The Lancaster Farmer. 



Dr. S. S. BATHVON, Editor. 



LANCASTER. PA.. SEPTEMBER, 1884. 



Vol. XVI. Mo. 9. 



Editorial. 



SEPTEMBER. 

 " Aud as hu and bis train passed by 



A dark and cloudy scTeeu, 

 They ushered in a noble maid 



That looked a very Queen, 

 Attended by two Eltins, who, 



A Cornucopia bore. 

 Filled with the ample products of 

 The mellow Autumn's store. 



A coronet of Dahlias 



Keposed upon her brow 

 Entwined among her golden hair, 



The bright verbenas glow, 

 The luoious grapes In purple sheen 



In clusters rich and tender, 

 Were scattered in profusion by 

 This genius of Nei>lembcr. 

 It involves a seeming contradiction to call 

 this the ninth month of the year, when the 

 very name implies the seventh. 



Perhaps the most noted, and at the time 

 the most cruel and diabolical event that oc- 

 curred in modern history, connected witli the 

 month of September, was the great French 

 massacre, which was an indiscriminate 

 slaughter of Loyalists confined at the lime in 

 the Abbaye and other French prisons. The 

 tyrant Dantin gave orders for this onslaught 

 after the capture of Verdun by the allied 

 Prussian army. It lasted from the 2d to 4th 

 of September, 17'.)2. Eiglit thousand persons 

 fell in the massacre. The men who planned 

 and executed it were subsequently called 

 iSeptembriserus. 



Although this is the ninth month of the 

 year, reckoning from January, it was the 

 seventh month of the old Roman year, which 

 began with March. The name comes from 

 the Latin Septem, or seven. French, Septem- 

 hre; Prussian, Setenibre; Spanish, Sctevibro; 

 Italian, Settembre. Sandwiched between Au- 

 gust and October, it constitutes the transition 

 from summer to autumn, and embraces the 

 beginning at least of the general fruit harvest 

 of our latitude, in which that which has been 

 " made " now matures. 



" Our Saxon ancestors called this month 

 Gerst-monath ; for, the Barley which this 

 month commonly yielded, was called gerst. 

 This name was given to barley on account of 

 a beverage made from it called bcere, or beer- 

 Udgh, from which was derived berligh, and 

 from thence barley." 



This is usually a busy month in grain grow- 

 ing districts, and all other things being equal, 

 those who usually succeed best, are those who 

 proceed most systematically in preparing the 

 soil for the seed ; upon the quality of which 

 much will also depend. "If we sow the 

 wind," we shall likely " reap the whirlwind." 

 The soil ought to be brought to a fine friable 

 condition, and, some say, the seed should be 

 deeply covered, which enables it the best to 

 resist the alternate freezing and thawing of 

 open winters. As a preventive of smut, it is 

 recommended by some to steep the seed be- 

 fore sowing in a salt briue strong enough to 



bear an egg, and tlien rolling it in pulverized 

 lime. Of course tlic intelligent and observant 

 farmer will select such seed as is best adapted 

 to his own particular soil. Even when all 

 other things visible are equal, seeds that suc- 

 ceed in one locality may fail in another. The 

 quality of weight in seed, of course, means 

 something, but experience has demonstrated 

 that it is of less importance than purity. 

 Perhaps in these things, as in all other things 

 we ought to entertain " a decent respect for 

 the opinions of mankind," nevertheless, he 

 who is ever dependent upon the experience of 

 others, generally has no fixed methods of his 

 own, and is always liable to be led astray. 

 There is still room for a limited degree of cul- 

 ture in this month, a good crop of turnips 

 and ruta-bagas cannot be expected witliout 

 the necessary labor, hence those in drills need 

 deep tillage. 



Not only this, but seeds may be sown to 

 provide plants for next spring ; roots divided 

 and reset ; strawberry beds planted ; celery 

 may be earthed up ; spinach for autumn use 

 may be sown up to the middle of the month ; 

 scurvy-grass may still be sown for winter 

 salad and lettuce in cold frames for next 

 spring's planting : So says acknowledged au- 

 thorities. 



"PETTICOAT RADISHES." 



How easy a thing it is for names of objects, 

 whether of mineral, vegetable or animal, to 

 become contorted, contracted or corrupted, 

 especially French names. Far back in the 

 history of London a noted tavern existed 

 there that was known by the name of JSull 

 and Mouth. A corruption of Boulogne Gate 

 or Mouth, adopted out of complement to 

 Henry VIII, who took Boulogne in 1544. 



Petite cote, by a similar cor. traction, or cor- 

 ruption has become, in some localities " petti- 

 coat," which is the name of a woman's under- 

 garment in other localities. Petite means some- 

 thing small as compared with something 

 Grande, which means great, or large. Cote 

 has a multitude of meanings, according to its 

 relative or its ditlerentiations as parts of 

 speech. Literally it means a very small farm ; 

 a sheep-fold ; strip of coast land, &c. In 

 French-Canadian towns and villages on one 

 side may be large farms, called Grande Cote, 

 whilst on the other side may be smaller ones, 

 called Petite Cote, and ou them, especially 

 along the Detroit river, are cultivated tlie 

 somewhat famous "Petite Cote Radishes," so 

 popularly known in the cities of Chicago, 

 Cincinnati. St. Lot is, and farther South, as 

 well as in New York, Philadelphia, &c. These 

 farms are laid out in narrow strips of about 

 two French acres each, and arc still held by 

 the decedents of the original French settlers ; 

 and by their peculiar mode of culture they 

 produce a radish that is crisp, tender and 

 toothsome ; and it is said, when they come in 

 competition with the best of the other species 

 of liaphanus, they not only "take the rag olf 

 the bush," but they take " rag, bush and all 

 The city of Detroit seems to be the head 



market for tliese radishes, from whence they 

 are distributed to other parts of the country. 

 The lovers of these roots would no doubt wel- 

 come thera|to this market, instead of the 

 spouL'y, or tough and acrid kinds that so often 

 find their way here later in the season. It, of 

 course, is out of season now, but if these 

 radishes can be successfully raised in Canada 

 they ought to succeed here, and should any of 

 our "truck-farmers" feel disposed to experi- 

 ment with them, we here adduce from the 

 iV. Y. Weekly Witness, from which much of 

 the above is condensed, the following mode of 

 culture: 



At each farm-house there is a piece of 

 ground set apart for radishes, from half an 

 acre to two acres, and sometimes more in ex- 

 tent. Tliis is heavily manured in the fall with 

 old, well rotted stable-manure (of which they 

 have always a supply several years old), and 

 ploughed in. In tlie spring it is again ploughed 

 as soon as the land can be worked, well har- 

 rowed, and then raked over smooth like a 

 garden. The rows are planted by line six 

 inches apart, and the seed put in an inch apart 

 in the line as follows : 



They have a rake with wooden teeth an 

 inch apart. One person presses down the 

 teeth, making holes two inches deep, another 

 follows and drops the seed in these holes. 

 Some of the best culturists put only one seed 

 in each hole (having previously sifted out all 

 small and imperfect seeds, having only those 

 that are sure to grow). Others put two or 

 three seeds in each hole, to ensure there oeing 

 a full sujjply, in which case they have to go 

 over and thin them to one as soon as they are 

 fairly up. 



As soon as the radishes are up so that the 

 rows can be easily distinguished, they dibble 

 in potatoes between every fifth row of radishes. 

 The quality of the soil and planting singly 

 an inch apart and two inches deep appears to 

 be the secret of success. Formerly they 

 raised chiefly the long, salmon-colored radish, 

 but now tlie long scarlet is entirely grown, 

 being the most salable. A few turnip-rooted 

 ones are also grown. The same land is planted 

 every year to radishes and potatoes, without 

 any deterioration. They all raise their own 

 seed so as to have it pure and good. Each 

 farmer or land-owner there cleare as much as 

 $150 to ff-200, and some $400 ofl" the radislies 

 (besides what they get from the potatoes), 

 about $200 an acre being theamount realized. 

 There is a good deal of labor in connection 

 with the culture, and in pulling and tying up 

 the radislies, which is done in flat bunches of 

 six each, but as the French are a primitive 

 people, marrying young and having plenty of 

 children, this labor devolves pretty much on 

 them. 



The radishes are sent to the Detroit market 

 every day during the season, dozens of wagons 

 and carts collecting at the Windsor Ferry ^^ 

 before dayliglit to cross by the first boatt.,:^^ 

 The radishes are at once bought up by those '' 

 I who distribute them over the country. 



