82 



THE LANCSTER FARMER. 



[April 



give much heavier returns. It is not necessary to 

 pursue the slow and lalrorious process for reducing 

 the soil to the best condition formerly adopted, since 

 improved implements will enable the farmer to 

 sweep over and pulverize the land several times 

 faster than before. Repeated experiments have 

 shown of late years that thorough preparation and 

 c\ilture alone foi wheat, give a great increase in the 

 product ; and the addilion of cattle and sheep raising 

 which may be easily combined with the product of 

 grain, would retain and increase the present fertility. 

 Country Gentleman. 



HORT3CL .fURE. 



Fruit Buds of the Peach. 

 The cold weather which prevailed over the country 

 about the 10th instant, wis marked with various de- 

 grees of severity in different localities, from zero to 

 thirty or forty below. In very rare instances we 

 have known a portion of the peach crop to escape 

 destruction when the thermometer had gone to 

 seventeen degrees below zero, but more commonly 

 all have been killed at twelve'^belovr. When, there- 

 fore, the thermometer went to twelve below at Union 

 Springs, N. Y., on the morning of the 10th, we began 

 to cast about to see what other fruits could be made 

 to take the place of peaches the coming season, and 

 were agreeably surprised since to find on examining 

 one or two hundred buds that not more than one- 

 seventh had been fatally injured, the remaining large 

 portion being fresh and entirely unharmed. There 

 was very little difference In the sorts examined, and 

 no preference could be discovered in the buds on 

 large, stout shoots, or on small and slender ones, or 

 on exposed or sheltered sides of the shoots. The 

 only exception was in the case of the Early Craw- 

 ford, which had about one-third of the buds killed; 

 but this may have been owing to peculiar aspect, the 

 trees standing on the west side of a building. A 

 reason of the unusual escape of the buds 

 was doubtless the continuousc old weather which 

 has prevailed since the close of autumn, and which 

 has prevented the buds from swelling and becoming 

 more susceptible to injury. We never saw them less 

 swollen at this time of the year; in some years they 

 have been found twice as large, and when this has 

 been the case, a cold of eight or ten degrees below 

 zero has killed nearly all- Should several warm 

 days still occur, followed by as severe a temperature 

 as we have already had, we should probably lose the 

 entire crop. These remarks apply to a single locality 

 only, and only a few miles distant varying results are 

 often observed. The danger still continues for some 

 weeks, but after the first of March we have never 

 known the crop to be destroyed, except in a single 

 instance, about the 6th of that mouth.— Co?«»(ii/ Gen 

 tlemau. 



Vegetable Seeds. 



There are a few houses that make the production 

 of vegetable seeds a specialty. To do this success- 

 fully, i- e., to produce not only new but better varie- 

 ties each succeeding year is a task which requires 

 long experience, a careful study and a minute atten- 

 tion to details whicli the general public and perhaps 

 many gardeners and farmers are scarcely aware of. 

 Few houses really do succeed, but among these the 

 well-known firm of B. K. Bliss & Sons is one of the 

 foremost. Its list of novelties for 1883, just pub- 

 lished, includes not only old "stand-bys," as, for 

 instance, the American Wonder Pea— a peculiarly 

 finely flavored variety of peas, by the way— but also 

 a remarkable pea produced by crossing Daniel 

 O'Rourke with Carter's First Crop.which has beengiv- 

 en the name of American the Racer Pea. Among the 

 other vegetables deserving of notice are a fine Cuban 

 Queen watermelon, and the Sea-Foam cabbage. 

 The black Champion currant among the fruils 

 offered by this enterprising firm, received the dis- 

 tinction of a prize at the Royal Horticultural Society 

 Exhibition in August, 1881 . An attractive variety of 

 potatoes is a feature of the catalogue, and the same 



may be said of some very fine grains, of which the 



Triumph oats, Adament wheat and Pringle's Green 

 Mountain wheat need only be mentioned. Few 

 people will fail to find what they want by consulting 

 this very interesting and complete list. 



Chemical Elements in Plants. 

 Chemists are generally agreed that plants require 

 seven different elements irom the soil in order to 

 make a healthy growth.— These are phosphorous, 

 potash, magnesia, lime, sulphur, iron, and nitrogen. 

 Other elements are often found, sometimes in great 

 quantity, such as silica, soda, chlorine, etc. ; but as 

 many plants have been grown to perfection without 

 jhem their presence is not considered essential. Last 

 year at an English experiment station, turnips plant- 

 ed in pure white sand, and supplied with everytliing 

 except phosphate, merely lived, without gaining in 

 bulk. But on ground coprolite being applied, the 

 produce, even in that miserable soil , at once went 

 up to twenty tons an acre. 



-♦^ 



Cucumbers. 



In planting other seeds in a hot- bed or cold frame, 

 it is a good plan to leave a space under each sash 

 for a hill of cucumbers, which may be sown at once. 

 For planting out-doors, sow seeds in pots,- half-a- 

 dozen in a three-inch pot, which may be plunged in 

 the soil of the hot-bed. The plants to be thined to 

 two, and when it is safe to set them in the open 

 ground, turn out the ball of earth, without disturb- 

 ing the roots, and plant it. 



There is still another advantage in an early potato. 

 In this part of the country at least, the plant is sub- 

 ject to the attacks of the stem borer. They usually 

 commence their ravages about the end of June. They 

 bore out the whole centre pith of the stems, and be- 

 fore the end of July the plants are all dead, being 

 dried up before the potato is matured. In such cases 

 there is not often fifty bushels of potatoes to the acre- 

 and of these half of them are too small to he sale, 

 able. By getting the potato early in the ground, and 

 using varieties which mature early, the tubers are of 

 pretty good size before the insects get to work, and 

 thus there is a great gain. It seems to us we can 

 almost do without any more late kinds. We say 

 nothing hereof the depredations of the beetle, as it 

 has been so completely met and overthrown as hardly 

 any longer to be considered as a serious injury to the 

 crop, early or late. 



Lettuce. 



Plants that were wintered in frames may be set 

 out at the same time as early cabbages, placing 

 them between the rows of cabbages and a foot apart. 

 They may also be transplanted to other cold frames, 

 and give a crop earlier. Seeds should be sown 

 under glass or in window boxes, for a succession. 

 As soon as the soil is in good condition, seeds may 

 be sown in theopen ground, in rows 1.5 inches apart, 

 to be thinned to 10 inches. The Curled Simpson, 

 Tennis-ball ; and Hanson are among the good kinds. 



Parsley. 



Sow in cold frame, window-box, or, when the soil 

 is ready, in the open ground. The seed is often 

 several weeks in the ground before the plants appear. 

 The Fern-leaved and Double Curled are both hand- 

 some and good varieties. 



Grafting the Common Cherry Tree. 



It is not commonly known that the common black 

 and red cherry which are regarded as " wild," can 

 be easily grafted with other and the best varieties— 

 th,at is, as easily grafted as cherries usually are, 

 which every one knows who has tried it Js more diffi- 

 cult to make grow than any other fruit. The scions, 

 however, if not already cut, should be secured at 

 once and before the buds swell, and the grafting 

 should be done as early as possible. Many of these -| 

 trees, which produce the poorest kind of fruit, in 

 fact, are nearly all seed anfi skin— are worse than 

 nothing to have upon one's premises, unless when 

 very large to be cut down and sold for cabinet- 

 making. These trees can all be top grafted and may 

 be made to yield an abundance of excellent fruit. 

 Only healthy trees should be selected for grafting, 

 and the scions should be in the best condition. 

 Where the stocks in which the scions are to be 

 inserted are large, the method to be adopted is that 

 mentioned in another article in this column ; but 

 where the stocks are small the usual mode of graft- .| 

 ing should be pursued. We suggest to our agricul- 

 tural friends who have some of these trees upon their 

 farms— and they are to be found upon nearly all of j 

 them of any size— to employ a good grafter to do 

 the work, and report to us the degree of success 

 which may follow .—Oermantoum Tele(ira2)h. 



Household Recipes. 



Radishes. 



Seeds may be sown in the cold frame for a few very 

 early, and in the open ground as soon as it can be 

 worked, in drills a foot apart, dropping two or three 

 seeds to the inch. Scarlet Turnip, round; French 

 breakfast, oblong, and Scarlet Short-top, long, are all 

 good ; the first named is the most reliable. 



Early Potatoes. 

 Besides commanding a high price, there are other 

 considerations that come in to make the early crop 

 of potatoes valuable. The early rose continues to be 

 as good as the beet, not only for the early but the late 

 crop, and always fetch a remunerating price in the 

 market. But there is this additional advantage in 

 the early crop; it can be harvested and removed and 

 the ground put in good order for fall crops. The 

 best turnips we have ever known came out of a piece 

 of ground first cleared of early potatoes. Indeed, we 

 do not know of a more profitable arrangement of 

 crops than to have turnips follow potatoes. The 

 ground usually has to be pretty good for potatoes, 

 but it is not essential that the manure be very much 

 decayed. Some, indeed, contend that long strawy 

 manure is all the better for a potato crop. The tur- 

 nips, on the other hand, must have the manure very 

 well decayed, in order to give its best results. Hence, 

 after the potato has done with its fertilizer, there is 

 enouffh left for the turnip to thrive upon. Wheat 

 and rye also thrive very well on land which has been 

 previously well manured for potatoes. In all these 

 case* the early potato has a great advantage over the 

 late one. They allow of a much earlier preparation 

 of the ground for the subsequent crop. 



PiinNE Whip.— Sweeten to taste and stew three 

 quarters of a pound of prunes; when perfectly cold 

 add the whites of four eggs, beaten stiff; stir all of I 

 this together till light, put in a dish and bake twenty f 

 minute's; when cold serve in a large dish, and cover j 

 well with good cream. 



Cream Cookies are made of one cupful of butter, j 

 one cupful of sugar, three tablespoonfuls of sweet 

 cream, half a teaspoonful of cream of tartar and half 

 a teaspoonful of soda ; flavor ivilh cinnamon or 

 nutmeg, or if you wish to have them very delicate 

 flavor with extract of lemon or rose water. 



(iiNGER PnFFS.— Take half a pound of flour, 

 four eggs, one teaspoonful of ground ginger, a little 

 grated "nutmeg, an ounce of pulverized sugar and 

 half a glass of white wine. Add the ginger, sugar 

 and nutmeg to the flour, and mix all together with 

 the eggs well beaten and the half glass of wine. 

 Bake the mixture in cups in a quick oven. 



A Breakfast Dish.— A good breakfast dish can 

 be prepared from the remains of yesterday's dinner, 

 providing that consisted in part of roast mutton.. 

 Chop it fine and put it in a saucepan with a cup of 

 gravy or of soup stock, season with pepper and salt 

 and scatter over it, stirring all the time, a table- 

 spoonful of flour ; let the meat heat gradually, and, 

 when " boiling hot," set the pan on the back part of 

 the stove, and poach some eggs to serve with the 

 meat. When the eggs are done put the meat on a 

 platter, and lay the eggs around the edge. With 

 fried potatoes, muffins and good coffee a wholesome 

 breakfast may be provided at small expense. 



Cup Pudding.— a favorite cup pudding is made 



