172 



THE LANCASTER FARMER. 



[November, 



eo run out that it would produce only about ten 

 bushels of rye per acre. I have planted two acres 

 each to corn and sowed rye and stocked with clover 

 and timothy seed, and spread ray tobacco stalks on. 

 The result is that I have a good crop of rye, and the 

 stocking is good . On the six acres that I had thus 

 treated I pastured two cows and one horse seventeen 

 weeks till I turned them into my fall feed. I never 

 turn my cattle on to new stocked land till the clover 

 is in full blossom." 



Another writer says his favorite way is to cut them 

 up short, and either to put them under his cows and 

 let them go out with the manure, or else plow them 

 on potato ground in spring. 



Fall Pasturing. 

 The dairyman who pastures ordinary meadows in 

 the fall robs his next crop to an extent that he does 

 not realize. The writer was conversant with a case 

 where seventy-five acres averaged about one hun- 

 dred and thirty tons of excellent hay when no pas- 

 turing was allowed ; and the owner, having a tenant 

 who had been rather unfortunate, allowed him to 

 pasture some twenty-five cows upon the aftermath of 

 these meadows for a single fall, and the consequence 

 was a reduction of the yield from 130 tons down to 

 sixty tons the next season, and the yield was never 

 recovered until reseeding. It was estimated that the 

 whole value of the twenty-five cows in the fall was 

 not equal to the injury of the next crop on the 

 seventy-five acres of meadow. This practice of 

 pasturing meadows is one of the most ruinous of the 

 mistakes among dairymen and causes them often to 

 be so short of hay as to injure the yield of their 

 herds in the spring. Good feeding through the 

 winter lays the foundation for a good yield of milk 

 the following season with good cows. Good mead- 

 ows are very essential to success in dairying, and 

 therefore this question should be most carefully con- 

 sidered. — Niiii07ial Live Stock Journal. 



Useful Hints for Measuring Lands. 



Almost every farmer has some way of measuring 

 land, and the most common is to step off live paces 

 for a rod, and call sixty by sixty-five paces an acre. 

 For ordinary purposes this mode will answer, but 

 when the exact measurement of a piece of land is 

 desired it cannot be depended upon as being accurate. 



A light pole just sixteen and a half feet long is a 

 cheap and convenient measure, but a four-rod tape 

 line is much better. 



A plot of ground eighty yards wide by sixty and 

 one-half yards long contains one acre. 



A plot of ground seventy yards wide by sixty-nine 

 and one-seventh yards long, contains one acre. 



An exact acre can be found by the following table 

 of distances : 



A plot of ground five yards \yide by 968 yards long 

 contains one acre. 



A plot of ground ten yards wide by 484 yards long 

 contains one acre. . 



A plot of ground forty yards wide by 131 yards long 

 contains one acre. 



A plot of ground 220 feet long by 198 feet wide con- 

 tains one acre. 



A plot of ground 440 feet long by ninety-nine feet 

 wide contains one acre. 



A plot of ground 110 feet wide by .396 feet long con- 

 tains one acre. 



A plot of ground 240 feet long by 18i;<i feet wide 

 contains one acre. 



One acre contains 160 square rods, 4,840 square 

 yards, or 43,560 square feet. 



One rod contains 80.25 square yards, 572.25 square 

 feet. 



To measure corn in the crib— .Multiply the length, 

 breadth and height together, in feet, to obtain the 

 cubic feet; multiply this product by four and strike 

 ofif the right figure, and the result will be shelled 

 bushels, nearly. 



How to Grow Clover.' 



Mr. Joseph Harris, in his "Talks on Manures," 



says that we can make our lands poor by growing 



clover and selling it, or we can make them rich 

 by growing clover and feeding it out on the 

 farm. Drain where needed, cultivate thoroughly, so 

 as to develop the latent plant food in the soil, and 

 then grow clover to take up and organize this plant 

 food. This is how to make land rich by growing 

 clover. Draining and cultivating furnishes food for 

 clover and the clover takes it up and prepares it in 

 best shape for other crops. The clover does not 

 create plant, food, but merely saves it. 



Hort:cl .ture. 



Farmers' Gardens. 



We have had occasion to observe the great increase 

 in the cultivation of flowers throughout the country 

 within a few years, and riding through some of our 

 large villages the absence of blooming plants in pots 

 in the windows has been the exception and not the 

 rule. But there has not been an equal improvement 

 in farmers' kitchen gardens. It is very rare to find 

 one entirely free from weeds, and one has posi- 

 tively as many weeds as vegetables. The trouble 

 is these gardens are too large. More land the 

 been allotted to them than the owner has found 

 time to take proper care of. One square rod, made 

 rich with manure and kept clean and mellow by cul- 

 tivation, will furnish better and more delicious vege- 

 tables than an acre overgrown with weeds. Now, let 

 every farmer who has a weedy garden reduced its 

 size one-half and see if he can do any better. If not, 

 reduce it again to- half and try once more, and if 

 still unsuccessful he can gradually bring it down to 

 nothing, which would be better than slipshod and 

 profitless culture. We recommend such a course 

 only as a choice of evils; for a good-sized, well-ma- 

 nured, well kept, well cultivated kitchen garden is 

 one of the most profitable investments a man can 

 make. — Country Gentleman. 



The Fruit Garden. 

 The advantages of a fruit garden are many, and 

 all farmers should have one. Now is a good time to 

 choose a place and prepare it for raising fruit of the 

 smaller sorts. The soil should be well drained, and 

 rich Strawberry plants may be set out until the 

 coming of the frosts, after which the soil of the beds 

 should be covered with litter, putting it slightly over 

 the plants. There is no great gain, as to the fruit, in 

 planting strawberries late; but the soil is in better 

 condition now than in spring, and work is not so 

 pressing. No crop can be expected the next season 

 unless potted plants are set. Two feet between the 

 rows will be the distance most suitable for working 

 a small cultivator among the plants. Blackberry 

 and Raspberry plants had better be set out in the 

 fall, as they start growing so early in the spring. 

 Blackberries should be G to 8 feet apart in rows, and 

 the raspberries about 4 by 4 feet. In picking the 

 grapes for market it is best to use the grape scissors, 

 which allow the bunch to be removed without hand- 

 ling and defacing the bloom. The thin-skinned 

 varieties, like the Concord, will not keep long, but 

 the tough-skinned kinds, as the Catawba, loua and 

 Diana, may be preserved in good shape until the 

 holidaj-s. To thus keep them the grapes must be 

 well ripened, picked with care, and left in a cool 

 room for a few days until the skin gets tough. Pack 

 them afterwards in small boxes (3 to 5 lbs.), putting 

 the fruit in from the bottom, and putting on the 

 cover (bottom), with some pressure, and tacking 

 fast. Label the other side, which is the one to be 

 opened. Keep in a dry and cool place until sent to 

 market. — American Agriculturist for Octoier. 



Grapevine Treatment. 



Whether you raise vines from grafts or young 

 vines, let only one or two sprouts grow the first year 

 or two; nip off all suckers that sprout out at the 

 leaves or joints, but never nip the end of the main 

 stem or vine. Be on your guard for caterpillars, or 

 they will nip them for you. It is folly to let any 



more than one or two sprouts grow on a young vine 

 the first year or two, as you will have a grape bush, 

 and not a fruit-bearing vine, if you -do. Spare not 

 the pruning knife; the old wood produces no fruit. 

 Raise strong, thrifty vines, until they are ready to 

 bear, which will be the third or fourth year if the 

 proper attention has been bestowed upon them. Then 

 let them have as many sprouts as their strength will 

 warrant, and an abundant supply of fine grapes will 

 be your reward. Grapevines are strong feeders, and 

 any small animals that may die can be utilized as a 

 fertilizer by being buried down by the roots. 



Flower Farming. 

 All the natural scents now used in this country are 

 imported at high prices, but withiu a year the culti- 

 vation of flowers for perfumery has been started in 

 Santa Barbara and Alameda counties, California, 

 and as the climate of that State is well adapted to 

 the raising of flowers, there is a good prospect that 

 a large share of the scents consumed in this country 

 will soon be produced at home. In Europe 160,000 

 gallons of handkerchief perfume are annually dis- 

 tilled. The profits of flower farming in some por- 

 tions of the Old World are shown in the following 

 figures: An acre of jasmine plants, 80,000 in num- 

 ber, will produce 5,000 pounds of fiowers, valued at 

 ?1,2.50; an acre of rose trees, 10,000 in number, will 

 yield 2,000 pounds of -flowers, worth S375; 300 orange 

 trees growing on an acre will yield, at ten years of 

 age, 2,000 pounds of flowers, valued at $230; an acre 

 of violets, producing 1,G00 pounds of fiowers, is 

 worth $800; an acre of acacia trees of 360, will at 

 three years of age, yield 900 ponnds of flowers, worth 

 $4.50; an acre of geranium plants will yield- some- 

 thing over §2,000 ounces of distilled attar, worth 

 ?4,000; on acre of lavender, giving over 3,500 pounds 

 of flowers for distillation, will yield a value of 

 $1,500. 



Fruit Trees. 



Orchard trees thrive best where the roots are kept 

 cold. A writer in the Germantowu Telegraph gives 

 his experience, showing the great benefit his apple 

 orchard received from a mulching of salt hay. It is 

 stated that a Mr. Moree, who has been manuring his 

 pear orchard for some time, has now concluded to 

 sow it down to grass. Pears delight fo grow in 

 deep, cool soil, hence it iathat nurserymen in States 

 having hot, dry summers cannot raise pear seedlings 

 as well as those living where the summers are cooler. 

 A good mulch is excellent for trees; it keeps the 

 ground cool, moist and soft, and with these condi- 

 tions trees do well. The pear, which requires more 

 attention than anv other kinds of fruit trees, especi- 

 ally likes this treatment. " 



A Shoe-Black Plant. 



The "shoe-black plant" is the name popularly 

 given to a species of hibiscus growing in New South 

 Wales, and remarkable for the showy appearance of 

 its scarlet flowers. Growing freely Jn almost any 

 kind of soil, the plant is frequently cultivated for the 

 flowers, which, when dry, are uoed as a substitute 

 for shoe blacking. 



The flowers contain a large proportion of mucil- 

 aginous juice, which when evenly applied gives a 

 glossy, varnish-like appearance, which perfectly re- 

 places ordinary blacking, with the advantage that it 

 is perfectly cleanly in use, and can be applied in a 

 few moments. Four or flve flowers, with the anthers 

 and pollen removed, are required for each hoot, and 

 a polishing brush may be applied afterward if de- 

 sired . 



Grape Vines on Stakes. 



Grapevines can be trained to stakes as well on 

 trellises, and wherever a man has room enough to 

 grow a currant bush he has enough for a grapevine. 

 Of course you cannot expect a vine confined to such 

 circumscribed limits to bear as much fruit as one 

 spread out on a trellis; still, what it does produce 

 will be as good as though thevine was allowed more 



