26 



THE LANCASTER FARMER. 



[February, 



The cold winds were so piercing that wild 

 turkeys were found frozen to deatli in the 

 forests, and domestic fowls fell frozen from 

 their roosts. The deer and bufl'alo .sought 

 shelter from the blast around the cabins of 

 the settlers, and all kinds of wild animals 

 perished in the forests for want of food, which 

 was buried beneath the snow. The fierce 

 wolf and panther, which usually skulked 

 about the boundaries of the settlements only 

 by night, now came near in broad daylight 

 in search of the bones and offal thrown 

 from the cabins of the settlers. No rain 

 fell, and the pioneers were compelled to 

 obtain water for drinking, cooking, etc., 

 by melting ice and snow. The Northern 

 and Western rivers were tightly bound 

 by frost, and even as far south as Nashville 

 the Cumberland was frozen over with ice 

 tliick enough for tlie safe passage of emigrant 

 trains. The Delaware, at Pliiladelphia, had 

 ice three feet iu thickness, and tlie Chesa- 

 peake Bay and Long Island Sound were 

 frozen over. Another similarity l)etween the 

 present winter and that of 1779-80 was the 

 mild autumn weather that preceded it. When 

 the cold began in November, 1779, the leaves 

 had hardly fallen from the forest trees, and 

 many trees and shrubs were putting forth 

 new growth. The same condition of tilings 

 was witnessed last fall. The winters of 1788, 

 1784, 1786, 1787, 1792, 1796 and 1799 are all 

 reported as having been very severe. It is 

 stated in "Hildreth's Pioneer History," that 

 on the 26th of December, 178S, the Delaware 

 and Oliio rivers were both frozen over and 

 navicration was suspended upon them until 

 the 18th of the following ISIarch. In 1792, 

 when soldiers were sent to the disastrous bat- 

 tle field of Gen. St. Clair to bury the dead, 

 they encamped where Cincinnati now stands, 

 January 23. Tlie snow was reported two 

 feet deep upon the ground, and the Ohio was 

 so stronixly frozen that the soldiers rode tlieir 

 horses across from Kentucky on tlie ice. The 

 7th of Febi'uary, 1807, was known for years 

 as cold Friday, and was the groundwork of 

 many a grandfather's tale. On the evening 

 of the 6th the weather was mild, and raiti 

 began to fall as night set iu. In a few liours 

 the rain changed to snow, which fell to the 

 depth of six inches, after, which a hurricane 

 came to sweep over the land. It grew colder 

 /and colder as the night progressed, and the 

 next morning the trees inlhe forests were 

 cracking like Oie reports of guns,' and every- 

 tliing was bound up in fetters of ice. There 

 was no thermometer to register the cold, but 

 the day comes down in history and tradition 

 as Cold Friday. 



All cultivated plants contain lime in their 

 aslies, and it is considered necessary to their 

 l)roper growth. But as soils generally contain 

 enough lime, and we apply it for its action 

 upon the soil, lime acts upon and greatly aids 

 the decompositions of organic matter in tlie 

 soil. It is thought to neutralize the organic 

 acids contained in what are called '"sour 

 soils." In a complicated manner it aids in 

 the fl.^ing of Ammonia. It also acts upon the 

 inorganic or mineral constituents of the soil, 

 and aids in converting them into forms in 

 which they can be taken up by the plants, 

 especially in liberating potash from its combi- 

 nations. The edo'ct of lime upon the mechani- 

 cal condition of the soil is an important fea- 

 ture. Upon heavy clay soils its effect is most 

 marked ; the particles lose their adhesiveness, 

 and allow air and water to enter. These are 

 the leading effects that follow the use of lime. 

 In view of the claims made for ground, un- 

 burned limestone, it is an important question 

 how far it can produce the above effects. 

 That the unburned limestone will supply the 

 demands of the plant for lime, that it may 

 slowly neutralize organic acids, and help the 

 mechanical texture of the soil, seems very 

 probable. But that it will perform one of the 

 most important offices, the decomposition of 

 organic matter in the soil, and convert that 



into plant food, seems improbable, because 

 tlie ability of lime to do this depends in a 

 great measure upon its avidity for carbonic 

 acid, while limestone, being already a car- 

 lionate, lias no Jieed of more. That limestone 

 cannot jiroduce all the effects of lime is shown 

 by the well-known fact that soils underlaid by 

 limestone, and naturally containing a large 

 proportion of finely divided'carbonate of lime, 

 are as much benefited by the use of quick- 

 lime as are soils deficient in limestone, The 

 advertisements of ground limestone, that we 

 have seen, make great use of the experiments 

 of one person in Pennsylvania, who states 

 that his yield of wheat, treated with ground 

 limestone, was more than double tliat to 

 which slaked lime had been applied. He also 

 claims to have found it a much cheaper fer- 

 tilizer than lime and bone dust, and more 

 profitable than Guano and Superphosphate. 

 These statements have been sent by several 

 who ask our opinion. Our "opinion" is, that 

 we do not accept as final the results of any 

 one experimenter, when they are in direct 

 opposition to the accumulated evidence of 

 tliose whose pi-actice runs through many 

 years. In nothing more easily than in agri- 

 cultural experiments can an effect be ascribed 

 to the wrong cause, and when we see the fer- 

 tilizing value of ground Limstone placed 

 above Guano or Superphosjiate, we do not 

 accept \t.^ American Agriculturist. . 



AMERICAN AGRICULTURE. 



One of the most extraordinary facts con- 

 nected with the recent progress of this repub- 

 lic is, that during tlie year ending ending 

 June 30th, 1880 "the value of the exports 

 of domestic ai^riculture amounted to $083,- 

 019,076, and constituted 82.0 per cent, of the 

 total value of exports of all kinds of domestic 

 enterprise in the United States. We call es- 

 pecial attention to these figures as significant- 

 ly illustrating the amazing prngiessof our na- 

 tional agriculture, and the extent to which it 

 has become the chief reliance of the general 

 trade and (■niiiiii.-n-i' nf ilu' ri';mlili<;-, I'ur it 

 must be i-pcILt!. ,1 that in adililinu u, this 

 volume iif i-.\ij('rlati"ii to furrigii cnuutries, 

 our farmers and planters finnished all tlie 

 cotton used in the domestic inanut'actines, all 

 the wool used in the home industries, all the 

 breadstuffs consumed, all the live stock, and 

 all the meat and provisions. Of course we 

 have no intention of underrating the value of 

 manufactures and mining to a nation like 

 ouns. But it must be evident that — notwith- 

 standing all the progress we have made in tlie 

 primary and advanced arts of civDization — 

 this nation is still devoted so overwheljuingly 

 to agricultural pursuits as fairly to dwarf ail 

 other interests. In 1860, and for forty years 

 preceding, the exports of raw cotton from 

 the United States to foreiaii comitiips were 

 fifty-three per cent, of the total \aluc nf the 

 exports of domestic merchniulise. 



But during the last fiscal year the exports of 

 cotton amounted to only about twenty-six 

 percent, of the total. This was owing to the 

 remarkable fact that the export of bread- 

 stufls rc.se from #24,422,310 in the year 1860, 

 to $288,036,835 in the year 1880, while in the 

 same period the exports of provisions in- 

 creased from $16,612,441 to no less than $127,- 

 043,242. Those who shidy these figures at- 

 tentively will appreciate the attention given 

 from tiiiie to time by the Ttleijniph to the 

 amazing development of the live-.stoek interest 

 in the Northern and Western States. 



Grain-farming in this country seems to 

 stand in no need whatever of encouragment 

 or stimulation. It increases spoiit.aneously so 

 fast that the only trouble is to provide adequate 

 facilities for transportation. But those branch- 

 es of farming which relate to the provision 

 trade offer much better chances of profit, and 

 are more varied and diversified iu character 

 and details. Although not so easily under- 

 stood as grain-farniing, they nevertheless 

 seem to be acquiring immense scope in all 

 parts of the North and West, and in the 

 course of the next ten years there can be very 

 little doubt that tJiey will raise the exports 



of provisions from this country to an equality 

 with the exports of cotton or breadstuffs. In 

 fact, it really seems to us to be the true voca- 

 tion of our people to be the great agricultural 

 reliance of the civilized world. To say that 

 this republic is destined to be the world's gran- 

 ary but feebly meets the case. It seeins to be 

 xjur province to feed and clothe the world. 

 Before that great fact, all other national inter- 

 ests dwindle away into insignificance. — Ger- 

 manlown Telegraph. 



A VALUABLE TABLE. 



Messrs. D. Landreth & Sons have issued 

 the following table, giving the quantity of 

 seed and number of plants requisite to crop 

 an acre of land, which will prove valuable to 

 farmers aiid gardeners, and to families gener- 

 ally who may have only a small garden. It can 

 always be referred to to set one right in any 

 matter of doubt connected with the subjects 

 involved. We have ourselves often been 

 bothered for instant information which this 

 table would have supplied : 

 Asparagus in 12-inch driils, 16 quarts. 



■ " plants @ 4 by m feet, 8,000. 



Barley, 2% bushels. 



Be.ius, Bush., in drills @2V< feet, IH " 



" Pole, Lima @ 4 by 4 feet, 20 quarts. 



" Carolina, Prolific, &c., 4 by -i, 10 " 



Beets and Mangolds, drills @ 2'^ feet, 9 pounds. 

 Broomcorn in drills, 12 " 



Cabbage, outside, for transplanting, I'i ounces. 

 Cabbage shown in frames, 4 " 



Carrot, in drills @ 2]4 feet, 4 pounds. 



Celery, seed, 8 ounces, 



plants ® 4 by M feet, 25,000. 



Clover, White Dutch, 12 pounds. 



" Lucerne, 10 " 



" Alsike, 6 " 



" Large Red with Timothy, 12 •' 



" " " without " 16 " 



Corn, Sugar, 10 quarts. 



" Field, 8 



A REMARKABLE YEAR. 

 Viewed from a business standpoint, the 

 year has been a remarkable one, probably the 

 most remarkable in the history of the country. 

 There has been a good revival in tiade, and 

 the volume of legitimate business during the 

 year was beyond all precedent. This im- 

 proved condition of affairs was the natural 

 result of large crops, a good export demand 

 for our products, the growth of the country. 



