1882.] 



THE LANCASTER FARMER. 



181 



000, and in 1SS2 the pindiict is set down witli 

 !i value equal to 82,000,000. For the future 

 we have every reason to believe that the rate 

 of increase will be even greater than for the 

 past. And there is no question but that Cali- 

 fornia is destined to become the largest and 

 linest fruit-producing country in the world.— 

 )Sa?i Francisco, California, Patriot. 



Frozen C'.\ne.— " My cane tliat was frozen 

 all winter 1 worked up until it got mouldy. 

 It did not sour for two weeks after the frost 

 left it, but it began to liave a lieavy coal 

 of mould witbin forty-eight hours after the 

 frost was all out. Some that was cut from 

 the field a day or two before, froze up and 

 was in good sliape when it did freeze uji, 

 soured in a few days after tiie frost left it, 

 while tliat which was iu piles in the yard 

 for three weeks did not sour at all. I think 

 that its drying out kept it from souring, 

 for when I worked it this spring it tested 

 i;!;^ B, while the .same cane tested 11 to I'i B 

 last fall. The syrup is of a darker color than 

 it was last fall. It made fair syrup, however. 

 I worked part with lime and part without. 1 

 liked that the lime was used in best. "— t/. A. 

 .ftmes, FiUmore cmmty, Kcb. 



WiKE WoKMS. — " I planted my corn in the 

 usual way, but in one row I put wood aslies, 

 iu a second sand plaster, and in the third com- 

 mon salt. There was little difference, if any, 

 iu the first two and those I had done nothing 

 with, but where I put the salt about nine- 

 tenths of the corn came up well. So I con- 

 cluded to doctor the whole piece, and sowed 

 a good coat of salt and stirred the ground 

 well, and then sowed another coat not quite 

 so heavy. 1 then marked out and planted 

 my corn, and it gave me a good stand, some- 

 thing that I never had on that piece before. 

 I made an average yield of corn, and put an 

 end to the wire worms." — i., Miami 

 county, Ohio. 



A SMALL bantam and a big black hen both 

 began laying eggs together in the same nest. 

 When a sufficient number h.ad accumulated 

 the bantam was given sole possession and 

 began to set. This lasted for over a week, 

 when she came olV and the brown ben took 

 lier turn, staying until the eggs hatched, the 

 result being only three chicken.s. Since that 

 time the partnership has been continued, both 

 doing equal duty in obtaining f<jod for the 

 chickens, which can be seen running first to 

 the one and then to the other, according to 

 their success in scratching. At night all the 

 little ones sometimes stay with one mother, 

 sometimes with the other, and sometimes 

 they are divided. Tliis story is told by the 

 Hartford Evening Mail. 



One of the largest silos in Europe is in 

 France on the property of M. Vicompte Ar- 

 thur de Clieselles, in the Department of the 

 Oise. In this is deposited the produce of 170 

 acres. The silo is described as an oblong 

 shed, roofed with tiles 72 yards in length, G| 

 yards wide and 4i yards high, forming an 

 admirable Dutch barn, under wliich a great 

 portion of the cereal jiroduce of the farm is 

 stored at time of harvest. The fioor, instead 

 of being level with the ground, is sunk about 

 twelve feet and is paved and drained. In 

 this great pit is stored tile ensilage. 

 Dr. Mittendorf read a paper on near- 



sightedness before the J^ew York County 

 Medical Society a few evenings ago, in the 

 course of which he de.scrilicd the singular 

 case of a fine horse in Berlin that had become 

 intractable and wliich proved on examination 

 to lie sudering from myopia. The owner had 

 a pair of glasses for the animal, and on put- 

 ting them on it became as tractable as ever. 



The cultivation of bamboo in the Southern 

 States is being advised. It is believed that it 

 will thrive well in marsliy regions such as 

 fringe the South Atlantic and Gulf States. 



A French farmer writes that he has run 

 out couch-grass on his farm by the cultivation 

 of buckwheat. 



Upland ItiCB.— "First, it requires close 

 land to hold the moisture— black gum or gaul- 

 berry lands preferable. Perfect drainage is 

 necessary. 1 have planted both, and prefer 

 the gum to sandy lands. With 7.") pounds su- 

 perphosphate to the acre I made an increase 

 of 14 bushels per acre on a field of twenty 

 acres over four acres that had none on it. The 

 unfertilized land made IS bushels and the 

 fertilized :52 bushels per acre. One hundred 

 pounds is the outside limit, in my opinion, 

 for rice ; any more is injurious— makes too 

 much straw."— TF. A. Jones, Liberty County, 

 Ga. 



Gas Taii ox TinKoofs.— "My experience 

 is that while gas tar is a first-rate sort of 

 paint for many things its place is not on a tin 

 roof. I painted over a tin roof with it. The 

 sun and rain together gradually cracked the 

 paint, rendering it worse than worthless, for 

 it affected the rain water tliat flowed from 

 the roof into the cistern. I also thought it had 

 the effect of attracting the sun more than a 

 light-colored paint would have done, for the 

 tin curled and twisted in iilaces."- F. M. G., 

 Cl<(rk coimti/, Ind. 



NiTKOGBN ON TUE Faum. — "Nitrogen ap- 

 plied on the New Hampshire Agricultural 

 College farm was destructive to corn in suc- 

 ces.sive applications ; had but little eftect on 

 potatoes, and increased the crop of Ijarley." — 

 Professor J. W. Sanhorn. 



CONTRIBUTIONS. 



Fmi THK Lancastek Faumer. 

 •'THE FARMER'S FRIEND." 



I have before me a periodical bearing the 

 above title published in Parkesburg, Chester 

 CO., Pa., and dated February, 18.38. This 

 little Journal, one half the size of the Lax- 

 caster Faioier, but containing less than 

 one-half the reading matter in the Farnii;r, 

 was " devoted to Horticulture, Agriculture, 

 ]5otany and Rural Economy." It was edited 

 and published by one Jason M. Mahan, a 

 "Yankee Schoolmaster," who is still re- 

 membered by some of the older inhabitants of 

 Salisbury, who attended " Baker's School " 

 nearly have a century ago. 



This impecunious pedagogue, who taught 

 .scliool for SIS per mouth, h.ad for the motto of 

 his paper, "The public good our only aim." 

 More than half the ])aper is given to the 

 mulberry and sugar beet business. In fact the 

 Farmers' Friend lived its brief life during the 

 great Morus Multicaulis boom, and probably 

 gave up the ghost when the mulberry trees 

 were grubbed and piled for bonfires. It is a 



curious fact that the silk-worm and the sugar 

 beet craze ran their course together, and now, 

 after nearly half a century, are brought prom- 

 ncntly before the public again at the same 

 time. 



Hear what Editor Malian says about the 

 silk business : "Having been about ten years 

 engaged in the culture ot the mulberry and 

 silkworm, we Hatter ourself that our knowl- 

 edge of the business is such as will enable U8 

 to furnish the necessary information to enable 

 the farmer to raise and prepare silk for mar- 

 ket without further knowledge or assistance. 

 » » » » ^Yy gii^i]^ therefore, sing .speed 

 to the plough, wish health and iirosperity to 

 the farmer, and rejoice that he is entirely free 

 from such perplexities as disturb the printer." 

 Of the Morus Multicaulis ho says : "Of all 

 the species of mulberry yet introduced into 

 this country, for the ))urpose of feeding the 

 silk-worm the Morus Multicaulis decidely has 

 the preference, and will speedily be substi- 

 tuted in place of all others in every region of 

 the globe. Wc would advise all fanners, by 

 all means, to lose no time in supplying them- 

 selves with that most invaluable species." 

 Again he says : "The culture of silk in 

 America succeeds so well in every respect, 

 there is no longer room to doubt of its being 

 eventually very extensively and profitably 

 followed as a pursuit. Heretofore the greater 

 portion of the specimens of this valuable pro- 

 duct have been the result of experiments by 

 individuals, on a small scale, but at present 

 larger quantities prepared in factories for sale 

 are beginning to make their appearance in 

 market. The silk thus offered has everything 

 to recommend it in point of lu.strc, smooth- 

 ness and strength, and will, it is .said, stand a 

 comparison with the Italian. Then why be 

 tributary to foreign nations for this article ?" 

 ■Tason Mahan was the author of a work on 

 arithmetic called Mahan's Instructor, hence, 

 with his mathematical turn of mind we need 

 not be surprised at the following : 



"Mr. I. B. Gray, of Fredericksburg, Va., 

 in April, 183.5, at an expense of only !?17.50 

 cost and labor, set out 7") Chinese mulberry 

 trees. In October, ls:!(J, he writes to the 

 editor of the Silk Culturist that he had in 18 

 months multiplied these 75 trees into 5,000 

 additional trees, and, to crowu all, the editor 

 of the Culturi.tt asserts those 5,000 trees of the 

 size and height described by Mr. Gray, would 

 be purchased in New England at 50 cents 

 each as soon as offered ! And this enormous 

 profit of §2,.500 realized out of an investment 

 of S17.50 in eighteen months required only 

 one-fourth of an acre of ground." 



Think of that, ye tobacco growers who 

 "rush into print " with your reports of $500 

 or SCOO per acre for tobacco. Here is a man 

 who makes S10,000 per acre growing mulberry 

 trees ! But what about the poor fellows who 

 bought the trees':" and what of the poor fel- 

 lows who smoke the tobacco V 



In the venerable paper before me there are 

 five articles on the culture of the mulberry 

 and silk-worm and the manufivcture of silk, 

 and a long and exhaustive essay on the manu- 

 facture of bdet-root sugar ; one on the manage- 

 ment of horses, and an excellent report of the 

 Silver Spring Farmers' Lyceum. Ihis is fol- 

 lowed by an article on deep ploughing and a 

 nice essay on "The Importance of Cultivating 



