1884.] 



THE LANCASTER FARMER. 



95 



agriculture should be taught iu public schools located 

 in agricultural districts. The elements of botany, 

 chemistry, zoology, mineralogy, etc., are of the 

 utmost use to farmers, and these should be taught 

 in schools, even if to do so it were necessary to cur- 

 tail in some measure the study of grammer and 

 geography. 



An hour was devoted to the asking and answering 

 of questions of importance to farmers, after which 

 the Institute adjourned until eight o'clock in the 

 evening. 



(To be ccntmned in next number.) 



AGRICULTURE, 



Recuperating the Soil. 

 Sir John Beum-tt Lawes lias written a chapter for 

 the new edition of Harris' " Talks on Manure Re- 

 storing Fertility to the Soil," a sulijcct that interests 

 all our farmers who do not cultivate a virgin soil. It 

 is a most valuable contribution, and shows how sci- 

 ence may be applied with a view to dollars and cents. 

 A relative of Mr. Lawes, having several thousand 

 acres of exceedingly poor and wornout land, con- 

 sulted him as to the best metlaod of treating it. The 

 growth of crops with the aid of artificial manures is 

 discussed, aud it is clearly shown why this would not 

 be profitable on such poor land. Tlie plan decided 

 upon was to make the production of meat the basis 

 of renovation ; to stop all tillage and endeavor to get 

 the soil into pasturage by giving it the plant food to 

 enable it to grow good grasses. A flock of sheep was 

 to be allowed to run over the land during the day 

 and to be folded there every night and fed one pound 

 each of cottonseed cake. The use of sheep in reno- 

 vating land is not new to our farmers, and has often 

 been advocated iu these pages, but the practice has 

 rarely been presented in so systematic a manner. 

 Sheep in flocks of 100, inclosed by movable fences or 

 hurdles, upon a space 20 by 'J5 yards, and the folds 

 moved daily, would in ten days cover an acre each, 

 and the manure of 1,000 pounds of the cake would 

 be well distributed upon this amount of land. This 

 quantity of manure contains 77 pounds of nitrogen, 

 68 pounds of phosphate of lime and 32 pounds of 

 potash. These fertilizers cannot be purchased iu any 

 artificial manure at so cheap a rate, since the in- 

 crease in the weight of the sheep fed in this manner 

 goes far to oflfset their original cost in the cottonseed 

 eake. — American Agriculturist. 



Fodder Corn. 

 Do not fail to drill in some corn for fodder, even if 

 you have no pit to store it in. After long experience 

 we are convinced that no farm crop pays better. 

 There is no difficulty in curing it. All that is needed 

 is to let it grow until fully tasseled, and then shock 

 It up and let it stand in the field until freezing 

 whether or until it is fed up. The large white South 

 em corn Is best — the stalks containing as much 

 sugar as sweet corn, which has a habit of germin- 

 ating feebly. Drilled into rich ground at the rate of 

 ten or twelve kernels to the foot, the stalks will be 

 large and juicy, but the cattle will eat every butt 

 clean, even if they are an inch iu diameter and have 

 not been run through a cutter. Last winter we fed 

 the yield of ten acres in the stable, and not a bushel 

 of refuse was left from the entire crop. As an ex- 

 periment we fed this fodder exclusively to twenty 

 milch cows for a fortnight, and when the fool was 

 changed for a ration of bright timothy hay, with two 

 quarts of Indiau meal and four quarts of bran, the 

 milk yield fell ofl' perceptibly. 



Varieties of Sweet Corn. 

 Last year twenty-six kinds of sweet corn were 

 grown at the New York Experiment Station, and a 

 record of the earliest of each was kept. This was 

 only approximately correct, for the date of the first 

 appearance of the silk was kept, and not the date 

 when the corn had reached that point of maturity 

 when it is known as " roasting ears." The earliest 

 variety was Early Marblehead, which silked iu fifty- 



six days from planting. Next came early Narra- 

 gansett, in sixty-one days. Pratt's Early took sixty- 

 one days. Early Minnesota sixty-two days. Crosby's 

 Early sixty-eight days. Golden Sweet seventy days. 

 Moore's Concord seventy-two days. Hickox eighty- 

 two days. Egyptian eighty-four days. Slowell's 

 Evergreen eighty-four days. Mammoth eighty-six 

 days— or a full month later than the Early Marble- 

 head. 



As to quality. Dr. Sturtovant says we can only ex- 

 press our taste : Some people prefer a corn less 

 sweet than do others. The Ne I'lus Ultra Is excep- 

 tionally fine, but is late ; Crosby's Early, to our 

 taste, is the best of the earlles, although Early Mar- 

 blehead Is very good. The Golden Sweet we have 

 not eaten of our own raising, but such as we have 

 tried elsewhere has been particularly rich in flavor. 

 The Black Mexican is white while in edible condi- 

 tion, but is apt to cook slightly blue-tinged, so as to 

 cause the appearance on the table to be unattractive. 

 Its quality, however, is very sweet. 



Ploughing too Early. 

 We have noticed many acres of corn-stubble turned 

 over for oats this spring before the ground was ready 

 for the plough. There has been much rainy weather, 

 and, as spring work presses, farmers are apt to grow 

 impatient ; but nothing is gained by ploughing heavy 

 land when it is so wet as to pack. Every pressed 

 lump will resist the entrance of root fibres foraging 

 for plant food. The crop will sutler and the land be 

 inja bad condition for grass or any other crop which 

 follows in the rotation. The prevalence of wet 

 springs makes it almost impossible to prepare the 

 ground at once well and early for oats. Why not try 

 the plan already adopted in many places of plough- 

 ing corn-stubble in the fall and then harrowing It for 

 oats the following spring as soon as dry enough ? 

 This makes it possible to get the seed sooner— a point 

 gamed in the culture of oats— and leaves the land 

 more mellow. Farmers who have tried this method 

 are convinced that they secure a heavier crop, with 

 straw less liable to lodge. 



Ensilage Extracts. 



We feed hay in the morning ; at noon 30 pounds 

 ensilage ; at night the same, with the addition of 

 one quart of bran and the same of meal. It increases 

 the yield of milk aud makes more butler and of a 

 belter quality. One whom we have supplied for 

 thirteen yea"rs, says since we began to feed ensilage 

 our butter is better than it has ever been before, 

 even in summer.- S'. L. McElroy, Middlesex, Vt. 



I feed six milch cows 60 pounds each per day, and 

 two yearlings 40 pounds each. I feed them nothing 

 but ensilage 30 days; they gained in flesh.— i?". A. 

 Waite, Proctorsville, Vt. 



I put in one load of long corn at one end, near the 

 top ; it raised a heavy heat and does not keep as well 

 as the fine cut. — P. K. Spauldinfi, Proctorsville, Vt. 



It rained four days during the time, and only 

 enough was put in daily to keep the mass from heat- 

 ing, six or eight inches being needed. That which 

 was put in while wet kept as well as any. One old 

 ox was in bad condition, hide-bouud and quite thin ; 

 after feeding ensilage a few weeks his hide became 

 very loose and he appeared like a new ox, eats a 

 bushel and a half of ensilage every morning with 

 straw at noon and hay at night —S. IV'. W(dker, 

 Anson, Me. 



Mj cows have gained in milk, 20 per cent, since I 

 began to feed ensilage, aud the dry ones and year- 

 lings, have gained in flesh. With 60 pounds of en- 

 silage per day they eat a small feed of hay up clean. 

 Two store hogs eat it, and it makes a cheap and 

 handy green feed for hens ; they eat it as they will 

 grass in summer.—/. W. Eastman, Lyndon Centre, 

 Vt. 



We are feeding it to farrow cows twice a day, with 

 a small feed of hay between. The cows gain in flesh 

 and milk. The butter is of excellent quality. Pigs 

 and poultry eat it well. — Brown <fc Hunt, Albany, Vt. 



I fed cows 60 pounds of ensilage and five pounds of 

 meal and bran each day In addition to bay to the 



morning. I have never fed anything that made so 

 good milk and butter, or so much of It.— ir. L. 

 SUnondx, Poxlmri/, Vt., in .^firror and Farmer. 



HORTJCL .TURE. 



Fertilizers for Strawberries. 



In a paijor read before the New Jersey Horticul- 

 tural Society in ISsl, Mr. J. H. Hale, of Connecti- 

 cut, advised the use of pure ground bono mixed in 

 the proportion of three parts to one each of muriate 

 of potasli aud dry ground fish as the cheapest fertil- 

 izer for strawberries. As to the quantity needed per 

 acre, Mr. Hale advised 1,200 to 1,.5»0 pounds when 

 a fair crop was wanted, 2,500 pounds for a good crop, 

 and for a big crop " all you think you can aflTord, 

 then shut your eyes and put on as much more. It 

 will pay every time." A Vineland correspondent 

 writes that he has been trying this mixture faithfully 

 since then, and afier careful comparison he finds 

 very little Improvement In his crop. With him this 

 fertilizer does not pay on strawberries, although on 

 sweet potatoes it has a good elfect. This only prove* 

 that Connecticut Is not Vineland. It Is another illug- 

 tratlon of the fact that different soils need different 

 treatment lor the same crop. Experience on oae 

 farm Is contradicted by results obtained on a neigh- 

 boring one. Every farmer must make his farm an 

 experiment station if he would work his laud to the 

 best advantage. 



Making Sugar from Beets. 

 No single agricultural industry has made such an 

 extraordinary increase in Europe as that of making 

 sugar from beets. In 1874—5 the production of beet 

 sugar there was 2,616,948,384 pounds. In 1878—9 

 this amount had increased to 3,470,200,000, or more 

 than 30 per cent, in four yiars. In 1883 — ^ the pro- 

 duct was 4,618,880,000 pounds, an increase of more 

 than 90 per cent, in the brief period of ten years. 

 When we sto^to reflect that the beet sugar product 

 of Europe is now double that of the entire sugar con- 

 sumption of the United States, aud was worth $230,- 

 000,000, we get an Idea of the dimensions this interest 

 has attained in Europe. Can any man suggest any 

 good reason why we cannot and should not be fol- 

 lowing the example of Europe in this particular! 

 It would keep $100,000,000 In the country and give 

 employment to hundreds of thousands of people. — 

 JVcw Era. 



The Profits of Fruit Growing. 



An article on " Seasonable Hints on the Culture of 

 Fruits, Flowers and Vegetables," which appeared a 

 short time ago in the Americaii Cultivator, published 

 in Boston, Mass., contains the following paragraph : 



" The first thought of fruit growers is to look after 

 cheap land. The distance from market is left to rail- 

 road companies to settle. Of late years growerg have 

 been learning other lessons. It Is the labor, and not 

 the cost of land, which ruins a fruit grower; and 

 land at high figures, where the expenses of labor and 

 marketing are less, has been found the most profit- 

 able. Edwin Satterthwait, about ten miles from the 

 heart of Fhlladclphia, has found such a fruit loca- 

 tion very profitable, and so have the Shearers, of 

 Heading, Pa. Tills town has but 50,000 inhabitanU, 

 yet it consumes all the fruit from Shearer's 100-acre 

 farm, besides much from numerous other growers. 

 And one of the brothers has been encouraged to put 

 in 365 acres in fruit near the town. The 100 acres of 

 Christopher Shearer made sales of over $12,000 last 

 year." 



Cultivation of Currants. 

 The currant has always been a universal favorite, 

 not so much, perhaps, because of the real nature of 

 the fruit as because of the extreme hardiness of the 

 bush, which hitherto has withstood a good deal of 

 neglect, with little or no attention. After once 

 planting tliem in some remote corner of the garden, 

 or under the fence, they are left severely alone. But 

 with the currant, as with other things, as soon as 

 they become scarce, the demand for them wUl in- 



