issl.l 



THE LANCASTER FARMER. 



89 



I 111. ill common, that their direction is toward 

 Ui- |il;ices wliere they are required. If firowtii 

 i^ liiking place at any point, the nearest por- 

 tiniis of surrounding plant suhstauce give up 

 ilh ir liquid and this creates a demand upon 

 till more distant parts, so tliat a current 

 iliiiiiili every fibre may exist from one ex- 

 inmily of the plant to tlie other. 



I'hf leaves are tlie factories in which the 

 (•uiii|Miunds used in plant growth are made. 

 :iiicl from tliese leaves the assimilated materials 

 iliiw back to all places when they are 

 iH . lied. In our common trees there is a ring 

 ol new wood formed annually next to the 

 bark, and there must necessarily be a flow 

 of the elaborated sap down the branches and 

 trunk of the tree or shrub. In case of the po- 

 tato, the mass of starch stored up in the sub- 

 terranean tuber reached its place of deposit in 

 a soluble form by passing back through the 

 potato stem toward the roots. 



There is another kind of motion of liquid in 

 plants depending on what is known as root 

 pressure, and is independent of growth or 

 leaf evaporation. This is strikingly shown 

 by cutting oil a small stem close to the soil. 

 The water that will sometimes flow from the 

 stump will amount to several times the bulk 

 of the root. This flow will continue when a 

 pressure or weight is placed on the cut sur- 

 face. This motion is not to be confounded 

 with "bleeding." This occurs when branches 

 previously cold and filled with water are 

 rapidly warmed. The air in the wood ex- 

 pands and forces the liquid out. When the 

 wood again cools the air contracts, and the 

 water gathered upon the cut surface is drawn 

 in again. The conditions for this "bleeding" 

 obtain especially in early spring.— P/ii7a. Press. 



ABOUT FORESTRY. 

 Prof. Rothrock, of West Chester, the other 

 evening delivered a lecture in Horticultural 

 Hall, Philadelphia, on the subject of Forestry, 

 a needed reform which does not grow out of 

 the whims or fancies of a few crack-brained 

 agitators, but which springs directly from the 

 necessities of the people as civilization ad- 

 vances and as over-crowded population makes 

 political economy requisite. The better to 

 understand the subject, we would state that 

 forestry does not propose to revolutionize any 

 fundamental law or business ; that it does not 

 teacli that to keep a forest intact, timber 

 shall be allowed to stand after maturity, or 

 decay on the ground where it grew, but— we 

 quote the Professor—" it suggests that trees, 

 as fast as they mature, shall be felled, and 

 that young trees, when unpromising, or 

 crowding other trees, shall be cut and util- 

 ized, to make room for rapid growth of desir- 

 able specimens. In other words, the funda- 

 mental law of sound forestry is, grow your 

 timber as fast as possible, then without loss 

 of time realize on it, and plant more ; but do 

 not cut down mature and immature trees as 

 you would mow down a crop of grass," But 

 here is the Professor's strong point, viz., that, 

 while forestry does not contemplate using 

 land for trees so long as that land can be put 

 to more lucrative uses in other crops, it does 

 contemplate using barren ridges, mountain 

 slopes, sandy shores, flats frequently over- 

 flowed by water, and waste lands generally. 

 It is assured that at least six per cent, of the 



area of this State is in mountain land, which 

 is either too rougli to cultivate or so poor 

 that it would pay better if kept in trees than 

 in cereals, or devoted to grazing. Tliis fact, 

 ho says, has become so prominent in New 

 York State during the past year, that the 

 spruces of the Adirondacks have overshad- 

 owed the entire Legislature and dwarfed 

 every other (luestion by the magnitude of the 

 sentiment which they have created in favor 

 of their protection. The Professor makes the 

 somewhat astonishing statement that our for- 

 ests are more valuable to us than the gold of 

 California or the silver of Colorado. 



The random talk that the forestry move- 

 ment is accomplishing nothing, he says, will 

 no longer be quietly listened to by the friends 

 of the cause. There are to-day 248,400 acres of 

 forest trees planted in Nebraska, and half as 

 many more growing spontaneously since that 

 State encouraged the protection and planting 

 of trees. It is affirmed that there are 43,000,- 

 000 forest trees growing there, " where but a 

 few years ago not one could be .seen on her 

 wide prairies." This, the Professor says, the 

 advocates of forestry may proclaim from the 

 house-tops as an astounding example of the 

 strides made by a cause which, in this coun- 

 try, is hardly more than fifteen years old.— 

 Berks and Schuylkill Journal. 



THE GRASSES. 



The following experiment is reported by 

 Mr. DeLaune in the "Journal of the Royal 

 Agricultural Society" for 18^2. After the 

 grasses and clovers had grown one year and 

 had become well established, one plot was 

 mowed twice, and a similar plot was mowed 

 six times during the year. The latter was to 

 imitate the frequent cropping of grass by 

 cattle. 



Green, cut twice 17 qo jo^g' 



Dried, cut twice 4'49 to,,,' 



Green, cut six times ox 25 long" 



Dried, cut six times " 8.^2 tons.' 



The following shows the amount per acre 

 of the most valuable substances contained in 

 the hay : 



We see that from the second piece cut six 

 times deficiency in weight is made up for by 

 superior quality. It contains 7.12 fts. of 

 nitrogen, 8.01 lbs. phosphoric acid, and 1.78 

 lbs. of potash. It is certain that cattle grazed 

 on the crop of the piece cut six times would 

 have been better nourished than those to 

 which the hay from the first piece would have 

 been given. We should not forget that cattle, 

 in grazing while roaming about, injure the 

 grass more or less with their feet. 



Aftermaths are richer in nitrogen than 

 fine cuts, and they are more nitrogenous 

 the younger they are cut. They are also 

 richer in phosphoric acid and potash. After- 

 maths are not so easily cured as first cuts, 

 do not look so well, and often do not sell so 

 well. 



Care of Pastures— The pastures of this 



country, jus a rule, receive very little atten- 

 tion. Who ever heard of a premium crop of 

 grass ? Pastures are often ruined by allow- 

 ing the cattle to feed on them before the 

 sround is settled m the spring ; thus the roots 

 are cut up and the plants checked for want of 

 green tops to build them up. For growth, a 

 grass needs green (eaves as much as a colt 

 needs fresh air and a stomach to digest his 

 food. 



Pastures may get too high in spring before 

 feeding, as the culms run to blo.ssom and be- 

 come distasteful to stock. Late close feeding 

 in autumn, especially if the season be a dry 

 one, is a severe drain on the vitality of the 

 plants and cau.se them to he a long time 

 starting in the following spring. 



Let any one mow a piece after thus feeding 

 in autum, and mow another not closely fed 

 the fall before, and he will see a great differ- 

 ence in the yield. "To improve the past- 

 ures," Professor Stockbridge says, "you 

 must first seek to reform the farmer." When 

 pasture is unproductive, harrow and sow on 

 other kinds of grasses with a top-dressing of 

 some fertilizer. Feed the cattle oil, meal, 

 cotton cake or some other good feed. It is a 

 good practice to permit a part of the pasture 

 to grow large for late fall feed. 



Concerning the management of grass lands 

 it is quite important not to feed them the first 

 year. Mowing is better and is generally 

 practiced in this country. A pasture cannot 

 do much above ground, till after the forma- 

 tion of a large bulk of roots below. 



Meadows are often injured by being shaved 

 too closely, by continued removal of hay 

 without any returns in the form of fertilieers. 

 Plaster for clover should never bo neglected, 

 unless the farmer finds in his locality it does 

 no good. — Press. 



ROOT CROPS FOR CATTLE. 



The time is again approaching when the 

 farmer casts about him as to the crops he shall 

 put out, which will realize him most money, 

 or which will give him the best results for 

 consumption on the farm. It is pretty goner- 

 ally conceded that in this State, especially in 

 this part of it, too little attention is given to 

 planting root crops as food for stock. Experi- 

 ence has long since demonstrated beyond all 

 question that stock of every kind thrives bet- 

 ter if fed a certain ration of roots, mangles, 

 turnips, beets and the like. In New England 

 this knowledge has been largely introduced in- 

 to practice. Root crops are grown as regu- 

 larly there as wheat and corn. In Great 

 Britain the practice prevails universally. 

 Turnip fields are as numerous in some sections 

 as grain fields, and that is admittedly one of 

 the chief reasons why England produces the 

 finest mutton in the world. 



Cows, as every farmer knows, are not only 

 exceedingly fond of roots of all kinds, but 

 thrive on this food in a remarkable degree. It 

 not only increases the flow of milk, but tests 

 show that the flow is kept up several months 

 longer where roots are regularly fed. Beets, 

 the chemists tell us, are not rich in nitrogen, 

 but they are excessively so in rich natural 

 juices. They also say the feeding value of 

 roots is small compared with most classes of 

 dry foods. No doubt this is true, but the fact 

 remains that beets act on the animal econo- 



