62 



THE LANCASTER FARMER. 



[April, 



dragging out of plants by the root. In some soils 

 the wheat crop has been improved as much as ten 

 bushels to the acre by this process. — Philadelphia 

 Press. 



How Much Seed Shall I Sow ? 

 That depends on the size and vitality of the seeds, 

 the number of seeds to the bushel, the condition of 

 the land, whether distributed evenly, and the nature 

 of the season which is to follow. No fixed rule will 

 relieve the farmer froic thinking for himself and em 

 ploying all the good judgment at his command. In 

 the opinion of the writer, it would be better, in most 

 cases, if farmers used less seeil to the acre and tooli 

 more pains to get the land in better condition. Sup- 

 pose we sow twelve quarts of timothy seed and four 

 pounds of red clover to the acre. This will make 

 18,944,000 seeds of timothy and 6,024,000 seeds of 

 clover, a total of 24,968,000 seeds, or about four seeds 

 to the square inch. Using finer seeds in mixtures, 

 as prescrilied by some of the English dealers, they 

 often sow from .50,000,000 to 100,000,000 seeds to the 

 acre, or not far from eight to sixteen seeds to each 

 square inch. In either case, there can be room for 

 only a small portion of the plants should all the 

 seeds grow and thrive. Much caution must be used 

 in applying the fixed rules laid down in books, or 

 the fixed rules laid down by men who seldom consult 

 the books.— Press. 



H0RT3CL rURE. 



Protecting Raspberries. 



J. W. F., Williamsport, Pa., desires to know (vhen 

 his raspberry canes, which have been laid down for 

 winter protection, should be uncovered and raised. 

 Certainly not till all danger of freezing weather is 

 over. Cold, piercing winds of March are often more 

 injurious to the canes than the lower temperatures of 

 ■winter. In other words, it is spring protection, rather 

 than winter protection, which is most beneficial.— 

 Philadelphia Paess. 



Dwarf Celery. 



In contrasting the celery of some twenty years ago, 

 tall, coarse and spongy, with the short, crisp, nutty- 

 flavored vegetable of to-day, we must acknowledge 

 that here, at least, some credit is due our modern 

 gardeners. The " Boston Market " has proved with 

 me the best for a combination of good qualit'es, not 

 the least ol which is the cheapness of the crop in 

 comparison with the tall growing varieties. The 

 greatest amount of labor is necessary in hillinar-up, 

 so that the latter, requiring but little time and atten- 

 tion, can be placed upon the market at a greater 

 profit, or consumed by the grower without the least 

 self-compunction as to extravagance. 



As did the raaoimoth sor's of our fathers, so will 

 the new dwarf kinds continue to improve, until we 

 have a strain of celery needing little care and almost 

 certain to develop favorably under ordinary good 

 cultivation. As to the latter, the main point is plenty 

 of rich, rotted manure, a deep, generous soil and 

 moisture. Fresh manure should always be avoided 

 and deep trenches never tolerated.— PAiia. Press. 



Early Apples. 



Although we cannot advise planters to depend 

 upon summer and autumn apples for profit, matur- 

 ing as they do in the height of the fruit season, still 

 he is a poor farmer who does not provide a few trees 

 of the best varieties for his own table. So far as 

 flavor is con",erned, I prefer the Early Joe for sum- 

 mer, and Mother for autumn. The former is a 

 rather small apple, but it has a crisp, juicy flesh and 

 delightful flavor. It is a small tree, h^nce may be 

 grown in a small enclosure. It does not bear as 

 regularly as some, but produces abundantly during 

 its fruiting years. 



The Mother is the perfection of apple flavor. It is 

 of fair size, handsome color, spicy, rich and de- 

 licious. This, too, a rather small tree of slow 

 growth. The American Summer Pearmain cannot 

 well be excelled for quality, but lately it does not 



bear well. The Sweet Bough should be a favorite 

 with those who do not admire the hardness of the 

 Red Astrachan and Early Harvest. For a small list 

 of early apples the following will be found satisfac- 

 tory in most localities : Early Strawberry, Benoui, 

 Summer Rose, Gravenstein (although a poor bearer 

 with some), Jefferis, Late Strawberry, .Maiden's 

 Blush (mostly rather tart), Porter and Primate.— 

 Phila. Press. 



Early Pears. 



At the head of this list stands the Doyenne d' Ete, 

 a rather small, but handsome fruit, of best quality 

 when properly ripened and succeeding almost every- 

 where. Although doubtful in many localities, the 

 GiS'ard is one of the very best early varieties where 

 it will succeed. Its fine vinous flavor and delicious 

 melting flesh is of the highest order, but the skin 

 frequently cracks. Notwithstanding its small size 

 and rather unpromising exterior the Bloodgood still 

 ranks among our most popular early kinds. It 

 abounds in a highly perfumed juice and bears abun- 

 dantly. Another little pear ripening in August is the 

 Dearborn's Seedling, and like the above, still popu- 

 lar and deserving a place in every collection. The 

 Madeleine continues to hold its position as the most 

 desirable very early variety, ripening in the Middle 

 States about the middle of July. 



The Osbands Summer is universally admired 

 wherever known for its beautful yellow skin and 

 rich, juicy, sugary flesh. It produces flne crops. 



The Rostiezer bears abundantly, and is of delicious 

 quality, but the skin is far from handsome. The tree 

 is also a straggling grower, but vigorous. Ananas 

 d'Ete and Julienne are both desirable pears in special 

 locations, but require high culture to produce fine 

 flavor. 



Three Pennsylvania seedlings, Ott, Tyson and 

 Brandywine, are excellent quality as a rule, but we 

 hear an occasional instance of failure, especially in 

 their native State. 



Early pears must never be allowed to ripen on the 

 tree. As they approach maturity, which can be de 

 tected by their color and their beginning to 

 drop, the fruit should be carefully picked and placed 

 thinly on the floor of a cool apartment. Spread a 

 blanket over them and watch closely for the ripened 

 specimens, as they never keep long in a perfect state. 

 The trouble is, the heart of the fruit generally de- 

 cays first, and there is nothing to remind us that de- 

 composition is taking place.— P/tiin. Press. 



Tomatoes. 



The tomato of late years has been universally 

 grown and yet it seems not to be thoroughly under- 

 stood. We Northern folks seldom have this very 

 wholesome vegetable in any quantity till August. 

 Why not have it in July ? Why not in June ? Why 

 not to a limited extent have it all the year fresh from 

 the vine? The plant is usually treated as an annual; 

 but who ever saw a tomato vine die the same year it 

 was sown through age, or till the frost came and 

 killed it ? Let it be treated as a biennial plant and a 

 great revolution will take place in its culture. The 

 canning factories do not wish seed sown till late in 

 the spring because the crop then comes in, to suit 

 their purpose when the heat of summer is over. But 

 for the table everybody wants them as early as pos- 

 sible, and, therefore, we pay large prices for insipid 

 things brought from th( far South, where they need 

 to be picked while green for transportation, for 

 which reason they are comparatively worthless. 

 Good, large tomatoes, fresh from the vine, in the 

 winter and early spring bring readily from ten to 

 twenty-live cents apiece in leading hotels of our great 

 cities and, considering the profusion with which to- 

 matoes grow under glass and the simple culture 

 they require, it is strauge that enterprising men do 

 not go into the business of forcing and forwarding 

 this fruit. 



I ask what fruit will pay better? It is certainly 

 not the grape ; for the foreign grape now grown so 

 plentifullv in California has pulled down the price of 

 the house grown article so much that it is not profit- 



able to build glass houses any more for a market- 

 able supply of grapes. 



To have tomatoes in late June and July they re- 

 quire to be sown the year before iu poor soil, and 

 kept through the winter in a moderate heat, suflfi. 

 cient to keep them from freezing, in pots or boxes. 

 Transpl.anted into small pots in February or March 

 they will then be coming into blossom at the time of 

 planting out, and will manure from four to six weeks 

 earlier than any hot-bed sown plants, no matter how 

 early sown to fruit the present year, for what the 

 tomato wants is age. 



Early tomatoes can also be raised by planting cut- 

 tings in the fall from good sorts already in bearing, 

 when the quality can easily be judged of. And thus 

 a good sort can be perpetuated. To have them in 

 May and June those bearing in large pots through 

 the winter with ripe fruit and plenty of blossoms on 

 may be turned out of their pots when the frost is 

 over, and thus ripe fruit may be picked by planting 

 in succession, from frost to frost. 



A pit sunk in the ground five feet deep, in a dry 

 place, of suGh dimensions as are required and cov- 

 ered with glass, with a small earthen pipe or brick 

 flue running around, will accomplish all that is 

 claimed in the above.— TAomas Bennett iu Phila. 

 Press. 



Household recipes, 



Salem Pudding.— One cup suet, chopped flne; 

 one cup molasses, one cup milk, one teaspoon soda, 

 tnree and a half cups flour, two teaspoons cream 

 tartar, one cup raisins, one teaspoon cloves, a little 

 salt. Steam three hours. Wine sauce. 



Carrie's Apple Batter.— Half pint milk, one 

 egg, and flour to make a pretty stiff batter ; a little 

 salt. Fill your pudding dish with sliced apples, 

 pour your batter over them, and steam three hours. 

 Sauce. 



Sunderland Pudding. No. 1. — One quart milk, 

 four eggs, six tablespoons flour, a little salt. Bake 

 in cups twenty minutes. Sauce 



Sunderland Pudding. No. 2— One pint milk, 

 one pint flour, three eggs, salt. 



Mrs. H.'s Bekrt Pudding. — Coffee-cup sweet 

 milk, one third cup molasses, one egg, a little salt, 

 a little saleratus, three and a half teacups flour. 

 Beat all with a spoon. Flour three pints berries, 

 and stir with a knife. Steam three hours. Sauce. 



Madam E.'s Pudding Sauce.— Large coffee cup 

 powdered sugar, quarter pound butter. Beat to- 

 gether very light ; then add one egg, but do not beat 

 much after the egg is in. Stir in one glass of w 

 Take olT the tea-kettle cover, set the same in, and 

 let it melt as thick as cream, stirring it occasionally. 



Baked Plum Pudding.— Two quarts milk, ten 

 soft crackers, eight eggs, one ponud stoned raisins. 

 Spice to taste. Bake from three to four hours. 

 Sauce. 



Mrs. C.'s Pumpkin Pie. — Stew a large sized 

 pumpkin in about one pint of water till Iry ; sirt 

 through a culander ; add two quarts milk scalded, 

 six eggs, heaped tablespoon ginger, half as ULUch 

 cinnamon, two coffee cups molasses, two coffee-cups 

 sugar, two teaspoons salt. Bake in a pretty hot 

 oven, one hour at least. 



Cottage. Pudding. — One pint bowl flour, one 

 teacup milk, one egg, half teacup sugar, one tea- 

 spoon soda dissolved in the milk, two teaspoons 

 eream tartar rubbed in the flour. Bake twenty 

 minutes or half an hour. Sauce. 



Cookies. — One cup of butter, two cups of sugar, 

 one cup of cold water, half a teaspoonful of sale- 

 ratus, two eggs, flour enough to roll, and no more. 



Soft Gingerbread.— One cup of molasses, one 

 cup of sugar, one cup of butter, one cup of butter- 

 milk, one egs, saleratus and cloves. Mix pretty 

 etiflr. 



Cream Cake. One cup of cream, one cup of 

 sugar, two cups of flour, two eggs, teaspoonful of 

 saleratus ; flavor with lemon. 



