72 



THE LANCASTER FARMER. 



[May, 



more contention than any other in the man- 

 agement of an orcliard. Cultivation or non- 

 cultivation. I adopted the follovi'ing plan and 

 have been so well pleased with the result that 

 I should follow the same course were I to 

 plant another orclmrd. I planted my young 

 orchard the first year with potatoes and corn. 

 The trees all made a good growth except 14 

 cherry and 15 peach. Apple, pear, &c., all 

 grew fine. The .second year I applied good, 

 strong manure, 20 tons to the acre, and again 

 planted corn and potatoes, adding super- 

 phosphate of lime to tlie hill. The result was 

 a good crop of potatoes and corn, and an 

 enormous growth in the trees, excepting 3 

 acres which I put in sod. These trees made a 

 very meager growth, although they received 

 the same application of fertilizers. The third 

 year I plowed the fallow ground again, appli- 

 ed 500 lbs. phosphate of lime per acre, planted 

 corn and potatoes. The result this year was 

 very marked. The trees occupying the culti- 

 vated ground made a strong healthy growth, 

 while those standing in sod made a very small 

 growth. The contrast between the two was 

 so marked as to be seen at a distance. This 

 was the year the committee visited the 

 orchard. They all noticed the mark contrast 

 between them. Fourth year I plowed under 

 a heavy coat of manure; also turned under the 

 sod around two tree rows; planted potatoes. 

 Result, a fine crop of cherries, a heavy crop of 

 peaches and a great many apples, and a strong 

 growth from the trees under cultivation, none 

 from those in sod, but the two rows which had 

 the sod turned under made an enormous 

 growth, leaving those continuing in sod far 

 behind. Fifth year, run the cherry block in 

 sod, cultivated the peach, apple, pear, &c., 

 without crop. Eesult, less growth in cherry, 

 but a heavy crop, the apple and pear con- 

 tinued their sti'ong growth under cultiva- 

 tion, and bore heavily, some as much as 

 half a bushel to the tree. The jjcach also 

 grew enormous, but bore no fruit, owing 

 to the buds being winter killed. This year 

 the trees in sod made a better growth than 

 any year since cultivation was stopped. — 

 I have measured several of the apple trees, 

 under cultivation now five years, and they 

 average 4 to 5 inches in diameter, are 15 to 16 

 feet high, and have a spread of from 10 to 12 

 feet, with heads nearly to the ground. My 

 plan would be to cultivate a young orchard 

 for eight to ten years, then run into sod, and 

 top dress, mowing the grass and leaving it 

 decay on the ground. But this is not all. 

 Eternal vigilance must be the watchword of 

 the successful orchardist. I wash my trees 

 every spring with a wash, 1 lb. of caustic 

 potash to 5 gallons of water, washing with a 

 stiff' hand scrub. This keeps the bark clean, 

 smooth and healthy, destroying thousands of 

 insects. At the same time potash is a very 

 necessary ingredient to all vegetable matter. 

 It is also very necessary to examine for the 

 borer at least twice a -year. During winter 

 is a good time to destroy thou.sands of eggs 

 of such insects as infest the tops. They can 

 be readily seen, gathered and destroyed. 



It is useless for a lazy or indiHerent man to 

 endeavor to be a successful fruit raiser. He 

 must take pride in his work. He must apply 

 himself to work, not entrusting it to others. 

 Nor is the exercise of muscle alone necessary. 



The mind must be brought into action ; he 

 must devote a portion of his time to reading 

 the various works relating to his business, as 

 well as good horticulturist papers, thereby 

 becoming familiar with the causes of failure 

 or success of others, learning how to avoid 

 the first, and benefit by the latter. With 

 these remarks I will close. If what little I 

 have said will help any one, in any particular, 

 I am amply repaid. 



Selections, 



HISTORY OF PYRETHRUM. 

 There are very few data at hand concerning 

 the discovery of the insecticide properties of 

 Pyrethrum. The powder has been in use for 

 many years in Asiatic countries south of the 

 Caucasus mountains. It was sold at a high 

 price by the inhabitants,who successfully kept 

 its nature a secret until the beginning of this 

 century, when an American merchant, Mr. 

 Jumtikoff, learned that the powder was ob- 

 tained from the dried and pulverized flower- 

 heads of certain species of Pyrethrum growing 

 abundantly in the mountain region of what is 

 now known as the Russian province of.Trans- 

 caucasia. The sou of Mr. Jumtikoff began the 

 manufacturing of the article on a large scale 

 in 1828, after which year the Pyrethrum in- 

 dustry steadily grew until to-day the export of 

 the dried tlower-heads represents an important 

 item in the revenue of those countries. 



Still less seems to be known of the discovery 

 and history of the Dalmatian species of Pyre- 

 thrum {Pyrethrum cenerariccfoliimi.), but it is 

 probable that its history is very similar to that 

 of the Asiatic species. At the present time 

 the Pyrethrum flowers are considered by far 

 the most valuable product of the soil of 

 Dalmatia. 



There is also very little information pub- 

 lished regarding either the mode of growth or 

 the cultivation of Pyrethrum plants in their 

 native home. As to the Caucasian species we 

 have reason to believe that they are not culti- 

 vated, at least not at the present time, state- 

 ments to the contrary notwithstanding, t The 

 well-known Dr. Gustav Radde, director of the 

 Imperial Museum of Natural History at Tiflis, 

 Transcaucasia, who is the highest living 

 authority on everything pertaining to the 

 natural history of that region, wrote us re- 

 cently as follows: " The only species of its 

 genus, Pyrethrum roscum, which gives a good, 

 effective insect powder, is nowhere cultivated, 

 but grows wild in the basal-alpine zone of our 

 mountains at an altitude of from 6,000 to 

 8,000 feet." From this it appears that this 

 species, at least, is not cultivated in its native 

 home, and Dr. Radde's statement is corrob- 

 rated by a communication of Mr. S. M. Hut- 

 ton, Vice-Consul General of the United States 

 at Moscow, Russia, to whom we applied for 

 seed of this species. He writes that his agents 

 were not able to get more than about half a 

 pound of the seed from any one person. From 

 this statement it may be inferred that the 

 seeds have to be gathered from the wild and 

 not from the cultivated plants. 



As to the Dalmatian plant it is also said to 

 be cultivated in its native home, but we can 



"From recent communications by him in the "Ameri- 

 can Naturalist." 

 tReportComm. of Patents, 1857, Agrriculture, p, 130. 



get no definite information on this score, 

 owing to the fact that the. inhabitants are 

 very unwilling to give any information re- 

 garding a plant tlie product of which they 

 wish to monopolize. For similar reasons we 

 have found great difficulty in obtaining even 

 small quantities of the seed of P. cinerariafo- 

 liuni that was not baked or in other ways 

 tampered with to prevent germination. In- 

 deed, the people are so jealous of their plant 

 that to send the seed out of the country be- 

 comes a serious matter, in which life is risked 

 Cultivation of Pyrethrum. 

 The seed of Pyrethrum roneum is obtained 

 with less difficulty, at least in small quanti- 

 ties, and it has even become an article of 

 commerce, several nurserymen here, as well 

 as in Europe, advertising it in their cata- 

 logues. The species has been successfully 

 grown as a garden plant for its pale rose or 

 bright pink flower-rays. Mr. Thomas Meehan. 

 of Germantown, Pa., writes us : "I have had 

 a plant of Pyrethrum roseum in my herbaceous 

 garden for many years past, and it it holds its 

 own without any care much better than many 

 other things. I should say from this experi- 

 ence that it was a plant which will very easily 

 accommodate itself to culture anywhere in 

 the United States." Peter Henderson, of 

 New York, another well-known and experi- 

 enced nurseryman, writes : " I have grown 

 the plant and its varieties for ten years. It 

 is of the easiest cultivation, either by seeds or 

 divisions. It now ramifies into a great 

 variety of all shades, from white to deep 

 crimson, double and single, perfectly hardy 

 here, and I think likely to be nearly every- 

 where on this continent." Dr. .James C. 

 Neal, of Archer, Fla., has also successfully 

 grown Pyrethrum roseum and many varieties 

 thereof, and other correspondents report simi- 

 lar favorable experience. None of them have 

 found a special mode of cultivation necessary. 

 In 1856 Mr. C. Willemot made a serious at- 

 tempt to introduce and cultivate the plant* 

 on a large scale in France. As his account 

 of the cultivation of Pyrethrum is the best we 

 know of, we quote here his exjierience with 

 but few slight omissions : " The soil best 

 adapted to its culture should be composed of 

 a pure ground, somewhat siliceous and dry. 

 Moisture and the presenceof clay is injurious, 

 the plant being extremely sensitive to an 

 excess of water, and would in such cases im- 

 mediately perish. A sonlhern exposure is the 

 mo.st favorable. The best time for putting 

 the seeds in the ground is from March to April. 

 It can be done even in the month of February 

 if the weather will permit it. After the soil 

 has been prepared and the seeds are sown 

 they are covered by a stratum of ground 

 mixed with some vegetable mold, when the 

 roller is slightly applied to it. Every five or 

 six days the watering is to be renewed in 

 order to facilitate the germination. At the 

 end of about thirty or forty days the young 

 plants make their appearance, and as soon as 

 they have gained strength enough they are 

 transplanted at a distance of about six inclips 

 from each other. Three months after this 



*Mr. Willemot calls his plant Pj/reftre dti onucase 

 tPy el'<rutn ll'jlUinofi i ueiibrt^fl, b.it n i^ m.-re t'it*n 

 prul.ahle t i t tbi< « • iii< .. y oiiym nf Pi/iellmim 

 riisettm. "We have drawn liberally Irom Wileniot's 

 paper on the subject, a translation' of which may be 

 found in the Report of the Commissi, ner of Patents for 

 the year 1861, Agriculture, pp. 223-331. 



