i54 



THE LANCASTER FARMER. 



[October, 



tliat we are induced to refer on the present oc- 

 casion to some of the facts which it presents, 

 and to add a few further suggestions. Mr. 

 Ragan thiulis the black walnut the most valu- 

 able of all trees for artiflcial plantations and 

 timber belts. lie stales that a man in "Wis- 

 consin planted "a piece of land " twenty- 

 three years ago with this tree. We are not 

 informed tlie extent of the land covered with 

 it, but that the trees, sixteen to eighteen 

 inches in diameter, were sold for ¥27,000. He 

 adds that walnut lumber now commands from 

 .S75 to $100 per thousand feet in the cities, for 

 parlor decoration and other purposes. 1 he 

 tree bears nuts at an early age, and annually 

 thereafter, which have an important commer- 

 cial value. 



In raising the trees, it is of utmost impor- 

 tance to do everything in the best manner. 

 Those who carelessly plant the nuts, especial- 

 ly after they have dried for a long time, will 

 probably fail to get trees; or if any grow, and 

 the owner expects the young trees to takecare 

 ■ of themselves, he will be greatly disappoint- 

 ed. Mr. Rsigan's directions are, therefore, to 

 tlio point, when he says the ground should be 

 prepared in the best manner in the autumn. 

 Furrow the ground off each way as for corn, 

 except that the rows should be seven feet 

 apart. Take the nuts, fresh from the tree, 

 and plant two at each crossing. They are to 

 be covered shallow, just enough to hide them. 

 So much for planting. Then next spring fur- 

 row the seven-feet spaces intermediate be- 

 tween the rows, and plant with corn or pota- 

 toes. The corn and young trees will be all 

 cultivated alike, and young trees must be 

 kept clean. The second spring thin out the 

 trees to one in a hill. The thinnings will till 

 any vacant spaces where needed. Corn or po- 

 tatoes may be planted the second, or even the 

 third year, and after that the trees must be 

 cultivated and kept clean until they occupy the 

 whole ground .so fully as to keep down by 

 their shade all weeds and grass. Standing so 

 near as seven feet, the trees will not require 

 trimming, but will thus trim themselves. But 

 when they begin to suffer from crowding, take 

 out every alternate tree in each row, and in a 

 few .years another thinning may be made by 

 taking out every alternate tree in the rows 

 at right angles to the first, leaving them four- 

 teen feet each way. If the trees are to stand 

 until they become quite large, additional 

 thinning may i)e necessary. But they should 

 always be thick enough to obviate the side 

 trimming of branches. The thinnings will 

 always possess considerable value. 



At fourteen feet apart there would be over 

 200 trees to the acre, and these should sell for 

 live dollars each in a quarter of a century, or 

 at $1,000 an acre. It is not likely that the 

 timber will become cheaper in future years. 

 If the good cultivaiion and management here 

 described are given, there will be little or no 

 failure of a full, even growth. If the work 

 iscarlessly performed, and the trees neglected 

 they will be poor and scattered. The regular 

 l)lanting in rows, and the continued cultiva- 

 tion until they wholly shade down all other 

 growth, are indispensable to success, and 

 they are equally necessary in raising planta- 

 tions of any other trees, as chestnuts, locusts, 

 or catalpas. 



Our Local Organizations. 



LANCASTER COUNTY AGRICULTURAL 

 AND HORTICULTURAL SOCIETY. 



The society met in tlieir rooms on Monday, Oeto 

 ber M, 1882, when the following persons made their 

 .ippearanee : Wra. H. Brosius, Liberty Square; H. 

 M. Engle, Marietta; W. B. Paxson, Colerain ; Levi 

 S. Reist, Oregon ; Peter S. Heist, Lltitz ; M. D. Ken- 

 dig, Creswell ; Robert Patterson, Colerain; C. L. 

 Hunseclier, Manheim township; John M. Clark, 

 Cliestuut Level ; J. Hofl'man Hershey, Hohrerstown ; 

 Daniel Sineych, city; S. P. Eby, city ; H. M. Mayer, 

 Rohrerstowu ; J. M. Johnston, city; H. VV. Stein, 

 city ; VV. W. Griest, city. 



Vice President Engle called the meeting to order 

 at three o'clock, and M. D. Kendig was elected tem- 

 porary secretary. 



On motion ol' Wm. H. Brosius, Wm. T. Clark, of 

 Liberty Square, was elected a member of the society . 

 Crop Reports. 



Peter S. Reist reported for Warwick township, that 

 the wheat is about an average crop ; corn three 

 fourths; oats one-half ; grass three-fourths ; apples 

 three-fourths; tobacco three-fourths, but of very 

 excellent quality. The chestnut crop promises to 

 be extraordinary. Sowing is about three-fourths 

 finished. 



Washington B. Paxson, of Colerain, said that gra.«8 

 is green and growing; seeding three-fourths done ; 

 wheat looks well ; corn is as good as usual ; grapes 

 abundant; apples generally dropped off; tobacco 

 generally pretty good, though a great deal was de- 

 stroyed by hail. 



Down in Drumore, according to the report of Wm. 

 II. Brosius, grass is good, corn a full crop, tobacco 

 about all harvested, and seeding pretty much done ; 

 apples falling off. 



M. D. Kendig noticed that more cattle are full fed 

 in his section of Manor township than usual, proba- 

 bly by reason of the great crops of straw and grass. 

 The tobacco leaves are longer than they have been 

 in many years, which augurs well for good curing. 

 It is about all cut. Corn is a fair crop. All the ap ■ 

 pies are doing poorly, most of them falling off, ex 

 cept Smith's cider and the Fallowater, which hang 

 well and are in fine condition. Rainfall for Septem- 

 ber i 6-10 inches. 



The seeding is not advanced so much in the river 

 corner of East Donegal, reported Henry M. Enwlc 

 as it is in the other sections heard from. Corn is a 

 full crop. The ground is in excellent condition ; 

 young grass hasn't looked so well for years ; apples 

 are poor and falling off. Rainfall for September 6 

 inches, and for August 2 inches. 



H. M. Mayer, of East H.-mpfleld (Rohrerstown) , 

 reported for that section very good wheat ; a good 

 average corn crop ; apples not falling off so much as 

 reported elsewhere; peaches poor; seeding three- 

 fourths finished ; young grass in excellent cond.tiun ; 

 tobacco a good crop, it having been topped low and 

 then obtained magnificent growth. 



The Value of Clover Land. 



Peter S. Reist read a paper on the "Value of 

 Clover Land." See page 147. 



Wm. H. Brosius asked whether in the light of the 

 fact that timothy is supposed to exhaust the soil, it 

 would do to stop sowiiig it ? 



Mr. Reist thought not, as his experience was that 

 you would be unable to grow clover alone for two or 

 three years. 



Robert Patterson inquired what is the best time to 

 cut clover ? 



Mr. Reist answered : When the blossoms are just 

 drying off, and before the second crop has much of 

 a start. 



M. D. Kendig said that ten years ago he stopped 

 sowing timothy, and let the clover go it alone. In 

 three years he couldn't get his clover to grow, and 

 was compelled to mix them again, after which the 

 clover flourished. 



C. L. Huusecker acknowledged that timothy is in- 

 jurious, but contended that the best farmers for 



years have been sowing timothy and clover half and 

 half, and down along the Cone.stoga, where many of 

 the farmers are large timothy raisers, he failed to 

 notice any particularly deleterious efTcct. Oats is 

 also more or less injurious, but the finest wheat 

 comes after it, and oats clears the land of weeds, etc. 

 Beans also injure the soil. Clover is first-rate to re- 

 pair the damage, and so is lime. Jacob B. Garber, 

 who probably knows as much if not more about 

 agricultural affairs than any other man in the 

 counfy, writes to the AijricuUurist that lime is both 

 an excellent manure and a first-class stimulant. 



Mr. Patterson asked if lime is of any advantage 

 without manure or vegetable matter mi.xed with it? 



Mr. Hunsecker hadn't studied the matter scientifi- 

 cally and didn't know. 



Henry M. Engle thought the clover question a 

 very important one. Clover is undoubtedly ihe best 

 and cheapest manure for poor land, although lime 

 may bring the answer in less time. He would advise 

 every farmer to avoid timothy on poor land, but, if 

 the soil is in a fertile condition, we can sow It with 

 some degree of impunity. Farmers are too saving 

 of clover seed ; they ought to sow more than they 

 do, and they ought to be careful when they cut it. 

 It is objected to as horse feed, and the reason is that 

 it is over-ripe. Cut it at the proper time — when the 

 heads are all fresh — gather it damp, and it makes 

 the very best horse feed. The only trouble in sowing 

 both timothy and clover on rich land is that they 

 don't reach maturity at the same time, and conse- 

 quently when the clover is ready for harvest the 

 timothy is not, and vice versa. 



Should There be Less Fencing? 



S. P. Eby, Esq., read the following paper, entitled, 

 " Could the farmer do with less fencing ?" 



So long as the laws of Pennsylvania, relating to 

 fences and cattle remain unaltered, the farmer will 

 be obliged to inclose his farm with a fence " at least 

 five feet; high, of sufflcient rails or logs, and closed 

 at the bottom." Failing in this, he has no redress 

 for damages that may be done by cattle or other 

 stock running at large. And he will be liable for 

 any hurt or damage he may do to live stock in driv- 

 ing them out of his grounds. 



His neighbor may put up the line fence between 

 their adjoining properties, in case he refuses to do so, 

 and make him pay the one half of the cost thereof. 



There seems, therefore, to be no escape from the 

 expense of keeping up fences surrounding his farm, 

 except through means of the Legislature, and a 

 change of our fence and cattle lawj. 



As to the interior of his farm, it becomes a ques- 

 tion of economy with himself. While he continues 

 to rotate his crops, and pastures all his fields alter- 

 nately every fourth and fifth year, he will be obliged 

 to have some barrier, either temporary or permanent, 

 between his fields to protect the crops from his own 

 cattie. 



A few farmers have adopted soiling as a substitute 

 for fencing. Instead of pasturing they cut the grass 

 and feed it to the stock in the stable or barnyard. 



This practice is well spoken of by some who have 

 tried it. They allege it saves feed, increases the 

 manure pile, and keeps the stock in good condition. 

 It has some objections, however ; it adds greatly to 

 the labor of the farmer in his most busy season. The 

 attendance must be regular and unremitting, and 

 the grass be newly cut; otherwise the stock will 

 suflTer. And it may be a question whether with the 

 best attendance cattle thus confined will keep in as 

 healthy condition as if allowed free range of the 

 field, to crop the grass at will freshly from the sod. 



Another mode is to fence off and keep a certain 

 part of the farm for exclusive and continuous pas- 

 turage. This, if managed with proper care, not too 

 closely cropped in dry weather, and treated to a coat 

 of manure occasionally, can be brought into a thicli 

 growth of natural grass, very nutritious and greatly 

 relished by cattle. It is the mode practiceil in many 

 parts of Chester and Delaware counties, and is well 

 thought of. 



Of course since rainfall is on the decrease the low- 

 est and raoistcst ground on the farm should be se- 

 lected for this i)Urpo6e, and it should have shade 

 trees for the benefit of" the stock i-n liot seasons, and 

 if possible, water tor them to drink. 



Another mode is to keep portable fence, and in- 

 close with it such of the grass land as is desired to 

 pasture. This will involve the cost of the fence 

 itself and the trouble of moving it as often as the 

 pasture is changed. 



The last remaining manner, which can profitably 

 be adopted when the stock consists of only one or 

 two cows, is that of staking. 



This will require some training to accustom the 

 animals quietly to submit to the restraint of rope 

 and stake. 



