58 



THE LANCASTER FARMER. 



[April, 



in tlie spring, and that in various places water 

 gushed out between the strata of slate rock, 

 sliowing that the forest leaves had protected 

 the ground from freezing, and allowed the 

 water to soak in. Although at this time in 

 exposed places the ground was frozen to the 

 depth of two or three feet, in the woods, 

 under cover of the leaves, there was very 

 little frost, certainly not enough to prevent 

 the rain from percolating through it. 



On a recent visit to us, a gentleman owning 

 lumber mills on the upper Mississippi, said 

 that in the course of fifteen years all the 

 mills in that region must stop, as the timber 

 ■will by that time have been exhausted. 



The lieiJiiblican truly says : 



The duty of preserving our forests, tliere- 

 fore, and of restoring them so far as possible 

 in regions from which they have been re- 

 moved, is clearly apparent. The forests are 

 a treasure more precious than our mines. 

 Already their destruction has gone so far as 

 to bring manifest evils, and to threaten 

 greater in the future. Our State Legisla- 

 tures and Congress cannot be too prompt in 

 taking tlie most effective measures to pre- 

 serve our existing forests, to restore, so far as 

 may be, those of which have been removed, 

 and to encourage the establishment of new 

 ones wherever it may be done with advan- 

 tage. — Fannie B. Johnson, in Laws of Life. 



ONION CULTURE— SEEDS AND SETS. 



A few years ago no vegetable was subject 

 to such marked fluctuations in prices as the 

 onion, the price doubling, often quadrupling, 

 within a short time. This was due to the 

 fact that onions were cultivated in but very 

 few localities, and the market could readily 

 be controlled by speculators. Onion culture 

 is no longer confined to Connecticut and 

 Rhode Island. Large areas in New York 

 State and in some Western States are devoted 

 to the crop, and the Southern States now raise 

 large quantities. The general stock is so 

 large that a short supply in one place in made 

 good by shipments from another point, and 

 there is little chance for a "corner." It was 

 supposed that onions could not be raised from 

 seeds in localities south of New York City, 

 but the experience of the southern growers 

 show that tills is a mistake. In localities far 

 enough south to allow of growth during the 

 winter months, there is no difiiculty in 

 making good crops from the seed. That a 

 warm climate is not detrimental to onion 

 culture, is shown by the vast quantities sent 

 to our markets from Bermuda, while magnifi- 

 cent onions are shipped from Spain and Por- 

 tugal to England, and to a small extent to 

 this country. In the Middle States, where 

 the winter is too cold for their growth, and 

 hot weather comes on before the bulbs have 

 made much size, onion sets are pieferable to 

 seeds. 



REQUISITES TO SUCCESS WITH ONIONS. 



Onions differ from most other crops in not 

 requiring a rotation. In some places the 

 land has been in onions annually for half a 

 century: If the crop is to be grown for the 

 first time, newly cleared land is the best, and 

 next to that, soil which has been in corn or 

 potatoes. A good, deep, rich loam, is essen- 

 tial, as is heavy manuring. Fifty loads of 



stable manure to the acre are an ordinary ma- 

 nuring, and may be supplemented by ashes, 

 bones, flour, or guano, as a top-dressing. The 

 seeds should be sown very early; should be of 

 the previous year's growth, and from a relia- 

 ble raiser. The rows are a foot apart, leaving 

 every seventh for a path, and from three to 

 six pounds of seed are sown to the acre. On 

 land not before in onions, thin sowing is bet- 

 ter than thick. After sowing, roll the sur- 

 face. Some sow an ounce or two of radish 

 seed with every pound of onion seed. The 

 radishes come up in a few days and mark the 

 rows so that a hand-cultivator or push-hoe 

 can be run close to the rows even before the 

 onions are up. 



In some localities the young onions will be 

 seen to die without apparent cause. A fly 

 has laid*iier egg and the grub is eating the 

 interior of the young bulb. All such onions 

 must be taken up, using a knife to make sure 

 of removing the bulb with the worm, and 

 placed in a bucket or other vessel, and burned. 

 — American Homes. 



WORTH PRESERVING. 

 A barrel of flour weighs 196 pounds. 

 Barrel of pork, 200 pounds. 

 Barrel of rice; 600 pounds. 

 Barrel of powder, 25 pounds. 

 Firkin of butter, .56 pounds. 

 Tub of butter, 84 pounds. 

 60 drops make a drachm. 

 !^ drachms make an ounce. 

 4 ounces make a gill. 

 16 ounces make a pint. 

 60 drops, a teaspoontul. 

 4 teaspoonfuls, a tablespouutul. 

 2 tablespornfuls, an ounce. 

 8 ounces, a gill. 

 2 gills, a cofi'ee-cup or tumbler. 

 6 fluid ounces, a teacUpful. 

 4,S40 square yards make an acre. 

 640 acres make a sipiare mile. 

 There are 2,750 languages. 

 Two persons die every second. 

 A generation is fifteen years. 

 Thirty-out yeai's is the average of life. 



Time to Plant the following Seeds, with 



QUANTITY PER ACRE, 



Red Clover— March, April, September, Octo- 

 ber, s to 10 lbs, 



Timothy— March, April, September October, 

 I to i 1)U. 



Red Top— April, May, September, October, :| 

 to 1 bu. 



Kentucky Blue Grass— April, May June, 

 July, i to 1^ bu. 



to 2 



to li 



Rye — April, May, September, October, 1 



bu. 

 Wheat— April, August, September, 1^ 



bu. 

 Corn— April, May, June, 4 to 6 quarts. 

 Buckwheat- June and July, | bu. 

 Barley — April, May, August, September, 



2bu. 

 Oats —April, May, June, 2 to 3 bu. 

 Beets — April, May, June, 4 lbs. 

 Turnips — May, July, August, 1 lb. 

 White Beans — May and June, 1 bu. 

 Potatoes— April and May, 10 to 15 bu. 

 Onions— May, 2 to 3 bu. 

 Hungarian Grass — May and June, :i to i bu. 



HERSCHEL'S WEATHER TABLE. 



For Foretelling the Weather Throughout all 

 the Lunations of Each Year, Forever. 



This Table and the accompanying remarks 

 are the result of many years' actual observa- 

 tion, the whole being constructed on a due 

 consideratioii of the attraction of the Sun and 

 Moon, in their several positions respecting 

 the Earth, and will, by simple inspection, 

 show the observer what kind of weather will 

 most probably follow the entrance of the 

 Moon into any of its quarters, and that so 

 near the truth as to be seldom or never found 

 to fail : 





S6h 



fc. 



1-, - - - - 



O N 03 Tfl '-D CO O 



:5 a 



"3 TS "3 '0 



a a a a 



a gi ci di 



r3 '^ T3 



a a a 



^i -^H eo OS o 



■M 'M •* -r QO O 



OS 



M I 



PS 



M 

 E- 



is 



: .9 

 : '3 



•° *j 



,-; to 



O fe > O fe fa 



S 



M .g 2 





fe CO 



'5 S o 



K r^ O 



5 o =^ ■ 



2 I .= .= 



o a rf oj 



O CjQ fa fa 



Ohservations— 1. riie nearer the time of 

 the Moon's change, first quarter, full and last 

 quarter are to midniijht., the fairer will be the 

 weather diuMng the next seven days. 



2. The space for this calculation occupies 

 from 10 at night till 2 next morning. 



3. The nearer to middaij or noon the phases 

 of the Moon happen, the more foul or wet 

 weather may be expected during the next 

 seven days. 



4. The space for this calculation occupies 



