Superphosphate is very quick in its effects, 

 iind it has always been remarked that a spoon- 

 ful of it in tlio hill would ripen the tobacco 

 l)lant a week or more sooner than when well- 

 rotted manure was alone used. It has also 

 been the experience of our jjrowers that su- 

 perphosphate <;ives iV fine, thin leaf. Thus 

 quick ripening is now thought obj*!etiouable 

 by many, since if the ])lant remains of a dark 

 green, exhibiting a healthy growing appear- 

 ance, for a longer time, the leaf will be heavier 

 and of a darker color. This is effected, as is 

 claimed, by the use of castor poinaee aud 

 cotton-seed meal. Perhaps this theory needs 

 longer testing before it becomes a fixed i)rin- 

 ciple, yet this is the common view of growers. 



Tobacco growers, like all other producers, 

 should seek to produce that article for which 

 there is an active and positive deiniind from 

 buyers. Now it is well known that among 

 tobacco buyers who are well pi)Sted in their 

 business, there is a demand for tobacco grown 

 in connection with the use of castor pomade 

 and cotton-seed meal a.s fertilizers, in prefer- 

 ence to such lots as are fertilized with other 

 matters. Our Connecticut Valley farmers use 

 about half a ton of either the above-named 

 pomace or meal to tlie acre, in connection 

 with the usual quantity of farmyard manure, 

 sowing it broadcast. 



In this connection, it may be remarked that 

 growers do not crowd their rows or hills as 

 closely as formerly, preferring to give each 

 plant more space in which to expand and de- 

 velop, experience having shown that this prac- 

 tice gives a better leaf than can be secured 

 when overcrowding the plant prevails. The 

 castor ponace is generally harrowed in by the 

 use of a pulverizing or wheel-harrow.— ffJH 

 Top, in American Cultivator. 



TO MAKE AND MAINTAIN A LAWN. 



The preparation of the soil must be made 

 thorough, as it is the very basis of success. 

 If there be a good natural clay sub.soil, with 

 a covering of loam, this part of tlie work will 

 prove comparatively easy; Imt if, as is often 

 the case in newly improved grounds, there is 

 only tlie bare clay to begin with, or if the sub- 

 soil be a leachy gravel, the preliminary pre- 

 paration is not light. 



Suppose the plat to be a bald piece of clay, 

 from which, in the grading, every vestige of 

 the superficial soil has been removed. If beds 

 of rieh loam aie at hand and available, the 

 loam may be carted upon the plat to a depth 

 of from eight to ten inches, and leveled by 

 thorough harrowing and rolling. If good sods 

 are convenient, small lawns mav bo made by 

 sodding, in which case a dept of three or four 

 inches of loam upon the clay, underlining the 

 soil, will be sufficient. If suitable loam is 

 not attainable an artificial soil may be made. 

 The clay should be plowed when moist, or 

 spaded into clods and allowed to bake in the 

 sun tilltbo lumps can be pulverized. A heavy 

 wooden mallet or beetle is a good tool for 

 breaking the lumps. Upon the surface of the 

 broken clay a layer of from three to four 

 inches of screened coal ashes should be spread 

 and thoroughly mixed in. The pulverizing 

 and mixed should proceed together, for if 

 rain should chance to fall on the clay after it 

 is beaten tine it will again form a colierent 



THE LANCASTER FARMER. 



mass. The mixture of clay and coal ashes 

 will not compact like the raw clay. The 

 ground so prepared should next receive a 

 layer of two or tvjoro inches of street dirt, 

 which is l)etter if it has lain in a heap for a 

 year or so. The manure, whether it be ft-om 

 the stiible or f rom the streets, should be thor- 

 oiigly mixed with the pounded clay and ashes 

 by forking if the plat is small, or by ha.irow- 

 ii)g and cross-harrowing if large, and after 

 seeding or sodding the surface should be well 

 rolled. 



Gravelly leachy soils are the worst for lawn 

 purposes. It will be clieaper in the end to 

 cart clay upon the gravel to make an imper- 

 vious stratum, when clay can be cheaply ob- 

 tained, superimposing a suitable soil upon the 

 clay. No matter how thorough the prepara- 

 tion may be, a good deal of attention is re- 

 quired every year to keep lawns in perfect 

 condition. 



When weeds have made their appearance, 

 as they are sure to do when animal manure 

 has been used or when natural sods have been 

 laid, they must be carefully removed ; and to 

 avid their appearance, the subsequent fertil- 

 izing should be by artificial fertilizers. We 

 find ill the Boston Journal of Chemistry a re- 

 cipe for a lawn fertilizing mixture which com- 

 mends itself to our judgment as being among 

 the best: 



Nilrate of soila - - - - - 80 lb 



Superpliospliate of lime - - . . 100" 



Rectified guauo -MO " 



Gypsum 120 " 



This amount is sufficient for one acre, and 

 should be applied once a year, or twice on 

 poor soils. The best time is early in the spring, 

 after the snows have melted. It must be dis- 

 tributed evenly and with care. Those who 

 have small i)lats of ground devoted to a lawn 

 can readly estimate the amount of fertilizing 

 needed if they will measure the plats. The 

 mixture of the matei'ials should be as perfeel 

 as possible. 



A mixture of 125 lb. nitrate of soda with 

 150 lb superphosphate of soda, also makes a 

 good top dressing for an acre of land. 



The substances named should be of "prime 

 quality to render the quantities named suffi- 

 cient. The superphosphate of lime is very 

 often adulterated. The nilrate of soda should 

 not be less than !)0 per cent pure. 



These fertilizei-s will also renovate lawns 

 when they have partly run out, and arc con- 

 sidered by some as better than manuring with 

 stable manure, turning it under and seeding 

 again, a course which is enriching, but apt to 

 disfigure the lawn with unsightly weeds. Atop- 

 dressing with staDle manure will also renovate 

 a lawn, but it also restores the weed.s, and is 

 ofiensive to sight aud smell, (IJone meal is a 

 capital thing for a lawn. It is odorless, clean, 

 and gives a rieh green color to the grass. ) 



La^vus should be mowed as often as once 

 a week, leaving the short cut grass on the 

 plat. The wilted cuttings protect the roots 

 from the sun, nourish them, and help the soil 

 to retain moisture. 



A lawn which has a good clay subsoil will 

 stand very dry weather, but there are occa- 

 sional seasons when it is absolutely necessary 

 to water artificially in order to prevent the 



71 



appearance of unsightly yellow spots. On 

 small lawns this may be easily done by a gar- 

 den hose; large lawns may be watered by an 

 ordinary street sprinkling machine having 

 wheels with very broad tires to prevent cut- 

 ting the turf, ^.lust before nightfall is the 

 proper tiina for watering. During the night 

 the water will soak down to the roots instead 

 of evaporating rapidly, as it would in tlie hot 

 sun.) Scimt ific American . 



ORIGIN OF FULTZ WHEAT 



The place where Fultz wheat originated is 

 in Milllin county. Pa. It takes its name from 

 the discoverer, Abram Fultz, of AUenville. 

 IIow it W!i8 discovered is related by Mr. 

 Fultz himself, in the following letter wi-itten 

 more than a year ago in reply to some inqui- 

 ries on the subject : 



Allenvilt.e, Aug. 6, 1879. 



Mr. .Iohx SwATiTZELL— Dwr Sir: 1 re- 

 ceived your letter yesterday. In regard to 

 that wheat, it is now nineteen years since I 

 discovered it. I found it in one of Christian 

 Yoder's wheat fields, where I was harvesting. 

 In a low place where the wheat was lodged, I 

 saw three .stalks standing upright, aud be- 

 cause they stood up straight is the reasou why 

 I noticed thepn. With my pocket knife I cut 

 off the tops of tliose three stalks and stuck 

 them in my hat. When Mr. Yoder came 

 around I showed them to him and asked 

 whether I might have them; he said I should 

 take them. I told him that 1 intended to 

 rai'se a new kind of wheat from these heads 

 on a spot of ground where I burned a brush 

 heap. The next year this yielded nearly a 

 pint of clean wheat. This time I attempted to 

 drill it in, but the drill did not sow it thick 

 enough, and by the next harvest I saw that 

 this was mixed with other wheat and 1 was 

 obliged to assort it. I assorted only a part of 

 it, and kept that by -itself. That seed time I 

 had enough to have it drilled in. The next 

 season I had enotigb to have some of this 

 wheat ground into fiour ; that was before any 

 person got of it for seed. I offered Mr. Yoder 

 three bushels in exchange for other wheat, but 

 he refused the offer. After other persons got 

 it jand tried it, then Mr. Yoder exchanged 

 three bushels with me. The foregoing state- 

 ment is as nearly correct as I can give it from 

 memory. Very respectfully, 



AlJU.\M FCLTZ. 

 TOBACCO CULTURE. 



How to Grow the Coming Crop. 



The seed bed well under way, the next care 

 of the tobacco grower will be the proper pre- 

 paration of the ground on which the crop is 

 to be raised. Here quite as much judgment 

 and care must be exercised as in the prepara- 

 tion of the seed bed. Thorough preparation 

 of the soil will tell on the future crop just as 

 certainly as carelessness will result in failure. 

 It is important, therefore, to start right aud 

 keep right to the end of the season. 

 Rich Soil Required. 



We presume no one needs to be told that 

 the tobacco plant is very exacting in the mat- 

 ter of soils, and will be contented with none 

 but the best. lie who cannot .supply this 

 want might as well not undertake the culti- 

 vation of the crop. Under proper treatment 

 and favorable eouditions tobacco' will do .well 

 on many soils, but the best seedleaf is with 

 very few exceptions grown on limestone land. 

 There seems to be something especially con- 

 ducive in this geological formation to the pro- 

 duction of choice cigar tobacco. A warm, 

 riable soil, such as is commonly known 



