18S0.J 



THE LANCASTER FARMER. 



i57 



Hen Manure. 

 In epcakinf; of tlie miinttf,'oniPnt of hen manure 

 the Amtru-iin AijricuUni'ist remarks that <iry niuek, 

 loam, or oilier earth, will relaril or prevent the for- 

 mation ami hold the amni' nia thatisformeil. Water 

 enough to keep it wet will do the 8amc in eool 

 weather. Plaster wilh enousih moisture will also ab- 

 sorb the ammonia, but dry plaster will not. The cus- 

 tom of mi.xlDir lime and ashes with lien dung is 

 wrong. They drive out the ammonia instead of hold- 

 ing it. IJen manure is useful for potatoes, garden 

 vegetables, or indeed almost all crops, Including 

 strawberries and other small fruits. 



Oats with Wheat. 



The sowing of a bushel of oats per aere, with the 

 winter wheai, ha.< often proved of material benetil to 

 the wheat crop. The oats grow more vigorously than 

 the wheat and aid in catching and holding the snow. 

 The oats act as protection or mulch to the wheat. 

 The little food the young oat jilants draw IVom the 

 soil is returned during the spring when, being killed 

 by the winter, they rapidly decay. 



Horticulture. 



Raising New Peaches. 



The past few years have been marked with the 

 production of a large number of very early peaches. 

 We now have supplies some weeks sooner than ten 

 years ago, which is certaiidy a very important 

 achievement, but such a throng of new sorts has be- 

 wildered cultivators. Many of them are so nearly 

 alike that the entire number might be reduced to 

 one-tenth and still retain all that are desirable. But 

 to prevent throwing out some which may possess 

 peculiar value, enterprising cultivators will do well 

 to plant the whole on trial grounds for comparison. 



We do not fear the inconvenience of a long list for 

 experiment. This is the only way in which we can 

 get the best sorts We would increase the number 

 of varieties provided the work can be done intelli- 

 gently. We cannot recommend raising new varieties 

 by the hundred by planting stones of Hale's Early, 

 the product of which shall scarcely vary. What 

 we want is skillful crossing. Plant two unlike trees, 

 each possessing valuable qualities, within a few 

 inches or a foot or two of each other, so that the 

 branches when they bear shall he well interlaced. The 

 stones from these mixed trees would be likely to 

 give wide variations in character. Take for instance 

 the Yellow Rareripe and Hale's Early, or any other 

 similar unlike sorts. It is not probable that such 

 crossing would furnish many repetitions. A large 

 number of combinations might thus be made. The 

 work need not require many years. Two-year trees, 

 well shortened back when set out, will bear in three 

 or four years, or sooner. The stones from them 

 would show the new sorts in as many more years. 

 Who among our readers, who have a few acres of 

 spare land for the production of new sorts, will try 

 eight or ten thousand seedling crosses by way of ex- 

 periment ? It would be worth all this labor to gain 

 what has been achieved in the last ten years.— 

 Country Cre/itkiiian . 



Apple Culture. 



If we look back only a few years, when to talk 

 with farmers on their neglect in planting more apple 

 orchards and raise more of this the most valuable of 

 all fruit, it was to be met with the same answer that 

 it was entirely useless to attempt it, as the laud had 

 run out, 60 far as the culture of this fruit was con- 

 cerned, and we must depend upon other sections— 

 the West — for our supply of apples hereafter. By 

 referring to our columns from twenty to thirty years 

 ago, it will he seen that we tried our best to combat 

 this idea, and to show that was not the laud, but the 

 neglect to do justice to the orchard. The land was 

 not kept in good order, being seldom mamrred, the 

 trees left unpruned and allowed to die from old age, 

 and not ren 'wed by the planting of other trees, first 

 selecting such varieties — but only a few — that are 

 known to be the best suited to the soli and the de- 

 mands of the market. , 



In time, by this prodding, efforts were made to see 

 what could be done ; and we may add that many of 

 these ellbrts were by "fancy farmers " (if we may 

 so call them) from the cities, who did not stop at 

 spending money in attempts to do what in earlier 

 periods had been so successfully done in apple 

 raising. The result, in nearly every case, has more 

 than realized all their anticipations, and we can 

 now see here at our very doors the products of the 

 orchard in quantity and quality beyond anything 

 known in the past. Hence, apple culture is fast 

 becoming an important branch of farming, and as 

 profitable, all things considcri'd, as any followed to 

 the same extent upon the farm. 



^ 



Keeping Celery. 



From time to time we have printed our mode and 

 the modes of others for keeping and blanching celery 

 through the winter. We have "covered it carefully in 



the rows in which it grew, and found It to answer 

 very well, when applied to that which is intended to 

 be first used. We have found it to answer better to 

 take it up and set it in rows close together, leaving 

 only space enoUi;h to prevent the plants from touch- 

 ing, and packing the eailh firmly around them, 

 leaving only an inch or two of the lops slicking out, 

 then covering either with boards, placed so that the 

 water cannot penetrate, or with cornstalks thickly 

 bent over and fastened. Drains should be dug around 

 the celery to carry oil' the water. We have kept it in 

 this way until .May and well-blanched. 



It is well known that stalks of celery stood in 

 spring water under a shed, where it is not likely to 

 be frozen, will become perfectly white and tender. 

 But it is only a few persons who can have the spring 

 water at hand for this use. 



We have known celery to be perfectly blanched 

 and preserved by packing the roots in wet earth and 

 keeping them in the cellar. Largo boxes were ob- 

 tained and a few inches thick of earth placed on the 

 bottom and nuvde as wet as possible. The plants 

 were then packed upright, side by side, as close as 

 they could stand, until the boxes were full. The 

 upper leaves were, of course, exposed, and attempt- 

 ing to grow a little by the encouragement given to 

 the roots by the wet earth, caused growth enough to 

 blanch the whole. There is an ailvantage in this 

 over keeping it in the cellar as many do, where it 

 retains its grceimess all winter, and is scarcely fit to 

 cat. But we prefer the out-door plan, when it is 

 well done. — Gennavtowii Telegrajih, 



How to Harvest Apples. 



Hand-picking should always he the rule with 

 winter apples. Varieties that ripen irregularly 

 ought to be gathered accordingly. Generallyspeak- 

 ing, the later sorts should beleft on the tree until 

 late, so as to give them opportunity to fully color up. 

 Before picking is begun, it is well to have a suitable 

 place prepared in the orchard or near at hand, for 

 the temporary storing of the apples, unless there be 

 two sets of hands for sorting and packing as fast as 

 the fruit is gathered. Apples keep longest if free 

 from atmospheric moisture when taken from the 

 tree. Small baskets, holding half a bushel each and 

 suspended from a hook on the ladder, are more con- 

 venient and less liable to bruise the fruit than bags. 

 Once gathered, the apples should be securely pro- 

 tected from the sun and storms until they are sorted. 

 Many farmers who have fruit-houses delay sorting 

 over and picking until the approach of cold weather. 

 The best method, however, is to sort the fruit imme- 

 diately, and lay all that is sound carefully into tight 

 barrels, shaking the barrels gently two or three 

 times during the process of filling, to insure the 

 apples packing closely ; they may theu be tightly 

 headed, with the head heavily pressed down, and 

 secured to avoid all movement of the apples inside 

 the barrel. The barrels should next be placed in 

 some dry, cool spot. Apples will keep much better, 

 and their decay is retarded, if they are not stored in 

 cellars until freezing weather. In other words, they 

 require to be kept as cold as may be and not freeze. 

 When the cellar is used for storing fruit, it sliould be 

 well ventilated. 



The Peach. 



The peach originated in Persia and northern India, 

 and is of the same gecus as the almond. The nec- 

 tarine ditt'ers from the peach only in being smooth 

 while the peach is downy. It is a mere variety, 

 probably produced and assuredly preserved by culti- 

 vation. The freestone peach of the French is their 

 jHche, while the clingstone is their pacic. A re- 

 markable variety, of Chinese origin, has the fruit 

 compressed and flattened, with almost evergreen 

 leaves. The peach is cultivated widely in Southern 

 Europe, in many partsof the East, in South America 

 and Australia, though it has never, it is believed, 

 attained the perfection of the fruit in the United 

 States. New Jersey, Pennsylvania, Uclawarc, .Mary- 

 land and Ohio raise superb peaches, and have often 

 orchards containing from 1:0,000 to'.i,"),000 trees. The 

 quantity of dried peaches is reported to be steailily 

 increasing, while peach brandy is diminishing. 

 Peach water, obtained by bruising the leaves of the 

 tree, mixing the pnlp with water, and distilling, is 

 not only employed for flavoring, hut in medicine as a 

 sedative and vermifuge. The stone of the fruit is 

 very like the bitter almond in its properties, and the 

 blossoms exhale an odor of bitter almonils. Both 

 the stone and blossoms are used In the manufacture 

 of a liquor called persieo. In the Old and New 

 World there are, it is said, more than one hundred 

 varieties of the delicious fruit. — New York Timci~. 



Cultivation of Tea. 



The head of the agricultural department at Wash- 

 ington appears to be quite sanguine of success in 

 the permanent cultivation of tea as a domestic crop 

 in our Southern States, where the department has 

 distributed seeds of tea plants quite extensively, 

 with the most gratifying results. As a matter of 

 course if the Southern planters conclude to turn 

 their attention to this crop wilh anything like the 



determined energy displayed in raising cotton, to- 

 bacco, corn, rice, sugar and other crops, they may 

 be expected to achieve a measure of success. We 

 should have supposed, however, that this particular 

 crop would succeed better in California than in our 

 (iiilf Slates, as on the Pacific coasl the climate Is 

 heller adaplc<l to It, the soil more prolific than In 

 India and China, and the situation of the country 

 particularly favorable for tlie Introduction of Chinese 

 labor skilled in the cultivation of the tea plant and 

 the preparation of it ror use by the commercial 

 world. As, however, the persecutions of the Chinese 

 in California have rendered the'experimcnt there 

 apparently hopeless for the present perhaps, the 

 commissioner of agriculture lias acted wisely In at- 

 tem|>ting to utilize the peculiar^plantation system of 

 the South for the successful naturalization of tea la 

 American agriculture. 



The White Willow as a Hedge. 



Some people are recommending this varletv of thi? 

 willow for hedging purposes, and say It will, In Its- 

 fourth or liflh year, " turn any stock ever kept upon- 

 a farm." There is some truth in this. We have- 

 some little accpiaintance with the article. We think 

 in about its sixth year all told, or fourth or fifth 

 from the nursery. It will turn cattle If planted suffl- 

 ciently close together- say from fifteen to twenty 

 inches. It is a rapid grower, and in early spring Its 

 early blooming is very beautiful. But woe to those 

 who plant it within fifteen feet of a well or 

 drain ! The roots wander in every direction, and 

 will scctil Wider, we helicve, at tweniy feet or more. 

 They exhaust the soil, also, for many feet on either 

 side of the line quite as completely as the Osage- 

 orange, without being nearly so valuable as the lat- 

 ter for hedging. 



Some years ago we planted two specimens as onia>- 

 mental shrubs, about eight feet from a stone sprini^ 

 conductor, eiirht inches square, four feet under 

 ground. In about four or five years after planting 

 the spring stopped running. Suspecting the cause 

 the conductor was unearthed, and it was found for a 

 distance of fifteen feet completely choked with the 

 roots ! They were so crowded that it was with some 

 difficulty that they could be removed. That was 

 the last of the white willow seen at our premises. — 

 OermaiUnmi Tchrjraph. 



Enriching Orchards. 



Any farmer who has been accustomed to raisfng' 

 apples and has been uniformly successful, will 

 doubtless say that if he expects to get good crops 



he treats the orchard as he docs for any other crop 



he manures it, and he finds that a manure that will 

 do for most other crops will do for the crop of apples. 

 It is the neglect to manure orchards at all that 

 causes them to bear so poorly and the trees to look 

 in bad condition. There is nothing better Ihan wood 

 ashes for orchards, if we had the ashes ; hut nearly 

 everybody burns coal except in certain out-of-the- 

 way sections, and wc must therefore resort to some- 

 thing else. Next to wood ashes there is no other fer- 

 tilizer better than barnyard manure. A liberal ap- 

 plication of this, if only once in three years, with 

 careful pruning and scraping of the trees, and fer- 

 reting out the borers and all other Insects which lay 

 concealed under the bark, will soon make a change la. 

 the productiveness of the orchard. October and No- 

 vember are the best months to apply the manure and 

 to give the trees a good scraping olfof all old bark. If 

 the trunks were washed with whale-oil soap, sayoue 

 pound lo an ordinaryifsized bucket of water, there 

 would not be many insects left alive after the opera- 

 tion. — Oermantown Telegraph. 



^ 



• , , Planting. 



While we are In favor of fall planting wherever 

 the climate is favorable it cannot be recommended 

 indiscriminately. In all localities where there Is a 

 long and mild autumn It is preferable to spring 

 planting. At this season the soil is warm and 

 mellow, a condition favorable to the healing 

 of bruised ami cut roots and the growth of 

 new ones. There is more lime at this season that 

 can be given to the work wliich need not he hurried, 

 and this with the better condition of tlie soil insures 

 much more thorough work. The trees become es- 

 tablished and get an earlier start In the spring, and 

 are the better able to withstand a drouth that may 

 come in midsummer. The earlier trees are planted 

 after completing the year's growth the better. A 

 mound of earth around the base of the newly set 

 tree serves to keep water from settling around the 

 roots, acts as a support and protects the base from 

 the attacks of mice. If trees are to be set in the. 

 spring it is bi st to prepare the ground now, secure 

 the trees, and heal them in a dry and safe place, to 

 be in readiness In sjiring. 



Large Roots. 

 We find the following sensible suggestion In the- 

 American Agriculturist for 1879 : "Much injury has 

 doubtless becu done by the absurd offer of premiums 

 at agricultural fairs for the largest sized pumpkins, 

 potatoes, cabbages and roots. Size is no test of es. 



