1S82.] 



THE LANCASTER FARMER. 



147 



Contributions. 



FOK IIIK LancASTKR K.MOIKIt. 



THE VALUE OF CLOVER ON LAND. 



Tlic grass cioi) is said to t)fi one of the 

 tl'.rco greatest cro))? of the country, and we 

 may safely say tliat clover is the most valu- 

 able of all the grass erops. 



After' our land has lost its virgin soil 

 from the cultivation of crops we must use 

 some means to renovate it again, to hring it 

 baek to its virgin soil, which lo accomplish 

 \vc must necessarily use some artllicial means. 

 1 {)resume tlie object of the (piesUon was to 

 discuss the value and benefits of clover, and 

 its effect on our lands over other grasses. 

 No grass and no hay, no manure ; no manure, 

 no hay. 



One among many other vvays to bring our 

 worn out lands to their virgin soil again is to 

 let it rest with a crop of grass, and I coidd 

 recommend no belter than clover. It may 

 make an inferior jiay to .some others, such as 

 timothy and blue or meadow grass, but it 

 comes up iiuicker and endures more pasturing, 

 keeps the soil covered more, draws more from 

 the atmo.sphere than other grasses, makes 

 more milk, and lastly, keeps abetter mulch or 

 top dressing, which we all know to be so 

 essential to keep up the soil. This mulch 

 serves the same as the foliage of trees, which 

 serves to feed the soil. 



Another good effect we must not forget, 

 namely : the turning down of .this grass, 

 which keeps the soil loose and mellow to 

 retain the rain. 



I think about the latter end of March or 

 the beginning of April a good time to sow 

 clover seed, providing thp weather is favor- 

 able ; about six quarts to the acre or one 

 bushel on live acres, on wheat or rye. After 

 harvest good judgment and discretion ought 

 to be used to treat it to its best advantage. 

 If dry weather, do not pasture too close, not- 

 withstanding turning cattle on to tramp it 

 .solid has a good effect. The drouth can not 

 scorch it so severely. Keep it covered all the 

 time. It is decidedly the best crop of grass 

 for the land. Timothy may be more valuable, 

 at least in the market; it may bring more 

 from the acres, but will exhaust the land 

 more, and is admitted to leave the soil more 

 compact and hard than clover. Now, I would 

 say, if you try clover and it has not the effect 

 you think it ought to have, sow more. 



In another thing, which will bo adopted 

 in the near future, clover will have the 

 advantage over all other grass-soiling. A 

 farmer can cut his grass and begin again at 

 the beginning when he is tlrougli, and so re- 

 peat a number of times ; more so than any 

 other grass.— P. S. R. 



For The Lancakter Fakmp.r. 

 THE LEAVES. 



It is said that the leaves'aro the lungs of 

 trees, through which the sap passes before it 

 is taken up by the growing frnit, and that by 

 this process it (the sap) gets its supply of 

 vitality from the air, as the blood of the 

 animal does in passing through the lungs of 

 the body. That leaves are essential to the 

 growth of the fruit is evident to my mind 

 from the condition I find my grapes in this 



season. Early in the summer I obs(u-ved that 

 the leaves were attacked on the underside by 

 a little lly,who.S(^ depredations gave the leaf a 

 speckled apiiearanee, and many of them with- 

 ered and died. I once had a mind to use a 

 hose, and drench the vines from underneath 

 with an abundance of water from the hy- 

 drant, but I neglected to do it. Now (Sept. 

 S) nearly all the leaves aro half dead, and 

 many of the grapes arc wilting and falling 

 ofl"; and, althougli the vines aro full, I fear 

 there will be but a scant crop of grapes 

 lit for use. Some remedy ought to be i)ro- 

 vided to prevent the.se " what-do-you-call- 

 'enis " from destroying the grape frnit. 



I'lease call and see my vines, and then .say 

 ni your excellent Farmer what you thint. — 

 ■T. F. W., Lancaster, Pa. 



For TiiK I,ancarti:r Farmkk. 

 SAVE THE PEACH STONES. 

 jV)'. h'uthvon, Ed. : In this month's issue of 

 your Journal, an article (Save the Peach 

 Stones) is timely, and to show the importance 

 of it I will give a few instances of success, 

 without even trying. 



From an orchard not far from here La 

 Grange Peaches grew, and a party taking 

 some with him home, there came up a tree 

 somewhat resembling the parent, but larger, 

 better and later, and which I named Steadily, 

 that is now nourishing from New Jersey to 

 the middle of Texas, and giving general satis- 

 faction. But for my discovering it, it would 

 never have been known outside of the imme- 

 diate neighborhood. A few years after I got 

 it the original tree was carried down the 

 Missouri river, and now steamboats pass 

 where it stood. Another instance is, a Miss 

 Bllen Fanner took some lino late yellow clings 

 to one of my daughters, in Hermann, Texas, 

 some years ago, who, being a horticulturist, told 

 me they were so flue that I ought to procure 

 buds. It was then too late for that season ; 

 but the year following I sent for buds, but 

 the tree was on the decline, and nothing but 

 a few feeble twigs were got. Thinking it 

 would possibly recover, the buds were set, 

 and, to my surprise, in the following season 

 they made hne trees, apiiarently healtliy and 

 quite vigorous. In the same year the old tree 

 died, and would have been gone irretrievably 

 had I not saved It. 



Now tliere are three trees here bearing 

 fruit, and fruit it is. About as late as a 

 peaih can ripen. Tlie largest size .specimens 

 measuring 12 inches in circumference, and 

 weighing 14 ounces. Some on the|trees yet, 

 which may even exceed the above. 



Form nearly round, deep yellow, with a red 

 cheek. Flesh yellow next the .skin ; but 

 nearly blood red at the stone, which red ex- 

 tends fully half way out, and grows paler as 

 it recedes from the stone. Highly aromatic, 

 but not so sweet as the heath cling, a cling 

 stone, named Ellen Fauncr. But my own 

 experience with early ones is what was in- 

 tended more p.articnlarly in this article. 

 About six years ago about 200 stones of Hale's 

 Early were planted in nursery beds for the 

 purpose of budding early varieties upon, and 

 perchance something new in case some were 

 left unbuddcd. 



This season about fifty of them bear fruit. 

 Some identical with the Hale, and rotted just 



as bad ; some very inferior, while about 

 twelve were really valuable. But only three 

 were noticed particularly, and the trees 

 notched as they wore discovered, Nos. 2, ."! and 

 5. They came in within a fewdaysof Anjou's 

 June, and liisted until that variety was gone. 

 Nos. 2 and 4 arc larger, handsomer and 

 better than the Anjou, and No. :i not quite 

 as large as the others, but as handsome as 

 anything could be. An extensive nursery- 

 man told me that he could sell trees of them 

 at fifty cents apiece if his agents had a painting 

 of them and my recommendation of thtan. But 

 I only budded for my own use, not wishing to 

 add to the already numerous list of peaclics, 

 although I added some twenty more varietiea 

 to my collection this season. 



In planting the stones of choice varieties 

 1 think one can count upon at least one-half 

 not worth growing. I have always such 

 coming on, and if they don't suit me, bud 

 them, frequently budding on limbs two inches 

 in diameter, and which will grow large enough 

 to bear half a bushel on one limb. We fruited 

 about forty varieties this season ; and in all 

 my time of observation, fifty years, never 

 saw them so fine, nor ever expect to see such 

 nSnin.—Sanuid Miller, Bluffion, Missouri,Sept. 

 25, 1882. 



Selections. 



FIGHTING THE PHYLLOXERA IN 

 EUROPE. 



The destruction to which the grape crop of 

 France and Germany is subjected on the ap- 

 pearance of the phylloxera in the vineyards 

 has been the cause of much study and investi- 

 gation by wine-producers and scientific men, 

 to find out the most practical and economical 

 means of preventing these pestilential insects 

 from pursuing their course of devastation. 



In order to form an idea as to what extent 

 the grape crop of France suffered by the 

 plague of 1881, it is only necessary to refer to 

 a report made to the Department of State by 

 our able consul at Bordeaux. He reports that 

 there were 100,000 hectares of vineyards 

 destroyed in 1881, against 37,000 hectares in 

 1880. 



Of the various remedies recommended for 

 destroying the phylloxera, the results ob- 

 tained from the use of bisulphide of carboii 

 und poliisniuiii sulpho-carbonatc have been most 

 satisfactory. By comparing the condition of 

 the vines treated respectively with bisulphide 

 of carbon and potassium sulpho-earbonate, it 

 was found that in the former cascthey grew 

 stronger and remained green for a longer pe- 

 riod than, those under the influence of the 

 lalter,or the potassium sulpho-earbonate treat- 

 ment, but the yield ingrapes was not so good- 



It appears that the use of bisulphide of 

 carbon in the vineyards of France in 1881 

 did not have the desired ell'ect which Pasteur, 

 from personal observations made, was at- 

 tributed to the extreme amount of moisture 

 contained in the soil during that season. The 

 same authority, having obtained good results 

 from its use in his vineyards, makes the fol- 

 lowing suggestions as his experience : 



1. Only those vines should be treated whose 

 diseased condition has not Iiecn of long 

 standing. 



2. The treatment to he continued during 



