuel Miller, then of Lebanon, 

 In this state, now of Missouri, who was very success- 

 ful as a grafter of the grape. He drew away the 

 soil from the stock to be grafted, cut it down about 

 two inches from the surface, then cut with a stout 

 sharp knife a long and narrow wedge-shaped notch 

 in the stock, and shaped the scion as a wedge to fit 

 in the notch in the stock. The lips of the notch are 

 then tied together and the earth drawn in and around 

 the hole, leaving the uppper eye of the graft above 

 the ground. 



We may say that it is very astonishing that grape 

 grafting is not more generally practiced, and especi- 

 ally since the discovery tnat the greatest success of 

 the Concord, Clinton and a few other grapes is not 

 owing to any extra constitutional hardiness, but to 

 the fact that the power to throw out numerous 

 fibrous roots is greater in these kinds. If this be 

 true, and it seems to be really the case, wc may have 

 the choicest and best of grapes by grafting them on 

 these vigorous rooting stocks. 



For once the French seem to have taken a start 

 ahead of us in this matter. They sent an agent to 

 this country some years ago — a shrewd, observing 

 fellow — and he took the whole situation at once. 



The result has been that millions on millions of Con- 

 cord and Clinton cuttings have been sent to France 

 the past five or six years, and in future wines of that 

 country may be brought to a higher grade of per- 

 fection than ever before. 



Apples and Apple Trees. 



Apples are much of the same nature as pears. 

 While there are good crops in some sections, there 

 are failures in others. We notice this the present 

 season. Then again there are certain varieties that 

 we are told will not produce any longer; the trees 

 get sickly and after a time die. Newer varieties do 

 better, though they are not equal in quality and d.i 

 not sell so well. Bat the truth is the old kinds fail 

 to do well because the vigor of the tree is exhausted, 

 and they look bad because they have finished their 

 course, and should be succeeded by an orchard of 

 young trees. Indeed there should always be two 

 orchards upon a farm — the young one to take the 

 place of the old; in such case we fancy there would 

 be little complaint. Smith's Cider, which continues 

 to produce such fine crops, has only reached middle 

 life, but it must be noticed that the oldest of them 

 are beginning year after year to bear fruit of a re- 

 duced size. Even the White Doctor, which was 

 supposed to have died out, bears well upon young 

 trees. A farmer told us the other tlay that on a 

 moderate-sized tree he had full ten bushels of the 

 finest apples he had ever raised— large, smooth and 

 uninjured by the worm. 



Farmers should not therefore give up the good old 

 kinds, which formerly were so popular; but when 

 they get old and pruning is no longer of any avail, 

 try new orchards of them. Of course they will go 

 on planting all the new profitable varieties, but give 

 the old a chance again, and see whether what we 

 say is not correct,.— Germantown Telegraph. 



Floriculture. 



Care of Plants in Winter. 



Slips should be cut smoothly from the plant just 

 below a joint or where they join the main stem. Any 

 time during the growing season will do, though July, 

 August and September are the best months'. Most 

 slips stand well in the sand, or a mixtureof half and 

 half soil, kept wet. If wanted for the house in 

 winter it is better to stand the slips in small pots 

 sunk in the ground, as they can be left in the pots or 

 transferred to larger ones without disturbing the 

 roots. Oleanders, honeysuckles, southerwood ai:d 

 some other plants are best started by putting in a 

 vial of water on a partly-shaded window sill, putting 

 a piece of cotton around the stem at the neck of the 

 vial, both to steady and protect the plant, and pre- 

 venting too rapid evaporation. Plants for the house 

 in winter will not do well iu smaller than four or 

 five inch pots. Place a saucer under each. Water 

 every day, toward night putting on water till some 

 of it runs througli into the saucer. The water should 

 always be tepid and once a week a few drops of 

 ammonia or liquid manure should be added to each 

 quart of water. Do not water if the soil is still 

 moist ; some plants do not need as much water as 

 others. A little top-watering only does more hurt 

 than good; the water should go to all the roots. 

 After January they will need more water, as then 

 they begin to grow ; before that most plants simply 

 live. Cactuses and aloes should have no water in 

 the early winter : they must rest if you wish them 

 to bloom well later. Keep callus standing in water. 

 Keep the pots and leaves clean by frequent washing. 

 Plants will not thrive if dusty. Some plants do bc't- 

 ter in glazed pots or wooden boxes, the common pots 

 being so porous as to extract all the moisture from 

 the roots. If you simply wish to keep slips for next 

 year's garden fill a starch-box with sandy soil, set a 

 number of slips in it, keep wet and in a sunny 

 window. 



The Abutilon. 



One of our scientific contributors writes : J. M. 

 Johnston, reporter of the Jntdligencer, called my 

 attention to a remarkable growth in the attachment 

 of one of the prolonged and sharply toothed lobes of 

 a leaf firmly clamped by the terminal combined 

 sepals of the fiower buds. I was astonished to see 

 this peculiarity in every eightor nine buds out often. 

 In the first place, I never saw a larger or finer plant 

 of this species, the "Abntilon striatum.i' The ex- 

 panded fiowers are truly beautiful, and altogether, 

 as a plant, I question whether it would not carry the 

 premium at any fioral exhibition, as it now stands 

 in his yard. No. 9 South Queen street. 



The Abutilon belongs to the Mulvacea, or "Mallow 

 family." This species is properly called a green- 

 house plant; it is also called sida picta. The 

 Abutilon striatum is a native of Brazil, and half 

 shrubby, with bell-shaped flowers of a bright yellow, 

 strongly veined with scarlet, which hang down on 

 slender stalks. Johiison, in his Gardener's Diction- 

 ary (Ed. London, 1S70,) describes eleven species. 

 The above and the A. Venosum seem almost iden- 

 tical. I can find no clue to account for the strange 



freak in this instance. If the leaf-bud and flower- 

 bud were actually combined during the early stage 

 of development, the entanglement of the long termi- 

 nal point of one of the deep cut and toothed lobes of 

 the leaf might account for it. On examination I 

 found no actual union, by growth or mingling of the 

 tissues, between the leaf and the green flower- cup, 

 usually flve parted; in this stage, I noticed that the 

 edges of three on one side and two on the other side 

 of the flower were coherent to the point, like a simple 

 two-parted flower-cup, as those in the poppy; but a 

 slight force separated them into flve parts. The 

 leaf, on its petiole, is separated distinctly from the 

 unexpanded flower-bud and a few inches off; still one 

 point and often that on the opposite side of the leaf was 

 turned over the body of the leaf and crumpled and 

 clamped in or between the points of the calyx and 

 flower actually clamped fast. It looked as though 

 the point of the leaf had been attracted by and taken 

 hold of between the points of the flowering-bud. A 

 single case might be accounted for as an abnormal 

 or accidental occurrence, but when it comes to the 

 general character of the developments, some law in 

 vegetable philosophy not yet understood, would seem 

 to demand attention: hence I go to some length. 

 Mr. Johnston can corroborate the fact, as any one 

 else who will go and examine the bush. Has a simi- 

 lar case ever been noticed before ? If so, let us hear 

 of it, and how we can account for this cohesion of a 

 leaf-lobe with the unexpanded bud ? In some cases 

 the flower cup was drawn off by the expansion of 

 the leaf, and attached in a withered form to the end 

 of the lobe or point. In short, I can offer no solution. 

 I can trace no connection with it and insect inter- 

 ference, nor abnormal growth or development, other 

 than the singular contact, and leave it for one more 

 skilled in this particular than J. S. 



The Quinine Flower. 



The American Garden' quotes the following in 

 regard to the "quinine flower," by Dr. Palmer, of 

 Florida. From its description and effects we should 

 consider it identical with what is well known as 

 "boneset," a very valuable wild plant in cases of 

 chills and fever, and malarious disease. It is an 

 annual from twelve to eighteen inches high, has an 

 erect green stem, linear leaves of from one-half to 

 one inch in length, and small white fiowers. The 

 root consists of numerous slender fibres. 



It is a native of Florida, and is found most abun- 

 dantly in fiat pine woods, in a moderately dry soil, 

 making its appearance in March or April, and 

 flowering from July to September. The specimens 

 furnished me were gathered three or four miles 

 south of Monticello, in Jefferson county- In the 

 lower portions of the country it is very abundant, and 

 is successfully employed by those living in its vicin- 

 ity for the cure of different types of malarious fever, 

 the whole plant being used, either in the form of 

 decoction or extract, and is given ad libitum, or 

 until the patient feels the effects of quinine in his 

 head. 



It is a curiouo fact, that persons brought under 

 the influence of this remedy experience similar sen- 

 sations, such as tension or fullness in the head, ring- 

 ing in the ears, or partial deafness, as when under 

 the influence of quinia and hence its name. Its repu- 

 tation as an anti-periodic was established during the 

 civil war, when owing to the scarcity of quinia every 

 opportunity was offered for testing the relative value 

 of the various substitutes. 



The quinine flower is intensely and permanently 

 bitter, yielding its properties to water and alcohol. 

 A saturated "tincture, in doses of one teaspoonful 

 every two hours, was found suBicient to break the 

 paroxj'sm of intermittent fever. Large quantities, 

 however, may be given in obstinate cases, or in the 

 remittent«form of the disease. 



Domestic Economy. 



Oatmeal in the Household. 



In Great Britain children of all ranks are raised on 

 an oatmeal diet alone, because it causes them to 

 grow strong and healthful, and no better food can 

 possibly be found for them. It is also quite as de- 

 sirable for the student as the laborer, and for the 

 delicate lady as for her hard-working sister ; indeed, 

 all classes would be greatly benefited by its use, and 

 dyspepsia, with all its manifold annoyances, can be 

 kept at a distance. Oatmeal is more substantial 

 food, it is said, than veal, pork or lamb, and quite 

 equal to beef or mutton, giving as much or more 

 mental vigor, while its great desideratum consists in 

 one's not becoming weary of it, for it is as welcome 

 for breakfast or tea as is wheat or Grahom bread. It 

 can be eaten with syrup and butter as hasty pudding, 

 or with cream and sugar like rice. It is especially good 

 for young mothers upon whose nervous forces too 

 great a demand has been made, when they lose the 

 equilibrium of the system and become depressed and 

 dispirited. Oatmeal requires to be cooked slowly, 

 and the water should be boiling hot when it Is stir- 

 red in. 



