1881. 



THE LANCASTER FARMER. 



something ot that kind, and lay them on the 

 bottom of tlie sleigh or carriage to keep their 

 feet warm. Now, I have somctliiiig else iiiiicli 

 better, and tliat is a till can, I-') or U> iiulies 

 long, 12 inches wide, and 5 inches diep on 

 the one side and 3 on the other, with the 

 edges rounded a little on the sides, hut the 

 ends square. Of course the reader will under- 

 stand that this is a tin box, with the top in- 

 clined like a desk. In one of the corners of 

 the decp<'st side there should be a hole ;il.ont 

 an inch in diameter, and a coik to lit it ti-zlit- 

 ly. Itshouldalso liavea handle to carry it hy. 

 When I Ro to market I till it. with boiling 

 water, and wrap a piece of carpet around it, 

 two or three times. Then I lay it in front of 

 the market wagon, the narrowest side towards 

 the seat, and the cork uiiperinosl, s.) that if 

 it should hajipen to leak I can see il before 

 the water runs out. I set my feet on the can, 

 and when 1 come to the niaiket house I take 

 it out of the wagon and lay it in my market 

 stall, and when I am done selling I put it in 

 the wagon again. Such a '•foot-warmer" re- 

 mains warm a great deal longer than bricks— 

 more than twice as lonj;- and will not burn 

 the carpet as bricks do, when they are too hot 

 at least. I generally start to market between 

 3 and 4 o'clock in tli- morning, and when I 

 get home again, about 12 o'clock, the water is 

 still warm enough to wash the hands. The 

 position of the feet, too, being a little higher 

 at the toes than at the heels, is more com- 

 fortable than where they rest on a level sur- 

 face.—/. «., Warwick, Jan. 1881. 



Selections. 



TWO REMARKABLE APPLES. 



About twelve jears ago I became ac- 

 quainted with a new seedling apple which 

 promised to be an acquisition to the apple 

 family. As I was then engaged extensively 

 in the grafting business, I began to prop.igate 

 the variety as rapidly as possible ; and now, 

 after twelve years' experience, I can truly say 

 it has proved an acquisition. 1 named it the 

 "Yoke Apple," by which name it is known 

 in these parts. The history of the apple is as 

 follows : About the year 1860 and 1862 a 

 young seedling apple tree on the farm of 

 Benjamin Yoke, of Paradise, Jefferson county, 

 Pa., was grafted in the top prior to its having 

 borne any fruit ; and some of the natural 

 branches, through neglect or otherwise, were 

 permitted to remain till they bore fruit, which 

 proved much superior to the grafts on the 

 same tree ; and omission or neglect saved to 

 the world the "Yoke Apple." It is in season 

 from the first of September to the middle of 

 October. It is a large, round, sub-acid apple. 

 and in color very much similar to the fall 

 rambo. 



I have had forty years' experience in the 

 grafting business ; have become acquainted 

 with and grafted almost all the varieties that 

 have been brought to the country from far 

 and near, from more than a dozen nurseries 

 for the last twenty-five years, and will say 

 that in my opinion the "Yoke Apple," for 

 dryiny purjwsex, sta.m\s at the head; and is 

 also very good when fully ripe for eating, and 

 all culinary purposes ; though its best use is 

 for drying. About the 8th of October last I 

 bought a bushel, which I gathered from trees 

 which I had grafted about six or. seven years 

 before, and thirty-two apples was all that 

 would lay in and on each half bushel. A 

 portion of these I took to the Punx.sutawney 

 fair, where they were as much or more ad- 

 mired than any other apple among a very 

 large collection of varieties tliere exhibited. 

 It is without exception one of the best and 

 most regular bearers that I ever knew among 

 apples. The apple should be generally cut in 

 eight pieces to dry. and when di-y is of a rich, 

 whitish-yellow color. This apple has but one 

 drawback or fault. When the grafts are 

 young and growing very thrifty, or when the 

 tree stands in damp or very rich ground, they 

 are somewhat disposed to rot, but when grown 

 on high, dry channery ground, suitable for 



the growth of the apple, it is without spot or 

 blemish. It is a good grower, and is destined 

 to become extensively cultivated. 



Hut must I speak somewhat of another 

 apple, anil (hat is thi! •■(iravenstine." This 

 apple came into bearing for the first time 

 in thisconmiunity about four to six years ago, 

 and now it is regarded by all who have it as 

 the most perfect apple they ever saw. As a 

 fall apple il seems to be willi.mt tUnU. .Vbout 

 eight years ai>o I was told by an a^iMit from 

 Rochester, New York, Ibat there, was not ii 

 better apple known among nuisi-rymen than 

 the "Gravensline," and our short experience 

 in this comtnuiiity fully proves it true. 



1 feel like sayinij a word for the "Northern 

 Spy." Were 1 to;,'ive my oiiinion, after forty 

 years in grafting apples, and liii\ ing set in 

 that time near or quite •Jdd.diil) Lriults, of flic 

 three above-named apples I would say : The 

 "Yoke Apple" for the purpose of dri/inrj is 

 the most valuable apple ever grafted. The 

 "Gravenstine" is the most perfrctcd apple in 

 all respects I ever grafted ; and the "North- 

 ern Spy" is the most vthiable apple to grow 

 for use and market that I have ever grafted ; 

 and they should all be grown on high, or dry 

 channery ground. — F<mner''s Friend. 



GRAPE CULTURE. 



The great increase in grape culture is en- 

 couraging. California has tliousands of acres 

 in vineyards, and nearly all the European 

 varieties of grapes are produced in the great- 

 est perf,;ction and abundance. Extensive 

 vineyards have been planted in the Ohio and 

 Missouri valleys and in favored localities in 

 the Northeastern States. New varieties have 

 been originated and widely distributed, that 

 are hardy enough to mature in every State in 

 the Union. Our large cities and many of our 

 villages along the line of railroads are fairly 

 supplied with good grapes in their season, at 

 reasonable prices. It has been demonstrated 

 that every farmer and villager in the land can 

 have an abundant supply of this delicious 

 fruit for four months in the year, for the 

 trouble of planting and caring for a few vines. 

 Our horticulturists have done the pioneer work 

 of hybridizing, and originating new varieties 

 that stand the test of soil and climate in all 

 the States. And yet California is the only 

 State where the grape may be said to be fairly 

 popularized. The great mass of our fiirming 

 population do not enjoy this luxury, and mul- 

 titudes a little remote from market towns are 

 only acquainted with our wild varieties. The 

 grape ought to be as widely disseminated as 

 the apple, and there is no good reason why it 

 should not be. The large vineyards can sup- 

 ply our city population, but to supply the ag- 

 ricultural districts, grapes must be grown at 

 home. This can be done at so small cost, 

 that no man who owns a home with half acre 

 of land has any apology for depriving his fam- 

 ily of grapes. An eighth of an acre in vines 

 will .supply a family and leave a surplus to .sell. 

 Any well drained land that will produce sixty 

 bushels of corn to the acre may be expected 

 to produce good grapes. Well prepared l)or- 

 ders, with a good supply of bones, is desirable, 

 but by no means essential. A dressing of 

 wood ashes is an excellent fertilizer, but any 

 manure good for corn will be good for the 

 vines. The varieties which do well under 

 the greatest variety of circumstances, and 

 bear neglect best, are '.such as the Concord, 

 the Hartford Prolific, and the Ives Seedling. 

 There are much better quality than these, 

 but they are good enough to suit the popular 

 taste, and are hardy. They can be relied 

 upon to bear fruit every season in generous 

 ous quantity. The Ives has a thick skin and 

 is particularly desirable to pack in boxes for 

 winter use. They have been before the pub- 

 lic, are thoroughly tested, and can be furnish- 

 ed very cheaply by any nurseryman. A cheap 

 trellis of chestnut posts and wire will be all 

 the support they need. A four months' sup- 

 ply of grapes will promote health in the 

 family, save doctor bills, and prove an im- 

 portant part of the food supply.— .4j»!erica« 

 Agriculturist. 



OLEOMARGARINE. 



Fully 100,000 pounds of oleomargarine are 

 weekly produced at the works on the grounds 

 at the West Philiuielphia abattoir. This is 

 at the rale in round figun^s of 5,000,000 

 pounds a year. Four years ago a yearly out- 

 put of l,r)0(),000 pounds was sufficient to meet 

 the demand. Now the call is in excess of the 

 supi)ly. A market could be found for 500,000 

 pounds a week if a sutlicient supply of neces- 

 sary malcrials were forlhcoming. From 

 ■J.-),i)00 lo :iU,UIIU pounds of beef fat, 1,500 

 (piarts of milk and 1,.5U0 to 2,000 pounds of 

 dairy butter are daily consumed in the works 

 in till! manufacture of artificial butter. Two- 

 thirds of the entire amount of oleomargarine 

 made at West Philadelphia is sent to Euroiie. 

 Loijiloii, Liverpool and Glasgow are the prin- 

 eiinil markclH. A few consignments have 

 bieii .sent to Italy, China and even to Cal- 

 cutta, India, but the Asiatics do not take 

 kindly to the American article. A good trade 

 is growing up with South America, and large 

 shipments are made to Kio de Janeiro, Para 

 ami Pernambuco. Some of the West India 

 Islands are also customers. In this country 

 the bulk of the supply is taken by New Or- 

 leans, although shipments are occasionally 

 made to New York and Boston. Only a 

 small percentage of the entire production is 

 put upon the Philadelphia market. The 

 Hollanders are large consumers of oleomar- 

 garine, but they do not get the mannfaclured 

 product in a complete state. Instead, they 

 take the oil before it is churned and do all 

 the finishing processes themselves. It is 

 shipped in tierces holding 350 pounds, and 

 by this method thrifty Hollanders save the 

 profit on the salt, milk and other ingredients 

 which enter into the complete proce.ss. 



ROBBING THE SOIL. 



The following is taken from the London 

 Farmer : " Always lo take from the soil and 

 never to give to the soil, not even the rest of 

 nature, makes the most fertile land weak. 

 American farming has taken the best out of 

 the wheat soils of half the continent. What 

 wonder that we are flooded with American 

 grain V But when little new land shall remain 

 to be opened up, and the average yield per 

 acre on old laud shall show a steady diminu- 

 tion, who will wonder then if the United 

 States should find their agricultural export pre- 

 eminence to be slipping away from herV" 



This is a very important subject. Nature 

 on the vast prairies has been storing up fer- 

 tility for ages, and the rich boon has been be- 

 queathed to the people of of the present age, 

 and for years, like other spendthrifts, they 

 have been squandeiing this heritage with a 

 prodigal hand. 



It would be an insult to agriculture to 

 dignify this process with the title of farming. 

 This has been but an operation of scattering 

 the wheat or planting the corn and then reap- 

 ing the harvest ; the only thought has been 

 how to get rid of the refuse. The operation 

 of simply plowing it under the soil was too 

 laborious, and it was liurnt or tluowu into the 

 streams or lakes. Fil'iy years ago this process 

 was in vogue even in New lOngland, and when 

 one plot of ground was exhausted of its fer- 

 tility it was abandoned and another plot was 

 submitted to a similar exhaustive system ; but 

 this was not farming ; it was not agriculture ; 

 it required no brains, no thought. Agricul- 

 ture means cultivation of the land. Cultiva- 

 tion implies the improvement of the soil, not 

 exhausting it. In those days it was not a 

 question how to fertilize this field or the other 

 to make it productive of certain crops. If it 

 was found too poor to produce the crop re- 

 quired it was abandoned for another that 

 would produce it. Now the question is : 

 IIow can I best raise a particular crop, and so 

 fertilize it that its fertility shall be increased 

 in place of being decre;ised V Then one crop 

 was obtained perhaps every two years. Now 

 we want to understand how to obtain two or 

 three crops in one season. Then any novice 

 could exhaust the soil, and it is no wonder 

 that he who laid claim to the title of farmer 



