ISS3.J 



THE LANCASTER FARMER. 



77 



imp of nice early potatoes. Taking courage from 

 tin- I lirifty growth my potatoes made I treateil my 

 l:iti' potatoes in the same way, and the result was 

 . qiuilly satisfactory. 



Tobacco Prevents Scale. 



A correspondent of the New Yorlv ll'oriii says : 

 "I rlo not pretend to say what causes scabhy pota- 

 toes, but some of my neighhors vouch for the ctfec- 

 thiness of refuse tobacco as a remedy. Their 

 plan is to cut up the refuse stems and stalivs of 

 tobacco quite iiue iu an ordinary straw cutter and 

 apply a Inindful to each hil\ of potatoes at the time 

 of planting. This simple remedy appears to iiave 

 done good by destroying ihc grubs of parasites, or 

 whatever is the cause of the scab. It also acts as a 

 good fertilizer." 



A New Cereal. 



An exchange says : A new cereal has been intro- 

 duced by a gentleman of South Carolina, a descrip- 

 tion of which may interest our readers. Millomaize 

 is a native of the Southern hemisphere, being found 

 in large quantities in Columbia, where it is used as a 

 common food of the working people and the grain is 

 fed to workini; animals. In food qualities it is said 

 to be superior to wheat, and experiments show that 

 fifty to one hundred bushels of clean seed can be 

 raised to the. acre. Rev. K. H. Pratt, formerly a 

 missionary in South America, the gentleman who 

 introduced the grain and who has raised it success- 

 fully for some years in South Carolina, says the mil- 

 lomaize is allied to the sorghum and Guinea corn 

 families, and should not be planted where there is 

 any danger of mixing them. The grain is small, 

 and more meally than the Guinea corn families, 

 heads are larger and more compact, and the color 

 is milk white instead of red. It differs from sor- 

 ghum in this, that the sugar it contains is fully 

 converted into corn when the trrain matures — so that 

 the pith of the grainstalks becomes as dry and taste, 

 less as that ot Indian corn when the stalk is dead. 

 In Barranquilla, on the coast, where we have a dry 

 season (which is really a drought) of five or six 

 months' continuance, I have had it planted in my 

 garden, and after it had ripened one crop of seed I 

 have cut it down to the roots in the midst of this dry 

 season and had a second crop, of inferior quality, of 

 course, to shoot up at once from the roots. I hare 

 been told that a third crop of fully ripened seed can 

 thus be obtained from a single plant. I do not know 

 what this can imply (for the soil at this season gets 

 as dry as a potsherd, and and nearly as hard) unless 

 it means that, above most other plants, this lives o£i' 

 the atmosphere which there, certainly, is densely 

 charged with moisture from the sea. It was this 

 unlimited capacity to stand drought which induced 

 me to bring the seed home, in the belief that it would 

 be of incalculable service to our Southern States, 

 where our crop so often fails from drought. 



HORTICL .rURE. 



Strawberries 



Any good corn land will raise good strawberries, 

 provided you use well rotted manure and keep the 

 plants well mulched with leaves or cut straw. Set 

 .plants in rows, two feet apart, and twenty inches in 

 the row. They should be set out as early in the 

 spring as possible in order to give the plants a good 

 start before hot weather. Tbey should not be 

 allowed to bear the first year. If you set only one 

 kind, use Wilson's Albany. 



Currants. 



Cuttings from the best varieties should be set out 

 this month iu rows two and one-half feet apart, and 

 five inches in the row. In two years they will com- 

 mence bearing. Every farmer should have a large 

 supply of currant bushes, for, with proper cultiva 

 tion, they will yield large quantities of fruit that can 

 be marketed in even the small towns, as very few 



towns are fully supplied at the present. As soon as 

 the bushes are large enough to bear, mulch with 

 coal ashes ; it will keep the weeds down, and keep 

 the ground cool and moist. 



Grapes. 



Set out vinos on high land where they can have 

 plenty of sun, and be out of the reach of early frosts. 

 Do not use stable manure, but enrich the land with 

 wood aslies, or ground bone. Cuttings can now be 

 set out for next season's planting ; leave one bud 

 above the ground, and press the earth tlrmly around 

 the cuttings. The Concord is the best variety for 

 general cultivation. 



Raspberries and Blackberries 



Should be set out as soon as the ground is dry. The 

 last two years' crop of berries in New Enghind was 

 very poor, and it will pay the farmer to raise a large 

 quantity for market during the next few years. Set 

 raspberries four feet each way, and blackberries six 

 feet each way. Apply heavy mulch to last year's 

 growth and tie up to stakes.— /•'acmerji Cumpaiiiou. 



Grafting old Trees. 



In selecting old apple and pear trees for the pur- 

 pose of grafting, care should be exercised to take 

 only those that relaiu their futimje laic in Ihc. aiditmn. 

 This will insure the growing of the graft sulliciently 

 long to firmly establish it and cause it to remain un 

 affected through the winter. In every instance that 

 we have tried to raise fruit grafts on old trees which 

 shed their leaves early, we have failed. They would 

 grow for a few years, bear a few specimens and then 

 die. 



In grafting old trees,ljoughs six inches in diameter 

 can be used. But such houghs only should be 

 selected as have a smooth bark. Saw it at an angle 

 60 that all moisture will run olf ; splii the bark down 

 an inch and a lialf ; sharpen the graft from one side 

 only ; let the slant be the full length of the slit of 

 the bark ; raise the bark carefully and set the graft 

 with the cut side next to the wood ; then tie up with 

 a cotton string and wax so that neither air uor water 

 can penetrate. The waxing should be examined in a 

 few weeks to supply any defects, etc. Let an inch 

 or two of bark remain, uninjured, between the grafts 

 as they are set round the stump. When the stem Is 

 not over two inches iu diaiueter, four grafts can be 

 set by splitting down the stem the usual way twice. 

 If all grow, and are two many, cut out the two less 

 promising ones. With care, every apple or pear 

 graft ought to grow, and never less than nine out of 

 ten. 



An Immense Peach Crop Pronjised. 



At no time since the Delaware and .Maryland pen- 

 insula has been a fruit-growing section has the pros- 

 pect for the peach crop been better than now. The 

 buds are just bursting into pink blossoms, and there 

 is now little or no danger from frost. Competent 

 judges who have been visiting the orchards say that 

 there will be a million baskets more shipped this 

 year than last. This will be the largest yield ever 

 known, with the single exception of the phenomenal 

 crop of 187.5, when so many peaches were shipped 

 that the markets were glutted for several weeks. 

 The growers will probably adopt the suggestion of 

 the Philadelphia Produce Exchange — to sell the 

 baskets with the fruit, and thus avoid the vexatious 

 necessity of the return of ''empties." 



A Good Weeder. 



Get your blacksmith to cut out a piece of plow- 

 steel three inches wide and six inches long for the 

 blade. By drilling two^holes in the center he can 

 fasten on the shank for the handle, which should be 

 forked and provided with a socket for the insertion 

 of the handle, and should be set at an angle of 

 forty-five degrees to the plane of the blade. The two 

 long edges should be drawn thin and sharpened. 

 You have now one of the most effective weeding hoes 



ever Invented, and It la not patented. It has a 



doubh' eilge, and can bo worked equally well by 

 pulling or pushing. It passes along Just under or on 

 the surface, and effectually cuts off every weed 

 between the young plants In the row without loo 

 much disturbance of the surface. It la not Intended 

 as a cultivator, of course, but as a weedrr la hard to 

 beat . 



Household Recipes. 



Ham. — To boll a ham, scrape and wash carefully 

 In plenty of cold water. Put It to cook In boiling 

 water enough to cover It entirely, hoi'k endup; let 

 it remain on the front of the atove till the liam be- 

 gins to boll; then put It back, and let It almmcr 

 steadily for three hours. Take It off the lire and let 

 the ham remain in the water it la boiled In till cool 

 enough to handle: then skin II, put In a baking pan 

 and sprinkle with aboutthree ounces of brown sugar 

 run your pan into a hot oven and let It remain a hal, 

 hour, or until the sugar has formed a brown crust. 

 This not only improves the llavor of the ham but 

 preserves Its juices. 



An bxckllent wav to cook a DiifK— Is to first 

 parboil It; then take a small dripplng-pan, or even a 

 sauce-pan will answer If it Is deep enough; line pan 

 with small slices of bacon; put In a little water with 

 which to baste the duck. When the duck Is tender 

 and brown remove It to a hot platter; make a thick 

 gravy, using for foundation the gravy In the pan, 

 just taking out the bits of bacon; these may be 

 placed around the duck on the platter. To the thick 

 gravy when nearly done you may add canned mush- 

 rooms or green peas. Pour the gravy around the 

 duck also. With this should be served mashed pota- 

 toes, turnips, onions boiled or cut iu thin slices and 

 fried brown in butter and lard. Currant Jelly or 

 cranberries cannot be spared. 



A NovEr.TV IN Cake. — Bake a loaf of white cake 

 or of cornstarch cake; have the loaf when baked 

 about three inches deep. When done and cold, put 

 on the top ol the loaf pieces of orange; these should 

 be cut in the size of a caramel. Put them on as 

 close together as possible, and have them smooth or 

 even If you can. Then cover the cake, orange and 

 all, with frostenlng. If cornstarch cake Is made, 

 follow this rule; One cup uf.Hour, one cup of corn- 

 starch, one heaping cup of white sugar, half a cup 

 of butter beaten with the sugar until It is as light as 

 cream, one large teaspoonful of baking (lowder and 

 the whiles of four eggs beaten to a stiff froth and 

 put in last; a large half cup of sweet milk should be 

 stirred iu with the butter and sugar after they are 

 well beaten. This cake does not keep well, and 

 should be eaten while fresh. A nice while cake to 

 be covered with orange Is made by using the whites 

 of five eggs, one cup of milk, half a cup of butler, 

 one toaspoonful of baking jiowiler, one cup and a 

 half of sugar and about three cups of fiour. 



" FAVOitiTF. " Pi'DDiNit Is made by beating three 

 eggs very light, the whites and yelks together ; 

 flavor with the juice and grated rind Of a lemon and a 

 half a teas|K)onfnl of grated bread crumbs, one cup 

 of finely chopped apple, one cup of English currants 

 and one and a-half cups of sugar; stir these vigo- 

 rously till well mixed, then put In a buttered 

 pudding dish and boil for at least two hours and a 

 half. Serve with any good sauce, or with cream and 

 sugar alone, or cream and sugar with a wineglass of 

 sherry stirred In. 



Potato Soup. — A quort of milk, six large iK)ta- 

 toes, one stalk of celery, an onion and u lablespoou- 

 ful of butter. Put milk to boil with onion and 

 celery. Pare potatoes and boll thirty minutes. Turn 

 off the water and mash fine ami llirht. Add the 

 boiling milk and the butter, and pepper and salt to 

 taste. Hub Ihrough a strainer, and serve Immedi- 

 ately. A cupful of whipped cream, added when In 

 the tureen is a great improvement. This soup must 

 not be allowed to stand, even If kept hot. Served as 

 soon as ready, it is excelleut. 



