is«0.] 



tHE LANCASTER FARMER. 



29 



111 contact with the sponiles and hecomc inoculalpd, 

 iiul they limy Impart it tn cats, tii> cuts, (lni;s and 

 rliildreu are occasionally sulijecl to tliif fungufl 

 frrowth. 



Dr. RathTon rend a paper entitled, "Zoolotjical 

 Notes," No. .WO; descriptive oftlje saliimanders and 

 their relationfi, and some personal observations of 

 his own at "Hunter's Luke," in I,ycomiuit county, 

 Pa., in 1S47. 



Scientific Miscellany. 

 Kev. J. S. stahr. Rev. Dr. J. H. Dubhs, M. L. 

 Davis, \l . D., Wilmcr Bolton and J. .StaufFer diacus- 

 »ed tuiiKoids and their prollhc firowth. Dr. KathTon 

 rel'errcd to a late author, who proposes to destroy 

 noxious insects by iiioruhitimj them with a kind of 

 I'ung:us, such US is known to kill Hies, ffrasshoppers, 

 ,S:c., inducing fatal epizootic disease anion^^ tliem. 

 A word of caution might be seasonalile on this suli- 

 jecl. Mrs. /ell presented a flower for a name. It 

 evidently belonjxs to tlic natural order Acanthaeece, 

 and no doubt one of the 1;17 species of lusticea, now 

 divided into dilTereiit genera. 



A Good Farm Stockfood. 



Corufodder, as we lerin it, is a very s^ood food for 

 larin stock, when cut at the proper time and well 

 prepared for the barn. I do not think this fodiler 

 lias been appreciated at its true value, though there 

 has been much thouirht and writina; on the subject. 

 Wheu 1 was a boy 1 never saw an acre of corn 

 treated iu the same manner that every farmer prac- 

 tices now in Vermont, as far us I know. 



It was not uncommon in my younsj days in New 

 Hampshire for farmers to let the bulk of their corn- 

 fodder stand until it was thoroughly ripened or 

 killed by snccessive frosts. The top stalks were re- 

 meved about September — first of the month in 

 average years. When the corn commnnced to hard- 

 en these stalks were tiound iu small bundles and 

 stocked on the adjacent ^rass land, and when cured 

 were very nice fodder. But the bulk of the fodder 

 still remained, and by exposure and ripenina; was 

 ruined. When the coru was harvested cattle would 

 eat it, and so they will dry corn-cobs, where not one 

 per cent, of nourishment can be found. One man 

 says he plants a small kind of corn, that the fodder 

 may also be of a fine quality. I think I can suggest 

 an improvement on his plan. 



I have a kind of eight-rowed corn which is as 

 large as any of the kind I 'have seen. I get over a 

 hundred bushels of ears per acre with ordinary cul- 

 ture. But the stalks are small, not growing much 

 if any more than si.v I'eet high. A year or two since 

 I hail very good luck in curing them iu our way and 

 fed them to my oxen aud cows, and I could easily 

 carry in my arms at once every stalk they left. 



My usual way of preparing this fodder is as fol- 

 lows : Cut the corn at tlie ground when about half- 

 glazed or hardened; while the stalks are yet green 

 bind about seven or eisrht hills in a bundle, and put 

 from three to five bundles in a shock; set them 

 firmly on the ground and put a band arouud the top 

 of the shock. After a short rain or two will not 

 injure them. When sulliciently cured husk them in 

 the field, or cart to the barn and husk there. Vou 

 will be pleased with the corn, which will be well 

 ripened and ready for the crib. 



I usually cut my oats when the straw is about 

 half-turued, and it I have good luck in curing it 

 makes very palatable food. "After threshing, I take 

 of straw aud corufodder and with alternate layers 

 mow them in some convenient place, and feed out in 

 November and December. There will be but little 

 waste, and corufodder must be very dry if this mow- 

 does not mould, as it probably will in most eases. 

 But the cattle do not mind the mould, and eat this 

 prepared fodder readily and do as well as on good 

 hay. Farmer can feed from a mow of corufodder as 

 above, and from a mow of hay alternately if they 

 prefer. — Gcnnantowii Tdctirajih. 



Bone Dust. 

 Bone dust, like barn yard manure, does not imme- 

 diately yield up its nitrogen or phosphate acid to 

 plants. The bone phosphate of lime is iusolutile in 

 water containing carbolic acid. The gelatine of the 

 bones would soon decompose iu a moist, porous, 

 warm soil, provided it was not protected by the oil 

 and hard matter of the bones. Steaming removes 

 the oil, and reducing the bones to as fine a condition 

 as possible is another means of increasing their 

 availaliility. Another good method is to mix the 

 bone dust with barn yard manure and let both fer- 

 ment together, and I am inclined to think this is the 

 simplest and most economical method of rendering 

 bones available. The bone dust causes the heap of 

 manure to ferment more rapidly, and the fermenta- 

 tion of the manure softens the bones. Both the 

 manure aud hones are improved and rendered richer 

 and more available by the process. One ton of good 

 bone dust contains about as much nitrogen as 8'a 

 tons of fresh stable mauu-e. But one ton of manure 

 contains more potash tUap five tone of tionc dust. 



Forest Leaves for Stable and Yards. 

 We don't think that tarmers set as much value 

 upon forest leaves as thev should do. They possess 

 many good (|ualilies. They have a pleasant smell, 

 absorb the moisture, and through the winter are 

 converteil into excellent manure. They can be most 

 conveniently gathereil after the first snow, or at 

 least before the winter blasts have scattered them. 

 They then lay compid ly, and being moist can be 

 handled with great lacility. A cart with a few 

 standards stuck iu the sidcswill hold a considerable 

 quantity ; anil the best thing to gather them or load 

 thcin with is a wooden hand-rake ; a wooden four- 

 tined straw-fork is al.>,o \cry handy when the leaves 

 are moist. They can be gathered, too, when other 

 labor about the i'arm is slack. There are leaves, 

 also, about the garden yard, and orchards, that 

 should be gathered and useil. They are good for 

 covering vines, calibage, and half-hardy shrubbery 

 after being laid down. They do not admit mucli 

 moisture and are an excellent protection against 

 frost . 



Wonders of Broom Corn. 



Broom corn is likely at no distant day to revolu- 

 tionize the breadstulf supply of the world. A pro- 

 cess has Ijeeu discovered by which the finest and 

 most nutritious flour can be made from the seed to 

 the extent of one half its weight, and leave the 

 other half a valuable food for making beef aud milk. 

 The average yield per acre is three hundred bushels, 

 and in many instances five hundred bushels, or 

 thirty thousand pounds have been secured. 



Nor does it exhaust the soil as Indian corn, from 

 the fact that it feeds from the deeper soil, and assim- 

 ilates its food Trom a cruder stale. 



It belongs to the same genus as the sorghum sac- 

 charatuin, or sweet cane, commonly known as sor- 

 ghum, which as an article of food is growing 

 rapidly iu public esteem, and from the seed of which 

 a most nutritious fiour can be made. — Wc^tem 

 Grocer. 



Horticulture. 



Spring Cultivation of Strawberries. 



Mr. E. P. Koe, the horticulturist, in his Scritynei- 

 series on small fruits, writes as follows of a mooted 

 question in the culture of strawberries : I hare now 

 reached a point at which I differ from most horticul- 

 tural writers. As a rule it is advised that there be 

 no spring cultivation of bearing plants. It has been 

 said that merely pushing the winter mulch aside 

 sufficiently to let the new growth come through is 

 all that is needful. I admit that the results" are 

 often satisfactory under this method, especially if 

 there has been deep, thorough culture iu the fall, 

 and if the mulch between and around the plants is 

 very abundant. At the same time I have so often 

 seen unsatisfactory results that I take a decided 

 stand in favor of spring cultivation, if done properly 

 and sufliciently early. I think my reasons will 

 commend themselves to practical men. Etcu where 

 the soil has been left mellow by fall cultivation, 

 the beating rains and the weight of melting snows 

 pack the earth. All loamy laud settles and tends 

 to grow hard after the frost leaves it. While the 

 mulch cheeks this tendency, it can not wholly pre- 

 vent it. As a matter of fact, the spaces between 

 the rows are seldom thoroughly loosened late iu the 

 fall. The mulch too often is scattered over a com- 

 paratively hard surface, which by the folio /ping 

 June has become so solid as to sutfcr disastrously 

 from drought in the blossoming aud bearing season. 

 1 have seen well mulched fields with their plants 

 faltering and wilting, unable to mature the crop be- 

 cause the ground had become so hard that an ordi- 

 nary shower could make but little impression. 

 Moreover, even if kept moist by the mulch, land 

 long shielded from sun and air tend to become sour, 

 heavy and devoid of that life which gives vitality 

 and vigor to the plant. The winter mulch need not 

 be laboriously raked from the garden bed or field 

 and then carted back again. Begin on one side of a 

 plot and rake toward the other until three or four 

 rows and speecs between them are bare; then fork 

 the spaces or run the cultivator— often the subs.Ml 

 plow — deeply through them, and then immediatelv, 

 before the moist, newly-made surface dries, rake 

 the winter mulch back into its place as a summer 

 mulch. Then take another strip and treat it iu like 

 manner until the generous impulse of spring air and 

 sunshine has been given to the soil of the entire 

 plantation. 



A New Nut. 



There is a new /ml which has just come " to the 

 surface." It is of Chinese origin, and so far as we 

 know has not yet made i's appearance in the United 

 States. It is called the " Water Nut,'' which grows 

 and matures in still, clear water of from one to two 

 feet in depth. It is technically called Trnpahicornis 

 (Ling Kok of the Cantonese). The best situation 

 for \i is where the water is subject to a gentle over- 

 flow by the tides, " but it grows well iu ponds be- 

 yond the reach of tides." 'fhig, of course, makes it 



more popular, and so does its earlinees, as It is ready 

 for consumption as early as May, ami Is in the mar- 

 ket up to August. "They are eaten by all classes 

 of Chinese, and are also relished by Kuropeans. 

 They are sometimes eaten raw, but generally in a 

 cooked state. They are simply lioiled, and black 

 skiu is taken off either before or after boiling, like 

 potatoes. On Kurojiean tables they are served up 

 w ith sauce." Indeed ! Now w hat do we want more 

 but for some enterprising speculators he re to take It 

 in hand and make a fine penny out of it f The capi- 

 tal w ill be very small. The cost of importation will 

 be little, the principal expense being a few thousand 

 pamphlets, with well-executed " cuts," representing 

 the water nut In Its various stages of maturity, its 

 appearance before and after cooking, before aud 

 after the black skin is removed, and when It Is 

 placed on the Yankee table with the aforesaid sauce. 



Don't Crowd the Fruit Trees. 

 . In setting out fruit trees, it Is not uncommon to 

 see insiinielcnt allowance made for tliclr future 

 growth; hence, wheu the years have passed and the 

 little saplings have attained their full size, their 

 spreading branches almost, if not quite interlace, 

 excluding needed sunlight atid air from the lower 

 branches and bringing the roots into too near ueigh- 

 borhood. It has been observed that the lower 

 branches of trees planted in this way produce Infe- 

 rior fruit, while the UJiper branches — reccivlug 

 abundance of sun and air — give fruit of good quality; 

 also that the outer rows of these tree^ have finer 

 fruit than the inner rows. These facts teach a lesson 

 likewise in pruning. Branches should not be al 

 lowed to grow so thickly as to exclude a fair share 

 of light and air from any part of the tree. The 

 distance apart the trees should be set must be de- 

 termined Ijy the climate aud by the kind of tree; the 

 size of eveu the same variety of tree varies more or 

 less with the climate. Less complaint would be 

 hearil about non-fruiting years if a generous bell of 

 sunlighi was allowed between the rows of the trees, 

 and the soil annually supplied sutlicient food for 

 material to restore that used iu the productiou of 

 large crops of fruit. 



Plant Apple Trees. 



While we recommend farmers to plant apple trees, 

 we do not wish to be understood as underratlDg all 

 other kinds of hardy fruits, for all kinds of hardy 

 fruits shoulil be found on every farm. But, then, 

 the ajjple is the king of fruits. Its season is the 

 whole year — late keepers bciug on hand, if proper 

 care has been takeu of them, when the early vaiie- 

 ties again ripen. It can safely shi|iped all over the 

 Union, and to Europe even, as it now is by the 

 million barrels almost annually. It forms, or should 

 form, a part of one's daily food. It Is healthful, 

 keeping the bowels iu projicr condition, acting upon 

 the liver and warding off bilious diseases. It makes 

 nice preserves, jellies, pies, dumplings and other de- 

 sirable dishes. The tree is long-lived, giving fruit 

 for fifty years or more. No farm, no home, is com- 

 plete without a large orchani of well-selected varie- 

 ties of apple trees. Every farmer who has not a 

 good orchard should select the ground for one, plow 

 and harrow it, lay it off for the trees, ilig the holes 

 and plant the trees in early spring. 



Domestic Economy. 



Polishing Furniture. 

 To clean furniture, and especially the surface of a 

 finely polished piano, we will give our lady friends a 

 recipe better than any in the books. Take a wash- 

 bowl full of tepid water, and a little fine toilet soap, 

 and a tablespoonful of sweet oil. Dip a piece of old 

 fiannel in this, and apply it to the wood, rubbing 

 vigorously for. awhile; then exchange this for a 

 piece of old, soft, fine cotton (not linen, as that 

 leaves its fibres of lint), and rub with this awhile, 

 finishing with a fresh piece of the same cotton until 

 the liquid application Is thoroughly removed. All 

 these successive applications to be made to one par- 

 ticular spot of the wood no larger than can be worked 

 with a single stroke of the arm, and that to be 

 finished before a fresh place is treated. When the 

 whole piano has been done over in this way (It 

 should take two hours at least to do it well), it will 

 look as good as new, and far better than if rellnished 

 by an ordinary workman. This is the best possible 

 application for that purple cloud that comes over a 

 polished wood surface in damp weather. Of course 

 a judicious lady w ill be very sparing of the liquid, 

 although she has a wash-bowl half full of it, and 

 will not use enough to drip on the carpet, or to 

 penetrate to the interior of the piano. — Krchange. 



Bloody Milk. 

 In reply to a corresiKindenl « ho inquires for the 

 cause and remedy for bloody milk, the Atnerican 

 Agriculturitt says : "The milk may be found mixed 

 with blood, without any distinct attack of gaiget. 

 Garget consists of Inflamation and congestion of the 

 udder, or part of it, aud is accompanied by constitu- 



